Klausermeen
30 reviews liked by Klausermeen
Tekken 8
2024
POR ORDEN DE PEDRO SÁNCHEZ, DESDE EL 25 DE ENERO DE 2024 ES LEGAL MATAR GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
Tekken 8
2024
Already one of my favorite fighting games of all time. The new Heat Smash gameplay mechanic is addictive and fun as hell, Story Mode was epic, and the Arcade Quest Mode is the coolest way to get someone familiar with fighting games!
Update: this is most definitely my game of the year so far.
Update: this is most definitely my game of the year so far.
Lost Judgment
2021
This review contains spoilers
Lost Judgment (alongside its companion DLC; The Kaito Files, both make an absolutely killer combo, as one brilliantly supplements the other) is by far the best game RGG Studios have EVER put out to date.
Nearly everything is in tip-top shape and quite the improvement over the last game; the combat, with its wide variety of combo options and approaches to encounters; for starters, the preexisting styles; Crane and Tiger are actually viable and useful in encounters unlike the last time, and we have two new styles; Snake and Boxer, and while Snake is an awesome and fresh new style with plenty of fun mechanics, Boxer falls a little bit short but is still fun in combos. Oh, and there's also the boss fights, the side content and activities, as Seiryo High is a brilliant, unique, and brand new setting for the RGG franchise, the music, the writing, the character interactions, and the majority of the new characters: with my favorites of the bunch being Kuwana, who is the best antagonist in the franchise, Sawa, and Amasawa, who is the best substory character the franchise has seen, (although there are duds like Koda and Bando), hell even Akutsu, Tesso and Soma, as relatively minor as they all are, are still pretty great and memorable despite their lack of screentime comparatively, and there's also the storytelling, which is deliciously gripping, enthralling, and morally complex all the way through, and on par with the great storytelling of the previous game, maybe even slightly better, as the first game had a bit of an issue with its pacing.
Even though the narrative's government conspiracy kind of trips over itself in the last few chapters of the game, the positives far outweigh the negatives, as I think it's a very refreshing, unique, and engrossing story narrative, tackling themes and topics the mainline Yakuza series wouldn't even dare to touch, like bullying and suicide, and what kind of damages it inflicts upon society and its people, and how various people get caught in the crossfire of it all. People might say the story's worse because it's less personal; and I'd say I disagree with that notion because while it may be a bit less personal than the first game, it still fits the Yagami squad's M.O as detectives, taking on various morally complex jobs and stories, and it does the job perfectly.
The only things that fall a bit too flat here are the detective and courtroom aspects, as they feel way too simplistic and tacked-on, and don't really require too much critical thinking to solve, and that Mafuyu does absolutely fucking nothing in this game, and by GOD, I hope JE3 fixes that because these two issues have been plaguing the Judgment series since day one. There are also some other small gripes I have, like some of the bullies' redemption arcs feel a wee bit rushed (looking at you Akane and especially Sakaki who barely counts as a character compared to the other two and on his own), and the sexual harassment plotpoints being a bit weird (they technically make sense but still feel lowkey in poor taste), that and the boxart is uhh... yeah it's bad, not even gonna sugarcoat it. But, despite the negatives, I'd say that the game is still more than the sum of its parts in the best way possible.
If I had to describe this game's narrative in a single word, it would be... morally grey. No one's right in this whole situation, but no one is wrong either, and no single perspective is correct, and that's the beauty of it all, honestly, I rarely see video games approach morally gray topics like that, and I'd say Lost Judgment aces it pretty well! so in short, it's absolutely peak, play the Judgment games now!
See you in Judgment 3! (it's gonna come out sooner or later by the way, Johnny's and Associates is out of commission, and Takuya Kimura has a YT channel, and there's also that big announcement Yokoyama was talking about https://twitter.com/Okami13_/status/1740800530056712454 so it's only a matter of when at this point)
Nearly everything is in tip-top shape and quite the improvement over the last game; the combat, with its wide variety of combo options and approaches to encounters; for starters, the preexisting styles; Crane and Tiger are actually viable and useful in encounters unlike the last time, and we have two new styles; Snake and Boxer, and while Snake is an awesome and fresh new style with plenty of fun mechanics, Boxer falls a little bit short but is still fun in combos. Oh, and there's also the boss fights, the side content and activities, as Seiryo High is a brilliant, unique, and brand new setting for the RGG franchise, the music, the writing, the character interactions, and the majority of the new characters: with my favorites of the bunch being Kuwana, who is the best antagonist in the franchise, Sawa, and Amasawa, who is the best substory character the franchise has seen, (although there are duds like Koda and Bando), hell even Akutsu, Tesso and Soma, as relatively minor as they all are, are still pretty great and memorable despite their lack of screentime comparatively, and there's also the storytelling, which is deliciously gripping, enthralling, and morally complex all the way through, and on par with the great storytelling of the previous game, maybe even slightly better, as the first game had a bit of an issue with its pacing.
Even though the narrative's government conspiracy kind of trips over itself in the last few chapters of the game, the positives far outweigh the negatives, as I think it's a very refreshing, unique, and engrossing story narrative, tackling themes and topics the mainline Yakuza series wouldn't even dare to touch, like bullying and suicide, and what kind of damages it inflicts upon society and its people, and how various people get caught in the crossfire of it all. People might say the story's worse because it's less personal; and I'd say I disagree with that notion because while it may be a bit less personal than the first game, it still fits the Yagami squad's M.O as detectives, taking on various morally complex jobs and stories, and it does the job perfectly.
The only things that fall a bit too flat here are the detective and courtroom aspects, as they feel way too simplistic and tacked-on, and don't really require too much critical thinking to solve, and that Mafuyu does absolutely fucking nothing in this game, and by GOD, I hope JE3 fixes that because these two issues have been plaguing the Judgment series since day one. There are also some other small gripes I have, like some of the bullies' redemption arcs feel a wee bit rushed (looking at you Akane and especially Sakaki who barely counts as a character compared to the other two and on his own), and the sexual harassment plotpoints being a bit weird (they technically make sense but still feel lowkey in poor taste), that and the boxart is uhh... yeah it's bad, not even gonna sugarcoat it. But, despite the negatives, I'd say that the game is still more than the sum of its parts in the best way possible.
If I had to describe this game's narrative in a single word, it would be... morally grey. No one's right in this whole situation, but no one is wrong either, and no single perspective is correct, and that's the beauty of it all, honestly, I rarely see video games approach morally gray topics like that, and I'd say Lost Judgment aces it pretty well! so in short, it's absolutely peak, play the Judgment games now!
See you in Judgment 3! (it's gonna come out sooner or later by the way, Johnny's and Associates is out of commission, and Takuya Kimura has a YT channel, and there's also that big announcement Yokoyama was talking about https://twitter.com/Okami13_/status/1740800530056712454 so it's only a matter of when at this point)
Most games make love, this game FUCKS.
Pokémon X
2013
It’s a fun Pokémon game. Can kind of slip your mind, but it’s still fun! Mega evolutions carried tho tbh
𝗔 𝗬𝗔𝗞𝗨𝗭𝗔 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗔𝗚𝗘!
If you think about it, there really was no better choice than Ichiban Kasuga to replace Kiryu Kazuma, was there? Sure you could point to previous protagonists such as Akiyama or Saejima to take over the lead, and that’s not a bad idea by any means it’s just…the fact that it is someone like Ichiban that makes a lot of sense. The very prospect of filling in the boots of the DRAGON OF DOJIMA himself with a new protagonist is daunting from a development perspective, and downright scary from the player perspective. Which is why I’m so happy that Yakuza: Like a Dragon is as good as it is, that for every hole I can poke into this game’s mechanics or narrative, there’s a moment that makes me fall in love with it all over again.
So much of the praise I see lobbied towards this game’s narrative stems from a view that it’s scathing in its critique of the establishment, where in place of the typical JRPG “fight god” final boss, the god is the arm of the government itself. It’s certainly not a wrong view, but I think it’s misleading. Personally, I don’t find the critiques it delivers super meaningful, I think it buckles under it’s own weight in that regard and struggles in it’s representation of them but that’s really never been the focus for me. I’m not ignorant of the flaws of this game, I think the last two party members are embarrassingly underdeveloped, the turn-based combat also leaves a lot to be desired (although this replay was done with the Like a Brawler mod) and there’s also some of the traditional Yakuza plot devices which I don’t like…but despite all that I rarely find myself thinking of the negatives because the positives far outweigh them.
To me, Yakuza 7 is an innately human story, surprisingly intimate with it’s world in a way few other games in the series are. Like I said, it’s the original Yakuza, repackaged and rewritten for the new age and it’s that guiding philosophy of looking to the past while embracing the future works. It’s Kiryu and Nishiki all over again but not with the somber badass attitude of the original, Y7 is much more interested in exploring how meaningful even a single relationship can be. Even to people who have betrayed you, even to people who have hurt you, if you can find the strength within yourself to forgive them then why not, right? Nobody wants to lose people whom we hold dear, even if they do wrong there’s a strong capacity for good in everybody and Ichiban Kasuga is a man who will take those chances, who will take those odds. The Koi has become one with Dragon, and it will keep moving forward, holding the ones it loves close. It’s a rejection of Kiryu and Nishiki’s solitude, and a celebration of the bonds we hold dear.
𝗞𝗘𝗘𝗣 𝗟𝗜𝗩𝗜𝗡𝗚, 𝗜𝗖𝗛𝗜.
If you think about it, there really was no better choice than Ichiban Kasuga to replace Kiryu Kazuma, was there? Sure you could point to previous protagonists such as Akiyama or Saejima to take over the lead, and that’s not a bad idea by any means it’s just…the fact that it is someone like Ichiban that makes a lot of sense. The very prospect of filling in the boots of the DRAGON OF DOJIMA himself with a new protagonist is daunting from a development perspective, and downright scary from the player perspective. Which is why I’m so happy that Yakuza: Like a Dragon is as good as it is, that for every hole I can poke into this game’s mechanics or narrative, there’s a moment that makes me fall in love with it all over again.
So much of the praise I see lobbied towards this game’s narrative stems from a view that it’s scathing in its critique of the establishment, where in place of the typical JRPG “fight god” final boss, the god is the arm of the government itself. It’s certainly not a wrong view, but I think it’s misleading. Personally, I don’t find the critiques it delivers super meaningful, I think it buckles under it’s own weight in that regard and struggles in it’s representation of them but that’s really never been the focus for me. I’m not ignorant of the flaws of this game, I think the last two party members are embarrassingly underdeveloped, the turn-based combat also leaves a lot to be desired (although this replay was done with the Like a Brawler mod) and there’s also some of the traditional Yakuza plot devices which I don’t like…but despite all that I rarely find myself thinking of the negatives because the positives far outweigh them.
To me, Yakuza 7 is an innately human story, surprisingly intimate with it’s world in a way few other games in the series are. Like I said, it’s the original Yakuza, repackaged and rewritten for the new age and it’s that guiding philosophy of looking to the past while embracing the future works. It’s Kiryu and Nishiki all over again but not with the somber badass attitude of the original, Y7 is much more interested in exploring how meaningful even a single relationship can be. Even to people who have betrayed you, even to people who have hurt you, if you can find the strength within yourself to forgive them then why not, right? Nobody wants to lose people whom we hold dear, even if they do wrong there’s a strong capacity for good in everybody and Ichiban Kasuga is a man who will take those chances, who will take those odds. The Koi has become one with Dragon, and it will keep moving forward, holding the ones it loves close. It’s a rejection of Kiryu and Nishiki’s solitude, and a celebration of the bonds we hold dear.
𝗞𝗘𝗘𝗣 𝗟𝗜𝗩𝗜𝗡𝗚, 𝗜𝗖𝗛𝗜.
Lost Odyssey
2007
The main story is just ok. The gameplay is a very "standard" JRPG in all the bad ways. But good golly gosh the short stories in this game are some of the best writing I've ever been served in a video game, as well as having one of the goofiest (positive) motherfuckers to ever exist alongside a delightful main cast.
Lost Odyssey focuses on an immortal named Kaim, and throughout the game you come across many short stories known as "Dreams" that recount events that occured in Kaim's past. A lot of the game's themes, worldbuilding, and Kaim's character development as he tackles the melancholy and unique experiences that come with immortality are explored through these tales. There are plenty of sad stories, and they can hit the heartstrings pretty hard, but there also exist stories that expand upon the lore of the world by introducing cultures with peculiar traditions, villages that have experienced catastrophes and how Kaim himself has seen them recover hundreds of years later, a shoemaker who is really good at his job and his encounters with Kaim over his lifetime, and more. It's a wonderful story book collection accompanied by music and sounds that really immerse you into the experience, and was by far my favorite part of the game that I feel on its own makes Lost Odyssey worth playing. The main story isn't bad and has its climactic moments, with plenty of silly moments as well that got a lot of laughs outta me. However, I personally could not get invested into it while the Dreams just did a much better job of exploring the game's themes and developing the world.
The gameplay is reminiscent of early Final Fantasy (a number of key Square employees worked on this game), which I personally found hard to go back to since games have just gotten better with turn-based combat and exploration over the years. The fairly linear dungeons have their puzzles, but nothing that can't be solved at a quick glance. The early game is actually pretty difficult since the bosses can hit crazy hard and can just decide to kill a party member without you having the turn speed to do anything about it. Once you get past that hump, with the expection of a few bosses with their own (cool) gimmicks, there isn't much in the way of strategy besides "Attackers attack, Healer heals every turn. Buff against a boss. Ailments have abysmal hit rates and aren't worth going for." The Skill Learning and Ring systems don't really add much to the aspect of party composition/team building, unfortunately. Battles are also slooooooow, often times you'll have to sit and wait a whole minute to watch a turn play out after inputting your commands. It's not the worst battle system in the genre by any means, but if you hate turn-based battle systems or just find it hard to go back to more basic systems after playing ones that are better designed, you may find yourself growing agitated at the random encounters.
All that said, I highly recommend Lost Odyssey. I owned an Xbox 360 as a kid, but always overlooked this game because I thought the aesthetic and combat seemed bland in comparison to other JRPGs such as Tales of Vesperia on the same system. While I do kinda agree with those specific critiques after having actually played it, I am still very happy to have actually experienced Lost Odyssey's writing. The music bangs, too.
Lost Odyssey focuses on an immortal named Kaim, and throughout the game you come across many short stories known as "Dreams" that recount events that occured in Kaim's past. A lot of the game's themes, worldbuilding, and Kaim's character development as he tackles the melancholy and unique experiences that come with immortality are explored through these tales. There are plenty of sad stories, and they can hit the heartstrings pretty hard, but there also exist stories that expand upon the lore of the world by introducing cultures with peculiar traditions, villages that have experienced catastrophes and how Kaim himself has seen them recover hundreds of years later, a shoemaker who is really good at his job and his encounters with Kaim over his lifetime, and more. It's a wonderful story book collection accompanied by music and sounds that really immerse you into the experience, and was by far my favorite part of the game that I feel on its own makes Lost Odyssey worth playing. The main story isn't bad and has its climactic moments, with plenty of silly moments as well that got a lot of laughs outta me. However, I personally could not get invested into it while the Dreams just did a much better job of exploring the game's themes and developing the world.
The gameplay is reminiscent of early Final Fantasy (a number of key Square employees worked on this game), which I personally found hard to go back to since games have just gotten better with turn-based combat and exploration over the years. The fairly linear dungeons have their puzzles, but nothing that can't be solved at a quick glance. The early game is actually pretty difficult since the bosses can hit crazy hard and can just decide to kill a party member without you having the turn speed to do anything about it. Once you get past that hump, with the expection of a few bosses with their own (cool) gimmicks, there isn't much in the way of strategy besides "Attackers attack, Healer heals every turn. Buff against a boss. Ailments have abysmal hit rates and aren't worth going for." The Skill Learning and Ring systems don't really add much to the aspect of party composition/team building, unfortunately. Battles are also slooooooow, often times you'll have to sit and wait a whole minute to watch a turn play out after inputting your commands. It's not the worst battle system in the genre by any means, but if you hate turn-based battle systems or just find it hard to go back to more basic systems after playing ones that are better designed, you may find yourself growing agitated at the random encounters.
All that said, I highly recommend Lost Odyssey. I owned an Xbox 360 as a kid, but always overlooked this game because I thought the aesthetic and combat seemed bland in comparison to other JRPGs such as Tales of Vesperia on the same system. While I do kinda agree with those specific critiques after having actually played it, I am still very happy to have actually experienced Lost Odyssey's writing. The music bangs, too.
Lost Odyssey
2007
Have you seen the intro?
Lost Odyssey
2007
So... Final Fantasy XIII... But Good...
Una día normal en La Línea de la Concepción, Cádiz