Recent reviews by gtkof

Absolute Perfection!

Finally, no longer do I have any reason to ever boot up the PS1 original... this is and will be the definitive version of Final Fantasy Tactics to play for years to come. Everything from the original release has made the transition to modern platforms, except for the poor translation, which thankfully can stay dead and buried in the past along with the name Aeris. Fully voice-acted and a revamped interface, along with lots of Quality of Life improvements and difficulty settings! Of course, no War of the Lions content, but this game doesn't need it.

A very well produced and handled remaster of the original 1997 release. Very much deserving of a place in your game library if you even remotely consider yourself a Final Fantasy fan.

Originally a PS4 exclusive released in 2018, Detroit: Become Human is a story-driven game, where you advance the story through choices made and quicktime sequences. This was a visually stunning game for its time, and still looks incredible to this day.

Quantic Dream have crafted an amazing experience. Each playthrough can take the story of the three main characters through all sorts of variations and outcomes. Having played this game multiple times, I still haven't seen every choice to be made or their results. But I do have one specific path that I will always prefer. Yet getting to see and play through the possibilities I've seen so far, I have come to have a great appreciation of this game as a whole.

If you've never played or seen this game before, definitely give it a chance.

Still amazing after all these years! The remastered backgrounds, new S1 character artworks, fixed bugs of the originals, added QoL improvements... there's no debate here. As skeptical as I am about Konami's motives and timing of announcing this remaster, I'm glad they put the effort into making it THE version to play of the first two Suikoden games.

For Suikoden fans, this is an instant buy. If you've yet to experience what makes this series so beloved, you owe it to yourself to find out what others already know.

Buy this game. Play it. Don't backlog it.

My favorite RPG release of 2024 thus far!

Over 500 hours playtime, 6 completed playthroughs (all Miman/sidequests/collectibles) and all Demon Compendium entries to level 150.

The highlight for me was definitely the gameplay, music and fusion mechanic. Story-wise, I enjoyed both Canon of Creation and Canon of Vengeance and I feel that neither is completely superior over the other. All the QoL additions and refinements over the base SMTV release enhance the original experience. I found the cast likeable enough, despite them being the usual alignment quotas for SMT.

This has got to be the most refined the fusion system has ever been, doing away with all the needless complexity of past games due to the inclusion of demon Essences. The overworld of Da'at itself was a joy to explore, but the dungeons pale in comparison to the likes of SMTIII Nocturne. Still, the Press Turn combat system, music and presentation are all top tier and combine to make SMT V Vengeance an enjoyable game.

This closed out 2024 for me and what a fun journey it was!

Valkyria Chronicles 4 is what you get when you take what made the first game great and vastly improve on it. Play the original if you still haven't... the stories of VC1 and VC4 take place concurrently during the same war, albeit from different fronts against the antagonistic East Europan Imperial Alliance. Also, all console DLC is included, among which is an episode working alongside Squad 7, the player characters from the first game.

If you're familiar with the first game and enjoyed it enough to want this, then a review isn't necessary... get it already.

Gameplay is mostly the same as the the first game BUT adds additional command options for troop leaders, a new infantry class (Grenadier), a new tank type (Cactus) a Last Stand mechanic for when troops fall in combat, and tanks no longer requiring two points per use.

Also in this installment are Squad Stories, which further fleshes out the backstories of your entire squad. This was by far my favorite addition in Valkyria Chronicles 4 and one I wish had been done on the original game. The E-Z Platoon members definitely get more time to shine because of it, compared to their Squad 7 counterparts.

Music is again composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto, with a majority of the tracks returning from the first game along with a few new ones.

SEGA has also resolved an annoying gripe with the original game in finally adding full native DualShock 4 support. No mods necessary for Valkyria Chronicles 4 if that is your preferred controller.

This is a great port of an already solid 8th generation console game. I had no technical issues in my playthrough to completion. Highly recommended!

Originally released for the PS3 in 2008 and later ported to PS4, Valkyria Chronicles is a tactical turn-based RPG set in an alternate history WWII era with a heavy anime slant. The game uses a stylized water color art style and thanks to it, holds up incredibly well due to not being constrained to look ultra realistic. This version is also a complete edition and as such, contains all DLC released for consoles.

Gameplay consists of moving player units on a map within a set number of turns, and taking action against enemy units. Once your turns are exhausted, a new phase starts where the enemy does the same. This continues until the map objectives are completed or failed. Story cutscenes are interspersed in between and presented in a story book format that unlocks more chapters as you progress.

Also worth mentioning, this game has one of my all-time favorite OSTs, all thanks to composer Hitoshi Sakimoto (FF Tactics, Vagrant Story, Dragon's Crown, Final Fantasy XII).

Valkyria Chronicles also features both the original Japanese language track and an English audio. However, the subtitles are just dubtitles (English script used, even though that's not what they're saying). An example being a character saying someone's name and the subtitles showing something else. My only other gripe is it doesn't natively support PS4 DualShock controllers. I bypassed this by enabling Steam Input along with a PlayStation buttons icon mod. A bonus is that the DualShock 4 has an extra button (touchpad) compared to XBOX360 controllers. I mapped the touchpad as the Select button and the SHARE button is used for screenshots, just like on the PS4 port.

Technically, the game runs great on PC. I've played through the console versions and this PC port to completion without issue.

Overall, a great game and start to a very underappreciated (SEGA included) series. Definitely recommended!

This is the story of the True Hero of Final Fantasy, Jack Garland.

I had lots of fun with Stranger of Paradise, and safe to say, I liked it a lot. I enjoyed the battle system, though the amount of gear drops is overwhelming if you're new to this type of game; lots of inventory management. It wasn't until I was able to dismantle and fuse gear, that's when I really had fun with it all. The battle system, coupled with the multiple jobs and playstyles, I know I haven't even scratched the surface of how others have gone about breaking the game and completely dominating all under Chaos. It's extremely rewarding, but takes lots of trial and error and experimentation, maybe too much for the average player. The depth is there for those looking to dig.

The ties to the original Final Fantasy kept me invested in this story all the way to the endgame and all DLC. The callbacks to each numbered entry were a nice touch. I can only imagine what this could've been with the budget of something like FFVIIR. It could've been more polished. Visually it's serviceable but it's in no way even close to being the best the series has shown. But as a Final Fantasy fan, this game has delivered for me.

Hello Games have done their part, the rest is up to you. This game can only give as little or as much fun as your imagination and creativity will allow. Your mileage WILL vary.

Highly recommended, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this game.

Tokyo Xanadu eX+ gave off a very good impression as my first Nihon Falcom game. I'm happy to add this to the list of RPGs I've experienced through to the end. That title track on loop, I can listen to it for hours. Same with the majority of the music tracks in the game. Cross off another game from the backlog! If this game gets discounted on PSN, I'll double-dip and go through it all over again!

Played to completion on PS3 both import and localized versions, and now finally on PC.

To this day, this is still my favorite of the Final Fantasy series along with FFVIII and FFVI. Of course it's nowhere near perfect, but I've liked each and every mainline Final Fantasy despite their flaws. Beautiful game during its original console release and still has aged well thanks to existing mods by the community. I plan on revisiting XIII-2 and Lightning Returns eventually, but for now, just soaking it in at how much I've enjoyed experiencing this game all over again on more capable hardware.