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Mario & Luigi: Brothership Review

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Mario is one of those characters who has been around for a very long time. He has had games in many different genres and has two different RPG series. It’s definitely impressive and it was nice to get a new Mario & Luigi title after many years. The story is not particularly strong as this modern era of the plumber tries to steer away from getting too serious but the game itself is still fun. I have some quality of life issues here but all in all it is a fun game for you to have fun with.

The basic plot is that Mario and Luigi are transported to a whole new world all of a sudden. Their assistance is required as all of the islands here have been split apart. This is preventing friendship and harmony from being united across all of the land. It’s a sticky situation to be in but the bros are ready for this. The situation gets more complicated though when Peach and Bowser show up. Now the stakes are higher than ever and they will have to rely on their bonds of Brothership to get through this.

Like I said, the story isn’t going for a very hype kind of vibe so you shouldn’t take this too seriously. It’s not like the whole thing is played for laughs or anything but when things are getting too serious the game will try to throw a gag or two in there. Even the main villain not being able to remember names seems like a way to diffuse every cutscene that he is in. Ultimately I would say that you are playing this game for the gameplay and not for the story. I still like the cutscenes when they show up and every scene with Bowser is a winner but the story does move at a very slow pace.

This is by far the longest game in the series as well. Typically you can expect around 15-18 hours but this one is over 30. There is a lot of content here but the story didn’t really make the most of it. They tend to repeat the info quite a bit or drag out the conversations. Unfortunately the game uses the most annoying vocal sounds that I’ve ever heard. Think of the Banjo & Kazooie games but if two characters were talking at the same time for every cutscene. It ends up being quite brutal as a result and you end up having to hold that L.

The audio direction was really quite bad. We do have a few limited sound clips but as a result they have to be thrown in randomly a lot of the time instead of really making sense in the moment. The graphics are good at least. The game isn’t trying to be too bold with them so you’re not going to see anything on the level of Sonic Frontiers but the art style is fun. As for the soundtrack, there are some decent tunes but it’s not the strongest Mario soundtrack. It could have used one or two more really good tunes.

As for the gameplay, it’s your classic turn based system. You have your standard attacks as well as your Bros attacks. Along the way you also get equipment that amps up your abilities as well as badges that you equip which then expire after a few turns. This adds a lot to the strategy as you have to be careful when you turn these on. For example if you use your best ones against some minions then you will be in a really bad spot for the boss battle. There is no quick way to recharge then either as you just have to fight for a certain amount of turns before they are back to normal.

This is one of those games that prefers to go with a long approach to level ups. It takes a long time to get a level up because every combat animation is on the long side. Normal battles are much longer than they need to be. I know a lot of effort was put into the animations but they really should have an option to turn these off after a while. In particular the Bros attacks take a while since you have to do some command prompts. I suppose it wouldn’t be possible to turn those off but it’s definitely unfortunate.

I also think they should let you skip encounters when you are vastly over leveled compared to the enemy. For example when you go back to the first world to grab some collectibles, those level 1 enemies will still force an encounter. You can run away of course but now you’re already in the battle. These are fairly basic quality of life updates that would make the game a lot more fun. It’s why I would say the game is fun but it’s not going to touch almost any of the other big RPGs. They are in a completely different league.

One thing that was implemented rather well were the collectibles. Each world has some extra sparks which is how you unlock the new plugs (badges) and gives you a reason to explore every world twice. Most of the sparks don’t appear until after you have beaten the world after all. There is just enough where it doesn’t feel like a chore and additionally this is completely optional which I was glad about. So this is the right way to add a collectathon element.

Aside from the campaign itself being super long, there are also a number of side quests and optional items to grab. A lot of the side quests are time sensitive as well so you will want to take care of them quickly. There are also a lot of landmarks to find outside of the islands but the most disappointing thing was I bothered to find them all and there was no reward. Felt like a let down, I was expecting something. Ah well, it was still a fun thing to do on the side.

As for the new Luigi mechanic, it’s not bad but doesn’t really change much. This game tries to really show how Luigi is the smart one of the group and it’s one of those really unassuming twists. Like he’s scared of everything but when he focuses then he can do great things. The concept is sound, but the execution just feels a bit tacked on. I would have liked it to have effected gameplay a lot more or been presented in a way where it enhances the experience. Instead it’s just something that’s around.

Overall, Mario & Luigi Brothership may be a little underwhelming but to be honest I wasn’t expecting a ton out of it in the first place. That probably sounds bad, but at this point I play Mario for the fun gameplay experience as opposed to the story. The story does have its fun moments to be sure but just don’t expect anything too grand. The gameplay has a lot of strategy to it and I would even say that the game can be reasonably difficult at times. That’s something that I was impressed by. You really need to learn the enemy’s attack patterns or you will be buried in short order. Hopefully the next game brings in the Mushroom Kingdom more but either way I can recommend this game.

Overall 7/10

Metaphor: ReFantazio Review

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It’s time to look at one of the longer games that I’ve played recently. This one took me nearly 70 hours to complete and that’s considering that I didn’t do all of the side quests. I did complete each character’s bond story though, mainly because I really needed the power ups and job classes that came along with them. Without those then things would have definitely been a lot tougher. It’s a very complete game that doesn’t have many real weaknesses and turns out to be a top tier RPG.

The game starts off with the King being assassinated and then the Prince is cursed. He is presumed to be dead but his loyal followers hide him away. A battle for the throne begins among the Church and the leader of the military. Meanwhile the main character (Lets call him Terry) is instructed to find a way to break the curse for the prince. Seemingly the easiest way to do that will be to bump off the curse caster, Louis. Will it be that easy though? Also, there is no definitive proof that the killer is Louis so that could get a little dicey. With a game this long, you know it won’t be as straight forward as all that though. Additionally, until he can find an opening, Terry will enter the running to become the next King.

It works as a popularity contest of sorts. The characters have a few months to rally people to the cause and whoever has the most popularity on election day is the winner. The top 3-5 candidates are also protected by the King’s magic so they can’t be assassinated. That was a really clever ploy by the previous King because otherwise this would just become a big battle of strength right off the bat. He really prevented that. Sure, it doesn’t apply to all candidates but that makes sense too since you would just have a lot of people entering only so they could be protected.

The world building here is quite good and of course you have a fairly large party of characters who all get a significant amount of screen time. It’s one of those things that makes RPGs so engaging. What other form of media can give you 70 hours of content like this? For a movie series that would be at least 35 movies. For a TV show, we’re talking 200+ episodes, which happens but it’s still rare. A video game gives you all of this in one shot and so you can tell early on that this will be an elite game. The more you play, the more the plot really begins to expand more and more to include everything that is going on.

The graphics are naturally really good. The game has 3 different kind of cutscenes, the ones that are completely hand drawn, the pre rendered full cinematics that take place in game, and then the text box versions. Nearly the whole game has voice acting as well so it becomes a really cinematic experience. It’s always super impressive to see this because it takes a lot of budget and time to include all of this in one game. Then we have the soundtrack which may not be one of my favorites but it does have quite a lot of tunes. They definitely didn’t cheap out on the budget here or anything like that.

The gameplay is your classic turn based combat style. You can swap characters in and out as you land your attacks. There are multiple classes based on the robot you have chosen for your character and then each of those have their own special abilities. You can use your magic currency to swap them in and out so there is a ton of strategy involved. Even 70 hours in you won’t have enough energy to unlock every class for every character, at least not within 70 hours. The final area is an excellent grinding spot though so if I spent maybe 10 more hours there I could have probably done that.

I had to train for around 5 hours at the end to defeat the final boss. Make no mistake, the game goes really hard on that one. The jump in difficulty is considerable and you will be challenged way more than any other boss in the game. That’s how it should be though, you want to end with a bang and since there is a good place to train, I had no problems there. There is one point in the game where you are attacked by a powerful boss and auto save prevents you from fighting any minions to level up. That was the only rough patch in the game because it’s possible that you could have really been soft locked there.

It felt like a big oversight for such a polished game and all comes down to the day system. My only negative with the game is the fact that it grabbed the Pikmin styled clock. Every mission is related to days of the month. So lets say you have 10 days for chapter 2, you have to try and beat as many side quests and tournament battles as you can before the days are up. If you are not strong enough to beat the boss by then, you will have to replay the whole 10 days or find a good place to grind. This means that it is not possible to complete every side quest and bonus material that you want to accomplish.

Perhaps there is some kind of perfect planning that would make this all possible but it would definitely not be easy. I had to skip on quite a few quests as a result and it also did make training a bit harder at times. Removing the day system would be a net positive in every area because it doesn’t provide any benefits to the game. All it does is ultimately hold things back which is not a good idea.

Like I said, that was really my only main issue though. The gameplay is on point and I liked the UI. The hub world is easy to navigate and likewise the quests all make a lot of sense. The game was very well thought out in all the other areas and the sheer amount of content and gameplay mechanics are so vast that I can’t even go into them all. I don’t see myself ever attempting to get the Platinum in this game because there is so much content and it would take forever, but it is there for the extra replay value. When you consider everything, then this is definitely a full 100+ hour game and you don’t see a ton of those.

Overall, Metaphor is definitely an excellent game. I recommend it to anyone looking for a good title. It can definitely get rather dark so you should know what you’re getting into. The story is very captivating though and it’s never going for try hard edgy the whole time. The villains do sometimes get off rather easy considering the scope of their crimes though. Some might disagree with me on what it means to get off easy here but a last second redemption arc does little to redeem a character in my eyes after a certain point. I’d definitely be up for a sequel to this game someday. Just take away the calendar system and this will really be perfect.

Overall 9/10

Reynatis Review

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All right, it’s time for one of the big games that was getting a lot of hype around the bend. Yes, the season is stacked so it started to get overshadowed to a degree by other big titles like Metaphor and Sparking Zero, but make no mistake this is still a top tier title. What it may lack in length it makes up for with an excellent story and really smooth gameplay. It’s one of those titles you do not want to miss out on.

The game is marketed as dual main characters but very quickly you will see that there is one true main character. Marin is the guy and he is determined to be the strongest sorcerer in the world. He believes that this will allow him to be free so that he will not succumb to any of the rules set by the world. He can make his own choices and does not have to align himself with anyone. He is a “Stray” meaning that he is on his own right now which is very dangerous. Typically magicians who are on their own are bumped off.

The other main character is Sari and she is a part of the MEA. They are a big group of sorcerers who basically bend everyone to their will. You either work for them or you are squashed in record time. They are really not all that flexible. She really wants to destroy the source of the evil drug that has turned the world into a nightmare but for now has not received any real support. As someone who is a part of the big government, she will naturally be coming into opposition with Marin who is all about freedom.

Part of the problem with the dual leads mechanic is that Sari is really framed as the villain the whole time. You’re never really left wondering who you should root for because it’s obviously Marin. She attacks him for basically no reason and follows corrupt commands. She gets better as the game goes on but after a little bit, all of the chapters focus on Marin instead of switching every time. So even the game gave up on the idea. I should note that the story is still really good, but this angle didn’t work and it’s worth mentioning because it seems to be something they had really been striving towards.

This is a game that has a huge amount of world building and yet you are left wanting for more at times. It feels like the game introduces more topics than it actually ends up solving which is a little surprising. There are like 6 different groups throughout the game and while the ending does find a way to deal with all of them, there is a lot of meat left on the table. I could absolutely see a sequel for this someday. As it is, the game has two different post game chapters but I’m not at a high enough level to challenge those. I did play the World Ends crossover which was a lot of fun though. Would have been even more fun with the voice acting but maybe it would have cost extra.

Like I said the gameplay is super smooth though and that’s the main reason we are here. It’s a 3D action title that focuses a lot on dodging. You are supposed to trust in your magic abilities so the idea is that if you don’t move or attack, you are given the chance to parry an opponent’s move and absorb magic. Once you have magic, you can transform and attack until you run out. Then you repeat the process. You cannot parry purple attacks so you have to be able to react right away and dodge instead of waiting for the parry option. It’s a good bit of tactics at play here.

Then of course you have different badges that you can set which activate different powers. You will want to plan things out and test different combos to see which work the best for you. I tend to enjoy the long range powers and stick to my standard combos for the close range hits. For me that worked well but again you will want to find out what works for you. There are a pretty good amount of options at play here. Once you are strong enough to wipe out enemies with a single string of combos, then you are set.

Leveling up is fairly quick here. I got up to level 73 by the time I beat the game which is not half bad I must admit. Still got destroyed in the post game but at least I felt like I could grind if I had to. In fact, that’s a large part of the fun here. I actually enjoyed wandering through the town and scanning graffiti (Which unlocks new powers) and completing side missions. I ended up beating over half of the side missions and would have fun clearing out the rest. It’s a game that makes you want to play it. That’s the best way I could describe it. In some games side missions are just too much of a hassle but they make it so easy here. You just go to where it shows on the map and get the job done.

The map is good and the quick travel is great. When you mix those things together then you are really in a good spot. The graphics are naturally really good as well. The attacks stand out and the city looks nice. You’ve also got a really good soundtrack here. It may be a little limited in terms of how many tunes there are but fortunately I did enjoy the ones that were present. That makes a pretty big difference.

As for length, I beat the game in around 15 hours but I did take about 2 hours off to have fun with side quests. It’s not a super long game and even beating all of the bonus content will probably only buy you another 2-3 hours or so. There is a case to be made for buying this game when it’s a bit cheaper as the price will probably dip. That being said, the quality is still worth it. I think the shortness stands out because you expect more out of an RPG type game, but just think of this more as a fighting game or something. It’s still considerably longer than the average game of that title or any platformer really. It may be losing out in replay value compared to those though so it’s not really a 1 to 1 comparison. It all just depends on how far you get absorbed into the game and the cinematic experience really did it for me.

Overall, Reynatis is definitely an elite game. I would recommend checking it out right away. You’re really going to want to go for 100% completion right out of the gate, or at least everything aside from the post game mission. Even being level 100 doesn’t stop that from being a super hard challenge but hey it’ll be satisfying when you complete it right? The game is not as long as the average RPG but for an action game it’s not bad. You can tell they put a whole lot of effort into this one. The technicals are all good and I would definitely be in line for a sequel.

Overall 9/10

Final Fantasy X Review

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It’s time for one of the most well known RPG titles out there. Final Fantasy X is one of those games that was super well received and you can see why because they went all out here. The graphics are really good, the gameplay is on point, and the story is great. It’s definitely another elite Final Fantasy title that any gamer can enjoy. There is definitely a lot of content here as well so it’s also not a game that you will breeze through either. There is plenty to keep you busy.

The game follows a guy named Tidus who is probably the world’s greatest Blitzball player. This guy draws in huge crowds and has really made a name for himself. One day a giant monster attacks though and he falls into a whole new world. Blitzball still exists fortunately but otherwise everything is pretty different. He may even be in some distant future as his home country appears to be destroyed. He meets a girl named Yuna who is a priestess. Her job is to fight against monsters known as Sin and to do that she has to go to various temples and unlock all of the summons. This will allow her to beat Sin, at least for a time. She is protected by several guardians and so Tidus joins in with the bunch. This may sound like a simple mission at first, but there are definitely about to be a lot of complications.

This title is over 30 hours after all so that leaves plenty of time for tons of plot twists and different characters to show up. It’s one of the many things I love about RPGs. You really get to be invested into the story and everything. The characters are also pretty likable and so they have a good group dynamic going on here. Tidus is definitely very expressive and he’s not afraid to go against tradition which is always good. He’s got that aggressive main character energy going for him and I can always appreciate that. Yuna is a good heroine as well who has to make a lot of tough choices without looking back.

Her plans aren’t always good to be honest but she is trying her best and often has to think of things on her own. So you have to give her a good amount of credit there. Wakka goes through quite a bit here as he quickly realizes that things aren’t going to go over very well for him. He hits a rough patch for a while there but in general is a solid character. It takes some time for him to expand his horizons. Rikku is also a fun character even if it felt like she could have talked things out with Tidus a lot sooner and prevented some misunderstandings. Of course, everyone was generally keeping a lot of things from him so she is hardly alone in that.

Lulu probably has one of the smallest roles from the main cast. She is always around and is a good ally to be sure but doesn’t really have her own sub plot the way that the rest do. Auron certainly has a huge role and looks pretty good even if he falls into the same trap of keeping way too many secrets half the time. He has power though and the characters would have been doomed without him. Finally we have Kimahri who I wasn’t a huge fan of for a while there but he is loyal. There’s just not a whole lot to his character for a while there since he is the real quiet type.

At the end of the day, Yuna was definitely lucky to have a real loyal supporting cast with her. The rest of the summoners were generally not so lucky. The game does have one of the weaker main villains in Seymour though. The guy had a cool design and a solid enough intro but as the game went on his motives didn’t hold up as well and he lost a lot of hype. He’s tenacious but I was definitely ready to see him go down for a while there. He wasn’t really enhancing the story the way a better villain could have.

The level up system is a bit different here. When you level up, your stats don’t increase, instead you are given one movement point on a board that has stat boosts and new abilities. Each character has their own board which is massive and you can hop onto someone else’s board after you have gotten enough power ups. This means there are a ton of different variations you can make to each character’s skill set. It also means you can get a ton of level ups without actually feeling much progress if you always end up picking the wrong tiles. So just be careful which movements you make here. The level ups naturally get harder as you go on. Although if you get stuck at the final boss, the area before him is absolutely amazing for grinding! I got so many level ups there.

The gameplay is your classic turn based style but with a few twists. For starters, only Yuna can use summoning. The summons all scale to her personal stats so you will want to build her up real quick because these guys are absolutely deadly. Bahamut carried me through all the boss fights in the second half and that’s even considering that most bosses are set up to KO your summon in one turn. Even with that he could deal crazy damage. He knocked out 64K from the final boss in one hit which is how I just barely managed to beat him. Some enemies are too high to be hit with physical attacks which is when you need to break out your long range fighters.

So there is a ton of strategy here, I dare say even more than the classic RPG types. Make sure you power everyone up as you will need to be switching a lot. Or almost everyone I suppose. I didn’t really use Rikku or Kimahri at all. Rikku just super briefly for some of the robots. As long as you have one long range fighter at the ready and your close quarters specialists, then you should be good to go. The game is hard to be sure and it’s definitely one you have to focus for but it’s always in a fun way.

The graphics have definitely aged really well so you can really feel that this is a AAA title. The big budget cutscenes all really go hard and of course it’s no surprise that the soundtrack is also super good. There are a lot of fun battle/boss themes to play around with. In terms of replay value, the game’s got everything you could ask for as well. There are tons of post game dungeons and everything to keep you busy. They’re so high leveled it can be hard to imagine how much time you would need to complete them. I would definitely expect it to take at least another 20 hours or so.

Overall, Final Fantasy X is definitely a top tier title. It really does great in every area so I had no complaints here. It’s the kind of game where you can always come up with a new strategy if you lost a boss fight. There are many different ways to tackle each encounter after all so you never really have to limit yourself. Just keep on fighting hard and eventually you will have cleared the game to see the satisfying ending. I definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a good story or in general to anyone that likes the classic turn based combat.

Overall 9/10

Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom Review

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It’s been a while since I played the original Ni no Kuni so it was fun to jump into the sequel. I’ve been having a blast jumping through a bunch of hype RPG titles and that streak’s continuing for a bit longer. The game ended up being quite excellent and I dare say that it beats the original. You may be thinking that quite a lot of games lately have been getting elite scores but that’s what happens when you play a lot of long games like this. RPGs always have an inherent advantage over other titles in that you get to really know all of the characters and get absorbed into the narrative. So as long as the gameplay and execution is on point you will have a blast. That’s exactly what happened here.

The story starts with the U.S. President Roland heading to a big meeting. Unfortunately a large missile strike occurs and everything goes up in flames. He was not able to protect his country in the end and lost everything. He is suddenly warped to another world where he is young again and is thrown into the middle of a giant uprising. The current king was assassinated and his son Evan is next. Roland manages to help Evan escape and vows to help him restore the kingdom. Evan wants to unite the world and all of the countries in it so that there will be no more wars. This may be a bit naive but Roland will do what he can to help the kid succeed. Can he establish peace in this world?

The opening really nails the tone of the game right from the start. Seeing Roland pull a gun on these fantasy creatures was intense. He was not playing and the fact that he kept the gun was really coo. Usually the gun would vanish or something like that but not in this game. You actually get to use it in gameplay as well. Everyone else has a bow and arrow for their projectile while this guy just gets to keep his gun and go blasting away at everybody. It’s really like a true isekai adventure all the way.

The gameplay is that of a real 3D action title. You have your standard moves, power moves, magical attacks, and super skills. Your supers have a cooldown based on how often you attack the opponent. Then you also have your projectile weapon. Each of your attacks can be leveled up although I never quite figured out how to do that so my moves stayed at level 1. They are still strong though and most of your attack power is based on the weapon anyway. I made sure to constantly get new weapons to equip. You rarely have to buy them though as the drop rate from enemies is really high. Keep on fighting powerful ones and they will drop exactly what you need before long so there is really no need to spend your money. You will have a lot of money by the end of the game though so no worries if you need to buy something.

You also get battle points although I’m not sure what triggers this. These can be used to enhance gameplay elements like becoming stronger against slime enemies or brute force fighters. The fun strategy part is that you have to decide which type to use this on. You can’t just make yourself strong against all fighters after all. To throw in some more strategy, you also raise these little Pikmin type creatures that follow you and use special attacks of their own. You can raise them at one of the shops in your town and you gain more as you continue the game so you have to decide which 4 to keep equipped. I just maxed out my original 4 and didn’t mess with the others.

Speaking of the town though, this is a key component of the game. You have to raise up your town by building new shops and convincing people to move in. This means completing a ton of side quests. There appear to be at least 200 side quests in the game and you’re going to need to complete over 50 of them minimum to beat the game. I think I did around 70 or so but make sure you are completing them regularly because there will be different points in the game where you will be forced to stop progressing until your town reaches a certain rank.

Fortunately it is really fun to do this. It does take some since money is earned passively using real time minutes. So there will be times where you can just run around as you wait or maybe fight some more monsters. It’s pretty fast but there is a lot to do in the town. This is where more strategy comes up. Each building is tied to different side quests and so you really have to prioritize who to send to which store. You will often have more shops than people and of course a shop won’t produce anything without someone working there.

I could go on, but you get the point. There are so many different gameplay mechanics here and different ways to play. There are dream doors, orbs, and lots of other stuff. You don’t even need to interact with major parts of the game in order to complete the story but it’s really nice how they put so much content in here. I bet I could play for another 30 hours and still not complete everything. The value for your money is quite incredible here and it’s yet another reason why you should pick this game up sooner than later. Trust me, you definitely won’t regret it.

Even with all that aside, the story is really good like I mentioned before. It handles the topic of war well and while it may be an optimistic look at things, it’s a nice change of pace. My only slight issue is with the ending, I would have liked thing to have gone a bit differently. Still, there is room for a sequel should they ever want to go in that route and I did think a certain twist at the end was really solid. I’m surprised they haven’t made more Ni no Kuni games, there’s definitely a lot more you can do with it.

The graphics are naturally super good throughout the game. The cutscenes are super good and the graphics during gameplay are also on point. The soundtrack is fairly solid as well with a number of good songs in there. The whole thing is very smooth and on a technical level there are few games that are better. This has every kind of quality of life feature you can think of from quick travel, to the aerial vehicle that lets you get anywhere quickly. You can save in almost every spot and the way items are stored is very logical. No complaints here.

Overall, Ni No Kuni is a game that keeps on getting better and better as you play it. I had a real blast with it and there is a ton of replay value. The game itself took me close to 30 hours and there is an extensive amount of quests for the post game. Getting the platinum for this game would also take a long while. I would definitely recommend checking this game out for any RPG fan. It really tells a good story even if the ending is really not as satisfying as it could have been. It may not have been perfect but it’s good enough and the whole adventure was definitely a blast.

Overall 9/10

Tales of Arise Review

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Whenever someone says “Arise” it’s always in a very dramatic kind of way which makes you think and this game is no different. It’s a really intense RPG that has a good length. This allows time for all of the characters to get proper development and everything. I tend to play these games for fairly long batches of time and even then it took me a while to knock this one out. It definitely speaks to how much content is in the title. Granted, I did beat virtually all of the side missions but even then there was still more to do and extra content to be covered.

The game starts by introducing us to the world. There are two races of people. The Renans, who live in the sky and subjugate the Dahnans, the people who live on the ground. The Renans have incredible powers and so they took over easily 300 years ago. Ever since then, they have continued to dominate and there is really no way for the Dahnans to rise up. That is, until one slave named Alphen meets up with a Renan girl named Shionne. She has decided to murder the 5 Renan lords who have enslaved everyone and Alphen agrees to help. Along the way they make a lot of friends and fight off powerful monsters. The closer they get to the end of this journey, the more uncomfortable truths they find out. Will these revelations end up destroying their will to fight??

One thing about a game that is 40+ hours like this is that the plot will change a lot. So this plot summary I gave will be outdated very quickly but at the same time you don’t want to go into those plot details from the jump because they are filled with twists. The more surprised you are the better. All in all I would say the twists are all handled very well. It may get a little long for a bit there where you are sitting through 40 minute cutscenes of everything being broken down for you. At the same time it’s probably a good idea though because otherwise I do think you’d have people saying it was all too complicated.

The gameplay is a 3D fighter where you have your standard attacks and then you can also launch your power moves. They take longer to load and you have to have enough energy to use them. As the game goes on you can use upgrades and power ups to help replenish energy more. The level up system is pretty interesting here. Of course you have the standard level up system for the characters but in addition to that you also have the SP upgrades that you can use to unlock new skills or stat bonuses. You get points from every battle but very few of them. Most of your points are from completing side quests which is why you want to complete as many of them as possible. Then some of the sections with upgrades aren’t unlocked until you have completed specific tasks like eaten a specific food or completed a certain side quest. You can see what you need to do from the level up board so I recommend checking up on these from time to time so you know where to go. These upgrades are all fairly minor but really start to add up as you unlock more and more.

The game is surprisingly difficult at times. I can say with reasonable confidence that if you just try to barrel through and fight the final boss it is not going to end well for you. Go complete some side quests, get some good armors, etc. Load yourself up and then you will be fine. Items are extremely handy in this game and for that reason, earning money is a very slow process. It’s another instance where you need to complete side missions as often as possible. These will always get you a lot of money which you can then use to buy items like revives or potions that give you cure points.

The cure point system is something fairly unique compared to other RPGs. Basically, healing your allies takes energy from this system rather than your special meter. So if you run out, then you can’t use any of your healing spells. This means you often need to keep an eye on that and replenish it as needed. Without these items, you’d get crushed by a ton of the bosses. Grinding for level ups is still super important of course but another big thing is really just getting funds for the extra items.

I will also give the game heavy credit for the solid romance plots here. Not all 3 of the romance plots work but 2/3 is still really good. Especially considering that one of those is the main pairing. There’s a lot of development here and the two were through a lot. We even got a time skip of several months. So this game hardly took place over a few days. I thought it was all handled most excellently. The writing is really top tier here. Outside of the main story, there are over 300 skit cutscenes which you can have fun playing when you are at the campfire or live as you walk through the areas. I did like 100 of those but still had a lot to go.

The sheer amount of content here is breathtaking. Then of course you have the soundtrack which is really solid. Both theme songs in the game were really good and I also enjoyed the general battle themes and boss battles. The animation is top tier of course and the game even has some fully animated scenes as well. That was really cool. You can tell that this game got the top level budget and it was all worth it. People call this a top tier RPG and they are absolutely right in every way.

Overall, Tales of Arise is a top tier game. The characters are excellent and the story is great. The gameplay is executed incredibly well with smooth gameplay and even some solid platforming. It’s got every quality of life feature that you can think of and of course the story mode is already super long. Then you have a ton of replay value that can likely double your play time. If you somehow don’t own this one yet, then you should definitely check it out. It will forever be known as one of the top RPGs.

Overall 9/10

Scarlet Nexus Review

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Scarlet Nexus is one of those games that was really huge when it was first announced. It was going to be a game that really changed everything. It would be the big RPG that people would be talking about for many years to come. Well, I can definitely say that is succeeds in those areas. This is definitely a game that I highly recommend checking out. It is an elite title all the way through and you will be having a good time here.

You get to choose from two characters when you start the game. Each one has a sizable campaign of around 20 hours and then you can play the second campaign. I stuck to 1 character this time around and went for the guy. He wants to be a great OSF agent and live up to the family’s powerful reputation. Along the way he makes several friends and everything seems good until he begins bumping into some very dark conspiracies. The OSF is about stopping aliens and protecting people but it looks like they may have gone a little beyond that in their pursuit of justice. It may be time to take them down but it’s important to not lose sight of who the big villains are. Tough choices will have to be made.

The game tackles a lot of big sci-fi themes like time travel, clones, alternate pasts, etc. So right away I can tell you that this is up my alley. Of course that does take a while to appear in the story but you’re pretty engaged with everything else happening the whole time. The game is mainly working within the context of there being a ton of organizations and all of them are reasonably corrupt and evil for different reasons. These are guys you would no want to bump into. Of course you can try to stay on their good side but that can be difficult in and of itself. That also does mean there isn’t a true main villain for most of the game.

The game does a great job of establishing the villain’s motivation even without a ton of screen time though. Out of the game’s 12 chapters, he probably only appears in 3-4 of them and usually only for a brief moment or two. Yet by the end you really understand why he is so desperate. I’m not by any means saying that you will end up rooting for him or anything like that but I am saying that you will be able to see his motive clearly which is important. It separates him from the average villain who is just trying to destroy the world or something.

The graphics here are definitely top tier. You have full cinematic type cutscenes and even the basic ones generally all have voice acting. There are some slight exceptions of course but those are small exceptions. I always like when a game has extensive voice acting like this. It takes the whole experience to the next level and shows that this is a real AAA game. Voice acting is often what can turn a very good game into a great one. It heavily buffs so many aspects of the game and so yes, Scarlet Nexus was a complete success here. The kind of game that you can really admire and respect. It was most impressive.

Meanwhile the soundtrack was also really good. Definitely another classic W for the title. There are a good amount of battle themes here, both for the normal encounters and for the bosses. There’s a good amount of variety in this title and it fits in well with the general sci-fi theme that the title is going for. There were definitely no issues on a technical level for this game. As an RPG i also goes without saying that there is a ton of content here. Beating the game with both characters will take around 40 hours easy. Then there is also completing all of the bond missions and getting the Platinum trophy. Definitely not going to be an easy task right there. So I was definitely satisfied with the length all the way around.

I do recommend doing a ton of the bond missions as you play through the game. The power ups you get with each partner are rather substantial. There are a ton of these missions so it can feel a bit intimidating but as long as you do all the ones that are available in each chapter as you move forward then it won’t feel like a crazy onslaught the way that it would once you are closer to the end of the game. It’s all about pacing yourself after all.

Now I didn’t talk much about the gameplay yet and that’s part of what’s unique about the game. You have your usual close quarter combat skills but you can also use telekinesis to throw blocks and objects around. It’s a pretty fun style of gameplay and this often helps you attack an opponent’s weak point. Once you have the villain down to a low enough amount of health and you have broken their mind gauge, you can defeat them with a brain crush. It’s a super handy technique.

You can also activate brain mode which makes you temporarily invincible so long as you’ve gotten the right upgrades. Definitely super handy but make sure you turn it off before the meter falls all the way down. If you forget to do this then it’s an automatic game over. It’s actually a really interesting mechanic because it ties into the story where his mind is slowly shattering So it makes sense that you would lose if you stay in this experimental mode for too long. My big tip is to use your materials to buy brain gears whenever possible. Brain crush mode makes even the final boss trivial since you can skip most of the craziness. I made sure to grab every material I could throughout the game so I was really in a good spot here. The game could get reasonably tough and I did die a few times but often it was because I underestimated the enemies. You always have enough items to keep on healing and moving forward.

Overall, Scarlet Nexus was really a blast. Waiting for this game was totally worth it. It definitely lived up to the hype all the way around. It would be great to see a sequel to this show up at some point even if the ending was rather definitive. The game’s ending lands on its feet so there really were not any issues here. You really got your money’s worth with this one. Even more so for me since the game was on sale for a crazy $10 amount. You really can’t get any more of a steal than that right? It’s the one benefit of waiting so long before getting a game although I can tell you when the second comes out that will be a day 1. Definitely no waiting this time.

Overall 9/10

Quest for Camelot Review

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It’s time to play the Quest for Camelot which definitely plays out a bit different than what I had been expecting. It is an adventure that is trying really hard to be like the next Legend of Zelda but it ultimately falls short of the intended target. It’s clear from the jump that this isn’t an AAA title because it’s just missing a lot of quality of life features that would have been default otherwise. It would be a super annoying game to play without the whole rewind feature. You would constantly be wondering what you should do from here out.

The game can get surprisingly difficult for some of the bosses as well. The final boss in particular is super fast. He moves so quickly that you can barely react to his attacks and the range of your sword is so bad. You can beat him with normal slashes but it will take an impressively long time. You can use your charge attack which seems to be the intended way to win but it’s easy to miss or gets too close which will cause you to take damage instead. Everything is very sensitive in the game, if you aren’t frame perfect then it may be game over for you.

Let me take a step back for a minute though. The main gameplay style here is that of an overhead title. You run around using your sword and other gadgets to proceed through the game. You get a lot of gadgets throughout the adventure and you will be using them all a lot so get ready for that. If you forget how a gadget works then you are doomed because that is absolutely necessary here. The puzzles do not hold back at all. They are so difficult and it doesn’t help that there is no real map here. So you can be lost for quite a while.

I miss having some kind of a fast travel for the game as well. How come I can’t just teleport around in a magical world right? So instead you are running around a whole lot. you have to use a horse to travel past some obstacles but for the most part you are on your own. The large array of gadgets is impressive but it’s part of why the game can be very long since it means you always have to really think every puzzle through a whole lot because you have so many different weapon and gadgets to keep in mind.

Naturally the graphics aren’t very good since the game Boy color rarely ever tends to look all that good. It’s a shame but that’s just the way that these things go. The soundtrack is also pretty much nonexistent. There aren’t a lot of tracks and the ones that we do get don’t really have a lot of soul or energy to them. The game definitely could have done way better so that was disappointing. The brief flashes of the game where you see some potential just makes the rest of the title sting more.

Even basic things like presentation weren’t handled very well. The large text screens that are used in place of cutscenes are hard to read at times. Then you have the illustrations which are nice to see but there is no text on those images. So what’s really the point of even having those around? That’s another thing to keep in mind here and definitely not in a positive way. Just put some text on those and then the text screens could have been a whole lot smaller.

Okay there’s a lot of bashing going on there but I mentioned that the game was solid in some respects right? Well, the story itself seemed reasonably engaging. It was hard to keep track of the characters the way that the game played out but there was potential there. I also liked the combat itself. You have a lot of freedom for how you take out the villains. Moving through the levels was nice enough, I just missed the map. If I had a map though then this would all have been as easy as cake and would have been smooth as butter. The ultimate combo of combos.

Removing the puzzles would be the best thing to do in order to elevate the game to the next level though. I suppose another option you could also do would be to fix the hit boxes since you will notice that you run into empty pockets of air quite a few times. That could have definitely gone over better. That one’s more funny than negative though. At the end of the day the main annoying thing here is just that the game feels very low budget the whole time and ends up sabotaging itself. The story is reasonably long so if the gameplay was tightened up a bit this easily could have been a big winner for the Game Boy. Ah well, that’s not how it was meant to be.

Overall, Quest for Camelot is a reasonable game but one that is held back by a whole host of issues. There is just no way that I would have had any fun playing the original version on the Game Boy. I would have thrown in the towel early on and that is the sign of a game that is not successful. That’s my biggest issue with it. The difficulty is rather unreasonable and it needed a better save/check point system. The current one just isn’t doing the trick and the game often loses its momentum because of how often you have to go back and do something. You aren’t able to just have fun and continue to push forward. That’s a big problem right? I do think this could end up being a fun game series if they make a modern sequel with a ton of quality of life updates but in the meantime this title will be forgotten very quickly.

Overall 5/10

Phantasy Star IV Review

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Phantasy Star IV may be known as one of the easiest in the series and all but I had a good amount of trouble with it. The enemies are very dangerous and it takes a long time to level up in order to beat them. I’m always impressed at how people coast by these RPGs on such low levels. It goes to show that there is a whole lot of strategy that you can use once you have really mastered the system. As more of a casual RPG player I had to compensate by getting lots of level ups. So the game took me longer than most but I was still able to clear it.

The basic plot is about the eternal battle between light and dark. The light has won the last few rounds but now The Dark One has returned to cause a lot of mayhem and destruction at every corner. A dark plague has begun to get many people sick and it’s hard to know what to do. The main fighter for the heroes ends up going down early and so her sidekick must prove himself. Does he really have what it takes to fight against ultimate evil when he is still just a kid? Well, he’s about to learn the answer to that because ready or not…this is one battle that cannot be avoided.

Right out of the gate one thing I really liked about this game is that it had actual illustrations during the cutscenes. This is clearly a really high budget Genesis game and it is leagues above all of the others that I have played on the console. This absolutely could have been onto the next console and it still would have worked really well. There are a good amount of cutscenes here in general. The hub world is rather big, particularly since it is split up into 2-3 worlds. You have quick travel which is excellent as well as different vehicles to drive around in.

There are a lot of good quality of life features in here. The enemy spawn rate is rather high so you will be seeing a lot of minions but more times than not, you can outrun them. The only real downside here is that level ups take a while like I mentioned. I feel like the EXP wasn’t set up perfectly because you always feel like the minions should give a little more considering how long the battles take. Once you find the perfect area you can do fairly well with the battles but it’s still more work than the average RPG.

The gameplay is classic turn based combat with different spells, techniques, and physical attacks. You should play around with them and at times you may even use a combo by mistake. This seems to be part RNG but if you choose the right attacks in the right order then your allies will land a hit at the same time. I could never figure this out exactly but it was fun when it would work. Except ironically in one instance where it turned into a combo attack that the enemy boss was immune to, so I lost a turn there.

Aside from the graphics being solid, the soundtrack is also on point here. There are a lot of good themes throughout the game ranging from the battle themes to even the main tune when you first open the title. It has a lot of energy throughout and that’s always a good thing because it really gets you pumped to play the rest of the game. There may not be much replay value once you have beaten the game but the main story is already long enough where that’s no problem. It took me at least 15 hours or so to complete it and apparently there are side quests so you can work on that. Maybe there’s even a post game but I’m not sure how that would work here since beating the game takes you back to the loading page. I would have to double check that.

In terms of tips, this is one of the only games where I would recommend not equipping a weapon for some of your fighters. It’s way better to have the double shields for a lot of defense. Yeah I know that sounds crazy but it’s surprisingly worth it. I initially started out with 5 attack builds but they would all get shredded in an instant. So you want two medics that only heal and can use magic and then the other 3 can have their signature weapons. In general the concept of having to choose between equipping a weapon or shield is an interesting one. It definitely adds some extra depth.

Another reason the game can be really difficult is the way the techniques and skills are labeled. The game doesn’t provide you with any descriptions for any of them and the titles are super abbreviated so it can be hard to tell what does what. You will need to consult with an online guide for that or you will be really doomed there. You definitely need to be using the right abilities to defeat the boss. If nothing else, just test them all out against minions. By the end I was still confused on some of the abilities and why they would work on some enemies and not others…but as long as you beat the bosses that’s what counts.

Overall, Phantasy Star IV is a pretty fun game. Definitely make sure you grind levels quite often or you will get stuck though. I had to reach around level 45 before I was able to beat the game and even then it was super close. The bosses will randomly throw out crazy attacks that down your party sometimes so you have to hope that RNG is on your side. Towns don’t sell many items in this game either so if you get lost in a dungeon then it’s all over. Yeah, I would definitely say that this was one of the harder RPGs that I’ve played.

Overall 7/10

Granblue Fantasy: Relink Review

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It’s time for a pretty top tier RPG that came out a little while ago. It’s a pretty long game so there is plenty of time to squeeze in a bunch of storylines, hype characters, and lots of action. The levels also get rather difficult so you definitely have to make sure you level up and beat a bunch of enemies or it’ll catch up to you at the worst possible time. You can’t let that happen or it’s all over. This game definitely surpassed my expectations and really ended up being a standout hit.

The general plot has the main character sailing the skies with his friend Lyria and the rest of the crew. They are still trying to get to the final island at the edge of the skies similar to what Luffy is doing on the waters but along the way they always end up helping people in different villages. Lyria is linked to the lead with their souls so if one dies then the other will too. So they both have to do their best to stay strong and throughout their adventures they have learned how to tame giant monsters and really fight as a team. Well their biggest threat is here now as a mysterious group wants to kidnap Lyria for nefarious purposes. This group is incredibly powerful…can they be stopped?

The game sort of starts you off right in the middle of the journey but even if you haven’t played the other games or watched the anime I would argue that it’s fairly new player friendly. You quickly get an understanding of the team dynamics and personalities and their goal is simple enough. Meanwhile you have the villains jumping in and getting in everyone’s way which makes enough sense. The game is stand alone enough for this to all be easy while still connecting to the overall plot by the end. So yeah there’s really a good story here all the way and Gran really has to work on getting stronger if he wants to keep on protecting Lyria.

You have a good amount of twists, betrayals, and hype moments scattered throughout the game. Another reason why I really enjoy RPGs is because in general they are long enough to get all of that content in. If a game is short then there’s only so much that you can do with the story after all. The character designs are on point and things even get rather high tier by the end. These characters are definitely not messing around.

The gameplay is a 3D action title where you go in and smash away at your enemies. You have 4 different special moves per character and you choose which ones you want to use from the menu. You learn so many different ones that it can be hard to decide on just 4. Additionally as you level up you can keep on adding to your character tree. There’s no way to power everything up and all of the characters share points so you can choose to put everything into one character and make him a beast in combat or you can keep it fairly equal and distribute the whole time. It’s really up to you. I went ahead and gave it all to Gran since I played as him the whole time. I figured I should give myself the best possible chance to win and I’d rather trust myself than the A.I.

I suppose you could make that same case in favor of powering up your partners since they’ll need the stats more than I might but in general I like being strong enough to take on the boss as needed. The gameplay mechanics aren’t all explained very well so there’s some stuff I learned rather late in the game. One is that you die for good when your team’s danger meter goes all the way up. I thought I just had to revive people before the meter went out but every death adds onto the total which is why sometimes it would seem like my team died for no reason. Also you can speed up your revival by smashing the control stick in each direction. So I highly recommend doing that because every minute seriously counts.

For what to power up on the tree, I just did that randomly. It’s probably better to have a plan but you get so many power ups that it just felt more efficient to be throwing them all around. I’d be pretty strong either way. There’s even more to the gameplay after all of this but have fun exploring it as you play. There’s so many different ways to tackle a level and you can keep on switching characters in your party which is cool. The game has some very occasional platforming which feels a bit out of place but it’s pleasant enough. Just know that you will be mainly focusing on the battles either way.

The sheer amount of content in the game is super impressive though. Aside from the story which is already really long, you have a ton of side quests, missions, post game content, character stories for every character, etc. Getting the platinum trophy for this game and clearing everything probably will take you at least 60 hours if not longer. They really went all out on this game and I appreciate it. No corners were cut and it’s clear that the developers put a lot of care into this one. The boss battles are spectacular and the whole thing is really a lot of fun.

The graphics are super good as you would expect. There are even a few battles mid cutscene which are always a lot of fun. Then you have the soundtrack which is pretty good as well. On the technical side the game definitely does not disappoint. When you are solid all across the board like that then there is really nothing that can stop you. This is a game that I won’t be forgetting anytime soon and definitely deserves a lot of praise. I’m really going to have to keep my eye out for more Granblue games when they come out now.

Overall, Granblue Fantasy: Relink is definitely an excellent game. It’s really got everything you could want here from great gameplay to a compelling story. It’s no small potatoes either how there is so much voice acting in the game. It always helps to make a game feel newer and this one feels like it’s got a bit of everything. Even 20 years from now, this game will still look and feel really good which is why it excels. The quality of life features are all intact and there are no real pain points here.

Overall 9/10