623 Reviews liked by Reyn
Feels like all the track designers simultaneously lost bets to each other
Rain World
2017
No greater indictment of the gaming press than the scorn for one of the most innovative games to come out since Demon's Souls. It's a game all about intrinsic reward as really most platformers are but in something like Super Metroid there is a reward in the way of powerups, the reward in Rain World is simply living to the next area and seeing what practical joke will be played on you.
I haven't seen a game that showed this much restraint since Ico. The game could've given you upgrades, a final boss, a significant crutch, a more present story, really anything your usual metroidvania would do but it didnt. The few concessions to minimalism like the map and the titles of the areas being shown never dampened the extreme immersive quality this game granted me.
Despite being quite game-y, this game probably bridges the cold reality of the world to the player in the best way possible, not simply because the game is "unfairly designed" but because it does actually feel like a real breathing ecosystem, the scavengers or lizards arent just obstacles for the player to engage in, they act like how animals would in real life, they go on living their life independent of the protagonists existence.
Very sad that in the mid 2010s indie game hype wave, this genius title comparatively got left out. I had only learned about this game in 2019 from Matthewmatosis and put it on the backburner till now.
I haven't seen a game that showed this much restraint since Ico. The game could've given you upgrades, a final boss, a significant crutch, a more present story, really anything your usual metroidvania would do but it didnt. The few concessions to minimalism like the map and the titles of the areas being shown never dampened the extreme immersive quality this game granted me.
Despite being quite game-y, this game probably bridges the cold reality of the world to the player in the best way possible, not simply because the game is "unfairly designed" but because it does actually feel like a real breathing ecosystem, the scavengers or lizards arent just obstacles for the player to engage in, they act like how animals would in real life, they go on living their life independent of the protagonists existence.
Very sad that in the mid 2010s indie game hype wave, this genius title comparatively got left out. I had only learned about this game in 2019 from Matthewmatosis and put it on the backburner till now.
Thracia is a beautiful video game and a bit of a standout in the Fire Emblem series. In FE you often play as a prince or princess with the support of the crown, yours or another, at your back. Knights, resources, loyal retainers, and the like. You go forth and fight for your kingdom, your friends, and what have you.
Thracia is a bit different. Leif is a minor prince in exile, and your brigade is the local militia. So much of the game is spent struggling against overwhelming odds; running away from a superior force. You have very little gold, so you need to capture enemies and steal their equipment. Every victory feels desperate and well-earned.
The game is full of bullshit. It is a bullshit game. Don't have enough keys at this very late chapter in the game? Sorry, buddy, you're softlocked. Oh, you're in the bandit gaiden? Get ready for the girl with the Thief staff to steal your equipment from across the map. Deal with it. Got a powerful unit in the middle of your army? Sorry, she got hit by the berserk staff and just killed your best healer. Walk out into the dark forest? That's a shame, this random bandit just hit you with a sleep staff, captured you, and stole all your equipment. Oh, and the boss hit you with a long range sleep staff, too. Don't even get me started on the long range siege tomes through fog of war.
The game hates you. The game spits on your face. You think you're having a continent-spanning adventure as the Hero-Prince Marth? Who the fuck do you think you are? You think you're having a geopolitical Shakespearean drama, an ancient epic with larger-than-life heroes blessed by the blood of ancient warriors, of the very gods themselves like in FE4? Get real, twerp. You're a two-bit prince with a bunch of militia troops, freedom fighters, and mountain noble knights (later), and you've got to run the fuck away before you can reclaim your kingdom. Every battle is desperate. Every victory is hard-won.
The beauty of the bullshit is that you also have bullshit. Staffs are busted. Warp across the map, who cares. Make the enemy berserk, whatever. Thief staff the boss's weapon away, what's he gonna do about it? When you're this desperate, who the fuck cares about 'fighting fair'? This game was meant to be cheesed, because it's cheesing you. It feels like the director Kaga is challenging you, personally, to a battle of wits - a contest you're going to rise to the challenge of.
One part that stands out to me is a mission later in the game, a tense defense mission where you have to hold out for reinforcements. When it is finally done, the protagonist of FE4 appears with a host of troops to bail you out and give you the thumbs up before going back to doing incredibly significant, world-saving epic shit. You, as Leif, and all of your struggles, have just been a footnote in the greater narrative of FE4. Your 16+ chapters of blood, sweat, tears and loss are just a single map to the other guy.
It's beautiful.
Most significant to me is the penultimate map, right before the finale. I won't give details of the reward, but it is the height of the game's bullshit, of its player-hostile design. Seemingly-random tiles teleport your units to a room in the bottom where they are beaten to death by enemy reinforcements coming out of stairways from which there is no escape. Fog of war concealing Berserkers with extremely high crit and damage, all but guaranteeing a one hit kill on any of your unfortunate allies. Constantly dark mages warping towards you from across the map. It is perverse. It is disgusting. It feels like something out of like a cruel romhack, like a particularly rough Kaizou Mario.
Yet it has great purpose. If you go through it, even though your best units will likely be fatigued and thus unusable in the final map, where you will need them most to actually beat the game - even though you will gain no new items, no new weapons, not even a powerful party member - you are instead rewarded with the best cutscene in the game and incredible emotional catharsis.
It is completely optional. It is in your best tactical interest to not do it. The requirements to unlock it are slightly difficult in the previous map. Yet, the game looks you in the eye, narrows its own, and asks you how much you want your happy ending. Because if you do, you'd better come and get it, motherfucker.
I love Thracia 776. I don't think we'll ever get a game in the Fire Emblem series like it again, but I deeply cherish my time with it and hope anyone else interested in Fire Emblem gives it a try, ideally after getting a few femblems under their belt.
Thracia is a bit different. Leif is a minor prince in exile, and your brigade is the local militia. So much of the game is spent struggling against overwhelming odds; running away from a superior force. You have very little gold, so you need to capture enemies and steal their equipment. Every victory feels desperate and well-earned.
The game is full of bullshit. It is a bullshit game. Don't have enough keys at this very late chapter in the game? Sorry, buddy, you're softlocked. Oh, you're in the bandit gaiden? Get ready for the girl with the Thief staff to steal your equipment from across the map. Deal with it. Got a powerful unit in the middle of your army? Sorry, she got hit by the berserk staff and just killed your best healer. Walk out into the dark forest? That's a shame, this random bandit just hit you with a sleep staff, captured you, and stole all your equipment. Oh, and the boss hit you with a long range sleep staff, too. Don't even get me started on the long range siege tomes through fog of war.
The game hates you. The game spits on your face. You think you're having a continent-spanning adventure as the Hero-Prince Marth? Who the fuck do you think you are? You think you're having a geopolitical Shakespearean drama, an ancient epic with larger-than-life heroes blessed by the blood of ancient warriors, of the very gods themselves like in FE4? Get real, twerp. You're a two-bit prince with a bunch of militia troops, freedom fighters, and mountain noble knights (later), and you've got to run the fuck away before you can reclaim your kingdom. Every battle is desperate. Every victory is hard-won.
The beauty of the bullshit is that you also have bullshit. Staffs are busted. Warp across the map, who cares. Make the enemy berserk, whatever. Thief staff the boss's weapon away, what's he gonna do about it? When you're this desperate, who the fuck cares about 'fighting fair'? This game was meant to be cheesed, because it's cheesing you. It feels like the director Kaga is challenging you, personally, to a battle of wits - a contest you're going to rise to the challenge of.
One part that stands out to me is a mission later in the game, a tense defense mission where you have to hold out for reinforcements. When it is finally done, the protagonist of FE4 appears with a host of troops to bail you out and give you the thumbs up before going back to doing incredibly significant, world-saving epic shit. You, as Leif, and all of your struggles, have just been a footnote in the greater narrative of FE4. Your 16+ chapters of blood, sweat, tears and loss are just a single map to the other guy.
It's beautiful.
Most significant to me is the penultimate map, right before the finale. I won't give details of the reward, but it is the height of the game's bullshit, of its player-hostile design. Seemingly-random tiles teleport your units to a room in the bottom where they are beaten to death by enemy reinforcements coming out of stairways from which there is no escape. Fog of war concealing Berserkers with extremely high crit and damage, all but guaranteeing a one hit kill on any of your unfortunate allies. Constantly dark mages warping towards you from across the map. It is perverse. It is disgusting. It feels like something out of like a cruel romhack, like a particularly rough Kaizou Mario.
Yet it has great purpose. If you go through it, even though your best units will likely be fatigued and thus unusable in the final map, where you will need them most to actually beat the game - even though you will gain no new items, no new weapons, not even a powerful party member - you are instead rewarded with the best cutscene in the game and incredible emotional catharsis.
It is completely optional. It is in your best tactical interest to not do it. The requirements to unlock it are slightly difficult in the previous map. Yet, the game looks you in the eye, narrows its own, and asks you how much you want your happy ending. Because if you do, you'd better come and get it, motherfucker.
I love Thracia 776. I don't think we'll ever get a game in the Fire Emblem series like it again, but I deeply cherish my time with it and hope anyone else interested in Fire Emblem gives it a try, ideally after getting a few femblems under their belt.
Final Fantasy XIII-2
2011
"Let's make a sequel that ignores the worldbuilding of the original to focus on new wacky time travel lore, knock down the playable cast from 6 to 2, and harass you with a moogle navi that you can punish by throwing off cliffs!"
Sounds like an idea of the unhinged, one that would be laughed out of the room at pre-production stage, right? Nope—these ideas made their way into the final product, because somehow everyone involved in the decision making process thought this was a good idea.
And they... were right??? This game has no right to be as good as it is, it's a complete overreaction to all the criticisms of FF13, and yet it somehow just works. Making the main cast Lightning's mostly absent sister and this random guy from the future, complete with a cutesy mascot, sounds like the premise of a creatively bankrupt sequel; instead, it leads to one of the most memorable trios in the Final Fantasy series. Serah was already a decent character in the original, especially considering her role as a plot device damsel, and here they capitalise on that by allowing her to shine as a protagonist, on a journey with very real stakes to restore her old life. Noel slots in excellently with the new lore, has amazing chemistry with Serah—without creating romantic girl/boy duo #124812490 in media—and provides a very emotional story that left more impact on me than I was expecting.
Hell, even Mog is pretty lovable; and when he isn't, you can just throw him over the edge and listen to his sweet screams! Ludonarrative dissonance, pfft, more like ludonarrative resonance.
Battle wise I unfortunately don't think this sequel is better, it's one of the areas I feel the original was stronger. The improved QoL such as removing the long animation of the first paradigm shift (thank god) is appreciated, but overall it's just... a bit too easy for my tastes, and lacks the expertly designed game balance of FF13. The monster collector system is a fun idea, but I found it a little jank and grindy, and would've preferred a third character instead. Also, Serah and Noel are garbage synergists!! Either you infuse a chimera of abilities through a monster grindfest, or accept that debuffs are The Way this game. I'll remember you, haste...
Thankfully, exploration is here to save the day! Unlike FF13, which has the openness of my bathroom outside of the Archylte Steppe, 13-2 understands that it's nice being about to revisit areas and walk about a little. Each area is fairly small, and to call them "open areas" would be a ludicrous exaggeration outside of the returning Archylte Steppe, but the way they get around this is quite clever—time travel! There's so many hidden gates to find that take you to completely optional areas and time periods, it really makes it feel like you're exploring the 4th dimension. I wouldn't say the approach to exploration is perfect: a major blemish is how absurdly hidden most quest items and even some story items are, practically expecting most players to have a guide in hand, along with a bizarre lack of sidequest markers. But hey, I still had fun screwing around!
Encounter rate is a bit high for my tastes, though at least unlike FF13, it's pretty easy to avoid most enemies. The big exception to this being a certain "Cie'th city", with such outrageously frequent encounters that I'm convinced they didn't playtest this part of the final product—they even interrupt active voice dialogue! Why is the active voice dialogue longer than the time it takes for battles to start!
I do like the fun little puzzles they throw at you, though I do have to say the clock puzzles are an absurd spike in difficulty, you go from relatively easy puzzles to this... monstrosity. I mean, it's not bad and actually decently big brained, but it's a bit much to expect from a game not designed for hardcore puzzle gamers! Not to mention giving some time limits: it's pure evil, I tell you. Good thing there's helpful tools online to solve these so you don't have to git gud—of course, I'd never resort to cheating like that, I totally solved all these puzzles on my own, haha...
Music-wise I was pretty darn excited to get to this game after hearing how good the tracks were in theatrhythm, and it certainly delivered there. Like FFX, this soundtrack takes full advantage of having more than one composer, delivering a huge variety of tracks with their own unique styles, along with a bunch of beautiful and fun vocal themes. Highlights being: Plains of Eternity, Warrior Goddess, Full Speed Ahead, New Bodhum, Historia Crux, Worlds Collide, Yuel's Theme, Crazy Chocobo (sue me), Noel's Theme - Final Journey -, Unseen Abyss, and 'Closing Credits' which basically collates all the best tracks in the game under a deceptively bland title.
============================
STORY SPOILERS START HERE
============================
Wow, time travel! This should be a dreadful idea for a sequel, but it ends up working oddly well. They quickly make it clear that time travel has limitations and consequences, with only one true timeline being allowed, along with so many ways of accidentally creating world-ending paradoxes through butterfly effects. Our protagonists can't go wherever the hell they want either, as they are guided through gates that take them to static points in history. In fact, most of the game is really about undoing the paradoxes created by a certain reckless goddess we never meet, as she's too busy dying in the corner. Etro is a unique take on divinity—unlike the Fal'cie which are predictably manipulative and apathetic, Etro's benevolence towards humanity is her undoing, as every blessing she attempts to bestow leads to equivalent curses that doom others. Even better, that's the motivation of our villain: he's a bit tired of the goddess ruining the timeline by 'saving' people, causing the seeress he's been sworn to protect to keep dying as her brain gets microwaved by forced visions of every little change in history.
Caius makes for an absolutely fantastic antagonist with a sympathetic and downright reasonable motive—erasing the concept of time probably isn't a bad idea when you live in the apocalypse—along with high emotional stakes in facing him, being the mentor of Noel. While Yuel is a giant plot device with little personality beyond Nice and Good, this becomes a non-issue with how well she is used in the story, and it honestly is somewhat believable she's become so emotionless and unaffected considering what she's been exposed to throughout all her lifetimes. This makes Noel and Caius' relationship very interesting, as they both have the same goal, just drastically different ways of going about it.
Noel himself is a great deuteragonist—while the way we slowly uncover his memories is very plot convenient, it ends up unravelling in an emotionally satisfying way as we're exposed to his past and the hopeless world he lives in, where everything is dead and the only people he has left both die and vanish into the black mist of villainhood respectively. By the end he's practically on a suicide mission, until Etro saves him: it's impossible not to feel for the poor guy.
Speaking of Etro, we have Etro's Champion here in the form of Lightning. I'll be frank, I don't think this is an organic continuation of Lightning's role from 13—in that game she was a fairly down to earth person, so turning her into this servant of the goddess feels beyond excessive and doesn't do much for her character. We also don't really get to see much of a relationship get built between her and Caius, despite them both being on the cover and the entire story revolving around their eternal conflict on the edge of time, which is a bit disappointing. However, they do stick the landing in the finale to the story, where she is unable to prevent Serah's death, and forced to accept her failure as she enters an eternal crystal sleep.
Hope's role in this game, on the other hand, feels like a very organic continuation of his role in 13, now pushing the world into a new age through his leadership developed throughout the original game. I found it interesting how he paralleled Etro, in that his good intentions often led to... many problems, until we hit the climax where he creates a new Cocoon called Bhunivelze (????? Hope you madman, read up on your FNC lore!) Alyssa is an interesting character with a fun twist, though unfortunately we don't get a good resolution for her... outside of a novel apparently? I hear that novel also explains why Snow is a L'cie again, talk about cut content lol. Also rip Sazh, he really got the short end of the stick this game... I won't speculate as to why, as I feel that's heading in very dangerous territory!
Climax of the game is absolutely fantastic, with a really strong confrontation between Serah & Noel and Caius, ending in expected tragedy D: Then it gets even worse when oops, Serah died and we all failed, Caius got his way after all! I like the extra bonus ending that reveals Caius planned this all along, one of the rare villains to actually succeed in his goal and win against the protagonists. Though I will say, I'm pretty disappointed at the lack of Noel x Caius content, the angst practically writes itself! I guess I'm going to have to make my own contributions ;p
Paradox endings are all quite fun, ranging from serious to completely absurd, I love it. There's a ton of endgame content that ups the difficulty quite a bit, though I wasn't in the mood to grind up all my monsters to get too involved in it.
=========================
STORY SPOILERS END HERE
=========================
So yeah, overall this game is surprisingly great! For a sequel built on such a ridiculous premise, it ends up playing out shockingly well, and delivers with a really-well done and emotionally resonant story. There are flaws, such as the combat being a bit of a sidegrade from ff13, and practically requiring a guide if you truly want to see everything the game has to offer, and it's admittedly quite low budget compared to the gorgeous graphics of its predecessor. PC port is also REALLY bad, I had to use like 10+ mods and mess around with my GPU settings to get it in a decent state—you sure aren't getting 60fps in certain areas without bruteforcing it. But, BUT, this game is something really special all in all, and I really would recommend it to anyone who wants a shorter, more experimental FF with a strong story, even to those who didn't care for FF13.
Sounds like an idea of the unhinged, one that would be laughed out of the room at pre-production stage, right? Nope—these ideas made their way into the final product, because somehow everyone involved in the decision making process thought this was a good idea.
And they... were right??? This game has no right to be as good as it is, it's a complete overreaction to all the criticisms of FF13, and yet it somehow just works. Making the main cast Lightning's mostly absent sister and this random guy from the future, complete with a cutesy mascot, sounds like the premise of a creatively bankrupt sequel; instead, it leads to one of the most memorable trios in the Final Fantasy series. Serah was already a decent character in the original, especially considering her role as a plot device damsel, and here they capitalise on that by allowing her to shine as a protagonist, on a journey with very real stakes to restore her old life. Noel slots in excellently with the new lore, has amazing chemistry with Serah—without creating romantic girl/boy duo #124812490 in media—and provides a very emotional story that left more impact on me than I was expecting.
Hell, even Mog is pretty lovable; and when he isn't, you can just throw him over the edge and listen to his sweet screams! Ludonarrative dissonance, pfft, more like ludonarrative resonance.
Battle wise I unfortunately don't think this sequel is better, it's one of the areas I feel the original was stronger. The improved QoL such as removing the long animation of the first paradigm shift (thank god) is appreciated, but overall it's just... a bit too easy for my tastes, and lacks the expertly designed game balance of FF13. The monster collector system is a fun idea, but I found it a little jank and grindy, and would've preferred a third character instead. Also, Serah and Noel are garbage synergists!! Either you infuse a chimera of abilities through a monster grindfest, or accept that debuffs are The Way this game. I'll remember you, haste...
Thankfully, exploration is here to save the day! Unlike FF13, which has the openness of my bathroom outside of the Archylte Steppe, 13-2 understands that it's nice being about to revisit areas and walk about a little. Each area is fairly small, and to call them "open areas" would be a ludicrous exaggeration outside of the returning Archylte Steppe, but the way they get around this is quite clever—time travel! There's so many hidden gates to find that take you to completely optional areas and time periods, it really makes it feel like you're exploring the 4th dimension. I wouldn't say the approach to exploration is perfect: a major blemish is how absurdly hidden most quest items and even some story items are, practically expecting most players to have a guide in hand, along with a bizarre lack of sidequest markers. But hey, I still had fun screwing around!
Encounter rate is a bit high for my tastes, though at least unlike FF13, it's pretty easy to avoid most enemies. The big exception to this being a certain "Cie'th city", with such outrageously frequent encounters that I'm convinced they didn't playtest this part of the final product—they even interrupt active voice dialogue! Why is the active voice dialogue longer than the time it takes for battles to start!
I do like the fun little puzzles they throw at you, though I do have to say the clock puzzles are an absurd spike in difficulty, you go from relatively easy puzzles to this... monstrosity. I mean, it's not bad and actually decently big brained, but it's a bit much to expect from a game not designed for hardcore puzzle gamers! Not to mention giving some time limits: it's pure evil, I tell you. Good thing there's helpful tools online to solve these so you don't have to git gud—of course, I'd never resort to cheating like that, I totally solved all these puzzles on my own, haha...
Music-wise I was pretty darn excited to get to this game after hearing how good the tracks were in theatrhythm, and it certainly delivered there. Like FFX, this soundtrack takes full advantage of having more than one composer, delivering a huge variety of tracks with their own unique styles, along with a bunch of beautiful and fun vocal themes. Highlights being: Plains of Eternity, Warrior Goddess, Full Speed Ahead, New Bodhum, Historia Crux, Worlds Collide, Yuel's Theme, Crazy Chocobo (sue me), Noel's Theme - Final Journey -, Unseen Abyss, and 'Closing Credits' which basically collates all the best tracks in the game under a deceptively bland title.
============================
STORY SPOILERS START HERE
============================
Wow, time travel! This should be a dreadful idea for a sequel, but it ends up working oddly well. They quickly make it clear that time travel has limitations and consequences, with only one true timeline being allowed, along with so many ways of accidentally creating world-ending paradoxes through butterfly effects. Our protagonists can't go wherever the hell they want either, as they are guided through gates that take them to static points in history. In fact, most of the game is really about undoing the paradoxes created by a certain reckless goddess we never meet, as she's too busy dying in the corner. Etro is a unique take on divinity—unlike the Fal'cie which are predictably manipulative and apathetic, Etro's benevolence towards humanity is her undoing, as every blessing she attempts to bestow leads to equivalent curses that doom others. Even better, that's the motivation of our villain: he's a bit tired of the goddess ruining the timeline by 'saving' people, causing the seeress he's been sworn to protect to keep dying as her brain gets microwaved by forced visions of every little change in history.
Caius makes for an absolutely fantastic antagonist with a sympathetic and downright reasonable motive—erasing the concept of time probably isn't a bad idea when you live in the apocalypse—along with high emotional stakes in facing him, being the mentor of Noel. While Yuel is a giant plot device with little personality beyond Nice and Good, this becomes a non-issue with how well she is used in the story, and it honestly is somewhat believable she's become so emotionless and unaffected considering what she's been exposed to throughout all her lifetimes. This makes Noel and Caius' relationship very interesting, as they both have the same goal, just drastically different ways of going about it.
Noel himself is a great deuteragonist—while the way we slowly uncover his memories is very plot convenient, it ends up unravelling in an emotionally satisfying way as we're exposed to his past and the hopeless world he lives in, where everything is dead and the only people he has left both die and vanish into the black mist of villainhood respectively. By the end he's practically on a suicide mission, until Etro saves him: it's impossible not to feel for the poor guy.
Speaking of Etro, we have Etro's Champion here in the form of Lightning. I'll be frank, I don't think this is an organic continuation of Lightning's role from 13—in that game she was a fairly down to earth person, so turning her into this servant of the goddess feels beyond excessive and doesn't do much for her character. We also don't really get to see much of a relationship get built between her and Caius, despite them both being on the cover and the entire story revolving around their eternal conflict on the edge of time, which is a bit disappointing. However, they do stick the landing in the finale to the story, where she is unable to prevent Serah's death, and forced to accept her failure as she enters an eternal crystal sleep.
Hope's role in this game, on the other hand, feels like a very organic continuation of his role in 13, now pushing the world into a new age through his leadership developed throughout the original game. I found it interesting how he paralleled Etro, in that his good intentions often led to... many problems, until we hit the climax where he creates a new Cocoon called Bhunivelze (????? Hope you madman, read up on your FNC lore!) Alyssa is an interesting character with a fun twist, though unfortunately we don't get a good resolution for her... outside of a novel apparently? I hear that novel also explains why Snow is a L'cie again, talk about cut content lol. Also rip Sazh, he really got the short end of the stick this game... I won't speculate as to why, as I feel that's heading in very dangerous territory!
Climax of the game is absolutely fantastic, with a really strong confrontation between Serah & Noel and Caius, ending in expected tragedy D: Then it gets even worse when oops, Serah died and we all failed, Caius got his way after all! I like the extra bonus ending that reveals Caius planned this all along, one of the rare villains to actually succeed in his goal and win against the protagonists. Though I will say, I'm pretty disappointed at the lack of Noel x Caius content, the angst practically writes itself! I guess I'm going to have to make my own contributions ;p
Paradox endings are all quite fun, ranging from serious to completely absurd, I love it. There's a ton of endgame content that ups the difficulty quite a bit, though I wasn't in the mood to grind up all my monsters to get too involved in it.
=========================
STORY SPOILERS END HERE
=========================
So yeah, overall this game is surprisingly great! For a sequel built on such a ridiculous premise, it ends up playing out shockingly well, and delivers with a really-well done and emotionally resonant story. There are flaws, such as the combat being a bit of a sidegrade from ff13, and practically requiring a guide if you truly want to see everything the game has to offer, and it's admittedly quite low budget compared to the gorgeous graphics of its predecessor. PC port is also REALLY bad, I had to use like 10+ mods and mess around with my GPU settings to get it in a decent state—you sure aren't getting 60fps in certain areas without bruteforcing it. But, BUT, this game is something really special all in all, and I really would recommend it to anyone who wants a shorter, more experimental FF with a strong story, even to those who didn't care for FF13.
Rez
2001
soooooo cool :)
Between Rez, Sin and Punishment, Killer7 and Panzer Dragoon I think the rail shooter gotta be the most underappreciated game genre
As the second part of the three-game reimagining of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is dealt with the carried expectations, risks, and ambitions that its predecessor, Remake, started with. And like Remake, I don’t believe I’m the person to be able to qualify how well it does or doesn’t do that - though I’d also argue that it might be impossible until the trilogy project is completed. It’s equally impossible to also not really start some discussion that this project isn’t simply just a reimagining in name, it’s just as much a tribute, a representation and reflection of the original game’s significance and influence, and very much a continuation of its greater compilation’s story. I tend to call this genre a “rebuild” - e.g. “Rebuild of Evangelion” - and it isn’t a popular one. Personally, I’m fascinated by it, not just due to it being very much an insight into how people - developers, players, history, etc. - see Final Fantasy VII, but because I think, whether or not you believe it succeeds, you have to at least respect the direction of something different in an industry where remake culture tends to be unimpressive high-definition renderings or lesser versions of a similar game. And I’m not saying this strictly as someone who is on board with the project’s direction, though I admit that since the end of Remake, I’ve given it time and, truth be told, my sentiments are of a positive curiosity. One lesson I do think is lost upon many is how Remake both exemplified and stated why it wasn’t necessarily possible to make a one-to-one ratio remake to capture the original game’s experience. This isn’t a statement to say that this series should be exempt from polarized criticism, merely that I think it’s something worth considering in the big picture sense. But I digress, I did like Remake as a game, though I did feel it had some hit or miss elements. I can safely say, after over one-hundred hours, that Rebirth is an incredibly notable improvement as a product even if it doesn’t eliminate all of those issues - but everything Remake succeeded in has been examined, enhanced, and thrives.
The greatest strength this series has thus far is recognizing the characters the best since the original title, as far as capturing and extending their roles. While liberties are taken, many of them seem to mostly extenuate intrigue to how this party should have depths of companionship whilst still reflecting core thematics as identity and the journey on an individual level. Between the tension of Cloud’s unstable mind, Aerith’s conflicted optimism, Barret’s worries about the future, and so on. Between banter and scenes, there has been evident care insofar as characterizations. Admittedly, I do believe the side cast can be hit-or-miss, particularly characters that are found from the extended compilation, though with the focus on the main crew and their journey, this isn’t necessarily an issue.
What makes talking about Rebirth’s storyline is that it’s still reenacting or building upon events of the source material, albeit it’s being done with the expectation that players are familiar with said events already. There’s the obvious dramas of asking how these things are done and, because I prefer to keep these writeups spoiler free, there’s not really an answer I can provide for how I do feel - for the lack of a better word here. What’s equally complicated is how I perceive the relationship between remakes and originals - that a ‘remake’ is either a reimagining with variations or it is an active improvement on the original’s system. It’s evident that they went with the former at this point, but that also makes it intricate for me to say what I fully think given I don’t have the full picture on the narrative changes. What I can say is that, again, in comparison to the original, there are inevitable hits and misses. I’ve already said my piece on the characters and how I adore the new content regarding them. I find the scene directives compelling or at the very least, I approach them with cautious optimism - which is my sentiment on the ending itself. I’ve mostly positive views on Rebirth, I just don’t believe I can fully explain why and be concise - and these writeups are long enough as is.
However, I’d be remiss if I didn’t admit that there’s two aspects that are definite misses for me: The first is the game’s pacing. While this isn’t Rebirth’s fault exclusively, given that the same issue was in Remake as well, it must be said that many story segments do overstay their welcome even if charming because they incorporate scripted walking segments and interactions. While I’ve seen far worse, it’s noticeable just how many chapters simply have time go by in long stretches. The secondary problem is some tonal dissonance. While this game captures its emotional beats effectively, there are moments where it doesn’t let you breathe and transitions to some emotional whiplash. This can be compounded with a loss of some important thematic subtleties from the original title.
To give one example, take the confrontation between Barret and Dyne. While the scenes and direction still work in their own way, it is inherently inferior because the juxtaposition between Corel Prison and the Gold Saucer has been lost in the setting of where the bout takes place and, even worse, because Shinra forces and Palmer interrupt at the end, transitioning into some slapstick comedy courtesy of the latter right after an emotional climax of one of the game’s prominent leads.
The story aspect aside, the real meat of Rebirth lies in its gameplay and content. The most obvious piece being the open world. I freely admit that I’m not genuinely into this kind of thing, but I can respect it when it engages me. The crux of how Rebirth adapts the world map is by categorizing areas into regions, often in the form of large field-esque design. I’d assert it’s a valid criticism to say that with how the maps work with set icons that it becomes more of a checklist than exploration - and that it can be tedious at a point - yet I think what makes it succeed partially is that the regions differentiate by having traversal options change. Some maps encourage puzzle solving to find set pathways - and rewards for finding them are encouraging. At the very least, this is the first game the series has had in a few years that captures what an ‘adventure’ feels like in regards to exploration. I definitely think it can be done better though. Part of the problem I believe is that it was a mistake to have worldbuilding done through Chadley, in part because it becomes a data exposition task instead of setting immersion because, even with the changes between environments, you are still activating the same towers, finding the same icons, etc. with small permutations. This isn’t a negative, it’s just something that could stand for some improvement, as the map layouts are still distinct. On a small scale, dungeons are well-made for their mob sections and occasional puzzle-solving, though nothing exceptional - and some, despite their quality, are an exercise in time.
In regards to content itself, there is an abundance here. Sidequests have inventory incentives for completion despite their fetch-quest attributes, though the character interactions make them more endearing. The protorelic substory in particular involves the eccentric series stape Gilgamesh and some of the title’s better minigames. As for minigames themselves, it is certifiably impressive how almost all of them are refined, though, like many things, I’d definitely say being forced to complete so many in the main story hurts the pacing. And even outside of that, it can be excessive just how much there is. Still, the systems implemented here in some of them, particularly Queen’s Blood - which they really want you to play - indicate the developers wanted these to be enjoyable.
However, what I would say is Rebirth’s greatest achievement mechanically is the combat system. Remake introduced a real-time action-based approach to the series’ ATB systems, giving players specific character combat to encourage proactivity for meter management whilst heavily encouraging team-based strategy by switching members and customizing them to handle various scenarios. Personally, I felt that these ideas worked though the two issues lied in how much wait time there was between ATB usage and how enemies often felt like static figurines. Suffice it to say, Rebirth not only addresses that, it also asks, “Why fix what isn’t broken?” and builds upon it.
The single best change is the incorporation of the synergy abilities, split between shortcut-based instant commands specific to the controlled party members or the special menu-based paired moves that can affect player options - such as giving temporarily unlimited MP. To simplify why these things are significant, if ATB meter was built through character actions, then there needed to be fixtures both offensively and defensively. Furthermore, while teamwork was prevalent in Remake, these abilities encourage it more than before as special synergy abilities can only be done when a set amount of player skills are used by both characters. Secondly, useful tech, such as shortcut synergy commands, will teleport characters across the field to another, allowing you to manipulate positional advantages, while building meter. There’s even unspoken benefits, such as switching to another character while guarding with another - and this will instantly teleport your new party member to the locked on enemy. If proactivity is rewarded, then adding more ways to do so is a good thing. Other specific combat improvements include implementing perfect guards, more active attack input bufferings, more accessible aerial options (which was missing in Remake), additional ATB abilities that expand movesets, and adding ranged moves for melee characters to use. And, even if you don’t wish to experiment with a full time, the game does offer enough options for you to stick to one character provided you understand the systems here,
To counterbalance so many changes, there’s been modifications to the enemy design, namely as far as managing their stagger meter. While said meters have become a commodity in the franchise the last decade, this trilogy has been on the stronger side of handling them for my money. The greatest reason why is influences players have on ‘pressuring’ enemies, creating a state where enemies can be vulnerable to hitstun or exposed to easier stagger. While many of Remake’s pressure states were made through basic elemental weaknesses or excessive damage, Rebirth adds new routes: from effective guards, to damaged body parts, to scripted patterns. Normal enemies in Remake often could feel like regular statues, though that doesn’t feel like the case with the re-tuning. Of course, this means enemies themselves also have new tricks, from playing with environmental attacks to being able to temporarily remove party members. Some enemies will even change attacks according to their aggro or successful hits. All of this applies even more to bosses because, like Remake, this is where the combat truly shines. Bosses truly bring out the strategical side of the game, having the teeth to punish players who want to treat this as another action RPG. Remake’s major encounters enforced the notion that playing like that isn’t how you maximize your success nor your enjoyment - and Rebirth enforces this more than ever. You’ll need to pay attention to enemy patterns, specific weaknesses, allocate according to the team lineup - and methodically reverse the intensity placed on you to take them out. Hard mode and the simulator challenges take this to the next level as crutches like items are taken away - your resources must be managed through your build to be ready for enemy encounters even in endurance-based sections. The fact that, even in weaker encounters, every fight offers so much variety in a relationship of lineups between party and mobs means this an impressive leap in enemy design for my money.
It’s a testament to how much this game has that I cannot talk the playable characters in much depth, so some general comments:
-Cloud’s counter-based offense remains as useful for an aggressive melee fighter, though Prime Mode and charged-based synergy skills add quicker routes for high damage without needing to stagger or use braver/infinity’s end. Buffs to Punisher Mode’s combo length and his long range attacks give answers he didn’t prior.
-Barrett’s status as the party tank is maintained, though his melee options expand through AoEs with smackdown or his long-ranged options get more buffs with Bonus Rounds.
-Tifa maintains her status as my favorite to play and remains mostly unchanged. Her melee options still deal with rushdowns to build stagger and quick meter for buff-based offensive combos. Her combo options and damage output through Unfettered Fury only expands her role as the speed-based melee fighter.
-Aerith’s ability to teleport between wards and craft barriers always made her an unbelievable support member, though her own offense was conducted through magic that was difficult to build meter for. Her new abilities make her arguably the strongest character in the game, as Radiant Ward turns her into a weapon of mass destruction (whilst making spells casted uninterrupted) and Transcendence, one of the most devastating tools in the game.
-Red XIII’s gameplay is a mix of support between managing his Vengeance Gauge’s unique specialties and elemental-based melee skills. Managing Red’s moveset, I found, was conducted upon recognizing how his defense and health operated accordingly. Reaper’s Touch, for instance, is a desperation skill only available at critical health, yet Nanaki’s Vengeance Gauge is handled around recovering vitality if need be.
-Yuffie is, frankly, cracked. She is easily the most versatile character of the entire game, having numerous recovery offensive options to escape getting stunlocked, active buffs and assists to keep freeflowing in battle, and easy access to magic without consuming meter. Between Aerith and her I really don’t know who is more powerful - in combination, they’re absurd.
-Cait Sith’s style is based around managing the Moogle’s quirky offense and Cait’s RNG-gambles. I admit I haven’t quite figured him out compared to the others, but being able to separate from the Moogle to create a decoy, actively increase teammate stats, or trade between long-and-short range abilities makes Cait Sith surprisingly more than just a luck-indicative character.
At risk of making this writeup any longer, I want to stop here. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is an incredibly ambitious game, given some burden of legacy to navigate that, again, would require more time to discuss than I’m willing to give time here. There’s certainly inconsistencies in its final result, including a pacing issue across the entire board that makes me unsure how many non-RPG players it would be for. It’s for that reason that I think for others, it’s whatever you want to make of it. For me, I committed over one hundred hours to this title - and I simply don’t do that often. I can call this game an experience I won’t forget, conflicted feelings or not beyond what I expressed here - just the fact that I enjoyed my time and that it’s remained fresh in my mind means I will be back for the third part regardless.
The greatest strength this series has thus far is recognizing the characters the best since the original title, as far as capturing and extending their roles. While liberties are taken, many of them seem to mostly extenuate intrigue to how this party should have depths of companionship whilst still reflecting core thematics as identity and the journey on an individual level. Between the tension of Cloud’s unstable mind, Aerith’s conflicted optimism, Barret’s worries about the future, and so on. Between banter and scenes, there has been evident care insofar as characterizations. Admittedly, I do believe the side cast can be hit-or-miss, particularly characters that are found from the extended compilation, though with the focus on the main crew and their journey, this isn’t necessarily an issue.
What makes talking about Rebirth’s storyline is that it’s still reenacting or building upon events of the source material, albeit it’s being done with the expectation that players are familiar with said events already. There’s the obvious dramas of asking how these things are done and, because I prefer to keep these writeups spoiler free, there’s not really an answer I can provide for how I do feel - for the lack of a better word here. What’s equally complicated is how I perceive the relationship between remakes and originals - that a ‘remake’ is either a reimagining with variations or it is an active improvement on the original’s system. It’s evident that they went with the former at this point, but that also makes it intricate for me to say what I fully think given I don’t have the full picture on the narrative changes. What I can say is that, again, in comparison to the original, there are inevitable hits and misses. I’ve already said my piece on the characters and how I adore the new content regarding them. I find the scene directives compelling or at the very least, I approach them with cautious optimism - which is my sentiment on the ending itself. I’ve mostly positive views on Rebirth, I just don’t believe I can fully explain why and be concise - and these writeups are long enough as is.
However, I’d be remiss if I didn’t admit that there’s two aspects that are definite misses for me: The first is the game’s pacing. While this isn’t Rebirth’s fault exclusively, given that the same issue was in Remake as well, it must be said that many story segments do overstay their welcome even if charming because they incorporate scripted walking segments and interactions. While I’ve seen far worse, it’s noticeable just how many chapters simply have time go by in long stretches. The secondary problem is some tonal dissonance. While this game captures its emotional beats effectively, there are moments where it doesn’t let you breathe and transitions to some emotional whiplash. This can be compounded with a loss of some important thematic subtleties from the original title.
To give one example, take the confrontation between Barret and Dyne. While the scenes and direction still work in their own way, it is inherently inferior because the juxtaposition between Corel Prison and the Gold Saucer has been lost in the setting of where the bout takes place and, even worse, because Shinra forces and Palmer interrupt at the end, transitioning into some slapstick comedy courtesy of the latter right after an emotional climax of one of the game’s prominent leads.
The story aspect aside, the real meat of Rebirth lies in its gameplay and content. The most obvious piece being the open world. I freely admit that I’m not genuinely into this kind of thing, but I can respect it when it engages me. The crux of how Rebirth adapts the world map is by categorizing areas into regions, often in the form of large field-esque design. I’d assert it’s a valid criticism to say that with how the maps work with set icons that it becomes more of a checklist than exploration - and that it can be tedious at a point - yet I think what makes it succeed partially is that the regions differentiate by having traversal options change. Some maps encourage puzzle solving to find set pathways - and rewards for finding them are encouraging. At the very least, this is the first game the series has had in a few years that captures what an ‘adventure’ feels like in regards to exploration. I definitely think it can be done better though. Part of the problem I believe is that it was a mistake to have worldbuilding done through Chadley, in part because it becomes a data exposition task instead of setting immersion because, even with the changes between environments, you are still activating the same towers, finding the same icons, etc. with small permutations. This isn’t a negative, it’s just something that could stand for some improvement, as the map layouts are still distinct. On a small scale, dungeons are well-made for their mob sections and occasional puzzle-solving, though nothing exceptional - and some, despite their quality, are an exercise in time.
In regards to content itself, there is an abundance here. Sidequests have inventory incentives for completion despite their fetch-quest attributes, though the character interactions make them more endearing. The protorelic substory in particular involves the eccentric series stape Gilgamesh and some of the title’s better minigames. As for minigames themselves, it is certifiably impressive how almost all of them are refined, though, like many things, I’d definitely say being forced to complete so many in the main story hurts the pacing. And even outside of that, it can be excessive just how much there is. Still, the systems implemented here in some of them, particularly Queen’s Blood - which they really want you to play - indicate the developers wanted these to be enjoyable.
However, what I would say is Rebirth’s greatest achievement mechanically is the combat system. Remake introduced a real-time action-based approach to the series’ ATB systems, giving players specific character combat to encourage proactivity for meter management whilst heavily encouraging team-based strategy by switching members and customizing them to handle various scenarios. Personally, I felt that these ideas worked though the two issues lied in how much wait time there was between ATB usage and how enemies often felt like static figurines. Suffice it to say, Rebirth not only addresses that, it also asks, “Why fix what isn’t broken?” and builds upon it.
The single best change is the incorporation of the synergy abilities, split between shortcut-based instant commands specific to the controlled party members or the special menu-based paired moves that can affect player options - such as giving temporarily unlimited MP. To simplify why these things are significant, if ATB meter was built through character actions, then there needed to be fixtures both offensively and defensively. Furthermore, while teamwork was prevalent in Remake, these abilities encourage it more than before as special synergy abilities can only be done when a set amount of player skills are used by both characters. Secondly, useful tech, such as shortcut synergy commands, will teleport characters across the field to another, allowing you to manipulate positional advantages, while building meter. There’s even unspoken benefits, such as switching to another character while guarding with another - and this will instantly teleport your new party member to the locked on enemy. If proactivity is rewarded, then adding more ways to do so is a good thing. Other specific combat improvements include implementing perfect guards, more active attack input bufferings, more accessible aerial options (which was missing in Remake), additional ATB abilities that expand movesets, and adding ranged moves for melee characters to use. And, even if you don’t wish to experiment with a full time, the game does offer enough options for you to stick to one character provided you understand the systems here,
To counterbalance so many changes, there’s been modifications to the enemy design, namely as far as managing their stagger meter. While said meters have become a commodity in the franchise the last decade, this trilogy has been on the stronger side of handling them for my money. The greatest reason why is influences players have on ‘pressuring’ enemies, creating a state where enemies can be vulnerable to hitstun or exposed to easier stagger. While many of Remake’s pressure states were made through basic elemental weaknesses or excessive damage, Rebirth adds new routes: from effective guards, to damaged body parts, to scripted patterns. Normal enemies in Remake often could feel like regular statues, though that doesn’t feel like the case with the re-tuning. Of course, this means enemies themselves also have new tricks, from playing with environmental attacks to being able to temporarily remove party members. Some enemies will even change attacks according to their aggro or successful hits. All of this applies even more to bosses because, like Remake, this is where the combat truly shines. Bosses truly bring out the strategical side of the game, having the teeth to punish players who want to treat this as another action RPG. Remake’s major encounters enforced the notion that playing like that isn’t how you maximize your success nor your enjoyment - and Rebirth enforces this more than ever. You’ll need to pay attention to enemy patterns, specific weaknesses, allocate according to the team lineup - and methodically reverse the intensity placed on you to take them out. Hard mode and the simulator challenges take this to the next level as crutches like items are taken away - your resources must be managed through your build to be ready for enemy encounters even in endurance-based sections. The fact that, even in weaker encounters, every fight offers so much variety in a relationship of lineups between party and mobs means this an impressive leap in enemy design for my money.
It’s a testament to how much this game has that I cannot talk the playable characters in much depth, so some general comments:
-Cloud’s counter-based offense remains as useful for an aggressive melee fighter, though Prime Mode and charged-based synergy skills add quicker routes for high damage without needing to stagger or use braver/infinity’s end. Buffs to Punisher Mode’s combo length and his long range attacks give answers he didn’t prior.
-Barrett’s status as the party tank is maintained, though his melee options expand through AoEs with smackdown or his long-ranged options get more buffs with Bonus Rounds.
-Tifa maintains her status as my favorite to play and remains mostly unchanged. Her melee options still deal with rushdowns to build stagger and quick meter for buff-based offensive combos. Her combo options and damage output through Unfettered Fury only expands her role as the speed-based melee fighter.
-Aerith’s ability to teleport between wards and craft barriers always made her an unbelievable support member, though her own offense was conducted through magic that was difficult to build meter for. Her new abilities make her arguably the strongest character in the game, as Radiant Ward turns her into a weapon of mass destruction (whilst making spells casted uninterrupted) and Transcendence, one of the most devastating tools in the game.
-Red XIII’s gameplay is a mix of support between managing his Vengeance Gauge’s unique specialties and elemental-based melee skills. Managing Red’s moveset, I found, was conducted upon recognizing how his defense and health operated accordingly. Reaper’s Touch, for instance, is a desperation skill only available at critical health, yet Nanaki’s Vengeance Gauge is handled around recovering vitality if need be.
-Yuffie is, frankly, cracked. She is easily the most versatile character of the entire game, having numerous recovery offensive options to escape getting stunlocked, active buffs and assists to keep freeflowing in battle, and easy access to magic without consuming meter. Between Aerith and her I really don’t know who is more powerful - in combination, they’re absurd.
-Cait Sith’s style is based around managing the Moogle’s quirky offense and Cait’s RNG-gambles. I admit I haven’t quite figured him out compared to the others, but being able to separate from the Moogle to create a decoy, actively increase teammate stats, or trade between long-and-short range abilities makes Cait Sith surprisingly more than just a luck-indicative character.
At risk of making this writeup any longer, I want to stop here. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is an incredibly ambitious game, given some burden of legacy to navigate that, again, would require more time to discuss than I’m willing to give time here. There’s certainly inconsistencies in its final result, including a pacing issue across the entire board that makes me unsure how many non-RPG players it would be for. It’s for that reason that I think for others, it’s whatever you want to make of it. For me, I committed over one hundred hours to this title - and I simply don’t do that often. I can call this game an experience I won’t forget, conflicted feelings or not beyond what I expressed here - just the fact that I enjoyed my time and that it’s remained fresh in my mind means I will be back for the third part regardless.
Final Fantasy XIII-2
2011
worst video game ever with one of the greatest soundtracks known to mankind.
Desync
2017
Kind of interesting how much the space of these years were really into the sort of Tron/FC3 Blood Dragon Cyberspace. I think it's kind of "fun" in the way any cotton candy town can be appealing and enjoyable. Now on replay it hurts my eyes every so often, almost intentionally with its awful and absolutely dire random tv-crt cuts.
And that sums up the experience, awful every so often in a disappointing way. When the overall work grabs you it can be genuinely incredible, with desyncing enemies and comboing sequences together to become an absolute fast-and-furious powerhouse that demolishes through tactile precision and great understandings of your gunplay fundamentals. Things like blowing up a stage bomb to turn a few slashing enemies into projectiles that you've conveniently pushed towards an increasingly large shuriken, getting a particular bonus you set up ahead of time, to then use the new speed to rocket up another set of enemies that you then laser point-blank underneath their hides for ANOTHER bonus.
And then the encounter is already over.
What?
Yeah, the game is honestly way too forgiving, way too easy. It's so afraid of throwing particular enemy combos at you or putting too much on you that even its second boss fight will go invulnerable and just stand there staring at you while you take care of a poultry wave first. The real meat is in its aberration challenges, but those kind of pull apart having your own "sandbox" to combo enemies in favor of a pre-determined affair. Which I do personally prefer, but it means that about 3/4 of whatever setup you do with the menuing means nothing if the weapons are different.
But, when you've accustomed to the game's own rhythm, they provide the closest Desync gets to pulling you apart in a very engaging way. When these hardmode levels take away your dash and force you to tactfully make your kills to get back HP before your meter runs out. When you're playing a weird game of "keep-away" with weapons that require getting at least a bit close to do proper damage, because the enemies now decided to explode on overkill. When you've got one hit to your name and a host of smaller enemies swarming on you and there's only ONE way you can stagger them to do damage in the first place.
It all helps that at the end of the day this is a very fun frictional shooter, with devs at a midway point where they don't give a shit what you think but also graft on a rpg-your-weapon modifications because that's a thing now. It's a team that lets you be able to make the final boss a multi-enemy one of your own volition and say "deal with it", and has the least accessibility for its nauseating interface. The moniker "adult swim games" has great meaning here, and that's pretty cool.
And that sums up the experience, awful every so often in a disappointing way. When the overall work grabs you it can be genuinely incredible, with desyncing enemies and comboing sequences together to become an absolute fast-and-furious powerhouse that demolishes through tactile precision and great understandings of your gunplay fundamentals. Things like blowing up a stage bomb to turn a few slashing enemies into projectiles that you've conveniently pushed towards an increasingly large shuriken, getting a particular bonus you set up ahead of time, to then use the new speed to rocket up another set of enemies that you then laser point-blank underneath their hides for ANOTHER bonus.
And then the encounter is already over.
What?
Yeah, the game is honestly way too forgiving, way too easy. It's so afraid of throwing particular enemy combos at you or putting too much on you that even its second boss fight will go invulnerable and just stand there staring at you while you take care of a poultry wave first. The real meat is in its aberration challenges, but those kind of pull apart having your own "sandbox" to combo enemies in favor of a pre-determined affair. Which I do personally prefer, but it means that about 3/4 of whatever setup you do with the menuing means nothing if the weapons are different.
But, when you've accustomed to the game's own rhythm, they provide the closest Desync gets to pulling you apart in a very engaging way. When these hardmode levels take away your dash and force you to tactfully make your kills to get back HP before your meter runs out. When you're playing a weird game of "keep-away" with weapons that require getting at least a bit close to do proper damage, because the enemies now decided to explode on overkill. When you've got one hit to your name and a host of smaller enemies swarming on you and there's only ONE way you can stagger them to do damage in the first place.
It all helps that at the end of the day this is a very fun frictional shooter, with devs at a midway point where they don't give a shit what you think but also graft on a rpg-your-weapon modifications because that's a thing now. It's a team that lets you be able to make the final boss a multi-enemy one of your own volition and say "deal with it", and has the least accessibility for its nauseating interface. The moniker "adult swim games" has great meaning here, and that's pretty cool.
There's all kinds of games that are a piece of the creator's childlike wonder, glee, beauty, et cetera. I'd find it difficult to name one that has the same kind of resonance this emanates from start to finish. Gentle, elegant, earnest and bringing you along the ride through a wonderfully crafted landscape of dreams. Sour, dance, play and gymnastics your way through the circus stage made for you. Fears and anxiety are formed only to melt away in the light.
I'll keep thinking about it as the music swells and shifts over the coming days. A lasting impression, of which Oshima himself noted that above all else, they wanted a character and an experience that someone would look at and think "the future looks bright." I'll dance atop that spire of hopeful joy they made.
I'll keep thinking about it as the music swells and shifts over the coming days. A lasting impression, of which Oshima himself noted that above all else, they wanted a character and an experience that someone would look at and think "the future looks bright." I'll dance atop that spire of hopeful joy they made.
Dead Space
2023
Inessential.
Despite the many quality-of-life changes meant to bring this more in line with the rest of the series, like updating the Zero-G sections and letting you use your kinesis more offensively, the broad strokes of the game are surprisingly close to the original. A change I was really looking forward to was the “Intensity Director” which is meant to dynamically alter the mood of areas and what enemies will spawn, but in practice, this mostly seems to determine whether or not you’ll get ambushed while backtracking instead of radically altering the major combat encounter. It’s a nice thrill to occasionally get surrounded by enemies, but as with so many of the new features of the remake, it doesn’t wholly commit to this idea, more a proof-of-concept that could be really transformative if it was expanded on somewhere else. Basic Necromorphs are also substantially less threatening due to the fact that it’s surprisingly easy to stunlock them by stomping on them once their legs have been shot out, and for the sheer effectiveness of these newly revamped kinesis powers (encounters and the ammo economy needed to be dramatically changed to make threats meaningful the player).
Given that this production seems to owe so much to the success of the recent Resident Evil remakes, I wish it would’ve taken a cue from them and include some bolder pieces of design and pacing- throw in an extra Regenerator fight, change the order of levels, or go all the way and pull the best enemies from the entire series to give these fights an extra edge. There are earnest discussions to be had about what function the RE remakes serve (if they’re replacements or reimaginings) but at least they’re distinct- I’m compelled to go back to them from time to time!
Really, I think the hesitance to change to radically alter the structure and encounter design speaks to the real intent of this remake, which seems far more interested in making the narrative flow more seamlessly between this and Dead Space 2. Isaac Clarke more or less had to be invented as a character in the sequel, and that made the amount of screentime that was devoted to his guilt over Nicole all the more weightless- retconned baggage that hardly landed. The attempt to expand their relationship mostly works, the revelations here about how their relationship ended are much better about setting the groundwork for their arc in the sequel. For as strong as this dynamic, it seems to have come at the cost of much of the supporting cast; compared to their original versions, everyone on the Ishimura comes as the lifeless versions of themselves. Dr. Kyne and Dr. Mercer were amazing presences thanks to great performances by Keith Szarabajka and Navid Negahban respectively, but without that prior context, I’m not sure these new iterations of the characters will stay in the minds of those who’ve only played the remake.
The biggest sin is that the remake ends up being dreadfully boring to play through in practice, the threats so similar to the original that the horror doesn’t land and the action so easy to break that it actively feels like a regression from the constraints of the earlier version of combat design. There’s obvious passion for the project here, especially in some of the granular details, but seemingly not the broader vision needed to successfully combine the old and new ideas together.
Despite the many quality-of-life changes meant to bring this more in line with the rest of the series, like updating the Zero-G sections and letting you use your kinesis more offensively, the broad strokes of the game are surprisingly close to the original. A change I was really looking forward to was the “Intensity Director” which is meant to dynamically alter the mood of areas and what enemies will spawn, but in practice, this mostly seems to determine whether or not you’ll get ambushed while backtracking instead of radically altering the major combat encounter. It’s a nice thrill to occasionally get surrounded by enemies, but as with so many of the new features of the remake, it doesn’t wholly commit to this idea, more a proof-of-concept that could be really transformative if it was expanded on somewhere else. Basic Necromorphs are also substantially less threatening due to the fact that it’s surprisingly easy to stunlock them by stomping on them once their legs have been shot out, and for the sheer effectiveness of these newly revamped kinesis powers (encounters and the ammo economy needed to be dramatically changed to make threats meaningful the player).
Given that this production seems to owe so much to the success of the recent Resident Evil remakes, I wish it would’ve taken a cue from them and include some bolder pieces of design and pacing- throw in an extra Regenerator fight, change the order of levels, or go all the way and pull the best enemies from the entire series to give these fights an extra edge. There are earnest discussions to be had about what function the RE remakes serve (if they’re replacements or reimaginings) but at least they’re distinct- I’m compelled to go back to them from time to time!
Really, I think the hesitance to change to radically alter the structure and encounter design speaks to the real intent of this remake, which seems far more interested in making the narrative flow more seamlessly between this and Dead Space 2. Isaac Clarke more or less had to be invented as a character in the sequel, and that made the amount of screentime that was devoted to his guilt over Nicole all the more weightless- retconned baggage that hardly landed. The attempt to expand their relationship mostly works, the revelations here about how their relationship ended are much better about setting the groundwork for their arc in the sequel. For as strong as this dynamic, it seems to have come at the cost of much of the supporting cast; compared to their original versions, everyone on the Ishimura comes as the lifeless versions of themselves. Dr. Kyne and Dr. Mercer were amazing presences thanks to great performances by Keith Szarabajka and Navid Negahban respectively, but without that prior context, I’m not sure these new iterations of the characters will stay in the minds of those who’ve only played the remake.
The biggest sin is that the remake ends up being dreadfully boring to play through in practice, the threats so similar to the original that the horror doesn’t land and the action so easy to break that it actively feels like a regression from the constraints of the earlier version of combat design. There’s obvious passion for the project here, especially in some of the granular details, but seemingly not the broader vision needed to successfully combine the old and new ideas together.
Sin and Punishment
2000
pew pew pew pepepew
Fixes all of the jank and problems I had with previous titles on the PS3. Fantastic soundtrack, aesthetic, and accessibility that makes this game just an insanely fun action mecha game.
Alien Soldier
1995
this is the most video game a video game will ever be
"I believe our role as game creators is to give dreams to children all over the world." - Yuji Naka
------------------------------------------------------------------------
NiGHTS: Into Dreams is a marvel of a game. Originally developed with the intent of being a 2D game with pixel art graphics with a strong emphasis on Artificial Life sim (A-Life) gameplay, development shifted drastically towards the game we know today. The game was, for all intents and purposes, an experiment: can Sonic Team make a 3D game on the Sega Saturn? What are the limitations, if they could? How can they show the player 3D depth on a 2D screen? Can they create polygonal characters that look as appealing as 2D pixel characters?
The answer was a resounding yes. NiGHTS became a unique title that showcased the potential of the Sega Saturn, demolishing the sales and becoming the top selling game on the system. Sonic Team managed to create a new IP, play around with new ideas, and recharge their creative batteries from creating three or four Sonic game for the past four to five years.
But the reality of NiGHTS's release was that the game was not enough of a draw for the Saturn. The American consumer base desired more of the blue blur, and during consumer questioning with the Japanese side, kids infamously could only mutter "Sonic who?" when asked who Sonic was. Sonic was Sega's face, and Sega's face went missing.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Between the cracks of the conscious and unconscious, there is a rift that trickles down to Nightopia. Windmills stand atop of pillars that hover aimlessly in the air, decorating the milky blue and purple skies like ornaments of a Christmas tree. Hills and valleys roll in a green mellow stream, spreading across every corner within the canvas of this dream. Sleep is a one way ticket to the carnival of dreams, performing all of humanity's unconscious thoughts and ideals in one place. NiGHTS is your guide, a being that's a culmination of every culture and gender, staving off the nightmares that infest the dreams of the collective unconscious, displaying as a hero amongst the self. Waking is your ticket back to reality, where you're left with your memories of that dream world, giving you the strength to reach out for your dreams in reality.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Much like Sonic, NiGHTS is the king of fostering replayability. NiGHTS is essentially a prototype for the ranking system that would later be found in the Sonic Adventure series. Rank is based not how fast you proceed through a level, but more determined with the amount of points you received and orbs you collect throughout the allotted route. Each world is broken up by 4 routes, followed by a climatic boss fight to cap off your overall ranking. Mastering the game requires mastering a level's layout, learning the best way to acquire points and orbs, and optimizing your run to perfection. Your verbs are to loop, charge and fly to reach your goal, the motions in doing so feeling eloquent and refined like a figure skater's flow. This flow translates to gameplay and vice versa from one another.
The gameplay loop is addicting on an immediate level, and for me, has been more gratifying than playing and perfecting either SA1 or 2. The reason is simple: in Sonic, the qualifications to gain the best rank aren't actually clear with what the game is asking of you. Here in NiGHTS, it's 100% clear to me how I reach a better rank. The more points I wrack up, the better my rank.
For all of NiGHTS, there's a sense of clarity to the game design with how simplistic and creative it is. I'm not sure Sonic Team has ever quite reached such a level of clarity with their other projects.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The world was passing me by so quickly. My surroundings were hard to really notice at a first glance, so I began to grow dissatisfied being unable to soak anything in. So, I did what I used to do when I was younger. I let myself get lost in the world.
The ground swerved and bent like an ocean's wave. These waves would envelop me from above and below me, closing me within this world like an open cavern. Walking felt weird, like at any given moment I'd start feeling heavy resistance from the sheer steepness of the terrain, but never did that heavy foot come. I wandered around, finding tiny creatures that would playfully smile, or laugh, or spin with glee.
The world felt still, in a way. Like this was the only moment that mattered. Thinking back on this, I felt like I once did when I was a kid. The world in front of me felt strange, new and a little scary. I didn't know what to expect from the game, and that within itself was such a refreshing experience.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Despite the fact that NiGHTS started as an attempt to create an A-Life game, aspects are still found within the free range mode within NiGHTS. Before every level starts, you have the option to head directly towards NiGHTS, or to explore the entire level in full. Inhabiting these dreamscapes are tiny little creatures known as Pians, whom are born from eggs that you can find and hatch. These tiny little fairy men come in many shapes and sizes, and even come equipped with a full on breeding system. This system isn't as in-depth as the Chao system found within Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, but this mechanic adds a strange and needed element to the gameplay loop: a moment to relax.
Taking a break from the fast paced gameplay and simply exploring the world here creates a sense of exploration and discovery. There's details to this world that you're merely flying past in the main portion of the game, and being able to explore the same level from a completely different perspective is strangely freeing. Of course, the game doesn't want you to just running around collecting orbs for free, so they add in a slight pressure from an egg strapped with an alarm clock that chases you, along with a lower rank for the amount of time you've spent, so the game ends up being balanced with this approach. These open ended sections truly breathe life into the world of Nightopia.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ethereal synths move and sway from ear to ear, samples of children saying hello and every day noises floating in-between them. The sound of a sax screeching in mimicry of an a monster screeching as a bombastic drum 'n' bass and a groovin' bass line kick into full gear. As credits roll, you're treated to the sweetest songs ever conceived.
"In the night.
Dream delight.
I want to see you standing there.
In the night.
Dream delight.
I found someone who really cared."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Sega Saturn was considered a commercial failure. Sonic X-Treme was canceled, and there was no recovery from the lack of momentum. The Dreamcast was Sega's last shot to regain their market share and their consumer base. But too many mistakes were made. Sega closed down their console divisions for good.
Their dream was no more.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
As an adult, you don't really have the opportunity to meander. We hold off on leaving the living because there's too much to be done. Responsibilities need to be taken care of, work obligations need to be met. Life can come at you fast, and you can never be sure if the move you're making is the right move. What do I want to do? Who do I want to be? When will I wake up from my fear of rejection, my fear of agency? The idea can often paralyze me. There's more I could be doing, more I could be aspiring towards.
NiGHTS: Into Dreams reminds me that there isn't a need to overcomplicated. Sometimes all you need is to focus on something simple. Take a deep breath and wander. Take a break but get back to it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The quote at the beginning was given in an interview with Yuji Naka and developers of NiGHTS: Into Dream. You might cringe at the cheese spewing out of every orifice of the lettering as you read the text, but the words hold weight for me. Despite everything Yuji Naka has done in his career, despite how notoriously difficult he was to work with said by those around him, despite the potential cynical business centric reasoning for this quote, NiGHTS: Into Dreams still encapsulates the feeling of magic into me. The game filled me with a wonder I don't think many games ever have. Just for a moment, I felt like I was a kid again, exploring a new, unknown game for the first time, wondering what this strange new world had in store for me. There was nothing but smiles of joy on my face.
This is me by the way, if you even care.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
NiGHTS: Into Dreams is a marvel of a game. Originally developed with the intent of being a 2D game with pixel art graphics with a strong emphasis on Artificial Life sim (A-Life) gameplay, development shifted drastically towards the game we know today. The game was, for all intents and purposes, an experiment: can Sonic Team make a 3D game on the Sega Saturn? What are the limitations, if they could? How can they show the player 3D depth on a 2D screen? Can they create polygonal characters that look as appealing as 2D pixel characters?
The answer was a resounding yes. NiGHTS became a unique title that showcased the potential of the Sega Saturn, demolishing the sales and becoming the top selling game on the system. Sonic Team managed to create a new IP, play around with new ideas, and recharge their creative batteries from creating three or four Sonic game for the past four to five years.
But the reality of NiGHTS's release was that the game was not enough of a draw for the Saturn. The American consumer base desired more of the blue blur, and during consumer questioning with the Japanese side, kids infamously could only mutter "Sonic who?" when asked who Sonic was. Sonic was Sega's face, and Sega's face went missing.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Between the cracks of the conscious and unconscious, there is a rift that trickles down to Nightopia. Windmills stand atop of pillars that hover aimlessly in the air, decorating the milky blue and purple skies like ornaments of a Christmas tree. Hills and valleys roll in a green mellow stream, spreading across every corner within the canvas of this dream. Sleep is a one way ticket to the carnival of dreams, performing all of humanity's unconscious thoughts and ideals in one place. NiGHTS is your guide, a being that's a culmination of every culture and gender, staving off the nightmares that infest the dreams of the collective unconscious, displaying as a hero amongst the self. Waking is your ticket back to reality, where you're left with your memories of that dream world, giving you the strength to reach out for your dreams in reality.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Much like Sonic, NiGHTS is the king of fostering replayability. NiGHTS is essentially a prototype for the ranking system that would later be found in the Sonic Adventure series. Rank is based not how fast you proceed through a level, but more determined with the amount of points you received and orbs you collect throughout the allotted route. Each world is broken up by 4 routes, followed by a climatic boss fight to cap off your overall ranking. Mastering the game requires mastering a level's layout, learning the best way to acquire points and orbs, and optimizing your run to perfection. Your verbs are to loop, charge and fly to reach your goal, the motions in doing so feeling eloquent and refined like a figure skater's flow. This flow translates to gameplay and vice versa from one another.
The gameplay loop is addicting on an immediate level, and for me, has been more gratifying than playing and perfecting either SA1 or 2. The reason is simple: in Sonic, the qualifications to gain the best rank aren't actually clear with what the game is asking of you. Here in NiGHTS, it's 100% clear to me how I reach a better rank. The more points I wrack up, the better my rank.
For all of NiGHTS, there's a sense of clarity to the game design with how simplistic and creative it is. I'm not sure Sonic Team has ever quite reached such a level of clarity with their other projects.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The world was passing me by so quickly. My surroundings were hard to really notice at a first glance, so I began to grow dissatisfied being unable to soak anything in. So, I did what I used to do when I was younger. I let myself get lost in the world.
The ground swerved and bent like an ocean's wave. These waves would envelop me from above and below me, closing me within this world like an open cavern. Walking felt weird, like at any given moment I'd start feeling heavy resistance from the sheer steepness of the terrain, but never did that heavy foot come. I wandered around, finding tiny creatures that would playfully smile, or laugh, or spin with glee.
The world felt still, in a way. Like this was the only moment that mattered. Thinking back on this, I felt like I once did when I was a kid. The world in front of me felt strange, new and a little scary. I didn't know what to expect from the game, and that within itself was such a refreshing experience.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Despite the fact that NiGHTS started as an attempt to create an A-Life game, aspects are still found within the free range mode within NiGHTS. Before every level starts, you have the option to head directly towards NiGHTS, or to explore the entire level in full. Inhabiting these dreamscapes are tiny little creatures known as Pians, whom are born from eggs that you can find and hatch. These tiny little fairy men come in many shapes and sizes, and even come equipped with a full on breeding system. This system isn't as in-depth as the Chao system found within Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, but this mechanic adds a strange and needed element to the gameplay loop: a moment to relax.
Taking a break from the fast paced gameplay and simply exploring the world here creates a sense of exploration and discovery. There's details to this world that you're merely flying past in the main portion of the game, and being able to explore the same level from a completely different perspective is strangely freeing. Of course, the game doesn't want you to just running around collecting orbs for free, so they add in a slight pressure from an egg strapped with an alarm clock that chases you, along with a lower rank for the amount of time you've spent, so the game ends up being balanced with this approach. These open ended sections truly breathe life into the world of Nightopia.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ethereal synths move and sway from ear to ear, samples of children saying hello and every day noises floating in-between them. The sound of a sax screeching in mimicry of an a monster screeching as a bombastic drum 'n' bass and a groovin' bass line kick into full gear. As credits roll, you're treated to the sweetest songs ever conceived.
"In the night.
Dream delight.
I want to see you standing there.
In the night.
Dream delight.
I found someone who really cared."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Sega Saturn was considered a commercial failure. Sonic X-Treme was canceled, and there was no recovery from the lack of momentum. The Dreamcast was Sega's last shot to regain their market share and their consumer base. But too many mistakes were made. Sega closed down their console divisions for good.
Their dream was no more.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
As an adult, you don't really have the opportunity to meander. We hold off on leaving the living because there's too much to be done. Responsibilities need to be taken care of, work obligations need to be met. Life can come at you fast, and you can never be sure if the move you're making is the right move. What do I want to do? Who do I want to be? When will I wake up from my fear of rejection, my fear of agency? The idea can often paralyze me. There's more I could be doing, more I could be aspiring towards.
NiGHTS: Into Dreams reminds me that there isn't a need to overcomplicated. Sometimes all you need is to focus on something simple. Take a deep breath and wander. Take a break but get back to it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The quote at the beginning was given in an interview with Yuji Naka and developers of NiGHTS: Into Dream. You might cringe at the cheese spewing out of every orifice of the lettering as you read the text, but the words hold weight for me. Despite everything Yuji Naka has done in his career, despite how notoriously difficult he was to work with said by those around him, despite the potential cynical business centric reasoning for this quote, NiGHTS: Into Dreams still encapsulates the feeling of magic into me. The game filled me with a wonder I don't think many games ever have. Just for a moment, I felt like I was a kid again, exploring a new, unknown game for the first time, wondering what this strange new world had in store for me. There was nothing but smiles of joy on my face.
This is me by the way, if you even care.
Quest 64
1998
Imagineer coined a uniquely minimal (level-less, item-limited, currency-less and party-less) form of JRPG with Quest 64, whose light storytelling, vast 3D areas and day/night cycles brought them closer to computer-RPGs than to its console-born siblings. What is undoubtedly CRPG-like - however, is their flexible upgrade system. Stat-leveling in the vein of FFII (i.e. earned from various parts of combat) is joined by collectible skill points distributed between 4 elements (which unlock new spells of that type and increase their power). Their combinations - from balanced spreads to a dual-type hyperfocus, governs the player's build with their own merits and limits. That sense of freedom well-complements their turn-based battles; seamless, responsive on-map gameplay with confined movement/dodging that's heavy on the spellcasting, reined in a little by elemental weaknesses and resistance. These two features rescue a work that otherwise would be dull and clumsy, as its lengthy overworld & dungeons plus a general dearth of content (other than a handful of pickups) make for some patience-testing trips. As a result, gameplay oscillates between moments of snappy, entertaining semi-action and sheer torture.
This brief project is many things at once, and - depending on taste, some conclusions are more prominent than others: A few great ideas placed on weak foundations. A half-baked mess. An interesting compromise between action & tactical gameplay. A novel fusion of Western/J-RPG languages, or even a grim omen of their genre's future; of the overscaled, empty worlds that progressively defined the next generation onwards. At the very least - though, a fascinating artifact of its era.
This brief project is many things at once, and - depending on taste, some conclusions are more prominent than others: A few great ideas placed on weak foundations. A half-baked mess. An interesting compromise between action & tactical gameplay. A novel fusion of Western/J-RPG languages, or even a grim omen of their genre's future; of the overscaled, empty worlds that progressively defined the next generation onwards. At the very least - though, a fascinating artifact of its era.