To attempt to break down what makes breakdown so good is a hard task for me, maybe it’s the slick, intensely immersive first person presentation that’s further enhanced by being able to utilize the strength from the XBOX, the strongest console at the time, maybe it’s twisty, badass 2000’s sci-fi narrative, or maybe, just maybe, its the fucking BEASTLY combat system, I’m not sure I even know how to put my liking for it into words, but goddamn if it isn’t satisfying and unique then I don’t know what is, you get so many combos and some are better than others at doing specific things like you wouldn’t deal with 1 guy the same way you deal with 3 guys, another thing that enhances the combat is the progression of both enemies and your power, the game does a great deal of work to build up and introduce most enemy types, like those buff dudes at the start, all you’ve been fighting are humans and then these dudes pop out of nowhere and have a horror introduction where you walk through the messes they made and then see them absolutely destroy groups of enemies you’d have trouble with, so now you know they’re not to be messed with and you should run the fuck away, which is a great thing, you simply run away from them until you gain enough power to beat the ever living shit out of them, that’s another thing, the power progression is hands-down the best there is, without spoiling anything, you get stronger and stronger as the game goes on and every single moment is cool as fuck and serves to introduce your abilities well, no limp-dick skill tree bullshit.

BREAKDOWN turns boys into men. And you better play it if you have any ounce of love for action media. Just be open-minded regarding it’s control scheme, and don’t forget to block!

This game is some kind of remastered version of xbox & PC release that was poorly received & reviewed. I guess all that remastering paid off because the game I played was excellent, memorable and innovative. Soudtrack is propably the best in any survival horror game ever. This game has features like real-time inventory that are still ahead of games that are being made today. It has flaws, like infuriating driving and platforming sections and bad dialogue, but it's still an amazing game. One of the most underappreciated games I have played, worthy of another remaster.

Let’s not pretend as if we can’t put aside shitty story for sick gameplay when RE4 who’s script was written in a matter of weeks is one of the highest rated games on this site. The physics based puzzles shit all over your typical “get object for locked door” survival horror puzzles that are shamelessly spammed all over the place and don’t receive half as much flack, even figuring out fighting the enemies is more puzzle-like as you have to create makeshift weaponry either with actual crafting or grabbing furniture and putting the enemies to sleep with them, it’s all about on the spot improvisation and it’s sick.

I already had a high opinion on the 7th-gen but this game cemented it as one of my favorites, the more I delve into it’s library the more I notice how many elements it shares with the 6th and yet the contrast between their receptions couldn’t be any wider, I am asking this genuinely, where did all the people who enjoyed the 6th-gen go? I feel like if some of the more praised titles from that gen were to release during the 7th they’d face just as harsh of a reception. The most common complaint you hear about the state of gaming now is how everything plays the same and there’s a distinct lack of creativity, well, what the fuck did any of you expect would happen when the moment any game experimented and didn’t go with the design trends of the time, it was met with lackluster reception, one dogged on title after another mixed in with the sharp increase of development costs pretty much killed creativity in this medium for good unless some miracle happens.

A vampire game heavy on 2000’s grit and atmosphere, fantastic soundtrack, gameplay that manages to sell you on the fantasy of being a vampire and some of the best writing out there make this title a must play. The characters were all so unique and each had their own distinct mannerisms which I thought was incredible and made them all distinct from one another as opposed to being flat cardboard npc’s that feel like they only exist cause the protagonist does. Not only that but their quests were so refreshing and compelling as-well. Although I think the end-game was fumbled in terms of gameplay, whereas most of the game had intriguing side quests, well designed levels, feasible enemies and generally something else to do rather than fight most of the time, the end-game is the complete opposite, it’s mostly combat with barely any breaks which means you’ll eventually get tired of it, and the level design is quite poor at that, the nosferatu sewers and the hallowed apartments being the highlights. Then the game decides to throw enemies with busted ranged weapons at you (the fucking SMG’s) and its just hell to get through, though I will say that this did not really impact my view on the game much because of how fucking amazing it overall is, especially once you know what went down with it’s development.

Man, what an insane step up from Breath of Fire 1 and 2. I was able to appreciate 2 immensely thanks to the fan retranslation which included some qol updates, but thinking back to my playthrough of 1, and how much of a slog it was compared to this game, it's night and day. One thing that helps is that the translation is actually pretty good - there was the occasional odd reading line of dialogue, and full stops are never used to punctuate sentences, for some reason, but for me, one of the most important, defining things that Breath of Fire 3 does is that it takes the unique quirks that worked in its predecessors, and really goes in on them, to the point that there's just such an overwhelming amount of charm that it easily stands out compared to its contemporary jrpgs of the ps1. From the expressiveness of the character sprites, to the groovy soundtrack, the many poignant story beats, even the minigames. It doesn't have the most complex, philosophical jrpg narrative or fleshed out characters, nor does it have the most mechanically engrossing gameplay, but almost every moment of this game was just really fun.

If I had to compare this to anything, it'd be Dragon Quest V. If you love that game as much as I do, you'll love this too, the similarities are evident from the get-go, but this game does a lot to still give itself its own identity.

This game also has Momo so it's literally impossible for it to be bad.

𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘖𝘕𝘌 𝘛𝘏𝘈𝘛 𝘚𝘛𝘈𝘙𝘛𝘌𝘋 𝘐𝘛 𝘈𝘓𝘓
𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘔𝘠𝘛𝘏
𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘓𝘌𝘎𝘌𝘕𝘋
𝚁 𝙴 𝚂 𝙸 𝙳 𝙴 𝙽 𝚃 𝙴 𝚅 𝙸 𝙻 (1996)
𝙳𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚕𝚢 𝚂𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝™️ 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙰𝚛𝚔𝚕𝚊𝚢 𝚖𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚏𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚕, 𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚏𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚎. 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘
𝚃 𝙷 𝙴 𝚂 𝚄 𝚁 𝚅 𝙸 𝚅 𝙰 𝙻 𝙷 𝙾 𝚁 𝚁 𝙾 𝚁
𝙾𝙿𝙴𝚁𝙰𝚃𝙸𝚅𝙴𝚂:
𝙹𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚅𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚎: 𝚂.𝚃.𝙰.𝚁’𝚜 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎, 𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗.
𝙲𝚑𝚛𝚒𝚜 𝚁𝚎𝚍𝚏𝚒𝚎𝚕𝚍: 𝙷𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚢 𝚋𝚎 𝙸𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚜 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚡𝚞𝚊𝚕 𝚍𝚢𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚌 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙰𝚕𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚝.

As rain pours and lightning strikes, our heroes inch closer and closer to the Spencer Mansion, within it’s hollowed rooms linger the living dead, the result of man playing God, a very specific, dying, fascist man for whom the mansion was named after, carrying on the pathetic legacy of his Fuhrer and comrades using any means necessary, recruiting fleeing Nazi WW2 scientists In a bid against time to fight against his very own withering mortality which leads to a hare-brained search for the myth of immortality in all it’s forms, the desire to be One and All resulting from his inability to accept death is what essentially kickstarts the entire series.

The tight progression and the gameplay flow is the strongest part of the series and is what makes it so infinitely replayable, it very much is present here in the series’s first outing and it arguably is executed a lot better than most of the later titles too! Getting more and more used to the Spencer Mansion and memorizing it’s every hallway alongside the quirks (like the ruined doorknob) is quite an enjoyable process, you’ll be dashing by every room in the blink of an eye without even knowing it!