sonicbacon123
1995
108 characters and Gremio still won't leave my party
I know this one is peak GG but I didn't really do much beyond story mode. And the story mode has the exact same presentation as X Plus and X2 so it got pretty bland, pretty quickly. Especially because very little of note happens in anyone's story. I'd need to delve into online with the steam version to get more out of this one. Still, same look and sound as X2 but with more content so it's great.
Played Lion War hack with WotL translation added. Proof job system is the goated gameplay system in FF. Addicting in it's simplicity and freedom. Soundtrack and writing are something else. Not to mention the actual scene direction. Dialogue is not wasted. Pacing is perfect. It is expertly crafted. This kind of attention to detail is so rare in JRPGs.
peak fiction
1993
Cuphead but with people
1984
Bonus music rocks. Screw this game.
2019
Stronger than 8 in some aspects, weaker in others. Combat is most polished of any party game. Barring the final chapter the pacing feels fastest of the four (even with the obnoxious side content that continues to appear through the dimensional portal from the Trails universe). The setting isn't as visually striking as 8 and it carries over a few too many systems from that game that feel more forced given the context of the story.
Such a good game. Ending is still my favorite moment in all of Metroid.
1998
Ambitious and layered narrative that is hindered by a poor English localization, a soundtrack that is far too short, a disc 2 with pacing and presentation issues, bland dungeon design, and combat that feels good but soon becomes trivialized by a lack of depth in its systems. How the game became flawed is no secret. Rather than contemplate what could have been, I am instead appreciative of just how much the staff set out to acheive and its delightfully complex narrative framework that would be put to good use in future games.
Love tropical settings in games and this one has some stunning locales. Gameplay feels much smoother than the previous party games and the music is very memorable. It pulls too many things from Trails, including being too long. This is the one game where I think the setup and context of the story gives reason for a lot of it's Trails-isms. If I hadn't played every Trails game and the other party based Ys games didn't also rip from Trails then I probably wouldn't have minded so much.
2014
Felt like I was playing a fan game. So many unnecessary changes made to things that worked, while not touching things that could have been improved on. Felt like it misunderstood a lot of what made the first game work. From a gameplay standpoint the idea of replaying it is more exciting than the first game because on the whole it was an improvement yet the lackluster world, bosses, and lore in addition to numerous confounding mechanical changes make replaying the game much less appealing.
After watching the anime for the first time I actually thought to myself why don't I consume all the "canonical" Digimon media? What is wrong with my brain. Thankfully, I stopped myself after this one. Some decent music is about all this has going for it. Battles are slow, every dungeon is just a multi battle gauntlet with random Digimon, you have very few options and the game is either frustrating or super easy depending on what Digimon you use.
1998
90s action film the game
Mark danced crazy!
1999
Earned my PhD figuring this one out