The most fun I've ever had with a JRPG, something I previously attributed to the original Xenoblade Chronicles. The sequel absolutely blows it out of the water gameplay and content wise. This game is packed with content (and it's all GOOD content) and the combat is the best in the franchise. I spent nearly 100 hours playing through the main story doing tons of sidequests and progressing my blade affinity charts. It's fun and rewarding to do sidequests while experimenting with different blade and character setups.

As far as writing goes I don't feel that it's the main selling point of the game, but it's something fans of the overall Xeno lore must experience. The pacing can get a bit awkward, some of the characters don't hit like they should but for any missteps there are a ton of positives to make up for them. The story is very ambitious and has a lot of great moments, the ending stretch is phenomenal. A lot of the stuff here feels out of the realm of possibility that the series established and a little more in tune with something like Xenosaga. Zeke and Jin are my favorite xenoblade character and antagonist, respectively. The party in general has a really cool dynamic in this game and they all have important roles to some degree.

Overall while your mileage may vary with the story and characters it's far from the worst ever in that regard. The gameplay is so good that I'm taken aback by how many people played a game this long, with combat that is apparently daunting for a lot of people, and still claim it's terrible with a straight face.

I usually spend a half an hour or so every week sitting next to Gary's sister. I used to get such a raging boner when she'd give me the map, knowing that her brother would hate it, but that her connection with me was more important. He was out there, autistically raising his Pokemons' power levels, while I was at home sitting next to his hot piece-of-ass sister, smelling her hair, looking forward to getting a map that she once held in her soft hands. It's such a purity and elegance in the relationship that none of the later games captured. She was always the real motivation to beat the Elite Four. To come back to Pallet, worldly and experienced, finally putting down her brother in the worst way, to rightfully claim her patient body.
I also really like the safari zone; it's fun trying to find all of the Pokemon and items before the time runs out, while having to use unconventional capture techniques.

This was my first rogue-like, and it was quite a culture shock as someone who came from JRPGs. According to my friends, this has more story than any other rogue-likes they've played. I will not be playing other rogue-likes besides Hades II.

Cool visuals. I applaud that everyone is fully voiced and by such a small cast. Banger music. I'm not a fan of Hades & Persephone but I liked the unique takes on all these mythological figures. And all the small stories combined with the fact that everyone was aware of every death and had consistently changing dialogue really made the game feel so alive.

Been a good 7 or so years since I first (and last) played Dragon Quest IV (the DS version), and I didn't remember much except that I really liked it. I've been making my way back through the Dragon Quest series and it was time for IV, and my initial thoughts were "oh yeah, the one before the Best One™️" and, whilst I still like Dragon Quest V more than IV, I forgot just how good this game is. Especially actually having party chat this time around! I can't believe I missed out on all this extra dialogue! 13 year old me would have been pissed if I knew how much I was missing!
Anywho, Dragon Quest IV is so much more than just "the one that comes before V". It's a masterpiece in its own right. It's one of the only JRPGs I've 100% completed because it just drew me in that much. Phenomenal Dragon Quest game, and a phenomenal JRPG.

Just to clarify, by 100% completion I mean getting all of the mini medal rewards, completing the Pioneer Town side quest, filling out the Big Book of Beasts, completing the Sands of Time/Liquid Metal Sword sidequest, and completing the sixth chapter. I did not max out the levels of my party lol