- The PS2 original is the ācanonical versionā of this game, considering all the remakes and ports that came out over the years
- Itās a fun, low-stress adventure game which doesnāt demand very much of you
- Gameplay-wise, itās not demanding much of you, but the visuals and characters and music and settings are all so good that youāre sort of willing to go along with it
- I had forgotten how much unlockable content that developers used to put in these games. While I did not do ā100% completionā and get all of Laraās little outfits and such, I can see myself going back to the game for those things. It is fun and a little jarring to see how developers used to give the fans what they want; today all that stuff would be DLC.
- The game is short (even, I think, for the time) but in itsā small package, it accomplishes what itās trying to do. The settings are very memorable and the story (which no one even really needs in a Tomb Raider game IWABH) is coherent and interesting.
- Not all games reviewed on this site are very accessible to moderns, but I think this one is, and I can recommend it as long as you donāt come in looking for something too hardcore
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Tomb Raider: Legend
(Completed on 23 Jan 2025)
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Final Fantasy II
(Completed on 28 Dec 2024)
- Overall did not have as much fun with this as with FF1, but somehow I do think it has more replay value
- Because of the leveling system (no experience; you gain levels based on what skills and weapons the character actively uses) it is really easy to get yourself into a bad position and hit a wall where everything is killing you instantly. You can grind out of this but it is a SLOG
- However, once you get what the system is and know what to expect, you can see how it was possible to much better prepare yourself early in the game, for things that will be happening to you later in the game. This is the thing that makes you want to replay it; the knowing how much easier you could have made it on yourself.
- As with FF1, I think the Origins version is a great way to play the game. I did it on desktop but it would also be great with one of those āretro emulatorā handhelds
- Completion time of this (~20-30hrs) is probably the most I have to give. I am too old to play RPGs which are any larger than that.
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Parasite Eve
(Completed on 2 Dec 2024)
- One of the great Squaresoft RPGās. I had never played this game before, or seen the movie, but I did read the book, and the story plays WAY better as a video game
- Thankfully NOT a 40+ hour grind as is common in the genre. I played pretty casually and finished in less than 12 hours. Didnāt attempt the EX run but might go for that later
- It took me a surprisingly long time to understand the mechanics of using Tools to modify guns and armor. Other than that, there is nothing complicated about the game at all.
- I also really like an RPG where thereās only a single hero instead of a party, like the original Dragon Warrior. Done right, it makes some situations and dungeons more intense and is more engrossing
- The combat system is roughly the same as Chrono Trigger (designed by the same guy) and it feels very good. You can move around freely, I donāt think there are any enemies with attacks you canāt dodge, and it is surprisingly deep considering how limited movement options are.
- Overall very fun, not too hard, and Iād recommend anyone play it during the Christmas season since thatās when the story takes place in-game.
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Metal Gear Solid 2
(Completed on 30 Nov 2024)
- Classic status for a reason, but not sure it lives up to the greatness of the original
- Enjoyed the setting a lot, wasnāt really mad about having to play as Raiden
- Controls can be slippery; it is not always easy to make the character go where you intend. Extremely easy to accidentally flatten yourself against a wall when trying to make a tight corner to run away from an enemy, which gets you killed every time
- Also, there are too many controls. I donāt like how you are able to make your character do things that youād never ever need to do over the course of gameplay. It overloads the buttons for no purpose
- I donāt really have a problem with sitting back and allowing all of Kojimaās over-indulgences, but by the end of this game, all the cutscenes and communicator sequences had got OLD. The first 70% of the game is a great story though
- Probably just an issue of āgit gudā but I never learned to cope with how smart or dumb the enemies were going to be. Some of them seemed like 80 IQ drooling morons, and others seemed like the Terminator.
- The combat and gun mechanics and such feel very good; this aspect of the game is even better in the VR missions than it is in the main story