DarkStar
144 Reviews liked by DarkStar
Smaller in geographic and topical scope than was 'LoS: True Colors,' but there is a real charm to 'Wavelengths.' Until this side-story, I never clicked with Steph. She always seemed to be trying too hard. And was stand-offy in all the wrong moments. But 'Wavelengths' helped me to understand how Steph was uniquely impacted by the events of 'Before the Storm' and the original 'LoS.' And I cared. And I warmed up to her. I love the seasonal approach to the storytelling here. Though you never leave the record store, you really feel the seasonal changes and the year slipping away. I predicted the final moment of 'Wavelengths,' but it didn't make it any less magical when it happened.
I went into this game knowing absolutely nothing about Fist of The North Star. The only reason I even knew about this game was because people on the Yakuza subreddit kept including Kenshiro in protagonist tierlists, which caught my interest. I'm a decent fan of the Yakuza games, so I figured I'd try this one out. I ended up being pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it, but it's far from perfect.
The gameplay is pretty mixed. On one hand, I can't even begin to explain how satisfying it is to take on a horde of twenty to thirty enemies and wipe them all out and watch them explode into chunks of gore and viscera in under a minute. I had no idea who Kenshiro was or what he did, but after playing as him for a few hours, I grew to adore him. I felt like an overpowered superhero in this game and I absolutely loved it.
Unfortunately, the game feels a bit conflicted with itself. It wants to be a Fist of The North Star game where you're a one hit killing machine, but it also wants to be a Yakuza game, and that ends up hurting it. It felt frustrating and disorienting to go from slaughtering hundreds of dudes in a matter of seconds, to suddenly having trouble dealing with one random dude in the colosseum or some dude with a flamethrower. Why does this one dude in the fifth level of the prison take so much longer to kill compared to the bosses? Why does Kenshiro roll around on the floor in pain and lose half his health when a blast from a flamethrower even touches him? The game is having a constant struggle, trying to decide if the protagonist if Kenshiro or Kiryu, and it really brings down the whole experience as a whole.
Since this is basically a Yakuza game, there had to be an overwhelming plethora of side content, which this game has in spades. I ended up giving up on most of the side content by the end of the game, but I really enjoyed the bounty hunter missions, the stupid music doctor game, and bartending (though I have no idea how they expect you to be able to complete those three star drinks in that minigame and still be a human). I barely bothered with the casino or the cabaret club, if I wanted to experience a better version of those I'd just play Yakuza 0.
Where this game starts to get frustrating is with resource collecting. The game expects you to collect so many items out in the wasteland to upgrade your talismans, upgrade your car, and help Lin with her weird little shop. It gets overwhelming pretty quickly, and you'll probably just stop bothering with it after a few chapters. It's a neat little mechanic, and it could have worked well, if it didn't make the game feel so bloated.
And finally, the story. Overall, it's decently fun, but it is a game made by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios, so of course, the pacing is bad. The first five chapters are actually very strong, they did a great job establishing the characters and the world of both Eden City and the wasteland. For those five chapters, I was super into the story.
Then, during chapter 6, the game came to a crawl as it introduced almost every side activity in a single chapter, one after another. It was nice to finally have more freedom, but it was introduced so awkwardly, even more awkwardly than any of the other Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios games I've played.
Then, chapters seven, eight, and nine really threw me off. Literally, every chapter her can be summarized as: "Some dude shows up at the beginning, then Kenshiro beats them up and they leave/die." I'm positive all three of these characters are in the manga and would have probably had a bigger impression on me if I already knew who they were. But honestly, even then, these would have worked better as really well done side missions instead of the main plot.
The story finally gets back on track by chapter ten, but that's literally the second to last chapter, so it's a little too late to get back into the swing of things now. Though those last two missions were awesome, and I really enjoyed the ending, so I can't be too upset with it. I just wish the narrative was paced a little better and a little more focused.
Overall though, this was a fun little game that sets out to be nothing more than a Yakuza game in the Fist of The NorthStar universe, and it accomplishes that. I enjoyed my time with it and that's all that really matters. The best thing about this game is that it got me interested in Fist of The North Star, and I might look into reading the manga soon. I wanna see Kenshiro tell more people that they're "Already Dead". Thanks Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios!
The gameplay is pretty mixed. On one hand, I can't even begin to explain how satisfying it is to take on a horde of twenty to thirty enemies and wipe them all out and watch them explode into chunks of gore and viscera in under a minute. I had no idea who Kenshiro was or what he did, but after playing as him for a few hours, I grew to adore him. I felt like an overpowered superhero in this game and I absolutely loved it.
Unfortunately, the game feels a bit conflicted with itself. It wants to be a Fist of The North Star game where you're a one hit killing machine, but it also wants to be a Yakuza game, and that ends up hurting it. It felt frustrating and disorienting to go from slaughtering hundreds of dudes in a matter of seconds, to suddenly having trouble dealing with one random dude in the colosseum or some dude with a flamethrower. Why does this one dude in the fifth level of the prison take so much longer to kill compared to the bosses? Why does Kenshiro roll around on the floor in pain and lose half his health when a blast from a flamethrower even touches him? The game is having a constant struggle, trying to decide if the protagonist if Kenshiro or Kiryu, and it really brings down the whole experience as a whole.
Since this is basically a Yakuza game, there had to be an overwhelming plethora of side content, which this game has in spades. I ended up giving up on most of the side content by the end of the game, but I really enjoyed the bounty hunter missions, the stupid music doctor game, and bartending (though I have no idea how they expect you to be able to complete those three star drinks in that minigame and still be a human). I barely bothered with the casino or the cabaret club, if I wanted to experience a better version of those I'd just play Yakuza 0.
Where this game starts to get frustrating is with resource collecting. The game expects you to collect so many items out in the wasteland to upgrade your talismans, upgrade your car, and help Lin with her weird little shop. It gets overwhelming pretty quickly, and you'll probably just stop bothering with it after a few chapters. It's a neat little mechanic, and it could have worked well, if it didn't make the game feel so bloated.
And finally, the story. Overall, it's decently fun, but it is a game made by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios, so of course, the pacing is bad. The first five chapters are actually very strong, they did a great job establishing the characters and the world of both Eden City and the wasteland. For those five chapters, I was super into the story.
Then, during chapter 6, the game came to a crawl as it introduced almost every side activity in a single chapter, one after another. It was nice to finally have more freedom, but it was introduced so awkwardly, even more awkwardly than any of the other Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios games I've played.
Then, chapters seven, eight, and nine really threw me off. Literally, every chapter her can be summarized as: "Some dude shows up at the beginning, then Kenshiro beats them up and they leave/die." I'm positive all three of these characters are in the manga and would have probably had a bigger impression on me if I already knew who they were. But honestly, even then, these would have worked better as really well done side missions instead of the main plot.
The story finally gets back on track by chapter ten, but that's literally the second to last chapter, so it's a little too late to get back into the swing of things now. Though those last two missions were awesome, and I really enjoyed the ending, so I can't be too upset with it. I just wish the narrative was paced a little better and a little more focused.
Overall though, this was a fun little game that sets out to be nothing more than a Yakuza game in the Fist of The NorthStar universe, and it accomplishes that. I enjoyed my time with it and that's all that really matters. The best thing about this game is that it got me interested in Fist of The North Star, and I might look into reading the manga soon. I wanna see Kenshiro tell more people that they're "Already Dead". Thanks Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios!
999 and VLR are both absolute classics, I love Uchikoshi's work. The VLR port is stellar, but 999 really really kind of relied on the DS, and the transition isn't pretty, especially with arbitrary and unnecessary script changes.
The first game was a bit butchered but the sequel is a direct upgrade, up to you whether the trade-off is worth it.
It messes up 999 but directly improves VLR. Kind of hard to recommend this collection unless you just want to play VLR.
VLR’s port is fine.
999’s remake, though… the script was messed up. Like, heavily. Go play the DS game if you can. If you can’t, PLEASE play 999 in Novel Mode. Adventure sucks.
999’s remake, though… the script was messed up. Like, heavily. Go play the DS game if you can. If you can’t, PLEASE play 999 in Novel Mode. Adventure sucks.
Stray
2022
świetna gra, dobra fabuła, rewelacyjnie oddane poruszanie się kotem, elementy walking sima, platformera, przygodówki i skradanki, perfekcyjne wykonanie, obłędna graficznie, screenshoty robiłem co kilka kroków
As someone who adored the original, this is not the game I remember it being. This "remaster" launched with so many bugs that it was barely playable, and it's the reason it took me so long to finish it. How dare they even call this a remaster when they didn't even optimize 60fps support on PS5 while the original runs 60fps on PS4. Eventually, it got updates that added 60fps support and bug fixes, but at a cost of visual fidelity, which blows my mind since the game still looks horrible despite its "remaster" treatment. This experience has unfortunately given me a negative perception of Life is Strange -- a game I used to love. This is more of a "demaster" than a "remaster".
So, imagine Zelda Breath of the Wild + Assassins Creed Odyssey, without all the forced grind from Odyssey, this is Immortals Fenyx Rising.
This is the first time in years that it was fun playing a game from Ubisoft, the last game i played from them was Odyssey in 2018 and it was the worst experience, not just in the aspect of Assassins Creed, but as a game in general
But Immortals take so much from Odyssey and twist that into something unironically good and pleasing, while combining with many puzzles and challenges that you would find in any Zelda games, with a artstyle that many will say that is similar to BOTW, but to me is something you see in Zelda Wind Waker
I can say that this is a very decent and enjoyable game from Ubisoft, it was a nice refresh of all that repetitive scheme they be doing with AC
Just a warning for people who read this, its important
> I dont recommend this game if you are tired of Ubisoft formula about open world, even if this game handles better in that aspect
> Dont play this game if you are expecting some rich story
> Dont play this game if you dislike puzzles
This is the first time in years that it was fun playing a game from Ubisoft, the last game i played from them was Odyssey in 2018 and it was the worst experience, not just in the aspect of Assassins Creed, but as a game in general
But Immortals take so much from Odyssey and twist that into something unironically good and pleasing, while combining with many puzzles and challenges that you would find in any Zelda games, with a artstyle that many will say that is similar to BOTW, but to me is something you see in Zelda Wind Waker
I can say that this is a very decent and enjoyable game from Ubisoft, it was a nice refresh of all that repetitive scheme they be doing with AC
Just a warning for people who read this, its important
> I dont recommend this game if you are tired of Ubisoft formula about open world, even if this game handles better in that aspect
> Dont play this game if you are expecting some rich story
> Dont play this game if you dislike puzzles
Mafia to jedna z najważniejszych gier mojego życia, przeszedłem ją na przestrzeni lat co najmniej 5 razy i sporo bawiłem się jeszcze w innych trybach, więc ten remake na pewno nie miał u mnie łatwo. No i niestety nie sprostał oczekiwaniom. Sterowanie bohaterem i strzelanie jest strasznie drętwe, częściej wywołuje frustracje niż jakąkolwiek przyjemność z grania, celowanie to udręka, a Tommy porusza się jak wóz z węglem, odczucie prawie tak złe jak w RDR2. Jedynie Thompsonem strzela się fajnie, ale jest on częściej dostępny dopiero pod koniec gry. Model zniszczeń samochodów jest znacznie prostszy niż ten w oryginale (nie wygina się już tak fajnie blacha), a niektóre możliwości w poszczególnych misjach zostały okrojone (np. już w jednej z pierwszych, na parkingu knajpy Morello nie możemy zablokować drzwi przed gangsterami). Nie można korzystać z tramwajów czy pociągów, nie można tankować paliwa, ogólnie wszystko jest takie "przyklejone" w miejscu i mniej żywe. Zamiast kilku dodatkowych misji dla Lucasa Bertone mamy nasrane puste znajdźki typu pocztówki, karty z postaciami i jakieś figurki lisów, typowe zapchajdziury. Tryb swobodnej jazdy również jest biedniejszy, ma mniej misji i w większości nie są już one tak zwariowane i zapadające w pamięć. A muzyka to jakiś nieśmieszny żart, co to za Mafia bez kawałków Django Reinhardta czy The Mills Brothers przygrywających podczas przemierzenia miasta!? Albo co to za ucieczka do baru Salieriego bez skocznego La Verdine? Spojrzałbym na to wyrozumialej gdyby stara muzyka została zastąpiona nową, klimatyczną ścieżką dźwiękową, ale zamiast niej mamy najczęściej głuchą ciszę lub jakąś audycję radiową w której gadają o meczu czy polityce - no zwyczajnie nie chce się tego pieprzenia słuchać. Kultowe utwory, których nie wycięli można policzyć na palcach jednej ręki. 2K naprawdę jest tak biedne, że nie mogło sobie pozwolić na odnowienie licencji choćby połowy z nich? Po prostu żałosne. Model jazdy jest ok, w trybie klasycznym to jest coś pomiędzy tą trudnością z oryginału, a usprawnieniem dla wygody, także nie jest źle. Słynny wyścig nawet w tym trybie był sporo łatwiejszy, ale to akurat uznaję za plus, bo to był kiedyś overkill, a tutaj też nie powiem, żeby była jakaś łatwizna, dalej miałem uczucie fajnego osiągnięcia gdy udało mi się go wygrać. Tylko nie wiem po jaką cholerę dodali tu jeszcze jakieś taranowanie pod iksem... Zupełnie niepotrzebne i kłóci się z realizmem reszty. Nowy dubbing to dla mnie hit or miss, część postaci brzmi lepiej, część gorzej. Don Salieri, Sam, czy Frank są w porządku, a Paulie czy Ralphie zupełnie mi nie podeszli, bardzo sztucznie wypadli. No i choć na aktorstwo w tym przypadku nie mogę narzekać, to na pewno powiem, że to nie jest MÓJ Tommy Angelo. W oryginale było czuć, że to zwykły, dobry człowiek, wciągnięty w gangsterski świat i ogólnie była w nim taka "dostojność" i elegancja, a ten nowy to zwykły uliczny cwaniaczek, gangster chcący się dorobić. Co samo w sobie nie jest wadą, po prostu nie jest to ta wersja postaci którą kocham. Za to bezdyskusyjną przemianę na plus przeszła Sarah, zarówno pod względem aktorskim jak i roli w fabule. Częściej się pojawia i ma swój charakter i coś do powiedzenia, nie jest już tylko losową laską z którą Tommy się przespał, zakochał i jakiś czas później ożenił. Graficznie jest całkiem ładnie, może technicznie nie ma się czym zachwycać, ale miasto jest fajnie zrobione, ma dobry klimat i więcej detali. O co oczywiście nietrudno po tylu latach rozwoju gier pod tym względem, no ale niech mają. ;) Tylko słabiej w nim czuć upływ lat w fabule, z oryginału pamiętam, że różnicę 5 lat naprawdę można było zobaczyć po tym jak lepszymi autami ludzie jeżdżą, a tutaj mam wrażenie że ciągle jest tak samo. I ogólnie jest dużo mniejsze skupienie się tutaj na zdobywaniu pojazdów i frajdy z tego. Z usprawnień muszę jeszcze wspomnieć ukrywanie się za osłonami, nieco ulepszone skradanie i dodaną możliwość przenoszenia ciał. Choć to wszystko cały czas utrudnia wspomniane już drętwe sterowanie.
Bardzo dużo narzekam, ale większość problemów jakie mam z tą grą wynika z porównywania jej z genialnym pierwowzorem, a nie z tego, że jest naprawdę zła, dlatego by być sprawiedliwym nie powiem, że to zaraz jakiś crap, choć może ze złości bym chciał. To po prostu zwykły średniak, niesiony przez nadal dobry scenariusz oryginału.
Bardzo dużo narzekam, ale większość problemów jakie mam z tą grą wynika z porównywania jej z genialnym pierwowzorem, a nie z tego, że jest naprawdę zła, dlatego by być sprawiedliwym nie powiem, że to zaraz jakiś crap, choć może ze złości bym chciał. To po prostu zwykły średniak, niesiony przez nadal dobry scenariusz oryginału.
Tokyo Xanadu eX+
2016
For a very much B-tier RPG I gotta say this game really captured my attention. I'm usually pretty hostile to the kind of tropey anime nonsense this game is trading in, but despite some bad writing (and localization) I still found the characters and story pretty compelling right up to the end. It takes a lot to earn an ending like the game does and honestly it does a pretty good job.
Since I'd always heard the game was a bit average I wasn't expecting much, especially being the kind of person who will start skipping cutscenes in a game if it doesn't hold my interest. I found the game to be quite genre savvy in a lot of ways and I think that helped it get away with some of its more indulgent moments, it literally does a hot springs episode unironically. The main character also did a lot for me, his reactions to things that were happening were often aligned with my own annoyances with assorted plot contrivances or characters being obtuse, so that really put me on the game's side.
It's often said of Ys VIII that it feels like an amped up PS2 game, and the same could be said of this game, it's got fairly simple but satisfying combat, nothing groundbreaking but it very much does the job and the elements system keeps things interesting to encourage using different party members. Dungeons are mostly straightforward corridors and just finding the next key to open whatever locks might be in your way but no real puzzle elements or anything to really make things more interesting, one of the game's weaker aspects for sure, though the final dungeon is excellent and varied, I just wish there were more dungeons like it!
Presentationally I've been told it's similar to the Trails games, but as I haven't played any of them I can't really comment on it. The main thing that jumped out at me initially was Persona 3 given its school setting and slightly more simplified social elements along with the main story following you through a school year, it doesn't feel as integral to the game here though, more of an aesthetic than offering any real mechanical depth or sense that your time and choices are limited. The music also in places is very reminiscent of certain tracks in Persona 3. There's a choice to present each of the games' chapters as though they were episodes of a show, with the anime style opening playing at the start of each and I will always find that appealing for some reason, there's a lot to be said for wearing your influences on your sleeve.
Speaking of the music, it's pretty great, lots of your standard Falcom style chugging buttrock tunes along with some chill pieces and dungeon music that is nicely atmospheric.
Since I'd always heard the game was a bit average I wasn't expecting much, especially being the kind of person who will start skipping cutscenes in a game if it doesn't hold my interest. I found the game to be quite genre savvy in a lot of ways and I think that helped it get away with some of its more indulgent moments, it literally does a hot springs episode unironically. The main character also did a lot for me, his reactions to things that were happening were often aligned with my own annoyances with assorted plot contrivances or characters being obtuse, so that really put me on the game's side.
It's often said of Ys VIII that it feels like an amped up PS2 game, and the same could be said of this game, it's got fairly simple but satisfying combat, nothing groundbreaking but it very much does the job and the elements system keeps things interesting to encourage using different party members. Dungeons are mostly straightforward corridors and just finding the next key to open whatever locks might be in your way but no real puzzle elements or anything to really make things more interesting, one of the game's weaker aspects for sure, though the final dungeon is excellent and varied, I just wish there were more dungeons like it!
Presentationally I've been told it's similar to the Trails games, but as I haven't played any of them I can't really comment on it. The main thing that jumped out at me initially was Persona 3 given its school setting and slightly more simplified social elements along with the main story following you through a school year, it doesn't feel as integral to the game here though, more of an aesthetic than offering any real mechanical depth or sense that your time and choices are limited. The music also in places is very reminiscent of certain tracks in Persona 3. There's a choice to present each of the games' chapters as though they were episodes of a show, with the anime style opening playing at the start of each and I will always find that appealing for some reason, there's a lot to be said for wearing your influences on your sleeve.
Speaking of the music, it's pretty great, lots of your standard Falcom style chugging buttrock tunes along with some chill pieces and dungeon music that is nicely atmospheric.
Tokyo Xanadu eX+
2016
I'm finally adding the completed status to this game! It took a little too long but here I am!
So Tokyo Xanadu was on my list for the longest. I know it's made by the almighty Falcom! You know? The guys that brought up Xanadu, Trails in the Sky, Ys, and so on! Known for games that fly under the radar, tell great stories and have awesome gameplay. Well Tokyo Xanadu eX+ is no different but it takes place in a more modern time. You're a high schooler!
Yes. Yes. I know! I gave you something that immediately gave you anime storyline feeling but hold on don't leave just yet. I can give you the beginning. SO!
The story begins with our lead character, Kou Tokisaka, getting ready to head home from his part time job. Everything is all fine and dandy until he sees a classmate of his seemingly in trouble. Little did he know that his classmate wasn't in too much trouble and some very supernatural things started to happen before his eyes. Then unfolds the story of how he can do the same things she can!
I like to keep it short around here so here we really go. The setting is pretty basic for some anime to be made but the story itself is pretty dang long and can be winding. I remember playing it and getting sorta frustrated with how long it was taking because this isn't your standard little Action JRPG. It's a Falcom game. And if you get what I mean they are building this world up for you! It's pretty damned detailed. The gameplay is fun no doubt in the dungeons. The elemental weaknesses, how everyone plays differently from each other and that's what kept me going through it all. This is a beefy game and has quite a bit for you do in the "every day life" section of the game. Sidequests and friendship events that allow you to get to know your teammates a bit better over time which adds more abilities to them and helps you out as well. There is even something like a materia system in the game as well where you can add these stones to your weapons to obtain additional effects to your team. It makes it so worth it.
I was supposed to keep it short... Oh well. Anyway. Tokyo Xanadu is a really good game. Has some length and def does its best to tell you a great story amidst the problems that I myself may have dealt with. But do I recommend it? Yeah I do. It's something I think if you wanna get a feel for how Falcom does RPGs. This isn't a bad place to start at all. There is also the Ys series which is also an amazing place to start as well.
So Tokyo Xanadu was on my list for the longest. I know it's made by the almighty Falcom! You know? The guys that brought up Xanadu, Trails in the Sky, Ys, and so on! Known for games that fly under the radar, tell great stories and have awesome gameplay. Well Tokyo Xanadu eX+ is no different but it takes place in a more modern time. You're a high schooler!
Yes. Yes. I know! I gave you something that immediately gave you anime storyline feeling but hold on don't leave just yet. I can give you the beginning. SO!
The story begins with our lead character, Kou Tokisaka, getting ready to head home from his part time job. Everything is all fine and dandy until he sees a classmate of his seemingly in trouble. Little did he know that his classmate wasn't in too much trouble and some very supernatural things started to happen before his eyes. Then unfolds the story of how he can do the same things she can!
I like to keep it short around here so here we really go. The setting is pretty basic for some anime to be made but the story itself is pretty dang long and can be winding. I remember playing it and getting sorta frustrated with how long it was taking because this isn't your standard little Action JRPG. It's a Falcom game. And if you get what I mean they are building this world up for you! It's pretty damned detailed. The gameplay is fun no doubt in the dungeons. The elemental weaknesses, how everyone plays differently from each other and that's what kept me going through it all. This is a beefy game and has quite a bit for you do in the "every day life" section of the game. Sidequests and friendship events that allow you to get to know your teammates a bit better over time which adds more abilities to them and helps you out as well. There is even something like a materia system in the game as well where you can add these stones to your weapons to obtain additional effects to your team. It makes it so worth it.
I was supposed to keep it short... Oh well. Anyway. Tokyo Xanadu is a really good game. Has some length and def does its best to tell you a great story amidst the problems that I myself may have dealt with. But do I recommend it? Yeah I do. It's something I think if you wanna get a feel for how Falcom does RPGs. This isn't a bad place to start at all. There is also the Ys series which is also an amazing place to start as well.
This was a disappointing one for me. I enjoyed this studio's previous game, The Council, for bringing role-playing style stats into a TellTale style game. I wasn't blown away by the story, and the graphics and voice acting could've definitely been better, but I enjoyed it well enough paired with the gameplay mechanics that I had an overall positive experience with it. One of the things Swansong revealed to me about how I play games now, is that I'm just not willing to read through a bunch of superfluous text unless it's exceptionally well written. I used to be the type of player who would read every single codex entry in a BioWare game, and when I played The Council which also has tons of reading, I read through everything I found even if I found it boring sometimes. My playstyle has since changed however, and I'm no longer willing to give my time to something like that unless I view it as being worth my time, and in the case of this game I don't think that it was. My only prior experience with the Vampire: The Masquerade universe being Bloodlines, I've already had an experience with a very well done role-playing style story in this universe in video game form. The central conflict between the Camarilla and the Anarchs in that game is thematically rich and compelling. The conflict in this game just didn't grip me in the same way, and didn't compel me to scrounge through in-game books to try to learn more about it, especially when not everything you can read is crucial or even interesting. When a large amount of the game is about investigating, and I'm too bored to care to read up on the things I'm investigating, that's a bad sign.
I also think that Disco Elysium has just ruined this kind of game for me because it did stat-based storytelling too well. In Disco Elysium every possible way you could think to build your character is valid, and the game itself is more about playing it the way that you want, because there are options for every build imaginable. Swansong on the other hand, having only played through once, really feels like there are certain stats that you could min/max to simply get the "best" outcome. Investing points into your four core dialogue stats seems way too strong, and I never felt like I was choosing between these in an interesting way. It was more "sometimes this will come up and if you have points you'll win easier" and less "multiple of these will come up and you'll make an interesting character choice." I do hope that this studio can get a couple more shots at refining their formula because I do love the concept of RPG meets TellTale. Hopefully they look at how a game like Disco Elysium does this in a CRPG format and can apply it to the kind of game they make. But for this game, it just didn't really grab me.
I also think that Disco Elysium has just ruined this kind of game for me because it did stat-based storytelling too well. In Disco Elysium every possible way you could think to build your character is valid, and the game itself is more about playing it the way that you want, because there are options for every build imaginable. Swansong on the other hand, having only played through once, really feels like there are certain stats that you could min/max to simply get the "best" outcome. Investing points into your four core dialogue stats seems way too strong, and I never felt like I was choosing between these in an interesting way. It was more "sometimes this will come up and if you have points you'll win easier" and less "multiple of these will come up and you'll make an interesting character choice." I do hope that this studio can get a couple more shots at refining their formula because I do love the concept of RPG meets TellTale. Hopefully they look at how a game like Disco Elysium does this in a CRPG format and can apply it to the kind of game they make. But for this game, it just didn't really grab me.
This remaster is a really good version of this game. There are quite a few quality of life changes that make the experience more streamlined and some restored and expanded content that add quite a bit to the experience.
I played the original release of SaGa Frontier when it came out on the Playstation 1, and I liked it a lot. It is a very unique RPG that does a ton of interesting things that aren't like many other (non SaGa) RPGs. SaGa Frontier doesn't come through with complete success, but it still has a lot of great stuff in it.
SF has of 8 characters to choose from, each of which has a fairly short, personal story to play through. The stories can be a bit ridiculous or lighthearted, but some have some poignant moments and fun (if campy) events. The new character added in the remaster (Fuse) adds a lot to this, since his story is actually a series of very short narratives in which he investigates each of the other characters, giving more context and depth to them.
Most of the characters also highlight a specific system (Blue is collecting all the magic in the world, T260G's quest focuses on robots and how their advancement works, Asellus does the same for Mystics), so playing through all of the chapters ends up being a tour of the world as well as a tour of the mechanics throughout the game. The human chapters seem to want to focus on each of the weapon types, but don't do a super good job of making this an actual part of the story or as mechanically necessary as the non-humans do, which is kind of a bummer.
Mechanically the game is straightforward, with most of the interest coming from how you build and set up your characters, rather than the individual battles. Learning the nuance of each of the different character types and what works best in certain situations is very rewarding. However, once you have this figured out the combat drags a bit, since you can just smash through everything with overpowered techniques.
You do have to recruit and outfit each character you want to use in every chapter and reacquire any magic you want to use, which is very tedious (especially in Fuse's case files, where he rifles through them so quickly).
The world and style of SaGa Frontier is very unique. It has a low-tech, sci-fi, magic heavy aesthetic and takes place in an open world that consists of multiple planets, each of which are different and somewhat interesting.
It is colorful and wild, with enemy designs that are often very surreal or just strange. They have a very mashed-up feel that can be somewhat off-putting, but worked well for me in this eclectic group of sci-fi worlds.
I had a lot of fun playing through SaGa Frontier again in this remaster. It delivers very well on the open world RPG experience, which is rare, even if the gameplay itself is fairly simple and straightforward. If you want a quirky, unique experience that isn't much like any other RPG you have played, SaGa frontier is worth checking out.
I played the original release of SaGa Frontier when it came out on the Playstation 1, and I liked it a lot. It is a very unique RPG that does a ton of interesting things that aren't like many other (non SaGa) RPGs. SaGa Frontier doesn't come through with complete success, but it still has a lot of great stuff in it.
SF has of 8 characters to choose from, each of which has a fairly short, personal story to play through. The stories can be a bit ridiculous or lighthearted, but some have some poignant moments and fun (if campy) events. The new character added in the remaster (Fuse) adds a lot to this, since his story is actually a series of very short narratives in which he investigates each of the other characters, giving more context and depth to them.
Most of the characters also highlight a specific system (Blue is collecting all the magic in the world, T260G's quest focuses on robots and how their advancement works, Asellus does the same for Mystics), so playing through all of the chapters ends up being a tour of the world as well as a tour of the mechanics throughout the game. The human chapters seem to want to focus on each of the weapon types, but don't do a super good job of making this an actual part of the story or as mechanically necessary as the non-humans do, which is kind of a bummer.
Mechanically the game is straightforward, with most of the interest coming from how you build and set up your characters, rather than the individual battles. Learning the nuance of each of the different character types and what works best in certain situations is very rewarding. However, once you have this figured out the combat drags a bit, since you can just smash through everything with overpowered techniques.
You do have to recruit and outfit each character you want to use in every chapter and reacquire any magic you want to use, which is very tedious (especially in Fuse's case files, where he rifles through them so quickly).
The world and style of SaGa Frontier is very unique. It has a low-tech, sci-fi, magic heavy aesthetic and takes place in an open world that consists of multiple planets, each of which are different and somewhat interesting.
It is colorful and wild, with enemy designs that are often very surreal or just strange. They have a very mashed-up feel that can be somewhat off-putting, but worked well for me in this eclectic group of sci-fi worlds.
I had a lot of fun playing through SaGa Frontier again in this remaster. It delivers very well on the open world RPG experience, which is rare, even if the gameplay itself is fairly simple and straightforward. If you want a quirky, unique experience that isn't much like any other RPG you have played, SaGa frontier is worth checking out.
Fool Reviews (and Logs) Kingdom Hearts 1.5 Final Mix
"Simple & Clean, more like Stupid & Full of Shit":
This review consists of a series of gameplay logs describing my miserable experience through Kingdom Hearts, a terrible game that has no value to this world. The story is written worse than some comics I made at the age of 12, the gameplay is sterile and repetitive, the acting ranges from incredible iconic performances by Disney actors to completely awful and ridiculous performances by Final Fantasy actors. This game is a loaded diaper of disappointment and bullshit. Play it at your own risk.
Bonus: Take a shot every time the word "Darkness" is mentioned, you will fucking die.
Everything below contains the logs, from 0 to 10. Enjoy, because I sure didn't.
Update 0:
I played maybe an hour of this game and it felt so pretentious that I dropped it. I'm planning on picking it up on April Fools because I hate myself. I also hate Tetsuya Nomura, because he is a terrible director.
Pre-Drink Update 1: So I have decided to pick this game up as I have turned 21 and can now legally consume the alcohol, which I am convinced is the only way I will ever be able to tolerate this franchise. The rating remains the same and I will provide a Post Drink Update when I'm done with today's session on 5/18/2021
Post-Drink Update 1: I have gotten to Traverse Town, and I still think this game fucking blows. First off, the platforming challenge with Riku sucks, regardless of how you go through it. A friend of mine told me to not go through the platforms and just run through the beach instead. It took three times for me to actually succeed using that method because you still have to platform to the star tree anyway. I named the ship "Garbage" by the way, I don't think I need to be subtle about why I gave it that name. The first boss fight was a cake walk considering I only grinded up to Level 7, which I thought was all I really needed (for context I saw a playthrough that had the player grind to Level 13 before the boss fight). I guess I won't complain since it was the first boss, but it was almost too easy. Just flacking the left hand for like a solid minute and not taking any damage and then suddenly it ended. Honestly the worst aspect of today's session was just, finding the fucking items that Kairi needed. The process was so dull, but hopefully the rest of the game isn't like that. Here's hoping things improve starting with Traverse Town, but I sincerely doubt it.
Pre-Play Update 2 (5/21/21): So, I realized that playing Kingdom Hearts while drunk actively made the game even worse to play than before, so I've decided to scrap the drunk playthrough idea. Today I will be continuing from Traverse Town. I guess the story will truly begin soon.
Post Play Update 2: I have now passed both Traverse Town and my first visit to Wonderland. Several things to note. This may just be a me thing, but I don't really care for the combat in this game so far. This stretches to both regular encounters as well as bosses. It's borderline mindless "Spam A to Win" battles where I feel like my input changes nothing. Now, for clarification I am playing on this game's Normal mode, since that's how I wanted to experience the game for the first time. It's just so... nothing so far. Maybe that's just an early game issue, but god so far all the boss fights amount to is hit the thing continuously until it dies, which can be done well, but I don't think Kingdom Hearts is hitting that vibe for me.
On another note, the Gummi Ship... I initially thought it was horrid due to the first level but upon building Garbage up to my personal preference of just, shoving as much shit on there to see what works, I found that the Gummi Levels aren't so much horrid but rather bland. Of course, the real issue is that I can't skip them, and that in itself is just a blight.
The Wonderland level was alright, I liked the music a fair bit. Wasn't very interesting but that's what happens when you're mostly just retelling a near hundred year old Disney film. Overall today's session was ok, nothing too terrible but also nothing good either.
Oh wait, I forgot, the cutscenes. Yeah, the cutscenes in Traverse Town when they're trying to explain to Sora, Donald & Goofy the overall narrative was fucking suffering. Terrible Dialogue, Terrible Acting, nearly fucking unbearable. It is sad that the worst part of this Action RPG is the Story aspect. That isn't even bringing up the villain talk. "Will he defeat the darkness, or will the darkness swallow him whole," please, please stop making characters talk like this, it's fucking unnatural and reads and sounds like dogshit. Anyways that's it for Session 2, might do more later today, likely won't.
Update 3 & 4: So I continued to play through the Tarzan World, and at the point of time I am updating this which is on 5/22/21, I have made it to Agrabah. I don't really have much to genuinely add. Combat hasn't really improved much despite gaining new spells and Heartless getting more variety, it's still very much "Spam A to Win". Finally got the Warp Upgrade for the Gummi Ship, thank god. I was kind of getting tired of having to take multiple paths just to get to a world I had been to previously. Storywise, meh. We had the encounter with Riku, which was followed by the stupid Maleficent BS speech that has literally no merit and makes me think that if Riku genuinely believes that the kid must be an idiot. I sealed the Keyholes of Tarzan's World and Traverse Town, so yeah. The Clayton Boss Fight was... nothing special honestly. Another Spam A Fest, seems to be this game's bread and butter honestly. At least I finally got Scan, now I can see enemy health, which is very useful. But yeah, not much to genuinely say. This game is pretty dull so far honestly, outside of the gratingly bad original story bits. Anyways I've got work in like, 3 hours so I'm done with this for today.
Update 5: I actually got so fucking bored in Agrabah that I jumped to a platform in the middle of a giant pit and just stood there in the middle of combat doing nothing and then I went and watched Smosh in 2021. This combat is so boring and repetitive.
Update 6: I beat Agrabah, Monstro, and the Pegasus Cup. Not much to really bring up of note, other than that 100 Acre Wood's plot is an existential nightmare. The main story shit is rife with stupidity, and Riku and Sora's voice acting in Monstro specifically is some of the worst I've come across in the game so far. The fight with Leon and Yuffie in the tournament was... something. I had difficulties at first, but then "Spam A to Win" came to my rescue and that's basically how I beat Leon.
Ah, I did forget to mention the High Jump. This jump, maybe not height wise, but like just in terms of regular jumping should have been the default. It takes away the floaty bullshit jump that I have been forced to use for platforming up to this point and gives me a better, smoother jump for platforming. I have no idea why they held this until near halfway through this fucking game.
Overall, a very uneventful session.
Update 7: I beat Atlantica. It was a pretty shitty experience, I will not argue with those who believe it is the worst level in the game. I actively felt sick while playing it because of how the camera uncomfortably functions with the swimming.
I beat both Ursala bosses on my first go, which I find funny because my friend Simon told me to fear them. The ironic part is that both fights amount to the same problem I have had with a majority of things in this game, that being "Spam A to Win". The first fight genuinely had an interesting concept of using magic on the cauldron to weaken Ursala to attack her... but after you do so it's just a bunch of non-stop flacking her with the keyblade. The second fight was even worse because outside of her having a way larger health bar, the entire fight just consists of running away from her attacks and then attacking the back of her head with "Spam A to Win".
I decided to look up how many worlds I had left after this, and I'm baffled to say there are only 4 worlds left. This game hasn't improved much, if at all, since Destiny Islands, and now I'm nearing Endgame. Combat is as boring as stale bread, better platforming wasn't unlocked until Monstro, which is about 12-14 hours in, and the story when not just flat out retelling something that was better as a film is excruciatingly moronic with writing that could make a 13 year old emo poet blush, this game fucking reeks.
Next update will be on Halloween Town and possibly Neverland. God rest my fucking soul.
Update 8: Like I said last time, I got through Halloween Town and Neverland, as well as finishing the Hercules Cup of the Coliseum and the storyline of 100 Acre Wood.
First off, a big issue I had with Halloween Town specifically was the darkness. I will admit that I love the aesthetic of the level, probably one of the more visually pleasing levels in the game. I love Nightmare Before Christmas so seeing the velvety textures of it on everything was great. The problem is I could barely see shit. I spent like 10 minutes just trying to locate where the graveyard was because I couldn't see where there was an entrance or an exit. Fighting wise, I will say things semi-improved but not by much and it was mostly by choice. You see, I had not used some of the "Action Moves" that are unlocked during the course of the game, such as Sonic Rush and Strike Raid. One of the reasons I hadn't used them is because they require both a lot of AP to have and a lot of MP to use, so I didn't bother equipping them for a majority of the game. They are more visually interesting than the standard 3 hit combo, but at the same time they are active button spammers themselves, just replace "A" with "Y". I don't use them that frequently even now because the game rarely requires you to, which I would say is a benefit but at the same time that just speaks to how plain a majority of the gameplay is here.
Onto my actual biggest problem with Halloween Town, all three of the boss fights suck. The fight with Shock, Lock and Barrel was genuinely boring with nothing but me spamming A the entire time and brute forcing the fuck out of it. Ironically, this wound up being the least upsetting fight because the two following it are probably what I'd consider the worst in the entire game. The first Oogie Boogie fight is an absolute drag. The fight takes too long and the Roulette Wheel setup, while interesting in theory, serves to just keep the fight going longer and longer. The actual process is very similar to the first fight with Ursala, funny because they're both respective opposing worlds on the map. You do a simple thing, pressing the button of the area Oogie is in to lock him in, and then you Spam A to knock his ass into next week. A very simple, very dull setup that is only worse than Ursala's first fight due to monotony. Then there's Oogie Boogie Round 2, and it fucking sucks. It's barely even a boss fight, I'd equate it to the Ancient Wyvern in Dark Souls 3. You're mostly dealing with mooks while trying to attack the little orbs on Giant Oogie's Tree Bod. It is a very annoying process and makes me wonder why this game's second half has an obsession with Giant Bosses. Climbing up Oogie is made worse by the general sucky platforming, so yeah it's just an all around unpleasant experience.
Neverland was alright. It wasn't a very long voyage despite the location being a ship. Flying around was somewhat entertaining though it makes the Hook fight an absolute fucking joke. The story beats with Riku were dogshit though, and every line coming out of that boy's mouth sounded awkward and forced, as if the VA himself was actively looking at the script and going "Does this idiot hear himself?" At least I unlocked the Glide Ability which, is legitimately a great ability and I love utilizing it. It makes me wish it came earlier, but at the same time I can actually understand why this is late game when compared to the High Jump.
The Hercules Cup was rather underwhelming in comparison to the Pegasus Cup. The fight with Cloud was honestly not as bad as the one with Leon and Yuffie, and the fight with Hercules is... pathetic. You fight him one on one and he just doesn't take the fight seriously, which is the point I should stress, doesn't make the fight any less dull though.
That leaves 100 Acre Wood, which is easily the one part of the game I genuinely enjoyed. The mini-games aren't especially groundbreaking but I just love being around Pooh and his friends, whom I grew up watching as a young kid. Despite the fact that I've seen all of the movies in the world listing for this game, Winnie the Pooh is the only part which had me feeling nostalgic. No battles, no stupid plot, just Sora hanging out with Pooh and it was "wholesome chungus" as the kids say.
Other than that, there are only 2 worlds left, and it's time for me to go to work. I imagine we only have 2 updates left and then a final conclusion review after this.
Update 9 & 10:
As I sit here, listening to the main theme of the Kingdom Hearts franchise, I realize something. As I have spent the past 11 hours or so finishing the game, my heart fucking sunk. As the credits rolled and "Simple & Clean" played over the CGI cutscenes, followed up by the cutscene trailer for KH2, I felt completely and utterly numb.
Let's start at the beginning of these two sessions, Hollow Bastion. A long, dramatic slog of a level which you have to go through twice. The level design wasn't particularly awful but it was just such a drag to get through. Having no Keyblade for a bit was interesting for all of about 5 seconds before I just grew tired of enemy encounters entirely. The neat thing was getting to have Beast from Beauty and the Beast with me, but that ultimately didn't mean that much overall. Eventually after a bunch of poor writing and acting I got the Keyblade back, and I noticed the biggest thing with the endgame for this game. I thought things were improving last time, but no, I was wrong. Things are still Spam A to win, to the very last minute, it's just that everything takes longer, making combat even more boring. I honestly was bored through most of the fights for the final two worlds of this game. Maleficent, regular and Dragon, the multiple fights with Riku, everything involving Ansem, all of it was long and boring. I even went through the Hades Cup just for the sake of upgrading my magic since a majority of the final tier spell unlocks are tied to it. It was all so very boring and time consuming.
The plot came back in full force which meant writing was absurdly painful to witness, I fucking winced whenever I heard the words "Darkness" or "Light", sometimes multiple times in a single fucking sentence. Everything about the final few hours of this game is just fucking annoying diatribes about the Heart and Light and Darkness and I fucking wanted the game to shut the absolute fuck up. It was almost as repetitive as the fucking gameplay, maybe that was the point.
I just... I do not understand the appeal of this game, at all. This shit is barely passable gameplay wise, and completely ridiculous story wise. How this started a franchise that is still ongoing actually confuses me. Simple & Clean? More like Stupid & Shitty. Besides the OST and Winnie the Pooh, there is nothing about this game that makes it worth playing. It is worthless. It is one of the worst video games I have ever had the misfortune to play. I still have the superbosses to do, but that won't be covered in the main review until after I beat them.
To cover everything I did:
I got all of the Dalmatians
Did all of the Trinity Marks
Beat all of the main tournaments
Beat the game
Fuck this game, and fuck Tetsuya Nomura for making it.
Edit: I brought the game's rating up to 1 Star because I'm currently playing Re:Chain of Memories and by god it is so much worse on an objective level.
"Simple & Clean, more like Stupid & Full of Shit":
This review consists of a series of gameplay logs describing my miserable experience through Kingdom Hearts, a terrible game that has no value to this world. The story is written worse than some comics I made at the age of 12, the gameplay is sterile and repetitive, the acting ranges from incredible iconic performances by Disney actors to completely awful and ridiculous performances by Final Fantasy actors. This game is a loaded diaper of disappointment and bullshit. Play it at your own risk.
Bonus: Take a shot every time the word "Darkness" is mentioned, you will fucking die.
Everything below contains the logs, from 0 to 10. Enjoy, because I sure didn't.
Update 0:
I played maybe an hour of this game and it felt so pretentious that I dropped it. I'm planning on picking it up on April Fools because I hate myself. I also hate Tetsuya Nomura, because he is a terrible director.
Pre-Drink Update 1: So I have decided to pick this game up as I have turned 21 and can now legally consume the alcohol, which I am convinced is the only way I will ever be able to tolerate this franchise. The rating remains the same and I will provide a Post Drink Update when I'm done with today's session on 5/18/2021
Post-Drink Update 1: I have gotten to Traverse Town, and I still think this game fucking blows. First off, the platforming challenge with Riku sucks, regardless of how you go through it. A friend of mine told me to not go through the platforms and just run through the beach instead. It took three times for me to actually succeed using that method because you still have to platform to the star tree anyway. I named the ship "Garbage" by the way, I don't think I need to be subtle about why I gave it that name. The first boss fight was a cake walk considering I only grinded up to Level 7, which I thought was all I really needed (for context I saw a playthrough that had the player grind to Level 13 before the boss fight). I guess I won't complain since it was the first boss, but it was almost too easy. Just flacking the left hand for like a solid minute and not taking any damage and then suddenly it ended. Honestly the worst aspect of today's session was just, finding the fucking items that Kairi needed. The process was so dull, but hopefully the rest of the game isn't like that. Here's hoping things improve starting with Traverse Town, but I sincerely doubt it.
Pre-Play Update 2 (5/21/21): So, I realized that playing Kingdom Hearts while drunk actively made the game even worse to play than before, so I've decided to scrap the drunk playthrough idea. Today I will be continuing from Traverse Town. I guess the story will truly begin soon.
Post Play Update 2: I have now passed both Traverse Town and my first visit to Wonderland. Several things to note. This may just be a me thing, but I don't really care for the combat in this game so far. This stretches to both regular encounters as well as bosses. It's borderline mindless "Spam A to Win" battles where I feel like my input changes nothing. Now, for clarification I am playing on this game's Normal mode, since that's how I wanted to experience the game for the first time. It's just so... nothing so far. Maybe that's just an early game issue, but god so far all the boss fights amount to is hit the thing continuously until it dies, which can be done well, but I don't think Kingdom Hearts is hitting that vibe for me.
On another note, the Gummi Ship... I initially thought it was horrid due to the first level but upon building Garbage up to my personal preference of just, shoving as much shit on there to see what works, I found that the Gummi Levels aren't so much horrid but rather bland. Of course, the real issue is that I can't skip them, and that in itself is just a blight.
The Wonderland level was alright, I liked the music a fair bit. Wasn't very interesting but that's what happens when you're mostly just retelling a near hundred year old Disney film. Overall today's session was ok, nothing too terrible but also nothing good either.
Oh wait, I forgot, the cutscenes. Yeah, the cutscenes in Traverse Town when they're trying to explain to Sora, Donald & Goofy the overall narrative was fucking suffering. Terrible Dialogue, Terrible Acting, nearly fucking unbearable. It is sad that the worst part of this Action RPG is the Story aspect. That isn't even bringing up the villain talk. "Will he defeat the darkness, or will the darkness swallow him whole," please, please stop making characters talk like this, it's fucking unnatural and reads and sounds like dogshit. Anyways that's it for Session 2, might do more later today, likely won't.
Update 3 & 4: So I continued to play through the Tarzan World, and at the point of time I am updating this which is on 5/22/21, I have made it to Agrabah. I don't really have much to genuinely add. Combat hasn't really improved much despite gaining new spells and Heartless getting more variety, it's still very much "Spam A to Win". Finally got the Warp Upgrade for the Gummi Ship, thank god. I was kind of getting tired of having to take multiple paths just to get to a world I had been to previously. Storywise, meh. We had the encounter with Riku, which was followed by the stupid Maleficent BS speech that has literally no merit and makes me think that if Riku genuinely believes that the kid must be an idiot. I sealed the Keyholes of Tarzan's World and Traverse Town, so yeah. The Clayton Boss Fight was... nothing special honestly. Another Spam A Fest, seems to be this game's bread and butter honestly. At least I finally got Scan, now I can see enemy health, which is very useful. But yeah, not much to genuinely say. This game is pretty dull so far honestly, outside of the gratingly bad original story bits. Anyways I've got work in like, 3 hours so I'm done with this for today.
Update 5: I actually got so fucking bored in Agrabah that I jumped to a platform in the middle of a giant pit and just stood there in the middle of combat doing nothing and then I went and watched Smosh in 2021. This combat is so boring and repetitive.
Update 6: I beat Agrabah, Monstro, and the Pegasus Cup. Not much to really bring up of note, other than that 100 Acre Wood's plot is an existential nightmare. The main story shit is rife with stupidity, and Riku and Sora's voice acting in Monstro specifically is some of the worst I've come across in the game so far. The fight with Leon and Yuffie in the tournament was... something. I had difficulties at first, but then "Spam A to Win" came to my rescue and that's basically how I beat Leon.
Ah, I did forget to mention the High Jump. This jump, maybe not height wise, but like just in terms of regular jumping should have been the default. It takes away the floaty bullshit jump that I have been forced to use for platforming up to this point and gives me a better, smoother jump for platforming. I have no idea why they held this until near halfway through this fucking game.
Overall, a very uneventful session.
Update 7: I beat Atlantica. It was a pretty shitty experience, I will not argue with those who believe it is the worst level in the game. I actively felt sick while playing it because of how the camera uncomfortably functions with the swimming.
I beat both Ursala bosses on my first go, which I find funny because my friend Simon told me to fear them. The ironic part is that both fights amount to the same problem I have had with a majority of things in this game, that being "Spam A to Win". The first fight genuinely had an interesting concept of using magic on the cauldron to weaken Ursala to attack her... but after you do so it's just a bunch of non-stop flacking her with the keyblade. The second fight was even worse because outside of her having a way larger health bar, the entire fight just consists of running away from her attacks and then attacking the back of her head with "Spam A to Win".
I decided to look up how many worlds I had left after this, and I'm baffled to say there are only 4 worlds left. This game hasn't improved much, if at all, since Destiny Islands, and now I'm nearing Endgame. Combat is as boring as stale bread, better platforming wasn't unlocked until Monstro, which is about 12-14 hours in, and the story when not just flat out retelling something that was better as a film is excruciatingly moronic with writing that could make a 13 year old emo poet blush, this game fucking reeks.
Next update will be on Halloween Town and possibly Neverland. God rest my fucking soul.
Update 8: Like I said last time, I got through Halloween Town and Neverland, as well as finishing the Hercules Cup of the Coliseum and the storyline of 100 Acre Wood.
First off, a big issue I had with Halloween Town specifically was the darkness. I will admit that I love the aesthetic of the level, probably one of the more visually pleasing levels in the game. I love Nightmare Before Christmas so seeing the velvety textures of it on everything was great. The problem is I could barely see shit. I spent like 10 minutes just trying to locate where the graveyard was because I couldn't see where there was an entrance or an exit. Fighting wise, I will say things semi-improved but not by much and it was mostly by choice. You see, I had not used some of the "Action Moves" that are unlocked during the course of the game, such as Sonic Rush and Strike Raid. One of the reasons I hadn't used them is because they require both a lot of AP to have and a lot of MP to use, so I didn't bother equipping them for a majority of the game. They are more visually interesting than the standard 3 hit combo, but at the same time they are active button spammers themselves, just replace "A" with "Y". I don't use them that frequently even now because the game rarely requires you to, which I would say is a benefit but at the same time that just speaks to how plain a majority of the gameplay is here.
Onto my actual biggest problem with Halloween Town, all three of the boss fights suck. The fight with Shock, Lock and Barrel was genuinely boring with nothing but me spamming A the entire time and brute forcing the fuck out of it. Ironically, this wound up being the least upsetting fight because the two following it are probably what I'd consider the worst in the entire game. The first Oogie Boogie fight is an absolute drag. The fight takes too long and the Roulette Wheel setup, while interesting in theory, serves to just keep the fight going longer and longer. The actual process is very similar to the first fight with Ursala, funny because they're both respective opposing worlds on the map. You do a simple thing, pressing the button of the area Oogie is in to lock him in, and then you Spam A to knock his ass into next week. A very simple, very dull setup that is only worse than Ursala's first fight due to monotony. Then there's Oogie Boogie Round 2, and it fucking sucks. It's barely even a boss fight, I'd equate it to the Ancient Wyvern in Dark Souls 3. You're mostly dealing with mooks while trying to attack the little orbs on Giant Oogie's Tree Bod. It is a very annoying process and makes me wonder why this game's second half has an obsession with Giant Bosses. Climbing up Oogie is made worse by the general sucky platforming, so yeah it's just an all around unpleasant experience.
Neverland was alright. It wasn't a very long voyage despite the location being a ship. Flying around was somewhat entertaining though it makes the Hook fight an absolute fucking joke. The story beats with Riku were dogshit though, and every line coming out of that boy's mouth sounded awkward and forced, as if the VA himself was actively looking at the script and going "Does this idiot hear himself?" At least I unlocked the Glide Ability which, is legitimately a great ability and I love utilizing it. It makes me wish it came earlier, but at the same time I can actually understand why this is late game when compared to the High Jump.
The Hercules Cup was rather underwhelming in comparison to the Pegasus Cup. The fight with Cloud was honestly not as bad as the one with Leon and Yuffie, and the fight with Hercules is... pathetic. You fight him one on one and he just doesn't take the fight seriously, which is the point I should stress, doesn't make the fight any less dull though.
That leaves 100 Acre Wood, which is easily the one part of the game I genuinely enjoyed. The mini-games aren't especially groundbreaking but I just love being around Pooh and his friends, whom I grew up watching as a young kid. Despite the fact that I've seen all of the movies in the world listing for this game, Winnie the Pooh is the only part which had me feeling nostalgic. No battles, no stupid plot, just Sora hanging out with Pooh and it was "wholesome chungus" as the kids say.
Other than that, there are only 2 worlds left, and it's time for me to go to work. I imagine we only have 2 updates left and then a final conclusion review after this.
Update 9 & 10:
As I sit here, listening to the main theme of the Kingdom Hearts franchise, I realize something. As I have spent the past 11 hours or so finishing the game, my heart fucking sunk. As the credits rolled and "Simple & Clean" played over the CGI cutscenes, followed up by the cutscene trailer for KH2, I felt completely and utterly numb.
Let's start at the beginning of these two sessions, Hollow Bastion. A long, dramatic slog of a level which you have to go through twice. The level design wasn't particularly awful but it was just such a drag to get through. Having no Keyblade for a bit was interesting for all of about 5 seconds before I just grew tired of enemy encounters entirely. The neat thing was getting to have Beast from Beauty and the Beast with me, but that ultimately didn't mean that much overall. Eventually after a bunch of poor writing and acting I got the Keyblade back, and I noticed the biggest thing with the endgame for this game. I thought things were improving last time, but no, I was wrong. Things are still Spam A to win, to the very last minute, it's just that everything takes longer, making combat even more boring. I honestly was bored through most of the fights for the final two worlds of this game. Maleficent, regular and Dragon, the multiple fights with Riku, everything involving Ansem, all of it was long and boring. I even went through the Hades Cup just for the sake of upgrading my magic since a majority of the final tier spell unlocks are tied to it. It was all so very boring and time consuming.
The plot came back in full force which meant writing was absurdly painful to witness, I fucking winced whenever I heard the words "Darkness" or "Light", sometimes multiple times in a single fucking sentence. Everything about the final few hours of this game is just fucking annoying diatribes about the Heart and Light and Darkness and I fucking wanted the game to shut the absolute fuck up. It was almost as repetitive as the fucking gameplay, maybe that was the point.
I just... I do not understand the appeal of this game, at all. This shit is barely passable gameplay wise, and completely ridiculous story wise. How this started a franchise that is still ongoing actually confuses me. Simple & Clean? More like Stupid & Shitty. Besides the OST and Winnie the Pooh, there is nothing about this game that makes it worth playing. It is worthless. It is one of the worst video games I have ever had the misfortune to play. I still have the superbosses to do, but that won't be covered in the main review until after I beat them.
To cover everything I did:
I got all of the Dalmatians
Did all of the Trinity Marks
Beat all of the main tournaments
Beat the game
Fuck this game, and fuck Tetsuya Nomura for making it.
Edit: I brought the game's rating up to 1 Star because I'm currently playing Re:Chain of Memories and by god it is so much worse on an objective level.