2000

Kanon is a must-read for people who are visual novel readers as it pioneered emotional storytelling in the genre. It is the classic visual novel that tries to invoke emotion from the reader and one of the most popular games in the genre of the late 90s. It is about a young man who returns to a town he visited seven years prior and his connection with several girls, each with an emotional story and struggles. The art and CG is beautiful and oozes classic 90s goodness. It is a must read for fans of the genre.

This was my first real Atelier game and I am really glad I finally got to give the series a try. It's a very cozy game that can be as easy or hard as you want it to be. The graphics and art style are beautiful and it is something I have wanted to play for a long time but the collection can be quite pricey, Koei Tecmo only runs a sale on the Atelier games once or twice a year.

The time management is probably the biggest hurdle as synthesizing and traveling around the world map eats up time but I never found any objectives too hard, I usually completed the objective very early on and had a lot of time to level up in combat and collect material. The last few areas in the game get quite hard but you can ignore them for the most part if you want to.

It has a nice cast of charming characters and feels like something out of a storybook. I would like to come back eventually and get the true end but I want to try the two other games in the Arland trilogy.

Final Fantasy XVI was a really great time, its definitely a step in the right direction on where the series should go in the future. The combat and story are the highlights of the game. Although the sidequests can be overwhelming and sometimes monotonous at times, they really flesh out the world and characters, you learn a lot about the world that you wouldn't get just going to the next objective immediately. The music in the game is top notch and always has throwbacks to the old games.

I am happy the PS5 finally got its big third party exclusive and it really gives the system a defining game. The cutscenes and action in the game take full advantage of the system and make it a must buy for the console.