Video games that cannot be replicated in any other medium tend to be exemplary in their presentation & mode of storytelling, one that simply can't be formed through traditionally constructed stories. 13 Sentinels, alongside Outer Wilds, is the title I'd point to in saying "This is why video games are art."

13 Sentinels is such an accomplishment in video game storytelling and its status as being a severely underlooked game is quite a shame. I don't think I've seen a story with so many moving parts and elements that could so easily crumble, yet sustains the strongest parts of its plot and intertwines them with genuinely captivating and moving character arcs. Everything works together so seamlessly here: both the gameplay, the different routes and individual plotlines mesh in an ever-expansive web of terminology, events, timelines, characters & whatever the fuck in a way that all links together just perfectly. Somehow, a story of behemoth proportions in scale never loses touch of anything and in the end you're rewarded with a powerful, uplifitng message of humanity's continuous perseverance among other things that'd be spoilers you don't deserve to hear for such a phenomenal work.

To say 13 Sentinels isn't a sum of its sci-fi counterparts would be a lie, yet it doesn't even feel like any sci-fi story I've seen regardless. Pulling in tropes from all forms of sci-fi media from Evangelion, Godzilla, 2001: A Space Odyssey and more, this could've easily been a mess of tropes and a watered down version of much more iconic sci-fi tales. Yet, it is somehow just an even more impressive cumulation of all these tropes to deliver a completely mindbending story that tackles a plethora of ideas perfectly. Between all the time loops, parallel universes, robots, androids, mechas and GOD so much more, the core of the plot never loses itself and the continous back and forth mystery shifts and evolves without losing sight of anything. To have 13 individual protagonist routes combine together seamlessly with BARELY any loose plot threads (if not any) is genuinely insane. Everything works together perfectly, every reveal works, every character's arcs works and their respective dynamics and relationships unfold beautifully. It all feels naturally written and doesn't rely on bullshit to move the story logic along, instead allowing the player to connec the dots themselves and figure out this huge web and really understand just what this games about.

One common criticism you'd hear with the game is it's gameplay and I'd say...it's good! It's not very complex or difficult (though I stuck with normal all the way through), but it's still engaging and very, very satisfying. The strategic depth required to go through each level is as simple as countering what the main kaiju type is and going ham with your abilities. That being said, it all comes together really well and I was never irked by anything the game did with its systems. There are some parts I feel aren't really necessary, like the Sentinel stat upgrade system (which I kind of ignored in favour of skill upgrades) but I imagine on intense the gameplay becomes more thrilling.

Beyond that, this game is gorgeous. The artstyle, the character designs, the spritework... it's just so, so beautiful. It's not a unique artstyle per se, but its complemented heavily with visually distinct CG's and backgrounds, great character designs and some amazing lighting all in a 2.5D perspective. The soundtrack is really good, but I guess there aren't really any distinct soundtracks aside from 2? Even then, it fits the game perfectly in just about every way: from the combat themes, the slice of life friend hangouts to gripping plot revelations, the soundtrack never takes you away from the moment and puts you right into what the characters would be feeling.

I love this game so much and I wish more people played it. There's just so much passion put into it from Vanillaware, its a love letter to all forms of sci-fi media yet has its own distinct identity, one that truly gripped me from start to finish. I fell in love with this game halfway through and by the end all I'm left with is a story so incredible, so grand and yet so small in what it's really about. I love this game so much, what a journey.

Cold Steel I is a game that almost doesn't feel like Trails. It's 3D now, the MC is more anime than all the others (the entire female cast wants him + Persona dating social links), a vast majority of the plot is episodic city exploration that bloats the narrative more than the previous games ever did. But the high points, especially the last part, redeem it.

The music is great (an obvious statement about a Trails game, but noteworthy nonetheless), the combat system is a step up from Crossbell's, and it just feels fun to play, with even its duller moments being pretty comfy. It doesn't have Sky's comfortable and homely vibe, it doesn't have Sky 3rd's level of themes and character writing, it doesn't have Crossbell's consistency and high points overall writing wise, but it does have one thing that it crushes the previous games in — the rule of cool.

Rean (as of this game) is no Kevin, but his struggles are quite compelling, and more importantly, he has a katana, which is the coolest weapon a Trails MC has had yet. He is a cool swordsman. And Cold Steel is very cool when it wants to be. The last act some real hype moments that rarely work for me in videogames, and they were done creatively. I immediately booted up the beginning of CS2 because I just couldn't wait.

Despite at times looking like an obvious lower budget JRPG (why replace 2D character portraits with 3D models..? it took some time to get used to), and having a worse (IMO) art style than Crossbell, CS1 definitely has a nice visual style. Despite being the first 3D Trails game, once you get used to how it looks, it's really nice seeing environments that would have been previously seen from a 2.5D, top-down view in their full glory.

Overall, it's a heavily flawed, inconsistent, almost messy (you could even say it sucks sometimes) game, but when it hits, it's very exciting, and leaves you wanting more. I can't wait to see more of this journey.

Xenogears is a story the goes into themes of psychoanalysis and Gnosticism and freudian principles of personality development concerning the character of Fei fong wong who's development is one that is wonderfully capitalised upon dynamics with characters like Grahf, Ramsus and Krelian 3 very good antagonists that fufill there role greatly across the grand scheme of Xenogears.

lemme take a look at just the main plot of Xenogears with just the plot of disc 1 and disc 2. Disc 1 starts off with the introduction of Fei fong wong an amnesiac in Lacan villlage that due to unfortunate events has to leave his village, this enables fei to go on a globe trotting adventure (going to cut this short) the entire game makes visiting each of the locations so unique as there's so many different cultures and history in each region like the desert region of Aveh and Kislev as each region is able to feel so incredibly distinct as class discrimination and different ideaologies regarding which citizens are worthy of luxurious treatent makes the world of xenogears so alive. The plot is something that is able to captivate the audience with every development of it's plot with twists and turns that i wasn't expecting with disc 2 being a complete brainrot with what it does with the story so many new thing that just add so mmuch onto the plot of disc 1 to say that Xenogears wasn't anything mindblowing is selling the game short in my eyes. but with the mindblowing positives there are shortcomings that come along with it as oh boy it feels really unfinished as the game atp really just wanted to tell the main story and flesh out Fei,Elly and Krelian as the gameplay rally just entirely felt like an after thought and really shoved in there and the side cast while i actually like all of them, they barely gotten screen time which really sucks cause character's like rico was a really nice introspctive into the racial mistreatments the demihumans were facing due to the laws instilled by the Aveh goverment and thus had to resorted to using physicaal strength to be able to rise through the prison ranks in Nortune. ( i don't find the amount of cutscenes a problem as i like Vns but i really would've loved more gameplay in the actually game )

AAnyways the entire realisation at the end of Xenogears tells e that i won't find anything like it as Xenogears is well Xenogears it separated itself from the pack and stands as an entirely unique story so bless you Takahashi hope you can pull off something as good as this and hopefully xenosaga can make me feel something simallar to what i felt in gears.

"That brief hesitation was all it took to spawn a great evil. It crawled through the fields, ran through the hills, and spread disaster in the skies above. Book of Ezer, Verse 2, 'Disaster Unleashed.'"

An epilogue to a finale. The bridge which leads to the next story arc for this legendary series as well as one that is filled with context of the past, present, and future of this story.

Trails in the Sky the 3rd is massively different from its predecessors and ones that follow it. A dungeon crawler with Visual Novelesque side stories that are apart of its own door system. There is a requirement for every door and whoever fulfills it gets granted a flashback to the past. On how this is handled it is easily one of the best side story concepts I have seen in a video game. I am definitely going to miss doors like Moon Door 4, Star Door 8, and Star Door 15. Obviously there are more but those are ones that stood out to me or are the most memorable.

Although I have seen people who dislike the gameplay in this game, I personally love it. I think it was a very different change of pace considering how you're done with Estelle and Joshua's magnificent journey, and Kevin motherfuckin Graham takes over.

Kevin Graham's story is something that will stick with me for a LONG time. I thought Estelle would never be topped or let alone matched when it comes to a main character standpoint in this series and it did not take long for my expectations to be shattered. Now I don't know where I stand in the comparison between the two, but I can confidently say I love them both.

The soundtrack is somehow on par or arguably better than the last. I really don't know how this is even possible but man it is something special. When I first started the game and this track was the first thing I heard I knew we were in for something special.

Unlike SC, this game had me invested from beginning to end. There were several times where I just audibly said "wow." At this point I can just say that this is one of the best video game trilogies ever. Like each game of this trilogy just sets a high bar for the rest of the genre after experiencing it.

The Trails in the Sky trilogy has truly been an emotional and special journey and I just can't wait what future games has in store waiting for me.

Lastly although I was absolutely loving this game while playing, there was a line by Kevin himself that really stuck with me and solidified this game as an all timer.

"It's why it gave me the strength to move forward, even knowing how many hardships awaited. Because for every hardship, there'll be just as much joy waiting for me."

(This review contains no spoilers for Muv-Luv and Muv-Luv Alternative. For any links to videos that I have, I will send the spoiler-free versions with just songs or OST with no story-related thumbnails)

Muv-Luv Alternative is my favourite story of all time.

In the autumn of 2021, I was looking for visual novels to read since I'd taken a break from the medium. Then, I remembered that there was this one acclaimed visual novel trilogy called Muv-Luv that I knew nothing about, other than that it somehow goes from a cutesy romcom to having mechs. The Muv-Luv trilogy consists of Extra (a slice-of-life romcom), Unlimited (a-coming-of-age story) and Alternative (a real robot mecha war story). I decided that, since this is one of the most loved VNs, I would have a blind playthrough, and so I got the trilogy. At the time, I had only read Doki Doki Literature Club, ChäoS;Child (my pre-MLA favourite), Fate/stay night and Tsukihime. At the time of writing this review, I have read just over 70 VNs (an obsession with the medium of which was fueled in no small part by ML), and while I have great respect for all of those to this day, this is the one that changed my life. I've learned many things from it, and even gained a desire to learn Japanese to a level that would make me appreciate this even more through a reread.

Right off the bat, I thought Extra was pretty enjoyable — I liked the art style, cute chibis, characters, humour and Initial D references. There's a character whose name and personality are blatantly based on Rei Ayanami, some of the girls have hair based on Gundam helmets, all of them have gigantic hair vents and/or ahoges (otherwise known as hair antennae) that were above average in size even in the 2000s. Still, even though I really clicked with the characters and cute humour, but I couldn't see where this was going, especially considering the acclaim of the series. Nonetheless, I kept going due to liking the cast and being intrigued by how this ever becomes a serious mecha story. And to be honest, I think the hate for Extra is overblown — sure, the structure equals slow pacing, Takeru is mean and sometimes borderline obnoxious in Extra, the jokes are repeated a lot, and the routes vary highly in quality, but it was a comedic take on what âge and other visual novel companies often released at the time, and it allows for greater contrast to how the mecha aspect works. Plus, if you enjoy it for what it is, it's quite fun. However, even though I knew the trilogy was a slow burn, I was left wondering if it truly would get better than just "pretty good". So Unlimited rolls around with its genre shift that I did not expect to be executed in the way it was, with massive contrast to Extra while still keeping that familiar Muv-Luv vibe, as well as intriguing worldbuilding that was merely a demo before MLA, and I was beginning to understand that this was something special. Once I got to Alternative, I was thrilled by the way the "main" story finally began. I was so hooked that I read the entire trilogy in less than two weeks.

Starting with the visuals, this part of the series is marvellous. For something that was made in 2003 and 2006, it is insane that there is so much motion, such as with eyes blinking, lipsync, many sprites (they sometimes face you with their back, which was a small detail that blew my mind at the time), backgrounds and CGs, and creative use of all of those to create a dynamic experience. Also there is a small detail I like where the text is basically subtitles with different colours depending on who's speaking. And this is just in Extra and Unlimited. In Alternative, TSFs (Muv-Luv mechs) move in fights, too. It is extremely immersive to sit in the cockpit with ambient background noise and have the UI (that changes with time!) appear on your screen, as the POV camera shifts across the screen, while seeing the TSF move from the inside, but also in other moments seeing multiple TSFs flying around, shooting bullets, swinging a sword or knife, etc. The fights have movement, and sometimes even straight up animation. Coming from Type-Moon, DDLC and Chaos;Child, the latter two of which are more recent than ML and MLA, I wasn't aware that Muv-Luv was this visually impressive to this day (big thanks to how much budget went into this, some of which was out of the author's, Kouki's, own pocket), so I was absolutely shocked by the fact that it was borderline an anime with how vibrant everything was.

Speaking of TSFs, I did enjoy Gurren Lagann and Evangelion, but I wasn't exactly into them for the mecha aspect. I did not like superpowered robots or space fights. I wanted mechs that behave more like machines, but are also not especially powerful so that fights will be tense. I tried ML/MLA in the first place because of its high acclaim and intriguing transition from Extra to mecha, not for the mecha aspect itself. I did not consider myself to be a mecha fan. But then, I realised that I just had not found my niche, and that niche was something Muv-Luv hard sci-fi has. Everything mecha, strategy, technologically, in-universe historically, geopolitically or worldbuilding related is explained and consistent in a "grounded" way, so to speak. They even made a 400-page textbook called the CODEX which is based primarily on lore featured in the source material, and even that is considered a bit outdated by now as more material came out. TSFs are agile yet fragile machines, and are treated as just another weapon. They are not superior in every aspect to tanks and planes, they have a reason (besides being cool) to exist. They are not able to do space flight, and they do not have beam or laser weapons such as laser guns or beam swords. They have bullets and large metal swords for the most part. They also have various mech-related features that I wish more mecha featured, such as neck braces for the pilot's safety due to sudden movements, various magnetic points on the fortified suit that attach to the seat and a pattern-recognition algorithm that calibrates how the machine behaves for greater efficiency as the pilot uses it more. We are also given history on various TSFs and how the various generations of them progressed and their limits. There is also the fact that TSFs are based on real life jets — the F-22 Raptor is a fighter jet in real life, but in Muv-Luv it's a TSF. Various TSFs also have different strategies and features when using them, such as how the Raptor has stealth capabilities, as well as different designs, inspired by quite a few other mecha, such as Gunbuster, Gundam and Evangelion. The politics in this are very layered, too, with many parties having complex, yet understandable, goals, while being portrayed in a humane manner.

In addition to hard sci-fi, the strategy and tactics featured in this go an extra mile in terms of details and immersion. One thing that personally bugged me (not that there's anything wrong with it) in a lot of mecha was that they use cool-sounding terms and words that are barely (and sometimes never) explained, like the "omega actuator" or something. When tech is being described to you in Muv-Luv, you are told exactly what each term means and how it contributes to the overall picture working. When you are told there will be a military op in Muv-Luv, you are given an explanation on what each plan and phase is, what the backup plan is, what to do depending on the situation, parameters such as distance and weight of objects, the advantages and disadvantages of the situation, what each squad member's placement in the plan is, what the deadline is, etc. If they suddenly need to change to plan B, you know exactly what that entails. You know what the Arrowhead 2 TSF formation is, so if in a fight someone says "All units, switch to Arrowhead 2," you know what they're referring to. You know when to switch to what weapon. You know what that omega actuator would be here. All of this is accompanied with various technical and strategic diagrams, to boot. There is so much depth that they go into with a plethora of things, that one would need a separate post just to discuss all the major topics. And when a very large-scale fight starts, you end up keeping track of so many variables and players, but it feels natural, and so mesmerising.

The soundtrack in this is wonderful. You are greeted by two opening themes in MLA, one being the PS3 theme, 0-GRAVITY, which is insanely exciting, especially after after the cute opening theme of Extra and the Unlimited OP which fills one with wonder; and the other being the original opening by the legendary band JAM PROJECT, who have been involved in many mecha and other anime projects. The song's name is Asu e no Houkou, or Roar to the Future. I think to this day, this is my favourite Japanese song of all time, let alone opening to anything, ever. It is so, so cool, hype, whatever you want to call it. It makes one remember the days of Extra and find it unbelievable that this is part of the same story as it. The non-vocal soundtrack is great in this too, when there are tracks like the briefing track which really set the tone for the mecha war story aspect of the trilogy. There are also more relaxing tracks for day-to-day life. There are so many tracks in this that just ooze passion and variety. This, similarly to the animated scene and voice acting aspect, is in part due to having some very known and talented people working as composers, such as Iwasaki Taku, who also worked on the Gurren Lagann's, Katanagatari's, Soul Eater's and other soundtracks.

Of course, the most important aspect is the story. Takeru starts as an immature teen and develops as he gains an adult's perspective on life. This is possible largely due to the genre shift of having that same romcom protagonist in Extra experience the different sides of what life is like. The change from having his biggest concern be who he wants to eat lunch with to what one might call having "real problems", with both him and the reader now remembering those relaxing times as something to be appreciated, leaves a lasting impression, and is only possible due to having lived through Extra. As this is a spoiler-free review, I will leave the plot discussion at that, and now just mention the impact it had on me. I hadn't cried from a story for years at that point, and yet Muv-Luv Alternative had me crying so hard that I had to stop reading lines for a few moments just so that the tears would clear and that I would see the screen better, six times. It was an absolutely incredible experience, and nothing has come close since for me. There were a few aspects of the story that were personally relatable to me that had an impact as well. I am so glad I went into this unspoiled.

That's not to say it's perfect, of course, there are issues such as some jokes that would be in bad taste now, 17 to 20 years later, the road to it truly becoming great (after being decent in Extra and pretty good in Unlimited) in Alternative is very much a "it gets good bro, trust me" deal where the beginning is in no way indicative of what comes later, but man, the intrigue, the characters and investment got me there without any issues. The structure definitely makes it a slow burn, and there's some weird stuff at times. But you know how in a lot of media, you have a peaceful town life for a bit in the first episode before the real story begins? Well here, you live the peace, and you live the war, making the impact very great for many people such as myself, and for others it might not be worth the build-up, which is fine. The infodumping and lore might be too much for some, but for people such as myself who get into it, it is a treat. This isn't a work for everyone, and that's fine. However, I would recommend many people, including mecha fans, visual novel readers and Attack on Titan fans, to check this out, since it really is worth trying.

Finally, I want to give thanks. I was sitting there bawling my eyes out as the credits rolled, and I want to write down the words of gratitude that I had not written anywhere before.

Thank you, Shirogane Takeru, for your inspiring journey. Thank you, Kagami Sumika, Mitsurugi Meiya, Ayamine Kei, Tamase Miki, Sakaki Chizuru and Yashiro Kasumi, for your stories that showed both the protagonist and reader the many perspectives and lives that exist in the world. Thank you, Kouzuki Yuuko, Jinguuji Marimo and other cast members, for being reliable mentors and saying things that both Takeru and I, a university student at the time who had been lost with as to what to do with life, needed to hear. Thank you for making this story such a joy to read.

Lastly, and most importantly, thank you, âge and Yoshimune Kouki, for creating this beautiful tale of love and courage that I hold dear in my heart to this day.

This game is FUCKING CRAZY. I was skeptical over whether they'd top Sky the 3rd yet they somehow did.

I don't know how they did it, they somehow made three back-to-back 5-star, 10/10 games. This has NEVER happened to me in another series, even my favourites.

It's extremely emotional, the artstyle is awesome, it's fun to play (the small gameplay additions compared to Zero are appreciated), the characters are all awesome, they throw so many twists at you, the likes of which I haven't been this affected by since finishing my top 10 favourites across all media, that you can't help but binge. The backtracking is some of the least tedious in the entire genre from what I've seen. This is one of the closest things I've seen to perfection, from concept to execution, in my life. My only actual complaint is that the difficulty curve is kind of unreasonable in the last few fights of the game, but who cares, it was really hype.

And oh my GOD, the music... Trails already secured its place as #1 in terms of OST, beating Umineko, but this is on a whole other level. You have so many bangers, like the Azure Arbitrator or Mystic Core, but they're far from the only ones.

In terms of favourites, I'd place it around Utawarerumono 3. It's just that good.

I will be slowing down with my Trails binging and going through Cold Steel at a more leisurely pace so that I don't burn out but... wow, I'm definitely a fan.

Who is Lloyd Bannings?
To the blind, he is the light.
To the starving, he is the bread.
To the sick, he is the cure.
To the sad, he is joy.
To the prisoner, he is freedom.
To the poor, he is treasure.
For me, he is everything. I love Lloyd Bannings.