DayChan
2012
A solid low price game. It has 20 level and sight replay value with other playable characters. The duck mode is a cool reward for beating the game. My only complaint is that there's a few annoying enemy placements that make speedrunning not as fun and some jank with the mushrooms.
My review of the game itself:
https://www.backloggd.com/u/DayChan/review/482806/
The art book has roughly 200 pages of art including characters, locations, weapons, and more! It reveals some details you don't see in game like where Segiri's mark is. It also makes small hard to see details more clear such as a close look at the ouroboros on N's sword which I didn't notice when playing through the game. It shows some characters like Mio and Nia in alternate costumes too. The most interesting part to me is art of some cut content like some really raw looking scrapped colony and mecha designs, the Zohar and U-DO from Xenosaga inside of Origin, the founders exploring the world, and more.
The metal case is nice although I honestly prefer keeping my copy in the original case. I wish there was a little bit more to this special edition like a collection of the music or a small figure or anything really but as is I'm still very happy with the art book.
https://www.backloggd.com/u/DayChan/review/482806/
The art book has roughly 200 pages of art including characters, locations, weapons, and more! It reveals some details you don't see in game like where Segiri's mark is. It also makes small hard to see details more clear such as a close look at the ouroboros on N's sword which I didn't notice when playing through the game. It shows some characters like Mio and Nia in alternate costumes too. The most interesting part to me is art of some cut content like some really raw looking scrapped colony and mecha designs, the Zohar and U-DO from Xenosaga inside of Origin, the founders exploring the world, and more.
The metal case is nice although I honestly prefer keeping my copy in the original case. I wish there was a little bit more to this special edition like a collection of the music or a small figure or anything really but as is I'm still very happy with the art book.
Hype:
The Xeno series is one of my favorite series ever. I started with Blade 2 and played everything. This is the 1st time s entirely new game in the series came out for me and I couldn't possibly be more excited. The trailers gave me a lot of Gears vibes and the concept of worlds fusing is such a cool idea so I had high expectations from the start.
Gameplay / Combat:
The combat and gameplay are easily my favorite in the series. The new mechanics are fun and it fixes problems previous games had. No more needing to lure enemies to shore. You can just fight them in water! No more bad tutorials! Field skills aren't annoying anymore! It just feels amazing! I loved exploring the world and doing as many side quests as possible. The UI is effective and less cloged than before. Being able to teleport to monster tombstones is really good as take it easier to rematch them and gives incentive to beat them so you can get to places faster. Most of my complaints are minor like I think the chain attacks (which are amazing now BTW) should be a little less RNG (like heroes only have a chance of showing up). My biggest complaint is the lack of playable mecha like what Gears, Saga, and X have but I understand why it lacks this.
Story:
I had to describe this game I'd say: "Imagine if the worlds of 1 and 2 fused together to make a pseudo Gears remake with some Saga elements and borrowed ideas from Final Fantasy 10, NieR Replicant, and other games." 2 universes colliding with a plotline that people from each world need to kill each other is such a amazing unique concept that I love. The story gets right to the point quickly and I can't think of a single point where I became uninterest. That being said I think it failed to meet some of my expectations. Xenogears is my favorite story ever and the similarities made me kinda hope it'd be on the same level. I love how they did chapter 6 of this game. It's very similar although I think the way the twist happened in Gears was better and Blade 3 honestly overall feels like a very watered down Gears. That doesn't mean bad. It just means it's not my absolute fav story ever. Also as Blade 3 I expected it to expand upon 1 and 2 a lot. 2 added more that makes you look at parts of 1 in need ways. 3 doesn't really do that. It's story feels moreso self contained rather than really building off of and connecting to the other games as much as it could have. Not many past characters show up, new major twist that changes how you look at previous games, etc. Something Xeno is absolutely known for is plot twists and lore. Gears has insane lore, Saga is literally like 5 religions of lore stuffed together, and both Blade 1 and 2 have very interested lore dumps in the later parts of the story. It's just kinda weird that this title doesn't add much on top of what already existed and overall I think there's less "OMG WHAT!?" moments as the other games. There were a few moments that cought me completely off guard but it was fewer than the average Xeno game. Shock value doesn't necessarily mean better but it's definitely something to note. Something that makes a story good is not having loose ends. Blade 1 ends with basically no significant questions left unanswered. Blade 2's ending is a little more open ended but still almost everything is answered. Meanwhile 3 leaves multiple plot holes and has a bit too many coincidence that go unexplained which I can only hope get answered in DLC. There's quite a bit of ways it could've been better but again these don't mean I dislike it. In fact I loved this game's story deposited it's flaws. It's potentially my 3rd favorite Xeno story behind only Gears and Saga 3.
Characters (Main Party):
The party of this game was definitely amazing! Probably my 2nd fav only behind Saga's cast. Each character felt really important to the story. There was no one who felt "just there" like Sharla did. Even the least important still felt more important than half of Blade 1's party. I was worried Lanz would just be Reyn 2.0 and was worried about a few other characters too but they all stood out in their own way. Noah is my 2nd fav protag behind only Fei. Mio is basically a mix of Elly and Nia who are 2 of my fav characters. I'm not sure how I'd rank them tho. Taion is a lot better than the characters he's based on (HB and Akhos). I liked him a lot. Sena is my fav of them. I really liked how her story was about being the one in others shadows, being a loner who wanted to fit in, etc. The whole party felt realistic but her especially so to me. Riku and Manana are nice traveling companions. They're my favorite Nopon in the series this far.
Characters (Villains):
I'm mixed on the villains. In concept the Consuls are very similar to Saga's Testaments which are super cool but they aren't as intimidating. The side quest consuls are mostly mid but at least I remember they exist I guess. I remember Consul U quite well actually. For main story D was interesting to a extent but it took too long for his story to be explained and I think there could've been more to him. D looked a lot like Grahf so I was expecting him to be similar but he kinda turned out to be Mumkhar which is still a fine villain but not as much. I really like J and N. N turned out to be the Grahf I was looking for. I think he's not as good as Grahf but again that doesn't mean bad. Still a wonderful villain. J was really unique and I actually did not expect his ch 3 plot twist until soon before it happened so that was nice. Z is interesting in concept although his personality was boring and he didn't actually do much besides watch from the shadows for most of the story. Main villains like Albedo and Malos with interesting personalities and take action a lot throughout the story are much more interesting. X, Y, and other consuls honestly didn't need to exist and don't add much to the game besides being filler villains. There is 1 non consul villain in ch 6 and side quests that I won't name because spoilers but I did really like their perspective. Their writing felt 'real'.
Characters (Heroes / Classes):
The heroes are amazing. They're
each very unique and add so much to the game's world building and gameplay. Their side quests are some of the best in the series and most of the classes are really fun to use. My fav heroes in terms of story was probably Ethel, the Nopon, Isurd, Juniper (based nonbinary representation), and of course the post game heroes which I will not name here. Some heroes have really broken arts and chain attack abilities which are really fun to mess around with such as Fiona giving U a extra chain order.
World:
The map is HUGE and filled with references to locations from 1 and 2. I loved exploring it a lot. Seeing a certain area inside Uraya even made me open up 2 again to compare it. I could see arguments for X's world being better but Aionios is my fav. My favorite area is the Maktha Woods. Mixing the land of Morytha with Makna Forest is a insane idea and I love it. In general seeing previous game locations thrown in so casually is just really cool. I haven't felt this way since finding older Zelda game locations in BOTW. One thing about the map that I think could be better is the colonies don't look as appealing as towns from previous games but that's not a big deal for me. A slightly bigger complaint is I feel a few areas could've been more interesting but weren't really. Specifically I think Mechonis Sword and Agnus Castle should've been larger (in terms of explorable area) and also I feel the snow area is the weakest in mainline Xenoblade. It's really small and honestly I don't even really get either Valak or Tantal vibes from it. Was kind shopping for a super janky ice slide TBH. Still tho the map is amazing. One of my favs in any video game.
Blade 3 VS Gears:
As stated already I think Gears has a much better story, execution, and villains but Blade 3 definitely has much better gameplay and the unique takes on Gears's ideas were nice to see. I'd consider Blade 3 a better game despite thinking Gears's story is much better. If you're a fan of either you'd probably love the other because of their similarities.
Blade 3 VS Saga:
Saga by far has the most complex lore and I think the characters are better. I love turn based combat and I think Saga 3 is one of the best in that regard although I would probably replayed Blade 3 more because I love Blade combat as well and this game in particular is fire (plus a Switch game will obviously have way more QoL than a PS2 game). Saga 3 and Blade 3 are each amazing conclusions to their trilogies. It's hard to say which I think is a better conclusion. Blade 3 is definitely much better than Saga 1 and 2.
Blade 3 VS Blade 1:
I struggle to find much I like about 1 more than 3. I'd say 1's world concept is more interesting (the entire game takes place on 2 massive humanoid titans) but I love 3's gameplay, characters, story, and emotional impact a LOT more. I found 1's gameplay to be my least fav even behind the PS1 and PS2 games. Half it's cast does nothing in the party which holds 1 back a lot. 3 fixes all those things. That being said I think it'd be better to play 1 1st because they're connected. This is another example of if you like either you'd like the other.
Blade 3 VS Blade X:
X has a amazing world and was the 1st game in the series to have a class system. Although they're not connected: it is clear that they took ideas from X. I personally enjoyed exploring in 3 more because the world includes locations from previous games but I can definitely see a argument for X's world being better. Story and character wise X is the least interesting to me so 3 is definitely better for my tastes but if the exploration aspect is what you're looking for then these are both peak.
Blade 3 VS Blade 2:
2 is a game close to my heart because it's what got me into the series and Nia is one of my favorite games ever. 2 does do a few things better like I like the idea of the world mostly being giant animals and more skill based chain attacks. That being said it's undeniable that this game has better tutorials and fixes other things that were complained about in 2. 3 also gets to the point of it's story much much faster. From a game design standpoint I would definitely consider 3 better. For personal reasons I think I prefer 2 tho (it helped me more emotionally). Similar to 1: I would definitely recommend playing 2 before 3 since they're connected and things will hit different when playing them all in order.
Conclusion:
This is yet another Monolithsoft master piece. It's not perfect: there are things other games do better but there are also things it's the best at not only in the series but in the genre as a whole. It's one of my favorite games of all time. I've been so excited and had so much incredible fun playing through this. I was gasping, happy crying, and just having the best of times playing this. It's definitely in the top 4 in the series for me (which I'm still unsure how I'd rank because I love Gears, Saga 3, Blade 2, and this for all entirely different reasons). I would highly recommend this game (and series)! Even my least fav in the series is good to me and the best are the best! You absolutely will not be disappointed if you like RPGs. This game is amazing standalone and the more of the previous games you play: the more you'll love and appreciate it.
DLC Wave 1:
Nopon coins and color alt costumes is a decent day 1 DLC. It's nothing I really care about but this wave is moreso a "thanks for buying in advance" wave rather than the main course so it's fine.
Update After 1 Month:
I feel this didn't quite leave a long lasting emotional impact on me like a few past games did. I still love it but it's hard to say I do to the same extent as the others. I already stopped actively playing the game. I hope DLC answers some important plot holes and adds enough to get me invested again.
My review of the special edition:
https://www.backloggd.com/games/xenoblade-chronicles-3-special-edition/
I reviewed the DLC separately as well.
The Xeno series is one of my favorite series ever. I started with Blade 2 and played everything. This is the 1st time s entirely new game in the series came out for me and I couldn't possibly be more excited. The trailers gave me a lot of Gears vibes and the concept of worlds fusing is such a cool idea so I had high expectations from the start.
Gameplay / Combat:
The combat and gameplay are easily my favorite in the series. The new mechanics are fun and it fixes problems previous games had. No more needing to lure enemies to shore. You can just fight them in water! No more bad tutorials! Field skills aren't annoying anymore! It just feels amazing! I loved exploring the world and doing as many side quests as possible. The UI is effective and less cloged than before. Being able to teleport to monster tombstones is really good as take it easier to rematch them and gives incentive to beat them so you can get to places faster. Most of my complaints are minor like I think the chain attacks (which are amazing now BTW) should be a little less RNG (like heroes only have a chance of showing up). My biggest complaint is the lack of playable mecha like what Gears, Saga, and X have but I understand why it lacks this.
Story:
I had to describe this game I'd say: "Imagine if the worlds of 1 and 2 fused together to make a pseudo Gears remake with some Saga elements and borrowed ideas from Final Fantasy 10, NieR Replicant, and other games." 2 universes colliding with a plotline that people from each world need to kill each other is such a amazing unique concept that I love. The story gets right to the point quickly and I can't think of a single point where I became uninterest. That being said I think it failed to meet some of my expectations. Xenogears is my favorite story ever and the similarities made me kinda hope it'd be on the same level. I love how they did chapter 6 of this game. It's very similar although I think the way the twist happened in Gears was better and Blade 3 honestly overall feels like a very watered down Gears. That doesn't mean bad. It just means it's not my absolute fav story ever. Also as Blade 3 I expected it to expand upon 1 and 2 a lot. 2 added more that makes you look at parts of 1 in need ways. 3 doesn't really do that. It's story feels moreso self contained rather than really building off of and connecting to the other games as much as it could have. Not many past characters show up, new major twist that changes how you look at previous games, etc. Something Xeno is absolutely known for is plot twists and lore. Gears has insane lore, Saga is literally like 5 religions of lore stuffed together, and both Blade 1 and 2 have very interested lore dumps in the later parts of the story. It's just kinda weird that this title doesn't add much on top of what already existed and overall I think there's less "OMG WHAT!?" moments as the other games. There were a few moments that cought me completely off guard but it was fewer than the average Xeno game. Shock value doesn't necessarily mean better but it's definitely something to note. Something that makes a story good is not having loose ends. Blade 1 ends with basically no significant questions left unanswered. Blade 2's ending is a little more open ended but still almost everything is answered. Meanwhile 3 leaves multiple plot holes and has a bit too many coincidence that go unexplained which I can only hope get answered in DLC. There's quite a bit of ways it could've been better but again these don't mean I dislike it. In fact I loved this game's story deposited it's flaws. It's potentially my 3rd favorite Xeno story behind only Gears and Saga 3.
Characters (Main Party):
The party of this game was definitely amazing! Probably my 2nd fav only behind Saga's cast. Each character felt really important to the story. There was no one who felt "just there" like Sharla did. Even the least important still felt more important than half of Blade 1's party. I was worried Lanz would just be Reyn 2.0 and was worried about a few other characters too but they all stood out in their own way. Noah is my 2nd fav protag behind only Fei. Mio is basically a mix of Elly and Nia who are 2 of my fav characters. I'm not sure how I'd rank them tho. Taion is a lot better than the characters he's based on (HB and Akhos). I liked him a lot. Sena is my fav of them. I really liked how her story was about being the one in others shadows, being a loner who wanted to fit in, etc. The whole party felt realistic but her especially so to me. Riku and Manana are nice traveling companions. They're my favorite Nopon in the series this far.
Characters (Villains):
I'm mixed on the villains. In concept the Consuls are very similar to Saga's Testaments which are super cool but they aren't as intimidating. The side quest consuls are mostly mid but at least I remember they exist I guess. I remember Consul U quite well actually. For main story D was interesting to a extent but it took too long for his story to be explained and I think there could've been more to him. D looked a lot like Grahf so I was expecting him to be similar but he kinda turned out to be Mumkhar which is still a fine villain but not as much. I really like J and N. N turned out to be the Grahf I was looking for. I think he's not as good as Grahf but again that doesn't mean bad. Still a wonderful villain. J was really unique and I actually did not expect his ch 3 plot twist until soon before it happened so that was nice. Z is interesting in concept although his personality was boring and he didn't actually do much besides watch from the shadows for most of the story. Main villains like Albedo and Malos with interesting personalities and take action a lot throughout the story are much more interesting. X, Y, and other consuls honestly didn't need to exist and don't add much to the game besides being filler villains. There is 1 non consul villain in ch 6 and side quests that I won't name because spoilers but I did really like their perspective. Their writing felt 'real'.
Characters (Heroes / Classes):
The heroes are amazing. They're
each very unique and add so much to the game's world building and gameplay. Their side quests are some of the best in the series and most of the classes are really fun to use. My fav heroes in terms of story was probably Ethel, the Nopon, Isurd, Juniper (based nonbinary representation), and of course the post game heroes which I will not name here. Some heroes have really broken arts and chain attack abilities which are really fun to mess around with such as Fiona giving U a extra chain order.
World:
The map is HUGE and filled with references to locations from 1 and 2. I loved exploring it a lot. Seeing a certain area inside Uraya even made me open up 2 again to compare it. I could see arguments for X's world being better but Aionios is my fav. My favorite area is the Maktha Woods. Mixing the land of Morytha with Makna Forest is a insane idea and I love it. In general seeing previous game locations thrown in so casually is just really cool. I haven't felt this way since finding older Zelda game locations in BOTW. One thing about the map that I think could be better is the colonies don't look as appealing as towns from previous games but that's not a big deal for me. A slightly bigger complaint is I feel a few areas could've been more interesting but weren't really. Specifically I think Mechonis Sword and Agnus Castle should've been larger (in terms of explorable area) and also I feel the snow area is the weakest in mainline Xenoblade. It's really small and honestly I don't even really get either Valak or Tantal vibes from it. Was kind shopping for a super janky ice slide TBH. Still tho the map is amazing. One of my favs in any video game.
Blade 3 VS Gears:
As stated already I think Gears has a much better story, execution, and villains but Blade 3 definitely has much better gameplay and the unique takes on Gears's ideas were nice to see. I'd consider Blade 3 a better game despite thinking Gears's story is much better. If you're a fan of either you'd probably love the other because of their similarities.
Blade 3 VS Saga:
Saga by far has the most complex lore and I think the characters are better. I love turn based combat and I think Saga 3 is one of the best in that regard although I would probably replayed Blade 3 more because I love Blade combat as well and this game in particular is fire (plus a Switch game will obviously have way more QoL than a PS2 game). Saga 3 and Blade 3 are each amazing conclusions to their trilogies. It's hard to say which I think is a better conclusion. Blade 3 is definitely much better than Saga 1 and 2.
Blade 3 VS Blade 1:
I struggle to find much I like about 1 more than 3. I'd say 1's world concept is more interesting (the entire game takes place on 2 massive humanoid titans) but I love 3's gameplay, characters, story, and emotional impact a LOT more. I found 1's gameplay to be my least fav even behind the PS1 and PS2 games. Half it's cast does nothing in the party which holds 1 back a lot. 3 fixes all those things. That being said I think it'd be better to play 1 1st because they're connected. This is another example of if you like either you'd like the other.
Blade 3 VS Blade X:
X has a amazing world and was the 1st game in the series to have a class system. Although they're not connected: it is clear that they took ideas from X. I personally enjoyed exploring in 3 more because the world includes locations from previous games but I can definitely see a argument for X's world being better. Story and character wise X is the least interesting to me so 3 is definitely better for my tastes but if the exploration aspect is what you're looking for then these are both peak.
Blade 3 VS Blade 2:
2 is a game close to my heart because it's what got me into the series and Nia is one of my favorite games ever. 2 does do a few things better like I like the idea of the world mostly being giant animals and more skill based chain attacks. That being said it's undeniable that this game has better tutorials and fixes other things that were complained about in 2. 3 also gets to the point of it's story much much faster. From a game design standpoint I would definitely consider 3 better. For personal reasons I think I prefer 2 tho (it helped me more emotionally). Similar to 1: I would definitely recommend playing 2 before 3 since they're connected and things will hit different when playing them all in order.
Conclusion:
This is yet another Monolithsoft master piece. It's not perfect: there are things other games do better but there are also things it's the best at not only in the series but in the genre as a whole. It's one of my favorite games of all time. I've been so excited and had so much incredible fun playing through this. I was gasping, happy crying, and just having the best of times playing this. It's definitely in the top 4 in the series for me (which I'm still unsure how I'd rank because I love Gears, Saga 3, Blade 2, and this for all entirely different reasons). I would highly recommend this game (and series)! Even my least fav in the series is good to me and the best are the best! You absolutely will not be disappointed if you like RPGs. This game is amazing standalone and the more of the previous games you play: the more you'll love and appreciate it.
DLC Wave 1:
Nopon coins and color alt costumes is a decent day 1 DLC. It's nothing I really care about but this wave is moreso a "thanks for buying in advance" wave rather than the main course so it's fine.
Update After 1 Month:
I feel this didn't quite leave a long lasting emotional impact on me like a few past games did. I still love it but it's hard to say I do to the same extent as the others. I already stopped actively playing the game. I hope DLC answers some important plot holes and adds enough to get me invested again.
My review of the special edition:
https://www.backloggd.com/games/xenoblade-chronicles-3-special-edition/
I reviewed the DLC separately as well.
2022
Each chapter was really distinct and had its own unique charm. 2 examples:
• Prehistory has no dialogue but it's very easy to tell what the story is via thought bubbles and good sprite animations.
• The way Present is presented feels like a retro fighting game (deposited that not at all being the case).
Story wise every chapter takes place in completely different eras with unique storylines that eventually connect via the final chapter. Want to explore a ancient world? Want to explore a futuristic horror space ship? Want to fight travelers from around the world? Want to teach martial arts pupils? Want to stop a gang? Want to save a wild west town? There's so many different storylines to try that all stand out from each other. There's surely at least one thing for everyone. My favorite is the Distant Future because I like its story and it kind has a very light horror tone (it's not scary tho so don't worry if that's something U don't like). My least fav to my surprise is the Edo Japan story. I love Japan and ninja stuff but it's a very easy to get lost in maze.
I'm really happy it got remade and finally got localized. It has tons of unique ideas that I haven't seen from other games. I'd highly recommend to anyone looking for a short RPG and I'd especially recommend to those that like time travel games like Chrono Trigger.
• Prehistory has no dialogue but it's very easy to tell what the story is via thought bubbles and good sprite animations.
• The way Present is presented feels like a retro fighting game (deposited that not at all being the case).
Story wise every chapter takes place in completely different eras with unique storylines that eventually connect via the final chapter. Want to explore a ancient world? Want to explore a futuristic horror space ship? Want to fight travelers from around the world? Want to teach martial arts pupils? Want to stop a gang? Want to save a wild west town? There's so many different storylines to try that all stand out from each other. There's surely at least one thing for everyone. My favorite is the Distant Future because I like its story and it kind has a very light horror tone (it's not scary tho so don't worry if that's something U don't like). My least fav to my surprise is the Edo Japan story. I love Japan and ninja stuff but it's a very easy to get lost in maze.
I'm really happy it got remade and finally got localized. It has tons of unique ideas that I haven't seen from other games. I'd highly recommend to anyone looking for a short RPG and I'd especially recommend to those that like time travel games like Chrono Trigger.
This review contains spoilers
This made me like Yuffie more than the entire original game, Crisis Core, Dirge of Cerberus, and Adventure Children did together. Speaking of DoC; I'm surprised characters from it showed up here. I'm still unsure how to feel about the Zack scene.
Gameplay wise it's nice to have a new playable character. Not really much else to say TBH.
Gameplay wise it's nice to have a new playable character. Not really much else to say TBH.
I really like how this game has a lot of exploration unlike most Warriors games. The playable roster, new original characters are nice, class changing, more customization, and story are all make this better than Heroes 1.
This review contains spoilers
General:
I kinda like Three Houses and kinda like Warriors games occasionally but neither are something I super care for. That being said I was still interested in seeing the story alternatives. Shez is a much better protagonist than Byleth and the new characters like Arval are nice addition. Somehow this game managed to swap my favorite storyline order.
Blue Lions:
I like how Edelgard's situation is handled in this more than in Three Houses. Writing feels more consistent between routes. Also I like how Thales is actually fought this time. That being said Dimitri not going insane makes his character development nonexistent which makes me mixed on considering this better or worse than Three Houses's version.
Black Eagles:
Edelgard feels like a much better person this time. She no longer wants to kill for the sake of killing. She now teams up with Claude rather than wanting to destroy him and his country. She now doesn't want to kill Dimitri. Heck she doesn't even want to kill Rhea unless she has to. This feels like a completely different character to me which I like. Like she actually talks things out rather than being a "oh you disagree with my ideology so you must due" character which I hated in Three Houses. Also Arval lore, actually seeing the inside of Zahras, and other new stuff is nice. Three Hopes fixed almost everything I disliked about Black Eagles in Three Houses. The only thing I'd change is I wish the ending implied she made peace with Dimitri instead of continuing to fight.
Golden Deer:
I like the extra Claude lore but I like the story execution in Three Houses vastly more. Claude goal doesn't appeal as well as it did before, it lacks a lot of TWSITD lore, no Nemesis, and it just all around wasn't as exciting for me.
I kinda like Three Houses and kinda like Warriors games occasionally but neither are something I super care for. That being said I was still interested in seeing the story alternatives. Shez is a much better protagonist than Byleth and the new characters like Arval are nice addition. Somehow this game managed to swap my favorite storyline order.
Blue Lions:
I like how Edelgard's situation is handled in this more than in Three Houses. Writing feels more consistent between routes. Also I like how Thales is actually fought this time. That being said Dimitri not going insane makes his character development nonexistent which makes me mixed on considering this better or worse than Three Houses's version.
Black Eagles:
Edelgard feels like a much better person this time. She no longer wants to kill for the sake of killing. She now teams up with Claude rather than wanting to destroy him and his country. She now doesn't want to kill Dimitri. Heck she doesn't even want to kill Rhea unless she has to. This feels like a completely different character to me which I like. Like she actually talks things out rather than being a "oh you disagree with my ideology so you must due" character which I hated in Three Houses. Also Arval lore, actually seeing the inside of Zahras, and other new stuff is nice. Three Hopes fixed almost everything I disliked about Black Eagles in Three Houses. The only thing I'd change is I wish the ending implied she made peace with Dimitri instead of continuing to fight.
Golden Deer:
I like the extra Claude lore but I like the story execution in Three Houses vastly more. Claude goal doesn't appeal as well as it did before, it lacks a lot of TWSITD lore, no Nemesis, and it just all around wasn't as exciting for me.
That portal scene was awesome but that final boss is pain.
A decent expansion. Story feels mostly like set up for the next part. The difficulty is definitely turned up from main game.
This is easily my favorite Sega game and one of the best games to release in the past few years.
The story was a little slow at parts and required a lot of grinding in late game but the gameplay was fun, the story was serious yet funny in a charming way, it has a nice class system, nice mini games, and hits the emotions hard. It's truly a legendary adventure that is both similar to and different from everything it's based on.
I really loved all the references to other games. As someone who's favorite series is Dragon Quest it was very exciting to see it referenced a lot. Pokémon and other turn based RPGs got referenced in cool ways too. The references never felt out of place or wall breaking. It feels like they blend into this game's world well.
This is my first Yakuza game so I can't really judge it comparatively to the rest of the series but I know it was a beat em up before so this change is very drastic. I can definitely understand why some older fans would be upset. Personally this game style is perfect for me and I encourage anyone who likes turn based RPGs to try this. I really hope to see a direct sequel that not only continues but improved upon what this game established.
Updated review on May 21st 2024:
After having played older games and half of this game's direct sequel I can safely say I appreciate this game even more now. It is my favorite game in the series. Also it's actually pretty cool how the sequel improved the gameplay almost exactly how I hoped it would. Def check out LAD Infinite Wealth if you love this game.
The story was a little slow at parts and required a lot of grinding in late game but the gameplay was fun, the story was serious yet funny in a charming way, it has a nice class system, nice mini games, and hits the emotions hard. It's truly a legendary adventure that is both similar to and different from everything it's based on.
I really loved all the references to other games. As someone who's favorite series is Dragon Quest it was very exciting to see it referenced a lot. Pokémon and other turn based RPGs got referenced in cool ways too. The references never felt out of place or wall breaking. It feels like they blend into this game's world well.
This is my first Yakuza game so I can't really judge it comparatively to the rest of the series but I know it was a beat em up before so this change is very drastic. I can definitely understand why some older fans would be upset. Personally this game style is perfect for me and I encourage anyone who likes turn based RPGs to try this. I really hope to see a direct sequel that not only continues but improved upon what this game established.
Updated review on May 21st 2024:
After having played older games and half of this game's direct sequel I can safely say I appreciate this game even more now. It is my favorite game in the series. Also it's actually pretty cool how the sequel improved the gameplay almost exactly how I hoped it would. Def check out LAD Infinite Wealth if you love this game.
The gameplay aged quite poorly. Compare the world design to other PS2 RPGs like Dragon Quest 8, Final Fantasy 10, Kingdom Hearts, Xenosaga, etc or even newer games in this series like SMT5. Those feels like you're actual exploring a large world while this feels like you're just a dot on a world map a lot of the time. The sense of adventure just doesn't compare. I'm also not too fond of losing a hour of progress because the protag died when there's demons in my party who have revive spells. I'm so glad SMT4 changed that. Also not being able to save anywhere is very inconvenient but thankfully there's at least a quick suspend save in this remaster. Lastly it's quite easy to get lost or have no idea where you need to go next to progress story at times.
As for story is has a quick start and has some interesting ideas but it isn't that plot twist heavy and the characters are very hard to like.
As for story is has a quick start and has some interesting ideas but it isn't that plot twist heavy and the characters are very hard to like.
I love Dragon Quest a lot and I do like building games like this from time to time but it's not always my kinda thing and I found it hard to get into this. New Malroth lore is cool tho.
2006
Just as good as the first one. The gameplay was modified in a way that I could be seen as better or worse based on your preference but personally I like it more. The party is smaller but each one has focus and feels important. The story feels is as excellent as a prequel to Eternal Wings could be.
Definitely check this out if you're looking for a older obscure RPG with unique gameplay although I would recommend Eternal Wings first. I'd also recommend this series to Xeno fans looking for more Monolithsoft goodness.
Definitely check this out if you're looking for a older obscure RPG with unique gameplay although I would recommend Eternal Wings first. I'd also recommend this series to Xeno fans looking for more Monolithsoft goodness.
Map:
The new forest is cool and I really like the chill aesthetic that's all over the map. Some locations also change eras in some matches which is interested. It feels like a good 25% of the map is new. The later updates changed a few area which is a bit refreshing.
Battle Pass:
On average the skins look a lot better than last seasons and Darth Vader is cool. I don't really care much for the bonus rewards this time tho. The DBZ event pass is a great extra.
Crossovers:
The new Naruto skins and the Dragon Ball crossover are great. Some of my favorite skins in the games, the weapons they come with are fun, and cool emotes.
The new forest is cool and I really like the chill aesthetic that's all over the map. Some locations also change eras in some matches which is interested. It feels like a good 25% of the map is new. The later updates changed a few area which is a bit refreshing.
Battle Pass:
On average the skins look a lot better than last seasons and Darth Vader is cool. I don't really care much for the bonus rewards this time tho. The DBZ event pass is a great extra.
Crossovers:
The new Naruto skins and the Dragon Ball crossover are great. Some of my favorite skins in the games, the weapons they come with are fun, and cool emotes.
The only people this update benefits are people who plan to NEVER pay any money at all on the game; which are also probably the people who will play the least since now you barely get anything without paying real money constantly. Any long time fan gets DRASTICALLY less rewards in the long run even with getting the first battle pass free. The item store and way to get rewards feels so unnecessarily greedy now which makes my enjoyment of the game fall drastically. It's still fun to play but it's simply not the same.
Also this change made my boyfriend sad which makes it even worse since I got this game to play with him.
Also this change made my boyfriend sad which makes it even worse since I got this game to play with him.