Finished replaying this for the first time in years and despite it being fairly aged, i ended up appreciating and enjoying it way more than i did the first time i played through it.
There’s just something so impressive about being able to completely build a new universe from the ground up to me, especially one that is this detailed and well thought out. Best way i can describe this games general feel is how It feels to watch “new hope.” nowadays. There’s just such a fantastic feeling of iconography and nostalgia. The simple, colourful character designs and costumes of ur crew are kind of genius.
The actual gameplay isn’t particularly complex or engaging but i do feel as if the game makes up for it with a very gripping feeling of immersion. The mako is annoying and the gunplay will feel especially clunky unless you are playing on the remastered version (which i did.) The dialogue wheel was revolutionary at the time, and nowadays no RPG really has attempted to match the system.
The main draws for this series in general are the universe/world building and the character writing/dialogue and something i wasn’t expecting is how well the writing in this game holds up today, it’s actually full of good humour, especially if you go renegade. But i was more surprised at how relevant many of the political discussions within the game really were. The universe is ridiculously entertaining but importantly as well it is tangible.
Fantastic Game 8/10

tooooo good man, i loved that shit.

One of the most over hated games of all time in my opinion, more or less as a result of the games rough, buggy launch.
Don't get me wrong, there is some baaaaadddd writing but tbh there are a lot of interesting plot threads as well, there's a lot of potential in the games setting and a lot of it is missed but some of it is also cool.
The combat is the best its been in the series too, its really not the worst thing ive ever played.

Idk i found humour in its awfulness, mostly had fun tbh lol

For an early stepping stone in an action game franchise, mechanically its quite impressive. Simple but very fun and entertaining progression that doesn't overstay its welcome, save from a few frustrating pacing killing sections and repeated bosses.
Its also goofy as hell, a lot of the dialogue is preciously hilarious so don't take it too seriously.

It’s animal crossing but fun and good

The first like 2-3 missions of this game are halo peak but the rest can genuinely be awful, so many times when I wasn't sure if I was going the right way, endless corridors and rooms that all looked exactly the same, if I wasn't playing with a friend I would have died of boredom through the midsection, mind-numbing stuff.

playing this straight after ninja gaiden 2 was a little jarring

Even in this updated version of the game, it just feels so generic, the soul of the ninja gaiden series is just not present here and it really hurts the experience, it actually bored me into not playing it, it became a chore. It just feels like a very hollow attempt at trying to turn the series into a cinematic story game, like a god of war 2018 gone wrong and it doesnt work. Whoever in particular got Troy Baker to voice Ryu should be fired immediately, its soooo bad.

Far and away biowares greatest achievement, best game in the series and one of the greatest RPGs. the final mission to this day has still not been matched by any other game, extremely ambitious and improves on the original in just about every way you would imagine.

2015

the gameplay fucking sucks but this has gotta be one of the best stories gaming has produced, this is a truly excellent use of the medium to tell a unique story

This is one of the greatest character action games of all time, DMC5 can eat my ass, this was so much more fun.

Im genuinely shocked this game originally came out in 2004, its aged like the finest of wines, the visuals are obviously dated but the art design has that PS2 charm that im a sucker for.
But the real reason this game is still so good is because its nearly mechanically perfect. The combat is brilliant, the enemy variety and the level design are excellent. And a lot of the bosses have that sekiro feeling of getting to the point where you have mastered everything they can throw it you and you begin to dodge and punish everything perfectly, its extremely rewarding at times solely due to its mechanical depth.
The parkour elements are genuinely impressive, especially for this era, although they are slightly frustrating. This game is hard, really hard, im not sure where it ranks yet as far as hardest games ive played but its defo up there and i love it all the more for that. It wont be for everyone though, this game punishes the new player quite heavily and can initially be quite hard to get into as there really are a lot of early game walls that you can hit hard. Personally though i adore this type of game and its up there with some of my all time faves.