Persona_fied
2017
It feels redundant to say anything about this game I haven't already said, or allowed someone smarter than me to say in my stead.
Just let it be known that I will consider this game until my dying breath one of the greatest video games ever created, with an immaculate soundtrack, layered story, and excellent gameplay with just the right amount of impulse. Movement feels good to begin, and it just keeps getting better. Your resources and abilities all have the potential to perfectly synergize with one another.
There is no such thing as a perfect game, but Hollow Knight is one of the only games where I can only count a single flaw in it (the distance between the Soul Master bench and the Soul Master boss fight is just a tad long).
Just let it be known that I will consider this game until my dying breath one of the greatest video games ever created, with an immaculate soundtrack, layered story, and excellent gameplay with just the right amount of impulse. Movement feels good to begin, and it just keeps getting better. Your resources and abilities all have the potential to perfectly synergize with one another.
There is no such thing as a perfect game, but Hollow Knight is one of the only games where I can only count a single flaw in it (the distance between the Soul Master bench and the Soul Master boss fight is just a tad long).
2010
Imma keep it real with ya chief. I don't remember a damn thing about this game's story.
All I know is that it lets you pilot Mobile Suits while fighting alien dinosaurs, with a BUDDY.
That's GOTY material enough in my book.
But seriously, this game plays amazing. There's endless replay value, the weapons and skills have so many unique combinations to make gameplay interesting, and it has that sort of old school feel where it's not PRECISELY a sandbox, but everything isn't so meticulously planned out. It vaguely feels like anything can lowkey happen if you have the means and the materials and the extra spritz of luck to make it happen.
idk man, I've played so many video games in my life, but I think my time playing Lost Planet 2 on the couch with my bros is the most fun I've ever had.
All I know is that it lets you pilot Mobile Suits while fighting alien dinosaurs, with a BUDDY.
That's GOTY material enough in my book.
But seriously, this game plays amazing. There's endless replay value, the weapons and skills have so many unique combinations to make gameplay interesting, and it has that sort of old school feel where it's not PRECISELY a sandbox, but everything isn't so meticulously planned out. It vaguely feels like anything can lowkey happen if you have the means and the materials and the extra spritz of luck to make it happen.
idk man, I've played so many video games in my life, but I think my time playing Lost Planet 2 on the couch with my bros is the most fun I've ever had.
It's a Final Fantasy rhythm game! It's real hard to screw that one up. I just wish the selection of songs were more robust, by which I mean I would've enjoyed if it had a few obscure songs for me PERSONALLY.
This will be no surprise to anyone who knows me, but these past several months have been immensely stressful for me. Stressful for the planet, no doubt, but also stressful for me. And I think that being able to pull out this game from my pocket, boot it up, and play some of my favorite, most relaxing, exciting, and lovely tracks from my favorite game series of all time... it helps more than anyone can really know.
This will be no surprise to anyone who knows me, but these past several months have been immensely stressful for me. Stressful for the planet, no doubt, but also stressful for me. And I think that being able to pull out this game from my pocket, boot it up, and play some of my favorite, most relaxing, exciting, and lovely tracks from my favorite game series of all time... it helps more than anyone can really know.
2016
It's the most innovative shooter I've played in years.
It's just Yugioh. I like Yugioh 5D's a lot, and this game's story recounts much of the second arc of the anime series. I like the series, so I like the game. Nevertheless, it isn't REALLY anything special.
So why does it still compel me so? This game, in particular?
The follow-up to this game, Over the Nexus, was my childhood white whale for years. I pined for that game, but circumstances, both logistical and financial, never allowed it to come to fruition. Come 2019-2020, I have officially seen the holy grail of 3DS hacking, and have now the entire catalogue of DS games at my fingertips. Thinking back to childhood desires, Over the Nexus was a first pick, and yet... it just... wasn't as GOOD as Reverse of Arcadia. And let it be known, this isn't EXCLUSIVELY because of a rose-tinted rearview mirror, because I recently replayed Reverse of Arcadia and felt that same joy well up inside me. So, what, if anything, gives?
Well, to begin with, the story. Arcadia's story is far better and more emotionally evocative. In it, your player character is inserted into the happenings of the Yugioh 5D's plot as an amnesiac member of the Arcadia Movement, a group of psychic duelists (I'm going to assume the viewer knows the general rules of the society of Yugioh 5D's), run by the evil Sayer. Your reason for being a silent protagonist makes some sense, and the story integrates you into the exploits of Yusei Fudo and his colorful friends quite quickly. Your character is revealed to have been a part of Yusei's old gang, and the way this is done is oddly harmonious with the plot of the anime, without the player really CARING that it deviates from the anime in order to give you a chance to... well, play the game. There is even a genuine sense of escalation of the plot in the present as the secrets of the Signers are gradually unveiled. There's variety in the sorts of duelist puzzles you need to tackle, and even at its worst, Yugioh TENDS to be a pretty fun game to play, especially in the constraints of a video game version without worrying about rotating banned cards and the like.
Then there is the music. This music. Did NOT need to go THIS hard. Even now, I can still go back to those tracks and jam out. This will be a common throughline in many of my reviews, so I'll say it outright here: good music can absolutely make OR break a video game. It can turn a dismal experiene into one I at least would like to see through, and it can elevate an "okay" experience into the stratosphere. Gameplay is king for me, but music is a close second. And this game has some good music. EVERY duel theme is a banger, every TURBO duel theme is a banger, every Duel Runner minigame theme is a banger, and half the location themes seem straight of a Shin Megami Tensei game from the 90's. It owns so hard.
Obviously, this game isn't exactly The Wire of video games. And I only like it because I already liked Yugioh. But DARN IT, Yugioh is fun. This game is fun. This game's story is "pretty good!" -- better than Over the Nexus at least. And the music is quite transcendent in almost all respects. I wouldn't recommend it to people who aren't interested at all in the card game of Yugioh itself (and considering how much Yugioh has changed these past 11 years, it wouldn't be a great introduction anyway). But if you like Yugioh already, especially the 5D's era, and you have a 3DS, you really have no reason NOT to get this game. It's a good time! Especially when/if you have the freedom of all the cards at your disposal, since you have the option to transfer cards and duel runners to subsequent playthroughs. So go ahead, if you're able! It'll be a hearty experience, I would say.
So why does it still compel me so? This game, in particular?
The follow-up to this game, Over the Nexus, was my childhood white whale for years. I pined for that game, but circumstances, both logistical and financial, never allowed it to come to fruition. Come 2019-2020, I have officially seen the holy grail of 3DS hacking, and have now the entire catalogue of DS games at my fingertips. Thinking back to childhood desires, Over the Nexus was a first pick, and yet... it just... wasn't as GOOD as Reverse of Arcadia. And let it be known, this isn't EXCLUSIVELY because of a rose-tinted rearview mirror, because I recently replayed Reverse of Arcadia and felt that same joy well up inside me. So, what, if anything, gives?
Well, to begin with, the story. Arcadia's story is far better and more emotionally evocative. In it, your player character is inserted into the happenings of the Yugioh 5D's plot as an amnesiac member of the Arcadia Movement, a group of psychic duelists (I'm going to assume the viewer knows the general rules of the society of Yugioh 5D's), run by the evil Sayer. Your reason for being a silent protagonist makes some sense, and the story integrates you into the exploits of Yusei Fudo and his colorful friends quite quickly. Your character is revealed to have been a part of Yusei's old gang, and the way this is done is oddly harmonious with the plot of the anime, without the player really CARING that it deviates from the anime in order to give you a chance to... well, play the game. There is even a genuine sense of escalation of the plot in the present as the secrets of the Signers are gradually unveiled. There's variety in the sorts of duelist puzzles you need to tackle, and even at its worst, Yugioh TENDS to be a pretty fun game to play, especially in the constraints of a video game version without worrying about rotating banned cards and the like.
Then there is the music. This music. Did NOT need to go THIS hard. Even now, I can still go back to those tracks and jam out. This will be a common throughline in many of my reviews, so I'll say it outright here: good music can absolutely make OR break a video game. It can turn a dismal experiene into one I at least would like to see through, and it can elevate an "okay" experience into the stratosphere. Gameplay is king for me, but music is a close second. And this game has some good music. EVERY duel theme is a banger, every TURBO duel theme is a banger, every Duel Runner minigame theme is a banger, and half the location themes seem straight of a Shin Megami Tensei game from the 90's. It owns so hard.
Obviously, this game isn't exactly The Wire of video games. And I only like it because I already liked Yugioh. But DARN IT, Yugioh is fun. This game is fun. This game's story is "pretty good!" -- better than Over the Nexus at least. And the music is quite transcendent in almost all respects. I wouldn't recommend it to people who aren't interested at all in the card game of Yugioh itself (and considering how much Yugioh has changed these past 11 years, it wouldn't be a great introduction anyway). But if you like Yugioh already, especially the 5D's era, and you have a 3DS, you really have no reason NOT to get this game. It's a good time! Especially when/if you have the freedom of all the cards at your disposal, since you have the option to transfer cards and duel runners to subsequent playthroughs. So go ahead, if you're able! It'll be a hearty experience, I would say.
Definitely one of the best Final Fantasy games out there, and probably has the tightest ratio in the series of "good game" vs "not acknowledged as much as the others".
The story is great. You'll find people that say the story is "just like Star Wars" or derivative. While these complaints aren't completely meritless, I can't help but admit that anyone who genuinely thinks this to be a mark against this game likely didn't play through it entirely. The moment-to-moment experience of playing through this story is consistently thrilling, and a satisfactory adventure. You're thinking about just this game while playing it, and nothing else, because it's one of the most tightly-plotted games in the series.
To the story itself, it tells the tale of Dalmasca, a desert country in continent of Ivalice, and the next target of the encroaching Archadian empire. Upon the annexation of the Dalmascan capital, Rabanastre, a small group of freedom fighters from all walks of life find themselves thrust together by fate in an adventure that will shape the very face of history. FFXII has you playing as all sorts; from larger-than-life heroes, politicians, and knights, to swarthy thieves and scoundrels, to the hoi polloi commonfolk. They all pepper the main cast, as well as the guest characters you find along the way. This game has little in the way of "hanging out with each other" among these characters, but it does have quite a bit of "hanging out in the WORLD" that makes it such an enamoring adventure. Beyond that, there are moments where your party shows unexpectedly-charming, teeth-clenched affection for one another, if the viewer is able to read between the lines of the fantastic voice acting.
And yes, the voice acting IS fantastic. I doubt it's a stretch to say Final Fantasy XII has the best English dialogue of any Final Fantasy game, and its place in the pantheon of dialogue for all games is quite high up there. You feel less like you're playing a quirky JRPG and more like you're witnessing one of Shakespeare's masterpieces. And yet, despite the characters' hifalutin, Byzantine cadences and vernacular, the viewer absolutely never feels left behind in the vocabulary. It's sharp and cutting, and it certainly does make every character feel like they're brimming with life.
The music is incredible. It's orchestral, it's heady, it's classical, it's weighty, it's just so good. The tracks range from light-hearted to heart-pounding, but not a single song in this DOESN'T inspire the listener to want to take up arms and embark upon a country-trotting adventure. I can't even begin to name all the most beautiful tracks in the game, but I'll go ahead and try: Flash of Steel, The Dalmasca Estersand, Nalbina Dungeons, The Tomb of [SPOILERS], Jahara - Land of the Garif, the Ozmone Plain, ERUYT VILLAGE (I really like the Eruyt Village theme), Discarded Power, The Stilshrine of Miriam, Respite, the Salikawood, A Moment's Rest, the Cerobi Steppe, Realm of Memory, To Walk Amongst Gods... and those are only the ones on my Spotify playlist. And I think I can safely say that the Final Boss theme of Final Fantasy XII is absolutely one of the most rousing, inspirational music tracks I have ever heard in a video game. If you can listen to it and not feel SOME sort of emotion come over you -- especially at the end of such a far-flung adventure, you would need to be either deaf, or a BORN. HATER (I'm kidding but seriously, it owns so hard).
Let's get to the gameplay. Many describe this gameplay as "MMO-like". I have dabbled in a few MMO's, but to be completely honest, I don't REALLY get the comparison, at least when compared to other Active Time Battle Final Fantasy games. Is it because the combat is seamless in the world? Probably. Moving along, the combat is quite good. The lifeblood of it is the Gambit system, a very rudimentary coding scheme that allows your dudes to automatically perform certain actions in a hierarchy upon the combat environment meeting certain conditions. For example, you could set it so Penelo will heal any ally of hers that dips below 30% health with a potion. If you place this at the top of the list, it will be her first priority, but she'll only perform it once that condition is fulfilled, so one could put BENEATH it "Attack any enemy" and she will attack. This is more or less how all your gambits will likely be organized; healing skills and curatives at the highest priority, followed by attack skills. It's both deceptively simple and... well, simple. It's not very hard. Which, in my evaluation, is good, as there's not much mental stimulation in the typical JRPG turn-based loop of "Run into monster" > "navigate menu" > "use effective skills" > "win" > "Run into monster" > "repeat". But there is still room for strategy, particularly with Final Fantasy XII's bosses and hunts, which offer the daring thrill-seeker a chance to stretch their tactical muscles.
That in mind, this game has quite the bevy of side-content. By some metrics, FFXII is even considered the mainline non-MMO Final Fantasy game that takes the most time to 100%, what with the dozens and dozens of side-quests in the form of the game's hunts. They're fun, no question, and they're quite challenging, but at the same time, I wish there were MORE sidequest mechanics. But that's a minor quibble in a game as stacked as this one; in addition to the hunts, there are multiple secret optional areas, optional summons, and hidden passageways, befitting of a fantasy world loosely based on a steampunk reimagining of the Mediterranean.
In conclusion, I have gone on record saying Final Fantasy XII is quite possibly my favorite game of all time, and it's definitely my favorite JRPG of all time. Is it a perfect game? No. Is it a really solid game for JRPG fans? Certainly. I hope this review might just convince you to play it if you're on the fence, and the Zodiac Age version is definitely the definitive way to do it.
The story is great. You'll find people that say the story is "just like Star Wars" or derivative. While these complaints aren't completely meritless, I can't help but admit that anyone who genuinely thinks this to be a mark against this game likely didn't play through it entirely. The moment-to-moment experience of playing through this story is consistently thrilling, and a satisfactory adventure. You're thinking about just this game while playing it, and nothing else, because it's one of the most tightly-plotted games in the series.
To the story itself, it tells the tale of Dalmasca, a desert country in continent of Ivalice, and the next target of the encroaching Archadian empire. Upon the annexation of the Dalmascan capital, Rabanastre, a small group of freedom fighters from all walks of life find themselves thrust together by fate in an adventure that will shape the very face of history. FFXII has you playing as all sorts; from larger-than-life heroes, politicians, and knights, to swarthy thieves and scoundrels, to the hoi polloi commonfolk. They all pepper the main cast, as well as the guest characters you find along the way. This game has little in the way of "hanging out with each other" among these characters, but it does have quite a bit of "hanging out in the WORLD" that makes it such an enamoring adventure. Beyond that, there are moments where your party shows unexpectedly-charming, teeth-clenched affection for one another, if the viewer is able to read between the lines of the fantastic voice acting.
And yes, the voice acting IS fantastic. I doubt it's a stretch to say Final Fantasy XII has the best English dialogue of any Final Fantasy game, and its place in the pantheon of dialogue for all games is quite high up there. You feel less like you're playing a quirky JRPG and more like you're witnessing one of Shakespeare's masterpieces. And yet, despite the characters' hifalutin, Byzantine cadences and vernacular, the viewer absolutely never feels left behind in the vocabulary. It's sharp and cutting, and it certainly does make every character feel like they're brimming with life.
The music is incredible. It's orchestral, it's heady, it's classical, it's weighty, it's just so good. The tracks range from light-hearted to heart-pounding, but not a single song in this DOESN'T inspire the listener to want to take up arms and embark upon a country-trotting adventure. I can't even begin to name all the most beautiful tracks in the game, but I'll go ahead and try: Flash of Steel, The Dalmasca Estersand, Nalbina Dungeons, The Tomb of [SPOILERS], Jahara - Land of the Garif, the Ozmone Plain, ERUYT VILLAGE (I really like the Eruyt Village theme), Discarded Power, The Stilshrine of Miriam, Respite, the Salikawood, A Moment's Rest, the Cerobi Steppe, Realm of Memory, To Walk Amongst Gods... and those are only the ones on my Spotify playlist. And I think I can safely say that the Final Boss theme of Final Fantasy XII is absolutely one of the most rousing, inspirational music tracks I have ever heard in a video game. If you can listen to it and not feel SOME sort of emotion come over you -- especially at the end of such a far-flung adventure, you would need to be either deaf, or a BORN. HATER (I'm kidding but seriously, it owns so hard).
Let's get to the gameplay. Many describe this gameplay as "MMO-like". I have dabbled in a few MMO's, but to be completely honest, I don't REALLY get the comparison, at least when compared to other Active Time Battle Final Fantasy games. Is it because the combat is seamless in the world? Probably. Moving along, the combat is quite good. The lifeblood of it is the Gambit system, a very rudimentary coding scheme that allows your dudes to automatically perform certain actions in a hierarchy upon the combat environment meeting certain conditions. For example, you could set it so Penelo will heal any ally of hers that dips below 30% health with a potion. If you place this at the top of the list, it will be her first priority, but she'll only perform it once that condition is fulfilled, so one could put BENEATH it "Attack any enemy" and she will attack. This is more or less how all your gambits will likely be organized; healing skills and curatives at the highest priority, followed by attack skills. It's both deceptively simple and... well, simple. It's not very hard. Which, in my evaluation, is good, as there's not much mental stimulation in the typical JRPG turn-based loop of "Run into monster" > "navigate menu" > "use effective skills" > "win" > "Run into monster" > "repeat". But there is still room for strategy, particularly with Final Fantasy XII's bosses and hunts, which offer the daring thrill-seeker a chance to stretch their tactical muscles.
That in mind, this game has quite the bevy of side-content. By some metrics, FFXII is even considered the mainline non-MMO Final Fantasy game that takes the most time to 100%, what with the dozens and dozens of side-quests in the form of the game's hunts. They're fun, no question, and they're quite challenging, but at the same time, I wish there were MORE sidequest mechanics. But that's a minor quibble in a game as stacked as this one; in addition to the hunts, there are multiple secret optional areas, optional summons, and hidden passageways, befitting of a fantasy world loosely based on a steampunk reimagining of the Mediterranean.
In conclusion, I have gone on record saying Final Fantasy XII is quite possibly my favorite game of all time, and it's definitely my favorite JRPG of all time. Is it a perfect game? No. Is it a really solid game for JRPG fans? Certainly. I hope this review might just convince you to play it if you're on the fence, and the Zodiac Age version is definitely the definitive way to do it.
2016
A very tight gaming experience. Story is condensed and constrained, but very light since the focus is on the (incredible) action and boss battles. It's tough, but fair. Music is consistently amazing as well, and the design and stylization make it quite timeless.
2019
Genuinely fun, with a banging soundtrack. This makes the fact that it cut out so many pokemon, as well as the weak story (even for a Pokemon game) all the more conspicuous. If you're a pokemon fan, you'll probably see through the cracks, but enjoy it anyway. If you're not a Pokemon fan, hopefully you'll be carried by the music and gameplay to become enamored with this game. But it's no Citizen Kane.
Definitely one of the most solid entries in the Star Wars game pantheon. Yeah the story's a bit fanficy but it's always a blast slicing through troops and platforming through the different levels. I just wish they played cutscenes when you changed costumes..
Even as a child (who had played Pokemon) I knew that this wasn't really anything special, just a game sorta like Pokemon but not as good. It's not horrible, but when the monster-collection genre is so stacked there's really no REASON to buy this game over... anything else.