5★ - I love the game.

I honestly can't help but love Final Fantasy 1. It was my second ever Final Fantasy game and I grew up searching for that class upgrade mentioned in the GBA manual.

So when I finally got around to playing the Pixel Remaster version it was a fun surprise to me how much I remembered in terms of progression and was able to break the intended structure of the game. Was also surprised to find how short the game was being able to finish in 13 hours. But that leaves me wanting to come back for extra playthroughs or challenge runs.

The Pixel Remaster is definitely easy though. Because I had put the exp gains to 0.5x and was still able to steamroll most of the enemies except for Warmech and the final boss. If you want an easy platinum this game is it considering I did everything the game had to offer in those 13 hours.

This game is simple but great for its sandbox freedom. Highly recommend it for those who want a short and sweet game or those who want to see how the series started.

3.5★ - I really like the game.

I always thought the hate for this game was overblown having played both the GBA and PSP versions of this game. I could agree on some aspects like the enemies towards the end of the game spamming game-ending status elements or the lack of character in our main characters. But the gameplay itself was as good/basic as the first Final Fantasy.

However, I don't think that can be said for this version anymore. I wouldn't consider much of what I did as grinding. There were a few instances where I would spam random encounters but they weren't long and the goal wasn't exp but a rare enemy encounter and I would say I found the game to be quite a breeze. I did every encounter, only running when I spent a while trying to find a rare encounter. The end-game enemies didn't cause me issues and the final boss wasn't too bad. This was all due to making sure to basically have my mages using the spells I wanted to have by the end of the game always used even in basic encounters and this helped THOSE specific spells up to date without having to grind them.

However, the complaint about needing to grind other spells still stands. Ultima is a great example. I used that spell in every encounter as soon as I got it and it was still under-leveled by the final boss and it's due to this, I can't give the game a full 4 stars. But it was still a relatively nostalgic and fun experience that I could easily recommend to people going through the series. Still, not something I would recommend over other Final Fantasy games. But it's nothing awful.

4.5★ - I love the game.

A good couple of hours into ToTK had me feeling nostalgic for a classic 3D Zelda and once I had finished its story I found myself coming back to Ocarina of Time.

I ended up getting myself a Nintendo 64 Controller for this play through and found myself so much more confident with my C button inputs then I ever did when I last played this game with the default switch controls. Now that I've reviewed how much the original controller matters on to the game.

Ocarina of Time is a jank game... that I can't help but just love. It's so charming and engaging. The world feels alive despite how empty it is and this is due to how much character each NPC exudes. The music is excellent yet simple.

The game has its issues like Z targeting being a crap shoot on if Navi will actually focus on the enemy you want to target or the awkward first person aiming, along with some very frustrating challenges that use said aiming. I got the 1500 points in archery. The most un-fun thing I've done and yet. This game still kept my love for it.

This game has aged. But it is still very much worth your time.

4★ - I really like the game.

I really wanted to love this game like I did its predecessor but just couldn't do it. Be it for over hyping or something else. But I found that the RPG elements dug a little bit too much into my enjoyment for this title especially when it came to doing missions. I don't really find it fun trying out multiple characters for a certain quest to find out I might of had the right build from the start but I just didn't star level them enough. Or a character out of the multiple choices had a broken move I hadn't seen yet. Other than all that. The rhythm side of the game is still top notch and so much fun.

5★ - I love the game.

My first experience with FF3 was the DS remake and ever since then its held a special place in my gaming heart. So the pixel remaster was such a good time even with a sort of self-imposed challenge on my run.

Due to the non-DS version characters being nameless, it consisted of me and my friends and as a challenge I had my friends pick what classes they would be with the only control I had being my character. This may have made some of the bosses more difficult but it was actually nice to have a nice challenge after the first two Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster games were so easy to play.

The music is so whimsical and the world really felt like it was lived in compared to the first game where it felt like a wild world with a couple of towns that were separated from each other.

I don't have much to say other than this is a solid Classic Final Fantasy that if you were to choose one NES FF to play I would recommend this one. It feels like its what they wanted the original to be.

2.5★ - I like the game.

I'm going to be grilled for this one. I'm sorry to say I just couldn't get into this game or correction, I could until you get past a certain point in the story where I begin to feel the padding of the game. Battles being slow, the amount of filler story quests compared to before. The endless amount of the same side quest over and over (The task is the same, but the context is different for each quest).

However, I can see what people like. If I hadn't had the story twists spoiled I might have felt a lot more highly during the last 40 hours of the game. The world is amazing to traverse and beautiful to look at. The music hypes up every moment perfectly and I don't know what this means but the final boss music felt quite toned down compared to some of the other tracks used at other moments of the game (I went back to the final boss track and my speakers must have been bad because those guitar riffs are so good). I could see this combat working if it was refined a bit more but there tends to be too much going on at once during certain fights that it makes it frustrating to deal with.

The story is great for the most part. I would say around the 3rd act of the story the pacing becomes pretty bad. Considering I didn't need to grind at all for the whole game until the final chapter due to a level spike. The story up until the 3rd act just keeps rolling on and leaves little space to do side quests without feeling like you're neglecting the world and the importance of the task at hand. This to me is a big issue when the game has 400+ quests.

I've been quite a bit negative here and it may have been from expectations from everyone else calling this game a masterpiece or perfect. This game is good with some problems. It's definitely a love-dislike thing for me which from what I've seen from fans of the series seems to be the case for every Xeno game ever.

(If you reply to this review don't be toxic. If you can give me tips for any possible replays to make me love the game more I will gladly accept.)

2★ - I tolerate the game.

This game's positives start and end with the graphics and monster designs. I love the Gameboy Colour-inspired graphics. They feel slightly more detailed than what you'd get on the GBC but it helps keep it looking interesting.

The next plus graphic-wise is the monster designs. When I saw preview pics for the game I wasn't vibing with the monster designs but to my surprise, there are quite a lot I managed to love. But that's where my positives kinda end.

I don't have much to the story it's kinda there like the old Pokemon games where there isn't much to grasp onto and it's more of an excuse to get the player to go from location to location.

My biggest issue is the grind. I had two boss fights that were 10+ levels higher than me while all the wild monsters of the bosses area were a couple of levels lower. Then the slow exp gains along with having to wait a good while for monsters to show up on the map (at least on the Switch) is half the reason I wanted to stop playing.

The second half has to do with the bugs and lag. No not framerate lag. Menu and dialogue lag. I found the menus frustrating to navigate cause the game just sometimes doesn't register your inputs. Then theirs issues with assets and text not aligning properly. One shopkeeper was selling items with text I couldn't read because they went off-screen.

I really wanted to like this game for the monsters and breeding system. But I respect my time and don't have the patience for stuff that just doesn't feel finished.

4.5★ - I love the game.

I absolutely adore this game, its characters, and its setting. There is so much charm to it all which makes it even more frustrating being a queer person and female-identifying to play certain sections of this game. I want to get this out of the way before talking about everything else but the way women are treated by some of the male characters and the treatment of characters exploring their sexuality and gender isn't really the best and at times come off as bigoted or as if the writers lacked the proper understanding to really pull off those subjects. I did finish Kanji's social link and I'm okay with him accepting himself and not having a confirmation of his sexuality but when even late into the game when he still clearly has a thing for Naoto and is still getting shit for questioning his sexuality is uncomfortable. Then there's Nato who I didn't manage to finish her social link but I did get enough Trans vibes from her dialogue and arc that I understand why people do call her trans. I'm aware she accepts herself as a woman at the end of her social links and I think that it's her own discussion, but how she is treated when she wants to be male does come off as a bit transphobic to me.

Now that I have that out of the way. Inaba is such a lovely place. I adore the aesthetic of small Japanese towns so this game's location was a treat to basically live in. Along with its many inhabitants. I did love Nanako and Dojima's struggles and growth as a family and at times did wish I could see the actions of the social links affecting how they acted towards each other during the story but I understand how that wouldn't be too logistically possible. Kanji's acceptance of his love for "typically" feminine activities like sewing and being able to still be a man while doing such activities. Rise learning that having multiple faces that you show to others are still facets of yourself. I won't really mention the other characters cause while they were good social links they didn't speak to me as much as the others.

The game's combat is solid as to be expected from an Atlus RPG. My biggest complaint really is the boss fights. They weren't too tough and tended to last too long when you know the gimmick and find yourself repeating the actions for a good couple of minutes until the sponge of a health bar finally depletes.

The story is an interesting mystery and fun to think about but in the end, I don't really think it's a mystery you can go back to the start and find clues left as to who the killer was. The game basically doesn't leave a clue. Which I guess makes sense since the police couldn't figure it out. But it would be nice for repeat playthroughs to notice things that could be a tip-off to who the killer is.

This game is super solid and great if you want to enjoy some JRPG combat and some slice-of-life stories that take place in a small Japanese town. I'm left excited to play Persona 5 for the gameplay and visual improvements but don't see the characters and setting topping Inaba and its locals to me. This game will have a special place in my heart due to how great the characters are to hangout with. This game truly is a friend simulator.