Recent reviews by Stone Jimbob

Bro why does this series keep getting better and better with every single game? I go "man trails in the sky 3rd is my favorite" and then this game comes along and shatters what i would expect a trails game to be.

It takes a new narrative direction compared to the sky trilogy focusing more on a detective story about a group of rookie cops who are tasked with essentially doing dirty work for the police department and their journey as they slowly uncover the corruption and dark side of Crossbell(the city the game is set in) and their struggle to fight back against it. That is a super basic description of the narrative but the narrative evolves as the game progresses and what seems like simple government corruption slowly turns into something much more sinister. The plot has a bunch of interesting twists and turns that had me really invested and it gets especially insane later on.

Speaking of Crossbell. It's hands down the best setting in the entire series so far. it's a massive technologically advanced city with tons of different areas and districts to explore. it's very fleshed out and you get to know the city very well throughout the game as you conduct investigations and progress the story. Also Trails at it's core is a fantasy game so seeing the fantasy elements such as monsters and elemental orbments and attacks being merged with a more grounded setting and storyline is quite a unique combination that i haven't seen done much in videogames.

The characters are awesome as well and have great chemistry with each other. The main cast is all great with everyone feeling mostly fleshed and enjoyable as characters. My personal favorites were Elie because she's cute and Randy because he is an absolute legend and adds some much needed comedic relief to the group dynamic while also being a very strong and interesting character in his own right.

The gameplay is pretty similar to trails in the sky but it has some much needed additions and improvements that make the gameplay a whole lot more fun. I didn't really get bored gameplay wise until around the final dungeon which is a big step up from the sky trilogy where i was bored with the gameplay like 20 hours in.

Lastly music. I played the game using the evolution soundtrack and it was amazing. tons of amazing rock and metal stuff with nice saxophone and jazz stuff thrown in too. The music really fit the tone of the world and narrative nicely and made the game much more memorable. Some of my favorites include: "Inevitable struggle", "Surely Someday" and ESPECIALLY "get over the barrier". wonderful soundtrack that i will be putting on my playlist

Overall this game is an awesome experience and gets a solid dink approved 8.5/10. It does have some aspects that could be improved but overall it is a must play if you like Jrpgs or just want a good narrative with a unique yet grounded setting.

it's also not a bad starting point for new players of the trails series. While certain aspects of the plot definitely won't hit as hard or even make sense as a new player jumping in, overall the narrative explains the callbacks well enough and also has a completely fresh narrative of it's own.

so yeah... Play It ;)

This is my new favorite trails game.

improved combat and exploration, An INCREDIBLE soundtrack(masquerade of lies, determination of fight, till the night of glory etc.) and some of the most hard hitting character writing i have ever seen in a videogame. It's a story about loss, guilt and forgiveness of not only others but yourself and it is beautifully told.

They also have some amazing side content in the form of doors that allow you to see flashback sequences of different story events that happened either before or after the events of the first 2 games. These help expand upon the already strong characters even more and also set up a lot of events for later games in the series. These flashbacks can range from really funny to emotional and bittersweet to ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ devastating and disturbing(looking at you star door 15).

Ofc like a lot of trails game this game is banking on you knowing the story of both trails in the sky FC and especially trails in the sky SC so you will need to have played those games for this game to not only hit hard but even make sense in the first place. They don't really bother with recaps unfortunately.

But if you have played those games and are looking for some more trails to fill the Jrpg shaped void in your heart please don't skip this one(despite what some dumbo's may tell you).

it's an easy Dink recommmend.

9/10

I just beat this game and now I have depression.

also disclaimer but don't play this game unless you have played or at least seen the story of the first game.

As the name suggests this game is the second chapter in the trails in the sky duology/trilogy(kind of) and it lifts off directly after the events of the first game. Without spoiling the first game too much this game starts on a pretty heavy note and in general has a more serious, melancholic, emotional tone than the first chapter which was more of a whimsical light-hearted adventure story with lower stakes. this more mature feel to the game is present in basically every aspect from the soundtrack to the world to even the gameplay(although that's kind of a stretch.) so i will review each aspect of the game separately.


THE STORY: The story and characters of this game are incredible to say the least. the overarching plot is not revolutionary by any means but it executes said plot extremely well and has plenty of interesting plot twists and story beats that keep the story interesting pretty much the entire way through. What really makes this game special in the story department though is the characters and themes.
These characters are probably some of if not the most well developed characters in any rpg i have ever played. pretty much every main party member gets plenty of time to shine and they all have really beautifully done character arcs. the characters in this game aren't static and they are constantly growing as the game progresses almost right up to the very end.

The themes are also interesting as this game has a more mature tone and that comes through in some of the subject matter they tackle in the story. It got surprisingly dark at points but overall the game handles it's subject matter with a lot of respect and tactfulness(for the most part).

THE WORLDBUILDING: In the first game you explore the country of Liberl which is a set of five cities each with connecting areas and zones and the world map is basically a misshaped circle that loops in on itself. In the first game a lot of the focus was put on introducing the player to Liberl's many unique locales and areas with a more episodic approach to the storytelling basically having each region have it's own mostly separate story line.

This also applied to the gameplay as well as you would be unable to go back to previous regions after completing them with basically every side activity and side-quest being limited time. that was an aspect of the first game that i really enjoyed as it encourages you to explore and do sidequests at your own pace without feeling a big completionist urge to do everything as you would probably miss something anyway. the world is very well developed as well as the amount of attention to detail is insane. npcs and characters have so much unique and miss-able dialogue it's actually crazy and the npcs and characters react to what's happening in the world around them with unique dialogue whenever big plot events occur.

They do an outstanding job at making the world feel like a living breathing place that doesn't revolve around the player and i personally loved that aspect of the game. The second game also has that but has you basically going back to the exact same places as the first game but under different circumstances. While this is mostly executed pretty well i did feel that it was a bit disappointing that there were basically no new regions to explore outside of the prologue and at points it was genuinely frustrating. overall the world in the second game is still interesting and enjoyable but a little dissapointing in some aspects.

THE COMBAT: This game is a turn based strategy rpg with grid based movement and the usual party of 4 you see in most rpgs. the combat revolves around orbments which are Trails version of materia from final fantasy. Basically you acquire Orbments through playing the game and that allows you to unlock new arts. Although the process for acquiring new skills is a game in of itself as each Orbment has a specific amount of quartz that it holds and each skill has a specific number of quartz that it needs in order to be usable in battle. there are quartz of each different element and in order to unlock arts of each element you will need to do some mixing and matching of Orbments in order to reach the required amount of quartz for the skills you want. It can get pretty complicated and i genuinely didn't know how the system worked until the SECOND GAME where they actually give you a proper tutorial on how it works.

The second game has mostly the same combat as the first but with some new additions such as higher level orbments and more powerful skills. the orbments are not the only part of the combat however as each character has their own unique skills called crafts which they use with craft points. craft points are gained by hitting enemies and taking damage and they are just as useful as the orbments so using both in combat is key to success.
Overall the combat system is fun for a bit but it definitely has it's issues. The main problem i had with the game as it felt each element and art didn't really have enough noticeable deviation to keep the combat interesting. if the enemy isn't weak to any elements(like basically every major boss) there is basically no real difference between all the different elements outside of availability on each character. While there are plenty of non attack arts as well a lot of them either suck or are insanely broken and it can be hard to tell the difference.

Also the arts have 0 damage indicators of any kind so knowing what arts are the most powerful can be a guessing game at times where all you have to go off is the mp cost and the range. Also the arts balancing can be pretty bad at times with some lower mp cost arts doing pretty much the same damage as arts that cost double the mp.
the combat is fun enough for most of the game though but by the end i was pretty sick of it.

THE MUSIC: the soundtrack for this game kicks a gigantic amount of ass. the battle themes like "fight with assailant" and "feeling danger nearby" are bangers and the cutscene music is great too with many beautiful songs and leitmotifs that will hit you like a freight train. The area music is a bit hit or miss unfortunately with some songs being great, some being kind of boring and others being genuinely annoying to listen to at times. Overall the soundtrack is awesome minus a few exceptions.

Verdict: This game is one of the best rpgs ever made and i honestly have even more stuff i would like to share but this review is already way too long. easy 9/10 game and is a classic through and through. If any of what i said sounds interesting give this game a chance. You won't regret it.

Cool ass game.

Higurashi is a story about how our perception of the world around us can drastically affect our actions and mindset.

The game achieves this through showing the mind of keiichi maebara and his fall from grace as he becomes more and more delusional as gains insight and knowledge of the town of hinamizawa and its traditions and culture.

While some scenes can be tense,exciting and/or extremely unnerving the majority of this game is dragged down by never ending streams and streams of dialogue making even some scarier scenes feel dragged out and agonizingly boring. Let alone the many dull and uninteresting club activities that make up the first half of the game.

Less is more and higurashi understands this in some capacity as it uses its limited visual novel style to play with the readers mind and make us fill in the blanks in an engaging way. But sadly the script does not follow this mantra and this drags down what could have been an incredible story to one that is deeply flawed albiet with some great moments. Let's just hope the second part is better than this. Because this game is only the first part i will give it a reluctant thumbs up.

Mastahpiece. If you haven't played this already take a day of sick leave and go at it. You'll have the time of your life.

First Pathologic and now this. Russian games are something else. An incredibly unsettling yet poignant look into the twisted world of someone struggling to live due to quite severe mental illness. The soundtrack and audio design is brilliant and the game would be as good as it is without it's thick crimson colour palette and beautifully unnerving art-style.

The games dialogue is a big star of the show too as it is confusing, weird and sometimes quite tangent filled but in a way that really adds to the unnerving sombre atmosphere the game is going for.

This game is something very personal to both the creator and the player and is filled with a lot of love, care and attention. My only real gripe is that it's too short for the asking price.

otherwise this game is definitely worth your time.

This game is the ultimate detective themed game. While the detective aspects of the game are pretty mid all things considered everything else shines.

The game play is extremely satisfying and is an evolution of the combat style Ryu Ga Gotoku studios is known for. The soundtrack is insane covering multiple genres from Dubstep to House to really good elevator music. The story is very compelling and is an interesting look into the Japanese justice system and the very real flaws and cracks in said system.

And this doesn't even cover the incredible DLC chapter where you play as Yagami's sidekick Kaito.

This is a must play game not only for fans of Judgment and Yakuza but also anyone who enjoys games with satisfying fun melee combat and enjoyable narratives with interesting themes and ideas.

This game is kinda epic. Great artstyle, cool music and a suprisingly engaging story. get it

One of the best yakuza games. It's very fun and has a good storyline. Unfortunately Kiryu isn't very hot in this game. however Goro majima is.