Recent reviews by Cade

Suikoden 2 remains my quintessential JRPG after all this time. This remaster is definitely the best way for longtime fans to replay these games or for newcomers to try them. Yet this series (even including Suikoden 2), despite its cult following, remains somewhat underrated both COMMERCIALLY and CRITICALLY. Fingers crossed this release meets Konami's expectations and warrants another remaster/remake of the sequels or a new mainline entry.

Suikoden 1 is "old" even with this remaster-newly introduced QoLs. It is simplistic, the writing moves too fast with no proper bridging, etc. Some gameplay aspects like inventory management (disappointingly) are still frustrating to do. But the game is not hard (the series was never known for its difficulty even in later titles). You just need to pay a bit of attention to enemy weakness(es) and pattern at times. So at least you won't get frustrated by the difficulty. It is also quite short, 10 hours if you rush through things or 15-20 if you take your time.

Suikoden 2 however holds up so much better, even the original PS1 release I would say 90% still holds up to be played as is to this day (with its known originally bad translation). If the first game felt like proof of concepts of the creators' pitch to Konami's management, S2 is where you can see the creators' vision fulfilled.

I do recommend you to play S1 first even if S2 (by the majority) is regarded as the series' best. If you do, you'll appreciate the improvements S2 brings and the interweaving settings this series is known for.

Again this is the best version to replay these 2 games IMHO. Konami got a bit lazy in some parts though. I wish they revamped the S1 inventory system and brought it closer to S2's. You don't even need to bring the 3 runes or 3 accessories slots to S1, just the ability to swap equipment between party members and directly equipping from stores would be a godsend. All in all, I'm still satisfied and grateful that the series has breathed new life at last.

Also finally you can play these games with a proper translation. I came to appreciate Suikoden 2's moments so much more now even though I've played this game a dozen times at this point, even with its (still) simplistic dialogue.

RIP Murayama-san, here's to your legacy to be enjoyed by millions more of people to come.

One of the only few games I willingly bought more than once. Despite all its existing jank and unrealized visions, it remains one of my favorite open-world RPGs to exist. If KCD2 is basically a fully realized version of this, then that game is already en route to being my favorite game ever.

I can't wait for imminent the sequel.
Please never stop being based and unapologetic with your artistic vision, Warhorse.
Henry has come to see us!

I can see the appeal. It failed to hook me though, I guess the novelty or the cool factor didn't wow me enough, that or I didn't give this game enough time. Haven't found a Roguelike that can truly hook me like Binding of Isaac did since I stopped playing it years ago, or I might have just outgrown this genre. Ah, life is such a tragedy.

There is a reason why Stardew Valley remains to be one of the only Farming/Life Sim with 'Overwhelmingly Positive' rating on Steam for so long (the only other one is Fields of Mistria afaik, and that game is still in early access). It's your classic farming sim that expands everything yet still keeps the soul of the classic Harvest Moon games.

It doesn't have as deep of a combat/rpg mechanics of Rune Factory, it doesn't become another take of the genre (which is awesome too) like the 'My Time at' games. It has those elements, yet still retains the soul of the classic farming sim genre. Plus with the recent 1.6 update, there's not a better time to jump into this game. It's the most complete expanded-classic farming sim you can get on Steam. Does every single thing so well to near perfection, it's mind boggling to think it was even developed by a single guy.

And of course it's the ultimate handheld/Steam Deck game.

I played this DLC first through some "means", finished one of the paths, fell in love with it, then here I am paying CDPR in full to appreciate what a masterpiece they cooked. Why?
Phantom Liberty is a spy-thriller, James Bond-inspired "DLC" that delivers dozens of hours of additional content filled with tragic, flawed, and deeply written characters. With a presentation that feels perfected—something CDPR couldn't fully achieve in the base game due to its whacked development cycle. A worthy 10/10 package for all CP2077 players.

• Main story (1 route): ~15 hours campaign, it has 2 "main path" towards the end (I have only finished one of the path yet I know the other path is 100% worth replaying). Each main path has 2 main conclusions (?), meaning at least four rewarding variations to explore.
  
• Main+side contents: 30-50 hours-ish. It adds no new whole map, but opens up the previously unexplored (+inaccessible) area in the outskirts of Night City (Dogtown), and flesh out several existing characters (in addition of adding new ones) through new gigs, side stories, and new secrets.
  
• New ending to the main game through one of the DLC conclusion.

• It's hard to find the right superlatives to do this expansion justice. As you can expect for a story set in "Cyberpunk", Phantom Liberty is very bleak and tragic. Its core strength lies in its characters and their journeys—each a deeply personal exploration of broken people molded by a brutal system (some enhanced by their foolishness, or greed, or other things). Mostly trying to get by in the ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up world of Cyberpunk.
  
• The missions and their presentation demonstrate CDPR's vision executed with precision—something they couldn't quite do in the base game's campaign due to cut content and development issues (though it's still a masterpiece in itself). Here, they blend James Bond-inspired action, masterful writing, and beautiful music to create a cohesive experience. Mild spoilers: one of the routes even surprises you: a full sequence of survival-horror-inspired reminiscent of Alien Isolation or Outlast.
  
• By all means It is nothing short of the word "masterpiece".
  
• My sole criticism of this DLC is that they added absolutely 0 love interest/hookups. I mean c'mon CDPR, if you're going to make a James Bond thriller, then you're gonna need to add some.

Personally, it is among my favorite "DLC" ever, calling it an "expansion pack" would be more accurate even, especially in the current economy. Heck with its $30 price tag, it offers more than most $70 full AAA releases. It's just that by CDPR standards, an expansion should probably be on the scale of "Blood and Wine" or "Shadow of the Erdtree".

Quoting the base game:
"...a happier ending... for everyone involved."
"Here, for folks like us? Wrong city, wrong people."

This is the kind of DLC you should spend your money on. This is the kind of content that deserves your hard-earned cash. A must-buy for anyone craving more Cyberpunk 2077.

I don't think there's any city-builder on the market that explores quite the same rabbit hole as this game. Plays almost like Factorio/Dyson Sphere Program BUT with a city-building theme. Seriously it currently has no competition in the niche, not Anno, not Cities: Skylines.

You can fine-tune the game's depth and make it as accessible as you want a la Cities: Skylines to focus on just building a beautiful city, or play the realistic mode (which imho is the meat of this game) where you can micromanage almost every aspect, or something in between. From managing the types of vehicles to use, factory production chains, the logistics, where citizens of a flat should go/work, exports-imports, power delivery, heating, waste management, research, and the most fun and mindblowing of them all: construction office, where you need to plan to try to semi-realistically build or deconstruct everything from the roads to buildings to pipes and towers. What other games might need several DLCs/expansions to achieve, this game already gives you in one package.

The UX and tutorial could use some plenty of work (especially the tutorial). The campaign I think is a better tutorial than the actual 'tutorial'. The tutorial just tells you to build X, Y, Z, and so on without explaining the reasoning to the player. The campaign however at least gives you some narrative so you can understand the context and benefit of the things you just built. Though both explore different things (some overlaps), so I encourage you to play both modes first.

I haven't touched mods either. Given the nature of the game, I think mods are super promising and will give a long longevity to this game. Hopefully, the devs will also support this game for a long time, given it's only got 1.0 quite recently.

If you're reading this, you most likely have played the first game, so go ahead and buy it.
It's the payoff you've been looking for.

It's not without flaws, but the good things this game excels in make the overall experience fulfilling.

===================================

I only have 2 real complaints:
1. The tone of the whole game is a bit all over the place. It drops grim backstories here and there, however, the main story leans all in into "coming of age hero saves the world" and completely shied away from anything remotely dark, leaving the stakes feeling almost empty. Never once did I feel intimidated by the antagonists. I was so hoping that the Ouroboros would at least be as menacing as the Phantom Troupe from HxH, but I guess I hoped too much.
2. So many half-resolved character arcs left for future entries (you know like the MCU). Almost feel lazy at times.

Well, it also suffers the same flaws as the first game: fetch quests, so much backtracking, uninteresting side quests, reused tropes, etc.

I think you will appreciate Trails in the Sky so much more if you treat it as a character-driven story more than anything, the characters are really the stars of the show for me. To me, the whole conflict in Liberl is more of a backdrop for Estelle and co. growth. I started this series annoyed by Estelle's airhead antics, then completely fell for her character towards the end of SC. She is now among my favorite protagonists in video games .

Looking forward to play the rest of the Trails series.

Review is based on my sole experience with this game, separate from the rest of the series.
My game save actually clocked at about 52-something hours since I tried to explore practically everything this game has to offer (minus new game+). A normal playthrough should net you ~40 hours ish

Install the fan-ported Japanese voice acting from the PSVita remake
See: SkyInstaller [github.com] for the auto-installer
Works great on my Steam Deck for a full playthrough (for SD get the SteamOS release from above).
The dub not only helps flesh out the characters but also makes you realize (if you have any slight familiarity with Japanese) the flawed English translation in this game.

There are also a couple of other mods that port the PSVita remake features like updated portraits etc., you can look them up yourself. I'd say the voice acting is the only one essential though.

OK now with that out of the way

1. The in-game UI is a bit of a mess to navigate through with gamepad control.
   
2. Steam Deck/handheld specific: Text is a little small even with the "Bigger font" option turned on in the setting, they definitely could've used other more legible typeface.
   
3. I wish there was an "auto" option for battles, would've made some of the exploring & backtracking more bearable.
   
4. The missable optional stuff. Really they are just there either for the devs' giggle or to pad out the game.
   
5. Overused tropes, for example: The villain got away yet again because of the characters' incompetence or... just plot reason? You can say (some of) this is due to the characters' inexperience, however, any of these justifications doesn't make these tropes any less overused or entertaining to see. Then there's some Diabolus Ex Machina here and there, and the conclusion towards the end has a bit of Deus Ex Machina popping to save the day

1. It starts slowly and takes time to unravel everything, it is a 40-hour prologue after all. In other series, this game might have been a couple of hours chapter then a time skip occurs to the meat of the conflict. Basically, playing its sequels is necessary to get the payoff. If you are used to reading 800+ pages High Fantasy novels, you'll understand.
   
2. Anime stuff, e.g.: step-sibling romance

1. Classic JRPG goodness:
   
   • (seemingly) epic saga,
     
   • beautiful music (though IMHO lacks a bit of variation),
     
   • interesting world/settings,
     
   • (a little bit) convoluted Japanese writing.
2. Really well-written casts IMHO. You can see why some characters are the way they are (whether you enjoy their antics or not) as you progress through the game bit by bit.
   
3. Turbo feature included, helps speed up those old-school JRPG slowness.
   
4. Combat difficulty is just right (it's on the easier side imho), you almost don't need to grind at all except for the very early-game optional stuff. Deep enough and easy to understand that you won't need to look up any "build guide" or anything.

Trails in the Sky FC is a slow-burn prologue with its very 2000s JRPG roots studded with well-written casts, beautiful tracks, and well-realized settings. Though marred with some old-school jank and tropey writing, fans willing to invest in Estelle and co. journey to its end might be rewarded with hundreds of hours of fully realized stories and characters waiting to be explored.

I may or might not have been hooked on the Trails series by this point, though I'm playing the Second Chapter for sure.

As an individual game:

7.8/10

Now onto the sequel...

- If you play it normally: it's a charming classic.
- If you try to 100% it: it's a stupidly tedious, disgusting garbage that tries everything to be a 'bad game'. Seriously, do NOT try to 100% this game for the sake of your sanity. I made the mistake of doing it on my first playthrough AND as a first entry into this series. I'm glad at least I'm still determined to check the rest of the series.

This is one of those times that I wish Steam review has a "neutral" option.

This review is not representative of the whole series, only for this entry. Worth a try if you are a returning Ys fans looking to see where it all started, or just don't bother with 100%ing the game.

TLDR:
- Recommended if you're a returning Ys fans and/or not interested to 100% the game
- NOT recommended in any way to go for the 100% achievements, especially if this is your first entry into the series.

One of the finest piece of literature I've ever read. I just need to read the Answer arcs next to really cement this series position among my favorite books.

If you decide to get this edition, installing the 07th mod is absolutely essential. It'll give you voice acting+16:9 ratio. As for the sprites you can freely choose which version you prefer, I myself think the PS3 sprites are the best.

Now how does this (with 07th mod) compare to "Umineko Project"? I prefer this because it's the only edition you can read in NVL format instead of ADV (which I prefer). Even though people say Umineko Project is the superior version, I would say there's a room for argument between the two.

So is this edition worth your money? Yes if you install the 07th mod.

Also it works flawlessly with the mod on the Steam Deck.