Lobst
This ended up surprisingly being one of the best RPGs I've played to date; very open and exploratory, I found it very good at encouraging the player to change tactics turn-by-turn.
(Story Mode:) Interesting sci-fi premise that assumes too much and too little of its viewer. Worth playing after Continuum Shift just to get a better idea of what Hakumen's whole deal is.
(Story Mode:) Massive VN campaign that serves as an effective intro to BlazBlue's world with a few charming moments and tons of comedic fanservice; you can tell where it stretches itself thin, and Aksys writing leaves a bit to be desired. (The fighting is still fun as hell, as you might expect.)
1994
I've heard EarthBound's attitude and aesthetic described as "somewhere between a dream and a nightmare" and I think that's accurate. The game itself is a personal journey from the ordinary to the extraordinary, with hectic and reflective moments alike, and ironically, in its modesty and unwillingness to incorporate RPG trends of the era, has aged beautifully from just about every angle. IMO, it's worth playing both as a part of game history and as an original work on its own terms.
Super-quick experience built to get in, out, and leave an impression; despite that, the story is more upfront than I thought it'd be. I bought it for the art style, but the more appealing part of it ended up being the act of fullscreening it and letting it take me where it wanted to go.
My best hours with this were spent cautiously exploring new areas and sparring with difficult bosses (the DLC was especially great for this); my worst were spent grinding for resources and not knowing where or how to proceed. I still appreciated its lack of straightforwardness most of the time, considering in comparison how insistent many modern games are to restrict your ability to venture off the beaten path and make big mistakes. I don't think its approach is ideal, though; there's very little guidance on how to spec a character, and the lack of a respec utility had me questioning in the late-game whether I was dead-ending myself with my DEX build. Still, I was able to make it through, which should prepare me well for the next time I visit its world.