Maradum
2024
Dragon's Dogma 2 constantly switches between being the greatest adventure of all time and the jankiest game you can find. It offers a unique experience while struggles with some bad design choices.
The open world
The world design is the best part of the game. The player is constantly presented with options, caves to explore, enemies to fight or quests to solve. There are also only a few fixed spawn points, which means you an always be suprised by one or two giant enemies, which will lead to a lot of action and fun while exploring!
The vocations
The vocations are the job system here. There is one for everyone: Heavy hitting fighters, fast rogues, mages and sorcerers, spear wielders and tricksters. The gameplay of each one feels unique and fun and you get passive abilities that you can transfer to your character when changing the vocation which allows some build variety for every character.
The Pawn system
At the very start of the journey you get to creat one pawn, an NPC that journeys with you all the time and fights with you. Furthermore you can hire 2 more pawns, which are created by other players. Here you can mix and match your group so that it reflects your play and fighting style. The Pawn AI ranges from great assists to "i jump down this cliff and die!" - but in combat they are generally super useful. The biggest issue is that the Pawns repeat the same 5 voice lines over and over again, which can be daunting in a 50+ hour journey.
The Fast Travel
One of the biggest discussion points in the game! There is no fast travel as we know it from almost all other open world titles. Bigger cities are connected with Ox Carts that you can use to travel around, but there are no points to fast travel to otherwise. You do need a Portcrystal and a Ferrystone. Portcrystals are extremely rare and hard to find, but when you aquire one you can place it anywhere you are and travel to that location - as long as you use and have a Ferrystone (which are also rather rare but you can also buy them from some merchants). I personally did enjoy the system as it encourages exploration but it can get tedious aswell.
Auto Save
The save system however is a big design flaw. There are no manual saves. There is an auto save system that saves regularly, or you sleep at an inn to save. However what can happen: You will get stuck on the map > your auto save is at the stuck place > you have to load the Inn save instead > you lose hours of gameplay (maybe). Happened to me and the only solution is to have a ferrystone with you all the time to port away then. No manual saves however are just a bad design choice if you can get stuck rather easily on some areas.
Story and characters
For me, the weakest part. The story feels like the most basic and generic medieval plot and while there is moer to it, the mains tory never grabbed me.
Same goes for the characters. Basically no memorable characters and all of them are rather bland. No real stand outs unfortunately.
If you are looking for an amazing adventure and fun exploration, which is presented in a unique way, DD2 is definitely a game for you!
The open world
The world design is the best part of the game. The player is constantly presented with options, caves to explore, enemies to fight or quests to solve. There are also only a few fixed spawn points, which means you an always be suprised by one or two giant enemies, which will lead to a lot of action and fun while exploring!
The vocations
The vocations are the job system here. There is one for everyone: Heavy hitting fighters, fast rogues, mages and sorcerers, spear wielders and tricksters. The gameplay of each one feels unique and fun and you get passive abilities that you can transfer to your character when changing the vocation which allows some build variety for every character.
The Pawn system
At the very start of the journey you get to creat one pawn, an NPC that journeys with you all the time and fights with you. Furthermore you can hire 2 more pawns, which are created by other players. Here you can mix and match your group so that it reflects your play and fighting style. The Pawn AI ranges from great assists to "i jump down this cliff and die!" - but in combat they are generally super useful. The biggest issue is that the Pawns repeat the same 5 voice lines over and over again, which can be daunting in a 50+ hour journey.
The Fast Travel
One of the biggest discussion points in the game! There is no fast travel as we know it from almost all other open world titles. Bigger cities are connected with Ox Carts that you can use to travel around, but there are no points to fast travel to otherwise. You do need a Portcrystal and a Ferrystone. Portcrystals are extremely rare and hard to find, but when you aquire one you can place it anywhere you are and travel to that location - as long as you use and have a Ferrystone (which are also rather rare but you can also buy them from some merchants). I personally did enjoy the system as it encourages exploration but it can get tedious aswell.
Auto Save
The save system however is a big design flaw. There are no manual saves. There is an auto save system that saves regularly, or you sleep at an inn to save. However what can happen: You will get stuck on the map > your auto save is at the stuck place > you have to load the Inn save instead > you lose hours of gameplay (maybe). Happened to me and the only solution is to have a ferrystone with you all the time to port away then. No manual saves however are just a bad design choice if you can get stuck rather easily on some areas.
Story and characters
For me, the weakest part. The story feels like the most basic and generic medieval plot and while there is moer to it, the mains tory never grabbed me.
Same goes for the characters. Basically no memorable characters and all of them are rather bland. No real stand outs unfortunately.
If you are looking for an amazing adventure and fun exploration, which is presented in a unique way, DD2 is definitely a game for you!
2024
Rise of the Ronin is the newest game by Team Ninja and their first project set in an open world and with a bigger story. Unfortunately it does feel like Team Ninja tried to get everything right - combat, open world, story - but in the end all parts are just decent.
The open world
While the game does look nice overall, especially the cities which are fun to go through, the art style does get bland rather fast in the wide spaces. While the mobility with horse and glider is great, the world offers very little adventure and suprise. All activities are check list based (collect this, defeat X amount of enemies there) and way too many of them exist. It feels like a never ending check list to finish that just gets boring really fast unfortunately.
The story
Here it depends a lot on your interest. If you are interested in the story of the 19th century Japan, the game automatically is much more relevant for you, as it does show that era pretty well and offers a nice view of the events (while clearly fictional aswell)
The characters are unfortunately rather bland, due to the basic voice acting and writing, but there is a lot of interesting conflict here that could have been presented much better.
The comabt
As for all of Team Ninjas games the combat is the shining star. This one is heavily based on the counterspark, a parry mechanic. You basically dance with your enemies, waiting for them to attack > counter > drop your attackes on them. There are multiple combat styles that work like rock/paper/scissor and you pick the one that fits best.
That said: The combat is still better than 90% of action games - but the weakest by Team Ninja so far. For the Team Ninja fans a comparison:
Weapons dont feel that different as they dont have unique weapon skill trees (Nioh) or special abilities (Wo Long). You have a Ki Pulse, but it is just R1 after your attacks, without timing required for a better outcome. You have no stances as the fighting styles are just rock/paper/scissor. The parry counterspark is also an attack, so if you miss, you get insanely punished. While in Nioh you can dodge/parry/block and everything is valid, here only parrying is the proper method in almost all scenarios. Your big devil trigger (living weapon/Yokai form) is just a mode where you have endless stamina and do a bit more damage. There is no build variety cause the stats do not exist as before + the skill tree is irrelevant cause you get enough points to level everything anyway. While there are still set bonuses on armor, they feel way less relevant to actually make a good build. So instead most of the time you just pick "bigger number item" and move on.
So as a big Team Ninja fan, I am extremely disappointed. I do not think this is the right way for the studio and they should focus on the clutch, amazing combat they used to deliver before. I really hope we will see a Nioh 3 next that is not so simplified and streamlined.
The open world
While the game does look nice overall, especially the cities which are fun to go through, the art style does get bland rather fast in the wide spaces. While the mobility with horse and glider is great, the world offers very little adventure and suprise. All activities are check list based (collect this, defeat X amount of enemies there) and way too many of them exist. It feels like a never ending check list to finish that just gets boring really fast unfortunately.
The story
Here it depends a lot on your interest. If you are interested in the story of the 19th century Japan, the game automatically is much more relevant for you, as it does show that era pretty well and offers a nice view of the events (while clearly fictional aswell)
The characters are unfortunately rather bland, due to the basic voice acting and writing, but there is a lot of interesting conflict here that could have been presented much better.
The comabt
As for all of Team Ninjas games the combat is the shining star. This one is heavily based on the counterspark, a parry mechanic. You basically dance with your enemies, waiting for them to attack > counter > drop your attackes on them. There are multiple combat styles that work like rock/paper/scissor and you pick the one that fits best.
That said: The combat is still better than 90% of action games - but the weakest by Team Ninja so far. For the Team Ninja fans a comparison:
Weapons dont feel that different as they dont have unique weapon skill trees (Nioh) or special abilities (Wo Long). You have a Ki Pulse, but it is just R1 after your attacks, without timing required for a better outcome. You have no stances as the fighting styles are just rock/paper/scissor. The parry counterspark is also an attack, so if you miss, you get insanely punished. While in Nioh you can dodge/parry/block and everything is valid, here only parrying is the proper method in almost all scenarios. Your big devil trigger (living weapon/Yokai form) is just a mode where you have endless stamina and do a bit more damage. There is no build variety cause the stats do not exist as before + the skill tree is irrelevant cause you get enough points to level everything anyway. While there are still set bonuses on armor, they feel way less relevant to actually make a good build. So instead most of the time you just pick "bigger number item" and move on.
So as a big Team Ninja fan, I am extremely disappointed. I do not think this is the right way for the studio and they should focus on the clutch, amazing combat they used to deliver before. I really hope we will see a Nioh 3 next that is not so simplified and streamlined.
2024
Unicorn Overlord is an amazing strategy RPG that shines with its gameplay, art style and writing.
The gameplay is the star of this game. You get up to 10 groups with 5 characters each. The units reach from infantry to cavalry - mages and archers - wyvern riders and shamans. The variety is absolutely insane and you can switch and change those up as you want. For each character you can set Gambits - when to use what ability under which condition, for active and passive skills. When attacking an enemy army, those play out in an auto battle form.
The gambit system is so deep and so much fun that you can experiment and change things up for hours. Problems in a fight? Rearrange your units, change the gambits and attacks and the outcome will be in your favour. You also have the Valor system - skills you can use out of battle to increase your attack, your EXP, do damage before the fight or special movement skills like teleport - plus hundreds of items that can be used before a batte starts.
There is an open world that you can travel around in, with multiple towns and cities that you can rebuild to get rewards. Main and side missions are on the map and will be played out on parts of the map. None of the missions are too long, all of them are crafted beautifully and each one offers different ways to tackle it due to the map design.
The art style is absolutely fantastic, every character has so much charm to them and the animations are beautiful. The music is also great and ranges from peaceful overworld tunes to great battle music.
The weakest part is the story. It is not bad, however it clearly is just the frame for the gameplay itself. You play as Alaine, the prince that got robbed of his homeland, trying to claim it back from the evil forces. Very basic, no big twist and turns, straight forward story that is still fun to follow due to the great writing and localization.
Same applies for the characters. In my 70h playthrough I got 50+ characters that all have their small, great stories + bonding events between most of them. But a lot of them fall flat because there are just too many characters for the time you have with them.
Overall Unicorn Overlord has become my favourite SRPG and I highly recommend it for every fan of the genre and anyone who wants to try a SRPG for the first time as it is super beginner friendly aswell!
The gameplay is the star of this game. You get up to 10 groups with 5 characters each. The units reach from infantry to cavalry - mages and archers - wyvern riders and shamans. The variety is absolutely insane and you can switch and change those up as you want. For each character you can set Gambits - when to use what ability under which condition, for active and passive skills. When attacking an enemy army, those play out in an auto battle form.
The gambit system is so deep and so much fun that you can experiment and change things up for hours. Problems in a fight? Rearrange your units, change the gambits and attacks and the outcome will be in your favour. You also have the Valor system - skills you can use out of battle to increase your attack, your EXP, do damage before the fight or special movement skills like teleport - plus hundreds of items that can be used before a batte starts.
There is an open world that you can travel around in, with multiple towns and cities that you can rebuild to get rewards. Main and side missions are on the map and will be played out on parts of the map. None of the missions are too long, all of them are crafted beautifully and each one offers different ways to tackle it due to the map design.
The art style is absolutely fantastic, every character has so much charm to them and the animations are beautiful. The music is also great and ranges from peaceful overworld tunes to great battle music.
The weakest part is the story. It is not bad, however it clearly is just the frame for the gameplay itself. You play as Alaine, the prince that got robbed of his homeland, trying to claim it back from the evil forces. Very basic, no big twist and turns, straight forward story that is still fun to follow due to the great writing and localization.
Same applies for the characters. In my 70h playthrough I got 50+ characters that all have their small, great stories + bonding events between most of them. But a lot of them fall flat because there are just too many characters for the time you have with them.
Overall Unicorn Overlord has become my favourite SRPG and I highly recommend it for every fan of the genre and anyone who wants to try a SRPG for the first time as it is super beginner friendly aswell!
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is the best Final Fantasy since X and easily one of the best FF games ever created. It does so many things right in preserving the Original story beats while still adding new flavour to it. The 2nd game of the "Remake" trilogy does everything that Remake already did good and made it 100% better.
First of all, the combat! It feels much tighter than Remake, there are new moves, new materia, synergy skills - there are more options than you can even use! It is super fast, you can still take "breaks" to think about your next moves and it offers a lot of variety. Especially the difference each characters playstyle brings to the table offers a lot of fun. Imo, the best FF combat we ever had.
The soundtrack is another absolute masterpiece as it beautifully combines the old tracks with new arrangements, creates variations from field to battle themes and offers an amazing experience.
The now open world does look beautiful and each area feels so alive. Places that you just passed through in the OG now tell an actual story and the world itself feels so much more interesting. Areas like Junon have some of the best environmental storytelling out there, showing what Shinra did to other areas around the world.
The best part however of the game are the characters! Characters that had little to no development get so much more dialog, writing and flavour. Characters I did not care about in OG at all are now my favourites. There is so much party banter and extra dialog to give these characters live and the writing is phenomenal.
The main story itself is very close to the Original - but it does offer some additions from side material and some new changes which I personally very much enjoyed. It feels much more focussed and clear than what Remake did.
The few things I did not enjoy:
The game does LOVE mini games, to a point where EVERYTHING is a mini game. Sometimes it feels a bit over the top. While FF XVI was "no mini game at all" FF VII Rebirth is the total opposite. So an in between would be nice here.
While the open world is beautiful and sidequests are very well done, there is also a lot of busy work that is just "there". Additional fights, combat simulator, towers - a lot of random open world stuff. The towers could be completely removed and instead there should be more intuitive exploration. For example: Sometimes an owl leads you to a place of interest, add more of that instead of multiple markers!
Final issue: Some game design choices. While the level design is much better than Remake and even the linear parts feel much more interesting, there are some strange design choices. Multiple instances of "push block slowly around" do feel extremely outdated in 2024.
Overall Rebirth has surpassed OG Final Fantasy for me, especially due to the amazing voice acting and character development the game offers. The combat is my personal favourite and I cannot wait to see what Part 3 has to offer!
First of all, the combat! It feels much tighter than Remake, there are new moves, new materia, synergy skills - there are more options than you can even use! It is super fast, you can still take "breaks" to think about your next moves and it offers a lot of variety. Especially the difference each characters playstyle brings to the table offers a lot of fun. Imo, the best FF combat we ever had.
The soundtrack is another absolute masterpiece as it beautifully combines the old tracks with new arrangements, creates variations from field to battle themes and offers an amazing experience.
The now open world does look beautiful and each area feels so alive. Places that you just passed through in the OG now tell an actual story and the world itself feels so much more interesting. Areas like Junon have some of the best environmental storytelling out there, showing what Shinra did to other areas around the world.
The best part however of the game are the characters! Characters that had little to no development get so much more dialog, writing and flavour. Characters I did not care about in OG at all are now my favourites. There is so much party banter and extra dialog to give these characters live and the writing is phenomenal.
The main story itself is very close to the Original - but it does offer some additions from side material and some new changes which I personally very much enjoyed. It feels much more focussed and clear than what Remake did.
The few things I did not enjoy:
The game does LOVE mini games, to a point where EVERYTHING is a mini game. Sometimes it feels a bit over the top. While FF XVI was "no mini game at all" FF VII Rebirth is the total opposite. So an in between would be nice here.
While the open world is beautiful and sidequests are very well done, there is also a lot of busy work that is just "there". Additional fights, combat simulator, towers - a lot of random open world stuff. The towers could be completely removed and instead there should be more intuitive exploration. For example: Sometimes an owl leads you to a place of interest, add more of that instead of multiple markers!
Final issue: Some game design choices. While the level design is much better than Remake and even the linear parts feel much more interesting, there are some strange design choices. Multiple instances of "push block slowly around" do feel extremely outdated in 2024.
Overall Rebirth has surpassed OG Final Fantasy for me, especially due to the amazing voice acting and character development the game offers. The combat is my personal favourite and I cannot wait to see what Part 3 has to offer!
An amazing rhythm game that lets you enjoy the best tracks in all of Final Fantasy (and other games) history!
While the music is amazing, the character/party setup system on the side i just a nice touch.
Some of the backgrounds and actions are a bit too much, impacting the actual gameplay and (for me) got me a bit dizzy from time to time.
While the music is amazing, the character/party setup system on the side i just a nice touch.
Some of the backgrounds and actions are a bit too much, impacting the actual gameplay and (for me) got me a bit dizzy from time to time.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is an amazing sequel, while being a homage to the whole series and Kazuma Kiryu itself.
In terms of gameplay it took the great turn based system from 7 and adds more features. Being able to walk around and pick up weapons from the ground might sound minor, but it changes the gameplay up a lot.
The new map in Hawaii is amazing, full of life and even though it is much bigger than Kamurocho it does not feel too big at all. You have all the amazing mini games from the Yakuza franchise plus a lot more new stuff! The big side activities can take up many hours of your time!
The main story itself is good, but a bit weaker than the strongest titles in the series. It splits up into a Ichiban and Kiryu storyline, but overall with the mechanics in the game it feels much more like a Kiryu game.
One other slightly negative aspect are the antagonists. While they are not bad, they also did not hook me as much as others in the series.
Overall IW is a must play for every Yakuza fan, as a game itself I had some of the most fun ever in any video game. It is a strong improvement of 7 in terms of gameplay and I cannot wait to see how the series evolves from here.
In terms of gameplay it took the great turn based system from 7 and adds more features. Being able to walk around and pick up weapons from the ground might sound minor, but it changes the gameplay up a lot.
The new map in Hawaii is amazing, full of life and even though it is much bigger than Kamurocho it does not feel too big at all. You have all the amazing mini games from the Yakuza franchise plus a lot more new stuff! The big side activities can take up many hours of your time!
The main story itself is good, but a bit weaker than the strongest titles in the series. It splits up into a Ichiban and Kiryu storyline, but overall with the mechanics in the game it feels much more like a Kiryu game.
One other slightly negative aspect are the antagonists. While they are not bad, they also did not hook me as much as others in the series.
Overall IW is a must play for every Yakuza fan, as a game itself I had some of the most fun ever in any video game. It is a strong improvement of 7 in terms of gameplay and I cannot wait to see how the series evolves from here.
2020
Nioh 2 has the best action combat in any game, ever.
Combining the best parts of the souls like genre and the action genre the game offers the most fun gameplay you can have.
11 different weapon types, 3 stances (different attack types), special moves, weapon swapping, Yokai abilities to weave into your rotation - the options are limitless.
It might lack in terms of level design and the story is very generic, but if you are looking for a game where you can experiement and go crazy, this is the one!
Combining the best parts of the souls like genre and the action genre the game offers the most fun gameplay you can have.
11 different weapon types, 3 stances (different attack types), special moves, weapon swapping, Yokai abilities to weave into your rotation - the options are limitless.
It might lack in terms of level design and the story is very generic, but if you are looking for a game where you can experiement and go crazy, this is the one!
Super Mario Bros. Wonder might be the best 2D Mario since World and Yoshis Island. It offers an insane amount of creativity with the Wonder Flowers and in terms of pure fun is my number one of 2023!
The new power ups give a lot of options, the level design is great and every time you find a wonder flower something completely different - and fun - will happen!
The weakest part is the lack of mini bosses, the ones that are there are just ok - but lack variety. The final boss fight has an amazing design however!
The new power ups give a lot of options, the level design is great and every time you find a wonder flower something completely different - and fun - will happen!
The weakest part is the lack of mini bosses, the ones that are there are just ok - but lack variety. The final boss fight has an amazing design however!
2020
Baldurs Gate 3 is one of the best games ever created. The amount of player freedom, options in character creation, gameplay and decision making story wise is almost unmatched.
The writing in this game is some of the most immersive you will find out there. All characters are voiced, all characters live and breath in this world as if it was real. It is an unforgettable journey to play through this game.
A 120h playthrough will feel like you rushed it cause there are so many things to find, small dialog options you might never hear and so much love for detail in every single corner.
A must play for any RPG fan!
The writing in this game is some of the most immersive you will find out there. All characters are voiced, all characters live and breath in this world as if it was real. It is an unforgettable journey to play through this game.
A 120h playthrough will feel like you rushed it cause there are so many things to find, small dialog options you might never hear and so much love for detail in every single corner.
A must play for any RPG fan!
One of the biggest and bestest RPGs out there! Character creation alone will be too much for some (which is fine) but the sheer amount of options you have - combined with the mythic path system which gives even more combinations - is insane!
Characters are great, the writing is amazing. The main story is captivating and leads through an immersive world filled with adventure!
The weakest part is the kingdom management, which is fine - but the HoMM inspired army fights are definitely not more than a fun gimmick.
Overall, must play for any CRPG fan!
Characters are great, the writing is amazing. The main story is captivating and leads through an immersive world filled with adventure!
The weakest part is the kingdom management, which is fine - but the HoMM inspired army fights are definitely not more than a fun gimmick.
Overall, must play for any CRPG fan!
2021
One of the best job systems in the JRPG genre. Turn based combat is amazing, boss battles are great, soundtrack is beautiful.
Main story is very generic and tropy - nothing special there. Characters are enjoyable and well written though!
Main story is very generic and tropy - nothing special there. Characters are enjoyable and well written though!
2022
Chained Echoes is one of the best turn based RPGs out there. Amazing characters, great story, fun ability system with a lot of different options.
The turn based combat is the star here! One of the best features a lot of other turn based games never do: Status ailments actually work on bosses! One of the biggest criticisms for other games in the same genre.
Look + sound are also beautiful and every turn based fan needs to give this one a try!
The turn based combat is the star here! One of the best features a lot of other turn based games never do: Status ailments actually work on bosses! One of the biggest criticisms for other games in the same genre.
Look + sound are also beautiful and every turn based fan needs to give this one a try!
2000
If Final Fantasy 7 is the most important one, Final Fantasy 9 can be considered the best one.
The main story is great, the characters - especially the 4 main cast characters - have extraordinary character arcs, the turn based combat is always fun and challenging, the OST is brilliant, the World and world building feels fantastic.
If the worst part about your game is the card mini game - you did everything else right.
The main story is great, the characters - especially the 4 main cast characters - have extraordinary character arcs, the turn based combat is always fun and challenging, the OST is brilliant, the World and world building feels fantastic.
If the worst part about your game is the card mini game - you did everything else right.
This review contains spoilers
LaD: Gaiden tells the story of Kiryu between 6 and 7, explains what he was up to and where his road will lead.
It has some of the best feeling gameplay for the action based titles, the presentation of Kiryu is amazing and the ending is one of the most emotional endings to any video game.
The game offers the best colosseums of the series, fun side activities and a beautiful scenery. All new characters in this entry are well written and make this one a special entry.
It has some of the best feeling gameplay for the action based titles, the presentation of Kiryu is amazing and the ending is one of the most emotional endings to any video game.
The game offers the best colosseums of the series, fun side activities and a beautiful scenery. All new characters in this entry are well written and make this one a special entry.
Like a Dragon as the 7th entry to the Yakuza series makes a lot of big changes to characters and gameplay which are very brave, but also extremely rewarding.
The gameplay is extremely fresh while still keeping the fun of the old system. New characters are all well written and the story is great. Amazing writing and story telling makes this one of the best entries of the series.
The gameplay is extremely fresh while still keeping the fun of the old system. New characters are all well written and the story is great. Amazing writing and story telling makes this one of the best entries of the series.