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Rate the Last Game That You Played

Link Floyd

ᵒⁿ ᵗʰᵉ ʳᵘⁿ
Joined
Sep 23, 2014
No Man's Sky on Switch! Super chill and fun game. Not the best I have played but I find it really relaxing. Overall, I'd give it 6/10. Graphics are a bit wonky and I had some issues loading the game a few times. Also, there really isn't a story. Which is fine, but I always like to have a bit in games. Gameplay is fun and collecting things and building bases is chill and rewarding.
 

mαrkαsscoρ

Mr. SidleInYourDMs
Joined
May 5, 2012
Location
American Wasteland
Klonoa 2
really great game, the main thing is a few of the levels can get rather long and kind of puzzle-y (which isn't a bad thing technically), and plus they tend to reuse some levels which I wouldn't mind...but often they're slightly more annoying versions of the original levels

but otherwise a great follow up to the first game, now for the everlasting wait for a 3rd game
 

twilitfalchion

and thus comes the end of an era
Staff member
Moderator
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Jun 16, 2020
Location
Crossbell State
Xenoblade Chronicles 3

Where XC was a game I grew to appreciate over time rather than one that had me hooked from the start, XC3 wasted no time drawing me in and keeping my attention. To call it anything less than a wild, wonderful ride from beginning to end would be an understatement. There are some pacing issues and fumbles in the latter stretch of the game, but nothing that'd do much to hurt my opinion of the game as a whole.

It's a beautiful adventure through and through, with the main cast having become my favorite of the RPGs I've played. Could say that about quite a few aspects of XC3, honestly. Soundtrack's on point, gameplay and such are really well thought out and satisfying. Hell, even the side quests are so damn good, which is usually a weak point for RPGs.

Hard pressed to not call it a top 5 or so game for me. Probably gonna be coming back to this one for a while, even without the expansion pass extras.
 

CynicalSquid

Swag Master General
Joined
Aug 1, 2012
Location
The End
Gender
Apache Helicopter
Pokémon Scarlet: 7/10

I think this is by far the best Pokémon games that have come out in years. It felt like Game Freak actually tried to evolve the formula of the games instead of rehashing the same mechanics over and over again like they have been. I feel like this is the first time they have revolutionized the franchise since X and Y and I had loads of fun with this game and I’m still having fun with it. The open world is so fun to explore and I had fun getting lost and trying to find new Pokémon, new items, or taking a shot at one of the raid dens. The 3 separate storylines were very intriguing and the ending was amazing. Honestly the best story any Pokémon game has ever had.

I do have some gripes with the game though. They really should have delayed it and tried to polish it more instead of rushing it and getting it out before the holidays. I personally didn’t have many major bugs or performance issues when I played. I had one crash and the game just slowed down heavily in the water. From what I’ve seen online the state the games were released in was still inexcusable. There’s nothing really game breaking but they still needed to take a few months to polish it a bit at least. Also the online functionality is god awful. Doing raids online is super laggy and buggy. I tried co op with a friend last night and I found it so stupid that we had to be next to each other to find any version exclusives. Even then too the spawn rates in co op are so bad. I was trying to find a dreepy for 20 minutes but then we gave up and my friend went back to his game and 20 of them spawned immediately. The co op just felt pointless overall even thought I liked the concept of it. The only thing we accomplished in co op was that a shiny Gyrados popped up in my game and my friend stole it from me.

It could have been a solid 9 or even a 10 if they polished the game a bit and put a little more work into making online better. Unfortunately though, I can’t bring myself to give it higher than a 7 despite loving the game and thinking it’s the best the franchise has been in years.
 

mαrkαsscoρ

Mr. SidleInYourDMs
Joined
May 5, 2012
Location
American Wasteland
GTA 4 certainly has a lot of little annoyances, but I had such a great and nostalgic time revisiting this game and it still holds as my favorite story in GTA. There's so much depth to Niko Bellic compared to other protagonists that he's easily my 2nd favorite behind Tommy. Also I wish recording footage was a thing on the PS3 b/c I've had some pretty damn hysterical moments. One time I hit a taxi from the back and the driver caught on fire for zero reason.
 

twilitfalchion

and thus comes the end of an era
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Jun 16, 2020
Location
Crossbell State
Sonic Frontiers

I haven't been much of a Sonic fan (if one at all) in quite a long time. Not really any issues with the series so much as I fell away from having interest after Generations; and seeing the response to games after that, I didn't miss much it seems (Mania being the one exception).

Saw Frontiers announced just like everyone else did but didn't really have much interest until recently when I heard the general positive reception from fans. Had nothing to lose by giving it a go, and I'm really glad I did.

Frontiers is a bit of a mess. But it's a mess that has some really high highs to balance out its shortcomings, and it's one I had a lot of fun with. Starting off with the negatives, there's really no better explanation for most of the issues than one of the folks who worked on the game openly acknowledging that the latter half was rushed. And it's obvious that this was the case. There is a noticeable dip in stage/overworld quality mid-way through the game that does hinder some of the more positive aspects Frontiers has going for it.

It's a very nice looking game, though the visual problems that are present are immediately noticeable. That said, after a while I just stopped noticing and/or caring. I was too busy having fun zipping around the environment to pay any mind to jagged textures and pop-in. Just didn't matter.

The bigger problems are with the inconsistent quality of the Cyber Space stages (Frontiers' equivalent of past games' typical stages), which range anywhere from just good to outright "how the hell did this make it past testing". Not to mention how the devs felt the need to constantly change how Sonic's physics work in the stages compared to the overworld, even changing it between individual side stages. Finishing these is necessary at least in part to progress from one major zone to the next, so the fact that they have such questionable quality can be hard to look past sometimes. Overworld zones themselves are generally more consistent, though the whole "this game was rushed" is still felt in the latter areas.

And that's generally where the game's problems stop, at least in my opinion. Beyond those gripes, Frontiers really is a diamond in the rough, with moments that had me sitting back a bit smiling like an idiot over how enjoyable they were.

Noticed pre-release (and afterwards) that a lot of folks were pulling the "Breath of the Sonic" type comparison just because it has open areas to explore. That's really not accurate to how the areas are laid out at all. If any comparison were to be made, a better one is with Super Mario Odyssey and its sizable, non-interconnected zones. For a Sonic game, the open-zone format works. I can't say it's a replacement for the traditional zones from previous games, but I like it. Progression is actually pretty linear despite the more open approach, which is a better fit for a platformer. To go back to the Odyssey comparison, you don't need to get all the collectibles in one area, just enough to get the necessary story items and go on to the next major boss fight. Never feels too restrictive or excessive with what it asks you to gather, only an amount that properly incentivizes exploration and playing through a good number of the side stages.

With the physics/movement system used in the game, open zones are really solid way to take advantage of the high-speed platforming that Sonic has always featured as well. In the overworld (which is full of platforming sections just scattered about), Sonic feels snappy and fast in all the best ways. Boost is more of an enhanced run than a "hold this to win" button, but I like it being that way. Lets you slow down when you want to be more precise, which I always found to be more/unnecessarily difficult in older games. No complaints here. Movement works like it should, and especially in the more flat plains-type areas, just running anywhere you want is always fun. Combat is fairly simplistic, but it gets the job done and is, like the platforming, flashy and satisfying. Major boss fights take much better advantage of it than the mini bosses and random enemies do, honestly.

And that kinda leads into what I consider one of Frontiers' strongest aspects: the boss fights. From a presentation standpoint, they're the most over-the-top spectacle battles and I wouldn't have it any other way. Almost a reward on their own for progressing through each zone. Like the majority of the game, they have their own bits of jank, but they're incredibly enjoyable all the same. Doesn't hurt that they feature the peaks of the game's soundtrack for every single one of them either.

Musically, Frontiers has a lot of variety. Unlike a lot of games that go for the open area style, its ambient tracks don't feel so barren that they give the impression of being absent. They're just present enough to sit comfortably in the background until the more noteworthy tracks become the center of attention. Cyber Space stages opt for a more techno pop/jazz vibe with the occasional dash of vocals, and I have no issues here either. They're really solid overall and some of them are even fairly major standouts. I mentioned boss music above, and that's without question where the soundtrack hits its stride. Intense death metal screams and face-melting guitar solos are center stage in every boss theme, and they couldn't be more perfect complements to the fights themselves. 10/10 will have on repeat. Not like Sonic's ever had bad music, so no real surprise here.

I've rambled on long enough at this point, but the story is nicely done. Nothing amazing, but it takes itself seriously and has some nice lighthearted moments. Lot of folks don't care about story in a platformer but I've never agreed with that. Frontiers tells a good story and handles characterization well, by typical platformer standards. I tried both EN and JP voice acting options but ended up finishing the game with the EN voices. Don't know if vocal direction was changed or something but for once the characters don't sound like they're being cartoonishly energetic/edgy. Just normal delivery. Nicely done once again.

And that's more or less my overly long thoughts on Frontiers. Something about it gave me a lot of impressions to put down, so here they are. It's a good game, might even say a great game, just with notable kinks that could use some ironing out. Gives me hope for the series going forward if Sega will just avoid feeling the need to reinvent the wheel and rely on nostalgia to push for success. Free future content updates are a plus, especially since a new story is involved so that's hype and a good enough reason to get me to come back to the game when they do drop.
 

Ronin

There you are! You monsters!
Forum Volunteer
Joined
Feb 8, 2011
Location
Alrest
Multi-month review roundup:

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 - 10/10
Valkyrie Elysium - 6/10
Star Ocean 6: The Divine Force - 7/10
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II Remake - 8/10
Sonic Frontiers - 7/10
God of War: Ragnarok - 8/10

Which ones to review in full?
 

The Dashing Darknut

DD, the dashing one
Joined
Jul 7, 2021
Location
Twilight Realm
Gender
Male
Got around to beating Ghost Trick, and I’d rate it 8/10

I was interested in this game because the writer of this game, Shu Takumi, was the same person who wrote the Ace Attorney series, and it really shows, with this game having that same charm and humor Ace Attorney does, while having a great cast and mystery.

The gameplay is also really fun, being able to manipulate objects to stop deaths in time, having puzzles that I got really confused on, but figuring them out and changing fate is really satisfying. Other puzzles that don’t have time limits or saving someone like doing a prison escape in chapter 9 are also really neat, and still revolve around stopping time and manipulating objects. The game also later has you receiving a partner in the form of Missile who can do different ghost tricks and has his reach to cores being longer

The game is really captivating in story, with the main character as a ghost trying to find out the mystery of who he is while also solving the mystery of an incident ten years ago. The atmosphere of the game is great and the way everything connects in the end and you find out the truth of the main character Sissel and the truth of past events is really well done, and a lot of twists I did not see coming and were really unexpected, especially the twist with who was behind everything.

And the cast is very strong, especially Jowd, who was a wonderful character and is very sympathize-able and has a great story and motivations. The villain as well is amazing, Missle is a very charming character, even if he has the usual trope of a dog character being very loyal to his owner, the main character is a very good protagonist, Cabenela is really cool, Lynne is charming and a lot like the assistant characters in Ace Attorney, and side characters such as Memry, the chef, Officer Bailey, Beauty and Dandy, were really fun.

The main thing that did annoy me about the game was the ending, which felt really confusing and convoluted, and how everything going back to normal just felt really weird, with me being left confused, which knocked the game down a peg for me, but the game was overall a ton of fun and was very captivating and interesting, with a wonderful soundtrack, artstyle and cast of characters
 

ArchAngel217

Spoonman, come together with your hands, save meee
Joined
Apr 12, 2021
Location
In your head, in your head. Zombie zombie zombie.
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Male
(Trying to remember what game I finished last... phew I'm in 2021!!)
Ohhh! I got it. Lately, I've been replaying (and beating, of course) the Mega Man Zero and ZX games. A long time ago, I got the Legacy Collection on the Switch. I rate them all 9/10 - since they give a fun experience. The only thing I would say is the unskippable cutscenes, which make replays a nightmare.
 

twilitfalchion

and thus comes the end of an era
Staff member
Moderator
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Jun 16, 2020
Location
Crossbell State
Final Fantasy XV

From what I've gathered about FFXV, it's a controversial entry in the series for one reason or another. Going in, I didn't exactly know what to expect despite having some knowledge about the series and how it plays indirectly and directly through other games like FF14 and Bravely Default. That said, I enjoyed it quite a lot. There's half-baked mechanics, confusing plot points, and odd pacing aplenty here, but I'd be lying if I said any of it really brought down the overall experience much.

As far as gameplay is concerned, FFXV presents itself as an open-world of sorts with linear segments mixed in, and an action RPG-ish combat system to go along with it. Neither of these ended up working as I would've expected. On the one hand, the open-world does very little for the gameplay on its own as what's there to explore is hardly enticing for the player to do so (the car rides are a treat, however, visually and for the dialogues that happen during them). Not sure if the devs recognized that it wasn't particularly well-designed or not, but the fact that the game becomes incredibly linear (to the extent that you'll consistently be restricted from the overworld) about halfway through has me wondering if that was indeed the case. And that change is generally for the better, because the story comes together in a much more engaging way at that point too.

Combat was an odd thing to get the hang of at first, but it actually made more sense in the long run, especially as more abilities were unlocked. Instead of having attacks, blocks, and dodges rely on taps of the buttons, you hold the attack/dodge/block buttons down to auto-combo, parry, and the like. Not a bad system, just nothing like I've played before.

Beyond that, it's standard RPG fare. Nothing exceptional, nothing bad.

Character writing is top notch. The main lads are super nicely written (Noctis especially is up there for JRPG protags in my book), and all get their fair share of time in the spotlight. Great chemistry all around, and the side characters/others are handled just as well. The story is good, certainly good enough to support the characters.

What's left of FFXV to talk about comes down to presentation, more or less. The game as a whole is high on spectacle, but not without the substance to back it up. Music is great, especially the boss themes. As far as the visuals go, I've always had a lot of appreciation for the much more realistic take on character design that FF seems to go for, and the amount of detail on the models here is really something to appreciate. Performance is much less impressive though as the game struggles to maintain even 30fps most of the time. Like the rest of the gripes I have with the game, it's nothing to ruin the experience, but I can't help but wish that it could at least stay locked at 30.

All in all, I had a really nice time playing FFXV. It's a good game all around. Looking forward to digging into the DLC stories. And beyond that, I'm looking forward to playing more FF in general, whenever I get around to it.
 

twilitfalchion

and thus comes the end of an era
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Moderator
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Jun 16, 2020
Location
Crossbell State
never mind the double post

Crisis Core FF7 Reunion

I've never actually played the original FF7 (or the remake for that matter), but Crisis Core caught my eye a while ago when it was first announced. Hearing that you really didn't need to play FF7 to appreciate it made it easier to just pick up and give a go. A real gem through and through. Short, but a very sweet adventure.

CC firing off on all sides with great gameplay, banger story, and a slick presentation. No major complaints to speak of. Even the voice acting (which can be awkward and stilted as hell sometimes, a surprise given it's apparently completely rerecorded for the remake) grew on me over time. A few bits of unfair difficulty in some late game optional missions aside, that's it. Great time.
 

mαrkαsscoρ

Mr. SidleInYourDMs
Joined
May 5, 2012
Location
American Wasteland
Final Fantasy XIII
pretty alright I think. it has a lot of highs but the annoyances of the combat have really held it back, specifically how it's ATB (though less extreme than X-2) but characters just move around for some reason which means they can get hit in real time, and animations REALLY get in the way, like if a character is set to heal another character that's running across the field for an attack, the healer would keep gradually turning until they're facing them to actually start healing, which is the stupidest thing ever
I'd say the game lands in the middle for me though, certainly not my favorite but not my least favorite FF
 

The Dashing Darknut

DD, the dashing one
Joined
Jul 7, 2021
Location
Twilight Realm
Gender
Male
Pokémon Scarlet 8 out of ten.

This is some of the most fun I’ve had with a Pokémon game, and the bugs and glitches didn’t stop me from having an amazing time. The overworld and being able to explore anywhere leisurely was very nice. The Pokémon battling is good as always, and I had a lot of fun just exploring around in this game and catching Pokémon. There’s also some great quality of life stuff the game has (Being able to put Pokémon in a box at all times, being able to always change a Pokémon’s name) that I really liked.

The story in this game I surprisingly really enjoyed too, and the characters in this game are some of the best characters Pokémon has had for a while. I really enjoyed all three pathways, and the game never really feels dull.

My main complaints would be that the game does feel rushed at times and the fact that the freedom you would think you have isn’t fully free (you can do the challenges and quests in an order you want but there’s a order that is there when it comes to the level scaling). Also sometimes the game could crash or seriously frame drop and that was annoying. And I personally found the whole Tera form and type gimmick to be pretty lame and the lamest gimmick that the recent games have had. But other than that, while I can see the faults the game has and the fact that the game is rushed, I still had a very fun time with this game and it’s probably one of my favorite playthroughs of a Pokémon game I’ve done
 
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