turnaboutlies
64 Reviews liked by turnaboutlies
Mother 3
2006
if i had to really nag on one thing about earthbound, and for the purposes of reviews, i always do, it would be that the fact that it was a JRPG felt secondary to it. i don't remember many specific fights, and with everyone but jeff having access to PSI, it never felt like there were any real challenges.
so, i was very pleasantly surprised to see mother 3 approach the topic of being a JRPG and do it well. i actually feel like a lot of consideration and balance modifying went into the gameplay systems here. making it so that only lucas and kumatora can use PSI really balances the playing field in regards strategy. instead of everyone basically being able to nuke or support, now lucas and kumatora have much more specialized roles as white mage and black mage respectively.
the boss fights are much more memorable in both design and execution as well. i felt multiple times that i had to strategize and do more than just pelt bosses with attacks, which is what i did in earthbound. i actually felt motivated to buff and debuff and keep my item inventory structured specifically amongst characters. this game demands more from you than earthbound, and that's a splendid thing. earthbound was afraid to ask too much of the player, but mother 3 is perfectly willing to give you an obstacle and expect you to overcome it. i can clearly remember many of the boss fights in this game because of how satisfying it felt to overcome them, and, to me, that's one of the best feelings a game can give you.
i haven't really touched the subject of the game's plot and characters because i feel no real need to. they're fantastic, one of the best parts of the game, and there's a very strong chance that you already knew this before reading this review. the word of mouth this game has gotten honestly made me very wary and worried that it would never live up to the hype, and 2020 is nothing if not a year of surprises, because it surpassed those expectations. even if you know the plot and the twists, there's still a lot to analyze and unpack here. this is a narrative with complexity and depth worth appreciating, along with interesting characters.
the biggest flaws i have with the game are honestly in those interesting characters, though. fassad is the only middle eastern coded character in the game, and he's unambiguously evil and sadistic. then you have the mag*psies (censored because it's a slur against romani people), who are homophobic and transmisogynist caricatures. lastly, we have the game's tendency to make pedophilia jokes, which REALLY rubs me the wrong way. none of these are dealbreakers for me, obviously, but it's very jarring to see all of this, because it comes off as like, infowars level hateful stereotyping.
i will end this review by saying that it's very funny to me that nintendo continually refuses to localize this game when it's one of the best works to ever be attached to their name. i've heard rumors and assertions that there's too much dark content in the game to justify a localization (the final boss being often cited), but i disagree. i think the dark material in this game is structured in a way that would be consumable and acceptable for a younger audience and would likely touch them in a way that many games would fail to do. i wish i had played this game when i was younger, both unspoiled and unaware of what to expect. i have a feeling that this game would be in my top 5 if i had.
so, i was very pleasantly surprised to see mother 3 approach the topic of being a JRPG and do it well. i actually feel like a lot of consideration and balance modifying went into the gameplay systems here. making it so that only lucas and kumatora can use PSI really balances the playing field in regards strategy. instead of everyone basically being able to nuke or support, now lucas and kumatora have much more specialized roles as white mage and black mage respectively.
the boss fights are much more memorable in both design and execution as well. i felt multiple times that i had to strategize and do more than just pelt bosses with attacks, which is what i did in earthbound. i actually felt motivated to buff and debuff and keep my item inventory structured specifically amongst characters. this game demands more from you than earthbound, and that's a splendid thing. earthbound was afraid to ask too much of the player, but mother 3 is perfectly willing to give you an obstacle and expect you to overcome it. i can clearly remember many of the boss fights in this game because of how satisfying it felt to overcome them, and, to me, that's one of the best feelings a game can give you.
i haven't really touched the subject of the game's plot and characters because i feel no real need to. they're fantastic, one of the best parts of the game, and there's a very strong chance that you already knew this before reading this review. the word of mouth this game has gotten honestly made me very wary and worried that it would never live up to the hype, and 2020 is nothing if not a year of surprises, because it surpassed those expectations. even if you know the plot and the twists, there's still a lot to analyze and unpack here. this is a narrative with complexity and depth worth appreciating, along with interesting characters.
the biggest flaws i have with the game are honestly in those interesting characters, though. fassad is the only middle eastern coded character in the game, and he's unambiguously evil and sadistic. then you have the mag*psies (censored because it's a slur against romani people), who are homophobic and transmisogynist caricatures. lastly, we have the game's tendency to make pedophilia jokes, which REALLY rubs me the wrong way. none of these are dealbreakers for me, obviously, but it's very jarring to see all of this, because it comes off as like, infowars level hateful stereotyping.
i will end this review by saying that it's very funny to me that nintendo continually refuses to localize this game when it's one of the best works to ever be attached to their name. i've heard rumors and assertions that there's too much dark content in the game to justify a localization (the final boss being often cited), but i disagree. i think the dark material in this game is structured in a way that would be consumable and acceptable for a younger audience and would likely touch them in a way that many games would fail to do. i wish i had played this game when i was younger, both unspoiled and unaware of what to expect. i have a feeling that this game would be in my top 5 if i had.
This review contains spoilers
In my opinion, Meakashi is the best arc of Higurashi. It’s intense, cathartic, and wonderfully paced. Meakashi is basically a character study of Shion, most of which takes place while she is by herself or consumed by her thoughts. While this is certainly a different approach, I think it works in Meakashi’s favor, because Shion is such a compelling and well-written character, definitely one of Ryukishi07’s best.
Meakashi’s portrayal of trauma and isolation and their effect on your mental health is superb. While often presenting herself to others as confident, fun-loving, and friendly, she is in actuality a very lonely, cold, self-loathing, and manipulative person. Her whole life, Shion has been abused, rejected, and neglected by her family, many of which are violent yakuza; these factors have left a lasting impact on her mental health. She’s essentially abandoned at a boarding school that she despises, and when she escapes to Okinomiya she must live in isolation to avoid being caught and tortured by her own family. Whenever she does go out, she must dress up as her sister to avoid detection. While she attempts to cope by projecting herself onto the Houjou siblings and becoming increasingly involved in their lives, she can never truly shake her feelings of distrust, rage, and loneliness. Her self-hatred and anger initially manifest as hateful thoughts towards Satoko, who she relates to the most, but gradually become more intense and destructive as the arc goes on. You truly feel just as trapped as Shion as she tries to make sense of everything she’s gone through, especially after the slight time-skip that happens around halfway through the arc.
It’s not only Shion that makes this arc good- Higurashi is a psychological horror visual novel after all, and this is one of the most genuinely unnerving arcs in the series, especially near the end when you are trapped in Shion’s mind as she tries to justify her increasingly violent and irrational decisions. The mystery element is also strong- while this is the first “answer arc”, and it certainly does clear up the questions from Watanagashi-hen, it leaves the reader with a long list of still-unanswered questions, and leaves you wanting to read on and unravel the rest of Hinamizawa’s tale. Another thing I love about Meakashi is how it captures Shion’s mental state following her escape, and her overall feeling of aimlessness post-trauma. The complicated feeling of wanting to recover, but being unable to shake your hurt and bitterness, constantly retreating into your memories, and just feeling… stagnant and unchanging, is genuinely so perfectly captured.
I also really love this video analysis, as I think it breaks down both the arc and Shion as a character wonderfully, though be warned that it contains spoilers for Higurashi as a whole. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIqrUmJLr5A
Meakashi’s portrayal of trauma and isolation and their effect on your mental health is superb. While often presenting herself to others as confident, fun-loving, and friendly, she is in actuality a very lonely, cold, self-loathing, and manipulative person. Her whole life, Shion has been abused, rejected, and neglected by her family, many of which are violent yakuza; these factors have left a lasting impact on her mental health. She’s essentially abandoned at a boarding school that she despises, and when she escapes to Okinomiya she must live in isolation to avoid being caught and tortured by her own family. Whenever she does go out, she must dress up as her sister to avoid detection. While she attempts to cope by projecting herself onto the Houjou siblings and becoming increasingly involved in their lives, she can never truly shake her feelings of distrust, rage, and loneliness. Her self-hatred and anger initially manifest as hateful thoughts towards Satoko, who she relates to the most, but gradually become more intense and destructive as the arc goes on. You truly feel just as trapped as Shion as she tries to make sense of everything she’s gone through, especially after the slight time-skip that happens around halfway through the arc.
It’s not only Shion that makes this arc good- Higurashi is a psychological horror visual novel after all, and this is one of the most genuinely unnerving arcs in the series, especially near the end when you are trapped in Shion’s mind as she tries to justify her increasingly violent and irrational decisions. The mystery element is also strong- while this is the first “answer arc”, and it certainly does clear up the questions from Watanagashi-hen, it leaves the reader with a long list of still-unanswered questions, and leaves you wanting to read on and unravel the rest of Hinamizawa’s tale. Another thing I love about Meakashi is how it captures Shion’s mental state following her escape, and her overall feeling of aimlessness post-trauma. The complicated feeling of wanting to recover, but being unable to shake your hurt and bitterness, constantly retreating into your memories, and just feeling… stagnant and unchanging, is genuinely so perfectly captured.
I also really love this video analysis, as I think it breaks down both the arc and Shion as a character wonderfully, though be warned that it contains spoilers for Higurashi as a whole. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIqrUmJLr5A
Resident Evil 4
2005
I wish the entire game was as scary as the Regenerador segment
An amazing game for sure, but I don't think I can accurately describe how awful it is that what would be the best version of the game in terms of gameplay, mechanics, and arguably presentation with the 3D, is capped at 20 FPS and only manages to reach that once in a blue moon without hacking your 3DS or 2DS (specifically a new one, not an o3DS or o2DS) and even if you hack it you're basically never gonna see even 20 FPS if you have 3D on.