Abdiel
2023
One of the most disappointing games I've played in a while.
Every area is either a series of hallways or just plain tiny. Exploration is almost non-existent.
Quests make the game drag. You can tell the devs are too used to working on MMOs, cause this is fetch quest galore. They really made a character named Mid who sends you on a mandatory hour long fetch quest.
The game is only about 30 hours long yet 17 hours are cutscenes, and many of which add little to the story. The writing itself is nothing to write home about, either. The ending in particular is comedically bad.
The boss fights and combat are the one thing the game does right. It can be fun, but only when the game actually lets you play it.
30/100
Every area is either a series of hallways or just plain tiny. Exploration is almost non-existent.
Quests make the game drag. You can tell the devs are too used to working on MMOs, cause this is fetch quest galore. They really made a character named Mid who sends you on a mandatory hour long fetch quest.
The game is only about 30 hours long yet 17 hours are cutscenes, and many of which add little to the story. The writing itself is nothing to write home about, either. The ending in particular is comedically bad.
The boss fights and combat are the one thing the game does right. It can be fun, but only when the game actually lets you play it.
30/100
2022
A great VN with okay SRPG battles mixed in. What makes Survive stand out, however, is how it uses the Digimon property to propel itself in unexpected directions. While gamers were marketed a gritty Digimon game meant for a "mature" audience, I don't think many were expecting it to be quite as dark as this story is. On the gameplay side, Survive has everything it needs to be just enough. Players have access to over 100 digimon, an alignment system taken straight out of SMT (the game files even refer to them as Law, Neutral and Chaos), alignment reps, and decently challenging battles on hard difficulty. The pacing of the gameplay and the VN segments are improved by how much the game encourages you to do extra free battles, where it be to collect new Digimon companions or to grind. I've only done one route so far with 3 more left to go and I'm very excited to fully master this gem.
100% completed in 92 hours.
An exercise in disappointment. Xenoblade 3 is worse than the previous two entries, and even X, by a large margin.
There are a lot of bizarre choices, but most of all for me were the battle system, balancing and story in general.
The battle system is questionable in that it tries to be far, far simpler than 2's but it ends up being too messy. You have easier to understand gimmicks, but the gimmicks end up taking 0 brain power and are what consist of 99% of your battles. In every single boss battle, 90% of my damage were from the gimmicks and the regular combat just felt like a waste of time. This was sort of the case in 2 as well, but in 2 there was a sense of depth to the gimmick at least.
As far as the balancing goes, it punishes you if you do side content at all. I was consistently 10-20 levels above every story boss, and I wasn't even doing all of the side content, just a bit. What's funny is I completely skipped side content in the last third of the game and I was still vastly overleveled -- even for all of the side content. Once I hit level 65~ at the end of the midgame the only things left were the superbosses. While I was occasionally overleveled in 1 and 2, it was never that off.
The story's just kinda a dumpster fire, I'm not sure what to say that hasn't already been said to death. The pacing is glacial and every single conflict is stupid, they were lazy enough to make it so 'muh macguffin' was the context for nearly every fight in the entire game.
I ended up doing every sidequest and all the superbosses, but not without plenty of regret. The only area this game shines in is content. It's packed, but that's not saying it when most of it's hollow.
Anybody telling you this game is good or worthwhile probably hasn't finished or is trolling you. I refuse to believe otherwise. This game needs plenty of patches to even become average in quality.
An exercise in disappointment. Xenoblade 3 is worse than the previous two entries, and even X, by a large margin.
There are a lot of bizarre choices, but most of all for me were the battle system, balancing and story in general.
The battle system is questionable in that it tries to be far, far simpler than 2's but it ends up being too messy. You have easier to understand gimmicks, but the gimmicks end up taking 0 brain power and are what consist of 99% of your battles. In every single boss battle, 90% of my damage were from the gimmicks and the regular combat just felt like a waste of time. This was sort of the case in 2 as well, but in 2 there was a sense of depth to the gimmick at least.
As far as the balancing goes, it punishes you if you do side content at all. I was consistently 10-20 levels above every story boss, and I wasn't even doing all of the side content, just a bit. What's funny is I completely skipped side content in the last third of the game and I was still vastly overleveled -- even for all of the side content. Once I hit level 65~ at the end of the midgame the only things left were the superbosses. While I was occasionally overleveled in 1 and 2, it was never that off.
The story's just kinda a dumpster fire, I'm not sure what to say that hasn't already been said to death. The pacing is glacial and every single conflict is stupid, they were lazy enough to make it so 'muh macguffin' was the context for nearly every fight in the entire game.
I ended up doing every sidequest and all the superbosses, but not without plenty of regret. The only area this game shines in is content. It's packed, but that's not saying it when most of it's hollow.
Anybody telling you this game is good or worthwhile probably hasn't finished or is trolling you. I refuse to believe otherwise. This game needs plenty of patches to even become average in quality.
2001
Easily my least favorite out of the classic Silent Hill games, Silent Hill 2 encompasses all that eventually became wrong with the franchise once western devs took over.
The plot is a mess, the characters are a mess, the sound design is a mess, and the spook factor is embarrassingly low. I'm aware this game has a diehard fanbase, which must mean that there's something I just missed when playing it, because all I really felt while playing it is that it was a step down in every way from the first game and that is was unnecessarily pretentious, faux-deep nonsense. Play Silent Hill 1 and 3.
The plot is a mess, the characters are a mess, the sound design is a mess, and the spook factor is embarrassingly low. I'm aware this game has a diehard fanbase, which must mean that there's something I just missed when playing it, because all I really felt while playing it is that it was a step down in every way from the first game and that is was unnecessarily pretentious, faux-deep nonsense. Play Silent Hill 1 and 3.
2015
Mastered shortly after launch before this game's community got annoying.
The game is incredibly short, as you might expect, and you'll be able to see absolutely everything in somewhere around 10 hours with little effort. It has an interesting premise with its battles but falls short with cringey dialogue, le quirky characters, a dumb plot, and annoyingly heavy handed fourth wall breaks. I can understand that many people may find all of these things enduring but its always just been kinda embarassing to me. It is clearly trying to appeal to people with a more immature sense of humor and I'm glad for all the people who like this kind of guilty pleasure, but I'm not gonna pretend this forgetful trash is a worthwhile game.
The game is incredibly short, as you might expect, and you'll be able to see absolutely everything in somewhere around 10 hours with little effort. It has an interesting premise with its battles but falls short with cringey dialogue, le quirky characters, a dumb plot, and annoyingly heavy handed fourth wall breaks. I can understand that many people may find all of these things enduring but its always just been kinda embarassing to me. It is clearly trying to appeal to people with a more immature sense of humor and I'm glad for all the people who like this kind of guilty pleasure, but I'm not gonna pretend this forgetful trash is a worthwhile game.
2010
A fantastic gem that falls just short of its sequel and is still leagues below Xenogears. XC1 was a very impressive game in its time, and it still is, as a Wii JRPG that is almost open world despite being extremely linear. While the plot and characters are weaker than what can be found in its sequel, this game is still worth experiencing because the story is still good, the battle system is neat, and the world itself is phenomenal. Everybody needs to experience this whole franchise.
Platinum trophy earned in 40 hours.
The Legend of Dragoon is an all time classic. When I saw it was being added to the classic catalogue with trophy support, I knew I needed to pick it up. See, I grew up with this game and probably put hundreds of hours in as a kid. Not only is LoD one of my favorite ps1-era JRPGs, it's one of my favorite JRPGs of all time.
It's hard to explain what exactly makes this such a solid game - the visuals offer a unique blend of models on pre-rendered backgrounds, akin to Chrono Cross, the battle system is an interesting blend of turn based combat and... a rhythm game, and the music slaps. The plot, too, is noteworthy. It's memorable and has lors of creative twists, but the mediocre localization holds it down marginally. This one gripe aside, Legend of Dragoon is a game I think everybody should experience at least once. The platinum's also really easy to earn.
90/100.
The Legend of Dragoon is an all time classic. When I saw it was being added to the classic catalogue with trophy support, I knew I needed to pick it up. See, I grew up with this game and probably put hundreds of hours in as a kid. Not only is LoD one of my favorite ps1-era JRPGs, it's one of my favorite JRPGs of all time.
It's hard to explain what exactly makes this such a solid game - the visuals offer a unique blend of models on pre-rendered backgrounds, akin to Chrono Cross, the battle system is an interesting blend of turn based combat and... a rhythm game, and the music slaps. The plot, too, is noteworthy. It's memorable and has lors of creative twists, but the mediocre localization holds it down marginally. This one gripe aside, Legend of Dragoon is a game I think everybody should experience at least once. The platinum's also really easy to earn.
90/100.
2022
Platinumed in 125 hours over the course of a month.
I LOVED every minute of replaying this masterpiece. Sure it may not be the hardest SRPG, or the most in depth, but it's the strongest all rounder the genre has to offer. The game has insane replayability, great writing, three routes where the protagonist goes through different character arcs, dozens of hours of side content, moderate-but-doable difficulty, and a fun class system.
I LOVED every minute of replaying this masterpiece. Sure it may not be the hardest SRPG, or the most in depth, but it's the strongest all rounder the genre has to offer. The game has insane replayability, great writing, three routes where the protagonist goes through different character arcs, dozens of hours of side content, moderate-but-doable difficulty, and a fun class system.
The RPG that revolutionized the Job system even moreso than Final Fantasy 3, Final Fantasy V is a behemoth of a game. Sporting more technical depth than 4 or 6, thanks to the insane job combos you can pull off with your party, a great plot, and a nostalgic OST, this game is truly worth of the 'classic' moniker.
1993
My favorite Sonic the Hedgehog game hands down, CD excels in everything you'd want out of a classic platformer. It's a shame how underrated this gem is, because I can't help but adore everything about it. Insane level variety, a cool gimmick, speedy platforming, jamming soundtrack, and a much more bold story. What more could you ask for?
2022
Platinumed in around 10 hours.
An excellent survival horror that somehow managed to capture the appeal of PS1-era horror games and the aesthetic of the Blame manga (which just so happens to be among my favorites). While it's pretty short and light on content, it's among the very best gaming has to offer when it comes to style.
An excellent survival horror that somehow managed to capture the appeal of PS1-era horror games and the aesthetic of the Blame manga (which just so happens to be among my favorites). While it's pretty short and light on content, it's among the very best gaming has to offer when it comes to style.
One of my favorite games of all time and an absolute masterpiece. This game is leagues above Automata and, honestly, most other games. There's almost nothing I can really think of that I'd call underwhelming about this game, besides the first part being a little slow and the sidequests being just okay. Anything I could really criticize about this game is entirely overshadowed by the fantastic plot, characters, soundtrack, gameplay, replayability, just everything honestly. The newly added content is just the cherry on top.
2022
Platinumed in 20 hours.
Among the best beat em ups I've played. It has great animations, the perfect amount of difficulty, easy to pull off combos, and a decent plot. However, the 100% trophy was a little frustrating in how it required me to redo all the side quests in NG+ for seemingly no reason. Other than that I had a fun time throughout.
Among the best beat em ups I've played. It has great animations, the perfect amount of difficulty, easy to pull off combos, and a decent plot. However, the 100% trophy was a little frustrating in how it required me to redo all the side quests in NG+ for seemingly no reason. Other than that I had a fun time throughout.
Sacred Stones is among my favorite Fire Emblem games as it's perfectly balanced, has a nice story, good OST, and has just the right difficulty for newcomers. This game is what I recommend whenever somebody wants to get into the franchise
Conquest is the only worthwhile Fates game as it has excellent gameplay and a good OST. While Birthright had a good plot but awful gameplay, Conquest makes up for its faults because it has some of the best maps in the franchise.