tomii
6 reviews liked by tomii
90s is probably the most overused term to describe soul hackers, but what better way is there to put it? your love for this game will totally be down to how much you vibe with this era's design sensibilities. there are an array of random experimental mechanics like loyalty you'll either find incredibly endearing or unnecessarily clunky. personally i love the genuine attempt at immersing the player in the summoner's shoes. try to form a perfect team for a tricky fight and demons of opposing alignments might refuse to cooperate. or you may run out of magnetite and they'll turn their backs on you altogether. managing your demons can be a real pain in the ass and i'm all for it.
how can i forget the soundtrack? the perfect soundtrack to complement its atmosphere. every sound is drenched in this dreamy digital echo, with lots of spacey synths that invoke feelings of the mechanical nature of this rapidly digitising world. trudging through algon headquarter's narrow hallways as the ominous tune transforms into a hopeless synthetic melody is fucking beautiful. or wandering aimlessly through the vr art museum in that droning ambience, as if lost in a dream you can hardly make sense of. a beautiful work
how can i forget the soundtrack? the perfect soundtrack to complement its atmosphere. every sound is drenched in this dreamy digital echo, with lots of spacey synths that invoke feelings of the mechanical nature of this rapidly digitising world. trudging through algon headquarter's narrow hallways as the ominous tune transforms into a hopeless synthetic melody is fucking beautiful. or wandering aimlessly through the vr art museum in that droning ambience, as if lost in a dream you can hardly make sense of. a beautiful work
NieR: Automata
2017
I've quickly developed an intense love for and fascination with this game. Probably the most remarkable thing about it for me is how the world and story can both feel really fleshed out, immersive and engaging, and then some new detail will emerge that shakes up the very foundation of all of this in some big way and yet this space you're engaging with becomes more convincing as a result, not less. It's amazing to me how the game manages to keep redefining your relationship to it in this manner, and yet the effect was always such as to draw me in further rather than push me away.
Somehow for me this process continued even after the game had concluded, with the side materials (https://theark.wiki/w/I_just_got_Ending_E) redefining my relationship with aspects of the game too. The word 'journey' is thrown around a lot, but my experience with this game was quite literally an emotional journey, one that even brought me to tears at points, a journey that continues even after the game has reached its end.
As well as being incredibly well designed from a narrative perspective, the philosophical ideas the game tackles are fascinating, and the way in which the game's structure is built with these in mind is something that is honestly kind of remarkable. My first time completing the game (by which I mean, getting to ending E) was, in this sense too, a journey, but there's also this feeling that there is so much to be unpacked here, and so much that only grows in impact once given full context, that I can see myself continuing to think, feel and explore new emotions, thoughts and ideas on repeat playthroughs. Despite tackling heavy, challenging ideas though, the game is good at managing to not be too heavy except when it needs to be; it has a delightful sense of humour, and is very willing to be silly at the right moments. I can't even begin to imagine the balancing act involved in making all of this work at once.
I have a dear love for these characters, with all their human imperfections and struggles, their hopes and dreams and fears and losses, and the world you explore with them is wonderfully realised. This is both in terms of the detail with which it evokes this dystopia, and also on a technical level of how beautiful these environments are and how well the music compliments them, helping evoke the emotions caught within these locations.
I don't think the game is wholly perfect by any means, though the imperfections rarely annoyed me for any great length of time. The side quests lean a bit too heavily into fairly simple fetch quests, and a handful of the side quests are just frustrating; that said the process of completing side quests feels rewarding with many of them meaningfully contributing either to world-building or the game's philosophical concerns. The base combat can get a bit repetitive after the 20 hour mark or so, and you can easily find yourself over-levelled for the fights you're engaging in; that said there's a gracefulness to the movement in the game that makes the combat generally satisfying, and the game is keen to dip into different genres and styles to try and mix things up and present different experiences.
I could probably list a few more minor complaints like this but it always feels like there's some twist that makes it actually fine, and like ultimately it just doesn't matter because everything else the game is doing in evoking this world, telling this story, and calling forth these emotions, is just so good. I can't remember the last time a game made me care this much, and feel this much.
Somehow for me this process continued even after the game had concluded, with the side materials (https://theark.wiki/w/I_just_got_Ending_E) redefining my relationship with aspects of the game too. The word 'journey' is thrown around a lot, but my experience with this game was quite literally an emotional journey, one that even brought me to tears at points, a journey that continues even after the game has reached its end.
As well as being incredibly well designed from a narrative perspective, the philosophical ideas the game tackles are fascinating, and the way in which the game's structure is built with these in mind is something that is honestly kind of remarkable. My first time completing the game (by which I mean, getting to ending E) was, in this sense too, a journey, but there's also this feeling that there is so much to be unpacked here, and so much that only grows in impact once given full context, that I can see myself continuing to think, feel and explore new emotions, thoughts and ideas on repeat playthroughs. Despite tackling heavy, challenging ideas though, the game is good at managing to not be too heavy except when it needs to be; it has a delightful sense of humour, and is very willing to be silly at the right moments. I can't even begin to imagine the balancing act involved in making all of this work at once.
I have a dear love for these characters, with all their human imperfections and struggles, their hopes and dreams and fears and losses, and the world you explore with them is wonderfully realised. This is both in terms of the detail with which it evokes this dystopia, and also on a technical level of how beautiful these environments are and how well the music compliments them, helping evoke the emotions caught within these locations.
I don't think the game is wholly perfect by any means, though the imperfections rarely annoyed me for any great length of time. The side quests lean a bit too heavily into fairly simple fetch quests, and a handful of the side quests are just frustrating; that said the process of completing side quests feels rewarding with many of them meaningfully contributing either to world-building or the game's philosophical concerns. The base combat can get a bit repetitive after the 20 hour mark or so, and you can easily find yourself over-levelled for the fights you're engaging in; that said there's a gracefulness to the movement in the game that makes the combat generally satisfying, and the game is keen to dip into different genres and styles to try and mix things up and present different experiences.
I could probably list a few more minor complaints like this but it always feels like there's some twist that makes it actually fine, and like ultimately it just doesn't matter because everything else the game is doing in evoking this world, telling this story, and calling forth these emotions, is just so good. I can't remember the last time a game made me care this much, and feel this much.
NieR: Automata
2017
My sincerest apologies fellow Taro heads, but this is my favorite one. Nier Automata is the inevitable conclusion that the series has been working towards to, with the actors of the stage play set by its predecessors finally rebelling against the 4th wall and breaking past this ever beautiful aging artform we love. Videogame characters being aware that they are inside a videogame is nothing new, but Nier Automata masterfully utilizes ever interactive system, device, mechanic and language at its disposal to bring new life to this concept and create an incredible purposeful metanarrative that could only work within the limitations of the medium and nowhere else.
Utilizing videogame conventions and expectations to frame its story as one of existential crisis and nihilistic despair experienced by what could be the protagonists of any kind of shmup, a genre defined by its disregard for narrative context and its primordial struggle where the player throws themselves to death over and over again oblivious to such purpose, Automata pits its characters against the bleek reality devised for and enforced on them and instills a level of self awareness that brilliantly paints a baroque moving picture that paralels our own communial absurdity on this tiny rock floating in space. That same interactive narrative continues on outside of the 2D ships, where Drakengard 3's intertwining of violence with sexual drive is further expanded and improved upon in Automata through its combat design.
Just as the characters are built to derive pleasure from the killing, so too do we from the now immediate and highly satisfying stylish Platinum combat, and just as purpose and meaning starts to inevitably crumble in front of them, so too does the fighting quickly decline into Drakengard territory, as the non threatening and non hostile enemies fail to ilicit any desire for engagement. No better is this exemplified then by the shift from 2B's two weapon combo fare to 9S's stop and start combat that perfectly reflects his state of mind and increasing frustration that explodes at the tail end of the game. And at the peril of shooting myself in the foot and being sent to the internet gulags, even the much (deservedly so) maligned peek at 2B's undergarments ends up reinforcing through gameplay the protagonist's self awareness and rejection of player control.
Carrying on the post 9/11 sentiment of Nier, Automata from the outset presents "the Other" as the consequence and victim of an eternity of perpetual warfare born from a conflict that none of the current perpetrators remember or fight for, and through an engrossing narrative that constantly delivers devastating revelation after another that repeatedly shatter the character's sense of purpose and resolve, it takes the ethos of a greek tragedy and creates a fascinating dialogue between the player and the screen. Route B and C provide the best use of sequential playthroughs in the series that cleverly switch between numerous point of views and further hammers home the theatricality of the game's construct, with 9S especially being a standout case with his pechant for breaking the boundaries of the game with his 4th wall breaking quips and hacking mechanics that ultimately make him the most vulnerable to the reality of the fiction he lives in. A world screaming out of the edges of the monitor, trapped in a nightmare of their own making and restricted by our very own code.
And that finale. That fuckin finale. What a glorious and exuberant display of love and admiration for the power of videogames and its capability to unite the world with empathy and optimism through a beautiful message of perserverance and struggle that only this artform knows how to deliver. Constantly do I see Automata criticized for being filled with philosophy name drops and references, implying an "emperor has no clothes" sort of deal that aspires to a pretense at depth, an odd critique that I fail to understand when the game consistently mocks said name drops and references and doesn't treat that lack of subtlety in the same manner as something like MGSV did with Moby Dick or 1984. If after witnessing that ending, you still believe that the philosophy musings aren't just the coat of paint through which the world of Automata communicates its message and are instead the focal point of the game, you my friend, have missed the forest for the trees. And I love how Automata's callback to Nier's final sacrifice gains a new whole meaning by its more open optionality.
Could go on about the perfect use of dynamic soundtracking, the cohesive selection of side quests that explore the game's ideas from numerous angles and humorous vignettes, or the clever use of achievements, but I guess I just did so time to wrap it up. I'm sorry the normiecore took this franchise from you, I truly am. But you wanted a new MGS2, right? Well, you got it. This is it.
Utilizing videogame conventions and expectations to frame its story as one of existential crisis and nihilistic despair experienced by what could be the protagonists of any kind of shmup, a genre defined by its disregard for narrative context and its primordial struggle where the player throws themselves to death over and over again oblivious to such purpose, Automata pits its characters against the bleek reality devised for and enforced on them and instills a level of self awareness that brilliantly paints a baroque moving picture that paralels our own communial absurdity on this tiny rock floating in space. That same interactive narrative continues on outside of the 2D ships, where Drakengard 3's intertwining of violence with sexual drive is further expanded and improved upon in Automata through its combat design.
Just as the characters are built to derive pleasure from the killing, so too do we from the now immediate and highly satisfying stylish Platinum combat, and just as purpose and meaning starts to inevitably crumble in front of them, so too does the fighting quickly decline into Drakengard territory, as the non threatening and non hostile enemies fail to ilicit any desire for engagement. No better is this exemplified then by the shift from 2B's two weapon combo fare to 9S's stop and start combat that perfectly reflects his state of mind and increasing frustration that explodes at the tail end of the game. And at the peril of shooting myself in the foot and being sent to the internet gulags, even the much (deservedly so) maligned peek at 2B's undergarments ends up reinforcing through gameplay the protagonist's self awareness and rejection of player control.
Carrying on the post 9/11 sentiment of Nier, Automata from the outset presents "the Other" as the consequence and victim of an eternity of perpetual warfare born from a conflict that none of the current perpetrators remember or fight for, and through an engrossing narrative that constantly delivers devastating revelation after another that repeatedly shatter the character's sense of purpose and resolve, it takes the ethos of a greek tragedy and creates a fascinating dialogue between the player and the screen. Route B and C provide the best use of sequential playthroughs in the series that cleverly switch between numerous point of views and further hammers home the theatricality of the game's construct, with 9S especially being a standout case with his pechant for breaking the boundaries of the game with his 4th wall breaking quips and hacking mechanics that ultimately make him the most vulnerable to the reality of the fiction he lives in. A world screaming out of the edges of the monitor, trapped in a nightmare of their own making and restricted by our very own code.
And that finale. That fuckin finale. What a glorious and exuberant display of love and admiration for the power of videogames and its capability to unite the world with empathy and optimism through a beautiful message of perserverance and struggle that only this artform knows how to deliver. Constantly do I see Automata criticized for being filled with philosophy name drops and references, implying an "emperor has no clothes" sort of deal that aspires to a pretense at depth, an odd critique that I fail to understand when the game consistently mocks said name drops and references and doesn't treat that lack of subtlety in the same manner as something like MGSV did with Moby Dick or 1984. If after witnessing that ending, you still believe that the philosophy musings aren't just the coat of paint through which the world of Automata communicates its message and are instead the focal point of the game, you my friend, have missed the forest for the trees. And I love how Automata's callback to Nier's final sacrifice gains a new whole meaning by its more open optionality.
Could go on about the perfect use of dynamic soundtracking, the cohesive selection of side quests that explore the game's ideas from numerous angles and humorous vignettes, or the clever use of achievements, but I guess I just did so time to wrap it up. I'm sorry the normiecore took this franchise from you, I truly am. But you wanted a new MGS2, right? Well, you got it. This is it.
Shin Hayarigami
2014
The first in this reboot series doesn't have a great reputation among Hayarigami fans in Japan and it's obvious why. The messy story, the incoherent progression of events, the robotic characters... Yeah, it's far from enjoyable and the stiffly written localisation does little to help. Even its soundtrack is surprisingly lacking in any sort of memorability or atmosphere. The gameplay absolutely left a bad taste in my mouth, being rewarded through the Liar's Art mechanic to put the blame on a sexual harrassment victim for failing to report the perpetrator, or motivating a suspect to commit suicide in a mocking manner. Yet these characters never feel questioned for these acts. Part of me continued to pray for the story to improve, but the slow progression towards the conclusion never felt satisfying or natural. I absolutely did not care for the shitty romance subplot between the main character and her creepy sexist coworker. I could best describe the feeling this visual novel gave me as repulsive, absolutely not in any meaningful way. What a shame that artist's beautiful talent has been wasted on this.
Probably the most dissapointing SMT i've ever played, how do i even start with this one?
Is not a bad game, but there's so much bullshit is really hard to enjoy this game. Starting with what most people love about this game, the story and characters, and i recall, WHAT STORY, WHAT CHARACTERS? The game starts interesting im mikado and lose ALL OF IT'S PACING once we get to Tokyo, any form of driving force or narrative is lost while I GET LOST on tokyo itself, there's not a single memorable villain or fight in this entire game, if wasnt for memes from the internet, i would never guess the fucking Minotaur bossfight was a memorable or difficult fight, it was just another fight in the pile of forgetable things from this game, the combat however is incredable, i love how this game expands the press turn system, however the Smirk system is complete dogshit in this game, is so broken and unfun, it's literally a get out of jail free card in any battle.
Jonathan and Walter are the definition of their own aligments, and i know is on purpose, but coming from Nocturne were we didn't have set in stone characters and aligments having this charicatures walking around is really sad, when a game from the 3ds have characters as deep as characters from SMT1 for the Snes isn't a good thing, also Isabeu is a complete nothing of a characters, she's supposed to be the Neutral side, but she becomes the "I don't have a opinion on this matter cya", also her gimmick of liking Yaoi is laughable, because it shows they had no idea how to make this character likeable or interesting in any way shape or form, so they create a gimmick to at least she have something quotable or worth remembering. Also zero memorable villains, none, goose egg.
Also getting lost in this game fucking sucks, you have no indication or direction, it's a fucking 3DS game, being so cryptic and directionless isn't fun or engaging, it's frustrating, no Sign or Arrow or Pointer, get lost and figure it shit out by yourself, WTF is this a 2003 game?
Also the alignment system in this game is complete garbage, it's so finnicky, it doesn't show u directly unlike SJ FOR FUCK SAKE A GAME FROM WHAT 10 YEARS AGO? Both chaos and law ending fucking suck, feels like such a cope out, feels like it's lacking content and meaningful results or situations, the game is heavily skewed towards neutrality, which is okay in theory, SMT2 is skewed towards law and SMT3 is skewed towards Chaos, but the Neutral path in SMT4 is absolutely one of the most baffling decisions in any game i fucking played, completing a bunch of MEANINGLESS AND BORING sidequests to get to it, WHAT THE FUCK, and again, no direction or arrows pointing, complete the sidequests on your own, fuck you, also no new final boss or anything, just the same bosses from the other alignments.
Also most of the Original designs for this game are a sin, should be consider a crime against humanity, Sanat, All the archangels, Lilith, Merkabah, Medusa, The recolour DLC demons, Kuebiko, Yaso Magatsuhi, Masakado, but the one that takes the cake it's Lucifer, holy shit, this has to be the most pathetic, ugly, non-intimidating, shitty design i've ever seen in smt, AND THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE ONE OF THE IMPORTANT GUYS, WHAT IN THE HELL ATLUS? GOTH GRAY ALIEN WITH GOLDEN CLOTHING?
For the good things in this game there's the ambientation, OST which is incredable and the Combat, but also the other features that are staple in other smts, like demon negotiation, fusion, etc etc.
But wow this game is dissapointing, the more i think about it, the more i dislike it.
Is not a bad game, but there's so much bullshit is really hard to enjoy this game. Starting with what most people love about this game, the story and characters, and i recall, WHAT STORY, WHAT CHARACTERS? The game starts interesting im mikado and lose ALL OF IT'S PACING once we get to Tokyo, any form of driving force or narrative is lost while I GET LOST on tokyo itself, there's not a single memorable villain or fight in this entire game, if wasnt for memes from the internet, i would never guess the fucking Minotaur bossfight was a memorable or difficult fight, it was just another fight in the pile of forgetable things from this game, the combat however is incredable, i love how this game expands the press turn system, however the Smirk system is complete dogshit in this game, is so broken and unfun, it's literally a get out of jail free card in any battle.
Jonathan and Walter are the definition of their own aligments, and i know is on purpose, but coming from Nocturne were we didn't have set in stone characters and aligments having this charicatures walking around is really sad, when a game from the 3ds have characters as deep as characters from SMT1 for the Snes isn't a good thing, also Isabeu is a complete nothing of a characters, she's supposed to be the Neutral side, but she becomes the "I don't have a opinion on this matter cya", also her gimmick of liking Yaoi is laughable, because it shows they had no idea how to make this character likeable or interesting in any way shape or form, so they create a gimmick to at least she have something quotable or worth remembering. Also zero memorable villains, none, goose egg.
Also getting lost in this game fucking sucks, you have no indication or direction, it's a fucking 3DS game, being so cryptic and directionless isn't fun or engaging, it's frustrating, no Sign or Arrow or Pointer, get lost and figure it shit out by yourself, WTF is this a 2003 game?
Also the alignment system in this game is complete garbage, it's so finnicky, it doesn't show u directly unlike SJ FOR FUCK SAKE A GAME FROM WHAT 10 YEARS AGO? Both chaos and law ending fucking suck, feels like such a cope out, feels like it's lacking content and meaningful results or situations, the game is heavily skewed towards neutrality, which is okay in theory, SMT2 is skewed towards law and SMT3 is skewed towards Chaos, but the Neutral path in SMT4 is absolutely one of the most baffling decisions in any game i fucking played, completing a bunch of MEANINGLESS AND BORING sidequests to get to it, WHAT THE FUCK, and again, no direction or arrows pointing, complete the sidequests on your own, fuck you, also no new final boss or anything, just the same bosses from the other alignments.
Also most of the Original designs for this game are a sin, should be consider a crime against humanity, Sanat, All the archangels, Lilith, Merkabah, Medusa, The recolour DLC demons, Kuebiko, Yaso Magatsuhi, Masakado, but the one that takes the cake it's Lucifer, holy shit, this has to be the most pathetic, ugly, non-intimidating, shitty design i've ever seen in smt, AND THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE ONE OF THE IMPORTANT GUYS, WHAT IN THE HELL ATLUS? GOTH GRAY ALIEN WITH GOLDEN CLOTHING?
For the good things in this game there's the ambientation, OST which is incredable and the Combat, but also the other features that are staple in other smts, like demon negotiation, fusion, etc etc.
But wow this game is dissapointing, the more i think about it, the more i dislike it.
Kino
