robbhbrake
Putting aside the largely awful minigames and pace-obliterating open world bloat, Rebirth is an absolute triumph when it comes to doing well by its story and characters, i.e. the reason I like RPGs.
It’s unfortunate that SO much of this game is a pointless slog full of wheel-spinning. At no point does any of the side content feel natural, and the few bits I enjoyed at first (Queen’s Blood, combat simulations) grew old LONG before I finished the game, to the point where about 2/3s of the way through I decided to make a beeline for the end because I was sick of the gameplay loop.
But like I said, the characters are wonderfully realized, and the story changes to the original spark that same sense of mystery and childlike wonder that I felt when I was eight, and that goes a long, long way. Maybe it's not a good game so much as a good collection of cutscenes, but that's what I play RPGs for anyway.
Also Aerith best girl. Obviously.
It’s unfortunate that SO much of this game is a pointless slog full of wheel-spinning. At no point does any of the side content feel natural, and the few bits I enjoyed at first (Queen’s Blood, combat simulations) grew old LONG before I finished the game, to the point where about 2/3s of the way through I decided to make a beeline for the end because I was sick of the gameplay loop.
But like I said, the characters are wonderfully realized, and the story changes to the original spark that same sense of mystery and childlike wonder that I felt when I was eight, and that goes a long, long way. Maybe it's not a good game so much as a good collection of cutscenes, but that's what I play RPGs for anyway.
Also Aerith best girl. Obviously.
Definitely an improvement over the PSP version. Story is all over the place but it makes up for it with a great ending.
Objectively this is an amazing game. As good as or maybe better than the first. But I think I get it.
Stupid short but a fantastic beat em up and a great successor to Turtles in Time
If you like any DQM game (or monster collecting game in general), you’ll probably like this one too. Some truly miserable puzzle dungeons in the latter half though.
Free code with the new PS5 so I figured why not.
Made it through the tutorial and promptly deleted. Probably fine. Very not for me.
Made it through the tutorial and promptly deleted. Probably fine. Very not for me.
2023
Way shorter than I remember but it’s still as good as it ever was, and the graphical/audio overhaul improves things while retaining the spirit of the original. Basically the best straight remake you could hope for!
2023
Too stressful, too much to micromanage. I just wanna enjoy a game!
(5 hours, might eventually go back)
(5 hours, might eventually go back)
2023
Let’s get the positives out of the way first: Sea of Stars has killer presentation. The pixel art (and charming Lunar-esque animated cutscenes) is some of the best in the genre and the soundtrack, while not exceptional, at least hits a solid tonal approximation of the games it’s emulating.
And that’s about it. A cup of Chrono Trigger, a scoop of Mario RPG, and a dash of Lunar, but with little idea of what makes those games classics, Sea of Stars ends up much less than the sum of its parts.
The battle system seems impressive at first glance, but after maybe an hour of play you’ve seen just about everything it has to offer. With a stunningly low number of skills per character and a nearly nonexistent sense of progression, the battles quickly become stagnant and more tedious than engaging. Hope you enjoy Moonerang!
That isn’t a dealbreaker though. After all, Lunar has repetitive combat too. Where Sea of Stars really falters is its awful pacing and flat, cardboard characters. Leads Zale and Valere are essentially worse than a silent protagonist in that there are two of them and they talk once every few hours of gameplay, and third banana Garl is one of the most irritating sidekicks in recent memory. Don’t worry though, the entire story REVOLVES around him.
Excelling at nothing but admittedly excellent pixel art, there’s no reason to play this over any of the games it’s imitating, which is the most damning thing I can say for a game made in 2023.
(Abandoned around 15 hours in at the titular location)
And that’s about it. A cup of Chrono Trigger, a scoop of Mario RPG, and a dash of Lunar, but with little idea of what makes those games classics, Sea of Stars ends up much less than the sum of its parts.
The battle system seems impressive at first glance, but after maybe an hour of play you’ve seen just about everything it has to offer. With a stunningly low number of skills per character and a nearly nonexistent sense of progression, the battles quickly become stagnant and more tedious than engaging. Hope you enjoy Moonerang!
That isn’t a dealbreaker though. After all, Lunar has repetitive combat too. Where Sea of Stars really falters is its awful pacing and flat, cardboard characters. Leads Zale and Valere are essentially worse than a silent protagonist in that there are two of them and they talk once every few hours of gameplay, and third banana Garl is one of the most irritating sidekicks in recent memory. Don’t worry though, the entire story REVOLVES around him.
Excelling at nothing but admittedly excellent pixel art, there’s no reason to play this over any of the games it’s imitating, which is the most damning thing I can say for a game made in 2023.
(Abandoned around 15 hours in at the titular location)
Great remasters of six great games. Highly recommended if you’ve never played any of these before.
2022
A passionate collection of influences that doesn’t QUITE rise above pastiche. Essentially made by one guy, so the edges are all a bit frayed. Still, absolutely worth your time if you’re into old-school JRPGs.
50 hours, 2 full playthroughs.
Pretty bad remaster with lots of slowdown, excessive load times, and jarring scene changes not present in the original. None of it really bothered me.
Anyway, game’s not nearly as good as it was when I was 14, but I’ve got a ton of nostalgia for it so whatever.
Pretty bad remaster with lots of slowdown, excessive load times, and jarring scene changes not present in the original. None of it really bothered me.
Anyway, game’s not nearly as good as it was when I was 14, but I’ve got a ton of nostalgia for it so whatever.
2022
Game’s fine. 30 hours in, early on in Chapter 4.
Not interested enough to finish.
Not interested enough to finish.
A port collection of three Metroidvania GBA games and… Dracula X, for some reason.
Circle of the Moon is the oldest and weakest of the three, pretty comically unbalanced in the endgame, and a lot more of a slog when trying to figure out where to go.
Harmony of Dissonance is ugly, like really ugly, but the gameplay is a huge improvement over Circle. Immediately the controls feel way better, and the balance is just about perfect. Getting the best ending is a little obscure, but otherwise a lot of fun.
Aria of Sorrow is the clear winner of the three Metroidvanias. It looks great and plays great, although this one might have swung too far on the difficulty; this game is super easy. And the true ending is really obscure to get, again. But if you’re only going to play one GBA Metroidvania, play this one!
Dracula X sucks! Cheapo bastardization of Rondo of Blood, which isn’t an amazing classic Castlevania to begin with. Slow, plodding, Richter controls like the way you move in a nightmare. No thanks.
Circle of the Moon is the oldest and weakest of the three, pretty comically unbalanced in the endgame, and a lot more of a slog when trying to figure out where to go.
Harmony of Dissonance is ugly, like really ugly, but the gameplay is a huge improvement over Circle. Immediately the controls feel way better, and the balance is just about perfect. Getting the best ending is a little obscure, but otherwise a lot of fun.
Aria of Sorrow is the clear winner of the three Metroidvanias. It looks great and plays great, although this one might have swung too far on the difficulty; this game is super easy. And the true ending is really obscure to get, again. But if you’re only going to play one GBA Metroidvania, play this one!
Dracula X sucks! Cheapo bastardization of Rondo of Blood, which isn’t an amazing classic Castlevania to begin with. Slow, plodding, Richter controls like the way you move in a nightmare. No thanks.
2022
Triangle Strategy is okay!
The story is heavy on political intrigue, which is usually totally my bag. Sadly, the villains are largely very video game-y, and tend to “mwahaha” in lieu of interesting characterization. Many of the heroes fall victim to similar one-dimensionality, and unfortunately political intrigue is only as intriguing as its characters. On top of this, the dialogue is redundant and all too ready to explain every minute detail to you instead of letting you figure anything out for yourself.
Luckily the gameplay is a lot of fun, although not without its own problems. It’s much shallower mechanically and strategically than benchmark SRPGs like Final Fantasy Tactics, but not having to deal with constant class micromanaging may appeal to those looking for a more streamlined experience.
For what it’s worth, I did three playthroughs, getting two of the three regular endings as well the true ending. And at the end of the day, I’m not totally convinced it was worth more than one, as seeing multiple endings did little more than reveal how ramshackle and malleable this story really is. The branching paths are cool on the surface, but what the game gains in flexibility, it loses in specificity. Characters must fill several roles depending on what story branch you’re in, and that means they can’t be TOO well-defined or a decision they make in an alternate path might not quite line up. So what we get are some stock archetypes that never really get much development outside of some optional cutscenes strictly for character-building (side note: don’t make learning about the people you’re supposed to care about optional! Integrate it into your story, you dorks!)
Truthfully, the only foolproof way out of this problem is to simply NOT have the branching paths. I would have preferred one story done well than four mediocre ones.
Overall it’s decent enough. But if Final Fantasy Tactics is an amazing steak (and it is), this is a fast food steakBURGER. Which is fine, but let’s not kid ourselves.
The story is heavy on political intrigue, which is usually totally my bag. Sadly, the villains are largely very video game-y, and tend to “mwahaha” in lieu of interesting characterization. Many of the heroes fall victim to similar one-dimensionality, and unfortunately political intrigue is only as intriguing as its characters. On top of this, the dialogue is redundant and all too ready to explain every minute detail to you instead of letting you figure anything out for yourself.
Luckily the gameplay is a lot of fun, although not without its own problems. It’s much shallower mechanically and strategically than benchmark SRPGs like Final Fantasy Tactics, but not having to deal with constant class micromanaging may appeal to those looking for a more streamlined experience.
For what it’s worth, I did three playthroughs, getting two of the three regular endings as well the true ending. And at the end of the day, I’m not totally convinced it was worth more than one, as seeing multiple endings did little more than reveal how ramshackle and malleable this story really is. The branching paths are cool on the surface, but what the game gains in flexibility, it loses in specificity. Characters must fill several roles depending on what story branch you’re in, and that means they can’t be TOO well-defined or a decision they make in an alternate path might not quite line up. So what we get are some stock archetypes that never really get much development outside of some optional cutscenes strictly for character-building (side note: don’t make learning about the people you’re supposed to care about optional! Integrate it into your story, you dorks!)
Truthfully, the only foolproof way out of this problem is to simply NOT have the branching paths. I would have preferred one story done well than four mediocre ones.
Overall it’s decent enough. But if Final Fantasy Tactics is an amazing steak (and it is), this is a fast food steakBURGER. Which is fine, but let’s not kid ourselves.