Celicesama
It’s been quite a few months since Infinite Wealth was released, and since then I haven’t played it. I really wanted to let the game marinate in my head, because truthfully, Infinite Wealth was quite a difficult game for me to come to grips with. It’s no secret that the Yakuza series is no stranger to problems in its storytelling. Hell, aside from 0 and maybe a couple others, I’d be hard pressed to argue that the games are some sort of high-art, prestigious, deep, and philosophical stories, and that’s never what I look for in these games. The Yakuza games are trope-laden, melodramatic, cheesy, formulaic stories, and that’s honestly kind of why I love them.
I think these games balance a sort of fine line between the rich, emotional storytelling you’d associate with narrative-driven games and the absurd cheesiness of the yakuza crime drama or shonen anime. It’s a lot like Gintama in many ways (which is why I love that series so much). Like Gintama, this kind of storytelling lends itself to a certain sincerity I don’t really get out of a lot of other games, and Infinite Wealth reflects that sincerity more than anything.
There was a lot of skepticism going into Infinite Wealth’s release. Even outside SEGA’s stupid premium versions or whatever the fuck, a certain major story beat was revealed in the promotional material that had many players rolling their eyes at how RGG would approach it. This mistrust stems from people’s belief that RGG has this outright refusal to let Kiryu Kazuma go, as evident with him returning to the franchise after his supposed “conclusion” in 6. 6 wasn’t a perfect game by any means, but that ending was unanimously loved, and people sigh at the notion of RGG stepping back on the decisions they made with that ending.
I just want to say: RGG never promised us anything with that ending, and it’s foolish and entitled to believe that they did. Kiryu is a character they made, and not only can they do whatever the fuck they want with him, but none of what they continued to do with him contradicts their previous decisions.
Still, the skepticism around Infinite Wealth remained. Before release, I said the game’s story could go either one of two ways: either it keeps up RGG’s ongoing streak of well written, directed, and paced games a la 7 and the Judgment games, or it winds up too ambitious for its own good and goes balls to the wall Yakuza 5 goofy albeit sincere ridiculousness. Ultimately I think it landed somewhere in between. It’s certainly a lot more comprehensible than 5 is, though every bit as goofy. Unlike 5, I think it actually has enough competency in the plotting and theming department to more than make up for unabashed goofiness.
I think the biggest problem with Infinite Wealth’s story is, for the supposed “final hurrah” of Kiryu Kazuma’s journey, I think the plot itself fails to live up to the potential that that premise might’ve entailed. We see a few important characters make comebacks, but outside of a select scene or two, are so unimpactful to the story that I kinda wish they’d never been there at all. There’s one cool scene in the climax that’s supposed to be a sort of “everyone is here” moment, but outside of the initial hype, those characters being there felt more like genuinely pointless fanservice if anything, and we don’t really get good closure on any of them.
On the topic of fanservice, this game’s fanservice is AWESOME (for the most part). It’s very FFXIV, Xenoblade 3 Future Redeemed-core in the sense that I was just popping out of my seat every time an event or character, major or minor, from an older game was mentioned. This game’s status as Kiryu’s final hurrah felt a little limp in the main plot, but the many small character interactions between Kiryu and the party peppered throughout the campaign and ESPECIALLY the side content make this game well worthy of its status. Side content, be it minigames or substories, have always been a pretty major deal in these games, not necessarily because they were exceptional stories or a blast to play, but because of how much they added to the setting, characters, and the grander themes of the franchise. They were occasionally silly, occasionally melancholic, sometimes fun, sometimes not, but the essence they carry into this game cannot be understated. It wouldn’t be an RGG game without them.
While Ichiban’s side of the story had your more traditional wacky and melancholic substories present in previous games, it’s in Kiryu’s where a lot of aforementioned fanservice lies. Like I’d said, a lot of the fanservice did have me popping out of my seat for how much it rewarded me for being a fan of the series, but the best thing this fanservice had to offer was how much it added to Kiryu’s emotionality.
Kiryu’s always been a pretty complex character, more than people like to give him credit for, but the problem is the quality of RGG’s writing hasn’t always been sufficient enough to do him justice, which often leads to misconceptions around him. In truth, Kiryu is a deeply broken, self destructive, indecisive, and regretful old guy, something that at this point, Infinite Wealth doesn’t even try to hide a lot of the time. More than the substories, or even the main stories of older games, Kiryu’s substories in Infinite Wealth provide insight into this less idealized side of him. We see Kiryu not only reflect and provide insight on a lot of previous events and people in his life, but forcibly come to grips with the ghosts of his past, all the while the brokenness of his being begins to slowly emerge. I have no problem calling this some of my favorite writing in the entire series. It elevates Kiryu, who was already one of my favorite characters ever, beyond words can describe.
On a more positive note regarding Kiryu, I really really love how this game lets him come out of his shell. 7’s shift to being a turn-based RPG was a controversial move on RGG’s part, but it really lends itself to more party based interactions more consistently, which is what made 7’s cast so endearing. There was always this sort of loneliness that pervaded Kiryu, even when he grew close with Haruka, even when he began running an orphanage, and 6 and Gaiden only served to enhance that loneliness. Infinite Wealth is really aggressive about putting Kiryu in situations you wouldn’t normally find him, particularly that of Nanba, Saeko, Seonhee, and Zhao following him around like ducklings. I was initially skeptical at how much chemistry this ensemble would have, but their interactions endeared me to their group dynamic in almost no time. These interactions were the heart and soul of 7, and they’re the heart and soul of Infinite Wealth all the same. Not the deepest and most complex cast of characters ever, but the joy their interactions alone bring me is enough to rank them highly among my favorite video game casts.
So far I’ve been pretty light on Ichiban in this review. Whereas this game is Kiryu’s definitive closing chapter and 7 was Ichiban’s prologue, Infinite Wealth feels more like a middle chapter in his story if anything. Not that that’s bad; Empire Strikes Back is one of the most beloved films for good reason, as is The Two Towers and so on. I’ve nothing much to say except that Ichiban’s just a joy in this game, and I might actually prefer his plot over Kiryu’s insofar as the main story is concerned. Does it suffer from the pitfalls that Kiryu’s side does from time to time? Sure, but every second Ichiban’s on screen I am ELATED. He’s as full of heart and soul as he ever was, his progression throughout the game is consistently engaging, his interactions and dynamics with the rest of the cast but especially Kiryu is EVERYTHING in this game, and for him alone, I think I could excuse all of this game’s flaws.
I also absolutely ADORE the cohesion that exists between the two notions that this is Kiryu’s final chapter as well as being Ichiban’s next step. Kiryu’s journey would just not hit the same had much of his dynamic with Ichiban been stripped from the narrative. I think Ichiban’s existence is practically integral to a lot of the epiphanies that Kiryu has about his life later on in the game, and I’d argue that without Ichiban, this game never could’ve concluded Kiryu’s story as meaningfully as they did. Vague story shit aside, you can tell how much Takaya Kuroda and Kazuhiro Nakaya love performing together, and you can tell how potently that translates to their characters. A lot of people critique the balancing act between the two sides of the story, but I dunno, I think they compliment each other really well, mostly as a result of the surprising amount of thematic cohesion present. I genuinely have nothing negative to say about these two characters. Genuinely two of my favorite protagonists in fiction without a shadow of a doubt.
I don’t really know how to conclude this review without delving into some major spoilers. I guess the ending’s pretty good. Pretty great, actually, but I can’t help but find it lacking in quite a number of areas. Perhaps it’s a little too subtextual for my liking (which is why I had a difficult time appreciating it initially), which is a critique I never thought I’d have with this series, but here we are. That’s about all I have to say. Infinite Wealth: ever the silly, dramatic, but genuinely sincere game and another worthy entry into one of my favorite franchises. I’m kind of amazed at how much my appreciation for it grew with time. I thought it’d be the other way around: be a game that absolutely wows me on first viewing and slowly trickles down the rankings after the wow factor wears off, but no. My love for this game has only grown more and more steadfastly over the months, and I’m sure with a revisit or a replay some time in the near future, it’ll give the game the boost it needs for it to truly be the masterpiece I wanted it to be.
I think these games balance a sort of fine line between the rich, emotional storytelling you’d associate with narrative-driven games and the absurd cheesiness of the yakuza crime drama or shonen anime. It’s a lot like Gintama in many ways (which is why I love that series so much). Like Gintama, this kind of storytelling lends itself to a certain sincerity I don’t really get out of a lot of other games, and Infinite Wealth reflects that sincerity more than anything.
There was a lot of skepticism going into Infinite Wealth’s release. Even outside SEGA’s stupid premium versions or whatever the fuck, a certain major story beat was revealed in the promotional material that had many players rolling their eyes at how RGG would approach it. This mistrust stems from people’s belief that RGG has this outright refusal to let Kiryu Kazuma go, as evident with him returning to the franchise after his supposed “conclusion” in 6. 6 wasn’t a perfect game by any means, but that ending was unanimously loved, and people sigh at the notion of RGG stepping back on the decisions they made with that ending.
I just want to say: RGG never promised us anything with that ending, and it’s foolish and entitled to believe that they did. Kiryu is a character they made, and not only can they do whatever the fuck they want with him, but none of what they continued to do with him contradicts their previous decisions.
Still, the skepticism around Infinite Wealth remained. Before release, I said the game’s story could go either one of two ways: either it keeps up RGG’s ongoing streak of well written, directed, and paced games a la 7 and the Judgment games, or it winds up too ambitious for its own good and goes balls to the wall Yakuza 5 goofy albeit sincere ridiculousness. Ultimately I think it landed somewhere in between. It’s certainly a lot more comprehensible than 5 is, though every bit as goofy. Unlike 5, I think it actually has enough competency in the plotting and theming department to more than make up for unabashed goofiness.
I think the biggest problem with Infinite Wealth’s story is, for the supposed “final hurrah” of Kiryu Kazuma’s journey, I think the plot itself fails to live up to the potential that that premise might’ve entailed. We see a few important characters make comebacks, but outside of a select scene or two, are so unimpactful to the story that I kinda wish they’d never been there at all. There’s one cool scene in the climax that’s supposed to be a sort of “everyone is here” moment, but outside of the initial hype, those characters being there felt more like genuinely pointless fanservice if anything, and we don’t really get good closure on any of them.
On the topic of fanservice, this game’s fanservice is AWESOME (for the most part). It’s very FFXIV, Xenoblade 3 Future Redeemed-core in the sense that I was just popping out of my seat every time an event or character, major or minor, from an older game was mentioned. This game’s status as Kiryu’s final hurrah felt a little limp in the main plot, but the many small character interactions between Kiryu and the party peppered throughout the campaign and ESPECIALLY the side content make this game well worthy of its status. Side content, be it minigames or substories, have always been a pretty major deal in these games, not necessarily because they were exceptional stories or a blast to play, but because of how much they added to the setting, characters, and the grander themes of the franchise. They were occasionally silly, occasionally melancholic, sometimes fun, sometimes not, but the essence they carry into this game cannot be understated. It wouldn’t be an RGG game without them.
While Ichiban’s side of the story had your more traditional wacky and melancholic substories present in previous games, it’s in Kiryu’s where a lot of aforementioned fanservice lies. Like I’d said, a lot of the fanservice did have me popping out of my seat for how much it rewarded me for being a fan of the series, but the best thing this fanservice had to offer was how much it added to Kiryu’s emotionality.
Kiryu’s always been a pretty complex character, more than people like to give him credit for, but the problem is the quality of RGG’s writing hasn’t always been sufficient enough to do him justice, which often leads to misconceptions around him. In truth, Kiryu is a deeply broken, self destructive, indecisive, and regretful old guy, something that at this point, Infinite Wealth doesn’t even try to hide a lot of the time. More than the substories, or even the main stories of older games, Kiryu’s substories in Infinite Wealth provide insight into this less idealized side of him. We see Kiryu not only reflect and provide insight on a lot of previous events and people in his life, but forcibly come to grips with the ghosts of his past, all the while the brokenness of his being begins to slowly emerge. I have no problem calling this some of my favorite writing in the entire series. It elevates Kiryu, who was already one of my favorite characters ever, beyond words can describe.
On a more positive note regarding Kiryu, I really really love how this game lets him come out of his shell. 7’s shift to being a turn-based RPG was a controversial move on RGG’s part, but it really lends itself to more party based interactions more consistently, which is what made 7’s cast so endearing. There was always this sort of loneliness that pervaded Kiryu, even when he grew close with Haruka, even when he began running an orphanage, and 6 and Gaiden only served to enhance that loneliness. Infinite Wealth is really aggressive about putting Kiryu in situations you wouldn’t normally find him, particularly that of Nanba, Saeko, Seonhee, and Zhao following him around like ducklings. I was initially skeptical at how much chemistry this ensemble would have, but their interactions endeared me to their group dynamic in almost no time. These interactions were the heart and soul of 7, and they’re the heart and soul of Infinite Wealth all the same. Not the deepest and most complex cast of characters ever, but the joy their interactions alone bring me is enough to rank them highly among my favorite video game casts.
So far I’ve been pretty light on Ichiban in this review. Whereas this game is Kiryu’s definitive closing chapter and 7 was Ichiban’s prologue, Infinite Wealth feels more like a middle chapter in his story if anything. Not that that’s bad; Empire Strikes Back is one of the most beloved films for good reason, as is The Two Towers and so on. I’ve nothing much to say except that Ichiban’s just a joy in this game, and I might actually prefer his plot over Kiryu’s insofar as the main story is concerned. Does it suffer from the pitfalls that Kiryu’s side does from time to time? Sure, but every second Ichiban’s on screen I am ELATED. He’s as full of heart and soul as he ever was, his progression throughout the game is consistently engaging, his interactions and dynamics with the rest of the cast but especially Kiryu is EVERYTHING in this game, and for him alone, I think I could excuse all of this game’s flaws.
I also absolutely ADORE the cohesion that exists between the two notions that this is Kiryu’s final chapter as well as being Ichiban’s next step. Kiryu’s journey would just not hit the same had much of his dynamic with Ichiban been stripped from the narrative. I think Ichiban’s existence is practically integral to a lot of the epiphanies that Kiryu has about his life later on in the game, and I’d argue that without Ichiban, this game never could’ve concluded Kiryu’s story as meaningfully as they did. Vague story shit aside, you can tell how much Takaya Kuroda and Kazuhiro Nakaya love performing together, and you can tell how potently that translates to their characters. A lot of people critique the balancing act between the two sides of the story, but I dunno, I think they compliment each other really well, mostly as a result of the surprising amount of thematic cohesion present. I genuinely have nothing negative to say about these two characters. Genuinely two of my favorite protagonists in fiction without a shadow of a doubt.
I don’t really know how to conclude this review without delving into some major spoilers. I guess the ending’s pretty good. Pretty great, actually, but I can’t help but find it lacking in quite a number of areas. Perhaps it’s a little too subtextual for my liking (which is why I had a difficult time appreciating it initially), which is a critique I never thought I’d have with this series, but here we are. That’s about all I have to say. Infinite Wealth: ever the silly, dramatic, but genuinely sincere game and another worthy entry into one of my favorite franchises. I’m kind of amazed at how much my appreciation for it grew with time. I thought it’d be the other way around: be a game that absolutely wows me on first viewing and slowly trickles down the rankings after the wow factor wears off, but no. My love for this game has only grown more and more steadfastly over the months, and I’m sure with a revisit or a replay some time in the near future, it’ll give the game the boost it needs for it to truly be the masterpiece I wanted it to be.
Earlier (as of writing this review), I stepped out to get lunch. The weather was good, I was hungry, and I thought there was no better time. While out on my walk and on my way, I just stopped, paused for a few seconds, and all I thought to myself was “fuck, Last Raven is a good ass game”.
What stood out to me about Last Raven was a thought of “wow, this is it”. When I played Armored Core 1, the game left a deep impression on me. Not because it was some sort of paragon of polish and game design that had me shitting myself at how good it was, but because of the potential it offered with its incredibly rock-steady design ethos. Games prior to LR were solid successors for sure, but their improvements were rather incremental in my opinion, and never in the way I had envisioned a perfect Armored Core game to be. What makes Last Raven so great is that it is THAT game, the platonic ideal of an Armored Core game that gazed up into the heavens and perfected the Armored Core formula.
Everything characteristic of Armored Core is damn near perfect here. The controls are tight and responsive, the sheer variety of customizations makes my head spin, the level design (while repetitive) is fantastic and never overstay their welcome, AC on AC combat is exhilarating, the mission pathing system has its weaknesses but is also BY FAR the most varied and dynamic in the series with how much variety and surprises it holds, and the story is perhaps the best in Armored Core’s oldgen, perhaps in all of Armored Core.
As for Last Raven’s challenge and its reputation as being the hardest Fromsoftware game: I think that, everything considered, Last Raven should be an unfair game. The enemy ACs are equipped with H+, out DPS-ing you and flying away with their high energy reserves, not to mention the several occasions where they come either subsequently or just straight up ganking your ass. I think the reason Last Raven can get away with tomfoolery of this level and something like say, Dark Souls, can’t, is the inherent design philosophy that characterizes the ethos of the Armored Core franchise. Since LR is the perfect Armored Core game, it means all the aspects of challenge we’d typically associate with Armored Core are tuned to the nth degree. Skill is demanded of you, yes, but as are AC building knowledge, resourcefulness, endurance, and situational awareness. I can’t really think of any challenge that I overcame with pure “git gud” grit alone. Each and every difficult mission demanded at least one of these major tenets of ACs design from me, and that’s what made overcoming them an insurmountable joy.
I think where Last Raven most fulfills the unwashed concepts of its predecessors is its mission pathing and the inclusion of multiple endings. This was something that VI left a lot to be desired when I had first played it, and while it was good to know that previous AC games had more complex and dynamic mission structures compared to 6th gen’s more streamlined approach, they never really went beyond with those systems on a narrative, or even mechanical level. For Answer was a net improvement, offering three distinct endings and a dynamic mission structure that requires a total of five playthroughs to get them all, but seeing what Last Raven had done with its structure, 4A is nothing in comparison.
Last Raven not only has six endings, which is only rivaled by Elden Ring in my Fromsoftware experience, but the game took me a whopping 5 or so semi-playthroughs to get everything, and that isn’t even accounting for how easy it is to screw up certain objectives and causing whole ass playthrough resets (which happened to me like twice). Luckily, playthroughs are about 12 missions on average and if you’re really efficient, take about an hour or two of your time to blast through a single one. Still, the variety in mission pathing and endings stand out to me as the most impressive change Last Raven makes to the AC formula, not to mention how surprisingly digestible it is, compared to say, AC3’s mission unlocks which can feel kinda random and unimpactful regardless if which corporations you choose to work for. I wish it was a little less tedious and I wish certain missions didn’t have to be constantly repeated just to unlock ONE mission over the course of one playthrough, though the game is short and the mission replays do encourage you to try different builds and approaches to see how fast you can clear them, which is certainly a good thing, I think.
Last Raven’s most impressive use of this dynamic mission pathing system is not in its gameplay (which honestly does get a bit tedious after a while), but its narrative. Prior to LR, narrative has never been a major focus for Armored Core. Select games like 2, 3, and Nexus definitely had more narrative than others, but their narratives felt more like backdrops if anything, Nexus’ ending was great and Klein was a solid antagonist, but it’s no MGS and that’s not what you should expect from this series. Last Raven, like many of its predecessors, is definitely a “gameplay-first, story-second” kind of game, but I was genuinely taken aback at just how much this narrative wound up resonating with me by the end. Excluding relativity to other AC games, I genuinely do believe Last Raven’s narrative stands on its own two feet as a damn great story that uses the medium to full effect.
Like with VI, which I had said in my review of that game here, even if I don’t love the endings on an individual level, I think each of them excelled at elevating the others by association. The 1st ending isn’t amazing on its own, but context from the 2nd ending enriches it, likewise with 3rd. Last Raven is much the same. Yeah the Vertex endings aren’t great, but knowing what Jack was up to in those endings greatly elevates the first Alliance ending (which is narratively the second best ending in my opinion).
STORY SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT ON. READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION.
Where the different routes shine most is definitely in how they elevate this game’s three central characters: Jack-O, Evangel, and most importantly: Zinaida. Two (or all, depending on who you ask) of them are returning characters from Nexus, and the continuity this game has from Nexus is always appreciated. In general I do love the continuity present in generation 3. Not all the games are made equal in terms of story or content, but each game, at least in some way, shape, or form, feels like an evolution of the previous one be it narratively or mechanically. The series had never been a character-focused one, and while a handful of characters in previous games like Klein, Stinger, Sumika, and Huster-One are certainly memorable, I wouldn’t call them masterfully written by any approximation. They exist as self-contained personalities/plot devices within their games, but are never more than that. I wouldn’t necessarily apply the "masterfully written" designation to the Last Raven trinity either (don't expect a Tolstoy or Dostoevsky or anything lmao), but I do think they are great characters in their own right that benefit a ton of Last Raven’s structure.
Jack-O probably benefits most from this multi-ending approach since he is the only one of these characters to appear in all of these routes in one way or another. I do regret doing his route first, because as powerful and climactic and his big moment was, I wish I had just an ilk more context on his motivations and what led him here in the first place, something that is explained in most of the other routes. Evangel’s two routes also substantiate him quite a bit. I think he’s easily the weakest character of the three, but getting to see different sides of him and how his motivations change drastically depending on which route you follow was really cool, not to mention he served as the eventual template for V.II and G5 in Fires of Rubicon, two of the series' best characters.
Zinaida’s a bit weird because, if you played the routes in the order I did, she doesn’t really have much presence until the indie routes, typically sending an ominous message about how you suck. Even between the two indie routes, you only really get to fight her in her ending, watching as she gets killed off by a Pulverizer (if only she kept the Micro Missiles, RIP). I think Director Dai Takemura’s additional context on her relation to Genobee is a cool bit of trivia that I think enhances her quite a bit, though where we see Zinaida truly shine is the final fight with her in “Destroy the Internecine”.
I could probably write a whole ass review on this fight alone and how fucking peak it is, but I’ll keep it short. That whole final stretch, from the moment you encounter Zinaida in the Internecine to the final shot of the Last Raven staring out into the sunset is one of my favorite moments in all of gaming. I legit got out of my chair and just thought to myself “this is real gaming”. Is the final fight with her the most complex, intricate, and varied bossfight in terms of moveset? No. Is the visual presentation and music a spectacle to behold? No (the music sucks lmao). Is the fight a completely fair fight? Everything considered, probably not, but that’s a hotly contested debate among many AC fans. Is this fight representative of everything I love, not only about Armored Core as a franchise, but about video games, be it as a medium of storytelling, a form of interactive entertainment, and an expression of art? Abso-fucking-lutely YES. When I think of the kind of unique experiences that games can offer as an artform, this fight is now one of the first things that will always pop up in my mind. One of the greatest fights ever crafted, peak gaming.
“I felt I finally reached what I'd been chasing... Raven... That title truly suits you..."
Last Raven is a monumental work of art and a crowning achievement of the medium. Like a lot of Fromsoftware’s catalog, it’s a bit of a shame that this game is buried under its own difficult reputation, as well as being a sequel to a divisive game in a niche series stuck on the PS2 and PSP. It is a more-than-fitting swansong (ravensong?) to the old generation of Armored Core and a fitting way to end my journey with these games. It’s also the most “not for everyone” game, I cannot emphasize that enough. If you are not as dick deep in these games as I am, or are not an absolute fucking idiot, I would never recommend this game (or series in its entirety) to anyone. It’s brutal, kinda silly, kinda wacky, a bit tedious, but as far as I’m concerned, it fucking slaps.
What stood out to me about Last Raven was a thought of “wow, this is it”. When I played Armored Core 1, the game left a deep impression on me. Not because it was some sort of paragon of polish and game design that had me shitting myself at how good it was, but because of the potential it offered with its incredibly rock-steady design ethos. Games prior to LR were solid successors for sure, but their improvements were rather incremental in my opinion, and never in the way I had envisioned a perfect Armored Core game to be. What makes Last Raven so great is that it is THAT game, the platonic ideal of an Armored Core game that gazed up into the heavens and perfected the Armored Core formula.
Everything characteristic of Armored Core is damn near perfect here. The controls are tight and responsive, the sheer variety of customizations makes my head spin, the level design (while repetitive) is fantastic and never overstay their welcome, AC on AC combat is exhilarating, the mission pathing system has its weaknesses but is also BY FAR the most varied and dynamic in the series with how much variety and surprises it holds, and the story is perhaps the best in Armored Core’s oldgen, perhaps in all of Armored Core.
As for Last Raven’s challenge and its reputation as being the hardest Fromsoftware game: I think that, everything considered, Last Raven should be an unfair game. The enemy ACs are equipped with H+, out DPS-ing you and flying away with their high energy reserves, not to mention the several occasions where they come either subsequently or just straight up ganking your ass. I think the reason Last Raven can get away with tomfoolery of this level and something like say, Dark Souls, can’t, is the inherent design philosophy that characterizes the ethos of the Armored Core franchise. Since LR is the perfect Armored Core game, it means all the aspects of challenge we’d typically associate with Armored Core are tuned to the nth degree. Skill is demanded of you, yes, but as are AC building knowledge, resourcefulness, endurance, and situational awareness. I can’t really think of any challenge that I overcame with pure “git gud” grit alone. Each and every difficult mission demanded at least one of these major tenets of ACs design from me, and that’s what made overcoming them an insurmountable joy.
I think where Last Raven most fulfills the unwashed concepts of its predecessors is its mission pathing and the inclusion of multiple endings. This was something that VI left a lot to be desired when I had first played it, and while it was good to know that previous AC games had more complex and dynamic mission structures compared to 6th gen’s more streamlined approach, they never really went beyond with those systems on a narrative, or even mechanical level. For Answer was a net improvement, offering three distinct endings and a dynamic mission structure that requires a total of five playthroughs to get them all, but seeing what Last Raven had done with its structure, 4A is nothing in comparison.
Last Raven not only has six endings, which is only rivaled by Elden Ring in my Fromsoftware experience, but the game took me a whopping 5 or so semi-playthroughs to get everything, and that isn’t even accounting for how easy it is to screw up certain objectives and causing whole ass playthrough resets (which happened to me like twice). Luckily, playthroughs are about 12 missions on average and if you’re really efficient, take about an hour or two of your time to blast through a single one. Still, the variety in mission pathing and endings stand out to me as the most impressive change Last Raven makes to the AC formula, not to mention how surprisingly digestible it is, compared to say, AC3’s mission unlocks which can feel kinda random and unimpactful regardless if which corporations you choose to work for. I wish it was a little less tedious and I wish certain missions didn’t have to be constantly repeated just to unlock ONE mission over the course of one playthrough, though the game is short and the mission replays do encourage you to try different builds and approaches to see how fast you can clear them, which is certainly a good thing, I think.
Last Raven’s most impressive use of this dynamic mission pathing system is not in its gameplay (which honestly does get a bit tedious after a while), but its narrative. Prior to LR, narrative has never been a major focus for Armored Core. Select games like 2, 3, and Nexus definitely had more narrative than others, but their narratives felt more like backdrops if anything, Nexus’ ending was great and Klein was a solid antagonist, but it’s no MGS and that’s not what you should expect from this series. Last Raven, like many of its predecessors, is definitely a “gameplay-first, story-second” kind of game, but I was genuinely taken aback at just how much this narrative wound up resonating with me by the end. Excluding relativity to other AC games, I genuinely do believe Last Raven’s narrative stands on its own two feet as a damn great story that uses the medium to full effect.
Like with VI, which I had said in my review of that game here, even if I don’t love the endings on an individual level, I think each of them excelled at elevating the others by association. The 1st ending isn’t amazing on its own, but context from the 2nd ending enriches it, likewise with 3rd. Last Raven is much the same. Yeah the Vertex endings aren’t great, but knowing what Jack was up to in those endings greatly elevates the first Alliance ending (which is narratively the second best ending in my opinion).
STORY SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT ON. READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION.
Where the different routes shine most is definitely in how they elevate this game’s three central characters: Jack-O, Evangel, and most importantly: Zinaida. Two (or all, depending on who you ask) of them are returning characters from Nexus, and the continuity this game has from Nexus is always appreciated. In general I do love the continuity present in generation 3. Not all the games are made equal in terms of story or content, but each game, at least in some way, shape, or form, feels like an evolution of the previous one be it narratively or mechanically. The series had never been a character-focused one, and while a handful of characters in previous games like Klein, Stinger, Sumika, and Huster-One are certainly memorable, I wouldn’t call them masterfully written by any approximation. They exist as self-contained personalities/plot devices within their games, but are never more than that. I wouldn’t necessarily apply the "masterfully written" designation to the Last Raven trinity either (don't expect a Tolstoy or Dostoevsky or anything lmao), but I do think they are great characters in their own right that benefit a ton of Last Raven’s structure.
Jack-O probably benefits most from this multi-ending approach since he is the only one of these characters to appear in all of these routes in one way or another. I do regret doing his route first, because as powerful and climactic and his big moment was, I wish I had just an ilk more context on his motivations and what led him here in the first place, something that is explained in most of the other routes. Evangel’s two routes also substantiate him quite a bit. I think he’s easily the weakest character of the three, but getting to see different sides of him and how his motivations change drastically depending on which route you follow was really cool, not to mention he served as the eventual template for V.II and G5 in Fires of Rubicon, two of the series' best characters.
Zinaida’s a bit weird because, if you played the routes in the order I did, she doesn’t really have much presence until the indie routes, typically sending an ominous message about how you suck. Even between the two indie routes, you only really get to fight her in her ending, watching as she gets killed off by a Pulverizer (if only she kept the Micro Missiles, RIP). I think Director Dai Takemura’s additional context on her relation to Genobee is a cool bit of trivia that I think enhances her quite a bit, though where we see Zinaida truly shine is the final fight with her in “Destroy the Internecine”.
I could probably write a whole ass review on this fight alone and how fucking peak it is, but I’ll keep it short. That whole final stretch, from the moment you encounter Zinaida in the Internecine to the final shot of the Last Raven staring out into the sunset is one of my favorite moments in all of gaming. I legit got out of my chair and just thought to myself “this is real gaming”. Is the final fight with her the most complex, intricate, and varied bossfight in terms of moveset? No. Is the visual presentation and music a spectacle to behold? No (the music sucks lmao). Is the fight a completely fair fight? Everything considered, probably not, but that’s a hotly contested debate among many AC fans. Is this fight representative of everything I love, not only about Armored Core as a franchise, but about video games, be it as a medium of storytelling, a form of interactive entertainment, and an expression of art? Abso-fucking-lutely YES. When I think of the kind of unique experiences that games can offer as an artform, this fight is now one of the first things that will always pop up in my mind. One of the greatest fights ever crafted, peak gaming.
“I felt I finally reached what I'd been chasing... Raven... That title truly suits you..."
Last Raven is a monumental work of art and a crowning achievement of the medium. Like a lot of Fromsoftware’s catalog, it’s a bit of a shame that this game is buried under its own difficult reputation, as well as being a sequel to a divisive game in a niche series stuck on the PS2 and PSP. It is a more-than-fitting swansong (ravensong?) to the old generation of Armored Core and a fitting way to end my journey with these games. It’s also the most “not for everyone” game, I cannot emphasize that enough. If you are not as dick deep in these games as I am, or are not an absolute fucking idiot, I would never recommend this game (or series in its entirety) to anyone. It’s brutal, kinda silly, kinda wacky, a bit tedious, but as far as I’m concerned, it fucking slaps.
This review contains spoilers
To be clear, I think Armored Core 4 was an aggressively mid game. A mid game with interesting foundations, but a mid game nonetheless. Everything from its mechanics to its story were major nothingburgers that stand out among not just this franchise, but the catalog of one of our medium's most storied directors. While iffy on a lot of For Answer at first, to say this game grew on me would be an understatement. I've nearly completed it 5 times at this point, finished every mission on both difficulties and S-ranked every mission on normal and hard. I think that says it all.
But beyond that, I think the gameplay is great and consistently thrilling, if not a bit lacking in the precision and strategy that I so loved from previous AC games. For what it lacks in its "AC-ness" it makes up for in fulfilling 4's goal of making fights feel as spectacular and as "anime" as possible. Seeing your NEXTs zip and zoom around these vast and empty landscapes, taking down colossal Arms Forts in a Herculean manner, dueling other NEXTs in high-octane combat, of which are among the series' most fun encounters despite lacking the mechanical finesse that oldgen duels had. Customization and garage-tinkering are as fun as ever, and it's a thrill coming up with some monster of a build to throw into this game's wide open sandbox levels and see it wreak havoc on some poor normals and MTs. It's all just a blast, though I think you really need those multiple playthroughs to really click with it; I don't think one playthrough does this game justice. I would know since I didn't quite love my first go-around. Still, you know it's fun when the rewards are damn near nonexistent and I still continue playing. I'm not the busiest person in the world, but I still need to manage my time which is why I rarely replay games unless I think they're worth replaying, and boy is this game worth replaying and then some.
Monumental a highlight as the gameplay is, I really want to zero in on the story here because I think it's probably what struck me the hardest about this game. I think the thing that 4A consistently does better than even the great works that Miyazaki would go on to direct would be the feeling of dread present. Miyazaki's games are known for their dread, but all with a tinge of hope as to not feel completely devoid; I think someting like Bloodborne stands as an example of this, and a game more hopeful than most give it credit for. While 4A does retain this lingering sense of hope, he hadn't quite found his footing as far as organically weaving it into the narrative.
For Answer is, however, the master of the simultaneous desolation and sentimentality that characterizes Miyazaki's style. His Ueda influences are as clear as ever, with the giant, spectacular Arms Fort fights, the meditative nature of the setting, and Kota Hoshino's complementary OST feeding into the quietude and desolation that Miyazaki so loves to imitate and integrate.
One thing I didn't quite love about the game's story on my first go-around was the mission structure. In past experience, it most resembles its direct predecessor, as well as ACVI. I've gone out of my way on social media to critique how VI's mission and chapter structure is pretty weak and overly linear compared to oldgen, and how I'd love a return to form with a sequel or something. Good to know that 4 and 4A were the progenitors of those ideas, with set chapters and a more concrete narrative structure.
Where For Answer just about outdoes VI in this regard are the sanctions in places within its structure. VI has a handful of choice missions that force you to choose between 2, sometimes 3 missions, often of little consequence until NG++. 4A, at face value, seems pretty similar, though the limited number of missions per chapter (an element that I didn't love at first but eventually grew on me) and the more involved nature of the corporations in its mission pathing (compare this to VI, where the corps only ever exist in the story and have no bearing on branching paths and new mission unlocks throughout your three playthroughs) put 4A handily over its indirect successor for me.
I also commend and appreciation 4A's use of perspective within its different routes. A lot of multiple ending based games do this, though more so than a lot of them, For Answer's potent ideology-focused narrative benefits from perspective the most. While oldgen AC's approach to siding with rivalling corps bordered on almost comical at times, 4A's approach is a lot more serious. NG+ has you playing from a whole different perspective compared to the first playthrough, from siding with Line Ark, to attacking Arteria Carpals instead of defending it, to killing Wynne D as opposed to fighting alongside her. This approach really lends some dimensionality to the world that would otherwise be lost with a single playthrough, and takes oldgen's "haha I'm siding with two rivalling corporations at the same time" and really gives it the gravitas it needs to be a powerful narrative tool; one that befits Miyazaki's narrative style and inspires 4A's dichotomic hope and dread alike.
Nowhere is the dread more present in For Answer as it is in the game's endings. I think the endings prove better than anything the sheer uncompromising and unforgiving nature of For Answer's world. Miyazaki took a page out of Judith Jarvis Thomson's book here and really pulled out all the stops to make the game's ethical dilemma feels as hopeless as possible. You can imagine just how much pressure weighs on the shoulders of Thermidor, Wynne D, Old King, Malzel, White Glint & Fiona, and hell, basically everyone in this godforsaken world, though the former two take precedence, especially in the game's final missions.
It's much harder to be a good, or event a decent person than to be a bad one, and nowhere is it more evident with not only with Wynne and Thermidor, but yourself as well. You can imagine just how much pressure even living in a world as hopeless as this is putting on Strayed. It's a wonder they didn't break sooner than they did prior to siding with Old King, like an actual genuine marvel of human willpower, and it's also even more disheartening to know that "Destroy Cradle 03" is probably the easiest mission in the whole game. Strayed breaks under pressure and decides "fuck it lmao" and takes the easy way out: to fight for absolutely nothing whatsoever, and the weird this is that as fucked up as it is, I don't blame them; the world is fucked either way, why go through all this trouble to fight for it?
I can respect idealists like Wynne D and Thermidor (and hell, even Old King to a certain extent) because they at least tried to fight for what they believed was right, even if the only options were to kill or let die (or whatever the hell the Closed Plan was). I finished the third ending instilled with a sense of dread (and frustration at Arteria Carpals, fuck that shit lmfao), knowing that no matter what, this world is doomed, and that Strayed fought for naught in the end. An ironic twist on the platonic ideal of the Raven that the series has been pushing since 1997, even more so if you have the WG core equipped in that final cutscene: Strayed flies off into the sunset on a pair of false raven wings to bring death to billions for no good reason, for a purpose that wasn't even their own, for the goal of a man who was tenfold as maniacal but tenfold as purposeful, that same man now presumably lying dead as that goal is carried out by a broken, young, purposeless Lynx. It's unimaginably tragic, perhaps the most tragic thing Miyazaki's written, and given his track record of those kinds of stories, I think that says it all.
Still, what struck me most wasn't that ending, but what came after: the end credtis, in which you hear the title screen theme: 'Someone is Always Moving on the Surface'. An apt description of what I took away from this game. Dim as it may be, the faint hope that is so characteristic of Miyazaki's style prevails. Despite the plague, famine, and desolation that has befallen Earth, someone is always moving on the surface.
"Is that your answer? So be it..."
But beyond that, I think the gameplay is great and consistently thrilling, if not a bit lacking in the precision and strategy that I so loved from previous AC games. For what it lacks in its "AC-ness" it makes up for in fulfilling 4's goal of making fights feel as spectacular and as "anime" as possible. Seeing your NEXTs zip and zoom around these vast and empty landscapes, taking down colossal Arms Forts in a Herculean manner, dueling other NEXTs in high-octane combat, of which are among the series' most fun encounters despite lacking the mechanical finesse that oldgen duels had. Customization and garage-tinkering are as fun as ever, and it's a thrill coming up with some monster of a build to throw into this game's wide open sandbox levels and see it wreak havoc on some poor normals and MTs. It's all just a blast, though I think you really need those multiple playthroughs to really click with it; I don't think one playthrough does this game justice. I would know since I didn't quite love my first go-around. Still, you know it's fun when the rewards are damn near nonexistent and I still continue playing. I'm not the busiest person in the world, but I still need to manage my time which is why I rarely replay games unless I think they're worth replaying, and boy is this game worth replaying and then some.
Monumental a highlight as the gameplay is, I really want to zero in on the story here because I think it's probably what struck me the hardest about this game. I think the thing that 4A consistently does better than even the great works that Miyazaki would go on to direct would be the feeling of dread present. Miyazaki's games are known for their dread, but all with a tinge of hope as to not feel completely devoid; I think someting like Bloodborne stands as an example of this, and a game more hopeful than most give it credit for. While 4A does retain this lingering sense of hope, he hadn't quite found his footing as far as organically weaving it into the narrative.
For Answer is, however, the master of the simultaneous desolation and sentimentality that characterizes Miyazaki's style. His Ueda influences are as clear as ever, with the giant, spectacular Arms Fort fights, the meditative nature of the setting, and Kota Hoshino's complementary OST feeding into the quietude and desolation that Miyazaki so loves to imitate and integrate.
One thing I didn't quite love about the game's story on my first go-around was the mission structure. In past experience, it most resembles its direct predecessor, as well as ACVI. I've gone out of my way on social media to critique how VI's mission and chapter structure is pretty weak and overly linear compared to oldgen, and how I'd love a return to form with a sequel or something. Good to know that 4 and 4A were the progenitors of those ideas, with set chapters and a more concrete narrative structure.
Where For Answer just about outdoes VI in this regard are the sanctions in places within its structure. VI has a handful of choice missions that force you to choose between 2, sometimes 3 missions, often of little consequence until NG++. 4A, at face value, seems pretty similar, though the limited number of missions per chapter (an element that I didn't love at first but eventually grew on me) and the more involved nature of the corporations in its mission pathing (compare this to VI, where the corps only ever exist in the story and have no bearing on branching paths and new mission unlocks throughout your three playthroughs) put 4A handily over its indirect successor for me.
I also commend and appreciation 4A's use of perspective within its different routes. A lot of multiple ending based games do this, though more so than a lot of them, For Answer's potent ideology-focused narrative benefits from perspective the most. While oldgen AC's approach to siding with rivalling corps bordered on almost comical at times, 4A's approach is a lot more serious. NG+ has you playing from a whole different perspective compared to the first playthrough, from siding with Line Ark, to attacking Arteria Carpals instead of defending it, to killing Wynne D as opposed to fighting alongside her. This approach really lends some dimensionality to the world that would otherwise be lost with a single playthrough, and takes oldgen's "haha I'm siding with two rivalling corporations at the same time" and really gives it the gravitas it needs to be a powerful narrative tool; one that befits Miyazaki's narrative style and inspires 4A's dichotomic hope and dread alike.
Nowhere is the dread more present in For Answer as it is in the game's endings. I think the endings prove better than anything the sheer uncompromising and unforgiving nature of For Answer's world. Miyazaki took a page out of Judith Jarvis Thomson's book here and really pulled out all the stops to make the game's ethical dilemma feels as hopeless as possible. You can imagine just how much pressure weighs on the shoulders of Thermidor, Wynne D, Old King, Malzel, White Glint & Fiona, and hell, basically everyone in this godforsaken world, though the former two take precedence, especially in the game's final missions.
It's much harder to be a good, or event a decent person than to be a bad one, and nowhere is it more evident with not only with Wynne and Thermidor, but yourself as well. You can imagine just how much pressure even living in a world as hopeless as this is putting on Strayed. It's a wonder they didn't break sooner than they did prior to siding with Old King, like an actual genuine marvel of human willpower, and it's also even more disheartening to know that "Destroy Cradle 03" is probably the easiest mission in the whole game. Strayed breaks under pressure and decides "fuck it lmao" and takes the easy way out: to fight for absolutely nothing whatsoever, and the weird this is that as fucked up as it is, I don't blame them; the world is fucked either way, why go through all this trouble to fight for it?
I can respect idealists like Wynne D and Thermidor (and hell, even Old King to a certain extent) because they at least tried to fight for what they believed was right, even if the only options were to kill or let die (or whatever the hell the Closed Plan was). I finished the third ending instilled with a sense of dread (and frustration at Arteria Carpals, fuck that shit lmfao), knowing that no matter what, this world is doomed, and that Strayed fought for naught in the end. An ironic twist on the platonic ideal of the Raven that the series has been pushing since 1997, even more so if you have the WG core equipped in that final cutscene: Strayed flies off into the sunset on a pair of false raven wings to bring death to billions for no good reason, for a purpose that wasn't even their own, for the goal of a man who was tenfold as maniacal but tenfold as purposeful, that same man now presumably lying dead as that goal is carried out by a broken, young, purposeless Lynx. It's unimaginably tragic, perhaps the most tragic thing Miyazaki's written, and given his track record of those kinds of stories, I think that says it all.
Still, what struck me most wasn't that ending, but what came after: the end credtis, in which you hear the title screen theme: 'Someone is Always Moving on the Surface'. An apt description of what I took away from this game. Dim as it may be, the faint hope that is so characteristic of Miyazaki's style prevails. Despite the plague, famine, and desolation that has befallen Earth, someone is always moving on the surface.
"Is that your answer? So be it..."
Hydrogen Bomb vs Hydrogen Baby
1997
Typed a long ass review but my dumbass accidentally closed all my tabs and I lost it all. In short, gen 1 is very good and has some of the strongest design ethos I've seen in any game. MoA is kino.
2023
This review contains spoilers
Judging purely off of what this game gave me to think about and analyze, this has been one of the most thrilling experiences so far this year. XVI is a fascinating game and I think that's a feeling that always permeated throughout my playthrough. Sometimes the game will do something that perks my ears up and genuinely impresses me, and sometimes the game throws something at me so baffling that I can't even begin to comprehend that this team is the same that did Shadowbringers and Endwalker.
Before digging deep into why I feel this way, I want to say that first and foremost: XVI is a Final Fantasy game without a doubt in my mind. Is it an RPG in a traditional sense? Maybe not, but at least on a superficial level, the art direction, world, and especially the soundtrack exude a feeling not to dissimilar to how, say, FFXII made me feel.
Speaking of FFXII, I think that game is probably the one that XVI shares the most similarity to, largely attributed to Kazutoyo Maehiro, XII's combat designer, as the main writer. I have yet to play any other Ivalice game other than XII, but based of that and Heavensward, I'd say I'm a pretty decent fan of what Maehiro has done for the franchise in general. Heavensward was the expansion that made me fall in love with FFXIV, surprising me with just how cohesive and mature it was. I was hoping to get something similar out XVI's story, with it being advertised as more mature with the characters saying "fuck" every 5 goddamn seconds, as well as the game's fair share of nudity every now and then.
While I admire the game's sense of almost aggressive thematic cohesion with how it presents its world to us (with annoying, pacebreaking town quests), I just found the narrative to be very amateurish and barebones. FFXVI's story is an example of a young teen writer who thinks nudity and swears immediately make a story more mature (it does not), and that vibe kinda unfortunately sticks through a lot of the game. A story isn't immediately more mature just because characters have their tits or cock out and start spamming swears in chat like it's CoD. Rather, it's the reverse; I think more mature stories have to earn moments of intimacy (or the right to say fuck, idk).
The almost paradoxically ironic lack of maturity in conjunction with XVI's approach to theming (again, dumb town quests) really give the sense that the writers are struggling with how they want this game to come off tonally, even if it is fairly thematically consistent. I struggle to discern whether this game is a mature, medievalesque dark fantasy with posh-sounding characters, political intrigue (false as it may be), and sexual themes, or a rah-rah shonenesque power fantasy about the power of friendship and the importance of bonds. Undoubtedly its the latter, but I wish the game had just committed to that feel instead of lulling us into making us thinking it's more mature than it actually is. It makes those more conventionally mature scenes feel unwarranted, not only because they clash with the game's vision, but because the game could never commit to them to make them feel warranted to begin with.
Take Benedikta for example, who had all the makings of a fantastic character. The game almost explicity shows us that she was a rape victim, one who was miraculously granted the power of an Eikon, now holding a high position in the Kingdom of Waloed and exerting power over those below her, though her trauma and love for Cid continue to haunt her in spite of it all; she reminds me a lot of Ramsus from Xenogears in that regard. Now, could the game have kept her as a recurring antagonist, and as a result, exploring her trauma and relationships to a greater degree? Yes, but instead they sacrificed her for the sake of Clive's new powerup and a cool spectacle fight (it wasn't even that good tbh). It makes a lot of what they did show us, from her trauma to her intimate moment with Barnabas feel kinda... pointless? Nothing exasperates this more than when the game showed her again when Hugo was going through his thing with the crystal. It shows her NUDE for basically no other purpose than just to be nude. It comes off with all the weight and impact of thirteen y/o kids giggling when someone just so happens to have the nickname "dick", or when the teacher starts talking about sexual anatomy in class.
The tonal imbalance really hurts the story because it makes it difficult to get behind the aspects of its narrative that are actually decidedly mature, like the trauma of Clive and Jill, Anabella's ravaging of Rosaria, and with the advent of the Rising Tide DLC, the whole shtick with the baby and how cruelly they were treated by their ancestors. The game's story in that sense reminds me a lot of God of War Ragnarok's, where it feels like its more a caricature of a mature, well-written story as opposed to actually being one. It's "mature" in all the ways that would appeal to someone who gives little consideration to the things I had mentioned, but never in the ways that are important to my tastes and what I want out of similarly mature stories. It feels manufactured to be touching, heartfelt, and mature narrative, the gaming equivalent of Oscarbait essentially, but for me, it never earned that status. I guess that's just a me problem.
I went all this time without talking about the gameplay, which I find to be pretty good and honestly the most enjoyable part of the game. I've never played DMC so I can't make comparisons to Ryota Suzuki's work in those games, but I adore the gameplay in Dragon's Dogma and was hoping for something somewhat similar out of XVI. Different as it was, I still found it similarly enjoyable, if a bit easy. The difficult I find strange, because I don't really know how they could've made it harder aside from giving the enemies more damage and health. The movesets are usually fun to deal with, the basic gameplay loop of staggering your enemy and timing your cooldowns is always fun to execute. I don't really have that many criticisms for the combat itself aside from difficulty, and even then some bosses like Barnabas and Omega were fairly difficult and took a lot out of me.
My main issues are with the gear system and itemization, which I find really uninventive and kinda pointless. Clive's swords and armor are just all the same in terms of combat ability, with their only difference being in design and availability. It's unfortunate because gear is one of the most important tenets of RPG design, dictating the player's knowledge of a game's systems, and here it just feels shallow as hell. Really, only the rings have bearing on your playstyle, and I'll be totally fair, they are pretty interesting.
The skill system is cool though, and I love how you can mix and match different Eikon abilities to craft a playstyle that is right for you. While the game never emulated FFV's sheer variety like the devs had wanted, the Eikon abilities were just fun and varied enough to where I never got bored of checking them out every now and then. Odin I found particularly fun and I love how he fundamentally changes your playstyle. As someone who has Odin as their favorite recurring FF summon, I am satisfied.
The Eikon fights are probably this game's biggest highlights. Hot take, but I find them just kinda okay. Mechanically they're fine, with Ifrit's attacks feeling weighty, and they do get mechanically interesting from time to time. I just feel that for how bloated some of their healthpools are, I'm not content with winning just by hitting two buttons and seeing numbers pop up on the screen. I won't deny how great the presentation is, but even Bahamut and Titan, who are among the best presented bosses I've seen in gaming, are just kinda mechanical snoozefests that never stimulated me in any way that was memorable.
This is probably a good place to end. I came out of this game content with what it was and what it was trying to say, but to say that it resonated with me deeply or touched my soul would be a gross overstatement. A shame because with just a few tweaks to its writing and gameplay, it could've been something so so special. It lives and dies by the series' identity and is a Final Fantasy game through and through, but I never found myself moved by it in the same way a lot of my favorites from the series have. Overall, good game.
Before digging deep into why I feel this way, I want to say that first and foremost: XVI is a Final Fantasy game without a doubt in my mind. Is it an RPG in a traditional sense? Maybe not, but at least on a superficial level, the art direction, world, and especially the soundtrack exude a feeling not to dissimilar to how, say, FFXII made me feel.
Speaking of FFXII, I think that game is probably the one that XVI shares the most similarity to, largely attributed to Kazutoyo Maehiro, XII's combat designer, as the main writer. I have yet to play any other Ivalice game other than XII, but based of that and Heavensward, I'd say I'm a pretty decent fan of what Maehiro has done for the franchise in general. Heavensward was the expansion that made me fall in love with FFXIV, surprising me with just how cohesive and mature it was. I was hoping to get something similar out XVI's story, with it being advertised as more mature with the characters saying "fuck" every 5 goddamn seconds, as well as the game's fair share of nudity every now and then.
While I admire the game's sense of almost aggressive thematic cohesion with how it presents its world to us (with annoying, pacebreaking town quests), I just found the narrative to be very amateurish and barebones. FFXVI's story is an example of a young teen writer who thinks nudity and swears immediately make a story more mature (it does not), and that vibe kinda unfortunately sticks through a lot of the game. A story isn't immediately more mature just because characters have their tits or cock out and start spamming swears in chat like it's CoD. Rather, it's the reverse; I think more mature stories have to earn moments of intimacy (or the right to say fuck, idk).
The almost paradoxically ironic lack of maturity in conjunction with XVI's approach to theming (again, dumb town quests) really give the sense that the writers are struggling with how they want this game to come off tonally, even if it is fairly thematically consistent. I struggle to discern whether this game is a mature, medievalesque dark fantasy with posh-sounding characters, political intrigue (false as it may be), and sexual themes, or a rah-rah shonenesque power fantasy about the power of friendship and the importance of bonds. Undoubtedly its the latter, but I wish the game had just committed to that feel instead of lulling us into making us thinking it's more mature than it actually is. It makes those more conventionally mature scenes feel unwarranted, not only because they clash with the game's vision, but because the game could never commit to them to make them feel warranted to begin with.
Take Benedikta for example, who had all the makings of a fantastic character. The game almost explicity shows us that she was a rape victim, one who was miraculously granted the power of an Eikon, now holding a high position in the Kingdom of Waloed and exerting power over those below her, though her trauma and love for Cid continue to haunt her in spite of it all; she reminds me a lot of Ramsus from Xenogears in that regard. Now, could the game have kept her as a recurring antagonist, and as a result, exploring her trauma and relationships to a greater degree? Yes, but instead they sacrificed her for the sake of Clive's new powerup and a cool spectacle fight (it wasn't even that good tbh). It makes a lot of what they did show us, from her trauma to her intimate moment with Barnabas feel kinda... pointless? Nothing exasperates this more than when the game showed her again when Hugo was going through his thing with the crystal. It shows her NUDE for basically no other purpose than just to be nude. It comes off with all the weight and impact of thirteen y/o kids giggling when someone just so happens to have the nickname "dick", or when the teacher starts talking about sexual anatomy in class.
The tonal imbalance really hurts the story because it makes it difficult to get behind the aspects of its narrative that are actually decidedly mature, like the trauma of Clive and Jill, Anabella's ravaging of Rosaria, and with the advent of the Rising Tide DLC, the whole shtick with the baby and how cruelly they were treated by their ancestors. The game's story in that sense reminds me a lot of God of War Ragnarok's, where it feels like its more a caricature of a mature, well-written story as opposed to actually being one. It's "mature" in all the ways that would appeal to someone who gives little consideration to the things I had mentioned, but never in the ways that are important to my tastes and what I want out of similarly mature stories. It feels manufactured to be touching, heartfelt, and mature narrative, the gaming equivalent of Oscarbait essentially, but for me, it never earned that status. I guess that's just a me problem.
I went all this time without talking about the gameplay, which I find to be pretty good and honestly the most enjoyable part of the game. I've never played DMC so I can't make comparisons to Ryota Suzuki's work in those games, but I adore the gameplay in Dragon's Dogma and was hoping for something somewhat similar out of XVI. Different as it was, I still found it similarly enjoyable, if a bit easy. The difficult I find strange, because I don't really know how they could've made it harder aside from giving the enemies more damage and health. The movesets are usually fun to deal with, the basic gameplay loop of staggering your enemy and timing your cooldowns is always fun to execute. I don't really have that many criticisms for the combat itself aside from difficulty, and even then some bosses like Barnabas and Omega were fairly difficult and took a lot out of me.
My main issues are with the gear system and itemization, which I find really uninventive and kinda pointless. Clive's swords and armor are just all the same in terms of combat ability, with their only difference being in design and availability. It's unfortunate because gear is one of the most important tenets of RPG design, dictating the player's knowledge of a game's systems, and here it just feels shallow as hell. Really, only the rings have bearing on your playstyle, and I'll be totally fair, they are pretty interesting.
The skill system is cool though, and I love how you can mix and match different Eikon abilities to craft a playstyle that is right for you. While the game never emulated FFV's sheer variety like the devs had wanted, the Eikon abilities were just fun and varied enough to where I never got bored of checking them out every now and then. Odin I found particularly fun and I love how he fundamentally changes your playstyle. As someone who has Odin as their favorite recurring FF summon, I am satisfied.
The Eikon fights are probably this game's biggest highlights. Hot take, but I find them just kinda okay. Mechanically they're fine, with Ifrit's attacks feeling weighty, and they do get mechanically interesting from time to time. I just feel that for how bloated some of their healthpools are, I'm not content with winning just by hitting two buttons and seeing numbers pop up on the screen. I won't deny how great the presentation is, but even Bahamut and Titan, who are among the best presented bosses I've seen in gaming, are just kinda mechanical snoozefests that never stimulated me in any way that was memorable.
This is probably a good place to end. I came out of this game content with what it was and what it was trying to say, but to say that it resonated with me deeply or touched my soul would be a gross overstatement. A shame because with just a few tweaks to its writing and gameplay, it could've been something so so special. It lives and dies by the series' identity and is a Final Fantasy game through and through, but I never found myself moved by it in the same way a lot of my favorites from the series have. Overall, good game.
This review contains spoilers
Gonna write another review because I don't think my previous one quite captured my thoughts on this game as well as I wanted.
While my initial lack of hype going into Armored Core VI barred my enjoyment of the game when I had first tried it in 2023, but having beaten it, gotten all endings, and platinumed the game, I can say with confidence that it's one of my favorite games ever at this point, I adore nearly everything about it.
The gameplay is easily among my favorite ever, with the ever-brilliant Masaru Yamamura, known for Sekiro, returning to direct. What surprised me most about the gameplay weren't the mechanics themselves per se, but just how well they were integrated with many of the characters, factions, and setting. I imagine Armored Core as a series does this well, though I can't really verify that due to my lack of experience with previous entries as of writing this review. The way certain characters' personalities and allegiances align with the equipment they use, and how that translates to the encounters with the many NPC fights, encounter design, and bosses is nothing short of incredibly thoughtful.
While the linearity of the levels and mission structure are a departure to my knowledge of Fromsoft's catalogue, I adore the atmosphere in nearly each and every one, and I imagine that it's pretty faithful to Armored Core's standards as a series. Chapter 4 needs special mention for just how moody it is throughout, crawling into an underground crevice and unearthing Rubicon's history. It's fantastic and contributes to what I feel is this game's strongest suit: the presentation.
Not the least of Armored Core VI's great accomplishments are the vistas and the way in creates scale in each level, though the level of presentation in the game's bosses and in special missions like "Breach the Karman Line" need to be noted. One of my favorite moments in any game ever was being able to fly energy-free and soar over Rubicon's scorched skies, realizing that 1000m is a straight up kilometer and how that distance is covered in the matter of seconds. The sense of climactic finality that whole mission and the encounter afterwards creates were pure sensory and mechanical bliss. While I do love this mission, I don't want people to misunderstand: I think nearly every mission in this game contributory to the vision insofar as they help construct the world, characters, and atmosphere in a palpable way, from destroying PCA fleets, to the aforementioned expedition into the depths, to the incredibly miscellaneous merc missions in chapter 1 that help the setting and factions get up on their feet.
All this isn't even to mention the stellar voice direction and sound design, which were robbed of a GOTY nomination. Audiovisual design is one reason Sekiro's combat is as good as it is, and ACVI is no different, with every shot, every boost, every melee hit, every explosion having an adequate and appropriate amount of impact in correlation to their lethality. Additionally exists the voice acting which really takes the characters to the next level. Having no face to their names really forces the voice actors to act their hearts out to convey the personality and emotions of these characters, and I can't think of a single bad casting decision. Special mention needs to be made of Griffin Burns as G5 Iguazu, who delivers a performance equal parts pathetic and heartrending, Jonathan Lipow as V.II Snail, who gives the character this sense of snobbish and contemptible superiority, Patrick Seitz, who embodies his role as the stern yet caring and surprisingly emotional Handler Walter with perfection, and last but not least Erin Yvette as our Coral Wife: Ayre, who allows this disembodied voice such an intelligent yet adorkable personality that surpasses characters with full blown bodies or mechs we can physically associate with them.
If I had to levy any nitpicks against this game, and this is probably as small as nitpicks can ever get, it'd be that I don't emotionally connect with the story that much. I think it is very, very, very good and I've got nothing bad to say about it, the characters are great, with the likes of Ayre, Walter, Carla, and especially Iguazu being downright fantastic, and I adore the way the story is presented via logs, mission briefings, arena flavor text, and most pertinently the mission structure themselves, and I love love love how much the endings feed into each other. Both the Liberator and Fires ending would be solid on their own, but knowledge of the other ending really elevates your understanding of the setting and characters in a way the multiple ending structure of previous FS games I've played haven't really captured. All this to say, I think the story is great, beautifully presented, and particularly potent towards the end; I've just seen similar stories done in a much better way, or rather more palpably so that I'm able to better resonate with emotionally (see Xenosaga). The efficiency of the characterization and storytelling, mechanics, and presentation are definitely this game's strongest suits and carry the experience into the exosphere, though I don't want to take anything away from the narrative itself. I don't think about the game's core themes as much as I love to immerse myself in the world and gameplay. That's more of a positive if anything and exemplifies the medium's greatest strengths: its ability to uniquely draw the player in immerse them in the experience.
We'll see how future me will feel about this game, but right now, I've come out this experience wholly confident in its vision, and I hope to see more like it from both previous AC games and whatever Yamamura continues to direct in the future. Would've been my GOTY had I committed to it last year, and easily one of my favorite experiences in recent memory. Special game.
"You may yet fly higher. Beyond Rubicon's scorched skies, to chase the freedom we never knew."
While my initial lack of hype going into Armored Core VI barred my enjoyment of the game when I had first tried it in 2023, but having beaten it, gotten all endings, and platinumed the game, I can say with confidence that it's one of my favorite games ever at this point, I adore nearly everything about it.
The gameplay is easily among my favorite ever, with the ever-brilliant Masaru Yamamura, known for Sekiro, returning to direct. What surprised me most about the gameplay weren't the mechanics themselves per se, but just how well they were integrated with many of the characters, factions, and setting. I imagine Armored Core as a series does this well, though I can't really verify that due to my lack of experience with previous entries as of writing this review. The way certain characters' personalities and allegiances align with the equipment they use, and how that translates to the encounters with the many NPC fights, encounter design, and bosses is nothing short of incredibly thoughtful.
While the linearity of the levels and mission structure are a departure to my knowledge of Fromsoft's catalogue, I adore the atmosphere in nearly each and every one, and I imagine that it's pretty faithful to Armored Core's standards as a series. Chapter 4 needs special mention for just how moody it is throughout, crawling into an underground crevice and unearthing Rubicon's history. It's fantastic and contributes to what I feel is this game's strongest suit: the presentation.
Not the least of Armored Core VI's great accomplishments are the vistas and the way in creates scale in each level, though the level of presentation in the game's bosses and in special missions like "Breach the Karman Line" need to be noted. One of my favorite moments in any game ever was being able to fly energy-free and soar over Rubicon's scorched skies, realizing that 1000m is a straight up kilometer and how that distance is covered in the matter of seconds. The sense of climactic finality that whole mission and the encounter afterwards creates were pure sensory and mechanical bliss. While I do love this mission, I don't want people to misunderstand: I think nearly every mission in this game contributory to the vision insofar as they help construct the world, characters, and atmosphere in a palpable way, from destroying PCA fleets, to the aforementioned expedition into the depths, to the incredibly miscellaneous merc missions in chapter 1 that help the setting and factions get up on their feet.
All this isn't even to mention the stellar voice direction and sound design, which were robbed of a GOTY nomination. Audiovisual design is one reason Sekiro's combat is as good as it is, and ACVI is no different, with every shot, every boost, every melee hit, every explosion having an adequate and appropriate amount of impact in correlation to their lethality. Additionally exists the voice acting which really takes the characters to the next level. Having no face to their names really forces the voice actors to act their hearts out to convey the personality and emotions of these characters, and I can't think of a single bad casting decision. Special mention needs to be made of Griffin Burns as G5 Iguazu, who delivers a performance equal parts pathetic and heartrending, Jonathan Lipow as V.II Snail, who gives the character this sense of snobbish and contemptible superiority, Patrick Seitz, who embodies his role as the stern yet caring and surprisingly emotional Handler Walter with perfection, and last but not least Erin Yvette as our Coral Wife: Ayre, who allows this disembodied voice such an intelligent yet adorkable personality that surpasses characters with full blown bodies or mechs we can physically associate with them.
If I had to levy any nitpicks against this game, and this is probably as small as nitpicks can ever get, it'd be that I don't emotionally connect with the story that much. I think it is very, very, very good and I've got nothing bad to say about it, the characters are great, with the likes of Ayre, Walter, Carla, and especially Iguazu being downright fantastic, and I adore the way the story is presented via logs, mission briefings, arena flavor text, and most pertinently the mission structure themselves, and I love love love how much the endings feed into each other. Both the Liberator and Fires ending would be solid on their own, but knowledge of the other ending really elevates your understanding of the setting and characters in a way the multiple ending structure of previous FS games I've played haven't really captured. All this to say, I think the story is great, beautifully presented, and particularly potent towards the end; I've just seen similar stories done in a much better way, or rather more palpably so that I'm able to better resonate with emotionally (see Xenosaga). The efficiency of the characterization and storytelling, mechanics, and presentation are definitely this game's strongest suits and carry the experience into the exosphere, though I don't want to take anything away from the narrative itself. I don't think about the game's core themes as much as I love to immerse myself in the world and gameplay. That's more of a positive if anything and exemplifies the medium's greatest strengths: its ability to uniquely draw the player in immerse them in the experience.
We'll see how future me will feel about this game, but right now, I've come out this experience wholly confident in its vision, and I hope to see more like it from both previous AC games and whatever Yamamura continues to direct in the future. Would've been my GOTY had I committed to it last year, and easily one of my favorite experiences in recent memory. Special game.
"You may yet fly higher. Beyond Rubicon's scorched skies, to chase the freedom we never knew."
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth was a game I went in with somewhat high, but tempered expectations. I enjoyed Remake more than most I feel, but it still didn't quite hit the standard that the vast majority hold the property to. I expected much of the same out of Rebirth as I got out of Remake i.e. great characterization, solid combat, obviously stunning visuals, but also some of its downsides like quest design, bossfights, whisper shenanigans, and pacing, only covering the material that post-Midgar did in the original. I'm pretty glad to admit that for the most part, I was pretty wrong.
I want to get the negatives out of the way so I can gush about the positives. Firstly, exploration isn't great. I get it's trying to go for the same semi-open world approach that games like FFXII or the Xenoblade series are known for, but the objectives for each region are pretty stale and begin to wear themselves out by Corel. None of this is helped by the game's floaty movement, which is 100% a byproduct of the game's realism, but it doesn't suit this style of game at all. The combat trials are honestly pretty fun, but I can't help but feel they could've gone just a little bit further with it.
Another of the game's weakness is its tone. A little too faithful to the original perhaps, with the tonal whiplash being especially jarring during chapter 8 and 12. The game's faithfulness is a double-edged sword; it undoubtedly gives the game this soul that lets us known that it is invariably Final Fantasy VII in every respect and that it isn't ashamed of its identity, but I feel that there's a time and place for everything, and the game's goofier elements could've been placed a lot better.
Aside from those two major elephants in the room, I think it's safe to say that, in nearly every respect, this game is a massive, MASSIVE step up from Remake, holy shit. I want to emphasize the one thing Remake did well, which was its characterization. Virtually all of the main cast was a step up from how they were in the original, and Rebirth is no different. Everyone is given time to shine, be it in the story or the sidequests, not to mention the cast dynamics that do a great deal in carrying this main party into one of my favorites in ALL of gaming, no joke. The cast really gets the time to grow close with one another ,which (potential spoilers (?)) makes a certain character's betrayal hit harder than it ever did in the original.
Special attention needs to be given to how the original's most iconic moments were adapted. Some might say this was to the detriment of the game, citing how the fate/destiny shit ruins "that" moment, but personally speaking, I thought that it, as well as numerous other moments were massive upgrades from the original, charging them with all the emotion and gravitas a game of this scale warrants.
Combat had me worried after the first few hours, though I can now confidently say that it is indeed great. Not perfect, with the upgrade system and materia reslotting still being a tad annoying, but the flow of combat and the sheer amount of options you are given more than makes up for those tiny flaws. Not to mention that this time around, the bosses are actually really good and fun, for the most part at least. I need to make mention of chapter 11's main boss, which was probably my favorite in the whole game. The final boss stretch sucks tho.
Story is the most contentious. I can't really talk about it in detail without spoiling, but I honestly enjoyed it, fate shenanigans and all. I'll just leave it at this: Rebirth's story and ending made it so that part 3 is either a masterpiece that lives up to the story's ambition, or a total nonsensical crapshoot of a story that fumbles the bag. Either way, consider me excited for part 3.
I want to get the negatives out of the way so I can gush about the positives. Firstly, exploration isn't great. I get it's trying to go for the same semi-open world approach that games like FFXII or the Xenoblade series are known for, but the objectives for each region are pretty stale and begin to wear themselves out by Corel. None of this is helped by the game's floaty movement, which is 100% a byproduct of the game's realism, but it doesn't suit this style of game at all. The combat trials are honestly pretty fun, but I can't help but feel they could've gone just a little bit further with it.
Another of the game's weakness is its tone. A little too faithful to the original perhaps, with the tonal whiplash being especially jarring during chapter 8 and 12. The game's faithfulness is a double-edged sword; it undoubtedly gives the game this soul that lets us known that it is invariably Final Fantasy VII in every respect and that it isn't ashamed of its identity, but I feel that there's a time and place for everything, and the game's goofier elements could've been placed a lot better.
Aside from those two major elephants in the room, I think it's safe to say that, in nearly every respect, this game is a massive, MASSIVE step up from Remake, holy shit. I want to emphasize the one thing Remake did well, which was its characterization. Virtually all of the main cast was a step up from how they were in the original, and Rebirth is no different. Everyone is given time to shine, be it in the story or the sidequests, not to mention the cast dynamics that do a great deal in carrying this main party into one of my favorites in ALL of gaming, no joke. The cast really gets the time to grow close with one another ,which (potential spoilers (?)) makes a certain character's betrayal hit harder than it ever did in the original.
Special attention needs to be given to how the original's most iconic moments were adapted. Some might say this was to the detriment of the game, citing how the fate/destiny shit ruins "that" moment, but personally speaking, I thought that it, as well as numerous other moments were massive upgrades from the original, charging them with all the emotion and gravitas a game of this scale warrants.
Combat had me worried after the first few hours, though I can now confidently say that it is indeed great. Not perfect, with the upgrade system and materia reslotting still being a tad annoying, but the flow of combat and the sheer amount of options you are given more than makes up for those tiny flaws. Not to mention that this time around, the bosses are actually really good and fun, for the most part at least. I need to make mention of chapter 11's main boss, which was probably my favorite in the whole game. The final boss stretch sucks tho.
Story is the most contentious. I can't really talk about it in detail without spoiling, but I honestly enjoyed it, fate shenanigans and all. I'll just leave it at this: Rebirth's story and ending made it so that part 3 is either a masterpiece that lives up to the story's ambition, or a total nonsensical crapshoot of a story that fumbles the bag. Either way, consider me excited for part 3.
Base Game - 11/02/2024:
Takes a step back for every step it takes forward, meaning it's still more positive than it is negative, but only half as good as it could've been. For every innovative mechanic, there's an equally frustrating one. For how fun the exploration can be, it can also be mindnumbingly tedious. For the cool pieces of subtle storytelling and thematic tidbits in the lore, there's the painfully mediocre story that fails to deliver on both an emotional and deeper structural level. Still, at its peak, it's easily some of the most fun I've had with a game all year. Hoping Dragon's Dogma II can not only rectify the issues with this game, but fully realize the vision that Itsuno had wanted since the beginning.
Bitterblack Isle - 17/02/2024:
Easily the best part of the game. Doesn't quite capture the sense of scale or innovation that much of the base game does, but refines what worked with the base content (such as combat and dungeon design) and improves upon it tenfold. Delivers where the base game couldn't via characters, story, and game balance. Gacha mechanics suck ass, but the game was surprisingly a lot kinder to me than Xenoblade 2 was insofar as gacha mechanics in single-player RPGs are concerned. It's been a decade since and if Dragon's Dogma 2 manages to be even better than this DLC was, then we're in for some peak gaming. Itsuno, do not fail us.
Takes a step back for every step it takes forward, meaning it's still more positive than it is negative, but only half as good as it could've been. For every innovative mechanic, there's an equally frustrating one. For how fun the exploration can be, it can also be mindnumbingly tedious. For the cool pieces of subtle storytelling and thematic tidbits in the lore, there's the painfully mediocre story that fails to deliver on both an emotional and deeper structural level. Still, at its peak, it's easily some of the most fun I've had with a game all year. Hoping Dragon's Dogma II can not only rectify the issues with this game, but fully realize the vision that Itsuno had wanted since the beginning.
Bitterblack Isle - 17/02/2024:
Easily the best part of the game. Doesn't quite capture the sense of scale or innovation that much of the base game does, but refines what worked with the base content (such as combat and dungeon design) and improves upon it tenfold. Delivers where the base game couldn't via characters, story, and game balance. Gacha mechanics suck ass, but the game was surprisingly a lot kinder to me than Xenoblade 2 was insofar as gacha mechanics in single-player RPGs are concerned. It's been a decade since and if Dragon's Dogma 2 manages to be even better than this DLC was, then we're in for some peak gaming. Itsuno, do not fail us.
Final Fantasy VII Remake manages to wholeheartedly embrace the quirks and identity of its source material while managing to stand on its own creatively; I think that's a pretty noteworthy achievement. It's so much more than just a shallow attempt to milk the most influential game of all time, despite what some naysayers may lead you to believe.
As for the gameplay, I think it's quite fun. Some very strong and interesting foundations in terms of blending turn-basedesque ATB and real-time action mechanics. It truly clicked with me when I realized I was supposed to play it akin to FFXII with more liberal use of the ATB as opposed to your traditional action-RPG game. Bosses are pretty hit or miss though. Great... when they aren't HP sponges, which is unfortunately 90% of the time.
If Rebirth can match this quality of storytelling while improving the gameplay (I'm hoping the quality of Intermission's gameplay was an indicator), as well as recreating and reinventing the original's best areas and moments, it'll earn a surefire place among my favorites in the franchise.
As for the gameplay, I think it's quite fun. Some very strong and interesting foundations in terms of blending turn-basedesque ATB and real-time action mechanics. It truly clicked with me when I realized I was supposed to play it akin to FFXII with more liberal use of the ATB as opposed to your traditional action-RPG game. Bosses are pretty hit or miss though. Great... when they aren't HP sponges, which is unfortunately 90% of the time.
If Rebirth can match this quality of storytelling while improving the gameplay (I'm hoping the quality of Intermission's gameplay was an indicator), as well as recreating and reinventing the original's best areas and moments, it'll earn a surefire place among my favorites in the franchise.
Can't give this anything higher than what I gave because of its length, but this is about as perfect as an hour-long demo of a game can get.
Surprised me in so many ways. Consistently very good in many areas from the way it further explores The Boss' and Snake's dynamic, to the integration of MSF and Mother Base to Big Boss' characterization and the thematic core of Outer Heaven, to the gameplay which, -in spite of some rough spots-, may be my favorite in the series thus far. Loved it.
True final boss had no right to go as hard as it did.
True final boss had no right to go as hard as it did.
2006
Great trans representation tbh
Weird. Perhaps my least favorite game in the series so far, but a fitting and very much appreciated conclusion to the story that enhances my overall love for the series, both as individual games and as a collective.
2004
(Review of Xenocomi 1-5 specifically)
Wholesome comedic fluff that really isn't anything special, but it was cleverly structured, tons of fun, and did elevate my love and appreciation for the Xenosaga cast quite a bit, especially in regards to many of the ensemble dynamics between its characters.
Wholesome comedic fluff that really isn't anything special, but it was cleverly structured, tons of fun, and did elevate my love and appreciation for the Xenosaga cast quite a bit, especially in regards to many of the ensemble dynamics between its characters.