Recent reviews by Kobo

I played Octopath Traveler when it released on Switch in July 2018. Now that it has come to PC, I wanted to see how the overall experience would improve. So far, the boost in resolution and performance has been a huge boon for the visuals. It's a much bigger improvement over the original version than I initially expected. After playing 50+ hours at 720p 30FPS, stepping up to 1440p 60FPS was a game-changer. It goes to show that any visual style can benefit greatly from better image sharpness and more fluid motion.

The visual style is definitely this game's most appealing element on it's surface. It blends together 16-bit sprite based graphics with 3D art and environments to create a style that's unique while recapturing the same vibes of classic SNES titles such as Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger. The game uses Unreal Engine 4 to provide modern touches such as dynamic lighting and particle effects, which creates a super unique blend of old and new. I absolutely love it and want to see more of this in the future.

There are eight party members who all serve as playable characters. Each have their own 'Path Action' in accordance to their personality. Path actions are a core mechanic that have different benefits depending on which characters are in your active party. For example Therion can steal items and equipment from NPCs, and Cyrus can interrogate NPCs to gain information from them. Path actions can also give aid in battle with character's such as Ophillia who can recruit civilians into temporarily joining the party and help in fights.

The battle system is a fairly standard turn based one found in JRPGs but is very engaging nonetheless. The 'Break' and 'Boost' mechanics keep the flow of battle steady and allow for extra strategy in fights. You break an enemy by exploiting its weaknesses, via using a specific magic element or weapon type. This delays their turn and leaves them open to extra damage. You boost yourself by consuming a boost point that you gain one of each turn. This allows for multiple attacks in one turn and adds an additional layer of damage, keeping battles engaging and fresh throughout the game.

This is where the game drops the ball for many people, myself included. To me, the most important part of an RPG's story is is developing friendships and bonds between the main characters to make the journey more meaningful. There's almost none of this is in Octopath, since all of the characters stories are separate from one another and told from each of their perspectives alone. Though I do love many of the characters, they rarely even have a chance to interact with each other outside of battle in a meaningful way. This is Octopath’s biggest flaw by far.

Square Enix have an amazing history with their soundtracks. Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, and NieR include some of the greatest music in gaming by a long shot. Their composers are exceptional and that stays true here too. The entirety of the orchestrated score of Octopath is incredible and sets the tone of the world and battles perfectly. It's for sure one of the best soundtracks recently.

It's rare to see something outdated being revived and further developed, but Octopath achieves this extremely well. Though there are some major issues with how the story is delivered, it's still a fantastic experience overall.

Easily the most under-rated game of the year and another comeback for turn based JRPG's.

It perfectly incorporates classic elements from the genre such as traditional turn based combat, a diverse and loveable cast of characters, a beautiful art style and the "Hero's Journey" story pattern. However it evolves these elements into something more modern and fitting for a large 3D world. The transition is outstanding and is what future JRPG's should take notes from.

Dragon Quest XI is huge, my first playthrough spanned around 95 hours, but kept me invested all the way through. Consisting of three major acts that each take drastic turns for the plot. Like all Dragon Quest games, the story is very tropey but I find that's one of the most lovable aspects of the game.

One of the strongest elements is the graphical design and animation. Cutscenes are fluid and full of life and there are hundreds of detailed and beautifully animated monsters to battle. This time however, there are no random encounters, every monster will appear on the overworld and you decide whether you will take them on. This is a deviation from the typical random battle system that's almost too common in JRPG's.

Another of my favourite elements is the diversity in each of the many different regions of Erdrea. Every town and city is inspired by a country or culture from the real world. For example: Gallopois is inspired by Egypt, Hotto by Japan, Gondolia by Italy, Arboria by Greece, and Honolulu by Hawaii etc. This makes every major location feel fresh and interesting. Not to mention the great work done by the English localisation team on translating and coming up with some great puns for monster names and dialogue.

English voice acting is present and is generally really good. Because of this, the main characters have great chemistry when interacting with eachother. This is something that I always appreciate in lengthy JRPG's so this makes the entire experience much more enjoyable.

I do have my fair share of issues, especially with how some of the later parts of the story are handled but they definitely don't detract too much from my overall love for this game. The only other major problem I have is how the soundtrack is handled in-game. Dragon Quest XI does have an orchestrated soundtrack but it isn't included in the game itself. Instead the composer made it exclusive to a physical album and left the game with a synthesized MIDI version of the game's soundtrack instead. This was a horrible decision and the in-game music suffers greatly from it. However, there is a brilliant mod that I highly recommend, as it replaces every track with the orchestrated version. It sounds phenomenal in comparison and will absolutely make the game much more enjoyable for you.

I highly encourage JRPG fans and newcomers to give this game a chance because it 100% deserves one. The series deserves a lot more attention and love than it's currently getting outside of Japan.

A free standalone experience within the Life is Strange universe, though you don't need to be previously familiar to enjoy this.

Much like LiS, the characters and story explored throughout this short narrative are designed to be very relatable to the player. But instead of focusing on friendships, memories and the consequences of time travel, Captain Spirit focuses on the imagination of a kid who is suffering through a dark time in his life.

Captain Spirit carries the same tone and atmosphere seen in previous LiS games, the same beautiful art style and indie music choices too. It also does a great job of being a standalone experience whilst having many references to the previous two games set in the same universe that fans can appreciate.

There’s a hell of a lot of secrets to uncover about Chris and his father Charles's lives if you dig deep enough. It took me around 3 hours to finish.

It's completely free and is the perfect taste of what’s to come in Life is Strange 2.

So it turns out, one of the greatest games to ever exist... remains one of the greatest games to ever exist. Just simply ignore the parts that make it the worst game to ever exist.

An interactive, story focused adventure that is inspired by Telltale games, yet executed with greater depth and love than most of their works. A memorable story that will take you on a rollercoaster of emotions.

Characters feel like living people. This is all thanks to a very well written script (some people may read that as a joke, but I do feel this is true) and a great voice cast to compliment it. Character's are designed to be very relatable, but the plot incorporates many supernatural elements that give a great sense of wonder and mystery.

The art style is beautifully unique and synergises with the photography themes used through story and gameplay. Visual tricks and cinematography are also used to portray a very retro and natural feeling that is inspired by the games setting of Oregon.

The soundtrack has some excellent music choices that really immerse you into the world when used alongside the environments. It gives off such a nostalgic atmosphere.

Despite the lack of complex gameplay, it's a wonderful game with one of my favorite character driven stories out there.

The Witcher 3 is the closest thing to perfection that I have ever had the joy of experiencing (many times). It’s an excellent example of a game that will leave you feeling empty once it's over, wishing you could go back and experience it for the first time again.

The world, lore and characters are based on ‘The Witcher’ short stories and novels by Andrzej Sapkowski, it is not required that you read the series prior to understand the core of this story. However, I recommend that you do because you will be provided with a greater impression of this game’s attention to detail. It’s not even required that you play through the two previous Witcher games. Though again, It will only aid in your appreciation of The Witcher 3 if you do.

You will be taken on a long (roughly 100-200 hour) journey as you overcome this polish inspired medieval fantasy world and live the exciting life of Geralt of Rivia. You will encounter hundreds of complex and incredibly well written characters as you learn each of their personalities and histories. The characters in this world are amongst some of the most diverse and memorable that I have encountered and each of their quests are meticulously desgined.

One element of The Witcher 3 that outshines any RPG to come before it, is the open world. You could spend hundreds of hours alone delving and uncovering every tiny little detail that is expertly placed to drive player interest. This game provides a fantastic reason to include the open world element that has quickly become stale across some other games in the genre.

Another one of my favorite aspects is its soundtrack, the music is just breathtaking and contributes to the immersion really well. Each theme portrays the atmosphere for each character and location perfectly, which is especially impressive considering the size of the game. Some examples of this can be found in: ‘Silver For Monsters’ and ‘Merchants Of Novigrad’.

Every small detail is so incredibly well thought out, it’s easy to tell that the team at CD Projekt RED poured blood, sweat and tears into development and totally deserve the gratification that they received from it.