melomoki
i genuinely have no idea how a story this awful and poorly constructed was put together by a team of professionals, and then agreed upon for the final product.
2022
This review contains spoilers
Everything about this game just feels so misleading. The title of Soul Hackers 2 would make one think this is a sequel, when it has next to no relation to Soul Hackers. A bright and color cast alongside a cyberpunk world catches your eye at first glance, just for all the main dungeons outside of one to be a boring underground tunnel or railway system (they reused one of these for some reason ???). A somewhat interesting concept just turns into one of the most generic plots you can see coming from a mile away. It's all just very disappointing, as I had interest in this game prior to release. Gameplay wise, it's an absolute slog. I love turn based, but there really is nothing to unique or well put together with this combat. The main gimmick is the stack mechanic and Sabbath ability, which lack any real depth or interesting factors. Hit weaknesses, build up a number, and watch a cutscene where you deal damage at the end of the turn in correlation to said number. That's it really. They try to add abilities and healing within a Sabbath attack, but that doesn't stop it from feeling so unimpactful still. Character wise it falls apart again, having a lackluster cast with extra character bits hidden behind some of the worst optional dungeons you'll ever see (required for the true ending!). You can tell just what kind of character writing they're going for when you see them force a "sad" death for Arrow within the first few hours. This game feels very apparent it was done by the Atlus B team, which just makes this much more frustrating that they'd have a misleading title for the game.
1997
This review contains spoilers
A legendary game that more than earns its reputation. One of the best written stories and cast in gaming, using themes of environmentalism, life and death, search for identity, and acceptance all in creative ways that play off of the gameplay itself. Whether it be lack of control over Cloud in crucial moments to showcase the identity crisis he faces, exploring the subconscious and memories using Tifa, or even showing off Sepiroth's strength through the normal turn based battles, the game uses creative story telling mixed with gameplay brilliantly. As mentioned previously, the cast is fantastic, and avoids issues I feel some JRPGS really suffer from. These characters tie so heavily into the idea of identity and acceptance, and continue doing so even after their main arcs have concluded. While some members like Cait Sith and Cid may have had too little (remake please fix lol), it more than makes up for it with the cast you have in Midgar. They steal the show and leave such lasting impacts on the story and narrative, even through death. Sephiroth is another big character given the role of antagonist, and they absolutely nail it here as well. So much mystery and mystique around him, as they slowly drip feed you the information that leads to only more and more intrigue. He has such a large presence in this game and they handle it perfectly. I love this story and these characters immensely, but that's not the only factor that helps this game stand the test of time. This game is old and some parts have dated, but for its time, and even now, aspects of this game are absolutely insane. A scale that rivals some modern games, immense creativity and fun side content hidden in every single corner, a battle system filled with so much flexibility that lets you go about it in numerous ways, etc. This game covers every basis, which is insane given its a PS1 game. So much more could be dived into regarding this game, as it feels like I've only scratched the surface. Cant wait for rebirth : )))
BOTW was a bit of a disappointment, but I saw so much untapped potential. The idea of islands in the sky and a huge underground to explore, dungeons being teased to return, a fusing system, creating your own vehicles and objects all sounded amazing and I was beyond excited. However, once the game came out and the initial charm wore off after the first few hours, it really felt like the changes hadn't really solved or fixed anything. Sky islands and underground were nothing of note after exploring them initially. They're just empty, with the only real thing to note being shrines or chests with nothing worthwhile in them. Creating an insane balloon car just to finally reach that giant sphere you saw in the distance to be greeted with a shrine only feels like a slap in the face, and it honestly made me want to explore less. It was cool to do some giant maze in the sky, then going to the underground for some reward the first time. Fourth time however? Loses its charm. The game relies so much on exploration given the combat being nothing special, but then do so many things that make me not want to explore. The further I went in, the more I just wanted to be done with the game. Dungeons were something people were begging for after the Divine Beasts. The result? A reskinned Divine Beast with the label of dungeon slapped on it. Hell, some of these are even worse. The water dungeon here is laughable. Getting to the dungeons shouldn't be more fun than the dungeons themselves. The thing that's the heart of the Zelda series for a second straight game is just absent. New gameplay mechanics are fine, ultrahand is a technical marvel, but they just can't carry a game with these many issues. It all boils down to, once again, feeling repetitive. An issue this game greatly suffers from due to opting to going open world. Open world is a very tough thing to nail, with few getting it right, and sadly I'm just not a fan of Zelda's approach to it. I can understand the love this game gets and why people are big over it, it's just not for me.
Replayed this since rebirth is coming out soon, and it's still fantastic. One of the most immersive experiences, with each mission feel so dynamic to see unfold. Character writing is brilliant too. They do an outstanding job of making these characters full of life with such intricate dynamics between them all, only setting up future parts to add to this. Gameplay has so much depth and is a blast once you get much deeper into it against some of the larger scaled bosses. The side quests are super satisfying as well, along with the numerous minigames. Some RPGS struggle to make captivating side quests, having them be underwhelming fetch quests or what not, but it's not the case here. Despite just being Midgar, they elevate the source material to such a high degree, all while adding their own flair to it. Loved the story, and very interested to see where they go with it. Only critiques would be very minor QoL changes, but outside of that, great game that I recommend any to play.