''Everyone knew that. I'm...Cloud. The master of my own illusionary world. But I can't remain trapped in an illusion anymore... I'm going to live my life without pretending''

FF7 was a unique experience, one that I'm still trying to wrap my head around & my thoughts & feelings on it are still scattered throughout, disconnected & lost in the endless cosmos of my mind, but maybe it's because of that disjointed state of mind that I connected with Cloud's identity crisis on such a sacred level. It almost felt eerie but to put it into words, the part of Cloud that I saw myself in the most was his inability to face the truth in his identity, strive to discover who he is, & was comfortable with indulging in the idea that he is someone he isn't at all to escape his conflicts & abandoned the effort to uncover the truth since it maybe too painful. The idea that maybe if I was someone else, maybe if I started anew as an entirely different person who's less pathetic and less weaker with more to offer & was strong enough to help others by any means, I'd get the love and the warmth of acceptance by everyone that I yearn for, and I wouldn't feel so alien & disconnected. Such a faulty, twisted desire has been immortalized in my mind, and living in an environment where I'm always put down to praise someone else only strengthened it more. But it's exactly because of that that I was able to wholeheartedly relate to FF7's usage of the concept of memories as a backdrop for Cloud's character conclusion. Memories are the proof that we exist in both the real world and in people's eyes. No matter how fiercely we struggle to believe that our existence isn't worthless, they are the proof that we existed somewhere, & have impacted someone in someway. But it's exactly because of that that we need connections with others & loved ones to make memories with. It's a simple message, but the idea that as long as there are people with you, who have fond memories of you and vice versa, you'll always be able to exist & achieve self discovery, strikes a deep chord in my soul since I always dread the truth of my identity and how much it can crush me. It's why Cloud inspires me so much, because if someone who had a large portion of his life be artificially made & live his life as a fake puppet for so long, can achieve solace and make fond memories with people he loves and is loved by after a cruel journey of self discovery, then maybe I can find something fond & genuine too

Tales of Arise is a criticism of the narrow human perspective & a love letter to all who struggle with their individuality in the form of a video game


‘’Only living for the sake of dying is no better than being a slave’’

This quote sums up what Arise covers thematically & its a story that’s best described as eloquent & unbiased in its portrayal of slavery, racism, & how it uses its premise as a backbone to tell a tale about what it means to be a slave & what it means to be free figuratively. Are we free of slavery if we aren’t wrapped in chains, being ordered around, & tortured over the slightest mistakes? When can we tell if we’re free or chained down by worldly trivial desires? The answer is simple: The change that we desire & aspire to achieve, can only happen within us & we are the ones who decide that ourselves. Instead of staying in our comfort zone, doing what’s expected of us, & roaming randomly in life, making an effort to achieve self discovery, no matter how scary the truth is, is what decides the value of our lives & whether we are chained by this phenomenon called ‘’destiny’’. This message is very simple on paper, but the way Arise presents it is nothing short of special since it actively goes out of its way to show the hardships of trying to break free of the chains of destiny that binds us as much as it shows how rewarding it is to free your heart of its darkness by achieving connections & holding onto them. There are various plot points in the story that show how hard achieving connections is & how narrow minded the human perspective is even from the mcs’ pov & how as a consequence of that, hatred & conflict are everlasting. Alphen fights the lords not knowing that each of them hold a philosophy and much like him, are fighting for people they cherish & ideals they champion. That sort of contrast & the exploration of said contrast creates an intricate narrative that forces the cast into a corner, causing them to question what they initially believed to be right, & undergo a change in their individuality to cope with the challenges presented against them. Dohalim accepts that self loathing may be the easy way to go about your conflicts, but facing said conflicts head on & seeking the truth is far more rewarding than it could ever be. Law realizes that his purpose in life & his Father’s dying words both of which he struggled to uncover so much, could be solved by merely finding someone you can love & taking care of them, & chose to be his own person instead of endlessly agonising over becoming what his father wanted him to become. Rinwell, upon seeing what hatred caused dedyme to do to his own people, realized that indulging in hatred will only breed more and more hatred, until she herself gets consumed by it, & it’s better to walk down the path of life carrying your hatred and using it as your strength instead of allowing it to define you. The best showcase of the theme of individuality & connection mentioned before is none other than Alphen’s dynamic with Shionne, & how they both pulled each other out of their darkness & brightened each others’ lives. The deepest, most fragile, & vulnerable bonds we have, are the ones that cut us the most & cause us the most amount of pain cause of how loosely tied they are to our identity, but it’s because of that, that we risk everything we have to protect them & bottle up our emotions to keep them from cracking down. That kind of bond, that kind of intimacy, is what’s shared between Shionne and Alphen. A bond formed through acceptance, undiluted love, & loyal affection, results in what’s one of the most human representations of connection & how we view them. Connections & love are necessities in our lives, we form bonds to feel complete, to feel needed, to feel loved & wanted, & to feel understood. But at the same time, losing that bond means losing what gave us hope & the ability to live, so the idea of attaining said love, only to lose it, drives us insane with trust issues & anxieties. We wish bonds weren’t needed so we wouldn’t have to feel so regretful about having them & the possibility of losing them, or not attaining them at all. It’s a complex, intricate emotion, yet it’s perfectly captured in this scene where Shionne, a character who’s been closed off & disconnected the entire series, buckles up under the weight of her regrets & sadness over her fleeting bonds. Breaking down in tears, Shionne confesses her rawest feelings with the honest belief that they’ll be rejected, only for Alphen to give her what she deeply yearned for yet rejected cause of a lack of a sense of self worth. This scene impacted me on a personal level & left me speechless since I, on a day to day basis, struggle with the same thoughts, regrets, & depression, so to see such an insecure part of myself represented in media…it breaks my heart but gives me a sense of comfort. Ironically enough, Alphen never truly understood the weight of being able to hold Shionne's hands & how much it means to both of them until he regained his sense. of pain, which puts an emphasis on the idea of connection & communication. It's strange how in a game about slavery, i felt a sensation of liberty & inner peace that I yearned for for so long, & it was fulfilling

ive been a fan of .hack//SIGN since i was around 12 but i never played the games because i didn't really expect it to be much like it, plus i had heard a lot of criticism of these games as not really using the mmo conceit for any real purposeful ends. id definitely say those criticisms were unfounded at least to me, the desktop-login-game-and-back loop really makes use of the conceit on really interesting narrative structural levels, which is really helped by how pickup/putdown the core loop is, dungeons are 10-20 minutes long and I never had to grind save once before the last dungeon because the level spike was huge but not unmanageable. aesthetics are gorgeous, the music is good and makes sense for both the in-game and desktop ambiances but it's definitely not on the level of SIGN which is Yuki Kajiura's best work imo, but that's fine, this is going for a different texture, less introspective and more social, which is really reflected in how different Kite is from Tsukasa as protagonists, both work in terms of what the texts are doing. it's good. makes a strong case for the three further games.

Man, what an improvement this game is. Every single flaw the first game had is fixed here while improving on the skeleton of the first game. Characters now have their own individual skill bar instead of tying everything to a universal XP bar, allowing maps to be cleared far faster. The maps themselves completely remove the enemy bloat of the first game. Only the last two maps in the game dip the enemy count into the 40s but by then, you've got enough equipment and upgraded each character enough time, along with multiple skill applications, that high enemy counts become a non-issue. And most characters unlock their AoE multi-attacks long before you reach the late game, allowing you to weaken or clear large groups of enemies, significantly reducing the amount of time it takes to clear a map. The improvements to the gameplay here are so great that i was able to clear multiple maps in one sitting, something that became impossible starting in the mid-game of the first game.

The presentation of the game has also seen a major buff. The sprites are the usual top-tier quality of course but the animated cut-ins for specials and assists just so neat to look at now. The UI is improved, giving you a much clearer picture of what's going on. Really, this whole game's an improvement.

The story is just dumb fun like last time and that's fine, i didn't come into this game expecting Shakesphere. Though my experience with most of these characters is still limited to just these crossovers, i was still able to enjoy them and their interactions although no doubt i would enjoy it a lot more if i had played those games. Speaking of characters, there seems to be a trend for Monolith Soft characters to improve when in a crossover. T-elos saw a massive improvement in her crossover appearances compared to her original appearance in Xenosaga Episode III. And now, Fiora has gotten a huge boost to her character and the main reason is because Shulk is not in this game, and so it gives her more freedom for her character. Seriously, i feel like there's a big gap between how Fiora is written in this game vs how she's written in Xenoblade Chronicles.

The music for the most part is just cheating because it's just remixes from existing songs. Not all of them are as good as their original versions but oh well, what are you to do.

Admittedly, this game does occasionally get repetitive at times and it's pretty long so that might definitely be an issue for some. But as long as it's not the only game your playing, the repetitiveness shouldn't sting too much. Besides, the very cool spritework and attack animations this game has can distract you from the occasional repetitiveness.

This game has given me even more appreciation for Monolith Soft, because if there's one thing they are consistently good at, it's improving tremendously with sequels. Even on the very rare times they make a bad game, the chances are high that should a sequel ever come, it'll be a tremendous improvement and it just shows how good Monolith Soft is at improving.

The fact that YIIK and Christine Love games are shilled in VA-11 Hall-A at the behest of the publisher would nominally be a terrible flaw in any other game, but in VA-11's case as a very tongue-in-cheek but incredibly sincere look at what it's like to be an everyday civilian in a cyberpunk dystopia, there's something brutally and morbidly real about this love-letter to cyberpunk's heart and soul being tainted by being forced to promote artistically hollow products.

VA-11 Hall-A is a game about knowing where home is, and how important that is in a cruel and violent world. "Comfy" is a word that gets thrown around a lot to describe it (including in the game itself, before a playthrough!) and in more ways than one there's not a better way to describe it.

I must preface my thoughts on this game with the fact that I got it for £3 and I have very minimal experience with both Front Mission, which I've played three maps of and enjoyed but haven't had the time to return to, and Armored Core, which I have spent hours on the web page for a used game shop's listing of Armored Core 4 and never actually buying it.

In a certain way this is a predecessor to Balan Wonderworld, another of Square Enix's attempts to use the cache of established creator(s) to sell a game they gave ten bucks and some duct tape to make. Unlike Balan Wonderworld though, there is a certain genius to Left Alive and I cannot bring myself to actually dislike it.

This is a game about running. Running from the past, running in the present, running to the future. It's not a stealth or survival game, ultimately, it's a game about running as bullets rain down on you to the next save point or mission marker. And when it works, it works extremely well. There is an unhinged chaos to the game that absolutely reflects the state of Novo Slava as pure hopelessness accentuates every pacing step Mikhail, Olga and Leo takes. When this unhinged chaos doesn't work, however, the bones of its unpolished systems get stuck in your throat and suffocates any love you would end up growing towards it.

The narrative is sometimes badly and even brokenly told but there is a genuine humanity to some of its characters, even minor characters like Sofia. Ivan, who speaks entirely in baseball metaphors, has a daring last stand against Mikhail, the two of them piloting the Wanzers that are the crux of the narrative, in one of the most exhilarating boss battles I've seen in a game this conventionally "bad". I've heard very good things about the writing in Front Mission, especially Front Mission 2, and I could glimpse that potential in this game's setting and worldbuilding.

Again, I simply cannot bring myself to dislike this game. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who cannot stomach games that aren't polished, or for those offended by Front Mission's corpse being reanimated like this, but for anyone who desires a game that's as chaotically designed as its besieged city in winter setting, Left Alive is an interesting /thing/.

Behind the wackiness of Itoi’s amusing writing is an authenticity which reflects in the eyes of the game's audience, the adolescents. Adolescents who may not fully cognize the world in which they inhabit, their worlds exist simply as impressions of reality, and its Earthbound which exists as physical representation of this impression. Displaying the journey of one such child submerged in a satirical interpretation of western society, maturing through their faceoff with the never ending cycle of corruption we face, and finding the solace that the series’ titular figure endeavors to protect, our Home.

Yet the above paragraph is really only a wish of mine, a wish that Earthbound had really focused on telling that tale, rather than playing up its quirkiness to the extreme. It’s around the halfway mark of the game where its focus begins to fall apart as our slightly humorous adventure through the suburbs and urban streets of Eagland then suddenly shifts to a world round journey of what can only be described as mind numbing insanity. The many gameplay systems of Earthbound such as its combat, leveling, item selection/management, and even menuing simply don’t even hit the base mark necessary for me to casually enjoy the game in any manner. Once you combine that with multiple of what have to be some of the worst designed dungeons I’ve ever played in any RPG, if there were no access to save states or speedup tools my score for this game would’ve had to be one point lower.

Despite partially reclaiming its focus as the game approaches its end through the Magicant section (an area actually acts as a great cohesion point for the narrative) and final boss fight, it isn’t enough to recover from just how mired my experience was for a large portion of it. Regardless, its ambitions didn’t pass me unnoticed, and its legacy is one that I really appreciate as a fan of many of the games which now carry on its many highlights. I look forward to playing Mother 3 in the near future and seeing if Itoi will truly be able to capture me in the way it already has many of you on this site.

Metroid Dread. Wow, what a game. To start things off, I had never touched a Metroid game outside of a bit of NES, Super, and Prime 1. This game was by far more fun than those 3 by a lot. It sets a spectacular standard for an expansive genre and allows itself to spread its wings so freely that it comes off as a very welcoming game right from the get go. I won’t be talking much about the story and more so the gameplay instead.

This Metroidvania definitely surpasses its predecessors in many aspects. It allows you to get a grip of everything going on right from the start, it makes you want to play it for hours on end because of the fact that it's immensely engaging through its interactive environment and an easily explorable nature that makes backtracking not as much of a pain as you think it is, yet still retaining a classic Metroidvania feel that could honestly age as well as something such as Symphony of the Night in about 10 years time. The bosses and enemies you find along the way are fairly balanced, and anytime you die or are frustrated with something in this game, 99.9% of the time it’s on yourself, so don’t hate the game this time and hate the player. You will definitely learn from every battle you come across and use your new knowledge to your advantage in every fight, nothing in this game should be difficult except for your own limitations.

I was personally hesitant on spending 80$ (CAD) on this game due to its length, we’re so used to JRPG’s feeding us with hours of content that this game didn’t seem worth it for me since I thought I’d beat it in a weekend and never touch it again, I was wrong. It took me about 10 hours over the span of two weeks or so as I played with mostly any free time I had. This game is absolutely worth the price, and if you’re hesitant on picking it up, I’d definitely say just go for it.
9/10 for me and game of the year so far.

It isn't the full improvement over the original that I'm hoping will happen, but the Halo series is truly beginning to mold into its own identity and something special as it begins to solidify itself as the gaming icon we see it as today.

From the introduction of the cinematic cutscenes to the larger variety of locations, you can still feel the actiony science-fiction war epic the original was aiming for, but now with even more to love about the universe. The breaking of factions as the Covenant aims to complete its mission of the Great Journey once again as Master Chief is left to orchestrate their destruction offers the same exhilarating feel of Combat Evolved with more to learn and appreciate. It's far less conclusive than CE (The ending in particular I feel pretty lukewarm on) but it gives us more of a reason to completely grasp every side of the picture. While character-wise the Arbiter and his missions weren't as interesting as MC's, the change in pace and objective offered a more introspective look into the Covenant and peaked my interest of the internal battle brewing between the Brutes and the Elites. Seeing it all interwoven so neatly until the last moment was brilliant and I really can't wait to see how the adventure develops further into the future.

The gunplay was already so well constructed in CE, it's no secret, even to Bungie. From the bigger additions like new vehicles and duel wielding to the smaller things like the improved health gauge system and shorter level times, it's the same satisfying combat but even more fast and fluid. Duel wielding two guns and immediately throwing a bomb to bouncing back and taking out a long rifle, it is unbelievable both how well the game holds up and how much of a badass you feel. One thing I loved about CE was how the science fiction and more realistic-war aspects complimented themselves so well, and it could not be more true here even as this grow more experimental.

It's clear that there's still more to improve though. The stronger variety in locations was a pleasant surprise, but the confusing sense of progression in certain levels, broken checkpoint system, and onslaught of repetitive corridors and waves are unfortunately still present. It's an improvement compared to CE but with how progressive everything else feels, it stands out as outdated and the weak link.

At the hands of the grand vastness of outer space, there is no end to war. Master Chief's struggle yet style continues to carry him forward to epic proportions, with even more potential from here on out. I can't wait to continue along the series playthrough.