A Final Fantasy that never originally came to the United States, FFV tells the story of four individuals on a quest to try to save the planetary crystals from shattering.  By this point this is familiar ground with a lot of the same types of tropes appearing.  Appearing also in this game are the job system which allow you to assign roles to your characters to suit your play style.  The Pixel Remaster series takes the original sprites and brings them to a higher resolution while still maintaining the charm.  There are little flourishes here and there but, for the most part, they remain true to the source material.

Visuals:

I love the way the Pixel Remaster did up the game.  I love the sprites from the original but seeing them much crisper with the little touches to the backgrounds makes this feel super fresh.  The bad thing is that the PR uses a lot of the same sprites from game to game so they look very much the same as the other iterations.  

Audio:

Gawdang!  The remastered score is amazing.  All of the songs are bangers with some of them just going hard with the score.  I really don’t know what more can be done for these games but Square Enix hit it out of the park.

Completion:

I’m still working on it and have been for quite some time.  I’ve been trying to get 100% on it but I don’t think it’s going to happen.  I did just defeat Exdeath [first time?] so I’m ready to explore more of this world.  I’m loving the game.  The translation is amazing.  The music is amazing.  Everything is amazing.  

Update: 04/07/2026

I FINISHED THIS GAME! What a lovely and amazing experience. I’ve been saying that each one of these I complete is my new favorite Final Fantasy game but they just keep outdoing one another. The story, visuals, music, writing, emotional strings pulled, and the fights are all superb.

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The 9th installment of the ongoing Resident Evil franchise, you take the reins of newcomer Grace Ashcroft as she is tasked to find clues about some murders that happened at the scene of a very traumatic incident in her past.  Also joining the frey is seasoned veteran Leon Kennedy to get to the bottom of the murders plaguing the city.  Unfortunately shit pops off from the very beginning and your ultimate goal is to survive.  The characters bring two different types of gameplay to the series with Grace being more of a hide and seek style while Leon is your traditional action hero who just mows everyone down.  You also play as Grace in first person [I switched it back to third person because of motion sickness] while Leon plays in third person.  It is a very effective shift for the series and adds a little bit of flavor to the game.

Visuals:

Every time a new tent pole game releases I’m always kind of underwhelmed by the visuals in the game.  They always look either like stylized shit or something from a previous generation.  In this case, RE9 looks amazing.  The characters look super detailed and very unique.  This goes for all the main players as well as the enemies.  The latter look particularly disgusting and I love it.  The environments are also wonderful but are not really different enough from most Resident Evil games.  Regardless, they still look incredible!

Audio:

I never knew that talking zombies would be so unpleasant.  To hear a zombie toiling about their past life is kind of disturbing and makes me want to avoid them.  Every enemy, so far, seems to talk which does add a nice twist when a giant blob looking creature is blaming you for everything that went wrong in their life.  The atmosphere of the game is very moody with creaks and groans happening in every corner.  Makes you dread every room you go into.

Completion:

So far I have just escaped from the Hospital and things have just got pretty bad for Grace.  Leon, on the other hand, is just dealing with his shit.  Either way, I’m loving this game but I’m having a hard time playing it because I really don’t like jump scares or scarcity of materials, but that’s just how Resident Evil games have always been.  Still a good’un!

Update: 03/15/2026

I FINISHED THIS GAME!! Man, does it go some places. It was a hell of a game and a wonderful story. It makes me excited to see what they do with the ongoing saga or if they will use this as a nice ending and reboot the franchise. Only time will tell, but I am super happy.

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I don’t know what to call this game.  A sequel, prequel, noncanon, canon, or whatever.  Either way, this game is a great continuation of the Indiana Jones fiction.  It’s not as insane as the later two moves [after the initial trilogy] are and the adventure does have all the hallmarks of an Indiana Jones flick.  The gameplay is from the first person with you globetrotting across the world trying to find relics to find what the Great Circle actually means.  You’ll fight literal giants and Nazis as you try to complete your quest.  Along the way you’ll be searching for other clues and relics to maybe make your adventure even more complete.  

Visuals:

I’m not really a fan of the visuals for the game.  They’re fine and serviceable but everything looks to have either a low budget or a last generation vibe to them.  The character models look great with the actors’ likenesses coming through really well.  It’s just everything else about the world seems rather bland.  The good thing is that it doesn’t detract too much since the world does look believable.  I just want more.

Audio:

This game nails the Indiana Jones vibe.  From the overacting of the characters, the music stings hitting at the right time, and the sounds it makes when you deck a guy it just sounds like how it’s supposed to sound.  I can’t praise the voice actors enough because they really sell the game.  The cutscenes are always fun to watch because everyone is giving it their all and it makes this kind of the third/fourth best Indiana Jones movie.

Completion:

I FINISHED THIS GAME!  It was a fun ride and brought me back into the world of Dr. Jones more so than what the last two movies did.  Maybe it’s because they actually don’t have Ford trying to reprise his role but everything around the game just felt well done.  I was invested in the story and it was just fun to play.  I don’t think I’m going to go back and New Game+ it, though, because I felt the game wrapped up all the loose ends pretty nicely.

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The world has been destroyed by the Timefall [rain which accelerates time] and by BTs [Beached Things which are dead souls bent on bringing you to the afterlife with them].  When a person dies, their body starts going through a rapid change in which they basically become a massive city destroying bomb.  Got all that?  Cool!  Now, go deliver packages from one hologram to the next.  Also, make sure you don’t fall over, or you’ll lose all your shit.  HAVE FUN!

Visuals:

Even though the premise of this game is zany it is a gorgeous game.  For something that was made for the previous generation [PlayStation 4] it looks amazing with all the characters being highly detailed and lifelike.  The only thing I really have qualms with is the world.  I understand the world is supposed to be reverted to a primordial state, but they could have done more than making it look like Iceland.  The environments do change throughout the game but never drastically going from Iceland to Jamaica or anything.  There are also some trippy stuffs that do go on in the latter portions of the game, but I can’t really explain them.

Audio:

I love the audio of this game.  The soundtrack is banging.  The environmental sounds are on point.  Everything is just as it should be.  There was a video that came out with Hideo Kojima doing an explanation of this game in which he said when you’re going to the next city, and the music starts playing he would want you to be moved to tears with it.  While this didn’t happen in the game, it did happen to me when driving home from passing one of my architecture exam tests.  A song from the end started playing and I must admit it made me super emotional.  Well played Kojima.

Completion:

I FINISHED THIS GAME!  I first tried this game out on the PS4 because why not.  I bounced off of it after an hour.  Fast forward to its release on Xbox and I bought it because I thought, “This will be a chill game where I can just deliver things from one place to the other.  It’ll be relaxing.”  And then I got hooked.  I wanted nothing more than to just deliver and build the world out.  Everything you get to improve your world just makes the game better.   When I got the roads, it was over as all I wanted to do was to build roads so I could deliver more and more stuff.  And then I got my truck, and it truly clicked.  The ending of this game was so full of emotion and bittersweet it made me super pumped up for a sequel.  

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Man this story makes no sense in the Remake.  Maybe it’s because, back then, anytime we saw an FMV we were just immediately awed.  Now, we can’t tell if something is FMV or gameplay but it all just seems uninteresting.  I think there is a civil war happening in some kingdom and it’s up to me to stop them.  Me and MY TRUST DRAGON!  This is a rail shooter with you targeting enemies and then blasting them with a super shot.  Enemies are all over you so you have to adjust your view to your cardinal directions to make sure you take them all out.

Visuals:

Ugly.  This game just looks so ugly.  The original one on the Sega Saturn was a powerhouse for that system showing that it could compete with the Sony PlayStation but, here, it just looks like trash.  Everything just has no character and looks so generic.  The enemies are bland.  The main character and your dragon look hella bland.  The world just looks uber bland.  As said in the hit sitcom of the 90’s, My Brother and Me, it’s not ugly it’s OOGLY!

Audio:

Same with the audio on here.  The remastered tracks are just boring and lackluster.  Not really much to say.

Completion:

I FINISHED THIS GAME!  It really wasn’t that long with only having a few chapters [levels].  Once you beat it you unlock all sorts of cheats to help you achieve more in the game but it really is too little too late.  I have this game for the Saturn and over the decades I would try out the first level and think, “Man, this is a cool game!”  But after playing the Remake I think it was just me deluding myself.  Maybe Zwei or Orta will be better, but who knows!

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Joanna Dark is a master spy in the future who’s trying to take down the [I think] sinister DataDyne corporation.  Little does she know they have an armada of baddies and, eventually, aliens at their side to try to stop her!  It’s a first person shooter game that was initially released for the Nintendo 64.  Microsoft eventually rereleased it for the Xbox 360 then again for the Xbox One in the Rare Replay collection to be played on future consoles.  AND THAT’S JUST WHAT MY FRIEND AND I DID!

Visuals:

I may be a sucker for nostalgia and old graphics but this game still looks great.  For this rerelease they upped the resolution to 4K, made the framerate smooth, and enhanced the textures.  It may not look super modern but it doesn’t look fuck ugly.  The animations are rudimentary but that’s about it.  Everything just looks amazing.  Not bad for a late gen Nintendo 64 game.

Audio:

Again, the nostalgia is hitting me hard.  All the background music as well as the sounds just bring back stupid sessions with that same friend from my high school days.  What a wonderful game this is.

Completion:

Over 20 years later and I still haven’t beat this game.  I get to the same level and stop and it happened this time as well!  It’s always the mission where you have to snipe the people holding the lady hostage so I’ve never seen anything beyond that.  The first couple of levels are amazing and there’s a reason why this game was so beloved.  It’s a shame that, as of 2025, the Perfect Dark franchise is dead.

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It’s the future and democracy is at stake from all sorts of “monsters.”  You got crazy bugs and angry robots who all want to kill you and, when they do, they do it pretty easily.  Helldivers 2 is an online game in which you can try to solo missions but, eventually, you’ll get other players to join your quest to help you do the objectives or exterminate the baddies.  It’s been said before, with good merit, but this game is just Starship Troopers [the movie] in disguise.  The crazy amount of nationalism and how everything is for liberty and democracy is rampant.

Visuals:

It’s not really that much of a looker of a game.  The effects and everything is competently done but there isn’t something that is trying to wow you.  The character design and, especially, the enemy designs are really nice.  The worlds, though, are super bland.  You’ll get used to seeing them as they are the only places you’ll see over and over again.  I also wish the ships had more character or something else to them because you’ll spend a lot of time there as well.  Most of the differentiation is in your own character but that’s just because you’re encouraged to spend credits to trick them out.

Audio:

Like the visuals, there really isn’t anything to write home about in terms of audio.  Everything is pomp and circumstance and overtly patriotic.  I know it’s the theme of the game so I’m not ragging on it, it just gets tiring after so many hours.

Completion:

I’m not done with the game since it’s an ongoing multiplayer game but I feel I got a pretty good grasp on what to expect.  It’s a fun game and I will keep playing it as every match is different but pretty much the same.  I wish there were more things to do outside of the game but this is what the game is.  My dude will keep leveling and I’ll keep decking him out.  As well as my super destroyer.  For democracy.

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It’s the year 2077 and everything looks like what a person born in the 70s thought the future of the 80s would look like.  People have robotic enhancements to, what seems like, every part of their body and there are neon lights covering grimy environments.  There aren’t flying cars, though, so that sucks.  Everyone also talks with the ‘tude so you know they mean business.  Music also is stuck, perpetually, in the 80s vibe so you got that going for you.  With that said, you take the role of a guy/gal/whatever and traverse Night City [and surroundings] doing quests all from the first person view!  

Visuals:

The game can look very pretty when everything is clicking and the people aren’t getting in the way.  There are some occasional jarring moments which took me out of the world but they were few and far between.  Like I said, everything has a lived in look which means there is trash and grime everywhere but that’s the mood.  The character models look ok as long as you don’t look too closely.  Personally, I thought Johnny Silverhand looked rough considering he’s supposed to be front and center.

Audio:

I’m kind of torn by the audio of the game.  I love synthesizers and crazy digital sounds in movies or just media in general but I feel like this is just trying too hard to meet that style.  It just seems like it’s in your face about it and is like “See!  Look how 80s we are!” and that’s always the worst kind.  The voice acting is good but, again, everyone just is trying way too hard to be edgelords. It comes off rather pathetic.

Completion:

When everything comes together I just couldn’t play the game anymore.  I put probably 7 hours into it and it just was boring.  The combat, the story, and the world were just bland and dull even though it was technically sound.  I just couldn’t care less about what was happening.  The sandbox portion of it isn’t even particularly good because the AI is extremely dumb that even if you kill a cop, you kill enough of them and they’ll stop caring.  I just couldn’t take anymore of it once the luster wore off.

Update: 12/11/2025

I FINISHED THIS GAME! I don’t know why I wanted to finish it but I felt I had to. My ending, apparently, is the quick ending in which my dude decided to take the easy way out. It was kind of a beautiful little ending and, even though I could reload a save and do the correct ending, I decided to make it permanent and stop it there.

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Snake is back! …again…but this time in glorious 3D and with full on voice acting. your mission is to infiltrate Shadow Moses to rescue some dudes from some baddies without getting caught. You will use your radar and other weapons to do the mission successfully before the terrorists fire a nuclear weapon!

Visuals:

Man this game is so cool looking. It was mind blowing back then, even with the rudimentary 3D graphics, it conveys what it’s trying to do so well. It’s cinematic as fuck. The characters all have their own style and Shadow Moses is awesome looking. Not to mention, Metal Gear Rex just looks like a fuckin’ hoss. I’ve been looking to get a model kit of it but they’ve gone up in price. MGS was one of the games that made the PlayStation a beast compared to the N64 and a lot of people really never looked back.

Audio:

As I said in the opening, voice acting is here. David Hayter plays a very fun snake and everyone is taking the story super seriously. Even if what they are saying is nonsense and maybe doesn’t have the quite cinematic nuances, it’s still amazing. Especially for 1998. All the sounds are iconic now, and I’d say even then we knew they were something special. The music just hits hard as well as all the sound effects. I still feel the voice actors still surpass all of these and are the true standouts.

Completion:

I FINISHED THIS GAME! Multiple times, throughout the decades. It’s a super short game and you get extra stuff every time you beat it. There aren’t much different ways to play, as it’s not an open world, but there are quite a few. Silent stealth man or guns a blazing action hero, you can do it. I really love this game. Even if Liquid Snake is just Leonardo.

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Solid Snake is back to infiltrate Zanzibar Land to rescue Dr. Kio Marv, a scientist working on a new form of energy. This is a sneaking missions so the typical mechanics are still the same: stay out of sight from guards, make no noise, and, above all, don’t get caught! As with all Metal Gears, you will meet strange characters and murderous bosses who want nothing than to be the one who kills you. Where will this mission take you? Who is the main baddie behind the kidnapping? What is Zanzibar Land? Why is Solid Snake the only one who can rescue Kio Marv? How will this play out?!

Visuals:

A slight improvement over how Metal Gear looked like, Metal Gear 2 changed how the UI looks by adding a map to your main HUD. This helps Snake being able to get his bearings while also being able to locate enemies on screens. Unfortunately you’ll barely be able to see the map since you’re constantly going to be setting off alerts. The environments are extremely well done by giving you separate biomes and complexes which all look different. Snake and the gang all got a small upgrade in their sprites with the main thing being that Snake can now crawl all over the place.

Audio:

Like the first, this game adds upon the innovations of the first. The alert sound is burned into my head just how much I set them off. Enemies will now follow you from screen to screen constantly spotting you. Squeaky and metal tiles will also be the bane of existence since they’ll too alert everyone constantly. I wish I could talk more about the music but I only had the one track going since I couldn’t help but be spotted every fucking moment.

Completion:

I FINISHED THIS GAME! I went on a Metal Gear kick after beating the first one and made it my mission to beat this one. The enemies are super cool and seems to have been where Kojima got his stride on making dumb bosses with gimmicks trying to put an end to Snake. You’ll also fight the titular Metal Gear D but that’s a boss fight kind of in the late middle portion. The main stars were the fight with Gray Fox in a minefield [room] and then the ultimate fight between Big Boss [!] by setting the motherfucker on fire with hairspray and a lighter.

The game was fun and it does set up the world of the latter Metal Gear Solid games. I just HATE that I was always fucking spotted. These assholes guards were on their A game in Zanzibar Land.

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