Adolion
Beaten the game more than 10 times, 2 lvl 1 runs, crowned and done no damage challenges
Proud Mode > Critical Mode
Combat > Story
I used to Adore this game religiously until I found my new love in Ys. This is definitely Peak KH Combat and has some very fun bosses, but the rest of the game is driven by bad pacing. First half of the game is kinda slow, but when it picks up, it goes through unnecessary worlds revisit that breaks the pacing and the tension. Music is good, but not as great as KH1.
It does hit a lot of emotional beats here and there tho. I kind of wished it aged better, but alas my taste has changed drastically.
Proud Mode > Critical Mode
Combat > Story
I used to Adore this game religiously until I found my new love in Ys. This is definitely Peak KH Combat and has some very fun bosses, but the rest of the game is driven by bad pacing. First half of the game is kinda slow, but when it picks up, it goes through unnecessary worlds revisit that breaks the pacing and the tension. Music is good, but not as great as KH1.
It does hit a lot of emotional beats here and there tho. I kind of wished it aged better, but alas my taste has changed drastically.
Welcome to Nomura's clusterfuck in order to add continuity once again, the inception way.
After 3 questionable games, I finally get to try DDD for the first time... and I've gotta say, this is what I have been hoping for, for the KH formula to go back to it's KH1 roots instead of filling us with Disney Movie filler like it has been since KH2, great pacing and flow, great music too.
The gameplay is also a step up from the very flawed deck command introduced in BBS, making it the best Kingdom Hearts Combat imo, even better than KH2. Flowmotion might feel floaty at first, but it's not broken and feels awesome. Thankfully, those distractive command styles are optional and won't ruin the pace of your combat and the spirits system was a nice addition, which, gave this game the best balance I've ever seen in Kingdom Hearts, keeping the game challenging and strategic with the combination of spirits, as some stat boosters aren't permanent. I found this added to the challenge and fun in keeping the game difficult instead of busted (like in BBS, that you could farm for abilities and become broken in no time) I appreciate when games has this sort of balance, Ballon commands are still busted tho.
Last but not least, pacing was done great, dividing a single run into two without the need of starting the whole game again like BBS, this avoided the game dragging up with filler and made it go to the point, which I'm really glad for.
The gameplay is also a step up from the very flawed deck command introduced in BBS, making it the best Kingdom Hearts Combat imo, even better than KH2. Flowmotion might feel floaty at first, but it's not broken and feels awesome. Thankfully, those distractive command styles are optional and won't ruin the pace of your combat and the spirits system was a nice addition, which, gave this game the best balance I've ever seen in Kingdom Hearts, keeping the game challenging and strategic with the combination of spirits, as some stat boosters aren't permanent. I found this added to the challenge and fun in keeping the game difficult instead of busted (like in BBS, that you could farm for abilities and become broken in no time) I appreciate when games has this sort of balance, Ballon commands are still busted tho.
Last but not least, pacing was done great, dividing a single run into two without the need of starting the whole game again like BBS, this avoided the game dragging up with filler and made it go to the point, which I'm really glad for.
2019
Well that was certainly something. Kingdom Hearts 3 is such a mixed bag is very difficult not to be biased against it, but in it's defense, there's also many things to be biased positively, just not as much to balance the bad and the ugly.
Let's start with the ugly first: The gameplay, boy, this is an abomination. There's too many mechanics cramped into it, and this creates 2 problems:
1: the game can be easily cheesed and can be a breeze for the most part, insanely floaty, for the sake of looking epic, certain things like attractions are such a combat pace breaker.
2: The game being extremely floaty and flashy, leads to the final fights becoming a literal bullet hell of bullshit, where you need to cheese or be cheesed and boy how much I loathed the final fights.
When in doubt, just KISS (Keep it simple, stupid)
Another ugly thing about the combat, is that flowmotion is literally useless, it was great in DDD and had uses, but the worlds in KH3 are too open for it to be of any use, and it has been nerfed to insanity it's almost unreliable.
And the worst part of KH3 is that you only play on Sora's perspective, except for a few (finger counted) fights where you use other characters, but it would have been better if, you know, they did like past games and made different sections for different characters, that was such a shame.
The bad:
This game tries to cram a lot of plot points in a short time, resulting in a game that feels rushed, and even if it's rushed, the game still had shit tons of filler inside the Disney worlds, which, most of them are left unresolved (like for example, Caribbean's plot point with Sora using the keyblade to do something with the Sea Goddess). I miss the days of KH1 where you went to Disney worlds not to play a Disney Movie but to actually fix things, that is mostly gone since KH2 where you play a Disney Movie that has heartless on it, quite the yikes.
There's also a big lack of consequences and too much nakama power, but that's just a KH signature at this point.
The music, oh boy, more than half the game is recycled soundtrack, and only a few of the mare memorable, nuff said.
The good:
Despite my hatred towards the gameplay and part of the story, there was some great moments, like the reunion of many characters, which made this game slightly memorable. It was very satisfying, so in a way it was worth it just for that.
Thoughts on the PC Version: The game is a terrible port as it missed many customization options present in all the games (from 1.5 to 3), some weird bugs and crashes here and there, fortunately KH3 didn't have crashes for me.
Time for Re:Mind
Let's start with the ugly first: The gameplay, boy, this is an abomination. There's too many mechanics cramped into it, and this creates 2 problems:
1: the game can be easily cheesed and can be a breeze for the most part, insanely floaty, for the sake of looking epic, certain things like attractions are such a combat pace breaker.
2: The game being extremely floaty and flashy, leads to the final fights becoming a literal bullet hell of bullshit, where you need to cheese or be cheesed and boy how much I loathed the final fights.
When in doubt, just KISS (Keep it simple, stupid)
Another ugly thing about the combat, is that flowmotion is literally useless, it was great in DDD and had uses, but the worlds in KH3 are too open for it to be of any use, and it has been nerfed to insanity it's almost unreliable.
And the worst part of KH3 is that you only play on Sora's perspective, except for a few (finger counted) fights where you use other characters, but it would have been better if, you know, they did like past games and made different sections for different characters, that was such a shame.
The bad:
This game tries to cram a lot of plot points in a short time, resulting in a game that feels rushed, and even if it's rushed, the game still had shit tons of filler inside the Disney worlds, which, most of them are left unresolved (like for example, Caribbean's plot point with Sora using the keyblade to do something with the Sea Goddess). I miss the days of KH1 where you went to Disney worlds not to play a Disney Movie but to actually fix things, that is mostly gone since KH2 where you play a Disney Movie that has heartless on it, quite the yikes.
There's also a big lack of consequences and too much nakama power, but that's just a KH signature at this point.
The music, oh boy, more than half the game is recycled soundtrack, and only a few of the mare memorable, nuff said.
The good:
Despite my hatred towards the gameplay and part of the story, there was some great moments, like the reunion of many characters, which made this game slightly memorable. It was very satisfying, so in a way it was worth it just for that.
Thoughts on the PC Version: The game is a terrible port as it missed many customization options present in all the games (from 1.5 to 3), some weird bugs and crashes here and there, fortunately KH3 didn't have crashes for me.
Time for Re:Mind
Kingdom Hearts III Ending explained for dummies, absurd damage sponge fights, lazy fights and that weird mickey section.
Also: How not to do an Epilogue. Limit Cut Edition. Includes infuriating fights and cut content from Final Fantasy Versus.
Wow, Thanks Nomura :D
Also: How not to do an Epilogue. Limit Cut Edition. Includes infuriating fights and cut content from Final Fantasy Versus.
Wow, Thanks Nomura :D
2016
This has to be one of the best romance works I've ever had the pleasure to play through, it being a GL VN makes it way better.
I fell in love with the setting, with the character dynamics and chemistry, with the development, with the build up. For being tamer than, say, A Kiss for the Petals, this was fairly more genuine than anything I've ever experienced...
This novel actually wanted to make me try, specially through those moments in life when you don't know what to do after harsh experiences, and for that, it holds a special place in my heart.
I fell in love with the setting, with the character dynamics and chemistry, with the development, with the build up. For being tamer than, say, A Kiss for the Petals, this was fairly more genuine than anything I've ever experienced...
This novel actually wanted to make me try, specially through those moments in life when you don't know what to do after harsh experiences, and for that, it holds a special place in my heart.
2020
>> Be me
>> Tried Highway Blossoms out of curiosity and love for Yuri Content
>> Not only just loved it, but raised among my favorite VNs and stories ever
>> Grew curious about the studio behind it
>> Saw that First Snow is free
>> Tries it
>> Immediatelly falls in love with the setting, artstyle, music and characters
>> ???
>> Worth
It's actually criminal this VN is free, the art is amazing, akin to an art book, solid voice acting, sweet and awkward characters that behave like humans, character layers, and while rushed, the chemistry and character dynamics were very nice. Hits home a couple of times, but it's a great experience still.
>> Tried Highway Blossoms out of curiosity and love for Yuri Content
>> Not only just loved it, but raised among my favorite VNs and stories ever
>> Grew curious about the studio behind it
>> Saw that First Snow is free
>> Tries it
>> Immediatelly falls in love with the setting, artstyle, music and characters
>> ???
>> Worth
It's actually criminal this VN is free, the art is amazing, akin to an art book, solid voice acting, sweet and awkward characters that behave like humans, character layers, and while rushed, the chemistry and character dynamics were very nice. Hits home a couple of times, but it's a great experience still.
2021
Finished Yuito's story as of writting this review, will edit or set the game as mastered once I finish Kasane's route.
I'll start with the art and graphic direction, the world looks nice, it does get you to admire it while you're just vibing to it (for example on main town). There's another thing with the art direction and it's how the cutscenes are handled, most of the times they'll be "manga"~like, which imo, gives it a different identity to other 3d JRPGs.
Second, the sound and music, while at first the Dubstep is a bit of a letdown to me, I'm surprised with the amount of bangers there are, specially later on in the game where there are more orchestral tracks rather than dubstep. I still like the Main town theme despite it's dubstep.
Gameplay, IT'S VERY FUN TO PLAY, there is only one downside tho, playing on Very Hard is a damn punishment lmao, you can get killed by any mistake, I'd say is harder than Modern Ys, but easier than Ys Origin Hard (to make an example). There is only one thing I don't like much about playing on very hard, and that's because some enemies tend to feel like hp sponges, although you can pretty much annihilate them if you rip out their "crush gauge" or take advantage of their weakness as quickly as you can. There's also other features to the gameplay that maintains it fresh without the need of you becoming over powered through new mechanics, so it's very balanced.
Characters: Possibly the highlight for me, character interactions and dynamics are very charming, specially through bonding and team bonding, The confrontation in the story is also a highlight I really liked. Character development is also pretty nice and well done that in a way it can be said that the story is very character driven, which makes it great. There's no petty fanservice, no outrageous tropes, no MC dick sucking.
Story: It's not the greatest story ever, but it does hold up and it's done well, I like the futuristic post apocalyptic setting it has, the lore is cool and I did enjoy the plot twists and all the conflicts that came out of it. Also, the amount of consequences in this game is very high, not just that, the stakes feel real (thanks to the game difficulty btw) because you can really feel the weight of an encounter by how hard it is, and that makes a lot of emphasis towards the story and what the characters feel, so that's a plus for me.
I did rage here and there, because some enemies specially on very hard are somewhat annoying in certain groups, and the quality of design during the last chapters were a bit underwhelming as it felt as they shoved random enemies along your way, fortunately, the final battle did pay off for that, so I forgave it.
Edit: I finally played Kasane's route, but first I maxed out everything I could in Yuito's post game, and it made me reconsider most of the things I disliked, like the endgame and some hp sponges enemies, turns out I did restrict myself a lot by not using certain skills that would have made the experience way better (like the multiple active SAS), it made me appreciate more the endgame and the combat as a whole, as I could get rid of sponge enemies faster.
I also really liked to connect the dots between Yuito and Kasane' story. I disagree HEAVILY with those people that encourage only to play Kasane, play both, because there are still pretty strong emotional moments in Yuito's story (alongside great bonding and character development on his side)
needless to say that Kasane's story was great too, I really liked the confrontation of the team on this one, that, and the rest of the backstories of the characters through bonding. Definitely a game I would recommend to those that want an unique setting, great characters, great story, power system, gameplay and overall anime jrpg enthusiasts.
I'll pick up some dlcs later on, like the Brain Eater DLC as it seems to be a continuation (or to add more to the story)
Overall, It's a solid 8/10 (7.5 for Yuito and 8.5 for Kasane)
I'll start with the art and graphic direction, the world looks nice, it does get you to admire it while you're just vibing to it (for example on main town). There's another thing with the art direction and it's how the cutscenes are handled, most of the times they'll be "manga"~like, which imo, gives it a different identity to other 3d JRPGs.
Second, the sound and music, while at first the Dubstep is a bit of a letdown to me, I'm surprised with the amount of bangers there are, specially later on in the game where there are more orchestral tracks rather than dubstep. I still like the Main town theme despite it's dubstep.
Gameplay, IT'S VERY FUN TO PLAY, there is only one downside tho, playing on Very Hard is a damn punishment lmao, you can get killed by any mistake, I'd say is harder than Modern Ys, but easier than Ys Origin Hard (to make an example). There is only one thing I don't like much about playing on very hard, and that's because some enemies tend to feel like hp sponges, although you can pretty much annihilate them if you rip out their "crush gauge" or take advantage of their weakness as quickly as you can. There's also other features to the gameplay that maintains it fresh without the need of you becoming over powered through new mechanics, so it's very balanced.
Characters: Possibly the highlight for me, character interactions and dynamics are very charming, specially through bonding and team bonding, The confrontation in the story is also a highlight I really liked. Character development is also pretty nice and well done that in a way it can be said that the story is very character driven, which makes it great. There's no petty fanservice, no outrageous tropes, no MC dick sucking.
Story: It's not the greatest story ever, but it does hold up and it's done well, I like the futuristic post apocalyptic setting it has, the lore is cool and I did enjoy the plot twists and all the conflicts that came out of it. Also, the amount of consequences in this game is very high, not just that, the stakes feel real (thanks to the game difficulty btw) because you can really feel the weight of an encounter by how hard it is, and that makes a lot of emphasis towards the story and what the characters feel, so that's a plus for me.
I did rage here and there, because some enemies specially on very hard are somewhat annoying in certain groups, and the quality of design during the last chapters were a bit underwhelming as it felt as they shoved random enemies along your way, fortunately, the final battle did pay off for that, so I forgave it.
Edit: I finally played Kasane's route, but first I maxed out everything I could in Yuito's post game, and it made me reconsider most of the things I disliked, like the endgame and some hp sponges enemies, turns out I did restrict myself a lot by not using certain skills that would have made the experience way better (like the multiple active SAS), it made me appreciate more the endgame and the combat as a whole, as I could get rid of sponge enemies faster.
I also really liked to connect the dots between Yuito and Kasane' story. I disagree HEAVILY with those people that encourage only to play Kasane, play both, because there are still pretty strong emotional moments in Yuito's story (alongside great bonding and character development on his side)
needless to say that Kasane's story was great too, I really liked the confrontation of the team on this one, that, and the rest of the backstories of the characters through bonding. Definitely a game I would recommend to those that want an unique setting, great characters, great story, power system, gameplay and overall anime jrpg enthusiasts.
I'll pick up some dlcs later on, like the Brain Eater DLC as it seems to be a continuation (or to add more to the story)
Overall, It's a solid 8/10 (7.5 for Yuito and 8.5 for Kasane)
2020
This is an unpopular opinion, but Doom Eternal it's not as good as I hoped it would be. It started pretty good and I was having a good time in the first few hours, but the moment the game started to introduce way too many mechanics it started to fell off. There was too many mechanics and gimmicks like, I want to play an FPS, not an annoying gimmicky platformer.
I'm not against enemies having gimmicks, that can be fun in certain games, but not in a FPS, especially one that requires you to have really quick reflexes even tho I wasn't playing on the harder difficulties. I want to mow down enemies just like I did in all the previous Doom entries, but with Eternal, weapons felt really weak outside of their gimmick, I spent most of the time hooking with the super shotgun and refueling with the chainsaw because no other weapon was really that effective at dealing with enemies and that lead to the game becoming way too monotone, annoying and eventually not fun. I would have liked it better if dealing with gimmicks were optional, because dealing with bullet sponges when you're unable to deal with their gimmicks due to lack of Ammo is honestly, really frustrating.
The platforming in Doom Eternal is honestly annoying and at times it required of almost perfect precision, I can't count the times I've lost too many health and armor due to falling, it's honestly frustrating and at a time I stopped bothering trying to reach secrets because of how awful the mechanic felt. The game also seems to have very annoying layouts, like your ship that is unnecessarily way too complex to navigate. I kind of wish Doom Eternal had kept it simple like 2016, not necessarily the same, but sometimes simpler is better.
I liked Doom 2016 stage, gameplay, music and progression better.
I'm not against enemies having gimmicks, that can be fun in certain games, but not in a FPS, especially one that requires you to have really quick reflexes even tho I wasn't playing on the harder difficulties. I want to mow down enemies just like I did in all the previous Doom entries, but with Eternal, weapons felt really weak outside of their gimmick, I spent most of the time hooking with the super shotgun and refueling with the chainsaw because no other weapon was really that effective at dealing with enemies and that lead to the game becoming way too monotone, annoying and eventually not fun. I would have liked it better if dealing with gimmicks were optional, because dealing with bullet sponges when you're unable to deal with their gimmicks due to lack of Ammo is honestly, really frustrating.
The platforming in Doom Eternal is honestly annoying and at times it required of almost perfect precision, I can't count the times I've lost too many health and armor due to falling, it's honestly frustrating and at a time I stopped bothering trying to reach secrets because of how awful the mechanic felt. The game also seems to have very annoying layouts, like your ship that is unnecessarily way too complex to navigate. I kind of wish Doom Eternal had kept it simple like 2016, not necessarily the same, but sometimes simpler is better.
I liked Doom 2016 stage, gameplay, music and progression better.
2011
I had very few interactions with the Sonic Franchise, Always heard it flops at some point in the series, but never really tried them myself. Only played some of the classics and know of the Creepypasta
Generations was pretty fun for the most part, unfortunately filled with some infuriating game level designs, but other than that it was a solid experience.
Generations was pretty fun for the most part, unfortunately filled with some infuriating game level designs, but other than that it was a solid experience.
2020
I demand justice for Mick Gordon.
2022
Gameplay: A
Story: B+
Characters: A
Interface: B+
Misc: B-
Overall 8/10
For starters... The good: Fast pacing through the world is a blessing, Nothing sets me out of an open world than slow movement, so being able to breeze long distances in a short amount of time is great. The combat is fast paced and fun to master, there's many mechanics that will help you against bosses and minibosses (specially minibosses) I like how dynamic the battles are in general, makes fighting minibosses all around an unique experience for the most part as they have a different gimmick to their battle, best part for me is how fun playing as super sonic is, beating the major bosses while, not hard, they're still an spectacle to withhold, and the music does pump up your adrenaline.
For the story, the lore is nice and while I haven't played other sonic games other than Generations, I did not feel lost. There will be a couple of references of other games that will fly over my head, but it was well made. I'm a bit of a sucker regarding Dad/Daughter interactions in media, so I really loved how they humanized the villain through your actions and the reaction of his daughter, it was very Kino.
Music is nice for the most part, the game does have bangers as shown in the main bosses, they're not at the same level as MGR, but they do hype you up and it feels way better while you're at the boss than just hearing it
Interface is very clean, not many unnecessary pop ups on your hud. It has all you need to know without over saturating your screen
The bad:
Cyberspace: They do not match the speed of the open world, so it's often jarring to do them, often making stages a pain in the ass, some of them are fun, and some of them are straight up garbage due to the speed. At least you have the fishing minigame to avoid doing these stages, so there's a turnaround for this.
Objects Poppin: While not annoying, it's kinda jarring to see objects pop up suddenly when Sonic approaches them (way too fast for Render Distance to handle?) it's not too noticeable at first, but once you're aware, you'll notice it more. Hopefully they fix this later.
Final Boss: The change in gameplay is jarring for a final boss, there are several ways this could've gone better, but they had to go with an Ikaruga final battle which I'm not a fan of.
Fortunately, these issues were too minimal to severe my impression of the game, it's still a solid game with some issues here and there, but for the most part is fun.
Story: B+
Characters: A
Interface: B+
Misc: B-
Overall 8/10
For starters... The good: Fast pacing through the world is a blessing, Nothing sets me out of an open world than slow movement, so being able to breeze long distances in a short amount of time is great. The combat is fast paced and fun to master, there's many mechanics that will help you against bosses and minibosses (specially minibosses) I like how dynamic the battles are in general, makes fighting minibosses all around an unique experience for the most part as they have a different gimmick to their battle, best part for me is how fun playing as super sonic is, beating the major bosses while, not hard, they're still an spectacle to withhold, and the music does pump up your adrenaline.
For the story, the lore is nice and while I haven't played other sonic games other than Generations, I did not feel lost. There will be a couple of references of other games that will fly over my head, but it was well made. I'm a bit of a sucker regarding Dad/Daughter interactions in media, so I really loved how they humanized the villain through your actions and the reaction of his daughter, it was very Kino.
Music is nice for the most part, the game does have bangers as shown in the main bosses, they're not at the same level as MGR, but they do hype you up and it feels way better while you're at the boss than just hearing it
Interface is very clean, not many unnecessary pop ups on your hud. It has all you need to know without over saturating your screen
The bad:
Cyberspace: They do not match the speed of the open world, so it's often jarring to do them, often making stages a pain in the ass, some of them are fun, and some of them are straight up garbage due to the speed. At least you have the fishing minigame to avoid doing these stages, so there's a turnaround for this.
Objects Poppin: While not annoying, it's kinda jarring to see objects pop up suddenly when Sonic approaches them (way too fast for Render Distance to handle?) it's not too noticeable at first, but once you're aware, you'll notice it more. Hopefully they fix this later.
Final Boss: The change in gameplay is jarring for a final boss, there are several ways this could've gone better, but they had to go with an Ikaruga final battle which I'm not a fan of.
Fortunately, these issues were too minimal to severe my impression of the game, it's still a solid game with some issues here and there, but for the most part is fun.
Solid game, for the time it was released it might have been really great, but it kinda shows it's age now. Good music, gameplay is a bit jank at times, facial expressions are wacky, some stages are classic annoying as usual (except those that are not Sonic stages)
Story is... eh... well not great but it's good enough.
Story is... eh... well not great but it's good enough.
2023
Great game for Harry Potter Fans, I've managed to do both, exploration while doing side quests and main quests in an attempt to do a decent amount of completion rate.
However, as I did more stuff, it started to become monotone and unrewarding, typical of loot games unfortunately, opening chests, doing trials and what not started to feel dull due to it's lack of variety. At least some quests were pretty interesting, like Poppy's and Sebastian's ones.
This game's value could have been waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay higher if it wasn't a loot game and if the additional content you can do other than opening treasure chests and slaughtering everything in sight were actually rewarding this game could have been a masterpiece, but alas.
It was still a sight to behold, the soundtrack was good, the overall visual quality was a feast to the eyes, using spells, specially unforgivable curses was pretty fun, Flying is fun to some extent too and some boss fights were great, especially the last boss (I did not upgrade any of my gear at all, so the final boss was kinda good for me)
See you next time, maybe on a DLC.
However, as I did more stuff, it started to become monotone and unrewarding, typical of loot games unfortunately, opening chests, doing trials and what not started to feel dull due to it's lack of variety. At least some quests were pretty interesting, like Poppy's and Sebastian's ones.
This game's value could have been waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay higher if it wasn't a loot game and if the additional content you can do other than opening treasure chests and slaughtering everything in sight were actually rewarding this game could have been a masterpiece, but alas.
It was still a sight to behold, the soundtrack was good, the overall visual quality was a feast to the eyes, using spells, specially unforgivable curses was pretty fun, Flying is fun to some extent too and some boss fights were great, especially the last boss (I did not upgrade any of my gear at all, so the final boss was kinda good for me)
See you next time, maybe on a DLC.
What'd you know? best april fools joke ever.
And it even has a kickass soundtrack!
It is also very interesting that the whole mystery was quite really entertaining!
And it even has a kickass soundtrack!
It is also very interesting that the whole mystery was quite really entertaining!