I don't have too much to say about Peakmin 4 but I'm really gunna miss Oatchi going back to play 1 and 2 ...

Biggest complaint by far is that some late-game cave enemies are super BS and can devour far too many piks at once if you don't have the right crew/approach (I'm ngl I soloed half the final cave as Oatchi) -- This wasn't bad for most of the game but it got to a point where I'd only have a couple dozen of one type and I'd lose all of them instantly if I got licked or knocked over or screeched at the wrong moment. Skill issue I'm sure but still a bummer.

In terms of positives though, everything else! Level designs were great, music is beautiful, having so many pikmin types was fun (even if half of them were so rare it was easier to use Oatchi) -- This was really fun to just sit down with before bed and I really can't believe I spent nearly 30 hours on it before reaching the true ending. There's something so addicting about figuring out how to get stuff done and then watching cute lil guys put the work in.

Really recommend this to anyone interested, super chill time (until it was the most stressful thing ever, but that's over now, it can't hurt me 😌) - easy to get into and honestly just buy it regardless so we real gamers can get a 5th one :p
It even has hands down the most hateable villain in all of media 🥹

That'll do it anyhow, thanks for reading folks, hope you're all well! I'm 110 hours deep in Infinite Wealth so hoping to finish that this week, review will likely end up similar to this one but we'll see -- Until then! 🙏

This game exceeded even my highest expectations in almost every way.

I could talk about it for hours but as with Remake I don't think it's possible for me to do it justice, it's peak. I've spent over 200 hours with FF7 Rebirth now and I could easily jump back in for a 3rd playthrough today.

This game is such an achievement, and home to some of the most beautiful scenes, characters and music in memory. If the final part is able to do even half as many things as well as this does, then we're in for a phenomenal trilogy of games.

As an aside, getting the platinum for this was insanely fun and surprisingly easy ... until the last few combat simulations. It took me around 40 hours over 5 days to get them done. I am begging that part 3 is easier 🥹
Thanks for reading folks, hope you're all doing well!🙏

I have starred at a blank screen for several minutes trying to think of what to say to show my love for this game. Unfortunately trying to describe exactly what makes me feel the way I do about this game is hard to pinpoint without just saying this is a masterpiece that excels in every area a video games can. But in my opinion this truly excels at every level. Character progression, relate ability, replay ability, story, production, sound tracks, visuals, combat, exploration, vast hour syncing beautiful locations, heart breaking emotional moments, genuinely hilarious moments, so many fun mini games that it feels like you could sell it’s as a Final Fantasy version of Mario Party, you want it in a game it’s probably here. Also did I mention music, character progression, and story because these aspects aren’t just top notch for Final Fantasy, they are top notch for the medium.

I don’t know how Square pulled it off but they made one of the most well liked classic cast of characters and made them 100 times more deep, real and relatable. This goes for every party member but two stand out. First is Yuffie. In the original game Yuffie is optional so they didn’t really give her character much more character than “I love materia.” Here she is fully fleshed out, deep, loveable character just as much as everyone else in the party. Secondly is Cait Sith. As much as I loved the original cast I loathed Cait Sith with my entire being. All of my friends I knew that played this game also hated him. But in this game they did the impossible and took him from my one of my very least liked characters made him into an upper tier character. He goes from a legit joke to an amazing, funny, clever, loving character. To me the remakes did more for him than anyone .

The story was magnificent albeit with a some pacing issues. There were so many side quest thrown at you in between small chunks of the story. Outside of that though it was damn near everything you could want. There is some divide between fans on the last chapter but I think it sets up the potential of part 3 extremely well. I want to talk story much more but don’t want to spoil a thing but just know I thought is was S+ tier.

The music was a delight as songs were brilliantly remixed and sometimes used at beautiful or tragic times. This is one of the best Final Fantasy sound tracks, sooo elite of the elite. Two songs that surprisingly were way more catchy than they had any right to be were “bow wow wow” and the Chocobo songs when racing.

The gameplay is by far the best in the series imo with only XVI and Remake coming anywhere close. Everything felt smooth and customizable. Building each character to your unique play style was enjoyable.

The only two downsides I can even see someone arguing against are the final chapter playing out differently than they hoped and the pacing due to side quests. However as someone that thinks the final chapter will be a good springboard into part 3 and wants as much (good) Final Fantasy content that Square can put out these were bonus/non issues for me.

I could legitimately go on about this game for several hours but I don’t want to ramble. I recommend this game 100% and believe it is one of the greatest video games of all time!

FF7 Rebirth is a behemoth of a sequel that improves on Remake's formula in almost every way. I had really high hopes for this game since Remake is one of my all-time favorites, and Rebirth managed to meet and surpass almost all of those expectations. It isn't without its faults, but its strengths are remarkable compared to its weaknesses.

This game's strongest asset is its gameplay - there's just SO much to do in this game. Although I did get a bit fatigued at the open world map marker design after a bit, I found that there was always something to do to switch things up. Between the mini-games, combat simulator missions and exploration I always felt like I had something to do and always had something to switch to whenever I was getting bored. The combat is just as good as Remake, and the addition of the synergy abilities are a great touch that makes combat feel even more fluid and cinematic.

The performances are, once again, amazing. Getting the gang back together from Remake was a joy, and the addition of new characters to the party made the experience that much better. I really love the voice cast for these games - I feel like they capture the essence of the characters perfectly and there wasn't a bad performance among them.

I think something that I have more mixed opinions on is the story, although my feelings lean more positive. I just found the plot to be needlessly complicated at times - I'm sure watching some Final Fantasy Union story videos will help clear things up, but I feel like it unnecessarily bogged down what was already an amazing story. I think the story is very strong overall with some incredibly poignant and emotional moments, but it also felt like it went off the rails after a certain point. I also wasn't super thrilled with how it ended - I know the remake trilogy is taking some liberties with the story to try and create a new experience, but I just wished the ending resonated with me a bit more. I'm hoping on a repeat play-through I'll be able to fully enjoy the narrative a bit more.

It seems like Rebirth was well worth the wait. It doubles down on all the things that made Remake great while adding its own flourishes here and there with the inclusion of an absolutely massive open world that more often than not was a blast to explore. Although I wish the narrative had done a bit more for me, the incredibly fun gameplay, stellar performances/graphics and beautiful soundtrack make Rebirth an amazing gaming experience overall. I know it'll be a while before we get the last game, but I'm already counting down the days.

why do vanillaware titles always cause so much melties LMAOOOOOOO, notice how none of the review bombers have actually talked about the gameplay.

anyways, this shit is really good (so far - only 11hrs in), so if you're on the fence about picking up a cool srpg - i'd strongly say go for this.

also i carnally need berengaria so bad

Death is something that no one will escape. Not only do we have to face our own deaths but we also deal with the pain of loved ones losing their lives as well. Learning how to live, heal, and grow through loss, tragedy, and acceptance that this will happen to you and all your loved ones is not easily overcome. There is no one way to go about it, there is no correct path to take, nor is there any timetable for the healing or acceptance. After a loved one dies or knowing you will be gone soon, some will lean on others(this is what MOST of the cast does in this game, also its what I would do), some will go into their shell, and for some they cannot handle the magnitude of some losses. Death is not something that most feel comfortable openly talking about, but Persona 3 Reload puts death front and center of their narrative and shows all the effects it can bring on the most excellent cast of characters I’ve ever experienced in gaming. While this game comes with a trigger warning for suicide, bullying, and death (and believe me by the end I was thoroughly depressed) and the content matter is uncomfortable I think its something that needs to be addressed and talked about more. This game needs to be heard and played. Its message is powerful and very real.

Persona 3 Reload has 4 things that single handedly make this a 5 star game. The first two of which I’ve already touched on. First this is my favorite cast in my 3 decades of playing video games. Every character is well written, likable, believable, and relatable. The main cast specifically has 6 characters (The MC, Aigis, Yukari, Misuru, Shinji, and Akihiko) that would be worthy of being the main character of a game. Even the villains, while clearly on the wrong side of things, have relatable, believable reasons for their actions. You will be hard pressed to find a better set of characters in the medium. Secondly is the story which goes in tandem with the characters to make a story that I will remember in detail for the rest of my life.

While I mentioned death is at the forefront of the game, the story to me is more about how to deal with tragedy, sacrifice, love, and ultimately the bonds we forge with the people in our lives. To me it is about how the bonds we forge make life worth it and while death will ultimately end it in sadness it only hurts because of how good the journey was making it more than worth the pain at the end.

Our main cast have been devastated with tragedies before the game even starts. The MC is an orphan, Junpei has a big spoiler happen to him that broke my heart, Yukari’s father has passed, Akihiko’s entire family is gone, Aigis is searching for a reason to live, Mitsuru has dealt with death from her family as well as having to deal with ultimate demons that her family left her with, shinji has no family, Amada lost his parents while in elementary school, Koromaru’s owner recently passed, and they all deal with multiple spoiler losses that affect them all throughout the story. They learn to grow and heal by leaning on and loving each other becoming the family that they all had been missing. I want to go much deeper into the story but it is hard without just spoiling everything but please please play this game to find out what happens for yourself. It is heart wrenching, emotionally draining, downright depressing, but it also has heart warming, uplifting moments, hilarious moments, genuine beautiful moments that again make the journey worth it. I won't spoil the ending either but it was a beautiful tragic bitter sweet moment with major ramifications for all the major characters you meet along the way. I literally couldn’t believe everything I had just witnessed… Also the MC went through and accomplished more than pretty much any protagonist in any game ever.

The 3rd and 4th thing that immediately elevate this to a 5 star for me are the music and art style. Baby Baby Baby Baby Baby Baby!!! One of the most electric and amazing soundtracks gaming has to offer can be found in Persona 3 Reload. “Full Moon Full Life” “Joy” “It’s Going Down Now” “Mass Destruction” are all stand out hits but the Final Boss Theme is by far my favorite in the series so far. When the velvet room hits in the track it immediately became my favorite. The UI is something to behold. It is flashy and beautiful. It captures the spirit of the series very similar to Persona 5’s interface. The characters are unique and well designed and there are some really awesome shadow designs as well.

The gameplay loop is extremely solid and satisfying. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel but it does require strategy and with knowledge of the persona system you can make the MC wildly overpowered. I always appreciate JRPG’S where you don't just use a physical attack all the way through the game except on bosses and this game definitely isn’t that. The life sim aspects of the game are awesome as well. I will say there are a few social links that I didn't care for at all like the kid in your class whose whole arc is simping for his teacher and “The Gourmet King” who has a touching moment but for 90% he’s a pompous asshole that eats a lot. However there are some truly great and touching social links as well that make it well worth your time to invest in all of them.

My one and literally only complaint in this game is that you have way too many things to juggle during the day time to try and complete and very few night time options. This is especially true during the late game. If day and night was more balanced I would say this is a perfect game.

The story (mostly spoiler stuff that I really want to talk about but wont) really touched me, hit me, hurt me, made me want to cry, made me laugh, and most of all made me think quite a bit, both about the game and about life in general. Not many games have made me do half of that stuff. I haven’t even mentioned the twist and turns this game throws at you, Strega, Pharos, Tarturus, love interests, and so many other things that if I mention this would turn into a 100,00 word review. This is one of the few games I think everyone should play before it's their turn to face death.

It made many lists for me!!

It easily made my top 100! Spoiler you're going to have to scroll way down to find it.
https://www.backloggd.com/u/DVince89/list/my-favorite-100-video-game-of-all-time/

My games i played in 2024 ranked
https://www.backloggd.com/u/DVince89/list/games-i-played-in-2024-ranked-1/

My games of each year
https://www.backloggd.com/u/DVince89/list/my-game-of-the-year-1985-present/

Best Soundtracks in games
https://www.backloggd.com/u/DVince89/list/my-favorite-sounds-tracks-in-video-games-no-order/

Best Box Arts
https://www.backloggd.com/u/DVince89/list/my-favorite-box-arts-of-all-time-ranked/