2023
Sea of Stars was a uniquely mediocre experience, mainly because I was almost fooled into thinking it was great simply because of its visual presentation.
I enjoyed the art direction and music from beginning to end, but just about everything else fell apart further and further as the game went on. And in hindsight, it wasn’t really put together all that well to begin with. Puzzles were so easy that they felt burdensome rather than rewarding. The tools and mechanics presented to me were pretty fun, but overly simple and rarely utilized. I would have preferred more complex puzzles in place of some of the filler battles that seemingly existed only to increase my playtime.
The characters were likable, if not a little bland, and there were definitely some moments that made me smile and laugh, but ultimately the storyline they were a part of dragged on for so long I just didn’t care anymore. I really liked Seraï however, and her character and twist was definitely a highlight of the game for me.
During the first few hours after escaping flashback hell, I happily coasted through repetitive dungeons with 2 moves per character, solving the same styles of puzzles to get from one level to another, because I really wanted to see how good it got.
It never got good.
You essentially hop from small lifeless town to small lifeless town, split up by slogging through 3 or more consecutive dungeon levels, filled with time consuming fights that impede on you trying to rush a piss easy puzzle just to get the hell out of there.
You do this for 20 hours. No downtime for side-quests, fun puzzles, or NPCs that repeat more than 1 line to you. It feels like a near-empty world with roughly 10 good guys and 10 bad guys, like a matchmade game of ground war turned into an RPG. Everytime I spoke to anyone outside of the main cast I felt like Tom Hanks in Cast Away talking to Wilson.
Credit where credit is due though, it is really beautiful, even if the colours and red-tinted black point can be a bit jarring at times. But it's just not beautiful enough for me to disregard its glaring issues.
I’m going to uninstall this and download a real JRPG and experience PEAK rather than weak.
I enjoyed the art direction and music from beginning to end, but just about everything else fell apart further and further as the game went on. And in hindsight, it wasn’t really put together all that well to begin with. Puzzles were so easy that they felt burdensome rather than rewarding. The tools and mechanics presented to me were pretty fun, but overly simple and rarely utilized. I would have preferred more complex puzzles in place of some of the filler battles that seemingly existed only to increase my playtime.
The characters were likable, if not a little bland, and there were definitely some moments that made me smile and laugh, but ultimately the storyline they were a part of dragged on for so long I just didn’t care anymore. I really liked Seraï however, and her character and twist was definitely a highlight of the game for me.
During the first few hours after escaping flashback hell, I happily coasted through repetitive dungeons with 2 moves per character, solving the same styles of puzzles to get from one level to another, because I really wanted to see how good it got.
It never got good.
You essentially hop from small lifeless town to small lifeless town, split up by slogging through 3 or more consecutive dungeon levels, filled with time consuming fights that impede on you trying to rush a piss easy puzzle just to get the hell out of there.
You do this for 20 hours. No downtime for side-quests, fun puzzles, or NPCs that repeat more than 1 line to you. It feels like a near-empty world with roughly 10 good guys and 10 bad guys, like a matchmade game of ground war turned into an RPG. Everytime I spoke to anyone outside of the main cast I felt like Tom Hanks in Cast Away talking to Wilson.
Credit where credit is due though, it is really beautiful, even if the colours and red-tinted black point can be a bit jarring at times. But it's just not beautiful enough for me to disregard its glaring issues.
I’m going to uninstall this and download a real JRPG and experience PEAK rather than weak.
What a beautiful and thoughtfully curated environment to try to enjoy as you wade through one of the most boring video game stories you will ever experience.
Don't worry though, there was still absolutely zero improvement to the parkour so going from point A to point B to listen to shit writing will still feel just about as fun as getting a colonoscopy.
I don't know who the hell they are making these games for but it sure aint me.
Don't worry though, there was still absolutely zero improvement to the parkour so going from point A to point B to listen to shit writing will still feel just about as fun as getting a colonoscopy.
I don't know who the hell they are making these games for but it sure aint me.
I really thought I would feel different about this game during, and after my playthrough.
Spider-Man 2 is a masterful upgrade to the previous two entries when it comes to visuals, traversal, and even combat. Unfortunately however, these are the only things that managed to really "wow" me this time around.
Spider-Man 2 is a predictable and short story desperately drawn out by uninteresting slogs of playing as Peter, Miles, or MJ just to reach that 20 hour mark. The non-hero gameplay, the poor writing, and the drop in quality of free-roam dialogue (quips, soliloquies) hit me like a truck here, and I quickly stopped caring about anything going on in NYC, or between characters.
Swinging around NY felt incredible, and while I did my best not to use the web wings whenever I could, the execution of them is admittedly near flawless. Sometimes the flashier movements felt a little over-the-top, especially as Peter's Spidey, but the way they handled transitioning between so many swinging animations is just so cool, it's hard not to love.
The Platinum trophy respected my time, the suits ranged from amazing to "okay what the fuck is that?" but were generally good, and Howard's side mission is far and beyond the best content in this entire game.
Insomniac has a pretty spectacular team making these games, and what they achieved technically is outstanding, but it came with a lot more bugs than previous entries to the series. I had multiple hard crashes, got stuck several times, and had an abundance of visual glitches, including becoming the infamous white cube.
I want to love this game, since its undoubtedly an improvement, but the safe and uninspiring story and lack of character visually, musically and emotionally is really holding it back. I hope the next Spider-Man game can reach further with its personality using music, culture, and visual style to create something that can be more than the sum of its parts. I'm not disappointed. I enjoyed my time playing this game, it just didn't pull me in the way Spider-Man PS4 did.
Spider-Man 2 is a masterful upgrade to the previous two entries when it comes to visuals, traversal, and even combat. Unfortunately however, these are the only things that managed to really "wow" me this time around.
Spider-Man 2 is a predictable and short story desperately drawn out by uninteresting slogs of playing as Peter, Miles, or MJ just to reach that 20 hour mark. The non-hero gameplay, the poor writing, and the drop in quality of free-roam dialogue (quips, soliloquies) hit me like a truck here, and I quickly stopped caring about anything going on in NYC, or between characters.
Swinging around NY felt incredible, and while I did my best not to use the web wings whenever I could, the execution of them is admittedly near flawless. Sometimes the flashier movements felt a little over-the-top, especially as Peter's Spidey, but the way they handled transitioning between so many swinging animations is just so cool, it's hard not to love.
The Platinum trophy respected my time, the suits ranged from amazing to "okay what the fuck is that?" but were generally good, and Howard's side mission is far and beyond the best content in this entire game.
Insomniac has a pretty spectacular team making these games, and what they achieved technically is outstanding, but it came with a lot more bugs than previous entries to the series. I had multiple hard crashes, got stuck several times, and had an abundance of visual glitches, including becoming the infamous white cube.
I want to love this game, since its undoubtedly an improvement, but the safe and uninspiring story and lack of character visually, musically and emotionally is really holding it back. I hope the next Spider-Man game can reach further with its personality using music, culture, and visual style to create something that can be more than the sum of its parts. I'm not disappointed. I enjoyed my time playing this game, it just didn't pull me in the way Spider-Man PS4 did.
2018
2 silly little guys exploring sweden
Campaign:
Not quite as bad as people made it seem, but significantly worse than we deserve and are paying for.
Still a truly spectacular piece of shit. 2/10.
Multiplayer:
No prestiges or Season 0 content, MWII macrotransactions and Battle Pass fill the store, same insufferable UI, and undesirable matchmaking practices.
The fantastic sound design, visuals, gunplay, and nostalgia bait maps can't make up for all the shortcomings forced upon this studio by the suits.
4/10, painfully subpar. Will play at least another 100 hours and be a part of the problem.
Not quite as bad as people made it seem, but significantly worse than we deserve and are paying for.
Still a truly spectacular piece of shit. 2/10.
Multiplayer:
No prestiges or Season 0 content, MWII macrotransactions and Battle Pass fill the store, same insufferable UI, and undesirable matchmaking practices.
The fantastic sound design, visuals, gunplay, and nostalgia bait maps can't make up for all the shortcomings forced upon this studio by the suits.
4/10, painfully subpar. Will play at least another 100 hours and be a part of the problem.
This is everything a remastered version of this game should have been, with a fantastic visual upgrade, thoughtful additions, retaining everything that made the classic games so fun when I was growing up.
Nice to play, nice to look at, & nice to listen to.
The detail and design direction they went with is just about perfect to me. All the parks look phenomenal, the textures are great and the visual clarity is really solid so nothing ever feels to muddy or overwhelming.
The additions they made to the soundtrack are also great, adding bangers from Viagra Boys, ATCQ, and FIDLAR is very welcome, but I could have done without that MGK song.
Also, of course no skating game is complete without being able to drip yourself out, and the clothing selection was pretty spectacular. I was scrolling through hoodies and almost all of them had completely different models, fits and/or textures, and weren't just recolours with different logos slapped on top. Kudos for that. Some of the stuff was still pretty dorky, like the backpacks and skinny jeans and I think maybe some more blank items with some contemporary inspiration would have been nice. Also more SB Dunks, also add more April and Thank You boards, and fuck it, add Yuto Horigome as well.
Overall I had a ton of fun just 100%'ing both THPS 1+2 tours, but I'll leave it at that since the plat doesn't seem fun.. at all.
Hoping they make a THPS 3+4 remake, and then THUG 1+2, then THAW. One can only hope.
Nice to play, nice to look at, & nice to listen to.
The detail and design direction they went with is just about perfect to me. All the parks look phenomenal, the textures are great and the visual clarity is really solid so nothing ever feels to muddy or overwhelming.
The additions they made to the soundtrack are also great, adding bangers from Viagra Boys, ATCQ, and FIDLAR is very welcome, but I could have done without that MGK song.
Also, of course no skating game is complete without being able to drip yourself out, and the clothing selection was pretty spectacular. I was scrolling through hoodies and almost all of them had completely different models, fits and/or textures, and weren't just recolours with different logos slapped on top. Kudos for that. Some of the stuff was still pretty dorky, like the backpacks and skinny jeans and I think maybe some more blank items with some contemporary inspiration would have been nice. Also more SB Dunks, also add more April and Thank You boards, and fuck it, add Yuto Horigome as well.
Overall I had a ton of fun just 100%'ing both THPS 1+2 tours, but I'll leave it at that since the plat doesn't seem fun.. at all.
Hoping they make a THPS 3+4 remake, and then THUG 1+2, then THAW. One can only hope.
2020
Regardless of its history, it's a solid game now, and that's all that matters.
Brilliant world building, remarkable characters paired with top tier voice acting, an impossibly detailed environment and satisfying combat. It's easy to grasp all the playstyles this game offers, and they all seem like they'd be extremely enjoyable no matter what type of build you go with.
I'll play Phantom Liberty eventually, but for now, just playing through the base game as of v2.0 was a blast. There was a shit ton of bugs but mainly just vehicle and pedestrian pathing tripping out, or some dude stuck in a wall, nothing too bad.
My biggest gripe is just that the world's ambience needs some additions. It's the same few ads over and over on TV, boring radio stations, and every guitarist just plays that same fucking riff everywhere I go. Also the vehicles feel way too light.
All in all though, I think everyone should play this game at least once.
Ending: The Star
Brilliant world building, remarkable characters paired with top tier voice acting, an impossibly detailed environment and satisfying combat. It's easy to grasp all the playstyles this game offers, and they all seem like they'd be extremely enjoyable no matter what type of build you go with.
I'll play Phantom Liberty eventually, but for now, just playing through the base game as of v2.0 was a blast. There was a shit ton of bugs but mainly just vehicle and pedestrian pathing tripping out, or some dude stuck in a wall, nothing too bad.
My biggest gripe is just that the world's ambience needs some additions. It's the same few ads over and over on TV, boring radio stations, and every guitarist just plays that same fucking riff everywhere I go. Also the vehicles feel way too light.
All in all though, I think everyone should play this game at least once.
Ending: The Star
This review contains spoilers
NG: Epic.
NG+: Epic.
NG++: Epic.
I'm so happy I waited to review this until after NG++, if you play this game without experiencing all 3 endings, you really haven't beaten the game, and you're missing out on so much context that makes a relatively mediocre story blossom into something much more fulfilling.
This was my first Armored Core and I am blown away. Other than a pretty noticeable power imbalance between certain weapons, I have nothing bad to say about it.
All the characters were awesome, the level design and art direction were top notch, the music did exactly what it needed to do, and I cannot think of anything I'd want to be done differently. I'm completely satisfied. Each playthrough built so heavily upon the previous I was so desperate to just keep playing to find out more and more about Rubicon and all its secrets.
The gameplay felt amazing, each boss was fun and unique, even if not always super challenging, and I always felt like a badass unstoppable mf in a mech, just not as badass as my boy Rusty.
NG+: Epic.
NG++: Epic.
I'm so happy I waited to review this until after NG++, if you play this game without experiencing all 3 endings, you really haven't beaten the game, and you're missing out on so much context that makes a relatively mediocre story blossom into something much more fulfilling.
This was my first Armored Core and I am blown away. Other than a pretty noticeable power imbalance between certain weapons, I have nothing bad to say about it.
All the characters were awesome, the level design and art direction were top notch, the music did exactly what it needed to do, and I cannot think of anything I'd want to be done differently. I'm completely satisfied. Each playthrough built so heavily upon the previous I was so desperate to just keep playing to find out more and more about Rubicon and all its secrets.
The gameplay felt amazing, each boss was fun and unique, even if not always super challenging, and I always felt like a badass unstoppable mf in a mech, just not as badass as my boy Rusty.
2022
super fun co-op puzzle game to play with a s/o or friend. it made me feel dumb, and then it made me feel smart, but it mainly made me feel dumb.
2023
This review contains spoilers
A killer love letter to the original JSR games, putting everything you think you remember about them into one package.
The execution here was definitely more about recreating the JSR experience, rather than significantly evolving or expanding on it, and I think the developers pretty much nailed it in that regard. Plus, despite their similarities, the devs definitely made something more than just an "imitation" here. However, if you go into this looking for those core JSR concepts to be scaled dramatically to their fullest potential, you'll probably be wondering why they couldn't go a bit further in some places.
A fairly limited soundtrack, and just solid levels definitely left a little to be desired. There was no area that I felt like I could skate all day without getting a bit bored, each plagued with a few small spots that felt inconvenient or too barren to skate - but like I said, still pretty solid. Also, as much as I loved the majority of the soundtrack, there were a few misses on it for my taste, and given the small size I found myself listening to those particular songs way more often than I'd have liked.
Other than that, Team Reptile undeniably knocked it out of the park with the core gameplay, aesthetics and character designs, and Hideki Naganuma unsurprisingly dropped nothing but certified slappers with his tracks. All this paired with banger typefaces and a fantastic logo-design provides one of the hardest contemporary styled games I've ever seen.
I found every character likable and interesting, and while the outfits definitely had the potential to be more than just recolours, I liked everyone's fit enough that it wasn't really a bother.
Every song, character and environment meshed perfectly with the game's personality, and every artist on this project crushed it with the graffiti pieces. I never felt let down visually, and got exactly what I was looking for every moment I was cruising around New Amsterdam. But those wavy liquid topographic like patterns in the UI? That was an unexpected cherry on top I couldn't get enough of. Graffiti mechanic was fun and executed perfectly. Whether I was tagging something random, or using one of my favourite patterns, every design was super dope.
Story was simple but very enjoyable. I wasn't expecting that much from the story so I was pretty surprised with how amped and invested I was by the end, rooting for just about everyone. Plus, each dream sequence was super fun and I was always looking forward to the next one.
All in all - I love the game. While more could have been done with such a brilliant foundation, I respect Team Reptile for showing restraint and delivering a faithful experience that gave me no less than I was hoping for... besides the ability to in-line skate backwards.
Favourite track: condensed milk
Favourite level: brink terminal
Favourite character: Felix
Favourite equipment: In-line skates
Favourite rival crew: DOT EXE
Favourite tag: BIGSHINYBOMB or BOMB BEATS
Soundtrack: 4/5
Sound design: 3/5
UX/UI: 5/5
Level design: 4/5
Character design: 5/5
Story: 4/5
My bias finds it a 5 star but my objective score is more like a 4. One of the most fun games I've played.
Shoutout smitt for hooking me up wit da game
The execution here was definitely more about recreating the JSR experience, rather than significantly evolving or expanding on it, and I think the developers pretty much nailed it in that regard. Plus, despite their similarities, the devs definitely made something more than just an "imitation" here. However, if you go into this looking for those core JSR concepts to be scaled dramatically to their fullest potential, you'll probably be wondering why they couldn't go a bit further in some places.
A fairly limited soundtrack, and just solid levels definitely left a little to be desired. There was no area that I felt like I could skate all day without getting a bit bored, each plagued with a few small spots that felt inconvenient or too barren to skate - but like I said, still pretty solid. Also, as much as I loved the majority of the soundtrack, there were a few misses on it for my taste, and given the small size I found myself listening to those particular songs way more often than I'd have liked.
Other than that, Team Reptile undeniably knocked it out of the park with the core gameplay, aesthetics and character designs, and Hideki Naganuma unsurprisingly dropped nothing but certified slappers with his tracks. All this paired with banger typefaces and a fantastic logo-design provides one of the hardest contemporary styled games I've ever seen.
I found every character likable and interesting, and while the outfits definitely had the potential to be more than just recolours, I liked everyone's fit enough that it wasn't really a bother.
Every song, character and environment meshed perfectly with the game's personality, and every artist on this project crushed it with the graffiti pieces. I never felt let down visually, and got exactly what I was looking for every moment I was cruising around New Amsterdam. But those wavy liquid topographic like patterns in the UI? That was an unexpected cherry on top I couldn't get enough of. Graffiti mechanic was fun and executed perfectly. Whether I was tagging something random, or using one of my favourite patterns, every design was super dope.
Story was simple but very enjoyable. I wasn't expecting that much from the story so I was pretty surprised with how amped and invested I was by the end, rooting for just about everyone. Plus, each dream sequence was super fun and I was always looking forward to the next one.
All in all - I love the game. While more could have been done with such a brilliant foundation, I respect Team Reptile for showing restraint and delivering a faithful experience that gave me no less than I was hoping for... besides the ability to in-line skate backwards.
Favourite track: condensed milk
Favourite level: brink terminal
Favourite character: Felix
Favourite equipment: In-line skates
Favourite rival crew: DOT EXE
Favourite tag: BIGSHINYBOMB or BOMB BEATS
Soundtrack: 4/5
Sound design: 3/5
UX/UI: 5/5
Level design: 4/5
Character design: 5/5
Story: 4/5
My bias finds it a 5 star but my objective score is more like a 4. One of the most fun games I've played.
Shoutout smitt for hooking me up wit da game
a good video game with a couple annoyances. not much of a platforming gamer so being able to hunt down extra life cells was nice to counteract my blatant skill issue
2019
very good combat game that i am very bad at. will play through it again
2023
This review contains spoilers
This may be the only long review I ever post, but given the plethora of emotions swirling around in my gut since finishing the game moments before writing this, I don't think I could possibly sum up my thoughts in a few sentences, and I think this game deserves to be reviewed thoughtfully.
FINAL FANTASY 16 IS PEAK GAMING!
I know that die hard fans are taking to reddit forums in despair, for Yoshida-sama did not provide them the FF 6-10 experience they have been craving since graduating high school in 2008, but I am happy to say I enjoyed the game deeply in their place.
I went into the demo never having played a Final Fantasy title in my life, nor had I seen any trailer to give me an idea of what to expect. I blindly played through the demo and was completely enthralled with the masterful world building, combat system, and voice acting. It was one of the very few titles I've played since the release of PS5/Series X that struck me as true next-gen gaming.
However, I won't lie that the game has lulls and pacing issues, and they don't always feel necessary to drive the story forward, and I scarcely thought they added to the scale or depth of the game's stronger content. Riddled with many headaches commonly found in open world games, I found myself wishing many of the open world areas could have been more linear, or condensed all together. Stagnant towns and inaccessible cities made me feel like someone was trying to gaslight me into thinking this was an open world game. I wondered often if there was internal pressure to make it a moderately open world for the sake of appealing to a demographic that appreciates that sort of thing. Whatever, I got used to it, the only thing I truly won't miss is that jarring audio snippet when mounting Ambrosia, that was just never in the same key as whatever soundtrack was playing in the background. Badass bird though.
Spoilers begin here, and I'm not holding back.
After fighting Ifrit as the Phoenix for the first time I was prepared for a cinematic driven experience that would be interesting, but not necessarily challenging. I'd played many games before where I would dreadfully slash away at a boss just for the game to take over and do all the cool stuff at the press of a single Quick Time Event. Boy was I wrong.
After sludging through the ever necessary training arc, learning about the world, the Eikons, Clive's moveset, and Benedikta's outfit, I quickly found myself confident that I knew what the game had to offer. Constantly impressed by the writing and genuine voice acting, I found myself growing attached to characters of tropes I'd usually have little interest in. I was invested in every character, their relationships and their individual struggles. Aside from the marvelously constructed main cast, NPCs seemed to be adequately written, even though you may hear them say the same thing every time you run past them if you don't move forward with the main quest for a while.
But then the game begins to hit you all at once, you see the ripple effect of your actions, and the way your pursuits begin to affect the lives of others, erupting the very evil you're trying to extinguish. It quickly becomes darker than you imagined, and the scale of your efforts and obstacles are grander than you could have prepared for. The first time I felt sorrow was seeing Clive lament as Kupka destroys his father's throne, but it quickly sets in that it couldn't possibly compare to what you took from him. I was so hooked.
The fight against Titan blew me away. I was speechless. I gained control of my Eikon and I proceeded to slap the shit out of this guy 3 times my size who just grew his hands back. But after I kicked some ass he eats magical crack rocks and turns into a mountain with tentacles... was this the final boss? Why is there Jet Set Radio music? There is no reason or expectation to create something at such a colossal scale midway through the game, but they did it again anyways.
Bahamut SNAPS at his dickhead little brother who deserved everything he had coming, but in Bahamut's justified city-destroying blind rage, my brother fused with me from behind (uhm) and we took the battle somewhere a little more appropriate - space. Literal outer space in my medieval fantasy game. I’m pretty sure I remember making involuntary sounds multiple times through this fight thinking that this was the coolest thing I had ever done in a game since getting a 3 for 1 Spartan Laser kill in Halo 3. Peak video gaming. Really though, that was the peak. The quality didn't dwindle but I don't think anything after that felt quite as captivating despite finding myself becoming more and more invested in the plot and lore.
Odin was epic, bro was a little weird but it was definitely the most challenging boss fight for me, and I think mechanically the most fun and rewarding. I wish a little more had been done with it, another phase, more Eikon vs Eikon, but whatever, it's still fantastic. Overall I think the Eikon fights were remarkable, the quality was like nothing I'd ever seen in a game before, and the Quick Time Events were like a cinematic cherry on top to indulge in, rather than ever interrupting your experience.
During and right before finishing the story I took the time to make sure I did every side quest, besides the 3 I forgot to hand in before the second time skip. Oops. I painstakingly listened to every line and did my best to not rip my hair out while fetching some guy his 3 little fruits or flowers after saving the world from a dragon and literal Odin. From what I remember, all the people asking me to get them stuff had legs so I'm not quite sure why I even had to do that. The more involved side quests were great though, especially ones involving folks at the hideaway. My favourites were Blackthorne's, visiting the snow daisies with Jill, and visiting the island with Torgal. I'd argue these more significant side quests are essential to world building and connecting with the main and supporting cast.
[FINAL MISSION SPOILERS]
After I felt like I had done everything there was to do in my first playthrough, I fought Ultima. I kind of expected that Dion and Joshua weren't coming back, I was sad but driven to fix the world so I could return to my friends at the hideaway. I was CERTAIN I would be returning to them. But I didn't.
I think this might be one of the first times I've ever felt this level of grief over a video game. I thought the curse wouldn't affect me, I thought my vessel would be enough to handle all the powers I absorbed. I'm not sure why, after all the self awareness Clive had of man's imperfections and limitations, I thought he would somehow be different, but he wasn't. Despite not being completely fond of Jill through most of the game, by the end of the story I did quite like her, and seeing her run out of the infirmary after watching the red star's light fade really broke me, and seeing Gav having to discern Clive's death second hand wasn't any easier. Seeing Jill fall to her knees to hug Torgal was when I finally had to wipe my eyes, and accept it myself. It was a painful ending, but I don't think it would have impacted me as hard or effectively any other way. I will play it again and gather the remaining trophies when I'm ready, but for now it was easily one of the top single player gaming experiences I have ever had.
Fuck Quinten though. I hated that guy.
Favourite Fight: Bahamut
Favourite Eikon: Ifrit
Favourite Character: Dion
Visuals: 10/10
Characters: 10/10
Combat: 9/10
World: 9/10
Soundtrack: 10/10
Writing: 9/10
Voice Acting: 10/10
Pacing 7/10
Photo mode: 2/10 (what happened here?)
UX/UI: 9/10
FINAL FANTASY 16 IS PEAK GAMING!
I know that die hard fans are taking to reddit forums in despair, for Yoshida-sama did not provide them the FF 6-10 experience they have been craving since graduating high school in 2008, but I am happy to say I enjoyed the game deeply in their place.
I went into the demo never having played a Final Fantasy title in my life, nor had I seen any trailer to give me an idea of what to expect. I blindly played through the demo and was completely enthralled with the masterful world building, combat system, and voice acting. It was one of the very few titles I've played since the release of PS5/Series X that struck me as true next-gen gaming.
However, I won't lie that the game has lulls and pacing issues, and they don't always feel necessary to drive the story forward, and I scarcely thought they added to the scale or depth of the game's stronger content. Riddled with many headaches commonly found in open world games, I found myself wishing many of the open world areas could have been more linear, or condensed all together. Stagnant towns and inaccessible cities made me feel like someone was trying to gaslight me into thinking this was an open world game. I wondered often if there was internal pressure to make it a moderately open world for the sake of appealing to a demographic that appreciates that sort of thing. Whatever, I got used to it, the only thing I truly won't miss is that jarring audio snippet when mounting Ambrosia, that was just never in the same key as whatever soundtrack was playing in the background. Badass bird though.
Spoilers begin here, and I'm not holding back.
After fighting Ifrit as the Phoenix for the first time I was prepared for a cinematic driven experience that would be interesting, but not necessarily challenging. I'd played many games before where I would dreadfully slash away at a boss just for the game to take over and do all the cool stuff at the press of a single Quick Time Event. Boy was I wrong.
After sludging through the ever necessary training arc, learning about the world, the Eikons, Clive's moveset, and Benedikta's outfit, I quickly found myself confident that I knew what the game had to offer. Constantly impressed by the writing and genuine voice acting, I found myself growing attached to characters of tropes I'd usually have little interest in. I was invested in every character, their relationships and their individual struggles. Aside from the marvelously constructed main cast, NPCs seemed to be adequately written, even though you may hear them say the same thing every time you run past them if you don't move forward with the main quest for a while.
But then the game begins to hit you all at once, you see the ripple effect of your actions, and the way your pursuits begin to affect the lives of others, erupting the very evil you're trying to extinguish. It quickly becomes darker than you imagined, and the scale of your efforts and obstacles are grander than you could have prepared for. The first time I felt sorrow was seeing Clive lament as Kupka destroys his father's throne, but it quickly sets in that it couldn't possibly compare to what you took from him. I was so hooked.
The fight against Titan blew me away. I was speechless. I gained control of my Eikon and I proceeded to slap the shit out of this guy 3 times my size who just grew his hands back. But after I kicked some ass he eats magical crack rocks and turns into a mountain with tentacles... was this the final boss? Why is there Jet Set Radio music? There is no reason or expectation to create something at such a colossal scale midway through the game, but they did it again anyways.
Bahamut SNAPS at his dickhead little brother who deserved everything he had coming, but in Bahamut's justified city-destroying blind rage, my brother fused with me from behind (uhm) and we took the battle somewhere a little more appropriate - space. Literal outer space in my medieval fantasy game. I’m pretty sure I remember making involuntary sounds multiple times through this fight thinking that this was the coolest thing I had ever done in a game since getting a 3 for 1 Spartan Laser kill in Halo 3. Peak video gaming. Really though, that was the peak. The quality didn't dwindle but I don't think anything after that felt quite as captivating despite finding myself becoming more and more invested in the plot and lore.
Odin was epic, bro was a little weird but it was definitely the most challenging boss fight for me, and I think mechanically the most fun and rewarding. I wish a little more had been done with it, another phase, more Eikon vs Eikon, but whatever, it's still fantastic. Overall I think the Eikon fights were remarkable, the quality was like nothing I'd ever seen in a game before, and the Quick Time Events were like a cinematic cherry on top to indulge in, rather than ever interrupting your experience.
During and right before finishing the story I took the time to make sure I did every side quest, besides the 3 I forgot to hand in before the second time skip. Oops. I painstakingly listened to every line and did my best to not rip my hair out while fetching some guy his 3 little fruits or flowers after saving the world from a dragon and literal Odin. From what I remember, all the people asking me to get them stuff had legs so I'm not quite sure why I even had to do that. The more involved side quests were great though, especially ones involving folks at the hideaway. My favourites were Blackthorne's, visiting the snow daisies with Jill, and visiting the island with Torgal. I'd argue these more significant side quests are essential to world building and connecting with the main and supporting cast.
[FINAL MISSION SPOILERS]
After I felt like I had done everything there was to do in my first playthrough, I fought Ultima. I kind of expected that Dion and Joshua weren't coming back, I was sad but driven to fix the world so I could return to my friends at the hideaway. I was CERTAIN I would be returning to them. But I didn't.
I think this might be one of the first times I've ever felt this level of grief over a video game. I thought the curse wouldn't affect me, I thought my vessel would be enough to handle all the powers I absorbed. I'm not sure why, after all the self awareness Clive had of man's imperfections and limitations, I thought he would somehow be different, but he wasn't. Despite not being completely fond of Jill through most of the game, by the end of the story I did quite like her, and seeing her run out of the infirmary after watching the red star's light fade really broke me, and seeing Gav having to discern Clive's death second hand wasn't any easier. Seeing Jill fall to her knees to hug Torgal was when I finally had to wipe my eyes, and accept it myself. It was a painful ending, but I don't think it would have impacted me as hard or effectively any other way. I will play it again and gather the remaining trophies when I'm ready, but for now it was easily one of the top single player gaming experiences I have ever had.
Fuck Quinten though. I hated that guy.
Favourite Fight: Bahamut
Favourite Eikon: Ifrit
Favourite Character: Dion
Visuals: 10/10
Characters: 10/10
Combat: 9/10
World: 9/10
Soundtrack: 10/10
Writing: 9/10
Voice Acting: 10/10
Pacing 7/10
Photo mode: 2/10 (what happened here?)
UX/UI: 9/10
2022
fun cool game everyone should play
beat it again and its still epic