Great first game for what would be one of the most detailed worlds in fiction. Tons of world-building, amazing and catchy music (Sophisticated Fight will always be one of the greatest JRPG battle songs), character writing, and NPC depth. All would become series standards that Trails is known for.

The gameplay may be very dated and slow for today's standards but it contains a lot of the series' foundation such as arts, crafts, and grid movement.

The game starts off very slow as it's the tale of Estelle and Joshua's Bright journey across Liberl to become full-fledged bracers but it will soon escalate as they have to resolve various issues from town to town. Their intimate and evolving relationship, alongside a charming cast, it's one of the highlights in the game. In fact, when you get done with Trails in the Sky, it will make you want to play the second game since the cliffhanger is so jaw-dropping and plot twisted.

If you want to get people into the wonderful world of Zemeria, always recommend people to start with this. You absolutely can not go wrong with the first Trails game since it's the layout of the series and it does not do anything wrong either.

This was the first Trails game I've played and while I consider this to be the weakest Trails game, it's still overall a worthy JRPG to play and a great entry point into the series.

While I think the cast starts off as painfully generic anime cliches and Class VII already started off as a huge group (which will become larger as the Cold Steel arc progress) it gives plenty of room for the characters to develop, find their own identities, and take part of the social themes of Erebonia hierarchy and government during field trips.

Gameplay also has notable improvements with new features such as brave points to have a linked character follow up with additional attacks when the other paired character hit a weak spot with different weapons.

Cold Steel 1 also decides to switch up the format from past Trails games and give off a more pseudo Persona feel with the school settings and spending down time with bonding points with your fellow classmates. Whatever or not that is a good thing depends on the player but it does provide additional details for the characters.

Like Trails in the Sky and Trails from Zero, Trails of Cold Steel is no exception of starting off slow but compared to later games, this could be a plus since it's a much more relaxed atmosphere establishing the country of Erebonia in great detail while conflict and danger soon rise up more and more as the game progress.

While Cold Steel 1 has notable cliche anime writing at times that holds back the game from ever truly being amazing, the series' stapes in world-building and character relationship is still strong in this game. If someone a more modern Trails game to experience first with 3D graphics and better gameplay, then Trails of Cold Steel is a great starting point in the series (even if I highly recommend to play the Sky and Crossbell arcs eventually before Cold Steel 3)!

Quite a bloated game at times since the game is longer than needed (especially near the end) but still a solid game in the series with higher stakes, more threatening enemies, grander set-pieces, expanded character writing, and plot twists that will set the tone for the rest of the arc.

Cold Steel 2 functions extremely similar to the first game but there's a greater sense of freedom and exploration across Erebonia unlike the tight school format in the first game. There's also more focus on gameplay as you can hunt down cryptics to gain powerful lost arts, more playable characters, and more boss battles. Trails aren't known for its gameplay but it carries Cold Steel 2 at times during its weaker story moments.

Not the best game in the series but still worthy to play anyways despite its glaring issues.

Amazing and emotional game. While functioning extremely similar to the first Sky game, The direct sequel establishes and writes out one of the greatest personal journeys have ever seen in a game. Sky SC introduces the series' overall antagonists and their direct combatants, as they play a major role in the story and Estelle and her friends must overcome them. If you thought Sky FC had tons of lore and world-building, then Sky SC is even more expansive as plenty of terminologies that will, later on in the series, get explored will be introduced in Sky SC.

One of the greatest strengths in Sky SC is the character arcs as most characters get focused on with their backstory and development mixed into the main story. In fact, by the time I was finished with the game, I was convinced Estelle and Joshua were some of the best pairs I have ever seen in fiction due to their bondage and how they lift each other.

Sky SC may be a bit too formulaic during the first half of the game and the party composition can cause the player to miss out on tons of important dialogue and interaction but alas, as far as story writing, it's near flawless. If you completed Sky FC and have not started Sky SC, then what are you waiting on??? Go play this game to see the breathtaking adventure and character growth of Estelle Bright.

Tales of Arise is the 17th main entry in the Tales Of series. Featuring the narrative of Alphen, a Dahnan man that can not feel pain, and Shionne, a Renan woman that electrocutes anyone that touches her with her “thrones”. Together they travel around the region of Dahna with 4 other companions to overthrow the oppression of the Dahnan people from Renans. Initially announced in 2019 and it has been 5 years since the last mainline Tales Of game, the game was met with a lot of skepticism due to its changes from the series’ formula but ultimately I want to believe those changes were for the best while still maintaining the series’ structure with its gameplay and story. In the end, Tales of Arise delivers a vibrant world with its hyper-focus of characterization and themes and flashy but smooth and responsive combat. Making Arise not only my personal favorite Tales Of game but also one of my favorite games of all time.

(Barring the opening moments of Arise, this will be spoiler-free).

The very first notable thing when Arise begins is its graphics. Considering past Tales Of games have been criticized for its dull and plain environments, Arise utilizes Unreal Engine 4 with its gorgeous and beautiful landscapes. From lush green forests to frosty snowy hills to heated lava plains. The world of Dahna is full of vibrant colors with variations of climate and atmosphere that clearly set around each of the 5 main regions of Dahna and how it corresponds to their elemental value (a recurring plot element in the series). Cutscenes are fluidly animated and choreographed as well, giving a more cinematic and thrilling presentation during important plot threads of the game. On top of a score to accompany the mood at any given time (which is more memorable than past Tales Of games), Arise is filled with various amounts of aesthetics to even add substance to the story purely by visuals.

The gameplay saw plenty of technical changes from past Tales Of games. While core elements, such as using artes and going into overlimit to use Mystic Artes, remained. Arise’s combat-focused more on dodging and evading and replacing many of the series’ known functions. Such as replacing multiplayer with its Boost System feature, replacing technical points (TP) with cure points (CP) and the Arte Gauge (AG), a stronger difficulty to stun enemies, and the lack of a victory screen after defeating enemies. However, the addition of the Boost System adds new gameplay features such as Boost Attack and Boost Strike to exploit the enemies’ strength. With the new changes, the gameplay encourages the player to be more active and aggressive with movement and despite these new mechanics, they all function in harmony and work together to create frantic but yet smooth and fluid combat.

In addition to the standard level-up mechanics in Arise, there is also a skill panel tree for each character to unlock different arts or improve their skill sets such as making it easier to get a perfect evade, reduce the amount of time to cast an elemental arte or increase the potency of healing artes. Branching paths to obtain different skills always create a greater sense of customization and combat development for the character. Weapon and accessory creation are also available to increase the party’s stats, and more become available to forge as the story progresses. Arise does not have a huge amount of leveling elements compared to other games of its genre but it provides enough customization to build each character in different ways throughout the game.

Despite its gorgeous visuals and tight-knitted gameplay, what makes Arise truly shine and make the game playing is the story. The game wastes no time establishing the plot beats as soon the game starts. In just the first 30 minutes, the game’s protagonist, Alphen, break free from Rehan slavery during an intense and explosive train chase scene, meet Shionne and learn of her situation and join a Dahnan resistance group to free Calaglia, one of the main realms of Dahan from an oppressive Rehan lord. And that is just the first 30 minutes out of a 40-90 hour long tale. Arise’s plot grew in scale and scope with various plot twists during the second half and ultimately became a grand epic plot renaissance of older Tales games and even other JRPG series such as Star Ocean and Xeno. All while still maintaining its overall theme of unition and overcoming prejudices, explored in different topics such as freedom and slavery, not getting consumed by anger and hatred, coming to terms with one’s past and acceptance.

The characters especially embody these plot beats and topics as they are the shining gem of Arise and the best part of the game. While there are only 6 main characters, each character is some of the most deeply fleshed characters I have ever seen in a game with their own personality, circumstances, likes and dislikes, quirks, and their own issues to overcome. Initially, the characters had an overall sense of distrust with each other mainly due to the Rehan and Dahnan dynamic. But overtime the cast began to understand and support each other and the biggest wall they were facing inside of them. Within the course of the game’s journey, the 6 main characters went from being strangers that were just essentially there due to having a common goal to having a familial, caring and warm, and close bond with each other.

The interactions with the characters are incredibly natural and organic, full of depth and there’s extremely abundant during the game’s run. From the series’ staple skits (even though I do miss the 2D anime skits, the new comic skits grew on me), during and after combat and fighting, working and completing side quests, camping during the night, and even random events such as healing a random person. The topics always vary as well and they are not even related to the main plot. The casts tend to engage in discussions about cooking, food, artifacts and relics, training, owls, and even romance and that is just a very small sample size of the seemingly endless conversations between the cast. Between the main plot and the various side scenarios, Arise offers plenty of character growth and chances to witness their strong, heartwarming connections across the 6 main characters. Especially since the cast is divided into 3 pairs to bring out the most development from each pair with each other, in an intimate and even romantic way. In fact, the cast of Arise became one of my personal favorite casts in any piece of media I have experienced. I can go on with how well-written and great the cast is but that would essentially take spoiler-filled essays to explain in detail.

The cast shines a lot during the game’s various amounts of content and it’s enough to rank up to 90-100 hours on one playthrough. While some of the quests are hunt quests that allow the party to tackle powerful bosses and gain astral flowers, an item to increase CP, each side quest always gives context for the request and allows two of the main characters to investigate the quest, allowing even further bonds between the cast. The side quests can vary from monster hunting, finding lost items, clearing optional dungeons and bosses, talking to various people, or just watching the characters getting into random shenanigans. Not to mention the NPCs update their dialogue for every major plot event. Although it’s not as dense compared to a Trails game, updating NPC dialogue is always a plus since they add to the world-building and make Dahna more alive. There are also other collectibles to obtain such as the number of owls and artifacts to discover, catching boss fishes, and clearing solo and group training exercises. Along with the main plot, Arise offers plenty of side content to get the best out of the overall story. Especially since some of the side quests are supplemental to the main plot and add extra insight.

Arise however is not without its issues since it’s not a perfect or flawless game despite its strides with the story, visuals, and gameplay. While the gameplay changes can be argued as a negative, I personally did not have any issues with it. The biggest gripe I notice is the lack of villain development and writing. While the motives are passable enough considering the setting and the overall plot and do create enough conflict against the main cast, each villain isn’t memorable and even generic, since not a single villain stays in the picture for too long. Also while the second half of Arise creates a greater scale of its theme and explores its topics in new ventures, it can be argued as being too “over the top” and “shounen cliche” with its sudden shift of direction. It can be said to be a farcry for its stable, more grounded, and focused first half of the plot, which addresses the issues of the world more directly. However, this is a matter of personal taste at best since I personally think the second half elevated Arise’s story into a truly adventurous narrative with great impact.

Arise can also be argued for its lack of creativity with the plot. While it still works very well for the overall narrative, Arise borrows many of the past Tales games with its plot beats. I will not go into details to prevent spoilers but if you play a few Tales games, then Arise’s plot will begin to feel more and more similar to past Tales games. To the point, the plot will become a cliche in the JRPG genre overall. This may be seen as a positive or negative trait, but I personally love the homage to past JRPGs, especially with the scale and the relationships of the characters. Other nitpicks could be said such as not unlocking the second set of artes you can use until the entire cast joins up with Alphen and Shionne and the fishing minigame can be rather tedious.

With smooth, acrobatic gameplay and beautiful, vivid visuals combined with some of the deepest character writing I have ever seen within a race torned setting and a world-hopping plot, Tales of Arise delivers one of the best stories I have seen in gaming and clear any doubt or insecurity with the direction of the franchise. It managed to even surpass my own expectations. I never doubted Arise would be a bad game but I would never expect that it would be my favorite Tales Of game and one of my favorite games of all time. I highly recommend the game to anyone wanting to experience what I believe will be remembered as a classic JRPG 20 years from now since it took many of the great elements from Tales and evolved it into something purely amazing.

Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy is the second installment of the “Secret” Arc of the Atelier games and the 22nd overall main game in the series. The game features Reisalin Stout aka Ryza to travel to the capital city of Ashra-am Baird to research and explore new ruins of the offset of the capital. Along the way, they met a strange creature named Fi. Atelier Ryza 2 saw a few setbacks from the first Atelier Ryza game but there are many improvements overall that made the sequel very worth playing.

(Due to Ryza 2 being a direct sequel, there will be very slight spoilers for Ryza 1 but nothing very heavy, Ryza 2 will be spoiler-free as well).

Gameplay-wise, Atelier Ryza 2 functions very similarly to Atelier Ryza 1 in the alchemy creation. You pick up and find ingredients in the maps with alchemy tools and use various ingredients to synthesize items with various traits, quality, and element values. Since Ryza 2 is a direct sequel, the game does expect you to be familiar with these systems already as there are far fewer tutorials this time. However, the alchemy saw a huge improvement and a greater degree of freedom. A huge feature that adds to that sense of alchemy freedom is the skill tree. With this, you can unlock alchemy recipes and skills in a nonlinear fashion due to how they can branch off. Many of the alchemy modes such as morphing, item rebuilding, gem reduction, item duplication etc. return to the game. As well as the new essence feature. There’s tons of depth with the alchemy creation, this is merely the overall basic summary. I spent hours looking up guides just to figure out how to synthesize a specific item, what ingredients do I need, and how and where I can obtain them.

Combat also saw many improvements. While still using the same Action Turn-Based system from the first game and many of its features such as tactics and the AP and CC item systems, there are some additional elements to make the combat feel more snappy such as the addition of a 4th party member. While you can only have 3 active party members, you can switch out one of the party members for the 4th one at any given time and even have them attack the enemy as soon as you switch to them. Also combos, yes combos. If you have enough AP built up, you can do the same skill 3-4 times in a row for devastating damage and fluid and flashy attack animations. It’s largely the same as Ryza 1 but with improvements to make combat feel more smooth.

So gameplay overall is largely the same as Ryza 1 but with new improvements. However, the biggest change is the exploration. You’re able to swing your way around with a grappler hook, dive and swim underwater, use a flashlight to explore dark places, and use a large creature to dig up rare ingredients. During these ruins, once you have explored them enough, these fragmented crystals will appear all over the maps of each ruin. You collect these crystals to solve the mysteries of each ruin with the clues you have gathered around. While they’re overall not terribly hard to figure out, it’s a nice addition to make you feel like you’re researching the ruins carefully and you get rewarded with skill tree points to use to unlock more recipes and skills for the game. There are also other gameplay elements in the game such as shop development when you trade-in items and ingredients to unlock certain items in shops and the Puni eater when you feel his ingredients and he will come back with different ingredients in return.

So Ryza 2 has tons of gameplay depth to keep the player busy the entire time. However, gameplay alone isn’t why Ryza 2 is an overall improvement, as the cast is the main highlight and the strongest value of the game. Being three years since the first game, the main cast has overall matured a lot. Ryza, while overall changed the least, is at least far less self-centered and has a greater concern of care for others this time around. Klaudia, going from a shy and insecure girl to someone with confidence running her family business. Tao, going from a wimpy booknerd to….well still a booknerd but the wimpness is overall gone at least. Lent going from someone that wanted to be strong to that strength actually backfires on him and that causes him to be depressed at times. He actually regresses as a character, which makes strong character development for him in the game. The new characters are great additions as well that feel right in place with the four main characters from the first game. Such as Patty, an elegant noble that is focused on her studies and has curiosity. Clifford, a jaded treasure hunter that tends to work alone and seeking “true romance”. And Serri, a soft-spoken Oren that is out on a mission to save her world.

Each of the main characters, besides Ryza, has their own personal character arcs throughout the game and each character develops very well as they deal with their own issues with Ryza. I won’t spoil what each character deals with as the personal arcs are some of the most story-driven beats in the game. But overall the game tackles themes of friendship, trust, inferiority, and self adequacy, and standing up to what you truly believe in. And the characters do not just revolve around Ryza either. There are plenty of scenes with the main characters talking to each other about various topics, from the mundane ones to topics that build on additional information about the character. This makes the cast feel like they’re actually friends with each other and not just a bunch of random people with the only thing that they have in common is knowing who Ryza is.

Ryza gives plenty of love to its side characters as well. A few of them even got arcs of the same quality as the main characters such as Dennis, the material wilder. Cassandra, the farmer girl, Romy, a traveling merchant that settled down for a bit in the capital. Zephine, a waitress for a cafe, and even Bos, the son of the Brunnen family from the first game. Even the characters from side quests get tiny arcs as well. Such as a gang that tries to find treasure or a schoolgirl that tries to overcome her fear of men with plants or a high noble man and his servant carefully watching over Ryza as they give her tasks.

Ryza 2 got plenty of gameplay depth and character writing, the game sounds amazing with tons to do so far right? However, I do have two major issues that I have noticed while I was playing through the game. My first complaint is Ryza feels very self inserty. While she felt like she was her own character in Ryza 1. Since the game evenly focused on Ryza, Tao, Lent, and Klaudia and no one character was resolving every single problem the cast had. In Ryza 2, can't help but think Ryza robs a lot of character development for other characters. Some character arcs absolutely required her like Serri's arc and even Klaudia but others not so much, in fact, I think it would be better if someone else was in replacement. For instance, I actually think it would be better if Tao was helping Patty with her arc instead of Ryza since the two already have an established relationship that had the chance to deepen. I can say the same for Lila and Lent for his arc.

Not to mention, Ryza feels like she can do anything now while in Ryza 1 she has clear limitations. It's very clear everyone relies on her to create this instant solution to solve a roadblock. On top of Ryza's always cheerful and happy attitude. I feel like Ryza went from a very flawed character to an almost flawless character that can solve literally any problem with almost no development. Not to mention Ryza is the only character that has a deep relationship with everyone. I mean the other characters do interact with each other and there is proof they are friends but it is missing depth. Hence why I said why she felt self inserty. Self-inserts are usually perfect problem solvers.

My second issue is the main plot. While the character arcs are great and offer plenty of story for the game, remember, Ryza came to the capital in the first place to investigate ruins and that is the main plot. It’s very repetitive and formulaic. Essentially for each ruin, you look at key objects, ask questions about the ruin with your party, hit a roadblock, resolve that roadblock with alchemy, fight the boss for the ruin and suck up the mana in that ruin for Fi. It doesn’t help that there's no true antagonist in the game like Ryza 1 or even no set goals like the other Atelier games. The ruins exploring feel very aimless and barebone in terms of plot. The one thing that Ryza 1 did better was the main plot. While it had odd pacing, it gave the characters conflict and problems to overcome against the antagonists.

Ryza 2 would be much better if it had that same “classic and epic JRPG main plot” as Ryza 1 did towards the second half. Only the final dungeon had something remotely close to what Ryza 1 had in terms of plot writing but by then, it felt very shoehorned and too late to have any real impact on the overall plot barring the emotional ending. And even then, the final dungeon retreads on plot beats from the final moments of Ryza 1. The main plot could be much more but the character arcs make it up greatly. However, it would be amazing if the main plot was mixed in with the character arcs somehow.

Overall Ryza 2 is an improvement in gameplay, a huge improvement in exploration, and a huge leap in character writing and development. While Ryza herself as a character is lacking in depth and feels too much like a Mary Sue at times, she is still overall likable enough compared to the first game. The lack of a focused main plot with impactable conflict is the biggest flaw in the game, and if you’re looking for a grand plot, then look elsewhere. Atelier games were never known for epic plots, but even for Atelier standards, it’s certainly not up to par. However, if you are looking for a game that has in-depth alchemy and combat with characters that undergoes their own personal struggles and have plenty of interaction with the cast and especially Ryza, then you will enjoy Atelier Ryza 2 a lot. It’s overall a very good game and improves much of the flaws of the first game. Highly recommend the second game if you don’t completely hate the first game.

-Written on January 12-

Night City is a very vibrant open world with a passable main story but it is plagued with filler and I hate to be this guy but....bugs as well.

Let just get this out of the way first. Night City is a gorgeous city filled with different cultures, people, and atmospheres. One part of the town is Chinatown while another is dominated by Afro-Caribbean residents and of course, you got your downtown and low poverty areas. Not to mention there's a huge deserted land outside of the city with a lot of clans out there. The environment is vibrant and full as you see different ads, different kinds of art on the walls. I always appreciate the variety, it never made exploring and driving around Night City boring, even nearly 90 hours later. Plus it made the city more realistic as big cities always going to have different cultural overlaps.

Cyberpunk 2077 could easily go with the cliche "everything has tall buildings with neon lights" setting as you see a lot of Cyberpunk works but instead it opts to create a world that looks very similar to ours but with the technological upgrades that coat the city and its citizens and it was a refreshing change. The music section could be just as cliche as well with synthwave everywhere you go but there's a whole range of music besides that, from rap, jazz, metal, rock etc. for the license tracklist. Even the game's own OST features tunes that are closer to orchestrated ambient.

The gameplay is very similar to the Deus Ex games when you are presented with options. You could go blazing around with a wide section of guns and melee weapons, or you could use your biochip to hack away electronics and enemies to help you perform stealth better. Of course, as you level up, you will acquire two types of points. Perks, which are little boosters such as a small increase in critical change or damage at a certain area of the enemy with a certain weapon type, and attributes, the main areas that can affect the playstyle of your character, V. With attributes, you can build your character specialize in hacking, shooting, crafting etc. These attributes will also unlock dialogue options for V if the attributes have enough points. I found the gameplay to be just fine, I had no issues with it. Though I got to say the hacking aspects are the most unique elements of the gameplay.

Quests, the main chunk of Cyberpunk 2077 and one of my biggest issues of the game. There are tons of gigs to do in Night City and you can unlock more as your Street Cred level up. While I was playing through the game I figure there are three types of side quests. Character quests, Gigs, and Crime Quests.

Character quests are when you usually have to do a chain of quests for a person you normally meet during the main quest (which I will get to in a bit) and follow their stories. I personally find character quests to be the best since it fleshes out who they're are as a person and the conflicts they're involved with. Their stories aren't groundbreaking but it adds a lot of context to what kind of place Night City is and the people that live there. Plus it gives you the chance to romance the character. The list is very short, especially because it depends on what gender V is and I wish you can do more with the character after you began dating them.

Gigs are when a fixer contacts you and wants you to kill someone, rescue someone, steal something or hack a computer, etc. They're short and there are multiple ways to complete a gig. Sadly they're very formulaic and repetitive, especially with the number of gigs you can do. The fixer always gives you a reason why you're doing the gig by calling you, so there is SOME story element but it's usually very forgettable because you only get two paragraphs of details why you're doing this at best. There are a few good gigs that expand on worldbuilding, but it's few and far between.

The last type of side quests and it's the worst one, Crime Quests. It's just you killing gang members that are either in their hideout or assaulting someone and you can complete this in literally 10 seconds if you're overleveled. There are nearly 200 of them to do and while there's very short, I spent 15 hours doing all of them and it's a bit mind-numbing, especially since there's hardly any reason to do these quests. The only reason you should do these quests is if you want great gear, weapons, and equipment. I personally think you get the best stuff doing these quests but it's personally not worth doing all of these unlike you really want to 100% the game.

The game has tons to do and I spent the majority of the game doing side content. However, I feel like a lot of it is patted filler and doesn't really add anything to the game from a writing perspective in the long run. I'm not a "more is better" guy so I honestly believe the game would be better if they just kept all of the character quests and the gigs that add a lot to the worldbuilding. After a while, it just felt aimless and boring doing all of these quests.

The main quest, while it started off as a generic "become a legend by doing a big-time heist" story, it quickly became something far more unique and interesting that compliments the Cyberpunk setting, how a huge corporation turn a city into a Dystopian and various conflicts such as man vs technology and man vs the self (in a way). The only disappointing part of the main story is it's too short for its own good. If you only do the main story, you can easily beat Cyberpunk 2077 within 20 hours. It had the potential to tell a great tale and the endings deliver well, especially with its philosophical undertones close to the end of the main quest. Just sadly, those themes of corporation domination and self-fighting aren't explored enough. I would greatly prefer it if most of the filler quests went towards a more expansive main story. I do not understand why CD Projekt Red shorten the story so more people can complete it. It's an RPG after all, you always need the dedication to finish those.

Other minor issues I have is balancing. After Act 1, you can do every side quest in the game before progressing the main story. If you like me, that likes to do every side quest before the main story, you will become ridiculously overleveled with the best gear. To the point, you can one-shot anyone and you're very hard to kill. Even bosses will fall to your knees within a minute. I don't think the game intended you to become a God while you playing the main story but it can happen easily lol. Player choice also doesn't have too much of an impact on the world. I mean you have a ton of dialogue options and you can get different endings for some quests but those are mainly self-contained. What kinda frustrates me is the ending you can get on the main story just depends on what choice you make right before the final mission, as if everything you did beforehand did not matter at all. I understand it's hard to make a unique player experience in an AAA game but it's disappointing your actions throughout the main story almost have 0 impact on what ending you can get other than doing character quests.

And there are bugs, yes bugs. I won't spend too much time on this since this is a topic beaten to the ground but I can say this much, the more I played, the buggier the game got. Early on when I started, I just saw tiny things float in the air, pretty ignorable right? 70 hours later tho, I faced quite a lot of issues like quests not starting or completing, doors not opening (and you was trapped inside), half of your body appearing above you while you ride a motorcycle sometimes for a few seconds etc. The game even crashed on me twice before and I once got respawned to a random place out of nowhere and I was falling endlessly. Luckily restarting your save file or killing yourself fixes these issues but it was stressful trying to find a solution to the quests not starting, especially the main quests as I thought the game would be impossible to complete a few times. I know CD Projekt Red is patching up the game nicely eventually but at the moment, I feel like I'm playing an early access version of Cyberpunk 2077 and I pay $60 to beta test the game. It's actually laughable this supposed to be the final build of the game.

And I know I just nitpicking at this point but I notice other things like there are no cop chases when you break the law, robots just appear out of nowhere. I also think it's completely pointless to have a huge dick in the game when the only time you could ever see it is if your character is completely naked and you open up the character menu. Yes, your dick doesn't even appear while you're playing the game, it gets covered up with briefs no matter what.

I know this is a small addition to the game but I absolutely love the photo mode in the game. Since the game lacks a third-person camera and I do think it's a weird decision to not include it, I think photo mode is a fair compromise to be able to see your custom character enough and you can use it at any given moment of the game. I love you can do various poses and emotions with your character. Some of them are even references to anime or memes. More options to create a photogenic scene is nice. It's a very fun thing I will admit I spent far too much time on it.

Honestly, Cyberpunk 2077 is pretty mid, even without the bugs. I personally found the game to be a massive step down from CD Projekt Red's previous game The Witcher 3 (which is one of my favorites) in nearly every area but maybe gameplay. Night City has a lot of life with many tales to discover and nearly all of the quests that bother to tell a compelling story to deliver fine enough at least. It also plays around with a lot of themes with its main story and the ending (at least mines) was solid despite the length. The gameplay functions well and offers you a lot of options which is really cool. However, it suffers a lot from pointless filler that adds almost nothing as well as a lack of impactful player choices and some balancing issues. As of the time I post this, It's very hard to recommend the game, even for PC users and I know consoles players got it much worse. If you dying to play an open-world cyberpunk RPG right now and you can deal with bugs and filler, then sure go for the game. Otherwise, I would at least wait until the game is patched out enough. Cyberpunk 2077 has a lot of potential and it delivers in some areas, but it falls flat in others.

Ar Norsuge is the 5th game in the Exa Pico universe developed by Gust. the very start of the game establishes the last of humanity traveling in a spaceship for 5000 years in search of a new planet after the destruction of their previous homeland, Ra Ciela. During the search, Humanity also engages in a war with the Sharls inside the spaceship, fairy-like creatures made with song magic. Song Magic is the kind of magic that is executed through singing, which allows the singer to convert their emotions into energy that can be used for manifesting their fantasies in the real world in order to attack, support or heal. There are also humans that worship the Sharls as the new saviors of humanity and abduct them. However, there are also humans, cryogenically frozen from when Ra Ciela existed, who possess the ability to use and weave song magic to fight back against the Sharls.

And you know what, that introduction to Ar Norsuge is just the first 5 minutes of the game, even before the game’s first set of protagonists, Delta and Cass, get introduced in the game. And the second set of protagonists, Ion and Earthes, do not get introduced until later on. Ar Norsuge is an incredible story-focused game filled with exploring the complicated depths of human emotions and feelings buried inside all of us and how we communicate those emotions. Even if those emotions are hidden away because they’re dark, ugly, and generally feel that the person is afraid to express to others. Plus there are a lot of plot twists involving the war against humans and Sharls and who is manipulating both sides and how far someone will go to obtain their desires and wishes. Not to mention, the player themself participate in a major role in the game. As Ar Norsuge has an incredibly strong emphasis on player immersion and their emotions towards the story, creating a tale that can only function as a video game and would be impossible to adapt as any other medium.

There’s a much stronger sense in storytelling in Ar Norsuge, even for RPG standards as there is a minimum amount of focus in combat due to the lack of enemies to fight in each area. Instead, Ar Norsuge features multiple forms of storytelling and dialogue among the cast, alongside the main plot such as Genometrics and Soulscapes and synthesizing items.

First of all, the overall soundtrack and OST must be noted. Since the series is built around song magic and singing, music is an essential part of the game. It’s more than a passive element in games or sound to fill up a background. The songs often reflect the feelings of the user and since music is often a shell for different emotions, there are various genres at play. Such as metal to represent anger and aggression, to soft piano ballads to represent somber and melancholy. While fusing with the game’s overall genres of ambient electronic and intercultural world, to give a sense of the setting taking place in a sci-fi universe with uncharted unknowns within the spaceship and beyond. Music in Ar Norsuge is more than a passive element, it’s a direct interaction in the game.

Gameplay is incredibly unique with different fundamental mechanics standards in the gerne. Rather than fighting as a party in nearly every turn-based game, you only fight as one pair. Plus it will remain your turn until you run out of attacks to perform. One person (which is Delta or Earthes) directly attacks and engages with the enemies in waves while the other (Which is Cass or Ion) will sing their song magic to charge up the burst meter. The higher it’s charged up, the more power the song magic will have to wipe out enemies in waves and end the battle faster. At first, it may seem like a complicated battle system to understand but the depth of combat is quite simple. Once introduced, the gameplay remains the same barring new song magic and support attacks to unleash. It’s very shallow but Ar Norsuge is less focused on combat and grinding. So it would serve little purpose to create more complex gameplay.

Instead one of the biggest elements of gameplay is Soulscapes and diving into a person’s mind and heart using dive and wave technology, to simplify it a lot. These Soulscapes function as a visual novel and you must select the correct choices to complete their dive. Otherwise, the diver will be forced off the person’s mind. A person’s Soulscape is often, while comedic, exaggerated, and nonsensical, it’s ultimately an analogy of their deep-rooted issues within themselves, such as a war between the Tsun Kingdom and Dere Empire for the very first one (and I will assume everyone knows how is a tsundere is written). Completing these Soulscapes will grant new song magic to use. However, these Soulscapes will slowly merge more and more into reality and their surface feelings around their other peers.

Another element that features an abundance of dialogue is synthesis when the player gathers materials in areas and creates items and equipment for the player for combat. Although synthesis is nowhere as deep and complex as an Atelier game (Gust’s mainline series) that focuses on synthesis as the main gameplay element. However for its lack of gameplay mechanics, Ar Norsuge makes up for its huge amount of talk events after the first creation for every item crafted, there are nearly 380 talk events to discover between all 4 shops and each pair has different talk events for every item. These talk events humanize and give the characters far more authentic personalities and create organic relationships and with various interests and reactions to different topics and subjects. Not to mention each shopkeeper has their own personal story throughout the game that one of the two pairs assists with and creates further characterization between the pair and the shopkeeper.

Ar Norsuge places heavy emphasis on bonding and understanding each other for relationship development. Purification ceremonies help strengthen the bond of the pairs by placing crystals on each others’ bodies and talking in a relaxed atmosphere surrounded by pools of water. Although it may seem overly and unnecessary sexual for the characters to be half-naked during this process at first. It actually gives off a sense of vulnerability, intimacy, and revealing their true self to one other. Placing crystals can serve as stats boosts for combat while the majority of the talk topics are reflections and afterthoughts of what has happened elsewhere in the game. Humans often think back to past events and discuss them with a companion. Forging a sense of care, dependency, and reliability to build upon.

However, Ar Nosurge is not a flawless game by any means. There are some tired and even bothersome anime archetypes and tropes that insist on remaining present throughout the entire game regardless of the progress of a character’s development. It can reach a point when it can be counterproductive and ultimately hinder them due to a sense of reversal development. Also while the majority of the main plot is tightly written, there are a few plot beats near the end that are skimmed through or not explained well enough. Creating a few questions that could be possible plot holes in an otherwise spectacular epic that does not let up the entire time. To address a more neutral point, depending on how the player feels about sexuality. Ar Nosurge features plenty of sexual imagery and dialogue (Which I personally still don’t understand how it got away with a T rating). This can be seen as a good or bad thing depending on the player.

Despite the minimum flaws, Ar Nosurge excels as a story with its believable and organic characters, innovative and creative plot, and a sci-fi space opera (quite literally in ways) setting with its imaginative fantasy edges built around music and emotions. It’s one of the greatest games ever created due to the fact it completely utilizes the fact it’s a video game to the fullest extent beyond typical narrative structures and writing in RPGs, let alone all of gaming. It fluidly executes and explores multiple senses of moods and feelings, providing a grand sense of immersion. It is just simply a breathtaking experience that demands your presence and anyone that values storytelling and innovation need to play this game at least once. Very few games will offer a unique and fantastic adventure as Ar Nosurge does.

The gameplay is probably the best from what I have played in the series. I always thought combat was too slow in past games and it always felt like a second thought. However, the combat in Ryza feels like a modern take of the ATB system from classic Final Fantasy games. So it never felt boring or a huge chore to do. The alchemy system, while at first overly complicated to take in at once, in the end, it's a neat way to unlock more recipes and make them stronger. I really like the new addition of going to these different mini-worlds throughout alchemy bottles to help you get a certain material way easier. I also do like there's a stronger focus with character builds and stats with the three main types of builds, attacker, defender, and supporter (I am a sucker for character building in RPGs).

However my biggest complaint is the story, characters and pacing are super inconsistent. The overall story is decent and I do appreciate they making an attempt for a more story-focused Atelier game, however, what throws me off is at first the game want to make you believe there isn't much to it, it just some friends looking for a way to end their summer boredom by picking up new things and getting away from their parents. You know something chill and laid back. End of the game the story felt very Final Fantasy Esque with stuff like different worlds, saving their town from great evil, etc. Honestly, I wouldn't have much of a problem with this if the game was much more upfront with the story from the start instead of pretending it going to be very character focus like the other Atelier games with no grand plot. So the change was just jarring, even if they tried hard to not throw everything at you at once.

Speaking of character focus, there's a huge lack of it and the development feels very wonky. There were plenty of opportunities to cover the themes of the characters' issues around them and how they can grow but sadly, the majority of it is just brushed over or pushed to the side for the story. At the end of the day, I feel like many of the characters haven't really developed. In fact, I say only Klaudia and Bos only receive any noteworthy development. Adding on to my inconsistency issue, I feel like Ryza's personality was all over the place, so it was hard to tell if she really developed (and I kinda think she has gotten too good with alchemy too fast but that is just a reoccurring issue within the series).

Other things are the side quests aren't too bad, you get to learn the villagers more as you do more of their quests, even if some of them were impossible to do until much later in the game and some of them are tedious to do. I found a lot of alchemy tools such as cloning, the garden, and weapon buffing have been unlocked way too late in the game. It would be nice to have nearly all of them within the first 1/3 of the game. The game aesthetics is very charming like some fairytale story and the character designs are pretty as expected from an Atelier game (except Lila), the art style is vibrant and I really enjoy the soundtrack the most out of all of the Atelier games I have played.

Overall, Ryza is a decent game, especially for a newcomer that got baited in with the "thicc thighs" and the gameplay and aesthetic are overall good. However, it tries to do both this coming of age, slow-paced, character-focused, self plot similar to the previous Atelier games and this grand, epic, adventure you see in many other JRPGs, and in the end, I feel like they dropped the ball of the former for the latter. If the game was like another 20-30 hours longer (I have done the majority of what the game has to offer within 44 hours), then maybe Atelier Ryza could do both in a much more natural and organic way.

-Written on December 12, 2020-

The story for this game is just pure insane, to put it in simple terms. You would think it's just gonna be another mecha game that you fight against kauji at the very beginning of the game, and it is for the most part. However there is just soooo much more that goes behind the scenes with the kauji invasion.

One of the coolest parts of the game is how you can go through the story and unravel the mystery in many different ways since you play through the story throughout the perspective of 13 characters and each character add a puzzle piece to the overall story. Since you can hop around the characters' stories at any given time, no two people going to have the exact same experience with the story. The way the story is even told like this and it still very coherent without falling apart is just honestly a testament to writing ability.

Things not going to make sense at all very early on and you probably won't get the overall picture until the very end of the game. In fact, if I told you the ending of the game when you start the game, you probably won't believe me since it seems like it's that far-fetched. The game is a constant plot-twisting adventure with a lot of mind-blowing reveals that you just wondering how that even makes sense. The most I will say without spoiling anything more than the first hour of the game masterfully incorporate nearly every major Sci-Fi subgenre and you wouldn't even realize it at first.

One of the things I really love is the aesthetics. The art is just gorgeous and well animated since it looked hand-painted and I actually appreciate the fact that the characters actually looked like Japanese people with dark eyes and realistic hair colors. It's honestly really refreshing considering so many Japanese games have a super colorful cast with appearances. So when I heard someone said 13 Sentinels was a "generic anime game" and I was ?????? since the game barely looks like something you would see from your everyday anime. The OST is great as well since it's a mix of electronic, ambient, and orchestral music and it adds a lot to the emotion with certain scenes.

Not to mention none of the characters don't act tropey as you see in anime. Rather most of them behave like believable teens in high school and there are no clear-cut black morality evil characters. A lot of these characters just trying to live their everyday life in high school rather than being this grand action hero until they're forced to do so. Nearly everyone in the game is mortally grey and their complex motivations add a lot of depth to the already expansive and puzzling story. Character relationships also done well since they add another dimension to their writing and their motivations. It is just nice to have a lot of flawed but believable characters that aren't overly exaggerated with their personality.

There is actual gameplay as well, the tower defense RTS mode. Overall it feels like a side game and it didn't really need it but it's still cool to actually fight against the kauji with the pilots. There is actually a surprising amount of depth with the gameplay since you can level up stats and abilities and there are 4 different types of Sentinels you can use for different situations and strategies. At first, it might seem like it's just a tackled-on mode but it gets challenging as you make progress and you got to actually think ahead with what you going to do with your Sentinels. Not to mention you can't use everyone all of the time, so there's that to consider as well. I can safely say there's a lot of decent effort put into the RTS mode. Plus you still get chunks of character interaction and info you don't get in the main story mode as well.

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is just a purely amazing game with very few flaws. It's my personal game of the year (yes I even love 13 Sentinels more than I love Cold Steel 4), It's very close to my all-time favorite game (just right behind Steins; Gate) and overall one of my favorite stories period, not just in games. In fact, I think this, Steins; Gate and 20th Century Boys is my holy trinity as far as my favorite Sci-Fi stories. I haven't experienced anything that mixes Sci-Fi, Mystery, and Psychological so well in a very long time and those are my favorite genres, so no surprise the game click with me so well. I don't care what The Game Awards say, The Last of Us part 2 didn't deserve to win Best Narrative, this game does right here. And it's so sad very few people didn't even hear about this game, let alone play it. If you love a good story, then please play this game. 13 Sentinels is going down as one of the things I will shill so more people can play it. It's a criminally underrated masterpiece.

I suppose it’s an okay game. A lot of the plot is barebones and padded out but the Private Actions make up for it for fun character interactions. The combat is ultimately simple but there’s a surprising amount of depth with item crafting and creation skills. However, the severe lack of quality of life and bloated optional characters really prevents SO1 from being truly enjoyable.

First of all, I adore the overall graphics and looks. With First Departure using the SO2 engine with new portrait art from Katsumi Enami (who has done artwork for SO4 and the Trails series as examples) and new Japanese voice acting from the original cast back in 1996. The overall aesthetic for SO1 feels like an in-between from an upscaled PS1 game and a modern 2D indie game. Even if the new character portraits based on the original SNES game do not match with the First Departure sprites and anime cutscenes.

SO1 starts off very promising, the first hour or 2 features the four main characters, Roddick, Millie, Ronyx, and Illa traveling back in time 300 years to slay a demon lord. In order to obtain a cure for a spreading pandemic on the planet of Roak. Unfortunately, that main focus quickly begins to lose a lot of focus and will be at the backburner for a while in favor of introducing optional characters and the main characters resolving problems self-contained in the past. The last 15% of the game picks up a ton of momentum again with the plot. But sadly, everything else in between felt like padded filler that had little to do with the original goal and mainly revolved around the optional characters. Even if some of their stories were quite decent.

The Private Action talk mechanic is arguably the best part of the game and gave the character more personality and depth than anything the main plot could have managed to do. Every Time you’re in a town, you will be given the opportunity to let the party branch out and do their own thing. During this time, you can engage in conversations (if certain conditions are met) that reveal more information about the characters and the relationship will develop even further. The PAs are usually very fun and lighthearted and because of this. While I personally didn’t get too attached with anybody, ultimately every single character (from what I had) is very likable (Even if I feel like Welch only exists just to annoy the characters).

However, SO1 suffers a very “too many cooks in the kitchen” issue due to the number of optional characters you can recruit but the limited amount of space you have for recruitments. While this may be a pro to some, it’s unappealing to others due to the requirements of multiple playthroughs to recruit every character and see their lines. Not to mention, the optional characters barely exist in the main plot, even Millie hardly gets any lines during main plot events and she is supposed to be a main character. Optional characters can have a shining moment in the main plot depending on the character and their situation. But the majority of the time just features everyone in silence while Roynx, Roddick, and Illa do the majority of the talking. Creating an awkward feeling that everyone else is physically there but sits in silence. Personally, sometimes I wonder if the game would have better focus and interaction if optional characters just didn’t exist and instead have a predetermined party of the main four, Ashley, Ioshua, Mavelle, and Erys.

Combat overall functions fine as an action RPG with melee and symbology (the series’ magic system) spells. While it can get very button mashy with just only 2 buttons for special arts. It works with its simplicity. Although the escape mechanic leaves a lot to desire due to its slowness. However, the real shining gem in the gameplay is the skill and item creation. Every time you level up a character, they get skill points that can be spent on skills to improve combat. Such as reduced spell casting time or increased movement speed, or skills to improve stats and skills that can help form item creation abilities and specialties. With item creation skills such as crafting, customization, and alchemy, the possibilities for upgrading armor and weapons as well as creating different items opens up. The characters can also learn specialties for different gameplay functions such as getting more skill points, writing books to increase affection levels, and increasing enemy encounter rates.

While SO1 is at its best gameplay-wise with item creation, the game suffers a lot from the overall quality of life. I do understand this is a game from 1996 that was later remade in 2007, but I believe Square Enix could have done more to update First Departure in the remastered version. From constant enemy encounters every 15 seconds if you’re not at a town and ultimately becoming half of the game’s length, to the inability of saving the game at any time, to tons of backtracking all across the world map for the main plot and Private Actions events, to confusing and maze-like town and dungeon layouts with no maps. On top of SO1’s failure of explaining how any of how the game works or any clear indication on where you need to go next, it’s next to impossible to complete SO1 without a guide. Because of how poorly designed SO1 is, it ultimately became a chore to play through the game near the end because constant enemies just get in the way of what you want to do next. Half of these issues would be resolved if Square Enix put in more effort into the remastered version such as more detailed maps at all times, reduced enemy encounters, and an indicator telling the party where to go next to progress the story. Even if not everything could be resolved, unlike SO1 was completely remade once again.

Star Ocean First Departure could be a very solid game with likable, written-out characters, a focused story with a strong start and finish, and an in-depth item creation system. However, the game’s consistent need to be bloated and padded out with underdeveloped optional characters, filtered main plot events, and a lack of quality of life ultimately hurt the game a lot. If First Departure was just half of the length, not much would be left out at all considering you spent more time fighting over and over again than doing anything meaningful that added to the characters and plot. If you want to see how Star Ocean began as a series or want to play every game in the series, then I think a single playthrough might be okay. However, I honestly have a hard time recommending this game to anyone, let alone recommending to play it multiple times. First Departure just may be the most average game I have ever played in my life.

The first thing that really caught my attention is the combat. It’s a character action game similar to Devil May Cry so there will be standard mechanics such as combos, range attacks, and buying new weapons etc. However what made Bayonetta stand out was the unique Witch Time mechanic, which slows down time if you do a perfect dodge from enemy attacks. The mechanic is super useful not only to defeat enemies, but to surpass and solve puzzles during the game’s few moments of not engaging in combat.

Bayonetta is a very over-the-top and stylized game and it uses that to its best advantage at times to create glorious set pieces to battle against boss battles. One of the game’s most common complaints is how QTE-heavy it is and some of them can cause instant death if you miss the QTE. While I personally did not have much of an issue with this, deaths in the game can cause the player to lower their ranking at the end of each chapter. Also, I do like the game is forgiving with player death due to its number of checkpoints you can restart every time the player dies. Making completing the game far less frustrating despite the challenging difficulty at times.

However, one of my biggest complaints is the lack of enemy variety. By the time I was ¾ done with the game, I noticed I kept fighting the same mini bosses I fought 4 chapters ago. Between that and the game’s constant boss galores in chapters, playing Bayonetta felt exhausting and repetitive at times despite the short length and the variety in level design. There are some variations in gameplay that call back from past Sega games from motorcycle driving and bullet hell-like shooting segments. The additional gameplay selections don’t add much for Bayonetta overall but it’s a nice change of pace from the usual hack and slash.

The game still has a wealth of cutscenes for its type of game and the cinematics still holds up visually to this day despite Bayonetta being over a decade old at this point. With its well-choreographed and animated scenes to exaggerate action sequences to deliver the point that Bayonetta….can quite do everything basically, it’s eye candy to watch. The OST also has quite some enjoyable songs that fit with Bayonetta’s aesthetics that go along with a playful and sexual vibe and a complete contrast from other character action games that emphasize dramatic orchestration or heavy metal for their OST.

The overall story is quite iffy despite the fact character action games usually don’t have story as their main focus. While Bayonetta herself is very likable and smug and the supporting cast is solid enough, the overall plot is quite confusing at times with barebones explanations. During my playthrough of the game, half of the time I was wondering why Bayonetta was exactly in the situation she was. There is an overall resemblance of plot near the end of the game, but even then it felt puzzling at best. It’s serviceable enough, especially since it gave Bayonetta an excuse to defeat her enemies in the most amplified methods. But at times I also believe it could have taken advantage of its setting and the bits of lore it has.

Overall despite some of its gameplay and story shortcomings, Bayonetta is still a decently challenging game that aged well and is still a fun and vibrant game to experience and not just gameplay-wise. Bayonetta isn’t my favorite character action game but it’s a very solid first game in the series.

Didn’t expect much at all, thought it was going to be “guy kill people with samurai sword” turns out it’s much more than that and it’s overall a pleasant surprise.

First of all, the game is aesthetically pleasing with its gritty pixel art and heavy usage of blues, pinks, and purples. Together with its pumping and mesmerizing synth-wave soundtrack, Katana Zero creates a pseudo-retro punk atmosphere (even without most of the retro punk technology) with its visuals and the dystopian neo-noir landscape the game takes place in.

The gameplay, while essentially being an action platformer at its core, has plenty of unique mechanics. In order to progress throughout each level, the player, Zero, is required to kill every enemy. However, a single hit will result in death, requiring the player to redo the entire selection. While this can test the player’s patience and frustration and at times will feel difficult, trial and error and perseverance are the key to succeed in each selection.

Katana Zero excels in player freedom and choice since there are multiple paths and variations to complete in each selection using its game mechanics such as slowing down time to create easier timing to defeat enemies and reflect bullets, rolling around the stage, which grants some frames of invisibility, and using environmental traps and weapons, such as throwing a bottle of fire into oil tanks to create a chain explosion around enemies. As far as level design, Katana Zero is near flawless with its execution of gameplay function.

Another element that amplifies the focus on player freedom and choice are dialogue choices during and in between story missions. While most of these won’t impact the overall story and just added fluff to mold Zero’s personality as the player pleases during conversations with characters. There are a few key interactions Zero will have that could change the game’s course. From completing a level in a different way to unlocking different endings. It adds a sense of replayability to see all of the possible dialogue branches that could lead to different outcomes.

That said, there is no denying the game is still very difficult and will test your patience despite the short sections, the slow-motion ability, and infinite respawning. With its lack of accessibility and its heavily dependent on player reflexes and reaction time, it’s definitely a niche not everyone will enjoy. Especially in later levels when the sections are longer, there are greater numbers in enemies and enemy variation and there are more tricky enemy and hazard placement. This is not a positive or negative notation though, just something the player needs to be aware of for what type of game they’re getting into.

However, in between the game’s chapters are story content that is quite interesting….to say the least. Katana Zero takes advantage of its neo-noir setting with dystopian undertones to set up the overall plot for Zero, as he slowly begins to discover who he really is. Katana Zero presents many captivating ideas and themes that deal with human psychology, mental illness such as PTSD and drug experimentation. It’s hard to say much without spoiling the plot but for its short game length, Katana Zero packs in a lot.

In fact, because Katana Zero has to tell a lot of story within 4-8 hours, a lot of its writing is unexplored and there’s plenty of unanswered questions (despite the end of the game indicating there’s more to come). While the overall plot is fantasizing enough with its setting, the majority of characters hardly exist beyond one-dimensional antagonists for Zero to face or characters that are ultimately used as a plot device for its themes. Because of the short length, Katana Zero has no time to let its story elements breathe, creating a sense of convolutedness at times due to the rushed pacing. Because of its demanding gameplay, it would be impractical to have more levels but there should have been more story scenes during the game. So the characters would be fleshed out better and create a grander impact for the overall plot.

Barring some hiccups in story execution due to length and the player’s mileage will vary depending on its difficulty, Katana Zero is overall a well-put-together game that meets more than the eye. From the combination of standard action-platformer gameplay combined with slowed time to ultimately create a frantic but yet calculating experience to dialogue choices that gives a sense of player freedom. These gameplay elements complement the story’s premise full of non conventional ideas and impressively still manage to tell a compelling tale in the end with its length, even if more could easily be expanded. Katana Zero is definitely a game that shows a lot of promise, especially for the future.

“Tales of loss, and fire, and faith
Everywhere, our hearts engraved
In the dark, you will not stray
Forge ahead, 'til the end we pray”

Quite frankly, FFXIV Endwalker not only is the cumulation to all of the major story elements in the game, and it just ties in everything so beautifully and tightly. But it just had essentially everything that I love about stories. During its 8 year run and 3 expansion packs. FFXIV became a massive world filled with dozens and dozens of characters you come to love over time and some of the most expansive world-building and lore I have seen, not just in video games. It pays off so much to not only do all of the prior MSQ but also complete certain chain-side quests since those get referenced as well. There were scenes that just felt completely epic and grand since it put in so much focus on all of the allies you made throughout FFXIV.

Endwalker is also an expansive,multi-layered, plot-twisting adventure that goes beyond the scope of the Eozora setting multiple times. As my expectations were completely broken for something I would never see coming in the game. I would love to go into details about this but I need to keep this spoiler-free for now. However, as a massive fan of a certain genre, I was very pleasantly surprised and pleased with how those elements are incorporated into the story. Between that and the overall theming of Endwalker, it definitely reminded me of a few of my all-time favorite games and it just gave me a greater sense of appreciation of the boundless scale of the expansion.

That said, Endwalker is easily the darkest and most grim FFXIV expansion yet with strong nods of dark fantasy. There were plenty of times when it got so violent and savage, I have no idea how Square Enix avoided an M rating at times. Not just with violence either, as feelings of hopelessness and despair fill the air, affecting the characters and questioning their motives on whether or not they were doing the right thing since essentially every character is mortally gray.

However one of the biggest themes of Endwalker is even when things are shrouded in darkness, there is also light and hope at the end. The emotional and character bonding you have with not only with your fellow Scions but other key characters are as strong as ever and there has been greater emphasis on spending time with them. Such as talking about various things around their surroundings, the constant dialogue updates, and seeing the conclusion of their personal arcs with growth since ARR. What were once seemingly random people you met are now your dearest companions you feel multiple emotions towards them and back.

In fact, the emotions everyone feels are as important as ever. I won’t go into details but one of the biggest emphases about this is the soundtrack and the variation of moods. From world music influenced acoustic guitars to quiet pianos and singing. It adds more to the emotional scenes, from dread to bliss to anger etc. And they’re all incredible pieces of music.

If I have to be objective, Endwalker isn’t perfect or flawless. It has pacing and filler issues, I thought some of the slower moments overstay its welcome at times. While this I am aware the game needs time to breathe and to create a more balanced experience. When everything is at high stakes and risks, I question the lengthy slowdowns at times. Some of the gameplay elements are mechanically iffy as well such as chasing down someone and the duties are more challenging than ever to the point it’s frustrating. When you expect the challenge it’s fine but MSQ duties should be easy enough for anyone to pass for the story without too much effort. Not to mention, I wasn’t quite a fan with a few choice scenes but they’re very minor compared to the grand scope of Endwalker.

But subjectively speaking and despite all nitpicking, it’s a gorgeous masterpiece in my eyes since not only Endwalker is the expansion pass that finally makes me admit FFXIV is now my all-time favorite Final Fantasy but also one of my all-time favorite games since it just beautifully combines everything I love seeing in video games stories into one while still having its own identity for this final chapter for the first major story arc in FFXIV. To me, Endwalker is the definition of peak fiction for that alone.

This is solely my thoughts of the PC port and the Intermission DLC since I've completed the base game on PS4 previously.

It's no grand expansion pack but decently long enough for a DLC with a few side stuff. Yuffie is a bit annoying tbh but she's still very loveable. Sonon is really cool as well. Plus Fort Corder best mini-game. The rest of the game is basically the same as the base game. It reminded me of how much I liked the combat and how everything is just expanded. The ending is super raw and if Nomura doesn't do any KH nonsense, then FFVIIR-2 looks very promising!

As for the PC port. Square and Epic Games did not care at all lmao. No ultrawide support, super limited graphics opinions (no options for V sync, motion blur, depth of field, anti-aliasing etc). It's barely what you would see above console graphic settings. Plus there was just so much stuttering. It isn't game-breaking during gameplay since it only lasts a few seconds but it's get so bad during pre-rendered cutscenes it's almost unwatchable.

The one pro I can say is, it runs super smoothly in frame rates above 60fps (I had it set to 90fps) while still having high resolution. Plus the textures are actually better (no more PS2 doors). So FFVIIR benefits a lot with high-end tech. That said, I fail to see why the Yuffie DLC needed to be PS5/PC only when it's something the PS4 could run as well. There wasn't a single moment when I thought "okay the PS4 can't handle this".

My verdict on the PC port: Don't buy it, especially if you already played VIIR before. The PC port is honestly really crappy with issues. It isn't worth the $70 Square and Enix trying to charge. Especially if you just want to play the Yuffie stuff. PS5 version might be the best version of the game so far and I can't believe I'm saying the console version might be better. Well, mods might make it up at least lol.