2023 Ranked
All the titles I finished in Oct 2022 to Oct 2023. Some games are replayed in 2023, so I don't rank them higher personally. Everything after #11 are honorable mentions. Including games not released in the current year. Why the weird cut in October?
Well to prevent recency bias. Feels a bit unfair for the games I played in the end to rank higher than the games I finished back in Quarter one of the year. So this is why I cut off my ranked games in October. This works out so any games released from October to December before the new year begins gets accurately judged instead of the tail end of the year they launched. Some examples where titles launched before the year ended are Chained Echoes and Omori. Bit unorthodox for me lol. Still I'm cool seeing games others enjoyed in the tail end before the year runs out.
A Note: None of the lower ranked games are bad. The ones in the lower rankings I simply see as having more flaws than strengths excluding the replays for me personally. Like ACVD I quite like for having features none of the other preceding or following games in the series has. YS 1 I like the music and think it holds up. And Front Mission Evolved seemed like an experimental mecha action game which is fun for what its worth. The rest above those entries I'll say similar praise.
Well to prevent recency bias. Feels a bit unfair for the games I played in the end to rank higher than the games I finished back in Quarter one of the year. So this is why I cut off my ranked games in October. This works out so any games released from October to December before the new year begins gets accurately judged instead of the tail end of the year they launched. Some examples where titles launched before the year ended are Chained Echoes and Omori. Bit unorthodox for me lol. Still I'm cool seeing games others enjoyed in the tail end before the year runs out.
A Note: None of the lower ranked games are bad. The ones in the lower rankings I simply see as having more flaws than strengths excluding the replays for me personally. Like ACVD I quite like for having features none of the other preceding or following games in the series has. YS 1 I like the music and think it holds up. And Front Mission Evolved seemed like an experimental mecha action game which is fun for what its worth. The rest above those entries I'll say similar praise.
34 Games
Not a perfect game by any means. But if I had to say one indie game out of the sea of indie's I've played thus far. Chained Echoes achieves maximum effect about what I love about Japanese Role-Playing games in general. And against all other game's I've played thus far from Oct. 2022 to Oct. 2023.
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Full of charm in the endearing characters not too boring while not being too complex to understand.
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Succeeds in giving a fresh, but still familiar combat system allowing players to make use of buffs/debuffs and go ham on crystal implementation for their equipment and don't get me started on the skills and abilities one can experiment with every single class. Seriously I was not left wanting. But satisfied to a degree I kept going further into the combat with a decent mecha component as well.
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Complemented well with a solid gameplay formula to explore off the beaten path for worthy sidequests and filling up my FF12esque reward board left me content to go about my day to day while taking a breather from the main story.
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Story took elements of my favorite JRPG of all time Xenogears, combining with the excellent pace of Chrono Trigger and sprinkles of influence of final fantasy leads to an unforgettable journey I still think about from time to time.
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If there is any game worthy of your attention to reinvigorate your love of JRPG's or if you want to try one as a gateway into the genre then let Chained Echoes be the one for you.
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Full of charm in the endearing characters not too boring while not being too complex to understand.
.
Succeeds in giving a fresh, but still familiar combat system allowing players to make use of buffs/debuffs and go ham on crystal implementation for their equipment and don't get me started on the skills and abilities one can experiment with every single class. Seriously I was not left wanting. But satisfied to a degree I kept going further into the combat with a decent mecha component as well.
.
Complemented well with a solid gameplay formula to explore off the beaten path for worthy sidequests and filling up my FF12esque reward board left me content to go about my day to day while taking a breather from the main story.
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Story took elements of my favorite JRPG of all time Xenogears, combining with the excellent pace of Chrono Trigger and sprinkles of influence of final fantasy leads to an unforgettable journey I still think about from time to time.
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If there is any game worthy of your attention to reinvigorate your love of JRPG's or if you want to try one as a gateway into the genre then let Chained Echoes be the one for you.
The start of 2023 started with a bang with Tango Gameworks rush of Hi-Fi. taking the world by storm. Announced on the same day it released, the simple, but moving story of how an idiot tries to take down a corporation was strangely weird, but satisfying.
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Despite, not a fan of the rhythm, yet against all odds, with the excellent accessibility settings inside I could go from a weakling in ryhthm to decent pro. Making my sad state turn a 180 in loving the rhthym combat. So Hell yeah!!
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Refreshingly endearing characters with a fun side-cast to boot. Sure they're not deep in the sea full of complexity, but the game as whole isn't trying to be like that. It's as subtle as the worldbuilding here.
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Where talking to the numerous bots of the vanderlay corporation revealed how the work culture is almost similar to ours in the real world. Over-worked. gossip between employees, and cut-throat practices. Behind all the smiles in ads, lies a viper's nest and I love how the game's artstyle reflects the bright colors to astound newcomers while hiding the deeper underbelly full of insidious people.
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Yet to its credit I felt there was a balance here in not being too depressing while being genuinely wittingly charming. Full of easter eggs/references and loving homages to past videogames. Not akin to a ready player one slapping you with references non-stop. They're integrated well here and elavate the writing as a whole imo.
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The boss fights were also pretty cool and I felt they didn't do copy paste formula's a whole bunch. In fact, I would say the fights work naturally and intertwined with the level design where it transitions from rhythm based combat into platforming sections.
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And as a whole. Hi-Fi Rush, was seriously my former #1. If I hadn't played Chained Echoes before, this title would've won the gold for me. And I encourage anyone who has never been in tune with rhythm based games to try this out. Watch how an idiot tries to take down a corporation. The results may surprise you.
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Despite, not a fan of the rhythm, yet against all odds, with the excellent accessibility settings inside I could go from a weakling in ryhthm to decent pro. Making my sad state turn a 180 in loving the rhthym combat. So Hell yeah!!
.
Refreshingly endearing characters with a fun side-cast to boot. Sure they're not deep in the sea full of complexity, but the game as whole isn't trying to be like that. It's as subtle as the worldbuilding here.
.
Where talking to the numerous bots of the vanderlay corporation revealed how the work culture is almost similar to ours in the real world. Over-worked. gossip between employees, and cut-throat practices. Behind all the smiles in ads, lies a viper's nest and I love how the game's artstyle reflects the bright colors to astound newcomers while hiding the deeper underbelly full of insidious people.
.
Yet to its credit I felt there was a balance here in not being too depressing while being genuinely wittingly charming. Full of easter eggs/references and loving homages to past videogames. Not akin to a ready player one slapping you with references non-stop. They're integrated well here and elavate the writing as a whole imo.
.
The boss fights were also pretty cool and I felt they didn't do copy paste formula's a whole bunch. In fact, I would say the fights work naturally and intertwined with the level design where it transitions from rhythm based combat into platforming sections.
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And as a whole. Hi-Fi Rush, was seriously my former #1. If I hadn't played Chained Echoes before, this title would've won the gold for me. And I encourage anyone who has never been in tune with rhythm based games to try this out. Watch how an idiot tries to take down a corporation. The results may surprise you.
Every single Final Fantasy game always has their fans and respectively a fair amount of well deserved critique. Yet for FFXVI I was astounded at the level of quality not just in sheer breath in the storytelling in delving deep into Clive's story, but also engrossing me in the world of Valisthea as a whole.
I was angry, sad, infuriated, tearful and so many more on the emotional spectrum to see how the state of affairs were between the commonfolk, bearers(slaves), and the richfolk. I was captivated by the heartwarming stories of bearer's working together while escaping their masters. Filled with so many stories to leave me reeling, yet to its credit the game isn't dark for the sake of it.
There is reason and purpose why each and every character moves and acts. And seeing Clive's journey from a young lad into something more was breathtaking to me. It was personal, brutal and without a doubt striking.
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Yes the game is another one that isn't perfect and while I could paste why i critique it among other's it doesn't diminish the strengths Yoshi-P and others strived to create.
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Evoking similar threads in narrative as Yasumi Matsuno(FFT, Vagrant Story, Tactics Ogre, FF12 director) championed. Where war isn't so much against good and evil, but about the hearts behind men and women behind their spells and swords to act based on their beliefs, values, morals etc.
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And I for one believe it deserves to stand beyond the splendor it tries to capture newcomers and veterans in a different way from their past predecessors. And I've played my fair share.
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In the end. FFXVI is an unforgettable journey. And I for one am bloody proud to die on this hill for it. While slashing at it at times to show the bloody marks of why i still struggle to think of it fondly.
I was angry, sad, infuriated, tearful and so many more on the emotional spectrum to see how the state of affairs were between the commonfolk, bearers(slaves), and the richfolk. I was captivated by the heartwarming stories of bearer's working together while escaping their masters. Filled with so many stories to leave me reeling, yet to its credit the game isn't dark for the sake of it.
There is reason and purpose why each and every character moves and acts. And seeing Clive's journey from a young lad into something more was breathtaking to me. It was personal, brutal and without a doubt striking.
.
Yes the game is another one that isn't perfect and while I could paste why i critique it among other's it doesn't diminish the strengths Yoshi-P and others strived to create.
.
Evoking similar threads in narrative as Yasumi Matsuno(FFT, Vagrant Story, Tactics Ogre, FF12 director) championed. Where war isn't so much against good and evil, but about the hearts behind men and women behind their spells and swords to act based on their beliefs, values, morals etc.
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And I for one believe it deserves to stand beyond the splendor it tries to capture newcomers and veterans in a different way from their past predecessors. And I've played my fair share.
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In the end. FFXVI is an unforgettable journey. And I for one am bloody proud to die on this hill for it. While slashing at it at times to show the bloody marks of why i still struggle to think of it fondly.
After playing Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story. I was very surprised to see how much Tactics Ogre Reborn holds up.
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If FFT was the Excalibur blade for FF stories I hold very fondly and Vagrant Story the underrated film everyone should see. Then Tactics Ogre is the bloody torn body while holding one the biggest smile I inhabit after finishing everything the game has to offer. After 150 hours I would say it is easily the most deep in crafting a rich world to dive into. A large cast to recruit various characters based on your decisions with a band of villainous evil people full of grey matters.
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While it can be deep and long to fully complete. Even playing one route has enough to grant i would say a nuanced picture in the story depicting war isn't pretty, and how the ramifications of those in power, those without power and those who struggle with power battle against one another. Where the principles of morals and just are tested time and time again without the confines of law and authority. Where outstanding circumstances find ourselves against our foes within our sights and ones behind our backs. All while following the eyes of our young trio of protagonists.
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yet the reward for finishing the game isn't I would say the most must see ending for everyone. To understand the entirety of TOR in a single sentence is something I struggle with today. And so I need paragraphs upon paragraphs to conjure why this deep SRPG stands amongst the greats of today.
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A final note: Post game I consider it to be one of the most satisfying to complete. I highly recommend it, but it's not for everyone I feel since players need to complete a long deep dungeon in episode 2 before getting to the good stuff in the later episodes where the post game truly shines.
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If FFT was the Excalibur blade for FF stories I hold very fondly and Vagrant Story the underrated film everyone should see. Then Tactics Ogre is the bloody torn body while holding one the biggest smile I inhabit after finishing everything the game has to offer. After 150 hours I would say it is easily the most deep in crafting a rich world to dive into. A large cast to recruit various characters based on your decisions with a band of villainous evil people full of grey matters.
.
While it can be deep and long to fully complete. Even playing one route has enough to grant i would say a nuanced picture in the story depicting war isn't pretty, and how the ramifications of those in power, those without power and those who struggle with power battle against one another. Where the principles of morals and just are tested time and time again without the confines of law and authority. Where outstanding circumstances find ourselves against our foes within our sights and ones behind our backs. All while following the eyes of our young trio of protagonists.
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yet the reward for finishing the game isn't I would say the most must see ending for everyone. To understand the entirety of TOR in a single sentence is something I struggle with today. And so I need paragraphs upon paragraphs to conjure why this deep SRPG stands amongst the greats of today.
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A final note: Post game I consider it to be one of the most satisfying to complete. I highly recommend it, but it's not for everyone I feel since players need to complete a long deep dungeon in episode 2 before getting to the good stuff in the later episodes where the post game truly shines.
5
Despite my mixed feelings on Signalis. Over the weeks and months following my review, I've come to appreciate it more. The retrotech sliced with cyberpunk-lite low poly survival horror with elements of lovecraft moved me deeply to think about it since finishing.
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Elster's journey to look for her gestalt partner Arriane isn't so much as moving as it is pieces the Studio Shaftesque sequences together to in the players eyes construct their own narrative while fleshing out a sci-fi world full of interesting worldbuilding of Replicants, totalitarianism and deep psychological themes makes this something I still struggle to convey to newcomers.
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Yet at its core with the newest update letting players take more than six items. Lies pretty cool puzzles to complete without being absurdly hard and enough exploration to get to your next objective. Filled with relatably endearing npc's to meet and greet. And has one of the most fascinating worldbuilding i've had the pleasure of reading inside. Seriously. There are so many theories and analysis I still haven't read, but I feel only scratches the bare surface of what Signalis is trying to convey.
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Does have multiple endings so players may need a walkthrough for that. But I think anyone who ever gives this one a shot has something beautiful to say about it. Beyond if its good or bad.
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For me Elster's journey was one hell of a struggle I found myself emotional and contemplative even now.
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Elster's journey to look for her gestalt partner Arriane isn't so much as moving as it is pieces the Studio Shaftesque sequences together to in the players eyes construct their own narrative while fleshing out a sci-fi world full of interesting worldbuilding of Replicants, totalitarianism and deep psychological themes makes this something I still struggle to convey to newcomers.
.
Yet at its core with the newest update letting players take more than six items. Lies pretty cool puzzles to complete without being absurdly hard and enough exploration to get to your next objective. Filled with relatably endearing npc's to meet and greet. And has one of the most fascinating worldbuilding i've had the pleasure of reading inside. Seriously. There are so many theories and analysis I still haven't read, but I feel only scratches the bare surface of what Signalis is trying to convey.
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Does have multiple endings so players may need a walkthrough for that. But I think anyone who ever gives this one a shot has something beautiful to say about it. Beyond if its good or bad.
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For me Elster's journey was one hell of a struggle I found myself emotional and contemplative even now.
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I never quite finished Chrono Cross back then. I tried multiple times, but the combat never really stuck so I threw it back on the backlog. Over the next several years in my life at various points I would try to see if I could actually pull through and continue to no avail. Finally the last time I did I think my 5th or 6th attempt the combat finally clicked and I was able to complete the game.
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I don't say this lightly, but I seriously think Chrono Cross is better than Chrono Trigger. While the latter has a phenomenal pacing structure with an awesome cast + set-pieces.
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The formers intrigue in exploring not just time travel. But dealing in alternates is a fascinating venture of mystery and more questions upon questions. I think its a bit of a harder pill to swallow for newcomers unused to the lore of Chrono. But I firmly believe the weighty ambitions the team tried to convey here succeeds in granting players a return to not just the chrono universe, but a fantastic sequel full of a large cast of characters to recruit ala suikoden style. Some you may not recruit in a first playthrough!.
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Featuring a very robust combat system that can go complex to deep for anyone to sink their teeth into. And lots of hidden sidequests and lore to unearth for not just the people you recruit, but also the people you meet throughout your journey.
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The soundtrack is breathtaking. Here's one of my favorites, exclusive to the radical dreamers edition. Seriously please listen to it. My god. I'd gush more, but I should stop for now hehe
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I don't say this lightly, but I seriously think Chrono Cross is better than Chrono Trigger. While the latter has a phenomenal pacing structure with an awesome cast + set-pieces.
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The formers intrigue in exploring not just time travel. But dealing in alternates is a fascinating venture of mystery and more questions upon questions. I think its a bit of a harder pill to swallow for newcomers unused to the lore of Chrono. But I firmly believe the weighty ambitions the team tried to convey here succeeds in granting players a return to not just the chrono universe, but a fantastic sequel full of a large cast of characters to recruit ala suikoden style. Some you may not recruit in a first playthrough!.
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Featuring a very robust combat system that can go complex to deep for anyone to sink their teeth into. And lots of hidden sidequests and lore to unearth for not just the people you recruit, but also the people you meet throughout your journey.
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The soundtrack is breathtaking. Here's one of my favorites, exclusive to the radical dreamers edition. Seriously please listen to it. My god. I'd gush more, but I should stop for now hehe
Ghost of Tsushima is my first Sucker Punch game I played from them and while they do re-use the ubisoft formula to some extent. The engrossing side stories you meet and help along the way are more than worthy of your time to peruse than wiping out yet another mongol stronghold.
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Jin's story is breathtaking and full of ups and downs. With nothing holding back the visceral judgement and actions of the Mongol Invasion. He faces so much hardship and mental burdens to uphold the tenets of being a Samurai and not.
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And it is this that gives so much weight to the story like a bloody anvil being dropped on our heads. It is HEAVY. Brutal. But most of all beautiful to witness. Easy must play for anyone into japanese history, samurai, or generally wants to try out a Sucker Punch game.
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Post game is also worth it. So please check out Ikki island.
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Jin's story is breathtaking and full of ups and downs. With nothing holding back the visceral judgement and actions of the Mongol Invasion. He faces so much hardship and mental burdens to uphold the tenets of being a Samurai and not.
.
And it is this that gives so much weight to the story like a bloody anvil being dropped on our heads. It is HEAVY. Brutal. But most of all beautiful to witness. Easy must play for anyone into japanese history, samurai, or generally wants to try out a Sucker Punch game.
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Post game is also worth it. So please check out Ikki island.
For a long time, I have wished for one game to give me a similar feeling of wonder and discovery as my time with Dark Souls 1. For years I have searched, and as the market filled with countless soul's-likes, I was still unsatisfied. Because they strive to fulfill different criteria of what makes a soul's-like truly great in varying degrees. Except for a single Indie RPG. Bleak Faith: Forsaken.
Made by 3 developers. And one I feel has nearly enough to stand next to Fromsoftware's beloved Soul's games for an indie RPG. Yet, the recent release has been unjustly, unfairly, and unreasonably panned by many users on the web for bugs and an Epic controversy. The former has been hyperbolized beyond disbelief and gatekeeping, while the latter is a rabbit hole; I'm not going to discuss it here.
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An interconnected world inspired by the likes of Blame! and Berserk in a nutshell.
- Interesting lore/worldbuilding in the Omnistructure
- lots of weapons, combat, skills
- Challenging boss-fights
- Shadow of the collossus-like enemies
- Lots of enemy variety
- Coop in the works
- No Iframes, but dev is working on it in the experimental build.
- Solid as heck music to get your heart pumping filled with tension and strength
Made by 3 developers. And one I feel has nearly enough to stand next to Fromsoftware's beloved Soul's games for an indie RPG. Yet, the recent release has been unjustly, unfairly, and unreasonably panned by many users on the web for bugs and an Epic controversy. The former has been hyperbolized beyond disbelief and gatekeeping, while the latter is a rabbit hole; I'm not going to discuss it here.
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An interconnected world inspired by the likes of Blame! and Berserk in a nutshell.
- Interesting lore/worldbuilding in the Omnistructure
- lots of weapons, combat, skills
- Challenging boss-fights
- Shadow of the collossus-like enemies
- Lots of enemy variety
- Coop in the works
- No Iframes, but dev is working on it in the experimental build.
- Solid as heck music to get your heart pumping filled with tension and strength
I've played a lot of mecha and ACVI once I was done with everything, nearly nails every single category of what I look for not just in the mech genre, but Armored Core as a whole. Easy must play for any mecha fan or gateway into the genre or AC series.
- Kota Hoshino is back composing the OST among others
- Major improvements from QOL, accessibility to story in how ACVI is presented
- Stronger than usual story from past AC games
- Plays superbly smooth even on my PS4pro
- Has a lot of content, with postgame being an absolute banger
- Strong mission variety and content inside with arena.
- Combat and customizing AC is fun and not a steep cliff for newcomers
- Voice actors hitting all the right notes with plenty of moments in missions where they shine. Rusty I love you man!
- Kota Hoshino is back composing the OST among others
- Major improvements from QOL, accessibility to story in how ACVI is presented
- Stronger than usual story from past AC games
- Plays superbly smooth even on my PS4pro
- Has a lot of content, with postgame being an absolute banger
- Strong mission variety and content inside with arena.
- Combat and customizing AC is fun and not a steep cliff for newcomers
- Voice actors hitting all the right notes with plenty of moments in missions where they shine. Rusty I love you man!
Baldur's Gate 1 + the expansion siege of dragonspear I was glad I finally got around to after hearing the name constantly over the crpg grapevine.
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While the mods elevated the game greatly. I still firmly believe even without mods I played with holds a fascinating rpg to playthrough.
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The forgotten realms universe is big and honestly I didn't know the Chris Pine film was connected to the DnD world. So my excitement to play skyrocketed once I saw familiar topics like red wizards, sword coast, baldur's gate, oh and icewind dale!
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Filled with a large amount of characters to recruit and stopping the constant attacks on your party.
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The journey through Sword Coast with your allies were filled with nothing but joy laughter, amusement, sadness, anger and so many other wonderful emotions.
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Looking forward to BG2 + the expansion. Then I can finally move on to the big blockbuster BG3 yahoo!
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While the mods elevated the game greatly. I still firmly believe even without mods I played with holds a fascinating rpg to playthrough.
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The forgotten realms universe is big and honestly I didn't know the Chris Pine film was connected to the DnD world. So my excitement to play skyrocketed once I saw familiar topics like red wizards, sword coast, baldur's gate, oh and icewind dale!
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Filled with a large amount of characters to recruit and stopping the constant attacks on your party.
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The journey through Sword Coast with your allies were filled with nothing but joy laughter, amusement, sadness, anger and so many other wonderful emotions.
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Looking forward to BG2 + the expansion. Then I can finally move on to the big blockbuster BG3 yahoo!
its been 84 years since I last played a spider-man game. Only the ps1 games. And Insomniac took my nostalgia for the webcrawler and said. "Welcome back old friend, lets get you swinging"
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And BOY OH BOY. Was it a masterful return. The webslinging is such a joy i barely used fast travel at all. And while the devs did use repetitive ubisoft formula in the form of mob outposts and random crime waves popping up. The story punches to the heavyweight class granting newcomers and veterans one of the most emotionally charged Spider-man stories I've witnessed to date.
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And I F%^&$%ing love Spider-man. He is one of my first childhood superheroes along with Wolverine I got from my parents when I was a young lad. And it's been such a journey seeing him from the 90's spider-man tv show. The raimi trilogy(im still weirded out Maguire still gets webs from his...well wrist... but regardless) I love those films so much.
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Then we had the Webb duology with garfield and stone and ghjifehiuofyheuw i love those two so much and how it returned back to Pete's roots with gadgets. girlfriend gwen and so much more. Sure it has its fair share of problems, but I still like those films.
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Then BAM new story again with the watt trilogy and good lord one of those films being the last one hitting my all time top 5 favorite spidey films.
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Don't get me started on the spider-verse films. God damn Miles is such a refreshing character I love already and I cannot wait for the sequel!
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While I haven't delved a lot in the comics I do take a peek occasionally so to hear a character assassination of a beloved individual by the name of some schmuck by Paul nearly had me in conniptions. I still love the canon Peter Parker.
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And insomniac's new story of him is fresh, while hitting the nostalgia of everything I love about the webhead.
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- dude doesn't care who you are. He saves anyone on the streets.
- his constant jokes, provide great commentary to take out the seriousness of battles.
- his inner parker is a loveable nerdy dork I love and I absolutely adore his relationship with MJ and how he supports her and she equally does so in so many moments too. Goodness by the one above all im gushing so much. But to close I still think the miles morales followup is a excellent entry before Spider-man 2. And also the DLC from 2018 Marvel's spider-man is a good post game from the ending on the base story.
- Before I forget Spider-man 2 isn't on this list since I played it in October. So that'll be for the 2024 ranked list. But suffice it to say I quite love that entry a lot and while it does have its fair share of problems. The essence of Spider-man remains beautifully intact while again taking inspiration from past Spidey films and comic lore to new and fresh heights. Without a shadow of doubt a must-play for any web fans.
.
And BOY OH BOY. Was it a masterful return. The webslinging is such a joy i barely used fast travel at all. And while the devs did use repetitive ubisoft formula in the form of mob outposts and random crime waves popping up. The story punches to the heavyweight class granting newcomers and veterans one of the most emotionally charged Spider-man stories I've witnessed to date.
.
And I F%^&$%ing love Spider-man. He is one of my first childhood superheroes along with Wolverine I got from my parents when I was a young lad. And it's been such a journey seeing him from the 90's spider-man tv show. The raimi trilogy(im still weirded out Maguire still gets webs from his...well wrist... but regardless) I love those films so much.
.
Then we had the Webb duology with garfield and stone and ghjifehiuofyheuw i love those two so much and how it returned back to Pete's roots with gadgets. girlfriend gwen and so much more. Sure it has its fair share of problems, but I still like those films.
.
Then BAM new story again with the watt trilogy and good lord one of those films being the last one hitting my all time top 5 favorite spidey films.
.
Don't get me started on the spider-verse films. God damn Miles is such a refreshing character I love already and I cannot wait for the sequel!
.
While I haven't delved a lot in the comics I do take a peek occasionally so to hear a character assassination of a beloved individual by the name of some schmuck by Paul nearly had me in conniptions. I still love the canon Peter Parker.
.
And insomniac's new story of him is fresh, while hitting the nostalgia of everything I love about the webhead.
.
- dude doesn't care who you are. He saves anyone on the streets.
- his constant jokes, provide great commentary to take out the seriousness of battles.
- his inner parker is a loveable nerdy dork I love and I absolutely adore his relationship with MJ and how he supports her and she equally does so in so many moments too. Goodness by the one above all im gushing so much. But to close I still think the miles morales followup is a excellent entry before Spider-man 2. And also the DLC from 2018 Marvel's spider-man is a good post game from the ending on the base story.
- Before I forget Spider-man 2 isn't on this list since I played it in October. So that'll be for the 2024 ranked list. But suffice it to say I quite love that entry a lot and while it does have its fair share of problems. The essence of Spider-man remains beautifully intact while again taking inspiration from past Spidey films and comic lore to new and fresh heights. Without a shadow of doubt a must-play for any web fans.
My first foray into the MGS series was revengeance then ground zeroes followed by phantom pain. So it was a welcome suprise to start with the PS1 metal gear solid only to learn its not technically the first in the timeline.
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Yet here I was astounded how much I enjoyed the tactical espionage on the ps1. One thing I really love is how the game isn't too long or too short. There's just enough here to welcome newcomers or veterans.
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And while i think the backtracking and some more mixed feelings I had hold it back from a 9 or 10. I firmly believe this is one of those games everyone should play before you die.
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the amount of awesome cutscenes rendered on a ps1 still boggles my mind and the fluid voice-acting throughout not only from the main cast but villains i think elevate the game as a whole.
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Yet here I was astounded how much I enjoyed the tactical espionage on the ps1. One thing I really love is how the game isn't too long or too short. There's just enough here to welcome newcomers or veterans.
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And while i think the backtracking and some more mixed feelings I had hold it back from a 9 or 10. I firmly believe this is one of those games everyone should play before you die.
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the amount of awesome cutscenes rendered on a ps1 still boggles my mind and the fluid voice-acting throughout not only from the main cast but villains i think elevate the game as a whole.
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13
Not usually an FPS or 3rdPS fan. But I usually like to dabble in the genre whenever a story is worth it or the world fascinates me.
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I completely forgot you can literally jump into a mech here. So Hello Titanfall 2 I'm dropping in hot!
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This was seriously a fun mecha, parkour, fps other worldly planet game. Yup.
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Ever since playing mirrors edge I have a slight preference for mobility and this one excels to a degree I found reminscient of ghostrunner as well. Where you can run alongside walls to jump between walls to melee or run to your objective. Its not janky, not slow at all, or filled with bugs.
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I was fluidly blitzing my way across dead enemies while evading and jumping on my jetpack to my delight then hurrying back to my buddy BT to ride alongside him to mow down other titans. It is such a simple, but fun chaotic repetive formula i never got tired of.
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Accentuating the fun gameplay Respawn added cool level design and structures where you have a mix of open and linear segments in jungles factories and desert location biomes. So you're not left in the dust filled with copy paste areas.
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One level in particular nearly took my eyebrows beyond my hairline in shock and joy. I won't say what it is explicitly but once I had finished the level I couldn't help but make this game into something I shout from the rooftops for any fps fan or newcomer to play. Seriously Respawn are off their rocker for putting that kinda level here and it. Just. Works. Magnificently. I'm a huge sucker for that element too. God damn.
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Before I forget, the story is actually pretty decent and tugged on my heart quite a bit. Wish we can get a sequel someday... Cmon Respawn stop on apex legends a bit...
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I completely forgot you can literally jump into a mech here. So Hello Titanfall 2 I'm dropping in hot!
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This was seriously a fun mecha, parkour, fps other worldly planet game. Yup.
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Ever since playing mirrors edge I have a slight preference for mobility and this one excels to a degree I found reminscient of ghostrunner as well. Where you can run alongside walls to jump between walls to melee or run to your objective. Its not janky, not slow at all, or filled with bugs.
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I was fluidly blitzing my way across dead enemies while evading and jumping on my jetpack to my delight then hurrying back to my buddy BT to ride alongside him to mow down other titans. It is such a simple, but fun chaotic repetive formula i never got tired of.
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Accentuating the fun gameplay Respawn added cool level design and structures where you have a mix of open and linear segments in jungles factories and desert location biomes. So you're not left in the dust filled with copy paste areas.
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One level in particular nearly took my eyebrows beyond my hairline in shock and joy. I won't say what it is explicitly but once I had finished the level I couldn't help but make this game into something I shout from the rooftops for any fps fan or newcomer to play. Seriously Respawn are off their rocker for putting that kinda level here and it. Just. Works. Magnificently. I'm a huge sucker for that element too. God damn.
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Before I forget, the story is actually pretty decent and tugged on my heart quite a bit. Wish we can get a sequel someday... Cmon Respawn stop on apex legends a bit...
14
I haven't played another supergiant game for i think close to a decade since bastion. I remember when totalbiscuit was still alive and he was talking about bastion. So I decided to try it out. And loved it too! Years later I heard he sadly passed away and honestly my love for indies took a hiatus.
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Years pass and slowly I came back to love indies once more. And thus my journey began to see what else I missed in Supergiant's library. And voila Transistor!
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Turnbased sci fi action/adventure. Wow was this quite a refreshing title. The cyberpunk world oozes with a malicious corporate atmosphere filled with evil robots hellbent in destroying our protagonist Red who recently lost her voice and her badass talking electronic greatsword. Yeah you heard it right. A BIG TALKING GREATSWORD.
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I don't know what else you could sell newcomers on except that bit of detail. And honestly the story surprised me a great deal. I was content by the time the end credits rolled around. And I think the music helped a lot in moving you from a new location to another with varied boss battles and new enemies to face. Along with a robust combat system and skill tree to choose from.
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Easy must play from me and im looking forward to playing Pyre before trying a some greek name called Hades? Looks interesting...
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Years pass and slowly I came back to love indies once more. And thus my journey began to see what else I missed in Supergiant's library. And voila Transistor!
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Turnbased sci fi action/adventure. Wow was this quite a refreshing title. The cyberpunk world oozes with a malicious corporate atmosphere filled with evil robots hellbent in destroying our protagonist Red who recently lost her voice and her badass talking electronic greatsword. Yeah you heard it right. A BIG TALKING GREATSWORD.
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I don't know what else you could sell newcomers on except that bit of detail. And honestly the story surprised me a great deal. I was content by the time the end credits rolled around. And I think the music helped a lot in moving you from a new location to another with varied boss battles and new enemies to face. Along with a robust combat system and skill tree to choose from.
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Easy must play from me and im looking forward to playing Pyre before trying a some greek name called Hades? Looks interesting...
My earliest memories of playing Risk of Rain(RoR) 1 was back in college with some buddies of mine. I have a hate/love relationship with roguelikes in general. And RoR thankfully is in the love category.
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Not too hard but not too easy. The sequel is pretty much a 3D version of the first game while adding enough mutations, items, classes + dlc to differentiate itself enough to stand on its own. I'm usually leery of trying genre shifts from a beloved game I enjoyed. But I couldn't believe how wrong I was to think of that.
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ROR2 is bloody fun and runs were never too punishing while being really exhilerating once you gain momentum. OST slaps and honestly if you can play the game with others like friends and family. Holy moly yall are in for one hell of a good time. My buddy and I were neck deep in this game trying to get to the end while trying out new classes and we didn't tire until after 30 hours later lol.
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Game has a rich mod community where you can add in League of legend characters, goku, anime characters and so many custom classes like a freakin paladin ayyyy. Seriously please check it out.
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Not too hard but not too easy. The sequel is pretty much a 3D version of the first game while adding enough mutations, items, classes + dlc to differentiate itself enough to stand on its own. I'm usually leery of trying genre shifts from a beloved game I enjoyed. But I couldn't believe how wrong I was to think of that.
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ROR2 is bloody fun and runs were never too punishing while being really exhilerating once you gain momentum. OST slaps and honestly if you can play the game with others like friends and family. Holy moly yall are in for one hell of a good time. My buddy and I were neck deep in this game trying to get to the end while trying out new classes and we didn't tire until after 30 hours later lol.
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Game has a rich mod community where you can add in League of legend characters, goku, anime characters and so many custom classes like a freakin paladin ayyyy. Seriously please check it out.
I rarely play metroidvania's. So I don't have a lot of experience in the genre as a whole with only the castlevania from sotn, harmony, circle and aria under my belt. Metroid prime 1 too. So to play another one. And this time an indie metroidvania in a dark fantasy setting. Where you essentially play as a summoner intrigued me.
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The OST is gorgeous filled with ambient piano tracks that beautifully capture the melancholy atmosphere Ender Lilies conveys.
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The gameplay of collecting different souls from bosses, then using then in your attack arsenal by summoning is a mechanic i didn't tire since you can mix-match different spirits together along with adding some items to augment you passives like jumps, dash and other benefits.
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Story surprised me a great deal. I expected to be depressed throughout, instead I was feeling invigorated to keep going and going as I defeated each new boss to purify the land of blight. And oh my goly the ending is worth it, especially the true ending.
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The OST is gorgeous filled with ambient piano tracks that beautifully capture the melancholy atmosphere Ender Lilies conveys.
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The gameplay of collecting different souls from bosses, then using then in your attack arsenal by summoning is a mechanic i didn't tire since you can mix-match different spirits together along with adding some items to augment you passives like jumps, dash and other benefits.
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Story surprised me a great deal. I expected to be depressed throughout, instead I was feeling invigorated to keep going and going as I defeated each new boss to purify the land of blight. And oh my goly the ending is worth it, especially the true ending.
17
Feels weird to link my review. So I'm going against the mold and linking my good friend QuietGamers review on Atomic Heart.
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Where I feel they do a bloody fantastic job hitting the introduction of why the game was getting so much buzz when it released. Seriously. Here's an excerpt.
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"Atomic Heart has had one of the odder receptions in recent memory for me. Like, despite appearing to have an overall pretty positive reputation, it also seems as though just about every time I see it brought up online it's usually in a very negative context. I feel that's because crapping on it has kind of become the average internet user's way of virtue signaling. At first it was due to the war in Ukraine, but since a lot of mainstream media has since quieted down on that and everybody has sort of forgotten about it (uh, hey, that's still going on you guys), now it's the result of the ballerina twins. A bit strange considering what a small part of the game they actually are. "oH nOeS, tHe RoBoTs HaVe TiTtiEs!" is such a hollow, obviously disingenuous criticism coming from the same people who the biggest complaint they have concerning Resident Evil Village is that it didn't give them enough new Lady Dimitrescu wank material, and whose typical Bayonetta review reads like "nggghnn, sexy tall dominatrix librarian mommy, pls step on me!!! 😫😫😫💦💦💦". Y'all's hypocrisy is astounding."
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Perfect to capture viewers and one I can't help but nod constantly at how succinct and bluntly they point out the underlying topics associated with it. A lot of which I agree with.
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Personally I think people should give Atomic Heart a chance for giving us a different blend of Russian Fallout in a fps gameplay of an alternate world history setting with cool powers and interesting conversations inside. One of which I enjoyed were the philosophical conversations our protaganist has with his a.i. glove companion charles. Yes a talking glove. I kid you not lol.
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Hits the ceiling of what I was talking about with Bleak Faith: Forsaken. To not judge a book by its cover by what the masses were saying(And by this I mean those who meme the game constantly and only played less than 2 hours to judge in their eyes what the game is about). But to try it out genuinely and see what you think of it by the end. Even if you think it was bad. At least you finished the game and explained why.
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Where I feel they do a bloody fantastic job hitting the introduction of why the game was getting so much buzz when it released. Seriously. Here's an excerpt.
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"Atomic Heart has had one of the odder receptions in recent memory for me. Like, despite appearing to have an overall pretty positive reputation, it also seems as though just about every time I see it brought up online it's usually in a very negative context. I feel that's because crapping on it has kind of become the average internet user's way of virtue signaling. At first it was due to the war in Ukraine, but since a lot of mainstream media has since quieted down on that and everybody has sort of forgotten about it (uh, hey, that's still going on you guys), now it's the result of the ballerina twins. A bit strange considering what a small part of the game they actually are. "oH nOeS, tHe RoBoTs HaVe TiTtiEs!" is such a hollow, obviously disingenuous criticism coming from the same people who the biggest complaint they have concerning Resident Evil Village is that it didn't give them enough new Lady Dimitrescu wank material, and whose typical Bayonetta review reads like "nggghnn, sexy tall dominatrix librarian mommy, pls step on me!!! 😫😫😫💦💦💦". Y'all's hypocrisy is astounding."
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Perfect to capture viewers and one I can't help but nod constantly at how succinct and bluntly they point out the underlying topics associated with it. A lot of which I agree with.
.
Personally I think people should give Atomic Heart a chance for giving us a different blend of Russian Fallout in a fps gameplay of an alternate world history setting with cool powers and interesting conversations inside. One of which I enjoyed were the philosophical conversations our protaganist has with his a.i. glove companion charles. Yes a talking glove. I kid you not lol.
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Hits the ceiling of what I was talking about with Bleak Faith: Forsaken. To not judge a book by its cover by what the masses were saying(And by this I mean those who meme the game constantly and only played less than 2 hours to judge in their eyes what the game is about). But to try it out genuinely and see what you think of it by the end. Even if you think it was bad. At least you finished the game and explained why.
One super refreshing new kid from Brooklyn on the block! I'll style this in a form of Pro vs. Con in honor of Genki & Miles.
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Pros:
+ New protag with new fun powers
+ Supportive family/friends
+ Fresh vibes, fresh suit, fresh community as Spider-man(too) takes a more active role within his city and back at him
+ Quality side-content and better execution here than the 2018 Marvel Spider-man(not all, just some)
+ Smooth game with no egregious bugs or crashes.
+ fun gameplay with a new character and cool suits like spider-verse.
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Cons:
- Lacking on the villains depth with formulaic reveals
- Boss fights are rinse and repeat engagements without much elements to make them memorable or engaging
- Main villain is pretty predictable and feels too forced(imo) against our protaganist
- Short length on story when priced at original MSRP at $50 currently as of the current date this list was published.
- Repetitive mission structure to go into hideouts and back. Not much variation
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I never made a review for this after finishing the game twice, since I am still struggling on my overall feelings about the whole game. Despite the fact I've read a good chunk of reviews here loving miles morales. And I super love that. Although for me I think its only a 7 or 6 out of 10. A decent spider-man entry and I think holds weight. Despite my mixed feelings I love Miles. Dude is such a refreshing character to Peter. Just a lot of gameplay and underthehood writing left me pretty ehhhh on.
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Pros:
+ New protag with new fun powers
+ Supportive family/friends
+ Fresh vibes, fresh suit, fresh community as Spider-man(too) takes a more active role within his city and back at him
+ Quality side-content and better execution here than the 2018 Marvel Spider-man(not all, just some)
+ Smooth game with no egregious bugs or crashes.
+ fun gameplay with a new character and cool suits like spider-verse.
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Cons:
- Lacking on the villains depth with formulaic reveals
- Boss fights are rinse and repeat engagements without much elements to make them memorable or engaging
- Main villain is pretty predictable and feels too forced(imo) against our protaganist
- Short length on story when priced at original MSRP at $50 currently as of the current date this list was published.
- Repetitive mission structure to go into hideouts and back. Not much variation
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I never made a review for this after finishing the game twice, since I am still struggling on my overall feelings about the whole game. Despite the fact I've read a good chunk of reviews here loving miles morales. And I super love that. Although for me I think its only a 7 or 6 out of 10. A decent spider-man entry and I think holds weight. Despite my mixed feelings I love Miles. Dude is such a refreshing character to Peter. Just a lot of gameplay and underthehood writing left me pretty ehhhh on.
Three Hopes musuo back in the land of three houses filled me with a nostalgic delight to return back to Fodlan. And I am thrilled to say those who were hungry for more supports, hidden backstories and lore will find no shortage here.
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Three routes in an alternate universe from the canon timeline delves into the war in three different angles all of which has unique events and cutscenes, and exclusive people attached.
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A more high quality musuo i've ever played since the supports help a lot in not making players too tired from the rinse and repeat cleaning up mobs of enemies.
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sure it has its share of problems, yet I think these issues doesn't diminish the games strengths in providing a extra content to dig into for those still left wanting from Three Houses.
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And hey you can recruit gatekeeper here ya know! But only after you finish some routes. So oof.
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Three routes in an alternate universe from the canon timeline delves into the war in three different angles all of which has unique events and cutscenes, and exclusive people attached.
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A more high quality musuo i've ever played since the supports help a lot in not making players too tired from the rinse and repeat cleaning up mobs of enemies.
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sure it has its share of problems, yet I think these issues doesn't diminish the games strengths in providing a extra content to dig into for those still left wanting from Three Houses.
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And hey you can recruit gatekeeper here ya know! But only after you finish some routes. So oof.
20
Ah Ghostrunner. Forbes called the game a mix of “Titanfall, Dishonored, and Superhot.” PC Gamer says it's in between “Mirror's Edge and Dishonored.” For me, add Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance to the above, and bam you have Ghostrunner. I’ve played all of those above Well… Dishonored I still need to finish but that’s neither here nor there.
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After an assassination mission gone wrong, you jack the protagonist must climb dharma tower to defeat the keymaster. The one who kicked your butt back to ground zero. So climb the cyberpunk apartment buildings weirdly attached with smoked industrial factories while you run-gun-slash-parkour your way to the top.
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Fun gameplay with cool accessibility settings to make life easier for players to not die in one hit while making the game speed slower to react.
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This was a fun short linearish action parkour shooter/slasher. Wish it had more content here since the game's length is quite short. According to hltb the average completion of only the base game is 7 hours. I completed it in 5.30 hours. So you can see why I wish there was more done here. The few boss battles in comparison to the platforming and killing all enemies sections had a disproportionate balance too.
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Makes me wonder if Ghostrunner 2 solved me problems in the first one... hmmm... Still a fun game to play. Just wait on a sale so you can get more bang for you buck
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After an assassination mission gone wrong, you jack the protagonist must climb dharma tower to defeat the keymaster. The one who kicked your butt back to ground zero. So climb the cyberpunk apartment buildings weirdly attached with smoked industrial factories while you run-gun-slash-parkour your way to the top.
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Fun gameplay with cool accessibility settings to make life easier for players to not die in one hit while making the game speed slower to react.
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This was a fun short linearish action parkour shooter/slasher. Wish it had more content here since the game's length is quite short. According to hltb the average completion of only the base game is 7 hours. I completed it in 5.30 hours. So you can see why I wish there was more done here. The few boss battles in comparison to the platforming and killing all enemies sections had a disproportionate balance too.
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Makes me wonder if Ghostrunner 2 solved me problems in the first one... hmmm... Still a fun game to play. Just wait on a sale so you can get more bang for you buck
The final DLC for XC3 I was very worried if it will be just as good as the previous dlc content. So I am beyond glad to report it does. Filled with enough references, callbacks, connections to the prior titles I've played and exceeds them to provide returning fans a loveable new cast of characters and sending us off with one of the best endings the series has to offer.
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Must play for any xeno fan, but sadly i rank it lower here since honestly its hard to put at the top 10 when people need to play XC1 + Future connected. XC2 + torna. And XC3. With bonus points though not required for those who played xenogears and xenosaga trilogy. So thats more than 150-300 hours on average just for the blade games alone. And that's not something i expect for everyone. Hence why I rank future redeemed lower in my 2023 rankings. Still a lovely game and I am patiently waiting for whatever else takahashi-san has in store for us xeno fans.
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Must play for any xeno fan, but sadly i rank it lower here since honestly its hard to put at the top 10 when people need to play XC1 + Future connected. XC2 + torna. And XC3. With bonus points though not required for those who played xenogears and xenosaga trilogy. So thats more than 150-300 hours on average just for the blade games alone. And that's not something i expect for everyone. Hence why I rank future redeemed lower in my 2023 rankings. Still a lovely game and I am patiently waiting for whatever else takahashi-san has in store for us xeno fans.
This is the tenth game in the trails series from the legend of heroes ip.
To play this entry a fan needs to play:
Sky FC
Sky SC
Sky 3rd
Zero
Azure
CS1
CS2
CS3
CS4
Then you finally have permission and knowledge to play Reverie. Hundreds of hours to get through and I most certainly DO NOT recommend starting with the tenth entry since it spoils quite a lot from the preceding games before. It is for this reason alone I cannot in good conscience put it in my top ten. Yet I an content to see it for others. Hell yeah!
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With that said I enjoyed the tenth entry a lot. Filled with one of the series best gameplay and numerous characters to utilize during combat. Entering in my personal top 5 of all Trails games
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The reverie portion where you play in a long dungeon was fun too with interesting lore bits and npc conversations.
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I never made a review on this game personally since I think i would have to heavily redact A LOT from the storybits. So I appreciate every single review the game has here on backloggd. Super lovely to see. Personally I can only afford to give it a 8 out of 10 for me. .
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Some mixed feelings I had with some setpieces inside taking my suspension of disbelief into the stratosphere. Blasting it away like how team rocket does from Pokemon.
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This ties into the execution of some events in the story where I feel its too wishfulfilment at times and most egregiously likes to not fully go deep enough into consequence and having the ramifications of them stick. I hope that's vague enough to say without going to any concrete details. If not lemme know and ill change it to be more spoiler friendly to say.
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Lastly the post game was good, but overall another of my mixed feelings here yet again re-using copy paste enemies and content where I couldn't help but shake my head constantly at the reveals. Was very disappointed to see honestly.
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Still what remains here for newcomers is still a solid entry, and I hope my mixed feelings don't deter any veteran fan in the series.
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Reverie is another victory lap just as 3rd was back in the Sky trilogy. 3 paths converge well enough to create enough excitement, tension and most of all thrilling payoffs. The new characters are no slouches either, while some could use more screen time, it doesn’t diminish their impact when the game develops them enough to the point of making me care about them. OST is solid. As fantastic as the previous entries. Gameplay is really peak and speaks volumes when I love it just as 3rd & CS4. In terms of gameplay. Story I think could be better. Some story beats were good, but certain beats in the narrative did hamper my feelings along with an ehhh post game. Still a satisfying swan song to end the coldsteel and crossbell era’s. And the post game epilogue provides enough of a tease leaving me hungry for the next arc in the trails series.
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To the Calvard we go! Daybreak awaits!
To play this entry a fan needs to play:
Sky FC
Sky SC
Sky 3rd
Zero
Azure
CS1
CS2
CS3
CS4
Then you finally have permission and knowledge to play Reverie. Hundreds of hours to get through and I most certainly DO NOT recommend starting with the tenth entry since it spoils quite a lot from the preceding games before. It is for this reason alone I cannot in good conscience put it in my top ten. Yet I an content to see it for others. Hell yeah!
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With that said I enjoyed the tenth entry a lot. Filled with one of the series best gameplay and numerous characters to utilize during combat. Entering in my personal top 5 of all Trails games
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The reverie portion where you play in a long dungeon was fun too with interesting lore bits and npc conversations.
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I never made a review on this game personally since I think i would have to heavily redact A LOT from the storybits. So I appreciate every single review the game has here on backloggd. Super lovely to see. Personally I can only afford to give it a 8 out of 10 for me. .
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Some mixed feelings I had with some setpieces inside taking my suspension of disbelief into the stratosphere. Blasting it away like how team rocket does from Pokemon.
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This ties into the execution of some events in the story where I feel its too wishfulfilment at times and most egregiously likes to not fully go deep enough into consequence and having the ramifications of them stick. I hope that's vague enough to say without going to any concrete details. If not lemme know and ill change it to be more spoiler friendly to say.
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Lastly the post game was good, but overall another of my mixed feelings here yet again re-using copy paste enemies and content where I couldn't help but shake my head constantly at the reveals. Was very disappointed to see honestly.
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Still what remains here for newcomers is still a solid entry, and I hope my mixed feelings don't deter any veteran fan in the series.
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Reverie is another victory lap just as 3rd was back in the Sky trilogy. 3 paths converge well enough to create enough excitement, tension and most of all thrilling payoffs. The new characters are no slouches either, while some could use more screen time, it doesn’t diminish their impact when the game develops them enough to the point of making me care about them. OST is solid. As fantastic as the previous entries. Gameplay is really peak and speaks volumes when I love it just as 3rd & CS4. In terms of gameplay. Story I think could be better. Some story beats were good, but certain beats in the narrative did hamper my feelings along with an ehhh post game. Still a satisfying swan song to end the coldsteel and crossbell era’s. And the post game epilogue provides enough of a tease leaving me hungry for the next arc in the trails series.
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To the Calvard we go! Daybreak awaits!
23
Ever since playing Signalis. I've been in a kick to play more horror games and increase my experience in the genre. So it is with great regret I never made a review after finishing Parasite Eve.
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One of the hardest things everytime I review something is how it stacks up to my rating scale. And usually I teter between a 7 and 8. What separates 7 and 8 easily for me is flaws the game has. With 8 having more strengths than flaws. While 7s still has a decent amount of strengths with a respectable amount of flaws.
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Parasite Eve(PE) has a lot of strengths, but a couple of flaws especially one so important I feel drags the game very hard for me to accurately judge it fairly.
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The running speed. Man It's slow and I'm glad I played this via emulation. To whoever played this title normally i salute you.
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The 2nd flaw. Throughout the entirety of PE. Every single piece of text says mitochondria wayyyy too much with added elipses. And as someone who loves to read text, I thought this aspect nearly soured everything PE stood for.
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God damn. I kid you not i started counting how many times the dialogue boxes would say mitochondria and seriously I was reaching 50+ to a hundred I feel. Where is the sprinkle of nuance in getting to know our protagonist. Any other's in the police department. Lore without going back again to mitochondria. And sure it does do a good job unveiling why mitochondria is important, but I felt it was too predictable and formulaic in the writing to expect yet another mitochondria to pop up.
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AHHHHHHHHHHHHH Its sooooooooooooooooooooooo blatant as if no one proofread the text to take it out.
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And to play devil's advocate in favor for the usage of the word. I think it works to keep the players attention on why mitochondria is such an important and vital aspect of the storytelling. It is difficult to understand and this is the reason why the devs continue to bring it back to the forefront of our eyes every single time.
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I. Get. That. I respect it. And I think i can see why the dev's decided to callback to mitochondria a lot during the gameplay and narrative. I can't go out in the streets and ask someone what is mitochondria? And im not sure every person could answer me a textbook answer without resorting to "can't you google that." Making it a difficult concept to digest for any newcomers. And this is the sole reason why i cannot fully make a review on the game. I feel i'll judge it too harshly and seeing all the other fabulous reviews here on the site where some of my friends wrote on it. Pains me beyond all else. to write a negative review on one aspect.
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And honestly I'm not going to do that especially if they love the game dearly while I tear it a new one. Just no. So this is why im saying it here. As a bloody reminder unofficially. Phew.
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But also I just don't have enough words to confidently publish a review. Its why PE and miles morales stuff I already wrote is still sitting in my google docs lol. I want to accurately write about a game fairly without judging a game too hard unless they deserves it. coughs ACV & ACVD. Emphasizing strengths and equally adding suggestions to improve.
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With all that said I'm going to praise the S$%t out of the game.
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Combat is sick. As a shooter jrpg. I expected well a slow game compared to my time playing koudelka. So I was pleasantly surprised to note how controlling Aya and shooting from pistols, shotguns, smg's simply works. Even emulating a similar circular reticle around the enemy ala Vagrant Story. There is a tactical aspect in running away while recharging the ATB and you can slot a decent amount of upgrades on any weapon to give it a buff like fire or cold element. Armor pieces are also possible to augment as well.
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Levels never overstayed their welcome either with some short, medium to mediumishly long dungeons to traverse and find loot before mosing back to your main objective. Some puzzles are here too with none of them being headbangingly difficult to the wall.
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Boss battles are well to put it simply horrifying. the FMV sequence where a monster mutates beyond their original form then battling it leaves me in chills due to how disgusting they are. Yikes! Like my morale is dropping!
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OST by the legendary Yoko Shimomura(KH OST fame among other notable JRPG's like FFXV). Is absolutely crazy good. Sure there are some melancholic pieces, but besides those are some great piano, ambient and atmospheric pieces to send me into a gentle wave.
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Story after receiving all the mitochondria shots to my brain surprised me by the end. I was expecting it to be quite depressing, but instead I was treated to something else, but suffice it to say I like it. And also the post game ending as well. Which I encourage anyone to watch too!
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And if there is one final thing I could say about PE. Is that its okay to not have stellar writing every single time. It is an expectation I personally still struggle with and honestly I feel i was too harsh on Parasite Eve. Sometimes keeping it simple can work without going too complicated. As one of my professors said back in highschool. "Sometimes its better to choose simple words, than something complex." And here I feel his words hold weight. For PE doesn't need to break the mold and input nuance in fleshing out the world. Sometimes its the simplest things that revolve back to the narrative to keep players invested. And for PE i think it works considering plenty of people love it.
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So yeah. this unofficial review of Parasite Eve i'm going to give an 8/10. Just because one single flaw doesn't diminish the sheer strengths the game has. And for a PSX title where I haven't had the pleasure to see this type of experimental game before well. Kudos square ya got me. I'll be playing Parasite Eve II in the future!
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One of the hardest things everytime I review something is how it stacks up to my rating scale. And usually I teter between a 7 and 8. What separates 7 and 8 easily for me is flaws the game has. With 8 having more strengths than flaws. While 7s still has a decent amount of strengths with a respectable amount of flaws.
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Parasite Eve(PE) has a lot of strengths, but a couple of flaws especially one so important I feel drags the game very hard for me to accurately judge it fairly.
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The running speed. Man It's slow and I'm glad I played this via emulation. To whoever played this title normally i salute you.
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The 2nd flaw. Throughout the entirety of PE. Every single piece of text says mitochondria wayyyy too much with added elipses. And as someone who loves to read text, I thought this aspect nearly soured everything PE stood for.
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God damn. I kid you not i started counting how many times the dialogue boxes would say mitochondria and seriously I was reaching 50+ to a hundred I feel. Where is the sprinkle of nuance in getting to know our protagonist. Any other's in the police department. Lore without going back again to mitochondria. And sure it does do a good job unveiling why mitochondria is important, but I felt it was too predictable and formulaic in the writing to expect yet another mitochondria to pop up.
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AHHHHHHHHHHHHH Its sooooooooooooooooooooooo blatant as if no one proofread the text to take it out.
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And to play devil's advocate in favor for the usage of the word. I think it works to keep the players attention on why mitochondria is such an important and vital aspect of the storytelling. It is difficult to understand and this is the reason why the devs continue to bring it back to the forefront of our eyes every single time.
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I. Get. That. I respect it. And I think i can see why the dev's decided to callback to mitochondria a lot during the gameplay and narrative. I can't go out in the streets and ask someone what is mitochondria? And im not sure every person could answer me a textbook answer without resorting to "can't you google that." Making it a difficult concept to digest for any newcomers. And this is the sole reason why i cannot fully make a review on the game. I feel i'll judge it too harshly and seeing all the other fabulous reviews here on the site where some of my friends wrote on it. Pains me beyond all else. to write a negative review on one aspect.
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And honestly I'm not going to do that especially if they love the game dearly while I tear it a new one. Just no. So this is why im saying it here. As a bloody reminder unofficially. Phew.
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But also I just don't have enough words to confidently publish a review. Its why PE and miles morales stuff I already wrote is still sitting in my google docs lol. I want to accurately write about a game fairly without judging a game too hard unless they deserves it. coughs ACV & ACVD. Emphasizing strengths and equally adding suggestions to improve.
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With all that said I'm going to praise the S$%t out of the game.
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Combat is sick. As a shooter jrpg. I expected well a slow game compared to my time playing koudelka. So I was pleasantly surprised to note how controlling Aya and shooting from pistols, shotguns, smg's simply works. Even emulating a similar circular reticle around the enemy ala Vagrant Story. There is a tactical aspect in running away while recharging the ATB and you can slot a decent amount of upgrades on any weapon to give it a buff like fire or cold element. Armor pieces are also possible to augment as well.
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Levels never overstayed their welcome either with some short, medium to mediumishly long dungeons to traverse and find loot before mosing back to your main objective. Some puzzles are here too with none of them being headbangingly difficult to the wall.
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Boss battles are well to put it simply horrifying. the FMV sequence where a monster mutates beyond their original form then battling it leaves me in chills due to how disgusting they are. Yikes! Like my morale is dropping!
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OST by the legendary Yoko Shimomura(KH OST fame among other notable JRPG's like FFXV). Is absolutely crazy good. Sure there are some melancholic pieces, but besides those are some great piano, ambient and atmospheric pieces to send me into a gentle wave.
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Story after receiving all the mitochondria shots to my brain surprised me by the end. I was expecting it to be quite depressing, but instead I was treated to something else, but suffice it to say I like it. And also the post game ending as well. Which I encourage anyone to watch too!
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And if there is one final thing I could say about PE. Is that its okay to not have stellar writing every single time. It is an expectation I personally still struggle with and honestly I feel i was too harsh on Parasite Eve. Sometimes keeping it simple can work without going too complicated. As one of my professors said back in highschool. "Sometimes its better to choose simple words, than something complex." And here I feel his words hold weight. For PE doesn't need to break the mold and input nuance in fleshing out the world. Sometimes its the simplest things that revolve back to the narrative to keep players invested. And for PE i think it works considering plenty of people love it.
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So yeah. this unofficial review of Parasite Eve i'm going to give an 8/10. Just because one single flaw doesn't diminish the sheer strengths the game has. And for a PSX title where I haven't had the pleasure to see this type of experimental game before well. Kudos square ya got me. I'll be playing Parasite Eve II in the future!
Finally an Indie-FFT that doesn't suck. Sure it has a fair amount of issues, though for me they weren't so egregious enough to send everyone reading about the game to not play it. Its why im disheartened to see many individuals who played the game in less than 2 hours blast these indie devs to oblivion on steam, when the underlying problems are not too horrible to deal with. Seriously I had a good time with a budget indie FFT and honestly the game tries to go into the lengths of the matsuno-style writing to varying degrees. Yes its not the best FFT-like indie, but has there ever been one? That everyone can confidently and unanimously call a FFT true successor? Well???
.......................(crickets chirping)......
Yeah I don't think so.
.......................(crickets chirping)......
Yeah I don't think so.
One of the hardest pieces i've made on the site along with Fire emblem engage.
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While I like there is a remake by Wayforward. The vtuber-artstyle along with bugging out on the voicelines randomly at irregular intervals leaves me filled with a large amount of mixed feelings colliding with overall gameplay improvements as a remake does better than the original. Like not having the AI cheat while in fog of war was actually an issue for og fans. Here it is not present.
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Despite my turbulent feelings I think its a fine remake, just don't expect a great one. Good strategy here and I can see why the wargroove devs took a lot of inspiration here to create their own ip.
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Must play for any fans wanting to see a different blend of strategy from the developer of fire emblem.
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While I like there is a remake by Wayforward. The vtuber-artstyle along with bugging out on the voicelines randomly at irregular intervals leaves me filled with a large amount of mixed feelings colliding with overall gameplay improvements as a remake does better than the original. Like not having the AI cheat while in fog of war was actually an issue for og fans. Here it is not present.
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Despite my turbulent feelings I think its a fine remake, just don't expect a great one. Good strategy here and I can see why the wargroove devs took a lot of inspiration here to create their own ip.
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Must play for any fans wanting to see a different blend of strategy from the developer of fire emblem.
NG+ Playthrough played this year with friends.
- Easily a must play for any metroidvania fan. OST, gameplay and length are nearly perfect.
- Story is actually pretty good as well. With interesting revelations.
- Easily a must play for any metroidvania fan. OST, gameplay and length are nearly perfect.
- Story is actually pretty good as well. With interesting revelations.
Played this back in 2019 on ps4. Replayed it on Directors cut this time.
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- Lovely to replay with friends and I didn't get tired playing post-apocalypse amazon shipper in a Kojima world. Needed this greatly in case death stranding 2 has hidden connections... to tie... knots... hmmm... Anyways here's a couple of things to note in the directors cut for newcomers and veterans.
- The new content in the factory i wish was longer. Felt very short. Took me less than an hour and a half. Just wow. Cool lore bits tho. Just wish there was well more story content lol
- The new weapons and features are nice, adding a bit more variety to Sam's utility chugging supplies.
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- Lovely to replay with friends and I didn't get tired playing post-apocalypse amazon shipper in a Kojima world. Needed this greatly in case death stranding 2 has hidden connections... to tie... knots... hmmm... Anyways here's a couple of things to note in the directors cut for newcomers and veterans.
- The new content in the factory i wish was longer. Felt very short. Took me less than an hour and a half. Just wow. Cool lore bits tho. Just wish there was well more story content lol
- The new weapons and features are nice, adding a bit more variety to Sam's utility chugging supplies.
God engage. What a clusterbomb. One of the most difficult reviews i've done for 2023. Just so much disappointment I can barely write anything about it. So i'll take a shortcut and paste my review I already wrote here
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Hope you guys don't mind me linking my review. I'm just so tired of thinking about all the problems I had with the game in general. And tbh I'm still torn on it to this day. Since I like the gameplay a fair bit. sighs
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Hope you guys don't mind me linking my review. I'm just so tired of thinking about all the problems I had with the game in general. And tbh I'm still torn on it to this day. Since I like the gameplay a fair bit. sighs
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One of the most anticipated indies i was looking forward to. Mercenary sim ala Divinity Original Sin-like combat in a low fantasy medieval setting? SIGN. Me. Up.
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50 hours later...
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Yeah im sorry I can't finish the game. Battles take way too long and when i only earn peanuts of experience in late game where im facing brutal enemies im out. And I already lowered the difficulty to the max and downloaded a mod to help with accruing more experience. The story is weak and ties into a depressing uninteresting world too. I hope others enjoy this more than i did, but to me I just couldn't muster more hours to complete it. And frankly if I did, I feel more of my feelings would sour it. So hopefully others enjoyed the game more than I.
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50 hours later...
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Yeah im sorry I can't finish the game. Battles take way too long and when i only earn peanuts of experience in late game where im facing brutal enemies im out. And I already lowered the difficulty to the max and downloaded a mod to help with accruing more experience. The story is weak and ties into a depressing uninteresting world too. I hope others enjoy this more than i did, but to me I just couldn't muster more hours to complete it. And frankly if I did, I feel more of my feelings would sour it. So hopefully others enjoyed the game more than I.
Again similar anticipation like Wartales. Except strategy mech sim kinda with mechs. Thankfully this one I completed in over 20 hours and has more funner gameplay.
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Gameplay plays out in realtime, but here's the kicker. You can manipulate the timeline with a bar below and see how events will play out. enemy movements and attacks will also play out as well so its fun to tactically change up your strats within the setup phase and then watch the output.
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Good customization of mechs here with lots of different qualities like common to legendary equivalents.
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Why is this pretty low in your rankings DF. Oh well a decent amount. Beyond the fun gameplay.
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Lies a near-nonexistant story and lacking worldbuilding that feels too procedurally generated to induce filler.
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This makes it difficult for me to care about the world in general when the main premise is retaking territories from rebels controlling the world on their own fictional world map.
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No incentive to the central narrative is something i always look for. So to see a big flaw like this makes it difficult for me to reccommend. Even as a mech fan in general. Only play this if you enjoy an indie mech gameplay that is above the hill from the norm. Don't expect a story here at all with an interesting world. You won't find it imo.
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There are others out there who do enjoy this title a lot and I am genuinely happy for them. Sad to say, I can't bring myself to find joy in it despite the 'fun' times i had getting to the very end.
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Gameplay plays out in realtime, but here's the kicker. You can manipulate the timeline with a bar below and see how events will play out. enemy movements and attacks will also play out as well so its fun to tactically change up your strats within the setup phase and then watch the output.
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Good customization of mechs here with lots of different qualities like common to legendary equivalents.
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Why is this pretty low in your rankings DF. Oh well a decent amount. Beyond the fun gameplay.
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Lies a near-nonexistant story and lacking worldbuilding that feels too procedurally generated to induce filler.
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This makes it difficult for me to care about the world in general when the main premise is retaking territories from rebels controlling the world on their own fictional world map.
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No incentive to the central narrative is something i always look for. So to see a big flaw like this makes it difficult for me to reccommend. Even as a mech fan in general. Only play this if you enjoy an indie mech gameplay that is above the hill from the norm. Don't expect a story here at all with an interesting world. You won't find it imo.
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There are others out there who do enjoy this title a lot and I am genuinely happy for them. Sad to say, I can't bring myself to find joy in it despite the 'fun' times i had getting to the very end.
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ACV is a stark departure from the regular AC games in the series. Low level battles instead of high to the sky engagements leads to a gritty world with constant scanning in a rock-paper-scissors combat solution.
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Coupled this with an interesting story and postgame leaves me feeling in a conundrum how to fairly judge the game.
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In the end its a low-level decent AC game and I appreciate the boldness of what it tried to do in the end. Sadly going for more on the multiplayer hampered quite a bit of important aspects fromsoft should've put resources into.
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Only play this if you're die hard mecha fan or AC fan. Not really something I want to let a newbie try out imo.
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Coupled this with an interesting story and postgame leaves me feeling in a conundrum how to fairly judge the game.
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In the end its a low-level decent AC game and I appreciate the boldness of what it tried to do in the end. Sadly going for more on the multiplayer hampered quite a bit of important aspects fromsoft should've put resources into.
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Only play this if you're die hard mecha fan or AC fan. Not really something I want to let a newbie try out imo.
ACVD I was hoping would make Fromsoft learn from their past mistakes. So I was very surprised after seeing the ending and nearly everything the game had to offer be the opposite.
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Not a total trashdump to be fair since there's quite a bit of awesome features here with somewhat decent story, though I still put ACV above this one. And the inclusion of UNAC's which are bloody op as heck during combat to help you. The final boss and OST was sick as heck too.
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Sadly, I had more issues than praise here. And I wish the servers were still online on my ps3 to try out the sick coop missions against SOTC-like mecha enemies. Ahhh what a missed opportunity. Would only recommend this to the most die-hard of mecha/AC fans. Not something I would make a newcomer try imo.
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Not a total trashdump to be fair since there's quite a bit of awesome features here with somewhat decent story, though I still put ACV above this one. And the inclusion of UNAC's which are bloody op as heck during combat to help you. The final boss and OST was sick as heck too.
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Sadly, I had more issues than praise here. And I wish the servers were still online on my ps3 to try out the sick coop missions against SOTC-like mecha enemies. Ahhh what a missed opportunity. Would only recommend this to the most die-hard of mecha/AC fans. Not something I would make a newcomer try imo.
My first official entry to the Front Mission universe is with a spinoff!?
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Simply passable for me. The story is my biggest mixed feelings and the added on the boots sections where you get out of your mech feels needless and too janky for me lol. The added multiplayer feels like an afterthought and more resources should've been used to flesh out the singleplayer more since I think its decent and I actually had fun in an mecha action adventure game. Boss fights especially were challenging mhm.
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Simply passable for me. The story is my biggest mixed feelings and the added on the boots sections where you get out of your mech feels needless and too janky for me lol. The added multiplayer feels like an afterthought and more resources should've been used to flesh out the singleplayer more since I think its decent and I actually had fun in an mecha action adventure game. Boss fights especially were challenging mhm.
Already played YS 1+2 chronicles version. years ago. And that's a remake of the vanished omens. This was a playthrough with some friends of mine.
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Interesting to see the OG compared to remake. Music holds up a lot still. But the gameplay is a grindfest imo. Would direct newcomers to the YS 1+2 chronicles version where I think its far better. Still play the vanished omens if you only want to see how it was originally here.
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Interesting to see the OG compared to remake. Music holds up a lot still. But the gameplay is a grindfest imo. Would direct newcomers to the YS 1+2 chronicles version where I think its far better. Still play the vanished omens if you only want to see how it was originally here.
7 Comments
Great list and thoughts on several of these games. Chained Echoes, the Trails series, and Tactics Ogre (Reborn and its other versions) are still on my list to get to, Signalis as well seeing the hype around it as a classic survival horror experience.
Glad to see you really liked Ghost of Tsushima. I played it when I first got a ps4 and fell in love with the seamless combat and stealth, beautiful visuals and the gripping main narrative, same quality extends to the stories in the side content. I thought Iki Island was alright but I definitely need to replay the whole game again sometime soon since it's been so long. Same with Death Stranding since I fell off it when it first came out but it's grown on me since then.
Glad to see you really liked Ghost of Tsushima. I played it when I first got a ps4 and fell in love with the seamless combat and stealth, beautiful visuals and the gripping main narrative, same quality extends to the stories in the side content. I thought Iki Island was alright but I definitely need to replay the whole game again sometime soon since it's been so long. Same with Death Stranding since I fell off it when it first came out but it's grown on me since then.
@FallenGrace - Yessss I definitely recommend the ones you mentioned. And yea I feel that too. I wish I had more time to play the titles I didn't get to this year.
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@sleepytitan - Yessss solid games to playthrough! Yup. Iki wasn't amazing or anything, I think more unique in the sense with what Jin goes through and how it ties back to the mental burdens that were touched on from the base game. Death Stranding is a weird one. I thought the first 20 twenty hours were ehhhh. But the rest came together in a way that had me going oooooooohhhhh. But yea, definitely grown on me too.
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@sleepytitan - Yessss solid games to playthrough! Yup. Iki wasn't amazing or anything, I think more unique in the sense with what Jin goes through and how it ties back to the mental burdens that were touched on from the base game. Death Stranding is a weird one. I thought the first 20 twenty hours were ehhhh. But the rest came together in a way that had me going oooooooohhhhh. But yea, definitely grown on me too.
I didn't enjoy Miles Morales much either. Maybe it's because I went straight from SM1+DLC into MM so fatigue may have been a factor, but it didn't feel nearly as fun. The new powers are nice, but they didn't make up for the loss of many of Peter's gadgets. The main story and characters weren't very interesting to me either.
I'll be getting my list up in about a week since I'll definitely finish one more game by then.
I'll be getting my list up in about a week since I'll definitely finish one more game by then.
@sleeping0dragon - Glad were on the same page! I went into Miles Morales after the first one + dlc too. So it was pretty weird noting how much this one didn't vibe with me as much as their predecessor did. I think Insomniac needed to cook with this title more to fix most if not all of my issues.
Oh dang, thanks for the shout/link!
And only the PS1 Spider-Man games, huh? I definitely recommend checking out the tie-in for the second Raimi movie. It invented the open-world webslinging so without it the Insomniac games might never have happened. Plus the stuff they do with Mysterio is worth the price of entry alone. You owe it to yourself as a fan.
And only the PS1 Spider-Man games, huh? I definitely recommend checking out the tie-in for the second Raimi movie. It invented the open-world webslinging so without it the Insomniac games might never have happened. Plus the stuff they do with Mysterio is worth the price of entry alone. You owe it to yourself as a fan.
@TheQuietGamer - My pleasure! And yea I missed out on a LOT of spider-man games after the PS1. So the jump was insane to PS4 for me lol. Will do in checking out the tie-in game for the 2nd Raimi movie! Curious about Mysterio...
FallenGrace
4 months ago