Hi guys!
Just recently found this wonderful forum. I would like to share what I played in 2021:
I'm the type of person who prefers gameplay to storylines. Also, everything written below is my personal opinion and I do not pretend to be objective.
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin (3 / 10) - Abandoned after 64 hours. A terrible game with wasted potential. The game lacks different mechanics, which makes it feel very empty, monotonous and extremely boring. An empty game world without activities, monotonous combat that gets bored quickly, etc. I couldn't find anything positive in the game. Unfortunately, as I wrote above, the game had great potential.
RESONANCE OF FATE™/END OF ETERNITY (9 / 10) - A very solid JRPG like most other JRPGs from Tri-Ace (one of my favorite developers). A unique combat system, especially for me, who hated classic turn-based combat all my life. The game has enough interesting mechanics, and combat does not let you get bored even by the end of the game (it took me about 60 hours to complete the game with an optional dungeon). The only thing that upset me was that there are very few cutscenes in the game. The plot is average. All the beauty of the game is in its combat system. It's hard to explain in words, you need to try it yourself. At first, it seems hard, but after a couple of guides read, watched videos, it becomes clear and easy. Also, the game has a pretty high difficulty, but for me personally this is a big plus.
DRAGON QUEST XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition (4 / 10) - As I wrote above, I hate the classic turn-based combat. And in general, no offense to the fans, but I consider the Dragon Quest series one of the worst. Dragon Quest 10 years ago, or Dragon Quest now - nothing has changed in it. Terribly outdated mechanics in a beautiful new wrapper. The only plus of the game is the graphics, everything else is very boring and monotonous. A large but empty game world with no activities. Lack of any interesting mechanics. The plot is weak, as in all other titles in this series. I stopped playing this somewhere in the final chapters, after 50 hours.
Tales of Arise (4 / 10) & Tales of Berseria (3 / 10) & Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition (2 / 10) & Tales of Symphonia (1 / 10) - Arise was completed in 46 hours. Berseria is abandoned after 24 hours. Vesperia abandoned 18 hours later. Symphonia was abandoned almost immediately. This series reminds me very much of the same Dragon Quest. Everything old and outdated in a beautiful new wrapper. They save a lot on the series (in Arise, for the first time there was an attempt to make something similar to an AAA game, but apparently the entire budget was spent on graphics, everything else in the game is just awful). Lack of interesting mechanics, empty locations, reskins of the same mobs, terrible dungeons in the best traditions of the Persona series. The game simply has nothing to hook me with. I would like to note that Berseria had a nice attempt at plot, but the horrific gameplay and cringe characters quickly overwhelm it. To be honest, all my life I've considered the Tales of series to be a parody of a realy good Star Ocean series. Tales of is simply Star Ocean at the minimum. Better to spend the same time and replay Star Ocean.
STAR OCEAN™ - THE LAST HOPE (6 / 10) - A terrible plot and characters, an empty game world, the absence of interesting mechanics, but an excellent combat game. It was completed in 50 hours. The combat system is the only thing that kept me from getting bored and quitting the game, because everything else in it is terrible. You will either love this game or hate it.
Persona 4 Golden (5 / 10) - In all these 10+ years, this is probably my fifth attempt to beat this game. Nice plot, very interesting "Social Link" mechanic that reveals the characters. The part with the normal school life is great, but the dungeons are just awful. In general, the series has very big problems with dungeons (except that Persona 5 has some well-developed dungeons). Dungeons are the reason why I abandoned this game for the fifth time, this time I was enough for 38 hours. The combat system in this series is pretty mediocre, you just find the enemy's weakness and hit it, that's all, nothing particularly interesting, except that buffs and debuffs are used on bosses.
Ys IX: Monstrum Nox (8 / 10) - One of my favorite series. The series is mainly about gameplay. The game never lets you get bored, an excellent and fast combat system, the games in the series as a whole are very fast-paced, dynamic. Jump, roll, run and slash - briefly about the series. The developers added new mechanics, a bunch of new characters and a mediocre storyline. The gameplay is as always on top.
FINAL FANTASY XIII (3 / 10) - Abandoned after 28 hours. The combat system seemed good, but it’s not good enough for me to close eyes to everything else. Very linear, terrible characters (the only exception is Lightning), poor leveling system, etc.
WORLD OF FINAL FANTASY (3 / 10) - Abandoned after 27 hours. Boring combat system, but interesting Pokémon-style mechanics. In general, I did not like the game, if it were not for the mechanic of collecting monsters, I would not even start it.
Valkyria Chronicles (5 / 10) - The first time was beat it on the release on Playstation 3. This time I abandoned it after 17 hours. The game, unfortunately, is outdated, it really lacks the turbo mode. I just didn't have the patience to wait for all these enemy characters to change their position for an hour, etc. A good game for its time, but now, unfortunately, it is already outdated.
ONINAKI (3 / 10) - Abandoned after 11 hours. In short - an interesting plot, but terrible gameplay.
Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization (7 / 10) - Abandoned after 10 hours, but I will definitely replay it soon. The plot is terrible, I skip all the dialogues and cutscenes, but the game has just great gameplay. There are very few games about imitation MMOs, and there are very few good ones among them. The game imitates MMO very well, other players (NPC) or group of players walk in the locations, they can help you during the battle, or you can help them, plus an interesting leveling system, a bunch of skills, equipment, etc.
Fuga: Melodies of Steel (2 / 10) - Abandoned after 10 hours. The combat system seems interesting only for the first couple of battles, the plot is average, that's all.
FINAL FANTASY TYPE-0 HD (2 / 10) - Abandoned after 7 hours. Outdated, plus for portables. Not a bad combat system, that's all.
Grand Kingdom (3 / 10) - Abandoned after 10 hours. Interesting combat system and that's it. The game seems to be made for mobile phones, and plus the online servers are disabled.
Exist Archive: The Other Side of the Sky (5 / 10) - Abandoned after 20 hours. Valkyrie Profile 2 at minimum. It gets boring quickly, plus it is very varied. Average plot, weak characters, good combat system.
Shin Megami Tensei V (7 / 10) - Completed in 40-50 hours. Weak plot, great gameplay. Finally, they gave up on the terrible monotonous and boring dungeons. Now we have open locations with good exploration. The combat system is interesting, the locations are all well developed. There are a couple of dungeons in the game and they are all terrible, but fortunately they are very short. A big step forward for the series.
Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition (10 / 10) - Completed in 70 hours. Everything in the game is amazing. A huge and beautiful game world that is perfectly filled. The game sorely lacks a bestiary. Different boims, several races, interesting cities, nasty monsters, more than 400 sidequests that are easy to take and complete (mostly they are all MMO-style). The game is very similar to my favorite Final Fantasy XII, which makes it even more attractive.
