ArcadiaNine
BACKER
Bit of an experience with this one. This is the game I was in the middle of when I was hospitalized years ago. After that I kinda stopped gaming for a few months and my PC died so I didn't have a way to play. Now I do again and fortunately I had forgotten enough after three years to fully enjoy the deduction based gameplay despite having to replay half of it.
So what is this? Well it's a game from the Papers, Please creator Lucas Pope who seems to have a knack for making a captivating experience out of an otherwise dull occupation. Return of the Obra Dinn has you fill the shoes of an insurance agent tasked to investigate the titular ship that found its way back to English waters with no crew remaining and find out why that happened.
The core gameplay is a beautiful thing and can really make you feel smart. Basically what you do is you search around the ship from a first person perspective in a 3D space and find the remains of the crew. You're armed with a book that has the ship manifest with simple descriptions of characters, two images from an artist on the ship depicting the whole crew through both, a layout of each of the ship's decks, and a glossary to help you define some seafaring terms like what a midshipman is or the various decks.
The book also has a plethora of blank pages you need to fill out by learning what happened. You do this with the OTHER object in your possession, a magic pocket watch that allows you to see the final moments of a live of whoever's remains you observe. Basically you activate the watch and it plays audio similar to a radio play where you hear the person's final moments and then it shows you the moment of their death frozen in time. You're then free to look around it and note to yourself who all is involved and what's happening. You can focus on people in the scene and it'll show you their face in the mentioned artist's images in the book and it's also worth really looking around for all sorts of details that could help you identify other people the scene isn't even about. Through these scenes you can find other bodies to investigate and the ship will open up more after completing scenes.
It was really a fantastic experience. There were a lot of times I was able to just look around and piece answers together with what was shown in the various scenes but I also encountered times where I just didn't know an answer and would google stuff to help me out. Like with one instance the game shows you a guy with like tribal body tattoos and I was like "ok most people here are from places that don't usually do that kind of thing in the 1800s" so I googled "tribal body tattoo" + [whatever country in the origin list I didn't know much about] and ended up being pretty sure I knew where the guy in the game was from and thus could match his name to his face. It's a wonderful feeling. There's a lot of similar things to that too where you gotta have a sharp eye like if someone is wearing a wedding ring or even keeping track where they sleep and what shoes they have on. Hell there's even some fates you discover on the outer fringes of a scene that doesn't even prominently feature the characters!
It's all expertly woven together. All the fates intertwine and it tells a most compelling story. It's brought together in a nice little package of atmosphere with various songs to set the mood of each scene. Also the sound design coupled with the
radio play descriptors of a scene make for a super immersive experience. I mean, I don't know for sure what a man being torn apart by a fantasy beast sounds like but it feels like Pope does with all this. Oh also the game is entirely 1-bit color palette so it give the feel of playing something like Oregon Trail in a way. The whole thing together just works so well.
SO yeah this is a pretty excellent game. It made me feel smart and really compelled me to do all the everything just by being masterfully atmospheric and presenting a tale that keeps on giving. I'm reminded of The Outer Wilds or Myst in how it felt to play but the way it's presented and how you explore the story in chapters give it enough of its own feeling to call it a pretty unique experience. I know some would argue that detective type gameplay can only be enjoyed fully once since you know everything on subsequent playthroughs but I think since it has enough style Obra Dinn could still be worth Returning to (lol) the same way one might revisit a good book. Definitely recommend to anyone to give a chance but those who like figuring stuff out will be who enjoys it the most.
So what is this? Well it's a game from the Papers, Please creator Lucas Pope who seems to have a knack for making a captivating experience out of an otherwise dull occupation. Return of the Obra Dinn has you fill the shoes of an insurance agent tasked to investigate the titular ship that found its way back to English waters with no crew remaining and find out why that happened.
The core gameplay is a beautiful thing and can really make you feel smart. Basically what you do is you search around the ship from a first person perspective in a 3D space and find the remains of the crew. You're armed with a book that has the ship manifest with simple descriptions of characters, two images from an artist on the ship depicting the whole crew through both, a layout of each of the ship's decks, and a glossary to help you define some seafaring terms like what a midshipman is or the various decks.
The book also has a plethora of blank pages you need to fill out by learning what happened. You do this with the OTHER object in your possession, a magic pocket watch that allows you to see the final moments of a live of whoever's remains you observe. Basically you activate the watch and it plays audio similar to a radio play where you hear the person's final moments and then it shows you the moment of their death frozen in time. You're then free to look around it and note to yourself who all is involved and what's happening. You can focus on people in the scene and it'll show you their face in the mentioned artist's images in the book and it's also worth really looking around for all sorts of details that could help you identify other people the scene isn't even about. Through these scenes you can find other bodies to investigate and the ship will open up more after completing scenes.
It was really a fantastic experience. There were a lot of times I was able to just look around and piece answers together with what was shown in the various scenes but I also encountered times where I just didn't know an answer and would google stuff to help me out. Like with one instance the game shows you a guy with like tribal body tattoos and I was like "ok most people here are from places that don't usually do that kind of thing in the 1800s" so I googled "tribal body tattoo" + [whatever country in the origin list I didn't know much about] and ended up being pretty sure I knew where the guy in the game was from and thus could match his name to his face. It's a wonderful feeling. There's a lot of similar things to that too where you gotta have a sharp eye like if someone is wearing a wedding ring or even keeping track where they sleep and what shoes they have on. Hell there's even some fates you discover on the outer fringes of a scene that doesn't even prominently feature the characters!
It's all expertly woven together. All the fates intertwine and it tells a most compelling story. It's brought together in a nice little package of atmosphere with various songs to set the mood of each scene. Also the sound design coupled with the
radio play descriptors of a scene make for a super immersive experience. I mean, I don't know for sure what a man being torn apart by a fantasy beast sounds like but it feels like Pope does with all this. Oh also the game is entirely 1-bit color palette so it give the feel of playing something like Oregon Trail in a way. The whole thing together just works so well.
SO yeah this is a pretty excellent game. It made me feel smart and really compelled me to do all the everything just by being masterfully atmospheric and presenting a tale that keeps on giving. I'm reminded of The Outer Wilds or Myst in how it felt to play but the way it's presented and how you explore the story in chapters give it enough of its own feeling to call it a pretty unique experience. I know some would argue that detective type gameplay can only be enjoyed fully once since you know everything on subsequent playthroughs but I think since it has enough style Obra Dinn could still be worth Returning to (lol) the same way one might revisit a good book. Definitely recommend to anyone to give a chance but those who like figuring stuff out will be who enjoys it the most.
2023
I'm as split on this game as the dual protagonists. I can't remember the last time a game simultaneously frustrated and fascinated me. There's some really interesting stuff in this but there's an equal amount of maddening stuff.
So to start there's something happening for the story. Stars or something are clashing, blue and orange, and resulting in one dominating the other. You play as one of these star beings and roam around a sorta-metroidvania map. I say sorta because it doesn't really feel like metroidvania much to me but maybe it's just a bad one? Anyway you roam around and encounter both orange and blue star beings and engage in a combat.
Here's where they fascinating gameplay is. You can simply defeat them but to truly progress you need to beat them in such a way that you absorb them completely. Battles are all turn based and you have a myriad of techniques at your disposal as you progress. Basically what you need to do is fill a meter that makes the opponent susceptible to absorption without killing them. This gets progressively more difficult as enemies will have shields you have to break but doing that wrong will lead to you killing them quicker or they have ways of ending the battle in X amount of turns so you need to do it quick. It's a system that can be satisfying when you figure it out and succeed.
The frustration here is how, despite the game inundating you with tutorials at the start, just won't tell you that suddenly there are new mechanics when dealing with certain types of enemies which is an annoying inconsistency when earlier they stop you mid combat to explain the details of breaking blocks. The other annoyance is back to the multitude of moves at your disposal you can't see while actually IN combat. Even offline single player modes in fighting games will let you pause to check your set list so for a TURN BASED game to not have something like that even when on your turn
feels like a blatant misstep.
The other side of the game here is platforming. As I said, it's sort of metroidvania? There's only like four items you get to access areas you can't get to and you just sorta stumble on them. It never had the feeling of like "oh neat I got this thing after beating a boss/finding a hidden area" because it just presents itself awkwardly. All the enemies in the game feel the same level of threat for the most part and if they don't it's because you found them in a weird order. There's only like arguably four fights that really scream "boss fight" and those don't bestow you means of traversal. It just feels awkward.
On top of that, the movement just feels a bit too rigid. I appreciate what they're going for with swapping characters who only have certain abilities each but it's not snappy enough to really flow that well. I had a few times where a toggle just didn't register and I would fall to somewhere I didn't want to be. The game is designed well enough that it doesn't feel like too much of a slog if you mess up but it does get annoying at times.
There's not really any hazards either so a lot of the core gameplay loop is just kinda basic platforming from one encounter to the next in an empty world. Makes you wonder why it had to be a metroidvania at all. There are at least collectibles to find. One set will increase your time to attack and another your health. There's a third one that unlocks like the "challenge" area but that ended up being my breaking point.
You go through the mostly empty map with backgrounds like mid 2000s Windows screensavers and collect all the green triangles. Your reward is the final part of the map, an optional challenge area. The first part of this area is a platforming gauntlet that isn't even that difficult but the switching mechanic was so finnicky for me that after like 15 failed attempts or so I just said "fuck it" and went to the final boss and finished the game. Shame too because what I do like, the combat system. would probably shine against the secret super boss that laid ahead of said platforming gauntlet but I just couldn't be arsed to do it. Doesn't give you anything special or change the ending anyway so whatever.
So then you get to the final boss and WOW they just fall on their face by having the final boss be an interactive cutscene that is just total nonsense like Somerville or something you have to dive DEEP to know the literal meaning. I just didn't care at that point. The story was boring and the lore was uninteresting. I just was done and that was it.
I suppose this means frustration won out in the end. There's elements of a really neat game in here but I had just enough little frustrations to be done with it when I got near the end. I don't think I'd recommend it to anyone but it could be worth checking out anyway., Maybe you'll click with it sooner than me or have less issues with the platforming. I'm glad I got to experience it but I'm also happy its over lol.
So to start there's something happening for the story. Stars or something are clashing, blue and orange, and resulting in one dominating the other. You play as one of these star beings and roam around a sorta-metroidvania map. I say sorta because it doesn't really feel like metroidvania much to me but maybe it's just a bad one? Anyway you roam around and encounter both orange and blue star beings and engage in a combat.
Here's where they fascinating gameplay is. You can simply defeat them but to truly progress you need to beat them in such a way that you absorb them completely. Battles are all turn based and you have a myriad of techniques at your disposal as you progress. Basically what you need to do is fill a meter that makes the opponent susceptible to absorption without killing them. This gets progressively more difficult as enemies will have shields you have to break but doing that wrong will lead to you killing them quicker or they have ways of ending the battle in X amount of turns so you need to do it quick. It's a system that can be satisfying when you figure it out and succeed.
The frustration here is how, despite the game inundating you with tutorials at the start, just won't tell you that suddenly there are new mechanics when dealing with certain types of enemies which is an annoying inconsistency when earlier they stop you mid combat to explain the details of breaking blocks. The other annoyance is back to the multitude of moves at your disposal you can't see while actually IN combat. Even offline single player modes in fighting games will let you pause to check your set list so for a TURN BASED game to not have something like that even when on your turn
feels like a blatant misstep.
The other side of the game here is platforming. As I said, it's sort of metroidvania? There's only like four items you get to access areas you can't get to and you just sorta stumble on them. It never had the feeling of like "oh neat I got this thing after beating a boss/finding a hidden area" because it just presents itself awkwardly. All the enemies in the game feel the same level of threat for the most part and if they don't it's because you found them in a weird order. There's only like arguably four fights that really scream "boss fight" and those don't bestow you means of traversal. It just feels awkward.
On top of that, the movement just feels a bit too rigid. I appreciate what they're going for with swapping characters who only have certain abilities each but it's not snappy enough to really flow that well. I had a few times where a toggle just didn't register and I would fall to somewhere I didn't want to be. The game is designed well enough that it doesn't feel like too much of a slog if you mess up but it does get annoying at times.
There's not really any hazards either so a lot of the core gameplay loop is just kinda basic platforming from one encounter to the next in an empty world. Makes you wonder why it had to be a metroidvania at all. There are at least collectibles to find. One set will increase your time to attack and another your health. There's a third one that unlocks like the "challenge" area but that ended up being my breaking point.
You go through the mostly empty map with backgrounds like mid 2000s Windows screensavers and collect all the green triangles. Your reward is the final part of the map, an optional challenge area. The first part of this area is a platforming gauntlet that isn't even that difficult but the switching mechanic was so finnicky for me that after like 15 failed attempts or so I just said "fuck it" and went to the final boss and finished the game. Shame too because what I do like, the combat system. would probably shine against the secret super boss that laid ahead of said platforming gauntlet but I just couldn't be arsed to do it. Doesn't give you anything special or change the ending anyway so whatever.
So then you get to the final boss and WOW they just fall on their face by having the final boss be an interactive cutscene that is just total nonsense like Somerville or something you have to dive DEEP to know the literal meaning. I just didn't care at that point. The story was boring and the lore was uninteresting. I just was done and that was it.
I suppose this means frustration won out in the end. There's elements of a really neat game in here but I had just enough little frustrations to be done with it when I got near the end. I don't think I'd recommend it to anyone but it could be worth checking out anyway., Maybe you'll click with it sooner than me or have less issues with the platforming. I'm glad I got to experience it but I'm also happy its over lol.
2014
Bit of a trip, this game. You play as a flying eyeball with a tail? Like a one eye snake that flies around? I dunno. Change color when you change directions too. You can speed up and slow down and blink and that's about it. Touch pad also makes the body like glitch out almost and go static-y. It's neat to just fly around and watch colors change and make basic shapes with the trail of your snake body.
The actual game is pretty neat. You go to different areas/worlds/levels and interact with things their in the way the space dictates. One level has you swim through water and interact with fish, one has you in like a theme park where people ride you and you can put them in rides and make those work, hell one is even like a series of grids where you can only move in 90 degree angles and have to do various tasks in that way. Each area feels pretty unique in terms of looks or how you move or what goes on and it's always fun to see what the next one has in store.
The core point of this game too is to find 16 other one eye snake guys like you. Each one has their own level but not all levels have one I think? Anyway the whole game is like "the friends we made along the way" meme but real. Each snake friend is directly related to the world its in and it's really fun to find them after solving whatever problem the world throws at you. Each friend is also accompanied by a short motion comic type thing that shows how they ended up where you find them.
Hohokum is a charming feel good game to play. It's a bit weird at first but it quickly becomes just fun to roam around and find things out. There's a bunch of little extras to reward people who explore and play with thing just for the sake of it. Also each level has it's own banger song so the whole game is like playing a really good record. Definitely recommend to anyone. A short enjoyable trip with some light puzzle solving.
The actual game is pretty neat. You go to different areas/worlds/levels and interact with things their in the way the space dictates. One level has you swim through water and interact with fish, one has you in like a theme park where people ride you and you can put them in rides and make those work, hell one is even like a series of grids where you can only move in 90 degree angles and have to do various tasks in that way. Each area feels pretty unique in terms of looks or how you move or what goes on and it's always fun to see what the next one has in store.
The core point of this game too is to find 16 other one eye snake guys like you. Each one has their own level but not all levels have one I think? Anyway the whole game is like "the friends we made along the way" meme but real. Each snake friend is directly related to the world its in and it's really fun to find them after solving whatever problem the world throws at you. Each friend is also accompanied by a short motion comic type thing that shows how they ended up where you find them.
Hohokum is a charming feel good game to play. It's a bit weird at first but it quickly becomes just fun to roam around and find things out. There's a bunch of little extras to reward people who explore and play with thing just for the sake of it. Also each level has it's own banger song so the whole game is like playing a really good record. Definitely recommend to anyone. A short enjoyable trip with some light puzzle solving.
lmao I'm so fucking done with Spyro. Maybe someday if someone gets to really work out a fourth game and it's done well with some new ideas I'd try that. A few years ago I promised a friend I'd beat the trilogy cos I think he gifted it to me? I forget. Anyway the first one was pretty jank and shitty but there was that stink gen 5 game charm I guess so I stuck with it.
I heard the sequels were better and rode that hope into 2 which was a bit more interesting and had some fun characters and a good villain. I dunno if it really felt better to play or what but I had a not terrible time with it overall.
Now I've finished the third game and it's back to being just annoying. I dunno if it's just this game was rushed or if it's that I just inherently find the gameplay in Spyro to be not that good or both. I mean I enjoy the general concept of a collectathon game, I loved DK 64 and Banjo Kazooie back in the day but maybe I was just more tolerant of it as a kid or Rare just spoiled me by being the best at it.
I think a chunk of it comes down to the controls. I just don't like how Spyro himself moves. I'm not saying it's flat out wrong, I just don't think I like it. He's a creature on four legs so it makes sense he turns more widely than other 3D platformer characters. Just little bits of it get annoying after a while. Also the camera is just straight up wonky to me and I find myself running off a platform or just dying to things because it doesn't keep up with how I wanna move. It just doesn't mesh with my mind that well.
All of this stood out in my mind worse than in 2 because in this game there is a multitude of other characters you play as in their own sections. I was told by the friend that these sections as other characters are regarded by fans as the worst aspect of the game and yet I found myself enjoying it. I liked flying around shooting stuff as the penguin or smashing guys as the yeti. Hell my absolute favorite was the like "bullet hell-esque" sections as Sparx. I would take a whole game of that. I thought that to myself though and realized I was enjoying this game most when it wasn't being a Spyro game and I think that's ultimately pretty telling.
There's also a bunch of little things in this that I wouldn't say are a detriment necessarily but stuff that stood out to me as being worse than the last game. Like in this there are areas where you skateboard around but you start them on foot and get on the skateboard but they're still treated as separate areas within a level you have to load into. It's a bit of a contrast to Spyro 2 levels that felt like pretty big and you can get lost in almost. Maybe that game just hid its loading well but the big purple portals in this one just feel like corner cutting and make me wonder if this one was more rushed out.
Speaking of rushed, I feel like they didn't really do enough to establish the characters in this one. The villain is definitely the weakest in the series and just wasn't a thing I was like excited to be building towards. There's only really one other new character who they play into like a villain becoming one of the good guys but stuff just kinda happens with her and it doesn't feel written in an engaging way.
I know that's probably thinking TOO MUCH about character and plot development in a Spyro game but just something about the opening cutscene in 2 with being sent to another world and meeting the professor and his companions and how it all tied into Ripto just got my attention right away and made me want to involve myself more. It was neat! Compare to this game where everything feels placed around. Like even returning characters just feel wasted overall.
So yeah I dunno. This game kinda exposed itself to me in how much I maybe don't like it after all. Going through it just felt like checking things off a list. Some of the worlds and music are neat but it all falls flat in my mind compared to 2. It's probably not the best highlight but I did enjoy the side stuff as other characters. Playing as gun monkey was funny. Gimme Sparx 1943 I dunno.
I didn't despise this game because of the amount of times it allows you to NOT play it and it's still probably better overall than the first one. I don't think I could recommend this now though. I mean, fans of it will play it regardless but its not gonna be in my top like 10 3D platformers I recommend someone try if they want one. Still glad to have completed what I said I would do and I'm glad I did Year of the Dragon in 2024, a proper Year of the Dragon in itself.
I heard the sequels were better and rode that hope into 2 which was a bit more interesting and had some fun characters and a good villain. I dunno if it really felt better to play or what but I had a not terrible time with it overall.
Now I've finished the third game and it's back to being just annoying. I dunno if it's just this game was rushed or if it's that I just inherently find the gameplay in Spyro to be not that good or both. I mean I enjoy the general concept of a collectathon game, I loved DK 64 and Banjo Kazooie back in the day but maybe I was just more tolerant of it as a kid or Rare just spoiled me by being the best at it.
I think a chunk of it comes down to the controls. I just don't like how Spyro himself moves. I'm not saying it's flat out wrong, I just don't think I like it. He's a creature on four legs so it makes sense he turns more widely than other 3D platformer characters. Just little bits of it get annoying after a while. Also the camera is just straight up wonky to me and I find myself running off a platform or just dying to things because it doesn't keep up with how I wanna move. It just doesn't mesh with my mind that well.
All of this stood out in my mind worse than in 2 because in this game there is a multitude of other characters you play as in their own sections. I was told by the friend that these sections as other characters are regarded by fans as the worst aspect of the game and yet I found myself enjoying it. I liked flying around shooting stuff as the penguin or smashing guys as the yeti. Hell my absolute favorite was the like "bullet hell-esque" sections as Sparx. I would take a whole game of that. I thought that to myself though and realized I was enjoying this game most when it wasn't being a Spyro game and I think that's ultimately pretty telling.
There's also a bunch of little things in this that I wouldn't say are a detriment necessarily but stuff that stood out to me as being worse than the last game. Like in this there are areas where you skateboard around but you start them on foot and get on the skateboard but they're still treated as separate areas within a level you have to load into. It's a bit of a contrast to Spyro 2 levels that felt like pretty big and you can get lost in almost. Maybe that game just hid its loading well but the big purple portals in this one just feel like corner cutting and make me wonder if this one was more rushed out.
Speaking of rushed, I feel like they didn't really do enough to establish the characters in this one. The villain is definitely the weakest in the series and just wasn't a thing I was like excited to be building towards. There's only really one other new character who they play into like a villain becoming one of the good guys but stuff just kinda happens with her and it doesn't feel written in an engaging way.
I know that's probably thinking TOO MUCH about character and plot development in a Spyro game but just something about the opening cutscene in 2 with being sent to another world and meeting the professor and his companions and how it all tied into Ripto just got my attention right away and made me want to involve myself more. It was neat! Compare to this game where everything feels placed around. Like even returning characters just feel wasted overall.
So yeah I dunno. This game kinda exposed itself to me in how much I maybe don't like it after all. Going through it just felt like checking things off a list. Some of the worlds and music are neat but it all falls flat in my mind compared to 2. It's probably not the best highlight but I did enjoy the side stuff as other characters. Playing as gun monkey was funny. Gimme Sparx 1943 I dunno.
I didn't despise this game because of the amount of times it allows you to NOT play it and it's still probably better overall than the first one. I don't think I could recommend this now though. I mean, fans of it will play it regardless but its not gonna be in my top like 10 3D platformers I recommend someone try if they want one. Still glad to have completed what I said I would do and I'm glad I did Year of the Dragon in 2024, a proper Year of the Dragon in itself.
Boy there sure is a lot of game here. It's weird when a game or series goes open world or semi open world like this game. A lot of times they feel the need to shove a bunch in to the game. Maps littered with icons to walk to and do busy work. A crafting system is implemented and so the ground is littered with things to pick up. There's a robust minigame card game made for this and there are people around to play in ALL major locations regardless of tone of the events. Also just minigames for days. There's nothing inherently wrong with them but when a game sets a tone of haste and then forces me to do minigames it just feels bad.
The busy work stuff too is just so dull too. Activate towers is something Ubisoft burned into everyone's brains. Fine. Zelda did this well though. Activate a tower and see more of the world and pick places to go. Rebirth tower just puts more chores on your map to go do. Go to shrine and play memory game, go to fountain and press triangle three times, go fight monsters in specific way, and so on. You could say open world stuff just isn't for me and that's true but it also hurts more when I've seen other open world games have their open world and keep it engaging rather than like house work. Also fuck whoever said "oh you wanna move around the world more quickly? do this hackneyed stealth section first". Double also fuck glorified box moving puzzles you solve in your head near instantly and take forever to actually "solve" in comparison.
That said, the core JRPG stuff is mostly fun. I enjoy the combat and how you're encouraged to use other weapons for new moves. The pressure and staggering effects add some depth to how you approach things so you can't always mindlessly hack through stuff. I also still love how the kept in the auto battle system so you can choose to let the characters move around and build up ATB on their own but also take control whenever you want. It's all still well implemented. Materia is still fun to swap around and experiment with I think although this time around I found myself using more character abilities than spells in general. The only thing that felt a bit much was the Folio system which was like a skill tree for each character. It's neat that it's there I guess but it's kinda cumbersome to navigate and ultimately I just ignored it and really didn't have much trouble getting through the game (except dying twice on the final final boss but whatever).
They also kept in and expanded on synergy moves. This is actually something the Folio system is good for as you can unlock new synergy moves with different characters as you ascend the branches of the skill tree. I did this enough to have a couple and it was pretty neat. You get moves shared between characters that are strong and cost no ATB. Instead you build up to them by having used ATB moves already with each character. So like after you do two ATB moves with Yuffie and two with Tifa for example you're then able to use their sync move. They're all full of spectacle and feel great to build up to and pull off.
On top of sync moves being flashy fun to use in battle, they also have a slight effect outside of it. Specifically doing sync moves with a character and Cloud can help deepen their relationship. Yeah in this game they have like the equivalent of Persona social links (though not as in depth). So you can increase friendship with characters in combat but the bulk of it is usually done when you get to a new location and the game gives you the opportunity to talk with each character. Find them all and there's some good character moments that usually trigger a timed dialogue tree choice where the "right" one will deepen your relationship with said character. Of course this also leads to having a "romance" scene with whoever you have at the highest affection level by the time you get back to the Gold Saucer. It's a fun addition to the game and really helped in feeling engaged in the character's personalities.
OH also to build into deeper character engagement they have sections where you play as a different character and they have some gimmick specific to them that you have to use to progress. It ranges from kinda neat and inoffensive to mildy annoying and then straight up "fuck you Cait Sith" tier. I get what they're going for but it kinda sucks. Fortunately they also have sections of the game where they split the party into groups and this does a much better job showing the developing comradery of various characters.
So then how's the actual story? Well it's mostly just ok lol. It's the same weak connections that were present in this chunk of the OG game. You go to places on weak reasoning because plot. It's good they implemented the character stuff I mentioned before because that's where any sort of plot element really shines. The actual story at play here is just "Sephiroth gonna do something lets chase random almost-leads." and then like two thirds the way through and a couple personal character arcs later they stumble onto the plot to get the thing. It's whatever. The best bit is the wacky Nomura incoherent space fights and the "Zack is out there" extra story bits. It ultimately just leads to more "what the fuck are they thinking?" but it's still on the third game to see if they deliver on anything substantial or not. The story in this is more or less exactly as it goes in OG FFVII. I think it's fine.
So yeah. It's the second act of FFVII but made to look real pretty. It was too self conscious to just be a JRPG but bigger so there's a bunch of open world crap in it. Maybe you'll like it but it's clearly not for me. I enjoy the base combat and seeing the OG game realized as like this full thing. Also the character moments and the wacky extra stuff going on keeps me going. It definitely felt like a lot though and I'm ready to play something shorter and more video game-y. Don't need to recommend anything here. People playing this already know they're gonna play it. It's a sequel after all. Enjoyable enough but way too much extra junk for my liking.
The busy work stuff too is just so dull too. Activate towers is something Ubisoft burned into everyone's brains. Fine. Zelda did this well though. Activate a tower and see more of the world and pick places to go. Rebirth tower just puts more chores on your map to go do. Go to shrine and play memory game, go to fountain and press triangle three times, go fight monsters in specific way, and so on. You could say open world stuff just isn't for me and that's true but it also hurts more when I've seen other open world games have their open world and keep it engaging rather than like house work. Also fuck whoever said "oh you wanna move around the world more quickly? do this hackneyed stealth section first". Double also fuck glorified box moving puzzles you solve in your head near instantly and take forever to actually "solve" in comparison.
That said, the core JRPG stuff is mostly fun. I enjoy the combat and how you're encouraged to use other weapons for new moves. The pressure and staggering effects add some depth to how you approach things so you can't always mindlessly hack through stuff. I also still love how the kept in the auto battle system so you can choose to let the characters move around and build up ATB on their own but also take control whenever you want. It's all still well implemented. Materia is still fun to swap around and experiment with I think although this time around I found myself using more character abilities than spells in general. The only thing that felt a bit much was the Folio system which was like a skill tree for each character. It's neat that it's there I guess but it's kinda cumbersome to navigate and ultimately I just ignored it and really didn't have much trouble getting through the game (except dying twice on the final final boss but whatever).
They also kept in and expanded on synergy moves. This is actually something the Folio system is good for as you can unlock new synergy moves with different characters as you ascend the branches of the skill tree. I did this enough to have a couple and it was pretty neat. You get moves shared between characters that are strong and cost no ATB. Instead you build up to them by having used ATB moves already with each character. So like after you do two ATB moves with Yuffie and two with Tifa for example you're then able to use their sync move. They're all full of spectacle and feel great to build up to and pull off.
On top of sync moves being flashy fun to use in battle, they also have a slight effect outside of it. Specifically doing sync moves with a character and Cloud can help deepen their relationship. Yeah in this game they have like the equivalent of Persona social links (though not as in depth). So you can increase friendship with characters in combat but the bulk of it is usually done when you get to a new location and the game gives you the opportunity to talk with each character. Find them all and there's some good character moments that usually trigger a timed dialogue tree choice where the "right" one will deepen your relationship with said character. Of course this also leads to having a "romance" scene with whoever you have at the highest affection level by the time you get back to the Gold Saucer. It's a fun addition to the game and really helped in feeling engaged in the character's personalities.
OH also to build into deeper character engagement they have sections where you play as a different character and they have some gimmick specific to them that you have to use to progress. It ranges from kinda neat and inoffensive to mildy annoying and then straight up "fuck you Cait Sith" tier. I get what they're going for but it kinda sucks. Fortunately they also have sections of the game where they split the party into groups and this does a much better job showing the developing comradery of various characters.
So then how's the actual story? Well it's mostly just ok lol. It's the same weak connections that were present in this chunk of the OG game. You go to places on weak reasoning because plot. It's good they implemented the character stuff I mentioned before because that's where any sort of plot element really shines. The actual story at play here is just "Sephiroth gonna do something lets chase random almost-leads." and then like two thirds the way through and a couple personal character arcs later they stumble onto the plot to get the thing. It's whatever. The best bit is the wacky Nomura incoherent space fights and the "Zack is out there" extra story bits. It ultimately just leads to more "what the fuck are they thinking?" but it's still on the third game to see if they deliver on anything substantial or not. The story in this is more or less exactly as it goes in OG FFVII. I think it's fine.
So yeah. It's the second act of FFVII but made to look real pretty. It was too self conscious to just be a JRPG but bigger so there's a bunch of open world crap in it. Maybe you'll like it but it's clearly not for me. I enjoy the base combat and seeing the OG game realized as like this full thing. Also the character moments and the wacky extra stuff going on keeps me going. It definitely felt like a lot though and I'm ready to play something shorter and more video game-y. Don't need to recommend anything here. People playing this already know they're gonna play it. It's a sequel after all. Enjoyable enough but way too much extra junk for my liking.
1988
Pretty basic arcade shooter. Just loops forever. Don't think it has a kill screen or whatever like the arcade one might. Real simple backgrounds too. Flying over a "desert" is just your aircraft over a stretch of yellow/orange. Kinda subpar experience but it is an older one of these. The music for it isn't too bad either for something you listen to looping forever. Don't know I could recommend though lol
2024
This game is a lot. I just 100% it and I'm having trouble finding words. That first sentence was all I had typed here for like 20 minutes.
So I saw this game when it was revealed and I was like "oh cool a metroidvania" and that put in on my radar alone. The fact that a Hotline Miami guy made it or whatever didn't register to me. Just was like "yep ok will play that when it launches. Don't get me wrong, the art style and music are both fantastic and work in tandem to bring together the feel of this alien environment, just wasn't particularly what sold me. Maybe what helped me keep it in mind at least? That and being named after a famous FF villain maybe
Anyway, I start this game recently and standard metroidvania things happen. Get weapon, move around and play with all the buttons (can move with D-Pad thank [deity]), pull up a map you fill out as you go, do platforming. Classic stuff. Early on you find an "extractor" which allows you to double jump. I enjoy a good double jump but having it be the first thing you unlock? Something felt off.
There were a few other little differences from the typical metroidvania as well. As you go through and fight enemies you get their remains as food. Different food heals and increases one of four different levels of your nutrition and these levels are used in your "cortex" to unlock certain innate abilities. What was more curious about this is that you get better, more intact meat if you kill a creature using different combat moves which you can unlock more of in the mentioned cortex. Pretty neat.
Then the one that should have been obvious by the surroundings but the flora of the station plays a vital role in the game. There are various types of plants throughout and they all have unique names and properties. They even have their own fruit which has similar functions to the creature remains you can eat. On top of all this though is an ability to plant seeds you find. Very interesting.
All of this gets introduced as you go through the first hour or so. Then you fight your first boss enemy, find the pod behind it that contains something, smash that, and then follow the trail it gives off to the center of the map. Then STUFF happens and the screen goes white. Suddenly you're back where you started.
So this is where I see some people getting upset. I use the word "filtered" which I think is apt but people get upset about it. I dunno. Anyway so yeah, you start over from where you began, no weapon, no items you picked up on the way, no double jump thingy, and no cortex abilities (probably). You set off again. The map is as it was before and still has your progress shown on it but the way you went before isn't a path you can take again for some reason. The game encourages you to go find another way.
I've seen people refer to this as the game having "rougelike" (definitely not) and/or "rougelite" elements. I don't think this really counts as rougelite though. You don't lose everything if you DIE, you just go back to where you saved last. The map is randomly generated, everything is the same layout it was. Certain events initially change where you're able to go but the map is consistent and reliable. The same creatures and plants will be where they were on the last cycle. You lose cortex abilities at first but exploration grants you the means to keep them as you progress. These things and more make me want to label it as a timeloop game before calling it "rouge-anything". It's a metroidvania where you reset after beating bosses. Hell even as you progress its more forgiving than a timeloop game typically is but that is a core mechanic for sure.
With all these in mind, I ventured forth. Encountered different creatures, plants, and new areas. I picked up on some lore stuff as I tried my best to explore. There's seven different bosses to find in a sprawling classic boxy looking metroidvania map. I beat the various bosses and uncovered a good chunk of the map while looping each time. Got myself and my extractor all upgraded nicely. Then I went to the center of the map for the event that sparks the cycle renewing, the typical flash of white happened and some story stuff.
Then I was back where I started for the eighth time. There was a slight different this time. I was offered a way out. The game deliberately places you between getting out of this mess in an escape pod or, to your other side, is your weapon which you can pick up and continue. Curiously, you also suddenly have the ability to manually reset the loop now. This in mind as well as paying attention to the story as much as I had, I knew that leaving wasn't an option. I had a responsibility to finish what I started and fix what I broke.
This is a another point I could see a lot of people checking out. From this point on, your objective shifts. It gave me a similar feel to The Messenger when open the scroll and the true nature of the game is revealed. What you have to accomplish now requires sharp wits, for you to have really paid attention to your surroundings, and to use your tools to the utmost.
There's a brief example of what the game wants you to do in one area of the map for a boss fight that you'll just kinda do without thinking and there are various hints to how it leads up to the true ending but when it fully dawn on you, it can seem quite daunting. Essentially what you need to do is connect each area of the map to the center. You do this by utilizing the 10 different plant species as well as the seven different modes you unlocked for your extractor. Dig up and plant different seeds, cultivate their growth while trimming as needed, use the scanner to see what each plant does and it's health as well as the health of the soil. Hell you even splice plants together to make whatever you need to make connections
There's a lot of options on how to make these connections happen. You need to figure out what plants to use and where to use them. Even that can differ though since there are spots with creatures where, instead of killing them, you feed them and they suddenly like you. This gives the benefit of not being attacked BUT ALSO more importantly when you loop again, there will be a space to plant a seed where you fed the critter where there was no space for seed before. The plant cultivation system is robust and quite vague. I spent A LOT of time in trial and error figuring out what the plants do, how they grow, how they interact with the soil. It got frustrating at times for sure but there were a lot of epiphanies too and I overall feel accomplished and satisfied for having stuck with it.
Completing this game 100% and getting its true ending was a gratifying experience in itself but I don't think it would be for everyone. I think there are good points in the game that clearly telegraph to players what they're in for and if they'd want to stick with it. Hell halfway through the story they give you an out. I think the people that get to that point will find this to be a decent metroidvania experience that looks pretty but has some annoyances they could do without.
However, for those that make it past that part and see what the devs are really going for here, I think those people are truly in for a treat. Its a rewarding game that's bountiful in choosing to do things in a way that feels earned and it's a type of mechanic that ties in strongly with the core narrative of the experience. It definitely a game I won't forget any time soon if at all. I think I recommend it for all metroidvania fans as a blanket hopefulness and then the ones that get through the filters will be the ones to find something truly special.
So I saw this game when it was revealed and I was like "oh cool a metroidvania" and that put in on my radar alone. The fact that a Hotline Miami guy made it or whatever didn't register to me. Just was like "yep ok will play that when it launches. Don't get me wrong, the art style and music are both fantastic and work in tandem to bring together the feel of this alien environment, just wasn't particularly what sold me. Maybe what helped me keep it in mind at least? That and being named after a famous FF villain maybe
Anyway, I start this game recently and standard metroidvania things happen. Get weapon, move around and play with all the buttons (can move with D-Pad thank [deity]), pull up a map you fill out as you go, do platforming. Classic stuff. Early on you find an "extractor" which allows you to double jump. I enjoy a good double jump but having it be the first thing you unlock? Something felt off.
There were a few other little differences from the typical metroidvania as well. As you go through and fight enemies you get their remains as food. Different food heals and increases one of four different levels of your nutrition and these levels are used in your "cortex" to unlock certain innate abilities. What was more curious about this is that you get better, more intact meat if you kill a creature using different combat moves which you can unlock more of in the mentioned cortex. Pretty neat.
Then the one that should have been obvious by the surroundings but the flora of the station plays a vital role in the game. There are various types of plants throughout and they all have unique names and properties. They even have their own fruit which has similar functions to the creature remains you can eat. On top of all this though is an ability to plant seeds you find. Very interesting.
All of this gets introduced as you go through the first hour or so. Then you fight your first boss enemy, find the pod behind it that contains something, smash that, and then follow the trail it gives off to the center of the map. Then STUFF happens and the screen goes white. Suddenly you're back where you started.
So this is where I see some people getting upset. I use the word "filtered" which I think is apt but people get upset about it. I dunno. Anyway so yeah, you start over from where you began, no weapon, no items you picked up on the way, no double jump thingy, and no cortex abilities (probably). You set off again. The map is as it was before and still has your progress shown on it but the way you went before isn't a path you can take again for some reason. The game encourages you to go find another way.
I've seen people refer to this as the game having "rougelike" (definitely not) and/or "rougelite" elements. I don't think this really counts as rougelite though. You don't lose everything if you DIE, you just go back to where you saved last. The map is randomly generated, everything is the same layout it was. Certain events initially change where you're able to go but the map is consistent and reliable. The same creatures and plants will be where they were on the last cycle. You lose cortex abilities at first but exploration grants you the means to keep them as you progress. These things and more make me want to label it as a timeloop game before calling it "rouge-anything". It's a metroidvania where you reset after beating bosses. Hell even as you progress its more forgiving than a timeloop game typically is but that is a core mechanic for sure.
With all these in mind, I ventured forth. Encountered different creatures, plants, and new areas. I picked up on some lore stuff as I tried my best to explore. There's seven different bosses to find in a sprawling classic boxy looking metroidvania map. I beat the various bosses and uncovered a good chunk of the map while looping each time. Got myself and my extractor all upgraded nicely. Then I went to the center of the map for the event that sparks the cycle renewing, the typical flash of white happened and some story stuff.
Then I was back where I started for the eighth time. There was a slight different this time. I was offered a way out. The game deliberately places you between getting out of this mess in an escape pod or, to your other side, is your weapon which you can pick up and continue. Curiously, you also suddenly have the ability to manually reset the loop now. This in mind as well as paying attention to the story as much as I had, I knew that leaving wasn't an option. I had a responsibility to finish what I started and fix what I broke.
This is a another point I could see a lot of people checking out. From this point on, your objective shifts. It gave me a similar feel to The Messenger when open the scroll and the true nature of the game is revealed. What you have to accomplish now requires sharp wits, for you to have really paid attention to your surroundings, and to use your tools to the utmost.
There's a brief example of what the game wants you to do in one area of the map for a boss fight that you'll just kinda do without thinking and there are various hints to how it leads up to the true ending but when it fully dawn on you, it can seem quite daunting. Essentially what you need to do is connect each area of the map to the center. You do this by utilizing the 10 different plant species as well as the seven different modes you unlocked for your extractor. Dig up and plant different seeds, cultivate their growth while trimming as needed, use the scanner to see what each plant does and it's health as well as the health of the soil. Hell you even splice plants together to make whatever you need to make connections
There's a lot of options on how to make these connections happen. You need to figure out what plants to use and where to use them. Even that can differ though since there are spots with creatures where, instead of killing them, you feed them and they suddenly like you. This gives the benefit of not being attacked BUT ALSO more importantly when you loop again, there will be a space to plant a seed where you fed the critter where there was no space for seed before. The plant cultivation system is robust and quite vague. I spent A LOT of time in trial and error figuring out what the plants do, how they grow, how they interact with the soil. It got frustrating at times for sure but there were a lot of epiphanies too and I overall feel accomplished and satisfied for having stuck with it.
Completing this game 100% and getting its true ending was a gratifying experience in itself but I don't think it would be for everyone. I think there are good points in the game that clearly telegraph to players what they're in for and if they'd want to stick with it. Hell halfway through the story they give you an out. I think the people that get to that point will find this to be a decent metroidvania experience that looks pretty but has some annoyances they could do without.
However, for those that make it past that part and see what the devs are really going for here, I think those people are truly in for a treat. Its a rewarding game that's bountiful in choosing to do things in a way that feels earned and it's a type of mechanic that ties in strongly with the core narrative of the experience. It definitely a game I won't forget any time soon if at all. I think I recommend it for all metroidvania fans as a blanket hopefulness and then the ones that get through the filters will be the ones to find something truly special.
It's nice when something this old holds up to the hype. It is, quite simply, a masterclass in puzzle game design.
Myst is a game where you just start and have a whole island to explore. There are locales and objects of intrigue spread around waiting to be discovered and tinkered with. Near where you start is a single piece of paper with instructions on how to start but after that it just has you go off. The more you delve into things are examine the details, the more things become clear and thus the more you get out of it.
The puzzles are almost all linked to the environments. Something in an area will link to something else and you have to work out how in order to solve their challenge. It can be kinda tricky because you have to note how things change and that can sometimes come in the form of sounds too. It's been a long time since I played a game where sound was an integral part of the gameplay and its utilized excellently here.
The core of the plot is that there are two men stuck inside of books and you need to find pages of their books in other worlds and bring them back to free them. It's simple enough at first but as you play you learn more about them and their relation to each other as well as world building around them. It all plays out decently well. Definitely more to it than I thought but not like a super robust or deep story. It does end pretty intensely though for what it is and I enjoyed it.
Core gameplay is basically examining the base island you start on, finding out how to go to another world, and then finding your way back to the main island while gathering a page for one of the men. Each world is itself the puzzle and they all have unique themes that play into what you do to solve them. It's all very well put together.
Myst is a fantastic environmental puzzle game with some old school jank like point and click to move around and hilarious tiny FMV scenes but those things give it its charm. I also had an old time-y game thing where I lost all my progress because I forgot to manual save during the part that I've found out is infamously annoying to most but even I didn't find it to be that bad. Ultimately it's a strong puzzle game and probably one of my favorites ever. Recommended to anyone who enjoys solving puzzles.
Myst is a game where you just start and have a whole island to explore. There are locales and objects of intrigue spread around waiting to be discovered and tinkered with. Near where you start is a single piece of paper with instructions on how to start but after that it just has you go off. The more you delve into things are examine the details, the more things become clear and thus the more you get out of it.
The puzzles are almost all linked to the environments. Something in an area will link to something else and you have to work out how in order to solve their challenge. It can be kinda tricky because you have to note how things change and that can sometimes come in the form of sounds too. It's been a long time since I played a game where sound was an integral part of the gameplay and its utilized excellently here.
The core of the plot is that there are two men stuck inside of books and you need to find pages of their books in other worlds and bring them back to free them. It's simple enough at first but as you play you learn more about them and their relation to each other as well as world building around them. It all plays out decently well. Definitely more to it than I thought but not like a super robust or deep story. It does end pretty intensely though for what it is and I enjoyed it.
Core gameplay is basically examining the base island you start on, finding out how to go to another world, and then finding your way back to the main island while gathering a page for one of the men. Each world is itself the puzzle and they all have unique themes that play into what you do to solve them. It's all very well put together.
Myst is a fantastic environmental puzzle game with some old school jank like point and click to move around and hilarious tiny FMV scenes but those things give it its charm. I also had an old time-y game thing where I lost all my progress because I forgot to manual save during the part that I've found out is infamously annoying to most but even I didn't find it to be that bad. Ultimately it's a strong puzzle game and probably one of my favorites ever. Recommended to anyone who enjoys solving puzzles.
This review contains spoilers
Holy shit this game sucks. The combination of nostalgic fanboys recommending it based on their memories of the PSP version and expectations of it having not played it before but having JUST finished Final Fantasy VII Remake made for a real disappointing time.
So like this came out after FF7 Remake but it doesn't look as good. I normally don't care much about how a game looks but it was a little jarring after FF7 Remake. Also they re-recorded the voices in this game and changed voice actors but it all sounds so bad? The OG doesn't sound great either though so maybe it's the writing? There's definitely some lines that could have been said with different intent and conveyed tone better.
That leads me into more serious problems. I dunno if it's the base game's writing and they just kept it in but the story in this all kinda sucks. The whole of FF7 and FF7 Remake you see Cloud with this Buster Sword thing right. It looks pretty neat for sure. Then you see Zack with it on the cover of this game and it's like "whoa is there some deeper meaning behind it?" and no not really. It's just brotherhood of traveling sword. Some guy Angeal had it and it SUPPOSEDLY meant something to his family or honor but they don't touch on it much. Then he bites it after like five minutes of screentime and Zack has it for a bit. There's some lines about upholding your honor but Zack doesn't even seem to grasp it but who could really blame him with this writing? Then Zack meets Cloud like twice and entrusts it to him being like LIVE FOR BOTH OF US but like bruh? Most of the time they've spent together Cloud is like unconscious? Does the character development happen in like side quests?
This happens with all the important things in this that are supposed to lead up to FF7 stuff like even Zack and Aerith's relationship. They have them meet and develop a relationship in this game but she loves him why? He helped her make a flower cart one time that she didn't even like lmao. The rest of their on screen time together is him like not listening or leaving to do SOLDIER stuff. It's all just laughably bad. This sort of thing and all the characters feel like fake protoypes of themselves though not in a "they're younger" way but more of a "we don't know how to write them consistently and have them speak believably" way.
Sorry to harp on this so much but the story and characters are what I played this for as they SEEMINGLY will have a big role in Rebirth but it was all just so bad in this. So what about outside that stuff? Welp. The gameplay is also kinda shit. I actually like the core combat with it being real time hack and slash stuff and a quick toggle to do spells. Then the game is like "OH YOU LIKE THAT HUH" and then puts me in an enemy encounter every five steps. It becomes grating after a while and made me wish it was just set in a big area and made me fight in waves or something rather than giving me hope I can breath for a bit after an encounter just to toss me into another one right after.
The fights are all piss easy too. It doesn't help most of the enemies are weak to fire and there were a lot of times I could just get into an encounter, spam Fira, and then not only WIN but win without taking damage and because I won with magic I got most of if not all of my MP back that I just used. It trivialized the game so much that I breezed through it despite having to stop every two seconds to do another fight. This ended up biting me in the ass at the final boss who had some dickery and made me think a bit when the game conditioned me not to have to for most of it. Even then though how I ended up winning was just fusing materia for a stronger Hell Firaga, buying a shit ton of Ether to replenish MP (which you can just do between attempts), and then spamming the boss to death while dodge rolling his minions. I ended up beating the game at like level 30 just through cheese. It's kinda lame and I think games can be made to make people try different combat strategies. Oh well.
Also fuck the DMW system for making me watch three cutscenes before doing a big attack it RNGs me. At least two are skippable and they kinda do a neat thing with it at the very end of the story.
Crisis Core Reunion is a wet dream come true for those with a hard on for all things FF7. I was a bit too optimistic after my time with FF7 Remake but even without that this game is still just mediocre. Maybe someday if I'm really bored I'll come back and do the 100% stuff and just skip cutscenes. Probably not though. Recommend to fans that are so hardcore I don't think I'd wanna be in the same room as them and even some of them might see this and realize it was better in their memories. Huge miss for me.
So like this came out after FF7 Remake but it doesn't look as good. I normally don't care much about how a game looks but it was a little jarring after FF7 Remake. Also they re-recorded the voices in this game and changed voice actors but it all sounds so bad? The OG doesn't sound great either though so maybe it's the writing? There's definitely some lines that could have been said with different intent and conveyed tone better.
That leads me into more serious problems. I dunno if it's the base game's writing and they just kept it in but the story in this all kinda sucks. The whole of FF7 and FF7 Remake you see Cloud with this Buster Sword thing right. It looks pretty neat for sure. Then you see Zack with it on the cover of this game and it's like "whoa is there some deeper meaning behind it?" and no not really. It's just brotherhood of traveling sword. Some guy Angeal had it and it SUPPOSEDLY meant something to his family or honor but they don't touch on it much. Then he bites it after like five minutes of screentime and Zack has it for a bit. There's some lines about upholding your honor but Zack doesn't even seem to grasp it but who could really blame him with this writing? Then Zack meets Cloud like twice and entrusts it to him being like LIVE FOR BOTH OF US but like bruh? Most of the time they've spent together Cloud is like unconscious? Does the character development happen in like side quests?
This happens with all the important things in this that are supposed to lead up to FF7 stuff like even Zack and Aerith's relationship. They have them meet and develop a relationship in this game but she loves him why? He helped her make a flower cart one time that she didn't even like lmao. The rest of their on screen time together is him like not listening or leaving to do SOLDIER stuff. It's all just laughably bad. This sort of thing and all the characters feel like fake protoypes of themselves though not in a "they're younger" way but more of a "we don't know how to write them consistently and have them speak believably" way.
Sorry to harp on this so much but the story and characters are what I played this for as they SEEMINGLY will have a big role in Rebirth but it was all just so bad in this. So what about outside that stuff? Welp. The gameplay is also kinda shit. I actually like the core combat with it being real time hack and slash stuff and a quick toggle to do spells. Then the game is like "OH YOU LIKE THAT HUH" and then puts me in an enemy encounter every five steps. It becomes grating after a while and made me wish it was just set in a big area and made me fight in waves or something rather than giving me hope I can breath for a bit after an encounter just to toss me into another one right after.
The fights are all piss easy too. It doesn't help most of the enemies are weak to fire and there were a lot of times I could just get into an encounter, spam Fira, and then not only WIN but win without taking damage and because I won with magic I got most of if not all of my MP back that I just used. It trivialized the game so much that I breezed through it despite having to stop every two seconds to do another fight. This ended up biting me in the ass at the final boss who had some dickery and made me think a bit when the game conditioned me not to have to for most of it. Even then though how I ended up winning was just fusing materia for a stronger Hell Firaga, buying a shit ton of Ether to replenish MP (which you can just do between attempts), and then spamming the boss to death while dodge rolling his minions. I ended up beating the game at like level 30 just through cheese. It's kinda lame and I think games can be made to make people try different combat strategies. Oh well.
Also fuck the DMW system for making me watch three cutscenes before doing a big attack it RNGs me. At least two are skippable and they kinda do a neat thing with it at the very end of the story.
Crisis Core Reunion is a wet dream come true for those with a hard on for all things FF7. I was a bit too optimistic after my time with FF7 Remake but even without that this game is still just mediocre. Maybe someday if I'm really bored I'll come back and do the 100% stuff and just skip cutscenes. Probably not though. Recommend to fans that are so hardcore I don't think I'd wanna be in the same room as them and even some of them might see this and realize it was better in their memories. Huge miss for me.
This review contains spoilers
Kinda figured this would be a whatever side thing for introducing Yuffie but ended up being essential reading for this Remake saga. They really flesh out Yuffie better than I recall her being in the OG and by the end of it really give her a stake in the events to come.
Otherwise this is mostly the same fare as the Remake. I'm realizing that I played Intergrade as a package deal so maybe my Remake experience was a bit more polished than people who played on PS4 or whatever. That said, this INTERmission just looked as good as what I had already played. The bonus here though, as far as presentation, is that the soundtrack features some badass jazz being belted out as you beat up Shinra goons.
That jazz goes really well with the more unique frenetic combat in this game. With Yuffie you have some quick attacks with her big 4-point shuriken and can attack with it at range while blasting with spells. On top of that though you're partnered with her friend Sonon who you don't directly control but can give commands to and he has some decent moves with a staff and can do spells too. Where it all really shines though is that you can toggle a sync mode in which Yuffie and Sonon attack in tandem and it's all fast paced and jumpy and spells flying. When accompanied with the jazz music it all just works together like a symphony of joyous beat downs. Loved that aspect.
So the story in this is kinda whatever at first. Yuffie goes to Midgar shortly after Barret's group destroys Reactor 5. She's there to steal an "ultimate materia" being developed by Shinra. What really matters though is how they use this excursion as a way to flesh out her character. She's a Wutaian we've heard a bit about so far in the Remake series and she's come to "the ultimate city" which she finds super unappealing. Too many people, the smell, and just overall doesn't get the appeal. However, they work in another Wutaian comrade for her in Sonon.
Sonon sees her perspective but after having been there a bit helps to show Yuffie a better appreciation of their cause and for the people ailing in the slums under the plates. Sonon himself has a great little tragic backstory of failing to save his little sister from Shinra during the war and now sees Yuffie kinda as that sister to protect. He's like INSTANTLY likeable and has a great chemistry with Yuffie as he kind of indulges her eccentric charisma while also kinda keeping her level headed. It's a good strong friendship that you really feel grow as you use the sync mode combat through this story.
It's a story too that had started mundane but by the end gets really heavy and impactful for Yuffie specifically. As she finds out her mission to steal the "ultimate materia" is for nothing as it hasn't been completed yet, she also loses Sonon in the final battle, his sacrifice saving her the way he couldn't save his own sister. You get a real sense that suddenly she understands the gravity of what's going on but it's really hit home to her as it happens that Sonon's death coincides with the core game's emotional apex of the Sector 7 plate being dropped right before her eyes. On a place where she had gotten to know the people and bonded with Sonon.
Yuffie isn't just some quirky ninja girl now but someone with a reason to fight Shinra. It feels like a powerful inclusion and something I'm glad I didn't skip. The more unique combat plays to the strengths of the story being told with the characters presented and is a superb addition to the core game. Absolutely worth playing before Rebirth hits.
Otherwise this is mostly the same fare as the Remake. I'm realizing that I played Intergrade as a package deal so maybe my Remake experience was a bit more polished than people who played on PS4 or whatever. That said, this INTERmission just looked as good as what I had already played. The bonus here though, as far as presentation, is that the soundtrack features some badass jazz being belted out as you beat up Shinra goons.
That jazz goes really well with the more unique frenetic combat in this game. With Yuffie you have some quick attacks with her big 4-point shuriken and can attack with it at range while blasting with spells. On top of that though you're partnered with her friend Sonon who you don't directly control but can give commands to and he has some decent moves with a staff and can do spells too. Where it all really shines though is that you can toggle a sync mode in which Yuffie and Sonon attack in tandem and it's all fast paced and jumpy and spells flying. When accompanied with the jazz music it all just works together like a symphony of joyous beat downs. Loved that aspect.
So the story in this is kinda whatever at first. Yuffie goes to Midgar shortly after Barret's group destroys Reactor 5. She's there to steal an "ultimate materia" being developed by Shinra. What really matters though is how they use this excursion as a way to flesh out her character. She's a Wutaian we've heard a bit about so far in the Remake series and she's come to "the ultimate city" which she finds super unappealing. Too many people, the smell, and just overall doesn't get the appeal. However, they work in another Wutaian comrade for her in Sonon.
Sonon sees her perspective but after having been there a bit helps to show Yuffie a better appreciation of their cause and for the people ailing in the slums under the plates. Sonon himself has a great little tragic backstory of failing to save his little sister from Shinra during the war and now sees Yuffie kinda as that sister to protect. He's like INSTANTLY likeable and has a great chemistry with Yuffie as he kind of indulges her eccentric charisma while also kinda keeping her level headed. It's a good strong friendship that you really feel grow as you use the sync mode combat through this story.
It's a story too that had started mundane but by the end gets really heavy and impactful for Yuffie specifically. As she finds out her mission to steal the "ultimate materia" is for nothing as it hasn't been completed yet, she also loses Sonon in the final battle, his sacrifice saving her the way he couldn't save his own sister. You get a real sense that suddenly she understands the gravity of what's going on but it's really hit home to her as it happens that Sonon's death coincides with the core game's emotional apex of the Sector 7 plate being dropped right before her eyes. On a place where she had gotten to know the people and bonded with Sonon.
Yuffie isn't just some quirky ninja girl now but someone with a reason to fight Shinra. It feels like a powerful inclusion and something I'm glad I didn't skip. The more unique combat plays to the strengths of the story being told with the characters presented and is a superb addition to the core game. Absolutely worth playing before Rebirth hits.
Weird history of following this game. Initially in my head I was like "oh neat a new Rocksteady game!" even though they had burned me before with the PC release of Arkham Knight. Hell even when I tried a working version of that game years later it was still not my thing but I was excited for Suicide Squad here.
Then last year they reveal its a live service looter shooter game and I felt disappointment like a large chunk of the Internet. The game was delayed a year soon after that. It finally came out last weekend and I think people held onto that grudge and went into judging it with an axe to grind. I didn't think much of it but figured it would be shit because of the stuff they had shown last year.
Then, a few days after release, two of my dork friends had been playing the game together and having a good time! I was pleasantly surprised! After hearing their take on it and suggestions we could play together, I found myself purchasing the game with a bit of a discount thanks to Playstation Stars points.
So what do we got? Well, it's a pretty fun game. It's best taken as a thing you just BS in and shoot dumb alien zombies. You drop into an open world as either Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, or King Shark. Each one of them has unique traversal mechanics and specialize in a few types of weapons. You can swap between which character you control at will as long as you aren't mid-mission.
After some playing around I found I enjoyed Deadshot a bit but ultimately stuck with playing as King Shark. King Shark specializes in melee and big TF2 Heavy style gatling gun with a traversal set that involves SUPER high jumping, pushing through the air in bursts, and slamming back down. He's a lot of fun to play. The other characters all have strengths too so I'm sure anyone who picks this up can find something they like among the four characters.
The actual gameplay feels like standard open world fare. Just roam around fighting things that get in your way between missions. Most of the story missions are just backdoor introductions for types of side stuff you can repeat ad nauseam if you want. Do side stuff for various materials and currency to buy better crap to do more of the same stuff. There's enough there if you wanna really sink into it but I'm not interested.
Seriously there's a whole skill tree and different types of weapons with different afflictions. There's also pieces of gear and mods you can equip and probably min max your character if you want. Fortunately, the game also obliges you to just fuck around with friends. I played through and just mainlined the story with friends and the game provided me with decent guns and equipment enough to do just what I wanted to do without bogging me down with grinding or anything like that. It was a good time and I appreciate the game not fucking with me.
Story in the game is whatever. Comic book nonsense. Brainiac somehow mind controls the Justice League for his bidding and the Suicide Squad has to kill them all to save the world. It's a fun enough concept, hell people like The Boys tv show enough that you can confirm that without much thought. Anyway you go through the motions and enjoy some references if you're a big DC comics fan and get to a sort of ending that has enough closure for me to be like "cool I'm done" but it's not really an ending since they planned it as a live service game for 12 seasons so PLEASE BE EXCITED FOR MORE BULLSHIT.
Fighting the Justice League is kinda whatever by the way. Like its neat because the interactions with characters is fun to watch and they each make an area that's unique to them like they set a stage for the fight but each fight kinda boils down to shooting some THING to make the character vulnerable and then shoot the character a bunch. Rinse and repeat until you're done. Again it's not the most thrilling thing but in the moment with friends and considering the larger than life heroes I feel like each encounter ultimately does have the weight to them they deserve.
Yeah uh the characters are good. Each member is endearing in their own despicable way. There's a lot of mindless quipping happening throughout but some lines are pretty funny. The humor REALLY shines though during moments of physical comedy. The animations, especially the face capture, are of such high quality that you can infer humor and meanings through looks people give each other. There's also like borderline slapstick comedy with characters being thrown around or gestures they make. It's genuinely the funniest stuff I've seen in a game in a while. Maybe I'm just easy to please though.
Suicide Squad is a good time with friends that didn't overstay its welcome because I didn't let it. You can get a lot more out of the game if you want. Hell the game is made to suck as much time out of you as you let it. I came away from it satisfied having had fun with friends shooting dumb things and enjoying the humor. If that sounds like a thing you might enjoy then absolutely give it a shot.
Then last year they reveal its a live service looter shooter game and I felt disappointment like a large chunk of the Internet. The game was delayed a year soon after that. It finally came out last weekend and I think people held onto that grudge and went into judging it with an axe to grind. I didn't think much of it but figured it would be shit because of the stuff they had shown last year.
Then, a few days after release, two of my dork friends had been playing the game together and having a good time! I was pleasantly surprised! After hearing their take on it and suggestions we could play together, I found myself purchasing the game with a bit of a discount thanks to Playstation Stars points.
So what do we got? Well, it's a pretty fun game. It's best taken as a thing you just BS in and shoot dumb alien zombies. You drop into an open world as either Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, or King Shark. Each one of them has unique traversal mechanics and specialize in a few types of weapons. You can swap between which character you control at will as long as you aren't mid-mission.
After some playing around I found I enjoyed Deadshot a bit but ultimately stuck with playing as King Shark. King Shark specializes in melee and big TF2 Heavy style gatling gun with a traversal set that involves SUPER high jumping, pushing through the air in bursts, and slamming back down. He's a lot of fun to play. The other characters all have strengths too so I'm sure anyone who picks this up can find something they like among the four characters.
The actual gameplay feels like standard open world fare. Just roam around fighting things that get in your way between missions. Most of the story missions are just backdoor introductions for types of side stuff you can repeat ad nauseam if you want. Do side stuff for various materials and currency to buy better crap to do more of the same stuff. There's enough there if you wanna really sink into it but I'm not interested.
Seriously there's a whole skill tree and different types of weapons with different afflictions. There's also pieces of gear and mods you can equip and probably min max your character if you want. Fortunately, the game also obliges you to just fuck around with friends. I played through and just mainlined the story with friends and the game provided me with decent guns and equipment enough to do just what I wanted to do without bogging me down with grinding or anything like that. It was a good time and I appreciate the game not fucking with me.
Story in the game is whatever. Comic book nonsense. Brainiac somehow mind controls the Justice League for his bidding and the Suicide Squad has to kill them all to save the world. It's a fun enough concept, hell people like The Boys tv show enough that you can confirm that without much thought. Anyway you go through the motions and enjoy some references if you're a big DC comics fan and get to a sort of ending that has enough closure for me to be like "cool I'm done" but it's not really an ending since they planned it as a live service game for 12 seasons so PLEASE BE EXCITED FOR MORE BULLSHIT.
Fighting the Justice League is kinda whatever by the way. Like its neat because the interactions with characters is fun to watch and they each make an area that's unique to them like they set a stage for the fight but each fight kinda boils down to shooting some THING to make the character vulnerable and then shoot the character a bunch. Rinse and repeat until you're done. Again it's not the most thrilling thing but in the moment with friends and considering the larger than life heroes I feel like each encounter ultimately does have the weight to them they deserve.
Yeah uh the characters are good. Each member is endearing in their own despicable way. There's a lot of mindless quipping happening throughout but some lines are pretty funny. The humor REALLY shines though during moments of physical comedy. The animations, especially the face capture, are of such high quality that you can infer humor and meanings through looks people give each other. There's also like borderline slapstick comedy with characters being thrown around or gestures they make. It's genuinely the funniest stuff I've seen in a game in a while. Maybe I'm just easy to please though.
Suicide Squad is a good time with friends that didn't overstay its welcome because I didn't let it. You can get a lot more out of the game if you want. Hell the game is made to suck as much time out of you as you let it. I came away from it satisfied having had fun with friends shooting dumb things and enjoying the humor. If that sounds like a thing you might enjoy then absolutely give it a shot.
I wanted this to be good. I really did. It's the guys that did the newer Rayman games on a metroidvania, how could it NOT be a slam dunk for me? I saw this revealed last year and I was like "YUP day one buy!" So what happened?
Well I'll get it right out of the way first that I bought the Switch version. I heard it ran well and I enjoyed the thought of being able to play a metroidvania on the go! After all, that's how I did Hollow Knight, Guacamelee, Axiom Verge, and a few others. The Lost Crown here though I think compromises more on Switch than I was lead to believe. Load times are significantly longer than other versions, I encountered a few game breaking bugs, and the game even hard crashed on me twice. These things on their own aren't really dealbreakers in themselves but when paired with the other various annoyances inherent to this game it just lead to a worse time.
So what's the actual game like? It's a fairly standard metroidvania to start with. Explore a map of weaving paths and find more as you go. The player character, Sargon, moves well and animates fluidly enough to make the actual platforming joyous. You gain abilities as you explore that is usually tied to movement in some way which then allows you to explore more. Also there's a function in this game that allows you to take an in-game screenshot that displays on its respective position on the map. It's a clever innovation and well utilized as a finite resource you can recycle as needed.
So yeah the action platforming and exploring stuff is good. It all looks pretty good too. Sargon and his band of "Immortals" all have neat designs, there's a decent variety of enemies, and a couple of the locales are visually striking enough to be memorable.
That's about where my praise ends though. The big issue with this game for me is the combat. It's annoying, to put it kindly. The more I thought about it the more it went from being a nuisance to being the reason I didn't enjoy the game. Initially it seems like inoffensive hack and slash stuff. Mash attack button, dodge some attacks and party others. Nothing really to write home about. You're playing this neat metroidvania you wanna explore with the good feeling movement and neat traversal powers but you're mired every step of the way by spongy enemies. Seriously every enemy encounter just feels like it takes WAY too long. It's not even difficult either, it's just tedious. You can't really avoid them either though because you eventually find boss fights that you want to have more strength to get through but the only way to make yourself stronger is by fighting a bunch of long boring fights against scrub enemies for the currency to upgrade you stuff to just deal with it faster.
It's a miserable loop. Maybe make enemies part of the traversal? Or at least make them more interesting and varied to fight. Hell I'm spoiled by Axiom Verge 2 just letting me skip enemy encounters altogether. I dunno I prefer when enemies in metroidvanias are more of an obstacle ti overcome and not something I really have to stop and fight. Just kinda sucked throughout the whole thing.
Oh speaking of bosses, those suck too lol. Almost all of them have a special attack you can get cut in that locks you into a cutscene that feels long and bad when you're repeating the boss over and over because the game made you hate the combat in the first place.
Double also, the game already feels like a drag because of the combat but there's also parts in it that just make it feel like they added stuff just to add it. Three different times in this game you get to where you need to be to progress and then the game stops you and is like "go back through the map and toggle X Y and Z things to open the way forward. I could see that maybe being ok for one time to like MAKE YOU explore more but when its a thing you already do it just ends up being mindless backtracking.
Bah. It's a bummer. This is the first metroidvania I've played maybe ever that I didn't want to 100%. A combination of frustrations with the combat systems and various bugs and slow loading made for an experience I just ended up wanting to be done with. I would have just straight up dropped it if the platforming didn't feel so good. I also got weirdly invested in the story despite it not being anything special.
I think I've described my experience with this well enough. If you like metroidvanias and don't think the combat stuff I mentioned sounds bad, give it a shot. Maybe don't play the Switch version though. The core of a good metroidvania is in this for sure but it kinda missed the mark for me.
Well I'll get it right out of the way first that I bought the Switch version. I heard it ran well and I enjoyed the thought of being able to play a metroidvania on the go! After all, that's how I did Hollow Knight, Guacamelee, Axiom Verge, and a few others. The Lost Crown here though I think compromises more on Switch than I was lead to believe. Load times are significantly longer than other versions, I encountered a few game breaking bugs, and the game even hard crashed on me twice. These things on their own aren't really dealbreakers in themselves but when paired with the other various annoyances inherent to this game it just lead to a worse time.
So what's the actual game like? It's a fairly standard metroidvania to start with. Explore a map of weaving paths and find more as you go. The player character, Sargon, moves well and animates fluidly enough to make the actual platforming joyous. You gain abilities as you explore that is usually tied to movement in some way which then allows you to explore more. Also there's a function in this game that allows you to take an in-game screenshot that displays on its respective position on the map. It's a clever innovation and well utilized as a finite resource you can recycle as needed.
So yeah the action platforming and exploring stuff is good. It all looks pretty good too. Sargon and his band of "Immortals" all have neat designs, there's a decent variety of enemies, and a couple of the locales are visually striking enough to be memorable.
That's about where my praise ends though. The big issue with this game for me is the combat. It's annoying, to put it kindly. The more I thought about it the more it went from being a nuisance to being the reason I didn't enjoy the game. Initially it seems like inoffensive hack and slash stuff. Mash attack button, dodge some attacks and party others. Nothing really to write home about. You're playing this neat metroidvania you wanna explore with the good feeling movement and neat traversal powers but you're mired every step of the way by spongy enemies. Seriously every enemy encounter just feels like it takes WAY too long. It's not even difficult either, it's just tedious. You can't really avoid them either though because you eventually find boss fights that you want to have more strength to get through but the only way to make yourself stronger is by fighting a bunch of long boring fights against scrub enemies for the currency to upgrade you stuff to just deal with it faster.
It's a miserable loop. Maybe make enemies part of the traversal? Or at least make them more interesting and varied to fight. Hell I'm spoiled by Axiom Verge 2 just letting me skip enemy encounters altogether. I dunno I prefer when enemies in metroidvanias are more of an obstacle ti overcome and not something I really have to stop and fight. Just kinda sucked throughout the whole thing.
Oh speaking of bosses, those suck too lol. Almost all of them have a special attack you can get cut in that locks you into a cutscene that feels long and bad when you're repeating the boss over and over because the game made you hate the combat in the first place.
Double also, the game already feels like a drag because of the combat but there's also parts in it that just make it feel like they added stuff just to add it. Three different times in this game you get to where you need to be to progress and then the game stops you and is like "go back through the map and toggle X Y and Z things to open the way forward. I could see that maybe being ok for one time to like MAKE YOU explore more but when its a thing you already do it just ends up being mindless backtracking.
Bah. It's a bummer. This is the first metroidvania I've played maybe ever that I didn't want to 100%. A combination of frustrations with the combat systems and various bugs and slow loading made for an experience I just ended up wanting to be done with. I would have just straight up dropped it if the platforming didn't feel so good. I also got weirdly invested in the story despite it not being anything special.
I think I've described my experience with this well enough. If you like metroidvanias and don't think the combat stuff I mentioned sounds bad, give it a shot. Maybe don't play the Switch version though. The core of a good metroidvania is in this for sure but it kinda missed the mark for me.
I was kinda blown away by this. I've known of Final Fantasy VII for decades and played the original but I wouldn't say I'm like a HUGE fan of it. Even still, this was awesome. Seeing the original brought to life in such a way, even to me, was a special thing.
Let's start with that. The visuals are truly next level. Maybe just playing on PS5 helped but they really went IN on remaking and I feel like truly realized what was always intended. Places that felt like filler like the train graveyard and even Wall Market (for me anyway) suddenly felt rich and like environments the had an impact.
Along with making things look better there's voice acting! I wanted to do Japanese first personally but the subtitles are for English anyway so I learned to enjoy the English. I think I'm glad I did too because I found that playing in my native tongue helped me understand the characters and their emotions better. It's not just in being able to understand what they're saying but HOW they say it. It's a level of depth I never really felt for the characters in the OG but really appreciate having now. Also just makes me feel like I understand the story beats better having heard the words instead of just reading them.
The actual combat of the game is interesting. Essentially you do hack and slash type moves to build up ATB meter and then through THAT you issue commands. At first it felt a little overwhelming since you control your character and have to keep an eye on the others as well.
Just felt like a lot. So much so that I enabled this Classic setting that basically automates the hack and slash combat as well as movement and blocking. By doing this, it was basically like playing the OG game again and the more granular stuff in between ATB moves was like more intricate animations. What I like best about this though was that I could be in this auto mode and still assume control whenever I wanted. This allowed me to adapt to the new gameplay system at my own pace rather than having to learn and maybe get discouraged. I think this implementation really helped me and love it.
Being a remake, they actually changed things up with the story in this one too. At first things seem to play out more or less like the OG with you, as Cloud, help Avalanche stop Shinra. Typical stuff. There's MORE to the various beats of it where they flesh out side characters like Jessie or do side quests and get to know how the sectors operate better. The end of the game though, stuff goes off the rails and it becomes clear the story going forward might not pan out the same way as the OG. Some big Kingdom Hearts vibes towards the end. Exciting to see how they change it up next.
So yeah they took a hugely popular game and brought it to live with current gen graphics and tech. They change up the gameplay enough to feel fresh yet still familiar. An attempt to alter the story gives it more interest to me personally as well. I just hope they commit to real changes and have it be different. We'll see! Recommend to Final Fantasy VII fans or just JRPG fans who like pretty visuals.
Let's start with that. The visuals are truly next level. Maybe just playing on PS5 helped but they really went IN on remaking and I feel like truly realized what was always intended. Places that felt like filler like the train graveyard and even Wall Market (for me anyway) suddenly felt rich and like environments the had an impact.
Along with making things look better there's voice acting! I wanted to do Japanese first personally but the subtitles are for English anyway so I learned to enjoy the English. I think I'm glad I did too because I found that playing in my native tongue helped me understand the characters and their emotions better. It's not just in being able to understand what they're saying but HOW they say it. It's a level of depth I never really felt for the characters in the OG but really appreciate having now. Also just makes me feel like I understand the story beats better having heard the words instead of just reading them.
The actual combat of the game is interesting. Essentially you do hack and slash type moves to build up ATB meter and then through THAT you issue commands. At first it felt a little overwhelming since you control your character and have to keep an eye on the others as well.
Just felt like a lot. So much so that I enabled this Classic setting that basically automates the hack and slash combat as well as movement and blocking. By doing this, it was basically like playing the OG game again and the more granular stuff in between ATB moves was like more intricate animations. What I like best about this though was that I could be in this auto mode and still assume control whenever I wanted. This allowed me to adapt to the new gameplay system at my own pace rather than having to learn and maybe get discouraged. I think this implementation really helped me and love it.
Being a remake, they actually changed things up with the story in this one too. At first things seem to play out more or less like the OG with you, as Cloud, help Avalanche stop Shinra. Typical stuff. There's MORE to the various beats of it where they flesh out side characters like Jessie or do side quests and get to know how the sectors operate better. The end of the game though, stuff goes off the rails and it becomes clear the story going forward might not pan out the same way as the OG. Some big Kingdom Hearts vibes towards the end. Exciting to see how they change it up next.
So yeah they took a hugely popular game and brought it to live with current gen graphics and tech. They change up the gameplay enough to feel fresh yet still familiar. An attempt to alter the story gives it more interest to me personally as well. I just hope they commit to real changes and have it be different. We'll see! Recommend to Final Fantasy VII fans or just JRPG fans who like pretty visuals.
A short N64 inspired take on Celeste by the same dev. Pretty great for something made in a week and out there for free.
It's straight up Celeste in 3D. I would say "that's it" but there's a lot to making a game work in 3D and transition well. It has most of the trappings of usual Celeste like its merciless difficulty in the snowy industrial nightmare landscape. There's still strawberries to collect and the fan favorite characters to meet that help reveal what they've been up to since the events of the game SIX YEARS AGO OH GOD TIME MOVES SO FAST
So yeah the core game reminded me of the Mario sub-game Bowser's Fury in which you're placed in an area to 3D platform in and there are various collectibles to attain. It's obviously less robust than a Mario game but it did give a similar feel since you can just tackle it however you wait and wander around it. Really love that approach to 3D platforming.
The actual 3D platforming feels solid enough. It takes some getting used to, mostly with the camera, but it ultimately works. Aside from the usual dash moves of usual Celeste you have a jump that launches you higher if you're running one direction, then turn on a dime the opposite and immediately jump. I found it tricky to use well but it was still neat to see implemented. Oh also the grabbing onto walls mechanic lasts indefinitely now so its neat to see what they expect you to be able to do now that you can wall crawl all over. There's one section in particular that makes great use of it but its in a special harder level.
That's right! There are bonus harder levels you get when touching cassette tapes that feel very reminiscent of the FLUDD-less levels of Super Mario Sunshine. I found these to be brutal. They're the difficulty you would expect from Celeste but you gotta wrangle a camera now as you move in a 3D space. Some levels utilize it well but there were others where either depth perception or camera just got the best of me and I died a lot. Dying a lot sucks in these sections because the music is already not great for the level and just becomes grating the more it loops. I straight up turned it off for one of them. Just too much.
So yeah it's a neat little games. Most of the challenge, on top of what you expect in Celeste, comes from the 3D space and finding how they hide secrets. The jumping and movement feels good but I found it easy to miscalculate or move too much and end up dead for it. Really though a pleasant surprise to see pop up and a lovely tribute to the game and its fans. Definitely recommend to fans of Celeste and even just 3D platformers!
It's straight up Celeste in 3D. I would say "that's it" but there's a lot to making a game work in 3D and transition well. It has most of the trappings of usual Celeste like its merciless difficulty in the snowy industrial nightmare landscape. There's still strawberries to collect and the fan favorite characters to meet that help reveal what they've been up to since the events of the game SIX YEARS AGO OH GOD TIME MOVES SO FAST
So yeah the core game reminded me of the Mario sub-game Bowser's Fury in which you're placed in an area to 3D platform in and there are various collectibles to attain. It's obviously less robust than a Mario game but it did give a similar feel since you can just tackle it however you wait and wander around it. Really love that approach to 3D platforming.
The actual 3D platforming feels solid enough. It takes some getting used to, mostly with the camera, but it ultimately works. Aside from the usual dash moves of usual Celeste you have a jump that launches you higher if you're running one direction, then turn on a dime the opposite and immediately jump. I found it tricky to use well but it was still neat to see implemented. Oh also the grabbing onto walls mechanic lasts indefinitely now so its neat to see what they expect you to be able to do now that you can wall crawl all over. There's one section in particular that makes great use of it but its in a special harder level.
That's right! There are bonus harder levels you get when touching cassette tapes that feel very reminiscent of the FLUDD-less levels of Super Mario Sunshine. I found these to be brutal. They're the difficulty you would expect from Celeste but you gotta wrangle a camera now as you move in a 3D space. Some levels utilize it well but there were others where either depth perception or camera just got the best of me and I died a lot. Dying a lot sucks in these sections because the music is already not great for the level and just becomes grating the more it loops. I straight up turned it off for one of them. Just too much.
So yeah it's a neat little games. Most of the challenge, on top of what you expect in Celeste, comes from the 3D space and finding how they hide secrets. The jumping and movement feels good but I found it easy to miscalculate or move too much and end up dead for it. Really though a pleasant surprise to see pop up and a lovely tribute to the game and its fans. Definitely recommend to fans of Celeste and even just 3D platformers!
This shocked me! So I woke up January 18, 2024 thinking *Oh boy I'm excited for the new Prince of Persia game!" and soon after I went and picked up my copy. On the way back I was like "oh yeah new Turnip Boy is out too!" and I installed it. Then thought I'd play it a bit and go to Prince of Persia. Now I find myself typing this all out having 100% Turnip Boy Robs a Bank while Prince of Persia lays shrink wrapped still.
So how did this happen? The first game was a funny little Zelda clone that I played and enjoyed fine enough but wasn't real special. This time around though I find it harder to sum up what kind of game this is. It has the "one more game" addictiveness of something like Vampire Survivors but plays like an easier Enter the Gungeon.
It's not quite a roguelike I don't think? The layout of the main map stays the same every time you start a run. There are extra rooms that pop up at random and those can have a few different layouts. Also when you die you don't lose EVERYTHING but still a lot. Also between runs you spend the stolen money on upgrades for yourself as well as on key items that allow you to progress further through the bank. Whatever genre it counts as, I clearly dig it enough to mainline it and 100% in a day.
The gameplay loop is simple and addicting. It's an isometric type game where you employ a variety of melee and projectile weapons to go through a bank and get as much money as you can within three minutes and get out. The you use that money for upgrades and go again. There's so many other little things to it though that make it great. You also get side quests from characters who take residence inside the bank. You get weapons from fallen enemies that you take back to your headquarters which builds an EXP bar that gives you access to more unique weapons to start a new round with. There's also a mini horde mode room to find and beat as well as some fun secrets.
I should touch on the side-quests a bit more. This is where a good chunk of the humor and fun comes in. I feel like this time around Turnip Boy has less of a lolrandom internet sense of humor and goes for a more sardonic approach while still touching on internet culture stuff. Side quests vary from things like shaking an old man down for divorce papers to delivering a manhwa to a spirit and even sweeter things like assisting a marriage proposal. Whatever you find, I think in general the writing and characters are funny enough to want to and do everything. Getting fun hats for Turnip Boy that can be swapped on the fly is a nice bonus too.
So yeah. Great game! Better than I expected! It really feels great to just run around and shoot little food cops as you rob a strange bank. Sometimes it's nice to have a silly arcade-y type game to break up the more serious tone ones. I also personally love when a dev makes a new game and switches up genres but also find it impressive they managed to do so within the same series. While this game is a direct sequel and references events of the first game I think I could recommend people just play this one. The first game is good enough but you're fine to jump straight in here. Recommended for anyone who likes addicting gameplay loops and isometric shooting and "dodge roll" gameplay.
So how did this happen? The first game was a funny little Zelda clone that I played and enjoyed fine enough but wasn't real special. This time around though I find it harder to sum up what kind of game this is. It has the "one more game" addictiveness of something like Vampire Survivors but plays like an easier Enter the Gungeon.
It's not quite a roguelike I don't think? The layout of the main map stays the same every time you start a run. There are extra rooms that pop up at random and those can have a few different layouts. Also when you die you don't lose EVERYTHING but still a lot. Also between runs you spend the stolen money on upgrades for yourself as well as on key items that allow you to progress further through the bank. Whatever genre it counts as, I clearly dig it enough to mainline it and 100% in a day.
The gameplay loop is simple and addicting. It's an isometric type game where you employ a variety of melee and projectile weapons to go through a bank and get as much money as you can within three minutes and get out. The you use that money for upgrades and go again. There's so many other little things to it though that make it great. You also get side quests from characters who take residence inside the bank. You get weapons from fallen enemies that you take back to your headquarters which builds an EXP bar that gives you access to more unique weapons to start a new round with. There's also a mini horde mode room to find and beat as well as some fun secrets.
I should touch on the side-quests a bit more. This is where a good chunk of the humor and fun comes in. I feel like this time around Turnip Boy has less of a lolrandom internet sense of humor and goes for a more sardonic approach while still touching on internet culture stuff. Side quests vary from things like shaking an old man down for divorce papers to delivering a manhwa to a spirit and even sweeter things like assisting a marriage proposal. Whatever you find, I think in general the writing and characters are funny enough to want to and do everything. Getting fun hats for Turnip Boy that can be swapped on the fly is a nice bonus too.
So yeah. Great game! Better than I expected! It really feels great to just run around and shoot little food cops as you rob a strange bank. Sometimes it's nice to have a silly arcade-y type game to break up the more serious tone ones. I also personally love when a dev makes a new game and switches up genres but also find it impressive they managed to do so within the same series. While this game is a direct sequel and references events of the first game I think I could recommend people just play this one. The first game is good enough but you're fine to jump straight in here. Recommended for anyone who likes addicting gameplay loops and isometric shooting and "dodge roll" gameplay.