Persona is one of my favorite game franchises to ever exist, and the reason for that isn’t as simple as one might assume. Sure, having brilliant characters to fall in love with and an immaculately stylish soundtrack help the game win regard, but what really puts the series far above average for me is its ingenious gameplay mechanics and the profound philosophical implications that stem from them. But before we delve into that, I need to first explain what is Persona. Continue reading
Once again, I’m late to the party—a damn good party at that. Doki Doki Literature Club has been setting the world ablaze for almost half a year, but only now have I come to understand why. The game is mind-blowing, and one of the truest testaments I’ve ever seen as to why games are so far beyond all other storytelling mediums. Before I get into why that is, however, I must give an obligatory SPOILER WARNING. Though admittedly, I don’t believe I’m spoiling this game in the traditional sense—by divulging plot details and narrative twists—I do think knowing as little about this game as possible before going in will result in the best possible experience you can afford yourself. From what the internet tells me, the game’s length is about 5 hours. It’s also free on Steam, so absolutely play through it if for some reason you’re even later to the party than I am. Continue reading
There are two basic halves of gameplay in Persona 5. Palace exploring and turned-based fighting are the first half, something I touched upon a couple days ago. The other half is visual novel; the act of reading along and making dialogue choices that’ll affect you positively or negatively in regards to your growing strength needed to progress though the main plotline. Of course, there are minigames and the like sprinkled throughout the game, but for the most part when you’re not stealing hearts in the metaverse, you’re conversing with your friends. Continue reading
When it comes to video games, I must admit that I care more for games with a focus on storytelling and aesthetics far more than ones that exist to be an entertaining challenge. Back in my youth I used to talk to my friends about the latest, greatest video games I’ve been playing. I would go on and on about how thrilling a campaign was or how immersive a world felt, and for the most part my friends would at the very least feign intrigue. That is of course, until I answered what would always be their very first question: Does it have multiplayer? Continue reading
The Persona series has always been rich in symbolism, showing off its vast, almost encyclopedic knowledge of random culture and mythology by infusing them into most every aspect of the game. From the designs and names of each individual persona to the less subtle random school trivia questions thrown your way, interesting facts and references can be found everywhere. The most meaningful places where you can find these allusions however, would have to be in the costume and persona designs of The Phantom Thieves. Continue reading
Unless you’re a person utterly disinterested in the video game industry and go to great lengths to be unaware of anything that happens in it, you’ve heard of the hip new game that everyone’s meme-ing about. You know, the one with a group of rebellious teens and their talking cat, they call themselves the “Phantom Thieves” and all that jazz. Anyway, I’ve played 27 hours of it so far, and if I wasn’t the semi-responsible adult that I am, I would never stop. Sadly, I have anime to watch, blog posts to write, and that whole college thing going on, so I’m currently forced to do what the game’s loading icon tells me to (“Take your time”). That all being said, I thought I’d take the time and write about the game that’s been on my mind every waking moment since its release. Continue reading
Oof, what an adorable robot. Like, before I delve into the story and themes and what not, I need to point out just how genuinely loveable this character is. Yumemi, the robot feature in all of the game’s promotional material and the only character model in the entire visual novel, is an amazing blend objective thinking, raw servant-kindness, and child-like innocence. Her astuteness and endearing productiveness know absolutely no bounds, and her rich dialogue/performance make her a character that I legitimately want to have a conversation with. She’s programmed to do her job as a gracious host of the planetarium, always admirably committed to her guests through the rain, shine, or apocalypse. Continue reading
So I wrote a review for The Vita Lounge that I hadn’t even noticed posted almost a week ago. Whoops. Anyway, I did not favor the game at all, and I feel like I gave good reason as to why (despite being at odds with critical consensus). I’d love to get more feedback (and possibly more positive criticism in the comments if you have any) on the review. It seems at least a few people are just looking at my score and shrugging off my opinion because of it. This is why I don’t like review scores, because it portrays a much more objective illusion for reviews, which are inherently subjective. There are aspects which you can be completely objective in game reviews of course, such as judging the game’s mechanical performance (which I do touch upon in my review). For the most part however, my judgement is based off my own expectations of what I consider to be a “good game”. And to be frank, those expectations are not very high, in my opinion. But I digress.
If you’ve been following me on Twitter you may have seen that I’ve been recently appointed as a Staff Member for The Vita Lounge, a fan website for everything PlayStation Vita. I’ve been a gamer for almost as long as I can remember and a proud PS Vita owner for a few years now. Writing for a gaming site has been a dream of mine for quite a while now, and so it came as a great honor when I received this editorial position. This is my first review for the site, and I just wanted to share it as many of my friends as possible. If you’re reading this (and not for some ulterior motive or just plain out of spite), or if you’ve read any of my other work here on There Goes My Kokoro, you are my friend…whether you like it or not :3
P.S. – I’ll try not to shill my posts from other sites here too often. That’s what Twitter’s for.
I know I don’t write about video games anywhere near as much as I do with anime, but this week I came across a game that I thought deserved some attention. Severed, from Drinkbox Studios, came out this week on the PS Vita, and by golly did I like it a lot. Now, I know most of you reading this probably don’t even own a Vita, so if you were to indulge me for a few minutes it would be much appreciated. Heck, maybe this will convinced you to buy one, eh?
While I don’t consider myself a huge fan of first person, touch-based dungeon crawlers, Severed managed to sink its claws into me in a way not many games can. The gameplay alone is so frantic and fun, yet precise and nerve racking. It’s kinda like The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, a game I was also very fond of. It’s a simple mechanic, swiping in the right direction at the right time, but something about it is so darn enjoyable that I always looked forward to another encounter rather than be annoyed by yet another obstacle in my way. Perhaps it’s the sound and animation paired with each blow that makes it so utterly satisfying. It’s an especially rewarding feeling once you start severing off every limb without even a hitch.
The puzzles are pretty clever, but never too obtuse or frustrating that I’d start considering giving up. This of course is just my completely subjective experience. That being said, I certainly don’t put myself on any sort of pedestal in terms of mental or puzzle solving capability, and I would expect a human of average intelligence to be able to complete these conundrums. Although I don’t really know how to measure intelligence either. So let’s just say there are puzzles. You’ve been warned.
Back-tracking’s a bit of a pain, made no less difficult by sun/moon doors and magic gateways. Getting everything in the game basically means you are going to waste about an hour to nothing but the act of movement. What’s worse is that you’ll probably forget to view the wonderful scenery when focusing on pure navigation and staring intently at the mini map in the upper right. Also adding to the rush and neglect of scenery is the fact that there’s still a boss battle awaiting you, and you really want to get there as fast as you can. It’s a shame, but if you have the mental fortitude to actually stop and smell the roses, I recommend you doing so. I had to remind myself of that a couple times, and it was worth it because the art style is just so gosh darn pretty.
Before we move on from gameplay, I just want to take a moment and talk about the tutorial…I wish games would stop treating me like an idiot. I, as well as most likely every other owner of a PlayStation Vita, know how to play a fucking video game! Enough hand holding, enough explanations, enough slowing down so I can grasp the idea of swiping a screen to attack or pushing a button to jump or aiming down sights with a trigger. If you really need to include a handbook, put it someplace I don’t have to see it. There was one stroke of genius in Severed’s approach to teaching you the game. It was a pot. A cracked, purple pot, that if broken, deals you damage. An incredibly simple hazard, ones that I came across and broke, more than a few times before realizing I should avoid them. I learned, and I didn’t need a big flashing arrow and a writing prompt to figure that out. Unfortunately, this game needs to teach you how to use your weapons, and although these moments are few and far between, and truly a minor hiccup in the overall pace of the game, I can’t help but feel disappointed in it. Tutorials are not for everyone and should not be in the way of people who do not need them.
But other than that, Severed is a fantastic game! The writing is pretty minimal, but can be funny, charming, interesting and dreadful, all at the same time. This feeling of dread and despair carries throughout the entire game, and feels incredibly separated from Drinkbox’s previous game Guacamelee, despite having such similar art styles. I can’t speak much toward the soundtrack, as I know very little about criticizing music, and my scale consists of two sides: “Sounds good” and “Doesn’t sound good”. So I’ll just leave you with “sounds good”. There is no New Game + mode, which is what it is. I think I probably would’ve liked having one, but I’m not particularly disappointed by the lack of it. The overall length of the game, again, is what it is. I don’t really measure a games worth by its length, but I clocked in at 6 hours -1 for back-tracking. Oh, and it has a pretty obtainable platinum, so that’s cool.
Severed is a very unique game with a dreadful/beautiful aesthetic and thoroughly engaging gameplay. Although the tutorial is a small bump in an otherwise smooth road, there’s really nothing too unlikeable about this game. The back-tracking, while a tad tedious, was necessary in experiencing every secret Severed had to offer. I don’t really do recommendations here, but if you have a Vita…I mean, wink and a nudge yo.
And seriously, how cool is it that the PS Vita actually got an exclusive in 2016?! Thank you Drinkbox! And of course, thank you (reader) for reading.
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