burgerfall
2014
ive been playing this with my friend for Half A Year Now she kept putting it off but we finally finished it and it was really worth it!! great game, improves on the original in every way possible
2018
this is kind of a light 4 stars because most of it is really great But also i got extremely burnt out on the side content (which didn't happen in a similarly side content heavy game i played in the middle of this, that being FFVII rebirth) and theres a lot of little things that annoyed me. but its still great, just a really good spider man story, and i like most of the characterizations here (altho this is maybe my least favorite mj sorry)
2001
its a real shame this game gets so much vitriolic hatred considering its basically the most important game in the final fantasy series but also i kind of get it. i really like this game and i want to be a diehard defender of it but i mean, i played it. its simultaneously extremely tedious while also being way too easy, the dungeon design is dogwater, magic is more of a hassle than a boon, and theres about 50 more little annoyances that made me so excited for the game to finally end.
that said, the much maligned xp system really isnt that bad! the story is really good for a nes rpg, its got some good twists and turns and a bunch of fun characters who join your party and ruin the levelling you did with the previous member but its Fine. the worldbuildings also very good, and tonally its a shockingly depressing game, a lot closer (in a lot of ways tbh) to FFIV than FFI or FFIII.
it's worth playing if you like this series and want to see where way more of the roots of it came from than you might think, but also, unfortunately, all those guys saying it's the worst final fantasy are more or less right
that said, the much maligned xp system really isnt that bad! the story is really good for a nes rpg, its got some good twists and turns and a bunch of fun characters who join your party and ruin the levelling you did with the previous member but its Fine. the worldbuildings also very good, and tonally its a shockingly depressing game, a lot closer (in a lot of ways tbh) to FFIV than FFI or FFIII.
it's worth playing if you like this series and want to see where way more of the roots of it came from than you might think, but also, unfortunately, all those guys saying it's the worst final fantasy are more or less right
Making post-Midgar Disk 1 of Final Fantasy 7 a minigame compilation was genuinely the smartest decision Square ever made.
Expecting this to be one of the most divisive games of the 2020s (especially depending on how the next one is) but I thought it was great, even if it's definitely flawed. The open world areas are fun to explore, the character writing is on point, it's even campier than Remake (for better or for worse) and the combat system is wonderful, just like last time.
Expecting this to be one of the most divisive games of the 2020s (especially depending on how the next one is) but I thought it was great, even if it's definitely flawed. The open world areas are fun to explore, the character writing is on point, it's even campier than Remake (for better or for worse) and the combat system is wonderful, just like last time.
played the remaster, reviewing the original, sue me
i originally wrote a lengthy screed here but i really wasnt satisfied with it. anyways, something about this game really clicked with me. the kind of vague storytelling and the way the themes are presented worked a lot for me personally, and theres a lot of subtle moments of humanity (for a game with very few human characters) that are really great.
extra off the cuff points: the magatama system is really fun and give the player a lot of room to experiment, the art style and presentation still holds up great, the soundtracks fantastic (less so on the botched HD remaster which compresses it way too much)... its just a great and unique game
edit: something i forgot to mention which is my favorite part of the game is how it NAILS the tone. its so dour that it straight up feels like a horror game at points
i originally wrote a lengthy screed here but i really wasnt satisfied with it. anyways, something about this game really clicked with me. the kind of vague storytelling and the way the themes are presented worked a lot for me personally, and theres a lot of subtle moments of humanity (for a game with very few human characters) that are really great.
extra off the cuff points: the magatama system is really fun and give the player a lot of room to experiment, the art style and presentation still holds up great, the soundtracks fantastic (less so on the botched HD remaster which compresses it way too much)... its just a great and unique game
edit: something i forgot to mention which is my favorite part of the game is how it NAILS the tone. its so dour that it straight up feels like a horror game at points
required playing for anyone going through a beatles phase
2020
i have a future brick now
this is honestly a really great pack-in game, i kinda like it more in terms of introducing the console than i do as a game. like, it's simple and easy enough that anyone can play it, it shows off the utility of the controller's gimmicks (that, if i had to guess, will very rarely be used as creatively again), it's an effective advertisement for all the ps1 through ps4 games that you can Play Now If You Pay Too Much For Our Shitty Premium Service... visually it's gorgeous and i love the idea of a game taking place inside the console it's being played on. as a gaming history nerd im not too proud to admit that i went "oh shit it's _!!!" more than once with the cameos and i kind of got chills whenever they played each console's intro music. as a game it's a pretty mindless and extremely short collectathon but its fun and there's enough gimmicks to keep things interesting. i was especially a fan of the ball levels in the ps1/RAM world. there's literally 0 reason for this not to be the first game you play on ps5, it's good, play it if you get this overpriced temporary final fantasy machine
this is honestly a really great pack-in game, i kinda like it more in terms of introducing the console than i do as a game. like, it's simple and easy enough that anyone can play it, it shows off the utility of the controller's gimmicks (that, if i had to guess, will very rarely be used as creatively again), it's an effective advertisement for all the ps1 through ps4 games that you can Play Now If You Pay Too Much For Our Shitty Premium Service... visually it's gorgeous and i love the idea of a game taking place inside the console it's being played on. as a gaming history nerd im not too proud to admit that i went "oh shit it's _!!!" more than once with the cameos and i kind of got chills whenever they played each console's intro music. as a game it's a pretty mindless and extremely short collectathon but its fun and there's enough gimmicks to keep things interesting. i was especially a fan of the ball levels in the ps1/RAM world. there's literally 0 reason for this not to be the first game you play on ps5, it's good, play it if you get this overpriced temporary final fantasy machine
bless this weird ass game and all its weird ass ways
This review contains spoilers
really not sure what to make of this expac, its flawed but in a lot of ways where i dont know what else they could have done if that makes sense? i dont know where else they could have taken the story after shadowbringers without just feeling like we're just dragging it out or giving it an underwhelming conclusion but as a result theres way too much ground to cover and it feels like its playing catch-up with itself. each of the areas in this game could have easily been their own expansion, but i dont think that would have been feasible after almost 10 (or after 10 for people who started with 1.0) years following the same plot threads, especially when shadowbringers expanded the lore so much and was clearly building up to something. it all feels pretty rushed but, again, i dont know what i would have done instead
a lot of this reminded me of, weirdly enough, mass effect 3? aside from some obvious comparisons (end of the world scenarios, uniting disparate people, fighting an enemy which was presumed to be invincible, villain who comes to the conclusion that the only way to save life in the universe is to destroy it), both are conclusions to massive interconnected stories which have way too much on their plate and as a result have to scramble to find a satisfying conclusion; that said, i think this game lands a bit more cleanly on its knees, rather than on its stomach like me3 did
all that said, on the gameplay side, i think the dungeons and trials here are some of the best in the game. mothercrystal is a major highlight, and i also really loved tower of babil and vanaspati; the dead ends is basically just a retread of amaurot but its also still great. the addition of npcs following you in certain quests was a cute little diversion that added some character and depth to the party members you've been accompanying since the start, and the solo duties here are actually really great; the nameless soldier segment is one of the coolest things theyve done with solo duties as a mechanic and i really hope they keep weird shit like that going into dawntrail
its somewhere between a 7.5 and a flat 8, not sure where. my ranking shb >= hw > ew > arr > stb. super excited for the post game stuff
a lot of this reminded me of, weirdly enough, mass effect 3? aside from some obvious comparisons (end of the world scenarios, uniting disparate people, fighting an enemy which was presumed to be invincible, villain who comes to the conclusion that the only way to save life in the universe is to destroy it), both are conclusions to massive interconnected stories which have way too much on their plate and as a result have to scramble to find a satisfying conclusion; that said, i think this game lands a bit more cleanly on its knees, rather than on its stomach like me3 did
all that said, on the gameplay side, i think the dungeons and trials here are some of the best in the game. mothercrystal is a major highlight, and i also really loved tower of babil and vanaspati; the dead ends is basically just a retread of amaurot but its also still great. the addition of npcs following you in certain quests was a cute little diversion that added some character and depth to the party members you've been accompanying since the start, and the solo duties here are actually really great; the nameless soldier segment is one of the coolest things theyve done with solo duties as a mechanic and i really hope they keep weird shit like that going into dawntrail
its somewhere between a 7.5 and a flat 8, not sure where. my ranking shb >= hw > ew > arr > stb. super excited for the post game stuff
this game has a massive scope for its time, with branching paths, four(!) playable characters each with their own unique strengths and weaknesses, and some impressive technical feats, although your mileage may vary on how well theyve aged. its also just plain fun, even with how ball-blisteringly difficult it can get. overall, one of the finest games for the nes, which really shows the strengths of the system.
that said minus half a star because fuck that final level. WHY DOES A-3 NOT GIVE A CHECKPOINT EVERY OTHER SECTION HAS ONE AAAAAAAAAA
that said minus half a star because fuck that final level. WHY DOES A-3 NOT GIVE A CHECKPOINT EVERY OTHER SECTION HAS ONE AAAAAAAAAA
2004
one of the most influential games of all time, an extremely important benchmark for the medium. too bad it isnt very fun or compelling past its monumental historical context
1981
when i first started using this site i saw that this game had a 3.0 and was sincerely offended because to me this game's legacy is so great that it was incomprehensible that a game with such a giant footprint would be treated the same as a generic budget title from the 2000s, but looking back that was a really immature reaction.
donkey kong is one of the most important games to ever be made. the influence of this game would be felt for years to come and can still be felt today. but to a modern eye, it definitely leaves a lot to be desired; it is sluggish as hell, the physics are awkward and opaque (one of the first criticisms youll read for this game will probably be how inconsistent and gross the fall damage feels, which thankfully would not be implemented in most later platforming games), and the iconic first stage is full of what amounts to random chance with whether a barrel will fall or not. the game can still be fun and engaging today if you appreciate the context of its development and the time it was made in, but to say it hasn't aged gracefully is undoubtedly an understatement.
with all that said, i still don't know if i can rate donkey kong. this game has such a fond place in my heart, from playing the NES classics version on gameboy advance as a small child, to playing on my uncle's arcade cabinet when i would visit him. i even have a soft spot for the awful atari 2600 port, which i played nigh on constantly when i got an atari as a young gaming enthusiast. i can't blame anyone who can't get into this game or can only appreciate it as a relic of gaming history, but for me, there's really something special about it
donkey kong is one of the most important games to ever be made. the influence of this game would be felt for years to come and can still be felt today. but to a modern eye, it definitely leaves a lot to be desired; it is sluggish as hell, the physics are awkward and opaque (one of the first criticisms youll read for this game will probably be how inconsistent and gross the fall damage feels, which thankfully would not be implemented in most later platforming games), and the iconic first stage is full of what amounts to random chance with whether a barrel will fall or not. the game can still be fun and engaging today if you appreciate the context of its development and the time it was made in, but to say it hasn't aged gracefully is undoubtedly an understatement.
with all that said, i still don't know if i can rate donkey kong. this game has such a fond place in my heart, from playing the NES classics version on gameboy advance as a small child, to playing on my uncle's arcade cabinet when i would visit him. i even have a soft spot for the awful atari 2600 port, which i played nigh on constantly when i got an atari as a young gaming enthusiast. i can't blame anyone who can't get into this game or can only appreciate it as a relic of gaming history, but for me, there's really something special about it
2000
the best version of final fantasy 1, keeps the unique (read: janky) balance-related quirks that are a significant part of the original game while fixing the most awful bugs and adding some great quality-of-life features. to me, this is the perfect middle ground of an authentic experience while still not having to sit through as much tedium as the nes release
more generally, this game is pretty basic but it has some really cool stuff that i think holds up surprisingly well, especially compared to other rpgs of the era (seriously, just compare this to dragon quest 1). choosing your characters' classes at the start is awesome and gives the game a ton of replay value (even though thief sucks until the job upgrade)
more generally, this game is pretty basic but it has some really cool stuff that i think holds up surprisingly well, especially compared to other rpgs of the era (seriously, just compare this to dragon quest 1). choosing your characters' classes at the start is awesome and gives the game a ton of replay value (even though thief sucks until the job upgrade)
2008
i hope this game's critical reevaluation continues on course because i think its really special and really neat. ps3 version is garbage though
1999
what a weird fucking game! just really really strange. obviously and easily the worst of the ps1 ff games but still what a fascinating little thing this is and to be honest i had a lot of fun. the plot is kind of incoherent and shit just... Happens all the fuckin time but there are some story beats which are genuinely really effective, i grew to really care about squall as he showed more sides of himself than just broody late 90s teen and the romance at the center of the story is pretty good. the draw and junction systems are a really big mixed bag, on one hand its fun to minmax your stats but on the other hand it makes some fights drag on way too long and it incentivizes never using items or spells in a way i dont really like. still tho i did way more bonus content in this game than either 7 or 9 for some reason and i enjoyed my time with it, definitely not a game for everyone but i think its worth checking out at least once