Lucas92

What is Fallout 76? It is a multiplayer game set on the Fallout universe. Unlike previous Fallout games, two of which have been developed by Interplay and Black Isle (Fallout and Fallout 2, respectively), two of which have been developed by Bethesda (Fallout 3 and Fallout 4, in addition to Fallout 76), and one which has been developed by Obsidian (Fallout: New Vegas), Fallout 76 doesn't even try to hide what it is: a multiplayer, online survival shooter with the bare minimum of elements necessary to call it an "RPG". But what does this mean, in practice? There are no human NPCs in Fallout 76. The only humans you will find are other players. You get quests through holotapes, robot NPCs, among others. This game relies solely on Bethesda's famed "environmental" storytelling, which is as environmental as having a voice telling you what you are seeing. That is because Bethesda's "environmental" storytelling consists of nothing but notes and journals and holotapes and terminals, a far cry from the truly environmental storytelling of Fallout 1, where you can find an abandoned facility that lets you piece together what happened there just by looking around the environment, finding dead bodies, unopened doors, unactivated machinery, etc. Fallout 76 is not a good RPG. As such, it fails as a Fallout game. But what about the game part? The simplicity of the quests in this game mean that, unless you are really, REALLY looking forward to spending hundreds of hours doing nothing but fetch quests, base building and PvP that has been nerfed because "griefing is bad in a post-apocalyptic videogame", then the odds are you will hate this game. I give this a 5 because it is simply a mediocre game by any metric of the imagination, but in reality a 1 would be more fitting, as it is an absolute disgrace as a Fallout game, and a bad joke as a multiplayer game.

If you come to Final Fantasy XII looking for another traditional turn-based, full of cliches and unengaging gameplay Final Fantasy title, you are going to be disappointed. If, on the other hand., you come looking for a game with an interesting storyline, mature themes, enjoyable characters (with the exception of Vaan and Penelo, I'd argue this is the BEST Final Fantasy cast ever), deep and engrossing gameplay, challenging sidequests and enemies, you will be satisfied. Final Fantasy XII lets you go anywhere you want, whenever you want (for the most part). The License system lets you customize your characters at your own leisure, similarly to FFX's Sphere Grid. The Hunt quests require you to trigger specific conditions for the spawning of rare enemies, adding a layer of thought to what could have been an otherwise mindless, boring task like that of FFX's Monster Arena ("kill these same enemies over an over again to unlock a rare enemy!"). The cast is well defined compared to previous entries. All of them have very specific goals and motives. The English dub is superb, particularly for Balthier. The game is not perfect or anywhere near close to it, however, and neither were the previous Final Fantasy entries. Aside from the optional encounters, FFXII certainly lacks challenge, and the License Board ensures you can pretty much make each character behave like the one next to him/her. Most of the treasure chests hold pointless treasure (compared to the very effective loot of previous games). I recommend you check out the International Zodiac Job System version if you can, which fixes most of the problems the original release had, and has an unofficial English translation available for download. The Zodiac Age will be releasing later this year for the PS4, so you may want to avoid getting FFXII in favor of an upgraded, better version of the game (as it will incorporate the changes made by the International release). Make sure to also check out Vagrant Story (PS1), set in the same universe as this game: Ivalice. I score this game 8 out of 10: it's a fantastic game, not perfect, and with its share of annoying issues, but very much worth your time.

I gave this game a 10 because it was either that or a 9. And to me, the score that more closely represents this game is a 99/100. Before I go in-depth, I will tell you a few things you should know about Vagrant Story. It is a dungeon crawler, you play lone ranger Ashley Riot has he explores the ruins of Leá Monde searching for the antagonist of the game. This game's combat relies on combos executed through a rhythm mini-game, where you press a button of your choosing to execute another attack upon seeing an exclamation mark pop up above Ashley's head. I can't emphasize this enough: the game is HEAVY no the dungeon crawling. There are no NPCs for you to interact with: it is you, Ashley Riot, against the monsters inside the city of Leá Monde. Still interested? Okay. You should also know that the game heavily relies on equipment to defeat your enemies. Your stats only increase by defeating the bosses scattered throughout the game, all of which you will encounter as you advance through the main storyline. In addition to these increases, you may or not find stat increasing items, though this are rare. Because of this heavy emphasis on equipment, you will need to use every weapon at your disposal. Use the wrong weapon, and you may find yourself doing laughable damage to your enemy, or no damage at all. Even in the early game the "good" weapons still won't do much damage to the opponents. This is one of the frustrating aspects this game has for most players, made even worse by the fact the game lacks a proper switch-weapons hotkey. This is the only reason why I give this game a 99 out of 100. Still with me? Fine. I've already told you the reasons you may dislike this game: - Lack of NPCs. - Heavy emphasis on combat and dungeon crawling. - Dependence on equipment and the combo system. So now you will probably want to hear what is so good about this game, why is it a 99 out of 100? Before I say that, I want to mention a few things. - This is my first Metacritic review, and probably my only one. - I have played Morrowind, Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, Skyrim, Planescape: Torment, Fallout. Of these, none of them, I repeat, NONE of them, deserve anything higher than a solid 90 out of 100. Fallout 3 and Skyrim, to boot, deserve no score higher than a solid 70 out of 100. I say this because those two are some of the most popular RPGs ever made, so it is important that you have an idea of what I think of these "acclaimed" videogames. - I don't like JRPGs as much as I did when I was a teenager. All of that out of the way, here's why, if you don't mind about the disadvantages mentioned above, you should get this game: - Vagrant Story has the most engaging combat I've ever experienced in a videogame, bar tactics/strategy videogames. It has definitely the most engaging combat I've ever experienced in an RPG, and one of the most rewarding to boot. As you acquire new skills, your combos get progressively stronger and more interesting. These abilities can range from "do extra damage" to "drain some of the enemy's HP". - Your reliance on equipment is made more meaningful through the equipment combination mechanic. You can go to specific workshops littered throughout Leá Monde to combine your different swords, axes, spears, shields, armor, etc. and acquire better (or worse) pieces of equipment. The game also has a "material" system: the better the material, the better your equipment will be. But it is not as simple as "higher tier = better", as some equipment, particularly wooden protection, actually makes your magical skills better than the equipment that offers better protection against physical attacks. - Enemies have a good variety of skills and tricks, meaning you won't feel like you are battling the same enemy over an over again. This is in contrast to games like Skyrim or Fallout, where enemies pretty much differ from each other by how much damage they deal to you, and little else. - The dungeons have their own invisible traps (which you can make visible through a spell), and block puzzles, which you need to move around to access different sections of Leá Monde. - The musical score is exquisite. Moreover, the sound design is great as well, and you actually feel inside a long abandoned, cursed city. It's something to be experienced for sure. - The game is very well written, and uses "Shakesperian" english to great effort. - If you are a Final Fantasy Tactics fan, there are tons of references around through item descriptions. Vagrant Story actually shares its setting with FFT: Ivalice. - And the story... I'll keep it simple: my two favorite stories in videogames are Vagrant Story and Planescape: Torment, in that order. I can't say anything more without spoiling VS' memorable narrative. Overall, the best game I've ever played, and finally one japanese RPG that lives up to the "JRPGs have great stories!" moniker.