Does anybody else get exhausted of our cultural tendency to immediately lump any given piece of media into concrete categories like "good" or "bad", the latter often attributing a sort of spiritual disposability to said piece of media? Like, in a vacuum, I guess it's not the worst thing we can do, and it's something you shouldn't be ashamed of doing or something you have to stop doing outright if you just really love or really hate something, but it does tend to have this knock on effect where we don't have to engage with media once we've categorized something as either "peak" or "dogshit".

Because of that sort of black-and-white mindset, Gamer Discourse just ended up eviscerating all discussion of Final Fantasy XIII when it came out, and in all honesty probably bled into the potential enjoyment other people may have otherwise received from the game. I'm not a psychologist I can't prove that, but like, it happened to me for a long time until I broke out of that mindset! Not saying people have to suddenly like FF13, or that we have to completely flip the discourse around towards largely positive, but it's pretty cool that Final Fantasy XIII even exists imho!! Like, how many AAA sci-fi fantasy RPG epics were we even getting during that era of gaming? I won't say it's as overall satisfying or as complete feeling of a work when up against most other Final Fantasy titles, and maybe even other RPGs of similar budget and scope, but I enjoyed my time with it despite it kind of having a Wind Waker-ian malaise to it (I mean that in both a good and bad way, but mostly a good way!! btw while we're hanging out in the parentheses dimension misusing basic conventions of punctuation and general formatting, does anybody else want to eat the little spheres in the Crystarium? They look like tasty little candies to me, probably even tastier than materia).

The basic combat system is contentious for a reason, but it's kinda sick as hell in a way I both love and despise. It's like, attempting to replicate the feeling of turn-based combat -- which is a style of gameplay that typically abstracts interactions between entities for the sake of compartmentalizing actions to allow strategy to be coherent for the player -- while ostensibly (and correct me if I'm wrong about how this game actually functions) being an action game that the player only tangentially controls. Even in the event that the player has chosen to manually select abilities, the other two thirds of your party still remain uncontrollable, but they function within the specific physical minutiae of an action game that Square Enix has created but that we are not allowed to play directly. In opposition to similar systems like maybe Chrono Trigger or Dragon Quest IX, characters and enemies move in realtime, collide with other models, and can get hurt by splash damage (a particularly frustrating aspect of the combat system when afaik you cannot change the position of a character without making them perform an action that would require them to move); it's not always an immediately pertinent aspect of the game's combat, but it's something that remained on my mind consistently after I noticed it.

The result, along with its almost proto-Yokai Watch-esque approach to RPG strategy, is combat that can often make you feel like you just coached somebody else into getting a SSS rank in a Devil May Cry game, but equally ends up being probably the closest a video game has ever gotten to replicate the feeling of what it's like to drive a car in a dream? Idk if anybody else has dreams like that where you're in a dream, and you're trying to drive a car, and it is NOT working AT ALL, and you kind of just swerve all the over place and kinda noclip through dream terrain until it gets too scary and you wake up. Maybe that's just me?

Dream logic is also a pretty fuckin' apt way to describe Final Fantasy XIII's plotting and narrative delivery. Final Fantasy XIII is like an obscure OVA of itself that's been spread out across 40 hours? It's feeling abridged in this bizarre but kinda charming way like, damn I shoulda read the manga of this one before buying the VHS, I guess. So much of what happens on screen is just not explained diegetically at all, which I wasn't a huge fan of in Final Fantasy VIII either, but I heard you could go to Selphie's custom GeoCities site in-game to see what the fuck everything is and means. Never did it myself, but I love that there it's at least seemingly diegetic. To be clear, I think in-game encyclopedias are cool as hell and I'm glad it exists in Final Fantasy XIII, every game needs a Piklopedia-esque feature as far I'm concerned, but I kinda like ending up there out of curiosity and not so much obligation. Maybe it's because I have issues with authority? I don't like being told what to do? I dunno. For what it's worth though, I don't think it outright ruined my enjoyment of Final Fantasy XIII.

I probably enjoyed Final Fantasy XIII more than at least three or four other mainline Final Fantasy titles, and I think it's unabashedly one of the most Final Fantasy entries in the series. I love the character designs (Lightning and Fang in particular Appeal to My Interests), I had fun with the combat sometimes, music is sick as hell; the visual concept of Cocoon and Pulse is powerful shit, though it feels underutilized both functionally and thematically. The game overall has this really rad 80s/90s anime vibe but with those sleek 00s sci-fi aesthetic touches; it's almost like Toriyama and team were making a secret AAA Phantasy Star title. The game is way more gorgeous than it has any right to be, which is unfortunately sometimes all the game is.

I wanted to kick down the door and scream "IT'S NOT HALLWAYS IT'S NOT HALLWAYS" so badly, but unfortunately, it is definitely hallways. Which isn't inherently a bad thing, Final Fantasy VII Remake's also hallways! But I think what makes it particularly excruciating in Final Fantasy XIII is that that's kind of all it is, and many environments repeat ad nauseam (that fuckin' forest level was definitely overkill with the same exact environmental structures over and over with only a couple narrative chokepoints to break up the pace), an issue that I don't remember the other Final Fantasy with a similar structure, Final Fantasy X, really having. This isn't something that's necessarily new to Final Fantasy at least, I think my least favorite aspect about going back to the pre-PSX Final Fantasy titles is The Caves. I wanna say Final Fantasy V was probably the best about it, but it got really bad in Final Fantasy VI sometimes and that game manages to be good as hell in spite of that.

Except, Final Fantasy VI does share some other issues with Final Fantasy XIII, like awkward scripts and translation, but I suppose it's a lot more noticeable in Final Fantasy XIII when real people are speaking dialogue that no person would ever say ever. I think my favorite "this translator was maybe being overworked god I hope they paid them enough at least" moment was when a villain told one of the good guys that "the next time you open your eyes will be the last" which like, what does that even fucking mean in the context of English. Like I've taken a decade of Japanese studies so I know it's most likely a direct translation of a vaguely idiomatic expression for "waking up", but it's so fucking funny that it got to the voice actor phase and nobody questioned it. I'm not even like, clowning on it, it's just extremely interesting to me.

Either way, my point isn't to say Final Fantasy VI or any other Final Fantasy is actually the Bad Game, my point is that Final Fantasy XIII is a reflection of the games that came before it both conceptually and logistically and maybe we should give it a break sometimes because it's a decently enjoyable experience when you aren't being cranky about the parts that maybe aren't perfect. And I won't lie, I definitely got cranky a few times; ironically I got the most crankiest at the point of the game that most people claim is "when it gets good". Friend, the game was already good, putting in a Xenoblade level isn't gonna suddenly make the game worth it, you either bought into it by that point, or you didn't, honestly.

One more thing that's sorely missing from Final Fantasy XIII though: minigames or minigame adjacent activities. Like, I think in this game of all games, a little extra would've gone a long way cuz sooooo fucking much of the game is just fighting the same exact guys over and over. I don't even think there's puzzles? I hated the puzzles in Final Fantasy X, but by the end of Final Fantasy XIII I almost missed them. They also find ways to put more of the same enemies in levels that by all means should NOT have those enemies, and like I get it, it's an issue that Final Fantasy X ran into as well, at a high enough fidelity it's probably not possible to make enough unique models/enemy types to fill out an entire 40 hour RPG's worth of content, but the lack of variety is notably pretty rough in XIII. I think the best signifier of that is how early and often you fight behemoths, a mob that's typically reserved for like, the last few dungeons of a given Final Fantasy title if not the final level outright. Plus, battles end up feeling pretty exhausting like, at least in Final Fantasy X the bosses with a bajillion health points are being fought via a fully turn-based system; the battles are strategically more simple in XIII, but they always took a lot more out of me due to the relatively fast pace of the action itself and the amount of moment-to-moment babysitting you're engaging in.

I don't really feel like getting into spoiler territory for this one, not that I think it's even possible to spoil anything about Final Fantasy XIII that aren't things you'd find out in the first few chapters or so anyways, but either way, lemme awkwardly transition to a conclusion where I talk about Lightning. She's probably in my like, top 10 favorite fictional characters designs despite Final Fantasy XIII not even breaching my top 100 favorite games. She's like, if you combined Utena Tenjou with Cloud Strife and Squall Leonhart. She kinda sucks really bad as a person early on, but I like that she grows from her whole "being a cop who punches people for no good reason" phase after getting scolded by a lesbian for being that way. Pretty excited to see how they simultaneously ruin her characterization and make her even cooler in the other two games in the trilogy! Half expecting Lightning Returns to end up as my favorite of the trilogy since it looks like it's the funniest, but we'll see.

Also I originally had this whole bit at the beginning about the tangential relationship being Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) and Final Fantasy XIII, but I dropped it cuz I couldn't really work it into a broader cohesive point, but I think they're cool fucked up 7th gen console zeitgeist siblings, and my brain just associates them with each other cuz of that. Anyways, this discussion is pretty much pointless because we ALL know and have unanimously agreed upon as a culture that Final Fantasy XV is the actual best Final Fantasy.

In some ways, Tunic is one of the smartest and most beautiful experiences i've had in a game in a long time, but the reality of actually playing it leaves something to be desired for me, but never enough to outright diminish just how exquisitely crafted the world and the game 'experience' feels. The atmosphere of this game is outstanding and though a tiring comparison, does feel reminiscent of dark souls with how you venture out as a lost and lowly 'face' without much purpose only to discover your grand purpose and fulfil your destiny. Also the vibe of the world, the isolated feeling and looming ambience are spot on and the ultimate goal of the game is not unlike dark souls or hollow knight, but similarly you have control over how things play out.

Fundamentally, the game's runaway success is the instruction booklet both as a feature and as a piece of art in itself. The art inside of this little booklet is stunning, evoking a feeling of old school game manuals, text guides and retro game magazines like nintendo power. The delicately handcrafted nature of the art combined with the cryptic application of the information it divulges into tunic's own game systems is ingenious and a masterpiece by itself. Its rare to see an idea so original and so well designed and applied to the game experience, from finding your place in the world with its intricate maps and diagrams, to uncovering uses for items and upgrades as you have to decipher this kind of alien language and make pictures make sense. This is best done in the first half of the game where I felt particularly isolated and confused, as the way the manual intricately teaches you the game and helps you along as a constant companion allowed me to develop an attachment to the game and its mechanics in a way I had never seen before, its just so smart.

I don't have many problems with the cryptic nature of the game or how it seeks for the player to uncover things for themselves, I think I just find it more difficult than a lot of people and it doesn't come naturally to me. Also, once you put the guide down and start actually interacting with the game after you understand its basic mechanics, I find that the game is an actively lesser experience. This is why I find the 'idea' of the game better than the game itself, as once that guide is down and you're set off on your adventure, I realised how little depth there actually is in the gameplay. Now, this is an indie game developed largely by one guy and I need to give credit to that because that's incredible, what an amazing achievement. However, I do find playing this a bit of a chore, most secrets are found by lazily walking against walls in an isometric perspective once you realise how many hidden paths there are. In the beginning, this is dope, when you find out how the world interconnects through its hidden bridges and shortcuts, again not unlike the first half of DS1, but eventually it became tragically tedious as I constantly found myself circling the edges of an area to try and find my way to a chest or secret - usually successfully, but not in a way that felt all that fulfilling.

I also take some issue with the game's combat, which feels somewhat stale and derivative and less interesting than some of its counterparts, there's also such a short range on attacks meaning you need to be right up against an enemy to hit them and a general 'heaviness' to the overall feel of combat, with almost every action in combat feeling slow and clunky. The depth of field is a cool cinema effect that adds to the games' aesthetic and adds layering to the world, but in combat i'd rather it were toned down since I just find it overwhelming and frustrating since it blurs everything including enemies, attacks and projectiles, making translating what is on screen tricky at times - its particularly noticeable during the siege engine boss fight. I also find dodge rolling quite sluggish and ineffective a lot of the time since the long animation means you're vulnerable for a lot of it and enemies will lock onto you mid-roll and hit you with an attack even after you roll behind them - you will dodge through an enemies' first attack perfectly only for their entire body to turn 180 degrees instantly and hit you again, its not heinous or anything but it makes dodging feel worse than just putting your shield up and makes combat feel less dynamic and engaging as a result.

Stylistically I think this is awesome, evoking the wonder of old school exploration games and top down zelda games while also putting its own spin on things. I think I preferred death's door for the most part but tunic's general atmosphere is unmatched, with a beautifully calm and delicately ambient soundtrack and a cute and charming low-poly artstyle. The cover of this game doesn't do it justice at all I don't think, they should have used the type of art taken from the game manual, its not what I expected at all. I didn't know much about this game going in but I was positively surprised by how it turned out, since I was expecting something more akin to ocarina of time but instead it takes more influences from zelda games pre-ocarina. I understood the developer's intentions a lot I think, since I felt the need for the player to uncover things for themselves and experience a feeling of wonder, it just doesn't always work for me since I value really strong, faster-paced gameplay (DS1 being an exception) and an engaging narrative told through gameplay and cutscenes - instead, tunic favours a slower-paced feeling of patient discovery and a story that encourages putting the pieces together and then interpretation, but instead of the souls' approach of finding things out largely through visual storytelling and lore-soaked environments, tunic leaves a lot of it to pages in a manual and an indecipherable language that is cool, it just doesn't do much for me. That said, exploring the inside of the ziggurat and seeing the foxes trapped inside obelisks and deciphering what might have happened to this fox 'civilisation' is intriguing enough by itself.

I do find the game falls off pretty hard in the last third for me, I genuinely would have preferred if it just ended after you got the keys since by that point I was ready for it to be done and I don't think the last third adds all that much since you're kind of just retracing steps, but in terms of pure 'vibes' its definitely a really humbling moment and meaningfully changes how you see the world. In terms of what it sets out to achieve I do think its successful and a great achievement as an indie game, but it leaves a lot to be desired in the gameplay for me personally, I think there's lots of games that have done this kind of stuff better but the art, soundtrack and that manual system invigorated me, that stuff is worthy of the highest praise on its own.

Me when a game is full of references:
just NAMING something ISN'T a JOKE !!!!! PICK up a PEN and start WRITING actual CONTENT !!!!! 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

me when every single reference is about something i really like:
oh my god... 😊😊😊 they like that... 😊😊😊 i also like that 😊😊😊.... can't wait to see an interview later talking about some minor details I may have missed 😊😊😊... videogames are art this is so cool... 😊😊😊

people talk about this game like it's some groundbreaking, breathtaking, wonderful pinnacle of video games and i really wish i understood that. this game feels really nice to move around in, its visuals are really appealing and its score is pretty cute. but there's not much of a real narrative (or writing at all), no memorable characters, no cool side-quests, no dungeons, a pitiful lack of enemy variety + almost no bosses, and nothing that made exploring feel worthwhile. most of it feels like filler check-list fluff (towers, shrines, koroks). the world is well-designed but there's not much substance inside of it beyond its sandbox elements. i genuinely feel like, insane for not liking this the way people talk about it but i just do not see it personally. it's just okay!

it's Portal But More, and by definition this means more of its strengths but also more of its weaknesses. Portal's lean-and-mean length meant that it didn't overstay its welcome and was said and done before you could really start to notice how barebones its design was, but Portal 2 starts to drag by throwing so much stuff at you that rarely if ever feels like it ever coalesces into a meaningful whole. rather than combining existent mechanics and building on them in increasingly complex ways like Portal 1, Portal 2 just kind of throws one mechanic after another at you. it's kind of cute how they seem to kind of acknowledge this by means of Wheatley literally just shoving random test chambers together in order to get his fix, though.

the grander scale of the non-test chamber levels once again mean the problems of the non-test chamber levels in the original game are exacerbated: those levels almost exclusively became games of "find a white surface to stick a portal on and then repeat", and the massive scale of the old aperture facility means that you're mostly spending a lot of time zooming in and haplessly shooting at anything that looks like it might be able to host a portal.

all this said though... while I think Portal 2 kind of lacks the game design magic that made the original catch on the way it did, I think the game's saving grace (and the solitary thing that makes it better than the original overall) is Valve managing to actually pull off truly great character writing for once in their games. the plot itself is a little hammy and showy, but honestly what you come for and stay for is the exact character that you always think of when you think of Portal: GLaDOS. from the moment she's revived to the last notes of the game's credits she's as charming as game characters get, and more than anything when I finish a puzzle I find myself looking forward to whatever deranged, morbidly hilarious, or strangely touching thing GLaDOS says next. congratulations to Valve for their major strides in the field of renewable energy: they've successfully created the world's first potato-powered dopamine machine.