Moister
2023
The Stars Went too Far
Waited for this game since it's announcement back in 2018. It's not the worst thing created by the human race, nor is the best game ever created in my opinion, GOTY or whatever, no. But I'm mostly postive towards it.
This game is not a space simulation, so anyone that wanted that may end up dissapointed. It's an RPG with space exploration elements. A Bethesda RPG to be exact.
The universe Bethesda tried to built for almost 25 years as they clearly said it's well, nothing that other sci-fi universes have done before really. It just doesn't stand up very tall even compared to even the likes of Fallout. Though I get it's the first game in probably what would be a long running series. But even with that it doesn't stand out very much.
I did like the main quest, just not totally love it. It involves you and your friends at Constellation, a group that dedicates themselves to space traversal and discoveries. Main goal of this group is to investigate what they called "Artifacts", a type of metal object. Most of the cast and companions are ok, nothing to write home about. Though I feel that they are very annoying on the field. "Hey dude, I want to tell you something", "Oh, you will want to hear this", and such. It gets annoying after sometime. Wish some members of the cast would stand out more of the rest, like morally grey character or a companion with evil intentions that could lead to a different view from Constellation, for example. Then I remember it's a Bethesda RPG, I seriously want them to evolve in some aspects.
Even though the main quest is there for you to complete I don't consider it the main objective of this game. The beefy side comes on the side content. Random encounters, Faction missions, you name it. Found the main quest to be monotonous, with some interesting moments here in there. The final strech was really interesting.
This game is really huge. Though, being huge is not always a positive. Most planets are barren, empty looking and don't lead much to interesting outcomes. Being this just fiction and a different universe from ours, I would have like some creativity put in there. I'm mostly mixed about this, for one I don't expect 100+ planets to be handcrafted with detail, it's unrealistic. But on the other hand, was it really necessary? Open World games seem to have huge insecurities when it comes to size and the only way they think it would solve it is: "Who has the biggest dick?", "Who can piss further?", Who was the bigger explorable map. It wasn't necessary but on the other hand, it is a very ambitious idea that I dig just probably now isn't the time to try it at the scale Starfield did.
Combat is engaging and fluid, better than it's ever been before, mix that with the cool jetpack that can also be customizable at your liking. Gravity also takes a huge role into combat, not only your jump height is higher but your jetpack goes further as well.
Choice and consequences. Bethesda finally did a good work on it. Answers lead to other answers to lead to more answers ending in a very unique set of dialogues at the end of the day. Tried to be the least harmful being in this universe and it worked good enough with some Social perks and Persuade options.
Space combat. Great, you mannage your ships control depending on the situation. Either make your ship center the energy on going faster to escape a tricky combat, or put everything into weapons. You can also upgrade your ship or create one altogether. I seriously got into Ship Creation for a couple of hours. Though, you mostly will using your ship to fast travel to other locations, and isn't much used beyond that. If you want to be practical of course, because you can also explore the universe with your ship for random encounters.
As for my experience, tried to role as Walter White. Not Heisenberg, but Walter White from Season 1. And it worked for the most part, combat didn't deliver. Stealth is broken and melee combat wasn't the most useful tool at hand so I had to resort to guns. Science and Social perks were the ones that I tried to level up the most with the Teacher backstory added in top of it. It was fun.
Now, did I find any bugs? Yeah, some. But weren't as terrible as I though they would be. After playing it for 10 hours straight the game started to act strange. A whole planet turned into a white void, my ship dissapeared in the middle of space and some more. But nothing that I would consider game breaking by any means. I don't know if it was my Xbox or the Creation Engine 2 crumbling before my eyes, a quick restart was enough to fix those problems.
Talking about technical problems, there are a lot of loading screens. Land on a planet? Loading screen. Enter a building? Loading screen. Exit the building? Loading screen. They are not long, but it's noticeable that there is a lot of dead time, doing nothing as you are playing. 30fps were stable on planets and basically anything that wasn't a big city, like some zones in specific on New Atlantis were the framerate dips so hard it's not even funny. 60fps should be the target for all FPS games in my opinion, otherwise it just gets harder to play. Specially on console.
The menu is another thing that bugs me. I know they wanted to go for a simplistic, clean look. But oversimplification can work against you in practice. Menus to access other menus within other ones, an easy way to change weapons on the fly should've been priority for the team. Cyberpunk already had that one figured it out with one single button, outdated. It's not a pleseant experience. Talking about menus, where the hell is the map? No local map like in Fallout. Towns and specially New Atlantis can be very confusing to navigate because of it.
Hope most of these issues get iron out or flat out changed with a patch. It's those little things that make the overall experience less enjoyable.
So in short, it's a Bethesda game. A really fun at that, so if you are into it you will enjoy it. I do feel it feels fractured in a way I can't put into words. Regardless, I had my fair share of fun moments with this one once I came to the realisation space exploration wasn't a thing, but the inventory system, menus are very cluncky to navigate through. The ship creation is inmense and the combat is fun.
I'll be going back to this game, maybe after a few updates for 100% completion.
Waited for this game since it's announcement back in 2018. It's not the worst thing created by the human race, nor is the best game ever created in my opinion, GOTY or whatever, no. But I'm mostly postive towards it.
This game is not a space simulation, so anyone that wanted that may end up dissapointed. It's an RPG with space exploration elements. A Bethesda RPG to be exact.
The universe Bethesda tried to built for almost 25 years as they clearly said it's well, nothing that other sci-fi universes have done before really. It just doesn't stand up very tall even compared to even the likes of Fallout. Though I get it's the first game in probably what would be a long running series. But even with that it doesn't stand out very much.
I did like the main quest, just not totally love it. It involves you and your friends at Constellation, a group that dedicates themselves to space traversal and discoveries. Main goal of this group is to investigate what they called "Artifacts", a type of metal object. Most of the cast and companions are ok, nothing to write home about. Though I feel that they are very annoying on the field. "Hey dude, I want to tell you something", "Oh, you will want to hear this", and such. It gets annoying after sometime. Wish some members of the cast would stand out more of the rest, like morally grey character or a companion with evil intentions that could lead to a different view from Constellation, for example. Then I remember it's a Bethesda RPG, I seriously want them to evolve in some aspects.
Even though the main quest is there for you to complete I don't consider it the main objective of this game. The beefy side comes on the side content. Random encounters, Faction missions, you name it. Found the main quest to be monotonous, with some interesting moments here in there. The final strech was really interesting.
This game is really huge. Though, being huge is not always a positive. Most planets are barren, empty looking and don't lead much to interesting outcomes. Being this just fiction and a different universe from ours, I would have like some creativity put in there. I'm mostly mixed about this, for one I don't expect 100+ planets to be handcrafted with detail, it's unrealistic. But on the other hand, was it really necessary? Open World games seem to have huge insecurities when it comes to size and the only way they think it would solve it is: "Who has the biggest dick?", "Who can piss further?", Who was the bigger explorable map. It wasn't necessary but on the other hand, it is a very ambitious idea that I dig just probably now isn't the time to try it at the scale Starfield did.
Combat is engaging and fluid, better than it's ever been before, mix that with the cool jetpack that can also be customizable at your liking. Gravity also takes a huge role into combat, not only your jump height is higher but your jetpack goes further as well.
Choice and consequences. Bethesda finally did a good work on it. Answers lead to other answers to lead to more answers ending in a very unique set of dialogues at the end of the day. Tried to be the least harmful being in this universe and it worked good enough with some Social perks and Persuade options.
Space combat. Great, you mannage your ships control depending on the situation. Either make your ship center the energy on going faster to escape a tricky combat, or put everything into weapons. You can also upgrade your ship or create one altogether. I seriously got into Ship Creation for a couple of hours. Though, you mostly will using your ship to fast travel to other locations, and isn't much used beyond that. If you want to be practical of course, because you can also explore the universe with your ship for random encounters.
As for my experience, tried to role as Walter White. Not Heisenberg, but Walter White from Season 1. And it worked for the most part, combat didn't deliver. Stealth is broken and melee combat wasn't the most useful tool at hand so I had to resort to guns. Science and Social perks were the ones that I tried to level up the most with the Teacher backstory added in top of it. It was fun.
Now, did I find any bugs? Yeah, some. But weren't as terrible as I though they would be. After playing it for 10 hours straight the game started to act strange. A whole planet turned into a white void, my ship dissapeared in the middle of space and some more. But nothing that I would consider game breaking by any means. I don't know if it was my Xbox or the Creation Engine 2 crumbling before my eyes, a quick restart was enough to fix those problems.
Talking about technical problems, there are a lot of loading screens. Land on a planet? Loading screen. Enter a building? Loading screen. Exit the building? Loading screen. They are not long, but it's noticeable that there is a lot of dead time, doing nothing as you are playing. 30fps were stable on planets and basically anything that wasn't a big city, like some zones in specific on New Atlantis were the framerate dips so hard it's not even funny. 60fps should be the target for all FPS games in my opinion, otherwise it just gets harder to play. Specially on console.
The menu is another thing that bugs me. I know they wanted to go for a simplistic, clean look. But oversimplification can work against you in practice. Menus to access other menus within other ones, an easy way to change weapons on the fly should've been priority for the team. Cyberpunk already had that one figured it out with one single button, outdated. It's not a pleseant experience. Talking about menus, where the hell is the map? No local map like in Fallout. Towns and specially New Atlantis can be very confusing to navigate because of it.
Hope most of these issues get iron out or flat out changed with a patch. It's those little things that make the overall experience less enjoyable.
So in short, it's a Bethesda game. A really fun at that, so if you are into it you will enjoy it. I do feel it feels fractured in a way I can't put into words. Regardless, I had my fair share of fun moments with this one once I came to the realisation space exploration wasn't a thing, but the inventory system, menus are very cluncky to navigate through. The ship creation is inmense and the combat is fun.
I'll be going back to this game, maybe after a few updates for 100% completion.
Two Sides of the Same Coin
Following my little marathon through the No More Heroes series, we have the second numbered title: Desperate Struggle. Serves as the direct continuation of the events of the first game, while not really having some of the elements that made the first entry so famous in the first place. Personally I immediatily noted the difference from the beginning, having a more eerie and mysterious presntation, at first. This game talks about consequences and the perpetual-neverending cycle of violence, which are themes that already were touched in No More Heroes. It's all view from a different perspective this time.
No More Heroes 2 starts off with a bomb...not a literal bomb but the death of Bishop, which if you don't remember was the guy that sold you wrestling tapes in the first game. Travis is heavily affected and looks up to Sylvia for answers, she tells Travis to join the rankings again, this time they're official. Travis once again is locked with a promise that may or not be fullfiled at the end, getting to the top is the only way of getting that answer. It pretty much is the first game plot, all over again. Just more of the same, right?
Desperate Struggle and No More Heroes are two sides of the same coin. At their core they're the same, a 3D hack and slash game but the two differ from each other in tone, themes, presentation, variety and overall direction. It made me appreciate aspects of the original that I totally overlook, and made me appreciate some of it's changes to the main formula as well. I talked a bit about expectations in the first game, how they easily suberted most of what you could expect from the title, making it somewhat unique even at the time of it's release. Desperate Struggle however, is much more in your face narratively speaking. No More Heroes had underling themes that for the most part went unnoticed at first, but once digging on a deep analysis you'll start to know why things are the way they are. The sequel aims, for something that appears to be a continuation of it, without any of it's merits. You see, the first game story was hidden within each boss personalities and how this affected Travis through it's adventure maturing in the meaningless business of killing and death. This time they tried something different, it's all about the show and spectacle through the superficial and the instantly gratifying moments, when it comes to the bosses at least. Because there are several flaws within No More Heroes 2 narrative structure that goes in all kinds of different ways just to end up in the same road, overcomplicating the unnecessary and making what could've been a good story fail because of it.
But it's not all doom and gloom. Desperate Struggle came with a ton of changes for the possitive as well, one instant example I can think of is the gameplay. This time around it looks more presentable and it's much more enjoyable, well, at least for me. It is a huge improvement from a presentation standpoint while still retaining what made the original mechanics so addicting in the first place. It's also expanded by giving you the opportunity to have up to different 4 sword in your personal blade arsenal. Another remarkable aspect is the music, at least compared to the first it blows out the water. It's not that the original compositions were bad really, this time is a matter of showing up their talent. Several well known composers were hired to make this game music score, it's a night and day difference from variety, instrument and even lyrics are present such as the case of: "It's Kill or be Killed" or "Phillistine". It truly is a solid score that I wasn't expecting to enjoy this much. They also did a great job expanding the already established universe with returning characters of the past game, serving as an indication of Travis progression. We start to know more about certain characters that for better or for worse were shrouded in mystery in the first game. Most of these aspect I just mentioned I thought were objetively good changes, not just for Desperate Struggle alone but for the No More Heroes franchise as a whole.
Different for the worst, too. It lost some of the charm of the original. in my review of the first game I mentioned how tedious most of the work to gain money was, never realising that well, even being a tedious slog it's a good distraction from the base game that also served as one of the main incentives for the story as well, outside of killing the main bosses. This time in Desperate Struggle we have a case of oversimplification without wanting to really fix the issue in hand, take for example the Open World. Santa Destroy's city while not the best, had it's charm and that could've been fixed with an honest approach but they take it all out in favor of player feedback. You know, players sometimes don't really know what they want and that was the easy way out of the problem, just get rid of it. As much as I disliked No More Heroes Open World, it was a good base for things to come but they ditched it. For better or for worse, you get the ranked battles instantly. The Minigames are not gone though, but they were replace by 8-Bit representations of set job. Think about the Coconout Collector minigame in the original but in 8-Bits, that's pretty much it. They're a lot of fun honestly and I prefer it over the original to some extent. Now that money isn't a issue to enter the rankings, it's not that important now outside leveling Travis stats up. Again, this sequel is much more in your face so it somewhat makes sense to make most aspects that people at first found annoying or unnecesary in the first game streamlined to get to these best parts instantly. The Bosses also suffer a case of slight case of simplification across the board. Aside from increasing the numbers of it, their significance quality decreased immensely. As I said before in No More Heroes most bosses had their own personal motives ways of seeing life, death in battle. This was a constant and for the better part of it, in Desperate Struggle I didn't really found a partciular reason that instantly spoke me. Sure, their personality was set by just the looks of the presentation alone, but outside of it their motives were hard to read in the little screentime each of the assasins, most of them shine again from presentation alone. Which again, can be a good thing or not compared to the original title.
No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle leaves me with a sense of just being confused of what really wants to be. Strive to be better than it's older brother? Or just be something different and first the apparent flaws the original have? The original game wasn't planned to have a sequel to begin with, it was a round work that surprisingly worked in favor of Grasshopper Manufacture from a business perspective and a sequel was inevitable to keep the series momentum afloat. Suda51 was credited in No More Heroes 2 as an Executive Director while busy in a lot of other projects at the same time. While this doesn't leave a clear indication of what he specifically did in this project in particular, we can just guess his involvement wasn't as prevalent as in the first No More Heroes 2 and others decided to took the role. No More Heroes while being a flawed game in my eyes, it was a brilliant take on the meaningless and the mundane that is life and death. Desperate Struggle wants to be different, but how different can you from something that is too unique and centered to begin with? Fix what the original did wrong, just on the superficial aspects of it and change it enough to make it feel different. Just not really understanding what made the original click in the first place. It's like going from Resident Evil 4 to Resident Evil 6, from Dark Souls to Dark Souls II, from Max Payne to Max Payne 3.
Not a bad game by any means, but it is a dissapointing evolution that tried to be like it's older brother. Older brother isn't perfect nor correct, but was authentic.
Following my little marathon through the No More Heroes series, we have the second numbered title: Desperate Struggle. Serves as the direct continuation of the events of the first game, while not really having some of the elements that made the first entry so famous in the first place. Personally I immediatily noted the difference from the beginning, having a more eerie and mysterious presntation, at first. This game talks about consequences and the perpetual-neverending cycle of violence, which are themes that already were touched in No More Heroes. It's all view from a different perspective this time.
No More Heroes 2 starts off with a bomb...not a literal bomb but the death of Bishop, which if you don't remember was the guy that sold you wrestling tapes in the first game. Travis is heavily affected and looks up to Sylvia for answers, she tells Travis to join the rankings again, this time they're official. Travis once again is locked with a promise that may or not be fullfiled at the end, getting to the top is the only way of getting that answer. It pretty much is the first game plot, all over again. Just more of the same, right?
Desperate Struggle and No More Heroes are two sides of the same coin. At their core they're the same, a 3D hack and slash game but the two differ from each other in tone, themes, presentation, variety and overall direction. It made me appreciate aspects of the original that I totally overlook, and made me appreciate some of it's changes to the main formula as well. I talked a bit about expectations in the first game, how they easily suberted most of what you could expect from the title, making it somewhat unique even at the time of it's release. Desperate Struggle however, is much more in your face narratively speaking. No More Heroes had underling themes that for the most part went unnoticed at first, but once digging on a deep analysis you'll start to know why things are the way they are. The sequel aims, for something that appears to be a continuation of it, without any of it's merits. You see, the first game story was hidden within each boss personalities and how this affected Travis through it's adventure maturing in the meaningless business of killing and death. This time they tried something different, it's all about the show and spectacle through the superficial and the instantly gratifying moments, when it comes to the bosses at least. Because there are several flaws within No More Heroes 2 narrative structure that goes in all kinds of different ways just to end up in the same road, overcomplicating the unnecessary and making what could've been a good story fail because of it.
But it's not all doom and gloom. Desperate Struggle came with a ton of changes for the possitive as well, one instant example I can think of is the gameplay. This time around it looks more presentable and it's much more enjoyable, well, at least for me. It is a huge improvement from a presentation standpoint while still retaining what made the original mechanics so addicting in the first place. It's also expanded by giving you the opportunity to have up to different 4 sword in your personal blade arsenal. Another remarkable aspect is the music, at least compared to the first it blows out the water. It's not that the original compositions were bad really, this time is a matter of showing up their talent. Several well known composers were hired to make this game music score, it's a night and day difference from variety, instrument and even lyrics are present such as the case of: "It's Kill or be Killed" or "Phillistine". It truly is a solid score that I wasn't expecting to enjoy this much. They also did a great job expanding the already established universe with returning characters of the past game, serving as an indication of Travis progression. We start to know more about certain characters that for better or for worse were shrouded in mystery in the first game. Most of these aspect I just mentioned I thought were objetively good changes, not just for Desperate Struggle alone but for the No More Heroes franchise as a whole.
Different for the worst, too. It lost some of the charm of the original. in my review of the first game I mentioned how tedious most of the work to gain money was, never realising that well, even being a tedious slog it's a good distraction from the base game that also served as one of the main incentives for the story as well, outside of killing the main bosses. This time in Desperate Struggle we have a case of oversimplification without wanting to really fix the issue in hand, take for example the Open World. Santa Destroy's city while not the best, had it's charm and that could've been fixed with an honest approach but they take it all out in favor of player feedback. You know, players sometimes don't really know what they want and that was the easy way out of the problem, just get rid of it. As much as I disliked No More Heroes Open World, it was a good base for things to come but they ditched it. For better or for worse, you get the ranked battles instantly. The Minigames are not gone though, but they were replace by 8-Bit representations of set job. Think about the Coconout Collector minigame in the original but in 8-Bits, that's pretty much it. They're a lot of fun honestly and I prefer it over the original to some extent. Now that money isn't a issue to enter the rankings, it's not that important now outside leveling Travis stats up. Again, this sequel is much more in your face so it somewhat makes sense to make most aspects that people at first found annoying or unnecesary in the first game streamlined to get to these best parts instantly. The Bosses also suffer a case of slight case of simplification across the board. Aside from increasing the numbers of it, their significance quality decreased immensely. As I said before in No More Heroes most bosses had their own personal motives ways of seeing life, death in battle. This was a constant and for the better part of it, in Desperate Struggle I didn't really found a partciular reason that instantly spoke me. Sure, their personality was set by just the looks of the presentation alone, but outside of it their motives were hard to read in the little screentime each of the assasins, most of them shine again from presentation alone. Which again, can be a good thing or not compared to the original title.
No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle leaves me with a sense of just being confused of what really wants to be. Strive to be better than it's older brother? Or just be something different and first the apparent flaws the original have? The original game wasn't planned to have a sequel to begin with, it was a round work that surprisingly worked in favor of Grasshopper Manufacture from a business perspective and a sequel was inevitable to keep the series momentum afloat. Suda51 was credited in No More Heroes 2 as an Executive Director while busy in a lot of other projects at the same time. While this doesn't leave a clear indication of what he specifically did in this project in particular, we can just guess his involvement wasn't as prevalent as in the first No More Heroes 2 and others decided to took the role. No More Heroes while being a flawed game in my eyes, it was a brilliant take on the meaningless and the mundane that is life and death. Desperate Struggle wants to be different, but how different can you from something that is too unique and centered to begin with? Fix what the original did wrong, just on the superficial aspects of it and change it enough to make it feel different. Just not really understanding what made the original click in the first place. It's like going from Resident Evil 4 to Resident Evil 6, from Dark Souls to Dark Souls II, from Max Payne to Max Payne 3.
Not a bad game by any means, but it is a dissapointing evolution that tried to be like it's older brother. Older brother isn't perfect nor correct, but was authentic.
Seeking Ātman in Nirvana
Digital Devil Saga 2 continues directly were the anti-climatic ending of Digital Devil Saga left off. Unlike your Shin Megami Tenseis or Personas, Digital Devil Saga is deeply connected to it's sequel which I might add it is necessary to enjoy the story at it's fullest since this comprises the events from the past, present and the eventual future. It explains what Digital Devil Saga couldn't with it's first game, and greatly expands on the core concepts of the original to create a worthy sequel to the original.
After finishing both game I now understand why they are considered underrated titles, overlooked by people and even the fandom. Digital Devil Saga story is somewhat complex if you don't understand the core concepts of Hinduism, mainly why things happen in the first place. Hunduism itself is not directly stated at any point of both games directly, rather it is present in the concepts set religion left to study and analyze. Digital Devil Saga translates those elements to give the story and gameplay a meaningful purpose. Samsara, Ātman, Nirvana and lots of other concept can flew over people's head if not careful. Did about an hour of research of the main concepts themselves, what they are how are applied here. They get directly translated, thus it is hard to sell someone on Hinduism regardless of religion or personal beliefs just to play a MegaTen game.
Now, with Digital Devil Saga 2 itself. Before entering this game my thoughs went to thinking the duology was rushed and they were supossed to be one game. It doesn't seem the case after finishing it, the tone shift is clear from the start and something this big couldn't have been achieved in one single game. Digital Devil Saga 2 gets rid of the apocalyptic and destroyed setting of the Junkyard and transport us to an urban setting, more grounded and resembling our reality. Airports, research installations, power plants, you get the idea. This is explained throughout the story, as a setting completely different from the first game. As I said before, it explains everything the prequel couldn't.
The story while not as subtle as the first game still retains that sense of mystery and symbolism that featured the prequel. Ambitious and definitely punches above it's weight most of the time as the game only shows the "key" moments to interpret the story as a whole. It is a lot to handle at once, it is possible that details get fuzzy, mixed or outright forgotten. Mainly due to the pacing which not only Digital Devil Saga 2 had but the first game as well. These are the Dungeons were it's 100% gameplay focused, sometimes story bits are introduced as a reminded of what we are currently doing. Personally, I do think they were long and bland for the most part without much of substance. Strange, knowing Nocturne and Digital Devil Saga had very fun dungeons to explore. It got tiring after a while.
On the other hand, the gameplay were the RPGs aspect take hand are expanded upon the first game. From the rings, to the new Mantra Grid and various other gadgets that will help on the adventure. It is possible to carry your data from Digital Devil Saga too, for difficulty sake I didn't do that as I thought it would break the game as it is. Luckly it isn't hard, rather I would use the world "Fair" to describe it. Now battles are more engaging as it is constantly rewarding you based on your luck. Entering....The Jack Frost Show, Omoikane's Treasure and Berserk Mode. These are made up names, but the message is: These are methods that reward your knowledge and your luck on battle. As usual it retains everything that made the original so good, leaning into heavy player expression thanks to the rings and a revamped Mantra Grid.
Ultimately Digital Devil Saga message is about moving forward, enlightment and dealing with the past from an empathic and comprehensive point of view. The point of surviving, survival of the fittest made clear in the first game gets ditched to level ourself and resolve the problem of humanity triggered by greed. It is the classic JRPG tale after all, but there are some many twists to the already stablished formula it stands for something newer while keeping compelling part of it intact. It is one of the most story involved MegaTen games too, putting aside the gameplay aspects of it. Can't say is one of my favourites, but it was worth looking for something new in the franchise.
Digital Devil Saga 2 continues directly were the anti-climatic ending of Digital Devil Saga left off. Unlike your Shin Megami Tenseis or Personas, Digital Devil Saga is deeply connected to it's sequel which I might add it is necessary to enjoy the story at it's fullest since this comprises the events from the past, present and the eventual future. It explains what Digital Devil Saga couldn't with it's first game, and greatly expands on the core concepts of the original to create a worthy sequel to the original.
After finishing both game I now understand why they are considered underrated titles, overlooked by people and even the fandom. Digital Devil Saga story is somewhat complex if you don't understand the core concepts of Hinduism, mainly why things happen in the first place. Hunduism itself is not directly stated at any point of both games directly, rather it is present in the concepts set religion left to study and analyze. Digital Devil Saga translates those elements to give the story and gameplay a meaningful purpose. Samsara, Ātman, Nirvana and lots of other concept can flew over people's head if not careful. Did about an hour of research of the main concepts themselves, what they are how are applied here. They get directly translated, thus it is hard to sell someone on Hinduism regardless of religion or personal beliefs just to play a MegaTen game.
Now, with Digital Devil Saga 2 itself. Before entering this game my thoughs went to thinking the duology was rushed and they were supossed to be one game. It doesn't seem the case after finishing it, the tone shift is clear from the start and something this big couldn't have been achieved in one single game. Digital Devil Saga 2 gets rid of the apocalyptic and destroyed setting of the Junkyard and transport us to an urban setting, more grounded and resembling our reality. Airports, research installations, power plants, you get the idea. This is explained throughout the story, as a setting completely different from the first game. As I said before, it explains everything the prequel couldn't.
The story while not as subtle as the first game still retains that sense of mystery and symbolism that featured the prequel. Ambitious and definitely punches above it's weight most of the time as the game only shows the "key" moments to interpret the story as a whole. It is a lot to handle at once, it is possible that details get fuzzy, mixed or outright forgotten. Mainly due to the pacing which not only Digital Devil Saga 2 had but the first game as well. These are the Dungeons were it's 100% gameplay focused, sometimes story bits are introduced as a reminded of what we are currently doing. Personally, I do think they were long and bland for the most part without much of substance. Strange, knowing Nocturne and Digital Devil Saga had very fun dungeons to explore. It got tiring after a while.
On the other hand, the gameplay were the RPGs aspect take hand are expanded upon the first game. From the rings, to the new Mantra Grid and various other gadgets that will help on the adventure. It is possible to carry your data from Digital Devil Saga too, for difficulty sake I didn't do that as I thought it would break the game as it is. Luckly it isn't hard, rather I would use the world "Fair" to describe it. Now battles are more engaging as it is constantly rewarding you based on your luck. Entering....The Jack Frost Show, Omoikane's Treasure and Berserk Mode. These are made up names, but the message is: These are methods that reward your knowledge and your luck on battle. As usual it retains everything that made the original so good, leaning into heavy player expression thanks to the rings and a revamped Mantra Grid.
Ultimately Digital Devil Saga message is about moving forward, enlightment and dealing with the past from an empathic and comprehensive point of view. The point of surviving, survival of the fittest made clear in the first game gets ditched to level ourself and resolve the problem of humanity triggered by greed. It is the classic JRPG tale after all, but there are some many twists to the already stablished formula it stands for something newer while keeping compelling part of it intact. It is one of the most story involved MegaTen games too, putting aside the gameplay aspects of it. Can't say is one of my favourites, but it was worth looking for something new in the franchise.
2003
A subtle, but a striking psychological horror adventure
My first complete approach to the Silent Hill series.
Silent Hill 3 for me wasn't totally a "fun" ride. But it was one that I enjoyed and kept me really surprised the more I got into it.
Where the game I think it excels the most is the eviroment as a whole. Team Silent really did something that made me uncomfortable all the way through but also appreciate the scenery for how beautifully crafted it is. And this is not including the impecable sound design and direction.
The presentation in Silent Hill 3 is just impecable and I can't stress that enough for a 2003 title. Every moment felt like I was decending to some type of hell after playing halfway through it, after reaching Silent Hill to be specific.
There were sections that I thought were a bit filler in between the story and didn't add to the overall game outside being extra bussy work to do. Don't get me wrong, the story has it's moments from time to time but can be held back by the travel itself.
Most of the time I was confused of how did I end up in some sections since this game is really linear. But that doesn't mean I enjoyed most of the levels and the puzzles.
What hurts this game the most is the combat. It's outdated, old and clunky. You can just pass by the monsters as long as they don't get directly in your way. No more than a little annoyance than something that you should be really scared off. I think this game didn't needed combat at all and just stick what the team does best, it feels like an afterthought on most occations.
The story is also solid and tackles some themes that by 2003 could've been very controversial to some people. I liked Heather as a protagonist, she's just fun to watch and interact with the others. The VA and the writting team did a great job portraying a teenager in a stressing situation, just scared of the world around her full of lunatics. Though it seems the main characters were the ones that had the most work put into Voice Acting while the secondary cast like Vincent or Douglas underdelivered a little.
So in short. Absolute must for horror fans with the only downside being it's combat.
My first complete approach to the Silent Hill series.
Silent Hill 3 for me wasn't totally a "fun" ride. But it was one that I enjoyed and kept me really surprised the more I got into it.
Where the game I think it excels the most is the eviroment as a whole. Team Silent really did something that made me uncomfortable all the way through but also appreciate the scenery for how beautifully crafted it is. And this is not including the impecable sound design and direction.
The presentation in Silent Hill 3 is just impecable and I can't stress that enough for a 2003 title. Every moment felt like I was decending to some type of hell after playing halfway through it, after reaching Silent Hill to be specific.
There were sections that I thought were a bit filler in between the story and didn't add to the overall game outside being extra bussy work to do. Don't get me wrong, the story has it's moments from time to time but can be held back by the travel itself.
Most of the time I was confused of how did I end up in some sections since this game is really linear. But that doesn't mean I enjoyed most of the levels and the puzzles.
What hurts this game the most is the combat. It's outdated, old and clunky. You can just pass by the monsters as long as they don't get directly in your way. No more than a little annoyance than something that you should be really scared off. I think this game didn't needed combat at all and just stick what the team does best, it feels like an afterthought on most occations.
The story is also solid and tackles some themes that by 2003 could've been very controversial to some people. I liked Heather as a protagonist, she's just fun to watch and interact with the others. The VA and the writting team did a great job portraying a teenager in a stressing situation, just scared of the world around her full of lunatics. Though it seems the main characters were the ones that had the most work put into Voice Acting while the secondary cast like Vincent or Douglas underdelivered a little.
So in short. Absolute must for horror fans with the only downside being it's combat.
A slow burn spiral into Madness
If Hotline Miami was the time everyone had simple fun, without much care in the world. Hotline Miami 2 is the horrible hangover and the direct response at what happened after and before the first game.
You take the role of multiple protagonist, way more than in the first game. Each with little gameplay quirks while not being totally different from one another. Each one having to deal with their very own problems throughout the game, all tied with the events of the first game.
The story is fractured in little fragments so you'll have to piece together those events if you really want to experience something that makes more or less sense. The gameplay is exactly the same as the first, take down every enemy on the floor and keep moving until everyone is dead. It really isn't that complicated for a game loop. It can be enjoyed while being a bit hard at times if you are not patient enough and just threat it like the first game. Be careful approaching this game.
If you want my quick opinion of it I think it's a great sequel to an already great game, everything is aplified, expanded and enhanced on some of the areas the original that lacked polish. Though, it won't be as simple as the first as I said before and this game wants you to get invested in what it offers.
So far what I said it's the general description of the game. What people could expect jumping from the first or game or like me and started with this one in particular. But it goes a lot, more deeper than that. I took notes with what this game tried to do, so if you want to keep reading it's going to get a lot dense from here on out.
Hotline Miami 2 are the rammifications of the first game, in general. Critics, fans, new players, and even the reception of people not affilated with games at all. Hotline Miami was both acclaimed critically and by fans, or those who eventually turned into one with this game. But Hotline Miami 2 changed some of the fundamentals or the core pillars of why people liked the first game, a big tone shift. You know, the neon lights replaced with a somewhat less picturesque color palette. The fun psychedelic party-like songs replaced with melancholic or overly agressive tunes and so on.
The characters went into a big shift as well. Instead of 2, we get a total of 12. Some get more screentime than others and affect the story in a greater or lessen extent than others but everyone all contribute to the story, the symbolisms and the general message this game tries to convey by the end.
Every character for better or for worse replicates what Jacket and Biker, the protagonist of the first game did back in 1989. Take for example Martin Brown, the Pig. He's star actor of a slasher movie. The events that inspired the movie are loosely based on the story of Jacket and the Russian Mafia. As the movie goes on, his reality starts to break and take the role more seriously than needed perphaps, he starts acting like The Pig outside of the movie studio. What is real and what is not starts to be a challenge for him, this is a constant for some Hollywood actors already and their personality changes overtime because of it. What was supossed a movie to make a quick buck on the events of Jacket, turned his main actor into a maniac. That very same movie wasn't even the correct interpretation of Jacket's story, instead they portray him as a lunatic murder with an animal mask that kidnapped girls because he wanted to. This perspective can be shared for the people that saw the original Hotline Miami and didn't really understood the action of Jacket and decided to spread only superficial information and didn't want to go deeper than it, what can be visually shocking. I can personally attribute this either bad journalism, or even the press those who didn't got the message and still decided to speak their mind about it. What I just explained is presented in a matter of two levels.
On the other hand we have Evan Wright, the Writter. He's in charge of investigating the events of the first game. As he goes along his journey he will try to interview people that may or have not been involved with the Russian Mafia incident back in 1989. His main gameplay gimmick is that he doesn't "hurt" people in the way we really know. Yeah, he doesn't kill at first glance he just knocks them off and leaves them unconscious. A man who go obsessed with the case, so much so he was consantly risking his life for so little information the goons and the mafia were able to provide to him. He never had to be involved, unlike Biker but he wanted to. This character mirrors the people that wanted to really make sense of the events of Hotline Miami, the first one. The friendly and non violent actions of Evan can be reflected through the people that made theories about the first game and got obsessed by it. Both of them turn crazy at the end of their story arcs. Evan with his book that never got finished and Martin when his reality shifted at the "Final Cut" of the movie. And this are just 2 of 12 examples, 2 that I thought were the most important and that can easily relect what I meant.
There are countless examples out of the 12 characters, reflecting the reception of the first game, and Dennaton just made a story out of it. The story is full of symbolisms and hidden meanings that can't be noticed in the first playthough. If it never made sense to you, try to interpret what this characters meant. Even while playing you'd feel the characters personality while killing their enemies, though it may comes just as incosistency in design at first glance.
Let's moves to something more easy to digest. The levels themselves, aren't they any good? Yes, and no. The levels are bigger than the first game and are more spacious as well. My personal advice is to threat this game with patience, even I after 500 hours can't complete some levels without dying on Hard Difficulty. There aren't many scripted sections in this game outside of gameplay, is all mostly straightforward to the end and if possible a cutscenes that puts the level you played in context. This is the reason I lowered half a star, people can get to annoyed the first time around and feel it isn't their fault and I think they are right, it can get very overwhealming to some.
Believe or not the technical state of Hotline Miami 2 is miles ahead Hotline Miami. When it comes to enemy hit detection is much more accurate, and the AI while not perfect it's in a much better state and prepared for combat, makes so much sense after you get use to it. I won't even talk about the music, you know it's good.
Those were the main factors that made fall in love with this game. It's subersive while at the same time being more Hotline Miami with a twist so it isn't what you expect but at the same time you are familiar with it. Everything a sequel should strive for.
If Hotline Miami was the time everyone had simple fun, without much care in the world. Hotline Miami 2 is the horrible hangover and the direct response at what happened after and before the first game.
You take the role of multiple protagonist, way more than in the first game. Each with little gameplay quirks while not being totally different from one another. Each one having to deal with their very own problems throughout the game, all tied with the events of the first game.
The story is fractured in little fragments so you'll have to piece together those events if you really want to experience something that makes more or less sense. The gameplay is exactly the same as the first, take down every enemy on the floor and keep moving until everyone is dead. It really isn't that complicated for a game loop. It can be enjoyed while being a bit hard at times if you are not patient enough and just threat it like the first game. Be careful approaching this game.
If you want my quick opinion of it I think it's a great sequel to an already great game, everything is aplified, expanded and enhanced on some of the areas the original that lacked polish. Though, it won't be as simple as the first as I said before and this game wants you to get invested in what it offers.
So far what I said it's the general description of the game. What people could expect jumping from the first or game or like me and started with this one in particular. But it goes a lot, more deeper than that. I took notes with what this game tried to do, so if you want to keep reading it's going to get a lot dense from here on out.
Hotline Miami 2 are the rammifications of the first game, in general. Critics, fans, new players, and even the reception of people not affilated with games at all. Hotline Miami was both acclaimed critically and by fans, or those who eventually turned into one with this game. But Hotline Miami 2 changed some of the fundamentals or the core pillars of why people liked the first game, a big tone shift. You know, the neon lights replaced with a somewhat less picturesque color palette. The fun psychedelic party-like songs replaced with melancholic or overly agressive tunes and so on.
The characters went into a big shift as well. Instead of 2, we get a total of 12. Some get more screentime than others and affect the story in a greater or lessen extent than others but everyone all contribute to the story, the symbolisms and the general message this game tries to convey by the end.
Every character for better or for worse replicates what Jacket and Biker, the protagonist of the first game did back in 1989. Take for example Martin Brown, the Pig. He's star actor of a slasher movie. The events that inspired the movie are loosely based on the story of Jacket and the Russian Mafia. As the movie goes on, his reality starts to break and take the role more seriously than needed perphaps, he starts acting like The Pig outside of the movie studio. What is real and what is not starts to be a challenge for him, this is a constant for some Hollywood actors already and their personality changes overtime because of it. What was supossed a movie to make a quick buck on the events of Jacket, turned his main actor into a maniac. That very same movie wasn't even the correct interpretation of Jacket's story, instead they portray him as a lunatic murder with an animal mask that kidnapped girls because he wanted to. This perspective can be shared for the people that saw the original Hotline Miami and didn't really understood the action of Jacket and decided to spread only superficial information and didn't want to go deeper than it, what can be visually shocking. I can personally attribute this either bad journalism, or even the press those who didn't got the message and still decided to speak their mind about it. What I just explained is presented in a matter of two levels.
On the other hand we have Evan Wright, the Writter. He's in charge of investigating the events of the first game. As he goes along his journey he will try to interview people that may or have not been involved with the Russian Mafia incident back in 1989. His main gameplay gimmick is that he doesn't "hurt" people in the way we really know. Yeah, he doesn't kill at first glance he just knocks them off and leaves them unconscious. A man who go obsessed with the case, so much so he was consantly risking his life for so little information the goons and the mafia were able to provide to him. He never had to be involved, unlike Biker but he wanted to. This character mirrors the people that wanted to really make sense of the events of Hotline Miami, the first one. The friendly and non violent actions of Evan can be reflected through the people that made theories about the first game and got obsessed by it. Both of them turn crazy at the end of their story arcs. Evan with his book that never got finished and Martin when his reality shifted at the "Final Cut" of the movie. And this are just 2 of 12 examples, 2 that I thought were the most important and that can easily relect what I meant.
There are countless examples out of the 12 characters, reflecting the reception of the first game, and Dennaton just made a story out of it. The story is full of symbolisms and hidden meanings that can't be noticed in the first playthough. If it never made sense to you, try to interpret what this characters meant. Even while playing you'd feel the characters personality while killing their enemies, though it may comes just as incosistency in design at first glance.
Let's moves to something more easy to digest. The levels themselves, aren't they any good? Yes, and no. The levels are bigger than the first game and are more spacious as well. My personal advice is to threat this game with patience, even I after 500 hours can't complete some levels without dying on Hard Difficulty. There aren't many scripted sections in this game outside of gameplay, is all mostly straightforward to the end and if possible a cutscenes that puts the level you played in context. This is the reason I lowered half a star, people can get to annoyed the first time around and feel it isn't their fault and I think they are right, it can get very overwhealming to some.
Believe or not the technical state of Hotline Miami 2 is miles ahead Hotline Miami. When it comes to enemy hit detection is much more accurate, and the AI while not perfect it's in a much better state and prepared for combat, makes so much sense after you get use to it. I won't even talk about the music, you know it's good.
Those were the main factors that made fall in love with this game. It's subersive while at the same time being more Hotline Miami with a twist so it isn't what you expect but at the same time you are familiar with it. Everything a sequel should strive for.
2001
Psychological Storytelling Masterpiece
I believe this is one of the most influential games for the horror games genre ever created. The ability to make the adventure very unsettling and mysterious all the way through and at the same time keeping me hooked is just an awesome experience I believe everyone should try at some point in our lives.
Though, I feel the gameplay did aged a ton outside of puzzle solving. While the scenarios, ambience and Silent Hill itself is nothing short but inmersive I can't but think this isn't that much of a "Survival Horror" game since the survival element isn't that really that present.
Personally never felt like I was really in danger in this game, bullets and medic kits were abundant throughout the town. And the monsters themselves were somewhat basic and unthreating outside Pyramid Head.
Those were the only low points in the game. But I did love everything else. Specially how it tackles it's themes, there isn't a clear answer by the end and that makes all the more intriguing. Did James made the right decision?
Completed this game right after Silent Hill 3 and I quickly noticed the differences in their approach to horror. While Silent Hill 3 tried to be more visually scary, Silent Hill 2 tries to make you uncomfortable and confused all the way through and, at the same time being a more personal heartfel story.
The story of Heather since we probably know as much as her at the start before her memories start to crawl back and it can be understandable as the game progresses, while James itself remains a mystery until the hotel way later into the game.
I believe this is one of the most influential games for the horror games genre ever created. The ability to make the adventure very unsettling and mysterious all the way through and at the same time keeping me hooked is just an awesome experience I believe everyone should try at some point in our lives.
Though, I feel the gameplay did aged a ton outside of puzzle solving. While the scenarios, ambience and Silent Hill itself is nothing short but inmersive I can't but think this isn't that much of a "Survival Horror" game since the survival element isn't that really that present.
Personally never felt like I was really in danger in this game, bullets and medic kits were abundant throughout the town. And the monsters themselves were somewhat basic and unthreating outside Pyramid Head.
Those were the only low points in the game. But I did love everything else. Specially how it tackles it's themes, there isn't a clear answer by the end and that makes all the more intriguing. Did James made the right decision?
Completed this game right after Silent Hill 3 and I quickly noticed the differences in their approach to horror. While Silent Hill 3 tried to be more visually scary, Silent Hill 2 tries to make you uncomfortable and confused all the way through and, at the same time being a more personal heartfel story.
The story of Heather since we probably know as much as her at the start before her memories start to crawl back and it can be understandable as the game progresses, while James itself remains a mystery until the hotel way later into the game.
Back to the roots
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard comes to revitalize the Resident Evil series that was already going on a unstoppable downfall in reputation and sales after the mess that was Resident Evil 6.
This games steps up for big changes and changes tradition for the third time in it's runtime. First Person, curious choice of location, not having superheroes as controllable to run of the mil citizens. These changes shake up the usual formula we've been having for such a long time it's just refreshing to see. Personally after making a sort of marathon of the most important Resident Evil titles, having something new is always appreciated.
Now, Resident Evil 7 gets quite inspired by western horror tropes and movie genres. Don't look further than it's star location: Lousiana. From Slasher Movies to Jigsaw-like puzzles we get all sorts of the horror genres tropes mixed into one game. Is it scary though? It might depend of where you look at it, personally it was entertaining rather than scary to me. It's a subjective feeling after all but it's an enjoyable time and I'm not going to deny is the most horror like feeling I've had with this franchise along side Resident Evil 2 Remake.
Sure it had moments were tension was high, but nothing that had me uncomfortable all the way through.
But what makes Resident Evil so engaging? For me it's the item managing system, fitting for a survival horror game after all. It is here in all it's glory. Though I felt the game was really easy on Normal difficulty and I felt managing my inventory was more bussy work than anything after some time.
Then there is the gameplay itself, it's good enough. As I stated again you will be playing as fairly normal people, don't expect to suplex any monsters around. You'll be relying on your weapons and a self-defense hand block to recieve less damage from the enemies. Talking about enemies, zombies aren't a thing now instead we have black faceless human blobs, with some variations in between including the classic big monsters as bosses.
Probably the worst part of this game, right here which is the enemy variety. They blend into the dark enviroment at times, aren't really scary, and the first person camera makes them harder to spot due to the limited field of view.
The tone of this game is the very effective but safe campy horror we've have getting used to in the series. It's entertaing, doesn't make sense at times and it has it's own rules to follow. That goes for the story as well, which isn't this game strong side. Most characters were forgettable except for the Baker Family, we control Ethan but we get attached mostly not for what he is, instead for what happens to him. Points for the villains, they were the fun side of this game.
So in short. It's Resident Evil and is back to the roots and what made the series special, in a much different setting and a much smaller story in scale.
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard comes to revitalize the Resident Evil series that was already going on a unstoppable downfall in reputation and sales after the mess that was Resident Evil 6.
This games steps up for big changes and changes tradition for the third time in it's runtime. First Person, curious choice of location, not having superheroes as controllable to run of the mil citizens. These changes shake up the usual formula we've been having for such a long time it's just refreshing to see. Personally after making a sort of marathon of the most important Resident Evil titles, having something new is always appreciated.
Now, Resident Evil 7 gets quite inspired by western horror tropes and movie genres. Don't look further than it's star location: Lousiana. From Slasher Movies to Jigsaw-like puzzles we get all sorts of the horror genres tropes mixed into one game. Is it scary though? It might depend of where you look at it, personally it was entertaining rather than scary to me. It's a subjective feeling after all but it's an enjoyable time and I'm not going to deny is the most horror like feeling I've had with this franchise along side Resident Evil 2 Remake.
Sure it had moments were tension was high, but nothing that had me uncomfortable all the way through.
But what makes Resident Evil so engaging? For me it's the item managing system, fitting for a survival horror game after all. It is here in all it's glory. Though I felt the game was really easy on Normal difficulty and I felt managing my inventory was more bussy work than anything after some time.
Then there is the gameplay itself, it's good enough. As I stated again you will be playing as fairly normal people, don't expect to suplex any monsters around. You'll be relying on your weapons and a self-defense hand block to recieve less damage from the enemies. Talking about enemies, zombies aren't a thing now instead we have black faceless human blobs, with some variations in between including the classic big monsters as bosses.
Probably the worst part of this game, right here which is the enemy variety. They blend into the dark enviroment at times, aren't really scary, and the first person camera makes them harder to spot due to the limited field of view.
The tone of this game is the very effective but safe campy horror we've have getting used to in the series. It's entertaing, doesn't make sense at times and it has it's own rules to follow. That goes for the story as well, which isn't this game strong side. Most characters were forgettable except for the Baker Family, we control Ethan but we get attached mostly not for what he is, instead for what happens to him. Points for the villains, they were the fun side of this game.
So in short. It's Resident Evil and is back to the roots and what made the series special, in a much different setting and a much smaller story in scale.
Man this game is weird.
It feels unfinished or with very little content in it. The combat can range from decent to bad. It's visually pleasing though, being the only Yakuza game in the Kiryu Saga to this date built from scratch with the Dragon Engine.
It feels a bit forced too. I wish I could like it more, but everything falls apart in retrospective. Some story bits were really cool though. I believe Haruka gets dumber each game.
SPOILER
I really did cry at the end ngl it was beautiful and I though Kiryu was really dead at the end by stupid Baby Iwami.
It feels unfinished or with very little content in it. The combat can range from decent to bad. It's visually pleasing though, being the only Yakuza game in the Kiryu Saga to this date built from scratch with the Dragon Engine.
It feels a bit forced too. I wish I could like it more, but everything falls apart in retrospective. Some story bits were really cool though. I believe Haruka gets dumber each game.
SPOILER
I really did cry at the end ngl it was beautiful and I though Kiryu was really dead at the end by stupid Baby Iwami.
Horror Cyberpunk Walking Simulator
Observer is for the most part a boring game to play, but not to experience. Highlights of this game come from the impecable visuals and art direction alone and those scary moments that happen that don't really have to do much with the gameplay itself.
If you are a coward, like me don't worry. This game is as scary as a Silent Hill game can be, mostly psychological horror is present and I counted like 2 or so jumpscares throughout my 7 hour playthrough.
There is a detective mode of sorts that is supossed to be the main mechanic of the game, but is at basic as it gets. Scan a clue, and see what can you do with the information it provides. You won't be using this much, outside of specific occations. But if you liked the detective aspect of this game or want more of this world, there are a lot of side cases to solve.
The story is short, and I feel it's a safe bet for the Cyberpunk genre. But it was sweet.
In reality I'd say it's a walking simulator with a few things added on top. It is what the game want you to focus on, those visual striking moments.
Observer is for the most part a boring game to play, but not to experience. Highlights of this game come from the impecable visuals and art direction alone and those scary moments that happen that don't really have to do much with the gameplay itself.
If you are a coward, like me don't worry. This game is as scary as a Silent Hill game can be, mostly psychological horror is present and I counted like 2 or so jumpscares throughout my 7 hour playthrough.
There is a detective mode of sorts that is supossed to be the main mechanic of the game, but is at basic as it gets. Scan a clue, and see what can you do with the information it provides. You won't be using this much, outside of specific occations. But if you liked the detective aspect of this game or want more of this world, there are a lot of side cases to solve.
The story is short, and I feel it's a safe bet for the Cyberpunk genre. But it was sweet.
In reality I'd say it's a walking simulator with a few things added on top. It is what the game want you to focus on, those visual striking moments.
2003
1 Star because I got scared.
2 Stars because I got a victim.
2 Stars because I got a victim.
2001
The most simple entry in the series. Also the most revolutionary at the time.
It didn't kickoff or totally invented the open-world genre. But it did perfected the crime open world genre in specific, which later would spawn an array of copycats.
Now, talking about the game itself. Nowdays I mean. It isn't very good but hear me out, it isn't as restrained as modern GTA games with it's scripted scenes all over the place.
The simple nature of this game opens for a wide range of possibilities in missions. The objectives are simple but varied. Everything is simple for the most part in this game, but that doesn't totally need to be something negative.
It's also for some reason one of the hardest to beat. The AI is overly aggresive, the layout of Liberty City is confusing and there isn't a world map to guide you, unless you had the physical paper map included with the console relesase. Probably you will have a hard time in your first playthough.
It was the first, it shows. Be patient and you'll eventually get to the end. The map design forces you to learn it's structure, where to take the best routes durng a mission, etc. It isn't as braindead as later games, you really need to think outside of the box at times. It can be unfair at times too.
It didn't kickoff or totally invented the open-world genre. But it did perfected the crime open world genre in specific, which later would spawn an array of copycats.
Now, talking about the game itself. Nowdays I mean. It isn't very good but hear me out, it isn't as restrained as modern GTA games with it's scripted scenes all over the place.
The simple nature of this game opens for a wide range of possibilities in missions. The objectives are simple but varied. Everything is simple for the most part in this game, but that doesn't totally need to be something negative.
It's also for some reason one of the hardest to beat. The AI is overly aggresive, the layout of Liberty City is confusing and there isn't a world map to guide you, unless you had the physical paper map included with the console relesase. Probably you will have a hard time in your first playthough.
It was the first, it shows. Be patient and you'll eventually get to the end. The map design forces you to learn it's structure, where to take the best routes durng a mission, etc. It isn't as braindead as later games, you really need to think outside of the box at times. It can be unfair at times too.
2007
The Second Part of a Trilogy that Never Came to a Conclusion
Last canonical entry in the mainline series, huh. Expected a bit more out of this game just for being the very last one, but it's alright.
It's the direct sequel to Mega Man ZX, though it doesn't feature the old protagonists. Instead we take control of either Ashe (Female Protagonist) or Grey (Male Protagonist).
The main difference I quickly noticed is this game is barely a Metroidvania, even though it features a map. Most of the levels are linear or are very easy to navigate. There are still some questionable decisions like making a teleporter being the only method to travel to a remote zone, not conected in any way to the main map.
In all honesty I would have liked a more realised Metroidvania styled map, since ZX did it very poorly. I just didn't like the execution. But I could've worked in this one if fixed. The map in this game comes up as a middle ground that doesn't satisfy me personally.
Biometals are back in this game. Their use is simplified from ZX, we defeat a boss, we get his/her Biometal without having to collect the other half. As you may expect most of them are fulfill a specific role, for a specific use case. The one you'll probably using the most is Model A (Based on Axl from the X Series, yeah him). It's the default Biometal you get at the start of the game and it's solid. There are two types of Biometals in this game:
Pseudoroid: These Biometals are obtained after defeating a boss that aren't human. Based on animals for the most part, easy to spot the difference between this and the "Model" bosses.
Models: These Biometals are obtained after defeating a boss that resembles a human. Model L, H you name it.
Main differences is that the Pseudoroids are pretty useless outside of certain situations. You can use them as usual but they won't be an optimal option for anything compared to the models, some are pretty big, slow or very gimmicky compared to the Models which are the same as in ZX. Pseudoroid end up being nothing but filler by the end.
The story again, is nothing to write home about. Big evil man wants to reset the world nonesense, again. I did liked some of the new characters though.
So, in short. More ZX. Expanded but changed some of it's fundation, mainly the map not being structured as a Metroidvania. And for being the last game in the series, is a bit disappointing for not trying to stick out more. I do think ZX even with it's flaws, is a bit better and special than this one.
Last canonical entry in the mainline series, huh. Expected a bit more out of this game just for being the very last one, but it's alright.
It's the direct sequel to Mega Man ZX, though it doesn't feature the old protagonists. Instead we take control of either Ashe (Female Protagonist) or Grey (Male Protagonist).
The main difference I quickly noticed is this game is barely a Metroidvania, even though it features a map. Most of the levels are linear or are very easy to navigate. There are still some questionable decisions like making a teleporter being the only method to travel to a remote zone, not conected in any way to the main map.
In all honesty I would have liked a more realised Metroidvania styled map, since ZX did it very poorly. I just didn't like the execution. But I could've worked in this one if fixed. The map in this game comes up as a middle ground that doesn't satisfy me personally.
Biometals are back in this game. Their use is simplified from ZX, we defeat a boss, we get his/her Biometal without having to collect the other half. As you may expect most of them are fulfill a specific role, for a specific use case. The one you'll probably using the most is Model A (Based on Axl from the X Series, yeah him). It's the default Biometal you get at the start of the game and it's solid. There are two types of Biometals in this game:
Pseudoroid: These Biometals are obtained after defeating a boss that aren't human. Based on animals for the most part, easy to spot the difference between this and the "Model" bosses.
Models: These Biometals are obtained after defeating a boss that resembles a human. Model L, H you name it.
Main differences is that the Pseudoroids are pretty useless outside of certain situations. You can use them as usual but they won't be an optimal option for anything compared to the models, some are pretty big, slow or very gimmicky compared to the Models which are the same as in ZX. Pseudoroid end up being nothing but filler by the end.
The story again, is nothing to write home about. Big evil man wants to reset the world nonesense, again. I did liked some of the new characters though.
So, in short. More ZX. Expanded but changed some of it's fundation, mainly the map not being structured as a Metroidvania. And for being the last game in the series, is a bit disappointing for not trying to stick out more. I do think ZX even with it's flaws, is a bit better and special than this one.
Hah uhm- You look absolutely stunning tonight - I just thought I'd let you know that haha... so uh- what do you like to do- in your free time? Yeah I'm actually a- I'm actually a game developer, I've been making this game- it's called yandere simulator an-and a- and it's gotten a pretty - big following on the internet... uh- so basically in this game you play as - a yandere who - it's-it's a japanese term for a girl who loves her senpai so wha- senpai, it-it's a direct translation of upperclassmen, it's a term you would use in school, a-anyways, it's been kind of westernized as this term for - y'know a girls crushy calls him "senpai, senpai!" and uhm, hehe, so uh - you have your senpai and you have to eliminate any op- you have to eliminate- hah... ah- like, anything - anyone standing in-- mumbling sounds uhm... haha..- haha- I-I think our guy is coming... What's up guys welcome to pizza hut you guys ready to order? I'll take uhh, I'll take the breadsticks. Alright breadsticks anything else? What do you want beautiful? You don't want anything? That's fine. She'll uh- she'll share the breadsticks with me- Alright man i'll be back in a moment thank very much! Thank you- Really don't want anything? That's fine. I'll let you share your breadsticks with me- excuse me, I'll let you take some of my breadsticks haha... tongue clack I just wanna say um... inhale you look absolutely stuning tonight. Your eyes they're so- they're so beautiful... I... I think I love you...
2016
Crime in the new millenium
My very first look into Suda51's works.
What a ride. More than a game I'd say it's an experience even if the term is a bit overdone by now. Even if I'm not that big into VNs, this game made fan of the genre and Suda51's work in general.
It's the style, the writting and some of the characters that kept me playing from start to end. Even if the game starts slow in the first three chapters, it quickly picks up the pace by the third and by the fourth is just pure insanity after another.
Not to mention is not only text based with some images and that's it, game often changes how it tells the story. Can be through animated videos or real life videos, or even CGI. Text boxes and images are deformed depending on the situation and it works incredibly well, making scenes dynamic. Though, you'll have to use your imagination to fill blank space more often that not since while you are playing, no one will be actually presented on screen. On the 3D sections I mean.
The story was really convoluted and only starts to making some sense by the end. Strangely enough it has some similarities with Metal Gear Solid 2 main storyline, regarding the flow of information, the internet and how it can shape the society. Even if it doesn't go very deep with those themes, I think it was a worth first attempt by the writting and scenario team, specially knowing this game was made before the new millenium.
Gameplay wise is, there. Can be somewhat tedious to control and hard to grasp as first, hell it was for me since I was playing on keyboard. It really feels like a old game, where actions are totally separated from context. An unecessary extra step or two is for the most part always requiered to get where you want to go. For the most part you'll following orders or a set path and exploration is kept at a minimal.
I don't know. But I do really like this game overall. Can´t state enough but the writting feels so natural, specially the relationship between Sumio and Tetsu and how Sumio changes overtime while Tetsu tries it's best to keep him on track. Good stuff.
So in short. A remaster of a 1999 game, localized to english in the best way possible. Great characters, great writting, comfy music and a good sense of style. I'm definitely going to check Suda51's other works, in the future.
My very first look into Suda51's works.
What a ride. More than a game I'd say it's an experience even if the term is a bit overdone by now. Even if I'm not that big into VNs, this game made fan of the genre and Suda51's work in general.
It's the style, the writting and some of the characters that kept me playing from start to end. Even if the game starts slow in the first three chapters, it quickly picks up the pace by the third and by the fourth is just pure insanity after another.
Not to mention is not only text based with some images and that's it, game often changes how it tells the story. Can be through animated videos or real life videos, or even CGI. Text boxes and images are deformed depending on the situation and it works incredibly well, making scenes dynamic. Though, you'll have to use your imagination to fill blank space more often that not since while you are playing, no one will be actually presented on screen. On the 3D sections I mean.
The story was really convoluted and only starts to making some sense by the end. Strangely enough it has some similarities with Metal Gear Solid 2 main storyline, regarding the flow of information, the internet and how it can shape the society. Even if it doesn't go very deep with those themes, I think it was a worth first attempt by the writting and scenario team, specially knowing this game was made before the new millenium.
Gameplay wise is, there. Can be somewhat tedious to control and hard to grasp as first, hell it was for me since I was playing on keyboard. It really feels like a old game, where actions are totally separated from context. An unecessary extra step or two is for the most part always requiered to get where you want to go. For the most part you'll following orders or a set path and exploration is kept at a minimal.
I don't know. But I do really like this game overall. Can´t state enough but the writting feels so natural, specially the relationship between Sumio and Tetsu and how Sumio changes overtime while Tetsu tries it's best to keep him on track. Good stuff.
So in short. A remaster of a 1999 game, localized to english in the best way possible. Great characters, great writting, comfy music and a good sense of style. I'm definitely going to check Suda51's other works, in the future.
2023
Good game. Altrough it's the first modern one, it holds up in some regards.
I would've like some more QOL features modern Personas have, but it's the PSP version after all.
The Point n' Click nature of this game takes a lot away of the experience while exploring the city. The audio isn't the best, some voices are really bad quality. It was made to fit on a 1GB PSP UMD, not in a whole console release. The AI upscaling can look bad too.
Besides that, it has a good base underneath it's superficial problems.
Took me around 68 hours to complete. Very hyped for Reloaded.
I would've like some more QOL features modern Personas have, but it's the PSP version after all.
The Point n' Click nature of this game takes a lot away of the experience while exploring the city. The audio isn't the best, some voices are really bad quality. It was made to fit on a 1GB PSP UMD, not in a whole console release. The AI upscaling can look bad too.
Besides that, it has a good base underneath it's superficial problems.
Took me around 68 hours to complete. Very hyped for Reloaded.