Natalie Rambles About Dragalia Lost: 2021 Remix – Ch 5: Petty Quibbles and Miscellaneous Desires
Because while I love this game, there are a litany of little things that have been chipping away at my very soul!
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Natalie Rambles About Dragalia Lost: 2021 Remix – Ch 2: Play and Progression
Because when you engage with a live service, extensive tutorialization and external information gathering is a necessity to ensure an even remotely optimal play experience.
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Natalie Rambles About Dragalia Lost – Chapter 5: Love, Loss, and Gripes
Because when you pour 1,000 hours into something, your thoughts on it become all kinda of mixed and muddled!
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The Vagrant Review
Vivian the Vagrant’s Vicious and Virtuous Venture!
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Cyberdimension Neptunia: 4 Goddesses Online Review
Lady Bert’s Degenerate SisCon-Quest!
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Final Fantasy Type-0 HD Review
Ten percent pleasure, ninety percent pain, and a zero percent reason to remember the name!
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Dark Souls III Review
As the age of darkness begins, the age of Dark Souls concludes… Maybe.
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Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure Review
Falcom is a very odd developer. A long standing Japanese developer with a history based in creating games for older Japanese computers and creating a wide variety of innovations in the RPG genre while primarily being known for Trails, a series of incredibly detailed JRPGs with a strong fanbase, and the Ys series, a collection of action RPG titles that shifted and mutated its exact genre over the years, and is home to some of my favorite examples of the genre of all time. Yet they can also be very experimental, as seen previously in games like Xanadu Next, which I reviewed a few months ago, and even more so in one of the more unique titles in their release history, Gurumin. (more…)
Xanadu Next Review
The original Xanadu was released for Japanese home computers back in 1985 as the second entry in the Dragon Slayer series. An incredibly long running franchise that was known for changing up its core concept and general gameplay almost completely with each installment, and went on to inspire a multitude of subseries, most notable the Legend of Heroes or Trails series. Xanadu itself was more of an offshoot title, one that was expanded with an additional scenario and even a Hudson developed spin-off for the NES by the name of Faxanadu. (more…)
God Eater 2: Rage Burst Review
It’s been nearly a year since I reviewed God Eater Resurrection, an action oriented hunting game that was very promising, but struggled when faced with irksome minutia and over complicated mechanics. It was the kind of game that could very much benefit from a fully fledged sequel that reworks things and tries to maximize the core appeal, but that is not the case with God Eater 2: Rage Burst. Despite being a sequel that came out a few months after GER in the west, GE2 was actually released several months before GER in Japan. This means that many of the mechanics of GE2 appeared in GER, and the notable improvements are slim as such.
(more…)Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen Review
Dragon’s Dogma has been on my list of games to check out for about five years now, but I never got around to it during the time the seventh generation of game consoles were relevant. So after it was released on PC, and after finding the time to invest in a massive western styled action RPG, I was finally able to go through the game. Though, I sort of regret putting as much time into it. (more…)
Mass Effect 3 Review
With Andromeda still looming over the horizon for a few more months, and my reviews of Mass Effect 1 and Mass Effect 2 out of the way, it’s time to dig into Mass Effect 3, the game whose heinously negative fan reaction effectively murdered the series for me for approximately four years. It’s easily the game I remembered the least of the series, but seeing as how I genuinely enjoyed my time with it at launch, I assumed that it would still prove to be a good conclusion to the Shepard saga. Well… I was wrong. It’s a great conclusion. (more…)
God Eater Resurrection Review
So, I’ve been slowly chewing on this game for about two months now, and I’ve actually forgotten why I thought it was a good idea to purchase God Eater Resurrection, or more particularly, God Eater 2: Rage Burst, which came with this game as a bonus. My experience with hunting games such as this is limited to Freedom Wars. A game from one of this game’s developers that I thought was needlessly restrictive and ultimately frustrating, as detailed in a review I barely remember writing. I guess I was just in the mood to give them another chance, and I would say it paid off pretty well.
(more…)Mass Effect 2 Review
About a month ago, I started going through the beloved Mass Effect series once again, starting with the less than stellar predecessor to the series that I just couldn’t seem to love. That was Mass Effect 1, but Mass Effect 2… When thinking about what games really resonated with me, what games brought me an overwhelming amount of good feelings, and offered an experience that I kept coming back to, Mass Effect 2 is one of the first that comes to mind. It was among my favorite games of all time before my, what, sixth playthrough, and I think I may love it even more after going through the game yet again. Also, I played the game using a controller mod, which you can find here. (more…)
Mass Effect Review
So, I’ve been wanting to revisit the Mass Effect trilogy for a while, but I kept putting it off for various reasons. The vicious opinions surrounding the ending, the overpriced DLC that isn’t included in any bundle, and the lack of controller support. Although, I managed to remedy the latter using a handy mod. Anyways, with Andromina still a looming enigma on the horizon, I figured now is as good a time as any to start the spacefaring adventure of Shepard the space shepherd. So I’ll just jump on in. (more…)
Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin Review
It’s been about three and a half months since I looked at Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin, a sequel to a game I came around to loving despite a few gripes, but found irritating to play because of a few mechanical changes. But with Dark Souls III coming out tomorrow, at least for those who haven’t grabbed the Asian English version, I figure I may as well give it another go and actually beat the game. (more…)
Ys Seven Review
Note: I re-reviewed this title in 2020. Please disregard this review.
Before beginning, I feel I should clarify what I mean when I refer to prior Ys games, as I have played Ys Chronicles, Ark of Napishtim, Oath in Felghana, and Origin before delving into the creatively titled Ys Seven. Aside from Ys: Memories In Celestia, which was released after this title. I just want to clarify how I’m going into this game, as it does a few things I feel it makes some… notable changes. Also, I legally own the game via PSN, and played it using an emulator, because the Playstation TV displays PSP games at 480p, which looks terrible on a 1080p monitor. (more…)
Ys Origin Review
About two years ago, I gave my thoughts on Ys Origin, a game I thoroughly enjoyed well above all other Ys games, at least the ones I played, meaning the ones on PC. Although, I didn’t technically fully complete the game as I only cleared it with a single character, Yunica, and felt that I should try out the other two and see how the game stacked up, only to then realize that there was a true ending I was not aware of, which leads into Ys I. Plus, I just felt like playing it again. (more…)
Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim Review
Note: I re-reviewed this title in 2020. Please disregard this review.
If I had to give a brief summary of how the Ys series works in regards to its final products, I would say that the first few titles were more experimental than anything, involving large changes to the gameplay and point of view with each installment before the series hit a sour note with part V, and went away for a generation, only to come back with this title, Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim, and revitalized the franchise for a total of three games before changing up the gameplay once. I previously reviewed the spiritual follow-ups Oath in Felghana and Origin, both of which I liked quite a bit, but felt that many of the RPG elements of these games bogged it down, and its emphasis on story was a bit out of place in such a frantic high paced and cathartic action game. This being a prequel, not much has changed. (more…)
Freedom Wars Review
I’m fresh off of a week of depression and inferiority filled office work that I spent my Spring Break doing, making it not much of a break at all, but the very concepts of breaks during schooling is nothing short of devilish, and they should be banned. I know that children should be instilled with hope lest they get mental problems, but those who have a ‘clean’ mind are those who do not deserve a spot in the utopian reworking of society of Genocider Jay… Also I played the hit Vita exclusive Freedom Wars for… I’d guess fifteen hours, got to the fifth mission set and decided that I played enough to review it, as the game was getting on my plums, and once you’re on my plums, you can’t really get off them. (more…)
Transistor Review
It’s been awhile since I put up a review, due to how I was preoccupied with Neptunia for far longer than I should have, was indecisive about what game I wanted to play next, and had work related shenanigans on top of trying to get a novella’s pre-production done, but that’s a story for another post. Transistor seemed the most appealing, even though I was pretty indifferent towards Bastion, to the point where I barely remember the title, but I don’t think that will be the case with Transistor. (more…)
Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition Review
As I have been getting on in the years, I have been struggling with time management, and the fact that I have spent the past… month working full time does not help. During most of that month, I’ve been picking away at Dark Souls, a title I nothing short of hated when I first tried it back when it was shiny and new. But, after years of loathing simmered down, I decided to give it another chance. Did I like it? Well, I beat it, and that should say quite a bit. (more…)
Two Worlds II Review
I have gathered quite a few games I still technically own on other systems, but purchased them on PC to both revisit them, and to have a copy handy after I put away my consoles for… Well, forever most likely. That said, I do not have as much free time as I did a few years ago, and feel as if I should get out a review a week, so I only got thirty hours into this game I had previously beaten, and was getting bored with it on top of that. I still have quite a few things to day, so I’ll just jump right ahead and get on with it. (more…)
Skyrim Review
You may have noticed that I have made four posts prior to this one about the Nigmabox Adventures With Skyrim, and if you chose to read them you would have seen that I grew increasingly more negative with my gripes out the game, with my irritations rising above all else. Well, they naturally had to lead to something, and they were, but there is one change I am going to make in contrast with my original plan to beat the game a second time, and not do that. Oh, trust me, I played the game, I played another 125 hours of it, on top of the 187 hours I originally invested in the title back in 2011. Heck, it’s partially because of that game that I am here doing this review, as that was the first game I chose to review, and I did so positively. So, what better way to show how much of a bitter, detached, and overall worse of a person I’ve become my shattering my old praise and bring forth a massive review of my massive amount of time spent with this massive game. (more…)
Nigma Box Adventures With Skyrim Hours 96-125
…Just read the blasted post. (more…)
Nigma Box Adventures With Skyrim Hours 66-95
I was originally going to play The Stanley Parable over the prior weekend to give me something to experience than more Skyrim, but no, instead I am here and losing my patience with the game, well, not quickly, as I am at the 95 hour mark right now… God do I wish this game was shorter. (more…)
Nigma Box Adventures With Skyrim Hours 41-65
After indulging myself in another 25 hours of Skyrim, I have come with another series of things that popped into my head, but this time I took notes meaning things will be a hair more rigid in the structure, but I will cover more subjects and give more criticism at the same time. So without further ado, let’s get up in them guts! Oh, and why is this post going out when it is… right after the first? Because I had it ready beforehand… Simple as that.
Nigma Box Adventures With Skyrim Hours 1-40
Okay, I feel as if I need to explain more than a handful of things before beginning what I hope will be a series of about four posts, each recapping a rather large amount, though not as large as this, of my second playthrough of Skyrim. Normally, I would simply review it afterwards, using the piece as a landmark to see just how far I had come over the two and a half years since I wrote my first internet published game review… while not reading the original post, let alone remembering it. But what will these posts actually accomplish? Simply stating and explaining my opinions as I play through a 200 hour long title. And as such, this post will assume the reader is familiar with the game, as it sold 20 million just a few months ago, and is in the top 20 best selling retail games of all time. (more…)
Muramasa Rebirth Review
I have distinct memories of picking up Muramasa: The Demon Blade back when it first launched, as it was a gorgeous looking title that duped me into purchasing it by including just about every design it had on a big piece of cardstock and clipping it to the game. However, I never did properly beat it, or at least to the degree I did before picking up the remastering/port/upgrade for the Vita. Only putting ten hours into it before stopping to play something else, which is a statement that very much held true after getting as far as I did.
Darksiders II Review
You ever play a game and revisit it a while later and question why you did not notice the many flaws it had? Well, this is one of those reviews, as I previously looked over Darksiders II when the game was fresh and THQ was still alive. But now that the company is no more, I got a free copy, and felt like giving the game another whirl, I feel the need to verbally express my opinions on a game that is already more or less forgotten. Also, I didn’t actually beat it a second time through, I just got right up to the final dungeon and decided that I wanted to play something else. (more…)