Detectivefail
“It’s often written about how Final Fantasy VII changed the fate of Japanese RPGs upon its release in 1997. Much less is written about how, one year later, Baldur’s Gate revitalized the CRPG genre. After the genre tapered off during the mid-90s, losing its appeal to “Doom clones”, RTS games, and the rising popularity of consoles, some CRPG developers were left wondering if they had coded themselves into a corner. Baldur’s Gate, though, managed to bring them back to the spotlight, selling two million copies worldwide and forever elevating the recently founded BioWare into a household name for CRPGs. It’s not that it was the only CRPG around. The revered Fallout series began a year before, to similar critical acclaim – but only a tiny fraction of the sales.” - Felipe Pepe, The CRPG Book: A Guide to Computer Role-Playing Games
As someone who didn’t grow up with Fallout or Baldur’s Gate. Two franchises continued to surprise me to no end during my ventures playing their older catalog over recent years. Fallout 2, being the last old CRPG I beat, I figured it was high time to see how much BG1 holds up, so I can familiarize myself with the universe before eventually starting BG3 down the road. First, I must confess to completing both the base game and Siege of Dragonspear with mods. I say this earlier on to not confuse my experience of a modded playthrough against a non-mod experience. As a consequence, I’ve gone the extra mile to play my switch copy to see how vanilla is to compare the two. Not to completion, but enough to grant me a fair grasp. I’ll discuss this in detail later, but I figure a warning would suffice early on to prevent any misconceptions between vanilla and modded content. I’ll talk about mods later and if I don’t discuss it, please assume I’m discussing vanilla.
Orphaned at a young age. Unknowing of their parentage. Adopted by the kindness of a stranger. Grew up sharing a loving childhood along a playful lass. Taught discipline and care by your father. Lived safely in the confines of the library fortress of Candlekeep for many years. What more could they want? Well… Such halcyon days must come to an end when suddenly you’re attacked by mysterious assassins! Questioning them leads to no answers. So we ask our stepfather later on for any information, However, he evades your queries in favor of leaving the bastion of respite and comfort you’ve known for twenty years. In search of finding answers to these unprovoked attacks in the Sword Coast of the Forgotten Realms. A campaign setting inside Dungeon and Dragons.
I adore the slow story approach to gently albeit dangerously letting the player go off to the coast and encounter whatever lurks behind the shadows, paved roads, and unbeaten paths. The unrestricted freedom is a major plus and to my delight, I found worthwhile discoveries across my travels alongside my horrible luck being attacked by foolish bandits or powerful creatures. Early on, I was scared yet excited. I came across another kind soul offering tips and directions. Yet unknowingly I wonder if such a person may have a hidden motive to backstab me. Anxiety, dread, and vigilance were my constant internal ruminations once I saw unfamiliar creatures patrolling. Even neutral bears are no exception. Capable of dealing massive damage to my comrades should I provoke one half-heartedly. Beyond the regular horrors of animals and insects, I was able to fight different manners of goblins, ogres, variants of ghouls, ghosts, etc. No shortage of interesting enemies to fight. And my axe cleaved through them viscerally. A dangerous yet fine balance emerges. Granting parties a fighting chance, and safety and instilling a sense of vigilance. I could’ve bumped the difficulty lower time, but I kept the normal difficulty throughout to give me a sense of challenge and excitement. I deeply appreciate the open freedom whilst encountering dangers and opportunities wherever I tread, reminding me heavily of roaming the Wastelands in Fallout 1 and 2.
Enjoyable isometric RPG gameplay. Dialogue choices do a good job of giving you a variety of options to be witty, sarcastic, no-nonsense, blunt, dismissive, etc. In effect, they augment conversations. A visit to the tavern to buy alcohol teases points of interest to travel and investigate. Conversing with the common folk results in similar outcomes. Innocent conversations may lead to potential side quests and multichain ones providing increased incentive to witness the outcome of an ailing NPC. Forget the conversations? Simply scrolling up on the text box reveals past lines said. A handy journal is equipped too which is interesting and provides the player character(PC) monologues of his/her/their internal thoughts about the quest or information sought. Therefore, depth to the world of Forgotten Realms is an alluring prospect. A search function is included too! I habitually checked my journal constantly to read my inner PC’s thoughts on a quest or journal entry. Occasionally to my amusement my dialogue choices can be quite witty, sarcastic, brisk, blunt, or gentle and helpful. The internal monologues are shared without remorse. And I welcome these thoughts and relish the lines.
For those not inclined to the hustle and bustle of speaking. One can dive deep into combat. No, not turn-based. No need to grind to level 100 like a JRPG. BG1 uses advanced dungeons and dragons 2nd edition(2E ADND) ruleset. This means you start at a measly level one, working your way to ten. Utilizing real-time action with pause fights they’re the main meat of the fighting aspect. Mouse over an enemy, click, and bam! Your whole party will auto-attack the individual. You can also initiate battles whenever you please. So attacking a shopkeeper or nearby civilian who’s off doing their errands is not exempt from your blade or spells. Hell, the AI will work its magic! No input is required! If the AI isn’t up to snuff. Tinker their script and check each unit’s actions. An aspect that surprised me greatly and the innate options to change their AI to your preference is excellent. Though to be fair I didn’t tinker too much! The default settings are adequate to suit my fighting playstyle. To BG1’s credit, plenty of customization options are at your disposal. Aside from the regular equipment, you can outfit each member: equip two rings, cloaks, amulets, belts, and extra weapon slots! Changeable in the heat of battle. I’m astounded by the sheer options at your disposal in 1998! Making build variety worth experimenting like a madman. Min-maxers will find no shortage to increase their stats or change spells in their spellbook to suit any occasion.
I felt super joy in clearing the nearby lands of evil and helping poor souls along the way. Despite ironically being an allegedly evil paladin. Builds and classes are plentiful and deep. I could assign any of my members in dual classes(within reason), learn spells for my mages, or slot any manner of weaponry as long as the class allows them to. Use ranged weaponry, a sling to hit enemies, and casting spells using wands. By the last chapter, I was running a six-man crew consisting of A Blackguard who is an evil paladin, a thief who is a ranger, and my childhood friend. A vengeful half-orcish Blackguard, A red wizard who begrudgingly joins our motley crew, a neutral evil drow cleric, and an unlucky wild mage who can’t control her powers. A dysfunctional group, full of uneasy alliances and explosive personalities, stayed together through thick and thin. Many fights ensued and yet. We. Did. Not Falter.Okay I must admit we did fail a lot in the final boss… but that’s a story for another day
Companions are plentiful. Twenty-four plus allies you can recruit and four exclusive ones in the enhanced edition. My feelings of satisfaction permeated once I saw a potentially new member along the horizon. Asking for genuine assistance. By random chance in a building. Stumble on unique encounters. Where any battle may ensue or a unique script may play. Choose to help, attack, or run away. These instances never rinse and repeat in a tiring formula. Instead, they felt natural. Moving on the question may arise to utilize canon units before importing to the following expansions/sequels. According to my CRPG veteran friend of mine. The individuals or other party members you choose are “subjective and a pretty fine line. I think if you're uncertain, go for the canon. If you like your setup already, keep it. A little better, but not something you should go out of your way to meet.” Upon completing the plot and seeing the difference between my non-canon friends and my switch version, I'm rolling alongside the canon company. Ultimately, I agree with their statement. Only adding follow your heart to suit your desire.Although, you should keep Dorn as a prospective acquaintance to recruit mhhm.
The Sword Coast is full of danger, excitement, and surprises. Gentle worldbuilding and clean-to-deep lore work wonders. Boosting the writing to levels near engrossing to read. I love it! Reminding me heavily of Lord of the Rings except if the fellowship decided to go off the beaten path and help those in need. Forget the ring! Anyway… a wealth of books you can buy in taverns, and shops presenting interesting backgrounds on religion, history, past historical events, legends, myths, etc. Never hurts reading! Connecting nicely in minor ways to my allies, citizens, and villains! Not pages of exposition. Mostly a couple of paragraphs or extra if you get a heavier tome. Granting informative knowledge on the races, items, and locales. Subtly nudging me to go deeper beyond the surface level “Oh that’s just an elf. Meh, a dwarf, bah a human?” Nay my marvelous friends! They’re more than meets the eye. For the elf could be a half-elf or a drow! Dwarves mistaken for gnomes! And humans themselves can prove resilient.though still squishy… And relations between people are not the norm such as jolly and peaceful. Reminds me of X-Men/Mutant/Brotherhood relationships with the common folk except fantasied. Racism, class hierarchy, and hidden factions are abundant. And I, the poor unlucky son of a gun, have to find answers?! Gimme a break. I’m only level one…
Sidequests feel natural and written well. I like how little down-to-earth they are and deal in relatable matters. One has you stop a man about to jump off a cliff! Search for a cloak to return to a dismayed individual. Clean a house of spiders for the owner to take up residence. May seem mundane and not offer much. Nevertheless, I appreciate the slightly monotonous tasks to slowly build up my user and partners' strengths. Sooner or later I was rolling level 3s party and higher. I was able to partake in extensively intricate activities. A certain thief's quest to pass a test. Passing judgment on a man brainwashed. Aiding or killing a crook who seeks to take advantage of innocent individuals and return a chicken to human life. I kid you not I’m in disbelief on the chicken side mission. A bit of RNG is involved. Incredible to see a quest fail by chance. Hell, you can sell the guy to a vendor and forget him. It wasn’t worth it. The vendor didn’t reward me enough gold… I enjoyed the progression of slowly increasing the complex quests as my friends grew stronger since they offer a realistic fantasy take in mixing inspiration from our lived experiences into a videogame and to the developer's credit I feel it works wonderfully. My members were rugged and dirty as I completed all objectives until my journal entries were tidy. The physical rewards were sufficient and lore-wise adequate. Mods restoring cut content I highly suggest checking out. I found their inclusion to not be out of place and fit superbly adding depth and giving life to the areas you visit.
In the interest of not gushing further, I must talk about my mixed feelings now. Not a positive or a negative, but for the sake of transparency I'm noting them down.
The base game without mods is a bit lifeless compared to my modded playthrough. Certainly there are moments NPC’s are designated, but the world feels sparse, has tiny reactivity, and is slightly oppressive. The absence of considerable mini/side quests and NPCs at intervals loses my interest in keeping going. I cannot send my companions to a specific place. The banter in my cabal is nearly non-existent. And reactions to story beats are missing. Voiced NPC lines are likewise gone. Identifying can be a pain. You’ll come across a sizable amount of magical items/equipment on your adventures. In demand of identifying either by a spell or by heading to a temple and having the priest identify the item to fully see their properties. Not a pain if we are given loads of unidentifiable equipment, and to BG1’s credit, a sufficient amount to tide us over. Not over-gorging amidst decision paralysis. The tediousness comes in the constant back and forth to towns to identify and sell stuff you accrue to offload the heavyweight. Being encumbered sucks. Different members can hold different amounts of carry load so it is kinda not a wonderful idea to make an associate of low weight capacity. The absence of a book bag is puzzling to a degree since decent materials are available to read and not having an ease of access hurts a bit. Sure a handful of items exist in the form of ‘bags of holdings’ to slot gems, potions, and scrolls. Their weight is not endless. Exacerbated by a considerably slow movement speed which boggles my mind as to why no movement speed slider is in the options to make our traversal faster.
THAC0 & Armor Class minus '-' numbers values can be fairly confusing for newbies. How I usually play is seeing numbers of ‘plus’ meaning ‘good’ and ‘minus’ equalling ‘bad.’ Math is different in BG1. The rest is fine as far as I know. You’ll usually see if it is beneficial to apply if the numbers are highlighted in green for favorable/better and red being bad/underperforming. So equipping a weapon displaying a green highlight is best. If it's red don’t equip or else you’ll perform in a minor capacity. Furthermore, pixel squinting in a handful of sections may be necessary. One in a pretty big optional dungeon, a main plot segment, and to a lesser extent upon exploring multiple floors in buildings. Honestly, you probably will squint maybe 5-10%. To my absolute delight, a zoom function, and a highlight everything option exists. Doesn’t alleviate the squinting issue entirely, but a cool option to use. Interacting with objects in a room to solve puzzles or clicking a secret stash can be a bit troublesome without looking carefully at your surroundings.
Can be overwhelming to understand the 2E ADND ruleset for newbies of what you can and cannot do and how values are applied during clashes.At least it's not Pathfinder homework My friends who played alongside me reported similar confusion. I feel reading the manual can help in a certain way to receive a better understanding of the mechanics. Bit lengthy at a hundred-fifty pages plus, but the combat portion is the most important to remember in my opinion. So no obligation to read all of it. Lots of tutors in Candlekeep explain the most important things: Mechanics, features, tips, explanations, etc. Before venturing off, best to chat near cohorts. Thereby gaining a better comprehension of various obscure topics.
In effect, A dangerous, rigid, unforgiving land emerges. Creating a fascinating contrast from my original modded playthrough. The benefits inside the console port I appreciate. A big green outline to all accessible buildings makes access easier, decreasing squinting. Primarily used the controller due to being so comfortable than using a keyboard and mouse(KB+M). Plenty of options in the settings to tweak to your liking. The new CG replaces the old FMV, though I much prefer the original version compared to the new one. Heavier in visceral atmosphere, conveys a darker tone, and has longer scenes compared to Beamdog’s version. As a result, I feel without mods BG1 creates a partially slower, but acceptable version to play for newcomers and veterans alike.
Base game with mods is a completely different ballpark. Much of my mixed feelings are thrown out the window. Containing quality of life features across the board. The commitment to identify is gone. The default movement speed is tweaked to be faster to my preference. NPC banter is awesome, narrative beats hit a big splash, and interactivity feels very fitting and not out of place at all in my honest opinion. The cut content is a welcome addition to augment life in Sword Coast’s areas providing I would say 50-75% additional activities to do. Mini/side quests are not exempt. And subsequently not too out of place. UI tweaks make quick looting not a chore and display data during info/shop menus are very welcome. A tweaks anthology module goes above the heavens to tweak nearly every aspect. My buddy and I strictly kept our list small and light to enhance vanilla, keeping the balance as close as possible to the original. As long as it's fun, but fair then by all means mod away! Consequently, my modded playthrough experience became fun, exciting, and very enjoyable. I extremely recommend installing mods on PC if you can.
Before I forget, my thoughts on Siege of Dragonspear the expansion to BG1. Solid stuff and a prelude to BG2. We start weeks after the events of the first title. Caelar Argent and her army arrived near Baldur’s Gate quickly. For what purpose? No clue man. But I spend the rest of my questing life confronting her forces in skirmishes and dastardly deeds. She has the gall to send assassins to me!? Yeah, I’m done lady on the assassination attempts. So now you and your comrades set off to investigate her motives, her reasons for sending agents and why the bloody hell does she need an army!? Doesn’t take long to complete. You can finish it quickly according to HLTB in 18 hours or less. For me, I did all the sidequests clocking in under twenty-five hours. Bit of a step down in quality compared to the previous entry, in terms of dialogue and non-fighting. Most if not all of them consist of fighting. These are the moments, the expansion shines a great deal. Epic battles opposing Caelar’s forces. Imagine army vs. army. Defending our position against waves of enemies, infiltrating enemy camps, finding clues to unlock an alternate path, etc. I love it! Smaller maps and favoring a linear approach dressing down the large dungeons in favor of bite-sized portions alongside their puzzle segments. Super appreciate the change of pace from a grand scale in the first, to enhanced closer encounters to test our mettle. Companions chatter at various points to talk about their gripes, goals, or on their new adventures. So they’re not left in the dust for development. Heck, the new units are a treat too! Music again hits all the right notes. No major complaints to say, despite a wish for a sprinkle of nuance in the writing giving a heavier expanse to the world. And it does so to a certain extent. I would’ve liked a bit of extra lore-building to devour. I also wish one member had received extended screen time to develop. Still, Dragonspear is a solid one and I recommend it for those who want worthwhile content and can’t get enough of the Forgotten Realms universe.
One last thing before I head out. Special thanks to the following people who played beside me. Kairoch for completing a modded playthrough. Mango and Jag for finishing the Switch version and granting me an interesting insight into their experiences and finally Donkeyworld for clarifying and providing awesome CRPG insight. This review would not be possible without their thoughts, company and countless laughter sharing our experiences. I also apologize for this long review. It has been in the works for weeks and I’ve nearly gone crazy about whether to publish this longer or shorter. Ultimately cut pages as a result. Nevertheless, I'll allocate them in a Pastebin link below for those curious.
And so after defeating the final boss, seeing the end credits, and doing everything possible plus completing Siege of Dragonspear over the course of my seventy-five hour journey. I can only say Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition is a refreshing CRPG to try out. Despite some hurdles and bumps on the road during my travels, I believe BG1EE is a fine entrypoint. An above-average effort to keep the game modernized enough for consumers today. Hold’s up nicely. Consequently, I believe the Switch copy and by extension console ports is a serviceable version to play if you don’t desire to tinker around on PC. 98% of my hours were conducted blindly. Meaning no walkthrough was used. The normal difficulty was fine for me. No story points caused me to slam my head on the wall repeatedly. I never got tired of exploring uncharted areas to fulfill my cartographer’s wish to map every nook and cranny. Sure I died. And yes I will admit to reloading countlessly. The save and loading times are fast and I didn’t mind retrying again and again until I advanced further. The fantasy setting is rich, full of wonder, chaos, order, and plenty of world-building to devour. Writing is flavorful. Full of seriousness and humorous lines. Stabilized to not throw my suspension of disbelief into a state of confusion. I completed every side quest and didn’t tire, so I can say they’re pretty satisfying and worth investing your effort in. Because you’ll require the experience to level up. I admire the slow-burn narrative approach to losing newcomers to Sword Coast, embracing their inner curiosity to explore, fight, and discover secrets. Satisfying gameplay loop in not just the combat, but in the dialogue. Installing mods fixed most of my mixed feelings to a certain extent. A likable large cast of companions to recruit and the sheer customization at my fingertips to outfit as we see fit is splendid. Graphics, music, and improvements the remaster tries to implement are commendable of Beamdogs' attempt. I applaud 90s Bioware in creating an incredible CRPG. It is a titan of role-playing and fantasy. Full of nearly everything I thirst for. An easy recommendation for any newcomer or veteran in the genre to sink their teeth. And one I can safely say shot up to my top ten Western RPGs. Can’t wait to start BG2! After a CRPG break…
Base game without mods: 7.7/10
Base game with mods: 8/10
Additional Material:
BG1EE Mods list used & Proper Mod list order
Adventurer’s guide AKA Manual on BG1EE
BG1:EE Before I play Tips
Kairoch’s Extra tips for BG1
My Cut pages from review, Final thoughts on the ending, Durlag’s tower. - Cut pages are fine to read for any newcomer and spoiler free. My thoughts on the ending, final boss, Durlag's tower - should only be read by those who finished the game.
CRPG Book Project - Felipe Pepe made the book free to download. But if you want to support them buy a copy of the book!
As someone who didn’t grow up with Fallout or Baldur’s Gate. Two franchises continued to surprise me to no end during my ventures playing their older catalog over recent years. Fallout 2, being the last old CRPG I beat, I figured it was high time to see how much BG1 holds up, so I can familiarize myself with the universe before eventually starting BG3 down the road. First, I must confess to completing both the base game and Siege of Dragonspear with mods. I say this earlier on to not confuse my experience of a modded playthrough against a non-mod experience. As a consequence, I’ve gone the extra mile to play my switch copy to see how vanilla is to compare the two. Not to completion, but enough to grant me a fair grasp. I’ll discuss this in detail later, but I figure a warning would suffice early on to prevent any misconceptions between vanilla and modded content. I’ll talk about mods later and if I don’t discuss it, please assume I’m discussing vanilla.
Orphaned at a young age. Unknowing of their parentage. Adopted by the kindness of a stranger. Grew up sharing a loving childhood along a playful lass. Taught discipline and care by your father. Lived safely in the confines of the library fortress of Candlekeep for many years. What more could they want? Well… Such halcyon days must come to an end when suddenly you’re attacked by mysterious assassins! Questioning them leads to no answers. So we ask our stepfather later on for any information, However, he evades your queries in favor of leaving the bastion of respite and comfort you’ve known for twenty years. In search of finding answers to these unprovoked attacks in the Sword Coast of the Forgotten Realms. A campaign setting inside Dungeon and Dragons.
I adore the slow story approach to gently albeit dangerously letting the player go off to the coast and encounter whatever lurks behind the shadows, paved roads, and unbeaten paths. The unrestricted freedom is a major plus and to my delight, I found worthwhile discoveries across my travels alongside my horrible luck being attacked by foolish bandits or powerful creatures. Early on, I was scared yet excited. I came across another kind soul offering tips and directions. Yet unknowingly I wonder if such a person may have a hidden motive to backstab me. Anxiety, dread, and vigilance were my constant internal ruminations once I saw unfamiliar creatures patrolling. Even neutral bears are no exception. Capable of dealing massive damage to my comrades should I provoke one half-heartedly. Beyond the regular horrors of animals and insects, I was able to fight different manners of goblins, ogres, variants of ghouls, ghosts, etc. No shortage of interesting enemies to fight. And my axe cleaved through them viscerally. A dangerous yet fine balance emerges. Granting parties a fighting chance, and safety and instilling a sense of vigilance. I could’ve bumped the difficulty lower time, but I kept the normal difficulty throughout to give me a sense of challenge and excitement. I deeply appreciate the open freedom whilst encountering dangers and opportunities wherever I tread, reminding me heavily of roaming the Wastelands in Fallout 1 and 2.
Enjoyable isometric RPG gameplay. Dialogue choices do a good job of giving you a variety of options to be witty, sarcastic, no-nonsense, blunt, dismissive, etc. In effect, they augment conversations. A visit to the tavern to buy alcohol teases points of interest to travel and investigate. Conversing with the common folk results in similar outcomes. Innocent conversations may lead to potential side quests and multichain ones providing increased incentive to witness the outcome of an ailing NPC. Forget the conversations? Simply scrolling up on the text box reveals past lines said. A handy journal is equipped too which is interesting and provides the player character(PC) monologues of his/her/their internal thoughts about the quest or information sought. Therefore, depth to the world of Forgotten Realms is an alluring prospect. A search function is included too! I habitually checked my journal constantly to read my inner PC’s thoughts on a quest or journal entry. Occasionally to my amusement my dialogue choices can be quite witty, sarcastic, brisk, blunt, or gentle and helpful. The internal monologues are shared without remorse. And I welcome these thoughts and relish the lines.
For those not inclined to the hustle and bustle of speaking. One can dive deep into combat. No, not turn-based. No need to grind to level 100 like a JRPG. BG1 uses advanced dungeons and dragons 2nd edition(2E ADND) ruleset. This means you start at a measly level one, working your way to ten. Utilizing real-time action with pause fights they’re the main meat of the fighting aspect. Mouse over an enemy, click, and bam! Your whole party will auto-attack the individual. You can also initiate battles whenever you please. So attacking a shopkeeper or nearby civilian who’s off doing their errands is not exempt from your blade or spells. Hell, the AI will work its magic! No input is required! If the AI isn’t up to snuff. Tinker their script and check each unit’s actions. An aspect that surprised me greatly and the innate options to change their AI to your preference is excellent. Though to be fair I didn’t tinker too much! The default settings are adequate to suit my fighting playstyle. To BG1’s credit, plenty of customization options are at your disposal. Aside from the regular equipment, you can outfit each member: equip two rings, cloaks, amulets, belts, and extra weapon slots! Changeable in the heat of battle. I’m astounded by the sheer options at your disposal in 1998! Making build variety worth experimenting like a madman. Min-maxers will find no shortage to increase their stats or change spells in their spellbook to suit any occasion.
I felt super joy in clearing the nearby lands of evil and helping poor souls along the way. Despite ironically being an allegedly evil paladin. Builds and classes are plentiful and deep. I could assign any of my members in dual classes(within reason), learn spells for my mages, or slot any manner of weaponry as long as the class allows them to. Use ranged weaponry, a sling to hit enemies, and casting spells using wands. By the last chapter, I was running a six-man crew consisting of A Blackguard who is an evil paladin, a thief who is a ranger, and my childhood friend. A vengeful half-orcish Blackguard, A red wizard who begrudgingly joins our motley crew, a neutral evil drow cleric, and an unlucky wild mage who can’t control her powers. A dysfunctional group, full of uneasy alliances and explosive personalities, stayed together through thick and thin. Many fights ensued and yet. We. Did. Not Falter.
Companions are plentiful. Twenty-four plus allies you can recruit and four exclusive ones in the enhanced edition. My feelings of satisfaction permeated once I saw a potentially new member along the horizon. Asking for genuine assistance. By random chance in a building. Stumble on unique encounters. Where any battle may ensue or a unique script may play. Choose to help, attack, or run away. These instances never rinse and repeat in a tiring formula. Instead, they felt natural. Moving on the question may arise to utilize canon units before importing to the following expansions/sequels. According to my CRPG veteran friend of mine. The individuals or other party members you choose are “subjective and a pretty fine line. I think if you're uncertain, go for the canon. If you like your setup already, keep it. A little better, but not something you should go out of your way to meet.” Upon completing the plot and seeing the difference between my non-canon friends and my switch version, I'm rolling alongside the canon company. Ultimately, I agree with their statement. Only adding follow your heart to suit your desire.
The Sword Coast is full of danger, excitement, and surprises. Gentle worldbuilding and clean-to-deep lore work wonders. Boosting the writing to levels near engrossing to read. I love it! Reminding me heavily of Lord of the Rings except if the fellowship decided to go off the beaten path and help those in need. Forget the ring! Anyway… a wealth of books you can buy in taverns, and shops presenting interesting backgrounds on religion, history, past historical events, legends, myths, etc. Never hurts reading! Connecting nicely in minor ways to my allies, citizens, and villains! Not pages of exposition. Mostly a couple of paragraphs or extra if you get a heavier tome. Granting informative knowledge on the races, items, and locales. Subtly nudging me to go deeper beyond the surface level “Oh that’s just an elf. Meh, a dwarf, bah a human?” Nay my marvelous friends! They’re more than meets the eye. For the elf could be a half-elf or a drow! Dwarves mistaken for gnomes! And humans themselves can prove resilient.
Sidequests feel natural and written well. I like how little down-to-earth they are and deal in relatable matters. One has you stop a man about to jump off a cliff! Search for a cloak to return to a dismayed individual. Clean a house of spiders for the owner to take up residence. May seem mundane and not offer much. Nevertheless, I appreciate the slightly monotonous tasks to slowly build up my user and partners' strengths. Sooner or later I was rolling level 3s party and higher. I was able to partake in extensively intricate activities. A certain thief's quest to pass a test. Passing judgment on a man brainwashed. Aiding or killing a crook who seeks to take advantage of innocent individuals and return a chicken to human life. I kid you not I’m in disbelief on the chicken side mission. A bit of RNG is involved. Incredible to see a quest fail by chance. Hell, you can sell the guy to a vendor and forget him. It wasn’t worth it. The vendor didn’t reward me enough gold… I enjoyed the progression of slowly increasing the complex quests as my friends grew stronger since they offer a realistic fantasy take in mixing inspiration from our lived experiences into a videogame and to the developer's credit I feel it works wonderfully. My members were rugged and dirty as I completed all objectives until my journal entries were tidy. The physical rewards were sufficient and lore-wise adequate. Mods restoring cut content I highly suggest checking out. I found their inclusion to not be out of place and fit superbly adding depth and giving life to the areas you visit.
In the interest of not gushing further, I must talk about my mixed feelings now. Not a positive or a negative, but for the sake of transparency I'm noting them down.
The base game without mods is a bit lifeless compared to my modded playthrough. Certainly there are moments NPC’s are designated, but the world feels sparse, has tiny reactivity, and is slightly oppressive. The absence of considerable mini/side quests and NPCs at intervals loses my interest in keeping going. I cannot send my companions to a specific place. The banter in my cabal is nearly non-existent. And reactions to story beats are missing. Voiced NPC lines are likewise gone. Identifying can be a pain. You’ll come across a sizable amount of magical items/equipment on your adventures. In demand of identifying either by a spell or by heading to a temple and having the priest identify the item to fully see their properties. Not a pain if we are given loads of unidentifiable equipment, and to BG1’s credit, a sufficient amount to tide us over. Not over-gorging amidst decision paralysis. The tediousness comes in the constant back and forth to towns to identify and sell stuff you accrue to offload the heavyweight. Being encumbered sucks. Different members can hold different amounts of carry load so it is kinda not a wonderful idea to make an associate of low weight capacity. The absence of a book bag is puzzling to a degree since decent materials are available to read and not having an ease of access hurts a bit. Sure a handful of items exist in the form of ‘bags of holdings’ to slot gems, potions, and scrolls. Their weight is not endless. Exacerbated by a considerably slow movement speed which boggles my mind as to why no movement speed slider is in the options to make our traversal faster.
THAC0 & Armor Class minus '-' numbers values can be fairly confusing for newbies. How I usually play is seeing numbers of ‘plus’ meaning ‘good’ and ‘minus’ equalling ‘bad.’ Math is different in BG1. The rest is fine as far as I know. You’ll usually see if it is beneficial to apply if the numbers are highlighted in green for favorable/better and red being bad/underperforming. So equipping a weapon displaying a green highlight is best. If it's red don’t equip or else you’ll perform in a minor capacity. Furthermore, pixel squinting in a handful of sections may be necessary. One in a pretty big optional dungeon, a main plot segment, and to a lesser extent upon exploring multiple floors in buildings. Honestly, you probably will squint maybe 5-10%. To my absolute delight, a zoom function, and a highlight everything option exists. Doesn’t alleviate the squinting issue entirely, but a cool option to use. Interacting with objects in a room to solve puzzles or clicking a secret stash can be a bit troublesome without looking carefully at your surroundings.
Can be overwhelming to understand the 2E ADND ruleset for newbies of what you can and cannot do and how values are applied during clashes.
In effect, A dangerous, rigid, unforgiving land emerges. Creating a fascinating contrast from my original modded playthrough. The benefits inside the console port I appreciate. A big green outline to all accessible buildings makes access easier, decreasing squinting. Primarily used the controller due to being so comfortable than using a keyboard and mouse(KB+M). Plenty of options in the settings to tweak to your liking. The new CG replaces the old FMV, though I much prefer the original version compared to the new one. Heavier in visceral atmosphere, conveys a darker tone, and has longer scenes compared to Beamdog’s version. As a result, I feel without mods BG1 creates a partially slower, but acceptable version to play for newcomers and veterans alike.
Base game with mods is a completely different ballpark. Much of my mixed feelings are thrown out the window. Containing quality of life features across the board. The commitment to identify is gone. The default movement speed is tweaked to be faster to my preference. NPC banter is awesome, narrative beats hit a big splash, and interactivity feels very fitting and not out of place at all in my honest opinion. The cut content is a welcome addition to augment life in Sword Coast’s areas providing I would say 50-75% additional activities to do. Mini/side quests are not exempt. And subsequently not too out of place. UI tweaks make quick looting not a chore and display data during info/shop menus are very welcome. A tweaks anthology module goes above the heavens to tweak nearly every aspect. My buddy and I strictly kept our list small and light to enhance vanilla, keeping the balance as close as possible to the original. As long as it's fun, but fair then by all means mod away! Consequently, my modded playthrough experience became fun, exciting, and very enjoyable. I extremely recommend installing mods on PC if you can.
Before I forget, my thoughts on Siege of Dragonspear the expansion to BG1. Solid stuff and a prelude to BG2. We start weeks after the events of the first title. Caelar Argent and her army arrived near Baldur’s Gate quickly. For what purpose? No clue man. But I spend the rest of my questing life confronting her forces in skirmishes and dastardly deeds. She has the gall to send assassins to me!? Yeah, I’m done lady on the assassination attempts. So now you and your comrades set off to investigate her motives, her reasons for sending agents and why the bloody hell does she need an army!? Doesn’t take long to complete. You can finish it quickly according to HLTB in 18 hours or less. For me, I did all the sidequests clocking in under twenty-five hours. Bit of a step down in quality compared to the previous entry, in terms of dialogue and non-fighting. Most if not all of them consist of fighting. These are the moments, the expansion shines a great deal. Epic battles opposing Caelar’s forces. Imagine army vs. army. Defending our position against waves of enemies, infiltrating enemy camps, finding clues to unlock an alternate path, etc. I love it! Smaller maps and favoring a linear approach dressing down the large dungeons in favor of bite-sized portions alongside their puzzle segments. Super appreciate the change of pace from a grand scale in the first, to enhanced closer encounters to test our mettle. Companions chatter at various points to talk about their gripes, goals, or on their new adventures. So they’re not left in the dust for development. Heck, the new units are a treat too! Music again hits all the right notes. No major complaints to say, despite a wish for a sprinkle of nuance in the writing giving a heavier expanse to the world. And it does so to a certain extent. I would’ve liked a bit of extra lore-building to devour. I also wish one member had received extended screen time to develop. Still, Dragonspear is a solid one and I recommend it for those who want worthwhile content and can’t get enough of the Forgotten Realms universe.
One last thing before I head out. Special thanks to the following people who played beside me. Kairoch for completing a modded playthrough. Mango and Jag for finishing the Switch version and granting me an interesting insight into their experiences and finally Donkeyworld for clarifying and providing awesome CRPG insight. This review would not be possible without their thoughts, company and countless laughter sharing our experiences. I also apologize for this long review. It has been in the works for weeks and I’ve nearly gone crazy about whether to publish this longer or shorter. Ultimately cut pages as a result. Nevertheless, I'll allocate them in a Pastebin link below for those curious.
And so after defeating the final boss, seeing the end credits, and doing everything possible plus completing Siege of Dragonspear over the course of my seventy-five hour journey. I can only say Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition is a refreshing CRPG to try out. Despite some hurdles and bumps on the road during my travels, I believe BG1EE is a fine entrypoint. An above-average effort to keep the game modernized enough for consumers today. Hold’s up nicely. Consequently, I believe the Switch copy and by extension console ports is a serviceable version to play if you don’t desire to tinker around on PC. 98% of my hours were conducted blindly. Meaning no walkthrough was used. The normal difficulty was fine for me. No story points caused me to slam my head on the wall repeatedly. I never got tired of exploring uncharted areas to fulfill my cartographer’s wish to map every nook and cranny. Sure I died. And yes I will admit to reloading countlessly. The save and loading times are fast and I didn’t mind retrying again and again until I advanced further. The fantasy setting is rich, full of wonder, chaos, order, and plenty of world-building to devour. Writing is flavorful. Full of seriousness and humorous lines. Stabilized to not throw my suspension of disbelief into a state of confusion. I completed every side quest and didn’t tire, so I can say they’re pretty satisfying and worth investing your effort in. Because you’ll require the experience to level up. I admire the slow-burn narrative approach to losing newcomers to Sword Coast, embracing their inner curiosity to explore, fight, and discover secrets. Satisfying gameplay loop in not just the combat, but in the dialogue. Installing mods fixed most of my mixed feelings to a certain extent. A likable large cast of companions to recruit and the sheer customization at my fingertips to outfit as we see fit is splendid. Graphics, music, and improvements the remaster tries to implement are commendable of Beamdogs' attempt. I applaud 90s Bioware in creating an incredible CRPG. It is a titan of role-playing and fantasy. Full of nearly everything I thirst for. An easy recommendation for any newcomer or veteran in the genre to sink their teeth. And one I can safely say shot up to my top ten Western RPGs. Can’t wait to start BG2! After a CRPG break…
Base game without mods: 7.7/10
Base game with mods: 8/10
Additional Material:
BG1EE Mods list used & Proper Mod list order
Adventurer’s guide AKA Manual on BG1EE
BG1:EE Before I play Tips
Kairoch’s Extra tips for BG1
My Cut pages from review, Final thoughts on the ending, Durlag’s tower. - Cut pages are fine to read for any newcomer and spoiler free. My thoughts on the ending, final boss, Durlag's tower - should only be read by those who finished the game.
CRPG Book Project - Felipe Pepe made the book free to download. But if you want to support them buy a copy of the book!
In an IGN interview conducted last year, when asked about Armored Core VI’s approach to difficulty Masaru Yamamura(director of AC6) replied “...What we wanted to focus on was really intense and tough mecha battles. We have generally tried to keep it on the challenging side, but it's not to say that it's a flat difficulty line throughout. We wanted to have some nice tempo changes and some nice mix to the difficulty and the level of challenge.” My dude. You did it! I can’t get enough of these clashes! Intense 1v1 duels. Where overwhelming forces meet nimble mercenaries evading missile barrages and bullets galore. Minibosses are spared no expense either. Feeling menacing and tough to beat. Without the right setup, I probably would’ve sweated buckets straining my body and mind to the very limit. I’m so engrossed to the extent, I am reminiscing the good old days from AC Last Raven(ACLR) and AC For Answer(ACFA). Already completed everything I could within three playthroughs. Now I’m soaring across Rubicon’s skies again in my fourth run. Armored Core is back! Blazing, burning, and brightly across nearly all points. If that’s not enough to get your engines running hot, remember Rainn Wilson from ‘Mechless Mutual’ has you covered. Dude seems familiar… probably from some Office tv show.
For those who don’t know AC in general. It is primarily a third-person mecha shooting game. You control a silent protagonist who pilots an Armored Core(AC). Accepting corporate contracts, building up funds, and in doing so, retool their mech when needed. The story is not the strongest you could entice anyone to dip in my opinion. And the IP isn’t renowned to resonate with everyone due to mediocre scores. Outside of outliers. Yet despite all odds the latest installment blasts beyond the mediocre to land among the highest of highs. Penetrating through the nicheness of a twenty-six year long legacy. And still retain the number 1 spot in the UK. Proving without a shadow of doubt, FromSoftware has clearly learned from their past mistakes.
ACVI is no different from its predecessors. But there’s a catch. For the second time in the series, we're not on Earth huh? We're on Rubicon 3. So a new playground awaits us. Coral, a substance found on the planet, is discovered to be both an energy source and a data conduit. Becoming a hot item to advance humanity further by leaps and bounds in the technology sector. Perfect! Our plans proceed on the transhum- until their research causes the Fires of Ibis to occur, combusting the surrounding systems to flames. Fifty years later Coral has been detected once again on Rubicon. And so begins the rush of corporations heading there. To utilize Coral and restart their selfish endeavors regardless of the planet's inhabitants' wishes. As Augmented human C4-621, callsign Raven. You follow orders from a handler named Walter, accepting contracts in the hope you will become free someday. That’s the gist you need to know to get started.
ACVI's story pulverizes its way to being one of the strongest I’ve witnessed in the franchise. And it means a lot compared to previous plot beats. Past games in the story department are usually presented in a simple manner. With hardly any cast to back the main character. Offering no connections, no relatability and no personal motive in conjunction to the protagonist. Recent entries try to break the mold, but more or less most missions are too short and disconnected offering no before or after action report to connect both main/side cast to the narrative. And main objectives all too basic and not noteworthy for a mecha story. For ACVI in comparison, they have all those opposite qualities in spades. Not so much to expect from other powerful games with enthralling story hooks to tell. Here, no hand gently feeds the player, instead we must piece it together from the text given. 621 is offered choices on what divergent missions to accomplish. Therefore, impacting the outcome of the narrative. Equating to three different endings. I find it hauntingly similar to how the Nier series implements them. But not the same. Beyond the corporate duties is a slice of trans humanism and more I won't say due to spoilers. The beats detail unfamiliar roads the first path did not tread. So its a good incentive to keep going past the end credits and see what the rest have to offer. Personally I found it a must to see the fights, new dialogue, new mission structures etc. I like witnessing all the endings and the progression is slightly altered via the storytelling. If I were to rate them. I’d say NG++ = NG+ > NG. The NG is still good in my books. I’ll talk further later since I feel it is an improvement, but there are a few things to be concerned about.
A satisfying gameplay loop emerges in a multitude of factors: the extensive customization in equipping light, medium, and heavy parts to outfit your robot killing machine. Think of it as post-apocalypse deadly legos. Except building a mech twenty to fifty times the size of humans. Become a bulky tank capable of withstanding the hardest of blows. Go for a tetrapod Think crab legs and hover in the air taunting peons below who can’t reach you. Go bold and embrace the small and nimble builds to become an ace. Ace Combat?? Close man. Except you can pilot it, and shoot any kind of weapons you can think of: plasma blades, shotguns, gatling guns, rifles, missiles, bazookas, shields, etc. Forget the robots of the past. Moving at a sloth’s as if you’re a Mechwarrior. No man. Front Mission? While I’m excited we're getting FM2 soon. No sir! Not turn-based! Well, how about Xeno mechs? Getting warmer my friend! What Armored Core excels beautifully is the sheer mobility you can outfit in nearly any direction. They’re the only franchise I’ve played thus far within the genre to go insane in movement. Whereas others take a different approach going for heavy mechs. AC has no qualms about letting you fly like a Gundam or Macross unit and I for one am here for it! Combat is frenetic, chaotic, and incredibly dangerous. Show no mercy against hordes of mechanized enemies, head into a facility to wipe out pesky spider units. Blast foolish laser bugs in the air. Fight epic duels versus other mercenaries to the point of being outgunned and outmatched. Not always though. Face off in epic David vs. Goliath meets Shadow of the Colossus robot-type battles. Yeah, I kid you not. Look up at the big machines dwarfing your size to the point that if they land on you, the aftermath will show nothing but bent, broken machine parts lying on the ground.
Building on the older blueprints in the series, there are so many callbacks. AC2 to Verdict Day.And probably more from AC PS1 games, but I still need to play those one day I'm quite astounded at the sheer effort FromSoftware crafted. Not so much to inject nostalgia bait, but carefully done so I'm not in a reference-filled theme park. Taking lessons in the Soulsborne aspects, Sekiro and heck Daemon X Machina(DXM) An anime-like AC game in all but name, is spared no expense! And the result is quite remarkable. Sekiro’s posture and stagger are reformed. Called ACS(Attitude Control System) Once any enemy craft accumulates enough damage they are left in a ‘staggered’ state. Becoming immobilized and any incoming damage transforms into critical hits. Effectively harming the unit a great deal. After a short period, they can regain their normal status and thus you must break their ACS again. A wonderful rule to abuse against foolish adversaries. Personally haven’t seen such a regulation in older titles. Fights escalate becoming strategic and wary. You are not exempt from the rule. So watch the ACS bar! Moving on. Felt DXM inspiration. Which is ironic since they look at AC for inspiration heh. Mainly the banter and colorful cast. Full of interesting personalities and a pleasant range of voices to keep them distinct. Hearing Michigan’s voice akin to a drill sergeant praising you while delivering lines of “Maggot!” Lives in my head rent-free. Rubbing steel arms with fellow mercs. Becoming buddies. However every so often certain individuals are slow to the point of snails and irritating, bringing all the arrogance to show their superiority to you. Yet this doesn't detract from the personable buddies, which is such a rare sight to see in an AC. I love it! A better attempt than past operators sounding your ears off in a monotonous voice.
Repair kits are awesome and something I never expected. But holy moly after using them, I’m 1000% onboard. Should be a mainstay in the franchise. Please, Hidetaka Miyazaki, I'm begging you. Granted pilots only hold three charges and no we can’t upgrade them like in the Souls IP. Like ten in our pouches to chug.Honestly I’m still in disbelief, we possess essentially mecha estus?! What?! A WD-40 mixed with an elixir of life?! But hey I’m not complaining. The inclusion of the feature works wonders to recover your extra armor points(AP) to live. Also, Human Plus is back, kinda. By defeating opponents in the Arena you gain operating system chips to buy and upgrade your mech. Granting passive skills you don’t need to equip except core expansions. Amplifying the damage done in various categories. Kinetics? Sure. Plasma? Sure. Explosions? Buddy… Sign. Me. Up! There’s more to unlock, but suffice it to say outside of these elements. All upgrades you buy are permanent. Meaning I see no reason not to undertake the Arena to finish off all opponents. And in turn, upgrade your body. Trust me. Increasing repair-kits recovery is a godsend. Moreover, missile superiority is packing heavy blows. Reminding me of AC2 missiles, fascinating villain presence makes a triumphant return. And solid variety in missions. Demonstrate consistent superb points across the board. To the extent objective parameters are given fair treatment: Defend against waves of enemies, stealth tasks, escaping a map, etc. My nostalgia is somehow stroked. Alongside certain themes cheekily reappears in another fashion. AC Nexus isn’t spared either, the soundtrack gives off the extremely high-quality tracks I'm already listening to outside of playing.
AC FA Primal Armor makes a wonderful return now called Assault Armor. Want to surprise attackers by making a 360 degree explosion around your AC? Boy oh boy are they in for one hell of a wake-up call. ACV and Verdict Day scan mode is by the gods gone. No longer a mandatory function, Instead serving as an optional scan mode to display details in your surrounding environment. Highlighting foes, caches for weaponry, data logs, etc. Last-generation games feature a resupply option called ‘Workshop sites’. Now reconfigured whenever a long operation occurs you can resupply and regain all ammo and AP. No cost is necessary.
Level design has changed to incorporate a denser, larger area to cover. Maps are wide and brimming with intricate detail. Broken machinery litter landscapes and factories in production continue to function even if a tourist is snooping where they shouldn’t. Complemented well by smooth transitions into small pathways, corridors instill a claustrophobic nature. Bringing spice to the environmental eye candy. And hell you might see a surprise or two when you see advanced setpieces. Ambushed by an AC duel outta nowhere!? Receive enemy reinforcements partway through a job or encounter divergent objectives throughout. Not all assignments are long to beat. A careful balance emerges to complete levels in less than five minutes or greater depending how many times you reload a checkpoint or comb every inch of a place. Simple objectives in the beginning, gradually increase in complexity as you delve further in a playthrough. Nudging the player to overcome challenges, testing them thoroughly to prove they have the skill and fortitude to go beyond. If one lacks in talent they can make up for it through different builds and playstyle. Of course, results may vary. Just because I had a fine time, isn’t the same for others. In addition to open zones, there are plenty of data logs to find. Detailing lore on individuals in the world, combat logs by defeating mobs of opponents. And I must say the opponent variety is plenty, so you won’t get bored seeing #1 then #2 then #3. No complaints about their design after fifty-nine assignments. I’m hungry to defeat anything in front of me.
The soundtrack composed by Kota Hoshino, Takashi Onodera, and Shoi Miyazawa is just as marvelous as their predecessors. Evoking senses of Bladerunner, Portal and The Division. Hearing Things and New Era convey robust unity and constantly reinforce the numerous allusions and references I found to excellent effect. Inserting Elden Ring vibes into the mix sneakily. I’m astounded at the level of quality. Post-punk, trance, monosynth, and dark synth waves combine in an unexpected product resulting in an eerie, yet soulful and tranquil sound. A consistent flow in haunting rhythms I found to be oddly mesmerizing. Luring me deeper to embrace not only the twisted sense of tension throughout, yet doesn’t detract at all by transforming the whole soundtrack into pleasant humming heavens. A small number of tracks are jazzy and uplifting to the beat. A wonderful surprise, providing a nice change of pace in the otherwise somber and atmospheric themes permeating. Overall, I believe the soundtrack largely succeeds in conveying a “sense of loneliness, nostalgia wrapped in a dark old sci-fi feel.” Well done!
Very satisfied with the console port on my PlayStation Four Pro. Had one crash in my 3rd playthrough, but the rest of my runs have been smooth. So maybe an outlier. Did not experience any bugs or glitches. Which I am super thankful for. And I am extremely impressed by how fast menus load. ACV and ACVD took their sweet time from the starting screen to the main menu and the following notifications popping up. Connecting to the internet and adding unnecessary filler. Thankfully none of that bull is here. Enter the menu and bam! We're in the garage! Sick!
Despite all the praise I've been endlessly pulling, I must talk about my mixed feelings. Not a positive or a negative, but for the sake of transparency I’ll state them below. First, the implementation of new game cycles could be better. Players need to take certain missions in a manner to achieve the NG/NG+ ending. Taking the opposite operations in the 2nd run for the others. Once these two requirements are met a new path will emerge to unlock NG++. It should be noted, starting a 2nd playthrough upon beating NG. Reinstates the protagonist right after the tutorial. Requiring them to complete old missions and adding more than a handful of unfamiliar assignments included. Finishing NG+ rewards extra exclusive missions to complete. I had to follow Powerpyx’s guides, for all endings and one to make sure I finished all the engagements correctly in a manner leaving no doubt for me to head to the final route. I highly recommend looking up a guide for both to not mess up. I feel the punishment for not going in the manner intended will cause possible frustration. To restart and play an unnecessary fourth operation. During my time playing, I was ruminating possible alternatives. Highlight completed ones, and include a warning or another tutorial to inform mercenaries of the unique quests. There are no multiple saves to rely on. You get one save, so make it count. Unless you like backing up your save constantly. Wish the method was easier to prevent accidents. Therefore, allowing anyone to start a fresh operation painlessly.
The illusion of safe ‘difficulty’ throughout is blown to bits upon encountering the 1st boss. The devs have little sympathy whatsoever for throwing you to the pits. In one of the hardest fights in the beginning and asked us to defeat them with starting equipment. Imagine an armed Megatron versus a no weapon Bumblebee. Such a decision seems to be deliberate to convey how future encounters can be, aligning with Yamamura’s decision earlier. And he does succeed. Since I’ve read countless rants, criticism, angry responses, and complaints ad nauseam. The developer team's intention doesn’t always pan out to the masses. So what's the solution? Another mode? Easy mode? Hmmm. Doubt it. Soulsborne + Sekiro and AC I’ve played don’t contain those options available. So what’s next? Well, they contain an in-depth tutorial archive alongside training quests to bring fresh pilots up to speed. And I found their inclusion to be extremely welcoming. Easy accessibility to refer to the archive and see mechanics I can take advantage of. They specifically mention changing your build, if you’re having trouble. Past entries had players accruing debt. Now it is not possible any longer. Retry errands to your heart's content to earn sufficient funds. The added checkpoints, assembly of parts, repair kits, and passive skills via ‘OS Tuning’ create a fair parameter to redo engagements. Lessening the tediousness and frustration by starting square one again. In effect, the quality of life features make the hard-as-nails bouts fairer than before. I still maintain Last Raven is the hardest entry in the franchise. ACVI by comparison hits the halfway point to the zenith of ACLR. Moving on, to remove any misconceptions I am not defending Yamamura’s decision, merely trying to explain there are avenues within to help consumers interested in buying or trying out the newest installment. I didn’t come out unscathed either. The 1st boss and each chapter's end baddie demonstrate a higher ceiling to break through. So I’m worried the latest title might be a little too hard. Nevertheless, I am not saying ‘git gud.’ I hate the phrase a lot when a person who needs help asks genuinely and is given a troll/meme response. Let us be better and lend a helping hand to those who wish to pilot an AC alongside us. Who continues to struggle. Responses such as I wish you luck! Keep on trying! Don’t lose hope! Change your builds. Sell equipment and try other weapons. Replaying operations is a great way to earn money and some can be done in less than two to three minutes. These are far better responses.
Arena I think could’ve had more substance. Felt it was lacking compared to previous ones. Push the AI to its limits to challenge us further. Expose us to similar adversaries like Z, N, K, J? or throw a big wrench and add 2v1, 3v1, or 4v1 conflicts to truly test a player's capabilities. A boss rush mode to practice against arduous enemies. Instead of having to restart from the beginning during a task before combatting the big baddy. Additionally, I wish multiplayer was expanded instead of 1v1 or 3v3 duels. Grant us co-op missions online/offline, and set up super bosses, and SOTC-like robots. In ACVD we faced off a version of Motherwill as a team. Why can’t we do the same in the latest title? I’d love to face our previous opponents beside my teammates. DXM had co-op super clashes to tackle and I thought they were incredibly eye-candy, altered elements and most of all were not present at all in the regular story. They push pilots to cooperate and in doing so defeat them. Makes me think much of the effort was in the single-player portion. A factor I deeply appreciate.
In the end all of these hurdles, doesn’t diminish the sheer strengths too much. AC6 takes all the best qualities since its inception and hones the edge of its moonlight blade so hard I am in awe of it. Bear witness and see how ravens fly above blood-red skies fearlessly. Embracing stronger than usual story, gratifying content in both gameplay options and combat, an excellent soundtrack, and worthwhile quality-of-life options, rides the fine line of integrating nostalgia, but has enough to stand on its own. Expansive levels to explore, fight, and discover hidden secrets. Memorable cast. Both likable and destable. Fair, but challenging difficulty next to an expansive number of customization options for your robot body. High replayability and little to no performance/bugs/glitches mishaps. All collide to a must-play for any newcomer or veteran. Easy recommendation to fans and enthusiasts within the niche genre to see all endings. Overcoming multiple tall walls to reach what I firmly believe is one of the best AC entries I've played thus far. A return to form by FromSoftware. Bravo Masaru Yamamura and his team. Looking forward to your future works as director! This title boldly demonstrates there is still a thriving market for the genre in the videogame industry and I for one am standing right beside them waving in my cheerleading outfit to ask other devs to achieve similar levels of greatness. And while there are plenty of mecha titles to watch out for. I for one highly anticipate a sequel since history has shown evidence to import our equipment and continue the storyline. Good chance to expect one. Excuse me, while I play Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon for a 4th bloody time!
9/10
Additional Material:
Z N K J - names & somewhat spoilers throughout the series. With final thoughts on the endings of AC6 - MAJOR spoilers on the endings.
Slight Gundam Witch from Mercury similarities
All Endings guide
All Missions List
VaatiVidya - Souls Lore Guru Makes an AC6 Beginner's Guide?!
Advance Tips from Vaati on AC6
Edited 9-9-23 & 10-20-23 - Adding a proper story section, cleaned up some text formatting, replaced a word.
For those who don’t know AC in general. It is primarily a third-person mecha shooting game. You control a silent protagonist who pilots an Armored Core(AC). Accepting corporate contracts, building up funds, and in doing so, retool their mech when needed. The story is not the strongest you could entice anyone to dip in my opinion. And the IP isn’t renowned to resonate with everyone due to mediocre scores. Outside of outliers. Yet despite all odds the latest installment blasts beyond the mediocre to land among the highest of highs. Penetrating through the nicheness of a twenty-six year long legacy. And still retain the number 1 spot in the UK. Proving without a shadow of doubt, FromSoftware has clearly learned from their past mistakes.
ACVI is no different from its predecessors. But there’s a catch. For the second time in the series, we're not on Earth huh? We're on Rubicon 3. So a new playground awaits us. Coral, a substance found on the planet, is discovered to be both an energy source and a data conduit. Becoming a hot item to advance humanity further by leaps and bounds in the technology sector. Perfect! Our plans proceed on the transhum- until their research causes the Fires of Ibis to occur, combusting the surrounding systems to flames. Fifty years later Coral has been detected once again on Rubicon. And so begins the rush of corporations heading there. To utilize Coral and restart their selfish endeavors regardless of the planet's inhabitants' wishes. As Augmented human C4-621, callsign Raven. You follow orders from a handler named Walter, accepting contracts in the hope you will become free someday. That’s the gist you need to know to get started.
ACVI's story pulverizes its way to being one of the strongest I’ve witnessed in the franchise. And it means a lot compared to previous plot beats. Past games in the story department are usually presented in a simple manner. With hardly any cast to back the main character. Offering no connections, no relatability and no personal motive in conjunction to the protagonist. Recent entries try to break the mold, but more or less most missions are too short and disconnected offering no before or after action report to connect both main/side cast to the narrative. And main objectives all too basic and not noteworthy for a mecha story. For ACVI in comparison, they have all those opposite qualities in spades. Not so much to expect from other powerful games with enthralling story hooks to tell. Here, no hand gently feeds the player, instead we must piece it together from the text given. 621 is offered choices on what divergent missions to accomplish. Therefore, impacting the outcome of the narrative. Equating to three different endings. I find it hauntingly similar to how the Nier series implements them. But not the same. Beyond the corporate duties is a slice of trans humanism and more I won't say due to spoilers. The beats detail unfamiliar roads the first path did not tread. So its a good incentive to keep going past the end credits and see what the rest have to offer. Personally I found it a must to see the fights, new dialogue, new mission structures etc. I like witnessing all the endings and the progression is slightly altered via the storytelling. If I were to rate them. I’d say NG++ = NG+ > NG. The NG is still good in my books. I’ll talk further later since I feel it is an improvement, but there are a few things to be concerned about.
A satisfying gameplay loop emerges in a multitude of factors: the extensive customization in equipping light, medium, and heavy parts to outfit your robot killing machine. Think of it as post-apocalypse deadly legos. Except building a mech twenty to fifty times the size of humans. Become a bulky tank capable of withstanding the hardest of blows. Go for a tetrapod
Building on the older blueprints in the series, there are so many callbacks. AC2 to Verdict Day.
Repair kits are awesome and something I never expected. But holy moly after using them, I’m 1000% onboard. Should be a mainstay in the franchise. Please, Hidetaka Miyazaki, I'm begging you. Granted pilots only hold three charges and no we can’t upgrade them like in the Souls IP. Like ten in our pouches to chug.
AC FA Primal Armor makes a wonderful return now called Assault Armor. Want to surprise attackers by making a 360 degree explosion around your AC? Boy oh boy are they in for one hell of a wake-up call. ACV and Verdict Day scan mode is by the gods gone. No longer a mandatory function, Instead serving as an optional scan mode to display details in your surrounding environment. Highlighting foes, caches for weaponry, data logs, etc. Last-generation games feature a resupply option called ‘Workshop sites’. Now reconfigured whenever a long operation occurs you can resupply and regain all ammo and AP. No cost is necessary.
Level design has changed to incorporate a denser, larger area to cover. Maps are wide and brimming with intricate detail. Broken machinery litter landscapes and factories in production continue to function even if a tourist is snooping where they shouldn’t. Complemented well by smooth transitions into small pathways, corridors instill a claustrophobic nature. Bringing spice to the environmental eye candy. And hell you might see a surprise or two when you see advanced setpieces. Ambushed by an AC duel outta nowhere!? Receive enemy reinforcements partway through a job or encounter divergent objectives throughout. Not all assignments are long to beat. A careful balance emerges to complete levels in less than five minutes or greater depending how many times you reload a checkpoint or comb every inch of a place. Simple objectives in the beginning, gradually increase in complexity as you delve further in a playthrough. Nudging the player to overcome challenges, testing them thoroughly to prove they have the skill and fortitude to go beyond. If one lacks in talent they can make up for it through different builds and playstyle. Of course, results may vary. Just because I had a fine time, isn’t the same for others. In addition to open zones, there are plenty of data logs to find. Detailing lore on individuals in the world, combat logs by defeating mobs of opponents. And I must say the opponent variety is plenty, so you won’t get bored seeing #1 then #2 then #3. No complaints about their design after fifty-nine assignments. I’m hungry to defeat anything in front of me.
The soundtrack composed by Kota Hoshino, Takashi Onodera, and Shoi Miyazawa is just as marvelous as their predecessors. Evoking senses of Bladerunner, Portal and The Division. Hearing Things and New Era convey robust unity and constantly reinforce the numerous allusions and references I found to excellent effect. Inserting Elden Ring vibes into the mix sneakily. I’m astounded at the level of quality. Post-punk, trance, monosynth, and dark synth waves combine in an unexpected product resulting in an eerie, yet soulful and tranquil sound. A consistent flow in haunting rhythms I found to be oddly mesmerizing. Luring me deeper to embrace not only the twisted sense of tension throughout, yet doesn’t detract at all by transforming the whole soundtrack into pleasant humming heavens. A small number of tracks are jazzy and uplifting to the beat. A wonderful surprise, providing a nice change of pace in the otherwise somber and atmospheric themes permeating. Overall, I believe the soundtrack largely succeeds in conveying a “sense of loneliness, nostalgia wrapped in a dark old sci-fi feel.” Well done!
Very satisfied with the console port on my PlayStation Four Pro. Had one crash in my 3rd playthrough, but the rest of my runs have been smooth. So maybe an outlier. Did not experience any bugs or glitches. Which I am super thankful for. And I am extremely impressed by how fast menus load. ACV and ACVD took their sweet time from the starting screen to the main menu and the following notifications popping up. Connecting to the internet and adding unnecessary filler. Thankfully none of that bull is here. Enter the menu and bam! We're in the garage! Sick!
Despite all the praise I've been endlessly pulling, I must talk about my mixed feelings. Not a positive or a negative, but for the sake of transparency I’ll state them below. First, the implementation of new game cycles could be better. Players need to take certain missions in a manner to achieve the NG/NG+ ending. Taking the opposite operations in the 2nd run for the others. Once these two requirements are met a new path will emerge to unlock NG++. It should be noted, starting a 2nd playthrough upon beating NG. Reinstates the protagonist right after the tutorial. Requiring them to complete old missions and adding more than a handful of unfamiliar assignments included. Finishing NG+ rewards extra exclusive missions to complete. I had to follow Powerpyx’s guides, for all endings and one to make sure I finished all the engagements correctly in a manner leaving no doubt for me to head to the final route. I highly recommend looking up a guide for both to not mess up. I feel the punishment for not going in the manner intended will cause possible frustration. To restart and play an unnecessary fourth operation. During my time playing, I was ruminating possible alternatives. Highlight completed ones, and include a warning or another tutorial to inform mercenaries of the unique quests. There are no multiple saves to rely on. You get one save, so make it count. Unless you like backing up your save constantly. Wish the method was easier to prevent accidents. Therefore, allowing anyone to start a fresh operation painlessly.
The illusion of safe ‘difficulty’ throughout is blown to bits upon encountering the 1st boss. The devs have little sympathy whatsoever for throwing you to the pits. In one of the hardest fights in the beginning and asked us to defeat them with starting equipment. Imagine an armed Megatron versus a no weapon Bumblebee. Such a decision seems to be deliberate to convey how future encounters can be, aligning with Yamamura’s decision earlier. And he does succeed. Since I’ve read countless rants, criticism, angry responses, and complaints ad nauseam. The developer team's intention doesn’t always pan out to the masses. So what's the solution? Another mode? Easy mode? Hmmm. Doubt it. Soulsborne + Sekiro and AC I’ve played don’t contain those options available. So what’s next? Well, they contain an in-depth tutorial archive alongside training quests to bring fresh pilots up to speed. And I found their inclusion to be extremely welcoming. Easy accessibility to refer to the archive and see mechanics I can take advantage of. They specifically mention changing your build, if you’re having trouble. Past entries had players accruing debt. Now it is not possible any longer. Retry errands to your heart's content to earn sufficient funds. The added checkpoints, assembly of parts, repair kits, and passive skills via ‘OS Tuning’ create a fair parameter to redo engagements. Lessening the tediousness and frustration by starting square one again. In effect, the quality of life features make the hard-as-nails bouts fairer than before. I still maintain Last Raven is the hardest entry in the franchise. ACVI by comparison hits the halfway point to the zenith of ACLR. Moving on, to remove any misconceptions I am not defending Yamamura’s decision, merely trying to explain there are avenues within to help consumers interested in buying or trying out the newest installment. I didn’t come out unscathed either. The 1st boss and each chapter's end baddie demonstrate a higher ceiling to break through. So I’m worried the latest title might be a little too hard. Nevertheless, I am not saying ‘git gud.’ I hate the phrase a lot when a person who needs help asks genuinely and is given a troll/meme response. Let us be better and lend a helping hand to those who wish to pilot an AC alongside us. Who continues to struggle. Responses such as I wish you luck! Keep on trying! Don’t lose hope! Change your builds. Sell equipment and try other weapons. Replaying operations is a great way to earn money and some can be done in less than two to three minutes. These are far better responses.
Arena I think could’ve had more substance. Felt it was lacking compared to previous ones. Push the AI to its limits to challenge us further. Expose us to similar adversaries like Z, N, K, J? or throw a big wrench and add 2v1, 3v1, or 4v1 conflicts to truly test a player's capabilities. A boss rush mode to practice against arduous enemies. Instead of having to restart from the beginning during a task before combatting the big baddy. Additionally, I wish multiplayer was expanded instead of 1v1 or 3v3 duels. Grant us co-op missions online/offline, and set up super bosses, and SOTC-like robots. In ACVD we faced off a version of Motherwill as a team. Why can’t we do the same in the latest title? I’d love to face our previous opponents beside my teammates. DXM had co-op super clashes to tackle and I thought they were incredibly eye-candy, altered elements and most of all were not present at all in the regular story. They push pilots to cooperate and in doing so defeat them. Makes me think much of the effort was in the single-player portion. A factor I deeply appreciate.
In the end all of these hurdles, doesn’t diminish the sheer strengths too much. AC6 takes all the best qualities since its inception and hones the edge of its moonlight blade so hard I am in awe of it. Bear witness and see how ravens fly above blood-red skies fearlessly. Embracing stronger than usual story, gratifying content in both gameplay options and combat, an excellent soundtrack, and worthwhile quality-of-life options, rides the fine line of integrating nostalgia, but has enough to stand on its own. Expansive levels to explore, fight, and discover hidden secrets. Memorable cast. Both likable and destable. Fair, but challenging difficulty next to an expansive number of customization options for your robot body. High replayability and little to no performance/bugs/glitches mishaps. All collide to a must-play for any newcomer or veteran. Easy recommendation to fans and enthusiasts within the niche genre to see all endings. Overcoming multiple tall walls to reach what I firmly believe is one of the best AC entries I've played thus far. A return to form by FromSoftware. Bravo Masaru Yamamura and his team. Looking forward to your future works as director! This title boldly demonstrates there is still a thriving market for the genre in the videogame industry and I for one am standing right beside them waving in my cheerleading outfit to ask other devs to achieve similar levels of greatness. And while there are plenty of mecha titles to watch out for. I for one highly anticipate a sequel since history has shown evidence to import our equipment and continue the storyline. Good chance to expect one. Excuse me, while I play Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon for a 4th bloody time!
9/10
Additional Material:
Z N K J - names & somewhat spoilers throughout the series. With final thoughts on the endings of AC6 - MAJOR spoilers on the endings.
Slight Gundam Witch from Mercury similarities
All Endings guide
All Missions List
VaatiVidya - Souls Lore Guru Makes an AC6 Beginner's Guide?!
Advance Tips from Vaati on AC6
Edited 9-9-23 & 10-20-23 - Adding a proper story section, cleaned up some text formatting, replaced a word.
I’m at a sheer loss to hype anyone about Armored Core: Verdict Day. And this is coming from someone who loves mecha, even the most dull ones I usually find some aspects worth looking into. Except for Nine-breaker, but that's a topic for another day. Here I am struggling so hard to get into a cockpit let alone function in one. In the end, I'm leaning quite heavily on “Skip this, please. For the sake of your sanity.” There is plenty wrong here, but I'll do my best to give a fair overview for those interested.
Set 100 years after the events of ACV. I won’t spoil what happens in the previous game, but suffice it to say. You control a new protagonist. The “Lone Mercenary.” Accompanying them is an operator Maggy and a transport pilot by the name of Fatman. Yes, I kid you not, one of your handlers' names is Fatman… Okay….Unexpected Kojima character aside You have slightly fewer main missions(Sorties) here than the predecessor with sixty to go through, but only ten have relevance to the story. The 50 are mainly AC vs. AC duels and the occasional eliminate every enemy unit. The Sorties barely drop important plot scenes here, quickly dulling my interest. Sure they can drip-feed you lore pages after duels, but these only talk about the enemy and less about enriching who, what, where, when, and why questions about the ACs we use and less so about the characters, relationships, and plot threads we encounter. Mostly delegated in cutscenes, but these are too small in number when a majority of battles are simply skirmishes without context. So lack of context and exposition here hurts. To give you the bare minimum: “The Three Forces” reign supreme. The Venide, Sirius, and Evergreen Family(EGF). I don’t need to discuss their background because there is hardly vital information to explore. But the gist is that the Forces are in a constant 3-way war with each other for the power to use the Towers. Tall megastructures dot various places around the globe with hidden ancient advanced technology. There is a fourth power; “The Foundation,” a group that claims neutrality yet supplies all factions with weapons and UNACs(Unmanned Armored Cores). And you, my unlucky friend, have to navigate the different assignments from each of these factions.
After completing all the missions offline, I have to say the story is a downgrade from its predecessor. Villains unremarkable of note and meh characters. The inclusion of lore is a nice touch that constantly updates in a sort of digital newspaper; “The Voice of War” or VOW for short. Yet, these ultimately don’t do much to engage players enough to immerse them further into the world. Serving as little more than a footnote, an after-action report after a main story encounter and as a result disinterests me to care for worldbuilding at large. One could easily see this as a checklist the devs did to fulfill a ‘lore’ requirement. Granted, the series isn't known for lore to feed, since we have to piece together the sparse environmental storytelling told through fragments of cutscenes, character dialogue, and morsels of information that may connect with villains. Yet this in itself isn't a strong point to dive into from my time playing AC2 to ACVD. There have been attempts by more dedicated fans on Youtube to somehow connect the pieces of lore, an endeavor I respect and admire. So perhaps there is something to tie knots...
One feature I loved in the earlier title is the workshop sites. These sites allow one to resupply and change their outfits with different parts. Here the devs removed it in favor of larger, wider areas to fight enemies and much smaller levels. However, this presents a more bland design. Now corridors and areas became too samey and copy-pasted throughout. Once you see one AC vs. AC engagement you’ve pretty much seen them all. Dropping you from one wasteland with cliffs to an industrial, and another with broken factories and inoperable war machines. The lack of creativity compared to the tight-knit levels in the preceding one is a cause for concern. This coupled with a meager amount of interesting enemy variety and cool special boss encounters to wow you, are nearly nonexistent here. This is exacerbated by a poor list of worthwhile main objectives beyond defeating all enemies. Sure there are a handful of very uncommon ones, but more often than not the objective is simply "eliminate everyone." Where are the timed limits? Defend against 'x' waves of enemies? Defeat colossus-type machines!?
Can’t even go online since the servers are offline on PS3. I wanted to try some cool Sorties I hear you can undertake with others, especially battling an old special enemy type from AC V. Now that’s not possible. The servers were gutted, which comprises I would say a 3rd chunk of content left to peruse. Wish I could play that… Somehow… sighs
Anyway, there must be something here worth experiencing?! Right!?
Thankfully, there is. For such a bleak world, the soundtrack composed by longtime AC composer Kota Hoshino with Yuka Kitamura is surprisingly uplifting, not full of edge and hardcore rock. Instead, I am treated to a slew of tracks keeping the beat, full of techno, violins at times with bass during heavy moments, and chaotic musical mayhem. Not seeking to increase my anxiety, instead the music pumps me up to be efficient, keeps my spirits up, and despite overwhelming odds stacked against me, I persevere through heavy damage. Vocals are carefully sung in a beautiful tone sometimes in the background rather than the foreground. Where prominent instruments like the drums reign supreme in precision tempo to not destroy the beat too much. Not with an intensity to the extent they’re drumming without end, but utilized carefully to keep tracks soulful, pleasant, and full of good rhythms. Although, some tracks raise the tension and suspense to full throttle. Giving rise to my anxiety, but even so, it is still not enough to delve into despair. Some of these tracks for some reason feel triumphant with hints of melancholy. In effect, the composition of the whole soundtrack is eclectic, with controlled chaos, and a dash of oozing coolness here and there.
There is a neat addition here I haven’t seen in all the AC entries I’ve played thus far and I dearly wish the feature will become a mainstay for future installments. In that upon dying. You don’t automatically head to the results screen. Instead, you are ejected from your mech with two big tanks equipped to your body to hover. From here you can spectate the skirmish as an active participant. Did you bring along a UNAC with you? Let’s see if they can defeat your enemies... If they can. You. Win. The. Mission. Oh my god. This single-handedly saved my playthrough and made repeating assignments upon failing them not a chore, but something I'm interested in witnessing since my buddy could finish the enemy AC or remaining mobs right? Yup! I lost countless times my ally finished the job when I couldn’t. They are a constant companion when you hire them during your main campaign progress. So fighting alone isn't so lonely when you have a buddy along!
Aside from that you can even upgrade these guys and make your own customized A.I. And even go above and beyond by allowing users to tweak their chipset to prioritize what to do during combat. I’m astounded at the sheer depth to have full control to tweak our A.I. companion into becoming a super killing machine. I didn’t delve into the option too much since I only found out during my repeated attempts at the final battle. But even without tinkering. The default UNACs you can use do more than enough damage to help you to victory. I’ll never forget SIGNS UNAC D/01. The dude carried me through countless fights, even when I used my previous build from importing. Salutes o7
As with certain entries in the AC series. You can import your saves from the past game to grant you additional parts, use your loadout, emblems, etc. I was able to use the build I had before the final boss painlessly. So it's a good idea to import if you do have a save. Fast process and you don’t need to have a struggle in the beginning.
That’s pretty much the only thing I could say positively to defend Verdict Day. I could sprout suggestions on what not to do, but I think FromSoftware learned from their mistakes here and is actively working hard to improve with the next entry coming soon. Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon. All in all, I’m incredibly soul-crushed to say, ACVD is a deteriorating mecha full of rust. And I shudder to enter the cockpit of one. The sum of its parts is not enough to redeem the underwhelming gameplay, poor level design, no noteworthy boss types, barebones story, weak worldbuilding, questionable feature replacement, missing online connectivity, and meh cast and villains. Customizing your AC remains satisfying, but everything else bogs my enjoyment. With very few positives for me to confidently recommend to newcomers or veterans. It’s a shame the last Armored Core the devs made before diving into a hiatus goes out not with a bang, but with a whimper. There is potential here, and I wish the servers were still online for me to play the multiplayer component. To anyone who enjoys this title, I triple salute your dedication. When I had only a little. I would only recommend this to super dedicated fans who want to try the last AC before ACVI by FromSoftware, but honestly, you're better off playing the past games in my honest opinion. AC2, AC3, Nexus, and AC4, are all better starting points.
4/10
Additional Material:
ACVD Tutorial Document for new players
Information, Explanations, and Q&A for Armored Core: Verdict Day (And 5th Gen)
Set 100 years after the events of ACV. I won’t spoil what happens in the previous game, but suffice it to say. You control a new protagonist. The “Lone Mercenary.” Accompanying them is an operator Maggy and a transport pilot by the name of Fatman. Yes, I kid you not, one of your handlers' names is Fatman… Okay….
After completing all the missions offline, I have to say the story is a downgrade from its predecessor. Villains unremarkable of note and meh characters. The inclusion of lore is a nice touch that constantly updates in a sort of digital newspaper; “The Voice of War” or VOW for short. Yet, these ultimately don’t do much to engage players enough to immerse them further into the world. Serving as little more than a footnote, an after-action report after a main story encounter and as a result disinterests me to care for worldbuilding at large. One could easily see this as a checklist the devs did to fulfill a ‘lore’ requirement. Granted, the series isn't known for lore to feed, since we have to piece together the sparse environmental storytelling told through fragments of cutscenes, character dialogue, and morsels of information that may connect with villains. Yet this in itself isn't a strong point to dive into from my time playing AC2 to ACVD. There have been attempts by more dedicated fans on Youtube to somehow connect the pieces of lore, an endeavor I respect and admire. So perhaps there is something to tie knots...
One feature I loved in the earlier title is the workshop sites. These sites allow one to resupply and change their outfits with different parts. Here the devs removed it in favor of larger, wider areas to fight enemies and much smaller levels. However, this presents a more bland design. Now corridors and areas became too samey and copy-pasted throughout. Once you see one AC vs. AC engagement you’ve pretty much seen them all. Dropping you from one wasteland with cliffs to an industrial, and another with broken factories and inoperable war machines. The lack of creativity compared to the tight-knit levels in the preceding one is a cause for concern. This coupled with a meager amount of interesting enemy variety and cool special boss encounters to wow you, are nearly nonexistent here. This is exacerbated by a poor list of worthwhile main objectives beyond defeating all enemies. Sure there are a handful of very uncommon ones, but more often than not the objective is simply "eliminate everyone." Where are the timed limits? Defend against 'x' waves of enemies? Defeat colossus-type machines!?
Can’t even go online since the servers are offline on PS3. I wanted to try some cool Sorties I hear you can undertake with others, especially battling an old special enemy type from AC V. Now that’s not possible. The servers were gutted, which comprises I would say a 3rd chunk of content left to peruse. Wish I could play that… Somehow… sighs
Anyway, there must be something here worth experiencing?! Right!?
Thankfully, there is. For such a bleak world, the soundtrack composed by longtime AC composer Kota Hoshino with Yuka Kitamura is surprisingly uplifting, not full of edge and hardcore rock. Instead, I am treated to a slew of tracks keeping the beat, full of techno, violins at times with bass during heavy moments, and chaotic musical mayhem. Not seeking to increase my anxiety, instead the music pumps me up to be efficient, keeps my spirits up, and despite overwhelming odds stacked against me, I persevere through heavy damage. Vocals are carefully sung in a beautiful tone sometimes in the background rather than the foreground. Where prominent instruments like the drums reign supreme in precision tempo to not destroy the beat too much. Not with an intensity to the extent they’re drumming without end, but utilized carefully to keep tracks soulful, pleasant, and full of good rhythms. Although, some tracks raise the tension and suspense to full throttle. Giving rise to my anxiety, but even so, it is still not enough to delve into despair. Some of these tracks for some reason feel triumphant with hints of melancholy. In effect, the composition of the whole soundtrack is eclectic, with controlled chaos, and a dash of oozing coolness here and there.
There is a neat addition here I haven’t seen in all the AC entries I’ve played thus far and I dearly wish the feature will become a mainstay for future installments. In that upon dying. You don’t automatically head to the results screen. Instead, you are ejected from your mech with two big tanks equipped to your body to hover. From here you can spectate the skirmish as an active participant. Did you bring along a UNAC with you? Let’s see if they can defeat your enemies... If they can. You. Win. The. Mission. Oh my god. This single-handedly saved my playthrough and made repeating assignments upon failing them not a chore, but something I'm interested in witnessing since my buddy could finish the enemy AC or remaining mobs right? Yup! I lost countless times my ally finished the job when I couldn’t. They are a constant companion when you hire them during your main campaign progress. So fighting alone isn't so lonely when you have a buddy along!
Aside from that you can even upgrade these guys and make your own customized A.I. And even go above and beyond by allowing users to tweak their chipset to prioritize what to do during combat. I’m astounded at the sheer depth to have full control to tweak our A.I. companion into becoming a super killing machine. I didn’t delve into the option too much since I only found out during my repeated attempts at the final battle. But even without tinkering. The default UNACs you can use do more than enough damage to help you to victory. I’ll never forget SIGNS UNAC D/01. The dude carried me through countless fights, even when I used my previous build from importing. Salutes o7
As with certain entries in the AC series. You can import your saves from the past game to grant you additional parts, use your loadout, emblems, etc. I was able to use the build I had before the final boss painlessly. So it's a good idea to import if you do have a save. Fast process and you don’t need to have a struggle in the beginning.
That’s pretty much the only thing I could say positively to defend Verdict Day. I could sprout suggestions on what not to do, but I think FromSoftware learned from their mistakes here and is actively working hard to improve with the next entry coming soon. Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon. All in all, I’m incredibly soul-crushed to say, ACVD is a deteriorating mecha full of rust. And I shudder to enter the cockpit of one. The sum of its parts is not enough to redeem the underwhelming gameplay, poor level design, no noteworthy boss types, barebones story, weak worldbuilding, questionable feature replacement, missing online connectivity, and meh cast and villains. Customizing your AC remains satisfying, but everything else bogs my enjoyment. With very few positives for me to confidently recommend to newcomers or veterans. It’s a shame the last Armored Core the devs made before diving into a hiatus goes out not with a bang, but with a whimper. There is potential here, and I wish the servers were still online for me to play the multiplayer component. To anyone who enjoys this title, I triple salute your dedication. When I had only a little. I would only recommend this to super dedicated fans who want to try the last AC before ACVI by FromSoftware, but honestly, you're better off playing the past games in my honest opinion. AC2, AC3, Nexus, and AC4, are all better starting points.
4/10
Additional Material:
ACVD Tutorial Document for new players
Information, Explanations, and Q&A for Armored Core: Verdict Day (And 5th Gen)
2023
There's been some hot discussion by Ethan Gach's article from Kotaku surrounding Arcadian Atlas in regards to how it flounders. Based on his, four hours of playtime. And I can't help but disagree. Since I feel if we focus too much on flaws, especially one that has been released recently, it may warp the perception of the title as a whole to newcomers. In an effort to give a more well-rounded view. I’m going to highlight the good stuff along with mixed feelings. Not refuting the Kotaku article, but in my own manner to cook up a slice of my pie for others to dig through. One look at Arcadian Atlas(AA) and you can see the clear resemblance to the inspiration it wears on its sleeves. Final Fantasy Tactics(FFT). As someone who loves FFT, hearing about an indie RPG attempting to reach similar heights as that one caught my eye. And I’ve been watching their development closely over the years. However, I should preface this, I won’t make any comparisons to the FFT, since I feel not everyone has played the title. So I’ll try and judge the game for what it is rather than what it aspires to.
First, I believe developers find difficulty, to create a title where you have a clear inspiration while not retreading familiar ground. For better or worse, other titles walk the road most traveled too closely while some merely use it as a base and go off in their direction. AA I think takes the middle ground while striving to develop their own identity in a low fantasy medieval story in homage to the classics of old, such as Yasumi Matsuno’s works.
You control two protagonists Vashti and Desmond. Two lovers caught up in a civil war that threatens to shake the very foundation of the continent. I found the story to be mature, holding nothing back during the war and hitting nuances I don’t see that often regarding choices, emotions, duty, and more. Lore-wise. The added compendium is appreciative of giving background on the world, important characters, and events. Where the writing delves into a nice balance between seriousness with humor at times to lessen the gravity of affairs here. It is well placed. These strengths splinter down to the cast which I’m surprised to see how small they’re, but allow our cast both main and villains to shine. The protagonists are not overpowered at all or hateable from the get-go. There is careful precision to keep them within the realm of believability without sending me into a volcano of overriding my suspension of disbelief.
A good amount of class variety here being 12 different classes and all of them have multiple skill trees to specialize in. I was able to have a raccoon archer, ronin, sorcerer, inquisitor, and shaman available. Each had their strengths and weaknesses, but for the most part, they all felt strong enough to tide me over against my enemies. The gameplay starts with some mandatory battles early on before granting you the ability to move around the world map and accept contracts. Think of these like sidequests for money and gear rewards. There is even an exclusive side quest chain here I found to be amusing so I recommend players finish these off if they require money or seek the unique side quest chain. Decent tunes to go along as you combat your way through various maps. The sax in particular I didn’t get tired of hearing. Considering how short the game is to compete. Well to be fair, not too short. My times were within 11 to 13 hours. Which I feel is just right for the length. Didn’t want to go through 40+ hour campaigns where the pace moves at a snail’s pace. Here the pace was quick and didn’t take long to reach the heart of the matter for plot beats. Before I move on, I should say my times should not be taken as definitive. It could be an outlier, considering the developers have been noted to say "roughly takes them 25-30 hours to beat." Didn’t experience any bugs or crashes either. This helps tremendously since battles can be completed within ten minutes +/- on average. At least on normal difficulty.
I did have some mixed feelings here. Not a positive or a negative, but for the sake of transparency I'll note them down. I wish the compendium would be updated periodically to show new changes to a character's background. This would grant more importance to the compendium while adding context when needed. Not much room to experiment with classes due to how experience is calculated. Bit non-traditional, which I enjoy. But here every time you finish a battle you gain a level that coincidentally grants you skill points to allocate. I like the removal of grinding, although this doesn’t allow much room to go beyond the base and advanced classes and experiment since there are no repeatable filler battles to test them out. Sure I could use contracts, but those are limited within each chapter. Could’ve used more objectives besides defeating all units. There are more than a handful of uncommon ones here: Travel to this tile, escort, etc. Though these are few and far between the regular. Some spice would’ve been nice to goals here to not make objectives too repetitive back to eliminating every foe. Also, I think some more flashbacks to the villain would’ve been welcome as a more show/don’t tell approach to flesh them out more and perhaps to a lesser extent our protagonists. Lastly, I believe contracts could be made more interesting beyond killing everyone. Grant us rare units instead of filler ones, give us more side quest chains, expand on the world with lore/characters, etc. I could say more, but those are minor nitpicks not worth mentioning and the developers of Twin Otter are already working hard to fix them in hot fixes and patches.
Overall, Arcadian Atlas displays a serviceable amount of gameplay and classes. Delving into interesting scenes during the civil war without holding your hand throughout. All while delivering a bug-free (at least for me) and crash-free experience that doesn’t seek long hours to complete. I can’t help but appreciate the close attempt to conceive their take from looking up to FFT. And for that, I respect it and look forward to the future when this title is cleaned up of some imperfections. I admire the attempt to construct their own identity while balancing enough nostalgia. Solid content here, for the story to carry me to the very end. Sure it has some flaws, but they don't deter my overall experience as a whole. Been in the works for seven-years with a Kickstarter budget and a four man dev team. And the result is not hot garbage! Instead, think of it like a cool new menu item to eat through for those curious. A good Indie Jrpg I recommend for those testing the waters for indies and Jrpg’s alike. And I implore anyone who reads this review to carefully research beforehand to see if its the right one for them. Rely on different sources, see what different authors had to say, any commonality, any differences etc. In an effort to see the bigger picture. My point isn’t to send everyone to buy AA and support indiesAlthough I would love it if you did. But to think carefully about what one person says with little to no experience versus what someone who has seen everything or as much as they can has to say. Especially when the rating among critics has garnered a wide range of scores. Making it difficult to see whether a title is good or not.
7/10
First, I believe developers find difficulty, to create a title where you have a clear inspiration while not retreading familiar ground. For better or worse, other titles walk the road most traveled too closely while some merely use it as a base and go off in their direction. AA I think takes the middle ground while striving to develop their own identity in a low fantasy medieval story in homage to the classics of old, such as Yasumi Matsuno’s works.
You control two protagonists Vashti and Desmond. Two lovers caught up in a civil war that threatens to shake the very foundation of the continent. I found the story to be mature, holding nothing back during the war and hitting nuances I don’t see that often regarding choices, emotions, duty, and more. Lore-wise. The added compendium is appreciative of giving background on the world, important characters, and events. Where the writing delves into a nice balance between seriousness with humor at times to lessen the gravity of affairs here. It is well placed. These strengths splinter down to the cast which I’m surprised to see how small they’re, but allow our cast both main and villains to shine. The protagonists are not overpowered at all or hateable from the get-go. There is careful precision to keep them within the realm of believability without sending me into a volcano of overriding my suspension of disbelief.
A good amount of class variety here being 12 different classes and all of them have multiple skill trees to specialize in. I was able to have a raccoon archer, ronin, sorcerer, inquisitor, and shaman available. Each had their strengths and weaknesses, but for the most part, they all felt strong enough to tide me over against my enemies. The gameplay starts with some mandatory battles early on before granting you the ability to move around the world map and accept contracts. Think of these like sidequests for money and gear rewards. There is even an exclusive side quest chain here I found to be amusing so I recommend players finish these off if they require money or seek the unique side quest chain. Decent tunes to go along as you combat your way through various maps. The sax in particular I didn’t get tired of hearing. Considering how short the game is to compete. Well to be fair, not too short. My times were within 11 to 13 hours. Which I feel is just right for the length. Didn’t want to go through 40+ hour campaigns where the pace moves at a snail’s pace. Here the pace was quick and didn’t take long to reach the heart of the matter for plot beats. Before I move on, I should say my times should not be taken as definitive. It could be an outlier, considering the developers have been noted to say "roughly takes them 25-30 hours to beat." Didn’t experience any bugs or crashes either. This helps tremendously since battles can be completed within ten minutes +/- on average. At least on normal difficulty.
I did have some mixed feelings here. Not a positive or a negative, but for the sake of transparency I'll note them down. I wish the compendium would be updated periodically to show new changes to a character's background. This would grant more importance to the compendium while adding context when needed. Not much room to experiment with classes due to how experience is calculated. Bit non-traditional, which I enjoy. But here every time you finish a battle you gain a level that coincidentally grants you skill points to allocate. I like the removal of grinding, although this doesn’t allow much room to go beyond the base and advanced classes and experiment since there are no repeatable filler battles to test them out. Sure I could use contracts, but those are limited within each chapter. Could’ve used more objectives besides defeating all units. There are more than a handful of uncommon ones here: Travel to this tile, escort, etc. Though these are few and far between the regular. Some spice would’ve been nice to goals here to not make objectives too repetitive back to eliminating every foe. Also, I think some more flashbacks to the villain would’ve been welcome as a more show/don’t tell approach to flesh them out more and perhaps to a lesser extent our protagonists. Lastly, I believe contracts could be made more interesting beyond killing everyone. Grant us rare units instead of filler ones, give us more side quest chains, expand on the world with lore/characters, etc. I could say more, but those are minor nitpicks not worth mentioning and the developers of Twin Otter are already working hard to fix them in hot fixes and patches.
Overall, Arcadian Atlas displays a serviceable amount of gameplay and classes. Delving into interesting scenes during the civil war without holding your hand throughout. All while delivering a bug-free (at least for me) and crash-free experience that doesn’t seek long hours to complete. I can’t help but appreciate the close attempt to conceive their take from looking up to FFT. And for that, I respect it and look forward to the future when this title is cleaned up of some imperfections. I admire the attempt to construct their own identity while balancing enough nostalgia. Solid content here, for the story to carry me to the very end. Sure it has some flaws, but they don't deter my overall experience as a whole. Been in the works for seven-years with a Kickstarter budget and a four man dev team. And the result is not hot garbage! Instead, think of it like a cool new menu item to eat through for those curious. A good Indie Jrpg I recommend for those testing the waters for indies and Jrpg’s alike. And I implore anyone who reads this review to carefully research beforehand to see if its the right one for them. Rely on different sources, see what different authors had to say, any commonality, any differences etc. In an effort to see the bigger picture. My point isn’t to send everyone to buy AA and support indies
7/10
2022
In a tweet by Yuri Stern, one of the developers of the two man team rose-engine along with Barbara Wittmann of Signalis. They remark how "I wish people would be more open to letting others figure out for themselves how their ending made them feel. Instead of telling a streamer "you got the best ending!", maybe you can ask "did you think this was an interesting conclusion?" And they can decide if they liked it or not" Their comment was in response to how some players classify conclusions as absolutes for true, bad, good, etc.
Stern’s answer caught my attention and I admit throughout my time playing games with multiple outcomes in the finale. I realize I am guilty of this too. And yet, this establishes a thought-provoking notion to provide clarification, evidence, and reasoning, beyond simple claims. Player interpretation differs for each individual. Classified as neither good, bad, or in between. It simply is. Consensus can say comparable beginnings, middle, and end. And yet, we conjure causes to describe something that can be difficult or perhaps easy to comprehend. In my attempt to understand everything throughout my playthrough, I’ve come to see it as a Lovecraftian Sci-Fi blended with Survival Horror. Reputable individuals have noted inspiration, references, and homages to King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers. The Festival by H.P. Lovecraft. Evangelion by Hideaki Anno, Stanley Kubrick, Resident Evil & Silent Hill franchise Et al. To me, include Nier and Prey(2017). With a dash of Studio Shaft’s techniques. And while I haven’t read/watched/played some of those homages they harken too. A considerable amount of careful effort to not create a reference-filled fiesta akin to Ready Player One. Plenty of satisfying content and unique properties, enough to stand on its own.
You control Elster, a [Redacted] in search of someone important to her. This is her journey after her ship crashes onto an unknown planet. She doesn’t start with much, but a sufficient tutorial resides to grant a fighting chance. Make no mistake, this isn’t a game you run away from consistently. You. Can. Fight. Back. From a top-down 2.5D perspective. Lengthwise, the game took me over nine hours to complete and I didn’t have any major/minor bugs or crashes. Ran smoothly notwithstanding looking akin to a Playstation One game. An aesthetic remarkably familiar to our past of CRTs, floppy discs, and VCRs with unfamiliar technology. A retro-tech meets dystopian surrealism. An unforgiving world, which I became horrified to learn about and lost myself in admiring the art. The color red is used prominently, like in similar games: Scarlet Nexus and Astral Chain for blue, yet it doesn’t detract from the overall presentation. A pleasant strength tied to supplementary elements the game displays to the player. The retro style succeeds in its favor since you’ll be walking, running, and fighting through broken old corridors sometimes in derelict space stations and facilities. The soundtrack has some nice tunes, but you’re usually dealing with silence or at the very least oppressive atmosphere that can be ethereal. Some tracks lend to an ambiance with static to varying degrees of echoes of various sounds you wouldn’t expect like crashing waves, slow piano tracks, and even a tiny smidge of synth. Oddly enough, an inconsistent/consistent rhythm and tempo permeates; some may find grating to hear and will switch into the opposite range and become somehow ‘relaxing’ to listen. The dual nature of melancholic and comforting generates an intriguing dichotomy. Ultimately, the whole soundtrack is decent, though I wish for more variety to bring ‘life’ to the moment-to-moment scenes. Granted, I think this was a deliberate decision by the composers 1000 Eyes & Cicada Sirens to construct a suffocating pressure to incite ‘space hell.’ And I can’t help, but begrudgingly praise the decision to do so. It works!?
The combat felt very tight, responsive and didn’t suffocate me constantly. For several moments I would have despaired, but a handy walkthrough and some tips kept my spirits up! One could even take advantage of Steam’s new note-taking feature to remember critical material! Accessible during in-game and when you exit. So you don’t always have to keep the program on. Combat when shooting could’ve been tweaked a little to make it more accurate. Considering how the enemies' artificial intelligence acts and how we can’t be experts in hitting shots 100% of the time. I can forgive this slight. Certainly not a dealbreaker, but make sure to watch out for your ammo, aim well, and trust in your gut the bullets will fly through. Healing is painless and not complicated. Intermittent yet equitable drops of supplies to recuperate, so you're not left struggling if you carefully check your stock and surroundings. Heck, you can even combine components to make weapons use different ammo, healing, and key items to save slots since you only have six in your inventory to hold. Aiming isn’t even the main bread and butter. Melee weaponry serves as an acceptable tool to fight baddies. You can attain a stun rod to down enemies then kick them to unconsciousness, and push them freely when you need to gain some distance. Hell, you can even burn them when they fall. Cause boy oh boy these nightmarish creatures(I’ll spare you the imagery) can stand up once more! Thankfully, they don’t return to lifeor should I say unlife heh within a short time. Probably a decent length passes before you realize your foe is ready for round 2.
Outside of combat. I found worldbuilding to be richly rewarding and added substance to the environmental storytelling. I was craving to know more about the inhabitants, the government, the leaders, technology, etc. So much depth and breadth in going the full nine yards where I know about the whole history of nations, the background of citizens and military soldiers of a strict hierarchy during a tumultuous time. Missions and roles for each [R$%#%$#@] unit and even enemies are spared no expense in displaying how they came to be. Chekhov's Gun tickles nearly every reach imaginable and in effect shines so hard, even in the darkest moments. I constantly read countless lore notes in the form of classified documents, redacted information, diaries, and even propaganda posters! No shortage of information almost to the point of overload, however, Barbara and Yuri have emerged with a balanced tightrope to not overgorge the player while not slipping morsels of info. Proportionally, to induce a sense of curiosity to know more, nagging at the far reaches of your brain to check every room for more data to consume. One cool feature in the form of an archive in the menu, you can access anytime. No need to backtrack to the origin of papers. Thereby, making recollections of pertinent details at the press of a button, straightforward.
The puzzles are solid. Used to great effect to tie into the lore whenever possible. Some examples are lockpicking, numerical password combinations and structural obstacles that could hinder your progression. So retracing your steps for an important piece is advisable to progress. There are extras, but I'll refrain from listing them. Best as a surprise. I found the inclusion of them to be welcoming. Didn’t overstay, while having plentiful time for me to seek answers/clues. Some solutions are more obscure than the rest. Though, for the most part, all of them I felt were fitting, and the hints satisfactory to figure out the solution. Careful precision to not go rage-inducing while not making it too easy for newcomers and veterans. Remember it's okay to fail some puzzles and return with a clearer mind.
Likable NPCs. They're personable, relatable, and offer intriguing perspectives during my playthrough. They complement Elster, by acting as foils. With their objectives at large and didn’t detract at all from their sheer presence. I was content, I am not alone all the time knowing comrades are nearby, who are bravely keeping on despite the horrific nightmares, and even more where I’ll refrain from stating, but suffice it say I was sad to see. A dangerous atmosphere prevails and the mood can become bleak in the blink of an eye. Not to the extent that I became leery. While it may seem dangerous due to the unnatural air and presence. These NPCs 'helped' me on my journey and for that, I am grateful for their company but also their dialog. Conversations revealed vital pieces to tying what happened on the planet and what threads they could link to the plot.
The horror elements are not, at least to me, horrific to the point I was disgusted or vomitable. Didn’t see major jump scares to remove my soul from my body, and I am incredibly grateful this didn't occur. Constant jump scares can cheapen the experience if not done well in my opinion. Again balance is integral and the devs have managed to produce a nice gameplay loop of exploration, scavenging, combat, reading lore, drip-feeding you cutscenes, and solving puzzles to be as painless as possible while still creating enough difficulty for a challenge.
Speaking of the story. I’m a bit mixed on. And this isn’t to say it is a bad thing at all. Think of my mixed feelings as neither positive nor negative, but food for thought I'll outline. In aspects, the game tries to impart to the player. I felt the execution was fragmented. It’s not clear what is shown to be definitive or literal to assert a conclusion on which I can base my facts and evidence. This may sound confusing. And I apologize if I’m not making sense. To clarify, you have to build the ‘narrative’ so to speak. This is fine in theory and there is a thread to follow. But sometimes the writing can be somewhat obscure along with puzzling. This pains me greatly since I couldn’t get enough of the worldbuilding. In the end, I was left with a ‘hmmm’ on the execution. Certainly, games like the Souls series are similar in environmental storytelling. Not so much on the beats of the plot to bridge together, but the world itself you piece towards to understand in your eyes what the story could be.
I wish the inventory limit of six expanded as you progressed further. Like up to eight. I didn’t find it too troublesome to turn back to my storage chest to unload my stuff. Yet, this exhibits a constant chore since I want to collect everything in nooks and crannies only for me to check the nearest save room to remove them. This isn’t a big deal. I could just run past enemies, right? True. Elster does have the capability. The issue is when I am running, some enemies will come alive to attack. After I already defeated them. Making traversal to new areas a slightly tedious to do, since I must retreat and precious supplies may be utilized. This is exacerbated when I have to redo this method again when I need more space for key objects to progress. A solution I was ruminating; having separate slots for crucial items. Like, say a flashlight or gun. As accessories.
Lore papers could’ve been more definitive as vague as I could put it. In doing so, the given knowledge would become stronger to grasp. Some notes are clear-cut to comprehend, but these ties could've been linked to creating a tighter cohesion in interpreting the plot. We are given an ample amount of lore to draw our conclusions. This is fine in theory and I’ve seen examples amongst my peers that resonated more with them. So the execution worked. For me, however, I’m stuck in the middle of a hallway facing a door of “greatness” and behind me, a door says “Not greatness.” I wonder if the devs could’ve made some threads easier to digest and distinguish. An alternative drip to gently feed the player. Admittedly, this is my personal preference and should not be taken as a common critique of the game. Individuals aside from me have rated the game highly which is fair. And I have seen the inverse side too. So where do I land? Sweats nervously In between those spectrum's sadly enough. There is a solid vision the two-man development studio established and they walk a tightrope in balancing narrative ties through the gameplay and cutscenes with a red Chekov’s gun to use every tie imaginable to draw players and I can say it prevails with some stumbles. I’m not sure if this is a method of drawing everyone to understand completely what the developers try to impart by the time the end credits roll. Nonetheless, I am unsure if this is a title that could vibe with you until a session of play. And in that respect, makes this incredibly challenging to quantify against the entirety of what the game offers.
Speaking of the ending. And again, no spoiler territory. I think easier alternatives were possible to attempt other outcomes. I got one of them and after checking out the rest, I couldn’t help but conclude the requirements are obscure for players to know. I had to research guides and see how technical the wire can run. Won’t delve into the exact details, but suffice it to say, I surmise avenues are within reach making the process less burdensome if the devs were to patch it. Though I doubt they would. Whether or not, newcomers know multiple resolutions. Before I forget, please go on Youtube for the rest, if you were unsatisfied with the one you got. Just a gentle reminder. One of them is so convoluted the community cooperated to discover the hidden requirements. Sszz127 from the Signalis subreddit was the first to discover clues leading to it as far as I know.
I'm sad to report how strenuous it is to depict my proper feelings in describing how much the title appeals to me against the concerns I stated earlier. A variable slow-burn, that may catch those who don’t mind it. Others may find it not as resonating. Besides the regular praise, I see fellow reviewers and fellow peers of mine who call it “a masterpiece, a return to modern survival horror, one to watch out for and more.” Wonderful seeing high acclaim regarding the game in their manner and I find gratifying content is an enjoyable affair. Equally as those who offer a differing perspective from the norm with evidence. I am at a crossroads where I’m not sure. To discern if it’s a must-play for fans of the genre due to my lacking experience in the department. I’ve only played Metro 2033, The Evil Within series, Bloodborne, Omori, etc. So I’m not an expert. If this can appeal to a newcomer. One could even take advantage of Steam’s two-hour refund policy to see if it appeals to you. And if it doesn’t, no shame in refunding. For me, I was hooked after the first hour.
I believe Signalis may provide newcomers with a unique mileage that might vary experience and value. For horror fans and for those who are not used to it like me. I love the worldbuilding and how retro-tech merges wonderfully with the dystopian sci-fi era. The lifeless music at various points forge an almost oppressive atmosphere that is both melancholy and comforting. The combat is balanced to the extent that I wasn't quite a female Rambo, but someone like Ellen Ripley(Aliens) and Leeloo(Fifth Element). Elster perseveres despite adversity. Has no crazy powers nor impressive intellect to bedazzle us at every turn. She simply is a [redacted]. And I like that. Gameplay elements like puzzling solving were fun and tied nicely with the environmental storytelling. Terror aspects turned out to be not too scary or overdone in a manner I found tiresome to see. A genuine effort by rose-engine to keep them challenging and fair in such a way I still endeavored to keep going. Regardless of my struggles, and food for thought, a cool hidden gem exists. Moreover, I echo what Stern posits about not classifying endings as absolutes and asking yourself how the game made you feel and why? Whether at the end of your journey, you conceive some semblance to share beyond the scope of classifying it in categories. Then by all means, please do so. Your voice is appreciated. There is beauty to find out if Your experience left you something meaningful or not.
7.7/10
Additional Material I couldn’t fit in this review, but may prove useful for those who played the game already:
Source for twitter link by Yuri Stern
Signalis Index - Theory, Lore, Commentary, Symbolism, Reference, Music, Decipher, Data-mining, Unsolved questions and more
Steam Guide on endings with Authors Plot Interpretation - Major spoilers
A Literalist view of Signalis - Major spoilers
A Non-Literalist View of Signalis - Major Spoilers
A Youtuber’s take on Signalis - Warning major spoilers
Camera Perspective mod
Final stats of my playthrough
My thoughts on the ending/s of Signalis
^Major spoilers throughout. Only click if you finished the game.
Note: If any links are down please let me know and I’ll try and correct that.
7-30-23 - Note - Added a Non-Literalist View of Signalis and added further clarification on the Signalis Index link.
11-29-23 - Edited first opening paragraph with correct pronouns. 99% of text still intact and largely unchanged.
Stern’s answer caught my attention and I admit throughout my time playing games with multiple outcomes in the finale. I realize I am guilty of this too. And yet, this establishes a thought-provoking notion to provide clarification, evidence, and reasoning, beyond simple claims. Player interpretation differs for each individual. Classified as neither good, bad, or in between. It simply is. Consensus can say comparable beginnings, middle, and end. And yet, we conjure causes to describe something that can be difficult or perhaps easy to comprehend. In my attempt to understand everything throughout my playthrough, I’ve come to see it as a Lovecraftian Sci-Fi blended with Survival Horror. Reputable individuals have noted inspiration, references, and homages to King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers. The Festival by H.P. Lovecraft. Evangelion by Hideaki Anno, Stanley Kubrick, Resident Evil & Silent Hill franchise Et al. To me, include Nier and Prey(2017). With a dash of Studio Shaft’s techniques. And while I haven’t read/watched/played some of those homages they harken too. A considerable amount of careful effort to not create a reference-filled fiesta akin to Ready Player One. Plenty of satisfying content and unique properties, enough to stand on its own.
You control Elster, a [Redacted] in search of someone important to her. This is her journey after her ship crashes onto an unknown planet. She doesn’t start with much, but a sufficient tutorial resides to grant a fighting chance. Make no mistake, this isn’t a game you run away from consistently. You. Can. Fight. Back. From a top-down 2.5D perspective. Lengthwise, the game took me over nine hours to complete and I didn’t have any major/minor bugs or crashes. Ran smoothly notwithstanding looking akin to a Playstation One game. An aesthetic remarkably familiar to our past of CRTs, floppy discs, and VCRs with unfamiliar technology. A retro-tech meets dystopian surrealism. An unforgiving world, which I became horrified to learn about and lost myself in admiring the art. The color red is used prominently, like in similar games: Scarlet Nexus and Astral Chain for blue, yet it doesn’t detract from the overall presentation. A pleasant strength tied to supplementary elements the game displays to the player. The retro style succeeds in its favor since you’ll be walking, running, and fighting through broken old corridors sometimes in derelict space stations and facilities. The soundtrack has some nice tunes, but you’re usually dealing with silence or at the very least oppressive atmosphere that can be ethereal. Some tracks lend to an ambiance with static to varying degrees of echoes of various sounds you wouldn’t expect like crashing waves, slow piano tracks, and even a tiny smidge of synth. Oddly enough, an inconsistent/consistent rhythm and tempo permeates; some may find grating to hear and will switch into the opposite range and become somehow ‘relaxing’ to listen. The dual nature of melancholic and comforting generates an intriguing dichotomy. Ultimately, the whole soundtrack is decent, though I wish for more variety to bring ‘life’ to the moment-to-moment scenes. Granted, I think this was a deliberate decision by the composers 1000 Eyes & Cicada Sirens to construct a suffocating pressure to incite ‘space hell.’ And I can’t help, but begrudgingly praise the decision to do so. It works!?
The combat felt very tight, responsive and didn’t suffocate me constantly. For several moments I would have despaired, but a handy walkthrough and some tips kept my spirits up! One could even take advantage of Steam’s new note-taking feature to remember critical material! Accessible during in-game and when you exit. So you don’t always have to keep the program on. Combat when shooting could’ve been tweaked a little to make it more accurate. Considering how the enemies' artificial intelligence acts and how we can’t be experts in hitting shots 100% of the time. I can forgive this slight. Certainly not a dealbreaker, but make sure to watch out for your ammo, aim well, and trust in your gut the bullets will fly through. Healing is painless and not complicated. Intermittent yet equitable drops of supplies to recuperate, so you're not left struggling if you carefully check your stock and surroundings. Heck, you can even combine components to make weapons use different ammo, healing, and key items to save slots since you only have six in your inventory to hold. Aiming isn’t even the main bread and butter. Melee weaponry serves as an acceptable tool to fight baddies. You can attain a stun rod to down enemies then kick them to unconsciousness, and push them freely when you need to gain some distance. Hell, you can even burn them when they fall. Cause boy oh boy these nightmarish creatures(I’ll spare you the imagery) can stand up once more! Thankfully, they don’t return to life
Outside of combat. I found worldbuilding to be richly rewarding and added substance to the environmental storytelling. I was craving to know more about the inhabitants, the government, the leaders, technology, etc. So much depth and breadth in going the full nine yards where I know about the whole history of nations, the background of citizens and military soldiers of a strict hierarchy during a tumultuous time. Missions and roles for each [R$%#%$#@] unit and even enemies are spared no expense in displaying how they came to be. Chekhov's Gun tickles nearly every reach imaginable and in effect shines so hard, even in the darkest moments. I constantly read countless lore notes in the form of classified documents, redacted information, diaries, and even propaganda posters! No shortage of information almost to the point of overload, however, Barbara and Yuri have emerged with a balanced tightrope to not overgorge the player while not slipping morsels of info. Proportionally, to induce a sense of curiosity to know more, nagging at the far reaches of your brain to check every room for more data to consume. One cool feature in the form of an archive in the menu, you can access anytime. No need to backtrack to the origin of papers. Thereby, making recollections of pertinent details at the press of a button, straightforward.
The puzzles are solid. Used to great effect to tie into the lore whenever possible. Some examples are lockpicking, numerical password combinations and structural obstacles that could hinder your progression. So retracing your steps for an important piece is advisable to progress. There are extras, but I'll refrain from listing them. Best as a surprise. I found the inclusion of them to be welcoming. Didn’t overstay, while having plentiful time for me to seek answers/clues. Some solutions are more obscure than the rest. Though, for the most part, all of them I felt were fitting, and the hints satisfactory to figure out the solution. Careful precision to not go rage-inducing while not making it too easy for newcomers and veterans. Remember it's okay to fail some puzzles and return with a clearer mind.
Likable NPCs. They're personable, relatable, and offer intriguing perspectives during my playthrough. They complement Elster, by acting as foils. With their objectives at large and didn’t detract at all from their sheer presence. I was content, I am not alone all the time knowing comrades are nearby, who are bravely keeping on despite the horrific nightmares, and even more where I’ll refrain from stating, but suffice it say I was sad to see. A dangerous atmosphere prevails and the mood can become bleak in the blink of an eye. Not to the extent that I became leery. While it may seem dangerous due to the unnatural air and presence. These NPCs 'helped' me on my journey and for that, I am grateful for their company but also their dialog. Conversations revealed vital pieces to tying what happened on the planet and what threads they could link to the plot.
The horror elements are not, at least to me, horrific to the point I was disgusted or vomitable. Didn’t see major jump scares to remove my soul from my body, and I am incredibly grateful this didn't occur. Constant jump scares can cheapen the experience if not done well in my opinion. Again balance is integral and the devs have managed to produce a nice gameplay loop of exploration, scavenging, combat, reading lore, drip-feeding you cutscenes, and solving puzzles to be as painless as possible while still creating enough difficulty for a challenge.
Speaking of the story. I’m a bit mixed on. And this isn’t to say it is a bad thing at all. Think of my mixed feelings as neither positive nor negative, but food for thought I'll outline. In aspects, the game tries to impart to the player. I felt the execution was fragmented. It’s not clear what is shown to be definitive or literal to assert a conclusion on which I can base my facts and evidence. This may sound confusing. And I apologize if I’m not making sense. To clarify, you have to build the ‘narrative’ so to speak. This is fine in theory and there is a thread to follow. But sometimes the writing can be somewhat obscure along with puzzling. This pains me greatly since I couldn’t get enough of the worldbuilding. In the end, I was left with a ‘hmmm’ on the execution. Certainly, games like the Souls series are similar in environmental storytelling. Not so much on the beats of the plot to bridge together, but the world itself you piece towards to understand in your eyes what the story could be.
I wish the inventory limit of six expanded as you progressed further. Like up to eight. I didn’t find it too troublesome to turn back to my storage chest to unload my stuff. Yet, this exhibits a constant chore since I want to collect everything in nooks and crannies only for me to check the nearest save room to remove them. This isn’t a big deal. I could just run past enemies, right? True. Elster does have the capability. The issue is when I am running, some enemies will come alive to attack. After I already defeated them. Making traversal to new areas a slightly tedious to do, since I must retreat and precious supplies may be utilized. This is exacerbated when I have to redo this method again when I need more space for key objects to progress. A solution I was ruminating; having separate slots for crucial items. Like, say a flashlight or gun. As accessories.
Lore papers could’ve been more definitive as vague as I could put it. In doing so, the given knowledge would become stronger to grasp. Some notes are clear-cut to comprehend, but these ties could've been linked to creating a tighter cohesion in interpreting the plot. We are given an ample amount of lore to draw our conclusions. This is fine in theory and I’ve seen examples amongst my peers that resonated more with them. So the execution worked. For me, however, I’m stuck in the middle of a hallway facing a door of “greatness” and behind me, a door says “Not greatness.” I wonder if the devs could’ve made some threads easier to digest and distinguish. An alternative drip to gently feed the player. Admittedly, this is my personal preference and should not be taken as a common critique of the game. Individuals aside from me have rated the game highly which is fair. And I have seen the inverse side too. So where do I land? Sweats nervously In between those spectrum's sadly enough. There is a solid vision the two-man development studio established and they walk a tightrope in balancing narrative ties through the gameplay and cutscenes with a red Chekov’s gun to use every tie imaginable to draw players and I can say it prevails with some stumbles. I’m not sure if this is a method of drawing everyone to understand completely what the developers try to impart by the time the end credits roll. Nonetheless, I am unsure if this is a title that could vibe with you until a session of play. And in that respect, makes this incredibly challenging to quantify against the entirety of what the game offers.
Speaking of the ending. And again, no spoiler territory. I think easier alternatives were possible to attempt other outcomes. I got one of them and after checking out the rest, I couldn’t help but conclude the requirements are obscure for players to know. I had to research guides and see how technical the wire can run. Won’t delve into the exact details, but suffice it to say, I surmise avenues are within reach making the process less burdensome if the devs were to patch it. Though I doubt they would. Whether or not, newcomers know multiple resolutions. Before I forget, please go on Youtube for the rest, if you were unsatisfied with the one you got. Just a gentle reminder. One of them is so convoluted the community cooperated to discover the hidden requirements. Sszz127 from the Signalis subreddit was the first to discover clues leading to it as far as I know.
I'm sad to report how strenuous it is to depict my proper feelings in describing how much the title appeals to me against the concerns I stated earlier. A variable slow-burn, that may catch those who don’t mind it. Others may find it not as resonating. Besides the regular praise, I see fellow reviewers and fellow peers of mine who call it “a masterpiece, a return to modern survival horror, one to watch out for and more.” Wonderful seeing high acclaim regarding the game in their manner and I find gratifying content is an enjoyable affair. Equally as those who offer a differing perspective from the norm with evidence. I am at a crossroads where I’m not sure. To discern if it’s a must-play for fans of the genre due to my lacking experience in the department. I’ve only played Metro 2033, The Evil Within series, Bloodborne, Omori, etc. So I’m not an expert. If this can appeal to a newcomer. One could even take advantage of Steam’s two-hour refund policy to see if it appeals to you. And if it doesn’t, no shame in refunding. For me, I was hooked after the first hour.
I believe Signalis may provide newcomers with a unique mileage that might vary experience and value. For horror fans and for those who are not used to it like me. I love the worldbuilding and how retro-tech merges wonderfully with the dystopian sci-fi era. The lifeless music at various points forge an almost oppressive atmosphere that is both melancholy and comforting. The combat is balanced to the extent that I wasn't quite a female Rambo, but someone like Ellen Ripley(Aliens) and Leeloo(Fifth Element). Elster perseveres despite adversity. Has no crazy powers nor impressive intellect to bedazzle us at every turn. She simply is a [redacted]. And I like that. Gameplay elements like puzzling solving were fun and tied nicely with the environmental storytelling. Terror aspects turned out to be not too scary or overdone in a manner I found tiresome to see. A genuine effort by rose-engine to keep them challenging and fair in such a way I still endeavored to keep going. Regardless of my struggles, and food for thought, a cool hidden gem exists. Moreover, I echo what Stern posits about not classifying endings as absolutes and asking yourself how the game made you feel and why? Whether at the end of your journey, you conceive some semblance to share beyond the scope of classifying it in categories. Then by all means, please do so. Your voice is appreciated. There is beauty to find out if Your experience left you something meaningful or not.
7.7/10
Additional Material I couldn’t fit in this review, but may prove useful for those who played the game already:
Source for twitter link by Yuri Stern
Signalis Index - Theory, Lore, Commentary, Symbolism, Reference, Music, Decipher, Data-mining, Unsolved questions and more
Steam Guide on endings with Authors Plot Interpretation - Major spoilers
A Literalist view of Signalis - Major spoilers
A Non-Literalist View of Signalis - Major Spoilers
A Youtuber’s take on Signalis - Warning major spoilers
Camera Perspective mod
Final stats of my playthrough
My thoughts on the ending/s of Signalis
^Major spoilers throughout. Only click if you finished the game.
Note: If any links are down please let me know and I’ll try and correct that.
7-30-23 - Note - Added a Non-Literalist View of Signalis and added further clarification on the Signalis Index link.
11-29-23 - Edited first opening paragraph with correct pronouns. 99% of text still intact and largely unchanged.
2023
“I am Joshua’s Shield. I’m sworn to protect him… He takes too many risks. I only wish I could save him from himself.”
“Clive, you... Well, if you’re not going to pray to Metia for your safe return, I shall just have to do it for you.”
These lines are spoken in the very first hour, and detail three crucial details. His duty as Joshua’s Shield. How much he cares for his brother, and how Jill prays for his safe return. It’s simple, to the dot, and captures the player’s attention immediately. Statements are said with conviction, will, and resolve. Told during the halcyon days of their youth. Ahhh. But terrible storms gather nearby. For Clive, Jill, and Joshua their fates will change forevermore…
Final Fantasy(FF) is no stranger to taking risks. And each iteration boldly goes where the previous ones have not walked. And FFXVI is no different. We follow Clive Rosfield’s journey as a young lad into something more. For better or worse, he and others are embroiled in a political drama within Valisthea. A large continent with six nations all with their factions, agendas, and notorious individuals with nefarious goals. And Rosfield is the poor sod who has to survive, kill and go past his limits. Make no mistake, out of all the FF games I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing. Sixteen consumed my waking thoughts, and remained a constant as I went through the daily motions and as the days passed into weeks. I am astonished by how much there is to do, uncover and learn. I have gone the distance to see as much as I possibly can within two playthroughs. And here I am staring at my google docs page after an exhaustive duel, spending countless hours figuring out if it deserves to reach my top 5 FFs. And it does. I don’t say that statement lightly, since I love the series since starting with thirteen and have enjoyed over twenty-two entries. So you could say I am very familiar. Now then it is time to review the latest entry to one of Square Enix’s(SE) long-running IPs.
Combat is addicting. I couldn’t get enough of it. Experimenting with new skills and outfitting my kit. Or rushing to face numerous bosses that are both fair and hit the right spots. Tweaking the difficulty at your leisure from story or action focused. The former grants free rings at the start to aid you. The latter, you don’t acquire automatically. But you can freely switch difficulties at any time, so you won’t miss out. Equip accessible rings to make combat easier for ya. Auto dodge, auto combo, auto potion, and more are available. A nice way to make fights easier or harder depending on your preference. With the help of Kingdom Hearts developers and PlatinumGames. And signing up Ryota Suzuki. A Capcom veteran and one who has worked on the Devil May Cry franchise. A triple alliance emerges between these forces and at the helm is Creative Business Unit III(CBU3) joining to make an impressive quad squad. The titular and amazing Naoki Yoshida(Nicknamed Yoshi-P) is the producer. A man who has worked tirelessly to reform the original FFXIV launch into one of the most successful MMORPGs today. So you could say these guys are in very safe hands. Unafraid of taking risks, each FF entry strives to make combat innovative, but also familiar to entertain both veterans and sprouts(newbies). Traditional turn-based gameplay has radically shifted since its foundation, shifting into real-time action. And as someone who favors the turn-based approach, I don’t mind the change to real-time. I appreciate it. There is a fluid momentum persisting as you dodge, parry, and execute Eikon's abilities. Goblins? Move over Goblin Slayer, Dude will incinerate them to kingdom come. Phoenix shifting, with relentless fury as if the wind has blessed him with deadly claws. I didn’t find clunky movements wherever I treaded, making battles go smoothly. Transitions into these skirmishes are near instant. So don’t be afraid of a lengthy wait. Quick and nimble is the key here. And I had no problem acquiring different abilities to experiment and juggle my enemies. Didn’t find an issue with the experience. The gain was fair. Both in leveling up and upgrading my skills. I was satisfied to a degree of wanting more and the developers gave me that and extra.
The soundtrack is subtle, but full of magic. Composed by Masayoshi Soken Who has worked just as tirelessly as Yoshi-P in composing FFXIV melodies. Sixteen’s composition is distinct from the compositions of Nobuo Uematsu(FF1->10), Masashi Hamauzu(FF13 trilogy), Yoko Shimomura(FF15), and other composers. More in line with Hitoshi Sakimoto's works. Of FF Tactics and Vagrant Story fame. Subtle, in a good way. I think most if not all tracks work in favor of providing a layer I don’t find as bombastic, full of vocals, or orchestral. Going more tranquil, peaceful, and in some cases filled with tension creates a tightrope to induce fear and bravery. There is meaning and weight to these songs. Triumphant lyrics are largely missing in favor of the solemn and at times contemplative ambient sounds gracing our ears. Pleasant, soothing, and incredibly transformative. Didn’t hear the same old repetitive track again and again. Always something unfamiliar to hear, and listen to when I travel new places around the block. I could say more, but for the life of me, I cannot describe it justice enough. Just know when the epic tunes hit they hit bloody hard. There is a payoff in going subtle here. And if Uematsu could hear this, I think he would clap in joy for Soken’s work.
Gratifying gameplay loop that is cyclical, interconnected and works in tandem with the other systems in place. Get too tired with combat? That's fine. Take a breather with some side quests(SQ) that are almost perfect. Hitting the near-zenith of Witcher 3 SQ quality combined with consistently powerful worldbuilding I haven’t seen since I last played through The Legend of Heroes IP. Specifically, the Sky trilogy, Crossbell duology, and Cold Steel tetralogy. There is so much depth, I am left in wonder and awe to study more about the history of Valisthea and its denizens. More often than not you will encounter chunks of lore. To varying degrees. Religion and societal customs included. Unexpected discoveries in interpersonal relationships with folks I didn’t expect. Helping people in need at the main hub to assist strangers out in the wild. And these are not pointless to do, since the rewards can range from increasing your potions limit to rewarding items, weapons, equipment, materials, and key items. Worth it, both in the physical and knowledge aspects. Easily, the strongest SQs are the ones related to the main character(MC), his party members, and by extension those who are allied with him. Granting a decent to lengthy quest chains to learn more. Bond further and even partner up! Worthwhile to do and I encourage everyone to complete as many as they possibly can. Some of these connect with quests benefiting players and heck if you’re bored you can even undertake a hunt mission. Which are like bounties to defeat unique monsters out in the wild. Fun to do and a worthwhile conflict awaits. A solid way, building up renown to earn supplementary rewards. It's gotten to the point I couldn’t wait to finish the main story quests(MSQ) so I can complete new SQs/hunts popping up on my radar.
And Clive. Bless his soul. Doesn’t mind at all aiding those in need. Especially to offer a guiding hand to Bearers. People who are essentially slaves and can use magic. Commonfolk can’t use magic innately. Used by slave masters, nobility as a means of cheap labor. Bearers are human tools. Do you want your garden trimmed? Let the boy use wind magic to trim the bushes into a presentable state. No need to work yourself and use bladed shears. Need clothes to dry quickly rather than letting the sun do the work? Let the Bearer use wind magic again to blow air on your wet clothes becoming a human dryer. Oh, need consistent fire for your blacksmithing duties? Grab one of those filthy Bearers and order them to use their magic to cast fira. Heating the stones instead of using natural fire. I kid you not these instances I saw plenty throughout and equally jaw-dropping tales inside. In some cases, my emotional state stewed in conniptions. I was immensely saddened to see a mirror image of our world’s history of slavery. And the developers(devs) have managed to capture these horrific moments in ways I was reeling. I won’t go into the exact details, but my heart bled for each one. And I quickly without hesitation became the shield for these unfortunate souls who were suffering without end.
Worldbuilding is quality across the board. I usually have problems with worldbuilding in other Japanese Role-Playing Games(JRPGs). Some go too far. Gorging the player on unnecessary details. Others have too little and need more of the former. It’s been a long time since I was so engrossed in the lore and history. Sixteen manages to do it in such a way I am left hungry for more. Complementing this is a handy codex in the form of Active Time Lore(ATL for short). Where you can see relevant information during any part of the story. Yes, this includes cutscenes. Incredibly well-thought-out and as a lore nut. The feature is very satisfying to use when I need a refresher on what this legend is supposed to be. Why do we keep calling places ‘Storm’ and ‘Twins?’ What are Bearers? The plot, quests, and your companions will continually talk about these elements in rich detail. I could gush more but I think you see the picture. Wish other JRPGs and Non-RPGs learn from this.
An evolving world is persistent here. Each time a major or minor event has been resolved whether by SQ’s or MSQ. The state of NPC's is adjusted to reflect that. And the very essence of Valisthea wherever you travel to also shares the same evolution. Oh, a major event took place at [redacted]? Time to head back to and check for differences in the citizenry. This is just one example of how places may vary over time. Very reminiscent of my time with the Trails franchise. I eagerly looked forward to returning to the main hub and conversing with my comrades on the latest gossip, new information about the state of the realm, or the odd tip here and there you may not see coming. I cherished these NPCs and I would go so far as to call some, my dear friends. They all play a big role in shaping not just MC’s story, but their tales and stories are interwoven with his. Leaving me with an everlasting impression. The gentle giant Goetz, Sharp eyes Gav, the gentle but stern Tarja, the wise Harpocrates, and of course we can't forget the wise, venerable and slick leader. These individuals have their struggles, and quests from which we witness. Cooperate and in doing, so we are treated to a fantastic cast willing to shoulder our burdens. To care for our wounds. To sustain us with supplies and support us through thick and thin. Against all odds. We stand together.
There are however mixed feelings I have with this entry. Won’t say names. Since this is a non-spoiler review and certainly not a positive or a negative. But for the sake of transparency, I'm noting down here. One character in particular needed more fleshing out, some villains and to a lesser degree other persons. I felt I didn't grasp their entire being more than others. Which is funny because I adore my party. Sadly, I’ve already devoured the game as much as I possibly could in search of critical and related information I may have missed the first time around with no success. And I doubt a third go around would change my thoughts. Anyway, I think further context on the background and subsequent encounter with the MC needed more ‘meat’ so to speak for lack of better words to create a dynamic that would immerse me further. Extra side quests regarding ‘x’ nation concerning their status, additional scenes, and heavier amounts of banter, especially during battles to alleviate some silence. There is some banter, though I think the devs could’ve added a healthy amount to spare. Tease me with interconnected lore concerning their powers I wouldn’t expect. Past entries in the series had parties where I can comfortably say I know their personality, likes, dislikes, habits, quirks, relationships with others, etc. And while this one individual didn’t have to that extent. I enjoyed their presence, actions, and the precious moments they had in the story. Granted, including my suggestions would inflate the base content more in hours, but I think it's a small price to pay to receive more fleshed-out people. I’m not asking for five hours extra.Although I wouldn’t mind it. Just an hour or two. Be that as it may, it doesn't diminish the game all that much.
Wish we could control other party members and while this doesn’t make a lot of sense due to spoilers in the story. Conceptually I think it could’ve worked to give further spice to the combat capabilities. Adding a greater emphasis to my earlier point of fleshing out the characters. Since some member’s ability kit is not as varied as the MC’s which would perhaps make the players feel more lacking in the combat. However, internally I’m torn with the idea since I think this would’ve created somewhat a lesser emphasis on his story. And at its core, there is an extremely high plateau of which we the audience bear witness to his struggles, failures, and triumphs through his eyes. If we take out our(his) eyesight and perspective, then these incredible experiences we see perhaps may not have had a greater impact. Balance is key here and while I could sprout more suggestions I could see why the developer chose not to do so. It’s a troublesome matter. I've long since debated whether more or less should be added for games.
Style over substance is here. Should be noted, I don’t perceive this notion in a negative light. I can see the merits, demerits with shades in the middle. For Style It is simply amazing to behold the Eikon fights. But it becomes rinse and repeat as we continue to reuse a repetitive formula. Spamming our attacks amid downtimes of our cooldown abilities, interspersed with quick time events(QTE) to add a flourish making battles memorable. Sure there are moments when this evolves to keep the combat fresh amidst these epic David Vs. Goliath clashes. Tynan Sylvester goes deep into the subject of this in his article on "Style and Substance in Game Design" Here he posits:
“The designs all become too similar to each other because they're all simulations of the same things. The style is decided upon and a simulation is built before the substance gets tweaked. This means that the fundamentals of the games are all the same; they are just variations on one another.”
We see this clearly with the Eikon fights and perhaps in some respects with the combat system in the non-Eikon battles. Nevertheless, it is fitting in a narrative sense due to how the plot and sequences are constructed. I think I would’ve preferred a more tactical aspect here. Instead of having mandatory engagements like these. Include more natural surprises to the player. Raising their eyebrows. Make us fight using different aspects of an Eikon. Outwitting my opponents using subterfuge, and backstabbing, Let us use the environment to our advantage, add in human enemies to avoid clashes, and instill a sense of unpredictability by introducing our loveable party members into the equation. Give us choices or perhaps go bolder where it's not even a fight, but merely a duel of words. I could say more, but I’ll withhold myself. I can’t help but begrudgingly praise how well these Eikonic clashes were done in a cinematic sense, but also what they accomplish in the story. The substance is here too. Good lord, there are simply too many to my utter joy and I’ve already said earlier regarding the worldbuilding, sidequests, and how that wonderfully ties together into not just Clive’s struggles, but the cast alongside him. Man has conflict everywhere.
FF16 RPG elements are barely within and while I think the commentary article does have some truth. I believe for the narrative this was sacrificed necessarily to focus entirely on his journey. I am not defending Sixteen by saying this, merely trying to infer based on what I've seen. There is a clear vision from which the devs have led from beginning, middle, and end for the player to see. And I for one applaud the move to risk in their grand vision, by sacrificing some RPG elements. As a result, I am given less time managing and micromanaging my units stats and equipment, in favor of returning to action. Is this a conscious effort by the team to do so? Perhaps. Should Final Fantasy have the bare minimum of RPG elements like tweaking stats, combat, and more to make it as JRPG as other entries in the past have done? I don’t know. I for one am no developer nor am I an expert in determining the correct answer to such a question. I don’t think there is even a perfect one out there from which we can all unanimously agree.maybe Chrono Trigger? Without a pedantic fella hollering “Well actually…” Comparisons will be made of course. And in tradition, we see these constant debates online. In my opinion, as long as the elements are satisfying to the player, then I think that system serves its purpose. I don’t play FF solely for the role-playing experience. Although I don’t mind if it's in-depth like say Bravely Default or other Square Enix IPs For me, I play FF to become engrossed in the story, characters, music, themes, settings, gameplay etc. And to this end, CBU3 delivers in chests full of Mythril.
The dungeons(these are places from which we fight.) Could be improved level-wise. To allow more freedom to explore. Why can’t I search for a castle more thoroughly? Why am I stuck in yet another forced battle to clear out a room of enemies and goodness by the almighty grace of Greagor please not another forced skirmish? As a consequence, a formulaic method rises as we go through the corridor and room to fight familiar enemies before we can progress. I don’t think this is a bad design. I simply believe other avenues were available. Don’t make some fights mandatory. Allow us to free-roam, and inject some npc’s to raise an eyebrow. Drop some lore papers around ruins so I have something else to do beyond fighting enemy mobs who think they have a chance of opposing me. Be bolder and go the distance by granting loads of enemies to clash with, akin to Dynasty Warriors. Scores of deadly mobs push me to the limit. To play devil's advocate, I can see why the devs didn’t do so, since sixteen is already ambitious. And the pace of how the story beats are granted is logical to me. Overall I think aesthetically they’re great, and the mini-boss/regular boss fights are a thrill to test my mettle. The dev’s don’t miss on constructing these encounters. Using their mmo skills to bring in their expertise to a single player game is a 200 IQ move.
Final Fantasy Mode seems to be the intended difficulty. Unlocked after beating the story. Featuring better tweaks by removing button prompts during QTE's and relying on visual cues to press. Adding exclusive content(in the form of upgraded weapons and accessories), increasing enemy strength, and more enemies in areas you wouldn't expect in a 1st playthrough. I feel this mode ought to be available from the start. Granting a balanced challenge to players looking for a bitter bout. But I think I understand why the developers didn’t unlock it in the beginning. Some areas felt like padding by adding a miniboss in areas when the base game didn’t have one. Which is an interesting choice. Alternatives I was thinking to alleviate this were adding 10-25% more enemy variety and injecting these instead of more mandatory fights. Nevertheless, I am a bit eh on the FF mode. Although, It is a delightful affair for those who seek it.
That’s it for my mixed feelings. Despite the unholy amount I spouted, I don’t believe they bring the entire product down a great deal. Think of these ultimately as food for thought. The rest are minor nitpicks not worth mentioning. Two last notes before I head out and I am so sorry for writing more than I thought possible. But in the writing here. I savor every word. Very mature and filled with layers deep with rich dialogue. Considering it was spearheaded from creative director/lead writer by Kazutoyo Maehiro Who was mentored by Yasumi Matsuno(He directed FFT, Vagrant Story, FFXII among others). Therefore, the writing is beautifully well crafted. Not to the extent of flowery as the Shakespearan translation of FF Tactics: War of the Lions. But a cross between Vagrant Story & FFXIV dialogue in a modern take. Resulting in naturally organic voiced scenes. I frequently traveled back to cities, towns, and my main hub and listened to unique dialog every time. No need to hit a button to converse. Simply walk by and you can hear their chatter. The MSQ cutscenes between every important individual on-screen are handled with care and delicateness. Villains too. This attention to detail is given the same treatment as we go through the SQs and man it is so worth it. Clear amounts of nuance here where you will see neither side winning or losing. But full of shades of gray in the dialogue, and how some quests are resolved in unexpected, yet realistic outcomes.
Clive’s story from start to finish is such a breathtaking journey every FF fan needs to experience. Wonderful development, in my honest opinion. I was deeply moved by how raw Ben Starr voices the MC and how these give so much intensity to candid and countless natural conversations. Hell, even the voice actors aside from Ben deserve praise. A solid crew who tests, questions, and guides. Their counterparts, the villains, provide a powerful incentive to beat. Make no mistake. His story is not for the faint of heart. But, as much as there is darkness here, so too is light and it is without a doubt impeccably strong to behold. Cuteness and priceless moments are here to counter the stormy Valisthea political climate.
Final Fantasy has always been near and dear to my heart. I have witnessed innumerable stories that resonated so powerfully. Likable to loveable casts I reminiscence from time to time. Soundtracks never failing to capture the spirit of fantasy. Gameplay that can be a hit, miss or somewhere in between. And while some entries stagger and sputter without gas. Each one has a special place in my heart. From the foundation in one to three. Ascending to greater heights than before from four to six and taking a more bold and experimental graphical change from seven to nine. Transitioning into an advanced engine from ten to thirteen. And while I haven’t played FFXII yet. By the Founder, trust me, I’ll get there. FFXIV & FFXV still kept my faith. And now for FFXVI to grace our presence I am left in awe at the immense weight of it all. The sheer depth at stake here, when analyzed under a fine magnifying glass is a bloody tour de force. I applaud Square Enix’s Creative Business Unit III. Rarely do I become so absorbed in such a captivating narrative of Clive’s story. Seeing his growth from his younger days as he ages is such a vital aspect to soak in. For those who still doubts the series, this is a title that is simply a must-play and CANNOT be missed. For any newcomer to JRPGs, I envy you greatly if you start with one of the finest Final Fantasy games I’ve had the pleasure of playing.
Bravo Yoshi-P, Hiroshi Takai, Michael-Christopher Koji Fox, Masayoshi Soken, Kazutoyo Maehiro, Mitsutoshi Gondai, Ryota Suzuki, Yusuke Hashimoto, Hiroshi Minagawa, Kazuya Takahashi, and so many more who helped develop this raw title. And most of all thank you to anyone who read this long review. You guys are the best.
9/10
Note: If any links are not working please let me know and I'll update them accordingly. Worried about some FFXVI OST YT videos getting removed.
“Clive, you... Well, if you’re not going to pray to Metia for your safe return, I shall just have to do it for you.”
These lines are spoken in the very first hour, and detail three crucial details. His duty as Joshua’s Shield. How much he cares for his brother, and how Jill prays for his safe return. It’s simple, to the dot, and captures the player’s attention immediately. Statements are said with conviction, will, and resolve. Told during the halcyon days of their youth. Ahhh. But terrible storms gather nearby. For Clive, Jill, and Joshua their fates will change forevermore…
Final Fantasy(FF) is no stranger to taking risks. And each iteration boldly goes where the previous ones have not walked. And FFXVI is no different. We follow Clive Rosfield’s journey as a young lad into something more. For better or worse, he and others are embroiled in a political drama within Valisthea. A large continent with six nations all with their factions, agendas, and notorious individuals with nefarious goals. And Rosfield is the poor sod who has to survive, kill and go past his limits. Make no mistake, out of all the FF games I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing. Sixteen consumed my waking thoughts, and remained a constant as I went through the daily motions and as the days passed into weeks. I am astonished by how much there is to do, uncover and learn. I have gone the distance to see as much as I possibly can within two playthroughs. And here I am staring at my google docs page after an exhaustive duel, spending countless hours figuring out if it deserves to reach my top 5 FFs. And it does. I don’t say that statement lightly, since I love the series since starting with thirteen and have enjoyed over twenty-two entries. So you could say I am very familiar. Now then it is time to review the latest entry to one of Square Enix’s(SE) long-running IPs.
Combat is addicting. I couldn’t get enough of it. Experimenting with new skills and outfitting my kit. Or rushing to face numerous bosses that are both fair and hit the right spots. Tweaking the difficulty at your leisure from story or action focused. The former grants free rings at the start to aid you. The latter, you don’t acquire automatically. But you can freely switch difficulties at any time, so you won’t miss out. Equip accessible rings to make combat easier for ya. Auto dodge, auto combo, auto potion, and more are available. A nice way to make fights easier or harder depending on your preference. With the help of Kingdom Hearts developers and PlatinumGames. And signing up Ryota Suzuki. A Capcom veteran and one who has worked on the Devil May Cry franchise. A triple alliance emerges between these forces and at the helm is Creative Business Unit III(CBU3) joining to make an impressive quad squad. The titular and amazing Naoki Yoshida(Nicknamed Yoshi-P) is the producer. A man who has worked tirelessly to reform the original FFXIV launch into one of the most successful MMORPGs today. So you could say these guys are in very safe hands. Unafraid of taking risks, each FF entry strives to make combat innovative, but also familiar to entertain both veterans and sprouts(newbies). Traditional turn-based gameplay has radically shifted since its foundation, shifting into real-time action. And as someone who favors the turn-based approach, I don’t mind the change to real-time. I appreciate it. There is a fluid momentum persisting as you dodge, parry, and execute Eikon's abilities. Goblins? Move over Goblin Slayer, Dude will incinerate them to kingdom come. Phoenix shifting, with relentless fury as if the wind has blessed him with deadly claws. I didn’t find clunky movements wherever I treaded, making battles go smoothly. Transitions into these skirmishes are near instant. So don’t be afraid of a lengthy wait. Quick and nimble is the key here. And I had no problem acquiring different abilities to experiment and juggle my enemies. Didn’t find an issue with the experience. The gain was fair. Both in leveling up and upgrading my skills. I was satisfied to a degree of wanting more and the developers gave me that and extra.
The soundtrack is subtle, but full of magic. Composed by Masayoshi Soken Who has worked just as tirelessly as Yoshi-P in composing FFXIV melodies. Sixteen’s composition is distinct from the compositions of Nobuo Uematsu(FF1->10), Masashi Hamauzu(FF13 trilogy), Yoko Shimomura(FF15), and other composers. More in line with Hitoshi Sakimoto's works. Of FF Tactics and Vagrant Story fame. Subtle, in a good way. I think most if not all tracks work in favor of providing a layer I don’t find as bombastic, full of vocals, or orchestral. Going more tranquil, peaceful, and in some cases filled with tension creates a tightrope to induce fear and bravery. There is meaning and weight to these songs. Triumphant lyrics are largely missing in favor of the solemn and at times contemplative ambient sounds gracing our ears. Pleasant, soothing, and incredibly transformative. Didn’t hear the same old repetitive track again and again. Always something unfamiliar to hear, and listen to when I travel new places around the block. I could say more, but for the life of me, I cannot describe it justice enough. Just know when the epic tunes hit they hit bloody hard. There is a payoff in going subtle here. And if Uematsu could hear this, I think he would clap in joy for Soken’s work.
Gratifying gameplay loop that is cyclical, interconnected and works in tandem with the other systems in place. Get too tired with combat? That's fine. Take a breather with some side quests(SQ) that are almost perfect. Hitting the near-zenith of Witcher 3 SQ quality combined with consistently powerful worldbuilding I haven’t seen since I last played through The Legend of Heroes IP. Specifically, the Sky trilogy, Crossbell duology, and Cold Steel tetralogy. There is so much depth, I am left in wonder and awe to study more about the history of Valisthea and its denizens. More often than not you will encounter chunks of lore. To varying degrees. Religion and societal customs included. Unexpected discoveries in interpersonal relationships with folks I didn’t expect. Helping people in need at the main hub to assist strangers out in the wild. And these are not pointless to do, since the rewards can range from increasing your potions limit to rewarding items, weapons, equipment, materials, and key items. Worth it, both in the physical and knowledge aspects. Easily, the strongest SQs are the ones related to the main character(MC), his party members, and by extension those who are allied with him. Granting a decent to lengthy quest chains to learn more. Bond further and even partner up! Worthwhile to do and I encourage everyone to complete as many as they possibly can. Some of these connect with quests benefiting players and heck if you’re bored you can even undertake a hunt mission. Which are like bounties to defeat unique monsters out in the wild. Fun to do and a worthwhile conflict awaits. A solid way, building up renown to earn supplementary rewards. It's gotten to the point I couldn’t wait to finish the main story quests(MSQ) so I can complete new SQs/hunts popping up on my radar.
And Clive. Bless his soul. Doesn’t mind at all aiding those in need. Especially to offer a guiding hand to Bearers. People who are essentially slaves and can use magic. Commonfolk can’t use magic innately. Used by slave masters, nobility as a means of cheap labor. Bearers are human tools. Do you want your garden trimmed? Let the boy use wind magic to trim the bushes into a presentable state. No need to work yourself and use bladed shears. Need clothes to dry quickly rather than letting the sun do the work? Let the Bearer use wind magic again to blow air on your wet clothes becoming a human dryer. Oh, need consistent fire for your blacksmithing duties? Grab one of those filthy Bearers and order them to use their magic to cast fira. Heating the stones instead of using natural fire. I kid you not these instances I saw plenty throughout and equally jaw-dropping tales inside. In some cases, my emotional state stewed in conniptions. I was immensely saddened to see a mirror image of our world’s history of slavery. And the developers(devs) have managed to capture these horrific moments in ways I was reeling. I won’t go into the exact details, but my heart bled for each one. And I quickly without hesitation became the shield for these unfortunate souls who were suffering without end.
Worldbuilding is quality across the board. I usually have problems with worldbuilding in other Japanese Role-Playing Games(JRPGs). Some go too far. Gorging the player on unnecessary details. Others have too little and need more of the former. It’s been a long time since I was so engrossed in the lore and history. Sixteen manages to do it in such a way I am left hungry for more. Complementing this is a handy codex in the form of Active Time Lore(ATL for short). Where you can see relevant information during any part of the story. Yes, this includes cutscenes. Incredibly well-thought-out and as a lore nut. The feature is very satisfying to use when I need a refresher on what this legend is supposed to be. Why do we keep calling places ‘Storm’ and ‘Twins?’ What are Bearers? The plot, quests, and your companions will continually talk about these elements in rich detail. I could gush more but I think you see the picture. Wish other JRPGs and Non-RPGs learn from this.
An evolving world is persistent here. Each time a major or minor event has been resolved whether by SQ’s or MSQ. The state of NPC's is adjusted to reflect that. And the very essence of Valisthea wherever you travel to also shares the same evolution. Oh, a major event took place at [redacted]? Time to head back to and check for differences in the citizenry. This is just one example of how places may vary over time. Very reminiscent of my time with the Trails franchise. I eagerly looked forward to returning to the main hub and conversing with my comrades on the latest gossip, new information about the state of the realm, or the odd tip here and there you may not see coming. I cherished these NPCs and I would go so far as to call some, my dear friends. They all play a big role in shaping not just MC’s story, but their tales and stories are interwoven with his. Leaving me with an everlasting impression. The gentle giant Goetz, Sharp eyes Gav, the gentle but stern Tarja, the wise Harpocrates, and of course we can't forget the wise, venerable and slick leader. These individuals have their struggles, and quests from which we witness. Cooperate and in doing, so we are treated to a fantastic cast willing to shoulder our burdens. To care for our wounds. To sustain us with supplies and support us through thick and thin. Against all odds. We stand together.
There are however mixed feelings I have with this entry. Won’t say names. Since this is a non-spoiler review and certainly not a positive or a negative. But for the sake of transparency, I'm noting down here. One character in particular needed more fleshing out, some villains and to a lesser degree other persons. I felt I didn't grasp their entire being more than others. Which is funny because I adore my party. Sadly, I’ve already devoured the game as much as I possibly could in search of critical and related information I may have missed the first time around with no success. And I doubt a third go around would change my thoughts. Anyway, I think further context on the background and subsequent encounter with the MC needed more ‘meat’ so to speak for lack of better words to create a dynamic that would immerse me further. Extra side quests regarding ‘x’ nation concerning their status, additional scenes, and heavier amounts of banter, especially during battles to alleviate some silence. There is some banter, though I think the devs could’ve added a healthy amount to spare. Tease me with interconnected lore concerning their powers I wouldn’t expect. Past entries in the series had parties where I can comfortably say I know their personality, likes, dislikes, habits, quirks, relationships with others, etc. And while this one individual didn’t have to that extent. I enjoyed their presence, actions, and the precious moments they had in the story. Granted, including my suggestions would inflate the base content more in hours, but I think it's a small price to pay to receive more fleshed-out people. I’m not asking for five hours extra.
Wish we could control other party members and while this doesn’t make a lot of sense due to spoilers in the story. Conceptually I think it could’ve worked to give further spice to the combat capabilities. Adding a greater emphasis to my earlier point of fleshing out the characters. Since some member’s ability kit is not as varied as the MC’s which would perhaps make the players feel more lacking in the combat. However, internally I’m torn with the idea since I think this would’ve created somewhat a lesser emphasis on his story. And at its core, there is an extremely high plateau of which we the audience bear witness to his struggles, failures, and triumphs through his eyes. If we take out our(his) eyesight and perspective, then these incredible experiences we see perhaps may not have had a greater impact. Balance is key here and while I could sprout more suggestions I could see why the developer chose not to do so. It’s a troublesome matter. I've long since debated whether more or less should be added for games.
Style over substance is here. Should be noted, I don’t perceive this notion in a negative light. I can see the merits, demerits with shades in the middle. For Style It is simply amazing to behold the Eikon fights. But it becomes rinse and repeat as we continue to reuse a repetitive formula. Spamming our attacks amid downtimes of our cooldown abilities, interspersed with quick time events(QTE) to add a flourish making battles memorable. Sure there are moments when this evolves to keep the combat fresh amidst these epic David Vs. Goliath clashes. Tynan Sylvester goes deep into the subject of this in his article on "Style and Substance in Game Design" Here he posits:
“The designs all become too similar to each other because they're all simulations of the same things. The style is decided upon and a simulation is built before the substance gets tweaked. This means that the fundamentals of the games are all the same; they are just variations on one another.”
We see this clearly with the Eikon fights and perhaps in some respects with the combat system in the non-Eikon battles. Nevertheless, it is fitting in a narrative sense due to how the plot and sequences are constructed. I think I would’ve preferred a more tactical aspect here. Instead of having mandatory engagements like these. Include more natural surprises to the player. Raising their eyebrows. Make us fight using different aspects of an Eikon. Outwitting my opponents using subterfuge, and backstabbing, Let us use the environment to our advantage, add in human enemies to avoid clashes, and instill a sense of unpredictability by introducing our loveable party members into the equation. Give us choices or perhaps go bolder where it's not even a fight, but merely a duel of words. I could say more, but I’ll withhold myself. I can’t help but begrudgingly praise how well these Eikonic clashes were done in a cinematic sense, but also what they accomplish in the story. The substance is here too. Good lord, there are simply too many to my utter joy and I’ve already said earlier regarding the worldbuilding, sidequests, and how that wonderfully ties together into not just Clive’s struggles, but the cast alongside him. Man has conflict everywhere.
FF16 RPG elements are barely within and while I think the commentary article does have some truth. I believe for the narrative this was sacrificed necessarily to focus entirely on his journey. I am not defending Sixteen by saying this, merely trying to infer based on what I've seen. There is a clear vision from which the devs have led from beginning, middle, and end for the player to see. And I for one applaud the move to risk in their grand vision, by sacrificing some RPG elements. As a result, I am given less time managing and micromanaging my units stats and equipment, in favor of returning to action. Is this a conscious effort by the team to do so? Perhaps. Should Final Fantasy have the bare minimum of RPG elements like tweaking stats, combat, and more to make it as JRPG as other entries in the past have done? I don’t know. I for one am no developer nor am I an expert in determining the correct answer to such a question. I don’t think there is even a perfect one out there from which we can all unanimously agree.
The dungeons(these are places from which we fight.) Could be improved level-wise. To allow more freedom to explore. Why can’t I search for a castle more thoroughly? Why am I stuck in yet another forced battle to clear out a room of enemies and goodness by the almighty grace of Greagor please not another forced skirmish? As a consequence, a formulaic method rises as we go through the corridor and room to fight familiar enemies before we can progress. I don’t think this is a bad design. I simply believe other avenues were available. Don’t make some fights mandatory. Allow us to free-roam, and inject some npc’s to raise an eyebrow. Drop some lore papers around ruins so I have something else to do beyond fighting enemy mobs who think they have a chance of opposing me. Be bolder and go the distance by granting loads of enemies to clash with, akin to Dynasty Warriors. Scores of deadly mobs push me to the limit. To play devil's advocate, I can see why the devs didn’t do so, since sixteen is already ambitious. And the pace of how the story beats are granted is logical to me. Overall I think aesthetically they’re great, and the mini-boss/regular boss fights are a thrill to test my mettle. The dev’s don’t miss on constructing these encounters. Using their mmo skills to bring in their expertise to a single player game is a 200 IQ move.
Final Fantasy Mode seems to be the intended difficulty. Unlocked after beating the story. Featuring better tweaks by removing button prompts during QTE's and relying on visual cues to press. Adding exclusive content(in the form of upgraded weapons and accessories), increasing enemy strength, and more enemies in areas you wouldn't expect in a 1st playthrough. I feel this mode ought to be available from the start. Granting a balanced challenge to players looking for a bitter bout. But I think I understand why the developers didn’t unlock it in the beginning. Some areas felt like padding by adding a miniboss in areas when the base game didn’t have one. Which is an interesting choice. Alternatives I was thinking to alleviate this were adding 10-25% more enemy variety and injecting these instead of more mandatory fights. Nevertheless, I am a bit eh on the FF mode. Although, It is a delightful affair for those who seek it.
That’s it for my mixed feelings. Despite the unholy amount I spouted, I don’t believe they bring the entire product down a great deal. Think of these ultimately as food for thought. The rest are minor nitpicks not worth mentioning. Two last notes before I head out and I am so sorry for writing more than I thought possible. But in the writing here. I savor every word. Very mature and filled with layers deep with rich dialogue. Considering it was spearheaded from creative director/lead writer by Kazutoyo Maehiro Who was mentored by Yasumi Matsuno(He directed FFT, Vagrant Story, FFXII among others). Therefore, the writing is beautifully well crafted. Not to the extent of flowery as the Shakespearan translation of FF Tactics: War of the Lions. But a cross between Vagrant Story & FFXIV dialogue in a modern take. Resulting in naturally organic voiced scenes. I frequently traveled back to cities, towns, and my main hub and listened to unique dialog every time. No need to hit a button to converse. Simply walk by and you can hear their chatter. The MSQ cutscenes between every important individual on-screen are handled with care and delicateness. Villains too. This attention to detail is given the same treatment as we go through the SQs and man it is so worth it. Clear amounts of nuance here where you will see neither side winning or losing. But full of shades of gray in the dialogue, and how some quests are resolved in unexpected, yet realistic outcomes.
Clive’s story from start to finish is such a breathtaking journey every FF fan needs to experience. Wonderful development, in my honest opinion. I was deeply moved by how raw Ben Starr voices the MC and how these give so much intensity to candid and countless natural conversations. Hell, even the voice actors aside from Ben deserve praise. A solid crew who tests, questions, and guides. Their counterparts, the villains, provide a powerful incentive to beat. Make no mistake. His story is not for the faint of heart. But, as much as there is darkness here, so too is light and it is without a doubt impeccably strong to behold. Cuteness and priceless moments are here to counter the stormy Valisthea political climate.
Final Fantasy has always been near and dear to my heart. I have witnessed innumerable stories that resonated so powerfully. Likable to loveable casts I reminiscence from time to time. Soundtracks never failing to capture the spirit of fantasy. Gameplay that can be a hit, miss or somewhere in between. And while some entries stagger and sputter without gas. Each one has a special place in my heart. From the foundation in one to three. Ascending to greater heights than before from four to six and taking a more bold and experimental graphical change from seven to nine. Transitioning into an advanced engine from ten to thirteen. And while I haven’t played FFXII yet. By the Founder, trust me, I’ll get there. FFXIV & FFXV still kept my faith. And now for FFXVI to grace our presence I am left in awe at the immense weight of it all. The sheer depth at stake here, when analyzed under a fine magnifying glass is a bloody tour de force. I applaud Square Enix’s Creative Business Unit III. Rarely do I become so absorbed in such a captivating narrative of Clive’s story. Seeing his growth from his younger days as he ages is such a vital aspect to soak in. For those who still doubts the series, this is a title that is simply a must-play and CANNOT be missed. For any newcomer to JRPGs, I envy you greatly if you start with one of the finest Final Fantasy games I’ve had the pleasure of playing.
Bravo Yoshi-P, Hiroshi Takai, Michael-Christopher Koji Fox, Masayoshi Soken, Kazutoyo Maehiro, Mitsutoshi Gondai, Ryota Suzuki, Yusuke Hashimoto, Hiroshi Minagawa, Kazuya Takahashi, and so many more who helped develop this raw title. And most of all thank you to anyone who read this long review. You guys are the best.
9/10
Note: If any links are not working please let me know and I'll update them accordingly. Worried about some FFXVI OST YT videos getting removed.
2020
Forbes called the game a mix of “Titanfall, Dishonored, and Superhot.” PC Gamer says it's in between “Mirror's Edge and Dishonored.” For me, add Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance to the above, and bam you have Ghostrunner. I’ve played all of those above Well… Dishonored I still need to finish but that’s neither here nor there.
After an assassination mission has gone wrong(You need to watch the intro cutscene starting before you reach the main menu to display a prologue of events. Kinda like Vagrant Story. Please don’t miss it.) You(Jack) are somehow alive and must climb Dharma Tower to defeat the Keymaster. A ruthless being ordering the people to work so hard, she’s milking them until they bleed while the rich stay rich. As a ghost runner who acts as a peacekeeping force such despicable actions are irredeemable! Therefore, she must be terminated. Working alongside Interesting companions as you climb to the top. And honestly, it reminds me heavily of Titanfall 2's(T2) structure where you’re not alone in your fight. Greatly enhancing my experience and making my main goal not so daunting anymore.
Give me a sharp katana, good parkour, cyberpunk setting, and you have my attention. Ghostrunner(GR) embodies all these traits and I am extremely thrilled to report the sheer momentum of slashing unaware enemies is satisfying. Movement feels super smooth and the story kept me intrigued. Teasing me with Alan Turing's ideas.
Environments are plentiful here. Industrialized factories are knit tightly together with turbines and a hodgepodge that works of uneven steel apartment buildings littering areas to traverse as you hop around rooftops and swing about like Tarzan. Felt like I was back playing Cyberpunk 2077. The setting fits. Jumping from wall to wall as I collided past each billboard was not boring at all. Levels range from less than 5-10min to finish early on and can bloom to 30 minutes later on for those who check their surroundings carefully. These areas are carefully designed to induce almost an illusion to make you think they’re larger than intended despite following a linear path. Collectibles, tucked away in places you wouldn’t expect, reward those who search every nook and cranny and offer a nice blurb of lore exposition.
Combat is the bread and butter here. You can’t shoot with a gun sadly, but who needs a gun when you have a katana that can delete your foes in a single blow? Parry this you filthy casual. If you are a master at parrying from a popular Souls franchise or katana-wielding games like Raiden from Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, you’ll thrive here. Unfortunately, I suck at parrying. And yet to my delight in GR, they're not super strict on windows to retaliate. Play a Tetris-like upgrade system and equip chip blocks. Some blocks increase your chances of reflecting an attack. Add another dash or blink, etc. Or activate more options in assist mode, I’ll touch on this later. Under the circumstances, a bumbling dude like me can turn the tide of battle. Incredibly satisfying when a gunner tries to shoot me, only to see Jack slapping the projectile back! Hah! Moreover, despite being weak as hell in the beginning. He turns into an effective killing machine as you progress deeper to unlock new abilities. Bullet time exists here. Providing a nice twist to dodging, and I love how one of Star War’s most iconic powers is utilized to flick enemies away like a filthy bug in your vision. Yuck.
It should be noted, throughout the game if you get hit once you will die. I think dying in one hit, as a rule, is a tricky feature for developers. Lean hard and players will think it's too punishing. Go too easy and breeze through like a cakewalk. Ghost of Tsushima and Superhot tread the fine line for better or worse. Thankfully, GR is smack dab on the edge of the better side. With Assist Mode, someone like me who sucks at intense action-packed titles can somehow become an expert. Consisting of three features: One extra life(This makes it so you can survive one blow), a shorter cooldown to use abilities more, and slower gameplay speeds for more leeway in reacting. The mode single-handedly and substantially changed my experience as I sped through slicing and dicing. I was frowning heavily, during the early parts since I felt the difficulty was a bit too tough and challenging. Once I turned on some of those options my whole expression turned 180. I’m grinning like a loon and nodding my head to the beat of the music(composed by Daniel Deluxe, and man does his name roll off the tongue) where the rhythm and synth wave work in tandem to the combat. Creating a pleasant tempo to listen to. I did feel some tracks were repetitive. Although, after re-listening to the OST it works in its favor. Offering systematic beats Hm hm hm hm.
Level design for the most part is solid to a degree, I find myself reminiscing Mirror's Edge and T2. Both employ excellent sequences using parkour and unique elements. By taking advantage of environment placement and visual hints. GR is much the same. There is a frenetic pace from which you slice, parry, dodge, and adjust your balance to the course of platforming segments. Not too large and not too small either. Designed well to keep you focused, without throwing a hard curveball in your direction. One of the levels I enjoyed repeatedly are the cyber void chunks. Small bite-sized puzzle sections in the cyber world, complete these and you are rewarded a new ability. Each puzzle isn’t copy pasted from the previous iteration. You always have something new to look forward to: from jumping pieces, to mind twists, and in some cases, you have to solve something inspired by Tetris. They offer a fantastic change of pace from the usual combat of fighting and I couldn’t wait to encounter more.
The checkpoint system is very fair and re-spawning instant. I also love how wall running is slighter better here than in previous parkour titles. Over there, I can wall-run until I petered out in the end. Here, I can continue forever. Which is appreciated. In the past, I usually miscalculate. Falling to the dark abyss and greeting death like an old friend, since the main character can only wall-run a set amount. GR removes that entirely. Go the distance without fear of falling. Lastly, when you die, the dialogue resets instead of continuing as if you already know what the characters will talk about. A nice refresher for those who re-spawn repeatedly and want to hear the rest of the conversation.
Moving on. I have to talk about my mixed feelings. Not a positive or a negative. But for the sake of transparency, I'm noting them down. More often than not, I am blocked by forced enemy encounters in some sections. These encounters require me to beat a variety of enemies before I can progress. I don’t like this method, because it enforces a design to halt pacing and force players to eliminate everyone within a room or decently open-sized areas. Fighting through trial and error until you get it right. And while this is a fine idea in theory, the execution leaves much to be desired. You constantly retry to win against these enemies, forcing yourself to die when I think the developers could’ve taken different avenues instead of defeating everyone. Why not stealth? Eliminate some, then move on. Find a key while eliminating some baddies, then continue to your next objective. Why can’t I travel and evade my way to victory? Aim for higher platforming and perhaps lose my skills to force a no-power handicap. Or even to the point where there is a large open area and all you have to do is find any path to get there. Embracing diverse amounts of unique sections and in effect creates more player freedom than constrained enemy encounters. Would run in parallel with the constant momentum the game tries to inject. Additionally, I think extending the campaign to flesh out the worldbuilding, villain, and characters would work. More bosses too, since there are a few here. Nonetheless, how One More Level & Slipgate Ironworks (the developers of GR) conducted them was fairly balanced and unique in my books. As a result, I don’t see a reason why more were not included. They offer creative ways to think outside the box and provide a satisfying feeling when beating them.
With all that said, I don’t think my mixed feelings bring the whole game down a ton. I didn’t experience any bugs, crashes, or glitches. If anything, the intriguing story, slick combat, tight balance of difficulty with solid-level design, and gorgeous cyberpunk aesthetic left me hungry for more. A very generous checkpoint system and fitting synth wave OST takes care to almost override nearly all blemishes I had. And while the campaign is short, I clocked in at a little over five hours. There is a bleeding edge of content in store for newcomers or veterans looking for action-platforming. And Ghostrunner fits the bill. And hey! If you do buy it, You can be excited with me when the sequel launches later this year!
7.5/10
6-22-23 - Edited for clarification on one hit death. And removed some useless words. 99% of review still intact.
After an assassination mission has gone wrong(You need to watch the intro cutscene starting before you reach the main menu to display a prologue of events. Kinda like Vagrant Story. Please don’t miss it.) You(Jack) are somehow alive and must climb Dharma Tower to defeat the Keymaster. A ruthless being ordering the people to work so hard, she’s milking them until they bleed while the rich stay rich. As a ghost runner who acts as a peacekeeping force such despicable actions are irredeemable! Therefore, she must be terminated. Working alongside Interesting companions as you climb to the top. And honestly, it reminds me heavily of Titanfall 2's(T2) structure where you’re not alone in your fight. Greatly enhancing my experience and making my main goal not so daunting anymore.
Give me a sharp katana, good parkour, cyberpunk setting, and you have my attention. Ghostrunner(GR) embodies all these traits and I am extremely thrilled to report the sheer momentum of slashing unaware enemies is satisfying. Movement feels super smooth and the story kept me intrigued. Teasing me with Alan Turing's ideas.
Environments are plentiful here. Industrialized factories are knit tightly together with turbines and a hodgepodge that works of uneven steel apartment buildings littering areas to traverse as you hop around rooftops and swing about like Tarzan. Felt like I was back playing Cyberpunk 2077. The setting fits. Jumping from wall to wall as I collided past each billboard was not boring at all. Levels range from less than 5-10min to finish early on and can bloom to 30 minutes later on for those who check their surroundings carefully. These areas are carefully designed to induce almost an illusion to make you think they’re larger than intended despite following a linear path. Collectibles, tucked away in places you wouldn’t expect, reward those who search every nook and cranny and offer a nice blurb of lore exposition.
Combat is the bread and butter here. You can’t shoot with a gun sadly, but who needs a gun when you have a katana that can delete your foes in a single blow? Parry this you filthy casual. If you are a master at parrying from a popular Souls franchise or katana-wielding games like Raiden from Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, you’ll thrive here. Unfortunately, I suck at parrying. And yet to my delight in GR, they're not super strict on windows to retaliate. Play a Tetris-like upgrade system and equip chip blocks. Some blocks increase your chances of reflecting an attack. Add another dash or blink, etc. Or activate more options in assist mode, I’ll touch on this later. Under the circumstances, a bumbling dude like me can turn the tide of battle. Incredibly satisfying when a gunner tries to shoot me, only to see Jack slapping the projectile back! Hah! Moreover, despite being weak as hell in the beginning. He turns into an effective killing machine as you progress deeper to unlock new abilities. Bullet time exists here. Providing a nice twist to dodging, and I love how one of Star War’s most iconic powers is utilized to flick enemies away like a filthy bug in your vision. Yuck.
It should be noted, throughout the game if you get hit once you will die. I think dying in one hit, as a rule, is a tricky feature for developers. Lean hard and players will think it's too punishing. Go too easy and breeze through like a cakewalk. Ghost of Tsushima and Superhot tread the fine line for better or worse. Thankfully, GR is smack dab on the edge of the better side. With Assist Mode, someone like me who sucks at intense action-packed titles can somehow become an expert. Consisting of three features: One extra life(This makes it so you can survive one blow), a shorter cooldown to use abilities more, and slower gameplay speeds for more leeway in reacting. The mode single-handedly and substantially changed my experience as I sped through slicing and dicing. I was frowning heavily, during the early parts since I felt the difficulty was a bit too tough and challenging. Once I turned on some of those options my whole expression turned 180. I’m grinning like a loon and nodding my head to the beat of the music(composed by Daniel Deluxe, and man does his name roll off the tongue) where the rhythm and synth wave work in tandem to the combat. Creating a pleasant tempo to listen to. I did feel some tracks were repetitive. Although, after re-listening to the OST it works in its favor. Offering systematic beats Hm hm hm hm.
Level design for the most part is solid to a degree, I find myself reminiscing Mirror's Edge and T2. Both employ excellent sequences using parkour and unique elements. By taking advantage of environment placement and visual hints. GR is much the same. There is a frenetic pace from which you slice, parry, dodge, and adjust your balance to the course of platforming segments. Not too large and not too small either. Designed well to keep you focused, without throwing a hard curveball in your direction. One of the levels I enjoyed repeatedly are the cyber void chunks. Small bite-sized puzzle sections in the cyber world, complete these and you are rewarded a new ability. Each puzzle isn’t copy pasted from the previous iteration. You always have something new to look forward to: from jumping pieces, to mind twists, and in some cases, you have to solve something inspired by Tetris. They offer a fantastic change of pace from the usual combat of fighting and I couldn’t wait to encounter more.
The checkpoint system is very fair and re-spawning instant. I also love how wall running is slighter better here than in previous parkour titles. Over there, I can wall-run until I petered out in the end. Here, I can continue forever. Which is appreciated. In the past, I usually miscalculate. Falling to the dark abyss and greeting death like an old friend, since the main character can only wall-run a set amount. GR removes that entirely. Go the distance without fear of falling. Lastly, when you die, the dialogue resets instead of continuing as if you already know what the characters will talk about. A nice refresher for those who re-spawn repeatedly and want to hear the rest of the conversation.
Moving on. I have to talk about my mixed feelings. Not a positive or a negative. But for the sake of transparency, I'm noting them down. More often than not, I am blocked by forced enemy encounters in some sections. These encounters require me to beat a variety of enemies before I can progress. I don’t like this method, because it enforces a design to halt pacing and force players to eliminate everyone within a room or decently open-sized areas. Fighting through trial and error until you get it right. And while this is a fine idea in theory, the execution leaves much to be desired. You constantly retry to win against these enemies, forcing yourself to die when I think the developers could’ve taken different avenues instead of defeating everyone. Why not stealth? Eliminate some, then move on. Find a key while eliminating some baddies, then continue to your next objective. Why can’t I travel and evade my way to victory? Aim for higher platforming and perhaps lose my skills to force a no-power handicap. Or even to the point where there is a large open area and all you have to do is find any path to get there. Embracing diverse amounts of unique sections and in effect creates more player freedom than constrained enemy encounters. Would run in parallel with the constant momentum the game tries to inject. Additionally, I think extending the campaign to flesh out the worldbuilding, villain, and characters would work. More bosses too, since there are a few here. Nonetheless, how One More Level & Slipgate Ironworks (the developers of GR) conducted them was fairly balanced and unique in my books. As a result, I don’t see a reason why more were not included. They offer creative ways to think outside the box and provide a satisfying feeling when beating them.
With all that said, I don’t think my mixed feelings bring the whole game down a ton. I didn’t experience any bugs, crashes, or glitches. If anything, the intriguing story, slick combat, tight balance of difficulty with solid-level design, and gorgeous cyberpunk aesthetic left me hungry for more. A very generous checkpoint system and fitting synth wave OST takes care to almost override nearly all blemishes I had. And while the campaign is short, I clocked in at a little over five hours. There is a bleeding edge of content in store for newcomers or veterans looking for action-platforming. And Ghostrunner fits the bill. And hey! If you do buy it, You can be excited with me when the sequel launches later this year!
7.5/10
6-22-23 - Edited for clarification on one hit death. And removed some useless words. 99% of review still intact.
2023
Every time I give a mixed rating. My heart feels heavy. Since I like to highlight what works well, and what doesn't, critique, offer suggestions, and move on. Wartales(WT) is passable for me. After struggling to play for two months since the launch in April of this year. But, I wanted to see as much as I could. Because I love supporting indies and especially if they have role-playing elements. After over forty-five hours I decided it was time to review WT before my feelings soured further.
A medieval low fantasy tactical RPG with sandbox gameplay. As someone who loves medieval and low fantasy settings, this was a no-brainer to watch out for. And I’ve been watching the developers work closely ever since. Avidly reading patch notes, whooping in delight when roadmaps appear and progress is made. Waiting until the final day when the official release arrives.
First let's start on what WT is about, then move on to the critique or what I call my mixed feelings. There is no central story from which your company of mercenaries must follow throughout your journey. Instead, you complete scenarios in each region of which there are six to explore, fight, trade, and even play detective. Upon finishing, some are related to a scenario, the progress bar in the top left corner will fill up until you reach a hundred where you can partake in the final province mission before you move on to another place. Times will vary to accomplish your goals. In my experience, they can range from eight to twelve hours to thoroughly comb one sector with a majority of sidequests done. And I had already progressed past four of them. Was one-third of the way done on my fifth before I couldn’t take it anymore.
The main meat here holding up a chunk of your time is the combat portion. Turn-based emerges when you encounter a hostile in the overworld. Honestly reminds me of Divinity: Original Sin(D: OS) a lot since you can maneuver your party members in any direction. Not a grid or hex-based. Use abilities as long as you have valor points. Points you can earn every time you rest. These don’t recharge every fight, so be careful utilizing them. However, there are skills you can attain to increase temporary valor points to mitigate the loss. One of the cool things you can do is switch any weapon/shield that can grant you new toys to play around with. I could switch from a greatsword that allows me to hit multiple enemies in a 160-degree radius in front of me. Then switch to a different sword allowing my character to charge forth through multiple bandits caught unaware. Swap my shield to inflict a debuff causing a cannibal to be more susceptible to damage and more. I appreciate this since it makes equipment management useful in combat(You need to unlock the skill later, you cannot switch weapons early on). Entrusting the player to carefully manage new powerful weapons containing lackluster effects. Old weapons with cool spell sets that do a bit less damage. And while you cannot use the environment to your advantage akin to D: OS. The underhandedness of Wartales comes into play here. Regarding debuffs. Can’t wreck through a baddie's health or armor? Use poison to whittle down their health(HP). Stack that up for more damage. Still not enough? Here’s bleeding taking off “X” percent of their maximum HP. Burn them too. And watch how the effect can spread to nearby guards in close range and yourself if you’re close enough. And if that’s not enough there is even corrosion and disarming foes too! I haven’t gone through the whole list because each class has its skill tree unique to them.
An acceptable amount of class variety here. In spears, swords, hammers, axe, bows, arrows, daggers, and animals, suffice it to say there is a varied amount of choices you can pick and specialize your companions. I had fun recruiting new troops and setting them up with new equipment I had on hand after defeating an annoying private army. A nice way to build up your mercenary crew. Interestingly enough, I don’t believe there is a limit. I've read other reviews noting bigger sizes. I was able to manage over twenty units. Twelve are battle-ready, while the rest such as my ponies and prisoners cannot fight. So overwhelming odds against a lone soul or two to four is well immensely satisfying to decimate. Didn’t have any issues paying wages and feeding them either. I suspect a larger group could be a hassle.
You mainly find your busy work to do upon entering a tavern and talking to an emissary near a bounty board. From there you can accept contracts to eliminate a troublesome group, destroy a rat infestation, and even find tombs(these are underground dungeons). These contracts, if you can excuse the radiant missions(Basically filler and repeat again and again) are decent in that some of them you come across as you traverse the big overworld. See a merchant under attack, help a family solve a murder, find the missing person, hunt down a group who terrorized a village, etc. Side content, for the most part, is all right, since they're just a bit below the quality of the main quests for a scenario.
Nonetheless, let’s move on to my critique. Not a positive or a negative. But for the sake of transparency, I’m noting them down. Suggestions in the end parts.
Experience(EXP) contribution and how that is earned needs a major overhaul. Early on, leveling up your troops is not a big issue. It starts to become a bigger problem as you head to the middle portion and then final parts. If I could sum it up in one word. Grindy. The max, as far as I know, is twelve. I was only able to reach level eight for a small portion of my crew while the rest were in the six to seven range. And facing off hostiles in the eighth to ninth resulted in battles being time-consuming averaging out to 15-30 min engagements, each time I encountered a sizable group against my party. Why does it take a while man? Do you not have the best equipment? Trust me, when I say my crew is built comparable to a tank capable of withstanding the hardest of blows. And strong enough to deal devastating damage, eliminating them swiftly with one guy. Hell, I've even used my min-maxing skills to maximize every centimeter of damage at my company’s disposal to inch my way to victory so I would say I was very prepared. I was not prepared to struggle on the grind. I had to download a half-EXP mod on the Nexus to circumvent the horrible grind I saw every time. Only used it after the 3rd region. For reference. The amount to go from six to seven is 2600. And from eight to nine you require 4200. You can imagine the rest as you climb to twelve. Having to start from zero and reach the next tier starting from seven to eight. 3500. Let’s do the math. Winning rewards 50 -/+ EXP. During endgame 50~. Still has the same payout. Hold on, WHAT THE F$#%. Do you expect me to grind to the seventh!? For each of my companions?! Do you know how many engagements that will take? 70! Now multiply that number by the average it takes to complete one. 15-30 min. 1050 minutes to 2100 minutes which if converted to hours comes out to 17.5 - 35! You can forget about me grinding past the ninth! These numbers are an average based on how many times I batted heads versus evil people in every region. They should not be inferred as everyone’s experience of WT. They could vary. I also changed the difficulty to the lowest so I'm not bothered with deep engagements. Facing off a group for an extended period of time runs the risk of potentially losing a valuable unit you trained up until now. Lose one? Recruit another fella starting from the lowest tier level. If your party is at eight but a majority are at six then hello newbie six. There is no rewind mechanic if your unit dies. They died? Ya gotta bury them.Or eat them for one food.
Oddly enough, I’m reminded of my time playing Xenosaga Episode 2. Due to similar lengthy fights. The image is one of the longer battles. Do you want to know the average there? Five to fifteen minutes for an average brawl past the midportion. And boss skirmishes can easily double or bloom more...Sighs
Personally dislike using mods since I prefer to expose myself to what vanilla content there is to offer. I had to break my rule to see if it can help lessen my frustration. Providing my troops a better chance. Ultimately the mod is a bandaid to the underlying problem of how EXP is earned. I think offering up more substantial rewards for side/main content and during your professions(I'll touch on this later) would help lessen the grind as well as provide a better outlet than the default method.
I feel auto-battle should be available to ease turn-based encounters. And not as a requirement to face each mob. At least an option to auto-complete for randoms you face in the overworld. Thereby lessening the tedium of entering a clash with some schmuck who somehow concludes they can face my hardcore mercenary company? An optional toggle in the settings you can check off or on depending on your preference. Hostile mobs? Auto-battle is activated. Turn-based for the side/main stuff. This way you don’t have to spend a lot of time battling and can do whatever you want such as fishing. Yes, there is fishing here and a host of other activities you can do for example lockpicking. There are more than eight professions to mold your members. Of course, they start at a newbie tier before they can become masters. So if you want to construct one of your companions as a thief you can do that. Cook? Essential. Woodcutter? Yup! Bard sure! Miner, yes, please! Necessary for my blacksmithing job. No problem. Alchemist too? Wow, what is this Witcher? Sign me up!
The user interface especially when hitting a button on your keyboard(Alt) highlighted items of interest & humans. Forming a barely noticeable outline. Alternatively, an option to include a more player-friendly outline should exist to prevent players from having to squint too hard. Therefore, allowing players to find anything else in the environment. Finding any secrets out in the overworld or inside corridors. I had to spend the majority of my time swiping my mouse left and right and up and down to double-check that I didn’t miss anything.
For some reason, I had stutter issues in combat and outside. Didn’t impact me in a major capacity. Occurred uncommonly in my playthrough as well as in random instances during traversal in the overworld. More time in the oven to be optimized some more to spawn smoother playthroughs. And I tested this with lower settings on my computer as well to see if that made a difference. Nope, still the same. So beware of that. Thankfully no bugs or glitches are here.
Last but not least, a more central story would be appreciated to hook players more into worldbuilding. Could be better and more cohesive. Despite the murders, cannibalism, private army vs. government, politics, factions and backstabbing. A harsh gritty adventure awaits. If only the developers linked me closer to the stories told by the people living in this harsh gritty world. Generate heavier incentives, so players care more for the alchemist nearby whose family member was kidnapped. Oh, the barkeeper is friends with the one who was kidnapped. Time to save them! Oh, you helped the mayor in the 1st region? Nice! They’re a good friend of mine. Why back in my day, we were young whipper snappers… And so forth to link the main/side stuff combined. Further meaningful content alongside memorable and fleshed-out characters. NPCs and missions are scattered, offering up little cultural significance both in the history of the world and the characters living in it. And while I was satisfied for my first fifteen hours, the majority and rest of my time left me in a state that leaves me befuddled.
I am left sighing at the end of the day due to a multitude of factors. A combat system that seems fine in the beginning except marred by troubled enemy encounters that can reach long engagements. Fatiguing the player and forcing them to grind a lot to stand a better chance versus the mid to endgame elites. An unoptimized product prone to stutters, you may come across and a user interface has to be refined to outline interesting objects/people. In need of a central plot to connect all scenarios and link to flesh out the worldbuilding and parties' efforts more. Thereby, producing a difficult item to recommend. Looking back on the patch notes I think they developed each region as a checklist. Focusing on adding new regions, connecting them superficially, and presenting a foggy vision that isn't as clear as it remains as a list of tasks to do and finish at your leisure. Full of systems and mechanics focusing on breadth instead of depth on gameplay and not on the finer details of what I mentioned earlier to hold everything in an interconnected manner. Creating a sort of mix of fulfilling and unfulfilling content to explore beyond the surface level. A mile wide, an inch deep example.
There is potential here. I can see it. Shiro Games could improve with patches. However, I cannot recommend Wartales in good conscience. I can only offer a grimace and a read/watch more label to ensure your purchase is solid. To those who enjoyed WT, I salute your dedication to playing through everything. Sadly I can’t bring myself to say I enjoyed it to a degree. I find myself shaking my head rather than nodding since I had plenty of big flaws rather than full of praise.
6/10
Edit: Removed, added, clarified some text to explain my thoughts better and made it a bit less negative. 99% of review still intact.
A medieval low fantasy tactical RPG with sandbox gameplay. As someone who loves medieval and low fantasy settings, this was a no-brainer to watch out for. And I’ve been watching the developers work closely ever since. Avidly reading patch notes, whooping in delight when roadmaps appear and progress is made. Waiting until the final day when the official release arrives.
First let's start on what WT is about, then move on to the critique or what I call my mixed feelings. There is no central story from which your company of mercenaries must follow throughout your journey. Instead, you complete scenarios in each region of which there are six to explore, fight, trade, and even play detective. Upon finishing, some are related to a scenario, the progress bar in the top left corner will fill up until you reach a hundred where you can partake in the final province mission before you move on to another place. Times will vary to accomplish your goals. In my experience, they can range from eight to twelve hours to thoroughly comb one sector with a majority of sidequests done. And I had already progressed past four of them. Was one-third of the way done on my fifth before I couldn’t take it anymore.
The main meat here holding up a chunk of your time is the combat portion. Turn-based emerges when you encounter a hostile in the overworld. Honestly reminds me of Divinity: Original Sin(D: OS) a lot since you can maneuver your party members in any direction. Not a grid or hex-based. Use abilities as long as you have valor points. Points you can earn every time you rest. These don’t recharge every fight, so be careful utilizing them. However, there are skills you can attain to increase temporary valor points to mitigate the loss. One of the cool things you can do is switch any weapon/shield that can grant you new toys to play around with. I could switch from a greatsword that allows me to hit multiple enemies in a 160-degree radius in front of me. Then switch to a different sword allowing my character to charge forth through multiple bandits caught unaware. Swap my shield to inflict a debuff causing a cannibal to be more susceptible to damage and more. I appreciate this since it makes equipment management useful in combat(You need to unlock the skill later, you cannot switch weapons early on). Entrusting the player to carefully manage new powerful weapons containing lackluster effects. Old weapons with cool spell sets that do a bit less damage. And while you cannot use the environment to your advantage akin to D: OS. The underhandedness of Wartales comes into play here. Regarding debuffs. Can’t wreck through a baddie's health or armor? Use poison to whittle down their health(HP). Stack that up for more damage. Still not enough? Here’s bleeding taking off “X” percent of their maximum HP. Burn them too. And watch how the effect can spread to nearby guards in close range and yourself if you’re close enough. And if that’s not enough there is even corrosion and disarming foes too! I haven’t gone through the whole list because each class has its skill tree unique to them.
An acceptable amount of class variety here. In spears, swords, hammers, axe, bows, arrows, daggers, and animals, suffice it to say there is a varied amount of choices you can pick and specialize your companions. I had fun recruiting new troops and setting them up with new equipment I had on hand after defeating an annoying private army. A nice way to build up your mercenary crew. Interestingly enough, I don’t believe there is a limit. I've read other reviews noting bigger sizes. I was able to manage over twenty units. Twelve are battle-ready, while the rest such as my ponies and prisoners cannot fight. So overwhelming odds against a lone soul or two to four is well immensely satisfying to decimate. Didn’t have any issues paying wages and feeding them either. I suspect a larger group could be a hassle.
You mainly find your busy work to do upon entering a tavern and talking to an emissary near a bounty board. From there you can accept contracts to eliminate a troublesome group, destroy a rat infestation, and even find tombs(these are underground dungeons). These contracts, if you can excuse the radiant missions(Basically filler and repeat again and again) are decent in that some of them you come across as you traverse the big overworld. See a merchant under attack, help a family solve a murder, find the missing person, hunt down a group who terrorized a village, etc. Side content, for the most part, is all right, since they're just a bit below the quality of the main quests for a scenario.
Nonetheless, let’s move on to my critique. Not a positive or a negative. But for the sake of transparency, I’m noting them down. Suggestions in the end parts.
Experience(EXP) contribution and how that is earned needs a major overhaul. Early on, leveling up your troops is not a big issue. It starts to become a bigger problem as you head to the middle portion and then final parts. If I could sum it up in one word. Grindy. The max, as far as I know, is twelve. I was only able to reach level eight for a small portion of my crew while the rest were in the six to seven range. And facing off hostiles in the eighth to ninth resulted in battles being time-consuming averaging out to 15-30 min engagements, each time I encountered a sizable group against my party. Why does it take a while man? Do you not have the best equipment? Trust me, when I say my crew is built comparable to a tank capable of withstanding the hardest of blows. And strong enough to deal devastating damage, eliminating them swiftly with one guy. Hell, I've even used my min-maxing skills to maximize every centimeter of damage at my company’s disposal to inch my way to victory so I would say I was very prepared. I was not prepared to struggle on the grind. I had to download a half-EXP mod on the Nexus to circumvent the horrible grind I saw every time. Only used it after the 3rd region. For reference. The amount to go from six to seven is 2600. And from eight to nine you require 4200. You can imagine the rest as you climb to twelve. Having to start from zero and reach the next tier starting from seven to eight. 3500. Let’s do the math. Winning rewards 50 -/+ EXP. During endgame 50~. Still has the same payout. Hold on, WHAT THE F$#%. Do you expect me to grind to the seventh!? For each of my companions?! Do you know how many engagements that will take? 70! Now multiply that number by the average it takes to complete one. 15-30 min. 1050 minutes to 2100 minutes which if converted to hours comes out to 17.5 - 35! You can forget about me grinding past the ninth! These numbers are an average based on how many times I batted heads versus evil people in every region. They should not be inferred as everyone’s experience of WT. They could vary. I also changed the difficulty to the lowest so I'm not bothered with deep engagements. Facing off a group for an extended period of time runs the risk of potentially losing a valuable unit you trained up until now. Lose one? Recruit another fella starting from the lowest tier level. If your party is at eight but a majority are at six then hello newbie six. There is no rewind mechanic if your unit dies. They died? Ya gotta bury them.
Oddly enough, I’m reminded of my time playing Xenosaga Episode 2. Due to similar lengthy fights. The image is one of the longer battles. Do you want to know the average there? Five to fifteen minutes for an average brawl past the midportion. And boss skirmishes can easily double or bloom more...Sighs
Personally dislike using mods since I prefer to expose myself to what vanilla content there is to offer. I had to break my rule to see if it can help lessen my frustration. Providing my troops a better chance. Ultimately the mod is a bandaid to the underlying problem of how EXP is earned. I think offering up more substantial rewards for side/main content and during your professions(I'll touch on this later) would help lessen the grind as well as provide a better outlet than the default method.
I feel auto-battle should be available to ease turn-based encounters. And not as a requirement to face each mob. At least an option to auto-complete for randoms you face in the overworld. Thereby lessening the tedium of entering a clash with some schmuck who somehow concludes they can face my hardcore mercenary company? An optional toggle in the settings you can check off or on depending on your preference. Hostile mobs? Auto-battle is activated. Turn-based for the side/main stuff. This way you don’t have to spend a lot of time battling and can do whatever you want such as fishing. Yes, there is fishing here and a host of other activities you can do for example lockpicking. There are more than eight professions to mold your members. Of course, they start at a newbie tier before they can become masters. So if you want to construct one of your companions as a thief you can do that. Cook? Essential. Woodcutter? Yup! Bard sure! Miner, yes, please! Necessary for my blacksmithing job. No problem. Alchemist too? Wow, what is this Witcher? Sign me up!
The user interface especially when hitting a button on your keyboard(Alt) highlighted items of interest & humans. Forming a barely noticeable outline. Alternatively, an option to include a more player-friendly outline should exist to prevent players from having to squint too hard. Therefore, allowing players to find anything else in the environment. Finding any secrets out in the overworld or inside corridors. I had to spend the majority of my time swiping my mouse left and right and up and down to double-check that I didn’t miss anything.
For some reason, I had stutter issues in combat and outside. Didn’t impact me in a major capacity. Occurred uncommonly in my playthrough as well as in random instances during traversal in the overworld. More time in the oven to be optimized some more to spawn smoother playthroughs. And I tested this with lower settings on my computer as well to see if that made a difference. Nope, still the same. So beware of that. Thankfully no bugs or glitches are here.
Last but not least, a more central story would be appreciated to hook players more into worldbuilding. Could be better and more cohesive. Despite the murders, cannibalism, private army vs. government, politics, factions and backstabbing. A harsh gritty adventure awaits. If only the developers linked me closer to the stories told by the people living in this harsh gritty world. Generate heavier incentives, so players care more for the alchemist nearby whose family member was kidnapped. Oh, the barkeeper is friends with the one who was kidnapped. Time to save them! Oh, you helped the mayor in the 1st region? Nice! They’re a good friend of mine. Why back in my day, we were young whipper snappers… And so forth to link the main/side stuff combined. Further meaningful content alongside memorable and fleshed-out characters. NPCs and missions are scattered, offering up little cultural significance both in the history of the world and the characters living in it. And while I was satisfied for my first fifteen hours, the majority and rest of my time left me in a state that leaves me befuddled.
I am left sighing at the end of the day due to a multitude of factors. A combat system that seems fine in the beginning except marred by troubled enemy encounters that can reach long engagements. Fatiguing the player and forcing them to grind a lot to stand a better chance versus the mid to endgame elites. An unoptimized product prone to stutters, you may come across and a user interface has to be refined to outline interesting objects/people. In need of a central plot to connect all scenarios and link to flesh out the worldbuilding and parties' efforts more. Thereby, producing a difficult item to recommend. Looking back on the patch notes I think they developed each region as a checklist. Focusing on adding new regions, connecting them superficially, and presenting a foggy vision that isn't as clear as it remains as a list of tasks to do and finish at your leisure. Full of systems and mechanics focusing on breadth instead of depth on gameplay and not on the finer details of what I mentioned earlier to hold everything in an interconnected manner. Creating a sort of mix of fulfilling and unfulfilling content to explore beyond the surface level. A mile wide, an inch deep example.
There is potential here. I can see it. Shiro Games could improve with patches. However, I cannot recommend Wartales in good conscience. I can only offer a grimace and a read/watch more label to ensure your purchase is solid. To those who enjoyed WT, I salute your dedication to playing through everything. Sadly I can’t bring myself to say I enjoyed it to a degree. I find myself shaking my head rather than nodding since I had plenty of big flaws rather than full of praise.
6/10
Edit: Removed, added, clarified some text to explain my thoughts better and made it a bit less negative. 99% of review still intact.
“What does honor mean to you?”
“I guess… protecting people.”
“The ones who can’t fight for themselves.”
Act I - The Tale of Samurai
These lines resonated deeply with me in the first 25 minutes. As someone who always tries to role-play a good guy in RPGs. And sure, Ghost of Tsushima(GoT) isn’t an RPG, and yet it embodies beliefs and morals I find in parallel with what I like to do in role-playing games(RPG). To help those in need & punish the wicked. Lines up well, with the 10th point in the ten commandments of Chivalry. Why is this relative to GoT? Because “chivalry is analogous to Bushido”(A Japanese code of behavior valuing honor above life… For the Samurai class)” Sucker Punch(SP) sells the concept to the player of what it means to be a samurai and beautifully deconstructs the notion as you progress through Jin’s story. Funnily enough, according to Michael Smathers, who wrote an article called Bushido: The Samurai Code of Honor. He mentions one virtue of Bushido.
“Mercy (Jin): As warriors, samurai held power over life and death. They were expected to exercise this power with discretion. In other words, they were to kill only for the right reasons. Of course, what that meant varied from one person to the next.”
Hmmm sounds familiar… Hold up! That’s the name of our main character(MC). Jin Sakai! A young lord who marches with his uncle Lord Shimura to stop the invasion of Mongols on the island of Tsushima. 80 Samurai against an army. You can imagine how the fight worked out at the very beginning of the game. We spend the rest of the playthrough combatting the Mongols who litter every road, town, outpost, and major stronghold. Follow his journey as he strives to uphold his samurai upbringing in the wake of an invasion that tests his very limits.
Act II - GoT gameplay with Ubisoft Formula
Just as Shadow of Mordor took inspiration from the Batman Arkham games. Some of GoT's core DNA is derived from Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed(AC) series. Trust me I’ve played a ton of them, so I’m quite familiar with what works and what doesn’t. I’m no expert though, but I’ll try my best to break down the great stuff and not-so-great stuff GoT does well.
What works is the repeated gameplay loop. Like assassinations. The AC series is known for it. GoT has them innately. Sneak up on an enemy from above or from behind in stealth and Thump! Gone. You can even activate chained assassinations to kill off your foes twice and thrice! Heck, a ‘focused hearing mode’ exists, which is eerily reminiscent of Eagle Vision, a major component of AC. A mode allowing you to spot enemy positions quickly. The combat is pretty fun. Because the rate of progression as you unlock new weapons and techniques feels balanced and fair. I didn’t have too much trouble facing off my attackers nor too little trouble on normal difficulty. I can face off my opponents in stand-offs which is an ingenious method to take out foes in one blow. The caveat though? You need to hit a button before the enemy attacks. Too fast and you get hurt. Too slow and you get hurt. These can also lead to boss encounters in the form of duels. Facing off a single boss in a 1v1 with nothing but your katana, resolve, and armor you have equipped. Duels are intense and create an incredible way to fight the most challenging of foes. Providing enough tension and anxiousness while balancing your nerves and excitement. Parry your way to victory or dodge until you see an opportunity to stagger them. You have to deal enough damage first to break through their defenses and once you do you can land critical strikes damaging their health. So be patient. Parry when you can. And dodge like a mad lad. Soon enough the blood of your enemies will fall as you walk away like a badass.
A ton of fun things to do aside from fighting. You can partake in shrines which are like small climbing puzzle sections to earn charms that can slightly upgrade our protagonists' capabilities. Allowing him to grow stronger by dealing more damage. Increase the effectiveness of arrows, restore health slowly outside of fights and so much more. Bamboo training to increase resolve is a mechanic serving as a special gauge to unlock combat arts(I’ll touch on this later). Or even partake in following foxes when you encounter a Fox Den to increase charm slots. Heck, my favorite activity to do outside of fighting is finding hot springs! Increasing your maximum health every time you rest in a new one! Seeing Jin so relaxed makes me relaxed too.
No spongy enemies exist either. You can fine-tune the difficulty from easy, medium, hard, and lethal. I primarily played on normal and thought it was very balanced. Others I’ve discussed the game with, say they played hard or on lethal. So you can’t go wrong with either choice. If you need some tips, Before I play has you covered. You may or may not need it. I didn’t read them until the very end haha. But it doesn’t hurt to know ya know? Because Jin’s capabilities in the year 1274 is quite frankly terrifying once you unlock more techniques. He can throw devastating bombs, sticky and smoke too. Kunai to whittle down opponents and stagger them. The man holds no mercy switching to different stances to dispatch shield, sword, spear, and brute enemies, and if that isn’t enough. The dude comes equipped with a bow to kill from a distance. All of these can even be upgraded as you complete story quests and other tales in the game.
No not Tales from Bamco(A funny nickname I like to call Bandai Namco heh). Tales as in sidequests. To make things easier I’ll designate them as such in this review to not confuse readers. Thankfully, not a bazillion of these are slapped willy-nilly. For the most part, they're worth completing. Some more so than others. They range from Companion tales, Mythic tales, and Tales of Tsushima(ToT).
The non-companion quests AKA ToT are decent. And yet most of them boil down to him helping the common folk(called peasants in the game). Who is caught up in the crossfire in the war between the Samurai vs. Mongols. A good chunk of the game has you play as a detective. Investigating mysteries and disappearances, Retaking a village here and there, following tracks, and escorting missions round up the majority of these quests. Demonstrated in visceral detail in every sidequest and unluckily he witnesses/helps them. A sense of fulfillment emerges in completing any request. Since the invaders hold no mercy in enacting some horrifying methods on your people.
Despite saying they were decent earlier, I still feel non-companion quests were repetitive and filler at times. Granted I will give the developers praise for vividly depicting each of them in ways I can appreciate for realism. And I had an overwhelming satisfaction in righting the wrongs against the innocent. Feels good to eliminate evil in human form. Be that as it may, I think the developers of SP could’ve made them better. Having more unique objectives. Why can’t I deliver any ingredients to them if they need them? Use some bamboo I found. Linen for clothing to help you against the rain. Ah, some iron and steel to help reinforce your home. Could’ve chained multiple quests together to be on par with companion quests. Or even more, fleshed-out NPCs so I can become more invested in their plight. I could say more, but I'll keep it short. Suffice it to say. These ToT quests felt decent. Not too bad. But at the same time not too great. Smack dab in the middle.
Moving on. I consider the liberation aspect of freeing occupied areas from Mongol control: farmsteads, outposts, and major strongholds. The weakest parts of the game in my opinion. Holy hell. They offer a rinse-and-repeat style formula that is monotonous and quite frankly poorly designed. I think the developers could've taken a different approach in opening up the Fog of War map akin to Ubisoft towers(These are tall buildings in the AC series you have to climb which opens up a part of the map). GoT should’ve taken major inspiration from Horizon Zero Dawn(HZD) Where the main character climbs robot dinosaurs in a fair manner to open up parts of the map. HZD implemented the design far better than GoT did by taking the Ubisoft Towers design and making it their own. Here the implementation is half-baked. Why the hell do I need to liberate all outposts, farmsteads, and strongholds to open up a region?! Check out how many are in the 1st region alone. See all those red markers? You have to eliminate all invaders occupying each of those areas. Do so and the region’s fog of war will clear up. One might say isn’t this easy to do if you eliminate all of them? I wish my dear friends. SP included an annoying aspect requiring you to rescue hostages not in every red marker, only some of them. I noticed them more in farmsteads. So not only do I have to play rescue missions along with killing Mongols without exception to liberate an area, I have to make sure they don’t die because the baddies will try to kill them. Essentially adding useless filler. I’m sorry if my tone is scathing to those who enjoyed these aspects. I feel very frustrated to have to partake in a rinse-and-repeat formula to liberate all occupied areas to open up one region of the map. And again the process repeats in the 2nd and 3rd regions. In total, I had to free 56 locations from Mongol control. Certainly, I didn’t have to do it. But in the interest of wanting to look at everything the game had to offer I had to accomplish the feat.
Alternatives I was thinking as I liberated areas is: Making shrines the go-to method to open up parts of a map. How many? Well, 16 throughout the three regions make up the island of Tsushima. So the process is greatly lessened. They're a nice change of pace from fighting. They consist of medium-length climbing sections akin to hunting tombs in the AC series or Prince of Persia-esque. So if the developers had combined the mechanic of Ubisoft towers in shrines. Then once you complete more than five in a region, then BAM! The whole map is opened to the player. Copy-paste that design again and you have reviewers praising your game instead of critiquing it. Another idea was to cull the numbers down significantly by liberating occupied areas. Taking out the hostages required. And instead, make it a stealth mission to rescue a hostage or grab an important item then have your allies storm the place as you watch them tear it apart. Or include the design during haiku. I can admire the view ahead of me, contemplate how to sort my sentences together, and open up a region if I complete all of them. This method works by giving more importance to Haiku in the world. Than calling them filler which my friend states. And and I agree with their assessment of it. Considering other miscellaneous activities felt more rewarding. Fox dens, hot springs, bamboo training, and shrines.
GoT has another main strength in the companion and mythic quests. The former is a set of sidequest chains you follow as you progress through the first, second, and third acts. Helping your companion with whatever troubles them. For Ishikawa, to correct a mistake he did not foresee. For Masako to avenge her family. And the warrior monk Norio, who fervently defends sacred temples. There are more, but I'll let those surprise you. Companion quests caught hold of me like a fish on a hook and I couldn't wait to watch more unfold. Weaving an intricate companion plot and in effect I bonded with my allies further. Trade banter at times then engage in serious conversations. Respond in binary choices during conversations, rode horseback alongside them, and fought together against the Mongols. It’s well thought out and I have no major complaints to say. Seriously. These quests are amazing.
The latter, Mythic quests by comparison I also echo the same sentiment above. Worth completing. They differ in fact, all of them detail a legend from long ago depicted in scroll tapestry. As if a storyteller is weaving their tale from the annals of history. Once you hear their story, you embark on a side quest to reclaim the item or lesson from Tsushima’s history. These can range from legendary armor to new combat arts you can use freely. Doesn’t take too long to complete. The armors you attain provide hefty bonuses for gameplay purposes or through stealth means. Arts are also noteworthy to provide new moves when fighting. Ranging from an unblockable strike to even striking three attackers in quick succession. You can’t go wrong with finishing them throughout your journey. Enriching the player even further with great worldbuilding.
Interlude - Iki Island Ruminations
Before I discuss more on the base game I have to talk about the Iki island expansion. I completed it after the main story. The expansion is short. Beat it in 2 hours and 30 minutes. Well below the average from How Long to Beat(HLTB). You can see times in the additional content section. Still worth playing for the story. You investigate Mongols on Iki who sent out a scouting party to the main island. Why does this matter? Well, the scouting party used a devastating weapon forcing Jin to investigate where the party originated from. And heck if it makes a head of a clan like Sakai go without telling any of his allies. It must be a pretty big deal. And it delves into unexpected areas from his past I didn’t expect, but welcomed all the same. Providing much-needed context on important flashbacks the MC has throughout the story in the base game. The expansion also includes an element I love. I wish I could say more, but that’s spoiler territory. Best to experience it yourself.
Act III - Final Thoughts from a Ghost
Somehow the game runs flawlessly. I barely have time to read tips, because loading screens start and end super quickly on my PS4 Pro. For the PS5 & PS4 version, Eurogamer has all the details. John Linneman of Digital Foundry analyzes the FPS(frames per second) and more. I didn’t notice any hiccups regarding Framerate, playing on performance mode rather than resolution mode. No serious bugs or glitches either. The game runs like a dream and is perhaps what I consider as stable as the constant PS4 updates to stability memes. I’d even equate it to the legendary FOX engine employed by Konami from which Metal Gear Solid V runs on.
I rarely praise open-world games. Some games bloat worlds too much, losing the player. Others craft a tight balance, not too much and not too little with worthwhile content. GoT is the latter. The visual style and setting work phenomenally in tandem with all the bells and whistles. To my astonishment, gorgeous vistas are abundant. I gazed at the sunsets as I rode my horse called Nobu through countless grassy plains. Waited patiently for the sunrise to peek over the mountains. Was content walking and running through tree leaves of various colors. And embraced the forests as if I was a denizen of them. So much passion and care by Sucker Punch to craft such a detailed world that I am left speechless. You will have no shortage to gawk at, to stop, wonder, and for the life of me, I cannot say it enough to give the description justice.
Ironically, as much as I behold the beauty in the game. I recognize many injustices. War has come and Mongols revel in it. Sparing no expense in demonstrating the aftermath of their brutality, war crimes, and heavy topics. However, as we witness horrible acts a man & woman can do there comes the other side where we become mesmerized at the truest and sacrificial of human beings to help their fellow man/woman. Speeches rally people to rise from their peasant status and bear arms. Conventional tactics are thrown away to save our people's suffering. What use is an 'honor' when the enemy savagely uses dishonorable tactics against us? If we must strive to free ourselves we must first do so with resolve, courage, and unflinching fearlessness. In the face of overwhelming odds GoT crafted allies who rise above the occasion. From the gruff, but serious Ishikawa who desires to right a wrong. To the avenger Lady Masako who desires vengeance for her family. And even the gentle giant monk Norio who guards the temples against invaders. Their voice is another cry of suffering just as the common folk suffer. Together we can defend our home, save our friends and family and partake in camaraderie. Despite much pain. The people cling to salvation. And Jin is ready to help them along the way.
His story is an experience. We see how he has been taught the ways of samurai. To embody their tenets. Loyalty, Control, and Honor. These core lessons are ingrained in the MC. Built from the ground up. And yet what is built can also be broken down. This I feel is SP’s strongest blade at work. The struggle he endures in my playthrough was filled with an incredible transformation he undergoes. He’s not the most likable of protagonists, on the surface level. Yet underneath the underneath, there is an underrated amount of subtle themes and messages that are cyclical to embrace what is a Samurai and what is not a Samurai. Told in ways and tales I found captivating. And the game is built around this from the tranquil music, fun gameplay, worthwhile side quests(At least for Companion and Mythic tales), and an enthralling world to explore. And even the Guiding Wind mechanic guides the player which funnily enough is the personification of the protagonist's father. Fitting dialogue options during conversations. All of these come back to Jin. Again and again, hammer home important lessons and themes the game can impart to the player after witnessing the ending. And man what a finale it was.
I have never played a Sucker Punch game before. So I’m glad Ghost of Tsushima became my first one to play from the studio. Such a breath of fresh air to experience and I am thrilled to play more in their catalog for the future. And watch films by Akira Kurosawa and Takashi Miike. And heck, more Samurai mediums. Despite the critique, I said earlier. I think the game is a worthy entry point for anyone looking for a worthwhile Samurai fantasy game.
8/10
“I guess… protecting people.”
“The ones who can’t fight for themselves.”
Act I - The Tale of Samurai
These lines resonated deeply with me in the first 25 minutes. As someone who always tries to role-play a good guy in RPGs. And sure, Ghost of Tsushima(GoT) isn’t an RPG, and yet it embodies beliefs and morals I find in parallel with what I like to do in role-playing games(RPG). To help those in need & punish the wicked. Lines up well, with the 10th point in the ten commandments of Chivalry. Why is this relative to GoT? Because “chivalry is analogous to Bushido”(A Japanese code of behavior valuing honor above life… For the Samurai class)” Sucker Punch(SP) sells the concept to the player of what it means to be a samurai and beautifully deconstructs the notion as you progress through Jin’s story. Funnily enough, according to Michael Smathers, who wrote an article called Bushido: The Samurai Code of Honor. He mentions one virtue of Bushido.
“Mercy (Jin): As warriors, samurai held power over life and death. They were expected to exercise this power with discretion. In other words, they were to kill only for the right reasons. Of course, what that meant varied from one person to the next.”
Hmmm sounds familiar… Hold up! That’s the name of our main character(MC). Jin Sakai! A young lord who marches with his uncle Lord Shimura to stop the invasion of Mongols on the island of Tsushima. 80 Samurai against an army. You can imagine how the fight worked out at the very beginning of the game. We spend the rest of the playthrough combatting the Mongols who litter every road, town, outpost, and major stronghold. Follow his journey as he strives to uphold his samurai upbringing in the wake of an invasion that tests his very limits.
Act II - GoT gameplay with Ubisoft Formula
Just as Shadow of Mordor took inspiration from the Batman Arkham games. Some of GoT's core DNA is derived from Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed(AC) series. Trust me I’ve played a ton of them, so I’m quite familiar with what works and what doesn’t. I’m no expert though, but I’ll try my best to break down the great stuff and not-so-great stuff GoT does well.
What works is the repeated gameplay loop. Like assassinations. The AC series is known for it. GoT has them innately. Sneak up on an enemy from above or from behind in stealth and Thump! Gone. You can even activate chained assassinations to kill off your foes twice and thrice! Heck, a ‘focused hearing mode’ exists, which is eerily reminiscent of Eagle Vision, a major component of AC. A mode allowing you to spot enemy positions quickly. The combat is pretty fun. Because the rate of progression as you unlock new weapons and techniques feels balanced and fair. I didn’t have too much trouble facing off my attackers nor too little trouble on normal difficulty. I can face off my opponents in stand-offs which is an ingenious method to take out foes in one blow. The caveat though? You need to hit a button before the enemy attacks. Too fast and you get hurt. Too slow and you get hurt. These can also lead to boss encounters in the form of duels. Facing off a single boss in a 1v1 with nothing but your katana, resolve, and armor you have equipped. Duels are intense and create an incredible way to fight the most challenging of foes. Providing enough tension and anxiousness while balancing your nerves and excitement. Parry your way to victory or dodge until you see an opportunity to stagger them. You have to deal enough damage first to break through their defenses and once you do you can land critical strikes damaging their health. So be patient. Parry when you can. And dodge like a mad lad. Soon enough the blood of your enemies will fall as you walk away like a badass.
A ton of fun things to do aside from fighting. You can partake in shrines which are like small climbing puzzle sections to earn charms that can slightly upgrade our protagonists' capabilities. Allowing him to grow stronger by dealing more damage. Increase the effectiveness of arrows, restore health slowly outside of fights and so much more. Bamboo training to increase resolve is a mechanic serving as a special gauge to unlock combat arts(I’ll touch on this later). Or even partake in following foxes when you encounter a Fox Den to increase charm slots. Heck, my favorite activity to do outside of fighting is finding hot springs! Increasing your maximum health every time you rest in a new one! Seeing Jin so relaxed makes me relaxed too.
No spongy enemies exist either. You can fine-tune the difficulty from easy, medium, hard, and lethal. I primarily played on normal and thought it was very balanced. Others I’ve discussed the game with, say they played hard or on lethal. So you can’t go wrong with either choice. If you need some tips, Before I play has you covered. You may or may not need it. I didn’t read them until the very end haha. But it doesn’t hurt to know ya know? Because Jin’s capabilities in the year 1274 is quite frankly terrifying once you unlock more techniques. He can throw devastating bombs, sticky and smoke too. Kunai to whittle down opponents and stagger them. The man holds no mercy switching to different stances to dispatch shield, sword, spear, and brute enemies, and if that isn’t enough. The dude comes equipped with a bow to kill from a distance. All of these can even be upgraded as you complete story quests and other tales in the game.
No not Tales from Bamco(A funny nickname I like to call Bandai Namco heh). Tales as in sidequests. To make things easier I’ll designate them as such in this review to not confuse readers. Thankfully, not a bazillion of these are slapped willy-nilly. For the most part, they're worth completing. Some more so than others. They range from Companion tales, Mythic tales, and Tales of Tsushima(ToT).
The non-companion quests AKA ToT are decent. And yet most of them boil down to him helping the common folk(called peasants in the game). Who is caught up in the crossfire in the war between the Samurai vs. Mongols. A good chunk of the game has you play as a detective. Investigating mysteries and disappearances, Retaking a village here and there, following tracks, and escorting missions round up the majority of these quests. Demonstrated in visceral detail in every sidequest and unluckily he witnesses/helps them. A sense of fulfillment emerges in completing any request. Since the invaders hold no mercy in enacting some horrifying methods on your people.
Despite saying they were decent earlier, I still feel non-companion quests were repetitive and filler at times. Granted I will give the developers praise for vividly depicting each of them in ways I can appreciate for realism. And I had an overwhelming satisfaction in righting the wrongs against the innocent. Feels good to eliminate evil in human form. Be that as it may, I think the developers of SP could’ve made them better. Having more unique objectives. Why can’t I deliver any ingredients to them if they need them? Use some bamboo I found. Linen for clothing to help you against the rain. Ah, some iron and steel to help reinforce your home. Could’ve chained multiple quests together to be on par with companion quests. Or even more, fleshed-out NPCs so I can become more invested in their plight. I could say more, but I'll keep it short. Suffice it to say. These ToT quests felt decent. Not too bad. But at the same time not too great. Smack dab in the middle.
Moving on. I consider the liberation aspect of freeing occupied areas from Mongol control: farmsteads, outposts, and major strongholds. The weakest parts of the game in my opinion. Holy hell. They offer a rinse-and-repeat style formula that is monotonous and quite frankly poorly designed. I think the developers could've taken a different approach in opening up the Fog of War map akin to Ubisoft towers(These are tall buildings in the AC series you have to climb which opens up a part of the map). GoT should’ve taken major inspiration from Horizon Zero Dawn(HZD) Where the main character climbs robot dinosaurs in a fair manner to open up parts of the map. HZD implemented the design far better than GoT did by taking the Ubisoft Towers design and making it their own. Here the implementation is half-baked. Why the hell do I need to liberate all outposts, farmsteads, and strongholds to open up a region?! Check out how many are in the 1st region alone. See all those red markers? You have to eliminate all invaders occupying each of those areas. Do so and the region’s fog of war will clear up. One might say isn’t this easy to do if you eliminate all of them? I wish my dear friends. SP included an annoying aspect requiring you to rescue hostages not in every red marker, only some of them. I noticed them more in farmsteads. So not only do I have to play rescue missions along with killing Mongols without exception to liberate an area, I have to make sure they don’t die because the baddies will try to kill them. Essentially adding useless filler. I’m sorry if my tone is scathing to those who enjoyed these aspects. I feel very frustrated to have to partake in a rinse-and-repeat formula to liberate all occupied areas to open up one region of the map. And again the process repeats in the 2nd and 3rd regions. In total, I had to free 56 locations from Mongol control. Certainly, I didn’t have to do it. But in the interest of wanting to look at everything the game had to offer I had to accomplish the feat.
Alternatives I was thinking as I liberated areas is: Making shrines the go-to method to open up parts of a map. How many? Well, 16 throughout the three regions make up the island of Tsushima. So the process is greatly lessened. They're a nice change of pace from fighting. They consist of medium-length climbing sections akin to hunting tombs in the AC series or Prince of Persia-esque. So if the developers had combined the mechanic of Ubisoft towers in shrines. Then once you complete more than five in a region, then BAM! The whole map is opened to the player. Copy-paste that design again and you have reviewers praising your game instead of critiquing it. Another idea was to cull the numbers down significantly by liberating occupied areas. Taking out the hostages required. And instead, make it a stealth mission to rescue a hostage or grab an important item then have your allies storm the place as you watch them tear it apart. Or include the design during haiku. I can admire the view ahead of me, contemplate how to sort my sentences together, and open up a region if I complete all of them. This method works by giving more importance to Haiku in the world. Than calling them filler which my friend states. And and I agree with their assessment of it. Considering other miscellaneous activities felt more rewarding. Fox dens, hot springs, bamboo training, and shrines.
GoT has another main strength in the companion and mythic quests. The former is a set of sidequest chains you follow as you progress through the first, second, and third acts. Helping your companion with whatever troubles them. For Ishikawa, to correct a mistake he did not foresee. For Masako to avenge her family. And the warrior monk Norio, who fervently defends sacred temples. There are more, but I'll let those surprise you. Companion quests caught hold of me like a fish on a hook and I couldn't wait to watch more unfold. Weaving an intricate companion plot and in effect I bonded with my allies further. Trade banter at times then engage in serious conversations. Respond in binary choices during conversations, rode horseback alongside them, and fought together against the Mongols. It’s well thought out and I have no major complaints to say. Seriously. These quests are amazing.
The latter, Mythic quests by comparison I also echo the same sentiment above. Worth completing. They differ in fact, all of them detail a legend from long ago depicted in scroll tapestry. As if a storyteller is weaving their tale from the annals of history. Once you hear their story, you embark on a side quest to reclaim the item or lesson from Tsushima’s history. These can range from legendary armor to new combat arts you can use freely. Doesn’t take too long to complete. The armors you attain provide hefty bonuses for gameplay purposes or through stealth means. Arts are also noteworthy to provide new moves when fighting. Ranging from an unblockable strike to even striking three attackers in quick succession. You can’t go wrong with finishing them throughout your journey. Enriching the player even further with great worldbuilding.
Interlude - Iki Island Ruminations
Before I discuss more on the base game I have to talk about the Iki island expansion. I completed it after the main story. The expansion is short. Beat it in 2 hours and 30 minutes. Well below the average from How Long to Beat(HLTB). You can see times in the additional content section. Still worth playing for the story. You investigate Mongols on Iki who sent out a scouting party to the main island. Why does this matter? Well, the scouting party used a devastating weapon forcing Jin to investigate where the party originated from. And heck if it makes a head of a clan like Sakai go without telling any of his allies. It must be a pretty big deal. And it delves into unexpected areas from his past I didn’t expect, but welcomed all the same. Providing much-needed context on important flashbacks the MC has throughout the story in the base game. The expansion also includes an element I love. I wish I could say more, but that’s spoiler territory. Best to experience it yourself.
Act III - Final Thoughts from a Ghost
Somehow the game runs flawlessly. I barely have time to read tips, because loading screens start and end super quickly on my PS4 Pro. For the PS5 & PS4 version, Eurogamer has all the details. John Linneman of Digital Foundry analyzes the FPS(frames per second) and more. I didn’t notice any hiccups regarding Framerate, playing on performance mode rather than resolution mode. No serious bugs or glitches either. The game runs like a dream and is perhaps what I consider as stable as the constant PS4 updates to stability memes. I’d even equate it to the legendary FOX engine employed by Konami from which Metal Gear Solid V runs on.
I rarely praise open-world games. Some games bloat worlds too much, losing the player. Others craft a tight balance, not too much and not too little with worthwhile content. GoT is the latter. The visual style and setting work phenomenally in tandem with all the bells and whistles. To my astonishment, gorgeous vistas are abundant. I gazed at the sunsets as I rode my horse called Nobu through countless grassy plains. Waited patiently for the sunrise to peek over the mountains. Was content walking and running through tree leaves of various colors. And embraced the forests as if I was a denizen of them. So much passion and care by Sucker Punch to craft such a detailed world that I am left speechless. You will have no shortage to gawk at, to stop, wonder, and for the life of me, I cannot say it enough to give the description justice.
Ironically, as much as I behold the beauty in the game. I recognize many injustices. War has come and Mongols revel in it. Sparing no expense in demonstrating the aftermath of their brutality, war crimes, and heavy topics. However, as we witness horrible acts a man & woman can do there comes the other side where we become mesmerized at the truest and sacrificial of human beings to help their fellow man/woman. Speeches rally people to rise from their peasant status and bear arms. Conventional tactics are thrown away to save our people's suffering. What use is an 'honor' when the enemy savagely uses dishonorable tactics against us? If we must strive to free ourselves we must first do so with resolve, courage, and unflinching fearlessness. In the face of overwhelming odds GoT crafted allies who rise above the occasion. From the gruff, but serious Ishikawa who desires to right a wrong. To the avenger Lady Masako who desires vengeance for her family. And even the gentle giant monk Norio who guards the temples against invaders. Their voice is another cry of suffering just as the common folk suffer. Together we can defend our home, save our friends and family and partake in camaraderie. Despite much pain. The people cling to salvation. And Jin is ready to help them along the way.
His story is an experience. We see how he has been taught the ways of samurai. To embody their tenets. Loyalty, Control, and Honor. These core lessons are ingrained in the MC. Built from the ground up. And yet what is built can also be broken down. This I feel is SP’s strongest blade at work. The struggle he endures in my playthrough was filled with an incredible transformation he undergoes. He’s not the most likable of protagonists, on the surface level. Yet underneath the underneath, there is an underrated amount of subtle themes and messages that are cyclical to embrace what is a Samurai and what is not a Samurai. Told in ways and tales I found captivating. And the game is built around this from the tranquil music, fun gameplay, worthwhile side quests(At least for Companion and Mythic tales), and an enthralling world to explore. And even the Guiding Wind mechanic guides the player which funnily enough is the personification of the protagonist's father. Fitting dialogue options during conversations. All of these come back to Jin. Again and again, hammer home important lessons and themes the game can impart to the player after witnessing the ending. And man what a finale it was.
I have never played a Sucker Punch game before. So I’m glad Ghost of Tsushima became my first one to play from the studio. Such a breath of fresh air to experience and I am thrilled to play more in their catalog for the future. And watch films by Akira Kurosawa and Takashi Miike. And heck, more Samurai mediums. Despite the critique, I said earlier. I think the game is a worthy entry point for anyone looking for a worthwhile Samurai fantasy game.
8/10
“...you’ll find the sea to be vast, deep…full of strength and energy, yet kind and gentle.”
- Fisherman at the docks of Arni Village
Early on in my blind playthrough, I encountered an NPC who uttered those words to me and as I sailed the calm seas and battled my way across countless biomes, the quote resonated in my mind again. Even as I landed the final blow on the final boss I still felt it. Only when the end credits rolled around, did I realize. If I were to replace the word “sea” with “Chrono Cross(CC)” I feel the statement would still work.
The game is vast, but not to the point of a barrel of filler content. Vast in the sense there is enough to explore off the beaten path to satisfy those who want to take a break in the story, but also enough to hold your satisfaction from the beginning, middle, and end of the narrative. Deep in the themes conjured both subtly in NPC conversations and by important characters, you meet. Evoking thoughtful provoking questions as well as nuggets of lore. Occasionally, you may find a clue to your next destination to progress the plot. Without being too complex to comprehend. Full of strength and energy permeates every inch of my playthrough. Environments are eye candy and have every color in the rainbow I could think of. Settings come alive from forests, beaches, caves, jungles, and more! Each monster is carefully designed to fit in their natural habitat. So you won’t find a lava monster in a desert ya know? Or let's say a robot in an underwater cave. Heck, you won’t see fairies or dwarves in cities or towns!
So much kindness and gentleness In the music. Often I would close my eyes, listening to a new track I haven’t heard, and let the melody fill my soul with tranquility. Ahhh… I have to give props once again to Yasunori Mitsuda and more for gracing me with a beautiful soundtrack. This man does not miss. If I were to describe the whole soundtrack in as few words as possible. I would say. Upbeat, soulful, and mesmerizing. Like, I have been transported into the world of the tropical archipelago El Nido and every track felt so pleasing to grace my ears. Especially one track I want to drop. But, best to experience it in-game since it feels almost magical to hear. But for a taste listen to a small part from Etude 1. Other tracks I love are Arni Village - Home and Termina - Another which brought to mind powerful emotions to me. I could gush pages, but I'll keep it short. Resonant Arc describes it better than me. In How Music Moves Us. Plus the soundtrack within the Radical Dreamers edition is a refined one & rpgsite clarifies Square Enix’s vague response here “These tracks are not arrangements, but instead, these are simply cleaned-up versions of the original music with small adjustments to noise compression, equalization, etc. This is the only soundtrack found when actually playing the game, and you cannot toggle it.”
Gameplay is a mix of standard JRPG turn-based battles and exploration. Except you don’t have any levels to grind for. A blessing. Since it eliminates the grind. So, your party will naturally grow stat-wise as you defeat enemies. The main bread and butter for combat are the elements. Each character comes equipped with them. Though, you need to start filling up the slots by attacking enemies with melee. They must hit as well to count. No point in missing attacks. I recommend attacking foes with the first option during fights. The second and third options have a lower chance to hit and therefore miss, wasting an action. So spamming the first option can quickly fill the elemental slots. You don't get a full tank of elements out the gate. Think of them, like consumable spells. You can equip various spells onto each ally like healing, buffs, debuffs, attack, and attack all spells. Designated by six colored elements: red, green, blue, yellow, black, and white. As you win battles you can slot more elements onto each party member, the caveat is each time you use one during combat you cannot use them again. So no spamming willy-nilly. Players must carefully equip the right amount of elements to manage future battles while contending against enemies who can alter the field effect. Each time you or the enemy cast an element during a fight. A circle will change to correspond to the use of the spell. Let's use three fire attacks. The field effect transforms accordingly and in effect, my attacks with fire will become stronger. So, players should keep that in mind if a monster constantly uses water attacks. Perhaps I should transmute the field or an opposite element to counter their strong attacks.
Plenty of awesome quality of life(QOL) features that make the remaster very appealing. Auto-battle, fast-speed mode, and slow-speed mode are available. I don’t see slow-speed mode very often in other JRPG ports, but I have to admit the inclusion of it is useful to admire animations. Or literally, embrace a very slow playthrough. No random battles & battle boosts. These are welcome additions. The former is self-explanatory, the latter gives your whole party invincibility, all enemy attacks miss and you will have filled elemental slots that will never deplete until you turn off the option. These enhancements are a godsend for quickly defeating enemy mobs. Allowing players to move at a turbo pace. Ever so often, I felt the natural speed of the game was slow. So the QOL features greatly enhanced my experience making the combat system faster and eliminating the process of actively avoiding enemies in your field of view. Thereby, not wasting your time and effort. In my case, I was able to finish the game quicker than I initially thought from CC's How Long to Beat(HLTB) time. At just a little over twenty-three hours completing a decent amount of sidequests and recruiting a lot of characters too.
In addition to exploring, you can enlist new party members throughout your journey. Some of which are missable and non-missable. Reminds me heavily of the Suikoden series except you don’t have to recruit over a hundred people. Instead, you have forty-five possible units to join your merry band. It is important to note, you cannot enlist everyone from the get-go. A few can only be gathered in a New Game+ playthrough or using the “Continue +” option with multiple save files. They can range from the story one’s, you’ll gain naturally as you progress the plot. And others are tucked away in sidequests. More often than not, they're pretty straightforward to get them to join your crew, but others may take extra steps depending on their requirements. Revisiting them later on, to give an important key item, defeating a monster, battling them, or helping with a small or large task. Usually, if you see a unique portrait when speaking. Most likely, a new ally that can join you in the near or far future.
Battles are fair and balanced. Enemies didn’t feel absurdly difficult with outrageous health points and even in the final act, they were reasonably challenging. Not to the extent, I was battling against a sponge every chance I encountered an enemy. And as a result, the narrative moved at a comfortable pace, since I could adjust the speed at my leisure. Item drops, shops, and upgrading my equipment felt painless and easy. Didn't feel the urge to meticulously arrange new elements for my new allies since an option exists to auto-fill or auto-remove them.
Speaking of which, the story starts with the player controlling Serge, Kid, and one random companion coming outside of an elevator in a large stone fort. Kid will remark about Lynx’s day of reckoning which sums it up best. Your group must defeat Lynx in the fort. Why? What? How? Questions don’t matter for now. Once you finish your task at the fort, important events steadily rise. Forming an interesting pace, full of twists and sailing by turbulent storms and tides. Whether or not we succeed in defeating Lynx is a major device, the plot cleverly hides until an opportune moment. Surely more is underneath the simple objective to kill one man right? Well…
Yes! Yet, to go into further detail on what happens is to delve deeper into spoilers. And this review is a non-spoiler one. So I’ll move on. I'll talk about my mixed feelings about the remaster. Not a positive or a negative. But for the sake of transparency, I'm noting them down.
There is a point in the game, where major revelations are told to the player, and quite frankly a lot of JRPGs like to do this to varying degrees. CC is weird in that respect. Whereas their predecessor Chrono Trigger(CT). A title I played years ago and think fondly of. Executes the revelations in a condensed and easily digestible form in such a way, I feel a majority of players understand. Hence the reception. Here that also exists, although Masato Kato(The director and writer for CC) tries to bite off more than he can chew. The executions of said revelations make the impact of a certain point, a bit shaky and as a result, it’s not as strong as CT in that regard. Be that as it may, to play a devil's advocate(DA). I do applaud the bold move to tip the scales a tad to make CC rise above CT in ways. If we consider, the topic of ‘time travel’ in its entirety with all its aspects and subcategories can be a daunting task to link each thread. Other titles take a stab at the topic: FFXIII-2 delved into a pothole of time periods. Radiant Historia refined the aspect of producing a fresh product and palatable to newcomers. And while I haven't played 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim yet(Trust me, I'll get around to it someday). The countless praise I've heard deserves a spot here for time-travel stories worth looking into. So in a way, some parts could've been gently fed. Allowing the player to digest the revelations easily. Perhaps, less on lore dump, but further on the "show, don't tell" method.
As much as I’ve turned a 180 on the combat system long ago, I still have a small voice in my head saying it is possible newcomers will become confused. And I’ve consulted several friends of mine who had similar feelings. To this, I advise you to try it out first and experience it. If you’re having trouble, do what I did and undertake a tutorial battle against the chief in Arni Village. They explain all the terms, unique field effects, elemental usage, and attacks. Honestly, he did a good job explaining things and I can’t help wishing I had a machine to go back in time to slap my old self silly for quitting early on... Anyway, besides the combat, you can use QOL features to breeze fights and perhaps check out Before I Play on CC in case you want to know extra tips and maybe a spoiler-free missable guide for a first playthrough.
Some units' requirements to enlist them onto your party can be a bit vague on where to go or what to do. Perhaps a new location holds the key or clue to visit another location or converse with another NPC to progress further. I would scratch my head a bit and ponder my next course of action. Intermittently, I can take the loss and move on. The plot in the middle to the final act shares this dilemma as well. I only had to consult a walkthrough once since I became lost on where to go. But for the most part, important story characters will lead you in the right direction. Just try to remember what your next objective is. You may have an easier time than I did!
Usually, story units rather than the optional members, receive more spotlight in their backstory, relationships, and lore. And while I can understand this, I wish it was the same across the board. On the other hand, I did experience quite a decent chunk of noteworthy sidequests which delved deep into a couple of characters. Could be a "your mileage might vary" type of deal. Granted, if I were to play DA once again the added backstory, relationships, and quality sidequests would inflate the game's hours more. Maybe it's not a good idea to have every side character fleshed out... But the potential... Hmm…
Undoubtedly, the question of whether or not you need to play Chrono Trigger will spring up. Maybe. Chrono Cross plays safely enough without the knowledge of CT. Hell the director states it! However, playing the first entry, rewards players with important lore from their predecessor. Constructing a sort of foundation for players to settle upon and see once they play CC. Providing context as to how and why the events that occur. And perhaps enhance their experience. So I'm on both sides if you played CT or not before playing CC. Like their predecessor, there are multiple endings here. So if you were unable to earn the true ending in the first go. You can see it via youtube. So don't worry if the ending you obtained felt meh. I didn't see it in my blind first playthrough, so I searched for the true ending online. Literally ten times better than the garbage ending I got. I facepalmed so hard, once I saw the requirements to achieve it.
That’s it for my mixed feelings. Quite frankly, I mainly had a lot of upsides and hardly any downsides when playing. I didn’t have any crashes on my switch version. No serious or minor bugs either. I did come across the analog stick, rarely taking me out of engagements by accidentally pressing the "runaway option," nonetheless, I was able to restart the battle swiftly without much progress lost. The remaster performs as expected without any notable issues. The last update improved the fps and bug fixes. So I think I can safely say the Radical Dreamers edition is a safe recommendation to start your playthrough versus the old version. Even comes packaged with the never before released outside Japan until now. English visual novel(VN) called Radical Dreamers. A short side-story to CT and precursor to CC took me less than three hours to complete and while labeled as a non-canon. I greatly appreciate the extra backstory, and moments shared between Serge, Kid, and Magil. Though, I didn't like the random encounters during some sections. Seemed too forced to make it a bit of a struggle to fight against. Despite the troublesome encounters, I liked the music and the decisions you make. I also think it's a nice way for Chrono fans who want to experience it before/after playing CC. Since the remaster added a new hidden-post credits scene. Only activating once you finish both games and hit the credits option in the menu. The scene left me in a state of bewilderment and excitement. And as much as I want to delve more into that. It's time to end this review since it's getting too long.
Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition. Is one of the finest JRPGs I’ve had the pleasure of playing. Masato Kato and his team have accomplished the impossible by bringing back a skeptical one who thought they could not top Chrono Trigger. Yet, it does in several ways. The mix of recruiting allies as you progress the narrative is a fascinating take from the Suikoden formula and my journey was full of laughter and seriousness to top it all. Succeeds in balancing an enjoyable gameplay mix of exploring, recruiting, and battling in aesthetically pleasing environments accompanied by a refined soundtrack from Mitsuda. And filled to the barrel full of charm, wit, and a likable cast. Worthwhile sidequests with plenty of optional content to fill your belly. A vibrant visual style makes full use of the color palette. Enriching every dungeon, town, overworld, creature, and the main cast. While the plot can make or break it for some. It holds steady in the sea due to the elements above holding the boat up high. So give it a shot and don’tcha be afraid of starting. A must-play for any JRPG fan or newcomer to the genre.
Score: 9.5/10
For those curious. The fisherman did have some more lines to say which I find fascinating in contrast to what he said initially.
“But, once it becomes angry, it can turn into the most frightening monster you’ve ever seen, engulfing everything…”
“Close your eyes and prick up your ears.”
“Can you hear the cries of countless men swallowed by the sea? The hidden secret the sea whispers?”
“I recommend you learn to sense the mood of the sea. That’s if you don’t want to join the fellows already on the bottom.
- Fisherman at the docks of Arni Village
- Fisherman at the docks of Arni Village
Early on in my blind playthrough, I encountered an NPC who uttered those words to me and as I sailed the calm seas and battled my way across countless biomes, the quote resonated in my mind again. Even as I landed the final blow on the final boss I still felt it. Only when the end credits rolled around, did I realize. If I were to replace the word “sea” with “Chrono Cross(CC)” I feel the statement would still work.
The game is vast, but not to the point of a barrel of filler content. Vast in the sense there is enough to explore off the beaten path to satisfy those who want to take a break in the story, but also enough to hold your satisfaction from the beginning, middle, and end of the narrative. Deep in the themes conjured both subtly in NPC conversations and by important characters, you meet. Evoking thoughtful provoking questions as well as nuggets of lore. Occasionally, you may find a clue to your next destination to progress the plot. Without being too complex to comprehend. Full of strength and energy permeates every inch of my playthrough. Environments are eye candy and have every color in the rainbow I could think of. Settings come alive from forests, beaches, caves, jungles, and more! Each monster is carefully designed to fit in their natural habitat. So you won’t find a lava monster in a desert ya know? Or let's say a robot in an underwater cave. Heck, you won’t see fairies or dwarves in cities or towns!
So much kindness and gentleness In the music. Often I would close my eyes, listening to a new track I haven’t heard, and let the melody fill my soul with tranquility. Ahhh… I have to give props once again to Yasunori Mitsuda and more for gracing me with a beautiful soundtrack. This man does not miss. If I were to describe the whole soundtrack in as few words as possible. I would say. Upbeat, soulful, and mesmerizing. Like, I have been transported into the world of the tropical archipelago El Nido and every track felt so pleasing to grace my ears. Especially one track I want to drop. But, best to experience it in-game since it feels almost magical to hear. But for a taste listen to a small part from Etude 1. Other tracks I love are Arni Village - Home and Termina - Another which brought to mind powerful emotions to me. I could gush pages, but I'll keep it short. Resonant Arc describes it better than me. In How Music Moves Us. Plus the soundtrack within the Radical Dreamers edition is a refined one & rpgsite clarifies Square Enix’s vague response here “These tracks are not arrangements, but instead, these are simply cleaned-up versions of the original music with small adjustments to noise compression, equalization, etc. This is the only soundtrack found when actually playing the game, and you cannot toggle it.”
Gameplay is a mix of standard JRPG turn-based battles and exploration. Except you don’t have any levels to grind for. A blessing. Since it eliminates the grind. So, your party will naturally grow stat-wise as you defeat enemies. The main bread and butter for combat are the elements. Each character comes equipped with them. Though, you need to start filling up the slots by attacking enemies with melee. They must hit as well to count. No point in missing attacks. I recommend attacking foes with the first option during fights. The second and third options have a lower chance to hit and therefore miss, wasting an action. So spamming the first option can quickly fill the elemental slots. You don't get a full tank of elements out the gate. Think of them, like consumable spells. You can equip various spells onto each ally like healing, buffs, debuffs, attack, and attack all spells. Designated by six colored elements: red, green, blue, yellow, black, and white. As you win battles you can slot more elements onto each party member, the caveat is each time you use one during combat you cannot use them again. So no spamming willy-nilly. Players must carefully equip the right amount of elements to manage future battles while contending against enemies who can alter the field effect. Each time you or the enemy cast an element during a fight. A circle will change to correspond to the use of the spell. Let's use three fire attacks. The field effect transforms accordingly and in effect, my attacks with fire will become stronger. So, players should keep that in mind if a monster constantly uses water attacks. Perhaps I should transmute the field or an opposite element to counter their strong attacks.
Plenty of awesome quality of life(QOL) features that make the remaster very appealing. Auto-battle, fast-speed mode, and slow-speed mode are available. I don’t see slow-speed mode very often in other JRPG ports, but I have to admit the inclusion of it is useful to admire animations. Or literally, embrace a very slow playthrough. No random battles & battle boosts. These are welcome additions. The former is self-explanatory, the latter gives your whole party invincibility, all enemy attacks miss and you will have filled elemental slots that will never deplete until you turn off the option. These enhancements are a godsend for quickly defeating enemy mobs. Allowing players to move at a turbo pace. Ever so often, I felt the natural speed of the game was slow. So the QOL features greatly enhanced my experience making the combat system faster and eliminating the process of actively avoiding enemies in your field of view. Thereby, not wasting your time and effort. In my case, I was able to finish the game quicker than I initially thought from CC's How Long to Beat(HLTB) time. At just a little over twenty-three hours completing a decent amount of sidequests and recruiting a lot of characters too.
In addition to exploring, you can enlist new party members throughout your journey. Some of which are missable and non-missable. Reminds me heavily of the Suikoden series except you don’t have to recruit over a hundred people. Instead, you have forty-five possible units to join your merry band. It is important to note, you cannot enlist everyone from the get-go. A few can only be gathered in a New Game+ playthrough or using the “Continue +” option with multiple save files. They can range from the story one’s, you’ll gain naturally as you progress the plot. And others are tucked away in sidequests. More often than not, they're pretty straightforward to get them to join your crew, but others may take extra steps depending on their requirements. Revisiting them later on, to give an important key item, defeating a monster, battling them, or helping with a small or large task. Usually, if you see a unique portrait when speaking. Most likely, a new ally that can join you in the near or far future.
Battles are fair and balanced. Enemies didn’t feel absurdly difficult with outrageous health points and even in the final act, they were reasonably challenging. Not to the extent, I was battling against a sponge every chance I encountered an enemy. And as a result, the narrative moved at a comfortable pace, since I could adjust the speed at my leisure. Item drops, shops, and upgrading my equipment felt painless and easy. Didn't feel the urge to meticulously arrange new elements for my new allies since an option exists to auto-fill or auto-remove them.
Speaking of which, the story starts with the player controlling Serge, Kid, and one random companion coming outside of an elevator in a large stone fort. Kid will remark about Lynx’s day of reckoning which sums it up best. Your group must defeat Lynx in the fort. Why? What? How? Questions don’t matter for now. Once you finish your task at the fort, important events steadily rise. Forming an interesting pace, full of twists and sailing by turbulent storms and tides. Whether or not we succeed in defeating Lynx is a major device, the plot cleverly hides until an opportune moment. Surely more is underneath the simple objective to kill one man right? Well…
Yes! Yet, to go into further detail on what happens is to delve deeper into spoilers. And this review is a non-spoiler one. So I’ll move on. I'll talk about my mixed feelings about the remaster. Not a positive or a negative. But for the sake of transparency, I'm noting them down.
There is a point in the game, where major revelations are told to the player, and quite frankly a lot of JRPGs like to do this to varying degrees. CC is weird in that respect. Whereas their predecessor Chrono Trigger(CT). A title I played years ago and think fondly of. Executes the revelations in a condensed and easily digestible form in such a way, I feel a majority of players understand. Hence the reception. Here that also exists, although Masato Kato(The director and writer for CC) tries to bite off more than he can chew. The executions of said revelations make the impact of a certain point, a bit shaky and as a result, it’s not as strong as CT in that regard. Be that as it may, to play a devil's advocate(DA). I do applaud the bold move to tip the scales a tad to make CC rise above CT in ways. If we consider, the topic of ‘time travel’ in its entirety with all its aspects and subcategories can be a daunting task to link each thread. Other titles take a stab at the topic: FFXIII-2 delved into a pothole of time periods. Radiant Historia refined the aspect of producing a fresh product and palatable to newcomers. And while I haven't played 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim yet(Trust me, I'll get around to it someday). The countless praise I've heard deserves a spot here for time-travel stories worth looking into. So in a way, some parts could've been gently fed. Allowing the player to digest the revelations easily. Perhaps, less on lore dump, but further on the "show, don't tell" method.
As much as I’ve turned a 180 on the combat system long ago, I still have a small voice in my head saying it is possible newcomers will become confused. And I’ve consulted several friends of mine who had similar feelings. To this, I advise you to try it out first and experience it. If you’re having trouble, do what I did and undertake a tutorial battle against the chief in Arni Village. They explain all the terms, unique field effects, elemental usage, and attacks. Honestly, he did a good job explaining things and I can’t help wishing I had a machine to go back in time to slap my old self silly for quitting early on... Anyway, besides the combat, you can use QOL features to breeze fights and perhaps check out Before I Play on CC in case you want to know extra tips and maybe a spoiler-free missable guide for a first playthrough.
Some units' requirements to enlist them onto your party can be a bit vague on where to go or what to do. Perhaps a new location holds the key or clue to visit another location or converse with another NPC to progress further. I would scratch my head a bit and ponder my next course of action. Intermittently, I can take the loss and move on. The plot in the middle to the final act shares this dilemma as well. I only had to consult a walkthrough once since I became lost on where to go. But for the most part, important story characters will lead you in the right direction. Just try to remember what your next objective is. You may have an easier time than I did!
Usually, story units rather than the optional members, receive more spotlight in their backstory, relationships, and lore. And while I can understand this, I wish it was the same across the board. On the other hand, I did experience quite a decent chunk of noteworthy sidequests which delved deep into a couple of characters. Could be a "your mileage might vary" type of deal. Granted, if I were to play DA once again the added backstory, relationships, and quality sidequests would inflate the game's hours more. Maybe it's not a good idea to have every side character fleshed out... But the potential... Hmm…
Undoubtedly, the question of whether or not you need to play Chrono Trigger will spring up. Maybe. Chrono Cross plays safely enough without the knowledge of CT. Hell the director states it! However, playing the first entry, rewards players with important lore from their predecessor. Constructing a sort of foundation for players to settle upon and see once they play CC. Providing context as to how and why the events that occur. And perhaps enhance their experience. So I'm on both sides if you played CT or not before playing CC. Like their predecessor, there are multiple endings here. So if you were unable to earn the true ending in the first go. You can see it via youtube. So don't worry if the ending you obtained felt meh. I didn't see it in my blind first playthrough, so I searched for the true ending online. Literally ten times better than the garbage ending I got. I facepalmed so hard, once I saw the requirements to achieve it.
That’s it for my mixed feelings. Quite frankly, I mainly had a lot of upsides and hardly any downsides when playing. I didn’t have any crashes on my switch version. No serious or minor bugs either. I did come across the analog stick, rarely taking me out of engagements by accidentally pressing the "runaway option," nonetheless, I was able to restart the battle swiftly without much progress lost. The remaster performs as expected without any notable issues. The last update improved the fps and bug fixes. So I think I can safely say the Radical Dreamers edition is a safe recommendation to start your playthrough versus the old version. Even comes packaged with the never before released outside Japan until now. English visual novel(VN) called Radical Dreamers. A short side-story to CT and precursor to CC took me less than three hours to complete and while labeled as a non-canon. I greatly appreciate the extra backstory, and moments shared between Serge, Kid, and Magil. Though, I didn't like the random encounters during some sections. Seemed too forced to make it a bit of a struggle to fight against. Despite the troublesome encounters, I liked the music and the decisions you make. I also think it's a nice way for Chrono fans who want to experience it before/after playing CC. Since the remaster added a new hidden-post credits scene. Only activating once you finish both games and hit the credits option in the menu. The scene left me in a state of bewilderment and excitement. And as much as I want to delve more into that. It's time to end this review since it's getting too long.
Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition. Is one of the finest JRPGs I’ve had the pleasure of playing. Masato Kato and his team have accomplished the impossible by bringing back a skeptical one who thought they could not top Chrono Trigger. Yet, it does in several ways. The mix of recruiting allies as you progress the narrative is a fascinating take from the Suikoden formula and my journey was full of laughter and seriousness to top it all. Succeeds in balancing an enjoyable gameplay mix of exploring, recruiting, and battling in aesthetically pleasing environments accompanied by a refined soundtrack from Mitsuda. And filled to the barrel full of charm, wit, and a likable cast. Worthwhile sidequests with plenty of optional content to fill your belly. A vibrant visual style makes full use of the color palette. Enriching every dungeon, town, overworld, creature, and the main cast. While the plot can make or break it for some. It holds steady in the sea due to the elements above holding the boat up high. So give it a shot and don’tcha be afraid of starting. A must-play for any JRPG fan or newcomer to the genre.
Score: 9.5/10
For those curious. The fisherman did have some more lines to say which I find fascinating in contrast to what he said initially.
“But, once it becomes angry, it can turn into the most frightening monster you’ve ever seen, engulfing everything…”
“Close your eyes and prick up your ears.”
“Can you hear the cries of countless men swallowed by the sea? The hidden secret the sea whispers?”
“I recommend you learn to sense the mood of the sea. That’s if you don’t want to join the fellows already on the bottom.
- Fisherman at the docks of Arni Village
This might be one of the most difficult reviews, I've done so far since reviewing Fire Emblem Engage. Because I have so many mixed feelings about WayForward’s remake of Advance Wars(AW) 1 + 2. Full of ups and downs. And yet, I'm still not satisfied after ruminating for over a week. But in the interest of not having to stare at my google docs page for more time than necessary, this will be the final time I have to type this out after overhauling my thoughts several times. So here goes.
Let’s talk about the huge disgusting tank out of the way. I completely agree with all the reviews panning the games under three stars. The biggest, glaring fault must be the unfaithful 3D representation that takes out the rugged and lil dirty look from the Gameboy Advance(GBA) era. You can see in Vee’s review with pictures and greater detail. To add oil onto this fire truck of a situation. I also found the ‘Vtuber animation style’ coined by TyphoonSwell. Accurate as well. And I couldn’t stop musing on the matter during my playthroughs. The shiny visual style Wayforward recreated under is a persistent style that continues well into the 2nd campaign. Which slowly increased my dislike for the visuals. As someone who enjoys remasters and remakes. This one aspect disappointed me. Since there are other games that I feel do remakes or remasters justice. Like Bluepoint Games with Shadow of the Colossus. Crash Bandicoot trilogy by Vicarious Visions and Spyro trilogy from Toys for Bob. These developers I believe faithfully recreate the original experience under modern lenses. Here I don’t see that as much. Graphics-wise. Granted it could be worse, making a remake that could not run well, plagued with bugs and glitches galore, sound effects not correct and voice sync is off. They could’ve made too many changes to the remake which I would equate to a re-imagining such as Final Fantasy VII remake. I’m grateful in some ways Wayforward didn’t completely butcher AW 1 + 2. Probably in a worse timeline they did. But, I can take a small measure of satisfaction, they didn’t completely massacre it like my favorite RTS Warcraft 3: Reforged turned out at launch…oof…
Voice acting are another issue. Each character is voiced, but after saying their first lines, no voiceover(VO) follows. With the rest of the sentences unvoiced. I’m not sure whether this is a bug or simply the development team ran out of budget to properly voice all the lines. But to me, the result is a jarring mess when I expect lines to occur as I read their text dialogue. Either go all out on the voice acting or take it out altogether. Don't make me expect something that isn't there. Furthermore, I feel it's worth noting. NocturnalFudj had the same issue as well. I'm glad I am not alone in experiencing this.
Additionally, The bundle has been delayed too long by Nintendo due to a war that occurred last year in Europe. And I cannot for the life of me wonder how much of it was seriously a delay when the product hasn’t changed drastically to the point you need to delay for over a year since the announcement. Other games with similar development delays & changes due to world events are Metal Gear Solid 2 experienced major changes to the ending and hell even Grand Theft Auto III was changed with the color scheme, art, etc. affected. GTA III was delayed three weeks while the former did not experience a delay. And yet here we are for AW 1+2 reboot camp needing a year to make what substantial changes? The story starts with an invasion! Oh. My. God… My facial expression is the most exasperated I could make. Big sigh
Last critique. I wish there is a rewind button to fix slight errors or you make a big tactical mistake. Previous Intelligent System titles such as Fire Emblem Engage and their predecessor Fire Emblem: Three Houses had a rewind mechanic as well as another strategy RPG, Tactics Ogre: Reborn. So I don’t suppose it's too hard for Wayforward to add it in just in case you mess up. It's pretty brutal having to do an hour plus during a mission and fail. Making the player have to restart from the very beginning once again. It’s soul-crushing. And while there is a ‘reset turn’ button available. It only resets your current turn. So you have to play very carefully and make sure each decision counts before moving. 2nd I wish an enemy range button existed. This way you can see the total number of enemies possible attack range. I had to select every unit to triple-check that I can get the most out of my unit's distance without being attacked in return. And finally, I wish the 2nd and 1st embraced deeper or extra radical mission objectives. The 2nd improves on the victory parameters. However, I did see a bit of copy and paste in the endgame where you have to destroy yet another pipe or cannon. This wouldn’t become so egregious if we had diverse mission objectives; Surviving for an ‘x’ amount of turns, escorting ‘x’ units to a corner of the map, and mixing up the destroyed objectives with extra interesting encounters. Stopping a big Neotank before it escapes. Or eliminate a wave of enemies while protecting your base. Defend your bases and allies against naval and air assault while contending with enemies at your flank. Ok, that might be a bit too brutal. But hopefully, you get the point.
Moving on. I never got the chance to try the Advance Wars series on the GBA in my younger days. So when the announcement of AW 1+2 was being remade, I became very excited. I’ve heard AW over the years as another franchise Intelligent Systems developed. And as a casual Fire Emblem fan, my reaction was something along the lines of “Ooooohhh modern Fire Emblem? But not really.” So this is a newcomer’s perspective.
For those who don’t know Advance Wars is a turn-based strategy title set in a fictional world where multiple colored-named countries fight using modern warfare except think of it comparatively to toy warfare. In the first campaign, you play Andy, a commanding officer(CO) in the Orange Star nation under the leader of Nell. In the beginning, there was peace until the Blue Moon nation(led by Olaf) attacked. That’s the main start for the plot to roll around. For the second campaign, I won’t say since the campaign selection is covered until you beat the 1st AW(But you can jump right into the 2nd with no problem). A great way to keep things spoiler-safe for newcomers.
In early missions, you can blaze on through pretty fast once you know what each unit can do and what they’re effective against, similar to chess. Forget notions of weapon triangles from Fire Emblem and embrace different unit compositions. Where an anti-air unit can be very effective against a foot soldier haha. Most missions will have you defeat all enemy units or capture the headquarters. There are other win parameters as well, but I won’t go through the whole list. You control a variety of units from land, sea, and even air. I found the diversity in my army to be a good thing, because I could choose any soldier or vehicle in my command for the right situation. I could choose a medium tank over the tank(Yes there is a difference in tanks). Or the battleship to replace my submarine. Although these units are costly they can be worth the price if used effectively. The inverse can also be true. Sometimes you don’t need to pay so much money to create a unit to take down a medium tank. A combination of baiting the enemy to key locations to a road that has zero defense is better than fighting, when they have the terrain advantage, acting as if they’re stationed on a tree tile. The trick is to use the most of the units you're given. Enough to damage them in the most crushing manner and as a result cripple their combat capability. So using soldiers as fodder, artillery from behind, a combination of sea, and air vehicles, and using a mix of mechanical infantry can turn the tide of battle in your favor. Hell, I love using the APC vehicle which is a supply unit and functions as a fast storage vehicle to carry my foot soldiers across great distances as bait. Which will the A.I. target? Surely not the tank?! They fired at my APC vehicle!
Honestly, playing around with these units and building them when certain missions allowed me to is great. A decent spread of map variety here. You can fight in open plains with roads, navigating through a mountainous region with a forest nearby. Once you throw water and rivers into the mix, the difficulty gradually increases as you unlock new powerful additions to your forces, new terrain to consider, and new enemy units into the equation. A nice pace to steadily nudge players along bit by bit and teach and reward them. A fair balance, whereas other titles throw you off the deep end. And ask you to climb a tall cliff. Reminds me of my time playing Starcraft and Warcraft back in the day and recently Wargroove. A fantasy strategy turn-based indie similar to Advance Wars. Feels good to head back to familiar roots here with AW and see how the franchise has gone off to inspire indies to the same degree Warside and Empires shall Fall Both titles are currently in development.
Gameplay-wise, for those who have never tried a turn-based title. Advance Wars starts with you the player controlling a set amount of units. You start a turn by moving and attacking any force on a map. Once you use all of your vehicle and infantry's actions you can end your turn. Then the opponent's forces will advance. The process repeats until either side wins. However, there is a cool gimmick to this. You and the enemy leader can activate their respective abilities. For Andy, once his meter fills up you can repair all of your unit's health +2 & +10 to firepower and defense. Olaf’s ability changes the whole battlefield to snow, increasing movement costs for all units except his own. Olaf’s forces gain +10 in firepower and defense. New COs’ abilities are different. Capable of adding substantial adjustments to the battlefield than changing numbers. If used at the right time they can change the fate of a battle in your favor. So use them when you're in a pinch. Just be careful, the leader can use their ability to inch closer to victory. These mechanics largely stay the same in the 2nd campaign. With extra CO abilities because of new commanders and a greater map variety with large cannons and pipes. AW 2 is pretty neat. The sequel I feel is better since they expanded on victory objectives. They can range from destroying a large cannon, multiple small cannons, and even a small pipe behind a big cannon. Missions take a bit longer to complete than in the first installment, but overall I found it better than their predecessor due to the map variety and mission objectives. Also, the villains are more menacing in the 2nd game than the first. An improvement over the first installment. Very refreshing to beat them mercilessly, who assumes they can beat me? Tsk tsk tsk. Don't underestimate the kid with a big wrench.
For AW 1. My experience is a positive one, despite the harsh critique I stated earlier. Took me over eighteen hours to complete the main story. Enjoyed fighting on various maps and utilizing a good spread of my units. There’s a lot of strategy involved and even when the fog of war maps came in, the difficulty didn’t waver in the slightest. In the old versions, the A.I. could cheat. Here that’s not possible anymore. Which is a cool tidbit to learn about. Plus, I found the usage of CO powers an awesome way to spice up the gameplay beyond commanding your troops. They provide a fair way to tussle against the enemy commander while supplementing your forces. Granting a layer of strategy to expect. Should I activate my ability now? Or wait until they use theirs? These questions will undoubtedly pop up as hypothetical scenarios of where to place your forces on land, sea, or air. Or if you need a bit of a boost to your forces in a dire situation.
For AW 2. My experience was still positive. Took me over twenty-six hours to complete the main story. And I believe it is a better sequel than the first with better villains to fight. And new commanders to choose from. Also, the player can choose to progress in a non-linear fashion by choosing different factions to start in the middle of the game. Start missions from Yellow Comet or Blue Moon and Green Earth are pretty wicked choices instead of always commanding troops from the same nation again and again. The difficulty is a bit increased, but as a sequel, I feel they function fine for the new changes to the gameplay. Not too much to be rage-inducing while not being too easy on classic difficulty. Moreover, your CO power is upgraded. If you wait a while, you can activate a supercharged move. This is a great way for players to reward those who patiently wait for their meter to increase or for those who immediately use their CO power once available. The choice is yours.
I want to say one last thing before I head out. Since this review is getting too long for my tastes and I apologize for that. I don’t want to make a review to put you off the game. I’m merely stating my experience and hope my review helps you in some fashion to understand another piece in the pie for AW 1 + 2 discussion in general. Despite the harsh critique I said in the beginning. I think the bundle is fine for anyone looking for other turn-based strategy goodness. Solid enough to hold your hand, but enough to keep you on your toes. The plot is decent. I didn’t expect anything amazing. Those who expect a simple story will be left with some measure of satisfaction upon completing either of the two campaigns. And a main cast I found to be endearing at times. Andy’s straightforwardness despite being a loveable dork. To the overprotective Kanbei for his daughter Sonja. Grit and even Eagle I like as well. The music is good. My favorite would be the Orange Star National Anthem. For some reason, I’m receiving Fire Emblem vibes from the track. Orange Star Theme I love how upbeat it is. And if I was isekai’d into the Wars World, I would immediately travel and enlist in their nation. The gameplay is all right, despite the critique I said earlier. I believe the mechanics are optimal enough to grasp as long as you can remember what each unit does and what they're effective against.
I also want to plug in a useful website to offer some helpful tips for anyone. Looking to play AW 1 + 2 These tips helped me immensely, so I feel more people should know about it just in case. I failed horribly in the first mission since I was operating with a Fire Emblem(FE) mindset. Despite the fact, FE & AW were made by the same company.
So, if you’re looking to try out Wayforward’s take on Advance Wars. I think Re-Boot camp is fine to play for newcomers or the original versions on the GBA. I sincerely hope the bundle sells enough, so we can see a new entry for fans in the series. And perhaps we can see Dual Strike and Days of Ruin come ashore in the future. Remade properly. Hopefully, the developers learn their lessons here and improve. But the future is uncertain, so we’ll see if that bears fruit.
Score for AW 1: 7/10
Score for AW 2: 7.5/10
Score for bundle: 7.25/10
Final note: I played both games on classic difficulty.
An option to play on ‘Casual’ is available.
Let’s talk about the huge disgusting tank out of the way. I completely agree with all the reviews panning the games under three stars. The biggest, glaring fault must be the unfaithful 3D representation that takes out the rugged and lil dirty look from the Gameboy Advance(GBA) era. You can see in Vee’s review with pictures and greater detail. To add oil onto this fire truck of a situation. I also found the ‘Vtuber animation style’ coined by TyphoonSwell. Accurate as well. And I couldn’t stop musing on the matter during my playthroughs. The shiny visual style Wayforward recreated under is a persistent style that continues well into the 2nd campaign. Which slowly increased my dislike for the visuals. As someone who enjoys remasters and remakes. This one aspect disappointed me. Since there are other games that I feel do remakes or remasters justice. Like Bluepoint Games with Shadow of the Colossus. Crash Bandicoot trilogy by Vicarious Visions and Spyro trilogy from Toys for Bob. These developers I believe faithfully recreate the original experience under modern lenses. Here I don’t see that as much. Graphics-wise. Granted it could be worse, making a remake that could not run well, plagued with bugs and glitches galore, sound effects not correct and voice sync is off. They could’ve made too many changes to the remake which I would equate to a re-imagining such as Final Fantasy VII remake. I’m grateful in some ways Wayforward didn’t completely butcher AW 1 + 2. Probably in a worse timeline they did. But, I can take a small measure of satisfaction, they didn’t completely massacre it like my favorite RTS Warcraft 3: Reforged turned out at launch…oof…
Voice acting are another issue. Each character is voiced, but after saying their first lines, no voiceover(VO) follows. With the rest of the sentences unvoiced. I’m not sure whether this is a bug or simply the development team ran out of budget to properly voice all the lines. But to me, the result is a jarring mess when I expect lines to occur as I read their text dialogue. Either go all out on the voice acting or take it out altogether. Don't make me expect something that isn't there. Furthermore, I feel it's worth noting. NocturnalFudj had the same issue as well. I'm glad I am not alone in experiencing this.
Additionally, The bundle has been delayed too long by Nintendo due to a war that occurred last year in Europe. And I cannot for the life of me wonder how much of it was seriously a delay when the product hasn’t changed drastically to the point you need to delay for over a year since the announcement. Other games with similar development delays & changes due to world events are Metal Gear Solid 2 experienced major changes to the ending and hell even Grand Theft Auto III was changed with the color scheme, art, etc. affected. GTA III was delayed three weeks while the former did not experience a delay. And yet here we are for AW 1+2 reboot camp needing a year to make what substantial changes? The story starts with an invasion! Oh. My. God… My facial expression is the most exasperated I could make. Big sigh
Last critique. I wish there is a rewind button to fix slight errors or you make a big tactical mistake. Previous Intelligent System titles such as Fire Emblem Engage and their predecessor Fire Emblem: Three Houses had a rewind mechanic as well as another strategy RPG, Tactics Ogre: Reborn. So I don’t suppose it's too hard for Wayforward to add it in just in case you mess up. It's pretty brutal having to do an hour plus during a mission and fail. Making the player have to restart from the very beginning once again. It’s soul-crushing. And while there is a ‘reset turn’ button available. It only resets your current turn. So you have to play very carefully and make sure each decision counts before moving. 2nd I wish an enemy range button existed. This way you can see the total number of enemies possible attack range. I had to select every unit to triple-check that I can get the most out of my unit's distance without being attacked in return. And finally, I wish the 2nd and 1st embraced deeper or extra radical mission objectives. The 2nd improves on the victory parameters. However, I did see a bit of copy and paste in the endgame where you have to destroy yet another pipe or cannon. This wouldn’t become so egregious if we had diverse mission objectives; Surviving for an ‘x’ amount of turns, escorting ‘x’ units to a corner of the map, and mixing up the destroyed objectives with extra interesting encounters. Stopping a big Neotank before it escapes. Or eliminate a wave of enemies while protecting your base. Defend your bases and allies against naval and air assault while contending with enemies at your flank. Ok, that might be a bit too brutal. But hopefully, you get the point.
Moving on. I never got the chance to try the Advance Wars series on the GBA in my younger days. So when the announcement of AW 1+2 was being remade, I became very excited. I’ve heard AW over the years as another franchise Intelligent Systems developed. And as a casual Fire Emblem fan, my reaction was something along the lines of “Ooooohhh modern Fire Emblem? But not really.” So this is a newcomer’s perspective.
For those who don’t know Advance Wars is a turn-based strategy title set in a fictional world where multiple colored-named countries fight using modern warfare except think of it comparatively to toy warfare. In the first campaign, you play Andy, a commanding officer(CO) in the Orange Star nation under the leader of Nell. In the beginning, there was peace until the Blue Moon nation(led by Olaf) attacked. That’s the main start for the plot to roll around. For the second campaign, I won’t say since the campaign selection is covered until you beat the 1st AW(But you can jump right into the 2nd with no problem). A great way to keep things spoiler-safe for newcomers.
In early missions, you can blaze on through pretty fast once you know what each unit can do and what they’re effective against, similar to chess. Forget notions of weapon triangles from Fire Emblem and embrace different unit compositions. Where an anti-air unit can be very effective against a foot soldier haha. Most missions will have you defeat all enemy units or capture the headquarters. There are other win parameters as well, but I won’t go through the whole list. You control a variety of units from land, sea, and even air. I found the diversity in my army to be a good thing, because I could choose any soldier or vehicle in my command for the right situation. I could choose a medium tank over the tank(Yes there is a difference in tanks). Or the battleship to replace my submarine. Although these units are costly they can be worth the price if used effectively. The inverse can also be true. Sometimes you don’t need to pay so much money to create a unit to take down a medium tank. A combination of baiting the enemy to key locations to a road that has zero defense is better than fighting, when they have the terrain advantage, acting as if they’re stationed on a tree tile. The trick is to use the most of the units you're given. Enough to damage them in the most crushing manner and as a result cripple their combat capability. So using soldiers as fodder, artillery from behind, a combination of sea, and air vehicles, and using a mix of mechanical infantry can turn the tide of battle in your favor. Hell, I love using the APC vehicle which is a supply unit and functions as a fast storage vehicle to carry my foot soldiers across great distances as bait. Which will the A.I. target? Surely not the tank?! They fired at my APC vehicle!
Honestly, playing around with these units and building them when certain missions allowed me to is great. A decent spread of map variety here. You can fight in open plains with roads, navigating through a mountainous region with a forest nearby. Once you throw water and rivers into the mix, the difficulty gradually increases as you unlock new powerful additions to your forces, new terrain to consider, and new enemy units into the equation. A nice pace to steadily nudge players along bit by bit and teach and reward them. A fair balance, whereas other titles throw you off the deep end. And ask you to climb a tall cliff. Reminds me of my time playing Starcraft and Warcraft back in the day and recently Wargroove. A fantasy strategy turn-based indie similar to Advance Wars. Feels good to head back to familiar roots here with AW and see how the franchise has gone off to inspire indies to the same degree Warside and Empires shall Fall Both titles are currently in development.
Gameplay-wise, for those who have never tried a turn-based title. Advance Wars starts with you the player controlling a set amount of units. You start a turn by moving and attacking any force on a map. Once you use all of your vehicle and infantry's actions you can end your turn. Then the opponent's forces will advance. The process repeats until either side wins. However, there is a cool gimmick to this. You and the enemy leader can activate their respective abilities. For Andy, once his meter fills up you can repair all of your unit's health +2 & +10 to firepower and defense. Olaf’s ability changes the whole battlefield to snow, increasing movement costs for all units except his own. Olaf’s forces gain +10 in firepower and defense. New COs’ abilities are different. Capable of adding substantial adjustments to the battlefield than changing numbers. If used at the right time they can change the fate of a battle in your favor. So use them when you're in a pinch. Just be careful, the leader can use their ability to inch closer to victory. These mechanics largely stay the same in the 2nd campaign. With extra CO abilities because of new commanders and a greater map variety with large cannons and pipes. AW 2 is pretty neat. The sequel I feel is better since they expanded on victory objectives. They can range from destroying a large cannon, multiple small cannons, and even a small pipe behind a big cannon. Missions take a bit longer to complete than in the first installment, but overall I found it better than their predecessor due to the map variety and mission objectives. Also, the villains are more menacing in the 2nd game than the first. An improvement over the first installment. Very refreshing to beat them mercilessly, who assumes they can beat me? Tsk tsk tsk. Don't underestimate the kid with a big wrench.
For AW 1. My experience is a positive one, despite the harsh critique I stated earlier. Took me over eighteen hours to complete the main story. Enjoyed fighting on various maps and utilizing a good spread of my units. There’s a lot of strategy involved and even when the fog of war maps came in, the difficulty didn’t waver in the slightest. In the old versions, the A.I. could cheat. Here that’s not possible anymore. Which is a cool tidbit to learn about. Plus, I found the usage of CO powers an awesome way to spice up the gameplay beyond commanding your troops. They provide a fair way to tussle against the enemy commander while supplementing your forces. Granting a layer of strategy to expect. Should I activate my ability now? Or wait until they use theirs? These questions will undoubtedly pop up as hypothetical scenarios of where to place your forces on land, sea, or air. Or if you need a bit of a boost to your forces in a dire situation.
For AW 2. My experience was still positive. Took me over twenty-six hours to complete the main story. And I believe it is a better sequel than the first with better villains to fight. And new commanders to choose from. Also, the player can choose to progress in a non-linear fashion by choosing different factions to start in the middle of the game. Start missions from Yellow Comet or Blue Moon and Green Earth are pretty wicked choices instead of always commanding troops from the same nation again and again. The difficulty is a bit increased, but as a sequel, I feel they function fine for the new changes to the gameplay. Not too much to be rage-inducing while not being too easy on classic difficulty. Moreover, your CO power is upgraded. If you wait a while, you can activate a supercharged move. This is a great way for players to reward those who patiently wait for their meter to increase or for those who immediately use their CO power once available. The choice is yours.
I want to say one last thing before I head out. Since this review is getting too long for my tastes and I apologize for that. I don’t want to make a review to put you off the game. I’m merely stating my experience and hope my review helps you in some fashion to understand another piece in the pie for AW 1 + 2 discussion in general. Despite the harsh critique I said in the beginning. I think the bundle is fine for anyone looking for other turn-based strategy goodness. Solid enough to hold your hand, but enough to keep you on your toes. The plot is decent. I didn’t expect anything amazing. Those who expect a simple story will be left with some measure of satisfaction upon completing either of the two campaigns. And a main cast I found to be endearing at times. Andy’s straightforwardness despite being a loveable dork. To the overprotective Kanbei for his daughter Sonja. Grit and even Eagle I like as well. The music is good. My favorite would be the Orange Star National Anthem. For some reason, I’m receiving Fire Emblem vibes from the track. Orange Star Theme I love how upbeat it is. And if I was isekai’d into the Wars World, I would immediately travel and enlist in their nation. The gameplay is all right, despite the critique I said earlier. I believe the mechanics are optimal enough to grasp as long as you can remember what each unit does and what they're effective against.
I also want to plug in a useful website to offer some helpful tips for anyone. Looking to play AW 1 + 2 These tips helped me immensely, so I feel more people should know about it just in case. I failed horribly in the first mission since I was operating with a Fire Emblem(FE) mindset. Despite the fact, FE & AW were made by the same company.
So, if you’re looking to try out Wayforward’s take on Advance Wars. I think Re-Boot camp is fine to play for newcomers or the original versions on the GBA. I sincerely hope the bundle sells enough, so we can see a new entry for fans in the series. And perhaps we can see Dual Strike and Days of Ruin come ashore in the future. Remade properly. Hopefully, the developers learn their lessons here and improve. But the future is uncertain, so we’ll see if that bears fruit.
Score for AW 1: 7/10
Score for AW 2: 7.5/10
Score for bundle: 7.25/10
Final note: I played both games on classic difficulty.
An option to play on ‘Casual’ is available.
If Tetsuya Takahashi wanted to end Future Redeemed in a way to satisfy fans in the beyond after XC3's incredible ending. Well spark, my dude. You exceeded my expectations and then some. As a fan of the Xeno games since the time of Xenogears. Future Redeemed encompasses all the necessary callbacks, references, easter eggs, and precious moments we were waiting for.
I was captivated by the countless affinity scenes(moments you can see out in the world without any level or party member requirement) that struck me the most with the experience of all the past Xenoblade Chronicles games. And while, I wish there were even more to the point of fan service. I understand why Monolith Soft didn’t do so. It’s a delicate thread to balance for the fans to an extent they will be satisfied without over-gorging too much. And yet I am astounded at how great these scenes I saw within the expansion that evoked a sense of satisfaction. Some were bittersweet, some heartwarming, and some I couldn’t help but be amused at the sheer cheekiness. It is Xenoblade through and through. So you will experience a wide range in the emotional spectrum.
Gameplay didn’t change much like in Torna. The Xenoblade 3 combat system makes a welcome return, with the addition of unity combos and unity setups to mix things up a bit. Familiar and a mix of unfamiliar systems in place to capture player interest more into the gameplay-focus of Xenoblade. I thought the systems were decent. Didn’t need to go too complex or too simple. There is plenty of customization here as well. And I felt the tutorials do a good job explaining the old and new mechanics. Music as expected of Monolith Soft's composer team hits all the right notes. Players will recognize familiar tracks and new tracks.
I greatly appreciate the interconnected zones here, than in Torna due to the implementation of an increase in platforming and secrets. It’s not as deep as the intricate layers you see in Dark Souls. But zones flow seamlessly into other regions you will traverse and I found them to be a good length to explore and fight in. It’s not super large; to the extent you need to spend ‘x’ hours to reach one end of a zone into another zone. There is careful thought and precision by Monolith to make beautiful environments and secrets worth finding feel natural as past Xenoblade games were designed. And the expansion flourishes as a result. You do have new field mechanics to play around with, to reach new areas like repairing broken ladders. And other methods which I won’t say since it's better to experience that in-game. But suffice it to say I had fun exploring once again in Future Redeemed just like the past entries. Including X.
One last bit of praise. It is an absolute pleasure once again to see two familiar characters. There are so many moments, I have wished so hard in the past to witness and it has come to fruition now in Future Redeemed. So their presence creates a new dynamic I don't often see in Jrpg's or DLC expansions.
Moving on, while I consider the expansion excellent. There were some things that did tickle my mixed feelings. I don’t consider it a positive or a negative, but for the sake of transparency, I'm noting the qualities to let readers know ahead of time.
Certain unlocks for the characters you play are locked behind some side quests and through exploration, in secret areas, and opening relic chests. These will unlock gem unlocks, accessories, affinity growth charts, and arts. several can be easy to spot and therefore unlock whatever the above for each character at your leisure. But a small to decent chunk can be a bit tricky to spot. By the endgame, I had mostly everyone’s slots unlocked. With only a couple of my party members features locked since I wasn’t as thorough in exploring everything. Despite the fact I cleared 90%+ of every zone and completed I would say 95% of all sidequests. So this mix of forcing the player to unlock their innate features for each character feels a bit forced to make players explore. This is fine for me because I love to explore, except I also want to get most of my party member's abilities and features through natural-based progression. Meaning when a new chapter begins. Release a third of my parties accessories, arts, gems, and affinity growth charts locked status. I can understand why Monolith Soft tried to shake things up with this approach to encourage exploration which is worth seeing. Except for me, I’m left shaking my head at the potential my party could’ve had naturally instead of being forced to explore.
Secondly, I am flabbergasted by an important scene that was not properly labeled on the map with a giant exclamation point or affinity scene after witnessing a story cutscene in chapter 4. Which revealed massive lore context we needed from XC3. Without going into spoilers too much. Visit someone's(not going to say the name of the character’s) workshop after viewing the story cutscene on a mountain(located at a high elevation) in chapter 4. This will happen naturally, but players need to go back to the workshop to notice the scene. The map does not display it. Hopefully, this is a bug and the developers missed it. But as a Xeno lore dude, I'm shaking my head, if people miss the scene. So please don’t forget about checking the workshop!
Another point of mixed feeling would’ve been further time to flesh out two characters. Not going to say names, since this is a non-spoiler review. But, I consider two of the cast within the expansion, somewhat needing extra development and cutscenes to shine. There are familiar cast members that kinda take out the spotlight from the two characters and as a result, they don’t shine as much in my eyes. While understandable due to other characters' sheer presence, I think additional affinity scenes could’ve been used to delve deeper into the bonds of our party and create a cohesive party at hand. Thereby, allowing the cast to bond thoroughly and make the endgame stand out a just a little bit larger.
Not a nitpick at the endgame chapters. Since I consider it a fitting farewell to the trilogy. The expansion has the weight and reach of the first game. The grand presence of the second game and the lessons learned from Torna in creating side quests that are not needed to progress through the story by community levels. Expands what we already know in the third game, Delving deep into the missing context and cues we so desperately needed and wished for. And I would say the developers delivered so much. It is exactly what I needed from Takahashi and his team. The connection of the past and future is connected, all while capturing the wonderful magic that is unique in every Xeno game. With a great main cast and soulful music once again struck me deep in the heart. Satisfying gameplay loop and worthwhile cutscenes every Xeno series fan needs to experience. It’s been an incredible journey seeing how far they’ve come since the first Xenoblade game and from the time of Xenogears. For any Xeno series fan. This expansion is easily a must-play. And for us long-time fans since Gears and Saga. One to not miss out on.
9/10
Edit: Grammar and replacing repeated words
Edit 2: On my 2nd point above regarding a scene not being labeled properly. It actually is labeled on the map. The point of interest is covered by a hammer icon. Thanks to my friend @TehLostOne for the correction.
I was captivated by the countless affinity scenes(moments you can see out in the world without any level or party member requirement) that struck me the most with the experience of all the past Xenoblade Chronicles games. And while, I wish there were even more to the point of fan service. I understand why Monolith Soft didn’t do so. It’s a delicate thread to balance for the fans to an extent they will be satisfied without over-gorging too much. And yet I am astounded at how great these scenes I saw within the expansion that evoked a sense of satisfaction. Some were bittersweet, some heartwarming, and some I couldn’t help but be amused at the sheer cheekiness. It is Xenoblade through and through. So you will experience a wide range in the emotional spectrum.
Gameplay didn’t change much like in Torna. The Xenoblade 3 combat system makes a welcome return, with the addition of unity combos and unity setups to mix things up a bit. Familiar and a mix of unfamiliar systems in place to capture player interest more into the gameplay-focus of Xenoblade. I thought the systems were decent. Didn’t need to go too complex or too simple. There is plenty of customization here as well. And I felt the tutorials do a good job explaining the old and new mechanics. Music as expected of Monolith Soft's composer team hits all the right notes. Players will recognize familiar tracks and new tracks.
I greatly appreciate the interconnected zones here, than in Torna due to the implementation of an increase in platforming and secrets. It’s not as deep as the intricate layers you see in Dark Souls. But zones flow seamlessly into other regions you will traverse and I found them to be a good length to explore and fight in. It’s not super large; to the extent you need to spend ‘x’ hours to reach one end of a zone into another zone. There is careful thought and precision by Monolith to make beautiful environments and secrets worth finding feel natural as past Xenoblade games were designed. And the expansion flourishes as a result. You do have new field mechanics to play around with, to reach new areas like repairing broken ladders. And other methods which I won’t say since it's better to experience that in-game. But suffice it to say I had fun exploring once again in Future Redeemed just like the past entries. Including X.
One last bit of praise. It is an absolute pleasure once again to see two familiar characters. There are so many moments, I have wished so hard in the past to witness and it has come to fruition now in Future Redeemed. So their presence creates a new dynamic I don't often see in Jrpg's or DLC expansions.
Moving on, while I consider the expansion excellent. There were some things that did tickle my mixed feelings. I don’t consider it a positive or a negative, but for the sake of transparency, I'm noting the qualities to let readers know ahead of time.
Certain unlocks for the characters you play are locked behind some side quests and through exploration, in secret areas, and opening relic chests. These will unlock gem unlocks, accessories, affinity growth charts, and arts. several can be easy to spot and therefore unlock whatever the above for each character at your leisure. But a small to decent chunk can be a bit tricky to spot. By the endgame, I had mostly everyone’s slots unlocked. With only a couple of my party members features locked since I wasn’t as thorough in exploring everything. Despite the fact I cleared 90%+ of every zone and completed I would say 95% of all sidequests. So this mix of forcing the player to unlock their innate features for each character feels a bit forced to make players explore. This is fine for me because I love to explore, except I also want to get most of my party member's abilities and features through natural-based progression. Meaning when a new chapter begins. Release a third of my parties accessories, arts, gems, and affinity growth charts locked status. I can understand why Monolith Soft tried to shake things up with this approach to encourage exploration which is worth seeing. Except for me, I’m left shaking my head at the potential my party could’ve had naturally instead of being forced to explore.
Secondly, I am flabbergasted by an important scene that was not properly labeled on the map with a giant exclamation point or affinity scene after witnessing a story cutscene in chapter 4. Which revealed massive lore context we needed from XC3. Without going into spoilers too much. Visit someone's(not going to say the name of the character’s) workshop after viewing the story cutscene on a mountain(located at a high elevation) in chapter 4. This will happen naturally, but players need to go back to the workshop to notice the scene. The map does not display it. Hopefully, this is a bug and the developers missed it. But as a Xeno lore dude, I'm shaking my head, if people miss the scene. So please don’t forget about checking the workshop!
Another point of mixed feeling would’ve been further time to flesh out two characters. Not going to say names, since this is a non-spoiler review. But, I consider two of the cast within the expansion, somewhat needing extra development and cutscenes to shine. There are familiar cast members that kinda take out the spotlight from the two characters and as a result, they don’t shine as much in my eyes. While understandable due to other characters' sheer presence, I think additional affinity scenes could’ve been used to delve deeper into the bonds of our party and create a cohesive party at hand. Thereby, allowing the cast to bond thoroughly and make the endgame stand out a just a little bit larger.
Not a nitpick at the endgame chapters. Since I consider it a fitting farewell to the trilogy. The expansion has the weight and reach of the first game. The grand presence of the second game and the lessons learned from Torna in creating side quests that are not needed to progress through the story by community levels. Expands what we already know in the third game, Delving deep into the missing context and cues we so desperately needed and wished for. And I would say the developers delivered so much. It is exactly what I needed from Takahashi and his team. The connection of the past and future is connected, all while capturing the wonderful magic that is unique in every Xeno game. With a great main cast and soulful music once again struck me deep in the heart. Satisfying gameplay loop and worthwhile cutscenes every Xeno series fan needs to experience. It’s been an incredible journey seeing how far they’ve come since the first Xenoblade game and from the time of Xenogears. For any Xeno series fan. This expansion is easily a must-play. And for us long-time fans since Gears and Saga. One to not miss out on.
9/10
Edit: Grammar and replacing repeated words
Edit 2: On my 2nd point above regarding a scene not being labeled properly. It actually is labeled on the map. The point of interest is covered by a hammer icon. Thanks to my friend @TehLostOne for the correction.
2016
"Trust me"
Been a long time since I played a great first-person shooter(FPS). And to my delight, Titanfall 2 exceeded my expectations beyond ‘great’. To the point, it has solidified into one of my favorite FPS games. Trust me, It’s a titanic achievement and one I feel deserves a review. So here it is.
You play as Jack Cooper. A run-of-the-mill rifleman in the distant future. Where humanity somehow has colonized other worlds and where titans, big hulking mechs you can pilot dominate the battlefield. He has been assigned to learn under a mentor who pilots a titan. However, after training, events spiral out of control and he must now stop a corporation called Interstellar Manufacturing Corporation(IMC) from launching a super weapon that threatens a militia planet called Harmony.
Outgunned, outmatched, and without any nearby allies it’s up to him to turn the tide. And boy does the game detail his journey throughout and whether or not he will succeed. Jack doesn’t start with much, but soon enough he can pilot a titan. A titan with personality and artificial intelligence. And one who can converse with Jack. This is an interesting mix to the FPS formula where usually I’m alone in combating many baddies with some occasional support from my allies. Here we see the bond between Jack and his titan called BT-7274(or BT for short) emerge and man it is one of the strongest points the game has to offer. Jack is young, inexperienced, and most of all doesn’t know how to pilot a Titan. And yet BT has no problem showing him the ropes. Awesome to see and integrated, not half-baked either since there are plenty of moments where BT will mentor and guide Jack as they go up against the IMC. Providing a fascinating buddy companion who can think for themselves while allowing you to pilot them and work together to eliminate hostiles.
Super thumbs up on the gameplay. Providing a mirror's edge-esque ability to wall run and jump innately. Keeping the momentum fresh and not awkward. It feels good to go between walls again and again while evading enemy fire. And the checkpoint system here is very balanced, so you don’t lose a lot of progress going from one area to the next upon death. Level-wise it's linear, With areas to explore. Not always corridors either. There’s plenty of open space to explore here. And even better when the game will throw a puzzle here and there to keep the pace ongoing. I can hide using an innate stealth camo. And kill any enemies from behind. Jump into my titan and mow down enemies and seamlessly jump out and fight baddies without my Titan. Level design is very varied and I didn’t see much copy-paste design. Interesting biomes to see, fight and traverse, and enough to tinker your brain with puzzle segments and more. It doesn’t bedazzle us with explosions and more explosions without context. There is motive and purpose here as you progress through the plot to stopping the IMC.
Frenetic, yet balanced. This is how I’d describe the gameplay formula as you blaze your way through new areas. There are plenty of weapons scattered throughout the levels and I feel the game structures the weapon placement pretty well. There’s enough to be varied and quite a lot of grenades to choose from as well. So I didn’t have trouble picking new weaponry or looting ammo. If anything, the weapon diversity is included when you pilot a titan. With their own unique abilities equipped. Some can project a shield to reflect enemy fire. Launch multiple rockets. Place mines on a grid, launch a fire salvo or lay pound the ground and set the ground on fire in a vertical direction to burn soldiers. Each time you pick up a new weapon for BT, you can choose from more than five different weapon load-outs. Each with their own abilities attached and unique ultimate abilities too. Of course, you don’t unlock them all early on. You have to progress through the game to earn it.
I constantly used different titan weaponry load-outs as I fought baddies. You’ll use them extensively since you can’t just mow down enemies inside a titan all day. And its incredibly boring using the same old weapon again and again. So I really love the fact you can switch to different load-outs you have available. There are fights with other larger enemies… So I made good use of which weapon and abilities I needed to combat them. I found those battles to be cool and enjoyed them thoroughly since each one offers a different combat advantage from the other enemies. Not going to say any more on that though. Best to experience it blind in my opinion. One last thing before I delve into my critique.
There is an aspect introduced part way, which elevated the game further in my eyes. It’s done in a way that feels natural and became one of my favorite moments. I want to gush about it more, but I don’t want to keep this review longer than intended.
Now, my mixed feelings.
I kind of wish the campaign was longer. I clocked in at just a little over five hours and every moment was savored throughout the game. I feel just a bit more length could’ve propelled the stronger points to greater heights and explored a deeper sense of world-building in the sense of who and what kind of military are we siding with at the beginning of the game and throughout. Titans history. How they function, how they came to be, their combat effectiveness, and any historical significance regarding major/minor battles in history. Jack Cooper’s background and more. We don’t learn much about him really in his past, his relationships with anyone he knows from familial to friends he made in the past. There are audio logs throughout the game, and I did listen to them. They provide extra detail in the world and characters which I appreciate, but still not enough. I think a codex would be a nice addition to learning more about the world and characters here.
While I did appreciate the short campaign nature. The additional missions could've helped let the game breathe so to speak. Granted there are moments, where the pace will let you slow down and breathe, but these moments are few and far in between to truly grasp the world here and the main plot. I feel Titanfall 2 fails in this aspect to immerse me further. I would've included cutscenes, to flesh out the main character and BT more. Along with the villains and side-cast as well. Moreover, briefings could be longer to let the player ask questions and delve more into the tactical, and strategic side of things. Thereby, allowing Jack and BT to have more moments to shine throughout the game and show more moments where it's not just fighting.
Additionally, this may be a hot take, but I would like a health bar to see when I'm fighting on foot. I died more on foot than my time piloting a titan. Since I could adjust and know when to retreat. Here the health bar is when the screen would darken with blood on all corners of my screen and would become larger the more Jack is hit. I feel this isn’t a good way to implement a health system. And while I appreciate the immersiveness of it, I think players would be better off with a visible health bar so they can know when to retreat and recover health naturally.
It's weird having these mixed feelings since there were plenty of moments that stood out to me. In areas where it does have strengths and lows where it needs improvement to go from excellent to truly masterful. There is potential here. And I am here for it. If the developers at Respawn Entertainment ever come back to making another Titanfall campaign.
And that’s it! I don't play a lot of FPS. But this one exceeded my expectations a lot. It doesn't boast the sheer scale of Halo. Nor does it reach the banter I love from the Bad Company games. Doesn't even touch the powerful abilities like Crysis. Nor delving deep into psychological themes like Spec Ops: The Line. Instead, Titanfall 2 shines in the sheer mobility of run and gun here. Interesting level design and transitions kept my interest afloat and I haven’t personally seen it done in other FPS games. Even going above and beyond by introducing an aspect I love and the developers deciding “Let’s go wack” only adds to the sheer balls of them to do so. And it just works. Fluidly and organically without throwing my suspense of disbelief and destroying it with a meteor strike. The fact you can pilot a mech and they can talk to you adds so much to the gameplay and level structure. Great bonding moments between man and machine. Easily a must-play for any FPS fan and even those curious to try an first person shooter for the first time.
8/10
Been a long time since I played a great first-person shooter(FPS). And to my delight, Titanfall 2 exceeded my expectations beyond ‘great’. To the point, it has solidified into one of my favorite FPS games. Trust me, It’s a titanic achievement and one I feel deserves a review. So here it is.
You play as Jack Cooper. A run-of-the-mill rifleman in the distant future. Where humanity somehow has colonized other worlds and where titans, big hulking mechs you can pilot dominate the battlefield. He has been assigned to learn under a mentor who pilots a titan. However, after training, events spiral out of control and he must now stop a corporation called Interstellar Manufacturing Corporation(IMC) from launching a super weapon that threatens a militia planet called Harmony.
Outgunned, outmatched, and without any nearby allies it’s up to him to turn the tide. And boy does the game detail his journey throughout and whether or not he will succeed. Jack doesn’t start with much, but soon enough he can pilot a titan. A titan with personality and artificial intelligence. And one who can converse with Jack. This is an interesting mix to the FPS formula where usually I’m alone in combating many baddies with some occasional support from my allies. Here we see the bond between Jack and his titan called BT-7274(or BT for short) emerge and man it is one of the strongest points the game has to offer. Jack is young, inexperienced, and most of all doesn’t know how to pilot a Titan. And yet BT has no problem showing him the ropes. Awesome to see and integrated, not half-baked either since there are plenty of moments where BT will mentor and guide Jack as they go up against the IMC. Providing a fascinating buddy companion who can think for themselves while allowing you to pilot them and work together to eliminate hostiles.
Super thumbs up on the gameplay. Providing a mirror's edge-esque ability to wall run and jump innately. Keeping the momentum fresh and not awkward. It feels good to go between walls again and again while evading enemy fire. And the checkpoint system here is very balanced, so you don’t lose a lot of progress going from one area to the next upon death. Level-wise it's linear, With areas to explore. Not always corridors either. There’s plenty of open space to explore here. And even better when the game will throw a puzzle here and there to keep the pace ongoing. I can hide using an innate stealth camo. And kill any enemies from behind. Jump into my titan and mow down enemies and seamlessly jump out and fight baddies without my Titan. Level design is very varied and I didn’t see much copy-paste design. Interesting biomes to see, fight and traverse, and enough to tinker your brain with puzzle segments and more. It doesn’t bedazzle us with explosions and more explosions without context. There is motive and purpose here as you progress through the plot to stopping the IMC.
Frenetic, yet balanced. This is how I’d describe the gameplay formula as you blaze your way through new areas. There are plenty of weapons scattered throughout the levels and I feel the game structures the weapon placement pretty well. There’s enough to be varied and quite a lot of grenades to choose from as well. So I didn’t have trouble picking new weaponry or looting ammo. If anything, the weapon diversity is included when you pilot a titan. With their own unique abilities equipped. Some can project a shield to reflect enemy fire. Launch multiple rockets. Place mines on a grid, launch a fire salvo or lay pound the ground and set the ground on fire in a vertical direction to burn soldiers. Each time you pick up a new weapon for BT, you can choose from more than five different weapon load-outs. Each with their own abilities attached and unique ultimate abilities too. Of course, you don’t unlock them all early on. You have to progress through the game to earn it.
I constantly used different titan weaponry load-outs as I fought baddies. You’ll use them extensively since you can’t just mow down enemies inside a titan all day. And its incredibly boring using the same old weapon again and again. So I really love the fact you can switch to different load-outs you have available. There are fights with other larger enemies… So I made good use of which weapon and abilities I needed to combat them. I found those battles to be cool and enjoyed them thoroughly since each one offers a different combat advantage from the other enemies. Not going to say any more on that though. Best to experience it blind in my opinion. One last thing before I delve into my critique.
There is an aspect introduced part way, which elevated the game further in my eyes. It’s done in a way that feels natural and became one of my favorite moments. I want to gush about it more, but I don’t want to keep this review longer than intended.
Now, my mixed feelings.
I kind of wish the campaign was longer. I clocked in at just a little over five hours and every moment was savored throughout the game. I feel just a bit more length could’ve propelled the stronger points to greater heights and explored a deeper sense of world-building in the sense of who and what kind of military are we siding with at the beginning of the game and throughout. Titans history. How they function, how they came to be, their combat effectiveness, and any historical significance regarding major/minor battles in history. Jack Cooper’s background and more. We don’t learn much about him really in his past, his relationships with anyone he knows from familial to friends he made in the past. There are audio logs throughout the game, and I did listen to them. They provide extra detail in the world and characters which I appreciate, but still not enough. I think a codex would be a nice addition to learning more about the world and characters here.
While I did appreciate the short campaign nature. The additional missions could've helped let the game breathe so to speak. Granted there are moments, where the pace will let you slow down and breathe, but these moments are few and far in between to truly grasp the world here and the main plot. I feel Titanfall 2 fails in this aspect to immerse me further. I would've included cutscenes, to flesh out the main character and BT more. Along with the villains and side-cast as well. Moreover, briefings could be longer to let the player ask questions and delve more into the tactical, and strategic side of things. Thereby, allowing Jack and BT to have more moments to shine throughout the game and show more moments where it's not just fighting.
Additionally, this may be a hot take, but I would like a health bar to see when I'm fighting on foot. I died more on foot than my time piloting a titan. Since I could adjust and know when to retreat. Here the health bar is when the screen would darken with blood on all corners of my screen and would become larger the more Jack is hit. I feel this isn’t a good way to implement a health system. And while I appreciate the immersiveness of it, I think players would be better off with a visible health bar so they can know when to retreat and recover health naturally.
It's weird having these mixed feelings since there were plenty of moments that stood out to me. In areas where it does have strengths and lows where it needs improvement to go from excellent to truly masterful. There is potential here. And I am here for it. If the developers at Respawn Entertainment ever come back to making another Titanfall campaign.
And that’s it! I don't play a lot of FPS. But this one exceeded my expectations a lot. It doesn't boast the sheer scale of Halo. Nor does it reach the banter I love from the Bad Company games. Doesn't even touch the powerful abilities like Crysis. Nor delving deep into psychological themes like Spec Ops: The Line. Instead, Titanfall 2 shines in the sheer mobility of run and gun here. Interesting level design and transitions kept my interest afloat and I haven’t personally seen it done in other FPS games. Even going above and beyond by introducing an aspect I love and the developers deciding “Let’s go wack” only adds to the sheer balls of them to do so. And it just works. Fluidly and organically without throwing my suspense of disbelief and destroying it with a meteor strike. The fact you can pilot a mech and they can talk to you adds so much to the gameplay and level structure. Great bonding moments between man and machine. Easily a must-play for any FPS fan and even those curious to try an first person shooter for the first time.
8/10
Front Mission Evolved is weird. Started well, but a bevy of issues kept the game’s momentum from realizing its full potential. Despite some good ideas here.
For starters. I like the Wanzer(mechs you pilot) combat. Kinda like Armored Core(AC). Except you’re mainly fighting on ground level compared to sometimes flighty combat in the AC series. Which surprised me quite a bit. But good lord there are so many things wrong here.
The characters... I wish I could say they're good... Nope. They're garbage and hold no likeability. And granted I didn't expect a great character out the gate, but I still would've liked a character who actually develops or at least in some form retain a bit of interesting personality. And I still didn't see it by the time endgame rolled around. Extremely predictable too as you progress through each Act. Of which there are five, but there are multiple missions within. Acts can take about an hour to complete more or less. Boss battles are pretty good here. Like a puzzled way to beat them and each one is different from the last. Sometimes those battles will be unfair, but re-customizing your Wanzer setup can mean the difference between victory and defeat.
The levels are alright. Early on you mainly fight on street levels. As you progress in each act they’ll take you to new mission levels where the setting changes depending on the biome. So you won’t be fighting Wanzers every day. Level designs are linear, with some leeway to collect collectibles. When you start on-foot sections those are small and have samey corridors too. There is a bit of an arcadey feeling here in that you can go replenish your Wanzer’s ammo and health. I kinda like this feature, since it allows the player to keep the momentum going. And I felt there were enough of them around to manage most levels.
I did not expect some new gameplay elements such as helicopter sections where you blast enemies to smithereens, which is also a nice way to earn income repeatedly if you’re short on cash.
And weirdly enough there are segments to fight on foot... Fighting outside your mech and having to duck behind boxes to eliminate enemies. Is… not good. Feels very janky for movement and combat making the experience not fun. On foot, enemies have basic a.i. Pop out of cover to shoot. Cover back to reload and repeat. You can use different weapons like a bazooka, SMG, shotgun, and more, but I didn’t feel the need since your setup is already powerful enough and enemies can be taken down in several shots. Honestly, the on-foot segments feel like the developers couldn’t realize the identity of the game and decided to mash different elements that feel half-baked. Can’t even try the multiplayer features since the online servers are down as far as I know. These half-measures make the single-player portion suffer and as a result, make the whole game have an identity crisis at times. I feel the developers should’ve stuck with Wanzer combat for every level and laid off on the on-foot combat and multiplayer to flesh out the single-player portion more since it does have some interesting boss fights and Wanzer customization where you can outfit your mech with different parts or weapons.
While not as intricate as Armored Core customization. I still like the developers' attempts for a lite outfit change here to equip different weapons and body parts. I just didn’t like some mission requirements where I had to equip different leg parts to start a mission. Feels forced and not very enjoyable since I wanted to outfit my Wanzer on a two-leg setup instead of a crab leg setup or the hover setup. In my opinion, removing the leg requirements would’ve allowed the player more freedom and thus made those particular missions more enjoyable than having to adjust how to use those leg setups.
The story is nothing to write home about except explosions with bigger explosions, however, I did appreciate how it held a narrative to follow from beginning to end... A narrative very thinly holding my interest. Despite the initial hook of the son trying to find his father. By endgame, all I cared about was whether the ending would redeem any of the critiques I have of the game. And sadly even that aspect failed.
There are so many things wrong here. But the Wanzer combat I feel the developers by Double Helix Games almost nails the feel of AC, but not quite there. Boss fights are interesting challenges. And Wanzer customization is the only nice things I could say about the game. And while I wish a lot of features in the game could’ve been cut and improved. The overall package feels like a janky-filled mess. I'd only recommend it for those who want to try more mecha games and for those who got the game on a solid deal.
6/10
For starters. I like the Wanzer(mechs you pilot) combat. Kinda like Armored Core(AC). Except you’re mainly fighting on ground level compared to sometimes flighty combat in the AC series. Which surprised me quite a bit. But good lord there are so many things wrong here.
The characters... I wish I could say they're good... Nope. They're garbage and hold no likeability. And granted I didn't expect a great character out the gate, but I still would've liked a character who actually develops or at least in some form retain a bit of interesting personality. And I still didn't see it by the time endgame rolled around. Extremely predictable too as you progress through each Act. Of which there are five, but there are multiple missions within. Acts can take about an hour to complete more or less. Boss battles are pretty good here. Like a puzzled way to beat them and each one is different from the last. Sometimes those battles will be unfair, but re-customizing your Wanzer setup can mean the difference between victory and defeat.
The levels are alright. Early on you mainly fight on street levels. As you progress in each act they’ll take you to new mission levels where the setting changes depending on the biome. So you won’t be fighting Wanzers every day. Level designs are linear, with some leeway to collect collectibles. When you start on-foot sections those are small and have samey corridors too. There is a bit of an arcadey feeling here in that you can go replenish your Wanzer’s ammo and health. I kinda like this feature, since it allows the player to keep the momentum going. And I felt there were enough of them around to manage most levels.
I did not expect some new gameplay elements such as helicopter sections where you blast enemies to smithereens, which is also a nice way to earn income repeatedly if you’re short on cash.
And weirdly enough there are segments to fight on foot... Fighting outside your mech and having to duck behind boxes to eliminate enemies. Is… not good. Feels very janky for movement and combat making the experience not fun. On foot, enemies have basic a.i. Pop out of cover to shoot. Cover back to reload and repeat. You can use different weapons like a bazooka, SMG, shotgun, and more, but I didn’t feel the need since your setup is already powerful enough and enemies can be taken down in several shots. Honestly, the on-foot segments feel like the developers couldn’t realize the identity of the game and decided to mash different elements that feel half-baked. Can’t even try the multiplayer features since the online servers are down as far as I know. These half-measures make the single-player portion suffer and as a result, make the whole game have an identity crisis at times. I feel the developers should’ve stuck with Wanzer combat for every level and laid off on the on-foot combat and multiplayer to flesh out the single-player portion more since it does have some interesting boss fights and Wanzer customization where you can outfit your mech with different parts or weapons.
While not as intricate as Armored Core customization. I still like the developers' attempts for a lite outfit change here to equip different weapons and body parts. I just didn’t like some mission requirements where I had to equip different leg parts to start a mission. Feels forced and not very enjoyable since I wanted to outfit my Wanzer on a two-leg setup instead of a crab leg setup or the hover setup. In my opinion, removing the leg requirements would’ve allowed the player more freedom and thus made those particular missions more enjoyable than having to adjust how to use those leg setups.
The story is nothing to write home about except explosions with bigger explosions, however, I did appreciate how it held a narrative to follow from beginning to end... A narrative very thinly holding my interest. Despite the initial hook of the son trying to find his father. By endgame, all I cared about was whether the ending would redeem any of the critiques I have of the game. And sadly even that aspect failed.
There are so many things wrong here. But the Wanzer combat I feel the developers by Double Helix Games almost nails the feel of AC, but not quite there. Boss fights are interesting challenges. And Wanzer customization is the only nice things I could say about the game. And while I wish a lot of features in the game could’ve been cut and improved. The overall package feels like a janky-filled mess. I'd only recommend it for those who want to try more mecha games and for those who got the game on a solid deal.
6/10
1998
I decided to try out Metal Gear Solid(MGS) for the 4th time to see if the game can hold my interest. I tried it on a whim for ten minutes. Those ten minutes became thirty minutes then an hour, then close to 2 hours before I needed to sleep. So suffice it to say, MGS has taken hold of me and won’t let go. Until I completed the game. So here's my review after the end credits are rolling.
Story-wise I found it very engrossing. Beyond a simple rescue mission and whether or not Snake can determine if the renegade unit called FOXHOUND have the capability to launch a nuclear strike. And stop them if they do. These two mission objectives I found were very clear cut in the beginning, however, there are many threads intertwined that keep the mystery and suspense piling up into I would say well-executed plot threads to intrigue the player on what’s underneath the surface of Shadow Moses in Alaska. You play as Solid Snake, a legendary infiltrator and saboteur. You can learn more about his past during his time on Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake in the menu. Alternatively, you can read them here. The game also has an exclusive cutscene if you linger in the main menu and briefings option to give players more context on Snake before the mission begins.
You don’t have much when you start the game. So exploring can help you in the long run like finding a cardboard box to evade enemies who do not realize an intruder is inside, ballistic weapons to shoot the soldiers in case you're caught and even C4 and grenades are here. If you need a bit more explosions to help matters. I love the Soliton radar system since it displays the enemies' range and you can see how far that extends in the environment. Thereby allowing the player to move Snake along pathways and nearby walls to evade enemy detection. Sound is also key, so you can’t expect to run everywhere. Soldiers can hear you running so it is a good idea to wait for them to walk away before moving along.
Stealth-wise I didn’t have much difficulty evading the enemies' patrols since the soliton radar system displays pretty much all I need to know about current enemy whereabouts. There are even items like the chaff grenade and stun grenade to jam cameras and stun all enemies which are very handy to abuse. Players can even choke enemies which I didn’t realize was an in-game feature until I read the manual after the end credits rolled…Cue facepalm… Be that as it may, I feel the beginning can be a bit rough for newcomers on where to go.
But, calling operation members in your codec is a nice way to refresh your main objective at times. I also deeply appreciate candid conversations whenever you talk to anyone on your codec. From Master Miller, you’ll receive tips on what to do. Campbell will remind you of your objective with Naomi chiming in. Mei Ling is the save option and positive reinforcement member of the operation, always there to lift your spirits. And more come along as you progress further into the game.
I often found myself calling my operation members after a major event or boss fight to see if they can offer any insightful tips/hints to solve my current dilemma.
To my delight, every boss encounter is given careful attention not to give too much away while also not being too vague. It strikes a delicate balance I found appreciated time and time again. I will admit I had times I wanted to google what to do, but I decided to make calls on my codec before I did. By the time the end credits rolled around, I noticed I finished a blind playthrough! It’s been so long since I made a genuine attempt at one. I can’t remember the last time I did. And man it is such a great feeling you were able to finish a game without getting spoiled on how to resolve a troublesome situation here. Although, I should note there is nothing wrong with using walkthroughs either. I usually use them when I'm in a pickle.
And yet here I am very surprised I withheld the urge. Due to the codec calls saving me every time. I wish more games had this feature implemented to allow the player to call an in-game hotline to help them. And I felt the codec calls were implemented in such a way I found naturally and not out of place since conversations occurred fluidly.
Levels are small; generally, you do have a somewhat linear path to follow with other areas to explore around Shadow Moses. Usually, when you're in an elevator you can access different floors that can range from filled with soldiers on patrol to not so many soldiers on patrol. These floors have low to high-clearance rooms. You can only enter if you have the correct level keycard. As you progress further into the game you will attain more high-clearance cards. This makes backtracking in the early and mid-game, not a big deal. And I found my time passing by quickly due to the bite-sized levels. It is pretty cool finding additional items along the way if you enter the prone position and first-person view to see tucked-away items, you don’t normally see from the overhead camera view.
However, I would like to point out there were two points that kinda soured my experience with the game. Not so much to make it a big deal. But it caused the pacing to halt in a way. One occurs midway to the endgame where I have to backtrack to the first location to retrieve an item essential to progress. The other time required me to keep coming back and forth. This occurred very late game and honestly wish the backtracking could’ve been lessened. It’s not a big detriment, but it's like putting the brakes on the story content and makes the player go through filler in a way. And to progress past that hurdle you need to go back to certain areas multiple times. Granted, after thinking heavily on the matter for some time, I realize Kojima probably added it in to give characters a bit more room to flesh out due to the codec calls you receive. Which provides massive ramifications to the game’s storyline being unfolded. So ultimately I have mixed feelings regarding that. Not a positive or a negative. A more well known reviewer @Drax touches upon that aspect more in their review you can see here. And I agree with their suggestion on new areas instead. Fair warning it does contain spoilers throughout the game.
That’s the only major critique I found for the game and in a minor aspect the slight jank in shooting and movement controls. The latter was a bit alleviated by switching to analog mode on my PS3 to make use of the analog sticks instead of the directional buttons. I think I would’ve appreciated a bit more rations(they are the only items to restore my health as far as I know) just in case my health went under. I had to abuse ration locations and re-enter the area to refill my stock of them.
Still the game holds up pretty well besides these issues I stated above.
On Snake’s character I found his demeanor and habits to be a refreshing take on protagonists I've seen thus far in the series. He’s gruff, honest, really loves to smoke and engages in casual flirting, but also doesn’t like shady bullshit which I love. You learn quite a bit about his character in various codec calls and the people you meet during your infiltration. One encounter made me nod my head several times concerning two males and one female he meets along the way. Without going into spoilers, the female encounter with Snake and subsequently throughout the game is one I found to be one of the game's strongest points. We see Snake take on a different role I love to see. And one I feel demonstrates so much more than his character of being a ‘legend’ so to speak. One male he meets displays a different side to Snake and while he doesn’t get a lot of attention I found his character and development to be interesting as well as genuine. I can’t help but root for the guy ya know. The final character is one I deeply respect for their encounter with Snake while unveiling parts of a ‘character's’ background and relationship I didn’t expect.
It is these encounters with Snake and more that transform him from a “Legend” into something deeper.
Speaking of going deeper, I'll hit the ‘throat’ of the game so to speak. There’s quite a bit of villain monologue here which I didn’t mind since I love long cutscenes. They can range from under five minutes to over five minutes. And granted villains don't always monologue. Sometimes conversations will occur on codec or when Snake talks to someone in a cutscene. So bear that in mind when playing the game. Speaking of cutscenes, I love how they’re done in the game. And see why it's warmly and fondly praised among the fans. They can range from intense action scenes to interesting conversation encounters. Adding tension and mystery where scenes needed it. And even FMV clips are included too! Honestly, seeing the cutscene work here reminded me heavily of my time playing through Vagrant story. I can see how much cinematic work was involved there and how that inspired Yasumi Matsuno during development because of Metal Gear Solid. You can read more about that here. Where Matsuno has a long conversation with none other than Hideo Kojima.
During my eleven-and-a-half-hour playthrough on normal difficulty. I felt the game played like a spy action thriller with many intense cutscenes in the game. And those moments only enhanced my experience with the game greatly. So kudos to you Kojima and your team for all the wonderful cutscenes. And the music during those moments spliced together wonderfully providing a mix of cinematic music, and orchestral at times. Graphically, I think the PS1 version of the game holds up. And many voice actors here performed very well. David Hayter voicing Snake is the most memorable to me. But the villains also hit a lot of notes I found to be menacing while almost comical to me. Snake’s codec calls to various members are also pretty good.
In conclusion, Metal Gear Solid is a fantastic game from Hideo Kojima on the PlayStation 1 and one I feel touches on a lot of relative themes concerning current world events in 2022/2023. Had a blast and the countless “Snakeeeeeeeeeeeee!” Being heard on the screen never got old to hear. Worth a playthrough for any newcomers curious about tactical espionage action games or want to dive into a Kojima game. Really looking forward to playing Metal Gear Solid 2 when I get around to it.
8/10
- For those who have played the game already. I’ll hint at the character’s name I mentioned above in my review here.
The female with the starting letter M and ends with L
The first male with the starting letter O and ends with N
The second male with the starting letter G and ends with X
Story-wise I found it very engrossing. Beyond a simple rescue mission and whether or not Snake can determine if the renegade unit called FOXHOUND have the capability to launch a nuclear strike. And stop them if they do. These two mission objectives I found were very clear cut in the beginning, however, there are many threads intertwined that keep the mystery and suspense piling up into I would say well-executed plot threads to intrigue the player on what’s underneath the surface of Shadow Moses in Alaska. You play as Solid Snake, a legendary infiltrator and saboteur. You can learn more about his past during his time on Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake in the menu. Alternatively, you can read them here. The game also has an exclusive cutscene if you linger in the main menu and briefings option to give players more context on Snake before the mission begins.
You don’t have much when you start the game. So exploring can help you in the long run like finding a cardboard box to evade enemies who do not realize an intruder is inside, ballistic weapons to shoot the soldiers in case you're caught and even C4 and grenades are here. If you need a bit more explosions to help matters. I love the Soliton radar system since it displays the enemies' range and you can see how far that extends in the environment. Thereby allowing the player to move Snake along pathways and nearby walls to evade enemy detection. Sound is also key, so you can’t expect to run everywhere. Soldiers can hear you running so it is a good idea to wait for them to walk away before moving along.
Stealth-wise I didn’t have much difficulty evading the enemies' patrols since the soliton radar system displays pretty much all I need to know about current enemy whereabouts. There are even items like the chaff grenade and stun grenade to jam cameras and stun all enemies which are very handy to abuse. Players can even choke enemies which I didn’t realize was an in-game feature until I read the manual after the end credits rolled…Cue facepalm… Be that as it may, I feel the beginning can be a bit rough for newcomers on where to go.
But, calling operation members in your codec is a nice way to refresh your main objective at times. I also deeply appreciate candid conversations whenever you talk to anyone on your codec. From Master Miller, you’ll receive tips on what to do. Campbell will remind you of your objective with Naomi chiming in. Mei Ling is the save option and positive reinforcement member of the operation, always there to lift your spirits. And more come along as you progress further into the game.
I often found myself calling my operation members after a major event or boss fight to see if they can offer any insightful tips/hints to solve my current dilemma.
To my delight, every boss encounter is given careful attention not to give too much away while also not being too vague. It strikes a delicate balance I found appreciated time and time again. I will admit I had times I wanted to google what to do, but I decided to make calls on my codec before I did. By the time the end credits rolled around, I noticed I finished a blind playthrough! It’s been so long since I made a genuine attempt at one. I can’t remember the last time I did. And man it is such a great feeling you were able to finish a game without getting spoiled on how to resolve a troublesome situation here. Although, I should note there is nothing wrong with using walkthroughs either. I usually use them when I'm in a pickle.
And yet here I am very surprised I withheld the urge. Due to the codec calls saving me every time. I wish more games had this feature implemented to allow the player to call an in-game hotline to help them. And I felt the codec calls were implemented in such a way I found naturally and not out of place since conversations occurred fluidly.
Levels are small; generally, you do have a somewhat linear path to follow with other areas to explore around Shadow Moses. Usually, when you're in an elevator you can access different floors that can range from filled with soldiers on patrol to not so many soldiers on patrol. These floors have low to high-clearance rooms. You can only enter if you have the correct level keycard. As you progress further into the game you will attain more high-clearance cards. This makes backtracking in the early and mid-game, not a big deal. And I found my time passing by quickly due to the bite-sized levels. It is pretty cool finding additional items along the way if you enter the prone position and first-person view to see tucked-away items, you don’t normally see from the overhead camera view.
However, I would like to point out there were two points that kinda soured my experience with the game. Not so much to make it a big deal. But it caused the pacing to halt in a way. One occurs midway to the endgame where I have to backtrack to the first location to retrieve an item essential to progress. The other time required me to keep coming back and forth. This occurred very late game and honestly wish the backtracking could’ve been lessened. It’s not a big detriment, but it's like putting the brakes on the story content and makes the player go through filler in a way. And to progress past that hurdle you need to go back to certain areas multiple times. Granted, after thinking heavily on the matter for some time, I realize Kojima probably added it in to give characters a bit more room to flesh out due to the codec calls you receive. Which provides massive ramifications to the game’s storyline being unfolded. So ultimately I have mixed feelings regarding that. Not a positive or a negative. A more well known reviewer @Drax touches upon that aspect more in their review you can see here. And I agree with their suggestion on new areas instead. Fair warning it does contain spoilers throughout the game.
That’s the only major critique I found for the game and in a minor aspect the slight jank in shooting and movement controls. The latter was a bit alleviated by switching to analog mode on my PS3 to make use of the analog sticks instead of the directional buttons. I think I would’ve appreciated a bit more rations(they are the only items to restore my health as far as I know) just in case my health went under. I had to abuse ration locations and re-enter the area to refill my stock of them.
Still the game holds up pretty well besides these issues I stated above.
On Snake’s character I found his demeanor and habits to be a refreshing take on protagonists I've seen thus far in the series. He’s gruff, honest, really loves to smoke and engages in casual flirting, but also doesn’t like shady bullshit which I love. You learn quite a bit about his character in various codec calls and the people you meet during your infiltration. One encounter made me nod my head several times concerning two males and one female he meets along the way. Without going into spoilers, the female encounter with Snake and subsequently throughout the game is one I found to be one of the game's strongest points. We see Snake take on a different role I love to see. And one I feel demonstrates so much more than his character of being a ‘legend’ so to speak. One male he meets displays a different side to Snake and while he doesn’t get a lot of attention I found his character and development to be interesting as well as genuine. I can’t help but root for the guy ya know. The final character is one I deeply respect for their encounter with Snake while unveiling parts of a ‘character's’ background and relationship I didn’t expect.
It is these encounters with Snake and more that transform him from a “Legend” into something deeper.
Speaking of going deeper, I'll hit the ‘throat’ of the game so to speak. There’s quite a bit of villain monologue here which I didn’t mind since I love long cutscenes. They can range from under five minutes to over five minutes. And granted villains don't always monologue. Sometimes conversations will occur on codec or when Snake talks to someone in a cutscene. So bear that in mind when playing the game. Speaking of cutscenes, I love how they’re done in the game. And see why it's warmly and fondly praised among the fans. They can range from intense action scenes to interesting conversation encounters. Adding tension and mystery where scenes needed it. And even FMV clips are included too! Honestly, seeing the cutscene work here reminded me heavily of my time playing through Vagrant story. I can see how much cinematic work was involved there and how that inspired Yasumi Matsuno during development because of Metal Gear Solid. You can read more about that here. Where Matsuno has a long conversation with none other than Hideo Kojima.
During my eleven-and-a-half-hour playthrough on normal difficulty. I felt the game played like a spy action thriller with many intense cutscenes in the game. And those moments only enhanced my experience with the game greatly. So kudos to you Kojima and your team for all the wonderful cutscenes. And the music during those moments spliced together wonderfully providing a mix of cinematic music, and orchestral at times. Graphically, I think the PS1 version of the game holds up. And many voice actors here performed very well. David Hayter voicing Snake is the most memorable to me. But the villains also hit a lot of notes I found to be menacing while almost comical to me. Snake’s codec calls to various members are also pretty good.
In conclusion, Metal Gear Solid is a fantastic game from Hideo Kojima on the PlayStation 1 and one I feel touches on a lot of relative themes concerning current world events in 2022/2023. Had a blast and the countless “Snakeeeeeeeeeeeee!” Being heard on the screen never got old to hear. Worth a playthrough for any newcomers curious about tactical espionage action games or want to dive into a Kojima game. Really looking forward to playing Metal Gear Solid 2 when I get around to it.
8/10
- For those who have played the game already. I’ll hint at the character’s name I mentioned above in my review here.
The female with the starting letter M and ends with L
The first male with the starting letter O and ends with N
The second male with the starting letter G and ends with X