This is one of those masterpieces that left a burning hole in my heart because I never wanted it to end. I finished Paradise Killer several months ago and I still can't stop thinking about it.

Truly an iconic, unique gem that has somehow never garnered the respect it deserves. Paradise Killer is fluid in terms of genre, it's execution unprecedented in how it doesn't rigidly fall into any single genre or category: It's not a visual novel, but is text-heavy as a murder mystery. The writing isn't anything spectacular, but the story has the perfect amount of complexity and depth at a comfortable pace. The game has platforming elements, but isn't your traditional platformer. It has a large open world for investigating, yet isn't an RPG, horror, or action/adventure game. Imo the best part is that there's zero combat. If there were combat it would ruin the game and detract too much from the exploration aspect. I could explore this gorgeous world for hours, and the music is banger after banger gold. Top tier atmosphere with vibes you could get lost in forever. The only cons are that the game was way too short. My run was 25 hrs and that me really stretching the game out as much as I could, exploring every last crevice and piece of lore. There is also, unfortunately, no replayability, though it has tempted me more than once.

Etrian Odyssey HD a lackluster dungeon crawler with no story or characters. It is extremely barebones and doesn't especially excel in any regard.

The music is beautiful and the graphics are a huge upgrade from the original (from what I've seen). Unfortunately, however, this is definitely not worth playing unless you absolutely love LOVE LOVE dungeon crawlers.

If you're new to the series like I was...Don't go into this blind as I did. The game goes something like this:

When you first start the game, you are immediately prompted to start your own guild and create from scratch up to thirty characters. There is no main character or protagonist. When I say "create from scratch," I mean that each class has five cookie-cutter appearances to choose from and you decide on a name for each character you create. No context, no backstory. You can only have 5 characters in your party and there are only 8 classes, so 30 is completely unnecessary even if you wanted to put them on rotation. As grindy and boring as this game is, you'll just want to choose your favorite five and slog through til the end.

After creating your party, the entire rest of the game is dungeon crawling aka walking through a forest with no story, almost no dialogue, no character development, and zero depth. When you kill monsters, they sometimes drop loot. Go back to town and sell the loot. Repeat hundreds or thousands of times until you finally get through this tedious slog. The end.

It certainly was not what I expected and yes, it's immensely overpriced.

This game is a masterpiece - one that captured me from the start and turned out to be even more of a delight than dos2. You could say that the first ten hours start out slow and that the music lacks variety, but those are its biggest flaws imo.

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire is a phenomenal isometric crpg that is perfect as is. Admittedly poe2 isn't as visually stunning as dos2, but it takes a more humble, home-y approach with its immersive 2-D world, which is still massive. I actually find the 2-D world preferable because sometimes with 3-D worlds like dos2, sometimes there's a bit too much going on and almost too many visual details, making it difficult to see what you're looking at.

Exploration in pillars feels highly rewarding. Definitely one of those games that'll have you saying "just one more thing" and then you find yourself lost in a dungeon that takes you through three more dungeons. Excellent story writing, world-building, and tons of lore (yes pillars is text-heavy - what else did you expect?). Another thing, the dual class system is remarkable and allows for more possibilities than dos2 without being complicated. Did I mention that it's pirate themed?

I'm a slut for rtwp so I LOVE that the player can choose between rtwp or turn-based combat. As someone who plays a ton of turn-based games and rpgs in general, I find rtwp refreshing bc I understand how the tb grind inevitably get tiring after awhile, no matter how stellar the game is. In pillars, the combat never felt like a chore, which I feel says a lot for games within the crpg or jrpg genre.

At 105 hours, I still have not completed the game. I purchased the dlc around 95 hours and as a completionist, plan to experience as much as I can before completing this playthrough. I already can't wait to revisit this game again in the distant future because it's worthy of being played more than just once. Overall, an absolute must-try for rpg fans.

Hmmm. I started a playthrough of Tokyo Mirage a couple years ago back in 2021 and wanted to love it so badly. I was itching to play something similar after my 150 hour P5 run. This did not suffice. Truly a horrible crossover between SMT and FE, two of my favorite franchises ever. It's somehow managed to take the worst elements of each while misrepresenting SMT. Honestly, I never even saw the FE representation in the first place and would say it's more like SMT x Kingdom Hearts.

Worst Atlus title I've ever played.

This game is sooooooo insanely mid and falls short in every respect. I got ten hours of playtime...in 2020. And do not believe I'd ever return. While the game is generally forgettable, something I recall clearly is that I have a dozen switch friends who, every single one of them, played the game for 10-20 hours max, then permanently retired. I have literally never seen or known anyone who was willing to sink more than 20 hours with the median probably falling around 12. Tells you everything you need to know about the game tbh. This simply just isn't worth anyone's time.

DioField Chronicle made me a slut for RTwP. Truly I am down bad for it.

This is some of the most fun gameplay I have experienced in a long time. Maybe it's because I primarily play games with turn-based combat, which has historically been my favorite. RTwP is a niche genre and I'm surprised I haven't encountered it sooner (except maybe for Final Fantasy XII albeit it was clunky). It's likely due to the fact I'm primarily a console gamer. Everything about the mechanics in DC felt deliberate, intentional, and carefully thought out before implementation.

It felt refreshing in so many different ways and dare I say RTwP is almost superior to tb because it gets the best of both worlds - as an isometric SRPG, it feels much less grindy than tb combat, every battle is unique, and it functions like a gameboard but with more freedom since the player isn't confined to a single tile or square on the board. As someone who isn't super into RTS, this is the perfect solution for me. Lowkey kinda mad I'm late to the party.

Much to my surprise, graphics look lovely on the switch with no lag or embarassing frame rate, and it plays comfortably with a controller too. Obviously mouse and keyboard is superior for the genre but regretably I don't yet have a pc.

As far as gameplay goes, there was never a single dull moment. It never felt like a chore. I actually 100% the game; I completed every mission within its timeframe and every mission without any allies dying. Both of these tasks yield the necessary resources required for skill tree advancement. I maxed out all of the skill trees and started NG+ on hard.

I have two main complaints with this game, but imo these can be looked past. Narratively, the story does fall a bit short. Maybe because it's confusing a lot of the time, felt overly convoluted, and because the ending was both unexpected and unsatisfying. Perhaps a combination of these factors but at least the voice acting was pleasant. My second gripe is that the game is too easy for people experienced in strategy games. Even though this was my first RTwP, I was able to get the hang of it immediately. I would say that experienced players of strategy games in general should consider starting on hard difficulty for their first playthrough, since NG+ unlocks extra hard difficulty. The only distinction in the difficulty levels is how much damage you receive, nothing else. Also, MC is kinda unlikeable and arrogant but whatever.

In the end, this is a really solid game. 10/10 for gameplay, perhaps 5/10 for story, and 4/10 for character depth.

Disappointing is an understatement. This game is frustrating as hell, tedious, and anxiety-producing.

I was so excited for this game to come out, waited months for it, and wanted to love it so badly. I'm not sure what I expected but I was told its gameplay resembles fire emblem...but it's nothing of the sort. Not even remotely close.

This is a shitty, low-budget indie battleship game that has somehow managed to make battleship worse and even less enjoyable. Graphics are trash, its mechanics are simple yet feel overly complicated for no reason at all. While simultaneously, I can't help but feel like something is missing from this game. Don't get me started on the fog of war missions. They make me want to end it all.

The worse part is how each mission takes literally f o r e v e r. I've spent hours on a single map, I've had to replay maps like four times to win. Talk about fucking time-consuming...Not to mention alllllllll the times I've restarted turns while still messing up by a single tile or so and needing to restart the whole thing anyway. It doesn't even feel rewarding in any way at all. It's nothing but a slog.

I’ve rage quit the game way too many times and quite frankly I'm surprised I made it to 55 hours of gameplay (completed 1 and about two thirds done with 2). It's extremely anxiety-producing because if you make a single wrong move, you're fcked and will need to restart the map. Oh you moved one of your troops a single square in the wrong place? HAHA LOSER, why don't ya start over and lose the 30-40 min of progress you made. Keep restarting over and over again until you want to fucking jump off a cliff for real.

Yeah the music goes hard but it's hardly redeeming for what a massive headache this game induces. Probably watching paint dry, sitting in L.A. traffic, or going to the DMV will be more fun. HARD PASS from sometime who absolutely loves strategy games. Extremely overly priced at its $60 price tag, what a joke. Good thing this game was gifted to me or I'd be F U M I N G -

V O M I T I N G, S H I T T I N G, and P I S S I N G myself.

Making custom maps and playing multiplayer with friends is, by far, the best aspect of the game. It's no saving grace by any means but at least it makes the game a mid tier multiplayer. But what makes no sense is that you can make maps that support up to four people...but can only play online with one friend though? Makes absolutely no sense that four people cannot play online together. Only two humans and two AI max can play online; playing multiplayer with four humans requires couch co-op. Sigh.

Wonderful trio, terrible execution.

I only have one hour of total play time. And that one hour is spread over several sessions, not to mention the fact that I've had the game since around the time it came out in 2020.

Every time I pick up the game seeking a dose of nostalgia, I'm reminded of how terrible its controls are. This was poorly done and disappointing. I've abandoned the game and am unsure of when I'll return, if ever.