641 Reviews liked by Ens1s
I make no secret of the fact that Valkyria Chronicles is my favourite video game series of all time. The wallpapers on all my computers, phones and handhelds are various images from the series. I talk about it with ceaseless emotion to anyone unfortunate enough to listen. I own a couple of artbooks, and I once got scammed trying to buy a Selvaria Bles figurine for a price that was too good to be true (I got the refund, though it took a month). Through the years, I've championed the series to the point that almost a dozen people have bought an entry simply because I would not shut the fuck up about it. Sega should hire me.
Here it is: the game that started it all. Valkyria Chronicles is a brilliant, innovative, emotional, gorgeously designed and somewhat flawed game that, sadly, has never risen to the place it deserves in the RPG pantheon. It has attracted a decent cult following which spends the greater portion of its time dunking on the game's main cheese strategy than anything else. Nobody hates Metallica more than Metallica fans, as they say.
Yet on a non-autistic run, this is an incredible game. It delivers turn-based strategy and real-time tactics in one addictive package. It's unique and open-ended: depending on your decisions, battles may feel like a walk in the park or a desperate crawl through the trenches of hell. When I first played through this game, it was surprisingly hard - enemies are extremely unforgiving with opening up interception fire on your units, aiming for your weak spots, and they're always given the high ground. I recommend playing this game blind for that reason, so you can become your own Sun Tzu and focus on bolstering your units, using them for their intended roles, and maintaining a steady advance rather than a subdued steamroll. On your first playthrough, you don't want to get fixated on the game's biggest flaw: the focus on speed.
As the game bases your rank and rewards for each battle solely on the number of turns you took to achieve your objective, it's impossible not to attempt cheese strategies once the endless bleating of 'Alicia scout rush' reaches your ears. Do not google this phrase. Go play the game now if you haven't already, and then come back. On my most recent playthrough, I'll say that this strategy only really works for three of the game's story battles, because of how long it takes to unlock the required materials, but that hasn't stopped it from becoming one of the game's more infamous aspects.
It is true that Valkyria Chronicles' ranking system is its biggest flaw. While you may receive extra materials, as well as EA's famous 'sense of pride and accomplishment,' for killing special enemies, these choices do not impact your rating - only the number of turns you took. A more weighted approach would have been better, particularly as A ranks are impossible to receive on later missions on an honest playthrough. So don't focus on rankings on your first run, and enjoy the game the way it's meant to be played: as a hybrid of turn-based and action RPG, of strategy and tactics, maneuvering and attacking your way to victory and glory and freedom of the land.
Valkyria Chronicles isn't award-worthy just for its gameplay, however. The game's beautiful watercolour aesthetic, gorgeous character design and battlefield presentation are not to be missed. From the comic-book style 'Ka-Boom!'s, 'vroom-vroom's and 'ratta-tatta-ta's of movement and attacks, to the seamless switch from 2D overhead to 3D third-person graphics as you begin a turn, this is an inspired, visually spectacular experience. It was one of the first games to present an anime art style in 3D with such success, and it laid the groundwork for how JRPGs would look for years to come. As usual, Valkyria Chronicles does not get credit for this.
The story is satisfying, with the World War II-inspired setting being the highlight. Valkyria Chronicles is not shy about its real-world parallels, but at the end of the day it's still a fantasy game. The plot has a few weak spots, which may be exacerbated by the mediocre English voice acting (the option to select Japanese voices is available.) But it's never egregious enough to alienate the player. Not when the characters are this likeable. Not when the soundtrack is so stirring it still gives me goosebumps. Valkyria Chronicles is endlessly compelling: the story makes you eager for more gameplay, during which you're enthusiastic for the next bit of story.
The PC port is superb, with not one glitch or flaw in all my time with it. It also includes a couple of DLC chapters, but they were made back when publishers were still figuring out how they could milk more money out of games, and they are fairly inessential. I should warn you, though: this game does not have autosave, and you do not want to overwrite your New Game+ data with a separate playthrough or DLC chapter's save, as you will lose that progress.
Got all that? Now go play it, because despite its imperfections, Valkyria Chronicles is fantastic. It was one of the most original, lovingly crafted games ever made when it came out in 2008, and it's still enjoyable today. The sequel was even better.
Here it is: the game that started it all. Valkyria Chronicles is a brilliant, innovative, emotional, gorgeously designed and somewhat flawed game that, sadly, has never risen to the place it deserves in the RPG pantheon. It has attracted a decent cult following which spends the greater portion of its time dunking on the game's main cheese strategy than anything else. Nobody hates Metallica more than Metallica fans, as they say.
Yet on a non-autistic run, this is an incredible game. It delivers turn-based strategy and real-time tactics in one addictive package. It's unique and open-ended: depending on your decisions, battles may feel like a walk in the park or a desperate crawl through the trenches of hell. When I first played through this game, it was surprisingly hard - enemies are extremely unforgiving with opening up interception fire on your units, aiming for your weak spots, and they're always given the high ground. I recommend playing this game blind for that reason, so you can become your own Sun Tzu and focus on bolstering your units, using them for their intended roles, and maintaining a steady advance rather than a subdued steamroll. On your first playthrough, you don't want to get fixated on the game's biggest flaw: the focus on speed.
As the game bases your rank and rewards for each battle solely on the number of turns you took to achieve your objective, it's impossible not to attempt cheese strategies once the endless bleating of 'Alicia scout rush' reaches your ears. Do not google this phrase. Go play the game now if you haven't already, and then come back. On my most recent playthrough, I'll say that this strategy only really works for three of the game's story battles, because of how long it takes to unlock the required materials, but that hasn't stopped it from becoming one of the game's more infamous aspects.
It is true that Valkyria Chronicles' ranking system is its biggest flaw. While you may receive extra materials, as well as EA's famous 'sense of pride and accomplishment,' for killing special enemies, these choices do not impact your rating - only the number of turns you took. A more weighted approach would have been better, particularly as A ranks are impossible to receive on later missions on an honest playthrough. So don't focus on rankings on your first run, and enjoy the game the way it's meant to be played: as a hybrid of turn-based and action RPG, of strategy and tactics, maneuvering and attacking your way to victory and glory and freedom of the land.
Valkyria Chronicles isn't award-worthy just for its gameplay, however. The game's beautiful watercolour aesthetic, gorgeous character design and battlefield presentation are not to be missed. From the comic-book style 'Ka-Boom!'s, 'vroom-vroom's and 'ratta-tatta-ta's of movement and attacks, to the seamless switch from 2D overhead to 3D third-person graphics as you begin a turn, this is an inspired, visually spectacular experience. It was one of the first games to present an anime art style in 3D with such success, and it laid the groundwork for how JRPGs would look for years to come. As usual, Valkyria Chronicles does not get credit for this.
The story is satisfying, with the World War II-inspired setting being the highlight. Valkyria Chronicles is not shy about its real-world parallels, but at the end of the day it's still a fantasy game. The plot has a few weak spots, which may be exacerbated by the mediocre English voice acting (the option to select Japanese voices is available.) But it's never egregious enough to alienate the player. Not when the characters are this likeable. Not when the soundtrack is so stirring it still gives me goosebumps. Valkyria Chronicles is endlessly compelling: the story makes you eager for more gameplay, during which you're enthusiastic for the next bit of story.
The PC port is superb, with not one glitch or flaw in all my time with it. It also includes a couple of DLC chapters, but they were made back when publishers were still figuring out how they could milk more money out of games, and they are fairly inessential. I should warn you, though: this game does not have autosave, and you do not want to overwrite your New Game+ data with a separate playthrough or DLC chapter's save, as you will lose that progress.
Got all that? Now go play it, because despite its imperfections, Valkyria Chronicles is fantastic. It was one of the most original, lovingly crafted games ever made when it came out in 2008, and it's still enjoyable today. The sequel was even better.
Demon's Souls
2009
occupies a unique place in the souls universe as the most depressing in atmosphere, and at the same time shortest experience - oddly making it the one most eager to release you from its anguish.
love many great things about it, but for now i'll leave you with how lovely it is to see the maiden in black changing her spot everytime you arrive back at the nexus - chilling on the stairs being my fave. how exciting and mysterious yet ultimately silly the lead-up and eventual fool's idol encounter is (definitely got the boss tune!!!). a throughline of bold and absurd decisions resulting in an idiosyncratic game that i couldn't help but embrace wholeheartedly.
love many great things about it, but for now i'll leave you with how lovely it is to see the maiden in black changing her spot everytime you arrive back at the nexus - chilling on the stairs being my fave. how exciting and mysterious yet ultimately silly the lead-up and eventual fool's idol encounter is (definitely got the boss tune!!!). a throughline of bold and absurd decisions resulting in an idiosyncratic game that i couldn't help but embrace wholeheartedly.
Mega Man ZX
2006
Attempting to pull the same trick a 2nd time, the shared Zero and X series are revived as ZX (tho in truth its much more Z than X). This time however comes with a significant shift in the (albeit somewhat simple) form of a metroidvania style map. As a party favor to all the 12 year old boys out there (me) this time around Mega Man doesnt absorb the powers of bosses but instead gains the forms of the “Mega Men” introduced in the Zero series.
So really, what this ends up feeling like is some sort of self-published tribute album where the idea of “Mega Man” is a title assumed by distinguished individuals, like Hattori Hanzo or Santa Claus. You get to “be” all your favorites, itemized and packaged into conveniently collectible floating cubes - its a really simplified premise but its also a really fun framework. Not only are bosses the sleekest theyve ever been but theres a reward for avoiding their crit spots to preserve the precious Mega Man cubes, and small changes like this feel like the right kinds of innovation on a really tried and really true formula for boss design.
So really, what this ends up feeling like is some sort of self-published tribute album where the idea of “Mega Man” is a title assumed by distinguished individuals, like Hattori Hanzo or Santa Claus. You get to “be” all your favorites, itemized and packaged into conveniently collectible floating cubes - its a really simplified premise but its also a really fun framework. Not only are bosses the sleekest theyve ever been but theres a reward for avoiding their crit spots to preserve the precious Mega Man cubes, and small changes like this feel like the right kinds of innovation on a really tried and really true formula for boss design.
Valkyria Chronicles 2 is the game I've championed most in my entire life; it has been unfairly maligned by the few who've heard about it, including by its own series fanbase. From the moment it was announced, this game was fighting an uphill battle - it was on the PSP, a handheld that was very much despised at the time, and not many people were willing to even give it a fair shake. It was a sequel to one of the most beautiful, originally designed PS3 games - how could a handheld version ever hope to measure up?
This parody video I watched before playing the game for the first time encapsulates the many criticisms faced by Valkyria Chronicles 2. A school setting? Preposterous! Valkyria Chronicles is a game for macho men who smoke Marlboros. Never mind that it's such an anime game that they adopt a pig with wings as their pet mascot, this is blasphemy!
A commercial failure in the West, so much so that the third game didn't even get localized, most people are willing to take VC2's criticisms at face value. But where it has languished in the public imagination, it sure captured mine. It did when I was 12, and it still does now that I'm 25. This is the number one contender for my favourite game of all time, with only Resident Evil 4 giving it a run for its money. I hope that by reading this, a few more people will be willing to give this game its fair shot, especially now that we're looking back and realizing the PSP was actually a pretty good system.
Valkyria Chronicles 2 is the best game in the series. Unable to deliver the huge, singular maps of the original game, it opted for smaller environments interlinked by base camps. This makes it a great deal more strategic than VC1, and incentivizes using more characters. Where VC1 was built around bolstering your units, whether through orders or physical support, and rushing the objective, VC2 grants you a motive to cut your enemy off. Units can be deployed from base camps immediately, instead of having to wait a turn. This means you can blitz enemy camps with your infantry to take them over, then deploy specialized anti-tank and shielded units from that same camp to clear them out. Lancers, hobbled in the first Valkyria Chronicles due to their low mobility, are far more useful this time around, and environmental effects can be negated or negotiated through proper customization of your tank or APC.
Orders (instabuffs given by your leading unit) are now more costly, lessening their potential for abuse from the first game. There are more specialized objectives than simply taking over base camps or killing all enemies: you may need to retrieve hidden packages around the map, or escort a vehicle across the battlefield without letting the enemy blow it up. It's clear to see that not only did this game manage to retain the core gameplay of the PS3 original, it improved it. Valkyria Chronicles 2 is painfully addictive, better balanced, and far more strategic.
The only flaw is the randomized credit system, which may decline to give you the required materials to change your characters to a different class. You can plan out by viewing what credits a mission gives in the briefing, and you can use your units accordingly, but luck is still involved.
This is an unpopular opinion, even among the series fanbase, but having replayed both games now I can say it with confidence: VC2 outshines VC1 even in its story. The premise of a civil war was one begging to be explored after the revelations of the original game. The 'school setting' is a military academy in a country whose army is so depleted through the events of the first game that soldiers-in-training now have to act as full soldiers. The villains are compelling, the protagonists are likeable, the English voice acting is vastly improved, and Raita Honjou's character designs still captivate. The story events are no longer rendered in real time, but the character portraits are satisfactory - in all honesty, an improvement, as less time is wasted waiting for their animation to complete - and the FMVs are beautiful anime cutscenes by A-1 Pictures.
I've played the Valkyria series many times in my life, and none of them have as memorable a cast as this one. The removal of permadeath (now 'dead' characters simply get hospitalized for the next three missions) is a welcome decision, because in the first game, there was always that temptation to avoid using non-leader units, because they could die permanently and force you to either restart the battle, or carry on without them. They were also far less fleshed out. In Valkyria Chronicles 2, every single side character has a story arc of their own, encouraging you to get to know them better and keep using them in battles - to have them grow on you both as people, and as soldiers. Of course, some homages to anime tropes are particularly blatant - one character straight up poses like Kira from Death Note - but so what? Why does VC2 in particular get singled out for being 'too anime?' Did the first game's designs not clue people in?
We knew VC2 could never match up to the PS3 original's spectacular visuals, but even by PSP standards, the graphics are nothing special. Character models are low-polygon with flat and basic textures, and there isn't a great deal of detail to the environments. That said, it's not a bad-looking game. The tank models are quite impressive, and everything that is necessary is easily visible. Do I wish this game looked better? Certainly. But it's not a huge sacrifice. From a gameplay perspective, nothing's been cut back on. The maps are rife with potential for strategic decisions, for defilade, for judging which unit can cover how much distance - and while it cannot port over VC1's raw beauty, it still brings over its personality. Machine guns still go RATTATATATA, laser attacks go FOOM FOOM FOOM FOOM FOOM, mortars go BAKOOM!, tanks go VRM VRM VRRRRM, and it's all backed up by good sound design and a stellar soundtrack. Those action onomatopes always entertained me, okay? They're important.
For me, Valkyria Chronicles 2 is a game that keeps on giving. Even after the credits roll, it has so much substance. This game deserves a reappraisal, and perhaps a remake for an audience that would be more receptive to it - anime is more mainstream now, the PSP isn't as hated, small-scale games are better appreciated instead of being lambasted for a lack of polygons, and men are allowed to vape grape juice. Sadly, I don't think it will ever happen. This is the red-headed stepchild with a red-headed protagonist of the series, and it will always be the scapegoat for why Valkyria Chronicles never had much of an impact in the West. But I urge you to play it regardless. Mired in the swamp of pre-judgement - the graphics aren't as pretty, the characters are too cliche, the Valkyrias' titties are too big or aren't big enough - this is, in truth, Valkyria Chronicles at its incredible peak. What a game. How much it has meant to me over the years.
Give this game a chance. Do it for me. I'll be your best friend.
This parody video I watched before playing the game for the first time encapsulates the many criticisms faced by Valkyria Chronicles 2. A school setting? Preposterous! Valkyria Chronicles is a game for macho men who smoke Marlboros. Never mind that it's such an anime game that they adopt a pig with wings as their pet mascot, this is blasphemy!
A commercial failure in the West, so much so that the third game didn't even get localized, most people are willing to take VC2's criticisms at face value. But where it has languished in the public imagination, it sure captured mine. It did when I was 12, and it still does now that I'm 25. This is the number one contender for my favourite game of all time, with only Resident Evil 4 giving it a run for its money. I hope that by reading this, a few more people will be willing to give this game its fair shot, especially now that we're looking back and realizing the PSP was actually a pretty good system.
Valkyria Chronicles 2 is the best game in the series. Unable to deliver the huge, singular maps of the original game, it opted for smaller environments interlinked by base camps. This makes it a great deal more strategic than VC1, and incentivizes using more characters. Where VC1 was built around bolstering your units, whether through orders or physical support, and rushing the objective, VC2 grants you a motive to cut your enemy off. Units can be deployed from base camps immediately, instead of having to wait a turn. This means you can blitz enemy camps with your infantry to take them over, then deploy specialized anti-tank and shielded units from that same camp to clear them out. Lancers, hobbled in the first Valkyria Chronicles due to their low mobility, are far more useful this time around, and environmental effects can be negated or negotiated through proper customization of your tank or APC.
Orders (instabuffs given by your leading unit) are now more costly, lessening their potential for abuse from the first game. There are more specialized objectives than simply taking over base camps or killing all enemies: you may need to retrieve hidden packages around the map, or escort a vehicle across the battlefield without letting the enemy blow it up. It's clear to see that not only did this game manage to retain the core gameplay of the PS3 original, it improved it. Valkyria Chronicles 2 is painfully addictive, better balanced, and far more strategic.
The only flaw is the randomized credit system, which may decline to give you the required materials to change your characters to a different class. You can plan out by viewing what credits a mission gives in the briefing, and you can use your units accordingly, but luck is still involved.
This is an unpopular opinion, even among the series fanbase, but having replayed both games now I can say it with confidence: VC2 outshines VC1 even in its story. The premise of a civil war was one begging to be explored after the revelations of the original game. The 'school setting' is a military academy in a country whose army is so depleted through the events of the first game that soldiers-in-training now have to act as full soldiers. The villains are compelling, the protagonists are likeable, the English voice acting is vastly improved, and Raita Honjou's character designs still captivate. The story events are no longer rendered in real time, but the character portraits are satisfactory - in all honesty, an improvement, as less time is wasted waiting for their animation to complete - and the FMVs are beautiful anime cutscenes by A-1 Pictures.
I've played the Valkyria series many times in my life, and none of them have as memorable a cast as this one. The removal of permadeath (now 'dead' characters simply get hospitalized for the next three missions) is a welcome decision, because in the first game, there was always that temptation to avoid using non-leader units, because they could die permanently and force you to either restart the battle, or carry on without them. They were also far less fleshed out. In Valkyria Chronicles 2, every single side character has a story arc of their own, encouraging you to get to know them better and keep using them in battles - to have them grow on you both as people, and as soldiers. Of course, some homages to anime tropes are particularly blatant - one character straight up poses like Kira from Death Note - but so what? Why does VC2 in particular get singled out for being 'too anime?' Did the first game's designs not clue people in?
We knew VC2 could never match up to the PS3 original's spectacular visuals, but even by PSP standards, the graphics are nothing special. Character models are low-polygon with flat and basic textures, and there isn't a great deal of detail to the environments. That said, it's not a bad-looking game. The tank models are quite impressive, and everything that is necessary is easily visible. Do I wish this game looked better? Certainly. But it's not a huge sacrifice. From a gameplay perspective, nothing's been cut back on. The maps are rife with potential for strategic decisions, for defilade, for judging which unit can cover how much distance - and while it cannot port over VC1's raw beauty, it still brings over its personality. Machine guns still go RATTATATATA, laser attacks go FOOM FOOM FOOM FOOM FOOM, mortars go BAKOOM!, tanks go VRM VRM VRRRRM, and it's all backed up by good sound design and a stellar soundtrack. Those action onomatopes always entertained me, okay? They're important.
For me, Valkyria Chronicles 2 is a game that keeps on giving. Even after the credits roll, it has so much substance. This game deserves a reappraisal, and perhaps a remake for an audience that would be more receptive to it - anime is more mainstream now, the PSP isn't as hated, small-scale games are better appreciated instead of being lambasted for a lack of polygons, and men are allowed to vape grape juice. Sadly, I don't think it will ever happen. This is the red-headed stepchild with a red-headed protagonist of the series, and it will always be the scapegoat for why Valkyria Chronicles never had much of an impact in the West. But I urge you to play it regardless. Mired in the swamp of pre-judgement - the graphics aren't as pretty, the characters are too cliche, the Valkyrias' titties are too big or aren't big enough - this is, in truth, Valkyria Chronicles at its incredible peak. What a game. How much it has meant to me over the years.
Give this game a chance. Do it for me. I'll be your best friend.
What a dissapointment. Easily the weakest of the Yakuza games I've played thus far, with a bloated yet flatline of a plot and way too much side content, Yakuza 8 is a complete slog. I'm 25 hours into the game and the main storyline hasn't inched a budge. Ridiculous, fortunately I wasn't scammed by buying it for full price, but this is just so rough.
Kasuga Ichiban is a character who feels completely lost here, devoid of purpose after his native storyline finished in 7, now consigned to wander aimlessly looking for a mother nobody cares about because Yakuza doesn't care about women. Kiryu is here, he has cancer now. The rest of the cast is fine, but they all feel like retreads of prior cast members.
I'm genuinely so sad, 7 was the game that made me love Yakuza, and it's immediate sequel is a boring nothingburger of a game way longer than it has any right to be. I was hoping so hard it would be great, and I was just bored instead.
Kasuga Ichiban is a character who feels completely lost here, devoid of purpose after his native storyline finished in 7, now consigned to wander aimlessly looking for a mother nobody cares about because Yakuza doesn't care about women. Kiryu is here, he has cancer now. The rest of the cast is fine, but they all feel like retreads of prior cast members.
I'm genuinely so sad, 7 was the game that made me love Yakuza, and it's immediate sequel is a boring nothingburger of a game way longer than it has any right to be. I was hoping so hard it would be great, and I was just bored instead.
Kirby's Avalanche
1995
It’s just Puyo Puyo, except now with Kirby characters, which automatically makes the game a masterpiece as a result.
Port #3
Port #3
Persona 5
2016
The year is 2017, a few days after Christmas was over. I got a game that I knew some things of, but I still wasn't 100% sure what to expect. After the game was downloaded onto my PS3's Hard Drive, I started it up.
The game gave me a beautifully animated opening cutscene to watch, with a black and red color scheme. Each character shown had their own unique personality and the music was a great listen!
But then, after that video ended, the game thrusted me into a sequence of trains passing by. I saw the silhouette of the small cat I had seen prior running towards the screen. He hit the camera and then I saw the rest of the main cast. All while this song was playing.
I was now in the world of Persona 5.
Okay, now to provide some backstory to this. When Persona 5 got popular during its initial international 2017 release, it wasn't the first time I had heard about the series. I had heard about the series' name in passing before, thanks to a video on YouTube using a Persona 3 song as its outro. (The song was Joy, if you're curious).
I heard a bit of Persona 3's and 4's soundtracks, but not too much, as I ended up getting distracted by other songs from other games and media.
When Persona 5 got popular, I was reminded of the series, and decided to do a bit more research. What I came across was some parody videos of Persona 5, with the one sticking out the most to me being Yusuke's "Gay or European" animatic.
The characters of Persona 5 stuck out to me a bunch with all of their different personalities and designs. And the overall style of the game was phenemonal and it was super pleasing to my eyes! And that's in addition to the game's soundtrack, which I'll discuss more later.
Thing is... Persona 5 is a turn-based RPG. That put me off a bit, since I tend to be very picky about my RPGs, and turn-based ones don't tend to persuade me much. I mean, it was during 2017 that I found one of my favourite games of all time in Xenoblade Chronicles, but that was an action RPG and not a turn-based one. Was I going to like Persona 5?
Well, I got the game a few days after Christmas after seeing the Ultimate Edition of the game on sale for around 45 bucks. I wasn't an adult at the time, so it was my dad that got it for me.
Starting the game, I was once again enjoying the artstyle of the menus and of the gameplay, and I think I'll start there.
Persona 5 has a great sense of style! The Persona series has this tradition of each game having its own unique color. Persona 1 has purple, 2 has red, 3 has blue, and 4 has yellow. Persona 5 decides to use red once again, but it contrasts against black, offering a nice red and black color scheme that you'll see in much of the game's UI.
While Persona 5's UI is not the easiest to read, it's one of the most stylish out there, providing fluid 3D animations with flat, bold colors. The fonts seen on the menus are reminiscent of the calling cards the Phantom Thieves send in the game, having letters in a word being different from one another, like if they were taken from different parts of various newspapers.
And this applies to the gameplay as well! Stuff as simple as the battle menu is overly stylish and the attacks themselves have a lot of visual effects surrouding them. And that's the thing, if the game only had 3D animations or 2D ones, the game could've felt undercooked or flat. But the combination of those two help the game feel unique!
And the thing is, Persona 5 is not the first Persona game to do something like this. From what I've seen, Persona 4's UI was also pretty stylish by itself. It feels like one of those "Persona 4 walked so that Persona 5 could run", and this is not to discredit Persona 4, by the way.
The anime cutscenes seen in the game are also great to watch, even if they're not too common. Although since they're not too common, it makes it so when one appears, they end up feeling more special!
And continuing on the game's persentation, the soundtrack of this game is FANTASTIC!! As a person who is an imense lover of the jazz genre, having a game that pays a giant tribute to it is amazing. Of course, not every single song of the game is of that genre, but a lot of them are. There are so many songs from Persona 5 that I love, like Layer Cake; Phantom; Price; Alleycat; The Days when my Mother was there; Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There; Beneath the Mask, and of course, Last Surprise.
That last one was quite the meme for a while, but I still love it even with that. It's just a very catchy battle theme that surprisingly, never really annoyed me in spite of its frequent use throughout the game.
But of course, what is the story of this game about?
Considering it's an RPG, this game will take players a long time to beat. I remember my original playthrough of this game took a little over 86 hours to finish, and that's because the game has a lot of dialogue and a lot to uncover.
Honestly, I find it a bit difficult to describe the game's plot without spoilling it, but I'll try my best.
To keep it simple, a dude who tried to save a woman from getting sexually assaulted, gets sued by the perpetrator. Because of this, he is put under probation and moved outside of his rural town into the city of Tokyo. There, he is put under custody of Sojiro Sakura, the owner of a coffee & curry shop named Leblanc.
After he gets settled into his new school, he is weirdly transported into the inside of a palace where he awakens his Persona, described as the physical manifestation of one's will. He meets a cat-like creature named Morgana, who helps him get used to these Palaces, and meets a guy named Ryuji Sakamoto, who he bonds quickly.
The Palaces are the manifestation of one's desire, as when a desire is so big, it gains a Palace and a Treasure associated with it. These Palaces take place inside of a cognitive world named the Metaverse, unable to be seen by most people.
From there, the story takes many twists and turns, as the protagonist's team grows larger and they call themselves the Phantom Thieves.
The game's plot definitely tackles some very interesting themes, ranging from corruption to rebellion and the fight against injustice. The game is not really subtle about the latter, and sometimes can get a bit repetitive with that, but the differing situations that the Phantom Thieves encounter throughout the game help it stay fresh whenever it feels like it's starting to get stale.
In addition, the game's voice acting is really well made! Considering the game's large number of characters, we have plenty of voice actors, ranging from Max Mittelman, Cherami Leigh, Erika Harlacher, Matthew Marcer, Cassandra Lee Morris, and so much more! Definitely the standout for me, personally, is Xander Mobus as the protagonist (or Joker, his codename). He may not have many lines, as he's the silent type, but whenever he speaks, he just sounds cool.
All of the actors do a fantastic job as their characters and it helps the game immerse you more into its world and characters.
While many of the personality types seen in the main cast aren't necessarily 100% unique within the Persona series, or even in RPGs in general, I came to love them for how well they were written, and just seeing their many interactions.
And that leads me into my next topic, the gameplay! The Persona series is generally known for having two sides to its gameplay. On one hand, you have the turn-based RPG, which in the case of this game, you go to palaces, you fight enemies, you level up and eventually you fight a boss.
On the other hand, you have the social simulation elements, where in Persona 5, you walk around Joker's high-school and the many streets of Tokyo, where you talk to various characters, form bonds with them and do various activities to increase stats like Charm or Guts.
Persona 5 continues that formula established in previous titles but, in this case, I can't really compare it to them, because I haven't played the other Persona games. However, from what I've heard, Persona 5 decides to make each of the dungeons (the Palaces) unique and with their own level design. There aren't any randomized rooms, and all of them have their own unique aesthetic and puzzles to solve.
With the exception of one particular palace (cough Okumura cough), I had a lot of fun traversing through the Palaces.
In addition, even though this game is a turn-based RPG, I didn't really mind the gameplay, but I think that's also because of one little tiny detail... I played the game on the easiest difficulty.
Yeah, I was getting a bit frightened early on in my playthrough, and decided to make things easier, so I wouldn't really stress out over the game's time limit, which I'll discuss in a bit.
Even with that though, while the game isn't revolutionary with its RPG mechanics, I did enjoy them. Like the One More mechanic or the Baton Pass move. These are relatively simple mechanics that allow the characters to continue their streak of attacks and pass their turn to another character, respectively, but they keep the game's system from getting stale.
Another interesting thing about the battle system is that you can recruit enemies into your team, very similarly to the Shin Megami Tensei series (part of the Megami Tensei franchise, just like the Persona series). If you hit an enemy with their weakness, you'll initiate a Hold-Up! You can either cancel it, do a finishing move with the All-Out Attack (which is badass) or initiate a conversation where, by picking the right options, you can let the enemy become one of Joker's personas.
This is a pretty cool mechanic, honestly, as it allows each enemy to have their own little personality, and it makes the process of obtaining them more interesting. From what I researched, previous Persona games didn't have this feature, so it's nice seeing it in Persona 5.
In addition, the game also has a big dungeon that you'll slowly progress through more and more throughout the game, called Mementos. The floors on this one are randomly generated, but they provide a way for the player to grind for experience or to complete certain side-quests.
Switching things over to the social simulation part of the game, this is where the game introduces the concept of time. Like Persona 3 and 4, time always passes whenever you do an activity of any kind. Whether that be eating an hamburger at a restaurant, visiting a Palace or going to sleep, one must consider how they organize their day to make efficient progress.
Unlike games like Majora's Mask for example, time isn't always passing, and you are able to take your time making decisions and planning out your next move. Even the game itself encourages this, as the loading screens will usually say "Take Your Time", which I like.
Probably the biggest thing you can do in these segments is establishing Confidants with people. Confidants are a series of conversations that Joker can have to form bonds, and by getting these to Rank 10, he can receive new abilities that help his team's journey in the Palaces. Not only that, but you are able to learn more about the various characters that you meet, including the Phantom Thieves themselves.
You can even potentially romance some of these characters if you get them to a high enough rank.
I wasn't able to finish all of the Confidants during my playthrough, but I did finish a couple and I even got to romance someone... can you guess who it was?
These are just really nice to listen to and interact with. It's not a new thing to the Persona series, I realize, but I find this to be an incredibly strong way of optional story-telling that expands on the game's world.
And that's one of the things that I love the most about Persona 5, its world and its characters. They're all relatable in various ways, and they're all uniquely designed. Of course, depending on who you ask, some of them might be more interesting than others, and I agree there were some that I cared for more than others, but I think all of them are varied and tell interesting mini-stories.
Additionally, like mentioned earlier, you can do activites that let you increase one of 5 stats: Guts, Charm, Proficiency, Kindness and Knowledge. These not only allow you to progress certain Confidants, but allow Joker to make certain things easier, like building weapons to be used in Palaces, or study better for any quizzes or exams he might get in school.
Persona 5 for me was a getaway into more complex games. With the exception of Xenoblade 1, I hadn't played many games that took many hours to beat, nor had very big stories that talked about mature topics.
The game might be rated PEGI 16 here in Europe, but like I said previously, the game is not shy about discussing topics such as sexual abuse, plagiarism, greed, corruption and the true meaning of justice. There is certainly a discussion to be had whether or not the game presents these themes well, but in my opinion, I think it does.
Maybe some of the themes could end up feeling slightly less undercooked than others, but when I was playing this game for the first time, I found a lot of what it presented very intriguing.
And thanks to Persona 5, I got more curious about other more mature games, which would eventually lead me to discover series such as Yakuza or Halo.
Would I classify Persona 5 as a perfect game? No, not really. There are certainly things that can be seen as either repetitive or undercooked about it, but even with the game being part of a genre that I'm not the biggest fan of, Persona 5 left me with a great experience through and through, that I'll never forget.
Fin.
The game gave me a beautifully animated opening cutscene to watch, with a black and red color scheme. Each character shown had their own unique personality and the music was a great listen!
But then, after that video ended, the game thrusted me into a sequence of trains passing by. I saw the silhouette of the small cat I had seen prior running towards the screen. He hit the camera and then I saw the rest of the main cast. All while this song was playing.
I was now in the world of Persona 5.
Okay, now to provide some backstory to this. When Persona 5 got popular during its initial international 2017 release, it wasn't the first time I had heard about the series. I had heard about the series' name in passing before, thanks to a video on YouTube using a Persona 3 song as its outro. (The song was Joy, if you're curious).
I heard a bit of Persona 3's and 4's soundtracks, but not too much, as I ended up getting distracted by other songs from other games and media.
When Persona 5 got popular, I was reminded of the series, and decided to do a bit more research. What I came across was some parody videos of Persona 5, with the one sticking out the most to me being Yusuke's "Gay or European" animatic.
The characters of Persona 5 stuck out to me a bunch with all of their different personalities and designs. And the overall style of the game was phenemonal and it was super pleasing to my eyes! And that's in addition to the game's soundtrack, which I'll discuss more later.
Thing is... Persona 5 is a turn-based RPG. That put me off a bit, since I tend to be very picky about my RPGs, and turn-based ones don't tend to persuade me much. I mean, it was during 2017 that I found one of my favourite games of all time in Xenoblade Chronicles, but that was an action RPG and not a turn-based one. Was I going to like Persona 5?
Well, I got the game a few days after Christmas after seeing the Ultimate Edition of the game on sale for around 45 bucks. I wasn't an adult at the time, so it was my dad that got it for me.
Starting the game, I was once again enjoying the artstyle of the menus and of the gameplay, and I think I'll start there.
Persona 5 has a great sense of style! The Persona series has this tradition of each game having its own unique color. Persona 1 has purple, 2 has red, 3 has blue, and 4 has yellow. Persona 5 decides to use red once again, but it contrasts against black, offering a nice red and black color scheme that you'll see in much of the game's UI.
While Persona 5's UI is not the easiest to read, it's one of the most stylish out there, providing fluid 3D animations with flat, bold colors. The fonts seen on the menus are reminiscent of the calling cards the Phantom Thieves send in the game, having letters in a word being different from one another, like if they were taken from different parts of various newspapers.
And this applies to the gameplay as well! Stuff as simple as the battle menu is overly stylish and the attacks themselves have a lot of visual effects surrouding them. And that's the thing, if the game only had 3D animations or 2D ones, the game could've felt undercooked or flat. But the combination of those two help the game feel unique!
And the thing is, Persona 5 is not the first Persona game to do something like this. From what I've seen, Persona 4's UI was also pretty stylish by itself. It feels like one of those "Persona 4 walked so that Persona 5 could run", and this is not to discredit Persona 4, by the way.
The anime cutscenes seen in the game are also great to watch, even if they're not too common. Although since they're not too common, it makes it so when one appears, they end up feeling more special!
And continuing on the game's persentation, the soundtrack of this game is FANTASTIC!! As a person who is an imense lover of the jazz genre, having a game that pays a giant tribute to it is amazing. Of course, not every single song of the game is of that genre, but a lot of them are. There are so many songs from Persona 5 that I love, like Layer Cake; Phantom; Price; Alleycat; The Days when my Mother was there; Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There; Beneath the Mask, and of course, Last Surprise.
That last one was quite the meme for a while, but I still love it even with that. It's just a very catchy battle theme that surprisingly, never really annoyed me in spite of its frequent use throughout the game.
But of course, what is the story of this game about?
Considering it's an RPG, this game will take players a long time to beat. I remember my original playthrough of this game took a little over 86 hours to finish, and that's because the game has a lot of dialogue and a lot to uncover.
Honestly, I find it a bit difficult to describe the game's plot without spoilling it, but I'll try my best.
To keep it simple, a dude who tried to save a woman from getting sexually assaulted, gets sued by the perpetrator. Because of this, he is put under probation and moved outside of his rural town into the city of Tokyo. There, he is put under custody of Sojiro Sakura, the owner of a coffee & curry shop named Leblanc.
After he gets settled into his new school, he is weirdly transported into the inside of a palace where he awakens his Persona, described as the physical manifestation of one's will. He meets a cat-like creature named Morgana, who helps him get used to these Palaces, and meets a guy named Ryuji Sakamoto, who he bonds quickly.
The Palaces are the manifestation of one's desire, as when a desire is so big, it gains a Palace and a Treasure associated with it. These Palaces take place inside of a cognitive world named the Metaverse, unable to be seen by most people.
From there, the story takes many twists and turns, as the protagonist's team grows larger and they call themselves the Phantom Thieves.
The game's plot definitely tackles some very interesting themes, ranging from corruption to rebellion and the fight against injustice. The game is not really subtle about the latter, and sometimes can get a bit repetitive with that, but the differing situations that the Phantom Thieves encounter throughout the game help it stay fresh whenever it feels like it's starting to get stale.
In addition, the game's voice acting is really well made! Considering the game's large number of characters, we have plenty of voice actors, ranging from Max Mittelman, Cherami Leigh, Erika Harlacher, Matthew Marcer, Cassandra Lee Morris, and so much more! Definitely the standout for me, personally, is Xander Mobus as the protagonist (or Joker, his codename). He may not have many lines, as he's the silent type, but whenever he speaks, he just sounds cool.
All of the actors do a fantastic job as their characters and it helps the game immerse you more into its world and characters.
While many of the personality types seen in the main cast aren't necessarily 100% unique within the Persona series, or even in RPGs in general, I came to love them for how well they were written, and just seeing their many interactions.
And that leads me into my next topic, the gameplay! The Persona series is generally known for having two sides to its gameplay. On one hand, you have the turn-based RPG, which in the case of this game, you go to palaces, you fight enemies, you level up and eventually you fight a boss.
On the other hand, you have the social simulation elements, where in Persona 5, you walk around Joker's high-school and the many streets of Tokyo, where you talk to various characters, form bonds with them and do various activities to increase stats like Charm or Guts.
Persona 5 continues that formula established in previous titles but, in this case, I can't really compare it to them, because I haven't played the other Persona games. However, from what I've heard, Persona 5 decides to make each of the dungeons (the Palaces) unique and with their own level design. There aren't any randomized rooms, and all of them have their own unique aesthetic and puzzles to solve.
With the exception of one particular palace (cough Okumura cough), I had a lot of fun traversing through the Palaces.
In addition, even though this game is a turn-based RPG, I didn't really mind the gameplay, but I think that's also because of one little tiny detail... I played the game on the easiest difficulty.
Yeah, I was getting a bit frightened early on in my playthrough, and decided to make things easier, so I wouldn't really stress out over the game's time limit, which I'll discuss in a bit.
Even with that though, while the game isn't revolutionary with its RPG mechanics, I did enjoy them. Like the One More mechanic or the Baton Pass move. These are relatively simple mechanics that allow the characters to continue their streak of attacks and pass their turn to another character, respectively, but they keep the game's system from getting stale.
Another interesting thing about the battle system is that you can recruit enemies into your team, very similarly to the Shin Megami Tensei series (part of the Megami Tensei franchise, just like the Persona series). If you hit an enemy with their weakness, you'll initiate a Hold-Up! You can either cancel it, do a finishing move with the All-Out Attack (which is badass) or initiate a conversation where, by picking the right options, you can let the enemy become one of Joker's personas.
This is a pretty cool mechanic, honestly, as it allows each enemy to have their own little personality, and it makes the process of obtaining them more interesting. From what I researched, previous Persona games didn't have this feature, so it's nice seeing it in Persona 5.
In addition, the game also has a big dungeon that you'll slowly progress through more and more throughout the game, called Mementos. The floors on this one are randomly generated, but they provide a way for the player to grind for experience or to complete certain side-quests.
Switching things over to the social simulation part of the game, this is where the game introduces the concept of time. Like Persona 3 and 4, time always passes whenever you do an activity of any kind. Whether that be eating an hamburger at a restaurant, visiting a Palace or going to sleep, one must consider how they organize their day to make efficient progress.
Unlike games like Majora's Mask for example, time isn't always passing, and you are able to take your time making decisions and planning out your next move. Even the game itself encourages this, as the loading screens will usually say "Take Your Time", which I like.
Probably the biggest thing you can do in these segments is establishing Confidants with people. Confidants are a series of conversations that Joker can have to form bonds, and by getting these to Rank 10, he can receive new abilities that help his team's journey in the Palaces. Not only that, but you are able to learn more about the various characters that you meet, including the Phantom Thieves themselves.
You can even potentially romance some of these characters if you get them to a high enough rank.
I wasn't able to finish all of the Confidants during my playthrough, but I did finish a couple and I even got to romance someone... can you guess who it was?
These are just really nice to listen to and interact with. It's not a new thing to the Persona series, I realize, but I find this to be an incredibly strong way of optional story-telling that expands on the game's world.
And that's one of the things that I love the most about Persona 5, its world and its characters. They're all relatable in various ways, and they're all uniquely designed. Of course, depending on who you ask, some of them might be more interesting than others, and I agree there were some that I cared for more than others, but I think all of them are varied and tell interesting mini-stories.
Additionally, like mentioned earlier, you can do activites that let you increase one of 5 stats: Guts, Charm, Proficiency, Kindness and Knowledge. These not only allow you to progress certain Confidants, but allow Joker to make certain things easier, like building weapons to be used in Palaces, or study better for any quizzes or exams he might get in school.
Persona 5 for me was a getaway into more complex games. With the exception of Xenoblade 1, I hadn't played many games that took many hours to beat, nor had very big stories that talked about mature topics.
The game might be rated PEGI 16 here in Europe, but like I said previously, the game is not shy about discussing topics such as sexual abuse, plagiarism, greed, corruption and the true meaning of justice. There is certainly a discussion to be had whether or not the game presents these themes well, but in my opinion, I think it does.
Maybe some of the themes could end up feeling slightly less undercooked than others, but when I was playing this game for the first time, I found a lot of what it presented very intriguing.
And thanks to Persona 5, I got more curious about other more mature games, which would eventually lead me to discover series such as Yakuza or Halo.
Would I classify Persona 5 as a perfect game? No, not really. There are certainly things that can be seen as either repetitive or undercooked about it, but even with the game being part of a genre that I'm not the biggest fan of, Persona 5 left me with a great experience through and through, that I'll never forget.
Fin.
Darksiders II
2012
After revisiting the first Darksiders and really liking the game due to it being a generally great 3D Zelda clone, but also being unique enough to bring it's own strengths to the table, I was really looking forward to getting into the sequel starring War's brother, Death. I was keen on getting more of that rewarding exploration action/adventure dungeon hopping gameplay that we all love 3D Zelda for.
There was still a lot of potential Darksiders 1 had that I was hoping Darksiders 2 would reach. Unfortunately, Darksiders 2 doesn't take the strengths of it's predecessor and tries to enhance qualities that were lacking, but rather does it's own new thing. As we like to compare Darksiders 1 to a 3D Zelda game, I like to compare Darksiders 2 to a Prince of Persia game with a touch of Diablo.
The game's greatest strength is it's combat. While it's predecessor's combat wasn't anything amazing, but still fun, Darksiders 2 gives you a nice diverse flexible combat system something closer to a DMC or Bayonetta game. You have your primary weapon, the scythe, and many different types of secondary weapons to choose from such as Hammers, Glaives, Fists etc.
The part I did NOT like was the diablo aspect of it. As you explore and open chests or kill enemies, you will find random loot such as weapons, armor, money, the general stuff. The system is very similar to Diablo where get plenty and plenty of weapon and armor drops with varying stats that you will constantly need to replace over your obsolete under-levelled weapons and armor. In a Diablo game, this system works as the game is designed around it. In Darksiders, this system almost ruins the game for me as it makes these finds very disposable and just destroys the rewarding feeling of exploration and finding chests, because as opposed to Darksiders 1 where you get cool permanent upgrades such as health and magic when you explore, in Darksiders II you know you're just going to get another weapon or armor that you will instantly replace with a stronger weapon/armor that you find a couple of minutes later. There are so many instances where I find an entire optional dungeon with it's own unique boss, and expect some amazing reward, but instead you get another disposable weapon that is already too underlevelled for you. At this rate there really is no point to exploration and just beeline the story, as the best weapons and armor will just come to you as you progress.
One of the elements I wish Darksiders 1 had more of were the dungeons. Every dungeon in that game was amazing and unique, but there were only 4 or 5. In Darksiders 2 that wish is fulfilled... but man what a monkey's paw this is. There are so many dungeons in this game, I think even more than any 3D Zelda game, they're huge and overstay their welcome, including a handful of optional dungeons. But most of these aren't fun. These dungeons aren't the typical clever Zelda type of dungeons, these are closer to Prince of Persia where you are still solving puzzles, but there is more of an emphasis of using wall running and climbing to activate switches and pull levers, rather than a way to solve puzzles with a new an interesting tool you just acquired. You will also be doing a LOT of combat in these dungeons to the point where it starts to feel tedious. I understand that they wanna stress that combat is their strongest suit, but I feel like some of these dungeons are SO long just because they wanna add as many combat sections as they need.
The world, location and story of Darksiders II is no where near as compelling as the first Darksiders. Death's story is not as impactful as War's. The only thing the story brings to the table is the question of what Death was doing during War's imprisonment of the first game. Story-wise, you can completely skip and game and you won't miss out on what's happening overall. The story feels more like an afterthought to just give Death an excuse to do what he's doing. Even the characters introduced are not interesting at all.
The world design does not feel as creative as Darksiders 1, which had an amazing world that merged a post-apocalyptic earth with hellish and divine structures in diverse locations such as deserts, haunted cathedrals, lava chateaus and more. Darksiders II's world is a mix of fairly generic fantasy locations such as Norse inspired plains, and ashy demon realms. 80% of the dungeons feel like they have the same theme of bricky cathedrals overrun by vegetation. It was just so boring all around. They even bring back the post apocalyptic earth level, but it is so much worse as it is a excuse for an hour long really bad third person shooter section of the game.
I was really disappointed in Darksiders II, and already got bored around the 5 hour mark. I wanted to see it through to the end to see if it got better, but never did. While there were some cool moments that got my hopes up, like scaling that massive ghost ship, the game returned to the slog it was right after those cool sections. Darksiders really had the potential to be an amazing franchise, but I feel like Darksiders II prematurely poisoned it before it could fully grow it's legs to run, by becoming the run of the mill action RPG that every action game of the time started to become. This should have sticked to more of the Zelda formula the first game had as I feel like building on that would have grown the franchise to the level it aspired to be.
There was still a lot of potential Darksiders 1 had that I was hoping Darksiders 2 would reach. Unfortunately, Darksiders 2 doesn't take the strengths of it's predecessor and tries to enhance qualities that were lacking, but rather does it's own new thing. As we like to compare Darksiders 1 to a 3D Zelda game, I like to compare Darksiders 2 to a Prince of Persia game with a touch of Diablo.
The game's greatest strength is it's combat. While it's predecessor's combat wasn't anything amazing, but still fun, Darksiders 2 gives you a nice diverse flexible combat system something closer to a DMC or Bayonetta game. You have your primary weapon, the scythe, and many different types of secondary weapons to choose from such as Hammers, Glaives, Fists etc.
The part I did NOT like was the diablo aspect of it. As you explore and open chests or kill enemies, you will find random loot such as weapons, armor, money, the general stuff. The system is very similar to Diablo where get plenty and plenty of weapon and armor drops with varying stats that you will constantly need to replace over your obsolete under-levelled weapons and armor. In a Diablo game, this system works as the game is designed around it. In Darksiders, this system almost ruins the game for me as it makes these finds very disposable and just destroys the rewarding feeling of exploration and finding chests, because as opposed to Darksiders 1 where you get cool permanent upgrades such as health and magic when you explore, in Darksiders II you know you're just going to get another weapon or armor that you will instantly replace with a stronger weapon/armor that you find a couple of minutes later. There are so many instances where I find an entire optional dungeon with it's own unique boss, and expect some amazing reward, but instead you get another disposable weapon that is already too underlevelled for you. At this rate there really is no point to exploration and just beeline the story, as the best weapons and armor will just come to you as you progress.
One of the elements I wish Darksiders 1 had more of were the dungeons. Every dungeon in that game was amazing and unique, but there were only 4 or 5. In Darksiders 2 that wish is fulfilled... but man what a monkey's paw this is. There are so many dungeons in this game, I think even more than any 3D Zelda game, they're huge and overstay their welcome, including a handful of optional dungeons. But most of these aren't fun. These dungeons aren't the typical clever Zelda type of dungeons, these are closer to Prince of Persia where you are still solving puzzles, but there is more of an emphasis of using wall running and climbing to activate switches and pull levers, rather than a way to solve puzzles with a new an interesting tool you just acquired. You will also be doing a LOT of combat in these dungeons to the point where it starts to feel tedious. I understand that they wanna stress that combat is their strongest suit, but I feel like some of these dungeons are SO long just because they wanna add as many combat sections as they need.
The world, location and story of Darksiders II is no where near as compelling as the first Darksiders. Death's story is not as impactful as War's. The only thing the story brings to the table is the question of what Death was doing during War's imprisonment of the first game. Story-wise, you can completely skip and game and you won't miss out on what's happening overall. The story feels more like an afterthought to just give Death an excuse to do what he's doing. Even the characters introduced are not interesting at all.
The world design does not feel as creative as Darksiders 1, which had an amazing world that merged a post-apocalyptic earth with hellish and divine structures in diverse locations such as deserts, haunted cathedrals, lava chateaus and more. Darksiders II's world is a mix of fairly generic fantasy locations such as Norse inspired plains, and ashy demon realms. 80% of the dungeons feel like they have the same theme of bricky cathedrals overrun by vegetation. It was just so boring all around. They even bring back the post apocalyptic earth level, but it is so much worse as it is a excuse for an hour long really bad third person shooter section of the game.
I was really disappointed in Darksiders II, and already got bored around the 5 hour mark. I wanted to see it through to the end to see if it got better, but never did. While there were some cool moments that got my hopes up, like scaling that massive ghost ship, the game returned to the slog it was right after those cool sections. Darksiders really had the potential to be an amazing franchise, but I feel like Darksiders II prematurely poisoned it before it could fully grow it's legs to run, by becoming the run of the mill action RPG that every action game of the time started to become. This should have sticked to more of the Zelda formula the first game had as I feel like building on that would have grown the franchise to the level it aspired to be.
Muv-Luv Alternative
2006
This review contains spoilers
There are spoilers for Muv-Luv Extra, Unlimited and Alternative here. I took care not to mention anything for the side content outside of setting. If you haven't read ML and MLA, I highly recommend you stop reading and go read them. MLA in particular goes hand in hand with Umineko as some of the most spoilable stories in the visual novel medium, it's not worth missing out on a crazy story that might potentially change your life.
I don’t even know how to start this. Muv-Luv Alternative is my favorite story of all time. This time, I’m making a spoiler review, written soon after my reread. This might not be the most polished essay I’ve written, but even though I do appreciate people seeing this, it is primarily for myself. I’ll try to put every single thought I’ve had about MLA and Muv-Luv as a whole into it, but of course, words aren’t enough, so there will always be more I will want to say. This will be a long one.
For the longest time, I used to not get attached to stories, especially emotionally. It’s why I played multiplayer games primarily. For basically the entirety of the 2000s and 2010s I was mostly into familiar media or adaptations of that media — Marvel, DC and Star Wars. Nothing wrong with enjoying them, of course. When looking forward to new content, I was mostly looking forward to more of the same. It was nice in a way, but lacked novelty after a while. I didn't really get emotional from media either, let alone to the extent of crying. With the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdowns, I started exploring more due to sheer boredom, and eventually got into anime for real after trying a few shows in 2011-2015 previously. One thing led to another, and after playing Doki Doki Literature Club and watching Steins;Gate I decided to explore more of the SciAdv series, and read Chaos;Child (at the time, Chaos;Head wasn’t on Steam and I was not aware of its existence). I never had the apprehension about the visual novel medium since I was used to reading a lot of books as a child. Experiencing C;C blew away all other narrative media I was into previously, even my beloved Spider-Man adaptations and comics, as well as the dozens/hundreds of anime I’d watched in 2020. After that I moved onto the most popular VN and VN adaptations series — Type-Moon. I read Fate/stay night and Tsukihime, and I was obsessed with it for months. I was convinced that there was barely any point in exploring the medium at that point, with nothing else really catching my eye. However, I decided that I would at least try Muv-Luv, since Alternative was the highest rated VN on VNDB at the time (not that rankings on a website matter that much to me, I could be the only fan or the millionth fan of a thing, all that matters is if I like it), and in the top three on EGS (Japanese eroge and ADV game website), in addition to the anime adaptation of MLA being announced (which I've also written reviews (1, 2) on, and getting told to not rob myself of the experience, hence deciding to read the source trilogy. If I didn’t end up liking it, I would quit the medium, since I was convinced nothing would surpass C;C anyway, probably.
I was honestly surprised to see the amount of hatred towards Extra online after finishing the trilogy. It might not be a masterpiece, but the humor is something I’ve always found entertaining. It is even more apparent on my reread after experiencing dozens upon dozens of other VNs where the humor is the MC being a pervert or classroom pranks. In Muv-Luv, you have the rich girl heroine trope exaggerated into being able to level the protagonist’s neighborhood and bring in 5-star chefs from around the glove on helicopters to school, as well as turning into chibis and shooting each other into the stratosphere. For some, it may have gotten repetitive, but given how I enjoyed this reread, and prior to that Altered Fable and some other side stories, I still enjoy it. The main two routes of Extra (Sumika and Meiya), the ones that were required to unlock Unlimited in 2003 (and for good reason, as I'll mention later), also have a well-executed romance drama, though I do take some issue with the side routes, which I’ve discussed in my Extra/Unlimited reread review prior to this one.
Unlimited was really crazy from beginning to end. I spent all of Extra anticipating the genre shift which never happened then, only for Takeru to suddenly walk out into a wasteland three minutes into this one. It was the last thing I expected after spending a large portion of Extra theorising that Yuuko would do some kind of experiment and they would get invaded at the end of Extra. And then Takeru gets shoved into what is another genre, as well as literally another world. The “new normal” of Muv-Luv shifts, and Extra already starts to seem like a distant dream. Takeru goes through a training arc and episodic arcs that focus on the girls, building up confidence, but by the end of it things start to feel wrong, and they announce Alternative V, making Takeru fight with the rest of humanity for survival as a fleet that only hosts a small portion of humanity on board, possibly with the heroine, who is also the mother of his child. It is an emotional gut punch due to how abruptly the ending comes — Takeru couldn’t do anything due to lack of information and maturity at the time, yet he’s giving it his all regardless. Isn’t this insane, though? Wasn’t it so long ago that we were choosing between Sumika and Meiya’s lunches? How is this even the same story? At this point we really start to miss the Extraverse and Sumika just like he does. It gets even crazier. It makes me feel bad for people who waited between 2003 and 2006 when Alternative wasn’t even certain to come out.
So, we finally get to Alternative — the true story, so to speak. After an awesome Hive invasion scene that made me shout “ENGLISH?!?!?!?!?”, and the iconic, intriguing “human brains” moment, the story adds yet another layer besides dimensional travel this time with time travel. Takeru loops back to the beginning of Unlimited with his knowledge and training and starts to retrace his steps to use the future knowledge to its fullest. One thing that really stood out about chapters 1-5 of Alternative is how it genuinely feels like a timeloop due to small changes snowballing. Yuuko takes longer to trust Takeru’s story despite Kasumi’s mind-reading due to his trained body and suspicious amount of classified knowledge, Takeru doesn’t hold back the cadet squad, but leads it this time, and Yuuko and Takeru debate which events to intervene in without losing the advantage of future knowledge, while also trying to save as many days and hours before Alternative V is implemented on Christmas Day as possible. It’s really cool seeing this after several stories, especially visual novels, having one small choice leading to another character becoming a psychopathic killer and killing the entire cast, or something. The story being a slow burn really makes it feel immersive.
The first true change is the coup d’etat that did not happen in the Unlimited timeline, due to interfering with the events of episode 9 of Unlimited. I’ll get back to this later, but this arc is one of the most controversial aspects of MLA, and for good reason. For now it will suffice to say that both the reader and Takeru are asking themselves why his first mission is fighting humans instead of the BETA, and why anyone would bother doing this when humanity is facing extinction. It is an attempt to say that nobody is strictly right or wrong (even if it is biased towards the Japanese nationalistic perspective), and humanising American and UN soldiers and not blaming them for their leaders’ choices is cool.
After that ends and the XM3 trials happen, the true turning point of Muv-Luv occurs — the chomp of Jinguuji Marimo. Takeru and we both believe we've seen the worst with Alternative V and the coup, and that the "therapy not included" part of Muv-Luv is hearing soldiers die one by one on the battlefield, but then it turns out that's just the beginning, it affects someone close to Takeru as well, someone he cares for deeply dies, and he loses it. It is a completely unexpected moment, delivered only after the reader and Takeru feel completely secure about thinking that they have already finally reached the "serious part" of the story with Takeru getting into more serious situations than most of Unlimited, yet prevailing regardless like the hero he believes himself to be due to his future knowledge at the start of Alternative, as well as the advantage of retaining his training and body from Unlimited, making him no longer the dead weight that he was for a large portion of Unlimited, only to have something like this happen during a typical “Muv-Luv talk”, and all the allegedly heroic resolve Takeru had goes to waste once this starts to affect the people near him. He has a truly deplorable display in front of Meiya, Kasumi and Yuuko and runs away to his world, until it starts to affect him there. After that we finally get to see the fight against the BETA.
I know it is a bad habit to start summarising the story in a review, but I feel like this way I will assemble the pieces to truly discuss it, as well as provide a refresher. In any case…
The coup arc is controversial due to Sagiri’s resemblance to Yukio Mishima from Japanese history. By essentially saying “your methods were extreme, but your motivation wasn’t, you just went about it the wrong way”, MLA understandably rubs many people the wrong way about this. However, I wouldn’t really call it “nationalism simulator 3000” because of this. Even besides the fact that Total Eclipse and other side material dials down the nationalism aspect (though is it really fair to mention that as a retroactive point when talking about MLA specifically, especially when TE sort of partially exists to ‘fix’ it?), it’s certainly nice to not have an ‘evil foreigner’ angle, which is more than I can say for a few popular VNs, anime and JRPGs, especially with downplaying Japan’s role in World War II, but I digress. Having Takeru have an outsider’s perspective is cool, since he is just a normal Japanese high schooler from a world similar to ours. The line of thinking that ordinary BETAverse citizens have is completely alien to him for a large portion of the story. They still have him be more understanding of the nationalistic view by the end of the arc, which plays into the nationalistic undertones of the arc, as well as despite being a UN operation, having the entire squad be of Japanese descent (even though it plays into the whole “UN soldier duties vs Japanese roots” aspect). I still enjoy the arc despite its issues, especially with the tension and Takeru’s dynamic with Yuuhi, but I can definitely see where people who dislike it are coming from.
To call the XM3 trials’ chomp a turning point is an understatement. The story effectively undergoes a second genre shift through the multiple tragedies of chapter 7. All of what we thought we knew about Muv-Luv undergoes a change, and we realise that nowhere is safe, not even the Extraverse. The distant memory of Extra now comes under attack. There is truly nowhere left to run. I’ve mentioned that I cried to MLA previously, and on my original playthrough, this got the most tears out of me. From seeing Extraverse Marimo to the various tragedies, to Sumika’s memories and "Now, get out there and show them who's boss, Shirogane Takeru!" as JAM Project blasts into my ear, it was probably to date the most emotional I’ve gotten over media. After more than a decade of not crying over fiction, I finally started bawling. And the reason for that is due to the slow burn that MLE, MLU and early MLA were, due to how attached I’ve gotten to these characters, like I truly knew them. The end gave Takeru and me both a determination to see this tale through to the end. The reveal that Sumika is the brain from the brain room and has been under Takeru’s nose all along was shocking, despite being a bit predictable at this point. After experiencing her heavy injuries in Extra, seeing her like this and unlike her usual cheery self is painful for readers, too. By the way, Sumika being in the menu screen and marketing material this isn’t a spoiler on the Steam version’s part, she was marketed to be in this game even with the 00 Unit pink fortified suit even in its original release (source), such as with the game cover. Just like Muv-Luv being a mecha, this isn’t really a spoiler you should be worrying about, since âge certainly doesn’t consider it one. Pretty much nobody who buys and plays Muv-Luv, any version of it, is unaware that it's a mecha without extremely careful outside control by a friend who's already read it and wants to run this as an experiment of pretending that Muv-Luv is just a cutesy romcom until the player reaches Unlimited.
And so, Takeru finally gets involved in a squad as a commissioned officer, with cast additions such as Isumi Michiru from Kimi ga Ita Kisetsu, Hayase, Akane and Haruka from Kimi Nozomu ga Eien, Kashiwagi from Extra, as well as Kazama and Munakata (who later got added to the KimiIta remake). This must’ve been a real gift for long-time âge fans, seeing alternate versions of the characters they knew in the BETAverse. Like the BETAverse versions of the Extra heroines, the BETAverse versions of these characters are similar, yet adjusted to the setting. Isumi dies without confessing, and Mitsuki and Haruka have lost Takayuki. Seeing even further connections like this is why I’m planning to finish pre-ML âge VNs before my second trilogy reread, this time in Japanese. Back to Muv-Luv itself though, we finally get to truly fight the BETA for the first time. The reason the XM3 surprise attack was so effective was because the BETA’s appearance was hidden behind ambiguity for the story until that point. They were a threat that was always looming over the characters and in-universe populace. They are a truly terrifying force with no morals or hesitation that people might have. They aren’t even villains of the week — they are more akin to insects such as ants or bees that come in thousands or even millions. Seeing the scale increase so drastically from Extra, and even Unlimited, is a sight to behold. Now we have another new normal that is 1000+ vs 1000+ large scale battles that have multiple parties constantly moving with their own objectives, and seeing how the BETA’s response affects the entire battlefield. Following Takeru’s incredible show of determination in his Storm Vanguard moment and the plan going off the rails, Isumi’s sacrifice is an emotional scene despite for how short of a time Takeru has known her, and seeing Kashiwagi be the first person besides Marimo to get killed off from the Extra cast leaves a void in the reader’s heart.
At this point it becomes abundantly clear to never expect peace from Muv-Luv anymore, but the attack on Yokohama Base comes as a surprise regardless. This time around, the base takes major damage, and with Mitsuki’s and Haruka’s deaths, as well as the injuries of the rest of the Valkyries, the only crew that remains in fighting condition is our original gang, armed with Tsukuyomi and company’s Takemikazuchis. They too undergo a suicidal attack against the BETA, and the story wraps up.
It really is insane that this is the same story as lacrosse and various shenanigans from Extra. I constantly had to remind myself of the fact that yes, this is indeed the same story, many times throughout the experience. But the main reason this even works is due to it taking so long to “get good”. The reason the BETA attack during the XM3 trials is such a shock is due to how long it took for the first ‘real fight’, and the reason chapters 7 through 10 are so impactful is due to how long we spent with these characters. The contrast between the worlds and genres plays a part, too. There are some cool connections that are even more apparent while rereading, such as Alternative Takeru throwing the shoe to his Extra self, or Sumika meeting him while going home with groceries, or Sadogashima mentions and Yuuko’s quantum causality theory, but by far the most impressive part of the trilogy is how almost all the parts work as pieces of a greater picture.
The world building plays a part in that. Muv-Luv’s hard sci-fi lore explains almost everything and connects it to plot points through strategy, tactics, technology and history, while the soft sci-fi such as multiversal and time travel, as well as causality conducting ties to the themes and characters. It is so nice to see things be properly explained in the main work (where it’s often vague or sometimes just straight up unexplained) and not just side content (where it’s usually actually explained). It is so refreshing to see a story with such a grounded take on mechs that don’t have beam swords and cannot fly into space not be filled with unexplained technobabble like omega particles that never get explained outside of interviews or obscure side material, with the main story mentioning rules but immediately breaking them two minutes later. You actually know what an Arrowhead-2 formation, data link or feedback protector is. It's not just there, they actually use this stuff in the story! The XM3 is invented due to just being a logical thing to do when you have a guy who knows a way to improve TSF software. You get told several versions of a plan so that you know exactly what is happening if something doesn’t go ideally and they have to use a backup, which they told you about ahead of time. The TSFs themselves get a lot of detail in their design philosophies between countries, generations and models. In fact, TSFs being based on real life planes like the F-22 Raptor makes it even more cool. It actually makes sense why they were invented — it’s not just to look cool, you want a machine that can move three-dimensionally without crashing into a wall like a plane, but also something with more agility than a tank. Muv-Luv in general has so many things I wish other mecha had, even small things like neck braces when pilots aren't in something like Evangelion LCL or space, so that maneuvers in those mechs don't case whiplash. It is also nice to see a story where you actually have to undergo training (and we see the cast undergo training) both in Basic and with simulators before you can actually pilot a mech. It just makes sense! It makes sense why the cast don’t get into real action for so long, aside from just political reasons which are revealed later. The political and technological landscape is so developed that it is so immersive, and I can’t get enough of it. I was initially curious if I’d end up liking this, since I wasn’t into mecha for the mecha previously, but it seems I just hadn’t found my own niche at that point. Having such comparatively weak mechs with a focus on agility over durability, since additional armor wouldn’t be much help anyway in such a grounded setting definitely made me find that niche. Exposition and a lot of details to remember is a common complaint about Alternative, but that’s what makes it so compelling to me. You can’t have so much detail in strategy, tech, politics with various parties having their own complex motivations and history make consistent sense without explaining them.
The structure certainly makes this story the greatest “trust me bro, it gets good” of all time, even if you liked Extra and Unlimited due to the fact that every reader is excited to see what Alternative is about, but that’s what makes it worth it. It’s already common for VNs to have a slow, slice of life beginning as the high schooler main character gets thrown into supernatural shenanigans, but having that main character live through what is basically a detailed pre-isekai life (making it stand out among a sea of low-effort isekai novels and anime nowadays, 20+ years later), get thrown into a dystopian mecha alien invasion with humanity at the brink of extinction, witness the end of the world, and get timelooped back and experience trauma after creating another branch (route) in his original, more traditional visual novel world makes it stand out even among other acclaimed visual novels. Like I said, it’s crazy that it’s the same story as lacrosse and picking school lunches, and you think that at many points in the story. But most importantly, it gives you attachment to that old life, you genuinely start to miss Extra. Even people who didn’t like Extra can become major Muv-Luv fans and start to miss it and appreciate it more in Unlimited and Alternative, I’ve seen it happen time and time again.
The visuals are amazing even two decades later. This stuff is still more animated than the overwhelming majority of VNs there, and from the popular ones, rivalled only by the recent 2010s and 2020s Type-Moon visual novels. From moving mouths and eyes, to the crazy amount of CGs and movement, to creative uses of the limitations of the VN medium to be as dynamic as possible, Muv-Luv, especially Alternative and future entries, is extremely dynamic, and while not quite like an anime, makes you forget that it isn’t one sometimes. I even remember watching a friend livestream this and be impressed by having back sprites and seeing warm air when characters spoke and breathed outdoors during autumn and winter. But even that doesn’t compare to how dynamically TSFs and tactical maps adjust and change during fights. Very few visual novels have reached this level of constant animation, I can say that for sure after having around 90 at the time of writing this now. I also don’t really get some of the complaints about the soundtrack. Not only are Asu e no Houkou (and the other OPs, such as Name and 0-GRAVITY), Wings and Carry On incredible tracks by JAM Project that (take this with a grain of salt, I don’t have a specific source for this) the author, Kouki, allegedly went into debt to afford, as well as funding a huge part of Alternative out of his own pocket, but you also have banger OSTs like Storm Vanguard, Briefing, War Preparation, Valkyries, For You Who Departs, Ambush Attack, Crash and many more that have become classics to me. The aforementioned War Preparation was inspired by a track from Gunbuster (not the only case of this happening either!), and you will find many of these kinds of references to mecha, such as Takemikazuchi’s design resembling an Evangelion, Kei Ayamine/Rei Ayanami; Sumika’s, Meiya’s and some other girls’ hair designs resembling Gundam helmets, etc in its distinct hair vents-having art style in Muv-Luv. It is inspired by so many previous works, yet puts its own spin on the genre regardless. Some talented individuals that have other acclaimed works in the videogame or anime industries include Yoshinari Kou (animator) and Iwasaki Taku, who also worked on the Gurren Lagann's, Katanagatari's, Soul Eater's and some other soundtracks.
But a love letter to mecha though it may be, Muv-Luv is primarily a love letter to romance visual novels. That is why, despite how exaggerated the tropes are, you have the classic childhood friend, rich girl, class president tsundere, kuudere, as well as others. That is why the fact that the original has routes, and that Takeru creates a new one by interacting with the Extraverse in Alternative, and why you get progressively fewer and fewer impactful choices with each entry in the trilogy. That is why the grand revelation at the end is that Takeru, not simply alternate versions of him, loved them all. That is why the main thing about Muv-Luv is “save in the name of true love”, and why the name comes from the slang mabu-dachi ("true friend") turned into mabu-ravu (Muv-Luv, or "true love"). That is why the closest person to being a human antagonist in the story is the childhood friend who is essentially forcing her own route on the protagonist, making hers the “true route” and not letting the story end until the protagonist chooses her, then finishing the story by undoing her interference on the other routes and giving the other girls an equal playing field. In the 2020s where we have many visual novel "subversions" that actively mock the usual tropes, this treats them with love and care. Extra matters. And after all, who better to showcase the transition between privilege to having real problems than a privileged harem romcom protagonist in a visual novel, and then use his love to persevere regardless even as he is forced to grow up and witness many tragedies? I am in general a fan of “normal guy” main characters who are just ordinary people going through extraordinary circumstances, but the way that connects to the commentary on VNs and the themes is noteworthy.
As a series, Muv-Luv is just relaxing to get into in general. You can basically do anything you want in any order (other than prequels for stuff you’re reading anyway) after Alternative, though you do get some mild references to older works in newer ones. It’s nice to have a series without a strongly enforced reading order, where you can pick and choose what you’re interested in, with little to no amount of what I call “media homework”. You don’t get a cheap copout of having a second Takeru, since none of the other main characters are isekai protagonists. Instead, you get variety with a story that happens in Alaska, which is controlled in part by the UN, in part by the USA, and in part by the USSR, with a Japanese-American protagonist; a gritty struggle for survival in 1980s communist Germany; a post-Alternative V, G-Bombed world with very little of land and population remaining. And those are just the major side-stories, there’s a bunch of shorter ones that you might be into, both with Extra-style humor and Alternative-style serious plot. However, the original story is still my favorite.
To repeat what I said in my MLE/MLU review, and to follow up on talking about S00mika and whether she's a spoiler from earlier, I would like to dedicate this section to comment on one misconception that people often have about the trilogy. So, actually, despite what some say, I don't think it is a spoiler to call ML a mecha, because it was advertised heavily in 2001 and 2002 (since before its release: example 1, example 2), on the original 2003 game box — more sources: 1, 2 (including a quote about Takeru wanting "out of this f'ed up world" (paraphrased), as well as this, though I still think people should spoiler tag the isekai thing to make it more surprising for new people, as it isn't as well known of a plot point), and in the menu screen of the 2003 release (with the Extra menu screen having this in the background, and then changing to this when you unlocked Unlimited. So really you aren't spoiling anyone by calling it a mecha, and it never was a "spoiler that got well-known" — âge were never hiding it in the first place!).
It’s not like I think it’s perfect. The cadet suits were a good idea to phase out as the franchise went on, and I still think that not all the Extra routes are made equal — Tama’s dad’s (who Takeru meets "for the first time" in Unlimited) and Sagiri’s appearances in Unlimited and Alternative, as well as Chizuru’s parental issues (this dad is barely even explored in her Extra route) aren’t really enhanced that much by reading their routes, and I think the doctor willing to throw away everything he has for a high school girl in Kei’s route and the bullying storyline in Chizuru’s don’t really contribute much. Tama’s route is fun but her confidence issues are made apparent without missing content in Unlimited and Alternative even if you don’t do her route. In Extra she has to hit a target with her bow, in Unlimited she has to hit a target with a TSF and a massive sniper rifle. Her dad (who, again, Takeru meets "for the first time" in Unlimited despite Tama's Extra route) is also there. And Mikoto doesn’t even get a proper route in the first place. Unlimited is even worse with this — I cannot expect first time readers to do every almost entirely identical route where the heroine is copy and pasted (besides Yuuko's, but that one is also literally under 10 minutes long and requires barely any auto skipping wait time), with a bunch of unskippable autoread sequences. In my original 100% run after finishing Alt and on this reread, I enjoyed seeing variations of marbles, shogi, cat's cradle, etc. and various Game Guy addiction arcs (with my favorite being what I assume is a Fire Emblem ripoff), however. I will say though that experienced VN readers should definitely try reading all the Extra routes, it’s just natural to want to read all the routes of a VN. But for new people or those who have had enough Extra, reading Sumika (since it has more essential content than Meiya's route, if you're doing one) and maybe also Meiya’s route (which you shouldn't read on its own without Sumika's route in your Extra playthrough before Unlimited) works as the bare minimum before Unlimited. Other than Sagiri’s one-minute appearance and Takeru going “huh? Anyways, moving on”, you won’t really be confused. In fact, Unlimited and Alternative generally only show flashbacks for stuff you've personally done, for example during the sleepover scene in Unlimited, where if you did the side routes, Takeru will have a flashback, and if you didn't, he won't. And I'll take doing the bare minimum without getting spoiled because you might not have a VN friend who's read Muv-Luv over looking stuff up and getting spoiled, which has a high chance of happening considering how easy it is to get spoiled on this story. Now, don’t get me wrong, I won’t lie and say that it doesn’t add even further to the fact that despite the differing circumstances between universes, the core human nature of the characters is the same, as well as perhaps the main point of Muv-Luv — that being Takeru’s love(s) for the girls — and the payoffs in chapter 10, such as the heroines laying down their lives for the protagonist, but you actually don’t get any new plot-related substance added to chapters 6, for example, by knowing about Extraverse Sagiri’s love for Kei (barely talked about in Alternative) and his story with Kei’s mother in the medical field, when it comes to the coup arc and his relationship with BETAverse Kei, because what matters here is his relationship to her dad’s philosophy, and its effect on Sagiri, Kei and Yuuhi. You don’t really need to know about Tama’s archery in Extra beyond that she does archery for Unlimited and Alternative, and you meet Tama’s dad in Unlimited as if it’s for the first time anyway. We never see Chizuru’s dad on-screen, and he barely gets mentioned in Extra. While it makes the payoffs even greater, it’s not knowledge that will make or break the story for you, even though you could interpret Chizuru’s struggles in her route as foreshadowing for her future leader role, and Tama’s contrast as an archer versus her BETAverse self as a sniper and her dad caring for her, or Kei’s and Chizuru's closed-off nature. Everything plot-related (besides Extraverse Sagiri’s one-minute appearance) that you actually need to know will be told or retold in Unlimited and Alternative. The main point of doing Extra, other than the primary two routes having the necessary information for the central plot and background, is the contrast between Takeru’s original world and what comes later, as well as a demonstration of Kouki's view on human nature, where despite the vastly different circumstances, our cast are similar to their Extraverse counterparts in spirit. That being said, like I said in my MLE/MLU review, if you can do them all, by all means, do them — it’ll make you care even more in Alternative, that part is undeniable — you won't just enjoy one of the greatest things you've ever experienced at a 100%, you will do so at 110%, so to speak. The most problematic aspect is probably the “twizzlers” tentacle scene in chapter 9, though, which is arguably disrespectful towards Sumika as a character, even in the all-ages version of the story which I prefer. That scene certainly blindsides you since there is very little sexual content even in the original version of MLA.
One thing I won’t change my mind on is the structure not being to its detriment. Muv-Luv is a work of passion that is so unapologetic about its vision, so dedicated to its niche, so ambitious that I now use "this is the Alternative of X" as a way to explain how big a step up from something is in a sequel, and that to fully enjoy it, you would want to be a fan of both slice-of-life romcoms and hard sci-fi real robot mecha, and have enough patience for the “true story” and action to begin dozens of hours in. Extra gives you no taste of the future TSF vs BETA action to come. For once we have an invasion/war story that doesn’t have the calm before the storm only last the equivalent of the first half of episode 1 (at most), we actually see that peace that is later contrasted to war through the protagonist’s eyes. It is both a slice-of-life romcom and a grounded war story, as well as a love story about that love crossing all boundaries, and prevailing nonetheless. It is a story of a young adult transitioning from adolescence to true adulthood with responsibilities through character development, but does not lose his innate kindness regardless. It wasn’t even a decisive victory against the BETA either, Takeru bought the BETAverse an extra 20 years. But for just a single person, that is an incredible feat. And I don’t think the ending, which is the final most commonly criticised aspect of Muv-Luv, goes against this — the epilogue of Final Extra is the first time we are truly out of sync with Takeru in terms of knowledge and experiences. Regardless of if you think his memories and experiences are still there (at least we know from Altered Fable that the characters act more like their post-Alternative, more developed selves rather than just being their Extra selves from square one), we are shown a second, retroactive, slightly altered look at the beginning of Muv-Luv Extra. Now that we have known what war looks like, now that we have seen Takeru and the Valkyries help peace continue through their own efforts as opposed to being only on the receiving end at the start of the story, will we be able to take that peace we have come to take for granted in Extra the same way? Now that we know the blood and tears, the suffering to create this small miracle that Takeru, Sumika and all the rest went through to create this reality and give Kasumi a peaceful life, will we be able to trivialise the importance of Extra, regardless of how we felt about it at the beginning of the tale? Absolutely not, it wasn’t all for nothing, and that’s why this ending works.
I have never cried over any media before this in general (I got teary-eyed at most, but I didn't go hysterical), and I have never cried over stories this much since. I have cried even more on my reread, noticing foreshadowing and getting emotional over more character and plot moments due to better understanding. It is safe to say that Muv-Luv Alternative will not be surpassed for me as a work of fiction for a while, if ever. There are few works as ambitious and full of passion as this. I feel the same way after having experienced 89 visual novels and much more mecha and other media than my 2021 self that initially read this with around four visual novels’ worth of experience, and far less with other media that makes you appreciate this story more. At the risk of repetition and being cliched, it is also safe to say that my life is divided into pre-MLA and post-MLA. I don’t see myself getting tired of this story and world. I even started learning Japanese and exploring a variety of fiction, not judging things by their cover because of it. It just means that much to me.
I could talk about this for hours, even days. But I do have to put this review to an end somehow. So, to repeat from my spoiler-free review: Thank you, Shirogane Takeru, for your inspiring journey. Thank you, Kagami Sumika, Mitsurugi Meiya, Ayamine Kei, Tamase Miki, Sakaki Chizuru and Yashiro Kasumi, for your stories that showed both the protagonist and reader the many perspectives and lives that exist in the world. Thank you, Kouzuki Yuuko, Jinguuji Marimo and other cast members, for being reliable mentors and saying things that both Takeru and I, a university student at the time who had been lost with as to what to do with life, needed to hear. Thank you for making this story such a joy to read.
Lastly, and most importantly, thank you, âge and Yoshimune Kouki, for creating this beautiful tale of love and courage that I hold dear in my heart to this day.
I don’t even know how to start this. Muv-Luv Alternative is my favorite story of all time. This time, I’m making a spoiler review, written soon after my reread. This might not be the most polished essay I’ve written, but even though I do appreciate people seeing this, it is primarily for myself. I’ll try to put every single thought I’ve had about MLA and Muv-Luv as a whole into it, but of course, words aren’t enough, so there will always be more I will want to say. This will be a long one.
For the longest time, I used to not get attached to stories, especially emotionally. It’s why I played multiplayer games primarily. For basically the entirety of the 2000s and 2010s I was mostly into familiar media or adaptations of that media — Marvel, DC and Star Wars. Nothing wrong with enjoying them, of course. When looking forward to new content, I was mostly looking forward to more of the same. It was nice in a way, but lacked novelty after a while. I didn't really get emotional from media either, let alone to the extent of crying. With the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdowns, I started exploring more due to sheer boredom, and eventually got into anime for real after trying a few shows in 2011-2015 previously. One thing led to another, and after playing Doki Doki Literature Club and watching Steins;Gate I decided to explore more of the SciAdv series, and read Chaos;Child (at the time, Chaos;Head wasn’t on Steam and I was not aware of its existence). I never had the apprehension about the visual novel medium since I was used to reading a lot of books as a child. Experiencing C;C blew away all other narrative media I was into previously, even my beloved Spider-Man adaptations and comics, as well as the dozens/hundreds of anime I’d watched in 2020. After that I moved onto the most popular VN and VN adaptations series — Type-Moon. I read Fate/stay night and Tsukihime, and I was obsessed with it for months. I was convinced that there was barely any point in exploring the medium at that point, with nothing else really catching my eye. However, I decided that I would at least try Muv-Luv, since Alternative was the highest rated VN on VNDB at the time (not that rankings on a website matter that much to me, I could be the only fan or the millionth fan of a thing, all that matters is if I like it), and in the top three on EGS (Japanese eroge and ADV game website), in addition to the anime adaptation of MLA being announced (which I've also written reviews (1, 2) on, and getting told to not rob myself of the experience, hence deciding to read the source trilogy. If I didn’t end up liking it, I would quit the medium, since I was convinced nothing would surpass C;C anyway, probably.
I was honestly surprised to see the amount of hatred towards Extra online after finishing the trilogy. It might not be a masterpiece, but the humor is something I’ve always found entertaining. It is even more apparent on my reread after experiencing dozens upon dozens of other VNs where the humor is the MC being a pervert or classroom pranks. In Muv-Luv, you have the rich girl heroine trope exaggerated into being able to level the protagonist’s neighborhood and bring in 5-star chefs from around the glove on helicopters to school, as well as turning into chibis and shooting each other into the stratosphere. For some, it may have gotten repetitive, but given how I enjoyed this reread, and prior to that Altered Fable and some other side stories, I still enjoy it. The main two routes of Extra (Sumika and Meiya), the ones that were required to unlock Unlimited in 2003 (and for good reason, as I'll mention later), also have a well-executed romance drama, though I do take some issue with the side routes, which I’ve discussed in my Extra/Unlimited reread review prior to this one.
Unlimited was really crazy from beginning to end. I spent all of Extra anticipating the genre shift which never happened then, only for Takeru to suddenly walk out into a wasteland three minutes into this one. It was the last thing I expected after spending a large portion of Extra theorising that Yuuko would do some kind of experiment and they would get invaded at the end of Extra. And then Takeru gets shoved into what is another genre, as well as literally another world. The “new normal” of Muv-Luv shifts, and Extra already starts to seem like a distant dream. Takeru goes through a training arc and episodic arcs that focus on the girls, building up confidence, but by the end of it things start to feel wrong, and they announce Alternative V, making Takeru fight with the rest of humanity for survival as a fleet that only hosts a small portion of humanity on board, possibly with the heroine, who is also the mother of his child. It is an emotional gut punch due to how abruptly the ending comes — Takeru couldn’t do anything due to lack of information and maturity at the time, yet he’s giving it his all regardless. Isn’t this insane, though? Wasn’t it so long ago that we were choosing between Sumika and Meiya’s lunches? How is this even the same story? At this point we really start to miss the Extraverse and Sumika just like he does. It gets even crazier. It makes me feel bad for people who waited between 2003 and 2006 when Alternative wasn’t even certain to come out.
So, we finally get to Alternative — the true story, so to speak. After an awesome Hive invasion scene that made me shout “ENGLISH?!?!?!?!?”, and the iconic, intriguing “human brains” moment, the story adds yet another layer besides dimensional travel this time with time travel. Takeru loops back to the beginning of Unlimited with his knowledge and training and starts to retrace his steps to use the future knowledge to its fullest. One thing that really stood out about chapters 1-5 of Alternative is how it genuinely feels like a timeloop due to small changes snowballing. Yuuko takes longer to trust Takeru’s story despite Kasumi’s mind-reading due to his trained body and suspicious amount of classified knowledge, Takeru doesn’t hold back the cadet squad, but leads it this time, and Yuuko and Takeru debate which events to intervene in without losing the advantage of future knowledge, while also trying to save as many days and hours before Alternative V is implemented on Christmas Day as possible. It’s really cool seeing this after several stories, especially visual novels, having one small choice leading to another character becoming a psychopathic killer and killing the entire cast, or something. The story being a slow burn really makes it feel immersive.
The first true change is the coup d’etat that did not happen in the Unlimited timeline, due to interfering with the events of episode 9 of Unlimited. I’ll get back to this later, but this arc is one of the most controversial aspects of MLA, and for good reason. For now it will suffice to say that both the reader and Takeru are asking themselves why his first mission is fighting humans instead of the BETA, and why anyone would bother doing this when humanity is facing extinction. It is an attempt to say that nobody is strictly right or wrong (even if it is biased towards the Japanese nationalistic perspective), and humanising American and UN soldiers and not blaming them for their leaders’ choices is cool.
After that ends and the XM3 trials happen, the true turning point of Muv-Luv occurs — the chomp of Jinguuji Marimo. Takeru and we both believe we've seen the worst with Alternative V and the coup, and that the "therapy not included" part of Muv-Luv is hearing soldiers die one by one on the battlefield, but then it turns out that's just the beginning, it affects someone close to Takeru as well, someone he cares for deeply dies, and he loses it. It is a completely unexpected moment, delivered only after the reader and Takeru feel completely secure about thinking that they have already finally reached the "serious part" of the story with Takeru getting into more serious situations than most of Unlimited, yet prevailing regardless like the hero he believes himself to be due to his future knowledge at the start of Alternative, as well as the advantage of retaining his training and body from Unlimited, making him no longer the dead weight that he was for a large portion of Unlimited, only to have something like this happen during a typical “Muv-Luv talk”, and all the allegedly heroic resolve Takeru had goes to waste once this starts to affect the people near him. He has a truly deplorable display in front of Meiya, Kasumi and Yuuko and runs away to his world, until it starts to affect him there. After that we finally get to see the fight against the BETA.
I know it is a bad habit to start summarising the story in a review, but I feel like this way I will assemble the pieces to truly discuss it, as well as provide a refresher. In any case…
The coup arc is controversial due to Sagiri’s resemblance to Yukio Mishima from Japanese history. By essentially saying “your methods were extreme, but your motivation wasn’t, you just went about it the wrong way”, MLA understandably rubs many people the wrong way about this. However, I wouldn’t really call it “nationalism simulator 3000” because of this. Even besides the fact that Total Eclipse and other side material dials down the nationalism aspect (though is it really fair to mention that as a retroactive point when talking about MLA specifically, especially when TE sort of partially exists to ‘fix’ it?), it’s certainly nice to not have an ‘evil foreigner’ angle, which is more than I can say for a few popular VNs, anime and JRPGs, especially with downplaying Japan’s role in World War II, but I digress. Having Takeru have an outsider’s perspective is cool, since he is just a normal Japanese high schooler from a world similar to ours. The line of thinking that ordinary BETAverse citizens have is completely alien to him for a large portion of the story. They still have him be more understanding of the nationalistic view by the end of the arc, which plays into the nationalistic undertones of the arc, as well as despite being a UN operation, having the entire squad be of Japanese descent (even though it plays into the whole “UN soldier duties vs Japanese roots” aspect). I still enjoy the arc despite its issues, especially with the tension and Takeru’s dynamic with Yuuhi, but I can definitely see where people who dislike it are coming from.
To call the XM3 trials’ chomp a turning point is an understatement. The story effectively undergoes a second genre shift through the multiple tragedies of chapter 7. All of what we thought we knew about Muv-Luv undergoes a change, and we realise that nowhere is safe, not even the Extraverse. The distant memory of Extra now comes under attack. There is truly nowhere left to run. I’ve mentioned that I cried to MLA previously, and on my original playthrough, this got the most tears out of me. From seeing Extraverse Marimo to the various tragedies, to Sumika’s memories and "Now, get out there and show them who's boss, Shirogane Takeru!" as JAM Project blasts into my ear, it was probably to date the most emotional I’ve gotten over media. After more than a decade of not crying over fiction, I finally started bawling. And the reason for that is due to the slow burn that MLE, MLU and early MLA were, due to how attached I’ve gotten to these characters, like I truly knew them. The end gave Takeru and me both a determination to see this tale through to the end. The reveal that Sumika is the brain from the brain room and has been under Takeru’s nose all along was shocking, despite being a bit predictable at this point. After experiencing her heavy injuries in Extra, seeing her like this and unlike her usual cheery self is painful for readers, too. By the way, Sumika being in the menu screen and marketing material this isn’t a spoiler on the Steam version’s part, she was marketed to be in this game even with the 00 Unit pink fortified suit even in its original release (source), such as with the game cover. Just like Muv-Luv being a mecha, this isn’t really a spoiler you should be worrying about, since âge certainly doesn’t consider it one. Pretty much nobody who buys and plays Muv-Luv, any version of it, is unaware that it's a mecha without extremely careful outside control by a friend who's already read it and wants to run this as an experiment of pretending that Muv-Luv is just a cutesy romcom until the player reaches Unlimited.
And so, Takeru finally gets involved in a squad as a commissioned officer, with cast additions such as Isumi Michiru from Kimi ga Ita Kisetsu, Hayase, Akane and Haruka from Kimi Nozomu ga Eien, Kashiwagi from Extra, as well as Kazama and Munakata (who later got added to the KimiIta remake). This must’ve been a real gift for long-time âge fans, seeing alternate versions of the characters they knew in the BETAverse. Like the BETAverse versions of the Extra heroines, the BETAverse versions of these characters are similar, yet adjusted to the setting. Isumi dies without confessing, and Mitsuki and Haruka have lost Takayuki. Seeing even further connections like this is why I’m planning to finish pre-ML âge VNs before my second trilogy reread, this time in Japanese. Back to Muv-Luv itself though, we finally get to truly fight the BETA for the first time. The reason the XM3 surprise attack was so effective was because the BETA’s appearance was hidden behind ambiguity for the story until that point. They were a threat that was always looming over the characters and in-universe populace. They are a truly terrifying force with no morals or hesitation that people might have. They aren’t even villains of the week — they are more akin to insects such as ants or bees that come in thousands or even millions. Seeing the scale increase so drastically from Extra, and even Unlimited, is a sight to behold. Now we have another new normal that is 1000+ vs 1000+ large scale battles that have multiple parties constantly moving with their own objectives, and seeing how the BETA’s response affects the entire battlefield. Following Takeru’s incredible show of determination in his Storm Vanguard moment and the plan going off the rails, Isumi’s sacrifice is an emotional scene despite for how short of a time Takeru has known her, and seeing Kashiwagi be the first person besides Marimo to get killed off from the Extra cast leaves a void in the reader’s heart.
At this point it becomes abundantly clear to never expect peace from Muv-Luv anymore, but the attack on Yokohama Base comes as a surprise regardless. This time around, the base takes major damage, and with Mitsuki’s and Haruka’s deaths, as well as the injuries of the rest of the Valkyries, the only crew that remains in fighting condition is our original gang, armed with Tsukuyomi and company’s Takemikazuchis. They too undergo a suicidal attack against the BETA, and the story wraps up.
It really is insane that this is the same story as lacrosse and various shenanigans from Extra. I constantly had to remind myself of the fact that yes, this is indeed the same story, many times throughout the experience. But the main reason this even works is due to it taking so long to “get good”. The reason the BETA attack during the XM3 trials is such a shock is due to how long it took for the first ‘real fight’, and the reason chapters 7 through 10 are so impactful is due to how long we spent with these characters. The contrast between the worlds and genres plays a part, too. There are some cool connections that are even more apparent while rereading, such as Alternative Takeru throwing the shoe to his Extra self, or Sumika meeting him while going home with groceries, or Sadogashima mentions and Yuuko’s quantum causality theory, but by far the most impressive part of the trilogy is how almost all the parts work as pieces of a greater picture.
The world building plays a part in that. Muv-Luv’s hard sci-fi lore explains almost everything and connects it to plot points through strategy, tactics, technology and history, while the soft sci-fi such as multiversal and time travel, as well as causality conducting ties to the themes and characters. It is so nice to see things be properly explained in the main work (where it’s often vague or sometimes just straight up unexplained) and not just side content (where it’s usually actually explained). It is so refreshing to see a story with such a grounded take on mechs that don’t have beam swords and cannot fly into space not be filled with unexplained technobabble like omega particles that never get explained outside of interviews or obscure side material, with the main story mentioning rules but immediately breaking them two minutes later. You actually know what an Arrowhead-2 formation, data link or feedback protector is. It's not just there, they actually use this stuff in the story! The XM3 is invented due to just being a logical thing to do when you have a guy who knows a way to improve TSF software. You get told several versions of a plan so that you know exactly what is happening if something doesn’t go ideally and they have to use a backup, which they told you about ahead of time. The TSFs themselves get a lot of detail in their design philosophies between countries, generations and models. In fact, TSFs being based on real life planes like the F-22 Raptor makes it even more cool. It actually makes sense why they were invented — it’s not just to look cool, you want a machine that can move three-dimensionally without crashing into a wall like a plane, but also something with more agility than a tank. Muv-Luv in general has so many things I wish other mecha had, even small things like neck braces when pilots aren't in something like Evangelion LCL or space, so that maneuvers in those mechs don't case whiplash. It is also nice to see a story where you actually have to undergo training (and we see the cast undergo training) both in Basic and with simulators before you can actually pilot a mech. It just makes sense! It makes sense why the cast don’t get into real action for so long, aside from just political reasons which are revealed later. The political and technological landscape is so developed that it is so immersive, and I can’t get enough of it. I was initially curious if I’d end up liking this, since I wasn’t into mecha for the mecha previously, but it seems I just hadn’t found my own niche at that point. Having such comparatively weak mechs with a focus on agility over durability, since additional armor wouldn’t be much help anyway in such a grounded setting definitely made me find that niche. Exposition and a lot of details to remember is a common complaint about Alternative, but that’s what makes it so compelling to me. You can’t have so much detail in strategy, tech, politics with various parties having their own complex motivations and history make consistent sense without explaining them.
The structure certainly makes this story the greatest “trust me bro, it gets good” of all time, even if you liked Extra and Unlimited due to the fact that every reader is excited to see what Alternative is about, but that’s what makes it worth it. It’s already common for VNs to have a slow, slice of life beginning as the high schooler main character gets thrown into supernatural shenanigans, but having that main character live through what is basically a detailed pre-isekai life (making it stand out among a sea of low-effort isekai novels and anime nowadays, 20+ years later), get thrown into a dystopian mecha alien invasion with humanity at the brink of extinction, witness the end of the world, and get timelooped back and experience trauma after creating another branch (route) in his original, more traditional visual novel world makes it stand out even among other acclaimed visual novels. Like I said, it’s crazy that it’s the same story as lacrosse and picking school lunches, and you think that at many points in the story. But most importantly, it gives you attachment to that old life, you genuinely start to miss Extra. Even people who didn’t like Extra can become major Muv-Luv fans and start to miss it and appreciate it more in Unlimited and Alternative, I’ve seen it happen time and time again.
The visuals are amazing even two decades later. This stuff is still more animated than the overwhelming majority of VNs there, and from the popular ones, rivalled only by the recent 2010s and 2020s Type-Moon visual novels. From moving mouths and eyes, to the crazy amount of CGs and movement, to creative uses of the limitations of the VN medium to be as dynamic as possible, Muv-Luv, especially Alternative and future entries, is extremely dynamic, and while not quite like an anime, makes you forget that it isn’t one sometimes. I even remember watching a friend livestream this and be impressed by having back sprites and seeing warm air when characters spoke and breathed outdoors during autumn and winter. But even that doesn’t compare to how dynamically TSFs and tactical maps adjust and change during fights. Very few visual novels have reached this level of constant animation, I can say that for sure after having around 90 at the time of writing this now. I also don’t really get some of the complaints about the soundtrack. Not only are Asu e no Houkou (and the other OPs, such as Name and 0-GRAVITY), Wings and Carry On incredible tracks by JAM Project that (take this with a grain of salt, I don’t have a specific source for this) the author, Kouki, allegedly went into debt to afford, as well as funding a huge part of Alternative out of his own pocket, but you also have banger OSTs like Storm Vanguard, Briefing, War Preparation, Valkyries, For You Who Departs, Ambush Attack, Crash and many more that have become classics to me. The aforementioned War Preparation was inspired by a track from Gunbuster (not the only case of this happening either!), and you will find many of these kinds of references to mecha, such as Takemikazuchi’s design resembling an Evangelion, Kei Ayamine/Rei Ayanami; Sumika’s, Meiya’s and some other girls’ hair designs resembling Gundam helmets, etc in its distinct hair vents-having art style in Muv-Luv. It is inspired by so many previous works, yet puts its own spin on the genre regardless. Some talented individuals that have other acclaimed works in the videogame or anime industries include Yoshinari Kou (animator) and Iwasaki Taku, who also worked on the Gurren Lagann's, Katanagatari's, Soul Eater's and some other soundtracks.
But a love letter to mecha though it may be, Muv-Luv is primarily a love letter to romance visual novels. That is why, despite how exaggerated the tropes are, you have the classic childhood friend, rich girl, class president tsundere, kuudere, as well as others. That is why the fact that the original has routes, and that Takeru creates a new one by interacting with the Extraverse in Alternative, and why you get progressively fewer and fewer impactful choices with each entry in the trilogy. That is why the grand revelation at the end is that Takeru, not simply alternate versions of him, loved them all. That is why the main thing about Muv-Luv is “save in the name of true love”, and why the name comes from the slang mabu-dachi ("true friend") turned into mabu-ravu (Muv-Luv, or "true love"). That is why the closest person to being a human antagonist in the story is the childhood friend who is essentially forcing her own route on the protagonist, making hers the “true route” and not letting the story end until the protagonist chooses her, then finishing the story by undoing her interference on the other routes and giving the other girls an equal playing field. In the 2020s where we have many visual novel "subversions" that actively mock the usual tropes, this treats them with love and care. Extra matters. And after all, who better to showcase the transition between privilege to having real problems than a privileged harem romcom protagonist in a visual novel, and then use his love to persevere regardless even as he is forced to grow up and witness many tragedies? I am in general a fan of “normal guy” main characters who are just ordinary people going through extraordinary circumstances, but the way that connects to the commentary on VNs and the themes is noteworthy.
As a series, Muv-Luv is just relaxing to get into in general. You can basically do anything you want in any order (other than prequels for stuff you’re reading anyway) after Alternative, though you do get some mild references to older works in newer ones. It’s nice to have a series without a strongly enforced reading order, where you can pick and choose what you’re interested in, with little to no amount of what I call “media homework”. You don’t get a cheap copout of having a second Takeru, since none of the other main characters are isekai protagonists. Instead, you get variety with a story that happens in Alaska, which is controlled in part by the UN, in part by the USA, and in part by the USSR, with a Japanese-American protagonist; a gritty struggle for survival in 1980s communist Germany; a post-Alternative V, G-Bombed world with very little of land and population remaining. And those are just the major side-stories, there’s a bunch of shorter ones that you might be into, both with Extra-style humor and Alternative-style serious plot. However, the original story is still my favorite.
To repeat what I said in my MLE/MLU review, and to follow up on talking about S00mika and whether she's a spoiler from earlier, I would like to dedicate this section to comment on one misconception that people often have about the trilogy. So, actually, despite what some say, I don't think it is a spoiler to call ML a mecha, because it was advertised heavily in 2001 and 2002 (since before its release: example 1, example 2), on the original 2003 game box — more sources: 1, 2 (including a quote about Takeru wanting "out of this f'ed up world" (paraphrased), as well as this, though I still think people should spoiler tag the isekai thing to make it more surprising for new people, as it isn't as well known of a plot point), and in the menu screen of the 2003 release (with the Extra menu screen having this in the background, and then changing to this when you unlocked Unlimited. So really you aren't spoiling anyone by calling it a mecha, and it never was a "spoiler that got well-known" — âge were never hiding it in the first place!).
It’s not like I think it’s perfect. The cadet suits were a good idea to phase out as the franchise went on, and I still think that not all the Extra routes are made equal — Tama’s dad’s (who Takeru meets "for the first time" in Unlimited) and Sagiri’s appearances in Unlimited and Alternative, as well as Chizuru’s parental issues (this dad is barely even explored in her Extra route) aren’t really enhanced that much by reading their routes, and I think the doctor willing to throw away everything he has for a high school girl in Kei’s route and the bullying storyline in Chizuru’s don’t really contribute much. Tama’s route is fun but her confidence issues are made apparent without missing content in Unlimited and Alternative even if you don’t do her route. In Extra she has to hit a target with her bow, in Unlimited she has to hit a target with a TSF and a massive sniper rifle. Her dad (who, again, Takeru meets "for the first time" in Unlimited despite Tama's Extra route) is also there. And Mikoto doesn’t even get a proper route in the first place. Unlimited is even worse with this — I cannot expect first time readers to do every almost entirely identical route where the heroine is copy and pasted (besides Yuuko's, but that one is also literally under 10 minutes long and requires barely any auto skipping wait time), with a bunch of unskippable autoread sequences. In my original 100% run after finishing Alt and on this reread, I enjoyed seeing variations of marbles, shogi, cat's cradle, etc. and various Game Guy addiction arcs (with my favorite being what I assume is a Fire Emblem ripoff), however. I will say though that experienced VN readers should definitely try reading all the Extra routes, it’s just natural to want to read all the routes of a VN. But for new people or those who have had enough Extra, reading Sumika (since it has more essential content than Meiya's route, if you're doing one) and maybe also Meiya’s route (which you shouldn't read on its own without Sumika's route in your Extra playthrough before Unlimited) works as the bare minimum before Unlimited. Other than Sagiri’s one-minute appearance and Takeru going “huh? Anyways, moving on”, you won’t really be confused. In fact, Unlimited and Alternative generally only show flashbacks for stuff you've personally done, for example during the sleepover scene in Unlimited, where if you did the side routes, Takeru will have a flashback, and if you didn't, he won't. And I'll take doing the bare minimum without getting spoiled because you might not have a VN friend who's read Muv-Luv over looking stuff up and getting spoiled, which has a high chance of happening considering how easy it is to get spoiled on this story. Now, don’t get me wrong, I won’t lie and say that it doesn’t add even further to the fact that despite the differing circumstances between universes, the core human nature of the characters is the same, as well as perhaps the main point of Muv-Luv — that being Takeru’s love(s) for the girls — and the payoffs in chapter 10, such as the heroines laying down their lives for the protagonist, but you actually don’t get any new plot-related substance added to chapters 6, for example, by knowing about Extraverse Sagiri’s love for Kei (barely talked about in Alternative) and his story with Kei’s mother in the medical field, when it comes to the coup arc and his relationship with BETAverse Kei, because what matters here is his relationship to her dad’s philosophy, and its effect on Sagiri, Kei and Yuuhi. You don’t really need to know about Tama’s archery in Extra beyond that she does archery for Unlimited and Alternative, and you meet Tama’s dad in Unlimited as if it’s for the first time anyway. We never see Chizuru’s dad on-screen, and he barely gets mentioned in Extra. While it makes the payoffs even greater, it’s not knowledge that will make or break the story for you, even though you could interpret Chizuru’s struggles in her route as foreshadowing for her future leader role, and Tama’s contrast as an archer versus her BETAverse self as a sniper and her dad caring for her, or Kei’s and Chizuru's closed-off nature. Everything plot-related (besides Extraverse Sagiri’s one-minute appearance) that you actually need to know will be told or retold in Unlimited and Alternative. The main point of doing Extra, other than the primary two routes having the necessary information for the central plot and background, is the contrast between Takeru’s original world and what comes later, as well as a demonstration of Kouki's view on human nature, where despite the vastly different circumstances, our cast are similar to their Extraverse counterparts in spirit. That being said, like I said in my MLE/MLU review, if you can do them all, by all means, do them — it’ll make you care even more in Alternative, that part is undeniable — you won't just enjoy one of the greatest things you've ever experienced at a 100%, you will do so at 110%, so to speak. The most problematic aspect is probably the “twizzlers” tentacle scene in chapter 9, though, which is arguably disrespectful towards Sumika as a character, even in the all-ages version of the story which I prefer. That scene certainly blindsides you since there is very little sexual content even in the original version of MLA.
One thing I won’t change my mind on is the structure not being to its detriment. Muv-Luv is a work of passion that is so unapologetic about its vision, so dedicated to its niche, so ambitious that I now use "this is the Alternative of X" as a way to explain how big a step up from something is in a sequel, and that to fully enjoy it, you would want to be a fan of both slice-of-life romcoms and hard sci-fi real robot mecha, and have enough patience for the “true story” and action to begin dozens of hours in. Extra gives you no taste of the future TSF vs BETA action to come. For once we have an invasion/war story that doesn’t have the calm before the storm only last the equivalent of the first half of episode 1 (at most), we actually see that peace that is later contrasted to war through the protagonist’s eyes. It is both a slice-of-life romcom and a grounded war story, as well as a love story about that love crossing all boundaries, and prevailing nonetheless. It is a story of a young adult transitioning from adolescence to true adulthood with responsibilities through character development, but does not lose his innate kindness regardless. It wasn’t even a decisive victory against the BETA either, Takeru bought the BETAverse an extra 20 years. But for just a single person, that is an incredible feat. And I don’t think the ending, which is the final most commonly criticised aspect of Muv-Luv, goes against this — the epilogue of Final Extra is the first time we are truly out of sync with Takeru in terms of knowledge and experiences. Regardless of if you think his memories and experiences are still there (at least we know from Altered Fable that the characters act more like their post-Alternative, more developed selves rather than just being their Extra selves from square one), we are shown a second, retroactive, slightly altered look at the beginning of Muv-Luv Extra. Now that we have known what war looks like, now that we have seen Takeru and the Valkyries help peace continue through their own efforts as opposed to being only on the receiving end at the start of the story, will we be able to take that peace we have come to take for granted in Extra the same way? Now that we know the blood and tears, the suffering to create this small miracle that Takeru, Sumika and all the rest went through to create this reality and give Kasumi a peaceful life, will we be able to trivialise the importance of Extra, regardless of how we felt about it at the beginning of the tale? Absolutely not, it wasn’t all for nothing, and that’s why this ending works.
I have never cried over any media before this in general (I got teary-eyed at most, but I didn't go hysterical), and I have never cried over stories this much since. I have cried even more on my reread, noticing foreshadowing and getting emotional over more character and plot moments due to better understanding. It is safe to say that Muv-Luv Alternative will not be surpassed for me as a work of fiction for a while, if ever. There are few works as ambitious and full of passion as this. I feel the same way after having experienced 89 visual novels and much more mecha and other media than my 2021 self that initially read this with around four visual novels’ worth of experience, and far less with other media that makes you appreciate this story more. At the risk of repetition and being cliched, it is also safe to say that my life is divided into pre-MLA and post-MLA. I don’t see myself getting tired of this story and world. I even started learning Japanese and exploring a variety of fiction, not judging things by their cover because of it. It just means that much to me.
I could talk about this for hours, even days. But I do have to put this review to an end somehow. So, to repeat from my spoiler-free review: Thank you, Shirogane Takeru, for your inspiring journey. Thank you, Kagami Sumika, Mitsurugi Meiya, Ayamine Kei, Tamase Miki, Sakaki Chizuru and Yashiro Kasumi, for your stories that showed both the protagonist and reader the many perspectives and lives that exist in the world. Thank you, Kouzuki Yuuko, Jinguuji Marimo and other cast members, for being reliable mentors and saying things that both Takeru and I, a university student at the time who had been lost with as to what to do with life, needed to hear. Thank you for making this story such a joy to read.
Lastly, and most importantly, thank you, âge and Yoshimune Kouki, for creating this beautiful tale of love and courage that I hold dear in my heart to this day.
Pep's Detective Deep Dive - Game 11
This was a joy from start to finish. While unfamiliar with Shu Takumi's work, I have Ace Attorney Trilogy on my "to-play" list and Ghost Trick has made me very excited to play it - in fact, I may just play it next.
Ghost Trick just oozes charm. With a cast of great characters, all beautifully designed and exquisitely animated, the story rolls along at a breakneck pace packed with twists and turns. The "ghost" and "trick" system is easy to get to grips with but as the game rolls along, the puzzles get more and more fiendish. There's a lot of trial-and-error involved, but the game almost expects it out of you, and half of the fun of the game is trying different "tricks" and seeing what happens.
If I had any minor complaints, it would be that at the very end of the game, the story gets a little convoluted. I also figured out the mystery of just who "Sissel" was way before the game's conclusion, and I'm not really sure that was the game's intention.
Now that it's free from the confines of 3DS jail, I definitely see Ghost Trick becoming one of the underrated gems of Capcom's pantheon.
PS: Missile? Best boy. Lynne? Best girl.
This was a joy from start to finish. While unfamiliar with Shu Takumi's work, I have Ace Attorney Trilogy on my "to-play" list and Ghost Trick has made me very excited to play it - in fact, I may just play it next.
Ghost Trick just oozes charm. With a cast of great characters, all beautifully designed and exquisitely animated, the story rolls along at a breakneck pace packed with twists and turns. The "ghost" and "trick" system is easy to get to grips with but as the game rolls along, the puzzles get more and more fiendish. There's a lot of trial-and-error involved, but the game almost expects it out of you, and half of the fun of the game is trying different "tricks" and seeing what happens.
If I had any minor complaints, it would be that at the very end of the game, the story gets a little convoluted. I also figured out the mystery of just who "Sissel" was way before the game's conclusion, and I'm not really sure that was the game's intention.
Now that it's free from the confines of 3DS jail, I definitely see Ghost Trick becoming one of the underrated gems of Capcom's pantheon.
PS: Missile? Best boy. Lynne? Best girl.
Hi-Fi Rush
2023
I‘ve admittedly taken a break from gaming this past month. My mental health has been quite all over the place & I really lacked the energy to start something new as a result. And while I haven’t abandoned any of the games I’m currently playing through, I definitely have been demotivated as a result to continue them. Normally I’m not one to open up about this sort of thing but I do feel like it’s very important to give some context on where my mindset is at the moment when it comes to gaming.
Hi-Fi RUSH is exactly what I needed at this time. This game is absolutely fantastic & as someone who loves Devil May Cry & Bayonetta, it was pretty obvious this game would be up my alley. But I didn’t expect it to make this big of an impact on me. This is the most fun I’ve had in a very long time & it’s one of the most unique experiences I’ve had with a game in years.
I’m not usually someone who cares much for graphics in games but I have to start off with talking about just how gorgeous this artstyle is. It’s vibrant, it’s colourful, it’s just so varied in its design making every single level stand out & feel so alive. I also loved how this game transitions from its beautiful animated cutscenes into the gameplay itself, it really is so seamless. This feels like a title from 15-20 years ago & I mean that in the best way. If you told me this was a game from the early days of the PS3 I would believe you it just has that kind of vibe to it & I absolutely love that. It’s so different to everything else we see nowadays where so many developers are focused on making realistic cinematic experiences & I honestly miss seeing this amount of creativity from game developers.
Let’s talk about the combat. At first glance, sure this looks like a fun action game but a big part of the gameplay is the music. Now I will admit I’ve never really played a lot of rhythm games. I can see they certainly have their audience but for me, it’s never been something I’ve delved very deep into. That being said however, THE COMBAT IN THIS GAME IS SO DAMN SATISFYING. Managing to time your attacks to the beat of the song is one of the most satisfying feelings I’ve had playing a game in my life. You have a bunch of attacks in your arsenal such as light & heavy attacks, a dodge & a parry & the amount of combos you can unlock to pull off too as well as special attacks, partner beat attacks & parry counters, there is so much depth to the combat it’s unreal. But here’s the most interesting part. It’s not just your attacks that time to the music but the enemies & the world too. And that is truly one of the coolest aspects of this game to me. It’s definitely difficult to master but when you actually do, the feeling really can’t be described.
And how could I talk about this game without mentioning the soundtrack itself, OH THE SOUNDTRACK. This is no exaggeration one of the greatest OSTs I’ve ever heard, every single song fits so perfectly not just with the gameplay but the vibe of the entire game itself. There’s a number of licensed songs but a lot of original ones made too. So many moments throughout my time playing through Hi-Fi RUSH I just had a massive grin on my face. I can’t exactly put into words just how much serotonin I felt with one battle sequence late in the story but if you’ve played this game, you may already have an idea of what I’m referring to.
The humour in this game is honestly on point. There’s so many tongue in cheek moments & I can tell that the writers had a lot of fun with crafting the narrative. The amount of references too don’t feel forced either & they really serve the narrative quite well. As for the story itself? Yeah it’s really good. It’s not going to win any awards for being complex or deep but it’s executed in a way that’s really hard for me to complain about & the actual story beats really worked for me & kept me intrigued & wanting to keep going forward. The characters were incredibly likeable especially main protagonist Chai who is given so much life from the performance of the always excellent Robbie Daymond. It was very hard not to root for him against the bad guys & the other characters are pretty great too like Peppermint, Macaron, CNMN & one other that I’ll let you discover for yourself if you haven’t played the game yet, though if you’re this far through my review & haven’t picked it up, what are you doing?
Honestly the fact this game exists just amazes me. In an industry with so many narrative driven experiences that AAA devs insist on churning out every year for frankly ludicrous amounts of money, Hi-Fi RUSH stands as something completely unique & fresh. It’s a reminder that above all else that at the end of the day, video games are meant to be fun & if there’s anything that I could wish for? It’s that by the time the credits started rolling, I just wanted more. Yes 10 hours is a more than fine length for a game such as this but I think it would’ve been cool if we got some kind of story expansion or even a sequel which unfortunately will never see the light of day because Tango Gameworks were shut down (thanks for that Microsoft.)
Despite all that though, Hi-Fi RUSH is an excellent game & more than worth your time & money. And I really really hope that with the more people that support it, we can somehow show that when a dev team is allowed to just do something completely different & pour so much love & passion into a project, it can create something not only truly magical for them but for gamers itself. If you love video games, you absolutely owe it to yourself to play Hi Fi-Rush. I’m not asking, I’m demanding. It’s one of the best games I’ve ever played & I adore it with every fibre of my being.
Final rating: 9/10
Hi-Fi RUSH is exactly what I needed at this time. This game is absolutely fantastic & as someone who loves Devil May Cry & Bayonetta, it was pretty obvious this game would be up my alley. But I didn’t expect it to make this big of an impact on me. This is the most fun I’ve had in a very long time & it’s one of the most unique experiences I’ve had with a game in years.
I’m not usually someone who cares much for graphics in games but I have to start off with talking about just how gorgeous this artstyle is. It’s vibrant, it’s colourful, it’s just so varied in its design making every single level stand out & feel so alive. I also loved how this game transitions from its beautiful animated cutscenes into the gameplay itself, it really is so seamless. This feels like a title from 15-20 years ago & I mean that in the best way. If you told me this was a game from the early days of the PS3 I would believe you it just has that kind of vibe to it & I absolutely love that. It’s so different to everything else we see nowadays where so many developers are focused on making realistic cinematic experiences & I honestly miss seeing this amount of creativity from game developers.
Let’s talk about the combat. At first glance, sure this looks like a fun action game but a big part of the gameplay is the music. Now I will admit I’ve never really played a lot of rhythm games. I can see they certainly have their audience but for me, it’s never been something I’ve delved very deep into. That being said however, THE COMBAT IN THIS GAME IS SO DAMN SATISFYING. Managing to time your attacks to the beat of the song is one of the most satisfying feelings I’ve had playing a game in my life. You have a bunch of attacks in your arsenal such as light & heavy attacks, a dodge & a parry & the amount of combos you can unlock to pull off too as well as special attacks, partner beat attacks & parry counters, there is so much depth to the combat it’s unreal. But here’s the most interesting part. It’s not just your attacks that time to the music but the enemies & the world too. And that is truly one of the coolest aspects of this game to me. It’s definitely difficult to master but when you actually do, the feeling really can’t be described.
And how could I talk about this game without mentioning the soundtrack itself, OH THE SOUNDTRACK. This is no exaggeration one of the greatest OSTs I’ve ever heard, every single song fits so perfectly not just with the gameplay but the vibe of the entire game itself. There’s a number of licensed songs but a lot of original ones made too. So many moments throughout my time playing through Hi-Fi RUSH I just had a massive grin on my face. I can’t exactly put into words just how much serotonin I felt with one battle sequence late in the story but if you’ve played this game, you may already have an idea of what I’m referring to.
The humour in this game is honestly on point. There’s so many tongue in cheek moments & I can tell that the writers had a lot of fun with crafting the narrative. The amount of references too don’t feel forced either & they really serve the narrative quite well. As for the story itself? Yeah it’s really good. It’s not going to win any awards for being complex or deep but it’s executed in a way that’s really hard for me to complain about & the actual story beats really worked for me & kept me intrigued & wanting to keep going forward. The characters were incredibly likeable especially main protagonist Chai who is given so much life from the performance of the always excellent Robbie Daymond. It was very hard not to root for him against the bad guys & the other characters are pretty great too like Peppermint, Macaron, CNMN & one other that I’ll let you discover for yourself if you haven’t played the game yet, though if you’re this far through my review & haven’t picked it up, what are you doing?
Honestly the fact this game exists just amazes me. In an industry with so many narrative driven experiences that AAA devs insist on churning out every year for frankly ludicrous amounts of money, Hi-Fi RUSH stands as something completely unique & fresh. It’s a reminder that above all else that at the end of the day, video games are meant to be fun & if there’s anything that I could wish for? It’s that by the time the credits started rolling, I just wanted more. Yes 10 hours is a more than fine length for a game such as this but I think it would’ve been cool if we got some kind of story expansion or even a sequel which unfortunately will never see the light of day because Tango Gameworks were shut down (thanks for that Microsoft.)
Despite all that though, Hi-Fi RUSH is an excellent game & more than worth your time & money. And I really really hope that with the more people that support it, we can somehow show that when a dev team is allowed to just do something completely different & pour so much love & passion into a project, it can create something not only truly magical for them but for gamers itself. If you love video games, you absolutely owe it to yourself to play Hi Fi-Rush. I’m not asking, I’m demanding. It’s one of the best games I’ve ever played & I adore it with every fibre of my being.
Final rating: 9/10
Rainy Season
2020
The average grind for a japanese contributor to japanese society 💪 STAYING HOME! He's on vacation though. Japan government hates this one trick... I almost have a full family, all within Melee Marth grab range. Impressive. Dad will come back with the milk. It doesn't seem much, but you can interact with a lot of things, even the tax return sheets (this post is sponsored by Yoshi the green predator). There is nothing that especially differentiates it from a regular japanese household, however that is what makes it special. I have gathered a lot of clues and have found out this takes place in SUMMER and it RAINS! That is a winner match right there. Congrats to Rainy Season for being the summer ever.
I guess nothing was holding it back from being called Rainy Summer, huh. I'll take a shower both outside and inside if you'll excuse me. One thing I certainly didn't notice is what the choice at the start of the game truly means in the grand scheme of things. 20 minutes or 60? What is this mf plotting to do with the information? Is it the time between pills I have to keep track of? Because I've witnessed a few things ngl. Japan loves cats but a giant cat was outside of the realm of possibilities. Until this game. I tried to climb on him to limited success. Then I was gone. Something malicious was also brewing in that closet ngl I was like HEEEELP and Mom was like "bukkorosu, baka!" and her word is law so I knew better than to open that mouth again.
That is... until it was time to beg for entertainment! Mother I crave amusement. My character grew so bored he mustered a wild imagination. Oh the horror 😱 I don't have a head so I wonder where the brain is stored. I feel like there's enough substance for the scope of the game. Your self-insert is the map and family themselves ; the dynamics, the atmosphere, thinking about spending your days at grandma's when you were smaller in height than her. It's been 2 years since my own paternal grandma has alzheimer's, but I'll just have to remember the fun we had in her stead. Of course, back then I could actually spend time outside with her, but well, if it rains, it can't be helped.
It was silly of me to shower in the sink. I take an entire afternoon to bring grandma what she asked and I do this afterwards. I've been baka! I could see my headless body! TASUKETE KURE 😭😭
I guess nothing was holding it back from being called Rainy Summer, huh. I'll take a shower both outside and inside if you'll excuse me. One thing I certainly didn't notice is what the choice at the start of the game truly means in the grand scheme of things. 20 minutes or 60? What is this mf plotting to do with the information? Is it the time between pills I have to keep track of? Because I've witnessed a few things ngl. Japan loves cats but a giant cat was outside of the realm of possibilities. Until this game. I tried to climb on him to limited success. Then I was gone. Something malicious was also brewing in that closet ngl I was like HEEEELP and Mom was like "bukkorosu, baka!" and her word is law so I knew better than to open that mouth again.
That is... until it was time to beg for entertainment! Mother I crave amusement. My character grew so bored he mustered a wild imagination. Oh the horror 😱 I don't have a head so I wonder where the brain is stored. I feel like there's enough substance for the scope of the game. Your self-insert is the map and family themselves ; the dynamics, the atmosphere, thinking about spending your days at grandma's when you were smaller in height than her. It's been 2 years since my own paternal grandma has alzheimer's, but I'll just have to remember the fun we had in her stead. Of course, back then I could actually spend time outside with her, but well, if it rains, it can't be helped.
It was silly of me to shower in the sink. I take an entire afternoon to bring grandma what she asked and I do this afterwards. I've been baka! I could see my headless body! TASUKETE KURE 😭😭
Half-Life 2
2004
What is there to talk about Half-Life 2 that hasn't been said thousands and thousands of times? If Half-Life 1 is a fun game that revolutionized the way stories can be told in games, Half-Life 2 simply revolutionized the way games work.
It's almost unbelievable that this was released in 2004, its graphics are frankly surprising to this day, physics are perfect, gameplay is adorable, storytelling is superb (and such a great atmosphere). The only thing I could complain about this, is that I didn't like the ending, but hey, 2 more expansions to go!
It's almost unbelievable that this was released in 2004, its graphics are frankly surprising to this day, physics are perfect, gameplay is adorable, storytelling is superb (and such a great atmosphere). The only thing I could complain about this, is that I didn't like the ending, but hey, 2 more expansions to go!
When I was six years old, it was my favorite game, which I tried many times to pass, but could not. Having gone through it now, I don't understand how I could play like that)) all opponents, if they are not bosses, die from a single blow, and the game character jumps as if in zero gravity, all this looks, of course, funny, but it also does not benefit the game. The bottom line is that the game is bad even for its year of release.
Turbo Golf Racing
2022
Player competitions without interaction with players. Visually and gameplay, the game may not be bad, but for some reason you don't want to continue playing it at all, it gets boring too quickly.