ExAndOh
2005
Suda's magnum opus, seven killers try to make sense of it all
Killer7 is an action adventure game with elements of rail shooting by Grasshopper Manufacture with the aid of Capcom originally for the GameCube and PS2 with a PC version arriving in 2018. This game manages to nail atmosphere, the characters and manages to nail a graphical style and themes that holds up even today especially now. It manages to be extremely serious and dark yet maintain some weird ass humor that doesn't feel out of place.
I sorta went into this game from seeing the title "killer7" that it was gonna going to be about 7 random killers or something but it ended up being much more interesting in concept as you control 7 "killers/persona" with unique abilities, weapons and personality. The way they're designed is extremely unique and meshes well with the cel shading. The soundtrack here is also solid with the "safe room/harman's room" really manages to sell an eerie and mysterious vibe to the whole concept of what your collective really is. The game itself just oozes style from playing the levels, the shooting and even reloading gives you a third person view of your character doing it to really show off the work the animators did for this game.
I think the on rail controls work well for the most part but they aren't perfect along with some of the enemy variants in certain levels. After a certain point, the levels while really good started to feel a bit stale after I've used ever killer to my heart's content.
I don't really even feel like calling this game but more of an experience at this point. The gameplay bogged it down for me a bit but this game is fucking crazy and makes me see why people love Suda51 as a creator.
Killer7 is an action adventure game with elements of rail shooting by Grasshopper Manufacture with the aid of Capcom originally for the GameCube and PS2 with a PC version arriving in 2018. This game manages to nail atmosphere, the characters and manages to nail a graphical style and themes that holds up even today especially now. It manages to be extremely serious and dark yet maintain some weird ass humor that doesn't feel out of place.
I sorta went into this game from seeing the title "killer7" that it was gonna going to be about 7 random killers or something but it ended up being much more interesting in concept as you control 7 "killers/persona" with unique abilities, weapons and personality. The way they're designed is extremely unique and meshes well with the cel shading. The soundtrack here is also solid with the "safe room/harman's room" really manages to sell an eerie and mysterious vibe to the whole concept of what your collective really is. The game itself just oozes style from playing the levels, the shooting and even reloading gives you a third person view of your character doing it to really show off the work the animators did for this game.
I think the on rail controls work well for the most part but they aren't perfect along with some of the enemy variants in certain levels. After a certain point, the levels while really good started to feel a bit stale after I've used ever killer to my heart's content.
I don't really even feel like calling this game but more of an experience at this point. The gameplay bogged it down for me a bit but this game is fucking crazy and makes me see why people love Suda51 as a creator.
A new adventure
Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line was the sequel to Dragon Quest released originally on the NES in 1987. An ambitious sequel compared to the first game that I feel tries to do much but still manages to accomplish what makes a JRPG fun to play.
The gameplay has expanded to a three person party that consists of a purely physical hero, a mix of magic and physical prince and a purely magical princess that covers a bigger variety of spells than the first game. The world has also expanded to feature more of the world including the continent from the very first game and with that the game still manages to somewhat keep its open ended nature in a way.
That said, the game's map and the open-ended nature gave me some mild frustration with how big the world was and how easy it was to get completely lost without a guide at times. I felt like this game was also a tiny bit grindy at times but it was mostly at the end and it wasn't that long (as far as I know, the switch/mobile version increased the exp you get so it's probably why it didn't feel that bad but still a bit much in a sense).
The game really tries and does do a lot but I found that it almost lacked a bit of focus in certain aspects. It's a very ambitious sequel if you compare it to the first but nonetheless I don't think I found this game as bad as people say it is. It's a simple JRPG in the end of the day and I got what I wanted out of it essentially and the game still kept the DQ charm which is why I thought it was still good despite that.
Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line was the sequel to Dragon Quest released originally on the NES in 1987. An ambitious sequel compared to the first game that I feel tries to do much but still manages to accomplish what makes a JRPG fun to play.
The gameplay has expanded to a three person party that consists of a purely physical hero, a mix of magic and physical prince and a purely magical princess that covers a bigger variety of spells than the first game. The world has also expanded to feature more of the world including the continent from the very first game and with that the game still manages to somewhat keep its open ended nature in a way.
That said, the game's map and the open-ended nature gave me some mild frustration with how big the world was and how easy it was to get completely lost without a guide at times. I felt like this game was also a tiny bit grindy at times but it was mostly at the end and it wasn't that long (as far as I know, the switch/mobile version increased the exp you get so it's probably why it didn't feel that bad but still a bit much in a sense).
The game really tries and does do a lot but I found that it almost lacked a bit of focus in certain aspects. It's a very ambitious sequel if you compare it to the first but nonetheless I don't think I found this game as bad as people say it is. It's a simple JRPG in the end of the day and I got what I wanted out of it essentially and the game still kept the DQ charm which is why I thought it was still good despite that.
The friends of Ringo Ishikawa is a "open world" beat-em-up released by yeo in 2018. This is a very unique game in terms of the structure and mood it provides. On the surface it just looks like a banchō beat-em-up but there's a lot more that meets the eye here that manages to give you a grim reality.
The pixel art here in motion and overall is pretty good even from portable mode on my switch. The soundtrack here has to be one of the most unique things about this game combining lo-fi rhythms and jazz that gives the game a very chill yet melancholic vibe. The characters and writing here feel like real people with how they describe things and answer each other and does a good job of making each NPC feel like its own person. Combat is very simple yet the impacts and hits of each kick and punch are satisfying that get the job done well with multiple techniques to learn and the ability to train up stats. The story or really rather moments with your friends are well written and always something to look forward to whenever they manage to happen.
Nonetheless this game sorta really drops you in with not much info at all to the point, you might have to look up what certain things do or how to get to a certain place. It's very easy to get lost in the first hour or two with no map or sense of direction to where you are exactly. I think my biggest gripe is the "RNG pacing at times considering when you finish the game actually varies and sometimes it finishes quicker and sometimes it can drag on to the point where you're just killing days (like I did) while managing to almost 100% the game as it is. If I can say one thing would be to add a map, some way to tell where and how to trigger some story events and explain the systems the game gives you better.
I don't think there really is a game that lets you act out the fantasy of being a delinquent in a rural japanese town in the late 20th century. The characters and the overall atmosphere really carried this game only marred by the pacing and several lack of quality of life stuff that would've made the experience more solid and tight in my opinion. This game really hits you with the grim reality that nothing really lasts forever and to cherish what you have.
The pixel art here in motion and overall is pretty good even from portable mode on my switch. The soundtrack here has to be one of the most unique things about this game combining lo-fi rhythms and jazz that gives the game a very chill yet melancholic vibe. The characters and writing here feel like real people with how they describe things and answer each other and does a good job of making each NPC feel like its own person. Combat is very simple yet the impacts and hits of each kick and punch are satisfying that get the job done well with multiple techniques to learn and the ability to train up stats. The story or really rather moments with your friends are well written and always something to look forward to whenever they manage to happen.
Nonetheless this game sorta really drops you in with not much info at all to the point, you might have to look up what certain things do or how to get to a certain place. It's very easy to get lost in the first hour or two with no map or sense of direction to where you are exactly. I think my biggest gripe is the "RNG pacing at times considering when you finish the game actually varies and sometimes it finishes quicker and sometimes it can drag on to the point where you're just killing days (like I did) while managing to almost 100% the game as it is. If I can say one thing would be to add a map, some way to tell where and how to trigger some story events and explain the systems the game gives you better.
I don't think there really is a game that lets you act out the fantasy of being a delinquent in a rural japanese town in the late 20th century. The characters and the overall atmosphere really carried this game only marred by the pacing and several lack of quality of life stuff that would've made the experience more solid and tight in my opinion. This game really hits you with the grim reality that nothing really lasts forever and to cherish what you have.
The duality of light and dark, the hero vs the evil villain
Yakuza: Like a Dragon (or Yakuza 7) is a JRPG released by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and Sega in 2020 on most modern consoles and PC barring Switch. There's something special about this game in a lot of ways that make this the most unique entry in the Yakuza series. It manages to retain what makes the series loved by its fans, adds new characters that have their own stories and give the people that played the entire series a final hurrah for the old arc before starting fresh with this entry.
The combat is the most contentious thing between the fans since it essentially changed the genre from a brawler action game to a turn-based roleplaying game. For RGG Studio's first attempt at a roleplaying game, they did a surprisingly decent job here. There's a class/job system with a modern and comedic twist on what it means to have a "job" in the real world. The abilities are decent and each job feels varied in what it can do for each character. There is a lot of customization here even to the point of changing costumes when you start a battle. The enemy variety is decent and creatively explained via the main character's overactive imagination and love for traditional JRPGs that he seems normal people as exaggerated caricatures of what they really are. The story here is probably one of the best in the series with an emotionally charged final quarter that left me extremely sympathetic about what happened. As an actual side note but also a huge part is the huge amount of content that's here to do on the side that I can't really list, it's just as big if not bigger in side content than any other Yakuza game here so you won't be sorely missing for things to do here.
My only complaints is wishing for a way to properly gauge ability aoes since some attacks are entirely dependent on which way an enemy goes and you have no control of that along with the rough difficulty spike around a certain chapter but it wasn't too bad.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon manages to change things up for the series in a good way that probably refreshed the developers after making so many brawler type games with the same type of gameplay. It was nice to see them still managing to tell an incredible story that gives a lesson the series never really got to tell until now. Once you hit rock bottom, you can only go up from here.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon (or Yakuza 7) is a JRPG released by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and Sega in 2020 on most modern consoles and PC barring Switch. There's something special about this game in a lot of ways that make this the most unique entry in the Yakuza series. It manages to retain what makes the series loved by its fans, adds new characters that have their own stories and give the people that played the entire series a final hurrah for the old arc before starting fresh with this entry.
The combat is the most contentious thing between the fans since it essentially changed the genre from a brawler action game to a turn-based roleplaying game. For RGG Studio's first attempt at a roleplaying game, they did a surprisingly decent job here. There's a class/job system with a modern and comedic twist on what it means to have a "job" in the real world. The abilities are decent and each job feels varied in what it can do for each character. There is a lot of customization here even to the point of changing costumes when you start a battle. The enemy variety is decent and creatively explained via the main character's overactive imagination and love for traditional JRPGs that he seems normal people as exaggerated caricatures of what they really are. The story here is probably one of the best in the series with an emotionally charged final quarter that left me extremely sympathetic about what happened. As an actual side note but also a huge part is the huge amount of content that's here to do on the side that I can't really list, it's just as big if not bigger in side content than any other Yakuza game here so you won't be sorely missing for things to do here.
My only complaints is wishing for a way to properly gauge ability aoes since some attacks are entirely dependent on which way an enemy goes and you have no control of that along with the rough difficulty spike around a certain chapter but it wasn't too bad.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon manages to change things up for the series in a good way that probably refreshed the developers after making so many brawler type games with the same type of gameplay. It was nice to see them still managing to tell an incredible story that gives a lesson the series never really got to tell until now. Once you hit rock bottom, you can only go up from here.
2007
No More Heroes is a hack and slash game with open world elements by Grasshopper Manufacture originally released on the Wii in 2007 with recent ports on Switch in 2020 and PC in 2021. The game oozes in style with its funny characters, pretty good music (especially the cat song) and stylistic violence that makes this game pretty fun to play.
I think the biggest two things I like about this game is the gameplay in a sense and Travis himself. The game manages to run pretty well on the portable console while fountains of bloods are gushing out of people's bodies which fill up the dopamine receptors for me and it's done in a way that's really satisfying with barely any feeling of repetition. Travis himself is a unique protagonist in that he's openly a "weeb" and very vulgar that despite his initial shallowness somehow provides a unique depth to his own character and it's nice to actually see him interact with the world and the other main characters in the story not to mention I can't imagine anyone else portraying Travis Touchdown as the original VA, Robin Atkin Downes. Most of the soundtrack here share a motif you'll definitely notice and there are some songs here that are solid but nothing that gets me excited in a sense too much. The story and characters are pretty interesting and make you think about the themes that each of them represent including a very cool and physically (for me) final fights.
I think the only source of repetition that there is here is the side jobs themselves as you need a certain amount of money to continue with the story thus being required to do certain jobs that require you to travel from one spot to another and starting the job and so forth. I wouldn't mind the side job system here if it was streamlined a little bit that didn't help with the overall traversal of the open world itself.
No More Heroes illustrate that you can really do so much and there might as well not be any point to it at all. This game really confronts you about what you expect in a game and challenges it a bit here albeit not too much. It's not complex but it doesn't mean it's not taxing since in this game, it's kill or be killed.
I think the biggest two things I like about this game is the gameplay in a sense and Travis himself. The game manages to run pretty well on the portable console while fountains of bloods are gushing out of people's bodies which fill up the dopamine receptors for me and it's done in a way that's really satisfying with barely any feeling of repetition. Travis himself is a unique protagonist in that he's openly a "weeb" and very vulgar that despite his initial shallowness somehow provides a unique depth to his own character and it's nice to actually see him interact with the world and the other main characters in the story not to mention I can't imagine anyone else portraying Travis Touchdown as the original VA, Robin Atkin Downes. Most of the soundtrack here share a motif you'll definitely notice and there are some songs here that are solid but nothing that gets me excited in a sense too much. The story and characters are pretty interesting and make you think about the themes that each of them represent including a very cool and physically (for me) final fights.
I think the only source of repetition that there is here is the side jobs themselves as you need a certain amount of money to continue with the story thus being required to do certain jobs that require you to travel from one spot to another and starting the job and so forth. I wouldn't mind the side job system here if it was streamlined a little bit that didn't help with the overall traversal of the open world itself.
No More Heroes illustrate that you can really do so much and there might as well not be any point to it at all. This game really confronts you about what you expect in a game and challenges it a bit here albeit not too much. It's not complex but it doesn't mean it's not taxing since in this game, it's kill or be killed.
No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle is a hack and slash game released by Grasshopper Manufacture for the Wii in 2010 with a Switch version released in 2020 and the PC version in 2021. A more stream-lined sequel that improves the gameplay but takes away a few things and suffers in the plot and the theme behind it all.
No More Heroes 2 manages to make the game much more gratifying in the way you perform murder with a bunch of quality of life features that give you more in control with Travis than ever before. You also have multiple weapons to use from that have the archetype of "slower but bigger and powerful" and "dual swords that are very fast and don't do that much damage" along with your standard fare beam katana. The minigames here are excellent in the fact they're inspired by NES games in the way they're presented other than a specific gym minigame that gave me a headache. The soundtrack is a standard affair but has some absolute bangers with Kill or Be Killed and Philistine. I can see the removal of the open world being a mixed bag for some people but there wasn't much to do in the first game other than really travel to each spot anyway so it made things snappier for me in the long run.
The main complaint is how the story felt and how they interpreted the "cycle of revenge" here that felt a bit shallow and almost a bit disconnected. There is definitely something to take away in terms of the story but it felt like it was retreading on some things from the first game to the point it sort of felt like it was fan game tier writing at times.
That said, I still had more fun playing this game in terms of just slashing the hell out of the goons and went along for the ride and didn't regret it. No More Heroes 2 may not leave you with something to think about after beating it but it's still a fun ride nonetheless and it's more of that otaku assassin in the end of the day. Killing is never free.
No More Heroes 2 manages to make the game much more gratifying in the way you perform murder with a bunch of quality of life features that give you more in control with Travis than ever before. You also have multiple weapons to use from that have the archetype of "slower but bigger and powerful" and "dual swords that are very fast and don't do that much damage" along with your standard fare beam katana. The minigames here are excellent in the fact they're inspired by NES games in the way they're presented other than a specific gym minigame that gave me a headache. The soundtrack is a standard affair but has some absolute bangers with Kill or Be Killed and Philistine. I can see the removal of the open world being a mixed bag for some people but there wasn't much to do in the first game other than really travel to each spot anyway so it made things snappier for me in the long run.
The main complaint is how the story felt and how they interpreted the "cycle of revenge" here that felt a bit shallow and almost a bit disconnected. There is definitely something to take away in terms of the story but it felt like it was retreading on some things from the first game to the point it sort of felt like it was fan game tier writing at times.
That said, I still had more fun playing this game in terms of just slashing the hell out of the goons and went along for the ride and didn't regret it. No More Heroes 2 may not leave you with something to think about after beating it but it's still a fun ride nonetheless and it's more of that otaku assassin in the end of the day. Killing is never free.
2020
Mixolumia is a puzzle game created by davemakes in 2020 for the PC. A very unique premise for a puzzle game that brings in dynamic musical elements you would see a la Lumines or Tetris Effect for more popular examples. It manages to bring a lot of customization into the experience down to the color scheme and soundpacks that adjust how each element of the game sounds when you perform a specific action. After playing for several hours trying to wrack my brain around the mechanics and felt actually there's a lot of things at play here and the game just always felt confusing considering it's pretty minimalistic at least in looks.
The overall presentation here is definitely the highlight of this experience. There's 5 main modes here including a classic marathon mode, an endless mode where you continue until you fill the board, a rush mode where you only play for 2 minutes, an intense mode where you are required to clear 450 at the max drop speed and a relaxed mode where the speed doesn't increase and there is no failure state. I can really appreciate the effort the developer has put into making this game as customizable and accessible as possible for a lot of people that gives everyone a unique experience going into this game. The game flow consists of stacking square (or diamond) shaped blocks on a gem shaped board hoping to match at least 3-4 in a specific shape in also hopes of chaining clears for a better score (sort of like Puyo Puyo) with the help of the in-game physics. The game itself plays well and seeing a big clear (even by accident) always gets the dopamine receptors going but there are some problems I have with the game flow that I'll touch in the next section.
My main two complaints about how the game flows during gameplay are the physics and the different kinds of blocks that makes it hard to differentiate at times especially to a new player or in the heat of the moment when playing. I found it hard to create combos with how the game after several hours of playing which is sort of why I play these games. Sadly after several hours, I only managed to get combos out of nowhere and learning how the physics work with the board and after a while, it stopped being that exciting for me since I know I didn't really do this.
I think this game still has a lot of potential and it was pretty fun for the several hours I got out of it. Nonetheless it's still pretty impressive visually and a solid puzzle game all things considered, sorta wish there was more to do and wish there was a better way to tell where exactly where blocks would go or give us the tools considering the game is completely open to being accessible as possible. There isn't much to it but it's still a puzzle game and you enjoy a more auditory and visual experience out of your puzzle games like Lumines or Tetris Effect then you can't really go wrong here.
The overall presentation here is definitely the highlight of this experience. There's 5 main modes here including a classic marathon mode, an endless mode where you continue until you fill the board, a rush mode where you only play for 2 minutes, an intense mode where you are required to clear 450 at the max drop speed and a relaxed mode where the speed doesn't increase and there is no failure state. I can really appreciate the effort the developer has put into making this game as customizable and accessible as possible for a lot of people that gives everyone a unique experience going into this game. The game flow consists of stacking square (or diamond) shaped blocks on a gem shaped board hoping to match at least 3-4 in a specific shape in also hopes of chaining clears for a better score (sort of like Puyo Puyo) with the help of the in-game physics. The game itself plays well and seeing a big clear (even by accident) always gets the dopamine receptors going but there are some problems I have with the game flow that I'll touch in the next section.
My main two complaints about how the game flows during gameplay are the physics and the different kinds of blocks that makes it hard to differentiate at times especially to a new player or in the heat of the moment when playing. I found it hard to create combos with how the game after several hours of playing which is sort of why I play these games. Sadly after several hours, I only managed to get combos out of nowhere and learning how the physics work with the board and after a while, it stopped being that exciting for me since I know I didn't really do this.
I think this game still has a lot of potential and it was pretty fun for the several hours I got out of it. Nonetheless it's still pretty impressive visually and a solid puzzle game all things considered, sorta wish there was more to do and wish there was a better way to tell where exactly where blocks would go or give us the tools considering the game is completely open to being accessible as possible. There isn't much to it but it's still a puzzle game and you enjoy a more auditory and visual experience out of your puzzle games like Lumines or Tetris Effect then you can't really go wrong here.
1992
Shin Megami Tensei is a turn-based JRPG with first-person dungeon elements developed by Atlus in 1992 for the Super Famicom with a Game Boy Advance version later in 2003 exclusively to the Japanese audience with two translation patches out for both of them for the English speaking audience. Shin Megami Tensei is a decent first entry for a series that would slowly become big over time with the fifth numbered iteration developing overall attention for the series. The atmosphere and world building is definitely on the higher end of SFC/SNES JRPGs at the time that is aided by the wonderful soundtrack (GBA version significantly reduces the quality of the music here but still manages to come through) only suffering in how tedious yet easy this game felt playing to the point I almost felt conflicted that if I truly enjoyed the whole experience or not.
Shin Megami Tensei was one of the first games of its kind that let you use demon and monsters as your teammates beating Pokemon by 4 years and being beaten by Dragon Quest V by a month. The game manages to use demons and deities from various mythologies in a way that makes the game a bit more grounded in realism yet still manages to be in its own realm of a cyberpunk fantasy with the overall designs of the characters themselves including our Protagonist. The world of Tokyo manages to show a very slow and serious decline as your progress through the game with things going wrong real quick and the demonic apocalypse being completely thrust upon you after no real big event showing the change in the real world. The game's atmosphere is unique for its time as well with having a protagonist kitted out in cyber-ware ready to fight against demons with a good-mannered man in a red coat and an angry man in a camouflage trench coat that serve as catalysts for the entire game. The music even coming from a compressed as hell version of the game manages to come off with a high pace and illustrate the dark and bleak world that Tokyo slowly becomes throughout the course of the game to the point the game itself actually feels like a horror game. This game truly isn't for the faint of heart and seeing the events that happened with the music aiding in the horror from the chaos theme feeling like your mind is descending slowly into insanity and the law theme illustrating the righteousness you want with the midi angels singing to your praises. The demon negotiation system here is a bit archaic but doesn't really screw you over like in the later titles as much. You can easily get what you want here and I figured out this was a good way to get MAG and money here since grinding normal battles wasn't rewarding at all.
I would have a lot more praise for this game if it didn't suffer in the one way it should not have suffered, the gameplay. This game manages to be something tedious to get through yet having no real difficulty at all even until the final bosses where there's a slight difficulty jump which didn't matter to much since the game is pretty broken from a gameplay perspective. Using guns and bullets with status effects seems to be the only way to play the game without losing more patience than you already have, the encounter rate is pretty high especially in the world map although it was much more bearable in the GBA version which is why I decided to play this version. The demons here are pretty cool from a design perspective but from a gameplay perspective, it felt pretty limiting since each demons only really have 1-2 spells most of the time so they're mostly relegated to being auto-attack bots most of the time that I didn't feel too inclined to really fuse as much. A small flaw but the Heroine doesn't really have a personality in this game as far as I'm aware other than being completely reliant on the main character except for one moment and I wished they fleshed her out a bit more but it's not a huge deal.
For a first entry of a series, it does a great job setting up the structure of what this series would usually entail. A ruined Tokyo, law and chaos, and having demons on your side throughout all of it. Despite how tedious it might be to get through if you're used to play more newer and modern JRPGs, I still think it's a title worth playing especially if you're a big fan of megaten. The series would later improve the gameplay in various ways to the point that Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne is considered one of my favorite games. It wouldn't be the greatest dream but it definitely wasn't a nightmare at all.
Shin Megami Tensei was one of the first games of its kind that let you use demon and monsters as your teammates beating Pokemon by 4 years and being beaten by Dragon Quest V by a month. The game manages to use demons and deities from various mythologies in a way that makes the game a bit more grounded in realism yet still manages to be in its own realm of a cyberpunk fantasy with the overall designs of the characters themselves including our Protagonist. The world of Tokyo manages to show a very slow and serious decline as your progress through the game with things going wrong real quick and the demonic apocalypse being completely thrust upon you after no real big event showing the change in the real world. The game's atmosphere is unique for its time as well with having a protagonist kitted out in cyber-ware ready to fight against demons with a good-mannered man in a red coat and an angry man in a camouflage trench coat that serve as catalysts for the entire game. The music even coming from a compressed as hell version of the game manages to come off with a high pace and illustrate the dark and bleak world that Tokyo slowly becomes throughout the course of the game to the point the game itself actually feels like a horror game. This game truly isn't for the faint of heart and seeing the events that happened with the music aiding in the horror from the chaos theme feeling like your mind is descending slowly into insanity and the law theme illustrating the righteousness you want with the midi angels singing to your praises. The demon negotiation system here is a bit archaic but doesn't really screw you over like in the later titles as much. You can easily get what you want here and I figured out this was a good way to get MAG and money here since grinding normal battles wasn't rewarding at all.
I would have a lot more praise for this game if it didn't suffer in the one way it should not have suffered, the gameplay. This game manages to be something tedious to get through yet having no real difficulty at all even until the final bosses where there's a slight difficulty jump which didn't matter to much since the game is pretty broken from a gameplay perspective. Using guns and bullets with status effects seems to be the only way to play the game without losing more patience than you already have, the encounter rate is pretty high especially in the world map although it was much more bearable in the GBA version which is why I decided to play this version. The demons here are pretty cool from a design perspective but from a gameplay perspective, it felt pretty limiting since each demons only really have 1-2 spells most of the time so they're mostly relegated to being auto-attack bots most of the time that I didn't feel too inclined to really fuse as much. A small flaw but the Heroine doesn't really have a personality in this game as far as I'm aware other than being completely reliant on the main character except for one moment and I wished they fleshed her out a bit more but it's not a huge deal.
For a first entry of a series, it does a great job setting up the structure of what this series would usually entail. A ruined Tokyo, law and chaos, and having demons on your side throughout all of it. Despite how tedious it might be to get through if you're used to play more newer and modern JRPGs, I still think it's a title worth playing especially if you're a big fan of megaten. The series would later improve the gameplay in various ways to the point that Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne is considered one of my favorite games. It wouldn't be the greatest dream but it definitely wasn't a nightmare at all.
Building from the first's ruins, the second's utopia invites another form of apocalypse
Shin Megami Tensei II is a turn based JRPG with first-person dungeon elements developed by Atlus in 1994 for the Super Famicon being the only version of the game localized at the time of this review with a Game Boy Advance and a PS1 version still not translated. I feel a bit conflicted with this game, I really want to like this game more but it felt like they made more of the experience a bit more tedious and the story and world albeit better than the first game but also not by much in terms of it feeling ruined by the game's structure compared to the first game.
The sequel does improve on gameplay right off the bat with demon fusion that brings skill inheritance to an extent and more of the iconic designs for the demons if you're already a fan of the series before. The guns aren't as broken as they were compared to the first game but they're still great for random encounter auto clears which made the game smoother to traverse through. The story and world pretty much build off a specific ending of SMT 1 and it felt interesting to see how the true aftermath of the previous game. Not to mention there's more to do in terms of general side activities as it is with one of the biggest additions being a casino which lets you play slots, bigger or smaller and keno which I appreciate for a bit since I always dig casinos in JRPGs personally. The soundtrack here is pretty good with a specific area nailing the eerie vibe extremely well with the SNES soundchip.
I think what almost made me drop this game entirely was the first 5 hours of the game where demon negotiation in this game compared to the previous game felt extremely buggy with it not making sense in the slightest compared to the previous game. One of the biggest flaws is probably the way that the world is structured to the point you can expect yourself to do an extreme amount of backtracking over the same areas you've been in multiple times throughout the game even with the teleport spells. The structure is mostly you revisiting old areas constantly at least for the first half with eventually going into new areas just to backtrack through them again with no real way of getting back without having to manually walk there essentially. This game also does something that I felt was pretty egregious is forcing you to put spec points into a useless stat in order to progress through the game and I really didn't like this since it felt like a waste of levels at times that can only be really remedied by finding incenses that you rather use on someone else anyway. Also for some reason, MAG in general seems to be much more of a rarity that you have to go out of your way to grind a specific demon in a specific area to really gather some MAG up that sort of just made the overall experience a bit more of a slog.
Shin Megami Tensei II to me is a game that goes 2 steps forward and 2 steps back. The story, world, characters and the gameplay is enhanced to an extent but the overall experience just felt worse with the backtracking and never really fixed the overall problem with being still to auto-battle every boss until the final two bosses. I can't really find it better than the first game but I find myself still thinking it's on the same echelon in it and really makes you think more than the previous game. Time to wake up, Hawk.
Shin Megami Tensei II is a turn based JRPG with first-person dungeon elements developed by Atlus in 1994 for the Super Famicon being the only version of the game localized at the time of this review with a Game Boy Advance and a PS1 version still not translated. I feel a bit conflicted with this game, I really want to like this game more but it felt like they made more of the experience a bit more tedious and the story and world albeit better than the first game but also not by much in terms of it feeling ruined by the game's structure compared to the first game.
The sequel does improve on gameplay right off the bat with demon fusion that brings skill inheritance to an extent and more of the iconic designs for the demons if you're already a fan of the series before. The guns aren't as broken as they were compared to the first game but they're still great for random encounter auto clears which made the game smoother to traverse through. The story and world pretty much build off a specific ending of SMT 1 and it felt interesting to see how the true aftermath of the previous game. Not to mention there's more to do in terms of general side activities as it is with one of the biggest additions being a casino which lets you play slots, bigger or smaller and keno which I appreciate for a bit since I always dig casinos in JRPGs personally. The soundtrack here is pretty good with a specific area nailing the eerie vibe extremely well with the SNES soundchip.
I think what almost made me drop this game entirely was the first 5 hours of the game where demon negotiation in this game compared to the previous game felt extremely buggy with it not making sense in the slightest compared to the previous game. One of the biggest flaws is probably the way that the world is structured to the point you can expect yourself to do an extreme amount of backtracking over the same areas you've been in multiple times throughout the game even with the teleport spells. The structure is mostly you revisiting old areas constantly at least for the first half with eventually going into new areas just to backtrack through them again with no real way of getting back without having to manually walk there essentially. This game also does something that I felt was pretty egregious is forcing you to put spec points into a useless stat in order to progress through the game and I really didn't like this since it felt like a waste of levels at times that can only be really remedied by finding incenses that you rather use on someone else anyway. Also for some reason, MAG in general seems to be much more of a rarity that you have to go out of your way to grind a specific demon in a specific area to really gather some MAG up that sort of just made the overall experience a bit more of a slog.
Shin Megami Tensei II to me is a game that goes 2 steps forward and 2 steps back. The story, world, characters and the gameplay is enhanced to an extent but the overall experience just felt worse with the backtracking and never really fixed the overall problem with being still to auto-battle every boss until the final two bosses. I can't really find it better than the first game but I find myself still thinking it's on the same echelon in it and really makes you think more than the previous game. Time to wake up, Hawk.
DOOM Eternal: The Ancient Gods - Part One is the first DLC expansion to the first-person shooter Doom Eternal developed by Id released in 2020. A very short yet difficult expansion to the base game that manages to ramp up the difficulty and adds some new enemy types and locations with very few flaws and complaints.
The Ancient Gods - Part One manages to expand on the game in several ways with the level design and encounter design being some of the hardest in the game as if the difficulty kept scaling up after the final level of Doom Eternal base game. The new enemy types also make you rethink on how to fight certain demons and feels more punishing than before if you screw up. Platforming albeit simple is still pretty nice here and still feels like a good reprieve from the usual encounters.
Sadly there are some things that get downgraded here starting with the music which is no longer composed by Mick Gordon and you can really notice the downgrade since it didn't feel as impact as the previous soundtrack and felt more like background music as opposed to the music being a full part of the experience. There are some encounters here that felt not difficult but tedious but these encounters far and few between. The story here is sort of give or take and attempts to tie up some loose ends but it comes off a bit convoluted.
This DLC overall is a decent expansion albeit short and in the end of the day, it's more Doom Eternal which I think few would be against. I only paid 5 bucks for this DLC and I think that's a good price for it so wait for a sale for this one unless you really want more Doom Eternal and have the base game already. The challenge is very welcome and also recommended thematic and gameplay wise to play it after beating Doom Eternal where you should have mastered some of the elements of the gameplay loop.
The Ancient Gods - Part One manages to expand on the game in several ways with the level design and encounter design being some of the hardest in the game as if the difficulty kept scaling up after the final level of Doom Eternal base game. The new enemy types also make you rethink on how to fight certain demons and feels more punishing than before if you screw up. Platforming albeit simple is still pretty nice here and still feels like a good reprieve from the usual encounters.
Sadly there are some things that get downgraded here starting with the music which is no longer composed by Mick Gordon and you can really notice the downgrade since it didn't feel as impact as the previous soundtrack and felt more like background music as opposed to the music being a full part of the experience. There are some encounters here that felt not difficult but tedious but these encounters far and few between. The story here is sort of give or take and attempts to tie up some loose ends but it comes off a bit convoluted.
This DLC overall is a decent expansion albeit short and in the end of the day, it's more Doom Eternal which I think few would be against. I only paid 5 bucks for this DLC and I think that's a good price for it so wait for a sale for this one unless you really want more Doom Eternal and have the base game already. The challenge is very welcome and also recommended thematic and gameplay wise to play it after beating Doom Eternal where you should have mastered some of the elements of the gameplay loop.
DOOM Eternal: The Ancient Gods - Part Two is the second DLC expansion released in 2021 to the first person Doom Eternal that was released the previous year. A sadly disappointing finale to the storyline that was set up in the first part also taking a step back in the overall gameplay quality as well.
The Doom Eternal gameplay loop is still fine and well here really. The new platforming element is a tiny nice touch here and despite the complaints with the hammer, I do like that they gave the doom slayer something new here at least. The music is also improved a little bit compared to TAG1 but it still doesn't reach the base game at all. The levels feel a bit uninspired except the last level even though it's essentially the penultimate level but in red which I did like from an art design perspective.
Despite the gameplay loop still being Doom Eternal, it's marred by a lot of awful gimmicks and new enemy designs that feel annoying and felt like created for the sake of making other weapon mods viable. They also decided to bring back slime for some reason in this expansion to the point I'm sure there's more of it in this 4 hour campaign than in the entire 20 hour base game. The hammer is definitely way too overtuned for normal play and provides way too many resources and long time stunning that along with the much lower difficulty in this expansion compared to the first makes this a much easier experience than TAG1 and it feels really disappointing considering the first expansion pack nailed several things right. The final boss while interesting in concept felt extremely anti-climatic with a lot of waiting around to really do anything along with being way too reliant on the hammer to even do anything substantial as well.
I feel like the time at Id used this expansion as a beta test of new enemy mechanics for the future game or something because it felt like they didn't have time to really play test how it would feel for the player and see if it actually changed the way you played unlike with the turrets and spirits in TAG1. The final boss took way longer than it had to and it felt like it was extremely dragged out to the point it just leaves a sour taste in my mouth. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come for the next game.
The Doom Eternal gameplay loop is still fine and well here really. The new platforming element is a tiny nice touch here and despite the complaints with the hammer, I do like that they gave the doom slayer something new here at least. The music is also improved a little bit compared to TAG1 but it still doesn't reach the base game at all. The levels feel a bit uninspired except the last level even though it's essentially the penultimate level but in red which I did like from an art design perspective.
Despite the gameplay loop still being Doom Eternal, it's marred by a lot of awful gimmicks and new enemy designs that feel annoying and felt like created for the sake of making other weapon mods viable. They also decided to bring back slime for some reason in this expansion to the point I'm sure there's more of it in this 4 hour campaign than in the entire 20 hour base game. The hammer is definitely way too overtuned for normal play and provides way too many resources and long time stunning that along with the much lower difficulty in this expansion compared to the first makes this a much easier experience than TAG1 and it feels really disappointing considering the first expansion pack nailed several things right. The final boss while interesting in concept felt extremely anti-climatic with a lot of waiting around to really do anything along with being way too reliant on the hammer to even do anything substantial as well.
I feel like the time at Id used this expansion as a beta test of new enemy mechanics for the future game or something because it felt like they didn't have time to really play test how it would feel for the player and see if it actually changed the way you played unlike with the turrets and spirits in TAG1. The final boss took way longer than it had to and it felt like it was extremely dragged out to the point it just leaves a sour taste in my mouth. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come for the next game.
2010
Also known as End of Eternity, aerobatic strategic turn based gun play
Resonance of Fate is a japanese role playing game developed by tri-Ace in 2010 for the PS3 and Xbox 360 with a PC version released in 2018. This might be one of the weirdest games I've ever played and despite it being pretty grindy at the end and the way the story was structured should've been a negative but I enjoyed it a bit with a comparison I want to make that this is like Cowboy Bebop: The JRPG with how the game was structured and the dynamic of the characters as well.
The most unique thing about this game is probably the gameplay system here that's a mix of turn-based gameplay and real-time elements. What the result is a flashy and cinematic battle system that requires a lot of depth down to the placement on your characters on the map and being sure you aren't wasting your resource called bezels because if you run out, you'll be severely disadvantaged to the point you might as well restart the battle. The game has a huge learning curve and there's a lot to learn about which actions to take and which way to go during these actions called "hero actions" that is essentially your bread and butter during combat. The gameplay sadly doesn't add any new mechanics throughout the story but there's already a lot to unpack here and adding more might've been too much for a lot of people. The story structure is a complaint I remember hearing a lot about the game but I ended up enjoying it since it reminded me of an anime called Cowboy Bebop where you play as bounty hunters and the episodes in that anime was doing contracts with a bit of their past being explored during it meanwhile in Resonance of Fate, you played as hunters and each chapter was essentially doing a contract with a bit of story between each chapter with it all coming together in the end. It really ended up fleshing out the dynamic between the characters and they really shine hard in this game with some unique moments here that I didn't expect this game to pull that makes this game "japanese" as hell. The music here is decent with the town sounding like the standard mmo town music while the battle and boss themes is where the music shines with its rock and organ influences and enhances the gameplay and just adds to the cool factor of the gameplay even more. A small note but the dub here is excellent with them matching each main character perfectly.
There's a few things that I really think could've been done better such as the world map system. Albeit extremely unique, it does require you to grind sometimes to get that specific "puzzle part" to fill the map in to get to the area you want to go sometimes. The weapon modding is something I'm mixed on, it's a unique system that allows your guns to unleash their full potential but it almost felt like a necessity to grind out the parts several hours to even progress at a certain point that did kill the pacing for the game for me including a huge difficulty spike at the end so expect to grind to be able to completely take advantage of each hero action in the end game.
An extremely bizarre game by the developers of Valkyrie Profile and Star Ocean that sadly manages to be overshadowed by a lot of games. Resonance of Fate does something different with the traditional japanese role-playing game and for the most part succeeds at it. The story is hard to follow and the gameplay takes a lot to get used to and you really have to think but it's definitely worth playing if you want something really different from your standard JRPG.
Resonance of Fate is a japanese role playing game developed by tri-Ace in 2010 for the PS3 and Xbox 360 with a PC version released in 2018. This might be one of the weirdest games I've ever played and despite it being pretty grindy at the end and the way the story was structured should've been a negative but I enjoyed it a bit with a comparison I want to make that this is like Cowboy Bebop: The JRPG with how the game was structured and the dynamic of the characters as well.
The most unique thing about this game is probably the gameplay system here that's a mix of turn-based gameplay and real-time elements. What the result is a flashy and cinematic battle system that requires a lot of depth down to the placement on your characters on the map and being sure you aren't wasting your resource called bezels because if you run out, you'll be severely disadvantaged to the point you might as well restart the battle. The game has a huge learning curve and there's a lot to learn about which actions to take and which way to go during these actions called "hero actions" that is essentially your bread and butter during combat. The gameplay sadly doesn't add any new mechanics throughout the story but there's already a lot to unpack here and adding more might've been too much for a lot of people. The story structure is a complaint I remember hearing a lot about the game but I ended up enjoying it since it reminded me of an anime called Cowboy Bebop where you play as bounty hunters and the episodes in that anime was doing contracts with a bit of their past being explored during it meanwhile in Resonance of Fate, you played as hunters and each chapter was essentially doing a contract with a bit of story between each chapter with it all coming together in the end. It really ended up fleshing out the dynamic between the characters and they really shine hard in this game with some unique moments here that I didn't expect this game to pull that makes this game "japanese" as hell. The music here is decent with the town sounding like the standard mmo town music while the battle and boss themes is where the music shines with its rock and organ influences and enhances the gameplay and just adds to the cool factor of the gameplay even more. A small note but the dub here is excellent with them matching each main character perfectly.
There's a few things that I really think could've been done better such as the world map system. Albeit extremely unique, it does require you to grind sometimes to get that specific "puzzle part" to fill the map in to get to the area you want to go sometimes. The weapon modding is something I'm mixed on, it's a unique system that allows your guns to unleash their full potential but it almost felt like a necessity to grind out the parts several hours to even progress at a certain point that did kill the pacing for the game for me including a huge difficulty spike at the end so expect to grind to be able to completely take advantage of each hero action in the end game.
An extremely bizarre game by the developers of Valkyrie Profile and Star Ocean that sadly manages to be overshadowed by a lot of games. Resonance of Fate does something different with the traditional japanese role-playing game and for the most part succeeds at it. The story is hard to follow and the gameplay takes a lot to get used to and you really have to think but it's definitely worth playing if you want something really different from your standard JRPG.
Opening your heart
The World Ends With You is an action role-playing game released on the Nintendo DS in 2007 and developed by Square Enix and Jupiter with remixed versions releasing on mobile and the Nintendo Switch during the years. An innovative game that manages to tell an intriguing story with great and relatable characters with some bizarre game yet unique and out of left field felt pretty clunky throughout the experience.
This game's story surprisingly puts you on your toes through the game to an extent I really didn't expect here and the dialogue here really holds up well despite the game being almost 15 years old. I'm also surprised by how varied and catchy the soundtrack seems to be that it enhances almost every facet of this game and the way the game presents itself. Neku and the supporting cast are well written and fleshed out and there's always something new to find out about them that ends up making sense later. The facet of the gameplay that takes full advantage of the touch screen is also well implemented with each pin or "psych" you get attributing to the various functions of the DS such as scratching the screen with the stylus, touching an enemy, swiping motions on the touch screen down to having to scream using the microphone to activate a pin that I did enjoy.
The gameplay here is extremely innovative and unique even now but expect a learning curve as you have to juggle between two characters at the same time during gameplay and the game felt clunky throughout. I also wouldn't have mind as much but some pins refused to work despite the instructions being clear and the touch screen wouldn't be able to do exactly what I wanted at times that would get me to take more damage than intended and felt frustrating at times. The special way partners work is pretty cool except for one that took a bit more out of me that I expected but I appreciated that it plays different in certain scenarios.
This is definitely a game that holds up really well and has a meaningful message to leave with you in the end. The soundtrack is memorable, the characters get you attached surprisingly quick, the story always keeps you guessing and I have never seen Shibuya more into its element here. Always expand your world so that it never ends with you.
The World Ends With You is an action role-playing game released on the Nintendo DS in 2007 and developed by Square Enix and Jupiter with remixed versions releasing on mobile and the Nintendo Switch during the years. An innovative game that manages to tell an intriguing story with great and relatable characters with some bizarre game yet unique and out of left field felt pretty clunky throughout the experience.
This game's story surprisingly puts you on your toes through the game to an extent I really didn't expect here and the dialogue here really holds up well despite the game being almost 15 years old. I'm also surprised by how varied and catchy the soundtrack seems to be that it enhances almost every facet of this game and the way the game presents itself. Neku and the supporting cast are well written and fleshed out and there's always something new to find out about them that ends up making sense later. The facet of the gameplay that takes full advantage of the touch screen is also well implemented with each pin or "psych" you get attributing to the various functions of the DS such as scratching the screen with the stylus, touching an enemy, swiping motions on the touch screen down to having to scream using the microphone to activate a pin that I did enjoy.
The gameplay here is extremely innovative and unique even now but expect a learning curve as you have to juggle between two characters at the same time during gameplay and the game felt clunky throughout. I also wouldn't have mind as much but some pins refused to work despite the instructions being clear and the touch screen wouldn't be able to do exactly what I wanted at times that would get me to take more damage than intended and felt frustrating at times. The special way partners work is pretty cool except for one that took a bit more out of me that I expected but I appreciated that it plays different in certain scenarios.
This is definitely a game that holds up really well and has a meaningful message to leave with you in the end. The soundtrack is memorable, the characters get you attached surprisingly quick, the story always keeps you guessing and I have never seen Shibuya more into its element here. Always expand your world so that it never ends with you.
A unique and excellent approach to the long running series
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia is a tactical/strategy role-playing game developed by Intelligent Systems in 2017 for the 3DS and serves as a remake of Fire Emblem Gaiden originally released for the Famicom in 1992. Shadows of Valentia manages to do things a bit more differently to the other contemporary titles like Awakening, Fates and Three Houses but manages to shine in a variety of aspects that make a JRPG great but possibly its biggest flaw is sticking too close to the original in a sense.
One of the biggest strengths this game has is the overall story with characters that are extremely well voice acted for a 3DS game to the point I feel that the console itself doesn't do the game justice sometimes. A simple story synopsis is that you plays as two protagonists with their own objectives and armies trying to defeat the evil kingdom. There are some characters that are one note but there are also some that have a lot of depth and motivations that also manages to give out some impressive vocal emotional performances that yet immerses you more into the story and world you're in. The gameplay is a bit different in that from the other 3DS games, there is no weapon triangle and spells are learned via leveling up and use your own health instead of it being a finite resource. I personally didn't mind this and felt like it made the game easier to swallow as someone that doesn't have much experience playing an FE game with also there just being one equipment slot so you can just equip the best item for a member and moving on. The soundtrack here is phenomenal with certain tracks you hear a lot gradually feeling more frantic and desperate with some having a more militaristic focus in certain times. The motif used in most of the soundtrack is synonymous and fitting for the game as a whole with a final map theme that does not disappoint at all and further elevates the final battle as the games does its final hours. Art design here is amazing with Hidari bringing the classic NES designs to life in a clean and faithful way and is my favorite overall art in a Fire Emblem game. Even then the smallest things can also make a game great, the title screen gives you a snapshot of the experience you're about to enter or even continue and returning to it after all is said and done was a closing experience with the soundtrack of the choirs singing in a solemn tone which feels like a calm before the storm.
As much as this game is a solid JRPG experience all around, the weakest aspect of it has to be the maps themselves. Most of them are very simple open fields that leave little to strategy and some maps have some awful terrain that makes it not very fun to go through. The dungeons themselves are a 50/50 thing for me, it's something different and you get mini encounters akin to a normal JRPG battle via the Fire Emblem flavor but much more condensed and shorter than a regular FE battle would take. I think I just didn't like that I was limited to only 10 people considering I was mostly used to having my entire army with me. The game does also expect you to go through some battles so if you play how you want to play, you might eventually run into a roadblock especially when you want more story and want to know what happens next.
I didn't think I would ever like a 3DS Fire Emblem game again after Awakening but this game completely proved me wrong. The facets of a good JRPGs: story, characters, soundtrack, gameplay (to an extent) and Shadows of Valentia has them. A surprisingly heartfelt solemn tale of two warriors destined by fate ever hoping to return to the fields where they first met.
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia is a tactical/strategy role-playing game developed by Intelligent Systems in 2017 for the 3DS and serves as a remake of Fire Emblem Gaiden originally released for the Famicom in 1992. Shadows of Valentia manages to do things a bit more differently to the other contemporary titles like Awakening, Fates and Three Houses but manages to shine in a variety of aspects that make a JRPG great but possibly its biggest flaw is sticking too close to the original in a sense.
One of the biggest strengths this game has is the overall story with characters that are extremely well voice acted for a 3DS game to the point I feel that the console itself doesn't do the game justice sometimes. A simple story synopsis is that you plays as two protagonists with their own objectives and armies trying to defeat the evil kingdom. There are some characters that are one note but there are also some that have a lot of depth and motivations that also manages to give out some impressive vocal emotional performances that yet immerses you more into the story and world you're in. The gameplay is a bit different in that from the other 3DS games, there is no weapon triangle and spells are learned via leveling up and use your own health instead of it being a finite resource. I personally didn't mind this and felt like it made the game easier to swallow as someone that doesn't have much experience playing an FE game with also there just being one equipment slot so you can just equip the best item for a member and moving on. The soundtrack here is phenomenal with certain tracks you hear a lot gradually feeling more frantic and desperate with some having a more militaristic focus in certain times. The motif used in most of the soundtrack is synonymous and fitting for the game as a whole with a final map theme that does not disappoint at all and further elevates the final battle as the games does its final hours. Art design here is amazing with Hidari bringing the classic NES designs to life in a clean and faithful way and is my favorite overall art in a Fire Emblem game. Even then the smallest things can also make a game great, the title screen gives you a snapshot of the experience you're about to enter or even continue and returning to it after all is said and done was a closing experience with the soundtrack of the choirs singing in a solemn tone which feels like a calm before the storm.
As much as this game is a solid JRPG experience all around, the weakest aspect of it has to be the maps themselves. Most of them are very simple open fields that leave little to strategy and some maps have some awful terrain that makes it not very fun to go through. The dungeons themselves are a 50/50 thing for me, it's something different and you get mini encounters akin to a normal JRPG battle via the Fire Emblem flavor but much more condensed and shorter than a regular FE battle would take. I think I just didn't like that I was limited to only 10 people considering I was mostly used to having my entire army with me. The game does also expect you to go through some battles so if you play how you want to play, you might eventually run into a roadblock especially when you want more story and want to know what happens next.
I didn't think I would ever like a 3DS Fire Emblem game again after Awakening but this game completely proved me wrong. The facets of a good JRPGs: story, characters, soundtrack, gameplay (to an extent) and Shadows of Valentia has them. A surprisingly heartfelt solemn tale of two warriors destined by fate ever hoping to return to the fields where they first met.
Suda at his most raw and realest, fumbled by bog standard gameplay
Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes is a hack and slash/adventure game developed by Grasshopper Manufacture in 2019 with a PC and PS4 version released later that year. Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes sadly downgrades the gameplay yet manages to bring some of Suda51's best writing and making this his most personal game yet and manages to be a love letter to his fans and surprisingly the indie game space in general.
Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes biggest strength is the writing, references and personal introspective on Suda51's general thoughts about the gaming world and his struggles as a developer during the years. The game is divided into two main segments: the hack and slash top down gameplay that takes up a majority of the game and a separate entity called Travis Strikes Back which consists of visual novel elements and manages to bring the best out Suda51's eccentric writing and probably him at his most self aware. The writing here is funny, smart and makes sense in the universe he created and manages to mash his various titles well here. There is also a lot of callbacks and references to his previous games so you'd definitely get more out of this if you played his previous works. The game also feels like a small celebration of the indie game space with the references to a surprisingly huge variety of indie games that even I didn't expect to see here.
Sadly one department here suffers a fair bit and that's the overall flow of gameplay and the gameplay itself in the hack and slash portion which is a huge portion of the game. General controls is that you have a light attack that you essentially always hold down while moving and does light damage while you have an heavy attack which is obviously slower but does more damage. You also have a variety of skills that function as special attacks and abilities you can use on a cooldown and you can equip up to four at a time. The main problems here is that the gameplay never really evolves past the first hour, the skill variety while nice is not enough to counteract the flow of gameplay to an extent, some enemy designs are very annoying to fight against and the overall design philosophy of how levels and encounters work via just going into a part of a room to be gated off until you defeat the enemies. The final level is also pretty tedious with the maze design and teleporting that doesn't feel necessary. For the most part, you're gonna be playing the same way on the first hour and the last unless you change skills and a small annoyance is the animation locking using certain attacks that make you pretty helpless in getting hit.
TSA is a smaller scale effort from Suda51 that manages to tell the player more about his life as a developer and what he thinks about than any other game so far. This is a must play for any Suda51 fan just for the writing and references alone but as a standalone title will probably leave a lot of things to be desired for most people. A very experimental title and a very personal one for Suda51 that he really wanted to share with the gaming community. Ten hours of gaming a day!
Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes is a hack and slash/adventure game developed by Grasshopper Manufacture in 2019 with a PC and PS4 version released later that year. Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes sadly downgrades the gameplay yet manages to bring some of Suda51's best writing and making this his most personal game yet and manages to be a love letter to his fans and surprisingly the indie game space in general.
Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes biggest strength is the writing, references and personal introspective on Suda51's general thoughts about the gaming world and his struggles as a developer during the years. The game is divided into two main segments: the hack and slash top down gameplay that takes up a majority of the game and a separate entity called Travis Strikes Back which consists of visual novel elements and manages to bring the best out Suda51's eccentric writing and probably him at his most self aware. The writing here is funny, smart and makes sense in the universe he created and manages to mash his various titles well here. There is also a lot of callbacks and references to his previous games so you'd definitely get more out of this if you played his previous works. The game also feels like a small celebration of the indie game space with the references to a surprisingly huge variety of indie games that even I didn't expect to see here.
Sadly one department here suffers a fair bit and that's the overall flow of gameplay and the gameplay itself in the hack and slash portion which is a huge portion of the game. General controls is that you have a light attack that you essentially always hold down while moving and does light damage while you have an heavy attack which is obviously slower but does more damage. You also have a variety of skills that function as special attacks and abilities you can use on a cooldown and you can equip up to four at a time. The main problems here is that the gameplay never really evolves past the first hour, the skill variety while nice is not enough to counteract the flow of gameplay to an extent, some enemy designs are very annoying to fight against and the overall design philosophy of how levels and encounters work via just going into a part of a room to be gated off until you defeat the enemies. The final level is also pretty tedious with the maze design and teleporting that doesn't feel necessary. For the most part, you're gonna be playing the same way on the first hour and the last unless you change skills and a small annoyance is the animation locking using certain attacks that make you pretty helpless in getting hit.
TSA is a smaller scale effort from Suda51 that manages to tell the player more about his life as a developer and what he thinks about than any other game so far. This is a must play for any Suda51 fan just for the writing and references alone but as a standalone title will probably leave a lot of things to be desired for most people. A very experimental title and a very personal one for Suda51 that he really wanted to share with the gaming community. Ten hours of gaming a day!