EldritchAutomato
2024
Business practices surrounding this game aside, this is a good RPG with great combat and a fun world to explore. It is however marred by a forgettable narrative and a puzzling lack of quality of life features. There is an excellent foundation here to build upon, all Capcom has to do is add to it with quality expansions.
A marked improvement over Cold Steel 3 in many respects. Though it suffers from a meandering Act 2, the vast majority of the game is filled to the brim with interesting events, revelations, and long-coming character conclusions. Though the Erebonia Arc has long outstayed its welcome, I can at least say for me personally, it ended on a high note.
2020
A monumental achievement. Some performance issues abound but they are vastly overshadowed by the sheer quality and volume of content on display. This is the gold standard for what every game calling itself an RPG should inspire to be; an experience where choices matter with great replayability. It'll be a game I return to throughout the rest of my life.
Just beat my first playthrough and it was wonderful. My only complaint is that the bosses felt a little to Souls-like if you get my drift, but other than that little nitpick, I love almost everything about this game. I even enjoyed the story and how it was presented. Jumping back into this immediately to do 2 more playthroughs.
I already thought 1 was the worst out of the trilogy due to characters that didn't personally resonate with me and a combat system that is boring, and not much has changed here. Melia fans will be eating good in this epilogue chapter but it just wasn't for me. Only played and beat it so that I know that I played everything in the Klaus saga.
2023
I never played a Resident Evil game, much less Resident Evil 4. This game however, made me a fan. I can't recall many experiences like this one that had me engaged from start to end. The combat is so well designed, the game blends action and horror like nothing I've ever seen, and the characters are enjoyable. This game is a new favorite, easily earning its favorite of my personal video game pantheon.
2023
Honestly if there are any flaws here in this title, they are so minor that they are practically inconsequential. This is a wonderful game that hearkens back to the days of PS2 and GameCube but with a rhythmic twist. Rare is the game that can have me grinning ear to ear like an idiot from start to finish. The characters are charming, its animated superbly, the music is incredible, the combat is satisfying, and eventually I'll run out of adjectives if I keep going. It feels tight and consistent, like there was a plan and it was stuck to throughout its entire development. And finally, Its game that I can wholeheartedly say that I suck at, but still enjoy the experience despite myself. Out of everything I've gushed about so far, that's the most impressive bit. This game needs a physical copy stat. I want it in my collection.
2023
There's so much love and care put into this game to immerse you in the world of Harry Potter that its easy to forgive it for the things that it doesn't do so well. However it must be said that the gear system needed reworking, the story could have been more interesting, and the open-world could have felt a tad less copy and pasted with the same activities over and over again. Still, the combat is surprisingly good, the flying is very enjoyable, some of the character side-quests are better than the main story, and when you are in Hogwarts itself (or other hamlets) this game just oozes comf. From a first showing from Portkey Games, this is impressive.
2022
As of this writing, the reviews on this site sit this game at a 3.5 which coincidentally lines up with my own experience.
Past all the technical issues, this Pokemon game has a really fun gameplay loop, an endearing story, good music, cool new Pokemon designs, and fun new mechanics. The ambition and vision is there, but its all hampered by the infamous technical issues and embarassing graphical showing for which there is no excuse.
Ultimately I had a lot of fun, but when games like Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and the Witcher 3 both run in a playable state situations like that of Pokemon Scarlet should absolutely not happen. GameFreak needs to do better. Gamefreak needs to BE better.
Past all the technical issues, this Pokemon game has a really fun gameplay loop, an endearing story, good music, cool new Pokemon designs, and fun new mechanics. The ambition and vision is there, but its all hampered by the infamous technical issues and embarassing graphical showing for which there is no excuse.
Ultimately I had a lot of fun, but when games like Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and the Witcher 3 both run in a playable state situations like that of Pokemon Scarlet should absolutely not happen. GameFreak needs to do better. Gamefreak needs to BE better.
This was a odd, but enjoyable blend of cute, wholesome, comedic and scary at the same time. The most surprising thing though was how varied some of the gameplay was. I was honestly expecting just a run of the mill visual novel, but it actually has some well implemented point and click puzzle adventure elements as well. For fans of the Cthulhu mythos who have no problem with a game that takes major creative liberties with its source material, I would recommend this.
2021
This is my first Shin Megami Tensei game. I played on normal and all I have to say was that I found it to be an incredible experience. While it is slightly held back by a minimal plot due to its lack of human characterization (I'm not expecting Persona here, just better execution of its characters within the time that is allotted to them), the game more than makes up for it with one of the best turn based systems I've had the pleasure to play. A system so good, that when combined with fusing demons, it carried me through 70 hours of playtime. For a game to do that when its story is subpar is phenomenal. The environments while lacking variety, are a joy to explore and the experimental soundscapes that the game possesses transported me to a terrifying, ethereal world. I could say more but I wanted to keep it short here. I'll summarize with this. Shin Megami Tensei is a must play for any fans of turn based RPGS. Don't let the difficulty fool you, it is absolutely a challenge on normal but its a fun sort of challening with very few frustrating points (at least on normal difficulty). I think you owe it to yourself to at least give the game a shot.