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All other video games not related to the main farming series - Pokemon, Stardew Valley, My Time at Portia, and other indie-developed games.
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Kikki
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I wanted to make a thread for people to thoroughly praise the games they love or criticize the games they were disappointed in, AND for people to request reviews of games they're considering but need a little more input on. I don't know if anyone else will be into this idea or not, but it won't hurt anything to start a thread anyway, right?

I often comb the internet for reviews when I'm considering game purchases for games or series I'm not that familiar with. Sometimes they're helpful, especially if you find a reviewer who has a voice you like or that rings true for you. However, sometimes they're just useless. Sometimes you need to hear the opinion of someone you know a little better, so that you know how to weigh their opinion and how it may differ from your own. And other times you just need to ask questions for further clarity on points they didn't cover. But you mostly can't do that with reviews from critics or aggregate sites.

You CAN do it here, though, in the FOGU forums. So if you have a game you loved (or hated) and want to tell everyone why, then please go ahead and review it here! Everyone is welcome, even if you don't think you're good at lengthy, detailed reviews (you can just post what you think are the most important points, if that is the case). You can also post contrasting opinions, of course, but if you do, please simply present your own experience/opinion, without attacking or insulting the opinion that disagree with yours. I've always found it quite helpful to see opposing opinions, but it's no good when people start taking it personally.

On the other hand, if you've been unable to make up your mind on a game and want to know more about it, you can request a review. (If you are requesting a review, it would be efficient if you also mention what's most important to you. Like...what's the combat like? Is it story driven? Are the characters well-developed? Are the mechanics smooth? Does it run well on _insert platform here_? etc.)

You can also leave a list of games you feel qualified to give a detailed review on or answers to, even if you don't actually write about it right now. Like...I feel quite qualified to review any Xenoblade game, Cold Steel game, or Ace Attorney game. Bluie is probably qualified to give out good info on Atelier games, and I bet ryume could clarify points on most of Final Fantasy. Etc. We all have our games that we're super into and know practically everything about.

Or is this thread just weird? If so, you can just tell me that instead, lol. We do get a bit of feedback already in the Backlog thread, but that's mostly on current games, and it's already super bloated.
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ryume
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I think this is a good idea, although it might fall victim to the 10 day rule without a sticky. It might be very active though, so we shall see :) It might be helpful if we leave an idea of our strengths here so that if anyone wants to ask someone in particular about a specific game, they will have an idea of who to ask, so I guess I'll go ahead and do that. I have in bold text the things that I'm more likely to be current with in terms of the newest releases.

-Primary gaming platforms: PS4 (because I am more likely to buy multiplatform games for PS over Nintendo), Switch

-Primary genres: JRPG, adventure, platform, puzzle

-Favorite Series (aka guaranteed day 1 purchases): Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Zelda, Mario, Persona, Story of Seasons, Rune Factory, Trails
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Thanks :) My original post was already plenty long, so I didn't want to bulk it up any more by reviewing anything myself, or asking about any of the games I'm still wavering on (some years after release, lol...why can't I make up my mind?) But I wanted to say that this could also be thought of as a 'recommendation' thread.

Like if there is a game out there you love so much, you wish everyone else would at least give it a try...that'd be a great game to review, or at least leave some highlights or a pro/con list on.

Or if there's a game you hated so much you still burn with resentment every time you think of the money you spent on it, lol. Or perhaps a game that you feel is simply misunderstood. Like Return to Poplocrois: A Story of Seasons Fairytale. Plenty of people bought that thinking they'd like it because they like Bokumono/SoS, but it actually has almost no farming in it, on top of no dating or marriage system, etc. So if you want to clear up common misunderstandings about a game, that'd be another reason to leave a review. :)

I'm super tempted to review Xenoblade Chronicles X, because I feel like so few people tried it. Firstly because it's Wii U exclusive. And secondly because they get the wrong impression of it when comparing it against the original Xenoblade Chronicles (XCX is very different and not in any way connected...it is a spiritual successor only. And along with the original XC, still one of my favourite games of all time.) I also have lots of gorgeous screenshots for it, which I love to show off, lol. However, I'm pretty sure everyone already knows how I feel about XCX, lol.

As for requesting a review...here are a few games I have never been able to make up my mind about, no matter what I have heard/read about them...I still want them and yet suspect that maybe they're not that great. So I continue to teeter, hoping some day to learn something that will either turn me off completely, or spur the decision to go ahead and buy.

The Last Remnant Remastered
Pandora's Tower
The Last Story (This is a wikipedia link so beware spoilers)
The Caligula Effect: Overdose
Horizon Zero Dawn (I'm only interested because XCX gave me a serious yen for more games of gorgeous world exploration. It doesn't feel like it would satisfy, though.)
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This seems like a fun thread. I'll chip in a bit. If anyone knows anything about:
The Alliance Alive (3DS or HD ports)
Luigi's Mansion 3 (Switch)
Etrian Odyssey Nexus (3DS)

Please let me know. I've been curious about these ones for a while now. I'm probably decently qualified to give reviews on JRPG/RPG games or just other weirder titles. And Pokemon of course.
Ahh, the Caligula Effect: Overdose. I own this and have really only played through the first dungeon. I ended up tossing it on the backburner for the time being. Basically it looks like an upscaled PS Vita game. Which it is, but the visuals are a bit... Ugly. The art style is actually really good, so it gets a weird aesthetic that seems a bit conflicting at times. The music is VERY Vocaloid, so if that's not your thing, be aware. Although the touch I did like was that you got the instrumental when you were going through the dungeons and then it switched to the vocal version. It was nice, but it could get repetitive.
Speaking of the battle system, that's truly where I felt the game shine. The battle system is really unique, but could use some tweaking here and there. But I found that the random encounters were so easy that the fights were over before you knew it and you didn't have a chance to get in the groove. Basically your characters have 3 moves that they can do and it fills up the "Battle Score" which you could see when your character attacked. You can chain these moves with your party members and adjust the timing to pull off different battle effects to soundly defeat your opponents. You also had the ability to see the turn play out before you finalized your commands, so you could tweak your "Score" before it really happened. There are different difficulty levels though, and I did pick Normal as I often do for my first time through games, but even then it felt so easy. I might restart on Hard at some point and see if that works. They really ease you into using the battle system at the start though.
As for the story and characters, your MC is a blank slate "Hello *Insert Name Here*" protagonist with some dialogue choices. You can be a boy or a girl, and I believe the girl side has a differing introduction scenario compared to the boy. But the basic plot is that you're trapped in a virtual world with a bunch of other people because they had certain problems and the person who trapped you there wanted them to be happy. The characters all have the appearances of teenagers, but that's not necessarily the case because their appearances don't match who they were in the real world. I can't admittedly say much about them because I didn't get too far. I liked them though. There were some... Interesting personalities. I don't know if their were romance options or not. Although I found it funny that there was an in-game texting system and you could text the people in your party when they were right there. They have you picking from pre-written prompts. It's how you learn more about the characters and get their relationship values up.
Speaking of characters, there was a chart of all the NPCs in the game and their relationship chart. Think Xenoblade Chronicles 1 Affinity Chart level of extensive. You could unlock certain things by doing sidequests and whatnot, but I didn't get that far. If you sat there and scrolled through it, you could accidentally spoil yourselves on future party members if you sifted through the names and descriptions long enough.
Overall, I did like what I played of the game. It wasn't terrible. Although honestly it's a game that I would suggest either getting pre-owned or on sale. I don't know what the current asking price for the game is now though. I wouldn't pay more than $45 USD for it. But that's me. I only dropped it because the battle system was too easy and I got bored. I'll restart on Hard eventually I think. I can't say much about the story or characters until I do really. At the very least, I can say that it has good ideas and isn't a broken mess of a game.
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Night Owl wrote:The music is VERY Vocaloid, so if that's not your thing, be aware. Although the touch I did like was that you got the instrumental when you were going through the dungeons and then it switched to the vocal version. It was nice, but it could get repetitive.
I couldn't tell you whether I like Vocaloid or not, because I have no idea what that is, lol. What I CAN tell you is that I love the first 30 seconds of Suicide Prototype so much that I could listen to it on loop for an hour solid. But then when the vocals kick in, I just want to shut it off...they completely ruin it for me. (It starts out sounding extremely urgent and adrenaliney, and then an annoying cartoonishly girly voice starts chirping along, sounding like she's got pigtails and pom-poms and is generally cheerleader-y, and...bleh.)

Thanks for the review :)

I haven't played your requested games, myself, but I also wonder about Etrian Odyssey Nexus. It's not high on my wishlist because I'm only REALLY into the 'Untold' EO games (Millennium Girl and Fafnir Knight), but I did read that the last 3DS game was really good. Very curious if/how they'll translate the series to Switch. (Hopefully they are going to do so. I still want to see more Untold versions.)
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Edit: I was beat to it LOL.

I can do one for The Caligula Effect Overdose. I played it early this year and I've had enough time to digest it at this point. I'll do it in the same format as I did my Atelier Ryza 'review' in the backlog thread if that's dandy with you.

The Good:

- Stellar OST
- Choice of male or female protagonist
- Battle system is fun (but very easy to cheese)
- Being able to choose which side to fight for (The 'Go Home Club' or the 'Musicians') resulting in different endings

The Decent:

- The character motivations (for both sides) vary, some good, some just...kinda dumb
- Plot is fine and makes sense (and has some genuine good moments - funny, sad, ect)
- There is A LOT of party members, but there's little to no reason to recruit them (I still used one or two though)

The Bad:

- Dungeons are bland and straight forward (which can be good if you're into simpler stuff, but still)
- Some dungeons make it very hard to avoid overleveled NPCs, thus killing you easily
- The MC has zero character development (everything is about your party members)
- Framerate can get choppy when there's too many enemies around.

Other than that, I can say that while I enjoyed the game, the anime did a better job showcasing the plot. I'm really not kidding here. The plot worked a lot better in an anime episodic format rather than going from samey dungeon to another samey dungeon. The anime does not showcase the female protag or the Musician's route, so there's that in weighing your options. I wouldn't watch the anime or play the game a second time, but they were fun enough. I do however still listen to the OST regularly.
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Bluie wrote:Edit: I was beat to it LOL.
I think it's for the best if you can get multiple reviews, so it's definitely not a first-come, first-served sort of situation. All opinions welcome, imo! Thanks :) (I think I also remember you saying...something like it being the first game in a long time that really made you feel like a genuinely terrible person when choosing the bad-guy route? Or maybe that wasn't you. Or wasn't this game. *sigh* It'd be nice if my memory kept anything straight.)
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Yeah, I do remember saying that, and I still stand by it. Being the villain genuinely makes you feel awful, because while you have a reason to do what you're doing, you still do it in the worst way possible.


Also, I think I'll ask for a few reviews? I'm waiting for the prices to drop, but I'd like to hear some reviews on;

- Dragon's Dogma
- Ni No Kuni
- The Utawarerumono series
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ryume
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Which Ni No Kuni were you interested in, Bluie? The remastered Wrath of the White Witch, or the sequel?
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Oh yeah...there's that, isn't there. I keep forgetting Bluie's not Switch-only any more. :) But the Switch version of Ni No Kuni is a straight port, as far as I know...no remaster.

I played Ni No Kuni II and really enjoyed it, probably at least half because of the town-building, but I gave up on the original Ni No Kuni about a quarter to a third of the way in because I just couldn't get into it (didn't like the battle system or feel any connection the characters) and ended up giving it to a friend.
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ryume
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I played both and liked the first one overall MUCH better than the second, but didn’t want to word vomit on either until I knew which one she was actually interested in.
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The first. I plan on getting it for either PS4 or Switch eventually once it's cheap + I don't have a huuuge influx of games. I might look into the sequel if I enjoy it enough.
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I personally wouldn't want to base my purchase of the second game on the first game, since I didn't like the first one but had loads of fun with the second, so I don't feel like enjoying one is any guarantee that you should or should not get the other one. And since ryume is the opposite and liked the first but didn't care about the second, I guess that's true for her, too, sort of in reverse :)

I can't review the first game since I didn't play it all the way through and was very 'meh' about it. I could review a game I hated, or one I loved, but it's pretty hard to review one that you just couldn't get interested in either way. Hopefully ryume can :)
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ryume
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I never said I didn’t care for the second one lol. I loved the first one and merely liked the second one, but still completed both :)

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Quick Overview:

Pros:
-Visuals and music
-Gotta catch ‘em all aspect with familiars
-Heartwarming story, right down to the side quests
-Decent character development and backstory
-Combat can be fun once you get the hang of it

Cons:
-Slow burn of a story
-Classic JRPG difficulty spikes and grinding (at times, not always)
-Younger characters can possibly make it hard to relate
-AI sucks at times and practically allows itself to die in battles if you’re not careful

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Review (based on the original PS3 release).
Spoiler:
Wrath of the White Witch is a visual masterpiece, which is hardly surprising considering Level 5 and Studio Ghibli are behind it. The environments are superbly detailed, even the over world map. The music is fully orchestrated, and the character/monster/familiar designs are downright charming. I wandered around a lot just so I could stare at everything, which is not something I typically even remotely enjoy doing. The voice work is solid. Oliver’s voice in English is somewhat aggravating, but tolerable, and there’s always the option to switch to Japanese.

Combat is OK. You have the familiar system, which is very similar to Pokemon. Tame monsters, have them undergo metamorphosis to become stronger, repeat. Parties consist of 3 humans and their familiars, with the familiars doing the heavy lifting. Sometimes the AI is stupid and stands in a puddle of poison or literally allows themselves to DIAF, so that can be a frustrating aspect of battles. I don’t recall if you can change it so you are able to control every member’s actions directly outside of whatever character you’re controlling for that battle. You can switch between members, though.. Combat is sort of action, sort of turn-based. No button mashing for weapons, but battles do take place in real time. There is also the typical JRPG spike in difficulty at certain points in the game, so you do end up grinding, but I don’t recall it ever being all that terrible. I will say you don’t want to skip over too many encounters though, and that alone can be a turn off for some people. It can be addicting to collect and raise familiars for sure! There’s even the old school JRPG overworld map as you travel from town to town or dungeon to dungeon (and there’s treasure chests to be found on it), and that, like everything else, is also painstakingly detailed.

Story-wise, the writing is pretty solid. It’s DEFINITELY a slow burn of a game, however. The game opens with tragedy and then sticks to its guns with the themes of loss, healing and persevering in the face of tragedy. Even the side quests, referred to as errands, are centered around helping the requestor heal from a broken heart. There are also hunts or whatever, but I don’t know if I bothered with too many of those. I felt like the overall story was very touching, and the characters were all given a decent amount of background. Even though their ages are what appear to be preteen for the most part, I could still sympathize with them, especially Oliver, and enjoyed the friendships/bonds they developed over the course of the game.
I think overall if you’re a fan of classic JRPG systems and don’t mind some of the more negative aspects that come with that (some grinding, some difficulty spikes), the game is worth a try, especially if you nab it on sale (currently it’s $40 on PS4 for the digital version). I hope this helps!
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Bluie wrote: Also, I think I'll ask for a few reviews? I'm waiting for the prices to drop, but I'd like to hear some reviews on;

- Dragon's Dogma
Here's my review on dragon's dogma

Pros:

Love the soundtrack
Similar feeling (not the same) to the Witcher/Monster hunter though Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is the most similar imo
A take on medieval fantasy that was kind of refreshing (spoilers in the review if you wish to read it) but it's a much darker medieval fantasy game
Customization of the protag + pawn are amazing, probably the best I've seen in a game
Playing as an arcane archer is the best
Large monsters

Neutral:

You can fail quests
You can miss quests entirely and never have access to them past a point

Cons


Only one save file
Autosave can be finicky (it can happen after you've failed quest for example)
Travel can be tedious since fast travel is difficult to find/get
Pawns talk.... a lot (there is a way to get rid of this but still)
Monsters have the same spawn spots

Full review:
Spoiler:
I liked this game enough to buy 2 versions, the original PS3 and steam version (I recommend PC if you can otherwise get it on a more powerful console), it's something best to play blind first so you know how much you miss out on the second go, also there is a small re-playable aspect to it at the very end of the game outside of just trying the quests that you miss naturally along the way but it also gives you a huge insight into some of the meaning behind game's storyline/theme.

The story is mainly streamlined but carries quite a few twists and turns you don't expect or have the ability to alter/control, particularly toward the end, it's something that I considered both good and bad but ultimately is what keeps it in my mind when playing other games like it since it played to it's own story.

Romance was also very interesting because you have no clue who your character will end up with, you can increase your chances by gifting and doing the characters personal quest but that's about it. The pawns are the only followers that you can have long-term, but what is really cool is that most of the pawns you encounter were made by other people, yours will also go off and when you sleep sometimes they will come back with goodies.

Combat can be fun and tedious depending on your choice of class, I picked arcane archer because of the variety but once you learn the enemies weaknesses it can become repetitive if you face against them enough. The tower in the dark arisen was very fun and stressful since facing against large boss-like creatures tend to make me a bit stressed anyway.

Finally Graphics! The graphics in this game are absolutely beautiful and it's one of the few where I don't really feel annoyed by the fact that fast travel is in limited supply. Night-time also scares me in this game because of the types of monsters that come out, but some of the night-time monsters are pretty, others are just creepy.
Hope this helps!
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