The Forsaken Maiden is in improvement over the first Voice of Cards in multiple ways. Most notably the story, characters, and combat have more to offer. If I could only recommend one game in this series it would be this one, although I do kinda miss how the previous game had a true ending. This one has multiple endings based on a choice near the end but there's no ultimate good finale. It does add to the emotional value but there's really not much reason to do all endings since they're nigh identical in concept.

What if the average Mario story of Bowser kidnapping Peach was told in the form of an RPG? Well there's now more notable characters than the traditional platforming Mario games have but ultimately it felt like it was a game that played it safe. The story doesn't get as crazy as the next game in the series The Thousand Year Door and a lot of SNES era RPGs had greater stories too. Gameplay wise this game was a little unique but some ideas were borrowed from Mario RPG which had a better cast, story, and mechanics. Overall this is just an alright RPG.

A lot of RPG devs started to developing for the PlayStation 1 after the Nintendo 64 screwed over the RPG genre via being super limiting. So many in fact that there are only 3 true RPGs released worldwide on the Nintendo 64. Those being Quest 64, Paper Mario 64, and this game Aidyn Chronicles: The First Mage. This game released so late in the consoles life that it was destined to be the final RPG even if that was more common in the platform. Could this game prove the console could have an above average RPG or was the console destined to be doomed in this regard?

The graphics work but the art style doesn't have any of the charm that Quest 64 or Paper Mario 64 had. It actively was uninteresting to look at.

Non-combat gameplay like moving around massive maps and getting lost easily is unpleasant. Combat also has weird quirks like only being able to load a certain amount of enemies t a time but sometimes more spawn after you kill a few. I don't really have much positive to stay here since it's got the most part subpar. I guess the one pro I can say this has is it actually has party members until Quest 64 and they're more fleshed out gameplay wise than Paper Mario 64.

The other RPGs on the console were more fun to look at and play for me so the ultimate redeeming quality could've been the story but unfortunately that too is weak until near the end when there's mild twists I guess. I genuinely didn't feel attached to any character, the setting, or narrative at all.

In the end this game to me represents the lost potential that Nintendo chose to accept when creating the 64. They were the bosses of RPGs back on NES and SNES with so much third party support but their decision to create the 64 the way it is ultimately lead to a lackluster line up for the genre. While the PS1 thrived with RPGs, the Nintendo 64 was left in the dust with a miniscule amount that are average at best if not outright underwhelming.

I went into this game knowing many people had mixed feelings on it and knowing it was one of the only RPGs in a console that is known for not having RPGs because it screwed the genre over.

Instantly I liked the art style aesthetic. Kinda looked vaguely like a medieval magic version of the charming 64 style Mario 64 and Banjo Kazooie went for. I genuinely wish the 64 had more RPGs and that they looked somewhat like this.

The story was a little basic but I tried to just compare to Paper Mario since that's the only other N64 RPG I had played and when comparing to it this game is equally as just ok. Your main objective is quite cut and dry. The story is very town by town-esc which is actually quite common in RPGs but it did feel like there wasn't much outside of that. Plot twists aren't crazy so if that's why you want to play then I wouldn't really recommend this game.

As it turns out it though this game actually has quite a few unique ideas for turn based games like being able to move slightly during your opponent's magic attacks to try to dodge. I quite liked that. Unfortunately the level up system was also equally unique for the worse. Needing to level up your HP by being hit isn't exactly fun. The same can be said for other stats but some fo actually benefit from this style.

Regardless, I can definitely understand the mixed feelings people have in this game. My own opinion is I think this is a super unique and somewhat charming experience on a console with absolutely nothing else like it. It feels like a lost piece of history that I genuinely enjoyed despite some difficulty. It's an average tier RPG in a console that barely had any RPGs at all, and I think that makes it at least somewhat special.

I love the new modes added. Had so much multiplayer fun with Lego, Racing, and Festival. This game and season in particular genuinely helped me connect better with my boyfriend's family which is nice. New skin crossovers like Metal Gear were fantastic. The new map felt a bit too basic though. A lot of the POIs don't stick out enough from each other. It was carried by thinks like the ever moving train and floating island but the train takes way too long to circle around so sometimes players don't even see it. I'm glad it was super easy to level up in this season though because I got to 250 which I had never done before. I barely ever got above 215 before after grinding hard but I don't even think i really grinded this time.

This story was surprisingly good and better than the first arc. I like the protagonist duo's dynamic and how their stories bounce off each other. Witch backstory very engaging too. Also Babe was quite a funny ally. Overall this is a short but great Yoko Taro storyline. Unfortunately it is still held back by being a mobile game with uninteresting combat.

Other Story Arc Reviews:
• First Arc: https://www.backloggd.com/u/DayChan/review/1493449/
• World People: https://www.backloggd.com/u/DayChan/review/1493465/

90% of this game shares similar pros and cons to the first part of the Remake trilogy. The story is extremely dragged out via a much larger map, an entire chapter of filler, and unnecessary changes. For what it's worth though they did make some good changes like making Yuffie and Vincent main story characters instead of optional like they used to be. Unfortunately though Vincent and Cid are both not playable. They really should have been. The dev time was all put into developing unnecessarily long roads, mountains, and caves, along with filler beach scenes, instead of fleshing out the combat with characters that walk by your side and were playable in the original. I still wish they just made a real remake of FF7 with just minor changes at most like the previously mentioned inclusion of Yuffie and Vincent in the main narrative, but instead they decided to shove brand new timeline shenanigans into the plot. The worst part is it's usually just for shock value. Characters dying or not dying often leads to nothing significant in the long run. Why are multiple timelines being included out of nowhere? It genuinely comes off as pure shock value without any substance at times. There are some hype moments to be had via these and I am intrigued by some. Heck I do actually think one character's timeline shenanigans is actually modestly used well (compared to the others at least), but a lot of these additions do nothing for me. At the end of the day though this is still Final Fantasy 7 for the most part. It's filled with moments I love like Barret's backstory, Red XIII's backstory, and more. I loved seeing iconic moments like Sephiroth walking through fire in HD, but I wish they actually kept all the iconic moments instead of replacing them with what can only be described as completely nonsensical narratives. Now we have to wait years to know what any of these scenes even mean.