2008
I think the bunker level did more damage to my psyche than any dark souls boss ever has.
2023
It's a fun game and I really appreciate that customization isn't locked behind in game currency. However I think the game is way overpriced for what little content it has to offer. As it is right now it feels very unpolished and lacking and I really hope they'll add more to it in future updates.
2021
It's been 2 years since the release of this game so I thought it was time to revisit it and finally post a review.
My initial experience at launch was great and the second time around was no different! I may already be familiar with everything at this point, but it doesn't take away from any of the fun to be had. Arkane never misses and this game is just perfect for those itching for a similar experience to dishonored.
This game is brimming with charisma. The characters are well crafted and I especially love the player character Colt. He's a breath of fresh air when it comes to fps game protagonists who in my mind are often rather dull. All of Colt's commentary is so fun to listen to and I love how he feels so human with all his imperfections and quirks.
The gameplay and customization is so much fun and I really appreciate that the game mechanics have in world explanations and that they make sense from an in-world pov. Speaking of the world -- I love it! As expected of arkane, they really pay attention to detail when it comes to the environment and level design. Despite there only being 4 areas to explore there's still plenty of variety to them and I never found them lacking.
The only negative thing I can think of is that I wish it had perhaps been a bigger and longer game, but that's only because I want to explore this world and setting more. However, I think the concept of this story happening within a sort of bubble is very interesting and it definitely adds to the games intrigue and charm.
As a side note, I never encountered any bugs and I've played this game for almost 50 hours as of this review. I must've been lucky as I see a lot of reviews mentioning game breaking bugs. This is very unfortunate and I just thought I'd give a heads up for anyone who's thinking of buying the game.
My initial experience at launch was great and the second time around was no different! I may already be familiar with everything at this point, but it doesn't take away from any of the fun to be had. Arkane never misses and this game is just perfect for those itching for a similar experience to dishonored.
This game is brimming with charisma. The characters are well crafted and I especially love the player character Colt. He's a breath of fresh air when it comes to fps game protagonists who in my mind are often rather dull. All of Colt's commentary is so fun to listen to and I love how he feels so human with all his imperfections and quirks.
The gameplay and customization is so much fun and I really appreciate that the game mechanics have in world explanations and that they make sense from an in-world pov. Speaking of the world -- I love it! As expected of arkane, they really pay attention to detail when it comes to the environment and level design. Despite there only being 4 areas to explore there's still plenty of variety to them and I never found them lacking.
The only negative thing I can think of is that I wish it had perhaps been a bigger and longer game, but that's only because I want to explore this world and setting more. However, I think the concept of this story happening within a sort of bubble is very interesting and it definitely adds to the games intrigue and charm.
As a side note, I never encountered any bugs and I've played this game for almost 50 hours as of this review. I must've been lucky as I see a lot of reviews mentioning game breaking bugs. This is very unfortunate and I just thought I'd give a heads up for anyone who's thinking of buying the game.
What in yevon's name did they do to their poor faces...
The new character models completely ruin the tone of all the cutscenes -- the characters look lifeless and uncanny and no longer give the same emotional delivery that the og ones did. Even though this remaster has several graphical improvements that are pretty great (the environments for example), I believe that the face models and their animations completely ruin the experience as the emotional depth of the characters is completely lost. I highly recommend anyone interested in FFX to simply emulate the original ps2 games.
The new character models completely ruin the tone of all the cutscenes -- the characters look lifeless and uncanny and no longer give the same emotional delivery that the og ones did. Even though this remaster has several graphical improvements that are pretty great (the environments for example), I believe that the face models and their animations completely ruin the experience as the emotional depth of the characters is completely lost. I highly recommend anyone interested in FFX to simply emulate the original ps2 games.
Trails from zero is... alright. I find it very lacking in some crucial areas such as characterization, character designs and dialogue. The game is full of distasteful misogynistic jokes that had me scowling every few minutes. I don't know if it's because the game is over 10 years old at this point or because it's anime-adjacent and therefore has to indulge in these annoying tropes, either way it really made my experience with the game much less enjoyable.
The only characters in the entire game that I found compelling were Tio and KeA. Everyone else gave me a migraine with their irritating commentary. Also, whether you like the characters or not there's no denying falcom's female character designs have taken a certain turn in the past decade -- one that I'm personally not a big fan of.
I had such high expectations for this game because of how much everyone has praised it, but I was pretty disappointed. I'm truly hoping that trails to azure is a better experience.
The only characters in the entire game that I found compelling were Tio and KeA. Everyone else gave me a migraine with their irritating commentary. Also, whether you like the characters or not there's no denying falcom's female character designs have taken a certain turn in the past decade -- one that I'm personally not a big fan of.
I had such high expectations for this game because of how much everyone has praised it, but I was pretty disappointed. I'm truly hoping that trails to azure is a better experience.