[Game Journal] gimmegaming - 2023

[gimmepie]

Fire Emblem: Engage - Part Fourteen
Somniel then right into the story.

Alear's army entered a volcanic portion of Gradlon in search of the first Fell Shard they needed to destroy. Thanks to Veyle being able to sense them, finding it was pretty easy. However, it was guarded by Zephia and Griss. Veyle did her best to talk them down, but she was determined to fight if need be - and need did be because they were not backing down.

This was an interesting fight because I had to keep repositioning units to avoid big AOEs that'd drop every few turns. I liked that mechanic a lot. eventually though... one half of my forces reached Griss and Zephia while the other half were still taking the long way around. In the end it was Celine, Veyle, Mauvier, Alfred, Diamant, Fogado and Panette who took down the enemies before the other half of the team even got there.

Following their defeat, Zephia handed over an item that would allow Alear's forces to reach the next shard which was otherwise stuck under a lake as a last act of spite against the master who used her as a tool then let her die. She and Griss shared a tender final moment, acknowledging that all they really wanted was a family. It was a nice moment but... it didn't have the impact it would have had if they ever actually acted like the found family they supposedly were. Marni and Mauvier did, but those two never once acted in a way that made it seem like they gave half a shit about their companions.

From there, it was off to the lake... where the magic item sent everyone back in time to a period where the shard wasn't submerged. They then had an uncomfortable encounter with the Alear of times gone by when he was still obeying the Fell Dragon. They fought him, with him using the shard to dump avalanches on them. This was another positional mechanic that I really liked. Ultimately, the Alear of the past was defeated by the Alear of the present supported by Louis, Framme and Jean. He was subsequently found by Lumera and taken in, closing the loop.

The party destroyed the shard and then found themselves back in the present with one shard to go. Veyle could sense the shard... but was alarmed by the presence she felt guarding it. I doubt it's Sombron, they'll be saving any fights with him for the final battle. Griss, Marni and Zephia are all dead and Mauvier had defected so I doubt it's the hounds unless he's already got Corrupted versions of Griss, Marni and Zephia. I'm actually betting on a Corrupted Lumera though. That'd explain Veyle reaction a lot more since she's keeping it secret right now.

Before finding out though, I wrapped things up for today with the final paralogue. Alear visited a place reminiscent of the gardens where he, Vander, Clanne and Framme sparred with Lumera and her Fabrications. There he found a ring and thought it was an unknown Emblem. Alear and his group fought through a bunch of Corrupted to find it was not an Emblem but the Bond Ring - a special ring left by Lumera to be given to one's most trusted ally. Basically, this Fire Emblem's S-rank support ring. I have yet to give it to someone, but I'm leaning towards Panette right now.

There's only like 2-3 chapters left at this point I'd say. Hype!

 

[gimmepie]

Fire Emblem: Engage - Part Fifteen
So, first and foremost, after doing the Somniel rounds, I had a ring to give someone. Honestly, there weren't that many characters in the running for it and some of the ones I really liked would have been kinda... ick to give it to. So, I gave it to my favourite character, Panette. The support scene that followed was dorky and sweet, but didn't hit as hard as Three House's S-supports. Not that it was a mile off or anything either. I do wish I had done the ring as soon as I could though, because what Engage does that I really liked was make up for that lack of impact a bit by letting the characters exist as a couple (or partnership I assume for the non-romantic options) for a little while. I really liked those small touches in the changes with how Panette and Alear would greet each other/interact around the Somniel and the little hair ornament of hers that sits on top of the memento drawer of Alear's room after. Sometimes, it's the little things.

After that, it was serious story time. It was, in fact, a crazy corrupted Lumera guarding the last shard. Veyle snuck off from the group to try and fight her alone to protect Alear from the emotional trauma of having to kill a twisted zombie version of his own mother, but was far too weak to defeat Corrupted Lumera on her own. Luckily, Alear and co. broke in and intervened before Veyle got turned into a little pile of ash. That was when the fight really began. Two teams had to approach Corrupted Lumera from each side of the map. On one side, it was Alear, Panette, Framme, Ivy, Alcryst, Timerra and Veyle. On the other, Diamant, Celine, Alfred, Fogado, Mauvier, Jean and Louis. As with the previous shard battles, a positional mechanic was in place for this one which, again, I really liked as an addition. In this one, Lumera was shooting long ranged energy blasts in lines across the map. Party members had to either move out of range or hide behind pillars to avoid getting obliterated. In the end it was Alear, Framme, Panette, Loius, Celine, Alcryst, Jean and Diamant who reached Lumera and took out her bodyguards and corrupted wyrms while Veyle, Ivy, Fogado, Mauvier, Alfred and Timerra acted as rear guards, taking out Lumera's reinforcement waves.

Mechanically, this was a really fun fight. Narratively it was solid on the part of Veyle and Alear's relationship but, all the Lumera stuff in this game really does not hit that hard because we didn't get enough time with her to come to care about her before she died. This would have carried a lot more narrative weight if Lumera had been with us longer, we'd been conditioned to like her and care about her and then the evil Veyle had taken her out eventually leading to this. But oh well, solid enough.

From there, it was a brief trip to the Somniel to grab a couple of last A-rank supports. Then, it was time to raise the Somniel up into the space between dimensions to face Sombron. There, we learned of Sombron's own tragic histroy. Originally from another world with its own emblems, he was driven to Elyos when his side were defeated bringing only one Emblem with him... and emblem that then abandoned him. He was driven by a desire to prove himself as a lone individual and would burn things down and kill people before they could hurt him the way his Emblem did. Or something like that. Honestly, the thematics here got a bit murky and Sombron over all felt a bit lacklustre as a villain. I think there was good ideas behind him that were not executed the best. We got some cool scenes with Alear, his allies and the emblems though. They were cheesy as fuck but they did make my brain do the happy chemicals regardless.

The fight against Sombron itself was really cool though. The first phase wasn't anything too crazy. Sombron just had to be defeated in his humanoid form with minimal reinforcements. The second phase was where the map was reset and he trandformed into evil snake-face-dragon-mode was where shit got interesting.

Sombron was protected by a barrier. To break it, you had to clear the map of his dark emblems which apparently were parallels to the main enemies fought in the games of each Emblem. There was a mechanic in place where Emblems would have buffs against Dark Emblems from their worlds. Which I'm sure was very cool for the people who had the information to figure out who was who but meant nothing to me at all. Still, the mechanic of killing them to break Sombron's barrier and get attacks off against him was cool. Especially because it combined this with Sombron also having a positional beam attack like the Lumera fight and some fuckery that ended Engage mode early and made you have to charge it back up. In the end though, Sombron was felled by team play from Diamant, Louis, Veyle, Framme, Panette and Alear. Everyone played their part during the battle though, taking out Dark Emblems and Corrupted and running support and interferences for each other.

The battle was won and Elyos was saved. The Emblems - save for Alear - were expended and had to say goodbye, but the heroes and Emblems parted ways with smiles on their faces and a brighter future for Elyos ahead. It was epilogue time, so here are a few of the endings I thought were particularly noteworthy.

Alear returned to Lythos with Panette at his side and was coronated the Divine Dragon King.
Vander continued on his steward duties until eventually retiring and passing the job on to Clanne and Framme who then eventually hand picked the next steward(s) who would follow them.
Alfred took the throne of Firenne and was a well-loved king until he died young. Oof.
Celine, I assume, took over from him after that and was noted for being tough but fair and doing a lot of tea-related stuff. Honestly, the Firene royals got pretty crap epilogues but they were there through the whole war so they get a mention.
Loius retired as a knight eventually and instead served the Firenese royals as a butler. This honestly sounds like heaven for him.
Diamant became Brodia's king and reformed it into a much more peaceful nation.
Alcryst took on clerical duties and served as a diplomat between Brodia and Elusia. He also became famed as a master strategist.
Lapis roamed the world, teaching villages ruined by the war how to defend themselves, rebuild and farm.
Ivy rebuilt Elusia from the ground up and opened its borders.
Zelkov opened an orphanage.
Hortensia returned to the academy and graduated with top marks. She then became a diplomat between Elusia and Brodia, likely doing a lot of work with Alcryst.
Timerra went on to become Solm's most beloved queen ever, largely in part because she never stopped spending time moving among her people.
Fogado travelled aimlessly for while until settling in to be his sister's advisor.
Anna found her family again and got super rich off of her connection to Alear.
Jean became a world-renowned doctor.
Veyle turned Gradlon into a lush, vibrant and happy place that was reborn as a true nation of Elyos. She later became its reluctant queen because her people peer pressured her.
Mauvier spent the rest of his days wandering around helping anyone who needed it before one day disappearing to never be seen again.

My final combat party of 14 was Alear, Framme, Alfred, Celine, Louis, Jean, Diamont, Alcryst, Ivy, Timerra, Panette. Fogado, Veyle and Mauvier. In order, the top 5 combat MVPs were:
1. Alear
2. Panette
3. Framme
4. Loius
5. Celine

So, my thoughts. Story-wise, Engage was solid. The story was simple but (heh) engaging and while it started weak it did get much stronger as the story went on. There were a lot of characters in this game and while I don't have any I really disliked, most I didn't have overly strong feelings for either way. That being said, there were definitely some characters who I liked a lot. Whether they were characters who I knew I would like from the moment I met them like the stewards or the Brodian princes or characters that I was surprised by how much I liked them like the Elusian princesses, Veyle and Panette. I think rather than having any particularly bad characters, the biggest shame about the character writing in Engage is that the interactions between characters feel a lot less meaningful with supports often not being overly interesting or the ones that were later being done dirty in the epilogues with pretty much everyone just going their separate ways. Don't get me wrong, there were some fantastic character arcs and supports too, but they weren't the majority. The paralogues were a let down too. They were fun battles and had useful mechanical benefits sure, but aside from Alear's earning the bond ring and Anna and Jean being recruited via paralogues, the paralogues were mostly a wasted opportunity to explore the characters and world more. I have tried very hard to judge this game on its own and not by the very high standards of Three Houses, but Three Houses is much better written with deeper character interactions, a tighter and more complex narrative and a much more vibrant and fleshed out world. That isn't to say I disliked Engage, but it definitely doesn't meet the standard of its predecessor when it comes to writing.

Mechanically, the combats were all really good and there was some fun twists in a few of them. I really enjoyed the battle after the Emblems were captured and Alear's party had to flee Elusia fighting off the evil versions of their Emblem friends over and over as they tried to get away. The positional mechanics introduced by the final few battles were also really fun. Admittedly, three of them were basically slightly altered versions of the same thing, but they were still fun and added a cool element to the combat. The levelling and reclassing mechanics I was much less impressed with. Somehow, they managed to come up with a convoluted system that was simultaneously much more complex and bloated than the one used by Three Houses while also giving you much less flexibility with how you handled classing and weapon choice. The functionality of the emblems was a nice touch and I enjoyed that mechanically a lot, but the element of having to inherit proficiencies from them was unnecessarily restrictive. I did like the inheriting as a concept though as far as additional stat buffs and passive abilities went.

The visuals in the game were solid. Mostly it was just building a little on what Three Houses gave us and arguably the cut scenes were actually less dynamic, but every now and then we'd get really stunning environmental stills that were glorious to look at. The art in the credits was great too and in general I liked the character designs a lot in Engage - arguably more than in Three Houses. Beyond that though, I don't have much to say about this.

The voice acting didn't blow my mind or anything for the most part, but I can't think of anyone who did a bad job either. Everyone was good and sold their characters well. Musically, I think the game was consistently good with a few standout songs like the one from the battle between Brodia and Elusia and the various incarnations of the main theme.

So, overall, Fire Emblem: Engage is good. It's a solid game. Does it have some fairly notable flaws? Yes. Did it blow me away in the same way that Three Houses did? Definitely not. But there's a lot to like about it too and I will definitely play it again.

Writing: 6/10
Gameplay: 9/10
Visuals: 6/10
Sound: 7/10
Total: 28/40

 

[gimmepie]

Pinstripe - Summary
Pinstripe is a quick little puzzle platformer with some small combat elements. The story is simple enough, but also features a nice little bit of mystery. You play as a priest who finds himself in hell trying to rescue his daughter from the evil Pinstripe. Along the way, you run into a bunch of people who seem to know Father Ted/Bo (his daughter), their dog and also some cameos from popular gaming Youtubers for some reason and must discover the reason you are in hell with Pinstripe and Bo to begin with. The whole thing being a metaphor for the circumstances that led to Ted and Bo's deaths to begin with. I actually liked the writing a lot.

The gameplay itself was pretty solid too. The puzzles were mostly fairly easy but there were a couple of trickier ones in there that took me a bit longer as well. The platforming elements were quite well designed and the combat was simple but a lot of fun. I liked the Pinstriple battle at the end a lot. The one thing that I really did not like was that the earlier parts of the game require a lot of backtracking which got extremely tedious after a while.

The visuals and audio were also pretty good.

I can't say too much about this one because I think it's best to go in blind at least once, but I recommend it!

Writing: 8/10
Gameplay: 7/10
Visuals: 7/10
Sound: 7/10
Total: 29/40

 

[gimmepie]

We Were Here - Summary
There isn't too much to say about this one because it's very short - you can knock it out in an hour if you're quick and it wouldn't last more than 3 or 4 probably. We Were Here is a co-op puzzle game where one player takes on the roll of the "Librarian' deciphering clues to lead the "Adventurer" through a series of puzzles based on the feedback and info they get in turn.

The puzzles are pretty cool and mostly really well designed. At no point does either roll feel like it isn't essential to the process (even if I did solve the chess puzzle before my partner had finished giving me the instructions lmao). I will say though that the maze puzzle could be pretty frustrating. the Librarian has to keep track of the Adventurer's movements based purely on the descriptions of their movements while running back and forth between a map and a switch. The Adventurer can't really achieve anything if the Librarian fails to decipher the map. So that one could definitely get bothersome after a while. Luckily, I was paired with a good Librarian and when we switched to do a run with the opposite rolls she just remembered the route.

Story wise there's not much to say about the game, which is why I led with the mechanics. The premise is basically that two explorers in an icy wilderness take shelter in a trap-filled castle, get separated somehow and have to use radios to help each other get out. Although the little twist at the end was a nice touch.

The game looks cool enough, but graphically isn't anything particularly impressive or pretty. The atmosphere is sold well by the environment though and especially by the music which was actually pretty good.

Writing: 2/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Visuals: 5/10
Sound: 7/10
Total: 22/40


Digimon Survive - Part One
This one is my game for the monthly theme of games with multiple endings. I can't say a lot about it just yet because I've only played through the prologue to the very start of Part One. The premise is essentially... honestly very similar to how the original anime started. It's unclear at this point if the Digimon have ended up in the human world or vice versa but I'm guessing the latter. It was interesting to see them presented as lost elements of forgotten folklore and mythology rather than something very futuristic. I don't think I've ever really seen that take in this franchise. It's also - if the name wasn't clear - putting a slight horror spin on the situation and does so right from the opening scenes which I think it's doing fairly well so far. It's not super scary or anything, but it has the right vibe.

Having been introduced to the main cast and three of the partner Digimon now, I don't have too much to say about them. The protagonist's personality is largely dependent on the choices you make as the player while Aoi, Minoru, Ryo, Saki, Miu, Kaito and the slightly older guy whose name I am forgetting are all fairly tropey and are character archetypes that you see a fair bit in this franchise but I don't have anything really negative to say about them. Koromon/Agumon and the other partners have been cute so far with a little splash of cool but I haven't seen enough of them yet. I have high hopes that all these characters will get to grow as the story progresses assuming I don't get them killed.

Mechanically, the game actually feels very Fire Emblem. Combat is based on a grid system where you take turns moving units around on the map. There's some differences of course like the speed-based turn order for units and the positional mechanic which I think is a really neat addition. When not in combat the game plays like a mix of visual novel and point-and-click adventure. There's not overworld travel, you move from scene to scene by selecting locations on a world map. At a location you can click on characters to initiate very VN-like discussion segments or click around parts of the environment to search for information and clues. I like this blend of mechanics a fair bit, but I have to say that the controls on the point-and-click/VN segments can actually feel a bit janky at times, not wanting to actually land on things you can click. No other real complaints as of yet though.

Aesthetically the game is really pretty. The animated cut scenes feel like they're straight out of an anime with a pretty high budget, the environments are gorgeous so far and the character designs are solid although mostly nothing special either. Obviously the Digimon themselves will be hit-or-miss but I've come to just accept that about the franchise. At least they're well drawn/animated. The dynamic movement when you click onto a character or object is a nice touch too since it makes the VN elements feel more lively.

The voice acting so far has been really solid too. Nobody particular stands out as super impressive but nobody is anything close to bad either. The music though is gorgeous. The first thing that impressed me about the game was just the music on the title screen. It has no right to be as pretty as it is.

So yeah, I have played very little of the game so far and I'm excited to try more. I have high hopes for it since it invokes many of the elements of the original anime (quite intentionally I believe) while still feeling like it's taking an older audience into account. Plus everything has just been good quality thus far.

 

[gimmepie]

Digimon Survive - Part Two
With Agumon along for the ride, Takuma headed off in search of the rest of his friends and soon encountered Minoru and his new parter, Falcomon. Together, the quartet fought off another group of Gotsumon and then reunited with Aoi and her new Labramon friend soon after. From there, they searched for the school building and found it not too long after... but it was all weird and different. Within, they encountered Ryo and his new partner Kumemon (I think) - who does not really speak. They also encountered the "ghosts" of the kids from the title sequence. I say "ghosts" because, despite intitial appearances, they are apparently very much alive although rather dead on the inside. They definitely are not from the same time as the main cast. Curious.

Unfortunately, that was a mystery that couldn't be explored too much yet as Aoi was captured suddenly and the building's true state of being covered in spider webs revealed. The "ghost" kids helped Takuma, Minoru, Ryo and their partners track down Aoi who was being held by an evil spider Digimon called... something with a "d" I've forgotten whoops. They fought the monster and its underlings valiantly but all hope seemed lost... until Agumon evolved into Tyrannomon and incinerated the spider, thus freeing Aoi. The group settled in for some rest intending to search for answers in the morning. Meanwhile though, Saki, Shuuji and the professor - along with a Floramon and Lopmon - were being chased by more evil Gotsamon and the professor was injured. Still no sign of Kaito or Miu but they will likely appear again in later chapters.

That concluded Chapter 2 so I left it there for the time being and id a couple of free battles - recruiting a Betamon and a Biyomon and getting some levelling done. The recruitment system involves some trial and error but is not at all complicated. The battles continue to be fun both narratively and mechanically. The game really does feel very Fire Emblem in how it is presented. I'm still really enjoying the music as well and the horror elements are nice too. You can tell that this game was very much made with those who grew up with the Adventure and Adventure 2 anime series in mind. It's like they took the concept for the original series, made a game for it and then sprinkled in some realism and horror for the older audience. It's been a great time so far.

 

[gimmepie]

Digimon Survive - Part 3
The group made it their first priority to look for supplies, exploring around and within the ruined schoolhouse. Once they had found decent supplies and confirmed they had clean running water, they set out in search of others. It wasn't long before they ran into the Professor. He was injured and the mysterious fog was clouding his memories, but he was able to eventually recover enough to explain what had happened with Saki, Shuuji and himself. Worried, the assembled group headed out in search of Saki and Shuuji. They were quickly attacked by a group of Gazimon however, the viruses determined to capture and/or kill the Professor and the campers both. Luckily, they also bit off more than they could chew when Falcomon evolved to Diatrymon and proceeded to absolutely body them. Thus, the search continued.

Along the way running into a group of Gomamon who were under attack by Gazimon and Gotsumon - henchman of the local Fangmon as it turned out. Apparently, one of the Gomamon had helped keep the professor alive earlier, so the team decided to return the favour and drove their attackers off. The Gomamon in turn directed them towards a nearby dam where Saki and Shuuji had last been headed... and also where Fangmon made his lair. The group arrived just in time to interfere in Fangmon's attempt at eating Saki and Shuuji... but the Professor was thrown from the top of the dam in the scuffle and now seems likely to be dead. Labramon was having none of that shit and evolved to Dobermon (who looks terrifying by the way), making quick work of Fangmon in the process. Fangmon escaped but met his end later when the group watched him devoured by the fog while searching for any sign of the professor (no body found, interesting).

The game then cut away to the two yet to be found, Kaito and Miu as they bickered/tried to figure out what was going on. A large monster was in the area and when Kaito went to check it out, Miu disappeared. Oof.

So anyway, that's chapter three out the way. It was a pretty dramatic turn of events and made a point of reminding the player that death is a threat here, which I appreciate. Most of the party is together now and I'm looking forward to seeing how the story plays out and what answers to the mysteries of the party's predicament come to light.

 

[gimmepie]

Digimon Survive - Part Four
There was much debate over how the party should proceed onwards, but eventually they figured that they needed to head out into the world to figure out what was going on. Luckily, the Digimon discovered a radio tower in the distance that would provide a better view of the world around them all.

Along the way, the party encountered Kaito and a strange woman (as someone who watched Adventure 02 I fucking immediately picked what was going on. Which surprised me honestly, I'm not a huge follower of the franchise but she triggered some very strong memories. Kaito was adamant that she was a monster and had kidnapped Miu but the party weren't as sure. They didn't exactly trust her either, granted, but she claimed to know the way to the tower so they followed her while Kaito and the "ghosts" headed the long way around.

Of course, my suspicions were correct (as were Kaito's) and the creepy woman turned out to be a disguised Arukenimon who blamed the humans for the "falling apart" of the world and was intent on sacrificing them to fix this. The party were trapped and pretty much fucked, but lucky for them Kaito and his partner, Dracmon (who evolved into Sanglupimon with exactly no fanfare) saw this and crossed the spider webs to intervene.

This is where the game took a very sudden spike in difficulty that caught me off guard. It took me two attempts and spending the evolution resources I'd been saving on two free Digimon (evolving Biyomon to Birdramon and Betamon to Deltamon) to actually defeat Arukenimon and drive her off... although she wasn't gone for good having not been going all out.

After that, the party headed to the tower where they discovered they were on an island (now where have I seen this plot point before) which made no sense because the area should not have been. They also spotted an amusement park in the distance which a helpful Tentomon implied might be where Miu was. Unfortunately, this situation proved to be all too much for Ryo. None of the party had been doing great, but Shuuji and Ryo had been especially off-kilter to the point where Ryo was seeing things and talking to his apparently dead mum. He ran off and was attacked by a Cyclonemon henchman of Arukenimon's on a rickety bridge.

The party arrived and came to his aid. Cyclonemon talked mad shit to Saki and said she was only helping to be liked not because she actually cared, but Floramon was not having that and talked Saki through it. Then, Floramon evolved to face down Cyclonemon... in the single most disappointing evolution ever. Floramon looks really cool. She evoled to Veggiemon with the signature move "poop toss" - WHY?!

Anyway, Veggiemon (I cry) and the party were able to make short work of Cyclonemon but he managed to cause the bridge to shake enough to knock Ryo off the edge. Haru dived off after him and... somehow saved him further proving that some weird stuff is going on with Haru and Miyuki. On the ground level, the evil fog was closing in and despite Haru's... uh... efforts? Ryo had fully snapped. He started seeing visions of his dead mother and moving into the evil fog. The party arrived just in time to watch him cross into the fog and get torn apart by these ominous shadow hands. Right after, Kunemon phased out of existence having never had the chance to evolve or even speak. Holy shit.

It doesn't seem like anything could be done to prevent this death and I don't know if that makes it better or worse. Poor Kunemon man. He did his best and in the end couldn't save Ryo from going mad and dying and then died himself. This game is starting to very much live up to its title but I am here for it. The way the characters react to things feels very real and believable and the narrative is still pretty strong.

As this chapter wrapped up, the game cut to a scene of Arukenimon being berated by her boss (who seems to be the second in command over all) for failing to actually capture the kids. I'm thinking this guy could be a Piedmon or Puppetmon going by his location and vibes. She also seems to be working with a Monzaemon and a MegaSeadramon and... more tenuously allied with a Garurumon of all things. The wolf mon has a grudge against human kids so I suspect he might be Haru's old partner from the opening scenes.

God damn.

 

[gimmepie]

Digimon Survive - Part Five
The party took some time to try and process the loss of Ryo and Kunemon, but they couldn't dwell on it forever with Miu still out there. At Kaito's repeated insistence, the party headed out towards the amusement park at around noon. There they were attacked by a Patamon, Palmon and Biyomon... well attacked is a strong word. They were pretty weak and helpless compared to the party and were just doing their best to act on the orders of their new queen... who was obviously Miu.

She was adamant about not leaving as she was quite tired of Kaito being so smothering. She even legit through the party in the dungeon with them needing to be rescued by a friendly Jijimon. Things only got worse when Monzaemon and Garurumon showed up and started laying siege to the place and she was forced to change her tune when she saw her new friends getting hurt trying to defend her.

The party stepped up with Miu's partner, Syakomon, evolving to Shellmon taking the lead. Together they were able to drive of Garurumon and defeat Monzaemon thus protecting Miu and the locals as well as getting the whole group (sans Ryo) back together at last. In the aftermath, Jijimon also had good news for everyone. He revealed that there was a ritual to thin the walls between their worlds and get the humans home. He didn't have much more information than that, but he did have the key to the tunnel to (hopefully) the mainland which would be needed to confront their enemies and also maybe digimon god - a necessary step for learning the ritual.

This was a really good chapter. I appreciate that it continued to give Ryo and Kunemon's death the appropriate weight but also found ways to inject some levity and let the characters breath - all without ever having the stakes fall out of focus. I don't think I actually finished this chapter though, it was very long for how little happened and I'm a bit concerned that chapters will only continue to get longer going forward and make finishing on time diffiuclt.

 

[gimmepie]

Digimon Survive - Part Six
With all the group finally together - sans Ryo and Kunemon - the party got some rest, counted out their supplies and then spent some time arguing about whether or not they should really seek out their enemies for answers through the tunnel. At this point in time, Shuuji was clearly well past starting to crack and was heaping pressure onto Lopman and abusing them. Having seen what happened with Ryo, it was not looking good for the pair.

Shuuji was adamant that the party should not go on, but he was outvoted and with a tense atmosphere and him at odds with everyone, the party entered the tunnel towards the mainland. Arukenimon was watching though and eager to pray on that situation. She flooded the tunnel with a strange gas that split the party up and made them see visions of their partners preying on their greatest insecurities.

We got to learn a bit more about Miu and Kaito's situation, although it's still very vague. Some sort of parental abuse or similar is implied there. Aoi's stuff was more vague but it looks like it might relate to her dad. We got more confirmation that Saki is concealing a severe - potentially fatal - illness as well. Interestingly, Minoru and Kaito didn't have much related to their issues on display and protag boy Takuma was similar. Shuuji though was Arukenimon's real target and he got the worst of it with his issues relating to his father and brother and his inflated sense of responsibility being preyed on.

He started snapping, beating Lopmon and trying to force them to evolve - and if you know anything about the old anime, you know how that tends to turn out. As this happened, MegaSeadramon attacked and the party were forced to focus on that while Shuuji was losing his mind. The party were doing okay against MegaSeadramon but as that continued, Shuuji finally triggered Lopmon to undergo a dark evolution into Wendigomon. Wendigomon went crazy and easily took out MegaSeadramon but couldn't stop their rampage. They turned on Shuuji next. The party watching on in horror as Shuuji was eaten.

In the end, it came down to battle with a suffering and struggling Wendigomon. Amped up on sad vibes, Wendigomon was proving too powerful for the party to defeat but Agumon/Tyrannomon came through. He was the first to attain Ultimate level and evolved into Tricermon and - with some help from Diatrymon (the one who actually did the most damage but you know, narrative, lmao) - was able to defeat Wendigomon. In the aftermath, the murder fog appeared again and consumed Wendigomon. Another pair dead.

The fog started to encroach again but the professor (woo?) appeared and was able to lead everyone out the tunnel to safety. Exhausted and emotionally drained, the party decided to get some rest from there. That concluded chapter five with another scene from the past being shown - Haru's old partner evolving to Garurumon to defend him only for Haru to disappear in a mysterious light and leave a confused and changed Garurumon alone. I do wonder what the hell is going on with Haru and Miyuki. The game continues to be dark and heavy, but well written enough to justify it. I'm really eager to see where things go from here. I do have to admit though, this chapter felt like it went on forever. More like two chapters than one and the constantly navigating winding pathways and tunnels in the castle and the sewers did start to feel a bit tedious after a while.

 

[gimmepie]

Digimon Survive - Part 7
The party made their way through the tunnel and onto the next island, on a beach at the outskirts of what looked to be an abandoned human city. Things were tense with the party with many of the human members having trouble trusting their partners in the aftermath of what happened with Lopmon and Shuuji. All but Takuma and Agumon were having issues (although Aoi and Labramon were mostly fine tbh) but Minoru and Falcomon were especially harsh with each other to the point that Falcomon ended up running off.

The party moved into the city in search of Falcomon and gradually mended their own fences with each other - being repeatedly attacked in the meantime. On top of that, the professor was able to explain how the dark evolution works which made Minoru feel even worse. But he had his own weirdness going on getting foggy headed and clearly knowing something about Haru and Miyuki that he was having trouble conveying.

There was no time to really delve into that though because Garurumon showed up with Arukenimon close behind and a bunch of minions to boot. Everyone regrouped to fight them off, with Falcomon returning and clearing the air with Minoru. Together, they defeated Garurumon and drove their enemies off. Everyone felt a lot better after that, but they were exhausted and decided to retreat for the time being.

Both mechanically and narratively, this game continues to be really good. Cyber Sleuth was solid but Survive blows it out of the water.

 

[gimmepie]

Digimon Survive - Part 8
The party regrouped and recuperated at the school but, while they were preparing and recovering, Minoru and Miu came under attack from the enemy. Thankfully though, Falcomon and Syakomon were able to reach their next evolution levels, Crowmon and Mermaimon respectively and beat the living shit out of their foes.

After that, the party headed for their enemy's base. Along the way though, they encountered Arukenimon who engaged the party. She seemed to be defeated but was able to flee with a captive Miyuki. Haru lost his shit and chased after them and the party followed behind, losing sight of him. As they tried to find the missing kids though, they found innumerable dead enemies along the way. Shortly after, they encountered Arukenimon again, locked in combat with Renamon who was implied to be the one who took out all the enemies trying to save Miyuki. Running theory is that "Haru" might be Renamon in disguise. Especially because through all this, the professor has recalled he was once called Haru and had a sister called Miyuki who was "spirited away." So basically, the professor is the real Haru and the other one seems likely to be Renamon in disguise - Renamon being Miyuki's partner.

Arukenimon was defeated but her boss, Piedmon, showed up and killed her before taking custody of Miyuki himself and fleeing. Renamon disappeared soon after and the party took to searching the base. Within, they encountered Haru again in an argument with Garurumon. Garurumon lost his shit and attacked the party but after having some sense knocked into him, decided to just sulk and tell the party where Piedmon went.

The party followed his directions and found Piedmon preparing to sacrifice Miyuki for his mysterious master. A long and difficult battle ensued with Piedmon throwing many enemies at the party - including a particularly nasty Skull Greymon - before joining the battle himself. Things started looking rough as the ritual started to near completion and the Professor rushed in to try to save Miyuki. Piedmon attacked him but Garurumon leapt to his defence and evolved into WereGarurumon, joining the fight. Piedmon was defeated soon after but it was looking like it may have been too late. Takuma rushed in to try and save Miyuki but both were sucked into the mist.

Within the mist, Takuma and Agumon awoke to the voice of the master but were soon taken elsewhere by Miyuki who explained that in the past her soul had been split by the fog (luckily since the alternative was straight up death) with half remaining in her body and half with the master. She was a priority target as a priestess/maiden/something like that of a special bloodline but that also meant she was more resilient and able to exert some influence. The chapter basically ended there. Yikes.

The story is finally coming together and I'm excited to see how it plays out. So far, all this has been written extremely well. The fights are suitably intense too (I'm glad I'm on normal difficulty sometimes lol. I think I'd be okay on hard but it'd be way more likely people would die or I'd lose fights). The music continues to be a surprising highlight for me. The newest addition to this list being the OST for the climactic fight with Piedmon which was crazy good.

I am starting to run into an issue though. A skill/luck issue more than a gameplay one. I'm having trouble getting the character's affinity to high enough levels which means I'm running the risk of Digimon not being able to reach higher evolutions. Aoi is really close to reaching the point I'll be able to get Labramon's next evolution but Kaito is a little way behind her still and I'm really struggling with Saki. I like her character, but she's proving really hard to predict in social scenes and it's going to cost me in the long run. It might even get her killed. Sorting that shit out is going to be priority number one next chapter.

 

[gimmepie]

Digimon Survive - Part 9
Takuma experienced a flashback to some time with his mum, coming to as the dream faded to find he was now back in his home world with Agumon and Miyuki. The three of them investigated around a bit, discovering that almost no time had passed for Takuma since he got isekai yeeted into the Digimon world. Comparatively though, it had been fifty years since Miyuki went missing much to the poor girl's shock. First you get your soul ripped apart and put back together, then you lose 50 years. Yikes.

As their investigations continued, they learned that the link between their worlds was more tangible that one would think. When horrible things happened in the Digimon world, a corresponding disaster would also happen in Takuma and Miyuki's. That essentially meant that with the Digimon's world in danger, the human one was also at risk of destruction. The study session was cut short though when they learned that Piedmon had also been sent through to the human world.

The group rushed to confront him and combat ensued... and he kicked the living shit out of me because he's ridiculously strong. I'm not under-levelled or anything either, he just has crazy high damage, SP and range. I did a couple of rounds of free battles to toughen up Agumon and some free mon, spent some buff items and then went in with a plan. This time, the battle was gruelling but Agumon and Takuma were barely able to come out victorious and shunted Piedmon back through a portal opened by Miyuki, following their defeated foe back to the Digimon world with hopes of saving it and the human world both.

At this point, I had to make a choice between three routes. I've chosen harmony so we'll see how that plays out. I also accidentally saved over the choice segment so I'm hard committed now. Unfortunately, this chapter did not give me any chances to boost affinity so I am concerned that I'm going to have some major issues going forwards. We'll see.

 

[Janp]

Yeah, Piedmon is tough. It's such an unexpected difficulty spike and it takes several chapters to catch up to him and finally take him down. But it felt so good.

I don't want to spoiler anything to you, but since you picked different route than me, when I played this game, maybe you'll get a different experience. I picked Moral route and managed to get affinity high enough with Kaito and Aoi to get their partner's Mega forms. Those two, alongside some Megas I got for choosing this route were enough to beat the final boss with no problems.

 

[gimmepie]

Yeah, Piedmon is tough. It's such an unexpected difficulty spike and it takes several chapters to catch up to him and finally take him down. But it felt so good.

I don't want to spoiler anything to you, but since you picked different route than me, when I played this game, maybe you'll get a different experience. I picked Moral route and managed to get affinity high enough with Kaito and Aoi to get their partner's Mega forms. Those two, alongside some Megas I got for choosing this route were enough to beat the final boss with no problems.

With how badly I'm doing for Affinity, I'll be lucky if anybody hits Mega level aside from Takuma lmao. I shit you not, Saki hasn't even cracked 20.

 

[gimmepie]

Digimon Survive - Part 10
Takuma and Agumon returned to the Digimon world to find Miyuki missing. They reconvened with the rest of the party at the school where they learned that they had been gone ten days... and somehow Miyuki had been possessed by the Master and attacking everyone for those ten days... despite her being with the others in the human world. Time is weird.

Speaking of, Miyuki/Master did attack with an army of Kenzoku - evil creatures that are the source of the fog and the owners of the hands from within. The party drove them off and then decided they needed more information to figure out what was going on. Miu suggested they go back to the amusement park to talk to Jijimon again so the party made their way there.

Unfortunately, the place was already under attack when they arrived and most of the occupants were dead or wounded. The party did what they could to help fend the enemy of us, during which time Saki and Floramon gained Floramons next evolution - Blossomon. Eventually, the party found themselves splitting up with Saki, Aoi and Takuma going to help some stragglers, Kaito going a bit mad and looking to take out as many of the Kenzoku as possible with Miu chasing behind and Minoru hanging back to secure an exit and protect those fleeing.

Takuma's party quickly found success and secured the safety of the remaining denizens of the amusement park, but things weren't going as well for Kaito and Miu who were badly outnumbered. Takuma and Agumon headed that way to assist while Saki and Aoi took the stragglers back to Minoru. In the fight that followed, Agumon was able to obtain his Mega level evolution and become Dinorexmon, then easily leading the team to victory.

In the aftermath, Kaito started to figure his shit out about his anger and his overprotectiveness towards Miue. However, Miu herself ran off again after a voice calling for help... straight into a trap that led to her being dragged into the fog by the Kenzoku and killed. Mechanically, that sucks. Narratively and emotionally? It sucks even worse. I liked Miu and Syakomon lmao.

Apparently, each of the possible routes you can take from the previous chapter has different predestined character deaths. I just happened to pick the one that would get Miu killed. Oof.

 

[gimmepie]

Digimon Survive - Part 11
Needless to say, everyone was reeling from Miu and Syakomon's deaths. Especially Kaito who felt responsible for failing his younger sister. He was on the verge of a total breakdown, throwing blame in every which direction but really faulting himself. However, the plot moved on. While Kaito was freaking out, Minoru and Agumon were left taking turns caring for the young Digimon that were rescued with Jijimon and Aoi and Labramon came under attack by a Kuwagamon, prompting Lambramon to unlock her next evolution at last - Cerberusmon.

Meanwhile, the Professor finally recalled his memory while on a walk and also located a new location - a library. Unfortunately, that was a rather nefarious location and Renamon also set about luring Kaito there to offer him (and everyone else) as a sacrifice in exchange for Miu. It was easy to lure him with promises of revenge and naturally the rest of the party had no choice but to follow.

At the library, everyone was subjected to horrifying visions of the allies they had lost along the way. But, largely with help from Takuma, they were able to shake that off and confront Renamon and a bunch of Kenzoku. Renamon couldn't defeat the party and was forced to listen to what they had to say, realising that the mysterious Master had played her. At this moment the Master-possessed Miyuki appeared and launched an attack of her own prompting Renamon to evolve to her Mega level and join the fight. In the end, the party came out victorious and took out the Kenzoku, prompting the Master to flee. In the chaos though, Kaito and Dracmon slipped away with Kaito deciding he had to kill everyone to avenge Miu, both the Master's side and the party. Demonstrating yet again a fundamental lack of understanding in what his sister would actually have wanted. It's understandable though, grief fucks with people. But also god damn man you just learned this.

I only have two chapters left now. It looks like I get to keep Renamon permanently as Miyuki's partner (even though I have not yet reclaimed Miyuki) which is pretty cool. Things aren't looking great for Kaito but it's still up in the air what will happen with him in the end. Shit's hype.

 

[gimmepie]

Digimon Survive - Part 12
With Kaito and Dracmon missing, the party took a short time to come up with a plan of action and then split up to search for them. Along the way, the remaining party came under attack several times but were able to repel the Kenzoku without too much trouble.

Meanwhile, Kaito was dragging Dracmon around as he vented his grief and anger against anyone who crossed his path. Eventually, they came across Piedmon of all people. He was gravely injured from his battles with the party and on his last legs, but he too was eager for vengeance against the Master, the party and the worlds in general. Piedmon proposed a deal, fusing with Dracomon to create a new more powerful entity who could serve as a weapon to unleash Kaito and his vengeance upon all who had crossed them (in their minds). Dracmon very much had misgivings about that idea, but he agreed to go through with it on Kaito's insistence. Thus, BoltBoutamon was born.

The party caught up with Kaito soon after and were horrified to learn about what he'd done. They tried to convince him to rejoin them and turn back from his aimless quest for revenge, but this only made him go crazier. He attacked the party with BoltBoutamon intent on killing them. The combat itself was actually going pretty well, but the narrative then decided the party was losing. Luckily for them, they caught a whiff of the Master and left to seek them out - planning to kill them and Miyuki too.

The party went back to the school to lick their wounds and prepare as Renamon revealed that the Master could actually be found below the shrine.

So, things are getting intense now. I did a bunch of free battles and have amassed a bunch of mega level free mon through evolutions. Right now, because I've done quite badly on affinity (rip), only Agumon and Renamon of the partner mon can reach their mega stages (Dinorexmon and Sakuyamon). I am painfully close to getting Falcomon there as well but I think I may just miss my chance. Labramon and Floramon are basically lost causes on that front.

One chapter to go.

 

[gimmepie]

Digimon Survive - Part 13
With the final battle imminent, the remaining party members had themselves a hero's feast and said their goodbyes to Jijimon's cohort. From there, they made their way into the depths of the shrine as they tried to figure out what to do about Kaito and BoltBoutamon, examining the old murals as they did so and finally realising that the Digimon - or the Kemonogami as they are called in Survive - that partner with humans are basically the other half of that human's soul. Kind of like daemons in His Dark Materials.

Soon thereafter, they reached the lowest level of the shrine and found Kaito and BoltBoutamon had already managed to free Miyuki from the Master's grasp - and decided against killing her for the time being. The party thought this was a chance to talk some sense into Kaito but this pushed him back over the edge and he had BoltBoutamon attempt to kill everyone. Naturally, the party fought back and managed to defeat BoltBoutamon. Without a way to fight, Kaito was finally willing to listen to sense.

Unfortunately, the Piedmon half of BoltBoutamon took over at that moment and absorbed Kaito, Miyuki and the Professor - killing them in the process. This also had the unfortunate side-effect of killing Renamon too since she was bonded with Miyuki. Then, BoltBoutamon went off to confront the Master himself intent on taking the Master's power and destroying the worlds himself in vengeance.

The party were freaked out by the sudden loss of four allies - five if you count Dracmon. However, the steeled themselves and gave chase anyway. They arrived just in time to see the Master - a being with a design that I don't even know how to describe - absorb BoltBoutamon in turn. The Master, intent on continuing his own existence, then turned on the party.

This was a fight I was very glad not to be facing on hard difficulty. The Master doesn't move like normal opponents, but the giant creature's range is essentially the entirety of the map and his powers were typically AoEs that could inflict some nasty status effects. I faced it down with Dinorexmon, Crowmon, Cerebrusmon, Blossomon, Seraphimon, Machinedramon, Phoenixmon, Piedmon (lol) and MarineAngemon splitting the group roughly down the middle and having them pincer attack him. I managed to get his HP down to 40% with only Crowmon being defeated but that triggered the next phase as BoltBoutamon took over from within the Master.

The next phase was much the same as the first except that BoltBoutamon/Master had access to BoltBoutamon's moves and passive ability as well as a really nasty AoE that could inflict freeze. On top of that, you get a smaller party of just the party and two free mon. So it was Dinorexmon, Crowmon, Cerebrusmon, Blossomon, Seraphimon and MarineAngemon against the fusion. The first time I tried this I came really close to defeating him, but it was down to just MarineAngemon and a barely alive Dinorexmon and there was a high damage roll or a crit or something that took out both of them. The next time around I played smarter and went back to my original tactic of the pincer attack and this fight went much better. Seraphimon and Blossomon went down but everyone else kept at least 50% of their health and in the end Dinorexmon landed the final blow and defeated the final boss.

This left a problem though. The fused BoltBoutamon had opened the portal between worlds and now Miyuki was dead and unable to close it. What was more, the portal was growing and stabilising and the worlds were set to re-merge as they once had been. There was nothing to be done though, the party decided that they would just have to make do with the new world and help guide it to a peaceful future.

In the epilogue, they were still working towards that goal but making progress and looking towards a brighter future despite the people they had lost.


So, this was a very good game. I went into it with high hopes, but it honestly surpassed them in a lot of ways. The story was really well done with all the characters - even the less likable ones - being very compelling and interesting and I was very invested. Every death felt like it mattered and had impact on the story. It wasn't like those try-hard Pokemon fangames that get super dark and gritty for shock value to be more "grown up" but lack any substance. This was a well-crafted story that took the story of the original Digimon anime from the 90s and applied a more mature and realistic lens to the situation and how it affected the characters. I appreciated that a lot. I think kids could mostly still be fine playing this too, but it was definitely crafted with an older audience - likely those of us who grew up with the anime - in mind.

Mechanically, I haven't got much to complain about either. The karma system was a cool way to determine which branch of the evolution trees you get and I like that it operated independently of the route you chose. The affinity system was a fun addition as well for determining evolutions. The combat was great. I really enjoy these tactical grid-based combats - although I do admit that the flanking mechanic was really easy to abuse for high-movement Digimon. Honestly, playing this felt really similar to playing a Fire Emblem game in how it was constructed and that is not a bad thing. I have a couple of gripes too though. The most minor is that most of the status effects did basically the same thing (prevented you from doing anything). A step up from that is that the recruitment mechanic is heavily weighed against you. This isn't that bad really though since you can easily try the free battles over and over if you're so inclined. The worst issue was less a mechanics issue and more a problem with the functionality of the game. Sometimes on the exploration/VN segments the game would lock into scrolling and it would take a lot of effort to actually select anything as a result. I have no idea why this happened and nothing I tried would fix it.

Graphically the art style was really nice and I appreciate that the devs mostly made a point of selecting some of the better designed Digimon to be present - because we all known that consistent design quality is not a strong suit of this franchise. It was mostly fan favourites and well-designed Digimon present. That being said, it was a fucking travesty that they chose Veggiemon for Floramon's champion stage. I will also say that the cutscenes left a little to be desired in execution much of the time.

Audio-wise, this game was great. The music was fantastic. The title screen theme is gorgeous and the Piedmon and Master fights have great music too. There was no bad music, but those get special mention. The voice acting was also top notch although it was kind of weird that only the partner and main villain mon could speak.

So that's that. I admit, I had high expectations for this game going in. I was surprised to find that Digimon Survive not only met those expectations but exceeded them. Honestly, even if you don't like Digimon at all, I would highly recommend Survive. It might even change your mind. If you are a fan or if you grew up with the Adventure anime, this is probably a must play.

Writing: 8/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Visuals: 7/10
Sound: 8/10
Total: 31/40

 

[gimmepie]

Final Fantasy XIII - Part One
So, this first part was very much a tutorial and an introduction to our key players... and not much else. The game opens on Lightning and Sazh escaping from a prison craft and fighting there away from the scene with Lightning going after something called a fal'cie and Sazh kinda just being stuck with her. Meanwhile, Snow and his crew from a group called NORA are leading a group of escapees through the Hanging Edge in an attempt to save them from the sanctum while looking for his fiancee Serah - the same foes that Lightning and Sazh face. Eventually, Snow's group is largely obliterated by an attack leaving Hope and Vanille to flee on their own, Snow and Gadot to continue on with their mission and Lebreaux and Maqui missing in action. These groups will likely all meet in the near future.

Beyond that... I know very little. The fal'cie is clearly very important and we learn that the Sanctum is exiling people to a place called Pulse... except they're actually just executing. So Cocoon, a huge metropolis city state of some sort is in the middle of a violent civil war or something. The reasoning for all of this situation is super unclear right now. The game very much throws you right into the middle of a large scale conflict while explaining none of what is happening or why. It seems likely that the datalogs will be able to answer some of that, but that's not exactly the best way to experience a story.

The cast of characters I know very little about too at this stage. I'm liking Sazh a lot and it seems to me that Hope and Snow are being set up to have some very interesting character arcs so that's likely to be fun to see explored. I just hope the story becomes clearer and some context is soon to be given.

Mechanically... I'm not a huge fan of the battle system I have to admit. I don't like the ATB in general so seeing it return in any format is not going to please me. But the way you queue up actions and watch them play out is also weird. It's like they didn't want to commit to being a turn-based game or an action rpg. I'll probably get more used to it in time but I'm not particularly fond of it.

The game looks good and sounds fine. Character designs are solid and the music has been fitting so far although not particularly stand out.

I'm enjoying the beginnings of the game well enough but it's definitely not been anything incredible. I'm curious to see how it goes going forward.

 

[gimmepie]

Final Fantasy XIII - Part Two
I read the data logs! I have a clue what's going on now!

So, Pulse is the world outside/below Cocoon and its said to be a terrible hellscape. Cocoon was created by a faction of these powerful creatures called fal'Cie to protect humanity from the monsters outside and the fal'Cie of Pulse. The Pulse fal'Cie can curse humans and turn them into l'Cie who must complete a goal - their Focus - for the fal'Cie. Those who do become crystalised and are granted immortality that isn't so different from death and those who fail become horrible, mindless mutants called Ci'eth. The purge isn't "exiling" - read genociding - anyone who is likely to be contaminated by a fal'Cie because of this. Serah who is Lightning's sister and Snow's fiance became a l'Cie and was within the Pulse relic located near the Cocoon city of Bodhum.

The characters were split into three groups. Lightning and her tag-along Sahz and Snow going solo, all in pursuit of Serah. Plus Hope and Vanille, who were chasing Snow so Hope could confront him about his mother's death during Snow's battle with the Sanctum's PSICOM soldiers. Eventually, the group all converged at Serah's location where she begged Lightning and Snow to "save Cocoon" and thus completed her focus and turned into crystal. Lightning and Snow were not pleased with this and entered the innermost chamber of the relic to confront the fal'Cie there. Snow tried begging for Serah's release... Lightning took a more drastic approach and got the fal'Cie's attention. Thus a fight against Anima started even as PSICOM attacked the relic, intent on its destruction.

The fight with Anima was actually pretty easy and it was seemingly defeated by Lightning, Snow and Sahz... except it had only displayed a fraction of its power. In an instant its power dominated all present and showed them visions of a destructive creature called Ragnarok destroying Cocoon, marking them all as l'Cie and granting them greater power. As this happened, the relic fell towards a lake below as Anima's power erupted out, turning everything in the area around it into crystal and leaving the newly branded party to figure some shit out while crossing the crystalised lake.

I am definitely intrigued by this story and it's fun to see this group thrown together and forced to try and figure things out. The characters haven't grabbed me overly much yet, although Sahz and Snow are my favourites as it stands and there is a lot of potential there. The world and the story are very interesting though and the visuals and music continue to be solid.

The gameplay itself still... eh. I'm getting used to it but I don't love it. We'll see if it grows on me now that more abilities, paradigms and the crysterium have been unlocked. So far so good though.