"Yeah, I've been in love. Yeah, I've been in love... I've been in love, I mean.. that's what... yeah."
- The Hulk


This is one of these 10/10s where like, speaking as a game entirely, dunno if I'd give it a 10 but objectivity is for posers. I loved this shit for all its quirks and all, kind of like the rough headed dumbo boy at the core of this game. Game's got heart like our boy on his love quest as he grows into a young man from helping out the people in his town to prove he's a suitable boy for the girl of his dreams.

Real shit tho I would've gotten turbo filtered if I didn't fuckin use a guide so, shouts out GameFAQS.

Being young's about a lot of things y'know? Love being one of em, finding your happiness in the world and maturing into a headstrong individual in spite of all the unhappiness around you.

Also, lots and lots of hardships, especially when you're livin' in poverty like our lil guy up front. Shows up to town and just cause he's poor everyone thinks he's up to no good when he's just tryna make it. Accurate as fuck to the real world, but our main boy is idealistic in a frankly cynical world, going up and beyond to show his people that they deserve help, making bonds along the way with peeps of all walks of life.

The fact that all the Underground Residents are outsiders who are only allowed to be out at certain times despite keeping the entire infrastructure of the city going really hits home. Which is why doing the kisses is real sweet, like you’re indulging in someone else’s interest and showing them that it’s chill and people can actually like ‘em.

Game's got some heavy hittin' emotional beats too, I ended up kissing everyone (which was a cute lil way of showing the boy's solidarity with the people of his town) and for a lot of the important NPCs, their plots had lots of pretty resonant moments, shouts out to Leo and Zombie Mika especially. Bonding with the Girl's parents was cute too, also shouts out the Funny Bone City/Batayan's arc.

Other than that though, this game got vibes and chill moments for days, paying attention to everyone's schedules and catching them at different moments, bondin' over shit while you do their individual questlines. Discovering all the other weirdos living underground in squalor, reminded me of moments when I was younger having to figure out shit to do with my friends all while realizing we might've only had like 8 bucks between us, some real class solidarity goin on. Also a whole lotta real ass moments occurred like me setting my alarm an hour late and missing the bus multiple times which was a minor frustration but it totally made the goofy kid simulator even more realistic.

Totally cute talking with the Girl as the game went on, stargazing with her all while playing coy about how you gotta prove yourself to not be some dumb punk and actually a good guy, makes that ending sweet as fuck, pure lovey dovey cuteness. Would def make me cry on the right day.

Loved this lil game, all about having nothing in your life but the love in your heart as you keep goin' til you can finally find happiness.

" are you ready for your zenith of the medium lessons? "

super mario brothers wonder gulped.
spider-man 2 kneeled.
baldur's gate 3 sweated profusely.
tears of the kingdom shuddered.
armored core vi fi- nah who am i kidding

" yes hiori, mano, meguru, kiriko, mamimi, kogane, sakuya, yuika, tenka, chiyuki, amana, chiyoko, rinze, kaho, natsuha, juri, fuyuko, asahi, mei, hinana, asahi, madoka, koito, nichika, hazuki, mikoto, hana, luca, and haruki. GLORY TO 283PRO !!!! "

Intergalactic guitar hero

I can remember writing my initial thoughts on Gitaroo Man Lives! during a rainy spring afternoon earlier this year and nearly the year's end I find myself coming back to it with a replay of the PlayStation 2 version. It's not much different barring the missing additional content, better resolution and framerate and quality of life (and also Flyin' to your heart in English in the PSP version) but it still has the same beating heart as always. I thought initially that I felt I didn't have too much to say about Gitaroo Man during my initial thoughts but as time moved on, the words swelled and expanded into more intricate thoughts on why I love this game. It's truly something special.

The story of Gitaroo Man feels ridiculous and yet extremely personal at the same time considering I could see myself easily sympathizing with U-1 during his journey of fully establishing himself in this universe and proving to the world that he isn't this awkward loser but someone with a soul, winning them over like a hero would, like a true Gitaroo Man. You battle objects, animals, a man in a bee outfit up until the spitting image of your worst enemy in playing the gitaroo (guitar) and proving your worth each time. An endless battle accompanied by some of the most emotional quiet moments making Gitaroo's Man short runtime something easy to come back granted you have the skill to beat the stages as intended.

Rhythm disguised as a battle, Gitaroo Man relies on a phase system followed by tracing for attacking and button inputs for defense. Starting most of the battles with gathering your strength, followed by the main event in which you fight it out with the finale being essentially a victory lap you can still screw up. The main three things you have to do is tune your analog stick in the right direction and hold down circle (or any face button really) to attack and rely on quick button prompts for defense. What it becomes is this surprisingly hectic experience after a while as this game can be pretty difficult if you don't have good enough reflexes to be able to defend yourself and quickly get knocked out, it'll take a bit but you can always get up and try again. Something to note is that Gitaroo Man Lives! (The PSP version) is known to be an easier version of the game so if completing it is your true goal, there's that option for you.

I always felt like music is something that improves a game more than just merely enhancing it from a general perspective. I really enjoy great video game music in general and Gitaroo Man is the true exception that without the music the game has, it wouldn't nearly be as good as it is. COIL managed to do an excellent job creating the soundtrack with various types of genres here. Traditional rock to reggae to even a little bit of shoegaze, I can say essentially every song here is a banger and the crown jewel of it all is the Legendary Theme. The fact that this this theme not only lives up to its name but also plays during the right time in the story turned this game into one of my personal favorites, I haven't really ever had an experience like that in a long time. The art is also extremely unique and creates this saturday morning anime vibe from the early 2000s that seems accurate considering when this game actually came out too.

Gitaroo Man is something I wished I played as a kid. I understood what it was like to be bullied and called a loser as a kid. There really wasn't a lot of media that gave me an idea on how to overcome that stuff nor really anything I could do but I felt like if I played this game, my life wouldn't be different but it would've been a little more bearable. It would be something I'd able to come back to when I was feeling little of myself and realize again and again that I have some worth in the world. I think that's why Gitaroo Man really hits it home for me purely on a personal level. It also helps that the music is amazing and the gameplay although challenging feels satisfying to pull off against these evil agents that only want to put you down, just like the bullies in real life. It's not just a game, it's honey-love.

The ultimate samurai fantasy

A beautiful yet morbid perspective into the invasion of Tsushima in 1274, Ghost of Tsushima manages to fulfill the samurai fantasy internalized in me throughout the years, having a great story that made me emotional at certain bits and somehow putting their own twist in the "ubisoft open world" formula that manages to bends but not break it in a stylish and incredible way. You can tell Sucker Punch has put a lot of effort into this title being a complete tonal shift from their previous works with Second Son with its super hero esque gameplay with a punk rock aesthetic into the historical grounded epic we have now.

The main story/tales of Jin Sakai's struggle with the invasion and keeping his ethics and doing whatever it takes to protect his home from the Mongols is an interesting topic to extend on here due to the opening of the game essentially setting the stage for the entirety of the game. I will also surprising recommend experiencing this game in Japanese with English subtitles considering I feel it does the game more justice and this is coming from someone that always prefers English audio most of the time even with Japanese games. Jin doesn't like what he's doing but he realizes he has to adapt and improvise considering his "samurai way" will just have him end up killed and leaving Tsushima to the Mongols. The supporting cast is also excellent having Yuna essentially being an early foil for Jin, his uncle who always supported him and the rest of the remaining few that survived that lend him their aid. I won't lie that there were a few emotional moments I didn't really expect to feel during this game and this all also in lies with the cinematography this game manages to have and excel in. The soundtrack feels like it comes from an epic samurai flick and elevates these moments even further as Jin delves into the mentality and mortality of his actions. The ending was extremely powerful and made the thirty hour journey worth it.

The side stories/tales offer a grander perspective on the conditions of what the people of Tsushima are suffering through. Almost every tale shows the desperation, tragedy, and sorrow the regular people went through as a cost of war. People will lose loved ones, people will want revenge against each other, people will make one final request of you before their final breath. One of the most tragic tales is one relating to Masako, one of the main supporting cast scouring the battlefield for her dead family and it's incredibly depressing as they talked about the various samurai's fate like a son taking the place of an old father or a best friend giving their life for the other. It felt thematically appropriate with the whole game and each of these side tales have such an emotional core in them that I didn't expect from this game. The main supporting casts also have their own chains of side tales as well and while mostly focused on revenge that stemmed from the mongol invasion, they really do a great job of fleshing out these characters that you wouldn't have had the chance in the main narrative.

The quest format and the exploration of Tsushima might be the most contentious topic about this game due to the fact that on the surface, it doesn't really reinvent the wheel but I don't think open world games need to if they're done with effort and care as Ghost of Tsushima has done. The overall exploration consists of a fog of war and markers on the map that could be a slew of activities and locations that empower Jin not only physically and mentally as well. The sense of direction used to guide you isn't a marker most of the time but the direction of the way the wind representative of your father spirit in which blowing which makes the journey more spiritual than most. Shinto Shrines which act as platforming obstacle courses reward you with a powerful charm and a rare resource for upgrading your bows, The hot springs locations act as a small moment for Jin to reflect on his situation and current events while serving the gameplay purpose of increasing his maximum health by a small amount each time he finds one, Bamboo strikes which act as a test of Jin's swordsmanship based on the real life activity of tameshigiri that relies on pressing the button sequence fast enough which rewards you with increased Resolve which servers as your means of healing and activating certain abilities, inari shrines that rely on following a fox around to the shrine that's hidden in the world that rewards you with enhanced charms and the ability to equip more. Some of the other activities mostly reward you with cosmetics such as writing haikus in specific areas via multiple choices and serves as another chance to refresh Jin's mind with the reward of a headband with the description of your own haiku in it despite not having too many options for each part of the haiku to begin with, pillars of honor that leave behind a sword and tanto redesign for Jin and the more combat intensive activities such as clearing the lighthouses and the duels across the island itself. I will say the duels are probably my favorite highlight of the side activities and it's a criminal shame there's so few of them. All of them are always in this beautiful landscape like near a waterfall or around the blossom petals dropping not to mention being the most challenging and fun part of the combat. There's also the standard collectible items that don't really serve too much of a purpose and the fortunate part is that you don't need to collect all of them for the platinum here. The best thing about completing this game is how seamless the whole experience was. You get an outfit pretty early on called the Traveler's Attire which essentially lets the wind guide you to these specific places and collectibles without the real tedium. Random events also happen that garner supplies and contribute to your own legend. Completing all of the outposts that reveal a bit of the map will eventually reveal all of the exploration spots on the maps which makes things even less tedious. I think some people won't like having everything revealed to them but it makes the game want you to platinum/100% it. All of this accompanying building your own legend. I actually love this system as it fits thematically with the game itself. The first rank is a broken down samurai with nothing going for him and by doing deeds, the main story and defeating mongols but later on, people will start to revere you and the mongols will almost fear you in shock as you become more powerful as these also grant health and resolve upgrades as well. Doing each side tale and special legendary ones that unlocks unique stuff felt like I was just building onto Jin's legacy even more and felt like I was truly becoming one of the most dangerous people in that era and the game does an excellent job presenting that idea to you. If I had one complaint about the exploration though, it would be the huge abundance of inari shrines in the game. While each activity has around 10-20 instances of it throughout the game, inari shrines results in a whopping 49 that will feel a bit repetitive after a while.

The way of the blade isn't the only set of skills Jin Sakai has during his own epic. He mainly has two styles of gameplay, the honorable samurai that faces his enemies at their face and the ghost that kills them from the shadows. Not only can he use a sword well but employs all sorts of tricks and equipment that lets him even the odds. First of all, I do recommend playing the game on Hard all the way through. It provides a decent challenge while still giving you the power fantasy of killing over ten mongols in a row with adequate skill but as always, play how you want as my opinions on the combat will stem from that difficulty. You have your standard fast regular attacks and charge attacks that will stagger enemies if applied enough pressure and the most important aspect about these is the stance system. You will get four stances throughout your playthrough and each one has different sword strikes and are more effective with a specific type of enemy such as one stance good against spear men and vice versa. Parrying is also extremely important here especially in duels as you have two forms of parrying, a regular parry which gives you a window to attack and a perfect parry which gives a bigger window to do even more damage. A cool aspect of this is that difficulty affects how tight the parry windows are so you can't spam the guard button and hope to get it off. The swordplay is incredibly satisfying but Jin doesn't only use his sword in combat. He has a variety of tools he uses as "the Ghost" such as kunai will provides multiple free staggers, smoke bombs that buy you some time and grab some free kills on top of that, sticky bombs which sticks to a person and can one someone most of the time and flame oil you can use to go through guard heavy enemies when needed. He also doesn't need to fight from melee range either as he has a half bow which is faster, less damage and used for medium range combat which uses regular arrows and fire arrows. He also has a variety of other tools that mostly aid in his endeavors in stealth. Bell chimes serve a specific purpose of luring one singular person away from a location and firecrackers draw away as many people as there are. Jin also has a few more techniques and tools at his disposal but I don't want to ruin the surprise of receiving these tools.

It's not a samurai fantasy without the fashion and the techniques you can do in Ghost of Tsushima though. You have your standard samurai armor, the ronin garb, the vagabond look also not to mention a lot of hats and masks to shield your own identity. Almost everything I can think of what I want to wear in a samurai game is truly here and each have their own gameplay effects that affects your playstyle such as more health, less detection and more resolve gains. You can freely ignore these at a certain point unless you truly love to minmax but looking the part of how you want to look is something huge for me. Jin can learn specific moves that can make quick work of enemies as the cost of resolve which also acts as extra health when needed making it a risk or reward scenario but the animations for each swing and technique is satisfying.

You can tell they are proud of the soundtrack and the art design of the world themselves. The syncing of specific moments with the orchestra playing their ass off with a motif that gives off hope and desperation. Exploring Tsushima just for the visual spectacle is worth the entry fee alone as well. Traversing fields full of vibrant flowers makes the game feel like a next generation experience that it's almost surprising this game was on a PlayStation 4 initially. The photo mode is proof they are proud of their work. An example of creating something beautiful would be this screenshot I took using said photo mode. The luscious fields almost feels deceiving as the horrors of war and invasion are also there front and center. Burned bodies, beheaded peasants and the total chaos that the mongols have been known for is front and center and some of it also feels grotesque in a sense.

I also wanted to mention some things that are specific to the Director's Cut version of the game on PlayStation 5 that really enhances a few things about the game that I think are important. A huge majority of this is the Iki Island expansion which provides more of Ghost of Tsushima. A small map but new activities such as using your controller to tilt with the melody of the flute, archery challenges and specific puzzle shrines that require specific solutions along with some extra bamboo strikes and baths for additional stats. The overall story relies on Jin's relationship with his father and delves into the aftermath of certain events along with introducing some new characters. A short and sweet expansion nonetheless and even more content for a game that has a lot of it already. The PlayStation 5 version of this game is truly impressive for two factors being that it's already in 4K 60 fps regardless of the setting which makes the game even more gorgeous and essentially no loading times even through using fast travel or even booting up the game. Small additions includes japanese lip syncing which is needed and haptic feedback which is used wonderfully and the adaptive triggers mostly used for the bows. Not much else other than the digital deluxe stuff here as well.

One of the most surprising aspects of this game is that it has a multiplayer mode with the title of Legends. I haven't played a lot of it but it was a pretty fun experience despite being completely free with the main game. You have four classes you can play as with their own playstyle as you go through missions and some specific story events even. The great gameplay is still here but more reliant on teamwork such as needing to kill two people at the exact same time for them to actually die. There's also a survival mode and even a three part raid from what I read in the menu. A truly impressive suite of things to do which gives the game a bit more value in an already expansive game.

The most obvious influences this game takes from is Akira Kurosawa films and even has a mode dedicated to him replicating his original black and white movies. I can't speak of Kurosawa only really watching Seven Samurai (specifically because of this game) but I can say Ghost of Tsushima shares the same human spirit that the movie had of banding together in the face of adversity. But I digress, I almost forget that Ghost of Tsushima which is a extremely japanese centric game based on real life history of the island was made by an American studio. They have taken the time to really nail the feel and manages to be respectful of what was and what is. One of the ever growing fewer reasons to have a PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 5 and I hope people get to experience this gem. If you love samurai, you owe it to yourself to play this game. The Ubisoft open world formula might be stigmatized because of said company but Sucker Punch proves they can nail the formula when given enough effort which puts Ubisoft to shame.

Strength in every step
A fate neither of us want
This is where we part

Truly legendary

If there was ever a game to refresh the jaded thoughts I have about gaming as a whole, it would be playing Gitaroo Man during a rainy friday afternoon. Even though it just happened, it'll be one of those memories I'll always remember of games I've played like playing the PlayStation 3 version of Skyrim during a snow day with nothing but fritos and a big gulp of Mountain Dew from 7-11.

The soundtrack has no right being as good as it is for a game like this along with experiencing U-1's journey especially despite the early 2000's anime movie vibes (which I really dig here) also somehow having some really great emotional moments that caught me off guard completely. The gameplay is really fun but can be pretty difficult along with the carpal tunnel you'll get after the final boss. Despite being two hours, it's full of raw emotion of the positive kind that it's hard to describe. When a game has a song called Legendary Theme and lives up to its name in spades, there's something special here.

I can go on in detail like I usually do about these games but sometimes less is truly more with something you really enjoyed. It's hard having confidence in yourself from my personal experience and it's always your worst enemy to the point a character will literally barrage you with the intrusive thoughts you have when you don't believe in yourself and despite all that managing to break though is something anyone should be proud of. A musical journey through the stars becoming who you can truly be.

Thank you, I won't give up yet.

Dystopia, stylish, jabroni

It's really hard to sum up my thoughts about the 25th Ward: The Silver Case due to its nature and the content held within being so well versed into it fully embracing the digital age. Suda51's outlandish and grounded writing is still here in full force along with the characters making this a very strong sequel to the Silver Case. Once again into the depths of the 24 Wards + 1 in order to kill our former selves and the time before.

Even after completing the game, I still feel like my brain was turned into mush by the story in a good way. There are no real main focuses here and instead relies on three perspectives from the 25th Ward itself. These three perspectives even then divulges the focus away from their intended protagonists at times as well and feels more about a story of the 25th Ward itself rather than these specific people at times. Even I will admit the story can be pretty hard to wrap my brain around sometimes but what's here is interesting and fits as a sequel to The Silver Case from a narrative perspective extremely well. The 25th Ward is the result of having a perfect standardized lifestyle and once again the return of Kamui Uehara wants to put a stop to it. There were some segments that I felt dragged on a bit that didn't really add much other than just filling time such as one example where you would get a short scene and then be introduced to a wall of text that looks like a journal entry. Now I thought the content of both the journal entries and the scenes actually playing out themselves to be great, the way they were structured really played with my personal impatience a bit trying to get the next scrap of information that felt like I was a roller coaster of cliffhangers but Suda51 is known for introducing tedium into his games so it doesn't surprise me anymore. A brief note about the endings is that the concept itself is actually pretty cool, in the end it really just didn't hit for me since I felt like I didn't get any real surreal moments or closure about some characters in the end but I can also account for that failing to understand certain elements of the story. That said I really did enjoy when the game introduced bizarre concepts and characters that question what even happened and if it even happened.

The gameplay is more streamlined which I feel is both a blessing and a curse. It controls easier but it can be pain to move around sometimes but you're only really gonna feel this during one gameplay segment that almost made me run out of my patience. Nonetheless the overall gameplay loop is interacting with the world with an ever changing dice on the bottom right of your screen that gives commands when you need them with a heavy amount of reading to boot. The puzzles are pretty easy overall with some just remembering it from a past conversation or the characters eventually giving you hints before. Placebo which is a perspective in this game returns and it's a bit different compared to the other perspectives as you'll mostly be in one spot interacting with a computer and even then they managed to put a tedious dungeon maze in that segment despite not moving anywhere somehow but I digress. You'll mostly be reading a lot and have a few moments of trial and error for these Placebo segments but it's few and far between.

I think the greatest praise I can give this game is in its visual design and soundtrack as a whole. The pastel three dimensional environments along with the monochrome color scheme with the selective use of color is amazing here. It feels like they went with Parade's artstyle and elevated it to a brand new echelon of what it could truly be with how almost every character has a look and feel of dread and despair on them. The soundtrack for this game is probably my second favorite "kill the past" soundtrack in any game. The disgusting bass in the story selection screen, somber electronica during specific moments and The Silver Case remix here is great too so it's automatically a great soundtrack in my eyes and ears. If I can display one song that represents the games in an obtuse way, it would be Crime Power with how the flutes begin the song itself along then the drums and other sounds I can't even describe after going into an eerie calmness throughout the whole track but somehow turning into a Playstation Final Fantasy track for like ten seconds somewhere in the middle.

I honestly enjoyed my time with the 25th Ward. I really enjoy crazy narratives like this that make you feel lost although I think the game made me feel a bit too lost at certain points wrapped in a tiny paper wrap of tedium which although intentional only hampered my experience a little. But honestly if you don't have the attention span of a walnut like I do then you'll really enjoy this one especially if you're a fan of reading. A stylish and bizarre adventure game in where you won't even know what's happening, why it's happening and if it's even happening.

Do the graphics suck? Yes.
Does it run like shit? Yes.
Do the load times suck? Yes.
Are all the assets reused? Yes.
Is this one of the most unique, creative and fun games in the franchise? Absolutely.

Lightning Returns's unique structure, combat and customization make it a total joy to experience. The key is how well all aspects of the game work with each other.

You want to do sidequests because aside from getting their cool little subplots you earn stats, equipment and extra in-game days with more quests, rewards and things to do. You're on a timer, so you want to get good at the combat because defeating hard enemies means being able to stop time for longer periods.

How do you get good at the combat? By playing the game! Experiment with the garbs, accessories and commands to find the most efficient way at defeating every enemy type. You'll not only get a lot of drops to complete sidequests and improve your commands but you'll also eventually make the monster extinct and earn a new (and usually very good) accessory or weapon along with materials to upgrade your commands to the next tier.

In sum: we have a really fun combat system that's extremely rewarding in every way which complements the extremely rewarding sidequest system which again furthers your combat options and capabilities.

The flow of the game feels very organic, I wanted to do things because they were fun and by doing fun things I unlocked even more fun things while also being handsomely rewarded in the process and understanding how I should play the game more efficiently bit by bit. Earning 100% feels more like a side effect rather than a goal, which to me is great design. I really loved this game and everyone should give it a fair shot, you might love it too.

Travis Scott's 2nd LP 'Rodeo' is one of trap's most important statements to date. It never has a dull moment with blazing 808's, heavy guitars, and experimental esque production to give it's intense and confident feel to it .

Trap was having it's breakout when Travis Scott came into the rap realm and he would only continue to revolutionise it with his unique style and definition of trap music. To compliment this album greatly, Travis would have features from some of trap's greats like 'The Weeknd', 'Chief Keef', 'Kanye West' and 'Future'.

Only being released a few years ago 'Rodeo' will continue to impact music in the near future but in the mean time while people anticipate for the release of the rumoured 'Utopia' Travis' alleged 4th LP his print will be left on trap music with this splendid album for years to come.

9.2/10

favs: pray 4 love, 3500, piss on your grave

Celebrating science fiction

A journey into the realm of science fiction and Japanese media, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim manages an expansive and grand narrative rarely seen in the realm of video gaming as it is. It's almost experimental in how open the format is for how much layers each character and the overall story in that you can choose how to progress through it. Some confusion will be warranted but it will all come together in the end not to mention everything else about this game is great for what it is.

The narrative and the characters that drive Vanillaware's epic are the star and show of the whole experience. It's what you're going to be mostly buying or playing this game for and I'm happy to say it has met and exceeded my very high expectations. There's a lot of intrigue and character development here and each time you play Remembrance (which is the narrative 2D adventure mode) and even some in Destruction (The strategy gameplay mode). Each segment will provide a piece of the puzzle and new context to each person's story and saying more than that will be a disservice to yourself.

The gameplay is something I can go into a little more depth in here. Remembrance is the meat of the experience is comprises of the usage of keywords to advance the plot or get information from certain characters. Destruction on the other hand is a bit more than that in terms of what you'll be able to do. As the title of the game dictates, you'll have thirteen units to customize and upgrade in whatever fashion you want within the realms of their generational abilities. An example is one generation being better at range and vice versa. The depth of customization isn't huge but it's enough that you won't feel bored with the mode here. Some units share move sets but some units only get access to very specific abilities so whichever you want to use is up to you. The actual gameplay loop for Destruction consist of a wave defense style where you have to either defend a terminal for a set amount of time or defeat all of the enemies and it rarely changes in objectives sadly. I will say though later on, enemies will completely hoard the mode and using abilities that completely destroy a portion of the map in an special effects explosion is pretty satisfying. There is a chain score mechanic in which if you're going for a high score you can albeit with the mechanic of brain overload that prevents you from overusing pilots so if you're someone that likes to go for that, keep everyone balanced. Analysis technically serves as the third mode in the general experience but it's more of just information and previous events you can view along with using the mystery points you get from playing the game to unlock more explanation on specifics.

The art design is definitely something to be praised here. The character designs and the backgrounds look amazing especially on the OLED Switch screen from how I experienced it. The way the game even does lighting is amazing or how it manages to do shadows in the background that I sometimes forget it's even a two dimensional game sometimes.

The soundtrack for the game is great honestly as it mostly revolves around calming music during Remembrance and high energy electronica during the fighting segments such as this banger but we all know what the best track truly is and it's this.

If you're a fan of the genre of science fiction, you owe it to yourself to play this game. Vanillaware manages to create one of the most ambitious narratives and deploys so many threads that eventually pay off that it's almost surprising to say the least. A Japanese love letter to the genre.