WickBRSTM
2023
(The following review is based on the 1.5.0 version of Cassette Beasts, but not taking DLC into account. These feelings are still accurate as of me writing this review, but praises and criticisms I have exclusively with the DLC are not included here.)
I had heard quite a few good things going into Cassette Beasts, and the game's launch trailer really grabbed my attention, but I was not at all prepared for how the game would blow every single one of my expectations out of the water.
Cassette Beasts manages to pay homage to its inspirations while crafting its own special experience from that foundation. As a longtime Pokémon fan, I pretty quickly picked up on the gameplay, but was pleasantly surprised at the many individual components that make the game unique. Instead of a MP or PP system, the game uses Action Points that you accrue over the course of a battle that can be spent on moves of varying amounts of power- it's more akin to something like Boost Points in Octopath Traveler. This makes it so that both weak moves and strong moves have their place in battle, which I really like! The game primarily focuses on 2v2 combat, and the synergy you build with the various partner characters you join up with over the course of the story translates very well into the gameplay, especially through the headlining "fusion" mechanic that spices up the combat significantly─ you'll have much greater firepower, but can't take as many actions per turn, which is a fun tradeoff. Moves and passives are contextualized as "stickers" that can be freely attached and detached from monster tapes at will, making experimentation and strategization easily some of the most streamlined I've seen from an RPG. My only minor point of criticism is that by endgame the sticker list is a bit of a pain to sort through to find what you want, but the filter tools make this a little less frustrating at least. As a lover of turn-based combat, I was thoroughly impressed.
The characters and story felt very fresh and engaging, especially for an RPG of this subgenre. I'll keep my thoughts here as general as I can to not spoil things. Each of their backstories and personalities added something to the party, and the optional romance mechanic managed to enhance the experience without taking anything away for those who aren't interested (except an achievement unfortunately, but that's not too bad). As a nonbinary person, I felt very at home with the options included for character creation, and seeing LGBTQ+ representation in the game itself was really awesome to see. Everything regarding this feels really natural and well-written, which I love. The Archangels and what they each ultimately represent slowly build an interesting narrative over the course of the game, while each being memorable in their own right, utilizing various art styles that feel foreign to everything else in the game's world. There's a nice balance of lightheartedness and more serious subject matters tackled here, and overall does a good job of keeping a positive outlook throughout without needing to talk down to its players when the going gets rough. The story pacing felt very good, which can be hard to pull off in an open-world experience where things aren't always done in the same order, so I appreciate what the devs and writers were able to accomplish here.
The visuals really land in this game in every aspect, from the chibi overworld, to the adorable talk sprites, to the unsettling-yet-badass Archangels, and of course, the fantastic animated monster sprites. To the untrained eye the inspiration is obvious, but it goes a lot further with it than its inspirations by every monster having animations for dealing and taking damage, as well as many of the "asleep" animations being a lot more visually interesting than just having closed eyes. Oh, and reminder that just about all of this applies to the 19,000+ fusions too. Some procedural generation was obviously needed to reach that monolithic number, but amidst the recent controversies around AI art, it's really refreshing to see this pulled off with 100% organically drawn and animated components. Oh, and of course, the monster designs themselves are fantastic. There's a very lovable quirky feel to each one, while having a flavor entirely of their own that you can't easily find elsewhere. The more mature subject matter allows for some really fun names and designs that wouldn't fly in more family-friendly monster-collecting RPGs without losing any of the aforementioned charm at all─ shoutout to Skelevangelist and Miasmodeus, among others.
The music is absolutely stellar. The vocals kicking in during battle themes when a fusion happens appeals very heavily to me as an enjoyer of dynamic music in video games. There's some nice motif reusage present, as well as a good amount of lyrics with multiple meanings that were fun to experience. Same Old Story and Arrow of Time will be on my VGM playlist for a long time yet to come.
I could go on for ages about all the other things I love about this game, and I'm sure there's some things I'll kick myself for not mentioning here later, but honestly the best thing about Cassette Beasts is the gestalt of the game experience rather than any of its individual aspects. It's not very often I see a game so well-balanced in its strengths, and whether you're a casual Pokémon fan, a monster-collector RPG fanatic, or just want a fun turn-based experience in general, you can't go wrong with Cassette Beasts.
I had heard quite a few good things going into Cassette Beasts, and the game's launch trailer really grabbed my attention, but I was not at all prepared for how the game would blow every single one of my expectations out of the water.
Cassette Beasts manages to pay homage to its inspirations while crafting its own special experience from that foundation. As a longtime Pokémon fan, I pretty quickly picked up on the gameplay, but was pleasantly surprised at the many individual components that make the game unique. Instead of a MP or PP system, the game uses Action Points that you accrue over the course of a battle that can be spent on moves of varying amounts of power- it's more akin to something like Boost Points in Octopath Traveler. This makes it so that both weak moves and strong moves have their place in battle, which I really like! The game primarily focuses on 2v2 combat, and the synergy you build with the various partner characters you join up with over the course of the story translates very well into the gameplay, especially through the headlining "fusion" mechanic that spices up the combat significantly─ you'll have much greater firepower, but can't take as many actions per turn, which is a fun tradeoff. Moves and passives are contextualized as "stickers" that can be freely attached and detached from monster tapes at will, making experimentation and strategization easily some of the most streamlined I've seen from an RPG. My only minor point of criticism is that by endgame the sticker list is a bit of a pain to sort through to find what you want, but the filter tools make this a little less frustrating at least. As a lover of turn-based combat, I was thoroughly impressed.
The characters and story felt very fresh and engaging, especially for an RPG of this subgenre. I'll keep my thoughts here as general as I can to not spoil things. Each of their backstories and personalities added something to the party, and the optional romance mechanic managed to enhance the experience without taking anything away for those who aren't interested (except an achievement unfortunately, but that's not too bad). As a nonbinary person, I felt very at home with the options included for character creation, and seeing LGBTQ+ representation in the game itself was really awesome to see. Everything regarding this feels really natural and well-written, which I love. The Archangels and what they each ultimately represent slowly build an interesting narrative over the course of the game, while each being memorable in their own right, utilizing various art styles that feel foreign to everything else in the game's world. There's a nice balance of lightheartedness and more serious subject matters tackled here, and overall does a good job of keeping a positive outlook throughout without needing to talk down to its players when the going gets rough. The story pacing felt very good, which can be hard to pull off in an open-world experience where things aren't always done in the same order, so I appreciate what the devs and writers were able to accomplish here.
The visuals really land in this game in every aspect, from the chibi overworld, to the adorable talk sprites, to the unsettling-yet-badass Archangels, and of course, the fantastic animated monster sprites. To the untrained eye the inspiration is obvious, but it goes a lot further with it than its inspirations by every monster having animations for dealing and taking damage, as well as many of the "asleep" animations being a lot more visually interesting than just having closed eyes. Oh, and reminder that just about all of this applies to the 19,000+ fusions too. Some procedural generation was obviously needed to reach that monolithic number, but amidst the recent controversies around AI art, it's really refreshing to see this pulled off with 100% organically drawn and animated components. Oh, and of course, the monster designs themselves are fantastic. There's a very lovable quirky feel to each one, while having a flavor entirely of their own that you can't easily find elsewhere. The more mature subject matter allows for some really fun names and designs that wouldn't fly in more family-friendly monster-collecting RPGs without losing any of the aforementioned charm at all─ shoutout to Skelevangelist and Miasmodeus, among others.
The music is absolutely stellar. The vocals kicking in during battle themes when a fusion happens appeals very heavily to me as an enjoyer of dynamic music in video games. There's some nice motif reusage present, as well as a good amount of lyrics with multiple meanings that were fun to experience. Same Old Story and Arrow of Time will be on my VGM playlist for a long time yet to come.
I could go on for ages about all the other things I love about this game, and I'm sure there's some things I'll kick myself for not mentioning here later, but honestly the best thing about Cassette Beasts is the gestalt of the game experience rather than any of its individual aspects. It's not very often I see a game so well-balanced in its strengths, and whether you're a casual Pokémon fan, a monster-collector RPG fanatic, or just want a fun turn-based experience in general, you can't go wrong with Cassette Beasts.
2022
Lil Gator Game is a short-but-sweet adventure game with a lot to love. It manages to tell an interesting story about the troubles of growing up from the perspective of a younger sibling while providing a relaxing gameplay structure, beautiful dynamic music, and plenty of memorable characters. It's the type of game you'll probably 100% within a day or two, but remember and recommend for a long time yet to come.
2022
To say LIVE A LIVE is one of the great classics from the Super Famicom is already an understatement in of itself, in spite of it infamously never releasing outside of Japan, but words cannot begin to express how fantastic this remake is. Beautiful environments and banger music are in no short supply thanks to the work of Team Asano and legendary composer Yoko Shimomura respectively, and the unique combat system still feels fresh even nearly three decades later, with a fantastic new UI overhaul to make it more understandable to new players. The plot and story structure, especially regarding that of the endgame, feels strikingly ahead of its time in many regards, and a particular new addition to one of the endings ties everything together even better than the original did. If you're a fan of turn-based RPGs, especially from this era of video games, do NOT miss out on this game. Highly recommend.
Came for the tax evasion, stayed for the Turnip Boy. Or was that the other way around? Err...
If you want a fun adventure game where you can play as an unlawful vegetable, no need to look any further. It might've only been a few hours, but you definitely get what you pay for and much, much more. Surprisingly interesting postgame as well, if you're into that sort of thing. Definitely recommend.
If you want a fun adventure game where you can play as an unlawful vegetable, no need to look any further. It might've only been a few hours, but you definitely get what you pay for and much, much more. Surprisingly interesting postgame as well, if you're into that sort of thing. Definitely recommend.
2021
A pretty fun revision of the first Final Fantasy overall. The encounter rate could be toned down a little and the final boss could be a bit... better balanced around the fact that Phoenix Downs (the "revive" items in this game) only restore 1 HP and leave you quite vulnerable to immediately getting killed again, to put it politely, but otherwise I had a great time. The music is fantastic and the re-imagined art is quite nice overall. As anyone who's played any Pixel Remaster will tell you, I recommend installing a mod to change the font and add some other small QOL enhancements as you see fit, but otherwise, if you want to try the first Final Fantasy or revisit it for the first time in a while, this ain't a bad place to do so, especially on PC with mods.
2023
OCTOPATH TRAVELER II is one of the greatest JRPGs of all time.
I adored the original OCTOPATH TRAVELER, and the sequel is everything that I could've hoped for. Each story immediately grabbed my attention and held it throughout, from Agnea's lighthearted wishes for stardom to Osvald's much darker plot for revenge, and the resolutions to each not only felt satisfying in a standalone sense, but each tied very well into the overarching major plot extremely well— not a new feat for the series, contrary to popular belief, but one that I nonetheless feel was done much more satisfyingly here compared to the previous entry. The new Crossed Paths make for interesting new scenarios involving two characters directly working together and interacting, which I definitely feel scratches the itch of those wishing for more interaction between characters. I won't spoil how everything all comes together in the end, but I will make one thing very clear: I cried during the credits. Not something that happens often for me, but Team Asano has found a way to do that to me twice within the past year (the other time being with LIVE A LIVE's remake on Switch). Absolutely lovely madlads over there.
The gameplay mechanics have been refined, upgraded, and otherwise made practically perfect— the Break and Boost combat is still as addictive as ever, the Path Action system continues to encourage exploration of every nook and cranny in each town (including new nighttime Path Actions!), and the characters overall feel much more balanced this go-round, all without taking away anything that made them fun in the first entry! Being a big fan of Merchant in the first entry I chose Partitio, and I was delighted that he was not only just as fun to use as Tressa from the first game, but the rest of the gang was incredibly enjoyable as well, with some of the more complex classes like Hunter and Apothecary getting fantastic reworks so that the Beast Lore and Concoct systems respectively are much easier to use. With the first game I felt like I had to push newcomers towards Tressa in fear that they'd pick someone else and end up dropping it because of their imbalances, but in 2 you can really pick anyone and have a blast without prior knowledge of the game, which is exactly what I was hoping for! (Still don't regret picking Partitio though, gotta love the funny Texan money man.)
The soundtrack is possibly Yasunori Nishiki's best work yet, continuing in the thematic style of the first game's soundtrack but getting very experimental with instrumentation and vocals in ways that the original didn't quite explore. The overworld themes had me excited for the next adventure, the nighttime themes had me relaxed and serene, and of course, the battle themes will have me tapping my foot for years to come. I won't get into too many specifics on the soundtrack since that touches on spoilers, but I will say that the saxophone in Partitio's theme was unexpected but works extremely well.
The world of Solistia is beautifully varied in culture and environment, allowing for a much more distinct look and feel for each of the storylines— you'll be going back and forth between the lush countryside of the Leaflands to the streets of the bustling New Delsta in a flash, and it's always a joy to look at no matter where your journey takes you. It's a beautiful celebration of how far the HD-2D visual style has come over the years, and whether you've followed every new Team Asano release or are just jumping in for the first time with Octopath 2 (which is totally okay to do, it's not connected to the first entry story-wise!), you're in for a treat.
"The places you go… The deeds you do… The tales whose hero you become… Every road is yours to take."
I adored the original OCTOPATH TRAVELER, and the sequel is everything that I could've hoped for. Each story immediately grabbed my attention and held it throughout, from Agnea's lighthearted wishes for stardom to Osvald's much darker plot for revenge, and the resolutions to each not only felt satisfying in a standalone sense, but each tied very well into the overarching major plot extremely well— not a new feat for the series, contrary to popular belief, but one that I nonetheless feel was done much more satisfyingly here compared to the previous entry. The new Crossed Paths make for interesting new scenarios involving two characters directly working together and interacting, which I definitely feel scratches the itch of those wishing for more interaction between characters. I won't spoil how everything all comes together in the end, but I will make one thing very clear: I cried during the credits. Not something that happens often for me, but Team Asano has found a way to do that to me twice within the past year (the other time being with LIVE A LIVE's remake on Switch). Absolutely lovely madlads over there.
The gameplay mechanics have been refined, upgraded, and otherwise made practically perfect— the Break and Boost combat is still as addictive as ever, the Path Action system continues to encourage exploration of every nook and cranny in each town (including new nighttime Path Actions!), and the characters overall feel much more balanced this go-round, all without taking away anything that made them fun in the first entry! Being a big fan of Merchant in the first entry I chose Partitio, and I was delighted that he was not only just as fun to use as Tressa from the first game, but the rest of the gang was incredibly enjoyable as well, with some of the more complex classes like Hunter and Apothecary getting fantastic reworks so that the Beast Lore and Concoct systems respectively are much easier to use. With the first game I felt like I had to push newcomers towards Tressa in fear that they'd pick someone else and end up dropping it because of their imbalances, but in 2 you can really pick anyone and have a blast without prior knowledge of the game, which is exactly what I was hoping for! (Still don't regret picking Partitio though, gotta love the funny Texan money man.)
The soundtrack is possibly Yasunori Nishiki's best work yet, continuing in the thematic style of the first game's soundtrack but getting very experimental with instrumentation and vocals in ways that the original didn't quite explore. The overworld themes had me excited for the next adventure, the nighttime themes had me relaxed and serene, and of course, the battle themes will have me tapping my foot for years to come. I won't get into too many specifics on the soundtrack since that touches on spoilers, but I will say that the saxophone in Partitio's theme was unexpected but works extremely well.
The world of Solistia is beautifully varied in culture and environment, allowing for a much more distinct look and feel for each of the storylines— you'll be going back and forth between the lush countryside of the Leaflands to the streets of the bustling New Delsta in a flash, and it's always a joy to look at no matter where your journey takes you. It's a beautiful celebration of how far the HD-2D visual style has come over the years, and whether you've followed every new Team Asano release or are just jumping in for the first time with Octopath 2 (which is totally okay to do, it's not connected to the first entry story-wise!), you're in for a treat.
"The places you go… The deeds you do… The tales whose hero you become… Every road is yours to take."