i think i'm prolly gonna make a video or sumn on this one, there's a lot to talk about. you can tell this was made by jrpg fans and is at times both a blessing and a curse.

to put it briefly, lots of borderline amateurish and inept game design is tolerable or at least excusable simply because the game excels, to an extent absolutely best in class, where it truly matters.

if the sequel can match this game's highs and iron out the creases it'll be a gold standard for the jrpg genre, but as this game stands, i'd likely fully recommend to anyone even a little curious. its a great entry point if you are unfamiliar with the genre, and if you are a jrpg enthusiast, this game brings a lot to the table that can be hard to come by around these parts. looking forward to seeing what's next!

similarly to mario rpg's remake i went into this with rather low expectations, figured it was just another cool novelty that boomer-y games sorta fawn over. game is in fact great.

the class/djinn system is fantastic, extremely addictive and intuitive and fun, where so many games attempt this sort of system and stumble, if not fail outright, this game make looks effortless. where final fantasy has attempted and failed at plenty of times before, this game succeeds and sets a bar on its initial outing. the djinn/class sytem alone is worth playing this game for just to see an example of how to implement a job system in a deep and meaningful way while still being approachable and fun.

the story is cool but in my opinion far too reliant on context clues and random npc dialogue and hidden flavor text. could've done with a little bit more party member dialogue, half the time i honestly felt like i was playing a dark souls clone or some shit with how cryptically this game delivers information about what is going on. which is interesting given the good-vs-evil all ages presentation of things here. hoping that all picks up a bit for the sequel.

the combat is fantastic, but in my opinion often doesn't really require the player to make use of all the systems in place. for all the cool classes and spells and weapons, you can just as easily use mono-element jobs and spam your strongest spells for 20 hours and clear the superboss with little resistance. stuff is fun but i am hoping that stuff like buffs and debuffs become a little more important at some point in the next game. felt like there wasn't much room to spread the large wings the game gives you.

the puzzle system is fantastic, at its best this feels like a zelda game except with real rpg combat instead of the cinematic simulations of challenge that zelda often prefers (at least up until more recent zelda entries). the way the game delivers context clues about the story and constantly requires the player to interact with the world outside of battle makes weyard feel very involved and compelling to explore.

all in all, pleasantly surprised and had a great time, the game's original ideas are phenomenal and work fantastic, but i am hoping the core storytelling and boss fights get ramped up a little for the next go around.

awesome game, super fun shooter and amazing homage to the movies. marking it down a point for technical issues and bugs and stuff, consider waiting for the patched version or whatever. if this game ends up getting fixed then its a must-play. regardless, as is, i had a splendid time.

a bit more direction and indication on side quests would be good, felt like significant content was easily missable sometimes. story felt tonally inconsistent, couldn't always tell when the game was trying to be thoughtful and when robocop was supposed to be an over-the-top ridiculous psychopath. game gets really fun once you start getting cool upgrades and stuff, imo some of that stuff should've just been there from the get go.

i do hope this game gets a patch tho

pokemon sv at its best. feels weird reviewing right now when i know i'm just gettin started but the main story at least is over.

the double battle format is great and should be the new standard, the open world story stuff is frankly handled better than the main game, the new multiplayer mechanics are fun and addicting, the music is a nostalgia sucker punch, the story is quite fun with lots of new instant classic characters, and i can tell the postgame is going to keep me occupied probably until the next game is out.

if only it shipped in a finished state!

great game, feels like a big step up from the first game despite being of course rather iterative. easy recommendation to just about any gamer but not outstanding on any front.

the new mechanics are all very fun and the bosses especially feel waaaaay better here than the last couple games but if i'm gonna be mean i just wanna say this game is the absolute case in point example that not every game needs to have a parry system shoved into it. its fun enough when it works, but it doesn't add a lot. feels unintuitive in a game that is otherwise optimized to feel as smooth as possible.

the story and stuff wasn't really the strong point of the last two games and it isn't this time either, but i think its fun for what it is. these game would benefit from having a more focused narrative that gives the player more time to get invested.

you can tell how hungry insomniac is to make that wolverine game lol. what ultimately is unfortunate abt these insomniac spider-man games is to me is they ultimately feel almost like the video game equivalent to mcu movies (back when we liked those). they're polished and highly enjoyable crowd pleasers i could easily recommend to just about anyone who enjoys a fun video game, and this is by far the best one yet, but nothing that will be occupying my mind at all likely until they drop the next one. i hope insomniac finally makes something really special with the third game or wolverine or whatevs