shxrks 最近的评测

first we silk
then we song
lets silksong

first we night
then we reign
let's nightreign

Metaphor: ReFantazio may never escape Persona's shadow; it may forever be known as just "fantasy Persona." And in some ways, I guess that's true. It has turn-based combat and a calendar system-- surely it's just Persona! But to me, Metaphor exceeded the lofty expectations I had for it, has set itself apart from Persona, and rightfully forged its path to the throne.

On the gameplay side of things, Metaphor builds upon the best parts of previous ATLUS games in objectively positive ways. Gone are the days of looking up "the correct" responses to social links/bonds, and gone are the days of monotonous, strictly turn-based grinding with the addition of overworld combat. The calendar system, especially, and the way it flows so seamlessly while juggling requests, social stats/royal virtues, and bonds is SO nice. Turn-based combat is quick and snappy, and the Archetype job system allows for a lot more customization and team building than in previous titles. Across the board, the game is more enjoyable-- it's all of the same fun and more, with a lot of the tedium trimmed away.

The story is exceptionally well paced, and has good writing too. I don't think I've ever been on the edge of my seat playing a video game like I was during my favorite sequence in Metaphor. I remember my heart pounding and hands sweating seeing the twists and turns unfold. I was genuinely tweaking. Every time I thought the game would end, it didn't. And when it did, it did so with satisfying closure. The plot didn't get stale, and was surprisingly unpredictable at times. Unsurprisingly, it was also quite metaphorical at times, leading to much more nuanced thoughts and ideas than I expected. It doesn't shy away from darker tones-- in fact, I would say 90% of the plot takes itself quite seriously, and rightfully so with the themes it presents. I was afraid the game would tackle its themes of racism, injustice, and the complexities of idealism vs. reality on a shallower level, but it's ~80-100hr playtime allowed for lots of room and time to explore them in different and unique ways.

This all works so well because the world of Metaphor is incredibly well thought out. In the midst of all the magic, monsters, and adventures, it is scarily similar to our own, but presented through a lens that allows for some really creative storytelling. And the world is populated with one of my favorite casts in any video game-- they are characters that have beautiful upcomings, well written motivations and struggles, complete character arcs, and all get their moment to shine.

And of course, it goes without saying that the game looks and sounds amazing.

Metaphor has solidified itself as one of my favorite games ever made. It had me invested in a way I haven't felt since I played Persona 5 as my first JRPG nearly 6 years ago, and left my heart full and inspired. It is the culmination of the best parts of ATLUS' games, streamlined into the ultimate JRPG experience. And there's no excuse not to try it with its 6-7hr demo! If you love ATLUS games, JRPGS, or games with impactful stories in general, you owe it to yourself to experience this masterpiece.

Shadow of the Erdtree is a perfect expansion to Elden Ring. It has the same quality of world design, enemy and boss encounters, and fun weapons as the base game, and pushes everything to their limits.

The Realm of Shadow is so intricately thought out, with layers and layers of places to visit. I'd say many of my favorite locations and legacy dungeons are from this expansion-- I had similar moments to discovering Siofra River for the first time while venturing through the incredibly vertical and beautiful terrains.

I got absolutely beaten down in the first few hours-- this is normal. PLEASE explore and pick up scadutree fragments, especially with the recent calibration it will make the early game so much more bearable (plus again, the world was an absolute delight to explore).

I loved many of the bosses, I'd say that the majority of them had the perfect balance between extreme difficulty and fairness. There are like two that I think stray in the direction of pretty unfair, but this doesn't really change my overall feelings on the expansion. The majority of your time will be fighting the amazing bosses and exploring the sprawling world and that is what I enjoyed the most.

A quick note about the story, I really liked it. Since the events of Shadow of the Erdtree take place during your journey, you feel like you have a much more active role in the story. I especially loved the NPCs, every one of their quests is worth doing and it was awesome seeing them piece together what was happening alongside you.

If you love Elden Ring, Shadow of the Erdtree is a no brainer. It is more of what you love, but bigger and bolder than before.

It felt strategic and satisfying, and the best part is it only gets better-- all the way up until the game's final moments, may I add. I had countless moments where I would just sit and think 2 or 3 turns ahead to cook up a strategy for big juicy damage. The times where those strategies worked were some of the best feelings I've ever had playing a video game. The amount of options to customize your team and the freedom to create wild build also is incredibly welcomed-- especially the latent power system, which is new to this game. Each traveler has access to a secondary job to help customize their playstyle, but they all have their unique latent power that differentiates them and makes sure they aren't made obsolete by another traveler. Combat is easily my favorite part of this game.

Random encounters always get annoying for me eventually and to be honest it felt like there were a decent amount of them. Fortunately, the combat was so fun that I felt like I wanted to fight for most of those encounters, and in the other times I popped on a skill that reduced encounters, which is very welcome and made me enjoy overworld exploration much much more. On the topic of encounters, there thankfully wasn't too much grinding. The way the game spaces out the traveler stories makes for pretty solid progression if you switch out your party members often. I think I only spent 4-5 hours total out of my 115 hr playtime strictly grinding.

I'm fine with the HD-2D graphics, and there are some moments where the game looks really beautiful. Sprite animation is intentional and fluid, and battle effects are really pleasing to look at. Not astounding, but certainly nothing bad.

One of the best OSTs I've heard, ever, in anything. Each song is beautifully crafted to fit the setting it plays in. There of course are reused, generic songs that play a lot, but even they sound good. Slight spoiler (I guess), the ending credits features a medley of songs from the game, and I found myself humming along while reminiscing my time spent playing . There's basically nothing to complain about here-- sometimes it feels like I paid $60 for an album with a game on the side and I love it.

In my opinion, this is where the game can shine the brightest but also is where the game can become iffy.
I would say not every story was created equally, but in the end I found each traveler's story to be good or even great (besides one). Coming off some games with thoughtful and interesting writing, there were certainly moments that had me questioning "wtf is this." Since the stories progress in chapters (40-50 minute chunks of story), a lot of the time characters have unusual development that make the writing feel really poor and rushed. There might be a side character that is introduced to help develop our protagonist who undergoes a complete character arc in the same chapter. It makes the side character feel super artificial, like they were engineered and produced in a factory specifically to develop our protag in 30 minutes.

And, I think, inherently, the way this game is structured can lead to some disappointing or downright upsetting moments like those. Obviously, the game's structure is incredibly important and is what makes this game special. But if the game wasn't structured the way it was, this would be really easy to fix. The biggest example of this, for me, was one of Throne's chapters that had branching paths (slight spoils ahead). There are full details revealed and explained in one route that get a reaction out of Throne, but the other merely alludes to those same details and still gets a reaction out of Throne. To me, this made the game feel very disjointed and unresponsive to the way I chose to play the game, and it took me out of an otherwise intriguing story. Again, it's because of the way the game is structured, and I'm not faulting it for that, I just can't ignore how these moments hurt my overall enjoyment at parts.

I kind of just ♥♥♥♥ on the story a ton, but let me make it clear that it also left me moved and full. The times I do play JRPGs, which, again, are rare, I play long, long games with overarching stories and memorable characters-- this game is not an exception. I grew to love each and every character (except one) in their own ways. As cheesy as it is, you really are along for the ride on their journey through Solisita. Again, I thought (nearly) every story, overall, was well done and had satisfying conclusions. The variety in the traveler stories were also good, there's a good mix of happy-go-lucky fun and insufferable trauma. There are plenty of moments of joy, sadness, anger, and everything in-between, and the lore actually is quite expansive and well thought out (again, it doesn't always play out smoothly, but in the end you can appreciate it). Seeing the way the travelers' individual stories came together, and how they ended was really satisfying.

It was in the game's final moments when I really realized how special of an adventure I just played through-- there is no other game that contains an experience like this. There is no other game that, despite it's large flaws, has left me this astounded and satisfied. There is no other game like Octopath Traveler II.

besides the first, I guess-- but this game seems better in every way than Octopath 1

On paper, my number scores might look... not great. I would rate it higher if I could, but unfortunately numbers don't care how I feel. Trust me, I feel like this game is worth your time and will bring you enjoyment. The experience is much more than just a score, and I implore you to start your journey.

it was a genuine surprise that I enjoyed this game so much. haven't been this invested in a game in a while. being able to run it with minimal game breaking bugs actually lets the world and story shine. would definitely recommend if you have the specs to run it-- truly a special experience.

FOR REAL?!

I put this game down in May 2022 and came back last month in hopes to play the new DLC.
I beat the game today, just in time for its release tomorrow.

This is undoubtedly one of the greatest games ever made. The grandiose scale of this game, while still being jam-packed with content, just shouldn't be possible. It is insane. There are so, so many discoveries, encounters, and scenic views that just feel impossibly crafted and intentional. And the number of weapons, sorceries, and incantations allow for endless amounts of creative, fun, and stupid builds.

Even if it seems incredibly daunting, the game provides so many ways to work around difficult portions of the game. FromSoft really nailed the accessibility of their biggest game. Go explore, level up, look up a guide, use spirits, summon players, whatever. It's all there for you so that you can triumph and experience this masterpiece of a game.

10/10. See you in the Land of Shadow.

yeah its kinda good

persona