This might be my hottest take for the franchise but I didn't fall in love with this one like everyone else. The character stories are all just reskins of one another almost entirely 1:1, the party members get cycled too quickly to really establish a bond with any individual character, and the huge twist at the end is really of absolutely no consequence to anything that transpired in the story other than just being a shock value moment for the protag. Twists are supposed to make you re-evaluate and re-contextualize everything that happened in the game. Not to mention the character arc that Cecil goes through actually seems to make him WEAKER in the back half to the point of becoming my most useless party member for the final fight.

The game still stands on its own but it feels like I missed what made this game special for everyone else. I suppose it may just be my lack of nostalgia for this entry, though.

The best thing it did for the franchise was the ATB gauge, if nothing else, in my opinion. I'd argue FF2 had a stronger story and did an extremely similar twist significantly better.

FFV to me feels underappreciated even though it's the title where the franchise started getting really, really good and sprinted ahead into being the frontrunner for JRPGs. The class system in this game is phenomenal and the story is genuinely pretty fun - still one of my favorites to this day. It's not a perfect game by any means, and is honestly pretty difficult in the back half, but it's very sincerely worth the time it asks you to invest into its grind.

The main failings of this game are in the story; the villain could be stronger in terms of writing and the character journeys aren't totally notable, though done well enough. Overall one of my favorite games in the franchise that feels incredibly overshadowed by FFVI (for fair enough reason, I guess).

As someone with no nostalgia for this title, and only finally played it with the release of this iteration; what a fantastic game. The character writing is a bit weak, especially due to having such a massive cast, but each character manages to stand apart in terms of gameplay and overall makes teambuilding and strategy feel personal and fun. The story is great as well in the way it subverts nearly every trope of a traditional JRPG and pulls it off so convincingly, genuinely could be considered groundbreaking for the time period in which it was written.

It was very easy to see why this is such a beloved title.

You know that game that everybody never shuts up about and feels like when you finally play it that there's no way it could ever live up to the hype? That game that feels like you've had every story beat spoiled for you, that you're certain is overrated?

Against all odds FFVII somehow managed to come out ahead of being overhyped. This is another one of those standout titles I put off playing for over a decade before finally dipping my toes into and it lives up to every little bit of praise it's ever gotten, honestly. Somehow the story that seemed so convoluted when retold through word of mouth from others managed to click and all those essential, important pieces of the puzzle that I missed out on absolutely captivated me. Not much to say about this game that hasn't already been said.

FFIX clears this game though.

This game is a masterclass in storytelling in its character writing and journeys of growth. It has some flaws (party characters essentially disappearing into the background as the main story progresses), but to me a 5/5 score isn't a perfect game but something that intensely outshines its flaws.

The ATE system is still one of, imo, the most genius devices across any game I've played for really fleshing out each character. Optional bits of genuine moments between the party and NPCs that come around to being incredibly memorable in spite of their generic designs went a long way to making the world feel alive and really help the player connect.

But the real reason to play this game is Tetra Master. God I love Tetra Master.

This game's highs and lows are equal in that the highs are incredible peaks and the lows are insane valleys. A standard playthrough can gloss over these lows but upon trying deathless it became glaring that this game's balance is really frustrating. The controls are not responsive in a way that flatters its high octane gameplay and precise inputs, which inflates the difficulty that in my opinion is already insanely artificial. The difficulty in question is... Enemy spam, enemy ambush, spammed ambushes, and tight spaces that get walled off that you are forced to fight in versus non-stop lunging enemies that jumped at you with no warning while you were dashing through the level.

If you can look past all the trash that the game forces you to fight and severely punishes your mistakes against, the rest of the game is stellar. The collectibles are fun and rewarding with lite metroidvania backtracking, the bosses are rad, the art is incredible, and the soundtrack bops. It's unfortunate that the game is far from being a fairly balanced challenging-but-rewarding experience, and instead is simply hard for the sake of being hard.

A fantastic game but regrettably, though bordering perfect in terms of visuals and storytelling, I feel like with the Kaycee's mod update it really overstayed its welcome. Evaluating solely the base game it's phenomenal, only losing points to being a tad bit confusing at times in how to progress (certain things bordered requiring a guide, which for a game like this - one that is extremely reliant on a lack of spoilers in order to be totally effective - is a major pitfall).

I pushed through and achieved everything in the free update and was left burnt out and generally unimpressed. The game's balance, which wasn't necessarily balanced to begin with through the story (due to a lack of necessity) feels as if it falls apart and breaks wide open. Very clear and borderline necessary strategies begin to form, which there are several at least - but past a certain difficulty it all just hinges on beefing up a Mantis Lord and sending it. The update effectively doubled the playtime but I can't consider any of it to be "quality" playtime. The narrative it added to the game was somewhat enjoyable, but I didn't feel it was overall worth it or as memorable. Considering Kaycee's Mod with the game as a whole it solidifies my 4.5/5 rating on a game that could otherwise be a potential strong 5/5.

I can't say this game is for everyone, but it sure as hell is one of my favorites and such a fantastic story. A genuine masterclass of storytelling, character writing, and well worth the massive time investment it asks of you. I can't say the balance is perfect, especially due to just how massive the collection of cards and options available are, but to me the game's flaws are overshadowed by the story and especially the ending. It's only regrettable that I can't necessarily recommend this game unless you've played Lobotomy Corp first (or at least watched a playthrough/read through it), otherwise you'll have to slog through 10+ hours of tutorial with characters you don't care about yet (I've noticed the retention rate is much, much lower in this case), but it's substantially easier to swallow if you have.

I could write an entire thesis on the narrative and parallels between the two protagonists alone, as well as the game's use of literature and the utilization of the themes of its reference material, but I'll leave it at that.

God I love Project Moon. The brainrot is real.

Any time you think this game can't get any more stressful it gets even more stressful than that. My absolute favorite game that I hate. The most worthwhile experience I recommend nobody ever play. A firsthand experience that you can only truly understand through gameplay that maybe you should just watch a playthrough of instead.

God I love this game. I've never felt catharsis greater than when I finally beat the game. Project Moon just gets it when it comes to crafting an immersive experience above all else.