2021
i liked this slightly more than ff1 lol. there are definitely flaws to the exp system but i like what they were going for at least conceptually; it's solid at low levels but the curve for high levels is really absurd. luckily none of that is even necessary, since the majority of the leveling you need to progress is easily acquired just by engaging all the encounters. unfortunately the game is also somehow way too easy; none of the bosses posed a threat whatsoever, and pretty much all of my deaths were from regular enemies, which was pretty disappointing. aside from a couple strangely timed missables i didn't find anything too cryptic, which was nice. i find it kind of hilarious that each new fourth party member gets killed off and the rest of the characters just act like they never even existed to begin with, almost like it was just used as an excuse to force your party to change lol. i didn't mind that part too much but it probably could have been executed better.
i certainly wouldn't call this a "great" game but i don't think it deserves to be called "bad" either. 7.1/10
i certainly wouldn't call this a "great" game but i don't think it deserves to be called "bad" either. 7.1/10
2012
it's a silly mindless way to waste a couple hours, what else do you want! i mean yeah it's pure trial and error but the charm makes up for it, a bit of immaturity aside
2011
about what i expected. very meh. not strictly unenjoyable or anything, but the stages are very much like step n' roll in that they are mostly about being big and mazelike rather than fun arcade-y challenges that the series is known and revered for; this also makes the game very easy and very short with very little replay value. blah. 3/10
absolutely the best kiseki game.
- gameplay is the peak of the series by far. action combat is rudimentary but complements the turn-based combat incredibly well and switching between them is shockingly fun. most enjoyable the combat has ever been
- story is excellent and im so glad they went a darker route than previous games. theres some seriously fucked up shit in this game and it rules. ofc there are some of the classic falcom tropes but they are pretty minor overall
- music is overall good, some of jindo's best work and koguchi is making a huge impact. i feel like singa's contributions have a lot of good ideas this time around but as usual they tend to be badly stitched together and/or poorly arranged, but in the context of the game they don't bother me much. also sonoda is there
overall: 10/10 please oh please let kuro 2 not be shit
- gameplay is the peak of the series by far. action combat is rudimentary but complements the turn-based combat incredibly well and switching between them is shockingly fun. most enjoyable the combat has ever been
- story is excellent and im so glad they went a darker route than previous games. theres some seriously fucked up shit in this game and it rules. ofc there are some of the classic falcom tropes but they are pretty minor overall
- music is overall good, some of jindo's best work and koguchi is making a huge impact. i feel like singa's contributions have a lot of good ideas this time around but as usual they tend to be badly stitched together and/or poorly arranged, but in the context of the game they don't bother me much. also sonoda is there
overall: 10/10 please oh please let kuro 2 not be shit
This review contains spoilers
what a game. i'm glad i went in completely unspoiled, i definitely get why ppl say even the tiniest thing could ruin the experience. story and cast are obviously the highlights, i really liked all the characters pretty much all the way through and even when the story beats and twists were sort of predictable they were still supplemented with enough surprises and mystery to keep things really interesting. obviously can't ignore the couple big blatant "problematic" things; they didn't really take away from the game for me but i still got a little uncomfortable every time they said "he" after that reveal (which i'm sure there are many many long discussions to be had about, but i'm no authority on that). the gameplay itself is pretty rudimentary but for the most part is not bad; the trial minigames grew on me more as the game went on, though a couple of the threads of logic are reeeeal thin and the flashback mechanic was really annoying. the moving around controls are also kinda clunky but it's a minor inconvenience at worst. honestly my biggest gripe is that the blood is pink lmfao, great game, can't wait to play the sequel(s), 9/10
man, where do i even start lol.
the story and characters are outstanding, leagues ahead of the first game. that said, i think it would not be nearly as effective without the setup from the entire first game, so it's hard to judge it purely on its own merits. frankly though, i loved pretty much every beat of the story, and the twists/reveals/tie-ins near and at the end were actually way more satisfying than i expected them to be; if i was judging the game on that alone it'd probably be a solid 10. but of course then there are the trials. luckily the minigames are still a quite minor part of the experience, but pretty much all of them are significantly worse than the originals (or just plain bad). the new hangmans gambit is so awful i don't know how it even got through testing. panic talk action is way too cluttered so it's way harder to focus on anything that isn't just the timing indicators. the new "consent" mechanic in the debates is usually just confusing and felt wholly unnecessary. the rebuttal minigame, as well as the increased number of truth bullets in general, highlight a really annoying flaw that was present in the original too, which is just... there's no time to actually think, and no mechanism provided to the player to actually inspect the relevant information without a tedious stream of pausing, unpausing, checking which things are available, possibly writing things down, etc.; even if the game just showed like a little checkmark in the truth bullets menu next to the active ones, that would be a massive improvement. luckily new closing argument and logic dive were actually quite fun; logic dive does have the same problem of no time to think though, especially when it hits you with questions you have zero possible way of predicting and expects you to pick the right answer with absurd speed. BUT as much as i can go on and on about how bad the minigames are, they are again such a minor factor that they had a minimal impact on my overall experience. ultimately a great game.
9.5/10
the story and characters are outstanding, leagues ahead of the first game. that said, i think it would not be nearly as effective without the setup from the entire first game, so it's hard to judge it purely on its own merits. frankly though, i loved pretty much every beat of the story, and the twists/reveals/tie-ins near and at the end were actually way more satisfying than i expected them to be; if i was judging the game on that alone it'd probably be a solid 10. but of course then there are the trials. luckily the minigames are still a quite minor part of the experience, but pretty much all of them are significantly worse than the originals (or just plain bad). the new hangmans gambit is so awful i don't know how it even got through testing. panic talk action is way too cluttered so it's way harder to focus on anything that isn't just the timing indicators. the new "consent" mechanic in the debates is usually just confusing and felt wholly unnecessary. the rebuttal minigame, as well as the increased number of truth bullets in general, highlight a really annoying flaw that was present in the original too, which is just... there's no time to actually think, and no mechanism provided to the player to actually inspect the relevant information without a tedious stream of pausing, unpausing, checking which things are available, possibly writing things down, etc.; even if the game just showed like a little checkmark in the truth bullets menu next to the active ones, that would be a massive improvement. luckily new closing argument and logic dive were actually quite fun; logic dive does have the same problem of no time to think though, especially when it hits you with questions you have zero possible way of predicting and expects you to pick the right answer with absurd speed. BUT as much as i can go on and on about how bad the minigames are, they are again such a minor factor that they had a minimal impact on my overall experience. ultimately a great game.
9.5/10
really great game! I went into it a little worried that trying to cram a whole game of story into one night would make it unfulfilling, but once I got a little ways in it was clear that wasn't the case at all. this game oozes charm so hard and every ounce of it is engaging and exciting. the overall story was great, and it always felt like it was keeping me on my toes - leaving enough head room to draw my own connections while also constantly surprising me, yet never feeling cheap or forced. I got really attached to the main cast as well. the gameplay is also really unique and fun, and the variety of puzzles is outstanding; there are a couple I was less fond of (see: prison. lol) but I think all those really needed was an undo button or something since it was just the constant re-doing puzzle setups to get back to a point to try something different that was a bit of a pain. but that's barely a stain on this wonderful experience - would love to see more games like this!
solid remake. terrible party games. all achievements is absolutely miserable as a result but if you don't care about that then it's good
2023
as usual, another great ys game! i enjoyed it a lot, although it still is nowhere close to ys 8 (but really i doubt falcom will ever make a better ys game than 8, it set the bar so damn high).
story was great all the way through, basically no complaints there. gameplay was also great and engaging, though while I liked the new combat I don't think it was as fun as the previous combat system. It also felt like half the mechanics weren't explained at all so it took until pretty late in the game for me to fully grasp how everything worked. i also actually kinda liked the ship combat in the end which i wasn't expecting as i really didn't like it at first - the upgrades def made it much more enjoyable. really my biggest gripe with this game though is the simple lack of variety - and this was a problem with 9 to an extent as well - most of the islands blended together and only a small handful have any real identity. in ys 8 discovering a new area was always exciting, whereas discovering a new island in 10 was moreso just hoping for something new. the enemy variety definitely exacerbates the issue as well; it really feels like there are only 20 unique enemies in the game and so when most of the islands are not only visually similar but littered with a majority of the same enemies or basic reskins of them, it becomes really hard for them to stand out. that all said though, it was all still a lot of fun to play and explore, and i still came out of it having had a fantastic experience. hoping whatever's next is even greater! 9/10
story was great all the way through, basically no complaints there. gameplay was also great and engaging, though while I liked the new combat I don't think it was as fun as the previous combat system. It also felt like half the mechanics weren't explained at all so it took until pretty late in the game for me to fully grasp how everything worked. i also actually kinda liked the ship combat in the end which i wasn't expecting as i really didn't like it at first - the upgrades def made it much more enjoyable. really my biggest gripe with this game though is the simple lack of variety - and this was a problem with 9 to an extent as well - most of the islands blended together and only a small handful have any real identity. in ys 8 discovering a new area was always exciting, whereas discovering a new island in 10 was moreso just hoping for something new. the enemy variety definitely exacerbates the issue as well; it really feels like there are only 20 unique enemies in the game and so when most of the islands are not only visually similar but littered with a majority of the same enemies or basic reskins of them, it becomes really hard for them to stand out. that all said though, it was all still a lot of fun to play and explore, and i still came out of it having had a fantastic experience. hoping whatever's next is even greater! 9/10
well, it's still mostly the same game, so it still has a lot of the problems the original game had, plus its own share of new problems. that said, the good changes outweigh the bad, this game is absolutely an improvement over the original. still mid though
i think this might be peak ace attorney. the story is weaved so tightly around each case in a way that stands out even compared to the likes of t&t, and it is combined with a ton of great new characters with SO MUCH dimension to them. and so many of them are relevant to the entire plot instead of being relegated to one case and forgotten. i also really love the (initial) antagonists' arcs in the last two cases. and the overall morals feel much more strongly defined than any other game in the series; edgeworth's self-discovery felt very real and grounded, and the relevant characters to that path made it that much stronger. it's also insane how high quality the fan localization is - aside from a few minor things, it felt completely on par with the official localizations of previous titles. the single thing i wish this game had was a fast text option, since waiting for text to advance can feel quite slow as a fast reader, but even with that i was so enthralled by the later half of the game i barely even noticed it after that point. this game is just crazy good. 10/10
This review contains spoilers
i wish this had just been packaged as a single game from the start, because that's what it really is - the first game is basically just a long winded intro to the second and neither works without the other. my impressions of the first game initially were lowered because it failed to match the pace I was expecting for a self contained game, but when treated as a preamble to the masterpiece that is TGAA2 it's all well worth it. so - treating this all as 1 game - the overarching story is easily one of the best in the series and the main cast is incredible - loved how many recurring characters were intertwined in the complex lattice of events, making for so many satisfying reveals toward the end. on the other hand though, particularly in TGAA1, i found the side characters wholly unsatisfactory; i found it difficult to care about many of the witnesses/etc as they were either boring or explicitly detestable (2 was definitely better in this regard). i also really am not a fan of the jury system in the trials. it didn't affect my enjoyment of the game too much, but i just found them a constant nuisance whenever they were at the forefront, especially when interrupting trials for no good reason other than to awkwardly force the plot forward. i also found the jurors to be the most blatant perpetrators of xenophobia/racism across the board. while surely period-accurate, it really doesn't make me want to listen to more of their dialogue when half the time it's some spin on "japanese bad". at least van zieks has some motivations about it (speaking of - awesome prosecutor, but it did take quite a while for me to think of him anywhere above average). it speaks volumes that my favorite trials from a gameplay perspective were the ones with no jurors! but in any case, still was all worth it in the end. (though they never did explain the deal with all the repeat jurors... I kinda expected that to be a major plot point somewhere, but nope?) I definitely do hope we get to see more of this cast in the future, whether it's in britain or japan or some wholly new location - honestly as characters i think ryunosuke and susato are way more interesting than phoenix and maya lol, not to mention sholmes, iris, gina and the like.
i don't know how i'd even begin to rate this as two separate games, but as a complete experience - minor gripes aside - truly fantastic. it's simply a long, slow burn, but with the greatest show of fireworks you've ever seen waiting at the end. 9.7/10
i don't know how i'd even begin to rate this as two separate games, but as a complete experience - minor gripes aside - truly fantastic. it's simply a long, slow burn, but with the greatest show of fireworks you've ever seen waiting at the end. 9.7/10
2022
honestly a lot more fun than i expected it to be. i still have problems though
biggest issue for me is that everything is... well, too big. legends arceus did "open world" really well - each area felt distinct and open with plenty to explore, without being overwhelming. paldea on the other hand just feels massive and unwieldy, with way too much open space and next to no notable landmarks. the cities fall victim to this too; every single time i walked into one i felt immediately lost and there wasn't enough in each city to motivate learning the layout - i think this is also a fault of the giant open world, in that there isn't much reason to go to the cities except for the gym and maybe to buy new clothes; they don't feel at all like part of the progression, which really sucks compared to previous pokemon games. it doesn't feel like there are grounded objectives until the very endgame, and it doesn't help that there isn't any level scaling. i really really think if they want to go the open world route again for gen 10 that they should take more notes from legends arceus. area zero is by FAR the best area of this game and a big part of that is how self-contained it is
i also think the team star "raids" are really awful. i get that they wanted to force you to use the auto battle system but man its literally just "spam the R button for the next 2 minutes". on the other hand, the tera raids are a big improvement from the dynamax raids in swsh. still though, the shield is annoying and the fact that they can wipe stat changes and even uncharge the tera orb is total BS and makes the high level raids a lot less fun.
it's also really annoying that trading is still required in any way to complete the pokedex. like, they're already keeping the size of the pokedex pretty small to make it more accessible to fully complete, so why keep the biggest and dumbest blockade of all? either give each version its own pokedex with version exclusives, or better yet, stop making two fucking versions, the concept is way past its prime and we don't need it anymore!!!!!
and obviously performance issues. i actually didn't run into any major glitches (the worst i really saw was pokemon spawned inside a wall a couple times, and a couple really wonky hitboxes), but the fps is a whole other story. everything feels so, so sluggish, either because of the framerate or just because things take forever to load sometimes. the camera also controls really badly
a couple nice things to end off:
- the characters and their stories are great! while the main plot is whatever, arven and nemona and penny are all great. i liked all the different personalities at the academy itself too, especially clavell - it is really really nice to see an old man character in a position of power who is not just a good guy but also just really awesome - he's one of the best characters in the whole game
- the music is so, so good! i also was really impressed by how much effort was put into the transitions, whether going seamlessly from field to battle music or between gym leader phases or from battle to fanfare, it always felt shockingly natural, and the motif use is super super well done in this game overall
- it was still generally a very fun game, even with all its issues! i just wish game freak would get their shit together, really
biggest issue for me is that everything is... well, too big. legends arceus did "open world" really well - each area felt distinct and open with plenty to explore, without being overwhelming. paldea on the other hand just feels massive and unwieldy, with way too much open space and next to no notable landmarks. the cities fall victim to this too; every single time i walked into one i felt immediately lost and there wasn't enough in each city to motivate learning the layout - i think this is also a fault of the giant open world, in that there isn't much reason to go to the cities except for the gym and maybe to buy new clothes; they don't feel at all like part of the progression, which really sucks compared to previous pokemon games. it doesn't feel like there are grounded objectives until the very endgame, and it doesn't help that there isn't any level scaling. i really really think if they want to go the open world route again for gen 10 that they should take more notes from legends arceus. area zero is by FAR the best area of this game and a big part of that is how self-contained it is
i also think the team star "raids" are really awful. i get that they wanted to force you to use the auto battle system but man its literally just "spam the R button for the next 2 minutes". on the other hand, the tera raids are a big improvement from the dynamax raids in swsh. still though, the shield is annoying and the fact that they can wipe stat changes and even uncharge the tera orb is total BS and makes the high level raids a lot less fun.
it's also really annoying that trading is still required in any way to complete the pokedex. like, they're already keeping the size of the pokedex pretty small to make it more accessible to fully complete, so why keep the biggest and dumbest blockade of all? either give each version its own pokedex with version exclusives, or better yet, stop making two fucking versions, the concept is way past its prime and we don't need it anymore!!!!!
and obviously performance issues. i actually didn't run into any major glitches (the worst i really saw was pokemon spawned inside a wall a couple times, and a couple really wonky hitboxes), but the fps is a whole other story. everything feels so, so sluggish, either because of the framerate or just because things take forever to load sometimes. the camera also controls really badly
a couple nice things to end off:
- the characters and their stories are great! while the main plot is whatever, arven and nemona and penny are all great. i liked all the different personalities at the academy itself too, especially clavell - it is really really nice to see an old man character in a position of power who is not just a good guy but also just really awesome - he's one of the best characters in the whole game
- the music is so, so good! i also was really impressed by how much effort was put into the transitions, whether going seamlessly from field to battle music or between gym leader phases or from battle to fanfare, it always felt shockingly natural, and the motif use is super super well done in this game overall
- it was still generally a very fun game, even with all its issues! i just wish game freak would get their shit together, really
fantastic as long as you play on normal and not hard or nightmare (or inferno...) lmaoooo
2009
this was very much a "just okay" game. the core concept is great, it's mostly the execution that flops for me. many of the puzzle stages feel very arbitrary either in the actual objective (which is often unnecessarily cryptic) or in the rules of the given stage (i.e. what you are allowed to kill, what is allowed to be destroyed, etc). i also felt that many of the more creative potential solutions to puzzles were either not rewarded at all or just completely didn't work when they reasonably should have. the action stages are differently flawed, in that many of them feel like repeats of the same thing, or are just big mazes, or are literally just puzzle stages with gates. some other minor issues as well: collision detection is fairly buggy, and a number of times i ended up stuck in walls or had unfair glitched deaths; also, for puzzle stages especially, it was annoying to not be able to see the hint (which often contains necessary information!) again without resetting the stage.
overall not a bad game, but has a ton of room for improvement, which i hope is more realized in the sequels. 5/10
overall not a bad game, but has a ton of room for improvement, which i hope is more realized in the sequels. 5/10