Final Fantasy IV
16h06m

The way it recontextualizes gameplay elements from previous titles is nothing short of masterful. To me, this was the strongest aspect of the game, and I'm glad I played it after I-III.

The ATB frantic combat is still pretty underpolished, but still more than fun enough for the game's now simplistic, but classic ways to explore it.

The main plot felt a bit haphazard and the game feels a bit rushed and diminutive.

But still. Landmark title in the series, deservedly so.

Final Fantasy III (Original Version)

Starts off really good, with a perfect mix of objective and exploration.

It has a sense of mysticism, wonder, and discovery that not many other FFs have. It is almost ActRaiser-esque in the "rebuild the world" aspect of the plot.

Zande's motivation is so unique it almost transcends the confines of the game's limited memory for story presentation.

Combat is still kinda simplistic and the magic slot system limits it severely.

Good game, overall.

Final Fantasy II

One of the weaker entries in the series.

I appreciate the ambitiousness of the gameplay, and I don't think it is as mechanically daft as it seems, but it's really hard to balance things with such a degree of freedom. The game is either brutally punishing or a cakewalk with virtually no in-between.

The story is cute and more mature than expected, but too brief and wastes a lot of time on Ultima.

Dungeon/World map design is also meh.

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Mystic Ark

26h37m22s

I absolutely adored this game. Sure, the battles take an inordinately long time to really get going, none of your party members speak, and the "plot" is barely an excuse to stitch random scenarios together...

But none of that matters within the context of this fairy-tale, traveloguish, Gulliver-esque exploration of the developers' brimming creativity. So many setpieces in this game feel like they're from something 20 years its junior. An unorthodox RPG par excellence.

Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light

22h09m35s

Kind of heartbreaking to see such lovely, nostalgic, diorama-esque presentation in the game's towns be in service of a series of dungeons which have such thoughtless, boring design that large parts of the game quickly become a chore.

Square Enix has also always had kind of a poor track record for streamlining things, and their decision to deprive the player of full control of basicaly every single skill in the game is baffling.

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Brain Lord

11h52m

I really liked this game.

The scope is diminutive, and the puzzles are not quite as cooked as they are in something like LttP...

But the dungeons are mostly pretty fun, there's a surprising amount of variety with the fairy system, the NPC allies are very fun and their staying presence was another nice surprise, and most importantly, it manages to instill a sense of adventure, and reminded me a lot of a child's untrimmed imagination.

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Brave Story: New Traveler

20h37m

It takes a while to pick up the pace and is generally way too safe with its structure. The dungeon design also needed some more love.

However, I was a big fan of the simple, effective and bullet-paced battle mechanics, and once the difficulty gets somewhere interesting, it remains a generally fun RPG until the end.

Bite-sized, but didn't feel rushed like Legaia 2 so maybe recommended as an entry point into the genre?

Hi, @Zwei I PLAYED THE GAME FINALLY

Apocalypse

2h21m20s
The levels occasionally have some interesting setpieces which are enhanced by the fixed camera choosing the best angles. The action-packed nature of the game was also fun.

However, the very same camera couples with limited aiming controls to make it pretty difficult to properly point and shoot at things a lot of the time. Your hitbox and movement speed also feel like they belonged to a much larger model, which can be strange as well.

But hey, Bruce Willis.

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Croc: Legend of the Gobbos
Time: Until Credits: 5h50m01s
Until 100%: 6h27m14s

Another childhood classic.

This game has some fascinating whimsy environments, a decent challenge as it goes on, and what I strongly believe is an extremely underrated, amazing OST that transcends the game it's made for.

Tank controls, simplistic level design, underwhelming bosses, and a few hiccups in the difficulty curve prevent this from being a surefire recommendation.

There's a remaster though, so...

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Mega Man X4

6h8m35s

It had been a long time since I engaged with this series, so I can't compare it to the previous installments.

What I found in this one was absolutely stellar sprite work, decently cleverly-hidden secrets, reasonably challenging bosses if you don't cheese them, and... Good level design. Just good. Not awe-inspiring or anything.

Perhaps it's been a bit overdone, and thus naturally falls short of the potential of this formula, but it was a fun 6 hours.

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