338 reviews liked by CtheIronblooded


Apparently, it is only made by one person. Which doesn't seem that way in most of my playthrough, but I will take that into account.

I don't typically play side-scroller, but I will say that the combat is really engaging and fun. It has a complex system, which can get pretty formulaic late in the game, but I guess it's a given, considering how broken you can get later on.

The soundtrack is actually incredibly hype.

The story is where it's at. You started off playing as a hero with a bird looking for someone dear to him and you get this feeling that something is.. off. It's nothing special or unique at first glance, but this game is the epitome of going from 0 to 100. Never in a million years would I have ever guess the game's final sequence of moments or even the hours leading up to it judging from how it starts. There are a lot of plot twists that you won't expect and fortunately it's quite well done. It does get pretty "anime" at times, not in a bad way mostly, I would say it's part of the game's charm.

The characters, especially the main cast, have a soul and personality and not just there to push the MC. They all have their own goals and role to play.

My only complaint for this game is that, it does get slightly dragged near the end. There are new elements but some things are also recycled. Since, it is made just by one person, I will let that slide. Though at this point you're probably too invested for this to make you lose interest anyways.

Overall, this is hands down one of the best Indie games I've played, especially in terms of narrative. KEIZO really poured his soul into this, and I hope to see more of his work.

Alan Wake sits at his typewriter and writes like Garth Marenghi [𝘯𝘰𝘯-𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺] and I love him and this all the more for it. A metatextual narrative that continuously folds in on itself over, and over, again. A monumental Lynchian pastiche, that although not perfect. Stands out as something that no other AAA publisher would attempt to create. For me this is an ode to creativity, writing, and a celebration of Remedy itself.

A detective noire thriller is a genre that I least expected from RGG but somehow in classic RGG fashion they manage to not only over deliver but they make this series almost as appealing of an entry into the Like a Dragon universe as Yakuza 0. Judgment manages to juggle a country-wide conspiracy and a thrilling murder mystery without sacrificing the integrity of either, Instead choosing to entangle them making the final reveal 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 hard hitting. The only thing holding back Judgment from getting a perfect rating is the sheer amount of tailing missions that are sprinkled liberally throughout the whole game. The combat at the start of the game can also feel a bit sluggish however the Tiger and Crane speed upgrades circumvent that entirely. RGG as always bring their A game when it comes to character work and construct not only an insanely lovable little club of detectives but also some bone-chilling, psychopathic murderers who would stop at nothing to gouge out Yagami's eyes.

“EEEEEEEEYAAAAAAAAGAAAAAAAAAMIIIIIIII!”

When Sephiroth said "Do you know the way" and I burst out laughing, I realized I have the internet equivalent of Mako poisoning.

Judgement is a Yakuza game in all but name, and RGG Studio’s first one set in Kamurocho without Kiryu as the main character. After giving up being an attorney, Takayuki Yagami becomes a freelance detective and investigates a series of murders in the city with the help of his former law office and ex-Tojo clan friend Masaharu Kaito. Substories are framed as side cases that Yagami can take on to earn some extra money, and new mini-games like drone racing and the Paradise VR board game are incredible additions. Anyone who is a fan of the Yakuza series should really check this out, and newcomers can jump right in without prior knowledge.

I don't understand how RGG can maintain this kind of quality in their games time after time.

An excellent spin-off from an already amazing series. The story was well-written and grounded, and genuinely had me surprised a lot of the time with its twists and turns. The detective aspects were solid, although the tailing missions got a bit annoying after a while. The combat was tight, responsive and so much fun once you've built up a few abilities.

Where this game went from really good to excellent for me, though, was the ending. The entire last chapter is near perfection--the narrative pay-offs are huge and the final boss fight is one of the best in the series. It's one of my favorite video game endings in recent memory.

The game isn't without it's issues though, even if my complaints are minor. The mortal wound mechanic is seriously frustrating, as you can only fix it in a very specific place; it's also difficult to stop some of the attacks that cause them when you're fighting in such tight spaces. And the combat encounters that happen in the world feel far too frequent sometimes; I'd need to get from point A to point B and be interrupted 3-4 times by a pack of goons.

Taken together, this was an amazing video game. I loved the detective mystery storyline, the combat is as fun as ever and the ending was just too damn good. I'm already eager to jump into Lost Judgment to keep the experience going.

aesthetically it's like Earthbound meets Courage the Cowardly Dog, set to a beat of an AI's fever dream. submerge yourself and awaken looking like that one Kel Mitchell character in All That.

It does have some mediocre cases in it but the first and last case just make it a great game to me

Perhaps taking an offshoot route to play Nayuta in my not-for-the-faint-of-heart journey through the Kiseki series when I was and am admittedly dying to reach Cold Steel/Reverie/Kuro was a bizarre decision to make. End of thought.

Nayuta is a strange little game that, as someone who hasn't progressed past Azure and has only heard of things from this game's story loosely tying into the main Trails canon, there's really no set time or need to play it to understand the main Trails story. More of an "aha" moment if you see something in a future game that calls back to Nayuta, but doesn't feel like a major gap in the Trails experience if you miss out on it. I only really know this as many of my friends who are caught up with Trails skipped Nayuta and didn't enjoy the story of the games any less.

There's something interesting about how it's chronologically the next game in the series after Azure and before Cold Steel if you go based on release date, but that doesn't detract from the fact that Nayuta is largely its own thing and can be experienced anytime, whether that be before Sky FC or after Reverie if you really wanted to. I really had no clue what I was getting into other than a friend of mine (shoutout to @Stormowl0 for this recommendation and for drawing god tier Rixia Mao art) telling me it was really good.

Rather than being turn-based strategy on a grid, this is a full-blown action RPG with sword combos, magic spam, dodge rolls, and blocking galore! I could understand this as it is what Ys seems to be like (author's note: still need to play Ys), but what I was not expecting for it to be just as much of a platformer as it is an action JRPG. Turns out innovating the series by adding a jump button was done for more than show as enemies are often fought in a linear level-by-level format with precarious jump, traps, and pits you have to make your way around in the environments. I can't remember where I've heard this but I remember someone comparing it to Kirby 64 strangely enough, and I honestly find it very fitting for both games have a similarly whimsical worlds, a balance of combat and platforming in their level designs, and a silly little fairy girl that follows the protagonist.

Nayuta definitely isn't as easy as Kirby however and this is where I think some of its greatest gameplay strength lies: in how fast and frantic combat can get when you're in a pinch. It's not necessarily the most deep or thought provoking combat out there, you can spam magic quite a lot of the time to negate some challenges and swinging your sword mindlessly doesn't heavily punish you and is even encouraged at times. But playing on hard mode still required me to respect what enemies could do and at least know how to position myself and pull off timely dodges/blocks to not get obliterated by the high damage. Bosses were some of the most demanding parts of the game where magic spam was largely ineffective and you have to rely on playing aggressively to open up a weak point you can slash. The bosses in general were fantastic. While it may sound like average good video game stuff based on what I described, let me put it like this. Remember Twilight Fossil Stallord from the Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess and how, despite being another use-the-dungeon-item boss, the second phase had his head come off and you chased him down on your spinner in a thrilling, high-speed encounter? Imagine if nearly every boss had a cool twist like that, but was never gimmicky to the point where the base combat you know first and foremost isn't shafted (except in one boss which was the worst in the game because of this lmao).

The story while not connecting to the rest of a series as is often seen as a strength of the Trails series above other JRPGs, Nayuta has a similar general structure to its plot going from very, very, humble beginnings and then turning into Xenogears by the very end. It's much faster paced than even the shortest individual Trails game, so the characters don't quite the same level of screentime they would in Trails, but it was still enough to tug at my heartstrings and even get me misty eyed in some of the later scenes.

I'm very well aware at how disorganized and all-over the place these thoughts are, but it's honestly just kind of hard to sum up what kind of game Nayuta is. It takes so many elements from other games as it creates this fascinating JRPG-platformer hybrid with wild creativity and endearing characters and storytelling. It's something that, while not blowing me away quite to the extent that the Trails games all have so far with their jaw-dropping narratives at times, really clicked with me and carried the experience.