After several weeks of playing this game, I’ve decided to actually give Blue Archive a somewhat proper review.

To be honest, I was very distant to Blue Archive when I first started it up. After all, I only really downloaded the game to see if Eden Treaty really was top tier storytelling like I’d heard it was. Pretty much everything else was an afterthought, and I was able to get away with this mindset for a decent amount of time, that is until that one specific story episode that forced me to actually build my characters and level up my account. I absolutely resented BA for this and I still think it was a bit of a fucked up move by the devs, but it also kinda acted as a blessing in disguise. It led to me getting much more involved with the game’s systems, I started getting invested in characters who weren’t in the main story that much, and I was able to derive at least some enjoyment out of the game’s combat. It’s amazing what a great story can do to my motivation.

So now here I am, 64 levels deep, listening to Alkaline Tears and After School Dessert almost daily whilst Ayane’s sweat soaked face graces my main menu. Definitely not the position I was expecting to be in when I saw Mika’s design for the first time and thought she looked pretty.

The story is definitely as good as people say it is. Of course Eden Treaty was fantastic, mainly because the Make Up Work Club is literally just my four favorite characters in a single group, but the other Volumes were no slouch either. After playing Genshin and getting consistently frustrated with how much its writing prodded on and on and on for no reason, a concise story that makes its points quickly while knowing when to have some fun is exactly what I needed. Whenever some goofy or chaotic moment happens and it actually becomes an element of the plot I’m always left with a wide grin on my face, aside from that one case where I both smiled and cried a little (I will never look at ski masks the same way ever again). I once heard the plot be called a children’s story for adults and that’s actually pretty accurate. A chapter will put Sensei and their students through utter hell as they deal with extremely stubborn corporate greed, generational hatred, crippling distrust/paranoia, and the horrors of nihilism, before ending with everyone gathering together to best all the odds as someone declares “THE BLUE ARCHIVE IS REAL”. This is only a slight exaggeration. Also, the characters fill me with so much joy and I would legit take a bullet for about 98% of them.

I will say though, the last thing I expected from this game was me loving Sensei and their role in the story as much as I do. Despite being a self insert, they actually get a decent amount characterization as a bad spender with a childish imagination who is sorta kind of a degen. Basically, your average gacha player. However, in the land of Kivotos where most adult figures for the students are either non existent in their lives or are manipulative bastards, Sensei acts as the guiding light that actually teaches them how to grow and learn from their mistakes, and is willing to put a lot on the line to do so. This does end up leading into most of the students fawning over sensei in some way, shape, or form, sometimes in rather suggestive ways. While this quasi-harem comes off as a bit tacky at first, as time went on I began to completely understand the girls’ feelings, especially after reading Where All Miracles Begin because goodness gracious it cannot be underestimated how life changing Sensei’s actions are there I’m choking up just thinking about it. Shit, I’d probably fall head over heels for Sensei in the students’ position too.

Even though i’m docking a star off for the Hell BA put me through to see through its story, don’t be mistaken. I adore this game about as much as my 5 stars, and am genuinely so happy that I was convinced by the dozens of pieces of Mika art being shoved down my throat to give Blue Archive a shot.

Azusa best girl btw
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Edit: I’m bumping the rating up to 4.5 stars because I get happy every time I think about this game and just 4 stars doesn’t feel right

It should be illegal to make a game with combat this good.

While this game is sick as fuck, it does make me appreciate just how special Rabi Ribi’s exploration and progression actually is. Tevi does have fun exploration and a little bit of nonlinearity but for much less of the game than what Rabi Ribi allowed. Everything else Tevi offers makes up for it though. Great music, diverse environments, fun movement, hilariously absurd customization, and one of the best boss casts this industry has ever seen. I will say that the story was really testing my patience, especially when it hit me with a plot twist that I genuinely cannot believe was written in the Year of our Lord 2023, but the characters are kinda charming so I could tolerate it.

I have a pretty interesting connection to Lost World (Only the 3ds version), because on the same day I got this game, I also learned that night that if you break your arm to the point that it’s facing the wrong direction, you will still feel your arm in the place where it’s supposed to be.

Playing a 3ds game with a cast on in a hospital room while constant doses of Tylenol sapped at my energy wasn’t my most satisfying gaming experience, but even after my recovery, I can’t say this game is anything more than mediocre. Sonic is fine to control, and the first moments of the game are pretty fun, but the level design really starts to become beyond asinine a little before the halfway point. I don’t want to talk about that snow world ever again.

Still, as per usual with mid sonic games, the music carries. Windy Hill’s theme distracting from the dull pain my arm felt makes it one of my favorite vg tracks of all time, so the game gave me that at least.

On one hand, this gotta be one of the most boring games to 100%. Most of it is just going through a bunch of randomly generated top down sections that get old way too quickly. Also this game has such cool improvements to its mechanics but it doesn’t utilize them in the level design nearly as much as I wanted, especially for the top down sections.

On the other hand, those improvements are still there and do make for legitimately intense, heart pounding gameplay. Also, the finale of this game is near perfection, in which the game throws you the best boss fights in the whole trilogy and an ending that actually made me shed a tear.

I would say highest highs, lowest lows but the lowest lows are still in BMZ 1 so it doesn’t work.

For now I’d say 3 about on par with 2 but which one I think is better changes every hour so I’ll see if I can find a proper answer.

One more thing, Leibniz is the GOAT