Final Fantasy XVI definitely exceeded my expectations and I couldn't be happier about it. I like how the game falsely leads you to believe it's going to be yet another revenge narrative but it swerves into oppression and revolution after they solve that issue. Some people might be disappointed if they go in expecting a complex political thriller, but what we get instead is a compelling narrative revolving around destroying a divine foundation and return mankind its freedom.

I also really like what they did with Clive. He is actually not half as edgy or bloodthirsty as I expected him to be. He never dives into blind murder territory, so excellent choice. Sadly, the same cannot be said about Jill. Don't get me wrong, I like her and was really hype for her after her arc, because I feel we learn why she was so muted before and placed priority on Clive's emotional needs over her own. But after her revenge they slipped her back into the role of Clive's love interest and echo of kindness. I hoped to see her be more of her own character than Clive's emotional crutch, so I'm bummed they didn't deliver on Jill's potential. Seeing strong female characters reduced to that is just a waste and a huge pet peeve of mine.

But overall, I'm glad I got to experience a highly immersive, mature and dark Final Fantasy game filled with phenomenal visuals, stunning cinematics, an immaculate soundtrack and a simplified but fun DMC like action gameplay featuring epic Eikon fights. You could tell the developers really cared about making this game great, which they did.

On a sidenote, it's interesting to see people try to define what a "true Final Fantasy" game is, because I feel like it's a franchise that has recreated itself on multiple occasions. There are some common threads of course, but gameplay style, plot style, etc. seem to always have morphed.

There's no such thing as bad publicity, but whilst Devotion's 'political' controversy amidst a mocking Xi Jinping easter egg gave the game some reputation as a 'banned' classic, it did make it virtually unplayable for quite some time.
The game was removed from Steam and subsequent platforms such as GOG after failed attempts for a re-release. It is only recently that Red Candle Games have released it on their website DRM-free for a small price.

Moving on to the game itself, it's actually less concerned with Taiwanese politics as it is with religious fantacism as it tells a chilling story about a family's breakdown following their daughter's mysterious illness. Despite the big jump from the 2D-sidescrolling of Detention to something more PT-inspired, Devotion returns to the unsettling slow-burn visual storytelling Red Candle have mastered. The puzzle gameplay is quite simple but usually satisfies as you form a picture of whatever the hell is going on in this claustrophobic apartment setting.

A couple of cheap jumpscares and a silly chase sequence are amongst a few aspects which keep Devotion from being perfect, even less 'clean' a game than its predecessor. However, the ambitious experimentation with visuals and structure, plus Red Candle's knack for telling a gripping story, make this title an unforgettable trip to hell and back. It may look similar to other PT rip-offs, but is definitely a cut above many of the greats.
Yes, you should go on Red Candle's website and buy this damned thing.

I honestly think this is the most overlooked and overhated Mario sports game, yet one of Nintendo's best.
This is when the Sports series still had a soul, the era of when they were being produced by Square Enix.

Other than the usual family fun, this game is extremely enjoyable in singleplayer too, thanks to its tournaments and the amount of unlockables this game has — and since we're talking about Square here, lots of Final Fantasy characters are in this, and it's honestly such a cute and nice thing to see.

i had oddly negative memories of this game going into it. not straight up “this sucked” but moreso, i played so many mario sports games and this one always stuck out to me because i just never really had much of a memory of it and i couldn’t really remember it much at all. it had that special feeling behind it, you know when you see a game a couple times as a kid but it always eluded you so it feels extra bizarre to finally get around to playing it. i had just always assumed this was a boring classic nintendo way too safe sports game with not much going on, and i can see the argument for that being true even but i personally had a great time!

each game feels pretty solid here! basketball and dodgeball being stand outs. volleyball was pretty solid too, hockey was pretty lame though. it’s the main one i wouldn’t wanna return to. the star cup tournament for each game was pretty fun but man the computers are absolutely brainless in the mushroom and flower cup LOL. i understand it’s a kids game but god damn they are a slog to get through sometimes. obviously the most fun you’re gonna get is with friends but if you’re trying to unlock stuff and complete the single player “campaign” the early cups are a bit slow. it is worth it though, because instead of a final boss of just throwing bowser on a team, you literally fight a massive enemy named “behemoth” once you beat the star cup in all 4 sports. this boss was really surprising and pretty fuckin cool! you use moved from all 4 sports (although the hockey stick attack seemed like it was just for your AI friends?) to take it down and truly beat the game. it was a very welcome surprise that really bumped this game up for me tbh. not a lot of mario sports games take that extra step!

speaking of that extra step, there was so much more charm and fun in this than i was anticipating, a lot of variety between stadiums most of them with tons of mario charm and gimmicks. bowser jr’s boulevard was a stand out in any game type. i loved the aesthetic and the way scoring works always led to a really fun time. the supers each character got we’re unique and very reminiscent of gamecube era super moves in those sports games.

i guess i had always just lumped this game in with the wii u/3ds era of soulless terrible mario sports games but this game was a very nice surprise! happy to have given it another shot, i see myself returning to this one here and there especially with friends!

"Slime will never be ballin" clueless




"holy shit, Slime is fuckin' ballin!"