Topic: User Impressions/Reviews Thread

@Ralizah A lot of the ordinary exploration tracks are excellent as well. I've always been very fond of the small labyrinth track at the beginning of Etrian Odyssey IV. This one feels very alive. Some of the instrument noises sound like birds chirping, animal screeches, and a woodpecker effect at one point. It makes it feel like you've entered a forest that's full of life.

Another good one is the boss of Gladsheim in Etrian Osyssey 1 Untold. Like all other songs in that game, the player can toggle between the modern 3DS orchestral version, or the original DS chip tune version. However, this area wasn't in the original game, so the song is brand new. Despite that, both the modern version and the (newly created) "old" version fits perfectly with the rest of the soundtrack.

@crimsontadpoles That dungeon music from EO IV is my favourite in the series. Like you said, with the added ambience it feel so alive. Right up there with Chrono Trigger and Donkey Kong Country’s forest themes.

@crimsontadpoles Etrian Odyssey V also had an entire alternative "synth" OST that was extremely decent.

I think my favorite dungeon exploration track was the Misty Ravine in EOIV.

The beautiful, emotional track really mixes well with the lonely, atmospheric dungeon, whose corridors are choked with thick fog.

While I wouldn't call it catchy, this kind of terrifying theme for EOV's final labyrinth was pretty memorable, and I like how complex it is, even in synth form

@Ralizah That’s another great track from IV, ie the only game in the series I’ve played. Really should just plough through them, they’re pretty much all on 3DS after all.

@nessisonett Everything except Etrian Odyssey III. And even that is playable via BC, although good luck finding a copy for a decent price. Atlus DS/3DS games are just going up and up in value these days.

I'd highly recommend Etrian Odyssey V as your next game. The class system is... different for the series, and I really liked its adventure log mechanic, which gave it a sort of tabletop RPG feel. It also has a pretty wild final dungeon.

@Ralizah I was tossing up whether to go for V or Untold first so thanks for the recommendation. Really enjoy the gameplay loop so worth a go if I end up burned out by Zero no Kiseki/Ao’s patch needs a bit more work.

Sorry I'm a little late to the party seeing these reviews but I've been just a little busy getting ready for the new school year next week. Fun fun fun!! 😅

Neat little review on Ghost Of Tsushima there @Rudy_Manchego!

I've had a little hesitation regarding the game and the fact you say it's pretty generic baring the striking setting and good combat does unfortunately bring Day's Gone to my mind which I didn't really enjoy. (Looking at the spoiler covered section doesn't fill me with confidence either)

How were the side characters and Jin(I think that's the protagonist's name?) himself? Are they well written or at the very least likable?

I've played only played Legend @RogerRoger out of that particular trilogy (Well I've played the original PS1 Tomb Raider but not the remake/anniversary edition) and I'll be honest I don't remember anything about that game in the slightest as I read the description and looked over the screemshots. Nothing whatsoever. But I do know I have played it. Honest. 😂

I don't even remember that the artifact in the first game that Lara is looking for has something to do with Atlantis!

I seem to have the memory of a goldfish when concerning the Tomb Raider games.

... I do remember the dinosaur though so I'm not completely inept at remembering my time with the Tomb Raider games. Just 99% inept

I should probably go and replay Legend at the very least. Would be something quite different compared to what I've been playing as of late.

Very nice pieces Rog as always!

I know you've been asked this a billion times Rog but how far are you in FFVII now by the way?

You know I'm not the biggest nintendo girl @Ralizah but I found your Paper Mario The Origami King review as delightful to read as your initial impressions piece and I'm glad to hear you, and your nephew (I think that's whom you said you were playing it with before), ended up enjoying it!

Without playing I can't really say how I'd feel about the battles and how it deals with the character progression (Especially so as I'm playing Cold Steel which has a pretty traditional progression system) but I can't deny the uniqueness the battle system seems to have!

The music tracks you out were pretty great to hear and the artstyle and design really does look, as you put it, phenomenal. That Origami Moltres screenshot really caught my eye. It just looks wonderful.

It's a shame to hear that Gurumin hasn't struck a chord with you however. Really does sound like it has a number of little quibbles that would annoy the heck out of me as well let alone yourself.

... I do quite like that second track you posted there however. The other two are horrible but I like that one at least!

I hope you find the second half of it a bit easier going!

What was the problems you had with Trails In The Sky FC again Ral?

@Th3solution Sorry for late response - I really did like it and I think i would give it a solid 8 if I believed in review numbers. I am bringing my own bias to it and I do think that going for the plat made that bias worse as it was there that the open world collectathon really comes to the fore.

@RogerRoger Thanks and I would recommend the game. Just possibly be aware of the open world style thing and possibly play for a bit before deciding on going for the plat. Also loved the Tomb Raider reviews. I actually replayed Tomb Raider Anniversary as I don't think I completed it on PS2. I loved Legend as Angel of Darkness wasn't that great but liked Underworld slightly less. I even played the DS version of Legend and it was quite a solid little portable game!

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy There are some good characters in Ghost of Tsushima though I'd say sometimes decisions serve the story and theme. Jin as a protagonist is fairly good - he does have a character arc tied to the rigidity of the Samurai code and doing what is needed to beat an enemy and there are some touching side quests with the lady that helped raise him. Of the side characters, Lady Masako is the most original, presenting an older female clan leader who has been betrayed. Also I quite liked Yuna, another side character. Apart from that, I thought some of the other characters were slightly more predictable and less nuanced but at least most side characters do have a story arc. The villain, while obviously a typical bad guy, does have their own philosophy. Interesting you mention Day's Gone - I have that in the backlog but after Ghost, can't bring myself to start it due to the open world. Thanks for the review and questions!

@Rudy_Manchego I’m into Act 2 finally. I’ve thoroughly explored the first island. So far, so good for me still. At the end of Act 1 there was some great story and gameplay content to keep things fresh. I’ll post more specifics on the dedicated thread, but suffice it to say I’m still high on the game, but I can see the monotony on the horizon depending how long things go in this second island. I do appreciate the varied landscape I’m seeing so far.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Hope all your school preparation has gone / is going okay thusfar. Don't burn yourself out before you're even back, and have a safe return!

I believe that you've played Legend, don't worry! Part of why I love it is because it's quite safe and Hollywood, because it needed to be in order to secure Lara's comeback. I initially read your goldfish comment as you having the memory of finding one in a Tomb Raider game, and spent a good five minutes racking my brain for which game featured the "hidden goldfish temple" or which Croft Manor had one in a bowl, before I realised my mistake. It's been a long day!

Thanks for making the time to read and reply, especially considering how busy you've been. If you do give Legend another shot sometime, let me know what you think, please! As for FFVII, I confess to struggling with it this week. Am still in the vicinity of... [checks note from Ralizah on previous page] ...Rocket Town, although I'm determined to make solid progress with it this weekend.

***

@Rudy_Manchego Cheers, will do. Providing the platinum is still achievable post-story, then that's when I'll likely make the decision whether to try. The desire to keep playing a game after its credits roll is the definite sign of a winner in my book.

And thank you! Good to see another fan of the trilogy, especially one with a similar takeaway regarding its consistent (or otherwise) quality. It's a shame Underworld trails off at the end there. You're right, though, Lara is a surprisingly good fit on handheld; if I had any space left on my PS Vita's memory card, I'd download her five PSone Classics and play them there.

@RogerRoger Way ahead of you there - I have them in PS Vita! Also nearly bought them all on a pc sale as they were going for a few quid each!

@Rudy_Manchego Smart move! I've been playing them on my PS3 lately, but the bigger and sharper televisions become, the worse they look. I might see if I can make some space for them on my PS Vita, as they're not exactly gonna be dozens of gigabytes!

@RogerRoger I can confirm you can play GoT after the credits roll. Even after you have finished all the side content, you will still get Mongols to fight.

It's going quite alright @RogerRoger and thanks for the concern! It's been a long day on my end too so no worries!

Though that would be one hell of a secret with there being a secret goldfish temple

I'll be sure to tag you if I do get round to playing Legend sometime (... I think I still have it?) and... I don't recall Rocket Town from Final Fantasy VII at all... Shows how much I thought of it. 😅

Cheers @Rudy_Manchego for the info about the characters. They do fill me with a little confidence (Only played demos of Sucker Punch games before).

I did do a review of Day's Gone a while back and one of my main problems with it was I thought the cast was quite bland and unlikeable (and not the good kind of unlikeable either) and all over it was rather ho-hum (Despite initially enjoying it), hence my question.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy

Thanks!

RE: Paper Mario - I do imagine that it would come off as more than a bit underwhelming if approached from an RPG perspective, although I sort of feel the same way about TTYD as well. I think older fans of the series dramatically overrate the RPG depth of its older entries (on a mechanical level, at least). TTYD was very rudimentary on a mechanical level.

I'll admit: I wouldn't mind seeing a full JRPG Paper Mario again, but with the larger, more interactive environments and superior music of this latest entry. I'm satisfied with it as an adventure game, though.

RE: Trails FC - While this is apparently a very unpopular opinion in JRPG circles (as a professional contrarian, I'm used to it ), I thought the plot was profoundly poorly paced. It feels like the game spends its entire length just spinning its wheels narratively until the final chapter or so. I felt like the grid-based battle system was kind of clunky, slow, and lacking in complexity, and its orbment/quartz system felt like it was ripped straight from Square's far older Final Fantasy VII. There's a central romantic plotline that indulges in a trope I absolutely despise, and the characters weren't particularly original or memorable, IMO.

RE: real life - I can imagine everyone in the education system has their hands full right now. Hopefully y'all are taking the proper precautions to stay safe!

@Ralizah Sky SC is a better game on every level but I loved the two games as an overall duology. The impact of SC would be dampened without doing the legwork in FC so I couldn’t judge it by itself.

Cheers @Ralizah and we are taking all the precautions we can don't you worry!

RE: Trails Of The Sky - Ahh yes I think I remember you saying that now. I'll be sure to keep those in mind when I write up my thoughts regarding Trails Of Cold Steel. The battle system isn't grid based in Cold Steel. The plot... Is on the slow side unfortunately

Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc Review
Judge, Beary & Executioner (I'm not sorry for that awful pun!)

Version played: PS4 (Part of Danganronpa 1.2 Reload)
Also available on: PC, PSP (In japan at least), Android, IOS & PS Vita
Completion Time: 20-25 hours?

A really good opening is killer isn't it? The hooks sinking into you and that feeling of you just having to know just what happens next.

Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc had that in spades for me and then some.

I ended up completing it in just over a week, back in May, with it being one of the more unique experiences I've had so far this year!

Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc (D:THH from here on in) is a visual novel game. My first in fact and like Divinity Original Sin 2 being my first CRPG earlier in the year (... I... May have left that review a little too long), I couldn't have seemingly found a better starting point of the visual novel genre with D:TTT to sink my teeth into.

I'd only really heard of it thanks to joining Pushsquare with Ralizah, Kidfried & Crimsontadpoles all sporting avatars from the series, that day after day got me more and more intrigued (not to mention hearing their thoughts on other titles in the Danganronpa series). KratosMD & Th3solution also being advocates for the series and thanks to all five of you for that.

I can't really talk about the game and how it works without at least spoiling/sharing the prologue/set up for the game so hopefully I do it justice whilst not giving too much away (You could always watch the prologue yourself if you're interested... It'd be a good 30 minutes though!)

So during your twenty or so hour adventure you'll be playing as and controling affable high school student Makoto Naegi whom enrolls in the ellusive Hope's Peak Academy High School.

He's there as the "Ultimate Lucky Student", winning a place to enter among socitial and cultural elite students such as the Ultimate Programmer, the Ultimate Martial Artist, The Ultimate Affulent Prodigy and the... errr... The Ultimate Fan-Fiction creator? 😕

As soon as Makoto gets to the school's entrance however (It's on the poor kid's first day to boot), He ends up getting unnaturally dizzy all of a sudden and blacks out without warning.

Makoto re-awakens several hours later in a daze, finding himself in a deserted classroom. The windows have been bolted up with thick iron sheets, there's monitors around and security cameras everywhere & on the desk beside him is a mysterious note telling him to go to the front entrance.

Heading through the empty and ominous corridors (Which is your first bit of gameplay in fact of walking about to find it) he eventually meets the 14 other students (and the rest of our colourful cast of characters) whom were supposed to be attending Hope's Peak with him.

After the cast introduces themselves to each other a monitor then flickers to life, telling them to meet in the gynasium, leading the class to meeting the "Headmaster" of Hope's Peak Academy.

Enter Monokuma.

Yep... That's our main antagonist!

After some taunting and toying with our group of helpless heroes this monochromed bear quickly drops a bomshell on our unfortunate protagonists.

They're all locked within Hope's Peak, unable to escape and will be stuck inside it's walls til the day they die... unless they manage to do and get away with one thing.

Murder.

Congratulations! You've just read through a heavily abbreviated version of the prologue and the set up for D:THH.

So how does D:THH actually play you might ask?

Well as I said in the starting sentence it's mainly a visual novel and you'll be watching the story unfold through it's numerous chapters. Of course there's a good amount of input from yourself as you'll soon find out.

Our cast of characters

The game having three parts to each chapter more or less.

I'll be as vague as I possibly can regarding this as well, giving a very general overview on how the game might progress.

Danganronpa is a pyschological thriller & mystery after all and has many twists, turns and spoilers (Or does it? ) so you'll need to go in as blind as you possibly can... But this should give you a rough approximation of what you might typically expect.

Daily Life

These are the free time sections where you'll able to talk to the other students and learn some more about them. You'll also have the chance to explore Hope's Peak in your attempts to uncover the mystery of why you're being kept here.

Of course with the aforementioned set up... You perhaps shouldn't be too surprised to learn that some of the students end up invoking Monokuma's term to leave and your already limited student body diminishes even more.

That's the second part of each chapter.

Deadly Life

Becoming Makoto Holmes, junior detective, you'll have to look over the various crime scenes, talking to the other students and collecting various "Truth Bullets" (Or evidence if you prefer) to use in third and final part of each chapter with each crime generally getting more complex as it goes on.

The Class Trial

This is the main hunk of gameplay and you'll need your wits about you.

• You'll use the collected truth bullets to shoot down contradicting statements as the remaining students talk out and deliberate the murder that took place in the "Nonstop Debates".
• You'll figure out key words to advance the trial in the "Hangman's Gambit" (A somewhat higher stakes game of Hangman basically)
• At some points one of the students will get particularly beligerant and unreasonable, forcing you to take part in a rhythmic "Bullet Time Battle" to shoot down the member of the group who can't sift the facts from the fiction
• And when you've finally cracked the case you'll have to sum up the events that took place in "The Closing Argument" to truly bring the hammer down.

What helps the game is that you can set the logic difficulty AND the difficulty of the "minigames" seperately.

Good at Cluedo but have terrible reflexes? Set the logic difficulty to Mean but the Action difficulty on kind. Fancy going through it for the story and can't be bothered to use your brain or fingers that much? Then set 'em both to kind and breeze your way through the cases pretty much.

Personally I set it in Mean/Mean and only tripped up a few times throughout the game with some of my logic not quite exactly matching what the game had in mind for thst particular scenario.

Though the Bullet Time Battles did get tough at times. Particularly the last few!

And with that there's a lot of stuff that D:THH did well for me.

The cast is nice, distinct and colourful. Yeah the designs can get especially japanese at times...

I don't even know what to say about this haircut!

... But the cast in generally pretty well rounded and I'm sure there's a character or three amongst the group you'll end up liking and be rooting for to make it to the end unscathed.

Some characters are a bit more complex the others (Spending time with them during the daily life sections will help flesh out the characters even more) but generally all of them get a decent amount of character development throughout the main story and most of them are pretty darn likeable.

... Which makes the losses the cast takes as the game progresses all the more effective.

Two chapters stand out especially in making me regretful of not spending more time with those specific characters and feeling the loss of them as I wemt ahead with the game.

One chapter in particular was very well done if a bit heavy going but honestly it just made me appreciate the game all the more for going there and (for me) pulling it off rather successfully.

The english VA cast does pretty well in bringing the cast to life. There's no heavy hitting names like Troy Baker or anything of course but you'll have heard at least one or two of them before if you have an ear for that sorta thing.

They don't voice every line in the game unfortunately, but a good portion of it is voiced and the trials in particular are 100% voice acted which helps immensely in bringing those to life.

There is of course the option to choose the japanese voices if you so prefer. I may give it a look at some point down the line but that's not particularly for me (... A bit ironic considering my partner is half Japanese but hey ho 😅)

The music is rather on point with some great tracks for the trials in particular that are fast paced and make them rather tense (The quick cutting camera as it jumps around from character to character also helps setting the scene), but some of the standard tracks are pretty decent too!

The tone in general of the game I think is done rather well too.

Monokuma has some darkly humourous lines and the somewhat over the top antics he has eases up what would otherwise be a fairly bleak scenario with just enough humour (But not too much) to not make it too unbearable (I'm, again, not sorry for the pun!).

The vibrant character designs and in general the visual style really pops, the music that encompasses a variety of styles, the winding narrative, the claustrophobic setting, really blend together into a rather neat little package with atmosphere that's just hard to top.

Though there are a few quibbles I have with D:THH and some you could possibly share.

I personally never found the game that all hard. As I already said I put it on the hardest difficulty settings and I only tripped up a few times.

There are skills you can get (From hanging out with the other students in the daily life sections (Though you have a limited number of action points so you can't just equip everything you get)) that make certain parts of the trials even easier.

Plus if you do end up messing it up it lets you restart right away with only your pride damaged and a lower ranking at the end of the trial with less Monokuma coins awarded to you.

(There's a bunch of extras like the soundtrack, promotional artwork, movies and all the still images in the game that you can buy using Monokuma coins)

I did also guess quite a few things correctly regarding the story and plot (One guess in particular wasn't that far off from the truth regarding a particularly big spoiler) though for me it never really impacted my enjoyment with the game as I really enjoyed the journey it took me on.

One chapter was a bit ho-hum as well though your millage may of course vary on that front.

It's, obviously, pretty japanese too. If you're not the biggest fan of Japanese media with the anime artstyle it has or some of the typical japanese tropes that are used in regards to some of the characters & plot you're gonna have a bit of a hard time with the title I think.

Plus it is a visual novel for the majority so... Even if it's more unique then most of them it's not exactly the most gripping game on the gameplay front either.

As you've seen from the screenshots throughout the review it's not exactly a graphical powerhouse in any regards, using 2D artwork like a majority of visual novels. Keep in mind it was made for the PSP of course before eventually being ported over to the Vita, mobiles, PC and PS4.

But other then that though there's not much I personally can fault it for.

I really enjoyed it and baring a character or two that got on my pip, a character perhaps not used to their full potential in my opinion and a few twists and turns not being too surprising I really enjoyed my time with it.

I've got the second game ready to enjoy thanks to it being bundled with the first in the 1.2 reload pack (Which I think I might enjoy alongside Cuphead once I'm done with Cold Steel II).

I've also got spinoff Ultra Despair Girls ready to be downloaded and hopefully I may even have my paws round on the third and final game in the series soon enough which hopefully showcases just how much I enjoyed the game and the desire I have to play more of the series!

Danganronpa Trigger Happy Havoc gets a *low 8 out of 10 for my score.

Being more objective and professional I'd lower it to a 7 (A high one at that) but unless you're not keen on the genre & style I couldn't see it scoring any lower really as it's a particularly solidly made and unique title.

@JohnnyShoulder Awesome, thank you!

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy There's a level creator mode in the PC port of Tomb Raider Chronicles, so don't tempt me to make my own Hidden Goldfish Temple!

Also, wow! What a review! As somebody who frequently sees others write about Danganronpa games in glowing, almost reverential terms, I really enjoyed reading your thoughts, as well as your recap of this particular game's premise, as it helps me put a few random bits of information I've picked up into context. As always, your writing is fun and flows really well, so thanks for sharing!

Thank goodness there's no Troy Baker, otherwise I'd likely swear it off forever, but what you've written doesn't have me running for the hills, which is cool because usually, with these kinds of games, I am. I think your mention of its not-very-difficult difficulty level is actually the biggest selling point for me, as any kind of struggle with anything I'm taking a risk on turns me right off (yes, FFVII, I'm looking at you) so I didn't even read that as a criticism.

The catchy music helps, too, although the first track being named "Discussion" has to be an ironic joke, right? How anybody could hear themselves think, let alone speak, over that wall of noise is beyond me! God, I'm so hopelessly middle-aged it's not even funny.

Alas, I can't think of a good bear pun to conclude with. I don't have the right koalafications.

@RogerRoger Oof, now that joke was unbearable.