waltuh

put ya sword away waltuh

youre not ending it thus waltuh

Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse was a wild ride. This game does some things a lot better than SMT IV but also some things worse. Regardless of what I say here, I really enjoyed the game, but some things definitely did kill it for me at times (especially at the end but we'll get to that).

The story is alright? I don't really have anything to say about it besides the fact that the routes are either 'screw friendship' or 'with the power of friendship!' I just feel like its inferior to SMT IV, especially when things can just revive themselves and we have to fight the same bosses like three times throughout the course of the game. There weren't any standout points in the story, but I don't think there needed to be because the story was not this games strongpoint, the games strongest point is definitely the gameplay.

The gameplay was great. They gave skills new smirk effects and just made it better overall (I think I also started to switch my demons a lot more in this game so thats probably also a plus). I like how they handled App Points in this game compared to other games, but man the world map still sucks. At least this time I completed every side quest, and they were really enjoyable.

The characters in this game.. The only one I enjoyed was Hallelujah, the rest just miss in multiple ways. Gaston is a snob but he does get better the further you get in the story, same as Navarre. Toki and Asahi get caught up in a love triangle with the protagonist and I just dont care for them, especially Asahi who is extremely annoying at times. I just don't like anything about Nozomi, honestly. The best thing about her character was probably Danu, but that's about it. My top three in this game are probably Hallelujah, Isabeau, and Flynn, and that's saying something considering one of them isn't even really with you for most of the game.

The dungeons.. There was some I liked, like the Fairy Forest (except the maze bit). But I need to talk about the final dungeon. What were they THINKING? I was WALKING AROUND for 45 MINUTES trying to get out of the First Stratum. I then decided to get a guide and NOPE that just made me want to cry even more. How can you make such an awful final dungeon and completely screw over my motivation to finish the game? Besides that dungeon, I actually don't think I have any other complaints.

As always, the music continues to slap, and I like the designs of new demons and THANKFULLY THEY REDESIGNED LUCIFER! Definitely liked the variety of demons in this game compared to IV, and definitely enjoyed them in the main story, sub-quests, and new areas.

Overall, I will say that I pleasantly enjoyed my time with the game, no matter how crazy it actually was. Gameplay was great, demons were great, and some characters were amazing. Story can be improved a bit, same with some characters, but I don't think I will be replaying this game because of that god awful final dungeon.

This is a weird case. I wouldn’t fault anyone for saying they didn’t like this DLC. Its rooms/floors can feel repetitive, the final boss is anticlimactic and, even if it does serve the narrative, the almost completely white color scheme can feel overbearing and downright boring after a while. I also have personal issues with it, namely I think there are just a few less floors than I would like, and there should maybe be an option for playing runs that last longer than 30 floors, maybe even 50. But even acknowledging all that, this DLC is such a cool concept and the gameplay itself is so well-designed and simply enjoyable, that those issues barely matter.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure this is the first roguelike Nintendo themselves have made. And it sticks the landing quite well! The feedback loop of upgrading your gear, losing and getting permanent upgrades is a familiar but powerful formula that hasn’t lost its efficacy in Nintendo’s hands. A big issue that people also thought the DLC would have is that it looked really easy in the trailers, but that was probably just because the developers chose to mostly highlight the Easy or Normal floors. There are also Hard and Rigorous floors, as well as bonus challenges that potentially net you doubled rewards, and Danger-modified floors, which have a forced secondary challenge.

While I otherwise feel like this system of choosing your difficulty based on the current situation is quite genius, I don’t think the Danger modifier is properly implemented. It’s introduced as something that you have to tackle at least a few times per run, unless you want every selectable floor to become a Danger floor, but that never happened to me even when I purposely avoided them. Not sure if I somehow outsmarted the game, but that risk-reward system never opened up to me.

However, outside of that one small hiccup, the DLC is really fascinating, and honestly might be my favorite over Octo Expansion. Although Octo Expansion was not a bad experience by any means and it still is the best Splatoon’s story mode has been in its traditional style, I somehow enjoyed Side Order much more, and can imagine myself enjoying it for upwards of 50 hours in the future.

That’s another interesting aspect; although I recognise Octo Expansion is probably the superior overall experience, with less obvious issues and more interesting level design, Side Order’s replayability, simple fun and sheer compatibility with what the Switch is supposed to stand for might make it my favorite Splatoon mode yet. It could well be the Prime 3 of the Splatoon series: very different from what came before, clearly trying something new by focusing on a style the franchise hasn’t generally tried up to that point (for Prime 3 it was a story-heavy cinematic shooter, departing from the earlier metroidvania-y feel, and for Side Order it’s making the DLC story mode a pretty extensively replayable roguelike), and ultimately it’s my favorite in the series despite the second game’s offerings probably being objectively better.

Maybe I’m easy to please. Or maybe it’s just good game design.

De mis juegos favoritos para siempre.
No es sólo que las mecánicas RPG funcionen bien, que el cómo aborda la muerte para que no tengas un Game Over me parezca novedoso, el sistema de críticos interesante y la dificultad proporcional. O que tenga una banda sonora BRUTAL.
Creo que es la inmersión.
La historia de las distintas facciones, humanas y sobrenaturales; la gente, viviendo su día a día, sus preocupaciones, sus sueños y esperanzas; las subtramas, con las hadas, los dioses olvidados, el caballero carmesí...
Me han llegado hondo al corazón, me he sentido dentro y escuchándoles en persona de las cosas que les preocupan y las cosas en las que creen.
Es un juego que me encanta y me ha dejado marca. Ojalá más gente lo disfrute.