Structure is Xenoblade’s strongest attribute - narrative and geographical. So much of my experience is driven by my anticipation to see a new area and experience its music. It’s a little hard to go back to the first game and lose the ability to switch characters during combat like in 3, but there is an intentional puzzle-like satisfaction in making your ideal party and prioritizing who needs the benefit of your control. It seems intentional for sure. Melia and Shulk aren’t super reliable unless directly controlled, but the flow of combat totally shifts depending on your party. I particularly love to play as sharla and choose when to attempt the headshot art on enemies, usually partnering her with characters who can constantly topple and daze enemies. It’s hard to not want to play as shulk for the whole game though, but there is a rewarding feeling to mixing it up. I try and prioritize different members every time I play and I’m always surprised at how many new strategies and combos I previously neglected.

Xenoblade’s strongest trick for me is the unveiling of new sights. Walking through a tight canyon with no music, suddenly approaching a wide open zone as its music kicks in. Climbing a structure for several minutes and looking down to see how small the world below you looks. The scope is so effective, especially for the hardware it was constructed on. Monolith Soft are experts at making the world a strong characteristic of the game.

This is my fourth time beating this game I think. I still hold it precious and it is one of my all time favorites, but the flaws are very evident to me and are harder to ignore. Xenoblade 3 is one of the best games when it comes to giving every character a strong purpose, backstory, and interactions with other party members. Nobody really feels neglected. Xenoblade 1 certainly favors a couple of characters. Fiora especially comes across as incredibly shallow. There’s definitely a problem with all the female character’s motives being driven by their assigned male counterparts. It’s worst for fiora, but I still like all of them. Melia certainly has a lot more going on with her own people and Sharla has several moments of agency. The game’s story is very focused on our connections to other people, so I don’t think my previous critique is immune to rebuttal. You can say Shulk’s whole character revolves around Fiora, but it simply comes down to the writing, not the overall concept of the characters. The presentation of their personal motives and desires lack a good balance. That being said, I love every party member. Individually there’s criticisms to be had, but as a collective group and what they stand for is fantastic.

Xenoblade 3 is my favorite of the trilogy, but 1 still has a few things that were never surpassed for me personally. The idea of two civilizations living on two dormant gods is incredibly creative and makes for a wild map to explore. The OST still contains my favorite songs in the series, though not my much considering the ridiculous quality of the trilogy’s entire OST. Xenoblade doesn’t have the best towns in the genre at all, but 1’s towns felt the most fleshed out to me, as little as there were. Helping reconstruct colony 6 is cool. The starting colony has a wonderfuly cozy design and geography. The Nopon village has a cool vertical design that feels completely distinct from the colonies you visit. 3 may be my favorite, but it’s mostly colonies that look the same and The City. I do wish xenoblade focused on fun towns to hang out in.

Side quests are also a point of contention for people but I don’t mind them being excuses for quick EXP or items. My only problem is how one NPC will give you 7 quests back to back and you have to talk to them multiple times. At a certain point I stop collecting side quests and to this day I can’t think of one that had an interesting narrative hook. I probably missed out on some good stuff, but they don’t encourage keeping up with them.

I’ve criticized the game a lot, but my 5 star rating still holds strong. It’s always going to be one of my favorite games. Its release on the Wii got me back into JRPGs at the time after being away from the genre for a good chunk of time. I’m so glad this became a whole series with Nintendo and I love the entire trilogy. There’s something special about Monolith Soft’s approach to world design. Nobody does it like them. The only game to make me think “this reminds me of xenoblade” was my recent experience with FF7: Rebirth.

Huge games usually need to find exploring its map not boring; whether it’s a mount or vehicle. I’m surprised no xenoblade game has tried to introduce its own version of a chocobo (let’s ignore the mechs in X for now). I would love a fun way to get around faster, but not once have I dreaded making my way through these worlds on foot. They’re easy to hang out in and get into battles every couple minutes. Encountering a giant gorilla named “Delirious Daniel” that is level 99 is a great aspect of these worlds too. It doesn’t scale with you, yet somehow it’s paced so perfectly that you never feel too ahead of the curve or too far behind. The clockwork-like design it must take to pace the games out like that is intimidating to think about. These designers are legends, I can’t wait for Xenoblade 4.
(Also please re release X. Thank you)

I was mixed on Bioshock when I played it back in 2007; this and Gears Of War were the first 2 games I bought with my Xbox 360 as they were the two games that you couldn't escape hearing about in regards to that console. But I found Bioshock a bit frustrating; for some reason I almost felt like I was playing it wrong or something... it just wasn't clicking for me like it seemed to be for everyone else. I think I even gave up during the final stretch of the game as I have no memory of the final boss fight during my initial playthrough.

Coming back 17 years later it smacked me hard over the head like a wrench - this thing aged insanely well. The guns feel great and chunky, and the plasmids encourage you to try different things constantly. It's so so easy to see how this knocked the socks off everyone back then, this is an amazing game for so many reasons.

The plot and all it's mysteries and twists got me engaged all over again, but there's two things I want to mention quickly here that blew me away.

1. The SOUND - my God... playing this with headphones is enough to make you think you're a Rapture citizen gone mad yourself. The noises of each room and location, the vending machines, the insane babbling and screaming, the haunting music playing from old speakers; hearing "How Much Is That Doggy In The Window" playing on a jukebox while a woman cries in another room and a man violently talks to himself in another, and you hear the pounding THUD of the Big Daddies walking around and making that low whale-call type groan they make... it's almost too overwhelming. When chaos erupts and there's several people shouting and bullets flying and shit is on fire and exploding and drones are buzzing around shooting people... pure madness, especially like I mentioned above with headphones on. The game sounds absolutely bonkers all the time.

2. Rapture as a setting has been talked about to death but every room, every hallway, has a purpose here, and it's been planned and structured and detailed to an almost painful level. It all makes sense as a city and doesn't feel video game level-y, if you scrubbed it clean of all the garbage and dead bodies and ruin that it's now in, you can picture it being this perfect idyllic city for capitalistic rich bastards to frolic around in. But my main thing I really noticed here this time is the complete lack of any outdoor area - for obvious reasons, but the fact that it's all big rooms, hallways, confined spaces, really sets it apart from almost every other shooter. There's always a roof over your head and just thinking about that makes you feel claustrophobic even if you aren't.

5 stars for this sucker, this playthrough made me see what everyone else has been saying for years, and I think age has helped it in a weird way. You don't often think of Bioshock when people mention the best horror games, because despite not really being scared at all while playing this, it's also easily one of the scariest games out there. And that's saying something

It has a character named Kino...

Future Connected takes place one year after the events of Xenoblade Chronicles and takes Shulk and Melia to an unexplored region of the Bionis, where they stumble upon two stowaways who help them against the seemingly untouchable Fog King terrorizing the local people. Yes, this premise is pretty basic, but it's more of an expansion to round off Melia's character arc than an actual story expansion.

The highlight and key aspect of Future Connected is the exploration of Bionis' Shoulder, a previously unreleased area that has been planned ever since the original release of Xenoblade Chronicles on the Wii, but never made the cut. Now it has been repurposed as the central setpiece of the epilogue and I'm quite glad for this decision, as it's easily one of my favorite areas in the game now and I had a lot of fun exploring it. There are many great views and it looks particularly cool during thunderstorms (even better when there's a cutscene playing). Fairly early on you're introduced to the Ponspectors, a group of archaeologist Nopon, who have lost their boss and now are scattered all across the Shoulder, where you can pick them up (most of the times you need to do a short quest beforehand) and add them to your own personal Nopon army. This literal army of furball companions not only deals passive damage during combat, but also replaces the chain attacks with some QTE combos, which can be upgraded by adding more Ponspectors to your squad. They're also masters of taking a toll on the framerate, as things can get seriously laggy when there's a dozen Nopon hammering away on a bunch of enemies during a thunderstorm while several other flashy animations are playing. Despite this, I thought the Ponspectors were a fun change of pace in terms of combat usage, but there was something else I disliked instead in terms of combat, and that's the removal of vision attacks. This sounds insane at first, considering vision attacks only make your life harder, but the thing is that they're still in the game, you're just not informed when the enemy will hit you with them anymore. Always a pleasure to see a boss hit you with "Attack VIII" without warning just to survive with a mere sliver of health, so the existence of the Shield and Impulse Monado Art hardly justify themselves in Future Connected, as they are practically useless - you're better off using the Armor Art instead.

I don't think the story present here is that bad, just considerably weaker than the main narrative, which is to be expected from a free expansion that released 10 years after the source material. For me the main issues are the underwhelming villains (the fate of one major villain here is literally revealed in a sidequest) and the lack of any real stakes here, so the true highlight are the character interactions instead. The heart-to-heart mechanic from the main game has been rebranded to "quiet moments" and is now available anytime after certain points in the story have been passed, as long as the time is right and the party members you need for the support are in your current party setup. They're also fully voiced and do not require any previous affinity building between characters, which is something that would be very cool to see in future Xenoblade games (or atleast Xenoblade 3, considering 2 released before Future Connected), as voice acting alone in these moments can make them a lot more impactful and memorable already. While Kino's and Nene's supports help characterize Riki further, Melia's are particularly interesting as she as a person had to undergo significant changes after the events of the main storyline. Shulk takes the backseat here and is more of a mentor for the Nopon kids, which is sweet in its own way.

To wrap it up, it's a nice little bonus campaign after the grand scope of Xenoblade's main story and I'd recommend it to anyone who just wants more of the same. As far as I know, Future Connected is ultimately skippable, but there's no harm in giving it a try atleast - else you're missing out on some fantastic tracks like the Bionis Shoulder battle theme or the Fogbeasts encounter theme.

I've only ever played BioShock Infinite, but now I see why the whole series gets praise. It's a typical FPS, but with superpowers, and really fun ones. This game also terrified me the whole way through, thanks to the perfect setup of music and atmosphere of a technologically advanced underwater city. The shooting was really solid, the powers were really fun, and the game itself was challenging. The overall story was actually really well-written and definitely threw me for a twist. The game also looks gorgeous, at least the Remastered version does, wow.

I definitely recommend this game if you've never played it before, it should be considered one of the essentials of video gaming, in all honesty.

"Would you kindly?"

Quite an interesting and unique experience. Really fun gameplay and an interesting, philosophical narrative. It does get a small bit bloated in the latter half, Fontaine isn't nearly as interesting as Andrew Ryan, but playing as a Big Daddy for a brief moment was fun.

My only complaint really is the translation of dialogue and gameplay. I found it hard to concentrate on what was being said half of the time which left me a little confused with some details, sometimes the dialogue was even drained out by SFX even after lowering a lot of them to prioritise the dialogue, but the satisfying end made this not matter much to me.

No matter how hard you try to break us, the future is ours to shape! Always!

The premise of Xenoblade Chronicles is simple, yet effective. Atop the colossal Bionis, the three childhood friends Shulk, Reyn and Fiora are living their best lives, until one day a particularly evil robot shows up to disturb the local peace. With the help of the legendary sword Monado, Shulk embarks on a journey across the Bionis to track down the unknown assailant and get his revenge. Not only is the Monado arguably one of the coolest weapons in fiction, it's also especially useful in combat against the machines and allows the wielder to see into the future. The theme of fate is ever-present, as Shulk has to deal with visions involving the people close to him dying several times, and only he can change the future to prevent these events from playing out, while also pursuing his own goals. I'll not take away any more from the story, since I found it to be pretty intriguing and well written until the end, despite having quite a few tropes here and there and also some predictability to it. Even with the sheer amount of downright meme-worthy lines or shonen shenanigans, the core narrative is still surprisingly solid and doesn't fall flat in terms of twists either. Yes, Dunban being "over there" is actually important to the plot. The setting of the two titans is incredibly unique and memorable, but also just straight up cool at the same time, the area progression is really satisfying here. As for the main cast, they all have their reasons to join Shulk in his fight against the Mechons and their voice acting is superb. It's a shame Adam Howden never got any major roles besides Shulk, since he especially nailed those screams and emotional moments. But honestly, the rest of the cast is just as good and I like how many unknown voice actors are featured here (and their British accents).

While the main storyline is not as long as I expected it to be, Xenoblade is still jam-packed with side content, rocketing up the overall possible playtime by a significant amount. Most of the side quests are just fetch quests or "kill x amounts of these monsters", but there are also several skill trees or other cool rewards locked behind others. It never crossed my thoughts until I beat the story, how much Xenoblade rewards interacting with the world on the side, as there's even a whole chart accessible through the main menu where you can see the relations between every single named NPC and the locale they belong to. There's an entire trading mechanic I didn't even pay attention to in my playthrough, but it's cool to know it's there, I think little things like this or the info you can read up on the named NPCs on the chart improve the already impressive worldbuilding by a lot again. Now, one of my biggest regrets is not interacting with the Colony 6 side-story at all, there were many side quests related to it and I couldn't complete any of them because I somehow didn't do the initial one. Honestly, it's a shame it took me so long to properly appreciate those aspects, so I'll definitely focus on them on my eventual New Game+ playthrough.

Amidst the fierce battle cries of "Now it's Reyn Time!", "Electric Gutbuster!" and "Star-searing flames of ABSOLUTION!", I actually ended up liking the combat very much and was surprised by how unique it was. By the end it devolved into chain attack spam for me, but before that point, I think the MMO-style approach is really fitting and fun overall, while the cheesy battle lines of the cast add a whole layer of entertainment as well. Here, good preparation is half the battle already, as you will need to decide which skills your AI-controlled party members should use and how to efficiently combine those with the tactics of the rest of the team for optimal results. I said the combat is "MMO-style", because skills are locked behind cooldowns and your active character is using auto-attacks in the downtime to fill the special bar, like in the case of Shulk it's used for the Monado Arts. His signature sword not only specializes in slicing through machinery, but can also buff him or his party in various other ways, like shielding them or granting everyone the ability to hit the Mechons. Each of those abilities uses different amounts of the special gauge, so it's up to you to decide what's the best approach for certain combat situations. It would be pretty unwise to keep throwing out Arts which use your full gauge, as enemies and especially bosses can counter those by attacking with so-called Vision Attacks. Those come in three forms, Red, White and Purple. By casting the Impulse Art on a party member, they can dodge a red attack, which is pretty straightforward. Things get interesting for the white attacks, as they require you to have a properly leveled Shield Art to even block the move - so if an enemy uses "Attack VII", you need the skill level of your Shield Art atleast at 7, anything below will not block. The use of haptic feedback is also really underappreciated from what I've seen, every time you hit with a chance attack you get vibration on hit and everytime you break an enemy's vision attack the controller emulates this "breaking" effect with a stronger rumble. There's also a pulse while seeing the animations for vision attacks playing out, resembling a heartbeat, and that's pretty cool if you ask me.

Teambuilding is a central mechanic in Xenoblade Chronicles, and also one that is handled in an interesting way. First of all, you get access to most of the cast fairly early into the story already, so you can experiment with different teams through many different areas and see who has your favorite playstyle, who you want to main and who you don't actually like at all. This availability of being able to build around your team without even getting to the meat of the main story yet is such a nice change of pace, since I know so many games where you get party members so late, that they're basically unusable, as you have probably already have a good team composition at that point. Looking at you, Fire Emblem. But Xenoblade doesn't have this issue and it's just really nice, so I hope the other two games in the trilogy adapt this approach as well. As for their actual involvement in gameplay, each teammate has an unique role and playstyle, so you can basically play any possible combination of party members together and it will work somehow. Another neat feature is the ability to choose any character besides Shulk as the leader, allowing you to control them in the overworld and battle, it's very handy for certain encounters (or if you're just a big fan of the character). Like personally I played Melia on Mount Valka so I could have an easier time reaching the airborne enemies and it ended up being a really pleasant change of pace! There is also a whole layer of customization here besides the current party setup, since you can tweak individual characters to your liking by equipping them with gems, certain armor pieces or adjusting the skill trees. I really like how skill trees are handled here, like you still can normally unlock character-specific skills of individual branches through EXP, but you're also able to make use of the skills of other characters if you raise the friendship between them accordingly. This is not a metaphorical statement, raising the affinity between two teammates comes with a nice amount of extras - you unlock new heart-to-heart events across the world, the possibility of extending chain attacks is higher and as mentioned before, you gain access to a bunch of the opposite character's skills. Very nice!

As for the soundtrack, the Definitive Edition features an (almost) entirely revamped OST with new arranged tracks. I've only heard a few of the original tracks in Smash before, so I won't compare the new arrangements to the original compositions. With that out of the way, I'm a big fan of the musical score for DE and especially the more emotional songs here really hit me at times. Hearing Engage the Enemy for the very first time in-game with the corresponding cutscene is an ethereal feeling and gave me shivers in combination with Adam Howden's performance there. Gaur Plain is also one of my favorites, even if that one's a basic pick - maybe because it's just a memorable, good song. My final nomination goes out to Mechanical Rhythm for just being a pretty sick standard battle theme, which could easily pass as a boss theme elsewhere.

Considering I'm planning to do a NG+ one day to catch up on the content I missed, it's needless to say that Xenoblade Chronicles left quite the impression on me, even after finishing the game. Now onto Future Connected and I'm looking forward to playing Xenoblade 2 in a while too. Here's hoping that the rest of the trilogy will be just as fun!

This game is a roadtrip in the best kind of way.
I gotta be honest, I was immensely sceptical when I saw that FF7 Rebirth was actually to be open world or at least sorta open world. This kind of world structure often leads to bloat and uneven story progression, but I really like how they did it here - even if it is not perfect.

Before playing this I always thought the story progression in the original FF7 was weird. Usually you just go some place and then some other for no apparent reason. Occasionally, you might have a vague hint to what the direction or the logic might be, but it mostly feels pretty random. In FF7 Rebirth you're actually provided context! Like following the Black Robes until the party looses their trace or some incident along the way, that actually leads the party to wanting to learn more about the planet and go to Cosmo Canyon for example. Now this episodic and somewhat random story progression actually makes sense! The party has a goal, but they are caught into weird shenanigans or come across a place of importance for a specific party member. Even though the story is still very much meandering about, now I finally have the context to understand and feel like it makes sense.
This meandering feeling of a roadtrip is also FF7 Rebirth's biggest strength. Characters get time to interact in funny, silly, or surpsingly heartwarming ways and it is believable that the group gets caught up in a lot of side hustles to finance their trip or just because it happens along the way. Especially the sidequests give a lot more character time between all them, making this feel like one of the best parties in RPG history. Even if it is just stupid stuff like Tifa pushing Cloud playfully into the Frog mini-game or Barret being all sentimental about Marlene eventually growing up.
Mostly the open world is really nicely designed too, with a lot of vehicles/ new chocobo breeds that give each area a new gimmick to spice up exploration. The biggest problem I have with this is Chadley though. Way too much is funneled through him. You can't find the Summons or their materia somewhere in the open world, but have to talk to him, to fight them in a simulation, even though they are heavily tied to the places you visit in the first place. Chadley's simulations made sense in FF7 Remake, where it would have been odd for Ifrit to be running around in the sewers of Midgar, but I could totally imagine Kujata running around somewhere in the Gongaga jungle. Chadley also gives you some of the best materia in the game, but you have to buy it from him with "exploration exp" that you gather by finding stuff in the open world, half of which is really basic like mako springs analysis points, "ubisoft towers" (though not as bad) and monster hunts. This can easily make the open world feel like a checklist you just have to work through. Which is a shame, cause I really liked how they stole so many elements from (what I've heard) good open world games like little chocobo chicks leading you to resting points that also act as travel points. Some of the sidequest like protorelic or this one quest in Cosmo Canyon can also be offenders of just eating up your time by maing you run back and forth for four times or so, even though the lore actuall might be interesting.

Talking about interesting lore, this game gives so much more information about the FF7 universe, some of which is new like the Old Republic that was in place before Shinra controlled everything or information that is old like the backstory of the Gold Saucer being founded by a former Shinra employee; Dio. Some of this stuff is really good in further emphasizing how the fantasy world of FF7 has really been shook to its core by the economic and political changes of Mako Energy, but also what Shinra's rise to power in general has brought about. Like Under-Junon being barely able to survive as their living space had been chosen to be the space of operation for Shinra's military endeavours.

This game is also better in foreshadowing Cloud's trauma and episodic flashbacks and how he is influenced by Jenova and Sephiroth making Tifa's distrust and anxiety around him actually a focal point that often gets discussed, while at the same time giving them more space to reconnect, making Tifa actually a way more active character.
I also really like the romantic relationship between Tifa and Aerith, such lovely roommates. (They are soooo gay!)
In general though every character gets some time to shine and they all have lovely relationships. Barret just acts like a father to spunky, teenage Yuffie and Cloud is her grumpy uncle. It's a found family on a road trip.

Another negative aspect is some of the bombast. In general I think the game knows how to present everything and I also like how new characters from FF7 Remake make a reappearance, however sometimes it does way too much. Many people lament that the funny fight against Palmers robot frog was placed poorely in the middle of Barret's backstory and I agree. It wasn't the most optimal placement.
Worse for me however where some of the boss marathons the game throws at you towards the end. One of them concerns the second fight with Rufus, which somehow felt really bad in this one. That fight was already hard in the original, but here it comes right after another fight and as it was changed to accomodate for Cloud being able to attack from afar just made it immensely obnoxious to me. Same goes for the final series of fights that just would not end and throw random party combinations you have to fight at you or even a character you had barely played before. (While the very last fight is actually pretty cool, that boss also has an attack I really hated.) In general, I wonder if this game was properly play-tested or how why the difficulty spikes and plummets all over the place at certain moments; some of Chadley's (rather early) challenge battles (another place where good materia is relegated to the Chadley checklist™), where also absolute bullshit, either because you have to kill an enemy before the others kill themselves or are easily killed by your companions or because some enemies just have the weirdest stunlock attacks or attacks that hit so hard you have to babysit and heal constantly.
Another minor complaint I have is that the timeline shenanginas feels a bit like bloat. It is nice to see Zack in between story chapters, but so far it's not really important to the story. The ending with Cloud and how he not accepts Aerith's death or how he is still able to perceive her through other timelines could just as well have been done via the Lifestream. But I guess this is the problem of the second part to a trilogy, it will up the stakes but not really give any satisfying conclusion.

Anyway, in general I think this is one of the best Final Fantasy games and I hope they improve on it's structural mistakes as I think the formular is pretty good to be worked upon for future FF games. And I'm still excited to see tits conclusion.

When looking at the lenses of remakes, remasters, re-imaginings, reboots, definitive editions, ports, and plenty by the library classifications. It is important to understand where and what kind of vision the original and new are undertaking. Are companies such as Bluepoint trying to faithfully rework a game 1:1 without specific egregious artistic or personal changes in the first's tone and music? Do the budget remakes of Front Mission create a definitive edition? Can both the initial version and separate remakes such as Resident Evil stand side by side with one another? These are difficult questions to ask and honestly, I've seen many arguments for, against and nuance takes in the middle. Depending on the experience of the individual and the context from which is given in claims. The evidence and therefore the response may vary. To this end, I would posit a question. What is Final Fantasy VII Remake(FFVIIR)? Sounds like a dumb question, albeit questioning sprouts and fans, the answer may surprise you. In my eyes, the question is only a part of the whole pie I've been struggling to eat since completing the 2nd installment of the 2024 title called Rebirth. And in pursuit of such answers, I decided to replay FFVII Remake once more. Marking this as my third finished playthrough. I will state beforehand I’m not skilled enough to determine a decisive reply. Rather I've submitted 7 mixed feelings along with 7 praises. To demonstrate why I’m struggling and dearly pray the information presented will help a soul in a similar position. Forgive me if I offend anyone who holds the title near and dear to their hearts. That is not my intent. My troublesome concerns in the following text are not meant to be scathing nor as a rant. And are simply my observations on what could be improved. Followed by what I believe the team does well. With no spoilers as much as possible. Failing that, if at any point I’ve resorted heavily negatively or failing the above. Then you have my express permission to summon a big meteor and channel your energy to land on me and thus yeet me into the lifestream.

First - Faithful to the original, yet evokes new material. Over simply designating it as a remake. The official name should've been called a re-imagining. From the playstation store the description states "... is a reimagining of the iconic original with unforgettable characters, a mind-blowing story, and epic battles." For those confused on the word 'reimagine,' the definition according to merriam webster says "to imagine again or anew, or recreate." A remake by definition is "make anew or in a different form. - Remade." To explain in simpler terms. I perceive the definition to be a higher quality recreating the foremost vision with higher fidelity and optimizing whatever is lacking to a certain extent. A reimagining of this caliber goes beyond the constraints the previous presented to offer something unique and old. Straightaway, please erase notions of 1:1 you will find semblances and fresh adjustments present everywhere. I admit I am poorly ignorant of what the definition in the landscape of video games entailed and expected a remake before a reimagining. A gentle reminder to keep your expectations in check. Funnily enough, If you had talked to my 2020 self he would've given you a frowning face with a "What you talkin bout fool!?" while explaining why this is faithful. Man. Believe me, it is another instance of me desiring to go back in time to slap my past self silly. Regardless, a vital question comes to mind for fresh souls and veterans. Do I need to know the pioneers or titles from the compilation? The short response is no. For unfamiliar dudes. Don't worry this isn't me trying to scare prospective souls for the 2020 JRPG. Context is important, and sure you can gain a great deal more from playing the premier and other connected mediums within the universe. However, leave that to the fans who want something different. As someone who isn't a fan of the earliest yet devoured everything in the compilation minus Dirge. I sound hypocritical. Although I hold the seventh entry in the series in my top ten for the franchise. Don't get me wrong, this isn't me being an arbiter of who and what you can play. Eventually, it is your decision to decide. I love to inform/educate others for those not in the know or out of the loop. The long retort is a 'yes' and 'maybe' for fans and those somewhat familiar with the FF7 universe. Why? Well in a 2020 VG247 interview with the producer Yoshinori Kitase(Who directed the initial version) stated "...all of the lore from the works created after the original, the Compilation of Final Fantasy 7, that's all very much in the base of the canon for the remake, and going forward it will be too." The response was due to a question on how significant the "compilation ideas," will be brought to the table. What does this mean for the modern FF7 project split three ways? Well. in my eyes. They're moving outside a 're-imagining'. delving into territories of the 'reboot' and 'sequel' combination. Smashing like playdoh three qualities to present exciting and bold overhauls with the aged guards in the developer team and fresh blood behind the 1997 release. And does it stick to the landing? Hmm, I don't think I can state it definitively did, but my 2020 aging self and multiple friends, peers, and others dearly enjoy the remake. In that sense, I must articulate that's perfectly valid. But 2024 me posits an uncomfortable realization upon replaying before arriving at my conclusion. And that is...

Second - The linear sections need to take a backseat. A conclusion I reached since I've taken the liberty of recording my whole replay. For transparency, this means I played on classic difficulty and solely focused on the main narrative. Excluding the side-content because I already completed them in 2020. Where I finished a hard mode replay upon polishing off normal mode. I found dissecting the gameplay bits. 10+ linear sections in eighteen total chapters. Meaning player agency to move in an environment usually in a guided manner. Not bad by either means, however, these segments offer a repetitive structure of mandatory fights with some leeway to run past. Instead of opting for a free-form combat encounter at your leisure at any time. A famous example is Chrono Trigger where you had a bunch of areas to opt out of required battles by fleeing and running around mobs. Here we don't get that unless we run a sufficient distance or until each enemies are wiped out. Thereby, stalling players and a focus on rinse-and-repeat combat engagements. To drive the claim deeper these sectors take up 'xx' minutes. Ranging in my experience 20-50 min. Varying depending on the length: short, medium, and long. Includes watching cutscenes interlaced as you progress further in a route. Not noticeable if you partake in the voluntary areas and stop to take a break. An un-fun endeavor in dealing with yet a familiar path to tread and battle. Cutscenes and voiced commentary can only do so much if I'm forced to brawl with mob #1 and mob #2. Taking out the surprise and inducing...

Third - A rampant formulaic structure in abundance on the far side of the spectacle and splendor of the dystopian cyberpunk metropolis of Midgar. The place where the bulk takes place. Before I slash on ahead I must enunciate you control a character initially. Cloud Strife. Mercenary & EX-Soldier. Armed with a hulking greatsword busting from his back, he embarks on a dangerous job with eco-terrorists to stop a megacorporation from harnessing the planet's precious finite resource mako. An eyebrow-raising premise and I'll detail more later. Continuing from my claim earlier. The former is true. And though I'm no expert designer I don't like predictable sequences. The first offered short linear zones capable of completing in achingly fewer occasions than what my results found. Sharing authentic surprises making full use of the shift into 3D. By contrast, I found the measure of guided linear padding districts a chore than a fun participation. To be fair this is looking through the eyes of a replayer, yet for those newcomers this is probably fine. Although coming from Rebirth, I found the developers didn't learn their lesson and continued the practice to disastrous effects. Sure there are moments interspersed where we deal with minor obstacles in the way: switches, pulleys, levers, buttons, time limits and split parties, stealth, and walking passages. Creating opportunities to diversify the run then face another foe formula. Realistic to the point of unnecessary for the sake of immersiveness. Doesn’t make sense to hold a button to stress the act of pushing stuff such as hard levers. Hence, still not sufficient to make me jump in joy saying "GUYS THIS IS AWESOME!" Reality isn't the same as the expectations as I failed earlier above in my 1st point. Cut these chunks 50% to 100% in my opinion. Don't delay my gratification further to catch the next plot scene. Apply enjoyable no obstacles in overcoming or keep them extremely short. And to be frank we do distinguish semblances of these later on: trains, grappling hooks, and controlling big o'l arms, but their exposure is still too long for my tastes. Even slicing extended verticality would've helped in the level designs, slapping a sidequest abruptly can provide benefits.

Fourth - Thus padding becomes a constant companion of mine. From the FFVII Remake Ultimania book. An interview revealed "...in the original game, it takes about 7 hours to go through the Midgar section. In the Remake, the map would need to be in 3D, so there would be much more information to account for as well as minutes pass. To go from one point to another, and all that adds up. Since we knew that we would have to add scenarios to the story too, I knew that the overall gameplay of the Remake would be well enough to cover a whole game." - Tetsuya Nomura(co-director) said. Expanding the JRPG from 7 hours into a AAA term is unprecedented. Can you imagine if Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was cut 1/3 and the 1/3 was blown into a full $70 price tag? The number of resources, man-hours, and sheer effort along with the Square Enix budget + marketing. Of one of the most recognized JRPG brands on Earth and selling millions to this day, with medals of commercial and critical success in the tail-end of 1997 is double eye-brow raising past my hairline. My times in 2020 were 76 hours to 100%, 45hr on a first playthrough plus completing the entire sidequests and 19 for my replay. Close to the submitted averages from How long to beat data. Therefore it is inconceivable for me to imagine entirely the work involved has non-existent padding. The opposite is true adding filler during unnecessary sections. Not bringing out various spoilers, but I dissected the chapters, discovering multiple instances of stretching the seven hours. I've already talked above about the linear pieces, but certain cutscenes need not be extended. I don't want to watch a mysterious guy with cat-like eyes gradually gazing at me, walking slowly and spontaneously whispering in my ear. Appearing as a ghost when you least expect it and serving as a major means to tease the audience. Extra examples inside. Such as a roach add forced skirmishes with a guy who isn't really a friend, but hold up maybe he is because we escaped? But the dude has no depth whatsoever beyond flamboyant actions and liberally using the word 'nakama' as if it's going out of style. Villain points of view in a corporate office were also forced, displayed no nuance, and hit the predictability counter. A single egregious instance is a bald disgusting filthy excuse of a being hungering for the female body was equally disturbing and felt excruciatingly too lengthy. I wanted to gag and run out of the room looking at the poor excuse of a 'man,' constantly as the camera shifted to him.

Fifth - Modifications aren't always better in the plot. Again no spoilers, but I can count on one hand some important moments I feel shouldn't have been revised. The absence of blood, replaced with a [redacted] trail takes out the fear and horror replaced with a sense of befuddlement. And this confusion is greatly enhanced immediately upon our [censored] shifts from their initial personality into apathy. Followed by a sense of bewilderment as continued plotbeats hammer our vision punching a sort of psychosis-like of what is real and unreal into our eyeballs. Lingering repeatedly as the camera oh so slowly focuses on them repeatedly. As a consequence, a major character's presence is overhauled due to the additional scenes pandering to their figure instead of using imagination, stories told by word of mouth to take hold of our party. I understand why these adjustments were made, and it is not horrible to the extent I'm moaning so loudly. Merely closing my eyelids and hmming while simultaneously imagining what is going on in the writer's head. Kazushige Nojima and Motomu Toriyama specifically. Because actively adding and revising these elements felt weaker. Teasing and baiting without explaining concretely. A more isn't always a better case.

Sixth - Extends to the unfamiliar content. Namely Whispers. No softly saying words to my ears kind. Rather, mysterious entities will show up occasionally. Not a spoiler because these are shown in the official trailer. Without stating too much, the entities follow an old, repetitive pattern. I'm sure you heard it already, but it is a formulaic response once again to obstruct our party. Why? points gently at the wide and above points I've said so far. In essence, these felt needless, fueling countless theory-crafting and driving discussions. Which by itself isn't bad. I love a good talk with possible outcomes and what-ifs. But after finishing Rebirth and replaying, I still cannot find solid reasons for their existence to entice freshbloods into a JRPG. I've come to note their existence as a red-stop light. Stopping my vehicle motion until a certain amount of minutes have passed before I can move forward. Their intervention in most aspects worsens instead of alluring the audience. Removing their presence entirely and organically adding an easier, less complicated-to-understand presence would've been a better solution in my honest opinion. The closest example I could consider is the film Arrival(2016). Again no major beats will be spoiled from the film. But within the cast is introduced to [blank]. We, both the cast and audience try to understand what this [blank] is. By the credits rolling, I came out with a pensive, but nodding my head action. As vaguely as I can put it. I understood the whole picture. Whispers don't give you the tools to understand. Merely dangling a carrot atop your head while you flop around illustrating a starving bunny failing to reach the juicy treat. And as someone who loves lore and connects it to the plot. The single aspect infuriated me and shot my suspension into a black hole.

Seventh - The sidequests offer little to decent value. Ultimately granting a reprieve in the narrative. Looking back on my notes I wondered why I didn't utter exceptional stuff on the optional matter. After reviewing the list and rewards from a guide I realized why. Serving as a means to take a break. And offer chore missions to perform. From my findings, plus five fetch objectives, 10+ extermination assignments, several minigames, missable missions if you fail to carry out preceding jobs beforehand, and requirements. For instance, completing a couple of them in full unlock a party member cutscene with our protagonist. Playing devil's advocate, these operations do serve a purpose. Helping the people in Midgar, specifically the individuals in the slums who are in dire need of their tasks. Not a bad thing. However, the design implementation of fetching materials, and items, and finding stuff becomes boring. fighting unique variants of creatures fought in the plot and never-seen monsters is a nice touch, but consummate rewards can be lacking. They consist of items and equipment of above-average quality with several weapons exclusively gained. To be fair, not all quests suck. I'd bark a handful off the top of my head is notable in the sense of me giving a single thumbs up. Wish they resonated far higher with deep lore connections and barely superficial relationships. Extending to the NPCs you meet as well. Remove missable errands, interject our party members asking Cloud for help, abrupt errands popping up, surprising injecting urgency, followed by relief. Simple tasks removing debris or gently carrying an injured person while slowly commentating juicy gossip would've elevated the non-essential areas into a must-play. Now I'm shaking my head, grimacing to speak anything nice.

Bonus for the Intermission DLC - I'll be blunt I don't enjoy the intermission Yuffie episode. Offered with a pricetag to consumers following the launch months down the line. The cost I paid was $20. I didn't feel it was worth to play. For those not in the know. Here's a description of what it entails in the store page.. "Play as Yuffie after she arrives in Midgar. There, she and another Wutaian operative are to rendezvous with Avalanche HQ, infiltrate the Shinra Building, and steal the conglomerate's most powerful materia. This DLC unfolds over two chapters that are separate from the main narrative, and also adds a combat simulator fight against Weiss to the PlayStation®5 version." I like Yuffie, she offers a naive optimistic view marred by her grudge in a harsh world ruled by a megacorporation. Has clear goals and her infectious go-to attitude hardly fails to bring a grin on my face. However, playing as her I realized the pitfalls specifically the linearity added nothing satisfying. Launching my big ninja shuriken to hit objects in the environment and climbing and overcoming obstacles from battling leaves me a bitter taste I find in wasabi. Outside of a handful of cutscenes with her Wutaian operative who is handsome and cool. Conveying the strange if not interesting dynamic the duo share. And that was easily the strongest aspect displayed along with a lesser extent a tower defense minigame called Fort Condor. What grinds my gears paying $20 is how little the main plot moves. Two plus chapters and a combat simulator I have no interest in. The former is heavily lacking despite trying to intersperse the duo's movements while the main story progresses back in the base FF7 crew. As a consequence, very little I enjoyed besides learning background about her once her mission finishes. A modicum of context for her soon-to-be joining with the main cast in Rebirth. And why she's acting in a certain manner. A lack of meaningful content I paid a substantial amount leaves me full of regret. I wish I had the foresight to travel in time and watch a Let's Play instead. There goes my five hours never returning. For those who adore the fullest extent granted I salute you.

Phew. With utterly nasty stuff out of the way. I can now focus on the best parts. And it's funny, I started my replay in search for validation of my troubled thoughts and came out picking spare facets I revel in.

I - Body gestures, facial expressions, and voice acting beautifully translate the 1997 3D era into the modern enriching our beloved party. The 2020 title wonderfully demonstrates this. The guy with a machine gun arm(Voiced by John Eric Bentley) is easily my favorite dude. Charismatic, body of action, gung-ho yet deep within his tough, gruff exterior lies a loving family dude. His speeches and comradery brighten my days whenever he's on screen. A female martial artist/bartender(Voiced by Britt Baron) is soft-spoken but belays a deep love for her friends. Giving a helping hand to whoever her companions are. Yet her eyeballs and facial expressions along with a fraction of timidness tell a deeper story. She doesn't display her emotions a lot, from her face, but generally her body motions. Baron's voice lends a hidden quality I found myself talking internally "Oh these cheeky buggers." That's the max I'll pass to stop myself from blurting a cool detail. Perhaps the most striking and given the maximum enhanced flair is the flower girl(played by Briana White) our merc meets later on. Wearing fully her emotions on her sleeve, she charges ahead, setting the stage yet doesn't outshine her fellow members. Trying different things and is unafraid to speak her mind with gestures and emoting so gracefully but not to the extent of over-dramatic illustrating Nicholas Cageness as some haters love to slap on him. She exudes a gentle, caring personality in contrast to the people you witness. Endearingly loveable. Complementing their physical presence is a flirty, but kind female, a not-Rambo-like dude, except very friendly and thinks with backups. An affectionate and true-to-heart guy who loves a tasty meal. And last but not least the guy with a huge buster sword on his back who I'll continue to give the benefit of the doubt behind his no-nonsense values but continues to help his comrades for a solid price. The villains to keep things short. I hate them substantially. Good job fellas.

II - Worldbuilding is satisfying to learn. The key to a decent to quality worldbuilding in my opinion is if the player connects to the lore, the relationships individuals have with NPCs, antagonists, and surrounding rules, laws, religion, beliefs, and values, presented in an effective way grabbing hold the audience, never breaking apart, fastening a desire to learn further. Here I had a deeper love for the universe entailed. Misinformation and propaganda became easily digestible and prevalent sifting through what is true and false information. I love the added depth in the NPCs. We behold how they act, their gripes given freely, their daily lives in the slums, what assistance they need, and who is perpetrating the evils nearby causing a disturbance. Adjusting their dialogue as the world moves forward. The cause and effect our colleagues undergo as beats pass. Witnessing the consequences of our actions. Enriching my proficiency. I grasped fear at the sheer scale of devastation. Helpless in my struggle to conjure meaningful methods of assistance. Warmly embraced the power of friendship. Lending a hand to those in need while meeting an angel. And helped a poor guy who seemed to have enough bad luck etched onto his soul.

III - Guided experience of linearity. Didn't mind the linearity at every opportunity. I mentioned before the linear sections needed to take a backseat and it's true. However, I appreciate the decent length and restraint of levels to hold being a maze-esque or overstaying their welcome. Grateful, exploration isn't filled to the brim with useless collectibles, an excess of loot, and a tedious length. Feels just right to be led to my next storybeat without a major hang-up stalling me. Consequently guiding me into a satisfactory mood. The commentary members' sprouts occasionally aid in removing the dullness permeating. Reminds me of FFXIII. This comes as no surprise since the director Motomu Toriyama resides with the FF7 crew. For what it's worth, it is an improvement from the hallway nature prior. Though to be frank I didn't mind them considering it was my official gateway into the franchise heh.

IV - Supplementary characterization made me smile a lot. I remember key specifics from FF7 and to behold my beloved characters now provides increased background, insight into their interpersonal relationships and human characteristics in expanded detail is one of the strongest I adore. Every person receives a modest to larger-than-life expansion for the better I reckon. A flirty armor girl surprised me. In her hidden motivations concerning family and her previous background. A splinter cell obtained considerable screentime that I previously forgot. Wedge endeared me for his loveable nature extending beyond his friends namely cats and tasty meals. Biggs worries a lot and is unable to stop overthinking things. Yet has a heart of gold. I can go on, but I believe the interesting conversations spoken out of fights and during walks heighten the sense of camaraderie and friendship blooming. Heartwarming to witness first impressions mellow out, distrust and suspicions thawing in the face of a common enemy. Giving out a helping hand, handshakes, high-fives with a motion to stand by fellow companions instead of walking away is a powerful show, don't tell. Precious bonds are forging and solidifying and it is awesome viewing these interactions.

V - The cinematography is breathtaking. I vividly remember iconic moments in the past. Thus perceiving them recreated in magnificent care is a sight to behold. Fluid animations, on-the-spot lip-sync, no out-of-character or sharp cuts. Action sequences offer an intense rush following combat during an encounter or moving along the plot. The camera is the star and I am on the edge of my seat looking forward to the next cutscene coming alive. I adore catching my beloved group shine. Panning the screen exhibits landscape shots to breathe in both the sheer beauty of the world and horror. Equally represented. I am thankful the camera doesn't move too fatal parading useless shots. I figure 90%+ of the whole work done by the cinematics is rendering shock and awe. From the biggest to smallest moments. I cannot for the life of me complain about the artistic vision. Pleased to note everything from monsters to humans, made with painstaking clarity and life. Conversations between allies are not too long or too short. Employing no waste. Made me appreciate discussions and commentary in and outside of battles. Body gestures, facial expressions, and voice acting coalesce achieving realism. Gluing on hidden peculiarities I may have missed. Antagonists also share a respectable amount of screen focus. Feeling far in tune with a darker nature behind fake placid expressions. Honestly, I'm clenching my teeth a bit whenever their presence is displayed. Seriously wish I could sockem into pancakes if I had One-Punch-Man's power. Ughhh.

VI - Combat runs optimally whereas before they staggered and walked tall. As Michael Higham first coined the term. Transforming two plus decades of the Active Time Battle(ATB) system for the 2020s is no small task. Has to be engaging, and tactical, delving into simple to complex maneuvers. FFVIIR succeeds in this aspect allowing gateways and fans a fresh, but familiar way to eliminate foes. FFXIII stagger mechanic is used, intensifying deadly blows on bosses by increasing their percentage. Spells, items, and abilities fluidly intersect. Defending, attacking, and retreating are viable options. Likewise activating a limit break. Ultimate moves by our members display a spectacle flourish as a coup de grace. A battle system worth revisiting and as someone who didn't tire of it on my 3rd run that says a lot on sheer robustness. Hard mode concentrates the finer aspects of fine-tuning equipment, materia(ability/passive modifiers during the flow of skirmishes), and proper item usage to etch a challenging win past a hard-fought match. Forming not an insurmountable cliff to climb. But a gradual incline passes the conventional rinse and repeat tactics of normal mode. Additionally, VR battles and completing optional objectives serve as a nice segway to learning the tricks of the trade. Granting a deeper fulfillment for those hungry for extended bloodthirsty encounters.

VII - New is cool and I don't care about the ancient material. And even if I did care, there is adequate 'new' content giving me a boatload of incentives to look forward to in the future. Hmph! I was imagining for a lengthy period of a scenario where I didn't play the compilation entries, or original and watched the extended media. Concluding, enough enjoyable parts to satisfy anyone(to varying degrees). In spite of my 7 mixed feelings affecting my overall experience. Yes, it is a remake, yes it is a re-imagining but it doesn't discount my mixed feelings and enjoyment. Instead, it brings perspective, reflection, and a culmination of everything I sought and gained in 2020. Everyone who loves it or almost the entire pie, is in for a tasty treat. My past self most certainly would agree. But my 2024 self I'm moving onwards over my honeymoon phase to realize the cracks forming. On the far side of splendor lies a troubled heart. I find myself beset with multiple questions on what constitutes a viable reimagining/remake/reboot. I'll probably ruminate for years to come constantly re-evaluating the ever-eluding dilemma. For now to answer what I said previously what is Final Fantasy VII Remake? It is a serviceable that could be improved remake striving to uphold, surpass, and capture new and youthful veterans. Regardless of reception, they move to the beat of their drum. Varying in results, what matters is what you think of the title. Feelings strong or minor are fair and valid. And it is as the 2015 E3 trailer prophesies.

"...there are now beginnings of a stir. The reunion at hand may bring joy; it may bring fear. But let us embrace whatever it brings..."

7/10


References and Additional Material:
DF’s 2020 Unpublished review + spoiler thoughts
2020 VG247 interview
2020 FFVII Remake Ultimania book. An interview
FF7R List and Rewards from a Guide
Original title by Michael Higham
FF7 Remake Official trailer
2015 Final Fantasy E3 trailer

A great display of video games as an artform.

NieR: Automata is a game that goes above and beyond with its unique way of storytelling, taking full advantage of making the experience one that can't be substituted through a book or a movie - not just in terms of visual design, but also through the use of dynamic music and having its story told from the point of view of multiple protagonists.

Note that I have played NieR Replicant (the first game) right before this entry, so comparing the two games was inevitable for me. On one hand I still feel like I was doing Automata a disservice by doing so, but at the same time it was nice hearing remixes of familiar songs when they were still fresh in my memory. Either way, in my opinion something very important to anyone interested in this game, is to play Replicant first if you want the full experience. Not only because you would miss many cool references, but also because Automata doesn't hold back with spoiling the first game through the documents you can find in it and personally I'd be pretty upset if I read those before playing Replicant. Those documents are cool for returning players because you get more context for the events of the previous entry, but also spoil some of the biggest twists. Play this first at your own risk.

In contrast to Replicant, Automata's story has a lot more spectacle to it than Replicant's more grounded and personal narrative. This time you're not taking control of the teenage boy who wants to cure his sister, but instead slip into the role of android warrior 2B, who is fighting in an all-out war against machines to reclaim the planet. Considering the scale of the story, you're just one of many androids - Automata is less about the characters' personal struggles and more about the main conflict at hand. And while the overarching narrative is solid, the real highlight is how the story is told and the messages behind it. This game has multiple routes and endings and they're used particularly well here, compared to Replicant, where the routes were the same in terms of gameplay, but with new scenes. Even if Automata's Route A and B are the same string of events told through a different perspective (which turned a surprising amount of people off from doing multiple routes), the unique gameplay of 9S and some scenes from his perspective alone are worth warranting the second playthrough. Route C however is where the story really picks up in pace, while also being a fresh experience at the same time. New enemies, new plot, new soundtrack. (The enemy variety in Automata in general is way better than Replicant, there are so many machines and bosses with cool ideas!) Also, the finale of Route C completely blew me away with the "art direction" of it and the final battle at the end was the cherry on top. For those concerned about missables, after beating this route, you'll unlock Chapter Select and can freely return to any point in the story before, so there's no reason for FOMO, feel free to tackle the game at your own pace. In regards to achievements, what I found particularly interesting was the integration of a trophy shop. It's just like the name would suggest, a hidden in-game shop where you can buy the remaining achievements in exchange for virtual currency. Pretty cool if you locked yourself out of a trophy, but also really made me think about the actual point of trophies in general...

Combat and movement in Automata are definitely an upgrade to Replicant's combat... for the most part. Coming right from the first game, I was a bit surprised how slippery the controls felt, like they didn't have much weight to them. The most glaring difference was the missing vibration on hit though, it really gave the attacks more impact for me. Turns out the controls are actually quite good and responsive after spending a while with them, it just took me a bit to adjust. Now, the combat in Automata literally consists of hack-and-slash. As 2B, your main approach to offense will be slashing through the enemies (while looking really stylish) by dual-wielding a set of two weapons of choice, reaching from her signature katanas to the Beastbane from Replicant, you're free to mix and match towards whatever matches your own personal playstyle. Meanwhile the other protagonist, 9S, puts the emphasis on the "hack" in hack-and-slash. He does not have the luxury of using two weapons at once, as his model is not designed for combat, but rather for gathering intel - in gameplay terms this means you can hack into your enemies to deal large amounts of damage, destroying most normal enemies instantly. Hacking consists of a Space Invaders-like bullet hell minigame, where you need to shoot down hostile ships or towers which are shooting projectiles at you. If you get hit three times, you're getting kicked and need to hack the enemy again to get another shot at the minigame. In order to successfully complete a hack, normally all enemies need to be destroyed before being able to shoot the otherwise guarded core, but there are some exceptions, like bosses and special hacks have unique screens with other conditions attached to them. Hacking and slashing aside, there's actually a third type of combat (even if it's rarely used), the aerial combat. There are a few parts where you're mounting a flying mech and need to shoot down enemies in a rail shooter-like fashion. These segments are either 2D or top-down, your possible movements are defined by the camera angle.

Following up to the "possible movements", I'd like to talk about the possible movements in the overworld and the level design in general, because I'm really sold on both of those aspects. Moving around feels great, has a very parkour-ish feel to it and hopping or gliding onto certain structures is awesome. This also comes from the level design being a lot of fun to traverse and explore, a big step up from Replicant. All areas have an unique theme they're designed after and they're like semi-open worlds. No loading screens (aside from the ones disguised as elevators) are a huge plus and make for a really seamless experience. Not to mention those individual levels are gorgeous and still filled with so many small details, my favorites are the Forest Kingdom and Amusement Park. Shoutout to the Flooded City, although I wish that area was a bit larger. After reflecting on those areas, I'm not really sure if I prefer the medieval design of Replicant's world or the post-apocalyptic world of Automata. But one thing is for certain: traversing Automata's world didn't break my controller's right trigger spring. (Yeah, that happened in Replicant. Not even because I threw the controller or anything, it was just because I dashed a lot...)

The soundtrack is excellent. As I already stated in my opener, NieR Automata greatly makes use of the dynamic soundtracks - this means the songs shift between multiple variants, based on what is currently happening. Like when you hack an enemy as 9S, the current song slowly transitions into an 8-Bit version, depending on how much the hacking meter is filled, eventually the the hacking sequence starts and the full 8-Bit rendition plays until the minigame is completed, where it fades back to the normal version. But not only does the combat have changing music, the songs in individual areas also change based on location or story progress. An example fairly early on is the desert theme, Memories of Dust. As you walk into the desert for the first time, you will hear an instrumental version of this song, but as you get closer to the apartment ruins, the vocals fade in. It also works in reverse, because if you walk away from that location, the lyrics will fade out again. The most impactful use of the dynamic soundtrack for me was at the very end, and I won't specify this further, since you'll know what I mean when you get there.

Something very important for the PC players: Please do yourself a favor and set the anti-aliasing to SMAA, because MSAA looks really horrible in this port and also chugs performance for some reason; you won't even get consistent 60 frames, because there's some built-in limiter. Meanwhile the FidelityFX CAS option makes the colors look off, so I'd recommend turning that off too. These two things unironically took me three hours to figure out and I don't want you to go through the same pain.

In the end, I absolutely adored NieR Automata as an experience. While it didn't emotionally impact me nearly as much as Replicant, I prefer the direction and creative approach in this one, like using the route system for something a lot more meaningful than playing through the exact same events three times (and the final area four times!). It's definitely a game I will be thinking about for quite some time, as it really opened my eyes on games as an artform. Thanks for reading and glory to mankind!

After completing FF7 Remake, the first part of this remake project trilogy, I knew it was gonna derail from the original. I knew that whatever the writers wrote for this new journey would be something I won't like and would bring in convoluted concepts of fate and destiny, deterministic philosophy and multiverse theory that the original story didn't have in the first place, or atleast not in the forefront of the themes.

Let me say my negatives first; when I finished the game and say the ending, I didn't like it all. It was just like every other Square rpg where the 2nd half of the story would be convoluted and paced in a weird direction for the sake of ambiguity and for players to continually discuss with. A lot of the twists felt like the writers wanted the player to be emotionally confused and use those twists for the sake of shock value and fanservice. However, after some time thinking about it, I do appreciate the devs being this risky with this kind of story. It's like they trusted the players with their new vision of the game. Not many games this generation have ever went to this direction. When I finished FF7 Remake, I've already accepted the original FF7 that I've loved is gone and that whatever new stuff the devs bring to the table wouldn't be what I wanted but I'm still curious how things will turn out. Rebirth left me questioning more but wanting more. I know for a fact the next and final part will leave some unresolved plot points as red hearings but I've already accepted that. There's no getting off this crazy train.

Now positives; the gameplay and exploration is phenomenal. In terms of gameplay and graphics, this is by far the best square game they have made in the past decade or 2. I have spent so many hours just exploring every nook and crany, battling every enemy, just sucking out every enjoyable aspect that game has to offer. And the game throws in so many minigames and other activities to switch up the gameplay loop and because of this I was never bored. However, since this is an open world game I did experience some exploration fatigue and got a little tired doing the same quests over and over again, but again the switch up of gameplay sprinkled throughout the game helped alleviate this. I could easily go over the 100 hour mark This game made FF7 Remake look bad, like really bad. It's gonna be hard to go back to Remake. This game has even more strategy, more role playing aspects, more player expression, its the whole package. Another positive is how they basically nailed every character; each character as if I remembered it but in the modern age. There were some story beats that were actually better and more actualized in this game compared to the original because it added more character and understanding on each character, main or side. Scenes like the Dyne scene, cosmo canyon, and gold saucer in general where I genuinely felt it was better executed in rebirth than in the original.

I didn't hate this game, not at all. I did have expectations that I wouldn't like it after completing Remake, but I've gained an appreciation for this project and want to see more of the devs new vision on this beloved story. I'm just curious on how this will end, even if it does end up as a car crash or train wreck. This game did have too much going on, making the story even more convulted and messy than it should be. Any newcomer that hasn't played any FF7 game in the compilation would be completely lost in rebirth but I felt the basic, bare bones interpretation of the themes and message its trying to convey is there. But the complex ideas of psychology, theology, and philosophy from the original are present here but it's just different. That's one word I can sum for this game: "different." In a good and bad way. It has its pros and cons but I've learned to outweigh the pros from the cons and appreciate what the devs are trying to do. There's no getting off this train.

I have starred at a blank screen for several minutes trying to think of what to say to show my love for this game. Unfortunately trying to describe exactly what makes me feel the way I do about this game is hard to pinpoint without just saying this is a masterpiece that excels in every area a video games can. But in my opinion this truly excels at every level. Character progression, relate ability, replay ability, story, production, sound tracks, visuals, combat, exploration, vast hour syncing beautiful locations, heart breaking emotional moments, genuinely hilarious moments, so many fun mini games that it feels like you could sell it’s as a Final Fantasy version of Mario Party, you want it in a game it’s probably here. Also did I mention music, character progression, and story because these aspects aren’t just top notch for Final Fantasy, they are top notch for the medium.

I don’t know how Square pulled it off but they made one of the most well liked classic cast of characters and made them 100 times more deep, real and relatable. This goes for every party member but two stand out. First is Yuffie. In the original game Yuffie is optional so they didn’t really give her character much more character than “I love materia.” Here she is fully fleshed out, deep, loveable character just as much as everyone else in the party. Secondly is Cait Sith. As much as I loved the original cast I loathed Cait Sith with my entire being. All of my friends I knew that played this game also hated him. But in this game they did the impossible and took him from my one of my very least liked characters made him into an upper tier character. He goes from a legit joke to an amazing, funny, clever, loving character. To me the remakes did more for him than anyone .

The story was magnificent albeit with a some pacing issues. There were so many side quest thrown at you in between small chunks of the story. Outside of that though it was damn near everything you could want. There is some divide between fans on the last chapter but I think it sets up the potential of part 3 extremely well. I want to talk story much more but don’t want to spoil a thing but just know I thought is was S+ tier.

The music was a delight as songs were brilliantly remixed and sometimes used at beautiful or tragic times. This is one of the best Final Fantasy sound tracks, sooo elite of the elite. Two songs that surprisingly were way more catchy than they had any right to be were “bow wow wow” and the Chocobo songs when racing.

The gameplay is by far the best in the series imo with only XVI and Remake coming anywhere close. Everything felt smooth and customizable. Building each character to your unique play style was enjoyable.

The only two downsides I can even see someone arguing against are the final chapter playing out differently than they hoped and the pacing due to side quests. However as someone that thinks the final chapter will be a good springboard into part 3 and wants as much (good) Final Fantasy content that Square can put out these were bonus/non issues for me.

I could legitimately go on about this game for several hours but I don’t want to ramble. I recommend this game 100% and believe it is one of the greatest video games of all time!

Easily one of if not probably THE largest scope single-player game I've ever played, and somehow rarely unwavering in quality through the entire 100+ hours. Not only is there an incredible, nearly unmatched level of variability in the gameplay, from sidequests to minigames to main story content, but each of these pieces clearly has an equal amount of effort put into them. Nothing is left behind in favor of anything else; there is so much care put into the smallest minigames and sidequests and songs all the way up to the biggest scale story set pieces. I am truly in awe at the scale of this game and find it incomparable to nearly anything in this sense other than perhaps Elden Ring.

I was fully engrossed in this world, in every area, for just about the entirety of my playthrough, and really did not want my adventure to end. I was very motivated to do the majority of side content, simply because of how good it all was, with a random sidequest more than once leading to a completely unique minigame challenge I wouldn't have discovered otherwise. The combat evolves from the first game significantly; I loved the synergy abilities and additions to each of the original party members plus the new party members equally. Everyone is fun to use in their own way and I LOVED how the game separates the party in the story quite often, forcing you to try out different combinations of characters. Not only that, but each of the specified party sections typically will have enemies and/or a boss that is designed for the combat around the members you're using, whether it being aerial enemies with Barret/Yuffie, or perhaps physically aggressive enemies with Red to block and counter with, or fast enemies with Tifa, just as an example. I wish more RPGs with larger parties would do this, as deciding who to use while also wanting to use everyone somewhat equally is something I often struggle with.

I was a fan of FF7 Remake, but it was far from one of my favorite games of all time. Rebirth has more than lived up my greatest expectations and absolutely is one of the best games I've ever played. Any of its shortcomings, mostly in the form of a couple sub-par minigames or sidequests, or some world traversal issues, absolutely do not take away from the spectacle of the adventure and world. I did not even mention Queen's Blood, which is easily my favorite of the various evolving Final Fantasy side-games, and is a great game in and of itself. The soundtrack is also no question one of the greatest ever made, from beginning to end, with the massive quantity of tracks all of incredible quality. I really do love the Final Fantasy VII universe, and I would be shocked to see anyone that doesn't after playing this game. I cannot wait what is in store in the final part of this already legendary trilogy.

10/10

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!🙏