One of those post again where I go over what games I play during the year.
Fate/samurai remnant.
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Aww yea its fate/staynight but in old japan!
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I think I generally liked playing through it but the endings were a dumpster fire
especially the 3rd one, the only route I liked was the snake one but idk it just
feels like it threw itself in the bin, there was a lot of optional dlc scenario's after launch
but I could not do them because the 3rd ending ruined the MC for me
so I just couldn't be arsed about some new side story that takes place mid game.
Ugh whatever I guess!
~
Lost Judgment.
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WTF man...
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Alright this was a trip and the themes were too heavy for my tastes.
I think the investigation part and maybe the story as well were a step down
from the first judgment, like it went on way too long and it didn't make me feel smart
looking around a scene! you also couldn't find kittens this time so that may be it as well.
At its core I don't think the story was bad just at times I was like yea maybe that guy
should just keep doing what he's been doing what a legend man. Kuwana bestest boi💕
Also if you dropped this game midway then I understand why.
~
Granblue Fantasy Relink.
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Id was the best boy hands down.
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Almost forgot I played this which probably says a lot...
this is like an RPG with an established cast of a long running gacha game but honestly
I ended up liking some of the game original characters like mr fix-it dude and Id a lot more
than the main heroes. They also did very little to introduce them so if you hadn't watched
the first season of the anime or know them from the gacha then you'd be short out of luck
since they really expected the player to already be somewhat familiar with GBF.
The little scenarios for them that were there honestly didn't do much for me either.
I think Id's whole character is what saved this game from being a mediocre experience
it also doesn't help that to see the epilogue it turned into a grind simulator
of having to clean up mister fix-it dude's laundry list. After the story was over
all you could basically do was min-max gear and fight the same bosses to do just that.
Yea thanks but no thanks... I tend to play RPG's for the story and characters but this game
was so barebones of it that I barely remember anything except Id being best boy.
~
Matsurika no Kei tenmeiin iden.
This was an otome game with some heavy chinese influences, I generally did enjoy it
and it had some great artwork, I suppose the heroine Naaya may not be for everyone
so if you prefer proactive MC's such as Lynette you could be disappointed by her.
I think Enrai was the bestest boi in the whole game... he's such an easy favorite.
Anyway most of the LI's were great as were their routes with exception
of Fey which was a disaster compared to most others. I'd prolly still recommend it
to those that like historic fantasy because that is what it did best.
This is one of the vn's that cares too much about its lore that it becomes a double edged sword.
~
Final Fanfiction VII Rebirth.
Oh man was this a game that went on for too long than it was needed
like god so much side content thrown at you its so easy to get overwhelmed
if you actually wanted to progress the story which was kind of messy btw.
This game made me realize that optional content is all fine and dandy
but too much of it isn't good at all, some of the minigames also felt clunky like that
chocobo minigame in cosmo canyon omg its so not accessible to everyone.
The final straw that broke the camel's back was during the final fights where it would
say something like do you want to retry? and the option would be: this battle and current battle.
The latter was NOT the option you should take if you died in the very last fight.
The last battles were just poorly thought out and some of it doesn't even fit in with the original
it also makes you think they're gonna change things but ultimately go haha no.
Of course there will be a part 3 of the remakes but idk this left me thinking maybe not?
perhaps I can do without the remakes and just appreciate the original.
~
Kannagi no Mori.
Matatabi's 3rd game! I never bought it on PS Vita so when I found out about
a switch version I felt like I had to get it now or regret it...
Well I don't think this otome game was too bad, it was pretty decent but it didn't excel
at anything, it had a decent story about loss and moving on to be found in here
so I will give Matatabi some points for it because it may just be their best game.
~
Yakuza Kiwami 2.
This one was pretty good imo, it has likely some of the best substories as well.
The story did feel short if you weren't sidetracked by any of the usual side activities.
There was also romance in this game more than usual and the ending partially
doesn't make me want to touch another yakuza game because these guys will just keep writing
and Kiryu will go through hell and back again. Never you mind the ending he had for himself here.
The battle stuff was sadly kinda basic compared to zero and they got rid of stances
so it just felt dumbed down but hey a real man's gotta be a little stupid aight?
~
2045, Tsukiyori.
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EMT stands for Elle Maji Tenshi.
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I rarely play galge but this one caught my eye and it sure was interesting
and if I had to recommend it, it would only be because of Elle.
Not that the other heroines weren't good but they didn't even get proper kiss cg's
and for Shirabe her ending/epilogue felt weird like it didn't even have a final cg and idk
if it was because I played the console port but they definitely should have added one there.
Yui on the other hand was just okay in comparison but yea if you weren't Elle
you didn't get the full heroine treatment and so I can only say do it for Elle
because it may have been the only route that was fully worth experiencing.
~
Utakata no Uchronia.
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Probably the only guy I fancied a lot in uta-chro was this dumbass Tobari.
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I liked the setting but it just wasn't very interesting, so much flew over my head
and not every thread felt truly resolved by the time the routes were over
like they're betting on being able to release a FD or sequel or something.
The story was mostly SoL and a utopia that seems perfect, its like they
combined Code:Rea and Piofiore but with some yamato vibes.
There's also a pretty toxic love interest that I wish I never experienced.
Thankfully most LI's were good but the only one I really liked was Tobari.
Also a lot of conversations just felt dry and not much happened
that the most interesting route ended up being that toxic guy Yori. 😂💀
Also IDK if it was the level of japanese or most of the game was just boring.
I'll probably get the sequel/FD just for Tobari and hoping to get more resolution
out of this game... or is that setting the bar too high?
13 sentinels aegis rim.
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When I remember this game all I think about is Yakisoba pan guy.
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IDK this was such a mixed bag for me, I barely even remember half of the story now
that I look back on it. What I do remember was yakisoba pan guy as well as
that it was basically revelation upon revelation and that I could barely process
them before the next one happened. Other than that the characters were pretty fun
and some of them were shippable others not so much but the game did it anyway, oh well.
At the end of the day I could say that it was decent but just never that great due to some of the
way the story was presented to the player, at most it was kinda cool. Yea that's about it.
Akuyaku Reijou.
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Pretty art but that's about it really...
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Oh no... idk why they even made this game other than to get people into the LN's?
Like it just wasn't as funny as Hamefura and it kinda ripped off from Taming the final boss.
Its basically just a straight adaptations from the LN with only 1 love interest aka seahorse and
the system is what broke the camel's back for me cuz this is like something from quinrose
like holding the skip button to skip? a clunky UI that could make you think it is a PC game.
No just no... not sure why there were even choices other than to get some extra scene
with a different character to spice things up that ultimately changes nothing.
I think had I gotten this for 15$ I wouldn't be so harse but anything above 30$ is a pass.
Will only recommend this game if its on a sale or are desperate for another otome game.
~
FFXIV Dawntrail.
Honestly I generally did enjoy it but it also has a lot to live up to
only just coming from the highs of both shadowbringers and endwalker.
I'm not sure if I will continue the trail this expansion set me on as I become more
and more fatigued with the general flow of things and some enemy designs
are also way too obvious as reskins. I used to praise them for being clever about it
but seeing first eden boss in the second to last dungeon just rubs me the wrong way.
Whenever I think about FFXIV I just feel so lost? that any other game sparks my interests more
maybe that is why I was able to set myself up to so many other games this year.
~
Mistonia no Kibou the lost delight.
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I literally don't give a shit about anyone in this game except Lukas.
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I think this game had an interesting premise but just can't pull off its story beats
consistently, its truth end just fell flat. When I think about it the only route I liked and
that actually executed the storybeats well enough was Lukas. I guess I am lucky he ended up
being my favorite guy too LMAO. Not to say other LI's sucked but it was just
all over the place. Only LI I hated was ASScot, he just got so much NOPE.
It was also short so just when the romance got good it was already the end and speaking
of endings I wish I never did the maze ends cuz I hated what happened in them.
~
Yakuza 3.
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Oh god yes I love infodumps (no I do not...)
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Y3
was a little rough but it was still pretty okay in the end.
At the end of the day the orphanage stuff was pretty wholesome as well as
seeing Kiryu's character from a different angle but the game itself also just
shows its age that you wish it got a kiwami treatment but alas it only got remastered.
Combat was pretty bland and its also pretty much known as blockuza 3 due to
enemies blocking a lot and then the encounter rate was also pretty high. /shrug
Substories varied but... most didn't really grab me as much, just nice on the side
as you play through the main story. There's nothing memorable about most of them.
Maybe I am also a little burnt of going through Kiryu's saga which is why
I have decided to take a break from it for a little while. I really envy people who can like
just truck through series one after the other cuz I can't seem to do it except with breaks.
~
Trouble Magia.
I wasn't initially going to get this game but I wanted to see if it was cliche as it seemed...
and was pleasantly surprised it turned out to be quite enjoyable to me
like it may seem like its been done before but it was still funny and interesting.
The art was not superb but it grew on me a lot, the routes were pretty character focused
and they were all worth doing since they dealt with the curse in different ways
while also tackling character specific problems. Only the last two routes focused on
the core issues which other glosses over...and I guess it was kind of long especially the last route.
This game may not look it but it was surprisingly good! and it never felt like it tried too hard
as Trouble Magia just embraced all of its cliche's and just rolled with it.😄
Japan also seems to love this game so that's good to see.
Kai no Kiseki.
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I'll remember you.......................
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While I don't think this was a bad game since in many ways it delivered, it also was
more of the usual and I am getting tired of that. Rean and Kevin's routes were fun
and it was nice seeing certain characters again but Van's route was such a sleeper and I found
myself getting bored during it which isn't good since Van was like the majority of the game.
It picked up of course but it felt like most of the game was carried by the other characters
while you progress with Van. I'm probably not the only one experiencing series fatigue
but I am starting to really feel it with this one. However I accept this series just is the
way it is, sadly after kai and its messy end I am thinking of retiring.
~
Honey Vibes.
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Thanks for fulfilling my fantasies of holding hands with Alhaitham while he reads a book!
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Ah... well I think this otome game was pretty fun but it also has aspects that make me go nah
and I definitely did not except this game to have so many bad ends. Its very much a character game
so you're bound to find a favorite amongst the cast, its just the plot isn't really its strong point.
The romance in most routes was pretty much the plot and the finale exists to actually focus
on the story that the routes never really go into. My favorite characters were Alvin and Finn.
I don't think there's anyone I disliked, to my own surprise I ended up liking Mino
more than I thought but yea... Eno is the last guy I wanna think about.
~
Yakuza 4.
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The yakuza FOUR.
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Y4 may have been one of my favorite yakuza games, I thought it was interesting
to play as different characters and stepping away from Kiryu for a bit.
I don't think the story was particularly strong but it wasn't awful, it also didn't overstay its welcome
and thus was just overall a fun game to me! I don't really have much to complain
about except maybe Saejima's segments or fighting Saito.
~
Yakuza 5.
Hooboy, this game was much like Y4 except its twice as long because of padding itself out
at times it was so bad I forgot important storybeats to the point I cared more
about some bloke named Shinada than Kiryu whom the game started with.
Yea I kid you not Kiryu felt like a stranger in his own game, Y5 also had a lot of random
moments in between the storybeats which peaked and then dipped due to the horrid pacing.
Its worse if you actually try to enjoy side content because the story is very ambitious
and if I lingered too long like in Shinada's section a lot faded and the finale didn't help much.
Its all just revelation upon revelation leading to information overload that I became numb to it all...
That aside I can't hate the game because it was still pretty entertaining to play through it!
it still has the charm I know the series for but its just a tad too long for my tastes.
This is also the only time I will ever play these games back to back...
~
Infinity Nikki.
For the most part I really enjoyed this game, its very chill and collecting stuff while exploring the gorgeous world for chests and whimstars alongside was fun.The storyline was decent
but I didn't really enjoy having to craft the miracle outfit due to having to do faction
stuff, it felt very fillerly and I often couldn't proceed cuz I ran out of resin or bling to glow up outfits.
I had the rest of the items except bouldy's mats ready to go for a good while as those were
easy to find, sadly the medal part turned into a chore for me. Still I do think this was
a wonderful game, even if its a gacha game there were plenty of outfits to be found ingame
that could turn out pretty well. I wasn't here for the styling battles but I did enjoy
making some glam's for Nikki to wear at times so all in all it was a good game!
After crafting the wishful aurosa dress and finishing the story it has been very laidback
as I mostly just collect some mat's to craft Kilo's outfits and do my dailies.
Can't wait to see what this game will have to offer in the future!
~
As for next year, I will likely not play as many otome games and will instead just focus
on fandisk/sequel's of existing ones unless one really interested me or it is in english.
The same can be said for other games and such, if it interests me then I will buy it
but I won't be buying every game a company throws out there which leads me to my next point.
It has to deal with definite editions & me just being tired of being a beta-tester by playing on release.
Sure these definitive versions are great if you have yet to play the original but it just feels
like a kick in the gut for them releasing an updated version with more content
the OG release is never going to get. Knowing this I do not feel bad about getting
definitive editions after they pull that sort of stunt. Like for example Dragon Quest XI
which i've never played so games like Metaphor Refantazio will likely be bought on some sale.
TL;DR: I'll be focusing on my backlog and only buying new games that really interests me
so I can avoid most of the definite edition drama or have it affect me as little as possible.
