saihara
212 Reviews liked by saihara
Dib's Nanochase
2001
I got one of my races where I totally smoked my opponent televised on Nick and I’ve been chasing that gaming high ever since
Boku no Natsuyasumi
2000
don't let my 'completed' on this fool you: i'm never wrapping this game up and i'm never seeing the ending. i don't know how this ends, and i don't want to. in my world, boku's going to get that ultimate wish and live out a truly endless summer as long as i have a say in it. he's going to draw pictures and catch bugs and sit on logs and explore the sunflower fields for as long as his little heart can take it, until his smile sticks on his face for good.
ozu's 'good morning' and home movies of the summer of your first kiss, wrapped in a deep embrace in a sleeping bag surrounded by the buzzing of the august cicadas. this is one of the games i started learning japanese with the hopes of playing and now that i'm here, i can say it was worth all that work. this is the grateful dead's 'ripple' of video games - one of the few genuinely perfect, genuinely, overabundantly loving and tender experiences in its medium. truly in the league of katamari damacy and earthbound in that regard. just dear... just precious.
ozu's 'good morning' and home movies of the summer of your first kiss, wrapped in a deep embrace in a sleeping bag surrounded by the buzzing of the august cicadas. this is one of the games i started learning japanese with the hopes of playing and now that i'm here, i can say it was worth all that work. this is the grateful dead's 'ripple' of video games - one of the few genuinely perfect, genuinely, overabundantly loving and tender experiences in its medium. truly in the league of katamari damacy and earthbound in that regard. just dear... just precious.
Rapid fire thoughts
- Bosses are as fun and creative as ever, with some of them doing some really tricky maneuvers like messing with the screen orientation. My favorite of the bunch was the dogfighting one.
- Though they did feel like there was a bit less to them, might be due to most of them having less phases than the late bosses of the main game
- I equipped the crackshot in my second slot and never looked back, this was really handy at making the chaser obsolete
- Hard pass on playing as Miss Chalice, not a big fan of characters that are as much of an upgrade in abilities as she is and I found it more enjoyable with the basic setup of Cuphead. Same kind of situation as Toadette in the NSMBU rerelease.
- Found the challenges for coins that focus on parrying pretty interesting, especially as a sort of replacement for the Run & Gun segments. They got pretty creative with the ways you use it. The horse one sucks tho.
- That new title screen theme is a banger
- Bosses are as fun and creative as ever, with some of them doing some really tricky maneuvers like messing with the screen orientation. My favorite of the bunch was the dogfighting one.
- Though they did feel like there was a bit less to them, might be due to most of them having less phases than the late bosses of the main game
- I equipped the crackshot in my second slot and never looked back, this was really handy at making the chaser obsolete
- Hard pass on playing as Miss Chalice, not a big fan of characters that are as much of an upgrade in abilities as she is and I found it more enjoyable with the basic setup of Cuphead. Same kind of situation as Toadette in the NSMBU rerelease.
- Found the challenges for coins that focus on parrying pretty interesting, especially as a sort of replacement for the Run & Gun segments. They got pretty creative with the ways you use it. The horse one sucks tho.
- That new title screen theme is a banger
Elden Ring
2022
This review contains spoilers
Tbh I've never been a "lore" guy when it comes to Soulsborne games, I'd read some item descriptions and I've watched Dark Souls and Bloodborne analysis videos but the narrative hooks for them never really grabbed me beyond a superficial level, I understood them as the backdrop for interesting fights and environments, afforded cohesion by just enough narrative/thematic tissue that a throughline could be followed, and that was of interest enough for me.
In contrast, by the end of the first intro cinematic of Elden Ring I was hooked, instilled with the same level of fascination as when I'd pore over books about the Crusades or the War of the Roses as a teenager, or when playing FF Tactics. That this contains the strongest character writing in the series only lends weight to the relationships between characters, enhancing the narrative scope to where it matches the vastness of its physical world. No game since Morrowind has felt this big, so stuffed with intrigue, so dedicated to conveying the feeling of going on a real journey.
It baffles me how anyone could make any kind of complaint about the "nothingness" between points of interest when the navigation of geography plays such an important component in the overall experience. Instead of being composed of vast flatlands and hills like, say, Skyrim, where traversal is rarely a matter of forethought, the verticality of Elden Ring's landscapes means that getting to your destination is always fun in and of itself, and of course Torrent's ability to double-jump adds to this (even if the mechanic can feel weirdly unresponsive at points). Equally baffling is some people's assertions that Breath of the Wild's range of interactions in regards to its open-world is greater than Elden Ring's, which is a totally laughable statement. In comparison to the actually copy-pasted shrines and functionally similar dungeons of Breath of the Wild, Elden Ring's dungeons past the Limgrave area make a consistent effort to keep things interesting, adding various gimmicks such as having to progress through finding hidden walls, teleporting chests, light-based puzzles, those bullshit chariots, manipulating fire-spewing pillars to reach certain sections (and which also tie into the light puzzles), etc.
To say there aren't any repetitious elements in Elden Ring would itself be inaccurate (i.e Erdtree Avatars, some dungeon bosses, various dungeon layouts), but frankly Elden Ring's combat system is so engaging and brimming with so many options in terms of tackling them that I almost never experienced fatigue when combating them. And even then, most of the bosses that are re-used add an additional obstacle that forces the player to re-think or adjust their tactics (a fight with two Stone Watchdogs adds several gargoyles that have to be dispatched during, for example). Now a valid complaint in regards to some of these fights is that they feel like they were ripped straight out of Dark Souls II, with bizarre hit-boxes and the over-arching philosophy of "difficulty means throwing more enemies at the player" guiding them (and no wonder when DS2's director Yui Tanimura worked as co-director on this). By the end of the game, however, these types of fights simply become more annoyances than anything, and are spaced out enough to where I don't feel they largely detract from the overall experience (and ultimately this is not a game for completionists, every dungeon is not meant to be explored imo).
To go back to the absurd point regarding the "nothingness" of Elden Ring's world design, what this game does in a superior fashion to its predecessors is creating what feels like a cohesive ecosystem, in regards to not only the landscape but also the relations between characters. In Dark Souls, for example, while the inter-connectedness of its world remains impressive, its levels ultimately still feel disconnected from each other, i.e Blightown is the swamp level, Sen's Fortress is the dungeon level, Undead Burg is the abandoned town level, etc. There's very little overlap between these spaces, and their functionality within the space of the world of Dark Souls is centralized only within that specific area. This relates to the characters as well; outside of the intro cinematic, we don't get a sense of the relation between Gravelord Nito and Seath the Scaleless, they are merely Big Bads that must be dealt with. Of course, Dark Souls didn't need to do more than this, it works because it's the best kind of simplified, dark fantasy action-adventure, operating in the same vein of various level-centric NES/SNES titles with a bit of D&D thrown into the mix.
In Elden Ring, as you learn more about the demi-god opponents you must face, you find out that Melania is the reason for why Caelid is a scarlet-rot ridden biohazard of an area, and is responsible for Starscourge Radhan's madness after basically detonating a nuke upon the area. Raya Lucaria is the birthplace of glintstone sorcery but these practices created conflict with those that performed the divinities of the Erdtree, which then ties into the mysteries surrounding Renalla and Radagon's relationship, and his subsequent leaving of her for Queen Marika. The Erdtree itself, the towering goal-post which the player strives to reach for most of the game, forms the anchor by which all the other landscapes work in relation to, and forms the baseline for the ideologies of several competing factions, including Volcano Manor, whom Praetor Rykard's blasphemy was enacted in opposition to. All the central locations and characters in Elden Ring create a web of conflicting motivations which then influenced the underlying motivations for smaller characters such as Patches, Diallos, Ranni, Melina, etc. Bloodborne did this kind of interwoven tapestry style of writing to an extent (and though I have not played Sekiro I hear it does it as well), but never before in a FromSoft game have I been so emotionally invested in the conflicts of its characters and their desires/worldviews, instilling in me a desire to truly pore over item descriptions and formulate my own interpretations of narrative elements from them. Ranni's questline in particular is the most moving, Blaidd and Iji are some of my favorite side-characters in any FromSoft game, so subtly rendered and memorable. I rarely went out of my way to finish most of the character questlines in previous Soulsborne games, but here I actively wished to see all the ones I came across to completion (for story reasons and because the rewards were so enticing).
In terms of design, I think multiple valid complaints can be lobbed against Elden Ring: horse combat is generally very wonky and I found it sometimes inconsistent in terms of hit detection and Torrent's own usability (I believe it's some kind of coding error where Torrent does not regenerate health if they get injured, then you die and respawn at a site of grace, leading to multiple instances of them dying with the first large hit they receive from an opponent you've been battling). Mountaintops of the Giants is easily the weakest area in the game, particularly the Consecrated Snowfield which is deeply uninteresting except for one or two sections, and really only serves as a connecting area to the Haligtree, which is in terms of design a deeply fucked area as well. Feels like little forethought was done in terms of enemy placement or pacing, every enemy beyond the soldier grunts have massive HP pools and form gank squads together; tbh once you get to the Giant's area and the Haligtree you get to the point where you're no longer looking to peek around every corner discover what's out there, you're rushing to the next boss to get through everything as quickly as possible. It's odd that several bosses feel like they outright encourage you to use summons, but at the same time don't feel properly balanced with/without them. The final boss in particular is baffling in how the first section is a fun fight that, unless you play perfectly, is very draining on your resources and then immediately throws you into yet another resource-draining fight upon its completion. It almost feels like you're required to use summons to get through the final fight, but once you do then it's just a cheese with melee and Comet Azure (spellswords still remain a goat character build). The one-time re-use of Astel, Naturalborn of the Void was the one time I was genuinely shocked at recycled content, it's out of left-field in that it feels so dissonant with the area it's contained in and is a boss that only works in relation to Ranni's questline, it's the only re-use that feels totally lazy and not fun. Another thing is that I don't feel any of the endings are particularly satisfying; while Ranni's is by far the best, none of them feel as satisfying as perhaps they should (compared with both Demon's/Dark Souls and Bloodborne which retain an enigmatic quality but feel like proper conclusions). Most endings just feel rushed, despite their gorgeous direction (and the quality of the cinematics is something I forgot to touch on, perhaps at a later time).
Even so, after 157 hours with my first playthrough I felt an intense desire to jump back in with a new character and go through it all again. I genuinely think this sets a new standard for the genre (especially in the ways it really captures a tabletop-esque gaming experience, something I may go into at another time), and while I hope FromSoft does something different for its next title (after this I could only see them going through a process of refinement and not a lot of design progression), I feel the team has really hit their stride; right now I don't see much contest for what I'd pick for Game of the Year.
In contrast, by the end of the first intro cinematic of Elden Ring I was hooked, instilled with the same level of fascination as when I'd pore over books about the Crusades or the War of the Roses as a teenager, or when playing FF Tactics. That this contains the strongest character writing in the series only lends weight to the relationships between characters, enhancing the narrative scope to where it matches the vastness of its physical world. No game since Morrowind has felt this big, so stuffed with intrigue, so dedicated to conveying the feeling of going on a real journey.
It baffles me how anyone could make any kind of complaint about the "nothingness" between points of interest when the navigation of geography plays such an important component in the overall experience. Instead of being composed of vast flatlands and hills like, say, Skyrim, where traversal is rarely a matter of forethought, the verticality of Elden Ring's landscapes means that getting to your destination is always fun in and of itself, and of course Torrent's ability to double-jump adds to this (even if the mechanic can feel weirdly unresponsive at points). Equally baffling is some people's assertions that Breath of the Wild's range of interactions in regards to its open-world is greater than Elden Ring's, which is a totally laughable statement. In comparison to the actually copy-pasted shrines and functionally similar dungeons of Breath of the Wild, Elden Ring's dungeons past the Limgrave area make a consistent effort to keep things interesting, adding various gimmicks such as having to progress through finding hidden walls, teleporting chests, light-based puzzles, those bullshit chariots, manipulating fire-spewing pillars to reach certain sections (and which also tie into the light puzzles), etc.
To say there aren't any repetitious elements in Elden Ring would itself be inaccurate (i.e Erdtree Avatars, some dungeon bosses, various dungeon layouts), but frankly Elden Ring's combat system is so engaging and brimming with so many options in terms of tackling them that I almost never experienced fatigue when combating them. And even then, most of the bosses that are re-used add an additional obstacle that forces the player to re-think or adjust their tactics (a fight with two Stone Watchdogs adds several gargoyles that have to be dispatched during, for example). Now a valid complaint in regards to some of these fights is that they feel like they were ripped straight out of Dark Souls II, with bizarre hit-boxes and the over-arching philosophy of "difficulty means throwing more enemies at the player" guiding them (and no wonder when DS2's director Yui Tanimura worked as co-director on this). By the end of the game, however, these types of fights simply become more annoyances than anything, and are spaced out enough to where I don't feel they largely detract from the overall experience (and ultimately this is not a game for completionists, every dungeon is not meant to be explored imo).
To go back to the absurd point regarding the "nothingness" of Elden Ring's world design, what this game does in a superior fashion to its predecessors is creating what feels like a cohesive ecosystem, in regards to not only the landscape but also the relations between characters. In Dark Souls, for example, while the inter-connectedness of its world remains impressive, its levels ultimately still feel disconnected from each other, i.e Blightown is the swamp level, Sen's Fortress is the dungeon level, Undead Burg is the abandoned town level, etc. There's very little overlap between these spaces, and their functionality within the space of the world of Dark Souls is centralized only within that specific area. This relates to the characters as well; outside of the intro cinematic, we don't get a sense of the relation between Gravelord Nito and Seath the Scaleless, they are merely Big Bads that must be dealt with. Of course, Dark Souls didn't need to do more than this, it works because it's the best kind of simplified, dark fantasy action-adventure, operating in the same vein of various level-centric NES/SNES titles with a bit of D&D thrown into the mix.
In Elden Ring, as you learn more about the demi-god opponents you must face, you find out that Melania is the reason for why Caelid is a scarlet-rot ridden biohazard of an area, and is responsible for Starscourge Radhan's madness after basically detonating a nuke upon the area. Raya Lucaria is the birthplace of glintstone sorcery but these practices created conflict with those that performed the divinities of the Erdtree, which then ties into the mysteries surrounding Renalla and Radagon's relationship, and his subsequent leaving of her for Queen Marika. The Erdtree itself, the towering goal-post which the player strives to reach for most of the game, forms the anchor by which all the other landscapes work in relation to, and forms the baseline for the ideologies of several competing factions, including Volcano Manor, whom Praetor Rykard's blasphemy was enacted in opposition to. All the central locations and characters in Elden Ring create a web of conflicting motivations which then influenced the underlying motivations for smaller characters such as Patches, Diallos, Ranni, Melina, etc. Bloodborne did this kind of interwoven tapestry style of writing to an extent (and though I have not played Sekiro I hear it does it as well), but never before in a FromSoft game have I been so emotionally invested in the conflicts of its characters and their desires/worldviews, instilling in me a desire to truly pore over item descriptions and formulate my own interpretations of narrative elements from them. Ranni's questline in particular is the most moving, Blaidd and Iji are some of my favorite side-characters in any FromSoft game, so subtly rendered and memorable. I rarely went out of my way to finish most of the character questlines in previous Soulsborne games, but here I actively wished to see all the ones I came across to completion (for story reasons and because the rewards were so enticing).
In terms of design, I think multiple valid complaints can be lobbed against Elden Ring: horse combat is generally very wonky and I found it sometimes inconsistent in terms of hit detection and Torrent's own usability (I believe it's some kind of coding error where Torrent does not regenerate health if they get injured, then you die and respawn at a site of grace, leading to multiple instances of them dying with the first large hit they receive from an opponent you've been battling). Mountaintops of the Giants is easily the weakest area in the game, particularly the Consecrated Snowfield which is deeply uninteresting except for one or two sections, and really only serves as a connecting area to the Haligtree, which is in terms of design a deeply fucked area as well. Feels like little forethought was done in terms of enemy placement or pacing, every enemy beyond the soldier grunts have massive HP pools and form gank squads together; tbh once you get to the Giant's area and the Haligtree you get to the point where you're no longer looking to peek around every corner discover what's out there, you're rushing to the next boss to get through everything as quickly as possible. It's odd that several bosses feel like they outright encourage you to use summons, but at the same time don't feel properly balanced with/without them. The final boss in particular is baffling in how the first section is a fun fight that, unless you play perfectly, is very draining on your resources and then immediately throws you into yet another resource-draining fight upon its completion. It almost feels like you're required to use summons to get through the final fight, but once you do then it's just a cheese with melee and Comet Azure (spellswords still remain a goat character build). The one-time re-use of Astel, Naturalborn of the Void was the one time I was genuinely shocked at recycled content, it's out of left-field in that it feels so dissonant with the area it's contained in and is a boss that only works in relation to Ranni's questline, it's the only re-use that feels totally lazy and not fun. Another thing is that I don't feel any of the endings are particularly satisfying; while Ranni's is by far the best, none of them feel as satisfying as perhaps they should (compared with both Demon's/Dark Souls and Bloodborne which retain an enigmatic quality but feel like proper conclusions). Most endings just feel rushed, despite their gorgeous direction (and the quality of the cinematics is something I forgot to touch on, perhaps at a later time).
Even so, after 157 hours with my first playthrough I felt an intense desire to jump back in with a new character and go through it all again. I genuinely think this sets a new standard for the genre (especially in the ways it really captures a tabletop-esque gaming experience, something I may go into at another time), and while I hope FromSoft does something different for its next title (after this I could only see them going through a process of refinement and not a lot of design progression), I feel the team has really hit their stride; right now I don't see much contest for what I'd pick for Game of the Year.
Live A Live
2022
This review contains spoilers
Genuinely one of the finest, most unique, and simply spectacular JRPGs I have ever played. Live A Live feels so incredibly ahead of its time in story, scope, and even how it tackles gameplay tropes from the 90s. Every chapter, while varying in overall quality, feels wholly unique in its presentation, scope, story, and gameplay.
Before I go into my thoughts on each individual chapter, here's some more general thoughts on the more consistent elements in Live A Live. The biggest similarity that all the chapters have is the combat. Combat is a bit different than what you see in most JRPGs from this era. Everything is played out on a grid, where the player will have to move around and get the right spacing for their turn. Everyone, including enemies, have a timer for when they can use their moves. Think of it like the ATB system from older Final Fantasy games. Timers progress through player movements and moves, as well as the enemy's moves and movements. Its a very simple, yet satisfying system that rewards experimentation.
The game is also stunning graphically. This HD-2D style is like crack for me, I just want more and more of it. The environments are beautifully done here, as are the redone character sprites for both the main characters and enemies. Music is also masterpiece quality from the legendary Yoko Shimomura, one of my personal favorite composers. Everything here looks and sounds beautiful, even on a weaker hardware system like the Switch.
Now to move forward into my thoughts on the specific chapters, as they all take place during different time periods, and act as a sort of anthology of stories all centering around the main villain of the game. I'll be going in the order that I played them in, which was actually chronologically (until I unlocked the two hidden chapters, of course):
Prehistoric Era: This was mostly a meh chapter for me, and honestly wasn't the best to start out on in terms of seeing this game's overall quality. I did love the setting of this chapter a lot. Having an RPG set in the caveman era is such an intriguing idea. This chapter did show off the HD-2D style really well with its environments and creatures. However, the story itself is rather basic and shallow. The narrative gimmick here is that there is no dialogue, you infer what's happening and what characters are saying/thinking through their grunts and body movements. While this was interesting, some of the noises got a bit annoying. While I loved Pogo's gameplay (especially in the final chapter), I just couldn't get invested in him as a character. And the ending? God, it was laughable and honestly borderline creepy, since I was certain that Pogo was just a kid and his love interest...isn't. The gameplay gimmick of having to sniff out items and enemies was a bit strange too. I think its clever for finding hidden items to use and craft with, but having to find enemies this way was bothersome as you try to level up and gain more moves. This chapter isn't bad by any means, but definitely the weakest one imo. I do appreciate the risks it took both gameplay wise and narratively, but it just missed the mark. 6/10.
Imperial China: I really loved the setup for this chapter. Being an aging kung-fu master and having to pick and train a disciple is so cool and interesting. I loved all 3 of the disciples that you get to choose from. I ended up picking Lei due to her speed, but I also just wanted a female protag and she's the only opportunity for one. The story with the rivaling kung-fu school was a little weak though. While I loved the run up to the final boss, I hated the random gauntlet of enemies that were thrown at you right as you get there. Story wise, the pacing is really good, but gameplay wise, definitely takes a nose dive at the end. Still, this was a solid chapter that left a much better taste in my mouth than the Prehistoric chapter did. All the characters were likeable, it had a satisfying conclusion, and it felt like you really had influence over what happens with your disciples. 7.5/10
Twilight of Edo Japan: This is where the game really took off for me. This story consists of one, giant, Metroidvania-esc level where you play as a shinobi infiltrating an enemy castle. The game gives you a lot of freedom to go where you want and tackle the mission the way you want. Want to slaughter everyone and everything inside? Go for it, there's 100 people to find and kill. Want to go in without taking a single (human) life? That's also entirely possible, although very easy to mess up. There's even a secret boss here to tackle if you so choose. There's lots of rewards for going the extra mile of slaughter or pacifism. Though the game does show a bit of its age in this chapter as well. It is easy to go down a path that will ruin a pacifist run due to the player simply not knowing that a certain room will force them into engaging into a fight. For a player who isn't going for that run or simply doesn't care, its not a big deal, but it can be frustrating at times. Pacifist runs also force you to farm demon enemies in order to gain levels for the final boss, which can be a bit bothersome. Still, its rare to find an RPG, especially one from the 90s, that gives you this level of freedom in how you tackle the mission at hand. This chapter is probably the most visually beautiful as well, as many have mentioned. It is the best chapter up to this point for sure, even with its age and faults. 8/10.
Wild West: This chapter just rocks. It nails pretty much everything you'd want in a Western: badass protagonist, a rival-turned-friend, a gang of evil ruffians, and atmosphere up the wazoo. This chapter is just so satisfying to complete. After a great opening segment, the player is tasked with finding items to use as traps against a gang who is fast approaching. With the help of the local townsfolk, you and your rival reluctantly team up to find and set traps before sunrise. Once you complete this, the sun comes up, and the gang begins to invade, you get to watch all of your traps in action. It is so damn satisfying to see how well you did setting the traps, with gang members being decimated by all of your hard work. Its thrilling, and genuinely satisfying to see. This chapter is pretty short, but absolutely fantastic. This was the point where I truly started to fall in love with this game. 8.5/10.
Present Day: If prehistoric wasn't as "meh" as it was, this would be my least favorite chapter in the game. It does have some cool stuff going for it, though. For starters, I absolutely love the Street Fighter II style that this chapter goes for. The protag here is basically a Ryu clone, and they really don't try to hide it. This chapter essentially operates like a boss rush. There's five bosses that you can tackle in any order. You can also revisit fights before defeating the last foe. The big gimmick here is having the bosses use some of their moves on you so that you can copy them and use them as well. This was a good concept, but it can be pretty frustrating as it all relies on RNG. Also, the player does not know how these moves operate in terms of where on the grid they can hit. This can leave the player moving all around, trying to guess where they can be hit by the boss's move(s). After beating the last of the 5 bosses, you get to fight the final boss with all of the moves you learned. There isn't much story here other than the generic "I want to be the strongest person ever." I liked that the chapter basically spoofed Street Fighter, and I'm sure it was especially poignant at the time, but it just didn't really land for me. This felt like a case of either not enough development time or lack of resources for this chapter, making it a very underwhelming experience overall. 6.5/10.
Near Future: If you are really big into anime, this chapter will most likely be one of, if not, your favorite. I really enjoyed this chapter and its play on anime tropes. You got a psychic-powered orphan (named Akira, no less), a robot turtle companion, evil corporations, a demon god, and a very melodramatic story about gangs, psychic powers, and family. This isn't a knock on the chapter by the way, I actually liked it quite a lot. This chapter probably feels the most 90s JRPG out of them all with its setting and tropes. But its also very heartwarming and entertaining. Akira is a great protagonist, and his supporting cast is well written and likeable. I genuinely cared for the characters. The plot is also pretty good, though it can be a little confusing at times. The different twists and turns the story goes in are genuinely interesting and well thought out. And being able to control and play as a giant mech to kill a god was so damn cool and satisfying. While I can't say its my personal favorite chapter, I can see why many consider it to be one of the best. 8.5/10.
Distant Future: This may be a controversial opinion, but this was my favorite of the main 7 chapters that start out the game. While it is extremely light on combat (only 1 required fight, the rest optional through an arcade game), the atmosphere and writing are unmatched when compared to the previous 6 chapters of the game. While Cube isn't exactly talkative by any means, the supporting cast is incredibly interesting. Their relationships are much deeper than they appear on the surface. The dialogue is superbly written, and the voice acting is really well done too. The monster that chases you is also threatening as hell, and actually made me jump a few times. There's hardly any music in this chapter, and I really loved that. The game just lets the atmosphere and sound effects draw you in and immerse you. This, in turn, makes the moment you hear the iconic Odio boss fight music kick in that much harder. It really feels like one of those pixel horror games, or a horror VN, and I loved it for that. It isn't everyone's cup of tea, I know. But I think the Distant Future chapter is truly special. 9/10.
The Middle Ages: The first of the unlockable chapters is the middle ages. Many have commented on how it brings more traditional JRPG tropes to the table: the setting, a mute protag, random encounters, building a party of stereotypical JRPG roles, and its premise being a story thats been told a thousand times. Yet, this is simply the best chapter in the game. This is due to two major factors: the plot, and the dialogue. The gameplay is the same excellent gameplay as I have described already, but the writing elevates this section so much. Dialogue is written like a medieval poem. It may be hard for some to understand at times (it was for me on occasion for sure) but its beautifully written. It really sets it apart from other JRPGs set in a medieval era that either have normal sounding dialogue or try too hard to have the language of back then. The plot is also marvelous. The twists and turns that this chapter contains is stunning. In particular, the ending where Oersted (the protag) actually speaks and decides to become Odio, The Lord of Darkness, gave me goosebumps. The music swelled as this hero became a villain. While on the surface, Oersted seems like a generic protagonist, you learn so much from his supporting players about his true nature. Why is he doing what he's doing? Why did he betray his friend? It's very subtle, but the game is able to build up his character through the plot and his actions so well. The only issue I really had here was some of the gameplay pacing. The game makes you revisit locations and go through them all over again several times, which did start to grate on me a bit. But I hardly cared since the quality of the chapter was so damn great. An absolutely fantastic prologue to the end. 9.5/10.
The Finale: This felt so much like an Avengers moment. All of our protags from the previous chapters are brought to Oersted's domain. Here, after picking your main character for the chapter, you build up a team, go through dungeons, and finally learn the truth of Odio, Oersted, and get everyone back to their timelines. While this chapter's satisfaction is up to the player and how much time they're willing to spend finding the other protags, building a team, and going through dungeons for their best weapons, it is still an incredibly satisfying conclusion to the game. The game's themes of letting nihilism control you and using hope as your weapon come to a head as the various protagonists meet and fight side-by-side. You can even choose to play as Oersted and kill all of the other protags. Though this ending is not very satisfying and doesn't highlight the game's central messages nearly as much. It is honestly difficult to describe this chapter in full detail without going too spoilery, but just know that the conclusion is fantastic and highlights everything both narratively and gameplay wise that you have come to know and love about this game. 9/10.
With all those thoughts, I want to come back around and just express how unique of an experience Live A Live is. There is truly nothing else like it (Octopath tried, but isn't nearly the same). It feels so incredibly ahead of its time and was a blast to play from start to end. Sure, some chapters are better than others. But the overall package is stellar and satisfying from all angles. I very highly recommend that you try the game out for yourself. There's a demo on the EShop, so you don't even have to risk buying the game first. An absolutely incredible experience that I am sure will become one of my all time favorites with time.
And finally, here is how I would rank the chapters from favorite to least favorite:
Middle Ages
Finale
Distant Future
Wild West
Near Future
Twilight of Edo Japan
Imperial China
Present Day
Prehistoric Era
Before I go into my thoughts on each individual chapter, here's some more general thoughts on the more consistent elements in Live A Live. The biggest similarity that all the chapters have is the combat. Combat is a bit different than what you see in most JRPGs from this era. Everything is played out on a grid, where the player will have to move around and get the right spacing for their turn. Everyone, including enemies, have a timer for when they can use their moves. Think of it like the ATB system from older Final Fantasy games. Timers progress through player movements and moves, as well as the enemy's moves and movements. Its a very simple, yet satisfying system that rewards experimentation.
The game is also stunning graphically. This HD-2D style is like crack for me, I just want more and more of it. The environments are beautifully done here, as are the redone character sprites for both the main characters and enemies. Music is also masterpiece quality from the legendary Yoko Shimomura, one of my personal favorite composers. Everything here looks and sounds beautiful, even on a weaker hardware system like the Switch.
Now to move forward into my thoughts on the specific chapters, as they all take place during different time periods, and act as a sort of anthology of stories all centering around the main villain of the game. I'll be going in the order that I played them in, which was actually chronologically (until I unlocked the two hidden chapters, of course):
Prehistoric Era: This was mostly a meh chapter for me, and honestly wasn't the best to start out on in terms of seeing this game's overall quality. I did love the setting of this chapter a lot. Having an RPG set in the caveman era is such an intriguing idea. This chapter did show off the HD-2D style really well with its environments and creatures. However, the story itself is rather basic and shallow. The narrative gimmick here is that there is no dialogue, you infer what's happening and what characters are saying/thinking through their grunts and body movements. While this was interesting, some of the noises got a bit annoying. While I loved Pogo's gameplay (especially in the final chapter), I just couldn't get invested in him as a character. And the ending? God, it was laughable and honestly borderline creepy, since I was certain that Pogo was just a kid and his love interest...isn't. The gameplay gimmick of having to sniff out items and enemies was a bit strange too. I think its clever for finding hidden items to use and craft with, but having to find enemies this way was bothersome as you try to level up and gain more moves. This chapter isn't bad by any means, but definitely the weakest one imo. I do appreciate the risks it took both gameplay wise and narratively, but it just missed the mark. 6/10.
Imperial China: I really loved the setup for this chapter. Being an aging kung-fu master and having to pick and train a disciple is so cool and interesting. I loved all 3 of the disciples that you get to choose from. I ended up picking Lei due to her speed, but I also just wanted a female protag and she's the only opportunity for one. The story with the rivaling kung-fu school was a little weak though. While I loved the run up to the final boss, I hated the random gauntlet of enemies that were thrown at you right as you get there. Story wise, the pacing is really good, but gameplay wise, definitely takes a nose dive at the end. Still, this was a solid chapter that left a much better taste in my mouth than the Prehistoric chapter did. All the characters were likeable, it had a satisfying conclusion, and it felt like you really had influence over what happens with your disciples. 7.5/10
Twilight of Edo Japan: This is where the game really took off for me. This story consists of one, giant, Metroidvania-esc level where you play as a shinobi infiltrating an enemy castle. The game gives you a lot of freedom to go where you want and tackle the mission the way you want. Want to slaughter everyone and everything inside? Go for it, there's 100 people to find and kill. Want to go in without taking a single (human) life? That's also entirely possible, although very easy to mess up. There's even a secret boss here to tackle if you so choose. There's lots of rewards for going the extra mile of slaughter or pacifism. Though the game does show a bit of its age in this chapter as well. It is easy to go down a path that will ruin a pacifist run due to the player simply not knowing that a certain room will force them into engaging into a fight. For a player who isn't going for that run or simply doesn't care, its not a big deal, but it can be frustrating at times. Pacifist runs also force you to farm demon enemies in order to gain levels for the final boss, which can be a bit bothersome. Still, its rare to find an RPG, especially one from the 90s, that gives you this level of freedom in how you tackle the mission at hand. This chapter is probably the most visually beautiful as well, as many have mentioned. It is the best chapter up to this point for sure, even with its age and faults. 8/10.
Wild West: This chapter just rocks. It nails pretty much everything you'd want in a Western: badass protagonist, a rival-turned-friend, a gang of evil ruffians, and atmosphere up the wazoo. This chapter is just so satisfying to complete. After a great opening segment, the player is tasked with finding items to use as traps against a gang who is fast approaching. With the help of the local townsfolk, you and your rival reluctantly team up to find and set traps before sunrise. Once you complete this, the sun comes up, and the gang begins to invade, you get to watch all of your traps in action. It is so damn satisfying to see how well you did setting the traps, with gang members being decimated by all of your hard work. Its thrilling, and genuinely satisfying to see. This chapter is pretty short, but absolutely fantastic. This was the point where I truly started to fall in love with this game. 8.5/10.
Present Day: If prehistoric wasn't as "meh" as it was, this would be my least favorite chapter in the game. It does have some cool stuff going for it, though. For starters, I absolutely love the Street Fighter II style that this chapter goes for. The protag here is basically a Ryu clone, and they really don't try to hide it. This chapter essentially operates like a boss rush. There's five bosses that you can tackle in any order. You can also revisit fights before defeating the last foe. The big gimmick here is having the bosses use some of their moves on you so that you can copy them and use them as well. This was a good concept, but it can be pretty frustrating as it all relies on RNG. Also, the player does not know how these moves operate in terms of where on the grid they can hit. This can leave the player moving all around, trying to guess where they can be hit by the boss's move(s). After beating the last of the 5 bosses, you get to fight the final boss with all of the moves you learned. There isn't much story here other than the generic "I want to be the strongest person ever." I liked that the chapter basically spoofed Street Fighter, and I'm sure it was especially poignant at the time, but it just didn't really land for me. This felt like a case of either not enough development time or lack of resources for this chapter, making it a very underwhelming experience overall. 6.5/10.
Near Future: If you are really big into anime, this chapter will most likely be one of, if not, your favorite. I really enjoyed this chapter and its play on anime tropes. You got a psychic-powered orphan (named Akira, no less), a robot turtle companion, evil corporations, a demon god, and a very melodramatic story about gangs, psychic powers, and family. This isn't a knock on the chapter by the way, I actually liked it quite a lot. This chapter probably feels the most 90s JRPG out of them all with its setting and tropes. But its also very heartwarming and entertaining. Akira is a great protagonist, and his supporting cast is well written and likeable. I genuinely cared for the characters. The plot is also pretty good, though it can be a little confusing at times. The different twists and turns the story goes in are genuinely interesting and well thought out. And being able to control and play as a giant mech to kill a god was so damn cool and satisfying. While I can't say its my personal favorite chapter, I can see why many consider it to be one of the best. 8.5/10.
Distant Future: This may be a controversial opinion, but this was my favorite of the main 7 chapters that start out the game. While it is extremely light on combat (only 1 required fight, the rest optional through an arcade game), the atmosphere and writing are unmatched when compared to the previous 6 chapters of the game. While Cube isn't exactly talkative by any means, the supporting cast is incredibly interesting. Their relationships are much deeper than they appear on the surface. The dialogue is superbly written, and the voice acting is really well done too. The monster that chases you is also threatening as hell, and actually made me jump a few times. There's hardly any music in this chapter, and I really loved that. The game just lets the atmosphere and sound effects draw you in and immerse you. This, in turn, makes the moment you hear the iconic Odio boss fight music kick in that much harder. It really feels like one of those pixel horror games, or a horror VN, and I loved it for that. It isn't everyone's cup of tea, I know. But I think the Distant Future chapter is truly special. 9/10.
The Middle Ages: The first of the unlockable chapters is the middle ages. Many have commented on how it brings more traditional JRPG tropes to the table: the setting, a mute protag, random encounters, building a party of stereotypical JRPG roles, and its premise being a story thats been told a thousand times. Yet, this is simply the best chapter in the game. This is due to two major factors: the plot, and the dialogue. The gameplay is the same excellent gameplay as I have described already, but the writing elevates this section so much. Dialogue is written like a medieval poem. It may be hard for some to understand at times (it was for me on occasion for sure) but its beautifully written. It really sets it apart from other JRPGs set in a medieval era that either have normal sounding dialogue or try too hard to have the language of back then. The plot is also marvelous. The twists and turns that this chapter contains is stunning. In particular, the ending where Oersted (the protag) actually speaks and decides to become Odio, The Lord of Darkness, gave me goosebumps. The music swelled as this hero became a villain. While on the surface, Oersted seems like a generic protagonist, you learn so much from his supporting players about his true nature. Why is he doing what he's doing? Why did he betray his friend? It's very subtle, but the game is able to build up his character through the plot and his actions so well. The only issue I really had here was some of the gameplay pacing. The game makes you revisit locations and go through them all over again several times, which did start to grate on me a bit. But I hardly cared since the quality of the chapter was so damn great. An absolutely fantastic prologue to the end. 9.5/10.
The Finale: This felt so much like an Avengers moment. All of our protags from the previous chapters are brought to Oersted's domain. Here, after picking your main character for the chapter, you build up a team, go through dungeons, and finally learn the truth of Odio, Oersted, and get everyone back to their timelines. While this chapter's satisfaction is up to the player and how much time they're willing to spend finding the other protags, building a team, and going through dungeons for their best weapons, it is still an incredibly satisfying conclusion to the game. The game's themes of letting nihilism control you and using hope as your weapon come to a head as the various protagonists meet and fight side-by-side. You can even choose to play as Oersted and kill all of the other protags. Though this ending is not very satisfying and doesn't highlight the game's central messages nearly as much. It is honestly difficult to describe this chapter in full detail without going too spoilery, but just know that the conclusion is fantastic and highlights everything both narratively and gameplay wise that you have come to know and love about this game. 9/10.
With all those thoughts, I want to come back around and just express how unique of an experience Live A Live is. There is truly nothing else like it (Octopath tried, but isn't nearly the same). It feels so incredibly ahead of its time and was a blast to play from start to end. Sure, some chapters are better than others. But the overall package is stellar and satisfying from all angles. I very highly recommend that you try the game out for yourself. There's a demo on the EShop, so you don't even have to risk buying the game first. An absolutely incredible experience that I am sure will become one of my all time favorites with time.
And finally, here is how I would rank the chapters from favorite to least favorite:
Middle Ages
Finale
Distant Future
Wild West
Near Future
Twilight of Edo Japan
Imperial China
Present Day
Prehistoric Era
Devil May Cry 5
2019
How to surpass 11 years’ worth of expectations in one fell swoop. Newcomers to this series are doubtlessly fortunate to not have to go through several of Erikson’s life stages before they can try DMC5 now, but I think it’ll always be harder to appreciate what an achievement this game is if you weren’t subject to the gargantuan wait for it. For this to exist at all is one thing, but to have ended up being the peak of not just its franchise but arguably its genre in so many ways after all that time is something else entirely.
All four of the main characters are drowning in so many unique mechanics that no amount of text really does them justice, but don’t mistake that for bloat or a lack of focus, because it’s anything but. Nero’s new caveman-like attacks and exploding Devil Breakers hones in on his reckless punky attitude and fleshes out his combat options in a way that finally makes him feel like a worthy heir to his uncle, while also helping him step out of his shadow – talk about ludowudo-whatever harmony. Vergil’s revamped Concentration meter, plethora of just frames and seamless weaving in and out of Sin Devil Trigger at no cost if you time it right feels like the fullest realisation yet of the devilishly precise fighting style that originally made him so popular. V’s characterisation as a squishy wizard differentiates him from other action games that have you fiddling about with multiple characters at once. Dante is Dante, no explanation required, but I will say that I hope Quadruple S does for modern action games what instant weapon switching did for them 20 odd years ago – you can’t help but wonder why every game with a ranking system doesn’t actively integrate it into the gameplay itself like this.
All these options wouldn’t mean much if the game around them wasn’t engaging, so it helps that the level design of DMC5 is staggeringly less obnoxious than all of its predecessors. One level might have you in a giant lift that collapses if you don’t kill the enemies on it quickly enough, revealing an alternate path through the level if it falls as opposed to making you start the challenge from scratch. Another presents you with some brief platforming challenges and doors that are about to shut on either end of them, encouraging you to make a quick decision about which way to go but not punishing you too harshly if you decide to take the path of least resistance. One even has a series of optional, demonic skating parks you can make your way through in multiple ways thanks to Nero’s obscene aerial mobility. The interconnected structure of the previous games’ levels has been shed, and yet, the levels have more ways to progress through them than ever; even the obligatory pick-up-this-item-and-put-it-here “puzzles” feel less egregious now that you can usually tackle them in different orders. A superb trade off for the dice boards and rotating towers of this world, to be sure; it's unfortunate that what's so clearly a series best in this regard is commonly written off for no reason other than that some of the levels look vaguely similar if you squint a bit.
This is true of the enemy design, too. Front to back, DMC5 has the most consistently non-annoying enemy roster in the franchise. No clipping through walls, no long periods of invulnerability that can’t be exploited, just every property of the combat system being stretched to the fullest in ways that feel 100% natural. My favourites are the two that get superarmour or teleport away if you launch them, and picking what moves to use against them becomes even more of a brain teaser when they’re accompanied by other types, who are varyingly more susceptible to being stunned or the hidden fear status effect or clashing with their sword or guard breaks or staying in the air or any number of other under-the-hood tools you have to experiment with. Between the campaign, Bloody Palace and remixed enemy placements on higher difficulties, I don’t think there’s any two enemies that aren’t fought together at some point. Not a single ounce of potential is wasted. The most capital G of gamers might feel that enemies could stand to be more aggressive or have more anti-air options to bring your fancy jump cancels to an end, but I don’t care who you are, because you have absolutely been killed by a stray Riot or Judecca at least once.
Similar credit goes to the bosses, among whom there are miraculously no misfires. Gilgamesh might seem to be on the weaker end until you remember that this is the same series in which Arkham, the Saviour, Nightmare 3 and all of DMC2 exist, after which you suddenly realise he’s either inoffensive at worst or actually quite cool. My favourite is Cavaliere, in part because the first and last of these sword clashes sent my dopamine centre soaring to new heights and it’s all downhill for me from here.
He or any other boss in DMC5 would be a standout if you drag and dropped them into most other action games, and the only reason they’re arguably not in DMC5 itself is because they in turn exist alongside Vergil. I used to prefer his DMC3 iteration – he didn’t define an entire archetype of boss fights for no reason – but as I’ve played this more and more, I realise there’s really no comparison between the two unless you put a lot of stock in presentation. There are more ways to attack, defend yourself from, clash or just generally interact with DMC5’s Vergil than in every previous appearance of his combined, down to him responding to your taunts or commenting on your performance. This isn’t to suggest that more is always better, but the key strength of Vergil has always been that he felt almost like fighting another player, and all these layers upon layers of extra mechanics go huge lengths towards simulating that.
The best games tend to be more than the sum of their parts, so it helps that every other aspect of DMC5 is about as strong as how it plays. The art direction is HUGELY undersold, juggling the weird bio-Gothic architecture of the Qliphoth with the most overtly horror enemies since DMC1 and westernised photorealism, marrying it all into a single oddly cohesive package. Bingo Morihashi ᴵ'ᵐ ˢᵒʳʳʸ ᴵ ᵈᶦˢᵖᵃʳᵃᵍᵉᵈ ʸᵒᵘʳ ʷᵒʳᵏ ᶦⁿ ᵃ ʸᵒᵘᵗᵘᵇᵉ ᶜᵒᵐᵐᵉⁿᵗ ˡᶦᵏᵉ ᵗʰʳᵉᵉ ʸᵉᵃʳˢ ᵃᵍᵒ reconciles the series’ trademark themes of family with a metanarrative about leaving red man vs. blue man behind us in ways that cement Nero as just as legendary as either of them. You already know what the soundtrack’s like, but you probably never noticed how underrated Unwavering Bravery is, so listen to that.
As per Dragon’s Dogma 2’s recent announcement, we’re at most a few years away from video games becoming a solved medium, but DMC5 should by no means be seen as just a pit stop on the way there. You can tell Itsuno threatened to quit if Capcom’s higher ups didn’t let him carry out this game exactly the way he wanted, because every last iota of it oozes passion both for the series itself and everyone who's ever worked on it. Dante has a taunt sourced from a Kamiya tweet, and if that isn’t love, what is?
“DMC is back,” and it’s such a satisfying outing that I don’t mind if it never is again.
All four of the main characters are drowning in so many unique mechanics that no amount of text really does them justice, but don’t mistake that for bloat or a lack of focus, because it’s anything but. Nero’s new caveman-like attacks and exploding Devil Breakers hones in on his reckless punky attitude and fleshes out his combat options in a way that finally makes him feel like a worthy heir to his uncle, while also helping him step out of his shadow – talk about ludowudo-whatever harmony. Vergil’s revamped Concentration meter, plethora of just frames and seamless weaving in and out of Sin Devil Trigger at no cost if you time it right feels like the fullest realisation yet of the devilishly precise fighting style that originally made him so popular. V’s characterisation as a squishy wizard differentiates him from other action games that have you fiddling about with multiple characters at once. Dante is Dante, no explanation required, but I will say that I hope Quadruple S does for modern action games what instant weapon switching did for them 20 odd years ago – you can’t help but wonder why every game with a ranking system doesn’t actively integrate it into the gameplay itself like this.
All these options wouldn’t mean much if the game around them wasn’t engaging, so it helps that the level design of DMC5 is staggeringly less obnoxious than all of its predecessors. One level might have you in a giant lift that collapses if you don’t kill the enemies on it quickly enough, revealing an alternate path through the level if it falls as opposed to making you start the challenge from scratch. Another presents you with some brief platforming challenges and doors that are about to shut on either end of them, encouraging you to make a quick decision about which way to go but not punishing you too harshly if you decide to take the path of least resistance. One even has a series of optional, demonic skating parks you can make your way through in multiple ways thanks to Nero’s obscene aerial mobility. The interconnected structure of the previous games’ levels has been shed, and yet, the levels have more ways to progress through them than ever; even the obligatory pick-up-this-item-and-put-it-here “puzzles” feel less egregious now that you can usually tackle them in different orders. A superb trade off for the dice boards and rotating towers of this world, to be sure; it's unfortunate that what's so clearly a series best in this regard is commonly written off for no reason other than that some of the levels look vaguely similar if you squint a bit.
This is true of the enemy design, too. Front to back, DMC5 has the most consistently non-annoying enemy roster in the franchise. No clipping through walls, no long periods of invulnerability that can’t be exploited, just every property of the combat system being stretched to the fullest in ways that feel 100% natural. My favourites are the two that get superarmour or teleport away if you launch them, and picking what moves to use against them becomes even more of a brain teaser when they’re accompanied by other types, who are varyingly more susceptible to being stunned or the hidden fear status effect or clashing with their sword or guard breaks or staying in the air or any number of other under-the-hood tools you have to experiment with. Between the campaign, Bloody Palace and remixed enemy placements on higher difficulties, I don’t think there’s any two enemies that aren’t fought together at some point. Not a single ounce of potential is wasted. The most capital G of gamers might feel that enemies could stand to be more aggressive or have more anti-air options to bring your fancy jump cancels to an end, but I don’t care who you are, because you have absolutely been killed by a stray Riot or Judecca at least once.
Similar credit goes to the bosses, among whom there are miraculously no misfires. Gilgamesh might seem to be on the weaker end until you remember that this is the same series in which Arkham, the Saviour, Nightmare 3 and all of DMC2 exist, after which you suddenly realise he’s either inoffensive at worst or actually quite cool. My favourite is Cavaliere, in part because the first and last of these sword clashes sent my dopamine centre soaring to new heights and it’s all downhill for me from here.
He or any other boss in DMC5 would be a standout if you drag and dropped them into most other action games, and the only reason they’re arguably not in DMC5 itself is because they in turn exist alongside Vergil. I used to prefer his DMC3 iteration – he didn’t define an entire archetype of boss fights for no reason – but as I’ve played this more and more, I realise there’s really no comparison between the two unless you put a lot of stock in presentation. There are more ways to attack, defend yourself from, clash or just generally interact with DMC5’s Vergil than in every previous appearance of his combined, down to him responding to your taunts or commenting on your performance. This isn’t to suggest that more is always better, but the key strength of Vergil has always been that he felt almost like fighting another player, and all these layers upon layers of extra mechanics go huge lengths towards simulating that.
The best games tend to be more than the sum of their parts, so it helps that every other aspect of DMC5 is about as strong as how it plays. The art direction is HUGELY undersold, juggling the weird bio-Gothic architecture of the Qliphoth with the most overtly horror enemies since DMC1 and westernised photorealism, marrying it all into a single oddly cohesive package. Bingo Morihashi ᴵ'ᵐ ˢᵒʳʳʸ ᴵ ᵈᶦˢᵖᵃʳᵃᵍᵉᵈ ʸᵒᵘʳ ʷᵒʳᵏ ᶦⁿ ᵃ ʸᵒᵘᵗᵘᵇᵉ ᶜᵒᵐᵐᵉⁿᵗ ˡᶦᵏᵉ ᵗʰʳᵉᵉ ʸᵉᵃʳˢ ᵃᵍᵒ reconciles the series’ trademark themes of family with a metanarrative about leaving red man vs. blue man behind us in ways that cement Nero as just as legendary as either of them. You already know what the soundtrack’s like, but you probably never noticed how underrated Unwavering Bravery is, so listen to that.
As per Dragon’s Dogma 2’s recent announcement, we’re at most a few years away from video games becoming a solved medium, but DMC5 should by no means be seen as just a pit stop on the way there. You can tell Itsuno threatened to quit if Capcom’s higher ups didn’t let him carry out this game exactly the way he wanted, because every last iota of it oozes passion both for the series itself and everyone who's ever worked on it. Dante has a taunt sourced from a Kamiya tweet, and if that isn’t love, what is?
“DMC is back,” and it’s such a satisfying outing that I don’t mind if it never is again.
EarthBound
1994
Visual novels are often extremely long feeling. Reams and reams of text filling up dialogue boxes to seemingly justify their existence, after all, they are called visual novels. This isn't a complaint about reading however, I love reading. This is a compliment about understanding the need for such text at the expense of keeping your readers attention. Some games use 1000 words to convey 100 words worth of information. Less is sometimes more.
999 fully understands pacing in a way too many visual novels don't. The scenes are interesting, relevant and don't outstay their welcome before the escape room puzzles break up the change of pace. Honestly I think the game's fairly brief length and the way it's laid out in it's exposition to puzzle ratio is entirely to it's credit. The story was actually surprisingly engrossing as facts get revealed unraveling the mystery. I quite liked most of the characters even if some of the ridiculous obscure objects of knowledge some of them have conveniently are hilariously daft at times. It all fits together in a satisfying way once you unlock all the endings however.
The puzzles themselves are pretty good too. I got stumped by a couple briefly but they are balanced in a way that they tell you what needs doing without directly holding your hand I appreciated. I also appreciated that trying different routes gives you new puzzles in those locations but allows you to skip the old ones once you've beaten them. This is a game about rushing against time that also respects your time as a player in most cases.
Not what I expected going into it. Looking forward to the next game in the series.
+ Surprisingly interesting story and characters.
+ Pacing is excellent, good mix between story and puzzles.
+ Looks surprisingly good on PS4 visually.
+ unlocking alternate endings is a painless affair if you choose.
999 fully understands pacing in a way too many visual novels don't. The scenes are interesting, relevant and don't outstay their welcome before the escape room puzzles break up the change of pace. Honestly I think the game's fairly brief length and the way it's laid out in it's exposition to puzzle ratio is entirely to it's credit. The story was actually surprisingly engrossing as facts get revealed unraveling the mystery. I quite liked most of the characters even if some of the ridiculous obscure objects of knowledge some of them have conveniently are hilariously daft at times. It all fits together in a satisfying way once you unlock all the endings however.
The puzzles themselves are pretty good too. I got stumped by a couple briefly but they are balanced in a way that they tell you what needs doing without directly holding your hand I appreciated. I also appreciated that trying different routes gives you new puzzles in those locations but allows you to skip the old ones once you've beaten them. This is a game about rushing against time that also respects your time as a player in most cases.
Not what I expected going into it. Looking forward to the next game in the series.
+ Surprisingly interesting story and characters.
+ Pacing is excellent, good mix between story and puzzles.
+ Looks surprisingly good on PS4 visually.
+ unlocking alternate endings is a painless affair if you choose.
Killer7
2005
what does it mean to be a creator? well, obviously it’s to make a work, something that is yours. but, what defines the line between being a creator or not? as a (self proclaimed) photographer i question, am i a creator? i create photos but i do not necessarily create the world within the confines of the photo. being able to maximize the impact of said world within the limits of a photograph is what i believe to be a key part of being a photographer.
bound by the chains of corporate demands and strict time windows, suda had the vision, the world. all that was needed was mikami to metaphorically snap the photo, and capture suda’s visions in the most substantially compelling way possible.
photographers are as much creators as a painter or musician is. they may not be the direct source for what they produce, but what artist is? everyone has influences and points of reference for their work. photographers have… just a much larger reference is all, a pre-painted canvas if you will, where they can do what they see fit with this canvas to create.
all that was left was the final touch, a soundtrack to accompany this creation. like how memories and stories can extrinsically loom in a photograph, a soundtrack looms throughout a video game. takada is, putting it bluntly, a damn genius when it comes to this field. he knows exactly the right drum beat, the right guitar riff that can emotionally intensify a scene.
im not going to go into what killer7 means in-and-of itself, rather what it means as a work, a creation. to explain what in the fuck goes on in this game is fruitless, much like suda’s prior works honestly. the thrill of kill the past is in its absurdity and broad ideologies, both never ceasing to be thought provoking in one way or another. there’s an endless amount of perspectives you could assume to try and narrow down what it all means, but personally i find it almost futile. don’t get me wrong i love discussing suda’s works in the context of their deeper meanings, although honestly i’m okay knowing i don’t completely understand games like flower sun and rain, 25th ward, and killer7. people are typically infatuated with what they do not comprehend, and are infatuated with wanting to comprehend. i am infatuated with suda because of his willingness to deliberately create something that people won’t comprehend. that itself i respect and it’s always a treat when these incomprehensible creations end up becoming flat out masterpieces.
and now it is complete. through the collaborative genius at grasshopper manufacture, an overwhelmingly artistic work both before and ahead of its time has been created. killer7 is both dated and timeless; both the worst, and best video game ever made. a game such as this will never be created ever again.
i’ve spent the past few minutes rereading what i’ve written thus far wondering how to conclude this concisely in a manner that ties everything together. it’s hard. i was thinking of talking about the gameplay but everybody knows the gameplay. everybody knows that no matter what, the instant bloody combustion of a heaven smile always feels good, and that the sounds that accompany the firing and reloading of your weapon always feel good. killer7 feels good.
i’ve realized that killer7 doesn’t really conclude and nothing ties together, but that’s the beauty of it. you’re left satisfied despite this, left with ideas and thoughts that boil. and they will continue to boil. killer7 will never end. as long as video games exist, killer7 will always have the last laugh.
The day he stops smiling is the day we remember his smile.
bound by the chains of corporate demands and strict time windows, suda had the vision, the world. all that was needed was mikami to metaphorically snap the photo, and capture suda’s visions in the most substantially compelling way possible.
photographers are as much creators as a painter or musician is. they may not be the direct source for what they produce, but what artist is? everyone has influences and points of reference for their work. photographers have… just a much larger reference is all, a pre-painted canvas if you will, where they can do what they see fit with this canvas to create.
all that was left was the final touch, a soundtrack to accompany this creation. like how memories and stories can extrinsically loom in a photograph, a soundtrack looms throughout a video game. takada is, putting it bluntly, a damn genius when it comes to this field. he knows exactly the right drum beat, the right guitar riff that can emotionally intensify a scene.
im not going to go into what killer7 means in-and-of itself, rather what it means as a work, a creation. to explain what in the fuck goes on in this game is fruitless, much like suda’s prior works honestly. the thrill of kill the past is in its absurdity and broad ideologies, both never ceasing to be thought provoking in one way or another. there’s an endless amount of perspectives you could assume to try and narrow down what it all means, but personally i find it almost futile. don’t get me wrong i love discussing suda’s works in the context of their deeper meanings, although honestly i’m okay knowing i don’t completely understand games like flower sun and rain, 25th ward, and killer7. people are typically infatuated with what they do not comprehend, and are infatuated with wanting to comprehend. i am infatuated with suda because of his willingness to deliberately create something that people won’t comprehend. that itself i respect and it’s always a treat when these incomprehensible creations end up becoming flat out masterpieces.
and now it is complete. through the collaborative genius at grasshopper manufacture, an overwhelmingly artistic work both before and ahead of its time has been created. killer7 is both dated and timeless; both the worst, and best video game ever made. a game such as this will never be created ever again.
i’ve spent the past few minutes rereading what i’ve written thus far wondering how to conclude this concisely in a manner that ties everything together. it’s hard. i was thinking of talking about the gameplay but everybody knows the gameplay. everybody knows that no matter what, the instant bloody combustion of a heaven smile always feels good, and that the sounds that accompany the firing and reloading of your weapon always feel good. killer7 feels good.
i’ve realized that killer7 doesn’t really conclude and nothing ties together, but that’s the beauty of it. you’re left satisfied despite this, left with ideas and thoughts that boil. and they will continue to boil. killer7 will never end. as long as video games exist, killer7 will always have the last laugh.
The day he stops smiling is the day we remember his smile.
4:27 speedrun instructions
level 1: hold left
level 2: hold left
level 3: hold right
level 4: hold left
level 1: hold left
level 2: hold left
level 3: hold right
level 4: hold left
"content dictates form. less is more. god is in the details.
all in the service of clarity, without which, nothing else matters."
- stephen sondheim
above is a quote from one of my lifelong heroes who passed away a few months ago. mr. sondheim's work defined a great deal of my teenage and transitional years and upon hearing the news of his tragic passing, i took the opportunity to reflect on the ways with which he'd influenced my art, my views, and my conduct. i'm by no means a theatre type - while i spent a few years in high school co-directing and acting as a dramaturge for a local company, by no means do i enjoy the theatre as it exists to the common eye and ear. i left that world to escape the despotism of what 'must be' and what 'sells' by the overseeing eye of the major companies and self-satisfied bigwigs because, as any artist knows, when you climb a few rungs of the ladder no art is political, but all art is politics.
yet i find myself, years removed from theatre, years removed from pushing my own envelope of personal expression to a public eye, many nights in front of a google doc, or a blank notepad, or staring at my shelf, wondering when the spark is going to hit and i'll write the next pieces of my screenplay, or my next chorus to a song, or my next analysis of some 20-year-old adventure game made by a small passionate team from the literal opposite of the world. sometimes i wonder if my minimalism, my expression of big feelings in small boxes, through white and black forms with bright technicolor lights, if it's a crutch, if i'm an imitator of the conglomerate great ideas of people before me... if i shoot half this short film adaptation of a novel as a silent work, am i up my own ass for it? if i push myself creatively as a musician to a one-man audience by design, am i selling myself short? have i missed my shot at truly expressing MYself?
of course, if you've got your head screwed on halfway right, you'll realize this self-talk is a complete load of bullshit. just put the pen to the paper. put the fingers to the keys. don't worry about who sees it, don't worry about why you do it, but if you believe in it - content dictating form - and if your style is simple short strokes with deep, cutting lines - less is more - and if your heart hurts to watch it play back - god is in the details. if you are an artist, if you are a person who needs to be able to say something for the sake of saying it, you must throw away preconceptions, you must disregard what people have said of you and your work, you must take that future into your hands and seize it. all in the service of clarity, without which, nothing else matters.
live your daily rut. get up, go to work.
push hard to make those days count.
let your work be your work, and let your work be your work.
to find happiness is to be honest with oneself.
recognize the monotony but don't let it overtake you.
your career isn't your person.
every person on this site, every person reading this
i think each one of us has art inside of us waiting to blossom.
you need to be willing to find love in your heart for that, for yourself, and the willingness to seize that potential regardless of the cost and regardless of how you've hurt before.
you need to seize the future.
you need to kill the past.
flower, sun & rain was me all along, wasn't it?
all in the service of clarity, without which, nothing else matters."
- stephen sondheim
above is a quote from one of my lifelong heroes who passed away a few months ago. mr. sondheim's work defined a great deal of my teenage and transitional years and upon hearing the news of his tragic passing, i took the opportunity to reflect on the ways with which he'd influenced my art, my views, and my conduct. i'm by no means a theatre type - while i spent a few years in high school co-directing and acting as a dramaturge for a local company, by no means do i enjoy the theatre as it exists to the common eye and ear. i left that world to escape the despotism of what 'must be' and what 'sells' by the overseeing eye of the major companies and self-satisfied bigwigs because, as any artist knows, when you climb a few rungs of the ladder no art is political, but all art is politics.
yet i find myself, years removed from theatre, years removed from pushing my own envelope of personal expression to a public eye, many nights in front of a google doc, or a blank notepad, or staring at my shelf, wondering when the spark is going to hit and i'll write the next pieces of my screenplay, or my next chorus to a song, or my next analysis of some 20-year-old adventure game made by a small passionate team from the literal opposite of the world. sometimes i wonder if my minimalism, my expression of big feelings in small boxes, through white and black forms with bright technicolor lights, if it's a crutch, if i'm an imitator of the conglomerate great ideas of people before me... if i shoot half this short film adaptation of a novel as a silent work, am i up my own ass for it? if i push myself creatively as a musician to a one-man audience by design, am i selling myself short? have i missed my shot at truly expressing MYself?
of course, if you've got your head screwed on halfway right, you'll realize this self-talk is a complete load of bullshit. just put the pen to the paper. put the fingers to the keys. don't worry about who sees it, don't worry about why you do it, but if you believe in it - content dictating form - and if your style is simple short strokes with deep, cutting lines - less is more - and if your heart hurts to watch it play back - god is in the details. if you are an artist, if you are a person who needs to be able to say something for the sake of saying it, you must throw away preconceptions, you must disregard what people have said of you and your work, you must take that future into your hands and seize it. all in the service of clarity, without which, nothing else matters.
live your daily rut. get up, go to work.
push hard to make those days count.
let your work be your work, and let your work be your work.
to find happiness is to be honest with oneself.
recognize the monotony but don't let it overtake you.
your career isn't your person.
every person on this site, every person reading this
i think each one of us has art inside of us waiting to blossom.
you need to be willing to find love in your heart for that, for yourself, and the willingness to seize that potential regardless of the cost and regardless of how you've hurt before.
you need to seize the future.
you need to kill the past.
flower, sun & rain was me all along, wasn't it?
Greatest of all time. Zenith of the medium. Hallmark of media. Gold standard of Storytelling. Apogee of creativity. Vertex of invention. Crest of Igenuity. Acme of imagination. Pinnacle of innovation. Epic of epics. Legend among legends. Peak Fucking Fiction.
Stray
2022
I've said this a lot in a good couple of reviews for games I've just beaten, but I do think we often take for granted how good we have it in the current state of games. It can be very easy to get into a doom spiral of an industry that is worthy of a lot of criticism thrown at it, and to be fair, I think a lot of it is justified, and I'm not saying to ignore that. But more often than not, we tend to overlook just how amazing the last five years have been for niche titles. Games that likely wouldn't have garnered much attention or sales, just a console generation ago, now have the opportunity to get a huge spotlight shown on it, and sometimes get the chance to be the big game of the week.
I'm not saying the premise of just being able to play as a real cat exploring a decently big world, wouldn't have caught on years ago, its just an inherently fun concept; what I am saying is that Stray is everything the current wave of modern niche titles have been leading up to, and its all the more commendable and better for it. I think Stray is a game that doesn't need a whole lot to say about the actual content of the game, the premise is enough, and you're likely already interested or have played it already from that alone. All I want to say, for this game, and all other huge successful games that have gained so much glowing attention and love in the past five years. Keep enjoying them, and keep giving attention to weird lil projects like this. It has made this hobby such a treat to continue putting time into.
I'm not saying the premise of just being able to play as a real cat exploring a decently big world, wouldn't have caught on years ago, its just an inherently fun concept; what I am saying is that Stray is everything the current wave of modern niche titles have been leading up to, and its all the more commendable and better for it. I think Stray is a game that doesn't need a whole lot to say about the actual content of the game, the premise is enough, and you're likely already interested or have played it already from that alone. All I want to say, for this game, and all other huge successful games that have gained so much glowing attention and love in the past five years. Keep enjoying them, and keep giving attention to weird lil projects like this. It has made this hobby such a treat to continue putting time into.
Santajokes.com best christmas jokes EVER:
1) How much did Santa's sleigh cost? It was on the house.
2) Which of Santa's reindeer are dinosaurs afraid of? Comet.
3) Why is Santa scared of chimneys? Because he's claus-trophobic.
4) How you can tell that Santa is real? You can always sense his presents.
5) What nationality is Santa Claus? North Polish.
6) Why did Mrs. Claus get mad at Santa? Because her husband was a flake
7) What's Santa's favorite type of music? Wrap.
8) Why is Santa so good at karate? He has a black belt.
9) Why does Santa go through the chimney? Because it soots him.
10) What do you call a kid who doesn’t believe in Santa? A rebel without a Claus.
11) How does Santa take pictures? With his Pole-aroid camera.
12) What kind of motorcycle does Santa ride? A "Holly" Davidson.
13) How much did Santa's sleigh cost? It was on the house!
14) Why was Santa's little helper so sad? He had low elf-esteem.
15) Who is Santa's least favorite reindeer? Rude-olph.
16) Why did Santa go to the liquor store? He was looking for holiday spirits.
17) What do you call Santa's little helpers? Subordinate Clauses.
18) Why don't you ever see Santa Claus in the hospital? Because he has private elf care.
19) How does Santa take care of sick people? He nurses them back to elf.
20) How did Santa's little helper stop eating cookies? He used elf control.
21) What does Santa eat for breakfast? Frosted Flakes.
22) What do you call Santa when he's wearing ear muffs? Anything, he can't hear you.
23) Where does Santa cash his checks? At the snow bank.
24) What's Santa's favorite candy? Jolly Ranchers.
25) What's red and green and flies? A sleigh-sick Santa.
26) Who delivers Christmas presents to cats and dogs? Santa Paws.
27) What's big and jolly and says, "Oh, oh, oh"? Santa Claus walking backwards.
28) Why does Santa have trouble spelling? He thinks the alphabet has Noel.
29) What did Santa name his pet frog? Mistletoad.
30) Where does Santa stay on vacation? At a ho-ho-hotel.
31) How does Santa get his sleigh to fly? I have no eye deer.
32) What's Santa's favorite potato chip? Kringles.
33) What do Santa's elves learn in school? The elf-abet.
34) What you get when you cross a duck with Santa? A Christmas quacker.
35) What do you call a cat who works for Santa? Santa Claws.
Why did you read all of them? There's nothing else to say about this mod besides placing it at number 36 if that's what you're wondering...
1) How much did Santa's sleigh cost? It was on the house.
2) Which of Santa's reindeer are dinosaurs afraid of? Comet.
3) Why is Santa scared of chimneys? Because he's claus-trophobic.
4) How you can tell that Santa is real? You can always sense his presents.
5) What nationality is Santa Claus? North Polish.
6) Why did Mrs. Claus get mad at Santa? Because her husband was a flake
7) What's Santa's favorite type of music? Wrap.
8) Why is Santa so good at karate? He has a black belt.
9) Why does Santa go through the chimney? Because it soots him.
10) What do you call a kid who doesn’t believe in Santa? A rebel without a Claus.
11) How does Santa take pictures? With his Pole-aroid camera.
12) What kind of motorcycle does Santa ride? A "Holly" Davidson.
13) How much did Santa's sleigh cost? It was on the house!
14) Why was Santa's little helper so sad? He had low elf-esteem.
15) Who is Santa's least favorite reindeer? Rude-olph.
16) Why did Santa go to the liquor store? He was looking for holiday spirits.
17) What do you call Santa's little helpers? Subordinate Clauses.
18) Why don't you ever see Santa Claus in the hospital? Because he has private elf care.
19) How does Santa take care of sick people? He nurses them back to elf.
20) How did Santa's little helper stop eating cookies? He used elf control.
21) What does Santa eat for breakfast? Frosted Flakes.
22) What do you call Santa when he's wearing ear muffs? Anything, he can't hear you.
23) Where does Santa cash his checks? At the snow bank.
24) What's Santa's favorite candy? Jolly Ranchers.
25) What's red and green and flies? A sleigh-sick Santa.
26) Who delivers Christmas presents to cats and dogs? Santa Paws.
27) What's big and jolly and says, "Oh, oh, oh"? Santa Claus walking backwards.
28) Why does Santa have trouble spelling? He thinks the alphabet has Noel.
29) What did Santa name his pet frog? Mistletoad.
30) Where does Santa stay on vacation? At a ho-ho-hotel.
31) How does Santa get his sleigh to fly? I have no eye deer.
32) What's Santa's favorite potato chip? Kringles.
33) What do Santa's elves learn in school? The elf-abet.
34) What you get when you cross a duck with Santa? A Christmas quacker.
35) What do you call a cat who works for Santa? Santa Claws.
Why did you read all of them? There's nothing else to say about this mod besides placing it at number 36 if that's what you're wondering...
Database narrative as moe personification. Impressive atmosphere and structural sensibilities, but the game's voyeuristic treatment of Lain is deeply suspect, especially given that this has one of the cruelest endings I've seen in basically anything. Doesn't help that whoever designed the UI is a psychopath.