As an avid JRPG enthusiast, this game scratched all the itches I could have ever asked for from the spiritual successor to Suikoden. It's a bit rough around the edges at times, but it's more than charming enough, and the pacing is more than acceptable. I've heard a lot of complaints about it being too similar to Suikoden, but at the end of the day if the spiritual successor to Suikoden WASNT like Suikoden it would have been dead in the water.

It's a great experience, enjoyable story, and nostalgic throwback. All with maybe TOO much side content.

Strong contender for the best game ever made. It's crafted with so much love and care that it's easy to overlook its many flaws, and its central message just propels it to an impossible level of achievement. Why this isn't as celebrated as some other, similarly off-kilter and narratively rich games I don't know.

My one major gripe with this game is the voice dubbing. It actually sucks. Like the dubbing is really, really bad. Except for Laura's english voice actor, she does a fine job (granted, she has like, two lines in the game).

The gameplay really works with me. The gameplay is a combination of on-rails shooting, jrpg random encounters, third-person exploration, hunting simulation, point and click adventure segments, puzzle solving, and resource management. This all sounds like a lot, but it's honestly pretty easy to get the hang of.

Of course, the main draw of the game is the story. It's a strange, slow paced, high stakes horror that takes inspiration from the works of Lovecraft, John Carpenter (mainly The Thing), and David Lynch. And it ends with one of the most hopeful, yet sobering endings I have ever seen. Overall, I highly recommend this, but it may take some time to adjust to the game's slow pace.

Happy New Year 2000.

end roll purified my water supply, revived my crops, cured my depression, and brought a genuine spark of joy into my life. that is probably the most misleading statement to make in relation to the mood and story of this game, but i mean it completely unironically. it gave me meaning. i just found this site. i registered because of end roll

i played it a few months ago via a recommendation to omori fans (an amazing game which i'd also recently gotten into) and BOY could i have never seen the sheer mental impact of this game coming. end roll is the definition of 'hurts so good' imo. it weighs on your heart, makes you wish things were better and would become better despite knowing that it won't, and yet there's a distance to it that can actually distract from one's own pain in favor of just... feeling for russell and all the pain in those surrounding him, in my experience at least—it probably varies from person to person, of course. i would die for russell. i would go to hell for him. i would gladly step into the lion's mouth and let myself be eaten for the mere illusion of him. i would also do the same for chris, who is possibly the most lovable and underrated barely present side character i can imagine. i would live for them

amazing art, amazing story, amazing soundtrack, amazing characters, amazing game. it's an entire experience created by a single person, and you can play it entirely for free

Incredible game. The gameplay has improved from MGS1, especially with the new first-person mechanics. Even though it still has some of tedious stuff that was also in MGS, stuff like backtracking feels way better in here (probably related to how the whole main area of the game is designed). The story in this game is also top notch, and probably my favorite in any game I've played thus far (obviously, the twist at last third of the game kinda carries it but that's besides the point). Absolutely terrifying how it still holds up today and even better than ever. The cast of characters, although probably inferior to MGS1, are still good here as well. I feel as if the game gets better after the mid-way point, or at least that's how it felt when I played it but even before that I still found it decently enjoyable, and of course everything in the last third of the game was just amazing.

I don't get the Raiden hate, he's cool.