You guys hear about these Final Fantasy games??? You hear about these JRPGs???

I am so deeply not an anime guy in any medium, and I just started this because I wanted something to play before Dragon's Dogma and it was on PS plus, then the next thing I knew I'd burned through 35 hours in a week. A lot of the (probably slightly harsh) preconceptions that turn me off anime are extremely grating voice acting and melodrama, so I was bracing for that, only to get completely blindsided by extremely endearing characters inhabiting a genuinely impactful story about aggressively retaliating to an oppressive force, and the toll that takes. Even story aside I'm often turned off JRPGs by anything less than full real-time combat, but I'm finally becoming a convert recently, and this battle system is just phenomenal. Beating the fuck out of someone as Tifa hits every time.

So close to 5 stars and honestly so close to being one of my all-time favourites, but eventually there are a few hours too much padding to turn a 7 hour section of game into 35 hours, and it just can't resist going into full JRPG Kingdom Hearts nonsense right at the end. Still, what a game. I imagine more borderline incoherent stories of fate await in Rebirth, but I love this group of characters, and as long as they don't lose focus on them and keep making it feel amazing to wipe out Shinra goons as them, then I'm good.

For the first 20 hours of this thing I felt like I was playing an all-time cult classic. Phenomenal weirdo atmosphere, incredible blend of a really satisfying survival loop and beautiful cinematic worldbuilding. Everything about fighting your way out of a storm, repairing the car, and upgrading it piece by piece feels so tangible in the best way. Maybe I loved it too much early on, cause I spent so long in act 1 that I left myself a lot of game to get through by the time things started to feel repetitive and worn out. It just doesn't feel worth taking any time to engage with the mid-zone and deep zone in any way when you've done the same routes 10 times over and the only reward will be incremental upgrades that aren't remotely needed to complete the main story. My lasting memory will definitely be those first 20 hours though. Absolutely nothing else that feels like this