Let me tell you an interesting story. Some months after God of War (2018) was released, me and a bunch of friends decided to try it, since it was at the spotlight back then. At the same time, I found this game at a discount. I had heard good things about it, so we decided to buy both, but play GoW first. That night, I gave it a try to see how it's like.

Guess which game we played first in the end! And guess which game ended up being one of my favourite games of all time out of nowhere.

Nier Automata is not a perfect game, far from it actually. While being a huge improvement over the first Nier -mainly thanks to Platinum Games' gameplay- one could say that its graphics were still a bit outdated, its world design basic and empty, side quests had fetching with random drop rates again, repetition of some parts of the game in order to get the whole story could be tedious for some and its performance issues on launch (especially in the PC version) were not few. Thankfully, most of them have been fixed by now, thanks to updates and patches.

But, do these things really matter to me? Yes and no. One one hand, I'm all for constructive criticism. It gives genuine feedback to the developers and, in a way, helps them understand what players did or did not enjoy in a game. But on the other hand, if the issues mentioned did not ruin my personal experience at all, then I'm not going to pretend to be "objective" and try to supress my own feelings about it. And for all the issues this game had, the experience it gave me is one of a kind.

Albeit being more action than RPG, Nier Automata introduces a unique take on the action-RPG genre. Playable characters are androids and thus, build customisation is based on the memory chips you install at each of them. With that system, you can customise your characters to be more offensive, defensive, balanced etc. Combat is a fantastic hack 'n' slash action combined with 'shoot 'em up' elements, designed by action genre veterans, PlatinumGames. But, the game does not stop there. In many sections, it transforms into a bullet hell shooter, giving more variety to enemy fights.

So, is there something better than combining fun gameplay with a fascinating story and atmosphere? Nier Automata's story is one of my favourite stories in games and just like its predecessor, its presents it in a way that gives prominence to the medium. For example, you still need to replay some parts of the game, but from a different perspective. Though fetching in side quests is still present, the drop rates are far more common and the quests contain some memorable stories of NPCs, highlighting the worldbuilding. Once more, soundtrack is amazing, along with the voice actors' performances, in both English and Japanese. I will not go into story spoilers here, since I think that the story and the way it's presented, is worth experiencing in-game. The game's world might be a bit 'empty' with not that many details, but it fits so well with the rest, that it made me extremely invested in it.

What I also loved about it is that, not only it touches some philosophical themes about humanity etc, but it presents them subtly in the background as food for thought, instead of "throwing" them directly in your face. And let's not forget these many times that the game does not take itself seriously at all, cracking one joke afther another. In other words, Nier Automata may tell a wonderful story, but it is first and foremost a video game, where having fun is above everything else.

As a conclusion, I'd say that my experience with Nier Automata taught me that, a game doesn't have to be "perfect" in order to be your favourite. It just has to speak to your heart (no matter how cringey or cliche this sounds) in a way that no other does, be it due to gameplay, story or whatever.

Would definitely recommend it.

This was my first Ys game and a good introduction to Adol's journeys.

Felghana's gameplay and bosses are some of the best and most challenging the series has to offer. Combat is a huge improvement over Napishtim, feeling less clunky. The horrible dash jump mechanic was also replaced by a normal and easy to use double jump.

However, while not bad, I personally found the story and setting to be just okay, with the exception of some twists in the endgame. It does contain some of my favourite dungeons though. OST contains some bangers, but still, not in my personal top Falcom OSTs.

Don't have much more to say actually. It's a really good Ys game and if your main thing you seek in Ys are the challenging bosses and tough action gameplay, this might as well become your favourite.

Roguelikes (and Roguelites) are not my cup of tea. I mostly seek some kind of "adventure in a fictional world" and "character upgrading" when it comes to video games, which is also the reason why I'm into RPGs and action-adventures that much. On the contrary, most of the roguelikes I've seen don't put emphasis on these kinds of things, since the core of the genre is different. While I do believe that "not everything has to be for everyone", I'm also in favor of developers trying to experiment with different genres and even try to combine them in a way.

For all these reasons mentioned above, we can see why Hades was one of the most beloved roguelikes ever made, gaining fans with different tastes way beyond the target audience of the genre, myself included.

Let's cut to the chase then. Hades is a roguelite, which is a sub-genre of roguelikes. The difference is that roguelikes are more "true" to the core of the genre, while roguelites may contrain different things as well, either in the way of experimenting with other genres, or be more forgiving to the player by providing him some permanent upgrades for example. In Hades, there are 4 different stages the player must overcome, each containing randomly generated dungeons. Upon defeat, player is returned to the hub, losing most of his upgrades, but keeping a form of currency for permanent upgrades.

But that's not the end. Hades masterfully incorporates an interesting story and makes it work in harmony with the game design. Every time you die, you learn more about the world, the story and the characters and you can also bond with them to gain different helpful items. This is further highlighted by the top-notch voice acting, the fantastic character and world designs and the excellent dynamic OST.

While repetition and high difficulty are inevitable (they're main characteristics of the genre), Hades makes them not only tolerable, but enjoyable as well, by encouraging you to use a wide variety of weapons and different playstyles and including many hidden quests and challenges. Combat is also fun, well-made, addicting and "tough but fair", while the game's "luck" element due to the randomness of the runs is also surprisingly balanced. In other words, the game never feels unfair in general. You might die a lot (that's the point) but due to the game's narrative and character upgrades, there is always a sense of progress. Well, a few of runs later in the game might not change much when it comes to the story and they require patience (and maybe a bit of grinding), but it's not much and the super fun combat and character interactions more than make up for it.

Last but not least, as a Greek, I have to give praise to Supergiant for being faithful and accurate to the source mythological material. And what I mean by that, is how well they present the characters' personalities and especially Hades himself, who is often misinterpreted in mainstream media.

Whether you're a roguelike fan or not, give this a try. Pure gaming fun for many hours and for a reasonable price.

I grew up with some TR games, but for some unknown reason I stopped following the series after Anniversary on PS2. After 10-15 years I stumbled upon the Tomb Raider reboot by Crystal Dynamics and it really took me by surprise. I really liked the new direction, with more combat sequences as well as more emphasis on story and characters.

So, since I liked the reboot, it was only natural that someday I'd try the sequels as well. Can't speak for Shadow yet, since I haven't played it, but Rise of the Tomb Raider, just like its predecessor is a really good game. Is it a huge improvement over the previous game though? I think it mostly depends on someone's taste, but for me, it's not.

Graphics, visuals and gameplay are indeed better, taking advantage of the more powerful hardware. but when it comes to the other aspects of the game, personally it was a little step down for me.

For example, I enjoyed the setting in TR 2013 more, which had many diverse levels, while in Rise, most of them are just "snowy regions". It makes sense, since the game takes place in Russia, but it's just a matter of personal preference. Furthermore, TR had, in my opinion, a good balance of exploration and combat. On the contrary, Rise emphasised combat a bit more, especially in the last stages of the game, where I personally felt like playing Uncharted for example. These things are not objectively bad of course, but when it comes to my personal taste, TR is closer.

The story was also kinda 'meh' for me as well, especially some of the later twists didn't "vibe" with me that much. However, I loved the Croft Manor DLC chapter. Learing more about Lara's backstory while exploring the huge mansion was a great and immersive experience.

Overall, a fun, enjoyable game and a 'must' for modern TR fans. If you liked TR 2013, you'll probably like that one as well. It is a good game after all and I had fun playing it, even though I like TR a bit more.

I'm not the biggest Zelda fan (haven't even beaten Ocarina of Time). But the unique open-world design of this game piqued my interest, so I decided to give it a try when I bought a Switch. And I'm glad I did.

At first, being thrown into a gigantic world without map icons seemed like an "intimidating" concept to me. I thought that I'd easily get bored and tired. To my surprise, not only didn't I get bored, but I was actually having fun exploring Hyrule in that way. How did they make it work? Well, can't speak for everyone, but for me, it was the towers and the shrines. The whole idea of climbing a tower to look with your binoculars and then marking the map yourself made exploration so natural and real that I felt the urge to search the unkown everytime and see what I could find. As for the shrines, I really enjoyed solving the puzzles, even though they got a bit repetitive after some point. Besides, one of my favourite things in video games is character progression and rewarding the player (both for main and optional stuff), be it at the form of leveling up and getting new skills, or getting useful items etc. And the shrines in BOTW do just that, they help you get stronger and make progress, while being greatly integrated with the design philosophy of the game.

Some things however I could do without and I hope they change in the next installment. Weapon durability for example. I get the idea of using your weapons carefully, but the way it was implemented, it was more of a slog for me rather than a challenge. Side quests were also quite forgettable (with the exception of a few) and some were a bit grindy as well. Finally, although slightly present and not so much of a problem, I really hope they never force you to use motion controls ever again (yeah, I despise them...).
Finally, performance in some areas was dissapointing, having frame drops and small lags.

While I don't think it's the "greatest game ever made" (this is subjective as well), it was definitely an amazing experience, one that I'm sure I will fondly remember for many years to come.

One of my favourite older Ys games.

Gameplay and combat are pretty fun, but having played the game after Felghana and Origin, I found them a bit more "clunky" and basic than these other two titles. Which makes sense, since this game was released before them. And despite all that, I didn't have any problem with it, so this isn't exactly a complaint or something, just an observation. However, the boss fights, while not bad, were just okay, with basic patterns to observe (with the exception of some). You might also need to grind for some levels, since being underleved in an older Ys game means no damage dealt to the enemy. And we all know that the dash jump mechanic was a mistake. Fortunately, you do not need to use it in order to beat the game, but if you want to grind for hidden content/treasure chests etc, good luck there.

While gameplay-wise it is a step behind its successors, story-wise and in terms of world and setting, it is actually my favourite out of that era of Ys games. The Canaan Islands were a joy to explore, accompanied by interesting lore, story, characters and, on top of that, one of my favourite Ys soundtracks. Being immersed in a beautiful world and a compelling story is one of the things I seek from video games. And Ys VI definitely accomplished that, making me overlook some minor gameplay flaws.

I'd suggest playing it before Felghana and Origin, but I recommend it nonetheless.

This is one of the cases where the "emotional" aspect of a game is strong enough to make you overcome some flaws (I'm talking about myself of course, not in general, hope I don't have to make disclaimers all the time here :p). Obviously, all my ratings and reviews are based on my personal enjoyment of each game.

Having played Automata and loved it, I was really looking forward to the remaster of the first Nier, since it was too old and outdated for me to play today for the first time. So, let me get this off my chest right now: if you're thinking of playing this game because you liked Automata, I'd definitely recommend it, but be warned that in some aspects it remains a product of its time.

What I mean by that, is that, as a remaster, it stays as faithful to the original game as it gets, only changing the things that are absolutely necessary to do so, in order for the game to be playable and enjoyable today. For example, world and level design might seem a bit boring and outdated to some. Gameplay and leveling system does not have the variety that Automata has, but with the changes they made to the combat, they made it fun at least. I personally didn't have any problem with it. The other thing that could be better is the side quest design. Even though some of them have some memorable stories, they also require A LOT of fetching of items that have a small random drop rate, making them a grind and killing the pacing. Not to mention that some of them are necessary to complete for the true ending, since they give you weapons (But, they're the less grindy, so that's something at least). So, I suggest that, if you're not a diehard side quest completionist like myself, you might wanna use a guide to see which side quests you need to do and skip the others, since they do not give you EXP, just gold. But, if you want to see all the different side stories of the NPCs, go ahead but be prepared for a long grind. That's a shame honestly, at least they could fix the drop rate of the items needed...

Now that I mentioned the "elephant in the room", let's move on to the things that made me love this game. First of all, story and characters are not only interesting, but also well written with great and unique lines. The narrative and direction of the game, as well as the fact that you need to play though some parts multiple times while giving you more info about the story, support the themes and emotions that the story touches upon quite well. Sound design and OST are also phenomenal, creating a unique atmosphere, which further highlights each situation presented at the main cast. Voice acting is also top quality, with excellent performances from both the English and Japanese casts.

If I had to sum it up in one sentence withough giving away spoilers, I would say that it is a very emotional journey from beginning to end, while still being a video game to the heart. And what I mean by that is that Nier (and Nier Automata) tells you its story in a "video game way", experimenting with level design, different narratives, repetition etc. And that's what I love about these games the most.

Can't say more due to spoilers, but I'd say that if you loved Automata, you should check out that one as well. It can be grindy at times and the gameplay is pretty basic (but fun for me as well), but in the end, I felt that it was totally worth it.

I honestly have mixed feelings about this one. Not a bad game of course -good enough to keep me 'till the ending credits- but also not that great for me.

It starts off exceptionally well, I loved the introduction of Oliver and the reason he sets out on his journey. Plus, the designs, animation and visuals are just beautiful and jaw-dropping, especially during the Ghibli cutscenes. I also have no complaints when it comes to the story. It may be simple and not without its cliches, but I honestly don't mind that, especially if it is executed well and fits with the "fairy tale" aesthetic. OST and sound design are amazing as well. Music fits really well with the tone and the vibe of the game, giving some great and memorable tracks, while both the English and Japanese voiceovers are excellent.

But then comes my problem: the gameplay. Ni no Kuni uses a real-time command-based battle system. I can't say that the battle system is bad per se, but it depends on the player's taste. Personally, when I'm playing an RPG, I like it to be either turn-based or full-action based. Those combat systems that combine the command menu of turn-based but do it in real time are not my cup of tea and ruin my enjoyment most of the time. I prefer to "take my time and carefully select my next move" when it comes to selecting commands. It's the same reason that I'm not a big fan of the ATB system present in old Final Fantasy titles, with the exception of Chrono Trigger, in which I surprisingly liked the implementation of the ATB system in it. Don't get me wrong, there are other "mixed" battle systems that I enjoy (like FF7R, FF12:TZA which is my favourite game of all time, Pillars of Eternity), but they're not many. In other words, the combat it's a bit of a "hit or miss" depending on the player's tastes, but it's not for me. MP is also quite unbalanced in the game and as a result, it gets empty easily, forcing you to rest in inns, since items are quite expensive, especially at the early stages of the game. Which brings me to the next issue that I have with the gameplay: grinding. Whenever you enter a new "region", you have to grind for some levels (and money), or else bosses (and maybe mobs as well) will destroy you. If I like the combat system, I usually have no problem with that (even though I prefer that grinding stays optional and not necessary for the main story), but in this case I didn't like it, so it made my experience less enjoyable. On top of all those, movement in the overworld is extremely slow (well, until you get the fast travel option) and it got really tiring at times. Thus, due to all these reasons, my time with the game was getting more and more tedious as I was progressing. Side quests are also bland and a bit grindy at times. And finally, I didn't like the "random rate" of the monster capture system (will not go much into detail here, since I try to keep my reviews spoiler free)

So, visuals, sound and art direction are cool, but I consider the gameplay to be the most important aspect of a game, so this was a bit of a letdown.

Overall, the game is not bad, however, gameplay is not exactly my cup of tea. Despite my complaints, it was okay enough to keep me until the end, but it got tedious many times and I didn't enjoy it as much as I was expecting.

This is my first SteamWorld game and I was pleasantly surprised.

I really enjoyed the art style and the gameplay. Combat system is a combination of classic RPGs with deck building elements. It has a lot of depth to it and you can experiment with all the party members and their decks to create different tactical approaches.

On the other hand, I personally found exploration and level design to be a bit basic and lacking. It gets better in the later chapters of the game, but it could give more in my opinion. The story is also not something spectacular or memorable, pretty much basic stuff here as well. Not saying that it has to be super complex with twists or anything, simple linear stories are fine with me, but I felt that the world and the main characters (whose interactions were enjoyable) could be explored more.

It is a fun game nonetheless. If you like turn-based combat and RPG mechanics, I'd recommend it. Also, if you're hesitant to start an RPG due to its length, I'd also recommend this one, since it is quite short (took me 17 hours and a half). Even though I have no problem with long games, I think that it is good to have shorter RPGs as well.