Because of how much I love Fallout: New Vegas and hate Fallout 4, I have been wanting to play through the first two Fallout games for quite a while now, but as a Mac user, it has been a long journey trying to find a way to play this game. For the past few years, I've tried everything from playing the DOS version on DOSBox to attempting to run an old-school Macintosh emulator and getting so confused that I gave it up entirely, but when I found a fairly recent guide to running PC games on a Mac alongside the discovery both of these games were on GOG for a total of £4, I decided that it wasn't that big of a risk to see if this new method would work, and it did. Now that I've finally gotten the chance to play this game after all these years, I can safely say that Fallout fully lived up to my expectations, and I spent the past three days really looking forward to playing it whenever I wasn't already doing so.

With the releases of the newer games in the franchise and especially the recent TV show that I still haven't seen yet, the aesthetics and iconography of the Fallout franchise have become very distinct, but despite that, going into this first entry felt like I was taking on a completely different beast thanks to its overwhelmingly daunting atmosphere. Even with its moments of black comedy and surrealism, Fallout is a bleak, desolate, and harsh experience, as the game simply throws you out into a post-apocalyptic California and has you wander around completely on your own to find what you need, connect with the game's various settlements and factions, and not get mauled to death while doing so. Thanks to the steep learning curve and turn-based tactical combat system, exploring the wasteland feels both genuinely dangerous and wholly rewarding, with the careful planning that goes into both choosing certain skills and perks and surviving the enemy encounters made Fallout a challenging, yet satisfying experience. While the game does feature the Raygun Gothic artstyle that went on to become synonymous with the franchise, the approach that Fallout took to bringing it to life made the post-nuclear environments feel significantly less comical than its sequels, with the detailed and grisly spritework, Ron Perlman's haunting narration, and Mark Morgan's fantastic dark ambient score all making the game feel uncompromisingly raw and gritty while still giving the satire some time to shine.

Although the game's narrative structure is somewhat unconventional, Fallout still ended up being a tightly written experience thanks to its compelling and morally ambiguous sidequests, unique characters, and fascinating lore, as I was hooked right from the opening cinematic and I stayed invested until the credits rolled. The multiple ways in which you could approach practically every situation was one of my favorite elements of the game, and that sense of interactivity made the otherwise small scale of Fallout feel dense and compact. While the general quality of voice acting in video games has never been all that consistent, going into older games usually comes at the cost of terrible voice acting, and so I was completely surprised by the genuinely flawless performances from all of the voiced characters in Fallout, with Harold and the Master being the highlights of the cast for me. Fallout was both a strong start for an iconic franchise that stood the test of time and a fantastic RPG in its own right, and since Fallout 2 is supposedly even better, I can't wait to play it.

1.6 stars of average rating?? You guys deserve to play real true notoriously crappy unplayable garbage like Big Rigs, E.T. for Atari 2600, Superman 64, Bubsy 3D etc.
This one ain't it. It's definitely on pair on Paper Mario Sticker Star level on how lackluster it feels, just like it felt in general with many games of the 3DS/Wii U era.

Yes, this game is barebones in contents, we can all agree on that, we get it. Especially since it has the same single tennis court level, so all the variety this series was known for blows off immediately right away.

But you know what? It looks pretty nice, the characters animations are lively as you would expect from a Mario game, and it's still a fun time for the little it has to offer.

I liked it better than Mario Tennis Open.

Getting into Final Fantasy really late has been a treat. In the case of 7, I went in with high levels of raw cynicism, having seen nothing but message board comments about it for years, and it won me over basically from moment one. Mechanically it was just fine, but everything else about it charmed me, the edgy teenagers of my youth vindicated at last.


FF8 was different. FF8 is controversial. Divisive. I regularly see it put down in discussions in very strong terms. People call it "janky" despite it being a gorgeous technical powerhouse. I had really no clue what to expect from that going in, but the internet led me to believe I would not really be into it since the main thing was spending a while grinding to break it and that sounded boring. Also, the story is some dumb romance and I hate romances because I'm a collection of fucked up critters who usually can't even begin to understand what a "relationship" is supposed to be in the eyes of human society.


It fuckin rules though dude this game whips ass. This is the first one of these since FF5 where I feel really compelled by it mechanically, and while you certainly can do unspeakable things by grinding card games, you don't actually have to. It does a terrible job explaining itself to you, but as I figured it out, I eventually felt broken and creative on my own merits without even touching Triple Triad. Interesting bosses and mechanical ideas, plenty of room for weird-ass runs. What is not to love here.


None of that is to say I didn't enjoy the plot! That rocks too! It's the story of growing up in a post-war society with no fuckin clue what's going on. Completely unexplained politics. At one point they just start going "Oh yeah you know that thing where the moon demons start falling to earth sometimes" like it's normal. The villain is literally an inevitable-yet-unreachable bleak future, trying to draw all of creation into an infinite status quo through some absurd time travel shit. All your party members are such charming goobers!!! Even Rinoa, who is broadly just like if Tifa and Aerith were one person and maybe could have used a little bit more something to make her feel like an actual person and not just a love interest, still has some very charming moments! She has a scene where she drifts in space for like five minutes because Square had guts back then. That would never survive if they made a modern remake they would destroy it. Hilarious game. Psycho game. It rocks. I keep catching myself saying shit like 'I wouldn't understand it even if I thought about it' lately because my guy Squall was just correct. I love Seifer he's such a dipshit that a cameo from another game just runs out and kicks his ass for you.


I still don't expect FF9 to top this but fuck it that's the one with furries and these guys were on a roll. I'm in. I'm 100% down now. FF2 and 8 were great I bet all the other ones people hate are good too. Flying too close to the sun as FF13 kills me irl or something.

Unrelenting and eccentric.

That is how I would describe this game and may as well as the duology itself. And I mean this with the most positive outlook imaginable. Trails from Zero to Azure is one big loop as everything comes back full circle while also pushing its narrative to unforeseeable highs that very little to none in the genre could ever hope to accomplish.

This games ambitiousness is really something I do admire as each chapter there is something happening that takes a role in its story to fully unveil the truth that the SSS and we as the player seek and desire. From the West Zemuria Trade Conference to the end credits, I was fully engaged with this game all the way through that hours truly flew by. I spent a little over 100 hours on this game and I didn’t want it to end. I have become so attached to the setting of Crossbell and its inhabitants that these 100 hours seemed like it wasn’t enough. I have had my fair share of experiences with long running JRPGs but not ones of this magnitude and they certainly haven’t had me so immersed in its world quite like this one. I guess this just shows how special this series is while only being 5 games in. I’m not even at the halfway point which is absurd.

No matter how divisive later entries may be that awaits me, I’m a fan already. From Sky FC’s cozy atmosphere to Sky SC’s emotional maelstrom to Sky the 3rd’s incredible foresight to Zero’s classic tale of good vs evil to finally Azure’s eccentric writing. Everything that has been built up from not only this duology but from back in Sky is prevalent here and its callbacks is some of the most fulfilling rewards for playing this series from the beginning. I can’t say that I am well delved into long running episodic stories in the video game medium nor can I say that there really is anything like Trails to begin with, but nonetheless it’s a one of a kind experience. A journey even.

While I could go on and on at how much I adore Azure’s eccentricity there are a few minor gripes I have that others may find glaring. There are a few events that are played up heavily that lack the necessary consequences, but I think that’s more so due to future roles they may play later on in other entries. There is a certain plot twist that everyone who has played the game knows of what I am referring to, in the finale, that is so diminishing that it feels forced, and I kind of just like didn’t really care for the end result to be honest. It was so out of left field that I don’t really know how to feel about it. Additionally, the final bonding events design is pretty stupid to be frank. Certain characters backstories are only seen once per playthrough depending on who you chose throughout the game. Some really good moments being locked away somewhat hampers the experience that could’ve been, but it is what it is. Even with all of these gripes of mine, I still don’t think that takes away from what this game has to offer.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure has a story so unforgettable with characters that I absolutely adore and cherish, while simultaneously having an all time great soundtrack backed up with MAYBE the best final boss theme that I have ever heard only rivaled by the likes of Dancing Mad and One-Winged Angel.

Like dude you can’t tell me when a video game has a very similar scene as one of my favorite anime that hits just as hard if not harder isn’t a masterpiece.

I have so many things to say about this game that would require spoilers so I may end this review off here before it becomes a rant. But suffice to say, Trails to Azure has one of the most legendary scenarios to a JRPG and hell in any video game period and it has been one hell of a ride. The SSS finally overcame every barrier imaginable and seized the light of tomorrow in their own way and did it without regrets.

“Give 'em hell…Lloyd Bannings.”

Imagine an arcade game...got it? Now imagine a 3D arcade game...getting closer. This time imagine a 3D arcade brawler focused on combos and player expression. Ths is God Hand, pure unfiltered 3D arcade-ish action-packed fun from an era that has left us not so long ago: the 2000's, the mid 2000's to be exact. Yeah, the era were killer7 and Resident Evil 4 were also published by none other than Capcom.

God Hand is focused on one thing and one thing only: Fun. Pure, raw fun without limits. The game's lack of proper introduction makes it's message clear: "Go figure it out yourself, you can do it". At first you'll think something is missing but no, they let you run in the wild the moment you start playing. No tutorials, no training room just straight into action. This is one of God Hand's many unique traits, it talks to you face to face, knows why you are here and wastes no time in anything less but getting to the good parts in an instant.

You can't talk about God Hand without mentioning how awesome, yet simple and intuitive is the combat system. Everything is customizable from the get-go, all in the name of the player's choice. From example, you can go for an only-combo oriented build which could decimate an enemy in a matter of seconds or specialize your tecniques on crowd control when you need to, combine both! There are no "combos" that requires precise inputs to pull off, instead every attack has it's purpose: either breaking guard, juggle or launch your enemy. It's stupid simple and I don't know why no one has ever think of it before, The juice is in context, like solving an everyday problem: "What would be best for this situation?", "What would happen if I combine this, and this...?" Note that is one way to play it. The main gameplay loop is to experiment with every combination, being able to craft your own set of combos and strategies to kick ass. Or perfect what you already have.

The mid 2000's was an era of change. Just imagine, the HD consoles were the new hot thing and everyone was starting to move away from the PS2, Xbox and Gamecube generation. There was a sort of uncertainty for the new age because you know, change can be scary and this new generation promised a lot. Why I am suddenly talking about all this in a God Hand review exactly? I feel the mid 2000's was an unique era of comfort way after the Y2K scandal in the new millenium, at least on the video game space. God Hand took birth in that time, in a time while the PS2 was still selling like pancakes, but still everyone knew what was ahead. HD games were yet to completely took and the 6h gen was still giving some fight with unique titles, maybe not as groundbreaking as the beginning of the generation but they were one thing: "Unique". Outlandish, without necessarily having a grandious scope. They were weird experiments that weren't afraid to have the weirdest of ideas. Basically God Hand is overall very unique and there is nothing like it, or at least that I know. The era it was made took a huge role on green-lighting projects like these that nowdays only indies and AA productions. killer7 was released a year prior God Hand just to give a quick example. Want more proof? Look at the description of the game.

God Hand is a difficult game. No, is challenging but also very difficult. As I said before, it gives you all the tools to take out the enemies in with customizable combos. It doesn't suggarcoat your experience unless you want to. In Resident Evil 4 there was a system working underneath at all that change the behiavor of the enemies dynamically to give further challenge to the player. This was done depending of how good you were at it. Same principles apply to God Hand, as long as you don't get hit too many times a bar at the bottom left will indicate whenever you level up or not. I'm going to be honest, at first I thought this "Level Up" bar indicated actually leveling up, attacks get stronger, you get faster, etc. Cave Story uses a similar system were if you get hit you start to lose power, thus making the weapons much less effective. I was so lost in that system that I even did some bosses on "Die", which is the final level of perfection were enemies smack half of your lifebar with a single slap. Don't be afraid to die if you need to and lower that bar. Take my word; this game is not hard once it clicks but is very challenging and demands a lot out of you. That is half of God Hand magic, it is very easy to get into but hard to master.

But I won't say is absolutely perfect, as it has some problems. I already listed one of them which is that it never proprerly explains what does that bar bellow serves for exactly. God Hand doesn't demand perfection, not at all. It demands control. Sometimes the camera acts wonky when there are more than 2 enemies on screen at the same time close to each other, however this doesn't happen too frequently. In larger levels such as the desert enemies can gank up on you attacking from all directions, specially enemies with swords. Tank controls for me are a deal breaker when fighting a large groups of enemies, again. However, 1v1 fights are perfect with tank controls. These were growing pains that I learned to accustomed as the game went on, but on certain occations when mixed all together they were just annoying in a otherwise sound experience.

God Hand feels like a game that could only be made in that era of comfort. You know, living in the moment. Like, you can spank women, send them flying or even gorilla suplex an actual gorilla with a lucha libre custome in the middle of a demonic castle. Reeks ridiculness of the highest quality, the tone is always humorous, whacky and chaotic. Making a sequel will probably be against for what this game was made for; living in the moment perfectly sealed in a safe bubble.