kneeku
2023
The Final Fantasy series has been one of the most influential game series's in my life. Final Fantasy VII Remake was one of my first RPGs and Final Fantasy X is my favourite game ever made. The only Final Fantasy post X I had played leading up to this point was XV which left me very disappointed in many ways but I am very happy to say this one didn't. Final Fantasy XVI is without a doubt one of the best RPGs made this year and in fact, one of the best games made this year.
The gameplay in the game can be very easy but that doesn't mean it isn't fun. The argument of "watered down DMC" is a bit valid though but I feel it's still great at it's own thing. The basic combat system is fairly fun mechanically, to me what makes it really fun is its customization. Unlocking Eikon skills was always very fun to me and I had a great time mixing up my skills to see which combo flowed best.
The story in XVI while definitely not the best is still good. There are valid criticisms to it and I do have some of my own too but I can easily look past them if most of the story is very good still. The ending portion is definitely a bit fast although I feel there is no other place for that entire section of the game could fit into.
The cast here isn't the best in Final Fantasy but it's gotta be up there. I get its on the smaller size cast wise but it helps that all main characters are very impactful and memorable. This interpretation of Cid is definitely my favourite in the series and the most interested. This is the most in-depth he's been since XII and VII which is something I felt was needed.
Overall, XVI isn't a perfect game. There are pacing issues, loads of filler, easy combat, and a small cast. These issues to me though are minuscule in the grand scheme of things when the rest of the game does so much right.
The gameplay in the game can be very easy but that doesn't mean it isn't fun. The argument of "watered down DMC" is a bit valid though but I feel it's still great at it's own thing. The basic combat system is fairly fun mechanically, to me what makes it really fun is its customization. Unlocking Eikon skills was always very fun to me and I had a great time mixing up my skills to see which combo flowed best.
The story in XVI while definitely not the best is still good. There are valid criticisms to it and I do have some of my own too but I can easily look past them if most of the story is very good still. The ending portion is definitely a bit fast although I feel there is no other place for that entire section of the game could fit into.
The cast here isn't the best in Final Fantasy but it's gotta be up there. I get its on the smaller size cast wise but it helps that all main characters are very impactful and memorable. This interpretation of Cid is definitely my favourite in the series and the most interested. This is the most in-depth he's been since XII and VII which is something I felt was needed.
Overall, XVI isn't a perfect game. There are pacing issues, loads of filler, easy combat, and a small cast. These issues to me though are minuscule in the grand scheme of things when the rest of the game does so much right.
MGS2 is a game that I always liked but just soured in my mind the longer I spent away from it. With the Master Collection coming out I finally had a reason to revisit it. I'm very happy to say that my memory was just off as this is an amazing game. Everything I said about MGS1 being ahead of it's time still applies here and more with a lot of the themes it tackles being such a huge part of modern day society. The Tanker mission is a great intro to the game and the last act is arguably one of the craziest acts in gaming history.
Spider-Man 2018 is a game that has warm spot in my heart so you can know that I was very excited for this game. Following Miles Morales there is one villain that was very clearly being built up to which I was excited for and when this game got revealed I was very excited for it. I kept my expectations intact during the entire marketing campaign which was that it would definitely be a great game but not as good as the first which is exactly what I felt it was. The gameplay is for sure a big step up from the first 2 but everything else I felt was somewhat of a downgrade? I felt that 2018 and even Miles Morales felt more like Spider-Man games than this one. It could be the fact that those 2 games took a bit more of a laid back approach than this one did, I feel I liked the more lax story telling as those 2 games were able to deliver strong moments without it needing to be the end of the world like this game.
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is a mixed game. It had a troubled development cycle to keep it short and expectations were at an all time high for games considering the series history. Metal Gear had already past its peak in popularity by this point and the series had already ended once as well. This game didn't need to exist but it does and the finished product is pretty good but has very clear flaws.
Metal Gear Solid 4 had already ended the series back in 2008 but Kojima still had ideas that would connect Metal Gear Solid 3 to Metal Gear 1/2 and that came with the sequel to Snake Eater, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. To me, Peace Walker is a phenomenal game. It's seen as a good game to the community as well but theres definitely a lot of mixed reception around it as well but I really enjoyed the game. Peace Walker is the blueprint for this game and its clear. A lot of mechanics introduced there are included here like managing Mother Base, gathering resources, developing weapons, fulton recovery, and the biggest being mission based structure.
With all those extra mechanics the game had to play well in which it does, MGSV makes you feel like Snake with the way the game controls. Each movement is tight and precise and I feel if you ever get caught it is because you messed up somewhere and it is realistic when you do get caught. Metal Gear has always been ahead of its time and MGSV is no different. This game is incredibly free as there are countless ways to tackle each mission in this game besides the tutorial mission (which you need to play twice for some dumb reason). The amount of weapons in this game is insane and the tools included make it even better. The open world is a bit lacklustre in the sense there isn't much out there but it's impressive with its size and graphics for the time. The fact they got the game running on PS3 and X360 is groundbreaking to me. The gunplay in this game is very good as each gun feels nice to shoot. It makes me excited to see if Konami integrates the adaptive triggers with the PS5 version on Master Collection Volume 2. which is highly unlikely but it would be neat. Overall though the gameplay is by far the best thing the game has to show off.
The issue is though that the level design isn't all amazing. Each mission in the game can be seen as repetitive even if you approach things in different methods and good gameplay can only take you so far in a game thats over 40 hours long at the minimum. The so called "difficult" missions in the game happen to just be repeat missions with insane scaling issues, besides Mission 45: A Quiet Exit which is one of the most broken missions due to the fault of not being able to exit the mission once you start it and it begins from a Side Op which gives you 0 prep for the mission, one of the weirdest design choices I have ever seen. I would say that most of the missions in the game are pretty cool and the game features one of the coolest boss fights in any game I've played with Sahenlanthropus. But the lack of boss fights (none in the second half of the game besides repeats) and the countless amount of skulls fights really shows how development was not smooth on this game at all.
Narrative is definitely the worst part of this game. I understand that there really is nothing more they could do with the game story wise but it's still disappointing. The Metal Gear series had always been a narrative heavy series and it's very jarring having such a sudden shift in one game. You can argue Peace Walker was the start of that but even then that game had more plot than this game did and it happened to be a very good one as well. This game, right after Chapter 1 which is already forgettable story wise it completely takes a huge decline. There are great moments here and there like Mission 43: Shining Lights, Even in Death which is one of the best moments in the series it just sort of happens. And you can say that for all of Chapter 2 where events just happen and it provides for weak story telling. The characters in this game are also alright at best. All the legacy characters included serve very little purpose in this game. Ocelot can be argued for but even then his adaptation in this game is the worst in the series. Liquid, Volgin, and Psycho Mantis are here for no other reason besides fanservice which is annoying. Volgin being dealt with in a side op is incredibly weak and gives 0 emotional value. MGSV just happens to be a forgettable narrative experience with occasional cool moments which is disappointing from the series.
The review seems to have me hate the game, but my opinion on it is actually the exact opposite. In terms of a Metal Gear game, it's horrible but in terms of being a video game, it's great. It's definitely flawed and not perfect despite all the 10/10 reviews it got at launched. There are parts of the game that flat out suck. But for majority of the game, I felt I was having a lot of fun with the core gameplay mechanics and was making my own memorable moments without the story. Doing no alerts base clear-outs was always fun to me and had me thinking and had me feeling like a badass when I would extract a tank or something like that. The game did such a good job at making you feel like Snake. I'm glad I saw this one out all the way, and I would be open to replay it but it definitely wont be any time soon considering the length.
Metal Gear Solid 4 had already ended the series back in 2008 but Kojima still had ideas that would connect Metal Gear Solid 3 to Metal Gear 1/2 and that came with the sequel to Snake Eater, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. To me, Peace Walker is a phenomenal game. It's seen as a good game to the community as well but theres definitely a lot of mixed reception around it as well but I really enjoyed the game. Peace Walker is the blueprint for this game and its clear. A lot of mechanics introduced there are included here like managing Mother Base, gathering resources, developing weapons, fulton recovery, and the biggest being mission based structure.
With all those extra mechanics the game had to play well in which it does, MGSV makes you feel like Snake with the way the game controls. Each movement is tight and precise and I feel if you ever get caught it is because you messed up somewhere and it is realistic when you do get caught. Metal Gear has always been ahead of its time and MGSV is no different. This game is incredibly free as there are countless ways to tackle each mission in this game besides the tutorial mission (which you need to play twice for some dumb reason). The amount of weapons in this game is insane and the tools included make it even better. The open world is a bit lacklustre in the sense there isn't much out there but it's impressive with its size and graphics for the time. The fact they got the game running on PS3 and X360 is groundbreaking to me. The gunplay in this game is very good as each gun feels nice to shoot. It makes me excited to see if Konami integrates the adaptive triggers with the PS5 version on Master Collection Volume 2. which is highly unlikely but it would be neat. Overall though the gameplay is by far the best thing the game has to show off.
The issue is though that the level design isn't all amazing. Each mission in the game can be seen as repetitive even if you approach things in different methods and good gameplay can only take you so far in a game thats over 40 hours long at the minimum. The so called "difficult" missions in the game happen to just be repeat missions with insane scaling issues, besides Mission 45: A Quiet Exit which is one of the most broken missions due to the fault of not being able to exit the mission once you start it and it begins from a Side Op which gives you 0 prep for the mission, one of the weirdest design choices I have ever seen. I would say that most of the missions in the game are pretty cool and the game features one of the coolest boss fights in any game I've played with Sahenlanthropus. But the lack of boss fights (none in the second half of the game besides repeats) and the countless amount of skulls fights really shows how development was not smooth on this game at all.
Narrative is definitely the worst part of this game. I understand that there really is nothing more they could do with the game story wise but it's still disappointing. The Metal Gear series had always been a narrative heavy series and it's very jarring having such a sudden shift in one game. You can argue Peace Walker was the start of that but even then that game had more plot than this game did and it happened to be a very good one as well. This game, right after Chapter 1 which is already forgettable story wise it completely takes a huge decline. There are great moments here and there like Mission 43: Shining Lights, Even in Death which is one of the best moments in the series it just sort of happens. And you can say that for all of Chapter 2 where events just happen and it provides for weak story telling. The characters in this game are also alright at best. All the legacy characters included serve very little purpose in this game. Ocelot can be argued for but even then his adaptation in this game is the worst in the series. Liquid, Volgin, and Psycho Mantis are here for no other reason besides fanservice which is annoying. Volgin being dealt with in a side op is incredibly weak and gives 0 emotional value. MGSV just happens to be a forgettable narrative experience with occasional cool moments which is disappointing from the series.
The review seems to have me hate the game, but my opinion on it is actually the exact opposite. In terms of a Metal Gear game, it's horrible but in terms of being a video game, it's great. It's definitely flawed and not perfect despite all the 10/10 reviews it got at launched. There are parts of the game that flat out suck. But for majority of the game, I felt I was having a lot of fun with the core gameplay mechanics and was making my own memorable moments without the story. Doing no alerts base clear-outs was always fun to me and had me thinking and had me feeling like a badass when I would extract a tank or something like that. The game did such a good job at making you feel like Snake. I'm glad I saw this one out all the way, and I would be open to replay it but it definitely wont be any time soon considering the length.
Interesting story but held back from gameplay choices and hardware limitations. One of the games that suffers from one analog stick on PSP syndrome the most.
Metal Gear Solid 3 to me is arguably the greatest game ever made. I had that feeling 2 years ago when I played it for the first time and I have that same feeling now just after beating it again. I feel this game does everything it tries to do perfectly. You can disagree with the survival elements but even then I felt that was something enjoyable and gives a nice twist to the gameplay of the series. CQC is a new mechanic to the series that sticks with it for the rest of the way. It isn't too complicated but definitely adds to the main gameplay loop of the series, though I do feel it gets dumbed down throughout the series. The cast of MGS3 is so well rounded with no bad characters at all. Even a side character like Sokolov is well written and somebody you feel bad for throughout the game. The game has, in my opinion the best main character with Naked Snake (with bias of playing the future entries) and one of the best written characters ever The Boss. To me, MGS3 does everything right which is why it deserves all the praise it gets from fans.
Mario Wonder is a game I wasn't planning on playing but ended up being very happy I did play it. I'm somebody that doesn't play 2D platformers at all but this one was able to grip me from start to finish. There are some mediocre levels here and there and one of which is the final level to me which is a shame. Besides that though it's a game that is very fun and will probably just make you smile a lot while playing it.
2011
Replaying this game for the first time since 2020/21 and I grew to appreciate things more but also find more flaws than I did originally. Character writing is still a highlight here as the main cast is very likeable besides 1 character, although it does have weak villains. I found the pacing to be worse than Symphonia when I first played it and playing them back to back again I still noticed it. Gameplay is fun but doesn't get that fast paced but still enjoyable. I can see why people call this the best Tales game but it just isn't the best for me. Still a great game nonetheless!
some of the most fun ive had playing a game in a long time, super nostalgic
Wind Waker always been a favourite of mine, so much to love in it with its artstyle, fluid combat, great soundtrack and setting it just has so much charm. It has its flaws like its padding towards the end but its highs just outweigh it. The game does have weaker dungeons and just struggles from being too easy all around. This time going for 100% I did the savage labyrinth which was no issue still despite being the supposedly challenge of the game. The game also struggles with a lot of it's side content being repetitive, majority of the heart pieces come from sea charts and the obvious triforce quest is just proof that there are missing dungeons. But even then the game is still so good at times because its strengths are that good.
1998
The 3rd time through this game I am just able to appreciate it more and more. I used to find this game very difficult but now I feel like I'm a pro at it. This game is so ahead of it's time with everything, story telling, gameplay, cinematics everything in this game is top standard. The story is so entertaining still even on a 3rd playthrough due to it's amazing cast and voice acting. Shadow Moses is an iconic video game area and still the best MGS setting to this day, the snowy atmosphere will never be topped.
2023
Off the recreation of the village I knew this game would become an instant favourite for me. The original Resident Evil 4 was a game I always loved for its great gameplay and great cast. I'm happy to say the remake transported everything I loved and I feel made, most things better.
The gameplay in the remake is so good in my opinion, Leon controls like butter. Gunplay is snappy and feels very responsive. The added parry mechanic is very fun and gives a good test of your reflexes on harder difficulties where they only accept perfect parries. Reworked Ashley missions are better but still could use some work. The new setpieces introduced in the Remake are awesome and spices up things for returning players. The characters are very similar for the most part. Leon is still quippy but still badass and Ashley I feel is improved and less annoying. Ada sadly takes a huge fall off as it seems she feels 0 remorse for Leon following the events for RE2R which makes sense but is disappointing considering how she was a good character in that game and the original RE4 and she comes off as dull in this game. Overall though, this Remake was a joy to play and had me feeling like I was playing the original all over again which is exactly what I wanted from it! As it stands this is my game of the year and I don't believe I will be picking up any other big hitters like Baldur's Gate 3 and won't be playing Dead Space remake in time.
The gameplay in the remake is so good in my opinion, Leon controls like butter. Gunplay is snappy and feels very responsive. The added parry mechanic is very fun and gives a good test of your reflexes on harder difficulties where they only accept perfect parries. Reworked Ashley missions are better but still could use some work. The new setpieces introduced in the Remake are awesome and spices up things for returning players. The characters are very similar for the most part. Leon is still quippy but still badass and Ashley I feel is improved and less annoying. Ada sadly takes a huge fall off as it seems she feels 0 remorse for Leon following the events for RE2R which makes sense but is disappointing considering how she was a good character in that game and the original RE4 and she comes off as dull in this game. Overall though, this Remake was a joy to play and had me feeling like I was playing the original all over again which is exactly what I wanted from it! As it stands this is my game of the year and I don't believe I will be picking up any other big hitters like Baldur's Gate 3 and won't be playing Dead Space remake in time.
I just want it to be said that the Metal Gear Solid trilogy is my favourite trilogy ever made, if I were to be reviewing this collection based off the games included it would be a very easy 10/10. Though I'm not rating the collection off of that but rather instead how it was handled.
Konami is capable of handling good collections considering the track record with things like the original MGS HD Collection + Legacy Collection, the TMNT collection, and even some of their Castlevania collections. Though not everything is good as they are also responsible for the worst ever collection with the Silent Hill HD Collection. I would say this one would be right in the middle of those I mentioned, with the exception of the PC port which is on par with the SH HD Collection. My experience on PS5 was definitely a fine one, no major bugs like save data corruption, no crashes, all minor bugs that happened to be audio issues which only occurred in MGS1/2. I like how they used the bluepoint versions of MGS2/3 but it's clear they had just copy and pasted the version here and it's a bit disappointing how MGS1 is just being emulated and not being ran natively, a big issue for the EU versions of the game as the game runs sub 25fps. I don't mind the absence of full HD support for MGS1 as I don't think it looks anything amazing but the fact that MGS2/3 aren't even 1080p is disappointing.
It's still an amazing collection of games though as MGS1-3 are some of the best games to ever come out and the collection itself has cool menus and bonus features, stuff like the original MSX games and even the NES versions and the DGNs were definitely not needed but very cool to be included.
It just gets me worried about how volume 2 will be handled and mainly for MGS4 as that game was hand crafted specifically for the PS3. They had a working version for Xbox 360 which gives me hope but not complete faith as bluepoint won't be working on that version and just in house at Konami.
Konami is capable of handling good collections considering the track record with things like the original MGS HD Collection + Legacy Collection, the TMNT collection, and even some of their Castlevania collections. Though not everything is good as they are also responsible for the worst ever collection with the Silent Hill HD Collection. I would say this one would be right in the middle of those I mentioned, with the exception of the PC port which is on par with the SH HD Collection. My experience on PS5 was definitely a fine one, no major bugs like save data corruption, no crashes, all minor bugs that happened to be audio issues which only occurred in MGS1/2. I like how they used the bluepoint versions of MGS2/3 but it's clear they had just copy and pasted the version here and it's a bit disappointing how MGS1 is just being emulated and not being ran natively, a big issue for the EU versions of the game as the game runs sub 25fps. I don't mind the absence of full HD support for MGS1 as I don't think it looks anything amazing but the fact that MGS2/3 aren't even 1080p is disappointing.
It's still an amazing collection of games though as MGS1-3 are some of the best games to ever come out and the collection itself has cool menus and bonus features, stuff like the original MSX games and even the NES versions and the DGNs were definitely not needed but very cool to be included.
It just gets me worried about how volume 2 will be handled and mainly for MGS4 as that game was hand crafted specifically for the PS3. They had a working version for Xbox 360 which gives me hope but not complete faith as bluepoint won't be working on that version and just in house at Konami.
triforce heroes survivors i am so sorry for you
Chrono Cross had the impossible task of following up Trigger and while not everything about the game is amazing, it's worth seeing through till the end. The game does a lot right, good battle system, fun characters, nice world and an instant favourite OST. It's just got a really weird narrative, it flip flops between wanting to be its own game and also tying into Trigger heavily. Compared to Trigger narratively, this is much more focused around a main story and not character based like Trigger. The game still has good characters but the fact it has 45 playable characters feels wasted, I recruited almost everybody as you could in the initial character and there's only really maybe 5-8 that I could tell you about which is unfortunate because I feel if you just had a centered main cast the game would be a lot more consistent narratively striking a good balance between cast and main story.
Cross is a weird game in all though, it get fairly convoluted towards the end and some game design choices towards the end of the game some people won't probably be a fan of, the ending overall is pretty good in my opinion. The soundtrack is easily my favourite part of the game though, Yasunori Mitsuda became a top 3 VGM composer for me and even if you don't plan on playing the game you should definitely listen to the songs he did on this game.
Cross is a weird game in all though, it get fairly convoluted towards the end and some game design choices towards the end of the game some people won't probably be a fan of, the ending overall is pretty good in my opinion. The soundtrack is easily my favourite part of the game though, Yasunori Mitsuda became a top 3 VGM composer for me and even if you don't plan on playing the game you should definitely listen to the songs he did on this game.