Unfortunately putting this one down. My star rating isn't really all that relevant here because my inability to really get into this isn't indicative of the game's quality, but of my own personal tastes. I've been playing this in short bursts since it came out and it's really just not grabbing me. I can't play it for more than 45-60 minutes at a time without wanting to do something else. The narrative seems really cool so far, but I'm starting to understand where I fit in with this series. I loved Yakuza: Like a Dragon, way more than I was expecting to. I've played a little bit of the original Yakuza (on PS2), a little bit of Yakuza 0, a little bit of Yakuza 3 and now with this I'm realizing that I'm the new fan RGG was targeting with the changes made in Like a Dragon. I like so much about this series. The contrast between serious and zany storytelling. The sidequests. The writing. However, I'm just not a fan of the staple gameplay.

A podcaster I listen to mentioned that he felt the gameplay was really stale for 2023 standards and I agree. It's just not captivating me at all. I've hit a point in the main story where I have to grind mini-sidequests to progress and I am feeling the grind. I did a ton of these in Yakuza: Like a Dragon. I did a lot of these in Like a Dragon: Ishin earlier this year. I don't have it in me to do these right now.

I'd really like to pick this back up some day and see the story through. I'd really like to go back and beat all the previous entries I haven't played before. But if I'm being realistic, I just don't know that these Like a Dragon games are for me. However, I can't wait for Infinite Wealth.

Completed via Mega Man Legacy Collection on PS4.

I was born in thew early 90s, and exposed to video games since before I could talk, thanks to having an older brother. We had an NES in the house, which I would play Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt on, but that was really the extent of it. The reason for that is we also had a Super Nintendo and a Sega Genesis, and to me those were much prettier, shinier toys.

I know how widely acclaimed the Mega Man NES titles are, but my first exposure to the franchise was Mega Man X on SNES, and that ends up being the measuring stick that I compare any and all Mega Man titles to. The graphics, gameplay, enemy and level design in that game are all top notch, if you ask me. Starting off with Mega Man X was a blessing and a curse, because going back to these older titles is a bit more difficult for me.

That's not to say I can't get into them. I think the ones I've played are fun! This one included. It's unfair to compare graphics to Mega Man X, but I think in just about every way Mega Man 2's mechanics and level design are improved in X. It means that I can play these and enjoy them but not as much. That's probably just a me problem. If I played these games before moving onto the SNES then perhaps I'd think differently.

Overall it's a good game. Very good, in fact, and at times ver challenging. Out of all the bosses I probably liked Quick Man the most. For no other reason than I think he's cool.

So I 'beat' this game after playing it for a few days but fill disclosure, I only played through it once and the game wants you to play through it again to fully experience it. So my thoughts on this game do not represent a thorough experience with it but I played it for enough time to have some thoughts.

I liked it! The basic mechanics are fun. It's incredibly Castlevania inspired if you couldn't tell. I liked playing as Shinobu a lot because having a gun in a game like this is a fun way to spice up the formula. I like the art, particularly with some of the bosses. It's a shorter game that helped get me out of a month-long gaming hiatus and a good time killer until Final Fantasy XVI comes out.

The map system is a little pointlessly archaic. You can only view it when you engage with fast travel and you can only fast travel at the beginning of each stage, which was a bummer. I have to be honest, I wasn't really inspired to go completionist with this one. I did not use a guide and I missed every secret area in every level. Oops!

Overall a good time with some flaws that I wouldn't completely recommend but I also wouldn't advise against!

There's a lot of things I like about Final Fantasy II but they won't really outweigh the frustrating parts. The game's story is pretty decent, a definite step up from the first one. It introduces having the protagonists be actual characters rather than just blank slates. The learning system is...interesting. I could see why they thought it would be an alright design decision back in the NES days but its not something that holds up at all. The leveling is easily my least favorite in the entire series so far. I'm really not sure why it is the way it is but it helps give the game an identity.

I still liked it but I don't see this as a FF title I'll revisit any time soon.

Platinum Trophy #130
Platinum #6 of 2023

I enjoyed my time with this cute little game. It has really nice pixel art, some cool characters, an interesting story and there are many cats and other animals you can pet along the way. What's not to like? It's basically an adventure game, with puzzles and QTE events to progress throughout the game. It has cool environments and a lot of charm. If it sounds like you'd be into this game, then I recommend it.

Side note, this is the third game in the past few months that I've missed out on the platinum trophy because I missed a stupid collectible. I follow guides but somehow I end up missing something cuz I am a dummy. It's all starting to make me feel jaded on trophies in general.

Anyhow, fun game!

(EDIT: I went back and played through a second time and got the platinum. I was almost defeated but NOT THIS TIME. ^_^)

Platinum Trophy #127
Platinum #3 of 2023

A fine time with moments of really engaging gameplay and even strategical elements to its combat. I liked their introduction of weapons and its upgrade system, I never felt overwhelmed learning new mechanics which is good. I mainly use the rifle which I felt had an annoying reload that clashed with its traversal system. Your character is slow and clunky so when your reload is that too and enemies are firing on all cylinders, it can be a juggle to avoid damage and reload in a timely fashion. I get that it adds challenge but I just found it annoying.

I love stories in games but if I’m being honest I tuned out of this one pretty early on. It’s cool that it embraced what it was but after a certain point it was the gameplay that kept me in this experience. Still I commend it for not taking itself seriously, it fits with the tone it established.

There are puzzles in this game but none of them are frustrating, difficult or stick around long enough to slow down the gameplay (I’m looking at you, Ragnarok) so this was a nice change of pace for me.

All in all this is a good game, and if it came out during the PS2 era (which is what it harkens back to) then maybe it would be 4 stars. I’d recommend it picking it up on a sale.

Final Fantasy XVI recognizes Final Fantasy IV as the GOAT, as everyone should.

Alright, it took me a while to get through this game, and throughout it I had so many thoughts, impressions and the like that changed a bit over time. At the end of the day, I don't believe this is top-tier Final Fantasy, though it is filled with some top-tier moments. The game unfortunately does not balance the high highs of this game very well and the result is a game I really enjoyed, but do not completely love.

First and foremost, I'm of two minds with the combat. I believe there are moments where it's really fun to play and moments where it's a bit of a slog. I actually credit the trophy list with really getting me to explore many variations of the combat, thus opening it up to me an interesting way. But I can't pretend that I don't feel like I permanently damaged some controllers with how often I mashed the square button throughout this game (I'm exaggerating, but it was a lot). In particular, this game largely has wonderful boss fights, but some annoying in-betweens. Fighting a badass boss with a huge health gauge? Alright, sure. Fighting big dudes with stagger gauges amongst random hordes of enemies for the sake of prolonging the gameplay? Not so much.

As far as the narrative goes...unfortunately, I just wasn't that invested. I think the voice acting is really well done, I think the active time lore and ways to dig into the story are really cool features, but I got kind of bored with it. I think conversations with NPCs are largely too long, and that goes for main quest, side quests, and pretty much everything else. I think a lot of the side quests are very basic in their design, and frustrating in other ways. How many times was an objective 'go talk to this person' then 'go talk to that person' then 'go back and talk to that person'. It was a little too much.

That being said, the pure spectacle of the big moments in this game are admirable and take the game up a notch, along with the boss fights. I just wish the rest of the game held up as well for me. I debated giving this 3.5 stars or 4, and ultimately I went with 4 because I did enjoy a lot of my time with it, but I'm happy to be done with the main game. I'll play the DLC next but I won't go for the platinum, at least not right now. Playing through the game a second time and reaching an additional 30-40 levels sounds like a slog.

It's a little tough to completely judge this version of the game due to its stark differences to the original version, in regards to both its visuals and its quality of life elements. I would imagine this version is a lot better than the original, thus making it harder to go back to.

As it stands, its a very good game, obviously having laid the foundation for the definitive JRPG series. I enjoyed my time with it quite a bit but I know that after a certain point, the franchise only gets better from here. So when comparing to the likes of 4 and 6 and beyond, it pales a bit in comparison especially when there really isn't a focus on narrative.

Still it was a lot of fun to play this with much better graphics and settings. Onto Final Fantasy II!

Platinum Trophy #129
Platinum #5 of 2023

Wow this was hard. Full disclosure, I completed this on SNES via Nintendo Switch and I’m not sure how I would’ve done it without the rewind feature!

Overall I’m glad I saw this through because the platforming is fun. I remember watching gameplay of Donkey Kong Country 2 at a neighbor kid’s house a long, long time ago and remember thinking it looked so cool. I’m looking forward to getting to that one.

Overall I enjoyed my time with this one and there’s not too much to be said other than I didn’t quite love it though I appreciate it for what it is.

I was so excited to hear that this was going to be day one on Game Pass AND Playstation Plus. I appreciate the choice, but I'm gonna go where I can pop trophies.

I had a great time playing Sea of Stars, but I do think elements of it hold it back from true greatness. I think the writing is hit or miss, where times it has me laughing and other times it has me wanting to skip to just get it over with. Story isn't everything in a JRPG, but it usually becomes the main hook for me. This story is one that kind of goes back and forth for me. There are moments of intrigue in the overall plot but times where I wasn't fully invested. In 2023, I also expected a better travel system than the one we got here. It provided some cool animations, but reminded me a bit of God of War (2018) in that they relied too heavily on the reality of the game and not enough on the player. However, phenomenal fast travel is unlocked after beating the main story.

There's plenty to like here. I think the combat is genuinely fun, probably the best part of the game and it didn't get old for the 30 or so hours I put into it. It really has creative touches on turn-based combat. Garl is a great character. Some of the soundtrack is absolutely amazing. Oh and shoutout to my boy, Keenathan.

But towards the end of my playthrough, the game started losing me a bit for some reason. I think its an appropriate length, but the story felt a little more dragged out than it needed to be. And while Sabotage has made two great games now, I prefer The Messenger.

I have a strange relationship with Dead Space. I missed the original when it came out, because at the time I was in high school, I had no money, and my parents had no money. When I finally managed to get an Xbox 360, it red-ringed on me too many times and as a result, I came to this generation late, only really starting in 2012 when I got my PS3. I went back to the original Dead Space originally in 2015, played a little and stopped. I went back in 2016, played a little and stopped. I went back one more time in 2017, played a little more and ultimately stopped.

Why? I'm not exactly sure. I can tell you then and I can tell you especially now, having beaten this remake from start to finish that for reasons I may need a therapist to truly understand, I don't love this game.

I like the atmosphere. I like the limb mechanic. I like stasis. I love survival horror. What's missing? I guess for me, it's hard not to look at the Resident Evil franchise, specifically Capcom's modern output, but really Resident Evil 4 (2005) and on. They play similarly, third-person, over the shoulder, action emphasis with horror, slow-ish movement, creature enemies. Yet I find Resident Evil way more compelling. I'm not comparing the two and definitely stating that one is better than the other; it's all subjective, anyway. But I think analyzing what I like more about Resident Evil educates myself on what I don't like as much about Dead Space.

For starters, I've heard that the Ishimura is this great setting and a character unto itself, and I....disagree? What I did like was some of the environmental storytelling, specifically with the in-game cult (that's also really the only part of the story I found interesting). There was also additional story littered throughout the game but delivered in different ways, like text or audio or video logs, but I couldn't be bothered to care about any of it. And I tried. I even did some side mission content but didn't care about any of that either. With Resident Evil, the characters feel a bit more established, especially the protagonists. I don't feel attached to Isaac at all in this. Resident Evil has diary pages and the like that help flesh out some story, but a lot of it is presented to you in more straight forward fashion. Here, this game felt like its story was throwing as many setbacks as humanly possible (to a nearly laughable degree) to your character and flooding you with enemies to elongate your time with the game. And that's not a completely bad thing because a lot of the gameplay is fun. But it gets tiring.

My criticisms aside, I don't want to give the game lower than a 3.5 because I did have fun with it, and I recognize that it's a good game, but I also recognize that it's just not one that I really connect with. And that's probably just a me thing.

Other reviewers have said this but I'll reiterate: Alan Wake II feels like the culmination of everything Remedy has made thus far and the true realization of their skill and potential.

I've always found them to be a really interesting developer, but Alan Wake II proves that they're a high-caliber player worth paying close attention to. Reviews are also quick to point out that this is very Twin Peaks inspired and as a massive Twin Peaks fan, the inspiration has been understated. The amount of parallels I was able to draw between the two is pretty staggering; but I don't find this a fault. Twin Peaks: The Return is the most ambitious, artistic, surreal piece of television ever made. Alan Wake II borrows from it in a lot of the right ways, but it doesn't feel like a Lynchian rip-off. There's also some sprinkles of Kojima in here, too. But ultimately, I must put some respect on Sam Lake's name. He's carrying the torch here tremendously.

It's not the story beats in the narrative, its the way its told. I won't go into details, but this game has a wonderful flourish about it. I've always admired Remedy's admiration for mixing live-action footage in with in-game cinematics and gameplay and since Quantum Break especially, they've doubled down on that and they're better for it. This game has great atmosphere, and several jump-scare moments that are more fun than pretty much any other ones I can think of.

The only reason this doesn't get 5 stars from me is the puzzle solving in the gameplay. I'm not saying it's bad or terribly complicated, only that it slowed me down a bit and got just a little monotonous after a little while. I mostly felt it during the sections where I played as Alan Wake. The light mechanic is really cool but made me feel really dumb sometimes. I'll spend ten minutes going where the fuck do I go??? only to feel stupid once I figure it out. Probably more of a me thing than anything. I've heard lots of complaints about movement speed, and it seems pretty on-par with modern Resident Evil to me. I suppose there was a little more time devoted to walking around maps than there could've been. There is a fast travel method via your car but sometimes being across the entire map from it and having to trek your way back to it wasn't fun.

All that being said, Alan Wake II is must play if you like survival horror.

Platinum Trophy #136
Platinum #12 of 2023

This is easily one of the best games of 2023, one of the best superhero games ever made and probably the best game Insomniac has made thus far. Each Spider-Man title from them I've found to be better than the last, as they continue to iron out their formula and improve on any problems I've had with previous installments. That's not to say that the game isn't without its flaws. I think the story doesn't really pick up for a little while. I think the game starts out incredibly strong, dips a bit and then really ramps up in the second half. I'm glad that all the science puzzles are skippable again because they're still not interesting. Playing as Peter or as Miles, walking around or riding a bike is not fun. I get needing to spend time with these characters outside of their costumes is necessary for the story, but I'm not convinced all that just couldn't have been cutscenes.

All that being said, web swinging has never felt better. It's so good that I didn't even use the amazing fast-travel until late in the game. Combat is tons of fun. The boss fights are better. I found the second half of the narrative incredibly strong and I love what Insomniac did with some of these characters. Shoutout to Yuri Lowenthal for an amazing performance.

Platinum Trophy #137
Platinum #13 of 2023

I'm not going to rate this simply because I did not put enough time into it to give it an honest rating. But I can say that unfortunately the Overdrive combat system is not clicking with me. I know it's an added strategic mechanic to the combat but I feel it's limiting how I want to play the game, and I'm just not feeling it.

I'm reminded of CrossCode, a game with high praise from players and critics. On paper, it should have been right up my alley. Beautiful pixel art, inspired by the JRPG classics I grew up with it. But I did not like the puzzles in it, at all, to the point where it dragged down my inspiration to see it through.

I like the art and environments of Chained Echoes. Story and characters seem okay so far, but I wouldn't say I'm attached to any of it. Time is precious and I'm going to move on to something else that I'd like to play (maybe I'll finish one of the 8 other games I'm currently playing).

I'm gonna shelve this indefinitely and maybe I'll revisit it someday...but it's unlikely.

"The mitochondria is taking over the nucleus!"

If I had a dime for every time someone in this game said mitochondria.

Parasite Eve is an obviously dated but nevertheless very fun time. I can see why fans have clamored for this series to return in some form. There's a lot of great things about it. I think the story is fun, the characters are a bit over the top but also fun, the RPG mechanics are interesting, the soundtrack is great. The cutscenes are pretty top notch as far as PS1 games go. I found the focus on inventory management interesting and how it levels up as you do.

However, a few things hold this back from a higher rating. Movement speed is a little too slow for my taste, especially when the camera angle far away and you're crossing a room. It's not tank controls like Resident Evil, but even those games had sprint buttons so that would've been appreciated here. Some of the systems in the game I felt weren't really explained very well. I thought the trading cards were all but useless until they weren't. The menus are a little clunky but work fine enough. I couldn't have imagined playing this without a guide, but that goes for a lot of games from this time. Also, there were times were this was pretty challenging for me, but that's more of a me problem.

This definitely deserves a remake or follow-up of some sort. Imagining this with more modern game design sounds like a real treat.