fusrofabulous
3 reviews liked by fusrofabulous
Palworld
2024
A pretty bog-standard Survival Crafting game that crashes every 20 minutes with anime critters tacked on for the crowd who wants a "Mature Pokemon game". If you've played Ark or The Forest or Conan: Exiles or Grounded or Valheim or any of the other 5000 games out there like it you've played this. The novelty of having the Pals around the world wears off pretty quick as you spend time chopping down trees to build fires and foraging for berries to refill that hunger meter. The Pals have some cute/interesting designs sometimes but the way you use them in the world isn't comparable to a
Pokemon game. Just a lazy asset flip survival craft game like Craftopia was
Pokemon game. Just a lazy asset flip survival craft game like Craftopia was
A polished up PS3 port that is an alright time.
Pretty soon after I got into the Yakuza franchise (thanks to the PC Port of 0 in 2018) I learned that there were two spinoff games that take place in the real historical japanese past, with characters from the franchise filling in like actors of real historical figures. Immediately I wanted these two games to come out in the west. Reading up on them some people consider Ishin to be one of the best stories done in the franchise. But hey now that one of them is here (Hoping for Kenzan to get some kind of re-release as that one sounds more interesting from a narrative standpoint, Miyamoto Musashi was quite the character) does it live up to the hype? Eh, sorta.
Immediately I just viewed this game as all my friends from Kamurocho putting on a play, it's much funnier that way and I don't know enough Japanese history to be able to draw comparisons to the actual accounts of this period so anything crazy there is lost on me. It's fun seeing which characters appear and what roles they have in the story. I'm aware that a decent portion were recast to give parts to characters from Y:LaD and Y0, not a huge loss as I don't think I remember most of the people replaced when I looked them up. Some of the choices felt odd like Shibusawa being the sworn brother to Kiryu's Sakamoto Ryoma, or Adachi being the head of the Shinsengumi. However on the other end I'm glad that Mine plays a major role in this story as Hijikata who stays a close ally of Sakamoto. I felt that his character was underdeveloped in 3 and had the building blocks of someone who could've really been great. Majima also goes method and is himself even in 1800s japan. My view of it being a play is reinforced by the directors statements on the lack of Kasuga Ichiban being that joining a murderous samurai group would be against his morals. All the historical theming is fun really, I enjoyed the historical renditions of karaoke songs.
The narrative is fine enough, even if its based off of history its also just the usual Yakuza story but with samurai. I wasn't ever wowed or super engrossed with the story but there are some interesting moments and cool creative decisions along the way.
The combat is probably the best it's ever been for the traditional RGG game, even better than Lost Judgment. Each fighting style has its Pros and Cons, it feels necessary to switch between them depending on the situation, and they all feel great to use. It's especially funny to pull out a gun and blast down bandits with a 45 combo like the modern day Kiryu would. Equipment also matters for the first time in the franchise! Even if its tied to a pointlessly in-depth Monster Hunter crafting system that the game really doesn't need with how not varied combat really is. Different weapons have different effects and you can customize your weapons if you really get into it! probably helpful for harder difficulties/side content/Samurai Amon. Not a lot to say about Trooper Cards, I just equipped the celebrity guest ones and forgot about it, used the abilities but didn't worry about the intricacies too much.
On the other end of things this game is so clearly a weird inbetween of a remaster and a remake of a PS3 game. The combat is tightned up, areas are combined, and the visuals look nicer than the Yakuza Remastered Collection BUT the maps are bafflingly laid out+annoying to navigate and the story has the same pacing issues I feel plagued all 3 of the PS3 games with short chapters and rushed developments. I don't have any huge huge complaints but I ust felt underwhelmed with the game by the end. I don't see myself going back and finishing any of the side stuff here either, none of it feels all that compelling to visit.
Not a bad time by any means but it's so average it didn't feel like it was a super necessary play to me. If you want to get into the franchise but see that there's 8, soon to be 9 main games with 2 handheld spinoffs, a zombie what if, 2 samurai spinoffs, a whole side franchise in the same city, and a recently released side story for the main character of the first 7 games and start to feel overwhelmed OR you're on the fence. You can probably skip this or wait for a sale.
Pretty soon after I got into the Yakuza franchise (thanks to the PC Port of 0 in 2018) I learned that there were two spinoff games that take place in the real historical japanese past, with characters from the franchise filling in like actors of real historical figures. Immediately I wanted these two games to come out in the west. Reading up on them some people consider Ishin to be one of the best stories done in the franchise. But hey now that one of them is here (Hoping for Kenzan to get some kind of re-release as that one sounds more interesting from a narrative standpoint, Miyamoto Musashi was quite the character) does it live up to the hype? Eh, sorta.
Immediately I just viewed this game as all my friends from Kamurocho putting on a play, it's much funnier that way and I don't know enough Japanese history to be able to draw comparisons to the actual accounts of this period so anything crazy there is lost on me. It's fun seeing which characters appear and what roles they have in the story. I'm aware that a decent portion were recast to give parts to characters from Y:LaD and Y0, not a huge loss as I don't think I remember most of the people replaced when I looked them up. Some of the choices felt odd like Shibusawa being the sworn brother to Kiryu's Sakamoto Ryoma, or Adachi being the head of the Shinsengumi. However on the other end I'm glad that Mine plays a major role in this story as Hijikata who stays a close ally of Sakamoto. I felt that his character was underdeveloped in 3 and had the building blocks of someone who could've really been great. Majima also goes method and is himself even in 1800s japan. My view of it being a play is reinforced by the directors statements on the lack of Kasuga Ichiban being that joining a murderous samurai group would be against his morals. All the historical theming is fun really, I enjoyed the historical renditions of karaoke songs.
The narrative is fine enough, even if its based off of history its also just the usual Yakuza story but with samurai. I wasn't ever wowed or super engrossed with the story but there are some interesting moments and cool creative decisions along the way.
The combat is probably the best it's ever been for the traditional RGG game, even better than Lost Judgment. Each fighting style has its Pros and Cons, it feels necessary to switch between them depending on the situation, and they all feel great to use. It's especially funny to pull out a gun and blast down bandits with a 45 combo like the modern day Kiryu would. Equipment also matters for the first time in the franchise! Even if its tied to a pointlessly in-depth Monster Hunter crafting system that the game really doesn't need with how not varied combat really is. Different weapons have different effects and you can customize your weapons if you really get into it! probably helpful for harder difficulties/side content/Samurai Amon. Not a lot to say about Trooper Cards, I just equipped the celebrity guest ones and forgot about it, used the abilities but didn't worry about the intricacies too much.
On the other end of things this game is so clearly a weird inbetween of a remaster and a remake of a PS3 game. The combat is tightned up, areas are combined, and the visuals look nicer than the Yakuza Remastered Collection BUT the maps are bafflingly laid out+annoying to navigate and the story has the same pacing issues I feel plagued all 3 of the PS3 games with short chapters and rushed developments. I don't have any huge huge complaints but I ust felt underwhelmed with the game by the end. I don't see myself going back and finishing any of the side stuff here either, none of it feels all that compelling to visit.
Not a bad time by any means but it's so average it didn't feel like it was a super necessary play to me. If you want to get into the franchise but see that there's 8, soon to be 9 main games with 2 handheld spinoffs, a zombie what if, 2 samurai spinoffs, a whole side franchise in the same city, and a recently released side story for the main character of the first 7 games and start to feel overwhelmed OR you're on the fence. You can probably skip this or wait for a sale.
Citizen Sleeper
2022
absolutely whips. incredible design, sound, art, worldbuilding, pacing, and length.
a game that asks the question of what community is to you: is it the body you occupy, is it the world around you? is it your friends you help or simply every life you touch? do the people you love in far away places form that community as well, even those you are incapable of remembering? all of these questions balance on a knife's edge in a world that hates you, one that actively plans for and expects your death. they Necessitate it. in a life and a world where control is so nested in corporations who will never see consequences for their actions or remember that you exist, waking up feels like protest, choosing your own life is the new punk.
a game that asks the question of what community is to you: is it the body you occupy, is it the world around you? is it your friends you help or simply every life you touch? do the people you love in far away places form that community as well, even those you are incapable of remembering? all of these questions balance on a knife's edge in a world that hates you, one that actively plans for and expects your death. they Necessitate it. in a life and a world where control is so nested in corporations who will never see consequences for their actions or remember that you exist, waking up feels like protest, choosing your own life is the new punk.