This is, hands down, my favorite game of all-time. Is it perfect? No. It has its flaws. But this game hits every single beat that I want hit:
- The level design is superb. Both Sonic & Knuckles have unique paths they can take in the stages that can lead to not just wildly different playthroughs, but wildly different outcomes in the stages itself.
- The music is a slapper, MJ soundtrack or 1993 proto soundtrack, it doesn't matter - both are incredible.
- The gameplay is smooth. You are always in control and very rarely does the game feel cheap when you make a mistake. It does happen, yes, but less than in other games, which is surprising for a game as old as this.
- The attempts at story-telling in an early platformer are also very very well executed, giving you a proper narrative to follow and connecting each stage to one another.
I love Sonic 3 & Knuckles. It's such a fantastic game front to back that I never get tired of revisiting it. I loved it as a kid, I love it even more as an adult and never get tired of revisiting it.
- The level design is superb. Both Sonic & Knuckles have unique paths they can take in the stages that can lead to not just wildly different playthroughs, but wildly different outcomes in the stages itself.
- The music is a slapper, MJ soundtrack or 1993 proto soundtrack, it doesn't matter - both are incredible.
- The gameplay is smooth. You are always in control and very rarely does the game feel cheap when you make a mistake. It does happen, yes, but less than in other games, which is surprising for a game as old as this.
- The attempts at story-telling in an early platformer are also very very well executed, giving you a proper narrative to follow and connecting each stage to one another.
I love Sonic 3 & Knuckles. It's such a fantastic game front to back that I never get tired of revisiting it. I loved it as a kid, I love it even more as an adult and never get tired of revisiting it.
(repost of my Steam review with slight modifications. you can read the original review here: https://steamcommunity.com/id/huuishuu/recommended/282900/)
Re;Birth1 is a very bittersweet game to me. On one hand - this was my gateway introduction to the entire Neptunia franchise. On the other hand - the way Compile Heart/Idea Factory have been treating this title as of the last few years is nothing short of baffling and downright confusing.
Before I get into the nitty-gritty, let me get some things out of the way first. Re;Birth1 is a remake of the 2010 Hyperdimension Neptunia for the PS3, built from the ground-up with a story rewrite using Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory's engine and gameplay. Re;Birth1 was then later remastered in mid 2018 for the PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 4 under the title of "Re;Birth1 Plus" and that version has never been released outside of Japan and outside of the PS4 & Vita. However - features from it have been back-ported to Re;Birth1 and added as paid DLC. Had that been the end - I'd chalk this up to just a mention and a warning. Except...during the 10th anniversary livestream - Compile Heart had teased a big new project for the Neptunia series, and the following month - it was revealed to be a remake of...Re;Birth1 Plus for the PS5. There is a remake of a remaster of a remake. It's called Neptunia reVerse.
Now that reVerse has been released in the west, it left Re;Birth1 totally obsolete. This exact same situation happened to Fairy Fencer F and Fairy Fencer F: Advent Dark Force.
So just a bit of a cautionary tale for everyone, I suppose.
But...I still love Re;Birth1. Granted, over the years my rose-tinted goggles for the entire Neptunia series have started to fade and my disdain for the state & future of this series is huge, but revisiting the glory days of new mainline entries and remakes alongside is great. Re;Birth1, as mentioned previously, features the same familiar gameplay of Neptunia Victory, which has since been standardized across all of the mainline Neptunia games. And while it's relatively primitive here compared to, say, Megadimension Neptunia VII, most people coming from that game to this one will still find themselves to be relatively at home.
My complaints about Re;Birth1's gameplay comes in the form of balancing and practicality. This game sucks at balancing characters in my honest opinion. There are some who seem like braindead choices and inclusions on your team as they are stupidly powerful (the maker characters or the DLC characters (especially Histoire)) and then there are the absolutely useless characters (most of the CPUs like Neptune until she gets Victory Slash and some of the DLC characters (especially Uzume)) regardless of how much you invest in them.
And in terms of practicality - this is something I criticize the other games for too, but that'd be the "break" attacks, which are genuinely near useless. I hardly ever find a use for them as every attack can damage the enemy's guard. Some "power" attacks can even deal more damage to an enemy's guard meter than "break" attacks, which kind of nullifies their point entirely. At this point, my strategy for every Neptunia game has devolved to removing the "break" attacks from every character I get and go all-in on "power" and "rush", as that seems to be the most optimal way to reduce grinding.
You could argue that this game looks and runs dated, with a forced 60FPS cap and upscaled PS Vita graphics, but that's honestly small potatoes. I'd argue that the bigger crime with this game is how forgettable its soundtrack is, barring in mind a few exceptions like Vert's theme or the game's opening theme.
But...would I recommend Re;Birth1? Sure. This game goes pretty cheap when sales are on so if you're looking for that "first step" into the Neptunia series - you can start here. Personally I'd recommend starting with Re;Birth2, as that game signifies the beginning of the "canonical Neptunia story" but if you wanna just get a basic introduction to the characters and the main villain - Re;Birth1 is a good stepping stone, if confusing at times (you know what I mean if you've already played it).
Re;Birth1 is a very bittersweet game to me. On one hand - this was my gateway introduction to the entire Neptunia franchise. On the other hand - the way Compile Heart/Idea Factory have been treating this title as of the last few years is nothing short of baffling and downright confusing.
Before I get into the nitty-gritty, let me get some things out of the way first. Re;Birth1 is a remake of the 2010 Hyperdimension Neptunia for the PS3, built from the ground-up with a story rewrite using Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory's engine and gameplay. Re;Birth1 was then later remastered in mid 2018 for the PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 4 under the title of "Re;Birth1 Plus" and that version has never been released outside of Japan and outside of the PS4 & Vita. However - features from it have been back-ported to Re;Birth1 and added as paid DLC. Had that been the end - I'd chalk this up to just a mention and a warning. Except...during the 10th anniversary livestream - Compile Heart had teased a big new project for the Neptunia series, and the following month - it was revealed to be a remake of...Re;Birth1 Plus for the PS5. There is a remake of a remaster of a remake. It's called Neptunia reVerse.
Now that reVerse has been released in the west, it left Re;Birth1 totally obsolete. This exact same situation happened to Fairy Fencer F and Fairy Fencer F: Advent Dark Force.
So just a bit of a cautionary tale for everyone, I suppose.
But...I still love Re;Birth1. Granted, over the years my rose-tinted goggles for the entire Neptunia series have started to fade and my disdain for the state & future of this series is huge, but revisiting the glory days of new mainline entries and remakes alongside is great. Re;Birth1, as mentioned previously, features the same familiar gameplay of Neptunia Victory, which has since been standardized across all of the mainline Neptunia games. And while it's relatively primitive here compared to, say, Megadimension Neptunia VII, most people coming from that game to this one will still find themselves to be relatively at home.
My complaints about Re;Birth1's gameplay comes in the form of balancing and practicality. This game sucks at balancing characters in my honest opinion. There are some who seem like braindead choices and inclusions on your team as they are stupidly powerful (the maker characters or the DLC characters (especially Histoire)) and then there are the absolutely useless characters (most of the CPUs like Neptune until she gets Victory Slash and some of the DLC characters (especially Uzume)) regardless of how much you invest in them.
And in terms of practicality - this is something I criticize the other games for too, but that'd be the "break" attacks, which are genuinely near useless. I hardly ever find a use for them as every attack can damage the enemy's guard. Some "power" attacks can even deal more damage to an enemy's guard meter than "break" attacks, which kind of nullifies their point entirely. At this point, my strategy for every Neptunia game has devolved to removing the "break" attacks from every character I get and go all-in on "power" and "rush", as that seems to be the most optimal way to reduce grinding.
You could argue that this game looks and runs dated, with a forced 60FPS cap and upscaled PS Vita graphics, but that's honestly small potatoes. I'd argue that the bigger crime with this game is how forgettable its soundtrack is, barring in mind a few exceptions like Vert's theme or the game's opening theme.
But...would I recommend Re;Birth1? Sure. This game goes pretty cheap when sales are on so if you're looking for that "first step" into the Neptunia series - you can start here. Personally I'd recommend starting with Re;Birth2, as that game signifies the beginning of the "canonical Neptunia story" but if you wanna just get a basic introduction to the characters and the main villain - Re;Birth1 is a good stepping stone, if confusing at times (you know what I mean if you've already played it).
2013
(this is a repost of my Steam review for this game with some modifications. you can read my original review here: https://steamcommunity.com/id/huuishuu/recommended/347830/)
As much as I love Fairy Fencer F, as much as it is among my favorite games from Compile Heart, as charming as the game is to me, I unfortunately cannot recommend it anymore due to the existence of Fairy Fence F: Advent Dark Force. FFF:ADF is pretty much the same FFF but with A LOT more content. From additional stories, new endings and even new playable characters, it's pretty much an upgraded version of FFF in basically every single aspect. Even has a graphical upgrade too.
As much as I love Fairy Fencer F, as much as it is among my favorite games from Compile Heart, as charming as the game is to me, I unfortunately cannot recommend it anymore due to the existence of Fairy Fence F: Advent Dark Force. FFF:ADF is pretty much the same FFF but with A LOT more content. From additional stories, new endings and even new playable characters, it's pretty much an upgraded version of FFF in basically every single aspect. Even has a graphical upgrade too.
2016
(this is a repost of my Steam review for this game with some modifications. you can read the original review here: https://steamcommunity.com/id/huuishuu/recommended/400910/)
This is a game I played in Christmas of 2018. And I very quickly fell in love with it, putting in about 20 hours in a mere 2 days.
There's so many things I want to talk about with this game, but I'll start from the most fundamental part - the gameplay. It's just fantastic. It's a metroidvania platformer mixed with a bullethell game. And it's so good at being just a great game. The controls are super good - they are responsive, accurate and satisfying in every sense of the word. While at the start of the game you may be limited in terms of movement options, by the time you hit the late-game - you'll basically be going anywhere you want, whenever you want. It's that kind of gratifying feeling that makes exploration in a game like this really fun. Thanks to this, backtracking to previously completed stages never feels like a necessity or a drag because the game properly rewards you with new areas to explore alongside with new items to gain, new enemies to fight and even new characters to discover. It's never over until the game says it's over. And even then it's probably still not over.
On top of the solid controls, the combat is also very satisfying. While invincibility frames & slight knockback can be a minor annoyance, nothing in this game felt cheap. The game gives you a fair chance but also requires some degree of precision to dodge if you don't want to constantly lose health. Although this being heavily inspired by bullethell shooters, especially during boss battles, visibility can sometimes be a problem, as stuff tends to blend in with the background or with each other even and it may feel like you get hit by something you didn't see. But if you do pay attention while the boss is attacking then it's absolutely not a problem.
The story is a bit weird. Overall I did like it, but I didn't like the inconsistencies between the main game and the post game. I'm not gonna spoil anything here, but you may notice narrative inconsistencies from time to time. Besides that, the story doesn't try too hard to take itself seriously and that's for the better - you're a bunny girl running around with a fairy and a giant hammer. If this game tried to be ridiculously serious with its narrative then I'd find that pretty jarring for a game of this nature. Aside from that though, there were a few nitpicky quirks with the story, such as a couple of spelling mistakes that made themselves pretty obvious. While I never really outright laughed at this game's comedy, it never bored me and always kept me engaged, which is a good thing since that means it doesn't get very repetitive. Although some of the achievements in this game definitely are funny, I liked the sense of humor of the achievements, especially some of the references.
The soundtrack is just on another level for me. Well done by all the composers of the soundtrack, especially 3R2 with amazing tracks such as cyberspace.exe, Get On With It, Bounce Bounce and more. I also really liked songs like the Volcanic Caverns theme and Exotic Laboratory theme. But as stated - every song in the game is just incredible. It's rare for me to say that I didn't dislike any of the songs. I ended up buying the game's soundtrack for listening outside of the game.
Although one thing I will mention about the game that I feel is a bit of a negative is that the boss battles can feel a bit repetitive. Almost always you'll be placed in a wide open area with the boss you're fighting and it's really just a case of "dodge, attack, wait, repeat". Not a lot of the bosses in the game felt like they really challenged your skill otherwise. I do understand why they designed it like this - so speedrunning the game didn't feel like certain items were crucial in order to progress but because of that, the final result ended up with some repetitive boss battles. The best battle in the game was the main game's final boss because it was the closest thing in the game that ended up being even a little bit mechanically challenging for the player. A close second would be the boss battle in Natural Aquarium due to the higher jump that you get from being underwater, allowing for some flashy combos to be made.
There is still an entire OCEAN of content I haven't covered - badges, the item shop & how simple its integration is, new game+, speedrun mode, boss rush, etc. but that should be a testament to just how much stuff there is in the game. Overall it's a really solid metroidvania bullethell platformer. If you're at all on-the-fence about this game, just get it. It's absolutely worth it and I loved every second of it. In fact, I'll probably give this game repeat visits just to see how much stuff I missed.
This is a game I played in Christmas of 2018. And I very quickly fell in love with it, putting in about 20 hours in a mere 2 days.
There's so many things I want to talk about with this game, but I'll start from the most fundamental part - the gameplay. It's just fantastic. It's a metroidvania platformer mixed with a bullethell game. And it's so good at being just a great game. The controls are super good - they are responsive, accurate and satisfying in every sense of the word. While at the start of the game you may be limited in terms of movement options, by the time you hit the late-game - you'll basically be going anywhere you want, whenever you want. It's that kind of gratifying feeling that makes exploration in a game like this really fun. Thanks to this, backtracking to previously completed stages never feels like a necessity or a drag because the game properly rewards you with new areas to explore alongside with new items to gain, new enemies to fight and even new characters to discover. It's never over until the game says it's over. And even then it's probably still not over.
On top of the solid controls, the combat is also very satisfying. While invincibility frames & slight knockback can be a minor annoyance, nothing in this game felt cheap. The game gives you a fair chance but also requires some degree of precision to dodge if you don't want to constantly lose health. Although this being heavily inspired by bullethell shooters, especially during boss battles, visibility can sometimes be a problem, as stuff tends to blend in with the background or with each other even and it may feel like you get hit by something you didn't see. But if you do pay attention while the boss is attacking then it's absolutely not a problem.
The story is a bit weird. Overall I did like it, but I didn't like the inconsistencies between the main game and the post game. I'm not gonna spoil anything here, but you may notice narrative inconsistencies from time to time. Besides that, the story doesn't try too hard to take itself seriously and that's for the better - you're a bunny girl running around with a fairy and a giant hammer. If this game tried to be ridiculously serious with its narrative then I'd find that pretty jarring for a game of this nature. Aside from that though, there were a few nitpicky quirks with the story, such as a couple of spelling mistakes that made themselves pretty obvious. While I never really outright laughed at this game's comedy, it never bored me and always kept me engaged, which is a good thing since that means it doesn't get very repetitive. Although some of the achievements in this game definitely are funny, I liked the sense of humor of the achievements, especially some of the references.
The soundtrack is just on another level for me. Well done by all the composers of the soundtrack, especially 3R2 with amazing tracks such as cyberspace.exe, Get On With It, Bounce Bounce and more. I also really liked songs like the Volcanic Caverns theme and Exotic Laboratory theme. But as stated - every song in the game is just incredible. It's rare for me to say that I didn't dislike any of the songs. I ended up buying the game's soundtrack for listening outside of the game.
Although one thing I will mention about the game that I feel is a bit of a negative is that the boss battles can feel a bit repetitive. Almost always you'll be placed in a wide open area with the boss you're fighting and it's really just a case of "dodge, attack, wait, repeat". Not a lot of the bosses in the game felt like they really challenged your skill otherwise. I do understand why they designed it like this - so speedrunning the game didn't feel like certain items were crucial in order to progress but because of that, the final result ended up with some repetitive boss battles. The best battle in the game was the main game's final boss because it was the closest thing in the game that ended up being even a little bit mechanically challenging for the player. A close second would be the boss battle in Natural Aquarium due to the higher jump that you get from being underwater, allowing for some flashy combos to be made.
There is still an entire OCEAN of content I haven't covered - badges, the item shop & how simple its integration is, new game+, speedrun mode, boss rush, etc. but that should be a testament to just how much stuff there is in the game. Overall it's a really solid metroidvania bullethell platformer. If you're at all on-the-fence about this game, just get it. It's absolutely worth it and I loved every second of it. In fact, I'll probably give this game repeat visits just to see how much stuff I missed.
2014
(this is a repost of my Steam review with some slight modifications. you can read the original review here: https://steamcommunity.com/id/huuishuu/recommended/546050/)
I am torn. I've wanted Puyo Puyo Tetris for an insanely long time, mainly because I just wanted a way to play Tetris on PC and this was the only game on Steam that's available to fulfill that need. That's the main reason I've wanted this. Puyo Puyo be damned. But with this...you're getting two games in one. I guess that's the whole point with what the game's called.
But why am I torn? I wanna mention a few things. The production values for something like this are fantastic. There is a full blown adventure mode serving to present a little story mode with a whole cast of characters. I'm not all too familiar with them though, seeing as this is my first entry in the Puyo Puyo franchise(?), but the story is lighthearted and doesn't seek to accomplish much aside from having a reason to combine Puyo Puyo and Tetris into one game. I love the art style and the voice acting. The campaign itself for me ranges from "wow this is really easy" to "oh god I have no idea what I'm doing please help". But that's not a bad thing - people familiar with one game have a good platform to learn and understand a new game in a very casual environment, as the AI often enough isn't too hard on you and treats you as a newbie for a good majority of it. Some may see it as needless handholding, I see it as not overwhelming people who might not be familiar with one or the other (or both).
I also enjoy the fun & quirky game modes, Big Bang was an absolute blast to play and going on a massive win streak there against the AI is super satisfying. And the accessibility for new players is great, Puyo Puyo or Tetris - the game does a great job at introducing players to the core mechanics of each. My only gripe with this though is how there are no maps or tutorials to specifically practice certain techniques. For example, I want to learn how to T-Spin but I find it really difficult to manage setting up T-Spin combos and just end up making a bigger problem than necessary. Some practice maps where everything is already set-up for T-Spinning would've been amazing and would've definitely helped ease myself into the mechanics of the game, specifically timing. The closest the game gets to that is a few challenges during Big Bang if you choose Tetris, but you're never given enough time to complete them before it begins tallying up the results and decides the victor of that wave.
Now here's the thing I don't particularly enjoy - the online mode. I've heard of the numerous connection problems people point out but I always thought to myself that it can't be that bad, but sure enough - it's bad. There were multiple occasions when I was playing against someone and the game just freezes with a connection error. A win is added to my profile and I gain a bunch of ranks. It doesn't feel like I've won anything. That, coupled with the fact matchmaking does NOT take into account people's skill levels means you are going to have a VERY miserable time playing online-versus mode. Seriously, as a very low-skill, low-tier Tetris player, I can't last even 10 seconds with some of these people, leading me to get frustrated and leave. Online is not at all newbie friendly, as every person in the online mode will do anything and everything to win. I tried telling them to "go easy on me" but people always ignore those greetings messages. I tried seeing if there were any newbie free-play lobbies for me to have a more comfortable online experience, but it seems like the only thing anyone ever plays is the matchmaking, so online is a complete no-go if you are at all a low-level Tetris player. Don't even bother if you don't know the ins and outs of either Puyo Puyo or Tetris, you will quite literally get absolutely demolished.
Do I recommend this? If you're only interested in an online Tetris or Puyo Puyo, no. Jstris is a better & free alternative in your browser, so play that if you want Tetris with multiplayer. As for Puyo Puyo multiplayer, I can't give you any pointers seeing as this is my first Puyo Puyo, Mean Bean Machine not withstanding. If you want a Tetris game on PC - sure. If you want a Puyo Puyo & Tetris combo game with a story mode that incorporates both while introducing unique twists - yes.
I don't regret my purchase but I only see this game as a single player only game unfortunately. I wish the online community was a little more easy-going towards newer players.
I am torn. I've wanted Puyo Puyo Tetris for an insanely long time, mainly because I just wanted a way to play Tetris on PC and this was the only game on Steam that's available to fulfill that need. That's the main reason I've wanted this. Puyo Puyo be damned. But with this...you're getting two games in one. I guess that's the whole point with what the game's called.
But why am I torn? I wanna mention a few things. The production values for something like this are fantastic. There is a full blown adventure mode serving to present a little story mode with a whole cast of characters. I'm not all too familiar with them though, seeing as this is my first entry in the Puyo Puyo franchise(?), but the story is lighthearted and doesn't seek to accomplish much aside from having a reason to combine Puyo Puyo and Tetris into one game. I love the art style and the voice acting. The campaign itself for me ranges from "wow this is really easy" to "oh god I have no idea what I'm doing please help". But that's not a bad thing - people familiar with one game have a good platform to learn and understand a new game in a very casual environment, as the AI often enough isn't too hard on you and treats you as a newbie for a good majority of it. Some may see it as needless handholding, I see it as not overwhelming people who might not be familiar with one or the other (or both).
I also enjoy the fun & quirky game modes, Big Bang was an absolute blast to play and going on a massive win streak there against the AI is super satisfying. And the accessibility for new players is great, Puyo Puyo or Tetris - the game does a great job at introducing players to the core mechanics of each. My only gripe with this though is how there are no maps or tutorials to specifically practice certain techniques. For example, I want to learn how to T-Spin but I find it really difficult to manage setting up T-Spin combos and just end up making a bigger problem than necessary. Some practice maps where everything is already set-up for T-Spinning would've been amazing and would've definitely helped ease myself into the mechanics of the game, specifically timing. The closest the game gets to that is a few challenges during Big Bang if you choose Tetris, but you're never given enough time to complete them before it begins tallying up the results and decides the victor of that wave.
Now here's the thing I don't particularly enjoy - the online mode. I've heard of the numerous connection problems people point out but I always thought to myself that it can't be that bad, but sure enough - it's bad. There were multiple occasions when I was playing against someone and the game just freezes with a connection error. A win is added to my profile and I gain a bunch of ranks. It doesn't feel like I've won anything. That, coupled with the fact matchmaking does NOT take into account people's skill levels means you are going to have a VERY miserable time playing online-versus mode. Seriously, as a very low-skill, low-tier Tetris player, I can't last even 10 seconds with some of these people, leading me to get frustrated and leave. Online is not at all newbie friendly, as every person in the online mode will do anything and everything to win. I tried telling them to "go easy on me" but people always ignore those greetings messages. I tried seeing if there were any newbie free-play lobbies for me to have a more comfortable online experience, but it seems like the only thing anyone ever plays is the matchmaking, so online is a complete no-go if you are at all a low-level Tetris player. Don't even bother if you don't know the ins and outs of either Puyo Puyo or Tetris, you will quite literally get absolutely demolished.
Do I recommend this? If you're only interested in an online Tetris or Puyo Puyo, no. Jstris is a better & free alternative in your browser, so play that if you want Tetris with multiplayer. As for Puyo Puyo multiplayer, I can't give you any pointers seeing as this is my first Puyo Puyo, Mean Bean Machine not withstanding. If you want a Tetris game on PC - sure. If you want a Puyo Puyo & Tetris combo game with a story mode that incorporates both while introducing unique twists - yes.
I don't regret my purchase but I only see this game as a single player only game unfortunately. I wish the online community was a little more easy-going towards newer players.
2015
(this is a repost of my review on Steam with some slight modifications. you can read the original review here: https://steamcommunity.com/id/huuishuu/recommended/417860/)
I really love Emily is Away. While the internet time period the game emulates is a bit earlier than what I experienced, the vibe this game oozes is brimming with personality. I used Windows XP for years up until 2015 I believe, and the way this game emulates not only the aesthetic but the entire classic IM vibe is something I'm really just able to vibe with.
It deals with the story of love, has some happy moments and some really dramatic moments. All of that depends on what choices you make during your path. I did multiple playthroughs and each time I got a different result due to the different things I chose to say to Emily. The references to each specific time period the game takes place in were also something that reminded me of my early childhood, particularly what my brother used to do as he was the one who actually grew up in this time period. Perhaps I'll get him to play it to see what he thinks.
I also didn't mention the plethora of Easter Eggs here too. They were decently fun, especially the VA-11 Hall-A one, I thought that one was pretty fun.
Should you give this game a shot? Definitely. It's one of the most wonderful experiences on Steam and it's __free__!
I really love Emily is Away. While the internet time period the game emulates is a bit earlier than what I experienced, the vibe this game oozes is brimming with personality. I used Windows XP for years up until 2015 I believe, and the way this game emulates not only the aesthetic but the entire classic IM vibe is something I'm really just able to vibe with.
It deals with the story of love, has some happy moments and some really dramatic moments. All of that depends on what choices you make during your path. I did multiple playthroughs and each time I got a different result due to the different things I chose to say to Emily. The references to each specific time period the game takes place in were also something that reminded me of my early childhood, particularly what my brother used to do as he was the one who actually grew up in this time period. Perhaps I'll get him to play it to see what he thinks.
I also didn't mention the plethora of Easter Eggs here too. They were decently fun, especially the VA-11 Hall-A one, I thought that one was pretty fun.
Should you give this game a shot? Definitely. It's one of the most wonderful experiences on Steam and it's __free__!
2011
(this is a repost of my Steam review with some modifications. you can read the original review on Steam here: https://steamcommunity.com/id/huuishuu/recommended/71340/)
I can confidently say that Sonic Generations is a game that, almost 11 years later, has aged wonderfully. While the story itself is laughable and forgettable from a writing perspective, it serves as good fan-service for long-time fans of the series up until this game's release, with refreshing revisits to old stages.
Granted, some of it has been spoiled by later games (cough cough, Mania, Forces and Frontiers, cough cough) but that doesn't take away from the experience that is Sonic Generations itself. With surprisingly intricate level design for both Modern & Classic Sonic that gives you many paths to explore with neat goodies at the end of them, like Red Rings that actually mean a damn thing for unlocking cool extras and unlockables like artwork & music, to extra rings and the like. Sonic Generations' level design is really well done. I think that if Sonic Team will want to continue with the boost formula for Modern Sonic, they should look at the level design they managed to accomplish in this game.
I'm not a fan of everything in Generations though - I do not enjoy stages like Classic Seaside Hill, Classic Crisis City and both acts of Planet Wisp. Classic Seaside Hill feels very floaty and dreary, a bit dull perhaps, leading to a level that actively puts me to sleep with how slow you'll be going most of the time. Classic Crisis City feels very gimmicky with the tornado and all and the abundance of bottomless pits EVERYWHERE leads to a pretty frustrating level to play, double-so if you're like me and actively look for the Red Rings. And Planet Wisp...man, what a dull level it is. It's really long with many stop & go sections constantly breaking up the flow, tons of spikes and enemies that require you to wait before you can attack and need I mention the really dull factory aesthetic? Yeah I get what they're going for, but I wish the entire level was based more around the forest you get to run around in at the beginning. Classic Planet Wisp does it better than Modern, but both retain the problems.
Another gripe I have is with Classic Sonic. He feels pretty imprecise to me - his jump is really heavy and his acceleration is a bit too slow, leading to precise platforming being a proper exercise and a chore. Out of the 2 Sonics, he's my lesser favorite one. Modern Sonic isn't without his problems too though - control-wise, I don't really understand how the game handles changes in camera perspective with him. When it goes from a third-person "behind Sonic" view to a 2D view, I don't get whether the game wants me to continue holding up on the stick or start holding left - neither cause him to go anywhere unless I fully let go and then let the game re-adjust, which causes lots of frustration in some of the game's challenges it throws at you. Modern City Escape and Modern Rooftop Run are very guilty of this and I have my fair share of deaths thanks to this.
But where the game lacks in length, some of the levels and control, it makes up for in everything else. I'm a huge fan of a majority of the levels - Modern City Escape being my absolute favorite stage simply for how many concepts it revisits from Sonic Adventure 2 at once, being the snow-boarding and the G.U.N. truck chase and for overall how fun it is to play, the amount of things you can unlock and experience with the gallery and the like and tons of customizability with the skill shop, Generations is a game that feels replayable.
And I haven't even mentioned the modding scene for Generations PC. The community has done amazing things with the game, a few examples being the Unleashed Project, ports of levels from Forces into Generations and fan-interpretations of older games with the Generations game engine such as Sonic 06, if you want even more time sunk into this game - then modding has you covered.
I love Sonic Generations. I highly recommend it if you're a Sonic fan.
I can confidently say that Sonic Generations is a game that, almost 11 years later, has aged wonderfully. While the story itself is laughable and forgettable from a writing perspective, it serves as good fan-service for long-time fans of the series up until this game's release, with refreshing revisits to old stages.
Granted, some of it has been spoiled by later games (cough cough, Mania, Forces and Frontiers, cough cough) but that doesn't take away from the experience that is Sonic Generations itself. With surprisingly intricate level design for both Modern & Classic Sonic that gives you many paths to explore with neat goodies at the end of them, like Red Rings that actually mean a damn thing for unlocking cool extras and unlockables like artwork & music, to extra rings and the like. Sonic Generations' level design is really well done. I think that if Sonic Team will want to continue with the boost formula for Modern Sonic, they should look at the level design they managed to accomplish in this game.
I'm not a fan of everything in Generations though - I do not enjoy stages like Classic Seaside Hill, Classic Crisis City and both acts of Planet Wisp. Classic Seaside Hill feels very floaty and dreary, a bit dull perhaps, leading to a level that actively puts me to sleep with how slow you'll be going most of the time. Classic Crisis City feels very gimmicky with the tornado and all and the abundance of bottomless pits EVERYWHERE leads to a pretty frustrating level to play, double-so if you're like me and actively look for the Red Rings. And Planet Wisp...man, what a dull level it is. It's really long with many stop & go sections constantly breaking up the flow, tons of spikes and enemies that require you to wait before you can attack and need I mention the really dull factory aesthetic? Yeah I get what they're going for, but I wish the entire level was based more around the forest you get to run around in at the beginning. Classic Planet Wisp does it better than Modern, but both retain the problems.
Another gripe I have is with Classic Sonic. He feels pretty imprecise to me - his jump is really heavy and his acceleration is a bit too slow, leading to precise platforming being a proper exercise and a chore. Out of the 2 Sonics, he's my lesser favorite one. Modern Sonic isn't without his problems too though - control-wise, I don't really understand how the game handles changes in camera perspective with him. When it goes from a third-person "behind Sonic" view to a 2D view, I don't get whether the game wants me to continue holding up on the stick or start holding left - neither cause him to go anywhere unless I fully let go and then let the game re-adjust, which causes lots of frustration in some of the game's challenges it throws at you. Modern City Escape and Modern Rooftop Run are very guilty of this and I have my fair share of deaths thanks to this.
But where the game lacks in length, some of the levels and control, it makes up for in everything else. I'm a huge fan of a majority of the levels - Modern City Escape being my absolute favorite stage simply for how many concepts it revisits from Sonic Adventure 2 at once, being the snow-boarding and the G.U.N. truck chase and for overall how fun it is to play, the amount of things you can unlock and experience with the gallery and the like and tons of customizability with the skill shop, Generations is a game that feels replayable.
And I haven't even mentioned the modding scene for Generations PC. The community has done amazing things with the game, a few examples being the Unleashed Project, ports of levels from Forces into Generations and fan-interpretations of older games with the Generations game engine such as Sonic 06, if you want even more time sunk into this game - then modding has you covered.
I love Sonic Generations. I highly recommend it if you're a Sonic fan.
(this is a repost of my Steam review with some slight modifications. you can read the original review here: https://steamcommunity.com/id/huuishuu/recommended/524580/)
ADF does to FFF what Persona 5 Royal did to Persona 5, if you want an example to compare it to. It took the base game and added in a bunch of additions and improvements to make it the definitive experience. Advent Dark Force introduces new routes with new endings, new dungeons, new playable characters, new characters just in general, and with that - way more incentive to replay the game if you've beaten it once.
I genuinely love how it pulls a twist on the original Fairy Fencer F story depending on which route you choose to take, which can genuinely throw off your perception on certain pre-established things in the universe.
Of course I have gripes with ADF, but in all accounts - this is definitely the definitive way to experience the best of what Compile Heart has to offer if Neptunia really isn't your thing.
Highly recommended, especially if Neptunia isn't your cup of tea, Fairy Fencer F: Advent Dark Force might just be by offering a more "traditional" experience.
ADF does to FFF what Persona 5 Royal did to Persona 5, if you want an example to compare it to. It took the base game and added in a bunch of additions and improvements to make it the definitive experience. Advent Dark Force introduces new routes with new endings, new dungeons, new playable characters, new characters just in general, and with that - way more incentive to replay the game if you've beaten it once.
I genuinely love how it pulls a twist on the original Fairy Fencer F story depending on which route you choose to take, which can genuinely throw off your perception on certain pre-established things in the universe.
Of course I have gripes with ADF, but in all accounts - this is definitely the definitive way to experience the best of what Compile Heart has to offer if Neptunia really isn't your thing.
Highly recommended, especially if Neptunia isn't your cup of tea, Fairy Fencer F: Advent Dark Force might just be by offering a more "traditional" experience.
(this is a repost of my Steam review with some slight modifications. you can read the original here: https://steamcommunity.com/id/huuishuu/recommended/447530/)
VA-11 Hall-A is...special. It genuinely is. I first learned of this game's existence through Girls' Frontline, back when they held that collaboration event between the two games. I thought the character designs were interesting to say the least and my interest was piqued, but I never really gave it much thought until one of my friends gifted me the game. By the end of the game, I was honestly touched.
VA-11 Hall-A takes place in the future. Sometime after 2069, in a world where the economy is garbage, the streets are dangerous, dogs can talk and you have robot sex workers. I really have to give the game credit where it's due - it holds nothing back. If it decides it wants to talk about messed up stuff, be it societal or in peoples' personal lives - oh it will. It will delve into the uncanny valley at times. This is about as much as I wanna say because it's best to experience this game as blindly as possible, really.
VA-11 Hall-A is a great time. I don't like visual novels. But I make an exception for VA-11 Hall-A. If this game piques your interest even in the slightest - be it the art style, word of mouth or even the old Girls' Frontline collab event - pick it up. This is one story that it tells that will stick with you for a while to come.
VA-11 Hall-A is...special. It genuinely is. I first learned of this game's existence through Girls' Frontline, back when they held that collaboration event between the two games. I thought the character designs were interesting to say the least and my interest was piqued, but I never really gave it much thought until one of my friends gifted me the game. By the end of the game, I was honestly touched.
VA-11 Hall-A takes place in the future. Sometime after 2069, in a world where the economy is garbage, the streets are dangerous, dogs can talk and you have robot sex workers. I really have to give the game credit where it's due - it holds nothing back. If it decides it wants to talk about messed up stuff, be it societal or in peoples' personal lives - oh it will. It will delve into the uncanny valley at times. This is about as much as I wanna say because it's best to experience this game as blindly as possible, really.
VA-11 Hall-A is a great time. I don't like visual novels. But I make an exception for VA-11 Hall-A. If this game piques your interest even in the slightest - be it the art style, word of mouth or even the old Girls' Frontline collab event - pick it up. This is one story that it tells that will stick with you for a while to come.
(this is a repost of my Steam review. you can read the original here: https://steamcommunity.com/id/huuishuu/recommended/571530/)
Superdimension Neptune VS Sega Hard Girls is what I personally consider the best Neptunia spin-off. Gameplay-wise, it's the closest you'll ever get to the mainline or Re;Birth games as it uses that for it base gameplay. However, one cool thing about this game is that it actually tries something new with the standard Neptunia formula, stuff like platforming challenges, crawling, sprinting, fever mode, etc. - it feels like an actual remix!
Another cool thing about this game is that it has actual new areas. Not to say it doesn't reuse assets from Victory - in fact it reuses plenty from that game - but it still had enough effort and love put into it that it has areas that are unique to this game to explore, which, once again - gives a nice change of pace for Neptunia fans looking for something different.
Okay, so the gameplay is remixed and it has new dungeons alongside reused ones from older games. What else? I could talk about the story. I feel like this game could work as a standalone RPG, as it's not set within the Neptunia universe. This game, as you could guess by the title, is a collaboration game between Hyperdimension Neptunia and Sega Hard Girls, and because it doesn't take place in either universe - it's free to do whatever it wants with its story, making it accessible to people who have experience with one, but not the other.
Overall, a solid spin-off from the Neptunia series. If you're longing for a new Neptunia mainline entry after having finished VII, yet haven't tried this game - consider picking it up! It can get a bit repetitive with the whole time travel gimmick and it does get silly with Neptune turning into a bike in this game, but it retains the Neptunia charm the rest of the series is known for and throws fans into a familiar yet different experience!
Superdimension Neptune VS Sega Hard Girls is what I personally consider the best Neptunia spin-off. Gameplay-wise, it's the closest you'll ever get to the mainline or Re;Birth games as it uses that for it base gameplay. However, one cool thing about this game is that it actually tries something new with the standard Neptunia formula, stuff like platforming challenges, crawling, sprinting, fever mode, etc. - it feels like an actual remix!
Another cool thing about this game is that it has actual new areas. Not to say it doesn't reuse assets from Victory - in fact it reuses plenty from that game - but it still had enough effort and love put into it that it has areas that are unique to this game to explore, which, once again - gives a nice change of pace for Neptunia fans looking for something different.
Okay, so the gameplay is remixed and it has new dungeons alongside reused ones from older games. What else? I could talk about the story. I feel like this game could work as a standalone RPG, as it's not set within the Neptunia universe. This game, as you could guess by the title, is a collaboration game between Hyperdimension Neptunia and Sega Hard Girls, and because it doesn't take place in either universe - it's free to do whatever it wants with its story, making it accessible to people who have experience with one, but not the other.
Overall, a solid spin-off from the Neptunia series. If you're longing for a new Neptunia mainline entry after having finished VII, yet haven't tried this game - consider picking it up! It can get a bit repetitive with the whole time travel gimmick and it does get silly with Neptune turning into a bike in this game, but it retains the Neptunia charm the rest of the series is known for and throws fans into a familiar yet different experience!
(this is a repost of my Steam review for this game with some slight modifications. you can read the original review here: https://steamcommunity.com/id/huuishuu/recommended/353270/)
Honestly...compared to the original game on the PS3 - Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory - I consider Re;Birth3 to be a step backwards. I'm truly not a big fan of Re;Birth3, despite how much it actually attempts to remix and improve upon what Victory did bad.
Here are areas where Re;Birth3 improves upon Victory:
- Reduced difficulty.
Victory was sort of infamous for being insanely tough and very grindy. I've counted many times on Victory where I was thrown into a boss battle, only to realize I was incredibly under-leveled and underprepared for it. A perfect example would be the first Blanc boss battle where I had to grind nearly 15 levels to actually stand a chance against her. Re;Birth3 solves this problem by not only reducing the difficulty overall, but also by essentially shoving overpowered characters into your party that make grinding pretty much a non-issue.
- Additional story content.
Re;Birth3 attempts to remix the story from Victory by adding additional supplementary material. You get to experience it as soon as you start the game as you are thrown into a VR-esque world as Neptune and navigate a mini-dungeon to escape it. Stuff like that is peppered throughout the game and it's a welcome addition.
- More maker characters.
Victory as a whole was only played with CPU characters. IF and Compa were not playable and it didn't have any other maker characters, at least not without DLC to my understanding. Re;Birth3 solves that problem by giving you more maker characters to use in battle and actually incorporates them into the story without drastically altering everything.
- Framerate.
Victory on PS3 is also infamous for running like absolute crap. The game can't even hold a steady 30 FPS most of the time and dips into the teens very frequently. For some - that makes the game absolutely unplayable and I can understand that. Thankfully, Re;Birth3 solves that issue with a silky smooth, uncapped framerate, or you can choose to manually cap it to 60 with VSync or something.
Here are areas where Re;Birth3 falls short compared to Victory:
- The PC port.
I had a lot of trouble with the PC port of Re;Birth3 in particular. From random softlocks, game crashes, black screens, etc., it was genuinely frustrating at times to deal with this poor port of the game. There are tons of community made patches for these issues, but unless you know where to look - the experience out of the box is not going to be a pleasant one.
- The gameplay.
Re;Birth1 and Re;Birth2 were heavily based upon Victory's gameplay. Heck, I'd argue those games are just reskins of Victory slapped onto Steam, which wouldn't exactly be inaccurate, but those games are superior because Victory's gameplay formula works. Re;Birth3 attempts to mix things up from the other Re;Birth games by changing one small yet crucial mechanic - the EXE drive. Short and to the point - it's annoying and cumbersome in this game, making it way less useful than it was in the previous games.
- No scouting system.
The scouting system in the original, while a bit annoying since it was required for the True Ending, was overall a fun side-mechanic to unlock optional dungeons you can use for grinding or getting useful items early on if you get lucky. That system is gone from Re;Birth3 and instead replaced with the much slower, much less useful Stella's Dungeon mechanic.
I'm sorry to say but I don't really recommend Re;Birth3. The additions and improvements are nice and all, but with a crappy PC port, inferior gameplay due to the gimped EXE system and the removal of the scouting system makes me prefer the original version of the game by a longshot. It sucks too because I think that Victory's story, despite being incredibly long and the cutscenes feeling like they take 60 years to complete, is the best in the series, considering it's the perfect chance to get to know a set of CPUs from a different dimension right down from their humble beginnings.
Victory/Re;Birth3 takes place in what's canonically known as the Ultradimension, and you begin the game in a very primitive version of Gamindustri with 2 nations, eventually expanding into 5 as you go on through the game. You get to see each CPU's humble beginnings and how they deal with hardships running their nations and all that stuff - it goes through a very Neptunia-esque story about competition, co-operation and then defeating some bigger villain in the picture. In Victory/Re;Birth3 - you get to experience every waking moment and, to me - that makes the story engaging and a lot more personal. I seriously prefer the Ultradimension CPUs to the Hyperdimension ones.
It's just a shame that Re;Birth3 is just not very good in my opinion. If you have a PS3 and don't mind the flaws I pointed out about Victory here - that version is the one you should get, should you want to experience it. But if you don't and are considering Re;Birth3 - at least consider looking into fixing the awful PC port yourself via community patches so the game doesn't freeze or softlock constantly for you.
Honestly...compared to the original game on the PS3 - Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory - I consider Re;Birth3 to be a step backwards. I'm truly not a big fan of Re;Birth3, despite how much it actually attempts to remix and improve upon what Victory did bad.
Here are areas where Re;Birth3 improves upon Victory:
- Reduced difficulty.
Victory was sort of infamous for being insanely tough and very grindy. I've counted many times on Victory where I was thrown into a boss battle, only to realize I was incredibly under-leveled and underprepared for it. A perfect example would be the first Blanc boss battle where I had to grind nearly 15 levels to actually stand a chance against her. Re;Birth3 solves this problem by not only reducing the difficulty overall, but also by essentially shoving overpowered characters into your party that make grinding pretty much a non-issue.
- Additional story content.
Re;Birth3 attempts to remix the story from Victory by adding additional supplementary material. You get to experience it as soon as you start the game as you are thrown into a VR-esque world as Neptune and navigate a mini-dungeon to escape it. Stuff like that is peppered throughout the game and it's a welcome addition.
- More maker characters.
Victory as a whole was only played with CPU characters. IF and Compa were not playable and it didn't have any other maker characters, at least not without DLC to my understanding. Re;Birth3 solves that problem by giving you more maker characters to use in battle and actually incorporates them into the story without drastically altering everything.
- Framerate.
Victory on PS3 is also infamous for running like absolute crap. The game can't even hold a steady 30 FPS most of the time and dips into the teens very frequently. For some - that makes the game absolutely unplayable and I can understand that. Thankfully, Re;Birth3 solves that issue with a silky smooth, uncapped framerate, or you can choose to manually cap it to 60 with VSync or something.
Here are areas where Re;Birth3 falls short compared to Victory:
- The PC port.
I had a lot of trouble with the PC port of Re;Birth3 in particular. From random softlocks, game crashes, black screens, etc., it was genuinely frustrating at times to deal with this poor port of the game. There are tons of community made patches for these issues, but unless you know where to look - the experience out of the box is not going to be a pleasant one.
- The gameplay.
Re;Birth1 and Re;Birth2 were heavily based upon Victory's gameplay. Heck, I'd argue those games are just reskins of Victory slapped onto Steam, which wouldn't exactly be inaccurate, but those games are superior because Victory's gameplay formula works. Re;Birth3 attempts to mix things up from the other Re;Birth games by changing one small yet crucial mechanic - the EXE drive. Short and to the point - it's annoying and cumbersome in this game, making it way less useful than it was in the previous games.
- No scouting system.
The scouting system in the original, while a bit annoying since it was required for the True Ending, was overall a fun side-mechanic to unlock optional dungeons you can use for grinding or getting useful items early on if you get lucky. That system is gone from Re;Birth3 and instead replaced with the much slower, much less useful Stella's Dungeon mechanic.
I'm sorry to say but I don't really recommend Re;Birth3. The additions and improvements are nice and all, but with a crappy PC port, inferior gameplay due to the gimped EXE system and the removal of the scouting system makes me prefer the original version of the game by a longshot. It sucks too because I think that Victory's story, despite being incredibly long and the cutscenes feeling like they take 60 years to complete, is the best in the series, considering it's the perfect chance to get to know a set of CPUs from a different dimension right down from their humble beginnings.
Victory/Re;Birth3 takes place in what's canonically known as the Ultradimension, and you begin the game in a very primitive version of Gamindustri with 2 nations, eventually expanding into 5 as you go on through the game. You get to see each CPU's humble beginnings and how they deal with hardships running their nations and all that stuff - it goes through a very Neptunia-esque story about competition, co-operation and then defeating some bigger villain in the picture. In Victory/Re;Birth3 - you get to experience every waking moment and, to me - that makes the story engaging and a lot more personal. I seriously prefer the Ultradimension CPUs to the Hyperdimension ones.
It's just a shame that Re;Birth3 is just not very good in my opinion. If you have a PS3 and don't mind the flaws I pointed out about Victory here - that version is the one you should get, should you want to experience it. But if you don't and are considering Re;Birth3 - at least consider looking into fixing the awful PC port yourself via community patches so the game doesn't freeze or softlock constantly for you.
2012
(this is a repost of my Steam review for this game with some slight modifications. you can read the original review here: https://steamcommunity.com/id/huuishuu/recommended/1113000/)
Frankly...I don't know what I could say about Persona 4 Golden that hasn't been echoed by so many folk during the game's time on the Vita. Persona 4 Golden is a great time. It's a great game with an interesting story and satisfying gameplay.
Although, since I had just finished Persona 5 Royal mere weeks before Persona 4 Golden came to Steam and had a chance to finally play it, I had a lot of things I really needed to readjust to. So if you've played Persona 5, the original or Royal, and are thinking of going back to Persona 4 Golden to see what this game was about, keep in mind that you may have a bit of a tough time re-adjusting to certain aspects of gameplay.
I'll actually start off things I disliked about the gameplay itself, which - excuse me if it'll sound like I'm just too spoiled by Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal. But nevertheless, these are things that bothered me throughout my entire playthrough.
Things I didn't like:
- Dungeons
They felt...boring. The dungeons in this game were very very boring for me, as most of them were pretty much randomly generated sets of hallways covered with fog, teeming with shadows but also treasure. There have been countless times where going through the dungeons I genuinely felt like I was going to fall asleep. Thematically they are really good, I love the themes for dungeons that are presented here. I just wish navigating them was more fun than going through hallways, opening doors and grabbing treasure until you find the next staircase.
- Engaging shadows
Engaging shadows feels incredibly clunky. I had this same issue with Persona 3 Portable but the same issue persists here too. I didn't like how shadows could see you from any angle you approach them, making a stealthy approach impossible unless you draw the Avoid Encounters card during Shuffle Time. I got the hang of it by the time I entered the third dungeon of the game, as it's about making your move during the second the shadow notices you and the "!" appears. But even after figuring that out, I still feel it was very clunky.
- Lack of encouragement for most social links
There's not really much incentive to do social links in this game. Maxing out links with your party seems like a no-brainer - they get a bunch of awesome benefits as you level them, useful skills as you go through, the works. But maxing out non-party social links feels unsatisfying. If you don't care about earning additional money or raising your social stats, most of them feel pretty pointless. Of course 2 of them are required for story progression if you want to go forth to the true ending, but aside from them - there's not much point to social links aside from missing out on Arcana Bursts and money/social stats.
That's about it for the things I disliked about Persona 4 Golden. Now what about the things that I really liked about it?
Things I liked/loved:
- The story and characters
I still prefer Persona 5's story because it's a lot more relatable to me personally, but I really enjoyed Persona 4 Golden's story. Really! The murder mystery alongside a quiet town aesthetic, while a bit cliche, was very interesting to follow along. I honestly enjoyed how it continued to throw you for a loop, and some parts of the story actively made me jump out of my seat and go "woah what the hell?!". Of course it did have its low-points, but there's a lot of quotable lines from this game's story and it's overall very interesting to follow along. It knows how to pace itself, when the proper time to crack a joke, the works. Also screw Teddie. I found Teddie very annoying all the way through.
- The soundtrack
PERSONA 4'S MUSIC IS GOOD. REALLY GOOD. I prefer the PS2 opening of the game to Golden, but I won't deny at all that this game's soundtrack is a serious bop. The song that plays right before dungeons, known as "Studio Backlot", is seriously my favorite song from this game. It's just so good.
- The gameplay loop
Yeah, I mentioned that I thought the dungeons were boring and that engaging shadows was clunky, but to be perfectly honest - the gameplay loop itself is very good. A good variety of meaningful mechanics and enough time to learn about, adjust to and then abuse the hell out of your enemies. The gameplay, despite being jank in some aspects, does often feel incredibly rewarding.
Do I recommend Persona 4 Golden? As if you thought I was going to say "no". Persona 4 Golden is a great time to be had. And while it is a bit jank and the graphics haven't exactly aged gracefully, seeing as Persona 4 was originally a PlayStation 2 game made in 2008, neither of those facts change that this game is phenomenal. And you should totally give it a shot. There's at least 60 hours worth of fulfilling content in this, if not *way more.
Frankly...I don't know what I could say about Persona 4 Golden that hasn't been echoed by so many folk during the game's time on the Vita. Persona 4 Golden is a great time. It's a great game with an interesting story and satisfying gameplay.
Although, since I had just finished Persona 5 Royal mere weeks before Persona 4 Golden came to Steam and had a chance to finally play it, I had a lot of things I really needed to readjust to. So if you've played Persona 5, the original or Royal, and are thinking of going back to Persona 4 Golden to see what this game was about, keep in mind that you may have a bit of a tough time re-adjusting to certain aspects of gameplay.
I'll actually start off things I disliked about the gameplay itself, which - excuse me if it'll sound like I'm just too spoiled by Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal. But nevertheless, these are things that bothered me throughout my entire playthrough.
Things I didn't like:
- Dungeons
They felt...boring. The dungeons in this game were very very boring for me, as most of them were pretty much randomly generated sets of hallways covered with fog, teeming with shadows but also treasure. There have been countless times where going through the dungeons I genuinely felt like I was going to fall asleep. Thematically they are really good, I love the themes for dungeons that are presented here. I just wish navigating them was more fun than going through hallways, opening doors and grabbing treasure until you find the next staircase.
- Engaging shadows
Engaging shadows feels incredibly clunky. I had this same issue with Persona 3 Portable but the same issue persists here too. I didn't like how shadows could see you from any angle you approach them, making a stealthy approach impossible unless you draw the Avoid Encounters card during Shuffle Time. I got the hang of it by the time I entered the third dungeon of the game, as it's about making your move during the second the shadow notices you and the "!" appears. But even after figuring that out, I still feel it was very clunky.
- Lack of encouragement for most social links
There's not really much incentive to do social links in this game. Maxing out links with your party seems like a no-brainer - they get a bunch of awesome benefits as you level them, useful skills as you go through, the works. But maxing out non-party social links feels unsatisfying. If you don't care about earning additional money or raising your social stats, most of them feel pretty pointless. Of course 2 of them are required for story progression if you want to go forth to the true ending, but aside from them - there's not much point to social links aside from missing out on Arcana Bursts and money/social stats.
That's about it for the things I disliked about Persona 4 Golden. Now what about the things that I really liked about it?
Things I liked/loved:
- The story and characters
I still prefer Persona 5's story because it's a lot more relatable to me personally, but I really enjoyed Persona 4 Golden's story. Really! The murder mystery alongside a quiet town aesthetic, while a bit cliche, was very interesting to follow along. I honestly enjoyed how it continued to throw you for a loop, and some parts of the story actively made me jump out of my seat and go "woah what the hell?!". Of course it did have its low-points, but there's a lot of quotable lines from this game's story and it's overall very interesting to follow along. It knows how to pace itself, when the proper time to crack a joke, the works. Also screw Teddie. I found Teddie very annoying all the way through.
- The soundtrack
PERSONA 4'S MUSIC IS GOOD. REALLY GOOD. I prefer the PS2 opening of the game to Golden, but I won't deny at all that this game's soundtrack is a serious bop. The song that plays right before dungeons, known as "Studio Backlot", is seriously my favorite song from this game. It's just so good.
- The gameplay loop
Yeah, I mentioned that I thought the dungeons were boring and that engaging shadows was clunky, but to be perfectly honest - the gameplay loop itself is very good. A good variety of meaningful mechanics and enough time to learn about, adjust to and then abuse the hell out of your enemies. The gameplay, despite being jank in some aspects, does often feel incredibly rewarding.
Do I recommend Persona 4 Golden? As if you thought I was going to say "no". Persona 4 Golden is a great time to be had. And while it is a bit jank and the graphics haven't exactly aged gracefully, seeing as Persona 4 was originally a PlayStation 2 game made in 2008, neither of those facts change that this game is phenomenal. And you should totally give it a shot. There's at least 60 hours worth of fulfilling content in this, if not *way more.
2011
(repost of my Steam review for this game with a few slight modifications. you can read the original review here: https://steamcommunity.com/id/huuishuu/recommended/105600/)
Terraria has been the kind of game I pick up, I play and obsess over it for a month or two, then put it down for a few years. It's always been that way, dating all the way back to 2013. In all fairness - I genuinely love this game and it definitely is one of those games I can confidently recommend to everyone due to its open-ended nature.
With the game's major content updates coming mostly to a wrap in the Journey's End update - Terraria has definitely cemented itself as one of my favorite games to play on PC. Even without delving into mods - there's enough content here to keep you entertained for easily hundreds of hours.
Although admittedly - the game can get a bit mindless and boring until you get into the post-post game. Sometimes you just need to be in the "mood" to play it. Point is - do you want a game you can easily enjoy by yourself but also bring along some friends for a great co-op experience? Terraria is the right game for you. Are you interested in making entire characters revolved around specific types of "builds" (gunner, melee user, summoner, magic user, etc.)? Terraria has got you covered. Do you want to explore a vast and interesting world, filled with many many unique trinkets for you to find? You guessed it - Terraria has that for you to look forward to.
It really is a must-have in my opinion.
Terraria has been the kind of game I pick up, I play and obsess over it for a month or two, then put it down for a few years. It's always been that way, dating all the way back to 2013. In all fairness - I genuinely love this game and it definitely is one of those games I can confidently recommend to everyone due to its open-ended nature.
With the game's major content updates coming mostly to a wrap in the Journey's End update - Terraria has definitely cemented itself as one of my favorite games to play on PC. Even without delving into mods - there's enough content here to keep you entertained for easily hundreds of hours.
Although admittedly - the game can get a bit mindless and boring until you get into the post-post game. Sometimes you just need to be in the "mood" to play it. Point is - do you want a game you can easily enjoy by yourself but also bring along some friends for a great co-op experience? Terraria is the right game for you. Are you interested in making entire characters revolved around specific types of "builds" (gunner, melee user, summoner, magic user, etc.)? Terraria has got you covered. Do you want to explore a vast and interesting world, filled with many many unique trinkets for you to find? You guessed it - Terraria has that for you to look forward to.
It really is a must-have in my opinion.
1998
(repost of my Steam review with slight modifications. you can read the original review here: https://steamcommunity.com/id/huuishuu/recommended/70/)
Half-Life is called one of the most revolutionary games of all-time. And for the time - it really was. It's honestly one of those games where I can't really say anything new about it that hasn't been said about it by so many people over the last 22 years of its existence.
But even if this game is older than me by a year, it's still something I have so many fond memories of just playing, hearing various rumors about and always experimenting with it. I remember back in 2009 I spent days messing about with console commands and pasting Half-Life maps into Counter-Strike and such, just to see what works and what doesn't.
All these years later, I also love to just occasionally revisit the game. Certain bits of the game aren't that fun I'll admit - Forget About Freeman & Xen are honestly boring, and in Xen's case - downright confusing, but a solid 7/8 of the entire game is fun to just breeze and play through.
Half-Life is a special game. A game that I doubt many people haven't experienced yet at this point. But if you haven't - behind the outdated GoldSrc graphics is a game filled with wondrous secrets and tons of replayability to keep making you want to come back.
Half-Life is called one of the most revolutionary games of all-time. And for the time - it really was. It's honestly one of those games where I can't really say anything new about it that hasn't been said about it by so many people over the last 22 years of its existence.
But even if this game is older than me by a year, it's still something I have so many fond memories of just playing, hearing various rumors about and always experimenting with it. I remember back in 2009 I spent days messing about with console commands and pasting Half-Life maps into Counter-Strike and such, just to see what works and what doesn't.
All these years later, I also love to just occasionally revisit the game. Certain bits of the game aren't that fun I'll admit - Forget About Freeman & Xen are honestly boring, and in Xen's case - downright confusing, but a solid 7/8 of the entire game is fun to just breeze and play through.
Half-Life is a special game. A game that I doubt many people haven't experienced yet at this point. But if you haven't - behind the outdated GoldSrc graphics is a game filled with wondrous secrets and tons of replayability to keep making you want to come back.
I own this game on so many platforms - PC, PS2, PS3 - and have even bought several copies on those platforms. The game has issues and you can easily tell it was a rushed project with so many unfinished features. But the reason I give it a high score is 2 reasons: nostalgia, and speedrunning. No joke, this game is one of the most fun games you can speedrun due to its relative low difficulty. And you can learn a lot about racing games with this game. I love NFS Carbon. It's a mess, but it's a lovable mess that I revisit even now.