Tyke
90 Reviews liked by Tyke
Twelve Minutes
2021
This is like playing through a Mario Maker puzzle level made by a two year old with almost no guidance or satisfying solutions, except here you get a terrible twist at the end to round the entire package out.
Games haven’t been that much fun for me lately. I often find myself bored out of my mind playing them and it has been like this for quite some time. There are exceptions to this, but very little, and I’ve felt this way since October when I finished God of War for the first time. I don’t know why I fell out of love with games but it did upset me for a bit. It upset me because I fell out of love with a medium that originally meant so much to me, but I think that might’ve changed. Playing Link Between Worlds, I had such a fantastic time, so fantastic that I actually have motivation to play more games. And if you’re close to me, you know that this is a pretty big deal.
Legend of Zelda: A Link Between worlds is a magnificent game that uses the medium to its full advantage. It is very similar to Hollow Knight where it tells such a beautiful story through atmosphere and exploration, and seeing everything it presents come together during the final boss (which is the best final boss in the series btw) was breathtaking. That whole scene with Hilda, which I’ll get to later, was beautiful and I’ve never felt this way about a Zelda story in my life until now. And this is complimented with the overall gameplay and structure which I will now get into and focus on very briefly, since the real meat of this game is within its story, which I’m saving for last.
At first sight ALBW seems like your typical Zelda game. You start it as a normal boy living a normal yet boring life, until you find yourself in the mist of a grand adventure that started by pure coincidence. You do some dungeons, get the master sword, do some other dungeons, and then you beat the game. It’s structure is actually very similar to OOT, where you get three items, get the master sword, then go after the Seven Sages. It sounds simplistic, yet it’s so damn good fun. I had a blast going through this world finding secrets and secret areas that I couldn’t get to yet, it felt like a true adventure. Going around the world multiple times, marking areas on my map for later, planning my routes and what order I’d do dungeons in, it’s all so fun. This is very similar to how I felt playing Hollow Knight, and I think playing that game made me enjoy the adventure aspect of certain games way more. The world in ALBW isn’t that big and there isn’t all that much variety, in the normal world that is. The big thing with this game is that there are two worlds to explore: Hyrule and Lorule. Hyrule is your stereotypical Zelda world; you have your normal grassy fields, water based areas, large mountains, giant maze like forests, and deserts, it’s nothing special but it still works. Then you have Lorule, which is where the meat of the game lies. You’ll spend a large chunk of the game here, only occasionally going to Hyrule to buy items and get to different areas in Lorule via portals that are scattered across the map due to how the world is formed. Lorule is a very disconnected place; there are large gaps in the earth, broken bridges, and large cliffs, making it harder to traverse around seeing how you need to move back and forth through dimensions in order to get around, but this is what makes Lorule so good. While the world doesn’t compare to Skyward Swords world or BOTWs, Lorule is still a very special and unique place. It’s this desolate wasteland overrun by monsters, and I think the disconnected nature of Lorule does a great job at representing this. It’s a great parallel to Hyrule, which is this happy bright place where people live their normal lives. Yet in Lorule, it’s all dead. The people are unfriendly because of the nature of this dark crumbling world being held up by the remaining hope they have, the areas are opposite as to what they are in Hyrule, and there are a large sum of monsters. Look at it this way: Hyrule is 80% light and 20% dark, while Lorule is 80% dark and 20% light, maybe less. It is the perfect parallel to Hyrule and the perfect depiction of a crumbling world that is slowly getting to the point where it’s beyond saving. I love it. I love lorule, I love the atmosphere, I love everything about it. It also gives us the best overworld theme in the series so extra points for that. A big component of traversal is the ability to become a painting, which allows you to walk inside of walls. It’s a very fun mechanic that is never overused and it really makes it feel like you’re apart of this world. To sum it all up for the world: Lorule is an impressive landscape that perfectly parallels that world of Hyrule, while also telling a story through its atmosphere and exploration. (I didn’t touch upon the dungeons or overall combat, but it’s fun and very consistent. Not much to talk about here)
Now, to get to the REAL review, the component of ALBW that made it an instant favorite and potential top 1. The story. I went into it a little bit before by showing my love for Lorule, which directly connects to the story. To summarize: ALBW tells its story through it’s world. While simplistic at first, it takes a turn that I really wasn’t expecting. It isn’t anything grand, it’s not Evangelion or Berserk, but it’s still something that I was able to love and appreciate. Let’s start from the beginning: You wake up to do your job as a blacksmiths apprentice, but you’re late. And because you’re late, you’re forced to take a sword to a knight that was forgotten at the blacksmiths place. You then find yourself in Hyrule Sanctuary, which is where you meet Yuga, the main antagonist of the game. And from here, you start your adventure. Your quest to defeat Yuga. You do three dungeons, with two giving you charms that allow you to unlock the master sword. Once you do so, you unlock Lorule after getting to where the story truly begins. You get to lorule castle, see Yuga revive the dark beast, then get introduced to Hilda. After the Seven Sages that were kidnapped are spread throughout the world you go around Lorule searching for them in order to receive the triforce of courage so you can defeat Yuga. Its your formulaic adventure story for the most part, but as stated before it is mainly focused on the decaying world of Lorule, which all comes together to deliver a powerful ending. After getting to the final boss it is revealed that Hilda (lorule equivalent of Zelda) was actually using you in order to get the triforce of courage, which would allow her to rebuild Lorule after falling apart due to her ancestors destroying Lorules triforce. This is where ALBW became a game that cherish greatly. Something that the Zelda series never does is give you a good understanding of the triforce and the reigns it has on the world. You know it can grant wishes and you know that it’s something everyone seeks after, but you never get to see the effects it truly has. ALBW does an incredible job at showing the greed that spawns from the triforce, the danger that it possesses, the grasp it has on the world, but also how it’s a symbol of light. And without light, you just have darkness, the darkness that has consumed Lorule, but also the darkness that is being held back by the hope of Hilda. And this is why I love the story of A Link Between Worlds. It tells a gripping and somewhat emotional story about light vs darkness, and everything that resides within both. It’s such a beautiful story that nearly made me tear up, especially near the end during Hilda’s development. Her character is built around the despair created by darkness, and how you need the small amounts of hope left in order to defeat it. And I really love stories about hope, so I really loved this game. A lot.
A Link Between Worlds is a beautiful journey of light and darkness, it is an adventure between two sides of the same coin that is complimented with fantastic gameplay and world building. Creating a magical journey that I will try to revisit every year.
10/10
Legend of Zelda: A Link Between worlds is a magnificent game that uses the medium to its full advantage. It is very similar to Hollow Knight where it tells such a beautiful story through atmosphere and exploration, and seeing everything it presents come together during the final boss (which is the best final boss in the series btw) was breathtaking. That whole scene with Hilda, which I’ll get to later, was beautiful and I’ve never felt this way about a Zelda story in my life until now. And this is complimented with the overall gameplay and structure which I will now get into and focus on very briefly, since the real meat of this game is within its story, which I’m saving for last.
At first sight ALBW seems like your typical Zelda game. You start it as a normal boy living a normal yet boring life, until you find yourself in the mist of a grand adventure that started by pure coincidence. You do some dungeons, get the master sword, do some other dungeons, and then you beat the game. It’s structure is actually very similar to OOT, where you get three items, get the master sword, then go after the Seven Sages. It sounds simplistic, yet it’s so damn good fun. I had a blast going through this world finding secrets and secret areas that I couldn’t get to yet, it felt like a true adventure. Going around the world multiple times, marking areas on my map for later, planning my routes and what order I’d do dungeons in, it’s all so fun. This is very similar to how I felt playing Hollow Knight, and I think playing that game made me enjoy the adventure aspect of certain games way more. The world in ALBW isn’t that big and there isn’t all that much variety, in the normal world that is. The big thing with this game is that there are two worlds to explore: Hyrule and Lorule. Hyrule is your stereotypical Zelda world; you have your normal grassy fields, water based areas, large mountains, giant maze like forests, and deserts, it’s nothing special but it still works. Then you have Lorule, which is where the meat of the game lies. You’ll spend a large chunk of the game here, only occasionally going to Hyrule to buy items and get to different areas in Lorule via portals that are scattered across the map due to how the world is formed. Lorule is a very disconnected place; there are large gaps in the earth, broken bridges, and large cliffs, making it harder to traverse around seeing how you need to move back and forth through dimensions in order to get around, but this is what makes Lorule so good. While the world doesn’t compare to Skyward Swords world or BOTWs, Lorule is still a very special and unique place. It’s this desolate wasteland overrun by monsters, and I think the disconnected nature of Lorule does a great job at representing this. It’s a great parallel to Hyrule, which is this happy bright place where people live their normal lives. Yet in Lorule, it’s all dead. The people are unfriendly because of the nature of this dark crumbling world being held up by the remaining hope they have, the areas are opposite as to what they are in Hyrule, and there are a large sum of monsters. Look at it this way: Hyrule is 80% light and 20% dark, while Lorule is 80% dark and 20% light, maybe less. It is the perfect parallel to Hyrule and the perfect depiction of a crumbling world that is slowly getting to the point where it’s beyond saving. I love it. I love lorule, I love the atmosphere, I love everything about it. It also gives us the best overworld theme in the series so extra points for that. A big component of traversal is the ability to become a painting, which allows you to walk inside of walls. It’s a very fun mechanic that is never overused and it really makes it feel like you’re apart of this world. To sum it all up for the world: Lorule is an impressive landscape that perfectly parallels that world of Hyrule, while also telling a story through its atmosphere and exploration. (I didn’t touch upon the dungeons or overall combat, but it’s fun and very consistent. Not much to talk about here)
Now, to get to the REAL review, the component of ALBW that made it an instant favorite and potential top 1. The story. I went into it a little bit before by showing my love for Lorule, which directly connects to the story. To summarize: ALBW tells its story through it’s world. While simplistic at first, it takes a turn that I really wasn’t expecting. It isn’t anything grand, it’s not Evangelion or Berserk, but it’s still something that I was able to love and appreciate. Let’s start from the beginning: You wake up to do your job as a blacksmiths apprentice, but you’re late. And because you’re late, you’re forced to take a sword to a knight that was forgotten at the blacksmiths place. You then find yourself in Hyrule Sanctuary, which is where you meet Yuga, the main antagonist of the game. And from here, you start your adventure. Your quest to defeat Yuga. You do three dungeons, with two giving you charms that allow you to unlock the master sword. Once you do so, you unlock Lorule after getting to where the story truly begins. You get to lorule castle, see Yuga revive the dark beast, then get introduced to Hilda. After the Seven Sages that were kidnapped are spread throughout the world you go around Lorule searching for them in order to receive the triforce of courage so you can defeat Yuga. Its your formulaic adventure story for the most part, but as stated before it is mainly focused on the decaying world of Lorule, which all comes together to deliver a powerful ending. After getting to the final boss it is revealed that Hilda (lorule equivalent of Zelda) was actually using you in order to get the triforce of courage, which would allow her to rebuild Lorule after falling apart due to her ancestors destroying Lorules triforce. This is where ALBW became a game that cherish greatly. Something that the Zelda series never does is give you a good understanding of the triforce and the reigns it has on the world. You know it can grant wishes and you know that it’s something everyone seeks after, but you never get to see the effects it truly has. ALBW does an incredible job at showing the greed that spawns from the triforce, the danger that it possesses, the grasp it has on the world, but also how it’s a symbol of light. And without light, you just have darkness, the darkness that has consumed Lorule, but also the darkness that is being held back by the hope of Hilda. And this is why I love the story of A Link Between Worlds. It tells a gripping and somewhat emotional story about light vs darkness, and everything that resides within both. It’s such a beautiful story that nearly made me tear up, especially near the end during Hilda’s development. Her character is built around the despair created by darkness, and how you need the small amounts of hope left in order to defeat it. And I really love stories about hope, so I really loved this game. A lot.
A Link Between Worlds is a beautiful journey of light and darkness, it is an adventure between two sides of the same coin that is complimented with fantastic gameplay and world building. Creating a magical journey that I will try to revisit every year.
10/10
Halo: Combat Evolved
2001
As a result of me writing off fps games when I was younger and having parents who would've NEVER let me play a game like this before my teens, I never grew up with Halo.
With my first experience with the series being as an adult a lot of this games' flaws were very apparent. The second half just kinda shits itself with the amount of assets reused combined with how much it spams flood in the last four levels.
Despite that however I had a lot of fun going through the campaign and there is undeniably a lot to appreciate in what it achieves graphically and narratively. There are moments like stepping out of the ship in Mission 2 and the final vehicle sequence in Mission 10 that stick with you just for how cool they are.
While far from a favorite, it's not hard to see why this is still looked back on fondly as a classic two decades later.
With my first experience with the series being as an adult a lot of this games' flaws were very apparent. The second half just kinda shits itself with the amount of assets reused combined with how much it spams flood in the last four levels.
Despite that however I had a lot of fun going through the campaign and there is undeniably a lot to appreciate in what it achieves graphically and narratively. There are moments like stepping out of the ship in Mission 2 and the final vehicle sequence in Mission 10 that stick with you just for how cool they are.
While far from a favorite, it's not hard to see why this is still looked back on fondly as a classic two decades later.
At its most fundamental the narrative of Shadowbringers feels alienating, removing us from Eorzea and placing us in a situation that’s seemingly so backwards. A world corrupted by a blinding light so strong it abolished the night, and it’s with this ambiguity of your role as the “Warrior of Light” where Shadowbringers starts to cook all of it’s mastery. Calling into question the unending battle between light and dark that plagues both the series and typical RPG’s, and using the opportunity to instead muse upon the true beating heart of conflict, heroism.
Unlike a work such as AoT which directly criticizes heroism as a shackle which forever catalyzes the endless cycle of violence, Shadowbringers endeavors to celebrate its roots and the righteousness which defines it. By reflecting upon itself through the multi-layered conflict that the lands of Norvrandt contain, we don’t only see the wide and equally personal impact of heroes, but also their necessity. Not only to protect, persevere, and save, but to inspire for our future as the ultimate symbols of both will and humanity at large.
Yet heroism isn’t reserved for just the light, just as Hydaelyn has her champion, so does Zodiark. Each with its own legacy to carry forward, its own right to fight, its own desire for happiness, its own claim to exist. Through this climactic battle of wills and morals is where XIV finds not only it’s strongest emotional beats, but a commentary that will shake anyone cognizant of modern society to their very core.
I’m purely discussing macro here though, because when observing the micro Shadowbringers has a lot of nagging issues consistent with XIV and even of its own design. Yet it’s in the aggregate where you really see the true beauty and elegance of what it was able to accomplish. Ultimately the sin eaters are no different than the Garleans or Dravanias, they are oppressors all the same, but through Norvrandt’s crisis is where XIV is finally able to illuminate its soul, You. The hero who never buckled to your oppressors and continued to keep moving forward, above man and god, towards hell and past it, only to find the answer at the end of the infinite, a glimmer of hope, everlasting.
“Fate can be cruel, but a smile better suits a hero.”
Unlike a work such as AoT which directly criticizes heroism as a shackle which forever catalyzes the endless cycle of violence, Shadowbringers endeavors to celebrate its roots and the righteousness which defines it. By reflecting upon itself through the multi-layered conflict that the lands of Norvrandt contain, we don’t only see the wide and equally personal impact of heroes, but also their necessity. Not only to protect, persevere, and save, but to inspire for our future as the ultimate symbols of both will and humanity at large.
Yet heroism isn’t reserved for just the light, just as Hydaelyn has her champion, so does Zodiark. Each with its own legacy to carry forward, its own right to fight, its own desire for happiness, its own claim to exist. Through this climactic battle of wills and morals is where XIV finds not only it’s strongest emotional beats, but a commentary that will shake anyone cognizant of modern society to their very core.
I’m purely discussing macro here though, because when observing the micro Shadowbringers has a lot of nagging issues consistent with XIV and even of its own design. Yet it’s in the aggregate where you really see the true beauty and elegance of what it was able to accomplish. Ultimately the sin eaters are no different than the Garleans or Dravanias, they are oppressors all the same, but through Norvrandt’s crisis is where XIV is finally able to illuminate its soul, You. The hero who never buckled to your oppressors and continued to keep moving forward, above man and god, towards hell and past it, only to find the answer at the end of the infinite, a glimmer of hope, everlasting.
“Fate can be cruel, but a smile better suits a hero.”
Paper Mario Sticker Star is a fundamentally flawed video game for two reasons:
1. Its central RPG sticker battling mechanic is completely useless, providing no necessary benefits besides wasting resources
2. It attempts to transfer over very similar mechanics/designs of the previous RPG focused games like TTYD and turn them into a heavy adventure-puzzling platforming; but this clash of genre and mechanics simply do not work
These two reasons are the backbone of everything wrong with this abomination of a game and what makes it so unlikable. Here are just a few reasons why:
- The level design in general is some of the worst I've ever experienced in a video game. As explained before, the "PM RPG format" simply doesn't work in areas designed around platforming and movement. Everything feels so clunky and difficult to control and perform, which leads to so many useless encounters and hindrances that at time feel unavoidable and provide you with no benefits. These simply elevate the already mundane tasks and paths the game has you go along. Some of the levels in World 2, for instance, such as the ones that require you to chose paths while continually traversing underground (and require trial and error to reach the end) and traveling around and inside a Sphinx, are some of the worst levels I've ever played in a video game, and gave me some of the worst stress of my life.
- Progression at multiple times is blocked by required "Thing" items you must collect, and are scattered in levels at random. While adventure elements such as this mechanic work in tons of other games, Sticker Star makes it as tedious as it could be. That specific item you need could be in literally any level up until that point, and just by missing one despite collecting the abundant other optional Things, you could be monumentally screwed over. That is NES levels of frustration - and when exploration is already an insane drag to begin with, it's just the icing on the cake of a horrible session.
- "Fortunately" these bizarre barriers are at their worst in boss fights. Each boss fight can be beaten with just regular items, but unless you want to use everything in your already limited inventory, you're gonna need a specific Thing to properly beat it. Beating these without a guide feels almost impossible, as most of the time the Thing you need is quite ambiguous and requires countless trial and error because of the way Things are designed to be used (you must go to a specific place to rebuy an already used Thing and then use a specific shop to then turn that Thing into a sticker; if you use it by accident or that Thing turns out to be the incorrect one needed, then you must repeat the process all over again.)
Sticker Star breaks so many basic necessities that a game must follow, and first and foremost is wasting the player's time; And that's all this game really is. Whether it means requiring you to repeat mundane tasks or creating strange and ambiguous barriers for progression or just being a slog to get through, Sticker Star does everything in its power to make you hate the game as much as possible. My 15 hour play through felt like an eternity of hell, but I don't think I've ever been happier to beat a game. It's an embarrassment to the fantastic titles Nintendo continually puts out, and it's an embarrassment to the joy and quality video games are suppose to bring you. This is by far the worst game I've ever played, and I hope I never have to experience something of this level of disgust ever again.
1. Its central RPG sticker battling mechanic is completely useless, providing no necessary benefits besides wasting resources
2. It attempts to transfer over very similar mechanics/designs of the previous RPG focused games like TTYD and turn them into a heavy adventure-puzzling platforming; but this clash of genre and mechanics simply do not work
These two reasons are the backbone of everything wrong with this abomination of a game and what makes it so unlikable. Here are just a few reasons why:
- The level design in general is some of the worst I've ever experienced in a video game. As explained before, the "PM RPG format" simply doesn't work in areas designed around platforming and movement. Everything feels so clunky and difficult to control and perform, which leads to so many useless encounters and hindrances that at time feel unavoidable and provide you with no benefits. These simply elevate the already mundane tasks and paths the game has you go along. Some of the levels in World 2, for instance, such as the ones that require you to chose paths while continually traversing underground (and require trial and error to reach the end) and traveling around and inside a Sphinx, are some of the worst levels I've ever played in a video game, and gave me some of the worst stress of my life.
- Progression at multiple times is blocked by required "Thing" items you must collect, and are scattered in levels at random. While adventure elements such as this mechanic work in tons of other games, Sticker Star makes it as tedious as it could be. That specific item you need could be in literally any level up until that point, and just by missing one despite collecting the abundant other optional Things, you could be monumentally screwed over. That is NES levels of frustration - and when exploration is already an insane drag to begin with, it's just the icing on the cake of a horrible session.
- "Fortunately" these bizarre barriers are at their worst in boss fights. Each boss fight can be beaten with just regular items, but unless you want to use everything in your already limited inventory, you're gonna need a specific Thing to properly beat it. Beating these without a guide feels almost impossible, as most of the time the Thing you need is quite ambiguous and requires countless trial and error because of the way Things are designed to be used (you must go to a specific place to rebuy an already used Thing and then use a specific shop to then turn that Thing into a sticker; if you use it by accident or that Thing turns out to be the incorrect one needed, then you must repeat the process all over again.)
Sticker Star breaks so many basic necessities that a game must follow, and first and foremost is wasting the player's time; And that's all this game really is. Whether it means requiring you to repeat mundane tasks or creating strange and ambiguous barriers for progression or just being a slog to get through, Sticker Star does everything in its power to make you hate the game as much as possible. My 15 hour play through felt like an eternity of hell, but I don't think I've ever been happier to beat a game. It's an embarrassment to the fantastic titles Nintendo continually puts out, and it's an embarrassment to the joy and quality video games are suppose to bring you. This is by far the worst game I've ever played, and I hope I never have to experience something of this level of disgust ever again.
I almost feel like this near universally hated game isn't hated enough.
The half star point was for some of the soundtrack.
The half star point was for some of the soundtrack.
League of Legends
2009
Coomer media
Story mode feels kind of annoying and repetitive at times but overall I had a nice time with it. Very basic but still an enjoyable game.
Rivet kinda bad
Chrono Trigger
1995
god. damn
they knocked it outta the park. pristine
they knocked it outta the park. pristine
Super Metroid
1994
Super Metroid is a magical game that I wasn't expecting to like nearly as much as I did. The atmosphere is brilliant and the memorable music only adds to it. It still holds up great 25+ years later, aside from some minor things such as the map and some floaty controls. I often find myself wanting to replay this game every time I think about it, and luckily it only takes one or two sittings to finish. I love how it teaches you how to use items through the level design rather than text, and it tells its own story without using text as well. Super Metroid is the perfect game for a quick burst of classic fun with masterful game design.
This review contains spoilers
Being my first entry into this quintessential JRPG series, my expectations were all over the place. As iconic as it is, Final Fantasy has never crossed paths with any console that I've owned up to this point. After playing through this first portion of the remake, I can definitely see why. Through and through, this monumental change in the gameplay formula suits me more than most people. It’s quite easy to run thin of traditional turn-based combat, so hearing of this change years prior was a testament to just how much my gaming tastes have changed over time. And damn did Square Enix obliterate my expectations in just about every department.
Due to its popularity, there was very little room to avoid playing through the game “blind” which I often find myself doing, but that did not hinder the experience in any way. Every story moment was refreshing as these core moments would eventually come together forming the whole of this portion of the game focusing on Midgar. Regardless of little spoilers here and there, the story is chock full of plenty of crucial moments where deaths and other nuisances meant very little in comparison to the greater picture.
Just seeing the world and the people a part of it moving about in their lives and making notes of the changes from chapter to chapter made me engaged as a player in ways where most AAA games of today fail to touch upon. It’s the little details that caught my eye over the 30 hours in which I learned about Avalanche and all the mysteries with these incredible characters lurking behind the scenes. Walking through the streets of Wall Market for the first time and listening to the soundtrack was unbelievable. Visually, there are no possible complaints that can be justified about this enhanced PS5 version.
The soundtrack was excellent, the gameplay is even more smooth than what was shown in trailers, and the story so far with Shinra has been really fun to follow. Sephiroth being this illusion of himself introduced early on in the game and eventually creating clones through the use of other beings towards the end was not what I expected having known very little about the character. The confrontation with the Arbiters of Fate was a great way of closing out the whispers and opens up countless possibilities for even more timeline changes diverging from the original game.
Looking back, there was truly never a dull moment over the 18 chapters and it was fascinating as to how the game approaches the introduction and departure of these wonderful characters. Cloud, Tifa, Barret, and Aerith grow so much as they adventure through Midgar and it was a joy to see. Forgettable party members in JPRGs are extremely common so it was great seeing each of the important characters here having enough screen time to maintain their relevance and status amongst the group. The game wisely foreshadows highly anticipated moments that have yet to be remade, and I cannot wait to play through those segments for the first time. There is so much to be said about the game and yet the full story remains untold. Knowing that there is going to be even more to love about later portions of the game makes me immensely thrilled that this is only just the beginning.
Due to its popularity, there was very little room to avoid playing through the game “blind” which I often find myself doing, but that did not hinder the experience in any way. Every story moment was refreshing as these core moments would eventually come together forming the whole of this portion of the game focusing on Midgar. Regardless of little spoilers here and there, the story is chock full of plenty of crucial moments where deaths and other nuisances meant very little in comparison to the greater picture.
Just seeing the world and the people a part of it moving about in their lives and making notes of the changes from chapter to chapter made me engaged as a player in ways where most AAA games of today fail to touch upon. It’s the little details that caught my eye over the 30 hours in which I learned about Avalanche and all the mysteries with these incredible characters lurking behind the scenes. Walking through the streets of Wall Market for the first time and listening to the soundtrack was unbelievable. Visually, there are no possible complaints that can be justified about this enhanced PS5 version.
The soundtrack was excellent, the gameplay is even more smooth than what was shown in trailers, and the story so far with Shinra has been really fun to follow. Sephiroth being this illusion of himself introduced early on in the game and eventually creating clones through the use of other beings towards the end was not what I expected having known very little about the character. The confrontation with the Arbiters of Fate was a great way of closing out the whispers and opens up countless possibilities for even more timeline changes diverging from the original game.
Looking back, there was truly never a dull moment over the 18 chapters and it was fascinating as to how the game approaches the introduction and departure of these wonderful characters. Cloud, Tifa, Barret, and Aerith grow so much as they adventure through Midgar and it was a joy to see. Forgettable party members in JPRGs are extremely common so it was great seeing each of the important characters here having enough screen time to maintain their relevance and status amongst the group. The game wisely foreshadows highly anticipated moments that have yet to be remade, and I cannot wait to play through those segments for the first time. There is so much to be said about the game and yet the full story remains untold. Knowing that there is going to be even more to love about later portions of the game makes me immensely thrilled that this is only just the beginning.
Tales of Arise
2021
This review was written before the game released
This review contains spoilers
While it sounds crazy enough to write a review about a game thats not even OUT LMAO. I why I can 100% confirm that this game will be my favourite game ever when it releases.
Tales Of Arise from a series I'm genuinely not that familiar with. beside playing Tales Of Vesperia on the 360 10 years ago. Having played a few hours of Tales Of Abyss on the 3DS and having watched like 7 episodes of Tales Of Zesteria and then dropping it out of boredom. You would genuinely be insane from a series where your intertest was never fully captured nor grasped to have the latest entry be your FAVOURITE GAME EVER?! Well here I will try to concretely enough explain my "My insanity" or for some of you guys "Stupidity" I'm assuming.
I found out about Tales Of Arise pretty late actually the game was revealed at E3 in 2019. I accidentally stumbled upon the game in march pure on whim. I was watching videos about JRPGs and I saw the games Trailer in my recommendations. I didn't even wanna click on the trailer nor did I want it to play YouTube Autoplayed it for me when I went to the toilet lol... but when I came back I was like "fuck it why not" and pressed replay and my mind was blown away... to most it's a standard trailer nothing outstanding or experimental enough for someone to lose their shit over it but man... I WAS IN. From the SFX of Shionne her heel the silent build up and the narrator to the strong fantasy athmosphere but with a striking distinct visual style. It reminded so much of every favourite Fantasy series I love and it happens so rarely that I ever have such a strong sense of nostolgia from past of something in the present that I have no strong knowledge. But from the previously mentioned things and flashy gameplay and strong and striking character designs. I just knew it was the one. The Fantasy genre is a VERY important genre to me because it helped me allot as a person throughout my life and I honestly watched allot of fantasy media but super rarely has this same feeling been matched before. I literally searched up every information about the game since and don't think I've ever been as hype for something as this game. The latest Info dump just made me even more confident in my feelings. I rewatched each trailer over 10x and watched the gameplay showcases over 10x. Did as much research as I can on the people working on it. Theorize heavy about future characters , environments and potential story beats. I genuinely have 100% trust in this game and don't think I can get dissapointed really.
So it really a case of pure feelings of nostolgia , charm and trust that makes me so sure. I know this seems goofy asf to write this but I know myself the best so I know best what my true feelings on the game will be.
( P.S I've done this before and know how my expectations work so I really cannot be dissapointed. also I will do a follow up in September on this when I play it.
Okay the follow up I already played the demo and wanted to follow up this but backloggd got scared and locked the ability to write reviews that haven't been released yet understandably 💀. Anyway
So yea coming out to yea I loved this game and it's my favourite video game of all time now I'm going to explain why.
First is just following this game was an experience harder than I expected I've been hyped for games and such but at most I had to wait a few months or I could just play it instantly after watching some videos or trailers on it. But for this game I had to wait 2 YEARS bro it was torture waiting. Constantly rewatching the trailers and seeing all the intriguing stuff , gameplay sections , environments and the characters. Reading every blog or info dump prior to release of the game in MULTIPLE LANUAGES. Like I was reading shit in Korean or Japanese using Google translate to get info about the game I was so hyped about it. Each trailer and new released stuff just got me more excited and it the more I heard about the game the more reassured I was about it being what I wanted. Which led to me playing the demo ( I touch upon that later ) and then finally the reviews of the game coming out which basically was just a last confirmation for me about the game. But just following a game for so long and looking crazy because you were hyping it up so early on with barely any footing on it just felt so rewarding which I never experienced with a game before nor do I think that is ever going to happen again. Also seeing the tales of series while me not being a person with a huge connection to the series I guess see the series get genuinely good reviews and reviewers not referring to the series as "jrpg fastfood." Or "jrpg comfort food." made me happy for my friends and the fans who have been long apart of franchise. Now about the game tho ( finally. )
First off the visual presentation of the game. I REALLLY BUT REALLLY LOVE how the game looks perfect sense of an artistic style mixed with realism. From textures of close up rocks , stones and ice where all just amazing to look at. The sense of scale it also adds by far off locations looking like a watercolor painting as some sort of highlighting it to spark curiosity and mystery for the player which happened several times for me.
Now the gameplay
• Exploration
I really loved the gameplay loop of this game. Explore looking for ingredients find a chest or find a hidden pathway that leads to a secret location. With great level and environmental design made traversing the world tons of fun. My favourite JRPG series xenoblade is where I love exploring too but the characters walking speed ( not including X ) being the same as a crippled grandma kinda put me off sometimes exploring new areas because of some backtracking I had to do. Here that wasn't present for me at all the environments where big and wide enough when it was needed but it never felt like a slog for me to get thru them.
• Combat
Probably my favourite thing about the game easily. The way it's heavy combo based , rewards the player for experimenting allot , rewards the player for going the extra mile being extra flashy WHILE also granting super flashy 1 hit finishers to satisfying kill enemies. On top of that love the break mechanic of the game. Insanely satisfying fighting an enemy and committing to a move that could potentially lead to your death but destroying their core which downs them which gives me immense pleasure for taking that risky decision. I know people don't like the lack of arte and move cancelling which I understand the dissatisfaction and frustration of it completely but in return getting that reward of labbing with certain moves and combo latter's seeing them payoff for me fully committing too it was just a great feeling that I rarely get from playing games at all. Now onto Boss Battles which I also know most people aren't a fan of either but I honestly loved them. It is a shame that the human bosses that stagger constantly which leads to a limited combo celling sadly enough. I think it would've been ideal for some type of revenge value hidden mechanic for the bosses where if you spam too move or don't punish accordingly they reach their Overlimit easier or something. Either way tho I still really enjoyed them from the presentation , to the build up , hype and the fight itself. Especially Balselph fight caught me by surprise how great of a 1st boss it was. Him being one of the bigger human bosses which makes it possible for effective use of aerial dodges that don't eliminate the usage of your aerial artes in his fights. Also the summoning spirit appearance which added allot of hype which really made me realise yea... this game is going to be something big lol. Anyway a fight like dohalim I think would've benefitted from the hidden mechanic that I mentioned earlier either tho the satisfaction I felt from double counter edging his arts and seeing him stagger because of it felt so hype to me. With also the amazing QTEs which I didn't expect to see in the game in the slightest which added another hype factor into the fights for me. The usage in strategy the bosses emphasized for me which made them all so memorable to me aswell. Me getting frustrated and cursing the game out for some fufu or cheesy shit but then changing my AI strategy, changing my arte layout and tweaking my party members art usage to fully capitalize on the bosses weaknesses. From battle going from 10min + vs 5-3min for me. Also love the battle gauge mechanic when you for example finish a battle there is this gauge that rewards you if you continously keep doing them which encouraged me to do some fights I honestly would've skipped if it wasn't for that mechanic.
• Music
Now I won't lie and say this probably the most mixed bag for me off the game. Music is one of the most important things to me and so "bad" music bothers quite allot. Which was one of the worries I had with the game since from what I heard of Sakuraba can't lie that stuff wasn't pleasing my ears and it made sense to me why I never heard praise of this series OST beside the titles go shiina worked on sadly enough. Either way tho the music in arise to me is just "good." And emphasis of just. Like the overall ost a 7/7,5 which is honestly a bit dissapointing but the reason for it isn't because I think the songs are bad but more so a lack of variety and lack of distinctiveness between the tracks. I love OSTs with choirs , vocals and that bombastic grandiose feel. ( Apocalyptic Noctis one of my favourite OSTs of all time. ) but when that is basically the whole soundtrack it loses the weight and eventually some songs come off as "white noise." To me but I'm honestly happy tho that I still love the style of the OST which led to me enjoying a good portion of the tracks overall. I'm still satisfied tho that the OST isn't BOTW or DQ11 bad to me. BOTW ambient approach to its OST I understand but it just didn't do anything for me personally. dq11 has had enough slander for the ost I'm not gonna say anything about it lol. But yea arise was more so 1 that focused on ambience rather than songs you could listen too outside the game. It did its job and enhanced the scenes & environments where tracks where played so again I'm okay with that.
• Story/Characters
May come off weird to some but I didn't expect this game story to be the greatest thing to touch fiction. I more so expected a story where its themes intrigued even tho me already being quite familiar with them already. Also wasn't expecting a xeno type of series full of insane plotwists and such more so dramatic irony where I'd have a strong idea where its leading to but wondering how it's being executed and how the game handles the theme's. I can confidently say im satisfied never did a story made me think of "slavery is as much a mental thing as it is physical." I ofcourse heard the lines such as "everyone is a slave to something." "A slave to one's desires." Blah blah those stories usually mentioned it briefly and wouldn't explore it fully or just never touch upon it again. (Which that neccasary didn't upset since the story wasn't about that theme in the first place lol would've been dope tho but probs out of place.) But yea the game asking questions such as when are you a slave and when are you your master of something. Which mainly was explored thru the protagonist of the game. Alphen being a slave "raised" in a slave camp.(wooahh insane right you didn't guess that huh ) that led him develop percussions and certain perspectives of the race of his oppressors. Where he basically was so deep in it during a conversation he basically asked "if we just commit genocide against the renas will we be truly free?" Which is ofcourse because he saw nothing but tyrany and misery from them. Seeing Alphen develop from a slave who was in the mental slave that he only could be a slave -> to a slave who started fighting because of the opportunity being presented at him in the moment because of others -> where he blindly followed them and their order's -> then being told that he should be his own master & think for himself and then finding out the answer to ending the conflict he's stuck. A slave to his percussions, a slave to the ones his follows and being a slave to the desperate need of guidance in his life. The way it's explored in the 3rd area in the game and with the main party and antagonists is probably my favourite tho. Shionne a slave to the ideal that she could only live in solitude, Kisara a slave to her dream/ideal , the people in menancia being slaves to the belief just because they get treated on "equal terms." that they aren't any different from other slaves just because they get treated fairly for their labor and the antagonists being slaves to power. I know people think the antagonists either are ass or just whatever. I think their simplistic approach fits better into the narrative and beside Vholran (Which I touch upon later.) Don't necessarily need a moral ambiguity or a some super complex motive with the root of a tragic backstory. They where victims of the elitism and social views of the renan society where power and status is everything which lead them all to be chained to the concept of Power. We see it in Balselph remove before he dies where he's genuinely shocked on why Shionne doesn't care about power and betraying renans. Ganabelt desperately clinging to ideal of him needing to be powerful for his followers on Lenegis , amahoela ( don't remember her name ) her basically being the 2nd biggest victim of it by how Dohalim discussed on how lenegis she did everything in her power to rise to the top. On top of that Vholran one who grew up in a environment where he was believed to be the one most powerful of all by triumphing , dominating , ruling and conquering all and anything. 1st display of him showing dominance towards alphen and the party by killing all the zeugles , conquering the party in that duel after you leave menacia , ruling heartlessly over the people who devoted too him and finally trying to triumph Alphen in their last fight. He was the ideal Renan Lord based on the social views that the renans preach and reinforce but in actuality being the biggest slave of all nothing but a hollow person with no ambitions of his own , convictions of his own and Ideals of his own. A Dahnan slave throughout that never got to break free from his chain and being the perfect Puppet that the renans wanted him to be. While the story has multiple messages and social commentaries but this one just stuck with me the most. When is a person a slave , when is a person his own master? How much in control are you of your ideals that they don't chain you? How do you keep being your own master throughout and never get stuck into those chains again? I never gave it much thought nor did I personally need the message but it's one I always will appreciate. Also the main cast I love them all and it's my favourite jrpg main cast. Love their conversations , banter , dynamics and relationships. Both in just how fun it is to see and how they impact the game thematically.
• Ending
2nd act of the game sadly enough goes a bit downhill in quality in my opinion more so story wise rather than gameplay for me but it didn't upset or affect me enjoyment that much where It stopped making me love the game since I still enjoyed act 2. It's just act 1 was a 10/10 and act 2 a 7/10 with a 10/10 ending so yea. Some stuff I want to address tho. The forgiveness and understanding stuff doesn't come out of nowhere as much people try to make it seem. It comes off cheesy at first and you think it doesn't make any sense conclusion wise if you only look at it from face value but Alphen character was never going to be that he just "kills" every lord. The reasons for that is at FIRST and FOREMOST helping his FELLOW SLAVES to a better future. So him aim changing from the Lords to wanting to end the cycle of hatred what him and Zephyr discussed about isn't a weird or drastic change. It's inline to what his character was leading to so stuff like wanting liberate the renans on lenegis aswell isn't weird or out of character since they are practically SLAVES mental wise too. Also the answer he was searching for on was forgiveness and understanding. Not always out of sympathy but also out of NECESSITY. He wants to end the cycle of hatred and stop the clogs that shift the conflict. Vholran is the biggest one of it. Alphen being the only person that could understand him and which led to him have such a obsession with Alphen in the 1st place is why the forgiving isn't so out of place. Also forgiving doesn't mean FORGETTING it's neccasary to move forward to a new future. The game also hammers the point of there being a limit to how much forgiveness and understanding can reach. Vholran was the nail of that point. Him killing himself was a proper conclusion and fitting narrative wise. Other stuff of act 2 tho obviously needed more breathing room and just more time overall great spirit , summoning spirits etc. Game would've benefitted from better placement of some of the exposure dumbs in act 1 or just act 2 being much longer. Stuff I liked tho that Great Renan spirit felt fear and anger which lead to Hatred. Symbolizing the end of the world's potentially being the hatred the races have for eachother. Uh the last dungeon was not as bad as I expected from the way people spoke about it I assumed I was just going to keep walking straight like FFXV later half and just fight bosses the whole time. Also only 2 being mandatory and the others avoidable or fleeable not souring my experience as much as I thought it would have. Uh stuff like Dahnas will too it being introduced early would've definitely helped maybe it was foreshadowed haven't looked thru all the cutscenes of the game tho so maybe the issue isn't as big as it now for me. Also probably me playing the last few stuff in sessions because of IRL stuff made it probably not as bad as I assumed it would lol. Uhhh loved the ending overall tho shionne finally being able to touch the party and rinwell being the 1st one making it 1st much more endearing how hateful they where early on with eachother. Stuff like seeing Dohalim play the violin again for Alphen when he talked about making a promise to him for playing it again little stuff like that also the song ofcourse and just the icing on cake. But yea despite the rough edges in act 2 I still love the game.
• Conclusion
For me something being my all time favourite just means a really positive unique experience that I can't have with anything else. Personally it doesn't need to be the greatest thing to touch humanity objectively. It doesn't need universal acclaim nor the most ambitious and thing in the world. Never did I play a game this much back to back nonstop , having fun discussing it with my friends and just a game that appeal to me in every way and shape. It being from my favourite gaming genre , type of story and themes , type of cast , type of gameplay and combat, type of art direction and just my type of game. Confidently say that is my favourite game of all time and that is not changing ever. Not a perfect game by any means but it will forever be my most memorable one.
• Extra shit
Gripes and stuff I love I wanna say in short
Beyond me how nobody talks about the lack of configuration options genuinely shocked lmao but yea hopefully the game gets a patch like scarlet nexus or so.
Lack of proper audio mixing biggest issue with the game for me didn't happen allot but when it did? sheesh
Love the character designs of each character especially Alphen. He gives off a edgy vibe. But he's just a good willed person with great characterization. Playful Rivalry with Law like them role-playing student and master during combat. His old man dynamic with Dohalim because both of them being the oldest of the party. His bickering and snarky remarks towards shionne to the point it's childish meshing well with his mature attitude. Him being a geek for weaponry and armor. His love for spicy food because he compensates it with his inability of pain and his vagabond like nature because he never had the chance to explore so much so he takes of too interesting routes and paths. I wish his personality was more of a thing in the main cutscenes of the game seeing people write him off just as "haha hero guy go brrr." comes off a bit irritating but the game treats parts of his personality as side bits which makes it understandable.
Sidequests being surprisingly worth it both content wise and also the types of sidequests. Like there are fetch quests but them being based on pairs and which leads to funny dialogue made them worth it imo. Also some really character focused Sidequests like Law getting a letter from Zephyr or the pancake one where great.
Uhh pop in issue obviously but yea we already know that lol.
Vholran being a villain that fits his purpose but most definitely still a underbaked antagonist his dynamic with Alphen could've been great the biggest miss of the game for me.
Yea I love this game thank you bandai Namco for making me a enjoy like this for the 1st time and the only time.
Still nr 1 just XBC3 kinda goated with the sauce takahashi his strongest warrior my loyalty always resided with Xeno.
Tales Of Arise from a series I'm genuinely not that familiar with. beside playing Tales Of Vesperia on the 360 10 years ago. Having played a few hours of Tales Of Abyss on the 3DS and having watched like 7 episodes of Tales Of Zesteria and then dropping it out of boredom. You would genuinely be insane from a series where your intertest was never fully captured nor grasped to have the latest entry be your FAVOURITE GAME EVER?! Well here I will try to concretely enough explain my "My insanity" or for some of you guys "Stupidity" I'm assuming.
I found out about Tales Of Arise pretty late actually the game was revealed at E3 in 2019. I accidentally stumbled upon the game in march pure on whim. I was watching videos about JRPGs and I saw the games Trailer in my recommendations. I didn't even wanna click on the trailer nor did I want it to play YouTube Autoplayed it for me when I went to the toilet lol... but when I came back I was like "fuck it why not" and pressed replay and my mind was blown away... to most it's a standard trailer nothing outstanding or experimental enough for someone to lose their shit over it but man... I WAS IN. From the SFX of Shionne her heel the silent build up and the narrator to the strong fantasy athmosphere but with a striking distinct visual style. It reminded so much of every favourite Fantasy series I love and it happens so rarely that I ever have such a strong sense of nostolgia from past of something in the present that I have no strong knowledge. But from the previously mentioned things and flashy gameplay and strong and striking character designs. I just knew it was the one. The Fantasy genre is a VERY important genre to me because it helped me allot as a person throughout my life and I honestly watched allot of fantasy media but super rarely has this same feeling been matched before. I literally searched up every information about the game since and don't think I've ever been as hype for something as this game. The latest Info dump just made me even more confident in my feelings. I rewatched each trailer over 10x and watched the gameplay showcases over 10x. Did as much research as I can on the people working on it. Theorize heavy about future characters , environments and potential story beats. I genuinely have 100% trust in this game and don't think I can get dissapointed really.
So it really a case of pure feelings of nostolgia , charm and trust that makes me so sure. I know this seems goofy asf to write this but I know myself the best so I know best what my true feelings on the game will be.
( P.S I've done this before and know how my expectations work so I really cannot be dissapointed. also I will do a follow up in September on this when I play it.
Okay the follow up I already played the demo and wanted to follow up this but backloggd got scared and locked the ability to write reviews that haven't been released yet understandably 💀. Anyway
So yea coming out to yea I loved this game and it's my favourite video game of all time now I'm going to explain why.
First is just following this game was an experience harder than I expected I've been hyped for games and such but at most I had to wait a few months or I could just play it instantly after watching some videos or trailers on it. But for this game I had to wait 2 YEARS bro it was torture waiting. Constantly rewatching the trailers and seeing all the intriguing stuff , gameplay sections , environments and the characters. Reading every blog or info dump prior to release of the game in MULTIPLE LANUAGES. Like I was reading shit in Korean or Japanese using Google translate to get info about the game I was so hyped about it. Each trailer and new released stuff just got me more excited and it the more I heard about the game the more reassured I was about it being what I wanted. Which led to me playing the demo ( I touch upon that later ) and then finally the reviews of the game coming out which basically was just a last confirmation for me about the game. But just following a game for so long and looking crazy because you were hyping it up so early on with barely any footing on it just felt so rewarding which I never experienced with a game before nor do I think that is ever going to happen again. Also seeing the tales of series while me not being a person with a huge connection to the series I guess see the series get genuinely good reviews and reviewers not referring to the series as "jrpg fastfood." Or "jrpg comfort food." made me happy for my friends and the fans who have been long apart of franchise. Now about the game tho ( finally. )
First off the visual presentation of the game. I REALLLY BUT REALLLY LOVE how the game looks perfect sense of an artistic style mixed with realism. From textures of close up rocks , stones and ice where all just amazing to look at. The sense of scale it also adds by far off locations looking like a watercolor painting as some sort of highlighting it to spark curiosity and mystery for the player which happened several times for me.
Now the gameplay
• Exploration
I really loved the gameplay loop of this game. Explore looking for ingredients find a chest or find a hidden pathway that leads to a secret location. With great level and environmental design made traversing the world tons of fun. My favourite JRPG series xenoblade is where I love exploring too but the characters walking speed ( not including X ) being the same as a crippled grandma kinda put me off sometimes exploring new areas because of some backtracking I had to do. Here that wasn't present for me at all the environments where big and wide enough when it was needed but it never felt like a slog for me to get thru them.
• Combat
Probably my favourite thing about the game easily. The way it's heavy combo based , rewards the player for experimenting allot , rewards the player for going the extra mile being extra flashy WHILE also granting super flashy 1 hit finishers to satisfying kill enemies. On top of that love the break mechanic of the game. Insanely satisfying fighting an enemy and committing to a move that could potentially lead to your death but destroying their core which downs them which gives me immense pleasure for taking that risky decision. I know people don't like the lack of arte and move cancelling which I understand the dissatisfaction and frustration of it completely but in return getting that reward of labbing with certain moves and combo latter's seeing them payoff for me fully committing too it was just a great feeling that I rarely get from playing games at all. Now onto Boss Battles which I also know most people aren't a fan of either but I honestly loved them. It is a shame that the human bosses that stagger constantly which leads to a limited combo celling sadly enough. I think it would've been ideal for some type of revenge value hidden mechanic for the bosses where if you spam too move or don't punish accordingly they reach their Overlimit easier or something. Either way tho I still really enjoyed them from the presentation , to the build up , hype and the fight itself. Especially Balselph fight caught me by surprise how great of a 1st boss it was. Him being one of the bigger human bosses which makes it possible for effective use of aerial dodges that don't eliminate the usage of your aerial artes in his fights. Also the summoning spirit appearance which added allot of hype which really made me realise yea... this game is going to be something big lol. Anyway a fight like dohalim I think would've benefitted from the hidden mechanic that I mentioned earlier either tho the satisfaction I felt from double counter edging his arts and seeing him stagger because of it felt so hype to me. With also the amazing QTEs which I didn't expect to see in the game in the slightest which added another hype factor into the fights for me. The usage in strategy the bosses emphasized for me which made them all so memorable to me aswell. Me getting frustrated and cursing the game out for some fufu or cheesy shit but then changing my AI strategy, changing my arte layout and tweaking my party members art usage to fully capitalize on the bosses weaknesses. From battle going from 10min + vs 5-3min for me. Also love the battle gauge mechanic when you for example finish a battle there is this gauge that rewards you if you continously keep doing them which encouraged me to do some fights I honestly would've skipped if it wasn't for that mechanic.
• Music
Now I won't lie and say this probably the most mixed bag for me off the game. Music is one of the most important things to me and so "bad" music bothers quite allot. Which was one of the worries I had with the game since from what I heard of Sakuraba can't lie that stuff wasn't pleasing my ears and it made sense to me why I never heard praise of this series OST beside the titles go shiina worked on sadly enough. Either way tho the music in arise to me is just "good." And emphasis of just. Like the overall ost a 7/7,5 which is honestly a bit dissapointing but the reason for it isn't because I think the songs are bad but more so a lack of variety and lack of distinctiveness between the tracks. I love OSTs with choirs , vocals and that bombastic grandiose feel. ( Apocalyptic Noctis one of my favourite OSTs of all time. ) but when that is basically the whole soundtrack it loses the weight and eventually some songs come off as "white noise." To me but I'm honestly happy tho that I still love the style of the OST which led to me enjoying a good portion of the tracks overall. I'm still satisfied tho that the OST isn't BOTW or DQ11 bad to me. BOTW ambient approach to its OST I understand but it just didn't do anything for me personally. dq11 has had enough slander for the ost I'm not gonna say anything about it lol. But yea arise was more so 1 that focused on ambience rather than songs you could listen too outside the game. It did its job and enhanced the scenes & environments where tracks where played so again I'm okay with that.
• Story/Characters
May come off weird to some but I didn't expect this game story to be the greatest thing to touch fiction. I more so expected a story where its themes intrigued even tho me already being quite familiar with them already. Also wasn't expecting a xeno type of series full of insane plotwists and such more so dramatic irony where I'd have a strong idea where its leading to but wondering how it's being executed and how the game handles the theme's. I can confidently say im satisfied never did a story made me think of "slavery is as much a mental thing as it is physical." I ofcourse heard the lines such as "everyone is a slave to something." "A slave to one's desires." Blah blah those stories usually mentioned it briefly and wouldn't explore it fully or just never touch upon it again. (Which that neccasary didn't upset since the story wasn't about that theme in the first place lol would've been dope tho but probs out of place.) But yea the game asking questions such as when are you a slave and when are you your master of something. Which mainly was explored thru the protagonist of the game. Alphen being a slave "raised" in a slave camp.(wooahh insane right you didn't guess that huh ) that led him develop percussions and certain perspectives of the race of his oppressors. Where he basically was so deep in it during a conversation he basically asked "if we just commit genocide against the renas will we be truly free?" Which is ofcourse because he saw nothing but tyrany and misery from them. Seeing Alphen develop from a slave who was in the mental slave that he only could be a slave -> to a slave who started fighting because of the opportunity being presented at him in the moment because of others -> where he blindly followed them and their order's -> then being told that he should be his own master & think for himself and then finding out the answer to ending the conflict he's stuck. A slave to his percussions, a slave to the ones his follows and being a slave to the desperate need of guidance in his life. The way it's explored in the 3rd area in the game and with the main party and antagonists is probably my favourite tho. Shionne a slave to the ideal that she could only live in solitude, Kisara a slave to her dream/ideal , the people in menancia being slaves to the belief just because they get treated on "equal terms." that they aren't any different from other slaves just because they get treated fairly for their labor and the antagonists being slaves to power. I know people think the antagonists either are ass or just whatever. I think their simplistic approach fits better into the narrative and beside Vholran (Which I touch upon later.) Don't necessarily need a moral ambiguity or a some super complex motive with the root of a tragic backstory. They where victims of the elitism and social views of the renan society where power and status is everything which lead them all to be chained to the concept of Power. We see it in Balselph remove before he dies where he's genuinely shocked on why Shionne doesn't care about power and betraying renans. Ganabelt desperately clinging to ideal of him needing to be powerful for his followers on Lenegis , amahoela ( don't remember her name ) her basically being the 2nd biggest victim of it by how Dohalim discussed on how lenegis she did everything in her power to rise to the top. On top of that Vholran one who grew up in a environment where he was believed to be the one most powerful of all by triumphing , dominating , ruling and conquering all and anything. 1st display of him showing dominance towards alphen and the party by killing all the zeugles , conquering the party in that duel after you leave menacia , ruling heartlessly over the people who devoted too him and finally trying to triumph Alphen in their last fight. He was the ideal Renan Lord based on the social views that the renans preach and reinforce but in actuality being the biggest slave of all nothing but a hollow person with no ambitions of his own , convictions of his own and Ideals of his own. A Dahnan slave throughout that never got to break free from his chain and being the perfect Puppet that the renans wanted him to be. While the story has multiple messages and social commentaries but this one just stuck with me the most. When is a person a slave , when is a person his own master? How much in control are you of your ideals that they don't chain you? How do you keep being your own master throughout and never get stuck into those chains again? I never gave it much thought nor did I personally need the message but it's one I always will appreciate. Also the main cast I love them all and it's my favourite jrpg main cast. Love their conversations , banter , dynamics and relationships. Both in just how fun it is to see and how they impact the game thematically.
• Ending
2nd act of the game sadly enough goes a bit downhill in quality in my opinion more so story wise rather than gameplay for me but it didn't upset or affect me enjoyment that much where It stopped making me love the game since I still enjoyed act 2. It's just act 1 was a 10/10 and act 2 a 7/10 with a 10/10 ending so yea. Some stuff I want to address tho. The forgiveness and understanding stuff doesn't come out of nowhere as much people try to make it seem. It comes off cheesy at first and you think it doesn't make any sense conclusion wise if you only look at it from face value but Alphen character was never going to be that he just "kills" every lord. The reasons for that is at FIRST and FOREMOST helping his FELLOW SLAVES to a better future. So him aim changing from the Lords to wanting to end the cycle of hatred what him and Zephyr discussed about isn't a weird or drastic change. It's inline to what his character was leading to so stuff like wanting liberate the renans on lenegis aswell isn't weird or out of character since they are practically SLAVES mental wise too. Also the answer he was searching for on was forgiveness and understanding. Not always out of sympathy but also out of NECESSITY. He wants to end the cycle of hatred and stop the clogs that shift the conflict. Vholran is the biggest one of it. Alphen being the only person that could understand him and which led to him have such a obsession with Alphen in the 1st place is why the forgiving isn't so out of place. Also forgiving doesn't mean FORGETTING it's neccasary to move forward to a new future. The game also hammers the point of there being a limit to how much forgiveness and understanding can reach. Vholran was the nail of that point. Him killing himself was a proper conclusion and fitting narrative wise. Other stuff of act 2 tho obviously needed more breathing room and just more time overall great spirit , summoning spirits etc. Game would've benefitted from better placement of some of the exposure dumbs in act 1 or just act 2 being much longer. Stuff I liked tho that Great Renan spirit felt fear and anger which lead to Hatred. Symbolizing the end of the world's potentially being the hatred the races have for eachother. Uh the last dungeon was not as bad as I expected from the way people spoke about it I assumed I was just going to keep walking straight like FFXV later half and just fight bosses the whole time. Also only 2 being mandatory and the others avoidable or fleeable not souring my experience as much as I thought it would have. Uh stuff like Dahnas will too it being introduced early would've definitely helped maybe it was foreshadowed haven't looked thru all the cutscenes of the game tho so maybe the issue isn't as big as it now for me. Also probably me playing the last few stuff in sessions because of IRL stuff made it probably not as bad as I assumed it would lol. Uhhh loved the ending overall tho shionne finally being able to touch the party and rinwell being the 1st one making it 1st much more endearing how hateful they where early on with eachother. Stuff like seeing Dohalim play the violin again for Alphen when he talked about making a promise to him for playing it again little stuff like that also the song ofcourse and just the icing on cake. But yea despite the rough edges in act 2 I still love the game.
• Conclusion
For me something being my all time favourite just means a really positive unique experience that I can't have with anything else. Personally it doesn't need to be the greatest thing to touch humanity objectively. It doesn't need universal acclaim nor the most ambitious and thing in the world. Never did I play a game this much back to back nonstop , having fun discussing it with my friends and just a game that appeal to me in every way and shape. It being from my favourite gaming genre , type of story and themes , type of cast , type of gameplay and combat, type of art direction and just my type of game. Confidently say that is my favourite game of all time and that is not changing ever. Not a perfect game by any means but it will forever be my most memorable one.
• Extra shit
Gripes and stuff I love I wanna say in short
Beyond me how nobody talks about the lack of configuration options genuinely shocked lmao but yea hopefully the game gets a patch like scarlet nexus or so.
Lack of proper audio mixing biggest issue with the game for me didn't happen allot but when it did? sheesh
Love the character designs of each character especially Alphen. He gives off a edgy vibe. But he's just a good willed person with great characterization. Playful Rivalry with Law like them role-playing student and master during combat. His old man dynamic with Dohalim because both of them being the oldest of the party. His bickering and snarky remarks towards shionne to the point it's childish meshing well with his mature attitude. Him being a geek for weaponry and armor. His love for spicy food because he compensates it with his inability of pain and his vagabond like nature because he never had the chance to explore so much so he takes of too interesting routes and paths. I wish his personality was more of a thing in the main cutscenes of the game seeing people write him off just as "haha hero guy go brrr." comes off a bit irritating but the game treats parts of his personality as side bits which makes it understandable.
Sidequests being surprisingly worth it both content wise and also the types of sidequests. Like there are fetch quests but them being based on pairs and which leads to funny dialogue made them worth it imo. Also some really character focused Sidequests like Law getting a letter from Zephyr or the pancake one where great.
Uhh pop in issue obviously but yea we already know that lol.
Vholran being a villain that fits his purpose but most definitely still a underbaked antagonist his dynamic with Alphen could've been great the biggest miss of the game for me.
Yea I love this game thank you bandai Namco for making me a enjoy like this for the 1st time and the only time.
Still nr 1 just XBC3 kinda goated with the sauce takahashi his strongest warrior my loyalty always resided with Xeno.
Tales of Arise
2021
This review was written before the game released
Worst game I’ve ever played
Omori
2020
This happened to my buddy Eric