Josh McGrath
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Gamer EscapeLatest Reviews
Whether you’re a retro-head with a weird interest in the PC-98 like myself, a fan of old-school graphic adventures, a visual novel fan poking their head into something similar, or just into 80s mecha, Stories from Sol is a tale that is worth your time.
Maybe it’s my inability to fully connect with the core themes. Maybe it’s the frustrations at a lack of challenge (and occasionally any input at all) in a game featuring action elements, as opposed to the “art walk” presentation of its predecessor. And there were moments where it really did feel like I was just playing “Gris with swords.”
Exploring and finding the various ways forward constantly kept my interest, even through occasionally frustrating moments. The rhythm runs, while disappointingly uncommon, provided nice breaks from the core gameplay flow and some wonderful tunes to listen to alongside.
I’ve spent the last few weeks completely immersing myself in Valisthea and the story of Clive. Countless hours exploring, fighting, and trying to predict where the story would go next. Now, after I’ve finished, I’ve found myself with an urge that I’ve never had with any other JRPG, not even ones from my favorite franchises: I want to go in and play again. I don’t do New Game + modes, but Final Fantasy XVI has me rearing for another go around.
I admittedly haven’t played any of the older Star Ocean games from back at the peak of its popularity, so I can’t say for certain whether Divine Force is a return to form. But for fans disappointed with the previous entry, there’s plenty here to make a dive back into the franchise worthwhile. Here’s hoping tri-Ace gets another shot with a bigger budget next time, because I believe they’re on an upswing.
Returning Gunvolt fans will find plenty to love here, and I believe this game can act as a great entry point for newcomers as well. Whether you want to master the systems and chase high scores, or just feel like a god smiting every obstacle in front of them, there’s still plenty to enjoy.
The thing is, it doesn’t really do much to stand out. The fast pace, the focus on maneuverability, even its adherence to old-school FPS style, all of it has been done well (and in some cases better) elsewhere in recent memory. Does this make it a bad game? No, not by any means at all. But when the only real gimmick it has going for it is weird humor that doesn’t really stick the landing, there’s not really anything else that will make it a go-to pick for FPS fans looking for something t...
Really, the only things that are holding it back for me here are Aiden’s characterization, some wonky story moments growing out of the focus on choices affecting the plot, and some occasional navigation issues during quick parkour-ing. None of these are really deal breakers, although they occasionally created some moments of frustration during my playthrough. What is a big issue, though, is the extravagant amount of motion blur applied to the graphics. I’m hoping this is something Techlan...
If you’re a fan of space combat and can push your way through the first couple hours, I’m fairly confident you’ll find a lot to like in Chorus. The core dogfighting is just plain fun, and the setpiece fights are something to see. If you’re not already a genre fan, however, I’m not entirely sure this will be the game to win you over.
It really feels like Gust took the criticism of the original to heart here. We’ve gone from a massive stumble of a game with some good ideas to an incredibly solid JRPG that does just about everything it sets out to do correctly. From the character writing to the speedy gameplay, the world design to the excellent soundtrack, this is a game worth taking a look at.