Malcolm_Moon4
2024
Unicorn Overlord
STORY
I feel the story for Unicorn Overlord overall us good. I wouldn't call it experimental or ground breaking in anyway. Liberate the world from the evil people. It's lore and world building is pretty interesting. I liked the things you learn late game.
The story is separated kind of into sections for each country, with Cornia housing the finale inside. But clearing each other country is its own act of the story sort of.
Drakenhold was pretty great. I enjoyed following Gilbert, Berengaria, Virginia etc. And the villains were good.
Elfheim I didn't think was as strong but I still enjoyed. Rosalinde, Eltolinde were fun to follow and the villains were good.
Bestorias I felt was the weakest section easily. Yunifi and Morard are good but following them wasn't particularly interesting. The magic blue plot device I had little interest in. The Tellius style beast people racism felt very unexplored and uninspired. The final villain and last moment were good though.
Albion was pretty great. Waiting this long to follow Scarlett, a character from your starting party was great. Her interactions with the angels and religion of Albion were good. Nigel was great as well.
The finale was good. Nothing too special there but satisfying enough. There's a bad ending apparently I want to check out.
Overall it's a fine story. I'd tier it in good among other SRPGs I've played.
GAMEPLAY
Man, I know this is similar to some SRPGs, tactics ogre I think? But I haven't played aby like it. Interesting playstyle with a real time unir management system instead of a turn based or priority based grid system. Definitely took an adjustment from my Fire Emblem brain. But when it did it really took off.
Managing groups of up to 5 units who all have skills and items and weapons that great different effects in battle, man it's really satisfying. Forming perfect groups of units, changing them up for certain battles, changing their tactics and gear ooh. Tickled my brain all the time. The maps all play well and are good. None I'd say were bad or gimmicky.
Levels were manageable. I never felt there was a sudden level jump. You always had battles to do at your level. And if you didn't the grinding maps and exp item rewards are super easy to do to catch up your units.
Overworld management was a great way to have something to do after battle. Restoring the cities helped gain money, renown and honors. All important resources. There's tons of different shops and quests and systems to obtain different items and unlock new things to do. One issue I'd say is you get like 3 sets of I'll call them "legendary" weapons. But their base damage is kinda all in the same ball park. And while they have different effects they're not big enough to warrant using one or the other. I guess it's fine cause you have so many units but idk. None felt particularly special since they all functioned mostly the same.
I didn't use every unit and every class. But all I used were all fun and had a role. I never thought one was too weak or too strong. I think Berengaria's and Hilda's were my favorites.
I love the mercenary system. Being able to hire generic units to fill roles and gaps in your army is amazing. I love you can customize their growths, color palette, pick a name and voice. It makes them really personal. I had a cav mercenary named Bruce who I kept till the end cause his voice was Kaiji Tang.
Overall amazing gameplay with TONS of stuff to do and explore. Super impressive stuff.
CHARACTERS
While the story may be only good. I enjoyed a lot of the characters a ton. Characters you follow in the story like I mentioned in that section are great. As well as others you get on the side. My stand out favorites would be Josef, Tatiana, Eltolinde, Hodrick, Renault, Gilbert, Scarlett, Primm, Melisandre and Berengaria, who I married. I'll check out everyone's rapports and Romance scenes eventually. But everything I saw of most of the cast was good.
MISCELLANEOUS
The music is great. The visuals are really good. From the colors and lighting of each scene to the character designs. I loved them a lot. A great English voice cast with new voices to me and iconic actors.
Unicorn Overlord was great. A 58 hour journey that really captured me with its gameplay and provided a good enough story and great cast to keep me engaged. I hear the studio is thinking about making a sequel. If that's true I'll happily take more. What a good time.
STORY
I feel the story for Unicorn Overlord overall us good. I wouldn't call it experimental or ground breaking in anyway. Liberate the world from the evil people. It's lore and world building is pretty interesting. I liked the things you learn late game.
The story is separated kind of into sections for each country, with Cornia housing the finale inside. But clearing each other country is its own act of the story sort of.
Drakenhold was pretty great. I enjoyed following Gilbert, Berengaria, Virginia etc. And the villains were good.
Elfheim I didn't think was as strong but I still enjoyed. Rosalinde, Eltolinde were fun to follow and the villains were good.
Bestorias I felt was the weakest section easily. Yunifi and Morard are good but following them wasn't particularly interesting. The magic blue plot device I had little interest in. The Tellius style beast people racism felt very unexplored and uninspired. The final villain and last moment were good though.
Albion was pretty great. Waiting this long to follow Scarlett, a character from your starting party was great. Her interactions with the angels and religion of Albion were good. Nigel was great as well.
The finale was good. Nothing too special there but satisfying enough. There's a bad ending apparently I want to check out.
Overall it's a fine story. I'd tier it in good among other SRPGs I've played.
GAMEPLAY
Man, I know this is similar to some SRPGs, tactics ogre I think? But I haven't played aby like it. Interesting playstyle with a real time unir management system instead of a turn based or priority based grid system. Definitely took an adjustment from my Fire Emblem brain. But when it did it really took off.
Managing groups of up to 5 units who all have skills and items and weapons that great different effects in battle, man it's really satisfying. Forming perfect groups of units, changing them up for certain battles, changing their tactics and gear ooh. Tickled my brain all the time. The maps all play well and are good. None I'd say were bad or gimmicky.
Levels were manageable. I never felt there was a sudden level jump. You always had battles to do at your level. And if you didn't the grinding maps and exp item rewards are super easy to do to catch up your units.
Overworld management was a great way to have something to do after battle. Restoring the cities helped gain money, renown and honors. All important resources. There's tons of different shops and quests and systems to obtain different items and unlock new things to do. One issue I'd say is you get like 3 sets of I'll call them "legendary" weapons. But their base damage is kinda all in the same ball park. And while they have different effects they're not big enough to warrant using one or the other. I guess it's fine cause you have so many units but idk. None felt particularly special since they all functioned mostly the same.
I didn't use every unit and every class. But all I used were all fun and had a role. I never thought one was too weak or too strong. I think Berengaria's and Hilda's were my favorites.
I love the mercenary system. Being able to hire generic units to fill roles and gaps in your army is amazing. I love you can customize their growths, color palette, pick a name and voice. It makes them really personal. I had a cav mercenary named Bruce who I kept till the end cause his voice was Kaiji Tang.
Overall amazing gameplay with TONS of stuff to do and explore. Super impressive stuff.
CHARACTERS
While the story may be only good. I enjoyed a lot of the characters a ton. Characters you follow in the story like I mentioned in that section are great. As well as others you get on the side. My stand out favorites would be Josef, Tatiana, Eltolinde, Hodrick, Renault, Gilbert, Scarlett, Primm, Melisandre and Berengaria, who I married. I'll check out everyone's rapports and Romance scenes eventually. But everything I saw of most of the cast was good.
MISCELLANEOUS
The music is great. The visuals are really good. From the colors and lighting of each scene to the character designs. I loved them a lot. A great English voice cast with new voices to me and iconic actors.
Unicorn Overlord was great. A 58 hour journey that really captured me with its gameplay and provided a good enough story and great cast to keep me engaged. I hear the studio is thinking about making a sequel. If that's true I'll happily take more. What a good time.
Played this for about a month, idc about the story, it's presentation and format is boring. Just make it actual fights plz idc about fighting monsters.
But actual fighting game gameplay wise it's cool. I've latched onto Ferry, Metera and Zooey as my mains, may pick up some others eventually. They're all really fun. Gameplay feels great and has tons of depth, am I good at utilizing that? No. But it's fun. Played a ton of ranked have had a lot of fun matches and lots of fun sets with my buddy Sirius. It's a great game I'll continue to play and it may even get me to play the gacha soon. Like I need that in my life.
But actual fighting game gameplay wise it's cool. I've latched onto Ferry, Metera and Zooey as my mains, may pick up some others eventually. They're all really fun. Gameplay feels great and has tons of depth, am I good at utilizing that? No. But it's fun. Played a ton of ranked have had a lot of fun matches and lots of fun sets with my buddy Sirius. It's a great game I'll continue to play and it may even get me to play the gacha soon. Like I need that in my life.
2014
I don't really know when to make this review in regards to my progress, but it's cool. Most of my sims in my world have progressed their jobs and what not. Current household is Me (a professional chef), Kiryu (a secret agent, very fitting), from Yakuza, Chrom (a dance instructor) and Robin (a retail manager) from fire emblem and Lucina (a toddler) their kid.
Chrom is ultra mad all the time he comes home from work and kicks the trash can over every single day. Kiryu's job pays poorly and he keeps messing up so he doesn't get a promotion. Robin is pretty chill tbh. My self insert sim just focused on that grind (unlike me).
I'm a shit interior designer all my sims hate the house also
Wish some features were more optimized and there wasn't dlc. But it's a fun time and it was free so peak. May update here as I play more later
Chrom is ultra mad all the time he comes home from work and kicks the trash can over every single day. Kiryu's job pays poorly and he keeps messing up so he doesn't get a promotion. Robin is pretty chill tbh. My self insert sim just focused on that grind (unlike me).
I'm a shit interior designer all my sims hate the house also
Wish some features were more optimized and there wasn't dlc. But it's a fun time and it was free so peak. May update here as I play more later
Single player is okay (has problems), but multiplayer (big reason I bought it) was a huge scam. Bad!
What a game. Absolutely incredible experience.
Story
This game manages to be both another step on Ichiban's journey while also being the "last" step on Kiryu's. Seeing their respective experiences and views on the events of the story simultaneously is incredible.
This game feels the most like a sequel more than any other Yakuza/LAD game has, with so much building off of 7 and a bit of Gaiden and 6. And it works well in that respect. Seeing what everyone has been up to since 7 is fun, seeing tbe direct results of this whole 6, 7, Gaiden arc of this universe and how they apply to the events of 8 makes for an amazing overarching journey for this series.
The mystery in this game is incredible, the new characters Tomizawa and Chitose are both amazing additions to the cast, I loved both of their journeys in this game.
Honolulu is a great setting, story wise I love how the real world situations of tourism, pollution, poverty, the economy etc. All tie in to how Hawaii is presented and used in the story. RGG has always been great at openly criticizing the conditions of Japan in their games, so seeing that they're able to branch out and still act with the same criticism is great.
Kiryu and Ichiban work well together as a duo, both standing on their own and supporting each other while having a natural flow and bond. Their respective personality traits and tendencies work well together while also having some contrasting traits that make them distinct.
My only notable issues with the story is that one character should have been in it more, but from what I understand they originally weren't going to be at all so I guess it's good we got what we did.
Also the climax overall is good, but definitely not my favorite and I found 7's was a lot more emotional and better executed. Similarly with the main villains, again they're good, just not up with the best in the series.
Characters
Mostly going to focus on the new additions here, Chitose and Tomizawa were great additions to Ichiban's party, I love Tomizawa as a "normal guy" perspective looking at the insane things Ichiban and Kiryu do regularly, he gives the audience someone to relate to if they need it. And his own story was great. Chitose I was surprised as she's like, nearly the third protagonist of this game with how important she is. Both her and Tomizawa work incredibly well with Ichiban and his established patterns as a character. And Seonhee, a welcome addition as well, making her playable was a great decision as she is a fun member of the cast, all of her interactions are so entertaining and I found her interesting quickly. I hope all these new characters stick around for the next game.
Other new characters not playable, were great too. Yamai and Eiji especially I enjoyed their stories a lot.
The returning cast of 7 remained good even if they didn't have as much to do in this game. They're just a great group to follow.
Gameplay
As the second turn based game in the series, the improvement to the depth of the combat is astounding. There is so much going on in every action you take now that takes full advantage of how unique LAD's approach to turn based combat is. The positioning of your party and enemies, the environment around you, the physics engine, so many things influence even just one basic attack, it's possibly the best turn based combat system I've ever played. And that's not even mentioning all the new jobs, old jobs, skills, weapons, items etc. That all have their own contributions as well.
Overall the gameplay outside of combat has just unbelievable amounts of content to it. There's essentially a pokemon and animal crossing game inside of this one. Those are the two larger minigames but there's a ton of smaller ones as well. There's so much to do always on the map that you will always feel like you're keeping busy. Whether it's the main story, substories, Sujimon, Dondoko Island, smaller minigames, bond conversations, collectibles etc. There's so much content packed in here I'm genuinely baffled.
A few things I don't like would be not having Skill Shortcuts, I kinda get why they were removed but I really feel like thy could have stayed. They were appreciated in 7 as starting fights with one move you want is always nice, not having to scroll 12 skills down for the one you want is nice.
I feel like crafting materials for endgame weapons should be more available without grinding minigames/the dungeons. I didn't need everyone to have maxed out weapons, but it would have been cool.
I feel like I have to end this soon, there's legitimately so much I could talk about STILL. But will leave for another time. Yakuza/LAD has never failed to make a game I will like at the bare minimum and love to death at the maximum, and this is in the "love to death" end. I think for now at least it's certainly my favorite in the series even if other games do some things better like the villains and climax.
I'm still I'm awe at what this game pulled off, and am looking forward to the future of the series as always. I'm with you till the end of the line, Ichiban Kasuga.
Story
This game manages to be both another step on Ichiban's journey while also being the "last" step on Kiryu's. Seeing their respective experiences and views on the events of the story simultaneously is incredible.
This game feels the most like a sequel more than any other Yakuza/LAD game has, with so much building off of 7 and a bit of Gaiden and 6. And it works well in that respect. Seeing what everyone has been up to since 7 is fun, seeing tbe direct results of this whole 6, 7, Gaiden arc of this universe and how they apply to the events of 8 makes for an amazing overarching journey for this series.
The mystery in this game is incredible, the new characters Tomizawa and Chitose are both amazing additions to the cast, I loved both of their journeys in this game.
Honolulu is a great setting, story wise I love how the real world situations of tourism, pollution, poverty, the economy etc. All tie in to how Hawaii is presented and used in the story. RGG has always been great at openly criticizing the conditions of Japan in their games, so seeing that they're able to branch out and still act with the same criticism is great.
Kiryu and Ichiban work well together as a duo, both standing on their own and supporting each other while having a natural flow and bond. Their respective personality traits and tendencies work well together while also having some contrasting traits that make them distinct.
My only notable issues with the story is that one character should have been in it more, but from what I understand they originally weren't going to be at all so I guess it's good we got what we did.
Also the climax overall is good, but definitely not my favorite and I found 7's was a lot more emotional and better executed. Similarly with the main villains, again they're good, just not up with the best in the series.
Characters
Mostly going to focus on the new additions here, Chitose and Tomizawa were great additions to Ichiban's party, I love Tomizawa as a "normal guy" perspective looking at the insane things Ichiban and Kiryu do regularly, he gives the audience someone to relate to if they need it. And his own story was great. Chitose I was surprised as she's like, nearly the third protagonist of this game with how important she is. Both her and Tomizawa work incredibly well with Ichiban and his established patterns as a character. And Seonhee, a welcome addition as well, making her playable was a great decision as she is a fun member of the cast, all of her interactions are so entertaining and I found her interesting quickly. I hope all these new characters stick around for the next game.
Other new characters not playable, were great too. Yamai and Eiji especially I enjoyed their stories a lot.
The returning cast of 7 remained good even if they didn't have as much to do in this game. They're just a great group to follow.
Gameplay
As the second turn based game in the series, the improvement to the depth of the combat is astounding. There is so much going on in every action you take now that takes full advantage of how unique LAD's approach to turn based combat is. The positioning of your party and enemies, the environment around you, the physics engine, so many things influence even just one basic attack, it's possibly the best turn based combat system I've ever played. And that's not even mentioning all the new jobs, old jobs, skills, weapons, items etc. That all have their own contributions as well.
Overall the gameplay outside of combat has just unbelievable amounts of content to it. There's essentially a pokemon and animal crossing game inside of this one. Those are the two larger minigames but there's a ton of smaller ones as well. There's so much to do always on the map that you will always feel like you're keeping busy. Whether it's the main story, substories, Sujimon, Dondoko Island, smaller minigames, bond conversations, collectibles etc. There's so much content packed in here I'm genuinely baffled.
A few things I don't like would be not having Skill Shortcuts, I kinda get why they were removed but I really feel like thy could have stayed. They were appreciated in 7 as starting fights with one move you want is always nice, not having to scroll 12 skills down for the one you want is nice.
I feel like crafting materials for endgame weapons should be more available without grinding minigames/the dungeons. I didn't need everyone to have maxed out weapons, but it would have been cool.
I feel like I have to end this soon, there's legitimately so much I could talk about STILL. But will leave for another time. Yakuza/LAD has never failed to make a game I will like at the bare minimum and love to death at the maximum, and this is in the "love to death" end. I think for now at least it's certainly my favorite in the series even if other games do some things better like the villains and climax.
I'm still I'm awe at what this game pulled off, and am looking forward to the future of the series as always. I'm with you till the end of the line, Ichiban Kasuga.
This review contains spoilers
Great game. Overall experience was positive with some issues here and there. It is just fun being Spider-Man at the end of the day.
Story
It's good, at best, Kraven stuff is really cool, Miles' plot is great, Peter pre-symbiote stuff is great. Just, man. I don't love how the symbiote stuff was handled. I think the start with Harry using it with you is cool. But once Peter gets it it's weird. He becomes an asshole out of nowhere, it should have been much more built up to believe the suit would exaggerate it. His personality when he's an asshole is great though. Yuri gives him a great performance. Venom is, weird. He's barely in the game. Huge waste of Tony Todd. His characterization is inconsistent they couldn't decide if Harry wanted the suit on or not. Felt it would have been a lot more interesting if he stayed wanting to be with it. The "Heal the world" concept is interesting I just don't think Venom was the best to handle it. The budget web of shadows Symbiote Apocalypse stuff was weird. I get they need shit to do but all this stuff from one Symbiote is crazy. Idk. It's not the worst Symbiote story ever, just really inconsistent and too short.
Side Content Story wise is good. I like the EMF stuff, doing Science as Peter is very fitting and makes me enjoy him more. The Sandman, Wraith, Music Museum and Prowler stories were all good/great.
Gameplay
It's fun, both characters have fun abilities to make them unique and I love using the gadgets. Felt the dodge/parry stuff was a little irritating at times but it wasn't bad. Kraven, Peter and Venom were great boss fights. Negative Man's was cool too but the last phase being goons sucks. The "Stealth" sections while not mandatory to be stealthy the stealth the game wants you to do is really boring, slow and lacking depth. So I just ignored it eventually.
Side Content Gameplay wise was okay. Sandman just being goon fights is lame, Prowler stuff was okay, EMF and other science bits in the main story I actually liked. Hunter blinds and bases good, Symbiote nests okay. Hunter drones boring. Mysteriums good. Random crimes mostly were boring so I ignored them, sorry citizens of New York.
Other Thoughts
Most original suits for this game suck, a few were cool, but not enough to save them. Especially not the suits they force you to wear for certain cutscenes and gameplay sections(mega lame). First end credits song is super boring. This game has too many non-Spider-Man sections. I don't need like 3 different flashback sections, MJ missions (MJ is good in the story but I'm not playing a game called Mary Jane 2 I want to play as Spider-Man!) Too many dream sequences or similar shit like the Negative Man/Symbiote inner mind stuff I don't really like. It feels weird that a game called Spider-Man 2 needed more Spider-Man, but it did. Also Peter and Miles should have been "Greater Together" a lot more often. Only like a couple times you actually fight together. (Not even both vs Venom? Lame.) Also would have liked a feature where you can just meet up and hang out for a bit. Would have made their connection feel better.
At the end of the day, it's a great game that just needed to be cooked a bit longer, especially clear with this hopeful update they're making for excluded features and alleged DLC content. But we'll see what happens to that. For now, waiting for Spider-Man 3 where you fight the Green Goblin and like, the Spider Slayers (please).
Story
It's good, at best, Kraven stuff is really cool, Miles' plot is great, Peter pre-symbiote stuff is great. Just, man. I don't love how the symbiote stuff was handled. I think the start with Harry using it with you is cool. But once Peter gets it it's weird. He becomes an asshole out of nowhere, it should have been much more built up to believe the suit would exaggerate it. His personality when he's an asshole is great though. Yuri gives him a great performance. Venom is, weird. He's barely in the game. Huge waste of Tony Todd. His characterization is inconsistent they couldn't decide if Harry wanted the suit on or not. Felt it would have been a lot more interesting if he stayed wanting to be with it. The "Heal the world" concept is interesting I just don't think Venom was the best to handle it. The budget web of shadows Symbiote Apocalypse stuff was weird. I get they need shit to do but all this stuff from one Symbiote is crazy. Idk. It's not the worst Symbiote story ever, just really inconsistent and too short.
Side Content Story wise is good. I like the EMF stuff, doing Science as Peter is very fitting and makes me enjoy him more. The Sandman, Wraith, Music Museum and Prowler stories were all good/great.
Gameplay
It's fun, both characters have fun abilities to make them unique and I love using the gadgets. Felt the dodge/parry stuff was a little irritating at times but it wasn't bad. Kraven, Peter and Venom were great boss fights. Negative Man's was cool too but the last phase being goons sucks. The "Stealth" sections while not mandatory to be stealthy the stealth the game wants you to do is really boring, slow and lacking depth. So I just ignored it eventually.
Side Content Gameplay wise was okay. Sandman just being goon fights is lame, Prowler stuff was okay, EMF and other science bits in the main story I actually liked. Hunter blinds and bases good, Symbiote nests okay. Hunter drones boring. Mysteriums good. Random crimes mostly were boring so I ignored them, sorry citizens of New York.
Other Thoughts
Most original suits for this game suck, a few were cool, but not enough to save them. Especially not the suits they force you to wear for certain cutscenes and gameplay sections(mega lame). First end credits song is super boring. This game has too many non-Spider-Man sections. I don't need like 3 different flashback sections, MJ missions (MJ is good in the story but I'm not playing a game called Mary Jane 2 I want to play as Spider-Man!) Too many dream sequences or similar shit like the Negative Man/Symbiote inner mind stuff I don't really like. It feels weird that a game called Spider-Man 2 needed more Spider-Man, but it did. Also Peter and Miles should have been "Greater Together" a lot more often. Only like a couple times you actually fight together. (Not even both vs Venom? Lame.) Also would have liked a feature where you can just meet up and hang out for a bit. Would have made their connection feel better.
At the end of the day, it's a great game that just needed to be cooked a bit longer, especially clear with this hopeful update they're making for excluded features and alleged DLC content. But we'll see what happens to that. For now, waiting for Spider-Man 3 where you fight the Green Goblin and like, the Spider Slayers (please).
KIRYU KAZUMA I LOVE YOU
Ah sorry. Review time.
Story
Amazing. Another banger for Kiryu's journey. Despite Sotenbori being familiar Kiryu's relations and view on his life somehow make it all seem fresh. His dynamic with Akame is fun and keeps him from the doom and gloom he should probably be feeling.
Kiryu is faced with his common problem of being completely unable to let anyone else shoulder a burden and it puts him in the situations he encounters in this game. Even here where he should be at his absolute lowest he never lets it change who is at his core even if that sacrifices his own safety. His views on the dissolution of the Yakuza plot from 7 and into this game are interesting to see as despite not having been an official Yakuza for a long time he still understands that it's at its end.
Hanawa, Tsuruno and Shishido were wonderful characters too. Each having a unique role in this story and Kiryu helping them and them helping him mutually. I love the scene in Chapter Four where Kiryu, Tsuruno and Shishido and Tsuruno's buddies are just palling around. Small moments where Kiryu can just have some fun are nice. Same with Akame's Stijl conversations, even if you kind of can just speed through them. It's nice seeing Kiryu form a bond with someone else like this.
I like how this game feels placement wise, starting after 6, entering into 7 and ending before 8 and it all flows really well. Seeing the events of 7 from Kiryu's perspective is also fun.
Substories were nice too. Did everything except the coliseum stuff. The ones that tied back to 0/1/2 were nice and I especially liked the ending of the clearing the gangs story. It was nice to see Kiryu like that.
Gameplay
I loved 7's turn based gameplay a lot. But man, it's nice to be back to just beating the shit out of people. Both Agent and Dragon styles were fun to use, even if I wish Agent was a bit better in boss fights it's fun and useful for mob fights so you use it enough. That cigarette saved me. I wish Kiryu had his parries but all his other moves are fun. No boss fights I found annoying and LOVED the final boss fight. I thought grinding for money/akame points for upgrades would be annoying but doing the substories is quick and rewarding. Kinda wish you could use all 4 gear slots the whole time but it's fine.
Overall
This game was amazing. A great entry in the story. Super fun to play. I teared up at that ending. I now feel that Kiryu's story is like Adventure Time where it can have multiple "Endings" but they're all peak so idc. 6, Gaiden, soon Infinite Wealth I DON'T CARE IF KIRYU WILL ALWAYS BE THIS PEAK I'LL ALWAYS BE THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ah sorry. Review time.
Story
Amazing. Another banger for Kiryu's journey. Despite Sotenbori being familiar Kiryu's relations and view on his life somehow make it all seem fresh. His dynamic with Akame is fun and keeps him from the doom and gloom he should probably be feeling.
Kiryu is faced with his common problem of being completely unable to let anyone else shoulder a burden and it puts him in the situations he encounters in this game. Even here where he should be at his absolute lowest he never lets it change who is at his core even if that sacrifices his own safety. His views on the dissolution of the Yakuza plot from 7 and into this game are interesting to see as despite not having been an official Yakuza for a long time he still understands that it's at its end.
Hanawa, Tsuruno and Shishido were wonderful characters too. Each having a unique role in this story and Kiryu helping them and them helping him mutually. I love the scene in Chapter Four where Kiryu, Tsuruno and Shishido and Tsuruno's buddies are just palling around. Small moments where Kiryu can just have some fun are nice. Same with Akame's Stijl conversations, even if you kind of can just speed through them. It's nice seeing Kiryu form a bond with someone else like this.
I like how this game feels placement wise, starting after 6, entering into 7 and ending before 8 and it all flows really well. Seeing the events of 7 from Kiryu's perspective is also fun.
Substories were nice too. Did everything except the coliseum stuff. The ones that tied back to 0/1/2 were nice and I especially liked the ending of the clearing the gangs story. It was nice to see Kiryu like that.
Gameplay
I loved 7's turn based gameplay a lot. But man, it's nice to be back to just beating the shit out of people. Both Agent and Dragon styles were fun to use, even if I wish Agent was a bit better in boss fights it's fun and useful for mob fights so you use it enough. That cigarette saved me. I wish Kiryu had his parries but all his other moves are fun. No boss fights I found annoying and LOVED the final boss fight. I thought grinding for money/akame points for upgrades would be annoying but doing the substories is quick and rewarding. Kinda wish you could use all 4 gear slots the whole time but it's fine.
Overall
This game was amazing. A great entry in the story. Super fun to play. I teared up at that ending. I now feel that Kiryu's story is like Adventure Time where it can have multiple "Endings" but they're all peak so idc. 6, Gaiden, soon Infinite Wealth I DON'T CARE IF KIRYU WILL ALWAYS BE THIS PEAK I'LL ALWAYS BE THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2013
A phenomenal sequel to OG, did Normal/Gilgamesh End, Hakuno's story and character being further heightened in a new way here. This is a "new" Hakuno that goes through different events but still feels Hakuno at their very core. Developing new bonds and remixing old dynamics at the same time allowing for everything to feel new and fresh. They continue to be one of my all time favorite MCs in CCC.
Gilgamesh was an amazing servant. Him not being in OG makes him feel very fresh and even compared to other Gilgamesh appearances, his bond with Hakuno is so fun to watch develop. He shows a wide range of emotions, his usual calm, composed demeanor often broken by various actions and characters. Getting to see his backstory in this game is really cool as it's presented very well. He has so many fun interactions with other characters as well, Shinji, BB and the Egos, Rin etc. Getting his point of view, that of the undisputed King of Heroes was fun and his personality and status very much feel opposite of Hakuno, resulting in funny and meaningful moments.
The rest of the cast is much better in this game I feel. Certain characters like Rani, Rin and Julius don't have as much focus or as much time as OG (respectively) but they get incredible moments regardless even if their role is different here. Shinji, Julius, Gatou and Rin have some incredible content here. Shinji being the most improved from OG to CCC.
Jinako is a great new character for the main cast. I enjoyed her content and her dynamic with Karna as like, the ultimate mismatch Master and Servant. Her scenes with Hakuno and Shinji were great too. Love her backstory and how it works with her character in the story.
Kiara and Andersen were fun too, I know Kiara gets more stuff in CCC ending so I'll see that soon. But she was still very interesting here and clearly set up to be more so it isn't a surprise she has more going on. Andersen was a very interesting servant as being strictly non combat was fun and his perspective was fun to hear. His scene with Melt was peak.
BB, Meltlilith and Passionlip were all great antagonists. I know BB gets more stuff in CCC ending probably but she's still great here. Her bright and bubbly and twisted personality allows her to have a really commanding presence in all of her scnenes. She's always fun and creative and entertaining while still having serious undertones and intimidating power. Meltlilith and Passionlip both had great stories as well that I liked a lot. Different sides of a coin that tie into the game's themes well.
Sakura is great here, she'll get more in CCC ending I assume but I really like her relationship with Hakuno already, Hakuno being the only one who paid her any attention when she needed it, Hakuno caring how she's treated by others even their friends, etc. Seeing Sakura put on her bravest face constantly when met with her fellow Sakura based AIs was hard to watch sometimes but also really interesting.
Elizabeth was a really fun servant antagonist, being passed around to different masters let her personality really get shown off on all fronts, changing how the cast and player views her over time. Loved her last story section a lot.
Gameplay wise it's more fun than OG as it's more refined, Gilgamesh's skills are pretty fun, his animations are cool and his Noble Phantasm is very funny.
Acquiring Secret Gardens and punishing your opponents was a pretty fun way to handle climactic scenes. My only issue gameplay wise is the requirements for Gil's SG and ending were just an unnecessary thing to think about, really should have just been part of the story imo.
OST, animations and Voice Work all great too.
Really fell into the themes of this game a lot more than OG as I feel they're stronger and more apparent and I love OG's. But CCC's display of love in various forms was really interesting to me. Characters like Lip, Melt, Elizabeth, Kiara etc. All showing different variations of toxic love was great. Some purposefully destructive, some accidentally destructive, some manipulative, some naive. I feel it'll be even better in CCC ending so I'm excited for that. I do feel Normal end felt a little weaker, while good it definitely just feels like it's shouting that there's another ending at you. Gilgamesh's was good too but not his best content.
All in all another phenomenal Fate/Extra experience that will only get better as I continue.
I love you Hakunk Kishinami.
Gilgamesh was an amazing servant. Him not being in OG makes him feel very fresh and even compared to other Gilgamesh appearances, his bond with Hakuno is so fun to watch develop. He shows a wide range of emotions, his usual calm, composed demeanor often broken by various actions and characters. Getting to see his backstory in this game is really cool as it's presented very well. He has so many fun interactions with other characters as well, Shinji, BB and the Egos, Rin etc. Getting his point of view, that of the undisputed King of Heroes was fun and his personality and status very much feel opposite of Hakuno, resulting in funny and meaningful moments.
The rest of the cast is much better in this game I feel. Certain characters like Rani, Rin and Julius don't have as much focus or as much time as OG (respectively) but they get incredible moments regardless even if their role is different here. Shinji, Julius, Gatou and Rin have some incredible content here. Shinji being the most improved from OG to CCC.
Jinako is a great new character for the main cast. I enjoyed her content and her dynamic with Karna as like, the ultimate mismatch Master and Servant. Her scenes with Hakuno and Shinji were great too. Love her backstory and how it works with her character in the story.
Kiara and Andersen were fun too, I know Kiara gets more stuff in CCC ending so I'll see that soon. But she was still very interesting here and clearly set up to be more so it isn't a surprise she has more going on. Andersen was a very interesting servant as being strictly non combat was fun and his perspective was fun to hear. His scene with Melt was peak.
BB, Meltlilith and Passionlip were all great antagonists. I know BB gets more stuff in CCC ending probably but she's still great here. Her bright and bubbly and twisted personality allows her to have a really commanding presence in all of her scnenes. She's always fun and creative and entertaining while still having serious undertones and intimidating power. Meltlilith and Passionlip both had great stories as well that I liked a lot. Different sides of a coin that tie into the game's themes well.
Sakura is great here, she'll get more in CCC ending I assume but I really like her relationship with Hakuno already, Hakuno being the only one who paid her any attention when she needed it, Hakuno caring how she's treated by others even their friends, etc. Seeing Sakura put on her bravest face constantly when met with her fellow Sakura based AIs was hard to watch sometimes but also really interesting.
Elizabeth was a really fun servant antagonist, being passed around to different masters let her personality really get shown off on all fronts, changing how the cast and player views her over time. Loved her last story section a lot.
Gameplay wise it's more fun than OG as it's more refined, Gilgamesh's skills are pretty fun, his animations are cool and his Noble Phantasm is very funny.
Acquiring Secret Gardens and punishing your opponents was a pretty fun way to handle climactic scenes. My only issue gameplay wise is the requirements for Gil's SG and ending were just an unnecessary thing to think about, really should have just been part of the story imo.
OST, animations and Voice Work all great too.
Really fell into the themes of this game a lot more than OG as I feel they're stronger and more apparent and I love OG's. But CCC's display of love in various forms was really interesting to me. Characters like Lip, Melt, Elizabeth, Kiara etc. All showing different variations of toxic love was great. Some purposefully destructive, some accidentally destructive, some manipulative, some naive. I feel it'll be even better in CCC ending so I'm excited for that. I do feel Normal end felt a little weaker, while good it definitely just feels like it's shouting that there's another ending at you. Gilgamesh's was good too but not his best content.
All in all another phenomenal Fate/Extra experience that will only get better as I continue.
I love you Hakunk Kishinami.
Great game, loved the creative gameplay, not a huge puzzle game guy, but this was really fun. The mix of timed and not timed puzzles also made for some fun balance. A great concept executed well in the gameplay.
Story was great, a well constructed mystery and an entertaining cast to follow kept me interested the whole way through. A great story about self-discovery, seeing Sissel try to discover more details about his identity only for more and more complications to arise and make it even more involved was great. Lynne, Jowd, Kamila and Missile were great as well. Loved all their interactions and dynamics with Sissel.
OST was good and I liked the character designs a lot.
Overall great game, we love Missile.
Story was great, a well constructed mystery and an entertaining cast to follow kept me interested the whole way through. A great story about self-discovery, seeing Sissel try to discover more details about his identity only for more and more complications to arise and make it even more involved was great. Lynne, Jowd, Kamila and Missile were great as well. Loved all their interactions and dynamics with Sissel.
OST was good and I liked the character designs a lot.
Overall great game, we love Missile.
Great dlc, love the Terrarium as an environment, the world design works well with the pokemon distribution giving me the biggest feeling of "yeah these pokemon naturally belong here" I've ever felt in Pokemon. Lots of great stuff for exploration just like in Paldea.
Battling was really great, every battle being a double battle with actual strategy and items was really interesting to play. Hope they do this more going forward. Actual ending section felt a lot weaker but the environment once again did a great job assisting the feeling.
Story was great too, Kieran is an amazing rival, Carmine is a great supporting character and the new characters are great too. This game really nails its cast overall I feel. The actual Treasure part at the end was kinda meh story wise but it works well with Kieran so it's fine.
Grinding BP sucks ass I imagine it'll be worse for the legends maybe.
The performance is even worse in this one but whatever it's SV.
A few notable issues, but an overall fun time that keeps all the good things Paldea and Kitakami content had for it. In a perfect world, these games had great production and were on better hardware, then I'd have no qualms calling them among peak pokemon and a favorite in general.
Battling was really great, every battle being a double battle with actual strategy and items was really interesting to play. Hope they do this more going forward. Actual ending section felt a lot weaker but the environment once again did a great job assisting the feeling.
Story was great too, Kieran is an amazing rival, Carmine is a great supporting character and the new characters are great too. This game really nails its cast overall I feel. The actual Treasure part at the end was kinda meh story wise but it works well with Kieran so it's fine.
Grinding BP sucks ass I imagine it'll be worse for the legends maybe.
The performance is even worse in this one but whatever it's SV.
A few notable issues, but an overall fun time that keeps all the good things Paldea and Kitakami content had for it. In a perfect world, these games had great production and were on better hardware, then I'd have no qualms calling them among peak pokemon and a favorite in general.
Persona 2: Eternal Punishment.
An amazing game that works perfectly with Innocent Sin to achieve a phenomenal duology of games. The stories and ties between them are extremely interesting to see, both Main Character's stories across both games are incredible to watch. The casts of both games work well for their respective stories and MCs. For EP specifically I love Maya and Tatsuya of course, Katsuya and Ulala were great but Baofu is definitely my favorite of the new additions. Tatsuya's scenario was great too. Always love side stories like that.
Gameplay wise it's much better than P2IS in that I actually had to think for a majority of the time. Dungeons I felt were better here as well, especially love the last worlds in the final act. Actually having reason to mess around with Personas here unlike in P2IS made me appreciate how much I like this game's mechanics. Though Card grinding can be tedious if you need a certain Arcana, but overall it's some great gameplay. Rumors continue to be a very fun element I like a lot in these games as well, using them both in big story stuff and smaller gameplay aspects that benefit the player and reward talking around and exploring.
Love the world design of these games as well, when a big event happens you're able to feel its weight and see the effect it has on the world map around you physically.
There's also plenty of smaller charming bits, the game has great funny moments, I like the P1 cast being involved.
OST is excellent.
Love a lot of the demon designs and animations in this game.
Overall this was an amazing experience of, I guess all of P1, P2IS, and P2EP, though I'm not praising P1 much here it's good but I'm more-so praising its involvement in the P2 duology.
Tatsuya and Maya my beloveds.
An amazing game that works perfectly with Innocent Sin to achieve a phenomenal duology of games. The stories and ties between them are extremely interesting to see, both Main Character's stories across both games are incredible to watch. The casts of both games work well for their respective stories and MCs. For EP specifically I love Maya and Tatsuya of course, Katsuya and Ulala were great but Baofu is definitely my favorite of the new additions. Tatsuya's scenario was great too. Always love side stories like that.
Gameplay wise it's much better than P2IS in that I actually had to think for a majority of the time. Dungeons I felt were better here as well, especially love the last worlds in the final act. Actually having reason to mess around with Personas here unlike in P2IS made me appreciate how much I like this game's mechanics. Though Card grinding can be tedious if you need a certain Arcana, but overall it's some great gameplay. Rumors continue to be a very fun element I like a lot in these games as well, using them both in big story stuff and smaller gameplay aspects that benefit the player and reward talking around and exploring.
Love the world design of these games as well, when a big event happens you're able to feel its weight and see the effect it has on the world map around you physically.
There's also plenty of smaller charming bits, the game has great funny moments, I like the P1 cast being involved.
OST is excellent.
Love a lot of the demon designs and animations in this game.
Overall this was an amazing experience of, I guess all of P1, P2IS, and P2EP, though I'm not praising P1 much here it's good but I'm more-so praising its involvement in the P2 duology.
Tatsuya and Maya my beloveds.
Pretty fun, has the same pros and cons as the main game, I enjoyed all the new content and story. The new characters and pokemon are all cool. Lot of good returning pokemon got added in too. I enjoyed all the battles and exploring the area is just as fun as it is in Paldea. Also it gave actual good clothes to wear instead of the shitty ones in the base game.
The Ultimate Chill Vibes game that also managed to make me sad a bit. So it was excellently executed basically. Full of fun and amazing character interactions, keeping things fresh with new customers and expanding on regulars at the same time. Wide variety of characters for all types of people, my favorites would probably be Jill, Dana, Gil, Alma, Sei, Stella and Jamie. But everyone is good. Soundtrack is amazing and the visuals pop out and feel pretty unique with the aesthetics and character designs. The gameplay is sufficiently simple while engrossing you in what Jill does, allowing for some fun smaller moments where they enhance the gameplay a bit.
Only negatives would be Anna is weird and it's too short! I'd play 100 hours of this no question.
Also shout out to Rad Shiba, if you know you know.
Only negatives would be Anna is weird and it's too short! I'd play 100 hours of this no question.
Also shout out to Rad Shiba, if you know you know.
2001
This was really cool, loved the style of it being a time loop and how even seemingly small decisions effected the loop in different ways, unlocking new events and paths for future loops. The main through line with Shiki, Len and the overall setting was really interesting. Especially loved the revelation near the end. Len herself was always fun to encounter in a new place, while you did something seemingly normal you learn something about the story for the next loop. I love how Shiki can sort of choose what's "cannon" each route, namely if Akiha goes to his school or not.
All the characters were great, Shiki was amazing again, seeing his perspective on the loop situation was interesting. None of the female leads were as focused individually as in their respective routes in Tsukihime, naturally of course. But all their content was really good and I always enjoyed interacting with them. Even though the game doesn't pick one route from OG to build off of, you get a lot of "post OG" type of interactions, certain characters dynamics are changed to how they would be after OG occurs. I'm happy Seo was there too. Ichigo was a nice addition alongside other new characters like Shiki's doctor and nurse.
Overall the side stories in 10 Nights of a A Dream were great too. Only 2 I didn't like, but the rest were really good. Namely the Akiha, Arihiko and Papa Nanaya ones were great for story and character moments, and the more funny ones were funny. The Hisui one was nice as it used one of my favorite endings from OG as the basis. And the Tag one was initially goofy but had a very nice ending for Kohaku.
Overall this was a great sequel I'm happy I read, another Tsukiverse banger.
All the characters were great, Shiki was amazing again, seeing his perspective on the loop situation was interesting. None of the female leads were as focused individually as in their respective routes in Tsukihime, naturally of course. But all their content was really good and I always enjoyed interacting with them. Even though the game doesn't pick one route from OG to build off of, you get a lot of "post OG" type of interactions, certain characters dynamics are changed to how they would be after OG occurs. I'm happy Seo was there too. Ichigo was a nice addition alongside other new characters like Shiki's doctor and nurse.
Overall the side stories in 10 Nights of a A Dream were great too. Only 2 I didn't like, but the rest were really good. Namely the Akiha, Arihiko and Papa Nanaya ones were great for story and character moments, and the more funny ones were funny. The Hisui one was nice as it used one of my favorite endings from OG as the basis. And the Tag one was initially goofy but had a very nice ending for Kohaku.
Overall this was a great sequel I'm happy I read, another Tsukiverse banger.
2004
Great time. Interesting concept of adding fighting game sections to a VN story, made it more intense. Sion is a great MC and a fun addition to the Tsukihime cast. Love the variety of personality she displayed in such a small amount of time. Wallachia is cool too, joins his fellow Tsukihime antagonists Roa and SHIKI in the cool guy club. Story had a lot of nice, touching and funny moments depending on route. Especially liked the one route Akiha worked together with Shiki for once. The serious routes were excellent especially the last big Sion scene in the Wallachia fight section. The funny routes were funny love Kohaku antics always. Miyako is kinda funny I guess. Wish Arcuied and Ciel did more in the story, but I guess they have their own routes in Tsukihime so I get it.
Gameplay wise, the fighting game gameplay is really fun. Very intense and visually appealing and satisfying. They worked each character's personalities and quirks into their move sets well. FUCK G-Akiha though. Dumbass boss fight.
Overall very cool, a welcome addition to Tsukiverse.
Gameplay wise, the fighting game gameplay is really fun. Very intense and visually appealing and satisfying. They worked each character's personalities and quirks into their move sets well. FUCK G-Akiha though. Dumbass boss fight.
Overall very cool, a welcome addition to Tsukiverse.