This is less a review and more so a warning for people curious, but don't know what they're in for.

This is video game, like a real video game for real "Gamers". It's design is archaic, the U.I is clunky (even for the time) and it will not respect, or coddle you. The story is great, the characters memorable (Shantotto, my beloved), but, and I have to stress this, if you choose to play this - you're doing it for the gameplay.

You will NEED to have a walkthrough on a second screen at basically all times. You will be confused where to go, what to do, and how to do it - that is part of the charm. If you can climb that hill you will find one of the most engaging RPG experiences out there, with some absolutely wild quest designs that would not fly in the modern gaming landscape. Dungeons that change layout based on the in-game day, bosses that target specific races with debuffs, door switches that are triggered by the combined weight of the races standing on them. Honestly, there are so many little instances that will make you say "wow, that's neat" or "what were they thinking?".

If you're easily put off by a lack of handholding, don't even try this. I can guarantee you will hate it. There is no way around it - its sink or swim. You really need a certain mindset going in to enjoy this game. If you are a XIV player curious about XI, its nothing like that outside of aesthetics. I've met XI players who love XIV, but few who went the other way. This is a time sink, with a harsh opening that only gets easier as you become more accustomed to its design. Your memories will be defined by your personal accomplishments, rather than story moments. Your first trip to Jeuno, climbing Delkfutt Tower, getting lost in the mines in Bastok only to have another player who bought the map guide you out; little things that would be standard in many games feel like triumphs - it's a feeling hard to replicate in modern game design.

I love it, and still recommend it - just don't be surprised that the MMO from 2002 plays like an MMO from 2002. Its harshness is by design, and rewards a mindset that is open to a challenge. There's a reason so many still have fond memories of this game; there's nothing else quite like it.

It has the typical story issues you should expect from this series, but this is probably the most consistently "fun" Like a Dragon yet. The combat is a lot more engaging, and unlike 7 it doesn't hit you with a massive difficulty spike near the end. It just juggles a bit too much story-wise which drags things down a bit.

But when you're in the moment, strolling around Hawaii with the boys on your Segways, listening to the Persona 3 Portable OST? Nothing else can beat that if I'm being honest.

I think 2010 was an interesting transitional era for western game design, as studios that wanted to develop more "cinematic" works still felt compelled to base their design on what worked in the PS2 era, I'm talking about games like Prince of Persia and God of War. Modern cinematic design wouldn't really find its footing until The Last of Us in 2013, and I think if Enslaved came out now, it would 100% be a behind the back style action game like those new God of War games.

This is all preface to say that Enslaved is a very pretty game, but with all of the gameplay simplified to a point of feeling like its there out of expectation, rather than do anything interesting with it. Automated platforming, simple combat, and puzzle rooms are underscored with dynamic camera zooms and Uncharted-esque set-pieces. It feels stuck in-between two eras, which is appropriate considering it came out right in the middle of the 7th gen.

I think it's an interesting experience, but it feels "Enslaved" to what was conventional at the time. A shame really, I think if it came out a few years into the 8th gen, with the aforementioned behind the back style, it might've done better.

There's a sad irony that in 2023, despite its position as an entry level RPG, Super Mario RPG has deeper mechanics than mainline Final Fantasy.

This was my first proper playthrough after playing about half of the SNES version years ago. It's a great game that is fun to play in spite of its extremely simple gameplay. Shorter RPGs are my jam, so I was pleasantly surprised when it ended around the 10 hour mark, albeit rather abruptly.

It's cult status is easily apparent from the opening minutes; it has a daring creativity and wit that you don't see in modern Nintendo titles, I hope this remake inspires a similar approach in future Mario RPG games.

Honestly a shame that it took this long for Uplink to be readily accessible on Steam. This 20-minute slice perfectly encapsulates everything good (and bad!) about the original Half-Life, but as a kid who dug through Cuttng Room Floor pages looking at all the unused content (Hello, Mr. Friendly), I'm just happy that this is readily accessible to more people. By 1999 you didn't have to "sell" Half-Life to people anymore, so its even crazier this goes as hard as it does. Now give us that E3 Half-Life 2 tech demo so I can be like those guys who oogled at the barrel physics.

I can't in any good conscious call this good. The new characters feel awful compared to their Sonic Adventure counterparts which came out 25 years ago, the trials range from braindead to requiring perfect inputs to proceed, and while the Cyberspace levels are imaginative the level design feels like spaghetti with no cohesion. I actually found myself just skipping as much content as I could to get it over faster. After having to repeat the same initial run-up on Wyvern for the 10th time I just called it quits. The base game was actually a lot of fun with a fair amount of promise, this update is so unlike that, that I'm starting to reconsider if those initial feelings were warranted.

It's free at least, but I don't understand why Sonic Team always seems to fumble the ball at the last minute. Being hard is one thing, but it has to be at least satisfying to play. Did they forget this is a game series predominantly aimed at children? This exemplifies all the worst parts of Frontiers, it's the biggest disappointment of 2023.

I swear to god, if Superstars isn't the second coming of Christ...

Edit: Went back to it after reading some cheeses for the boss rush (seriously what were they thinking) and finished the campaign. I've softened on it a little bit but the issues are way too big to ignore. I doubt I'll play this again, the original ending sequence was better anyway imo.

Once you get over the learning curve of the controls (it actually feels really good for 85), you'll find an early example of a precision platformer that treats you like an adult, requiring mastery of its (frankly limited) systems to succeed. You'll be repeating the first few screens over and over, but you'll find yourself getting a little bit further with each attempt. Just don't focus on beating it as quickly as possible, a perfect run is only about 20 minutes long. It's truly the Dark Souls of platformers ;)

Seriously, give it a go. A complete run of the first loop will take a while, but it's really not as intimidating as it might initially seem. There's a reason this game has stuck in the minds of Japanese game fans. I would have been all over this if I was a Famicom owner back then.

Creative Business Unit 3 are masters of the 7/10 experience, creating a streamlined RPG that simplifies so much in the pursuit of accessibility that you wonder why they even bothered in the first place. Everything here feels like it exists because it has to for the sake of convention, its technically competent but incredibly basic.

If you've played XIV over the years, this shouldn't be all that surprising. Removing barriers to entry is what they do best. It'll appeal to newcomers to the genre, but those expecting more depth will be disappointed to find that this game has more in common with Mystic Quest than traditional RPGs.

A fun one and done, but feels like wasted potential.