Taxretrn
Junction system is very interesting and fun experimenting around and seeing exactly how powerful you can make your characters. Very easy to break the game this way but I found that to be the fun. Figuring out good stat boosters and figuring out how to go about getting them made it so preparation was more important than the actual battles; I felt those were already won when I went into it because of my preparation. A different take on "grinding"
This feels like the FF2 of the playstation trilogy
This feels like the FF2 of the playstation trilogy
Series takes a jump to turn-based RPG. The story is as good as ever, and the natural set of side-stories and minigames fits very naturally in an RPG.
However, despite how good the game is, there are flaws in its design. The sidequests and distractions don't directly reward with XP as most RPGs do, and because of this I found myself underleveled at a certain point and that's with me not skipping any fights and playing through as you normally do in an RPG. There's a level check that more or less requires you to grind because of that. And the boss design lacks the "gimmicks" that you'd find in other titles so they really are just damage sponges for the most part. I can see an argument for not giving XP in side quests by wanting to be overleveled, but I feel like something similar to "pro mode" in xenoblade chronicles solved this, or even just make the reward an item that gives XP when used similar to the other items that already exist for different stat and job levels.
Even with those issues the game is still a great first attempt. Also works very well as a jumping on point with a new cast and location
However, despite how good the game is, there are flaws in its design. The sidequests and distractions don't directly reward with XP as most RPGs do, and because of this I found myself underleveled at a certain point and that's with me not skipping any fights and playing through as you normally do in an RPG. There's a level check that more or less requires you to grind because of that. And the boss design lacks the "gimmicks" that you'd find in other titles so they really are just damage sponges for the most part. I can see an argument for not giving XP in side quests by wanting to be overleveled, but I feel like something similar to "pro mode" in xenoblade chronicles solved this, or even just make the reward an item that gives XP when used similar to the other items that already exist for different stat and job levels.
Even with those issues the game is still a great first attempt. Also works very well as a jumping on point with a new cast and location
One of the best entries in the series. Graphics look amazing, gameplay is as tight as its ever been. The narrative truly makes it so that one could jump into this game as a starting point as well (although again, Id still suggest 0 as THE jumping on point)
2019
Game really benefits from a more modern engine which immediately felt better than 3 and 4. The gameplay offers some very different diversions for each character, hunting, taxi driving, and even some rhythm gaming.
I feel that the playable character aspect was handled better in this game than in 4, making each one feel distinct in their own way aside from the city they're in. However I feel that by the last character the pacing started falling off a little bit and the plot started getting a bit hard to follow. Overall still a solid entry and probably my favorite of the "remastered trilogy"
I feel that the playable character aspect was handled better in this game than in 4, making each one feel distinct in their own way aside from the city they're in. However I feel that by the last character the pacing started falling off a little bit and the plot started getting a bit hard to follow. Overall still a solid entry and probably my favorite of the "remastered trilogy"
2019
It's more Yakuza and everything that comes with that. I enjoyed how the narrative was split between the 4 characters and how it does end up all tying back together.
I feel like if you're playing this you're already a fan of the series and know what you're getting into. If you're not already into the series... go play Yakuza 0 and work your way through this amazing series; doesn't make a lot of sense to start here of all places.
I feel like if you're playing this you're already a fan of the series and know what you're getting into. If you're not already into the series... go play Yakuza 0 and work your way through this amazing series; doesn't make a lot of sense to start here of all places.
2022
This is one of those games that tells me I need to trust my gut more. All of the added sports made me feel wary but I silenced them by thinking about how fun the first game is.
"I don't know, it seems like they're trying to do too much, their golf system worked well but trying to do a lot of sports? They'll probably end up half-baked and not well done"
Turns out my gut feeling was right. Doesn't help the game is extremely buggy and seems more or less abandoned at this point. They fixed some bugs but this game is an extremely poor followup to what was a great game in Golf Story.
I wouldn't recommend getting this for any reason outside of being a very big fan of the first game and just want to see what a train wreck this game ended up being. If you haven't played Golf Story just do that instead and forget this game exists
"I don't know, it seems like they're trying to do too much, their golf system worked well but trying to do a lot of sports? They'll probably end up half-baked and not well done"
Turns out my gut feeling was right. Doesn't help the game is extremely buggy and seems more or less abandoned at this point. They fixed some bugs but this game is an extremely poor followup to what was a great game in Golf Story.
I wouldn't recommend getting this for any reason outside of being a very big fan of the first game and just want to see what a train wreck this game ended up being. If you haven't played Golf Story just do that instead and forget this game exists
2023
Extremely well-made puzzle game with some insane level design. All built around an extremely simple control scheme of movement and 1 button to do everything. Pick up orbs, place them and use their "abilities" to traverse through maps. It introduces new mechanics and fully explores the implications over the course of the game. Pacing is great and it doesn't overstay its welcome at all; really understands what it wants to deliver, does it, and moves on.
2023
There's games that come out and wear their inspiration on their sleeve with not much else to add, and then there are games that truly understand what their inspirations were doing and are able to iterate and take that spirit somewhere. This game is in the latter camp
I played a lot of JGR/JSR growing up so there is some familiarity with the original. This game feels like a true sequel to those games. Controls are tight, and they really capture the culture and vibes of that past era while still feeling modern.
There's plenty of secrets and other things to be found from exploration, while the main story wraps up right around the time it should. I just wish that tricks had a little more depth/variety but aside from that I was pretty happy with this game
I played a lot of JGR/JSR growing up so there is some familiarity with the original. This game feels like a true sequel to those games. Controls are tight, and they really capture the culture and vibes of that past era while still feeling modern.
There's plenty of secrets and other things to be found from exploration, while the main story wraps up right around the time it should. I just wish that tricks had a little more depth/variety but aside from that I was pretty happy with this game
2023
I grew up in the SNES era but I didn't play many/any RPGs on it, mostly just platformers. So with that the whole "nostalgia" thing this game is riding off of doesn't really do much for me.
I think the game is fine, I even got the "real" ending, but I feel like the final boss fight left a sour taste in my mouth since it really embodied the whole design of the game of going down a checklist of things to include simply because it will evoke nostalgia. It would have been nice to see some iteration on your inspirations rather than just imitating. Bomb Rush Cyberfunk was able to do that pretty well!
Ironically I feel like if you don't play a lot of JRPGs you'll probably enjoy this more than those that do play more
I think the game is fine, I even got the "real" ending, but I feel like the final boss fight left a sour taste in my mouth since it really embodied the whole design of the game of going down a checklist of things to include simply because it will evoke nostalgia. It would have been nice to see some iteration on your inspirations rather than just imitating. Bomb Rush Cyberfunk was able to do that pretty well!
Ironically I feel like if you don't play a lot of JRPGs you'll probably enjoy this more than those that do play more
This review contains spoilers
No idea what the 1.0 release was like but the 2.0 release is an extremely fine immersive RPG. I haven't been hooked on an RPG like that in a while and really looking forward to the Phantom Liberty expansion when I get a chance
Some moments that stood out to me was how well the game made use of player choice even when sometimes you'd have no real effect on the outcome. In particular the "Barry" mission really left a mark on me and actually left me feeling like "could I have done things differently?"
The gigs, although they were the same as what would be radiant/grinding missions in other RPGs kept my attention. The added handcrafted context for each as well as personalizing the objectives made it feel better than "go here and kill 5 enemies" or "collect 10 objects". The freedom for how to approach most missions was great as well; I opted my build for a stealth hacker but I am already thinking of another character build focusing on melee or heavy weapons.
Of course there were bugs, I ran into more towards the end of the game during cutscenes and stuff but nothing that broke the game or made it worse for me. Overall I was very happy with what I ended up with.
Some moments that stood out to me was how well the game made use of player choice even when sometimes you'd have no real effect on the outcome. In particular the "Barry" mission really left a mark on me and actually left me feeling like "could I have done things differently?"
The gigs, although they were the same as what would be radiant/grinding missions in other RPGs kept my attention. The added handcrafted context for each as well as personalizing the objectives made it feel better than "go here and kill 5 enemies" or "collect 10 objects". The freedom for how to approach most missions was great as well; I opted my build for a stealth hacker but I am already thinking of another character build focusing on melee or heavy weapons.
Of course there were bugs, I ran into more towards the end of the game during cutscenes and stuff but nothing that broke the game or made it worse for me. Overall I was very happy with what I ended up with.
2023
A game that feels like a true love letter to fans of the series. Much more focused on a traditional Fire Emblem experience than Three Houses, the gameplay is refined and tightened up further, the weapon triangle makes a return (axes > Spears > swords > axes). And of course the inclusion of old protagonists in the game via the emblem system. I could feel the love for the series even being a newer player only starting FE with Fates.
The story is alright, it mostly serves as a reason to carry the gameplay elements and in that regard I think that there's some great meta 4th wall-ism with how highly regarded the previous emblems are and how much respect and reverence they're given. Even if I've never personally played those games I respect their position in the gaming canon. I think more than 'the story' I did enjoy the characters and the supports.
If you have any interest in SRPGs at all there's no reason to miss this one, and if you've never played it's still a great title to pick up and get started since the systems are easy to learn with a good amount of depth and experimentation, which also leads to tons of replayability. I spent a good amount of time tinkering with my characters in the main base
Also the soundtrack is great!
The story is alright, it mostly serves as a reason to carry the gameplay elements and in that regard I think that there's some great meta 4th wall-ism with how highly regarded the previous emblems are and how much respect and reverence they're given. Even if I've never personally played those games I respect their position in the gaming canon. I think more than 'the story' I did enjoy the characters and the supports.
If you have any interest in SRPGs at all there's no reason to miss this one, and if you've never played it's still a great title to pick up and get started since the systems are easy to learn with a good amount of depth and experimentation, which also leads to tons of replayability. I spent a good amount of time tinkering with my characters in the main base
Also the soundtrack is great!
This game made me realize that the value of the Horizon series to me is the universe itself. The worldbuilding is great and it has everything a sequel to Zero dawn should have; the gameplay is improved and built upon, QoL is fixed, the map design is refined and the story is built upon in a way that makes sense.
Where the first game introduced the world and revealed its status, this game does a good job of fleshing it out, solving a few mysteries, and tying up loose ends from the first game while setting the stage for a finale in the third and final game (this was always meant to be a trilogy). With that in mind, I think the setup for the third game feels appropriate. It also makes me look forward to the 3rd game more than I did Forbidden West, a big reason I didn't play it until almost a year later.
The gameplay at its core is very similar to the first game where preparing for battle with traps, potions, ammo types, etc. is crucial to encounters and makes each enemy feel like its own puzzle, especially in the middle of battle making decisions and strategies on the fly. The biggest new addition are weapon abilities and valor skills unlocked via the skill tree which provide special attacks and/or buffs respectively that can be a huge help in battle. For instance, one tree has a skill that can improve your ability to knock off machine parts and do increased location specific damage.
The melee combat has been improved (but still a bit iffy) as well, having actual combo attacks that can also be unlocked via the skill tree. The skill tree this time around allows you to specialize how you want to play a bit more as you aren't expected to fill the whole thing out. To help with this you can respec any time for free. Theoretically you could just take a handful of points and constantly respec in battle based on what you need. That sounds extremely tedious, but it's an option!
A bit of negatives now, I did run into quite a bit of bugs while playing but nothing that ruined the experience for me. One of which was audio for characters was not loading up at one point but it might've been due to using the rest feature to pick up and play over the course of a few days (I am still learning to trust the rest feature on the PS5). Resetting the console fixed it. The worst was getting stuck in a wall after diving underwater but the game makes enough small checkpoints that reloading my most recent save fixed it with no real loss of gameplay at all. This happened pretty early on but never really happened again after that. I didn't have any of these issues with Zero Dawn so it was a bit surprising. But again, nothing that was 'game breaking' to me or would convince me to drop a point
While this is an open world game I was able to more or less bee-line the main story, but I did handle the side quests for the first 2 towns/settlements I went to, and I think the side quests deserve credit for at least having interesting storylines, and even in a few some characters from the main story are involved with pretty significant outcomes. They do have a 'formula' that shows after a while, but I think due to the usually somewhat interesting narratives surrounding them it makes it more interesting. The 'go here and get 5 egg heads and bring them back' quests are listed appropriately as 'errands' instead of side quests with usually a bit more substance. At the end of the day the game is built around its systems which are climbing, exploring and combat so yes the quests will build around that.
To wrap up, if you enjoyed the first game there's no reason to miss this one. If you liked the gameplay there's plenty to love here, if you enjoyed the story and got invested in the universe the way I did then there's also a lot to love here.
Where the first game introduced the world and revealed its status, this game does a good job of fleshing it out, solving a few mysteries, and tying up loose ends from the first game while setting the stage for a finale in the third and final game (this was always meant to be a trilogy). With that in mind, I think the setup for the third game feels appropriate. It also makes me look forward to the 3rd game more than I did Forbidden West, a big reason I didn't play it until almost a year later.
The gameplay at its core is very similar to the first game where preparing for battle with traps, potions, ammo types, etc. is crucial to encounters and makes each enemy feel like its own puzzle, especially in the middle of battle making decisions and strategies on the fly. The biggest new addition are weapon abilities and valor skills unlocked via the skill tree which provide special attacks and/or buffs respectively that can be a huge help in battle. For instance, one tree has a skill that can improve your ability to knock off machine parts and do increased location specific damage.
The melee combat has been improved (but still a bit iffy) as well, having actual combo attacks that can also be unlocked via the skill tree. The skill tree this time around allows you to specialize how you want to play a bit more as you aren't expected to fill the whole thing out. To help with this you can respec any time for free. Theoretically you could just take a handful of points and constantly respec in battle based on what you need. That sounds extremely tedious, but it's an option!
A bit of negatives now, I did run into quite a bit of bugs while playing but nothing that ruined the experience for me. One of which was audio for characters was not loading up at one point but it might've been due to using the rest feature to pick up and play over the course of a few days (I am still learning to trust the rest feature on the PS5). Resetting the console fixed it. The worst was getting stuck in a wall after diving underwater but the game makes enough small checkpoints that reloading my most recent save fixed it with no real loss of gameplay at all. This happened pretty early on but never really happened again after that. I didn't have any of these issues with Zero Dawn so it was a bit surprising. But again, nothing that was 'game breaking' to me or would convince me to drop a point
While this is an open world game I was able to more or less bee-line the main story, but I did handle the side quests for the first 2 towns/settlements I went to, and I think the side quests deserve credit for at least having interesting storylines, and even in a few some characters from the main story are involved with pretty significant outcomes. They do have a 'formula' that shows after a while, but I think due to the usually somewhat interesting narratives surrounding them it makes it more interesting. The 'go here and get 5 egg heads and bring them back' quests are listed appropriately as 'errands' instead of side quests with usually a bit more substance. At the end of the day the game is built around its systems which are climbing, exploring and combat so yes the quests will build around that.
To wrap up, if you enjoyed the first game there's no reason to miss this one. If you liked the gameplay there's plenty to love here, if you enjoyed the story and got invested in the universe the way I did then there's also a lot to love here.