Recent reviews by Sempai

Do Not Purchase This Game.

I've written deep guides and thoughtful reviews in the past, but all this game deserves is a rant.

I am a newer fan to the Disgaea franchise, joining during the lifespan on 5. I played through the entire main series from 1 to 5, getting more and more into the late game with each game in preparation for the release of 6. Unfortunately, Disgaea 6 isn't a real Disgaea game. It plays like a ♥♥♥♥♥♥ mobile or auto-clicker game.

There are two reasons to play Disgaea, the quirky and zany stories, and the great strategy gameplay. This game fails on both ends. The story is mediocre, with members of the cast missing the fun energy of previous games. Instead, the characters are fairly boring and offer little enjoyment for the story.

But most egregious is THE ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ GAMEPLAY. Nippoin Ichi boasts an insane increase to the level cap in this game, but don't let that marketing fool you. All they did was inflate the numbers. While each previous game did see an increase in player levels for players when they reached end game... hitting level 200+ accross the board during the tutorial is just crazy. Leveling up feels meaningless now, as the game's experience system is seeing more inflation than the current economy. So playing the game doesn't feel rewarding.

Good news though, as the solution for unfulfilling rewards is already in the game. Thats right ENJOY MEANINGLESS COMBAT. Did you buy this game for Strategy? TOO BAD. The game now can play itself. I understand the idea of automating grind, but this turns this game into a mobile gacha or an autoclicker game. I repeat... THE GAME PLAYS ITSELF. There is no reason on your way to end game to even bother with strategic decisions. Just setting your party on auto-battle will defeat any problem. Too low level? Well you can also add Auto-Repeat onto Auto-Battle to let the game overlevel the ♥♥♥♥ out of you while you go to work (or play a real game like Disgaea 5).

This game is a major step-back for the series. The QoL improvements are not worth the complete degeneration of gameplay. Do yourself a favor. If you want a strategic game, buy a different entry in the series. And if you want a game that plays itself, there are plenty of autoclickers on Steam that are way cheaper than the $70 asking point for this game.

Show yourself some respect, and do not buy this terrible game.

Played the game on Hard, and the combat is terrible. The base combat is enjoyable; however there are two big problems. First, your companions are useless. The fight starts with my allies instantly dying, and then I have to solo an entire encounter - every encounter. Second, the Gunner class (which I chose because it said it was about controlling the battlefield), is entirely based around guns and traps. Both of these are resource based, the only 2 types of combat consumables in the game, and they are for the same base class. It wouldn't be too bad, if not for the fact I have to solo every encounter. So every encounter I either have to wait a game of patience and poke bears with my pointy stick for 10 minutes, or I can use the fancy toys I picked this class for- draining every ounce of cash out of my one man party.

TL:DR- If you like the JRPG combat format, this is the game for you.

(First Reaction- game not yet complete)

Aesthetics-

The aesthetics of this game are miraculous. The game has two sepparate art directions you can choose from. First is the gorgeous artwork of Tsukamoto Yoko, a realistic style that breathes life into the characters. You can also choose the artwork of Oxijiyen, whose artwork leans on a cartoonish style. The ability to choose between these two, and the fact that you can choose both simultaneously, allows the player to choose which style(s) that the player wishes to explore the world with.

The art for the world is not quite at the same level though. Backdrops in fights are interesting, but not near the level of finese Tsukamoto gives to the characters. While difference areas of a dungeon do have their own backdrops, there is no variance in a single area. This matters because the game requires grinding in order to efficiently progress. The world, it feels, is one of the most neglected characters of this game.

The art for the dungeons is abysmal. The texture quality is terrible, a quality that is amplified due to the quality of the character art that is visible while traversing these dungeons.

Gameplay-

The Gameplay is twofold. There is no innovation on the surface of this game: it appears as a standard JRPG. What sets this game apart is the power the player has over the characters. The player has complete control over every member of the party, allowing the player to choose the class and stats of all party members. Characters may also have their class changed, which allows the character to take the knowledge they gained from their previous class, and use some of that with the new class. This system allows for the intellegent creation of hybrids, allowing each of your characters to truly develop into someone who can rightfully claim themselves as a member of the Chosen One's party.

The system may be fantastic, but the controls for the game are awful. The PC port is lackluster, with very little attention given to allow comfortable controlling with Mouse and Keyboard. The clanky controls really detract from the game: f.e. menus that do not have a leave option, so the player has to press Esc to return to a previous menu.

Character creation is absolutely awful. Additional Starting Stat Points for characters is based on an RNG roll that is weighted towards low stats. This does not add to the player's experience in any positive way. Either the player sinks a lot of time attempting for a high roll, or the character that is created is objectively weaker than a character that got a higher roll. This is only multiplied by the fact that the player can maintain a roster of 16 player created characters, all of whom may vanish due to the permadeath mechanic present in the game.

One point that may be a con against this game for some people is the grind. I lost my very first playthrough, on the first lineage (without Riu), because I did not grind levels and gear. I have had a blast grinding for gear and levels, due to the "hiding" mechanic, but this is not the game for people who do not enjoy the JRPG combat style, as you will be need to grind many a trash mob with the system.

Narrative-

The story is very stereotypical. You play as The Chosen One, who entered a fantasy world due to mysterious circumstances. It is your duty to fufill your role as a chosen one... we get it.

The interesting part of the narrative are the characters. Specifically the other Chosen Ones and the Vessels. These characters have great personalities, and the voice actors do a really good job embodying these personalities.

Unfortunately, the great freedom the gameplay gives the player hampers the story. The MC may be a silent protagonist, but the MCs companions are emotionless puppets who have no effect at all on anything. They are merely there to aid the MC accomplish the role of a Chosen One.

Music-
Uninspiring. For me the test on a soundtrack is "Would I buy this sepparately?" and the answer is a stern "No." No single track stands out, and I find myself listening to other music while grinding.

Verdict-
If you enjoy the JRPG combat format, this is the game for you. Otherwise, you may want to pass it up. Obnoxious controls, lackluster dungeon art, and really terribly designed character creation put stains on an otherwise enjoyable JRPG experience.

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XCOM 2 is a wonderful game. This game, I would reccomend more than anything. There are a few bugs, which hopefuly will be wrinkled out in time, but the rest of the game is absolutely perfect. Why is the game perfect? Because the game as a very fun, strong gameplay rotation, and complete mod support from the developers. This means that you can customize the game to fit your needs. Three examples of mods will show just how fundamental mods are to the experience of XCOM 2.

Firstly, you have the three commisssioned mods created by Long War Studios. These mods include a more specialized skill tree, a brutal enemy, and a new weapon type which is weaker but faster. Mods like these add layers to the game, providing even higher replayability and longevity to a sequel rebuilt on the pillar of replayability.

Secondly, you have mods like Free Camera Rotation by wasteland_ghost. This kind of mod shows how free the reigns are for the modding community. And, its a great mod.

Lastly, you have mods like TimerTweaks by Sashka, Disable Timers also by Sashka, and True Concealment by Takeru Shirogane (which is the one in this list I use), These mods each address a problem some players have with a part of the game. The ingame timers on most missions. TimerTweaks adds 4 turns to timed missions besides one type, Disable Timers disables them, and True Concealment causes concealed turns to not count against you in the timed missions. These three mods show how quickly the community rallied through mods against a system that was not well recieved by some players.

Because of the sheer support Firaxis and 2K are giving to the modding scene, and the sheer power of the modding scene already, just at launch, I cannot recommend any game more highly than XCOM 2.
Good Luck, Commander!

What happens when you combine an Isometric Action RPG with an MMO? A game that almost works, but not quite. That is because one significant design choice reallt hurts the gameplay: Attacks Always Hit.
There are skill shots in the game, both friendly and hostile, and they are the attacks that hit like a truck, but alongside these skillshots are attacks that follow the target, and automatically hit, If anybody swings a sword, it doesn't matter if the target leaves melee distance, that melee attack hits. If a witch attacks you with a ranged attack, no amount of dodging will stop her homing missle of free damage.
This is a sacrifice made, I am assuming, to combat latency, allowing for the experience of an Isometric Action RPG with many people all over the world. But in my opinion this sacrifice was too high of a cost. I can ignore a bad story: not saying this has a bad story. I can look past an artistic direction I do not care for: not saying it looks bad. But I do not want to slug through unsatisfying gameplay, and to me, the introduction of auto-hit attacks makes the game unsatisfying.

As a Hardcore (Perma-death) Diablo player, this made the gameplay unsatisfying. The rest of the game was enjoyable, but due to my dissatisfaction, I cannot give this game my recommendation.

Want a spiritual successor to The Stanely Parable, you wont need to read much further: This is not The Stanely Parable 2.

The Beginner's guide is something else altogether. This is an entirely story based experience that will last one playthrough about 100 minutes without trying to really break anything in the game. The experience has made me feel joy, wonder, guilt, despair, and uneasiness. This does not have any of the humor from TSP.

I do think saying any more would be a disservice to those that do end up playing, and I hope this serves as a helpful PSA to get a clearer understanding of what TBG truly is to those who are looking to purchase it.

Did you like The Stanley Parable? This is the game for you!
Put simply, the game is fairly small, but was greatly enjoyable.
It contains the idea of freedom that was in The Stanley Parable, but is much more linear.
They use the narrator to help you through the complex instructions, while also giving the illusion of choice, as was done in The Stanley Parable. The narrator will be an enormous source of entertainment as the player plays through the game.

TLDR: Its short, read the review I wrote.