RustySteiner
2016
A Final Fantasy Brimming With Identity, Heart And Passion
Disclaimer: I used Memoria/Moguri mod to play at 60fps with various tweaks to make the experience smoother
Final Fantasy IX is an excellent RPG that stands the test of time with its visually appealing art style and pre-rendered background; deep and thematic story about life, death, and friendship; likable and charming cast of characters; and a unique and memorable OST by the legendary Nobuo Uematsu. It is a love-letter to the series as a whole and a swan song of the series' creator, Hironobu Sakaguchi.
While I have high praise for IX, it comes with a few downsides. With the help of the Moguri mod, I wasn't able to experience the slow combat and uncontrollable nature of the Trance system but be warned that it does exist in the base, unmodded version. Some mini-games are more tedious than fun to go through especially if you're going for 100% achievement like I did. Lastly, I do think some parts like the final boss, the world-building, Amarant, etc could be expanded further, though I didn't mind as much with the context of the theme and message of the game.
Personally, I'm so happy I gave my first Final Fantasy a second playthrough in 2023 when I'm going through a period of difficulties in life. Its theme of finding your place in life and overcoming its difficulties via friendship and determination will forever be instilled in me as a person moving forward. Thank you Sakaguchi for creating a masterpiece!
111 hours and 100% Achievement later, I give my very first Final Fantasy an extremely biased... 5/5
Disclaimer: I used Memoria/Moguri mod to play at 60fps with various tweaks to make the experience smoother
Final Fantasy IX is an excellent RPG that stands the test of time with its visually appealing art style and pre-rendered background; deep and thematic story about life, death, and friendship; likable and charming cast of characters; and a unique and memorable OST by the legendary Nobuo Uematsu. It is a love-letter to the series as a whole and a swan song of the series' creator, Hironobu Sakaguchi.
While I have high praise for IX, it comes with a few downsides. With the help of the Moguri mod, I wasn't able to experience the slow combat and uncontrollable nature of the Trance system but be warned that it does exist in the base, unmodded version. Some mini-games are more tedious than fun to go through especially if you're going for 100% achievement like I did. Lastly, I do think some parts like the final boss, the world-building, Amarant, etc could be expanded further, though I didn't mind as much with the context of the theme and message of the game.
Personally, I'm so happy I gave my first Final Fantasy a second playthrough in 2023 when I'm going through a period of difficulties in life. Its theme of finding your place in life and overcoming its difficulties via friendship and determination will forever be instilled in me as a person moving forward. Thank you Sakaguchi for creating a masterpiece!
111 hours and 100% Achievement later, I give my very first Final Fantasy an extremely biased... 5/5
AN AMAZING STAR WARS GAME MARRED BY GAME-BREAKING BUGS
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is amazing in all aspects. The story is beautifully interwoven with Fallen Order and sets up for an interesting sequel, the characters are charming and mature/grounded in their writing, and the game/art direction is on point.
However, there are two negatives that unfortunately breaks that enjoyment for me. First one is the game still lags on both Quality and Performance mode esp. if there's a lot of water and lastly, GAME-BREAKING BUGS . By game-breaking, I mean you will lose ALL progress and have to start from scratch. I've encountered 2 (lost all abilities after loading a save, and everyone is invincible) and lost 11-hours of progress. There is only ONE save slot per playthrough so once you encounter a bug that affects your save, it's over unless you backed-up via PS+ or manually through USB.
Overall, I gave it a 3.5/5 stars. Disregarding the bugs, I would've given the game a 4.5. The game is THAT fun and worth experiencing but unfortunately, having to fear losing progress throughout my 80+ hour playthrough stomps on what could've been a near-masterpiece that the developers clearly put their hearts and passion into.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is amazing in all aspects. The story is beautifully interwoven with Fallen Order and sets up for an interesting sequel, the characters are charming and mature/grounded in their writing, and the game/art direction is on point.
However, there are two negatives that unfortunately breaks that enjoyment for me. First one is the game still lags on both Quality and Performance mode esp. if there's a lot of water and lastly, GAME-BREAKING BUGS . By game-breaking, I mean you will lose ALL progress and have to start from scratch. I've encountered 2 (lost all abilities after loading a save, and everyone is invincible) and lost 11-hours of progress. There is only ONE save slot per playthrough so once you encounter a bug that affects your save, it's over unless you backed-up via PS+ or manually through USB.
Overall, I gave it a 3.5/5 stars. Disregarding the bugs, I would've given the game a 4.5. The game is THAT fun and worth experiencing but unfortunately, having to fear losing progress throughout my 80+ hour playthrough stomps on what could've been a near-masterpiece that the developers clearly put their hearts and passion into.