Catsopalle
51 Reviews liked by Catsopalle
Sea of Stars
2023
Sea of stars is both as expected and quite surprising in almost a 50/50 split way, I took part in the Kickstarter years ago after playing The Messenger having almost complete faith in the team, while still having doubts about the genre because I'm not too fond of JRPG, but clocking in at 32 house I can confidently say that they knocked it out of the park AGAIN with a masterful game that takes both the new and the old and creates an unforgettable package.
But breaking it down, the first thing I think should be approached is the gameplay, this game took a thousand inspirations and chose to masterfully build upon them creating a game that's great to play and experiment in like any good JRPG should be, while also shuffling around how the puzzle aspect of the genre affects the single fight, it's a child of Chrono trigger for sure, but it's also a child of the Mario & Luigi series (and kinda Mario RPG as a whole) and flirts with a lot of big name jrpgs, building a combat system that's by far one of my favorites.
The story is not really something that's explosive or mind bending but the Sabotage Team has incredible writers that are perfectly aware about how to write a funny game that's not overbearing or cringy while also building genuine characters and interactions, and a story that's quite nicely put together and memorable
The OST and the pixel art are really really really good, as expected, and the pacing is frankly just right, not too hasty, not too slow.
I have small nitpicks here and there but they are nothing in the face of a game that can, and should, be the foundation for the next 10 years of indie JRPGs.
Thank you Sabotage for such an endearing game that I will not forget for quite some time.
But breaking it down, the first thing I think should be approached is the gameplay, this game took a thousand inspirations and chose to masterfully build upon them creating a game that's great to play and experiment in like any good JRPG should be, while also shuffling around how the puzzle aspect of the genre affects the single fight, it's a child of Chrono trigger for sure, but it's also a child of the Mario & Luigi series (and kinda Mario RPG as a whole) and flirts with a lot of big name jrpgs, building a combat system that's by far one of my favorites.
The story is not really something that's explosive or mind bending but the Sabotage Team has incredible writers that are perfectly aware about how to write a funny game that's not overbearing or cringy while also building genuine characters and interactions, and a story that's quite nicely put together and memorable
The OST and the pixel art are really really really good, as expected, and the pacing is frankly just right, not too hasty, not too slow.
I have small nitpicks here and there but they are nothing in the face of a game that can, and should, be the foundation for the next 10 years of indie JRPGs.
Thank you Sabotage for such an endearing game that I will not forget for quite some time.
"Peak of the Fiction" - Every sane human being that ever graced this Earth.
Born out of a years long hiatus, while having to carry decades of heritage on his shoulders. Yet, it still manages to stand on his own legs.
Armored Core VI is unwilling to please everyone, but only who wishes to dig in its trial-and-error, experimentation and overwhelmingly fast gameplay. If you played any other game in the franchise, you'll know the drill. If you didn't, no pressure. This is by far the best entry point out of all the numbered titles.
Don't get me wrong, though. At first, I was worried. So much information on screen. The streamlining of the customization. And yet... All those concerns started to fade away at the first bosses and arena encounters.
There's no time to think about patterns, move-sets and such. The plan has to be made in the garage. In the mission, you are a relentless, implacable rancor-fueled man-machine of death and destruction. Drown the target with disgustingly massive amounts of firepower, attack using all of your resources with no restraints whatsoever. Execution is everything.
And then... When you'll overcome your next challenge, you'll start to feel "that". Swap out some components. Try a new approach. Slowly, carefully treading into the realm of removing your target from existence faster and better. Efficiency and effectiveness, constantly improving...
...And in that moment, all the fascination of this series finally reveals itself. The "thing" which makes this experience unique.
Unparalleled player agency.
Mission variety's on par with the series' top performers. Best environment art of the whole franchise. A lot of parts for a numbered entry, although with some restrains in the legs and arms departments. The boss encounters are by far the best of Armored Core VI's offering, and even if there's one entry which its "fun factor" could be debatable, his set-piece is still wonderful to go through. Arena's on the easy side, but its integration with the story is a nice touch, reminding somehow of Master of Arena. The narrative, just as the gameplay, keeps pushing faster and faster, with some beats, themes and characters reminiscent of Ace Combat along the expected references to older Armored Core games.
Multiplayer plays really good, even though it feels like an afterthought in terms of options and systems.
Shoji Kawamori's back in the mechanical design department, but you won't see any of it until you progress through the game. Do you wish to see the best the industry has to offer? Get at it.
Kota Hoshino's back in the soundtrack department, mixing compositions reminiscent of old entries along with a new dark, synth-wave, industrial tone, somehow close to DOOM (2016). The only match for a gritty, melancholic, hopeless landscape which, in hindsight, feels really close to the apocalypses of Last Raven and For Answer. All of that, alongside a crisp, state-of-the-art sound design and voice cast.
By the way, you won't be done with one play-through. Keep at it.
Technically-wise, the best release From Software ever put out, perfectly fitting the most sincerely written love letter to the mecha genre.
Armored Core has always been good. This is only the reminder.
Armored Core VI is unwilling to please everyone, but only who wishes to dig in its trial-and-error, experimentation and overwhelmingly fast gameplay. If you played any other game in the franchise, you'll know the drill. If you didn't, no pressure. This is by far the best entry point out of all the numbered titles.
Don't get me wrong, though. At first, I was worried. So much information on screen. The streamlining of the customization. And yet... All those concerns started to fade away at the first bosses and arena encounters.
There's no time to think about patterns, move-sets and such. The plan has to be made in the garage. In the mission, you are a relentless, implacable rancor-fueled man-machine of death and destruction. Drown the target with disgustingly massive amounts of firepower, attack using all of your resources with no restraints whatsoever. Execution is everything.
And then... When you'll overcome your next challenge, you'll start to feel "that". Swap out some components. Try a new approach. Slowly, carefully treading into the realm of removing your target from existence faster and better. Efficiency and effectiveness, constantly improving...
...And in that moment, all the fascination of this series finally reveals itself. The "thing" which makes this experience unique.
Unparalleled player agency.
Mission variety's on par with the series' top performers. Best environment art of the whole franchise. A lot of parts for a numbered entry, although with some restrains in the legs and arms departments. The boss encounters are by far the best of Armored Core VI's offering, and even if there's one entry which its "fun factor" could be debatable, his set-piece is still wonderful to go through. Arena's on the easy side, but its integration with the story is a nice touch, reminding somehow of Master of Arena. The narrative, just as the gameplay, keeps pushing faster and faster, with some beats, themes and characters reminiscent of Ace Combat along the expected references to older Armored Core games.
Multiplayer plays really good, even though it feels like an afterthought in terms of options and systems.
Shoji Kawamori's back in the mechanical design department, but you won't see any of it until you progress through the game. Do you wish to see the best the industry has to offer? Get at it.
Kota Hoshino's back in the soundtrack department, mixing compositions reminiscent of old entries along with a new dark, synth-wave, industrial tone, somehow close to DOOM (2016). The only match for a gritty, melancholic, hopeless landscape which, in hindsight, feels really close to the apocalypses of Last Raven and For Answer. All of that, alongside a crisp, state-of-the-art sound design and voice cast.
By the way, you won't be done with one play-through. Keep at it.
Technically-wise, the best release From Software ever put out, perfectly fitting the most sincerely written love letter to the mecha genre.
Armored Core has always been good. This is only the reminder.
Exoprimal
2023
ADJUSTING EXOFIGHTER PATIENCE RATE TO LOWEST ALLOWABLE LEVELS
INITIATING EXTREME COMBAT TEST: PLAY THE FUCKING OBJECTIVE
INITIATING EXTREME COMBAT TEST: PLAY THE FUCKING OBJECTIVE
Fap & Cum
2023
the fuck am i doing with my life.
Stray
2022
he's a cat, he's a stray, he's in a dystopia, he saves it, his friends leave him forever, never resolved, he protec, he attac, and most certainly, he's a cat
Omori
2020
cringe
This review contains spoilers
This Review is entirely biased by a very personal impact that I have been meaning to put into words, so this review more then anything, is a love letter to this game.
Its 2021, and I am down on my luck, college drop out, father passed away, and fired from work. I am on the edge of falling back in to bad habits, and dropping any of my wishes to move out of my at the time shitty home.
I am spending Christmas alone again, my father died a few years back, who I used to spend it with, and I never really got along with family besides the old man. As a kid, each night before I went to sleep, he told me the stories of King Arthur, a story I somewhat misguidedly looked up to, wanting to be like the king, not understanding the ramifications of it.
Either way, I follow that ideal; being a leader, building a community, and not really thinking about the deep responsibility of being a figure people need to be able to rely on or that people will come to hate you for being such a person.
Anyway; I am spending Christmas alone, I buy ace combat 7 to kill time; fell in love in an instant, and ended up getting the rest of the games. After playing through 4 and 5, I finally got to Zero; and I never expected the game to change me the way it did. I was now at the same point in life, but my ''friends'' of the time had left me cause they had their own issues. My whole leadership fantasy had fallen apart, and I failed to see the value in the people who were still around me.
And in comes a game about a pilot who falls into the role of King Arthur, the figure I had been chasing to be like for the years since my father died, thinking it would fix me; that it would fulfill and replace the grief I had, the anger I had for my shitty childhood, and more.
I didn't really have a idea as to why I was here, why I survived living on the streets, why I survived abuse, why I even fought; I was lost. But Ace Combat was for a good while something that just, kept my mind of it all; and then finally, with my heart at ease, Ace Combat Zero directly confronted the destructive path I found myself on.
I time and time again did actions, based on others their dreams and ideals, but never my own; Cipher does the same. Cipher just follows the needs of the allied forces; aimlessly, a weapon pointed at others, with no one really caring for who they are, what their dreams or ideals are. Besides Pixy, but even then; you continue your path of violence. No matter what you tell yourself; you're just a merc, a soldier, or doing this for the cause as a knight; the point stands, you arent fighting for yourself. You never stop to ask what world you are protecting.
And then your buddy leaves you for those actions; he lost faith in you, and the world as a whole, and begrudgingly leaves you in the dust. Ace Combat Zero from here on, after Pixy leaves, takes on a new tone; the reason you are doing things becomes less and less clear, as the enemy has already given up, and now you're fighting the faction your friend went of to; cause you just cant end this cycle of following whatever order you're given.
But the comfort of just following orders, putting down enemy after enemy whilst being praised for it is now twisted on you. You're seen as a monster, one of you're own making. And you're confronted with doubt.
And then there is the final confrontation.
Pixy, you former ally; asks, ''found your reason to fight yet?'' and it all dawned on me then and there; I hadn't. I had never thought for a second what *I* wanted, stuck in just this idea of surviving, and scrapping by. And now, the game asks me to defend the world; and for what? Pixy himself asks you what this world even has to offer besides pain. But there I began thinking, why would I want to stop v2? Why do I want to refuse the idea of being on the same coin as Pixy? And it all dawned on me that I didn't want to be a hero, or some big leader who was going to amount to something larger then life.
I just wanted to live; that, was my reason to fight. I had come this far, and I did not want my life to end in the shitty situation I was in, and neither did I want that for Cipher, a silent protagonist who I had found myself projecting on a little too much.
So I defeat Pixy, I am now looking over a peaceful horizon; but I didn't really know at that second what I wanted to do; how I was going to fix it. But then Pixy talked about trust. "The world won't change unless we trust people. Trust is vital for a peaceful world-- I may not find what I'm looking for, but I still wanna try."
And it all clicked. I hadn't found my ability yet to trust people again, or to dare to go into the unknown to try look for a better life. I was scared to improve, thinking I would lose myself.
And then in the end, Pixy asked ''Still alive?'' as I am already crying, and I realised how far I had come; how strong I really was for the things I went through and still was able to stand and talk about them. In the end, Cipher vanishes from history. And a year later, I did the same.
I went to the other side of the country, and began living life on my own terms. I have never been happier; I am finally forming into the person I wanted to be. Not a false dream, but for once just living in the real world. I survived. And perhaps that is my answer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2atlpj7AGXU&ab_channel=AceCombatFan
Its 2021, and I am down on my luck, college drop out, father passed away, and fired from work. I am on the edge of falling back in to bad habits, and dropping any of my wishes to move out of my at the time shitty home.
I am spending Christmas alone again, my father died a few years back, who I used to spend it with, and I never really got along with family besides the old man. As a kid, each night before I went to sleep, he told me the stories of King Arthur, a story I somewhat misguidedly looked up to, wanting to be like the king, not understanding the ramifications of it.
Either way, I follow that ideal; being a leader, building a community, and not really thinking about the deep responsibility of being a figure people need to be able to rely on or that people will come to hate you for being such a person.
Anyway; I am spending Christmas alone, I buy ace combat 7 to kill time; fell in love in an instant, and ended up getting the rest of the games. After playing through 4 and 5, I finally got to Zero; and I never expected the game to change me the way it did. I was now at the same point in life, but my ''friends'' of the time had left me cause they had their own issues. My whole leadership fantasy had fallen apart, and I failed to see the value in the people who were still around me.
And in comes a game about a pilot who falls into the role of King Arthur, the figure I had been chasing to be like for the years since my father died, thinking it would fix me; that it would fulfill and replace the grief I had, the anger I had for my shitty childhood, and more.
I didn't really have a idea as to why I was here, why I survived living on the streets, why I survived abuse, why I even fought; I was lost. But Ace Combat was for a good while something that just, kept my mind of it all; and then finally, with my heart at ease, Ace Combat Zero directly confronted the destructive path I found myself on.
I time and time again did actions, based on others their dreams and ideals, but never my own; Cipher does the same. Cipher just follows the needs of the allied forces; aimlessly, a weapon pointed at others, with no one really caring for who they are, what their dreams or ideals are. Besides Pixy, but even then; you continue your path of violence. No matter what you tell yourself; you're just a merc, a soldier, or doing this for the cause as a knight; the point stands, you arent fighting for yourself. You never stop to ask what world you are protecting.
And then your buddy leaves you for those actions; he lost faith in you, and the world as a whole, and begrudgingly leaves you in the dust. Ace Combat Zero from here on, after Pixy leaves, takes on a new tone; the reason you are doing things becomes less and less clear, as the enemy has already given up, and now you're fighting the faction your friend went of to; cause you just cant end this cycle of following whatever order you're given.
But the comfort of just following orders, putting down enemy after enemy whilst being praised for it is now twisted on you. You're seen as a monster, one of you're own making. And you're confronted with doubt.
And then there is the final confrontation.
Pixy, you former ally; asks, ''found your reason to fight yet?'' and it all dawned on me then and there; I hadn't. I had never thought for a second what *I* wanted, stuck in just this idea of surviving, and scrapping by. And now, the game asks me to defend the world; and for what? Pixy himself asks you what this world even has to offer besides pain. But there I began thinking, why would I want to stop v2? Why do I want to refuse the idea of being on the same coin as Pixy? And it all dawned on me that I didn't want to be a hero, or some big leader who was going to amount to something larger then life.
I just wanted to live; that, was my reason to fight. I had come this far, and I did not want my life to end in the shitty situation I was in, and neither did I want that for Cipher, a silent protagonist who I had found myself projecting on a little too much.
So I defeat Pixy, I am now looking over a peaceful horizon; but I didn't really know at that second what I wanted to do; how I was going to fix it. But then Pixy talked about trust. "The world won't change unless we trust people. Trust is vital for a peaceful world-- I may not find what I'm looking for, but I still wanna try."
And it all clicked. I hadn't found my ability yet to trust people again, or to dare to go into the unknown to try look for a better life. I was scared to improve, thinking I would lose myself.
And then in the end, Pixy asked ''Still alive?'' as I am already crying, and I realised how far I had come; how strong I really was for the things I went through and still was able to stand and talk about them. In the end, Cipher vanishes from history. And a year later, I did the same.
I went to the other side of the country, and began living life on my own terms. I have never been happier; I am finally forming into the person I wanted to be. Not a false dream, but for once just living in the real world. I survived. And perhaps that is my answer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2atlpj7AGXU&ab_channel=AceCombatFan
Final Fantasy VI
1994
While not necessarily my favorite entry in the series, FFVI is to me the best Final Fantasy game, and a good contender for the best videogame ever created.
Silent Hill 2
2001
based
Monster Hunter Rise
2021
Khezu theme got me like
Carbonara is a dilf such a hot man
I've always wanted to play one of these games because they always looked fun, and believe this game was, but it had so many faults that kept me from fully enjoying myself. For one, the controls suck, there's no need for having you use both sticks just making it harder to look around, and forget trying the dash move, you'll just waste your time trying to use it. Really wasn't a fan of how the slightest bump could toss items off the Katamari, but sometimes a hard bump wouldn't, and countless times I got stuck and just had to watch as my item count just depleted.
Adol is good at play ping-pong.
Fantasy Strike
2017
you want to get a fundamentals only experience? play footsies.