Memes aside a very thrilling horror tale dealing with tons of uncomfortable subject matters and ridiculously funny with its dark humor and unhinged protagonists.
2021
Final Fantasy finally starting to take its shape with the 3rd game.
Overall it's an enjoyable experience, although the last dungeons started to wear me off.
The story is ok, if nothing special. It's nice to have some level of characterization to your party leader and NPCs, but it's still very rudimentary.
Even though the job system is very basic and lacks depth, it does break up the monotony a little, making the game more fun. Also liked the world in FF3 much more compared to the 1st game. It was very nice revelation to see how the map is larger than it initially appeared to be.
Overall it's an enjoyable experience, although the last dungeons started to wear me off.
The story is ok, if nothing special. It's nice to have some level of characterization to your party leader and NPCs, but it's still very rudimentary.
Even though the job system is very basic and lacks depth, it does break up the monotony a little, making the game more fun. Also liked the world in FF3 much more compared to the 1st game. It was very nice revelation to see how the map is larger than it initially appeared to be.
2021
Final Fantasy has always been a series I've wanted to get into as I've never beaten a single one in the series so I figured I'd start all the way from the beginning...
And yeah.. It's interesting to see where it all started, but as a J-RPG and as a video game it's aged terribly. The story, if you can call it one, is just too basic and there's zero character development. You play a silent party of blank cardboard characters.
The combat is incredibly boring, for vast majority of the game I found myself just using auto-battle with "Attack". There's nothing else to it, because the game offers no challenge at all. You get so much money I just stocked my inventory full with potions to keep going. The constant barrage of random enemy encounters only make it more frustrating.
I did kinda like the exploration and figuring out where to go next with the little clues you get from NPCs and key items.
Regardless while it's a very flawed and aged game, it's an important first step they would later improve upon.
And yeah.. It's interesting to see where it all started, but as a J-RPG and as a video game it's aged terribly. The story, if you can call it one, is just too basic and there's zero character development. You play a silent party of blank cardboard characters.
The combat is incredibly boring, for vast majority of the game I found myself just using auto-battle with "Attack". There's nothing else to it, because the game offers no challenge at all. You get so much money I just stocked my inventory full with potions to keep going. The constant barrage of random enemy encounters only make it more frustrating.
I did kinda like the exploration and figuring out where to go next with the little clues you get from NPCs and key items.
Regardless while it's a very flawed and aged game, it's an important first step they would later improve upon.
2004
As a game it's difficult to evaluate Yume Nikki for me, since it's purely exploration of the world and everything in it is largely up to you interpret it how you will. And I don't think it would work any other way. Keeping it abstract, vague and minimal is why it is so good.
There is a loose objective to collect all the effects and unlock the ending, but I don't think it's the ending that makes this game special. Figuring out the history of Madotsuki and the reasons for her reclusive behaviour from the surreal landscapes and events in her dreams are the essential part of the journey. Whether it's from your own theories or engaging with other peoples interpretations.
It's a haunting experience. One that's always persisted on the back of my mind - now for over a decade. Every once in a while popping back to the surface. And I can't speak this way for many other games out there - if any. The 5 star rating is really for the game, the legacy surrounding it and its fandom. Which is easily the greatest on the internet. It's amazing this mysterious indie piece from 2 decades ago has influenced some of the most beloved indie titles today!
Happy 18th anniversary Yume Nikki.
There is a loose objective to collect all the effects and unlock the ending, but I don't think it's the ending that makes this game special. Figuring out the history of Madotsuki and the reasons for her reclusive behaviour from the surreal landscapes and events in her dreams are the essential part of the journey. Whether it's from your own theories or engaging with other peoples interpretations.
It's a haunting experience. One that's always persisted on the back of my mind - now for over a decade. Every once in a while popping back to the surface. And I can't speak this way for many other games out there - if any. The 5 star rating is really for the game, the legacy surrounding it and its fandom. Which is easily the greatest on the internet. It's amazing this mysterious indie piece from 2 decades ago has influenced some of the most beloved indie titles today!
Happy 18th anniversary Yume Nikki.
2021
BD2 is a cutesy looking classic J-RPG with beautiful world design and ugly character models. With also a very classic story in kind of a bad way. I mean you know the drill - restore the 4 magic crystals power, defeat the ancient evil from destroying the world. G-Great...
Luckily the real star of the show is the gameplay - and more specifically the brilliantly executed job system with a ROBUST classic turn based combat to go with it! (With a twist of Brave/Defaulting system that let's you collect more turns into bank by defending on your turn, and spending them up to 3 turns at once)
The jobs system though:
You're able to combine special skills from every job on your characters, and using 2 jobs at once with Main/Sub job design.
This opens possibilities for all sorts of strategies that allows you to exploit enemies weaknesses to the fullest, or even create weaknesses for them yourself that you're able to counter.
Being creative is greatly rewarded in BD2 and defeating challenging boss fights with your own unique strategy is a great experience to have! No need to stick with the boring Tank-DPS-Support-Healer combination.
Getting to this point in the game takes a good while though, but unlocking more jobs as you progress is a good incentive to keep going. Chances are you're also able to break the game completely by the end if you figure out which skills have the best synergy. There is a sick pleasure to be had by defeating the final boss with such ludicrous party the game doesn't even tell you how much damage your final attack did...
I'm really curious to see if this game series keeps on going. It's got much potential. If they ever match the story to the same level as the combat system they've got a hit.
Luckily the real star of the show is the gameplay - and more specifically the brilliantly executed job system with a ROBUST classic turn based combat to go with it! (With a twist of Brave/Defaulting system that let's you collect more turns into bank by defending on your turn, and spending them up to 3 turns at once)
The jobs system though:
You're able to combine special skills from every job on your characters, and using 2 jobs at once with Main/Sub job design.
This opens possibilities for all sorts of strategies that allows you to exploit enemies weaknesses to the fullest, or even create weaknesses for them yourself that you're able to counter.
Being creative is greatly rewarded in BD2 and defeating challenging boss fights with your own unique strategy is a great experience to have! No need to stick with the boring Tank-DPS-Support-Healer combination.
Getting to this point in the game takes a good while though, but unlocking more jobs as you progress is a good incentive to keep going. Chances are you're also able to break the game completely by the end if you figure out which skills have the best synergy. There is a sick pleasure to be had by defeating the final boss with such ludicrous party the game doesn't even tell you how much damage your final attack did...
I'm really curious to see if this game series keeps on going. It's got much potential. If they ever match the story to the same level as the combat system they've got a hit.