Skyman161
2022
I waited 4 years for this game, after multiple delays it was finally released.
Just as a preface; While it does have tactical gameplay elements, this game is a visual novel before anything else. If that type of game isn’t in your alley then you will get bored.
Of course this could be the exception to your taste, especially if you are a digimon fan. Because this game’s story is a love letter to longtime fans.
This is a game made by people who understand the appeal of digimon. With the poor marketing it has received, I encourage any digimon fan to jump on the occasion if a visual novel doesn’t turn you off completely.
For tactical game enthusiast, you might find the game too easy (No permanent death for units, every units on the field will gain exp after your victory even if they have been defeated in the process) and your options are quite limited, which will make for little to no variety in how you approach a battle but I think the engaging scenario, which is a darker take on the very first adventure anime largely makes up for it.
I wouldn’t say the story is groundbreaking but you can tell the people who worked on it know their stuff and were able to build on the established lore tell a bold story never seen before in the franchise. Coupled with a lot of easter eggs that people will recognize.
Only downside of this is that for the most part, it gets really repetitive. For someone who wants to get all the ending (5 in total) but they will themselves skipping a lot of dialogues considering that it’s basically the same story with minor differences.
There is one choice in particular that will determinate which ending you will get but the options will depend if your affinity (moral, wrathful and harmony) which are influenced by your various. If you were careful about your choices then you could technically get all 4 endings path available before reaching that branching point. Then all you would have to do is save and reload at that point to proceed with each route (which would cuts a lot of pointless replay)
Unfortunately for the 5th ending (the true ending) you have to complete a route then proceed to start from the beginning with NG+
But if you’re really into the story, it will be worth it.
Just as a preface; While it does have tactical gameplay elements, this game is a visual novel before anything else. If that type of game isn’t in your alley then you will get bored.
Of course this could be the exception to your taste, especially if you are a digimon fan. Because this game’s story is a love letter to longtime fans.
This is a game made by people who understand the appeal of digimon. With the poor marketing it has received, I encourage any digimon fan to jump on the occasion if a visual novel doesn’t turn you off completely.
For tactical game enthusiast, you might find the game too easy (No permanent death for units, every units on the field will gain exp after your victory even if they have been defeated in the process) and your options are quite limited, which will make for little to no variety in how you approach a battle but I think the engaging scenario, which is a darker take on the very first adventure anime largely makes up for it.
I wouldn’t say the story is groundbreaking but you can tell the people who worked on it know their stuff and were able to build on the established lore tell a bold story never seen before in the franchise. Coupled with a lot of easter eggs that people will recognize.
Only downside of this is that for the most part, it gets really repetitive. For someone who wants to get all the ending (5 in total) but they will themselves skipping a lot of dialogues considering that it’s basically the same story with minor differences.
There is one choice in particular that will determinate which ending you will get but the options will depend if your affinity (moral, wrathful and harmony) which are influenced by your various. If you were careful about your choices then you could technically get all 4 endings path available before reaching that branching point. Then all you would have to do is save and reload at that point to proceed with each route (which would cuts a lot of pointless replay)
Unfortunately for the 5th ending (the true ending) you have to complete a route then proceed to start from the beginning with NG+
But if you’re really into the story, it will be worth it.
I haven’t played this game since I was child so it would be difficult to compare it as far as remaster goes.
But as a game on its own, its a solid one. The level designs is so well made it makes for a fun time while still making it challenging, particularly late game.
The game is a bit short. You could finish it in 3 days but someone not rushing/trying to 100% can get a decent amount of game time.
If you’re looking for short but colorful and charming platformer, then Klonoa is a good option.
But as a game on its own, its a solid one. The level designs is so well made it makes for a fun time while still making it challenging, particularly late game.
The game is a bit short. You could finish it in 3 days but someone not rushing/trying to 100% can get a decent amount of game time.
If you’re looking for short but colorful and charming platformer, then Klonoa is a good option.
2022
I don’t have much to say about this game. In full honesty, I can’t say I enjoyed it and I wanted to.
Despite an interesting premise, the story felt very simplistic. It did explore the concept of monarchy, the role of a leader and its consequences on the commoners who relies on them but to me it did not live up to its potential thanks to my second issue: the bare minimum was done with the characters. They are nice but none of them felt truly impactful which ends up hurting what the story is trying to tell.
The gameplay, while very solid with a strong level design had awful and very frustrating rng.
But it’s not fully bad, there was some incredible performances in voice acting and the soundtrack was excellent.
I doubt I’ll comeback to it anytime soon.
Despite an interesting premise, the story felt very simplistic. It did explore the concept of monarchy, the role of a leader and its consequences on the commoners who relies on them but to me it did not live up to its potential thanks to my second issue: the bare minimum was done with the characters. They are nice but none of them felt truly impactful which ends up hurting what the story is trying to tell.
The gameplay, while very solid with a strong level design had awful and very frustrating rng.
But it’s not fully bad, there was some incredible performances in voice acting and the soundtrack was excellent.
I doubt I’ll comeback to it anytime soon.
The first of many expansion
Following the shocking ending of the base game, Heavensward takes us to the snowy land of Ishgard, where we are thrown in the heart of the deep conflict between Ishgardians and dragons.
The expansion starts slow but is already a step up from the base game when it comes to the narration. It’s more cinematic and there’s already a lot more voice acting involved.
Not much change in term of progression though, it’s still talk to this npc-> go to that location -> beat up monster -> participate in a duty and so on.
And like I said earlier, the story does start a bit slow but when it picks up, it’s a really engaging storyline. A dramatic tale about long lasting grudges for both heroes and villains, some really good dungeons and fantastic musical score.
This expansion, while not perfect did convince me to see what this game had more to offer.
Following the shocking ending of the base game, Heavensward takes us to the snowy land of Ishgard, where we are thrown in the heart of the deep conflict between Ishgardians and dragons.
The expansion starts slow but is already a step up from the base game when it comes to the narration. It’s more cinematic and there’s already a lot more voice acting involved.
Not much change in term of progression though, it’s still talk to this npc-> go to that location -> beat up monster -> participate in a duty and so on.
And like I said earlier, the story does start a bit slow but when it picks up, it’s a really engaging storyline. A dramatic tale about long lasting grudges for both heroes and villains, some really good dungeons and fantastic musical score.
This expansion, while not perfect did convince me to see what this game had more to offer.
2008
The tales franchise is simply not for me.
My biggest issue with this game is simply how it looks. Most levels tend to be in dark areas and the lighting is really poor making it hard to navigate. The lack of map isn’t helping.
The model aren’t the best either. The characters have the same expressions no matter what’s happening.
But these aside, the game was so much fun. A solid gameplay from start to finish, well balanced classes and ennemies which always makes the player innovate in order to find the most effective classe/weapon to use depending of the type of ennemies. The difficulty setting and the ability to change it whenever you want without the game penalizing you is truly wonderful as well.
A story, while not the most subtle, feels genuine in everything it present. Stranger of paradise is another example of how much I value the journey and execution rather than the end result. While I knew where the story was going, I was not ready for how incredibly emotional the last two level of the game would be.
Everyone made fun of My way as the theme song of the game but in context of what is being told, It was the perfect music choice.
‘’Forgetting isn’t a mercy’’
The model aren’t the best either. The characters have the same expressions no matter what’s happening.
But these aside, the game was so much fun. A solid gameplay from start to finish, well balanced classes and ennemies which always makes the player innovate in order to find the most effective classe/weapon to use depending of the type of ennemies. The difficulty setting and the ability to change it whenever you want without the game penalizing you is truly wonderful as well.
A story, while not the most subtle, feels genuine in everything it present. Stranger of paradise is another example of how much I value the journey and execution rather than the end result. While I knew where the story was going, I was not ready for how incredibly emotional the last two level of the game would be.
Everyone made fun of My way as the theme song of the game but in context of what is being told, It was the perfect music choice.
‘’Forgetting isn’t a mercy’’
Game freak did a wonderful job this time.
I had a lot of fun from start to finish. Pokémon legend Arceus is the proof that there is still hope for innovation and creativity for the franchise even after 25 years. While they are still lacking in term of graphics, the freshness that came with this new formula of gameplay largely makes up for it. Catching Pokémons feels way more engaging and rewarding and the addition of the agile and strong style during battles add for more strategic element that can turn the tide of the battle for you or your opponent that wasn’t there before.
Hopefully we get to see more of Arceus style of games in the future.
I had a lot of fun from start to finish. Pokémon legend Arceus is the proof that there is still hope for innovation and creativity for the franchise even after 25 years. While they are still lacking in term of graphics, the freshness that came with this new formula of gameplay largely makes up for it. Catching Pokémons feels way more engaging and rewarding and the addition of the agile and strong style during battles add for more strategic element that can turn the tide of the battle for you or your opponent that wasn’t there before.
Hopefully we get to see more of Arceus style of games in the future.
2021
Bandai Namco games are most of the times hit or miss. Scarlet Nexus was hit. A decent surprise.
What start as a very rough introduction with some awkward exposition becomes a great tale discussing topics such as propaganda, PTSD and survivor guilts, government conspiracies, learning to seek out the truth to make your own decisions and how importants the bonds you develops with others are. I was a bit worried the characters would feel too anime like but they were surprisingly well written with some of them having incredible depth (the game still uses anime trope)
The gameplay is solid and balanced. It’s an action rpg so you learn the basics and since the progressions focus more on enhancement of your abilities than acquiring new ones, what you get in the first 2-3 hours is what you’ll use for the entirety of the game and so it becomes very instinctive. But the game does encourage players to use everything at their dispositions. I never felt like I was too overpowered or that the game was too hard.
What start as a very rough introduction with some awkward exposition becomes a great tale discussing topics such as propaganda, PTSD and survivor guilts, government conspiracies, learning to seek out the truth to make your own decisions and how importants the bonds you develops with others are. I was a bit worried the characters would feel too anime like but they were surprisingly well written with some of them having incredible depth (the game still uses anime trope)
The gameplay is solid and balanced. It’s an action rpg so you learn the basics and since the progressions focus more on enhancement of your abilities than acquiring new ones, what you get in the first 2-3 hours is what you’ll use for the entirety of the game and so it becomes very instinctive. But the game does encourage players to use everything at their dispositions. I never felt like I was too overpowered or that the game was too hard.
The game is in the same vein as it’s predecessor which is a good thing considering the long break between the 4th and 5th game.
It continues to follow the trend of multiple playable characters trough the story that DMC4 introduced except this time we have a third character accompanying Dante and Nero.
Dante was the one that felt very familiar in gameplay, he gets new weapons and combo but if you’ve played the previous games you get the hang of his play style quickly.
Nero was an interesting one, for story reason instead of his demonic arm, we are introduced to his new combat mechanic the devil breaker. Each of them have different uses and effects depending on the ennemies and unlike any other fighting mechanic, they work as ammo. Meaning you can run out of them and have to refill once you go empty. But you can also find them on the field. My biggest gripe with this feature is that there is no button mapped to manually switch between all devil breaker you equip. If you want to use a specific one you have to either configure it trough the customization menu before the mission or you have to actively get rid of the one you have currently equipped until you get the devil breaker you want.
And lastly V, one of the newest major character. His gameplay involve him using familiar demon to fight but they are very limited. Because of that his gameplay feels very repetitive. I haven’t gotten the chance to unlock all his abilities but from what I got they also didn’t offer a large variety of combo.
But nonetheless all 3 have one thing in commons: they are very cool to play as which makes up for their shortcomings.
Other than that the rest is standard DMC. The story isn’t the most profound but that’s not really the franchise’s identity anyway. It does what it’s good at : killing demons while looking spectacular and that’s all I need for a dmc game.
It continues to follow the trend of multiple playable characters trough the story that DMC4 introduced except this time we have a third character accompanying Dante and Nero.
Dante was the one that felt very familiar in gameplay, he gets new weapons and combo but if you’ve played the previous games you get the hang of his play style quickly.
Nero was an interesting one, for story reason instead of his demonic arm, we are introduced to his new combat mechanic the devil breaker. Each of them have different uses and effects depending on the ennemies and unlike any other fighting mechanic, they work as ammo. Meaning you can run out of them and have to refill once you go empty. But you can also find them on the field. My biggest gripe with this feature is that there is no button mapped to manually switch between all devil breaker you equip. If you want to use a specific one you have to either configure it trough the customization menu before the mission or you have to actively get rid of the one you have currently equipped until you get the devil breaker you want.
And lastly V, one of the newest major character. His gameplay involve him using familiar demon to fight but they are very limited. Because of that his gameplay feels very repetitive. I haven’t gotten the chance to unlock all his abilities but from what I got they also didn’t offer a large variety of combo.
But nonetheless all 3 have one thing in commons: they are very cool to play as which makes up for their shortcomings.
Other than that the rest is standard DMC. The story isn’t the most profound but that’s not really the franchise’s identity anyway. It does what it’s good at : killing demons while looking spectacular and that’s all I need for a dmc game.
I can only speak as a casual in the Pokemon franchise.
I had my fun with the game. The chibi art style was hit or miss most of the time depending of the character (for example works well with the likes of Cynthia but not so much with Cyrus)
Not to mention the facial expressions being very limited for my tastes.
My biggest gripe would be these forest sections where the corner of the screen becomes blurry for some reasons. It felt very uncomfortable to look at.
Other than that the game is really just the same as the original diamond and pearl, with a modern and shinier skin. There are some QOL much appreciated like HMs on the poketech and the health bar progress not being extremely slow.
Overall good game but I think there was more that could have been done, especially considering gen 4 is my favorite it feels a bit underwhelming that they did the bare minimum.
I had my fun with the game. The chibi art style was hit or miss most of the time depending of the character (for example works well with the likes of Cynthia but not so much with Cyrus)
Not to mention the facial expressions being very limited for my tastes.
My biggest gripe would be these forest sections where the corner of the screen becomes blurry for some reasons. It felt very uncomfortable to look at.
Other than that the game is really just the same as the original diamond and pearl, with a modern and shinier skin. There are some QOL much appreciated like HMs on the poketech and the health bar progress not being extremely slow.
Overall good game but I think there was more that could have been done, especially considering gen 4 is my favorite it feels a bit underwhelming that they did the bare minimum.
2018
Santa Monica really outdid themselves.
Like anyone I heard about the acclaimed God of war (2018) and after playing all the previous games, I finally was ready to start this one.
For a game to be praised like that one, I always think that it needs to meet 3 specific requirements from people’s expectations:
- A good protagonist
- A well balanced and challenging gameplay
- Great graphics
God of war (2018) nails all 3 extremely well.
Kratos is a fantastic protagonist, badass but full of flaws trying to improve himself over time while still being haunted by his past mistakes and trauma. Traumas that deeply affects his relationship with Atreus.
The game is not too easy but also not too hard, the difficulty spike is natural as you progress trough the game with a solid skill tree.
The game is really gorgeous, I’m not the biggest graphics enthusiast but the environment are really nice to look at, the game takes place in a Nordic setting and these snow mountains are background quality to me.
Like anyone I heard about the acclaimed God of war (2018) and after playing all the previous games, I finally was ready to start this one.
For a game to be praised like that one, I always think that it needs to meet 3 specific requirements from people’s expectations:
- A good protagonist
- A well balanced and challenging gameplay
- Great graphics
God of war (2018) nails all 3 extremely well.
Kratos is a fantastic protagonist, badass but full of flaws trying to improve himself over time while still being haunted by his past mistakes and trauma. Traumas that deeply affects his relationship with Atreus.
The game is not too easy but also not too hard, the difficulty spike is natural as you progress trough the game with a solid skill tree.
The game is really gorgeous, I’m not the biggest graphics enthusiast but the environment are really nice to look at, the game takes place in a Nordic setting and these snow mountains are background quality to me.