What Games Are You Playing?
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Lucky_Deity
Stand User
It's been a while since I've properly posted on this thread so I need to go back some months on some of these as I never talked about them.
Pokemon Scarlet - The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero Part 2: The Indigo Disk + Epilogue: Mochi Mayhem (DLC) (Switch)
I found both of these very enjoyable, with new areas to explore, new characters and stories as well as new and returning Pokemon there was a lot to do here.
There will be story spoilers going forward.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (PS5) (Full Thoughts)
In my original post about this game I said I'd share my full thoughts at a later date so here they are.
This is honestly one of the best games I have ever played period. It's the sort of game you just feel like shouldn't exist, especially in this current era of gaming. Like I'm not sure how to describe it but it feels like a game and isn't ashamed of it if that makes sense.
There will be major spoilers ahead, for both this game and any other game from the FF7 universe.
Final Fantasy XVI: The Rising Tide (DLC) (PS5)
FF fans are eating good these days, finished Rebirth not long ago and now we're back with new FF16 content.
It was great to jump back into the world of FF16 and this was a solid DLC.
There may be story spoilers ahead.
I've been typing for so long, look at the time
woops. I guess I really did have a lot to say, even if it can be all over the place. I'm no game reviewer 
but I'm passionate about what I love, props to anyone who reads through it all.
Note: I'll fix the typos soon enough.
Pokemon Scarlet - The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero Part 2: The Indigo Disk + Epilogue: Mochi Mayhem (DLC) (Switch)
I found both of these very enjoyable, with new areas to explore, new characters and stories as well as new and returning Pokemon there was a lot to do here.
There will be story spoilers going forward.
Starting with the first half of The Indigo Disk we visit the Blueberry Academy, located in the Unova region in the middle of the ocean. The academy features a huge terranium under said ocean which is the main new area for this DLC, split into four artifically made biomes it gives home to a lot of varied types of Pokemon.
Compared to The Teal Mask's Kitakami, this wasn't as interesting an area IMO but it was still a joy to explore and has some nice throwbacks to areas from Gen 5 which fans will appreciate.
What this area does excel in though is that we actually get some decently challenging battles unlike the main game with a lot of focus on double battles. It was nice having to use some strategy here and there though these aren't brutal by any means but an appreciated improvement from what we've had.
Story wise we continue with the character Kieran who we met in Part 1 who is now in his edgy rival arc and is now the Champion of Blueberry's Elite 4 (until you beat him and them of course). The Elite 4 members (who are all students of the academy as well) are all fun characters as well with some fun personalities. That basically covers the story for the first half of the DLC, it's just battles really which is fine as gameplay was the focus here and the real story content starts in the second half.
The second half of the story see's you (and Kieran) return to Area Zero from the end of the main game in which we get access to an even lower portion of the crater, down in the crystalline caves where the Terrastal phenomen originates and the Pokemon responsible for it which is the new Legendary PKMM, Terapagos which is a cute enough little fella.
The highlights of this area is that after being sick of **** basically Kieren catches Terapagos so he has a PKMN that can finally beat you which of course doesn't last for long, even breaking the ball it was captured in which ends in the longest Tera Raid battle yet which was a fairly fun challenge (though I didn't have much trouble) and during this battle is when Kieren is having an existential crisis from constantly losing but by the later half of the battle he comes around.
The second highlight is that you find out you were the one who originally gave the Scarlet Book to the Prof. Sada of the past during an event if you return to the top of the mountain in Kitakami, causing her to build the time machine which lead to the events of Scarlet, making this a paradox which is a very fitting revelation for this game and further gives some lore to the Paradox PKMN in a way I guess.
I will say though it still felt a lot was unanswered from the main game during the events of Area Zero. I'm not against leaving certain things a mystery or to your own interpretation but I do wish we got some more solid answers. But on the flipside it is fun to theorize on said questions still but I still wish it had a bit more, at least I expected a bit more.
Finally onto the epilogue which released a little later, now this was a lot of fun and is the equivalent to say a fun episode of the anime which doesn't take itself to seriously, a bit of a slice of life episode really.
You, Nemona, Penny and Arven take a trip back to Kitakami and meet up with Kieren and Carmine for a vacation of sorts and this leads to a lot of fun interactions as this was the first time your friends from Paldea meet with your friends from Kitakami. After some laughs you and Kieren notice your friends as well as the residenta of Kitakami start acting weird, they all start dancing and talking about Mochi. You discover this is the work of the new Mythical PKMN, Pecharunt who have influenced your friends and the townsfolk with its mochi. There are some funny cut-scenes involving this and by the end your beat and catch Pecharunt and everything turns back to normal.
Overall this was a lovely fun send-off for the game and though the game has many problems on the technical side I still had so much fun with this entry and is a shame we're not getting anymore as they really hit it with something great on the character interactions and dynamics side and wish we had more of these slice of life / comedy style plots.
Compared to The Teal Mask's Kitakami, this wasn't as interesting an area IMO but it was still a joy to explore and has some nice throwbacks to areas from Gen 5 which fans will appreciate.
What this area does excel in though is that we actually get some decently challenging battles unlike the main game with a lot of focus on double battles. It was nice having to use some strategy here and there though these aren't brutal by any means but an appreciated improvement from what we've had.
Story wise we continue with the character Kieran who we met in Part 1 who is now in his edgy rival arc and is now the Champion of Blueberry's Elite 4 (until you beat him and them of course). The Elite 4 members (who are all students of the academy as well) are all fun characters as well with some fun personalities. That basically covers the story for the first half of the DLC, it's just battles really which is fine as gameplay was the focus here and the real story content starts in the second half.
The second half of the story see's you (and Kieran) return to Area Zero from the end of the main game in which we get access to an even lower portion of the crater, down in the crystalline caves where the Terrastal phenomen originates and the Pokemon responsible for it which is the new Legendary PKMM, Terapagos which is a cute enough little fella.
The highlights of this area is that after being sick of **** basically Kieren catches Terapagos so he has a PKMN that can finally beat you which of course doesn't last for long, even breaking the ball it was captured in which ends in the longest Tera Raid battle yet which was a fairly fun challenge (though I didn't have much trouble) and during this battle is when Kieren is having an existential crisis from constantly losing but by the later half of the battle he comes around.
The second highlight is that you find out you were the one who originally gave the Scarlet Book to the Prof. Sada of the past during an event if you return to the top of the mountain in Kitakami, causing her to build the time machine which lead to the events of Scarlet, making this a paradox which is a very fitting revelation for this game and further gives some lore to the Paradox PKMN in a way I guess.
I will say though it still felt a lot was unanswered from the main game during the events of Area Zero. I'm not against leaving certain things a mystery or to your own interpretation but I do wish we got some more solid answers. But on the flipside it is fun to theorize on said questions still but I still wish it had a bit more, at least I expected a bit more.
Finally onto the epilogue which released a little later, now this was a lot of fun and is the equivalent to say a fun episode of the anime which doesn't take itself to seriously, a bit of a slice of life episode really.
You, Nemona, Penny and Arven take a trip back to Kitakami and meet up with Kieren and Carmine for a vacation of sorts and this leads to a lot of fun interactions as this was the first time your friends from Paldea meet with your friends from Kitakami. After some laughs you and Kieren notice your friends as well as the residenta of Kitakami start acting weird, they all start dancing and talking about Mochi. You discover this is the work of the new Mythical PKMN, Pecharunt who have influenced your friends and the townsfolk with its mochi. There are some funny cut-scenes involving this and by the end your beat and catch Pecharunt and everything turns back to normal.
Overall this was a lovely fun send-off for the game and though the game has many problems on the technical side I still had so much fun with this entry and is a shame we're not getting anymore as they really hit it with something great on the character interactions and dynamics side and wish we had more of these slice of life / comedy style plots.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (PS5) (Full Thoughts)
In my original post about this game I said I'd share my full thoughts at a later date so here they are.
This is honestly one of the best games I have ever played period. It's the sort of game you just feel like shouldn't exist, especially in this current era of gaming. Like I'm not sure how to describe it but it feels like a game and isn't ashamed of it if that makes sense.
There will be major spoilers ahead, for both this game and any other game from the FF7 universe.
I guess as a bit of backstory my first experience with the FF7 universe was with Advent Children when I was teen, I adored the movie despite not really knowing what the hell was going on but it was so cool to me. Of course over the years I already knew about the two major deaths of the series, Aerith and Zack, just without the context (I mean I knew Sephiroth killed Aerith but that was all) and I'd played a tiny bit of Dirge of Cerberus (a game I've still never beaten nor remember much from the little I played) but outside of that it wasn't until I finally played FF7 Remake a few years ago that I really got into the world of FF7 and have adored it ever since. FF7 Remake is an amazing game and I still rate it very highly though will be interesting to go back to after Rebirth.
After that I moved onto Crisis Core Reunion which wasn't that long ago and it was great to finally see what Zack was all about and I fully understood why people love him and though I knew he'd die at the end, that ending battle and scene brought me to tears regardless.
Afterwards I was unsure what to do, do I wait and go into Rebirth blind or do I play the OG FF7 as I really enjoyed Remake not knowing what the actual plot of FF7 even was but I decided to play the original in the end and I'm really glad I did as I think it further improved my experience with Rebirth as well as improved how I felt about Remake as well as made me realise the flaws of Crisis Core and Advent Children (I hate that Genesis is present at the Nibelheim reactor in CC) and of course FF7 is a fantastic game by itself. I did also re-watch AC before Rebirth, didn't enjoy it as much as I did when I was younger as the plot is pretty weak but the action scenes and music are still top notch, I can't hate the movie.
Now onto Rebirth itself, where to start.
Gameplay - This is definitely my favourite combat system for a FF game, I'm already a fan of action games so the remake series not being turn-based hasn't been an issue for me personally. Though mostly the same as Remake, it has definitely been improved upon and once you adjust it feels great and of course the more abilities and materia you acquire the better it gets.
Starting with Cloud I really like that they have added a ranged attack into his default move-set as considering you play as him for the majority of the game it can be a real issue when you're stuck against an airborne enemy and may not have the equipment / abilities / party members to deal with them as easily.
Barrett feels mostly unchanged though I didn't use him much in Remake tbf but after spending more time with him in Rebirth I've really come around to his playstyle and he definitely does feel better overall.
Tifa again is mostly unchanged and was my favourite to use in Remake, she continues to have great abilities and can be a powerhouse. Due to some other characters I haven't used her as much in Rebirth but is a fantastic option still.
Aerith like in Remake I feel starts off not the strongest but once you build her up she is a fantastic character and you want her in your team at most times. This time around some of her abilities from Remake are baked in to her default move-set which worked well. I don't have much to say about her apart from put the time and effort in as it'll be worth it.
Yuffie is such a fun character to use, I enjoyed playing as her in Intergrade but due to the short time of the DLC I never got the chance to fully experiment with her gameplay but that has been rectified in Rebirth. Being a mix of a melee and ranged fighter she works great in any situation and being able to change her magic type for her ninjutsu further adds to that. I personally used her as a ranged attacker more and was one of the most common party members I used in my playthrough.
Red XIII was my biggest surprise as prior to this I was curious how'd they make a four legged animal playable in this sort of game (though we got a glimpse with non-playable Red in Remake). I really enjoyed his defence styled gameplay which I didn't think I'd be a fan of but I really came around to it very quickly. He also just feels like he powers through enemies being one of the quickest enemy killers and getting that stagger bar up fast. With Cloud and Yuffie he was the other I used the most.
Cait Sith is the odd ball, I really think I just need to spend more time with him and really learn his gameplay style as though I was starting to get some cools things out of him it wasn't really clicking with me. Like Aerith I think once I have the right materia and the like and learnt what moves to use in what situations he could possibly become quite a broken character (like in OG FF7). Definitely my least used character and really only used him when I had to or to get his weapon abilities.
Story - Picking up from Remake we jump straight into playing as Zack for a short section which was a pleasent surprise as I expected the Nibelheim flashback from the demo to be the opening segment and honestly just the fact that Zack was playable at all brought a giddy smile to my face. Though after this we don't see anymore of Zack and his world for a very long time in-game but once you do it picks up and appears more frequently but not so much it keeps interupting the main plot. These Zack portions of course are brand new and not present in the original game and because of that these were the most intriguing, especially the more we get to the endgame.
But jumping back to the main plot we get the Nibelheim flashback which is a great section and from there we cover all the way up until the end of Disc 1 of the original. This covers Kalm, the Mythril Mines, Junon, Costa del Sol, Corel, the Golden Saucer (and below), Gongaga, Cosmo Canyon, Nibelheim, the Temple of the Ancients and the Forgotten Capital. Areas the game doesn't include which you could access during this section in the original are Fort Condor, Bone Village, Rocket Town and Wutai but it's very clear these are being saved until Part 3 so it doesn't take away for me personally as I know they'll do them justice.
Some notable new additions to the story though start with Gongaga which has been very much fleshed out. This includes the appearance of the Crisis Core character Cissnei which was nice to see her again and adding new story events to the reactor in that area which ends with Tifa entering the lifestream which was a very interesting scene. The majority of the new additions though happen with during the final few chapters, which involves a lot of Zack related stuff, the multiverse and the infamous Aerith death scene. At first I was quite lost on what the hell was going on but after looking back and re-watching the scenes multiple times I have a much better idea now but there is still a lot left which we don't have answers for. I know the ending has been very divisive and I can see why but personally I still liked it a lot and am intrigued by the direction they are going in. It still left me in tears so the impact of the original was still there, much more so with how much more development and time we've got to spend with the characters, Aerith especially, she is so precious. I also think whatever happens in Part 3 will likely change how this ending is viewed, for better or worse so only time will tell.
Characters - As an extension of the story the characters are all great for the most part, I don't have many complaints. Their interactions and friendships with each other is part of the driving force of why I love this game so much, whatever they do together is a joy to see. As mentioned above Aerith is my highlight of the remake series but Barrett is easily a close second to me. All the characters from Remake and Intergrade continue to be fantastic though but those two always stand out.
With the characters introduced with Rebirth though we start with the two-faced Scottish robo-cat, Cait Sith. Though he is charming you always know he's hiding something but they have definitely toned him down from being as much of an ass as he was in the original (and that won't be the last time this happens with a character). Due to him appearing a bit later in the game and not really being present for side quests he doesn't get as much time to develop and bond with compared to the others but again once we have Part 3 we'll get to know him more but so far I like what we have.
Next is Cid, the most divisive character so far, now I definitely don't dislike him and we haven't seen much of his story at all due to no Rocket Town yet so I'll wait until Part 3 before any decisive feelings but he is definitley much different than before as in the original he was a bastard to put it bluntly, in Rebirth he is a much more nicer of a person and is unfortately missing his iconic cigarette (I'm no smoker and it's unhealthy I know but it's iconic here).
Now we have the man who just oozes edgy and cool, Vincent Valentine. Meeting him in his iconic coffin in the Shinra Mansion as always, you can't not love him. What really surprised me is the boss fight against him, one of the best additions to Rebirth and I can not wait to see how that comes into play when he is playable in Part 3. Like with Cid he doesn't have a lot of screentime in Rebirth but he definitely got more to do than Cid, even being a part of the Queen's Blood storyline which was fun. Now he is integrated into the main story unlike the original where he was optional I can't wait to see how his story will be expanded upon in the future, especially with how much love the other optional character of the original, Yuffie, got in Intergrade and Rebirth. And with Intergrade already introducing Deepground which was the focus of Dirge of Cerberus (Vincent's game) I fully expect for him to be involved with that in some way, maybe even adapting the events of DoC somewhat, despite Rebirth taking place a few years before DoC, though I don't think many people would mind if that game got retconned. I'd also take a DoC remake in the future and making it an actual good game.
World - The World of Rebirth is beautiful, so many iconic areas have been remade and expanded upon lovingly. The game is split up into regions which are open world areas with a huge number of things to do in each. Outside of the main story quests all the side content in these areas help fill out the World Intel which Chadley requests of you and due to how much I loved this game I did absolutely everything I could to max out the world Intel and got to explore every nook and cranny of this world. The side quests as well are all fantastic, you may get the odd one which isn't anything special but the majority add so much to the world and characters. I was surprised as to some of the stuff you'd only find out by doing these side quests as they're really notable to the world and story which makes these even better, you're getting worthwhile lore and the like out of these.
My most surprising part of this game though was once you leave Nibelheim in the Tiny Bronco you get the scene where it crashes and turns in a boat, you find out the game is actually fully open world and you can travel across the entire ocean to anywhere on the map, a true world map like the original. Playing it I knew some regions were connected such as the Grasslands and Junon and Corel and Gongaga but the fact you can seamlessly travel between them all was outstanding and makes me very excited for Part 3 when we get the rest of the world and the Highwind.
Music - OMG the music is this game is a masterpiece, the amount of the music in this game is crazy, from the new renditions of tracks you'd expect to new pieces and then pieces which were made for the smallest of sections, they didn't slack at all. Some of my favourite tracks would have to be the beach area of Corel with the ziplines, Kalm, the trip up Mt. Corel, Gongaga, the renditions of The Price of Freedom and the main theme of this game which Aerith sings during the Loveless performance.
Queen's Blood - I briefly mentioned this earlier but one of the major side quests in this game is the new card game introduced in Rebirth, Queen's Blood. What Queen's Blood is, is thar you have a board (somewhat like a chess board) which has three rows and with your cards you need to get the most points on the rows to win. A simple concept which as you get further into it the more layers which are added. Now when I was first saw this I kind of dreaded it as I always struggle to learn new card games and seeing that this was going to be a quest line and knowing I'd want to do everything in this game before I got it, I was ready for a slog but once I picked it up, I fell in love with it and is basically an entire second game within this already massive game. I'd easily take a standalone title of this in the future, it's very addicting and did almost every match in the game (apart from the last optional game in the Golden Saucer, I can't beat it). Definitely another highlight of this game and the plot was pretty cool as well surrounding it.
Mini-Games - This is partly what I meant when I said this game feels like a game. So many of these just seem like silly things other games would see as a waste to include and though they aren't all great (some are very frustrating when going for the high rank scores) a lot were actually really solid and kept things interesting, changing things up keeping the game constantly fresh. And there is a lot of mini-games which I know not everyone will enjoy but I just love that you can see the developers had a lot of fun coming up with some of these and intrigued as to what they'll cook up for Part 3 (the Golden Saucer is already teasing the snowboarding).
Overall Thoughts - I know there is a lot I still I didn't touch on but I think I coverered all the main points and if there is anything to take away from this, is that there you'll get a lot of game for your buck with this title, one of the most content rich games on the market which is for the most part all fun to do (at least I think so).
I loved this game though from start to finish and I haven't stopped thinking about it ever since. Part 3 can't come soon enough. This is easily in my top three games of all time now.
After that I moved onto Crisis Core Reunion which wasn't that long ago and it was great to finally see what Zack was all about and I fully understood why people love him and though I knew he'd die at the end, that ending battle and scene brought me to tears regardless.
Afterwards I was unsure what to do, do I wait and go into Rebirth blind or do I play the OG FF7 as I really enjoyed Remake not knowing what the actual plot of FF7 even was but I decided to play the original in the end and I'm really glad I did as I think it further improved my experience with Rebirth as well as improved how I felt about Remake as well as made me realise the flaws of Crisis Core and Advent Children (I hate that Genesis is present at the Nibelheim reactor in CC
) and of course FF7 is a fantastic game by itself. I did also re-watch AC before Rebirth, didn't enjoy it as much as I did when I was younger as the plot is pretty weak but the action scenes and music are still top notch, I can't hate the movie.Now onto Rebirth itself, where to start.
Gameplay - This is definitely my favourite combat system for a FF game, I'm already a fan of action games so the remake series not being turn-based hasn't been an issue for me personally. Though mostly the same as Remake, it has definitely been improved upon and once you adjust it feels great and of course the more abilities and materia you acquire the better it gets.
Starting with Cloud I really like that they have added a ranged attack into his default move-set as considering you play as him for the majority of the game it can be a real issue when you're stuck against an airborne enemy and may not have the equipment / abilities / party members to deal with them as easily.
Barrett feels mostly unchanged though I didn't use him much in Remake tbf but after spending more time with him in Rebirth I've really come around to his playstyle and he definitely does feel better overall.
Tifa again is mostly unchanged and was my favourite to use in Remake, she continues to have great abilities and can be a powerhouse. Due to some other characters I haven't used her as much in Rebirth but is a fantastic option still.
Aerith like in Remake I feel starts off not the strongest but once you build her up she is a fantastic character and you want her in your team at most times. This time around some of her abilities from Remake are baked in to her default move-set which worked well. I don't have much to say about her apart from put the time and effort in as it'll be worth it.
Yuffie is such a fun character to use, I enjoyed playing as her in Intergrade but due to the short time of the DLC I never got the chance to fully experiment with her gameplay but that has been rectified in Rebirth. Being a mix of a melee and ranged fighter she works great in any situation and being able to change her magic type for her ninjutsu further adds to that. I personally used her as a ranged attacker more and was one of the most common party members I used in my playthrough.
Red XIII was my biggest surprise as prior to this I was curious how'd they make a four legged animal playable in this sort of game (though we got a glimpse with non-playable Red in Remake). I really enjoyed his defence styled gameplay which I didn't think I'd be a fan of but I really came around to it very quickly. He also just feels like he powers through enemies being one of the quickest enemy killers and getting that stagger bar up fast. With Cloud and Yuffie he was the other I used the most.
Cait Sith is the odd ball, I really think I just need to spend more time with him and really learn his gameplay style as though I was starting to get some cools things out of him it wasn't really clicking with me. Like Aerith I think once I have the right materia and the like and learnt what moves to use in what situations he could possibly become quite a broken character (like in OG FF7). Definitely my least used character and really only used him when I had to or to get his weapon abilities.
Story - Picking up from Remake we jump straight into playing as Zack for a short section which was a pleasent surprise as I expected the Nibelheim flashback from the demo to be the opening segment and honestly just the fact that Zack was playable at all brought a giddy smile to my face. Though after this we don't see anymore of Zack and his world for a very long time in-game but once you do it picks up and appears more frequently but not so much it keeps interupting the main plot. These Zack portions of course are brand new and not present in the original game and because of that these were the most intriguing, especially the more we get to the endgame.
But jumping back to the main plot we get the Nibelheim flashback which is a great section and from there we cover all the way up until the end of Disc 1 of the original. This covers Kalm, the Mythril Mines, Junon, Costa del Sol, Corel, the Golden Saucer (and below), Gongaga, Cosmo Canyon, Nibelheim, the Temple of the Ancients and the Forgotten Capital. Areas the game doesn't include which you could access during this section in the original are Fort Condor, Bone Village, Rocket Town and Wutai but it's very clear these are being saved until Part 3 so it doesn't take away for me personally as I know they'll do them justice.
Some notable new additions to the story though start with Gongaga which has been very much fleshed out. This includes the appearance of the Crisis Core character Cissnei which was nice to see her again and adding new story events to the reactor in that area which ends with Tifa entering the lifestream which was a very interesting scene. The majority of the new additions though happen with during the final few chapters, which involves a lot of Zack related stuff, the multiverse and the infamous Aerith death scene. At first I was quite lost on what the hell was going on but after looking back and re-watching the scenes multiple times I have a much better idea now but there is still a lot left which we don't have answers for. I know the ending has been very divisive and I can see why but personally I still liked it a lot and am intrigued by the direction they are going in. It still left me in tears so the impact of the original was still there, much more so with how much more development and time we've got to spend with the characters, Aerith especially, she is so precious. I also think whatever happens in Part 3 will likely change how this ending is viewed, for better or worse so only time will tell.
Characters - As an extension of the story the characters are all great for the most part, I don't have many complaints. Their interactions and friendships with each other is part of the driving force of why I love this game so much, whatever they do together is a joy to see. As mentioned above Aerith is my highlight of the remake series but Barrett is easily a close second to me. All the characters from Remake and Intergrade continue to be fantastic though but those two always stand out.
With the characters introduced with Rebirth though we start with the two-faced Scottish robo-cat, Cait Sith. Though he is charming you always know he's hiding something but they have definitely toned him down from being as much of an ass as he was in the original (and that won't be the last time this happens with a character). Due to him appearing a bit later in the game and not really being present for side quests he doesn't get as much time to develop and bond with compared to the others but again once we have Part 3 we'll get to know him more but so far I like what we have.
Next is Cid, the most divisive character so far, now I definitely don't dislike him and we haven't seen much of his story at all due to no Rocket Town yet so I'll wait until Part 3 before any decisive feelings but he is definitley much different than before as in the original he was a bastard to put it bluntly, in Rebirth he is a much more nicer of a person and is unfortately missing his iconic cigarette (I'm no smoker and it's unhealthy I know but it's iconic here).
Now we have the man who just oozes edgy and cool, Vincent Valentine. Meeting him in his iconic coffin in the Shinra Mansion as always, you can't not love him. What really surprised me is the boss fight against him, one of the best additions to Rebirth and I can not wait to see how that comes into play when he is playable in Part 3. Like with Cid he doesn't have a lot of screentime in Rebirth but he definitely got more to do than Cid, even being a part of the Queen's Blood storyline which was fun. Now he is integrated into the main story unlike the original where he was optional I can't wait to see how his story will be expanded upon in the future, especially with how much love the other optional character of the original, Yuffie, got in Intergrade and Rebirth. And with Intergrade already introducing Deepground which was the focus of Dirge of Cerberus (Vincent's game) I fully expect for him to be involved with that in some way, maybe even adapting the events of DoC somewhat, despite Rebirth taking place a few years before DoC, though I don't think many people would mind if that game got retconned. I'd also take a DoC remake in the future and making it an actual good game.
World - The World of Rebirth is beautiful, so many iconic areas have been remade and expanded upon lovingly. The game is split up into regions which are open world areas with a huge number of things to do in each. Outside of the main story quests all the side content in these areas help fill out the World Intel which Chadley requests of you and due to how much I loved this game I did absolutely everything I could to max out the world Intel and got to explore every nook and cranny of this world. The side quests as well are all fantastic, you may get the odd one which isn't anything special but the majority add so much to the world and characters. I was surprised as to some of the stuff you'd only find out by doing these side quests as they're really notable to the world and story which makes these even better, you're getting worthwhile lore and the like out of these.
My most surprising part of this game though was once you leave Nibelheim in the Tiny Bronco you get the scene where it crashes and turns in a boat, you find out the game is actually fully open world and you can travel across the entire ocean to anywhere on the map, a true world map like the original. Playing it I knew some regions were connected such as the Grasslands and Junon and Corel and Gongaga but the fact you can seamlessly travel between them all was outstanding and makes me very excited for Part 3 when we get the rest of the world and the Highwind.
Music - OMG the music is this game is a masterpiece, the amount of the music in this game is crazy, from the new renditions of tracks you'd expect to new pieces and then pieces which were made for the smallest of sections, they didn't slack at all. Some of my favourite tracks would have to be the beach area of Corel with the ziplines, Kalm, the trip up Mt. Corel, Gongaga, the renditions of The Price of Freedom and the main theme of this game which Aerith sings during the Loveless performance.
Queen's Blood - I briefly mentioned this earlier but one of the major side quests in this game is the new card game introduced in Rebirth, Queen's Blood. What Queen's Blood is, is thar you have a board (somewhat like a chess board) which has three rows and with your cards you need to get the most points on the rows to win. A simple concept which as you get further into it the more layers which are added. Now when I was first saw this I kind of dreaded it as I always struggle to learn new card games and seeing that this was going to be a quest line and knowing I'd want to do everything in this game before I got it, I was ready for a slog but once I picked it up, I fell in love with it and is basically an entire second game within this already massive game. I'd easily take a standalone title of this in the future, it's very addicting and did almost every match in the game (apart from the last optional game in the Golden Saucer, I can't beat it
). Definitely another highlight of this game and the plot was pretty cool as well surrounding it.Mini-Games - This is partly what I meant when I said this game feels like a game. So many of these just seem like silly things other games would see as a waste to include and though they aren't all great (some are very frustrating when going for the high rank scores) a lot were actually really solid and kept things interesting, changing things up keeping the game constantly fresh. And there is a lot of mini-games which I know not everyone will enjoy but I just love that you can see the developers had a lot of fun coming up with some of these and intrigued as to what they'll cook up for Part 3 (the Golden Saucer is already teasing the snowboarding).
Overall Thoughts - I know there is a lot I still I didn't touch on but I think I coverered all the main points and if there is anything to take away from this, is that there you'll get a lot of game for your buck with this title, one of the most content rich games on the market which is for the most part all fun to do (at least I think so).
I loved this game though from start to finish and I haven't stopped thinking about it ever since. Part 3 can't come soon enough. This is easily in my top three games of all time now.
Final Fantasy XVI: The Rising Tide (DLC) (PS5)
FF fans are eating good these days, finished Rebirth not long ago and now we're back with new FF16 content.
It was great to jump back into the world of FF16 and this was a solid DLC.
There may be story spoilers ahead.
Taking place in the land of Mysidia we finally get to see blue sky again and battle the Eikon Levithan.
Before getting onto Leviathan, the smaller bosses of this DLC were some really fun fights with some interesting ways of going about them. If I was to describe it you can feel the FF14 seeping into 16 which makes for some cool fights. Now with Leviathan this was a pretty fun fight, it doesn't reach the heights of Titan or Bahamut but a solid fight overall though the DPS check on the shield was very tight, I failed like five times before breaking it and even then it was a very close call, I guess that took some of the momentum away from the fight. Still though I'm glad we got the Leviathan fight we'd all hoped for.
For the new abilites, Leviathan's Eikon abilities are pretty sweet with one of the abilites turning the game into a third-person shooter of sorts for a short period in battle. I need to spend more time with these but some solid abilities.
Once you finish the DLC and return to the Hideaway, if you interact with the giant stone you unlock another set of abilities, those being Ultima's, now I've only used them in the tutorial provided but these feel pretty broken in a fun way (thus being locked behind endgame DLC) but will be interesting to see how they function during a playthrough. I'll do a FF Mode playthrough someday.
The land of Mysidia is beautiful btw but I think I've been spoiled by Rebirth with how much more explorable that game is compared to 16 as I just want to explore every nook and cranny of Mysidia.
Story wise, it had some pretty interesting new lore which was appreciated but is quite standalone as well (like the first DLC) which is probably a good thing and the intention not to take away from the main story or make it feel like the main story is missing an important element without the DLC so no complaints on that front.
But overall this was a nice extra story and was great to visit the world of FF16 and spend time with Clive and the others. FF16 has been a great time and loved nearly every moment of it.
Before getting onto Leviathan, the smaller bosses of this DLC were some really fun fights with some interesting ways of going about them. If I was to describe it you can feel the FF14 seeping into 16 which makes for some cool fights. Now with Leviathan this was a pretty fun fight, it doesn't reach the heights of Titan or Bahamut but a solid fight overall though the DPS check on the shield was very tight, I failed like five times before breaking it and even then it was a very close call, I guess that took some of the momentum away from the fight. Still though I'm glad we got the Leviathan fight we'd all hoped for.
For the new abilites, Leviathan's Eikon abilities are pretty sweet with one of the abilites turning the game into a third-person shooter of sorts for a short period in battle. I need to spend more time with these but some solid abilities.
Once you finish the DLC and return to the Hideaway, if you interact with the giant stone you unlock another set of abilities, those being Ultima's, now I've only used them in the tutorial provided but these feel pretty broken in a fun way (thus being locked behind endgame DLC) but will be interesting to see how they function during a playthrough. I'll do a FF Mode playthrough someday.
The land of Mysidia is beautiful btw but I think I've been spoiled by Rebirth with how much more explorable that game is compared to 16 as I just want to explore every nook and cranny of Mysidia.
Story wise, it had some pretty interesting new lore which was appreciated but is quite standalone as well (like the first DLC) which is probably a good thing and the intention not to take away from the main story or make it feel like the main story is missing an important element without the DLC so no complaints on that front.
But overall this was a nice extra story and was great to visit the world of FF16 and spend time with Clive and the others. FF16 has been a great time and loved nearly every moment of it.
I've been typing for so long, look at the time
woops. I guess I really did have a lot to say, even if it can be all over the place. I'm no game reviewer but I'm passionate about what I love, props to anyone who reads through it all.Note: I'll fix the typos soon enough.
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Scrambled Valkyrie
School Idol
Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth. As someone who has been a fan since the original PS2 Yakuza/Like A Dragon game I've loved every second of this. It feels like a love letter to the entire saga so far. It's probably a bit more accessible than your standard turn based JRPG to boot. Plus the amount of stuff to do in it is insane. I'm about 50 hours in and there's still things I haven't dipped my toes into. I get so side-tracked doing certain things that I kind of forget certain types of side content haven't been touched in hours and then go back to them only to get sucked into those. It's not the best game to start with story-wise though as the story heavily references and wraps up events from Yakuza 6: The Song of Life, Like A Dragon: Yakuza and Like A Dragon Gaiden: The man who erased his name. Glad I avoided spoilers for this one as I'd have been gutted if I found out anything about the story ahead of playing. Have invested so much time into these characters over the years they almost feel real 
Lordhippos
Pokémon Master
There is a twitter thread here showing what I mean about the localisation of Eiyuden Chronicles:
Whilst I understand that localisation does need to change things as a direct/literal translation may not carry across well, they've completely changed the meaning of some of those lines vs their more direct translations.
If I was the studio who made this game, I would be incredibly annoyed right now, they've warped the original intent and attempted to re-write parts of the story for their own agenda, it's ultimately disrespecting the works the original writers put into it.
Whilst I understand that localisation does need to change things as a direct/literal translation may not carry across well, they've completely changed the meaning of some of those lines vs their more direct translations.
If I was the studio who made this game, I would be incredibly annoyed right now, they've warped the original intent and attempted to re-write parts of the story for their own agenda, it's ultimately disrespecting the works the original writers put into it.
Lordhippos
Pokémon Master
Luckily it's not that long so you can sort of power through it, I was just playing on normal. I didn't really bother with finding all of the verses or side bits though.
Watch this when you're done, I found it pretty hilarious after just experiencing exactly what they were talking about! Spoiler tag as it contains spoilers:
Lucky_Deity
Stand User
Ratchet & Clank (2016) (PS4)
This was a really solid, fun game. This is actually the first time I've beaten a R&C game. When I was a kid I did play the original trilogy but I never beat them though playing through this it seemed I at least got half-way through the first game as I surprisingly remembered a lot from it.
I do know though that this game is an adaptation of the animated movie that came out at the time with a lot of the cut-scenes being clips from the movie itself. I haven't seen the movie and as mentioned I haven't beaten the original on PS2 so I'm not sure how faithful it is to the original.
I have played a bit of Rift Apart over at a friend's prior to me getting a PS5 and really enjoyed that so I'll have to pick that up soon enough. It is a shame the rest of the series isn't available on modern systems (I don't count cloud streaming as a viable option) but I still have my PS3 so I can play them at least whenever I want to get them.
But would definitely recommend the 2016 game if you want a short 3D platformer or relive the original with modern graphics and the like.
This was a really solid, fun game. This is actually the first time I've beaten a R&C game. When I was a kid I did play the original trilogy but I never beat them though playing through this it seemed I at least got half-way through the first game as I surprisingly remembered a lot from it.
I do know though that this game is an adaptation of the animated movie that came out at the time with a lot of the cut-scenes being clips from the movie itself. I haven't seen the movie and as mentioned I haven't beaten the original on PS2 so I'm not sure how faithful it is to the original.
I have played a bit of Rift Apart over at a friend's prior to me getting a PS5 and really enjoyed that so I'll have to pick that up soon enough. It is a shame the rest of the series isn't available on modern systems (I don't count cloud streaming as a viable option) but I still have my PS3 so I can play them at least whenever I want to get them.
But would definitely recommend the 2016 game if you want a short 3D platformer or relive the original with modern graphics and the like.
Dai
Pokémon Master
Final Fantasy V Pixel Remaster
I've always been quite dismissive of FFV. Between its okay story, its okay characters and a one-dimensional villain who pretty much just says "Mwahaha!!" a lot, it doesn't measure up to IV or VI. I think the real killing blow when I played through the PS1 port 20+ years ago was how grindy it is compared to those games. IV and VI require some serious grinding before facing the final dungeon, but V calls for it earlier and more frequently. All those elements combined are why I've never got more than 5-10 hours into it during the handful of times I've revisited the PS1 version over the years.
Thankfully, the pixel remaster saves the day in the same way it has for all the early FF games, due to its experience-boosting option that takes the grind out of it. Stripped of that aggravation, I was able to start appreciating FFV's good side. Levelling job classes quicker makes it more fun to experiment with different party builds. The characters may not be as compelling or memorable as those in IV or VI, but V might be the funniest Final Fantasy game. The sprite animation brims with personality and goofy, slapstick humour, and quirky secondary antagonist Gilgamesh is far more entertaining than his "Mwahaha!!"-spewing boss Exdeath. It also benefits from the music receiving the same lush orchestral treatment as the other pixel remasters, bringing out the potential of Uematsu's original MIDI arrangements.
The pixel remaster has turned V from a borderline-skippable entry to one that I'm likely to revisit.
The Last of Us Part II Remastered
We desperately need some industry standard on when the term remaster is used. The PS5 version of TLOU2 isn't a remaster, it's a port, plain and simple. Digital Foundry's analysis found no changes other than extended draw distance for foliage and faster load times.
So is the PS5 port a waste of the £10 upgrade cost for owners of the PS4 version? That depends entirely on how you feel about No Return, the new roguelike mode. If you only like TLOU for the story and worldbuilding, don't bother with the upgrade. But if you enjoy it as one of the best stealth/cover shooters out there, it's definitely worth buying.
I appreciated that the original version of TLOU2 included a mode for revisiting the combat encounters separately, since sometimes I just want the gameplay, not the misery. I was always reluctant to play it that way though, in case I got burnt out on the campaign's combat encounters. No Return avoids that problem by remixing the encounters in arenas cut down from existing game locations, adding various objectives and gameplay modifiers, and having a large roster of unlockable characters with different initial loadouts and abilities. Combined with the improved loading times, it makes for a near seamless flow back and forth between combat and upgrading your character back at base.
I've clocked about 10 hours in No Return mode so far, so that alone has made it worth the upgrade.
I've always been quite dismissive of FFV. Between its okay story, its okay characters and a one-dimensional villain who pretty much just says "Mwahaha!!" a lot, it doesn't measure up to IV or VI. I think the real killing blow when I played through the PS1 port 20+ years ago was how grindy it is compared to those games. IV and VI require some serious grinding before facing the final dungeon, but V calls for it earlier and more frequently. All those elements combined are why I've never got more than 5-10 hours into it during the handful of times I've revisited the PS1 version over the years.
Thankfully, the pixel remaster saves the day in the same way it has for all the early FF games, due to its experience-boosting option that takes the grind out of it. Stripped of that aggravation, I was able to start appreciating FFV's good side. Levelling job classes quicker makes it more fun to experiment with different party builds. The characters may not be as compelling or memorable as those in IV or VI, but V might be the funniest Final Fantasy game. The sprite animation brims with personality and goofy, slapstick humour, and quirky secondary antagonist Gilgamesh is far more entertaining than his "Mwahaha!!"-spewing boss Exdeath. It also benefits from the music receiving the same lush orchestral treatment as the other pixel remasters, bringing out the potential of Uematsu's original MIDI arrangements.
The pixel remaster has turned V from a borderline-skippable entry to one that I'm likely to revisit.
The Last of Us Part II Remastered
We desperately need some industry standard on when the term remaster is used. The PS5 version of TLOU2 isn't a remaster, it's a port, plain and simple. Digital Foundry's analysis found no changes other than extended draw distance for foliage and faster load times.
So is the PS5 port a waste of the £10 upgrade cost for owners of the PS4 version? That depends entirely on how you feel about No Return, the new roguelike mode. If you only like TLOU for the story and worldbuilding, don't bother with the upgrade. But if you enjoy it as one of the best stealth/cover shooters out there, it's definitely worth buying.
I appreciated that the original version of TLOU2 included a mode for revisiting the combat encounters separately, since sometimes I just want the gameplay, not the misery. I was always reluctant to play it that way though, in case I got burnt out on the campaign's combat encounters. No Return avoids that problem by remixing the encounters in arenas cut down from existing game locations, adding various objectives and gameplay modifiers, and having a large roster of unlockable characters with different initial loadouts and abilities. Combined with the improved loading times, it makes for a near seamless flow back and forth between combat and upgrading your character back at base.
I've clocked about 10 hours in No Return mode so far, so that alone has made it worth the upgrade.
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Aeon
Student Council President
Recently I’ve been playing Terra Memoria, a game that I only discovered by pure chance and took a big risk in blind buying it because it looked like the game I was wanting to play and I feel that this one really deserves more attention because it’s actually pretty good, it plays like a JRPG if all the tedium and most of the grinding was removed, the combat system is pretty intuitive and the game features some exceptional soundtrack; I also love that it doesn’t force a main character on you and instead lets you pick any of the six characters to play as at any time, provided the character you want is unlocked, which doesn’t take too long overall; with that said, the game isn’t perfect, the game could do with more polish, in my playthrough, I got stuck a couple of times, though the game is aware of this and offers a safety teleport option so it’s not a massive issue but it’s still worth pointing out, despite this, I really liked this game, the good outweighs the bad and I really feel that it deserves more recognition as I wouldn’t have known about it if not for me discovering it.
Discovering Terra Memoria was like digging for gold and finding a good hidden gem instead, it would have been perfect for keeping me occupied until Eiyuden Chronicle releases but I beat the game in just over a day so now I play the waiting game, oh, what’s that? it’s out now, it has a botched localisation and isn’t all that good? oh boy I can’t wait!!! *eagerly runs out of the front door, while off key trumpets play in the background, and floats off into space, only to land in ancient china and find everyone casually using modern slang.
Discovering Terra Memoria was like digging for gold and finding a good hidden gem instead, it would have been perfect for keeping me occupied until Eiyuden Chronicle releases but I beat the game in just over a day so now I play the waiting game, oh, what’s that? it’s out now, it has a botched localisation and isn’t all that good? oh boy I can’t wait!!! *eagerly runs out of the front door, while off key trumpets play in the background, and floats off into space, only to land in ancient china and find everyone casually using modern slang.
What annoys me about this more than anything is that the localisers picked a crowdfunded game to use as their platform, not only is it disrespectful to the original work but it also disregards the backers who funded the project in the first place, if the localisation team have a message of their own, there are plenty of other ways to get it out there that doesn’t involve piggybacking off of a project that, by the looks of things, has very little to do with said message in the first place.
Lordhippos
Pokémon Master
100% this, it's a shame as I thought it looked interesting, it had other issue (to me) outside of the localisation quality, but it was the icing on the cake.
Still looking forward to my next decent JRPG experience!
Spark_Heal
Kiznaiver
Played through Resident Evil 2 (PS4) over the weekend. That was an excellent time. As someone who is bad with horror they managed to make something spooky without being overwhelming due to the charmingly comedy. And as someone who is really terrible at shooters, the lumbering zombies are cleverly slow enough that taking aim isn't too daunting, but fast enough that it encourages panic. And overall the game is short and sweet. They made something designed to be played through multiple times by ensuring nothing overstays its welcome too much. You can explore most of the rooms, solve most of the puzzles, get most of the items and get to the ending in less than 8 hours on the first try. I will definitely go back to complete Claire's story at some point and also try Resident Evil 3 someday.
Next is the HD-Remaster of Final Fantasy X-2. A direct sequel to the original Final Fantasy X that is so wildly different I'm amazed they got away with it. Final Fantasy X is a liner, tightly-structured story about 7 people on a journey. It has an underlying melancholy throughout and mechanically it's refined yet formulaic turn-based combat system featured many design innovations that are still being used to this day in Digimon Story series and the Trails of Cold Steel games. X-2 is a mission-based, open-ended game that fully embraces a pop music style for its 3 characters. With a frantic active battle system featuring mid-battle class-swapping, which has seemingly been abandoned after Final Fantasy 13 (which I have not played).
X-2 is instantly overwhelming. There is so much customisation and freedom for how to build out your characters and where to go, especially with the HD collections added game modes. I have not progressed the main story in 5 hours and have instead stumbled on side-quests and new abilities that present new possibilities and ways to play. The battles so far having been a lot of fun and because classes are so specialised you get some very powerful skills that can have appropriate downsides because you will have to give up something major. Songstress has status effects that can temporarily decimate enemies but it has no attacks. So if you are using it to counter powerful magic attacks you have to keep the pressure on with the other 2 characters who might struggle or run out of MP fast. You also master new skills independent of level and during fights, which is another interesting choice. Really looking forward to playing more soon.
Next is the HD-Remaster of Final Fantasy X-2. A direct sequel to the original Final Fantasy X that is so wildly different I'm amazed they got away with it. Final Fantasy X is a liner, tightly-structured story about 7 people on a journey. It has an underlying melancholy throughout and mechanically it's refined yet formulaic turn-based combat system featured many design innovations that are still being used to this day in Digimon Story series and the Trails of Cold Steel games. X-2 is a mission-based, open-ended game that fully embraces a pop music style for its 3 characters. With a frantic active battle system featuring mid-battle class-swapping, which has seemingly been abandoned after Final Fantasy 13 (which I have not played).
X-2 is instantly overwhelming. There is so much customisation and freedom for how to build out your characters and where to go, especially with the HD collections added game modes. I have not progressed the main story in 5 hours and have instead stumbled on side-quests and new abilities that present new possibilities and ways to play. The battles so far having been a lot of fun and because classes are so specialised you get some very powerful skills that can have appropriate downsides because you will have to give up something major. Songstress has status effects that can temporarily decimate enemies but it has no attacks. So if you are using it to counter powerful magic attacks you have to keep the pressure on with the other 2 characters who might struggle or run out of MP fast. You also master new skills independent of level and during fights, which is another interesting choice. Really looking forward to playing more soon.