I'm not really into free to play/mobile games e.t.c, but when I heard that Genshin Impact is a role playing game inspired by Breath of the Wild, without pay to win microtransactions, it caught my attention.
I can't share my thoughts for the story because it's not complete yet but it's quite intriguing so far.
The gameplay is pretty good. It looks cool, it feels satisfying and it plays well.
The world is arguably the best part of the game, it's fun and rewarding to explore this massive world filled with content and unique areas.
It's quite impressive how this game has more content than most full-priced titles out there, even if the quest design is quite repetitious.
Also, the art style is quite beautiful.
Unfortunately though, there are some things that bothered me a bit.
There's not enough enemy variety, grinding to level up the Adventure Rank in order to progress is tedious after a while, and I hope the developers will add mounts in the game someday because the traversal feels slow at times.
The microtransactions were an after-thought for the most part, but more characters should've been for free.

Pros:
+ Good gameplay
+ Very fun exploration
+ Huge world filled with content
+ Great art style
+ Co-op

Cons:
- Not enough enemy variety and repetitive quest design
- Grinding and monetization
- Slow traversal

Narrative: ?/10
Gameplay: 7/10
Content: 8/10
Music: ?/10
Art Style: 8/10

Final Rating: 7.5/10
- Very Good -
Genshin Impact is one of the better free-to-play games I've played, however, I hope the developers won't get lazy in the future because this game has a ton of potential.

Do I recommend it?:
Yes, it's fun and for free.

I've never been fan of this genre; I've only played Fortnite for half an hour and I got bored. I've heard very positive things about Apex Legends though and I decided to give it a try.
In my opinion, Apex Legends isn't just a significantly better game than Fortnite, but it's genuinely a really good game overall. I am quite decent at this game and it is a lot of fun!
The gameplay is amazing despite not being anything special, and it feels very smooth.
The characters are different from each other, some characters can act as support and tank while others are offensive.
The graphics are good and the audio is great.
Also, game focuses a lot on teamplay with some unique mechanics and items for communication; you can even revive your teammates when they die. Teamplay can get a bit frustrating at times, but it's fantastic when it works.
What about the flaws? Well, first of all, there isn't enough content, and secondly, the monetization is a little bit messed up; there are few microtransactions but quite too expensive.

Pros:
+ Fun and smooth gameplay
+ Diverse characters
+ Focuses a lot on teamplay
+ Nice visuals

Cons:
- Not enough content
- Monetization

Gameplay: 9/10
Content: ?/10
Graphics/Audio: 8/10

Final Rating: 8/10
- Great -
Apex Legends is a great game, even though it's lacking content.

Do I recommend it?:
Yes, it's worth a try and it's for free.

Before diving into my review, I wanted to say that The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was my favorite videogame for a long time; it's the most important videogame of my life, I spent thousands of hours playing it for many years, it's basically my childhood and it feels like coming back home everytime I play it. With that being said, I decided to play the special edition now and I'm gonna review it based on how it aged.
While the plot isn't anything special, the rich lore really makes up for a decent story overall.
The gameplay is still good; the combat system hasn't aged very well, but the game is very addictive thanks to its variety and open world design.
The RPG elements are well executed, the world feels massive even to this day and there's so much side-content to do.
The visuals don't look as impressive as they did back then but the world is still beautiful.
The expansions - Dawnguard and Dragonborn - are great; they add 2 of the best quest-lines in the game, plus some very cool additions into the game.
Also, Skyrim's soundtrack is one of my favorite - if not my favorite - in a videogame, ever.
Unfortunately though, the voice acting didn't age well at all, and same goes for the dungeon design too; many dungeons are similar to each other and they get repetitive after a while.
Lastly, I think Special Edition could've done much better job at updating the game's visuals than it did, and maybe update the combat system as well.

Pros:
+ Rich lore
+ Addictive gameplay
+ Excellent world design
+ Huge world filled with of content
+ 2 very good DLCs
+ Incredible soundtrack

Cons:
- Repetitive dungeon design
- Dated voice acting

Narrative: 6/10
Gameplay: 7/10
Content: 10/10
Characters: ?/10
Music: 10/10
Graphics/Audio: ?/10

Final Rating: 9/10
- Amazing -
It's been over a decade since The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim's first release and this game still manages to offer a very solid RPG experience that holds a special place in my heart.

Do I recommend it?:
Yes, it'll always be a must-play for everyone in my opinion, even for those who don't enjoy playing RPGs.

Out of all the WRPGs (western RPGs), I've played thus far. Pathfinder: Kingmaker(PK) is without a doubt the most complex and rich in nearly every category I long for in the genre. And to Owlcat’s credit, the Kickstarter backed CRPG almost achieved full marks. Multiplex of systems, deep mechanics, extensive kingdom-building, matched by a fascinating world-building and filled with memorable characters. A long story, featuring multiple endings. Real-time with pause combat. Dense fantasy single-player title in an isometric perspective. And yet I can’t help but find the whole experience of clearing everything possible in over 130 hours a double-edged sword. Full of sharp awesome content. Yet underneath lies a blunt edge full of troubling matters. Alexander Mishulin, Creative Director at Owlcat Games eloquently sums up the matter in an 2020 interview saying “...Huge Pathfinder system ruleset was left tricky and unclear in many ways for the new players unfamiliar with the tabletop game.”

The IP is incredibly different from what I dabbled in Baldur's Gate 1 last year. And the old Fallout titles. Feels a lot more in-depth not just in terms of pen-and-paper, but in different rules and how the mechanics are implemented by Owlcat on Paizo’s ruleset. I’ll run through the positives first before I dive into my mixed feelings. Full disclosure: I played 100 hours without mods before relying on them to end credits. I’ll denote a mod section properly later on, but if I don’t discuss it please assume I'm discussing vanilla.

Storywise I found to be a slow-burn. But ultimately an enjoyable affair. You start in a competition for the rights to become baron/baroness of the Stolen Lands. A large swath of unclaimed land with no leader. Think bandit territory except fantasied to the gills. Crypts and hidden tombs full of nocturnal creatures sinisterly lurk. Local settlements are plagued by monster attacks and the occasional banditry. Fill your wanderlust and discover ancient ruins and dungeons! Full of traps, puzzles, and of course great treasure awaits! But take care, whimsical fey beings roam here and there so beware! For better or worse, depending on your choices in dialogue you may come across interesting outcomes. Discover a key piece and be led to a hidden location out on the world map! Or used in a way to uncover another hidden check. Where the locals and monsters alike will be found in all manners of the noble to villainy spectrum. Take heart, for finding a true pure soul in such a hostile place may seem dangerous! Yet behold! Beyond the borders lie a people still living brightly and drinking merrily in taverns. Singing to their heart's content without end!

Before I sing on further, I must talk about the initial priorities after becoming Baron/Baroness. Consists of the gameplay overview without combat. A gentle reminder, to not go gallivanting off into the wilderness following the wanderlust compass. Rather, one must remember to research curses. Curses are something unexplainable and mysterious occurring within your lands. And it is up to you to research why. There are more than 13+ of these curse events that need to be resolved as you progress through the game's many acts. All of which contain a time limit to complete under “xxx’ day. Doing so is one of the key requirements to unlocking a secret ending and progressing through the main story conveniently. Refrain from doing so and the consequences will be severe. I didn’t have much issue with deadlines. Bona fide lenient as long as you prioritize what to do. A general loop emerges: Enter building management -> research curses, solve problems, assign advisors, resolve advisor concerns, construct structures in settlements, invest in building points(BP) or use them for erecting structures or helping pass a bill using BP. Finished? Good, we're not done. -> Check the journal to see any main quests. Usually, one or two pop-ups and its a number one priority to complete. -> Once finished then you're allowed to finish any sides and errands. Followed by companion quests -> If you have any days left on the clock. Explore the map, discover new dungeons, finish off random mobs trying to kill you while traveling, and unearthing loot by turning over rocks and crannies you see are all worthy endeavors. The priorities may seem daunting at first, but I assure you have ample weeks to months. In finishing any important tasks before moving on to the rest. Generally, Traveling around and researching will consume most of your precious days. However, there are certain ways to mitigate any losses later on. I’ll include some links later on for extra tips.

Plethora of classes to choose from and upgrade. More than fifteen main jobs. And several archetypes within. A barbarian, for instance, specializes in an armored hulk, mad dog, or invulnerable rager. A cleric branches off into a herald caller, ecclesitheurge, and crusader. All with their unique powers and skills offered. I stayed as a paladin and found it decent. My primary joy came from the multiple allies who joined my merry band. Swapping into a different profession if inclined, but I kept them as their base class to see how it feels to use them. At the end of the day, I concluded they’re fun to use. One serves as a tank such as my tower shield specialist while my inquisitor summons undead to serve as handy meatshields. My bard’s songs randomly stun my enemies. I and my barbarian cleaned up! Rinse and repeat and voila! Dead guys in the aftermath. Granted not all encounters will not go as smoothly as one would think. Plenty of surprises await in store for any curious adventurer.

Should be noted there are special prestige classes. Several are not selectable at the character creation. As you progress and meet certain requirements they become available as your second class. I’ll be honest with the exception of the Wildcard DLC. I was not able to use any of these prestige ones. As a result, I am unable to comment on them other than some being powerful and others meh from what I skimmed online. Overall essential in understanding classes, since comprehending their capabilities will mark triumph and despair concerning the combat portion.

I mainly used real-time with pause(RtwP) mode. For those unaware, in CRPG's this means each action your party makes is conducted at the same wavelength against the opposing enemy side. Casting spells takes seconds before casting but attacking is ongoing when not in cooldown. Trading blows until one side is gone. For those uninterested in RtwP. Owlcat implemented a turn-based(TB) method. Activatable anytime with a single press of a button. Initially, a mod early, the devs decided to add it for those not enthused in the RtwP approach. As someone who favors turn-based. I have to say the move was pretty based. But I couldn’t stand doing TB for every fight encounter. My entire playthrough would’ve easily doubled or tripled. But the inclusion of the mechanic later on after release I appreciate a great deal especially if I get tired of RtwP. Convenient when needed.

In my honest opinion, an enjoyable isometric gameplay emerges. Regarding the many systems at play. Battles are somewhat challenging relying on your crew's profession. For instance, if you improperly manage equipment, health items, and proper class understanding then you may be in for a life of hurt when confronting multiple foes in a large open area filled with scattered mobs. I struggled early on since I had zero Pathfinder exposure. Meaning I rushed into things without thinking, quick-saved like my life was about to expire. To make sure I gained a favorable outcome and spammed abilities like a madlad. Kindly erase those foolish ‘jump before thinking’ mentality and realize no one will hold your hand gently. Despite a wealth of options available to reduce difficulty which I will talk about later on. Look at my character and witness how one tab from the summary may induce information overload. What is AC? Fortitude? Reflex? Will? The difference between wisdom and intelligence. Knowledge arcana/world? lore/nature? Sounds rubbish, who needs these skills? Alignment? Bah, who cares. Well, my friend I do! A great deal since you must understand a sizable chunk to succeed. I won’t go into complete minute details, but suffice it to say each terminology is important to survive. Basic stereotypes do exist though, so no need to worry! A mage is squishy early on, but a glass cannon. Ranger and barbarian are viable builds and hybrid classes are available for those who wish to slot into a job outside of the standard ones.

Have no fear of the daunting Pathfinder homework ahead! I did only the bare minimum cause I wanted to get straight into the thick of things and still managed fairly well. Here’s a secret that has never failed me when playing any CRPG. Buffing/debuffing/summoning is honestly the bread and butter. And will undoubtedly your life easier. Without any of those above, I would not be able to win against my adversaries. Helped me so much to the point I spent over 100 hours buffing in less than a minute before engagements. In the blink of an eye. Yeah, I'm not kidding about those buffs. Crucial in starting up a massive advantage before striking any foe ahead. Summon any pets, skeletons, elementals, or animals at your side ahead of any battle so attackers will be dumb dumbs and attack them foolishly. As if they are the priority. Debuffing is equally important. Any Atlus JRPG fan should know from Megami Tensei how skills like reducing enemy power, missing an attack, freezing them, and whatever manner of debuffs to inflict. Will turn the tides in your favor. The same principle applies here. Min-maxers like myself who love adjusting little morsels of numbers are in for a real treat. Countless loot is around, as a result, I never had an issue strengthening my characters and applying any spells to their repertoire. No requirements to micromanage level-ups either. If checked in the menu. And since I started from beginning to end credits with the preference on. You are in good safe hands. An indispensable accessibility feature reduces the steep cliff into a more manageable one for newcomers to the series.

Do keep this in mind. It's inadvisable to spamming spells and abilities without a drawback. The consequence of using magical abilities means the 'charge' will be used up. Mana is unavailable. Instead, your party will have a certain amount of ‘charges’ so to speak on how many times to reuse a magick discipline. A basic 'fireball' for example may have one charge. In spite of that, within the magic system for some classes, possible to increase multiple slots. Consequently granting more amounts. Area of effect, cones, and single targets, bouncing are all attainable parameters, so watch out not to hurt your allies. Lest you need to revive them after the battle ends. After an engagement with an enemy, a non-combative status will occur for all. Any damages and spells used along with health will not return to their original condition. This means every skirmish with a mob will leave you bleeding. Continue fighting and sooner or later the effect of 'fatigue' will emerge. A debuff handicapping with horrible stats. Go further and you may become exhausted incurring further penalties. To counter a weakened state, one 'rest' is recommended, and rations to heal back to 100%. Be warned you may be ambushed by nearby hostiles. It's these little things that pile up later on when you expect a benefit there must always be a drawback in some form. Not much of an issue provided players remember to buy rations and set their PC to scavenge for rations out in the wild.

In the wilds and civilizations players will need to contend with the text and dialogue system. You will inevitably conduct a wide array of meaningful conversations. For instance, talking yields a host of options. Both are informative to educate, pushing to the next segment in a quest, moving the conversation forward with lore passages highlighting key information whenever you need, and taking a gamble in stat-oriented discourse to affect an outcome. Crucial to give context to the rich history in Pathfinder where putting the mouse cursor will describe any bolded phrase. Appropriately connecting any relevant lore with anyone. Where paragraphs on gods, nations, political figures, religion, etc. will be described when highlighted. Hearing a disgruntled futilist dwarf talk about the impending doom of the end of days from the god Grotis transforms otherwise static boring sentences into flavorful dynamic words to remember and an “Ahah!” moment arises. Stumble upon reading a book about certain dangerous religions only to learn later about a crazy cult related to said religion. You will inevitably come up with many of these examples. Nevertheless, conversations are susceptible to stats; you have to needle your way through unique text. Granting extra experience and new conversational topics to discuss with whomever you meet. Such a deeply intricate word system is only part of the whole gameplay pie to understand why I adore talking to my party to understand their backstory, relationships, and history and develop them further with their quest lines down the road.

Under these circumstances, the world-building is richly implemented and flourishes through meaningful lines as I meandered my way to talk to important NPCs whenever I traveled. Be it a villain, an unsuspecting stranger, or an upstanding citizen of the realm. All are not spared my inquisitive nature to converse! In my delight, speaking yields both favorable and unfavorable outcomes concerning a dice roll. Meet the stat check to enable the dialogue requirement, but plausible still failing the result. Meaning my goals for a peaceful resolution between two angry interracial groups could be thrown into the fire. Erupting a bloody feud betwixt two leaves me no choice but to eliminate both or take one side. Invigorating my soul and leaving me contemplative to carefully consider a circumspect approach. Take information with the grainiest of salts and don’t label everything in simple good or evil manners. Difficult to judge whether the NPC is acting in the best interest at your behest while secretly holding a dagger behind their back unknowingly to your eyes. As a result, Non-conflict encounters are unique here, where fights interrupted are an uncommon occurrence with a conversation box, hearing their plea and moving on from there. I’ve had the personal pleasure of converting evil dastards onto my side while subjecting good souls to betrayal. Interconnecting later on in a future side-mission or main narrative where your previous actions will have a consequence later on. I befuddled a group and investigated a murder or caused mayhem on the populace by lying to whomever. Offered a mysterious item I picked up just for this occasion. Bribed, persuaded, intimidated, or sought further lore knowledge. No one is spared from my decisions and I lived with the consequences of my actions.

If there is one notable strength here in PK then companions here are a breath of fresh air. Not the best, but certainly not the worst. Recruit all eleven comrades, plus two more from the Wildcards DLC. A wonderful motley crew full of contradictions and wild alignments from chaotic to lawful and those staying in the realm of neutrality. I adore my party's banter. Sharing wonderful stories and barbs anytime I rest. And their voice actors deserve only praise for going the distance. Seeing their background update during a loading screen is a small, but appreciative detail. As I progressed further in their questline. From the loveable optimistic bard who never fails to brighten the room, the tough barbarian exile who continues to thirst for a challenge, the curious explorer alchemist who underneath their arrogant exterior lies a heart of gold, the noble tower specialist who continues to make each stranger drop their jaw in awe at her beauty. The chaotic duo of eldritch scion and rogue wizard lent their bond to my group despite their horrible past. A stoic tragic ranger avenger, a dwarven futilist cleric, a goblin knife master, and others I could list but I'll save them for a surprise… Needless to say, all have a colorful history beyond simple tropes and evolve constantly throughout my journey. I won’t say any favorites since I like all of them equally, instead, I will remark my allies' goals are a must-play and some intertwine with the main story at length. Providing a nice integration into the story and commenting during side activities on their thoughts, feelings, and alignment. Your actions will favor or dislike you. Therefore, it's essential to think carefully about their beliefs, morals, and alignment to adjust your response accordingly relative to the situation. Complex and not one-sided, and not all that hard to keep with you by when the end credits rolled around. Heck, I operated a solid crew of five. With changes in the guard whenever any relative friend's objectives arrived. Some benefit from putting any relative members in a relatable matter for instance. Otherwise, serving an appropriate role in another area below.

Kingdom building surprised me a great deal. There are plenty of systems in place here to almost make me wish for a separate game to play exclusively. Heck, employing any of your companions as advisors who will approach you about a delicate matter related to any of the stats concerning your authority. Population, relation, military, culture, divine, loyalty, arcane, stability, espionage, and community. Accepting a new policy, rejecting or fashioning a unique dialogue choice conditional on the advisor’s characteristics. I was able to increase the guardsmen with more men and budget instead of leaving them to their whits. Fought espionage wars with another neighboring nation by honoring our dead spies than risking their status. Favored culture of the arts and freedom to use magic freely and threw away the bill restricting their passion. And so forth. Completing these requests and listening to my advisors leads to benefits and detriments. So take heed of your colleague's advice and choose the best course of action. In doing so you manage your domain from impending self-destruction. Be careless and your citizenry will revolt. Therefore, it is imperative for one to finish any dilemmas arising in priority rather than any opportunity points. Issues if not solved, worsen stats, so pray to RNGSUS you land on a good dice roll to resolve the conflict peacefully. Or quickload like me hehe. Opportunities are okay to ignore, but for those who decide to try them the rewards are equally as good as solving problems. Don’t worry about taking care of your vassals constantly, a timer will run on when resolved and a notification will pop up for any impending event.

An option to automate your kingdom exists, but I still suggest that folks embrace the system to get a feel of managing affairs in your nation while also investing your precious days. Pays dividends later on in the form of passives and supplementary items. The latter leads you to new objectives and random encounters providing free equipment through artisans(Specialists who join your nation, when you visit your new settlement when claiming a region), and investing in your crown pays dividends later on to grant permanent buffs like increased attack roll chances, immunity to fear, and faster movement when traveling and more. Constructing mage towers(unlockable once you level up an advisor's ranks) allows one to teleport with minimal downtime creating a genuine saver for those urgent investigations in your journal. Aside from leveling your partners in combat and dialogue, you advance their rank in their advisory role to have a better chance to resolve troubles and opportunities. Useful when RNGSUS will sway to your lucky side rather than the unlucky side.

Decent-to-quality sidequests and errands are plentiful and ultimately awesome to complete. Enhanced my experience during my adventures. Here is a small taste of what I encountered. Uncovering a dark mega villain through a long monster extermination hunt Mediated between fey beings on trees and preached to no end on civility, peace, and compromise during heated debates and mob pitchforks. Hunted weird cultics from weird satanic ones to disturbing groups with their nefarious agenda preying on helpless innocents like a pregnant woman in need delivering her baby for a price. Oh hell no. I saved her thankfully, but whether or not it was a good thing in the end leaves me still troubled. Engaged in a puzzle to resurrect a powerful, but evil ghost for sick armor and weapons. Participated in treasure hunts, fought bandits holding hostages, saved mythical creatures like dragons, and found a boy who cried wolf-like investigation whose outcome was vastly different from what I expected. Returned a Necronomicon-like book to a powerful hermit in the lands and traveled to other realms to investigate curses to reach and attain the absurdly difficult secret ending. Heck, I took advantage of alignment choices to brutally reach a good outcome. Nonetheless, I still time-traveled into alternate universes. By reloading to recruit horrible fellows into my cabinet. Yeah, I’m not proud of that at all…

Anyway, mod time. Earlier I mentioned I played vanilla for 100 hours. Once I reached that point I decided enough was enough and threw away the base content life. And subsequently enjoyed in greater detail the latter half to an insane degree with much-needed quality-of-life features. Below I’ll briefly outline some must-haves for anyone on PC.

Mod manager - Number one key ingredient for all kingmaker needs and easy to install any of the following to make your playthrough fun and eliminate the tedium.

Bag of Tricks - Solve 99% of any troubles you face. From side quests not occurring, to fixing a bug here and there. And to be fair I had very little bugs or crashes. I think outside of a handful of minor bugs my playthrough was nearly perfect. My convenient tricks were instant teleporting on the world map, instant rest + after fighting, instant auto-complete realm events, lock-picking unlimited attempts, force success/triumph on problems and opportunities, pass skill checks, and my personal favorite a romance counter which is crucial for the secret ending. Trust me. If you want the bonus act to activate I recommend it. These listed are my favorites from the mod, but there’s way more inside I never used.

Faster menu book zoom - When you launch the program, it takes a long eternity for the book which contains the standard menu options to proceed. Do yourself a favor and download them to save you extra. Adding in the command line ‘-skip intro’ from the program launcher when right-clicking the properties on Steam is beneficial too.

Buffbot - Takes less than a second to activate all the buffs you currently have. A necessary alternative than taking a minute to individually select each member and buff them to the nth degree I said previously. Use Buffbot once and be done.

Aside from the mods above. You have a wealth of selections to tune the difficulty to your liking. From the image I customized the normal settings, making encounters less of a chore and more on the easier side. Restricting to the confines of vanilla as much as possible. So I recommend tuning them to your preference.

Now then for my mixed feelings. Consider the following text as small to big red flags in varying degrees. I feel are worth noting down. I had to trim this a bit since this review is getting too long and I apologize for that.

Kingdom Building is a mixed bag. I love the aspect of erecting settlements and determining the kinds of architecture. However the ‘time-limit’ before the next act and what to do perhaps make newcomers feel pressured and quite honestly have no clue what to do. I had to frequently Google and ask my friends about priorities. Although frankly, I'm leaning towards being positive on the aspect. Sincerely cool having advisors and solving problems since you are a Baron. I found it more enjoyable than my playthrough with Ni No Kuni 2’s version. Which ultimately was all right with uninteresting sidequests. Here I kept coming back to my empire. Taking personal pleasure in being hands-on in my day-to-day. See how your settlements grow and flourish along with your subjects. It’s thrilling, satisfying, and most of all worth seeing all your efforts come to fruition. For general tips, I'll echo what before I play & walkthrough for advice. Was instrumental and made daunting tasks to fulfill become easier to manage.

However, tiredness will undoubtedly occur. I had to stop playing kingmaker constantly in 2023 due to fatigue. The sheer amount of content if you combine the DLC is a lot for anyone’s plate. Acts on average took me 20 hours give or take some change to complete considering there are a total of 8 acts. If you count the act-like DLC Varnhold and the roguelike beneath the stolen lands. You’re easily reaching 150+. This is a friendly reminder to stop and take a break in case you are feeling burned out. I played palette cleansers like indies and shifted into different genres from a CRPG in between chapters to refresh my willpower to keep going. The slow-burn narrative along with my mixed feelings on kingdom-building aspects among others leave me in doubt whether I unintentionally had resorted to sunk cost fallacy. However, I would say once you reach part 2 to part 3 then the plot beats start to heat up gradually into a snowball. Turning my interest from a “hmmm” to an “Oh now we're getting somewhere.”

I think some rules for Pathfinder in general are too restrictive and punishing. This isn’t a negative against Owlcat; rather they did a phenomenal job adapting the tabletop ruleset for the videogame audience. Paizo the company from my understanding created the IP and surrounding laws within. Here are notable head-scratchers. I am not allowed unlimited lockpicking? Once I fail an attempt it's impossible to try again. I had to resort to a mod to give me unlimited attempts. Moreover, no instant rest after skirmishes. Meaning in vanilla, if my heavily damaged party needs to rejuvenate I have to manually activate the button to heal where I am assailable randomly. And lord help my soul if I fail that encounter during the process. Thus my momentum of adventuring unimpeded is halted. Sure I soothe my comrade's health, but what happens when I run out of charges for each of my healers? Then I am incapable of reviving their vitality. Resulting in, busywork. Coupled with the majority of loading screens from entering my throne room -> kingdom management -> back to throne room -> going out to world map -> entering a new area on the map -> reverting a save if something awry occurs -> repeat. Granted not a major deal, but over the course of my long playthrough, it all adds up. As a consequence, I am forced to struggle whereas I could be enjoying. Maybe I'm spoiled by fast load speeds, but I did install this on a fast SSD. Maybe a faster M.2 drive would be better. Goodness, imagine playing this on an HDD…

Other miscellaneous stuff: Gameplay would hang. An uncommon occurrence during random battles. Perhaps an NVME is better? I played on a Samsung SSD with a decent PC that ran the highest graphics on max settings to optimal framerate. The hanging is like a split second. Usually, initializing textures and characters when starting and during loading screens to govern your principality or unpacking a file. Not something glaringly obvious since my overall experience is still positive. Nevertheless, it is something noteworthy. Moving on. Some portraits of enemies are not given a unique picture. We are faced with our characters' faces. Pretty jarring to witness as if any major enemy is well an imposter of us. Granted not all of them are like this, but the inconsistency is mildly weird to witness.

Owlcat’s version of Pathfinder gamified is an incredibly ambitious undertaking. Took me nearly a year to finish in its entirety and while I did have some annoyances from the ruleset, scattered loading times, and mixed feelings. There’s quite a bit to enjoy among the many systems within. I liked overseeing my realm. Making tough decisions based on fair policies and having an immediate effect on my subjects whether good or bad. I delved deep to understand the deep mechanics in real time and pause. Yet at the end of the day, I think the amount of gratification here despite the herculean effort the devs have encompassed with a gigantic stuff to devour is dependent on the user's experience to get down in the trenches. If I never knew about skill checks and buffing, then I would have suffered early on because of my ignorance in taking advantage of magical resistances. If I didn’t read up on how to manage my provinces better, then possibly in a bad alternate universe I would’ve game over in my 100+ hour run due to my improper handling and neglect of the state of affairs. And that is NOT a feeling I want anyone to suffer with. Considering the reports I've read online of users having the same issues of neglecting their nation. Please make sure to check 'invincible kingdom' in the options. Speaks volumes how much you have to devote yourself to bring out something worthwhile. And for me? I think this is certainly one of the greats along with Baldur’s Gate. As long as you dedicate enough energy inside and mods installed. A deep & expansive CRPG that doesn’t hold your hand, but rewards the most invested of players. Sadly I find this incredibly difficult to recommend to everyone. Except only to fans of the genre. I believe Mandaloregaming said it best "... you play this game more for the systems than for the writing." And I can’t help but agree with their statement despite him saying the line in his story section. I would say it also accounts for the whole breadth of the game itself.

Base game without mods: 7.6/10
Base game with mods: 8/10

References & Additional Material:
Interview with the creative director on Pathfinder: Kingmaker
Pathfinder: Kingmaker Classes overview and archetypes
Example of information overload from my character
Long road to secret ending - heavy endgame spoilers within
PK Difficulty Settings - Pretty extensive options to tune the combat modifiers to your preference.
Before I play & Walkthrough

Mods:
Mod Manager - Bag of Tricks - Faster Menu - Buffbot

Last year I had the pleasure of unofficially starting into the Front Mission(FM) universe via a mediocre spin-off. Fast-forward to the present and now I started and finished a proper mainline with the first installment. And to my absolute surprise and delight. Front Mission 1st remake(FM1RE) holds up very well today despite some notable concerns.

Why should I play the remake(2022) when I could start the DS or fan-translated SNES game of the same name? Well, here’s a brief overview of what you’re getting on either version. The first Western installment officially came ashore with the Nintendo 2007 DS port. Originally released in Japan on the SNES in 1995. The game featured only one campaign, the OCU. Oceania Cooperative Union. Detailing one side of a major conflict in 2090. Later remade for the PlayStation in 2003. Featuring a new campaign added. The USN. Unified Continental States. Where the 2nd details the other perspective, months before the major war. Again only released in Japan. The 2007 port includes all the above in English with new secret scenarios for both sides of the story. A handful more or less provide extra context during your ventures. The 2022 title includes everything the last upgrade had with the original music and the option for a remastered soundtrack. Basic quality of life features like instant/faster movement, instant battle, and quicker battle speed. And a save-anytime option. With multiple difficulty configurations, I could change to my leisure. With new content coming later on in 2024 in the form of multiplayer and single-player scenarios. So I figured I’d start with the current one. Previously I owned and played the DS port several times but bounced off hard, considering the second and third missions being too brutal for me. So it's a blessing, that Square outsourced the JRPG/SRPG IP to Forever Entertainment with a respectable game for newcomers and veterans piloting their own mech in the battles to come.

It is imperative to note, that starting with the OCU point of view is recommended for beginners. Veterans for USN and disclosed prominently with warnings when starting the game. I’ll touch on the harder operation later. For now, if the player starts the first operation. The premise starts with you controlling a human in a wanzer(mech) by the name of Royd Clive, a young talented lieutenant who’s been sent to numerous hot zones. Coming back alive again and again. A walking coffin man. He is approached by Glen, a sergeant who after testing him proceeds to grant him the rank of captain. Complete with a recon squad to lead under him. For soon enough he’ll have to conduct a reconnaissance operation on a certain U.C.S. facility in Larcus. Traveling there with his fiance Karen. Yeah, I kid you, not that’s her name. They proceed to investigate the facility. All goes well. Until like so many JRPGs in the past go. Things spiral outside of their control and Bam! Newspaper headlines:

June 3rd, 2090:
The Larcus Incident

The Unified Continental States(UCS) publicly accused the Oceania Cooperative Union(OCU) of sending Wanzers. On a mission to destroy U.C.S. military factories in the Larcus District of Huffman Island.

Officially, the text is given following their first mission. The rest of the headline will go off shooting fingers at one another. Rising tensions between the superpowers. Making dreams of a peaceful resolution erode entirely. What happens after tensions build like this? Well, it all comes to a boiling point and soon enough the two superpowers declare war. Huh sounds familiar in real life eh?

Thus began the Second Huffman Conflict

Don’t worry about the first battle. Those are covered in a different game. What is important to cover for you budding newbies piloting wanzers. Is how awesome it is to command a whole team of mechs against other foes trying to destroy you to kingdom come! Here’s a cool rundown of what to expect out the gate. Large squad to use in a majority of battles. At the most, I was able to deploy 11 pilots on the field. Such a staggeringly large amount to utilize speaks well to the freedom granted. Sure there are a handful of missions with smaller deployments. However, allowing us to manage a sizable troop speaks of confidence by the developers G-Craft & Square. Battling twice our number, easily replicating large-scale warfare. Nothing beats the slow hum of our engines roaring to life and clashing amidst the heated missiles and bullets galore. No copy-paste in environments. You’ll find a varied selection of biomes to traverse and fight in. Cityscapes, day, rain, night maps, jungles, sandy areas like dunes, beaches, ruined towns, rivers, snow and heck forts, and mountainous tiles are not spared either. Meaning there’s always something to look forward to when picking a mission on the point-and-click world map.

Excellent quality of life features. I mentioned them previously, but to expand on why? The difficulty options, instant battle/movement, faster battle speed, and save anytime are a godsend and should be used whenever you fancy a brisk pace or an easier time. Due to the fact battles can take a while on normal. And there's not any dialogue spoken between hostiles during their animation phase or new animation when a critical strike occurs. The remake includes two options; classic mode and modern. I chose the modern mode. Displaying freedom of the camera in every aspect. Meaning I'm not constrained to a set camera perspective while overviewing the field of battle. Resulting in better situational awareness of any hidden details I may have missed if I had chosen the other mode. It is a small pet peeve of mine in tactical games when I'm not offered the full freedom to move the camera at my own pace. A tactical map is exhibited. Picture a bird's eye view of the entire battleground much like a real-time war map. These also contain fixes and improvements to the DS port.

Earlier I classified the game as a JRPG, but to be honest, calling FM1RE an SRPG fits too. You fight on grid battles and tactfully determine what terrain you should place your units on to gain cover bonuses. Level up your pilot during skirmishes with the enemy. Earn enough experience to be granted abilities changing the tide of battle. Shoot any part of Wanzer? Well hello! VATS-like system in place. Except this game came before the Fallout series. I can shoot and if the shot hits the limb is destroyed. Right, and left arms, legs, and body are the only possible choices. Choose wisely, since each provides an additional layer to help in your fight on Huffman Island. Eliminate legs to reduce their overall movement power to traverse the land. Land body blows and if successful you can explode the whole unit to smithereens. Thereby lessening remaining oppositions within your vision. Destroy both arms and the enemy becomes a sitting duck without any capability to repair themselves. Unless there is a supply truck nearby. Supply trucks can restore ammo to long-range weapons and have the cool ability to slam bullets on unfriendlies with a weak attack. Heal when nearby for free for a small amount and exchange equipment and items when needed. Speaking of items. Man, they can help if you’re in a pinch. I love using repair packs. Think of these as the potion to high potion and various other tiers similar to Pokemon or Final Fantasy. Restoring decent to large amounts of health.

A big feature of any mech game is customization and I am glad to report you have a lot to tinker and dabble your mech. Once you finish all the tutorial missions you will be inside a town/city. Enter the shop and outfit their squad with any manner of weaponry they see fit. Some key things to note. Arm accuracy is king. Make sure to equip your party with high-accuracy arms to not miss your shots. Missing early game is a snowball to a death sentence once the enemy has more strikes than you. Then the result is you have a less likely chance of surviving. Although if you’re a cheesy dude, one could quicksave before a battle and RNG in your favor to give a slight advantage. Heh. Legs are akin to an additional decoy target. If any dum dum manages to shoot your legs and make them go boom. Well, the only penalty is a reduction in movement capability. A 6-tile with a full hp leg becomes a 3-tile shift if destroyed. So you’re not entirely a helpless fighter who can’t move. HP is self-explanatory and represents your life. But the body is your life. If an enemy destroys your main body. Well, reload the save file, and voila you’re back in action. The world is primarily set in a fictionalized Cold War world similar to real life except with mechs. You can’t revive with a phoenix down or use a handy revive. Get your fantasy out of here. Thankfully, there is no permadeath like a certain JRPG series coughs looking at an emblem on fire Nintendo likes to do. Anytime any of your pilots die in the field of battle. They simply will return in tip-top form once the next mission arrives. Sure they don’t get any experience and you do have to pay their repair costs(which is miniscule). But hey! That’s why we have the quick save and quick loading here! So abuse the system and take out the pesky RNG nature if you get a solid rocket to your metal face. Players are allowed to exploit the RNG during their ventures gambling in the arena. Think 1v1 versus a variety of foes of various expertise. Picking one with higher odds and betting an ‘x’ amount like 1000 can net you a lot of money if done correctly. One trick is to use garbage equipment to increase the payout odds in your favor. So if you bet 1000 x 8.57. One time I saw the odds were x 32! But oof I couldn’t win that payout sadly. An awesome if not vital feature to grind for money and pilot skills.

Skills like Guide and Duel allow the VATS-like targeting mechanic to activate pretty much 99% of the time during any engagement with foes. Sadly the first installment doesn’t have a lot you can procure. Your initial party including Royd will only have vacant spots. You need to level up and reach certain ‘####’ tiers in proficiencies of melee, short, long, and dodge. Here's a brief overview of what each skill does in their respective categories.

Melee:
First - attack first during engagements.
Stun - Self-explanatory. Preventing them from any action for an ‘x’ amount of turns.
Double - Can attack again. Sometimes thrice!

Short:
Duel - Arms equipped with rifles and machine guns can manually target any enemy component.
Speed - Allows more bullets to strike the enemy.
Switch - activates other armament on the other arm. Granting one more shot at the enemy.

Long:
Guide - Shoulder weapons like missiles can manually aim at any enemy limb.

Skills are tremendously useful when gained. And can drastically shift the fate of a battle. I advise checking out when they activate for each character you recruit. Some can gain them swiftly than others while a select amount can only equip three abilities compared to five. So choose wisely! I’ll drop a link below. Nevertheless, I found their inclusion during fights essential to gaining an overwhelming advantage. Duel, guide, speed, switch, and first were instrumental in turning the tide countless times. However, keep in mind they’re not universal and dependent on the category used. So a missile cannot use duel, speed, or switch and vice versa with their respective categories. Furthermore, some wanzers do not have the power to activate some of the above if one uses a mobile weapon.

Mobile weapons are a secret reward that can be found once reaching certain tiles on a handful of maps. Think of these as special mechs that can’t be upgraded the usual ways as Wanzers but boast a miniboss-like design when faced as an enemy. Imagine crab tanks, hulking wanzers without arms but big ol cannons equipped sometimes on their chest or using dual machine guns. Here’s my screenshot as an example. Honestly, I didn’t use any of these since my two-legged crew was more than enough to blast these supposedly superior mechanized machines to nothingness. Additionally one can unlock concealed missions by talking to a sequence of people or new unknown characters after or before completing a new mission. These secret operations convey extra context on either side of the story and may provide clues to the overarching narrative or breadcrumbs to one character’s past in particular. I recommend them wholeheartedly. Considering you can win a mobile wep. as a reward. I advise seeking out a walkthrough for proper instructions.

Before I forget I must talk about the music. I listened to the original OST initially. With remastered in NG+ to clean up any last-minute assignments. As a whole Yoko Shimomura & Noriko Matsueda's composition on the entire soundtrack is hauntingly jolly. A mix of techno and jazz, I initially thought their music styles would not work at all. Yet blowing past all my expectations once again! I was astounded. How their styles work in tandem. Shimomura’s techno expertise lends itself well to the futuristic tone the series starts with. Beats of Coaxial Town are sending me to nodding heaven as is her wonderful ability to switch to a different tone effortlessly. Like Field Hospital. Producing a serious yet catchy tone. Canyon Crow to my eyes encapsulates a prelude of events to come with heavy percussion on display foreshadowing the gritty war to come. Yet I cannot help but praise Matsueda’s style of jazz to complement the techno. Filled with her soul I embraced the ambient tracks in absolute pleasure. Tracks like Rise to Action blew me away. Hearing upbeat tunes on repeat and a cool rhythm loop never fails to impress me. Optical City by comparison is a nice change of pace delving into a cityscape almost a cyberpunk feel where the low passive background of woodwind instruments coalesce together with percussion offering a mesmerizing yet beautiful atmosphere permeating to my eardrums. Within Living Memory is breathtaking where minimal instruments are used and no vocals are echoed. Yet manifests a strong determination in both the foreground and background, thrusting my soul into contemplative tranquility. The passionate duos reach a powerful teamwork when endgame tracks like Fear. Culminate the true reality behind the uplifting tracks I've heard thus far. The remastered is good too, even if I’m more inclined to listen to the original OST first, yet the remastered isn’t of a diminished quality. Either option is fine to listen to. Nice to have as an option to change at any time and for what it's worth I think it is faithful when compared to the original work.

Any SRPG worth their salt WD-40 must manifest a fun combat loop. A fun combat loop to me in FM1RE is utilizing everything from how your unit composition clashes against the enemy, grid modifiers to help shield from enemy fire using cover, any underlying main/side objectives, and level design(easy/hard to traverse, any gimmicks, obstacles?) I could add more, but I simplified some basics. Combine everything topside with the player’s experience then. Outputting at the final stretch of any mission their current feelings based on whatever they experienced. To this end. The mission structure the OCU campaign launches us into is a ‘simple and safe’ fun combat loop after the initial hurdle in the beginning. I marched on countless varied terrains without being bombarded by enormous levels to tread nor filled to the brim with armies of mecha to stand against my party. No, not 300 vs. Persian size. Think of skirmishes. Eleven vs. double that number is more or less enough. Struggling against our opposing adversaries. Making use of the elevation at times to wipe foolish stuck mobs in a choke point never fails to inject a rush of immense satisfaction. Targeting with pinpoint accuracy to disable each hostile offensive capability leaving them defenseless and free from any sign of counter-attack is a fistbump moment every time I landed a deadly blow. Undertaking a protect/escort mission by slowly baiting my enemy to irrational decisions by striking my tanky ally embraces my inner keikaku greatly. Retreating is whenever my plan doesn’t work out upon first contact. Regroup and activate any items to halt or impede enemy advance and thus give your comrades a better fighting chance. Can’t say no to repair packs ya know?! Salvaging any secluded equipment during a 1v1 with a pesky opponent. Hell, I found a sweet rifle allowing me to shoot a big one nearly destroying a limb. Or heck, salvage a mobile wep! Taking my sweet time on each battlefield to read any dialogue between my members and the enemy. Delving into the horrifying effects of war on the psyche and how each soldier will try to trick my cabal into lowering their morale at times. Especially when reinforcements arrive midway or drop a plot beat. Demonstrating not only physical clashes but hurtful words against those under my command. Would be weird if my constant scuffles were silent no?

Concerning the OCU campaign. I was caught off guard by how geo-political, mortal drama and the war affect the innocents/soldiers' PTSD the plot underwent. A fantastic departure from the usual tropes I see with fantasy where we usually to some degree at the end of the day face off a [censored] b%^&@. The plot, endgame, and major antagonist were a refreshing change from those classic tropes I battled in the end. Presenting a fictionalized realistic take on border wars, ulterior motives, and backdoor shady deals you won’t see coming. Meanwhile, Royd’s journey without going into any spoilers enthralled me to the point I wanted to know the immediate aftermath causing the 2nd Huffman war, his allies whom he recruits later on and would soon as other JRPGs/SRPGs undergo after any lore bomb or revelation hits the climax reach the final map and fight to the bitter end to whatever hell awaits me before the curtain falls.

Concerning the USN campaign. I was again caught off guard by how different operations underwent, detailing the ‘enemy’ POV months before the 2nd Huffman struggle and the hidden events occurring behind the scenes. As well as controlling a new protagonist called Kevin Greenfield. Who controls a much smaller crew than Royd with his limit being up to seven. Nevertheless, they greatly differ from OCU by undertaking a more militarized focus. Back in Clive’s point of view, I conversed with relatable people in the city's bar and had a lot of downtime between activities to test the arena. Embracing the lethargic pace of sinking in the war took its toll on my army. Here take out the glacial threads. Remove the conversations in bars in favor of talking to your underlings. Bonding with them early on and seeking personal aspirations as vaguely as I can say without spoiling Greenfield's motivations for participating in the war provides an interesting parallel compared to Royd. Assignments are varied offering more tactical objectives than ever before and raising the difficulty a decent amount. You will meet new enemy types like fast-moving armored personnel carriers(APC), bigger cannons and smaller cannons, disabling prototypes, night vision, mini-bosses, protection, escort, and defeating all enemies within an ‘x’ amount of turns. All of these types emerge in greater volume. As a consequence of the small squad you have on hand. I can’t win by sheer numbers alone. Thereby, I have to make careful use of micromanaging my supplies and capability versus forces greater than my own.

Now time for my mixed feelings. Not a positive or a negative. Only notable concerns I had during my playthroughs that I think are worth noting.

First, on the technical side. I had ten crashes on my PS4 Pro. Five on a new game playthrough(NG) OCU and five on NG USN. Oddly enough. Crashing wasn’t a major pain because I reverted my past save back with barely any loss of progress. I usually have a high tolerance for game crashes. With Cyberpunk 2077 on my same console accumulating over 40+. Yet it didn’t affect my whole experience in a sizable manner. The save system was very well implemented. In a similar vein, FM1RE also didn’t impact my overall enjoyment. Only a minor portion. I did experience an uncommon amount of black screens sadly. Anytime after you finish a mission the background where you select areas to visit like the: shop, arena, hanger, command room, etc. will only have a black background. I’m not exactly sure about the cause of this. Since I have clear memories of no odd bugs like that for a long period. Pretty jarring since I like to admire the setting and having a black screen can be immersion-breaking. Still not a major issue, but one to look out for. Keep in mind you only have five save slots. Four of which you can manually overwrite whenever with the fifth being designated as an autosave. You don’t receive new slots if you decide to start the USN offensive. So if you accidentally overwrite your OCU save well… F$%! Pray you still have an earlier save just in case. Use the cloud or back up your saves via USB to help.

Second, loadouts and constant customization. I love reshaping all components in any mech game. So I'm puzzled that I reached a different outcome than the usual reworking craze. To the point I can't say I love the customization here. Early on I didn’t have trouble whatsoever changing and buying new equipment for my teammates. The tediousness comes from buying the same upgraded item ‘x’ many times repeatedly on each of my eleven units constantly. Imagine scrolling through various menus to pick a high-tier left arm. Only to repeat the process eleven times for my friends. Oh, but I'm not done. Need to upgrade the other ones like my right arm, legs, and body. Multiply those by eleven times. I’m still not done. I have to replace all my crew’s offensive capabilities. So left and right along with the shoulder to boot. Yeah, you guessed it, I'm still not done. CPU, backpacks, and items I still need to manually input. All the busy work would have been smoothly eliminated if I had load-outs. I probably spent fifteen minutes give or take some change after several missions passed to overhaul my allies. Each time. Tedious to do every time if I use the same stuff to slot each limb. Is it too much to ask for load-outs or at least a purchase button to replicate what I bought and install them for my whole squad? I don't know. I'm not a game designer. I can only offer alternatives and suggestions.

Third, wish there was more variation in mission objectives. Most of them boil down to killing everyone with rare odd ones out there being limited turns to complete and some optional side-goals of keeping allies alive, new units alive, to be rewarded the max amount of cash. Thankfully, the United side and hidden missions solve this dilemma, but for the regular OCU viewpoint. I felt it was formulaic and didn’t push the encounter design as much. Which was more experimental and pushed my mental limits further. Not a bad thing mind you. I appreciate the simple nature of directives in Clive’s story. But I think more variation in parameters could’ve elevated it further. Different enemy types, and new boss types instead of recycling mini-bosses and new encounters. A relatively decent oddball in the grand scheme of things.

Fourth, Possible information overload on what each user interface term does. Ask anyone off the bat what these terms mean. AT, DF, Hit, Weight, Power and if I hadn’t explained the short, long, melee earlier along with any other word terminology I surmise a decent amount may be confused and thus will be disinclined to persevere. Such an issue was one of the major factors I had when I played the 2007 version years ago. Look at this image(insert DS image of battle before attacking) and see if you can translate all the information displayed before determining your first command. Doesn’t help there’s no innate help button to identify and define the jargon given. Wish there was an explain button available. Still, the tutorial and in-game control guide + shopkeeper can give useful tips.

Fifth, difficult and a rough beginning. I initiated on a normal setting. And still found it somewhat challenging. Oddly mirroring the same experience I had with the previous rendition. Be that as it may. I did use some helpful links from: before I play, LegaiaRules walkthrough. Which are crucial and instrumental to grant me a better start. Tremendously received a better understanding and comprehension in regards to the mechanics and tricks. Thereby, giving me a solid push to persevere beyond meager gains through the main story content for each protagonist. I suggest grinding in the arena when necessary to help offset any hardship you may encounter or simply change the difficulty setting, for an easier time.

That’s it for my mixed feelings. Despite the minor bugs and crashes. And a gentle reminder to save constantly. The difficulty, customization, and information are the big key things to note coming in. However, I believe there is still a solid Mecha JRPG here. Enough to set an excellent foundation for newcomers to try before delving into the latter entries to reach the last mainline in the series. Where knowledge of each core game in the series is utilized to its fullest effect from the praise I’ve been seeing across the horizon. Nevertheless, I did enjoy a great deal of both campaigns. Worth experiencing in my honest opinion to get a better picture of the major war occurring. While dealing with palpable emotions. Human drama is essential in any narrative to connect with the cast be it main or side. Perhaps even villains themselves. In a 1995 Sakaguchi X Tsuchida interview with Famicom Tsuushin magazine. Translated by shmuplations. When the developers were asked about the colorful cast who pilot the wanzers they responded.

Toshiro Tsuchida(producer/writer): “That’s right. This was something that emerged from conversations with Sakaguchi, the idea that a game about robots would be ripe for a story about human drama. That was his idea, that in this game themed around war, we should try and include human drama as well.”

Hironobu Sakaguchi(supervisor): “I said, let’s not abandon or compromise on the tasteful, refined aesthetic that the G-Craft team has created, but let’s see if we can also include some human drama that would evoke the realism of war. In that sense, I think Front Mission ended up becoming a very mature, adult game.”

The realism of mecha warfare and vivid drama are intrinsically linked in FM. A gruff, gritty yet humorous at times evokes a dusty atmosphere to lighten the mature themes presented. Thus a fascinating foundational world-building sets the stage for the events to come in the later entries to follow. Royd’s walking coffin status plays a key role in shaping his development based on the tumultuous skirmishes he endures. Kevin Greenfield’s no man left behind personality provides a stark, but refreshing perspective in a militaristic point of view on the events in secret operations conducted opposite enemy lines. Both are assigned a colorful cast to bridge the narrative to each member. Their reasons for fighting, any grayish feelings buried deep within their psyche perhaps bubbling forth when any adversary taunts them, and perhaps through the fires of battles and camaraderie something deeper emerges. Bonds forged in hellfire. It is brutal, but not so much in the realm of senseless violence. But when used carefully in dozens of assignments they undergo. The threads start to align and knots converge, developing into a moderately satisfying geo-political strife against each superpower's story. Forever Entertainments' remake of FM 1st only deserves praise, despite some rough gears attached. Therefore, I hesitantly recommend the mature and realistic military plot mecha JRPG/SRPG to any folks willing to dive into an old but still fresh war spectacle. Akin to what Tsuchida likes to call “...For Front Mission, I wanted to combine the entertainment quality of a blockbuster sci-fi movie with the realism of a Vietnam war film.”

Tsuchida if I ever meet you personally, I firmly believe you succeeded on both accounts! Looking forward to trying out more in the IP!

7.8/10

References & Additional Material:
Sakaguchi x Tsuchida – 1995 Developer Interview
Examples of mobile weapon and black screens
FM1 DS guide and walkthrough by LegaiaRules - incredibly in-depth and remarkably holds up to the remake.
FM1 skills explanation
FM1 Before I play - Additional tips to know beforehand

Of the Mario Kart games I had played prior to this whole marathon I'm doing, Mario Kart Wii was the one I played the absolute least. I think the main reason for that is I got my wii in the latter half of 2010 and got this game for Christmas that year. However, next Christmas I got a 3DS and Mario Kart 7 and just never really went back to this one because the only time I was Mario Karting was on the school bus. Eventually 8 came out and that gave me even less of a reason to come back to this one. So it's been around 12 years since I last touched this game. As such, I gave this a 6 and thought it was just an average Mario Kart purely because I barely played it. Coming back to it in 2024 though, not only is it really great, it's my favorite Mario Kart I've played thus far in this marathon. I always thought I liked DS more overall since I had fonder memories with it but Wii is just more fun overall due to a couple things it did incredibly well.

The biggest and best thing Wii excelled at I think, is its new track selection. I honest to god don't think there's a single track I dislike. Maybe there's a couple tracks I think are just decent like Luigi Circuit or Mario Circuit but the track list is absolutely chock full of bangers. Mushroom Gorge, Toad's Factory, Coconut Mall, DK Summit, Wario's Gold Mine, Koopa Cape, Maple Treeway and this game's Rainbow Road. Those are just some of my absolute favorites but the rest are really good too. I know 7 and 8's original tracks already, and I've played through most of Double Dash's through other games in the series and also have seen the tracks that have not appeared in other games. With that said, I can say without a shadow of a doubt, Mario Kart Wii has the best selection of original courses out of every game in the series. The ratio of amazing/good courses is just too high for me not to claim that to be true. Either way, certainly a big reason this game is still a ton of fun to this day.

Something else this game did well was it's retro track selection. It may not be as good as 8's or even 7's for that matter, but it's leagues better than DS's I think. A big reason for that is half of the courses aren't from SNES or Super Circuit. And the ones that were, are a lot better this time around. Same with the Double Dash picks, Peach Beach is meh but Waluigi Stadium and DK mountain are awesome picks. The N64 picks are pretty solid too. Only one I think this game did dirty was DS. Peach Gardens and Delfino Square, while not my favorites from DS, were both pretty good. However, the other two courses are Yoshi Falls and Desert Hills which were some of my least favorites from DS. They could've picked some fan favorites like Waluigi Pinball or Airship Fortress but no, they picked some of the lamest courses. Hey, 7 actually had those two courses in its retro selection so I'll definitely be looking forward to them when I get to that game. Anyways, the retro selection could've been better but it's a big improvement from DS's selection.

The other big addition this game added was the trick system. Every Mario Kart after this one also has it too and there's a good reason why they've kept it ever since. It makes ramps that much more fun to drive off of, it's just super satisfying to shake the controller and see your kart do the most sick tricks in the air. Same with the half-pipe ramps which are an amazing addition as well. Honestly, they're usually slower than just driving if they're optional ones but courses like DK Pass or Bowser's Castle where they're pretty much mandatory (unless you have a mushroom) make those levels that much more fun to play and gives the game it's own identity since 8 did away with them (they are actually back in the Booster Courses but I haven't played those).

All this stuff is great and makes me enjoy this game a ton, but I do have a couple issues with this game that makes me like it less than 8 still. One of the biggest issues is the game's balancing. Another thing the game added was bikes which was huge. The developers must've had a huge hard on for them though as they're WAY better than any of the karts. The inside drift bikes especially are just too broken. So basically, there's two types of bikes. Outward drift and inward drift. Outward drift asks like a kart basically while inward drift makes it so as soon as you start to drift you can only drift sharply into the direction. Kinda hard to explain but if you've played the game you know. I remember hating inward drifting when I played this game all the way back in the day. Now though, I find inward drifting bikes to be a really fun and not nearly as annoying to use. However, like I said they're just too broken since you can cut corners insanely fast and also instead of getting a two stage mini turbo, you only get the one stage blue sparks but in turn you can perform a wheelie at any time by shaking the wiimote and that gives you a small speed boost. Because of all this, once I got the Mach Bike or Flame Runner, I just never used a kart or outside drift bike again just cuz there's no need to. 8 definitely fixed this cuz the balancing between the two is much better in that game.

A couple other issues I had was the item frequency and the battle mode being poor. The items can be super obnoxious in this game at times. I really don't know why but it's just super easy to get spammed with blue shells when in first. There were a couple games where I'd be hit by a blue shell like 7 times in one game. And plenty of times where I'd be hit by one and then hit by lightning, this game is just insane when it comes to it's items and sometimes it's just not fun. The battle mode I also remember not being that great back in the day. The courses were solid and all but the issue was you're forced to be on teams and cannot ever have it be a free for all. This is just lame and while it's not as bad as base 8's battle mode, it certainly isn't that far off. Also I was gonna say the bloom can really make the game look ugly or weird at times but honestly I got used to it pretty quickly and don't have much of an issue with it like I once thought. Still think Double Dash looks better than this game especially since some of the character models still aren't that great looking (not nearly as mad as DS tho).

I was also gonna say how it stinks to unlock every character because a couple of them require you to get a star or more on every cup(or just play and absurd amount of races) and the way to get star rank is a little weird in this game but I was actually able to do it in the end. Got one star or higher in 50, 100 and 150cc as well as unlocking every expert ghost time trial so I was able to unlock every character. Didn't feel like doing mirror mode though so I didn't get every kart but I feel pretty satisfied with what I did. Never unlocked a lot of stuff in this game back then when I played so it felt good to finally do so.

Overall, while I had some minor issues, this was easily the best Mario Kart game I've played thus far in this marathon. I'm super happy I redeemed myself with this game because a ton of my friends love it and I can finally see why they do. Really wish I played this more with my buds back in the day haha, ah well. Next up is Mario Kart 7 so look forward to that soon!

The next game in this Mario Kart marathon, Mario Kart DS, is actually the first one I had played beforehand and isn't brand new to me. I don't think I ever owned it back in the day, and apparently I still don't seeing as I had to emulate this one, but I remember playing it all the time with friends on the bus. Though, since I never owned it, I always had to use Shy Guy and also never really played the mission mode. That changes now as I got gold on every 150cc cup and did every mission, including the secret one you unlock.

I'm gonna start with my gripes I have. First, I think in terms of how the characters look, this is the weakest in the series. Some of them just look so off and blocky. Mario Kart 64 didn't have this issue obviously because they weren't actual models but this one really does. Some are better than others but, I guess I can cut it a little slack since it's the first portable title in 3D, a chunk of them just look kinda ugly. While the new courses have some really solid picks, some of them are just really forgettable. There are some absolute bangers like Waluigi Pinball, Tik Tok Clock and Airship Fortress. But then there's courses I find to be super bland like Figure 8 Circuit, Yoshi Falls or Desert Hills. Overall, I'd say it's a decent new track line-up but it's hit or miss. The retro track selection though, I found really weak. Half of the courses are from Super Mario Kart and Super Circuit so I just found them boring and then some of the picks from 64 and Double Dash are meh. The last cup does have Banshee Boardwalk and Yoshi Circuit so it was probably my favorite cup, but then it also has an awful course in Choco Island 2 so it's a bit conflicting. Overall, not a great selection of courses between both new and old but again there are some bangers here and there.

In terms of how the game controls, it controls leagues better than the last portable title Super Circuit. Instead of feeling super slippery, it feels way more similar to the newer titles. Only thing is, it has the old speed boost where its dependent on you going left and right on the d-pad rather than holding your drift for as long as possible. If you're used to Wii and beyond, it takes a little getting used to, but once you got it down it's pretty fun.

That's all fine and dandy, racing is fun but not that great in this game. What I remember the most was the battle mode and while I barely played it this time around, I remember absolutely loving it. Considering what Wii and 7 does with their battle modes, this is one of the better ones in the series. The maps are mostly all great and both balloon battle and shine runners were a ton of fun. Again, I'm mostly going off memory but this truly was the most fun aspect of this game at least when I played it as a young lad.

As I said before, I never played missions as a kid, but I can tell you I would've enjoyed them a lot back then. This along with the battle mode really saves DS from it's faults I listed before. None of the other games have something like this so you have a reason to come back to this one for sure. With so many missions, there's bound to be some that aren't the best but most of them were really cool. The fact there were bosses at the end of each level, and almost all of them are really fun, is just icing on the cake when it comes to mission mode. They should really bring this back for Mario Kart 9, would love to see what stuff they could come up with nowadays.

Of the 4 Mario Kart games I've played thus far, this is my favorite. While I didn't think the actual racing aspect was the best due to the course quality, the battle mode and missions make up for it and are THE reason to come back to this one. Been a long while since I played DS, had a ton of nostalgia when playing the battle mode specifically, so I'm very glad I was able to play this one again. Next in the series is the fan favorite Wii, I always liked DS more than Wii but that may change cuz I forgot how good that game's tracks were. Either way, look out for a Mario Kart Wii review coming soon!