5 stars instinctually feels excessive for a game with so many problems, but it hardly leaves my mind when thinking of this series. 2 should have never had a sequel, but 4 is such a fascinating chapter in the series when it comes to Kojima himself and the fans of the series.
Despite my issues with it, I still believe 4 contains the best highs of the series (and also the lowest lows)
The BnB unit is terribly written but make for halfway okay boss fights most of the time. The story over explains everything from the prior games and almost ruins certain story elements or character motivations. As much as I recognize the bloated writing in 4, I still find myself captivated by it. This game equates to Kojima making sure he will never have to make a sequel ever again. It doesn’t leave a single thread loose. Old Snake represents the game itself. He’s old, not as heroic as he used to be, falling apart but forced to play his role in this conflict, held to the standards of his past etc. I also find tremendous humor in the fact that this is yet another Metal Gear game that refuses to let you play as the “ideal” solid snake. 2 took that away from you, 3 was close enough but is still a completely different character, and 4 brought him back as an elderly man that’s always coughing and throwing his back out. Unless we count Twin Snakes, Kojima never let us play as Snake in his prime again. It’s very representative of the series. Kojima didn’t want to follow up 2 so he made 3 a prequel. He didn’t want to direct 4 but fell to the pressure of his fans that practically forced him to take back control. Snake feels like his self insert in this game. Not to paint kojima as a deity figure that created the series on his own, his whole development team deserves equal praise, but snake’s role in 4 feels like a mirror to how this series just won’t end even though it should.

This isn’t really a criticism. We Love Katamari is one of my favorite games and it too was a sequel that likely shouldn’t have existed because the director didn’t want to make a sequel - but instead of half assing it due to obligation, they used those expectations of a sequel to create a very specific tone and style that had a strong voice behind it.

MGS4 is a train wreck but it feels like a game made by a team that really loved its fans and wanted to go out with a memorable bang. Despite the obvious narrative problems and incomplete gameplay ideas, MGS4 succeeds in having one of the most emotionally engaging finales of any video game ever made. It kind of lands on its feet somehow despite its almost intentional desire to ignore pacing structure. It’s such a weird game. Nothing like it exists, even within the series it’s a part of. I love it even if I feel like I should hate it sometimes. Complicated feelings like this are meaningful to me. I don’t rate this 5 stars because it’s mechanically perfect and an ideal example of game design or story telling, I rate it high because it just feels monumental when I engage with it. My favorite experiences aren’t what I consider objectively perfect, they’re the ones that stick with me and refuse to let go.
I value a flawed game that feels special to me over a technically perfect game that doesn’t provide a strong personal experience (which includes being simply fun). Personal experiences are important in art and I object to the obligation of grading a game like a homework assignment based off the standards of others. It’s why I only use star ratings when it’s a 5 star. I like to highlight games I’d consider my favorites, but my time with games or movies shouldn’t be boiled down to a math equation. Some people enjoy that process which is totally fine, but this is my subjective way of engaging with media. My experience is more important than my rating.

I’m incredibly curious how the public will react to MGS4 when it inevitably is ported to modern systems. Will reevaluation be favorable? It won’t impact how I view the game, but I have a feeling it’ll be far more jarring than when it initially released. It’s going to be fun to talk about it again with a bunch people who play it for the first time, whether they love it or hate it.

This is genuinely one of the most baffling blind spots I've had as a huge fan of JRPGs. I've heard time and time again about how revolutionary this game was for the genre, and I kept trying to pick it up and failing each time. I think initially, nothing really grabbed me about the game save for its' setting. Don't get me wrong; the opening isn't bad, but I have attention problems when it comes to games, if I'm not drawn in instantly, I have to really push myself to get to a point where playing comes naturally. Very glad that I ended up doing that this time around.

For reference, I played this game LOCKED IN this time around; I was playing in a pitch black room off my CRT with no background noise, save for a space heater because landlords are useless parasites. The atmosphere of this game is addicting, which is something I never noticed until I played this way. Midgar's oppressive, looming city contrasted with the dismal and cozy slums that lie underneath are such fascinating settings for the first segment of the game. You really start to get a sense for this world that you're in, you start to get immersed in this setting, almost in a way that you start to believe nothing is outside of this place. Which is why when you finally leave after a half-dozen hours, it's overwhelming. You can go anywhere in this colorful, lively world that starkly contrasts the setting you just got so comfortable knowing. This is genius, because you would think that the characters would react to this in an awestuck way, oohing and aahing at the new scenery, but instead they barely react at all, and instead the burden of those emotions is placed onto you, the player. This is how masterfully the world of FF7 is crafted and woven into the story, it almost makes you forget it's a PS1 game.

The gameplay is rather interesting too. It ranges from really easy, to extremely frustrating depending entirely on one thing; materia. Materia, no pun intended, is the lifeblood of FF7's systems, as it replaces skills and classes from other more traditional RPGs and turns FF7 into a wildly customizable experience. How you use materia what dictates how well things go for you in FF7, and I would argue is what defines it in the genre. Every spell/ability that is commonplace for other RPGs is squished into these slottable gems, meaning you can mix and match playstyles, meaning characters don't fall into one niche and that's all there is to say about them; rather you can choose whatever the hell you want them to be. For instance, I opted for Cloud to be a melee attack bruiser, giving him materia that allowed him to take hits for frailer party members, but he would also launch a counterattack when he endured these hits, allowing him to dish out more melee damage, regardless of if it's "his turn" or not. I gave Tifa a good mix of support abilities and healing, while still allowing her to hit pretty hard, making her kind of like a war monk in other games. My last party member was a pure caster, I gave him plenty of powerful spells and summons to empower him from the backline, whereas some other people opt to make him a physical bruiser. You really can do whatever you want, and it will usually work out pretty well, as long as you have a plan.

The soundtrack is superb, I really don't have much more to say about it than that. There is such an insanely wide variety of tracks that you would be hard pressed to not find something you absolutely adore from this game. The main theme is so fucking spectacular, too. I never got tired of hearing it.

In terms of critiques I have for this game, I would say that I was getting a little frustrated by the gimmicky stuff. If you've played, you know what I mean. Some dungeons are pretty straightforward, but other have some weird shit that kind of just draws you out of the game for a little bit. Nothing that really took away from my experience, but just frustrating to have to learn a new minigame/gimmick for a dungeon every hour or so. I will lend to its' credit, this did keep me on my toes for the duration of the game, but some of the minigames were wildly frustrating if you just didn't jive with the concept well. I would also say that the pacing of the story is a little wonky in Disc 2, I felt like there was a big lull in the middle, especially compared to the breakneck pacing at the start and the end of Disc 2, doing little side-fetch quests felt a little bit like the Triforce Quest from Wind Waker, albeit much much less tedious.

Final thoughts, I am a stupid idiot moron for not playing this sooner. This was one of the most fun gaming experiences I've had in a long while, I felt like a kid again, as that was the last time I've felt such wonder for gaming. I can confidently say that this game rightfully deserves it's place among the monoliths of gaming as a truly influential, masterpiece title now that I have finished it. It is super fascinating coming back to it after playing dozens upon dozens of JRPGs that drew inspiration from this monumental title, and drawing my little thread from those games back to here. This is just one of those games that every gamer has to experience at least once, just to see what all the hype is about.

92 hours clocked in and I still want to go back for more. This is a dream game. This is a landmark title in my personal gaming history. Remake felt a similar way but in a much more contained way. I adore it and everything it set out to do, but it was clearly a fraction of what was to come. Rebirth sits among the best experiences I’ve ever had with a video game. It reminded me of the first time I played Xenoblade Chronicles 1, being blown away by every environment and piece of music. It brought me back to playing Kingdom Hearts 2 for the first time with its constant narrative mystery and ridiculously fun and snappy combat. I can’t fully express how impossible it feels that this exists. Maybe to some it’s nothing more than The Witcher 3 with JRPG elements, but the way this game approaches the series legacy and history is unlike any remake I’ve seen, including the previous entry. It completely understands the spirit of the original. So many mini games that are actually fun. A card game that’s finally better than triple triad. It has the best towns I’ve experienced in any jrpg. In general it really revived the idea of the jrpg town being a place to look forward to and interact with. Too often do post 16-bit jrpg towns act as simple checkpoints and rest stops. There’s wonderful exceptions of course like DQXI, though it does feel rare.

Not a single side quest lost my interest either. A lot of them have unique mechanics or expand on some aspect of the world in an engaging way. It puts Remake’s side quests to horrendous shame. Even if the quest itself is a standard monster hunt, the developers know that the characters are the most important aspect of the story and turn every quest into a bonding experience. It adopts a dating-sim approach in a way. Choices pay off and almost feel like a personality test. Despite my efforts to go on the gold saucer date with Aerith, I ended up getting paired with Red. He’s my favorite character and the game knew that. It’s a very clever and simple little trick it pulls. I’m sure with more intent to artificially raise my relationship with certain characters I could have forced different scenes to play out, but I really loved the natural results I ended up with.

Playing this every day after work with my fiancé was a warm and comfortable tradition. The amount of emotions we experienced was unforgettable. Rebirth is a legit funny game a lot of the time too, only occasionally having an eye roll of a joke. The way these characters play off of each other and feel like real people is not a surprise after remake, but man is it nice to get 90 more hours of it.

I could go on forever, even without digging into spoilers. I know that Rebirth will likely be even more controversial than Remake, but I love seeing the discussion around it so far. Currently the final chapter is overtaking the conversation, but the wider scope of every chapter in this game warrants discussion. There’s sooo much here to reflect on.
I also love that we have some big questions answers but not all of them. I’m equally as eager for part 3 as I was for part 2. Something brilliant is happening here, and I hope those who flinch at things being different are able to look through what’s on the surface and see how it’s all still here. The discussion on what a remake of FF7 should be will never go away, but I believe what we’re getting is itself a reflection on that. It’s a swan song for these developers and probably their last chance to make this happen before they enter retirement. Discussion around remake felt like it lasted all the way until Rebirth. Rebirth will certainly keep us busy until part 3 is out. I can’t commend the creative team behind this game enough. Not only is this likely the best final fantasy game ever made, but it feels like what a modern final fantasy was always meant to be. Even if the story isn’t fully to your liking, the pacing and exploration on top of the tightly designed combat system and boss fights make for a modern reflection of classic final fantasy. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is special. I can’t help but feel like this will end up as the greatest gaming trilogy of all time.

Finished my 100% run of the game; still the greatest game I have ever had the privilege of playing. Kinoblade still my all timer, I love every single character in this game with every fiber of my being, and when Riki said "Shulk real Heropon" I felt that in my soul.

Real talk though, I cannot advise finishing all side-quests in this game unless you are a masochist. I was using a spreadsheet to track my progress with 100%ing the game and let me tell you; even with that I was still walking on eggshells that I would accidentally trigger a timeout on a quest due to certain story progressions. I think some of the sidequest chains are absolutely fucking hysterical, and I am ashamed I had never done the Bana sidequests til this playthrough.

Great game, Shulk+Reyn+Dunban dogwalking the final boss with one chain attack is a new highlight of this series for me lmao

Going to try and keep my thoughts concise for once. RDR is the best Rockstar game I have ever played, and prior to playing this, I would have said that's like being the tallest person at the fucking North Pole but honestly the gap between this and all of the other Rockstar games I have played has left me speechless.

The game prods at many themes such as honor, duty, loyalty, patriotism, fatherhood, and a man's worth. These conversations are usually explored on all sides and develop the picture of John Marston as a man who stands somewhere in the middle of them all in such a natural way. I think this game choosing to follow Marston after he hung up the hat with the Van der Linde gang is such a brilliant choice, and the ending was absolutely devastating, despite me having some idea of what was coming.

I have heard that RDR2 stands head and shoulders above this game, and if that's true I am in for an absolute blast with the second game.

First off I just wanna say that I played DX with the mod pack that fixes a lot of the issues the ports made while keeping the stuff it added and did well.
That being said, this is probably my favorite Sonic game lol. The environments, levels, and atmosphere are just unmatched, and unlike most any other game in the series. The controls still hold up extremely well, and yes I'm even including the Big stages (literally look up a guide on how to play them, it's the easiest thing in the world when you figure it out and I'm not even joking.)
Ive seen some people say this game is only good for the Sonic sections, but that feels super disingenuous, as I felt every character had at least one great level, and watching the story weave together with all of these seemingly loose threads and plot points, coming together to tell a satisfying narrative about learning from the mistakes of the past, was fantastic.
The world also just feels fully realized, there's so many NPCs in station square and the general overworld with constantly changing lives and dialogue, you're rewarded for paying attention and keeping notes on all of these citizens. This feeling is compounded by how fucking good the atmosphere in this game is, its just so easy to get sucked in and play for hours on end. What a good ass game. I could go on and on about how I love pretty much everything about this game, but i ain't got that kind of free time on me. You owe it to yourself to play the original dreamcast version of sonic adventure, it really is an adventure like no other.