alcamoth
still really strong, i absolutely love the affinity system in particular which encourages you to explore and do sidequests. i think it would be really fitting for future xenoblade games on a bigger scale? but understandable if not since the growth is meant to be more vertical than horizontal like base 3. things like the enemypedia and the map trackers were all incredibly helpful.
i will say now that i've 100% the game: FUCK the superbosses and how it stresses how restrictive the gameplay can be in this game. when your party only has two healers and only they can heal, you spend most of your time praying your healers can revive fast enough because the moment your attackers get breathed on they die. terrible gimmicks that really stress test the combat system
i will say now that i've 100% the game: FUCK the superbosses and how it stresses how restrictive the gameplay can be in this game. when your party only has two healers and only they can heal, you spend most of your time praying your healers can revive fast enough because the moment your attackers get breathed on they die. terrible gimmicks that really stress test the combat system
2016
nuzlocke'd my first pkmn game! it's a good game to do so because having to factor in TMs would've made me want to throw the 3ds against the wall. still my favorite region in terms of general aesthetics, but a nuzlocke did get a bit tedious at times with the routes being rather ... limited in encounter? idk, might just be me
please give a skip or fast forward button though :,(
please give a skip or fast forward button though :,(
2019
Yeah I didn't hate it. The main pros are that there are a lot of really great Pokemon and human designs here which makes the game more memorable than it might actually be. James Turner my beloved.
Unfortunately everything else is rather safe. Dynamax is such a lame mechanic because of how limited it is. The story is the epitome of "well, some kid beat me in Pokemon so I guess I gotta let them through" that people like to make fun of when you're fighting criminals and people trying to destroy the world. You beat the bad guys once in a plot with no buildup and they crumble instantly. Also Team Yell sucks.
It's an average experience, but not one that is actively bad or terrible.
Unfortunately everything else is rather safe. Dynamax is such a lame mechanic because of how limited it is. The story is the epitome of "well, some kid beat me in Pokemon so I guess I gotta let them through" that people like to make fun of when you're fighting criminals and people trying to destroy the world. You beat the bad guys once in a plot with no buildup and they crumble instantly. Also Team Yell sucks.
It's an average experience, but not one that is actively bad or terrible.
2023
sleepmaxing
DAMN this shit good!!!!
2014
the copy abilities were a ton of fun! idk what it was about EE stage 1 but that made me want to die getting all the sun stones
2015
i generally like how the time loop translated to gameplay and the general development of the protagonist's POV, it was pretty smooth and player-friendly. i don't think the time loop is the issue with the plot though i quite like time loop stories. the ending without spoiling however is absolute dogshit and even if you think the ending is fine because you like last minute plot dumps, it's still just generally very uncomfortable and not needed at all.
chiemi though 🙌🙌🙌
chiemi though 🙌🙌🙌
Damn! Y'all were not joking about this one!
I think I have to give this game 5 stars because really I have no notes. The gameplay is snappy and quick, and it's interesting and switches up a lot so you're not doing the same thing for 18 chapters. (The stealth mission is annoying, but thankfully it doesn't last any longer than it needs to.)
I'm glad this got a remaster, because the art style looks great on the switch and freshens the look that the DS graphics had.
I'm really pleased with how the story unraveled. Admittedly I still need to play more Ace Attorney, but this really felt like an Ace Attorney-esque mystery at its finest, especially with how all the characters tied together and everyone having their own integral part to play.
Overall, it's a quick (compared to all the lengthier VNs and RPGs I've been playing) but engaging playthrough and I really loved my time playing it.
I think I have to give this game 5 stars because really I have no notes. The gameplay is snappy and quick, and it's interesting and switches up a lot so you're not doing the same thing for 18 chapters. (The stealth mission is annoying, but thankfully it doesn't last any longer than it needs to.)
I'm glad this got a remaster, because the art style looks great on the switch and freshens the look that the DS graphics had.
I'm really pleased with how the story unraveled. Admittedly I still need to play more Ace Attorney, but this really felt like an Ace Attorney-esque mystery at its finest, especially with how all the characters tied together and everyone having their own integral part to play.
Overall, it's a quick (compared to all the lengthier VNs and RPGs I've been playing) but engaging playthrough and I really loved my time playing it.
God, going through this game again makes me love it all the more.
This review contains spoilers
this review became way longer than intended! oops! apologies for my 3am ramblings having just beat the game.
i think a lot of this game just makes me sad. obviously in a sequel i play to see more of characters i really enjoyed in the first game, but unfortunately for one reason or another (the main one is letting this game be friendly to non-aitsf players, as well as other spoilery reasons), a lot of these characters are shafted. character relationships that i really enjoyed from the resolution of aitsf (particularly the ones with date - date and mizuki, date and aiba, date and iris, date and hitomi) were essentially nonexistent, and it was a little sad to see date and mizuki as well as date and aiba's relationships being boiled down to date is a pervert!!! with like one nice moment each.
as for the newer characters, i liked the setups for all of them (EXCEPT. lien), but things got wayyyy too rushed at the end, so the endings to kizuna/lien and gen/amame endings in particularly felt like the storytelling equivalent of a wet fart. it was so flat it was almost hilarious. (the shoma and komeji ending i still liked, but ota route outsold)
unfortunately despite all the characters being interesting on paper, most of them i didn't end up caring all too much about because of how constrained and rushed the story is. the beginning feels really slow, as it feels like we really don't learn enough about the case, and then the side endings happen in like two seconds. so characters would say something, leave for a long time, and then come back to drop some bombshell. and you just feel like... oh... okay i guess... they're all related to the case, sure, but the ties the original characters had to the aitsf case were much more gripping. ota's route made me sob like a baby, but none of the routes really had that similar effect (except for again, komeji and shoma's). i think i can boil it down to two aspects - the idea of "show, don't tell" as the game tells you a lot about why you should care about these characters whereas the first game is more subtle about what the relationships mean to these characters. and second, two of the major relationships in this game are centered around an older man's obsession/infatuation with a girl who is (likely) notably younger than him. (gen's age is never specified, but no way is he the same age as amame)
ryuki and tama's setup was really great at first, but i feel like the story does them so dirty the moment you stop playing as him because they then fall into the dreaded pattern of disappearing for hours on end only to show up and drop some bombshell. they get shoved to the side so hard, god damn.
as for the positives, the somniums and how they lean into making the experience immersive and more problem solving is an improvement, but i still prefer the content and impact to the story the original had. and with that note, the environmental aspects of the game were actually really nice. i did enjoy how distinct a lot of the areas are, and the game's visual and audio design is stellar. so when the game leans into its more horror aspects, that's when the game gets really good.
above all, i still enjoyed my time, but i do feel more disappointed. it's also making me want to revisit the first game...
(also invincible rainbow arrow is wayyyyy better)
i think a lot of this game just makes me sad. obviously in a sequel i play to see more of characters i really enjoyed in the first game, but unfortunately for one reason or another (the main one is letting this game be friendly to non-aitsf players, as well as other spoilery reasons), a lot of these characters are shafted. character relationships that i really enjoyed from the resolution of aitsf (particularly the ones with date - date and mizuki, date and aiba, date and iris, date and hitomi) were essentially nonexistent, and it was a little sad to see date and mizuki as well as date and aiba's relationships being boiled down to date is a pervert!!! with like one nice moment each.
as for the newer characters, i liked the setups for all of them (EXCEPT. lien), but things got wayyyy too rushed at the end, so the endings to kizuna/lien and gen/amame endings in particularly felt like the storytelling equivalent of a wet fart. it was so flat it was almost hilarious. (the shoma and komeji ending i still liked, but ota route outsold)
unfortunately despite all the characters being interesting on paper, most of them i didn't end up caring all too much about because of how constrained and rushed the story is. the beginning feels really slow, as it feels like we really don't learn enough about the case, and then the side endings happen in like two seconds. so characters would say something, leave for a long time, and then come back to drop some bombshell. and you just feel like... oh... okay i guess... they're all related to the case, sure, but the ties the original characters had to the aitsf case were much more gripping. ota's route made me sob like a baby, but none of the routes really had that similar effect (except for again, komeji and shoma's). i think i can boil it down to two aspects - the idea of "show, don't tell" as the game tells you a lot about why you should care about these characters whereas the first game is more subtle about what the relationships mean to these characters. and second, two of the major relationships in this game are centered around an older man's obsession/infatuation with a girl who is (likely) notably younger than him. (gen's age is never specified, but no way is he the same age as amame)
ryuki and tama's setup was really great at first, but i feel like the story does them so dirty the moment you stop playing as him because they then fall into the dreaded pattern of disappearing for hours on end only to show up and drop some bombshell. they get shoved to the side so hard, god damn.
as for the positives, the somniums and how they lean into making the experience immersive and more problem solving is an improvement, but i still prefer the content and impact to the story the original had. and with that note, the environmental aspects of the game were actually really nice. i did enjoy how distinct a lot of the areas are, and the game's visual and audio design is stellar. so when the game leans into its more horror aspects, that's when the game gets really good.
above all, i still enjoyed my time, but i do feel more disappointed. it's also making me want to revisit the first game...
(also invincible rainbow arrow is wayyyyy better)
back for more i guess! i decided to give a shot at 100%ing the base game, though i got tired of wringing core crystals dry and didn't get two of the rarest blades after beating all the sidequests and super bosses. did everything else i could though!
my points still stand from my last playthrough, a lot of the themes while extremely interesting are massively undercooked, and the goofy bullshit can really put a damper on you wanting to enjoy this game. i appreciate rex and pyra a bit more as characters as well as jin and malos greatly after beating torna, though i still want to punt tora into the sun.
going through this game more extensively allowed me to appreciate the gameplay more - which is actually quite fun! when you get a hang of it, things get much less difficult, and i don't actually remember struggling at all. even the superbosses were a walk in the park. i also appreciate the rare blades much more through their blade quests, even ones i had disliked before so that's neat (not you, dahlia). still, baked into this experience is an undeniable amount of second hand embarrassment through the game's overall presentation, tone, and story choices like i said in my past review.
tl;dr - learned to appreciate and hate this game so much more.
my points still stand from my last playthrough, a lot of the themes while extremely interesting are massively undercooked, and the goofy bullshit can really put a damper on you wanting to enjoy this game. i appreciate rex and pyra a bit more as characters as well as jin and malos greatly after beating torna, though i still want to punt tora into the sun.
going through this game more extensively allowed me to appreciate the gameplay more - which is actually quite fun! when you get a hang of it, things get much less difficult, and i don't actually remember struggling at all. even the superbosses were a walk in the park. i also appreciate the rare blades much more through their blade quests, even ones i had disliked before so that's neat (not you, dahlia). still, baked into this experience is an undeniable amount of second hand embarrassment through the game's overall presentation, tone, and story choices like i said in my past review.
tl;dr - learned to appreciate and hate this game so much more.
2012
A game I've wanted to properly play for a long time! I've watched playthroughs of this game so many times over, so I was already in love with the characters, music, and humor. Playing it itself is a fun experience. ... My hands eventually got used to the controls. Woof. It sucks cuz I struggled to find a possible better configuration, but eh. Still, the gameplay is fun with the air and land battles being divided nicely to keep things fresh (though air battles are far superior).
Aside from the controls, my main critique would be that the story sometimes just makes convoluted turns to pad out the story to ensure that the chapter count is met. Still fun nonetheless!
Aside from the controls, my main critique would be that the story sometimes just makes convoluted turns to pad out the story to ensure that the chapter count is met. Still fun nonetheless!
This review contains spoilers
MASSIVE improvement over base 2 in like every aspect, holy shit. the story is excellent, the characters are excellent (they made mythra super enjoyable, wow!), and the party dynamic is really excellent. in terms of gameplay, actually a lot of fun. the battle mechanics are snappy, the playable blades are a really nice touch, and the crafting mechanic makes collecting rewarding even if they're less convenient than just buying them in base 2.
as someone who already tries to pick up most sidequests on my way around and completed every sidequest (but didn't max community), i didn't mind the community barriers since i was already pretty close to lvl 4 (imo, lvl 4 isn't even that hard to get, and claiming that it requires "nearly all" sidequests is a lie). but i can imagine it might bug some people and found the limit kind of arbitrary.
minus half a star for gort (????) and some of the blade development feeling a little too tight given the length of the game.
that being said, i'm REALLY glad they stuck to what they did here for 3 onwards.
as someone who already tries to pick up most sidequests on my way around and completed every sidequest (but didn't max community), i didn't mind the community barriers since i was already pretty close to lvl 4 (imo, lvl 4 isn't even that hard to get, and claiming that it requires "nearly all" sidequests is a lie). but i can imagine it might bug some people and found the limit kind of arbitrary.
minus half a star for gort (????) and some of the blade development feeling a little too tight given the length of the game.
that being said, i'm REALLY glad they stuck to what they did here for 3 onwards.
This review contains spoilers
The tangible villain of the story (not the fog king) kills himself in front of you by falling off a cliff in an optional sidequest
Stuck between a 2.5 or 3/5 but it's more Xenoblade 1 and Melia ig. Super easy to 100%, somehow the best character was Bana.
Stuck between a 2.5 or 3/5 but it's more Xenoblade 1 and Melia ig. Super easy to 100%, somehow the best character was Bana.
I love this game