jstndstrctn
2022
Super short, but the vibes are powerful. Atmosphere is great, creepy, the low poly style is nice.
500th game finished, woo!
I've played Pokemon since I got Yellow version when I was like, idk 7, and if I had to point at a gen and say "that's my least fave" it has always, even from when I was a child, been gen 2. While Johto boasts immaculate VIBES, we've all heard the complaints. Terrible level curve. New Pokemon not even accessible til post game, when you can't integrate them into your parties in meaningful ways. Very little variety despite an additional 100 added. The immense feat of pulling off two regions, yet having to butcher the second to make it work. A barely there narrative to get you through the Kanto revisit.
Polished Crystal is about as perfect as gen 2 could possibly get. It doesn't have the wonderful Pokemon following of HGSS, and while HGSS > the ogs, Polished Crystal surpasses both.
With added routes that tastefully sprawl the areas of Johto into one cohesive map, new areas, dozens of easter eggs, returning characters spanning new / future gens, abilities, the optional addition of natures, a MUCH better level curve, better Pokemon variety, new moves, fairy typing... the level of care & quality of life added is immense! I was constantly surprised by the things I found. Armored Mewtwo? Jessie / James? Flying, surfing Pika variants? Alolan variants. There are sooo many more things to discover.
There is a RNG based wonder trade with NPCs built into the game, which is nuts to me. The difficulty has been ramped up, in a way that is not really outright cruel, but definitely tougher than the average pokemon game.
There is ONE misstep here. And that's the final post game bit. You eventually hit a point where your Pokemon are prob 70-80, and in order to fight the top trainer (fully kitted with positive natures, comp movesets, and full EV training, which, btw, in this game, you can add 252 to every stat...) it's a brutal grind to the last challenges. Occasionally, I think some of the difficulty is a little whacky. This is largely balanced, but one ex, Falkner having Roost access early game... there is so little you can do to out damage the healing, at that point in the game, it was a little silly. And there's a few other moments where it felt if you didn't do one specific strategy you were in trouble.
Still, this is an absolute masterpiece. It felt like re-experiencing this game for the first time, and it made me like it more than I ever have.
I've played Pokemon since I got Yellow version when I was like, idk 7, and if I had to point at a gen and say "that's my least fave" it has always, even from when I was a child, been gen 2. While Johto boasts immaculate VIBES, we've all heard the complaints. Terrible level curve. New Pokemon not even accessible til post game, when you can't integrate them into your parties in meaningful ways. Very little variety despite an additional 100 added. The immense feat of pulling off two regions, yet having to butcher the second to make it work. A barely there narrative to get you through the Kanto revisit.
Polished Crystal is about as perfect as gen 2 could possibly get. It doesn't have the wonderful Pokemon following of HGSS, and while HGSS > the ogs, Polished Crystal surpasses both.
With added routes that tastefully sprawl the areas of Johto into one cohesive map, new areas, dozens of easter eggs, returning characters spanning new / future gens, abilities, the optional addition of natures, a MUCH better level curve, better Pokemon variety, new moves, fairy typing... the level of care & quality of life added is immense! I was constantly surprised by the things I found. Armored Mewtwo? Jessie / James? Flying, surfing Pika variants? Alolan variants. There are sooo many more things to discover.
There is a RNG based wonder trade with NPCs built into the game, which is nuts to me. The difficulty has been ramped up, in a way that is not really outright cruel, but definitely tougher than the average pokemon game.
There is ONE misstep here. And that's the final post game bit. You eventually hit a point where your Pokemon are prob 70-80, and in order to fight the top trainer (fully kitted with positive natures, comp movesets, and full EV training, which, btw, in this game, you can add 252 to every stat...) it's a brutal grind to the last challenges. Occasionally, I think some of the difficulty is a little whacky. This is largely balanced, but one ex, Falkner having Roost access early game... there is so little you can do to out damage the healing, at that point in the game, it was a little silly. And there's a few other moments where it felt if you didn't do one specific strategy you were in trouble.
Still, this is an absolute masterpiece. It felt like re-experiencing this game for the first time, and it made me like it more than I ever have.
2000
Full of style & great ideas, it was fun to finally play this. There's a lot of fun companions and interesting locales, chapter 7 was def my favorite. Overall, I felt that the game is a bit tedious, though its parts are solid on their own.
Fun, neat, cute. Princess Peach is a badass. I thought it was interesting how they devised different play styles of levels / puzzles, even though it's a very simple game.
It's Princess Peach so auto 5/5 from me, chief.
It's Princess Peach so auto 5/5 from me, chief.
2021
Tbh, not my fave FF. I remember playing the DS version, though I was a lot younger, and it would've been one of the earlier ones that I played through fully. I did feel I had a positive time with it then, but wonder how it'd hold up now...
The introduction of jobs was really interesting, and this game has some cool ass bosses. Of the original trilogy from the pixel remasters, I think it's my least favorite, as the story is really pretty subdued. The best part of the game for me was the final dungeons which absolutely ripped, and constituted probably 1/5 of my entire playtime lol. Mayhaps too long? A lot of the backstory etc is loaded into that end game bit.
As with the other pixel remasters the sprite work, attack animations, and re-orchestrated soundtrack are wonderful.
Also now that I have XIV under my belt this game gave me a lot of wojack pointing energy. I'm glad to have played it again regardless, as I needed a refresh on the early entries of FF. I am really looking forward to playing the rest of the pixel remasters.
The introduction of jobs was really interesting, and this game has some cool ass bosses. Of the original trilogy from the pixel remasters, I think it's my least favorite, as the story is really pretty subdued. The best part of the game for me was the final dungeons which absolutely ripped, and constituted probably 1/5 of my entire playtime lol. Mayhaps too long? A lot of the backstory etc is loaded into that end game bit.
As with the other pixel remasters the sprite work, attack animations, and re-orchestrated soundtrack are wonderful.
Also now that I have XIV under my belt this game gave me a lot of wojack pointing energy. I'm glad to have played it again regardless, as I needed a refresh on the early entries of FF. I am really looking forward to playing the rest of the pixel remasters.
2024
Taking the GOAT & making it even better, this was a great remake of Atlus' best. There is not an entry in this series with stronger themes & tighter writing than P3. From the cast, the social links, there is growth among everyone, as the game reflects bittersweetly on life, death, grief, and the purpose of life. It is a beautiful narrative, that I don't feel they'll ever be able to match that again. Some QoL upgrades to combat & other things make this an incredible journey. There is some really great VA work here, Junpei went crazy. I'm not really bothered with the re-working of the VA's, or the soundtrack changes, tbh. They are good interpretations in their own right.
The art style is incredible, visually stunning. Tartarus looks so good, with its interesting floor designs. The game in general benefits so much from the strong sense of dread, permeated by the ever present, small sparks of hope. There is a deep mystery and ominous feeling throughout that 5 utterly abandoned. All of the social links share deep connections to life, death, grief, and the tarot. I think the Sun link of P3 is one of the best & most interesting the series has had. The sun typically is a new life, rebirth, a dawn. However, we see a man who is terminally ill and trying to come to terms of what the purpose of his life was. It is truly a beautiful reflection, and an interesting subversion of the card's meaning. I think what I admire so much about this game's links is the fact that many aren't just the people you'd expect to befriend. You become friends with an alcoholic monk, a deeply flawed gourmet, and a really greedy & sketchy salesman. In life, we sometimes cross path with people & befriend, or at least connect and learn from people we don't expect. I think Persona 3's links feel less contrived, because there is some element of "ok I'm really just going to deal with this person's super odd flaw / problem right now I guess." The link involving the MMO is also so funny, and emblematic of the time.
I first experienced P3 with P3P 10 years ago, almost exactly, and it blew me away. I hadn't played anything like it, and it really revitalized my love for RPGs and greatly invigorated my interest in visual novels. It was immediately one of my fave games of all time, and this has re-solidified that feeling.
For my petty moment of the year: P5 could never. Replaying Persona at its best has made me infinitely more disappointed with how bloated, redundant, obvious, and impersonal P5 is. I can see where P5 tried to re-spin some of the ideas that were present in P3, to much lesser effect. I can only hope Atlus will surprise me with the next entry, because while P5R did improve, I cannot deal with another slog of playing the same mediocre 100+hr game twice in a row again.
Also P3's soundtrack is just better, I do not care. Yea, production, dumb lyrics, whatever, you clearly are not a 00's jrock/jpop person. I will take nonsense lyrics over on the nose cringe any day.
The art style is incredible, visually stunning. Tartarus looks so good, with its interesting floor designs. The game in general benefits so much from the strong sense of dread, permeated by the ever present, small sparks of hope. There is a deep mystery and ominous feeling throughout that 5 utterly abandoned. All of the social links share deep connections to life, death, grief, and the tarot. I think the Sun link of P3 is one of the best & most interesting the series has had. The sun typically is a new life, rebirth, a dawn. However, we see a man who is terminally ill and trying to come to terms of what the purpose of his life was. It is truly a beautiful reflection, and an interesting subversion of the card's meaning. I think what I admire so much about this game's links is the fact that many aren't just the people you'd expect to befriend. You become friends with an alcoholic monk, a deeply flawed gourmet, and a really greedy & sketchy salesman. In life, we sometimes cross path with people & befriend, or at least connect and learn from people we don't expect. I think Persona 3's links feel less contrived, because there is some element of "ok I'm really just going to deal with this person's super odd flaw / problem right now I guess." The link involving the MMO is also so funny, and emblematic of the time.
I first experienced P3 with P3P 10 years ago, almost exactly, and it blew me away. I hadn't played anything like it, and it really revitalized my love for RPGs and greatly invigorated my interest in visual novels. It was immediately one of my fave games of all time, and this has re-solidified that feeling.
For my petty moment of the year: P5 could never. Replaying Persona at its best has made me infinitely more disappointed with how bloated, redundant, obvious, and impersonal P5 is. I can see where P5 tried to re-spin some of the ideas that were present in P3, to much lesser effect. I can only hope Atlus will surprise me with the next entry, because while P5R did improve, I cannot deal with another slog of playing the same mediocre 100+hr game twice in a row again.
Also P3's soundtrack is just better, I do not care. Yea, production, dumb lyrics, whatever, you clearly are not a 00's jrock/jpop person. I will take nonsense lyrics over on the nose cringe any day.
PEAK. FF7 is my fave game of all time, and here, it is ramped up to max, done better than I could've thought. The soundtrack is insane, the world is beautiful. Every new location looks like you are playing the beauty of concept art, fully visualized. It is amazing how hard they went to expand the universe & every iconic moment from the game is brought into full depth. Things I never thought would be made into a 'whole thing', are brought into actual, fleshed out sections of game. Seeing how they expanded upon these moments, adding new perspectives and looks into the world of FF7... I think this, along with RE4's recent remake, are shining examples of modernizing classics. This is how remakes should be. There is no value in merely 1:1 re-adapting a work. It can be fine, and sometimes necessary to get versions up to speed (see, Persona 3 Reload, although, even that has its differences).
Wondering what would happen, what might be changed, what paths they would take to the end, and theorizing, left me in a constant state of anxiety. I was gripped. The combat is a wonderful blend of action & turn based rpg, and, while I know Final Fantasy isn't that series, I wouldn't have been disappointed to see this sort of combat reflect more heavily in the other mainline entries. It's great.
This is a VIDEO GAME. Unlike the drivel of most western AAA games, this is filled with things that feel very 'aracadey' and 'gamey'. This honestly makes the game feel, in some ways, like Yakuza. Whacky side quests, weird, funny NPCs--the Queens Blood card game is fun as hell, & the people you play against are largely hilarious borderline sociopaths & sometimes, a random animal. Some side quests are just plain silly, much better than the first game, entertaining. That said, there is quite a lot of the typical AAA checklist sort of content. It's nothing incredible, but it's what you'd expect. At this point, these kind of side activities, feel like a lot, but it's standard fare for bearing the burden of featuring a modern open world. Doing the side quest gives access to some good materia & other equipment, etc, so it does feel there is a point to it.
Character writing is immaculate. Everyone is given such a depth & range of emotion. Party interactions are numerous, you can really see every character's feelings brightly on display. There is a deep foreboding across the work, as events play out. I never thought I could love this cast of characters more than I did, but here we are. The acting is incredible. From the opening hours of Nibelheim, with the haunting performance of "Cloud" acting like Zack, is just absolutely peak. There are so many tiny, small details, throughout the game, the characters, their interactions, the way they micro react to certain events and dialogue... there is so so so much love and respect for the 7 universe throughout this game, it is incredible.
-very minor suggestions of spoilers ahead-
And man some of those bosses went insane. We get capped with an incredible final dungeon that is an onslaught of tough enemies capped by one of the craziest fights I've had. I can't remember a game going so hard in a final dungeon / boss sequences in a long while.
My time with this is far from over, but it was a great time, and I loved it start to finish. Overall, Rebirth is an absolute masterpiece, the craziest thing Square has put together in idk how long. I could really not have expected more from this game. It surpassed my expectations on every front.
Wondering what would happen, what might be changed, what paths they would take to the end, and theorizing, left me in a constant state of anxiety. I was gripped. The combat is a wonderful blend of action & turn based rpg, and, while I know Final Fantasy isn't that series, I wouldn't have been disappointed to see this sort of combat reflect more heavily in the other mainline entries. It's great.
This is a VIDEO GAME. Unlike the drivel of most western AAA games, this is filled with things that feel very 'aracadey' and 'gamey'. This honestly makes the game feel, in some ways, like Yakuza. Whacky side quests, weird, funny NPCs--the Queens Blood card game is fun as hell, & the people you play against are largely hilarious borderline sociopaths & sometimes, a random animal. Some side quests are just plain silly, much better than the first game, entertaining. That said, there is quite a lot of the typical AAA checklist sort of content. It's nothing incredible, but it's what you'd expect. At this point, these kind of side activities, feel like a lot, but it's standard fare for bearing the burden of featuring a modern open world. Doing the side quest gives access to some good materia & other equipment, etc, so it does feel there is a point to it.
Character writing is immaculate. Everyone is given such a depth & range of emotion. Party interactions are numerous, you can really see every character's feelings brightly on display. There is a deep foreboding across the work, as events play out. I never thought I could love this cast of characters more than I did, but here we are. The acting is incredible. From the opening hours of Nibelheim, with the haunting performance of "Cloud" acting like Zack, is just absolutely peak. There are so many tiny, small details, throughout the game, the characters, their interactions, the way they micro react to certain events and dialogue... there is so so so much love and respect for the 7 universe throughout this game, it is incredible.
-very minor suggestions of spoilers ahead-
And man some of those bosses went insane. We get capped with an incredible final dungeon that is an onslaught of tough enemies capped by one of the craziest fights I've had. I can't remember a game going so hard in a final dungeon / boss sequences in a long while.
My time with this is far from over, but it was a great time, and I loved it start to finish. Overall, Rebirth is an absolute masterpiece, the craziest thing Square has put together in idk how long. I could really not have expected more from this game. It surpassed my expectations on every front.
Death Mark II brings us back to the spirit hunter series' trademark creepiness. While its highs never touch those of NG, or probably even the original, this game does spin an enjoyable mystery. I enjoyed this game myself, but I had a few gripes, most of which are probably explained when finding out the game was crowd funded. The first entry did get decent sales in its release, and NG, less so. I think given the stats, it's pretty cool a third game was released. That said, placing the game entirely in the school makes some sense given the overarching narrative, but I found the variety of creepy locales lacking. Schools are overdone, and I couldn't help compare to Another or Corpse Party. I wasn't really too into the running around aspect, but I think it does make sense--I remember becoming annoyed with some of the circular backtracking in the dungeon crawling way it was handled in the first two entries. So I think this is an improvement in gameplay held back by the budget. It could've had more atmosphere, I think. I think this style is almost too cute, contrasting with the horrible deaths & grotesque things this series is known for.
Spoilers are very light, mostly just talking about mechanics etc.
For me, this is peak fiction. I laughed, cried, and I had a great time with the combat system's revisions. The mini games are insane, as per usual. We have an intricate plot with interesting new characters, juxtaposed with a protagonist uncovering the links, while being more introspective & reminiscing on their life & the franchise as a whole. Music rips, game is beautiful, HDR LAD goes hard. I think the villain is a bit lackluster, but we also have Yamai who is one of the coolest sort of antagonists in the series. I'm not too disappointed, as I think they've largely knocked this game out of the park. Knockbacks / positionals were a great feature. Skill inheritance & a slightly revamped leveling up... while the DLC is another story, I enjoyed being able to conquer the optional dungeons without an insane amount of grind unlike the final millennium tower in LAD7. The way they handled some things were just awesome, max peak. Kiryu being able to break through the RPG, having style switching was epic. Overall I loved my time with this game, it is something I will probably not feel again for a long time! There is a certain thing that has been instilled in playing this franchise as a whole--growing with Kiryu, Kamurocho, these other characters, seeing how the world they live in evolves and changes as you yourself do... it's peak, and I don't think many, or any other franchise can instill that feeling.
For me, this is peak fiction. I laughed, cried, and I had a great time with the combat system's revisions. The mini games are insane, as per usual. We have an intricate plot with interesting new characters, juxtaposed with a protagonist uncovering the links, while being more introspective & reminiscing on their life & the franchise as a whole. Music rips, game is beautiful, HDR LAD goes hard. I think the villain is a bit lackluster, but we also have Yamai who is one of the coolest sort of antagonists in the series. I'm not too disappointed, as I think they've largely knocked this game out of the park. Knockbacks / positionals were a great feature. Skill inheritance & a slightly revamped leveling up... while the DLC is another story, I enjoyed being able to conquer the optional dungeons without an insane amount of grind unlike the final millennium tower in LAD7. The way they handled some things were just awesome, max peak. Kiryu being able to break through the RPG, having style switching was epic. Overall I loved my time with this game, it is something I will probably not feel again for a long time! There is a certain thing that has been instilled in playing this franchise as a whole--growing with Kiryu, Kamurocho, these other characters, seeing how the world they live in evolves and changes as you yourself do... it's peak, and I don't think many, or any other franchise can instill that feeling.
2022
This game absolutely surprised me. I had heard a lot about it and decided to give it ago and I was HOOKED. It does my favorite sort of thing, where the game is constantly giving you new ways to accomplish your tasks, and innovate progression. There is so much packed into this game. The vibes are great. Pixel art / animation is incredible. Bancho is a chad. I love the gameplay loop, and the story is good too! I didn't expect it to be so crazy. Extremely looking forward to the Godzilla DLC!!!
2023
This is a vision fully realized at its highest form. Like David Lynch meets Kojima. Thus far to its release, it is the only thing that's truly WOW'd me as a PS5/Series X generation game. The art, direction, the world that it builds, it wraps multiple forms of media and bends it to fit the universe it's created with an ambitious meta narrative that blew me away. Balancing the protagonists was a great way to break up the world, and the combat is leagues ahead of its predecessor, as could be expected. This is truly a work of art, it's what so many AAA games are trying to be. A blend of cinema with gaming that does not sacrifice its gameplay or integrity to integrate the two.
It's not anything crazy but I played the shit out of this as a kid, and I have a big nostalgia for it lol.
edit I also think it's the hilarious I'm apparently the only person to have logged this game ever lmao. Thank u parents for buying me this.
edit I also think it's the hilarious I'm apparently the only person to have logged this game ever lmao. Thank u parents for buying me this.
2023
DANDORI
2022
This game had me in an absolute vice grip. The art, music, combat is all exceptional. It's an homage to older rpg's, but maintains its own essence well. There are hints of FMA, Berserk, and NGE for fans of anime, while also having some feel of FFVI / Chrono Trigger. This game really outdoes itself on all fronts, and I had an absolute blast with it.
2021
I appreciated this a lot more playing it in the pixel remaster form, with the added options to help out the leveling. I think the story's a pretty interesting step up & the design too from the OG. The first Behemoth encounter in the series was cool to see!