Judgment - Review

 Genre: Mystery/brawler.

Developer/publisher: Sega.

Platform: PC/PS4/5.
Official Site: N/A.
Release date: 23/04/2021

 

Okay since not knowing what to play next and spying this game on sale for 15$

I decided why not? why should I not try another spinoff game in the ryu-ga-gotoku universe

and fall deeper into its rabbit hole. The decision to get this may also seem like I just

don't want to play yakuza 1 to 6 and well you're right I don't! atleast not right now.

Also for some reason only the PS5 ver was on sale at first and not the PS4 version which went

on sale later? idk the psn spring sales were really weird cuz they kept changing things.

Pro's

- Really good mystery that comes together really well.

- Great cast of characters, from bro's to friends and terrible villains.

- Cats.

Con's

- Game can be a bit too punishing with its mortal wounds mechanic.(Also

next time maybe not put the doctor that sells medkits in such an out of the way area.)

 

More rambles after the jump.

Atelier Ryza 3 Alchemist of the end and the Secret Key - Review

 Genre: RPG.

Developer/publisher: Gust/Koei
Platform: PC/PS4/5/Switch.
Official Site: https://www.koeitecmoeurope.com/ryza3/welcome.html
Release date: 24/03/2023

 

Okay so after a year break from atelier and skipping Sophie 2 i've decided to get Ryza 3.

Mostly because I wanted to see the hints the characters left in the prequel

plus the fact Ryza 2 left me unsatisfied! so I went into 3 with the hope of a proper ending.

and well in short it did just that and it was nice to see everyone again! 

I don't really recommend starting with this game since the Ryza games

are all direct-sequels of each other.  Also because Ryza ended up sitting on her ass

at the end of the second game her proportions have been uh thickened or so to speak.

 

 Sadly they seemed to have upped the amount of playable characters in this game

which is probably the only thing I wasn't looking forward to since the more members there are

the more likely characters end up getting benched. I'm usually fine with 6 or 7 but Ryza 3 has 11.

Yea I guess I should be used to this becuase of kiseki/trails but man... its kinda hell

to try and manage the equipment of so many characters.😅

I played on normal from start to finish, and my party ended up being Ryza,Klaudia 

and Bos for a good while till I switched the two of them out for Kala and Dian

 

Opening Movie.

Pro's

- Story and characters gets fleshed out and overall was a decent finish.

-  Plenty of optional content such as chara event, sub and world quest.

 

Con's

- Terrible Depth of Field making my eyes hurt.

- World's so big now its actually exhausting.

- For the love of Fi get rid of the core item system, it barely feels like an atelier game.

- RNG infested key system, want rare monsters? want to get past a barrier

or more quantity for synthing? go get a key with an effect that allows it!

My eyes...............

Also when I started playing there was a really bad depth of field and the motion blur

was pretty awful too that I had to turn off. They will fix this with a patch but man...

did it hurt my eyes and not even make me want to play. Graphics are on par with the

other games in the series though its just that why oh why is there so much blur???

The music was well okay? it made me nostalgic of Ryza 1 but at times it sounded like 

the type you'd hear in some old movie with no talking which just makes everything so ambitious

and it kinda is Ryza's last big adventure? atleast I think so I guess its okay.

Edit: I kind of want to add that in terms of music, gust hasn't really been the same

and I don't even remember what the final boss theme sounded like. While I still

remember how kick ass they used to be in like eschatology. Oh well time's change huh?

 

More rambles after the jump.

 

Final Fantasy VIII remaster - Review

 Genre: RPG.

Developer/publisher: Square Enix.
Platform: PC/PS4/5/switch.
Official Site: N/A.
Release date: 09/03/2019

 

Another game I bought on a sale around 10$.

FF8, aka one of the PS1 era FF's I never played thus far and when I started this game

I immediately understood why it probably was better to not to.

Its mostly the system really, its a huge unga-bunga of drawing magic from bosses

which makes you able to use said magic but only if you set it. 

Yea you read that right, well as an FF fan I always felt a little bad for avoiding this one

so this time I bit the bullet and tried the remaster when I didn't have much else to do

so it was kind of a backburner game of sorts. I didn't take that many screenshots

but there were some really funny dialogues at times.

Pro's

- Great cast of characters.

- Serious story with some light-hearted moment&comedy.

- Triple triad is goat.

- Amazing OST.

Con's

- Overly complicated system that is easily broken and lacks balance.

- Backgrounds and FMV's were of poor quality in comparison to the amazing models.

- As great as the OST is this game really needed a lower the BGM option.

- Too easy to miss sidequest or other things making you have to read a guide like a hawk.

More rambles after the jump.

Like a Dragon: Ishin! - Review

Genre: Adventure/Action-RPG.

Developer/publisher: Sega.
Platform: PC/PS4/5.
Official Site: N/A.
Release date: 2023-02-21.

 

Okay since I did fell into the Ryu-Ga-Gotoku rabbit hole i've  decided

to play the game that interested me the most which ended up being Ishin!

as it is a spin off set in the bakumatsu era starring Ryoma Sakamoto.

There was no other game I wanted to play that badly anyway so it was an easy choice!

 

The fun thing about it is that while it is a historic fantasy they're reimaging

characters as historic figures! so you have Kiryu as Ryoma and Majima as Okita.

I already played Y0 So I recognized some of them but its story is still stand-alone

so it can be enjoyable to fans or newcomers! Some names you may recognize and that's cuz

they're of the shinsengumi! I did greatly enjoy spending time in old-timey japan! I guess

Hakuouki may be old and busted for me but that doesn't stop me from enjoying it in other forms.

Pro's

- Story is short but decent enough, nice to see yakuza chara's in a differend setting.

- All of the substories were fun, plenty of side content.

- Music fit the setting and there are some really great tracks.

Con's

- 100%ing is tedious, mostly bonds and dilligence records related.

- You can have all the Ryo in the world but you still gotta trade before you can pay of a debt.😩

- Why do weapons not count as 1 inventory entry??!! its not funny to donate 50 bundle blades

one by one to level up the blacksmith to 10 so I can make a good endgame weapon.😡😡😡

More rambles after the jump, i'm just gonna say already that I really enjoyed

my time with Ishin! despite not having played many Yakuza games.

 

Yakuza Zero - Review

 Genre: Adventure/brawler.

Developer/publisher: Sega.
Platform: PC/PS4.
Official Site: N/A.
Release date: 2015-03-12.

 

So I decided to grab Yakuza Zero when it was on sale on the PSN. I have no experience

with this series and found it daunting to try and get into it due to the sheer number of games.

People seem to say either release order OR this game are OK to start with so here I am!

Fair warning, Yakuza 0 or perhaps the series in general really lives up to its age-rating

and has a high amount of violence+mature themes compared to the games I usually play.

I also kind of knew these type of games aren't for me... but I still wanted to try it.

Pro's

- Interesting story that comes together really well.

- A lot of optional content, ranging from minigames to fun sidestories and area management.

- Decent graphics, music fit the vibes.

Con's

- The contrast between main and sub stories can be jarring.

- At times it became more of an interactive movie, especially at the end.

- Edit; Not being able to save anywhere; only at telephone poles.