a powerful game reinforced by fantastic audio/visual concept -- were that there was more of it.

Quantum Break feels like a game made by a studio that didn't want to make a game, and not in usual fashion of auteurship we're used to. the story's dimensions are directly linked to live action television sections that intersect its five acts to usually present a B-plot with characters who pretend to be as relevant as an already unimpressionable cast.

the gameplay all of this is built upon is serviceable, playing more with the concept of irregular time freezing rather than active travel, both in its combat and platforming segments. Quantum Break is easily at its best when it uses this to create destructive spectacle, but rarely in a way that it's an active threat to the player. much like the live action show, its meant to be more seen than felt.

the fantastic sound design and art style would normally make this forgivable, but the gunplay is missing too many pieces otherwise: i.e. not being able to switch weapons while reloading, a pool of 11 gun types only having one that's viable at long range, and an underwhelming amount of enemy types. meanwhile, the player gains all possible "time powers" pretty early on in the game, making the rest of it feel repetitive.

these issues and others are all things that could have been avoided with a bit more polish and a lot more ambition, but such holes are instead filled by an absurd amount of readable emails filled with eleven paragraphs with company chaff and one guy's horrible screenplay that ironically would have been a more interesting watch than the actual inter-episode productions.

there's just not enough gameplay in Quantum Break to begin with, and certainly not enough to justify replaying it while making different choices along the way.

At once one of the worst and best games I've played in a while. I'm compelled enough to want to know what they're doing, but also the act of trying to figure out what they're doing is a fool's errand. Rebirth is exceptional when it's about hanging out. But it's weighed down so heavily by the worst case of ubisoft open world bloat I've ever put up with. Its combat system could be studied in universities for eons, it's obscenely, disgustingly, putridly brilliant. Boss fights in this game are some of the most fun and fascinating collaborations of systems and creative design I can recall, and I don't think they're getting nearly enough credit for just how intricate it is. But 95% of the fighting in this game is generic fodder enemies that turn it into a borderline-musou level of turn-off-brain-and-mash-square. The bulk of this game does disservice to everything it excels at. It bogs itself down with frivolous padding at every opportunity—every little action takes like a second and a half longer than you'd expect, making it feel sloppy and unresponsive in the hands when outside of combat, which is most of the time. The composition work on this score is some inconceivable galaxy brain stuff. We're talking minimum 200 IQ moves all over the place. I cannot wait for that big-ass CD box set, dude. That's my main takeaway from this game.

Really don't know where to start with this one, besides just mentioning that I was kind of excited and wanting to play this after going through Remake and Intermission shortly before this came out, having enjoyed those a lot and specially Intermission particularly because of how fun the combat was and the cute interactions between Yuffie and Sonon, but yeah, this game didn't really hit it off well with me after a while.

At first I was pretty excited about how the story would pan out, the beginning was exciting and the open world made me really look forward to it, but as the game progresses and more areas open, you start to notice the repetitiveness and dullness of the world itself, how boring it gets despite being beautiful. The Ubisoft Towers at first I didn't mind too much but after a while, all of the things involving the open-world sections themselves just felt really boring and dull, it felt more like checking out chores on a checklist and doing a job rather than just having fun, the exploration is just generic run-of-the-mill open world exploration with a coat of Final Fantasy at the end of the day, it doesn't change at it's core.

The story at times had a really weird and odd pacing, like it was rushing for some reason, despite having these huge open world areas, the pacing was really off at times, specially during THAT one Barret sequence that happens after the Dustbowl, just kind of felt in poor taste how they handled it. The ending was kind of disappointing, lackluster and it almost felt in bad taste how they handled it, at times it felt like they were trying to pull on my feelings but it didn't work at all because at that point I really just wanted to be done with the game because of how bloated it felt after trying to do every little single thing on it, I probably would've enjoyed it more if I just bombrushed the main story but I wanted to enjoy it fully, but oh well.

But to not drag this on further, I really tried to like this more and have more fun with it, but the overwhelming amount of unnecessary minigames felt insanely boring and bloated to hell and back and how they try to tack them into the main story as well, it's overwhelming and gets boring real fast. On some more positives, the presentation of the game is incredibly nice; it's a beautiful game and the music is also really well made, a lot of arrangements and original songs coming back felt nice, the way they handled some characters felt decent enough besides some of them here and there and the gameplay, despite not changing much from Remake, was still somewhat decent, the additions really don't do much for me and it somehow felt weirder than how it was on both Remake and Intermission, but it isn't bad, definitely one of the strong points of the game.

6/10 feels like a good enough rating to me, it was a decent game, not good but also not bad.

-''I'm a bit nervous''

-''Me too!''

They say as their killer smiles aren't even fazed. That's the kind of attitude I aspire to have when setting off dangerous explosives.

Frog Detective 1 is the perfect example of that breed of videogames I like to refer as ''candy games''; shorter and more laid-back experiences more focused on the adventure of meeting people, doing silly stuff and the interactions that come from it. Or in other, simpler words, lil' goofy treats.

This right here is that entire base idea made into a game. It’s basically just a stroll across this not-so-spooky islands and the interacting with the scientists to solve the most daunting case to ever be, and it’s cute! There are some pretty charming interactions here and there, some funnier than others for sure — Larry and Martin had the best moments by far—, tho overall they felt a bit repetitive at times and at worst some bits felt a bit awkward in a non-intentional way. The style of comedy it goes for isn’t anything new but at its best it really knows how to pull some novel or really funny bits, I just wish some others landed better.

And that’s about it, honestly!!! Aside from dialogue, the other thing you can do is to explore the island and use your magnifying glass for the fun of it, and as much as I love using a fish-eye lens in some of these Muppet looking motherfuckers, it also gets old fast. It’s an idea for more possible visual gags that aren’t explored further, which is how I feel about many other moments in this short mystery. The mouse doesn’t even get to break-dance at the end! What a ripoff!

It's hard for me to get even a bit grumpy about it, and if I started saying that I wished it was more ‘in-depth’ would be straight up silly. It’s a tale about a frog detective, plain and simple, and the enjoyment you’ll get out of it will entirely depend on how much you get charmed by it.

It doesn’t last long, it isn’t much, but it is sweet… just like a piece of candy!

Saccharine and dream-like without deliberately ignoring the harshness of reality that spurs on those idle fantasies. Since it's a period piece of sorts (set around the time of Barack Obama's first electoral win) there's plenty of anachronisms you could nitpick, but what I think it gets best is the hypocrisy of the era -- that empty hope for something better that we all know never really came. There's lots of "unrealistic" aspects baked into the experience, and I feel a nitpick would probably be that all the characters feel distinctly queer, but I also magically ended up being friends with a bunch of closeted queer people circa 2008, ones I'm still friends with to this day! And like, depending on the era the story is taking place in, the characters might act a little older than you'd expect for people of that age (both in the elementary school flashbacks and the "modern" high school perspective), but it fits so well into the game's themes, premise, and ultimately the fantasy that Butterfly Soup is trying to deliver that it's not even a legitimate criticism in my eyes.

The humor definitely seems hit or miss for some people, but I thought it was cute!! The most accurate "child-like" aspect of the characters the writing lands is their sense of humor and it honestly rules for that; I definitely knew people like and was friends with people like Akarsha in middle and high school. Plus, there's just genuinely snappy humor goin' on here (in the end though it was the "Mile 'Tails' Edgeworth" that really got me, probably because that's exactly the type of joke me and my friends would've made back in like 2009).

Butterfly Soup is just a really lovely visual novel, I think more people should check it out if it interests them!!! Also, I am definitely not beating the Min allegations.

Please use this elevator. Hold up, push this slow ass cart to vacuum up all the mako before you can access it. Exit this cave. Hold up, move this slow ass cart that's blocking the exit. Reach this ledge. Hold up, the ladder is broken, so you'll have to push this slow ass cart all the way there to use as a platform. Hold up, the path is blocked, so have Barret shoot at this boulder for several seconds so that you can continue pushing your slow ass cart. Great job, now it's time run across an empty field to go activate your 6th Ubisoft tower.

COME TO REBIRTH WE GOT THE

- 1 gorillion animation dollar budget
- industry standard setters of cutscenes and environments
- ....
- the worst act of the original game
- far cry tower
- far cry outpost
- far cry crafting
- open world with movement worse than zelda on the n64
- seriously, it's like ps1 tomb raider
- 3(!!) great chapters
- 11 uhhh other chapters
- story reliant on having played evercrisis and the free to play mobile battle royale????
- nojima 😡😡😡
- at least 3 hours spent in the materia menu
- the same bosses you fought in remake 3 times, 3 times
- the worst fucking minigames you've ever touched
- all the most annoying characters from anywhere else in the extended series
- benches?
- every action or animation locking you in for several extra unnecessary seconds
- shipbait
- tifa and aerith randomly deciding to act like harem anime characters for like 2 cutscenes
- fans who only read the title of the game and gave 5 stars on release date (all your reviews and ratings should be deleted)
- cait sith...?
- filler filler boat filler filler filler
- michael bay audio mixing
- bloated combat
- the sphere grid for some reason (but worse)
- "ahh cloud-kun you nearly touched mmy l-l-l-lips baka" yuffie
- crate puzzles you solve in 3 seconds and then spend 3 minutes doing

This is not the worst game I ever played, but it might be the most disappointed I've ever been going blind into a sequel of a game I liked. Before leaving a comment, please read the "Common Copes (CC)" section below. Thanks in advance.

COMMON COPES

C: But the original also had this many mini-games!
A: That was a shit part of the original too.

C: But the original also had this much filler!
A: That was shit too.

C: But in the original you also had to fiddle this much with materia!
A: That was also shit. Please just be normal and don't say all these silly things

C: I think this game is awesome man!
A: You must have Gone Gaga!

CLOSING THOUGHTS

If this kind of Ubisoft remake happened to my favorite RPG my only review would be a LiveLeak video.

“It’s true that sometimes I can’t figure out who I am. There’s a lot of things muddled up in my memories. But, Tifa… you said, ‘Long time no see, Cloud’ right? Those words will always support me. I am the one you grew up with. I’m Cloud of Nibelheim. No matter how much I lose faith in myself, that is the truth.”

It’s 3:17 in the morning and I’m lying awake in bed, typing this up on my ten year anniversary with the woman I will spend the rest of my life with. Even in this moment of respite, my mind once again begins to wander back into the Lifestream. Five years ago, against all my fears and doubts, I sat down with that same woman to show her the most important thing in my life up until meeting her. I had never even thought to share this with anyone I had been with before. Despite my anxiety and dread over what she might think, I was elated to find her enjoying every moment right alongside me. To my greater surprise, she had become a self-proclaimed Tifa fangirl and now cheers her on in every one of her on-screen moments, big or small. Everything in my life from my tastes, to my expressions, to my most cherished memories—even my love—is forever intertwined… with FINAL FANTASY VII.

“But that's all right. As long as I'm with you... As long as you're by my side... I won't give up even if I'm scared.”

As its name suggests, FINAL FANTASY VII is the seventh main numbered entry in the long-running FINAL FANTASY series. Originally conceptualized for the Nintendo 64 and later brought over to the Sony PlayStation in a move that many could describe to be betrayal, FINAL FANTASY VII marked a significant shift in the video game market. People all over the world, completely unaware of the FINAL FANTASY brand—or even roleplaying games entirely—flocked to stores in 1997 to pick up and play this game. I was not one of those people. But two years later, once I was old enough to read at a decent level, I experienced what would later become the most influential piece of media in my entire life.

“I was frozen in time, but now I feel as if my time is just beginning...”

FFVII continues the series trend of traversing a fantastical world of magic and wonder with a party of misfits trying to save the world, only there are some key differences. First and foremost, the Materia system. While the core combat retains the same almost-turn-based ATB (Active Time Battle) system first introduced in FINAL FANTASY IV, characters are completely customizable regarding skills and magic. While each character has their own innate stats, every character can be made to fit any role. The depth of the Materia system is the heart of FFVII’s gameplay, and if the effort and research are put in, it can reward the player with some insanely creative and useful combinations and setups that can outright break the game in a very fun way. In addition to the new Materia system comes Limit Breaks—powerful abilities able to turn the tide of combat when characters have sustained enough damage. These are all specific to the respective party members using them and are the key difference between each character.

“I always thought this planet was so huge. But lookin' at it from space, I realized it's so small. That's why I say this planet's still a kid. Someone's gotta protect it.”

In a harsh contrast to the games preceding it, FINAL FANTASY VII takes a page out of Akira to create a world that is brimming with technology. The Shinra Electric Power Company has created a new fuel source known as Mako by siphoning the life force of the planet itself without regard for Gaia’s wellbeing. This has led to great technological advancements throughout the world—most notably in the floating cyberpunk hub known as Midgar. The world of FFVII is far bleaker than most of its contemporaries at the time. The people of Gaia have no qualms telling it like it is and shedding some light on how hopeless, frail, and dissolute life has become after Shinra’s rise to power. Every character—no matter how insignificant—has had their life dramatically changed (for the worse) because of Shinra. As AVALANCHE, the player begins their journey performing acts of eco-terrorism to combat Shinra’s destruction of the planet, but soon uncovers a web of entangled stories and tragedies all converging on one single point—Sephiroth.

“Yo, jes' think about it... How many people in this world do ya think really understand themselves? People get depressed in life because they don't know what's up. But, they go on living. They don't run away... isn't that how it is?”

FINAL FANTASY VII was the first video game to tell me a story that resonated with me personally. Its plot is full of twists, turns, and big reveals that always had me shaking with excitement and anticipation, but the most important element is its character. Cloud Strife. Even if you’ve never played an RPG in your life, you’ve at least heard the name before somewhere, and for good reason. As the main protagonist of FFVII, Cloud is the character whose perspective you witness a majority of the events of the game through. To say Cloud is a dynamic character is an understatement for the ages. Extremely cold and dejected at first, Cloud develops into one of the most relatable and real fictional characters I’ve seen. While an enigma at first, players learn to understand Cloud’s true self over time. For me, there is no character I could ever understand better. As a kid, I shared so many of the aspirations and personality quirks of this mentally unstable box of emotional conflict and turmoil. From his prideful façade to his deepest sorrows and self-doubts, Cloud’s personality and depth shine through.

“What I have shown you is reality. What you remember, that is the illusion.”

Counter to Cloud is Sephiroth. By now, it’s nearly impossible to not know who Sephiroth is. He’s arguably even more popular than Cloud himself. Despite that, FINAL FANTASY VII is unparalleled in its foreshadowing and build-up to the true antagonist of the game. As the player makes their way through the world, they are constantly reminded just how powerful and foreboding Sephiroth is. From an execution of the world’s biggest threat to a flashback showing in raw numbers just how much of a force he is, Sephiroth is the perfect foil to Cloud. His personal connection to several of the key cast members adds a layer of determination and agency for the player. It’s not just Cloud that wants to bring Sephiroth down—it’s you.

“What to do? Have you lost your way? When that happens we each have to take a good long look at ourselves. There's always something in the deepest reaches of our hearts. Something buried, or something forgotten. Remember it... Whatever that is, must certainly be what you are all looking for...”

The music, much like everything else in the game, is remarkable. Composed by musical legend and series veteran Nobuo Uematsu, this soundtrack stands out even among his own works. This is a rare occasion where I enjoy every single song on the soundtrack. For a soundtrack of nearly 90 songs, that’s quite a feat. Every piece amplifies their paired scene without fail be it serious or goofy. Many of the tracks represent the blend of fantasy and science fiction extraordinarily well with synthesized sounds and exhilarating melodies. Every location has its own unique theme that helps build immersion and set the mood accordingly. While the main battle theme (which is a certified video game classic at this point) plays for a majority of the combat encounters, several notable boss fights have their own music that creates memorable clashes with the evil of the world. I find myself listening to this soundtrack on a near-daily basis.

“I've... been thinking, too... about the universe... people... the planet... How wide and big... No matter where I go and what I do, it won't change a thing.”

There is no way I can objectively look at this game. It is so ingrained in who I am that I have to bring emotion and nostalgia into it. The game isn’t perfect—nothing is—but to me, it’s everything I need. An engaging story in a world that feels just as real as our own with characters that breathe life into it, all accompanied by ace gameplay and a soundtrack that can move you to tears. FINAL FANTASY VII is a lot of things to a lot of people. To me, it is my beginning. It is the reason I cherish competent storytelling, complex characters, and expansive worlds. It’s the reason I see video games as more than just a hobby to pass the time. It’s why I want to create experiences and memories with people, to inspire them to explore and look at things in new lights just as I did when I was a kid… or to bring two close people even closer together. FINAL FANTASY VII was the spark that started it all, to continue on to all sorts of new things. Five year-old me popped that disc in and the game took me by the hand and said,

“Let's mosey.”

And I couldn’t be more grateful that it did.

within a span of two months, from september to november of 2019, i lost an old friend and former lover to bone cancer at 23 years old, and my father revealed to me that he’d been diagnosed with stage 2 lung cancer. this would indicate a nearly three year journey to where i am now - a sequence of events which tested the limits of my perseverance, willpower, camaraderie, self-love, and actualization of community. my life underwent severe changes throughout this period; essentially revising my entire outlook on my relationships to patching up and mending my relationship with my dad which had resulted in some pretty catastrophic gaps gashed out pretty equally on both sides. some outside events completely reformed how i lived, the safety and love i had to provide myself for my own wellbeing, and fostering a lot of growth and evolution out of a patch where what i’d known and what i held onto were slipping through my fingers.

during this time, my father set an example of how he would choose to live. he combatted cancer and heartbreak with rudiment, structure, dedication and iron will. i watched him break on more than a few occasions. but it was through his search for that light where he found his own branch of buddhism, practice of meditation, and a new outlook on his life. he began to teach me the lessons he’d taken away - both of us being that type of person with loud, constantly-spewing minds. he instilled and internalized the idea that meditation and serenity are not about clearing the mind of thought, but finding a means to acknowledge the thought and move on from it. it was only along the lines of that practice that we both began to unbox our trauma - both conjoined and individual. it was only then when we could cultivate growth, hope, and those first rays of light.

i had no access to therapy or professional help at the time. i was between jobs when i wasn't crammed into ones that abused and berated me and my time. my greatest resources for self-love, as they are now, were my loved ones and my then-cracked-yet-unbroken devotion to art. traumatic attachments kept me apart from those things i loved most, but in the process of recovering from a sequence in time in which i felt like i’d lost myself, figured it took recessing back to those works which had so clearly defined attics of my life to that point to regain shards of who i’d been, and define who i would choose to be moving forward. over the next year, i would play final fantasy vii six times to completion, twice with friends, four times on my own. the hanging threads of grief, trauma, self-actualization v. dissociation, lack of direction - these things culminated in a story which more and more i felt whispered answers directly to me, for my consumption alone. it’s in those moments where a bond is made between art and audience where the attachment becomes not just inseparable, but near essential.

final fantasy vii doesn’t hand you answers for the questions you come to it with. there isn’t a resolution to the trauma, there isn’t a solution to the pain or the grief. it is an embrace, and a hold of the hand, and a gentle call; “here is how you live with yourself. here is how you learn to be alive again.” the sociopolitical conflicts, the internal struggles, the budding seeds of affection and fraternity don’t reach a natural apex - they hum in anticipation of a deciding factor which never comes. perpetually trapped within the question, but offering you the means to provide your own answer in life. the final shot of the game isn’t a conclusion meant to be expanded upon. it’s simply a closing of the cover, the final page turned before the index of note paper before being passed to you with the command - “apply yourself. turn this into something that matters.” so i chose to.

and i found myself in midgar again, with new friends and a new outlook.

you come back to the slums of wall market and sector 7 with a new worldview and appreciation each time. there’s a different purpose, when your relationship with this game is as intimate as mine, for coming back here. i know the smog, the street life, the feeling of inescapable, walled-in urban destitution well. you grow up in any city poor enough and you get to know midgar intimately. it’s a familiar setting with a familiar social agency. the seventh heaven crew, they’re all faces i’ve known, fires in bellies i once shared, and now understand in a different light. they’re old friends i knew in my activism years as a teenager, they’re people i looked up to and lost through the years. i’ve lost a lot of people and a lot of faith over time. it might seem like a quick moment to many but the sector 7 tower fight reminds me of people and things that exist only in memories now.

the moment the world opens up and the main theme plays, while unscripted, is one of the most powerful in the game to me. i retain that this title track might be my favorite piece of video game music and such a perfect encapsulation of the game’s philosophy and emotional core. stinging synth strings meet acoustic woodwind and orchestral drones. playful countermelodies give way to massive, bombastic chords in a rocking interplay that rarely fails to inspire, intrigue and invoke. uematsu-sensei, unquestionably at the apex of his mastery here, provides his most timeless score. i think about, am inspired by, and draw from his work here intensely. the artistry pours out from every nook of final fantasy vii - the models, the cutscenes, the background renders, the gameplay systems, the story, the use of diegetic sound, the pacing, the designs - everything came together in a way that somehow evokes equal feelings of nostalgia, futurism, dread, fear, warmth, love, hope, and utter timelessness. streaming and voice-acting this entire game with my close friends was one of the best experiences of my year. hitting each turn with a decently blind audience provided both knowing and loving perspective and the unmitigated rush of first experience - in tandem, a passing of the torch, an unspeakable gift of an unbroken chain shared between loved ones. if final fantasy vii saved my life once before, this was the run which restored its meaning and direction.

i’ve been cloud, i’ve been tifa, i’ve been barret, i’ve been nanaki. i’ve been zack, i’ve been aerith. there are lives lived in the confines of final fantasy vii which i hold as pieces of my own, countless repetitions of those stories with those resolutions my own to meet, different each time. there was something magic about the ability to, a year after that painful strike of all of that anguish, that death, that loss, that fear, sit on the end screen as the series’ endless “prelude” played amongst 32-bit starfields and openly sob for a half hour surrounded by the voices and words of my loved ones. that was the day i learned to live again. it’s more than a game when you know it this intimately. it’s more than an experience when you share these scars. it’s more than art when you hold onto so dearly. there isn’t a classifier for what final fantasy vii means to me other than, “a lot”. sometimes, less is more. i don’t have a conclusion beyond that for you. the experience recalls everyone and everything i've ever loved and lost, and all that i've come to gain and hold dear. goodbye to some, hello to all the rest. true, reading this, it may have been a waste of your time, but i’m glad i was able to share this with someone. i hope this reaches at least one of you on a level you needed today, or maybe it invokes something in you about something you love so dearly. i’m here to tell you - this is how i learned to live again. if you need someone to tell you, today, that you can too, here it is. you aren’t alone. go find those answers for yourself.

please don't step on the flowers on your way.