powerburial
2022
not for me lol
2019
FFO: Darkest Dungeon, Turn-Based Battles (namely Suikoden), History
If you're into Darkest Dungeon and history you should definitely try this. Even if you're not that into the gameplay, I think it's worth playing for the unique atmosphere it has. Bleak but hopeful, there's a sad humanism in meeting these interesting characters and learning more about them while fighting with them. As you go on, resources dwindle, districts fall, until ultimately the uprising is violently put down. There's a real feeling expressed through the gameplay of trying to find the strength to fight on while the world crumbles around you no matter how hard you fight to stop it.
While this makes one playthrough very emotionally impactful, the necessary slog and difficulty of the combat and resource management makes me very hesitant to do multiple campaigns the way people would for other games in the genre. I also recommend playing on easy your first time. If you have to keep starting over, you're probably going to quit this game and never make it to the end. While you certainly do lose a little something by playing on easy- for example I only lost one person by the end, and I was absolutely destroying the nazis in one turn- just fuckin one-shot sniping them and nuking them with molotovs which was pretty satisfying in its own way. You'd have a much more stronger feel for the loss and attrition playing on normal, but as I said, you're just probably never going to make it. That's part of the game, but this is a game that's worth seeing to the end. Drop it to easy before giving up, that's all I ask.
If you're into Darkest Dungeon and history you should definitely try this. Even if you're not that into the gameplay, I think it's worth playing for the unique atmosphere it has. Bleak but hopeful, there's a sad humanism in meeting these interesting characters and learning more about them while fighting with them. As you go on, resources dwindle, districts fall, until ultimately the uprising is violently put down. There's a real feeling expressed through the gameplay of trying to find the strength to fight on while the world crumbles around you no matter how hard you fight to stop it.
While this makes one playthrough very emotionally impactful, the necessary slog and difficulty of the combat and resource management makes me very hesitant to do multiple campaigns the way people would for other games in the genre. I also recommend playing on easy your first time. If you have to keep starting over, you're probably going to quit this game and never make it to the end. While you certainly do lose a little something by playing on easy- for example I only lost one person by the end, and I was absolutely destroying the nazis in one turn- just fuckin one-shot sniping them and nuking them with molotovs which was pretty satisfying in its own way. You'd have a much more stronger feel for the loss and attrition playing on normal, but as I said, you're just probably never going to make it. That's part of the game, but this is a game that's worth seeing to the end. Drop it to easy before giving up, that's all I ask.
2022
Chained Echoes is a game of contrasts....
Really, this game is so polished and well-designed for being an amateur, almost sub-indie game. It does a lot of things better than not only competing indie JRPGs, but actual mainstream JRPGs. It has some of the best map design and exploration in a 2d 16bit JRPG, at times feeling like a 3d zone from Xenoblade Chronicles or Final Fantasy 12. Once you unlock your mechs, it recontexualizes many zones by basically adding a Z-plane. It shouldn't work but it does. It's like if 2.5D actually meant something.
This game really shines in the mechanical, gameplay aspects. An interesting battle system (that does get stale unfortunately but less so than the vast majority of JRPGs), the map exploration, the feeling of constantly unlocking new systems to toy with. I didn't think I enjoyed any traditional JRPG gameplay but this game reminded me devs are just not doing a great job making it engaging these last decades.
It initially opens with a very interesting premise and an engaging cast of characters. The first act I would recommend to basically any old school fan, especially fans of Suikoden and Xenogears. However, this is where we get to my opening line about the contrasts here. This game in some ways is so impressive and polished and well-designed that- when its at its best- competes with massive developers like Monolith Soft and Square Enix. However, as you get further into the game, it stops sucking its gut in. Cracks begin to show. It's hard to pinpoint, but there's a lack of focus and coherence that was making me start to lose interest in not just the story and character arcs but the game itself. Features and system mechanics pile up going from generous to aimless. There's a distinct amateurish vibe, like the writing of a flash game. One prominent example is the wild variance in tone and quality of writing, most times being a standard JRPG a child could play then at other times veering of course with overt sexual themes, swearing, hanging corpses in town, or a party member ruefully retelling a memory of a gang rape. It's not that I'm particularly sensitive to this, but you need to pick one or the other. This is not a mature JRPG for adults, and it's also at times not appropriate for pre-adolescents whatsoever.
I made it to the beginning of Act 3, and it was really just starting to feel like there wasn't a vision here for what this story is trying to tell. It was just piling on new things. This happened, then this happened, oh I just made up a cool backstory for this character, let me add that in now. As I haven't seen the end, maybe I'm mistaken and everything comes together and wraps up really nicely, but that's not the impression I've gotten at all with my experience.
Still, I'm probably much more critical on this than other people would be. MOST JRPGs have a pretty dogshit story or dull characters. People just accept it as part of the genre. If you think, say, the Tales Of games or Trails games have good characters and plots, what this game offers will likely be sufficient (yes, that is a dig at you but it's ok).
So, why am I eviscerating this game and giving it 4 stars? The first act is THAT good. This games high points in design philosophy and mechanics are so well-done that any fan of the genre should play it to the end of Act 1. If you're compelled to finish it, great; if you start to slowly lose interest as I did, big deal, you still had a great time with Act 1. I'm bitter that it didn't follow through, but I'll be interested to see what this developer does next. There is a lot of potential here.
Really, this game is so polished and well-designed for being an amateur, almost sub-indie game. It does a lot of things better than not only competing indie JRPGs, but actual mainstream JRPGs. It has some of the best map design and exploration in a 2d 16bit JRPG, at times feeling like a 3d zone from Xenoblade Chronicles or Final Fantasy 12. Once you unlock your mechs, it recontexualizes many zones by basically adding a Z-plane. It shouldn't work but it does. It's like if 2.5D actually meant something.
This game really shines in the mechanical, gameplay aspects. An interesting battle system (that does get stale unfortunately but less so than the vast majority of JRPGs), the map exploration, the feeling of constantly unlocking new systems to toy with. I didn't think I enjoyed any traditional JRPG gameplay but this game reminded me devs are just not doing a great job making it engaging these last decades.
It initially opens with a very interesting premise and an engaging cast of characters. The first act I would recommend to basically any old school fan, especially fans of Suikoden and Xenogears. However, this is where we get to my opening line about the contrasts here. This game in some ways is so impressive and polished and well-designed that- when its at its best- competes with massive developers like Monolith Soft and Square Enix. However, as you get further into the game, it stops sucking its gut in. Cracks begin to show. It's hard to pinpoint, but there's a lack of focus and coherence that was making me start to lose interest in not just the story and character arcs but the game itself. Features and system mechanics pile up going from generous to aimless. There's a distinct amateurish vibe, like the writing of a flash game. One prominent example is the wild variance in tone and quality of writing, most times being a standard JRPG a child could play then at other times veering of course with overt sexual themes, swearing, hanging corpses in town, or a party member ruefully retelling a memory of a gang rape. It's not that I'm particularly sensitive to this, but you need to pick one or the other. This is not a mature JRPG for adults, and it's also at times not appropriate for pre-adolescents whatsoever.
I made it to the beginning of Act 3, and it was really just starting to feel like there wasn't a vision here for what this story is trying to tell. It was just piling on new things. This happened, then this happened, oh I just made up a cool backstory for this character, let me add that in now. As I haven't seen the end, maybe I'm mistaken and everything comes together and wraps up really nicely, but that's not the impression I've gotten at all with my experience.
Still, I'm probably much more critical on this than other people would be. MOST JRPGs have a pretty dogshit story or dull characters. People just accept it as part of the genre. If you think, say, the Tales Of games or Trails games have good characters and plots, what this game offers will likely be sufficient (yes, that is a dig at you but it's ok).
So, why am I eviscerating this game and giving it 4 stars? The first act is THAT good. This games high points in design philosophy and mechanics are so well-done that any fan of the genre should play it to the end of Act 1. If you're compelled to finish it, great; if you start to slowly lose interest as I did, big deal, you still had a great time with Act 1. I'm bitter that it didn't follow through, but I'll be interested to see what this developer does next. There is a lot of potential here.
Always cool when devs make a good game and put it in a bad game. Basically every design choice and system mechanic outside of the missions feel like they were made to aggressively hamper your enjoyment of the game. Can probably be modded into a 5/5 game.
2018
Sweet game, fun little twist on katamari with nice music, cute tone. It being about 2 hours is a positive. Surprisingly soothing.
2023
This game completely nails everything it sets out to do. I can't think of a single significant mistake or bad design choice. The combat is fun even at it's simplest (mashing 4/4 light attacks), but has a ton of depth to explore. It doesn't reach the levels of DMC5 or Bayonetta 1 but it doesn't need to, it carves its own niche.
It has a really distinct style that's extremely well-animated, matching with the great voice-acting, tone, and humor to give it a fun saturday morning cartoon vibe. It brings me back to my first time playing DMC3, laughing out loud at the cool but over-the-top cutscenes. At first, I was scared the tone and attempts at humor would be a turn-off I'd just have to tolerate, but it quickly proved itself. The Korsica door cutscene will be seared into my memory forever as a classic hilarious bit. The characters are so much better than you'd expect, and the story hits every beat perfectly and ends in an extremely satisfying way.
This is the game I've been waiting a decade for Platinum to make, it feels like them at their prime. If you're a fan of games like Devil May Cry and Bayonetta, you absolutely have to try this.
It has a really distinct style that's extremely well-animated, matching with the great voice-acting, tone, and humor to give it a fun saturday morning cartoon vibe. It brings me back to my first time playing DMC3, laughing out loud at the cool but over-the-top cutscenes. At first, I was scared the tone and attempts at humor would be a turn-off I'd just have to tolerate, but it quickly proved itself. The Korsica door cutscene will be seared into my memory forever as a classic hilarious bit. The characters are so much better than you'd expect, and the story hits every beat perfectly and ends in an extremely satisfying way.
This is the game I've been waiting a decade for Platinum to make, it feels like them at their prime. If you're a fan of games like Devil May Cry and Bayonetta, you absolutely have to try this.
2023
The perfect action game
It's good tetris but I don't buy that its much more than that
executed well, tight as hell
... better than 8
... better than 8