Cynical_Nuclear
103 reviews liked by Cynical_Nuclear
This is a solid game, gameplay is more challenging than P2IS but also more annoying with the more archaic dungeon exploration and status being super annoying. Boss fights were fun though. Range is an interesting mechanic but I feel like it was annoying more often than not. Certain character's weapons were useless sometimes for many fights.
Story was overall good, slow at the beginning and the Kandori stuff idc about. But all the Maki stuff is really good. She's a great character I enjoy her dynamic with the MC who is pretty alright for a silent persona protag. Mark and Nanjo were good too, though they shined more in the late game. I chose Elly as my 5th member and I liked her a lot.
Some of the "dramatic decisions" to get the good ending were stupidly obvious, don't think they need to be there. Same feeling about the bad ending, it just seems, well bad. Don't get the Maki content and you just fight Kandori. Kinda lame.
Art, designs and animation were good, definitely nice for a remake. Voice acting was alright too.
Overall, good game with a lot of first in a series issues that get refined later on. Not bad though.
Story was overall good, slow at the beginning and the Kandori stuff idc about. But all the Maki stuff is really good. She's a great character I enjoy her dynamic with the MC who is pretty alright for a silent persona protag. Mark and Nanjo were good too, though they shined more in the late game. I chose Elly as my 5th member and I liked her a lot.
Some of the "dramatic decisions" to get the good ending were stupidly obvious, don't think they need to be there. Same feeling about the bad ending, it just seems, well bad. Don't get the Maki content and you just fight Kandori. Kinda lame.
Art, designs and animation were good, definitely nice for a remake. Voice acting was alright too.
Overall, good game with a lot of first in a series issues that get refined later on. Not bad though.
Yakuza 2
2006
Where Yakuza shone, its sequel shines way brighter, and even shines on the areas not touched by the first game's light.
This game's greatest area of improvement over its predecessor is in the combat. I have my grievances with Y1's combat; although it can be mitigated, there's no doubt in mind it was extremely rough still. Anything that wasn't a 1-on-1 fight could, at times, prove itself to be a pain in the ass due to the somewhat awkward physics and unreliable lock-on. I didn't hold it against the game as it was a first attempt, but I hoped it'd be improved on.
Yakuza 2 takes the wishes I had for it to get better and soared high above my expectations. In addition to the fixed lock-on system meaning you can finally count on your punches to land where you want them to (provided you're not just straight up missing people), the pace of combat has also been noticeably sped up. There's more an emphasis on the flow you can achieve while fighting enemies, especially evident when you unlock double and grab finishers to dish out more damage in tandem with reversal moves to beat down the next guy in your sights; by keeping this flow, you minimize the chances the enemy gets to land a hit on you, becoming a god of the arena like the badass Kiryu is. This proves Yakuza 2 not only rights where the first game's combat went wrong, but also goes out of its way to capitalize on its strengths and make something far greater out of it.
Arguably just as noteworthy a positive is the game's story. While the first game found itself near squarely focused on Kiryu's relationship with Haruka and the mystery of the missing 10 billion yen, Yakuza 2 plays with many more narratives than just furthering Kiryu's end goal with an occasional detour; many different storylines to do with different characters are set up, all finally being resolved and converging into the the stakes at play during the finale. What may sound worryingly convoluted is handled insanely well; every storyline gets the focus it needs to and nothing felt undercooked. Nearing the end of the game left me in utter shock at the reveals the game built up to and how it all tied into Kiryu's conflict with Ryuji Goda and the Jingweon Mafia.
A major strength also within the story is the re-contextualization of old locations and plot beats you visited back in the first game. It's only been a year since the events of Y1, yet it feels like so much has changed while you were gone. Seeing a place like Serena abandoned, knowing it was once Kiryu's favorite spot where he could hang out and drink with his late childhood friends.. that shit hurts, and it hurts bad. It also makes it just more genuinely nice to see what characters like Date, the Stardust crew, and even prior minor characters had been up to during the year-long break. This passage of time working in the game's favor seems like something Yakuza will play around with in spades according to this and my time with the third game, and that makes me pretty happy because I love the world of Yakuza that's been built so far.
At the heart of it all is Kiryu's budding relationship with Osaka police officer Kaoru Sayama. Originally somewhat of a foil to Kiryu upon her introduction, over time you get to watch the two understand each other more and beginning to care deeply for one another, inspiring them both to be better people by the end of the game through the trials and tribulations they face and the heart-to-heart moments they have together. Their relationship is what makes moments like the scene of Kiryu in the rain at his lowest point so masterful; he rejects the thought of deserving death as an atonement for his past actions and moves forward with a new lease on life, all thanks to Kaoru's words and how much he means to him. And plus, it's all set to some sweet-ass tunes.
It's not uncommon for a sequel to improve on the original, but it's spectacular to see it happen this well. I haven't even mentioned the kickass OST, or gone in-depth into the wicked moves you can pull in combat, or the additional areas, activities, and substories that make the world of Yakuza so much more fun to explore. But your time is as valuable as mine, so I'll leave you with this: Yakuza 2 is amazing, and will no doubt prove to be a highlight of my journey through this series.
This game's greatest area of improvement over its predecessor is in the combat. I have my grievances with Y1's combat; although it can be mitigated, there's no doubt in mind it was extremely rough still. Anything that wasn't a 1-on-1 fight could, at times, prove itself to be a pain in the ass due to the somewhat awkward physics and unreliable lock-on. I didn't hold it against the game as it was a first attempt, but I hoped it'd be improved on.
Yakuza 2 takes the wishes I had for it to get better and soared high above my expectations. In addition to the fixed lock-on system meaning you can finally count on your punches to land where you want them to (provided you're not just straight up missing people), the pace of combat has also been noticeably sped up. There's more an emphasis on the flow you can achieve while fighting enemies, especially evident when you unlock double and grab finishers to dish out more damage in tandem with reversal moves to beat down the next guy in your sights; by keeping this flow, you minimize the chances the enemy gets to land a hit on you, becoming a god of the arena like the badass Kiryu is. This proves Yakuza 2 not only rights where the first game's combat went wrong, but also goes out of its way to capitalize on its strengths and make something far greater out of it.
Arguably just as noteworthy a positive is the game's story. While the first game found itself near squarely focused on Kiryu's relationship with Haruka and the mystery of the missing 10 billion yen, Yakuza 2 plays with many more narratives than just furthering Kiryu's end goal with an occasional detour; many different storylines to do with different characters are set up, all finally being resolved and converging into the the stakes at play during the finale. What may sound worryingly convoluted is handled insanely well; every storyline gets the focus it needs to and nothing felt undercooked. Nearing the end of the game left me in utter shock at the reveals the game built up to and how it all tied into Kiryu's conflict with Ryuji Goda and the Jingweon Mafia.
A major strength also within the story is the re-contextualization of old locations and plot beats you visited back in the first game. It's only been a year since the events of Y1, yet it feels like so much has changed while you were gone. Seeing a place like Serena abandoned, knowing it was once Kiryu's favorite spot where he could hang out and drink with his late childhood friends.. that shit hurts, and it hurts bad. It also makes it just more genuinely nice to see what characters like Date, the Stardust crew, and even prior minor characters had been up to during the year-long break. This passage of time working in the game's favor seems like something Yakuza will play around with in spades according to this and my time with the third game, and that makes me pretty happy because I love the world of Yakuza that's been built so far.
At the heart of it all is Kiryu's budding relationship with Osaka police officer Kaoru Sayama. Originally somewhat of a foil to Kiryu upon her introduction, over time you get to watch the two understand each other more and beginning to care deeply for one another, inspiring them both to be better people by the end of the game through the trials and tribulations they face and the heart-to-heart moments they have together. Their relationship is what makes moments like the scene of Kiryu in the rain at his lowest point so masterful; he rejects the thought of deserving death as an atonement for his past actions and moves forward with a new lease on life, all thanks to Kaoru's words and how much he means to him. And plus, it's all set to some sweet-ass tunes.
It's not uncommon for a sequel to improve on the original, but it's spectacular to see it happen this well. I haven't even mentioned the kickass OST, or gone in-depth into the wicked moves you can pull in combat, or the additional areas, activities, and substories that make the world of Yakuza so much more fun to explore. But your time is as valuable as mine, so I'll leave you with this: Yakuza 2 is amazing, and will no doubt prove to be a highlight of my journey through this series.
This is more fun than every single Sonic game released since Mania. Maybe they just needed to kill him all along.
Mega Man Zero
2002
Each of the Four Guardians was created with X's DNA, so Leviathan's constant flirting with Zero, even going as far as to say his strength "drives her crazy" in Zero 2 makes me raise an eyebrow. I know what you are, X.
I still don't forgive some of Zero 1's more punishing aspects but damn, this game gets so much more fun when you're more familiar with how these games tick. Still unfortunately suffers from first game syndrome, but you might fuck with this one more on a replay like I did.
I still don't forgive some of Zero 1's more punishing aspects but damn, this game gets so much more fun when you're more familiar with how these games tick. Still unfortunately suffers from first game syndrome, but you might fuck with this one more on a replay like I did.
Mega Man Zero 4
2005
"I never cared about justice, and I don't recall calling myself a hero. I have always fought only for the people I believe in. I won't hesitate.. if an enemy appears in front of me, I'll terminate it!"
Listen, compared to Megaman Zero 2 and 3, I definitely think this game is a step down from those. I totally understand the fact that Inti probably realized they could only improve so much on Zero 3, and instead of opting to make another game just like it, wanted to take risks and shake things up. It's what leads to things such as the weather system, the new Cyber-Elf system, and the parts system. However, I feel the weather system makes it too easy to get EX Skills, as the requirement is now simply beating the boss when the weather is in their favor, not too hard a task; it also means ranks are obsolete again. The part system also has a lot of parts you outright don't know the recipes for lest you look them up; and you can't just throw shit in there and see if you can make something cool out of them, because you'll end up making junk that scraps your parts. Lastly, I think Zero 4's biggest problem is in its level design; a bit better than the first game still, but I feel on a first-time playthrough it's definitely nowhere near as engaging as Zero 2 or 3. Perhaps I'll appreciate it more on an inevitable replay, but as it stands I do wish it could have been better.
So yeah, Zero 4's a game I got some problems with, unfortunately. And in a lesser series, I'd feel disappointed and not much else.
But y'know what? This isn't a lesser series. It's Megaman Zero, motherfucker, and while Zero 4 may disappoint a little, it makes up for it by being such an awesome conclusion to the series at the same time. Zero's physics still hard carry the level design at its lowest, there's still some really cool levels in there such as Artificial Sun and the endgame stages, the music somehow manages to go harder with every passing title and Zero 4 absolutely does not let up in that department, and this may genuinely be the best boss lineup I've seen not just in this series, but of all the Megaman games I've played so far. And Zero 4's story is arguably its biggest strength in my opinion, because it wraps up Zero's story in such an awesome way that you'd never believe Zero 3 was supposed to be the last game. That finale to this game may genuinely cement Zero as one of my favorite characters across gaming period.
Zero 4 fumbles, yeah. And while playing through the game, I did feel disappointed, sure. But damn, after finishing this game, I just can't help but fall (down) in love with it for what it does right.
Even before I started seriously getting into Megaman, I've always had my eye on this series thanks to friends of mine who preached it; and it paid off immensely, cementing this series as a whole as one of the best gaming experiences I've had in a long-ass while, even in spite of the absolute pain and frustration my skill issue (and sometimes the games' issues) has caused me. And I'd like to thank Josh_The_Fourth and leo0 for being the major players that got me into it; you two are awesome.
Rock on, Zero.
Listen, compared to Megaman Zero 2 and 3, I definitely think this game is a step down from those. I totally understand the fact that Inti probably realized they could only improve so much on Zero 3, and instead of opting to make another game just like it, wanted to take risks and shake things up. It's what leads to things such as the weather system, the new Cyber-Elf system, and the parts system. However, I feel the weather system makes it too easy to get EX Skills, as the requirement is now simply beating the boss when the weather is in their favor, not too hard a task; it also means ranks are obsolete again. The part system also has a lot of parts you outright don't know the recipes for lest you look them up; and you can't just throw shit in there and see if you can make something cool out of them, because you'll end up making junk that scraps your parts. Lastly, I think Zero 4's biggest problem is in its level design; a bit better than the first game still, but I feel on a first-time playthrough it's definitely nowhere near as engaging as Zero 2 or 3. Perhaps I'll appreciate it more on an inevitable replay, but as it stands I do wish it could have been better.
So yeah, Zero 4's a game I got some problems with, unfortunately. And in a lesser series, I'd feel disappointed and not much else.
But y'know what? This isn't a lesser series. It's Megaman Zero, motherfucker, and while Zero 4 may disappoint a little, it makes up for it by being such an awesome conclusion to the series at the same time. Zero's physics still hard carry the level design at its lowest, there's still some really cool levels in there such as Artificial Sun and the endgame stages, the music somehow manages to go harder with every passing title and Zero 4 absolutely does not let up in that department, and this may genuinely be the best boss lineup I've seen not just in this series, but of all the Megaman games I've played so far. And Zero 4's story is arguably its biggest strength in my opinion, because it wraps up Zero's story in such an awesome way that you'd never believe Zero 3 was supposed to be the last game. That finale to this game may genuinely cement Zero as one of my favorite characters across gaming period.
Zero 4 fumbles, yeah. And while playing through the game, I did feel disappointed, sure. But damn, after finishing this game, I just can't help but fall (down) in love with it for what it does right.
Even before I started seriously getting into Megaman, I've always had my eye on this series thanks to friends of mine who preached it; and it paid off immensely, cementing this series as a whole as one of the best gaming experiences I've had in a long-ass while, even in spite of the absolute pain and frustration my skill issue (and sometimes the games' issues) has caused me. And I'd like to thank Josh_The_Fourth and leo0 for being the major players that got me into it; you two are awesome.
Rock on, Zero.
Mega Man X6
2001
I don't really think you can manage to convince me this game was made by real people. It feels like an AI-generated Megaman X game that sometimes manages to come together in a coherent state of "Yeah, this is okay I guess." But so much of this game is flat-out odd; the absolutely chaotic level design that throws enemies and hazards at you placed with all the care of a bad Super Mario Maker level (oh my god Gate's Laboratory), the messy visuals compared to both X4 and X5, the blatant duct tape and glue holding this game together where you have moments such as obliterating a boss in five seconds using Zero's Guard Shell, and just some of the completely stupid game design choices it makes such as literally making you unable to progress if you do not have the right gear.
X6 sure as hell served as a source for a lot of frustration, but.. this game's certainly interesting. I certainly wasn't bored to tears, which is more than I can say about X7. Plus there's a couple of levels in here that are better than others.
And at least the soundtrack is boss.
X6 sure as hell served as a source for a lot of frustration, but.. this game's certainly interesting. I certainly wasn't bored to tears, which is more than I can say about X7. Plus there's a couple of levels in here that are better than others.
And at least the soundtrack is boss.
With an alluring gameplay loop and an atmosphere as rich as can be, Symphony of the Night takes the strengths of both the Castlevania and Metroid series to create an incredible game that would spawn a whole subgenre of platformers for decades to come.
There's just something about exploring Dracula's Castle that keeps me coming back for more and motivates me to search each and every corner of the castle to find all its secrets; even aimlessly wandering around the castle not really in search of anything can still be so much fun as you find new things you missed earlier when you were ill equipped to discover them - all while I soaked in the gorgeous spritework and admired the beautifully composed soundtrack by Michiru Yamane altering between mystical pieces fitting the strange, mysterious world of Castlevania and rocking tunes pumping you up as Alucard tears through monsters like butter. All of it works in tandem so well to create something really unforgettable.
It's also incredibly fun upgrading and decking out Alucard to be an absolute powerhouse by the end of the game the more you explore the castle. This is probably a way more subjective take as you could easily argue Symphony's difficulty suffers from it - and I'd be inclined to agree the game isn't very hard - but there's something so goddamn satisfying to me about Alucard becoming a one man army striking fear into the minions of the castle after having all your powerful weapons taken away from you at the start of the game. I put on the Jewel Knuckles and just started beating the shit out of everyone regardless of how effective it might be compared to the sword's longer range because it's funny and I enjoy the power trip.
...Aaaaaand then, there's the Inverted Castle.
I can't say it was a miserable experience as I think at the end of the day I still had decent fun exploring around, and it is extremely cool in concept; you're placed in an alternate version of the map you just explored quite literally turned on its head, this time with the tools, skills, and knowledge required to dash your way through and find Dracula. It's in its execution that I think left more to be desired.
The Inverted Castle oftentimes requires you to use the extremely slow bat form to reach higher places the double jump can't reach due to the rotated map, and it could get incredibly tedious for some to do if you haven't found out how to do Wing Smash (to mitigate another issue I'll get to in a second) or the Gravity Boots (although I did find myself not using the latter much and got by fine). In addition, enemy placement tends to become a pain to deal with and can make certain areas feel like a clusterfuck to navigate and avoid death, especially in sections like the Inverted Clock Tower and the underground areas.
I did get through all of it in about a couple of hours compared to the normal castle taking me about a few days; and it'd likely be shorter in comparison for you too. But even though I personally enjoyed it and it overall didn't make the game that much worse for me in retrospect, I can't deny it's the weaker part of the game and others definitely might have worse a time with it than I did.
There are also other issues present; a lot of the bosses are wildly inconsistent in difficulty as some are piss easy to deal with and others complete tedium. This one's more minor but still a change I wouldn't mind; I'd appreciate it if the map had areas clearly labeled rather than having to remember where a specific area is on the map. This one is somewhat mitigated however by my joy roaming the castle regardless and the teleporter keyholes around the map.
That being said, the total blast I had playing Symphony of the Night outweighs the lows heavily for me; I'm eager to revisit this game in the future and possibly 100% it. I might even go as far to say it tops Rondo of Blood for me personally, although that take might still need to simmer in my mind a bit more. Not that it matters all that much, though - Symphony stands tall on its own merits, and everything this game does terrifically cemented it for me personally as a wonderful game in spite of its flaws.
There's just something about exploring Dracula's Castle that keeps me coming back for more and motivates me to search each and every corner of the castle to find all its secrets; even aimlessly wandering around the castle not really in search of anything can still be so much fun as you find new things you missed earlier when you were ill equipped to discover them - all while I soaked in the gorgeous spritework and admired the beautifully composed soundtrack by Michiru Yamane altering between mystical pieces fitting the strange, mysterious world of Castlevania and rocking tunes pumping you up as Alucard tears through monsters like butter. All of it works in tandem so well to create something really unforgettable.
It's also incredibly fun upgrading and decking out Alucard to be an absolute powerhouse by the end of the game the more you explore the castle. This is probably a way more subjective take as you could easily argue Symphony's difficulty suffers from it - and I'd be inclined to agree the game isn't very hard - but there's something so goddamn satisfying to me about Alucard becoming a one man army striking fear into the minions of the castle after having all your powerful weapons taken away from you at the start of the game. I put on the Jewel Knuckles and just started beating the shit out of everyone regardless of how effective it might be compared to the sword's longer range because it's funny and I enjoy the power trip.
...Aaaaaand then, there's the Inverted Castle.
I can't say it was a miserable experience as I think at the end of the day I still had decent fun exploring around, and it is extremely cool in concept; you're placed in an alternate version of the map you just explored quite literally turned on its head, this time with the tools, skills, and knowledge required to dash your way through and find Dracula. It's in its execution that I think left more to be desired.
The Inverted Castle oftentimes requires you to use the extremely slow bat form to reach higher places the double jump can't reach due to the rotated map, and it could get incredibly tedious for some to do if you haven't found out how to do Wing Smash (to mitigate another issue I'll get to in a second) or the Gravity Boots (although I did find myself not using the latter much and got by fine). In addition, enemy placement tends to become a pain to deal with and can make certain areas feel like a clusterfuck to navigate and avoid death, especially in sections like the Inverted Clock Tower and the underground areas.
I did get through all of it in about a couple of hours compared to the normal castle taking me about a few days; and it'd likely be shorter in comparison for you too. But even though I personally enjoyed it and it overall didn't make the game that much worse for me in retrospect, I can't deny it's the weaker part of the game and others definitely might have worse a time with it than I did.
There are also other issues present; a lot of the bosses are wildly inconsistent in difficulty as some are piss easy to deal with and others complete tedium. This one's more minor but still a change I wouldn't mind; I'd appreciate it if the map had areas clearly labeled rather than having to remember where a specific area is on the map. This one is somewhat mitigated however by my joy roaming the castle regardless and the teleporter keyholes around the map.
That being said, the total blast I had playing Symphony of the Night outweighs the lows heavily for me; I'm eager to revisit this game in the future and possibly 100% it. I might even go as far to say it tops Rondo of Blood for me personally, although that take might still need to simmer in my mind a bit more. Not that it matters all that much, though - Symphony stands tall on its own merits, and everything this game does terrifically cemented it for me personally as a wonderful game in spite of its flaws.
Yakuza
2005
HEY YOU.
Having been way too long since I finished Kiwami, I elected it'd be easier if I just had a do-over on the Yakuza franchise and started from the very beginning with the original PS2 game as some friends have suggested. How does it fare?
Yakuza's greatest strengths, in my opinion, lie in its presentation and the commendable job it does for laying out the groundwork for later series to build on. There's this grittier, more edgier feel to the game than later entries that I think went absolutely lost in Kiwami. The dark, moody colors of 2005 Kamurocho, the primitive yet still impressive graphics (which can't really be replicated, truthfully), the raw, punchy sound design and even the potty-mouthed yet still charming English dub give the game this unique flair not seen in any of the Yakuza games I've played sans maybe the sequel. Especially give the soundtrack a listen, as they only further accentuate Yakuza's style through the rock-heavy funky tunes as you beat people to a bloody pulp.
I quite like Yakuza's story, to touch on it briefly. Kiryu's a bit funny in this game as they were still getting a feel for his character and thus he's a bit more aggressive with others and even hilariously flirtatious in some substories - not to fucking mention the thousand fucking F-bombs he fucking drops throughout the fucking English dub. It's relatively simple compared to other Yakuza stories from what I can tell but still an entertaining and heartfelt one. And for the record, I disagree with Nishiki being all that much weaker in this game than he is in Kiwami - granted, the added scenes in that game do help us get a better feel for his situation after Kiryu gets sent to the joint and the spiral of despair his life became afterward, but I think the PS2 game still does a good job of showing how much he means to Kiryu as a friend, plus his insecurities and tiredness of being upstaged and compared to Kiryu that molded him into the power-hungry, desperate-to-prove-himself man he became through scenes such as his reunion in Serena and the final confrontation he has with Kiryu and Yumi.
However, where I think the game starts to fall apart is on the gameplay side of things. To be clear, I don't hold a lot of its shortcomings against it all that much for obvious reasons, but they're just as obviously still worth pointing out.
The combat is rough, for starters. While satisfying to land hits due to the absolutely meaty sound design of Kiryu fracturing a man's skull whole, that's IF you can even land your shots; the lock-on is incredibly unreliable as often you will find yourself completely missing when you shouldn't have, leaving yourself wide open. This, and the fact that when fighting more than like, five enemies at a time I found myself highly prone to getting hit-stunned and having the shit beaten out of me by three different enemies with no room to recover. You can unlock moves to alleviate this, but you shouldn't have to.
There's also.. not much to do in Kamurocho? Perhaps I'm used to Yakuza being so loaded with content and if so that's on me, but I found myself more often than not just bee-lining it to the next objective rather than taking the time to explore since all you can really do is.. get yourself drunk? Check out a substory or two? But then this game also has an odd mechanic where you can only do one substory at a time, so.. yeah.
But I think I can still appreciate Yakuza all the same for being an impressive and charming first step, even if the sum of its parts is rather flawed. It's still a decent game at the end of the day, and a more overlooked Yakuza game that in spite of everything I just lambasted it for, still deserves more attention.
KILL THIS ARROGANT MO THER FU CKER.
Having been way too long since I finished Kiwami, I elected it'd be easier if I just had a do-over on the Yakuza franchise and started from the very beginning with the original PS2 game as some friends have suggested. How does it fare?
Yakuza's greatest strengths, in my opinion, lie in its presentation and the commendable job it does for laying out the groundwork for later series to build on. There's this grittier, more edgier feel to the game than later entries that I think went absolutely lost in Kiwami. The dark, moody colors of 2005 Kamurocho, the primitive yet still impressive graphics (which can't really be replicated, truthfully), the raw, punchy sound design and even the potty-mouthed yet still charming English dub give the game this unique flair not seen in any of the Yakuza games I've played sans maybe the sequel. Especially give the soundtrack a listen, as they only further accentuate Yakuza's style through the rock-heavy funky tunes as you beat people to a bloody pulp.
I quite like Yakuza's story, to touch on it briefly. Kiryu's a bit funny in this game as they were still getting a feel for his character and thus he's a bit more aggressive with others and even hilariously flirtatious in some substories - not to fucking mention the thousand fucking F-bombs he fucking drops throughout the fucking English dub. It's relatively simple compared to other Yakuza stories from what I can tell but still an entertaining and heartfelt one. And for the record, I disagree with Nishiki being all that much weaker in this game than he is in Kiwami - granted, the added scenes in that game do help us get a better feel for his situation after Kiryu gets sent to the joint and the spiral of despair his life became afterward, but I think the PS2 game still does a good job of showing how much he means to Kiryu as a friend, plus his insecurities and tiredness of being upstaged and compared to Kiryu that molded him into the power-hungry, desperate-to-prove-himself man he became through scenes such as his reunion in Serena and the final confrontation he has with Kiryu and Yumi.
However, where I think the game starts to fall apart is on the gameplay side of things. To be clear, I don't hold a lot of its shortcomings against it all that much for obvious reasons, but they're just as obviously still worth pointing out.
The combat is rough, for starters. While satisfying to land hits due to the absolutely meaty sound design of Kiryu fracturing a man's skull whole, that's IF you can even land your shots; the lock-on is incredibly unreliable as often you will find yourself completely missing when you shouldn't have, leaving yourself wide open. This, and the fact that when fighting more than like, five enemies at a time I found myself highly prone to getting hit-stunned and having the shit beaten out of me by three different enemies with no room to recover. You can unlock moves to alleviate this, but you shouldn't have to.
There's also.. not much to do in Kamurocho? Perhaps I'm used to Yakuza being so loaded with content and if so that's on me, but I found myself more often than not just bee-lining it to the next objective rather than taking the time to explore since all you can really do is.. get yourself drunk? Check out a substory or two? But then this game also has an odd mechanic where you can only do one substory at a time, so.. yeah.
But I think I can still appreciate Yakuza all the same for being an impressive and charming first step, even if the sum of its parts is rather flawed. It's still a decent game at the end of the day, and a more overlooked Yakuza game that in spite of everything I just lambasted it for, still deserves more attention.
KILL THIS ARROGANT MO THER FU CKER.
Metal Gear Solid
1998
This review contains spoilers
Well, well, well, the time has finally come for me to play the Solid part of the Metal Gear series and can now come to understand what everyone online is always talking about!! As stated in my earlier reviews, I’m going into this series completely blind, so my opinions of Metal Gear are pretty unaffected by other people. I absolutely LOVED Metal Gear Solid, and completely understand why it’s so many people’s favorite game. It’s genuinely a masterpiece, even now 15 years later.
After Metal Gear 2, I had my expectations set pretty high for how Metal Gear Solid was going to improve on an already very ahead of its time game and Jesus Christ, MGS did NOT disappoint. The games both do have quite a few similarities, so I’ll be referencing MG2 a lot throughout this review.
Everything about the actual gameplay of Metal Gear Solid is perfect. The graphics? Groundbreaking. The music? Perfect. The scenes with real people? Hard-hitting and emotional. The voice acting? Very, very good, especially for the time. UI? Simple, yet stylized. And the sneaking and fighting component? Perfected. There’s so much I could say about just how much of a masterpiece this game is just as a video game. The cards immediately conjoin into one ID card (thank GOD), the weapon variety is fun while not being overwhelming and also now includes an awesome grenade that jams the cameras. Saving isn’t necessarily as quick and tidy as in Metal Gear 2, but it involves interacting with the cast and using your equipment which is super charming. I think I ended up preferring it. The maps of the entire game are much neater and packed together than in Metal Gear 2, which started to feel a little too spread-out. Metal Gear Solid’s layout I feel was the perfect size to not get tedious but without taking away the exploring premise. While Metal Gear 2 secured the sneak element of the series by removing your map when alerting the guards, I feel Metal Gear Solid really perfected it in making the game impossible levels of difficulty when you get caught. They add more into the gameplay of course to make sneaking your first priority! The angles to check for guards are perfect and very cinematic, the first-person view also allows you to see where guards are located without being caught, and now there’s three boxes to use to get around, conveniently sending you to different buildings depending on the box you choose. Thank God, no more accidentally getting in the wrong truck anymore lol. Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2 both had 4th-wall breaking aspects that were pretty clever and added to their respective stories. I went into Metal Gear Solid expecting some pretty awesome 4th-wall breaks, and I would say I’m pretty satisfied. I already knew about Psycho Mantis, but liked the little details such as checking the CD-case and such.
Storywise, Metal Gear Solid comes crashing in to let its players know it’s more than just a generic 80’s action film story plot. Though it’s still very clearly heavily influenced by them. I mean, hell, it wouldn’t be Metal Gear if it wasn’t. There’s certain aspects I brush off on its storytelling as being too cheesy, but that really is just part of the series’ charm at this point, as were the movies they’re inspired by.
I go back and forth on how I feel about the story reusing so much of the story from Metal Gear 2. I guess in the end, I can confidently state that it’s not a negative thing, as they really added so much new to the story that I’m fine with the amount they reused. It did make knowing what to do next for the plot a bit easier, as I just naturally did what I did in the past game, such as noticing their emphasis on Meryl being the one female soldier in the building, so I went to wait for her outside the women’s bathroom like with Gustava in MG2. A lot of the stuff they repeated from the past game was just done a lot better too, specifically the FUCKING BROOCH which is now a key card. THANK GOD. They must have listened to me from the distant future and now instead of needing to change the shape of the item ALL THE WAY IN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT BUILDINGS, you just need to change the shape with some rooms in the building you’re already in! Ugh, it felt like sweet, sweet candy not needing to figure out how the hell I was going to get back to the area I started in.
This game definitely secured Grey Fox as my favorite character in this series. Nothing hit me harder in a game than fighting this robot ninja and having him slowly start to demand fighting mano-a-mano. Hmm… That’s what I did with Fox at the end of the last game… interesting. Then, he starts taunting you, “Don’t you remember this?” “Doesn’t this feel right?” etc etc. I remember my gut hitting the floor when he started saying this. There was no way, Grey Fox had to be dead! But no, here he was reconstructed and forcing me to fight him like we did at the end of Metal Gear 2. To say I got a little emotional would be an understatement, I was kind of a mess. All right after some dude pisses himself in front of me, too lmao.
Otacon is probably the new character added in that sticks out the most, in a positive way! Hell, the second I met him pissing his pants and talking about Japanese animes, I thought he was hilarious. Him bringing me fucking ketchup of all things to help when locked in the jail cell sealed him as being one of my favorites. He’s super memorable, and a very good Yin to Snake’s Yang, being the super nerdy scaredy cat that goes against Snake’s very smooth cool guy persona, and end up both complementing each other’s weaknesses. I really enjoyed his little romance with Sniper Wolf as well, I’m always a sucker for a nerdy guy with a badass woman, and liked that they had a character lose his love from the troubles of the battlefield.
At the end, it took a more serious turn with Liquid bringing up a valid point towards Snake, just why does he keep listening to his higher ups when over and over again they keep betraying him? Of course, he has to enjoy the chaos and killing of war just as badly as the “bad guys” do, too. The message of what a soldier has to do with their life in a peaceful world was brought up at the end of Metal Gear 2, and I’m very happy they brought it back as the main theme for Solid as well, as it is a very strong and emotional message.
The final fight with Liquid was very cool, especially when he’s in the Metal Gear attacking you. I was practically jumping in my seat when I saw the full 3D Metal Gear and how I was allowed to run around it and finally physically see how big it would be in scale to Snake. The fight was fucking AWESOME too, definitely took me a moment to figure out how to defeat, but after figuring out the good middle of running between the laser and the missiles, I felt so cool. I really was fighting the Metal Gear!! The final fist fight with Liquid was a little lame in my opinion though, as we already went through that in Metal Gear 2, and as we saw earlier in the game, the fist fight aspect was really special and unique to Fox. I felt that giving it to Liquid in addition kind of took away how desperate and sad the final fight with Fox was in MG2 and his follow-up fight in Metal Gear Solid. Though I can’t lie, doing a fist fight ON TOP OF THE DESTROYED METAL GEAR was super fucking cool. Just wish it didn’t take away the connection it had with Grey Fox.
The cons I have with the game are pretty small, but still exist. I’m going to be blunt and say I really don’t like how they wrote Meryl. I can complain, but at the same time I should just know how women in the Metal Gear series are going to be written at this point. Holly and Diane in the past games were obviously not the strongest written characters ever, but I did really like Holly (okay, I kind of fell in love with her, shut up), but I have no idea what the hell they were thinking with Meryl. They took this recently turned 18-year old girl and pushed her to be 33-year old Snake’s love interest, all while constantly mentioning how young and new she is throughout the entire game. On top of all that, they put in this weird mind control thing to make it so she’s not attracted to the opposite sex, which doesn’t really serve any plot reasons (that I know of right now) besides just giving this weird plotline to have Snake successfully seduce a woman that’s supposed to be impossible for men to attract. Some people online say that she’s “cured” (ugh) of it after defeating Psycho Mantis, but it’s not directly brought up. But hey, I guess that kinda writing sounds straight out of an 80’s action film, so whatever, I guess. I’m still not going to be the biggest fan of that decision, and as a lesbian, I don’t know if I’m ever going to come around to a “woman not attracted to man gets swayed off her feet and falls for him” plotline.
This was more so an issue at the very beginning that sort of lost steam throughout, but I personally wasn’t the biggest fan of how weird Snake talks to the female characters, mostly Mei Ling and Naomi. MGS has a lot more dialogue and talking cutscenes than MG2, which I guess they used to their advantage to have Snake hit on Mei Ling every second he talks to her, and asking for Naomi to let him “body search” her as a reward for being good. Again, I know I’m not the target audience for that kind of appeal, but the amount of horny coming out of Snake’s mouth got a little annoying after the first few times he spouted it. It’s me being a bit picky, that’s for sure, but I’m mostly going to pass it off as them figuring out a more strong personality that they were now able to give him in the game and playing with funny dialogue.
I think my only con with the gameplay was my wimpy ass getting upset that the rations no longer completely heal you, instead only filling up a small amount of your Life instead. Hey, it forced me to get good at the game at least!
Overall, Metal Gear Solid is a very, very, VERY good game, I can not stress that enough. It has perfect pacing, a clever story and clearly influenced the future of gaming in massive ways. To tell the truth, I’m already thinking about when I can replay it so I can test out my newly earned bandana! If you haven’t played the Metal Gear series, I really recommend playing MG1 & MG2 beforehand, as it really strengthens all of it, making Metal Gear Solid a truly beautiful game.
After Metal Gear 2, I had my expectations set pretty high for how Metal Gear Solid was going to improve on an already very ahead of its time game and Jesus Christ, MGS did NOT disappoint. The games both do have quite a few similarities, so I’ll be referencing MG2 a lot throughout this review.
Everything about the actual gameplay of Metal Gear Solid is perfect. The graphics? Groundbreaking. The music? Perfect. The scenes with real people? Hard-hitting and emotional. The voice acting? Very, very good, especially for the time. UI? Simple, yet stylized. And the sneaking and fighting component? Perfected. There’s so much I could say about just how much of a masterpiece this game is just as a video game. The cards immediately conjoin into one ID card (thank GOD), the weapon variety is fun while not being overwhelming and also now includes an awesome grenade that jams the cameras. Saving isn’t necessarily as quick and tidy as in Metal Gear 2, but it involves interacting with the cast and using your equipment which is super charming. I think I ended up preferring it. The maps of the entire game are much neater and packed together than in Metal Gear 2, which started to feel a little too spread-out. Metal Gear Solid’s layout I feel was the perfect size to not get tedious but without taking away the exploring premise. While Metal Gear 2 secured the sneak element of the series by removing your map when alerting the guards, I feel Metal Gear Solid really perfected it in making the game impossible levels of difficulty when you get caught. They add more into the gameplay of course to make sneaking your first priority! The angles to check for guards are perfect and very cinematic, the first-person view also allows you to see where guards are located without being caught, and now there’s three boxes to use to get around, conveniently sending you to different buildings depending on the box you choose. Thank God, no more accidentally getting in the wrong truck anymore lol. Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2 both had 4th-wall breaking aspects that were pretty clever and added to their respective stories. I went into Metal Gear Solid expecting some pretty awesome 4th-wall breaks, and I would say I’m pretty satisfied. I already knew about Psycho Mantis, but liked the little details such as checking the CD-case and such.
Storywise, Metal Gear Solid comes crashing in to let its players know it’s more than just a generic 80’s action film story plot. Though it’s still very clearly heavily influenced by them. I mean, hell, it wouldn’t be Metal Gear if it wasn’t. There’s certain aspects I brush off on its storytelling as being too cheesy, but that really is just part of the series’ charm at this point, as were the movies they’re inspired by.
I go back and forth on how I feel about the story reusing so much of the story from Metal Gear 2. I guess in the end, I can confidently state that it’s not a negative thing, as they really added so much new to the story that I’m fine with the amount they reused. It did make knowing what to do next for the plot a bit easier, as I just naturally did what I did in the past game, such as noticing their emphasis on Meryl being the one female soldier in the building, so I went to wait for her outside the women’s bathroom like with Gustava in MG2. A lot of the stuff they repeated from the past game was just done a lot better too, specifically the FUCKING BROOCH which is now a key card. THANK GOD. They must have listened to me from the distant future and now instead of needing to change the shape of the item ALL THE WAY IN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT BUILDINGS, you just need to change the shape with some rooms in the building you’re already in! Ugh, it felt like sweet, sweet candy not needing to figure out how the hell I was going to get back to the area I started in.
This game definitely secured Grey Fox as my favorite character in this series. Nothing hit me harder in a game than fighting this robot ninja and having him slowly start to demand fighting mano-a-mano. Hmm… That’s what I did with Fox at the end of the last game… interesting. Then, he starts taunting you, “Don’t you remember this?” “Doesn’t this feel right?” etc etc. I remember my gut hitting the floor when he started saying this. There was no way, Grey Fox had to be dead! But no, here he was reconstructed and forcing me to fight him like we did at the end of Metal Gear 2. To say I got a little emotional would be an understatement, I was kind of a mess. All right after some dude pisses himself in front of me, too lmao.
Otacon is probably the new character added in that sticks out the most, in a positive way! Hell, the second I met him pissing his pants and talking about Japanese animes, I thought he was hilarious. Him bringing me fucking ketchup of all things to help when locked in the jail cell sealed him as being one of my favorites. He’s super memorable, and a very good Yin to Snake’s Yang, being the super nerdy scaredy cat that goes against Snake’s very smooth cool guy persona, and end up both complementing each other’s weaknesses. I really enjoyed his little romance with Sniper Wolf as well, I’m always a sucker for a nerdy guy with a badass woman, and liked that they had a character lose his love from the troubles of the battlefield.
At the end, it took a more serious turn with Liquid bringing up a valid point towards Snake, just why does he keep listening to his higher ups when over and over again they keep betraying him? Of course, he has to enjoy the chaos and killing of war just as badly as the “bad guys” do, too. The message of what a soldier has to do with their life in a peaceful world was brought up at the end of Metal Gear 2, and I’m very happy they brought it back as the main theme for Solid as well, as it is a very strong and emotional message.
The final fight with Liquid was very cool, especially when he’s in the Metal Gear attacking you. I was practically jumping in my seat when I saw the full 3D Metal Gear and how I was allowed to run around it and finally physically see how big it would be in scale to Snake. The fight was fucking AWESOME too, definitely took me a moment to figure out how to defeat, but after figuring out the good middle of running between the laser and the missiles, I felt so cool. I really was fighting the Metal Gear!! The final fist fight with Liquid was a little lame in my opinion though, as we already went through that in Metal Gear 2, and as we saw earlier in the game, the fist fight aspect was really special and unique to Fox. I felt that giving it to Liquid in addition kind of took away how desperate and sad the final fight with Fox was in MG2 and his follow-up fight in Metal Gear Solid. Though I can’t lie, doing a fist fight ON TOP OF THE DESTROYED METAL GEAR was super fucking cool. Just wish it didn’t take away the connection it had with Grey Fox.
The cons I have with the game are pretty small, but still exist. I’m going to be blunt and say I really don’t like how they wrote Meryl. I can complain, but at the same time I should just know how women in the Metal Gear series are going to be written at this point. Holly and Diane in the past games were obviously not the strongest written characters ever, but I did really like Holly (okay, I kind of fell in love with her, shut up), but I have no idea what the hell they were thinking with Meryl. They took this recently turned 18-year old girl and pushed her to be 33-year old Snake’s love interest, all while constantly mentioning how young and new she is throughout the entire game. On top of all that, they put in this weird mind control thing to make it so she’s not attracted to the opposite sex, which doesn’t really serve any plot reasons (that I know of right now) besides just giving this weird plotline to have Snake successfully seduce a woman that’s supposed to be impossible for men to attract. Some people online say that she’s “cured” (ugh) of it after defeating Psycho Mantis, but it’s not directly brought up. But hey, I guess that kinda writing sounds straight out of an 80’s action film, so whatever, I guess. I’m still not going to be the biggest fan of that decision, and as a lesbian, I don’t know if I’m ever going to come around to a “woman not attracted to man gets swayed off her feet and falls for him” plotline.
This was more so an issue at the very beginning that sort of lost steam throughout, but I personally wasn’t the biggest fan of how weird Snake talks to the female characters, mostly Mei Ling and Naomi. MGS has a lot more dialogue and talking cutscenes than MG2, which I guess they used to their advantage to have Snake hit on Mei Ling every second he talks to her, and asking for Naomi to let him “body search” her as a reward for being good. Again, I know I’m not the target audience for that kind of appeal, but the amount of horny coming out of Snake’s mouth got a little annoying after the first few times he spouted it. It’s me being a bit picky, that’s for sure, but I’m mostly going to pass it off as them figuring out a more strong personality that they were now able to give him in the game and playing with funny dialogue.
I think my only con with the gameplay was my wimpy ass getting upset that the rations no longer completely heal you, instead only filling up a small amount of your Life instead. Hey, it forced me to get good at the game at least!
Overall, Metal Gear Solid is a very, very, VERY good game, I can not stress that enough. It has perfect pacing, a clever story and clearly influenced the future of gaming in massive ways. To tell the truth, I’m already thinking about when I can replay it so I can test out my newly earned bandana! If you haven’t played the Metal Gear series, I really recommend playing MG1 & MG2 beforehand, as it really strengthens all of it, making Metal Gear Solid a truly beautiful game.
Bayonetta
2009
(Played on PS4 not the bad PS3 port)
One of the best character action games ever made that not only rivals DMC but surpasses it at times. It's got a similar intricate stylish combat system but it's unique in being heavily based around long aerial combos and slowing down time with perfect dodges. You spawn torture devices out of thin air and summon demons with your hair to execute your enemies. Of all things, the level design is reminiscent of Mario Galaxy with all its walking on walls and planetoids. It's all very wacky and gory and a non-stop adrenaline rush.
It's also brutally difficult, but it allows you a sense of power if you can keep your enemies in the air and have perfect reflexes. For the most part I think the challenge is fair and the mechanics are balanced, that power is earned with your own skill and spamming will get you nowhere. (I say all this because these are key elements the sequel lost.) I don't care for the story but Bayonetta herself is a very enjoyable character, her English voice actor really brought her to life. I loved all the references to Capcom and SEGA stuff.
In my eyes this is the most consistent and complete game Platinum ever put out, it has so much soul and it meant all their games I've tried since have left me with varying degrees of disappointment. That's not to say it doesn't also have some pretty glaring flaws of its own, such as the instant death QTEs and the obscenely long missile shoot em up level (that's attached to the best boss in the game) but I can overlook them.
One of the best character action games ever made that not only rivals DMC but surpasses it at times. It's got a similar intricate stylish combat system but it's unique in being heavily based around long aerial combos and slowing down time with perfect dodges. You spawn torture devices out of thin air and summon demons with your hair to execute your enemies. Of all things, the level design is reminiscent of Mario Galaxy with all its walking on walls and planetoids. It's all very wacky and gory and a non-stop adrenaline rush.
It's also brutally difficult, but it allows you a sense of power if you can keep your enemies in the air and have perfect reflexes. For the most part I think the challenge is fair and the mechanics are balanced, that power is earned with your own skill and spamming will get you nowhere. (I say all this because these are key elements the sequel lost.) I don't care for the story but Bayonetta herself is a very enjoyable character, her English voice actor really brought her to life. I loved all the references to Capcom and SEGA stuff.
In my eyes this is the most consistent and complete game Platinum ever put out, it has so much soul and it meant all their games I've tried since have left me with varying degrees of disappointment. That's not to say it doesn't also have some pretty glaring flaws of its own, such as the instant death QTEs and the obscenely long missile shoot em up level (that's attached to the best boss in the game) but I can overlook them.
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