Girls Frontline is a franchise that has meant a lot to me over the last ~7 years. I distinctly remember the announcement of Codename: Bakery Girl remake in January 2018 and being filled with indescribable excitement at the idea of that game being fully realized. It has been almost 6 years since and I can say with no uncertainty that this game surpassed my expectations and is one of the best games I have ever played.

Reverse Collapse takes the original Codename: Bakery Girl and elevates it to an entirely new level. It is a phenomenal remake that surpasses the original in every regard. Every character, story beat, dialogue, interaction, character sprite, artwork, CG, soundtrack, and map/level design is filled with love and attention. You can feel the passion and love for this franchise oozing through every second of this adventure. It is filled with authentic zeal to tell its story reminiscent of Bakehouse and ambition to deliver an engaging experience reminiscent of Codename: Bakery Girl. It is the best parts of Girls Frontline, Girls Frontline: Neural Cloud, Girls Frontline 2, the original Bakehouse, and Codename: Bakery Girl. It is a love letter not only to this franchise and its original vision but also to the fans who have and continue to dedicate themselves to one of the most ambitious stories told.

It's amazing just how deeply I fell in love with the cast: Mendo, Jefuty, Atena, Jevon, and Carl are all such charismatic characters. I can genuinely say I love them all. Jefuty and Mendo in particular are so phenomenal, presenting such engaging chemistry that you can't help but root for them through each story beat. I thoroughly enjoyed the villains and each twist and turn through the Caucasus Mountain region. I loved all the collectibles referencing older characters or events. I loved all the confidential files that took advantage of Girls Frontline's amazing and intricate world. I cannot stress enough how excited I was seeing certain entries. I loved seeing the culmination of this journey and wish so desperately I could experience it for the first time again.

I could go on and on and on and on about Reverse Collapse but ultimately, Reverse Collapse is a game about love, sacrifice, hope, despair, and unyielding determination. It is about doing right by those you love and choosing the impossible, enduring unending tragedy so those you love can live happily and freely. It is a beautiful story about choice and the consequences of it.

To Yuzhong, to Shaonian, to MICA and its talented devs, to XD and everyone involved in this project thank you for delivering an experience so beautiful it will remain with me for years.

And once more to Yuzhong, and MICA, thank you so much for continually writing stories that resonate with so many people. Thank you for Girls Frontline, Neural Cloud, Reverse Collapse and all the stories you've shared in this beautiful world you've crafted.

Star Ocean: First Departure R is a game that shows its age but despite it conveys an incredibly fun adventure that is reminiscent of pure old-school RPG fun. I was most appreciative of how many hidden tasks there were in this game and just how varied your cast can get by the end depending on your choices. It helps that the game is relatively short, meaning, you can replay it and have a radically different experience each time. I thoroughly enjoyed the cast but felt a particular affinity for Ronyx and Ilia. I felt that the game was at its narrative excellence when it refocused to give us their interpretation of this world. I very distinctly recall the conversation both Ronyx and Ilia had regarding the differences between their belief in the religious, spiritual, and technological and how this clashed with what the people of this world believed. Star Ocean is unique in that each person has their path in life influenced by how and where they grew up as each world is so distinct.

In general, the OST was simple but effective. I felt that the combat was fun though my only two complaints are how fast some mages would fire spells at you and the difficulty in attacking some characters as the positioning system would take my playable character all over the place. I wasn't too bothered by the back-tracking in the second half of the game but did feel that the encounter rate can be a bit overwhelming at times. I enjoyed the specialty system a lot and felt that it added so much nuance to the world as well as the game systems. Symbology is a core part of the world you're exploring and so nurturing various techniques which reflect one's attunement with it felt so appropriate. The feeling of gaining a very useful "quality of life" through leveling different skills/specialties was great. I just wish the game did a better job of explaining it and guiding you through it. I think this particular aspect of the game served its purpose well when it was first released because players would likely share different techniques in person leading to moments such as, "Did you hear? If you level x and y, you get the z specialty which lets you open a shop anywhere on the map!" These moments were seminal for older RPGs and likely had a great impact on players back then. Finally, I would like to bring attention to the art. Enami is one of my favorite artists of all time. She brings each work to life in such a beautiful way and it's no different with Star Ocean. The amount of soul and passion in each character's art is astounding.

Otherwise, it's hard to criticize this game. It's a great pocket of adventure with so much soul. And I must end this review with: Phia and Mavelle are top 1.