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Super Mario Bros Wonder, simply put, is one of the best 2D platformers I have played in years. The difficulty level was pretty light throughout (though there are tougher secret stages that can be unlocked), but it was a great time from start to finish. The platforming was solid, the graphics were stunning, the music was top notch, and the stages were filled with hidden areas and secrets to find and were a lot of fun to explore. Additionally, the wonder flowers were a fun addition that really mixed up the gameplay in more ways than I expected they would.
Wonder felt like a true successor to Super Mario World and was a huge improvement over the "New Super Mario Bros" games. There were many times that I got that feeling of being a kid again while playing; that joy of experiencing a new and zany world that was fun to explore and filled with constant surprises. I highly recommend Super Mario Bros Wonder to pretty much anyone, but especially to anyone that grew up playing the original games in their youth. You won't be disappointed.
Wonder felt like a true successor to Super Mario World and was a huge improvement over the "New Super Mario Bros" games. There were many times that I got that feeling of being a kid again while playing; that joy of experiencing a new and zany world that was fun to explore and filled with constant surprises. I highly recommend Super Mario Bros Wonder to pretty much anyone, but especially to anyone that grew up playing the original games in their youth. You won't be disappointed.
When looking at the lenses of remakes, remasters, re-imaginings, reboots, definitive editions, ports, and plenty by the library classifications. It is important to understand where and what kind of vision the original and new are undertaking. Are companies such as Bluepoint trying to faithfully rework a game 1:1 without specific egregious artistic or personal changes in the first's tone and music? Do the budget remakes of Front Mission create a definitive edition? Can both the initial version and separate remakes such as Resident Evil stand side by side with one another? These are difficult questions to ask and honestly, I've seen many arguments for, against and nuance takes in the middle. Depending on the experience of the individual and the context from which is given in claims. The evidence and therefore the response may vary. To this end, I would posit a question. What is Final Fantasy VII Remake(FFVIIR)? Sounds like a dumb question, albeit questioning sprouts and fans, the answer may surprise you. In my eyes, the question is only a part of the whole pie I've been struggling to eat since completing the 2nd installment of the 2024 title called Rebirth. And in pursuit of such answers, I decided to replay FFVII Remake once more. Marking this as my third finished playthrough. I will state beforehand I’m not skilled enough to determine a decisive reply. Rather I've submitted 7 mixed feelings along with 7 praises. To demonstrate why I’m struggling and dearly pray the information presented will help a soul in a similar position. Forgive me if I offend anyone who holds the title near and dear to their hearts. That is not my intent. My troublesome concerns in the following text are not meant to be scathing nor as a rant. And are simply my observations on what could be improved. Followed by what I believe the team does well. With no spoilers as much as possible. Failing that, if at any point I’ve resorted heavily negatively or failing the above. Then you have my express permission to summon a big meteor and channel your energy to land on me and thus yeet me into the lifestream.
First - Faithful to the original, yet evokes new material. Over simply designating it as a remake. The official name should've been called a re-imagining. From the playstation store the description states "... is a reimagining of the iconic original with unforgettable characters, a mind-blowing story, and epic battles." For those confused on the word 'reimagine,' the definition according to merriam webster says "to imagine again or anew, or recreate." A remake by definition is "make anew or in a different form. - Remade." To explain in simpler terms. I perceive the definition to be a higher quality recreating the foremost vision with higher fidelity and optimizing whatever is lacking to a certain extent. A reimagining of this caliber goes beyond the constraints the previous presented to offer something unique and old. Straightaway, please erase notions of 1:1 you will find semblances and fresh adjustments present everywhere. I admit I am poorly ignorant of what the definition in the landscape of video games entailed and expected a remake before a reimagining. A gentle reminder to keep your expectations in check. Funnily enough, If you had talked to my 2020 self he would've given you a frowning face with a "What you talkin bout fool!?" while explaining why this is faithful. Man. Believe me, it is another instance of me desiring to go back in time to slap my past self silly. Regardless, a vital question comes to mind for fresh souls and veterans. Do I need to know the pioneers or titles from the compilation? The short response is no. For unfamiliar dudes. Don't worry this isn't me trying to scare prospective souls for the 2020 JRPG. Context is important, and sure you can gain a great deal more from playing the premier and other connected mediums within the universe. However, leave that to the fans who want something different. As someone who isn't a fan of the earliest yet devoured everything in the compilation minus Dirge. I sound hypocritical. Although I hold the seventh entry in the series in my top ten for the franchise. Don't get me wrong, this isn't me being an arbiter of who and what you can play. Eventually, it is your decision to decide. I love to inform/educate others for those not in the know or out of the loop. The long retort is a 'yes' and 'maybe' for fans and those somewhat familiar with the FF7 universe. Why? Well in a 2020 VG247 interview with the producer Yoshinori Kitase(Who directed the initial version) stated "...all of the lore from the works created after the original, the Compilation of Final Fantasy 7, that's all very much in the base of the canon for the remake, and going forward it will be too." The response was due to a question on how significant the "compilation ideas," will be brought to the table. What does this mean for the modern FF7 project split three ways? Well. in my eyes. They're moving outside a 're-imagining'. delving into territories of the 'reboot' and 'sequel' combination. Smashing like playdoh three qualities to present exciting and bold overhauls with the aged guards in the developer team and fresh blood behind the 1997 release. And does it stick to the landing? Hmm, I don't think I can state it definitively did, but my 2020 aging self and multiple friends, peers, and others dearly enjoy the remake. In that sense, I must articulate that's perfectly valid. But 2024 me posits an uncomfortable realization upon replaying before arriving at my conclusion. And that is...
Second - The linear sections need to take a backseat. A conclusion I reached since I've taken the liberty of recording my whole replay. For transparency, this means I played on classic difficulty and solely focused on the main narrative. Excluding the side-content because I already completed them in 2020. Where I finished a hard mode replay upon polishing off normal mode. I found dissecting the gameplay bits. 10+ linear sections in eighteen total chapters. Meaning player agency to move in an environment usually in a guided manner. Not bad by either means, however, these segments offer a repetitive structure of mandatory fights with some leeway to run past. Instead of opting for a free-form combat encounter at your leisure at any time. A famous example is Chrono Trigger where you had a bunch of areas to opt out of required battles by fleeing and running around mobs. Here we don't get that unless we run a sufficient distance or until each enemies are wiped out. Thereby, stalling players and a focus on rinse-and-repeat combat engagements. To drive the claim deeper these sectors take up 'xx' minutes. Ranging in my experience 20-50 min. Varying depending on the length: short, medium, and long. Includes watching cutscenes interlaced as you progress further in a route. Not noticeable if you partake in the voluntary areas and stop to take a break. An un-fun endeavor in dealing with yet a familiar path to tread and battle. Cutscenes and voiced commentary can only do so much if I'm forced to brawl with mob #1 and mob #2. Taking out the surprise and inducing...
Third - A rampant formulaic structure in abundance on the far side of the spectacle and splendor of the dystopian cyberpunk metropolis of Midgar. The place where the bulk takes place. Before I slash on ahead I must enunciate you control a character initially. Cloud Strife. Mercenary & EX-Soldier. Armed with a hulking greatsword busting from his back, he embarks on a dangerous job with eco-terrorists to stop a megacorporation from harnessing the planet's precious finite resource mako. An eyebrow-raising premise and I'll detail more later. Continuing from my claim earlier. The former is true. And though I'm no expert designer I don't like predictable sequences. The first offered short linear zones capable of completing in achingly fewer occasions than what my results found. Sharing authentic surprises making full use of the shift into 3D. By contrast, I found the measure of guided linear padding districts a chore than a fun participation. To be fair this is looking through the eyes of a replayer, yet for those newcomers this is probably fine. Although coming from Rebirth, I found the developers didn't learn their lesson and continued the practice to disastrous effects. Sure there are moments interspersed where we deal with minor obstacles in the way: switches, pulleys, levers, buttons, time limits and split parties, stealth, and walking passages. Creating opportunities to diversify the run then face another foe formula. Realistic to the point of unnecessary for the sake of immersiveness. Doesn’t make sense to hold a button to stress the act of pushing stuff such as hard levers. Hence, still not sufficient to make me jump in joy saying "GUYS THIS IS AWESOME!" Reality isn't the same as the expectations as I failed earlier above in my 1st point. Cut these chunks 50% to 100% in my opinion. Don't delay my gratification further to catch the next plot scene. Apply enjoyable no obstacles in overcoming or keep them extremely short. And to be frank we do distinguish semblances of these later on: trains, grappling hooks, and controlling big o'l arms, but their exposure is still too long for my tastes. Even slicing extended verticality would've helped in the level designs, slapping a sidequest abruptly can provide benefits.
Fourth - Thus padding becomes a constant companion of mine. From the FFVII Remake Ultimania book. An interview revealed "...in the original game, it takes about 7 hours to go through the Midgar section. In the Remake, the map would need to be in 3D, so there would be much more information to account for as well as minutes pass. To go from one point to another, and all that adds up. Since we knew that we would have to add scenarios to the story too, I knew that the overall gameplay of the Remake would be well enough to cover a whole game." - Tetsuya Nomura(co-director) said. Expanding the JRPG from 7 hours into a AAA term is unprecedented. Can you imagine if Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was cut 1/3 and the 1/3 was blown into a full $70 price tag? The number of resources, man-hours, and sheer effort along with the Square Enix budget + marketing. Of one of the most recognized JRPG brands on Earth and selling millions to this day, with medals of commercial and critical success in the tail-end of 1997 is double eye-brow raising past my hairline. My times in 2020 were 76 hours to 100%, 45hr on a first playthrough plus completing the entire sidequests and 19 for my replay. Close to the submitted averages from How long to beat data. Therefore it is inconceivable for me to imagine entirely the work involved has non-existent padding. The opposite is true adding filler during unnecessary sections. Not bringing out various spoilers, but I dissected the chapters, discovering multiple instances of stretching the seven hours. I've already talked above about the linear pieces, but certain cutscenes need not be extended. I don't want to watch a mysterious guy with cat-like eyes gradually gazing at me, walking slowly and spontaneously whispering in my ear. Appearing as a ghost when you least expect it and serving as a major means to tease the audience. Extra examples inside. Such as a roach add forced skirmishes with a guy who isn't really a friend, but hold up maybe he is because we escaped? But the dude has no depth whatsoever beyond flamboyant actions and liberally using the word 'nakama' as if it's going out of style. Villain points of view in a corporate office were also forced, displayed no nuance, and hit the predictability counter. A single egregious instance is a bald disgusting filthy excuse of a being hungering for the female body was equally disturbing and felt excruciatingly too lengthy. I wanted to gag and run out of the room looking at the poor excuse of a 'man,' constantly as the camera shifted to him.
Fifth - Modifications aren't always better in the plot. Again no spoilers, but I can count on one hand some important moments I feel shouldn't have been revised. The absence of blood, replaced with a [redacted] trail takes out the fear and horror replaced with a sense of befuddlement. And this confusion is greatly enhanced immediately upon our [censored] shifts from their initial personality into apathy. Followed by a sense of bewilderment as continued plotbeats hammer our vision punching a sort of psychosis-like of what is real and unreal into our eyeballs. Lingering repeatedly as the camera oh so slowly focuses on them repeatedly. As a consequence, a major character's presence is overhauled due to the additional scenes pandering to their figure instead of using imagination, stories told by word of mouth to take hold of our party. I understand why these adjustments were made, and it is not horrible to the extent I'm moaning so loudly. Merely closing my eyelids and hmming while simultaneously imagining what is going on in the writer's head. Kazushige Nojima and Motomu Toriyama specifically. Because actively adding and revising these elements felt weaker. Teasing and baiting without explaining concretely. A more isn't always a better case.
Sixth - Extends to the unfamiliar content. Namely Whispers. No softly saying words to my ears kind. Rather, mysterious entities will show up occasionally. Not a spoiler because these are shown in the official trailer. Without stating too much, the entities follow an old, repetitive pattern. I'm sure you heard it already, but it is a formulaic response once again to obstruct our party. Why? points gently at the wide and above points I've said so far. In essence, these felt needless, fueling countless theory-crafting and driving discussions. Which by itself isn't bad. I love a good talk with possible outcomes and what-ifs. But after finishing Rebirth and replaying, I still cannot find solid reasons for their existence to entice freshbloods into a JRPG. I've come to note their existence as a red-stop light. Stopping my vehicle motion until a certain amount of minutes have passed before I can move forward. Their intervention in most aspects worsens instead of alluring the audience. Removing their presence entirely and organically adding an easier, less complicated-to-understand presence would've been a better solution in my honest opinion. The closest example I could consider is the film Arrival(2016). Again no major beats will be spoiled from the film. But within the cast is introduced to [blank]. We, both the cast and audience try to understand what this [blank] is. By the credits rolling, I came out with a pensive, but nodding my head action. As vaguely as I can put it. I understood the whole picture. Whispers don't give you the tools to understand. Merely dangling a carrot atop your head while you flop around illustrating a starving bunny failing to reach the juicy treat. And as someone who loves lore and connects it to the plot. The single aspect infuriated me and shot my suspension into a black hole.
Seventh - The sidequests offer little to decent value. Ultimately granting a reprieve in the narrative. Looking back on my notes I wondered why I didn't utter exceptional stuff on the optional matter. After reviewing the list and rewards from a guide I realized why. Serving as a means to take a break. And offer chore missions to perform. From my findings, plus five fetch objectives, 10+ extermination assignments, several minigames, missable missions if you fail to carry out preceding jobs beforehand, and requirements. For instance, completing a couple of them in full unlock a party member cutscene with our protagonist. Playing devil's advocate, these operations do serve a purpose. Helping the people in Midgar, specifically the individuals in the slums who are in dire need of their tasks. Not a bad thing. However, the design implementation of fetching materials, and items, and finding stuff becomes boring. fighting unique variants of creatures fought in the plot and never-seen monsters is a nice touch, but consummate rewards can be lacking. They consist of items and equipment of above-average quality with several weapons exclusively gained. To be fair, not all quests suck. I'd bark a handful off the top of my head is notable in the sense of me giving a single thumbs up. Wish they resonated far higher with deep lore connections and barely superficial relationships. Extending to the NPCs you meet as well. Remove missable errands, interject our party members asking Cloud for help, abrupt errands popping up, surprising injecting urgency, followed by relief. Simple tasks removing debris or gently carrying an injured person while slowly commentating juicy gossip would've elevated the non-essential areas into a must-play. Now I'm shaking my head, grimacing to speak anything nice.
Bonus for the Intermission DLC - I'll be blunt I don't enjoy the intermission Yuffie episode. Offered with a pricetag to consumers following the launch months down the line. The cost I paid was $20. I didn't feel it was worth to play. For those not in the know. Here's a description of what it entails in the store page.. "Play as Yuffie after she arrives in Midgar. There, she and another Wutaian operative are to rendezvous with Avalanche HQ, infiltrate the Shinra Building, and steal the conglomerate's most powerful materia. This DLC unfolds over two chapters that are separate from the main narrative, and also adds a combat simulator fight against Weiss to the PlayStation®5 version." I like Yuffie, she offers a naive optimistic view marred by her grudge in a harsh world ruled by a megacorporation. Has clear goals and her infectious go-to attitude hardly fails to bring a grin on my face. However, playing as her I realized the pitfalls specifically the linearity added nothing satisfying. Launching my big ninja shuriken to hit objects in the environment and climbing and overcoming obstacles from battling leaves me a bitter taste I find in wasabi. Outside of a handful of cutscenes with her Wutaian operative who is handsome and cool. Conveying the strange if not interesting dynamic the duo share. And that was easily the strongest aspect displayed along with a lesser extent a tower defense minigame called Fort Condor. What grinds my gears paying $20 is how little the main plot moves. Two plus chapters and a combat simulator I have no interest in. The former is heavily lacking despite trying to intersperse the duo's movements while the main story progresses back in the base FF7 crew. As a consequence, very little I enjoyed besides learning background about her once her mission finishes. A modicum of context for her soon-to-be joining with the main cast in Rebirth. And why she's acting in a certain manner. A lack of meaningful content I paid a substantial amount leaves me full of regret. I wish I had the foresight to travel in time and watch a Let's Play instead. There goes my five hours never returning. For those who adore the fullest extent granted I salute you.
Phew. With utterly nasty stuff out of the way. I can now focus on the best parts. And it's funny, I started my replay in search for validation of my troubled thoughts and came out picking spare facets I revel in.
I - Body gestures, facial expressions, and voice acting beautifully translate the 1997 3D era into the modern enriching our beloved party. The 2020 title wonderfully demonstrates this. The guy with a machine gun arm(Voiced by John Eric Bentley) is easily my favorite dude. Charismatic, body of action, gung-ho yet deep within his tough, gruff exterior lies a loving family dude. His speeches and comradery brighten my days whenever he's on screen. A female martial artist/bartender(Voiced by Britt Baron) is soft-spoken but belays a deep love for her friends. Giving a helping hand to whoever her companions are. Yet her eyeballs and facial expressions along with a fraction of timidness tell a deeper story. She doesn't display her emotions a lot, from her face, but generally her body motions. Baron's voice lends a hidden quality I found myself talking internally "Oh these cheeky buggers." That's the max I'll pass to stop myself from blurting a cool detail. Perhaps the most striking and given the maximum enhanced flair is the flower girl(played by Briana White) our merc meets later on. Wearing fully her emotions on her sleeve, she charges ahead, setting the stage yet doesn't outshine her fellow members. Trying different things and is unafraid to speak her mind with gestures and emoting so gracefully but not to the extent of over-dramatic illustrating Nicholas Cageness as some haters love to slap on him. She exudes a gentle, caring personality in contrast to the people you witness. Endearingly loveable. Complementing their physical presence is a flirty, but kind female, a not-Rambo-like dude, except very friendly and thinks with backups. An affectionate and true-to-heart guy who loves a tasty meal. And last but not least the guy with a huge buster sword on his back who I'll continue to give the benefit of the doubt behind his no-nonsense values but continues to help his comrades for a solid price. The villains to keep things short. I hate them substantially. Good job fellas.
II - Worldbuilding is satisfying to learn. The key to a decent to quality worldbuilding in my opinion is if the player connects to the lore, the relationships individuals have with NPCs, antagonists, and surrounding rules, laws, religion, beliefs, and values, presented in an effective way grabbing hold the audience, never breaking apart, fastening a desire to learn further. Here I had a deeper love for the universe entailed. Misinformation and propaganda became easily digestible and prevalent sifting through what is true and false information. I love the added depth in the NPCs. We behold how they act, their gripes given freely, their daily lives in the slums, what assistance they need, and who is perpetrating the evils nearby causing a disturbance. Adjusting their dialogue as the world moves forward. The cause and effect our colleagues undergo as beats pass. Witnessing the consequences of our actions. Enriching my proficiency. I grasped fear at the sheer scale of devastation. Helpless in my struggle to conjure meaningful methods of assistance. Warmly embraced the power of friendship. Lending a hand to those in need while meeting an angel. And helped a poor guy who seemed to have enough bad luck etched onto his soul.
III - Guided experience of linearity. Didn't mind the linearity at every opportunity. I mentioned before the linear sections needed to take a backseat and it's true. However, I appreciate the decent length and restraint of levels to hold being a maze-esque or overstaying their welcome. Grateful, exploration isn't filled to the brim with useless collectibles, an excess of loot, and a tedious length. Feels just right to be led to my next storybeat without a major hang-up stalling me. Consequently guiding me into a satisfactory mood. The commentary members' sprouts occasionally aid in removing the dullness permeating. Reminds me of FFXIII. This comes as no surprise since the director Motomu Toriyama resides with the FF7 crew. For what it's worth, it is an improvement from the hallway nature prior. Though to be frank I didn't mind them considering it was my official gateway into the franchise heh.
IV - Supplementary characterization made me smile a lot. I remember key specifics from FF7 and to behold my beloved characters now provides increased background, insight into their interpersonal relationships and human characteristics in expanded detail is one of the strongest I adore. Every person receives a modest to larger-than-life expansion for the better I reckon. A flirty armor girl surprised me. In her hidden motivations concerning family and her previous background. A splinter cell obtained considerable screentime that I previously forgot. Wedge endeared me for his loveable nature extending beyond his friends namely cats and tasty meals. Biggs worries a lot and is unable to stop overthinking things. Yet has a heart of gold. I can go on, but I believe the interesting conversations spoken out of fights and during walks heighten the sense of camaraderie and friendship blooming. Heartwarming to witness first impressions mellow out, distrust and suspicions thawing in the face of a common enemy. Giving out a helping hand, handshakes, high-fives with a motion to stand by fellow companions instead of walking away is a powerful show, don't tell. Precious bonds are forging and solidifying and it is awesome viewing these interactions.
V - The cinematography is breathtaking. I vividly remember iconic moments in the past. Thus perceiving them recreated in magnificent care is a sight to behold. Fluid animations, on-the-spot lip-sync, no out-of-character or sharp cuts. Action sequences offer an intense rush following combat during an encounter or moving along the plot. The camera is the star and I am on the edge of my seat looking forward to the next cutscene coming alive. I adore catching my beloved group shine. Panning the screen exhibits landscape shots to breathe in both the sheer beauty of the world and horror. Equally represented. I am thankful the camera doesn't move too fatal parading useless shots. I figure 90%+ of the whole work done by the cinematics is rendering shock and awe. From the biggest to smallest moments. I cannot for the life of me complain about the artistic vision. Pleased to note everything from monsters to humans, made with painstaking clarity and life. Conversations between allies are not too long or too short. Employing no waste. Made me appreciate discussions and commentary in and outside of battles. Body gestures, facial expressions, and voice acting coalesce achieving realism. Gluing on hidden peculiarities I may have missed. Antagonists also share a respectable amount of screen focus. Feeling far in tune with a darker nature behind fake placid expressions. Honestly, I'm clenching my teeth a bit whenever their presence is displayed. Seriously wish I could sockem into pancakes if I had One-Punch-Man's power. Ughhh.
VI - Combat runs optimally whereas before they staggered and walked tall. As Michael Higham first coined the term. Transforming two plus decades of the Active Time Battle(ATB) system for the 2020s is no small task. Has to be engaging, and tactical, delving into simple to complex maneuvers. FFVIIR succeeds in this aspect allowing gateways and fans a fresh, but familiar way to eliminate foes. FFXIII stagger mechanic is used, intensifying deadly blows on bosses by increasing their percentage. Spells, items, and abilities fluidly intersect. Defending, attacking, and retreating are viable options. Likewise activating a limit break. Ultimate moves by our members display a spectacle flourish as a coup de grace. A battle system worth revisiting and as someone who didn't tire of it on my 3rd run that says a lot on sheer robustness. Hard mode concentrates the finer aspects of fine-tuning equipment, materia(ability/passive modifiers during the flow of skirmishes), and proper item usage to etch a challenging win past a hard-fought match. Forming not an insurmountable cliff to climb. But a gradual incline passes the conventional rinse and repeat tactics of normal mode. Additionally, VR battles and completing optional objectives serve as a nice segway to learning the tricks of the trade. Granting a deeper fulfillment for those hungry for extended bloodthirsty encounters.
VII - New is cool and I don't care about the ancient material. And even if I did care, there is adequate 'new' content giving me a boatload of incentives to look forward to in the future. Hmph! I was imagining for a lengthy period of a scenario where I didn't play the compilation entries, or original and watched the extended media. Concluding, enough enjoyable parts to satisfy anyone(to varying degrees). In spite of my 7 mixed feelings affecting my overall experience. Yes, it is a remake, yes it is a re-imagining but it doesn't discount my mixed feelings and enjoyment. Instead, it brings perspective, reflection, and a culmination of everything I sought and gained in 2020. Everyone who loves it or almost the entire pie, is in for a tasty treat. My past self most certainly would agree. But my 2024 self I'm moving onwards over my honeymoon phase to realize the cracks forming. On the far side of splendor lies a troubled heart. I find myself beset with multiple questions on what constitutes a viable reimagining/remake/reboot. I'll probably ruminate for years to come constantly re-evaluating the ever-eluding dilemma. For now to answer what I said previously what is Final Fantasy VII Remake? It is a serviceable that could be improved remake striving to uphold, surpass, and capture new and youthful veterans. Regardless of reception, they move to the beat of their drum. Varying in results, what matters is what you think of the title. Feelings strong or minor are fair and valid. And it is as the 2015 E3 trailer prophesies.
"...there are now beginnings of a stir. The reunion at hand may bring joy; it may bring fear. But let us embrace whatever it brings..."
7/10
References and Additional Material:
DF’s 2020 Unpublished review + spoiler thoughts
2020 VG247 interview
2020 FFVII Remake Ultimania book. An interview
FF7R List and Rewards from a Guide
Original title by Michael Higham
FF7 Remake Official trailer
2015 Final Fantasy E3 trailer
First - Faithful to the original, yet evokes new material. Over simply designating it as a remake. The official name should've been called a re-imagining. From the playstation store the description states "... is a reimagining of the iconic original with unforgettable characters, a mind-blowing story, and epic battles." For those confused on the word 'reimagine,' the definition according to merriam webster says "to imagine again or anew, or recreate." A remake by definition is "make anew or in a different form. - Remade." To explain in simpler terms. I perceive the definition to be a higher quality recreating the foremost vision with higher fidelity and optimizing whatever is lacking to a certain extent. A reimagining of this caliber goes beyond the constraints the previous presented to offer something unique and old. Straightaway, please erase notions of 1:1 you will find semblances and fresh adjustments present everywhere. I admit I am poorly ignorant of what the definition in the landscape of video games entailed and expected a remake before a reimagining. A gentle reminder to keep your expectations in check. Funnily enough, If you had talked to my 2020 self he would've given you a frowning face with a "What you talkin bout fool!?" while explaining why this is faithful. Man. Believe me, it is another instance of me desiring to go back in time to slap my past self silly. Regardless, a vital question comes to mind for fresh souls and veterans. Do I need to know the pioneers or titles from the compilation? The short response is no. For unfamiliar dudes. Don't worry this isn't me trying to scare prospective souls for the 2020 JRPG. Context is important, and sure you can gain a great deal more from playing the premier and other connected mediums within the universe. However, leave that to the fans who want something different. As someone who isn't a fan of the earliest yet devoured everything in the compilation minus Dirge. I sound hypocritical. Although I hold the seventh entry in the series in my top ten for the franchise. Don't get me wrong, this isn't me being an arbiter of who and what you can play. Eventually, it is your decision to decide. I love to inform/educate others for those not in the know or out of the loop. The long retort is a 'yes' and 'maybe' for fans and those somewhat familiar with the FF7 universe. Why? Well in a 2020 VG247 interview with the producer Yoshinori Kitase(Who directed the initial version) stated "...all of the lore from the works created after the original, the Compilation of Final Fantasy 7, that's all very much in the base of the canon for the remake, and going forward it will be too." The response was due to a question on how significant the "compilation ideas," will be brought to the table. What does this mean for the modern FF7 project split three ways? Well. in my eyes. They're moving outside a 're-imagining'. delving into territories of the 'reboot' and 'sequel' combination. Smashing like playdoh three qualities to present exciting and bold overhauls with the aged guards in the developer team and fresh blood behind the 1997 release. And does it stick to the landing? Hmm, I don't think I can state it definitively did, but my 2020 aging self and multiple friends, peers, and others dearly enjoy the remake. In that sense, I must articulate that's perfectly valid. But 2024 me posits an uncomfortable realization upon replaying before arriving at my conclusion. And that is...
Second - The linear sections need to take a backseat. A conclusion I reached since I've taken the liberty of recording my whole replay. For transparency, this means I played on classic difficulty and solely focused on the main narrative. Excluding the side-content because I already completed them in 2020. Where I finished a hard mode replay upon polishing off normal mode. I found dissecting the gameplay bits. 10+ linear sections in eighteen total chapters. Meaning player agency to move in an environment usually in a guided manner. Not bad by either means, however, these segments offer a repetitive structure of mandatory fights with some leeway to run past. Instead of opting for a free-form combat encounter at your leisure at any time. A famous example is Chrono Trigger where you had a bunch of areas to opt out of required battles by fleeing and running around mobs. Here we don't get that unless we run a sufficient distance or until each enemies are wiped out. Thereby, stalling players and a focus on rinse-and-repeat combat engagements. To drive the claim deeper these sectors take up 'xx' minutes. Ranging in my experience 20-50 min. Varying depending on the length: short, medium, and long. Includes watching cutscenes interlaced as you progress further in a route. Not noticeable if you partake in the voluntary areas and stop to take a break. An un-fun endeavor in dealing with yet a familiar path to tread and battle. Cutscenes and voiced commentary can only do so much if I'm forced to brawl with mob #1 and mob #2. Taking out the surprise and inducing...
Third - A rampant formulaic structure in abundance on the far side of the spectacle and splendor of the dystopian cyberpunk metropolis of Midgar. The place where the bulk takes place. Before I slash on ahead I must enunciate you control a character initially. Cloud Strife. Mercenary & EX-Soldier. Armed with a hulking greatsword busting from his back, he embarks on a dangerous job with eco-terrorists to stop a megacorporation from harnessing the planet's precious finite resource mako. An eyebrow-raising premise and I'll detail more later. Continuing from my claim earlier. The former is true. And though I'm no expert designer I don't like predictable sequences. The first offered short linear zones capable of completing in achingly fewer occasions than what my results found. Sharing authentic surprises making full use of the shift into 3D. By contrast, I found the measure of guided linear padding districts a chore than a fun participation. To be fair this is looking through the eyes of a replayer, yet for those newcomers this is probably fine. Although coming from Rebirth, I found the developers didn't learn their lesson and continued the practice to disastrous effects. Sure there are moments interspersed where we deal with minor obstacles in the way: switches, pulleys, levers, buttons, time limits and split parties, stealth, and walking passages. Creating opportunities to diversify the run then face another foe formula. Realistic to the point of unnecessary for the sake of immersiveness. Doesn’t make sense to hold a button to stress the act of pushing stuff such as hard levers. Hence, still not sufficient to make me jump in joy saying "GUYS THIS IS AWESOME!" Reality isn't the same as the expectations as I failed earlier above in my 1st point. Cut these chunks 50% to 100% in my opinion. Don't delay my gratification further to catch the next plot scene. Apply enjoyable no obstacles in overcoming or keep them extremely short. And to be frank we do distinguish semblances of these later on: trains, grappling hooks, and controlling big o'l arms, but their exposure is still too long for my tastes. Even slicing extended verticality would've helped in the level designs, slapping a sidequest abruptly can provide benefits.
Fourth - Thus padding becomes a constant companion of mine. From the FFVII Remake Ultimania book. An interview revealed "...in the original game, it takes about 7 hours to go through the Midgar section. In the Remake, the map would need to be in 3D, so there would be much more information to account for as well as minutes pass. To go from one point to another, and all that adds up. Since we knew that we would have to add scenarios to the story too, I knew that the overall gameplay of the Remake would be well enough to cover a whole game." - Tetsuya Nomura(co-director) said. Expanding the JRPG from 7 hours into a AAA term is unprecedented. Can you imagine if Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was cut 1/3 and the 1/3 was blown into a full $70 price tag? The number of resources, man-hours, and sheer effort along with the Square Enix budget + marketing. Of one of the most recognized JRPG brands on Earth and selling millions to this day, with medals of commercial and critical success in the tail-end of 1997 is double eye-brow raising past my hairline. My times in 2020 were 76 hours to 100%, 45hr on a first playthrough plus completing the entire sidequests and 19 for my replay. Close to the submitted averages from How long to beat data. Therefore it is inconceivable for me to imagine entirely the work involved has non-existent padding. The opposite is true adding filler during unnecessary sections. Not bringing out various spoilers, but I dissected the chapters, discovering multiple instances of stretching the seven hours. I've already talked above about the linear pieces, but certain cutscenes need not be extended. I don't want to watch a mysterious guy with cat-like eyes gradually gazing at me, walking slowly and spontaneously whispering in my ear. Appearing as a ghost when you least expect it and serving as a major means to tease the audience. Extra examples inside. Such as a roach add forced skirmishes with a guy who isn't really a friend, but hold up maybe he is because we escaped? But the dude has no depth whatsoever beyond flamboyant actions and liberally using the word 'nakama' as if it's going out of style. Villain points of view in a corporate office were also forced, displayed no nuance, and hit the predictability counter. A single egregious instance is a bald disgusting filthy excuse of a being hungering for the female body was equally disturbing and felt excruciatingly too lengthy. I wanted to gag and run out of the room looking at the poor excuse of a 'man,' constantly as the camera shifted to him.
Fifth - Modifications aren't always better in the plot. Again no spoilers, but I can count on one hand some important moments I feel shouldn't have been revised. The absence of blood, replaced with a [redacted] trail takes out the fear and horror replaced with a sense of befuddlement. And this confusion is greatly enhanced immediately upon our [censored] shifts from their initial personality into apathy. Followed by a sense of bewilderment as continued plotbeats hammer our vision punching a sort of psychosis-like of what is real and unreal into our eyeballs. Lingering repeatedly as the camera oh so slowly focuses on them repeatedly. As a consequence, a major character's presence is overhauled due to the additional scenes pandering to their figure instead of using imagination, stories told by word of mouth to take hold of our party. I understand why these adjustments were made, and it is not horrible to the extent I'm moaning so loudly. Merely closing my eyelids and hmming while simultaneously imagining what is going on in the writer's head. Kazushige Nojima and Motomu Toriyama specifically. Because actively adding and revising these elements felt weaker. Teasing and baiting without explaining concretely. A more isn't always a better case.
Sixth - Extends to the unfamiliar content. Namely Whispers. No softly saying words to my ears kind. Rather, mysterious entities will show up occasionally. Not a spoiler because these are shown in the official trailer. Without stating too much, the entities follow an old, repetitive pattern. I'm sure you heard it already, but it is a formulaic response once again to obstruct our party. Why? points gently at the wide and above points I've said so far. In essence, these felt needless, fueling countless theory-crafting and driving discussions. Which by itself isn't bad. I love a good talk with possible outcomes and what-ifs. But after finishing Rebirth and replaying, I still cannot find solid reasons for their existence to entice freshbloods into a JRPG. I've come to note their existence as a red-stop light. Stopping my vehicle motion until a certain amount of minutes have passed before I can move forward. Their intervention in most aspects worsens instead of alluring the audience. Removing their presence entirely and organically adding an easier, less complicated-to-understand presence would've been a better solution in my honest opinion. The closest example I could consider is the film Arrival(2016). Again no major beats will be spoiled from the film. But within the cast is introduced to [blank]. We, both the cast and audience try to understand what this [blank] is. By the credits rolling, I came out with a pensive, but nodding my head action. As vaguely as I can put it. I understood the whole picture. Whispers don't give you the tools to understand. Merely dangling a carrot atop your head while you flop around illustrating a starving bunny failing to reach the juicy treat. And as someone who loves lore and connects it to the plot. The single aspect infuriated me and shot my suspension into a black hole.
Seventh - The sidequests offer little to decent value. Ultimately granting a reprieve in the narrative. Looking back on my notes I wondered why I didn't utter exceptional stuff on the optional matter. After reviewing the list and rewards from a guide I realized why. Serving as a means to take a break. And offer chore missions to perform. From my findings, plus five fetch objectives, 10+ extermination assignments, several minigames, missable missions if you fail to carry out preceding jobs beforehand, and requirements. For instance, completing a couple of them in full unlock a party member cutscene with our protagonist. Playing devil's advocate, these operations do serve a purpose. Helping the people in Midgar, specifically the individuals in the slums who are in dire need of their tasks. Not a bad thing. However, the design implementation of fetching materials, and items, and finding stuff becomes boring. fighting unique variants of creatures fought in the plot and never-seen monsters is a nice touch, but consummate rewards can be lacking. They consist of items and equipment of above-average quality with several weapons exclusively gained. To be fair, not all quests suck. I'd bark a handful off the top of my head is notable in the sense of me giving a single thumbs up. Wish they resonated far higher with deep lore connections and barely superficial relationships. Extending to the NPCs you meet as well. Remove missable errands, interject our party members asking Cloud for help, abrupt errands popping up, surprising injecting urgency, followed by relief. Simple tasks removing debris or gently carrying an injured person while slowly commentating juicy gossip would've elevated the non-essential areas into a must-play. Now I'm shaking my head, grimacing to speak anything nice.
Bonus for the Intermission DLC - I'll be blunt I don't enjoy the intermission Yuffie episode. Offered with a pricetag to consumers following the launch months down the line. The cost I paid was $20. I didn't feel it was worth to play. For those not in the know. Here's a description of what it entails in the store page.. "Play as Yuffie after she arrives in Midgar. There, she and another Wutaian operative are to rendezvous with Avalanche HQ, infiltrate the Shinra Building, and steal the conglomerate's most powerful materia. This DLC unfolds over two chapters that are separate from the main narrative, and also adds a combat simulator fight against Weiss to the PlayStation®5 version." I like Yuffie, she offers a naive optimistic view marred by her grudge in a harsh world ruled by a megacorporation. Has clear goals and her infectious go-to attitude hardly fails to bring a grin on my face. However, playing as her I realized the pitfalls specifically the linearity added nothing satisfying. Launching my big ninja shuriken to hit objects in the environment and climbing and overcoming obstacles from battling leaves me a bitter taste I find in wasabi. Outside of a handful of cutscenes with her Wutaian operative who is handsome and cool. Conveying the strange if not interesting dynamic the duo share. And that was easily the strongest aspect displayed along with a lesser extent a tower defense minigame called Fort Condor. What grinds my gears paying $20 is how little the main plot moves. Two plus chapters and a combat simulator I have no interest in. The former is heavily lacking despite trying to intersperse the duo's movements while the main story progresses back in the base FF7 crew. As a consequence, very little I enjoyed besides learning background about her once her mission finishes. A modicum of context for her soon-to-be joining with the main cast in Rebirth. And why she's acting in a certain manner. A lack of meaningful content I paid a substantial amount leaves me full of regret. I wish I had the foresight to travel in time and watch a Let's Play instead. There goes my five hours never returning. For those who adore the fullest extent granted I salute you.
Phew. With utterly nasty stuff out of the way. I can now focus on the best parts. And it's funny, I started my replay in search for validation of my troubled thoughts and came out picking spare facets I revel in.
I - Body gestures, facial expressions, and voice acting beautifully translate the 1997 3D era into the modern enriching our beloved party. The 2020 title wonderfully demonstrates this. The guy with a machine gun arm(Voiced by John Eric Bentley) is easily my favorite dude. Charismatic, body of action, gung-ho yet deep within his tough, gruff exterior lies a loving family dude. His speeches and comradery brighten my days whenever he's on screen. A female martial artist/bartender(Voiced by Britt Baron) is soft-spoken but belays a deep love for her friends. Giving a helping hand to whoever her companions are. Yet her eyeballs and facial expressions along with a fraction of timidness tell a deeper story. She doesn't display her emotions a lot, from her face, but generally her body motions. Baron's voice lends a hidden quality I found myself talking internally "Oh these cheeky buggers." That's the max I'll pass to stop myself from blurting a cool detail. Perhaps the most striking and given the maximum enhanced flair is the flower girl(played by Briana White) our merc meets later on. Wearing fully her emotions on her sleeve, she charges ahead, setting the stage yet doesn't outshine her fellow members. Trying different things and is unafraid to speak her mind with gestures and emoting so gracefully but not to the extent of over-dramatic illustrating Nicholas Cageness as some haters love to slap on him. She exudes a gentle, caring personality in contrast to the people you witness. Endearingly loveable. Complementing their physical presence is a flirty, but kind female, a not-Rambo-like dude, except very friendly and thinks with backups. An affectionate and true-to-heart guy who loves a tasty meal. And last but not least the guy with a huge buster sword on his back who I'll continue to give the benefit of the doubt behind his no-nonsense values but continues to help his comrades for a solid price. The villains to keep things short. I hate them substantially. Good job fellas.
II - Worldbuilding is satisfying to learn. The key to a decent to quality worldbuilding in my opinion is if the player connects to the lore, the relationships individuals have with NPCs, antagonists, and surrounding rules, laws, religion, beliefs, and values, presented in an effective way grabbing hold the audience, never breaking apart, fastening a desire to learn further. Here I had a deeper love for the universe entailed. Misinformation and propaganda became easily digestible and prevalent sifting through what is true and false information. I love the added depth in the NPCs. We behold how they act, their gripes given freely, their daily lives in the slums, what assistance they need, and who is perpetrating the evils nearby causing a disturbance. Adjusting their dialogue as the world moves forward. The cause and effect our colleagues undergo as beats pass. Witnessing the consequences of our actions. Enriching my proficiency. I grasped fear at the sheer scale of devastation. Helpless in my struggle to conjure meaningful methods of assistance. Warmly embraced the power of friendship. Lending a hand to those in need while meeting an angel. And helped a poor guy who seemed to have enough bad luck etched onto his soul.
III - Guided experience of linearity. Didn't mind the linearity at every opportunity. I mentioned before the linear sections needed to take a backseat and it's true. However, I appreciate the decent length and restraint of levels to hold being a maze-esque or overstaying their welcome. Grateful, exploration isn't filled to the brim with useless collectibles, an excess of loot, and a tedious length. Feels just right to be led to my next storybeat without a major hang-up stalling me. Consequently guiding me into a satisfactory mood. The commentary members' sprouts occasionally aid in removing the dullness permeating. Reminds me of FFXIII. This comes as no surprise since the director Motomu Toriyama resides with the FF7 crew. For what it's worth, it is an improvement from the hallway nature prior. Though to be frank I didn't mind them considering it was my official gateway into the franchise heh.
IV - Supplementary characterization made me smile a lot. I remember key specifics from FF7 and to behold my beloved characters now provides increased background, insight into their interpersonal relationships and human characteristics in expanded detail is one of the strongest I adore. Every person receives a modest to larger-than-life expansion for the better I reckon. A flirty armor girl surprised me. In her hidden motivations concerning family and her previous background. A splinter cell obtained considerable screentime that I previously forgot. Wedge endeared me for his loveable nature extending beyond his friends namely cats and tasty meals. Biggs worries a lot and is unable to stop overthinking things. Yet has a heart of gold. I can go on, but I believe the interesting conversations spoken out of fights and during walks heighten the sense of camaraderie and friendship blooming. Heartwarming to witness first impressions mellow out, distrust and suspicions thawing in the face of a common enemy. Giving out a helping hand, handshakes, high-fives with a motion to stand by fellow companions instead of walking away is a powerful show, don't tell. Precious bonds are forging and solidifying and it is awesome viewing these interactions.
V - The cinematography is breathtaking. I vividly remember iconic moments in the past. Thus perceiving them recreated in magnificent care is a sight to behold. Fluid animations, on-the-spot lip-sync, no out-of-character or sharp cuts. Action sequences offer an intense rush following combat during an encounter or moving along the plot. The camera is the star and I am on the edge of my seat looking forward to the next cutscene coming alive. I adore catching my beloved group shine. Panning the screen exhibits landscape shots to breathe in both the sheer beauty of the world and horror. Equally represented. I am thankful the camera doesn't move too fatal parading useless shots. I figure 90%+ of the whole work done by the cinematics is rendering shock and awe. From the biggest to smallest moments. I cannot for the life of me complain about the artistic vision. Pleased to note everything from monsters to humans, made with painstaking clarity and life. Conversations between allies are not too long or too short. Employing no waste. Made me appreciate discussions and commentary in and outside of battles. Body gestures, facial expressions, and voice acting coalesce achieving realism. Gluing on hidden peculiarities I may have missed. Antagonists also share a respectable amount of screen focus. Feeling far in tune with a darker nature behind fake placid expressions. Honestly, I'm clenching my teeth a bit whenever their presence is displayed. Seriously wish I could sockem into pancakes if I had One-Punch-Man's power. Ughhh.
VI - Combat runs optimally whereas before they staggered and walked tall. As Michael Higham first coined the term. Transforming two plus decades of the Active Time Battle(ATB) system for the 2020s is no small task. Has to be engaging, and tactical, delving into simple to complex maneuvers. FFVIIR succeeds in this aspect allowing gateways and fans a fresh, but familiar way to eliminate foes. FFXIII stagger mechanic is used, intensifying deadly blows on bosses by increasing their percentage. Spells, items, and abilities fluidly intersect. Defending, attacking, and retreating are viable options. Likewise activating a limit break. Ultimate moves by our members display a spectacle flourish as a coup de grace. A battle system worth revisiting and as someone who didn't tire of it on my 3rd run that says a lot on sheer robustness. Hard mode concentrates the finer aspects of fine-tuning equipment, materia(ability/passive modifiers during the flow of skirmishes), and proper item usage to etch a challenging win past a hard-fought match. Forming not an insurmountable cliff to climb. But a gradual incline passes the conventional rinse and repeat tactics of normal mode. Additionally, VR battles and completing optional objectives serve as a nice segway to learning the tricks of the trade. Granting a deeper fulfillment for those hungry for extended bloodthirsty encounters.
VII - New is cool and I don't care about the ancient material. And even if I did care, there is adequate 'new' content giving me a boatload of incentives to look forward to in the future. Hmph! I was imagining for a lengthy period of a scenario where I didn't play the compilation entries, or original and watched the extended media. Concluding, enough enjoyable parts to satisfy anyone(to varying degrees). In spite of my 7 mixed feelings affecting my overall experience. Yes, it is a remake, yes it is a re-imagining but it doesn't discount my mixed feelings and enjoyment. Instead, it brings perspective, reflection, and a culmination of everything I sought and gained in 2020. Everyone who loves it or almost the entire pie, is in for a tasty treat. My past self most certainly would agree. But my 2024 self I'm moving onwards over my honeymoon phase to realize the cracks forming. On the far side of splendor lies a troubled heart. I find myself beset with multiple questions on what constitutes a viable reimagining/remake/reboot. I'll probably ruminate for years to come constantly re-evaluating the ever-eluding dilemma. For now to answer what I said previously what is Final Fantasy VII Remake? It is a serviceable that could be improved remake striving to uphold, surpass, and capture new and youthful veterans. Regardless of reception, they move to the beat of their drum. Varying in results, what matters is what you think of the title. Feelings strong or minor are fair and valid. And it is as the 2015 E3 trailer prophesies.
"...there are now beginnings of a stir. The reunion at hand may bring joy; it may bring fear. But let us embrace whatever it brings..."
7/10
References and Additional Material:
DF’s 2020 Unpublished review + spoiler thoughts
2020 VG247 interview
2020 FFVII Remake Ultimania book. An interview
FF7R List and Rewards from a Guide
Original title by Michael Higham
FF7 Remake Official trailer
2015 Final Fantasy E3 trailer
Thief Gold
1999
Ever since the Black Parade released to marvelous acclaim hitting Moddb’s mod of the year for 2023. I couldn’t help but ask myself “Is Thief good?” In an effort to see if the game holds up, I decided to start with the first installment before I inevitably reach the mod down the road. And I must say after 28 hours on expert difficulty. Thief Gold(Thief 1/T1) by Looking Glass Studio. Is a dark, thrilling, and fulfilling experience in reigniting all the checkmarks I like and love in the stealth realm. And I am glad to be back in the genre once again. From my days in Metal Gear, Syphon Filter & Old Assassin’s Creed.
Originally called Thief: The Dark Project. The gold edition adds three new missions to deepen the plot and five new enemies. Edited original missions with a slew of bug fixes. So this feels like a definitive edition. Although I did have to use several mods I’ll detail later on to bring the game up to modern standards.
The premise is simple and you control a single character Garret who is a master thief. With no special powers whatsoever. His days from being a homeless orphan were discarded long ago since he joined a secret order. Years later he leaves and decides to make it on his own. Delving into the path of thievery without remorse to fulfill his greed for money. He is ambitious, selfish, cynical, and an untraditional protagonist. All qualities I don’t like at all for a main character and yet by the time the end credits are rolling, I am very tempted to head right into the sequel to see what’s next in store for him.
Worldbuilding is subtle, dark, and strangely yet fittingly humorous at times. A mix of middle ages, dark fantasy, and on the cusp of an industrial revolution. With lore dropping from scrolls and conversations between guards during their breaks. Offering vital gossip on the citizenry, complaints of co-workers, and my personal favorite lore stories and convenient tips/hints that may connect to the main cast. A method to reach a previously unassailable location. Secrets will be revealed unintentionally and a good eavesdropper should without hesitation use it to their advantage to maximum effect. G-man will also monologue amongst himself and will at times drop interesting commentary during work. Usually comments like being dumbfounded or witty responses to abrupt changes in objectives. A nice change of pace from the otherwise silence permeating while you lurk in the shadows. Parchment readings and books offer insightful lessons and teachings from the factions of Hammerites and the Pagans. Both believe in their gods in a way bordering unhealthy zealotry and are at odds with one another. The supernatural elements took me by surprise many times. Spells, incantations, and rituals are fitting. Inducing a mystical wonder beyond the medieval. Zombies, ghosts, and malformed supernatural creatures are here to stay. Oh, and bugs like mutated spiders I didn’t think were a threat had me running away once I caught sight of them. Seriously, how can they jump so high and shoot acid!? Machinery such as factories, smelting tools, and items with a steady supply of lava provide their citizenry with new forms of artificial light instead of the traditional natural fire to illuminate surroundings. Creating an interesting level design throughout, a blend of medieval housing full of conventional bricks, wooden planks, and pavement with the power of adopting steel into the surroundings.
Quite ingenious for a stealth-based gameplay approach back in the old days. Erase approaches such as shooting from afar with guns or tasing anyone to oblivion. The game operates on a mission structure. Before a mission starts you are given a briefing of the events prior, a chance to buy equipment using gold earned from a prior mission, and a handy, but vague map. Embarking on a new place in the City at various times. Always looking forward to a new place to see the sightsand steal whatever I can of course. Sometimes your goals will change during an operation. Good o’l no plan survives contact with the enemy is important to keep in mind. Therefore, caution is advised when conducting skullduggery. But hey Garrett has immensely useful tools to help. No stamina gauge when swinging weapons. Innate ability knocking a bow and arrows. The blackjack is easily the #1 most useful weapon. Capable of one-shotting nearly every enemy into blissful unconsciousness. They never get back up despite hours passing by too! You can move them into shadowed areas preventing patrols from encountering them and thus initiating an alarm at a whole base. Arrows dipped in fire, water, gas, and rope are likewise vital in completing a task. Blasting creatures with fire is like launching a missile capable of damaging multiple enemies. Water aids in dousing torches causing the light in room/s to darken and therefore allowing one mistah G to conduct his activities in better stealth mode than dressing up like an orange ninja from a shinobi world. Gas is powerful. No not fart ones, these kinds if launched correctly can take out groups of enemies into dreamland. Vital when being chased by a horde of angry guards…
Additionally, the rope arrow single-handedly changed my whole experience. Making me think outside the box. Reminds me of using the GLOO gun from Prey and applying the weapon to reach places I wouldn’t otherwise be allowed to exploit regular means. The cable, by comparison, allows one to hit any wooden surface dropping a decent length of string. Becoming instantly available for climbing. As a result, you can traverse higher elevations. Furthermore, one can retrieve their shaft if applicable to re-use once again making the tool highly versatile in nearly any sticky situation he’s subjected to. Trust me you’ll need it when you're at a rock and hard place with nearby zombies closing in on your position with nowhere to run except upon checking your surroundings a wooden beam is above. Maybe a handy tool would surely be useful now.
Level design in every assignment is intricate, maze-like, and deep. Displaying an awesome sleight of hand in the dev’s works to craft initially simple environments then suddenly catching me off-guard by transforming into a large several corridors and passageways leading a lost one into a room full of secrets. It is deep and chock full of hidden areas that can be unlocked from levers, switches, and cleverly tucked away corners. Intrinsically linked in the environment. Delivering a cool verticality and thorough ‘puzzle-like’ solving when applicable. The start of any new venture won’t be the same to some extent in the end portion upon completing all your objectives. You will see sprawling organized streets and then hit unfamiliar ruined suburbs and towns. Dive underwater and emerge in desolate gray caves emerging into a facility of machinery mixed with stone masonry. Similar, but different to how dungeons are made from a certain Zelda series. Full of traps, few floors, and twisting passages that can be confusing to any newcomer unused to the design. One of my favorites is encountering an awesome Pixar-like ‘room’ essentially allowing me to venture inside and somehow escape replicating a [T$%] Story-like design. Someone at Looking Glass has good taste being inspired by the 1995 film huh. And to think this was an optional target I could’ve missed. I. Am. Amazed. Sure the rest of the content isn’t filled to the brim with cool sets like those, but to a degree, they offer a unique hodgepodge of interesting locales to wonder and gawk at least. As a newcomer coming into the series I did not expect at all to admire the sheer size of these levels. Some are more subtle in ways before a certain fire nation attacked delving into the mysticism of earth, wind, and water extending the dev’s creativity to their utmost limit. The elements become more profound and are used intricately as I delve deeper into the endgame. Changing the propensity of manmade structures into natural habitats. Surfaces of the earth and elevating platforms in one section demonstrate the move from traditional simple human paths to complex passageways. Can be confusing at times, but hey remember! You have a handy compass and a map too! So all is not lost. A master thief enjoys establishing their path forward through balanced platforming and embracing the wonders of being lost in the thrill of discovery.
Hell the power to jump provides excellent mobility in areas and the level design pays off in spades demonstrating to great effect. For example, Imagine facing a fort with no possible entryway. Ok well, let me go around to see for any wooden roofs or beams. Voila, there is! Shooting a rope arrow then. I climb and then acrobat onto the rampart. But wait, the door is locked inside! Hmm. The new plan is to head to another rooftop and get inside from there. I climb to the nearest rampart point then give myself a boost and ledge grab my way onto my destination. Successfully entering with no one aware. The ledge grab is super satisfying to enact every time. Although I quickly save before I launch myself just in case I fail. Yet holding the jump button is easy to maneuver and painless to execute.
Almost delving into the point of frustration at times, yet never truly becoming mad to the nth degree I wanted to throw my controller. Perhaps due to the save at anytime system in place making retries quick and painless. It is a relief to operate an easy system to retry failed attempts since most levels are so large. Not an open world at all. Garrett conducts most of his missions at different new locations within the metropolis, which we can explore without a time limit. And there’s always something new to look forward to. I ventured into a manor to steal a scepter. Dived into the pits below to enter hidden caverns and reach a prison facility. Sought treasure in abandoned ruins, boldly stole a precious item between two thieves' guilds, and enacted revenge on a rich dude who tried to assassinate me. Seriously the gall of that guy.
Sound design is brilliant, harsh, intense, and fair. And this is weird. Usually, I praise the heck out of the soundtrack, and while it is good. In Thief I found it more enjoyable to analyze how the gameplay and level design work in tandem with the soundscape. Each step you take and every breath you make is calculated. Go on the steel floor versus carpet and rugs and you can see the clear difference upon nearby patrols. Rugs and carpets muffle your steps while treading on steel produces loud noises capable of making any close enemy's senses go on alert. Any action like swinging your sword, launching an arrow, or even bringing out blackjack to play whack a guard heightens an enemy's awareness. G-dude will exhale after an action and it's gotten to a point where I hold my breath whenever I have a close encounter. Exhaling once the coast is clear. Sights and sounds are interconnected. If you’re in a very dark area, chances are you become neigh invisible compared to a brightly lit room. Staying in the shadows like a sneaky fella pays off. And thankfully, you can stay in a crouched position than a normal pose to conduct your sneaky endeavors. Harsh, but I kid you not I repeatedly felt it was balanced throughout at no point during my time did I feel it was brutally unfair at all times. Rather the usage of noise in this instance facilitates between easy to hard and complex as you dive deeper into the latter stages. As if the devs are saying “Hey, we are increasing the difficulty gradually, no steep cliffs or curveballs.” And I like it. Keeps things fresh and exciting to uncover new hurdles. Supernatural entities like zombies and spirits have this ghastly voice. I found myself with chills crawling up my back. And goodness the regular harmless citizen will shout for help to call attention to your current position. Tension is alive. Stress remains an ever-constant companion when pursued, and patience is needed every day for every hour.
Lastly, I also want to praise the main objectives of missions and AI. The latter for being smart and dumb. Patrols once memorize their route and what their limit is. Abusing their ai becomes rinse and repeat and oh so satisfying. Never waking up after becoming unconscious. Some enemies of different classifications will vary in their sight and danger capability. I.E. Seeing farther and more acutely aware of their surroundings than the usual shmuck of a guard with base intelligence. Think of them as elite guards who have an intruder radar built in updated to version 2.0 than the base version. Hearing better on how loud footsteps are near along with acute 20/20 vision if close in line in sight. This is fascinating and as I progressed deeper into the game, proved once again the devs are challenging me to be better. Goals likewise increase in complexity. You have standard, hard, and expert. Differs from traditional modifiers of upping the enemy's health I usually see in other games. Their parameters increase meaning more tasks to do. A 'normal' setting would indicate one or two retrieve an item and escape. 'Hard' adds a couple more like finding another item in conjunction with the main goal. Expert unleashes a full page of tasks to do. From not killing anyone, finding multiple items, checking with a friend of yours, and attaining a set amount of money all while completing the main quest and escaping to boot. Here are several examples of differences in difficulty. Insane. Furthermore, as I continued with 'expert' on all missions, they largely increased my time in a level due to how large they can be. I usually spent an hour or two depending on the size. Only occurred on max settings. If you try the standard option you can breeze through levels much faster. The addition of higher parameters causes an interesting shift to occur for the player. Thus I had to explore as much as possible, find hidden secrets, embrace the longer plans, being meticulous to survive and not incur any of the killings. The game is much easier killing anyone you come across. But a master thief should never kill. Only retrieve what was ordered and then get out without a fuss.
Time for my mixed feelings. Not a positive or a negative. Just some points from the game I think could be improved, tweaked for the better, and concerns I had. Didn’t affect my overall experience in a major manner.
First, same old, same old textures - Once I saw gray walls, gray bricks, stone pavement, same dirt in more than half of the missions, and frequent density in the latter stages it all became blurred together. Brought up with the maze-like corridors. I felt myself seeing the familiar paths without end. You don’t have a minimap either except a paper map that will vaguely pinpoint where you are. Therefore I had major deja vu. “Haven’t I been here before?” Thankfully, this isn’t egregious and the level variety for what it’s worth elevates everything else. Making it not so noticeable to see constantly. Makes me wonder if the sequel shakes things up a bit with colorful terrain when appropriate. I’m not asking for a rainbow from the color spectrum, merely suggesting slightly distinct patterns.
Second, Some objectives can be a bit vague to find. Like Mission 3. To retrieve the soul of the mystic required me to check everywhere and refer to my papyrus notes for hints and clues. Further, targets or items are not given exact instructions sometimes. Up to you to piece things together. Granted I personally like the non-approach to hand-holding, but some of these goals can be a real head scratcher. If you don’t come across hints and clues, eavesdropping a guard or finding a key to unlock another passageway or door is often the right path forward. Gentle reminder to explore thoroughly. Or use a guide when needed.
Third, May need a tool like a fire, water, or rope arrow to progress. While not required for every assignment. The wire is invaluable and shouldn't be utilized every so often at every opportunity. Elementals to a lesser degree, but still keep them in stock. Most of your inventory is consumables. And while you can find new ammo during a heist, it is best to at least save a decent amount. For situations when you require them. Sucks to use up all of your stock for minor loot grabbed when they may be needed for a critical venture.
Fourth, Wish some missions had health potions available close by. They’re pretty scarce in a job. Some later missions they in my opinion feel needed to help progress rather than me forcing a quicksave and quickload. Saving my health. Enemies can swarm you if you’re not careful and having more health is better than being one-shot. G-guy isn’t some deadliest warrior. So don’t think you can expertly assassinate any bloke. Keep in mind, I played on expert which usually required no bloodshed. Lowering settings offers no restrictions to eliminating anyone.
Fifth, Controls can take some getting used to. I tried keyboard and mouse and found the initial impression cumbersome so I switched to a controller setup and found it far better. Only had to input a couple more keybinds manually and I was fit as a fiddle tosteal! Borrow items. I suggest changing them if you feel weird handling your main character.
Sixth, due to the title being more than two decades old I highly recommend some of these mods I installed to grant an enhanced vanilla experience. Most you can find via a respective PC gaming wiki article. I did use a faithful texture pack. Not the popular one. Feel they change the original textures too much. I’ll leave the choice of what pack to choose up to you. I prefer Enhancement Pack 2.0 alpha.
Mods:
Unofficial patch for Thief 1/Gold - “improves compatibility with new pcs significantly, fixes graphic issues, adds support for widescreen resolutions and much more.”
Texture pack - “Replace all the old, low-quality objects and textures from Thief 1 and 2 with versions that have higher polygon counts and texture resolutions, while keeping as close to the originals as possible.” - This is the hardest mod to install. For some reason, the directions given resulted in half of the textures being improperly replaced. Displaying half high quality and half low quality. Inside you need to edit an ini file to put in the correct mod_path. Here is what I had that finally got everything to work. Hope it works for everyone else. If not, your mileage might vary.
mod_path usermods+mods\packfix+mods\candles+mods\EP\Thief1+NecroAge\Thief1+NecroAge+EP2\Thief1+EP2+mods+mods\t2skies+mods\EP+FMdml
Take a screenshot before the mod is installed and after to see if everything worked out. The rest of the mods I didn't have any trouble inputting.
Subtitles - Self-explanatory. In-game there is no option for subs. With this mod, you can read the spoken dialogue instead of straining your ears.
Sound Enhancement Pack - Makes all sound enhanced and not muddled. Providing clearer audio in both speech and sfx.
60 FPS Video Pack - Original videos are in a low resolution. With the video pack, all the videos are replaced with higher framerate and resolution.
Aside from minor tinkering to get the game up to speed and my barely noticeable mixed feelings. Thief shines when unconventional level design meets strong simple foundations in the gameplay to accentuate and enhance both categories. At its worst players(maybe newbies) may have difficulty in grasping the maze-like paths to reaching their objectives along with vague to almost obscure hints to their solutions(not always, uncommon I think). More so on increasing levels of difficulty than normal I feel. The central narrative I expected to be boring. And in turn I was mentally preparing myself for underwhelming. So to my delight, I was extremely glad to be wrong and found myself beset with a decent narrative and ultimately a likable protagonist.
Finally reaching the end of my trail I found Thief Gold impressed me to a degree I can’t stop thinking constantly about the missions inside. I adore it so much I had to hold off on playing the rest of the series so I won’t get burned out if I continue to run-non-stop at every entry. Filled with lengthy missions depending on difficulty and fair gameplay mechanics to tackle in whatever and however manner you so choose. A freedom in gameplay philosophy I love! And honestly its given me more thought to level design in general and the approach of AI to objectives. I encourage anyone to give it a shot. Especially those who love Stealth or dipping their toes into the genre. For those curious about this old title, it still holds up quite well. Especially if you installed mods to bring it up to modern standards. And hey here’s one tidbit I found fascinating. Turns out Ken Levine worked on Thief along with Warren Spector. These guys would ultimately father some well-known titles down the road. Pretty insightful stuff. I bet we're in for Shocking Examples down the road.
8.5/10
References & Additional Material:
Thief Black Parade Mod
Different Examples of Difficulty
Thief 1 Credits
Mods - Thief PC gaming wiki - Thief 1/Gold Unofficial patch - Sound Enhancement Pack - 60 FPS Video Pack - Texture pack
Subtitles
Edited: 4-3-24 - Small correction on Blackjack use. From human to nearly every enemy. Thanks to @blackcat for the correction! After the small edit. 99% of review still intact.
Originally called Thief: The Dark Project. The gold edition adds three new missions to deepen the plot and five new enemies. Edited original missions with a slew of bug fixes. So this feels like a definitive edition. Although I did have to use several mods I’ll detail later on to bring the game up to modern standards.
The premise is simple and you control a single character Garret who is a master thief. With no special powers whatsoever. His days from being a homeless orphan were discarded long ago since he joined a secret order. Years later he leaves and decides to make it on his own. Delving into the path of thievery without remorse to fulfill his greed for money. He is ambitious, selfish, cynical, and an untraditional protagonist. All qualities I don’t like at all for a main character and yet by the time the end credits are rolling, I am very tempted to head right into the sequel to see what’s next in store for him.
Worldbuilding is subtle, dark, and strangely yet fittingly humorous at times. A mix of middle ages, dark fantasy, and on the cusp of an industrial revolution. With lore dropping from scrolls and conversations between guards during their breaks. Offering vital gossip on the citizenry, complaints of co-workers, and my personal favorite lore stories and convenient tips/hints that may connect to the main cast. A method to reach a previously unassailable location. Secrets will be revealed unintentionally and a good eavesdropper should without hesitation use it to their advantage to maximum effect. G-man will also monologue amongst himself and will at times drop interesting commentary during work. Usually comments like being dumbfounded or witty responses to abrupt changes in objectives. A nice change of pace from the otherwise silence permeating while you lurk in the shadows. Parchment readings and books offer insightful lessons and teachings from the factions of Hammerites and the Pagans. Both believe in their gods in a way bordering unhealthy zealotry and are at odds with one another. The supernatural elements took me by surprise many times. Spells, incantations, and rituals are fitting. Inducing a mystical wonder beyond the medieval. Zombies, ghosts, and malformed supernatural creatures are here to stay. Oh, and bugs like mutated spiders I didn’t think were a threat had me running away once I caught sight of them. Seriously, how can they jump so high and shoot acid!? Machinery such as factories, smelting tools, and items with a steady supply of lava provide their citizenry with new forms of artificial light instead of the traditional natural fire to illuminate surroundings. Creating an interesting level design throughout, a blend of medieval housing full of conventional bricks, wooden planks, and pavement with the power of adopting steel into the surroundings.
Quite ingenious for a stealth-based gameplay approach back in the old days. Erase approaches such as shooting from afar with guns or tasing anyone to oblivion. The game operates on a mission structure. Before a mission starts you are given a briefing of the events prior, a chance to buy equipment using gold earned from a prior mission, and a handy, but vague map. Embarking on a new place in the City at various times. Always looking forward to a new place to see the sights
Additionally, the rope arrow single-handedly changed my whole experience. Making me think outside the box. Reminds me of using the GLOO gun from Prey and applying the weapon to reach places I wouldn’t otherwise be allowed to exploit regular means. The cable, by comparison, allows one to hit any wooden surface dropping a decent length of string. Becoming instantly available for climbing. As a result, you can traverse higher elevations. Furthermore, one can retrieve their shaft if applicable to re-use once again making the tool highly versatile in nearly any sticky situation he’s subjected to. Trust me you’ll need it when you're at a rock and hard place with nearby zombies closing in on your position with nowhere to run except upon checking your surroundings a wooden beam is above. Maybe a handy tool would surely be useful now.
Level design in every assignment is intricate, maze-like, and deep. Displaying an awesome sleight of hand in the dev’s works to craft initially simple environments then suddenly catching me off-guard by transforming into a large several corridors and passageways leading a lost one into a room full of secrets. It is deep and chock full of hidden areas that can be unlocked from levers, switches, and cleverly tucked away corners. Intrinsically linked in the environment. Delivering a cool verticality and thorough ‘puzzle-like’ solving when applicable. The start of any new venture won’t be the same to some extent in the end portion upon completing all your objectives. You will see sprawling organized streets and then hit unfamiliar ruined suburbs and towns. Dive underwater and emerge in desolate gray caves emerging into a facility of machinery mixed with stone masonry. Similar, but different to how dungeons are made from a certain Zelda series. Full of traps, few floors, and twisting passages that can be confusing to any newcomer unused to the design. One of my favorites is encountering an awesome Pixar-like ‘room’ essentially allowing me to venture inside and somehow escape replicating a [T$%] Story-like design. Someone at Looking Glass has good taste being inspired by the 1995 film huh. And to think this was an optional target I could’ve missed. I. Am. Amazed. Sure the rest of the content isn’t filled to the brim with cool sets like those, but to a degree, they offer a unique hodgepodge of interesting locales to wonder and gawk at least. As a newcomer coming into the series I did not expect at all to admire the sheer size of these levels. Some are more subtle in ways before a certain fire nation attacked delving into the mysticism of earth, wind, and water extending the dev’s creativity to their utmost limit. The elements become more profound and are used intricately as I delve deeper into the endgame. Changing the propensity of manmade structures into natural habitats. Surfaces of the earth and elevating platforms in one section demonstrate the move from traditional simple human paths to complex passageways. Can be confusing at times, but hey remember! You have a handy compass and a map too! So all is not lost. A master thief enjoys establishing their path forward through balanced platforming and embracing the wonders of being lost in the thrill of discovery.
Hell the power to jump provides excellent mobility in areas and the level design pays off in spades demonstrating to great effect. For example, Imagine facing a fort with no possible entryway. Ok well, let me go around to see for any wooden roofs or beams. Voila, there is! Shooting a rope arrow then. I climb and then acrobat onto the rampart. But wait, the door is locked inside! Hmm. The new plan is to head to another rooftop and get inside from there. I climb to the nearest rampart point then give myself a boost and ledge grab my way onto my destination. Successfully entering with no one aware. The ledge grab is super satisfying to enact every time. Although I quickly save before I launch myself just in case I fail. Yet holding the jump button is easy to maneuver and painless to execute.
Almost delving into the point of frustration at times, yet never truly becoming mad to the nth degree I wanted to throw my controller. Perhaps due to the save at anytime system in place making retries quick and painless. It is a relief to operate an easy system to retry failed attempts since most levels are so large. Not an open world at all. Garrett conducts most of his missions at different new locations within the metropolis, which we can explore without a time limit. And there’s always something new to look forward to. I ventured into a manor to steal a scepter. Dived into the pits below to enter hidden caverns and reach a prison facility. Sought treasure in abandoned ruins, boldly stole a precious item between two thieves' guilds, and enacted revenge on a rich dude who tried to assassinate me. Seriously the gall of that guy.
Sound design is brilliant, harsh, intense, and fair. And this is weird. Usually, I praise the heck out of the soundtrack, and while it is good. In Thief I found it more enjoyable to analyze how the gameplay and level design work in tandem with the soundscape. Each step you take and every breath you make is calculated. Go on the steel floor versus carpet and rugs and you can see the clear difference upon nearby patrols. Rugs and carpets muffle your steps while treading on steel produces loud noises capable of making any close enemy's senses go on alert. Any action like swinging your sword, launching an arrow, or even bringing out blackjack to play whack a guard heightens an enemy's awareness. G-dude will exhale after an action and it's gotten to a point where I hold my breath whenever I have a close encounter. Exhaling once the coast is clear. Sights and sounds are interconnected. If you’re in a very dark area, chances are you become neigh invisible compared to a brightly lit room. Staying in the shadows like a sneaky fella pays off. And thankfully, you can stay in a crouched position than a normal pose to conduct your sneaky endeavors. Harsh, but I kid you not I repeatedly felt it was balanced throughout at no point during my time did I feel it was brutally unfair at all times. Rather the usage of noise in this instance facilitates between easy to hard and complex as you dive deeper into the latter stages. As if the devs are saying “Hey, we are increasing the difficulty gradually, no steep cliffs or curveballs.” And I like it. Keeps things fresh and exciting to uncover new hurdles. Supernatural entities like zombies and spirits have this ghastly voice. I found myself with chills crawling up my back. And goodness the regular harmless citizen will shout for help to call attention to your current position. Tension is alive. Stress remains an ever-constant companion when pursued, and patience is needed every day for every hour.
Lastly, I also want to praise the main objectives of missions and AI. The latter for being smart and dumb. Patrols once memorize their route and what their limit is. Abusing their ai becomes rinse and repeat and oh so satisfying. Never waking up after becoming unconscious. Some enemies of different classifications will vary in their sight and danger capability. I.E. Seeing farther and more acutely aware of their surroundings than the usual shmuck of a guard with base intelligence. Think of them as elite guards who have an intruder radar built in updated to version 2.0 than the base version. Hearing better on how loud footsteps are near along with acute 20/20 vision if close in line in sight. This is fascinating and as I progressed deeper into the game, proved once again the devs are challenging me to be better. Goals likewise increase in complexity. You have standard, hard, and expert. Differs from traditional modifiers of upping the enemy's health I usually see in other games. Their parameters increase meaning more tasks to do. A 'normal' setting would indicate one or two retrieve an item and escape. 'Hard' adds a couple more like finding another item in conjunction with the main goal. Expert unleashes a full page of tasks to do. From not killing anyone, finding multiple items, checking with a friend of yours, and attaining a set amount of money all while completing the main quest and escaping to boot. Here are several examples of differences in difficulty. Insane. Furthermore, as I continued with 'expert' on all missions, they largely increased my time in a level due to how large they can be. I usually spent an hour or two depending on the size. Only occurred on max settings. If you try the standard option you can breeze through levels much faster. The addition of higher parameters causes an interesting shift to occur for the player. Thus I had to explore as much as possible, find hidden secrets, embrace the longer plans, being meticulous to survive and not incur any of the killings. The game is much easier killing anyone you come across. But a master thief should never kill. Only retrieve what was ordered and then get out without a fuss.
Time for my mixed feelings. Not a positive or a negative. Just some points from the game I think could be improved, tweaked for the better, and concerns I had. Didn’t affect my overall experience in a major manner.
First, same old, same old textures - Once I saw gray walls, gray bricks, stone pavement, same dirt in more than half of the missions, and frequent density in the latter stages it all became blurred together. Brought up with the maze-like corridors. I felt myself seeing the familiar paths without end. You don’t have a minimap either except a paper map that will vaguely pinpoint where you are. Therefore I had major deja vu. “Haven’t I been here before?” Thankfully, this isn’t egregious and the level variety for what it’s worth elevates everything else. Making it not so noticeable to see constantly. Makes me wonder if the sequel shakes things up a bit with colorful terrain when appropriate. I’m not asking for a rainbow from the color spectrum, merely suggesting slightly distinct patterns.
Second, Some objectives can be a bit vague to find. Like Mission 3. To retrieve the soul of the mystic required me to check everywhere and refer to my papyrus notes for hints and clues. Further, targets or items are not given exact instructions sometimes. Up to you to piece things together. Granted I personally like the non-approach to hand-holding, but some of these goals can be a real head scratcher. If you don’t come across hints and clues, eavesdropping a guard or finding a key to unlock another passageway or door is often the right path forward. Gentle reminder to explore thoroughly. Or use a guide when needed.
Third, May need a tool like a fire, water, or rope arrow to progress. While not required for every assignment. The wire is invaluable and shouldn't be utilized every so often at every opportunity. Elementals to a lesser degree, but still keep them in stock. Most of your inventory is consumables. And while you can find new ammo during a heist, it is best to at least save a decent amount. For situations when you require them. Sucks to use up all of your stock for minor loot grabbed when they may be needed for a critical venture.
Fourth, Wish some missions had health potions available close by. They’re pretty scarce in a job. Some later missions they in my opinion feel needed to help progress rather than me forcing a quicksave and quickload. Saving my health. Enemies can swarm you if you’re not careful and having more health is better than being one-shot. G-guy isn’t some deadliest warrior. So don’t think you can expertly assassinate any bloke. Keep in mind, I played on expert which usually required no bloodshed. Lowering settings offers no restrictions to eliminating anyone.
Fifth, Controls can take some getting used to. I tried keyboard and mouse and found the initial impression cumbersome so I switched to a controller setup and found it far better. Only had to input a couple more keybinds manually and I was fit as a fiddle to
Sixth, due to the title being more than two decades old I highly recommend some of these mods I installed to grant an enhanced vanilla experience. Most you can find via a respective PC gaming wiki article. I did use a faithful texture pack. Not the popular one. Feel they change the original textures too much. I’ll leave the choice of what pack to choose up to you. I prefer Enhancement Pack 2.0 alpha.
Mods:
Unofficial patch for Thief 1/Gold - “improves compatibility with new pcs significantly, fixes graphic issues, adds support for widescreen resolutions and much more.”
Texture pack - “Replace all the old, low-quality objects and textures from Thief 1 and 2 with versions that have higher polygon counts and texture resolutions, while keeping as close to the originals as possible.” - This is the hardest mod to install. For some reason, the directions given resulted in half of the textures being improperly replaced. Displaying half high quality and half low quality. Inside you need to edit an ini file to put in the correct mod_path. Here is what I had that finally got everything to work. Hope it works for everyone else. If not, your mileage might vary.
mod_path usermods+mods\packfix+mods\candles+mods\EP\Thief1+NecroAge\Thief1+NecroAge+EP2\Thief1+EP2+mods+mods\t2skies+mods\EP+FMdml
Take a screenshot before the mod is installed and after to see if everything worked out. The rest of the mods I didn't have any trouble inputting.
Subtitles - Self-explanatory. In-game there is no option for subs. With this mod, you can read the spoken dialogue instead of straining your ears.
Sound Enhancement Pack - Makes all sound enhanced and not muddled. Providing clearer audio in both speech and sfx.
60 FPS Video Pack - Original videos are in a low resolution. With the video pack, all the videos are replaced with higher framerate and resolution.
Aside from minor tinkering to get the game up to speed and my barely noticeable mixed feelings. Thief shines when unconventional level design meets strong simple foundations in the gameplay to accentuate and enhance both categories. At its worst players(maybe newbies) may have difficulty in grasping the maze-like paths to reaching their objectives along with vague to almost obscure hints to their solutions(not always, uncommon I think). More so on increasing levels of difficulty than normal I feel. The central narrative I expected to be boring. And in turn I was mentally preparing myself for underwhelming. So to my delight, I was extremely glad to be wrong and found myself beset with a decent narrative and ultimately a likable protagonist.
Finally reaching the end of my trail I found Thief Gold impressed me to a degree I can’t stop thinking constantly about the missions inside. I adore it so much I had to hold off on playing the rest of the series so I won’t get burned out if I continue to run-non-stop at every entry. Filled with lengthy missions depending on difficulty and fair gameplay mechanics to tackle in whatever and however manner you so choose. A freedom in gameplay philosophy I love! And honestly its given me more thought to level design in general and the approach of AI to objectives. I encourage anyone to give it a shot. Especially those who love Stealth or dipping their toes into the genre. For those curious about this old title, it still holds up quite well. Especially if you installed mods to bring it up to modern standards. And hey here’s one tidbit I found fascinating. Turns out Ken Levine worked on Thief along with Warren Spector. These guys would ultimately father some well-known titles down the road. Pretty insightful stuff. I bet we're in for Shocking Examples down the road.
8.5/10
References & Additional Material:
Thief Black Parade Mod
Different Examples of Difficulty
Thief 1 Credits
Mods - Thief PC gaming wiki - Thief 1/Gold Unofficial patch - Sound Enhancement Pack - 60 FPS Video Pack - Texture pack
Subtitles
Edited: 4-3-24 - Small correction on Blackjack use. From human to nearly every enemy. Thanks to @blackcat for the correction! After the small edit. 99% of review still intact.
[Nintendo DS Version] Here's the next part of my plan to, for some reason, play every major different version of these first two games. And holy shit this game barely functions. The characters disappear as you play as them, the level vanishes under your feet, you clip through the wall. The camera almost NEVER looked at my character and I had to run around blindly, I softlocked in EVERY SINGLE LEVEL. It is a comedy of errors, shockingly bad. And I'm 100 percent certain the only reason it has a 3.0 average on Backloggd is because people don't realize they are actually rating the DS version. Horrible game.
Luigi's Mansion 3
2019
Okay, the finally (For now) of Luigi's hell. This game is very good, having took everything from the past two games, cutting the fat, and cooking the meat to perfection. The graphical style being one of the first and most notable examples of this; by working with the funky style of Dark Moon, and using the power of anything but a 3DS or GameCube to make a gorgeous exemplar of how good games can look on the switch. Using such to allow for creative levels, and fun areas to explore all around. As well, another notable feature come in that of the poltergeist and the slamming mechanic, that while not really adding much in the way of complexity to the game, does feel really satisfying, especially compared to what was in place for Dark Moon. I do have to mention that the SUPER SUCK upgrade could have been used in more places, and would have been a fun edition to taring apart the levels in search of secrets. Overall a great game, and one that is definitely worth playing!
Is what I would say if I really wanted to end the review their, but I think its time to talk about a lot of the issues people had with this game. Because of lot of people seem to hate this game for three main reasons as far as I can tell; One money, and two level design. First, yes, some of the level design could be better, the cat sections being an example of this, yet I think the issue is blown way too far out of proportion compared to how good many of almost all of the other sections of the game are, the boss fights are creative and the environmental design supplements the floors and gameplay very well in my opinion.
Now onto the money. "It'S UsElESs," cries some people, but that is okay I say. Lets see why its "useless," One, cant buy anything with it, okay but what would you buy? upgrades? I mean sure, but why, the vacuum sucks, you slam the ghost around. A lot of the usability of the poltergust does not come from how powerful it is, but YOUR ability to control it while ghost fling you around the room. Its not like a gun, where a different bullet, or a bigger clip actually helps in shooting games. So what else could you use coins for? Lives? Well, lives do not really exist in modern day gaming, but the next closest thing is revives, and you can buy those. As well as items that show you the location of collectables, which is the next step, but other then those couple thing, there really is not anything more I would ask of the coins; besides being super duper fun to collect. I saw someone here compare them to Lego studs because of that fact, and I love that. So what's left for coins to do now, contribute to rank? Guess what... they do that, JUST LIKE IN THE FIRST GAME, and nobody said anything about them their???? In fact that is all they did in the first game... just being a lot of fun collectables! They even tried making coins more intrigue to the game in Dark Moon, where you had coin targets to unlock upgrades, and that truly felt pointless, because regardless of if you collected the target amounts or not, nothing would really changes through just playing the game normally, BECAUSE UPGRADES WOULD MEAN ZIT TO THIS GAME as I said above. Anyways, its a great game, Nintendo did their best with everything they had from this game series and truly made something amazing. A must play on the switch.
Is what I would say if I really wanted to end the review their, but I think its time to talk about a lot of the issues people had with this game. Because of lot of people seem to hate this game for three main reasons as far as I can tell; One money, and two level design. First, yes, some of the level design could be better, the cat sections being an example of this, yet I think the issue is blown way too far out of proportion compared to how good many of almost all of the other sections of the game are, the boss fights are creative and the environmental design supplements the floors and gameplay very well in my opinion.
Now onto the money. "It'S UsElESs," cries some people, but that is okay I say. Lets see why its "useless," One, cant buy anything with it, okay but what would you buy? upgrades? I mean sure, but why, the vacuum sucks, you slam the ghost around. A lot of the usability of the poltergust does not come from how powerful it is, but YOUR ability to control it while ghost fling you around the room. Its not like a gun, where a different bullet, or a bigger clip actually helps in shooting games. So what else could you use coins for? Lives? Well, lives do not really exist in modern day gaming, but the next closest thing is revives, and you can buy those. As well as items that show you the location of collectables, which is the next step, but other then those couple thing, there really is not anything more I would ask of the coins; besides being super duper fun to collect. I saw someone here compare them to Lego studs because of that fact, and I love that. So what's left for coins to do now, contribute to rank? Guess what... they do that, JUST LIKE IN THE FIRST GAME, and nobody said anything about them their???? In fact that is all they did in the first game... just being a lot of fun collectables! They even tried making coins more intrigue to the game in Dark Moon, where you had coin targets to unlock upgrades, and that truly felt pointless, because regardless of if you collected the target amounts or not, nothing would really changes through just playing the game normally, BECAUSE UPGRADES WOULD MEAN ZIT TO THIS GAME as I said above. Anyways, its a great game, Nintendo did their best with everything they had from this game series and truly made something amazing. A must play on the switch.
Alpha Protocol
2010
I am so glad this got revived by GOG because it is truly a special RPG. The dialogue mechanics are some of the best in any game I've played and the degree to which the story responds to your actions is amazing, even in 2024. Obsidian GOATed. The major drawback is that the gameplay outside of dialogue and cutscenes is horrific. It felt bad at launch and it feels nearly unplayable today. Definitely a hidden gem worth experiencing for the story, with the caveat that you have to play the rest of the game too.
Average Mario adventure: Yippie got to defeat the big bad in this cute world! Average Luigi adventure: OMG THE DEAD HAS RISEN AND MY FREINDS ARE BOND TO PAINTING, THIS IS MY LITERAL NIGHTMARE. Other then being shocked over the Luigi's cardiovascular health, to not have died of a heart attack during these games, I actually did quite enjoy Dark Moon. The art style holds up well compared to the first, and feels more fun and Nintendo like, gameplay additions and tweaks make controlling the Poltergust much more enjoyable and functional, and the overall feeling and tone of the game are well polished. If anything I have to knock Dark Moon for having a very iffy difficulty curve; as in while it was overall on the easier side, it never felt consistent. This combined with the occasional performance issues work to lessen what could have easily been a 4.5 or closer to 5 rated game. Still great though, definitely worth a play some goofy Luigi fun!
I already thought Yakuza: Like a Dragon was a masterpiece and this improves on that game in nearly every way except the story. I love getting to spend more time with Ichiban, one of my new favorite characters in video games. It was also beautiful to reflect on the past with Kiryu. Obvious fan service but I'm a fan! It totally worked for me. I laughed, I cried, I spent many hours completely disengaged from the story perfecting my Dondoko Island.
Starfield
2023
It seems to be that a lot of people are divided over what how good this game is; and I really do not feel like completely rehashing everything others have said. So basically, the core is good and could have been amazing, going between planets is a slog, and the story is not compelling enough for me to really care about anything here.
God of War Ragnarök
2022
This is easily a top 10 all timer for me. I've been a fan of the series for a long time and I loved God of War 2018, but Ragnarök feels like a better title in every way. In particular, the character development and writing have taken an enormous step up from the prior title. Having recently become a father myself I was particularly vulnerable to Kratos' character arc, but I really think it's something special. I have a somewhat long list of minor complaints and this is far from a perfect game. If you didn't like the 2018 title then I don't think this will change your mind. But as a lover of the 2018 title this felt like everything I wanted and so much more. I can't remember the last time I was this engrossed in a game. I'm going to turn my attention to the new Zelda now, but I absolutely plan on coming back and tying up all the loose ends and doing a New Game Plus.
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