Maria Renard could absolutely DESTROY Alucard in a fight

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NEVER get between a Jedi and his 23 unlockable ponchos!!!

Somewhat charming, if you don't actually have to spend any real world money for continues.

Kick! Punch! It's all in the mind!
If you wanna test me, I'm sure you'll find-
the things I'll teach ya is sure to beat ya!
Nevertheless, you'll get a lesson from teacher now!

Unreasonably cool, like a LACMA exhibit curated by grungehouse phantoms. I have a feeling I'll be revisiting this a ton throughout the year.

Further proof that Diddy Kong is a gosh dang champ

2018

This was nice! I was coincidentally going through some grief of my own when I decided to sit down and play this, and I found it to be a pretty cathartic experience. My only complaint is that a lot of the puzzles and platforming felt like they got in the way of the story, which I was much more invested in. (I am an animator and filmmaker, so I am slightly biased in this regard.)

I think its neat that what unites the ragtag heroes of Final Fantasy VII is a desire to fight back against both ecological disaster and the forces that enable it. Even if the polygons now look funny, Final Fantasy made such a seamless transition into science fantasy and cyberpunk here, that this game became the cultural face of the JRPG for nearly two decades. The only thing I feel weakens the experience, is that the world outside of Midgar falls short of capturing the majesty and intrigue of the first five hours of the game. But honestly though, what a first five hours!

Fun Fact: If you play this game backwards, you'll become the JVGN (The Joyous Video Game Nerd)

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Shadow of the Colossus (2005) was found dead in a ditch

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Final Fantasy VI (1994) > Joker (2019)

You never forget your first.

What if a bunch of masters at the height of their creative power all convened on one single project, and that project was a JRPG from the 90's