Perhaps I'm coming at it wrong for saying this, but its times like this that I struggle with writing game reviews.

I find that so many of them, while informative, come at critique from an objectivist point of view, always talking about the mechanics of a game or whether the design of a game functions well or not, and coming to a conclusion based on the mechanical conclusions of a game's worth. And those are definitely important qualities.

But when it comes to other artistic mediums, such as film or painting, I find that a lot of that mechanical approach is not considered the be-all, end-all for critique, and other elements, such as your emotional response to a piece, are considered just as important to write about. And I don't really see a lot of that in games journalism or reviews. Maybe I'm just not looking in the right place, but it's a common occurrence that I constantly see when people are discussing a game's merit.

All this to say, there's definitely stuff you can criticize in here and I'd agree with you. Some of the story and side missions feel a little repetitive after awhile, and in the case of the latter, the rewards you get for completing them aren't necessarily as exciting as you'd expect. The story, while still great, didn't hit me as hard as the first game's story did. And there are some minor things that I liked, such as the character bios and being able to replay podcasts, that do not return for this game, which is a real shame.

But in spite of all that, I just really love swinging through New York City. Especially when the sun is setting. It just looks so beautiful, and I can't get enough of it. I haven't been able to do a lot of travelling since the pandemic, so this feels like the next best thing to exploring a big city. There's really nothing else like it, for me at least, and perhaps that's what I'm trying to get at. There are parts of this game's design philosophy that I can see warranting a 45-minute video essay on why it's "a part of a bigger problem with video games", but I really can't see myself wanting to agree with that video, because I still get so much enjoyment out of this game, just like I did with the first one. The AAA video game scene is starting to look unsustainable, and I continue to find myself more interested in smaller games or classics that I haven't gotten around to playing yet. But if Insomniac keeps making Spider-Man games, I'll still try to stick around for them.

The job system took a little time for me to get used to, but even before it did, I could tell that I was going to love this game.

I love the Moogles. I love Gilgamesh. I love Boko. I love Ghido the Turtle. I love the dances you can partake in at the bars. I love how Exdeath turns himself into a splinter. I love how there are so many hard enemies and bosses in here throughout the game, and then by the end, you have Bahamut and you can just sweep the floor with him. But most importantly, I now fully understand why Nobuo Uemetsu is considered a musical god. His score in here is simply incredible (it's really nice they give you the option to change between both the new and old soundtrack, because I love both).

Even if this isn't the first Final Fantasy game I've played, I feel like I've finally (lol) been fully introduced to what the series has to offer, and I'm happy to say that I'm going to stick around to see more. And based on what I've heard for as long as I've known about video games, the next one I play chronologically is going to be even better...

Simply incredible. Improves upon so much of what was introduced in Blind Forest, without letting you forget what made that game so special in the first place. The music and atmosphere are simply incredible in here, and I really enjoyed all the new game mechanics that were introduced. The story, while nothing new, still managed to really hit me hard (I just don't like seeing bad things happen to that sad little owl!), and by the end I found myself feeling very overwhelmed with emotion. This game really is something special.

The only issue I have with it were that the Switch version felt really laggy at certain points, and the load times were way longer than expected. Although, I guess you could say that "this game is TOO good to run on the switch" could really be seen as another compliment...

I really love the art-style in this game. The fact that it looks so similar to the anime is really impressive. I just with I could learn how to do all the combos correctly.

The story mode may not be anything amazing, but as someone who's only prior exposure to Dragon Ball was when I watched Evolution with some friends, I really enjoyed getting to learn about all the crazy characters in this series. Since you have to rescue all of Goku's friends and the first campaign, it was nice to be "introduced" to them. I also kinda liked the whole "you, the one playing the game, get to be in the world with these characters" angle they went with. It may be a little silly, but it sort of made me think about the role of the player in the video game experience, which is something unique to this art form.

Some random things I've learned about the Dragon Ball franchise from this game: Krillin is a wife guy, Yamcha has self-esteem issues, Goku has a son named Gohan (who looks the same age as him), Cell is the ultimate life form and sounds like Plankton from Spongebob, Captian Ginyu is a big fan of dancing, Vegeta's a dick, Gotenks is two children, Jeice is Australian, and Piccolo is the coolest character.

Rest in Peace, Akira Toriyama. I may not be familiar with your work, but there's no question about the incredible influence it has had on the world. Your legacy will burn strong.