Morghini89
2014
The sequel to the already amazing NES Remix was much better than the first one. Much more recognisable game lineup; Mario 3, Zelda 2, Kirby, Balloon Fight, Dr. Mario. More defined remixed levels like fighting Whispy Woods with Boos closing in, or Dr. Mario in grayscale reminiscing the Game Boy era. Such a good game.
Video games need to be viewed as a form of art, whether it is with their stories they tell, the characters that flesh out the story, or even just their worlds and environments being so rich. Now what does this have to do with Future Redeemed? Well, this DLC campaign was the perfect way to end off the Xenoblade trilogy of games.
Future Redeemed is a prequel story to Xenoblade Chronicles 3 as we follow Matthew and A, who are looking for survivors from the City. Along the way, they meet up with two soldiers of Aionios from the warring nations; Nikol and Glimmer, and the Liberators with their leaders Shulk and Rex from Xenoblade 1 and 2 respectively, to find out where his sister has gone and to take down the real threat of Aionios much higher than Moebius.
This plot was rather short but that was expected being a DLC campaign and all, but my god the story beats spread throughout this game were magnificent. The characters were all really great to see develop throughout the plot. Matthew being the main protag and despite being a goof, he is willing to do good in this world. A being a mysterious character as she has Alvis's conscience as her personality, Nikol being a shy, timid soldier who slowly opens up to the party, and Glimmer being very selfish and sassy; both mirroring Shulk and Mythra in personalities. And then Shulk and Rex, the dad chads. Shulk becoming more of a wise mentor like Dunban and having one arm to boot, with Rex being more mature than he ever was before and also being dandy was marvelous to me...still gotta get used to the voice though.
The world revolves in one unexplored area of Aionios that is not there in the base game, the Cent-Omnia region and this is filled with the grandest areas by far and with bangers all across the board too. A forest area akin to how Torna started off, a grassy plains area, a mossy and older version of Colony 9, and even snowy mountains. This region of Aionios was absolutely breathtaking in my opinion and I'm sad that it gets removed in the base game.
The combat is akin to how it works in base game; different art recharges, fusion arts (now called Ouroboros Powers), and chain attacks. But there are some new oddities that are unique to the combat. First off, the way you level up arts and skills are based around affinity growth and require you killing enemies, completing the collectopaedia, the many sidequests, or exploring.
Secondly, the characters can be paired up together to form a Unity, replacing Ouroboros forms which when performed during a combo, will do a unity attack that does a reaction, whilst doing a skill. These were really fun and sometimes busted! Looking at you Rex + Glimmer. And finally, the chain attacks now have equipment stuff, where equiping manuals change the completion bonus, or add a hero effect to the character. This was cool too, but I never really utilised it as much.
Overall, this DLC is a must buy for anyone looking to get anymore out of Xenoblade 3, but I'd obviously say don't jump into this game if you've never played a Xenoblade game - this DLC was served as a finale and spoils both games anyway plus the base game. But I'm glad I got to see this game finally and beat everything, including the superboss, and I'm really looking forward to the future of the series.
Xenoblade is something special to me as a whole, and I cried with what they did at the very end of the story and even with the most touching credits sequence I've ever seen. This series has changed my life, and I'm glad to be one of its many fans. Thank you Takahashi and Monolith Soft.
Future Redeemed is a prequel story to Xenoblade Chronicles 3 as we follow Matthew and A, who are looking for survivors from the City. Along the way, they meet up with two soldiers of Aionios from the warring nations; Nikol and Glimmer, and the Liberators with their leaders Shulk and Rex from Xenoblade 1 and 2 respectively, to find out where his sister has gone and to take down the real threat of Aionios much higher than Moebius.
This plot was rather short but that was expected being a DLC campaign and all, but my god the story beats spread throughout this game were magnificent. The characters were all really great to see develop throughout the plot. Matthew being the main protag and despite being a goof, he is willing to do good in this world. A being a mysterious character as she has Alvis's conscience as her personality, Nikol being a shy, timid soldier who slowly opens up to the party, and Glimmer being very selfish and sassy; both mirroring Shulk and Mythra in personalities. And then Shulk and Rex, the dad chads. Shulk becoming more of a wise mentor like Dunban and having one arm to boot, with Rex being more mature than he ever was before and also being dandy was marvelous to me...still gotta get used to the voice though.
The world revolves in one unexplored area of Aionios that is not there in the base game, the Cent-Omnia region and this is filled with the grandest areas by far and with bangers all across the board too. A forest area akin to how Torna started off, a grassy plains area, a mossy and older version of Colony 9, and even snowy mountains. This region of Aionios was absolutely breathtaking in my opinion and I'm sad that it gets removed in the base game.
The combat is akin to how it works in base game; different art recharges, fusion arts (now called Ouroboros Powers), and chain attacks. But there are some new oddities that are unique to the combat. First off, the way you level up arts and skills are based around affinity growth and require you killing enemies, completing the collectopaedia, the many sidequests, or exploring.
Secondly, the characters can be paired up together to form a Unity, replacing Ouroboros forms which when performed during a combo, will do a unity attack that does a reaction, whilst doing a skill. These were really fun and sometimes busted! Looking at you Rex + Glimmer. And finally, the chain attacks now have equipment stuff, where equiping manuals change the completion bonus, or add a hero effect to the character. This was cool too, but I never really utilised it as much.
Overall, this DLC is a must buy for anyone looking to get anymore out of Xenoblade 3, but I'd obviously say don't jump into this game if you've never played a Xenoblade game - this DLC was served as a finale and spoils both games anyway plus the base game. But I'm glad I got to see this game finally and beat everything, including the superboss, and I'm really looking forward to the future of the series.
Xenoblade is something special to me as a whole, and I cried with what they did at the very end of the story and even with the most touching credits sequence I've ever seen. This series has changed my life, and I'm glad to be one of its many fans. Thank you Takahashi and Monolith Soft.
1998
This review contains spoilers
Xenogears blew my mind upon playing through the whole game. I was really intrigued by this title since this was the first game with the 'Xeno' moniker before Xenoblade existed and that this was the only game by Square. The main thing that everyone praises about this game is the story, and my god this is one of the only stories I have ever felt so deep with, with how it explores a lot of concepts and themes from religious backgrounds, the human mind in itself, and the world being somewhat similar to what's going on today.
The characters were very lovable, especially Fei and Elly to me. Some had their moments like Bart and Billy, but then there were a few characters that after their big moment, they were just in the sidelines. For instance, after breaking out of Kislev and freeing Rico, he doesn't really interact much with the crew often. Another thing that I found a little slow in the story was when Margie was to be rescued within Aveh and the pacing was dragging for me. The big twist with Deus being the god and was in the ship from the intro, was crazy to me.
The gameplay itself was alright. The combat can be fun with the use of the face buttons depicting strengths of attacks and even doing combos with them for even more damage, but I found that it got old really quickly. Even with the gears that are used for giant enemies/bosses, they were dumbed to just lvl 1 deathblows or just mash X until you get enough for more deathblows.
The game was great, minus the grinding I had to do for the Deus final boss, that wasn't great. The story was fantastic, and I'm looking forward to seeing the other games in the Xeno series.
The characters were very lovable, especially Fei and Elly to me. Some had their moments like Bart and Billy, but then there were a few characters that after their big moment, they were just in the sidelines. For instance, after breaking out of Kislev and freeing Rico, he doesn't really interact much with the crew often. Another thing that I found a little slow in the story was when Margie was to be rescued within Aveh and the pacing was dragging for me. The big twist with Deus being the god and was in the ship from the intro, was crazy to me.
The gameplay itself was alright. The combat can be fun with the use of the face buttons depicting strengths of attacks and even doing combos with them for even more damage, but I found that it got old really quickly. Even with the gears that are used for giant enemies/bosses, they were dumbed to just lvl 1 deathblows or just mash X until you get enough for more deathblows.
The game was great, minus the grinding I had to do for the Deus final boss, that wasn't great. The story was fantastic, and I'm looking forward to seeing the other games in the Xeno series.
This game is an absolute masterpiece. Rich storytelling, great characters, dark atmosphere. It's a treat to play this blind.
1994
Super Metroid is not very beginner friendly to the series now as of its map being confusing sometimes, but damn is it a good ass game besides that.
1988
A pack-in title for the Mega Drive...and it is god awful. I cannot believe that Sega actually thought this was a good idea to put this game with the Mega Drive. Such a horrid abomination this was to play through and I cannot imagine people who got this with their consoles back then and had to play this with their console.
Rhythm Heaven Megamix was one of those games I was extremely eager to play as I love this series so much. Loved most of the rhythm games they chose from GBA, DS, and Wii, with the new ones being really fun such as Blue Bear, Fruit Basket, Sumo Brothers, and Super Samurai Slice just to name a few.
The new story was just...there. Paid zero attention to it but when does the story matter in a game like this. Downside of trying to play all the games is that you have to grind coins and flow balls to get them all for the shop. But other than that, decent game in the series. Now we just need a new one on Switch.
The new story was just...there. Paid zero attention to it but when does the story matter in a game like this. Downside of trying to play all the games is that you have to grind coins and flow balls to get them all for the shop. But other than that, decent game in the series. Now we just need a new one on Switch.
Funny enough, this game on NSO was my first dive into the Street Fighter series. And for what it's worth, I think that SF2: Special Champion Edition was a decent version of SF2. Of course, the sound is very crunchy but that's standard for the Mega Drive. The gameplay was very fun, despite not knowing any moves except for Ryu and Ken's because of Smash, but it was really good. Not the best version of SF2 I've heard, but it was nice to try Street Fighter 2 in some way.
Smash Ultimate is the greatest fighting game crossover to ever exist. Everyone is here from all the previous games, plus so many new characters from Simon, Inkling, Incineroar, Ridley and so many more. This game has endless amounts of fun, and it is a joy to play every time.
2019
This review contains spoilers
Kingdom Hearts III is a very divisive game across the community. People love it, but the majority bash on this game. Where do I stand on this game? I thought KH3 was really good. Sure, the story was kinda not up to expectations as much until the finale with Sora getting all the guardians of light to fight Xehanort, but besides that, the story was basic but fun.
The gameplay was like 0.2 Birth by Sleep, but much more refined. The combat in itself was not as flashy to me as KH2 was, but KH3 added more features which I found to be fun, such as the formchanges and the ability to switch keyblades in the midst of battle, the summons being absolutely busted, and the finishers you can do. However, the team attacks and the attraction attacks appeared too frequently and I didn't use them as much since they appeared a lot. Plus the flowmotion was not really used as much at all compared to Dream Drop, which is both a plus and a downside when it comes to movement.
The post-game is another issue I have with this game. Outside of the ReMind DLC, this game's post-game has got to be the weakest out of all of the games. KH1 and KH2 had many things you could do for post-game, whereas KH3 has battlegates which has its secret boss, the synthesis stuff for the Ultima Weapon, the lucky emblems, and the flantastic seven which were okay. Other than that, I actually enjoyed what there was for this game. Does it beat KH2 as my favourite game in the series? It's not far off actually.
The gameplay was like 0.2 Birth by Sleep, but much more refined. The combat in itself was not as flashy to me as KH2 was, but KH3 added more features which I found to be fun, such as the formchanges and the ability to switch keyblades in the midst of battle, the summons being absolutely busted, and the finishers you can do. However, the team attacks and the attraction attacks appeared too frequently and I didn't use them as much since they appeared a lot. Plus the flowmotion was not really used as much at all compared to Dream Drop, which is both a plus and a downside when it comes to movement.
The post-game is another issue I have with this game. Outside of the ReMind DLC, this game's post-game has got to be the weakest out of all of the games. KH1 and KH2 had many things you could do for post-game, whereas KH3 has battlegates which has its secret boss, the synthesis stuff for the Ultima Weapon, the lucky emblems, and the flantastic seven which were okay. Other than that, I actually enjoyed what there was for this game. Does it beat KH2 as my favourite game in the series? It's not far off actually.
2016
I can't even explain what I just witnessed with Inside, other than it was such a mysterious experience.
Majora's Mask absolutely nails the atmosphere of the game; dark and depressing, smashes the dungeons except Great Bay... and even does the side quests spot on. All in a game that repeats the exact same 3 days to you. This game is amazing.
Currently having fun with wave 1 of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's DLC. Thoughts on the tracks are as follows:
Paris Promenade is fun, nice use of how they implement the reverse variant in the final lap.
Toad Circuit is short and bland to me.
Choco Mountain was great.
Coconut Mall is okay, only downside are the arches are gone and the cars don't hurt you anymore.
Tokyo Blur was a solid track, but was a little basic.
Shroom Ridge was alright, chaotic with the cars.
Sky Garden was fun, but it was so quick to go through.
Ninja Hideaway was hard but fun; might be the best track so far.
Paris Promenade is fun, nice use of how they implement the reverse variant in the final lap.
Toad Circuit is short and bland to me.
Choco Mountain was great.
Coconut Mall is okay, only downside are the arches are gone and the cars don't hurt you anymore.
Tokyo Blur was a solid track, but was a little basic.
Shroom Ridge was alright, chaotic with the cars.
Sky Garden was fun, but it was so quick to go through.
Ninja Hideaway was hard but fun; might be the best track so far.
1996
Although being spoiled by the DS remake, Mario 64 is still a fun game to pick up and play. The controls are a little wonky now, the camera is very bad, but the levels are very creative for the first 3D Mario
Originally I didn't really enjoy this game. But with the recent hype of XC3 on the horizon, I played this game once more...and I enjoyed it a lot more. Xenoblade X was so much fun. The world of Mira was an experience to travel through, the combat was challenging but fun once mastered; especially Overdrive. The story was fairly decent and the music was great.
However, the postgame got very, very, VERY grindy to take down the superbosses and get all classes learnt, the audio balancing is the bane of my existence, and the characters in the plot, while they were great, some were forgettable or had little development...looking at you Boze and Alexa.
However, the postgame got very, very, VERY grindy to take down the superbosses and get all classes learnt, the audio balancing is the bane of my existence, and the characters in the plot, while they were great, some were forgettable or had little development...looking at you Boze and Alexa.