LoomBoom

Incredible game. Surpasses BotW for me and that game was already a masterpiece. The story is surprisingly great and much better integrated into the world than the last game, gameplay is out of this world good with the new abilities it gives you, way more places to explore, tons of of fun side content, and just an absolute blast. I cannot recommend this game enough!

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Fantastic characters, story, and gameplay. If you’re even mildly interested in JRPGs, this is a must play.

Spectacular game. One of the best stories I’ve played in a video game. The characters are fantastic and each of their arcs are great to see. Also the English dub is really good, which makes it easy to digest the story. The RTS gameplay is also pretty fun, but the maps are bland to look at and leave a lot to be desired. Overall, I highly recommend this game if you’re a fan of sci-fi and/or visual novels.

I really wanted to like this game, but I am very disappointed in it. I supported the Kickstarter and was really looking forward to playing this game, but there is some fundamental issues with the game that inhibit my enjoyment. I don’t like to drop games, but for me it’s not worth playing any longer. The controls are kind of a mess imo. Right stick is annoying to use and the touch screen controls are not much better. The team attack has little effect, not nearly as satisfying as Pikmin’s. Dodge and block can be hit and miss, and not work well. The basic attack is ok, but I don’t feel like I have a lot of options, especially since I can’t change quickly between morphs because the right stick is a pain to draw stuff with. No lock on is super annoying and I target things at random. The camera is a nightmare and the zoom can be so bad. Everything feels very unintuitive and clunky. I’m not digging it one bit. The story and characters are ok, but definitely not enough to keep me around. I really wanted to like the game, but I’ve been very unimpressed with it so far. I have completed the first operation, but I honestly do not want to play anymore. For platinum, this game doesn’t seem to hold up their standard of quality.

This game is fantastic. The story is very engaging and the characters are realistic and relatable in a lot of ways. Just hearing their conversations and interactions is truly a pleasure. Midgar feels alive and vibrant, the NPCs are all voiced with multiple lines and sometimes I would just walk around to hear what everyone had to say. Combat is very good, but it also can be a bit clunky. It’s pretty fun though, it just takes some time getting used too. The defensive options in the game are limited and I hope that is something that they’ll fix in the next game. The graphics and character models are very well done and beautiful. This game has a lot for new and old fans. It carries the heart of the orginal and improves on it in a lot of ways. The ending is very bold in my opinion and I can’t wait to see where the rest of the games will go. This game is a “remake” in every sense of the word.

One of the best Fire Emblems ever made. If you're a fan of RPGs and strategy games then this is a must buy. If you like simulator games then this game is a must buy. If you like Persona then this game is a must buy. Seriously don't pass up on this game, you'll be playing it for over 100 hours if you want to. The story and characters are really engaging and interesting and the gameplay is tons of fun. One of the best games to come out this year.

Overall, I'm very disappointed with the game. The first 20 hours when I was going through all the first chapters I was in love with it. Then when I started the chapter 2s I started getting less and less engaged with the stories, but I was still pretty addicted so it, so it didn't bother me too much, but then I hit around 40 hours I just hit a wall. The stories aren't that great and the characters pretty much stopped developing after their chapter 1s. They all have a similar structure: go to new town, discover problem, find person, go to dungeon, fight boss, repeat. There's pretty much no variety. I was really encouraged by the first chapters as I thought all the stories had potential to be great, especially Primrose's (who is my main), but they all peaked in the beginning. There's just no variety and I just stopped caring for the stories and the characters, I could literally care less how they end. The fractured story telling I think really damaged the characters and the story. Also none of them intersect which makes it really boring. I've completed half of the chapter 3s and I've finished Ophelia's story, and then I'm going to finish Primrose's story and call a quits. This game has really become a slog for me. The grinding became really bad after the chapter 2s and between trying to steal really good weapons and grinding for money, I just got exhausted from it all. I tried keeping everyone at a good level, but it became a big hassle. It's really annoying that there's no way to share experience with party members not in your party. A lot of other RPGs do that like Persona and it just makes things easier. The gameplay has just become really repetitive, along with the story. Also dungeons leave a lot to be desired, they don't feel very fun or interesting. No puzzles, no twists, no interesting environments, no significant length; you basically just run through them in 10 mins until you get to the boss and move on. The redeeming factors is its fun combat. It's not perfect: I wish I could examine my stats in battle and my weapons stats in battle, but other than that I find it a blast and that's one of the reasons I've been able to hold on for so long. The music is really great and I never get tired of the tracks. They hit it out of the park with that. The graphics are also fantastic. 2D HD is awesome and I hope to see it return for other games. I also like the voice actors, though I wish more lines were voiced. So, do I regret my purchase? I wouldn't go so as far to say that, but I'm just bummed out that this game really got worse the more I played it. I thought it was a nice experiment and I'm happy Square Enix has been successful, but I certainly would not recommend this game to any one except for big JRPG enthusiasts. I hope Square does something way different with the next game because I wouldn't buy another game that's in a similar vein to this ever again.

Breath of the Wild is one of the finest games I've ever played. I've been a Zelda fan since I was 4, and I've played all the games, but this is the Zelda game I've wanted ever since Wind Waker. The Zelda series was always been fantastic, but Skyward Sword is when I started to realize that the series' formula was reaching its limits and it needed change. Breath of the Wild brought the change the series needed. And it didn't just change how we think of Zelda games, but also how we think of open world games in general. "The Wild", that's the big draw to this game. BotW's open world is probably my favorite open world I've ever experience. It's filled with life, wonder, mystery, and beauty, and it's up to you how much you want to explore it all. To make exploring this open world even more fun is the tools you have at your disposal. From the start of the game you pretty much have access to all the necessary skills you need. You can jump, run, walk, glide, crouch, and climb, and best of you all, you can climb pretty much everywhere. Not to mention all the skills you can perform with your weapons and shields, you have it all from the beginning. Also shortly after playing, you gain access to using runes that give you additional abilities. Having all the necessary skills and weapons you need right from the start may seem strange, but it's actually liberating. BotW does not hold your hand and tell you how to use everything, you must get creative, learn how to use the environment to your advantage, and adapt. BotW encourages experimentation with your abilities and skills, and while everything is easy to learn, even after 200+ hours of playing I'm still amazed on how fresh everything feels and I never do one thing the same way every time. BotW has a sense of freedom that I haven't experienced in any game ever. I can run around for hours pretty much doing nothing in the grand scheme of things, but it's a blast. BotW let's you take your time and explore. You can do any little task you want and complete the game in any order you feel like. You get to decide what type of journey you have. Every time I pick up and play Breath of the Wild it never feels boring or that its over stayed its welcome because you just get lost in its world. Anything that you see you can get to and anything you can think of doing, you can pretty much do thanks to the psychics engine. In this game, the physics engine is absolutely incredible. You'll play around with all the different possibilities you can do with the environment and you'll find interesting ways to solve puzzles and defeat enemies. I find fighting enemies so much fun in this game because I can defeat them in almost infinite different ways, it just never gets old. Now, as for the characters, I'd say this version of Zelda is by far the best Zelda we've ever had. She has a great personality and is relatable . Someone who is burdened by her duty and has doubts in herself, but also someone who works tirelessly to achieve her goal. Plus her personality is very fun and sweet, she's extremely likable. Also Link is probably one of my favorite Links as well. He gets a bit of development too (and we even learn why he doesn't talk). His design and personality he gives in any given situation makes him pretty appealing, and he has the most emotion since Toon Link in Wind Waker. I think he's won the hearts of many is probably going to be the face of the franchise for some time, just as OoT and TP Link were. Outside of those two, the rest of the champions are intriguing and full of personality (Revali being my favorite), but we just didn't get to see a lot from them! Also the other side characters aren't too memorable besides some of the Zoras like Sidon and the Gerudo chief Riju. This also means there isn't as many side quests that really stand out. There are some fun ones for sure, but the ones that stick with you, just not too many. The Gerudo side quests I'd say were the most fun and memorable of the bunch though, I really liked the Gerudo region in general. But this game still hasn't been able to touch Majora's Mask with having the best side characters and side quests in the franchise. Wind Waker would be the runner-up. The story works for this type of game and I like that you have to piece together everything that's happened, but its definitely not up there with some of Zelda's top stories. The relationship between Link and Zelda and the Champions are definitely the highlight. But at the end of the day, BotW isn't that type of game that has a lot of emphasis on characters and story. You make your own journey and your own story, and the focus here is the world and your main objective. The pros far out weight the cons, and the cons are minuscule in comparison. BotW is one of the greatest games I've ever played and it's refreshing to play a game with so much freedom and trust in the player. Its one of the few open world games that keeps its core promise: "open".