Freelockjaw
4 reviews liked by Freelockjaw
I might’ve said this in my review of the PSP remake but the sad truth with this game is it was made to be an ambitious and bold experiment in an era of looking forward for the future of Megami Tensei. This has become evident to me (a “megaten maniac”) with the fact that no video game company nowadays would throw away a system they built upon to make a spinoff that boldly would try and do something so risky like being cinematic (based on interviews this seemed to be the main goal). Sadly this creates a tedious gameplay experience that hides a genuinely good story and one I feel like is the most “wow I need to go outside and live my life now” Persona game I’ve played honestly. Whether it’s having the best use of a hidden video game character for legitimate thematic relevance, the crawling darkness of peering deeper into the mind, the absorbing darkness and coolness of the music, or the inner reflection on loneliness in a genre that’s kind of all about playing a long as game by yourself. I think Megami Ibunroku Persona was a great and interesting experiment.
https://youtu.be/2DYqwhSTeGQ?feature=shared
https://youtu.be/2DYqwhSTeGQ?feature=shared
Evergrace
2000
Among the Fromsoft titles of the early 2000s, Evergrace holds a special place in my heart. The feverish atmosphere, the unique character designs, the unorthodox but soulful soundtrack by Kota Hoshino, it all comes together for the one of the most unique experiences in the Pre-souls Fromsoft catalogue. Of course the game is far FAR from perfect, the gameplay is more or less average, and the story fails to tell itself, requiring the player to 100% to even understand it. Clearly this title was a rushed launch title for the PS2, but it's still quite enjoyable in the way it came out. It's pretty amazing how the director of Evergrace Yuzo Kojima would go on to produce Elden Ring, and honestly playing through Evergrace you can see its influence not only in ER's imagery but also in gameplay mechanics found throughout the souls games. If you're a Fromsoft fan interested in their pre-Souls era, I recommend Evergrace as a place to start!
Evergrace
2000
Excellent game, much better than I expected. Really wish I played this before now, but that's the point of going through our backlogs right?
Atmosphere is top notch, which I expect from From Software. The music was so chill, and often crazy in interesting ways. The weapon/armor/art system was cool, interesting seeing a game like this not involve leveling.
It's definitely an interesting adventure full of way different environments from each other, lot of cool 'puzzles' and a story that had me scratching my head, in a good way.
Hated most of the bosses, and often the gameplay was too simple, even for 2000 era From Software. Nothing debilitating but definitely why I might take a break before trying the sequel.
Worth a look if you enjoy video games.
Atmosphere is top notch, which I expect from From Software. The music was so chill, and often crazy in interesting ways. The weapon/armor/art system was cool, interesting seeing a game like this not involve leveling.
It's definitely an interesting adventure full of way different environments from each other, lot of cool 'puzzles' and a story that had me scratching my head, in a good way.
Hated most of the bosses, and often the gameplay was too simple, even for 2000 era From Software. Nothing debilitating but definitely why I might take a break before trying the sequel.
Worth a look if you enjoy video games.
Yakuza 4 Remastered
2019
This review contains spoilers
I beat this game two days ago and I have been hesitant to post my review since I've been debating what score to give it: 4,5, or a 6.
Ultimately and unfortunately, I give this game a 4 out of 10.
Lemme break down my experience with the game into 5 distinct 'chapters' like the game breaks it down between the protagonists.
Part1: Where is Kiryu?
(1 hour in as Akiyama)
Ok this guy and his story is really cool, I can fuck with this.
Part 2: Wait we're switching already to a new guy? Ok this prison stuff is interesting.
(everything with Saejima after the prison part) alright this isnt interesting at all, and this guy doesn't play that well.
Note: I almost dropped the game at this part because even the Majima fight at the end felt anticlimactic.
Part 3: Lemme give this Tanimura guy a chance.
(2 hours later) OK this guy is the least likable person in this series, when is the Kiryu or Akiyama part?
Part 4: My boy Kiryu! This is sure to be great.
(2 hours later) I cant believe how disappointing this is. We have 4 protagonists and only Kamurocho to explore where Yakuza 2 and 3 had 2 areas each, and they somehow don't treat the Kiryu chapters any better than the rest of the game.
Part 5: The end of the Kiryu chapter and the entire final chapter. I'm sure if youre still here reading this, you probably have played this game. Up until now I was sort of into the story, mostly the Yasuko part and not much else, MAYBE Tanimura's father's demise and not Tanimura himself. The scene on the rooftop at the end of chapter 16 was a roller coaster. The rubber bullet nonsense is known by this point, then Yasuko becomes a magic zombie girl who ignores getting shot and then immediately dies when she kills the other guy, then more rubber bullet nonsense. I cannot stress enough how lame a concept having rubber bullets ruining the Saejima scene is in a game like this. Top it off with a final chapter where we fight 4 guys where I felt like Arai was the only one I 'felt' like fighting from story implications. I dont even remember the senior cop guy's name because I had zero motivation to have him as a villain. It was so fucking inconsequential. ON TOP OF THAT, where 3 of the final 4 fights were 'ok,' the final fight against him is BY FAR the WORST fight in any Yakuza game I've played, and I've played 7 so far. (0-4 and both Kiwami) Who the fuck approved that? Overall the combat encounters in this game didn't feel too interesting, where even 1 on ps2 had more fun encounters. If the story is eh and the combat scenarios aren't that fun what are you even left with?
Then in the ending that whole weird part about Hana losing so much weight from not eating at all was so offputting. Leave the poor girl alone, don't make us applaud the idea that she's 'skinny' now because she was so sick she couldn't eat. I felt so bad for her and then they pull that shit out, and she takes off her glasses as if you can only be pretty if you dont wear glasses and are skinny. Such a stupid part.
This game tried new ideas and I applaud them for it but ultimately, coming off of 1-3 which all had stories and villains that I felt strongly about, to this where the whole thing just felt like it came and went, lowered my score of the game a lot. I liked Akiyama's part a lot, I wish the game had more of him and I felt they could have done Saejima better (Yes I am aware they are in part 5, btw) but Tanimura felt like he didn't belong with us.
One final thing to mention that also made me lower my view of the game: holy shit does this game feel rushed. It was made in less than 2 years, I think it was a little more than 1? and boy does it show. Hard to go into detail since it was so many little things I noticed, like the entirety of the final showdown of Saejima's chapters happening in 1 big room, where previous games would have multiple rooms for the different fights.
4/10, a bad Yakuza game.
Ultimately and unfortunately, I give this game a 4 out of 10.
Lemme break down my experience with the game into 5 distinct 'chapters' like the game breaks it down between the protagonists.
Part1: Where is Kiryu?
(1 hour in as Akiyama)
Ok this guy and his story is really cool, I can fuck with this.
Part 2: Wait we're switching already to a new guy? Ok this prison stuff is interesting.
(everything with Saejima after the prison part) alright this isnt interesting at all, and this guy doesn't play that well.
Note: I almost dropped the game at this part because even the Majima fight at the end felt anticlimactic.
Part 3: Lemme give this Tanimura guy a chance.
(2 hours later) OK this guy is the least likable person in this series, when is the Kiryu or Akiyama part?
Part 4: My boy Kiryu! This is sure to be great.
(2 hours later) I cant believe how disappointing this is. We have 4 protagonists and only Kamurocho to explore where Yakuza 2 and 3 had 2 areas each, and they somehow don't treat the Kiryu chapters any better than the rest of the game.
Part 5: The end of the Kiryu chapter and the entire final chapter. I'm sure if youre still here reading this, you probably have played this game. Up until now I was sort of into the story, mostly the Yasuko part and not much else, MAYBE Tanimura's father's demise and not Tanimura himself. The scene on the rooftop at the end of chapter 16 was a roller coaster. The rubber bullet nonsense is known by this point, then Yasuko becomes a magic zombie girl who ignores getting shot and then immediately dies when she kills the other guy, then more rubber bullet nonsense. I cannot stress enough how lame a concept having rubber bullets ruining the Saejima scene is in a game like this. Top it off with a final chapter where we fight 4 guys where I felt like Arai was the only one I 'felt' like fighting from story implications. I dont even remember the senior cop guy's name because I had zero motivation to have him as a villain. It was so fucking inconsequential. ON TOP OF THAT, where 3 of the final 4 fights were 'ok,' the final fight against him is BY FAR the WORST fight in any Yakuza game I've played, and I've played 7 so far. (0-4 and both Kiwami) Who the fuck approved that? Overall the combat encounters in this game didn't feel too interesting, where even 1 on ps2 had more fun encounters. If the story is eh and the combat scenarios aren't that fun what are you even left with?
Then in the ending that whole weird part about Hana losing so much weight from not eating at all was so offputting. Leave the poor girl alone, don't make us applaud the idea that she's 'skinny' now because she was so sick she couldn't eat. I felt so bad for her and then they pull that shit out, and she takes off her glasses as if you can only be pretty if you dont wear glasses and are skinny. Such a stupid part.
This game tried new ideas and I applaud them for it but ultimately, coming off of 1-3 which all had stories and villains that I felt strongly about, to this where the whole thing just felt like it came and went, lowered my score of the game a lot. I liked Akiyama's part a lot, I wish the game had more of him and I felt they could have done Saejima better (Yes I am aware they are in part 5, btw) but Tanimura felt like he didn't belong with us.
One final thing to mention that also made me lower my view of the game: holy shit does this game feel rushed. It was made in less than 2 years, I think it was a little more than 1? and boy does it show. Hard to go into detail since it was so many little things I noticed, like the entirety of the final showdown of Saejima's chapters happening in 1 big room, where previous games would have multiple rooms for the different fights.
4/10, a bad Yakuza game.