Finished Rhapsody A Musical Adventure at just 9 and a half hours. It's easily the shortest RPG I've ever played in my life. The story is cute and something you would see in a Disney princess movie. Not to mention it's filled with musical scores (as the name implies) it's nothing wow or amazing and the story isn't written super deeply but it's charming and it had a lot of funny dialogue too to keep things lighthearted and entertaining for the most part. Not to mention near the end of the game surprisingly have some really emotional tear-jerking moments. My only real complaint is due to the length of the game and there are only a few songs, it hardly felt like a musical most of the time.

However, the gameplay was just not that enjoyable. Rhapsody supposes to be an SRPG but it's so simple and easy, it just felt like a turn-based game with a grid slapped into it. The game is just so easy it's actually boring to play through. From my experience, I just one-shot all non-bosses most of the time. Not to mention the dungeons aren't good at all. It just basically the same dungeon design but in a different color for nearly all of them and some of them are really confusing to navigate. Not to mention, I just don't like how the game tells you nothing about what to do next but that is just standard for pre-PS2 RPGs. Also, there is a monster collecting element but it just feels like really tackled without much thought, considering you can easily get by the game by just using the same 3 puppets if you wanted to.

Overall, I just think Rhapsody would work better if it was just a 12-episode anime back in 1998. I have no real complaints about the story, it's cutesy, fun, funny, and told the tale it wanted to tell straight through without being convoluted. I just think the gameplay elements are just not really good if I have to be completely honest.

I finished Haven at just 15 and a half hours. Extremely short for my standards but honestly I needed a short game to change up the pace. I didn't expect much besides "Sci Fi couple game" but I ended up liking it much more than I thought. The game never felt stale at all despite there being only just two characters really. I enjoy Yu and Kay's interactions with the planet Source, finding all kinds of different things and talking about them while flowing around and enjoying each other's company with various activities. Plus they talk about thier past lives a lot, so that gives in a lot of lore with the setting and thier backgrounds.

Haven isn't really a plot-focused game at all since much of the time it's just about Yu and Kay exploring around and finding parts for thier ships to be repaired but I found it really cool towards the end of the game, the lore points and thier motivations start to form a plot to tie things up. The endings are very controversial from what I've read but I think the best ending possible to obtain in the game is a nice conclusion for Yu and Kay. Haven isn't a grand Sci-Fi epic with dozens of characters and deep world-building. It is all about the love and romance between Yu and Kay and how nothing can keep thier love apart and I personally think that was what the entire game was trying to emphasize and I think it did very well with delivering that theme, even if I can agree easily way more could be done with the lore points. But I appreciate the story Haven wanted to tell.

My only real complaint is the gameplay. The survival elements weren't too bad and I really really like how not a single living soul dies in the game because essentially every game have death in some sort of way. However, I just found the combat very...clunky? The ATB combat is simple and holding down the button to do commands just doesn't work for me sometimes? And trying to use items is just very clunky to perform. Plus while Haven gets called as an RPG, I just found so many essential RPG elements to be missing that I rather just call it an adventure game. Not to mention, exploration can be maze-like here and there because you have to find a certain flow thread to exit the area and those can be tricky to find. The gameplay isn't awful, in fact, I think it's passable for the most part, but I definitely thought it needed more fine-tuning and polish.

Minor gameplay complaints and false RPG advertisement aside. Haven is a very neat and comfy game and I overall really enjoy and got attached to the romance adventure. I recommend the game a lot if you want something quick, simple, and lighthearted that is still very character focused with the story.

Honestly, it's one of my favorite games at this point despite I haven't even done every single thing yet. In fact, it's the best 9/10 game I've played alongside Radiant Historia and easily in my top 10 games.

The only thing I'm not fully sole on is the choice system which is based on convictions. It's an interesting mechanic and I like that your choices matter here, but I would prefer if more of the content was laid out in one playthrough such as the ability to get more units in one playthrough. Plus the voice acting would benefit a bit more with more emotion but that's an issue with both the ENG and JP audio from what I understand.

But otherwise, I love everything else about the game. The gorgeous 2D HD art style and soundtrack. The SRPG gameplay with elements from past Team Asano with the BP system and how every unit plays differently from each other. The class and job building are very addicting as well since there is always a sense of progression with leveling your units and their stats. I will even say the map design is great since vertical advantages and unit position against the enemy is a huge factor to gain the upper hand.

But the story and lore? Absolutely fantastic and phenomenal. The pacing is tight from start to finish as the story explores the various conflicts and wars between the three countries of Norzalia, each plague with their different flawed ideologies. From advocating free trade to government control under the context of religion. And it's pretty mature and even gritty. The typical anime/JRPG tropes are at a minimum and the game is not afraid to kill people off for good either (something I have been having an issue with Japanese writing lately). So it's a very refreshing change. This is just the tip of the iceberg as well. The political narrative is just so compelling and complex with various twists that challenge the convections of the main characters. Not to mention the character stories just add so much development and backstory to the characters, even the optional ones. It just makes them more natural and believable and not just a bunch of people that have no time to be themselves.

This is not my final review of Triangle Strategy. I will likely do that once I've completed the golden route but I'm putting down the game for now. But the game's gameplay is really enjoyable and the story has to be one of the best I've seen in general. Triangle Strategy is a must-play for anyone that likes RPGs or stories in my opinion. The game just blew my expectations off the chart. I know it's only April but this is my GOTY so far and it will be very hard to dethrone it.

Finally finished with Horizon II: Forbidden West at 91 hours despite it taking me two months to complete nearly every single thing the game has to offer. Overall big improvement over the first time in almost every single way and just overall one of the highly produced RPG I've played.

First of all, let's just get the obvious out of the way, the graphics are jaw-dropping. Horizon II is legit one of the best-looking games I've ever played in my life. It's amazing how a nearly decade-old machine can put out visuals like this. The environments are great such as the nighttime, it's absolutely stunning and breathtaking with the lighting and fog. But those character models? Legit is some of the best I've seen. In fact, my sister thought I was watching a live-action TV show for a second when I was on a cutscene lol. The animation is so fluid and smooth as well, definitely a huge improvement over the first game. I don't think I will ever get over the fact the character models look like real people. Even now I am just so amazed Guerrilla Games managed to push out visuals like that, especially on old hardware.

You probably saw everyone fawn over the graphics by now, it's definitely praiseworthy at the very least but a game with pretty graphics does not equal a good game. Horizon II is definitely "more of the same". There is still a lot of platforming and scaling to perform across mountains, hills, and abandon buildings. As well as tons of environmental puzzles to solve when you're inside ruins. But there are a lot of improvements such as better melee combats with combos, more accessibility options, more weapons and outfits to upgrade, and more skill points to allocate to customize Aloy to your playstyle preference. To stealth, machine hacking and long-range warrior combat, a grander sense of open exploration such as underwater diving and flying with robots and more varation with side quests. Like I'm all for a strategy minigame and racing challenges lol.

Speaking of the side quests, they're so great. Usually, side quests are simple fetch/kill quests and Horizon II has some of that but each quest is presented like it's a main quest with more dialogue options compared to the first game. They just add so much flavor and give you a reason to do them since it fleshes out the world and its smaller problems much better. They are just really well done filled with so much detailed and vivid dialogue. I wasn't really expecting much with this department but I was just pleasantly surprised with how much you can talk to people on each side quest. It feels like each side quest is like an episodic TV series where you met completely different people in different tribes and clans and help them with their issues. Rather than just faceless kill/fetch quests. The side quests got their own involved stories that are worth doing and I'm impressed. It's rare for an RPG to put this much care into side quests.

Speaking of world-building, I always found its world to be really interesting as it's a new take on post-apocalyptic sci-fi and I'm down for more of that. I didn't really expect much at first and that's me playing Zero Dawn already but Forbidden West really expands upon all of these elements. I get this can come off as a bunch of sci-fi jargon nonsense to some people but I precisely love all of that. I just get super excited to see lore like different planets, space ships, clones, robots, advanced technology and weapons, artificially prolonged lifespans, holograms etc. But what's super cool with Horizon is all of that takes place in what is essentially a pre-historic environment but it's actually a post-apocalyptic setting that at least takes place 1000+ into the future. So it just feels very unique while scratching my sci-fi boner at the same time. I won't spoil much of the main plot but I was very please with how the story intergrades these elements all into one, even if sometimes it feels like not much happens in the main questlines. There are even little notes all over the world to explain what happened in the past and I think that is a very nice touch.

I feel like a lot of WRPGs struggle with characterization and that is one of my biggest issues since you don't feel as connected with your companions. You are just by yourself most of the time. And while Horizon II still has that issue, I noticed having a base you can come back to and talk to your companions about different things is a huge step up from the first game. It kinda reminds me of how you can interact with your party members in Mass Effect in a way. Plus it just adds so much lively characterization and color to the characters and I like they always interact with each other all of the time. It just feels very organic.

However, I do have some issues with the main character Aloy in this regard. I don't dislike Aloy, don't really have a reason to but also I just find it hard to care for her for some reason. It's just her personality feels "too safe" like she can be molded into any situation and it feels like she isn't allowed to be too emotional into any one emotion. Not even the side quests help, in fact, I just think the side quests are really just peeping into the lives of those that live in the Forbidden West that you don't have time to see in the main story. It's really just a world-building thing rather than character-building for Aloy. The rest of the major characters are more interesting than her if I have to be completely honest since they got their clearly defined personalities and traits. Aloy just feels like a blank character that got tons of lines with a pre-determined design and backstory and you hardly make any decisions. So it's a weird in-between from an RPG OC and a fully written-out character.

My biggest complaint with Horzion II has to be the open-world design. It's very...Ubisoft checkmarky and filled up, for a lack of a better term. While it's nice to always have something to do around every corner in the otherwise impressive world map, a lot of Horizon II content is collect-a-thons and checking off question mark symbols scatter everywhere. I can't help but feel like this method of game design is dated and tired out at this point. It also makes the game much more exhausting to complete every single thing since the more minor aspects of exploring aren't as interesting or engaging. Other elements I don't like quite as much are the melee side missions due to their unbalanced opponents and incorrect tutorials, some clunky combat aspects such as switching around weapons and hitting the level cap way too early on. I hit the level cap by the time I was 55 hours into the game. Which takes away a huge RPG component.

Overall Horizon II is a fantastic game with its world-building, visuals, quest design and storytelling, and sci-fi concepts. Some of the best I have seen in an RPG. Sadly I can't say Horizon II is one of the best RPGs I have played due to its open world and RPG design and character writing (especially Aloy) hold back the game a lot. Guerrilla Games managed to create an impressive and charming world to explore and despite a few flaws, I say it's a game that is definitely worth playing and submerge yourself into.

I've completed Atelier Sophie 2, The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream at 56 hours, completed all events, synthesized most items, and got the adventurer rank at S rank. Although it feels very similar to past games. It's a great sequel with various improvements even with a few hiccups in between.

The gameplay feels like a mix between the first Sophie game and Atelier Ryza 2. The core alchemy system is very similar to Sophie 1 with putting alchemy elements on a puzzle like grid and making them fit into certain spots to get the best out of the synthesis. But exploration, gathering, and game progress feel like a copy and paste from Ryza 2, from map design to handling requests. This is understandable and not even a bad thing considering the fast development time for Sophie 2 but it's very notable. Combat is most standard turn-based like Sophie 1 but the new mechanics like support guard and twin actions make combat more dynamic and engaging across all 6 main party members. Furthermore QoL improvements like turbo mode in battles, auto add materials and seamless transitions from exploring and combat make playing Sophie 2 very smooth and fast compared to previous games.

The overall story is solid. Sophie 2 is definitely much more plot-focused with an overall narrative holding up the game from beginning to end. Atelier games always had a slice of life focus and while the Ryza games attempt to be more plot-focused, I always thought the games struggle with that a lot. However, even if I thought some of the overall themes of dreams were a bit cheesy and there was no real challenge the protagonist Sophie has ever faced. Sophie 2 exceed the plot writing by staying unpredictable, changing the characters' objectives throughout the game, and having good pacing. The characters themselves are also very likable. Even if I thought the writing quality varied drastically, from characters that faced their own personal vendetta throughout the game to characters that just felt like they exist for comedic relief. It's very difficult to hate the characters due to the fact they all get around with each other well with emotional bonding and they're very engaging with the main plot.

As for flaws? Well, I've noticed there has been less content this time around. Gameplay is a bit more limited. There is no option to upgrade weapons, improve crafted items with alchemy or even have a puni to go out in the wild and gather materials for you. Sophie 2 feels more stripped down of all of that and instead has the player focus on just alchemy to get by with improving party stats. Also, I noticed there have been fewer characters events outside the main party and absolutely no side quests from NPCs. While Sophie 2 has great focus with its story and gameplay, it feels like Gust has cut corners with its side content. Also while the weather mechanic to change the environment to progress the map is an interesting idea in order to not make exploration too familiar to past games. Throughout the game, I personally just found it irksome to keep up with and just an artificial obstacle.

Overall, Atelier Sophie 2, while it's quite fanservice-y with a sequel of a popular Atelier character and it does have a few writing flaws along with a lot of cut mechanics of past games. It manages to take the best of previous Atelier games, from gameplay to story beats and churn out one of the best Atelier games in recent memory with a strong focus on story, gameplay and various quality of life improvements to make playing Atelier Sophie 2 very smoothly and enjoyable. If you enjoyed the Mysterious series or even want to play an Atelier game, then I highly recommend Sophie 2. It's arguably the best game of its subseries and one of the best games in recent memory.

I've been taking it easy with games lately since I am burned out but I managed to complete Quantum Break last night. A game I have been interested in a few months now. Very good game.

I really overall dig the time traveling and time manipulation story for this the fact it's based on hard science such as quantum physics to create its own science called chronon particles to make its concept of time shattering and freezing in certain points feel more believable. I honestly thought Quantum Break was lacking in actual time traveling at first but near the end, everything came together super nicely while making its plot complex while still inheriting the basic laws of physics and how time worked in the past.

The world-building and amount of text are pretty impressive as well, considering I only spent like 15 hours in the game. With these text files scattered around the levels. You get insight into characters' histories, further in-depth explanations of physics, what is going on in the town from other people's perspectives, even fun stuff like an awfully cliche play based on cheesy sci fi tropes etc. It made the world more alive and I live for detailed worlds, so big plus for me.

What stood out for me is the decision-making that affects the story. Although there are only a few choices and it doesn't change too much of the overall story. The decisions you can make as the main antagonist give you a greater sense of immersion, control and perspective of him. It encourages replay value as well to see how the choices can affect the story. Between that and other triggers during the game, there are about 40 variations for the live-action TV show, so that's a lot of airing they have to do!

Speaking of that, what's especially cool is the TV series going alongside with the game. While I don't think the episodes being live action super necessary, I still think it's a super cool concept I've never seen in a game and it puts characters that are barely in the main game at all in the spotlight. I think the TV show as a standalone is pretty eh since the characters are weak and sorta unlikeable at times and feel like a generic gritty action show. And I'm not really a fan of Liam tbh since the whole super soldier thing just felt unbelievable (even if there's a reason why he could fight well). Yea for a game that lets the main character, Jack have time powers. Liam having a similar body count with no powers felt ridiculous. But even then, I appreciate the TV show for adding on insight to its world and I still think how the actors perfectly mirror its game model counterparts is super cool.

The gameplay is fun, tight, solid thrid person shooting action. While the standard mechanics are plain with your typical arsenal of guns and shooter mechanics like covering. The time manipulation powers help make the combat stand out a lot such as time dodge to quickly avoid enemy gunfire or a time sheld that will reflect enemy gunfire and let you heal for a few seconds. These abilities will help you maintain the upper hand with the waves of enemies. Although they lack variety, it's still a consistent experience.

If I have one complaint, is the game have a case of serious ludonarrative dissonance. Maybe because I don't really play a lot of shooters these days but it kinda bothers me how the main protagonist, Jack supposes to be this seemingly normal and likable enough guy that basically wipes out an entire army in one day and he is basically psychologically unaffected. Quantum Break being a game is a double edge sword. I feel like the detailed world-building is something they could only pull off as a game but I also felt like there were countless waves of enemies just to pad out the game and give some kind of active content to interact with. It's just a bit off-putting and unbelievable that Jack is unaffected by all this death and it's barely talked about but that might be just me being overly sensitive to how death is treated in media as of late haha.

A few unbelievable character moments and iffy writing for the TV show aside. Quantum Break is a really good game that does both gameplay and story well and I thought the idea of mixing live action with a game with decision making was a unique way to present a story. Highly recommend it to anyone that likes sci-fi, especially time-traveling stories.

After one month and 140 hours (a lot of that is idle time though), I finally completed Tears of Tiara 2. To be frank, this was one of my least favorite RPG experiences I ever had. There were several times when I had to force myself to finish the game.

Before I dive into the negatives, I will say not all is bad. The SRPG gameplay is pretty solid. It’s nothing groundbreaking but it works. You get units of different classes such as sword users and mages, buy equipment and upgrade it and give them different skills to boost stats. Barring a few maps when I thought it was unfair, it was a nice balance between being fun and being challenging. The characters are also charming and loveable. Although the majority of them lack heavy character development you would see in the gerne, they’re enjoyable for the most part and I don’t really dislike a single main character throughout the game, you can sense a tight bond with them despite the cast does grow pretty large at 15 characters. The music with the vocals is also pretty solid and the artwork in the CGs is great.

However, the biggest complaint I have with Tears of Tiara 2 is the game is just too long for its own good. I love a long epic tale but only if it’s engaging the entire time. TT2 is an 80 hour game with 13 chapters and I strongly believe the game should have ended in just six chapters if the story had better condensation. The game has some really serious pacing issues and a lot of scenes just get dragged out for little reason, especially in the earlier chapters. The pacing is so slow I would think the majority of players would struggle to even complete chapter 1, let alone the entire game.

Another reason why I think the game should have just ended at chapter 6 is because chapter 7 onwards has to be some of the most ridiculous plot writing I have ever seen in a game and I do not say that in a good way. At least the earlier chapters felt focused enough with clear goals and believable enemies. But after chapter 6, The game’s plot just becomes an unfocused jumbled mess all over the place. It’s really frustrating how the game, later on, treats death like it’s merely a plaything rather than a permanent outcome and a natural process afterlife.

I won’t spoil details but the abuse of revivals and fakeouts ruins and cheapens some of the most emotional scenes in the game in hindsight. Between that and the excess amount of Deus Ex Machina, it feels like the characters pretty much get everything they want with essentially 0 consequences in the long run. Considering this is a warm setting that is about overthrowing a divine emperor, the main cast dealing with 0 consequences on their side just cheapens the true effect of war with this obsession of the game always writing them as coming out at the top no matter what. And that just doesn’t feel believable to me.

Other issues I have is the ability to not save during the VN cutscenes, which is awful and I don’t like a game that doesn’t respect my time. I had to stay up all night multiple times just to reach a save point. And a lot of the overall writing is very repetitive. Not a major flaw but I do notice Tears of Tiara 2 like to recycle the same jokes and gags with the same characters. It’s amusing and funny at first, but it gets quite stale near the end of the game since it long lost its novelty.

Overall while Tears of Tiara 2 has a strong cast of characters with solid gameplay, it’s a hard recommendation to make to even the most diehard RPG fans due to its overall issues in pacing, length, and plot. Especially since I played better RPGs that essentially like Tears of Tiara 2 such as Fire Emblem Echoes. If you have an extreme amount of patience with the story and you’re looking for another SRPG to play then TT2 may be a fine game to play but otherwise, it's just really hard to recommend this game to nearly anyone personally.

Hajimari no Kiseki is the 10th game in the Trails series, wrapping up multiple plot points and character arcs from the Cold Steel and Crossbell series while setting up what next to come in the series. One could say Hajimari is very similar to Trails in the Sky the 3rd as far as structure. After playing the game for 135 hours, Hajimari no Kiseki just might be one of the strongest entries in the series with its various improvements in the game.

Aesthetic-wise, the visuals for Hajimari are largely the same as Cold Steel 3 and 4 and there are hardly any new locations with the exception of nearly all of Crossbell is now fully modeled in 3D. However, one of the biggest improvements is the animations. There are quite a lot of scenes with really smooth animations, from lip flaps to dynamic camera work to full-blown action scenes. The increased quality of animations is near Triple-A quality, and that's rather impressive considering Falcom was never for high visual quality.
The OST is also amazing. Falcom always had great tunes for their games but they have really knocked out of the park for this one. Me personally I love so many of the new battle themes since it's much heavier and the music is more complex, to the point I can say the OST for Hajimari is my favorite in the series.

Gameplay-wise, Hajimari is the best in the series as well. Although it's much the same as Cold Steel 3 and 4, what's different this time is there's a new mechanic called Valiant Rage when you can use 5 or more people in your party to do an all-out physical or art attack or recover your party. This adds an extra element to the series' combat. What else is noteworthy is the number of playable characters in the game. With over 50 characters, Hajimari boots one of the largest playable casts in an RPG. There are tons and tons of party combinations you can form with different builds. You could easily spend hours and hours just setting up characters. Not to mention Hajimari is more battle-focused than all of Cold Steel and Crossbell, so there's plenty of room for combat.

Getting to the core format of Hajimari, the game is split into two parts. The main story that you can go back and forth with Rean's, Lloyd's, and C's routes that are more aligned toward the traditional main stories for Trails and the True Reverie Corridor which is very similar to Phantasmagoria from Trails in the Sky the 3rd from all of the playable characters are gathered together and do dungeons to playable episodes that flushes out what happened between Cold Steel 4 and Hajimari and fun, silly minigames.

The main story for Hajimari has to be the best-paced and streamlined game in the series. No filler side quests, no harem bonding events, and once the ball gets rolling for each route, it stays rolling until the end and they all kick off by the end of Chapter 1. Hajimari no Kiseki essentially got rid of 2 of my biggest issues with Cold Steel 4, so it's a massive improvement as far as maturity and pacing.

I wasn't too excited for Lloyd's route since....without spoiling it too much, it's very repetitive to the story beats of Ao no Kiseki plus it's predictable with its twists at times but it gave the SSS new character development and a new outlook on Crossbell. Lloyd's route is overall fine but it's the weakest route. Rean's route plays out very similar to Cold Steel 3 by visiting different locations in Erebonia with different characters in every chapter. While Rean's route is a slow-burner, the payoff is very high and I felt like it had moments that rival the quality of Cold Steel 3 and Ao no Kiseki (my two favorite games of the series).
C's route is the best route in the game. You have a brand new set of characters with different but yet similar backgrounds and without spoiling much, it really gave everyone sustainable character development and reflection. Plus it really drives home some of the series' themes such as forgiveness and starting over with a new group of people. It's just phenomenal writing.

Of course, the three routes do connect to each other, which led to my biggest issue with the game. It's very convoluted. Trails always was great with keeping its stories and its lore very clean and understandable but with trying to tie up Cold Steel and Crossbell with the new plot points and lore introduced in Hajimari, I just ended up counting a lot of plot holes that just don't make sense. This is especially apparent in the final chapter when everything is supposed to connect but the presentation is just very complicated and the execution is messy. Falcom is usually great with writing stories but it seems like they shot for the moon too far this time, to the point the story hardly holds up by the time you're done with the extra chapter.
And there is the True Reverie Corridor, which is the strongest part of the game. Everyone across the Sky, Crossbell, and Cold Steel games are gathered together, providing an endless combination of character interactions you would not get otherwise between conversations in the hub areas, the group missions, and the trial doors. These conversations really complement the characters and bring out a new side of their personality and their interests. Not to mention there are a lot of dungeon levels to play in the TRC that boost the number of characters and the updated gameplay to good use.

There are randomly generated missions you can do to collect purple stones. You can use these purple stones to upgrade various gameplay elements such as increase brave points, charge meter, the number of characters you can have in your party at one time etc. There even a gacha system you can collect orbs to unlock minigames, episodes, orbments, accessories, etc. Considering there are 51 playable characters, the gacha isn't a bad system to get orbments and accessories to make building the characters easy. Plus there are items that can help boost a character's level, so you don't have to grind all day to boost up a character that is 50 levels behind. It's just really nice to have the quality of life elements as far as character, gameplay, and build management.

However, my biggest complaint about the gacha element is the way you unlock characters. You will get 40 of the characters by the story mode alone but the other 11 must be obtained by the gacha system. This might not sound too bad, considering you can't even use real money but considering the dialogue for the characters in the TRC updates for every chapter, you will permanently miss dialogue for the characters just for not having them and the 11 characters you get are randomized. Not to mention you can only get a few yellow orbs (the orbs you use to get the characters) per chapter. So unlocking all 11 immediately isn't possible either. New game plus does not fix this issue either sadly. This might not sound like a huge killer but considering talking to the NPCs that always have updated dialogue is one of the biggest highlights in this series, it's a real bummer.

In addition to that, there are also episodes that provide a strong bridge not only between Cold Steel 4 and Hajimari but between Hajimari and the upcoming Kuro no Kiseki. The quality of the episodes varies but most of them are good at least while there are a few that are really amazing. These episodes highlight and explore the character and the actions they made in previous games, give the characters proper conclusions to their arc that spans across games and expanded the lore and give them new context and hindsight. There are also a few episodes that are just plain silly and goofy that just show the everyday life of a character, so not all of them are serious or deep. The episodes overall enhance the world of Zemuria with its many sides and the characters that are involved in them.

There are also minigames, while it doesn't add much to the grand scope of Hajimari, it's fun extra content you can do. From playing a bullet hell-like Magical Girl minigame that spilled into three episodes and played out like a super generic high school magical girl anime (which is pretty charming in its own right), to going to the beach and ugghhhh.....having romantic dating sim conversations with a lot of girls in first person, to other things like a quiz game, mecha combat and POM makes a return again. I can't speak for the quiz game since it was untranslated and the story for the mecha minigame is untranslated as well but I found it unfun to play due to chunky controls. It felt like I was playing an unlocalized and niche PS1 game. Overall none of the minigames are amazing but if you want more Trails in various ways, then it's worth checking out.

Hajimari no Kiseki is overall a great game with a lot of strengths and the amount of content is massive that really made the game shine well. While it took a step back with clear storytelling and lore that is easy to follow through on top of a flawed gacha system, it took 2 steps forward for everything else from gameplay, character writing and interaction, plot pacing, further separating the waifu harem dating from the main story, etc. Hajimari is an excellent send-off and a strong conclusion for the Crossbell and Cold Steel arcs. Out of all of the Trails games, Hajimari is a close second for my favorite Trails game with Ao and CS3 still sits as a tie for my all-time favorite. And even then, I can totally see why someone would say Hajimari is their favorite game. After all, the game just does so much right in all areas.

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.

“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.

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.

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.

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.