itonydelatorre

Danganronpa S is a fanservice game first and foremost. If you aren't a fan of danganronpa, and you aren't pining for interactions between its casts of characters, there isn't a ton here for you. If you are, then it is great. You have characters from all 4 danganronpa games. The gameplay loop is essentially: you select a character you own and go through a board game mode to level up a character, you will also see some interactions at this time. Then you go through a battle mode. These reward you with coins to get more, higher rarity characters as well as upgrades, which you'll take to level up in the board, which will be more powerful to get further in the battle mode, which gives you more coins, etc. The rpg side is alright. As good as it has to be and nothing more. But I am a danganronpa fan, and as such, I am enjoying seeing the interactions, and collecting the characters. It is a grind for sure, but something I don't feel the need to grind nonstop, I can put in a bit of time before bed and just enjoy it for a while. The two big downers, even as a fan are: 1) There is only one board, based on DR2. I get that it fits, given that the Island theme, but for varieties sake, having boards based on DR1 and V3 would add appreciated variety to the board game section. 2) No Mukuro sprites. Incredibly disappointing. Given the premise of the game, it makes no sense that she appears in disguise. Really puzzling choice. Otherwise, I have no issues.

There are certain pieces of media that are just so profound and deep, that they cease to become simply media, and become something more, something special. In 2008, I felt that for the first time when I put Cory in the House into my DS for the first time. Here we are in 2017, and now I feel it again. The graphics are horrible. The writing in this game is bad. The controls aren’t responsive, and if you want fun gameplay, pick up a different game. However, somewhere a long the line, everything just comes together. Let me explain: When I first noticed how god awful the clipping was, something felt off. How can a game on PS4 look like such a piece of crap? I then read a message that popped up on the screen and noticed how many errors were in that message. I saw a mission success screen come up that looked like it was made in Windows Paint. I heard what sounded like a guy blowing into a mic that was being passed off as wind during a snowstorm. Then, it hit me. The clipping? It symbolizes the way that no matter how hard we as society try to allow everyone an opportunity to succeed, some will fall through the cracks. The message? A plea to never stop improving our writing skills. The mission success screen? A reminder that even though we have problem as a society, look at how far we’ve come from the days of Windows Paint. The mic blow wind? A reminder that even in the tough times, when you feel alone, simply listen, and you’ll find people calling out to you. The commentary and lessons don’t end there, but I don’t want to ruin anything else about the experience for you. It feels wrong to cheapen this work of art by calling it just “a game”, so I’ll end by reiterating this: If you’ve been like me, searching for that Cory in the House experience, look no further.

I'm giving this a 10, because to me, it is exactly what I look for in a game. So you can compare tastes, some of my favorite games/series are: Fire Emblem Persona Borderlands Elder Scrolls Additionally, this is my first Xenoblade game, so take that into consideration. Story: The story was phenomenal. An exceptional story. Rather than sit and explain the way the world works, the game drops you in as a Salvager named Rex, and tells you that, in this world, people live on the backs of giant creatures called titans, but the titans are starting to die out. That is about it. Over the next 100 or so hours, the way the world works is revealed. And even the smallest questions get answered. Almost nothing is without an explanation, but nothing that isn't too important to a character gets over explained. I really don't want to say anything about the story. It's great and is filled with plenty of twists, turns and fantastic characters. I'm very thankful I was able to play it blind and without spoilers, and I hope you get to as well. Just know that if you have questions about the way the world works, an answer is coming. Characters: Again, fantastic. From the main cast to the villains, everyone is interesting, funny and they all have good backstories. You'll grow to like everyone in the game, or at least, have sympathy towards, even the most diabolical of the villains. Gameplay: Alright, something I can dive into without spoiling anything. I really really came to love the gameplay. It does start out slow. However, slowly over time it gets more complex, and once you have all the tools at your disposal, it gets fun. So you have skills, called arts. Like most mmos, your character will do their basic attack chain automatically, and you decide when to use the skills. You also have a special meter, and using skills will charge the special meter. Positioning and timing are important. For positioning, skills like the main character, Rex's "double spinning edge" will do extra damage from the side. Some of the tanks do extra damage from the front, etc. For timing, using a skill right after you finish an auto attack gives a boost to your special meter. On top of that, you can chain specials to deal massive damage. All specials are ranked. So you fill up the special bar once, you can do a rank 1 special, fill it up twice for 2, etc. If you use a special, a tree appears, and you follow the tree, while using ascending specials. For example, you start with Rex's fire special, then you can follow up with a level 2 fire or water special, then you follow up with the appropriate level 3 special. Finish off the chain and you get an elemental orb. The elemental orbs you get from finishing the special trees can be used to deal even more massive damage in a chain attack. In a chain attack, your party take turns using their specials. As they go along, you deal damage to the elemental orbs. Shatter one, and you get another round of higher level specials. Pull it off well, and you can deal millions of damage, pretty much ending boss fights, but it is easier said than done. Outside of this, you can break, topple and launch enemies to extend your special duration adn do extra damage while leaving them defenseless. There's a lot more to it, but it is a lot of fun. In the end, I know a game was something special when I'm left feeling lost after finishing it. It's the same way I felt after persona 5. This game had consumed me. It's a brilliant time, and the only major complaint I have with it is that I'll never be able to experience it for the first time again. Okay, really though there are a few complaints: 1. The gatcha system for getting blades is not for everyone. I didn't mind it, and I got lucky, but I've heard horror stories of people desperately trying to get the rarest one, and really struggling. By no means will you need them all, but for completionists, it'll be a grind, and one you have no control over. 2. You have to play a retro game to upgrade on of the characters. I like this game, and am good at it. Many will not. There should have been another method of upgrading. This character is a tank, and they do give you another one, but still. 3. Side quests are just alright. Some are interesting, more are just okay. Side quests are entirely optional though, you don't need to grind them out to be able to finish the story. In fact, they actually take all the exp from these, and save them as bonus exp, in case you don't want to get over leveled. Other than that, a masterpiece. Easily a 10/10 for me.