KarrotoZetsubou
2023
An experience that takes a 'different' direction without taking away from the franchise
The combat for this title is incredible, I finished the game with 66 hours of playtime and was still discovering new things you could do with the action. The way the different Eikons work makes the experience fresh, with its unique feats. Boss fights will pull you in with the insane action, with some exciting sequence breaks between them to invoke excitement, and find no boss except 1 to be underwhelming.
The Eikon battles were a big part of the marketing of this game and I found they did not disappoint the sheer scale of them draws you in as you experience pure spectacle.
Now the story and characters in this title drew me in, I love the cast and this carried over when I completed all the side quests within the game, the characters are fascinating. An example of this is a specific side character's placement within the world of Valisthea and how side quests allowed you to learn more about them naturally without needing the power of a story DLC to do so. Speaking more specifically about the side quests is that they only truly start to kick off during the second half of the game, where their impact starts to break out of a compressed circle and can influence even the whole world. The main story can be bad in pacing sometimes, making you have to do the most monotonous of activities when you are at an exciting point, but overall is a strong narrative.
However, I didn't like how the ending was left to interpretation, I completed all the side quests that provided more groundwork in doing that but still left me yearning for a more clear conclusion
Overall I love this title so much and struggle to see another game take its place as my GOTY, I have taken half a rating away because the destination of the story did not really do it for me but in terms of a game, it will measure up to many hours of fun. I will definitely be doing New Game + to conquer that platinum trophy
July 30th Update:
Never mind I think this game is a masterpiece and the ending has grown on me.
The combat for this title is incredible, I finished the game with 66 hours of playtime and was still discovering new things you could do with the action. The way the different Eikons work makes the experience fresh, with its unique feats. Boss fights will pull you in with the insane action, with some exciting sequence breaks between them to invoke excitement, and find no boss except 1 to be underwhelming.
The Eikon battles were a big part of the marketing of this game and I found they did not disappoint the sheer scale of them draws you in as you experience pure spectacle.
Now the story and characters in this title drew me in, I love the cast and this carried over when I completed all the side quests within the game, the characters are fascinating. An example of this is a specific side character's placement within the world of Valisthea and how side quests allowed you to learn more about them naturally without needing the power of a story DLC to do so. Speaking more specifically about the side quests is that they only truly start to kick off during the second half of the game, where their impact starts to break out of a compressed circle and can influence even the whole world. The main story can be bad in pacing sometimes, making you have to do the most monotonous of activities when you are at an exciting point, but overall is a strong narrative.
However, I didn't like how the ending was left to interpretation, I completed all the side quests that provided more groundwork in doing that but still left me yearning for a more clear conclusion
Overall I love this title so much and struggle to see another game take its place as my GOTY, I have taken half a rating away because the destination of the story did not really do it for me but in terms of a game, it will measure up to many hours of fun. I will definitely be doing New Game + to conquer that platinum trophy
July 30th Update:
Never mind I think this game is a masterpiece and the ending has grown on me.
This game honestly was an excellent opener to the franchise but...
I really think I dodged a bullet playing on the standard mode, because it felt incredibly inconsistent in terms of the difficulty for me, from one moment a boss would be easy to destroy and the next I'd be overwhelmed out of nowhere. It was hard to strike a balance, and I'm still glad I could beat the game without having to farm hefty amounts of exp.
Donald pls stop dying
The overall plot of the game though, was actually really nice. Going into it I was really cautious because I always heard its a convoluted mess and I can happily say that the first game at least isn't and pretty easy to follow.
But yeah I just think some of the worlds are a mess and especially in some of them in terms of navigation, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out where to go a lot of the time because it was not very clear that kind of came as a slog
Overall: I am happy with this opener to the franchise and looking forward to the next one.
I really think I dodged a bullet playing on the standard mode, because it felt incredibly inconsistent in terms of the difficulty for me, from one moment a boss would be easy to destroy and the next I'd be overwhelmed out of nowhere. It was hard to strike a balance, and I'm still glad I could beat the game without having to farm hefty amounts of exp.
Donald pls stop dying
The overall plot of the game though, was actually really nice. Going into it I was really cautious because I always heard its a convoluted mess and I can happily say that the first game at least isn't and pretty easy to follow.
But yeah I just think some of the worlds are a mess and especially in some of them in terms of navigation, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out where to go a lot of the time because it was not very clear that kind of came as a slog
Overall: I am happy with this opener to the franchise and looking forward to the next one.
This game does not make me very happy so I watched a summary.
I may come back to it when I think it may be able to make me happy
I may come back to it when I think it may be able to make me happy
Final Fantasy VII Remake is a good action game with different characters having their own unique abilities that swapping between them in combat is enjoyable and really built on the ATB system that we've come to know in final fantasy games and the use of builds you could make with materia just built on the fun
The soundtrack is fantastic with a lot of them being rearrangements from the original game. There are also new songs in this game that are pretty hit-and-miss but I don't think there were any that were really just straight-up bad.
However, issues I had with the title were related to the side activities within the game. Especially with chapter 14 where the world becomes more open with the level layouts we've tackled previously in the game. This alone isn't exactly a bad thing is the fact that most of the side quests they have you do, don't indicate where to go and you have to figure it all out (like how to go to the sewers). However, I will always appreciate the fact upon completing the objectives you can instant travel to the quest giver to finish it quickly instead of having to head all the way back. So with Rebirth I kind of hope they build on this because there is a lot of QoL within this game that just saves time already in this title.
Overall I think this title was a pleasure to complete and I just can't wait to see where Rebirth heads down after the turns the story took.
The soundtrack is fantastic with a lot of them being rearrangements from the original game. There are also new songs in this game that are pretty hit-and-miss but I don't think there were any that were really just straight-up bad.
However, issues I had with the title were related to the side activities within the game. Especially with chapter 14 where the world becomes more open with the level layouts we've tackled previously in the game. This alone isn't exactly a bad thing is the fact that most of the side quests they have you do, don't indicate where to go and you have to figure it all out (like how to go to the sewers). However, I will always appreciate the fact upon completing the objectives you can instant travel to the quest giver to finish it quickly instead of having to head all the way back. So with Rebirth I kind of hope they build on this because there is a lot of QoL within this game that just saves time already in this title.
Overall I think this title was a pleasure to complete and I just can't wait to see where Rebirth heads down after the turns the story took.
I mean itsss all right. I find Yuffies gameplay to be enjoyable and the synergize mechanic does make up pretty well for the single playable character in it, it definitely makes me confident to see certain elements in rebirth for the original cast too. The story was decent nothing too special for me but I am really looking forward to what they're cooking for the next game because of that final cutscene!
Squall is the best-looking guy here.
This is a tough one really. Because this remastered version presents some really excellent QoL features, such as being able to accelerate the game by 3x so when your farming to build your junction or ap, etc it gets a lot more bearable. as well as uh, you know not sitting through gf animations. There's also a boost feature that will make your ATB permanently full so you can constantly attack, have your hp full so you're able to infinitely tank attacks, to just help you get past situations you are unable to get out of. And also stop encounters without needing to equip diablos encounter cut ability.
But I still want to say that the junction system, in general, is a huge con for this game. While it is unique and ties into the actual lore well. It causes a lot of optimization issues for the actual combat of the game, where you will spend ages drawing magic of specific targets to get 100 stock to maximize the gains when junctioning and be encouraged to not use these spells because it becomes a very valuable resource for the growth of the overall characters power. Leveling also becomes a problem for you if you aren't junctioned well because the enemies will get stronger so if you aren't fully prepared you can overall have more of a tough time. I really wish this system was handled better because it is very different and I definitely enjoyed it at the start of the game because of this until it became quite clear that it was going to drag the game down.
The story though was pretty great overall (albeit with some really weird moments) the characters were very interesting and the use of the dream sequences was cool but man did it make me annoyed when I had to junction all over again!
Overall I think this game was fine, my issues really just came from the main gameplay system that the combat was built upon which really took me out of the game more than a few times.
This is a tough one really. Because this remastered version presents some really excellent QoL features, such as being able to accelerate the game by 3x so when your farming to build your junction or ap, etc it gets a lot more bearable. as well as uh, you know not sitting through gf animations. There's also a boost feature that will make your ATB permanently full so you can constantly attack, have your hp full so you're able to infinitely tank attacks, to just help you get past situations you are unable to get out of. And also stop encounters without needing to equip diablos encounter cut ability.
But I still want to say that the junction system, in general, is a huge con for this game. While it is unique and ties into the actual lore well. It causes a lot of optimization issues for the actual combat of the game, where you will spend ages drawing magic of specific targets to get 100 stock to maximize the gains when junctioning and be encouraged to not use these spells because it becomes a very valuable resource for the growth of the overall characters power. Leveling also becomes a problem for you if you aren't junctioned well because the enemies will get stronger so if you aren't fully prepared you can overall have more of a tough time. I really wish this system was handled better because it is very different and I definitely enjoyed it at the start of the game because of this until it became quite clear that it was going to drag the game down.
The story though was pretty great overall (albeit with some really weird moments) the characters were very interesting and the use of the dream sequences was cool but man did it make me annoyed when I had to junction all over again!
Overall I think this game was fine, my issues really just came from the main gameplay system that the combat was built upon which really took me out of the game more than a few times.
Just so buggy when trying to play with my friend, that made us have to exit out of the game and in one instance make me go back to a previous point in the game. It also has really goofy characters that I don't find myself rooting for. I do like its setting though on a ship but yeah nothing too praiseworthy to say.
2020
I think now that I have been out of the Genshin addiction for a very long time now. Looking back on the game it was a fine experience for what I got but there were so many elements that were just shocking to get through. But I am quite happy to be an Honkai fan now and have no plans to return to Genshin anytime soon.
2018
Had a very slow start but overall a great companion story for Honkai Impact 3rd
Wow, what a title, it took everything from the previous titles and made it so much more. With the original spider-man PS4 I felt strongly that it was a fantastic take on the hero with great swinging mechanics but was weighed down by the simplicity of the combat that quickly got repetitive. You had the inclusion of many more gadgets and suit powers as a means to try to keep the gameplay loop satisfying but it failed at that in my opinion because the fundamentals of the combat remained the same, but I will say that combat wasn't completely terrible still
This game, however, revamped this, fixing the gadgets to 4 using the right bumper and face buttons to simplify it while also fixing their usefulness because they all feel equally useful compared to its predecessor. Furthermore the title incoperates 2 playable spider-men each with their own unique abilities that they will develop throughout the game at certain points in the story as a means to provide an easy-to-understand and impactful fresh approach to the combat while building on the fundamentals of the combat itself by including brand new types of attacks you have to adapt and tackle to avoid damage, such as attacks you will have to jump over or parry. This took a while for me to adapt to which I loved because I felt like any wrong input and I would be punished which added a whole new level of challenge that I enjoyed on the spectacular difficulty.
The story of this title was great, the voice acting was just even more incredible, the only thing i was a bit ehh about was how they moved into the final act of the game but just outside of that, they absolutely crushed it with this game.
The side quests are just wonderful as well! I will not be going into them in this review but they're just a treat with some fantastic storytelling.
The slight issue I had with the game was just going through a lot of bugs that would make me have to restart the game or load checkpoint, even worst once load a manual save.
But overall: This is just a spectacular game, a spectacular Spider-Man you could say.
This game, however, revamped this, fixing the gadgets to 4 using the right bumper and face buttons to simplify it while also fixing their usefulness because they all feel equally useful compared to its predecessor. Furthermore the title incoperates 2 playable spider-men each with their own unique abilities that they will develop throughout the game at certain points in the story as a means to provide an easy-to-understand and impactful fresh approach to the combat while building on the fundamentals of the combat itself by including brand new types of attacks you have to adapt and tackle to avoid damage, such as attacks you will have to jump over or parry. This took a while for me to adapt to which I loved because I felt like any wrong input and I would be punished which added a whole new level of challenge that I enjoyed on the spectacular difficulty.
The story of this title was great, the voice acting was just even more incredible, the only thing i was a bit ehh about was how they moved into the final act of the game but just outside of that, they absolutely crushed it with this game.
The side quests are just wonderful as well! I will not be going into them in this review but they're just a treat with some fantastic storytelling.
The slight issue I had with the game was just going through a lot of bugs that would make me have to restart the game or load checkpoint, even worst once load a manual save.
But overall: This is just a spectacular game, a spectacular Spider-Man you could say.
I mean it's alright. It set up the many greater versions of Street Fighter 2, but I hate how the AI cheats sometimes.
But I am happy with what I got with this version of SF2 because I can beat my friends at the game now.
But I am happy with what I got with this version of SF2 because I can beat my friends at the game now.
Very barebones strategy game draws lots of similarities to the civilization games but with more constant warfare, from aliens in particular. There is 0 diplomacy in this game, so you have to just focus on building your power to destroy the enemy factions in a very boring lifeless combat that takes place through turns.
It was an okay game, a quick title to play with friends. The second puzzle however was just annoying and wasn't quick to grasp and lacked fulfillment once you eventually found out how it functioned.
2011
I love this title. It is a smaller-scale sims game within a medieval setting, where you create sims in each specific role in the kingdom, such as a knight, the king, the wizard etc. They pulled it off. It's just a shame that this title could have been so much more. This is a shame because unlike The Sims 3 with its abundance of expansions, this game only got one. But hey, it's still a great Sims title that I recommend if you want to enjoy a different setting but keep what is The Sims.
I wish we got another.
Universe at War: Earth Assault was planned to be the first of a series that came to life. It featured an interesting story, where humanity was quickly shown to be underpowered against the main alien force - the Hierarchy. As such you don't spend your time playing as the humans, as they are spread thin and play as the Hierarchy, Novus ( A robot civilization) and lastly the Masari (ancient human-like aliens that have technology far more advanced than the other factions)
In terms of RTS, this game didn't really do anything that made itself stand out from the crowd in terms of gameplay mechanics but it just honed in on its aesthetic. It would have been great to see the universe get expanded more by seeing how far the Hierarchy spans while also finding its own identity as a strategy game.
Universe at War: Earth Assault was planned to be the first of a series that came to life. It featured an interesting story, where humanity was quickly shown to be underpowered against the main alien force - the Hierarchy. As such you don't spend your time playing as the humans, as they are spread thin and play as the Hierarchy, Novus ( A robot civilization) and lastly the Masari (ancient human-like aliens that have technology far more advanced than the other factions)
In terms of RTS, this game didn't really do anything that made itself stand out from the crowd in terms of gameplay mechanics but it just honed in on its aesthetic. It would have been great to see the universe get expanded more by seeing how far the Hierarchy spans while also finding its own identity as a strategy game.