I've never played a JRPG, and will never plan to.

See, I don't know if you know the stigma that surrounds JRPG fans, but I felt like they were horny weebs with superiority complexes who constantly criticize and bash others for playing the same 60-hour JRPG with oversexualized women who are 200 years old but look about 12. And despite the fact that you should never judge a book by its cover, I bet you I avoided anything of the sort for years, out of fear that I would become a snobbish narcisistic prick. However one day I was lurking the Avg. Rating, looking at the game descriptions and comments when one particular title caught my eye. There, sitting at a nice 4.4, was Chrono Trigger.

However, one specific review caught my eye (and I hope they dont mind me quoting them:

"Chrono trigger has simple characters, a pretty simple plot, simple themes, and a simple combat system."

After reading that review I did the next obvious thing and downloaded Chrono Trigger. I loaded up RetroArch, and hit play. And after nearly 23 hours on my savefile, and completing the game and getting The Main Ending, I can sagely say that a JRPG is one of my favourite games of all time. So let's talk about it. Why is Crono Trigger such a great game?

The answer is simple. Literally. The main reason that I probably enjoy this game so much as it's so easy to understand and get into that most people can really like its game, especially with shorter lengths compared to other titles in the genre. The SNES pixel art will always age like wine, and there's a reason why people talk about this soundtrack being the best there ever is in gaming. The plot is very straightforward however flows together and the pacing. Is. AMAZING. The characters arent that complex in retrospect however are very loveable and relatable in their motives and challenges they overcome. The theme in of itself is many that people overlook or dont seem to pick up on, and I find that unfair.

You don't have to accept the world as how it is, and the dreams of your own those around you matter and have the power to change the world.

This theme continues to prove itself as for most of the game you don't even change much. You don't change anything that happens throughout history, and without spoiling you tend to not get the results you wanted. However it is with the perseverance and dreams of those around us that push us to achieve something greater. Despite seeing what the world was before and what it will become, Chrono and our heroes refuse to accept this fate and continue to grow and become stronger as people.

Combat is easy to get a hang on as well. Look, I get why people complain about this game being too easy and how the magic system is sort of bland. But it's so simple that it just clicks with you, and it feels so satisfying finding a weakness or using a Triple move. People dont need these complex systems if the gameplay flows very well. If I ever come around to playing another JRPG I'll probably go back on what I said however I argue nontheless.

There is also so much to do during New Game+. I havent exactly dabbled myself into it yet however if youre into 13+ endings that are all intresting (and like, extremely funny?? Yeah, the game's like very funny and nobody talks about that) then definitely try out the tons and tons of post game content for you to explore.

I hope one day, as I try another JRPG, I enjoy it as much as this one, and unfortunately tranform into a weeaboo goblin before arguing about the golden era and FFVI. But for now, I reminisce about the amazing time that I had with Chrono Trigger, and I hope that sone of you out there who haven't tried this genre yet play this game too. Only this one, and afterwards break every console you know and never game ever again.

Hmm. I’m on the fence about continuing this one.

Coffee Talk 2 has some great points, there’s really an interesting conversation simulator here if you really pay attention to the story they’re laying out here, but I think you can’t go haphazardly discussing serious topics in a situation like this. Don’t get me wrong, the game tries its sincerest but I feel like trying to describe systemic racism and discrimination with.. fantasy characters and quirky meme writing doesn’t work. “People are scared of me because I’m a banshee” and “Our love is always struggling and arguing because we are two different species” is handled really fucking weirdly and it becomes apparent at times that most situations are direct stand-ins to real life problems we as a society face, which makes it, ehhhh worse?? It hurts itself even more at times as it tries to stereotype some of its characters with “unique characteristics”, some embedded through pop culture (vampire likes red) and others… yeesh. The first game did this as well, and I feel like the devs have run this through the ground enough (unintentionally) to justify wherever or not I should continue.

The gameplay is also just, alright as well. Some of the instructions are practically cryptic most of the time and getting locked out of best story sections because you didn’t hand someone the right item (even when the game tells you sometimes it feels misleading in when it wants you to) make the game justifiable.

The orc lady’s still cool though.

In the year of 1991, company Sega created the Sonic the Hedgehog series, to compete with Nintendo's mascot at the time Mario and provide more sales for the Genesis console. The game turned out to be a booming success in places like the US and sparked the Nintendo vs SEGA war. The battle between the blue haired speedster and the Italian plumber carried on for nearly a decade, until the unfortunately SEGA stopped producing consoles and focused on making half baked titled practically holding the hedgehog hostage (but thats for another day). However most Sonic fans reminisce on the golden era of Sonic and the classic titles that made him a worthy opponent in the 90's.

I've always been the Mario man. I grew up with the DS and Wii and although playing a lot of Dreamcast and Genesis games I only touched upon Generations. After finally playing the original titles, I have to say with dissapointment the first game did not age well. Or at least, my perception on the hedgehog as a whole.

I was quite surprised to find out that the Sonic games arent always about going fast. The first game actually takes it quite slow by having lots of enemies and placed structures in the way to make you slam into walls or take more time collecting treasures and rings. This was quite.. shocking to me? One minute ill be going super fast going around cool loops and the other time all my speed will be halted down because I have to do a parlour segment. I'm Marble Zone for example, there's a part where you have to stand on a moving block as it will traverse slowly across a pool of lava. This is just boring? You shouldn't have these constant patterns of halting all my speed and progress across stupid parkour and cramped tiny spaces. People can feel differently here, but Sonic' movement does not compliment this type of gamestyle, as sometimes I feel too slippery and fast for my own good.

Lets talk about, in my opinion, the worst level design of the game. Labyrinth Zone consists of these tight cramped spaces with the exception of small moving platforms in a circuit that Sonic has to stand on and move across. The worst part is easily that 80% of this zone takes place entirely underwater. Sonic moves slower and his jumps are a bit floatier, and he will also drown if he spends too much time in the water. You've probably heard this from many other reviews, but this is not fun to play as well. And if you suck like me you'll constantly be bumping into things meaning you have to sluggishly scram to pick them all up again. I just don't understand that a game that was advertised as this speedup go fast as this cool hedgehog focuses on tight platformery levels, although it is classed as such.

However I did genuinely like some levels such as Star Light Zone and Green Hill. The pixel art and soundtrack will always be ahead of it's time and ages fairly well (seriously all OST in this game is a bop you can't take that away).

The boss fights are ok. Some like the Labrynth one are extrenely frustrating but very rhymetic and simple, which I thinks help. I dont wanna spoil the last boss but I wish it did something different as it was extremely underwhelming.

Theres nothing else to really say about the game. For the time the first Sonic title was great however outdated level design has soured the experience. However, I have heard that later titles (most importantly 3) improves on this so hopefully the game is just suffering from first game syndrome. The race of the two gaming titans continue.

"Sonic the Hedgehog. More action, More speed , Sega Genesis, it's a whole lot more for less."

You know what, I'm actually going to praise Danganronpa very highly for the first time.

The first game was flawed. In fact a big mess if you look back after playing the triology. The 2nd game improved quite significantly although I would argue that the story and game started to fall off at the end (and I hate everyone praising Nagito, no, he's annoying). Ultra Danganronpa Girls has a minigame in which I will not describe but it sums up the game pretty well. Many anime adaptations and series', manga and other spinoff later, what do you get?

Media coverage. Merchandise and one of the biggest anime game followings. Danganronpa fans are known to be a bit on the crazy side and over the years forms this toxic and weird reputation in the online media. And so when the third game was announced the fans went wild. Another killing game?? Whats gonna happen?? Will the Hopes Peak storyline continue?? And what did the developers do?

They release another Danganronpa. However this time the trials have improved significantly in my opinion, the cast is fun, and overall the game leans on the more crazy side which I root for. What polished fun! Great for the Danganronopa fans?

Then the developers said, "Fuck you." I will not go into the ending much because spoilers but the reason why this game is ranked so highly is because of the way that Kodaka and his team sent off his series with a massive "I genuinely hate what my game and fans have become." And it is so amusing seeing all these people talk about how this game was "Ooh controversial, 2 was better, the ending ruined it for me.." No. Chances are you are the fans that the team has been making fun of all along.

Chunsoft, You have surprised me. You went off extremely slow and decided to finish with the biggest bang I have seen in a franchise so far. Its time to let the behemoth that this series is to rest.