Game Review - Tumblr Posts
just got a game called 'looking up I see only a ceiling' on my Nintendo and it's really good, like abt to draw fan art good. Have only gotten the bad ending so far but the art is beautiful and I love the game.
Wuthering waves came out and I gotta say, it’s a good game. I won’t deny that it’s rlly and I mean RLLY similar to genshin in terms of game mechanics, main character backstory (no twin as far as I’ve played), enemies, etc.
although it has a lot more character animation and…revealing outfits. I’m still getting a hang on the controls cuz it’s small asf and my iPhone can’t handle the graphics, it’s best if you have a device suited for this game.
It’s still in its early development, I’ve received this game just today while others earlier this month. I hope I can see more of it!!!
8/10
Here’s some pics that I’ve took!
I made a Doom VS Ultrakill uhh writing?? Review??? Idk.
Doom Eternal and Ultrakill. I have both games.
Neither are better, though Ultrakill is more fun to me. My opinion.
Doom Eternal is kind of slow, there are a lot of controls too. I'm still getting used to them, but that is my fault. There is some parkour in Doom which is weird because, you don't move fast enough to properly parkour.
Ultrakill is fast, sometimes too fast. Sometimes I can't keep up with what I'm doing and die. It's hard playing the game like a normal shooter, which is what i used to do because I wasn't used to Ultrakill's style, but I eventually got used to it.
Doom is fun, you get to rip and tear through enemies in great bloody detail. Very fun you don't do that in Ultrakill. There are also puzzles, which can be fun to figure out, the guns in Doom are very satisfying, the autoshotgun is great. The music is awesome.
Ultrakill is fun, it's fast paced. You get to demolish enemies in waves with polygonal blood (I think that's the word). You get to jump everywhere, the bosses are hard, but very satisfying to learn and beat. The music is also great.
Both are great games, but they aren't just both FPS's. They are meant to be played in different ways, you really can't compare them without being unfair.
•Edit•
Please keep in mind. I am not a professional writer, i don't know how to make a review or anything like this. I am simply just trying my best.
Can we kill comparisons for reviews?
I was watching this short talking about Oneshot and one of the first things he said about the game was that its "similar to undertale"
They share 2 things, top down rpg, breaking the 4th wall. They arent similar at all.
One is an RPG with no battle mechanics whose 4th wall breaking relies on the player being an actual character and your computers interactions on the game.
The other is a bullet hell RPG whose 4th wall breaking relies on the save mechanic and subverts RPG conventions.
"This game is the darksouls of platformers"
"This game is similar to Botw cause open world"
"This game with striking visuals reminds me of Persona 5"
"This game about mental health gives me Undertale vibes"
"This game is better sonic the hedgehog"
"This game is the smash killer"
SHUT THE FUCK UP
It's rude to the developers to try and boil down a game to "X game with Y thing and Z's style"
Did they take inspiration from those things? Oh very likely yes.
Is the game being reviewed just like those games? Almost always, the answer is no.
Theres nothing wrong with pointing out something takes inspiration from something, just dont overlook their original aspects.
Its become such a lazy way for dumbass reviewers with no writting talent to seem smart.
I'm really liking Valhalla.
The more I play it the more I think it's a masterpiece, the character of Eivor is incredibly good, and plays exactly the same way male or female even though the canon is female. The perfect encapsulation of her character is that when she's given the hidden blade she says "why would I want to hide this" and puts it on the outside of her wrist instead
She's a bard too, she basically does playable rap battles where you have to rhyme and match the tempo of your enemies, and she's always saying shit like "our arrows shall fall upon them like a rain of fire" or something like that lol, she's a straight up warrior poet. It even has heavy queer themes
The gameplay really is amazing too. Sneaking through social areas by putting on your cloak is a blast, as is raiding and pillaging christian monasteries, and there's an entire town building sim that's super easy and accessible with your rewards from raiding. Mot to mention a rogue-like mode and several story dlcs
I think people hated it for two reasons. One is the microtransaction hell that is completely gone now, and the other is the fact people can't seem to imagine a game in the same series as another game that is different. They'll say things like "it's a great game but a bad Assassin's Creed game" and I'll be like "so what?"
All in all, super recommend
School of Magic : Find Your Love ( Game ) Review
Hiya everyone!
Welcome back to another game review~^-^
Last time, I did a review on Vampire Idol which was created by the visual novel developers at Avocado Entertainment. So, let’s look at yet another game made by them recently which is called School of Magic : Find Your Love.
The storyline is about you, the heroine ( Bora is the default name ) who is enrolled in this magic school in dreams of becoming the greatest wizard in history. However, all things didn’t go as plan as every magic you’ve done ends up in failure. Seeing this repetitive trend, your teacher suggested for you to take private lessons from one of the elite boys in school to help you out.
For starters, I just wanna say that I really love how there’s a mini potrait of the heroine under the textbox. And there’s a lot of improvement from the UI perspective. Considering it’s a free-to-play game, it’s pretty neat this time around. Plus, there’s no tickets so you can play as much as you like!
Although I’m not a fan of the clumsy trope, I think I’ll make Bora an exception. For some reason, I kind of like her as the main character. And on the other hand, kind of feeling sorry for her, haha.
As for the guys, I’m currently playing Hyun’s route and so far, it’s really interesting. I think his route is quite mysterious and probably should be left for last if you want to choose out of the 5 boys available for spoiler reasons. ( but since he is my favourite character, I went for his route first XD )
For the other boys, I have yet to try them out but their intros during the prologue shows off their individual personalities nicely. At least, I can say there’s probably someone among the 5 boys that you will probably be interested in as the player.
Also, the outfits for the heroine are really cute. But with cuteness, comes a high price. Though I think this is optional this time around, not really sure though so don’t take my word for it >_<.
Do I recommend this? Yes, probably for fans of the magic school theme and mysteries. Though it might not sit well for those who prefer action-packed themes or those who like more drama in their reading material.
Overall, it’s a huge step of improvement and looking forward to see more in the future owo/
If you wish to download the game,
Google Playstore : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.avocado.magicschool
Promotion Video (English) :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dmAYD26HBY
Promotion Video (Japanese) :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TOcXmoQL8o
Disclaimer :
The banner belongs to Avocado Entertainment.
My main blog! I appreciate every follow/subscription, view, visitor, comment, etc. --they all make me so happy! Have a wonderful day!
Throwback to when I first wrote this post!! On the real, I should definitely write something else about Stardew Valley or it’s developer… or maybe the Haunted Chocolatier? Kinda excited for that title to be honest!!
I like New horizons but also I hate new horizons something something dead horse.
I do not expect this post to get a lot of attention lmao. I love a lot of new horizons and i have been playing since day 1 of the game. But i have issues you see. Every time i play this game i get burnt out VERY fast, and i don't know why. I try to relax, not min/max the game, just chill and vibe and not overdo it. So how am I getting burnt out??? I think i know why :
The game is too tedious but not enough reward for that tedium, not only that but its TOO random so there is no use in effort
let me explain. 1- you want to decorate your island for the fall season. 2- it takes forever to GET fall materials because its all RANDOM and you can ONLY get this shit from balloons and villagers. you have to roll a dice if you get the item you want. 3- once you finally get enough materials to decorate your island, it takes FOREVER to terraform everything, get stuff placed to look good, etc. 4- whoops! its winter now time to rip everything up and start over!
there is nothing ENGAGING about collecting the entire collection of furniture in this game. Either i get to waste my time sitting around hoping the DIY recipes appear-ify itself into existence like its Homestuck act 3, Or Nookazon which isn't a part of the game.
"but Kat! " you may yell for some reason "its animal crossing! you are supposed to chill! " with all due respect nonbinary strawman i came up with on the fly, what IS there to do in new horizons other than decorate ? The villagers don't appreciate your decorations or sit in chairs, their dialogue is horribly repetitive, and all the interactions you have with them are just copied over from new leaf. the core game play loop of new horizons is get on, do chores, collect materials and decorate. there is nothing wrong with that, but the problem lies with the fact that you have no way to influence the items you pick up, and its tedious to ACTUALLY decorate. Its not relaxing its a chore. this brings me to my second problem:
The game mistakes tedium for challenge.
WHY couldn't Isabelle just TELL me Gulliver is here? (before the update) that would be too easy apparently. Instead of just telling me he is here, I have to be stressed running around my island EVERY DAY to find out who is here today and who isn't here today. its not a challenge its just MORE time wasting. of course I can't just put time into working towards the Space themed furniture or put some amount of effort into it to EARN the furniture I need to cheese fucking metonook and spend literal months hoping Celeste RANDOMLY gives me furniture rather than me getting the satisfaction of earning the furniture. its not a challenge, Its not a relaxing pass time. Its tedious. Same goes for terraforming and everything else. This game is trying to convey the vibe of growing a bonsai tree where you slowly trim the tree over time to make a beautiful shape. what it REALLY conveys is raising an aggressive toddler that randomly does stuff and then you need to go through the effort to get the little creature dressed in decent clothes every day. I love this game. the update improved the game. But if there is anything I want from future animal crossing games: FOCUS LESS ON CUSTOMIZATION. I don't want to spend 500 hours on something i will just tear up eventually and no one will appreciate. I am so so tired of being the mayor. please just let me be some random weirdo again Nintendo. Please let villagers be mean again and let me do more than give them crap and design their houses.
Writing review: Saints row 2022 is an example of overly safe writing
disclaimer: I have NEVER played the old saints row games. saints row 2022 is my first exposure to the series, so you can rest assured knowing i am mostly unbiased. My only frame of reference for older games is the internet second disclaimer: the focus of this post is on the writing and maaaybe some unrelated stuff here and there. also let me remind you that this is my opinion and that you are allowed to enjoy something that i personally hate. you don't need my permission to enjoy things. spoilers for saints row 2022 obviously. do not play this game it is not worth the money. lets begin under the cut.
First problem: the main character is an unlikable turd, also they look ugly.
half related but i spent 30 minutes on that damn face slider and i still couldn't get them to look natural. What an ugly looking creature. the thing that sticks out to me is in the start of the game where they are constantly bitching and moaning about their commanding officer ordering to do things. when i think "lose cannon" character, i don't imagine a whiny 14 year old with a gun and ugly armor. at that moment i have decided to put that thought aside at that moment and think to myself "ok so perhaps the game is trying to go for a character that doesn't listen to the rules. I will play along for now"
whoopsie! the main character is too much of a coward to shoot the big bad guy who has killed a bunch of people up to that point ! let me just throw empty threats like "don't move or i am going to shoot you" without actually shooting! wOULD YOU PLEASE SHOOT HIM IN THE FUCKING KNEE ALREADY YOU HAVE A GUN. YOU ARE AN OFFICER OF THE CORPORATE LAW. YOU LET HIM GET AWAY AND TAKE OVER A FIGHTER JET BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T SHOOT HIM HE IS UNARMED AND YOU HAVE A GUN AND BULLET PROOF ARMOR. FUCKING FUCK FUCK The story can't decide if your personality-less protagonist is a lose cannon or a goody two shoes, so to artificially move on to a boring "dangling off a jet" fight scene they just don't shoot the fucker causing a huge mess and I am not even going to get into the fact the big bad didn't even fly the fuck away when your character was literally dangling off the jet. what is it made of??? Styrofoam ? ? ? ?
Problem 2: this game is too scared to actually be a game aimed at adults
the rating of this game is rated as M for mature. This is a game that they will not sell to minors in stores. As in this game is made for adults who are legally able to enjoy dirty jokes in games.
so why the FUCK did they censor RimJobs and Freckle bitches??? what are you scared that the underage teen that bought the game on steam without telling their parents is suddenly going to have a meltdown because they saw a swear ? ? I never played the older games let me remind you, but it feels so lame that my first experiences is jokes stolen from older games and then bastardized. and no this does not make the game more mature. Let me tell you why:
Problem 3: the main villain conflict is an unholy mash between high school drama and boring "fight the system" stories
today I learned that you run a CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION in this game. did you know that? I didn't know that. "Kat that's the whole point of the series" OH REALLY? WELL TELL THAT TO THE DAMN WRITERS OF THIS STORY first issue: the fact that the evil corporation somehow buys your criminal organization legally and your dumbass character and even dumber team-mates think this is some big deal hey friend! did you know that the perks of having a criminal organization is that you don't follow the law ? did you know that owning the rights to something doesn't mean shit when the thing you own is a criminal organization that doesn't follow the law? did you know that this is a criminal organization ? have i made that clear yet? are you sure you understand ? the evil corporation is an EVIL CORPORATION. they own the city ! couldn't you actually make them more threatening than "lol we own you now" what the hell do they expect to do? take this criminal organization to court? gee wouldn't society improve if we simply had huge businessmen buy out the fucking mafia out and then tell them to stop doing crime? (this is sarcasm in the event this actually does happen in real life) Second issue: the big bad guy who has experience with being a crime lord and has a history of manslaughter becomes a yandere. no i am not shitting you. Your character (WHO RUNS A CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION) decides to suddenly be a good guy and teaches the big bad that the magic power of friendship and how wonderful being nice truly is like its fucking my little pony. then at the end of the game your character gets stabbed, magically survives being burred in a shallow grave after being stabbed, and then the big bad apparently is forcing your friends to be his weird friendship puppets. listen. yandere characters can work sometimes in situations like this. but like all characterization: you need to ACTUALLY ESTABLISH TRAITS LIKE THAT EARLY ON. why the hell is this grizzly 30 to 40 something year old man who has a history of being a charismatic crimelord suddenly acting like this is a really shit anime and he is a 16 year old nutbasket? ? ? ? ? nothing about him screams "i am socially starved to the point i am willing to kidnap people and force them to be my friends" like ? ? ? ? these stories and themes are NOT comparable at all- to recap this story features -a "fuck the system" story where your character fights against the evil corporatin -a yandere story where the big bad steals your friends with murder or whatever. -a story where the main character is good actually and they will free this city of evil -a story where the main character is a crime lord and that they create their own criminal gang and snuff out other criminal gangs. PICK A LANE THIS IS THE STORY EQUIVALENT TO ADDING PICKLES, CHOCOLATE SAUCE, MINT, AND ORANGE JUICE TO A FUCKING SOUP.
Conclusion: what not to do and suggestions for people who want to try these kind of stories.
first things first: don't be a fucking pussy. this is a crime lord story. you need to be comfortable with adult themes, swearing, and doing illegal and morally dubious shit. if you can't handle writing about that, then this genre isn't for you. Second: pick ONE threat as the main threat and then perhaps have smaller, less consequential threats. MAKE IT COHESIVE if it isn't obvious already, "screw the system" stories where the evil corporation is going to buy x building to fund their golf course or whatever isn't very compatible with crime lord stories where the main character is the lord in question. i am sure you can make it work if you are creative enough, just don't do what saints row 2022 did. Third: let your main character be a bad person in some way or form. Or even better: a complex character People who run crime rings are not good people. They are people who are running a hierarchy where they exploit money and society for personal gain. some of them are cults who convince their lackeys to stay, while others give their lackeys a cut of the dough. people. who run. crime rings. are not. good. people. Part of the failure of saints row 2022's main character is that they are a mix of the worst traits of a goodie two shoes and an aggressive hipster. they tried to make a CRIME LORD a morally good person who is fighting the system or whatever. get it through your head people who exploit people and the system are not good people who should be respected in your story. If your protagonist is in this position, they need to either A: start out as a good person and be corrupted, or B: start out as bad people and improve as a person only to then LEAVE the crime organization. unpopular opinion: but Mary sue characters can work in fiction depending on what you are writing. Steven universe is still a good show even if i can argue that Steven has Mary sue like tendencies. A Mary sue character is not inherently bad if the point of the show fits the reason why they exist. this is popular in escapist fantasy stories. But Mary sue type protagonist do not work in crime lord stories. Even if you want to make a weird gang related escapist fantasy story, you still need to make the protagonist do morally dubious things for it to actually work.
sometimes i ask myself: why was this story so bad? it was written by a professional studio, so something must had happened. my theory is that the studio had no experience with writing saints row games and basically got too scared to do anything actually mature and adult oriented. Its the fear of accidentally making something problematic. fair enough But at that point..... just don't make a saints row story ? don't make a game featuring a criminal organization at that point. but remember: there is no safety in a good story. all stories have risk. Why ? because art SHOULD provoke. art SHOULD make you uncomfortable, it should make you laugh, it should make you cry and feel. Art NEEDS to provoke some emotion to be considered quality art. and saints row 2022 didn't even make me laugh or connect to the boring ass characters like it set out to do, because it didn't provoke anything. I am not even angry. I am not a fan of the series, I just wrote this so that those who love writing can learn from this awful story. the only gain i got from this story is lost time because I "legally acquired it" if you get my drift. here is a suggestion to you fanfic writers: maybe you can make a story where its the future and the saints are the main villains of the story after accumulating so much control, and the protagonist has to fight against them only to eventually lose track of the plan and rise the ranks to the leader of the saints. there is so much you can do with this story, why be scared to offend? lifes too short, just get out there and fail as fast as you can so that you can gain the failure experience to make something great? thank you for reading my crap, check out my blog for a bonus reblog!
LIFE IS STRANGE (REMASTERED)
PLAYED ON: Nintendo Switch
PRICE: $39.99 (INCLUDES Before The Storm)
VISUALS: 5/10 (the reason why is because while i loved the visuals of the og, the remaster kinda sucked… also it’s nintendo switch)
SOUND: 7/10 (has some bugs with voicelines)
PRICE: 9/10 (i got it in a bundle for before the storm. and for nintendo switch, it was a good price for two beloved games that were remastered)
STORY: 10/10 (lovely)
GAMEPLAY: 9/10 (not much to add)
QUALITY (how much effort it feels like was put into the game): 9/10 (-1 for the shit remaster)
QUANTITY (how much playtime): 7/10 (16 hours for 100%)
overall? the remastered game, to me, is 7/10 (B tier). HOWEVER!! the original game gets a 9 or 10/10 (S tier) from me. play that one instead.
LIFE IS STRANGE: BEFORE THE STORM (REMASTERED)
PLAYED ON: Nintendo Switch
PRICE: $39.99 (INCLUDES the original game)
VISUALS: 7/10 (the visuals of this remaster are somehow better than the original remaster. only a few visual glitches.)
SOUND: 9/10 (no bugs but not really perfect either)
PRICE: 9/10 (i got it in a bundle for the original game. and for nintendo switch, it was a good price for two beloved games that were remastered)
STORY: 7/10 (lots of issues ab it. doesn’t have as much umph as the og game. doesn’t feel like it’s own game, either. rachel’s family has little character which is weird because the game is about rachel’s family.)
GAMEPLAY: 10/10 (love the parallels to the og game’s journal and photo/graffiti mechanics. feels good to move around and just vibe without having to worry about time travelling and getting everything perfect.)
QUALITY (how much effort it feels like was put into the game): 7/10 (-3 for the story issues)
QUANTITY (how much playtime): 6/10 (less playtime due to there being less episodes, but i don’t know the exact time as it doesn’t say on the save file)
overall? the remastered game, to me, is 7/10 (A tier). i won’t rate the original game as i’ve never played it myself.
slime rancher - game
i like farming games a lot or i gauss a better word for it is being a merchant. growing or exploreing spaces for things to sell, with slime rancher as you gessed you farm slimes lots of difrent kind. nun of the slimes feel difrent in the way you interact with them other then the phosphor slime, but evan that slime after you cuse the right space for them its kind of over. i do not think i played the game in the way that the game makers wanted me to but not in a nintendo way in witch they explisitly say they dont what you to do something. i did not intreact with the mail from all the chariters as thats not what i like to do in games. but what littiel i did read i did find the chickin guy funny. thare are some things that i did not like, i feel like i shoud be able to hold more then 4 things at a time i do like that by late game you can hold 100 of most things, my ps4 is a bit old i think i have had it sence midele school maybe older but becase of this some newer games if i run it for to long or have to many entatys in a game it can tend to crash and this happend rather often, in no way do i blame the game but i think its something you shoud keep in mind if you have a older console or its not that strong.
this is a good game not on my must play list but i think the flow of this game is rather aparent
So I just completed still wakes the deep and OH MY GOD THIS IS THE BEST FLATSCREEN HORROR GAME IVE PLAYED SINCE LITTLE NIGHTMARES IN 2018
ABSOLUTELY AMAZING GAME DESERVES 11/10
I have finished playing Shadow the Hedgehog and I will review it, as someone who is in no way a gamer and has almost no experience in gaming.
Played on PC:
To do do it short, it was fun, I loved the level design (although I don't ever wanna play the Maria levels again), the controls were slippery, jumping killed the momentum, guns were fun and easy to use and I enjoyed the final boss a lot.
Plot wise, I ironically enjoyed it, my favorite path (talking about the linear ones) in term of genuine enjoyment was the mildly heroic one, I felt Shadow's existencial crisis in my heart, but the heroic one was the silliest, even more considering I've seen the snapcube fandub at least five times, I must admit, the story is barely existent and it gets very confusing, the morality system and the way it ties to the plot wasn't thought through at all.
All in all, the worst was having to replay the same levels time and time again, but it was still enjoyable.
My review of ace attorney up to Turnabout Goodbyes!!!!
Ace attorney has to be my most favorite game of all time. The gameplay is very fun and the overall story is enjoyable and just a good time. I haven't full finished the first game but I'm just so excited to talk about it. I think the trials are very well done they always are very interesting. The chracters are very diverese in personalities and make a fabulous cast. Right now my current score for the game is a 9/10 and hopefully my opinion dosen't change :)
Remembering what was Lost: My Dragalia Lost Experience
My time with Dragalia Lost wasn't as long as I wished it could be. I knew about the game since its launch, but my low quality phone at the time made it almost impossible to play. It felt like a tragedy since the concept of forging bonds with dragons pulled me in like everyone else. It wasn't until the fall of last year I played the game consistently after upgrading my phone. For a while, it seemed like I found my daily routine. I'd login every day for daily challenges, linger on the main menu to hear my units chat it up, fall in love with adventurer stories, and bob my head to epic boss music. All was going well until news of the end of service struck the community.
To say we were all shocked is a huge understatement. An important part of our lives was about to join the graveyard of forever lost video games. With news of Dl's impending doom, I was forced to reflect on my experience with the title and came to a surprising conclusion: Dragalia Lost is easily one of my favourite games of all time.
I don't usually talk about video games on this blog, but Dragalia Lost holds a special place in my heart for being the most fun I've had with a mobile game. It hit all of that boxes that other gacha games struggle to keep up with.
It's impossible to talk about DL Without mentioning Daoko. Whether players are chilling on the home screen, slaying a deadly boss or summoning beloved units, Daoko's pop vocals are bound to be heard. Even some of the instrumental tracks are remixes of her other songs. Her songs fit the game perfectly as they invoke the feeling of a light-hearted and fun-filled adventure. The pop score helps DL stand out from other games which usually use European orchestral music. It gives the game an oddly fitting contemporary atmosphere. Ryusei Toshi and CRASHER remain iconic tunes that gets players into the thrill of a good ol' boss battle.
While on the topic of the sound department, the English voice acting deserves special mention. Ocean Productions was in charge of the voices and that makes DL an incredibly rare case of a Canadian dubbed anime game. Each voice was a breath of fresh air that fit the characters like a glove. Special mention goes to Brian Drummond as Zhu Baije, Tabitha St Germain as Althemia, Richard Ian cox as Ranzal, and Mark Oliver as Hawk.
My only complaint is that the English audio lacks fully voiced dialogue. That could've gone a long way to making the game more immersive.
Pokemon TCG artist Naoki Saito brought his A game with the art design. Most of the characters have highly rememberable designs done in a vibrant pop art style. Character portraits were always a delight to look at due to how much they popped out on the screen. Each adventurer has a unique appearance highly distinct from each other and full of personality. The fun expressive style really added to the Saturday morning cartoon feel of the game. The user interface also has a nice sleek look to it that made navigating menus anything but a chore. While the chibi graphics can seem overly minimalistic at first, that simplicity prevents the game from feeling dated and instead gave it everlasting appeal.
It may seem disingenuous to review a game without mentioning gameplay but there's not much I can say in that department. DL's isometric action RPG style made it stand out from other games on the market even with its very limited attack system. It wasn't the most immersive combat system I've experienced, but it always kept me back for more and never left me bored.
The implementation of skip tickets and auto-loop was a godsend for grinding and made it overall stress-free. I didn't have to waste hours of time just to upgrade a single character. Just hit the auto button and step away from the phone for a while. Seriously, more games need to follow this method instead of making maxing out units so tiresome. The Co-op raid battles also deserve special mention since it was so fun seeing strangers come together to beat a particularly arduous boss. There were several times I relied on Co-op to clear stages because the difficulty is no joke at times. This was especially true for the MARVELOUS final boss Xenos which can easily last half an hour. Now that's how you go out with a bang.
Last but certainly not least is the story. It starts off simple enough with Euden performing his princely duty of forming a dragonpact; the main draw of the game. Then the game added layers of complexity with Zethia's dark doppelganger and the King's sudden evil disposition. The carefree prince now has to save his kingdom from his treacherous family with an even greater threat looming in the background. The beginning of rbe story was a bit slow at first, but there were enough plot twists and burning questions to keep me fully invested. I so was not prepared for the time travel shenanigans and social commentary on classism/privilege the mid-game story brought.
And that's only what the main campaign brings to the table. Dragalia has several event stories that heavily build on the robust lore and characterization players love so much. Certain events like Faith Forsaken, Fractured Futures and Advent of the Origin even serve as epilogues to plot points made in the main story. I will admit that there were FAR too many beach themed events for my liking. This game had great slice-of-life moments but it'll be too soon if I ever see another beach adventure in a mobile game.
Finally, it would be irremissible of me not to mention the vocabularian localization provided by 8-4. Character dialogue is stuffed to the gills with personality and colloquialisms you wouldn't expect from this game at first glance. It's guaranteed you learned a few new vocab words after playing the game. Seriously, some of these characters talk like they eat thesaurus' for breakfast. That's when they're too busy spouting meme worthy dialogue at least.
Dragalia may be lost, but I'll never forget the incredible memories I made along the way.
Fire Emblem: Engage -- A Brief Review
So, I finished Fire Emblem: Engage last week and with the game leaving such an impression on me I feel like sharing my thoughts and opinions on this tactical, turn based, "animesque" beast. It's not every day I play a Fire Emblem game (and it's even the first time I finished one!)
With my limited experience with the franchise, I can't draw comparisons on how the game stacks against the predecessors. As someone with almost no previous experiences with FE, this is a review for other people in a similar position.
so...
Is it worth it?
Yes, with a few caveats.
In terms of gameplay, the game is phenomenal, with long engaging battles that often felt like puzzles to unravel. Very often I'd find myself sinking over 30 minutes in a chapter without ever noticing the time pass me by. Combat is complex enough to offer many different challenges and a good variety of solutions for said challenges, with a richness of classes, characters, weapons, and abilities that always kept the game fresh from start to finish.
It's when the game leaves the Chapters and "Paralogues" (the name given to sidequests with unique rewards such as units) that enjoyment starts to suffer...
Fire Emblem: Engage suffers from a plethora of side activities that range from useful, but boring, to entirely pointless and extremely boring. The small minigames and interactions you can have with other characters in the main hub are repetitive, but reward you in ways that always made me feel like I'd be putting myself at a disadvantage. I would often dread the moment of going back to my home base knowing I'd have to do the exercise minigame, the fishing minigame, have a meal with two other characters, pet the local domestic spirit... It got tired extremely fast.
However, the biggest culprits were definitely the random battles always cropping up in already completed maps and, especially, the Tower of Trials. Very quickly I realized they were but a waste of my time, giving me pitiful rewards for prolonged battles that lacked the creativity and charm of the actual Chapters and Paralogues. In both cases, I gave them a try then just forgot they existed and felt no loss.
And then there is the story.
I've seen much criticism leveraged towards the plot and characters, and I would agree that much of it is justified, although I myself I had no personal problem with the game's story. It is simplistic, tropey, and campy, but if you come in knowing what to expect you might still find yourself having a good time and the camp (I would even argue the camp is the best part).
But truly, what harms the story the most is marked low quality of most of the game's "cutscenes". While the few pre-rendered cutscenes are a joy to watch and very well animated, those are far in between. The vast majority is simple dialogue boxes over barely moving characters in front of backgrounds that are very often just static PNGs, and the contrast is quite jarring.
In Conclusion
Fire Emblem: Engage is a very fun game when it does what it does best: engaging uniquely crafted turn based battles that make the most of its character driven tactical RPG gameplay. Whenever it drifts from that, the fun factor starts to degenerate at a disturbingly rapid pace.
I can recommend it, but I ask that you know what you're getting yourself into before buying. If you can get past the camp, the atrociously low quality cutscenes, and the excessive amount of boring and sometimes pointless side activities, you might just find a beautiful gem of a game hiding underneath.
