Recent reviews by Volt

This is more of the best game of all time. Of course it's perfect. It's also a lesson on well done DLC: this has enough content to eclipse most AAA releases, and it's "just" a DLC. New weapon types are amazing, the new spells look great and some are really fantastic, the new areas are jaw dropping and the music is even more memorable. On all objective metrics, it's the original game condensed in a smaller area and they just made everything that bit better.

Now, those negative reviews... I don't get them. Were they thinking they were going to SL1 and beat the whole DLC? Were they thinking "hurr durr let's kill all bosses straight away"? Stop trying to copy your favourite speedrunners or challenge runners, you're not them. They have more skill in their fingernail than we'll ever have in our entire lifetime. But you know what's crazy? We can enjoy the game all the same... Wild. Unless you believe in "PVP etiquette" or "summoning isn't playing the game right", in that case there's no hope for you, you won't ever enjoy anything in life.

Fromsoft said there was going to be an entirely separate power progression in the DLC, everyone starts basically at the same power level... All that changes is what you prepared to have access to. If you just went it from a speedrun to Mohg, sorry... You're ill equipped and you had ample time to get all the nice stuff from the main game so you could have OPTIONS. And once you start the DLC, go explore.

Again people crying and moaning for the introduction of something that doesn't affect the game in any way...

The game has been complete and phenomenal since launch. Great story mode, a good tutorial in form of the Arcade Quest mode and the Replay Mode with tips on what you should have done to beat a certain situation... That by itself makes this elevate the fighting game genre. Also Tekken Ball is back and such a great mode to play with mates.

But sure, go cry because your stupid customisation headgear is on the battle pass.... Shut up and go play the actual game ffs.

This is what she means when she tells you size doesn't matter.

Amazing little game, very fun to replay and collect all achievements. It won't give you 30hrs of playtime, but it will give you (at least) two very fun and no ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ playthroughs, hearkening back to the days of the original Silent Hill and Resident Evil. I see great speedrun potential here, as a side note!

It's pretty damn obvious to anyone who has played why this game is up there with Ocarina of Time in the discussion for "what's the greatest game of all time".

There's pedigree here that hasn't been matched by any other game in the last 20-30 years. Including Ocarina of Time.

Mandatory game.

I wanted to have given this a 10/10 from the first 30 minutes I played.
I should have given this a 10/10 after the first 50 hours.
I need to give this an 11/10 after witnessing the ending just now.

It improved in every single mechanic from the previous game, and it manages to integrate so many of Kiryu's real time mechanics into the turn-based system at the same time. Everything about this game is worthy of praise, but most of all, the love they gave to the whole saga before this game. It really rewards you for being a longtime fan.

I could write dozens of paragraphs of praise for every single element I loved, but I'll just keep it short. As a Yakuza fan since Yakuza 2 on the PS2, this is the best Yakuza game on every level. As a fan of turn-based RPGs since the 90's, this is the best turn-based RPG I've ever played. As a fan of videogames since forever, this game stands tied with Elden Ring as my favourite games of all time.

This game, which has a character called Nier, is getting a character from the game Nier. They're adding more Nier so we can get ping-ponged by Nier while we play the character from Nier.

Xzibit would be proud.

On a serious note, what a fantastic fighting game... I wasn't going to buy this, I loved the original and thought this one didn't add enough to make it worth full price again. However I'm really glad I took the gamble, with an active online scene (with A LOT of Nier) and several gameplay improvements over the first game, this really is a fantastic game.

Now let's get out there and learn the Nier matchup, and still lose to risk-free mixups.

Yes, it is a smaller game, but this was known beforehand. The game's quality, on the other hand, is undeniable. Goes to show the story doesn't need to be 50hrs long, has all the impact, twists, tugs and lasting appeal of the others. That said, story had me so tight by the balls I ended up blitzing it, now I get to enjoy the side games.

Absolutely fantastic, and essential, for any long-time fan. Not so great for someone coming into the franchise though... For those, I'd wait for the other two Gaiden parts to come out, so they can have the full game experience.

Absolutely recommended. May even be the best Fatal Frame/Project Zero game, as I've begun to think after replaying the whole franchise in its entirety for the 10th time.

Might not be the best in any individual category, since 3 has a better story and 5 has better combat, for instance... However when considering the whole bundle, this is probably the best one. And we're talking about a 9/10 in the midst of 8's (1 and 5) and 8.5's (2 and 3).

Let's get this out of the way first: no, it's not a classic Megaman experience. This is a Megaman universe power fantasy, or a celebration.

With that said, let's first acknowledge one simple fact... This game shouldn't exist, and I don't mean that in a "lololo gacha games suxxxxx" sense. What I mean is, this is the first instance to my knowledge where a live service game was taken offline, and actually made fully available for everyone. This is new ground being broken.

I played the live service version quite casually, but frequently. What always drew me in was the possibility of playing several characters instead of the usual protagonists, and all the iconic weapons anyone could use. They're all here, forever. Or at least for as long as Steam exists.

The price tag is fair, considering the amount of content this has. All of it is here, with quality of life adjustments.

No need to slave away at dailies or grind resources to progress, these rewards are more than plentiful with each stage clear, and there are only single-time achievements and objectives. All game modes, except PvP and Co-Op (because... Offline duh), are here. Every single non-collab event can be toggled and accessed freely. All characters, except collab ones, are here as well. And while they could have just unlocked everything and threw them all at you for free, they even managed to improve the experience of the original live service game. There's no gacha here anymore: all the characters and weapons are available in the shop, but they cost a fair amount to purchase and upgrade. Most are even locked behind story progression, making you actually feel like you're progressing and working towards unlocking something. In less than 2hrs, I've got my beloved Ferham and I even got her Xmas outfit, and am just relishing in the possibility of unlocking Bride Layer or Magma Dragoon soon.

As for the game itself, graphically it's on the level of X8 but the controls feel VASTLY superior to the mobile version. There was a clear improvement here, and movement feels tight, precise and satisfying. Levels aren't exactly complex, especially not early on, but there's little black orbs scattered and hidden so there is a reward for exploration. Enemies and boss difficulty will depend on how much you dabble in upgrading your weapons. The chapter 3 boss wiped the floor with me, even though I was on the recommended power level, so I took to the workshop and levelled up my Mega buster with all the money I had... I wiped him on the second go. You can definitely make the game as challenging as you please. There's around 20 chapters for stages, and every stage has a challenge mode (harder version, sometimes completely different), so it's more like 40 chapters. Then there are all the events, well over 30 I'd guess, as well as other game modes. And I didn't count all of them, but there's over 100 characters to unlock. There's tons of weapons too, but I'd expect once you find a pairing that you enjoy, you'll just max those out. Still, there's achievements for collecting all of them, so that will be a nice timesink if you're into that.

I hope this sets a precedent for live service games: there are games like this one, Dissidia Opera Omnia, the Hoyoverse games, and so many others that are more than just "gacha moneygrabs". They have great stories, music, gameplay... And maybe because of XDive Offline, we can also have them available forever after they inevitably shut down.

Thank you Capcom.

I first played this game over 20 years ago and I've owned every version of it, even the defunct mobile version port... The game still holds up wonderfully after all this time. And going back to it, I always discover something new.

This is quite simply the best Final Fantasy game. The job system gives it a huge amount of replayability and can break the game wide open. This also means that through the job system you can make the game as challenging or easy as you want, and it allows for so many creative solutions to the situations in-game.

And the music... The Pixel Remasters have done a good job overall, but on FFIV I thought the best tracks were kind of botched. But on this one, the opposite happens: Battle on the Big Bridge is more hype than it ever was, the Merged World theme is tear-worthy and the final battle themes are amongst the best music I have ever had the privilege of enjoying.

Even if you skip the other PR's, don't skip this one. This game is worth it.