JustSri
A welcome (albeit hopefully never to re-appear in this specific manner) departure in formula from the first two sky games. The gameplay making you able to play as so many characters was really novel and the customization the gameplay allowed was satisfying (though this only would hit if you already liked it anyways).
But obviously this is a Trails game so the story is what is mainly important. I'd say that overall it is a fantastic way to wrap up so many aspects of the overarching story of the Sky trilogy with an admittedly weird and sometimes detrimental way of going about it, but since I like the fundamental story additions it gives a lot anyways I don't mind. Obviously the highlight of this game is Kevin though. His story is perfect and he's one of my favourite Trails characters and protagonists still.
But obviously this is a Trails game so the story is what is mainly important. I'd say that overall it is a fantastic way to wrap up so many aspects of the overarching story of the Sky trilogy with an admittedly weird and sometimes detrimental way of going about it, but since I like the fundamental story additions it gives a lot anyways I don't mind. Obviously the highlight of this game is Kevin though. His story is perfect and he's one of my favourite Trails characters and protagonists still.
2016
This game is amazing but I am never finishing it.
As far as puzzle games go this game has some extremely good ideas that makes for really enjoyable puzzles ramping up in complexity, and the simple choice to force you to figure the puzzle mechanics out on your own gives you a deeper engagement with the game that makes it fulfilling in a big big way.
... and I really just wish they were put into a more accessible game. For as much as I love it I just keep getting gated by that one puzzle that hits my brain limit. Some particular points are too insane for me and I keep finding a point like that no matter how many times I try to come back to this game, so it's a shame that I have to say this game as much as I enjoyed it isn't one that is getting finished. Like I said, I hope more puzzle games take inspiration from this one just more accessible, I may unfortunately have been too dumb for this one.
As far as puzzle games go this game has some extremely good ideas that makes for really enjoyable puzzles ramping up in complexity, and the simple choice to force you to figure the puzzle mechanics out on your own gives you a deeper engagement with the game that makes it fulfilling in a big big way.
... and I really just wish they were put into a more accessible game. For as much as I love it I just keep getting gated by that one puzzle that hits my brain limit. Some particular points are too insane for me and I keep finding a point like that no matter how many times I try to come back to this game, so it's a shame that I have to say this game as much as I enjoyed it isn't one that is getting finished. Like I said, I hope more puzzle games take inspiration from this one just more accessible, I may unfortunately have been too dumb for this one.
Dark Souls 2 is an interesting game. It has a great many mechanics that people, including myself, struggle with. It definitely plays pretty differently to DS1, especially in the early game. I was initially super frustrated with stuff like the health penalty or the sheer number of enemies per level (I do enjoy the thematic importance of the health penalty, but it definitely didn't help my early game experience of beating my head over and over). But I feel like once I actually got past the first area, and got an item that was able to mitigate the health penalty, I started to enjoy it a lot more.
Dark Souls 2 is a different game to 1 immediately in terms of the world design. You get the ability to warp anywhere from the outset, and so each area ends up feeling more disconnected from the whole. But I think this really works for what 2 is going for! One thing I really enjoy about this game is that is that the vibes of the world while being very atmospheric and cool, also can change quite a bit depending where you are. At the end of the day, a souls game is an adventure game where you go through many areas vanquishing bosses and overcoming your inexperience, and to that end Dark Souls 1 had a clear artistic vision with its interconnected and cohesive world where everything fit together somehow, but I think 2 being disconnected also works because I feel like the game has a general dream-like quality to it that I think its world design contributes to. Some of the areas being next to each other makes just like no sense but I think I enjoy that, because it manages to continually make the areas feel different and you never feel safe, you never feel like it falls into a pattern. They all feel isolated and in their own pocket and I feel like this makes the areas feel that much more creepy and fantastical. Which really helps.
The atmosphere and vibes of the world in general are awesome. It feels like each time you discover something you've found something that isn't right, that doesn't feel comfortable. Which yeah, it's not supposed to and it rules. I think it helps even more that the rules of the lore of DS1 are played fast and loose with, because I feel like the cryptic storytelling of Dark Souls fits with this perfectly. Not just because I feel like the freedom afforded by this allows Dark Souls 2's general narrative to come into its own in a really good way - it is able to build on the general framing of Dark Souls 1 and uses it to build and enhance on its themes that manages to create something I actually care about a fair bit and think is philosophically awesome - it also means that Dark Souls 1's events feel like this half forgotten dream, that adds further to the unsettling vibes of the areas in general. Events are not that set in stone and they're not supposed to be in a world where thousands of years can pass before you get to see their effects. And they loom like this shadow of myth that I think really perfectly captures a really unique approach to the feel of a world where gods and monsters and magic continually influence it that I don't think I've seen very much. I don't know how better to explain why the atmosphere is this good, but it's just really cool. I haven't been commenting on the individual lore of this series so far because I didn't find a good place to, but I really also enjoy piecing together this world from item descriptions, cryptic NPC dialogue, etc. It makes me feel like an archeologist observing a world where there are a million things more important than me.
Now when it comes to the gameplay of this game, I feel like I don't have much new things to say about why the loop of this hyper difficult style of game appeals to me so much that I didn't already say in the previous review for DS1. So I'll instead jump into trying to describe why DS2 was a more fun game to me than 1. DS2 may have some bad mechanics but it also has some awesome ones. Power stancing added a whole new dimension to this game that made me care a lot more about my weapons in general. Stat reallocation actually allowed me to strategize much more interestingly as I would use different loadouts for different bosses and I'm so stoked I was allowed to do this. There are definitely some other mechanics I am not mentioning, too.
The area design of DS2 is also just, really enjoyable, and I'd say on an individual level even better than 1? It feels more Zelda coded than 1, in some areas even very directly, which was a big plus for me as a big Zelda fan. But in general I feel like, the 50 million enemies notwithstanding (which I do understand is a big issue), that they're more satisfying to overcome and traverse.
The bosses are probably similar in quality to 1. Overall it has a slight edge over DS1 I think, but only slight, considering it has much more than 1 and as a result also has more bad bosses than 1. But it isn't a number that is unforgivable to me, so it's fine.
The DLC is the one area I would make an exception for the above point. Even with each DLC optional area and optional boss that managed to be just. really miserable. The main parts of all of the three DLC were so good that I don't care. The bosses are all just fucking awesome and the areas are so so fun to go through, definitely my favourite areas in the series so far and having my favourite bosses in the series so far.
Overall I'd say the reason I prefer 2 to 1 is that it has a lot of little differences that coalesce into a game that's much more sricore as a result. Cannot wait to play the rest of the series.
Dark Souls 2 is a different game to 1 immediately in terms of the world design. You get the ability to warp anywhere from the outset, and so each area ends up feeling more disconnected from the whole. But I think this really works for what 2 is going for! One thing I really enjoy about this game is that is that the vibes of the world while being very atmospheric and cool, also can change quite a bit depending where you are. At the end of the day, a souls game is an adventure game where you go through many areas vanquishing bosses and overcoming your inexperience, and to that end Dark Souls 1 had a clear artistic vision with its interconnected and cohesive world where everything fit together somehow, but I think 2 being disconnected also works because I feel like the game has a general dream-like quality to it that I think its world design contributes to. Some of the areas being next to each other makes just like no sense but I think I enjoy that, because it manages to continually make the areas feel different and you never feel safe, you never feel like it falls into a pattern. They all feel isolated and in their own pocket and I feel like this makes the areas feel that much more creepy and fantastical. Which really helps.
The atmosphere and vibes of the world in general are awesome. It feels like each time you discover something you've found something that isn't right, that doesn't feel comfortable. Which yeah, it's not supposed to and it rules. I think it helps even more that the rules of the lore of DS1 are played fast and loose with, because I feel like the cryptic storytelling of Dark Souls fits with this perfectly. Not just because I feel like the freedom afforded by this allows Dark Souls 2's general narrative to come into its own in a really good way - it is able to build on the general framing of Dark Souls 1 and uses it to build and enhance on its themes that manages to create something I actually care about a fair bit and think is philosophically awesome - it also means that Dark Souls 1's events feel like this half forgotten dream, that adds further to the unsettling vibes of the areas in general. Events are not that set in stone and they're not supposed to be in a world where thousands of years can pass before you get to see their effects. And they loom like this shadow of myth that I think really perfectly captures a really unique approach to the feel of a world where gods and monsters and magic continually influence it that I don't think I've seen very much. I don't know how better to explain why the atmosphere is this good, but it's just really cool. I haven't been commenting on the individual lore of this series so far because I didn't find a good place to, but I really also enjoy piecing together this world from item descriptions, cryptic NPC dialogue, etc. It makes me feel like an archeologist observing a world where there are a million things more important than me.
Now when it comes to the gameplay of this game, I feel like I don't have much new things to say about why the loop of this hyper difficult style of game appeals to me so much that I didn't already say in the previous review for DS1. So I'll instead jump into trying to describe why DS2 was a more fun game to me than 1. DS2 may have some bad mechanics but it also has some awesome ones. Power stancing added a whole new dimension to this game that made me care a lot more about my weapons in general. Stat reallocation actually allowed me to strategize much more interestingly as I would use different loadouts for different bosses and I'm so stoked I was allowed to do this. There are definitely some other mechanics I am not mentioning, too.
The area design of DS2 is also just, really enjoyable, and I'd say on an individual level even better than 1? It feels more Zelda coded than 1, in some areas even very directly, which was a big plus for me as a big Zelda fan. But in general I feel like, the 50 million enemies notwithstanding (which I do understand is a big issue), that they're more satisfying to overcome and traverse.
The bosses are probably similar in quality to 1. Overall it has a slight edge over DS1 I think, but only slight, considering it has much more than 1 and as a result also has more bad bosses than 1. But it isn't a number that is unforgivable to me, so it's fine.
The DLC is the one area I would make an exception for the above point. Even with each DLC optional area and optional boss that managed to be just. really miserable. The main parts of all of the three DLC were so good that I don't care. The bosses are all just fucking awesome and the areas are so so fun to go through, definitely my favourite areas in the series so far and having my favourite bosses in the series so far.
Overall I'd say the reason I prefer 2 to 1 is that it has a lot of little differences that coalesce into a game that's much more sricore as a result. Cannot wait to play the rest of the series.
I need to replay this because it is gatekeeping everything I've experienced from being better than it (I just have that much faith in how much I've thought about it since.)
It's not THAT bad tbh? It's still lackluster in terms of character work and the plot isn't consistently entertaining but when it hits it hits well and the finale esp pops off. Worldbuilding and the NPCs especially are awesome and about as high quality as usual really.
Play this instead of the original. It's pretty much the exact same game but just better and it fixed the Water Temple in crucial ways. Refer to my review of the original for my thoughts.
2004
Same review as the first though I think this game is more creative in its setpieces and variety of gameplay. I feel like I preferred the experience of the first more because that felt more like something I had to gradually trudge through more but this game is by no means lesser. Have to replay both of these some day
The best way I'd describe this game is the best Trails has been in a lot of aspects and the worst in a select few. This game delivers the most satisfying Trails experience in terms of the NPCs, worldbuilding, minigames, combat even, and to top it all off goes absolutely ham with the kind of interconnected storytelling that makes Trails special, in a way that feels incredibly natural and justifies the plot of this game feeling as big as it is. But even when we get down to the main plot and characters, both aspects are pretty great for a setup game. It's super long and drawn out at times yes and the structure is pretty much akin to CS1 but I cannot say I minded that when they nailed so many aspects to appeal to me. The one big flaw I'd say I wish this game didn't have was doubling down on the awful harem aspects/CS style tropeyness of scenes and interactions. So maybe this game's sheer quality is a monkey's paw. But fuck me, this blew me away otherwise.
2014
Another game to add to the "never finishing" pile, sadly.
But I do want to praise this game for what it does get right, which is a lot, without exaggeration. The environments and atmosphere are genuinely amazing, playing this game is a really immersive experience, not to mention they're just really fun to explore. The crafting system can also be really rewarding and the gameplay loop of getting resources for more stuff so you can build better tech to get better resources is very addicting.
Unfortunately my motivation for this game vanishes somewhere in the midgame, where there's increasingly less stuff to do besides simply the objective, not to mention losing a ship god forbid can be a big strain on your resources that requires you to do it all again. On my most recent time around I also encountered a ton of technical issues too, and while this may have just been my dying hard drive it kind of killed my motivation once and for all.
But I do want to praise this game for what it does get right, which is a lot, without exaggeration. The environments and atmosphere are genuinely amazing, playing this game is a really immersive experience, not to mention they're just really fun to explore. The crafting system can also be really rewarding and the gameplay loop of getting resources for more stuff so you can build better tech to get better resources is very addicting.
Unfortunately my motivation for this game vanishes somewhere in the midgame, where there's increasingly less stuff to do besides simply the objective, not to mention losing a ship god forbid can be a big strain on your resources that requires you to do it all again. On my most recent time around I also encountered a ton of technical issues too, and while this may have just been my dying hard drive it kind of killed my motivation once and for all.
No character writing in Trails has hit quite like this yet
I'm replaying this one and I have a good feeling about it.
2015
This game is actually good I don't give a single fuck ok. It's actually a good match 4 and somehow a good dating sim too. It's definitely problematic in some areas but it's kind of a guilty pleasure to me, I would never recommend it to anyone else tho
It is mostly lackluster for me like any other Pokemon game but instead of having fun with the little I do like the dated elements of the gameplay are something I hated. Particularly the grinding needed to complete the game which hit me during the finale right before attempting the Elite Four and made the finale a miserable experience. I like Liz and Tate.
This game is actively offensive. 90% or more of the story just straight sucks and Tomoya and Tomoyo are at best substanceless imitations of what they were in the base game. Nothing about this is worth it as a sequel to Clannad. Please skip.
It's pretty amazing if you're looking for a story which makes its story beats feel about as amazing in the most Ace Attorney way possible, but my eyes have been opened to how so much about the overarching story straight up is incredibly poorly written and kind of offensive hence I can't go back anymore. It still has redeeming parts tho tbh.