PlayStation 2

Posted: 2025-07-29

i had some technical difficulties (read - user error) with the retroTINK trying to get the game look right on my TV. turns out there are 6 filters and not 3. for some reason some of the filters look extremely scuffed lmao

uh, as an aside, if you want to play old consoles on modern TVs, retroTINK has good converters. you dont need the fancy one, i use the 2X-Pro and its perfect for what i want out of it. i've been using it for years for n64, ps1, and ps2 games

starting up the game, i already have a much better impression of ffx-2 than i have of ff10. the ATB my beloved makes a return here. the game is much goofier, lighter tone from the jump. the game stars 3 girls you play dressup with (ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ) and honestly the biggest factor that won me over is that the player gets thrown into gameplay and combat much much MUCH faster than its predecessor. as in, it takes this game minutes to involve the player, whereas ffx took HOURS (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻

i'm... thinking of dropping this one too. the further i got into the game, the more i was reminded of all the factors that made me dislike ff10. nah dude, i ended up dropping this one too... as great of a first impression this game gave me, it wasn't enough for me to want to finish this one.

that being said, this game changed a lot of things i did not like about ff10. I already mentioned, the return of the ATB, and the vastly shortened time to jump into gameplay. ffx-2 uses the jobs system from previous ff titles. this adds a significant degree of flexibility in combat, and relieves the player of having to deal with that stupid sphere grid skill tree system. its also possible to change jobs mid-combat AND you get a cute magical girl transformation every time you do this (its possible to toggle the animation off which is a nice QoL feature)

the music fuckin slaps!

i liked the main party. i never really had a problem with yuna (if anything, i always had a problem with tidus) so playing as yuna instead of tidus was a plus. the pivot from ritual human sacrifice to pop star is craaazyy and then they had the audacity to give this bitch a gun and honestly she deserves it i'm happy for her (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

i think in a previous life, i would have disliked rikku. now, Rikku is easily my favourite of the 3. she's just pinkie pie. how could i hate on pinkie pie?

paine is a silver-haired, red-eyed, ff character. she's pretty much exactly what you'd expect from that descriptor. i don't know what her deal is. I just got one line from her that implied she is or was working for the early game villainess, leblanc. thats all i'll ever learn about her from the game.

the game starts very fast by introducing us to Leblanc and her two main minions. i fuckin love these guys. they're goofy. the VA work for Leblanc is masterful. anytime leblanc is on screen you know you're going to have a goofy good time. my roommate described them as team rocket and you know what? he's so right for that (￣◇￣) about halfway through the game, the actual plot starts really kicking in, and the leblanc team start taking a backseat. eff the main plot! i wanted more of those guys!

eventually, i started hitting a wall with the difficulty of the game. i was starting to run into a lot of the same design choices that i really disliked in ffx. i mean, i'm sure i'd have an easier time if i explored more of the game world - spira - and collecting more key items from quests and whatnot. the design of this game seems to expect the player to be driven by their nostalgic love of the previous game. i dont really care enough about spira to have much fun re-exploring the map. unfourtunately, the game isn't balanced for a player who is only really interested in combat and the main plot.

the deciding factor that drove my decision to drop this game is how the game approaches status effects. its the same design elements that plague pretty much the entire ff series, and the way it is implemented in both ffx and ffx-2 are some of the most egregious imo. status effects are extremely lopsided in favour of enemies and especially bosses, making them unfair and unfun (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻ a lot of fights boil down to "dont die to this horribly specific cheesy tactic" and "all of your interesting skills are useless here."

its not really engaging to fight a boss who has a unique skill that buffs all stats, has a guaranteed status effect hit, and is immune to every status effect the player would reasonably have access to at that point. like, why design a boss fight like that? the player can only buff one stat at a time, and is vulnerable to almost every status effect. this sort of lopsided design philosophy just feels cheap. it's not a puzzle boss, it's just frustrating and tedious. it's like the game is making up for the lack of depth in the combat system.

i really had hope for this game, but as pretty and goofy as it is, it still carries a lot of the same problems i have with ffx.

Switch

Posted: 2025-07-29

This game is a remake of the titles Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team for the DS and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team for the GBA (2005) all three of these games are functionally identical. I'll try my best to clarify when i'm talking about a specific version. generally, any unspecified comments will apply to all versions.

fantastic game. °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖° This one is near and dear to my heart.

I have plugged hundreds of hours into the original red rescue team for the gba... except i didnt because it was a bootleg copy, which meant the cart used the cheaper, battery powered save. so all my hard work from childhood was lost (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻

still, the dx remaster for the switch is good and faithful to the original. the gameplay mechanics have been adjusted to match the QoL improvements from modern pmd games.

the entire game's spritework aesthetic has been replaced with 3d rendered models. it still looks good, but i personally find some of the charm from the spritework was lost in adaptation. this isnt to say that good 3d remasters of old 2d games is impossible (links awakening on the switch is absolutely gorgeous) but rendering pokemon is always a logistical nightmare. sticking with a pixel aesthetic for a switch game would have required a complete rework of the visual design of the game anyways, since the game would need new spritework for a modern screen. not to mention the pmd series has been rendering pokemon in 3d for a long time up until this point so its likely the devs already had a workflow for that. i think people often forget that modelling, rigging, and animating 300+ unique mons is not a trivial task.

aside from the QoL upgrades and the 3d rework, the game is identical to the original as far as i can remember.

og rescue team was already a phenomemal game. the partner pokemon is wonderful. the plot tugs at your heartstrings, and the whole package is such a wonderful vibe.

like any pmd game, its possible to shoot yourself in the foot before the game starts. if youre new to pmd, just know that you and your partner pokemon cannot be switched out until the postgame.

as a kid, i got charmander for my personality test, and picked pikachu as my partner. i think i usually manip the game to get charmander, but for sure i ALWAYS pick pikatchu for partner. i have an attachement to this character always being pikachu i love it soooo muchhh (TTATT) (the electric typing paired with a fire starter is pretty useful too)

red rescue team became the template for other successful pmd games down the line. explorers of time/darkness/sky uses the same emotional story beats but fine tuned it to have a better impact. later games even use the whole fugitive plot. it functions well as a narrative, and as a unique gameplay section. i dont think this is a bad thing at all. i mean, it all works really well, so why fix what aint broken lmao.

the overwhelming meat and potatoes of the game takes place after the conclusion of the main plot and credit roll. the main plot is already a full game by itself (i think i clocked in at under 40 hrs to roll credits) but the save file stats and post game stories make it clear the game has hundreds of hours worth of stuff to do.

even though there's no pokedex, there is still a pokemon collecting angle. pretty sure pmd is the most difficult game(s) to complete out of all the pokemon games and spinoffs. kecleon by itself makes this task functionally impossible. it's recruitment rate is NEGATIVE unless you're max level with a friendship ribbon and its STILL ludicrously low PLUS you're fighting an overwhelming hoard of them just surviving is a problem let alone recruiting (ᗒᗣᗕ)՞

there are pleanty of dungeons to explore, and the customizability of your pokemon team. movesets, and the large item pool keeps the game interesting and fresh. pmd is just a good game series, and the dx release of red rescue team is no exception

PlayStation 5

Posted: 2025-07-29

a lot of levels are reorganizing a lineup of objects. the only level i really cared about is sorting like a hundred little bits and bobs in a drawer. i wish more of the levels were like that. (think there’s a DLC that focuses on just that? I might be persuaded to purchase the one DLC...)

good game overall.

PlayStation 5

Posted: 2025-07-29

✧ GAME GOOD ✧

this is my first yakuza game and boy what an amazing impression this leaves. I was tentatively interested in playing the yakuza games, but the thing that pushed me into finally diving in was Jacob Geller's video on his top games of 2024. ngl i had to rewatch the section on Like a Dragon twice bc i was too distracted by the Kasuga nude scene to pay attention to what Jacob Geller was saying LMAO

to be clear, like a dragon: infinite wealth is a main line yakuza game. the series was always called "Like a Dragon" in japan. pretty sure this game is known as Like a Dragon 8 over there (which explains the ∞ motif now that i think about it. i always thought "infinite wealth" was a bit of misnomer ¯\_(σ ‸ σ)_/¯)

the game is technically openworld, but the setting is all urban honolulu. its an extremely bespoke, densely packed environment with no wasted space. the game space is made in a very human scale with a lot of attention to detail. its very impressive to look at and play in.

excellent characters. the PC kasuga is a very likeable, funny, charming, and sweet protagonist. he's very much the "i believe in everyone no matter what" type of guy. its really hard not to enjoy the goof ball.

like a dragon is so good at crafting and presenting their characters. every character gives the player a reason to dislike them, yet as the plot progresses, its difficult to dislike even some of the bigger bastards in the game. Yutaka Yamai is a notable example. the guy starts out detestable at the start of the game but i couldnt help but sympathize with the guy when it was all over... even despite the fact that you face him as a boss fight upwards of six whole times iirc

the plot is a bit convoluted but if you can jive with that, the story is really fun. the narrative does that thing that new information will often re-contextualize past events. so the game will frequently flashback to previous cutscenes (or games lol). this is probably a good thing bc the game can get pretty long esp if you end up engaging with a lot of the side quests, so a reminder of the plot becomes prudent. these flashbacks are either a slideshow of stills or extremely brief, so they dont overstay their welcome.

as goofy as the game is most of the time, it doesnt feel at odds with the more serious tone that the yakuza series is known for. i think the reason this works is that the characters respond appropriately when the stakes are high. as silly as kasuga is, he tightens up as soon as there's business to be done. no one cracks jokes when the game gets dramatic, which makes it easier and more convincing to become invested in the plot.

speaking of plot, a significant portion is dedicated to the passing of the torch from the previous yakuza protagonist - kiryu - onto the corrent yakuza protagonist. a lot of the latter portion of the game is spent reminiscing on previous titles. kiryu is a sentimental old man it turns out. we know for sure kiryu's on his way out because he's dying of terminal cancer. I thought kiryu looked skinnier compared to his apperance in previous titles and it turns out i was right. the game confirms he is losing weight from cancer.

i couldnt help but cringe every now and then whenever the gamplay had kiryu do something more strenuous, but the fact of the matter is that hes at his end-of-life stage, and spending that time doing what makes him happy (beating the shit out of assholes) is more important than his moment to moment health choices. the final scene of kiryu is him in hospice care and looking even more gaunt. i didnt know kiryu from previous games at this point, but it was hard not to feel for the guy. i want to take care of this old man, damnit! anytime kiryu complained about being hungry or mentioned he wanted to sing karaoke i happily obliged.

needless to say the game-feel is amazing. its hard not to role-play a little to make sure the main party are well fed and taken care of.

i always like a good turn-based combat system. this game has some free movement, and attacks that are determined by the position of party members and enemies (the only game i have to compare this to is chrono trigger believe it or not) it's possible to knock enemies into each other or into other party characters for combo hits. its extremely satisfying to knock over a group of huddled enemies like a line of bowling pins. often enemies spawn in in a bowling pin configuration specifically to achieve this effect.

oh, i should not gloss over the fact that-

this game is weird

enemies trasform into bizzaro versions of regualr enemies. the game cites kasuga's wild imagination as responsible for this. not only that, it's possible to acquire different jobs for the main party, and most of them are extremely silly. all the animations are goofy as hell and all the characters play this completely straight.

that being said, the combat has the depth you would expect from a AAA game. by the end of the game, i was fully engaged in building a competent party and executing the right strats. (party characters are significantly improved if you play a dating sim minigame with them lmao)

sooo many minigames! and every single one of them has tight mechanics as if each minigame is a full game in their own right. there wasnt a single minigame that didn't feel like it was fully developed and tested. the yakuza games have a notorious track record with loading each entry with tons of minigames. decades of developing games like that has likely contributed to the high standard of each minigame included.

not only are there plenty of minigames, there's also entire side plots that operate on a different sets of mechanics. "side games" if you will.

theres a fully functional pokemon clone in here

THERES A FULLY FUNCTIONAL ANIMAL CROSSING NEW HORIZONS CLONE IN HERE

i spent like a dozen hours each to complete both side games they were both so well made i genuinely enjoyed both of them a lot d(￣◇￣)b

this game has not one, not two, but three different fishing minigames. there's the one you get for paying a dude to borrow their fishing rod. there's the SEGA Bass Fishing arcade game, and there's the fishing minigame as part of the animal crossing clone.

ngl infinite wealth renewed my faith in modern jrpgs. final fantasy is not the be-all-end-all. we can have good games from large studios making bespoke games. i still dont trust large companies as a rule, but good art can come from anywhere

... i gotta play the rest of the yakuza games now

PlayStation 4 (2019)

Posted: 2025-07-29

i understand now why the yakuza series has been and is so popular.

i always feel apprehensive with beat 'em up games, i'm not particularly good or patient with them. luckily the easy mode is pretty lenient. not to mention that the game is so dense with side-quests and mini-games the combat doesnt happen as often. by the end of the game i was enjoying the combat. there's nothing better than watching two gorgeous shirtless men beating the shit out of each other. (✯◡✯)

im definitely playing the yakuza series out of order. who cares, i already know the broad strokes of the plot from playing infinite wealth. this one is the first yakuza game i played as kiryu.

in this entry, kiryu has successfully moved on from yakuza life and is running his own orphanage in okinawa. the local yakuza group initially threaten the orphanage by a seemingly senseless land grab, kiryu unravels a deeper plot and goes back to the yakuza groups in tokyo to protect his kids.

even with all that happening, a good chunk of the main plot gameplay is dad simulator. a lot of questlines have the player dealing with domestic issues with the young kids at the orphanage. you get to learn about each kid and have kiryu build a relationship with them. it feels like its coming from a genuine place and tells very grounded stories about childhood and parenting.

an important reoccurring segment of the game is exploring the town with haruka - kiryu's adopted daughter. if you run full tilt, you will leave your companion behind (your companion isnt always haruka) but if you slightly tilt the control stick, you walk, and your companion walks next to you. with haruka, walking with her means she holds your hand. boy, is this a slow way to traverse, but i'll be damned if i dont hold the little lady's hand! 😤 sometimes haruka will stop in front of a location and ask you for treats or to play a minigame. i will do everything i can to spoil this girl rotten, she's such a sweetheart i mean, this genuinely does have a gameplay benefit if you increase haruka's trust level. so there's no reason not to give her what she asks (at the beginning of the game, the ui confused me so i fat-fingered denying haruka a snack and i reset the game to undo that (=u=")7)

wow, this game is quiet o.o there is no bgm for the majority of the game. the only time bgm kicks in is during combat, and some minigames. the rest of the soundscape is ambience from the city (or beachside). it took some getting used to, but the lack of bgm was a deliberate choice from the dev team, and experiencing the game as presented helped me understand the whole vibe of the game/series.

i clocked in at under 30 hrs to beat the game. gamefaqs average almost 60 hrs. my endgame stats says i only complete 15% of the game. there were a lot of side quests that i picked up that i decided i simply did not want to complete (there's a whole detective sidequest that would have surely take hours to complete) and as much as i like the game, i'm not particularly interested in hanging around when there are like at least 7 other yakuza games i wanna get through. (frankly, i'd much rather play the post-game of the like a dragon games. the ones with kasuga and turn-based combat.)

Browser

Posted: 2025-07-29

you can play shleep for free on itch.io here

omg this is such a charmer i played it twice all the way through in one sitting. this is a game jam game, so naturally it's quite small.

shleep is a clicker game about a man who tries to count sheep in an attempt to fall asleep. the art is adorable, the humour is charming, and the mechanics are clever.

give it a shot, it takes about 15 minutes to complete

PlayStation 5

Posted: 2025-07-29

yo ive never lost time to a video game so hard as i have playing unpacking

this game really good at helping me achieve a zen headspace. this is true even while i'm cussing out the boyfriend character for being an insensitive dolt.

the thing thats wild is how much i (and other players) are reading into the various life stages of the protagonist. there is almost no dialogue. so the entirety of the story is told through the environmental storytelling of each object the player takes out of a box.

i have no evidence that the boyfriend sucks other than the level where she moves in with the dude, its extremely hard to find space for any of her stuff. (he didn't bother to make space in his closet or shelf like her previous roommates did.) the biggest tell is that there is literally no room for her to hang up her diploma. and that she stabs a pushpin into a picture of his face in the next level. i didn't know this, but hot tip: you can unplug his alarm clock lmaoooo

This is a deceptively engaging game. like real life, there's no perfect way to put away all of the objects. there's always going to be some awkward objects or spaces that dont quite fit together. the compromises are gonna be a little silly at times. still, its very satisfying to organize objects and make them look as good as possible in their awkward little spaces.

i absolutely recommend playing unpacking. its beautiful, satisfying, responsive, and adorable.

PlayStation

Posted: 2025-07-29

good game

i struggled a bit with a few difficulty hurdles. learning how the drifting works and what characters/power-ups i liked took some time. i lied, i stuck w chocobo bc chocobo is the cutest

there was one track late in the game i really struggled with. after a few attempts, i decided to not race and just explore the track. i actually found a hidden short-cut doing this, and used this info to win the race.

man, is the rubber-banding really aggressive in this title. (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻ at least, im pretty sure there was rubber-banding. it certainly felt that way.

this game has a pretty short single player story mode (it's just playing through each track in order) but it does something interesting at the end of story mode. the player is ranked for how well they race, then using the points they earned, are able to build a customized unique racer. i made a fancy pink chocobo racer (ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ) (i can totally see this being a balancing issue but im playing alone so it doesnt affect me.)

being that this is a couch game from days of yore, there wasn't really much for me to do once i hit the credit roll. i wasnt really interested in doing time trials, so back on the shelf it goes.