TheOlorunSpawn
2016
This review contains spoilers
Tokyo Xanadu eX+ is yet another fun game from Nihon Falcom that is kind of an amalgamation of Falcom's works both figuratively and literally. Succeeding Xanadu Next as technically the next Xanadu game, TX ex+ definitely is a product of how small Falcom is as a company. Looking at any gameplay, anyone can tell that TX ex+ uses the same engine as Trails of Cold Steel 1 and 2. Despite that, TX ex+ can hold its own as a game.
Gameplay between TX ex+ is divided into two parts. The first is the exploration of the fictional Japanese city of Morimiya (which some locations based off Tachikawa - the locations of Falcom's headquarters) where the main character Kou Tokisaka goes through city, talking to NPCs, doing sidequests, and spending bonding events with specific characters (akin to Cold Steel's bonding events). The second is the exploration of labyrinths where combat is in real-time (similar to Ys or Nayuta). The player fights through the enemies while being ranked based on damage taken, treasures collected, how fast you completed the stage, and how many were slain. All these labyrinths usually end in a boss fight that progresses the story.
Other miscellaneous features in regards to gameplay is first the equipment slots that affect the damage output or elemental buffs to your characters. Second is Kou's character stats between Courage, Wisdom, and Virtue. Wisdom is raised through reading any books or making the correct responses during the story. Virtue is raised through just simply completing the sidequests. Finally, courage is raised through the amount of good rankings you make in the stages. This is important as you need a minimum of 8/15 stars in order to be allowed to do the game's Epilogue, though I do think raising them are easy to do by simply playing the game and doing some of the content along the way. Finally, you got the friend logs where you can get character pages from progressing the story or finding them through talking the NPCs or completing quests.
OST for the game is solid. While I think Cold Steel 1 and 2 had the stronger soundtracks, TX eX+ has pretty good bangers that fit well with the moments that are played between cutscenes and gameplay.
The story and characters are all pretty entertaining if cliche by the standards of how Falcom write their story. Hell, if you played some Trails and Ys games, you'll notice how some plot points and moments are copied from them or how those games copied those plot points from TX eX+.
The game is split into 8 chapters, an intermission, several side chapters, the epilogue chapter, and the After Story (which it and the side chapters are exclusive to the eX+ version). The stories all follow a specific formula where you're be introduced to a character or element that'll later become relevant to the chapter, Kou gets a free day that has him do his bonding events, and then the story eventually progresses to where Kou and the team investigate Eclipse related incidents that end with that introduced characters and element playing out with a major boss fight in the end. Once the main chapter ends, the side chapters begins where the focus is away from Kou in order to give the other playable characters their moments for development. They all end with them completing a stage (which all leads to what happens in the After Story). While the pacing becomes repetitive, the game's story is pretty entertaining and intriguing enough that made me want to continue.
As for the characters, they were all enjoyable and well-written in their personal development. Just like the Liberl Team from Trails in the Sky and the SSS from the Crossbell arc, the Xanadu Research Club (X.R.C.) had great chemistry with each other and the story doesn't solely revolve around Kou (a point it has over Cold Steel). Speaking of Kou, I did like him a lot more as than I initially thought. His art makes him look like some edgelord / emo kid, but he really is just a chill dude that has the same resolve as Trails protags to help people while also have the funny savage remarks and isn't actually a dense dude. The same could be said for all the other playable characters and supporting cast though my favorites had to be between Yuuki, Shio, and Rion. Overall, the characters was a massive positive for a game that could've been a one-time thing. Also, a Towa exists and that means there is a multiverse within Falcom.
In terms of negatives, the pacing with the main and side chapters is repetitive to some extent and some of the bosses are pretty annoying. The default controls were way too awkward to play the game efficiently that I remapped the controls similar to how I play the Ys games (L1 as my Skill button, circle to jump, square to switch characters, and triangle to lock-on enemies). Some of the translation (especially the second half) has some grammatical errors and for some reason refers Cthulhu Mythos a lot. Finally, while I did ultimately like the After Story, it does become exhausting that the endgame of TX ex+ becomes dragged out since I did like the default epilogue ending more than the actual After Story ending.
In conclusion, Tokyo Xanadu eX+ is a banger game that shouldn't be viewed as a lesser Persona game nor a lesser Cold Steel. It stands well on its own and the game honors Falcom through the many references it shows in ingame stores and through specific plot elements. Also, the opening is a snuffing banger and easily beats out Cold Steel III and IV's openings in animation and music. A solid 4/5.
Gameplay between TX ex+ is divided into two parts. The first is the exploration of the fictional Japanese city of Morimiya (which some locations based off Tachikawa - the locations of Falcom's headquarters) where the main character Kou Tokisaka goes through city, talking to NPCs, doing sidequests, and spending bonding events with specific characters (akin to Cold Steel's bonding events). The second is the exploration of labyrinths where combat is in real-time (similar to Ys or Nayuta). The player fights through the enemies while being ranked based on damage taken, treasures collected, how fast you completed the stage, and how many were slain. All these labyrinths usually end in a boss fight that progresses the story.
Other miscellaneous features in regards to gameplay is first the equipment slots that affect the damage output or elemental buffs to your characters. Second is Kou's character stats between Courage, Wisdom, and Virtue. Wisdom is raised through reading any books or making the correct responses during the story. Virtue is raised through just simply completing the sidequests. Finally, courage is raised through the amount of good rankings you make in the stages. This is important as you need a minimum of 8/15 stars in order to be allowed to do the game's Epilogue, though I do think raising them are easy to do by simply playing the game and doing some of the content along the way. Finally, you got the friend logs where you can get character pages from progressing the story or finding them through talking the NPCs or completing quests.
OST for the game is solid. While I think Cold Steel 1 and 2 had the stronger soundtracks, TX eX+ has pretty good bangers that fit well with the moments that are played between cutscenes and gameplay.
The story and characters are all pretty entertaining if cliche by the standards of how Falcom write their story. Hell, if you played some Trails and Ys games, you'll notice how some plot points and moments are copied from them or how those games copied those plot points from TX eX+.
The game is split into 8 chapters, an intermission, several side chapters, the epilogue chapter, and the After Story (which it and the side chapters are exclusive to the eX+ version). The stories all follow a specific formula where you're be introduced to a character or element that'll later become relevant to the chapter, Kou gets a free day that has him do his bonding events, and then the story eventually progresses to where Kou and the team investigate Eclipse related incidents that end with that introduced characters and element playing out with a major boss fight in the end. Once the main chapter ends, the side chapters begins where the focus is away from Kou in order to give the other playable characters their moments for development. They all end with them completing a stage (which all leads to what happens in the After Story). While the pacing becomes repetitive, the game's story is pretty entertaining and intriguing enough that made me want to continue.
As for the characters, they were all enjoyable and well-written in their personal development. Just like the Liberl Team from Trails in the Sky and the SSS from the Crossbell arc, the Xanadu Research Club (X.R.C.) had great chemistry with each other and the story doesn't solely revolve around Kou (a point it has over Cold Steel). Speaking of Kou, I did like him a lot more as than I initially thought. His art makes him look like some edgelord / emo kid, but he really is just a chill dude that has the same resolve as Trails protags to help people while also have the funny savage remarks and isn't actually a dense dude. The same could be said for all the other playable characters and supporting cast though my favorites had to be between Yuuki, Shio, and Rion. Overall, the characters was a massive positive for a game that could've been a one-time thing. Also, a Towa exists and that means there is a multiverse within Falcom.
In terms of negatives, the pacing with the main and side chapters is repetitive to some extent and some of the bosses are pretty annoying. The default controls were way too awkward to play the game efficiently that I remapped the controls similar to how I play the Ys games (L1 as my Skill button, circle to jump, square to switch characters, and triangle to lock-on enemies). Some of the translation (especially the second half) has some grammatical errors and for some reason refers Cthulhu Mythos a lot. Finally, while I did ultimately like the After Story, it does become exhausting that the endgame of TX ex+ becomes dragged out since I did like the default epilogue ending more than the actual After Story ending.
In conclusion, Tokyo Xanadu eX+ is a banger game that shouldn't be viewed as a lesser Persona game nor a lesser Cold Steel. It stands well on its own and the game honors Falcom through the many references it shows in ingame stores and through specific plot elements. Also, the opening is a snuffing banger and easily beats out Cold Steel III and IV's openings in animation and music. A solid 4/5.
1992
*I will refer to this game as Mega Man World III as it closely follows the original Japanese name. Played this on the Nintendo Switch.
Mega Man World III is yet another Gameboy Mega Man experience that is about just equal to MMW II for me. Like the first two World games, MMW III remixes stages and Robot Masters specifically from Mega Man 3 and 4. Other than adding the Mega Buster, Mega Man still plays just the same as the ever-problematic screen crunch causing dodging to still be difficult.
Mega Man fights four Robot Masters from MM3 (Snake Man, Gemini Man, Shadow Man, and Spark Man) before fighting the Robot Masters from MM4 in the Wily Castle (Dust Man, Skull Man, Dive Man, and Drill Man). After fighting an annoying mini-boss, you fight Mega Man Killer Punk before fighting the relatively easy Wily Machine fights.
I will say music does slap despite the Gameboy limiting the music composition. Hell, I boldly think some of the songs are on par with their original NES compositions.
As for the negatives, other than the screen crunch problems, I felt there were some moments on some specific stages that had way too many wide platforms and awkward jumps to deal with. Dust Man's was the biggest example of it, though I could save the same for all four remixed stages from MM4.
Overall, MMW III is still another decent Gameboy Mega Man experience with the music being the improvement, though the remixed level designs do make it fall back to the same ranking as MMW II. Though, like the last two games, the existence of MMW III becomes invalid as you can just simply play Mega Man 3 on the portable Switch, thus there isn't much to come back to after the first run. 3.5/5.
Mega Man World III is yet another Gameboy Mega Man experience that is about just equal to MMW II for me. Like the first two World games, MMW III remixes stages and Robot Masters specifically from Mega Man 3 and 4. Other than adding the Mega Buster, Mega Man still plays just the same as the ever-problematic screen crunch causing dodging to still be difficult.
Mega Man fights four Robot Masters from MM3 (Snake Man, Gemini Man, Shadow Man, and Spark Man) before fighting the Robot Masters from MM4 in the Wily Castle (Dust Man, Skull Man, Dive Man, and Drill Man). After fighting an annoying mini-boss, you fight Mega Man Killer Punk before fighting the relatively easy Wily Machine fights.
I will say music does slap despite the Gameboy limiting the music composition. Hell, I boldly think some of the songs are on par with their original NES compositions.
As for the negatives, other than the screen crunch problems, I felt there were some moments on some specific stages that had way too many wide platforms and awkward jumps to deal with. Dust Man's was the biggest example of it, though I could save the same for all four remixed stages from MM4.
Overall, MMW III is still another decent Gameboy Mega Man experience with the music being the improvement, though the remixed level designs do make it fall back to the same ranking as MMW II. Though, like the last two games, the existence of MMW III becomes invalid as you can just simply play Mega Man 3 on the portable Switch, thus there isn't much to come back to after the first run. 3.5/5.
2021
This review contains spoilers
*I am now reviewing the OG Shin Megami Tensei V before I prepare to play Vengeance. I played SMT V four times just to complete the Demon Compendium.
Shin Megami Tensei V is the first Megaten game I ever owned and beaten (Persona 3 Portable is my actual first Megaten experience). Thus, this game has some sentimental value to me as it finally pushed me to play the Megeten series and thus finally place it as my primary monster-collecting series after Pokemon fell out of my favor. Despite that, how does the OG SMT V hold out before Vengeance straight-up invalidate it?
Gameplay in battles are still the press-turn system introduced from Nocturne with the difference being that waiting at a flashing icon will not cause the flashing icon to disappear, but rather cause another press-turn icon to flash. Other than getting rid of the partner system, you have the Magatsuhi Skills that are used by specific races that can affect the tides of battle and status buffs were nerfed by lasting only three turns.
The important part in beating a Megaten game is teambuilding and the way the player can build their team is pretty flexible. The protagonist, the Nahobino and any demon can gain any specific skills (regardless of elements) and used them through essences. Essences are found around the open-areas and contains the defaults skills of another demon. Regardless of how it weak a demon, you could potentially give them end-game level skills and they would serve well. Though, with the help of Demon Statues, any demon can keep up with levels provided the player has enough and the Nahobino is at a pretty decent level.
The other important factor to SMT V's identity is the open areas that the player must explore. Known as Da'at, the open areas has enemies directly visible in the field, thus the player can actively fight them all or avoid them entirely. There are collectibles to find ranging from Essences, Magatsuhi Crystals that restore health and ep, Miman (which will ultimately help the Nahobino gain passive skills and buffs in the Miracles Menu through Glory points), and other items and wandering demons to talk to. Overall, they do serve their purpose well though they are a pretty rough to look at it.
Demon conversations are pretty golden (initiated by a specific demon in the party when you negotiate). They are short, but are pretty entertaining when it happens. It makes the demons feel more alive than before and I wish more were added in the game.
OST in SMT V is still banging. While it isn't consistently as good as Nocturne, IV, or IVA, I do like how very atmospheric it is in the open areas and banging in the battle themes. The themes of the open areas all give each of them a different feel whenever you pass by. The battle themes are insanely good and all of them are bangers to listen to. Of my favorites, it would have to be Tokyo -Daybreak-, Battle -humans, demons, and...-, Battle -Da'at-, the level up theme, Battle -ferocity-, Battle -dancing crazy murder-, Da'at: ueno, Battle-destruction-, Battle-seraph-, Battle-eon-, Battle-Fiend-, and Battle-Demi-fiend-. Needlessly to say, I fought through a lot of battles just to listen to these bangers.
Now for the big elephant of the room being the story and the characters. In term of characters designs, they all look great. In terms of characterization, there isn't much. They are many elements that could've made them more interesting, but the game doesn't bother to explore them due to them not getting that much screen time and are out of focus for most of the game until the relevant alignment moments. The story is just... mid. It isn't inherently garbage as people try to make it be, but it is no great story at all in comparison to SMT IV. Hell, even with it being a spiritual Nocturne sequel, it still has not much of stuff that are interesting, The first two-thirds have the Nahobino explore Da'at and deal with the demons that were left behind by Lucifer before the last-third has the alignments-alide characters and demons fight each other for control of a throne that can ultimately shape their will and future. All of that sound cool, but the game doesn't really presents it that well.
Continuing the negative points. First, while I didn't noticed it the first time, I do agree that the bosses are way too much damage sponges especially on higher difficulties. Second, I don't like the nerfs to status as it didn't really need to change since they served their purpose perfectly in the previous games. Third, some of the latter Da'at areas are annoying to get through with some specific demons really annoying to dodge (thankfully Ueno is my favorite area and it was the most fun to explore). Finally, the endings are really lackluster as it just show the Nahobino just walking into a ball of light. Though in fairness to this game, the endings for most mainline SMT games are lackluster visually.
Overall, the game is extremely carried by how well the gameplay, demons, music, and exploration is with the biggest negatives being the lackluster characters and story. Regardless of the bad, I enjoyed my time with SMT V and I don't regret doing the replays if it meant getting the satisfying 100% demon compendium. SMT V Vengeance straight up is the better game thus there is no need to seek out the original since Vengeance will include the original storyline from the original game. Ultimately, SMT V has a lot going for it, though clearly there were elements that were missing or elements that probably would've been explore if given the chance. A solid 4/5.
Shin Megami Tensei V is the first Megaten game I ever owned and beaten (Persona 3 Portable is my actual first Megaten experience). Thus, this game has some sentimental value to me as it finally pushed me to play the Megeten series and thus finally place it as my primary monster-collecting series after Pokemon fell out of my favor. Despite that, how does the OG SMT V hold out before Vengeance straight-up invalidate it?
Gameplay in battles are still the press-turn system introduced from Nocturne with the difference being that waiting at a flashing icon will not cause the flashing icon to disappear, but rather cause another press-turn icon to flash. Other than getting rid of the partner system, you have the Magatsuhi Skills that are used by specific races that can affect the tides of battle and status buffs were nerfed by lasting only three turns.
The important part in beating a Megaten game is teambuilding and the way the player can build their team is pretty flexible. The protagonist, the Nahobino and any demon can gain any specific skills (regardless of elements) and used them through essences. Essences are found around the open-areas and contains the defaults skills of another demon. Regardless of how it weak a demon, you could potentially give them end-game level skills and they would serve well. Though, with the help of Demon Statues, any demon can keep up with levels provided the player has enough and the Nahobino is at a pretty decent level.
The other important factor to SMT V's identity is the open areas that the player must explore. Known as Da'at, the open areas has enemies directly visible in the field, thus the player can actively fight them all or avoid them entirely. There are collectibles to find ranging from Essences, Magatsuhi Crystals that restore health and ep, Miman (which will ultimately help the Nahobino gain passive skills and buffs in the Miracles Menu through Glory points), and other items and wandering demons to talk to. Overall, they do serve their purpose well though they are a pretty rough to look at it.
Demon conversations are pretty golden (initiated by a specific demon in the party when you negotiate). They are short, but are pretty entertaining when it happens. It makes the demons feel more alive than before and I wish more were added in the game.
OST in SMT V is still banging. While it isn't consistently as good as Nocturne, IV, or IVA, I do like how very atmospheric it is in the open areas and banging in the battle themes. The themes of the open areas all give each of them a different feel whenever you pass by. The battle themes are insanely good and all of them are bangers to listen to. Of my favorites, it would have to be Tokyo -Daybreak-, Battle -humans, demons, and...-, Battle -Da'at-, the level up theme, Battle -ferocity-, Battle -dancing crazy murder-, Da'at: ueno, Battle-destruction-, Battle-seraph-, Battle-eon-, Battle-Fiend-, and Battle-Demi-fiend-. Needlessly to say, I fought through a lot of battles just to listen to these bangers.
Now for the big elephant of the room being the story and the characters. In term of characters designs, they all look great. In terms of characterization, there isn't much. They are many elements that could've made them more interesting, but the game doesn't bother to explore them due to them not getting that much screen time and are out of focus for most of the game until the relevant alignment moments. The story is just... mid. It isn't inherently garbage as people try to make it be, but it is no great story at all in comparison to SMT IV. Hell, even with it being a spiritual Nocturne sequel, it still has not much of stuff that are interesting, The first two-thirds have the Nahobino explore Da'at and deal with the demons that were left behind by Lucifer before the last-third has the alignments-alide characters and demons fight each other for control of a throne that can ultimately shape their will and future. All of that sound cool, but the game doesn't really presents it that well.
Continuing the negative points. First, while I didn't noticed it the first time, I do agree that the bosses are way too much damage sponges especially on higher difficulties. Second, I don't like the nerfs to status as it didn't really need to change since they served their purpose perfectly in the previous games. Third, some of the latter Da'at areas are annoying to get through with some specific demons really annoying to dodge (thankfully Ueno is my favorite area and it was the most fun to explore). Finally, the endings are really lackluster as it just show the Nahobino just walking into a ball of light. Though in fairness to this game, the endings for most mainline SMT games are lackluster visually.
Overall, the game is extremely carried by how well the gameplay, demons, music, and exploration is with the biggest negatives being the lackluster characters and story. Regardless of the bad, I enjoyed my time with SMT V and I don't regret doing the replays if it meant getting the satisfying 100% demon compendium. SMT V Vengeance straight up is the better game thus there is no need to seek out the original since Vengeance will include the original storyline from the original game. Ultimately, SMT V has a lot going for it, though clearly there were elements that were missing or elements that probably would've been explore if given the chance. A solid 4/5.
1994
Super Bomberman 2 is a pretty good sequel, though I felt it was slightly better than Super Bomberman 1. Getting rid of the sometimes ear-grading footsteps, the levels of SB2 is no longer just one square with obstacles to blow up, but isometric mazes that has you move around a lot more with the same goal of blowing up all the enemies with the new challenge of finding and turning on switches to open the door. The basics of Bomberman are still there, though this game is the only one out of the Super sub-series to be only single-player in the main campaign. The levels for the most part were fairly fun and challenging and the Dastardly Bombers were pretty fun challenges, though I felt the very last world was unfair in its difficulty with a final boss still relying heavily on the boxing gloves to win. OST is solid, though I personally prefer SB1's ost. Overall, a solid sequel that still could still be polished, but a commendable one. 3.5/5.
1992
*My replay is played on the Legacy Collection on Switch.
Mega Man 5 is sometimes considered to be known as the forgettable one for just being another Mega Man game that didn't really innovate to be memorable. However, that implies that a game not innovating enough is a bad thing and Mega Man 5 is a good example of a game that stuck to what worked and just simply polished the things that need to be improved on. As a result, Mega Man 5 is a pretty fun game all around.
Gameplay still plays the same as Mega Man 4 with a few minor things. The Mega Buster has a bigger blast radius and thus hitting enemies with it is easier, though the downside is if you get hit, you'll need to charged the Mega Buster full again. While I could think it could be a unnecessary nerf, I do like the incorporation as it still incentivizes the player to still actively avoid enemy attacks without going gong-ho with just damaging boosting with the Mega Buster. Second is slightly changing Rush Coil by making so that Rush will jump as a spring and you can still jump with him. It does throw new players off, though you'll get use to it. Third is the incorporation of minor exploration that'll later be evolved in the Mega Man X games through the Beat letters. Collecting the all 8 letters that spell "MEGAMAN V", you get the pretty overpowered Beat that wastes not much weapon energy and kills many enemies and bosses.
As for the Robot Masters and their stages, I did like their designs and I did enjoy their stages with the ever amazing 8-bit graphics still being visually pleasing. Though, they were pretty easy to defeat and the weapons they get are situational useful to pretty mixed in results.
Music is still pretty solid with Napalm Man and the Protoman Castle Stages being my favorites. Honestly say it's (so far) my second favorite ost after MM2.
As for the castle stages, they were all fairly fun and difficult to go through. The Dark Mans were pretty annoying (except Red Dark Man being pathetic with Beat) and the first two Wily battles being easy. Though, the last Wily fight (even with Beat) is still a frustrating fight and ruins the good difficulty curve that the castle stages set up.
Overall, I enjoyed Mega Man 5 a lot more than the first time and I appreciated it sticked to the foundations that worked and polished it. A madly underappreciated Mega Man game. 4/5.
Mega Man 5 is sometimes considered to be known as the forgettable one for just being another Mega Man game that didn't really innovate to be memorable. However, that implies that a game not innovating enough is a bad thing and Mega Man 5 is a good example of a game that stuck to what worked and just simply polished the things that need to be improved on. As a result, Mega Man 5 is a pretty fun game all around.
Gameplay still plays the same as Mega Man 4 with a few minor things. The Mega Buster has a bigger blast radius and thus hitting enemies with it is easier, though the downside is if you get hit, you'll need to charged the Mega Buster full again. While I could think it could be a unnecessary nerf, I do like the incorporation as it still incentivizes the player to still actively avoid enemy attacks without going gong-ho with just damaging boosting with the Mega Buster. Second is slightly changing Rush Coil by making so that Rush will jump as a spring and you can still jump with him. It does throw new players off, though you'll get use to it. Third is the incorporation of minor exploration that'll later be evolved in the Mega Man X games through the Beat letters. Collecting the all 8 letters that spell "MEGAMAN V", you get the pretty overpowered Beat that wastes not much weapon energy and kills many enemies and bosses.
As for the Robot Masters and their stages, I did like their designs and I did enjoy their stages with the ever amazing 8-bit graphics still being visually pleasing. Though, they were pretty easy to defeat and the weapons they get are situational useful to pretty mixed in results.
Music is still pretty solid with Napalm Man and the Protoman Castle Stages being my favorites. Honestly say it's (so far) my second favorite ost after MM2.
As for the castle stages, they were all fairly fun and difficult to go through. The Dark Mans were pretty annoying (except Red Dark Man being pathetic with Beat) and the first two Wily battles being easy. Though, the last Wily fight (even with Beat) is still a frustrating fight and ruins the good difficulty curve that the castle stages set up.
Overall, I enjoyed Mega Man 5 a lot more than the first time and I appreciated it sticked to the foundations that worked and polished it. A madly underappreciated Mega Man game. 4/5.
1991
*Played this game on the Nintendo Switch.
Mega Man World II (the name I'll refer to not to confuse the NES MM2 and follows closely to the original name) is a bit better than MM: Wily's Revenge (MM World I), though still isn't nothing too memorable.
Like the first game, MMW II remixes stages and Robot Masters from Mega Man 2 and 3. You'll fight four Robot Masters from MM2 (Wood Man, Air Man, Crash (not Clash) Man, and Metal Man) and gain their abilities while gaining the Rush powers (Coil, Marine, and Jet). Interestingly, you enter the Wily... Cave and you go through four more remixed stages of Robot Masters from MM3 (Top Man, Hard Man, Magnet Man, and Needle Man) before fighting the pathetically easy Quint, then head to one last stage in space to fight Dr. Wily.
Other than the additions of the Rush abilities and the slide, the game still plays the same along with the same problems of screen scrunch making dodging still difficult. Though, I did pay attention that the enemy dropped a lot more health drops than the first game.
The OST is incomprehensible. I didn't hear any remix formed of any of the stages and even then, the music was just bland to listen to.
Like MMW I, MMW II is still an inoffensive Mega Man experience that could be played on the go. Though, the game's existence is rendered moot due to the Legacy Collection on Switch offering you the definitive NES Mega Man experience to take on the go. Not bad, but only worth playing once. 3.5/5.
Mega Man World II (the name I'll refer to not to confuse the NES MM2 and follows closely to the original name) is a bit better than MM: Wily's Revenge (MM World I), though still isn't nothing too memorable.
Like the first game, MMW II remixes stages and Robot Masters from Mega Man 2 and 3. You'll fight four Robot Masters from MM2 (Wood Man, Air Man, Crash (not Clash) Man, and Metal Man) and gain their abilities while gaining the Rush powers (Coil, Marine, and Jet). Interestingly, you enter the Wily... Cave and you go through four more remixed stages of Robot Masters from MM3 (Top Man, Hard Man, Magnet Man, and Needle Man) before fighting the pathetically easy Quint, then head to one last stage in space to fight Dr. Wily.
Other than the additions of the Rush abilities and the slide, the game still plays the same along with the same problems of screen scrunch making dodging still difficult. Though, I did pay attention that the enemy dropped a lot more health drops than the first game.
The OST is incomprehensible. I didn't hear any remix formed of any of the stages and even then, the music was just bland to listen to.
Like MMW I, MMW II is still an inoffensive Mega Man experience that could be played on the go. Though, the game's existence is rendered moot due to the Legacy Collection on Switch offering you the definitive NES Mega Man experience to take on the go. Not bad, but only worth playing once. 3.5/5.
1991
*My replay was played through the Legacy Collection on Switch.
Mega Man 4 is yet another solid Mega Man game that continues to polish the visuals and gameplay. Introducing the Mega Buster, this gives the players a powerful weapon early on to help alleviate the lack of weapons. Though, the weapons are a bit of a mixbag since some are only situational useful while others are just only useful against the Robot Masters - thus the Mega Buster was my primary use for attack. The stages are still fun with good music and the Robot Masters are still good, though I felt their damage output was way too high. The Cossack Stages were fun and the Wily Castle stages were less so. The bosses were tolerable though the last two fights did just suck. Overall, I like MM4 for its polished state and is still better-paced than MM3. 4/5.
Mega Man 4 is yet another solid Mega Man game that continues to polish the visuals and gameplay. Introducing the Mega Buster, this gives the players a powerful weapon early on to help alleviate the lack of weapons. Though, the weapons are a bit of a mixbag since some are only situational useful while others are just only useful against the Robot Masters - thus the Mega Buster was my primary use for attack. The stages are still fun with good music and the Robot Masters are still good, though I felt their damage output was way too high. The Cossack Stages were fun and the Wily Castle stages were less so. The bosses were tolerable though the last two fights did just suck. Overall, I like MM4 for its polished state and is still better-paced than MM3. 4/5.
*I played this game on Nintendo Switch.
Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge is a competent, yet hard game that in retrospect is not really worth much now. It's the very first Mega Man game on a portable console and it shows.
The game only has four Robot Masters to fight (Ice Man, Fire Man, Cut Man, and Elec Man), and the levels have a mixture of their original Mega Man 1 levels that incorporate elements of some Mega Man 2 levels. The Wily Castle also has you fight four Robot Masters from MM2 (Quick Man, Flash Man, Bubble Man, and Heat Man).
The game is fine for what it does. You can still shoot, jump, and use weapons as Mega Man. However, due to screen scrunch, the movement of Mega Man does feel slow and he and all other enemies become larger to accommodate the Game Boy's screen. This results in dodging enemy fire becoming a lot more difficult. Combine that with the rate of enemies dropping more weapon refills than health, and then the game becomes even harder.
The only new things from the game were the Carry weapon which creates platforms that does come as a clutch for the Wily Stages and the Mirror Buster which simply invalidates the final boss.
Music is alright, though the Game Boy does limits to composition.
The only negatives I have is the slow movement, the poorly designed Wily Stages that rely so heavily on falling down the pits only to not be clear that there were spikes down there too, and the low amount of health refills over the course of the journey.
MM: Dr. Wily's Revenge is just an alright game, though it's existence is considered moot since you can have a portable Mega Man experience through the Legacy Collection on Switch. Despite that, it's a short, yet hard game that is ultimately inoffensive in the long legacy of the series. 3/5.
Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge is a competent, yet hard game that in retrospect is not really worth much now. It's the very first Mega Man game on a portable console and it shows.
The game only has four Robot Masters to fight (Ice Man, Fire Man, Cut Man, and Elec Man), and the levels have a mixture of their original Mega Man 1 levels that incorporate elements of some Mega Man 2 levels. The Wily Castle also has you fight four Robot Masters from MM2 (Quick Man, Flash Man, Bubble Man, and Heat Man).
The game is fine for what it does. You can still shoot, jump, and use weapons as Mega Man. However, due to screen scrunch, the movement of Mega Man does feel slow and he and all other enemies become larger to accommodate the Game Boy's screen. This results in dodging enemy fire becoming a lot more difficult. Combine that with the rate of enemies dropping more weapon refills than health, and then the game becomes even harder.
The only new things from the game were the Carry weapon which creates platforms that does come as a clutch for the Wily Stages and the Mirror Buster which simply invalidates the final boss.
Music is alright, though the Game Boy does limits to composition.
The only negatives I have is the slow movement, the poorly designed Wily Stages that rely so heavily on falling down the pits only to not be clear that there were spikes down there too, and the low amount of health refills over the course of the journey.
MM: Dr. Wily's Revenge is just an alright game, though it's existence is considered moot since you can have a portable Mega Man experience through the Legacy Collection on Switch. Despite that, it's a short, yet hard game that is ultimately inoffensive in the long legacy of the series. 3/5.
*Played this game on the Nintendo Switch.
Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels is probably the OG troll game. There are so many weird, chaotic, and down-right dogwater moments in the game.
To begin, the game is just really an expansion of Mario 1 since they both share the same visuals, the same enemies, and the same tight controls.
Despite that, Lost Levels provides 32 new levels (with an additional 4 levels) and they are... definitely levels to be remembered for the good and bad.
New to the game is the poison mushroom, the jump springs, the winds, and the hilarious warp zones that purposely send the player back.
The first few levels aren't to bad, though some elements foreshadow the chaotic nature of the game. By World 3, the difficulty ramps up and the game becomes artificially difficult.
You got long pits or tall platforms that has you find hidden blocks. You got the Cheep Cheep being a lot more aggressive and can coordinate to jump whenever you jump. You got underwater sections where it's pretty narrow and the Bloopers usually blocks those paths. Near the end, you need to jump to a platform that is way to high, but to get over you'll need to walk over invincible blocks that you'll probably not know since you past through them. Since you can't go back to the left, you'll need to purposely die to go to those blocks.
But, the worst type of levels in the game is the infinite levels that needs the player to either find a specific pipe or go through a specific maze-like paths. While the former is mostly annoying, the latter is a nightmare to get through as those are stuck in the Bowser Castle levels and they are already difficult to begun with.
From my tangent, my issue with the game is the artificial difficulty that relies way too much in obtused forms of going through levels. It's one thing to make a difficult NES game, but is still fun to play. It's another to make a difficult NES game, but is artificially difficult and thus it doesn't become fun to play.
Despite that, I did feel the satisfaction of conquering the game the moment I beaten 8-4 with the World 9 levels being an epilogue celebration (with the very last level being so basically easy that the game is trolling you).
Overall, despite having some good levels and the satisfaction of beating these levels is relieving, the artificial way the game handles difficulty ultimately hurts the game and makes me turn away from any replays I could've done. 2/5.
Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels is probably the OG troll game. There are so many weird, chaotic, and down-right dogwater moments in the game.
To begin, the game is just really an expansion of Mario 1 since they both share the same visuals, the same enemies, and the same tight controls.
Despite that, Lost Levels provides 32 new levels (with an additional 4 levels) and they are... definitely levels to be remembered for the good and bad.
New to the game is the poison mushroom, the jump springs, the winds, and the hilarious warp zones that purposely send the player back.
The first few levels aren't to bad, though some elements foreshadow the chaotic nature of the game. By World 3, the difficulty ramps up and the game becomes artificially difficult.
You got long pits or tall platforms that has you find hidden blocks. You got the Cheep Cheep being a lot more aggressive and can coordinate to jump whenever you jump. You got underwater sections where it's pretty narrow and the Bloopers usually blocks those paths. Near the end, you need to jump to a platform that is way to high, but to get over you'll need to walk over invincible blocks that you'll probably not know since you past through them. Since you can't go back to the left, you'll need to purposely die to go to those blocks.
But, the worst type of levels in the game is the infinite levels that needs the player to either find a specific pipe or go through a specific maze-like paths. While the former is mostly annoying, the latter is a nightmare to get through as those are stuck in the Bowser Castle levels and they are already difficult to begun with.
From my tangent, my issue with the game is the artificial difficulty that relies way too much in obtused forms of going through levels. It's one thing to make a difficult NES game, but is still fun to play. It's another to make a difficult NES game, but is artificially difficult and thus it doesn't become fun to play.
Despite that, I did feel the satisfaction of conquering the game the moment I beaten 8-4 with the World 9 levels being an epilogue celebration (with the very last level being so basically easy that the game is trolling you).
Overall, despite having some good levels and the satisfaction of beating these levels is relieving, the artificial way the game handles difficulty ultimately hurts the game and makes me turn away from any replays I could've done. 2/5.
2000
*I played Paper Mario on an actual Nintendo 64 about a decade ago. This recent run was played through the Nintendo Switch.
Paper Mario is a comforting game and a nostalgic one. This was the very first JRPG I ever played and it stuck with me for many years.
For starters, the gameplay is pretty basic yet pretty fun. Mario has several commands to use (like jump, hammer, items, and strategy) and some of them has action commands that help deal more damage or help defend Mario from taking damage. Some actions require the use of badges to perform newer moves which cost flower points (Paper Mario's MP system). The battle system is simple, yet the action command keep the player's engaged in every fight.
For the overworld, Mario goes through different parts of Mushroom Kingdom to find the seven Star Spirits. The enemies are shown in the world, thus the player has the choice to either skip battles or fight enemies.
Mario is also accompanied by a handful of memorable partner characters from a Goomba that can tattle to a Boo that slaps the enemy. While they don't get much characterization, they are all memorable for their utility in battle.
The NPCs are all mostly nameless, though all of them are charming with their witty dialogue. Some may have names and some may be involved more than once, but overall they are simple, but fun to read their dialogue.
The visuals still hold up well with all the characters being paper cutouts in a setting that is still 3-D in nature. Yeah, every sequel may look visually better, but I still feel this held the storybook feel of Paper Mario the best (haven't played Thousand-Year Door yet so don't confirm if I'm wrong).
The pacing is excellent through the start and end. The game has 9 chapters (Prologue and Chapters 1-8) and each chapter doesn't take longer than two to three hours. Combine that with the fast battles, and this game respects the player's time.
Difficulty is pretty well balanced, though it depends on how much HP, FP, and BP you raised, the badges you equipped, and how well you use the action command. The only time it felt unfair was against the Chapter 7 boss and the final boss, though that's only because they were the only ones that regenerated a lot of health back.
Music is comforting and nostalgic. The music is solid in all fronts from the main battle themes, the dungeons, and the town themes. Favorites probably include the Chapter 3 boss theme, Shy Guy's Toybox, Flower Fields, the entirety of Chapter 7's music, the final dungeons, and the final boss.
The only negative I can really say about the game is that ultimately my badge builds all centered around using the Power Bounce badge. While initially hard to use early game, it become the best ability for the rest game due to the damage output it provides through executed well-timed action commands. It kind of invalidated a lot of the other badges that probably would've been useful.
Overall, Paper Mario is a great game that paved the way for me to become the JRPG-obsessed guy I am today. It's a solid beginner JRPG and a fun game that is really short and well-paced. Easy 4.5/5.
Paper Mario is a comforting game and a nostalgic one. This was the very first JRPG I ever played and it stuck with me for many years.
For starters, the gameplay is pretty basic yet pretty fun. Mario has several commands to use (like jump, hammer, items, and strategy) and some of them has action commands that help deal more damage or help defend Mario from taking damage. Some actions require the use of badges to perform newer moves which cost flower points (Paper Mario's MP system). The battle system is simple, yet the action command keep the player's engaged in every fight.
For the overworld, Mario goes through different parts of Mushroom Kingdom to find the seven Star Spirits. The enemies are shown in the world, thus the player has the choice to either skip battles or fight enemies.
Mario is also accompanied by a handful of memorable partner characters from a Goomba that can tattle to a Boo that slaps the enemy. While they don't get much characterization, they are all memorable for their utility in battle.
The NPCs are all mostly nameless, though all of them are charming with their witty dialogue. Some may have names and some may be involved more than once, but overall they are simple, but fun to read their dialogue.
The visuals still hold up well with all the characters being paper cutouts in a setting that is still 3-D in nature. Yeah, every sequel may look visually better, but I still feel this held the storybook feel of Paper Mario the best (haven't played Thousand-Year Door yet so don't confirm if I'm wrong).
The pacing is excellent through the start and end. The game has 9 chapters (Prologue and Chapters 1-8) and each chapter doesn't take longer than two to three hours. Combine that with the fast battles, and this game respects the player's time.
Difficulty is pretty well balanced, though it depends on how much HP, FP, and BP you raised, the badges you equipped, and how well you use the action command. The only time it felt unfair was against the Chapter 7 boss and the final boss, though that's only because they were the only ones that regenerated a lot of health back.
Music is comforting and nostalgic. The music is solid in all fronts from the main battle themes, the dungeons, and the town themes. Favorites probably include the Chapter 3 boss theme, Shy Guy's Toybox, Flower Fields, the entirety of Chapter 7's music, the final dungeons, and the final boss.
The only negative I can really say about the game is that ultimately my badge builds all centered around using the Power Bounce badge. While initially hard to use early game, it become the best ability for the rest game due to the damage output it provides through executed well-timed action commands. It kind of invalidated a lot of the other badges that probably would've been useful.
Overall, Paper Mario is a great game that paved the way for me to become the JRPG-obsessed guy I am today. It's a solid beginner JRPG and a fun game that is really short and well-paced. Easy 4.5/5.
Ys vs. Trails in the Sky: Alternative Saga is a game that in theory should be really awesome, though really is a game that just... exists. It's a fighting game crossover (akin to Dissidia or Smash Bros.) with Nihon Falcom's most popular series being the Ys and Trails series. The fighting system is in 3d using Ys Seven's combat as the basis.
To start with the combat, it's alright. I do like the idea of using Ys Seven's combat in a fighting form, though it gets repetitive overtime. You got skill points, skills, dash, flash guard, and the special skills with the new addition being the jump command. It was weird to jump on the Ys Seven, though you probably be able to kind of get use to it. Finally, you got an assist character which provide special bonuses to character during a fight (from higher damage output to faster rate of skill points).
The game has a story mode campaign with five characters as their lead. For my run, I only did Adol and Estelle's campaigns. The story is nothing to right home about. Heroes from the worlds of Ys and Trails meet each other, fight each other, and work together to beat up a greater evil. It's pretty barebones, though the fanservice is neat and it does tie in the Xanadu series too.
In terms of playable characters, they absolutely did the Ys side dirty. At the time the game came out, Ys just had Ys Seven and Trails finished its Liberl Arc through Sky the 3rd. While the Trails side of the cast is solid (with Lloyd Bannings being a cameo to promote the Crossbell arc), the Ys side of the cast was disappointing. Nearly all the playable characters of Ys side all came from Ys Seven, while only one other playable character is from a Napishtim game. While I didn't dislike the Ys Seven team, I felt there still better candidates that should've been promoted to playable status. Only reason why this happened is probably because since the basis of the fighting game is from Ys Seven, it would've been quicker to use leftover resources to save time in terms of building a 3-d model and character skills. Thus, we got almost the entire Ys Seven team being playable.
A highlight of the game was the stages. Many of them were transitioned well and they all had great songs to accompany them.
Speaking of songs, while Ys vs. Trails uses music from their respective series, there are new remixes and original songs composed. Like always, Falcom makes banger songs and the songs in the game was excellent to listen. Seriously, the Ernst remix didn't had to go so hard!
Overall, Ys vs. Trails is a game that simply exists. You get an interesting fighting system, fanservice, and banging ost. Though, the combat does become repetitive and the story is nothing to right home about with a bad representation on the Ys side in terms of playable characters. It's game that I'll say go check out of curiosity though I can understand it you outright skip the game altogether. It's a game that is ultimately just harmless and that is its most positive quality. However, the idea of Ys vs Trails is still not a bad idea if executed better. Maybe one day we can something like that in the future... 3/5.
To start with the combat, it's alright. I do like the idea of using Ys Seven's combat in a fighting form, though it gets repetitive overtime. You got skill points, skills, dash, flash guard, and the special skills with the new addition being the jump command. It was weird to jump on the Ys Seven, though you probably be able to kind of get use to it. Finally, you got an assist character which provide special bonuses to character during a fight (from higher damage output to faster rate of skill points).
The game has a story mode campaign with five characters as their lead. For my run, I only did Adol and Estelle's campaigns. The story is nothing to right home about. Heroes from the worlds of Ys and Trails meet each other, fight each other, and work together to beat up a greater evil. It's pretty barebones, though the fanservice is neat and it does tie in the Xanadu series too.
In terms of playable characters, they absolutely did the Ys side dirty. At the time the game came out, Ys just had Ys Seven and Trails finished its Liberl Arc through Sky the 3rd. While the Trails side of the cast is solid (with Lloyd Bannings being a cameo to promote the Crossbell arc), the Ys side of the cast was disappointing. Nearly all the playable characters of Ys side all came from Ys Seven, while only one other playable character is from a Napishtim game. While I didn't dislike the Ys Seven team, I felt there still better candidates that should've been promoted to playable status. Only reason why this happened is probably because since the basis of the fighting game is from Ys Seven, it would've been quicker to use leftover resources to save time in terms of building a 3-d model and character skills. Thus, we got almost the entire Ys Seven team being playable.
A highlight of the game was the stages. Many of them were transitioned well and they all had great songs to accompany them.
Speaking of songs, while Ys vs. Trails uses music from their respective series, there are new remixes and original songs composed. Like always, Falcom makes banger songs and the songs in the game was excellent to listen. Seriously, the Ernst remix didn't had to go so hard!
Overall, Ys vs. Trails is a game that simply exists. You get an interesting fighting system, fanservice, and banging ost. Though, the combat does become repetitive and the story is nothing to right home about with a bad representation on the Ys side in terms of playable characters. It's game that I'll say go check out of curiosity though I can understand it you outright skip the game altogether. It's a game that is ultimately just harmless and that is its most positive quality. However, the idea of Ys vs Trails is still not a bad idea if executed better. Maybe one day we can something like that in the future... 3/5.
1985
*Played Mario 1 on an actual NES nearly fifteen years ago. All my subsequent playthroughs were on the Nintendo Switch.
Although I was born in 2003, somehow, my family acquired an NES for me to goof around. The only game in the NES was naturally the original Super Mario Bros, thus it became the very first video game I ever played.
Ignoring my nostalgic talk, Super Mario Bros is still a fun game to play with.
For starters, you got the basics down: moving, jumping, power-ups, jumping and stumping enemies, and the goal to either reach the flag goal or beat up a Bowser.
Despite it being about four decades old, the game still holds up in terms of gameplay and visuals and it's pretty short (though would take a lot longer if you're bad at it like I was).
The only things I don't like about Mario 1 is immediately becoming smaller when you hit an enemy despite the fact you have a Fire Flower and some of Bowser's Castles have these annoying moments of blind progression that could loop if you didn't choose the right path.
Besides that, Mario 1 is still pretty enjoyable despite its age and a really fun game to speedrun. 4/5.
Although I was born in 2003, somehow, my family acquired an NES for me to goof around. The only game in the NES was naturally the original Super Mario Bros, thus it became the very first video game I ever played.
Ignoring my nostalgic talk, Super Mario Bros is still a fun game to play with.
For starters, you got the basics down: moving, jumping, power-ups, jumping and stumping enemies, and the goal to either reach the flag goal or beat up a Bowser.
Despite it being about four decades old, the game still holds up in terms of gameplay and visuals and it's pretty short (though would take a lot longer if you're bad at it like I was).
The only things I don't like about Mario 1 is immediately becoming smaller when you hit an enemy despite the fact you have a Fire Flower and some of Bowser's Castles have these annoying moments of blind progression that could loop if you didn't choose the right path.
Besides that, Mario 1 is still pretty enjoyable despite its age and a really fun game to speedrun. 4/5.
1990
*My two runs of Mega Man 3 was through the Legacy Collection.
Mega Man 3 is yet a solid game. Mega Man still controls the same as in MM2, though he gains the slide abilities which help add layers of different challenges for the stages and enemy patterns. The visuals are becoming much more colorful with a solid cast of Robot Masters and stages to go through. The only flaws with the game are the weapons were pretty underwhelming, the really bad padding in the form of the Doc Robots, and the Wily Castle stages weren't that memorable. Still a solid Mega Man through. 4/5.
Mega Man 3 is yet a solid game. Mega Man still controls the same as in MM2, though he gains the slide abilities which help add layers of different challenges for the stages and enemy patterns. The visuals are becoming much more colorful with a solid cast of Robot Masters and stages to go through. The only flaws with the game are the weapons were pretty underwhelming, the really bad padding in the form of the Doc Robots, and the Wily Castle stages weren't that memorable. Still a solid Mega Man through. 4/5.
This review contains spoilers
Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War (FE4) is an ambitious product for the time and a good evolution to the series's formula in its gameplay.
To start, the game take place in the continent of Judgral (which happens in the distant past before the Archanea games) and the players goes through twelve chapters of enormous maps. The player controls a team of about 24 units and the game is split up between two generations with another team of 24 units.
The gameplay is a lot more refine and slightly faster than FE3, with the U.I. being easier to check up on weapons, the cursor is faster to move, and the animations are pretty flashy, yet has that classic painting style that FE3 had. The first big addition is a home base which kind of acts as both a convoy, shop, and arena. The second is the introduction of the weapon triangle which makes managing a units weapons a lot more important. Finally, its the first game to integrate a marriage system with it including the child units that make up the bulk of the 2nd generation's cast.
Now for the positives. Music is absolutely fantastic as every map and enemy phrase have all unique music. So good that I sometimes recommend turned off the animations just to appreciate the music.
The lore of Jugdral is deep with so many details that will not make since the first time, but will for every subsequent replay. Though, I will say it does hide too many important context through villages and only implicitly told.
The playable characters are fine. Due to this being Kaga Emblem, the characters are still pretty simple in terms of characterization. However, some characters really do shine and the context that surrounds them in Jugdral makes them a lot more deeper than at first glance. Of my favorites, it would probably be Sigurd, Lewyn (my GOAT), Ayra, Quan, Ethlyn, Brighid, Finn, Tailtiu, Seliph, Julia, Leif, Altena, Oifey, Shannan, Ares, Tine, and Ced to name a few.
The standouts are the villains. Half of them are apologetically evil or just there to be washed (Chagall) while the others have more layers that doesn't justify why they do it, but you could see why they did it (Arvis, Travant, Ishtar).
The story is pretty ambitious thanks to the two generation aspect. The tale of Sigurd has some of the best moments in the series that ends with one of the most iconic moments being the way the first generation ends (something that really shouldn't be spoiled so needlessly). Seliph's tale kind of becomes a retread of Marth's story in FE1, though it becomes a bit more layered due to the context of Jugdral's lore.
Despite my praises of the music, story, and characters, the gameplay does take points off from the experience. For one, unit balancing is absolutely in favor of mounted units and against infantry (foot) units (which is kind the norm for most Fire Emblem games). Due to the large scale of the maps, the mounted units usually are fast enough to move around the map and thus can engage against a lot more enemies. This becomes a problem as the foot units don't gain any experience and thus fall behind levels. Thus, if you want to effectively level up everyone, you are going to have to meticulously grind through boss abuse.
The second negative is item management. For some reason, you can't trade in the game thus there is a system known as the pawn shop where units would either sell items or buy other items in order to essentially trade an item. I don't really mind the system, though I would've still preferred simply trading the items like FE3.
The third negative is this game can either be ridiculously easy or pretty difficult. While Gen 1 is fairly hard until acquiring peculiar weapons make it easy, Gen 2 can be either still easy or actually difficult to the point of softlocks. If you don't pair specific Gen 1 units together, the results of Gen 2 can be out of control as some pairings nerfs that child units or boost them up to Seth-levels of efficiency.
The last negative that ultimately really give the game my score is the pacing. Even with the upgraded mechanics and better graphical style, FE4 is still a pretty slow game that can drag on at times. Half of the time, there is fluff in between missions (or castles) where you only just move your units. The other time, enemy turns still take really long despite the great music their turns provide. It was that slow that by the time I made it to Chapter 10, I just turned animations off as it was faster to progress the maps (not that it doesn't hide the fact I wanted to listen to Miletos and Granvale Army's themes).
Overall, I still liked the game. The marriage and child inheritance by default gives the game replayability (with this incarnation of child units still being my favorite). The gameplay is still solid Fire Emblem and the music is filled with bangers. It's really the pacing that hurts my ranking of this game in comparison to other titles. Despite that, I still recommend every Fire Emblem fan to at least try out the game once as it is a pretty memorable experience. It's a game that really should be localized through a port or a much-needed remake. 3.5 / 5.
To start, the game take place in the continent of Judgral (which happens in the distant past before the Archanea games) and the players goes through twelve chapters of enormous maps. The player controls a team of about 24 units and the game is split up between two generations with another team of 24 units.
The gameplay is a lot more refine and slightly faster than FE3, with the U.I. being easier to check up on weapons, the cursor is faster to move, and the animations are pretty flashy, yet has that classic painting style that FE3 had. The first big addition is a home base which kind of acts as both a convoy, shop, and arena. The second is the introduction of the weapon triangle which makes managing a units weapons a lot more important. Finally, its the first game to integrate a marriage system with it including the child units that make up the bulk of the 2nd generation's cast.
Now for the positives. Music is absolutely fantastic as every map and enemy phrase have all unique music. So good that I sometimes recommend turned off the animations just to appreciate the music.
The lore of Jugdral is deep with so many details that will not make since the first time, but will for every subsequent replay. Though, I will say it does hide too many important context through villages and only implicitly told.
The playable characters are fine. Due to this being Kaga Emblem, the characters are still pretty simple in terms of characterization. However, some characters really do shine and the context that surrounds them in Jugdral makes them a lot more deeper than at first glance. Of my favorites, it would probably be Sigurd, Lewyn (my GOAT), Ayra, Quan, Ethlyn, Brighid, Finn, Tailtiu, Seliph, Julia, Leif, Altena, Oifey, Shannan, Ares, Tine, and Ced to name a few.
The standouts are the villains. Half of them are apologetically evil or just there to be washed (Chagall) while the others have more layers that doesn't justify why they do it, but you could see why they did it (Arvis, Travant, Ishtar).
The story is pretty ambitious thanks to the two generation aspect. The tale of Sigurd has some of the best moments in the series that ends with one of the most iconic moments being the way the first generation ends (something that really shouldn't be spoiled so needlessly). Seliph's tale kind of becomes a retread of Marth's story in FE1, though it becomes a bit more layered due to the context of Jugdral's lore.
Despite my praises of the music, story, and characters, the gameplay does take points off from the experience. For one, unit balancing is absolutely in favor of mounted units and against infantry (foot) units (which is kind the norm for most Fire Emblem games). Due to the large scale of the maps, the mounted units usually are fast enough to move around the map and thus can engage against a lot more enemies. This becomes a problem as the foot units don't gain any experience and thus fall behind levels. Thus, if you want to effectively level up everyone, you are going to have to meticulously grind through boss abuse.
The second negative is item management. For some reason, you can't trade in the game thus there is a system known as the pawn shop where units would either sell items or buy other items in order to essentially trade an item. I don't really mind the system, though I would've still preferred simply trading the items like FE3.
The third negative is this game can either be ridiculously easy or pretty difficult. While Gen 1 is fairly hard until acquiring peculiar weapons make it easy, Gen 2 can be either still easy or actually difficult to the point of softlocks. If you don't pair specific Gen 1 units together, the results of Gen 2 can be out of control as some pairings nerfs that child units or boost them up to Seth-levels of efficiency.
The last negative that ultimately really give the game my score is the pacing. Even with the upgraded mechanics and better graphical style, FE4 is still a pretty slow game that can drag on at times. Half of the time, there is fluff in between missions (or castles) where you only just move your units. The other time, enemy turns still take really long despite the great music their turns provide. It was that slow that by the time I made it to Chapter 10, I just turned animations off as it was faster to progress the maps (not that it doesn't hide the fact I wanted to listen to Miletos and Granvale Army's themes).
Overall, I still liked the game. The marriage and child inheritance by default gives the game replayability (with this incarnation of child units still being my favorite). The gameplay is still solid Fire Emblem and the music is filled with bangers. It's really the pacing that hurts my ranking of this game in comparison to other titles. Despite that, I still recommend every Fire Emblem fan to at least try out the game once as it is a pretty memorable experience. It's a game that really should be localized through a port or a much-needed remake. 3.5 / 5.
1989
*My third playthrough of Mega Man 2 was played through the Legacy Collection.
Mega Man 2 is an improvement of Mega Man 1 in every way. The movement and feeling of Mega Man was better. The weapons, levels, and bosses were better. The soundtrack is iconic on a legendary level (though not my personal favorite Mega Man ost). The Metal Blade is hilariously broken but enjoyable to still use. The only stumbles the game has is some cheap enemy placements and the Wily Castle Stage 3 boss being such a terrible boss fight. Otherwise, a really great game that made its mark in gaming and in the foundations many Mega Man games follows.
Mega Man 2 is an improvement of Mega Man 1 in every way. The movement and feeling of Mega Man was better. The weapons, levels, and bosses were better. The soundtrack is iconic on a legendary level (though not my personal favorite Mega Man ost). The Metal Blade is hilariously broken but enjoyable to still use. The only stumbles the game has is some cheap enemy placements and the Wily Castle Stage 3 boss being such a terrible boss fight. Otherwise, a really great game that made its mark in gaming and in the foundations many Mega Man games follows.