The game is missing features from some previous iterations, still runs into some annoying perfrmance issues to this day, and it seems unlikely we'll get another game update in the near future. The game's main setlist is also mostly obscure bands or deeper cuts/newer songs from known bands, but I don't think it's a weak setlist. It just had a very strong legacy to live up to.

However, the game is still getting DLC every week 8 years out, and I still play it constantly. Not the best Rock Band, but the longest lasting and i think that counts for something. Glad the game is still going, even if it's at a much slower pace than the series' heyday.

The landscapes and music in this game are the only thing I'd say reach parity with the originals. It just doesn't feel nearly as good to play this as the 3DS games.

I don't know why they changed is to where you don't queue up your whole party's actions together before executing them, but it just made the game feel worse overall. Changing from random battles to pre-existing encounters I also think actually works to this game's detriment. the 3DS games let you change the encounter rate to 0, 50, 100, 150, or 200%, and it worked perfectly--200 for grinding, 0 for backtracking or if you're strapped for resources. Pre-existing counters have no way of skipping them if you're strong enough, a la Earthbound, so getting around is very tedious. It also means there's no nice way to quickly and mindlessly grind up your job xp.

I have yet to beat the game as I am hard stuck on the final asterisk holder, but eventfully when I'm in the mood I'll look up how to beat him and finish up the story. I can't see my rating changing much, though. Overall a disappointing follow-up to the 3DS games.

Finally peace, at last...
I was looking forward to playing the full version of this game after playing the demo. But I was worried at the same time because I didn't really like the focus on parrying and the fact the enemies don't really get staggered.

Lies of P is a fairytale-inspired souls-like game which was not developed by From Software. There are many games that tried to capture the magic and feeling playing a From Software title but not many succeeded.
Sadly I have to say that I think that NEOWIZ & Round8 Studio didn't really succeed either. There are some cool weapon designs and the assembling mechanic is really great. It gives you the option to "customize the weapon the way you want it. With one exception, which excludes special weapons like those that can be purchased with the rare Egos. But if I have to decided I think I like the more badass design from Elden Ring's weapons more than a Wrench glued on top of a Police Baton from Lies of P.
The Victorian gothic city as a setting is pretty great and it reminded me a lot of Bloodborne which I just recently finished for the first time. But Bloodborne's setting is still superior. I liked that they included some easter eggs like the old Lady at the window. One small thing which I really appreciated was the symbol which shows up and tells you where you can complete a quest. The characters are all interesting but nothing too special and the lips are asynchron but that can be forgiven because this wasn't developed by the largest developer studio. Also, you can pet the cat once you become more human.

That's pretty much everything that I liked about this game, the boss enemies sometimes doesn't fit into the chapter. The whole chapter teaches you how to use status effects because the enemies of this chapter are weak to eat just so the big boss enemy is immune to it. The boss fights are also pretty unbalanced, some are bulletsponges and some are almost one hit kills. As mentioned above I just the Wrench combined with a Police baton and the fable arts attack does a ton of damage, up to 4-5 k damage.
But most of the time the fable arts attacks are pretty much useless because you have to farm them to fill up the attack bar. So I didn't use the fable arts against the fodder enemies or mini boss enemies but also didn't use them in the boss fights because either the fable arts bar was empty or I knew that I would die anyway after using the special attack in the boss fight. I think it would have been a lot better if the fable arts bar would be refilled completely after dying so you can actually use them in the boss fights. I know there is an upgrade but this only refills one bar and it's pretty much useless. As I said in the beginning, some enemies don't get staggered or knocked back when you hit them but they stagger you. Which ruined the gameplay a lot for me, sometimes an enemy staggers you so much that you can't really do anything. The arbitrarily attack chains were also a huge problem because sometimes the combos from the boss enemies are three hits long, sometimes 4 or even more. This way it was really hard to learn the pattern of the boss because I never knew how long his attack combo will last or when he hits me due to delaying his attacks. So I tried to block his combos but I was stunned after blocking 1 or 2 attacks so this wasn't an option so I tried to dodge but dodging 4-5 attacks resulted in a depleted stamina bar, leaving me unable to move and I still had to tank a hit or two.
When I successful dodged an attack I was often too far away from the boss too land a hit because the time window between the attacks is often too small. Or I have to use a healing potion after trying to parry and failing again due to these problems. The bigger the monster is, the more damage sponge it is becomes and it feels like it doesn't matter how much I upgrade my weapon, the healthbars still gets barely smaller. The AI from the specter is also really really stupid as hell, he runs in front of the boss and tanks every attack and is dead before the fight has really started. When I downed an enemy I often couldn't hit them when they were lying on the ground which could tip the scales. Pinocchio on the other hand falls to the ground so quickly and then the enemies will continue to be attack while you're lying on the ground so I often took a hit because your are stuck in animations for way too long. I also wasn't a fan of the fact that red attacks can only be parried and dodging was not viable, so I always ran away once I saw the "red light".
Many boss enemies rely on you to parry their attacks to break their block and there was no other option to fight them besides that. The disruption status effects which kills you immediately was also annoying like many boss fights like the second fight against the black rabbit brotherhood.

That concludes my little rant and yes I chose the "bad" ending so I didn't have to fight the last boss. Unfortunately I didn't enjoy this game as much as I wanted because you barely have any freedom to fight the enemies. If you were expecting something like Elden Ring, where you have dozens of ways to defeat the boss, then you should probably wait for a sale or skip this game and maybe try the new Lords of the Fallen which hopefully will be better.

Soulslike games ranked

Games finished in 2023 ranked

A sea of good and pretty ideas, but it lacks the substance to surpass even the most generic JRPG out there.

The game is undeniably visually stunning. I'm not a fan of the character portraits, but there are so many other issues to dislike that I simply overlooked them. The entire map, both in dungeons and the open world, is breathtaking. Unfortunately, it doesn't live up to the open-world experience it attempts to portray; it's much more linear than you might expect. The story is overly linear, with minimal side content.

The story is disappointing. It doesn't start off well, and you may hope it improves as the game progresses, but it doesn't. The protagonists lack charisma, the rest of the party is uninteresting, and the pacing is terrible. You'll spend nearly 10 hours with only three party members, and about two hours to finishing the game you add another one? What the hell?

Another aspect I strongly dislike is the need to include cameos from The Messenger. A significant part of this game revolves around references, playing songs, and "epic moments" that you won't understand if you haven't played their previous game. Sea of Stars isn't supposed to be The Messenger 2 (or in this case, 0), but it still deviates from the main story to make references...

The combat system starts off interesting, but after just five battles, it becomes repetitive and, above all, boring. Many bosses and regular enemies are damage sponges, and nothing is genuinely challenging. You'll find yourself using the same two skills and basic attacks for an extended period until you finally unlock more than 1 ultimate attack in the very end of the game. The combos are most useless because every normal enemy will die before you even get 1 of it.

In reality, there isn't much to discuss about Sea of Stars. I haven't played Chrono Trigger yet, but you can't create a game purely for nostalgia. If that's what you're after, you should consider playing Chained Echoes instead, which appears to be far superior to this game in what it attempts, and fails to achieve.