The combat is pushed even further in this game with even more combo potential. Nero is a great addition who in this game is even more fun than Dante. That's partly because a lot of the game is designed around him rather than Dante. Because of that, a lot of the enemies don't work great with Dante's move set, making his segment a lot weaker than Nero's. The camera also uses a lot less fixed angles, which seems good at first. However, the combat is so fast and wild that the camera keeps swinging around, messing up some inputs. The action cutscenes and character personality are possibly the best in the series, but the actual story is really lackluster. I sometimes forget how much character development comes from the supplementary material rather than the story mode itself. Still a great character action game and the one that sets the standard for the genre's combat.

Enjoyed the combat a lot more than I thought I would, but I really didn't connect with the story or characters. I thought Zack was a decent protagonist but I didn't end up loving him as much as I wanted to. Sephiroth was done decently and Cloud's characterization was well-done for how little screen-time he really had. On the other hand, Genesis was really painful to listen to and Angeal's more human characterization unfortunately didn't last long. Although I haven't played the original PSP version, from what I've seen of it Zack's original voice carried a lot of that game's dialouge and emotional weight compared to this remaster. There's also some graphical issues that bothered me like some weird looking faces and the game feeling low-budget at times. Worth a playthrough, as it's surprisingly short, but not something I'd want to revisit anytime soon.

Don't know how intentional it is, but I love how the visuals and art design slowly shifts from a more realistic fantasy to more surreal, massive environments. It really feels like you're constantly descending into a greater unknown, with the exploration being the best part. These changes in the game's aesthetic are also represented in the gameplay. The level design goes from tight and interconnected to massive levels that are just tedious to go through. There's also still a lot of unique gimmicks in this game that range from incredibly creative to needlessly frustrating. Even with the problems this game keeps from Demon's Souls and some of the new ones it creates, this is a wonderful redesign to the formula and definitely one of the most interesting first time playthroughs I've had with a game.

Incredibly underwhelming tbh.

The gameplay isn't unbearably frustrating like some other games, but it's just so boring and repetitive. I was able to get through the game but I think I'd just reached the point where I never wanna play it again. The story and characters really aren't anything special either. There's striking imagery and the game is certainly dark, but none of the characters really get any significant development. Inuart is probably the most interesting character, but his arc is still straightforward and predictable. The most disappointing aspect of the game is Caim. I can see where they were going with Caim’s depiction, but I think making him mute was a big mistake. Because of it, every other character just keeps telling you how terrible of a person Caim is while he just makes the same uncaring expression. I feel that this game would’ve been incredibly impactful if I played it during its initial release. By today’s standards however, it comes across as loud and edgy for the sake of just upsetting the player. As someone who likes getting the perspective of a series, I’m not mad I played it, but I also wouldn’t really recommend it. Having played NieR Automata prior, I know how great Taro can be as a director. Unfortunately, his first outing didn't really work for me.

I was mostly enjoying the first two-thirds of the game as it was a really solid Pokemon experience. The greater focus on double battles was unique and Hoenn was fun to explore. However, the last third of the game is really tedious to get through, as it's all surfing around these massive, confusing to navigate ocean routes that just really brought down the experience. I also think I've gotten to the point where Pokemon's gameplay is just starting to bore me. So many repetitive battles against both trainers and wild Pokemon that are the exact same. I don't think I could've got through this game without the fast-forward on the emulator. Skipping some of these battles also just doesn't work out, as the final battles in the elite four have such inflated levels that your team will just get demolished unless you take all the exp you can. I did overall enjoy my time with this game though, as the majority of it was pretty well designed and fun to explore. The presentation and amount of content is also great for a GBA game. Gen 3 does also have some of the most memorable Pokemon designs. I can definitely say this is one of the better Pokemon games, I just think I'm starting to lose enjoyment from this series as time goes on.

Of all the games I’ve played, this is one of the ones I think about most. It ends up being such a mediocre game, but I think it’s more interesting than an “average” game. I wouldn’t see this game as missed potential if it didn’t have so much promise. It is such a mixed bag of aspects I wanted to see more fleshed out, things I will never forget, and a couple of awful decisions as well.

The artstyle of the Common is incredible, as it really sells an otherworldly, serene setting. A lot of the games’ UI and menus also have a really pleasing aesthetic. Unfortunately, someone decided that the camera during cutscenes would always be placed in the most uncomfortable location possible. It genuinely drags down the entire experience. Even aside from that issue, the game feels really low budget. Even animations like walking around can look really odd and it’s a little distracting.

I was really interested in how the story and characters might go after playing the first 30 minutes. There was a lot of promise to have a well-developed coming-of-age story for high school girls. While it’s trying to do that, a lot of the dialogue and development doesn’t really work. It’s all very generic and the conflicts the characters go through aren’t given nearly enough time or focus to really mean anything. The first 15 hours of this game were spent introducing a lot of characters and the struggles they were going through. I really thought the game was setting up characters for the first half of the game so the story could really go somewhere in the second. Instead, the game ended only 3 hours later.

The gameplay loop is another part of the game that could’ve been much better. While the actual combat mechanics are solid, everything around them is very lackluster. For one, the enemies are incredibly weak. I did not have a party member die a single time the entire game. There’s almost no challenge on the normal difficulty as you get a lot of strong attacks that hit every opponent. Because all HP and MP rest after every battle, you can just spam these moves at the start of every fight and win before your opponents even do anything. The enemy variety is also really small, so your strategy never really needs to change throughout the game. The one time combat really gets better is during any of the few boss fights throughout the game. The level design is incredibly basic with pretty small areas that you constantly revisit, so there’s no sense of exploration either. The incredibly generic and repetitive side-quests don’t help either.

A lot of this is really negative, but there’s one part that kind of saves this game for me. The soundtrack is my favorite OST of all time. Aside from the pretty mediocre vocal themes, the rest of the soundtrack is amazing. Every single song in this game is so emotionally charged that it’s unbelievable. As someone who basically lives off listening to video game OSTs, I cannot say playing this game wasn’t worth it. Field theme, battle themes, dialogue themes, all of it is unbelievably good. It’s so good that it can make you think the rest of the game is better than it is.

Even if you don’t have any desire to play this game (completely understandable), at least listen to the soundtrack. “Sayonara (ALL PHASE MIX)” leaves an irreparable effect on a person.

In a lot of ways, I feel unqualified to talk about a game like this because I can't personally relate to it almost at all. It feels weird to say this but I don't think I've gone through anything in life that's truly terrible or traumatic. I've always had a good relationship with my family, I don't suffer financial issues and I haven't had any genuine struggles with my identity. If anything, I'm just happy to live life talking to my friends and enjoying media. I'm incredibly grateful for that, but when hearing people's stories about the lowest moments in their lives, I can't help but feel bad about not being able to truly empathize with them. Despite that, I find value in playing a game like this. If someone tells me their story, I'll try to feel sympathetic for them. But when someone is able to convey the things they've been through so earnestly, to the point where it feels like I can really start to reach an understanding, I think they've made something special and truly worth experiencing.

Go play this game, it's free and takes half an hour of your life. That's an infinitely worthwhile quality over quantity experience.