stoic_rose
2023
This review contains spoilers
as someone who is constantly hungering for anything that makes me feel the same way chulip did when i played it for the first time, seeing this game and its heavy moon/chulip inspiration instantly hooked me. it's short, yes, but that isn't a bad thing in my opinion. each playthrough of the game you do nets you a new ability for your next playthrough, which incentivizes replays and makes you want to try to do everything faster than last time. it's fun to try and route out a path to do everything as quickly as possible, although that might be the speedrunner in me. the characters are also really cute and charming, as with any moonlike, they each have their own distinct personalities and it was really fun pulling the elevator up each time to see what my new guy was gonna be. also, speaking of the characters, i love home and moon's relationship. you can tell they've really grown to trust each other by the end, and it's super sad seeing them have to say goodbye to each other.
the game does have a few issues, however. sometimes it's a little hard to tell what to do. i recall getting REALLY stuck when Wormy came out of the elevator, and was asking for a crowbar. i knew i had seen a crowbar earlier, and so i backtracked and found a fishbowl with a crowbar in it. i tried throwing it around, running into it, throwing the Eyescalibur at it, nothing worked. i felt so frustrated that i dropped the game for a couple days, before coming back to it and finding out i had to drop everything i was doing with the elevator to do some main story stuff for a while. once you know what to do it isn't too bad, but figuring out what to do was really difficult for me. i also don't particularly like how the mons are categorized, and each category of mon has you doing the same thing to get their picture. it feels like you're doing a lot of the same stuff, unlike in moon or chulip where everyone has their own unique condition, which made it fun to try and figure them out. that being said, these two gripes don't take away from my love for 24 Killers, and i still think this game is 100% worth your time.
the game does have a few issues, however. sometimes it's a little hard to tell what to do. i recall getting REALLY stuck when Wormy came out of the elevator, and was asking for a crowbar. i knew i had seen a crowbar earlier, and so i backtracked and found a fishbowl with a crowbar in it. i tried throwing it around, running into it, throwing the Eyescalibur at it, nothing worked. i felt so frustrated that i dropped the game for a couple days, before coming back to it and finding out i had to drop everything i was doing with the elevator to do some main story stuff for a while. once you know what to do it isn't too bad, but figuring out what to do was really difficult for me. i also don't particularly like how the mons are categorized, and each category of mon has you doing the same thing to get their picture. it feels like you're doing a lot of the same stuff, unlike in moon or chulip where everyone has their own unique condition, which made it fun to try and figure them out. that being said, these two gripes don't take away from my love for 24 Killers, and i still think this game is 100% worth your time.
game that will kick your ass and make you sob like a small child. i love it
alright so i wrote my whole ass review for this game under the hd remaster cuz that's what i played, then realized i was tracking my days played on this version. oops. pretty much all you gotta know is that this game rocks and has some of the most interesting rpg battle mechanics ive ever used, has a bangin soundtrack, looks phenomenal, but gets a bit difficult at times and has "im a 20 year old JRPG" syndrome, meaning sometimes its hard to figure out what to do next. phenomenal game that is absolutely worth your time
i found this game for like 14 bucks at my work and since it had been recommended to me by a friend a while ago, i decided to pick it up and finally give it a shot. i was then sucked into a rabbit hole that culminated in me getting into the SMT series as a whole and playing this game for 115 hours on my first playthrough. oops
SMT:N is probably one of the best rpgs ive ever played. of course, the story is phenomenal and is a heart wrenching tale of friends turning against each other in the wake of a colossal disaster, and the struggles of those at the bottom of the food chain vs the people who are at the top because they were just born that way. but also, nocturne has probably the most interesting system mechanics out of any rpg ive ever played. in a genre where it feels like a lot of the gameplay is just window dressing for a story, nocturne really hits it out of the park with its magatamas and press turn system, letting you customize your character to be literally anything you want, and letting you play off of your game knowledge to sweep the enemy team if you know what you're doing. the game also looks phenomenal for a 2003 PS2 game. (i did play a portion of the ps2 version to confirm this, but my main playthrough was done on the switch version, which suffered from some pretty bad frame drops at times)
of course, the thing SMT is known for (besides its younger brother, persona) is the demon summoning and negotiation, and nocturne does... an alright job with this. it gets the job done, but it feels somewhat frustrating even if you know what you're doing, and monsters can just deny you because they feel like it. there's also not THAT much interesting dialog to make up for this, and by about halfway through the game i just gave up on negotiations all together and resorted to the compendium and fusion to get all the demons i wanted. SMT3 also suffers from "i'm a 20 year old JRPG" syndrome and doesn't make it super clear where to go sometimes. i found myself wandering around feeling very lost sometimes, especially near the beginning of the game. the game is also famously REALLY fucking brutal. i recall at one point near the beginning, i spent an entire day of playing just grinding to be able to beat Matador, and that shit sucked. i ended up shelling out a couple bucks to get the shitty grinding DLC, which is really dumb, but i was struggling so much and i just wanted to start having fun again. that being said, i do eventually want to do a playthrough of hard mode (without using the DLC areas, of course) and i can respect the game's difficulty. the press turn system does somewhat make up for that as well, since if you know what you're doing you can totally sweep an enemy just by using the right combo of moves. still doesn't make up for puzzle boy though, i spent like 3 hours on that shit and then i gave up and use a guide. i admit it, im weak
one last point before we move to the conclusion, this game's soundtrack fucking owns. if you haven't listened to it, please, i beg you, do yourself a favor and listen to the whole thing. that shit rocks, my favorite tracks are mystery, ikebukuro, pretty much all the battle themes, the kalpa music, and puzzle boy. such a good blend of aggressive rock with synthesized voices and ominous, droning synths that really just resonates with me
alright, now for the conclusion. nocturne is a phenomenal game that i cannot recommend enough. but is the MSRP of 50 fucking dollars worth seeing the game in widescreen and a larger resolution with full voice acting and a couple other things? iiiii dunno man. i got my copy preowned for a steal, so i would say 15 dollars was no doubt worth it for me, but the full price is kind of a ripoff, especially considering the ps2 version was like 10 bucks on the ps3 as a ps2 classic. phenomenal game with a couple of minor issues, if you plan on getting the HD remaster, wait for it to go on sale or try to find it pre owned at a gamestop or something.
SMT:N is probably one of the best rpgs ive ever played. of course, the story is phenomenal and is a heart wrenching tale of friends turning against each other in the wake of a colossal disaster, and the struggles of those at the bottom of the food chain vs the people who are at the top because they were just born that way. but also, nocturne has probably the most interesting system mechanics out of any rpg ive ever played. in a genre where it feels like a lot of the gameplay is just window dressing for a story, nocturne really hits it out of the park with its magatamas and press turn system, letting you customize your character to be literally anything you want, and letting you play off of your game knowledge to sweep the enemy team if you know what you're doing. the game also looks phenomenal for a 2003 PS2 game. (i did play a portion of the ps2 version to confirm this, but my main playthrough was done on the switch version, which suffered from some pretty bad frame drops at times)
of course, the thing SMT is known for (besides its younger brother, persona) is the demon summoning and negotiation, and nocturne does... an alright job with this. it gets the job done, but it feels somewhat frustrating even if you know what you're doing, and monsters can just deny you because they feel like it. there's also not THAT much interesting dialog to make up for this, and by about halfway through the game i just gave up on negotiations all together and resorted to the compendium and fusion to get all the demons i wanted. SMT3 also suffers from "i'm a 20 year old JRPG" syndrome and doesn't make it super clear where to go sometimes. i found myself wandering around feeling very lost sometimes, especially near the beginning of the game. the game is also famously REALLY fucking brutal. i recall at one point near the beginning, i spent an entire day of playing just grinding to be able to beat Matador, and that shit sucked. i ended up shelling out a couple bucks to get the shitty grinding DLC, which is really dumb, but i was struggling so much and i just wanted to start having fun again. that being said, i do eventually want to do a playthrough of hard mode (without using the DLC areas, of course) and i can respect the game's difficulty. the press turn system does somewhat make up for that as well, since if you know what you're doing you can totally sweep an enemy just by using the right combo of moves. still doesn't make up for puzzle boy though, i spent like 3 hours on that shit and then i gave up and use a guide. i admit it, im weak
one last point before we move to the conclusion, this game's soundtrack fucking owns. if you haven't listened to it, please, i beg you, do yourself a favor and listen to the whole thing. that shit rocks, my favorite tracks are mystery, ikebukuro, pretty much all the battle themes, the kalpa music, and puzzle boy. such a good blend of aggressive rock with synthesized voices and ominous, droning synths that really just resonates with me
alright, now for the conclusion. nocturne is a phenomenal game that i cannot recommend enough. but is the MSRP of 50 fucking dollars worth seeing the game in widescreen and a larger resolution with full voice acting and a couple other things? iiiii dunno man. i got my copy preowned for a steal, so i would say 15 dollars was no doubt worth it for me, but the full price is kind of a ripoff, especially considering the ps2 version was like 10 bucks on the ps3 as a ps2 classic. phenomenal game with a couple of minor issues, if you plan on getting the HD remaster, wait for it to go on sale or try to find it pre owned at a gamestop or something.
1999
this really is the definitive psych horror experience to me. silent hill 1 is the most pure, raw definition of the genre, and for the first game in the series, it somehow doesn't suffer from "the first" syndrome. also just a wicked pretty game for ps1, konami weaved wonders with what they were given on the hardware. a lot of people say to just start with silent hill 2, but that's doing this game a huuuuuuge injustice. silent hill 1 is absolutely worth your time
1998
quite the fun puzzle game!! i dont know what it is with ps1 puzzle games and rolling cubes (this, intelligent qube, tall infinity) but yknow what it always makes for a fun time. really great stuff here that makes you think!
2010
i literally only play this game for dfwc2017-6 that map is so much fun. and also this game has orbb
2007
yume 2kki definitely has a different vibe from yume nikki, but i think it really works in its favor. i love the sort of eclectic vibe this game has going on, since every area is made by its own dev. it makes it really feel like a dream, not every dream is a perfectly laid out set of events that tells a story, sometimes just some wack ass shit happens and i love that. yume 2kki is awesome, and i can't recommend it enough. absolutely check this out
1996
i'm not really that big on shooters in general, and when i tried doom i just did not glom with it all that much. so, i was gifted quake fairly recently, and gave it a shot because i got it for free. and MAN i had a great time with this. i played the steam remake, and everything about it felt super slick. i love the mix of sci-fi and medieval aesthetics, and the enemy designs are super grody and awesome. the spawns scared the shit out of me every single time i came across one, and i love them for that. also a big fan of shamblers, cool electric guys :] i loved all the weapons there were to choose from, lots of really fun tools to play around with. my favorite by far was the grenade launcher, bouncing shots to hit enemies out of reach was one of my favorite aspects of the combat. i think what made quake click for me more than doom was it's larger focus on movement, as opposed to doom's focus on combat. the jump, of course, was a pretty big addition, and you can tell the folks over at id software were ready to stretch their legs with the new physics engine, like with the aforementioned grenade launcher. ive only checked out the main quake campaign, but i've noticed the other options in the menu like scourge of armageddon, and i'm pretty excited to check those out. overall, quake holds up crazy well, and i can't recommend it enough
2011
ok listen. ive heard so much hate for cave story 3d for like 10 years and i seriously just do not get it. of course, yes, it's an early 3DS game so it's gonna look a little rough, but i love the idea of reimagining each area to have these detailed, 3D environments and backgrounds, and really gives some context to some of the more abstract areas in cave story. daisuke amaya's pixel art is and forever will be beautiful, but a lot of the areas in the original cave story are just, well, caves. i think cave story 3D gives each area a little more personality, i especially like mimiga village and how they re contextualized the center tower as this big, wooden structure in the middle, covered in flowers 'n stuff. i'm also a big fan of the labyrinth, there's junk and debris scattered everywhere that gives it a sort of junkyard vibe that i really like. i will always die on this hill, people need to give cave story 3D a chance, it's a really cool take on an already great game
2009
bought a copy of this game from gamestop and vanguard refused to spawn, meaning i could not proceed to the rest of the game
1995
all i remember about this game is playing it on the way to my grandparents on my 3ds and throwing up and then never playing it again. i think i liked it though
2000
going through my stack of the 8 (count them, 8) n64 games i own and reviewing each one now. paper mario 64 has a lot going for it to be sure, but i think it is outclassed in a lot of ways by ttyd and spm. i do like the spin move, it makes navigating the overworld really fun and im surprised they never brought it back, but like, ttyd outclasses 64 in gameplay, and spm outclasses it in story in my opinion. still, a great game on its own that laid the groundwork for a fantastic trilogy, it just suffers from "the first" syndrome in a couple spots
dude like,,,, wtf do you want me to say . you and i both know majora is a masterpiece, i don't think i need to go any further
2022
This review contains spoilers
i love jrpgs and fucking hate rpgs with fantasy settings. this is my fatal character flaw and we all just need to live with it. so, when i saw a squaresoft rpg that takes place in pretty much every setting BESIDES fantasy you know i was all over this. live a live had been on my radar for a hot sec, ever since seeing whoisthisgit's video on the sci-fi chapter, which i then played and loved a ton, but never played the other chapters. i picked up the remake at a certain point and made sure to make myself play through the whole thing, which... i didn't do, but i played like 99% of the way through, so that counts i think. i really really loved cube's chapter, as i suspected, i had a really good time with sundown and oboromaru, quite enjoyed the earthen heart shifu's chapter, kinda hated pogo's chapter since i got stuck on some bosses, slogged through akira's chapter, and barely registered masaru's chapter. and then i played the 8th chapter and fucking hated it for the most part. (as previously mentioned, fantasy rpgs are extremely boring to me and this chapter in particular just felt like a total slogfest to me) that was, until the final reveal, where oersted is revealed to be the original incarnation of Odio, which BLEW MY MIND. made it all worth it. Odio is one of my favorite antagonists in any piece of media, he's a really cool concept and it's super cool to have each chapter deal with different versions of the same threat. it really makes the final chapter feel like youre bringing everyone together to finally banish this evil that been haunting all of you this whole time. unfortunately, i got stuck at the final encounter with odio in the final chapter, and shelved the game. i know, im a crime against humanity for shelving a game at literally the last possible moment, but he totally kicked my ass and i don't really know if im up to whatever amount of grinding i've gotta do to beat him. even so, i loved my time with live a live, and i know for sure i'll come back to it