Etanks
Interesting space opera which is unfortunately attached to a video game. But at least the video game has an in game glossary!
2019
Successfully scratches the rougelite deckbuilder without digging those claws painfully into your back.
2021
Litmus test for how badly you need to have you hand held in understanding a piece of media both mechanically and conceptually.
It's a great sequel. I did a whole writeup where I expressed my feelings broadly, but I also liked played this game.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JeBoClwQsk1lkZeojl-pcyXqeH0ilbQd/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=105638862064083509456&rtpof=true&sd=true
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JeBoClwQsk1lkZeojl-pcyXqeH0ilbQd/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=105638862064083509456&rtpof=true&sd=true
2022
Beeny!
2011
A lot of JRPGs fail at the most obvious, but most central driving force behind your investment into a story: characters.
Who is our cast? What are their motivations, flaws, aspirations? Not every game has to be Macbeth, but if you're promised a good story, you should be rewarded with something more substantial than your average shonen manga.
It's a long story but it has tremendous payoffs. However- oh shit this has an entire video game, with sword and magic and healing and a giant puppet golem. There's a great big story about an ancient ever-present and governing prophecy, a huge conspiracy created by the planet itself, and all sorts of good themes like the meaning of self and the limits and definitions of humanity. You'll love the part they go to the resort spa!
The game is pretty tight, it improves on a lot of areas of previous entries to make a once clunky game into a responsive fast spectacle. Additions and gimmicks became a somewhat solidified part of series staples like tangible overlimit and elementally altered artes. Continuations of traditions like mini-games, coliseum cameos, and additional costumes are carried out at their nearly complete form compared to modern standards.
This is the ~50 hour jrpg you should just please PLEASE force yourself to the 10 hour mark to let it sink its claws into you.
Who is our cast? What are their motivations, flaws, aspirations? Not every game has to be Macbeth, but if you're promised a good story, you should be rewarded with something more substantial than your average shonen manga.
It's a long story but it has tremendous payoffs. However- oh shit this has an entire video game, with sword and magic and healing and a giant puppet golem. There's a great big story about an ancient ever-present and governing prophecy, a huge conspiracy created by the planet itself, and all sorts of good themes like the meaning of self and the limits and definitions of humanity. You'll love the part they go to the resort spa!
The game is pretty tight, it improves on a lot of areas of previous entries to make a once clunky game into a responsive fast spectacle. Additions and gimmicks became a somewhat solidified part of series staples like tangible overlimit and elementally altered artes. Continuations of traditions like mini-games, coliseum cameos, and additional costumes are carried out at their nearly complete form compared to modern standards.
This is the ~50 hour jrpg you should just please PLEASE force yourself to the 10 hour mark to let it sink its claws into you.
2002
A game that is convincing you with sincere passion that this is the MOST FUN thing you've ever played. And sometimes, that's worth something in of itself, but not everything.
It gets good 80 hours in
Games are puzzles to be solved with a definitive win and lose state.
Get 1st Place
Beat the Level
Defeat the opposition
This game follows those conventions but your route to completion is an incredibly open matrix of decisions.
Monster raising games specialize on showing the player tangible representations of growth with stronger and cooler monsters, however the path to that growth in Dragon Warrior Monsters 2 is so non linear that unless you are copying inputs two players will not travel on the same throughline of decision making.
The example of the time, Pokemon, suffered from a flaw that two players going through the game normally won't have THAT exciting trade opportunities, there will be very few that Player 2 has seen that Player 1 is excited to share on the playground.
This game's freedom in the monster breeding system combined with the list of over 300 Monsters, which similar series only managed to reach a handheld generation away, challenges endless experimentation as you create stronger and more quick-witted companions.
Simple systems mask a deep experience where the player is engaged as they plan for future generations of monsters.
Get 1st Place
Beat the Level
Defeat the opposition
This game follows those conventions but your route to completion is an incredibly open matrix of decisions.
Monster raising games specialize on showing the player tangible representations of growth with stronger and cooler monsters, however the path to that growth in Dragon Warrior Monsters 2 is so non linear that unless you are copying inputs two players will not travel on the same throughline of decision making.
The example of the time, Pokemon, suffered from a flaw that two players going through the game normally won't have THAT exciting trade opportunities, there will be very few that Player 2 has seen that Player 1 is excited to share on the playground.
This game's freedom in the monster breeding system combined with the list of over 300 Monsters, which similar series only managed to reach a handheld generation away, challenges endless experimentation as you create stronger and more quick-witted companions.
Simple systems mask a deep experience where the player is engaged as they plan for future generations of monsters.
Every man dreams at least once of being the world's strongest... It does vary a bit... but everyone dreams of it. But everyone gives up on it at some point... When they lose a fight with their brother, when they run into a bully, when they learn the pain of their father's fists...Most people wind up moving on to other dreams. But... there's still a handful of men who refuse to give up on matter what, no matter who they run into, no matter how much they age...Ridiculous as it is...
Reviewing Final Mix although the vast majority of my time spent is on the vanilla version.
A game with so much love and dedication it's hard to believe it came from 2 megacorps.
A pivotal leap forward for so many genres all at once, not just in gameplay, but in presentation and interfacing.
How a game plays, presents itself, and profoundly impresses itself on you is something we all are familiar with. We all have that one game, this is that game for me.
A game with so much love and dedication it's hard to believe it came from 2 megacorps.
A pivotal leap forward for so many genres all at once, not just in gameplay, but in presentation and interfacing.
How a game plays, presents itself, and profoundly impresses itself on you is something we all are familiar with. We all have that one game, this is that game for me.
Ingenious timewaster game. The microgames are the initial allure and focus but the real prize is just the sheer lineup of variety on display.
A perfectly paced game with enough secrets and tricks to make any replay a delight.
For a game with a 4th grade reading level, it communicates a lot with very few lines. While the story writing isn't the pull of any game with Mario, you'll be surprised with how much fun it is to explore the world through its characters.
Combat is quick and satisfying with a growing arsenal of combo moves giving the brothers a varied toolbox of attacks to defeat a great bestiary of foes. The true joy of the combat is in observing the enemies for their tells, leading to a hypothetical skill ceiling of a damageless run.
Optional content is not grandiose, rather small bursts of content for rewards that range from simple to overpowered, but the story progression is a constant train of fun set pieces.
Great music by Yoko Shimomura and stellar pixel graphics that pop be it on handheld or console, presentation is top notch as series cameos & concepts will please anyone who loves Mario.
For a game with a 4th grade reading level, it communicates a lot with very few lines. While the story writing isn't the pull of any game with Mario, you'll be surprised with how much fun it is to explore the world through its characters.
Combat is quick and satisfying with a growing arsenal of combo moves giving the brothers a varied toolbox of attacks to defeat a great bestiary of foes. The true joy of the combat is in observing the enemies for their tells, leading to a hypothetical skill ceiling of a damageless run.
Optional content is not grandiose, rather small bursts of content for rewards that range from simple to overpowered, but the story progression is a constant train of fun set pieces.
Great music by Yoko Shimomura and stellar pixel graphics that pop be it on handheld or console, presentation is top notch as series cameos & concepts will please anyone who loves Mario.