"We must appreciate the fact that the world allowed us to exist."

This is one of the highest peaks a JRPG can reach with a narrative and character-driven story, yes, it has both.

t-h-a-n-k y-o-u

The Legend of Ar tonelico.

The best series I have consumed in the last 11 months, and I'm so happy that I finally had the courage to play it, and the fact it's this incredible.
Four-dimensional characters (saying they are only three-dimensional is disrespectful).
Impeccable and frenetic writing, it doesn't divert the focus for a single minute, having perfect pacing.
AT's soundtracks are the most unique you're able to listen in the medium
there is no comparison.


It's better than its successor in literally every aspect and literally even improves a little on the first game's plot.
Jakuri and Croix my GOATs
Luca and Cloche's relationship is one of the BEST RELATIONSHIPS I'VE EVER SEEN IN A JRPG
In this story we see what it really means to be human. Ar Tonelico would be the first story I'd present to a robot. Its ability to have explored the human mind, our greatest flaws and goods, is something I have rarely seen in any story I've ever read. Even a robot would've a doctorate in the human mind after finishing this game.
It's a dive into the human mind, into our deepest depths, into our greatest perversities and evils, but also into our greatest brilliance as a human being. What an immersive experience that leaves me speechless.

All characters have masterful writing. Through the music, manages to increase the impact of its plot and twists beautifully.
A great conductor in worldbuilding, Ar Tonelico has its mastery especially in music. It's a game about the art of music.
Those songs are among the most beautiful and well-written songs I've ever seen in gaming medium, and only playing it to understand, I'm saying this as a person who has a high understanding of music and experience in orchestras, as I am a violinist although not a professional one

Just
Unique.

The story is dense, complex, extremely creative and with heaps of dynamism, between the characters themselves and the world itself, which has a wonderful construction. There are literally no bad or irrelevant characters, everyone fulfills their role, everyone has their reasons, they are ALIVE and are part of this journey.

For me, this game becomes a classic of the century among JRPGs, a hidden gem that I hope one day will receive more applause and recognition for conveying such a fantastic story that I've only praises.

The creator of this story, genius Akira Tsuchiya, created an entire new language for the game called Hymmnos, is the official composer of Ar Tonelico, director and writer of this story, who spent 5 to 6 years writing it.

Thank you, simply thank you. For me, you wrote one of the greatest JRPG classics and marked your story in my books.

"My song gives you endless courage."

Nier: Automata does not excel in developing its characters, and its script is average. However, Nier's game design stands atop the pedestal of the video game medium, and that's where Yoko Taro truly shines as a GENIUS. Nier is experience and connection. The way the director constructed the entire story of the game and the way it was designed, the way he CONVEYS the story to the viewer, is completely MAGIC. This work would be different if Yoko Taro weren't present. Nier is one of the VERY RARE cases of a work or series that, I believe, reached 95% to 100% of its potential.

The catchphrase "Yoko Taro, you genius" is absolutely real. When he created a rival duo fighting a boss at the end of the C route (when you make a combo, you're automatically switched to the other character), I screamed PEAK. When he had you fight against a boss in complete darkness with a flashlight, I screamed PEAK. When he mixed ship, 2D, 2.5D, and 3D in the game, with a top view, I screamed PEAK. Not to mention the countless references he made to writers like Shakespeare or even the Bible, naming characters like Adam or Eve, or the fact that 2B's name is translated into "two b" - "to be" - which means 'to be or not to be,' Nier also aims to provoke questions and explore the philosophy of life. The artistic direction is top-notch, no comments required. The OST is also excellent, with Keiichi Okabe at his zenith, the Kevin Penkin of games

If I were to point out flaws, it's really the script that, although efficient, makes the plot move very quickly (in a bad way), and because there wasn't enough character development, it's not a perfect story. There's not enough plot construction.

The existence of Nier: Automata is essential in the video game medium due to everything it offers, such as direction and other technical aspects like the soundtrack and game design. 2017 was certainly a blessed year for anime, but especially for games

This duology is very important for the Zelda franchise, as from here it'll be changed forever. BEST ENDING in the history of this franchise and one of the best I've ever seen. The last 30 minutes of this game is a visual and auditory orgasm

Finally, what I've always wanted for the series is coming true more than ever. A game with a well-written, well-placed and beautiful story. Since Breath of the Wild this has been happening, and here in a much more expository way.

Tears of the Kingdom to me is an epilogue to Breath of the Wild. A passage of time, where you finally see the restoration of Hyrule from the great tragedy of 100 years ago, and one of the best epilogues I've ever seen. From now on, together, we'll build Hyrule and return it to its glory days.

I still prefer Breath of the Wild because of its theme and how that story got us here (also Sheikah > Zonai). I'm very attached to the story of the Champions, but it's personal to me.

A game that makes you value life. This game was literally PERFECT in all aspects until the climax. I was even amazed, because if it had stayed as good as it was, it would easily be one of the best games ever made. After the prison arc it decayed and was just so-so, twists were kinda weird.

For last, Xenoblade 3 has one of the best soundtracks I've ever listened in a game. Harmonic piano in games isn't common, flute that gives identity to the work, legendary composers, literally symphony orchestra with rock & guitar and it still worked.

only soul merchants like this game
DIFFICULTY

⬛ TOO EASY, GARBAGE
⬛SOULLESS
✅SOUL

Yes, indeed.
Kichikuou Rance is viewed as one of the most important Eroge ever created.
A work that requires extensive historical discussions.
But that is not all.
Because the game’s narrative itself—is in need of such discussions as well, but from a philosophical perspective.
A story with endless layers, complex character arcs, and overarching—partially meta—themes such as conflict, love, and free will.
A game that can be re-visited countless times over the years thanks to the incredible freedom the player has while experiencing it. Even after reaching the true ending, much is left to be discovered. It feels like you’ve merely scratched the surface of what the game is hiding.
A game that will make you realize what art can achieve through the sheer passion of its creators.
A game that will leave you speechless.
A game that makes me proclaim: “Yes! This is why I love humanity!”

I've always wanted to conquer the world.

Sadly I live in modern America where guns the greatest thing known to man, bayonets are completely impractical, swords are fucking useless, and those amazing european suits of armor with dick protectors (yes those exist) are obselete. Thankfully, video games exist nowadays and I can kill my unquenchable thrist for this unknown type of urge I want. After years, I found what I was looking for. Strategy RPGs. For a while, Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War had what I wanted. Massive interconnected maps with a simple battle system and a great storyline to boot. Also, the game has a rating system which begs you to get a perfect game (which I plan to do one day) along with a generation system where the relationships of characters can lead different troops you get down the road. But the game wasn’t enough. The map was confined to a dozen or so maps that you couldn’t go back to and check on later. Plus, Fire Emblem had gone back to their regular old self and never tried this type of approach ever again. Plus, that rumored remake is probably not happening. Thankfully, I decided to graduate to grand strategy games and test their waters. There’s just one problem, they all fucking suck. Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Total War, and Liberty or Death were tailor made for hardcore players and insane PC gamers who can multitask like gods and know how to work their extremely advanced and complex UI and mechanics. They were a little too big for my taste. But thankfully, I found this game, Kichikuou Rance.

It has what I wanted. It’s immersive like wow I’m conquering the fucking world! It has a pretty simple UI design (being made in 1996 by a bunch of wack jobs who only made Dragon Quest but with pornographic twists and turns) and a simple battle system that just clicks. And, they are so many variables to take notes on. All main characters (side notes: there’s 167 characters I’m not joking) have good and bad ends depending on your actions. I want to go back to this game one day and just make the absolute limit of a strategy to get as many of the good endings of characters as possible. Ah yeah. The sex. It’s fine. Not the best. Not the worst. I was kinda shocked that one of the women in the game had a dozen guys with blue, pink, green, whatever hair and I was like “oh zamn thats nice”.

Anyways, good game. And before anyone asks, no I'm not a Rance fan.

My other favorite game of all time in so many ways. While it might not be the most flashy or advanced game ever, the amount of heart put into it and the stories within more than make up for it's technological disadvantages. This is my ideal game in every way imaginable. I dislike scoring things based on categories (and really just scoring things in general) but Kichikuou Rance is the only game that I can easily give a 10/10 in every single category. This game means the world to me. Even among high budget AAA games, there is nothing that quite compares to the majesty (no pun intended) of this title. From start to finish this was a masterpiece, and I wouldn't give up my experiences with it for the world. The only problem I have with it is that I can never play it again for the first time.
Thank you AliceSoft for making such a work of art. I don't think I can fully convey my love for this title, but it is well deserving of every bit of praise it gets.

Metroid Fusion é mais linear que seu antecessor, com isso, sua exploração diminuiu consideravelmente, portas se trancam e locais ficam inacessíveis até você ter o que é necessário para avançar, porém, ainda existem diversos secrets para aumentar sua munição espalhados pelo mapa então a exploração não se perde totalmente. O mapa não tem uma interconexão tão interessante quanto em Super Metroid, justamente pela linearidade, além da ambientação manter um padrão, mas varia seus biomas e criaturas, impedindo-a de ficar repetitiva, não é tão Metroidvania, mas mantém a filosofia de design de um.

O gameplay melhorou alguns aspectos e piorou outros, como por exemplo, não ter o botão de correr torna mais complicado dar o dash para quebrar paredes, já do lado positivo, apertar um botão para poder usar os mísseis é muito melhor que abrir um menu toda vez que precisar trocar de arma, além de todas as habilidades do buster serem substituídas assim que você as pega, de resto, mantém todas as habilidades já conhecidas, além disso, as sessões de plataforma são bem melhores.

Tecnicamente é complicado, sem dúvidas tem um gráfico lindo, mas peca na ambientação e em criar atmosfera, principalmente por conta da OST fraquíssima e esquecível, mas isso é inevitável por conta das limitações do chip do GBA, realmente uma pena que o Sound Design tenha sido prejudicado.

A narrativa foi o que mais mudou em relação a outros jogos da franquia, em Fusion, tem um foco maior no que a Samus pensa de sua missão e na sua caracterização. É o primeiro Metroid que arrisca ter algum plot com mais texto e felizmente, acerta, fiquei feliz em como tudo foi feito.

Metroid Fusion é um Metroid diferente, mas mantém a qualidade que a franquia tem, jogo muito bom.

Super Metroid extraí todo o potencial da franquia, por trabalhar em um hardware superior, os desenvolvedores finalmente executaram o que queriam desde o NES, um Action/Adventure rico em exploração.

A narrativa é uma sequência direta de seu antecessor do Gameboy e, por mais que não seja o foco, conta uma boa história e tem uma das introduções mais icônicas que vi, causa um impacto imediato assim que você começa o jogo.

A interconexão do mundo é primorosa, tudo se conecta de uma forma orgânica, cheio de atalhos e segredos, é muito recompensador explorar cada canto dele, os upgrades que vc ganha são demonstrados como funcionam na mesma sessão que os pega, ou seja, é um tutorial prático in game, fica claro como e onde usa-los, dificilmente deixando o jogador perdido, o mapa é uma adição mais do que bem-vinda, pois te localiza e mostra onde precisa ir, mas não te guia para achar os upgrades necessários para tal nem onde estão os itens para aumentar sua munição, mantendo a exploração natural. Um dos level designs mais impressionantes que eu já vi, ainda mais quando você coloca a época que o jogo foi lançado em pauta.

Em action, o gameplay é muito bom, finalmente tornou Metroid jogável, sem muitos problemas com exceção de falta de responsividade em alguns comandos, porém, é muito mais dinâmico no combate, te dando 5 posições diferentes para mirar, tiro carregado, variação de munição e um botão de correr, as sessões de plataformas têm um hit box problemático, no entanto. As boss battles variam entre desafiadoras e fáceis, só que são bem distintas em design, tornando-as únicas.

Já a dificuldade, não só dos bosses, como do jogo no geral, variam em cada sessão e, claro, nos upgrades e itens que vc têm disponíveis, é bem equilibrado de acordo com a progressão do jogador, caso sinta que tal sessão está difícil, é apenas pq você não está forte o suficiente ou não tem o que é preciso para avançar.

A ambientação é absurda, o sentimendo de solidão e perigo que o jogo passa através da atmosfera é brilhante, graças a direção de arte macabra com cenários que contam uma história própria do que aconteceu em Zebes, os seres que o habitaram e habitam. Outro ponto forte nisso é o sound design fantástico, os ruídos dos inimigos num silêncio completo, o som da chuva ou da lava, a OST misteriosa que te causa suspense ou apenas os ecos dos passos de Samus, tudo isso contribui muito para te inserir naquele planeta, é maravilhoso. Um trabalho técnico incrível.

Super Metroid é um jogo à frente do seu tempo e muito importante para a construção de seu sub-gênero, diversos Metroidvania usaram, usam e usarão o que foi feito aqui. Jogo excelente.

Pensar que isso saiu em 87 é loucura, envelheceu muito bem graficamente, até hj é impressionante. Pixel art fantástica, cutscenes animadas, DUBLAGEM e uma OST espetacular. O fato de ser um jogo de PC Engine, permitiu Ys ser um JRPG mais avançado que seus concorrentes.

Claro que isso não impede Ys de ser ultrapassado em gameplay, level design confuso, dungeons que são um completo labirinto e um sistema de ataque onde vc basicamente ataca e anda ao mesmo tempo, além de se tornar chato depois de horas de grinding obrigatório, como todo JRPG de 80 pede. Em dificuldade, é um caso estranho, geralmente os JRPGs da época costumam ser infernais de díficeis, ou seja 0 balanceamento, já Ys, é fácil em boa parte do seu tempo, tirando a última dungeon, onde vai de muito fácil pra muito difícil, o que o torna desbalanceado nos dois sentidos kkkkkk.

Em narrativa, não trás nada além do feijão com arroz de uma obra de fantasia padrão, mas tem uma lore interessantíssima, o que por si só, já torna Ys um destaque em seu gênero na época.

No fim foi uma experiência proveitosa, apesar de eu ter sofrido um pouco.