zhyates

People (should) immediately know what they're walking into with the dialogue and writing of this game. That being said, High on Life was a surprisingly competent single player FPS in 2022. It's even ACTUALLY funny in a few moments (I personally don't find Justin Roiland's type humor that amusing, but there is whit in a few exchanges that happen.)

The game plays like a modest DooM clone, waves of enemies, plenty of dodging, shooting, using movement abilities. High On Life has significantly fewer guns but each gun has a character personality that fits in with the mood of the gun being used. The enemies and locations aren't anything particular to write home about, but they also don't overstay their welcome unless players decide to go for 100%.

I will admit I didn't feel the desire to 100% the game because even though world traversal is swift and easy, total post-game completion is a tedious slog. Being said, if they do decide to release DLC or another game, I'd probably be willing to pick Bounty Hunting back up for another go.

There are few games that could be defined as a "definitive" JRPG experience. Literally developed by a group called "The Dream Team" Chrono Trigger was a massive undertaking that succeeds in nearly every aspect of design, music, gameplay, and story.

Importantly, Chrono Trigger is very easy to pick up and learn. The player has the perfect amount of freedom: limited by story direction but not so limited as to lock them into one direction. Combat is QUICK, only bosses and a few of the tougher enemies later require more than a few turns. Player competency and curiosity is REWARDED rather than punished, unlike many other JRPGs.

The main cast of characters are very fleshed out and individuals with their own dreams and ambitions. Even the main protagonist, who has no in-game dialogue, communicates through his animations, which convey a ton of moment and provide great characterization. I struggle to praise how fantastic this game is ANIMATED.

I'd say the only real weak spot of the game comes from it's concluding arcs. Endgame characters are definitively capped on their usefulness, making some characters entirely benchable outside of their required "tie up loose ends" scenarios. One character and time period get nothing specific to do endgame either, their story and period being entirely resolved by the in-game story points.

Overall Chrono Trigger is a definitive experience, and one that you absolutely SHOULD play again.

Final Fantasy VIII is even more of a departure from the traditional Final Fantasys than the previous entry. Focusing on a core of young heroes, the narrative is allowed to be constructed in a way that showcases the struggles young men and women face as they come into adulthood.

The cast of Final Fantasy VIII are unique within the series, all of the main six are all teens within only a year apart in age. The modern and academia tone established early on is really refreshing from the gloomy and depressing Midgar that opened Final Fantasy VII. The main cast and even NPCs function within school factions: Loners, cliques, the administrators, and characters behave accordingly. The main character often vocalizes his internal frustrations and commentary regarding all manner of situations, making him to be believable as a character. We get to witness events that radically change the main character, as well as the other members, into more rounded and importantly "real" characters. The other playable and secondary characters also carry weight and bear meaning into the story.

While I enjoy the first half of Final Fantasy VIII's story, the second half of the game overcomplicates the narrative. Given the elements that were already present in Final Fantasy VIII's lore up until the point, it seems like an unnecessary inclusion; or it was the intended endpoint that they had little concept of reaching. While the story does suffer immensely from narrative haphazardness, the lead character literally carries the burden and emotional weight of the story, so while the events are jumbled, the emotional strength is still poignant until the game's conclusion.

Where Final Fantasy VIII struggles is the mechanics regarding gameplay. The junction system is an expanded Esper equip from Final Fantasy VI, but taken to a degree that actually dissuades the player from utilizing spells outright. The junction system runs COUNTER to the design of the game, where enemy levels scale to that of the player party; meaning you can junction in significantly higher powers without the need of scaling level, making battles insanely trivial.

Triple Triad is perhaps the best side content in a videogame. As stated before it is very easy to break the gameplay, and Triple Triad not only provides fantastical rewards for playing, but can be done so extremely early in the game. The other side content also serves to enrich the overall lore and story of the game, with only a few exceptions that are arbitrary filler that is also easily missed.

In context of its primary core of characters, Final Fantasy VIII is relatable to the experiences of a youth struggling to make sense of the world as it's forced upon them. The card game is fun to use as a means of breaking the gameplay apart. But it's shortcomings and really haphazard second half make it an experience I couldn't recommend more than once.