Yuna67876
16 reviews liked by Yuna67876
We've been waiting literal years for a new Mario game and now that the movie's out, now was the perfect time. And the game we got is, well, WONDERFUL! Really this is a game you have to experience for yourself. Words don't do it justice but I guess I'll try.
Wonder's greatest strength is innovation. Unlike the "New" games which often re-used level concepts (although NSMB U felt a little different at least), every level in Wonder feels like a unique experience, whether by gameplay gimmick, Wonder effect or enemy type. I'm sure every single level is somebody's favourite, which is saying something.
The enemies are the real highlight. This game introduces a huge variety of new creatures (take notes, modern Paper Mario...) that not only look unique, but have clearly-defined, and FUN, game mechanics. Levels are typically built around one of these enemies.
The world also experiments with non-linearity, with multiple levels accessible at the same time, each graded on a difficulty scale from 1 to 5 stars. There are 4-star levels even in the first world so you're always on your toes, though I never came close to running out of lives. The game struck a good balance between satisfying challenge and not feeling frustrating, with... one exception I'll get to later.
While not an essentially part of a Mario game imo, the soundtrack is also excellent, with very few repeated tunes, making each level even MORE unique.
Speaking of unique, every level has a Wonder Flower effect. Some are worked into the main path while others are more hidden, and they're typically an exaggeration of or twist on the level's core gimmick. (The "ten" in the "ki-sho-ten-ketsu" structure) Outside of the Special World they're all optional, ensuring they don't bog down replays of the level if you missed a collectible.
My criticisms are mostly nitpicks, but there's a few. Firstly, despite letting you tackle a few levels out of order, the game only opens into true non-linearity for Worlds 4 through 6, while the Petal Isles could've easily served as a hub granting access to ALL worlds after the first.
Despite all the crazy Wonder effects, every boss besides the final one is Bowser Jr, and while each fight is completely unique, it would've been nice to see more characters. Not every world has a boss, either. The final fight with Bowser was a cool setpiece but am I the only one who found it disappointingly easy?
And speaking of difficulty, the Special World, while meant to be super-hard optional challenges, places one of their hardest levels FAR too early. "Climb to the Beat" is only World 2's Special level, and it's so brutal my first attempt (which capped off my very first play session of Wonder) made me take a week-long break from the game for the sake of my actual health. None of the later Special World stages caused this much pain, so I feel this one should've come later.
Overall, Wonder is an excellent return for 2D Mario, and I hope its new enemies set a precedent for future entries.
Wonder's greatest strength is innovation. Unlike the "New" games which often re-used level concepts (although NSMB U felt a little different at least), every level in Wonder feels like a unique experience, whether by gameplay gimmick, Wonder effect or enemy type. I'm sure every single level is somebody's favourite, which is saying something.
The enemies are the real highlight. This game introduces a huge variety of new creatures (take notes, modern Paper Mario...) that not only look unique, but have clearly-defined, and FUN, game mechanics. Levels are typically built around one of these enemies.
The world also experiments with non-linearity, with multiple levels accessible at the same time, each graded on a difficulty scale from 1 to 5 stars. There are 4-star levels even in the first world so you're always on your toes, though I never came close to running out of lives. The game struck a good balance between satisfying challenge and not feeling frustrating, with... one exception I'll get to later.
While not an essentially part of a Mario game imo, the soundtrack is also excellent, with very few repeated tunes, making each level even MORE unique.
Speaking of unique, every level has a Wonder Flower effect. Some are worked into the main path while others are more hidden, and they're typically an exaggeration of or twist on the level's core gimmick. (The "ten" in the "ki-sho-ten-ketsu" structure) Outside of the Special World they're all optional, ensuring they don't bog down replays of the level if you missed a collectible.
My criticisms are mostly nitpicks, but there's a few. Firstly, despite letting you tackle a few levels out of order, the game only opens into true non-linearity for Worlds 4 through 6, while the Petal Isles could've easily served as a hub granting access to ALL worlds after the first.
Despite all the crazy Wonder effects, every boss besides the final one is Bowser Jr, and while each fight is completely unique, it would've been nice to see more characters. Not every world has a boss, either. The final fight with Bowser was a cool setpiece but am I the only one who found it disappointingly easy?
And speaking of difficulty, the Special World, while meant to be super-hard optional challenges, places one of their hardest levels FAR too early. "Climb to the Beat" is only World 2's Special level, and it's so brutal my first attempt (which capped off my very first play session of Wonder) made me take a week-long break from the game for the sake of my actual health. None of the later Special World stages caused this much pain, so I feel this one should've come later.
Overall, Wonder is an excellent return for 2D Mario, and I hope its new enemies set a precedent for future entries.
Final Fantasy IV
2007
Often lauded by long-time FF fans or oldschool JRPG connoisseurs as the peak of the series, I've been wanting to play this game for a LONG time but happening upon a copy in a retro game story finally gave me that chance.
In many ways, FFIV is the template on which modern JRPGs are built. It was one of the first with a big, sweeping story with high stakes, multiple "worlds", and a party of characters who, gasp, have actual personality and development! While the plot and character arcs are hardly ground-breaking these days, I'd imagine they were amazing for their time, featuring themes of redemption, overcoming trauma and even a few major deaths.
This is all aided by an excellent re-translated script by Tom Slattery. In fact this script is why I chose to experience this version first, as it lacks the censorship and rampant mistranslations of the SNES version (where characters "swoon" or "fall down" instead of die, I wish I was making that up) or the awkward pop-culture references of the GBA/PSP version. It's very flowery, think Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon, which might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I loved it.
Gameplay-wise, it's interesting. The DS version is the most difficult iteration of FFIV by far, to the point where the iOS and Steam ports made its default difficulty the "Hard Mode". And I admit, there were many, many times the game kicked my teeth in: as just one example this version turns the first Golbez battle from effectively an interactive cutscene into a brutal fight you actually have to win, that comes DIRECTLY AFTER ANOTHER BOSS. (And starts with 3/5 of your party KO'd) And the enemies in the final and optional dungeons are... something else.
At the same time, this is a rare old-school FF where strategy actually matters and buffs and debuffs are vital. The best tip I can give is Slow works on every boss. Always, always use it. For many dungeons or bosses, I'd get wrecked the first time, but come back the next day with a new strategy and find they weren't so bad.
The core party members all have clearly defined roles and are very good in said roles, the White and Black Mages feeling especially fun later on. The DS version's main addition to the gameplay is "Augments" but... I'll cover that in the negatives section.
Something great about this game that I've missed in modern JPRGs is it goes for "quality over quantity" in its sidequests. I'd estimate there's no more than 10 total sidequests in the game, but all (besides the ongoing Namingway meetings) involve a new area or dungeon, end with a unique boss fight, and give a VERY worthwhile reward. Either a strong item, a new skill for a character (such as a powerful summon) or closure on the fate of a guest party member. I'd take this over a hundred "gather 20 bear skins" missions any day.
But no game is perfect, and I've got a few clear negatives to discuss. The first pertains to both story and gameplay: FFIV REALLY loves temporary party members. I guess it was a limitation of the old party systems, but you'll be meeting a ton of playable characters who don't stick around, and most get enough development that you'll wish they did. There's a few who were so developed I was shocked and saddened to find they were temporary. And not in a good way (see FFVII), I mean I would've vastly preferred them in both story and gameplay to...
Edge. Edge is the one party member I never "clicked" with and him being part of the "final five" felt like a waste to me. His relevance to the plot is over after one dungeon, his gameplay role isn't much beyond "he's really fast and has some ailments I guess", and he's clearly meant to be a comic relief character but that's hard to tell when he gets next to no scenes. It's telling that most of his pause screen dialogue boils down to "I have no idea what's going on but I guess I'm stuck with these guys." Out of everyone, THIS is the guy who gets to stay?
For gameplay, there's the Augment system, which lets you assign new skills to party members (and also influences their stat growth, not that the game ever tells you this...). Giving up to 2 Augments to temporary party members rewards you with more augments when they leave. On paper, this is supposed to ensure you aren't punished for giving Augments to someone you didn't know was temporary... the problem is that all the best skills in the game are locked behind doing this, meaning you have to carefully "ration" your Augments to avoid missing them, and it can be VERY tight. For example, missing ONE optional Augment early on prevented me from getting the amazing Dualcast. Also, every Augment uses up one of your character's menu slots, even passive skills like MP +50%. It's a great idea in theory but... it shouldn't be this easy to miss out on the best tactical options in such a difficult game.
And as I mentioned, the difficulty can be frustrating. It's usually well-designed, but there's one or two enemy types (looking at you Red Dragons) that feel unfair, mostly summed up as "if they decide to spam their AoE attack you're DEAD, if they don't they're no problem."
Overall, I can see why this game is held in such high regard, and the DS version is a great way to experience it, provided you're okay with the difficulty.
In many ways, FFIV is the template on which modern JRPGs are built. It was one of the first with a big, sweeping story with high stakes, multiple "worlds", and a party of characters who, gasp, have actual personality and development! While the plot and character arcs are hardly ground-breaking these days, I'd imagine they were amazing for their time, featuring themes of redemption, overcoming trauma and even a few major deaths.
This is all aided by an excellent re-translated script by Tom Slattery. In fact this script is why I chose to experience this version first, as it lacks the censorship and rampant mistranslations of the SNES version (where characters "swoon" or "fall down" instead of die, I wish I was making that up) or the awkward pop-culture references of the GBA/PSP version. It's very flowery, think Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon, which might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I loved it.
Gameplay-wise, it's interesting. The DS version is the most difficult iteration of FFIV by far, to the point where the iOS and Steam ports made its default difficulty the "Hard Mode". And I admit, there were many, many times the game kicked my teeth in: as just one example this version turns the first Golbez battle from effectively an interactive cutscene into a brutal fight you actually have to win, that comes DIRECTLY AFTER ANOTHER BOSS. (And starts with 3/5 of your party KO'd) And the enemies in the final and optional dungeons are... something else.
At the same time, this is a rare old-school FF where strategy actually matters and buffs and debuffs are vital. The best tip I can give is Slow works on every boss. Always, always use it. For many dungeons or bosses, I'd get wrecked the first time, but come back the next day with a new strategy and find they weren't so bad.
The core party members all have clearly defined roles and are very good in said roles, the White and Black Mages feeling especially fun later on. The DS version's main addition to the gameplay is "Augments" but... I'll cover that in the negatives section.
Something great about this game that I've missed in modern JPRGs is it goes for "quality over quantity" in its sidequests. I'd estimate there's no more than 10 total sidequests in the game, but all (besides the ongoing Namingway meetings) involve a new area or dungeon, end with a unique boss fight, and give a VERY worthwhile reward. Either a strong item, a new skill for a character (such as a powerful summon) or closure on the fate of a guest party member. I'd take this over a hundred "gather 20 bear skins" missions any day.
But no game is perfect, and I've got a few clear negatives to discuss. The first pertains to both story and gameplay: FFIV REALLY loves temporary party members. I guess it was a limitation of the old party systems, but you'll be meeting a ton of playable characters who don't stick around, and most get enough development that you'll wish they did. There's a few who were so developed I was shocked and saddened to find they were temporary. And not in a good way (see FFVII), I mean I would've vastly preferred them in both story and gameplay to...
Edge. Edge is the one party member I never "clicked" with and him being part of the "final five" felt like a waste to me. His relevance to the plot is over after one dungeon, his gameplay role isn't much beyond "he's really fast and has some ailments I guess", and he's clearly meant to be a comic relief character but that's hard to tell when he gets next to no scenes. It's telling that most of his pause screen dialogue boils down to "I have no idea what's going on but I guess I'm stuck with these guys." Out of everyone, THIS is the guy who gets to stay?
For gameplay, there's the Augment system, which lets you assign new skills to party members (and also influences their stat growth, not that the game ever tells you this...). Giving up to 2 Augments to temporary party members rewards you with more augments when they leave. On paper, this is supposed to ensure you aren't punished for giving Augments to someone you didn't know was temporary... the problem is that all the best skills in the game are locked behind doing this, meaning you have to carefully "ration" your Augments to avoid missing them, and it can be VERY tight. For example, missing ONE optional Augment early on prevented me from getting the amazing Dualcast. Also, every Augment uses up one of your character's menu slots, even passive skills like MP +50%. It's a great idea in theory but... it shouldn't be this easy to miss out on the best tactical options in such a difficult game.
And as I mentioned, the difficulty can be frustrating. It's usually well-designed, but there's one or two enemy types (looking at you Red Dragons) that feel unfair, mostly summed up as "if they decide to spam their AoE attack you're DEAD, if they don't they're no problem."
Overall, I can see why this game is held in such high regard, and the DS version is a great way to experience it, provided you're okay with the difficulty.
Judgment
2018
Tears in my eyes. Smile on my face. Depression cured. Second wind activated. Energy levels replenished. Broken heart repaired. Overcame my sadness. My joy is back. My will to live is stronger than ever.
THANK YOU RGG, I WILL BE THERE FOR LOST JUDGMENT NO MATTER WHAT
THANK YOU RGG, I WILL BE THERE FOR LOST JUDGMENT NO MATTER WHAT
“Once you’re at rock bottom, the only way forward is up. But the bottom doesn’t have to be all dark and gloomy. If you can stand and look up, you’ll see the light of hope there.”
I can't write a proper review to this since the moment that i'm writing this, i have finished the game so yeah. Taking a proper break from Yakuza for 8 months, it just geniuely feels worth it. A new battle system and a new protagonist, everything really goes fresh from start to end and finishing the chapter over and over and having a ton of fun by doing the sidestories just really had me with the fun of my life and on the end of my seat with endings of each one, the cast is just perfect everything goes to well to me and none of the interactions feels forced and geniuely had my laughs with the active voice.
RGG really did it for me and i can't wait to start the Judgment Duology and experience the final 2 Nagoshi games.
I can't write a proper review to this since the moment that i'm writing this, i have finished the game so yeah. Taking a proper break from Yakuza for 8 months, it just geniuely feels worth it. A new battle system and a new protagonist, everything really goes fresh from start to end and finishing the chapter over and over and having a ton of fun by doing the sidestories just really had me with the fun of my life and on the end of my seat with endings of each one, the cast is just perfect everything goes to well to me and none of the interactions feels forced and geniuely had my laughs with the active voice.
RGG really did it for me and i can't wait to start the Judgment Duology and experience the final 2 Nagoshi games.
This review contains spoilers
While I was never a fan of Danganronpa, I was itching for a mystery game and Rain Code satisfied my craving. It's a great start of a new IP by Kodaka, but a few stumbles towards the end prevent it from being a true classic.
NOTE: This review will contain vague spoilers for the final chapter, but only at the end. There'll be another warning beforehand.
The presentation is all-around excellent. Unlike most Visual Novels, Rain Code is a mystery game in a fully 3D environment, and Kanai Ward is one of the prettiest neon cyberpunk dystopias I've ever seen. The voice acting is also excellent and the character designs are mostly memorable.
The Mystery Labyrinth mechanic is enjoyable, but for those who saw the trailers, do NOT expect a detective JRPG dungeon crawl. It's really just a Danganronpa trial with a flashy coat of paint. There's no exploration, only questions-and-answers, evidence presents, quicktime events and minigames linked by linear hallways where the characters talk. Reasoning Death Matches are Non-Stop Debates with a different name. This isn't necessarily bad, I just wanted to get expectations straight.
I will say that the movement controls in RDMs can be finicky, often requiring you to input a dodge seconds in advance.
But what you're really here for is the mysteries. And the game starts off strong: Chapter 0 is an incredible first case. But it's a little TOO strong, as no other mystery quite reaches its lofty heights until Chapter 4.
Chapters 1-3 are still decent, but each have their issues. Chapter 1 fails to give its pool of suspects much screentime, or even give them NAMES, making the reveal of the culprit hard to be invested in. Chapter 2 suffers from a bad comic relief partner who provides even more tonal whiplash than Shinigami. I enjoyed Chapter 3 more than most people, but it's not as complex as it could have been.
Chapter 5 is a whole other issue, but we'll get there.
Speaking of Shinigami, the central characters are for the most part well-written and memorable. Yuma is a fairly generic protagonist but a well-handled one. The detective partners besides Chapter 2's are great and hunting down Gumshoe Gabs feels rewarding as a result. The Peacekeepers are mostly one-note villains but are fun opponents in the Mystery Labyrinth.
Shinigami is... okay. She's not as annoying as trailers made her seem, and she doesn't create tonal whiplash as often as you'd expect, but on the whole she feels like a fanservice character who only truly develops at the VERY end of the story. I found her inoffensive, but not a standout.
My biggest issue with the game, however, is Chapter 5.
It suffers from the typical Kodaka finale issue: it's more focused on expositing shocking truths about the setting than offering a mystery to solve. More detailed thoughts below, while I won't directly spoil anything I still recommend you stop reading now if you haven't played the game. In conclusion, I had a lot of fun with Rain Code for Chapters 0-4, and that alone makes it a good mystery game that deserves a sequel.
Now, Chapter 5.
The last Mystery Labyrinth consists almost entirely of questions you already know the answer to. (As-in, things literally spelled-out to you during the investigation) And while the small parts of its reveal WERE well-foreshadowed, as a whole Kanai Ward's Ultimate Secret has little to do with the preceding plotlines, the focus on the Peacekeepers' corruption being mostly dropped after Chapter 4. Dismantling their system may have made for a more satisfying finale. The final culprit was a good concept, but flips between "well-intentioned extremist" and "cartoon supervillain" on a dime.
To quote Trope Talk, the finale verges into "if you tell your audience there's a bomb under the table and then one of the characters gets stabbed by a clown" territory.
At one point Shinigami lampshades: "this NEVER happens in murder mysteries!" but if one of your characters is saying that... maybe you shouldn't put that plotline in a story advertised as a murder mystery?
NOTE: This review will contain vague spoilers for the final chapter, but only at the end. There'll be another warning beforehand.
The presentation is all-around excellent. Unlike most Visual Novels, Rain Code is a mystery game in a fully 3D environment, and Kanai Ward is one of the prettiest neon cyberpunk dystopias I've ever seen. The voice acting is also excellent and the character designs are mostly memorable.
The Mystery Labyrinth mechanic is enjoyable, but for those who saw the trailers, do NOT expect a detective JRPG dungeon crawl. It's really just a Danganronpa trial with a flashy coat of paint. There's no exploration, only questions-and-answers, evidence presents, quicktime events and minigames linked by linear hallways where the characters talk. Reasoning Death Matches are Non-Stop Debates with a different name. This isn't necessarily bad, I just wanted to get expectations straight.
I will say that the movement controls in RDMs can be finicky, often requiring you to input a dodge seconds in advance.
But what you're really here for is the mysteries. And the game starts off strong: Chapter 0 is an incredible first case. But it's a little TOO strong, as no other mystery quite reaches its lofty heights until Chapter 4.
Chapters 1-3 are still decent, but each have their issues. Chapter 1 fails to give its pool of suspects much screentime, or even give them NAMES, making the reveal of the culprit hard to be invested in. Chapter 2 suffers from a bad comic relief partner who provides even more tonal whiplash than Shinigami. I enjoyed Chapter 3 more than most people, but it's not as complex as it could have been.
Chapter 5 is a whole other issue, but we'll get there.
Speaking of Shinigami, the central characters are for the most part well-written and memorable. Yuma is a fairly generic protagonist but a well-handled one. The detective partners besides Chapter 2's are great and hunting down Gumshoe Gabs feels rewarding as a result. The Peacekeepers are mostly one-note villains but are fun opponents in the Mystery Labyrinth.
Shinigami is... okay. She's not as annoying as trailers made her seem, and she doesn't create tonal whiplash as often as you'd expect, but on the whole she feels like a fanservice character who only truly develops at the VERY end of the story. I found her inoffensive, but not a standout.
My biggest issue with the game, however, is Chapter 5.
It suffers from the typical Kodaka finale issue: it's more focused on expositing shocking truths about the setting than offering a mystery to solve. More detailed thoughts below, while I won't directly spoil anything I still recommend you stop reading now if you haven't played the game. In conclusion, I had a lot of fun with Rain Code for Chapters 0-4, and that alone makes it a good mystery game that deserves a sequel.
Now, Chapter 5.
The last Mystery Labyrinth consists almost entirely of questions you already know the answer to. (As-in, things literally spelled-out to you during the investigation) And while the small parts of its reveal WERE well-foreshadowed, as a whole Kanai Ward's Ultimate Secret has little to do with the preceding plotlines, the focus on the Peacekeepers' corruption being mostly dropped after Chapter 4. Dismantling their system may have made for a more satisfying finale. The final culprit was a good concept, but flips between "well-intentioned extremist" and "cartoon supervillain" on a dime.
To quote Trope Talk, the finale verges into "if you tell your audience there's a bomb under the table and then one of the characters gets stabbed by a clown" territory.
At one point Shinigami lampshades: "this NEVER happens in murder mysteries!" but if one of your characters is saying that... maybe you shouldn't put that plotline in a story advertised as a murder mystery?
This review contains spoilers
Spoilers for Sky FC/SC, Zero, Azure, and CS1
I dunno, man. Maybe it was my tempered expectations. From hearing that the Cold Steel arc was filler, or my overhype from Azure. Maybe I was just really in the mood for an RPG. Maybe it was just one of those right time right place things. Maybe it was something I don’t really wanna bring up on backloggd dot com. I’m not really sure. But fuck, this was awesome. It’s got the second best ending in the series(out of the 6 games I’ve played). Nothing beats the ending of FC. The cast, for how big they are all end up feeling relatively unique, the soundtrack has a metric ton of highs compared to the previous games, the gameplay is actually fun with a streamlined quartz system, I could go on and on as a ramble but let’s get down to business. I got this format down to a science now.
Characters: There’s not many I dislike, with the exception of one which I have a whole dedicated rant towards. They all really grew on me and feel unique, I think my favorites are probably Crow, Fie and Rean. I liked Alisa’s arc, it hit home for me, same with Crow’s words at the festival afterparty. Fie is definitely going to be expanded on in future, and I’m excited to see where her arc goes. I was worried after Machias’ and Jusis’ arc that Laura and Fie’s would be the exact same, but they’re different. Fie and Laura become lesbros and I loved their dual, not only that it was where you fight Rean and Machias and it just shows how much they get each other and link well, I loved that part. Machias/Jusis conflict on the other hand is very abrasive and loud, but then gets quietly resolved once they overhear each other’s struggles and come to terms with why they feel a certain way. The cherry on top was the cheesy duet they did at the concert. All of Class 7 feels unique in their own way, even if some of the tropes overshadow their uniqueness.
Music: First off, Exceed is a worthy successor to Fateful Confrontation. I wasn’t really feeling it at first but after the C fight I was a huge fan. The regular battle theme is pretty good, definitely better than Azure but doesn’t beat get over the barrier or sophisticated fight. I was a huge fan of “Class 7’s Inevitable Struggle” the song I don’t know the name of that vaguely sounds like Inevitable Struggle but is clearly different. Even the Practical Exam theme which has this awful out of tune guitar at the height of the song grew on me. Is that you, Singa? The town themes for the field studies reminded me of the unique town themes of Sky. They all felt different and I don’t remember Crossbell having that many themes. The dining bar theme is awesome and reminds me of Arc en Ciel. The “ethereal” themes that play when you fight otherworldly things are really great too. The credits theme was too good. Felt like an OP for CS2 tbh but I was groovin the entire time. I didn’t think it was possible but Trails now has a soundtrack that isn’t mostly mediocre/forgettable.
Story/Lore :So the whole shtick of CS1’s story is that it’s happening concurrently with the events of Azure. Good thing I forgot most of what happened there lol. I mostly remember the Crois stuff but I forget how much the Trade Conference was a big deal. Now with the chancellor either fucking dead or gravely wounded I really wanna go back and see what he told the SSS in Azure. Might have a double meaning. I didn’t expect Sharon to be an Ouroubouros Enforcer, it is kinda cool. I liked how there was a single fucking offhand mention of Estelle and Joshua from Bleublanc, it made me giggle a bit. Anyway the story itself is kinda like Sky FC(which I have some nostalgia for by now, I miss the days when it was just Joshua and Estelle doing junior bracer things). Class 7 ends up going on a bunch of field studies to different towns in Erebonia to see how things are. It’s simple, but I really like it. As stated in the music section I really like how each place has its own unique atmosphere, the Nord Highlands and Legram are examples of this. I had initially thought that CS2 was going to be the rest of Class 7’s first year, but with Rean off to who knows where by the ending, things seem to be taking a drastic turn. The ending was fantastic, but I already mentioned it. I still like the police feel to Zero more but the story here is great. As for lore/worldbuilding, I’m really enjoying seeing how the technology is evolving as well as politics. We get to know more about Calvard here, if just a bit, and Alisa just mentions air conditioning and everybody loses their shit. It’s a really stupid example but it does show just how much they’ve come and how far the world still has to advance. Important figures have flip phones, but I wonder when they will take off with the public, or the orbal net. It’s just a real joy to see this world advance bit by bit. Erebonia is a very different continent from what I had imagined it to be, the Nobles vs Reformists is a really compelling narrative and I hope they can do some unique things with it like they did with Crossbell’s Indepence. I hear CS3 and 4 practically require you to have played Crossbell beforehand so I bet those games expand on the slideshow we got as an ending to Azure/Crossbell’s independence arc. Which means I get to see my boys Wade and Wazy again. Anyway I like how Cold Steel’s story feels like a piece to a much bigger puzzle between Crossbell, Erebonia, and Calvard.
Gameplay: Remember two years or so ago when I went on a huge rant about why the Sky games’ combat sucks? Probably not, in fact dont go read them they’re probably really fucking cringy to read back. But the gist was the quartz system that needed an entire supplemental manual to figure out how to use arts made me avoid the combat like the plague and just spam the weaken enemy button after I died. And bosses’ overreliance on cheap status gimmicks to make the fight difficult sucked as well(looking at you Renne). By the time I got to Zero/Azure I was just coasting on easy mode, not giving whatever changes they brought a chance. Does CS1 change anything? Yes. I love the combat in this game. The quartz system was streamlined, there’s now like 500 different quartz that you can fuse to make a certain skill. Technically it is pretty cluttered but I’ll take it over the other system. You simply find a skill(s) you want and then fuse it, and now can use it. I don’t know why the Sky/Crossbell games weren’t like this. The regular combat loop is fun, and I honestly like how S-Breaks were tied to character growth, it really made early game difficult but rewarding. Resounding Beat is kinda OP and carried the first 20 hours or so for me. Bosses are also really fun, and exploitable if you know how to abuse the turn order. I really like that aspect, it adds another layer to pre-planning. If a boss is set to get a 10% HP Boost you gotta scramble to find a way to avoid that outcome. Or in the places with higher elements, you can grind and wipe out enemies with ease if you keep track of deathblow effects. The only Boss I had to use the weaken enemy button on were C and either Floor 5 or 6’s Schoolhouse boss. I went all out on V so C was too much for a back to back fight. (I tried him like 5 times then weakened once and then 3 attempts later I got him). The Schoolhouse boss I just didn’t save so I didn’t have a way to grind S-Breaks or anything and didn’t want to do the dungeon again. Patrick too, maybe? But that was because I thought you needed to get the goals to progress. Anyway, point is the only reason I used the weaken enemy button were my own faults, not because of infuriating game design. CS1 combat is SO much better, and I feel like if I were to ever replay the series I’d find something to love in the previous 5 games combat, too. Not really a place to mention this elsewhere in the gameplay section but the one on one brawl with Crow as the true final boss was awesome, I’m a sucker for shit like that.
Biggest Gripes:Angie. Not only does her dubbed actress grate on my ears, but her entire character is just “haha lesbian sexual harrassment”. She honestly makes my blood boil I fucking hate Angie so much. The social sim element feel tacked on. The Septian calendar's inclusion doesn’t add anything. It’s like Falcom saw the success of persona 3 and 4 and decided to include elements of it in the next trails game but god they just really fucking suck. The free day quests are fetch quests outside of schoolhouse trips, thankfully in the later chapters the schoolhouse is the only required quest on these days. The bonding events feel really fucky. they didn’t commit to full on social link style events so they’re just kinda click through things to get a few arcus points. The bonding events just end up feeling like a nothingburger. Dungeons still suck, they were never a strong suit of trails but with the move to full on 3d there seems to be more unintentional backtracking. It’s the same as in the previous games where you go find a switch, hit it and then go back but because the dungeons all look so samey I ended up missing a ton of those switches and had to go back. The final dungeon was a slog too, though easily binged. The song for that dungeon was great. Another issue I had was some of the characters feel tropey/ samey to other characters in the series. This is mostly alleviated by the end of the game with all of Class 7’s backstories mostly revealed but I worry that their arcs are going to take on a similar path to characters from previous games. I get this is a relatively shonen rpg and that kind of overlap should be expected, but iunno, I still hope they find new ground to cover. My biggest worry for this is Crow himself, I legit didn’t see the twist coming(I figured it was Campnella for whatever reason) but I hope that his arc isn’t just Joshua’s arc again.
Final Thoughts: Honestly? Surpasses Zero for me. The best Trails game there is. The next “peak trails” is supposedly Reverie but I learned my lesson with Azure, keeping my expectations in check for that one. On schedule Reverie is gonna be played early 2025 tho. I don’t even own it yet. I’ll jump into CS2 sometime this year, but I am definitely watching all those recap videos first lol. So many small details I’d forgotten and need to brush up on. Despite the fact it takes place concurrently with Azure I’d forgotten so much that some of the developments got me a second time. Damn you Ian Grimwood and your shitty game ruining twists. After a few days of post game depression I’ll hop into Raincode and after that… well hoo boy the rest of the year is fucking stacked methinks. Many amazing games in the backlog I’m gonna play this year.
I dunno, man. Maybe it was my tempered expectations. From hearing that the Cold Steel arc was filler, or my overhype from Azure. Maybe I was just really in the mood for an RPG. Maybe it was just one of those right time right place things. Maybe it was something I don’t really wanna bring up on backloggd dot com. I’m not really sure. But fuck, this was awesome. It’s got the second best ending in the series(out of the 6 games I’ve played). Nothing beats the ending of FC. The cast, for how big they are all end up feeling relatively unique, the soundtrack has a metric ton of highs compared to the previous games, the gameplay is actually fun with a streamlined quartz system, I could go on and on as a ramble but let’s get down to business. I got this format down to a science now.
Characters: There’s not many I dislike, with the exception of one which I have a whole dedicated rant towards. They all really grew on me and feel unique, I think my favorites are probably Crow, Fie and Rean. I liked Alisa’s arc, it hit home for me, same with Crow’s words at the festival afterparty. Fie is definitely going to be expanded on in future, and I’m excited to see where her arc goes. I was worried after Machias’ and Jusis’ arc that Laura and Fie’s would be the exact same, but they’re different. Fie and Laura become lesbros and I loved their dual, not only that it was where you fight Rean and Machias and it just shows how much they get each other and link well, I loved that part. Machias/Jusis conflict on the other hand is very abrasive and loud, but then gets quietly resolved once they overhear each other’s struggles and come to terms with why they feel a certain way. The cherry on top was the cheesy duet they did at the concert. All of Class 7 feels unique in their own way, even if some of the tropes overshadow their uniqueness.
Music: First off, Exceed is a worthy successor to Fateful Confrontation. I wasn’t really feeling it at first but after the C fight I was a huge fan. The regular battle theme is pretty good, definitely better than Azure but doesn’t beat get over the barrier or sophisticated fight. I was a huge fan of “Class 7’s Inevitable Struggle” the song I don’t know the name of that vaguely sounds like Inevitable Struggle but is clearly different. Even the Practical Exam theme which has this awful out of tune guitar at the height of the song grew on me. Is that you, Singa? The town themes for the field studies reminded me of the unique town themes of Sky. They all felt different and I don’t remember Crossbell having that many themes. The dining bar theme is awesome and reminds me of Arc en Ciel. The “ethereal” themes that play when you fight otherworldly things are really great too. The credits theme was too good. Felt like an OP for CS2 tbh but I was groovin the entire time. I didn’t think it was possible but Trails now has a soundtrack that isn’t mostly mediocre/forgettable.
Story/Lore :So the whole shtick of CS1’s story is that it’s happening concurrently with the events of Azure. Good thing I forgot most of what happened there lol. I mostly remember the Crois stuff but I forget how much the Trade Conference was a big deal. Now with the chancellor either fucking dead or gravely wounded I really wanna go back and see what he told the SSS in Azure. Might have a double meaning. I didn’t expect Sharon to be an Ouroubouros Enforcer, it is kinda cool. I liked how there was a single fucking offhand mention of Estelle and Joshua from Bleublanc, it made me giggle a bit. Anyway the story itself is kinda like Sky FC(which I have some nostalgia for by now, I miss the days when it was just Joshua and Estelle doing junior bracer things). Class 7 ends up going on a bunch of field studies to different towns in Erebonia to see how things are. It’s simple, but I really like it. As stated in the music section I really like how each place has its own unique atmosphere, the Nord Highlands and Legram are examples of this. I had initially thought that CS2 was going to be the rest of Class 7’s first year, but with Rean off to who knows where by the ending, things seem to be taking a drastic turn. The ending was fantastic, but I already mentioned it. I still like the police feel to Zero more but the story here is great. As for lore/worldbuilding, I’m really enjoying seeing how the technology is evolving as well as politics. We get to know more about Calvard here, if just a bit, and Alisa just mentions air conditioning and everybody loses their shit. It’s a really stupid example but it does show just how much they’ve come and how far the world still has to advance. Important figures have flip phones, but I wonder when they will take off with the public, or the orbal net. It’s just a real joy to see this world advance bit by bit. Erebonia is a very different continent from what I had imagined it to be, the Nobles vs Reformists is a really compelling narrative and I hope they can do some unique things with it like they did with Crossbell’s Indepence. I hear CS3 and 4 practically require you to have played Crossbell beforehand so I bet those games expand on the slideshow we got as an ending to Azure/Crossbell’s independence arc. Which means I get to see my boys Wade and Wazy again. Anyway I like how Cold Steel’s story feels like a piece to a much bigger puzzle between Crossbell, Erebonia, and Calvard.
Gameplay: Remember two years or so ago when I went on a huge rant about why the Sky games’ combat sucks? Probably not, in fact dont go read them they’re probably really fucking cringy to read back. But the gist was the quartz system that needed an entire supplemental manual to figure out how to use arts made me avoid the combat like the plague and just spam the weaken enemy button after I died. And bosses’ overreliance on cheap status gimmicks to make the fight difficult sucked as well(looking at you Renne). By the time I got to Zero/Azure I was just coasting on easy mode, not giving whatever changes they brought a chance. Does CS1 change anything? Yes. I love the combat in this game. The quartz system was streamlined, there’s now like 500 different quartz that you can fuse to make a certain skill. Technically it is pretty cluttered but I’ll take it over the other system. You simply find a skill(s) you want and then fuse it, and now can use it. I don’t know why the Sky/Crossbell games weren’t like this. The regular combat loop is fun, and I honestly like how S-Breaks were tied to character growth, it really made early game difficult but rewarding. Resounding Beat is kinda OP and carried the first 20 hours or so for me. Bosses are also really fun, and exploitable if you know how to abuse the turn order. I really like that aspect, it adds another layer to pre-planning. If a boss is set to get a 10% HP Boost you gotta scramble to find a way to avoid that outcome. Or in the places with higher elements, you can grind and wipe out enemies with ease if you keep track of deathblow effects. The only Boss I had to use the weaken enemy button on were C and either Floor 5 or 6’s Schoolhouse boss. I went all out on V so C was too much for a back to back fight. (I tried him like 5 times then weakened once and then 3 attempts later I got him). The Schoolhouse boss I just didn’t save so I didn’t have a way to grind S-Breaks or anything and didn’t want to do the dungeon again. Patrick too, maybe? But that was because I thought you needed to get the goals to progress. Anyway, point is the only reason I used the weaken enemy button were my own faults, not because of infuriating game design. CS1 combat is SO much better, and I feel like if I were to ever replay the series I’d find something to love in the previous 5 games combat, too. Not really a place to mention this elsewhere in the gameplay section but the one on one brawl with Crow as the true final boss was awesome, I’m a sucker for shit like that.
Biggest Gripes:Angie. Not only does her dubbed actress grate on my ears, but her entire character is just “haha lesbian sexual harrassment”. She honestly makes my blood boil I fucking hate Angie so much. The social sim element feel tacked on. The Septian calendar's inclusion doesn’t add anything. It’s like Falcom saw the success of persona 3 and 4 and decided to include elements of it in the next trails game but god they just really fucking suck. The free day quests are fetch quests outside of schoolhouse trips, thankfully in the later chapters the schoolhouse is the only required quest on these days. The bonding events feel really fucky. they didn’t commit to full on social link style events so they’re just kinda click through things to get a few arcus points. The bonding events just end up feeling like a nothingburger. Dungeons still suck, they were never a strong suit of trails but with the move to full on 3d there seems to be more unintentional backtracking. It’s the same as in the previous games where you go find a switch, hit it and then go back but because the dungeons all look so samey I ended up missing a ton of those switches and had to go back. The final dungeon was a slog too, though easily binged. The song for that dungeon was great. Another issue I had was some of the characters feel tropey/ samey to other characters in the series. This is mostly alleviated by the end of the game with all of Class 7’s backstories mostly revealed but I worry that their arcs are going to take on a similar path to characters from previous games. I get this is a relatively shonen rpg and that kind of overlap should be expected, but iunno, I still hope they find new ground to cover. My biggest worry for this is Crow himself, I legit didn’t see the twist coming(I figured it was Campnella for whatever reason) but I hope that his arc isn’t just Joshua’s arc again.
Final Thoughts: Honestly? Surpasses Zero for me. The best Trails game there is. The next “peak trails” is supposedly Reverie but I learned my lesson with Azure, keeping my expectations in check for that one. On schedule Reverie is gonna be played early 2025 tho. I don’t even own it yet. I’ll jump into CS2 sometime this year, but I am definitely watching all those recap videos first lol. So many small details I’d forgotten and need to brush up on. Despite the fact it takes place concurrently with Azure I’d forgotten so much that some of the developments got me a second time. Damn you Ian Grimwood and your shitty game ruining twists. After a few days of post game depression I’ll hop into Raincode and after that… well hoo boy the rest of the year is fucking stacked methinks. Many amazing games in the backlog I’m gonna play this year.
Going into this game after waiting so long for a semi-official localization, I was afraid it wouldn't live up to the hype.
My fears were wrong.
Trails to Azure is easily one of the best games in the series, and is one of my favourite stories in any JRPG. After playing the Cold Steel arc, it's insane to see a story this massive NOT end up split into multiple games. The pacing is great for the most part, every chapter is important, moves well enough and has a great ending. My one complaint is the pacing is a little TOO FAST starting mid-Chapter 4.
This is all helped by a PHENOMENAL localization by the Geofront team. The dialogue writing is the peak of the genre and it brings the characters and setting to life in a way earlier fan translations failed to.
If I have any issues with the story, it's the way it uses certain characters. The Steel Maiden especially. Despite being one of the hardest and most dramatic fights in the game, she and her dungeon are almost irrelevant to Crossbell's plot: you could remove it without impacting much. I wish they'd saved her fight for Cold Steel, an arc where she's FAR more important.
Similarly, the villain who ended up a pawn in the grand scheme of things (the one you fight in a mech, to be as vague as possible) was far more interesting than the actual mastermind (the alchemist), and I wish their roles had been swapped.
The gameplay is mostly the same as Zero, with the addition of the Master Quartz system, which became a mainstay later. Some aspects are still being refined here, especially the "Bell" Quartz being stupidly broken (their nerfed forms in Cold Steel are still excellent, that should tell you something). I think the overall balanced suffered from Zero though. There, physical attacks and Arts were fairly even, while in Azure, it's Arts all the way past the midgame. It's also very easy to trivialize later bosses with "evasion tank" builds. Poor Randy and Noel drop off a ton later on.
Speaking of, my biggest gameplay gripe is the way the party system works in the final chapter. Once the party expands to 8, you're only allowed 6 at one time, the remaining two have to be left back at base and backtracked to whenever you want to swap them in. The issue is the "core four" SSS are always required, so the remaining 4 compete for only two slots... and one of these four is Wazy, who is so brokenly good you don't want to leave him behind, while another is very strong and a popular "waifu" among the fanbase. This leaves Noel and the final member in the dust, which sucks because both have good story moments.
Overall this is one of the best Trails games, and a great candidate for THE best, and I'm so glad I could finally play it.
My fears were wrong.
Trails to Azure is easily one of the best games in the series, and is one of my favourite stories in any JRPG. After playing the Cold Steel arc, it's insane to see a story this massive NOT end up split into multiple games. The pacing is great for the most part, every chapter is important, moves well enough and has a great ending. My one complaint is the pacing is a little TOO FAST starting mid-Chapter 4.
This is all helped by a PHENOMENAL localization by the Geofront team. The dialogue writing is the peak of the genre and it brings the characters and setting to life in a way earlier fan translations failed to.
If I have any issues with the story, it's the way it uses certain characters. The Steel Maiden especially. Despite being one of the hardest and most dramatic fights in the game, she and her dungeon are almost irrelevant to Crossbell's plot: you could remove it without impacting much. I wish they'd saved her fight for Cold Steel, an arc where she's FAR more important.
Similarly, the villain who ended up a pawn in the grand scheme of things (the one you fight in a mech, to be as vague as possible) was far more interesting than the actual mastermind (the alchemist), and I wish their roles had been swapped.
The gameplay is mostly the same as Zero, with the addition of the Master Quartz system, which became a mainstay later. Some aspects are still being refined here, especially the "Bell" Quartz being stupidly broken (their nerfed forms in Cold Steel are still excellent, that should tell you something). I think the overall balanced suffered from Zero though. There, physical attacks and Arts were fairly even, while in Azure, it's Arts all the way past the midgame. It's also very easy to trivialize later bosses with "evasion tank" builds. Poor Randy and Noel drop off a ton later on.
Speaking of, my biggest gameplay gripe is the way the party system works in the final chapter. Once the party expands to 8, you're only allowed 6 at one time, the remaining two have to be left back at base and backtracked to whenever you want to swap them in. The issue is the "core four" SSS are always required, so the remaining 4 compete for only two slots... and one of these four is Wazy, who is so brokenly good you don't want to leave him behind, while another is very strong and a popular "waifu" among the fanbase. This leaves Noel and the final member in the dust, which sucks because both have good story moments.
Overall this is one of the best Trails games, and a great candidate for THE best, and I'm so glad I could finally play it.
Jack Jeanne
2021
To preface this is the first otome VN I have read. I love VNs and am writing this review for anyone else who hasn't read one before but is still interested in this one.
Jack Jeanne first got on my radar when I heard that Sui Ishida would be working on it. Tokyo Ghoul is my favorite manga and he is my favorite artist, particularly with color so hearing Ishida would be doing the art (and some writing?) for this game was enough for me to be interested, and then also finding out it would have rhythm game sections sold me as I love those as well.
The story is pretty fun, I really enjoyed all the characters even the side ones and got very invested in the classes and the plays were super engaging and fun to read. The rhythm gameplay is also quite fun, as previously stated I'm a fan and the expert mode is a decent challenge, but the easier difficulties keep it accessible as there's no difficulty requirements to play the songs on to progress or anything.
The romance is also quite good, the game is not super heavy on it and the way it builds between Kisa and the LI's feel pretty natural and not forced and they have some pretty cute scenes. There is also a non romance route that you can do.
My biggest issue was that there really is not much difference on the routes until the last performance where it is just variations of the same play. I didn't do all the routes as this repetition lead me to get burnt out after my 2nd route but I will after a break because I liked it enough and unlocking more of Ishida's beautiful artwork is enough for me.
Jack Jeanne is a great story about breaking boundaries, not being stuck in tradition, and gender. ISHIDA SENSEI ARIGATOUGOSAIMASUU
Jack Jeanne first got on my radar when I heard that Sui Ishida would be working on it. Tokyo Ghoul is my favorite manga and he is my favorite artist, particularly with color so hearing Ishida would be doing the art (and some writing?) for this game was enough for me to be interested, and then also finding out it would have rhythm game sections sold me as I love those as well.
The story is pretty fun, I really enjoyed all the characters even the side ones and got very invested in the classes and the plays were super engaging and fun to read. The rhythm gameplay is also quite fun, as previously stated I'm a fan and the expert mode is a decent challenge, but the easier difficulties keep it accessible as there's no difficulty requirements to play the songs on to progress or anything.
The romance is also quite good, the game is not super heavy on it and the way it builds between Kisa and the LI's feel pretty natural and not forced and they have some pretty cute scenes. There is also a non romance route that you can do.
My biggest issue was that there really is not much difference on the routes until the last performance where it is just variations of the same play. I didn't do all the routes as this repetition lead me to get burnt out after my 2nd route but I will after a break because I liked it enough and unlocking more of Ishida's beautiful artwork is enough for me.
Jack Jeanne is a great story about breaking boundaries, not being stuck in tradition, and gender. ISHIDA SENSEI ARIGATOUGOSAIMASUU
You know when you find yourself very annoyed but excited to play a game someday and you know that you're gonna love every damn second of it when you do? Yeah, that's one of the main things that i really wish to play this game sooner man, every second i felt i could vent my frustrations just by swinging around and doing nothing.
Everything just clicks to me and i'm happy to just vibe pretty most of it except the final boss.
TLDR: It's peak.gif
Everything just clicks to me and i'm happy to just vibe pretty most of it except the final boss.
TLDR: It's peak.gif
Thank you Hidenori Shoji for making the best final boss track i ever heard my fucking life man, Assassination of Bodhisattva saved my misserable life