Cerb
2021
In a strange way, Bravely Default II manages to be a regression in so many ways from the previous entries. Starting mechanically from the battle system which employs a turn gauge that is far more flawed in execution than the original turn system. The other new addition to the core battle system is the counter system where enemies perform specific actions in response to certain triggers, which sounds great in theory, but in execution by around the halfway point of the game you're being bombarded with bosses that have the "counter every ability" trigger. Combined with the turn gauge system some of the battles can involve enemies taking 3-4 turns due to gaining BP from counters before your highest speed character can even take 1 turn.
The side quests in this game are some of the worst I've played in JRPG history, they're even lower than MMORPG sidequests. At least in MMORPGS you get flavour text or something to give you context on why you're doing these bitch quests for people, one amazing npc in this game just tells you "I hate goblin archers!" before the game prompts you to go kill 4 goblin archers. It's ludicrous to forgive content like this just because its optional, especially in a classic style jrpg where exploration is meant to be mechanically rewarded with a decent reward, and there are so many side quests in this game that give you nothing of value.
The story is also a huge step backward, crazily enough, the main cast is okay, with the exception of the main protagonist, Seth, who is an lifeless, boring, flat character insert that just gets incredible powers through a completely nebulous chosen one plot. The side characters also share the same fate as Seth, with the saving grace that they appear for far less time than Seth does. The games presentation is also super flawed, and ruins the emotional impact scenes are meant to have. The cutscene direction is extremely weak except for the last few cutscenes in the game and not even the music can save those scenes from feeling completely undercooked.
Overall Bravely Default II had me oddly perplexed at how little it has to offer, even in the Switch's limited library of exclusive JRPGs. Despite having very low expectations going in, especially after Bravely Second, I find myself astounded by how it has broken those expectations by delivering me one of the most undercooked, underdeveloped, and forgettable JRPG's I've ever played.
The side quests in this game are some of the worst I've played in JRPG history, they're even lower than MMORPG sidequests. At least in MMORPGS you get flavour text or something to give you context on why you're doing these bitch quests for people, one amazing npc in this game just tells you "I hate goblin archers!" before the game prompts you to go kill 4 goblin archers. It's ludicrous to forgive content like this just because its optional, especially in a classic style jrpg where exploration is meant to be mechanically rewarded with a decent reward, and there are so many side quests in this game that give you nothing of value.
The story is also a huge step backward, crazily enough, the main cast is okay, with the exception of the main protagonist, Seth, who is an lifeless, boring, flat character insert that just gets incredible powers through a completely nebulous chosen one plot. The side characters also share the same fate as Seth, with the saving grace that they appear for far less time than Seth does. The games presentation is also super flawed, and ruins the emotional impact scenes are meant to have. The cutscene direction is extremely weak except for the last few cutscenes in the game and not even the music can save those scenes from feeling completely undercooked.
Overall Bravely Default II had me oddly perplexed at how little it has to offer, even in the Switch's limited library of exclusive JRPGs. Despite having very low expectations going in, especially after Bravely Second, I find myself astounded by how it has broken those expectations by delivering me one of the most undercooked, underdeveloped, and forgettable JRPG's I've ever played.
Shibuya is often cited as the epicentre for youth culture, at least at it's peak in the 2000s and early 2010s, many aspects of this district embody this from their shopping centres, to the type of music you would hear from the giant billboard television advertising loud jpop to a massive crosswalk of people walking every direction, surrounded by art trying to speak to someone, no matter how manufactured, or genuine a message it is. All of this is embodied in The World Ends With You, a remarkably unique game because of how it incorporates its style, aesthetics, and cultural history into every element it can. It is impossible to seperate this game from the culture and time it belongs to, ironically this makes it timeless in a lot of ways as a time capsule to an era where punk and angst manifested into noise, bombast, and individuality.
Remarkably, The World Ends with You deftly weaves this into its mechanics, with fashion being, appropriately, stat boosting "armour" that varies in effectiveness with the varying trends of fashion in each district, and pins (think more badges) which are the attacks of the game. While a relatively negligible mechanic in practice, particularly in post-game due to the large assortment of extremely powerful unbranded clothes, it cannot be denied that it has a purpose extended beyond gameplay and weaves itself into the foundation of the game. The way the game's foundation of Shibuya manifests even further into its story, while on a surface level it can feel like a dated story about an angsty teen angry at the world learning to see past himself and look at other people as well, there is a lot of subtext present about the way his eyes open up, even beyond his ability to develop friendships once he focuses more on other people, such as the way he views at art, fashion, and individual expression in general.
The key in what makes The World Ends with You one of my favourite games in how all the little details contribute to the greater themes and ideas. A detail I've often seen overlooked are the thoughts you can mindread from people around Shibuya, while you may look at a few thoughts here and there, I find most players would only beeline towards the relevant thoughts for story progression but there are a surprising number of unique thoughts spread across the many generic npcs in the world. Again, this directly loops into our main character's realisation about the people outside his own peripheral vision, as the player perceives people outside the main cast, or even the side cast, and their thoughts permeating the players view, as this mindreading view is required to encounter enemies outside of bosses.
The World Ends with You is getting a sequel in a few months, but whether that game is good or not won't affect how this game is still a beautiful time capsule of an experience, that is well worth your time if you have even a passing interest in anything that Shibuya was about before it's, arguable, modern corporatization and sanitisation. Feel free to post copium if NEO: TWEWY sucks.
Remarkably, The World Ends with You deftly weaves this into its mechanics, with fashion being, appropriately, stat boosting "armour" that varies in effectiveness with the varying trends of fashion in each district, and pins (think more badges) which are the attacks of the game. While a relatively negligible mechanic in practice, particularly in post-game due to the large assortment of extremely powerful unbranded clothes, it cannot be denied that it has a purpose extended beyond gameplay and weaves itself into the foundation of the game. The way the game's foundation of Shibuya manifests even further into its story, while on a surface level it can feel like a dated story about an angsty teen angry at the world learning to see past himself and look at other people as well, there is a lot of subtext present about the way his eyes open up, even beyond his ability to develop friendships once he focuses more on other people, such as the way he views at art, fashion, and individual expression in general.
The key in what makes The World Ends with You one of my favourite games in how all the little details contribute to the greater themes and ideas. A detail I've often seen overlooked are the thoughts you can mindread from people around Shibuya, while you may look at a few thoughts here and there, I find most players would only beeline towards the relevant thoughts for story progression but there are a surprising number of unique thoughts spread across the many generic npcs in the world. Again, this directly loops into our main character's realisation about the people outside his own peripheral vision, as the player perceives people outside the main cast, or even the side cast, and their thoughts permeating the players view, as this mindreading view is required to encounter enemies outside of bosses.
The World Ends with You is getting a sequel in a few months, but whether that game is good or not won't affect how this game is still a beautiful time capsule of an experience, that is well worth your time if you have even a passing interest in anything that Shibuya was about before it's, arguable, modern corporatization and sanitisation. Feel free to post copium if NEO: TWEWY sucks.
When you become an adult, suddenly all the barriers that guided you are gone, whether the barriers were for good or for ill you're left with a strange feeling where before your choices were provided for you, now stretches a horizon of limitless possibilities. It is not a good nor is it a bad thing, but I'll always remember it as being a scary thing and it took me a while to grapple with where my direction was headed once the realisation set in, and the feelings I had of wanting to go back to when life was simpler. This life experience is everything about Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and more, a game which asks questions about the many paths life can take, the choices available to someone, the regret from not taking a choice, and how one can seize their own destiny to move forward from the past, this is easily Takahashi's best work, and the pinnacle of the Xeno-series thus far.
Takahashi forges one of the strongest main casts of characters in a JRPG here, explored thoroughly and meaningfully. One of the biggest merits of the writing of this cast are the frequent discussions everyone has to each other discussing their innermost feelings, insecurities, and doubts. All six members often rarely obscure their problems, and even when they do their counterpart often picks up on any distress immediately and also immediately acts for their friend, it's extremely realistic and heartwarming, ESPECIALLY for a JRPG which normally derives tropes that can be frustratingly obtuse when it comes to social interactions. This step up in character writing is also bolstered by a step up in cutscene direction, the action cutscenes are breathtakingly hype, and when the mood calls for it the lower tempo cutscenes can leave you at the edge of your seat as you watch these kids navigate through the next stage of their lives.
Unfortunately, there has to be some ball dropped when it comes to a Xeno game, and in this case I would say it's the villains, Moebius has a few standout characters in side quests, and like three good characters in the main story, and generally they really just feel like vehicles for the characters to grapple emotional problems around, rather than full characters themselves. It doesn't help that almost every member of Moebius is a sociopathic arrogant manchild, which wears out its welcome pretty quickly. It's very strange to me that they continue to feign arrogance and superiority when by a point in the game our party has killed many of their kind already.
This was the JRPG I didn't know I needed, and I think even if you don't really like the Xeno series, this game is a fantastic entry to the genre as a whole and it feels like a full uncompromised vision of a Monolith Soft game in all its glory, without any of the baggage weighing it down like 2.
Takahashi forges one of the strongest main casts of characters in a JRPG here, explored thoroughly and meaningfully. One of the biggest merits of the writing of this cast are the frequent discussions everyone has to each other discussing their innermost feelings, insecurities, and doubts. All six members often rarely obscure their problems, and even when they do their counterpart often picks up on any distress immediately and also immediately acts for their friend, it's extremely realistic and heartwarming, ESPECIALLY for a JRPG which normally derives tropes that can be frustratingly obtuse when it comes to social interactions. This step up in character writing is also bolstered by a step up in cutscene direction, the action cutscenes are breathtakingly hype, and when the mood calls for it the lower tempo cutscenes can leave you at the edge of your seat as you watch these kids navigate through the next stage of their lives.
Unfortunately, there has to be some ball dropped when it comes to a Xeno game, and in this case I would say it's the villains, Moebius has a few standout characters in side quests, and like three good characters in the main story, and generally they really just feel like vehicles for the characters to grapple emotional problems around, rather than full characters themselves. It doesn't help that almost every member of Moebius is a sociopathic arrogant manchild, which wears out its welcome pretty quickly. It's very strange to me that they continue to feign arrogance and superiority when by a point in the game our party has killed many of their kind already.
This was the JRPG I didn't know I needed, and I think even if you don't really like the Xeno series, this game is a fantastic entry to the genre as a whole and it feels like a full uncompromised vision of a Monolith Soft game in all its glory, without any of the baggage weighing it down like 2.
2024
I cannot lie, I'm genuinely very disappointed in this game, especially with a company as consistently strong an output as Vanillaware it pains me that this game really only has those good ass Vanillaware visuals going for it.
In terms of gameplay, the game has a lot of elements that I would generally enjoy on paper, the formations and the way tactics form together should be so much better than it actually is, there's just so many variables to the point that it largely becomes a numbers game since character building, for the purposes of beating the game (played on the second highest difficulty) is really easy and it's not super hard to make even an unoptimal formation just work through sheer force of will, which really harms the strategy layer. Also the real time Ogre Battle style strategy has a lot of problems on its own. The worst being a lot of quality of life issues, such as not being able to see how your formations will do out of deployment, and the battle forecast changing at the drop of a hat. There's so many variables to battles that you can send a battalion over to an enemy where it says it'll be a sure win, and despite seemingly no other circumstances changing it suddenly switches to a stalemate of a battle which is incredibly frustrating for planning purposes, on top of the fact that if you make mistakes there's no backing out. In many ways I can't help but compare this game to the neighbouring turn based tactics genre, where at least I can make an assessment of which move I can take that would be the most optimal, Unicorn Overlord forces you to throw shit out and if it doesn't work then tough shit, which leads to an incredibly unsatisfying tactical experience. Also there's way too many liberation missions, which I know is for controlling the level curve, but even then the level curve is fucking wacked out by the endgame, there's like a 5 level recommended level jump for no reason. Nearly every gameplay element in the game is something that could work but has a botched enough execution that frustrates me because, man, I really do want to love this game.
But most frustrating of all is the story here, the only way I can describe is like bad Fire Emblem. There's a shitload of characters and they all interact with many others in the army but unlike Fire Emblem these characters offer the substance and flavour of white rice, these characters are truly bland in a way that seems almost alien to me compared to the characters in like Odin Sphere and 13 Sentinels. The story is also dead simple but still does a few things that really hurt its narrative, the villains in this game are fuckin terrible and their motivations never amount to anything interesting, meanwhile all the good guys are so generically good that even the bad guys that become good have some crutch excuse like mind control, hostage situation, or some other hackneyed out that prevents these characters from really flourishing. The rapport system is something I usually always like because it gives these characters that don't really interact in the main story a chance to be fleshed out as characters but all it can offer is the most shallow looks at these characters in their totality to the point that they're just functions to me, Armour guy, Horse guy, Bow guy they never offer anything more interesting than hating the evil empire because they're evil and it's just really surprising to see a game with so much love put into the production lean back so heavily on just being so consistently mid.
Just a really frustrating offering from Vanillaware from me, especially for a game that nearly bankrupted the company I expected so much better because this game really only has its visuals going for it, but I can get that from any other Vanillaware game and actually have a good game too.
In terms of gameplay, the game has a lot of elements that I would generally enjoy on paper, the formations and the way tactics form together should be so much better than it actually is, there's just so many variables to the point that it largely becomes a numbers game since character building, for the purposes of beating the game (played on the second highest difficulty) is really easy and it's not super hard to make even an unoptimal formation just work through sheer force of will, which really harms the strategy layer. Also the real time Ogre Battle style strategy has a lot of problems on its own. The worst being a lot of quality of life issues, such as not being able to see how your formations will do out of deployment, and the battle forecast changing at the drop of a hat. There's so many variables to battles that you can send a battalion over to an enemy where it says it'll be a sure win, and despite seemingly no other circumstances changing it suddenly switches to a stalemate of a battle which is incredibly frustrating for planning purposes, on top of the fact that if you make mistakes there's no backing out. In many ways I can't help but compare this game to the neighbouring turn based tactics genre, where at least I can make an assessment of which move I can take that would be the most optimal, Unicorn Overlord forces you to throw shit out and if it doesn't work then tough shit, which leads to an incredibly unsatisfying tactical experience. Also there's way too many liberation missions, which I know is for controlling the level curve, but even then the level curve is fucking wacked out by the endgame, there's like a 5 level recommended level jump for no reason. Nearly every gameplay element in the game is something that could work but has a botched enough execution that frustrates me because, man, I really do want to love this game.
But most frustrating of all is the story here, the only way I can describe is like bad Fire Emblem. There's a shitload of characters and they all interact with many others in the army but unlike Fire Emblem these characters offer the substance and flavour of white rice, these characters are truly bland in a way that seems almost alien to me compared to the characters in like Odin Sphere and 13 Sentinels. The story is also dead simple but still does a few things that really hurt its narrative, the villains in this game are fuckin terrible and their motivations never amount to anything interesting, meanwhile all the good guys are so generically good that even the bad guys that become good have some crutch excuse like mind control, hostage situation, or some other hackneyed out that prevents these characters from really flourishing. The rapport system is something I usually always like because it gives these characters that don't really interact in the main story a chance to be fleshed out as characters but all it can offer is the most shallow looks at these characters in their totality to the point that they're just functions to me, Armour guy, Horse guy, Bow guy they never offer anything more interesting than hating the evil empire because they're evil and it's just really surprising to see a game with so much love put into the production lean back so heavily on just being so consistently mid.
Just a really frustrating offering from Vanillaware from me, especially for a game that nearly bankrupted the company I expected so much better because this game really only has its visuals going for it, but I can get that from any other Vanillaware game and actually have a good game too.
This review contains spoilers
The original game was lightning in a bottle, the way it impresses will only have ever impressed the first and only time due to how unique of a game it was. Fortunately NTWEWY does not fall into the trap that so many nostalgic returns of the past decade have fallen into, it claws its way into being its own entity, and it succeeds in being a great follow up, and game in its own right.
Starting off with the gameplay, which is probably the weakest aspect for me, the new system is honestly pretty good, if not for a few quirks that hold it back, namely enemy design and frustrating dodging mechanics. While there were good bosses in this game, many of the multi phase bosses fell into the trap of having fucking long ass phase transitions that really hampered my enjoyment when retrying failed attempts. The dodging is probably the worst part of the new gameplay for me, since pressing other pin buttons flies the camera over to the character using that pin, in the heat of battle dodging and pressing a pin on hard mode often leads to lethal consequences that I cannot say is on the part of the player. The side quests are also mostly not very interesting in this game, oft being dives into negative human feelings and helping them move on, while I could see them being in-line with the minor theme of moving on while change is happening around you, reflective of how much Shibuya has changed since 14 years ago, these side quests are still lacking in any depth to meaningfully connect to these themes like the main story does.
The real meat of this game, much like the last for me, is the story and setting and NTWEWY delivers, although I'd have to sit on whether it was as strong as the original entry. The main character Rindou captures a very different kind of modern angst compared to Neku from the previous, he embodies a very relatable modern sensibility of indecisiveness and not putting yourself out there which often gets him into situations where he's forced to turn back time to repeat his actions. A strong point in this game's favour is how Rindou never really invites comparison to Neku, they're completely different people and they each have their own ways of devising a solution and capability to achieve it. Rindou also embodying the meaning of "The World Ends with You" in a similar but different way from Neku also demonstrates how this game is worthy of the series name, while the phrase applied to Neku to mean expand your horizons, for Rindou it means the similar "open yourself up" something he consistently struggles to do due to his insecurity and indecisiveness throughout the story. Fret and Nagi are also good characters, although their character examinations come a bit too late, and (Nagi especially) are fairly abrupt and underexplored compared to the partners from the first game. However, Fret's storyline about his beliefs on being genuine versus being what people want you to be rings strong in the image focused world that has always surrounded Shibuya. Rounding out the party are returning characters Beat, Neku, Minamimoto, and newly introduced Reaper Shoka (Best girl).
A pitfall a modern follow up to an old game often runs into is how it beholds itself in reverence to the old game, and letting that get in the way of trying to be it's own entity and the game cleverly avoids that in how it positions the returning characters. Minamimoto is the crutch and mentor that gives the group the confidence to tackle the first week, and his absence is what causes the flaws of the individuals of the group to display, which is why the next party member is Beat who is someone that has overcome themselves and offer guidance and mentorship in a way I never thought the himbo could. Beat's positive vibes highlights not only how the people in the previous game had grown up and moved on from their dilemmas, but can actively wedge themselves into a group struggling through similar issues and give them guidance. Neku also fulfils a similar purpose, and it's very pleasing to see what a calming and confident presence he's become in this game, contrasting to his depiction in the awful A New Day from the switch re-release.
The aspect of the game that surprised me most is the final week, and makes me wonder when this game started development. Perhaps it is a projection, but the week being about a type of Noise called plague noise and spreading rapidly thoughout the city making people depressed, listless, and depriving the city of the energy it once had sounds very familiar to me, in 2021. Yes, people bustle like there isn't a pandemic but I'd be surprised if the pandemic had nothing to do with the direction the story takes in this game, and the soliloquys from the characters about the state of the city in the face of this syndrome hits close to home, as someone that has a love of Shibuya and what it represents to culture at large. If there's anything the developers of this game had managed to reproduce, it's their love for this city. Detail is still abundant with all the modern additions to Shibuya in beautiful detail. Much like real life fashion brands, while there are returning ones, new brands have replaced a lot of the older ones, although it maintains the same theme of Zodiac animals.
The game has two main themes I've surmised: Taking things into your own hands and not relying on a higher power, and trying to surmount a system working against you. In this game, the Reaper's game is rigged and the main three find themselves relying on more powerful people than them to solve their issues for them. Week 2 begins with the cast concerned that they will be erased simply because they don't have Minamimoto with them despite the three having their own unique abilities that they could not have navigated the first week without. As I've drunkenly ranted about to my friends before, the feeling of being part of a system stacked against you strikes very true, especially nowadays with so much out of your control, it's very easy to just accede to whatever higher power dictates it all. Staying to it's punk roots, this game defiantly and proudly shouts to keep pushing and eventually you'll find your way forward, and I can't help but admire this game for such a wonderful and relevant message, it's hard to not smile and cheer when the characters persistently trudge through a blatantly rigged system and come out on top.
The original game is one that I've analysed and immersed myself into completely. While I don't think this entry is as strong as that one, it's entirely possible with more time and research the hidden detail of this game will shine just as brightly as it's predecessor, but for what I just experienced, it was well worth my time and the follow up to the original I never thought I'd have.
And the music fucking slaps, of course.
Starting off with the gameplay, which is probably the weakest aspect for me, the new system is honestly pretty good, if not for a few quirks that hold it back, namely enemy design and frustrating dodging mechanics. While there were good bosses in this game, many of the multi phase bosses fell into the trap of having fucking long ass phase transitions that really hampered my enjoyment when retrying failed attempts. The dodging is probably the worst part of the new gameplay for me, since pressing other pin buttons flies the camera over to the character using that pin, in the heat of battle dodging and pressing a pin on hard mode often leads to lethal consequences that I cannot say is on the part of the player. The side quests are also mostly not very interesting in this game, oft being dives into negative human feelings and helping them move on, while I could see them being in-line with the minor theme of moving on while change is happening around you, reflective of how much Shibuya has changed since 14 years ago, these side quests are still lacking in any depth to meaningfully connect to these themes like the main story does.
The real meat of this game, much like the last for me, is the story and setting and NTWEWY delivers, although I'd have to sit on whether it was as strong as the original entry. The main character Rindou captures a very different kind of modern angst compared to Neku from the previous, he embodies a very relatable modern sensibility of indecisiveness and not putting yourself out there which often gets him into situations where he's forced to turn back time to repeat his actions. A strong point in this game's favour is how Rindou never really invites comparison to Neku, they're completely different people and they each have their own ways of devising a solution and capability to achieve it. Rindou also embodying the meaning of "The World Ends with You" in a similar but different way from Neku also demonstrates how this game is worthy of the series name, while the phrase applied to Neku to mean expand your horizons, for Rindou it means the similar "open yourself up" something he consistently struggles to do due to his insecurity and indecisiveness throughout the story. Fret and Nagi are also good characters, although their character examinations come a bit too late, and (Nagi especially) are fairly abrupt and underexplored compared to the partners from the first game. However, Fret's storyline about his beliefs on being genuine versus being what people want you to be rings strong in the image focused world that has always surrounded Shibuya. Rounding out the party are returning characters Beat, Neku, Minamimoto, and newly introduced Reaper Shoka (Best girl).
A pitfall a modern follow up to an old game often runs into is how it beholds itself in reverence to the old game, and letting that get in the way of trying to be it's own entity and the game cleverly avoids that in how it positions the returning characters. Minamimoto is the crutch and mentor that gives the group the confidence to tackle the first week, and his absence is what causes the flaws of the individuals of the group to display, which is why the next party member is Beat who is someone that has overcome themselves and offer guidance and mentorship in a way I never thought the himbo could. Beat's positive vibes highlights not only how the people in the previous game had grown up and moved on from their dilemmas, but can actively wedge themselves into a group struggling through similar issues and give them guidance. Neku also fulfils a similar purpose, and it's very pleasing to see what a calming and confident presence he's become in this game, contrasting to his depiction in the awful A New Day from the switch re-release.
The aspect of the game that surprised me most is the final week, and makes me wonder when this game started development. Perhaps it is a projection, but the week being about a type of Noise called plague noise and spreading rapidly thoughout the city making people depressed, listless, and depriving the city of the energy it once had sounds very familiar to me, in 2021. Yes, people bustle like there isn't a pandemic but I'd be surprised if the pandemic had nothing to do with the direction the story takes in this game, and the soliloquys from the characters about the state of the city in the face of this syndrome hits close to home, as someone that has a love of Shibuya and what it represents to culture at large. If there's anything the developers of this game had managed to reproduce, it's their love for this city. Detail is still abundant with all the modern additions to Shibuya in beautiful detail. Much like real life fashion brands, while there are returning ones, new brands have replaced a lot of the older ones, although it maintains the same theme of Zodiac animals.
The game has two main themes I've surmised: Taking things into your own hands and not relying on a higher power, and trying to surmount a system working against you. In this game, the Reaper's game is rigged and the main three find themselves relying on more powerful people than them to solve their issues for them. Week 2 begins with the cast concerned that they will be erased simply because they don't have Minamimoto with them despite the three having their own unique abilities that they could not have navigated the first week without. As I've drunkenly ranted about to my friends before, the feeling of being part of a system stacked against you strikes very true, especially nowadays with so much out of your control, it's very easy to just accede to whatever higher power dictates it all. Staying to it's punk roots, this game defiantly and proudly shouts to keep pushing and eventually you'll find your way forward, and I can't help but admire this game for such a wonderful and relevant message, it's hard to not smile and cheer when the characters persistently trudge through a blatantly rigged system and come out on top.
The original game is one that I've analysed and immersed myself into completely. While I don't think this entry is as strong as that one, it's entirely possible with more time and research the hidden detail of this game will shine just as brightly as it's predecessor, but for what I just experienced, it was well worth my time and the follow up to the original I never thought I'd have.
And the music fucking slaps, of course.
2023
A profoundly disappointing experience, Intelligent Systems has displayed that they have the capability to make the peak of strategy RPG gameplay (Fates: Conquest) and that they still have the writers to make even an afterthought of an NES game's story good with lively characters and interestingly explored motivations and relationships (Shadows of Valentia) and has decided to discard all that quality to phone it in for a game that lacks both of these aspects. Coming out after Three Houses doesn't help, a game that pushed the series' character writing and support conversation quality to the next level.
In terms of story, the game I'd consider just below Awakening's, the world they craft is extremely poor and the four kingdoms are given traits that ultimately don't matter in the grand scheme of the narrative since the plot is solely focused on the conflict between the divine dragon side and the fell dragon side, which ruins a lot of the characters motivations since its never illustrated, for example, why Diamant is different from his father, except that Diamant wants to end the constant invasions from Brodia's end. However, King Morion is beloved by everyone, and no one can say any wrong about him as a person nor as a ruler, the same applies to every other currently ruling character in the world which completely deflates every character's aims and goals of trying to make the world a better place when it's already idyllic with only the extremely recent threat of the corrupted meaning anything in the grand scheme of the world.
The plot itself is incredibly weak, with an absolutely poor execution on even simple topics, topics the series has explored before even in it's very first incarnation and succeeded more than this game does. I'm not opposed to the game having simple writing, simple themes, simple characters but this game is no Dragon Quest, there is an almost negative charisma emanating from some of the scenes and dialogue that happen throughout the story with some laughably terrible moments like introducing a character in one chapter and giving them a """tragic""" death in the next chapter only a few minutes later. On a note unrelated to the game's quality, it's completely baffling to me how much leeway is given to this game because it's not attempting to make anything more than the sentai monster of the week that it is, this is a series about heroic fantasy in the context of war and has always managed to hold a level of decorum about it even in the worst stories like Fates.
The characters are especially disappointing in this game, for me a pillar of the series ever since Genealogy has always been to expand side characters through meaningful side conversation which the support system was brilliant for, maybe even being my favourite aspect of the series, and Engage absolutely guts the system, with meaningless drivel that even the tropiest of characters in other games at least topped in quality. This might even be the only Fire Emblem game where I simply did not care about most of the supports in the game, most of them feeling like a waste of my time and an exercise in demolishing any character potential a character might have had. The characters aren't just simple walking cliches played straight, they're worse than that because of the aforementioned problems with the world, but they don't even get to be meaningfully involved with each other with paired endings, an aspect of the series present since Genealogy, being absent which isn't simply shippers not being catered to, but there were paired endings in previous games that weren't just marriage related which bolstered those games' commitments to forging ironclad lifelong bonds through said games' conflicts, something this game barely feels like it does.
On a slightly related note, the hub in this game is absolutely terrible, the characters within never have anything interesting to say at all, something the Three Houses hub was great at. The gameplay in the hub is also atrocious, the place is shit to navigate with functions you'll be returning to frequently being behind separate doors with loading screens resulting in a very clunky experience that makes doing anything in the hub a chore, on top of the dogshit minigames. Who really asked for a timing minigame for temporary buffs? Or a shitty rail shooter?
The level design of the maps are okay at best, while there are some interesting objectives and ideas here and there, they are few and far between as a whole. I wasn't expecting something like the series' highs after seeing footage of the Engage mechanics, but the maps here never hit anything distinctive for me, aside from one chapter. The Engage aspect of the gameplay is a mixed bag, on one hand its fun to steamroll through enemies with your super powered bankais, but most of the game just does not account for these superpowers. For reference I played on Hard Mode, because Fire Emblem games historically have not done the highest difficulty very well with very few exceptions, and I did not have trouble at all past chapter 11 or so, save for doing paralogues under the recommended level. The paralogues are generally where the bulk of the interesting map design stems from, except that most of these mechanics and good design is jacked wholesale from previous games anyway, regardless of whether that is intentional because of the anniversary nature of the game I just think its really sad that the game's best ideas are just from older games.
Finally, I take umbrage with how the game handles the anniversary aspect of it, which bleeds into every aspect of the game. The best way to illustrate my frustration with it is Awakening which was also an anniversary game, and one with a lot more dignity than this game. Engage performs very blatant and in your face pandering that just feels like a mobile gacha game, as opposed to Awakening which relegated overt references to previous games to design aspects or very specific callbacks that worked, whereas Engage is content to just throw out previous game references raw and hope people will bite, which they probably did, but there's just no dignity or elegance to how the game handles its legacy, down to having a fucking gacha of all things.
Fire Emblem Engage is the series indulging in its vices at its worst, and I really hope that this isn't the vibe going forward because this is my favourite video game series, and its really sad to see the future I envisioned at my most cynical after Awakening and Fates actually coming true following two other excellent entries in the series that regained all my good will back.
In terms of story, the game I'd consider just below Awakening's, the world they craft is extremely poor and the four kingdoms are given traits that ultimately don't matter in the grand scheme of the narrative since the plot is solely focused on the conflict between the divine dragon side and the fell dragon side, which ruins a lot of the characters motivations since its never illustrated, for example, why Diamant is different from his father, except that Diamant wants to end the constant invasions from Brodia's end. However, King Morion is beloved by everyone, and no one can say any wrong about him as a person nor as a ruler, the same applies to every other currently ruling character in the world which completely deflates every character's aims and goals of trying to make the world a better place when it's already idyllic with only the extremely recent threat of the corrupted meaning anything in the grand scheme of the world.
The plot itself is incredibly weak, with an absolutely poor execution on even simple topics, topics the series has explored before even in it's very first incarnation and succeeded more than this game does. I'm not opposed to the game having simple writing, simple themes, simple characters but this game is no Dragon Quest, there is an almost negative charisma emanating from some of the scenes and dialogue that happen throughout the story with some laughably terrible moments like introducing a character in one chapter and giving them a """tragic""" death in the next chapter only a few minutes later. On a note unrelated to the game's quality, it's completely baffling to me how much leeway is given to this game because it's not attempting to make anything more than the sentai monster of the week that it is, this is a series about heroic fantasy in the context of war and has always managed to hold a level of decorum about it even in the worst stories like Fates.
The characters are especially disappointing in this game, for me a pillar of the series ever since Genealogy has always been to expand side characters through meaningful side conversation which the support system was brilliant for, maybe even being my favourite aspect of the series, and Engage absolutely guts the system, with meaningless drivel that even the tropiest of characters in other games at least topped in quality. This might even be the only Fire Emblem game where I simply did not care about most of the supports in the game, most of them feeling like a waste of my time and an exercise in demolishing any character potential a character might have had. The characters aren't just simple walking cliches played straight, they're worse than that because of the aforementioned problems with the world, but they don't even get to be meaningfully involved with each other with paired endings, an aspect of the series present since Genealogy, being absent which isn't simply shippers not being catered to, but there were paired endings in previous games that weren't just marriage related which bolstered those games' commitments to forging ironclad lifelong bonds through said games' conflicts, something this game barely feels like it does.
On a slightly related note, the hub in this game is absolutely terrible, the characters within never have anything interesting to say at all, something the Three Houses hub was great at. The gameplay in the hub is also atrocious, the place is shit to navigate with functions you'll be returning to frequently being behind separate doors with loading screens resulting in a very clunky experience that makes doing anything in the hub a chore, on top of the dogshit minigames. Who really asked for a timing minigame for temporary buffs? Or a shitty rail shooter?
The level design of the maps are okay at best, while there are some interesting objectives and ideas here and there, they are few and far between as a whole. I wasn't expecting something like the series' highs after seeing footage of the Engage mechanics, but the maps here never hit anything distinctive for me, aside from one chapter. The Engage aspect of the gameplay is a mixed bag, on one hand its fun to steamroll through enemies with your super powered bankais, but most of the game just does not account for these superpowers. For reference I played on Hard Mode, because Fire Emblem games historically have not done the highest difficulty very well with very few exceptions, and I did not have trouble at all past chapter 11 or so, save for doing paralogues under the recommended level. The paralogues are generally where the bulk of the interesting map design stems from, except that most of these mechanics and good design is jacked wholesale from previous games anyway, regardless of whether that is intentional because of the anniversary nature of the game I just think its really sad that the game's best ideas are just from older games.
Finally, I take umbrage with how the game handles the anniversary aspect of it, which bleeds into every aspect of the game. The best way to illustrate my frustration with it is Awakening which was also an anniversary game, and one with a lot more dignity than this game. Engage performs very blatant and in your face pandering that just feels like a mobile gacha game, as opposed to Awakening which relegated overt references to previous games to design aspects or very specific callbacks that worked, whereas Engage is content to just throw out previous game references raw and hope people will bite, which they probably did, but there's just no dignity or elegance to how the game handles its legacy, down to having a fucking gacha of all things.
Fire Emblem Engage is the series indulging in its vices at its worst, and I really hope that this isn't the vibe going forward because this is my favourite video game series, and its really sad to see the future I envisioned at my most cynical after Awakening and Fates actually coming true following two other excellent entries in the series that regained all my good will back.
2022
Probably one of the most unremarkable SMT games in the franchise, with the safest approach taken to one of the most radically unique franchises within the JRPG space. The title languishes in flat, samey combat within overlong dungeons, wrapped around a completely by the numbers budget JRPG story.
Principally, one of main reasons I get into this franchise is the satisfying progression loop of acquiring stronger demons. Most games lets you do this via demon negotiation, and subsequently fusing demons you obtain. However, Soul Hackers 2 finds a way to make that feel worse too, since recruitment is now wrested from player control and given to randomly appearing nodes, of which a random demon emerges which is two layers of RNG just to obtain the demon you want, which is absurd. On top of that, the game ends around the level 60-70 mark so you never get to experience the ceiling of demons in a normal playthrough which is pretty absurd to me. It makes the progression feel stunted, and I find myself pretty attached to certain demons because of gameplay history so it's disappointing that I just didn't get to use them here.
The story is the most painful part here, because its not even bad enough to get like AVGN mad at, because it's just the most stereotypical JRPG plot you can think of in this regard without anything else to hold it up. Character storylines come and go in a flash and it's hard to care about anything outside of just a tenuous attachment to character personalities, of which yeah Saizo and Milady are pretty cool characters but their storylines amount to nothing. The main plot just glides by then switches gears right as the ending is about ready to float on through and before you know it the game is over, nothing interesting to say, no food for thought, probably the most vapid thematics in an SMT game since like, TMS#FE but even that game had something to say about the entertainment industry.
This game really just coasts along on franchise recognition, good aesthetics, the baseline good gameplay as expected from an Atlus JRPG, but with none of the flavour, the substance, or anything that'll make this game worth talking about even years from now, and it really makes me sad because I've been opining for years about how Atlus had regressed in making SMT spin-offs, only to be met with this, I think I'd be happier with just the Persona and mainline SMTs.
Principally, one of main reasons I get into this franchise is the satisfying progression loop of acquiring stronger demons. Most games lets you do this via demon negotiation, and subsequently fusing demons you obtain. However, Soul Hackers 2 finds a way to make that feel worse too, since recruitment is now wrested from player control and given to randomly appearing nodes, of which a random demon emerges which is two layers of RNG just to obtain the demon you want, which is absurd. On top of that, the game ends around the level 60-70 mark so you never get to experience the ceiling of demons in a normal playthrough which is pretty absurd to me. It makes the progression feel stunted, and I find myself pretty attached to certain demons because of gameplay history so it's disappointing that I just didn't get to use them here.
The story is the most painful part here, because its not even bad enough to get like AVGN mad at, because it's just the most stereotypical JRPG plot you can think of in this regard without anything else to hold it up. Character storylines come and go in a flash and it's hard to care about anything outside of just a tenuous attachment to character personalities, of which yeah Saizo and Milady are pretty cool characters but their storylines amount to nothing. The main plot just glides by then switches gears right as the ending is about ready to float on through and before you know it the game is over, nothing interesting to say, no food for thought, probably the most vapid thematics in an SMT game since like, TMS#FE but even that game had something to say about the entertainment industry.
This game really just coasts along on franchise recognition, good aesthetics, the baseline good gameplay as expected from an Atlus JRPG, but with none of the flavour, the substance, or anything that'll make this game worth talking about even years from now, and it really makes me sad because I've been opining for years about how Atlus had regressed in making SMT spin-offs, only to be met with this, I think I'd be happier with just the Persona and mainline SMTs.
2021
I should preface this by saying this game is an absolute banger, in terms of the series however I find myself a little more mixed. The series doesn't exactly have a game that encapsulates all the good parts that have come before and Shin Megami Tensei V continues this trend with some incredible leaps forward, and a few stumbling points I had at the back of my mind my whole time playing.
Principally, this series has always been one of the mechanically strongest series in the genre and thankfully V continues that with an excellent system in it's own right, combining the Nocturne systems (one of many aspects it really wants to be Nocturne in) with the conveniences of the 4 duology. Unfortunately, I did find there was a seriously annoying regression with the main character's death equalling a game over, something the previous game had corrected. On the other hand, this game introduces the essence system which adds a whole new layer of customisability and preparation to the strategic gameplay which is a fantastic addition, on a more sentimental level it also allowed me to keep demons I like relevant throughout the whole game, even rewarding me for doing so since demons I kept around for a while often had higher stats than newly fused demons up until I hit the endgame demon 90+ chads.
In terms of atmosphere and world design, I quite enjoyed what this game had to offer. Instead of the dungeons the mainline series was known for, this opts for island pockets of areas connected to each other and it works well for the most part. The designers clearly did put some consideration into how a demon's circumstances dictated the kinda place they would hang out at (mermaids at a lake, Jack Frosts in a warehouse etc.) and it's very ambient in it's own way since the world at play here is also not really anything like the other games in the series, and this is where the world sorta loses me. In the other SMT games, demons at one point or another acclimate their society into the ruins of whichever Japanese city the game takes place in, but in this one they're kinda just hanging around which is strange, with the exception of the final overworld area, and there isn't really much thought put into how these demons function in this society, and yes I am aware that it's because in this entry society is just desert but later revelations make me question this viewpoint as well.
Philosophically, this series might be the weakest to date, Apocalypse aside, the representatives for each faction are somehow weaker than the 1 dimensional guys from the SNES games. It's strange because they're present throughout the entire game, and this entry opts for less extreme worldviews on the Law and Chaos spectrum, so they're views are even less pronounced to me. I actually still genuinely don't understand what the Chaos representative's character even is. SMT might not be a franchise that really focuses on stories, but the front facing characters for alignments has always been an important factor for illustrating how these worldviews align with a human point of view, and this game fails pretty hard in this regard.
And importantly I should note that this game seems really beholden to Nocturne and I don't think it works in it's favour. There are a lot of shared iconography and references which are cool nods but I'd hazard to say it contributes much to the game's own identity, which is already in a questionable state due to it's thematics and philosophy being as weak as they are.
However, these negatives don't really kill the game for me, the gameplay and encounters always had that Shin Megami Tensei seal of quality for me that at least kept the game really good and engaging that I'd just spend my free time plowing through it all as much as I can, and in a year of excellent games I'd still say this manages to stand high amongst the titans of this year. I'd overall recommend this entry as a great entry point for newcomers too, it is the most accessible SMT game for sure, while still maintaining the strengths of SMT as a series.
Principally, this series has always been one of the mechanically strongest series in the genre and thankfully V continues that with an excellent system in it's own right, combining the Nocturne systems (one of many aspects it really wants to be Nocturne in) with the conveniences of the 4 duology. Unfortunately, I did find there was a seriously annoying regression with the main character's death equalling a game over, something the previous game had corrected. On the other hand, this game introduces the essence system which adds a whole new layer of customisability and preparation to the strategic gameplay which is a fantastic addition, on a more sentimental level it also allowed me to keep demons I like relevant throughout the whole game, even rewarding me for doing so since demons I kept around for a while often had higher stats than newly fused demons up until I hit the endgame demon 90+ chads.
In terms of atmosphere and world design, I quite enjoyed what this game had to offer. Instead of the dungeons the mainline series was known for, this opts for island pockets of areas connected to each other and it works well for the most part. The designers clearly did put some consideration into how a demon's circumstances dictated the kinda place they would hang out at (mermaids at a lake, Jack Frosts in a warehouse etc.) and it's very ambient in it's own way since the world at play here is also not really anything like the other games in the series, and this is where the world sorta loses me. In the other SMT games, demons at one point or another acclimate their society into the ruins of whichever Japanese city the game takes place in, but in this one they're kinda just hanging around which is strange, with the exception of the final overworld area, and there isn't really much thought put into how these demons function in this society, and yes I am aware that it's because in this entry society is just desert but later revelations make me question this viewpoint as well.
Philosophically, this series might be the weakest to date, Apocalypse aside, the representatives for each faction are somehow weaker than the 1 dimensional guys from the SNES games. It's strange because they're present throughout the entire game, and this entry opts for less extreme worldviews on the Law and Chaos spectrum, so they're views are even less pronounced to me. I actually still genuinely don't understand what the Chaos representative's character even is. SMT might not be a franchise that really focuses on stories, but the front facing characters for alignments has always been an important factor for illustrating how these worldviews align with a human point of view, and this game fails pretty hard in this regard.
And importantly I should note that this game seems really beholden to Nocturne and I don't think it works in it's favour. There are a lot of shared iconography and references which are cool nods but I'd hazard to say it contributes much to the game's own identity, which is already in a questionable state due to it's thematics and philosophy being as weak as they are.
However, these negatives don't really kill the game for me, the gameplay and encounters always had that Shin Megami Tensei seal of quality for me that at least kept the game really good and engaging that I'd just spend my free time plowing through it all as much as I can, and in a year of excellent games I'd still say this manages to stand high amongst the titans of this year. I'd overall recommend this entry as a great entry point for newcomers too, it is the most accessible SMT game for sure, while still maintaining the strengths of SMT as a series.
No one really remembers Baten Kaitos in spite of the huge fame the studio behind it gets for their much lauded Xeno series of games, either because of the platform the game is on or the unbelievably bad voice acting and utterly bizarre combat system acting as an, admittedly, high barrier to entry. However, what this game lacks in modern values such as accessibility in gameplay (and a respect for the player's time) is an utterly unique and beautiful transitional JRPG that iterates upon the last generation of JRPGs by taking advantage of what new hardware can bring and managing to take off as a distinctive game even to this day. No other game does a card battle RPG system quite like it, nor do any other card battle RPGs being anywhere near as good.
Baten Kaitos retains, or possibly births given it's release date, a lot of storytelling quirks that would be present in future Xeno games too, taking an utterly unique premise with its world, and giving you story beats that twist and turn in fantastic ways as the story progresses with an endearing cast of characters. It really should be experienced for yourself, and nowadays there are a good number of ways you can play this game not on the original hardware so I highly encourage anyone to check out this game and not let it be lost to a wikipedia article or some dude's reddit post or backloggd review.
Baten Kaitos retains, or possibly births given it's release date, a lot of storytelling quirks that would be present in future Xeno games too, taking an utterly unique premise with its world, and giving you story beats that twist and turn in fantastic ways as the story progresses with an endearing cast of characters. It really should be experienced for yourself, and nowadays there are a good number of ways you can play this game not on the original hardware so I highly encourage anyone to check out this game and not let it be lost to a wikipedia article or some dude's reddit post or backloggd review.
2019
Persona 5 Royal improves on Persona 5 in every way, unfortunately this way is so disconnected storywise that it almost acts as an entirely seperate experience to the main game, being thematically an almost condemnation of the main game's storyline due to how disjointed the two narratives are. However, it is a superior storyline in almost every way, discarding many of the awful villains employed before in favour of one that had some pathos and connection to the themes of the Persona series as a whole of the exploration of the self, rather than the exploration of society the original Persona 5 opted for.
Gameplay takes a simultaneous leap in interesting ideas and a large stumble in difficulty due to said ideas, the new systems at play all make an easy experience absolutely trivial, an example being Persona traits add a lot more customisation to personalising a Persona's playstyle and ability usage but it becomes apparent this system isn't balanced at all, like giving Alice the ability to make instant death spells cost no SP, resulting in Alice killing every encounter that doesn't have an immunity to death instantly and cancelling out most late game random encounters. Ultimately, Persona 5 Royal shines in what it doesn't share with it's predecessor, and what it does share looks even worse in comparison.
Gameplay takes a simultaneous leap in interesting ideas and a large stumble in difficulty due to said ideas, the new systems at play all make an easy experience absolutely trivial, an example being Persona traits add a lot more customisation to personalising a Persona's playstyle and ability usage but it becomes apparent this system isn't balanced at all, like giving Alice the ability to make instant death spells cost no SP, resulting in Alice killing every encounter that doesn't have an immunity to death instantly and cancelling out most late game random encounters. Ultimately, Persona 5 Royal shines in what it doesn't share with it's predecessor, and what it does share looks even worse in comparison.
2019
Code Vein is one of the most incredibly insane and laughably bad games I've ever played. It somehow jacks up everything that was bad about the Souls games to an incredibly degree that it's hard not to see as a parody of souls games and anime. Full disclosure but I also played most of the game in multiplayer which furthered added to the experience of playing an interactive version of The Room where I can see the passion seeping through every aspect of this game but misdirected passion much like Tommy Wiseau himself.
The level design is some of the worst I had the pleasure of laughing the whole way through with my mates, so many fuck you moments I have to assume the developers were sitting at their desks with the biggest shit eating grins on their faces going "HEHEHEH IM SO SMART" and I lapped up every unseeable death pit and enemy spawning from a wall. It is incredibly impressive for a game to have made a map that is useless in 2019, the map doesn't have layers and a lot of the levels vertically stack across large distances so the map becomes a liability more than anything.
This game is really seen to be believed how ludicrously bad it is, give it a shot and drink in all the awful map design, terrible combat choices, and baffling systems that were just put in because they looked cool while misunderstanding everything that a good soulsborne does right
The level design is some of the worst I had the pleasure of laughing the whole way through with my mates, so many fuck you moments I have to assume the developers were sitting at their desks with the biggest shit eating grins on their faces going "HEHEHEH IM SO SMART" and I lapped up every unseeable death pit and enemy spawning from a wall. It is incredibly impressive for a game to have made a map that is useless in 2019, the map doesn't have layers and a lot of the levels vertically stack across large distances so the map becomes a liability more than anything.
This game is really seen to be believed how ludicrously bad it is, give it a shot and drink in all the awful map design, terrible combat choices, and baffling systems that were just put in because they looked cool while misunderstanding everything that a good soulsborne does right
While Moon has been cited as the inspiration for many experiences, most notably Undertale, it manages to be an experience unlike those games in very nuanced and surprising ways, especially considering how far back a progenitor this game is to video game genre deconstruction tropes and common themes. Normally when a game seeks out to satirise a genre it usually comes off as pessimistic, admittedly this is due to the nature of such satires bringing in meta-commentary about the disparity between the world in a video game and the world outside, but Moon struck me as a very optimistic experience despite its premise.
Yes, it features the classic genre deconstruction trope of classical style protagonists in video games coming off more murderous and psychopathic in a more realistic setting but it's not actually where the game chooses to focus, even that trope is played with in that most of the townspeople mock the hero for their behaviour and regard them as a general nuisance more than anything. When the game pulls back and allows you free exploration you find a remarkable ecosystem of characters with their own sets of routines, special events, and reactions to other events and items in a uniquely impressive way, doubly so in lieu of the time and platform it was originally developed for.
These NPCs are where the real optimism of the game shines through, with how they interact with one another and the player still coming off as lighthearted and, most of all, never meanspirited. There are mean characters for sure, such as the old man in the windmill and the hero but both are part of the protagonist's journey to find love, a journey that is the main focus of the game as you find love you also spread love which is a wholly beautiful and optimistic view on a more grounded and mundane kind of RPG quest. Overall, this game is a wonderful adventure, more point and click adventure style than RPG admittedly, that's well worth visiting even now as a timeless classic that will stay with you long after you reach the ending.
Yes, it features the classic genre deconstruction trope of classical style protagonists in video games coming off more murderous and psychopathic in a more realistic setting but it's not actually where the game chooses to focus, even that trope is played with in that most of the townspeople mock the hero for their behaviour and regard them as a general nuisance more than anything. When the game pulls back and allows you free exploration you find a remarkable ecosystem of characters with their own sets of routines, special events, and reactions to other events and items in a uniquely impressive way, doubly so in lieu of the time and platform it was originally developed for.
These NPCs are where the real optimism of the game shines through, with how they interact with one another and the player still coming off as lighthearted and, most of all, never meanspirited. There are mean characters for sure, such as the old man in the windmill and the hero but both are part of the protagonist's journey to find love, a journey that is the main focus of the game as you find love you also spread love which is a wholly beautiful and optimistic view on a more grounded and mundane kind of RPG quest. Overall, this game is a wonderful adventure, more point and click adventure style than RPG admittedly, that's well worth visiting even now as a timeless classic that will stay with you long after you reach the ending.
At the back of my mind I was always ready to say that Shadowbringers was a fluke, it was preceded by a story that had very little going for it, save for independent storylines divorced from the grander narrative here and there, and to get to Shadowbringers you had the brave the greatest trial of all; boredom from the base game content until Heavensward. However Endwalker embodies everything that made Shadowbringers good and sprinkles in some cheese, and adds the weight of finality to make a story for all the Warriors of Light, new and old, out there to be inspired to keep braving the future, in all it's anxieties and unknowns.
Endwalker isn't the most subtle of narratives, it is very blatant what this expansion is thematically about, and that's okay, it presents it all in a layer of cheese and earnestness that it's impossible not to catch the emotions that the game is throwing at you. It touches base on every previous expansion thematically and spreads a little bit on its own epilogue on each giving all the main story scenes the feeling of a victory long earned. It is a story about moving on, the ideas of the beauty of existence, and how easy it is to take for granted the feeling of existing, the power of emotions and how they can drive us forward when we're at our lowest point, but also how we can let them overwhelm us and fall into despair when unchecked. It is a story about how alienation from your peers can throw you in a direction you never thought you would ever pursue. It is a story about the fundamental disconnects behind people, but the hope that there is always a way to build a bridge against this disconnect. But most of all, it is a story about what a wonderful journey it was, and that the end is what you want it to be, shaped by your own hands and hard work.
There have been games that march to the end before, there have been games that closed off long running story arcs before, but I can't recall any that strive to build off everything that came before and succeed to the degree that Endwalker does. Endwalker is the culmination of a long journey, no matter when you started Final Fantasy XIV. Endwalker caps off the rebirth of Final Fantasy and Square Enix, triumphant and warm, from their lowest point of Final Fantasy XIV 1.0. It takes the success and failures of everything that comes before and invites you back in to love this world, and these characters for making it there with you. Endwalker is the journey to the end with all it's many stops and sights along the way and tells you that the adventure never ends as long as you are willing to traverse there, with your friends and comrades in tow.
Endwalker isn't the most subtle of narratives, it is very blatant what this expansion is thematically about, and that's okay, it presents it all in a layer of cheese and earnestness that it's impossible not to catch the emotions that the game is throwing at you. It touches base on every previous expansion thematically and spreads a little bit on its own epilogue on each giving all the main story scenes the feeling of a victory long earned. It is a story about moving on, the ideas of the beauty of existence, and how easy it is to take for granted the feeling of existing, the power of emotions and how they can drive us forward when we're at our lowest point, but also how we can let them overwhelm us and fall into despair when unchecked. It is a story about how alienation from your peers can throw you in a direction you never thought you would ever pursue. It is a story about the fundamental disconnects behind people, but the hope that there is always a way to build a bridge against this disconnect. But most of all, it is a story about what a wonderful journey it was, and that the end is what you want it to be, shaped by your own hands and hard work.
There have been games that march to the end before, there have been games that closed off long running story arcs before, but I can't recall any that strive to build off everything that came before and succeed to the degree that Endwalker does. Endwalker is the culmination of a long journey, no matter when you started Final Fantasy XIV. Endwalker caps off the rebirth of Final Fantasy and Square Enix, triumphant and warm, from their lowest point of Final Fantasy XIV 1.0. It takes the success and failures of everything that comes before and invites you back in to love this world, and these characters for making it there with you. Endwalker is the journey to the end with all it's many stops and sights along the way and tells you that the adventure never ends as long as you are willing to traverse there, with your friends and comrades in tow.
Something of note about the Fire Emblem series is that it can never pull off a game where the gameplay is of equal quality to the writing, there are FE games with amazing writing, with trivial gameplay and on the other end of the spectrum you have this game.
As any person with even a passing familiarity will tell you, this games main story is worthless. The supports in this game are decent but, frankly, are damaged by a shoddy localisation job that has no interest in preserving the little character writing this game had with some baffling changes made to characterisation and tonal changes that completely butcher a character like Beruka for example. With that out of the way, Fire Emblem Fates Conquest is one of the best TRPG gameplay experiences ever crafted with incredible map design, based around systems that aid player momentum, and a rare balance of not having system bloat (a prevalent hallmark of the genre) while also being complex enough for a personalised and engaging experience.
The key strength this game has over other Fire Emblems is the map design, dragon veins (once the game moves onto conquest only maps) are the key feature in many chapters where they're used to either add an extra layer of consideration for the player to strategise around, or to give the player a new tool to incorporate into their strategies to gain the tactical advantage the enemy may not have. Coupled with the games weighting towards player phase engagements (due to debuffing weapons, skills, and an incentive to at least seriously wound enemies on your turn) and the brutal difficulty (one of the few Fire Emblem games that pull off lunatic with more smart enemy placements and different skillsets rather than stat bloat) combine together to make some of the most well thought out and executed map design of the genre. Highly recommend people to check this out since its often lumped with it's peers, and overlooked as a result.
As any person with even a passing familiarity will tell you, this games main story is worthless. The supports in this game are decent but, frankly, are damaged by a shoddy localisation job that has no interest in preserving the little character writing this game had with some baffling changes made to characterisation and tonal changes that completely butcher a character like Beruka for example. With that out of the way, Fire Emblem Fates Conquest is one of the best TRPG gameplay experiences ever crafted with incredible map design, based around systems that aid player momentum, and a rare balance of not having system bloat (a prevalent hallmark of the genre) while also being complex enough for a personalised and engaging experience.
The key strength this game has over other Fire Emblems is the map design, dragon veins (once the game moves onto conquest only maps) are the key feature in many chapters where they're used to either add an extra layer of consideration for the player to strategise around, or to give the player a new tool to incorporate into their strategies to gain the tactical advantage the enemy may not have. Coupled with the games weighting towards player phase engagements (due to debuffing weapons, skills, and an incentive to at least seriously wound enemies on your turn) and the brutal difficulty (one of the few Fire Emblem games that pull off lunatic with more smart enemy placements and different skillsets rather than stat bloat) combine together to make some of the most well thought out and executed map design of the genre. Highly recommend people to check this out since its often lumped with it's peers, and overlooked as a result.
A lot better than I was expecting honestly, I love Three Houses, mostly, and despite the fanfic-y nature of this title I find myself strangely compelled to it. For reference, I've only done the Golden Wildfire route where it functions as a better Crimson Flower honestly, the deviations from the original story are well illustrated and easy to infer why Claude deviates so much compared to his Verdant Wind actions, and better yet, people are actually willing to call Claude out on his actions when he does some pretty terrible things, something no-one ever did with Edelgard in Crimson Flower. I will say that the new protagonist, Shez, is pretty flat and their storyline ultimately ends up as an optional footnote in the overall story at large which is pretty jarring, and very strange how barely anyone acknowledges it happened.
Gameplay wise, this is the only Musou to date I haven't bounced off of, it's really fun to be strategic while slapping buttons with some really satisfying movesets, shout-out to Shez's Asura and Byleth's Enlightened One movesets for being the most fun. The territories between missions can get pretty repetitive, but they take like less than 5 minutes once you know what you're doing so I didn't feel all too fatigued by the game until the last chapter, and character and class progression manages to be really satisfying with movesets that change as you advance down your desired true.
Three Hopes functions actually pretty well as a lite version of Three Houses in this regard, the main story isn't as good as most Three Houses routes but it's not bad in it's own right either, the gameplay and class progression is also a small version of Three Houses class progression but manages to capture the same feeling of satisfaction and character growth. The supports exist, and they're pretty good too, although not as good as Three Houses, again. All the redesigns and music is pretty good too. The one thing I'd say is straight up better are Shez and Byleth, with Byleth getting a pretty good set of supports, fun gameplay, and a personality a million times more entertaining than when they were silent. Shez might be pretty cardboard, but at least they're still more interesting than 3 Houses Byleth too. In the end, a game worth your time if you like Three Houses.
Gameplay wise, this is the only Musou to date I haven't bounced off of, it's really fun to be strategic while slapping buttons with some really satisfying movesets, shout-out to Shez's Asura and Byleth's Enlightened One movesets for being the most fun. The territories between missions can get pretty repetitive, but they take like less than 5 minutes once you know what you're doing so I didn't feel all too fatigued by the game until the last chapter, and character and class progression manages to be really satisfying with movesets that change as you advance down your desired true.
Three Hopes functions actually pretty well as a lite version of Three Houses in this regard, the main story isn't as good as most Three Houses routes but it's not bad in it's own right either, the gameplay and class progression is also a small version of Three Houses class progression but manages to capture the same feeling of satisfaction and character growth. The supports exist, and they're pretty good too, although not as good as Three Houses, again. All the redesigns and music is pretty good too. The one thing I'd say is straight up better are Shez and Byleth, with Byleth getting a pretty good set of supports, fun gameplay, and a personality a million times more entertaining than when they were silent. Shez might be pretty cardboard, but at least they're still more interesting than 3 Houses Byleth too. In the end, a game worth your time if you like Three Houses.