valoderso
2020
this game absorbed my life for a few days and i just played it a ton. i really loved it but the golden ending just left me disappointed. this could've been a 10/10 but now i'm a bit underwhelmed and can't bring myself to rate it any higher than what it currently is. though i do enjoy the characters, music, story and themes of the game a lot!
2014
every few years i return to this game, spend two to three days on it and then don't touch it again for the next few years. it would've been nice if the base game got more content, instead of dozens of expansion packs that cost even more than the base game
there is not a single negative thing i can say about this game. the gameplay was fun, the graphics were absolutely stunning (fricking hand drawn--!!), the soundtrack is decent, it got some really nice and very unique pieces and you can play this game for just a couple minutes and still advance the story, since the story is nicely split into bite sized pieces.
and my gods, the story. the game has 13 protagonists, which seems like quite a lot, maybe even too much at first glance, but they are all handled so well. they each got their unique stories and different genres they play in and you easily get attached to them. everyone will have a favourite in this game and most likely your favourite will be natsuno & her little companion! the story is rather complexe and told in such a unique way, making you theorize what is even going on. but it gets explained nicely and makes perfectly sense, with not a single plot hole. there is truely nothing negative that can be said about this game
and my gods, the story. the game has 13 protagonists, which seems like quite a lot, maybe even too much at first glance, but they are all handled so well. they each got their unique stories and different genres they play in and you easily get attached to them. everyone will have a favourite in this game and most likely your favourite will be natsuno & her little companion! the story is rather complexe and told in such a unique way, making you theorize what is even going on. but it gets explained nicely and makes perfectly sense, with not a single plot hole. there is truely nothing negative that can be said about this game
i really enjoyed playing this game, but when compared to the first game, i find it quite difficult to rank. the story this time around was a bit weaker and yet had grabbed my attention more than the first game did. characters from the first game appear again in this game and the new additions to the cast were almost all a delight to have around - except for more villainous characters, of course. the protagonists especially were really great and the timeline was rather easy to follow, until a certain point in the game. i even prefere the soundtrack of this game over the first game, certain somnium themes really standing out to me.
and yet, i struggle with making my mind up about this game. the ending didn't hit me as hard as the first game did, since i was expecting it already. certain plot points were rather silly and didn't lead to anything. the somniums in this game were weaker than in the first one, but the addition of free psynch was rather nice. the side content was a delight as well, the outfits were funny to spice up scenes you were replaying and i especially adore that they turned the first class cabin from 999 into a somnium, even if it's just optional content. while the main ending was rather lacking in my opinion, the secret ending was really great.
and yet, i struggle with making my mind up about this game. the ending didn't hit me as hard as the first game did, since i was expecting it already. certain plot points were rather silly and didn't lead to anything. the somniums in this game were weaker than in the first one, but the addition of free psynch was rather nice. the side content was a delight as well, the outfits were funny to spice up scenes you were replaying and i especially adore that they turned the first class cabin from 999 into a somnium, even if it's just optional content. while the main ending was rather lacking in my opinion, the secret ending was really great.
2023
the real horror of this game is having to hurt the princess to get to the end
never in my life have i simped this quickly for a character, but chrom just hits different.
it's the perfect game to get into the fire emblem series. it's simple enough and yet intriguing. the characters are great and everyone will find at least a handful of characters they love. the marriage mechanic is amazing and i love my two videogame children very much. other fire emblems might have better mechanics than this game or a grander story, but this game is just so special to me.
it's the perfect game to get into the fire emblem series. it's simple enough and yet intriguing. the characters are great and everyone will find at least a handful of characters they love. the marriage mechanic is amazing and i love my two videogame children very much. other fire emblems might have better mechanics than this game or a grander story, but this game is just so special to me.
this game is a flawed masterpiece!
it has its fair share of problems that tend to scare off players early on. but those who push through and finish this game will be rewarded with the masterpiece that is xenoblade chronicles 2. while i don't believe it to be the best game in the series, it is still absolutely amazing and a game i regularly replay for it's amazing story and loveable characters!
it has its fair share of problems that tend to scare off players early on. but those who push through and finish this game will be rewarded with the masterpiece that is xenoblade chronicles 2. while i don't believe it to be the best game in the series, it is still absolutely amazing and a game i regularly replay for it's amazing story and loveable characters!
This review contains spoilers
i don't even know what to say first about this game. i suppose nothing really sticks out to me right away. it's just really "mid".
i never felt a deep connection to any of the characters and the ones i found likeable ended up dead before chapter 1 even started (goodbye pucci, zilch and aphex, my beloved :'). desuhiko and yomi were nice characters, but not good enough to stand out. i really dislike vivia (i know he's everyones skrunkly wunkly little guy but this man lacked depth and was so boring that i'd rather watch paint dry than listen to him any longer). though the worst characters was dominic fulltank. this man didn't say a single word during the entire game/chapter he was in! you expect me to get attached to someone who just stares at me with an expressionless face? absolutely not.
honestly, i was hoping for so much more, especially from the characters. the danganronpa characters had always been so great, making me feel all sorts of things. but raincode barely managed to make me care about the characters. the thing i liked most about the characters were their va's, since they did a great job. though the voices and the characters lips did not match at all which you could really see in cutscenes where you'd see them close up.
i was also cursed with liking the killers the most each time. so the detectives i liked died right away and the suspects i liked were always the killer. just my luck, huh...
the soundtrack of this game is actually quite alright. nothing i'd listen to outside of the game very often, but i do overall prefere it over the danganronpa ost. though you can easily make an argument for this ost just being a copy or remix of danganronpa's ost.
the ending plot twist was actually what made me like the game. i assumed from the start that yuma was number one, but i always assumed makoto would be the homunculi of kurumi and not yuma, so that was quite the surprise.
shinigami also became less annoying in the last chapter. to be fair, i didn't hate her as much as other people do, but she really lacked some more emotional moments. instead, she was too much fanservice (though pulling the truth blade out of her mouth is so weird that it somehow became funny again). but yeah, she's an annoying bully for most of the time, but her ending redeemed her in my eyes and made me consider that she tried to be an asshole to everyone, so it would be easier for yuma to move on after their pact ended. this might just be my interpretation, but it does make her much more likeable if i view her like this.
overall, chapter 5 was the highlight of the game (as it should be)! the meatbuns, the hommunculi, the rain and the pink blood... honestly, they did well with that! especially the blood thing caught me off guard and upon replaying the game i did notice the difference in chapter 0 with yuma's blood being red when he cuts himself, yet everyone else afterwards being pink. replaying the game helped with finding more small moments to appreciate the game for, but also made its flaws stand out more.
i never felt a deep connection to any of the characters and the ones i found likeable ended up dead before chapter 1 even started (goodbye pucci, zilch and aphex, my beloved :'). desuhiko and yomi were nice characters, but not good enough to stand out. i really dislike vivia (i know he's everyones skrunkly wunkly little guy but this man lacked depth and was so boring that i'd rather watch paint dry than listen to him any longer). though the worst characters was dominic fulltank. this man didn't say a single word during the entire game/chapter he was in! you expect me to get attached to someone who just stares at me with an expressionless face? absolutely not.
honestly, i was hoping for so much more, especially from the characters. the danganronpa characters had always been so great, making me feel all sorts of things. but raincode barely managed to make me care about the characters. the thing i liked most about the characters were their va's, since they did a great job. though the voices and the characters lips did not match at all which you could really see in cutscenes where you'd see them close up.
i was also cursed with liking the killers the most each time. so the detectives i liked died right away and the suspects i liked were always the killer. just my luck, huh...
the soundtrack of this game is actually quite alright. nothing i'd listen to outside of the game very often, but i do overall prefere it over the danganronpa ost. though you can easily make an argument for this ost just being a copy or remix of danganronpa's ost.
the ending plot twist was actually what made me like the game. i assumed from the start that yuma was number one, but i always assumed makoto would be the homunculi of kurumi and not yuma, so that was quite the surprise.
shinigami also became less annoying in the last chapter. to be fair, i didn't hate her as much as other people do, but she really lacked some more emotional moments. instead, she was too much fanservice (though pulling the truth blade out of her mouth is so weird that it somehow became funny again). but yeah, she's an annoying bully for most of the time, but her ending redeemed her in my eyes and made me consider that she tried to be an asshole to everyone, so it would be easier for yuma to move on after their pact ended. this might just be my interpretation, but it does make her much more likeable if i view her like this.
overall, chapter 5 was the highlight of the game (as it should be)! the meatbuns, the hommunculi, the rain and the pink blood... honestly, they did well with that! especially the blood thing caught me off guard and upon replaying the game i did notice the difference in chapter 0 with yuma's blood being red when he cuts himself, yet everyone else afterwards being pink. replaying the game helped with finding more small moments to appreciate the game for, but also made its flaws stand out more.
2019
This review contains spoilers
first things first: pretty good game but my god is it overhyped--
i enjoyed my time with this game and there aren't many things i can critized about this game. however there still are a few and i absolutely will go on and complain about them
first things first, that fricking okumura boss fight. if it hadn't been on a time limit, it might've been alright. but it was on a time limit and even if that had been removed, that boss isn't possible first try if you aren't using a guide.
i also wasn't a fan of the wakaba boss fight. it takes way too long to recharge that catapult and i ended up just waiting for like twenty turns, just so i could do damage for like 1-2 turns. this isn't good game design, it's literally just a waiting game.
i have minor complains about some other fights as well. some fights against enemies with no weaknesses took way too long since, you know-- they got no weakness? just putting on rush for them wasn't very fun.
another complain is haru. she is a very sweet girl but she was introduced way too late in the game. and even then, you gotta max out your knowledge to even talk to her? i genuinely think she shouldn't have any requirements after being introduced this late.
now, let's get to what i actually liked about the game.
i really fricking liked kamoshida. he was such a good villain and no other villain could reach his heights again after that. given that he was the first villain of the game, that's kinda sad. but the other villains weren't terrible, just kamoshida was my favourite.
i also like the bad endings in this game. hell, even the good / true endings aren't what i would call a "happy ending". which, i understand, is the point of them. but the bad ending where you give into maruki's reality is by far the best ending in the game. this is the sort of happy ending i would've wanted for the game and knowing it wasn't a good ending at all is just such a gut punch, i love it.
the battle system is really fun as well! it's very fast and i'm happy that it's not just spending time in menus for most of the time.
the ost is great too! i'm easily distracted so i was nervous about vocal songs playing in the background, but it honestly worked very well. some of them even found their way into my everyday playlist. but the instrumental songs are nice too. not all of them (i am looking at you, mementos--) but there are some decent songs! i especially like the song that plays during the last palace in the true ending. an absolute banger!
over all, i really enjoyed my time with persona 5 royal. it was a bit too long for my liking or rather it felt a little too long, due to you not having as much freedom as you have with other jrpgs or open world games, since the entire game is locked to a schedule. and despite it taking me quite a while to beat it and leaving the game multiple times for some months, i finally did it. and i'm glad i did.
persona 5 royal is a pretty good game. it doesn't reinvent anything, but it got a fun battle system, a nice story and some decent characters!
i enjoyed my time with this game and there aren't many things i can critized about this game. however there still are a few and i absolutely will go on and complain about them
first things first, that fricking okumura boss fight. if it hadn't been on a time limit, it might've been alright. but it was on a time limit and even if that had been removed, that boss isn't possible first try if you aren't using a guide.
i also wasn't a fan of the wakaba boss fight. it takes way too long to recharge that catapult and i ended up just waiting for like twenty turns, just so i could do damage for like 1-2 turns. this isn't good game design, it's literally just a waiting game.
i have minor complains about some other fights as well. some fights against enemies with no weaknesses took way too long since, you know-- they got no weakness? just putting on rush for them wasn't very fun.
another complain is haru. she is a very sweet girl but she was introduced way too late in the game. and even then, you gotta max out your knowledge to even talk to her? i genuinely think she shouldn't have any requirements after being introduced this late.
now, let's get to what i actually liked about the game.
i really fricking liked kamoshida. he was such a good villain and no other villain could reach his heights again after that. given that he was the first villain of the game, that's kinda sad. but the other villains weren't terrible, just kamoshida was my favourite.
i also like the bad endings in this game. hell, even the good / true endings aren't what i would call a "happy ending". which, i understand, is the point of them. but the bad ending where you give into maruki's reality is by far the best ending in the game. this is the sort of happy ending i would've wanted for the game and knowing it wasn't a good ending at all is just such a gut punch, i love it.
the battle system is really fun as well! it's very fast and i'm happy that it's not just spending time in menus for most of the time.
the ost is great too! i'm easily distracted so i was nervous about vocal songs playing in the background, but it honestly worked very well. some of them even found their way into my everyday playlist. but the instrumental songs are nice too. not all of them (i am looking at you, mementos--) but there are some decent songs! i especially like the song that plays during the last palace in the true ending. an absolute banger!
over all, i really enjoyed my time with persona 5 royal. it was a bit too long for my liking or rather it felt a little too long, due to you not having as much freedom as you have with other jrpgs or open world games, since the entire game is locked to a schedule. and despite it taking me quite a while to beat it and leaving the game multiple times for some months, i finally did it. and i'm glad i did.
persona 5 royal is a pretty good game. it doesn't reinvent anything, but it got a fun battle system, a nice story and some decent characters!
2023
not sure if i ever was as conflicted about a game as i am with fire emblem: engage...
i bought it day one and had watched a few of the trailers before, so i knew what i was getting myself into. that this game might not be as good as some other fire emblem games, that it would be more "anime".
it's clear that this game is a downgrade from what was fire emblem: three houses.
while three houses voice acted literally every line in the game, engage doesn't do the same. after battle dialouge or the characters reactions to food you cooked for them aren't voiced anymore, which is a shame.
the characters aren't as deep and developed as they were in three houses. they seem very one note, though i didn't bother to get every support conversation and only watched all alear supports and a few others mixed in. speaking of supports, they are-- alright? some of them aren't very good and just boring, while there are a few hidden gems. celine and alcryst have a very sweet and serious set of supports. over all, alcryst seems like one of the better characters in this game, just judging by the supports i saw of him.
the emblem supports are very dissappointing. they each say a line and that's it. i understand that if they did more, it would've been a ton of extra work, but i'd rather not have any supports with emblems than this.
the emblems themselves are fine. they are fun to use in gameplay, but it sucks that you don't have all 12 of them until the very end of the game. i understand that storywise this makes sense, but it sucked to have the one fun part of the game be taken away from me at a certain point.
somniel and all its activities didn't really interest me. the ring gacha mechanic lowkey sucked, simply because it costs way too much to forge an s rank ring. the food thing was alright but i much prefere the three houses version of it. i only did the work outs once and they were too easy and at the point i finally unlocked harder difficulties, i had lost interest in it. fishing wasn't fun either; again, the three houses version was better.
a positive is that you can marry whoever you want, no matter your characters gender. i watched three s supports and honestly, i would've prefered a more explicit "i love you" instead of the "we are allies forever"
the story very much reminded me of awakening and i'm sure i wasn't the only one. though, awakening did it better. especially chapter 11 (i think? maybe 10 or 12 even--) reminded me of a specific awakening map.
the emblem trials were fun at first, but got repetitive after a while. i didn't play every fire emblem game, so not all were equally interesting to me. though i do think they could've picked other maps from the respective games. especially celica's map was a bit underwhelming, but that might just be me.
the soundtrack is pretty decent though. i loved all the solm tracks and the credits songs. the four hounds had a nice theme as well.
speaking of them, they were BY FAR my favourite part of the game. i didn't expect anything from them going into the game and thought they would suck, but i was pleasantly suprised. the last scene griss and zephia share with each other is my favourite in the entire game and it made me very emotional. marni's backstory made me very sad as well, simply because she told it so casually. mauvier is alright too but was the least interesting one from the start (and of course happens to be the only one of the four hounds you can recruit--)
the final boss was very dissappointing. it was not just easy, but i actually expected more when they introduced the villain emblems. but they weren't even voiced, nor did they actually look like their respective characters.
i'm also very upset we never saw the emblem of origin and that we learned of it literally in the last five minutes of the game. i'm worried they might've actually cut that content and decided to put it in the dlc story.
one good thing about the final boss though, is the bad ending. it's one of the cooler scenes of the game and a very nice punch in the face if you actually get it.
overall, i can't help but compare this game to it's predecessor. i know that fire emblem can be better. both three houses and shadows of valentia are such great games, so it hurts to see this game not even get near their level of greatness.
still, i didn't hate my time with the game. yes, it was dissappointing. but there were a few good moments that made it worth it. but i do hope that the next fire emblem game we get actually does better...
i bought it day one and had watched a few of the trailers before, so i knew what i was getting myself into. that this game might not be as good as some other fire emblem games, that it would be more "anime".
it's clear that this game is a downgrade from what was fire emblem: three houses.
while three houses voice acted literally every line in the game, engage doesn't do the same. after battle dialouge or the characters reactions to food you cooked for them aren't voiced anymore, which is a shame.
the characters aren't as deep and developed as they were in three houses. they seem very one note, though i didn't bother to get every support conversation and only watched all alear supports and a few others mixed in. speaking of supports, they are-- alright? some of them aren't very good and just boring, while there are a few hidden gems. celine and alcryst have a very sweet and serious set of supports. over all, alcryst seems like one of the better characters in this game, just judging by the supports i saw of him.
the emblem supports are very dissappointing. they each say a line and that's it. i understand that if they did more, it would've been a ton of extra work, but i'd rather not have any supports with emblems than this.
the emblems themselves are fine. they are fun to use in gameplay, but it sucks that you don't have all 12 of them until the very end of the game. i understand that storywise this makes sense, but it sucked to have the one fun part of the game be taken away from me at a certain point.
somniel and all its activities didn't really interest me. the ring gacha mechanic lowkey sucked, simply because it costs way too much to forge an s rank ring. the food thing was alright but i much prefere the three houses version of it. i only did the work outs once and they were too easy and at the point i finally unlocked harder difficulties, i had lost interest in it. fishing wasn't fun either; again, the three houses version was better.
a positive is that you can marry whoever you want, no matter your characters gender. i watched three s supports and honestly, i would've prefered a more explicit "i love you" instead of the "we are allies forever"
the story very much reminded me of awakening and i'm sure i wasn't the only one. though, awakening did it better. especially chapter 11 (i think? maybe 10 or 12 even--) reminded me of a specific awakening map.
the emblem trials were fun at first, but got repetitive after a while. i didn't play every fire emblem game, so not all were equally interesting to me. though i do think they could've picked other maps from the respective games. especially celica's map was a bit underwhelming, but that might just be me.
the soundtrack is pretty decent though. i loved all the solm tracks and the credits songs. the four hounds had a nice theme as well.
speaking of them, they were BY FAR my favourite part of the game. i didn't expect anything from them going into the game and thought they would suck, but i was pleasantly suprised. the last scene griss and zephia share with each other is my favourite in the entire game and it made me very emotional. marni's backstory made me very sad as well, simply because she told it so casually. mauvier is alright too but was the least interesting one from the start (and of course happens to be the only one of the four hounds you can recruit--)
the final boss was very dissappointing. it was not just easy, but i actually expected more when they introduced the villain emblems. but they weren't even voiced, nor did they actually look like their respective characters.
i'm also very upset we never saw the emblem of origin and that we learned of it literally in the last five minutes of the game. i'm worried they might've actually cut that content and decided to put it in the dlc story.
one good thing about the final boss though, is the bad ending. it's one of the cooler scenes of the game and a very nice punch in the face if you actually get it.
overall, i can't help but compare this game to it's predecessor. i know that fire emblem can be better. both three houses and shadows of valentia are such great games, so it hurts to see this game not even get near their level of greatness.
still, i didn't hate my time with the game. yes, it was dissappointing. but there were a few good moments that made it worth it. but i do hope that the next fire emblem game we get actually does better...
2011
it's a videogame
this isn't a terrible game, but i am mad about some of the decisions made here.
the game could've been amazing if only they changed a few things. making tsubasa the protagonist would've been much more interesting, given that she actually got goals, a backstory and potential, while itsuki is just a very bland person. they could've added some mini games like dancing and singing and that could've been her training.
an english dub would've also done wonders for this game! the songs in that game are amazing and they would've certainly been more iconic if you actually could've sung along. like those songs could've been mire popular than the game itself and get people interested in the game through the music.
the battle system is really fun for a while but gets dull after a while, which is why i ignored battling in the last three dungeons or so and only fought the bosses.
the game could've been amazing if only they changed a few things. making tsubasa the protagonist would've been much more interesting, given that she actually got goals, a backstory and potential, while itsuki is just a very bland person. they could've added some mini games like dancing and singing and that could've been her training.
an english dub would've also done wonders for this game! the songs in that game are amazing and they would've certainly been more iconic if you actually could've sung along. like those songs could've been mire popular than the game itself and get people interested in the game through the music.
the battle system is really fun for a while but gets dull after a while, which is why i ignored battling in the last three dungeons or so and only fought the bosses.
2009
bayonetta is a short and nice game, that you can have fun with for a while and that you can occasionally return to and replay. i believe that is exactly what it was made for. it's rather short and offers different difficulties, so that with each replay of the game you get better. the gameplay was fun, even if i sucked at getting witch time the first few times. the maps are easy to navigate for most of the times and the enemies are fun to fight - most of the time. i tend to 100% a game, but i didn't feel the need for this game. while i had fun with it, i don't think it's a masterpiece or anything. it's not bad either, but it didn't hit me the way other games did. still, the addition of child cereza is the best thing about this game. bayo and cerezas dynamic is very cute and unique and wouldn't have worked in any other game.
2009
i loved this game as a child! probably didn't age very well but i refuse to revisit it and ruin my childhood memories with it!
2016
the game is really good, but has a very slow start. the first 50% of the game are just build up and introducing characters and concepts. the last 50% are an all time high though!