TheBeautifulEric
This review contains spoilers
I really like the FF7 world a lot. The characters and themes are so strong. I love how fleshed out the characters are in this game specifically, particularly AVALANCHE. The combat is another strong point. The partner AI is very passive, but at least they aren't getting themselves in danger like the partners in FF15.
The things I didn't like: the pacing. I don't mind that a small portion of the original game was expanded on, but a lot of this game feels sluggish. There's a lot of watching or walking/talking/waiting instead of actually playing. Another thing I didn't like were the whispers. They represent fate in tangible form and I'm honestly not a big fan of fate being so literal like that.
For the Intermission specifically, the story is almost a waste of time. The gameplay is great though, I was surprised to find that Yuffie was my favorite character to control in the entire game.
Really excited for Rebirth to come to PC. I'm really interested to see where the story is going because it seems to deviate from the original timeline quite a bit.
Edit: I could’ve also done without the moral ambiguity. Please just let me feel like I’m doing the right thing, I can’t take the emotional turmoil. Also wanted to expand a bit more on what I liked about the writing. The characters feel closer to each other than they did in the original and cloud becomes like able a lot earlier.
The things I didn't like: the pacing. I don't mind that a small portion of the original game was expanded on, but a lot of this game feels sluggish. There's a lot of watching or walking/talking/waiting instead of actually playing. Another thing I didn't like were the whispers. They represent fate in tangible form and I'm honestly not a big fan of fate being so literal like that.
For the Intermission specifically, the story is almost a waste of time. The gameplay is great though, I was surprised to find that Yuffie was my favorite character to control in the entire game.
Really excited for Rebirth to come to PC. I'm really interested to see where the story is going because it seems to deviate from the original timeline quite a bit.
Edit: I could’ve also done without the moral ambiguity. Please just let me feel like I’m doing the right thing, I can’t take the emotional turmoil. Also wanted to expand a bit more on what I liked about the writing. The characters feel closer to each other than they did in the original and cloud becomes like able a lot earlier.
2009
I originally played this game in 2014-2015 and it kind of blows my mind that more time has passed between my first playthrough and my second than the time between the game's release circa 2010-2011 and my first playthrough. It's a fun love letter to older games, particularly 2D Zeldas. I think the game is mostly carried by the novelty of creating your own character and having a ridiculously large sword, but the underlying game is still solid. I think it would have been better with more quality of life features though like being able to scroll and zoom in on a map, a compass to show item locations, a checklist and tracker for items and quests, the ability to drop pins and markers, and less tedious level design. The amount of time sensitive events is ridiculous too. It's way too easy to miss things especially in a blind playthrough. I actually ended up getting the bad ending during my first playthrough because of this. Overall, it's probably my favorite 2D Zelda that isn't actually Zelda, although it's not like I've played very many of those.
1989
Beat this game for the first time today, so that feels pretty good. Honestly, the only thing that really stands out is that it's a Mario game and it doesn't really look, sound, or feel like a Mario game. I like the music and the devs did a good job avoiding a problem I have with other handheld platformers where you don't see enough of the screen. It doesn't really do anything wrong per se, but I find I didn't really enjoy it enough to recommend this game to other people in 2024, outside of Mario fans that are curious.
2016
I played the All You Can Eat Version on Switch.
A lot of odd glitches from teleporting, dying randomly, and non-player 1 players getting dropped from the game occasionally. As for the game itself, it built a strong enough foundation to be enjoyable. The teamwork, time management, and decision making is impeccable. As a single player experience, the first game is way harder since you're unable to throw. I feel like the stage gimmicks are a lot more diverse and difficult than in the sequel, which surprised me. I'm not sure why some of the gimmicks didn't make a comeback like the dark room and the door panels. The game really shines when playing it in multiplayer though, where it puts your communication skills to the test. It can definitely be a frustrating experience and it will put your relationships to the test, but it has the accessibility and chaos that make it a fun game for casual gamers to enjoy too.
A lot of odd glitches from teleporting, dying randomly, and non-player 1 players getting dropped from the game occasionally. As for the game itself, it built a strong enough foundation to be enjoyable. The teamwork, time management, and decision making is impeccable. As a single player experience, the first game is way harder since you're unable to throw. I feel like the stage gimmicks are a lot more diverse and difficult than in the sequel, which surprised me. I'm not sure why some of the gimmicks didn't make a comeback like the dark room and the door panels. The game really shines when playing it in multiplayer though, where it puts your communication skills to the test. It can definitely be a frustrating experience and it will put your relationships to the test, but it has the accessibility and chaos that make it a fun game for casual gamers to enjoy too.
I honestly think this will probably be my favorite game to come out this year. It's cute, silly, whimsical, charming, light-hearted, funny. Everything I wanted it to be. It's a bit short, but I really loved what was there. Collecting hats, exploring the city, and completing quests were all enjoyable. I hope we get a sequel or just more of this kind of game.
2020
I honestly like this game a lot. Not as fun as RE2R, but still enjoyable. I definitely need to get better at dodging though. I think one thing I legitimately am not a fan of is the dialogue. There's a lot more random swearing and it comes across as a way to sound edgy.
2005
This game still holds up. It's still the gold standard for 3rd person shooters as far as I'm concerned. I love the combat, the location damage, the enemy interactions, and the adaptive difficulty. This game raised the standard for everything that came after it.
My biggest complaints about the game overall is that I wish the map system was better. You can only see the current area and you can't even change what elevation you are looking at. Also, QTEs are mad annoying and I blame RE4 and GOW1 for making them prominent for such a long time. Finally, there were a few occasions where the camera felt limiting.
Playing this on PC reaffirmed my love for the Wii version, I just love the controls. The steam version is filled with performance issues and glitches. None of them made the game unplayable, but they were really annoying to deal with. Occasional frame drops, crashes, and the game not allowing you to save after beating Separate Ways for NG+ are the most prominent annoyances I dealt with. Overall, still a good time.
My biggest complaints about the game overall is that I wish the map system was better. You can only see the current area and you can't even change what elevation you are looking at. Also, QTEs are mad annoying and I blame RE4 and GOW1 for making them prominent for such a long time. Finally, there were a few occasions where the camera felt limiting.
Playing this on PC reaffirmed my love for the Wii version, I just love the controls. The steam version is filled with performance issues and glitches. None of them made the game unplayable, but they were really annoying to deal with. Occasional frame drops, crashes, and the game not allowing you to save after beating Separate Ways for NG+ are the most prominent annoyances I dealt with. Overall, still a good time.
This game is okay. Everything is functional, but I never really felt like I was having fun. Combat is whatever, exploration is tedious, and I wasn't big on the story or characters. This game embodies the worst part of Metroidvanias. The majority of upgrades felt like I was arbitrarily locked out of accessing certain areas instead of making me excited to see what I would unlock and changing the way I played the game. Still planning on playing Shadow of the Tomb Raider and I hope I enjoy that one more.