This review has been a long time coming. Simply because the games in this trilogy are my all time favorites. I’m known as the Xenoblade guy in a lot of friend groups and I have hundreds of hours in all 3. That’s enough to make this review incredibly daunting to make because how could I possibly say everything I want to about this game and still make it even a little bit coherent?


While I generally prefer the other two games in the trilogy, I have to say Xenoblade 1 is objectively a better game. And this is kind of a wild statement but I think that beyond some incredibly minor points, this game is flawless. The only area this game struggles with is the side content but I’ll get to that later. This game is just extraordinary in everything it does. I would consider this the modern day Chrono Trigger with just how magical it is.


Later, I’m going to discuss my more personal history with this game but for now I want to be purely objective and say that this game’s story is the greatest thing mankind has ever made. Every minor detail in this game’s story, down to second long conversations, is so thoroughly planned out and put together so carefully. The characters are so well written. They aren’t perfect people who are trying to accomplish their goals for morality’s sake. Half the game is a revenge quest for an event at the conclusion of the game’s stellar intro and they get called out on this often. Shulk isn’t some beefy hero who was destined from birth to defeat the big evil and save the world. He’s a dork who stepped into the protagonist role on a whim and spends most of the plot being manipulated by people more aware of the situation than him. Of course Shulk isn’t the only stand-out. However if I gave every character the time to go over what makes them each so great this review would never end.


It covers a lot of themes really well. From the tribulations of war and loss, to coming back from losing everything you hold dear and growing in spite of it to become the best person you can be. Shulk goes through a lot and so does his companions. He learns to rely on others and starts to question the real purpose of his journey and trying to find his own path through life to grow past the fate others deem for him and become something so much greater. I don’t want to go further with this subject since you’re better off experiencing it all on your own. However, and this is a bit corny to say, but this game and its themes and messages have changed me as a person and the way I look at the world.


A major strength of this game is the world-building. Just the concept alone of the entire world being nothing but the corpses of two giants who died mysteriously in the middle of a fight is so unique and brings some awe inspiring scenarios and locations for these characters to wander through. The first half of the game is spent exploring the Bionis and serves as the more typical fantasy side of the game’s plot and the anatomy of the Bionis plays an incredibly important role ns the design of some of the landmarks. For example the Bionis has its right knee bent forward and the top part its leg becomes an extremely expansive field of grass and mountains and the knee itself serves an amazing vantage point for the Mechonis, the location of the primary antagonist for a majority of the plot. And further up the leg you’ll reach Colony 6 where if you stand in the right location and look down you can clearly see Colony 9, the hometown of the protagonists, hidden within the calf of the Bionis. And from there you can go to Satorl Marsh, along the Bionis’ left thigh and this place might be the most beautiful location I’ve ever seen in a game.


This game has a ton of incredibly pretty environments. Satorl Marsh like I just said, but then there’s also Eryth Sea and Valak Mountain. A bit into the game you’ll reach the Mechonis’s severed arm rotting in the ocean between the Titans and at any point while you’re here you can look up and really take in the absolute magnitude of the two giants looming over you. Naturally the Mechonis is the exact antithesis to the Bionis down to even how you traverse it. While the Bionis was for the most part a very lively environment covered in life and plants with multiple biomes making up each region, on the interior, the Bionis is quiet and lifeless. However the Mechonis is primarily explored from the inside where it more represents a giant factory with gadgets all throughout working away to keep the Mechonis going until you finally reach the Mechonis Capital, Agniritha which I’m not going to spoil it but like, wow…


You can NOT discuss this game without mentioning the music. Instead of wasting a lot of time going into detail about why some of these songs are so good I’m just going to list my favorites because there are simply too many to discuss.
Beyond the Sky, You Will Know Our Names, Main Theme, Engage the Enemy, Unfinished Business, the final boss theme, Shulk and Fiora, and the battle theme in Future Connected.
Now this game has some of the best environment themes in any game. Too many to list, however my favorite is easily Satorl Marsh (Night). It perfectly matches the already beautiful vibe of Satorl Marsh. Going from this desolate and forgotten swamp land to a beautiful light show secretly filled with life. It’s REALLY pretty.


This game’s only real flaw to me, and its a minor one, is the side content as I said previously. Most sidequests are very fetchquesty and require killing certain enemies repeatedly hoping for a rare drop. It’s not compelling and just wastes time. Some of the side stories told in these quests are really interesting or add to the lore in a really nice way but that is a very small percentage. However, about a third of the way through the game you’ll be able to start the long process of rebuilding Colony 6. Taking this pile of dirt and debris and turning it into a flourishing civilization where races all over the world can live peacefully is really satisfying. Plus at the end of it you get to fight a dragon which is pretty cool. Partway through you’ll also get the only sidequest that is voiced and revolves heavily around Melia which would get further extended on in FC. There are the Heart-to-Hearts that serve as short conversations between party members to further flesh them out and give more context to their relationships which I adore. It’s difficult to grind Affinity in the game however its well worth it because these conversations are very heartwarming and some even provide important lore bits that you just won’t get from the main game.


Future Connected is certainly a welcome addition to DE. I won’t go into a ton of detail because I plan to do a separate review of that later but it’s alright. None of the new story things added are that special or even really engaging but it’s something. It’s pretty much just more Xenoblade 1 in a location that was cut from the original release which isn’t something I’ll ever complain about.


The gameplay of Xenoblade 1 is very unique for a JRPG. I’m not going to go explain it too deeply but its really fun while also not being extremely complex like the later games are. Like I adore Xenoblade 2 just as much as Xenoblade 1 but learning how to play that game is a nightmare. The combat is very easily exploited with the right party setup however, and any competent player who knows what they're doing can very easily abuse some of the more overpowered strategies which leaves some characters, mainly Sharla, to become obsolete extremely quickly. I’m not a big fan of chain attacks in this game since they are very luck based here and getting a decent one is only a 50/50 shot with the player not getting much control with improving their luck. The final issue I have is that the leveling system is dumb. Enemies that are anything higher than 5 levels are just impossible to kill before getting to the endgame and it’s really annoying when you’re looking for a challenge like in the other 2 games which replace the system for something much better.


Alright. Time for me to get really personal. The first time I played this game I went in knowing that it would become my new favorite game. I had no doubt about this. I spent a lot of time growing up trying to find my all time favorite game. For a while I assumed it would be a Zelda game but none of them really hit me the perfect way I was expecting. However, when they revealed DE as the ending of the September 2019 Direct I knew based on that minute long trailer alone that this game was going to be something important and I had no idea how correct I was. There was something about that moment that really spoke to me. Telling me that this was something I needed to experience.


I stayed up until midnight waiting for the preorder to be ready and when I finally started it, I was stuck in awe at the title screen. The time passing over the Monado sitting as the center of attention in this neverending field while the music swelled over it. I cried because it was that moment that I realized I had found my favorite game and that this was the moment my life had been building up towards. When I started the game, it was the most magical experience of my life.


When I finished it felt that emptiness of having to say goodbye to a close friend for a long while. I didn’t want to play anything else because Xenoblade was the only thing I had on my mind. This cycle has happened with literally all 3 games in the trilogy as well as the prequel DLCs. I have no words to describe the impact of this game on me as a person. I often hide memories from my life within the games I play. Sort of a nostalgic time capsule and Xenoblade is one of the most full. There’s so many memories within this game because I’ve had it through so much.


So yeah, this is my favorite game. It means more to me than words can describe and is a modern classic of a JRPG. While it’s difficult to recommend due to the time sync required of it, if you CAN find the time, it’s well worth a try.

Most of 3D World is too easy, but the levels are unique and the gameplay mechanics are both skill-based an fun — the final level also sees the difficulty skyrocket, and pushed me to master the movement with things such as vectoring and crouch boosting to really push the 3D World experience to its limits.

Bowser's Fury is... fine. I still prefer Odyssey. The stripped-down movement mechanics of 3D World don't work as well in a collectathon in an open environment, in my opinion. It's still fun, though.

If you like Gungrave, you'll probably like G.O.R.E. only slightly less. It misses a lot of the original game's charm, even with the half-assed cel-shaded mode, but adds a nice shiny coat of paint over the mindless arcade action that technically qualifies it as good-looking. It's a fantastic game to not think about, and if you like Gungrave then you already know that's exactly what you're getting. Sure it could go harder on its style like the original did, but it's fun and it's still more a more original and stylish gig than a lot of other stuff you see on steam. There's something so wonderful about getting a PS3 ass game like this in a modern skin. I'd probably rate it higher if it was an hour shorter, but I'm still incredibly charmed by it and it's genuinely impossible to give this a single accurate score.

Some facts about Gungrave GORE:
I fell off a train, and when Grave hit the ground he didn't play a death animation he just T-posed and shot into the distance.
Grave's real name is Brandon Heat.
The voice acting is bad.
The cutscene direction is bad.
You can play as multiple characters technically, but they're kinda dropped in for one-off out-of-context missions that seem to serve no narrative purpose and absolutely rock. Except Quartz' level, which is bad.
You can turn the graphics down and turn on cel-shading to make it feel MORE like a PS3 game, which is how I played the latter half!

I was recommended this port as the best version of the original Resident Evil and I can see why. It’s a solid port that really takes advantage of the touch screen to include some fun minigames and interactions.

The game is really fun, I’m genuinely surprised to discover that what I thought was an action series is pretty low on the action. Hell, I was gunning way more in Silent Hill 1. RE1 is a game of very limited supplies for the most part and it constantly keeps you on your toes.

Midway through the game, when I thought I was getting myself a steady supply and learning to deal with the monsters, it throws a sudden difficulty spike to keep the tension up. I lost all my healing supplies and I was running scared for my life.

The knife random encounters are a great way to give back life to areas you’ve emptied, as they can happen anytime and anywhere, putting you at the risk of dying. I died a few times to unexpected knife sequences but it’s a fun addition I like.

I’m not a fan of the inventory system. I can see what it’s trying to do but ultimately I just did multiple trips to pick up things I needed and I didn’t really feel held back otherwise. It wasn’t putting me in a situation where I have limited ammo or healing items because I could carry as much ammo as I want and usually one healing item is good enough. The quest items taking space, especially the keys taking one individual space, was kinda tedious.

The map on the top screen is nice but it’s lacking a lot (and I would prefer it on the bottom scream). It would be nice to see the direction your character is facing and to have more indications, at least player made ones. Not being able to write things on the map and not having any form of indication, not even for the save / storage areas was disappointing though not very bothersome.

I had a lot of fun playing this game. I always wanted a game where you explore a single seamless area such as a mansion and this delivers. The place feels realistic and you spend the entire game in one area with its surroundings. In a way, it reminds me a lot of Castlevania games and their castles, even the map and backtracking is somewhat similar.

one of the best remakes ever made, I was initially skepctical about Resident Evil 4 being remade, the original is pretty much perfect in just about anything it sets out to do and is easily available to play in every living video game system, the combat sandbox, the camera perspective, the identity and personality, it was unique and timeless especially for that time period, Capcom was at least 10 years ahead of everyone when they shipped RE4 back in 2005.

but since they were remaking RE4, let's give it an shot and see how it goes, I wans't expecting the same level of excellence the original had but oh boy did they nailed it! it's clear the amount of understanding and passion Yasuhiro Anpo's team at Capcom have for the original, everything that made the original stand out is here but essentially remixed and amped up to 11, I personally enjoyed on how much the game knows it's audience and always makes playful changes to attemp to grab veterans's expectations, it feels like an high-budget fan game in some areas and I mean that in high regard, normalize remakes that are created equal to the originals.

it also just feels great to play an game that delivers this classic PS2/game-y experience, it's not afraid to just being fun, thrilling and endlesslly replayable especially in this current video game industry's constant obcession with cinematic experiences, if you treat it like an GAME you will be rewarded and I missed that feeling.

I don't think it replaces or exceeds the original game and I think the developers also took notice of that but these two games are basically in the same level, each game has it's key differences and I honestly think that this is the best outcome if you are remaking an monumental game like this one, respect it's previous vision and try to do something different that sets it apart from that original, some remakes are 1 to 1 simply because of their aging design or limited hardware (see Metroid Zero Mission or even RE1 Remake), RE4 didn't needed something like that because the original already set an distinct standard that lots of games replicated afterwards, I am really glad they took the meaning "Remake" to it's fullest potential with this, it makes me a bit sour about Dead Space Remake in comparison.

with that said I will definitely replay this game alongside the original work for many years to come.

I get it now, harrowing atmosphere and sound design that gets to your skin, excellent story, phenomenal soundtrack, the gameplay didn't feel dated at all (especially when using the 2D control scheme) and worked really well.

maybe there was an abundance of resources and ammo throughout the game which made enemy encounters no feel that dangerous anymore especially during the later stages of the campaign and also the fact that James can essentially insta-kill anyone if you make him kick enemies that are downed which trivializes a lot of encounters but nonetheless an fantastic experience, if you are into classic survival horror and psychological stories this game is an must-play.

continued the level of excellence of the predecessor, even more harrowing atmosphere and sound-design (some of the scares are brilliant), Heather is a great lead, the gameplay has some new additions with the blocking/dodging mechanics and more varied weapon animations, the visuals are impressive for the PS2 especially when the character models and faces are concerned, this came out 2 years after Silent Hill 2 and Team Silent/Konami managed to step up their game even more.

I felt that the pacing and some of the narrative aspects were inferior to Silent Hill 2 though and that game is still my favorite out of the ones that I played so far but nonetheless an excellent survival horror game, these games are all very unique.

Iron Lung gives you just enough information to allow your imagination to run wild inside your claustrophobic little sub, resulting in a clever little minimalist horror game.

The premise is also very metal in a way that I enjoyed a lot - a convict pressed into a suicide mission in a rusty little can at the bottom of an ocean of blood? That's good stuff.

However, as short as the game is, I don't think the somewhat tedious (intentionally so, to be fair) gameplay was enough to sustain the hour or hour and a half of playtime in this game, leading me to believe it would have been stronger as an even shorter microgame.

So, points for originality and atmosphere, but it overstays its welcome a little too much to be truly great.

holy hell dude what a wild fucking ride. My journey through this VN was a little weird; a friend of my set up what was basically a Visual Novel Book Club kinda thing where we all read one chapter a week, but that ended up falling through and I ended up completing the rest of it in like two nights, lmao. I knew I was in for something special when I watched what was effectively the intro movie; the monochrome vibes and the music were immaculate.

I actually know of Xeecee first through the Shrieking Shack podcast, which sort of helps me see a little bit of the creative DNA here via, like, asides and literary analysis therein and such. (It's a very fun podcast and I found it pretty cathartic in the whole. "ah i liked harry potter a lot as a kid. what's it like to revisit it now that jkr is like one of the worst people alive who isn't a head of state." kind of thing.) I think it's fun to track artistic influences, and I can definitely see some Ryukishi07 in here, what with there being a certain amount of mystery over whether everything is entirely mundane or if there's something more supernatural going on here.

Of course, it's very much its own thing, too. The art's fantastic, of course; all the characters are very striking and unique looking, and the expression work is great. The music is also totally fantastic, and there's so much of it! There were a LOT of unique tracks. I can't imagine myself getting bored with any of the tracks if they were repeated more often than they were, but damn, there's so much of it. I can't believe the game dumped the sickest track in the world over a debate over how many ducks one nun could kill.

Of course, with style comes substance, and I really love everything going on here. The characters are great! All of them are pretty delightful, even the ones who kind of suck. (Angela sucks in an extremely fun way. love her.) Hedwig is an extremely fun protagonist to be in the head of... well, maybe she isn't, because I'll admit it can be rough. She's, uh, not doing great here. But she's compelling as hell, and so is everyone else, I think.

Darcy is my favorite, of course. Love her. But I do enjoy every character here, and the dialogue and narration are both extremely compelling. I can't WAIT to see where this shit goes. I cannot deal with this being volume one, man. Where's the rest of it!!!! I want to know how the hell the prologue has anything to do with all of this crazy shit!!!! Let me back on the ride!!!

(Also this is a fun companion piece to Pentiment, another medieval mystery featuring an anchoress. It's very funny that they came out not too long apart from each other. I think this should become a trend.)

Quite a departure of the games I use to review on this site. Whacky chaos, violence, emotionally gripping moments, thought-provoking narratives with a nice sense of style. I'd argue those are the type of games I like to play for the most part, but more ofthen than not I'm willing to give other genres a chance once I get tired, and Gris caught me at the right mood to enjoy it.

Gris doesn't try to be more than what already is. An artsy game that talks about the loss of a loved one and how to ultimately deal with that event, through acceptance. Yeah, it's the so common message about just moving forward with your life facing the reality that it is in front of you. But Gris is subtle as there isn't any dialogue present, just some little interaction between the characters. So, the overall narrative is hidden under a layer of pastel colors and abstract geometry.

The lack of gameplay from the start is quite a letdown, but towards the end it starts to get really good might I say I was having fun doing some puzzles and I suck at puzzles. These were really enjoyable to figure it out alá Limbo just not as extreme. Mix it with a gorgeus art direction and everything just fits together. Doesn't try be more than that, it is a beautiful artistic and technical showcase for Nomada Studio.

And please, buy the soundtrack as well. Just lovely, happy mellow vibes.