camanda
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This game improves on Yakuza: Like a Dragon in basically every conceivable way except for the story. But I'm going to let you in on a little secret: the story is almost always the weakest part of any Like a Dragon game. It just varies by how much.
To me RGGS is really good at character stuff. In this game specifically I mean stuff like Memoirs of a Dragon, Drink LInks, Table Talks, etc. I'm also referring to character development and relationships between the characters as part of the story (whether friendly or antagonistic). Where they almost always fall down is the driving plot that moves the game along. They are way too ambitious. Infinite Wealth is absolutely on the farther end of that scale and it suffers for it.
That said, I love this game just like I love every other game in this batshit crazy series. The combat flow is so much better in this game and that alone made it way more fun. I also never once felt like I had to go out of my way to grind levels like I did for that one fight in Yakuza: Like a Dragon (you know the one). I enjoyed exploring all three cities, there were tons of great moments in the substories, Bond Bingo was a fun mechanic, I could go on. That's the stuff that makes a Like a Dragon game and it still rules.
Interested to see where things go from here.
To me RGGS is really good at character stuff. In this game specifically I mean stuff like Memoirs of a Dragon, Drink LInks, Table Talks, etc. I'm also referring to character development and relationships between the characters as part of the story (whether friendly or antagonistic). Where they almost always fall down is the driving plot that moves the game along. They are way too ambitious. Infinite Wealth is absolutely on the farther end of that scale and it suffers for it.
That said, I love this game just like I love every other game in this batshit crazy series. The combat flow is so much better in this game and that alone made it way more fun. I also never once felt like I had to go out of my way to grind levels like I did for that one fight in Yakuza: Like a Dragon (you know the one). I enjoyed exploring all three cities, there were tons of great moments in the substories, Bond Bingo was a fun mechanic, I could go on. That's the stuff that makes a Like a Dragon game and it still rules.
Interested to see where things go from here.
I'm an absolute sucker for interquels, prequels, the kinds of things that fill in gaps in the story. So I'll have to revisit the rating when I feel less immediately punched in the gut by this game. But holy shit, this was catnip for me. I'm so excited for Infinite Wealth.
2023
Going into this -- by which I mean, a few chapters after I started -- I feared this was going to be atrocious. Fortunately that turned out not to be the case.
Let's start with the bad: the story is not great. It was like, "What if we made Revelation again, but took out the incestuous subtext?" Which, yes, that is a plus, but Revelation is a weak story regardless and this was not much better. I also saw every plot twist coming a mile away and figured out one of the major reveals two chapters in, which just made it way less fun for me as a journey. I really just got to a point where I stopped caring and just wanted it to end. A shame.
The characters. Obviously this being a Fire Emblem game you've got more units than you can conceivably use in a single playthrough without abusing the arena/skirmishes (which I didn't do because I never do), so it's tough to get to know most of them decently enough to form an opinion. But just through the little snippets you do get, I really just found most of them eye-rollingly annoying. I came away with a few that I liked, and I genuinely liked some of the support chains I did get. But overall I just did not vibe with this cast.
The maps and combat mechanics are awesome. I found the Engage mechanic itself in-battle a little bit underwhelming -- fun and cool-looking but not as much of a difference-maker as I might've liked. But using the Emblems as a means to mess with skills was great, and I enjoyed playing around with that. I do wish the map objectives had been more varied, I am pretty sure they were nearly all "kill boss" with one or two "escape" maps thrown in, but there were enough intra-map objectives and hazards that nothing really got too samey.
After how grating I found Three Houses, I almost didn't play this game at all -- I just happened to have a free week between finishing Tales of Arise and the release of Super Mario Bros. Wonder where I thought I could squeeze a game in, so I picked this one. I'm not unhappy I did so, and I genuinely think it's an improvement on both Fates and Three Houses. But I still find it emblematic (HA!) of the issues I have with where the series has gone in the last decade. That's probably a "me" problem and I should accept that what this series gave me in the past isn't coming back. So for now I'm leaving this one unrated. But I'll wrap up by saying that as a longtime fan of the franchise, this one still hit the spot even if it can't live up to the old favorites.
Let's start with the bad: the story is not great. It was like, "What if we made Revelation again, but took out the incestuous subtext?" Which, yes, that is a plus, but Revelation is a weak story regardless and this was not much better. I also saw every plot twist coming a mile away and figured out one of the major reveals two chapters in, which just made it way less fun for me as a journey. I really just got to a point where I stopped caring and just wanted it to end. A shame.
The characters. Obviously this being a Fire Emblem game you've got more units than you can conceivably use in a single playthrough without abusing the arena/skirmishes (which I didn't do because I never do), so it's tough to get to know most of them decently enough to form an opinion. But just through the little snippets you do get, I really just found most of them eye-rollingly annoying. I came away with a few that I liked, and I genuinely liked some of the support chains I did get. But overall I just did not vibe with this cast.
The maps and combat mechanics are awesome. I found the Engage mechanic itself in-battle a little bit underwhelming -- fun and cool-looking but not as much of a difference-maker as I might've liked. But using the Emblems as a means to mess with skills was great, and I enjoyed playing around with that. I do wish the map objectives had been more varied, I am pretty sure they were nearly all "kill boss" with one or two "escape" maps thrown in, but there were enough intra-map objectives and hazards that nothing really got too samey.
After how grating I found Three Houses, I almost didn't play this game at all -- I just happened to have a free week between finishing Tales of Arise and the release of Super Mario Bros. Wonder where I thought I could squeeze a game in, so I picked this one. I'm not unhappy I did so, and I genuinely think it's an improvement on both Fates and Three Houses. But I still find it emblematic (HA!) of the issues I have with where the series has gone in the last decade. That's probably a "me" problem and I should accept that what this series gave me in the past isn't coming back. So for now I'm leaving this one unrated. But I'll wrap up by saying that as a longtime fan of the franchise, this one still hit the spot even if it can't live up to the old favorites.
2021
Maybe every JRPG just reminds me of Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, I don't know (I mentioned it in my Final Fantasy XVI review as well), but I kept thinking of the Order vs. Chaos theme of that game and some of the truths that are revealed about the structure of society on Tellius. I obviously do not want to spoil that game here so I won't go into it, but Tales of Arise deals with a lot of very similar themes. Just found that interesting.
Anyway, I enjoyed this game. I liked the cast, I liked exploring the world, I liked the music, I liked the combat, I liked basically everything. The story is Fine and serves its purpose in terms of getting you from point A to point B -- I think there's genuinely good pieces within the story, but as a whole, it's just okay, standard JRPG fare. Not much else to say!
Anyway, I enjoyed this game. I liked the cast, I liked exploring the world, I liked the music, I liked the combat, I liked basically everything. The story is Fine and serves its purpose in terms of getting you from point A to point B -- I think there's genuinely good pieces within the story, but as a whole, it's just okay, standard JRPG fare. Not much else to say!
2023
Falls just short of Pikmin 3 Deluxe for me, but it's an awesome game nonetheless and ultimately it comes down to personal preference.
The two things I did not like:
- The sheer volume of caves. I greatly prefer exploring the surface and having to do the caves just made it feel like more of a slog to me. I realize it's really no different than exploring the surface, but, vibes, man.
- Nighttime expeditions. These just bored and annoyed me. I don't really care for combat in Pikmin as it is, and that's ALL this is.
However, both of these are outweighed by:
- DANDORI!! I enjoyed both the Battles and the Challenges immensely. That's good shit right there. I'd play an entire game of nothing but that.
Also, I mean, it's a really damn good Pikmin game. Collecting things, solving puzzles, exploring areas, that's all still there and that's why I enjoy these games at the end of the day (geddit). All in all, Pikmin 4 ended up being worth the wait. Strong recommend from me.
The two things I did not like:
- The sheer volume of caves. I greatly prefer exploring the surface and having to do the caves just made it feel like more of a slog to me. I realize it's really no different than exploring the surface, but, vibes, man.
- Nighttime expeditions. These just bored and annoyed me. I don't really care for combat in Pikmin as it is, and that's ALL this is.
However, both of these are outweighed by:
- DANDORI!! I enjoyed both the Battles and the Challenges immensely. That's good shit right there. I'd play an entire game of nothing but that.
Also, I mean, it's a really damn good Pikmin game. Collecting things, solving puzzles, exploring areas, that's all still there and that's why I enjoy these games at the end of the day (geddit). All in all, Pikmin 4 ended up being worth the wait. Strong recommend from me.
1995
It's Puyo Puyo with a Kirby skin, it's fine. What I like is that, even in our mid-30s, if I say "SHQUISHEH!" to my sister, she still laughs her ass off. Bless whoever decided this game needed those voice clips.
An okay golf game all in all -- the other reviews are right about the lackluster, top-down gameplay -- but my parents used to play this every. Saturday. night. for YEARS. I'll die hearing this music in my sleep.
1993
The bar is pretty low since it's not only a mascot platformer but also a licensed game, but it's pretty good! Something I would happily rent when nothing new was in stock at the local video store.
Not particularly good, but fun and creative.
Yup this game is terrible and of course it's one of the handful we bought when I was a kid. The awful repetitive music is seared into my brain. I've still got this cursed cartridge somewhere.
2008
I was listening to the soundtrack this week at work, and I got my 3DS out so I could look at how much of the game I had originally completed, and then I got sucked into it again. The soundtrack goes hard and the gameplay is fun if occasionally frustrating. Still a great one to revisit every now and then.
my personal top 5 bangers in no particular order:
- DJ School
- Karate Man / "Struck By the Rain"
- Lockstep 2
- Love Lab
- Remix 3
my personal top 5 bangers in no particular order:
- DJ School
- Karate Man / "Struck By the Rain"
- Lockstep 2
- Love Lab
- Remix 3
2005
This game is so fun and it still holds up. The on-foot and flying sections are awesome. The story is good by Star Fox standards -- I realize this is not a high bar -- and the enemies are genuinely unsettling. (That one part? You know that one part, with that one guy? Eughhgghghgh.) Sometimes the combat's a little annoying but hey, nobody's perfect. If you somehow missed this one you should give it a go.
2023
I'm not really into Final Fantasy, but I've been craving a good single-player game, and the demo of this one hooked me with its combat, so I decided to get it on release. I am happy with that choice.
The story is a bit thin, and I don't think it really got interesting for a solid, I don't know, 20 hours. The first half of the game or so gave me "Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn but bad" vibes. Once both you and the characters have more than a surface-level understanding of what's actually happening, that changes, but it does take an awfully long time. Fortunately the story that comes out of the sidequests -- the stories of the people who live in this world and keep hope alive at all costs -- was enough to keep me going for that time.
I know up top I said the combat is what hooked me, and it is. I would not call it "deep" necessarily, but damn, is it satisfying. The combat scratched the same itch that the Yakuza brawler-style combat does for me, and I loved being able to mix and match Eikons as I unlocked and upgraded more and more things. All of this said, I did not love how some of the major boss fights felt more like a series of QTEs and cutscenes. They looked insanely awesome, but I'm here to play the game, not press one button and have the game do all the cool parts for me.
And most importantly: Torgal is best boy.
Overall, a really good game, one I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with and that I will likely replay again someday.
The story is a bit thin, and I don't think it really got interesting for a solid, I don't know, 20 hours. The first half of the game or so gave me "Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn but bad" vibes. Once both you and the characters have more than a surface-level understanding of what's actually happening, that changes, but it does take an awfully long time. Fortunately the story that comes out of the sidequests -- the stories of the people who live in this world and keep hope alive at all costs -- was enough to keep me going for that time.
I know up top I said the combat is what hooked me, and it is. I would not call it "deep" necessarily, but damn, is it satisfying. The combat scratched the same itch that the Yakuza brawler-style combat does for me, and I loved being able to mix and match Eikons as I unlocked and upgraded more and more things. All of this said, I did not love how some of the major boss fights felt more like a series of QTEs and cutscenes. They looked insanely awesome, but I'm here to play the game, not press one button and have the game do all the cool parts for me.
And most importantly: Torgal is best boy.
Overall, a really good game, one I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with and that I will likely replay again someday.
2012
I used to play this game as stress relief after getting home from my soul-sucking retail job, which I think sums things up. At least about that job.
2006
RIP PopCap Games.