grilled cheeze

What an amazing game. The story is great, although people might see this as your generic revenge story, it actually goes a lot deeper than that. A lot of stuff beyond retribution goes into play here; the game tackles about blackmailing, what it means to be suffering from one's own past and the struggle to escape it, a brutal display of betrayal by those you trust, & imminent death, just to name a few. The main protagonist, John Marston, is one of my favorite MC's in video games. He's a compelling yet also a complex character. He shows mercy and goodness to people who are good in nature, but turns hostile to those who threatens him and his family. He gets betrayed not only by his previous mates, but also by those who had sworn to help him. The supporting cast are strong, and left quite an impression on me. One of these characters is Abraham Reyes. I liked his nobility, how fond and friendly he is to John, and how he constantly shows love to Mexico and its people that he would die fighting for their freedom under a corrupt government. The villain was good. Not the best villain, but a good enough villain to be a threatening force to be reckoned with. The gameplay was fun as hell. I loved the horseback riding that's mostly present in the game as a means of transportation. The gunplay was sweet and entertaining to do, and with the game introducing me to Dead Eye, which is a concept that is very similar to the Max Payne games but with slight differences, amped up the already superb combat. The graphics and scenery for a 2010 game holds up really well, with mostly how beautiful the landscapes are both in day and night. The world-building and the amount of people you can interact and to gamble or play within different towns spread across the open were outstanding. The voice acting was phenomenal. Rockstar did a great job at casting and directing all of the voice actors. The music is just *chef's kiss*. I loved the soundtrack and sound design in RDR. Having to only play this game once, this part of the game has stuck with me. Speaking of things that stuck with me, the ending to RDR was just heartbreaking. It was hard to watch, but it was unavoidable the moment the final mission began. One of the best endings ever in a video game, and I wished the game ended exactly here, but there is an epilogue. The epilogue isn't bad, my problem lies on how rushed it felt. I expected a scene where Jack would slowly ride off the sunset and reminisce his memory of his father, to evoke the depressing emotions once again so that it ends on a strong note, but no. The game abruptly ends with the title card and Jack's smirk. I was pretty disappointed. Another thing is that the game drags early on, which is understandable for it was made for gameplay familiarity and skill improvement. RDR isn't a perfect game, it has its share of flaws here and there, but none of that really even affects the game as a whole. It's still a unique, one-of-a-kind, Wild West game that I enjoyed thoroughly from start to finish. 9/10 would play again.

*Some spoilers ahead* "Whenever there is a meeting, a parting is soon to follow." This line from the game stuck with me. Throughout my play of Majora's Mask, I slowly grew emotionally attached to it. It's one of those experiences in gaming I will surely never forget. The dark, twisted story enthralled me from the get-go and maintained that compelling nature up until the end. Majora's Mask brims with diverse characters, with each, have lives and jobs they do every day, like normal human beings. It amps up the immersion level, and I have never played a game like this that has people actively do their normal day-to-day lives. The game lives and breathes with side-quests, and has one of the best side quests in a game I've ever encountered, even better than OoT IMO. Within those side quests, we also learn about the people of Termina and the lore that surrounds the place, which gives a deeper level of depth. But, these side quests are pretty hard to begin or to know if it even began because of how vague the implications are. This is the main reason why Majora's Mask is hard. But that doesn't stop there. 2 out of the 4 dungeons in the game (Great Bay and Stone Tower) are headache-inducing. The first two (Woodfall and Snowhead) were normally easy to follow and to figure out, but the collection of fairies making it a little bit more challenging. The other two are a lot more complex with the dungeon design, to the point it gets pretty confusing. Finding the fairies in these dungeons also add to the difficulty. The Water Temple in OoT was hard, but these two from MM were a lot more painful to go through, IMO. The fiends are diverse. There are a couple of new enemies and recurring ones as well. The bosses, though not as balanced as OoT, were a joy to battle with. They're a lot easier than expected to be honest, but entertaining nonetheless. The gameplay and combat don't do anything new, just the same old mechanics OoT used, but there is a very unique mechanic that separates Majora's Mask from its predecessor; The introduction of masks. This was fun as hell. Not only were there over 20 collectible masks, with each have its own distinct abilities, but there are masks that also make you transform into different races; Deku, Goron, and Zora which are types of equipment you need in order to progress the story. When you collect all the masks, you get rewarded with an OP transformation mask that is a supercharged Adult Link, which looks so badass. But the masks aren't just collectibles you find out of nowhere, they come from different places from different people with stories that are attached to the masks obtained, and it was just such a great thing, for it gave profundity to each person, even though they don't affect the main narrative in general. Exploration is still a huge part of the game. I know that other people were kind of conflicted with Majora's Mask idea of having a 3-day time limit which in turn, made some people think that exploration would become a lot more restricted or limited, but as I played the game, I think otherwise. You can go back through time to do some errands or slow the flow of time so that you can do something that consumes a lot of time, like going to dungeons or doing a lengthy side quest. Honestly, MM has never felt very restrictful, it's just a thought fragmented by the visible time limit. MM deals with a lot of things thematically and it reflects within the characters. The main characters are nothing but phenomenal and perfectly contemplates the game's themes. The soundtrack is superb too. 10/10 game, my favorite Zelda game to date

I finally had the energy and motivation to finish this game. I've failed to end FF4's story since I first picked it up years ago yet now here I am, rejoicing with excitement and realizing how dumb I was to even call this a mediocre game on my first playthrough. Final Fantasy IV at first never really had that spark with the characters compared to other FF games (particularly X) because of how wide the variety of companions that comes and goes, leaving a lot less time for the player to get invested in them with their own respective story arcs. The main characters weren't really intriguing early on in the game, but great and subtle developments ensue later as the story moved along. The relationships built within every second of the cast together strengthens and deepens, sacrifices of the closest to the MC, Cecil, becomes the root of his own change from what he was before and the discovery of who he really is. It had a slow start and a very by the books story imo, but it takes a different turn with the twists that came along with it. The gameplay was really good and fun. It might look like the standard Turn-based combat system we're all used to, but it has more depth than meets the eye. I love how the game forces you to make quick strategies for the plan of attack because the moment you take too long, the enemies would strike you. This gets more frequent and challenging later on as the player encounters stronger, more versatile monsters with a wide range of attacks that damages the characters a ton which creates intense pressure and tension. I don't know if it were the same with V and VI, or the games that came before IV, but it definitely felt new to me. Pokemon and even Final Fantasy X didn't have this type of gameplay battle design. The graphics hold up well since I played this in Gameboy Advanced. I've seen the original SNES version and even that still looked pretty, even after almost 30 years since its inception. The soundtrack design felt very audacious. It fits the setting of the game and helps immerse the player to the medieval mixed with steampunk world. Final Fantasy 4 is a very good RPG game. No matter the problems I found within, it makes up for what its lost through the display of each character's compelling arc outcomes, the narrative that slowly blossoms into impressive storytelling and the brewing intensity of the gameplay made Final Fantasy 4 a classic in video game history. 8/10 would play again.

What a masterclass of a game. As my first FF game that I completed (story wise) it was a great experience. It has been etched into my heart and mind and will never be forgotten. My first impressions with this game was pretty low, since I wasn't really a big fan of Turn based combat games. Also, I've tried playing other Final Fantasy games but ended up not finishing them 'cause it didn't grab me like this one did, so I had that same doubt in my mind with this entry as well. My expectations were completely subverted and ended up loving this game instead and had more of an appreciation for games with Turn based combat. The leveling system was a bit confusing the moment the game explained it, but that's just a feeling of being overwhelmed from the amount of information that is handed to you right out the gate. It gets easy to understand as you progress. The main cast of characters went from likeable to lovable, and served great purposes for the story and have interesting backstories and arcs that never failed to compell me. Though, I wouldn't say the same with the villain of the story since he really wasn't intriguing at all and felt very flat as the driving force for the mains to surpass. The story is phenomenal, accompanied by twists and turns that more so enhanced the engagement of the player to the narrative. The graphics for a 2001 game (I played the Ps2 ver.), still holds up to today. It doesn't look like 13 or 15, but it still ain't bad looking. And then the cutscenes... boy those cutscenes were insane..! How the hell did they pull off those cutscenes back in 01??? The people who handled this game in Square literally outdid themselves and are certified wizards of technology. The soundtrack and design is beautiful. From emotional to glorious sounding, it's easily one of my favorite tracks in a game. Overall, the game is amazing. If you're still hesitating to play this game right now, don't be. It's definitely worth your time and it pays off big time. Word of advice though, GRIND. 9/10 would play again.

Damn. Just damn. This game, in every shape and form, is THE definitive standard for gaming. There were so many games that have been released over the years that have gained the title "Best ever", but this one, this one struck. It hit gold alright. Platinum. I'm not gonna lie, I thought the game was just unfair at first. I've gotten used to games where there are markers in the map or compass. A clear and distinct direction as to what/where the player should do or go. Being my first Zelda game, I was lost. I didn't know what to do at first. I didn't know how to act or where to go because the game doesn't give me the objectives directly. Ocarina of Time (and the other Zelda games as well) relies on player exploration. A player that, in order to progress through the game, had to explore almost every nook and cranny to progress through the story, and it was beautiful. I spent tons of hours into this game, finding new stuff to discover in every place I went to and the reliance on my intellect to do puzzles that were either really fun to do or just plain confusing and unentertaining. Now I'm not going to say that I didn't use guides because that would be very hypocritical of me, but I did. Not a Zelda veteran in case you still don't know lol. The story was really good and have twists that I didn't see coming, especially with Zelda. That hit hard. I like how the time travel stuff in this game doesn't get confusing nor convoluted as such with other different pieces of media that tackles about the same concept and tries to explain too much. OoT had it simple with time travel. Though, I'm a little disappointed that going back through time wasn't utilized more in terms of importance to the story. Sure, the game makes you go back through time to get an essential item needed for the next temples and the gauntlet in the Spirit temple but that's basically it. It might be annoying for some people when the player constantly jumps to different timelines, but imo, it would've been fantastic because the idea would've possibly explored more of the Pre-Ganon world and how things turned out the way it gets in the future within our and Kid Link's eyes. Plus, time travel is just fun. The combat system is cool and is what I mostly love about this game. It was really fun slashing up fiends while using the best tactics I need to come up to on the spot to get the upper hand against enemies and bosses. Speaking of bosses, OoT is probably the only game I've played so far that balances out the difficulty of each boss in every temple. They're not too hard nor too easy. And the final fight with Ganondorf was hype all the way through. I enjoyed that fight thoroughly and gave me insane amounts of goosebumps and sweat. The game's graphics isn't necessarily bad, but it doesn't hold up well compared to the pixilated entries of the Zelda franchise, primarily A Link to the Past. Is the soundtrack in OoT supposed to be soothing or eeriely creepy? I hear both. All in all, it's just a great game from head to toe. Definitely deserves 5 stars.