simmias
A charming indie game in the style of the old 16-bit SNES jrpgs. I loved this game for the first 10 hours, really liked it after that, but was ready to get to the end with about 5 hours to go. I feel like it was maybe one chapter too long.
The music was great, and the dialogue and characters are pretty well done. I enjoyed the battle system, although it did get boring toward the end since every battle played out pretty much the same way.
I'll definitely be on the lookout for this team's next game.
The music was great, and the dialogue and characters are pretty well done. I enjoyed the battle system, although it did get boring toward the end since every battle played out pretty much the same way.
I'll definitely be on the lookout for this team's next game.
I picked this up because I had a $1 GameFly offer with two discs out and needed a second PS5 game. I almost didn't play it because I didn't know if I'd end up liking it, but I'm really glad I did!
I really enjoyed the platforming and mechanics, and everything was just challenging enough to make me keep trying to 100% every level. The ultimate challenge level was tough but fair, and I definitely made it harder on myself by going faster than I needed to (I finished at 8 minutes 45 seconds I think).
This game really shined in two-player co-op, though. I had tremendous fun playing with a friend, although when I tried four-player co-op it was much more of a hassle than anything due to the limited range of the camera.
Overall, I'm really glad I picked this up, and it was a delight to play on the PS5.
I really enjoyed the platforming and mechanics, and everything was just challenging enough to make me keep trying to 100% every level. The ultimate challenge level was tough but fair, and I definitely made it harder on myself by going faster than I needed to (I finished at 8 minutes 45 seconds I think).
This game really shined in two-player co-op, though. I had tremendous fun playing with a friend, although when I tried four-player co-op it was much more of a hassle than anything due to the limited range of the camera.
Overall, I'm really glad I picked this up, and it was a delight to play on the PS5.
Amazing, especially in 40hz/120fps mode. I don't think the smile ever left my face while I was playing.
I do wish the trophies had been harder, though, or at least one that would have encouraged me to run through challenge mode and upgrade all the weapons completely. Hopefully we'll get the standard Sony NG+ trophies in a few months!
I do wish the trophies had been harder, though, or at least one that would have encouraged me to run through challenge mode and upgrade all the weapons completely. Hopefully we'll get the standard Sony NG+ trophies in a few months!
This was much better than I thought it would be, and was a great PS+ game.
There's definitely some small-dev jank to the animations and the AI is pretty bad, but the game is absolutely gorgeous on PS5, the characters are great, and the story was compelling enough to keep me playing for basically two days straight until I finished.
This is also one of the first games in recent memory where I actually read all the little descriptions for the collectibles. The devs did a great job making the history interesting.
I'll definitely be on the lookout for their next game.
There's definitely some small-dev jank to the animations and the AI is pretty bad, but the game is absolutely gorgeous on PS5, the characters are great, and the story was compelling enough to keep me playing for basically two days straight until I finished.
This is also one of the first games in recent memory where I actually read all the little descriptions for the collectibles. The devs did a great job making the history interesting.
I'll definitely be on the lookout for their next game.
2014
A beautiful game! I really enjoyed this one. The constant rhyming was a bit tiresome and the story wasn't really all that captivating, but it had a charm that overcame these faults. And the music is fantastic.
2021
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.
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.
2019
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!
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!
I already loved the original, but this remake/remaster is really well done. Movement is much more fluid, frame rate is fantastic, the extra ending is great, and I swear that even the grind for materials was less painful.
I do miss old man NieR, but young NieR was so much better than I thought he was going to be - to the point that I don't think I could ever go back to the PS3/360 version just for the old guy.
This is an absolute classic that everyone should play, and this is the version to get.
I do miss old man NieR, but young NieR was so much better than I thought he was going to be - to the point that I don't think I could ever go back to the PS3/360 version just for the old guy.
This is an absolute classic that everyone should play, and this is the version to get.
2019
This is a game I really wanted to like - and for a while, I did! I love the whole Fallout gameplay loop of exploration and looting, and this game satisfied it in droves.
Unfortunately, there's not too much to this game beyond that. Combat is boring. The story is just OK. Where this game really shines is in the backstory that you read on terminals, but the story of the present day just didn't grip me at all. I also completely tuned out during the (extremely lengthy) ending slideshow that showed me the result of all my work, because ultimately, I just didn't care!
I also didn't care a lick about any of the companions, with the exception of the amazing Parvati, who never left my party and singlehandedly bumped my review from 3 stars to 3.5!
The DLC is pretty good and might be better than the main game. Peril on Gorgon starts pretty slow, but quickly becomes interesting and engaging (but again, only in what you discover about what happened in the past through terminals and whatnot). And Murder on Eridanos was short, engaging and fun.
I also didn't like that the game level caps you at 36 (or 30 without the DLC). There was a good portion toward the end where I was gaining no XP and couldn't improve my character at all, which takes out quite a bit of your motivation.
Oh - and finally - I know this is a game set in space, but it really didn't feel that way, unlike something like Mass Effect. It honestly didn't feel that much different than Fallout setting-wise. Lots of same-ish buildings to explore and same-ish planets.
Also, the load times are just bad, even on PS5.
I feel like there could have been a good game here, and maybe the second one will be better, but I probably won't pick it up.
Unfortunately, there's not too much to this game beyond that. Combat is boring. The story is just OK. Where this game really shines is in the backstory that you read on terminals, but the story of the present day just didn't grip me at all. I also completely tuned out during the (extremely lengthy) ending slideshow that showed me the result of all my work, because ultimately, I just didn't care!
I also didn't care a lick about any of the companions, with the exception of the amazing Parvati, who never left my party and singlehandedly bumped my review from 3 stars to 3.5!
The DLC is pretty good and might be better than the main game. Peril on Gorgon starts pretty slow, but quickly becomes interesting and engaging (but again, only in what you discover about what happened in the past through terminals and whatnot). And Murder on Eridanos was short, engaging and fun.
I also didn't like that the game level caps you at 36 (or 30 without the DLC). There was a good portion toward the end where I was gaining no XP and couldn't improve my character at all, which takes out quite a bit of your motivation.
Oh - and finally - I know this is a game set in space, but it really didn't feel that way, unlike something like Mass Effect. It honestly didn't feel that much different than Fallout setting-wise. Lots of same-ish buildings to explore and same-ish planets.
Also, the load times are just bad, even on PS5.
I feel like there could have been a good game here, and maybe the second one will be better, but I probably won't pick it up.
I really like this game!
First off, this is an old-school JRPG. It's a really well done PS4 remaster of the PSP version from years ago, which itself was a remake of the SNES classic. This means there are a lot of things from old school JRPGs that will probably turn off newer players, such as random battles (lots of them!) and backtracking. Also, unlike most games with random battles, there's no good way to turn them off. There's one character you can get late who can turn them off in the world map, but you can only lower the rate in dungeons.
That said, this game is still great for anyone who grew up playing NES/SNES JRPGs. The redone pixel sprites look great, the voice acting is better than expected, and the story is surprisingly good, although you'll roll your eyes at some of the lines. I also really liked most of the characters.
The best part of this game, though, is the intricate crafting and skill system. It's really exciting when you unlock something new, and the game is pretty easy to break (in a fun way) if you know what you're doing. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) even breaking the game means you can still die pretty easily in the postgame dungeon if you aren't careful.
I really, really hope we get a localization of the second PSP game remaster!
First off, this is an old-school JRPG. It's a really well done PS4 remaster of the PSP version from years ago, which itself was a remake of the SNES classic. This means there are a lot of things from old school JRPGs that will probably turn off newer players, such as random battles (lots of them!) and backtracking. Also, unlike most games with random battles, there's no good way to turn them off. There's one character you can get late who can turn them off in the world map, but you can only lower the rate in dungeons.
That said, this game is still great for anyone who grew up playing NES/SNES JRPGs. The redone pixel sprites look great, the voice acting is better than expected, and the story is surprisingly good, although you'll roll your eyes at some of the lines. I also really liked most of the characters.
The best part of this game, though, is the intricate crafting and skill system. It's really exciting when you unlock something new, and the game is pretty easy to break (in a fun way) if you know what you're doing. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) even breaking the game means you can still die pretty easily in the postgame dungeon if you aren't careful.
I really, really hope we get a localization of the second PSP game remaster!
This was a pretty fun game in four-player co-op, although some of the levels were definitely not built for it. It's still really fun to play with friends, though!
2017
Amazing game with amazing DLC.
This game is like the perfect blend of Bioshock, Deus Ex, and Dead Space. And the DLC puts a twist on the gameplay of the base game with highly addictive results.
This is a definite recommend from me, especially if you like the three games above. And don't skip Mooncrash!
Honestly, the only negative with this game are the really long loading screens, which are long even on PS5. This would have been a great candidate for a next-gen update to hopefully cut down on the loading.
This game is like the perfect blend of Bioshock, Deus Ex, and Dead Space. And the DLC puts a twist on the gameplay of the base game with highly addictive results.
This is a definite recommend from me, especially if you like the three games above. And don't skip Mooncrash!
Honestly, the only negative with this game are the really long loading screens, which are long even on PS5. This would have been a great candidate for a next-gen update to hopefully cut down on the loading.
2018
One of the worst Lego games, unfortunately. The load times are really bad, the puzzles are almost nonexistent, and the story sequences, while entertaining, become a slog in certain levels. And the bonus level has to be the least inspired one yet.
I was hoping this one would be better. It's still a Lego game, though, so it's not awful, but almost any other Lego game would be better to play.
I was hoping this one would be better. It's still a Lego game, though, so it's not awful, but almost any other Lego game would be better to play.
Amazing. The GOAT trilogy, and it still stands up today.
The quality of life changes to ME1 were great, and the second two games were pretty much untouched, including (unfortunately) some of the annoying bugs. However, these games are still some of my all-time favorites, and this remaster almost does them justice.
The quality of life changes to ME1 were great, and the second two games were pretty much untouched, including (unfortunately) some of the annoying bugs. However, these games are still some of my all-time favorites, and this remaster almost does them justice.
2021
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.
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.