161 reviews liked by ckl1995


Nearly 100 hours later, I come away a changed person. I love Final Fantasy VII so much, and this game is a near-perfect retelling and remake of that game's middle act, culminating in one of the most iconic moments in gaming. I think the whole of FF7's story is one of my favorite pieces of fiction in any medium. There is so much fun to be had in this game, but also so much sadness and pain. This game does have some fairly generic open world checklist stuff, but it was engaging enough that I was compelled to do all of it. My biggest gripe with the game is probably that some of the minigames had frustrating balancing, but that's really minor overall. The ending, though I thought I was prepared, absolutely shattered me in a way that so few games ever have. So many beautiful moments honoring the original, or Crisis Core, or Remake, it's so wonderful for a huge fan of FF7. The music is all-time, the characters are all-time, the story is all-time, and the gameplay is actually a ton of fun. I don't think it would be any exaggeration to say the third game in the FF7 Remake series is any less than my most anticipated game of all time. I have zero doubt that when 2024 is done and gone, Rebirth will easily be my GOTY.

This game exceeded even my highest expectations in almost every way.

I could talk about it for hours but as with Remake I don't think it's possible for me to do it justice, it's peak. I've spent over 200 hours with FF7 Rebirth now and I could easily jump back in for a 3rd playthrough today.

This game is such an achievement, and home to some of the most beautiful scenes, characters and music in memory. If the final part is able to do even half as many things as well as this does, then we're in for a phenomenal trilogy of games.

As an aside, getting the platinum for this was insanely fun and surprisingly easy ... until the last few combat simulations. It took me around 40 hours over 5 days to get them done. I am begging that part 3 is easier 🥹
Thanks for reading folks, hope you're all doing well!🙏

Remedy has to stop giving all their "good stories but half-baked gameplay" IPs to Microsoft because this game is just begging for an Alan Wake 2-tier sequel. There are a few moments where the otherwise standard (but very well-written) time travel plot veers ever so briefly into rad as hell territory, but those aspects of the narrative never get their proper moment in the sun and are largely left for us to speculate about. I would love to see what Sam Lake and his merry band of madlads cook up with those concepts now that the foundation of this world has been firmly established, but alas, Quantum Break is likely locked up in the Recycle Bin alongside Internet Explorer for the foreseeable future. Ah well, at least we've got legally distinct Tim(e) Breaker and Warlin Door now.

I'd give this a solid "check it out" even if I can only muster to rate it "good", because there's a wonderful sense of ambition on display here. Like, love it or hate it, you're not gonna find another game that plays full, live-action TV show episodes with dynamic content based on decisions you made in the gameplay segments in between its narrative chapters. Most people would call that very concept absurd just due to simple logistics, but Remedy will not be dissuaded by such mundane troubles. Sure, the episodes are shot like the digital display ads you might find in a dentist's office between fillings, but goddamn I'll give them props for going for it all the same.

Of course, it helps that Lance Reddick brings his best to every scene he's in, because that's just how he rolls. Rest in peace, man - gone too soon for real.

The textbook definition of a flawed masterpiece.

It's no secret that the original Final Fantasy VII is a legendary game that changed the gaming landscape forever - would a remake ever be able to live up to it? Well, I'd say it depends on what you're looking for. I've only played the original FF7 up until the Shinra Building, so I can't really answer this question more in detail, but I can tell you the remake (and possibly the rest of the trilogy) is an exceptional experience, IF you're willing to accept something different. This might sound weird, so let me explain.

Final Fantasy VII Remake is not an 1:1 remake of the iconic original game. Without spoiling anything, it's trying something new in the already established world of Midgar in the hope of pleasing both fans of the original game and newcomers entirely new to the franchise or Final Fantasy VII in general. I'm not trying to give too much away, but basically, there are those new mysterious entities, and a common complaint is them being too involved in the plot. I wasn't a fan of those either for a long time, but after finishing the game and understanding their purpose, I reflected on their inclusion for a bit and then thought they were integrated fairly well actually. To sum things up, FF7R doesn't replace FF7 at all; they both have the same major plot beats, characters and everything, but are heading into different directions. This way there are new surprises in store for returning players, but it also brought out frustrations in others, since now will never be a "true" remake of the original game - and I can totally understand that sentiment.

The identity of 7R however wasn't the reason why I called it a flawed masterpiece in the opening sentence, instead it's some things that still could have been better. Even though I had a fantastic time with the game as a whole, I feel the need to still address those problems, as I'm not only writing those reviews for myself, but also to help others. With that out of the way, the most apparent flaw is the amount of filler content every now and then. A good example of this is near the end of the game, where the party backtracks to a previous dungeon as part of the story to retrieve an important item for another character. The issue at hand: a monster has stolen this key item! This results in a 30-minute segment of tracking down the monster by backtracking through the exact same segments of this dungeon used previously in the game. At least you get a sweet resolution for that character at the end, so it's not all for naught. But coming back to the dungeon/level design, that's a point I have mixed thoughts on. On one hand, Midgar in the original game was incredibly linear and the world only really opened up later, on the other hand, the remake could have fixed this - but this is where they decided to stay faithful! The Hallway Simulator™ complaints are entirely justified, however it never was that much of a problem for me, since those dungeons look pretty atleast and you get many fun conversations with your party members along the way, so it doesn't feel like the game is trying to waste your time.

Generally the setpieces are more lively than ever before, the little details everywhere and the new third-person camera make for a so much more immersive experience than the top-down view of the original game. My favorite example is the Wall Market chapter in the remake, the lighting and bustling streets really sold me on the festive vibe the devs were going for. The entire segment was a real joy to play through and it is a prime example of extending the overall playtime in a meaningful way. This also applies for the Collapsed Expressway and Train Graveyard in the remake for me, for fans of the original game those areas might be too long (as they were only one to two screens long in the original game), but I loved how the devs expanded on those already established locations, it adds to the sense of scale in the massive dystopian city of Midgar. In general, I believe this "sense of scale" is exceptionally well done throughout the game, there are several occasions where you can just gaze in awe upon the towering buildings of the city from below or some other parts where you can look from a high point into the far distance and see all the detailed infrastructure on the horizon, it's genuinely impressive how they handled it.

You know what else is genuinely impressive? The combat in 7R. It still follows the same rules as the original ATB system, but with more player agency. Instead of just waiting for some bar to fill, you can block and dodge enemy attacks (ironically, blocking is better 90% of the time, as the dodge has no i-frames!) or deal some physical damage by yourself. All of this is accompanied by intuitive switching between characters in the middle of a fight in order to exploit enemy weakness with certain Materia or gain access to different skills and movesets. With the return of the Materia system, every party member can be individually built to one's likings - you may turn someone into an Electric AoE damage dealer or give everyone in the group an Ice Materia for some reason, there's a lot of different combinations! Summons are also back and they look just as cool here as you would expect. Unfortunately they're not available too often, but on the flip side this means their appearances against hard bosses are even more satisfying.

Now, I don't think anything has to be said about the soundtrack. It's a Final Fantasy game, so obviously it's near perfection. Uematsu and the crew put a lot of heart into the new songs and remixes and it shows. There are so many good tracks and it's hard to choose favorites, but one overworld song that particularly stands out to me for being surprisingly captivating is the theme of the Collapsed Expressway. In terms of battle themes, the Ghoul fight is an incredible new composition and if we're talking about remixed songs, [this video contains spoilers!] the iconic One-Winged Angel got an utterly fantastic orchestral rendition in the remake. They really went all out in remaking an already superb soundtrack and certainly didn't miss.

So yeah, I'm definitely looking forward to playing Rebirth eventually, but I'll probably play through the original FF7 first (hopefully in the near future). I love those characters and this world so much and I can't wait to see where their adventure is going next!

92 hours clocked in and I still want to go back for more. This is a dream game. This is a landmark title in my personal gaming history. Remake felt a similar way but in a much more contained way. I adore it and everything it set out to do, but it was clearly a fraction of what was to come. Rebirth sits among the best experiences I’ve ever had with a video game. It reminded me of the first time I played Xenoblade Chronicles 1, being blown away by every environment and piece of music. It brought me back to playing Kingdom Hearts 2 for the first time with its constant narrative mystery and ridiculously fun and snappy combat. I can’t fully express how impossible it feels that this exists. Maybe to some it’s nothing more than The Witcher 3 with JRPG elements, but the way this game approaches the series legacy and history is unlike any remake I’ve seen, including the previous entry. It completely understands the spirit of the original. So many mini games that are actually fun. A card game that’s finally better than triple triad. It has the best towns I’ve experienced in any jrpg. In general it really revived the idea of the jrpg town being a place to look forward to and interact with. Too often do post 16-bit jrpg towns act as simple checkpoints and rest stops. There’s wonderful exceptions of course like DQXI, though it does feel rare.

Not a single side quest lost my interest either. A lot of them have unique mechanics or expand on some aspect of the world in an engaging way. It puts Remake’s side quests to horrendous shame. Even if the quest itself is a standard monster hunt, the developers know that the characters are the most important aspect of the story and turn every quest into a bonding experience. It adopts a dating-sim approach in a way. Choices pay off and almost feel like a personality test. Despite my efforts to go on the gold saucer date with Aerith, I ended up getting paired with Red. He’s my favorite character and the game knew that. It’s a very clever and simple little trick it pulls. I’m sure with more intent to artificially raise my relationship with certain characters I could have forced different scenes to play out, but I really loved the natural results I ended up with.

Playing this every day after work with my fiancé was a warm and comfortable tradition. The amount of emotions we experienced was unforgettable. Rebirth is a legit funny game a lot of the time too, only occasionally having an eye roll of a joke. The way these characters play off of each other and feel like real people is not a surprise after remake, but man is it nice to get 90 more hours of it.

I could go on forever, even without digging into spoilers. I know that Rebirth will likely be even more controversial than Remake, but I love seeing the discussion around it so far. Currently the final chapter is overtaking the conversation, but the wider scope of every chapter in this game warrants discussion. There’s sooo much here to reflect on.
I also love that we have some big questions answers but not all of them. I’m equally as eager for part 3 as I was for part 2. Something brilliant is happening here, and I hope those who flinch at things being different are able to look through what’s on the surface and see how it’s all still here. The discussion on what a remake of FF7 should be will never go away, but I believe what we’re getting is itself a reflection on that. It’s a swan song for these developers and probably their last chance to make this happen before they enter retirement. Discussion around remake felt like it lasted all the way until Rebirth. Rebirth will certainly keep us busy until part 3 is out. I can’t commend the creative team behind this game enough. Not only is this likely the best final fantasy game ever made, but it feels like what a modern final fantasy was always meant to be. Even if the story isn’t fully to your liking, the pacing and exploration on top of the tightly designed combat system and boss fights make for a modern reflection of classic final fantasy. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is special. I can’t help but feel like this will end up as the greatest gaming trilogy of all time.

I never played Yakuza 5 back when it first came out, but even 12 years later the sheer ambitious scope of this game is baffling. Featuring 5 playable protagonists and 5 different settings to explore all across Japan, Yakuza 5 was truly a massive expansion that took the series to new heights never before seen.

Yakuza 5 takes place 2 years after the events of Yakuza 4 and starts out with tensions between the two biggest Yakuza groups in Japan, the Tojo Clan and the Omi Alliance as the truce between them begins to deteriorate and an impending Yakuza war is on the horizon. Former chairman of the Tojo Clan and Yakuza legend Kazuma Kiryu now living in Fukuoka as a taxi driver under the name of Taichi Suzuki gets pulled back into the fold when his friend and current chairman Daigo Dojima goes missing. At the same time Kiryu's adopted daughter Haruka is living in Sotenbori following her dream to become Japan's number 1 pop idol and other stories are unfolding all across different cities in Japan involving ex-convict Taiga Saejima, moneylender Shun Akiyama and former baseball pro Tatsuo Shinada, each with their own dreams they'll do anything to achieve. Just how will all these various characters and their individual dreams connect? I can promise you it's probably not in the way you'd think because the narrative of Yakuza 5 is full of twists and turns and never felt predictable.

Yakuza 5 is written in that Tarantino-esque way and split into 5 different parts with each part having multiple chapters and focusing on fleshing out one character and their story arc at a time before switching to the next one until finally reaching the climatic finale where all the characters and their individual narratives intertwine. Yakuza 5's narrative is both massive and masterfully written. Full of complex plotlines with twists and turns galore and rich and engrossing character arcs enough to equal that of 5 normal games, the narrative of Yakuza 5 stands as one of the best in the series to this point. How far would you go to achieve your dream? What would you be willing to sacrifice?

The narrative isn't the only ambitious thing about Yakuza 5 though, the sheer amount of variety and diversity in every aspect of the game constantly keeps Yakuza 5 feeling fresh. The developers went to great lengths to make every character play and feel different whether in combat or outside of it. From getting to experience Kiryu's job as a taxi driver and street racer (in an homage to Initial D) to Saejima's time spent hunting bears in a small mountain town or Haruka working to increase the reputation of her idol agency by participating in dance battles and publicity events, no two characters feel or play the same and all the various sub stories feel more closely integrated alongside the main plot which helps flesh out the world and side characters much more than any Yakuza game before it.

If you've played a Yakuza game before you know one of the things the series prides itself on is the amount of diversions from the story and Yakuza 5 is no exception from that rule featuring a wealth of side activities and mini-games outside of the story related content. Pool, darts, air hockey, karaoke, various gambling games, a Virtua Fighter 2 arcade cabinet and even Taiko no Tatsujin are just some among the myriad ways to take a break in between story missions.

Speaking of fighting, as mentioned before every facet of Yakuza 5 has so much variety that keeps it constantly feeling fresh after hours upon hours and that includes the combat too with all 5 characters having their own unique battle styles (Haruka not actively engaging in combat and instead having rhythm game based dance battles instead) from Kiryu's classic brawler style to Saejima's grappler and heavy hitting charge attacks or Akiyama's fast-paced athletic footwork there's plenty of combat variety to keep you thoroughly entertained even when fighting low ranking goons in random encounters for hours (and trust me, you'll do a lot of that because the random encounter rate in this game is high)

Yakuza 5 stands tall as a pinnacle of the series, featuring both one of the best narratives in the series (Especially for those who have followed Kiryu's story since the beginning) and some of the most in-depth character arcs as well alongside detailed world-building that breathes life into the world of Yakuza like never before and an unbelievable amount of captivating side content which makes the penultimate game in Kazuma Kiryu's saga a journey that will stick with you long after the credits roll.

Master Collection version

Still an amazing experience, even better with an opened third eye and a better understanding of the mechanics. Absolutely deserving of it's praise and it has actually aged pretty well for it's time. I think that there are still some rough edges that needed polishing, and I'm quite excited to see how that is done in the remake. There are a lot of sections of this game that intrigue me to see with fresh eyes in the remake in general, this game is so great that I'm eager to see whether they improve on or fuck it up.

In any case, one of my favourite games of all time. I feel like, even if the story isn't as complex or as much of a mindfuck as Metal Gear Solid 2, it's still pretty solid for what it sets out to be. The narrative does it's job and it's still very emotional, Naked Snake is the best protagonist in the series, better than even Solid Snake, so that also gives this one an edge over it's predecessors and it's successors. For me, it's the best in the series, pending revision once I replay the others.

Beautiful game. RGG I love yall, thank you for the journey, couldn't have asked for anything better. Masterpiece

Some of the best character writing, animation, voice acting & gameplay in any game I've ever experienced with some very awful pacing, especially in the late game. Still trying to decide how I feel about the story but I am willing to wait for the finale before fully giving my judgement.

Ever been interested in the Persona series? Start with this one!

As a big fan of Persona 3, Reload was the game I was looking forward to the most in 2024 alongside Infinite Wealth, so I did the same as with IW and held off on watching trailers past the announcement one entirely to experience the changes for myself. When the release date came closer, I began to see more and more doomposting for Reload and even considered holding off on buying it because of how negatively this game was treated by others. I'm glad that didn't get to me in the end and I could form my own opinion of the remake of one of my favorite games.

First off, the presentation in Reload is amazing right off the bat, ranging from the upgraded artstyle to the dynamic menus and improved character models, it's just so very pleasant to look at. This also includes animations - the Ultimate moves of the characters look super cool. As someone who only ever really played Portable before, the upgrade in presentation was a huge point for me. Sure, the updated environmental design of the overworld is great, but the cherry on top are the revamped Tartarus blocks. The floors are no longer mere reskins with the same layout, now every block has a detailed new look and a different pattern. Tartarus changes don't stop here though, like the previous top-down camera has been turned into a proper third-person one, which I believe adds to the immersion a lot, despite being so seemingly insignificant at first. Furthermore, exploration is incentivized with mini-bosses being accessible in ordinary floors now alongside the addition of lucrative floor-specific events like locked or special chests. Can't forget the revamped Golden Hands in Reload either, as they provide a large amount of XP now (like in Persona 4) instead of dropping items. A great change for everyone who hated grinding and the new Great Clock random event can boost two of your teammates' levels on a whim, so no one has to fall behind! I believe the new Tartarus has something in store for everyone, so even if you were turned off by the gameplay in the original, giving it a second look might be worth it...

Voice acting in Reload is top notch. I don't share the somewhat popular sentiment of Yukari and Aigis sounding worse than their original counterparts at all, they're probably even my favorite new castings. That being said, personally I wouldn't say there's a single bad casting within the new voice actors, I enjoyed all of their performances. Emotional scenes got me tearing up several times, I got shivers during others. Not to disregard some of the original actors, but Reload really elevated some characters for me, just with their new performances (Yuko, Chidori and Fuuka are great examples). Also love how every social link is completely voiced now, it's a huge boost in immersion. As for social links in general, I'm glad the new Link Episodes exist, they're basically mini social links for the male party members and give you some insight into their life. A great way to add some interaction with them to the game without replacing the already existing social links! The SEES hangouts during nighttime also fulfill a similar role in giving your teammates more screentime without taking up meaningful time (considering the abundance of free time at night in P3), this also includes new events like several study sessions with the team. Those activities aren't just for fun though, you gain new passive abilities for the other members or gain extra knowledge points while studying with the others, the integration is seamless.

The new soundtrack is... good! Not much to say here, I like the remixes of the original songs and the new songs are bangers. Color Your Night is one of the very best vocal tracks in the series and It's Going Down Now still stays hype after listening to it over and over. Shoutout to the new remix of Changing Seasons.

There's a whole lot more to unpack about this game, but for the time being I have said everything that was on my mind. My thoughts are still pretty hazy, despite completing Reload hours ago, but I hope you could get something useful out of my review either way. As always, thanks for reading!