The Adventures of Elliott: The Millennium Tales

• Genre: Action RPG
• Spoiler Free Review: Kind of spoiler free up until where I say I'm going to do big spoilers but still round-about spoilers throughout, just trying not to be specific.
• Time Played: 30 Hours
• Too Short/Long: It's not excessively long game, but the pacing/progression don't do it any favors. It feels way longer than it is because it seems like it's going to wrap up at multiple points and doesn't really offer anything new for a long time.
• Did I cry: It did manage to squeeze a tear or two out of me despite how my recount may sound.
• Soundtrack: It wasn't bad, but overall just a little too general cheery adventure music for me. When they "went hard" it felt forced and not exactly in line with the rest of the tracks. Individually there are no bad tracks, but it didn't have an identity of it's own - it was clearly just taking from what inspired it.
• Why I played: The visuals and the gameplay are both huge draws for me. I love the "H2-2D" look and I also really like Ys games, which this takes most of it's inspiration from.
• Jank: There were a few times I had to restart the game because the ability to use Faie just completely bugged out. Often during the worst possible times, such as doing this challenge gauntlet - which I still managed without the help of Faie mind you, despite some of her later abilities being kind of overpowered.
• Difficulty: Very low. I thought I saw something about there being special scene if you die at certain points and so there were times I purposefully died to see if anything special would happen, but it never did. Other than that I never died - I used potions to prevent death - it's not like I didn't take damage, but at least early on in the game I had the 99 combo going for so long I decided to just take it easier and play a bit more quickly/recklessly, which would actually lose my health, but nothing a potion didn't solve.
• Pleased/Disappointed: I'm not exactly disappointed with the game as a whole, just exhausted. I guess what I'm most disappointed about is the poor writing and lack of consistency when it comes to continuity and paradox.
• Recommend to others: I probably wouldn't recommend it over what it draws inspiration from. Ys, Mana games, Zelda games a bit, and then the many games that were also inspired them, such as one of my absolute favorites; CrossCode. I just couldn't help but feel like this was less good than so many other games in so many other ways - visuals aside, because those are still very fun, and it does have higher production values in other aspects too, but it just comes up short on how fun or interesting it is.

Overall I did enjoy it, but I was left exhausted of it by time I was done. I think that's the first misstep - the pacing/world design. On it's own, there is nothing wrong with the world - arguably even a decent - if not extremely generic world. You got your woods, desert, snowfield and volcano, and town all of which are so uninspired the ice land is literally called "White Area", and to the west of that? "West Area", though it's kind of funny having both Nothern West Area and Southern West Area, and Neverwither is a clever name for a forest place.

Regardless, across a millennium, nothing really changes for these environments. Not for the most part. Some bridges move, some ladders move and that's about 90% of it. Fallen trees that block your path somehow remain for a thousand years in some cases, or perhaps a tree falls in the same exact place after a window of it opening. Key locations have a couple switch ups, but for the most part you're exploring the same exact map 4 different times. Every dungeon has a collectable in every time too, it could be a useful life piece, or it could be an item that you already collected via the random gacha system the game has, but don't worry if you collect one you already have then they'll compensate you by offering exactly 1 of the item you need 5 of to perform a gacha draw. Wowie kabowie. You're telling me after I find 5 useless chests along an hour of treasure hunting I can do a SINGLE gacha pull which will likely award me... a duplicate item which will award me exactly 1 of the gacha currency.

Transistor

• Genre: Action Rpg
• Spoiler Free Review: Yeah.
• Time Played: 10 Hours
• Too Short/Long: About right, could have done with maybe a little more?
• Soundtrack: Like Bastion before it, this soundtrack is amazing. It's one I've listened to a lot before finishing the game. 
• Why I played: I've picked up Transistor at least twice before this third time, started, went through the first few battles, etc. I just fell off because it's a bit slow moving in the start. I knew it was a game I'd enjoy, I just didn't stick with it before.
• Did I cry: Yes.
• Jank: It's not too janky. I'd say it could use a couple quality of life upgrades, like the UI for equipping/unequipping your skills, but it's not janky, per se.
• Difficulty: It can be pretty annoying/difficult at times. Overall it's not entirely difficult, but you either have to play with your strategies for battles a good bit or otherwise perfect your moves for many of the later fights.
• Recommend to others: I would definitely recommend Transistor to anyone who played say, Bastion, and really like the style and music. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to anyone who player, say, Pyres or Hades. Overall though, I'd say I'd recommend the other games first.

I do really like Transistor. I think all of Supergiant Games' games are great, but I do think Bastion and Hades are a bit more celebrated for good reason. Transistor has a bit of a weird mechanic that I don't think everyone is going to enjoy. It's a little light on the explanation, so it takes a lot of experimenting to figure out what works, what doesn't, and exactly what the perfect way to do things is. There are times it offers little tidbits on screen, but I think it could do a little better in that department. Even if it did, it's still and odd system, and an unfortunate aspect is - once you get to a certain point in the game, it's a system that is constantly trying to prevent you from using it.

Part of me thinks it would have been a little better if it leaned a bit more into the action, than the strategy of the combat. You're given this toolkit of pretty neat abilities to use, and various ways to use them and combine them, but so many of the enemies attacks and responses are trying to prevent you from using them. Additionally, you'll lose access to certain skills for a few battles should you perform poorly enough. I think less enemy moves specifically countering your abilities, and a health system that didn't take away your abilities would have made this game much more fun - and more accessible to the average player.

If this was a design decision to incentivize players to experiment with different abilities, I still don't think it excuses it. They have challenges that force you into different ability combos, they could have offered more of those that made players try new moves, and also offered another bonus like win X # of battles with this skill placed here. Which they kind of offer with lore, it's just one battle with each skill in each placement, but since these are just text biographies and such, I imagine many people will skip out on that, I didn't, but I'm a bit of a completionist.

That said, the combat is still interesting, unique, and fun. Every other aspect of the game is great too. The music, the art, the tone, setting, etc. The story is all a little vague, throwing you directly into a scenario in an extremely futuristic society far removed from our own, presumably the entire course of the game is one night, but it serves it's purpose for the experience and is fleshed out with the consistent voice overs.

Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma

• Genre: Farm-sim Action RPG
• Spoiler Free Review: Pretty much, other than the screenshots.
• Time Played: 60 Hours
• Too Short/Long: Actually maybe too short? I felt like I was left off wanting more.
• Soundtrack: It's okay, it fits the setting and such, and it has some unique effects an queues, but nothing I'm in a hurry to listen to on it's own.
• Why I played: I've always tried getting into the Rune Factory games, generally I like their style, and some of them have pretty fun game play. It's the gameplay loop that always had me fall off. Guardians of Azuma just looked so good I had to give it another shot.
• Did I cry: Almost, but not quite.
• Jank: It's pretty solid. There might be a couple very tiny issues where you climb something/don't climb something correctly, but it's mostly pretty tight.
• Difficulty: I think the difficulty is highly dependent on how well you balance what you do and how efficiently you do it. If you focus too much on progressing through the story, it'll make it harder. If you focus too much on just farming and pursuing relationships, it'll make things take longer.
• Recommend to others: I definitely would recommend this to others. At least for me, it's a great balance of farming/management and action rpg. The story is okay, but the dialog is very fun and the characters are great, and there are a lot of ways to approach how to play the game and I think that's why a lot of people will enjoy it.

Upon finishing Guardians of Azuma, I read some review of it which seemed... a little unfair. Now maybe from the perspective of long time fans of the Rune Factory series, there may not be enough of this or that, but I really liked Guardians of Azuma. Maybe it's something superficial and the better visuals or more Japanese inspired designs drew me in, but I think that it's a little more what I like, and maybe a little less what the typical cozy farm sim enjoyer likes.

There is a clear story when you start off Guardians of Azuma. You're engaged in a battle to stop the destruction of the world, and you are tasked with restoring it. You start off modestly in a small village inhabited by the goddess of Spring and eventually venture to towns for each season. Each town has some npcs, "development areas" where you do your farming/building/customizing, and outside the town each has it's own pseudo-open area, followed by a dungeon. Some of the development areas are rather small, making it a bit tricky to manage what you can work with, while some give you plenty of room for customization. Some are large enough to basically make a whole town within them.

But by far and large the biggest sections of the game are those where the action occurs. I find that a lot of these farm-sim/action rpgs usually have much smaller dungeon areas, or at least less focus and not quite as many large areas. There are many areas that cannot be fully explored in a single cycle. Thankfully there are shrines/save points that allow you to pick right up where you left off, should you need to return to town and rest. One thing that bugs me is having to always start from the beginning of an area, and this game thankfully respects your time to be pretty generous with those shrines which also act as fast travel/teleport locations.

Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time

• Genre: Action Rpg
• Spoiler Free Review: I don't think things are really high stake enough to spoil in this game, but there might be some spoilers of things you get.
• Time Played: 80 Hours
• Too Short/Long: I feel like I wrapped up the story just as the game was growing a little tedious for me, so I'd say just right. That said, you can definitely extend your playtime and play much more, or maybe even shorten it a good bit if you want to play a bit more focused. I feel like this has more variety in the "Just right" amount of playtime than most games will.
• Soundtrack: There are some catchy tunes or otherwise generic fantasy world tunes that are fitting for the setting and style of game, but nothing I'm gonna really jam out to on it's own.
• Why I played: I loved the first Fantasy Life and had hopes they were going to make a new one for years, so I was really excited for this one.
• Did I cry: Most of it, even the most dramatic aspects are pretty light hearted, so there isn't much worth shedding a tear over.
• Jank: It's mostly jank free. I feel like the jankiest aspect might be intended game design. Basically out of bounds enemies will become invincible and then eventually return to their start position. This can break some enemies entirely though who won't return. I had a challenge where I kept pushing the enemy out of range and it would become invincible without returning and I would have to leave the area and then come back and restart the fight a few times before I could actually finish it.
• Difficulty: Generally the game is pretty easy, as you can always get better equipment. However, it could be considered a bit tedious to engage with all systems, and late game enemies are pretty strong. Late game might out pace some players before they are willing to put in the effort to face them.
• Recommend to others: Fantasy Life is a really fun game that I would recommend to most people. It's gameplay loop is just a constant stream of dopamine. Make better stuff, fight stronger enemies, get new things, make better stuff, etc. You're always getting something, which makes for a lot of moments where you just wanna keep going to get the next thing.

I really liked the first Fantasy Life and really sung it's praises back when in it's day. I leave off on this one not quite as sure how I'll regard it in the future. I enjoyed it a lot, don't get me wrong, but maybe it just wasn't enough? Not that there isn't enough. The game definitely feels packed, just maybe a little shallow. Maybe I didn't spend enough time with multiplayer, or maybe the way I approach games now - with the goal of finishing them, rather then just something to play for the sake of playing, skews my perspective.

I definitely feel like you can get something out of it in both those regards, if you just want something to play and enjoy with friends, or something to sit back and relax and mess around with. We'll see of course because usually - as I say - when I'm finished, I'm done. But I might actually go back to this one when the DLC is released.

The First Berserker: Khazan

• Genre: Action RPG (Souls-Like)
• Spoiler Free Review: No real spoilers in this.
• Time Played: 62 Hours
• Too Short/Long: Definitely felt a bit too long. A good amount of the levels are just twice the length they need to be. Most side mission levels are solid for what they are, but each of the main ones (of which there are over a dozen) are hours each.
• Soundtrack: Kind of your standard fare for the type of game, mostly just ambient noise, but when combat happens they bring our the percussions and chanting choir. It fits, but it's not like it has catchy tunes.
• Why I played: This seemed like it was gonna be one of the most Hell Yeah games I would get to play in some time, and while it was to a degree, it wasn't quite the game I expected. I also really like DNF Duel and hope they do more games outside of Dungeon Fighter Online.
• Did I cry: Not really, there are some moments where they could have pulled it from me if they had spent more time with character development and story, but it definitely takes a back seat most of the game.
• Jank: For the most part the game is pretty polished, mechanically speaking. There is just a little wonkiness with inputs and them not always seeming to register, once I got around the timing of that I rarely had issues, but I definitely feel like the game could have offered a little bit more leeway in when you entered inputs.
• Difficulty: Extremely difficult. This is probably ones of the hardest games I've played. I have calluses on my finger tips I did not a couple weeks ago.
• Recommend to others: This is another one of those examples where the game is just too damn hard to easily recommend. Even to souls vets. I did really enjoy it, but it's tough. It's not the most punishing, but surmounting each wall is a test of patience and fortitude.

Khazan was a really tough game, as mentioned, and something that makes it's difficulty different from other souls-likes games is the much faster pace of the combat. I'm not quite sure any From Software's games make you block 5 times in less than 2 seconds, maybe Sekiro? Speaking of which, the fact that there are in fact several ways to block. 4 ways? 5 if you count the "perfectly timed" brink block, which would mean two ways to dodge, as well. Each block requires the block button, but your standard and brink are just the button, meanwhile, you can do different kind of counters with most the face buttons which have different times you can use them. 

Additionally, you have a skill tree, making Khazan play a little bit more like a character action character, with special moves and conditions in which you can combo certain attacks into others, or new attacks altogether.

 

Ringlorn Saga

• Genre: Action RPG
• Spoiler Free Review: Yes, there isn't much to spoil.
• Time Played: 3-4 Hours
• Too Short/Long: Honestly maybe a bit too short. I certainly could have kept going, it felt like once I got in the groove it was over.
• Soundtrack: It actually has some pretty fun tunes to wander around to.
• Pleased/Disappointed: Pleased.
• Why I played: I kind of did want something short and classic before diving into the new Monster Hunter and even though it's very simple, something about the visuals appeals to me.
• Did I cry: No.
• Jank: It's relatively simple so there aren't many places it can go wrong. Occasionally a tile looks like you can step on it, but you can't. That's about it.
• Difficulty: The difficulty "curve" is basically a 45° decline. It starts off pretty tough and you get better equipment and get better and navigating and realize who you can attack with what and even though enemies get tougher, it's only in a feeble attempt to keep up with your level since they don't really mix up attack patterns or anything like that.
• Recommend to others: I would probably only recommend this to people who like the exact type of game it is. "Action RPGs" with bump combat that are more or less navigation puzzles. It's probably most similar to Hydlide specifically. It's not the best of them, but there is nothing wrong with it if you want another.

I don't have too much to say I haven't really summed up in the above sections. It's pretty much a game that puts all it offers out on the table. The trailer is a minute and thirty seconds. You only need ten seconds of it to know if it's for you.

Some of the writing is pretty fun. Make sure you interact with people in defense mode.

Visions of Mana

• Genre: Action RPG
• Time Played: 66 Hours
• Too Short/Long: A little longer than it needs to be because of the side quests. I kept playing them because I was still having fun, but maybe I should have cut some out and went straight for the main story.
• Pleased/Disappointed: I liked it a lot, it was a lot of fun. I was hoping for a bit more, but I'm not disappointed.
• Why I played: Despite remakes and rereleases, we haven't received an actual new Mana series game for 17 years. Which feels crazy to think about. I was just real hyped about it after seeing it in action.
• Recommend to others: This is a tough one, because I liked it, it was fun, but it's not exactly something I would go out of my way to recommend. If you're looking into an RPG because of it's compelling story, narrative, characters, I don't know what I'd say, but I'd recommend it to people who are on the fence and just want a fun game.

While playing Visions of Mana, I said something like "The only thing this game has got going for it, is it's fun." Similarly, I feel like "If this game wasn't fun, it would suck".

It's not a bad game by any stretch, it's just... on par with every Mana game. I feel like the Mana series gets some undue recognition. Almost all the Mana games are fun to play, but they're all flawed. Even Secret of Mana and Trials of Mana (Seiken Densetsu 3), are rather acclaimed, or were closer to their time, and even then I feel like there were better examples of similar rpgs that don't see quite as much recognition due to their lack of Final Fantasy ties. Even Legend of Mana, my personal favorite of the series is an exceptionally flawed game. Fun to play, but flawed.

That's okay though. If you ask me what'd I'd change about this game, there wouldn't be much. A few nitpicks here and there about navigating the UI, both in and out of combat. Some jankiness experiences while traveling the world. Some choices that make for some annoying time wasting rather then the smoothest experience. Nothing that really kills the game stand alone. Not even combined. But combined does have a bit of an overall impact.

Final Fantasy XV

• Genre: RPG
• Time Played: 77 Hours
• Too Short/Long: I think because of how the game progresses, it's somehow both too short and too long. Main Story is too short, extra content in the earlier part of the game is too long?
• Pleased/Disappointed: I really enjoyed it, and would put it in the upper half of rankings for Final Fantasy games.
• Why I played: I don't feel like I need a reason for a Final Fantasy game, but I recently picked it back up, wanting to actually finish more of my unfinished games.
• Recommend to others: I would, generally speaking, but I feel like most people who would actually have any vested interested in it have already played it or already plan to. I might be willing to try to convince people who didn't give the game a fair enough shot.

Final Fantasy 15 is a mess of a game. A game that started off as a spin-off and took so long to develop, several other Final Fantasy games - main line - spin offs - and sequels to the one it was supposed to be a sequel to, started and finished development within it's cycle. I'm sure there are a number of other games out there that start off as spin-off but become their own thing, but it's notable when it happens. There are probably more examples of the opposite - you know, needing to attach an existing IP to something, to get the attention. The game had to insert blatant advertisements for existing companies, to sponsor it's development. It had weird cross-overs that I'm not sure were wholly in earnest and not just another way to get a few extra bucks.

I mean, it might have helped if they didn't try to make this a whole multi-media project from the start. I think they thought this would be the new FF7. They were gonna have movies, ova's, spin off titles, etc, etc, from the start. And they did. But not because of the legacy the game left, like in FF7's case. They kicked it all off from the start, assured that this next Final Fantasy game would be so beloved the cash would never stop flowing.

Instead, you get a divisive mess of a game and franchise that's all over the place. Regardless, I don't think it all turned out too bad.

Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir

• Genre: Action RPG
• Time Played: 55 Hours
• Too Short/Long: A little long, it can get a little repetitive and monotonous.
• Pleased/Disappointed: Very pleased, it's one of my favorites.
• Why I played: After playing Unicorn Overlord I wanted some more Vanillaware flavored games. I tried playing a Vanillaware inspired game, but it just made me want to play Odin Sphere. So I played Odin Sphere.
• Recommend to others: Odin Sphere is probably a game I would recommend to everyone. It's just a great game, and even if it has some flaws, I think it's worth everyone trying it.

Earlier this year I had revised my favorite game list to include some stuff I had played in recent times, and Odin Sphere got bumped just off the list, scoring only 19 of the required 20 points or more. I reevaluated Odin Sphere now, with it fresh in my mind and bumped it back up to 33 points which coincidently places it alongside some very similar games.

When Leifthrasir came out, I played a little bit(apparently around 15 hours according to my old save) but didn't finish it because it felt all too fresh in my head. I supposed it was less than a decade after the original version's launch. But now, 17 years later, I got to the point where I only remembered certain aspects(and maybe the first dozen hours). The game can be a little long and feel a bit grindy at moments, like you're just kind of doing combat over and over again, but, that is also kind of the point. While I would still classify this as an "action rpg" the emphasis is on the action.

Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth

• Genre: Action RPG
• Time Played: 125 Hours
• Too Short/Long: It definitely feels longer than it should be if you really wanna do everything. That said, it does seem like you can wrap the game up in about 40 hours, but the vast difference between a more completionist playthrough and mostly main story its far greater than I feel it should be.
• Pleased/Disappointed: Infinitely pleased. I have my criticisms, as I do with all games, but I haven't played a game that had me grinning ear to ear as much as this... probably since Remake came out.
• Why I played: Final Fantasy VII is my favorite game, along with Remake.
• Recommend to others: I definitely would recommend it to any Final Fantasy VII fan. Maybe don't try to squeeze every bit out of it, unless you're into that.

--Disc 1-- Remember

While playing this, there were various times I reminisced on the old days. 25+ years ago, when Final Fantasy VII and Ocarina of Time were the undisputed best games of all time. Well, to say it was "undisputed" wouldn't be fair. People disputed alright. But in a time when a much smaller percentage of people used the internet and video games as a hobby were a bit more niche, any time there was a poll of something along the lines of best game of all time, it ultimately ended up with FF7 or Ocarina of Time. Best character? Link or Cloud.

Astlibra Revision

• Genre: Action Platforming RPG
• Time Played: 65 Hours
• Too Short/Long: The core game feels just right, but it's probably a little too long with it's Postscript in mind. Don't get me wrong, I WANTED to keep playing, but it has you redo areas, when you were likely already redoing areas over. It's not something I generally dig and usually feel could be integrated into the core game a bit better. Still, the revisit of old content is quick and abridged.
• Pleased/Disappointed: Extremely please, I think I've got a new favorite out of this one.
• Why I played: I'd been following it for awhile and even remember seeing stuff about the original version and it's always interested me.
• Recommend to others: This is a definitely recommend from me. In fact, I am about to shoot over the link to a few people I was talking about it with in person. 

Astlibra starts out as a game filled with jank, cobbled together stock assets, intermingled with art from several different artists of very different backgrounds, obvious Game Maker-esque tilesets, royalty free music, questionable animation, writing that is hit or miss at times and probably needed another pass through an editor, and game systems slapped one on top of another.

And it never stops being that. But it owns that, and is maybe one of the best games I've played in recent years. Astlibra is fun to play, fun to experience, has great characters, and overall a great story with pretty good writing, even if it misses the mark from time to time. It's convoluted as hell but it's a time-traveling story and what time-traveling story isn't? I think there are clearly some spots where time stuff just happened to work out, because it was written as so, but overall it works.

Final Fantasy VII Remake: Episode INTERmission

• Genre: Action RPG
• Time Played: 9 Hours
• Too Short/Long: I wouldn't have minded it be a bit longer. 3 Chapters would have been good.
• Pleased/Disappointed: Very pleased, I liked it more than I thought I would.
• Why I played: I wanted to get it out of the way before Rebirth came out, and I am glad I did.
• Recommend to others: Definitely. It's not a standalone product and it's technically a DLC, but... it is a stand alone little prologue for Yuffie with some other bonuses. You definitely have to play Remake first.

This is the reason I get so frustrated... infuriated even, when I see how many people cry out for what is just basically a 1:1 "Remake" of Final Fantasy 7 with better graphics instead of the Remake we are getting. The Remake we are getting which, is better viewed as series "reboot" or "sequel" really, rather than a "remake". I always say that "Remake" for FF7 is not a description, but a subtitle. I don't get why people are so against this when so many other series have gotten a kind of "reboot" to a similar degree with almost universal praise. "Fans" can be the absolute worst people.

If you want a 1:1 remake, there are plenty of high-res mods for the PC version.

Upon playing Remake I thought it was just the beginning of a masterpiece and playing Intermission only reinforced that. There are just so many nice little touches that even though I know there is a big giant behind it, I can't help but feel it's carefully crafted for/by dedicated fans.

Don't get me wrong, I kind of agree they delve a little too much into some of the more nonsensical aspects of the FF7 world in Remake and answering that by creating even more nonsensical aspects might not be the best decision, but I am here to see it through because as a complaint, that's pretty minor when considering other modern rpgs and the game is near perfection in every other aspect.

Obviously I have a level of bias as FF7 has always been my favorite game(/series), but I can't begin to express the sheer joy I experience when playing this.

Yuffie is better than ever. Originally, in FF7 she was a bit secondary - being a technically optional character, and maybe a bit annoying at times, but I absolutely loved her here, she is absolutely adorable, and very fun to play. It never felt like a real deviation from who she's always meant to be, just a more fully realized version of the character.

I loved it, and while it's status as a kind of bonus story DLC may technically make it optional to play before Rebirth. Just like acquiring Yuffie(and Vincent) in the original FF7, I don't consider it optional content.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion

• Genre: Action RPG
• Time Played: 23 Hours, 51 Minutes
• Too Short/Long: It's complicated. If you just plow through the story, probably too short. If you aim to complete most or all of the missions, too long.
• Pleased/Disappointed: Also complicated, I am pleased with fleshing out of certain characters and certain aspects of gameplay.
• Why I played: I had been meaning to go back to Crisis Core for a long time. I played it on PSP and didn't quite get through it, though I think I got further in the story than I realized, I probably just got too caught up in the side missions.
• Recommend to others: Hard to say. I wouldn't say it's essential if you're a fan of FF7. I wouldn't recommend it as your intro to FF7. But if you specifically want to see Zack fleshed out as a character, then yes, I would recommend it.

Crisis Core is an okay game that is just a few small missteps from being a great game. It has a fun system that just kinda offers random bonuses but provide little story sequences and allow you to use special moves. I think that it's kind of divisive, but I don't think it's bad. 

Star Ocean: The Second Story R

• Genre: RPG
• Time Played: 40 Hours
• Too Short/Long: Generally the pacing is pretty good, until the very end, like the last few hours are tacked on. This may just be me personally.
• Pleased/Disappointed: Extremely pleased. There are so many classic RPGs I would love seeing get this exact treatment.
• Why I played: Star Ocean 2 is an amazing RPG. I feel like back in the day it stood up there with the very best, but in recent years I feel like people have forgotten the praise this game used to get, maybe, partially due to some very divisive sequels, but I have never forgot, and this game does it justice.
• Recommend to others: I would definitely recommend this to anyone who has any love for classic snes/psx style rpgs. It is technically an action rpg, but not in the way modern takes on action rpgs are and definitely accessible to those who might prefer turned based.

Star Ocean: The Second Story R, a remake of The Second Story, and this time, for Real. Years ago they sort of remade Star Ocean 2 on PSP, but it's more like an "enhanced port". They actually remade Star Ocean 1, using a lot of Star Ocean 2's mechanics, engine, quality of life improvements, etc. To go along with that, they did an enhanced port of Star Ocean 2 with new art, new voices and some additional content, but it was still the same base game generally, using mostly the same assets and mechanics.

Second Story R is an actual remake, but still using some of the (previously new) assets and content. It's like them finishing the job, or fully realizing the idea. It's a very true to the original remake in that regard. There are still even more quality of life improvements, more modernization, but it's still at it's core almost the same exact game released 25 years ago. This is a game almost literally built on top of the old game, and I love it. It also goes to show how great this game always was. There are so many aspects that just feel like they're from a modern game that is trying to harken back to the good old days. Well, this is the good old days.

Final Fantasy XVI

• Genre: Action RPG
• Time Played: 69 Hours. (Nice)
• Too Short/Long: Just a little too long. Some individual areas went on just a tad long and a handful of sidequest kinda drag on.
• Pleased/Disappointed: Very pleased, it's a new favorite.
• Why I played: Do I need a reason to play a mainline Final Fantasy game? Actually, when it was first announced I didn't care too much. They're doing a mature traditional fantasy medieval inspired setting? Ehhh, not until some friends pointed out the protagonist and how up my alley in design he was. Then I watched exactly one trailer, got excited and refrained from finding out more. I actually finally bought a PS5 mainly to be able to play FFXVI... and catch up on the (very few) exclusives I was still missing out on.
• Recommend to others: I absolutely would if it's something you expect you'll like. I would say it can be rather difficult at times. With it's action focus in the combat, it's not something you can just grind levels out to overcome obstacles.

I don't feel like I walked away having too much to say, even though I loved it. So let's get my grievances out the way. The story isn't bad, but the first third of the game is... rough. I don't mean as in poorly written. I mean as how they present one of the primary subjects. Slavery. It doesn't approach it with kid gloves and maybe even takes it's presentation a little far. I've consumed a lot of fantasy media which features slavery, and maybe it's their fault for not presenting it as a serious enough issue, as it's often just a kinda background thing, like, oh these obvious villains have slaves and we're going to free them, and now everyone is happy. This treats it in a way that can be very uncomfortable at times.