Shadows of Valentia is such an interesting case where it's almost a perfect game. The presentation, voice acting, narrative, and music are all so goddamn perfect that it carries that really repetitive and mediocre gameplay that this game has. It's clear that Intelligent Systems wanted this game to be pretty faithful to the original Gaiden in terms of gameplay, but I feel that is what really brings it down for me. Especially in the last quarter of the game where the dungeons become a lot longer and the map design is either nonexistent or really bad.

I do really love this game, but replaying it after 4 years from my last replay has made me realized the game's highs and lows pretty clearly.

Pretty middle of the road FE. There isn't much variety in chapters since the game basically consists of siege only maps. There's a lot of really bad filler units that the game constantly gives you, when in the end I just kept using the same characters for the whole game.

Story is also nothing too special. It just feels like a combination of Archanea and Jugdral's stories, and it doesn't really do anything special with them. The true ending however is pretty sweet, and I wished the game had more focus on Lilina, Fae, and Idunn since I think that's what the game really excelled at.

Nothing else much to say tbh. This game is whatever and the foundation is greatly improved with later GBA FE titles.

A phenomenal game that aged better mechanically than you would expect. The world building, story, characters, presentation, writing, music, and scope of the game are honestly stellar and incredibly ambitious especially for the time. Should note that I did do a bit of research into specific items, but I had a great time regardless. Sigurd and Seliph's story are just great to see unfold and it's amazing how the worldbuilding is put into the gameplay as a reward for helping save villages.

I definitely don't think this game will be for everyone in regards to its gameplay, especially with how later games would improve upon it with a lot of quality of life features such as trading. However, a lot of the gameplay mechanics were carefully picked to give a lot more strategic depth and management, especially for the preparation stages of chapters. I do also really like how this game incentivizes to replay the game again to get the most optimal route, as well as fully understanding the grand story that the game wants to tell.

All in all, this was a fantastic game all around.

On an aesthetic and tonal standpoint, this game completely oozes of style and does a very unique take on Noir style with its pencil drawn art style. The music also compliments the tone and aesthetic of the game perfectly, really giving off that 60s era America vibe. Everything about the presentation of this game is super experimental, even the way you hold the DS to play is fitting for a detective game. Cing really nailed it here.

I also really liked how every plotline in this is connected and have a very strong theme of betrayal and dreams. Makes the story feel surprisingly cohesive despite the game basically having a "victim of the week" formula with its chapters.

I kinda wish there was a thing that told you where to go half of the time. I was kind of stumbling on where to go a lot of time and committed to a lot of trial and error unless the game outright told me where to go. Puzzles can also be very brutal at times, but the puzzles that really utilized the DS's capabilities were genuinely really cool.

So yeah really cool and experimental DS game that has me super curious in checking out Last Window next.

As a follow up to Path of Radiance, this is honest to god the best way that Intelligent Systems could've done it.

I'll get my one gripe out of the way. This game not having traditional supports really hurts a lot of the new cast for me but I personally already have such a deep attachment to the Greil Mercenaries and Ike that it doesn't bother me too much. Still if this game had supports like other games this would've been a perfect game. But alas we don't live in such a world.

Now onto everything else, and hooboy do I love everything about this game the moment I started it.

The way the game goes around with its units and strategy aspects is honestly kind of genius. You barely get any money in the game, abilities are expensive, you switch around units a lot, bonus exp level ups now only increase 3 stats instead of how level ups normally go. All of your choices in how you want to build your party really matter, and this game doesn't push around in terms of difficulty even on easy. You have to really decide if you want to invest in certain units and how much money you're willing to spend on weapons and other items so that you can actually proceed with the game. Even when playing as the Greil mercenaries the game doesn't pull any punches despite you basically having all pre promoted units from the start. It feels like a natural next part to what players experienced from Path of Radiance as it ups the difficulty from that game. You feel so powerless when you're playing as the Dawn Brigade because of what happened to Daein in the last game, which really goes on to my next point.

The story is so tightly written in a way that feels like a natural next part to Path of Radiance. All the events that happen in this game makes a lot of sense in creating such a complicated world that Telius presents. No country is truly in the right even if the choices that the new rulers like Elincia make are going to make a perfect world that they envision. It plays onto the themes and messages of humans being imperfect so well that I seriously got to applaud the writers for really committing to said themes. I don't want to go more into the story since I feel many need to experience how this game plays out, especially the buildup to the game's incredible endgame where all the loose ends that this duology set up have such a satisfying end to it.

One other aspect I want to talk about before I end is the music, and man do I think the music is a massive step up from Path of Radiance. Don't get me wrong, the music in Path of Radiance is really fucking good despite it being Midi, but Intelligent Systems really went all out by having the game being fully orchestrated for its soundtrack. It really helps give such a grand scope of the conflict that the world of Telius has fallen to, especially after what Ike's crew did to Daein in Path of Radiance. There's a bigger sense in the war because of the booming orchestral soundtrack. The battle themes themselves don't start from the beginning once you engage another fight, it continues off from where the last battle ended off so that you can truly embrace how amazing this score is.

I cannot give anymore praises to how much this game truly delivered in what Path of Radiance set up. I don't think one game is better than the other, since I truly believe these games tell a grand epic that cannot truly exist without the other. The Telius games aren't perfect, but just like humans no one is perfect. I can embrace the strengths that these games have and they delivered everything that I was hoping for. It's hard for me to not give these games a perfect score for me.

As the first of this duology epic, Path of Radiance really gets the job done in terms of establishing its setting, characters, and conflicts that will be played it in both this and Radiant Dawn.

The world of Telius is so dense and tightly written that it's hard for me to put it all into words to how grand the world feels. A lot of care was put into the relationships between the different continents, species, and the relationships between the people that inhabit the world of Telius. You can feel how much history that the setting of Telius has through the dialogue in the game that you can see through the story, info cutscenes, supports, and many other times when you're not doing battles. It feels so carefully crafted in a way where you can really tell why there's a lot of conflict occurring in this continent which really helps give the story a lot more weight to it.

Supports in this game do such a fantastic job at giving so much depth to the Greil Mercenaries and crew, as well as giving such fantastic character arcs and revelations with a few examples coming from Jill and Soren. Like the worldbuilding in this game, the character supports are so tightly written in a way that make these characters seriously stand out from the rest of the FE casts that have come before and after. Also helps that these characters are also very attached to Telius so they bring even more weight to the world that they inhabit. Just seriously some amazing stuff for the world of these games.

My review for these games continue with my review for Radiant Dawn, as that game really continues a lot of what I said here but way more.
https://backloggd.com/u/Kanan/review/1375387/

Note: I have not played the original titles and I do plan on playing them in the future.

I don't think this game will land for everyone, especially on the gameplay department. But what really got me to absolutely love this game was the art style, atmosphere, story, and especially its characters. This is such a tightly knit story about memories and being able to connect with others, with a lot of sincerity behind it. The game also just has such a cozy feel to it, where a lot of I would just walk around and take in the music as I was playing because of how much I was taken in by the music.

I loved this game a lot and I especially got teary eyed by the end. Maybe this review will change once I play the originals, but at this time I will remember this game fondly.

(This is prior to playing the DLC)

I love how this game is practically just a showcase of incredible art, that just so happen to also be an action game. There are many points in the game where you have to run far distances while having to fight enemy encounters, but I honestly took this opportunity to look at the backgrounds and take in the incredible soundtrack that's just rocking traditional Japanese music but with a modern take. The story really works with the type of aesthetic that the game is going for, be that of a journey to achieve enlightenment with a new sword. It's nothing too groundbreaking, but it works in the context of the game's aesthetic and premise.

The was a big surprise to me for a game that's primarily a one button action fighter. Really helps that there are different blades that play differently with their secondary effect to make things refreshing. A lot of quick thinking is involved with this game where a lot of times you're constantly using the air slash or floaty jump to get around some hectic battles.

This game is goddamn awesome and absolutely worth it just with the game's art style on it's own.