- 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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ē»å» IMAGE STREAM
ćµć¼ćć£ć³ CLASSIC VIDYA REVIEW
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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ē»å» IMAGE STREAM
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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
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Pokemon LeafGreen
(Completed on 20 Nov 2024)
- This whole thing started as just idly killing timeā¦ Telling myself Iād do a run through LeafGreen, pick Bulbasaur as a starter just like I did playing Pokemon Blue when I was 9, have some good nostalgic memories, not think too hard about itā¦
- ā¦And somehow, in the middle of the run, I decided I was going to make a living Pokedex. I figured thatās a reasonable definition of ācompletingā the game?
- This Pokedex was made entirely legitimately. No glitches, cheat codes, save states etc. were used. Using 2 Analogue Pockets, and another FireRed file (which I didnāt even complete), I traded over everything I needed, just like you would have had to do in 2003.
- Nothing about this is really hard, itās just tedious. I did have the extreme fortune of finding a Lucky Egg on the first Chansey I caught, which helped the level grinding a LOT
- Not sure what I thought would happen, but trading over another EXP.SHARE from the other game also caused no problems. Half of Exp goes to the monster who did the fighting, and the other half is divided between however many are holding the EXP.SHAREs. This made it pretty easy to grind the elite 4 to level up living-pokedex monsters.
- When I was playing through LeafGreen, I did my best to give myself over to the game and get in the mindset of what it felt to play it (meaning Blue) for the first time ever. I havenāt played a single Pokemon game past gen 3, however, I remain convinced that the 1st gen has the best setting and aesthetics.
- The pokemon lab, the burned out mansion, the references to strange science projects, team Rocket skulking around, it all works together like none of these games ever did before or since. No one ever really thinks of the Pokemon games having a āplotā but there really is a lot here if you pay attention.
- Overall, good experience, but this little project landed me in a gaming hole where it was the only thing I did for the past few months. Hopefully I can pull myself out of the rut and get back to playing smaller games to post more frequent reviews.
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What is the origin of the lake tank image that has become a meme? →
This is only 4 years old and it already feels like something from ancient internet times.
