Megalon
2023
My only complaint with this game is that the movement outside of combat felt a bit awkward. Seriously, that's it. It's kind of insane to me that in a time where gaming produces nothing but AAA slop which doesn't even work as intended half the time yet still charges up the ass, this one manages to slip through the cracks and in some ways intentionally defines itself as a cult classic.
I'll start with the artstyle(s). Gaming has this obession nowadays of making everything look hyper realistic. I don't really have a problem with that, in fact I guess it's probably a good thing for mass appeal, but Hi-Fi Rush intentionally sticks to just using more cartoony artstyles throughout everything. More vibrant colors, more wacky animations, and more silly shenanigans happening both in the background and right in front of your face. It just gives more life to everything than just having your characters look over realistic looking grassy plains over the sunrise just like Breath of the Wild and every open-ish AAA game that came out after it. Very nice refresher.
I also never play rhythm games, yet this one made me stick to it. Everything, from Chai's movement (which felt a bit out of place I guess, especially with how his double jump works, but that's my only nitpick) to platforms opening up and then closing, fits to a rhythm. It's all seamless to the same beat, and it's even crazy to me how the enviroments around Chai also sync to that same beat. It's, again, such a nice change of pace from everything trying to be flashy action combat, because now you have to pay attention more in fight instead of just spamming buttons to win.
Oh yeah, speaking of combat, it's amazing how much emphasis this game puts on its combat system. It's almost impossible to go about it without learning at least some nuance to it. Sure, you can just keep spamming the same attack button over and over, but you actively get punished for that through both the score you get at the end of each fight and also through the amount of damage you do. It's quintessential to learn the intricacies. Once again, such a nice refresher from just spamming buttons to win.
The characters, while on the surface seem like the same old cliche of "let's use the power of friendship to overcome the insane odds we put ourselves unnecessarily against!!!!", leave such a lasting impression. Every single one of them grows through some way or another, where eventually I started feeling parallels to my actual friends in real life. Even the villains, while for the most part you don't really hear from them after they've been defeated, have their own quirky little goofy over the top personalities.
One small thing I want to mention; this game is CHOCK full of references to other forms of media. The one that stuck out to me the most was a reference to the sitdown "tell, not show" style of the second disc of Xenogears, which I immediately pointed at my monitor screen in shock as soon as I saw it, given that I had only just recently played Xenogears and also that I didn't really think they'd put such a niche reference into a game like this.
This game was almost shoved down my throat through a few friends of mine, and I'm gonna be honest that made me not want to play it, but I'm glad I eventually just forked over the money and played the game. Very rarely do you see actual passion projects come out like this where every single detail both big and small had some level of love put into it. I really wanna play more games like these which do everything in their power to stand out.
9/10. Please give me more.
I'll start with the artstyle(s). Gaming has this obession nowadays of making everything look hyper realistic. I don't really have a problem with that, in fact I guess it's probably a good thing for mass appeal, but Hi-Fi Rush intentionally sticks to just using more cartoony artstyles throughout everything. More vibrant colors, more wacky animations, and more silly shenanigans happening both in the background and right in front of your face. It just gives more life to everything than just having your characters look over realistic looking grassy plains over the sunrise just like Breath of the Wild and every open-ish AAA game that came out after it. Very nice refresher.
I also never play rhythm games, yet this one made me stick to it. Everything, from Chai's movement (which felt a bit out of place I guess, especially with how his double jump works, but that's my only nitpick) to platforms opening up and then closing, fits to a rhythm. It's all seamless to the same beat, and it's even crazy to me how the enviroments around Chai also sync to that same beat. It's, again, such a nice change of pace from everything trying to be flashy action combat, because now you have to pay attention more in fight instead of just spamming buttons to win.
Oh yeah, speaking of combat, it's amazing how much emphasis this game puts on its combat system. It's almost impossible to go about it without learning at least some nuance to it. Sure, you can just keep spamming the same attack button over and over, but you actively get punished for that through both the score you get at the end of each fight and also through the amount of damage you do. It's quintessential to learn the intricacies. Once again, such a nice refresher from just spamming buttons to win.
The characters, while on the surface seem like the same old cliche of "let's use the power of friendship to overcome the insane odds we put ourselves unnecessarily against!!!!", leave such a lasting impression. Every single one of them grows through some way or another, where eventually I started feeling parallels to my actual friends in real life. Even the villains, while for the most part you don't really hear from them after they've been defeated, have their own quirky little goofy over the top personalities.
One small thing I want to mention; this game is CHOCK full of references to other forms of media. The one that stuck out to me the most was a reference to the sitdown "tell, not show" style of the second disc of Xenogears, which I immediately pointed at my monitor screen in shock as soon as I saw it, given that I had only just recently played Xenogears and also that I didn't really think they'd put such a niche reference into a game like this.
This game was almost shoved down my throat through a few friends of mine, and I'm gonna be honest that made me not want to play it, but I'm glad I eventually just forked over the money and played the game. Very rarely do you see actual passion projects come out like this where every single detail both big and small had some level of love put into it. I really wanna play more games like these which do everything in their power to stand out.
9/10. Please give me more.
For Spider-Man fans, by Spider-Man fans.
Playing through this, you can really tell that the wizards over at Insomniac really put effort and care into their craft. Almost (keyword here) everything feels like a substantial improvement; the traversal, side content, bosses, most aspects of the gameplay (I have a few complaints with this, I'll get to them later), and even New York itself.
The biggest improvement I saw was the boss fights. In the last 2 games, the bosses felt kind of underwhelming in hindsight, whereas I died several times on pretty much all of the bosses on Spectacular (the normal mode) in this game.
A close second goes to the traversal; sure it's still just New York and on paper this game just has more of the same, but when you look closer at the details you'd see that this game's NYC is probably the most realistic the city has ever felt in a video game. With all the new traversal options, such as gliding, loop de loops, and even surfing, you experience it all at breakneck pace instead of sitting through NYC traffic that's on the roads now compared to the previous games having basically none of that. There's even more texture to the NPCs walking around town in this one if you decide to take a break from heroics, whereas in the other games they all looked the same.
Side content feels like it could be on par with main story missions in this game, given how spectacle heavy they are. One that stuck out to me the most is the one where you play as Hailey from the Miles game, and only being able to faintly hear the sound of a wooden board breaking as the player brings a certain kind of immersion when you remember that she's deaf. It's just that good.
I also really enjoyed the new abilities that both Spider-Men now have in combat. Miles can literally throw blue lightning on some Star Wars Emperor Palpatine shit, while Peter can throw around a motherfucking alien at enemies. It adds a new sense of depth to the combat, whereas in the last two games it kind of just felt like the same loop of "air launch, beat the shit out of them in the air, and if they move too far away in the air just press Triangle to catch them, rinse and repeat". At least Miles' game had invisibilty which added depth and is also available in this game as well, but I barely ever used them due to how useless it can be with how quickly it runs out. Both characters now also have the ability to parry like a fighting game, which feels like another bit of depth, especially when you're forced to parry certain attacks in order to dodge them now.
The characters are all still the same characters from the first game, which makes sense for a sequel, but the new ones for this game are alright as well. In the beginning you meet Harry Osborn again after his "trip to Europe" from the 2018 game, and then are immediately shown a playable memory from their shared past to show their strong friendship. I do kind of wish, however, that some of the new characters bonded well with other side characters and not just Peter. MJ and Harry are also supposed to be besties, but it doesn't really show in this game even if MJ was there with Harry and Peter in their past and MJ is still closely connected to Peter as his girlfriend.
The story, while I don't really expect much from it given it's a superhero game, still feels kind of safe in comparison to the 2018 game. While it's still one of the better superhero stories I've seen in the past few years, especially with the MCU putting out only slop as of late, I can't help but feel at times that they could have gone a bit harder with the story at times. The story feels kind of front loaded, but for a super hero story I think it's overall still mostly fine, especially one done by fans of the IP like Insomniac.
Now come my biggest complaints. I don't know why, but with everything this game gives, it's strange that it also takes away certain gameplay elements as well.
- In this one, they reworked the Focus system. Originally you could have multiple Focus bars for multiple finishers, and continuously heal from them if you want so long as you were building Focus. In this game it's stripped down to just 1 Focus bar that does fuck all until it's full. Don't really know why they did this, but I don't really like it.
- There's half the gadgets now, which I'm not gonna sit here and pretend I used all of them in the first two games, but the fact that they limit you now is strange.
- Leveling up in the other games gave skill points, occasional movement speed increases, and rarely health increases. This gave incentive to do that. I can forgo the lack of movement speed increases due to new traversal changes already in-built into the game; I can't excuse how now on level up you only get a single skill point for your now THREE equally big skill trees, whereas health increases are earned through doing side quests where you get tokens for completing them and use those to grow out MORE skill trees.
- Web Lines are a new mechanic that both Spider-Men have. It allows you to create a tightrope between any two walls that you can walk across and stealthily pluck enemies off the ground and wipe them out. This is counteracted by the AI looking up more frequently compared to the previous games, but even then these lines just almost entirely trivialize stealth missions. It's not that hard to just pluck 3 enemies at once with just a single web shot and a zipline completely undetected.
- Suits are now not only a bit lacking compared to the first game, they're now completely cosmetic. Unlike the 2018 game where you had suit powers given to each suit, now it's just what suit you like the most at a given moment.
I'm saying it again. For Spider-Man fans, by Spider-Man fans. While not short of flaws, it's definitely a console seller for Spider-Man fans. 8.5/10, maybe even a 9.
also can everyone shut the fuck up about 19 inches? you're not funny holy shit
Playing through this, you can really tell that the wizards over at Insomniac really put effort and care into their craft. Almost (keyword here) everything feels like a substantial improvement; the traversal, side content, bosses, most aspects of the gameplay (I have a few complaints with this, I'll get to them later), and even New York itself.
The biggest improvement I saw was the boss fights. In the last 2 games, the bosses felt kind of underwhelming in hindsight, whereas I died several times on pretty much all of the bosses on Spectacular (the normal mode) in this game.
A close second goes to the traversal; sure it's still just New York and on paper this game just has more of the same, but when you look closer at the details you'd see that this game's NYC is probably the most realistic the city has ever felt in a video game. With all the new traversal options, such as gliding, loop de loops, and even surfing, you experience it all at breakneck pace instead of sitting through NYC traffic that's on the roads now compared to the previous games having basically none of that. There's even more texture to the NPCs walking around town in this one if you decide to take a break from heroics, whereas in the other games they all looked the same.
Side content feels like it could be on par with main story missions in this game, given how spectacle heavy they are. One that stuck out to me the most is the one where you play as Hailey from the Miles game, and only being able to faintly hear the sound of a wooden board breaking as the player brings a certain kind of immersion when you remember that she's deaf. It's just that good.
I also really enjoyed the new abilities that both Spider-Men now have in combat. Miles can literally throw blue lightning on some Star Wars Emperor Palpatine shit, while Peter can throw around a motherfucking alien at enemies. It adds a new sense of depth to the combat, whereas in the last two games it kind of just felt like the same loop of "air launch, beat the shit out of them in the air, and if they move too far away in the air just press Triangle to catch them, rinse and repeat". At least Miles' game had invisibilty which added depth and is also available in this game as well, but I barely ever used them due to how useless it can be with how quickly it runs out. Both characters now also have the ability to parry like a fighting game, which feels like another bit of depth, especially when you're forced to parry certain attacks in order to dodge them now.
The characters are all still the same characters from the first game, which makes sense for a sequel, but the new ones for this game are alright as well. In the beginning you meet Harry Osborn again after his "trip to Europe" from the 2018 game, and then are immediately shown a playable memory from their shared past to show their strong friendship. I do kind of wish, however, that some of the new characters bonded well with other side characters and not just Peter. MJ and Harry are also supposed to be besties, but it doesn't really show in this game even if MJ was there with Harry and Peter in their past and MJ is still closely connected to Peter as his girlfriend.
The story, while I don't really expect much from it given it's a superhero game, still feels kind of safe in comparison to the 2018 game. While it's still one of the better superhero stories I've seen in the past few years, especially with the MCU putting out only slop as of late, I can't help but feel at times that they could have gone a bit harder with the story at times. The story feels kind of front loaded, but for a super hero story I think it's overall still mostly fine, especially one done by fans of the IP like Insomniac.
Now come my biggest complaints. I don't know why, but with everything this game gives, it's strange that it also takes away certain gameplay elements as well.
- In this one, they reworked the Focus system. Originally you could have multiple Focus bars for multiple finishers, and continuously heal from them if you want so long as you were building Focus. In this game it's stripped down to just 1 Focus bar that does fuck all until it's full. Don't really know why they did this, but I don't really like it.
- There's half the gadgets now, which I'm not gonna sit here and pretend I used all of them in the first two games, but the fact that they limit you now is strange.
- Leveling up in the other games gave skill points, occasional movement speed increases, and rarely health increases. This gave incentive to do that. I can forgo the lack of movement speed increases due to new traversal changes already in-built into the game; I can't excuse how now on level up you only get a single skill point for your now THREE equally big skill trees, whereas health increases are earned through doing side quests where you get tokens for completing them and use those to grow out MORE skill trees.
- Web Lines are a new mechanic that both Spider-Men have. It allows you to create a tightrope between any two walls that you can walk across and stealthily pluck enemies off the ground and wipe them out. This is counteracted by the AI looking up more frequently compared to the previous games, but even then these lines just almost entirely trivialize stealth missions. It's not that hard to just pluck 3 enemies at once with just a single web shot and a zipline completely undetected.
- Suits are now not only a bit lacking compared to the first game, they're now completely cosmetic. Unlike the 2018 game where you had suit powers given to each suit, now it's just what suit you like the most at a given moment.
I'm saying it again. For Spider-Man fans, by Spider-Man fans. While not short of flaws, it's definitely a console seller for Spider-Man fans. 8.5/10, maybe even a 9.
also can everyone shut the fuck up about 19 inches? you're not funny holy shit
[Review of 2.0, A Realm Reborn]
After 7 months, I finally got around to getting through my first proper experience of an MMO. However, I feel a bit mixed on this personally, but from what I can gather this chapter of the game sets up for what could be a lot better story in the future expansions.
Of course, with hindsight of 10 years ARR seems like a really drawn out, 50-hour long tutorial for the rest of the game. Most of the MSQs in this chapter boil down to meaningless fetch quests; about 70-80% of them are just like this. This is especially the case in the beginning and middle of the chapter. The highs of ARR are very few and far between. It gets quite cumbersome to do them at times, so I can't quite put my finger on why people stuck through this in 2013 but also it must be way better than whatever catastrophe 1.0 was.
That's really my only criticism, however. What I can appreciate about these sloggish MSQs is that they allow for so much open ended-ness with how you want to play the game. It opens you up into a universe of opportunities. Want to (mostly) solo the entire chapter as a Tank like I did? Go ahead, or if you wanted to you could also experiment with other Disciples as well. Want to host a fashion show instead? That sounds fun, go for it; or just stick with the clothes that give you the best stats and not worry about appearance at all. Want to just explore the environments before actually delivering whatever pipe bomb the MSQ forces you to deliver to an NPC's mailbox? Be my guest. (Oh, by the way, the scenery and soundtrack of this game are absolutely phenomenal. How they managed to pull it off in an MMO is crazy to me). There's so much you can do in this chapter alone, (fitting for an MMO at least) and I'm sure it'll carry over into the next expansions I play, whenever I get to them.
What's even better is the game doesn't really penalize you for doing anything outside of the MSQ either. Changing your job/class doesn't take anything except the time it would take to level up that class again starting from level 1. The community for the game is always receptive and nice, especially for Sprouts like me. At any given moment, it doesn't really feel like you could get bored of having nothing to do.
Towards the end of ARR, the story actually starts to pick up and it's super solid to me. There's more to come given that I'm playing this for the first time in 2023, so with what ARR sets up for I'm optimistic that it'll be able to top off what exactly happened now.
With how much the XIV community oversells this game, I was reluctant to finally step foot into it. But now I don't regret it at all. 7/10. Can't wait.
also i got to run around as a catboy in fruity outfits so it's just already an amazing game lmao
After 7 months, I finally got around to getting through my first proper experience of an MMO. However, I feel a bit mixed on this personally, but from what I can gather this chapter of the game sets up for what could be a lot better story in the future expansions.
Of course, with hindsight of 10 years ARR seems like a really drawn out, 50-hour long tutorial for the rest of the game. Most of the MSQs in this chapter boil down to meaningless fetch quests; about 70-80% of them are just like this. This is especially the case in the beginning and middle of the chapter. The highs of ARR are very few and far between. It gets quite cumbersome to do them at times, so I can't quite put my finger on why people stuck through this in 2013 but also it must be way better than whatever catastrophe 1.0 was.
That's really my only criticism, however. What I can appreciate about these sloggish MSQs is that they allow for so much open ended-ness with how you want to play the game. It opens you up into a universe of opportunities. Want to (mostly) solo the entire chapter as a Tank like I did? Go ahead, or if you wanted to you could also experiment with other Disciples as well. Want to host a fashion show instead? That sounds fun, go for it; or just stick with the clothes that give you the best stats and not worry about appearance at all. Want to just explore the environments before actually delivering whatever pipe bomb the MSQ forces you to deliver to an NPC's mailbox? Be my guest. (Oh, by the way, the scenery and soundtrack of this game are absolutely phenomenal. How they managed to pull it off in an MMO is crazy to me). There's so much you can do in this chapter alone, (fitting for an MMO at least) and I'm sure it'll carry over into the next expansions I play, whenever I get to them.
What's even better is the game doesn't really penalize you for doing anything outside of the MSQ either. Changing your job/class doesn't take anything except the time it would take to level up that class again starting from level 1. The community for the game is always receptive and nice, especially for Sprouts like me. At any given moment, it doesn't really feel like you could get bored of having nothing to do.
Towards the end of ARR, the story actually starts to pick up and it's super solid to me. There's more to come given that I'm playing this for the first time in 2023, so with what ARR sets up for I'm optimistic that it'll be able to top off what exactly happened now.
With how much the XIV community oversells this game, I was reluctant to finally step foot into it. But now I don't regret it at all. 7/10. Can't wait.
also i got to run around as a catboy in fruity outfits so it's just already an amazing game lmao
This game's key principle is "less is more". Sure, the extremely short story and lack of many side quests is quite detrimental to the experience, but the quality otherwise within those few hours I spent playing this game was no short of brilliant, exemplifying the aforementioned idea.
The themes of being put in impoverished Harlem and being the underdog Spider-Man who has more abilities to work with (which make combat and stealth missions way better!) but is held back by less exposure and experience and a lack of a mentor, the musical score, the short story, and the whole web of maybe only a few interconnected characters throughout the game makes this game shine. There is only a small amount of content, but I'm glad that Insomniac was able to flesh out everything within that small amount of content.
My only real complaint with this game is that accounting for its brevity, it doesn't really feel like a game, but rather an add-on for the 2018 Spider-Man game. It definitely didn't need to be $50. Thankfully, I got it on sale and with the help of some spare gift card change I got the game for a paltry $5, but it doesn't still change the fact that this is nearly full price for maybe only 10 hours of content total.
3.75/5, but I guess I'm forced to round up to a 4/5 because of Backloggd. Still definitely a good game, just play the game from 2018 first before this one. It'll definitely go for cheap now that there's a new one coming out in less than a month.
The themes of being put in impoverished Harlem and being the underdog Spider-Man who has more abilities to work with (which make combat and stealth missions way better!) but is held back by less exposure and experience and a lack of a mentor, the musical score, the short story, and the whole web of maybe only a few interconnected characters throughout the game makes this game shine. There is only a small amount of content, but I'm glad that Insomniac was able to flesh out everything within that small amount of content.
My only real complaint with this game is that accounting for its brevity, it doesn't really feel like a game, but rather an add-on for the 2018 Spider-Man game. It definitely didn't need to be $50. Thankfully, I got it on sale and with the help of some spare gift card change I got the game for a paltry $5, but it doesn't still change the fact that this is nearly full price for maybe only 10 hours of content total.
3.75/5, but I guess I'm forced to round up to a 4/5 because of Backloggd. Still definitely a good game, just play the game from 2018 first before this one. It'll definitely go for cheap now that there's a new one coming out in less than a month.
I was actually kind of excited about this game for several reasons. The art for this game is probably some of the best I've ever seen for the series, the costumes for the characters look good, the music is great, and most importantly it would bring parts of the compilation that never got an official release to the West finally, like Before Crisis. All for the best price of free. I was disappointed when they announced the game was going to be a gacha, and I have a strict mental block of not paying a penny to mobile game microtransactions, but I figured this game is so approachable to me I might as well give it a try. Yet somehow they still managed to drop the ball in so many ways and so hard at those with this game. I genuinely couldn't even get past the opening bombing mission; it was just so mindless and an obvious cash grab.
First off, they advertised that all compilation titles would be playable at launch in some degree, when that just obviously never happened. All that's been available at launch is the Midgar section of the original game, the first few chapters of Crisis Core, and some new story for First Soldier. To be honest, ever since Remake launched I've grown so tired of Midgar content because that's all they've been able to advertise for a while now. And yet these few chapters are all based in Midgar. It's all becoming repetitive, especially since both the original game and Crisis Core got remade recently.
Second off, I REALLY hate how you're forced to play other chapters of other games before playing the chapter I want to play. I was really only interested in the other compilation titles and maybe the First Soldier story, because everything else has been done to death already or is still being remade. I don't really want to play the bombing mission for the 30,000th time, I'm tired of it. I don't want to play Crisis Core again, when that game is already designed to be as replayable as possible. Yet here we are, still at square one. I get that this game will feature episodic releases, but if I'm not hooked in at the start there's no way I could really care for anything else. I just want something new again, so it really sucks that I have to play everything I've already gone through dozens of times just to get to the First Soldier story I may be interested in.
Third, the combat system was designed to be more in line with traditional ATB based JRPG combat, which is great for people who want that more traditional experience, but this is just a joke made in spite of that kind of system. It's not even ATB, it's just "wait for bar to fill up, press button". It's not fun at all. At least with the original FFVII, you had so much more freedom with your commands when your bar does fill up, but with Ever Crisis it's just pathetic. Really hard sell on this.
Finally, the gacha elements are everywhere. I get that this game is a gacha, so they're supposed to get you to gamble your life savings away, but everyday I've gotten notifications on my phone saying shit like "5 STAR PULL GUARANTEED!!! NEW COSTUME!!! DRAW NOW!!! GIVE BIG DADDY SQUARE ENIX MONEY!!!" There's even achievements in game for logging in everyday and pulling something from the slot machine. I think they might as well just lock away parts of the game behind gacha elements with how in your face it all is.
Overall, a MASSIVE disappointment. If you like gacha games I guess it's for you, but with probably being the biggest fan of FFVII I know amongst my small circle of friends this game just sends me into an ephemeral rage. I'm sorry. 3/10.
First off, they advertised that all compilation titles would be playable at launch in some degree, when that just obviously never happened. All that's been available at launch is the Midgar section of the original game, the first few chapters of Crisis Core, and some new story for First Soldier. To be honest, ever since Remake launched I've grown so tired of Midgar content because that's all they've been able to advertise for a while now. And yet these few chapters are all based in Midgar. It's all becoming repetitive, especially since both the original game and Crisis Core got remade recently.
Second off, I REALLY hate how you're forced to play other chapters of other games before playing the chapter I want to play. I was really only interested in the other compilation titles and maybe the First Soldier story, because everything else has been done to death already or is still being remade. I don't really want to play the bombing mission for the 30,000th time, I'm tired of it. I don't want to play Crisis Core again, when that game is already designed to be as replayable as possible. Yet here we are, still at square one. I get that this game will feature episodic releases, but if I'm not hooked in at the start there's no way I could really care for anything else. I just want something new again, so it really sucks that I have to play everything I've already gone through dozens of times just to get to the First Soldier story I may be interested in.
Third, the combat system was designed to be more in line with traditional ATB based JRPG combat, which is great for people who want that more traditional experience, but this is just a joke made in spite of that kind of system. It's not even ATB, it's just "wait for bar to fill up, press button". It's not fun at all. At least with the original FFVII, you had so much more freedom with your commands when your bar does fill up, but with Ever Crisis it's just pathetic. Really hard sell on this.
Finally, the gacha elements are everywhere. I get that this game is a gacha, so they're supposed to get you to gamble your life savings away, but everyday I've gotten notifications on my phone saying shit like "5 STAR PULL GUARANTEED!!! NEW COSTUME!!! DRAW NOW!!! GIVE BIG DADDY SQUARE ENIX MONEY!!!" There's even achievements in game for logging in everyday and pulling something from the slot machine. I think they might as well just lock away parts of the game behind gacha elements with how in your face it all is.
Overall, a MASSIVE disappointment. If you like gacha games I guess it's for you, but with probably being the biggest fan of FFVII I know amongst my small circle of friends this game just sends me into an ephemeral rage. I'm sorry. 3/10.
I've only played this game and the one before it at the time of writing, so it's quite obvious to me that this game is a huge dip in quality from the last one. This game isn't nearly as consistent as the previous game. Justice for All has its first two cases pretty alright without much memorabilia to them and its third case is just extremely annoying when it comes to trial.
However, the fourth and final case of this game is arguably the best of the maybe 9 or 10 cases I've played with this series. I really like the fact that it throws several curveballs in terms of what you come to expect being a defense attorney. Suffice it to say, this final case HARD carries this entire game.
Still a bit disappointed in the lack of different types of cases. Like the first game, it sticks you just murder cases you solve. Really wish that whenever I get to the third game that gripe is fixed. Also, I didn't really like the fact that a lot of the staple soundtrack was changed in this game. I found the soundtrack of the first game to be very iconic given how many times I've seen it used across the internet, so maybe I'm just being grumpy, but it felt a bit off-putting that I was hearing different tunes altogether than what I came to expect.
3/5. Kinda wish this game didn't really exist but the final case of this game makes up for everything I had to bear before it.
However, the fourth and final case of this game is arguably the best of the maybe 9 or 10 cases I've played with this series. I really like the fact that it throws several curveballs in terms of what you come to expect being a defense attorney. Suffice it to say, this final case HARD carries this entire game.
Still a bit disappointed in the lack of different types of cases. Like the first game, it sticks you just murder cases you solve. Really wish that whenever I get to the third game that gripe is fixed. Also, I didn't really like the fact that a lot of the staple soundtrack was changed in this game. I found the soundtrack of the first game to be very iconic given how many times I've seen it used across the internet, so maybe I'm just being grumpy, but it felt a bit off-putting that I was hearing different tunes altogether than what I came to expect.
3/5. Kinda wish this game didn't really exist but the final case of this game makes up for everything I had to bear before it.
2015
I bought this game, Kiwami 1, and Kiwami 2 on sale two years ago after someone gave me a gift card as a late birthday present. Wish I didn't hold off on this game as long as I did, however. Probably one of the best crime dramas I've witnessed in a while.
What I like the most about this game is the fact that it feels like several games fit into one package. Every 2 chapters, the game switches protagonists and with them the stories told as well. Both of these stories also have a plethora on top of a plethora of side content. There's something for quite literally everyone in this game. You have RPG enthusiasts who get their action-based combat. You have rhythm game fans who get the karaoke minigames and other stuff. Oddly enough, there's even a place for weirdo coomers as well. Even though I've finished both stories (which overlap at the very end), I know I'll be returning to this game to finish everything I can.
Both stories in this game are very character driven, and so like you'd expect mostly all the characters in this game are great! My favorite character of them all was Majima; seeing his transformation into the Mad Dog of Shimano from someone who was thrown around everywhere throughout the game really stuck with me. The only character I disliked, really, was Makoto. She's the central person the overarching plot revolves around, and I just didn't really care for her until the very end.
Quick forewarning for new players, this game LOVES its cliffhangers. Every chapter, bar the ending, ends in cliffhangers. That's not a bad thing at all, in fact I think a lot of those cliffhangers kept me at the edge of my toes and wanting me to see. That's one of the great things about the game's narrative. Even with that, on top of it being about a serious rivalry between yakuza factions, you still get humor within it sprinkled in. There's truly something for everyone in this game.
The combat, while I mostly liked it, felt kind of samey after a while in the sense that once you figured out how to do crowd control everything becomes trivially easy. Most encounters come in hoards, so Kiryu's Beast style and Majima's Slugger style are basically the only styles you need for the game even though they both have 2 whole other combat styles to go with (3 if you want to go through both of their grueling sidequests).
Oh yeah, sidequests. Those definitely exist in this game. The side stories, as they're called, are alright. Nothing out of the ordinary. Simple worldbuilding things I suppose. Not much I really care for in a game already chock full of side content that adds to the world already.
Another gripe I have with this game is since the game swaps between two protagonists, you'd think there's some way to retain stats, items, etc. to help out your other protagonist so that he doesn't fall behind. Unfortunately that is not the case. My Majima was way stronger than my Kiryu at the end of the game. Oddly enough, Majima's upgrades cost half as much as Kiryu's for some reason. Don't know why, but that's the case, I guess.
Final gripe, I think that the story takes forever to finally come together. The game is started through a murder mystery and it only comes together in the end when it feels like an afterthought that it happened. Also sucks that the game starts with Kiryu, yet the culprit is fought in the end by Majima.
4/5. As a first Yakuza game, I thoroughly enjoyed. Excited to see what this series has to offer from here.
What I like the most about this game is the fact that it feels like several games fit into one package. Every 2 chapters, the game switches protagonists and with them the stories told as well. Both of these stories also have a plethora on top of a plethora of side content. There's something for quite literally everyone in this game. You have RPG enthusiasts who get their action-based combat. You have rhythm game fans who get the karaoke minigames and other stuff. Oddly enough, there's even a place for weirdo coomers as well. Even though I've finished both stories (which overlap at the very end), I know I'll be returning to this game to finish everything I can.
Both stories in this game are very character driven, and so like you'd expect mostly all the characters in this game are great! My favorite character of them all was Majima; seeing his transformation into the Mad Dog of Shimano from someone who was thrown around everywhere throughout the game really stuck with me. The only character I disliked, really, was Makoto. She's the central person the overarching plot revolves around, and I just didn't really care for her until the very end.
Quick forewarning for new players, this game LOVES its cliffhangers. Every chapter, bar the ending, ends in cliffhangers. That's not a bad thing at all, in fact I think a lot of those cliffhangers kept me at the edge of my toes and wanting me to see. That's one of the great things about the game's narrative. Even with that, on top of it being about a serious rivalry between yakuza factions, you still get humor within it sprinkled in. There's truly something for everyone in this game.
The combat, while I mostly liked it, felt kind of samey after a while in the sense that once you figured out how to do crowd control everything becomes trivially easy. Most encounters come in hoards, so Kiryu's Beast style and Majima's Slugger style are basically the only styles you need for the game even though they both have 2 whole other combat styles to go with (3 if you want to go through both of their grueling sidequests).
Oh yeah, sidequests. Those definitely exist in this game. The side stories, as they're called, are alright. Nothing out of the ordinary. Simple worldbuilding things I suppose. Not much I really care for in a game already chock full of side content that adds to the world already.
Another gripe I have with this game is since the game swaps between two protagonists, you'd think there's some way to retain stats, items, etc. to help out your other protagonist so that he doesn't fall behind. Unfortunately that is not the case. My Majima was way stronger than my Kiryu at the end of the game. Oddly enough, Majima's upgrades cost half as much as Kiryu's for some reason. Don't know why, but that's the case, I guess.
Final gripe, I think that the story takes forever to finally come together. The game is started through a murder mystery and it only comes together in the end when it feels like an afterthought that it happened. Also sucks that the game starts with Kiryu, yet the culprit is fought in the end by Majima.
4/5. As a first Yakuza game, I thoroughly enjoyed. Excited to see what this series has to offer from here.
2017
It's Mario. There isn't really much depth to these games other than "turn brain off, have fun." Glad I was able to do that, though, since most games I play are JRPGs which actively have me thinking about them in order to properly enjoy them.
It's a nice, cute, and quirky 3D Mario, in addition to also blending in some elements of 2D Mario. That blend is done pretty well too. Kingdoms are explorable enough even for their relatively small size most of the time. Cappy is an interesting mechanic that I really wish they bring back and expand upon in later entries in 3D Mario. Side content, while kind of dull, also has some reason for you to explore and get it. It really is an odyssey, no pun intended.
My only real issue with it is that they could have done a bit more with Cappy. I mentioned earlier how I wish they bring him back in future entries in the series, mainly because in this game he feels solely like a movement option if anything. He can jump into enemies, sure, and act as them, but there's only so much in every kingdom for Cappy to jump into before it just feels like you're throwing him for the sake of getting around faster.
4/5. Nice dopamine hit to the brain. Not much more than that.
It's a nice, cute, and quirky 3D Mario, in addition to also blending in some elements of 2D Mario. That blend is done pretty well too. Kingdoms are explorable enough even for their relatively small size most of the time. Cappy is an interesting mechanic that I really wish they bring back and expand upon in later entries in 3D Mario. Side content, while kind of dull, also has some reason for you to explore and get it. It really is an odyssey, no pun intended.
My only real issue with it is that they could have done a bit more with Cappy. I mentioned earlier how I wish they bring him back in future entries in the series, mainly because in this game he feels solely like a movement option if anything. He can jump into enemies, sure, and act as them, but there's only so much in every kingdom for Cappy to jump into before it just feels like you're throwing him for the sake of getting around faster.
4/5. Nice dopamine hit to the brain. Not much more than that.
2017
Perfect. In almost every sense of the word. Almost. Sure, there are some bandaids on this piece of art, but they’re covered up so well that you’ll be hard-pressed to care to find them annoying.
The main thing that drives this game to the top for me is its atmosphere. You play as man-made androids as mankind lives on the Moon due to aliens having conquered the Earth millennia ago. You see the destruction and bleakness of the world you call “Home” in this post-apocalyptic world. Immediately upon setting foot on it after the introductory segment of the game, you’re greeted by a depressing yet oddly calming piano playing as you look out over the rundown buildings in the area. The music also is dynamic, meaning as you progress through the game, the same jingles and tunes add instruments and/or melodies so that what you hear doesn’t get repetitive and holds value to the point in the game you’re in. It only adds that the game has a semi-open world, meaning you get the freedom to truly explore the bleakness and the sorrow on Earth and its evolution through the progression of the plot.
This kind of atmosphere can’t ever really emerge from something like a comic book, TV show, or movie; it can thrive solely in the form of a video game, and Automata does it perfectly.
The story and characters, oh man. They’re both a hell of a tear-jerker. This game does a marvelous job of making sure that you care for every aspect of it, both important and irrelevant. These elements also blend in extremely well together.
The story touches a lot upon ideas on why we humans exist and live on this planet. Through the story, we see alien-made machines trying to emulate what humans did during their time on Earth, all while the androids you play fight these machines to restore humanity on Earth. Human existentialism, compassion, and not taking anything for granted, among other themes, are all philosophical ideas that the game touches upon which make you, the player, really question your morals and how you live your own life.
To get your money's worth of game out of this, you'd be required to play through the game 3 times to achieve 5 different endings for the game. On Playthrough 1, you play as 2B, who comes across as a cold-hearted android who only cares for her mission as a YoRHa attack unit but deep down cares for everyone around her, particularly her assistant android 9S. On Playthrough 2, you follow 9S through the events you just went through with 2B, but this time through his more openly perceptive and caring perspective. On Playthrough 3, you follow both 9S and a rogue android A2, where they both come to terms with the reality they're living in currently; 9S becomes more cruel while A2 becomes more compassionate.
The themes of both the story and the character mesh so well together, even their interactions with each other and the side characters make you think deeply about every one of them. Again, not something that can be done through another form of entertainment media; solely something that can come from a video game.
This game just goes to show that video games are a work of art that should be praised and critiqued like all other media. I only have high praise for this game I can only say is best experienced when played through an entirely blind run to Ending E. Please, reader, just do as I say and play this damn museum piece.
I mentioned earlier, however, that there were some bandages on this game. I'll mention them now. They mostly boil down to nitpicks, however, which is why I said you'll be hard-pressed to actually care about these criticisms.
- There's a plot element that they use as an excuse to ramp up difficulty out of nowhere on top of the game already being really inconsistent with its difficulty.
- Route B gets kind of repetitive in my opinion.
- I don't like the hacking controls that 9S has access to during the times you control him.
As I said, these are all nitpicks. Otherwise, this game is perfect. 5/5 in my book. An absolute must-play for anyone.
The main thing that drives this game to the top for me is its atmosphere. You play as man-made androids as mankind lives on the Moon due to aliens having conquered the Earth millennia ago. You see the destruction and bleakness of the world you call “Home” in this post-apocalyptic world. Immediately upon setting foot on it after the introductory segment of the game, you’re greeted by a depressing yet oddly calming piano playing as you look out over the rundown buildings in the area. The music also is dynamic, meaning as you progress through the game, the same jingles and tunes add instruments and/or melodies so that what you hear doesn’t get repetitive and holds value to the point in the game you’re in. It only adds that the game has a semi-open world, meaning you get the freedom to truly explore the bleakness and the sorrow on Earth and its evolution through the progression of the plot.
This kind of atmosphere can’t ever really emerge from something like a comic book, TV show, or movie; it can thrive solely in the form of a video game, and Automata does it perfectly.
The story and characters, oh man. They’re both a hell of a tear-jerker. This game does a marvelous job of making sure that you care for every aspect of it, both important and irrelevant. These elements also blend in extremely well together.
The story touches a lot upon ideas on why we humans exist and live on this planet. Through the story, we see alien-made machines trying to emulate what humans did during their time on Earth, all while the androids you play fight these machines to restore humanity on Earth. Human existentialism, compassion, and not taking anything for granted, among other themes, are all philosophical ideas that the game touches upon which make you, the player, really question your morals and how you live your own life.
To get your money's worth of game out of this, you'd be required to play through the game 3 times to achieve 5 different endings for the game. On Playthrough 1, you play as 2B, who comes across as a cold-hearted android who only cares for her mission as a YoRHa attack unit but deep down cares for everyone around her, particularly her assistant android 9S. On Playthrough 2, you follow 9S through the events you just went through with 2B, but this time through his more openly perceptive and caring perspective. On Playthrough 3, you follow both 9S and a rogue android A2, where they both come to terms with the reality they're living in currently; 9S becomes more cruel while A2 becomes more compassionate.
The themes of both the story and the character mesh so well together, even their interactions with each other and the side characters make you think deeply about every one of them. Again, not something that can be done through another form of entertainment media; solely something that can come from a video game.
This game just goes to show that video games are a work of art that should be praised and critiqued like all other media. I only have high praise for this game I can only say is best experienced when played through an entirely blind run to Ending E. Please, reader, just do as I say and play this damn museum piece.
I mentioned earlier, however, that there were some bandages on this game. I'll mention them now. They mostly boil down to nitpicks, however, which is why I said you'll be hard-pressed to actually care about these criticisms.
- There's a plot element that they use as an excuse to ramp up difficulty out of nowhere on top of the game already being really inconsistent with its difficulty.
- Route B gets kind of repetitive in my opinion.
- I don't like the hacking controls that 9S has access to during the times you control him.
As I said, these are all nitpicks. Otherwise, this game is perfect. 5/5 in my book. An absolute must-play for anyone.
2023
In my mind, I’ve always had a sort of bias that the quality of single-player Final Fantasies was on the decline ever since the launch of FINAL FANTASY X. Of course, I’ve never played these games but from just reading up on consensus from others over the years I came to that conclusion. Suffice it to say, however, this game makes me throw that bias entirely out of the ballpark. Creative Business Unit 3 hit not just a home run, but a grand slam with this game.
To start things off, to whoever says this isn’t Final Fantasy, go fuck yourself. Seriously. Maybe actually play the game before coming up with such a stupid claim. With the trailers for this game purposefully only showing perhaps the first 10 hours, on top of previous developer interviews with producer Yoshi-P, people thought that this game will be extremely different from the rest of the series. While there is some merit to that, Final Fantasy has always innovated in its rights. Lo and behold, this game also innovates a lot.
I, in good faith, however, cannot call this game a JRPG, much like the majority of Final Fantasy games before it; rather I’d call this a character action-adventure game. The combat system has evolved into something more reminiscent of Bayonetta or Devil May Cry, while the story’s more dark and mature themes are like those of Game of Thrones. Normally, Final Fantasy is a lot more light-hearted in nature than all of these 3 series, yet this game still acts more like a love letter to previous entries to this series if I’ve ever seen one.
Namely, this game does a marvelous job of blending in a cinematic narrative with entrancing gameplay. Final Fantasy has always done this as a whole, but with this game being a PlayStation 5 exclusive these elements now get the perfect time to shine with the power of next-gen hardware. It is made abundantly clear in the Cinematic Dodges, Cinematic Strikes, and Cinematic Clashes that come up throughout various important fights throughout the game. With them, the player can see just how stunning everything is in this game by just looking at it. Also, as the game progresses through its story, the game also manages to almost flawlessly go from a gritty, dark, mature story to one full of hope that is reminiscent of previous entries in the Final Fantasy series. It manages to do this without being jarring at all, in fact, it does it entirely organically through the progression of world-building sidequests and character interactions.
Final Fantasy has also been renowned for its amazing musical scores and characters. Soken set the studio on fire with this soundtrack with seemingly flawless transitions, blending in the new songs with renditions of classic Final Fantasy jingles. During cutscenes with characters and other places with music playing, you can hear renditions of the Final Fantasy prelude or main theme from all the way back in 1987 when FINAL FANTASY first launched on the Famicom.
On top of that, the player can individually see the struggles of every single character, including the evil ones. The game starts off with Clive Rosfield losing everything he once knew in his life as royalty and becoming a fierce, rageful empirical warrior, to becoming a beacon of hope for others to build a better future for themselves even if it means throwing away the comfort of today. His character progression through the likes of his interactions with NPCs, his family, Gav, Torgal, Jill, Cid (who, by the way, is the best Cid I’ve ever had the pleasure of watching develop), and much more only makes Clive’s sad journey in the dark world of Valisthea into being a tragic hero all the more satisfying.
Even the smallest references to previous entries in the Final Fantasy series can be found within this game. Did you know Square released a CGI movie in 2001 called Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within? The average fan would probably not know, since it was a major box office flop back in the day. Hell, I didn’t know, since I wasn’t even born at the time. Yet, there is a boss fight in this game that utilizes a move called “Spirits Within”. Hunts are also in this game, similar to those of FINAL FANTASY XIV. That’s fitting, of course, since both XIV and XVI are made by the same people, but my point with this is that there are references to even the most minute things in the Final Fantasy lore that this game has to offer.
With all these elements, this game is probably the biggest love letter to the Final Fantasy series I’ve ever seen. This game is probably the most “Final Fantasy” ever. I can’t stress enough how much I really dislike the notion that people are truly out there saying this game isn’t. People need to get a brain for once. Jesus.
One final thing I’d also like to touch on is this game’s emphasis on world-building. Sidequests are there to tell you mini-stories about the characters around you and their struggles with their lives in this fantasy world. They can range from just simply killing monsters in order to save the village, to watching people come to terms with their losses and learning how others around them truly affect their lives. You just don’t get these stories through the main quest of the game. I tried my best with my run of this game to do every single one of these and a solid chunk of them managed to stick permanently with me. During the main story cutscenes, holding down the trackpad on the controller pulls up a menu for Active Time Lore, in which you can read more about the setting, story beats, and characters pertinent to the point in the plot you’re in. Finally, in Clive’s home base known as The Hideaway, there are 2 NPCs that help with this element too: Vivian and Harpocrates. When speaking to Vivian, the player can read up on events pertaining to the current point in the plot that Clive is in. When speaking to Harpocrates, Clive will report his journeys to him, and from there the player can read up on every element of the game up until that point, including characters, enemies, settings, and previous plot elements. If the player utilizes all of these elements in their entirety, there’s almost zero reason why the player can’t miss out on everything Valisthea and its inhabitant have to offer.
Whatever goes up, however, must also come down. Such is Newton’s Third Law of Motion, which is applicable to everything in this world including this game. Therefore, this game isn’t short of its notable flaws.
The combat system of this game does away with MP, and now magical affinity is tied to an Eikon you can shift to at any given moment in combat by a quick press of the L2 button. Your magic spell can be performed by quick presses of the Triangle button on your controller, or by holding it and then releasing it to charge a more powerful magic spell. My issue with this is that the element of your magic spell does not matter at all; regardless of your Eikon’s element no enemy ever has an elemental weakness like previous Final Fantasy entries. I can mostly excuse this, however, since the combat system is still probably the most expansive out of the entirety of the series so far allowing for freedom to create your own setups and combinations to absolutely destroy anything that comes your way. I do wish that magic had more of a say-so, though, as it would allow for even more freedom in an already free combat system.
Speaking of Eikons, in combat they have abilities that can be performed based on cooldowns. You can collect AP throughout the game, just like the rest of the Final Fantasy series, that you can use on a skill tree to upgrade and master these skills. Not only is AP hard to come by even with certain AP boosting accessories, but there is also zero reason to master most of the abilities in the skill tree. The reward for mastering a skill is usually that in combat, you can link that skill to a different Eikon, meaning you will have 2 separate cooldowns for the same command. However, there isn’t much incentive to do that, as every Eikon has their own set of skills that are useful for their own ways. Some Eikons’ skills I used for whittling down an enemy’s stagger bar, while the others I used were strictly for the offensive. I really could not afford to let go of one skill in place for 2 of the same skill.
Torgal, Clive’s pet dog, also has some influence in combat. Pressing left on the D-Pad, the player can quickly shift between a menu for Torgal’s commands or a menu full of consumables one can use. Torgal gets 3 commands, just like Clive gets 3 consumables in combat, mapped to the other buttons on the D-Pad. While they do have their uses, I did find myself kind of ignoring Torgal and letting him do his own thing after some time since he is also AI-controlled otherwise. He’s too much of an inconvenience at times to fully play around with him. I’d much rather just play around with Clive’s abilities instead.
Of course, like any JRPG Clive must upgrade his weapons, armor, and accessories over time. Clive can craft and refine equipment, but I wish this system was way more expansive. It was super simple for even a monkey to understand this system, but in the end, it just boiled down to “big number go up get item”. You could also buy some of the necessary ingredients for a new weapon, but the items in the overworld generally suffice since the only items there are items that help with item crafting. There wasn’t a reason to actually spend time on an item crafting station, just go there, craft your new sword, and get out.
Moving away from combat, I mentioned earlier how sidequests were great for world-building. I also mentioned earlier that this game was made by Creative Business Unit 3, the same people who made the immensely popular MMORPG FINAL FANTASY XIV. All of the sidequests in this game made fetch quests from XIV look like heaven. Unfortunately, too, this style of fetch quest also bleeds into the main quest very often. It doesn’t help that in towns and other big named locations Clive moves very slowly due to a severe lack of a sprint button. Even in the giant zones too, Clive takes a while to start sprinting through the maps. Later on through a very specific sidequest, Clive gets access to a Chocobo which speeds things up significantly, but only in the giant zones then it’s back to slowly creeping through towns.
Finally, while the characters are great, the one character I wish had more development was Jill. She’s also a huge driving factor in Clive’s story. She’s there to bring the best out of Clive; his emotional support, and for that I love her a lot. I just wish that there was more to Jill’s story. She gets some elements of development around halfway through the story but after that, it kind of just stops with her. She’s an amazing character, don’t get it twisted, I just really wish there was more of her throughout the game.
Overall, this seems to be a return to form for the Final Fantasy series. This is a huge reminder that even after 36 years, a whole half a lifetime, there’s a reason why Final Fantasy still holds up as a series. 4.5/5 for me, and is very easily my contender for Game of The Year. Let’s just hope Geoff Keighley also agrees. :P
“And thus did our journey end…"
EDIT: Brought down to 3/5. See comments.
To start things off, to whoever says this isn’t Final Fantasy, go fuck yourself. Seriously. Maybe actually play the game before coming up with such a stupid claim. With the trailers for this game purposefully only showing perhaps the first 10 hours, on top of previous developer interviews with producer Yoshi-P, people thought that this game will be extremely different from the rest of the series. While there is some merit to that, Final Fantasy has always innovated in its rights. Lo and behold, this game also innovates a lot.
I, in good faith, however, cannot call this game a JRPG, much like the majority of Final Fantasy games before it; rather I’d call this a character action-adventure game. The combat system has evolved into something more reminiscent of Bayonetta or Devil May Cry, while the story’s more dark and mature themes are like those of Game of Thrones. Normally, Final Fantasy is a lot more light-hearted in nature than all of these 3 series, yet this game still acts more like a love letter to previous entries to this series if I’ve ever seen one.
Namely, this game does a marvelous job of blending in a cinematic narrative with entrancing gameplay. Final Fantasy has always done this as a whole, but with this game being a PlayStation 5 exclusive these elements now get the perfect time to shine with the power of next-gen hardware. It is made abundantly clear in the Cinematic Dodges, Cinematic Strikes, and Cinematic Clashes that come up throughout various important fights throughout the game. With them, the player can see just how stunning everything is in this game by just looking at it. Also, as the game progresses through its story, the game also manages to almost flawlessly go from a gritty, dark, mature story to one full of hope that is reminiscent of previous entries in the Final Fantasy series. It manages to do this without being jarring at all, in fact, it does it entirely organically through the progression of world-building sidequests and character interactions.
Final Fantasy has also been renowned for its amazing musical scores and characters. Soken set the studio on fire with this soundtrack with seemingly flawless transitions, blending in the new songs with renditions of classic Final Fantasy jingles. During cutscenes with characters and other places with music playing, you can hear renditions of the Final Fantasy prelude or main theme from all the way back in 1987 when FINAL FANTASY first launched on the Famicom.
On top of that, the player can individually see the struggles of every single character, including the evil ones. The game starts off with Clive Rosfield losing everything he once knew in his life as royalty and becoming a fierce, rageful empirical warrior, to becoming a beacon of hope for others to build a better future for themselves even if it means throwing away the comfort of today. His character progression through the likes of his interactions with NPCs, his family, Gav, Torgal, Jill, Cid (who, by the way, is the best Cid I’ve ever had the pleasure of watching develop), and much more only makes Clive’s sad journey in the dark world of Valisthea into being a tragic hero all the more satisfying.
Even the smallest references to previous entries in the Final Fantasy series can be found within this game. Did you know Square released a CGI movie in 2001 called Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within? The average fan would probably not know, since it was a major box office flop back in the day. Hell, I didn’t know, since I wasn’t even born at the time. Yet, there is a boss fight in this game that utilizes a move called “Spirits Within”. Hunts are also in this game, similar to those of FINAL FANTASY XIV. That’s fitting, of course, since both XIV and XVI are made by the same people, but my point with this is that there are references to even the most minute things in the Final Fantasy lore that this game has to offer.
With all these elements, this game is probably the biggest love letter to the Final Fantasy series I’ve ever seen. This game is probably the most “Final Fantasy” ever. I can’t stress enough how much I really dislike the notion that people are truly out there saying this game isn’t. People need to get a brain for once. Jesus.
One final thing I’d also like to touch on is this game’s emphasis on world-building. Sidequests are there to tell you mini-stories about the characters around you and their struggles with their lives in this fantasy world. They can range from just simply killing monsters in order to save the village, to watching people come to terms with their losses and learning how others around them truly affect their lives. You just don’t get these stories through the main quest of the game. I tried my best with my run of this game to do every single one of these and a solid chunk of them managed to stick permanently with me. During the main story cutscenes, holding down the trackpad on the controller pulls up a menu for Active Time Lore, in which you can read more about the setting, story beats, and characters pertinent to the point in the plot you’re in. Finally, in Clive’s home base known as The Hideaway, there are 2 NPCs that help with this element too: Vivian and Harpocrates. When speaking to Vivian, the player can read up on events pertaining to the current point in the plot that Clive is in. When speaking to Harpocrates, Clive will report his journeys to him, and from there the player can read up on every element of the game up until that point, including characters, enemies, settings, and previous plot elements. If the player utilizes all of these elements in their entirety, there’s almost zero reason why the player can’t miss out on everything Valisthea and its inhabitant have to offer.
Whatever goes up, however, must also come down. Such is Newton’s Third Law of Motion, which is applicable to everything in this world including this game. Therefore, this game isn’t short of its notable flaws.
The combat system of this game does away with MP, and now magical affinity is tied to an Eikon you can shift to at any given moment in combat by a quick press of the L2 button. Your magic spell can be performed by quick presses of the Triangle button on your controller, or by holding it and then releasing it to charge a more powerful magic spell. My issue with this is that the element of your magic spell does not matter at all; regardless of your Eikon’s element no enemy ever has an elemental weakness like previous Final Fantasy entries. I can mostly excuse this, however, since the combat system is still probably the most expansive out of the entirety of the series so far allowing for freedom to create your own setups and combinations to absolutely destroy anything that comes your way. I do wish that magic had more of a say-so, though, as it would allow for even more freedom in an already free combat system.
Speaking of Eikons, in combat they have abilities that can be performed based on cooldowns. You can collect AP throughout the game, just like the rest of the Final Fantasy series, that you can use on a skill tree to upgrade and master these skills. Not only is AP hard to come by even with certain AP boosting accessories, but there is also zero reason to master most of the abilities in the skill tree. The reward for mastering a skill is usually that in combat, you can link that skill to a different Eikon, meaning you will have 2 separate cooldowns for the same command. However, there isn’t much incentive to do that, as every Eikon has their own set of skills that are useful for their own ways. Some Eikons’ skills I used for whittling down an enemy’s stagger bar, while the others I used were strictly for the offensive. I really could not afford to let go of one skill in place for 2 of the same skill.
Torgal, Clive’s pet dog, also has some influence in combat. Pressing left on the D-Pad, the player can quickly shift between a menu for Torgal’s commands or a menu full of consumables one can use. Torgal gets 3 commands, just like Clive gets 3 consumables in combat, mapped to the other buttons on the D-Pad. While they do have their uses, I did find myself kind of ignoring Torgal and letting him do his own thing after some time since he is also AI-controlled otherwise. He’s too much of an inconvenience at times to fully play around with him. I’d much rather just play around with Clive’s abilities instead.
Of course, like any JRPG Clive must upgrade his weapons, armor, and accessories over time. Clive can craft and refine equipment, but I wish this system was way more expansive. It was super simple for even a monkey to understand this system, but in the end, it just boiled down to “big number go up get item”. You could also buy some of the necessary ingredients for a new weapon, but the items in the overworld generally suffice since the only items there are items that help with item crafting. There wasn’t a reason to actually spend time on an item crafting station, just go there, craft your new sword, and get out.
Moving away from combat, I mentioned earlier how sidequests were great for world-building. I also mentioned earlier that this game was made by Creative Business Unit 3, the same people who made the immensely popular MMORPG FINAL FANTASY XIV. All of the sidequests in this game made fetch quests from XIV look like heaven. Unfortunately, too, this style of fetch quest also bleeds into the main quest very often. It doesn’t help that in towns and other big named locations Clive moves very slowly due to a severe lack of a sprint button. Even in the giant zones too, Clive takes a while to start sprinting through the maps. Later on through a very specific sidequest, Clive gets access to a Chocobo which speeds things up significantly, but only in the giant zones then it’s back to slowly creeping through towns.
Finally, while the characters are great, the one character I wish had more development was Jill. She’s also a huge driving factor in Clive’s story. She’s there to bring the best out of Clive; his emotional support, and for that I love her a lot. I just wish that there was more to Jill’s story. She gets some elements of development around halfway through the story but after that, it kind of just stops with her. She’s an amazing character, don’t get it twisted, I just really wish there was more of her throughout the game.
Overall, this seems to be a return to form for the Final Fantasy series. This is a huge reminder that even after 36 years, a whole half a lifetime, there’s a reason why Final Fantasy still holds up as a series. 4.5/5 for me, and is very easily my contender for Game of The Year. Let’s just hope Geoff Keighley also agrees. :P
“And thus did our journey end…"
EDIT: Brought down to 3/5. See comments.
I am in full belief that this game isn't just a video game, but rather a work of art that definitely belongs in history museums for generations to come. Very rarely do I ever completely go through every aspect of a video game and 100% it, but this was more than worthy of my time and effort to do that.
You would think that for a game that was so rushed from the insane high known as Ocarina of Time, that shamelessly reuses its assets in almost any given moment, and is treated like the unwanted middle child by the developers of the critically acclaimed Legend of Zelda series, it would be an atrocious mess. However, these supposed setbacks only amplified the beauty and excellence of this game; it allowed for a much dark and more ambitious tale the series hasn't been able to replicate since, let alone surpass. Such a brooding tale about how anyone can experience loss, death, grief, and anything in between keeps you captivated all the way through and then some.
As Child Link, who's now in search of his guiding fairy Navi who flew off after the events of Ocarina of Time only to be lured in by the evils of Majora's Mask and the Skull Kid into the land of Termina, you're now destined to just three days to stop the Moon from colliding with Termina and destroying everyone in the process. You go around 5 main areas in this land, exploring how everyone is trying to figure out the rest of their lives before it all eventually comes crashing down a mere 72 hours later.
Be it through side quests (which, by the way, are all super amazing and/or fun in their own ways) or having it all shown to you through your quest to stop the Moon, everyone's struggles are so deeply depicted it almost makes you want to cry as well. You see characters change over the course of 3 days from being completely unconcerned to being accepting of their impending fate. You see characters brooding their own personal losses on top of Moon coming in on them. You see characters setting up a whole festival in celebration of the Moon crashing. It's all truly brilliant, and that brilliance is only amplified by such a dreary atmosphere and music that gets progressively more omnipresent as time progresses.
You, the reader, might ask me about the obviously detrimental changes this remake made compared to its older Nintendo 64 version, to which I have to say that I think some of the complaints people make are definitely far too overblown. For example, people claim that the dark and more rough-around-the-edges N64 era models that the original game used added to the atmosphere, but I would argue that over 20 years later those models only make this masterpiece a lot harder to get into as it doesn't look as visually appealing. There still remain complaints with this remake, however, that are within reason, and for them, I played with the restoration patch found here, which entirely fixes them. Of course, that isn't to say this game isn't without its own flaws outside of this patch, like, in my opinion, how the final boss is stupidly easy and how the dungeons (barring Stone Tower) are either boring or frustrating, but I truly believe I've played the definitive version of this game.
4.75/5 with the Restoration patch, but it might as well be deemed a perfect 5/5. I would recommend anyone, be they a veteran of the series or a complete stranger to the concept of video games, play this version of the game WITH THE RESTORATION PATCH.
"You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?"
You would think that for a game that was so rushed from the insane high known as Ocarina of Time, that shamelessly reuses its assets in almost any given moment, and is treated like the unwanted middle child by the developers of the critically acclaimed Legend of Zelda series, it would be an atrocious mess. However, these supposed setbacks only amplified the beauty and excellence of this game; it allowed for a much dark and more ambitious tale the series hasn't been able to replicate since, let alone surpass. Such a brooding tale about how anyone can experience loss, death, grief, and anything in between keeps you captivated all the way through and then some.
As Child Link, who's now in search of his guiding fairy Navi who flew off after the events of Ocarina of Time only to be lured in by the evils of Majora's Mask and the Skull Kid into the land of Termina, you're now destined to just three days to stop the Moon from colliding with Termina and destroying everyone in the process. You go around 5 main areas in this land, exploring how everyone is trying to figure out the rest of their lives before it all eventually comes crashing down a mere 72 hours later.
Be it through side quests (which, by the way, are all super amazing and/or fun in their own ways) or having it all shown to you through your quest to stop the Moon, everyone's struggles are so deeply depicted it almost makes you want to cry as well. You see characters change over the course of 3 days from being completely unconcerned to being accepting of their impending fate. You see characters brooding their own personal losses on top of Moon coming in on them. You see characters setting up a whole festival in celebration of the Moon crashing. It's all truly brilliant, and that brilliance is only amplified by such a dreary atmosphere and music that gets progressively more omnipresent as time progresses.
You, the reader, might ask me about the obviously detrimental changes this remake made compared to its older Nintendo 64 version, to which I have to say that I think some of the complaints people make are definitely far too overblown. For example, people claim that the dark and more rough-around-the-edges N64 era models that the original game used added to the atmosphere, but I would argue that over 20 years later those models only make this masterpiece a lot harder to get into as it doesn't look as visually appealing. There still remain complaints with this remake, however, that are within reason, and for them, I played with the restoration patch found here, which entirely fixes them. Of course, that isn't to say this game isn't without its own flaws outside of this patch, like, in my opinion, how the final boss is stupidly easy and how the dungeons (barring Stone Tower) are either boring or frustrating, but I truly believe I've played the definitive version of this game.
4.75/5 with the Restoration patch, but it might as well be deemed a perfect 5/5. I would recommend anyone, be they a veteran of the series or a complete stranger to the concept of video games, play this version of the game WITH THE RESTORATION PATCH.
"You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?"
Was never really all that big into Star Wars, nor have I ever played a Souls game (or the like) at all up until this point, but after I was told to play this game by a simple recommendation of a Star Wars head friend of mine I thought I would step outside of my boundaries for a bit. Oh, MAN, did I enjoy doing that in the end.
It feels like an actual Star Wars story for once. I've seen all the movies (minus The Phantom Menace) at the time of writing, and the more recent ones in the sequel trilogy still leave a shit-stained memory in my brain, but this game being the most recent Star Wars media I've indulged myself in really made me remember how good this franchise really is. Even better yet, in the immersion of being in a video game, so you as the player feel yourself immersed in the story being told to you.
To top it off, the orchestral soundtrack sounds straight out of a Star Wars movie with rearrangements of classic Star Wars songs. To me, it felt very surreal that it felt like I was actually in a movie theater experiencing everything even though I was just in my bedroom playing a video game. I don't think I can stress enough the feeling of actually being immersed in a video game, and this game does it perfectly.
Even though the game is very plot-driven, I feel like the best part of this game are the characters themselves. Cal and Cere especially feel very human and just seeing them interact with each other feels like watching a mother raise her own child at times. Greez even feels like the funny uncle that tags along everywhere. It's unfortunate that due to her appearing so late into the game, Merrin didn't get much time to shine. I hope she does in Jedi: Survivor which I have yet to purchase, but even seeing her learn from Cal in this game felt nice. Even with the main villain, the Second Sister, you can see her struggles with her past quite clearly and how torn she is inside. Finally, for a little cute robot that is incomprehensible, BD-1 sure did add a nice finishing touch to an already stellar cast; a cherry on top.
Despite such an immersive and humane experience, however, I did notice that the game becomes very stale as you play more and more. At some point, it kind of felt like I was just going to some planet, traversing it, going back to the Mantis, and finally cutscenes. This happened throughout the game from start to finish, which starts becoming more and more apparent as one plays more. Additionally, because a lot of the game has you revisiting planets you've already been to in order to progress to new areas in such planets, it should be a standard that you should be able to fast-travel to areas that you've already been to. Unfortunately, there is a serious lack of that, making traversal much more of a slog and making the game feel a lot more stale.
The combat felt very solid but only for some enemies. At some point, it felt like the game's difficulty came more so from being annoying rather than actually being hard. Some enemies felt like sponges (the giant Droids) or even brick walls (any of the Purge Trooper variants). Granted, a lot of enemies' tediousness can be counteracted by Force abilities or abilities in Cal's skill tree, but you're only limited to how many times you can use those before it's back to swinging your lightsaber(s) and dodging.
Speaking of annoying, the parkour and just general traversal in this game are also annoying and even janky and buggy. Apparently, the PS5 version of the game is riddled with bugs (thanks, Western video game developers), but it really sucks how sometimes I don't grab onto a pipe and instead hit my head on it leading me to die. This would normally be fine if I were just respawned to the platform before the pipe but sometimes the respawn point would be set to the literal void. Because of this and the annoying puzzle design in the Tombs, YouTube quickly became my best friend for this game.
Finally, there is a reason to explore to increase your Force and/or health meters, but I felt that the lack of side quests in this game made me not have much incentive to explore to get these things. Cal’s skill tree also boosts these meters, so there really isn’t much of a reason to grab the Secrets other than for just simple exploration. Additionally, the chests you can get from exploration give you really shitty cosmetics which have no personality to any of them, ESPECIALLY the ponchos.
Solid 4/5. I don't think you necessarily have to be a huge Star Wars fan to enjoy this game; it's a Soulslike game for everyone. I wouldn't say it's a must-play, but it's definitely something that one can appreciate for a long time to come.
It feels like an actual Star Wars story for once. I've seen all the movies (minus The Phantom Menace) at the time of writing, and the more recent ones in the sequel trilogy still leave a shit-stained memory in my brain, but this game being the most recent Star Wars media I've indulged myself in really made me remember how good this franchise really is. Even better yet, in the immersion of being in a video game, so you as the player feel yourself immersed in the story being told to you.
To top it off, the orchestral soundtrack sounds straight out of a Star Wars movie with rearrangements of classic Star Wars songs. To me, it felt very surreal that it felt like I was actually in a movie theater experiencing everything even though I was just in my bedroom playing a video game. I don't think I can stress enough the feeling of actually being immersed in a video game, and this game does it perfectly.
Even though the game is very plot-driven, I feel like the best part of this game are the characters themselves. Cal and Cere especially feel very human and just seeing them interact with each other feels like watching a mother raise her own child at times. Greez even feels like the funny uncle that tags along everywhere. It's unfortunate that due to her appearing so late into the game, Merrin didn't get much time to shine. I hope she does in Jedi: Survivor which I have yet to purchase, but even seeing her learn from Cal in this game felt nice. Even with the main villain, the Second Sister, you can see her struggles with her past quite clearly and how torn she is inside. Finally, for a little cute robot that is incomprehensible, BD-1 sure did add a nice finishing touch to an already stellar cast; a cherry on top.
Despite such an immersive and humane experience, however, I did notice that the game becomes very stale as you play more and more. At some point, it kind of felt like I was just going to some planet, traversing it, going back to the Mantis, and finally cutscenes. This happened throughout the game from start to finish, which starts becoming more and more apparent as one plays more. Additionally, because a lot of the game has you revisiting planets you've already been to in order to progress to new areas in such planets, it should be a standard that you should be able to fast-travel to areas that you've already been to. Unfortunately, there is a serious lack of that, making traversal much more of a slog and making the game feel a lot more stale.
The combat felt very solid but only for some enemies. At some point, it felt like the game's difficulty came more so from being annoying rather than actually being hard. Some enemies felt like sponges (the giant Droids) or even brick walls (any of the Purge Trooper variants). Granted, a lot of enemies' tediousness can be counteracted by Force abilities or abilities in Cal's skill tree, but you're only limited to how many times you can use those before it's back to swinging your lightsaber(s) and dodging.
Speaking of annoying, the parkour and just general traversal in this game are also annoying and even janky and buggy. Apparently, the PS5 version of the game is riddled with bugs (thanks, Western video game developers), but it really sucks how sometimes I don't grab onto a pipe and instead hit my head on it leading me to die. This would normally be fine if I were just respawned to the platform before the pipe but sometimes the respawn point would be set to the literal void. Because of this and the annoying puzzle design in the Tombs, YouTube quickly became my best friend for this game.
Finally, there is a reason to explore to increase your Force and/or health meters, but I felt that the lack of side quests in this game made me not have much incentive to explore to get these things. Cal’s skill tree also boosts these meters, so there really isn’t much of a reason to grab the Secrets other than for just simple exploration. Additionally, the chests you can get from exploration give you really shitty cosmetics which have no personality to any of them, ESPECIALLY the ponchos.
Solid 4/5. I don't think you necessarily have to be a huge Star Wars fan to enjoy this game; it's a Soulslike game for everyone. I wouldn't say it's a must-play, but it's definitely something that one can appreciate for a long time to come.
2017
Played this after having not played Alola games in 7 years, given how I played the original Moon back in 2016 when it first launched. Couldn't really find what made this game so "ultra" compared to it either, but it's still fun nonetheless.
If I recall correctly, this game (and its counterpart) was marketed as an "alternate" story to the original games, which just really isn't the case for the first 90% of the game. After that, towards the end of the game you see the villain from the base games become more of a non-character in place of having a Pokémon as the main baddie for this game. That's really about it with the differences for this game, other than a few minor tweaks here and there.
There were definitely tiny gameplay adjustments, however, and other just fun side stuff that weren't present in the original games. I really liked having to collect the Totem stickers, as there were more tangible and usable rewards instead of Zygarde forms like the original games.
Solid game, just almost the exact same hand-holding tutorial of a game from 2016. :)
Backloggd is dumb once again and won't let me rank quarters of stars to pretend this is a 3.25/5.
If I recall correctly, this game (and its counterpart) was marketed as an "alternate" story to the original games, which just really isn't the case for the first 90% of the game. After that, towards the end of the game you see the villain from the base games become more of a non-character in place of having a Pokémon as the main baddie for this game. That's really about it with the differences for this game, other than a few minor tweaks here and there.
There were definitely tiny gameplay adjustments, however, and other just fun side stuff that weren't present in the original games. I really liked having to collect the Totem stickers, as there were more tangible and usable rewards instead of Zygarde forms like the original games.
Solid game, just almost the exact same hand-holding tutorial of a game from 2016. :)
Backloggd is dumb once again and won't let me rank quarters of stars to pretend this is a 3.25/5.
This was my first Fire Emblem game, and it's already off to a mid start for me with this series.
Played this game after making a deal with a friend, and I don't necessarily regret playing this. It definitely did keep me entertained. While I can't really make a comparison on other games to really say how this game "saved the series", I can definitely see the appeal of this game.
I really did enjoy the concept of being able to practically infinitely change your class and reset back to level 1, allowing them to retain their old stats while also being able to grow more in their stats. This allows for a fresh spin on almost every character in the game. Second/Master seals were something that I actively tried seeking out for and using on every character whenever they reached their mid to late level 10s. The combat for this game, which I can tell Fire Emblem is very centric around, gets very addicting very fast. While the pair up system quite literally just breaks the entire game's balance, it's still nice to see synergies for each character.
Now come the flaws of this game. There were 2 main ones that I found, both of which were just so insanely jarring.
The first one being how piss easy this game is. Robin is so insanely broken, regardless of what class you put them in. I think he/she might just be able to solo the game. Same thing applies to Chrom. No, I'm not saying this because I played on Normal/Casual. I watched other playthroughs as well in harder difficulties, and these two characters just stand out like two sore thumbs among the rest of the cast in combat. This also led me to only really caring about these 2 characters only. I found myself having to force S or A rank supports for the other cast members, since I didn't in particular care for them either.
The second flaw I found with this game is that there isn't much drive with the story with this game. Point A just needs to happen for Point B to happen. The whole story just feels reactionary the entire way through. I was definitely entranced by the combat of the game, which, again, is a centric part of Fire Emblem, but when I finally got the extra time to play this game, I found myself in a constant struggle to find myself enthralled with the story. I really just needed to get this story over with so I can finally play some other games I care more about.
3/5. Could be a starter for the series, but I'm not so sure myself.
Played this game after making a deal with a friend, and I don't necessarily regret playing this. It definitely did keep me entertained. While I can't really make a comparison on other games to really say how this game "saved the series", I can definitely see the appeal of this game.
I really did enjoy the concept of being able to practically infinitely change your class and reset back to level 1, allowing them to retain their old stats while also being able to grow more in their stats. This allows for a fresh spin on almost every character in the game. Second/Master seals were something that I actively tried seeking out for and using on every character whenever they reached their mid to late level 10s. The combat for this game, which I can tell Fire Emblem is very centric around, gets very addicting very fast. While the pair up system quite literally just breaks the entire game's balance, it's still nice to see synergies for each character.
Now come the flaws of this game. There were 2 main ones that I found, both of which were just so insanely jarring.
The first one being how piss easy this game is. Robin is so insanely broken, regardless of what class you put them in. I think he/she might just be able to solo the game. Same thing applies to Chrom. No, I'm not saying this because I played on Normal/Casual. I watched other playthroughs as well in harder difficulties, and these two characters just stand out like two sore thumbs among the rest of the cast in combat. This also led me to only really caring about these 2 characters only. I found myself having to force S or A rank supports for the other cast members, since I didn't in particular care for them either.
The second flaw I found with this game is that there isn't much drive with the story with this game. Point A just needs to happen for Point B to happen. The whole story just feels reactionary the entire way through. I was definitely entranced by the combat of the game, which, again, is a centric part of Fire Emblem, but when I finally got the extra time to play this game, I found myself in a constant struggle to find myself enthralled with the story. I really just needed to get this story over with so I can finally play some other games I care more about.
3/5. Could be a starter for the series, but I'm not so sure myself.
Played this VERY on and off in hard mode, just so I could get the platinum for this game (not the DLC. Yet, at least). I've already given my opinion on this game on the base PS4 Remake, I just wanted to come here and say MOTHERFUUUUUUUCK Top Secrets.