quinnman89
2020
I think it misses some identity. There is no sackboy mascot to latch onto. "this looks like it was made in dreams" became an insult for awhile. But in the context of a sandbox level creation tool, it's very impressive. Just like in LBP2, I can see the top rated stuff pushing the absolute limits of what the engine can do. Then you have the other side of the coin, where it's just oceans of trash.
The story mode was shockingly decent though! I'm thankful they even put one in.
The story mode was shockingly decent though! I'm thankful they even put one in.
2005
Trailer videos and suda fans will make Killer7 seem pretty cool! Then you play it. It's first impression is a gnarly one. Everything feels stiff, lots of going back and forth to get the fire ring and gate keys, game systems and mechanics are bizarre- as are the cutscenes. Nothing wrong with a little intrigue but this game drowns in confusion.
It's hard to think "Whoa, these Killer7 guys are COOL!!!" when you are reading slow NPC dialog or the awkward in-game cutscenes. Everyone talks like an insane rambler. Sometimes interesting, but mostly boring. Hard to latch on-to what the character is saying when it's just nonsense. It's almost comical but it's not even funny.
The game is just UGLY, I'm sorry. Cell shading should help the game from aging too bad, but it does the opposite I fear. The menus and UI look way better than the stone faced character models.
The element rings. What a boring and needless addition. As you gather more rings, you never need to collect them again. So you'll run into an "Obstacle" that requires a ring you'll already have. By the second half of the game you'll have them all! At that point it's just "press the action button to press a switch" with extra steps. You can either trial and error all the rings if it isn't obvious enough or save yourself some time and use the map.
The map. The map is so good for just telling you what character skill or element ring is the solution for any puzzle. The fact there isn't any "You are here!" indicators on the map tells me that was their way of balancing it. While it turns "puzzles" into mush, the player could use the extra help so I'm still glad it's in.
The blood system is kinda wack. I get the idea, right. Make killing enemies worth a damn else the player just runs through the level as invisible Kevin. But what they came up with are "Character specific environment actions cost blood" "puzzle hints cost blood" "Healing costs blood" "leveling up character stats cost blood" "Combat specials cost blood" "waking up certain personalities requires a minimum kill count to awaken, varying per stage." The game is pretty linear though and enemies respawn frequently. Some levels you don't even need to think about how much blood you have, you're overflowing with it or you'll be looping a few same rooms to get by. It's not the worst thing ever but it just feels unnecessary... certainly wish the game explained it better.
The combat is kinda fun? There's a few enemy types that go beyond "a fun challenge" and go into "annoying as hell just turn invisible and run through them" territory, the biggest offenders are the boss fights. Parry timing is fun to pull off and I'm glad there's infinite ammo. Landing consecutive weakpoint shots feels pretty nice!
This game was rushed to save the gamecube, I get that. grasshopper had a way bigger vision for the game than this. Unfortunately, what we got is just not good.
It's hard to think "Whoa, these Killer7 guys are COOL!!!" when you are reading slow NPC dialog or the awkward in-game cutscenes. Everyone talks like an insane rambler. Sometimes interesting, but mostly boring. Hard to latch on-to what the character is saying when it's just nonsense. It's almost comical but it's not even funny.
The game is just UGLY, I'm sorry. Cell shading should help the game from aging too bad, but it does the opposite I fear. The menus and UI look way better than the stone faced character models.
The element rings. What a boring and needless addition. As you gather more rings, you never need to collect them again. So you'll run into an "Obstacle" that requires a ring you'll already have. By the second half of the game you'll have them all! At that point it's just "press the action button to press a switch" with extra steps. You can either trial and error all the rings if it isn't obvious enough or save yourself some time and use the map.
The map. The map is so good for just telling you what character skill or element ring is the solution for any puzzle. The fact there isn't any "You are here!" indicators on the map tells me that was their way of balancing it. While it turns "puzzles" into mush, the player could use the extra help so I'm still glad it's in.
The blood system is kinda wack. I get the idea, right. Make killing enemies worth a damn else the player just runs through the level as invisible Kevin. But what they came up with are "Character specific environment actions cost blood" "puzzle hints cost blood" "Healing costs blood" "leveling up character stats cost blood" "Combat specials cost blood" "waking up certain personalities requires a minimum kill count to awaken, varying per stage." The game is pretty linear though and enemies respawn frequently. Some levels you don't even need to think about how much blood you have, you're overflowing with it or you'll be looping a few same rooms to get by. It's not the worst thing ever but it just feels unnecessary... certainly wish the game explained it better.
The combat is kinda fun? There's a few enemy types that go beyond "a fun challenge" and go into "annoying as hell just turn invisible and run through them" territory, the biggest offenders are the boss fights. Parry timing is fun to pull off and I'm glad there's infinite ammo. Landing consecutive weakpoint shots feels pretty nice!
This game was rushed to save the gamecube, I get that. grasshopper had a way bigger vision for the game than this. Unfortunately, what we got is just not good.
2021
Why did I stay up late to see the "true ending."
You see everything the game has to throw at you in the first 30 minutes. 1 ending is all it takes. Don't repeat me and my friends' mistake. Don't 100% it- Don't play it.
Spiteful and ugly. You will not come out of this a better person or even a happy person.
You see everything the game has to throw at you in the first 30 minutes. 1 ending is all it takes. Don't repeat me and my friends' mistake. Don't 100% it- Don't play it.
Spiteful and ugly. You will not come out of this a better person or even a happy person.
Waited for the dub patch before playing. Yong did a fine job. The writing in this title is really well done and keeps scenes mostly interesting. Music is decent. Game looks good. Loved the customization and dress-up, even if it was a tad limited.
Ultimately, I found this game to be pretty empty and full of meandering. I don't see myself ever playing it again and will be forgetting everything that wasn't in a marketing trailer within the week.
New "Agent style" is whatever. Giving Joryu a grapple hook wire sounds cool, but it's so lame. It's a crap-shoot if the wire even works. The best tactic for large group fights is to get some drones out to distract while you lay explosive cigs around the arena.
"Yakuza style" is a bit more fun and the charge moves work well enough to combat the constant kneeling and heaving most grunts do. Them hunched over would mean kicks fly right over their head- they are immune to throws as well. Not a fan. The best strat for the little guys is to mash light punch while they're down and tank damage with yakuza-style for the big guys. A certain part of me misses the old style of gameplay. Pop an energy drink, try to see as many unique heat moves as possible. New heat moves in this title are few and far between. Really lacking in that area.
Akane is a pretty neat addition, offering most of the "side content" and adding an additional currency to manage. Though, I gotta say, I did not like a single side-story. The best optional stuff to me was recruiting fighters for the coliseum- but even that side of things got old quick.
If this was a launch title for a new console generation, I could see some merit here. A little taste of what makes this series good in a cheap package. But that's not what we got. What we have is a story that could be summarized in 2 sentences, stretched out to make us feel like it was "worth more." That brings with it all the implied padding as well. I could see players who are new to this franchise liking this a bit more than the die-hards.
Now, why do I dislike this more than ground zeroes?
I think it's because Ground Zeroes was NEW. It was a bold taste of the next generation of metal gear. It was something to be excited for.
I was going to be excited for 8 because 7 was good. Not this mini adventure.
Just watch the cutscenes online if you really wanna know.
(This game also destroyed my entire SSD. The game crashed and caused the entire drive to fail. It's hilarious. I promise that had nothing to do with my score.)
Ultimately, I found this game to be pretty empty and full of meandering. I don't see myself ever playing it again and will be forgetting everything that wasn't in a marketing trailer within the week.
New "Agent style" is whatever. Giving Joryu a grapple hook wire sounds cool, but it's so lame. It's a crap-shoot if the wire even works. The best tactic for large group fights is to get some drones out to distract while you lay explosive cigs around the arena.
"Yakuza style" is a bit more fun and the charge moves work well enough to combat the constant kneeling and heaving most grunts do. Them hunched over would mean kicks fly right over their head- they are immune to throws as well. Not a fan. The best strat for the little guys is to mash light punch while they're down and tank damage with yakuza-style for the big guys. A certain part of me misses the old style of gameplay. Pop an energy drink, try to see as many unique heat moves as possible. New heat moves in this title are few and far between. Really lacking in that area.
Akane is a pretty neat addition, offering most of the "side content" and adding an additional currency to manage. Though, I gotta say, I did not like a single side-story. The best optional stuff to me was recruiting fighters for the coliseum- but even that side of things got old quick.
If this was a launch title for a new console generation, I could see some merit here. A little taste of what makes this series good in a cheap package. But that's not what we got. What we have is a story that could be summarized in 2 sentences, stretched out to make us feel like it was "worth more." That brings with it all the implied padding as well. I could see players who are new to this franchise liking this a bit more than the die-hards.
Now, why do I dislike this more than ground zeroes?
I think it's because Ground Zeroes was NEW. It was a bold taste of the next generation of metal gear. It was something to be excited for.
I was going to be excited for 8 because 7 was good. Not this mini adventure.
Just watch the cutscenes online if you really wanna know.
(This game also destroyed my entire SSD. The game crashed and caused the entire drive to fail. It's hilarious. I promise that had nothing to do with my score.)
2019
You have two types of players. One side loves to play this like Rainbow Six, the others love funny haha banana and ragdolls.
I can be both!
If I start getting tired of one playstyle, I try another route, another gadget. It's got a really nice balance of slow moments and heart pumping stress moments. Pulling off the perfect heist without damaging anyone feels amazing.
Some of the platforming is kinda BS wonky though. Requiring a jump and prone maneuver at almost the same time to squeeze through certain gaps. If you fall from a great height, bam. Game over. So the punishment for getting a tricky jump wrong is sometimes pretty painful and feels a tad unfair.
The game just requires a minimum of 6 players before getting really fun. That's a tall ask, so I don't see playing this one as often as I'd like.
I can be both!
If I start getting tired of one playstyle, I try another route, another gadget. It's got a really nice balance of slow moments and heart pumping stress moments. Pulling off the perfect heist without damaging anyone feels amazing.
Some of the platforming is kinda BS wonky though. Requiring a jump and prone maneuver at almost the same time to squeeze through certain gaps. If you fall from a great height, bam. Game over. So the punishment for getting a tricky jump wrong is sometimes pretty painful and feels a tad unfair.
The game just requires a minimum of 6 players before getting really fun. That's a tall ask, so I don't see playing this one as often as I'd like.
As a fighting game, it's a CERTIFIED BANGER. ALL-TIMER HALL OF FAMER.
As a story mode/golden arena/arcade mode it's a 3.
Even with the recent re-release it still feels a tad behind the times with its training mode/online mode options.
As a story mode/golden arena/arcade mode it's a 3.
Even with the recent re-release it still feels a tad behind the times with its training mode/online mode options.
I think this game gets an unfair wrap.
When asking about it I was told "it's literally a port of the minigame from V3." That's not quite true.
It is truly a sequel. It's pretty interesting that this game exists at all.
V3's development minigame can be described as "play 3 rounds of a generic board game where all you do is roll high, or roll low." The challenge came from getting as many stat improvement squares as possible while still making it back to the starting space before you run out of dice rolls. Then, using the characters you level-up during the board game, go dungeon crawling. The presentation is akin to Mystery Dungeon or classic Dragon Quest with treasure chests and random encounters as you make your way to the stairs. You'd unlock shortcuts via an elevator every 5 or so floors and can return to base at any time. Base heals you to full health so you can leave at any time, heal up, and get back in with no real downside. As long as one of your characters can instantly demolish the competition, it really boiled down to brute force.
Danganronpa S changes quite a few things about the process. We now have a proper setting and story. The development boardgame takes place on Danganronpa 2's Jabberwock island. This results in familiar sights and sounds as you navigate the game board. The board is additionally now fully 3D and way more expansive. It looks pretty decent!
The "dungeon crawling" has been reduced to a linear menu list of fights. No more navigation or exploration. You pick the fight in the list and do combat. Auto, speed 3, aaaaaand the game plays its self. This is a less interesting direction but it does make the "meat" of the game more front-and-center, I suppose.
It's not perfect. Insanely repetitive. You'll see the same scenes and island unlock cutscenes over and over with no option to skip them. (no, fast forwarding dialogue is not the same as skipping.)
Plenty of softlocks and visual glitches.
The story is nothing to write home about.
The microtransactions amount to 1 dollar per item you want. (Weirdly fair price?) Still, the unlock system is a GRIND. It's truly a mindless game after you start unlocking shortcuts.
There is some "skill" involved when it comes to optimal board movement and battle party optimization.
For example, I'll buy a "1 Move" card before tackling a dungeon boss, securing me the treasure that appears right next to the boss space. Otherwise you have a 1/6th chance to roll directly onto it. Missing that chest means wasting a bunch of turns getting OUT of the dungeon. Time is precious, after all. You only get 51 dice rolls. After that, you're done. That character cannot gain more XP or learn new skills.
At the end of the day, anyone can reach the finish line if you are willing to put the time in. If you have an auto-clicker, you'll get far in no time! Grinding materials for battle equipment is the least interactive part of this game, and that makes it the worst part. You really are encouraged to do the same battle over and over till you get the drops you need.
Is that a bad thing? I don't think so. Idler-adjacent games deserve to exist.
I've played my fair share of "idle games" and the danganronpa characters and music really add a lot.
I'm at a spot where I wish this got a sequel just to see them expand on this idea further.
When asking about it I was told "it's literally a port of the minigame from V3." That's not quite true.
It is truly a sequel. It's pretty interesting that this game exists at all.
V3's development minigame can be described as "play 3 rounds of a generic board game where all you do is roll high, or roll low." The challenge came from getting as many stat improvement squares as possible while still making it back to the starting space before you run out of dice rolls. Then, using the characters you level-up during the board game, go dungeon crawling. The presentation is akin to Mystery Dungeon or classic Dragon Quest with treasure chests and random encounters as you make your way to the stairs. You'd unlock shortcuts via an elevator every 5 or so floors and can return to base at any time. Base heals you to full health so you can leave at any time, heal up, and get back in with no real downside. As long as one of your characters can instantly demolish the competition, it really boiled down to brute force.
Danganronpa S changes quite a few things about the process. We now have a proper setting and story. The development boardgame takes place on Danganronpa 2's Jabberwock island. This results in familiar sights and sounds as you navigate the game board. The board is additionally now fully 3D and way more expansive. It looks pretty decent!
The "dungeon crawling" has been reduced to a linear menu list of fights. No more navigation or exploration. You pick the fight in the list and do combat. Auto, speed 3, aaaaaand the game plays its self. This is a less interesting direction but it does make the "meat" of the game more front-and-center, I suppose.
It's not perfect. Insanely repetitive. You'll see the same scenes and island unlock cutscenes over and over with no option to skip them. (no, fast forwarding dialogue is not the same as skipping.)
Plenty of softlocks and visual glitches.
The story is nothing to write home about.
The microtransactions amount to 1 dollar per item you want. (Weirdly fair price?) Still, the unlock system is a GRIND. It's truly a mindless game after you start unlocking shortcuts.
There is some "skill" involved when it comes to optimal board movement and battle party optimization.
For example, I'll buy a "1 Move" card before tackling a dungeon boss, securing me the treasure that appears right next to the boss space. Otherwise you have a 1/6th chance to roll directly onto it. Missing that chest means wasting a bunch of turns getting OUT of the dungeon. Time is precious, after all. You only get 51 dice rolls. After that, you're done. That character cannot gain more XP or learn new skills.
At the end of the day, anyone can reach the finish line if you are willing to put the time in. If you have an auto-clicker, you'll get far in no time! Grinding materials for battle equipment is the least interactive part of this game, and that makes it the worst part. You really are encouraged to do the same battle over and over till you get the drops you need.
Is that a bad thing? I don't think so. Idler-adjacent games deserve to exist.
I've played my fair share of "idle games" and the danganronpa characters and music really add a lot.
I'm at a spot where I wish this got a sequel just to see them expand on this idea further.
This game takes way too long to get interesting, every single character is unlikable. ESPECIALLY compared to the cast of the prior title.
The biggest offender: Boring. I was so bored for a majority of the game.
This goes for the story AND gameplay.
They will explain the bracelets and "BP" and the chromatic doors over and over and over and over. The game will hammer in every little detail over and over. You start getting the gist of how the game works and start questioning why they need to repeat themselves SO MUCH.
You will watch the same hallway walk, the same doors, entering the same elevator CONSTANTLY. There is a total of 1-hour of traversing via the map screen and there is nothing you can do to speed it up. Agonizing.
I'd say the ratio for fun to annoying puzzles is 1:9. Some puzzles were as simple as "write down this text string and then enter it later" or "count how many things are in the bin and enter said number into a keypad."
Others had you doing sliding puzzles or click-one-tile-to-transform-the-tiles-around-it. AKA ones where the game doesn't give you any hint and it's just about doing it via trial and error. Time stuck will vary.
The inventory screen is mid. It gets bloated pretty quick and cycling through stuff is just slow.
The easy mode switch for puzzle rooms goes from "zero help at all" to "flat-out gives you answers to puzzles." The penalty for switching to easy doesn't even make sense. Once you have the secret file safe code, just go back in and enter it again while in "hard mode" (the code doesn't change between difficulties.) Bizarre choice.
The story... No spoilers from me but uh-
I did not really care? There's so many branching paths and """endings"""" that the whole experience blends together into this mush. You will see the same plot points repeated over and over with slight variations being who's with you. and because it's technically "new dialogue" you can't skip it.
The game cheats its audience by having a pretty interesting ending. I can see why there are fans of this title and why this game is currently sitting at 4 stars average. A good ending will leave people happy. I'm sorry. I do not forgive the other 25 hours of SLOP I endured. This game got on my nerves. Never want to revisit this one ever again. ZTD time.
The biggest offender: Boring. I was so bored for a majority of the game.
This goes for the story AND gameplay.
They will explain the bracelets and "BP" and the chromatic doors over and over and over and over. The game will hammer in every little detail over and over. You start getting the gist of how the game works and start questioning why they need to repeat themselves SO MUCH.
You will watch the same hallway walk, the same doors, entering the same elevator CONSTANTLY. There is a total of 1-hour of traversing via the map screen and there is nothing you can do to speed it up. Agonizing.
I'd say the ratio for fun to annoying puzzles is 1:9. Some puzzles were as simple as "write down this text string and then enter it later" or "count how many things are in the bin and enter said number into a keypad."
Others had you doing sliding puzzles or click-one-tile-to-transform-the-tiles-around-it. AKA ones where the game doesn't give you any hint and it's just about doing it via trial and error. Time stuck will vary.
The inventory screen is mid. It gets bloated pretty quick and cycling through stuff is just slow.
The easy mode switch for puzzle rooms goes from "zero help at all" to "flat-out gives you answers to puzzles." The penalty for switching to easy doesn't even make sense. Once you have the secret file safe code, just go back in and enter it again while in "hard mode" (the code doesn't change between difficulties.) Bizarre choice.
The story... No spoilers from me but uh-
I did not really care? There's so many branching paths and """endings"""" that the whole experience blends together into this mush. You will see the same plot points repeated over and over with slight variations being who's with you. and because it's technically "new dialogue" you can't skip it.
The game cheats its audience by having a pretty interesting ending. I can see why there are fans of this title and why this game is currently sitting at 4 stars average. A good ending will leave people happy. I'm sorry. I do not forgive the other 25 hours of SLOP I endured. This game got on my nerves. Never want to revisit this one ever again. ZTD time.
2017
Ugly as sin. Pretty fun, but hard to bring up during the "What should we play" discussion because it is so ugly. I like the simplicity and charming looks of the first game better.
2023
Can't even be a contrarian if I wanted to. Even if you see clips everywhere, it doesn't dampen the fun with friends.
In-game voice chat is used really well and brings a special charm to the "hang out" experience.
Game is all about risk. Some better players will use every trick in the book to fight back the monsters and maximize loot. The less skilled can still help by carrying items and managing the teleporter/monitor at the ship. Sometimes just getting out ALIVE is enough to keep a run going.
Survival is an easy enough concept to grasp, allowing the player to spend less time on learning game rules and more time on unraveling the bizarre world and its rules.
I wish the game allowed for larger player lobbies than just 4 and incorporated a few of the quality-of-life mods out there but I understand it's an early access release. Congrats on the big success and I hope the developers keep the updates coming.
In-game voice chat is used really well and brings a special charm to the "hang out" experience.
Game is all about risk. Some better players will use every trick in the book to fight back the monsters and maximize loot. The less skilled can still help by carrying items and managing the teleporter/monitor at the ship. Sometimes just getting out ALIVE is enough to keep a run going.
Survival is an easy enough concept to grasp, allowing the player to spend less time on learning game rules and more time on unraveling the bizarre world and its rules.
I wish the game allowed for larger player lobbies than just 4 and incorporated a few of the quality-of-life mods out there but I understand it's an early access release. Congrats on the big success and I hope the developers keep the updates coming.
2014
You play AS the smog. This came out at a time where "troy baker is in EVERYTHING."
The moral dilemma, an infamous staple, felt really flaccid and not very believable. A very "do you want the Blue ending or the Red ending?"
It's fine. You could play worse. Or you could just play something better.
The moral dilemma, an infamous staple, felt really flaccid and not very believable. A very "do you want the Blue ending or the Red ending?"
It's fine. You could play worse. Or you could just play something better.
This is one of those "Is this game actually cool?"
I couldn't tell. The demo on PS4 ran poorly and it was exclusive to Epic on PC at launch. So I held off. Years later, when it came to steam, I desperately wanted to play with a friend and Co-op through the entire game. That didn't work out. (After finding out what the gameplay loop was like, I don't think it would've)
Instead what I got was a very confusing mostly single-player guide-game ARPG?
This game is TOUGH. Sadly, I don't believe it to be completely fair without doing some youtube/reddit research on how builds work. That's just the unfortunate truth. There are some synergies that you would NEVER think to try or why it works so well with the stamina/soul gauge/damage output economy.
You can equip two "jobs" at one time and each have their own EXP/Levels and skill tree. Some basic jobs require mastering before unlocking more elite jobs. This is so fun to grind out and try all the different weapon styles. By the end, you'll have completed every single one.
At first I ran with the idea of a "close range attack job and a ranged attacks job" build. Managing your soul gauge and depleting the enemy's, going for finishers, never got old. The game at it's core is fun.
However, you will not be able to beat some of these harder bosses until you exploit the system and learn how builds/lightbringer works. Instead of running two separate combat classes, it is far more optimal to run one job as just a supplement to your actual combat job. Only switching to the secondary job to re-up on buffs to make your other job perform way better. The game doesn't really make this clear AT ALL.
You can rely on the "auto equip" button at first, but as the game goes on you will NEED to understand what each stat/perk means. This also means manually managing the item menu. YEESH. That menu is a mess. The auto dismantle and filtering options that were added in an update help, but I still do not like the way storage space is handled.
It felt like Monster Hunter with the amount of grinding I did to perfect my gear. Unfortunately, with less of a community.
The game can feel a bit lonely at times. Once you reach god-hood, there's little reason to play on lower difficulties and there are SO MANY difficulties. This results in the online feeling sort've empty. During my playthrough, players who join were either way too weak to be helpful or are too strong and did all the work for me. Viewing the equipment of those strong players can help point you towards how builds work though, so it's not all bad. You'll just feel useless for that mission, lol.
By the end I was using The Gambler/Ninja jobs, with the Ninja job just there to give me buffs/max out my mana bar. I'd set up my buffs and just sit in the corner sniping dudes from afar. If I got the final blow before lightbringer runs out, it would refresh the timer on my super form. I would mow down stuff before they could even get near me. Being able to utterly destroy a high level boss in just a few clips feels so nice. You can really feel POWERFUL in this game.
The story is so mid and whatever at first but it weirdly kept me interested. I couldn't tell where the story was going. Did it know it was middling and kind of basic? Then the last third of the game happens and I'm floored. I loved the ending and its post-game so much. Jack is so cool, you guys.
This is a hard one to recommend or even "review." I left this one feeling like I just played Game of the Year- but I can't really suggest this title to other people without a lot of "HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW" and "Have a guide handy." I think it requires a certain level of "nerd" to dig deep into what makes this game special. However, I did nerd it up and find the peak within. So, to me, this game is one of my favorites and deserves top marks.
I couldn't tell. The demo on PS4 ran poorly and it was exclusive to Epic on PC at launch. So I held off. Years later, when it came to steam, I desperately wanted to play with a friend and Co-op through the entire game. That didn't work out. (After finding out what the gameplay loop was like, I don't think it would've)
Instead what I got was a very confusing mostly single-player guide-game ARPG?
This game is TOUGH. Sadly, I don't believe it to be completely fair without doing some youtube/reddit research on how builds work. That's just the unfortunate truth. There are some synergies that you would NEVER think to try or why it works so well with the stamina/soul gauge/damage output economy.
You can equip two "jobs" at one time and each have their own EXP/Levels and skill tree. Some basic jobs require mastering before unlocking more elite jobs. This is so fun to grind out and try all the different weapon styles. By the end, you'll have completed every single one.
At first I ran with the idea of a "close range attack job and a ranged attacks job" build. Managing your soul gauge and depleting the enemy's, going for finishers, never got old. The game at it's core is fun.
However, you will not be able to beat some of these harder bosses until you exploit the system and learn how builds/lightbringer works. Instead of running two separate combat classes, it is far more optimal to run one job as just a supplement to your actual combat job. Only switching to the secondary job to re-up on buffs to make your other job perform way better. The game doesn't really make this clear AT ALL.
You can rely on the "auto equip" button at first, but as the game goes on you will NEED to understand what each stat/perk means. This also means manually managing the item menu. YEESH. That menu is a mess. The auto dismantle and filtering options that were added in an update help, but I still do not like the way storage space is handled.
It felt like Monster Hunter with the amount of grinding I did to perfect my gear. Unfortunately, with less of a community.
The game can feel a bit lonely at times. Once you reach god-hood, there's little reason to play on lower difficulties and there are SO MANY difficulties. This results in the online feeling sort've empty. During my playthrough, players who join were either way too weak to be helpful or are too strong and did all the work for me. Viewing the equipment of those strong players can help point you towards how builds work though, so it's not all bad. You'll just feel useless for that mission, lol.
By the end I was using The Gambler/Ninja jobs, with the Ninja job just there to give me buffs/max out my mana bar. I'd set up my buffs and just sit in the corner sniping dudes from afar. If I got the final blow before lightbringer runs out, it would refresh the timer on my super form. I would mow down stuff before they could even get near me. Being able to utterly destroy a high level boss in just a few clips feels so nice. You can really feel POWERFUL in this game.
The story is so mid and whatever at first but it weirdly kept me interested. I couldn't tell where the story was going. Did it know it was middling and kind of basic? Then the last third of the game happens and I'm floored. I loved the ending and its post-game so much. Jack is so cool, you guys.
This is a hard one to recommend or even "review." I left this one feeling like I just played Game of the Year- but I can't really suggest this title to other people without a lot of "HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW" and "Have a guide handy." I think it requires a certain level of "nerd" to dig deep into what makes this game special. However, I did nerd it up and find the peak within. So, to me, this game is one of my favorites and deserves top marks.
2022
This soundtrack is legendary. Not every cyberspace music track hits, but the ones that do... They all pale in comparison to the Titan boss fight music.
The game feels a tad undercooked and the story is really weak. Freerunning around the map, interacting with the floating rails/platform challenges feels like Sonic. That's when the game is at its best.
The game feels a tad undercooked and the story is really weak. Freerunning around the map, interacting with the floating rails/platform challenges feels like Sonic. That's when the game is at its best.
2023
The entire Persona 4 Arena Ultimax discord server played this for 1 day and had a blast.
Fun ride. Some puzzles bring it down and the quirky rants/story twists range from interesting to boring. Characters are nice and memorable. Didn't hate any of them. That's a blessing in a story like this.
Voice acting in the steam version is fantastic (okay not a fan of Junpei tbh).
I didn't have to use a guide once but I certainly got close a few times. They give you a calculator to use in-game but you can't open it during puzzles...? I think? Useless.
I'm also not really a fan of replaying certain parts to get some true ending, it made certain events blend together and confusing when nearing the end. I wish the different branches were more distinct/interesting. Even when the branches DO feel unique and provide some answers, they feel the need to re-spell it out on the true ending path. I'd prefer if it was just 1 route with player choice being different doors- any bad end resulted in re-doing the last pivotal choice or whatever.
Still, I enjoyed the world of 999 and I am excited to play VLR soon.
Voice acting in the steam version is fantastic (okay not a fan of Junpei tbh).
I didn't have to use a guide once but I certainly got close a few times. They give you a calculator to use in-game but you can't open it during puzzles...? I think? Useless.
I'm also not really a fan of replaying certain parts to get some true ending, it made certain events blend together and confusing when nearing the end. I wish the different branches were more distinct/interesting. Even when the branches DO feel unique and provide some answers, they feel the need to re-spell it out on the true ending path. I'd prefer if it was just 1 route with player choice being different doors- any bad end resulted in re-doing the last pivotal choice or whatever.
Still, I enjoyed the world of 999 and I am excited to play VLR soon.