jstndstrctn
4 reviews liked by jstndstrctn
Final Fantasy III
2021
My team consisted of:
Macklemore: Warrior/Knight/Dragoon/Ninja
Eminem: Monk/Black Belt
PEE: Black Mage/Magus
Post Malone: White Mage/Devout
I failed to get 100% because i missed 4 enemies and 1 chocobo forest. I feel like such a fraud its unreal. I liked this version more than the DS one, truth be told. Comparible to 1 in overall quality, and comes out as a better game, but 1 leaves such a bigger impression on me. Theres nothing as insane as a fallen knight stuck in a time loop, and most everything cool in here had been done before in it. Most classes felt totally worthless and samey too, something im glad 5 fixes. I’m still mad about the missables, but ig ill get 100% when i replay it in 7 years
Macklemore: Warrior/Knight/Dragoon/Ninja
Eminem: Monk/Black Belt
PEE: Black Mage/Magus
Post Malone: White Mage/Devout
I failed to get 100% because i missed 4 enemies and 1 chocobo forest. I feel like such a fraud its unreal. I liked this version more than the DS one, truth be told. Comparible to 1 in overall quality, and comes out as a better game, but 1 leaves such a bigger impression on me. Theres nothing as insane as a fallen knight stuck in a time loop, and most everything cool in here had been done before in it. Most classes felt totally worthless and samey too, something im glad 5 fixes. I’m still mad about the missables, but ig ill get 100% when i replay it in 7 years
Final Fantasy III
2021
this is the most that i have felt like i am playing a prototype of real final fantasy, rather than a fully formed game. there's a lot to like about this! it has an astounding sense of scale that almost feels "next-gen" despite still being a famicom game. it's really cool to see the edge of the world or the gnome forest or the endless sea or the enormous saronia or the interior of the invincible. especially in the mid-game, there are lots of fun job combinations. the focus on hidden paths and items gives a nice sense of exploration.
but even though this game has lots of interesting pieces, they're all a little clunkily assembled. this goes for a dragon quest 3 style episodic town structure, but the episodes resolve themselves so quickly that it barely feels like anything happened. there are a few good ones like the town of cursed outlines or the floating forest in the desert or goldmember's mansion, but overall i could tell you more about the towns in ff1 than i could the towns of ff3. the lack of character in town episodes is especially noticeable in saronia, a huge city where npcs all say the same things.
there are lots of little annoyances in traversal that add up. it's fun to have a shrinking sequence where you're forced to use magic once or twice, but tedious to have to shrink or frogify just to get through a gate and reverse your status. hopping mountains with the invincible feels slow every time. and having to park one airship to go ride the other airship that can dive underwater is always a chore. despite the hidden paths in towns and dungeons, the dungeon layouts tend to be very boring. lots of simple hallways and symmetrical rooms that don't give much sense of exploration beyond noticing a hidden path. this really contributes to the final gauntlet feeling like a slog, just as much as the difficulty spike.
crystals handing out sets of jobs gives the game unique "mechanical chapters", where you'll use one set before moving on to the next set. the early jobs feel a little restrictive because it takes a while before you get the good spells, but mid-game jobs like geomancer, viking, bard, ranger, and thief have interesting unique abilities. i did like the boss fights that were built around short-term gimmick jobs like scholar and dragoon, but i wish those sequences had more than one design trick each. the late-game jobs settle into the good versions of the base jobs, which is fine but does feel like the game giving up on the potential of the job system before it really had a chance to blossom. but it is a fun consequence of the gendered job designs that the warriors of light come off as genderfluid. i think ff2's equipment system ultimately does a better job of making characters feel adaptable to different situations, even without unique commands.
all that said, i'm still mostly positive about this game. i got to see some nice sights and listen to some nice music and build some nice teams. they can't all be as revelatory as ff2.
but even though this game has lots of interesting pieces, they're all a little clunkily assembled. this goes for a dragon quest 3 style episodic town structure, but the episodes resolve themselves so quickly that it barely feels like anything happened. there are a few good ones like the town of cursed outlines or the floating forest in the desert or goldmember's mansion, but overall i could tell you more about the towns in ff1 than i could the towns of ff3. the lack of character in town episodes is especially noticeable in saronia, a huge city where npcs all say the same things.
there are lots of little annoyances in traversal that add up. it's fun to have a shrinking sequence where you're forced to use magic once or twice, but tedious to have to shrink or frogify just to get through a gate and reverse your status. hopping mountains with the invincible feels slow every time. and having to park one airship to go ride the other airship that can dive underwater is always a chore. despite the hidden paths in towns and dungeons, the dungeon layouts tend to be very boring. lots of simple hallways and symmetrical rooms that don't give much sense of exploration beyond noticing a hidden path. this really contributes to the final gauntlet feeling like a slog, just as much as the difficulty spike.
crystals handing out sets of jobs gives the game unique "mechanical chapters", where you'll use one set before moving on to the next set. the early jobs feel a little restrictive because it takes a while before you get the good spells, but mid-game jobs like geomancer, viking, bard, ranger, and thief have interesting unique abilities. i did like the boss fights that were built around short-term gimmick jobs like scholar and dragoon, but i wish those sequences had more than one design trick each. the late-game jobs settle into the good versions of the base jobs, which is fine but does feel like the game giving up on the potential of the job system before it really had a chance to blossom. but it is a fun consequence of the gendered job designs that the warriors of light come off as genderfluid. i think ff2's equipment system ultimately does a better job of making characters feel adaptable to different situations, even without unique commands.
all that said, i'm still mostly positive about this game. i got to see some nice sights and listen to some nice music and build some nice teams. they can't all be as revelatory as ff2.
“Embrace your Dreams, and Whatever Happens, Protect your Honor, as SOLDIER!!!”
Currently on a brief vacation and feeling mentally exhausted due to the tragic news of Akira Toriyama's demise. However, I must assert that this is undeniably the most exceptional Final Fantasy game ever created.
From top to bottom, this game exhibits a significant improvement in quality across all aspects compared to Part 1. I was so excited to approach this game without viewing any trailers because my goodness did it elevate the experience.
After going through the plot objectives, side quests, and several other interactions, I can confidently declare that this game embodies charm and the soul of Final Fantasy. The different areas and biomes outside of Midgar are visually stunning, the optional tasks are brief yet enjoyable and offer significant and satisfying exchanges with both the main cast and familiar or new supporting characters.
The narrative and overall gameplay fully exceeded the accomplishments of the last installment of this trilogy. From the beginning of Ch 1, I was fully absorbed and attentive, encountering no tedious or repetitive sections. The fellowship within the groups is significantly deeper and more intimate in this specific environment, which I found emotionally uplifting at times. Now, let's discuss the main focus of attention: Sephiroth, who happens to be one of my all-time favorite antagonists. One of the reasons why the game was captivating was due to the disturbing and evil air of his character, making each on-screen appearance a thrilling encounter.
The conclusion of the game left a lasting impression on me. The intensity of the game has reached a level that I am still struggling to fully grasp, even several days after finishing it. Hamaguchi/Nomura and his team at SE excelled in multiple aspects, from the amazing soundtrack that flawlessly captured the essence of the game to the abundant and well-integrated minigames like Queens Blood and Chocobo racing. This game will undoubtedly remain memorable to me for many years, and as of today, it is unequivocally my Game of the Year for 2024.
Currently on a brief vacation and feeling mentally exhausted due to the tragic news of Akira Toriyama's demise. However, I must assert that this is undeniably the most exceptional Final Fantasy game ever created.
From top to bottom, this game exhibits a significant improvement in quality across all aspects compared to Part 1. I was so excited to approach this game without viewing any trailers because my goodness did it elevate the experience.
After going through the plot objectives, side quests, and several other interactions, I can confidently declare that this game embodies charm and the soul of Final Fantasy. The different areas and biomes outside of Midgar are visually stunning, the optional tasks are brief yet enjoyable and offer significant and satisfying exchanges with both the main cast and familiar or new supporting characters.
The narrative and overall gameplay fully exceeded the accomplishments of the last installment of this trilogy. From the beginning of Ch 1, I was fully absorbed and attentive, encountering no tedious or repetitive sections. The fellowship within the groups is significantly deeper and more intimate in this specific environment, which I found emotionally uplifting at times. Now, let's discuss the main focus of attention: Sephiroth, who happens to be one of my all-time favorite antagonists. One of the reasons why the game was captivating was due to the disturbing and evil air of his character, making each on-screen appearance a thrilling encounter.
The conclusion of the game left a lasting impression on me. The intensity of the game has reached a level that I am still struggling to fully grasp, even several days after finishing it. Hamaguchi/Nomura and his team at SE excelled in multiple aspects, from the amazing soundtrack that flawlessly captured the essence of the game to the abundant and well-integrated minigames like Queens Blood and Chocobo racing. This game will undoubtedly remain memorable to me for many years, and as of today, it is unequivocally my Game of the Year for 2024.
Spoilers for Umineko and Higurashi!!
There's something so fascinating about the creator's distinctive second work when comparing it to the first (even though I'm well aware this is far from Ryukishi07's second work I just meant in the WTC series). The character designs seem more intricate. The story themes and way of telling it seem deeper. The character motivations seem more ambiguous and varied. The active push to make a series bigger and better, especially after the first one was so good, is a curious thing to watch as creators try to figure out how to follow up to something that anyone would be honored to have made.
The low hanging fruit I can compare this to is of course the case between Undertale and Deltarune. Undertale, pretty simple premise with pretty simple characters: show kindness to people, because your actions have consequences. Deltarune, more complex: although it's not finished, it tells of battle for control and escapism. Characters evolve more slowly, and they have the baggage that weighs them down while it was a matter of acting to make friends with monsters in Undertale (except, you know, the obvious).
The TL;DR of following up your work is that you should do something different, and Umineko takes the concept of trying to break the cycle of repeating the days over and over in a complex direction. So, in this case, it went from solving the mystery of a curse in a Japanese village with a small group of friends to a game against a witch in a Western-styled murder mystery with a large extended family.
Seriously. The main cast is MASSIVE with about 20 people, not counting the many other side characters. The fact that they all were able to be written well and uniquely enough to be distinct from one another is honestly amazing. Of course, them being varied in personality and demeanor means they're not all going to be winners, nor does it mean that we'll be able to fully understand their characters from the get-go.
And tangentially it is here that I make my rant against Kinzo. Fuck Kinzo honestly. Fuckin self-important asshole lockin himself up in his study all the time glaring and crying and acting like he's better than everybody else just because he pulled a blondie once. Every time he gets burnt alive, an angel gets its wings. Holy shit, fuck Rosa too she's well written but fuck me that scene of her ripping apart Sakutaro is ingrained in my head. I should note that none of these characters are poorly written, they're just extremely flawed people and I appreciate that Ryukishi expanded his writing of characters from overall likable with hidden flaws to outwardly cruel but secretly hurt and sympathetic characters.
Of course, there's no shortage of classic likable characters too. Me personally, I'm a fan of Jessica, Ange, Maria, Shannon and Kanon! But in the end, I hope each character gets their own satisfying arc and conclusion (except Kinzo can rot in hell). But you know what that means. Oh boy, I've gotten attached. See you all again in like a month.
The storytelling takes a nice change as it shifts from more psychological horror mixed in with body horror to pure viscera and body horror. This game is so gory oh my god I love it. The death sound effect and the scene of Maria singing while standing in a puddle of blood facing the wall are ingrained into my head. Actually the CGs of Maria's face warping in general are ingrained into me. At one point I was taking my headphones off because I wanted to physically get away from the horrific scenes. I thought I'd be kinda desensitized to this stuff by now but it's all about presentation that gets people.
Now for the plot, I was honestly enthralled from the start. The delicate balance of everyone secretly feuding for the inheritance was nicely done. Not that I've ever interacted with a rich family, but that dynamic I felt was written organically. And then there's Beatrice coming and fucking everything up in the best way possible and I love it. Honestly, the main conflict with Battler and her was a little aimless at first but as the story states later on that's kinda the point. It's just SO LONG. I wish getting attached to every character didn't mean having to go at it for 60+ hours but hey I'm getting my money's worth 💔.
So overall, yeah this is as good as people say it is! Honestly it's more repetitive than Higurashi which means that I probably would be less likely to reread it, but it wasn't bad. I just wish they potentially did more with the family conference rather than the same exact events over and over up until things get weird. That's what made each chapter of Higurashi stand out from one another, after all. But as it is this is a great read and a fantastic direction for the WTC saga. I can't wait to solve the mysteries again.
There's something so fascinating about the creator's distinctive second work when comparing it to the first (even though I'm well aware this is far from Ryukishi07's second work I just meant in the WTC series). The character designs seem more intricate. The story themes and way of telling it seem deeper. The character motivations seem more ambiguous and varied. The active push to make a series bigger and better, especially after the first one was so good, is a curious thing to watch as creators try to figure out how to follow up to something that anyone would be honored to have made.
The low hanging fruit I can compare this to is of course the case between Undertale and Deltarune. Undertale, pretty simple premise with pretty simple characters: show kindness to people, because your actions have consequences. Deltarune, more complex: although it's not finished, it tells of battle for control and escapism. Characters evolve more slowly, and they have the baggage that weighs them down while it was a matter of acting to make friends with monsters in Undertale (except, you know, the obvious).
The TL;DR of following up your work is that you should do something different, and Umineko takes the concept of trying to break the cycle of repeating the days over and over in a complex direction. So, in this case, it went from solving the mystery of a curse in a Japanese village with a small group of friends to a game against a witch in a Western-styled murder mystery with a large extended family.
Seriously. The main cast is MASSIVE with about 20 people, not counting the many other side characters. The fact that they all were able to be written well and uniquely enough to be distinct from one another is honestly amazing. Of course, them being varied in personality and demeanor means they're not all going to be winners, nor does it mean that we'll be able to fully understand their characters from the get-go.
And tangentially it is here that I make my rant against Kinzo. Fuck Kinzo honestly. Fuckin self-important asshole lockin himself up in his study all the time glaring and crying and acting like he's better than everybody else just because he pulled a blondie once. Every time he gets burnt alive, an angel gets its wings. Holy shit, fuck Rosa too she's well written but fuck me that scene of her ripping apart Sakutaro is ingrained in my head. I should note that none of these characters are poorly written, they're just extremely flawed people and I appreciate that Ryukishi expanded his writing of characters from overall likable with hidden flaws to outwardly cruel but secretly hurt and sympathetic characters.
Of course, there's no shortage of classic likable characters too. Me personally, I'm a fan of Jessica, Ange, Maria, Shannon and Kanon! But in the end, I hope each character gets their own satisfying arc and conclusion (except Kinzo can rot in hell). But you know what that means. Oh boy, I've gotten attached. See you all again in like a month.
The storytelling takes a nice change as it shifts from more psychological horror mixed in with body horror to pure viscera and body horror. This game is so gory oh my god I love it. The death sound effect and the scene of Maria singing while standing in a puddle of blood facing the wall are ingrained into my head. Actually the CGs of Maria's face warping in general are ingrained into me. At one point I was taking my headphones off because I wanted to physically get away from the horrific scenes. I thought I'd be kinda desensitized to this stuff by now but it's all about presentation that gets people.
Now for the plot, I was honestly enthralled from the start. The delicate balance of everyone secretly feuding for the inheritance was nicely done. Not that I've ever interacted with a rich family, but that dynamic I felt was written organically. And then there's Beatrice coming and fucking everything up in the best way possible and I love it. Honestly, the main conflict with Battler and her was a little aimless at first but as the story states later on that's kinda the point. It's just SO LONG. I wish getting attached to every character didn't mean having to go at it for 60+ hours but hey I'm getting my money's worth 💔.
So overall, yeah this is as good as people say it is! Honestly it's more repetitive than Higurashi which means that I probably would be less likely to reread it, but it wasn't bad. I just wish they potentially did more with the family conference rather than the same exact events over and over up until things get weird. That's what made each chapter of Higurashi stand out from one another, after all. But as it is this is a great read and a fantastic direction for the WTC saga. I can't wait to solve the mysteries again.
