naraku4656
80 Reviews liked by naraku4656
This game is nothing short of phenomenal. It became my favourite game of all time before I'd played the original, and having replayed it again since it's almost even more powerful.
I have nothing but pure love for this title. I can't decide if I'm more excited to relive the highs of what's to come or more terrified of having to relive the lows.
Even as I write this I'm listening to the soundtrack play over the credits, watching a compilation of scenes from the game and I just feel... lucky. It feels so silly to say but holy shit man. I'm speechless.
Video Games are far and away the best form of digital media when it comes to immersive world-building and getting us to care for the characters in the story. I only hope everyone can find a game they adore as much as I do this one.
I have nothing but pure love for this title. I can't decide if I'm more excited to relive the highs of what's to come or more terrified of having to relive the lows.
Even as I write this I'm listening to the soundtrack play over the credits, watching a compilation of scenes from the game and I just feel... lucky. It feels so silly to say but holy shit man. I'm speechless.
Video Games are far and away the best form of digital media when it comes to immersive world-building and getting us to care for the characters in the story. I only hope everyone can find a game they adore as much as I do this one.
Im pretty sure if I wanted to, I could cum to the battle music
Marianne Fire Emblem
Dragon Quest
2004
Hot off the hype of Dragon Quest XI, I figured I'd dive into the earlier games in the series and see where it all began.
Naturally, it's not quite on the same level as XI, but this game holds up surprisingly well if I'm being honest. It's very much a classic JRPG, the map is fairly small and there are maybe 10 enemy types with varying colours but little more. The whole game can be completed using only the D-Pad and A button, but that's to be expected of an NES game.
The combat, like everything else, is incredibly simple. For a time you're best off putting enemies to sleep or stopping them from casting spells, but other than that a standard attack and heal when needed are all you really need.
I'd definitely recommend finding a map online that labels the locations to get an idea of where to go and in what order, I even referred to a level-by-level "guide" as a way of checking if I was ready for a certain enemy or location just yet because - and this is likely the most off-putting aspect of this title - the game forces you to grind.
I joked to my girlfriend early on about this being a 1 hour game with 7 hours of forced grinding, and honestly that's not entirely inaccurate. You can travel to almost anywhere on the map from the very start, but you won't stand a chance in most places unless you've done a bunch of encounters in a lower-level one to buff your stats and save money for better equipment. That very much is the game.
For that reason, this was best experienced (by me) as something to do on the side while working or cooking, just run a few circles and bop a few enemies while attending to something else, worked a charm and made for a nice easy completion for the month :)
The story is just enough to allow the game to exist, the world isn't very "alive" like I praised XI for, nor the characters, but for the first instalment of the franchise there's still enough charm here to keep it enjoyable rather than just tedious.
In conclusion, Dragon Quest is not a phenomenal game, but it doesn't have to be either, well worth trying for the low price. It served me well as a distraction from work and to tide me over while I desperately wait for news on XII...
Speaking of, onto Dragon Quest II :)
Naturally, it's not quite on the same level as XI, but this game holds up surprisingly well if I'm being honest. It's very much a classic JRPG, the map is fairly small and there are maybe 10 enemy types with varying colours but little more. The whole game can be completed using only the D-Pad and A button, but that's to be expected of an NES game.
The combat, like everything else, is incredibly simple. For a time you're best off putting enemies to sleep or stopping them from casting spells, but other than that a standard attack and heal when needed are all you really need.
I'd definitely recommend finding a map online that labels the locations to get an idea of where to go and in what order, I even referred to a level-by-level "guide" as a way of checking if I was ready for a certain enemy or location just yet because - and this is likely the most off-putting aspect of this title - the game forces you to grind.
I joked to my girlfriend early on about this being a 1 hour game with 7 hours of forced grinding, and honestly that's not entirely inaccurate. You can travel to almost anywhere on the map from the very start, but you won't stand a chance in most places unless you've done a bunch of encounters in a lower-level one to buff your stats and save money for better equipment. That very much is the game.
For that reason, this was best experienced (by me) as something to do on the side while working or cooking, just run a few circles and bop a few enemies while attending to something else, worked a charm and made for a nice easy completion for the month :)
The story is just enough to allow the game to exist, the world isn't very "alive" like I praised XI for, nor the characters, but for the first instalment of the franchise there's still enough charm here to keep it enjoyable rather than just tedious.
In conclusion, Dragon Quest is not a phenomenal game, but it doesn't have to be either, well worth trying for the low price. It served me well as a distraction from work and to tide me over while I desperately wait for news on XII...
Speaking of, onto Dragon Quest II :)
The first 60% of the game is excellent, challenging dungeon crawling and combat with an interesting story and cast. Then it falls off hard, the end of the game is a tedious slog.
I feel they had too many dungeons at the end that don't contribute much to the story. In my opinion Atlus went way overboard with the dungeon design in the second half; hidden doors, dark rooms, moving floors, teleporter mazes and invisible paths all over the place. A lot of these things turn the dungeons into pure trial and error and crossed the line from fun to frustrating to me that I just wanted to end.
A few of the bosses are really bad. Spamming status ailments and healing each turn are not fun to fight. Also this game has the highest difficulty spike for the final boss I've ever seen, then in redux they added a new final boss which is somehow an even higher difficulty spike. The first half carries my rating hard for this game.
I feel they had too many dungeons at the end that don't contribute much to the story. In my opinion Atlus went way overboard with the dungeon design in the second half; hidden doors, dark rooms, moving floors, teleporter mazes and invisible paths all over the place. A lot of these things turn the dungeons into pure trial and error and crossed the line from fun to frustrating to me that I just wanted to end.
A few of the bosses are really bad. Spamming status ailments and healing each turn are not fun to fight. Also this game has the highest difficulty spike for the final boss I've ever seen, then in redux they added a new final boss which is somehow an even higher difficulty spike. The first half carries my rating hard for this game.
I was a little conflicted on what to rate this honestly. Despite my girlfriend's advice I decided to play on Veteran difficulty for my first run (well.. first since I played the original way back on release) and uh, well the difficulty definitely loses more points for this than anything else.
The enemies on recruit come armed with BB guns and no spacial awareness, the enemies on veteran? Oh they come with about 400 frag grenades each and what I can only assume is bulletproof skin. I lost count of how many times I got stuck replaying one checkpoint over and over because they wouldn't go down or stop coming, or I'd be boxed in by so many grenades they might as well have been using clusters. Is this bad level design? Sometimes, absolutely. Is that how the game is intended to be experienced? Hell no.
In the end, trying to set aside all the difficulty bullshit, the levels that are just hallways of enemies, fields with more soldiers than blades of grass, there's really no denying that CoD4 was a huge deal for Call of Duty, and probably for FPS games as a whole.
I feel like everyone in their teens/20s when this came out played it, and for good reason. Hell I have the memory of a dead fish and even I was getting to levels and being hit with nostalgia from the hours I spent getting my ass handed to me on them back in the day. It simply wouldn't be fair to discredit that because I decided to play it on "too hard", right?
Nostalgia aside, this entry has some of the most memorable characters in the franchise, and for better or worse, the most memorable missions as well. All Ghillied Up is one of the very few levels I remember from games of the years this first released, and I can still recall the excitement that I and many others had when first experiencing it. An assassination mission, covert, just you and the charming Cap'n MacMillan in fucking Chernobyl. There is no way to forget that mission really. (Even if One Shot One Kill has the most bullshit finale in FPS history on veteran .-.)
In conclusion, I think this is definitely a solid entry in the CoD franchise, and an enjoyable FPS game overall. It's worth noting that while they share a score I would consider this to be a low 4/5, but the 2019 Remake a high 4/5. (Like 4.0 vs 4.4 honestly lmao)
That's all from me, I may come back for the last couple trophies but I don't think the speedrun Training Course is something I am capable of so the platinum is highly unlikely. Watch this space I guess
(Oh and P.S. Mile High Club on Veteran is dogshit use the exploit unless you're a prodigy)
The enemies on recruit come armed with BB guns and no spacial awareness, the enemies on veteran? Oh they come with about 400 frag grenades each and what I can only assume is bulletproof skin. I lost count of how many times I got stuck replaying one checkpoint over and over because they wouldn't go down or stop coming, or I'd be boxed in by so many grenades they might as well have been using clusters. Is this bad level design? Sometimes, absolutely. Is that how the game is intended to be experienced? Hell no.
In the end, trying to set aside all the difficulty bullshit, the levels that are just hallways of enemies, fields with more soldiers than blades of grass, there's really no denying that CoD4 was a huge deal for Call of Duty, and probably for FPS games as a whole.
I feel like everyone in their teens/20s when this came out played it, and for good reason. Hell I have the memory of a dead fish and even I was getting to levels and being hit with nostalgia from the hours I spent getting my ass handed to me on them back in the day. It simply wouldn't be fair to discredit that because I decided to play it on "too hard", right?
Nostalgia aside, this entry has some of the most memorable characters in the franchise, and for better or worse, the most memorable missions as well. All Ghillied Up is one of the very few levels I remember from games of the years this first released, and I can still recall the excitement that I and many others had when first experiencing it. An assassination mission, covert, just you and the charming Cap'n MacMillan in fucking Chernobyl. There is no way to forget that mission really. (Even if One Shot One Kill has the most bullshit finale in FPS history on veteran .-.)
In conclusion, I think this is definitely a solid entry in the CoD franchise, and an enjoyable FPS game overall. It's worth noting that while they share a score I would consider this to be a low 4/5, but the 2019 Remake a high 4/5. (Like 4.0 vs 4.4 honestly lmao)
That's all from me, I may come back for the last couple trophies but I don't think the speedrun Training Course is something I am capable of so the platinum is highly unlikely. Watch this space I guess
(Oh and P.S. Mile High Club on Veteran is dogshit use the exploit unless you're a prodigy)
Recently I've been trying to raise my overall completion percentage and have been trying to get the rest of the trophies in games I never got far in. For some reason I decided I wanted to play a shitty game, so I chose this one. I wanted to play something bad and be able to say hey look, I did it. And goddamnit did I do it, platinum and all.
This game is like, twilight for forty year old men. Does your dad have a lot of tattoos and wear shirts that say "Don't Tread on Me" or "Facts Don't Care About Your Feelings"? He'd probably like this game.
Originally I couldn't even beat the first level before abandoning it. I gave it a half star, did a quick rant and called it a day but now am I so glad I finished it because everything about this game was unintentionally hilarious. It tries to take itself so seriously, there is not a single hint of irony or self awareness. This game thinks its cool as fuck, as evident by the ridiculous title - and that is the only saving grace.
Make no mistake, this game doesnt get the honor of "so bad its good" Its just bad. But it is the laughable-ness that will keep you sane through the 8-12 hour runtime. So many parts of this game are silly that at one point I told my boyfriend I was worried that there was so much I'd forget some of it for this review, and honestly thats probably true.
Firstly the character models are all pretty ugly. Most of them look like stock assets. All the characters suck too. The main character, Cahal, looks like discount Captain Price and has about as much substance as an empty jar of peanut butter. None of the characters are really all that likeable or memorable, the only one i thought was cool is just because he has an eyepatch, and the only one I kind of liked is just killed randomly offscreen. The story itself is also pretty pisspoor, and I tuned out for nearly the entirety of it. Tries to throw in some weird dialogue choices like the game actually earns to share a similarity to Mass Effect. None of these choices matter until at the end where you can chose between two endings, but both are bad. The game tries to be emotional at a few parts but the acting makes it funny and its not like you care about whats happening to begin with.
The animations, particularly for takedowns are also very goofy. Outside locations have visual variety but nearly every single indoor combat/stealth section looks almost identical. You will see the exact same assets over and over again.
That leads me to the gameplay itself. There are a few hub world areas where your main groups camp is literally within a mornings stroll away from enemy bases and military strongholds. Its not like you're in hiding either, it is explicitly shown the enemies know that you're right next to them. Its just incredibly silly and the game would of worked better if it kept to being linear. Theres not much to do in these areas either, except for a few collectibles and sidequests. These collectibles come in two types: notes and "spirits". The notes Im being honest I didnt read a single one I couldnt be bothered to give a fuck about the game. Maybe they gave more about the lore but the game doesnt even bother to explain itself outside of it so I couldnt be bothered either. The spirits are things you can only see in your enhanced vision™ that every third person game has. Theyre basically like magical plants that Cahal just stands there and sniffs for experience. Yeah, its funny. The sidequests are all just busy work with objectives similar to what you do in the base game already. These are completely pointless, and all they serve to do is give you more experience. If you dont plan to platinum this (which frankly having a sub 1% platinum is the only reason you should play this) then you can skip them and nothing of value is lost. This experience is used to upgrade your skill tree. Mostly to give yourself more combat abilities, with some being tactical. These are all fine, I guess. Maybe about half the abilities are actually useful, and you can get to one of the ultimate ones incredibly quickly anyways.
Now there is the combat itself. Most sections allow you to do stealth. The stealth is bad. The areas are poorly designed, mechanics are only introduced in the first few missions and just continue through the rest of the game. Plus it creates a very big disconnect, if you cause a huge ruckus and get reinforcements called on you in one area, the next area wont have enemies on alert anyways. You have a crossbow that you can upgrade to allow you to shoot cameras and turrets to disable them, but the aiming on that is terrible. Also a lot of levels towards the end have big enemies guarding exits that can neither be taken down or killed in a timely manner with the crossbow, making stealth basically useless. Which is okay, because most of the time you're just gonna opt for the actual combat because its a lot more fun.
In all honesty its the only good thing about the game, but even then its not great. Its basic hack and slash stuff, you'll get some new moves from the skill tree but nothing will make you change up your gameplay. Theres a few different enemy types but you can fight them all basically the same. There is no incentive, not even cool combos, to do anything other than spam your moves until you win. Id say at least visually it looks nice but... not really. Outside of one boss the enemy designs are all pretty meh. There is a lot of blood but absolutely zero gore which is another thing that makes this game so hard to take seriously despite its desperate attempts. It especially makes the executions look terrible. and the enemies dont even get bloodied themselves. The game isnt particularly hard either, but it does get kinda bullshit as you go on, lots of battles just go on way too long with so many enemies and its really more annoying than anything.
The combat is passable for the most part, but by the end you're gonna wanna opt for the terrible stealth instead so you dont have to sit through another shitty battle. Except you cant. Because remember? Big enemy boy is camping the exit.
This has no effect on the quality of the game itself, but I feel like it has to be mentioned. The trophy list despite the low percentages is really easy. Just nobody wants to get far in this game. I however only gave this a second chance because of trophies, and am still a bit shocked at me actually going through with this. The game does have a lot of miscellanious trophies which I do like, but they are so incredibly easy that by the end of the second mission I had every single one of them besides one for an enemy that hadnt been introduced yet. Theres a silver trophy for killing 250 enemies that I got in the first level. Theres also a few times where you will get two story trophies at the exact same time, for just doing one thing. Theres also one for getting every single spirit. There is no way to track them or even chapter select so if you miss one you'll have to play the entire game a second time and I hope nobody puts themself through that. You also get one for each ending choice. You can continue from your completed save but it just puts you after you made the choice anyways, which is a bruh moment, Thankfully you can just restart the mission. Like I said it doesnt really matter, and going for trophies helped me get through it, its just a bit hilarious how poorly they were all thought out and is kind of an example of how the rest of the game is.
So thats Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Earthblood. If I did have one positive, its that I like the metal song on the title screen. Other than that I hope Ive demonstrated how much of a mess this game is, and I didnt even cover everything. This game is far from the worst I've played, but its definitely one of the worst I've beat. Thanks for reading <3
God I hope theres a sequel. And I hope its not much better.
Trophy Completion - 100% (Platinum #213)
Time Played: 12 hours 21 minutes
Nancymeter - 36/100
Game Completion #115 of 2022
September Completion #5
This game is like, twilight for forty year old men. Does your dad have a lot of tattoos and wear shirts that say "Don't Tread on Me" or "Facts Don't Care About Your Feelings"? He'd probably like this game.
Originally I couldn't even beat the first level before abandoning it. I gave it a half star, did a quick rant and called it a day but now am I so glad I finished it because everything about this game was unintentionally hilarious. It tries to take itself so seriously, there is not a single hint of irony or self awareness. This game thinks its cool as fuck, as evident by the ridiculous title - and that is the only saving grace.
Make no mistake, this game doesnt get the honor of "so bad its good" Its just bad. But it is the laughable-ness that will keep you sane through the 8-12 hour runtime. So many parts of this game are silly that at one point I told my boyfriend I was worried that there was so much I'd forget some of it for this review, and honestly thats probably true.
Firstly the character models are all pretty ugly. Most of them look like stock assets. All the characters suck too. The main character, Cahal, looks like discount Captain Price and has about as much substance as an empty jar of peanut butter. None of the characters are really all that likeable or memorable, the only one i thought was cool is just because he has an eyepatch, and the only one I kind of liked is just killed randomly offscreen. The story itself is also pretty pisspoor, and I tuned out for nearly the entirety of it. Tries to throw in some weird dialogue choices like the game actually earns to share a similarity to Mass Effect. None of these choices matter until at the end where you can chose between two endings, but both are bad. The game tries to be emotional at a few parts but the acting makes it funny and its not like you care about whats happening to begin with.
The animations, particularly for takedowns are also very goofy. Outside locations have visual variety but nearly every single indoor combat/stealth section looks almost identical. You will see the exact same assets over and over again.
That leads me to the gameplay itself. There are a few hub world areas where your main groups camp is literally within a mornings stroll away from enemy bases and military strongholds. Its not like you're in hiding either, it is explicitly shown the enemies know that you're right next to them. Its just incredibly silly and the game would of worked better if it kept to being linear. Theres not much to do in these areas either, except for a few collectibles and sidequests. These collectibles come in two types: notes and "spirits". The notes Im being honest I didnt read a single one I couldnt be bothered to give a fuck about the game. Maybe they gave more about the lore but the game doesnt even bother to explain itself outside of it so I couldnt be bothered either. The spirits are things you can only see in your enhanced vision™ that every third person game has. Theyre basically like magical plants that Cahal just stands there and sniffs for experience. Yeah, its funny. The sidequests are all just busy work with objectives similar to what you do in the base game already. These are completely pointless, and all they serve to do is give you more experience. If you dont plan to platinum this (which frankly having a sub 1% platinum is the only reason you should play this) then you can skip them and nothing of value is lost. This experience is used to upgrade your skill tree. Mostly to give yourself more combat abilities, with some being tactical. These are all fine, I guess. Maybe about half the abilities are actually useful, and you can get to one of the ultimate ones incredibly quickly anyways.
Now there is the combat itself. Most sections allow you to do stealth. The stealth is bad. The areas are poorly designed, mechanics are only introduced in the first few missions and just continue through the rest of the game. Plus it creates a very big disconnect, if you cause a huge ruckus and get reinforcements called on you in one area, the next area wont have enemies on alert anyways. You have a crossbow that you can upgrade to allow you to shoot cameras and turrets to disable them, but the aiming on that is terrible. Also a lot of levels towards the end have big enemies guarding exits that can neither be taken down or killed in a timely manner with the crossbow, making stealth basically useless. Which is okay, because most of the time you're just gonna opt for the actual combat because its a lot more fun.
In all honesty its the only good thing about the game, but even then its not great. Its basic hack and slash stuff, you'll get some new moves from the skill tree but nothing will make you change up your gameplay. Theres a few different enemy types but you can fight them all basically the same. There is no incentive, not even cool combos, to do anything other than spam your moves until you win. Id say at least visually it looks nice but... not really. Outside of one boss the enemy designs are all pretty meh. There is a lot of blood but absolutely zero gore which is another thing that makes this game so hard to take seriously despite its desperate attempts. It especially makes the executions look terrible. and the enemies dont even get bloodied themselves. The game isnt particularly hard either, but it does get kinda bullshit as you go on, lots of battles just go on way too long with so many enemies and its really more annoying than anything.
The combat is passable for the most part, but by the end you're gonna wanna opt for the terrible stealth instead so you dont have to sit through another shitty battle. Except you cant. Because remember? Big enemy boy is camping the exit.
This has no effect on the quality of the game itself, but I feel like it has to be mentioned. The trophy list despite the low percentages is really easy. Just nobody wants to get far in this game. I however only gave this a second chance because of trophies, and am still a bit shocked at me actually going through with this. The game does have a lot of miscellanious trophies which I do like, but they are so incredibly easy that by the end of the second mission I had every single one of them besides one for an enemy that hadnt been introduced yet. Theres a silver trophy for killing 250 enemies that I got in the first level. Theres also a few times where you will get two story trophies at the exact same time, for just doing one thing. Theres also one for getting every single spirit. There is no way to track them or even chapter select so if you miss one you'll have to play the entire game a second time and I hope nobody puts themself through that. You also get one for each ending choice. You can continue from your completed save but it just puts you after you made the choice anyways, which is a bruh moment, Thankfully you can just restart the mission. Like I said it doesnt really matter, and going for trophies helped me get through it, its just a bit hilarious how poorly they were all thought out and is kind of an example of how the rest of the game is.
So thats Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Earthblood. If I did have one positive, its that I like the metal song on the title screen. Other than that I hope Ive demonstrated how much of a mess this game is, and I didnt even cover everything. This game is far from the worst I've played, but its definitely one of the worst I've beat. Thanks for reading <3
God I hope theres a sequel. And I hope its not much better.
Trophy Completion - 100% (Platinum #213)
Time Played: 12 hours 21 minutes
Nancymeter - 36/100
Game Completion #115 of 2022
September Completion #5
A Memoir Blue
2022
First off I just want to say I love the water theme/setting to this. The underwater city is awesome especially with neon signs - Memoir Blue is the best thing like this since Shark Tale. I wholeheartedly enjoy the surrealness to it. The strand-type genre is over I want more games like this that make you feel like you're playing an aquarium storybook.
It also has some pretty music! It doesnt play much but Its very soothing when it is there. The gameplay is pretty standard for these types of games, but I didnt mind it and thought it worked quite well in some instances. The game is also quite short, but short games are my thing and short works better for this genre. Unfortunately this game feels too short and doesnt leave you much time to get invested with the characters or the plot much. The plot itself is good I think, and it tells an emotional story. The problem is that its just not super engaging.
Reading interviews from the creator of this game: it's clearly a passion project with a very personal message. The game just doesnt really do anything new or impressive to make the story resonate. Beyond the awesome visuals the game just feels a bit generic. Indie games have grown so much and these days need a bit more to excite, otherwise ones like this will just end up feeling like the Call of Duty's or Pokemon's of the genre. There is a lot of promise from this team though, and for their first game I think its a good foot in the door.
Trophy Completion - 100% (Platinum #212)
Time Played: 1 hours 28 minutes
Nancymeter - 60/100
Game Completion #111 of 2022
September Completion #1
It also has some pretty music! It doesnt play much but Its very soothing when it is there. The gameplay is pretty standard for these types of games, but I didnt mind it and thought it worked quite well in some instances. The game is also quite short, but short games are my thing and short works better for this genre. Unfortunately this game feels too short and doesnt leave you much time to get invested with the characters or the plot much. The plot itself is good I think, and it tells an emotional story. The problem is that its just not super engaging.
Reading interviews from the creator of this game: it's clearly a passion project with a very personal message. The game just doesnt really do anything new or impressive to make the story resonate. Beyond the awesome visuals the game just feels a bit generic. Indie games have grown so much and these days need a bit more to excite, otherwise ones like this will just end up feeling like the Call of Duty's or Pokemon's of the genre. There is a lot of promise from this team though, and for their first game I think its a good foot in the door.
Trophy Completion - 100% (Platinum #212)
Time Played: 1 hours 28 minutes
Nancymeter - 60/100
Game Completion #111 of 2022
September Completion #1
Dragon Quest XI is a phenomenal game. It stands firm as one of the greatest JRPGs I’ve personally ever experienced, and I expect is among the greatest titles within the genre of all time.
I have a lot to say about this title so for those of you who may not want to read 158 hours’ worth of thoughts, I’ll summarise it briefly here: The gameplay, polish and presentation of Dragon Quest XI is off the charts. Everything works and looks exactly as it should, there are basically no instances where you’ll find yourself against impossible odds or hit a wall of “bullshit”, it just works. It’s also incredibly accessible to players of all preferences and skill-levels, this game was made to be enjoyed by anyone and in my honest opinion, it succeeds. So, let’s get into it a little deeper.
It's worth mentioning that I will not be discussing major spoilers in this review, however if you’re familiar with JRPG or anime tropes/cliches there will be allusions to those which may reveal some minor or incredibly “standard”/expected beats.
Starting off with the first and perhaps most important thing the DQ XI experience offers:
ACCESSIBILTY.
Dragon Quest XI does not come with traditional difficulty options, much like the majority of more classic JRPGs. What it does do, however, is give players several ways to make it easier or harder to fit their own preference. The biggest of these are the “Draconian Quest” options presented upon starting a new game, a list of settings that you can decide before playing if you’d prefer to enable or disable. These include certain challenge modes like No Shopping or No Armour, Reduced Experience, Shypox – a randomly triggered status ailment that embarrasses you/your allies -, and my personal favourite: “Party Wiped Out if Protagonist Perishes”
That’s right. You can disable one of the most frustrating and often merciless features of classic JRPGs. Thank the Gods.
The caveat with these modifiers is that if you disable all of them then you can’t adjust them once you’re in the game, however I believe that anything you enable can be later disabled via a save point without consequence.
This isn’t the only way that DQ XI makes itself more accessible to suit your play style though, oh no. One of the most impressive features of this title is one that honestly didn’t really hit me fully until I’d tried it myself: 2D Mode. The entire game, start to finish, can be played in either a modern 3D style, complete with interactive combat where you can move around the battlefield and watch gorgeous attack animations, or a classic 2D mode, returning to the use of flashing sprites and screen shakes instead. Both modes have redesigned locations to accommodate the dimensions available in each, and my favourite difference between the two: random encounters - or more importantly – lack thereof.
If you prefer the old school 2D sprite-based, synthesised, random-encounter-ridden experience of old JRPGs, you can have that. If you’d rather see the world in beautiful 3D, run around the overworld yourself and be able to actively avoid enemies roaming the lands, you can have that too! The entire. Fecking. Game. Honestly who does that?! Square went above and beyond making the whole game twice just to make sure EVERYONE could enjoy it, it’s absurd and I cannot respect this decision enough.
You can switch between 2D and 3D mode at any time, and if your save file in 3D mode is further along than in 2D, you can select which chapter of the game to pick up from in 2D and just keep going, meaning there is (once again) no consequence for playing around and trying both out. [I’m not certain if the same applies going from 2D to 3D but I would expect so?]
Believe it or not, I’m not done. I mentioned the Draconian Quest difficulty modifiers earlier, and how they can be used to adjust the difficulty of the game from the start/at any time if enabled. But another, more subtle, thing that DQ XI does to ensure no-one gets left behind is giving the player freedom for 99%, if not all, of the game. Let me explain.
I’m sure we’ve all hit walls in games where we get stuck, the boss is simply too hard, our party are under-levelled, poorly equipped, we weren’t prepared to face a challenge and our last save was x amount of time ago. With no other choice, we’re forced to lose progress to train harder and make push any further. This will not happen in Dragon Quest XI, I can guarantee it. You may find a boss you can’t beat, absolutely (although in all honesty this will most likely only be late into Act III when the difficulty is amped up and more things become optional than not,) but you will never be in a position where you can’t just load to right before the fight, go away and prepare to return stronger.
At one point in Act II, there is a part where you need to defend an area from a large-scale attack. “Oh shit.” I thought, “This is where I may well meet my first roadblock. I hope I saved recently just in case I’m too weak for this.” – Arriving at the front line, I saw an NPC with a marker on the mini-map, speaking to him, well it made me laugh honestly. He essentially told me “If the enemies prove too strong, try going into that cave there and honing your skills while we hold them off” … I’m sorry, what? The front lines of this story-locked battle offer a save point and a dungeon specifically to grind in? Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if I was able to rest/heal and go back to the nearest store as well, I couldn’t believe it.
This game was made so that it can be played by everyone. And it absolutely can. I would confidently say that the only thing less-experienced players might struggle with is the final-final boss (and the optional post-game bosses ofc, but assuming they’re not here for those anyway), but the final boss of the game can be significantly weakened in 1 turn using a trick that the game teaches you, urges you to do and makes it impossible to miss, so even that battle I’d wager you can manage.
Just to finish up, the game also has settings to adjust the battle speed, whether the score is symphonic or synthetic, the DQ VIII OST is available as well and every single thing I’ve mentioned here can be adjusted at any time, without consequence. (Besides enabling the Draconian Quest modifiers if they’re all disabled at the start)
With all that said, let’s talk about the game itself:
WHAT IS DRAGON QUEST XI S: ECHOES OF AN ELUSIVE AGE?
Dragon Quest XI – as I’m sure you know by now – is a grand open world JRPG adventure, following our Hero in his journey from the small town of Cobblestone as he learns of and fulfils his destiny as the Luminary of Legend. It’s a tale as old as time, and the heads up I gave at the start about common tropes is because, at its very core, the A-plot of the game is somewhat… generic. But with a world this rich of diverse locations, captivating characters and a plethora of really good B-plots and mini-arcs, the main story doesn’t need to be anything else. It’s a vessel. It’s what drives us on our way through the game and provides us all the experiences along the way. That’s not to say that the A-plot doesn’t have its own surprises, some of the biggest story beats left me utterly bewildered. But if you were to summarise it to its most basic form; it’s good guy goes to stop bad guy, init.
So what sets it apart from every other JRPG with this cliché, “fabled hero” premise?
THE PACING.
The pacing of this game, particularly in Act I, is superb. Everything that happens does so at a reasonable scale, every new development that sounds like it may drag proves that expectation wrong, I can’t think of a single moment in Act I where a setting or arc overstayed its welcome. Now this doesn’t mean that it’s rushed either. There are absolutely a couple parts where the task at hand feels like it should have taken longer than it does, or where something that’s needed is just conveniently discovered, but honestly in a game that runs most players around 100 hours or more I really struggle to criticise there being a handful of these moments across all 3 Acts. There are times in Act II or III where an arc or dungeon runs on a little longer than it maybe should, but with these the option to run by enemies and get through them more quickly is available to you anyway (in 3D) so again this is more a comment than a complaint.
THE COMBAT.
The combat system in DQ XI, while simple, is one of the most fun systems I’ve played in a standard turn-based RPG to date. It’s hard to put into words why exactly it feels so good, but the things I think that warrant the most attention are the control you have over the party and just how dynamic everything is (again, in 3D. 2D battles lose a lot of this flare and in my opinion are vastly inferior – but for those who long for the days of old, have at it!) The combat in DQ XI see the party and enemies facing off in a battlefield fitting to the location it was initiated, a ring surrounding them on the ground within which the controlled member can move freely or exit the ring to attempt an escape.
The party can be controlled using either by direct commands or via ‘tactics’, anyone familiar with turn-based combat is surely familiar with these, and the behaviour of any member on the team can be set to anything from the list independently – including the Hero. When playing in 3D, the turns are visually demonstrated in real-time, in that if your party attacks 1 thru 4, you will select and perform the action for each member in that order. If the turn order is Hero > Enemy > Party Member 3 > PM 2 > Enemy > PM 4, you will select the action for each party member on their turn, making it possible to react to the battle as it happens.
(In 2D mode, the actions are all selected at the start of the round, and play out as selected using the turn order, which is obviously harder as it removes this reactive option)
Each party member comes with a variety of skills enabling them to perform actions and wield different weapons to suit, and the beauty of this is that all your equipment can be changed mid-battle on that person’s turn without consequence. Went into a tough fight without a shield? Pop that on as soon as it’s your turn and it won’t cost you a damn thing. Accessibility once again, you can adjust your party on the fly in real time – want to equip a greatsword to use a certain ability and then swap back to a shield while you buff – you can do that!
The combat, like everything else in this game, gives you the tools to play the game the way that you want to. And guess what, those skill points you spent to unlock abilities and strengthen certain branches in an ally’s skill tree? Yeah, you can reset those at any time for so cheap you won’t even notice. Spent 20 levels kitting out Hero as a sword & shield guy but just found a super strong greatsword – refund those skills and get the greatsword branch of the tree filled out, son! This was so useful in helping me adjust my playstyle to certain areas or enemies, or even just to mix up my playstyle and try new things. I’m telling you man the game is for everyone, make it yours.
I would be remiss to discuss the combat without touching on the Pep Powers at least a little. I’ve mentioned briefly how dynamic the combat is in 3D, every attack has an appropriate animation, the characters leap toward the enemy before swinging and leap back after if you’re standing further away, this offers no tactical advantage, but it looks good y’know? It’s so much more engaging than the 2D alternative where you see a flash or a flutter of sparkles across the screen and the enemy sprites flicker. Pep Powers take this to another level, basically being super-moves that can be used when a party member becomes “pepped up”, a status effect that buffs their stats and unlocks said skills. This effect is typically unlocked when taking damage and is most easily acquired by just blocking for a few rounds and tanking a couple blows at reduced damage.
The Pep Powers themselves function similarly to things in other games, the Showtime! Events in Persona 5 Royal for example, or All Out Attacks from the same franchise. They use 2, 3 or 4 members of the party to come together and perform something spectacular. There are LOADS of these skills, bespoke to different characters and combinations of such. Some require only the user to be pepped up while others require all participants to be, it’s insane how much variety there is. Some of them utilise unlocked skills to put enemies to sleep before whacking them, others form great shields around the party, turn a member to steel before launching them at the enemy like a cannonball (and most importantly for those of you hoping to grind levels) massively boost the exp gained from a battle and change the enemies into metal slimes, the rarest monster that reward insane exp even without the previous boost. These all look superb and there are so many I doubt I’ve even seen half of them. In short, the combat just feels amazing and even after 158 hours I could happily spend another 100 fighting with this system. That said, fighting isn’t the only thing you’ll be doing, maybe you’d prefer to get lost in the world and spend more of your time exploring, so how’s that?
THE WORLD.
The world of Dragon Quest XI is just that, a World. In layman’s terms: it’s fucking massive. To put it more poetically: it succeeds in broadening your horizons consistently for the first 2 acts without at any point feeling overwhelming. You start out in a small village, what I like to dub Tutorial Town, it has just enough to teach you the ropes and familiarise you with the game/backstory without overstaying it’s welcome. The first stretch of your journey is to venture out to a major city, a huge deal for you and those around you at the time. The fact you receive a horse to journey on is a ‘wow moment’ for young Hero, horses aren’t needed to get around in Tutorial Village, just how big is the rest of the world? A horse is not the only means of transport you will acquire throughout this game. I wasn’t expecting any of what I got, and each time new places opened up to me I felt a similar sense of awe as in those early moments. “I can go where!?” In hindsight my JRPG knowledge should have prepared me for this, but that’s just how immersed I became in my travels. Hero is – unfortunately – a silent protagonist, but the game often makes up for this by succeeding in making you, the player, fill his shoes. More on this later.
Every new location you explore in Dragon Quest XI feels different to the last. Every town or city has a unique design and architecture, inspired by places in our own world and beautifully crafted and populated just enough to feel alive. There are stalls being tended, children playing hide and seek, men standing on piers contemplating their wasted potential. You’re there, man. You’re in Erdrea, it’s hard not to take it all in. Excitedly searching every house for chests, “reading” the books dotted around to unlock new recipes, searching wardrobes for items or mysterious Mini Medals, what are they for and why do they seem to be locked in so many bedrooms? You’ll find out. Dragon Quest does a fantastic job of creating a world in which the story is occurring, as opposed to creating a world to accommodate the story. The locations are all significant and have their own arcs, but they don’t feel as though they are only there so that the plot can happen, rather the plot is happening around/to them. All this talk of plot and arcs brings me nicely to the next important topic.
THE STORY.
I mentioned earlier that the A-plot in this game, when boiled to bare bones, is somewhat generic. And it is. But the story told throughout, and the smaller stories encountered along the way are what really keep this game interesting (besides the characters of course, but we’ll get to that.)
Every location across Erdrea has its own conflict, each acting as an arc that must be completed before it is possible to proceed to the next. While not all stellar, they all do exactly what they need to in terms of introducing new characters or allies and establishing the “vibe” of the new area and its enemies. The majority of them have ties to party members, giving them a more personal feel, and even those that don’t are able to tell deeply personal stories of characters we barely know and that have no relation to the A-plot, resulting in every step of this long journey feeling fresh and worth caring about. I won’t go into too much detail on this for obvious reasons, but some examples include a prince who has been faking his capabilities, a village using a mural to attract tourists that has a dark turn, and an openly (albeit it isn’t explicitly stated) gay man returning to his hometown and facing someone from his childhood, whom he has been avoiding due to his sexuality. Like I said, this world is real, and so are the people in it.
THE CHARACTERS.
You can’t have a great game without great characters. If a game expects you to spend dozens of hours with its cast, then it’s only fair that you expect said cast to be enjoyable to be around. Given that Dragon Quest follows a typical party structure, how exactly does it make that interesting? Well.
The stand-out in the cast by far is Sylvando, who takes the role of Performer. This court jester-esque circus veteran has enough charm and personality for the whole group. He’s flamboyant, he’s talented, strong, emotional, empathetic, funny and his sense of justice is admirable to say the least. DQ XI would not be the same without him and he’s got two – yes, two - of the most interesting arcs within the game, each wildly different from the other. (Also him being gay isn’t played for laughs and he’s well respected. He is not a caricature.)
The rest of the cast are similarly unique with their own personalities shining through in all the right ways. Veronica is my personal favourite, a bratty know-it-all who’s got more sass than 2B has ass and will make sure everyone you meet knows it. The others vary between being a little close to cliché and really interesting, if only for certain arcs, but I won’t get into those because a lot of what makes these people who they are is related to their arcs and stories. There it is again, right? The characters are real, they’re made of their experiences with the world.
And it doesn’t stop there either, every city or town has its named side characters, even side quests can pump a heavy dose of personality and backstory into a random nobody who just wants you to help them find their son or fix their marriage. There is even a whole-ass town where everyone talks in haiku for…some reason. There are inns being run by kids while their parents are sick, why? I don’t know but I remember it don’t I? It’s the little things.
The characters – bar those who serve only to populate the towns of course – are all, people… Except for Hero, sadly. Almost every step this game suffers from the usual “another party member has announced what to do” or has someone look at you and say “Hm? You’re thinking of doing this, aren’t you?” … Hero works as a great self-insert for the exploration elements of this game, but this whole silent protagonist thing is dated. It’s not the end of the world, I wouldn’t say that it ruins anything per se, but it’s the weakest part of the writing by far, and with characters like Sylv and Veronica by his side it sticks out like a sore thumb.
THE THREE ACT STRUCTURE.
Initially, I had planned to structure this review in the same way as the game, getting the main points out of the way first, and then covering each act for what it is separately without giving away why or how they’re so different. But I’ve talked enough, by this point you’re either sold and are willing to give DQ XI a try, or you hate JRPGs and stopped reading 3,000 words ago – I won’t judge.
Instead, I’d like to summarise how I felt about the Acts briefly and give my thoughts on why I think all three hold up:
This will have the most spoiler-y content, but will still be as vague as humanly possible so that at worst the ‘cliché’ story beats may become apparent
ACT I – The first act is very much an adventure; discovering new places, meeting new people, and learning about what exactly the Luminary of Legend is and what you’re going to need to do. Banish a Dark power to maintain or restore light? Got it. Step 1 is getting to Yggdrasil, lesgo. You reach it, stuff happens, that’s Act I.
ACT II – The second act is also an adventure of sorts but is less about finding the world and more about finding the inner strength of the party. Until now they’d all known the legend and wanted to help, but how exactly will they become what is required to complete such a feat? Act II is the training arc, if you will, but it goes deeper than just punching some slimes and telling yourself you can do this. It’s the slowest of the Acts, but it’s necessary.
ACT III – The final act is the one in which you’ll be doing the most free-roaming, optional quests and bosses and ultimately ‘grinding’ for that super boss at the end. In a way, the world is almost different now, so returning to locations rewards you with new mini-arcs to be done, generally related to the ones before it but met in a new light (poetic, right?) Initially I wasn’t the biggest fan of what this Act serves to do, but by the end I am wholly satisfied by the experience all the same.
Of the three, Act I was my favourite in terms of pacing and discovery, Act II was my favourite in terms of story and characters, and Act III was my favourite in terms of freedom and gameplay. The world is yours to play with, go ham!
THE VERDICT.
Dragon Quest XI is a game like no other. When looked at as a complete package, everything together as one, you can both see and feel the ungodly amount of thought and care than went into creating it. It’s polished beyond belief and literally everything it does just works. As intended. As described.
If you’ve read all this and you still aren’t sure if the game is for you – although honestly, how? lmao - the best thing I can suggest is trying it for yourself because guess what? The game has a free demo on Switch and Playstation, and I believe is available on Gamepass. Just go play it!
I put this title off for years because I couldn’t get over how ridiculous Toriyama’s art style looked to me. I was never into DBZ and the fact half the villagers are just blobs with eyes physically put me off. I persevered and would now go so far as to call this game beautiful. The cutscenes especially are gorgeous. Trust me whatever is putting you off just give it a try. It’s free!
I don’t know if I’ll ever get an experience like this again. I don’t speak lightly when I say that this is far and away one of the best JRPGs I’ve ever played. No other game has had me excitedly spam “!!!! The game has [this]!!” or “omg you can do [that]!?” so many times to my girlfriend while playing. Every gripe I take with JRPGs is acknowledged and addressed – with the sole exception being the silent protagonist. It’s amazing. The only reason this game only made #4 in my Top Rated is because FF7R is in a league of its own; with characters, writing and a combat system that are unrivalled to me personally. And because Persona has had such an impossible impact on me with its music, charm, characters, and calendar system that I couldn’t rightfully consider DQ XI to be “more significant” to me personally. But as a game? Oh it’s #2 baby, dare I say it could take #1 if we look at it strictly from a mechanical level.
If you’re a fan of JRPGs, just play it, seriously. You read all this you could’ve been out of Tutorial Village by name, socks blown off already!
And with all that said, thank you for reading this. I hope you got something out of it and look forward to being called a Jade simp in the comments 😊
MISC COMMENTS AND HONOURABLE MENTIONS.
That’s right bitches, I have even more to say!
I’ve rambled enough so I’ll make this more of a list:
- Some armour changes your appearance, appearance can be set without equipping the matching armour, pog.
- The music could definitely afford to be better. I’ve seen complaints that it’s “bad” and idk that I’d go that far but it could use some more unique tracks and more than one combat theme
- The voice acting is great, love me some British and Scottish accents as always. There are some scenes with “singing” that aren’t dubbed which is weird but eh, drop in the pond.
- I experienced no glitches or bugs in my 158 hours of playtime.
- The 2D Tickington side quests are mostly short and pretty easy. They’re related to the previous games and while I haven’t played those to recognise places/people I still enjoyed doing them.
- The platinum requirements for this are not nearly as daunting as they appear, and the final costume for Jade can be cheesed using 2D level select instead of beating the ultra mega fuck-you secret post-game boss.
- That boss can suck my dick.
- Jade is hot.
I love you all thank you for coming to my TED Talk, stay safe and have fun! I’ll see you at the Dragon Quest XII premiere <3
I have a lot to say about this title so for those of you who may not want to read 158 hours’ worth of thoughts, I’ll summarise it briefly here: The gameplay, polish and presentation of Dragon Quest XI is off the charts. Everything works and looks exactly as it should, there are basically no instances where you’ll find yourself against impossible odds or hit a wall of “bullshit”, it just works. It’s also incredibly accessible to players of all preferences and skill-levels, this game was made to be enjoyed by anyone and in my honest opinion, it succeeds. So, let’s get into it a little deeper.
It's worth mentioning that I will not be discussing major spoilers in this review, however if you’re familiar with JRPG or anime tropes/cliches there will be allusions to those which may reveal some minor or incredibly “standard”/expected beats.
Starting off with the first and perhaps most important thing the DQ XI experience offers:
ACCESSIBILTY.
Dragon Quest XI does not come with traditional difficulty options, much like the majority of more classic JRPGs. What it does do, however, is give players several ways to make it easier or harder to fit their own preference. The biggest of these are the “Draconian Quest” options presented upon starting a new game, a list of settings that you can decide before playing if you’d prefer to enable or disable. These include certain challenge modes like No Shopping or No Armour, Reduced Experience, Shypox – a randomly triggered status ailment that embarrasses you/your allies -, and my personal favourite: “Party Wiped Out if Protagonist Perishes”
That’s right. You can disable one of the most frustrating and often merciless features of classic JRPGs. Thank the Gods.
The caveat with these modifiers is that if you disable all of them then you can’t adjust them once you’re in the game, however I believe that anything you enable can be later disabled via a save point without consequence.
This isn’t the only way that DQ XI makes itself more accessible to suit your play style though, oh no. One of the most impressive features of this title is one that honestly didn’t really hit me fully until I’d tried it myself: 2D Mode. The entire game, start to finish, can be played in either a modern 3D style, complete with interactive combat where you can move around the battlefield and watch gorgeous attack animations, or a classic 2D mode, returning to the use of flashing sprites and screen shakes instead. Both modes have redesigned locations to accommodate the dimensions available in each, and my favourite difference between the two: random encounters - or more importantly – lack thereof.
If you prefer the old school 2D sprite-based, synthesised, random-encounter-ridden experience of old JRPGs, you can have that. If you’d rather see the world in beautiful 3D, run around the overworld yourself and be able to actively avoid enemies roaming the lands, you can have that too! The entire. Fecking. Game. Honestly who does that?! Square went above and beyond making the whole game twice just to make sure EVERYONE could enjoy it, it’s absurd and I cannot respect this decision enough.
You can switch between 2D and 3D mode at any time, and if your save file in 3D mode is further along than in 2D, you can select which chapter of the game to pick up from in 2D and just keep going, meaning there is (once again) no consequence for playing around and trying both out. [I’m not certain if the same applies going from 2D to 3D but I would expect so?]
Believe it or not, I’m not done. I mentioned the Draconian Quest difficulty modifiers earlier, and how they can be used to adjust the difficulty of the game from the start/at any time if enabled. But another, more subtle, thing that DQ XI does to ensure no-one gets left behind is giving the player freedom for 99%, if not all, of the game. Let me explain.
I’m sure we’ve all hit walls in games where we get stuck, the boss is simply too hard, our party are under-levelled, poorly equipped, we weren’t prepared to face a challenge and our last save was x amount of time ago. With no other choice, we’re forced to lose progress to train harder and make push any further. This will not happen in Dragon Quest XI, I can guarantee it. You may find a boss you can’t beat, absolutely (although in all honesty this will most likely only be late into Act III when the difficulty is amped up and more things become optional than not,) but you will never be in a position where you can’t just load to right before the fight, go away and prepare to return stronger.
At one point in Act II, there is a part where you need to defend an area from a large-scale attack. “Oh shit.” I thought, “This is where I may well meet my first roadblock. I hope I saved recently just in case I’m too weak for this.” – Arriving at the front line, I saw an NPC with a marker on the mini-map, speaking to him, well it made me laugh honestly. He essentially told me “If the enemies prove too strong, try going into that cave there and honing your skills while we hold them off” … I’m sorry, what? The front lines of this story-locked battle offer a save point and a dungeon specifically to grind in? Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if I was able to rest/heal and go back to the nearest store as well, I couldn’t believe it.
This game was made so that it can be played by everyone. And it absolutely can. I would confidently say that the only thing less-experienced players might struggle with is the final-final boss (and the optional post-game bosses ofc, but assuming they’re not here for those anyway), but the final boss of the game can be significantly weakened in 1 turn using a trick that the game teaches you, urges you to do and makes it impossible to miss, so even that battle I’d wager you can manage.
Just to finish up, the game also has settings to adjust the battle speed, whether the score is symphonic or synthetic, the DQ VIII OST is available as well and every single thing I’ve mentioned here can be adjusted at any time, without consequence. (Besides enabling the Draconian Quest modifiers if they’re all disabled at the start)
With all that said, let’s talk about the game itself:
WHAT IS DRAGON QUEST XI S: ECHOES OF AN ELUSIVE AGE?
Dragon Quest XI – as I’m sure you know by now – is a grand open world JRPG adventure, following our Hero in his journey from the small town of Cobblestone as he learns of and fulfils his destiny as the Luminary of Legend. It’s a tale as old as time, and the heads up I gave at the start about common tropes is because, at its very core, the A-plot of the game is somewhat… generic. But with a world this rich of diverse locations, captivating characters and a plethora of really good B-plots and mini-arcs, the main story doesn’t need to be anything else. It’s a vessel. It’s what drives us on our way through the game and provides us all the experiences along the way. That’s not to say that the A-plot doesn’t have its own surprises, some of the biggest story beats left me utterly bewildered. But if you were to summarise it to its most basic form; it’s good guy goes to stop bad guy, init.
So what sets it apart from every other JRPG with this cliché, “fabled hero” premise?
THE PACING.
The pacing of this game, particularly in Act I, is superb. Everything that happens does so at a reasonable scale, every new development that sounds like it may drag proves that expectation wrong, I can’t think of a single moment in Act I where a setting or arc overstayed its welcome. Now this doesn’t mean that it’s rushed either. There are absolutely a couple parts where the task at hand feels like it should have taken longer than it does, or where something that’s needed is just conveniently discovered, but honestly in a game that runs most players around 100 hours or more I really struggle to criticise there being a handful of these moments across all 3 Acts. There are times in Act II or III where an arc or dungeon runs on a little longer than it maybe should, but with these the option to run by enemies and get through them more quickly is available to you anyway (in 3D) so again this is more a comment than a complaint.
THE COMBAT.
The combat system in DQ XI, while simple, is one of the most fun systems I’ve played in a standard turn-based RPG to date. It’s hard to put into words why exactly it feels so good, but the things I think that warrant the most attention are the control you have over the party and just how dynamic everything is (again, in 3D. 2D battles lose a lot of this flare and in my opinion are vastly inferior – but for those who long for the days of old, have at it!) The combat in DQ XI see the party and enemies facing off in a battlefield fitting to the location it was initiated, a ring surrounding them on the ground within which the controlled member can move freely or exit the ring to attempt an escape.
The party can be controlled using either by direct commands or via ‘tactics’, anyone familiar with turn-based combat is surely familiar with these, and the behaviour of any member on the team can be set to anything from the list independently – including the Hero. When playing in 3D, the turns are visually demonstrated in real-time, in that if your party attacks 1 thru 4, you will select and perform the action for each member in that order. If the turn order is Hero > Enemy > Party Member 3 > PM 2 > Enemy > PM 4, you will select the action for each party member on their turn, making it possible to react to the battle as it happens.
(In 2D mode, the actions are all selected at the start of the round, and play out as selected using the turn order, which is obviously harder as it removes this reactive option)
Each party member comes with a variety of skills enabling them to perform actions and wield different weapons to suit, and the beauty of this is that all your equipment can be changed mid-battle on that person’s turn without consequence. Went into a tough fight without a shield? Pop that on as soon as it’s your turn and it won’t cost you a damn thing. Accessibility once again, you can adjust your party on the fly in real time – want to equip a greatsword to use a certain ability and then swap back to a shield while you buff – you can do that!
The combat, like everything else in this game, gives you the tools to play the game the way that you want to. And guess what, those skill points you spent to unlock abilities and strengthen certain branches in an ally’s skill tree? Yeah, you can reset those at any time for so cheap you won’t even notice. Spent 20 levels kitting out Hero as a sword & shield guy but just found a super strong greatsword – refund those skills and get the greatsword branch of the tree filled out, son! This was so useful in helping me adjust my playstyle to certain areas or enemies, or even just to mix up my playstyle and try new things. I’m telling you man the game is for everyone, make it yours.
I would be remiss to discuss the combat without touching on the Pep Powers at least a little. I’ve mentioned briefly how dynamic the combat is in 3D, every attack has an appropriate animation, the characters leap toward the enemy before swinging and leap back after if you’re standing further away, this offers no tactical advantage, but it looks good y’know? It’s so much more engaging than the 2D alternative where you see a flash or a flutter of sparkles across the screen and the enemy sprites flicker. Pep Powers take this to another level, basically being super-moves that can be used when a party member becomes “pepped up”, a status effect that buffs their stats and unlocks said skills. This effect is typically unlocked when taking damage and is most easily acquired by just blocking for a few rounds and tanking a couple blows at reduced damage.
The Pep Powers themselves function similarly to things in other games, the Showtime! Events in Persona 5 Royal for example, or All Out Attacks from the same franchise. They use 2, 3 or 4 members of the party to come together and perform something spectacular. There are LOADS of these skills, bespoke to different characters and combinations of such. Some require only the user to be pepped up while others require all participants to be, it’s insane how much variety there is. Some of them utilise unlocked skills to put enemies to sleep before whacking them, others form great shields around the party, turn a member to steel before launching them at the enemy like a cannonball (and most importantly for those of you hoping to grind levels) massively boost the exp gained from a battle and change the enemies into metal slimes, the rarest monster that reward insane exp even without the previous boost. These all look superb and there are so many I doubt I’ve even seen half of them. In short, the combat just feels amazing and even after 158 hours I could happily spend another 100 fighting with this system. That said, fighting isn’t the only thing you’ll be doing, maybe you’d prefer to get lost in the world and spend more of your time exploring, so how’s that?
THE WORLD.
The world of Dragon Quest XI is just that, a World. In layman’s terms: it’s fucking massive. To put it more poetically: it succeeds in broadening your horizons consistently for the first 2 acts without at any point feeling overwhelming. You start out in a small village, what I like to dub Tutorial Town, it has just enough to teach you the ropes and familiarise you with the game/backstory without overstaying it’s welcome. The first stretch of your journey is to venture out to a major city, a huge deal for you and those around you at the time. The fact you receive a horse to journey on is a ‘wow moment’ for young Hero, horses aren’t needed to get around in Tutorial Village, just how big is the rest of the world? A horse is not the only means of transport you will acquire throughout this game. I wasn’t expecting any of what I got, and each time new places opened up to me I felt a similar sense of awe as in those early moments. “I can go where!?” In hindsight my JRPG knowledge should have prepared me for this, but that’s just how immersed I became in my travels. Hero is – unfortunately – a silent protagonist, but the game often makes up for this by succeeding in making you, the player, fill his shoes. More on this later.
Every new location you explore in Dragon Quest XI feels different to the last. Every town or city has a unique design and architecture, inspired by places in our own world and beautifully crafted and populated just enough to feel alive. There are stalls being tended, children playing hide and seek, men standing on piers contemplating their wasted potential. You’re there, man. You’re in Erdrea, it’s hard not to take it all in. Excitedly searching every house for chests, “reading” the books dotted around to unlock new recipes, searching wardrobes for items or mysterious Mini Medals, what are they for and why do they seem to be locked in so many bedrooms? You’ll find out. Dragon Quest does a fantastic job of creating a world in which the story is occurring, as opposed to creating a world to accommodate the story. The locations are all significant and have their own arcs, but they don’t feel as though they are only there so that the plot can happen, rather the plot is happening around/to them. All this talk of plot and arcs brings me nicely to the next important topic.
THE STORY.
I mentioned earlier that the A-plot in this game, when boiled to bare bones, is somewhat generic. And it is. But the story told throughout, and the smaller stories encountered along the way are what really keep this game interesting (besides the characters of course, but we’ll get to that.)
Every location across Erdrea has its own conflict, each acting as an arc that must be completed before it is possible to proceed to the next. While not all stellar, they all do exactly what they need to in terms of introducing new characters or allies and establishing the “vibe” of the new area and its enemies. The majority of them have ties to party members, giving them a more personal feel, and even those that don’t are able to tell deeply personal stories of characters we barely know and that have no relation to the A-plot, resulting in every step of this long journey feeling fresh and worth caring about. I won’t go into too much detail on this for obvious reasons, but some examples include a prince who has been faking his capabilities, a village using a mural to attract tourists that has a dark turn, and an openly (albeit it isn’t explicitly stated) gay man returning to his hometown and facing someone from his childhood, whom he has been avoiding due to his sexuality. Like I said, this world is real, and so are the people in it.
THE CHARACTERS.
You can’t have a great game without great characters. If a game expects you to spend dozens of hours with its cast, then it’s only fair that you expect said cast to be enjoyable to be around. Given that Dragon Quest follows a typical party structure, how exactly does it make that interesting? Well.
The stand-out in the cast by far is Sylvando, who takes the role of Performer. This court jester-esque circus veteran has enough charm and personality for the whole group. He’s flamboyant, he’s talented, strong, emotional, empathetic, funny and his sense of justice is admirable to say the least. DQ XI would not be the same without him and he’s got two – yes, two - of the most interesting arcs within the game, each wildly different from the other. (Also him being gay isn’t played for laughs and he’s well respected. He is not a caricature.)
The rest of the cast are similarly unique with their own personalities shining through in all the right ways. Veronica is my personal favourite, a bratty know-it-all who’s got more sass than 2B has ass and will make sure everyone you meet knows it. The others vary between being a little close to cliché and really interesting, if only for certain arcs, but I won’t get into those because a lot of what makes these people who they are is related to their arcs and stories. There it is again, right? The characters are real, they’re made of their experiences with the world.
And it doesn’t stop there either, every city or town has its named side characters, even side quests can pump a heavy dose of personality and backstory into a random nobody who just wants you to help them find their son or fix their marriage. There is even a whole-ass town where everyone talks in haiku for…some reason. There are inns being run by kids while their parents are sick, why? I don’t know but I remember it don’t I? It’s the little things.
The characters – bar those who serve only to populate the towns of course – are all, people… Except for Hero, sadly. Almost every step this game suffers from the usual “another party member has announced what to do” or has someone look at you and say “Hm? You’re thinking of doing this, aren’t you?” … Hero works as a great self-insert for the exploration elements of this game, but this whole silent protagonist thing is dated. It’s not the end of the world, I wouldn’t say that it ruins anything per se, but it’s the weakest part of the writing by far, and with characters like Sylv and Veronica by his side it sticks out like a sore thumb.
THE THREE ACT STRUCTURE.
Initially, I had planned to structure this review in the same way as the game, getting the main points out of the way first, and then covering each act for what it is separately without giving away why or how they’re so different. But I’ve talked enough, by this point you’re either sold and are willing to give DQ XI a try, or you hate JRPGs and stopped reading 3,000 words ago – I won’t judge.
Instead, I’d like to summarise how I felt about the Acts briefly and give my thoughts on why I think all three hold up:
This will have the most spoiler-y content, but will still be as vague as humanly possible so that at worst the ‘cliché’ story beats may become apparent
ACT I – The first act is very much an adventure; discovering new places, meeting new people, and learning about what exactly the Luminary of Legend is and what you’re going to need to do. Banish a Dark power to maintain or restore light? Got it. Step 1 is getting to Yggdrasil, lesgo. You reach it, stuff happens, that’s Act I.
ACT II – The second act is also an adventure of sorts but is less about finding the world and more about finding the inner strength of the party. Until now they’d all known the legend and wanted to help, but how exactly will they become what is required to complete such a feat? Act II is the training arc, if you will, but it goes deeper than just punching some slimes and telling yourself you can do this. It’s the slowest of the Acts, but it’s necessary.
ACT III – The final act is the one in which you’ll be doing the most free-roaming, optional quests and bosses and ultimately ‘grinding’ for that super boss at the end. In a way, the world is almost different now, so returning to locations rewards you with new mini-arcs to be done, generally related to the ones before it but met in a new light (poetic, right?) Initially I wasn’t the biggest fan of what this Act serves to do, but by the end I am wholly satisfied by the experience all the same.
Of the three, Act I was my favourite in terms of pacing and discovery, Act II was my favourite in terms of story and characters, and Act III was my favourite in terms of freedom and gameplay. The world is yours to play with, go ham!
THE VERDICT.
Dragon Quest XI is a game like no other. When looked at as a complete package, everything together as one, you can both see and feel the ungodly amount of thought and care than went into creating it. It’s polished beyond belief and literally everything it does just works. As intended. As described.
If you’ve read all this and you still aren’t sure if the game is for you – although honestly, how? lmao - the best thing I can suggest is trying it for yourself because guess what? The game has a free demo on Switch and Playstation, and I believe is available on Gamepass. Just go play it!
I put this title off for years because I couldn’t get over how ridiculous Toriyama’s art style looked to me. I was never into DBZ and the fact half the villagers are just blobs with eyes physically put me off. I persevered and would now go so far as to call this game beautiful. The cutscenes especially are gorgeous. Trust me whatever is putting you off just give it a try. It’s free!
I don’t know if I’ll ever get an experience like this again. I don’t speak lightly when I say that this is far and away one of the best JRPGs I’ve ever played. No other game has had me excitedly spam “!!!! The game has [this]!!” or “omg you can do [that]!?” so many times to my girlfriend while playing. Every gripe I take with JRPGs is acknowledged and addressed – with the sole exception being the silent protagonist. It’s amazing. The only reason this game only made #4 in my Top Rated is because FF7R is in a league of its own; with characters, writing and a combat system that are unrivalled to me personally. And because Persona has had such an impossible impact on me with its music, charm, characters, and calendar system that I couldn’t rightfully consider DQ XI to be “more significant” to me personally. But as a game? Oh it’s #2 baby, dare I say it could take #1 if we look at it strictly from a mechanical level.
If you’re a fan of JRPGs, just play it, seriously. You read all this you could’ve been out of Tutorial Village by name, socks blown off already!
And with all that said, thank you for reading this. I hope you got something out of it and look forward to being called a Jade simp in the comments 😊
MISC COMMENTS AND HONOURABLE MENTIONS.
That’s right bitches, I have even more to say!
I’ve rambled enough so I’ll make this more of a list:
- Some armour changes your appearance, appearance can be set without equipping the matching armour, pog.
- The music could definitely afford to be better. I’ve seen complaints that it’s “bad” and idk that I’d go that far but it could use some more unique tracks and more than one combat theme
- The voice acting is great, love me some British and Scottish accents as always. There are some scenes with “singing” that aren’t dubbed which is weird but eh, drop in the pond.
- I experienced no glitches or bugs in my 158 hours of playtime.
- The 2D Tickington side quests are mostly short and pretty easy. They’re related to the previous games and while I haven’t played those to recognise places/people I still enjoyed doing them.
- The platinum requirements for this are not nearly as daunting as they appear, and the final costume for Jade can be cheesed using 2D level select instead of beating the ultra mega fuck-you secret post-game boss.
- That boss can suck my dick.
- Jade is hot.
I love you all thank you for coming to my TED Talk, stay safe and have fun! I’ll see you at the Dragon Quest XII premiere <3
SuperHot VR
2016
Superhot VR is proof that VR is good for more than just porn. Its a must play and definitely the most fun I've had with the system so far.
The main game was fun, and to this date is the rarest and possibly hardest platinum I have. But after playing this, I can't imagine ever wanting to go back. It translates so well to VR its incredible. Dodging bullets in slow mo is both the coolest thing ever and also a great workout. Your enjoyment with this is probably gonna vary a lot with how much space you have and how active you are. You can beat this game stationary pretty fine, but it is at its absolute most fun when you are diving behind cover yourself or dropping to the floor like wannabe Max Payne.
The game is a bit short and can be beaten under two hours, but for an early VR game thats not really a big deal. Any longer might have overstayed its welcome. Plus if you want more out of it, completing the main missions unlocks quite a few modes, namely endless and alternate takes on the main campaign with harder challenges like one life or headshots only - so theres quite a lot to get out of this.
The game can be quite hard, and having to restart a level completely if you die can be frustrating. You'll be moving around a lot in this and might find yourself having to recenter when you jump to a new section a lot which led to a handful of deaths but ultimately is the only real negative I have about this. I do wish they added more campaigns or levels but as is I can't recommend it enough
Nancymeter - 90/100
Game Completion #110 of 2022
August Completion #30
The main game was fun, and to this date is the rarest and possibly hardest platinum I have. But after playing this, I can't imagine ever wanting to go back. It translates so well to VR its incredible. Dodging bullets in slow mo is both the coolest thing ever and also a great workout. Your enjoyment with this is probably gonna vary a lot with how much space you have and how active you are. You can beat this game stationary pretty fine, but it is at its absolute most fun when you are diving behind cover yourself or dropping to the floor like wannabe Max Payne.
The game is a bit short and can be beaten under two hours, but for an early VR game thats not really a big deal. Any longer might have overstayed its welcome. Plus if you want more out of it, completing the main missions unlocks quite a few modes, namely endless and alternate takes on the main campaign with harder challenges like one life or headshots only - so theres quite a lot to get out of this.
The game can be quite hard, and having to restart a level completely if you die can be frustrating. You'll be moving around a lot in this and might find yourself having to recenter when you jump to a new section a lot which led to a handful of deaths but ultimately is the only real negative I have about this. I do wish they added more campaigns or levels but as is I can't recommend it enough
Nancymeter - 90/100
Game Completion #110 of 2022
August Completion #30
Pokkén Tournament DX
2017
I didn't know much about this game but it was one of the very first on my wishlist when I got a switch. To my surprise while randomly scrolling the other day I saw that this was on as a nintendo online time trial, which is how i played TWEWY last year. Its one of my favorite things nintendo does, and seeing as I doubt I'd pay full price for this let alone the sale price of 40: I went in knowing absolutely nothing about this game and seeing if I could beat it in three days before the trial ended.
I did it, bitches.
Now, Pokken Tournament is a fighting game. DX is a wii u port that as far as I know doesnt do anything different besides all characters being unlocked at the start. This game also has voice acting! its terrible. There's not a whole lot to do in this game really. There's the "story" mode and then online battling, but I am a cool girl and I play fighting games for story and characters almost exclusively. That mode has remain untouched. And really thats all there is too it. There's not minigames or shit either. You can customize your character with some nice oufits but you're nothing more than a voiceless lifeless 2D husk so there's not a lot there (a common theme with this game) You do have an advisor named Nia that follows you around and is basically the main voice of the game, You can dress her up to but this is about all she's good for. She's cute but her voice acting is not great and she likes to take credit for your wins despite being a terrible coach with nothing more than generic tips repeated endlessly in her half robotic voice.
The story mode is uh, a thing. You basically fight in four separate leagues and work your way up. For the most part you will be taking in sets against 5 opponents. If you beat them all, you get the rank of the highest leveled opponent you beat. Rank has no effect on difficulty or anything. You can actually refresh the sets to find higher ranked opponents and optomize your playtime. Since the story mode is literally almost entirely this, I'd reccomend it. After you make your way to the top 8, you can take place in a little tournament. These are probably the easiest parts of the game, I never had any issue with them its just two back to back battles instead of 5. Once you do all that you'll be the highest rank and can fight the grandmaster of the league. These are usually the more annoying battles but they're nothing special. After each league, for the first three, you'll get attacked by a very overpowered shadow mewtwo but you're only required to beat him to move on after the third one. After said third fight you'll take a bit of a detour for actual story to talk place. You'll fight a few special battles with small modifiers until it all cultivates in a final showdown with mewtwo so you can save him. Its pretty enjoyable for what it is. But after you defeat him, the story just kind of stops. Everything feels resolved but you're told to just shamble on and groggily beat the fourth league before unceremonious credits. And thats it. The mewtwo stuff is interesting but definitely don't expect much from this. Basically its just 100 2 round fights against AI of wildly varying difficulty until its over. The fourth league is actually quite the pain in the ass. The first couple are quite easy but suddenly in the fourth it feels like the ai is cheating and reading your inputs. I had a blast playing through most of the game with Shadow Mewtwo but had to switch things up pretty drastically at the end. Since they can just read your inputs they can also combo you into oblivion, and since you can't escape a combo in any way if they get you you're basically fucked. So i had to say goodbye to my trusty pal, hello to Suicune and do the true fighting game story mode strategy: spam ranged attacks for victory, although even then quite a few battles got pretty hairy. There's supposed to be a 5th league but thankfully thats post game and time is running short, i think ill pass on that.
Most of this review has been nagging but there's a reason this game gets a 3.5 despite being a simplistic repetitive experience. Its just damn fun! The roster is excellent, I haven't tried every character yet but all the pokemon feel fun and for the most part pretty unique. You also can have support pokemon that charge up and have various abilities to aid you in battle that are an awesome addition. Having even the OP pokemon available from the start in DX does take away from a bit of the spectacle though, and I wish I could of experienced this game unlocking new pokemon as I went on. But man its just a really fun and competent game from the battle standpoint. Even despite the story being so repetitive and even grindy, it was so fun that I was utterly addicted.
This game is nowhere close to perfect, but its an awesome idea for a game and despite the rocky execution its a really fun time to be had. If they ever gave it a sequel, with an actual story mode and some more modes... hell I'd be all over that.
Your reward for beating the game is a suit outfit for Nia. Hot.
Time Played - N/A
Nancymeter - 74/100
Game Completion #104 of 2022
August Completion #24
I did it, bitches.
Now, Pokken Tournament is a fighting game. DX is a wii u port that as far as I know doesnt do anything different besides all characters being unlocked at the start. This game also has voice acting! its terrible. There's not a whole lot to do in this game really. There's the "story" mode and then online battling, but I am a cool girl and I play fighting games for story and characters almost exclusively. That mode has remain untouched. And really thats all there is too it. There's not minigames or shit either. You can customize your character with some nice oufits but you're nothing more than a voiceless lifeless 2D husk so there's not a lot there (a common theme with this game) You do have an advisor named Nia that follows you around and is basically the main voice of the game, You can dress her up to but this is about all she's good for. She's cute but her voice acting is not great and she likes to take credit for your wins despite being a terrible coach with nothing more than generic tips repeated endlessly in her half robotic voice.
The story mode is uh, a thing. You basically fight in four separate leagues and work your way up. For the most part you will be taking in sets against 5 opponents. If you beat them all, you get the rank of the highest leveled opponent you beat. Rank has no effect on difficulty or anything. You can actually refresh the sets to find higher ranked opponents and optomize your playtime. Since the story mode is literally almost entirely this, I'd reccomend it. After you make your way to the top 8, you can take place in a little tournament. These are probably the easiest parts of the game, I never had any issue with them its just two back to back battles instead of 5. Once you do all that you'll be the highest rank and can fight the grandmaster of the league. These are usually the more annoying battles but they're nothing special. After each league, for the first three, you'll get attacked by a very overpowered shadow mewtwo but you're only required to beat him to move on after the third one. After said third fight you'll take a bit of a detour for actual story to talk place. You'll fight a few special battles with small modifiers until it all cultivates in a final showdown with mewtwo so you can save him. Its pretty enjoyable for what it is. But after you defeat him, the story just kind of stops. Everything feels resolved but you're told to just shamble on and groggily beat the fourth league before unceremonious credits. And thats it. The mewtwo stuff is interesting but definitely don't expect much from this. Basically its just 100 2 round fights against AI of wildly varying difficulty until its over. The fourth league is actually quite the pain in the ass. The first couple are quite easy but suddenly in the fourth it feels like the ai is cheating and reading your inputs. I had a blast playing through most of the game with Shadow Mewtwo but had to switch things up pretty drastically at the end. Since they can just read your inputs they can also combo you into oblivion, and since you can't escape a combo in any way if they get you you're basically fucked. So i had to say goodbye to my trusty pal, hello to Suicune and do the true fighting game story mode strategy: spam ranged attacks for victory, although even then quite a few battles got pretty hairy. There's supposed to be a 5th league but thankfully thats post game and time is running short, i think ill pass on that.
Most of this review has been nagging but there's a reason this game gets a 3.5 despite being a simplistic repetitive experience. Its just damn fun! The roster is excellent, I haven't tried every character yet but all the pokemon feel fun and for the most part pretty unique. You also can have support pokemon that charge up and have various abilities to aid you in battle that are an awesome addition. Having even the OP pokemon available from the start in DX does take away from a bit of the spectacle though, and I wish I could of experienced this game unlocking new pokemon as I went on. But man its just a really fun and competent game from the battle standpoint. Even despite the story being so repetitive and even grindy, it was so fun that I was utterly addicted.
This game is nowhere close to perfect, but its an awesome idea for a game and despite the rocky execution its a really fun time to be had. If they ever gave it a sequel, with an actual story mode and some more modes... hell I'd be all over that.
Your reward for beating the game is a suit outfit for Nia. Hot.
Time Played - N/A
Nancymeter - 74/100
Game Completion #104 of 2022
August Completion #24
I Am Dead
2020
Dying is a scary thing. It's a common fear and I'm not afraid to admit its my biggest one. I Am Dead knows how sensitive of a topic this is, and I was surprised with how well they handled it especially with such a positive outlook. A game with a title like that turning out to be so charming and wholesome was a very welcome surprise. Most games arent afraid to bring up things like death, but I think this games greatest strength is how boldly it serves as a little beacon - or a lighthouse, if you will - of hope. It doesnt beat you down and make you depressed about one of the most depressing facts of life but it gives you a little nudge on the shoulder and let's you know that just maybe, everything will be alright.
You play as Morris Lupton, recently deceased. One of the best indie game protagonists quite frankly. He is just the absolute most swell down to earth guy, the kind you really would want as a friend in life. His voice is as soft as he is, and a big part of this games personality is how warm of a presence he is throughout the story. He cares about the island so deeply and you can feel that through every thing he says. Most of the game is about viewing the memories left behind of other ghosts on the island. This is basically the main theme of the game: even when dead we live on in the memories around us. Whether its a lover or a passing acquaintance, memories of us keep us from truly being gone.
The voice acting, graphics and art style are all lovely like everything else encompassing this game. Shelmerston is a hell of a place, largely fiction but it feels so alive. Very intriguing lore, head to toe in fun little details and an abundance of colorful characters and landmarks. Without the great voice performances, calming music and picture book-esque art a lot of this games wackiness may not of been appreciated. But it all just works so well, and it feels like it could be real somewhere out there - fish people included.
The gameplay is mostly finding hidden objects, mementos of folks past. But this game puts a very fun twist on it. You can click on each individual object and splice it, giving you a peak inside. It's a little hard for me to explain, but it makes looking around the environments really engaging. Everything is packed with detail and little easter eggs, and its always fun to see the inside of a pie or splice into a water tower and find a little octopus just chilling in there. You also splice and manipulate certain objects into certain angles for the collectibles. You never have to get it exactly right, as the game is generous making finding them all yourself very fun and intuitive. There are also optional riddles each level that are really gonna pick at your brain and expect you to find some of the most well hidden things. These are pretty hard, and for some reason are timed which makes it so you basically have to either be sure on the object before starting the riddle or play a really frantic guessing game. Its unnecessary. I used a guide for most of these, you don't get much as a reward but it is a pretty funny one.
The only thing that stops this from having enough points to be a 4.5/5 with rounding is that the ending is just... not all quite there. I think it says enough and gets across what it wants to. It's wholesome much like the rest of the game, but I think It would of greatly benefited from just being a hair less vague about how things all come to a close.
I can't think of a better compliment to give this game than just this: I'm a little less scared now.
Trophy Completion - 100% (Platinum #208)
Time Played: 7 hours 54 minutes
Nancymeter - 84/100
Game Completion #105 of 2022
August Completion #25
You play as Morris Lupton, recently deceased. One of the best indie game protagonists quite frankly. He is just the absolute most swell down to earth guy, the kind you really would want as a friend in life. His voice is as soft as he is, and a big part of this games personality is how warm of a presence he is throughout the story. He cares about the island so deeply and you can feel that through every thing he says. Most of the game is about viewing the memories left behind of other ghosts on the island. This is basically the main theme of the game: even when dead we live on in the memories around us. Whether its a lover or a passing acquaintance, memories of us keep us from truly being gone.
The voice acting, graphics and art style are all lovely like everything else encompassing this game. Shelmerston is a hell of a place, largely fiction but it feels so alive. Very intriguing lore, head to toe in fun little details and an abundance of colorful characters and landmarks. Without the great voice performances, calming music and picture book-esque art a lot of this games wackiness may not of been appreciated. But it all just works so well, and it feels like it could be real somewhere out there - fish people included.
The gameplay is mostly finding hidden objects, mementos of folks past. But this game puts a very fun twist on it. You can click on each individual object and splice it, giving you a peak inside. It's a little hard for me to explain, but it makes looking around the environments really engaging. Everything is packed with detail and little easter eggs, and its always fun to see the inside of a pie or splice into a water tower and find a little octopus just chilling in there. You also splice and manipulate certain objects into certain angles for the collectibles. You never have to get it exactly right, as the game is generous making finding them all yourself very fun and intuitive. There are also optional riddles each level that are really gonna pick at your brain and expect you to find some of the most well hidden things. These are pretty hard, and for some reason are timed which makes it so you basically have to either be sure on the object before starting the riddle or play a really frantic guessing game. Its unnecessary. I used a guide for most of these, you don't get much as a reward but it is a pretty funny one.
The only thing that stops this from having enough points to be a 4.5/5 with rounding is that the ending is just... not all quite there. I think it says enough and gets across what it wants to. It's wholesome much like the rest of the game, but I think It would of greatly benefited from just being a hair less vague about how things all come to a close.
I can't think of a better compliment to give this game than just this: I'm a little less scared now.
Trophy Completion - 100% (Platinum #208)
Time Played: 7 hours 54 minutes
Nancymeter - 84/100
Game Completion #105 of 2022
August Completion #25
Last Stop
2021
The best way I can think of to describe Last Stop is if David Cage directed a Black Mirror miniseries in the form of a minigame. That is to say its a very interesting game, with lots of enjoyability and intrigue, but a plot that is incredibly inconsistent both in tone and quality as well as terrible "gameplay" mechanics and uncanny - often funny - animations.
This game was such a rollercoaster.
It doesn't start with a great first impression. The menu looks really pretty with all the signs, but then you're thrown into a very rough and very obviously unity looking world, shown one of a few "gameplay mechanics" (pretty goofy looking run animation where you have to spam L1 and R1 to speed up) and its just not a very good opening. You're given very little context, are shown a portal to another dimension and boom you go forward like 30 years.
The game isnt much of a looker and with the very silly animations I was pretty apprehensive about playing the rest of the game. But it was stuck on my trophy list, I had to continue on. As you play you'll get used to it, even to the sometimes weird scene transitions. The stories all are a little weird to begin with, but as you go through each charcaters story I was honestly really enjoying the storylines through each of them. I was excited how to see how theyd play out. I didnt even mind the occasional "minigame" that was just something you'd see in a Quantic Dream game but that controls even worse. I didnt even mind that basically all the dialogue options are basically the extreme versions of telltale and mass effect memes, basically a guessing game to see if your character will say anything similar to what the option says. Seriously, one of the options is just the word "Kafkaesque" and another time picking one just made the character say one of the other dialogue options. I didnt even mind the overall level of jank, how recaps or lines would occasionally just randomly skip themselves halfway through. I didnt mind the slow sections of just running with fixed camera angles that made you have to stop moving to change direction because the cinematography was good. The voice acting isnt perfect but all of the main cast was great and I enjoyed the intrigue of their stories a lot, despite all the flaws.
But all things have to end.
The final chapter, after going through six chapters with each of the three main characters individually, brings everyone together. Its a pretty weird tonal shift, even weirder than one of the three stories being a (surprisingly good if cliche) comedy and the other two being dark mystery/dramas. The game has already shown us some out there things at this point, but the way it brings everyone together is uh... its a bit crazy lmao. But just like at the start of the game, even though I was apprehensive about it I was coming to like it, and there were some actually pretty good character moments there.
Then it has to really end
I thought i'd have an idea on the final choice of the game, choosing one of the three to stay behind so the other two can make it out. I think that would of been a good conclusion. But no. Everyone makes it out and you're given a choice between each of them.
All these endings fucking suck, man.
Maybe one of them is bittersweet, the rest of them are just all complete downers. Made playing through this whole thing feel like a slap in the face. Built up so much and just said "fuck you :p" at the end of it. This game was definitely gonna be a 4/5 for me, It was really good to me. But damn man. There are so many questions left unanswered, and theres nothing you can do over the course of the entire game to change the outcomes. Just choices at the end that all leave the characters in fucked predicaments with zero closure like a goosebumps ending when RL Stine is bored of it.
The platinum was mostly pretty fun to go for. But one of the more annoying trophies has the worst checkpoint in history. You have to run through those previously mentioned slow and mostly unnecessary fixed camera angle, go through a bunch of dialogue just to start a minigame that sucks and you're not allowed to miss at all with. Wasted an hour of my life on that man, fuck lol. Had to come back and try again after I beat the game. Most trophies are choosing dialogue options and stuff, so its a mostly easy time. Mostly good trophy list.
It was so close to being great. But I guess its just sorta good.
Trophy Completion - 100% (Platinum #210)
Time Played: 9 hours 6 minutes
Nancymeter - 71/100
Game Completion #107 of 2022
August Completion #27
This game was such a rollercoaster.
It doesn't start with a great first impression. The menu looks really pretty with all the signs, but then you're thrown into a very rough and very obviously unity looking world, shown one of a few "gameplay mechanics" (pretty goofy looking run animation where you have to spam L1 and R1 to speed up) and its just not a very good opening. You're given very little context, are shown a portal to another dimension and boom you go forward like 30 years.
The game isnt much of a looker and with the very silly animations I was pretty apprehensive about playing the rest of the game. But it was stuck on my trophy list, I had to continue on. As you play you'll get used to it, even to the sometimes weird scene transitions. The stories all are a little weird to begin with, but as you go through each charcaters story I was honestly really enjoying the storylines through each of them. I was excited how to see how theyd play out. I didnt even mind the occasional "minigame" that was just something you'd see in a Quantic Dream game but that controls even worse. I didnt even mind that basically all the dialogue options are basically the extreme versions of telltale and mass effect memes, basically a guessing game to see if your character will say anything similar to what the option says. Seriously, one of the options is just the word "Kafkaesque" and another time picking one just made the character say one of the other dialogue options. I didnt even mind the overall level of jank, how recaps or lines would occasionally just randomly skip themselves halfway through. I didnt mind the slow sections of just running with fixed camera angles that made you have to stop moving to change direction because the cinematography was good. The voice acting isnt perfect but all of the main cast was great and I enjoyed the intrigue of their stories a lot, despite all the flaws.
But all things have to end.
The final chapter, after going through six chapters with each of the three main characters individually, brings everyone together. Its a pretty weird tonal shift, even weirder than one of the three stories being a (surprisingly good if cliche) comedy and the other two being dark mystery/dramas. The game has already shown us some out there things at this point, but the way it brings everyone together is uh... its a bit crazy lmao. But just like at the start of the game, even though I was apprehensive about it I was coming to like it, and there were some actually pretty good character moments there.
Then it has to really end
I thought i'd have an idea on the final choice of the game, choosing one of the three to stay behind so the other two can make it out. I think that would of been a good conclusion. But no. Everyone makes it out and you're given a choice between each of them.
All these endings fucking suck, man.
Maybe one of them is bittersweet, the rest of them are just all complete downers. Made playing through this whole thing feel like a slap in the face. Built up so much and just said "fuck you :p" at the end of it. This game was definitely gonna be a 4/5 for me, It was really good to me. But damn man. There are so many questions left unanswered, and theres nothing you can do over the course of the entire game to change the outcomes. Just choices at the end that all leave the characters in fucked predicaments with zero closure like a goosebumps ending when RL Stine is bored of it.
The platinum was mostly pretty fun to go for. But one of the more annoying trophies has the worst checkpoint in history. You have to run through those previously mentioned slow and mostly unnecessary fixed camera angle, go through a bunch of dialogue just to start a minigame that sucks and you're not allowed to miss at all with. Wasted an hour of my life on that man, fuck lol. Had to come back and try again after I beat the game. Most trophies are choosing dialogue options and stuff, so its a mostly easy time. Mostly good trophy list.
It was so close to being great. But I guess its just sorta good.
Trophy Completion - 100% (Platinum #210)
Time Played: 9 hours 6 minutes
Nancymeter - 71/100
Game Completion #107 of 2022
August Completion #27
Old Man's Journey
2017
Normally the heart-warming/breaking short indie game with minimal/puzzle gameplay and a great artstyle/lovely soundtrack is one of my favorite types of games to play. Old Man's Journey is another one of these, but it misses the mark.
Yes it does look and sound pretty, and it does attempt to tell a wholesome story but it really just feels shallow. Im not trying to rag on indie games too much! but this game just feels so uninspired and samey. The "emotional" story isnt really anything all that different from what we've seen plenty of times in the past. From the silent memories we see the titular old man isnt a particularly sympathetic character anyways and it makes it hard to get invested in his journey. Despite being admittedly relatively unique, the point and click-esque gameplay doesnt really do much but get in the way. All this combined makes Old Man's Journey a very unengaging 1-2 hour experience. Its not a bad time. But Its not a memorable one either.
Trophy Completion - 100% (Platinum #211)
Time Played: 2 hours 21 minutes
Nancymeter - 49/100
Game Completion #109 of 2022
August Completion #29
Yes it does look and sound pretty, and it does attempt to tell a wholesome story but it really just feels shallow. Im not trying to rag on indie games too much! but this game just feels so uninspired and samey. The "emotional" story isnt really anything all that different from what we've seen plenty of times in the past. From the silent memories we see the titular old man isnt a particularly sympathetic character anyways and it makes it hard to get invested in his journey. Despite being admittedly relatively unique, the point and click-esque gameplay doesnt really do much but get in the way. All this combined makes Old Man's Journey a very unengaging 1-2 hour experience. Its not a bad time. But Its not a memorable one either.
Trophy Completion - 100% (Platinum #211)
Time Played: 2 hours 21 minutes
Nancymeter - 49/100
Game Completion #109 of 2022
August Completion #29
Uchikoshi, you beautiful bastard. AI isn't perfect but it still ticks all the boxes and has one of the most memorable endings in gaming. The soundtrack is killer and the characters are ace and I love them (but I do feel bad about the one person that I decided right away sucked and then doubted through the entire game for basically nothing) :)