This one feels like a tough game to rate. The voice cast and dialogue are amazing, the music is excellent, and the story is pretty fun.

However, the gameplay is just plain mediocre, and I encountered a lot of really annoying bugs that required me to restart quite a bit, such as battles hanging where I couldn't do anything, characters deciding to stop talking (but other ones would keep talking to them like they were), and characters spawning where they shouldn't and ruining scenes.

If I were rating this just on gameplay, it would probably be one star. It's one of those games where you try it on normal difficulty, realize it's just not fun, and then crank it down to the easiest you can make it just to get through the unfun battles and back to bonding with your teammates.

The game also ends really strongly, and I flew through the last few chapters, while it took me a long time to get through the ones before that since I'd just lose interest in playing. I'm glad I kept going, though, because the end of the game is worth it and is really well done.

Overall, I'd say definitely play it if you're a fan of the source material. The writing is top-notch, and there's obviously a lot of care and love that went into the script. I just wish the gameplay were better and that more of the bugs had been ironed out by the time I played. And I wish I could have played as anyone other than Starlord!

One of the weaker Tales games, unfortunately, but still worth playing.

I actually didn't really like this game at the start. The characters are really bland, and the story is pretty awful. What saves it is the battle system, which never really got old for me, and definitely started to shine toward the end and in the postgame. The music is also pretty good, and the art direction is first class.

What really threw me was that the tone of the game was just super serious for so long, and that the story would just repeat the same beats over and over and over again. It felt like the writers thought they were making incredibly profound points, when in reality everything they were trying to say was super obvious, and by the time you hear the characters say it the fourth time in a different way, it really turns you off.

I also didn't like that the majority of the skits, which normally bring some lightheartedness to Tales games and serve to strengthen the character bonds, just served to further expand on the already mediocre story in this game. Thankfully, the characters did begin to actually seem like they liked being around each other around the midpoint of the game, and that's around where I started to like them (for the most part).

Still, this is probably my least favorite cast of characters in a Tales game, and definitely my least favorite story. Why 3.5 stars, then, instead of a lower score? Well, the battle system is really fun, and the postgame content is fun as well.

I just hope the next Tales game does more with the cast of characters and the story. Oh - and it would help if they would proofread their script. There were so many typos in the subtitles (and even sections where they didn't match up at all to the dialogue) that I lost count.

Also, there's no grade system, and almost all the great bonuses that used to be tied behind it, like the ability to carry 99 items (!) and EXP/SP boosts, are now DLC that you have to buy. Ugh. I guess I get it, but it's still really disappointing, especially the item capacity bit.

Man, do I love this game.

Resonance of Fate has a unique and engaging battle system, incredible gun customization, great characters, great music, great voice acting (especially Nolan North) - all wrapped up with a story that seems pretty convoluted on a first playthrough (but still manages to be interesting). However, the story makes much more sense in NG+, and it's good enough that it sticks with you and makes you think about some of its implications.

I've played through this game three times over the years (well, six, if you count all the NG+s immediately after finishing), and each time I still watch all the cutscenes.

My only gripe about this edition is whatever the heck they did with the subtitles - half of them put the text in quotes (""), while the other half don't - often in the same conversation! It's really the only part of this game that is inferior to the PS3/360 versions, and I hate that it hasn't been fixed. It's incredibly distracting, and one of the only black spots on a game I really like.

This game is a surprisingly good AA RPG and had me hooked all the way to the end.

After hearing that Vampyr got a next-gen patch that solved many of the technical issues that people had complained about in the past, I gave it a try on my PS5. Movement felt great with the 60fps patch, and combat was smooth, if a little generic. The game isn't much of a looker, but it's to be expected with a game like this from a smaller studio. Load times were pretty good overall, even though there would be occasions where you'd get a long one.

As for the game itself, I really enjoyed the story, the voice acting, the NPCs (each one felt really fleshed out), and the music. The way the music changed depending on how you were deciding to play your character was a really great touch.

Now, as a completionist, this game is a bit of a nightmare. There is no manual saving, and the game autosaves immediately after any big decision - usually the kind that make you question whether you really just did what you wanted. I understand why the developers went with that design - they want every action to count, and they want you to really role play here - but I have to admit I found myself backing up my save file nonetheless every few hours just in case I wanted to change my mind about anything.

It was also difficult coming to terms with the fact that it was impossible to get everything in this game - you can't get all the hints for everyone and get all the collectibles in the same playthrough, and you can't get all the weapons without playing completely evil. It's actually a really great game design choice, but it was killing me as a completionist.

The only thing that really didn't work for me was the romantic relationship - it felt out of place and never felt earned. It seemed like much more of a plot device, and the characters didn't seem to have much chemistry. I was actually shocked when the relationship started and wondered if I'd missed something.

All in all, though, this is a really underrated gem that's definitely worth playing on next-gen systems. I think a lot of the lower ratings were based on technical issues from last gen hardware.

As good as advertised. The writing had the same tone and cleverness of a lot of the old Infocom games, and it was just pure joy to play. I loved that sometimes the best results came from failed skill checks and that there were numerous ways to progress the story.

My only gripes are that the game was clearly made for KB/M, and it made some of the interactions more awkward than they could have been. Also, load times, even on PS5, feel longer than they should be, and you can only fast travel to three places, and two of them are pretty much right next to each other.

All in all, though, this is a game that I'd recommend to anyone I like.

After the first 10 hours or so, I thought this game was amazing. Great battle system, likable characters, fun progression systems and crafting, good soundtrack, and an engaging story.

But man, this game just becomes a slog around the middle. I eventually lowered the difficulty to easy just to get through the fights and make it to the end faster. The story gets dumb, the character events become tedious, and the dungeon design is just bland with endless enemies that aren't all that different from one another.

I really wanted to like this game, and I did in the beginning, but I'd say overall it's just pretty average. The battle system is fun, though.

Oh, and this is the first PS5 game I've played where I really didn't like what they did with the Dualshock support. At times it felt like just random clicks, or just constant vibrating feedback during battles.

I really enjoyed this. I had heard comparisons made to games like Limbo and Inside, and I would put this game up there with both of those.

The game has a really creepy atmosphere, great design work, simple but engaging puzzles, and a story that stuck with me after I was done.

The DLC is also some of the best around, and I'd almost say it's mandatory to play it to get a true appreciation of this twisted little game.

I really enjoyed this! Easily my favorite Ys game, and I like Ys games!

Combat is fun of course, and the music is great (but not as good as Ys VIII's soundtrack, unfortunately). Those are pretty much always givens with Ys games though, so where I was pleasantly surprised was with the interesting story and the characters I (mostly) cared about.

I hope this series keeps getting more popular, especially in the West, because I want Falcom to keep making them - and maybe get the English versions out faster!