Fuck dude, this fuckin sucks. I love Suikoden, and I know this is just an introductory game before the REAL, BIG game. But the writing is so mediocre, I'm worried about the real Eiyuden. Playing this is like being in purgatory. It's like a fake mobile game. Total slog. Total waste of time. Honestly, this is the type of game that stumps me. How was it made? I guess the playtesters are just afraid to say "this fucking sucks and is boring as hell." You're probably wondering why this has 1.5 stars instead of 0.5. Well, there's probably some weirdos out there who will find the characters, story, or world charming or nostalgic. There's definitely much better stuff they could play, but if you like it, you like it.

Really great gameplay. Works so well, I'm surprised this isn't a subgenre that's already emerged. If you're into the quirks of FPS movement (rocket jumping, bunny hopping, exploiting momentum), this is a must-play. Music is amazing, huge plus. The dialogue and story is a little weak but its ok, its not really what the game's about. Its easy to ignore and skip through if it's not your thing. Some people will like the characters and find it humorous. Despite rolling my eyes at most of it (cough Violet cough), I did find things funny or endearing once in a while. Yellow's exaggerated bro persona and Mikey's scenes were something I would look forward to between missions. Steve Blum voice-acting is a nice cherry on top.

Good game trapped in a mid game. Basically every attempt to copy Souls design was poor gameplay/combat design. It would've been a much better game with a standard action autosave system. Without the ability to travel between bonfires, backtracking through levels is a slog. The combat is worse Sekiro, which is still REALLY good, but there's a lot of things they don't understand that makes a lot of fighting against certain enemies really frustrating and tedious. For example, in Sekiro, you can always cancel a light attack into a dodge or parry, and in general your animations are faster. If you try to play this game quickly on a harder difficulty, you're constantly getting interrupted and hit out of your attacks. You instead have to play patiently and slowly, which is honestly just a lot less fun and interesting than setting it to easy and going wild with longer combos more often.

The characters are better than I was expecting, but not amazing. Plot is serviceable, has some cool moments. The exploration is at times pretty satisfying, but hampered by the Souls checkpoint system and the inability to fast travel. By the end of the game if there was a collectible I could now access from a new ability, if it was out of the way I just wouldn't bother. Who cares? I'm not spending 20 minutes trekking through this winding level to get a force echo or whatever.

If they can clean up the sluggishness of the combat, fix the level design / checkpoint contradiction, and kick up the plot and characters a bit in the sequel, we could be looking at a genuinely good game. As it stands, Fallen Order is a mid game, but it's one of the better mid games I've played.

Really expected to drop this and was basically trying it out of a sense of obligation. It's got some annoying QoL issues (the pathing drove me crazy, party members bumping into each other) but I found even the combat engaging by the end. The dynamic interactions between the party members was really cool, and there's some great areas to explore. Also I find the late 90s gen x dnd nerd humor the game is full of pretty endearing at this point. If I'd played it like 5 years ago, I think it would've just annoyed me.

I was a bit surprised by how good this one is. The amount of unique scenarios you can reach in the mid to late game by combinations of multiple small, niche decisions in the early game is really impressive. I got a death scene for a major character that only 3% of people saw, which required me making two unorthodox choices in previous flashbacks (relating to two different characters) and then failing multiple quicktime events intentionally. If you're into stuff like that, you've gotta check this game out.

Beyond that, the writing and characters are pretty good. Not amazing, but not offensively bad. I'd definitely say better than quantic dream and supermassive.

The art style is hard to get used to. I found it pretty funny at first, I couldn't stop thinking of Tom Goes To The Mayor. I did get used to it. It's not as bad as it looks at first. Still, for some players, they'll never get used to it and it'll always be a turnoff.

The game is pretty short, but I consider that a plus. I've already beat it twice, which I never do for narrative games because I don't want to run another 10 hour campaign after finishing one and view a lot of redundant content I've already seen. I'm already thinking about different routes I can take for my third playthrough.

This is a five star review, but this isn't a perfect game. It definitely has flaws. However, I give it 5 stars because for fans of JRPGs, it provides that elusive nostalgic high that we play so many of these mediocre games to chase. That first game you fell in love with: for me it was FFX, for you maybe FFVII, Suikoden 2, Persona 3, Earthbound, Chrono Trigger, or Dragon Quest 8. Whatever it is, there's a distinctive feeling it gave you as a kid, that you continue playing JRPGs trying to rekindle. Most of the time, you are let down. You may like the combat system, or a few characters, or find the plot decent enough, but usually it just doesn't get there. You might even hit a point where you wonder if a JPRG will make you feel that way again. You're just too old now. These stories are too simple. It's just nostalgia. I thought I had reached that point, but this game proved me wrong.

At face value, the story isn't that exceptional. Aside from one or two of the villains, most of them feel painfully childish- like power rangers monster of the week throwaways. The overarching plot itself is good and engaging, but doesn't stand out among standard JRPG fare. What DOES stand out is what it MEANS, what this story represents, its themes. Time, regret, love, fear, what it means to be alive even if it's painful. THAT is extremely well-done, and emotionally moving. The main cast of characters (and the 20+ heroes that join your party) are my favorite party in a JRPG I've played since I was a kid- maybe my favorite ever, I'll have to think on that. They don't feel like a collection of anime tropes and established archetypal cliches, they feel like human beings. They all have flaws, and growth, and individual arcs. The way they interact with each other over the course of the game- going from hate, to distrust, to begrudging neutrality, and so on, eventually to intimate friendship and love; watching these characters go from enemies to inseparable companions is genuinely touching, especially in the backdrop of a hostile militarized world that makes you question if its even worth fighting for, if there's anything worth salvaging. So, while admittedly, this is a typical JRPG story about a group of friends challenging a corrupt world order in order to save the ones they care about, it is told in such a beautiful and human way, it towers above any JRPG I have played in a long time. If you are a fan of the genre, this is a must-play. This game belongs in the canon of best JRPGs of all time.

TL;DR: Amazing characters, beautiful story. Must-play for JRPG fans. Steer clear if you don't like the genre. It's not for you. Expect run-time of 100 hours+, but its a world you're going to want to keep exploring and will feel sad to leave.

You're probably already expecting this, but its a very simple and jank game. There's nothing that cool about it. The redeeming feature that elevates it from 1/5 to 2/5 is that after a while the mindless shooting and dodging can lull your brain into a kind of a drooling trance state. Though that's probably bad for your brain anyway. Even for free on gamepass, you'll want to put your time into Doom Eternal, Prodeus, Wolfenstein, Titanfall. If you're looking for a spectacle fighter over a shooter, you certainly won't find it with this game either. Go play DMC5.

P.S. Also I want to say- strictly because it's funny- that this game is very close to, and a huge step down from, Dirge of Cerberus (2006).

While I found the survival horror gameplay mechanics really well-done, I didn't find them satisfying in their own right without an intriguing plot and setting to push me forward. I didn't really have much drive to keep on and see what happens next. The standard survival horror puzzles and inventory management felt more like a chore I wanted to avoid than a source of tension and engagement. This isn't a problem I had with any of the early RE games (and this is probably the best RE1 worship game out there). I know I'm in the minority on this, and most people found the setting, characters, and plot very interesting, so I plan to give it another shot one day, see if it clicks. Also worth mentioning the game has a really great look and aesthetic sense. Definitely distinctive enough to be worth noting as a positive in the game's favor.