Thirstyfist
2005
I feel like all the KH games after the original vary entirely on whether or not you care about all the Organization XIII characters. I never did so while KH2 made multiple gameplay improvements, I thought it was kind of a step down.
Remove tripping and it would get another star
Probably deserves less for the shitty online but the sheer amount of content almost makes up for it
1995
The GOAT. The extras from the DS port are just okay but easily ignored.
Two things stand out in the first Danganronpa and arguably the entire series: the great soundtrack from Masafumi Takada and the hilarious murderous mascot Monokuma. The rest of the game has its clunky moments and is clearly held back by some occasionally awful translations. It's a fun concept, though, and would later lead to some better games.
While not all of it works (RISE AND SHINE, URSINE!), the heavily improved mini-games, entertaining cast, and the best soundtrack make V3 my favorite game in the series. I understand the hate it often gets because of the extremely controversial ending but I enjoyed the crazy twists.
Its a mediocre RE4 clone with subject matter that gets uncomfortably dark at times. It's balanced out by great banter between the protagonists and a groovy soundtrack.
Dark Souls took a long time to click for me. Some of that was due to performance issues in the original console releases, some of which should have been inexcusable. Playing it now at a steady framerate led to a fantastic experience. From should have eased up on the awkward platforming sequences, though. The last third of the game also suffers from some slightly rushed development.
A decent fanservice game that's fun in short bursts, as long as you only paid $20.
While the story never quite hits in the way the first game did, Xenoblade 3 is arguably the best overall experience of the trilogy (poor X, maybe you’ll get a port one day). At worst, the two main protagonists are the blander members of the ensemble, but everyone is fairly entertaining in their own way. There’s no blatant dead weight or irritants. The battle system has also improved to become the one I’ve had the most fun with.
Villains have been a mixed bag for these games and 3 is no different. For the most part, Moebius are entertaining mustache twirlers with amazing boss themes whose motivations rarely go beyond amusing themselves. One of the main antagonists is well done but the actual big bad is lacking and his fight is excruciatingly long (Oh did you die? Enjoy doing it again for the next 20 minutes! No, you can’t skip all of the cutscenes.)
Villains have been a mixed bag for these games and 3 is no different. For the most part, Moebius are entertaining mustache twirlers with amazing boss themes whose motivations rarely go beyond amusing themselves. One of the main antagonists is well done but the actual big bad is lacking and his fight is excruciatingly long (Oh did you die? Enjoy doing it again for the next 20 minutes! No, you can’t skip all of the cutscenes.)
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.
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.
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.
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.
The four stars are entirely for my favorite version of FFIV. The CT port is ruined by bad load times.