Lizardbish
2024
By 'beat' I mean I won a run (I've since won several with other decks) but I'm not done with it. I'm not sure one can ever truly be done with Balatro since it's like digital crack; I think it digs into your brain and it stays there the way all the great, addictive roguelikes do.
This was my first time playing Crisis Core so although I’m not super familiar with Zack, I just know him from the original. But I love Zack! He’s a loveable dork and I really enjoyed getting to know him; I look forward to seeing more of him in Reunion!
The battle system - in particular the DMW, which kind of functions like a slot machine - is pretty divisive but I actually really liked it. It was neat and something different though I can fully understand why people going for 100% completion would hate it due to the RNG. It did also trivialise some battles, again due to the random nature, but I still thought that was fun.
Materia fusion was rad! It did mean you could break the game very early but I like that kind of thing in RPGs, I love trying to figure out ways to increasingly break a battle system until I’m stupidly overpowered.
On the negative side, I actually didn’t like a lot of the music and it just kind of blended into the background. Arrangements of classic FFVII songs were good but original Crisis Core songs did nothing for me.
Genesis SUCKED ASS and would never just SHUT THE FUCK UP and I really hope he doesn’t show up again in Rebirth or Part 3.
I’m fine with a name drop but my god please don’t have him show up again, ever, he’s just beyond cringey.
And speaking of cringe, the script is so bad, just cheese off the charts and at points it was way too much for me; and even though they’ve changed the voice actors from the original to match up with Remake, the line delivery here is sometimes just really off? I don’t know if that’s more to do with the script though because, for example, Briana White reprises her role as Aerith and in Remake she’s great but in Crisis Core Reunion the delivery is sometimes so jarring that it feels like it’s a different actor.
It’s crammed with pretty mindless side quests (300 of them!) though that’s by design since it was originally a PSP game - missions are designed to be very short and therefore easy to be played on the go. I did enjoy doing a lot of those quests - it made my lizard brain happy and I got items and accessories out of it - but after a while even I was burnt out on them.
And this is neither positive nor negative but just something I noticed: all the characters move and emote like Sims and it’s very strange!
I read an interview with Executive Producer Yoshinori Kitase where he said he recommend playing Reunion to enhance the enjoyment of the Remake project but I don’t know, I think this is still a hard game for me to recommend to anyone other than fans who really enjoy FFVII lore - for anyone else I honestly think you’d be fine watching a YouTube catch up video. The combat is decent but you’re not missing anything that’s up to the standard of the combat in Remake so I would feel confident in saying you’d be fine to skip it. And speaking of lore, can I just say that they do mess with some things and not all of it is good or makes sense, which does frustrate me as a big Final Fantasy VII fan.
Overall, I didn’t love it and I didn’t hate it but I liked it just fine - and best of all, I fell in love with Zack.
The battle system - in particular the DMW, which kind of functions like a slot machine - is pretty divisive but I actually really liked it. It was neat and something different though I can fully understand why people going for 100% completion would hate it due to the RNG. It did also trivialise some battles, again due to the random nature, but I still thought that was fun.
Materia fusion was rad! It did mean you could break the game very early but I like that kind of thing in RPGs, I love trying to figure out ways to increasingly break a battle system until I’m stupidly overpowered.
On the negative side, I actually didn’t like a lot of the music and it just kind of blended into the background. Arrangements of classic FFVII songs were good but original Crisis Core songs did nothing for me.
Genesis SUCKED ASS and would never just SHUT THE FUCK UP and I really hope he doesn’t show up again in Rebirth or Part 3.
I’m fine with a name drop but my god please don’t have him show up again, ever, he’s just beyond cringey.
And speaking of cringe, the script is so bad, just cheese off the charts and at points it was way too much for me; and even though they’ve changed the voice actors from the original to match up with Remake, the line delivery here is sometimes just really off? I don’t know if that’s more to do with the script though because, for example, Briana White reprises her role as Aerith and in Remake she’s great but in Crisis Core Reunion the delivery is sometimes so jarring that it feels like it’s a different actor.
It’s crammed with pretty mindless side quests (300 of them!) though that’s by design since it was originally a PSP game - missions are designed to be very short and therefore easy to be played on the go. I did enjoy doing a lot of those quests - it made my lizard brain happy and I got items and accessories out of it - but after a while even I was burnt out on them.
And this is neither positive nor negative but just something I noticed: all the characters move and emote like Sims and it’s very strange!
I read an interview with Executive Producer Yoshinori Kitase where he said he recommend playing Reunion to enhance the enjoyment of the Remake project but I don’t know, I think this is still a hard game for me to recommend to anyone other than fans who really enjoy FFVII lore - for anyone else I honestly think you’d be fine watching a YouTube catch up video. The combat is decent but you’re not missing anything that’s up to the standard of the combat in Remake so I would feel confident in saying you’d be fine to skip it. And speaking of lore, can I just say that they do mess with some things and not all of it is good or makes sense, which does frustrate me as a big Final Fantasy VII fan.
Overall, I didn’t love it and I didn’t hate it but I liked it just fine - and best of all, I fell in love with Zack.
2021
Aside from a fresh coat of paint there isn't anything else that Remedy changed or updated about Alan Wake and I have mixed feelings about that. The movement and mechanics are stilted and clunky and it very much feels like a product of 2010 but then that kind of added to its charm so I don't think I'd have liked it if they changed anything, either.
Who said gamers are hard to please?
It has immaculate vibes and it absolutely nails that pulpy, camp feel Remedy were going for - if only the combat was up to the same standard. It's clunky and repetitive and at times it felt like I was going through the motions of combat in order to get to the next chunk of story. I found the story and the atmosphere more than worth the hassle, though.
Who said gamers are hard to please?
It has immaculate vibes and it absolutely nails that pulpy, camp feel Remedy were going for - if only the combat was up to the same standard. It's clunky and repetitive and at times it felt like I was going through the motions of combat in order to get to the next chunk of story. I found the story and the atmosphere more than worth the hassle, though.