Shami
This game is like Sekiro but revved up even faster. It's not nearly as good as Sekiro, but it's a great game in it's own right.
It's interesting to see a different take on the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Seeing characters I recognise from Dynasty Warriors pop up was kind of weird but also kind of cool.
I look forward to playing Dynasty Warriors Origins and seeing how much of the story is the same as this, but with less demons.
It's interesting to see a different take on the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Seeing characters I recognise from Dynasty Warriors pop up was kind of weird but also kind of cool.
I look forward to playing Dynasty Warriors Origins and seeing how much of the story is the same as this, but with less demons.
What the shell. I was not expecting to love this game as much as I do.
Just an all around excellent souls-like game. The writing is superb, it's challenging but doesn't overdo it and the soundtrack is so coddamn good.
Just an all around excellent souls-like game. The writing is superb, it's challenging but doesn't overdo it and the soundtrack is so coddamn good.
2011
Playing this has given me a new found appreciation for Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Rebirth. Anyone complaining about that game going off the rails and becoming too much like Kingdom Hearts needs to see what this game does with the world set up XIII.
I'll start with my positive thoughts on the game. For something that was made in 18 months, it's actually quite impressive. The bulk of the design work for the combat was obviously already done but there are some smart, slight changes here that improve upon the already fantastic battle system. Being able to change leaders and no more 2 second animation when changing paradigms for the first time in a battle are welcome additions.
It's also a much less linear game, clearly a response to the criticisms of the incredibly straightforward area's of the previous game. Gone is the corridor level design in favour of more open area's with actual people to talk to. There's also the inclusion of a handful of minigames to break up the monotony that was ever present in the previous game. Clearly the developers understood that it wasn't just the level design that made sections of the previous game feel like a drag.
Unfortunately, the game just didn't have the time or scope to make these changes meaningful. It's the very definition of missing the wood for the trees.
The combat is vastly improved, but the game's difficulty curve is a complete mess. I fought most battles I encountered and did what I thought to be a conservative amount of side content and found the majority of the game to incredibly easy... until the final dungeon/boss which then became way too difficult. In 13, the potential to level up was capped so the developers were always able to design fights around a very small range of party power levels and thus, every fight felt engaging and challenging, but not too challenging. Obviously that approach was met with some backlash but the alternative this game presents left the combat feeling unsatisfying.
I did find it interesting that the majority of battles don't give that much CP, and the majority of that levelling currency will come from the side content so this difficulty spike at the end really encourages you to go back and do more of the side content. However, when I finally returned to the last dungeon area I had completely outleveled everything, including the final boss. The difficulty curve in 13 was so perfect that it's a shame it wasn't able to be recreated here.
The area's being open is also a nice idea, but the area's are filled with nothingness and just leads to constant backtracking for quests. There's nothing interesting and meaningful in the world. Gone are the enemies roaming the world and in their place are randomly placed quest items that only serve as a way to keep you running back and forth with nothing interesting going on. I'm completely fine with reused area's/assets, but when you're asking me to run through an area for the 4th or 5th time, looking for invisible items to throw my moogle at, it ends up feeling just as tedious as the previous game.
I'm not even gonna talk about the moogle throwing mechanic.
The story itself isn't totally without merit. It's a non linear time travel story that doesn't get over complicated, which I think is commendable. I also think Caius, the villain, is actually pretty well fleshed out and lightyears ahead of the previous game's villain, who is basically nonexistent.
However, the bulk of your time is spent with Noel, Serah and the Moogle and unfortunately they're just not as interesting as the villain. In 13, the party was diverse and lead to a plethora of interesting interactions but here, Serah and Noel don't really play off of each other that well, and their relationship wears out it's welcome sooner rather than later.
Perhaps the biggest disappointment in the story for me was the treatment of the party members from the previous game. While X-2 felt like a fun epilogue that allowed you to get a glimpse of those character' lives after the events of X, XIII-2 basically doesn't even try to continue the excellent character work of XIII. I guess it comes with the territory in being a less character driven story, but Snow (the literal love interest of one of the main characters) being relegated to a single chapter that teases things that are not resolved in any way is a travesty. Sazh is basically non existent and used as an incentive for DLC. Vanille and Fang are completely absent (which given the circumstances, I was completely fine with) and Lightning, while important to the story, has only a handful of appearances. Hope is arguably the only character that has a satisfying arc, but even he is fodder for the time travel shenanigans at hand.
Ultimately, there's stuff I enjoyed about the game but when it comes down to it, this game feels incredibly rushed and the interesting idea's presented are both underdeveloped and ignore the strengths of the previous game.
I did like the ending, and I'm happy to have crossed another Final Fantasy game off the to play list, but I still think this is a bad game that has no respect for the story and world of XIII.
I'll start with my positive thoughts on the game. For something that was made in 18 months, it's actually quite impressive. The bulk of the design work for the combat was obviously already done but there are some smart, slight changes here that improve upon the already fantastic battle system. Being able to change leaders and no more 2 second animation when changing paradigms for the first time in a battle are welcome additions.
It's also a much less linear game, clearly a response to the criticisms of the incredibly straightforward area's of the previous game. Gone is the corridor level design in favour of more open area's with actual people to talk to. There's also the inclusion of a handful of minigames to break up the monotony that was ever present in the previous game. Clearly the developers understood that it wasn't just the level design that made sections of the previous game feel like a drag.
Unfortunately, the game just didn't have the time or scope to make these changes meaningful. It's the very definition of missing the wood for the trees.
The combat is vastly improved, but the game's difficulty curve is a complete mess. I fought most battles I encountered and did what I thought to be a conservative amount of side content and found the majority of the game to incredibly easy... until the final dungeon/boss which then became way too difficult. In 13, the potential to level up was capped so the developers were always able to design fights around a very small range of party power levels and thus, every fight felt engaging and challenging, but not too challenging. Obviously that approach was met with some backlash but the alternative this game presents left the combat feeling unsatisfying.
I did find it interesting that the majority of battles don't give that much CP, and the majority of that levelling currency will come from the side content so this difficulty spike at the end really encourages you to go back and do more of the side content. However, when I finally returned to the last dungeon area I had completely outleveled everything, including the final boss. The difficulty curve in 13 was so perfect that it's a shame it wasn't able to be recreated here.
The area's being open is also a nice idea, but the area's are filled with nothingness and just leads to constant backtracking for quests. There's nothing interesting and meaningful in the world. Gone are the enemies roaming the world and in their place are randomly placed quest items that only serve as a way to keep you running back and forth with nothing interesting going on. I'm completely fine with reused area's/assets, but when you're asking me to run through an area for the 4th or 5th time, looking for invisible items to throw my moogle at, it ends up feeling just as tedious as the previous game.
I'm not even gonna talk about the moogle throwing mechanic.
The story itself isn't totally without merit. It's a non linear time travel story that doesn't get over complicated, which I think is commendable. I also think Caius, the villain, is actually pretty well fleshed out and lightyears ahead of the previous game's villain, who is basically nonexistent.
However, the bulk of your time is spent with Noel, Serah and the Moogle and unfortunately they're just not as interesting as the villain. In 13, the party was diverse and lead to a plethora of interesting interactions but here, Serah and Noel don't really play off of each other that well, and their relationship wears out it's welcome sooner rather than later.
Perhaps the biggest disappointment in the story for me was the treatment of the party members from the previous game. While X-2 felt like a fun epilogue that allowed you to get a glimpse of those character' lives after the events of X, XIII-2 basically doesn't even try to continue the excellent character work of XIII. I guess it comes with the territory in being a less character driven story, but Snow (the literal love interest of one of the main characters) being relegated to a single chapter that teases things that are not resolved in any way is a travesty. Sazh is basically non existent and used as an incentive for DLC. Vanille and Fang are completely absent (which given the circumstances, I was completely fine with) and Lightning, while important to the story, has only a handful of appearances. Hope is arguably the only character that has a satisfying arc, but even he is fodder for the time travel shenanigans at hand.
Ultimately, there's stuff I enjoyed about the game but when it comes down to it, this game feels incredibly rushed and the interesting idea's presented are both underdeveloped and ignore the strengths of the previous game.
I did like the ending, and I'm happy to have crossed another Final Fantasy game off the to play list, but I still think this is a bad game that has no respect for the story and world of XIII.
While my interest in the first person military shooter has waned over the years, this is still one of the best FPS campaigns I've ever played. Those last moments still give me goosebumps.
Though the campaign alone is not what makes this an all time favourite to me because on top of a fun, challenging single player, the multiplayer is really the thing I spent the most time with. I didn't bother trying to load it up on this playthrough but the memories of playing this for months on end in 2007 will stick with me forever.
Though the campaign alone is not what makes this an all time favourite to me because on top of a fun, challenging single player, the multiplayer is really the thing I spent the most time with. I didn't bother trying to load it up on this playthrough but the memories of playing this for months on end in 2007 will stick with me forever.
2009
I enjoyed this game when it first came out and 14 years later I still think this is an incredibly underrated entry in the Final Fantasy saga.
I don't disagree with a lot of the criticism, it's certainly incredibly linear and it handholds the player for way too long before opening up but at the same time it excels in area's where other Final Fantasy games don't.
For starters (and the thing I enjoyed most about the game) the story, the characters and the world. This felt like the first Final Fantasy game to make every single character feel important, and maintain their importance to the very end of the game.
In previous games, there were always characters that felt less important to the plot the further in you get. Sometimes it was because they were optional (see 1/3 of the FFVI cast), others it was just because they just weren't important to the overarching plot (see basically everyone except Zidane in FFIX). This isn't inherently a bad thing but for the first time in the series, 13 shines the spotlight on every single character and develops the relationships between them more so than any previous entry. There's even a point where 4 of the 6 characters intentionally decide to go opposite directions, with different objectives in mind.
Another area this game excels is in the difficulty curve. I feel like most Final Fantasy games reach a point of basically becoming stomping grounds for your characters, with the last bosses feeling like pushovers to your 9999+ damage wrecking crews.
Final Fantasy 13 manages to stay challenging through to the very end. It does so by very much constraining the upper limit of growth your characters can reach. It's an interesting solution to the balancing issue these games have always faced and it left me engaging with the combat for far longer than I would have otherwise.
This is a double edged sword though, because by removing the ability to out level the enemies, you're removing a core part of the franchise' identity and a lot of people weren't into that. I get it, but in my eyes it lead to a much more satisfying difficulty curve that kept the gameplay engaging.
Ultimately, I'm able to overlook the game's numerous shortcomings in favour of appreciating the things it gets right. In hindsight, a lot of the linearity seems to be the result of Square Enix struggling to adapt to the demands of developing HD games. This project was announced as a trilogy, clearly a means to recoup the increased development costs and given how much longer it would take for 15 and 16 to come out, it's clear they struggled with this issue for a very long time.
At the end of the day, Final Fantasy at it's core is about a good story and a rich, layered world and 13 delivers that in spades. Definitely a top 5 game in the franchise for me.
Oh, and there's a baby chocobo that lives in a dudes afro, so like, best game ever.
I don't disagree with a lot of the criticism, it's certainly incredibly linear and it handholds the player for way too long before opening up but at the same time it excels in area's where other Final Fantasy games don't.
For starters (and the thing I enjoyed most about the game) the story, the characters and the world. This felt like the first Final Fantasy game to make every single character feel important, and maintain their importance to the very end of the game.
In previous games, there were always characters that felt less important to the plot the further in you get. Sometimes it was because they were optional (see 1/3 of the FFVI cast), others it was just because they just weren't important to the overarching plot (see basically everyone except Zidane in FFIX). This isn't inherently a bad thing but for the first time in the series, 13 shines the spotlight on every single character and develops the relationships between them more so than any previous entry. There's even a point where 4 of the 6 characters intentionally decide to go opposite directions, with different objectives in mind.
Another area this game excels is in the difficulty curve. I feel like most Final Fantasy games reach a point of basically becoming stomping grounds for your characters, with the last bosses feeling like pushovers to your 9999+ damage wrecking crews.
Final Fantasy 13 manages to stay challenging through to the very end. It does so by very much constraining the upper limit of growth your characters can reach. It's an interesting solution to the balancing issue these games have always faced and it left me engaging with the combat for far longer than I would have otherwise.
This is a double edged sword though, because by removing the ability to out level the enemies, you're removing a core part of the franchise' identity and a lot of people weren't into that. I get it, but in my eyes it lead to a much more satisfying difficulty curve that kept the gameplay engaging.
Ultimately, I'm able to overlook the game's numerous shortcomings in favour of appreciating the things it gets right. In hindsight, a lot of the linearity seems to be the result of Square Enix struggling to adapt to the demands of developing HD games. This project was announced as a trilogy, clearly a means to recoup the increased development costs and given how much longer it would take for 15 and 16 to come out, it's clear they struggled with this issue for a very long time.
At the end of the day, Final Fantasy at it's core is about a good story and a rich, layered world and 13 delivers that in spades. Definitely a top 5 game in the franchise for me.
Oh, and there's a baby chocobo that lives in a dudes afro, so like, best game ever.
2009
Fun little rhythm game with a lot of style. You could dump this on Steam today for a couple of bucks and I reckon it'd still hold up. Shame that it's forever trapped on the now defunct wiiware.
Also, just listen to this banger: https://youtu.be/JJm62RGHh-Q
Also, just listen to this banger: https://youtu.be/JJm62RGHh-Q
This game has always been a blind spot in my Final Fantasy history. From 7 onwards I played every non-mmo entry but I missed out on 8 because of a faulty PlayStation.
After the juggernaut success of 7, 8 is a much more thoughtfully paced story that takes some time to really get going. It's not perfect, the junction system in particular providing many annoyances along the way, but the story told is up there with the best of the series.
The love story between Squall and Rinoa is endearing and one of the best of the series and despite the game not quite being as good as 7, it's still one I'm glad I returned to.
After the juggernaut success of 7, 8 is a much more thoughtfully paced story that takes some time to really get going. It's not perfect, the junction system in particular providing many annoyances along the way, but the story told is up there with the best of the series.
The love story between Squall and Rinoa is endearing and one of the best of the series and despite the game not quite being as good as 7, it's still one I'm glad I returned to.
2023
Short, sweet and surprisingly affecting. The climbing of Jusant is a relaxing mechanic and the gimmicks the game comes up with the challenge that gimmick are entertaining and don't outstay their welcome.
2020
It's not quite on the level of the 2 and 4 remakes but what's here is a fun, more action orientated take on that gameplay.
It's a shame Capcom didn't give this the same treatment as those other remakes but the more actiony approach is definitely worth trying for anyone who is a fan of the other games.
It's a shame Capcom didn't give this the same treatment as those other remakes but the more actiony approach is definitely worth trying for anyone who is a fan of the other games.
2022
Portal is still Portal. A fantastic, short puzzle game that doesn't outstay it's welcome.
The addition of Ray Traced lightning doesn't really add a whole lot, but it's a good showcase of how good the tech can look.
The addition of Ray Traced lightning doesn't really add a whole lot, but it's a good showcase of how good the tech can look.
2019
At it's core, Gears 5 is exactly what you expect a Gears game to be, peppered with some new ideas that keeps things fresh.
The inclusion of an ability system and a handful of more open area's are cool additions that shake up the formula just enough to keep things interesting, while remaining true to the cover based shooting gameplay that the series is known for.
It's also an absolutely gorgeous game. The weather effects are fantastic and no one part of the game outstays it's welcome.
It's probably not gonna convert any of those who already aren't into the series, but if you want Gears, this is all the Gears you need.
The inclusion of an ability system and a handful of more open area's are cool additions that shake up the formula just enough to keep things interesting, while remaining true to the cover based shooting gameplay that the series is known for.
It's also an absolutely gorgeous game. The weather effects are fantastic and no one part of the game outstays it's welcome.
It's probably not gonna convert any of those who already aren't into the series, but if you want Gears, this is all the Gears you need.
2016
Definitely the best of the three PS1-era Final Fantasy games. A great visual style, a cast of characters that includes maybe the best singular character in the franchise (Vivi) and of course, Tetra Master.
While 7 was very experimental and 8 was a little too plodding in it's pace, 9 manages to find a perfect balance of pacing, combat and storytelling prowess.
While 7 was very experimental and 8 was a little too plodding in it's pace, 9 manages to find a perfect balance of pacing, combat and storytelling prowess.
4 years later and I still can't believe they're 'remaking' this.
It's certainly a better game than Remake, but ultimately the mantra of Rebirth is pretty much the same as Remake... It's good, but not nearly as good as the original.
That's not to say the game isn't great in it's own right. The characters are more fully developed than ever and seeing these relationships blossom is incredibly endearing and entertaining.
Since the beginning of the 'HD-era' of video games starting with Xbox 360 and PS3, Square Enix has struggled to produce a game that has hasn't felt compromised in some serious ways.
13 was lacking the open-ness the franchise is known for. 15 was lacking a satisfying combat system. 16 lacked an ensemble cast of party members.
Compared to their golden era of games (widely considered to be somewhere between 4 and 10, depending on taste), each entry has been lacking in different staples of the series.
Rebirth is the first game in well over a decade that feels like a classic Final Fantasy adventure. Arguably the first big budget JRPG that features an overworld, vehicles and an ensemble cast. There are moments in the game that had me shocked that they were able to accomplish this type of game again.
Hopefully with the next game they can push themselves even further, but honestly I'm more looking forward to this team potentially working on a brand new game, because it seems like they finally have their groove back and there's nothing more exciting to me.
It's certainly a better game than Remake, but ultimately the mantra of Rebirth is pretty much the same as Remake... It's good, but not nearly as good as the original.
That's not to say the game isn't great in it's own right. The characters are more fully developed than ever and seeing these relationships blossom is incredibly endearing and entertaining.
Since the beginning of the 'HD-era' of video games starting with Xbox 360 and PS3, Square Enix has struggled to produce a game that has hasn't felt compromised in some serious ways.
13 was lacking the open-ness the franchise is known for. 15 was lacking a satisfying combat system. 16 lacked an ensemble cast of party members.
Compared to their golden era of games (widely considered to be somewhere between 4 and 10, depending on taste), each entry has been lacking in different staples of the series.
Rebirth is the first game in well over a decade that feels like a classic Final Fantasy adventure. Arguably the first big budget JRPG that features an overworld, vehicles and an ensemble cast. There are moments in the game that had me shocked that they were able to accomplish this type of game again.
Hopefully with the next game they can push themselves even further, but honestly I'm more looking forward to this team potentially working on a brand new game, because it seems like they finally have their groove back and there's nothing more exciting to me.
2001
One of my favourite games of all time. The best combat system in the series, a great cast of characters and a fantastic story. The relationships between the characters, the romance, the pacing, It's all some of the best in the series.
That being said, the voice acting ranges from pretty good to pretty bad but considering VO as a thing was still pretty new to videos games, I'll give it a pass.
That being said, the voice acting ranges from pretty good to pretty bad but considering VO as a thing was still pretty new to videos games, I'll give it a pass.
There's a lot I like about this game. The gambits system is cool, graphically it's leaps and bounds ahead of the previous titles (in particular is the facial animation. I'm not sure I've seen another game use micro expressions as well as this game) and the characters are nuanced and endearing.
However, the gambits system (while interesting) turns the combat into a complete bore. It's neat setting up your gambits and seeing it all play out once or twice... but then it just becomes a monotonous bore. I shouldn't get to a boss fight and think 'ah, I can just leave this running while I look at my phone, or grab a drink, or use the toilet'. It wasn't until the very last boss that actually forced me to rethink the tactics that had gotten me through 90% of the game (and even that was only because I ran out of Phoenix Downs).
I also found the story to be quite underwhelming. It lacks any sort of momentum until the final couple of hours. Also there's hardly any comradery building between the party members. My favourite moments were the times Vaan / Penelo were sharing some light hearted moments with the team but I could count on a single hand how many times that occurs.
Ultimately it's very ambition, and I appreciate that it does have it's fans, but for me this ranks towards the bottom of the mainline Final Fantasy games.
However, the gambits system (while interesting) turns the combat into a complete bore. It's neat setting up your gambits and seeing it all play out once or twice... but then it just becomes a monotonous bore. I shouldn't get to a boss fight and think 'ah, I can just leave this running while I look at my phone, or grab a drink, or use the toilet'. It wasn't until the very last boss that actually forced me to rethink the tactics that had gotten me through 90% of the game (and even that was only because I ran out of Phoenix Downs).
I also found the story to be quite underwhelming. It lacks any sort of momentum until the final couple of hours. Also there's hardly any comradery building between the party members. My favourite moments were the times Vaan / Penelo were sharing some light hearted moments with the team but I could count on a single hand how many times that occurs.
Ultimately it's very ambition, and I appreciate that it does have it's fans, but for me this ranks towards the bottom of the mainline Final Fantasy games.