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Calling a title “the best game of 2024” may come across as rather shortsighted when done so in February. I don’t care. I’m going to say it. I believe Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is the best game we are going to see in 2024, and it also gives me faith in the future of the series. I was concerned about what modern Final Fantasy games will look like after Final Fantasy XVI being so linear and borrowing so heavily from media like Game of Thrones. But as long as developers at Square Enix are also making entries like this one, we’ll be more than fine. 

Square Enix starts Final Fantasy VII Rebirth with a shock, then spends the rest of the game surprising the player. After a brief segment in Midgar proper, Cloud explains his history with Sephiroth and Tifa in Nibelheim that led to a hero becoming an unhinged monster. However, the party doesn’t get time to dwell, as Shinra is still on everyone’s heels. The only clue they have is hooded individuals in black robes tied to Sephiroth and mumbling about a “reunion.” Searching for answers, insight, and the legendary SOLDIER, the group travels around the world, visiting various cities to learn more about their allies and enemies along the way.

Like Final Fantasy VII Remake, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth isn’t a straightforward retelling of the original 1997 PlayStation classic. Instead, it builds upon that foundation. Some of the changes are relatively straightforward and offer a more fully fleshed-out take on the events we already know. Other elements help incorporate new NPCs or characters from the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII to tie in better with the massive number of works and spin-offs connected to the game. I’d say that’s probably my favorite part, given how much more there is to certain characters and events.

The personalities, relationships and additional insight into the people and lore is fascinating, and I feel it helps create a better understanding of everyone and everything. At the same time, Square Enix has stayed faithful to the original characters, so the newer plotlines never feel forced. However, like the original, there are also times in which Final Fantasy VII Rebirth attempts entirely new things. This part could end up being divisive for some. I absolutely adored it. There were moments when I genuinely squealed or felt astonished by some of the developments that built on past games and ideas. I even felt like maybe it could have helped better explain some of the things certain characters were going through due to their backgrounds and history. Some moments with Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith especially got to me emotionally.

While each region in the game has its campaign quests, there are also an array of sidequests. Chadley has World Intel ones for each region. These tend to involve the sort of open-world staples, such as the Remnawave Tower activation that shows other major objectives in the area, exploration to find certain materials and information about the area, notable enemy fights, and Chocobo acquisition. The Protorelic series is the most fun and memorable, but I genuinely appreciated the rewards from these optional experiences. They kept them from feeling like typical Ubisoft filler. I enjoyed ticking these boxes and benefitting from the additional crafting recipes, insight into the region, and summon bonuses. 

Each town you visit also offers its own sidequests associated with it. These can show up on the message boards in each town, though others are tied to notable NPCs you’ll see. Some of these can involve fetch quests, and your mileage may vary when it comes to enjoyment of them. A few of these quests can even be a bit lengthy or tedious. (A series connected to a certain Costa del Sol character comes to mind.) However, I felt that most side quests are intertwined with fun character interactions with members of my party or rewards that made that effort worthwhile. This is helped by those optional missions also boosting relationship values with party members, as well as not every one of these missions being a fetch quest. 

I’d also consider Queen’s Blood a major storyline and arc on its own. There are so many opponents, such an array of cards, and so many different supplemental challenges tied to the minigame that it felt like a compelling supplemental campaign on its own. The nature of it, due to it involving territory claiming and management, deck management, and gradually building up a collection of cards that can bolster or destroy others, is exceptionally satisfying. It is like the developers looked at how, say, Triple Triad was handled in Final Fantasy VIII and decided to do everything possible to improve upon that. It isn’t just things like the interactions between characters, development of the story, and the wide world to explore that keep Final Fantasy VII Rebirth captivating.

The combat system is genuinely great as well, with every character feeling like they fit well in different roles. Cloud is an all-rounder, of course. Tifa is a heavy hitter who is fantastic at building up the stagger gauge. Yuffie may not pack a punch as hard as Tifa does, but she’s able to more easily hit aerial enemies and I’m in love with the versatility of her ninjutsu and Doppelganger ability. It felt like I really did want to constantly keep switching between characters to take advantage of their innate natures and abilities. I wanted to experiment with builds to make Aerith and Barret into different types of ranged mages. Building up the ATB and unlocking more Synergy Abilities felt satisfying, both because of the interactions and because of the in-battle bonuses.

I also loved how Square Enix forces your hand to make sure you realize the potential of every character. I admit early on that I defaulted to Cloud, Tifa, and either Barret or Aerith, depending on the situation. However, there are a handful of campaign missions that force certain parties or put someone other than Cloud in charge, and I really appreciated it. It meant I got to see how these people played off each other and that they formed these genuine connections. There was one situation that got a bit frustrating and involved someone else taking the lead. So, while I appreciated this person getting “face time,” that segment had some puzzles that didn’t feel as well executed as the ones when others were in charge.

Honestly, I can only think of a handful of “flaws” I encountered while playing Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, but they also are the sorts of things that bothered me a bit but might not annoy others. One is that, yes, the Performance mode didn’t look as pretty. I was going with the Graphics option, however, so it didn’t affect me until I purposely tested it, and a patch released during the review process did help with that. The other is that there aren’t that many enemy encounters in the overworld, open-world areas. However, in context, that makes sense, and there is a great balance of enemy encounters when I’m in places where you’d expect the team to be in more danger. 

Some might find they could have used more weapons. I found the majority of mine via quests, exploring during certain campaign quests, or minigame currency acquisition. However, in defense of that range of equipment, I will say that some don't "age out" as you progress through the game. Instead, they become useful for specific character builds. Not to mention, there is a good selection of bangles and accessories, especially when you factor in the Item Transmuter crafting, so that helps with diversity.

I’m even fine with the Chapter system returning for the story in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth because it never really truly walls you off from past content. Yes, there may be times in the midst of campaign quests when you’ll be locked into an area and unable to travel fast. Once you get to a new region of the world, you’ll also typically need to play for a bit or take on a certain side quest to gain access to a fast travel option to a past region. But there’s always the option to go back and take care of something you missed or see if something new opened up. You’re never walled off permanently.

However, I will acknowledge that it can feel like Square Enix expects all Final Fantasy VII Rebirth players to be up on their general awareness of the original game. If you played Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII recently or are familiar with the PlayStation classic, you are going to get so much more out of it. You’ll see where things are going, how situations change or are improved, and have more of an awareness when things start happening. If you don’t have that prior knowledge, it is still a fantastic game. You’ll just be missing out on the additional context.

Now that I’ve beaten Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, I know there are other games ahead that I need to play for work and should play because they will likely be fantastic. However, all I really want to do is go back and replay this remake at a more leisurely pace. I’m in love with the game, and the approach Square Enix is taking with this trilogy. I’m also incredibly excited for the future of the three Final Fantasy VII remake games, especially given how much Final Fantasy VII Rebirth incorporates and accomplishes.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will come to the PS5 on February 29, 2024. Its demo is live now. The game’s PS5 exclusivity arrangement expires on May 29, 2024.

The post Review: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Feels Like 2024’s GOTY appeared first on Siliconera.

When I first sat down to play the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth TGS demo in September 2023, the first thing that stood out to me was how much work Square Enix put into fleshing out the game's characters. The Synergy ability, in particular, was a highlight, as it really added a lot of depth to the character's personalities. Cloud using Aerith's magic to create a spectacular fireworks display of damage was both an epic cinematic attack in combat and a neat narrative device that says much about their bond.

In January 2024, I played the first five hours of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth in the lead-up to its launch in February. I can say that the game goes even further than I expected to breathe new life into these beloved characters of the 1997 classic. This is evident from the game's opening hours, which is oozing with personality. In Chapter 1, we get to play a flashback of a pivotal moment between Cloud and Sephiroth from five years ago. However, as we progress through the story, Cloud, in real-time, narrates the events while the rest of the group occasionally chimes in with their own commentary.

What is really neat about this narrative decision is that players are given choices in the campaign, which then reflect on the campfire story Cloud is telling. For example, there is a hilarious moment where Cloud reveals that he went into Tifa's room, and you can choose to have him say that he looked into her closet. Based on the decisions you make, the group will either scold Cloud or praise him. This design choice not only allows players to experience the story how they want to but it also creates these dynamic moments between the group that add a lot to their relationships. And I mean, it will never not be funny when Barret chews out Cloud for making the wrong decisions.

There are a surprising amount of these moments where players are given multiple-choice decisions. I won't go into detail about all of them, as I want to leave that as a surprise to players. However, since Cloud is retelling a story from his point of view, there is a lot of room for players to improvise the story with their decisions. The flashback narrative also allows Square Enix to really world-build by creating these little details that say a lot about the characters, especially with how they react to Cloud's perspective.

Perhaps the most surprising addition to Final Fantasy VII Rebirth that I encountered is a new relationship system that is, in a lot of ways, similar to the Social Link mechanic in the Persona series. Each character in the game now has an emotional status that I could view at any time. The feature allows the player to change how a character feels towards Cloud, which can become positive or negative based on your choices. An example is that while I was in the city of Kalm, I found Barret sitting in a bar alone and asked him if he wanted to drink with me. After initially saying no, a timed dialogue tree event was triggered, and I was given three choices. Because I chose to have Cloud offer to buy him a drink, my relationship with Barrett increased, and his feelings toward the protagonist became positive.

As I progressed through the story, there were many moments where I could interact with the characters and improve my relationship with them. If you like your Cloud to be a jerk, it is possible to be cold towards everyone and make decisions that upset them. However, the game has a relationship rank system that impacts the story in a few different ways. If you have a good relationship with certain characters, you can unlock side quests later in the story with them. Having a good bond with everyone also increases your overall party rank, which gives you access to new abilities and skills. I'm not sure if every character moment is optional, but how you react during them at least impacts how they feel about Cloud, which has larger ramifications on the overall game.

This new relationship system was probably my favorite part of the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth preview, as it fleshed out the characters in a really big way. Most importantly, it makes the world feel a lot less static as you can discover these dynamic moments through exploration. In Chapter 2, the game sets you free to explore the Kalm, which is a massive bustling town. Yes, I could have rushed to the main campaign mission marker and progressed the story. But the game's side quests and social system had me wanting to explore every inch of the map to see what I could find. Because of this, the city truly felt alive, and like I could stumble upon something new with every corner I walked down.

Witcher 3 fans that love Gwent will rejoice, as another major feature added to Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is a new card game called Queen's Blood. The game is designed around a board with three lanes moving from left to right. In my play session, I had a deck of cards with various characters in. The way the game works is you have to place a card down that matches the rank level of the open spaces on your board. To start the match, you need to place a level 1 card down, as all the spaces start out at level 1. However, based on each card's unique pattern, you can change the level of the other open spaces on your board. So, for example, a level 1 card might turn the space diagonal to it to rank 2, which then lets you put down a more powerful card. With each card you set down in your lane, its overall power ranking is higher.

The goal of Queen's Blood is to have a higher total than your opponent. When every space on the board is filled up, the game will tally up each lane's overall points and declare a winner. The game has a lot of depth and strategy, as certain characters in your deck can increase the ranking of your other cards already on the board. Like Gwent, you also unlock new cards by defeating opponents. What I really like about Queen's Blood, though, is how it's integrated into the game's world. You can find NPCs who play the card game, and the more characters you beat, the higher your Queen's Blood rank goes up, and the more opponents you gain access to.

Queen's Blood could have just been another side activity, but Square Enix went the extra mile to really give the game personality. For instance, one of my first opponents was a guy named "Crybaby Ned." The NPC literally bursts into tears and claims that the more he cries, the better he plays. The moment gave me flashbacks of being challenged by a trainer in a Pokemon game, which, I'm not gonna lie, is ridiculously awesome. Overall, Queen's Blood is a lot of fun, and I could get lost for hours just playing the TCG. It's easy enough to understand that anyone can jump in while being complex enough that veteran players who know a lot about card games will have much to sink their teeth into.

My preview of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth was the game's first five hours, so my experience was split down the middle between two sections, which gives us an idea of what we can expect in the overall game. As I mentioned earlier, Chapter 1 is a flashback section with Cloud and Sephiroth. While the section is more similar to the linear sections in Final Fantasy VII Remake, the cinematic portions of the game feel a lot bigger. For example, before you take the trek up to the Mako reactor, Cloud can explore his hometown.

Nibelheim is big and incredibly detailed. Cloud can walk into homes, explore different sections of the town, and interact with various characters. But the environments are wide and gorgeously detailed even when the game funnels you into the more linear sections of climbing up the Mako reactor. The improved levels work much better with the game's action-oriented combat, which feels less claustrophobic to Remake. For example, in the Operator Mode fighting stance, you can dodge and then launch into an aerial attack. Doing this sends Cloud hurling through the air, and you can zip around with sword slashes against enemies to juggle them. If you want to deliver more powerful attacks, you can use Punisher Mode to unleash slower sword slashes with a counterattack while blocking.

Again, anyone who played Remake will already know what I'm talking about. However, I can't stress enough how much more fluid combat feels in Rebirth because of the little improvements. And while Intergrade technically already featured Synergy abilities, they are bursting with much more personality this go around. I won't go on too much about the game's opening section, as I already covered most of it in the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth TGS preview. However, what surprised me is how much of an emotional rollercoaster Chapter 1 is. While seeing the breakdown of Cloud's relationship with Sephiroth was always expected to be heartbreaking, Square Enix uses the game's opening section and the beginning of Chapter 2 to set up various plot points that are gearing up to be real tear-jerkers.

Without giving away too much, a scene between Cloud and Tifa was really intense emotionally and had me choking back tears. There are also a lot of character moments, such as Tifa giving Aerith a back rub and hilariously striking the wrong nerve, to Barret hanging on the edge of his seat like a little kid listening to a bedtime story as Cloud retells the origins of Sephiroth's downfall. The character-building is a major step up in Rebirth, and the emotional stakes have never been higher. While Chapter 1 has more in common with the linear sections of Remake, its story feels much more cinematic.

It is Chapter 2, though, where I got to experience many of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth's new features, as it's where we first get access to the game's open world. Even before stepping foot in the Grasslands, I explored the Kalm for an hour. The massive town is filled to the brim with life. From random musicians having a musical jam session to a romantic couple confessing their love on a bridge. While not every corner of the city leads to an activity or side quest, I really appreciated the detail they put into making Kalm feel like a living, breathing city.

My preview eventually transitioned to the Grasslands, which is the first major open-world section of the game. And it's huge! My initial fear when Final Fantasy VII Rebirth was first announced is that it would suffer the empty-map problem that many modern open-world games suffer from. After all, it doesn't matter how big and detailed your open world is if there isn't actually anything to do in them. From what I played, at least, I can confirm this is not a problem in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, as the game is packed with side content and quests.

For starters, Chadley from Final Fantasy VII Remake returns, this time with an interesting twist. While the lovable NPC brings back the VR mechanic from Remake, he now has a new system called "Remnawave Towers," spread across the map. Before you panic and think this sounds like the Ubisoft climb-a-tower mechanic, I think it's handled better here. For starters, you don't actually have to find these towers to unlock your map. It's not mandatory. However, powering up these towers allows Chadley to learn more about enemies and the land, further unlocking new Materia and training. They also act as fast travel points, which is nifty.

Another quest Chadley now offers is Fiend Intel, reminiscent of the Bounty Hunts from Final Fantasy 15. As you explore the map, you will encounter special enemy bosses who have a countdown timer. Your goal is to defeat them within the limit while completing side objectives such as "Blocking" or "Staggering" an enemy. If you fail, you can revisit these spots and try as many times as you want. Finally, the most interesting thing Chadley offers is Phenomeon Intel, a multi-tiered encounter quest.

During my playthrough, I accidentally discovered a locked lighthouse that I had to break into. After finding my way into the area, I stumbled upon a group of pirates trying to hide a treasure. After a cutscene and defeating them in battle, they took off with the item, triggering a "Part 2" to the quest. I love the idea of having side quests with multiple parts and stories to them, as it gives you an incentive to zip around the map to uncover the next piece of the puzzle. While this isn't revolutionary, it's another example of how Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is going to great lengths to flesh out what could have been more simplified in other RPGs.

Even traversal is fleshed out in a fun way. Instead of unlocking your mount from a few dialogue prompts, you earn it through an interesting side story. After finding Bill's Chocobo Ranch that is on the ropes financially (a major corporation is trying to bury this family-owned business), the farmhand asked me to track down a chocobo that had escaped. This led me to an adorable stealth mini-game, where I had to dive into bushes and crouch through a pack of chocobo without them seeing me. Finally, after throwing a rock in the distance to distract it, I could hop on the chocobo to make it my mount. From a mechanical point of view, it's also really accessible that I can click a single button and immediately have Cloud and the gang riding their chocobo in seconds.

Speaking of adorable, chocobo have a lot more personality in this game compared to past releases. While riding on chocobo your mount will sometimes pick up on a smell. If you allow your pet to sniff around the area, it will trigger a treasure hunt. It's up to you to read your chocobo's body language, which can eventually lead you to a buried treasure if you figure out the right direction to run in. There are even little baby chocobo hidden throughout the map, and if you find them, they lead you to chocobo rest stops, which become fast travel points if Cloud fixes the broken signs.

One of my favorite features I experienced in the preview is the Transmuter device. After receiving it from Broden in Kalm, you can convert raw materials into items. While traversing the open-world section, I encountered a lot of raw material on the ground. Thankfully, Square Enix has made this fairly accessible, as you can automatically pick them up with a button press. You can even grab the items while riding your chocobo, so you can farm material as you sprint throughout the map. As you make more items like potions, your crafting rank levels up, giving you access to new crafting recipes. Again, you could just buy items from shops. But it's nice having the option to craft since you will be spending a lot of time in these open-world sections anyway.

So overall, what do I take away from my preview of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth? I had to think a lot about this, as the first five hours of the game were seriously packed with content and features that were almost overwhelming (in a good way). As someone who picked up Final Fantasy VII in 1998, I am truly blown away by how much Square Enix has fleshed out these beloved characters. I think what has stayed with me the most since I played the first five hours is how much I already care about Cloud's relationships with the rest of the cast. More than anything else, I want to jump back into the game to see how these relationships change over the course of the story.

From a purely mechanical point of view, however, I also think Final Fantasy VII Rebirth nails the open-world design. I think most fans will be really pleased with the balance they found with this game in terms of the RPG features, combat mechanics, and item crafting. Even more than Remake, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth truly captures the magic and the spirit of the classic PlayStation One title. I can't wait to dive back into the title and see if the level of detail and scope that I saw in the first five hours is consistent throughout the entire campaign. And I'm also interested to see how they balance the more cinematic chapters which are more linear. If the Nibelheim section is anything to go by, I think we are looking at what could be one of Square Enix's best games in years.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will be released on PlayStation 5 on February 29, 2024.

The post Preview: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Breathes New Life Into Old Characters appeared first on Siliconera.

You sort of think that once the second and third versions of a game appear, one of those is probably the “best” version of it. Yet somehow, that isn’t the case here. I feel like Persona 3 Reload is the best version of Persona 3 so far. (Though yes, I do still have issues with Tartarus and the erasure of the female protagonist Kotone.)

There’s a hidden hour of every day. Most people don’t realize it, but a select few can actually sense and take part during this 25th hour that comes just between 11:59pm and 12:00am. Players follow a young man who is a newcomer to Tatsumi Port Island and transfer student. He ends up arriving during said Dark Hour, in a dorm with other students who share his potential and fight during it, and eventually joining their Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad (SEES) group to fight the hostile Shadow enemies and hopefully end the Dark Hour and Apathy Syndrome spreading throughout the town. This is done while also going through a year of ordinary high school life, complete with classes and tests, interacting with other students, and activities like gardening, using computer software, and taking on part-time jobs.

There’s a great balance between school life and dungeon diving in Persona 3 Reload, just as there was in past entries. Every full moon, you know there will be a major Shadow boss fight. Shortly after, another blockade in the dungeon Tartarus will open allowing access to a block of floors. So during the day, you attend classes, socialize, visit shops, and take part in activities. At night, you can go with SEES to the tower to tackle some floors or rescue folks that wandered in or, well, also socialize and visit a few locations that are open. It’s very well balanced, and I never felt any sort of pressure like there wasn’t enough time to get through the latest block of floors in Tartarus or manage my schedule. Though of course, there is the whole thing still that you probably won’t get through every social link in your first run unless you’re very smart. Especially since there are new side-stories.

Said side stories feel like a means of adding new insight into members of SEES and some other characters you’ll meet in the second half of the game. It isn’t like they’re the exact Persona 3 Portable Kotone route stories somehow awkwardly adapted for Makoto, the male protagonist, either. They’re genuinely interesting storylines you can choose to pursue, and I appreciated their inclusion. It really makes up for the fact that certain people didn’t have social links with the male protagonist and feel like they filled a gap. I mean, we’re all living together and we’re supposedly friends. So of course there’d be times when we’d hang out together and bond, and Persona 3 Reload is good at showing how these quieter, homier moments might look.

This also applies to the new dorm activities. While things like browsing the computer and using software are a solo affair, others are or can be social. After planting items in the rooftop garden, you can tend them with a SEES ally. You can cook with someone. You can watch TV together. There’s a chance to read together. Doing all this helps boost your social stats like Charm, Courage, and Academics, just like other daily life activities like studying, choosing certain options during classes, taking on part time jobs, or spending time at the arcade, karaoke, or movies. Which helps with gaining access to certain features or social links and scoring well on tests. But it also means earning skills for characters and seeing insight into who they are.

As for the dungeon crawling, running through Tartarus is the same as usual. Floors are mostly randomly generated, though a few do have the same determined layout each time. There are Monad Passages you can access, taking you to stronger than usual enemies and special rewards at the end. This is essentially the integration of the Monad concept from Persona 3 FES, and I like its execution better here. You can end up getting Twilight Fragments to unlock special chests with better rewards and equipment, both from finding them around town or being social during the daytime hours. There are also mechanics like floors that are entirely dark, enemies behaving unusually, and items you can smash in dungeons to get more materials or Twilight Fragments. 

All battles are turn-based, as usual. Your goal is to hit enemies’ weaknesses while protecting your own, so you can knock opponents down, get an extra turn, and perhaps even knock everyone down for an all out attack. You can directly control allies or assign them roles. We can shift to allies after hitting a weakness or landing a critical hit, to take advantage of their skillset, and people gradually fill a gauge that allows them to perform Theurgy limit breaks against foes. Also, as is typical in a Persona title, you can get more Personas after each fight, then fuse them in the Velvet Room to equip on the main character to extend his ability reach, alter stats, and build up resistances. 

However, there are times when I felt this remake missed the mark. One of the big ones is the exclusion of the female protagonist, especially given Atlus' refusal to offer that option since the original Persona 3 Portable. More importantly is this could have been a chance to help improve the execution and design of Tartarus itself. Given the number of floors here, I found it a tedious chore by the time I reached November. I can tell there are design decisions here to try and mitigate that. The Occasional Monad opportunities and floor experience variations due to certain events and enemy types do feel designed to make it feel more diverse. Still, there's only so much that can be done when that's how the dungeon always is and was and the existing nature of the often brief, repetitive floors. It feels designed to emphasize that the dungeon is "big," and that can be to its deteriment. By the time I got to the last fourth of it, especially since played I Persona 3 Portable again not long ago, I was just done.

Also, while I appreciate the Great Clock as a chance to help characters we aren't using catch up in terms of levels, maybe now we're at a point when developers ditch the whole "if someone isn't in your immediate party, they don't gain any experience" thing. Especially since here we have situations where someone could be forced to sit things out for a while due to the story. I appreciate that this new function is here and that it exists is a step in the right direction, but come on and just give those people waiting on the first floor EXP too, Atlus.

But if there’s one way in which it is unquestionably unfailing, it is the artistic direction and execution. Persona 3 Reload looks as stylish as ever. Especially with the new Theurgy attacks and animated segments that happen at major moments in battle and throughout the story. Everyone looks great, locations are faithfully resurrected, and I loved exploring different parts of town and school. 

Not to mention the rewind function is surprisingly useful! You get five time periods you can "roll back" to, in case you change your mind about scheduling or realize you missed something. I do wish it went back a bit further in time -- perhaps offering one slot for each day for the last five days -- instead of going to the last few "free roaming" periods, but it is still quite a welcome addition.

While I miss the female protagonist and the dungeon-crawling element may feel a bit dated once you're in the home stretch, Persona 3 Reload is a joy to play and offers everything I could want from it. The new features are implemented seamlessly and perfectly, while also capturing some elements from FES and Portable. I appreciated the opportunity to return to Tatsumi Port Island again.

Persona 3 Reload will come to the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC on February 2, 2024.

The post Review: Persona 3 Reload Is the Best Version of Persona 3 appeared first on Siliconera.

Nearly three decades after its release in 1996, the Super Mario RPG remake gives the classic a much-deserved second chance on the Nintendo Switch. The off-beat project from Square and Nintendo not only holds up with its witty humor and quirky level design, but I think people will find it's better than they remember.

When Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars originally launched on the SNES, the game's risky genre mashup was pretty mind-blowing for many players. However, some may consider it something of a hidden gem, despite being responsible for spawning other beloved role-playing series' such as Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi. The Super Mario RPG remake on the Nintendo Switch is a faithful adaptation of the cult classic while reimagining the entire game from the ground up with gorgeous high-definition graphics that breathe new life into this creative take on the side-scrolling plumber.

I first encountered Super Mario RPG when I was eight years old. While visiting my uncle's house in 1996, I accidentally stumbled across the SNES cartridge while rummaging through his room and was completely perplexed by its strange artwork. Decades later, I am shocked by how well the game's story still holds up. In particular, Super Mario RPG has a hilarious script that had me constantly bursting into laughter. One of the game's opening scenes perfectly sums this up. Mario celebrates his swift victory after defeating Bowser in battle. However, King Koopa decides that if he's going to go down, he's going to take his rival with him and cuts down his chandelier too. Both characters then burst into tears as they plummet to their peril. Super Mario RPG's snappy humor is rapid-fire at every turn in the plot, and this is the funniest the franchise has been in years.

In the game, players get to control the Nintendo mascot in turn-based combat. On the surface, the battle mechanic has the standard physical attacks, magic spells, and items. However, what surprised me is how engaging the battle system is, despite being 26 years old. Whenever you use a move against an enemy, you can double your damage if you press the attack button at the right time. However, every attack and magical spell has a unique animation, so it's not as easy as it sounds to work out the timing. You can also block all incoming damage from enemies if you press the defense button a second before your foe lands a hit on you. This system kept me engaged and on the edge of my seat throughout the game's campaign. Also, because enemy types constantly change, Super Mario RPG keeps you on your toes with the mechanics.

Combat in Super Mario RPG is incredibly fun. If you successfully time your attacks, you damage all enemies simultaneously while having a random chance of filling up your health or magic meter. Certain battles can even end with a random minigame, during which you can double your experience points or coins. In an adorable shuffle game, you must guess which egg baby Yoshi hides in as an example. These battle gimmicks create a fresh take on the traditional RPG formula, which results in combat never feeling tedious. The quirky systems also extend to the game's overworld, as hidden chests and various secret interactions are a joy to engage with. For a game made in 1996, you can tell how much love Square put into creating a unique fleshed-out world for their crossover project with Nintendo.

Super Mario RPG also strikes an interesting balance in that it's deep enough for veteran RPG players to enjoy, while not being too complicated for casual fans new to the genre. For example, the game has a pretty straightforward level-up system. After reaching enough points, you only have to choose between Physical, HP, and Magic stats. You power up your characters primarily by unlocking new armor and weapons. This split system allows you to fix your characters at any time if they become underpowered because of their stats. I also think the equipment system is more rewarding, as I was always looking forward to finding a new city or hidden chest to improve my character.

In Super Mario RPG, the Mushroom Kingdom is thrown into despair when the monstrous sword Exor crashes into Bowser's Castle. In an exciting twist, Mario is not going on another adventure to rescue Princess Peach for the millionth time. Instead, he gets to team up with Bowser, Peach, and newcomers Mallow and Geno to repair Star Road and defeat the nefarious Smithy Gang.

While the plot is not deep, its vibrant cast of characters and quirky story make it one of the best Super Mario campaigns in the franchise's history. Super Mario RPG also features some of the most diverse level designs since the release of Super Mario World in 1990. Whether it is a rocky mountain town run by mole miners or a tropical pond inhabited by dancing tadpoles, every section of the campaign is packed with quirky locations.

Speaking of quirky, Super Mario RPG is also one of the weirdest games in the long-running franchise. You can feel the influence of Square on this project, as the iconic Japanese studio was not afraid to create bizarre enemy designs. While playing the remake on the Switch, I was in awe of how weird the game was willing to get. Seriously, you get to take on a top-hat-wearing dinosaur and a four-eyed cat with a long tongue. This game often feels more like a Final Fantasy game, and it's all the more interesting because of it.

Regarding accessibility, Super Mario RPG has a Breezy or Normal difficulty setting. Breezy is the game's Easy Mode, which substantially scales back its challenging battles. Players not used to RPGs can comfortably jump into the campaign with this mode without any issues. On the other hand, Normal Mode offers a pretty decent challenge, as the game has various difficulty spikes throughout the story. During my playthrough, I had to spend a few hours grinding because I hadn't leveled enough and was getting easily defeated by late-game bosses.

The only thing I would caution some players against is relying too much on the game's Easy mode. I think it's an excellent accessibility option and will allow players of all ages to engage with the role-playing game. However, I found the mode to be a bit too simple when I tried it. Thankfully, Nintendo allows you to toggle the mode on or off anytime. So, if you find yourself getting stuck on a boss or feel like the game is becoming too challenging, you can easily switch it on. But I just found that leaving Easy mode on for too long can be detrimental, as your characters become overpowered quickly and you will start to snowball enemies. So, if you specifically want a challenge, just be mindful not to leave the more accessible setting on for too long.

Super Mario RPG is also gorgeous. Although the remake carefully re-creates every pixel of the original game, Square's offbeat designs and use of vibrant colors stand out in the HD reimagining. Super Mario RPG specifically looks lovely on the Switch OLED, as its colors jump from the screen. This is particularly true during the Triple Move group attack segments in combat, which trigger a beautiful cutscene of Mario and his party members coming together to create a devastating attack. Because the game meticulously re-creates the game faithfully, I feel this is a rare case where the remake is better than the original. Instead of overhauling everything to modern standards,it keeps the game's original art direction intact and is more of a restoration showcasing what the game was always meant to look like.

Super Mario RPG breathes new life into an SNES classic, allowing players to re-experience one of Mario's most unique and adventurous titles on the Switch. The remake is an accessible entry point for newcomers to the role-playing genre while offering a challenge for veteran players. Despite being decades old, Super Mario RPG still holds up today with its witty humor and hilarious story. The game's engaging combat and quirky battle systems also make this one of the best games in the Mario franchise.

Super Mario RPG will be available on the Nintendo Switch on November 17, 2023.

The post Review: Super Mario RPG Lets a Classic Shine on the Switch appeared first on Siliconera.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth continues the story of the critically acclaimed Final Fantasy VII Remake, which was released in 2020. In the highly-anticipated sequel, Square Enix expands beyond the walls of Midgar as Cloud and his gang explore a vast open world in search of Sephiroth. With Final Fantasy VII Rebirth setting its sights on a more ambitious scope, it seems like an opportunity for the remake RPG to deliver on the same reimagining treatment that we experienced with part one.

Editor’s Note: This preview was based on a special Final Fantasy VII Remake build made for media to experience, and its contents may differ from the final version.

The Final Fantasy VII Rebirth preview demo I played was split into two sections. In part one, the story follows a younger Cloud and Sephiroth as they team up with Tifa to investigate a Mako Reactor on Mt. Nibel. Imagine my surprise when it was revealed that Sephiroth is a playable character in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth! The powerful 1st Class SOLDIER has two modes in combat: Retaliation and Slash. In Retaliation, Sephiroth redirects and reflects attacks that come his way when timed correctly. Square Enix delivered on capturing the fan-favorite character's power in this session, as I was able to quickly fly around the screen to unleash absolute terror against enemies with his blade. The Retaliation stance offers an interesting defensive contrast, which allowed me to slow down battles when I needed to counter stronger enemies.

One of the first things that became apparent to me in the demo is how much combat in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth improved compared to 2020's Remake. One of the stand-out mechanics is the new Synergy Skills feature, which sees you combining attacks with other members of your party. Not only does this add cinematic moments to combat, but it makes you feel more connected to the characters. Each Synergy Ability has a unique combination, and the ones I saw are oozing with personality. For example, the demo featured a duo ability that has Sephiroth leading Cloud into battle as the two pair their attacks together. The special attack thematically has a doe-eyed Cloud listening to his mentor's every word as he is still learning the ropes. This Synergy system adds a lot of personality to the game and gives you more options to strategize with your team in instead of just spamming one character in combat.

Although the Mt. Nibel mission was more linear, it was very similar to many sections in Final Fantasy VII Remake in that it included dynamic level exploration, hidden chests, and puzzles. As I followed my guide Tifa up the mountain, I found myself constantly wandering off the beaten path to find items and to take in the breathtaking landscapes. The demo quest ended with Cloud and Sephiroth being attacked by a giant Mako Guardian. In Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Square Enix has expanded further on Remake's boss fights by making these encounters more dynamic. For example, after dishing out enough damage to the giant creature, the Guardian jumped to the ceiling. To knock it down, I had to switch to Sephiroth and use his ranged attacks, as he is better at reaching greater heights than Cloud. Using his iconic blade, I then unleashed a flurry of slashes on each leg of the boss until he was sent tumbling down to the ground.

Compared to Remake, I felt like Final Fantasy VII Rebirth really encourages you to use your entire team. Whether it was the returning ATB charge abilities, spells, or the new Synergy Skills, I had to utilize every tool in my combat arsenal to come out on top of the Mt. Nibel boss battle. However, the Synergy system really was the star of the demo for me. After saving up enough energy, the one-click combo moves injected these epic moments into the battles I faced while also giving me a glimpse of the character's personalities and relationships with one another. It also just opens a lot of strategy options in combat, and I am interested to see how it's further developed in the final version of the game.

The second demo I played took place in an open-world section of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. In the quest, Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, Barret, and Red XIII set off on their journey to reach Junon. Final Fantasy fans who love Chocobos are in for a treat, as the adorable birds play a big role in Rebirth. With the click of a button, Cloud and his friends are able to call a Chocobo mount to their location instantly. The riding system in the game feels very fluid and allows you to cover a lot of ground quickly. Although the demo had a main quest marker, I quickly wanted to explore every nook and cranny of the map.

Thankfully, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth's open world seemed filled to the brim with side content. On my adventure to Junon, I stumbled upon Fiend Sightings. These are high-level enemies and mini-boss fights scattered throughout the map. In each encounter, there are a handful of objectives you can complete in the battle, such as Staggering Enemies or Defeating Every Enemy in a set time. The more objectives you complete, the better rewards you get. If you fail any objective, you can actually go back and re-try any fiend encounter you have defeated. Fans of Final Fantasy XV's Hunts will feel right at home with the new creature mechanic.

Another side quest I discovered involved the Choco Bus stops. Throughout the map, there are little baby Chocobos that chirp at you. If you follow them, they will eventually lead you to a Chocobo Bus Stop sign that has been knocked over. Fixing the signs will reward you with the Golden Plume Choco Currency, which can be exchanged for armor and items. Another reward? You get to watch Cloud kneel on the ground and pet the baby Chocobo. Yes, it's as adorable as it sounds! Even better is that the signs you fix can become fast travel points, which really speeds up traversal.

Chocobo aren't just simple mounts in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth either, as Square Enix has given them some interesting extra features in the sequel. I was walking around the outskirts of Junon when my mount suddenly stopped in its tracks after smelling nearby treasure. Following my Chocobo's scent then led me to a chest that was hidden in the overworld. I also stumbled upon a Chocobo Farm, which allowed me to customize the armor pieces I had on my mount. I don't know if the apparel actually has an impact on stats or is purely cosmetic, but Rebirth is going a long way to really flesh out Chocobo.

While traversing Final Fantasy VII Rebirth's open world, you will also find resources scattered around the world. After picking them up, you can then use the material to craft new items. During my playthrough, I was able to quickly craft potions and items that buff my character's damage on the fly. If you aren't the biggest fan of crafting, the system is really accessible and can be done with just a few clicks. You are also able to pick up resources while riding your Chocobo, which gives you another reason to explore every inch of the map.

Speaking of accessibility, Rebirth has a nifty feature that lets you switch between pre-set teams with a simple click. At the start of my open-world demo, I was given the option to choose which team I wanted to take out into the overworld map. Just like the Synergy system, Square Enix has again continued to encourage players to use every member of their team by making it as easy as possible. Given how important each character is to the Final Fantasy VII story, the new team accessibility options are a welcome change that makes team-building everyone can engage with. And given just how unique and epic Synergy moves are, you will want to use as many different combinations as possible. One of my favorite moments in the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Demo was Cloud teaming up with Aerith to use her magic to create a fireworks-like move.

The second part of the demo ended with us eventually arriving at the seaside village of Junon, where Cloud encounters Yuffie. The hilariously sweet scene is short-lived after the terrifying boss, the Terror of the Deep, reveals itself. This section's boss was much more difficult than Mt. Nibel's Materia Guardian. I was really having to use every member of my team to take on the sea creature. Whether it was Cloud's Triple Slash, Tifa's uppercut, or Aerith's healing, this was a team effort to bring the boss fight down.

As someone who recently re-played Final Fantasy VII Intergrade in preparation for this preview, it became really clear to me just how much more improved combat has become in Rebirth. In every encounter I've experienced so far, this is a much more challenging game that really puts an emphasis on utilizing multiple characters' abilities during the flow of combat. Although Remake had a robust combat system, it was all too easy to just stick to playing as Cloud the entire game while letting AI control your team. If this preview demo is anything to go by, we are going to be using every member of the Final Fantasy VIII Rebirth cast a lot, and the sequel is all the better for it.

I ended up walking away from the demo feeling very confident in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. It is in every way an improvement over its predecessor while still living up to the gorgeous high-definition reimagining that Remake gave us. It's just bigger and better. While I was salivating every second, I got to play as Sephiroth, the biggest grin I had on my face came when Cloud and his friends were just riding around on their Chocobo in the dusty open world region heading to Junon. The most important aspect of the original 1997 Final Fantasy VII was the cast. And in this regard, Rebirth has really gone to great lengths to make the beloved characters the star of the show. I can't wait to take an adventure with them when the game launches next year.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will release on PlayStation 5 on February 29, 2024. The exclusivity arrangement ends on May 29, 2024.

The post Preview: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Has a Promising Open World appeared first on Siliconera.

Fire ravages a planet far flung at the edge of the universe, roiling over its surface and casting everything in a thick layer of ash. What many would consider to be a desolate hunk of rock, not capable of human life, is the center of conflict in a universe embroiled in an endless war thanks to corporate entities that feed on this perpetual strife. This planet, Rubicon, is where Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon is set, and where you assume the role of a mercenary unfit for a callsign. While the game begins with a fair enough amount of exposition to throw you into the thick of things, it serves as a perfect introduction to the series for newcomers, and is almost like a familiar, welcome embrace for those returning to the long dormant series. But what it is above all else is a triumphant show of finesse for FromSoftware in more ways than one.

You hit the ground running and begin your first mission, a general tutorial on the hunt for the remains of a Core, to take the identity of its dead pilot. After shooting your way through a dilapidated tower and defeating an extremely well-armed helicopter, you find what you’re looking and assume the role of Raven. Though while the world at large may call you Raven, Handler Walter continues to refer to you as 621. It is the callsign you bore at the beginning of the game, when you were nothing but nameless hunk of flesh strapped into your first Armored Core.

This is who you remain at your core, regardless of what faction you choose to side with, giving the player some illusion of autonomy in the struggle for Rubicon. Because while you can ultimately decide the fate of the planet as it is effectively torn to pieces and mined for Coral, an invaluable resource to the dominating military corporations of the universe, you are a mercenary at the end of the day. You're beholden to your own whims and those of your employer, be they part of the military industrial complex or not. You're just a cog in the system, ground to dust in the military industrial complex that's stretched outward into the very depths of space.

What this means for Rubicon is entirely up to you, as Armored Core VI is spread across five chapters. The total length of the game will vary vastly between players, mostly because boss fights can be particularly arduous if you’re like me and refuse to adapt to the way Armored Core VI wants to be played.

Each chapter consists of more than a handful of missions. Missions can last anywhere from a handful of minutes to potentially hours, depending how effective you are at them, and are constrained to small individual zones. Armored Core VI doesn’t boast an open world and is probably better for it. Some missions require you to take out enemy Armored Cores or deal with turrets that prevent the faction you are currently aligned with from strengthening their individual hold on Rubicon. These missions, while sometimes challenging, make you feel especially powerful. I tore my way through swaths of enemies to locate my objective with HI-32: BU-TT/A Pulse Blade — which I feel is the best weapon in the game due to its high stagger damage and general output. Others are boss fights that will no doubt test any seasoned FromSoftware veteran and those unfamiliar with the rhythmic combat of Sekiro or aggressive playstyle of Bloodborne. Both of those games are my favorite FromSoftware titles, and I still struggled even until the later hours of my playthrough.

I will say that Armored Core VI left my hands hurting after some fights, and I did need to put my controller down to take breaks. Despite this, the game still felt fair, even during its most trying moments. I understood why I was dying, even if my resources were relatively limited in terms of healing (which can be upgraded, but only to some degree). Armored Core VI always gave me the options to change my weapons and modify my Armored Core before missions or before checkpoints if I had died. Additionally, you can sell parts for the same price you purchased them, which means less grinding to acquire new parts of your Core or even Arms, which is in-universe slang for your weapons. So you can experiment at a whim, with little to no repercussions, as the game wants you to play around with different builds. At times, it even demands it. Especially since Armored Core VI has three different types of damage you can experiment with through various Arms, with some more effective than others. There is one constant players should keep in mind, however, and that’s stagger damage. Fights are a delicate balance between dealing damage and building your enemies stagger bar, and managing your own alongside your stamina.

Since fights take place in a 3D environment, with you able to boost in the air, combat is incredibly dynamic. This is something you’ll need to keep in mind when avoiding attacks that will build your stagger bar, effectively stunning you long enough to possibly kill you in a single hit. Staggering also opens up windows to deal massive damage to enemies, which is what you want to focus your own combos around, be it swiping at them with your pulse blade, shooting a flurry of rockets at them, or using high powered canons.

That said, you can brute force fights. It’s what I did, but left me slamming my head against a proverbial brick wall for upwards of three hours. Specifically, this happened in one fight that happened roughly halfway through, since I was determined to use the pulse blade and shotgun with no shield in combination with a light Frame. This meant I was extremely vulnerable and would die from almost every missile barrage shot my way. But once I was able to find my tempo and got some vague idea of what was killing me — even if it was my own hubris — I was able to overcome the challenge and continue my job as a hand for hire.

In relation to accessibility options, players can fully customize keybinds for keyboard and for controllers. I wasn’t sure if this would be available, but was pleasantly surprised to see that FromSoftware not only allows for multiple control schemes, but also custom ones you can set up yourself. There aren’t any available difficulty modes, however, or even Arms and Frames that potentially make the game easier. This may prove daunting to some who want to get in the robot, or turn them off entirely due to Armored Core VI’s steep difficulty curve that ramps up as early as chapter one.

On the more technical side of things, Armored Core VI’s performance is incredible. I ran the game on a high-end machine touting a 3070Ti, and a gaming laptop with the minimum specs required. Naturally, the game looked phenomenal on the higher-end machine, with each spray of bullets from the muzzle of my rifle punctuated with pops of yellow light, but it looked just as good on my laptop. The UI was a little hard to read, admittedly, though I ended up hooking my laptop up to a 60 inch screen to see how it’d look. Again, I wasn’t disappointed. The game ran perfectly with no frame drops, no lag of any kind, and no screen tearing. The only issue was that it was a bit slow to load at first on my laptop, but after that initial boot it was fine. There were also only one instance of crashing, but that was mostly because my machine is a bit old and my fans have given up the ghost.

It’s hard to find a single thing wrong with Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon. Its narrative, while more or less passively told through data logs you can find on missions and spoken at you through your Handler and by those under employ by various corporate and non-corporate factions, is spectacular. It takes a page out of some of the best anti-war sentiments found in the Gundam series, for example. The game isn’t exactly subtle about it either, as resistance members on Rubicon call you a corporate dog and Core pilots from other military organizations hiss insults at you with their dying breath. The music is incredible, and I actually found myself turning down the in-game effects just to hear the hypnotic and sometimes oppressive electronic score. I can’t wait for it to be available through streaming services, just so I can have it on repeat. And the game is gorgeous, even if time spent in areas are relatively limited due to the game’s mission based structure.

Armored Core VI may be the best game FromSoftware has made to date, building upon already solid foundations from Sekiro and Dark Souls and further innovating on the punishing combat the developer is known for. It’s a complete product, with very little hitches in terms of performance even on lower end machines that meet its minimum requirements. With its interesting narrative and anti-war sentiment, it’s a game that I’d recommend to anyone who enjoys the mecha genre or is a die-hard FromSoftware fan.

Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon will come to the PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, and PC on August 25, 2023.

The post Review: Armored Core VI Is a Testament to FromSoftware’s Craft appeared first on Siliconera.

Baldur's Gate was an intrinsic part of my childhood, being one of the first games I ever played (and one that helped me learn and navigate the English language). Too young to purchase games of my own, as I was only six years old when the original Baldur's Gate came out, it was part of my father's extensive collection of Dungeons & Dragons PC games. Despite its rating, my parents were kind enough to let me play the first game in the Bhaalspawn Saga. Once my father spotted my interest in what The Forgotten Realms had to offer, he gave me three books that I would quickly learn were prequels to the games. Their covers were well worn and covered in illustrations typical for the era they released in — men in deep cut tunics with their arms bared and women scantily clad in robes — and I was super excited to see that Baldur's Gate 3 had some clothing sets reminiscent of what I can only describe as 80s fantasy novel cover chic.

While certain outfits in Baldur's Gate 3 definitely feel inspired by more modern games like Dragon Age (specifically the Scale Mail you can acquire fairly early on), the clothing characters were at camp feel deeply inspired by the aforementioned 80s fantasy novel covers. To be more specific, TSR covers. TSR published loads of novels set in The Forgotten Realms, which is the campaign scenario where Baldur's Gate 3 takes place. Each of these covers featured stereotypical designs for hallmark characters like Drow Ranger Drizzt Do'Urden and the Human Barbarian Wulfgar, which sampled heavily from those 80's fantasy designs seen in Conan the Barbarian and the like. So it's really cool to see some of these outfits call back to the early era of The Forgotten Realms.

It's definitely nostalgia that makes me appreciate these choices, even if my Human Wizard doesn't look all that great in some of the more risqué attire like Minthara's at Ease Clothes (which you can see above, and I quickly changed him out of and tossed in the stash). I love the bulky silhouette and the deep v-cut. And I love the plunging neckline in Shadowheart's casual attire while she's back at camp, just because it reminds me of those book covers.

I personally wish Gale had something comparable, but it's nice to see that Wyll have his arms out and have a bit of his stomach showing so it doesn't feel as selective. These outfits are also optional and are hidden under the armor worn by the characters, so you can absolutely change them out if they're not to your taste, or want to swap up whatever they're wearing at camp. Or you can even hide the armor to see these outfits at any and all time!

Overall, I'm just the glad the option is there, even if not everyone will agree with the designs of these outfits. It reminds me cracking open R.A. Salvatore's The Legacy of the Drow series and how I'd marvel at those covers as I ran my fingers over the embossed title and The Forgotten Realms logo. If anything, Larian Studios has done a great job at harkening to the source material of Baldur's Gate, even if it's just in aesthetic alone.

Baldur’s Gate 3 is available for the PC and will release for PS5 on September 6, 2023.

The post Baldur’s Gate 3 Let Me Dress Like an 80s Fantasy Novel Cover and I Love That appeared first on Siliconera.

Final Fantasy XVI is without question a great game, but after about 45 hours with it, I can't help but think it often isn't great at being a Final Fantasy game. There are interesting concepts here, especially with how it approaches some familiar elements from the series. I love some of the characters. However it can feel more like a spin-off or original IP borrowing elements, to the point where I'd almost say Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origins feels more like a mainline installment than it does. It's absolutely technically impressive and I have no doubt many will consider it their game of the year as 2023 draws to a close. However in terms of Final Fantasy as a whole, I suspect it will be a more divisive entry like Final Fantasy XIII or XV. 

For all of its political intrigue, Final Fantasy XVI is first and foremost the story of Clive Rosfield. It begins with him as a teenager, training to become First Shield of Rosaria and protect his little brother and Rosaria’s next-in-line to rule Joshua. However, life doesn’t always go as we expect. As such, we follow him during important moments in his life, which also happen to be ones that help shape the course of Valisthea’s history.

The early life of Clive begins like Jon Snow’s with the Stark’s family at Winterfell. He’s training, just as the Stark children did. They’re all together. Even his pet Torgal is essentially filling the role of a Direwolf. Like Jon Snow, Clive’s mother favors another child over him. Joshua isn’t well, much like Bran ends up as the injured underdog. Clive is destined for a life of duty as a Shield, which feels like a similar path of service like the Night’s Watch. Goetz feels like a Hodor character, right down to carrying someone on his back immediately after appearing. Shades of Cersei Lannister appear in Benedikta and Clive’s mother Anabella. There are other similarities, to be sure, though those fall into the realm of spoilers.

[caption id="attachment_967559" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Square Enix[/caption]

This means that while earlier installments like FFIV, FFVI, FFIX, and FFXV felt like they offered wholly unique stories, Final Fantasy XVI seems like it sacrifices some of its originality to be more like Game of Thrones. Perhaps if someone doesn't have an awareness of George R. R. Martin’s series, they'll enjoy and appreciate some characters here more. But if you do have that knowledge, the similarities can sometimes be overwhelming and overshadow people's finer points. This is especially true in its first half.

Also, I can't help feeling that the team behind Final Fantasy XVI treats most women in its cast particularly poorly. Jill should feel stronger, given how prominently placed she is at Clive's side as an ally... but instead she's often just "there." I felt like I knew another NPC who appeared in multiple cutscenes in the latter half of the game far better. With Benedikta, it feels like the team was so desperate to make her into a femme fatale that the characterization is quite off. It jumps from stereotype to stereotype with no time to settle down. (Perhaps having more women in the cast would have helped with that and prevented out-of-character moments?) The same goes for Anabella. But then, at least these three immediately are named cast members, unlike one recurring, seemingly-important woman who is only labeled as an “attendant” to another character for quite some time. The three women I felt I knew best were three of the supporting cast, with only one featuring strongly in the story. This entry makes me wonder if we'll ever see a new mainline entry with strong female leads like Final Fantasy V, VI, or XIII again. 

I will say that once the team at Square Enix does get into original concepts, such as lore behind the Mothercrystals, Dominants, Eikons, Bearers, and Fallen, Final Fantasy XVI is fascinating. I was absolutely engrossed whenever I could explore a ruin, learn more about how crystals work here, and would get to see insight into various Dominant’s lifestyles. You can tell the team working on the game possesses some serious writing chops, and this is especially exemplified after you get to about the halfway point. It’s just a shame that couldn’t come through more in the earlier hours. Because when it starts getting good, it made me want to share what I’d learned with others and explore it more. I was genuinely excited about it and it didn't feel like, "Well, I can tell which episode of Game of Thrones inspired this element."

[caption id="attachment_967555" align="alignnone" width="1200"] FINAL FANTASY XVI © 2023 SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved.
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Keeping track of everything is also helped by being able to press the touchpad at any time to bring up a lore library. However, because the focus is so tightly on Clive, that means a lot of character details and important information does remain buried in those written entries. I appreciate it is there and valuable, but I also can’t help thinking the team at Square Enix isn’t doing a very good job of “showing,” if I have to go into those records to for the team to "tell" me more about people instead of seeing that come up during cutscenes, quests, and story segments. I wish I didn’t feel like I’d be missing out if I didn’t go looking for more information, breaking up a scene to do so.

While the story can bury some interesting points and force you to look for them, the battle system is always on display. Ahead of launch, Final Fantasy XVI's combat was compared to Devil May Cry, and it is incredibly apt. Pulling together combos via standard and magic attacks, as well as Eikonic abilities (with cooldowns) is critical. You want to juggle enemies with your hits, to launch them up in the air, perhaps keep them there with additional hits, then send them back to the ground. Not to mention now Clive's Limit Break functions more like a Devil Trigger than a special attack. (It's just missing a "Smokin' Sexy Style" when you do "well.") More formidable foes can be staggered, with you getting a little relief from their assault when you break their guard to the halfway point and a full reprieve when they are broken, stunned, and temporarily defenseless. Which is to say it in no way feels like an RPG or even action-RPG, if you were somehow still hoping for that. 

However, it is incredibly tight and well-built. Chaining together combinations is a joy, and it’s even more fun once you have at least three Eikons so you can really experiment. I do wish that would happen sooner, because it feels like it can take a while to really dole out those extra abilities. This means you don't get to really customize Clive's moveset until you've invested a substantial amount of time into the game. The Eikons are incredibly cool and useful in most fights, and I was delighted when I could take advantage of those abilities. There are so many combinations you can eventually work with, and the ones you equip let you create a Clive who could focus on ranged attacks or be more in the enemy's face. Also, since you can reset skills immediately, you're never penalized for experimenting. The "Timely" accessories for beginners also work quite well, and I could see them making the combat system far more accessible for people who aren't as familiar with the genre.

However, while I do love how Final Fantasy XVI handles summons, I do wish their battles offered a bit more punch. The thing about the Eikon fights is that they seem designed to feel momentous, and they do! There are a few in the latter half that left me stunned. But some can be a little too scripted to offer any real gravitas. In a few, I felt it was more about the experience, rather than an actual challenge, with QTE segments carrying quite a bit of weight for advancing the battle and dealing damage. I get why they are there, and these encounters are important from a storytelling perspective. Just the fights themselves are more flashy than about additional displays of skill. It was weird to feel like, “Okay, I pressed this button for the QTE, now I can sit and watch for a minute or two.” In one match-up, I also had multiple moments where it seemed like I did all the damage I could possibly do, the health bar wasn’t decreasing any further, and I needed to wait for the next cutscene and QTE accompanying it before I could continue making real progress.

[caption id="attachment_967558" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Square Enix[/caption]

I suppose this ties in to the game’s general progression as well. If Final Fantasy XVI reminded me of any installment, I’d say it is Final Fantasy XIII. While the stages and areas I’d explore were certainly more expressive than Cocoon and we do have a handful of area maps that are more open, many of them can feel straightforward and about getting from point A to point B. Run. Fight a battle that may or may not be optional. Run past glimmering items to get incredibly common drops like potions, sharp fangs, magicked ash, and maybe 2 gil. Hit a quest marker. Watch a scene. Run a bit. Fight. Repeat. In some spaces, I might happen upon a person with a sidequest, which could usually be accomplished by talking to certain folks or fighting specific enemies when I hit a spot down the road. If it was a really considerate sidequest, an additional person would be at the end so I wouldn’t have to backtrack to report the results while continuing the mainline mission.

Also, the lack of sidequests surprised me. To be clear, there are some present. They can really help flesh out the characters and the world. There were even times when I appreciated the bonuses they unlocked. But so many only gave me 20-30 more of a common item I’d already been inundated with after performing a fetch quest or running off to defeat some monster. I suppose I was hoping for more substance to them. Or to see more in the list when I'd visit the hideaway and check in at the hub to see if any more accumulated in different regions. But I felt like the bulk of them appeared after I was 75% through the game and I was ready to wrap things up.

Even so, I will say the general gameplay loop and performance never falters. I played Final Fantasy XVI with the focus on graphics. Loading times were nonexistent between areas. I didn’t encounter a single bug or error. The only time there was ever any pause is when I’d tab between the Journal and Map in the main menu. Everything feeds into itself quite well. While I may have wanted more from sidequests, I can’t deny it was satisfying to go through each story mission’s routine.

[caption id="attachment_967560" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Square Enix[/caption]

As someone who, well, plays games and writes about them for a living, I can't help but be impressed by Final Fantasy XVI. It's gorgeous, is a AAA title with no bugs that I noticed at launch, features a tight battle system that gets great once you have three Eikons, and does go some interesting places with its story when it isn't borrowing ambiance or character attributes from Game of Thrones. Final Fantasy XVI offers a lot of things I could want from an action game. But as a Final Fantasy fan who's been playing since the original NES installment, I can't help but feel disappointed. It's missing elements that I love about the series, both in terms of a completely unique story that focuses on a well-developed cast of heroes and certain sorts of gameplay, and it makes me fear that we'll never see a new mainline entry like Final Fantasy VI or IX again. Still, Final Fantasy XVI is an enjoyable game, and I wholeheartedly recommend it. I wanted the best for characters like Clive, Jill, Cid, and Torgal. Plus when the team did get to focus on original lore and things tied to concepts like crystals and Eikons, it excelled.

Final Fantasy XVI will be available for the PlayStation 5 on June 22, 2023. There is a six-month exclusivity period.

The post Review: Final Fantasy XVI Is a Great Action Game Focused on Clive’s Story appeared first on Siliconera.

When Square Enix announced the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster games for PCs and mobile devices, people immediately began asking when they'd come to consoles as well. It took about a year, but it happened. Now that people everywhere can also play the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster games on the Switch and PS4, Siliconera spoke to Producer Naofumi Takuma about the process of preparing the RPGs for additional platforms.

Jenni Lada: When did work on the PS4 and Switch versions of Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster begin?

Naofumi Takuma: It was last spring (Spring 2022) when we started the porting process. However, we had already started organizing the additional functional items and areas we wanted to fix or adjust, even before that time.

Were there any special challenges with the Switch and PS4 versions of the games that the team didn’t face with the PC and mobile adaptations of Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster?

Takuma: It is rare to create a console version when a PC version already exists, and we expected there would not be that many problems if we used the PC version as a base, but when we ported the games, we encountered some hurdles including long loads and processing dropouts, which required more tuning than we had expected. In the end, I think the optimization made things much faster.

[caption id="attachment_966324" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Square Enix[/caption]

The Switch and PS4 versions of Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster include the new font option. How much work went into creating them and how difficult was it to implement the option?

Takuma: First, we anticipated that these games will be played by a wide variety of people, including players who have fond memories of the games from back in the day as well as those who are experiencing them for the first time. In order to satisfy this wide range of players, we wanted to provide them with options.

So, we prepared pixel fonts for Western and Japanese language, which are particularly popular among the target audience.

For the Western languages font, we found some font data produced in-house, so we test-implemented them. These titles use one of them. I think it turned out to be a font that matches quite well.

We didn't have any alternative data saved on file in-house for the Japanese language font, so we decided to create a new one. This was certainly the most difficult part. While the Western language font required us to create only a few hundred characters, with the Japanese font, we had to create around 7,500 characters.

Likewise, what challenges did the team face when adding the original soundtracks to the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster alongside the new arrangements?

Takuma: Our reason for adding the BGM option was even if we take one piece of music, there are those who say, "I like the original version better," while others say, "I like the arranged version better." This is influenced by each person's values and memories, and both should be respected. As with the font, this was the only way we could think of to meet the needs of more people.

The BPM (beats per minute) of the original BGM and the arranged BGM are not the same, and the overall lengths also differ. There are parts where the BGM and event scenes that are linked so tuning became necessary. In some cases, it was as if we were creating two different versions of the same event, which was challenging.

[caption id="attachment_966325" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Square Enix[/caption]

The latest Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster PS4 and Switch releases mean the Xbox is the only platform without access. How would you feel about it showing up there as well?

Takuma: It is not up to me to decide, but if there are enough requests for it, it’s something I think we should consider. The number of games in the pixel series itself makes it a challenge for launching on different platforms which is something we encountered with the recent console releases. I'd always welcome as many people as possible being able to play.

How did you juggle the balance to ensure the boost options in Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster would be both helpful, but not too overpowered? What kind of testing went into it?

Takuma: Even if a player’s purpose was only to follow the story, we wanted to retain a minimum level of gameplay (for example, growth elements), not an "invincibility" type of function. Ultimately, we wanted to make it a function that would broaden the scope of play.

Since our goal was not only to reduce the difficulty level but also to "broaden the scope of play", we have made it possible to set up to 4 times the experience gain, including options for 0x and 0.5x.

In theory, this is not a difficult function to implement, but since we were conducting tests for all titles and settings, if we had expanded the range of settings to be limitless, we would end up sacrificing something else. This time, I believe we have found just the right balance.

Which Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster entry do you feel best updates and enhances the original game?

Takuma: I'd have to say Final Fantasy I through Final Fantasy III. Since the original is on the NES, the differences are large, and I think they are much easier to play.

In particular, this is the first time that Final Fantasy III has been re-released in 2D, so I'd like for you to try playing the game.

There is inevitably a conflict that arises in pursuing both "preserving the original work" and "providing an enjoyable experience even if playing for the first time," and as a result there are many elements that differ from the original, but I think that is why the title is so enjoyable.

[caption id="attachment_966326" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Square Enix[/caption]

If you were able to work on a remake of any classic Final Fantasy game, which do you think would be the most enjoyable project with the most potential?

Takuma: Simply speaking on personal preference, I must say Final Fantasy IV, V, and VI come to mind, for post SNES we’ve been freed from the limitations of hardware and are now able to depict rich and profound stories with varied expressions.

I also like the concept of crystals so Final Fantasy V greatly excites me, and depicting the “despair and hope” of Final Fantasy VI seems very fun as well.

How do you personally feel about the idea of Final Fantasy demakes, that is 2D, 16-bit style takes on more modern entries like FFVII or FFIX?

Takuma: That sounds great! As a Final Fantasy fan, I’d like to play it too.

That being said, 2D games leave a lot of room to allow for the players to imagine the world. There are as many interpretations as there are players, and I believe that is one of the big attractions of 2D games. It may be difficult to provide a moving experience like those from past 2D titles from titles that lean more towards the modern era, as the answers have already been presented in rich expressions.

A spin-off or creating something on a small scale as a mini-game, rather than a 2D recreation of the original, may be nice.

Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster, which includes FFI, FFII, FFIII, FFIV, FFV and FFVI, is available for the PS4, Switch, PC, and mobile devices.

The post Interview: Preparing Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster for the Switch and PS4 appeared first on Siliconera.

They sure kept us waiting, huh?

Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp is far from the first game in the Wars franchise to see release troubles, of course! Nestled between the years of no confidence in the franchise’s success in the West and the years of no confidence in the franchise’s success in Japan was a small golden era, but even that started with trying to launch a war game on September 10, 2001.

All of that’s to say, well, adversity is kind of what Wars games do.

Re-Boot Camp seems more aware than ever of that reputation, and in the early hours with the game, you can’t avoid its efforts to push against its subject matter and lighten the mood at every turn. Advance Wars was — with one exception — always a whimsical take on combat, but Re-Boot Camp takes it to Saturday morning cartoon territory.

The board and units look more like toys, and bounce around accordingly. The game’s plot follows the same points, but personalities are all a bit more over-the-top. There’s more chatter. And if it weren’t obvious enough through this stuff? Series protagonist Andy shows up with a voice performance that would charitably be described as Ash Ketchum-adjacent.

The gameplay isn’t too affected by these choices, thankfully, as that formula and balance is what makes the franchise special. We thought we’d be disoriented by the angled board display, but it’s easy enough to adjust to it. We’re reminded of the presentation in Dual Strike? It’s not the best, but it’s fine.

The material textures, along with other interface choices, do make the experience decidedly Nintendo-like, in the vein of modern releases like Clubhouse Games and the Labo titles. The look can take you out of the action at times, though with all the efforts to make the game feel light and unrealistic, that might be intentional. Regardless, it’s nice to see how well WayForward picked up the in-house style.

The map loses a bit of legibility sometimes, especially regarding vehicle units with different designs for each faction. Some armies’ Fighters and Bombers are fairly similar. Occasionally a Recon will look like a tank. You can easily move the cursor over and check? So it’s fine. But it’s a testament to the original pixel design that it didn’t have these issues.

We’ve been spending time with the game’s first campaign. It’s where you’ll start too if you play, because the game initially locks the second campaign. That does make sense, generally! But the first Advance Wars used its story mode as a tutorial of sorts. The true strategy opens up from there, and most of the challenge is score-chasing and playing through the War Room maps and advanced missions. There’s a “casual” difficulty option for the campaign, if you want it, but keep in mind that the rest of the game doesn’t scale like that.

The way Re-Boot Camp tries to split the difference is through constant optional tutorials. If you’re new to the game, you can ask about new elements. If not? You can say you know what you’re doing. It works well enough, and it doesn’t take particularly long to get to gameplay either way. Still, if you want things to go faster? You’ll want to turn off battle animations after the first few missions. The game animations aren’t the snappiest, there’s a bit more talking from opposing COs and these little delays add up.

What will really carry Re-Boot Camp long-term is a robust online multiplayer offering! Sadly, we weren’t able to try that for this preview, but we’re going to do our best to dig into that part of the game soon.

Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp launches April 20, 2023 on the Nintendo Switch, both physically and digitally. Stay tuned to Siliconera for more thoughts on the game, including our full review!

The post Preview: Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp is Saturday Morning Strategy appeared first on Siliconera.

The Nintendo 3DS eShop is cutting off purchases on March 27, 2023 and closing, leaving precious few days remaining for you to buy games on the service. Looking to do some last-minute shopping? Here are Siliconera’s recommendations for what to pick up.

The Heavy Hitter Exclusives

You've probably heard of most of these 3DS games, but we can't miss the opportunity to recommend these before they disappear from the eShop.

Rhythm Heaven Megamix

We’re sad that the Rhythm Heaven franchise has remained quiet during the Switch years. Still, Megamix’s combination of the series’ best and some new ideas of its own remains its best offering and a wildly enjoyable experience. That it never saw the physical release in America that it did in other territories? It’s a real shame, but not any indication of quality.

Bye-Bye BoxBoy!

The BoxBoy franchise was a standout on the eShop, and with good reason! HAL Laboratory, which has a long history of making good box games, used a minimal aesthetic to make a traversal puzzle game memorable and distinct as well as delightfully brain-bending. The franchise continues, but the three 3DS games all have their own puzzles and are worth picking up on the eShop.

Stretchmo

The other standout 3DS download series, Pushmo, is fun puzzling as well as a nice showcase for the system’s 3D display. Each game, from Crashmo to Stretchmo, added its own spin to creations. But honestly? The most lasting impression we have from these games is just how vibrant and adorable its characters and world manage to be in what could simply have been a vanilla puzzler.

HarmoKnight

We’re always fascinated when Game Freak releases side projects between the gargantuan development tasks of making Pokemon games. HarmoKnight is certainly one of the most successful, as a rhythm game lightly disguising itself as a platform action title. It takes a cult classic subgenre that’s been around since Vib-Ribbon and makes it much more accessible, opening the concept to new players.

Fire Emblem Fates: Revelation

The other two Fates games, Conquest and Birthright, may have gotten physical releases, but the third? Nope. Revelation is intended as a sort of “golden route,” allowing you to keep most characters alive and have what-if interactions. The story is kind of a mess, and it’s generally not recommended as a starting point for Fates players. But there’s some fun stuff in there!

Honorable mentions: We’d have absolutely put Pocket Card Jockey on this list just a few months ago, but its re-emergence on Apple Arcade means it’s still available for new players. Also we probably don’t need to tell you about the brilliance of the Picross e series, but there are a whole nine of ‘em and they still control best with a stylus.

The Overlooked 3DS eShop Gems

These titles didn't get the love they deserved. Grab these before it's too late.

The Denpa Men 3: The Rise of Digitoll

Denpa Men franchise developer Genius Sonority is most widely known for its work on Pokemon side games. That experience with what makes collection and simple combat compelling shines through in Denpa, a game that’s essentially Monster Rancher but with wi-fi signals instead of discs to generate new creatures. They’re simple beings, with limited characteristics and abilities, so the game has you build larger parties than a usual RPG to bring in more dungeon-crawling complexity. The third game is the most fully-featured, making it our top recommendation, but all of them are fun.

Attack of the Friday Monsters: A Tokyo Tale

We’re finally starting to see some of the Boku no Natsuyasumi games make it to English-speaking audiences, but for a long time, Attack was all we had. And it’s a great distillation of the franchise’s concepts, showing the appeal and nostalgia of a “slow life” adventure. It’s the standout release of the Level-5 Guild series, which bundled smaller experiences from different creators with a lot of personality and experimentation.

Gotta Protectors

The Gotta Protectors games are retro-inspired co-op action-tower-defense games, all for different platforms with their own takes on the idea. That might be a bit confusing for some! Understandably so. But if you sit down with some pals and play one, you’ll quickly get the appeal. While we love the Switch release in the franchise, the DS installment — if we’re crowning a favorite — takes the title with its depth, customization and care.

Inazuma Eleven

While the Inazuma Eleven series saw a lot of releases and success in Japan and Europe, North America got just one game: an enhanced 3DS remake of the original on the eShop. The good thing is that it’s totally a captivating and fun experience by itself!

Honorable mentions: We called out what we think is the most can’t-miss in the line, but all of Level-5’s Guild franchise is worth a look. They’re all quirky and memorable! And in terms of Nintendo-published releases, you can’t go wrong with the Punch-Out!!-like slashing action of Sakura Samurai: Art of the Sword.

The Rare Physical Releases

These aren't 3DS eShop exclusive games, but with how hard it is to find the cartridges? They might as well be.

Yo-kai Watch 3

As the popularity of Yo-kai Watch waned (both in Japan and the West), it just so happened that the games kept getting better. So this, the last English release, is phenomenally rare, and enough people knew it would be at launch that it essentially never landed on store shelves at all. So the eShop is kind of your only option.

Rhythm Thief & the Emperor’s Treasure

While most rare 3DS games were later releases, this early Sega rhythm title bucks that trend. Rhythm Thief has a ton of ideas, landing somewhere in the space between Rhythm Heaven, HarmoKnight and Professor Layton in the handheld’s library. There was a compromised iOS port that’s also unavailable these days, but — at least for a few more days — the ideal version’s still there for you.

Fantasy Life

There’s finally a true sequel on the way, but the original Fantasy Life still has a lot to offer. It’s a life sim, it has combat action and the writing is just plain charming! Also worth mentioning: the crucial Origin Island DLC, which adds a lot to the experience and will disappear with the eShop as well.

Yo-kai Watch Blasters

There’s a lot of Level-5 fare on this list, huh? Nevertheless, this action-heavy take on the Yo-kai Watch franchise regularly tops the list of rarest games on the platform.

Honorable mentions: There’s an increasingly large pool of 3DS games too expensive to easily acquire, like Style Savvy: Fashion Forward and excellent Sega RPG 7th Dragon III: Code: VFD. Oh, and yeah, another Level-5 game, Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy, should be on your radar too.

What do you think are the best 3DS eShop games? What other gems did we miss? Let us know in the comments.

The post 3DS eShop Games to Buy Before It’s Too Late appeared first on Siliconera.

If you’re trying to decide whether to buy the new PlayStation VR2 virtual reality headset, the decision probably boils down to a comparison. Is it superior to what you have, or enough of an improvement to finally get you to jump in? So rather than dance around the topic, we’re going to directly address the issue: is PSVR2 better?

Is PSVR2 Better Than PSVR?

The PlayStation VR2 is definitely leaps and bounds ahead of the original PlayStation VR in terms of tech. That first attempt cut as many corners as it could to get prices down, like using Move controllers and sticking to limited tracking capabilities. PSVR2 supports room-scale tracking. The Sense motion controllers are precise and generally have the features you want. There’s no clunky box or camera to set up, and it all runs through one decent-length cord to the front of the PS5. What it retains is the original’s comfort, a real selling point for Sony. Other companies’ offerings are getting better and better at this, but for both feel and ease of wear, it’s hard to beat Sony engineering.

Still, this isn’t as cut-and-dry a question as you’d think. For that first effort, Sony invested a lot into software. There were prestige first-party games like Astro Bot: Rescue Mission, as well as a seemingly generous amount of funds floating around to fund ports and VR conversions by third parties. There’s Horizon: Call of the Mountain — we’ll drop that name a few times — but generally, it seems like Sony’s doing less money-raining to bring experiences to the new platform. At least, as far as we know. And since there’s no backward compatibility with PSVR games and limited efforts to patch in PSVR2 compatibility, it’s possible that the second headset may not be better than the first for a while.

(Seriously, why isn’t patching Astro Bot the first item on the to-do list?)

Is PSVR2 Better Than PC VR?

It really depends on what you want out of a VR experience. PC VR headsets offer the breadth of content of the PC, and that's sort of unbeatable. There are fan projects and mods and PC-exclusive releases that do so much more than PSVR2 ever will, not just its launch lineup but over its full life. This could be mitigated with PC support for the headset, and though Sony has shown no indication of doing so officially, fan work bridged the gap for the first PSVR and could for the VR2. Still, it might be difficult and we wouldn’t count on it anytime soon.

But a console approach does result in optimized tech and a lot less time spent configuring things. This is true for all of the PC-console divide, and is the reason for a lot of efforts like the Steam Deck to make PC games more predictable and preconfigured. But it’s especially important in VR, as little glitches and stuttering and such are less of an annoyance and more of an illness-inducing nightmare. Playing VR2 is simple and straightforward, and even launch glitches are minor and patches are swift.

We’re hoping that updates will make VR2 even smoother. The issue we’ve run into most frequently involves lighting and room detection. The sensors that know where you are in the room seem most thrown off by midday light conditions, as we had episodes of frequent stuttering and error messages that made room-scale games practically unplayable as they were interrupted every 30 seconds or so. When that wasn’t happening, though, the tracking worked great.

For now, the usual console benefit of robust first-party development isn't really here. Perhaps future announcements can bridge the software gap and make the VR2 an easier sell.

Is PSVR2 Better Than Quest?

If you're a fan of the fare of the headset pioneers formerly known as Oculus, it's probably because the hardware is wireless. VR2 has seriously cut down on the setup and equipment of Sony’s first attempt, but there's still one cord tethering you and tangling you up at times. We felt the cord on our shoulders sometimes, for sure. Still, this is a far cry from the hassle and tangle of last-gen setups.

Then again? PlayStation VR2 is a lot more powerful than the new Quest. The resolution of the displays helps a lot, and VR2 uses eye-tracking to render what you’re looking at with more detail to optimize what it can get out of the console’s processing power. Right now, the software lineup is largely ports, meaning the difference isn’t really there yet unless you really like the world of Horizon.

And, oh yeah, it's not part of a dystopian data collection monolith, which feels like a point in its favor.

Is PSVR2 Better Than 550 Dollars?

This is perhaps the hardest question to answer. It's early, and it doesn't have the software support yet, so any purchase is at least partly a bet on Sony's commitment to the platform. For now, what you're getting is largely ports that don't take advantage of the platform's strengths. Does that pad out the library? Absolutely. But without solid exclusives to build around, they're ill-suited to be system sellers.

Still, though, we're definitely reaching a point at which the early-gen kinks are worked out. If you were waiting for VR to be less of a hassle but didn't want a compromised experience, this could be the sweet spot you were awaiting. There’s a fun — if not particularly robust or tech-pushing — games lineup on the platform. We’re optimistic about the PSVR2’s future! But until we see more big-ticket games, any skepticism you have is warranted.

The PlayStation VR2 is available for purchase now for $549.99 through the PlayStation Direct site. An optional charging dock for the Sense motion controllers is also on offer. For more of Siliconera’s PSVR2 coverage, check out our archive.

The post Review: Is PlayStation VR2 Better? appeared first on Siliconera.

As in many Fire Emblem games, there are really no “best” characters to use in Engage. Due to things like Second Seals to change classes, Master Seals to reach advanced classes, and Emblem Ring skill inheritance, everyone can end up being useful! Your best characters can be the ones whose design, personality, or general gameplay value you prefer. However, there are a few units that I found exceptionally useful while playing. As such, I’d recommend keeping them on-hand when fighting your battles.

Editor's Note: There will be spoilers below in this list of potential best Fire Emblem Engage characters.

Alear

Alear is great! Which is good, because you’re forced to use them in major battles! Their unique weapon Liberation is a fantastic sword with great Str and Hit that also can fill the Engage meter. Divinely Inspiring ensures allies right next to them deal +3 damage and take 1 less damage. Divine Spirit also ensures the Engage meter fills one step faster. Meanwhile, their general stats shape up pretty well.

Alcryst

You’ll probably want an archer around at all times, and I think Alcryst should be that archer. Mine ended up with both higher Str and Dex than Fogado, your other great archer option. He also gets the Covert benefit that doubles his Avo from terrain. He comes with the Get Behind Me skill, which gives him +3 Str if an ally within two spaces is attacked. Once he becomes a Tireur d’elite, he can learn the Fire Emblem staple Luna, which can ignore half of a foe’s Def/Res based on Dex percentage.

Pandreo

I hate Pandreo’s howls, but I can’t deny his versatility. He ended up being one of my best Fire Emblem Engage characters. This is because while you’ll get healers who can use magic and vice-versa, in my game he ended up being both one of the best healer and magic damage units. His Mag, Dex, Res, and Lck all skyrocketed. His High Priest Self Healing let him use staves on himself, which is fantastic for survivability. Party Animal checks to see how many allies and enemies are within two spaces, giving a 3x bonus to Avo and Hit as a result. Plus his Mystical class status ignores foe terrain Avo bonuses. He’s fantastic, and I sort of hate him for that!

Diamant

Alcryst isn’t the only Brodian prince you should keep around. Diamant ended up being one of the best Fire Emblem Engage characters in my game too. He’s a “Backup” type, which means if he’s within range of an ally attacking, he’ll join in for a chain attack to help deal more damage. Mine ended up with amazing Str and Def stats. Fair Fight, which gives him and an enemy +15 hit in an encounter if he initiates the attack and the enemy could counter attack, comes in handy. He also learns the Fire Emblem staple Sol as a Successeur, which looks at his Dex stat to determine the odds of him recovering 50% of the damage he dealt to an enemy as health. He’s basically a strong tank!

Ivy

Units that can pull double duty by being good damage dealers and healers are incredibly handy throughout Fire Emblem Engage. Ivy is that. She can hit S-rank with tomes easily, her Mag stat is fantastic, and she’s probably going to be among your first flying units who can heal, making it easy for her to reach allies. She starts with Single-Minded, which means she gets +20 hit when facing her most recent opponent again. As a Lindwurm, she will also learn Grasping Void, which looks to her Dex to determine the odds of her dealing extra tome-based damage based on half of her enemy’s Mag stat.

Jean

Jean is Fire Emblem Engage’s “villager” character, which means he essentially has endless potential thanks to his starting skill expertise. It guarantees enhanced stat growth when he levels up. Since he starts as a Martial Monk like Framme, his advanced class would be High Priest. So like Pandreo, he gets the great Mystical bonus and Self-Healing. But since he does have Expertise, you can play around with Emblem Rings to build proficiencies, have fun, and turn him into some really cool class.

Yunaka

Personally, I preferred to keep Zelkov around as my thief, but I must admit Yunaka is the more valuable unit. That’s because of her first skill, Trained to Kill. If she gets an Avo bonus from the terrain she is standing on, her Crit rate will also go up by 15. Consider that mine’s Crit rate was already admirably high (it passed 20 at level 25) and she has the Covert benefit doubles her terrain Avo bonus, and she’s just too useful.

Veyle

It’s probably not surprising that Veyle is another one of the generally best Fire Emblem Engage characters. Mine had a tendency to almost die often, due to infuriatingly low HP. However, she comes with two great unit-exclusive weapons, which are the Misericorde dagger and Obscurite tome. Her Mag and Res are great, though! She also comes with Fell Protection, which grants adjacent allies +1 damage and -3 damage, and Fell Spirit, which fills her Engage meter by one each turn.

Honorable Mentions: Citrine and Panette

These two are my “your mileage may vary” picks. Citrine I like a lot for Generosity. If she uses a healing item, every adjacent ally also gains that same amount of health, which makes her your only non-Micaiah AOE healer right away. As a Sage, she also gets Spell Harmony, which benefits her being around other allies by granting Atk equal to adjacent ones when she uses a tome.

As for Panette, give her a Steel or Silver Greataxe. Let her Berserker Smash+ skill push enemies two spaces away with the greataxe’s Smash attack. Put her in harm’s way so her base Blood Fury skill gives her +10 Crit as long as her HP isn’t at 100%. Take advantage of her “Backup” nature to help build up allies’ chain attacks. Profit.

Fire Emblem Engage is available for the Nintendo Switch.

Related: Best Units in Fire Emblem Engage Ranked On Attack of the Fanboy

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I want a Fire Emblem game to make me think. Challenge me. Make me work with the units I’m given. Offer maps with interesting terrain or elements that force me to do things I might not want to do. Serve up a good cast of characters and unique elements to make it exciting, and give me the opportunity to keep growing and experimenting. Fortunately for not only me, but Switch owners at large, Fire Emblem Engage does all of these things.

1,000 years ago, a great war raged across Elyos, with the Divine Dragon Lumera and her allies facing the Fell Dragon Sombron. They managed to seal him away with the help of 12 Emblem Rings, each connected to a legendary hero. (That is, the protagonists of past Fire Emblem games.) This came at a great cost. Alear, the Divine Dragon’s child, fell into a deep sleep. They awake just as the seal on Sombron is weakening, spurring the need to gather the 12 rings together again and find allies from other kingdoms to unite to face the menace.

At the outset, it seems pretty straightforward! Visit the kingdoms of Firene, Brodia, Elusia, and Solm on a worldwide tour to collect the most useful pieces of jewelry ever and make friends along the way. However, there are a few twists to change things up. Some seem telegraphed, to varying degrees. If you’re familiar with Fire Emblem as a series or picking up on certain clues, you’ll see what’s coming before it happens. Even so, I was sufficiently surprised by some events. The characters tend to be pretty well-rounded, though ones who aren’t royalty are only explored during support conversations. (These go up to A-rank.) I especially appreciated how well it handles certain characters, as these conversations don’t harp on about their appearances or likes. The game gradually builds upon its foundation, becoming move involved.

Likewise, the complexity of maps increases at a reasonable pace. The first three or four chapters serve to introduce basic gameplay concepts. As usual, the weapon triangle exists. Swords best axes, axes beat lances, and lances take down swords. Attacking wisely can keep enemies from following up, aiding allies. Bows, daggers, and tomes attack from a distance. I found punches can be especially effective against mages. Armored units and certain kinds of cavalry units are stronger than usual against physical attacks. A grid along the ground lets you see possible arrangements and movement options. The terrain might offer places that can provide increased or decreased avoidance opportunities, restore health each turn, or allow someone to use special features to hit groups of enemies with arrows or magic. Characters can have certain traits, with ones with “backup” being capable of following-up on attacks of allies nearby for a chain attack. Some maps involve environmental hazards that require a player to be aware of their positioning.

Each chapter in Fire Emblem Engage features one major battle, though random fights on the world map can help build up experience or funds. These scale in difficulty at a faster pace than the chapter’s, which can help provide additional feats to overcome and training opportunities. Also, if you’re connected to the internet, they can be a great way to build up your armory with additional weapons or beneficial items for free. There are also Paralogue chapters that gradually unlock, with each one offering a way to recruit additional characters or improve the skill inheritance range of the Emblem Rings.

There are two kinds of Emblem Rings. The first are the story-based ones. A character with one equipped gets the benefits of the skills and weapons of that character, with increased Bond relationships offering more inheritance and weapon opportunities. When someone Engages, their appearance changes, they get access to new weapon proficiencies, and they can use special skills or once-per-battle abilities to aid allies or attack opponents. For example, someone with Byleth equipped can use a Goddess Dance that allows up to four adjacent allies to act again. People with Lyn equipped can use bows, summon four doubles, and use an Astra skill to attack four times. There are also more ordinary rings with a gacha-like randomization mechanic. The Bond Points you earn can let you randomly acquire more characters from the same series as their parent-ring and fuse them to make them stronger. Some of these rings even possess certain skills. Claude’s Wind God, for example, adds +1 to an archer’s range if their health is maxed out. Each character can equip three inherited skills at once, allowing for a rather interesting degree of customization.

Part of what I loved about the Emblem Rings in Fire Emblem Engage is that using one doesn’t transform the character into an overpowered hulk that can survive any attack or destroy any enemy. Rather, it provides access to new weapons and abilities that offer new tactical approaches. Sure, there are certain rings with an ability that can increase the survivability of that character for a turn or aid the army. But in general? It’s about offering more options and enhancing a character. Especially since increasing the bond between an Emblem and an ally allows for skill inheritance for more interested and varied forces.

As for the Somniel? It’s a hub that offers a socialization aspect and downtime for characters, but still serves to support your endeavors in battles. Everything comes back to ensuring your army is at its best. Taking part in the fitness exercises gives Alear a temporary stat buff. Eating at the cafe increases bonds and can offer a temporary bonuses. Making donations to kingdoms increases the yield from battles and your income from fights. The animals at the farm provide you with additional cafe ingredients, as does fishing. Taking care of Sommie gives you points needed to acquire or improve more ordinary Emblem rings. Building up Supports means better improvements among allies in the field or increased opportunities for skill inheritance with Emblems.

Fire Emblem Engage also features activities that could carry someone well into the post-game. For example, the online activities like Outrealm and Relay Trials. Getting to cooperatively work with another player to complete a map offers an incentive to return and take on new challenges. Needing to constantly swap match codes is a bit frustrating, however. I appreciated the chance to create a custom map to try and torment other players, while also exploring to see if I’m strong enough to face other people. It's especially interesting, since your "defense" team members can't be used in your party when you go to challenge someone else. Being able to choose where units are placed would have been helpful there. Tempest Trials offers more and more maps as you progress through the game, with customizable difficulty and greater rewards that can improve characters or be used for forging when you succeed. I’d also say the chance to experiment with character classes, perhaps changing their default role to see how they’d serve in another job, could be interesting. Especially when you combine the skills you’d learn that way with additional Emblem Ring inheritances.

I’m sure this all sounds glowing, and that’s because Fire Emblem Engage is a wonderful game. To be honest, most of the issues I have stem from comparing how some of its mechanics work compared to past entries. For example, the “villager” character here feels more limiting than in installments like Fire Emblem Awakening or Fates. When they join the cast, you can clearly see the skill that boosts their stat growth. However, you don’t have the ability to immediately use a Second Seal to customize their class, so you’re locked in to a specific role for a substantial time. Not to mention the Emblem Ring system means inheriting additional skills for this person can be more taxing. On the other hand, you get this ally very quickly, meaning you get plenty of time to shape their growth and development.

The Emblem Ring system also means building up individuals in your army is a lot more work. Everyone starts with an innate skill. When they reach level five in an advanced class, they learn a second one. You can make them inherit skills from Emblem Rings, if they formed a close enough bond with the hero tied to it. However, some of the best skills cost at least 1,000 points to acquire. It’s always been time-consuming to get your army just the way you want. I appreciate that, honestly! It makes me feel like I earned it. But the limited nature of the rings and time it takes to reach the level five bond to unlock inheritance from them turns it into quite a chore.

I also found the Support system in Fire Emblem Engage to be a little unfulfilling, especially after games like Fates and Three Houses offered S-rank conversations with deeper relationships. In some cases, I didn’t sometimes didn’t even feel like an A-rank relationship resulted in a major relationship shift. Like I’d expect those people to, at the very least, be best friends by that point. Their relationship is also only acknowledged during those conversations and via battle buffs, and nowhere else. There is romance present in Fire Emblem Engage, but it is limited to your avatar and certain characters.

Fire Emblem Engage also suffers from the same sort of representation issues as, say, Genshin Impact. We get a region in-game that feels based on a real-world area. The royal family and some NPCs you’ll encounter there are people of color. However, all four of their retainers and another person you’ll recruit in the region are the pastiest folks you’ll ever see! Even though, before meeting them, they all were camping or wandering in a sunny desert. It's a missed opportunity for a more interesting cast.

But when you think about it, only having those four issues after I’ve spent over 60 hours with Fire Emblem Engage isn’t bad! In fact, I’d say it is a testament to how solid this strategy game is. Intelligent Systems and Nintendo really went above and beyond when tailoring this tactical timesink. The gameplay is sound, with elements that will challenge longtime players. The accessibility options are ample, so folks coming in from Fire Emblem: Three Houses can ease into a more typical Fire Emblem experience and not be intimidated by the nuances. Fire Emblem Engage is amazing and a wonderful way for Nintendo to kick off 2023.

Fire Emblem Engage will come to the Nintendo Switch on January 20, 2023.

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