Ameto
3 reviews liked by Ameto
Honkai: Star Rail
2023
A combination of Persona's weakness system and Grandia's timeline manipulation, along with character kits more typical of modern hero-based games, make for combat that is immensely satisfying, and which for me was the perfect turn-based palette cleanser to rebound with after suffering through the particularly disappointing real-time combat of FFXVI.
Hoyoverse' penchant for charming characters, shonen-style action, and stylish combat animations shine, and importantly, relative to their other major title Genshin Impact, numerous quality-of-life improvements to both the time and financial structure of the game have been made that make the experience feel a lot less manipulative and more respectful of said time and wallet, to a degree I wasn't expecting of the studio.
Also, a straight up turn-based equivalent of Rules of Nature exists which was one of the coolest and most hype things I've ever experienced in a turn-based RPG; something I never would've expected from Hoyoverse.
Hoyoverse' penchant for charming characters, shonen-style action, and stylish combat animations shine, and importantly, relative to their other major title Genshin Impact, numerous quality-of-life improvements to both the time and financial structure of the game have been made that make the experience feel a lot less manipulative and more respectful of said time and wallet, to a degree I wasn't expecting of the studio.
Also, a straight up turn-based equivalent of Rules of Nature exists which was one of the coolest and most hype things I've ever experienced in a turn-based RPG; something I never would've expected from Hoyoverse.
Beautiful a game that managed to break my stoic and cold demeanor to a state of a bawling child in need of their mothers aid.
Genshin Impact
2020
If being given the choice to waste your money is a roadblock to enjoying an otherwise free game, that seems like a you problem.
There's no good reason to spend money on Genshin Impact. Really, none whatsoever. The best thing about it is the open world content, and that's all free, and you get more than enough characters and weapons to enjoy said open world content with the currency you get by playing it.
You are then given the option to spend money for additional pulls at the slot machine for more characters and weapons. Just don't? Some of the characters are more interesting than others, but after after you level them and farm some decent artifacts, most things in the open world will die so fast that your teams will mostly feel interchangeable.
They might as well be cosmetics. And, again, you get plenty of pulls for free just by playing the game.
Actually worse than cosmetics in a lot of cases. 5-star weapons and constellation abilities (for additional copies of the same character) will make an already too easy game even easier. You're literally paying to make the game worse.
The closest thing the game has to end-game content that might incentivize spending money is Spiral Abyss, and this is so lazy and unfun that you're better off not thinking about it at all. The devs sure didn't.
There's no good reason to spend money on Genshin Impact. Really, none whatsoever. The best thing about it is the open world content, and that's all free, and you get more than enough characters and weapons to enjoy said open world content with the currency you get by playing it.
You are then given the option to spend money for additional pulls at the slot machine for more characters and weapons. Just don't? Some of the characters are more interesting than others, but after after you level them and farm some decent artifacts, most things in the open world will die so fast that your teams will mostly feel interchangeable.
They might as well be cosmetics. And, again, you get plenty of pulls for free just by playing the game.
Actually worse than cosmetics in a lot of cases. 5-star weapons and constellation abilities (for additional copies of the same character) will make an already too easy game even easier. You're literally paying to make the game worse.
The closest thing the game has to end-game content that might incentivize spending money is Spiral Abyss, and this is so lazy and unfun that you're better off not thinking about it at all. The devs sure didn't.