Darashiva on 24 February 2024
Two new games to add this time.
Finished Games:
- Odin Sphere Leifthasir (PS4) My Rating: 8.5 / 10
- I'd had this game waiting on my back log for ages, and I finally decided to give it a go. Turns out that Odin's Sphere is a great game. The gameplay is fun, and thanks to the five different playable characters, nicely varied as well. The music is great, and the visuals are gorgeous. The story is overall great, but because of the way the game tells it, focusing on one character at a time even though all of their stories take place at the same time, it means that you only get the full picture of what is going on after finishing all five characters stories. As a result, especially with the first few characters, you can end up feeling a bit lost at times. Still, this was a great way to start the year off.
- Final Fantasy VII Remake (PS5) My Rating: 9.0 / 10
- Just decided to replay the Remake in preparation for Rebirth. Also played through the Yuffie DLC for the first. Still love the game, the only notable issue I have is the Sephiroth fight at the end. I think they should've saved it for later. Otherwise the game is excellent, even better than I previously thought.
- Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy (PS5) My Rating: 8.5 / 10
- I've always been a big fan of the Trine games, in particular when playing them in co-op, and Trine 5 might be the best one yet. Solid, highly enjoyable puzzle platformers with a charming world and characters. Best played with three people, but even with two or just on your own these are always fun games.
- A Plague Tale: Requiem (PS5) My Rating: 9.0 / 10
- A sequel to one of my favourite games of the previous generation, and quite possibly an improvement over it as well. I love this particular setting Asobo Studio has created, and the story and characters are great too, carried in this game by an fantastic voice performance by Charlotte McBurney as Amicia. If I had played this game back in 2022 when it was release I would have probably voted for her as the best performance of the year in the year-end awards. I loved the character's progression over the course of the game, slowly becoming more and more accustomed to and accepting of the idea of killing other people, and simply being mentally torn apart bit by bit by the horrible situation they've been forced into and from which there doesn't seem to be any escape. I'm not entirely sure yet, but this might be the first game I've played this year that'll make it into my top 50 once that event rolls around at the end of the year.
- Star Ocean: First Departure R (PS4) My Rating: 7.5 / 10
- A solid old-school JRPG that effectively feels like a proof of concept for other, better games down the line. This was Tri-Ace's first game, and this definitely set up a template the later games in the series would follow and improve upon. This was an overall fun game, but it does feel like a first attempt at doing something. Still good, but every element found here would be greatly polished in games to come.
- Asterigos: Curse of the Stars (PS5) My Rating: 8 / 10
- I ended up liking this game much more than I initially expected. An action RPG that takes some clear inspiration from Dark Souls, but far easier and lighter a game (a soulslite?). The limits of the game's budget are unquestionably a factor here, as just about every aspect of the game could have used one more pass of polish before release, the gameplay could use a bit more snap and better damage feedback, and the writing/translation needed one more round of edits to fix the various small mistakes and just make the game less verbose. I still liked it a lot, and it's one of those games that feels more than the sum of its parts. My initial impression upon starting it weren't great, but the longer I played the more I found myself enjoying my time with Asterigos.
Currently Playing:
- Potionomics (PC)
- The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure (PS4)
In queue:
- God of War: Ragnarök
- Persona 5
- Demon's Souls
- Steelrising
- Final Fantasy XII: Zodiac Age
- Tales of Arise
- Tales of Vesperia
- Steelrising
