CtheIronblooded
350 Reviews liked by CtheIronblooded
Lost Judgment
2021
Sometimes I wish the boys at RGG would let me down. Also this game is more of a Yakuza:LAD sequel than a Judgment sequel lol
All around great time, probably one of the more ambitious RGG stories with layers upon layers of plot threads and genuinely complicated morals clashing against each other.
Snake stance is a great addition to the combat system, parry has never been a bad addition to a game, and the game has the least amount of Really Annoying bosses I've fought in a RGG game. It feels harder than more RGG games but maybe thats just because the game gives you way less health items to work with, or maybe it's because I never noticed that I didn't equip a chest equipment slot item until the final boss.
And with it has all the other things you like from RGG, fun side stories and mini games, so much bonus content that you beat the game in 30 hours and found you only did 30% of the game, and the entirety of Virtual Fighter 5 for some reason.
If you like RGG don't miss it, lots of yakuza fans miss judgment for some reason and they really shouldn't.
All around great time, probably one of the more ambitious RGG stories with layers upon layers of plot threads and genuinely complicated morals clashing against each other.
Snake stance is a great addition to the combat system, parry has never been a bad addition to a game, and the game has the least amount of Really Annoying bosses I've fought in a RGG game. It feels harder than more RGG games but maybe thats just because the game gives you way less health items to work with, or maybe it's because I never noticed that I didn't equip a chest equipment slot item until the final boss.
And with it has all the other things you like from RGG, fun side stories and mini games, so much bonus content that you beat the game in 30 hours and found you only did 30% of the game, and the entirety of Virtual Fighter 5 for some reason.
If you like RGG don't miss it, lots of yakuza fans miss judgment for some reason and they really shouldn't.
Truly one of the greatest Resident Evil games I’ve ever experienced. It’s not too often I play a game and actually lose sense of time, not wanting to ever put it down. Bless every decision made for this game. The character design, the world design, the beautiful gothic horror atmosphere chef’s kiss
Lost Judgment
2021
If this is the last Judgment game, and with that, the last game Nagoshi is involved in, what a send off. This game trumps the first in every way and aside from a slow start engages you in ways I’ve never seen in a Yakuza game. A genuinely detestable antagonist and some major characters with actions that will make you constantly question yourself, this game will keep you hooked and then some.
And the combat, WOW. Best combat in an RGG game, and this is just the best game RGG have ever made
RGG MAKE MORE BRAWLERS PLEASE
And the combat, WOW. Best combat in an RGG game, and this is just the best game RGG have ever made
RGG MAKE MORE BRAWLERS PLEASE
Tales of Berseria
2016
Tales of Berseria is a JRPG that has the conflict between emotion and reason as its central theme, with the main protagonist, Velvet Crowe, being the human embodiment of emotion for large chunks of the story.
This brave choice allowed Bandai Namco to portray Velvet as one of the most mesmerizing central characters from any piece of media and create some of the most heartwrenching. most cathartic. most enthralling story moments I ever had the pleasure of experiencing.
Arguably the very best game in the series and one of the better RPGs overall to come out after the turn of the millennia.
This brave choice allowed Bandai Namco to portray Velvet as one of the most mesmerizing central characters from any piece of media and create some of the most heartwrenching. most cathartic. most enthralling story moments I ever had the pleasure of experiencing.
Arguably the very best game in the series and one of the better RPGs overall to come out after the turn of the millennia.
Tales of Arise
2021
Tales of Arise came in just shy of a 9/10. It just wasn't quite enough.
There is a lot of greatness here. All the characters are likable and interesting, the combat system is by far the best the Tales of Series has ever seen and the OST is as good as ever.
However, in the second half of the game, it drops off a little bit.
... I dunno. The pacing is not quite as good, the story is not quite as concise and one can find moments of Anime Dumb here and there that are just not for me.
It's still a really great entry in a great series though, and totally worth your time.
There is a lot of greatness here. All the characters are likable and interesting, the combat system is by far the best the Tales of Series has ever seen and the OST is as good as ever.
However, in the second half of the game, it drops off a little bit.
... I dunno. The pacing is not quite as good, the story is not quite as concise and one can find moments of Anime Dumb here and there that are just not for me.
It's still a really great entry in a great series though, and totally worth your time.
Tales of Arise
2021
My first Tales of game and a very solid experience overall! Minus the plot dragging itself out a lot towards the end, I loved the fluidity of the combat, the excellent music and the strong relationships between the characters.
On an unrelated note, I would die for Hootle.
On an unrelated note, I would die for Hootle.
Final Fantasy XIII
2009
There was a time when I felt the need to defend my love for this game...
But I guess I just stopped caring. Or got more confident. Or Both.
The setting is convoluted for sure and it took me some time and effort to figure it out (it's one of the very best things about the game to me now) and the story is stupid and the gameplay is simplistic AND the game is very linear; but this game is just so lovable to me and such great comfort food.
All the characters are near and dear to me (except Hope), Snow especially, who is one of my favorite video game characters.
Like I said, I really really learned to love the setting and the lore.
The actual story is bonkers, but I at least loved how it's been told to me.
Oh and there are no sequels. At all. None.
I could talk about this game some more for a long time to come, but instead, I will just say the following:
For whatever it's worth, for all its faults, Final Fantasy XIII will always have a very special place in my heart. As a game that has truly captured my imagination and let it flourish.
And it will stay that way.
And I am glad that it will.
Final Fantasy XIII earns a 9/10 from me.
P.S.: Almost forgot to mention the OST. I love it to death! It's sooooo gooood!
But I guess I just stopped caring. Or got more confident. Or Both.
The setting is convoluted for sure and it took me some time and effort to figure it out (it's one of the very best things about the game to me now) and the story is stupid and the gameplay is simplistic AND the game is very linear; but this game is just so lovable to me and such great comfort food.
All the characters are near and dear to me (except Hope), Snow especially, who is one of my favorite video game characters.
Like I said, I really really learned to love the setting and the lore.
The actual story is bonkers, but I at least loved how it's been told to me.
Oh and there are no sequels. At all. None.
I could talk about this game some more for a long time to come, but instead, I will just say the following:
For whatever it's worth, for all its faults, Final Fantasy XIII will always have a very special place in my heart. As a game that has truly captured my imagination and let it flourish.
And it will stay that way.
And I am glad that it will.
Final Fantasy XIII earns a 9/10 from me.
P.S.: Almost forgot to mention the OST. I love it to death! It's sooooo gooood!
Fate/Grand Order
2015
its literally just the worst parts about jrpgs made into a game.
Cyberpunk 2077
2020
Was gonna comment about the game being pure aestheticism but then I realized forcing crunch time on your workers and then releasing a broken game is actually incredibly cyberpunk
Tales of Arise
2021
what the hell are these reviews
This review contains spoilers
I've beaten this game 5 times since I finished it for the first time, I can't stop going back. I love almost EVERYTHING about this game. This is also one of the only games I own two English copies of.
Rean is my favorite protagonist in any piece of media to date, and one of my three favorite video game characters of all time, among the ranks of Dr. Maruki from Persona 5 Royal and Rixia from the Crossbell duology.
I still get emotional at the big moments in the game, and it somehow hit even harder on my most recent playthrough. The boss fight against Berserk Rean still sends chills down my spine; the final romance scenes, especially Laura's, are just as heartwarming as ever; the Rivalries, especially Rufus', and the final battles against Osborne and Ishmelga Loge still feel just as climactic as they were in my initial playthrough; and both endings still get me every fucking time, man.
The gameplay is so god damn fun, this game has my favorite gameplay loop in the entire franchise so far [update: I have now played Hajimari, that game's gameplay loop beats CS4's by a god damn mile because it's CS4 but even more absurd stats and a fully customizable roster, meaning I can finally make that Zephyr/Brigid K.O. spamming Renne build I'd been theorycrafting since this game]. This is one of the major reasons why I keep revisiting it. It combined the freedom and absurd stats/builds of Cold Steel 2 and the updated gameplay system of Cold Steel 3 to make my ideal Trails gameplay loop. Trying out different team compositions that I hadn't used in prior playthroughs is still really fun, but sometimes it's fun to try to beat the game without getting hit with the zero delay spellcaster Rean/infinite S-Craft Gaius combo and a full team of dodgetanks. It's easy to break the game if you know what you're doing, but somehow it never felt too easy, even in the lategame on New Game +.
The fact that my top 3 Trails characters consists of Rean, Rixia, and a 10-way tie for 3rd between Alisa, Laura, Fie, Jusis, Sara, Altina, Musse, Crow, Randy and Vita should show how much I love the cast of this game, let alone the series as a whole. I genuinely like literally every character in this game, and that's a damn hard thing to accomplish with a cast this massive. Finishing this game, I was genuinely sad to see it all come to an end. I felt so attached to these characters, I literally didn't want to say goodbye (...until I found out Hajimari was a thing. Hooray, more Class VII content for me to obsess myself with! [update: again, I have now played Hajimari, can confirm I obsessed myself with it said Class VII content]).
Impulse buying Cold Steel 1 may have been the best questionable financial decision I've ever committed, because if I hadn't, I wouldn't have found this game that touched me like only one other game, Persona 5, ever has.
Rean is my favorite protagonist in any piece of media to date, and one of my three favorite video game characters of all time, among the ranks of Dr. Maruki from Persona 5 Royal and Rixia from the Crossbell duology.
I still get emotional at the big moments in the game, and it somehow hit even harder on my most recent playthrough. The boss fight against Berserk Rean still sends chills down my spine; the final romance scenes, especially Laura's, are just as heartwarming as ever; the Rivalries, especially Rufus', and the final battles against Osborne and Ishmelga Loge still feel just as climactic as they were in my initial playthrough; and both endings still get me every fucking time, man.
The gameplay is so god damn fun, this game has my favorite gameplay loop in the entire franchise so far [update: I have now played Hajimari, that game's gameplay loop beats CS4's by a god damn mile because it's CS4 but even more absurd stats and a fully customizable roster, meaning I can finally make that Zephyr/Brigid K.O. spamming Renne build I'd been theorycrafting since this game]. This is one of the major reasons why I keep revisiting it. It combined the freedom and absurd stats/builds of Cold Steel 2 and the updated gameplay system of Cold Steel 3 to make my ideal Trails gameplay loop. Trying out different team compositions that I hadn't used in prior playthroughs is still really fun, but sometimes it's fun to try to beat the game without getting hit with the zero delay spellcaster Rean/infinite S-Craft Gaius combo and a full team of dodgetanks. It's easy to break the game if you know what you're doing, but somehow it never felt too easy, even in the lategame on New Game +.
The fact that my top 3 Trails characters consists of Rean, Rixia, and a 10-way tie for 3rd between Alisa, Laura, Fie, Jusis, Sara, Altina, Musse, Crow, Randy and Vita should show how much I love the cast of this game, let alone the series as a whole. I genuinely like literally every character in this game, and that's a damn hard thing to accomplish with a cast this massive. Finishing this game, I was genuinely sad to see it all come to an end. I felt so attached to these characters, I literally didn't want to say goodbye (...until I found out Hajimari was a thing. Hooray, more Class VII content for me to obsess myself with! [update: again, I have now played Hajimari, can confirm I obsessed myself with it said Class VII content]).
Impulse buying Cold Steel 1 may have been the best questionable financial decision I've ever committed, because if I hadn't, I wouldn't have found this game that touched me like only one other game, Persona 5, ever has.
One of my favorite opening scenes to a video game. Maybe I prefer this to the remake. I could say it’s the simplicity of it, but perhaps it’s the doors we shouldn’t open or the jill sandwiches. It could even be the blood that we hope isn’t Chris’ that we found in “the dinning room”
There’s just something about this franchise that I can’t really explain in words. It just does what it does, that is being “resident evil”. Even the basement music adds to the culture of this franchise.
Every time I go through that opening scene, I like to quote the lines as it’s happening, however this playthrough (as it has been many years) I have completely forgotten about “Stay Alert!” from Wesker, so when I heard that I genuinely bursted out laughing. I love you Resident Evil.
“Stop it, don’t open that door!”
There’s just something about this franchise that I can’t really explain in words. It just does what it does, that is being “resident evil”. Even the basement music adds to the culture of this franchise.
Every time I go through that opening scene, I like to quote the lines as it’s happening, however this playthrough (as it has been many years) I have completely forgotten about “Stay Alert!” from Wesker, so when I heard that I genuinely bursted out laughing. I love you Resident Evil.
“Stop it, don’t open that door!”
I'm sorry for you if I enjoyed this and you didn't.
I love you Arianrhod.
I love you Arianrhod.
So unbelievably good. I had heard great things about this game and my expectations were high, and it completely blew them out of the water. One of the best stories ever told in a video game, I thought I had the plot figured out but they kept throwing curveballs in that made me love it even more. The characters were all well-developed, the writing was top notch, and I loved the intricacies of the combat. An incredible gaming experience.
An immaculate love letter to horror games, and especially the Resident Evil franchise itself. I played on standard and had a hell of a time mowing down Lycan's with just enough ammo to pull through. A fantastic journey with an amazing atmosphere and phenomenal world-building, biggest of recommends.