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Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance is far from being one of the best entries in the series. It has some good ideas, making exploration a more engaging part of the experience, but its narrative is too sparse and unfulfilling, having nothing new to say about its themes while refusing to advance the overarching story until the last moment. In that sense, Dream Drop Distance is much more akin to Re: Coded than something meaningful like 358/2 Days.
The plot exudes that yawning-inducing stench of a filler. Sora and Riku are summoned before Yen Sid and told they have to pass a test to be granted the title of Keyblade Masters. This “Mark of Mastery” exam is supposed to prepare them [...]
Metroid: Samus Returns, the 3DS remake of Metroid II: Return of Samus, seeks to reimagine certain elements of the original, but focuses on all the wrong elements: instead of improving the original’s linear structure or doubling down on its foreboding atmosphere, Samus Returns decides to revamp the combat and visuals, making them flashier and more complex. The result is a disappointing game that misses what worked in Metroid II without adding much in return.
The plot is fairly straightforward. Bounty hunter Samus Aran is hired to go to the alien planet SR388 and commit, well, genocide: she’s to kill all Metroids in the planet, ridding the universe of the species.
Killing [...]
Radiant Historia is a fantastic JRPG that offers not only an innovative and complex battle system but also a great story, packed with tragic characters and interesting twists, that is only marred by a bit of bloat in the 3DS version.
The setting is “a decaying world in which everything is slowly being engulfed by sand,” which leads its two greatest nations, Alistel and Granorg, to war over the few fertile lands that there are left. Stocke is an intelligence agent of Alistel who one day is assigned to an extraction mission by his supervisor, the Machiavellian Heiss, who entrusts him with an enigmatic book called the White Chronicle. When the mission goes awry, Stocke finds [...]
Fragments of the Forgotten Past is a great – if not the best – entry in the Dragon Quest series, offering a multitude of complex, touching, and tragic short stories. It certainly can be accused of overstaying its welcome, and its gameplay is also too easy for its own good, but Dragon Quest VII still manages to shine by the force of its narrative alone.
The protagonist – who you can name as always – is a sixteen-year-old boy who lives in a small peaceful village in a small peaceful island. His best friend is prince Kiefer, a hot-headed and impulsive boy who wants to discover what else lies beyond their island, across the ocean. Although they are taught that their island is the [...]
Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King is far from being one of the franchise’s best installments, failing to explore the series’ tradition and the few new things it brings to the table. It’s a simple and tedious JRPG that offers a bland, bad developed story, and boring gameplay.
The plot follows an unnamed hero – who serves as the player’s male avatar – whose mission is to end the curse that plagues a king and his daughter: the king has been turned into a troll and the princess into a mare. To do this, the protagonist needs to destroy the one who has cast the curse, a mysterious court jester named Dhoulmagus – although he eventually discovers that there are more [...]
Shin Megami Tensei IV is an RPG with great narrative ambitions, trying to discuss relevant themes – such as the purpose of religions and the problems surrounding the forms society is usually structured and organized – while presenting a complex – albeit very unbalanced – battle system. Its narrative, however, is very erratic – there is a good chunk of time when nothing relevant happens – and sometimes it also falters by putting its focus on its least interesting elements.
The game’s protagonist, initially called Flynn, works as an avatar for the player, who can change his name. Flynn is a commoner that lives in the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado, a medieval society based on a rigid [...]