explodingpompoms
"I can't see shit."
I have a few quibbles (why aren't the uncrossed-out mental notes at the top of the list), but I very much enjoyed finding my way to the center of Lorelei, despite not being a puzzle kind of girl. I half-filled my FF7 Rebirth Original Soundtrack Stamp notebook with unintelligible notes, and what more can I say than that.
I have a few quibbles (why aren't the uncrossed-out mental notes at the top of the list), but I very much enjoyed finding my way to the center of Lorelei, despite not being a puzzle kind of girl. I half-filled my FF7 Rebirth Original Soundtrack Stamp notebook with unintelligible notes, and what more can I say than that.
2018
This review contains spoilers
Very clever use of limited mechanics to create meaning.
For example, the decreasing pieces required to put together a dialogue box felt very accurate to me as a representation of comfort with someone else. And the fight not requiring piecing together the boxes at all by the end showed the other side of that too.
For example, the decreasing pieces required to put together a dialogue box felt very accurate to me as a representation of comfort with someone else. And the fight not requiring piecing together the boxes at all by the end showed the other side of that too.
2024
There were a few times where I was sure the game was going to end, and it didn't - and it was a much more interesting game for continuing.
I don't think I've played a game of this scale that was this specific and personal before. Because of that, in a way, it felt like it held me at arm's length. There was a distance. But it still held me.
I don't think I've played a game of this scale that was this specific and personal before. Because of that, in a way, it felt like it held me at arm's length. There was a distance. But it still held me.
2024
slamming my crucifix on the table Points, points, points, points, points, points!!!
There's a lot to think about with this one, and I'll be thinking about it for a while. It's worth a play for the brilliant performances by the two leading actors alone.
There's a lot to think about with this one, and I'll be thinking about it for a while. It's worth a play for the brilliant performances by the two leading actors alone.
2023
I don't think this was quite the game I expected it to be, but I enjoyed it more as I went along and reoriented myself to it.
I liked the resource-management aspect of the combat, and the characters were all charming. However, there's some pacing issues and stiff writing throughout that dampen the experience. Still glad I played it though!
I liked the resource-management aspect of the combat, and the characters were all charming. However, there's some pacing issues and stiff writing throughout that dampen the experience. Still glad I played it though!
2024
I should have stopped playing this when I stopped enjoying it, but I was too far in at that point.
Story is nothing, characters are basically nothing, I like the concepts of gameplay they're playing with but, in practice, it becomes exhausting. Doesn't help that the menus are such a chore to navigate (and I'm patient with menus!)
It's quite pretty, I like some of the world map challenges, and it scratched that tactics itch in my brain, but ultimately it felt pretty meh on the whole.
Story is nothing, characters are basically nothing, I like the concepts of gameplay they're playing with but, in practice, it becomes exhausting. Doesn't help that the menus are such a chore to navigate (and I'm patient with menus!)
It's quite pretty, I like some of the world map challenges, and it scratched that tactics itch in my brain, but ultimately it felt pretty meh on the whole.
2021
![NieR Re[in]carnation](https://images.igdb.com/igdb/image/upload/t_cover_big/co7bm4.jpg)
Look, it's a gacha game, we've got to penalize it for that, there's no ignoring that blight upon it.
But gosh. Gosh, what a good story. What a good goshdarn story.
But gosh. Gosh, what a good story. What a good goshdarn story.
2018
Gave me big "This Is How You Lose the Time War" energy. If I'd played this before reading that, I'd say it reversed.
I appreciated how my understanding of events grew over three playthroughs both through gaining more context and also just repetition. I was so lost as the start of my Saturn playthrough, but I got it by the end of Pluto's.
One point to note: I would have liked the main secondary characters of each route to be a little more involved in the endings. I was invested in Mercury, Mars, and Europa, you know.
I appreciated how my understanding of events grew over three playthroughs both through gaining more context and also just repetition. I was so lost as the start of my Saturn playthrough, but I got it by the end of Pluto's.
One point to note: I would have liked the main secondary characters of each route to be a little more involved in the endings. I was invested in Mercury, Mars, and Europa, you know.
Unsurprisingly, my feelings on this trilogy as a whole will be shaped by Game 3, and my rankings of the previous two games will probably be affected once this all draws to a close. For now, I think this game fumbles on the execution a little more than Remake, but there's cool ideas in here and the stuff that hits really hits.
If Remake was a good YA book to me, this one has the classic ups and downs of a long-running shonen-type anime, complete with filler arcs (positive).
If Remake was a good YA book to me, this one has the classic ups and downs of a long-running shonen-type anime, complete with filler arcs (positive).
This review contains spoilers
Infinite Wealth is a fun game with a lot of ideas that they don't give themselves enough time to explore. Part of that is the time they waste on absolutely nothing in the middle chapters, and part of that is a structural issue.
Personally, I think it would have made more sense for the campaigns to start separate and then come together for the end. Because particularly Kiryu's final boss has a ton of stuff where it'd be nice for Ichiban to be there.
I still love these characters, and there are strong emotional moments throughout. But I can never forgive giving Chitose her character development haircut off-screen, so.
Shout out to Wang Tou's six-year-old son! I assume we saved him? We forgot him for like forty hours, but he's probably fine.
Personally, I think it would have made more sense for the campaigns to start separate and then come together for the end. Because particularly Kiryu's final boss has a ton of stuff where it'd be nice for Ichiban to be there.
I still love these characters, and there are strong emotional moments throughout. But I can never forgive giving Chitose her character development haircut off-screen, so.
Shout out to Wang Tou's six-year-old son! I assume we saved him? We forgot him for like forty hours, but he's probably fine.
Honestly, just a nice cozy little time. It's not complex, but sometimes you just want to hang out with some weird little dudes. Frog Detective is always the second-best detective in my heart.
This is not a three-star game but a game that oscillates wildly between a one-star and a five-star game. What it does well, it does exceptionally. What it does poorly, it does horrendously. It's very rarely just mediocre.
I played this game around once a week consistently for two years. I cried, I laughed, I sighed in annoyance, I screamed into my hands in frustration. For all its problems, it became a part of my routine. And I'm genuinely looking forward to continuing to the next installment. Just. Maybe after a nice break.
I played this game around once a week consistently for two years. I cried, I laughed, I sighed in annoyance, I screamed into my hands in frustration. For all its problems, it became a part of my routine. And I'm genuinely looking forward to continuing to the next installment. Just. Maybe after a nice break.
It gets an extra half-star just because being on a DS system inherently adds to the charm of a game. Otherwise, it gestures at some really interesting character beats, but there's so much fluff in between that it's hard to fully appreciate what it's doing. The Perfect Chronology stuff mostly feels tacked on too. And yet it's surprisingly engaging despite all that!
2023
The thing I really wanted more games to take from Death Stranding was the intentionality and complexity of simple movements. Jusant takes the smart direction of applying that to climbing, making every new platform feel like a true achievement.
2023
Moment to moment there's nothing else like this out there, but some inconsistencies and extraneous bits hold back the overall package. Still well worth a play. I wish everyone better skateboarding abilities than I have.