3 reviews liked by NourForce


This review contains spoilers

I'm actually amazed by how much I like this game, because only the first of its 3 routes satisfied me to any degree. Goddess route ends very typically for a cheap JRPG, but the way Tiara was handled in it tickled me right. The other two routes on the other hand felt like a lot of wasted potential. Their premises are great, but the way they're actually handled was nothing short of disappointing. I will never stop seething over how little we got of Yankee Tiara. The game also sucks to play, I'm not going to lie.

However, I still love FFF. The main trio, Fang, Eryn and Tiara are all so memorable and I love them all so much. It sucks that the rest of the cast aren't as good. I was hoping for a lot from Harler, but she didn't have anything interesting to her. The same applies to just about the rest of the cast, but it doesn't matter. The main 3 carried this game more than enough on their own, and that deserves praise.

Also, the opening theme to the vanilla version is a lot better than ADF's.

This review contains spoilers

Blue Reflection TIE/Second Light makes me really happy that I play JRPGs. It's captured why I love and play video games, and all the anxieties and joys that come with it, and it also looks and feels amazing to play in the meanwhile.

The visual coherence of this game cannot be overstated. The Kokorotope dungeon designs, the cutscene directing, the character models and their expressions, even the lighting effects all contribute to the world, the 世界観 that the game wants to establish. The devs at GUST really poured their hearts into making this game look memorable.

It doesn't just look good for its own sake though. The aforementioned Kokorotopes are the characters' hearts manifesting as dungeons. They're great characterization set pieces, but the game does so much more than just that to give nuance to its cast. The characters all get ample screen time with the main character Ao that they all get to express many facets of themselves. it also helps that Ao is a really well-written empathetic character who brings out the best of the rest of the cast. The character writing is top-notch, it is respectful to its characters' nuances, issues and relationships without feeling condescending or simplistic.

The soundtrack is admittedly a little less catchy than the first game's. I have not played BR1, but its soundtrack has drawn me in ever since I first heard it. Even then, I consider this game's soundtrack to be impressive anyway. W-P.NEURONS is less catchy than OVERDOSE, but it's easier to listen to and works perfectly as a regular battle theme. The Kokorotope themes are all memorable as well. What I like the most about the soundtrack though is how it makes the main leitmotif for the franchise feel meaningful to you the player by the time you get to the ending credits.

BR Tie is also an especially rewarding game if you go into it after playing Gust and Tsuchiya Akira's earlier games, Ciel Nosurge and Ar Nosurge. There are ideas and themes and narrative quirks from those earlier games that can be recognized in this game that's made me smile throughout my playthrough. More impressively though, the (Normal) end of this game frames its outlook on video games in a slightly different way than Ar Nosurge's that I cannot help but be impressed. I cannot decide if I like Ar Nosurge or BR Tie more. I think that is the highest praise I can possibly give to this game.

It's a fun little game to play when your internet goes out, but otherwise it really isn't remarkable. I wouldn't go out of my way to play this game, but I suppose that's kind of the point since its supposed to be an option for when your internet isn't working. Earns three stars for doing what its meant to do well and having a simplistic charm to it.