TruebladeSirius
2009
Chaos;Head is an ambitious start to the "Semicolon in the Middle" series (yeah I know it's called SciADV shut up). With its subversive style of writing that attempts to play around with familiar visual novel conventions, and its meticulousness in both its foreshadowing and implementation of Sci-Fi elements into the plot.
It tells a dark story of broken individuals haunted by the worlds within their minds, as they live their lives trying to cope with trauma, and perhaps even find comfort through connections with others who understand their pain, in a reality that is seemingly out to get them.
And while it can be a bit rough to read through at times (mainly due to some pacing issues in the NoAH routes, and the protagonist being kinda unbearable), it is still an impressive start to one of the genre's hallmark franchises that is worth checking out for its grim atmosphere and interesting cast of characters.
Also Desire Blue Sky is still better than A Will shaking and crying rn...
It tells a dark story of broken individuals haunted by the worlds within their minds, as they live their lives trying to cope with trauma, and perhaps even find comfort through connections with others who understand their pain, in a reality that is seemingly out to get them.
And while it can be a bit rough to read through at times (mainly due to some pacing issues in the NoAH routes, and the protagonist being kinda unbearable), it is still an impressive start to one of the genre's hallmark franchises that is worth checking out for its grim atmosphere and interesting cast of characters.
Also Desire Blue Sky is still better than A Will shaking and crying rn...
Banger remake, takes the original Destiny experience and puts it on par with its successors. With the addition of actual skits, new character development scenes within the story, a new fluid combat system that demands preparation and proper understanding of its mechanics, Common Destiny. The only real downsides are the plot as it is the same as the OG which itself isn't bad just generic, and the overly long dungeons that made the endgame a nightmare to play through.
Very fun entry in the series but can be extremely difficult at times as it is a Team Destiny game lol.
Mad props to Life Bottle Productions for making the dream of an English translation come true!
Very fun entry in the series but can be extremely difficult at times as it is a Team Destiny game lol.
Mad props to Life Bottle Productions for making the dream of an English translation come true!
2013
2010
2013
It's a solid game for what it is, a romhacking project led by a teenager who was clearly in his edgelord phase at the time. It is worth your time if you want to scratch that FE itch but want a more "fresh" experience, tho the last 5 or so chapters skyrocket in difficulty with the enemy stat inflation to the point that you can easily get doubled on your units if they're not strong enough it is torture.
Also Silver Will 🧎
Also Silver Will 🧎
2001
The writing is surprisingly pretty good by SN standards with how it feels like a geniunely fun adventure where you explore lots of places and learn interesting details about the world, and its strong ties to the lore of the series add more to the intrigue. And a lot of the supporting characters get a good amount of screentime and most of them have quite the likeable personalities.
Gameplay got more refined from the first game although it still retains some of its jank, it even kicks the challenge up a notch but the battles in general were still enjoyable.
Gameplay got more refined from the first game although it still retains some of its jank, it even kicks the challenge up a notch but the battles in general were still enjoyable.
2005
+Epic political plot full of twists and turns
+Job System (yeah...)
+Beautifully detailed sprite work
-Poorly balanced gameplay, from broken classes and units, to inconsistent enemy level scaling, and an infamously brutal boss fight
-Doesn't do a great job at presenting its story due to its awkward translation and unnecessary exposition dump
+Job System (yeah...)
+Beautifully detailed sprite work
-Poorly balanced gameplay, from broken classes and units, to inconsistent enemy level scaling, and an infamously brutal boss fight
-Doesn't do a great job at presenting its story due to its awkward translation and unnecessary exposition dump
2003
2013
SN5 is another significant upgrade to the series (that acts as the basis to the PSP versions of 3&4 which i absolutely love) with the addition of a customizable skill system and a revamped brave clear system, battles here have a much smaller scale than usual but the strategy is still there.
Story takes place centuries after the previous games and it's interesting to see small hints on what has happened between them, as well as some minor callbacks to said games.
Gotta hand it over to Gaijinworks for their good job at the localization, the witty dialogue helped making a more charismatic and memorable cast of characters, and while the cast itself is rather small the strong chemistry and interactions between these characters is what makes them the best part about this game.
Sadly, it drops the ball around the halfway point where the plot devolves into a "chase the big bad guy" scenario with little to no real depth, and the maps start to become overwhelmingly tedious.
Story takes place centuries after the previous games and it's interesting to see small hints on what has happened between them, as well as some minor callbacks to said games.
Gotta hand it over to Gaijinworks for their good job at the localization, the witty dialogue helped making a more charismatic and memorable cast of characters, and while the cast itself is rather small the strong chemistry and interactions between these characters is what makes them the best part about this game.
Sadly, it drops the ball around the halfway point where the plot devolves into a "chase the big bad guy" scenario with little to no real depth, and the maps start to become overwhelmingly tedious.
2004