Thirstyfist
2020
A good game with kind of a lackluster mystery and a few asspull big bads. The cast (except Teddie) makes it work, though.
If you liked Remake’s combat, here’s a bit more of it. Yuffie’s a delight and Sonon exists. The last boss really made me wish you didn’t have to start at phase 1, complete with unskippable cutscenes, if you die to instakill bullshit.
2023
What could have easily just been “Bloodborne at home” ended up being a fantastic game that exceeded most expectations, especially from a relatively unknown dev team. If I have to nitpick, weapon durability might as well not be a thing since you can fix it at any time with no real penalty. The arm grinder looks cool, though.
It’s a decent point-and-click that kind of loses steam by the end of season 2. There’s also some moon logic but not as bad as other games like this.
I paid $3 which probably affects the rating a bit.
I paid $3 which probably affects the rating a bit.
2021
This one usually gets treated like the black sheep of the series because of its leveling system but once you get used to it, it’s hilariously easy to break the game. The other unique mechanic is the password system that just makes conversations longer and not much else. It’s nice that they tried something but it doesn’t change things up enough to justify it.
Everything else is fine. The series didn’t really have playable characters with unique personalities yet, although they kind of tried by making Guy talk like a caveman for no particular reason.
Everything else is fine. The series didn’t really have playable characters with unique personalities yet, although they kind of tried by making Guy talk like a caveman for no particular reason.
2021
If anything, it makes me wish I had played the Pixel Remasters in order because FF3 just feels like a trial run for FF5 to improve on just about everything this game does. It’s okay for what it is, especially since it’s an NES game, but it’s surprisingly less complex than FF1.
2021
While the job system can lead to a lot of complexity (or just break everything like a piñata), FFV is an otherwise simple JRPG. The cast is likable all around, even if there's not that much to them. The villain is straight out of a Saturday morning cartoon and his dialogue is at least 20% evil laughing. That said, sometimes you just want a bad guy whose motivation is that he’s an asshole and by that standard, I’ve seen worse.
2022
A solid adventure that holds up fairly well. It could have used a smaller cast, though. If you’re really going to insist on 14 playable characters, at least try not to make two of them completely unnecessary by the time they arrive.
2023
Blasphemous 2 is significantly better than the original, making any issues I had feel like nitpicks. It kind of has the Dark Souls 2 problem where most of the bosses are relatively normal swordsman and dudes in armor. I wanted more freaky shit like the baby that rips you in half. To be honest, the imagery overall feels a bit toned down from the first one.
All that said, it plays so much better that it’s hard to be disappointed. The Miracle granted me double jumps and an air dash so I can handle a bit less gore.
All that said, it plays so much better that it’s hard to be disappointed. The Miracle granted me double jumps and an air dash so I can handle a bit less gore.
2023
This review contains spoilers
A good game that becomes less interesting the bigger things get. While I’m fine with where the plot eventually goes, I kind of preferred the lower stakes prior to the big bad’s arrival. The politics that shaped so much of the story fall to the wayside once the “kill God” plot takes over. The final boss is a great fight but the ending is underwhelming and feels as if it ended that way because they assumed it’s supposed to, not because it got there naturally. FFX earned that ending. This game didn’t.
The combat is fun but occasionally too hectic to keep track of all the particle effects constantly going off. I may just be an old man, though.
The combat is fun but occasionally too hectic to keep track of all the particle effects constantly going off. I may just be an old man, though.
It feels like they learned a lesson from Ultra Despair Girls and decided to ditch trying to be an action game in favor of just being Danganronpa with full 3D models. Only spiritually, though, despite a few times I was convinced they were going to go there. In that respect, it mostly works. As much as Shinigami tries, she’s not Monokuma and can’t quite carry the game as much as it wishes she could. The other characters are entertaining enough but only just. As usual, Masafumi Takada is the real MVP. All the mini games are fine and that’s all I really ask from these games.
Most of my complaints are possibly just with the English audio. They made no effort to match the lip sync and the overall mix is poor. A couple (but unfortunately heavily reused) of Yuma’s random “ohs” are ear-splittingly louder than anything else in the game while other lines are buried under the music. Half of Shinigami’s speech during the equivalent of a DR execution is nigh unintelligible. The other main complaint is that it’s unnecessarily slow sometimes during sequences where all you do is walk in a straight line. That’s fine when you’re just hiding load times but then the actual load times pop up afterwards and they’re not exactly great.
The overall plot is okay but there’s definitely a few headscratchers. There’s a big mystery about the city but the cases you solve usually have nothing to do with it. Between the time it comes up and the point it’s resolved, it’s hard to imagine why no one thought of a solution a long time ago. Without spoiling too much, there’s also a major plot twist that relies entirely on whether or not you buy the game’s explanation for why Yuma doesn’t make a bigger deal about it when he notices it. I can’t say that I do, even though I acknowledge that the idea is kind of clever.
Most of my complaints are possibly just with the English audio. They made no effort to match the lip sync and the overall mix is poor. A couple (but unfortunately heavily reused) of Yuma’s random “ohs” are ear-splittingly louder than anything else in the game while other lines are buried under the music. Half of Shinigami’s speech during the equivalent of a DR execution is nigh unintelligible. The other main complaint is that it’s unnecessarily slow sometimes during sequences where all you do is walk in a straight line. That’s fine when you’re just hiding load times but then the actual load times pop up afterwards and they’re not exactly great.
The overall plot is okay but there’s definitely a few headscratchers. There’s a big mystery about the city but the cases you solve usually have nothing to do with it. Between the time it comes up and the point it’s resolved, it’s hard to imagine why no one thought of a solution a long time ago. Without spoiling too much, there’s also a major plot twist that relies entirely on whether or not you buy the game’s explanation for why Yuma doesn’t make a bigger deal about it when he notices it. I can’t say that I do, even though I acknowledge that the idea is kind of clever.
2021
IV was the entry of the franchise I loved the most as a child. It doesn’t quite hold up to my fond memories of it but it’s still a good game. I also had to dock half a star for the remaster being surprisingly laggy at times.
2021
The improved graphics and music might occasionally make you forget this was an NES game, which makes the basic gameplay and story stand out more than it probably should. Keep that in mind and it’s a fun time.
Fun times for some relatively mindless dungeon crawling and gear grinding, although a bit short lived if you don’t pvp. The campaign isn’t much to speak about.
If you’re hoping for loose ends to be tied, your mileage may vary. I enjoyed it but I felt like I didn’t understand how the rules of this world worked (Shulk and Rex seemed to have avoided being part of the cycle by the power of plot convenience, or were they already dead before all of this? Don’t even get started on the Nopon…). There’s also an attempt at making N seem like less of a crazy jerk and it didn’t work for me at all, although that one’s going to be a very subjective thing.
That said, I enjoyed watching the new awesome version of Rex chain one Double Spinning Edge after another, absolutely ripping mobs apart until he dies again because he has no health. Yeah, it’s Rex alright.
That said, I enjoyed watching the new awesome version of Rex chain one Double Spinning Edge after another, absolutely ripping mobs apart until he dies again because he has no health. Yeah, it’s Rex alright.