Craig Rosenthal

I'm an older guy at this point. I was there when FF came out for the NES. Heck, I even had Dragon Warrior. I have played that first game, and beaten it, in all it's many releases, many times. Although the story is nothing exactly groundbreaking, I was very welcoming to the idea of an origin telling. Actually that really fascinated me. Than I learned it was an action RPG. This is where my age comes into play. I had hoped it was going to kind of go back to it's roots with it's game design. But I get it. A younger audience just wants more. They did it with FF7 Remake, and although I wasn't a fan, it was a hit, so who am I judge a game based on that? So I gave it a try. Heck, I paid the 40 bucks for it. I didn't make it very far. Even on story mode. From what I can tell, this is a mish mosh of genres, and none of them really clearly defined. I could have been more accepting of the action RPG elements. But this plays off more like a mission sort of game. I was hoping it would have been an open world, where the player could really get immersed into the world of FF1. But that isn't the case at all. Not one bit. It just feels so disconnected to the original game in it's game design that as a guy who loved the original, it really is virtually impossible to get into this game. I feel there was a huge missed opportunity here for the origin telling. It's not that it was even necessary, but the idea is really intriguing. But this is not how to do that. No matter how the plot unfolds, and from what I heard, the ending is a doozy, the game design prevents someone like me from ever actual being able to enjoy it. I know it has some fans. But this just isn't what I wanted or had hoped for.

Not being a fan of the souls series, I cannot really make those comparisons. However, this game takes nods from quite a few other metroidvania games that I have delved into that are suppose to be soulslike. Maybe that recipe works for me in these games. It's fairly easy to learn. The parry button will probably be one of the most prominent features you will have to learn. The first boss fight is a great example of knowing when and how to use that to your advantage. Otherwise it is going to be rough going. So do not expect a hack and slash sort of experience. Atmosphere and graphics are bizarre and distorted, which adds to the overall strange nature of the game. Overall it's a fairly addictive experience. Things move at a slow but steady pace, and so far nothing has been unfair in its challenges (I am about midway and have easily overcome most of the challenges by just thinking things out).

Well, I've been around the block when it comes to JRPGs. I was there when Dragon "Warrior" came out for the NES. That was what hooked me and since I have pretty much played every single one out there. Even the ones that needed fan translations to play. I have played bad (Secret of the Stars) and I have played the best (Dragon Quest 11). Sea of Stars is top tier JRPG playing. It captures pretty much everything that makes the genre still, after all these years, engrossing to play. It takes the best of many different titles to combine a fantastic and original story (even if we know most of the beats) and game play and combat that really never feels cumbersome or repetitive. Hands down the best JRPG I have played this year. And we are late in the year and I have played quite a few. Going to be a tough one to follow up.

Possibly the greatest splatter film of all time. For its budget, what was achieved with the special effects is remarkable. The last 30 minutes of the film is some of the most intense splatter one will possibly ever see.