JimmieRamone

Takes what made Three Houses great and adds more character interaction in the form of dungeon exploration with a sort of JRPG "lite" party mechanic. The recruitable characters are endearing, and all of the Lords have interesting unique mechanics that ultimately affect the final world state when they all gather. Some of the best maps I've seen in the franchise,. to boot. 'Tis peak, milord.

It's difficult for me to classify Neverwinter as an MMO. I feel a much better description would be a dungeon hack-and-slash with some MMO trappings. Character customization is bare bones, even leaving out the fact that certain iconic races are locked away behind the pay wall. You're able to choose your character's sex, race, and class along with his/her origin and patron deity. The latter two are surprisingly limited, given the setting; even in 4th Edition's greatly reduced pantheon, there are a number of gods and goddesses worshipped by the people of Faerun, yet the game only gives you a fraction. Likewise, the origins only cover a handful of locales in the Realms. It quickly becomes apparent that this game was not made for diehard fans of Forgotten Realms. If you're looking for a worthy successor to Neverwinter Nights, you will not find it in this game. The Foundry is a poor substitute for that legendary series' robust world-building and DM tools, with even the most highly regarded player-created dungeons essentially boiling down to the same formulaic hack-and-slash gameplay of the main game. I cannot recommend this game to anyone looking for a meaningful MMO experience. With a friend or two, some fun can be had in fighting your way through waves of kobolds and orcs so long as you keep your expectations in check. Overall: Pass

I'll preface this review with a warning: this game is quite rough around the edges. Two years after release, there are still bugs that will cause the game to crash, conversations to freeze (turning into a somewhat hilarious staring contest at times), and--albeit rarely--equipment to disappear. These issues are amplified by the fact that you have to use a consumable item, Savior Schnappes, in order to save your game. To be fair, I will note that there is also the ability to Save & Quit, but this save disappears the next time you boot up the game. In spite of all this, I've had a ridiculous amount of fun with KCD. it's extremely immersive, and there's a huge payoff when you finally "get" the combat and start countering your foes with relative ease. Spending time learning alchemy and the ability to read as early as you can will help, as the ingredients to brew your own game-saving Saviour Schnappes are relatively easy to come by and a later quest will damn near require at least some familiarity with this system. The potions you can create with it are the closest thing the game has to "magic", with potions that temporarily increase various stats, boost your health, or even allow you to see better in the dark. I received Kingdom Come: Deliverance from a Humble bundle and frankly expected it to feel fairly generic, but I have found the historical aspect and absence of common fantasy tropes quite refreshing. There aren't very many RPGs quite like it in that respect, and it makes for a unique experience that pulled me in like few games have before. Overall, I would recommend KCD to anyone with an interest in the medieval era or open-minded fans of The Elder Scrolls and similar games.

I had reservations about Yakuza no longer being a story-based brawler, but this is honestly one of the best Japanese role-playing games I've played in years. There's a fun job system, reminiscent of the ones you'd find in the older Dragon Quest games. Tongue-in-cheek callbacks to other popular JRPGs are everywhere, from direct references to Dragon Quest to more subtle nods like the "New Age Hippie" that was one of the sillier enemies in Earthbound. The story is just about what you'd expect from Yakuza; the main plot is a somewhat more serious crime drama, while the subplots are every bit as zany as the ones in Kazuma Kiryu's adventures in the previous games. One of the best modern RPGs I've had the pleasure of playing.

This is definitely a game that asks for a lot of patience at the beginning, but once things start moving along and you get to some of the tougher boss fights, the orbment battle system really starts to shine. One of my favorite RPGs of all time, I'd put the series as a whole up with the likes of Lunar and Grandia. If you like either of those games, I think it's a safe bet you'll love ****

As a fan of this game ever since it first released in North America as Final Fantasy III, I now regard this as the definitive version of the game, with a couple of caveats. First, it doesn't have the new Espers introduced in the Game Boy Advanced version, or the Dragon's Den bonus dungeon. I personally never felt those additions to be essential to the experience, but players of the GBA version may miss them. Second, prepare yourself for the Opera House scene. The rearranged orchestra is great, and visually it's never looked better, but.. well, I'm hesitant to provide more details than that, as it felt like it was meant to be a surprise. You will have to take my word for it and judge for yourself when you hear it. Finally, I highly recommend taking the time to download one of the many mods available to fix the font. There is one available for the SNES version's font that is superb. I only ran into one potential issue, where at a certain part of the game one of the longer dialogue prompt choices was cut off because the default font is quite a bit smaller than the one provided by the mod. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with how this version of my favorite Final Fantasy ended up. The new orchestral arrangements of the songs are excellent, the backgrounds during battles have never looked better, and--with sincere apologies to Ted Woolsey's fans--the localization this time around is absolutely spot on. Must play.

Extremely addictive open world with so much to do it's almost overwhelming. Absolutely nails the "end of the old west" setting like its predecessor, but with so much more polish. Excellent storytelling and memorable characters.

I played the Steam version of this collection. Classic AD&D goldbox action with modern conveniences like automatic mapping you can add notes to. Imaginative games. A little bit heavy on the combat and light on the role-playing but overall a lot of fun.

A truly unique experience, combining elements of CRPGs like Elder Scrolls with larger than life enemies that present a number of strategies. Do you target the twenty-foot cyclops' legs to bring it down low enough to strike its vulnerable eye? Do you simply shoot it from afar? Or do you climb its body while your party distracts it, daggers ready? Combine the clever combat with a surprisingly deep story and you've got one of the most memorable games of all time. Highly recommended.

I was skeptical about the move to full-on action RPG, but FFXIV floored me. On top of it all, an amazing setting, spectacular music, and one of the best stories in the series. It may not top FF6 as my all-time favorite, but it sure comes close.