this one is a pretty interesting story about a “hero” – i.e, a military that joined the army believing that he would be a hero but is actually just helping a multi billionaire company/imperialist state in their dirty path – slowing realizing how shitty his job is and how much he is more of a “tool” and a “product” rather than, actually, a hero. the game has this theme of “honor” and what that really means and i like how it never really prestiges shinra for anything, even with the romanticism in SOLDIER and all, is more of an individual discourse. the genesis plotline (and kind of the main plotline lol) is interesting too¹ and questions a lot about the usefulness of SOLDIER, their purpouse as individual and if they aren’t just monsters used as weapons for a company to do their jobs. even zack not being as modified as angeal, genesis or even sephiroth, he’s still just a shinra’s dog, you know? pretty funny how genesis is just an edgy gay that reads too much poetry! love the 2000s aesthetics on it, the flip-phones, the FMVs, how beautiful the boys are! like. seriously. final fantasy vii may be the final fantasy with the most beautiful boys in any of them. anyway. i dislike how the missions work! to be more exactly, i hate the level design on it, is just flat and boring and what really makes you want to do the missions is getting new items to fusion or to just have a better build and because of how good the combat is. not excellent, though! fire trivializes a lot of fights and some encounters that could be excellent are just you spamming fire and running and sometimes hitting the enemy while he’s just there still attacking you and not really reacting to any of your attacks. but you know, psp game etc etc. the ending of this game pays for pretty much all of its sins, i cried like a bitch. also reno’s in it and he’s handsome. and zack is a cute too. good game!

¹just an edit to say that is not flawless tho! genesis is a big "?" since, while it does brings some cool questions and is a narrative trigger for sephiroth's downfall, it's existence throught the game as well as the whole g project, s-cells etc. plot feels like a big nothing in the main picture (The Final Fantasy VII Compilation, I Mean). still, genesis as a character is pretty fun to watch!

hmm.... lot of feelings about it, really! it's the first pokémon game in years that was interesting enough for me to play it begin to end. honestly i had fun most of the time, though a lot of this was just mindless fun tbh: star team had the best storyline but also the worst "gyms" -- just a very bad raid where you just run pressing R and... that's it. the gyms were cool in majority, wish the challenges were better worked and it was cool to expand koraidon's abilities as well! but i must admit that the open world kind of falls apart once you get all the powers and you can just break throught everything. the open world, by the way, was fun! but i really miss entering in houses and stuff, specially when the interior design of this game looks so cute! is hard for me to rate it, since i've had a lot of fun but when i really try to think about it, i see it mistakes and makes me less happier than i was... pretty much like highschool, i guess!

Son
You've got a way to fall
They'll tell you where to go
But they won't know

Son
You'd better take it all
They'll tell you what they know
But they won't show

Oh
I've got something in my throat
I need to be alone
While I suffer

Son
You've got a way to kill
They're picking on you still
But they don't know

Son
You'd better wait to shine
They'll tell you what is yours
But they'll take mine

Oh
I've got something in my throat
I need to be alone
While I suffer

Oh
There's a hole inside my boat
And I need stay afloat
For the summer
Long

Oh
I've got something in my throat
I need to be alone
While I suffer

Oh
There's a hole inside my boat
And I need to stay afloat
For the summer

Son
You'd better wait to fall
They'll tell you where to go
But they won't know

metal gear solid 2 is arguably the most discussed videogame ever. you can just google “metal gear solid 2” with the words “meaning”, “themes”, “analysis”, “essay” or something like this that you will find plenty of articles and youtube videos. a lot of very good reviews on this game page here on backloggd, too. so… what can I say about it? everyone already said something. everyone already called it a postmodern masterpiece, everyone already called it a prophetic game, everyone already said how great the level geometry is, how deep the mechanics can be, everyone knows about the marketing campaign and how sexy raiden is and how well-written his relationship with rose is. everyone knows everything. what more can i say? still, metal gear solid 2 is the kind of game that you do want to say something. it feels impossible not want to, even if you lack words. for me, what i want to say this time, finishing it for the first time in 7 years, is: this is a very life-affirming game. it tells us that, even in the capitalist system we live in, controlled by the same old people, influencing everything we consume, molding our thoughts and ideals, we can still break free, shape our own personality and look for the meaning in our lives, building the future for the next generations. maybe we will not face a revolution, maybe we will not change the world, but someone will. our sons, grandsons or anyone influenced by our mark, we just need to pass the torch.

after a lot of people died in sin's attack, yuna dances. this dance is called "the sending", where she makes sure their souls are not staying on this plane, wandering, with envy for the living and then turning into fiends. instead, she sends them to the farplane, where they can live in peace. a lot of cultures around the world have rituals for the dead where you dance to celebrate how great their lives were or to just be a kind of grieving. you see, our bodies express our feelings more than we could ever think they do. when you are anxious you are always shaking your legs, even grinding teeth sometimes. i like to believe that yuna's dance is not only to send those people to better places but also her cope mechanism to deal with everything -- spira's condition, her father's dead, her destiny.

then yuna finds a pair. this blonde boy that appears from nowhere, claims to be from a thousand years old civilization that does not even exists anymore. he is also constantly dancing. he has problems with his father, which calls him a crybaby -- and he is, really. he is constantly expressing his pain through his smile but you know he's not always happy. he just don't want to show his sadness or, as everyone, just don't want to be sad. yuna's not so different, too. and since her has a pair, it's important to say that when you are dancing with someone, at first it may not work -- your pair can be at the wrong tempo, overstepping you etc. when your steps synchronizes and you are connected, though, this is what we call love. not necessarily romantically, of course. yuna have a lot of friends with their own dances, grieving and trying to live their lives as hard as it can be. but, when everyone is together, even dancing with the dead, they can share their insecurities, being open about their problems and, truly, overcoming it. maybe not stopping dancing but dancing towards the truth -- the painfully beautiful truth.

the last time yuna dances, she's not only grieving, but also celebrating.

i don't think i have anything to say about it since everything that it could been said, had been since 2017. i will say tho that is a shame that we didn't had any news about a new project from those guys. don't get me wrong, im excited for whatever sonic frontiers will bring, but a new mania or just new game in general made by people that not only love sonic but also understand it's core design, aesthetics and experimentation so well is everything i dream of. until then, we have this amazing game still kicking!

ys origins is a game that never stops. your objective is to find the goddesses that, after a demonic attack, suddenly disappeared and went into a mysterious tower. you are in a hurry so this fast paced action rpg translates very well the necessities of our protagonists! either playing as yunica or hugo, you are all-in for action, with a variety of enemies and very well design boss fights, either cutting them with your axe or shooting them as if you were in a shmup with your magic wand, both having this kingdom hearts 2 feeling when hitting enemies and turning the combat even more pleasant. also, very good level design that utilizes everything you have at your disposal to traverse the tower, as soon as you get the abilities and powers, in a very zelda dungeon way!

while the stories of both yunica and hugo are not totally canon and the true story is the secret character you unlock after beating both of their campaigns, you get to understand them and their relationships and, later, connect the dots when playing the true story. you get to known their insecurities and how they overcome them, how important the goddesses and all key people in the tower are in their life. it's actually amazing to think that the whole celeste's discourse of "climbing a mountain and growing as a person (both as char and player)" was actually kind of made here? being a dungeon crawler rpg with characters getting to known their places and purposes as they go up in the tower is a really good narrative of coming of age and self-discovering that utilizes its game design for it. also bang ost (those guitars man...) and i really love the little VN segments that tell stories outside of the tower -- it is a cool and stylish decision and very well paced between segments and floors. really amazing videogame!! excited to play more ys games in the future.

hey, it's a brazillian game!!!

it does seems like some old japanese indie game though! i like the art design and the vibes it brings. it's very inspired by dark souls too, as a lot of search action indies are. not only it has a decaying world but you also can roll and it plays in a very slowly yet charming way. it can prejudice it's core sometimes and feels just too archaic in some design choices, however. it's horny too, you literally fight boobs in this game, twice! for like. no reason lore wise? anyway. it's very short and nothing really outstanding but a great time nonetheless!