getbehindmesatan
This is an insanely long game stuffed full of ideas and episodes and characters.
I'm currently about 70-80% through it, I would guess, and while it has been an incredibly interesting experience so far just seeing how far it pushes the RPG Maker engine and experiments with so many different ideas... i am just exhausted.
The game starts off incredibly strong, if formulaic, and then maintains momentum for a while when the world opens up.
But the longer it went on, the more I felt like the main story Fortune Events were just incredibly formulaic, generally having you turn up to somewhere where the bad guys are doing stuff, and then random monsters attack, and things just keep piling up and up. It's a shame, because it has a ton of inventive mini episodes and side quests too, and I think the overall arc is incredibly fascinating... but this game has just broke me. I cannot see myself finishing it in the near future. It's not even that this game is bad in any sense, but I simply can't find the energy to keep going for a game that is not consistently 5 stars.
I also found the combat frustrating and difficult - I love turn-based battles, but so many bosses just feel annoying, and it is so easy to save in a state where the game is unwinnable because you can't grind or recover MP.
But if you can read Japanese I would definitely recommend checking this game out just because of how creative and massive it is. It's a truly impressive feat, even if this ambition is a bit messy at times.
I'm currently about 70-80% through it, I would guess, and while it has been an incredibly interesting experience so far just seeing how far it pushes the RPG Maker engine and experiments with so many different ideas... i am just exhausted.
The game starts off incredibly strong, if formulaic, and then maintains momentum for a while when the world opens up.
But the longer it went on, the more I felt like the main story Fortune Events were just incredibly formulaic, generally having you turn up to somewhere where the bad guys are doing stuff, and then random monsters attack, and things just keep piling up and up. It's a shame, because it has a ton of inventive mini episodes and side quests too, and I think the overall arc is incredibly fascinating... but this game has just broke me. I cannot see myself finishing it in the near future. It's not even that this game is bad in any sense, but I simply can't find the energy to keep going for a game that is not consistently 5 stars.
I also found the combat frustrating and difficult - I love turn-based battles, but so many bosses just feel annoying, and it is so easy to save in a state where the game is unwinnable because you can't grind or recover MP.
But if you can read Japanese I would definitely recommend checking this game out just because of how creative and massive it is. It's a truly impressive feat, even if this ambition is a bit messy at times.
2013
it was ok but i hate france so much
This review contains spoilers
All up a real roller-coaster. The pacing is the weirdest of them all so far imo, but not necessarily bad, but it makes up for it with tons of super raw moments (Rena's tearful confession to her friends, Rika confronting Rena, Keiichi remembering the events of Onikakushi, basically the whole ending sequence and especially the rooftop duel).
I will say though, while in hindsight the big picture of this chapter feels satisfying and makes sense, I found this probably the most annoying to actually read since Onikakushi - I guess because the odd pacing makes you wonder why certain elements are being thrown out and a decent chunk of it does kind've feel like an Onikakushi redux til it finally clicks that this is actually a tragedy-farce.
Also I found some moments didn't really hit right at first until elaboration - like, the flashback where Keiichi shoots a kid in the eye was genuinely disturbing, but the initial framing of 'Keiichi used to menace little kids with a model gun and feels horribly guilty over it' felt a little overdone. It wasn't that the events themselves were absurd, but the framing felt a little vague and undercooked. I guess telling not showing, essentially. And ofc it's fine in the end bc we do get that detail, but it did stand out to me.
I will say though, while in hindsight the big picture of this chapter feels satisfying and makes sense, I found this probably the most annoying to actually read since Onikakushi - I guess because the odd pacing makes you wonder why certain elements are being thrown out and a decent chunk of it does kind've feel like an Onikakushi redux til it finally clicks that this is actually a tragedy-farce.
Also I found some moments didn't really hit right at first until elaboration - like, the flashback where Keiichi shoots a kid in the eye was genuinely disturbing, but the initial framing of 'Keiichi used to menace little kids with a model gun and feels horribly guilty over it' felt a little overdone. It wasn't that the events themselves were absurd, but the framing felt a little vague and undercooked. I guess telling not showing, essentially. And ofc it's fine in the end bc we do get that detail, but it did stand out to me.
2012
it's fun but it also has a weirdly depressing vibe to me
2010
its solid. I'm kindve surprised it has a passionate fanbase bc I don't feel it has that much to it but it's fun
2017
I can respect what this game was going for but I dunno it just left me kindve cold long term. real free thinkers prefer replicant
I was so depressed for like 3 days before I finished this and then the ending was so cathartic. I was also cynical beforehand when I heard it had more cutscenes than any previous expac bc this game is soo addicted to bloat but it was amazing and satisfying almost the whole way through.
2009
Good game with a world that seems kinda generic fantasy with a slight edge to it at first but has just enough of a twist to it to be really interesting. The approach to religion is especially interesting, I think, in that it religion isnt treated as just Lore but as a worldview; the Chantry's belief in a good God who turned his back on humanity because of their wickedness has a lot of implications for the way someone views the world (challenged in turn by Leliana's own quiet heresy in feeling the Maker's presence still) in a way that fantasy faiths don't always.
The game's biggest flaw imo is the combat. Part of this may just be personal taste - I think really the appeal is more tactical like an RTS than RPGish - but I also just think the game is a bit overbloated with abilities. Throwing a million possible skills at the player doesn't equal build diversity, even with specialisations to try and bandage the problems. Dungeons are also just a bit too long that mediocre combat becomes actively painful at times; had they reduced the amount of fighting in certain parts it wouldn't be anywhere near as frustrating.
But all in all a fun and engrossing game with fascinating lore, good story with interesting choices, and a likeable enough cast.
The game's biggest flaw imo is the combat. Part of this may just be personal taste - I think really the appeal is more tactical like an RTS than RPGish - but I also just think the game is a bit overbloated with abilities. Throwing a million possible skills at the player doesn't equal build diversity, even with specialisations to try and bandage the problems. Dungeons are also just a bit too long that mediocre combat becomes actively painful at times; had they reduced the amount of fighting in certain parts it wouldn't be anywhere near as frustrating.
But all in all a fun and engrossing game with fascinating lore, good story with interesting choices, and a likeable enough cast.
A decent and interesting mystery with a neat premise and a broadly satisfying ending, but I'm kind've surprised by how... just OK it is?
Like, it's really nothing special in anyway beyond the basic premise (which ig tbf has become way more of a generic trope since 2010) and the crazy executions. It's nothing objectionable either, it is a perfectly fine game, but the way people talk about Dangan Ronpa and its fandom seems extremely disproportionate to just how... solidly average it is? Add to that a kind've slow start and - to be completely honest - ugly art style I'm bewildered by its popularity purely off the basis of this game (tho I'm sure the sequels are an important part of the puzzle here too)
Like, it's really nothing special in anyway beyond the basic premise (which ig tbf has become way more of a generic trope since 2010) and the crazy executions. It's nothing objectionable either, it is a perfectly fine game, but the way people talk about Dangan Ronpa and its fandom seems extremely disproportionate to just how... solidly average it is? Add to that a kind've slow start and - to be completely honest - ugly art style I'm bewildered by its popularity purely off the basis of this game (tho I'm sure the sequels are an important part of the puzzle here too)
2011
what if you put your bed next to mine in my christian minecraft server... and we were both boys
This took me 5 months to finish and it was... OK. In fairness I played it in Japanese so it was a bit of a slog at times, even though I understood the gist of everything, but it just didn't quite click for me.
The characters were annoying, the slice-of-life dull, but there was just enough tension and suspense to keep me going, and I certainly wouldn't want to say it was actively bad or that I hated it.
I'm currently midway through ch2 and enjoying it tremendously more (the slice-of-life feels engaging on its own terms, the characters suddenly feel much more likeable than one-note anime girls) - whether it's because I've just clicked with the game suddenly or it's an improvement, I'm not sure, but I do appreciate the setup in ch 1 and definitely wouldn't say I regret reading it.
ALSO the mangamer sprites are the ugliest things ive ever seen, and some of the original BGM makes me want to tear my brain out.
The characters were annoying, the slice-of-life dull, but there was just enough tension and suspense to keep me going, and I certainly wouldn't want to say it was actively bad or that I hated it.
I'm currently midway through ch2 and enjoying it tremendously more (the slice-of-life feels engaging on its own terms, the characters suddenly feel much more likeable than one-note anime girls) - whether it's because I've just clicked with the game suddenly or it's an improvement, I'm not sure, but I do appreciate the setup in ch 1 and definitely wouldn't say I regret reading it.
ALSO the mangamer sprites are the ugliest things ive ever seen, and some of the original BGM makes me want to tear my brain out.
2000
i remember the writing being surprisingly good (although i was like 12 at the time so) but this game hated my computer
something about this game just makes it so hard to finish
adult nier is so sexy
this was the first ps2 game i ever played and it was so insanely difficult i hate it to this day