SOMA: Sorrows Over the Mechanical Abyss

SOMA was a game I had only recently heard about. I've heard its name thrown around, and since I happen to have it in my library, courtesy of the Epic Games Store when it was given away for free, I decided to add it to my backlog to try it out eventually. But what I got from my time with SOMA was a game that lingered with me long after my playthrough, with its psychological themes and overall tone, I didn't find SOMA to be scary in a "Booo!" jumpscare type of way, it was scary due to its undertones and atmosphere. The extra bits of lore you can find throughout the game add so much to the already fantastic narrative, and it's just one of those games you just need to play completely blind without knowing anything.

Gamplay-wise, SOMA is pretty bare-bones, the main character Simon explores different areas in a somewhat linear way, with there being puzzles along the way as well. The puzzles are pretty basic, but that's a good thing, they don't need to be anything more than basic. Along the way in Simon's journey he encounters enemies that I feel don't add much to the game. The first couple of encounters add to SOMA by being a good stepping stone into what's to come throughout the game, but as it goes on, the enemies start to feel like annoying obstacles in the way. It's no wonder the developers decided to add a no-enemy mode after the game's initial launch. In my opinion, the enemies aren't even scary, they look scary on the surface, but not at all scary to make me jump out of my chair. Movement in SOMA feels kind of stiff, I'm not sure if it's just in SOMA or in the Amnesia games, or any of Frictional Games's other games, but in SOMA it just sorta stuck out, in better words.

But, gameplay and its issues aside, the real meat and potatoes of SOMA is its story. SOMA is a walking simulator with a sci-fi story that feels like you're listening to it, rather than playing it. The gameplay elements are barebone, but the story has a lot of muscle and carries its weight. It's really hard to explain without spoilers, but what I can say is, SOMA evokes a feeling of being alone. While playing as Simon, there's a feeling of loneliness everywhere, and the ending just adds to this notion more. Simon as a character, can be seen as dumb in certain moments in the story, but as a human, we're all liable to being dumb without knowing it. It's easy to pick on Simon for being a dumbass, but let's be honest, we would just be dumber. In a game centered around robots and sci-fi elements, Simon, for all his faults, still adds the long-forgotten layer of humanity, to an otherwise, artificial world. The atmosphere SOMA creates feels grimy, dirty, all messed up, and gone to shit. It creates a feeling of dread lingering over my shoulder throughout my playthrough, each area feels unique in its own atmosphere.

Overall, I found SOMA to be a unique different take on horror games, but that's not saying much considering I don't play a lot of horror games, regardless of that, SOMA is one of those games you need to play if you're looking a unique experience, or just want to try something new. If you like sci-fi or horror, you'll love SOMA. It's a game that anybody who enjoys either genre will love, and its just a game to play completely blind.

Stats:
The 14th game I've completed in 2024
Played on PC
Hours into Game: 7 Hours & 49 minutes
Score: 9/10 (4.5/5)

Super Mario Sunshine: The Slippery Slope of 3D Mario

Growing up, one of my favorite things to do with every 3D Mario I played, was to replay them, and 100% them again and again. I've 100%'d Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2 multiple times as both Mario and Luigi, collecting every power star on every level. I remember playing Super Mario 64 and its DS remake and 100%'d those games multiple times, and I've 100% Super Mario Odyessy as well. I've always had a soft spot for 3D Mario games. Super Mario Galaxy is my favorite game of all time, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and Super Mario 64 are up in the high rankings for me as well, and Super Mario Odyessy is probably my second favorite, behind Galaxy 1. However, I've never felt that same level of affection with Super Mario Sunshine. I've tried in the past, me and my mom went to our local GameStop back when was I around 6-7 years old to get a used copy. It was only the original GameCube disk, no box, but I was a kid so I didn't care, we went home, I put it in my Wii, started to play it... but it just never clicked with me back then.

Maybe it was just because I was a dumb kid who sucked at Video Games at the same, this was the same kid who thought Sweet Sweet Galaxy from Super Mario Galaxy was the hardest thing ever (if only he knew about Dark Souls). Fast forward to now, I've decided to give Super Mario Sunshine another chance now older. Unfortunately, I lost that original GameCube copy from all those years ago, and I don't remember what happened to my old Wii, so when I replayed this game, I was playing the version on the Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection for Switch (I'm writing here cause backlogg's system for ports/remasters isn't that great). Going into Super Mario Sunshine, I wanted to 100% it as I have with every other 3D Mario I used to do as a kid, but I never ended up doing so with Super Mario Sunshine. Maybe it's because I'm older now? Maybe it's because of the game? Or maybe it's because I'm washed at 3D Mario games?

The story is pretty simple, of course for a Mario game. Mario, Peach, Toadsworth, and the Toads fly to Isle Delfino for a getaway, presumably for them to get some much-needed rest after Bowser's many attempts to capture Peach, but things aren't as comfy for Mario and pals because they encounter a mass of paint-like goop. Mario gets the Flash Liquidizing Ultra Dousing Device (F.L.U.D.D.), a water cannon created by Professor E. Gadd from Luigi's Mansion fame, and Mario uses F.L.U.D.D. to defeat slime covered Piranha Plant. To thank Mario for his good deed, the police of Isle Delfine arrest Mario. As a kid, I thought nothing of it, but looking at it now, the whole criminal justice system on Isle Delfino fucked up. Mario does not get an attorney, there were witnesses who clearly saw Mario innocent but decided not to back him up, and the prosecution pushes for a guilty verdict onto Mario off of a SKETCH! A SKETCH OF ALL THINGS!? As much as a pile of work the real-world criminal justice system is, at least I can remind myself that it isn't Isle Delfino's criminal justice system. Mario is assigned to community service and has to clean up the island and track down the real criminal.

It's such a quirky premise for a Nintendo game, and I don't think Nintendo would make a Mario game where he gets in jail today, considering how strict they are with the portrayal and copyright of their characters. Even though I never beat Super Mario Sunshine as a kid, I got spoiled the story for myself from YouTube videos, and going back to it now, I don't care that I was spoiled. It's a Mario game, I don't care I already knew the story front to end, I was coming here for the gameplay. Super Mario Sunshine is the first Mario game to introduce Bowser Jr, and this was a great introduction into his character. Bowser Jr was a fun character in this game, this game alone puts him on top above the Koopalings. The characters in Super Mario Sunshine feel unique in this game alone, the Piantas are the citizins of Isle Delfino and sorta the replacment for Toads in this game, Toads are still here, but not as much compared to other Mario games. Super Mario Sunshine has this charm and bright personality that isn't in a lot of other Mario games. The title screen, the OST, every pretty-looking thing in Super Mario Sunshine makes it feel summer-like.

To the main course, being the gameplay, all I have to say is that I am more split with this game's gameplay than I ever have been with any 3D Mario game. There are a lot of pros and cons with the gameplay of Super Mario Sunshine, I found my overall playthrough to be a great time, but there has been a lot about the gameplay mechanics that I feel hold this game back from being anything more than great. For one, I'm glad this is harder than any 3D Mario game I've played. It's sort of refreshing to have a Mario game give me a challenge, but the thing is, a lot of what makes Super Mario Sunshine difficult is either because 1. I needed to learn and adapt from the challenge I'm facing, or 2. Because of the bullshit slippery movement that Mario has throughout all of the game. I don't know if Mario has ice cubes built into his shoes, but moving as him in this game feels like you walking on ice and it's not too much of an issue throughout most of the game, but in parts where you need to be precise with your platforming, it just fucks you over, anyways.

In Super Mario 64, Mario collected power stars in that game, but here in Super Mario Sunshine, he collects Shine Sprites instead. Shine Sprites are a cool replacement for Power Stars, and the little jingle you hear every time you collect a Shine Sprite is a banger, but I wasn't as excited to collect them as I used to be with Power Stars in other Mario games. There are these blue coins you can collect throughout each level and if you have 10 blue coins, you can exchange them with a merchant on Isle Delfino for a Shine Sprite. Honestly, I found collecting the blue coins to be tedious, some are in some levels and some aren't, and overall just felt like a headache to get. As for the levels themselves, they all had some level of charm to them, but nothing quite memorable compared to the levels in Super Mario 64, the Galaxy games, or even Odyessy. The inclusion of Yoshi in this game feels so forced, you have to get Yoshi out of his egg by bringing the fruit he wants, but Yoshi isn't needed for a lot of this game unless you are going for 100%, and nothing would have changed if Yoshi wasn't included. I said how I wanted to 100% this game and never ended up doing so, that's because I found Super Mario Sunshine to not worthwhile to see through with a 100%. It is a worthwhile game to play for fun, the levels are fun on face value, but while trying go for that 100% completion, you can see a lot of the flaws of the level design.

Overall, even though I had a lot to say about the flaws of Super Mario Sunshine, at face value it's a great Mario game, just not an amazing Mario game. It's a fun time playing through Isle Delfino, there's a lot of charm, and when the game mechanics aren't against you, they're pretty bearable. I had a great time with this game, it's been a while since I played a 3D Mario game, and perhaps I should revisit one in the future before the eventual next 3D Mario game.

Stats:
The 13th game I've completed in 2024
Played on Nintendo Switch (via 3D All-Stars)
Hours into Game: 15 Hours
Score: 8/10 (4/5)
Last Statement: Fuck Isle DelFino's Criminal Justice System

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth: Rebirth & Refreshing

Back when Final Fantasy VII Remake was first released in 2020, it changed everything the definition of what a "Remake" could be. Final Fantasy VII Remake heavily reworked the gameplay mechanics from the original game, turning it from the pseudo-turn-based battle system based on Active Time Battle (ATB) to a real-time battle system more in line with Final Fantasy XVI and XV. It was going to be a big feat for Square to remake Final Fantasy VII, specifically by splitting it into three parts of a trilogy, and just like the original Star Wars trilogy, the second one is the best one. Going into Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, all I wanted was a simple improvement from Final Fantasy VII Remake, with it's open world and story, but what I got was a rich open world and mind messing story to be one of my highlights of 2024. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is a tremendous feat for Final Fantasy in general, for not only being a fantastic remake of an already fantastic game but also for being the best modern Final Fantasy game in recent memory. Rebirth does everything FFVII Remake did, and blows that out of the water. As much as I liked Final Fantasy VII Remake, compared to FFVII Rebirth, it looks like a tech demo in comparison. With the wider Final Fantasy VII world being remade from what is what back from the original PS1 release, to Final Fantasy VII Rebirth on PS5, it truly shows the growth where Final Fantasy VII has come since it's start. In both the gameplay and story, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is an evolution for Final Fantasy VII, and Final Fantasy, period.

As for gameplay, it is very similar at it's core to Final Fantasy VII Remake, but there some new additions to make it a bit more unique after coming off of Final Fantasy VII Remake. For starters, new characters! Red XIII was in Final Fantasy VII Remake, though not as a playable character til now in Rebirth, and Yuffie was previously in the Final Fantasy VII Remake DLC, Episode INTERmission, as a playable character in her own story, but never was even mentioned in the original story of FFVII Remake. Both characters play great, though I was surprised how good Yuffie felt to play as in Rebirth. I never used her much in the original Final Fantasy VII but in Rebirth, she was just an absolute tank in battle. Red XIII was a pretty solid character to play as when I had him in my party. I made sure to swap my party members often so I don't get attracted to a set of party members with Cloud. Though stats-wise good, Red XIII felt like a bland character to play as, he basic combat attacks and his skill's weren't that great in my opinion, compared to other character's skills, but nothing to major for me to dislike.

I almost forgot to mention Cait Sith! Cait Sith was a character in the original game that I hardly used at all. I never liked him much in the original as a character in my party, but in Rebirth, he's... decent, not more. Cait Sith in FFVII Rebirth is a lot better of a character to play than he was in the original Final Fantasy VII. His basic combat attacks are pretty mediocre, but once he is able to get his robot, he becomes much better of character to play as, so he's not bad (until I reached that part in the game I only had Cait Sith your party. That was absolute garbage, I wanted to tear up that furry ball so much...). Vincent and Cid are new characters brought into Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, but not playable at all, similar how to Red XIII was in Final Fantasy VII Remake, which was pretty disappointing to find out, I really looked forward to how Vincent and CId would play in the FFVII Remake style of combat. They were some of my favorite characters to have in my party in the original, Vincent because he was a badass, and though not playable, still just as of a badass in Rebirth because he's voiced the GOAT Matt Mercer. Cid was one of the favorites in the original due to how good stats-wise he was around the time he was introduced, and I hope Square is able to do them both justice in Part 3, or in DLC for Rebirth if they decide to do that like how they did for Yuffie.

As for the original characters from Final Fantasy VII Remake that were brought over to Rebirth, such as Cloud, Tifa, Barret and Aerith, they play close to how they were in Final Fantasy VII Remake. Cloud plays pretty close to how he was in FFVII Remake, though a little bit different from how Operator Mode is compared to how it was in FFVII Remake. Operator Mode in FFVII Remake made Cloud's attacks feel more slow, but more heavier in attack power, but In Rebirth, it's still heavy but it locks Cloud to doing sword slashes in a wide arc. Pretty different from Remake's version, but a change I welcome. I felt that Cloud's operator mode in FFVII Remake kinda made combat at times too easy, but with Rebirth's interpretation of Operator Mode have a bit more strategy to it than Remake's, and not make things too easy. Cloud was the only character from Final Fantasy VII Remake that I noticed a change in from how he controlled in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, but I never noticed any noticeable changes to Barret, Tifa, or Aerith. They play pretty close to their FFVII Remake versions, so I just assume they have some better quality-of-life changes that I haven't noticed. The Synergy mechanic from Yuffie DLC makes a return here in FFVII Rebirth, and it works pretty well. It adds some character to the combat and the characters you have in your party. There was this one Synergy attack with Barret and Aerith where Aerith is mimicking how Barret is with his glasses with him during their Synergy attack, and he's so wholesome between those two. Synergy is not only a good mechanic for gameplay, but also a good mechanic to add some chemistry between party members that may or may not have interacted as much in the story.

When I was playing Final Fantasy VII Rebirth throughout my playthrough, I had performance mode on throughout nearly all of my playthrough. I previously played the demo before Rebirth was released, and performance mode was a must on that version of the game, due to how choppy the 30 FPS looked and felt. Since the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth demo kind of sparked some debate about 30 vs 60 FPS due to how poor it was, my stance of that is, 30 FPS, when done correctly, isn't a big deal. Some games have 30 FPS run smooth enough for it not be noticeable, but in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth's case, 30 FPS is a hard no for me. 30 FPS just feels awful when doing anything in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, walking makes me feel like I have a headache, and combat with 30 FPS makes me feel like I have a migraine. I know I sound like one of those 60 FPS elitists who live and breathe 60 FPS as their lifestream, but like I said before, 30 FPS can be pulled off good enough in other games, but 30 FPS in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth for whatever reason. Performance mode didn't really affect anything graphically for me, the game still looked graphically amazing still, though sometimes some textures can look a bit low res from a distance, but nothing noticeable to complain about.

Regardless if you're playing on graphics or performance mode, this game is a beauty to play out. When the crew leaves Kalm to explore, there's this beautiful garden area that you see as you explore this new world you're introduced to, early into the game. This is around the beginning of the game, so you can't use Chocobos or the Buggy yet, so you're forced to walk on foot. It feels sorta reminiscent of the original game, when you leave Midgar for the first time and explore the massive open world for the first time. That scene of discovery and openness from the original is here in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Graphically the original Final Fantasy VII couldn't detail the open world outside of Midgar outside of PS1 textures due to it being a PS1 game, but Final Fantasy VII Rebirth showcases new details within the open world of Rebirth's interpretation of Final Fantasy VII. It feels like this is how Square wanted to show off this world to the player, but due to the hardware limitations at the time, they couldn't. Even though they couldn't, there was room for imagination from the players who played and grew up with the original. They never thought a Final Fantasy VII Remake of this scale would ever happen, so they had nothing but blocky PS1 graphics and their imaginations, and Rebirth feels like what those imaginations were. Rebirth excels at adding new life to Final Fantasy VII, the OST remaking the original game's OST sounds phenomenal, and in some areas like in the Mythril Mines, have their versions redid with some instrumentation to make it sound modern, but add similar sounding instruments similar to those iconic PS1 era soundfonts.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth adds a lot of new side content, and most of it is wonderful. There are the standard side quests given out by NPC's throughout the world in a similar fashion to how they were in Final Fantasy VII Remake, but, the side quests in Rebirth have a lot of more soul than the ones from FFVII Remake. Some side quests are pretty standard, but they do good in adding world-building to the areas they take place in. Some are humorous in nature, feeling similar to a filler episode from an anime, but still fun to experience. There's a lot of side content in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and I don't wanna drag this even more, so I'll be brief for the side content. Lifesrpings are expedition intel that help uncover divine shrine intel alongside story information about the region you're in. This is cool for serious lore buffs who live and breathe Final Fantasy VII, but to be honest I didn't collect a lot of these throughout my playthrough, but still a neat addition. Chadley from Final Fantasy VII Remake makes a return here in FFVII Rebirth and there are divine shrines that can help Chadley gather intel data to strengthen summon materia and also make their encounters at the combat simulator easier. I like how easier it was to get summon materia in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, in FFVII Remake, I missed some, and I didn't really do anything Chadley in FFVII Remake, but I did go to some of the shrines, and I liked the little mini-game you play each time. I got most of the first couple of summons, but later on I didn't really care to go after more summons because I was fine with the ones I already had. Fiend challenges are... boring, I never sought them out, and only completed them if I happened to come across it. Despite the Moogle's looking like nightmare fuel, I really liked the Moogle emporiums. They were fun to play, but I never bought anything from the moogle's after I was done with them.

Those were just some of the ones I remembered from the top of my head, but there's just so much to talk about when it comes to Final Fantasy VII Rebirth's side content, but my absolute favorite part of FFVII Rebirth's side content has to be Queen's Blood. I. LOVED. Queen's Blood. I haven't played a card game this fun since I was playing Pokemon cards back in elementary school, Queen's Blood is absolute shit, I was addicted to Queen's Blade after my first few games, and I had a lot of my time finding each time I could play Queen's Blood in the region I was in. Forget about Sephiroth, Cloud, you need to the best Queen's Blood master, like no one ever was! Jokes aside, I loved Queen's Blood, the gameplay just had me addictied, and even though I haven't completed every single Queen's Blood match that Rebirth had to offer, I believe I completed the majority.

As for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth's story, it continues shortly after Final Fantasy VII Remake, Cloud and the gang are on the hunt for Sephiroth, and it mostly follows the story of the original game for the most part until certain moments take event at some points into the story. The story has already been told in the original Final Fantasy VII, but the way Rebirth retells certain story moments from the original is fantastic. Without giving away too much, all I can say without spoilers is that, the more Final Fantasy VII media you've consumed, the more you're rewarded for it in Rebirth. If you love Crisis Core, Advent Children or any other piece of the expanded Final Fantasy VII ecosystem, you'll nerd out over the references. Cloud feels so much of a more developed character than he ever has been in any other piece of Final Fantasy VII, Cloud feels more human, more of an actual human than another anime twink. Zack is so much of a welcome addition to Rebirth, without giving away spoilers, he is amazing in every moment he is in, especially during the final arc, if you know you know. Barret's character growth from the original game is adapted into Rebirth, and it is adapted in the best way possible. Tifa is much more expanded upon within the story, than just Cloud's childhood friend/potential love interest, she has her own moments that flesh out moments from the original, and new scenes that give her the spotlight. Red XIII's character hasn't changed that much from the original, and he felt just fine. Yuffie's character adds a lot of new personality to the cast, and though, sometimes annoying, she's an absolute key character to the party, and to Wutai, considering what happens to Wutai in the story. Cait Sith feels like Cait Sith, Vincent and Cid, though not playable, are great inclusions to the story. Sephiroth continues to be a menace within the story, and is like a phantom ghost always mentioned.

And as for Aerith... man, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth's development to Aerith is tremendous. It's well-known what happens to Aerith in the original game, not going to be mentioned because I don't wanna accidentally spoil it for anybody who hasn't played the original or the end of Rebirth, but if you have, I'm sure you have a good idea of what I'm talking about. It feels that Aerith has a lot more screen time in Rebirth than she ever did in FFVII Remake or the original. It's probably because Square knew during the development, fans knew what to expect, and how much of a reaction it ignited in people, so they couldn't mess up. Even though I already played the original Final Fantasy VII last year, and knew how the Remake trilogy was going to end, I still got attacked to Aerith's character, more than I ever did in the original. She spends so much time with Cloud, and with the knowledge of what comes later, it felt like not being able to stop a canon event.

One of Rebirth's key themes is loss, loss could be losing a game, or loss could be the loss of a loved one. The word "loss" is so dense because we can use it any way we decide to because we as humans are all different, to what we consider loss, and that thinking when it comes to loss is told in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Loss in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth could mean losing a battle or spending credits on the wrong item, but loss is much more in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth than gameplay mechanics. Most of the characters in the party have suffered a loss. Cloud has the loss of memories of his past, and Sephiroth shares the loss of identity with Cloud and Aerith. Other characters such as Barret, Tifa, Yuffie and Vincent can also be tied into this common theme of loss. Over the course of Rebirth's story, there is this notion that loss will come eventually, it's just a matter of how you accept that loss and what you do afterward. This can be tied into Aerith's character, she's somewhat telling the player to prepare for what's to come later to the game, and it hits like a truck when you feel that loss into the game's final act. Final Fantasy VII Remake introduced the whispers into the story, being the cause of why events in FFVII Remake were changing from the original. That way of changing the original story into Rebirth works amazingly well. At its core it tells the main story from the original up to the end of Disk 1, Rebirth adds new story content and fleshes out a lot of areas from the original game. And with all the shenanigans Sephoroth is up to in this game, the more crazy it gets. And that last arc and ending... man*.

Overall, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is one of the best RPG's I've played this year, and my 2024 game of the year so far. It's truly remarkable how Square pulled this Remake trilogy together, and Part 3 has to be insane. If Final Fantasy VII Rebirth was the Avengers Infinity War of JRPGs, Part 3 needs to be the Avengers Endgame of JRPGs. I loved everything about Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and I don't really much anything major to complain about. All I want for Part 3 is for Square to go absolute apeshit with the story! Get all writers high and let them come up with the most, Kingdom Hearts level, confusing story for Part 3. Just improve onto the best things about Rebirth, and introduce new features in Part 3, and Square has one of the best trilogies in gaming, and perhaps in media.

Stats:
The 12th game I've completed in 2024
Played on PlayStation 5
Hours into Game: 48 Hours
Score: 10/10 (5/5)
Last Statement: I ain't gay but Sephorith👀