This is about as good as shooter and action games get. Valve took all of the original's strengths and amplified them. I had more fun commanding my bug army than I did my real one, I made sure to honor my bug troops before leaving Nova Prospect. The vehicles also rule, the mud boat and desert car were way cooler than the cringe minecarts in the original. The levels are beautifully designed to reward maximum engagement with all the game's mechanics. I often found myself thinking "I wonder if this stupid shit will work" and then it always did, which is a signifier of a great game.

A very unique and fun experience with a handful of little flaws. This was my first experience with the Star Ocean series, and I'm glad I gave this a shot. I loved all of the characters, the combat was super fun, and the story was engaging for the most part.

I knew I would like it when I saw the trailer and artwork, but I knew I would love it when I opened the menus. This is one of the crunchiest JRPGs I've ever played, next to the Octopath Traveler series and Xenoblade Chronicles series, and this is a good thing. There is SO much customization for your character builds, and a ton of different crafting menus to create new gear. You get 2 level up currencies, one to spend on battle skills that trigger during combat, and another to spend on field skills that add overworld abilities and give stat increases. Figuring out what to specialize each character with was super fun and added a lot to the game. It was overwhelming at first, but once I got used to it I loved it.

The combat rules- it's fast paced and has extremely volatile momentum swings. I played as Rena, and using her in combat was actually pretty enjoyable. She's a healer/support character, but they made it fun to kind of be the taskmaster of your other offensive characters and manage the battle from a distance.

I loved seeing the party members interact in the private actions mode. It reminds me of the Xenoblade Chronicles heart-to-hearts. Each time I progressed in the story, I would check for new cutscenes and back track to watch them all. This really made me fall in love with the cast.

The story is fine, pretty typical for a JRPG. It was good, but was predictable aside from the end of act 1, which was a good twist. My first critique is that I feel like it meandered a lot though, especially in the second act. I had more fun doing side stuff than the main quest, which usually isn't the case for me. Felt a bit like a DnD campaign rather than a tightly-woven narrative in that sense. My second critique is that Rena's route felt a little unpolished. The tournament arc felt like an afterthought and was the least enjoyable part of the game. It felt incomplete, and two party characters addressed me as Claude during this stretch of the game. That took me out of the experience but Rena's story really shines in act 2 which mostly made up for it.

There are some things about this game that are just a little bit annoying, but they stack up. Firstly, combat can end up being shorter than the victory screen, which is annoying if you're in a dungeon packed with enemies. I also wish you could swap equipment in battle, because a lot of end game bosses have immunities that can make a party member useless if they have a specific element on their main weapon. The AI also does not recognize weaknesses very well, and I once had to tell Claude to run around and do nothing so that the rest of the party could beat something that absorbed fire without him negating our damage. The last annoying thing is that the final boss is insanely difficult, and I cheesed the fuck out of the last two fights with bloody armor and healing spam. Felt a little anticlimactic, but it basically required immunities I didn't have.

Overall this is an extremely good JRPG, and any fans of the genre should play it. I had a great time with this game, and I will definitely come back and play it again as Claude in the future.

A little too easy, but a fun experience. It was nice to revisit this game with a fresh coat of paint, I loved this series as a kid. I really like each of the different worlds, the space one is my favorite but they all feel unique and have fun gimmicks. I enjoyed going for all the collectibles, I got all of the letters and mazes in every level. I also enjoyed how the mazes reflected the gimmicks in each of the worlds, that kept things interesting. The music was unexpectedly banging as well.

I do think this was too easy. I remember the original being much more challenging, but I was also like 7 when I played it so who knows. I also ran into more than a few invisible walls and guard rails, which kind of took away from the experience. Coming from Pseudoregalia recently, going where I wasn't supposed to is something the game assumes I will do and rewards me for it, but here it kinda forbids that- which mostly makes sense, but felt disappointing when I eyed a potential shortcut and was denied that chance.

If you enjoyed this series back in the day, definitely pick this up on sale. It's a pretty faithful remake, and a lot of fun for what it is

Wanted to like this game based on the awesome spritework and environment design, but there just isn't much to keep you engaged. The overworld looks amazing, the cities are bustling and there are interesting locations in each of them, but the game largely takes place underground, which is quite bland aside from the underground encampment. Seems like an unforced error to me. Story is vaguely interesting, but the gameplay is not great. The combat is pretty bland, there's 3 weapon types and a whole host of unlockable combo moves, but you don't need any of it besides the light weapon and the upgrade the game gives you for free. There's a crafting system that doesn't add anything of value to the experience, and I wasn't ever sure what I should do with all the money and junk I picked up along the way- because I didn't need any new gear, and the game makes healing items plentiful. The upgrade tree also feels a little out of place. You don't get to use it that often, so it feels like each choice should make a big impact, but it didn't really feel that way. Unironically the best part about this game is the Jill Stingray cameo. There are some interesting elements here but they feel diluted. This game feels like the halfway point between a mystery game and a beat-em-up, while failing at what makes both of those genres fun. Points for making an interesting world with cool art, but I am not compelled to finish out the game

This game was fascinating. The strongest part was the platforming. Sybil feels great to control and mastering each of her abilities was really fun. The level design is excellent, encouraging you to use your movement abilities in unconventional ways to access new areas. I love trying to get to areas I "shouldn't" go in 3D platformers, and the level design rewards you for seeking out those places.

The artwork is great, I love the early 3D art design. Paired with the somber music and cryptic and sparse storytelling, this makes for an extremely haunting experience in the best possible way. It's a pretty lonely journey, but it's nice. The ending was really touching, and realizing what Sybil's goal is was kind of bittersweet. As a side note, some of the areas (Underbelly in particular) reminded me of Pac Man World 3, which was one of my favorite games as a kid.

About 25% of my playtime was the same stretch that I was stuck on before I realized you could backflip out of the long jump, and I did a ton of needless backtracking before I realized this. I wish they were more clear about that and made you figure it out in the tutorial area for that ability. I'm glad I played after the map update though, I don't think I would've finished without it. At first I wished the map was more detailed, but now I don't really think so. It gives you enough to go on, and the areas are interconnected enough that it's not too hard to do a quick comb and see what you missed. I do wish you could view the map for every area at once, not just the one you're in.

Overall this is a really fun and compelling experience, definitely recommend checking it out especially for the price.

After playing this I fully understand why it's a first ballot JRPG hall of famer. The storytelling is fantastic and tightly-woven, combat is incredibly fun and offers the chance for so many possible strategies, and the music/artwork heightens the already great experience into an amazing one. The fact that they were doing this shit in 1995 makes this even crazier. How it took everyone else so long to have bench leveling and remove random encounters in their JRPGs is beyond me. There's absolutely no padding to this game, each part of the game is fun and meaningful.

The story is killer. I love each of the characters so much that I'm not sure I could pick a favorite. Their personalities show in the writing and the spritework and it made the adventure that much more charming. Doing all the side quests right before the end was some of the most fun I've had in an RPG ever. This is really where the interaction between party members stood out. I didn't use Robo or Lucca too much until late game but after seeing them take the spotlight in some of these side quests, I used them way more often and really appreciate their characters way more. I wish the whole game had that level of party interaction, but it's just fine without it. At the present I have not gone for all of the alternate endings, but if I find myself wanting to return to the game, I think I will.

Getting to explore the world and uncover all its secrets was also very cool. The way the time-traveling storyline wove together the different maps and different characters was awesome. There were big, obvious connections, but also small, hidden ones that you only found if you looked. Every detail was meticulously planned out, which I admire a ton

Since there was no need to grind, and bench characters gained xp, I was trying all sorts of party combinations to tackle different problems. The Tech system is so sick, and it was cool to see what each character combination's Dual and Triple Techs would do. I loved how the combat was conscious of space too, and rewarded you for choosing attacks that beat certain enemy formations.

In terms of old games, it doesn't get much better than this- and it's better than a lot of newer stuff too. If you're even considering playing this game, I highly recommend trying it.