battlehuntz
2023
Sometimes you get an itch for that game you and your friends played in 2016 when it was a free PS Plus game. I’m better at the game, and the update’s more fun with its new content, but I miss those fuckers too. Doesn’t hit the same yet hits better. Idk. Not dating it because i played sporadically since January. Best way to digest the game.
This review contains spoilers
Off the bat, exploration’s faster, and less padded feeling due to being made more for the PS5 than the PS4. Yuffie’s portrayal here is so lovable. Not only that, but she’s beyond fun to play as. For as small of a DLC as this is, it’s damn good. I enjoy the new character a lot too, but it’s kind of hard not to go “gee, I wonder what happens to him” when you realize he’s not in FF7. Nero and Weiss are as cringe as ever, but I’m happy to see them used here. I can’t wait to get to Rebirth now.
This review contains spoilers
I definitely got it more this time. Recognizing it more as its own entity that stands alongside the OG than anything. I do think “Remake” wasn’t the correct title for it but I digress. I did come to appreciate the expanded characters for the Avalanche members generally, since getting to see the upper plates was cool. However, padding’s still yknow, a thing. Wall Market and the Train Graveyard are filled to the brim with it, and it can be a bit much. I used to hate the ending section but it’s interesting to me now, just seeing it more as its own thing, even if some things are screaming “hey bro remember Advent Children” or are outright quotes from it. Combat can be fun but I genuinely miss the turn based stuff. It’s still a really fun system, but seeing people say that this is better than the old one? Lol. And the padding can make bingeing the game harder. I’m less inclined to binge when I’ve played a padded segment. Love the performances and acting here so much. It’s a far less mixed bag than I remember, and I’m glad I revisited it.
2022
This review contains spoilers
Cryptic, tragic, suspenseful, and a loving homage to PS1 survival horror. I’ve seen the critique that this is anti-communism and, no??? It reads more as a condemnation of a totalitarian and militaristic nation which wants to reduce people solely to their role or profits. Governments that have done this are communist in name and name alone, using bastardized, extremist forms of that ideology. It’s moreso a critique of totalitarianism and weaponizing any ideology to fit it, and the metaphorical, or literal decay that is a product. It’s the same as when someone reads 1984 or Animal Farm, and concludes Orwell to be viscerally against Communism, which is simply not the case when the man was a Socialist who spoke against totalitarian states who would weaponize such ideals through his writing. In the case of this game, any indulgence is all but forbidden, or characterized as a fetish when Replikas indulge. When people are characterized only by their function and gross output in a society, love and happiness are luxuries. That’s the message I feel is here. And it’s a haunting one in a story where we have to piece so much together. I don’t think the game is PERFECT, and I wish the gunplay was better, with me finding aiming cumbersome at times. Great game, though. I understand it won’t be for everyone with how its storytelling can be vague, but that’s the intent.
I do think there’s a conversation to be had about its use of DDR iconography (the devs are from Hamburg), but to say that that’s its full message feels inherently wrong, and there’s more to it than that.
I do think there’s a conversation to be had about its use of DDR iconography (the devs are from Hamburg), but to say that that’s its full message feels inherently wrong, and there’s more to it than that.
2023
That was fucking awesome. Excellent monster catcher. Of course it takes some aspects from Pokemon, namely the creature collection and evolution aspect, but the battle system and its volatility and difficulty feel MUCH more inspired by Megaten, which is even more evident when you realize the story takes many of its beats from games like Persona 3 (there’s literally a character who’s just like Koromaru here). It’s also very pleasing to look at, with a style of chibi sprites roaming around a 3d-rendered overworld, and obviously that’s pretty clearly reminiscient of the graphical style of Pokemon Gens 4 and 5. The open nature of the game scales very well too, and in many ways the map and its grid, and to a degree, the premise, remind me of old handheld Zelda games, particularly the ones on the GameBoy Color and Advance. If any two games inspired narrative aspects here, I feel like it’s a marriage of Link’s Awakening and Persona 3. Does that mean it’s anywhere near as melancholic or existential at times? No, but it has the capability to talk on that. Referring to this as a “Pokemon Clone” is a disservice. It’s a love letter to that series, but it’s also its own thing. As for negatives, the postgame quests are very grindy and repetitive, but the core game is so utterly addictive that it can offset this. Also the game can run a bit oddly. It’ll stutter in some cases to load in the environments. Nothing unplayable, but your immersion can and will be gutted at moments like that. Overall an amazing time.
2023
Died to bees wtf
2016
I think the existentialism of this is so bittersweet and powerful. It runs a risk of stomping on and gutting the dichotomy of its original ending with a new route, and decidedly doesn’t through recontextualizing the game in its entirety. It’s not a difficult puzzle game, but the way that they’re structured is so clever, and the meta devices are done as a way of framing the world and story. I genuinely don’t want to spoil anything. This will be on the brain for a while. So much is so thought out and intricate, and I absolutely cannot imagine going to this after the original. It’s so bold to tamper with your ending, and yet, this feels so much more rigid and thought out than most other “true” or “golden” endings which are often retrofitted to a story.
Christian Whitehead’s fascination with the SEGA Saturn should be known by this point, given Sonic Mania’s use of low poly 3D models and the Saturn’s color schemes and aesthetics. Penny’s Big Breakaway feels like a step further in that department, being the 3D Saturn-esque platformer that had been worked on post-Sonic Mania. Its vibrant, lower poly aesthetic really makes so much of the platforming it demands charming. It’s genuinely so well stylized and fun. I still have no idea what the hell kind of animal Penny is based on, though. A soundtrack by Tee Lopes felt like an inevitability, but he and Sean Biallo create a jazzy and fun soundscape that further capitalizes on that Saturn aesthetic. Movement and platforming are fluid and rewarding beyond belief, and absolutely are capitalized on by pretty ruthless score caps for doing well. Like any good Sonic ranking system, I think this creates a score and speedrun paradise of sorts. And while you can use jank to your advantage, there’s some deaths and run failures that I feel weren’t my fault. Far from irreparably buggy, but you will get stuck in a wall a few times, and that sucks. Don’t let that discourage you though. This is a great time and a beyond charming experience. Lots of childlike wonder and whimsy here, and I really couldn’t put it down. I saw one critic call the bosses too hard, and I personally couldn’t disagree more; the bosses feel far too easy, if anything. Also, please don’t get this for the Switch; you do not want 30 FPS for this game.
I forgot I spent a dollar on this game as a kid what the fuck ahahahahahaha
Beautiful game. Counting this as both the base and DLC, as that’s what the Director’s Cut entails. I had no idea this was so long but it ruled. Slow to start, but the payoff was amazing. Story was cliche yet so well executed and acted that it nailed it. I ended up really attached to the cast and their stories. DLC was a beautiful epilogue and a lot of fun extra content clearly more designed around the PS5’s haptics. In an era where games which opt for a realism artstyle often don’t shoot for bright colors, it’s refreshing to see them here. Great game, except the third area of the base game is significantly shorter and less varied in terrain and visuals. It’s just much less interesting and I suppose is a consequence of creating an open world game where progress is also gated at times.
Fuck the world.
“Would be 5 stars if the rng worked” yeah 2022 me was a fucking PUSSY this is 5 stars I don’t need thinkpiece ideas to quantify my enjoyment of shit this game rules it has Swalot.
2020
Really lovingly made little tech demo to introduce you to the new controller and walk you through PlayStation’s history. That’s all it is, but it oozes charm.
2014
Fun, well sprited, cute. It wears its Sonic inspiration on its sleeve, but gameplay is very different from it. However, this leads to combat feeling a bit… off? I feel like I took a lot of hits that felt cheap and undeserved. And when the lives system doesn’t matter, it begs the question of why it even exists. Game is fun, though. Doesn’t have much in the way of story; it takes itself very seriously for something so bare bones. It’s fun and charming, but yeah. That’s about all I feel. The Sonic comparisons generally do end outside of visuals and character design. I don’t think it’s a fair assessment of either game.
Definitely a “play for yourself” kind of game. I think it’s a cool epilogue of sorts for the first trilogy. I think its two middle cases self-sabotage, though. Nothing Turnabout Big Top tier, but still.