Nikoras
The quality of the writing between different runs varies WILDLY. It seems like the Golden Deer gives me what I would expect from an intended experience. The core loop of dividing the game between tactics and visual novel to get to know the characters is brilliant.
2021
This game leaves the story at the door and focuses on being a good JRPG. To that end it succeeds in making progression feel really good. Catching/fusing all the demons is fun, and pulling from every mythology adds both a sense of familiarity as well as some surprises when encountering certain demons. The difficulty is there too, which is refreshing...too many games are designed to be played with no mental engagement, which I think is poor design.
For the cons; well the story is just sort of there, definitely not up to par with Persona. Some of the systems seem to be there to deliberately frustrate the player. Instakills with light/dark magic can catch you off-guard in a way that feels cheap, and it kicking you back to the main menu with only manual saves counting is not a good mechanic. I don't think anyone is whistle for the days before checkpoints where you would lose chunks of progression because you forgot to save.
For the cons; well the story is just sort of there, definitely not up to par with Persona. Some of the systems seem to be there to deliberately frustrate the player. Instakills with light/dark magic can catch you off-guard in a way that feels cheap, and it kicking you back to the main menu with only manual saves counting is not a good mechanic. I don't think anyone is whistle for the days before checkpoints where you would lose chunks of progression because you forgot to save.
2022
As a long time souls fan, this may just be the best video-game I have ever played.
2017
One of the best games I have ever played, the art the music, the gameplay. This is peak metroidvania. Souls inspired but certainly uniquely it's own.
2022
A wonderful linear ride. It is dragged down by a few things like monotonous puzzles that are instantaneously spoiled by companion dialogue, and some exposition dumps where you are forced to very slowly traverse through a stage. However it effectively tells a story with some of the best characterization I've seen in video-games. The action is pitch-perfect, I love the combat here. It's designed to be a power-fantasy and clearly acheives that.
This is an interesting one. It's one of the most imaginative games I have ever played. The story is fantastic and has some of the hardest hitting dramatic moments. The music is phenomenal and ties into the plot and themes so well.
....Unfortunately it is buried under a mountain of BS. I did not enjoy the combat at all, which was completely unbalanced and poorly paced. The RPG mechanics of it were pretty awful, all the gems and accessories don't feel like they have much of an impact at all...and the worst was some of the questing, it does not respect the players' time at all and it knows it. It even has some of the characters saying how boring it is at one point.
....Unfortunately it is buried under a mountain of BS. I did not enjoy the combat at all, which was completely unbalanced and poorly paced. The RPG mechanics of it were pretty awful, all the gems and accessories don't feel like they have much of an impact at all...and the worst was some of the questing, it does not respect the players' time at all and it knows it. It even has some of the characters saying how boring it is at one point.
2022
A solid retro JRPG but got a little bored and DNFed the game. Not a fault of the game but with me.
One of the best video games I have ever played. Constantly amazed that this was able to be made. The major strength is the game giving the player a flexible toolset to approach problems creatively. This game empowers the player more than any other I can think of and gives you room to play how you want.
2021
Beautiful audio/visuals. Good snappy combat. Story is surprisingly good and the characters aren't the standard video-game ones.
It's weakest part is that runs are too long and have you feeling bad after a failure. This doesn't give you the "One more run" feeling that all the greats like Hades and Dead Cells give you.
It's weakest part is that runs are too long and have you feeling bad after a failure. This doesn't give you the "One more run" feeling that all the greats like Hades and Dead Cells give you.
2023
Unbelievable game. One of the best RPGs ever made.
2023
Taking a DNF here. It's too boring and buggy to continue to justify plating when the rest of my backlog is filled with good stuff.
Serious narrative problems. Not only was the story too stretched out but the writing was...just bad..especially with some of the changes made.
The combat system was good and some of the encounters were nice.
The combat system was good and some of the encounters were nice.
2015
An extremely good CRPG. The first one to really grab me and make me want to learn more about its lore.
2015
Great story, good music, a few rough edges and combat didn't particularly grab me. The story caried it enough to be a 4/5
2016
similar to 0 but with notably worse story-telling. Majima really saves this game. I think being a remake of the original constrains them to the same plot. RGG has improved in its story-telling with time but doesn't get to bring it to Kiwami. This has me a little nervous for how I will enjoy Kiwami 2.