Still love this game, even after all of these years. It's just such a fun journey with a gameplay system that's infinitely replayable. Having three main characters is honestly a very welcome idea, with more main characters meaning more characters that can actually consistently have dialogue over the course of the story. Lyn, Eliwood, and Hector all bounce off one another well and the rest of the cast is easily one of my favorites in the series. While the story as a whole isn't perfect, there's a lot of great moments throughout that keep it enjoyable and exciting. I especially appreciate that even though there's a lot of neat connections in the cast, this game didn't shackle itself to just being "the prequel to The Binding Blade" and told a completely original, smaller scale story. The GBA games are also in my opinion, still the best looking games in the series and Blazing Blade might be the best, as I prefer its brighter palette over Sacred Stones. Some things I did start to notice on this playthrough is that a lot of the early maps can be really tedious. Pretty much the first half of the game is just flooded with forest tiles, rain, or other movement slowing design that makes moving your army a chore. Aside from that though, this is definitely a comfort game for me that I can come back to any day and just have a great time with.

Replaying this game nearly 5 years after my initial playthrough, I was kind of blown away by how good it is. I ended up loving the gameplay, as it really feels like an expanded version of the GBA games with a lot of smart additions like how they handle promotions, forges, supports, and bonus experience. The chapter designs are also great and I really enjoyed the progression of them over the course of the game. Path of Radiance's biggest strength over the rest of the series though is its worldbuilding and writing. Tellius is an incredibly fleshed out continent with so many different factions and plot threads that connect together surprisingly well. This is helped by how well done the pacing and scale of the game is, with it starting out very small and gradually building over the course of the game. One of the reasons Ike is one of the series' best protags is because of how closely we follow his journey from mercenary to hero through his point of view. He's also given an actual personality that reacts accordingly to what happens rather than being a very standard protagonist who reacts generically. Having all of the base conversations before each chapter just helps the entire world and cast feel so much more alive and connected, which is much appreciated for a series which forces most of its characters to be in the background due to permadeath's implementation. My only issue with the game is that it does start to slow down a bit in the Daien arc, as the game definitely could've cut a couple chapters, but they're still fun to play. Overall, even though the game clearly sets itself up for its sequel, this is an immensely satisfying game to beat and stands to me as the ideal Fire Emblem game.

Comparing this to Symphony of the Night, I think there's a lot to like. Particularly, I think the level design and balancing of the game is just right, to the point that you go through the game at a very nice pace. You never really stop and I ended up playing the entire game in one go. So from a gameplay and level design sense, it's a bit superior. But SOTN has the edge due to its incredibly presented atmosphere. Aria of Sorrow's is alright, but it just doesn't compare. Even though it's probably due to hardware limitations, I just don't remember or immerse myself in the environments nearly as much. Still a fun game though that I can see myself replaying every now and then.

I played this once a long time ago and although I did enjoy it then, I appreciate a lot more about it now that I've played a bit more of the genre. All of the guns feel great to use and the difficulty felt perfectly balanced to me. Not having to worry about allies while having full movement control meant I could just run around going wild. The level designs and ideas are incredibly creative as well. The banter with BT and the overall presentation were a lot of fun too. Only real complaint is that I wish it was longer. I wanted to see more cool ideas and more time with these characters, but I guess I'm also thankful it wasn't a padded out campaign. Had a great time with this one.

The spectacle is somehow much bigger than the first game, which I already thought had some great moments. Now there's insane action set-pieces one after another with the developers having fun with the whole color wheel. This game looks incredible in very different ways from the first game which I really appreciated. MW1 had better atmosphere, but MW2 has much more exciting locations. So many memorable, over the top set pieces that I was honestly in awe of at times. The only problem with the increased energy is the lack of downtime, especially in the first half. A lot of the missions were flooded with enemies to the point that I was constantly dying at certain points. Aside from the weird balancing, I was more interested in the story and spectacle. Just a short, action-packed thrill ride which I'd love to come back to again. Hope they port MW3.

Was pretty surprised at how much I enjoyed this campaign. Easily it's best aspect is the visuals and spectacle. I know this is a remaster, but there were actually a lot of moments playing this where I honestly stopped to just look around. The lighting in particular for areas like the forest and the abandoned buildings is great. The campaign itself was straightforward but fun. Just very nicely paced with none of the missions going on for too long while also having some nice variety. Only things that really bothered me was it was hard to tell where enemies were sometimes. The ending is also strangely abrupt, but it did have a really cool moment. For my first Call of Duty, and one of my first FPS games, I had a lot of fun and am definitely interested in the sequel.

One of the most "alright" rpgs I've played. The visuals and music were just ok, nothing really stuck out to me. The combat was also incredibly basic while taking way too long. They also flood the dungeons with the exact same fights so a lot of them get really repetitive. I was mostly looking forward to the story and characters since that's what others have praised most about Lunar, but they were also just ok. There's a lot of dialouge, but their personalities were pretty basic and in the case of the main character, nonexistent. There also isn't much interesting development for these characters over the story, as it's pretty formulaic in what they do and where they go. There's a scene near the end where the characters reveal their inner weaknesses and insecurities, and that one scene was more interesting than the rest of the game, yet it happens right before the final boss. This is all backed by a very mixed localization, as the banter can be a bit nice at times, but the forced jokes can get pretty grating. The voice acting is also perfectly split between being charming and a big yikes. I see the foundation of a good game, but it doesn't really go far enough in any area for me to call it one. Outtakes were great though and honestly the highlight of the experience.

Kinda just the first game again but longer. They tried expanding on the gameplay to include more air combos, but I thought they could've gone further with it. The bosses were also kinda worse in this one with some being incredibly annoying. Aside from that though, the stuff that worked from the first game is all still here. Lots of fun presentation with the sprite-work and the music. The combat is also generally pretty fun but does start to get more repetitive due to the longer length. Still ended up enjoying it and Kyoko's room-temperature IQ continues to be a menace.

Still really love this game. When it comes to these characters, this is always the game I think of. The characterization is pretty much perfect for all of these characters and it's honestly why I love world of Final Fantasy VII as much as I do. Alongside that, this is one of my favorite looking games and has one of the most well-done soundtracks of all time. The structure of the songs transitioning from a remix to a remaster is so masterfully done. The combat is my favorite of any Final Fantasy game and completely makes up for the mostly straightforward level design. Even the pacing issues I thought I had before weren't nearly as bad as I thought they were. At the end of the day, I absolutely love the reverence and care this game has for the original while completely embracing the direction they've deciding to take. Cannot wait for Rebirth.