RenzoSMZ
The ending really does tie the whole thing together
Almost everything good about this game is tainted in some way
-Want to explore beautiful, well-designed environments? Rewards and places are locked away by field skills.
-Want to be fully engaged in a deep and satisfying combat system? Have fun rolling for a good blade in gacha.
-Want to listen to a great soundtrack? No catch with this one, it's simply great.
-Want to experience a well-written, thought-out story? No catch with this one, it's just bad.
-Want to explore beautiful, well-designed environments? Rewards and places are locked away by field skills.
-Want to be fully engaged in a deep and satisfying combat system? Have fun rolling for a good blade in gacha.
-Want to listen to a great soundtrack? No catch with this one, it's simply great.
-Want to experience a well-written, thought-out story? No catch with this one, it's just bad.
2019
Best telekenesis simulator.
2023
So I've read this manga called "Kokou no Hito" ("The Climber") this year. A fantastic read about a boy rejected by people finding peace (and himself) in mountain climbing. If I hadn't read it I wouldn't be nearly as interested (and nearly as satisfied) with Jusant as I am right now.
I have very little to complain about this one. Sure, it's a bit easy and the game can jank out at times but it's the closest I've felt to playing a Fumito Ueda game in a while. Also, I was reminded of Outer Wilds every time I read through email correspondence of people who used to live on the tower, so that's a plus. Play it on whatever settings enable Lumen since it's a great showcase of Unreal 5, really gorgeous stuff.
I have very little to complain about this one. Sure, it's a bit easy and the game can jank out at times but it's the closest I've felt to playing a Fumito Ueda game in a while. Also, I was reminded of Outer Wilds every time I read through email correspondence of people who used to live on the tower, so that's a plus. Play it on whatever settings enable Lumen since it's a great showcase of Unreal 5, really gorgeous stuff.
2023
Art's goated but the writing and voice acting are just ok.
2022
A fun little dungeon crawler let down by inconsistent tone and overborrowing from its influences.
2023
The world's prettiest inventory management game
2022
This review contains spoilers
8======D
2007
Do great themes and writing excuse poor gameplay? Not really, especially since the story isn't even that engaging until the last 20% of the game or so. Hope sequel's better.
2020
An incredibly special game that left a very positive impression on me despite being obviously unfinished. There's just no other game that has the same scope and attention to detail.
I highly recommend waiting for Definitive Edition or w/e the heck it's gonna be called and then jumping in, unless you tend to go through these kinds of games multiple times.
I highly recommend waiting for Definitive Edition or w/e the heck it's gonna be called and then jumping in, unless you tend to go through these kinds of games multiple times.
A neat little epilogue that in many ways improves upon the base game.
Many mechanics have been streamlined and are not nearly as tedious: heart-to-hearts are now voiced and no longer gated behind affinity, gem crafting has been replaced with simply getting gems from deposits, skill trees have been cut entirely (ok I kinda miss that one), there are way less quests and the ones that are here feel like there's been more effort put into them.
Cutscene choreography is miles above anything in the base game.
Bionis' Shoulder has been incredibly fun to explore and I can only hope locations in the rest of Xenoblade games are nearly as good.
Music's a banger
Kino and Nene very cute.
Many mechanics have been streamlined and are not nearly as tedious: heart-to-hearts are now voiced and no longer gated behind affinity, gem crafting has been replaced with simply getting gems from deposits, skill trees have been cut entirely (ok I kinda miss that one), there are way less quests and the ones that are here feel like there's been more effort put into them.
Cutscene choreography is miles above anything in the base game.
Bionis' Shoulder has been incredibly fun to explore and I can only hope locations in the rest of Xenoblade games are nearly as good.
Music's a banger
Kino and Nene very cute.
Oh man, if your game needs 20 hours to get really interesting then you've got a problem. And still, I don't think I've gotten that emotional over a game at the end in a long, long while.
My first experience with Xenoblade Chronicles was the 3D version on the New 2DS XL, believe it or not. I've wanted a game to test drive my new purchase and this game seemed up to the task. I've played a bit, gotten to Satorl Marsh, and realized that maybe playing a game known for its SCALE on a tiny tiny screen ain't the best idea, and promptly put the game away into my backlog until fairer skies came.
Definitive Edition turned out to be just the thing - QoL improvements all over and updated character models to put the game more in line with its sequels were just what the doctor ordered and so I decided to give this game a shot while waiting for Baldur's Gate 3.
This game has a really rough start. There isn't anything necessarily horribly wrong with it, but it's pretty generic. I don't have anything against good old revenge stories but over the years this game's gotten quite a reputation and I expected more. It doesn't help that its mmo-esque combat and HORRIBLE side-quests (getting 4 "Monster Slaying" quests from the same NPC in a row is NOT okay) really drag the overall enjoyment of the game down. I also hated how the game has these "Heart-to-Heart" moments, where characters just chat about what they think and give much-needed dimensions to the cast, but when you first come across them they usually require party member you don't yet have in your party or obscene affinity ratings.
What kept me going was, ironically, the game's reputation. The thing that hampered my enjoyment was also the reason why I didn't just stop playing - I needed to know. Well, that and Dickson - when there's Dickson on screen you just know that something spicy is brewing. There's also the phenomenal soundtrack, gorgeous view and smartly designed environments and very unique, masterfully directed voicework, without which I wouldn't nearly be attached to the game's characters as I'm now.
As it goes on, more and more of the plot starts to unravel, you get more party members and skills to play with and it all culminates with a truly beautiful ending that really ties the whole experience together. There are a lot of rough edges to this game but I recommend that you give it a shot and stick to it. I don't regret my time with it at all and I'm really happy that I've got 3 more games of the same vein to dig my teeth into.
My first experience with Xenoblade Chronicles was the 3D version on the New 2DS XL, believe it or not. I've wanted a game to test drive my new purchase and this game seemed up to the task. I've played a bit, gotten to Satorl Marsh, and realized that maybe playing a game known for its SCALE on a tiny tiny screen ain't the best idea, and promptly put the game away into my backlog until fairer skies came.
Definitive Edition turned out to be just the thing - QoL improvements all over and updated character models to put the game more in line with its sequels were just what the doctor ordered and so I decided to give this game a shot while waiting for Baldur's Gate 3.
This game has a really rough start. There isn't anything necessarily horribly wrong with it, but it's pretty generic. I don't have anything against good old revenge stories but over the years this game's gotten quite a reputation and I expected more. It doesn't help that its mmo-esque combat and HORRIBLE side-quests (getting 4 "Monster Slaying" quests from the same NPC in a row is NOT okay) really drag the overall enjoyment of the game down. I also hated how the game has these "Heart-to-Heart" moments, where characters just chat about what they think and give much-needed dimensions to the cast, but when you first come across them they usually require party member you don't yet have in your party or obscene affinity ratings.
What kept me going was, ironically, the game's reputation. The thing that hampered my enjoyment was also the reason why I didn't just stop playing - I needed to know. Well, that and Dickson - when there's Dickson on screen you just know that something spicy is brewing. There's also the phenomenal soundtrack, gorgeous view and smartly designed environments and very unique, masterfully directed voicework, without which I wouldn't nearly be attached to the game's characters as I'm now.
As it goes on, more and more of the plot starts to unravel, you get more party members and skills to play with and it all culminates with a truly beautiful ending that really ties the whole experience together. There are a lot of rough edges to this game but I recommend that you give it a shot and stick to it. I don't regret my time with it at all and I'm really happy that I've got 3 more games of the same vein to dig my teeth into.
I've never felt as conflicted on a game as with Tears of the Kingdom. I've got a solid 80 hours of fun out of it but I still came away feeling frustrated.
This game has flashes of brilliance that are diluted by being a sequel to a game that was incredibly innovative but had some issues that had to be ironed out - and for the most part they have not been. I'm incredibly mad that I've wasted so much of my life on useless shrine and korok cutscenes that I had to skip through every time. Most of the rewards in the open world and your only real reward is solving the puzzle it's attached to, but even that isn't without its faults since a lot of them, especially on sky islands - contain the solution next to the problem. It would be amazing having to source materials for building rather than them being strewn about the place pretty much freeing the player from any inconvenience. I also want to slap whoever thought Sage abilities have to be attached to their owners - activation buttons running away from you is something out of a flash game from early 00's and should not be in a game that actually wants the player to have a good time.
The game was at its best when it presented its mysteries as is, without any comment, with the player left playing amateur archeologist a-la outer wilds. Delving into long abandoned temples and discovering forgotten remnants of an ancient race was hella fun and I wish there was more of this.
Ultimately, my biggest disappointment is that this game is attached to Breath of the Wild. You can forgive a lot of BotW's faults just because it was so god damn innovative but you can't make the same case with TotK. They've spent so much time developing it and yet so many things got away from them. I just hope the next Zelda game isn't cross-platform because god forbid it's limited by switch hardware.
This game has flashes of brilliance that are diluted by being a sequel to a game that was incredibly innovative but had some issues that had to be ironed out - and for the most part they have not been. I'm incredibly mad that I've wasted so much of my life on useless shrine and korok cutscenes that I had to skip through every time. Most of the rewards in the open world and your only real reward is solving the puzzle it's attached to, but even that isn't without its faults since a lot of them, especially on sky islands - contain the solution next to the problem. It would be amazing having to source materials for building rather than them being strewn about the place pretty much freeing the player from any inconvenience. I also want to slap whoever thought Sage abilities have to be attached to their owners - activation buttons running away from you is something out of a flash game from early 00's and should not be in a game that actually wants the player to have a good time.
The game was at its best when it presented its mysteries as is, without any comment, with the player left playing amateur archeologist a-la outer wilds. Delving into long abandoned temples and discovering forgotten remnants of an ancient race was hella fun and I wish there was more of this.
Ultimately, my biggest disappointment is that this game is attached to Breath of the Wild. You can forgive a lot of BotW's faults just because it was so god damn innovative but you can't make the same case with TotK. They've spent so much time developing it and yet so many things got away from them. I just hope the next Zelda game isn't cross-platform because god forbid it's limited by switch hardware.
There isn't much to say. This is just more Outer Wilds, which is a great thing considering the base game is a masterpiece. It's only hampered by the fact that it is kinda tacked on and limited by base games mechanics and is an iterative kind of dlc rather than innovative.
After Fire Emblem: Three Houses I was left craving more of that TRPG goodness so I went back to the game many consider to be the quintessential (heh) Fire Emblem™ experience.
It sure is a classic. A fair bit simplistic but great nonetheless. The story is tropey as heck, full of gallant, honourable knights and evil wizards who want to take over the world, but it does a good enough job to give each battle context. On the gameplay front I can't say I have any real complaints, besides, it's been too long since I've played SoV and Three Houses is too different to make and real comparisons. The only thing that I'm really pissed about is how the support system in GBA games works. I don't want my character interactions to be gated by parking my units for turns upon turns on every sieze map. I've made my piece with it as I start Sacred Stones and from what I understand it doesn't get worse than this.
P.S RIP Dorcas, my strongest silliest goober. Died at a hand of a certain horse-riding witch right at the end of the game. Damn you, 6% crits.
It sure is a classic. A fair bit simplistic but great nonetheless. The story is tropey as heck, full of gallant, honourable knights and evil wizards who want to take over the world, but it does a good enough job to give each battle context. On the gameplay front I can't say I have any real complaints, besides, it's been too long since I've played SoV and Three Houses is too different to make and real comparisons. The only thing that I'm really pissed about is how the support system in GBA games works. I don't want my character interactions to be gated by parking my units for turns upon turns on every sieze map. I've made my piece with it as I start Sacred Stones and from what I understand it doesn't get worse than this.
P.S RIP Dorcas, my strongest silliest goober. Died at a hand of a certain horse-riding witch right at the end of the game. Damn you, 6% crits.