guileffb
1998
Parasite Eve is definitely a sea of great ideas that I've been meaning to dive in for a long time. After spending over 9 hours with it, I can say that it surely shines, but not as much as I hoped it would.
The story of Parasite Eve is quite mature. It's lovely to see how far a game can go when the writing is strong like this one. It takes a while to grasp everything going on, but by the end of the game I felt fulfilled.
In addition to being an elegantly well told tale, it also packs memorable characters and a great protagonist. Aya Brea is very well designed, from her style to her profile, and the fact that she's tied with the main villian (who's also quite memorable, by the way), just enhances your time with her, making her one of the main reasons why the story and setting will stick to your mind.
And it all just immerses you more and more as you go through it. Part of the reason why this game vibes so well with its theme is due to its beautiful renders, amazing environments and epic cutscenes that, while they don't hold up to today standards, they can still pack quite a punch.
On top of that you have Yoko Shimomura composing the sountrack, hitting you with beautiful, classy, intense and diverse songs that refuse to leave my mind even after the credits rolled. Indeed, a genius of video game music.
As for the core gameplay, it's a unique mix of RPG and Survival Horror. Not a perfect hybrid, but a very good one, I must say. I had a lot of fun with the combat. It's a near perfect marriage of Vagrant Story and Resident Evil 2.
And, yes, I know it sounds weird to say it, but it just works. Great enemy variety, challenging bosses, good collection of magics and tons of guns for you to manage your way to the end.
The problem with this game lies in how archaic it is.
Regardless of the time it was developed, I just felt like things should flow a bit better and, definitely, faster. Aya's movement speed is probably the worst thing in the game. She's slow when outside combat and extremely clunky during fights where mobility is key. In a game where you have to backtrack to get everything you want while taking the least amount of damage as possible, movement is essential and it just doesn't work well.
In fact, many other things doesn't work as well as it should. The gun tuning system is very rough, the UI takes a bit to get used to, for an RPG the game can be extremely short (which usually doesn't bother me, but now it somehow did), cutscenes are unskipabble and inventory management is a HUGE mess.
Why didn't they just add an item box instead of forcing a very repetitive trip back to the police department? And while the boss fights are very well done, I have to say that the final boss is an unnecessary difficulty spike. A pseudo-bullethell shooter with a toothless chase afterwards.
Parasite Eve is a pleasant and nostalgic trip back to the 90's. It works great, brings new ideas to the genre, manages to be a unique hybrid and introduces Aya Brea, with a great soundtrack to boot.
But its archaic design, slow pace clumsiness breaks part of the experience.
A great game, nonetheless. One that was stuck with me for months after I finished. I just can't fathom how clunky it can be, since it came from an era filled with wonderful RPGs.
The story of Parasite Eve is quite mature. It's lovely to see how far a game can go when the writing is strong like this one. It takes a while to grasp everything going on, but by the end of the game I felt fulfilled.
In addition to being an elegantly well told tale, it also packs memorable characters and a great protagonist. Aya Brea is very well designed, from her style to her profile, and the fact that she's tied with the main villian (who's also quite memorable, by the way), just enhances your time with her, making her one of the main reasons why the story and setting will stick to your mind.
And it all just immerses you more and more as you go through it. Part of the reason why this game vibes so well with its theme is due to its beautiful renders, amazing environments and epic cutscenes that, while they don't hold up to today standards, they can still pack quite a punch.
On top of that you have Yoko Shimomura composing the sountrack, hitting you with beautiful, classy, intense and diverse songs that refuse to leave my mind even after the credits rolled. Indeed, a genius of video game music.
As for the core gameplay, it's a unique mix of RPG and Survival Horror. Not a perfect hybrid, but a very good one, I must say. I had a lot of fun with the combat. It's a near perfect marriage of Vagrant Story and Resident Evil 2.
And, yes, I know it sounds weird to say it, but it just works. Great enemy variety, challenging bosses, good collection of magics and tons of guns for you to manage your way to the end.
The problem with this game lies in how archaic it is.
Regardless of the time it was developed, I just felt like things should flow a bit better and, definitely, faster. Aya's movement speed is probably the worst thing in the game. She's slow when outside combat and extremely clunky during fights where mobility is key. In a game where you have to backtrack to get everything you want while taking the least amount of damage as possible, movement is essential and it just doesn't work well.
In fact, many other things doesn't work as well as it should. The gun tuning system is very rough, the UI takes a bit to get used to, for an RPG the game can be extremely short (which usually doesn't bother me, but now it somehow did), cutscenes are unskipabble and inventory management is a HUGE mess.
Why didn't they just add an item box instead of forcing a very repetitive trip back to the police department? And while the boss fights are very well done, I have to say that the final boss is an unnecessary difficulty spike. A pseudo-bullethell shooter with a toothless chase afterwards.
Parasite Eve is a pleasant and nostalgic trip back to the 90's. It works great, brings new ideas to the genre, manages to be a unique hybrid and introduces Aya Brea, with a great soundtrack to boot.
But its archaic design, slow pace clumsiness breaks part of the experience.
A great game, nonetheless. One that was stuck with me for months after I finished. I just can't fathom how clunky it can be, since it came from an era filled with wonderful RPGs.
Guardians of the Galaxy was put together really well. Upon watching tidbits of gameplay I could see potential in it, but didn't think I would like it as much as I did, despite its shortcomings.
The name of the game here is: fun.
Square Enix did an incredible job with story, dialogue and character development. Every major piece in this game feels very well fleshed out and the writing constantly evolves throughout the 16 chapter journey, making you care not only about Peter Quill and his teammates, but also about secondary characters to the plot.
It's not easy to do that, but they manage to do it with charm. I laughed out loud on most of the chapters, during the myriad conversations the Guardians have on their missions. Well-written characters and dialogues and the game's amazing pace were honestly the main reason to keep me there 'til the end. It just works and it is funny and interesting as hell to see things unfold.
On top of that, GotG has a very stylish and smooth combat. It might get repetitive after a while, but it does its job well. Characters have their own unique traits, powers and outfits, their fighting style is varied enough to give room to creativity and just moving Quill and shooting around aliens feels good enough. I also love how the game doesn't overstay its welcome, making it easy to get all power-ups, collectables and secrets. It's a blast, honestly.
Not to mention how beautiful the game looks. From facial animations to how beautiful each planet is, this game excels on modern consoles, which helps to improve immersion even further.
But I have to say, it actually took me the first 2 chapters to start enjoying the game and understand its pacing. It's not a huge slow start, but it's definitely a slow burner, to the point that it put me to sleep right on the 1st chapter. Yes, it gets better really fast around the 3rd mission (which is insane, btw), but it took me a little while.
I also found very annoying that dialogues tend to overlap each other and you can even miss entire chunks of well-written jokes/story moments just by walking in the wrong place at the wrong time. Highly annoying. Just as annoying as the many unskippable cutscenes you have to go through whether you've seen them or not. Or maybe as annoying as Rocket Racoon, which, close to most other characters in the game, just seems a bit off.
And then we get to my biggest issues with the game. Two things that can drag the experience down.
1 - The puzzles - Guardians of the Galaxy insists on making you complete the same puzzles OVER and OVER again. And yes, it's great when you get a new gadget or discover some new team work skill. But only the first time. Then it just slows you down.
2 - Glitches/Crashes - I really don't understand how a game can ship like this. I CONSTANTLY got stuck into places, had my game freeze out of nowhere, experienced minor crashes or just had characters/story not progressing as they should. It was more than annoying, it really pissed me off! And it's a shame, because this game is actually really good!
I didn't think I'd enjoy Guardians of the Galaxy as much as I did, but I'm glad I got to experience such an entertaining and well-told game. If you like super heroes or just a good story, this game's for you.
I just wish that more super hero games were as good as this one.
The name of the game here is: fun.
Square Enix did an incredible job with story, dialogue and character development. Every major piece in this game feels very well fleshed out and the writing constantly evolves throughout the 16 chapter journey, making you care not only about Peter Quill and his teammates, but also about secondary characters to the plot.
It's not easy to do that, but they manage to do it with charm. I laughed out loud on most of the chapters, during the myriad conversations the Guardians have on their missions. Well-written characters and dialogues and the game's amazing pace were honestly the main reason to keep me there 'til the end. It just works and it is funny and interesting as hell to see things unfold.
On top of that, GotG has a very stylish and smooth combat. It might get repetitive after a while, but it does its job well. Characters have their own unique traits, powers and outfits, their fighting style is varied enough to give room to creativity and just moving Quill and shooting around aliens feels good enough. I also love how the game doesn't overstay its welcome, making it easy to get all power-ups, collectables and secrets. It's a blast, honestly.
Not to mention how beautiful the game looks. From facial animations to how beautiful each planet is, this game excels on modern consoles, which helps to improve immersion even further.
But I have to say, it actually took me the first 2 chapters to start enjoying the game and understand its pacing. It's not a huge slow start, but it's definitely a slow burner, to the point that it put me to sleep right on the 1st chapter. Yes, it gets better really fast around the 3rd mission (which is insane, btw), but it took me a little while.
I also found very annoying that dialogues tend to overlap each other and you can even miss entire chunks of well-written jokes/story moments just by walking in the wrong place at the wrong time. Highly annoying. Just as annoying as the many unskippable cutscenes you have to go through whether you've seen them or not. Or maybe as annoying as Rocket Racoon, which, close to most other characters in the game, just seems a bit off.
And then we get to my biggest issues with the game. Two things that can drag the experience down.
1 - The puzzles - Guardians of the Galaxy insists on making you complete the same puzzles OVER and OVER again. And yes, it's great when you get a new gadget or discover some new team work skill. But only the first time. Then it just slows you down.
2 - Glitches/Crashes - I really don't understand how a game can ship like this. I CONSTANTLY got stuck into places, had my game freeze out of nowhere, experienced minor crashes or just had characters/story not progressing as they should. It was more than annoying, it really pissed me off! And it's a shame, because this game is actually really good!
I didn't think I'd enjoy Guardians of the Galaxy as much as I did, but I'm glad I got to experience such an entertaining and well-told game. If you like super heroes or just a good story, this game's for you.
I just wish that more super hero games were as good as this one.
Final Fantasy is my favorite video game franchise of all time, so it sucks to say this but... this game is the worst game I've played in a long time.
I was actually planning a better review for this, but Stranger of Paradise is such a complete clusterfuck of a mess that I just gave up what I was writing.
To get the good out of the way: the combat and the job system. These are the only redeeming qualities of the game, issues and all. The combat grind can be really fun, even on side quests and the jobs, while there certainly are more than it should, are just fun to good through. Aside from that, SOP is riddled with flaws.
It has major balancing issues (especially during endgame boss fights), it is aggressively repetitive, writing and voice acting are laughable, the story feels like it was written by a teenager going hard through puberty, the whole plot makes no effort to make sense, characters are hollow, soundtrack is forgettable, level design is objectively dull, graphics have a weird saturation filter over it and the game is just not fun at all!
They even failed when making loot engaging. The game is BASED on collecting loot, going through the combat grind and improving, but you get MILLIONS of useless items per second and you HAVE to dismantle them to make room for MORE, that way, you literally spend HOURS looking through menus. And even after that, the areas and monsters just keep getting stronger, so you have to get MORE of the SAME loot and repeat the same thing FOREVER! It is POINTLESS! I also absolutely hated how the game handles MP, potions and status effects. Such important elements to the gameplay that become an immense nuisance to manage. Unbearable.
Not even the bosses are good. Some of them a ridiculous button-mashing annoyances, while others are extreme difficult to strategize/avoid damage sponge fiends. Makes no sense.
AND WHY THE HELL DID THEY EVEN BOTHER WITH THE STORY! IT ONLY MADE THINGS WORSE!
I'm not even sure why I finished this horrible Nioh knockoff. Probably because I paid for it.
In case you really want the good "4 warriors of light saving the crystals" experience, go play the original Final Fantasy. There are plenty of remasters and re-releases out there. Just keep away from this hellish beast.
I was actually planning a better review for this, but Stranger of Paradise is such a complete clusterfuck of a mess that I just gave up what I was writing.
To get the good out of the way: the combat and the job system. These are the only redeeming qualities of the game, issues and all. The combat grind can be really fun, even on side quests and the jobs, while there certainly are more than it should, are just fun to good through. Aside from that, SOP is riddled with flaws.
It has major balancing issues (especially during endgame boss fights), it is aggressively repetitive, writing and voice acting are laughable, the story feels like it was written by a teenager going hard through puberty, the whole plot makes no effort to make sense, characters are hollow, soundtrack is forgettable, level design is objectively dull, graphics have a weird saturation filter over it and the game is just not fun at all!
They even failed when making loot engaging. The game is BASED on collecting loot, going through the combat grind and improving, but you get MILLIONS of useless items per second and you HAVE to dismantle them to make room for MORE, that way, you literally spend HOURS looking through menus. And even after that, the areas and monsters just keep getting stronger, so you have to get MORE of the SAME loot and repeat the same thing FOREVER! It is POINTLESS! I also absolutely hated how the game handles MP, potions and status effects. Such important elements to the gameplay that become an immense nuisance to manage. Unbearable.
Not even the bosses are good. Some of them a ridiculous button-mashing annoyances, while others are extreme difficult to strategize/avoid damage sponge fiends. Makes no sense.
AND WHY THE HELL DID THEY EVEN BOTHER WITH THE STORY! IT ONLY MADE THINGS WORSE!
I'm not even sure why I finished this horrible Nioh knockoff. Probably because I paid for it.
In case you really want the good "4 warriors of light saving the crystals" experience, go play the original Final Fantasy. There are plenty of remasters and re-releases out there. Just keep away from this hellish beast.
The DQ community's praise for Dragon Quest IV kinda got my hopes up. That might've hurt the process.
To be honest, this 4th game in the series is good.
After the beautiful simplicity of III, IV tried to take a step further here and there. Trying to do things slightly different and giving a bit more character to the franchise. And you can clearly see this in the story.
The best thing about this game is definitely the "chapters of the chosen" approach. You get a bit attached to the characters and you understand their motifs. The fact that this cast is very charismatic, with each chapter presentation and tale filled with charm, just adds more to the experience. Especially if you've played previous entires. It's basic, but it's candid.
The gameplay saw little improvement, but it doesn't mean it's bad. The overworld still feels great to explore, soundtrack is alright, enemy and character designs are still top notch, there are good secrets to find around the world and bosses and dungeons are amazing! Dungeons are short, well designed and sweet. Bosses are challenging and super fun to fight.
And let's not forget that the remake did a fantastic job on giving the game a new look and feel. The experience definitely feels pleasant on the handheld.
And what else? Well, that's the problem. There's not much else.
It comes as no surprise, but be prepared to grind. And I mean REALLY GRIND, because during my 50+ hours with the game, that's what I did the most. And normally I don't even care about that stuff, but this game is just SO SLOW! Around chapter 5, I was pretty much done with it. Progressing through DQIV's final chapters felt like a massive slog. I just wasn't having fun at all anymore. Bosses and story were the only things keeping me going, but even that felt like it wasn't reason enough.
The game just got... boring. Why wouldn't they tone that down on a remake? Even saving is slow!
Besides, I started questioning some design choices around my final hours with the game.
Why is equipment so expensive? Why are most items useless during battles? Is Torneko supposed to be useful? Couldn't they include more songs in the remake? Why does chapter 6 even exist? Will Dragon Quest never get the enemy variety right? And why the hell Zing fails so much in this game?
I've read so many good things about DQIV that I actually thought that I'd feel a major diference from previous games. And while yes, I did feel, it just wasn't enough, I guess. If it wasn't for the story, bosses and characters, I wouldn't even try to reach the end.
By no means this is a bad game. It's got its charms and Dragon Quest still lives in my heart. But I just don't see myself going back to this one.
To be honest, this 4th game in the series is good.
After the beautiful simplicity of III, IV tried to take a step further here and there. Trying to do things slightly different and giving a bit more character to the franchise. And you can clearly see this in the story.
The best thing about this game is definitely the "chapters of the chosen" approach. You get a bit attached to the characters and you understand their motifs. The fact that this cast is very charismatic, with each chapter presentation and tale filled with charm, just adds more to the experience. Especially if you've played previous entires. It's basic, but it's candid.
The gameplay saw little improvement, but it doesn't mean it's bad. The overworld still feels great to explore, soundtrack is alright, enemy and character designs are still top notch, there are good secrets to find around the world and bosses and dungeons are amazing! Dungeons are short, well designed and sweet. Bosses are challenging and super fun to fight.
And let's not forget that the remake did a fantastic job on giving the game a new look and feel. The experience definitely feels pleasant on the handheld.
And what else? Well, that's the problem. There's not much else.
It comes as no surprise, but be prepared to grind. And I mean REALLY GRIND, because during my 50+ hours with the game, that's what I did the most. And normally I don't even care about that stuff, but this game is just SO SLOW! Around chapter 5, I was pretty much done with it. Progressing through DQIV's final chapters felt like a massive slog. I just wasn't having fun at all anymore. Bosses and story were the only things keeping me going, but even that felt like it wasn't reason enough.
The game just got... boring. Why wouldn't they tone that down on a remake? Even saving is slow!
Besides, I started questioning some design choices around my final hours with the game.
Why is equipment so expensive? Why are most items useless during battles? Is Torneko supposed to be useful? Couldn't they include more songs in the remake? Why does chapter 6 even exist? Will Dragon Quest never get the enemy variety right? And why the hell Zing fails so much in this game?
I've read so many good things about DQIV that I actually thought that I'd feel a major diference from previous games. And while yes, I did feel, it just wasn't enough, I guess. If it wasn't for the story, bosses and characters, I wouldn't even try to reach the end.
By no means this is a bad game. It's got its charms and Dragon Quest still lives in my heart. But I just don't see myself going back to this one.
2022
What if you could play the old Tony Hawk games, but now you have a gun and a bunch of creeps and robots shooting at you?
That's exactly what Rollerdrome is and, despite how fun it is, I'm not sure if the mix actually works.
The game's artstyle is cute, it controls nicely, the gameplay loop is fun and there's even a funny light backstory going on in between levels. This alone, should be enough to get you to play. Challenges are fun, enemy variety is okay, levels are cool as hell and there's great replayability value here.
But after finishing the game and most of its brief extra content, I don't feel like the game is as good as it sounds. Maybe it's just not my type of game, but no matter how much fun I was having with it, I just couldn't help but feel like it was sort of... a mess?
It's VERY short, not so compelling and it feels a little shallow, actually. What bothered me the most is that there are just too many things going on. How are you supposed to do challenges, kill off 50 enemies while doing tricks to reload your ammo and trying to finish the level on time to get maximum high score? And the extra mode unlocked later is basically more of the same, just even more annoying.
I know it feels like I'm shooting down the things that I said are fun about the game. But there's just something that really didn't feel right here and I can't quite put a finger on what. I blame it on the weird shooter/skate mix.
That's exactly what Rollerdrome is and, despite how fun it is, I'm not sure if the mix actually works.
The game's artstyle is cute, it controls nicely, the gameplay loop is fun and there's even a funny light backstory going on in between levels. This alone, should be enough to get you to play. Challenges are fun, enemy variety is okay, levels are cool as hell and there's great replayability value here.
But after finishing the game and most of its brief extra content, I don't feel like the game is as good as it sounds. Maybe it's just not my type of game, but no matter how much fun I was having with it, I just couldn't help but feel like it was sort of... a mess?
It's VERY short, not so compelling and it feels a little shallow, actually. What bothered me the most is that there are just too many things going on. How are you supposed to do challenges, kill off 50 enemies while doing tricks to reload your ammo and trying to finish the level on time to get maximum high score? And the extra mode unlocked later is basically more of the same, just even more annoying.
I know it feels like I'm shooting down the things that I said are fun about the game. But there's just something that really didn't feel right here and I can't quite put a finger on what. I blame it on the weird shooter/skate mix.
2019
Finally got to play the 4th Yakuza game. After watching the series finally trying something new in the 3rd one, I'm glad to see that they kept trying with this one, even if they keep making the same mistakes. Nonetheless, probably the best Yakuza game I've played since 0.
For starters, I just want to say that out of all Yakuza games I've experienced, this one carries the best soundtrack. 0 and 3 had good ones, but this one just knocks it out of the park. Enjoyable and memorable from beginning to end.
In fact, "enjoyable and memorable from beginning to end" is a quality that this game carries throughout its lengthy campaign. It felt weird playing with characters that I've never seen before, but I got to know them, understand their motives, and get attached, very fast. Another breath of fresh air, just like Okinawa.
Those 3 new characters, along with Kyriu, make up for an amazing cast of protagonists. Especially since they all have their specific part to play in the overarching plot, while having unique types of substories and fighting styles. All of them very fun. Taiga was definitely my least favorite and Akiyama was incredible.
Dialogues were nice, plot was a bit confusing but very entertaining, the twists were surprising and fights were fun, as usual. I won't even say anything about the substories this time. Just know that they're VERY cool! Some are quite thrilling.
But despite Yakuza 4 becoming my 2nd favorite in the series so far, it is, once again, hard to not ignore its flaws. I love Kamurocho, I truly do, this place makes me want to visit Japan, but... I'm just tired of it. One of the things that I absolutely loved in Yakuza 3 was Okinawa, but this time, despite the 4 different characters novelty, it feels like more of the same, again and again.
And while substories are fun enough, eventually, you just want to get a long with the story, 'cause it's always the best part about these games. Kamurocho needs to go, despite how lovely it is. I even got tired of its restaurants and mini-games. Completely ignored them.
And well, the combat is bullshit again. I could literally copy and paste what I wrote last time about combat, difficulty and bosses, because the problem just remains. The final boss, for example, is completely insufferable, so I'm not going to waste time explaining why they should've overhauled this completely.
There's also this repetitive deus-ex machina trope in Yakuza, ever since the 2nd one, that's just REALLY annoying. I get it, the story is well-written and they pack it with PLENTY of twists, but do they STILL need to repeat the same resolution to conflicts? I wrote about the exact same thing back in the previous entry.
The thing is...
Yakuza 4 tries to innovate but constantly trips on its own. But damn! It's just so good. The story and character development just glued me to the screen. Made me excited for Y5, for real, and made me fall in love with each of the new protagonists. I just hope they get their shit together over the next few games.
For starters, I just want to say that out of all Yakuza games I've experienced, this one carries the best soundtrack. 0 and 3 had good ones, but this one just knocks it out of the park. Enjoyable and memorable from beginning to end.
In fact, "enjoyable and memorable from beginning to end" is a quality that this game carries throughout its lengthy campaign. It felt weird playing with characters that I've never seen before, but I got to know them, understand their motives, and get attached, very fast. Another breath of fresh air, just like Okinawa.
Those 3 new characters, along with Kyriu, make up for an amazing cast of protagonists. Especially since they all have their specific part to play in the overarching plot, while having unique types of substories and fighting styles. All of them very fun. Taiga was definitely my least favorite and Akiyama was incredible.
Dialogues were nice, plot was a bit confusing but very entertaining, the twists were surprising and fights were fun, as usual. I won't even say anything about the substories this time. Just know that they're VERY cool! Some are quite thrilling.
But despite Yakuza 4 becoming my 2nd favorite in the series so far, it is, once again, hard to not ignore its flaws. I love Kamurocho, I truly do, this place makes me want to visit Japan, but... I'm just tired of it. One of the things that I absolutely loved in Yakuza 3 was Okinawa, but this time, despite the 4 different characters novelty, it feels like more of the same, again and again.
And while substories are fun enough, eventually, you just want to get a long with the story, 'cause it's always the best part about these games. Kamurocho needs to go, despite how lovely it is. I even got tired of its restaurants and mini-games. Completely ignored them.
And well, the combat is bullshit again. I could literally copy and paste what I wrote last time about combat, difficulty and bosses, because the problem just remains. The final boss, for example, is completely insufferable, so I'm not going to waste time explaining why they should've overhauled this completely.
There's also this repetitive deus-ex machina trope in Yakuza, ever since the 2nd one, that's just REALLY annoying. I get it, the story is well-written and they pack it with PLENTY of twists, but do they STILL need to repeat the same resolution to conflicts? I wrote about the exact same thing back in the previous entry.
The thing is...
Yakuza 4 tries to innovate but constantly trips on its own. But damn! It's just so good. The story and character development just glued me to the screen. Made me excited for Y5, for real, and made me fall in love with each of the new protagonists. I just hope they get their shit together over the next few games.