Hannibalmick
476 Reviews liked by Hannibalmick
Honkai: Star Rail
2023
A couple of days ago I was thinking "At what point do you review a live service game?" Because while I'm sure I'd love to wait for End of Service to review the "Whole Experience" at that point, why bother?
So the answer I've come to after seeing another friend post their own review on HSR is just, whenever. Do you feel you have a good enough basis? Then go ahead and post what you feel like.
I've played a lot of RPGs recently, including the Trails series which HSR's Director is a fan of and even took inspiration from for the combat system in HSR, and that was both a pro and and con.
The pro was obviously that I knew exactly what I was getting into in terms of the combat, its the basic AT system, with Delays, Advances and butting into the turn order to hit your ultimate, it's got a Break system introduced in Cold Steel 3 even if the conditions are more specific to get a Break off. Which is great Cold Steel 3 is the best combat in the Cold Steel quadrology.
And the cons... It feels kinda pedantic but when I first started playing HSR there were so many moments when I went "God the presentation for this would be so good if it wasnt a gacha."
To explain what I mean, there are several moments in the story where you are accompanied by other units, for a majority of Jarilo-VI this is March 7th and Dan Heng. There is a part in Jarilo-VI where the player character sneaks out with Bronya and Seele leaving March 7th and Dan Heng behind. So it's really jarring when you get into combat and your actual "Party" consists of March 7th and some woman you haven't even met yet, and neither Bronya or Seele.
Like I said the point feels pedantic, and at best is just "Could you imagine?" because if this were a singleplayer game the presentation of these events represented in changes in your party would be great. And you don't even have to Imagine that hard as the Player Character is mandatory for the final boss of Jarilo-VI because part way through the climactic fight they functionally change to a new unit entirely due to influence of the story. So they devs and writers clearly have some idea what I'm talking about here because they've done it.
So my main complaint basically boils down to "Would be better if it wasn't a gacha" and while I'll stand by that I will put down that as a Gacha it could be so much worse. Almost every system available to the player is generous in its own way to the point where I don't really mind most the Gacha aspects.
Anyway, good game, would've been better as a singleplayer game, but as a gacha its more then decent.
EDIT: Since this review I have gotten to the Luofu, and it's solidified my issues with the presentation of the party system, but because it goes on to be MUCH BETTER about it. Having a whole side story that you can do starring Dan Heng and 2 other units being lent to you for a trial period that fight.
Guess they just didn't want to do it for Belobog?
So the answer I've come to after seeing another friend post their own review on HSR is just, whenever. Do you feel you have a good enough basis? Then go ahead and post what you feel like.
I've played a lot of RPGs recently, including the Trails series which HSR's Director is a fan of and even took inspiration from for the combat system in HSR, and that was both a pro and and con.
The pro was obviously that I knew exactly what I was getting into in terms of the combat, its the basic AT system, with Delays, Advances and butting into the turn order to hit your ultimate, it's got a Break system introduced in Cold Steel 3 even if the conditions are more specific to get a Break off. Which is great Cold Steel 3 is the best combat in the Cold Steel quadrology.
And the cons... It feels kinda pedantic but when I first started playing HSR there were so many moments when I went "God the presentation for this would be so good if it wasnt a gacha."
To explain what I mean, there are several moments in the story where you are accompanied by other units, for a majority of Jarilo-VI this is March 7th and Dan Heng. There is a part in Jarilo-VI where the player character sneaks out with Bronya and Seele leaving March 7th and Dan Heng behind. So it's really jarring when you get into combat and your actual "Party" consists of March 7th and some woman you haven't even met yet, and neither Bronya or Seele.
Like I said the point feels pedantic, and at best is just "Could you imagine?" because if this were a singleplayer game the presentation of these events represented in changes in your party would be great. And you don't even have to Imagine that hard as the Player Character is mandatory for the final boss of Jarilo-VI because part way through the climactic fight they functionally change to a new unit entirely due to influence of the story. So they devs and writers clearly have some idea what I'm talking about here because they've done it.
So my main complaint basically boils down to "Would be better if it wasn't a gacha" and while I'll stand by that I will put down that as a Gacha it could be so much worse. Almost every system available to the player is generous in its own way to the point where I don't really mind most the Gacha aspects.
Anyway, good game, would've been better as a singleplayer game, but as a gacha its more then decent.
EDIT: Since this review I have gotten to the Luofu, and it's solidified my issues with the presentation of the party system, but because it goes on to be MUCH BETTER about it. Having a whole side story that you can do starring Dan Heng and 2 other units being lent to you for a trial period that fight.
Guess they just didn't want to do it for Belobog?
Suikoden II
1998
Luca Blight is the funniest antagonist ever
Wound up loving this one. The beginning's very strong, the cast is wonderful, and the episodic stories throughout the middle are lovely (excepting the one with the inn owner/princess, it was apparently added to the console ports and you can feel it). But it's the climax/ending that really brought this one home for me. The lore bombs are honestly pretty ridiculous, but they still worked for me because they're grounded in Hakuowlo's journey, in the journies of the cast. Cried a whole lot multiple times through the concluding episodes.
I think where most folks will struggle is that there's very little urgency to most of the story; you really have to trust that it's taking you somewhere. It's a lot like Trails in that sense. But if you can give it that trust, if you're willing to luxuriate in the cast and world without real plot progression for long stretches, I think the game ultimately rewards you for your investment.
I think where most folks will struggle is that there's very little urgency to most of the story; you really have to trust that it's taking you somewhere. It's a lot like Trails in that sense. But if you can give it that trust, if you're willing to luxuriate in the cast and world without real plot progression for long stretches, I think the game ultimately rewards you for your investment.
The Mask games are easily my favorite story ever. While Mask of Deception was mostly slice of life, it really gave me a chance to get invested and understand the main cast. They’re all either funny, good, or both. And even among that cast there were a few that stood out among the rest. It was also the coziest reading experience I’ve ever had. The major plotline starts to pick up in the second half, but it never gets so serious that you lose heart. You’ll even get to see some familiar faces again. The world building goes crazy both for the world it is now and the world prior to it. But the ending to it is what swept me off my feet and put its hooks into me for Mask of Truth.
Mask of Truth on the other hand is the most emotionally packed story I’ve read. It hasn’t ditched its SoL heart entirely and frankly, it also has some of the best SoL I’ve ever read. What it has done is taken that cast that I loved from Deception and put them through the crucible. Not only does a civil war rage on, they’ve been dealt a crushing hand from Deception’s end. Everyone’s story either comes out just as good or much better than it was in the last game. The four people that ended up being my goats were Haku, Kuon, Nekone, and Anju with Haku being by far the best character in the games. Watching him go from that lazy, helpless, but caring bastard lost in this new land to a legend to be sung about was the best character journey I’ve ever been on. That laidback slow life he craved, he threw it all away to carry out the job left to him. The other 3 people I listed have some crazy struggles of their own with Kuon probably being the most interesting. The most emotional damage I’ve ever experienced from one character though goes to Nekone and her own relationship with Haku. It’s not even just her either. Everyone in her family has taken my kneecaps. All of the emotional catharsis in this game is fantastic and there’s just so much of it. All their tragedies, struggles, and triumphs have me broken by the end of it.
If there’s any real critique I can give the story is that it stumbles a bit near the end. Just a messy and rushed act as we approach the finish line. I almost lost faith that this would be a fumbled end. But the very ending portions of the game are done so well and everything preceding that act was so good I can let that go.
The music is competent with two real nice exceptions. There are 2 inserts in the game I really enjoy and one in particular that is the song I hear when I think about these games.
While I have basically no complaints about the story, I think the gameplay is very mediocre. It’s far too simple for me. The BP system is a pretty interesting idea for how to customize but it ended up just being like pumping attack and speed when I could afford it. There’s basically no reason to use tanks in this game. The passives you can equip also aren’t particularly interesting. It wasn’t bad, just not really the reason I played the game. One map was offensive though but the final map more than made up for it. I didn’t do the post game arenas at all though since the gameplay wasn’t for me.
Despite those problems, I’d still give this a 10/10. The story was just that strong. If you thought Uta 1 was decent, these should be right up your alley. If you didn’t play Uta 1, just expect a solid experience from Uta 1, but these 2 games are why I’m so thoroughly in love with the series.
Mask of Truth on the other hand is the most emotionally packed story I’ve read. It hasn’t ditched its SoL heart entirely and frankly, it also has some of the best SoL I’ve ever read. What it has done is taken that cast that I loved from Deception and put them through the crucible. Not only does a civil war rage on, they’ve been dealt a crushing hand from Deception’s end. Everyone’s story either comes out just as good or much better than it was in the last game. The four people that ended up being my goats were Haku, Kuon, Nekone, and Anju with Haku being by far the best character in the games. Watching him go from that lazy, helpless, but caring bastard lost in this new land to a legend to be sung about was the best character journey I’ve ever been on. That laidback slow life he craved, he threw it all away to carry out the job left to him. The other 3 people I listed have some crazy struggles of their own with Kuon probably being the most interesting. The most emotional damage I’ve ever experienced from one character though goes to Nekone and her own relationship with Haku. It’s not even just her either. Everyone in her family has taken my kneecaps. All of the emotional catharsis in this game is fantastic and there’s just so much of it. All their tragedies, struggles, and triumphs have me broken by the end of it.
If there’s any real critique I can give the story is that it stumbles a bit near the end. Just a messy and rushed act as we approach the finish line. I almost lost faith that this would be a fumbled end. But the very ending portions of the game are done so well and everything preceding that act was so good I can let that go.
The music is competent with two real nice exceptions. There are 2 inserts in the game I really enjoy and one in particular that is the song I hear when I think about these games.
While I have basically no complaints about the story, I think the gameplay is very mediocre. It’s far too simple for me. The BP system is a pretty interesting idea for how to customize but it ended up just being like pumping attack and speed when I could afford it. There’s basically no reason to use tanks in this game. The passives you can equip also aren’t particularly interesting. It wasn’t bad, just not really the reason I played the game. One map was offensive though but the final map more than made up for it. I didn’t do the post game arenas at all though since the gameplay wasn’t for me.
Despite those problems, I’d still give this a 10/10. The story was just that strong. If you thought Uta 1 was decent, these should be right up your alley. If you didn’t play Uta 1, just expect a solid experience from Uta 1, but these 2 games are why I’m so thoroughly in love with the series.
Kiryu: “I have left the life of the Dragon of Dojima behind. Time to live my life in exile in utter anonymity.”
Every single person who meets you in this game: “omg it’s Kiryu”
Every single person who meets you in this game: “omg it’s Kiryu”
Blue Archive
2021
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
ᓀ‸ᓂ
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
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
ᓀ‸ᓂ
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
This review contains spoilers
Will update score and entire review when I'm finished with the entire expansion (it will probably trend towards a more positive impression). Currently just did the Vauthry/Innocence trial.
Here are my impressions ~30 hours in:
The post Stormblood patches straight up kept me from quitting this game and the beginning of Shadowbringers was the most invested I've been with this story. Emet-Selch's introduction was perfect. The Chrystarium felt like the best hub instantly and I really liked the setup of your companions predicament.
However, things started to sour a bit when I came to the realization, after fighting the first lightwarden, that I would repeat the task of: going to a zone, gain the trust of the inhabitants of the ~2 settlements (by doing pedestrian filler quests) so they can help me reach the lightwarden and then fight the lightwarden... 4 more times. The stories told about the minor NPCs in each zone were almost all uninteresting so it just felt like inane filler. The only thing keeping me interested were the tiny scraps of the actual story they would feed to me after each lightwarden fight.
It just frustrates me that I have to play a boring 3 hours so that they can show me the ACTUAL well executed part of the story. Like Emet-Selch is already extremely interesting but over 30 hours played and I've heard this guy talk for about 30 minutes in total. The only times I stop the auto-advance were to actually hang on the words Emet says. I can feel so much potential and I know he will only get better. On the other hand, The Crystal Exarch hardly becomes a character with any personality until right before the Vauthry fight. This will probably change as I progress further but I just don't really see any point in his secrecy act other than to delight the player with a surprise, but it was obvious who he was like 30 minutes before the expansion even started... I really like most of the characters but I just can’t get myself to care that deeply about Ryne, Ardbert, Exarch, Alphinaud. Which is weird because I gel’d with Graha in crystal tower (writing this right after his reveal, I will probably end up warming up to him), and Alphinaud during Heavensward. Honestly, Alisiae has much wider tonal range then Alphinaud, who only really ends up being good boy or mad that someone else isn't being good boy, in stormblood and beyond.
One last thing, some of the music is the best in the entire game (which is a pretty high bar) BUT then some of the music gets so repetitive that its grating. E.g. Kholusia part 2, ardbert music, that one choral part of shadowbringers in all its different variations.
I really hope the end part of 5.0 and post patches really changes things because so far I'm just a little disappointed. I just can't love the aspect of doing inane shit for 4 hours then being extremely engaged with the game for 20 minutes when the actual good shit happens. It's alike to FF16 in the aspect of feeling like I'm waiting in a long line for a rollercoaster ride.
6.5/10 (before)
Had a whole write-up about why I don't think this game didn't turn out to be a 10/10 for me but I don't really resonate with what I wrote back then anymore (6 months ago). In summary, the end of 5.0 and 5.3 were 10/10, those moments/arcs are as good as people say they are. But I found a lot of in-between stuff to be bland. I don't think the way the story is told is for me. There was a cutscene at the end of 5.3, where the game showed its potential in its cutscene and animation direction and it was SO GOOD but it made me realize that I don't vibe with 90% of the game being the characters emoting at each other and limited voice acting.
8/10
Here are my impressions ~30 hours in:
The post Stormblood patches straight up kept me from quitting this game and the beginning of Shadowbringers was the most invested I've been with this story. Emet-Selch's introduction was perfect. The Chrystarium felt like the best hub instantly and I really liked the setup of your companions predicament.
However, things started to sour a bit when I came to the realization, after fighting the first lightwarden, that I would repeat the task of: going to a zone, gain the trust of the inhabitants of the ~2 settlements (by doing pedestrian filler quests) so they can help me reach the lightwarden and then fight the lightwarden... 4 more times. The stories told about the minor NPCs in each zone were almost all uninteresting so it just felt like inane filler. The only thing keeping me interested were the tiny scraps of the actual story they would feed to me after each lightwarden fight.
It just frustrates me that I have to play a boring 3 hours so that they can show me the ACTUAL well executed part of the story. Like Emet-Selch is already extremely interesting but over 30 hours played and I've heard this guy talk for about 30 minutes in total. The only times I stop the auto-advance were to actually hang on the words Emet says. I can feel so much potential and I know he will only get better. On the other hand, The Crystal Exarch hardly becomes a character with any personality until right before the Vauthry fight. This will probably change as I progress further but I just don't really see any point in his secrecy act other than to delight the player with a surprise, but it was obvious who he was like 30 minutes before the expansion even started... I really like most of the characters but I just can’t get myself to care that deeply about Ryne, Ardbert, Exarch, Alphinaud. Which is weird because I gel’d with Graha in crystal tower (writing this right after his reveal, I will probably end up warming up to him), and Alphinaud during Heavensward. Honestly, Alisiae has much wider tonal range then Alphinaud, who only really ends up being good boy or mad that someone else isn't being good boy, in stormblood and beyond.
One last thing, some of the music is the best in the entire game (which is a pretty high bar) BUT then some of the music gets so repetitive that its grating. E.g. Kholusia part 2, ardbert music, that one choral part of shadowbringers in all its different variations.
I really hope the end part of 5.0 and post patches really changes things because so far I'm just a little disappointed. I just can't love the aspect of doing inane shit for 4 hours then being extremely engaged with the game for 20 minutes when the actual good shit happens. It's alike to FF16 in the aspect of feeling like I'm waiting in a long line for a rollercoaster ride.
6.5/10 (before)
Had a whole write-up about why I don't think this game didn't turn out to be a 10/10 for me but I don't really resonate with what I wrote back then anymore (6 months ago). In summary, the end of 5.0 and 5.3 were 10/10, those moments/arcs are as good as people say they are. But I found a lot of in-between stuff to be bland. I don't think the way the story is told is for me. There was a cutscene at the end of 5.3, where the game showed its potential in its cutscene and animation direction and it was SO GOOD but it made me realize that I don't vibe with 90% of the game being the characters emoting at each other and limited voice acting.
8/10
This entire trilogy was an absolute masterpiece, and Mask of Truth is an amazing conclusion to this overarching story that had lasted for almost fifteen years
I absolutely adore Haku and I'm gonna miss these game's amazing cast of characters
I absolutely adore Haku and I'm gonna miss these game's amazing cast of characters
This games reception is probably one of the worst of all time and it affects a lot of people’s perception of when they do hop on this game and it takes away all their own opinions to formulate themselves and automatically prepares them to expect the bad and never any good. That being said, this game is a huge test to whether you are able to filter out the bad opinions and listen to your own opinions because honestly this is one of the greatest JRPG adventures continuing off from an already amazing game which is Xenoblade 1.
Getting this out the way as fast as possible, my only complaint was the checks on having certain field skills at certain points in the game and this is more towards the end of the game, this really hits the pacing and it feels just disconnected if you aren’t hitting those field skills correctly and I didn’t have any problems personally but I could see why people are complaining and this is because of the gacha system they implemented for blades. That’s basically my complaint and it’s not that huge, not even contributing to the overall combat and narrative.
This game is the definition if you have a lick of common sense, not for everyone but certainly for me. People who review this game as a hentai game is doing this entry in the series a big disservice. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is one of the most misunderstood games ever and it’s just unfortunately gonna stay that way. Following public opinion and sticking with it just makes you look goofy as hell, for the people who dislike this game, they can keep disliking cause it’s obvious that they are just birds Inna flock with no common sense at all.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is one of the best sequels to a series ever, this cast is one of my favorites excluding one character who contributes jack shit but yeah. I could see why people get turned away by the first four chapters cause it’s definitely slow and it has a lot to build on but what JRPG doesn’t have this same problem to let them cook. The antagonist group with Jin and Malos are really just one of my favorite pair of antagonists ever. Getting into the main cast and Rex, Mythra/Pyra, Nia are just my absolute favorites and just hit very hard especially alongside with the other cast members (again sayin excluding one). Xenoblade 2 cast is just beautifully created and how their characters feel so real on talking about how life is and their own ideals and what matters to them. Zeke also being one of my favorite cast members ever in a party group, the way he was introduced and handled throughout the game was just so good. Rex and Jin being foils to each other, mutuals characters dealing with their own inner strife such as Nia on hiding herself for most of the game until she finally is able to come out and be happy alongside Rex who was able to find his reasons to keep going which includes her, Pyra/Mythra and the party, just so much amazing things going on for the characters that’s just beautiful
The finale stretch is amazing as always for a Xenoblade game and reveals huge things especially more information about what exactly happens and also showing a bit of action in what happened before in XC1s plot that’s connected to the current plot. This story being connected with themes of healing your own wounds, getting up from despair, deciding for yourself whether you should keep going or stop on road, caring for others, carrying on for the next generation of people to take over. It definitely means something to me, something about not just adding into making sure we make our own choices for our future continuing on from xc1, but to make sure we rely on the people around us, to stick true to our own selves especially. The world will always get its way and it will fail the people, it will fail us and shit will happen and it could be tough to recover from it, but there’s always the hope and our own will to keep on going, to keep the people around you and to provide each other with comfort, and when that day comes when said person is to pass or it’s you that passes, we pass on ourselves and our important memories to provide for the future and to keep personally to ourselves to remind us. This world is not a pretty one and there’s always gonna be conflict and sadness, but there’s also the good times when we are happy, it’s as simple as Rex says it.
Thank You Xenoblade 2
Getting this out the way as fast as possible, my only complaint was the checks on having certain field skills at certain points in the game and this is more towards the end of the game, this really hits the pacing and it feels just disconnected if you aren’t hitting those field skills correctly and I didn’t have any problems personally but I could see why people are complaining and this is because of the gacha system they implemented for blades. That’s basically my complaint and it’s not that huge, not even contributing to the overall combat and narrative.
This game is the definition if you have a lick of common sense, not for everyone but certainly for me. People who review this game as a hentai game is doing this entry in the series a big disservice. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is one of the most misunderstood games ever and it’s just unfortunately gonna stay that way. Following public opinion and sticking with it just makes you look goofy as hell, for the people who dislike this game, they can keep disliking cause it’s obvious that they are just birds Inna flock with no common sense at all.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is one of the best sequels to a series ever, this cast is one of my favorites excluding one character who contributes jack shit but yeah. I could see why people get turned away by the first four chapters cause it’s definitely slow and it has a lot to build on but what JRPG doesn’t have this same problem to let them cook. The antagonist group with Jin and Malos are really just one of my favorite pair of antagonists ever. Getting into the main cast and Rex, Mythra/Pyra, Nia are just my absolute favorites and just hit very hard especially alongside with the other cast members (again sayin excluding one). Xenoblade 2 cast is just beautifully created and how their characters feel so real on talking about how life is and their own ideals and what matters to them. Zeke also being one of my favorite cast members ever in a party group, the way he was introduced and handled throughout the game was just so good. Rex and Jin being foils to each other, mutuals characters dealing with their own inner strife such as Nia on hiding herself for most of the game until she finally is able to come out and be happy alongside Rex who was able to find his reasons to keep going which includes her, Pyra/Mythra and the party, just so much amazing things going on for the characters that’s just beautiful
The finale stretch is amazing as always for a Xenoblade game and reveals huge things especially more information about what exactly happens and also showing a bit of action in what happened before in XC1s plot that’s connected to the current plot. This story being connected with themes of healing your own wounds, getting up from despair, deciding for yourself whether you should keep going or stop on road, caring for others, carrying on for the next generation of people to take over. It definitely means something to me, something about not just adding into making sure we make our own choices for our future continuing on from xc1, but to make sure we rely on the people around us, to stick true to our own selves especially. The world will always get its way and it will fail the people, it will fail us and shit will happen and it could be tough to recover from it, but there’s always the hope and our own will to keep on going, to keep the people around you and to provide each other with comfort, and when that day comes when said person is to pass or it’s you that passes, we pass on ourselves and our important memories to provide for the future and to keep personally to ourselves to remind us. This world is not a pretty one and there’s always gonna be conflict and sadness, but there’s also the good times when we are happy, it’s as simple as Rex says it.
Thank You Xenoblade 2
10/10.
Uma história as aparências simples, uma narrativa as aparências simples.
Muito elementos narrativos tradicionais realizados da maneira adequada, o quanto de build up teve para esse cara atingir o verdadeiro impacto emocional, foi excepcional.
Bons temas, acima de tudo a forma como foi executado é um tipo bem seguro de se realizar certos tipos de impacto ou progressão, mas acima de tudo foi efetivo, lágrimas não foram o bastante, o meu coração ficou muito tempo pensando sobre..... foi algo majestoso.
Uma conclusão tão satisfatória, ao seguir adiante me senti vazio por me despedir desse conto chamado utawarerumono, mas eu guardarei com um imenso carinho essa história e seus personagens.
Finalizando esse breve comentário, Kimi ga tame e sua letra, simplesmente maravilhoso.
Farewell uta.
Uma história as aparências simples, uma narrativa as aparências simples.
Muito elementos narrativos tradicionais realizados da maneira adequada, o quanto de build up teve para esse cara atingir o verdadeiro impacto emocional, foi excepcional.
Bons temas, acima de tudo a forma como foi executado é um tipo bem seguro de se realizar certos tipos de impacto ou progressão, mas acima de tudo foi efetivo, lágrimas não foram o bastante, o meu coração ficou muito tempo pensando sobre..... foi algo majestoso.
Uma conclusão tão satisfatória, ao seguir adiante me senti vazio por me despedir desse conto chamado utawarerumono, mas eu guardarei com um imenso carinho essa história e seus personagens.
Finalizando esse breve comentário, Kimi ga tame e sua letra, simplesmente maravilhoso.
Farewell uta.
Blue Archive
2021
The main story is fucking amazing and the characters in this series. Genuinely caught me off guard but every character is just so loveable, music and everything.
I LOVE MIKA😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
I LOVE MIKA😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
Honkai Impact 3rd
2016
J’ai adoré ce jeu pendant longtemps mais ça casse les couilles entre les personnes qui ressemblent à des enfants (PEDOOOO) et l’interface qui a changé pour un truc MOCHE et l’histoire maintenant faut rétablir la vérité mais maintenant qu’il n’y a plus Kiana et co ON S’EN FOUT ON COMPREND RIEN TG (je pense surtout que j’apprécie plus ce jeu aussi parce que j’ai grandi)
Honkai: Star Rail
2023
Qingque is literally me
This review contains spoilers
In reality this game is more like Xenosaga 4 because between 2 and this game you have to play Pied Piper (Japanese only mobile game for which only the script is available in English) and watch A Missing Year (free flash movie originally only released in Japanese but at least there is a full fan translation) and only then can you (maybe) understand what is happening in this game!
Probably the biggest issue with the narrative is that Shion is downright insufferable throughout this entire game. Her irrational and erratic actions are what end up driving the plot for basically the entire old Miltia section and when she insists on going back to her ex-boyfriend whom had been shown to be an evil manipulator and little else. Beyond that she is also insanely rude to all her allies for no reason while they're risking their lives trying to save her dumbass while also giving her no pushback whatsoever.
All of this resulted in me really not caring about the character or her "happy" ending, Allen deserved better....
Because of the series shrunk down nature (and Xenosaga 2 barely developing the overall story), 3 is left with the herculean task of having to explain everything and resolving this gargantuan story and naturally this does result in some issues.
The pacing on disc 2 is the obvious one.
The series 2 main antagonists, Yuriev and Wilhelm, who were shrouded in mystery for the first 2 games, pretty much get dealt with immediately as they step into the spotlight.
Yuriev, for one, overall ended up being a very one dimensional character and his death was just kind of anticlimactic especially when Albedo randomly shows up reincarnated as a Testament only to die again 30 seconds later.
Wilhelm ends up being the big bad string puller who is really behind EVERYTHING but he only reveals his cards in the last hour where he gives you a 30 minute mega info dump which is downright impossible to comprehend due to how much stuff is being unveiled. Once you wrap your head around it after reading the wiki/Xenosaga III Perfect Guide for an hour, it is pretty cool. :)
While you're going through the final planet, Michtam, all of the series' minor antagonist conveniently come flying at you 1 by 1 wanting to fight you to the death (even Hermann and Richard show up lol). It ends up feeling a bit too forced especially when Margulis and Pellegri have no reason to fight you anymore after Willhelm told them the truth.
Some aspects of the story are also just outright dropped, Jin's backstory with Margulis and Pellegri, for one, is never elaborated on despite it being heavily teased throughout episode 2 and 3. Maybe they were planning to make another pied pipper type game idk.
Considering it was initially planned to be a 6 game series, this is probably the best they could've wrapped it up.
The game's presentation ends up being both visually and audibly the peak of the series.
After both 1 and 2 made some rather questionable stylistic decisions in regards to character designs, 3 really nails it with a more expressive stylized approach than 2 while not looking as nightmare inducing as 1. The addition of character portraits to ingame cutscene textboxes also allows them to better communicate emotions however due to budget/hardware limitations the game will often abruptly swap between pre-rendered and ingame cutscenes mid scene via an awkward fade to black transition load screen. The most jarring instance of this is during the final pre-boss cutscene where it ends up swapping back and forth every ~30 seconds and it ends up kinda killing the tension of the scene.
A bunch of voice actors change once again, some returning from 1, some new and it again reinforces what a massive downgrade 2's cast was.
The OST also has by far the most amount of memorable tracks on it.
Another game another combat rework!
And it is passable...
Erde Kaiser just runs the game (even the first version which is very easy to get)
Random encounters amount to just Erde Kaiser -> get boost gauge -> aoe special to finish enemies for bonus points!
Erde Kaiser breaks pretty much everything and the EP cost is irrelevant because the game gives you so many ways of regaining it. Its so efficient that past a certain point you're better off having a character with low EATK use Erde Kaiser so it doesn't outright kill the enemies. Doing anything else just ends up feeling silly especially when the enemies do hurt and can break your characters within ~2/3 hits IF they are given the chance to attack.
At least there is no more roulette wheel and the random encounters don't last minutes like they did in 2, so i guess its an improvement!
The boss fights aren't great either, they all follow the same pattern of doing literally nothing until they're ~25% hp where they get mad and if you're not careful, straight up 1-shot a character/the entire party (if you have higher tiers of Erde Kaiser, which are not hard to get, you can completely ignore bosses).
The mech fights however are definitely the best they've been and while that's kind of a low bar to clear, after Lv3 anima and getting ample energy for attacks, I ended up preferring it over the on-foot combat. The customization ends up being really impactful and some of the later fights can at least get somewhat engaging.
Ultimately Xenosaga as a series is marred by Unfulfilled Potential. Over-ambition and creative ideas meet the harsh reality of budgets and hardware limitations (and a few silly design mistakes).
Probably the biggest issue with the narrative is that Shion is downright insufferable throughout this entire game. Her irrational and erratic actions are what end up driving the plot for basically the entire old Miltia section and when she insists on going back to her ex-boyfriend whom had been shown to be an evil manipulator and little else. Beyond that she is also insanely rude to all her allies for no reason while they're risking their lives trying to save her dumbass while also giving her no pushback whatsoever.
All of this resulted in me really not caring about the character or her "happy" ending, Allen deserved better....
Because of the series shrunk down nature (and Xenosaga 2 barely developing the overall story), 3 is left with the herculean task of having to explain everything and resolving this gargantuan story and naturally this does result in some issues.
The pacing on disc 2 is the obvious one.
The series 2 main antagonists, Yuriev and Wilhelm, who were shrouded in mystery for the first 2 games, pretty much get dealt with immediately as they step into the spotlight.
Yuriev, for one, overall ended up being a very one dimensional character and his death was just kind of anticlimactic especially when Albedo randomly shows up reincarnated as a Testament only to die again 30 seconds later.
Wilhelm ends up being the big bad string puller who is really behind EVERYTHING but he only reveals his cards in the last hour where he gives you a 30 minute mega info dump which is downright impossible to comprehend due to how much stuff is being unveiled. Once you wrap your head around it after reading the wiki/Xenosaga III Perfect Guide for an hour, it is pretty cool. :)
While you're going through the final planet, Michtam, all of the series' minor antagonist conveniently come flying at you 1 by 1 wanting to fight you to the death (even Hermann and Richard show up lol). It ends up feeling a bit too forced especially when Margulis and Pellegri have no reason to fight you anymore after Willhelm told them the truth.
Some aspects of the story are also just outright dropped, Jin's backstory with Margulis and Pellegri, for one, is never elaborated on despite it being heavily teased throughout episode 2 and 3. Maybe they were planning to make another pied pipper type game idk.
Considering it was initially planned to be a 6 game series, this is probably the best they could've wrapped it up.
The game's presentation ends up being both visually and audibly the peak of the series.
After both 1 and 2 made some rather questionable stylistic decisions in regards to character designs, 3 really nails it with a more expressive stylized approach than 2 while not looking as nightmare inducing as 1. The addition of character portraits to ingame cutscene textboxes also allows them to better communicate emotions however due to budget/hardware limitations the game will often abruptly swap between pre-rendered and ingame cutscenes mid scene via an awkward fade to black transition load screen. The most jarring instance of this is during the final pre-boss cutscene where it ends up swapping back and forth every ~30 seconds and it ends up kinda killing the tension of the scene.
A bunch of voice actors change once again, some returning from 1, some new and it again reinforces what a massive downgrade 2's cast was.
The OST also has by far the most amount of memorable tracks on it.
Another game another combat rework!
And it is passable...
Erde Kaiser just runs the game (even the first version which is very easy to get)
Random encounters amount to just Erde Kaiser -> get boost gauge -> aoe special to finish enemies for bonus points!
Erde Kaiser breaks pretty much everything and the EP cost is irrelevant because the game gives you so many ways of regaining it. Its so efficient that past a certain point you're better off having a character with low EATK use Erde Kaiser so it doesn't outright kill the enemies. Doing anything else just ends up feeling silly especially when the enemies do hurt and can break your characters within ~2/3 hits IF they are given the chance to attack.
At least there is no more roulette wheel and the random encounters don't last minutes like they did in 2, so i guess its an improvement!
The boss fights aren't great either, they all follow the same pattern of doing literally nothing until they're ~25% hp where they get mad and if you're not careful, straight up 1-shot a character/the entire party (if you have higher tiers of Erde Kaiser, which are not hard to get, you can completely ignore bosses).
The mech fights however are definitely the best they've been and while that's kind of a low bar to clear, after Lv3 anima and getting ample energy for attacks, I ended up preferring it over the on-foot combat. The customization ends up being really impactful and some of the later fights can at least get somewhat engaging.
Ultimately Xenosaga as a series is marred by Unfulfilled Potential. Over-ambition and creative ideas meet the harsh reality of budgets and hardware limitations (and a few silly design mistakes).
This review contains spoilers
Gaiden is not a bad game but it's honestly the most mediocre game in the series. The story doesn't really do anything cool or interesting enough that makes you go ohhh so that's why kiryu was in 7. The side content also feels lacking it's not bad but sub stories being marked and you not just stumbling into them removes a lot of charm. To be fair it has probably the best arena so far but considering they are usually not very good dosen't mean too much. The Agent style is cool i guess but not good. The dragon style will work better in most cases but considering if you upgrade enough you'll two shot like every grunt both feel lacking. Its really easy to just kill bosses before they do stuff too even though you have like 3 heat moves you can actually use on bosses. The final boss is also super lame it should've been Kiryus perspective of the Ichiban fight in 7. The ending was nice its the only part of the story that actually hit me but with this game making the ending of 6 feel more and more pointless i just feel frustrated that we got yet another kiryu game.
To sum it up to me Gaiden feels like a lacking game to me made for people that don't like the ichiban rpg direction and dosen't even come close to the fun and content lost judgment offered making it. Please let my man kiryu rest please use someone else if you want to keep going in the brawling direction KAITO AND ALL OF KIRYUS FRIENDS (minus my dude akiyama i miss him...) ARE LITREALLY IN THIS GAME
To sum it up to me Gaiden feels like a lacking game to me made for people that don't like the ichiban rpg direction and dosen't even come close to the fun and content lost judgment offered making it. Please let my man kiryu rest please use someone else if you want to keep going in the brawling direction KAITO AND ALL OF KIRYUS FRIENDS (minus my dude akiyama i miss him...) ARE LITREALLY IN THIS GAME