But for all the right reasons.
I played the fan translation of the PSX Popolocrois Monogatari a few weeks ago. I instantly fell in love and wanted more. Fortunately, it has a sequel that's also been fan translated! I booted it up twenty two (in game) hours ago, and I started to realize how bad PopoNo was. I saw these shortcomings because the sequel is so superior in most ways.
Let's start with the story. The bad news is that it feels less open world than before. The fast travel system is gone, and you're on a linear course. You can't randomly decide to return to Pasela if you need to talk to Guilda. The good news is, this isn't a big deal. Lots of RPGs are linear, and that line makes for a more compelling story. It's all gas; no brakes, and you'll be bouncing around the nether regions of the continent too often to return anywhere anyway. Exploring this new world gives a grander sense of stakes to the overall conflict. And, my goodness, is the story ramped up.
Poor Pietro endures so much more this time around. He deals with loss, his mistakes, and the pangs of a young heart. Narcia suffers through the unknown and the uncertain. And the other characters learn to adapt to themselves. This one seems vague, but PopoMo 2's cast doubles that of the previous game. Not everyone is made the same, but they're all welcome additions.
And the villains are all more evil than before. They all made an instant impact to the good guys. From the moment they first appeared on screen, you knew to hate them. They forced you to despise them. You felt an urge to loathe them. They were the perfect foil to the Prince and his cohorts. Most of them, at least. They can't all be zingers. 8/10
The gameplay is slightly different than before. Gone are the (obvious) grids, replaced with a generic circle range. So think more Valkyria Chronicles than FFT. At first, I hated it, but then I learned to press square and triangle to slide and rotate. It's a sideways change. The real additions come in the new skills everyone learns, and the way they can evolve. Pietro's Wind Slash turns into a move where he flings a dragon through enemies. This can occasionally mess you up, mind you, as the level also resets on evolution. This can turn a wide AoE spell into a single target one instead. So don't take on a boss just after Narcia's Healing Rains changes. It creates a lot of fun, exciting ways to engage in battle, and it makes you want to play with other characters. Sadly, there isn't anything else to do but battle again. The devs tried to add puzzles to the game with block pushing sections, but they are limited and don't add much. 9/10
The music is much of the same. It feels like there is more variety, which is another reason why the expanded world is welcome, but if you liked the tunes in game one, you'll like them here. I know I certainly did. 10/10
The visuals are also improved. I thought the character sprites looked off in game one, but the slight changes make them fit in better now. And, along with the new skills, all of them look different, too. No longer do Pietro and Narcia's wind moves look the same. PopoMo has shed its budget title looks. They did some really cool things with Jilva. Not only that, but the anime cutscenes are more modern. I liked the retro look, but I won't complain about '90s aesthetics. 10/10
Despite all that's been changed, the charm remains. The expanded world has allowed for so many dumb d-plots. My favorite was Elvis finding his brother. There are more important NPCs, a reward for exploring, and everything is adorable (until it isn't). I want to say it's the perfect length, but I actually want more! I don't know about replayability, but let's circle back in a few years. 9/10
I could reduce points for the oppressive encounter rate, but Pietro has a spell to remove those. And I think you're supposed to use it because the game is too easy in the late game if you're killing everything. Escaping also has a 100 percent success rate (but you lose gold).
I could knock off ten points because Gami Gami's infatuation with a fifteen-year-old girl is creepy, but he's an optional character.
Ultimately, the presentation combines with the charm of the game to create something memorable. And the plot has so many twists, turns, shocks, and amazing moments that it becomes magic. I don't know if I've seen any other game do the things Popolocrois II has done. I wanted to cry multiple times. Pietro's new baby sister adds a weird layer to everything that works for me. I felt a range of emotions I haven't felt in a long time. Queen Sania remains a vital pillar to the game. It's a story of young love that feels correct and not artificial, and for that alone, I want to sue Sony for keeping this from me for so long. 46/50.
There are a few things I missed that make me wonder if the game could reach 48, though. There are some optional scenes about random NPCs I couldn't find. Saving a mute, getting a band back together, and a few others. But the lack of deep guides around this game keeps them a mystery. And I didn't keep a save from before the point of no return... Sorry, Rena. But even without seeing those, Popolocrois Monogatari is one of the greatest games I've ever played. I've already slotted it in as my fourteenth favorite game. It is a must play in any form, and I can't recommend it enough. My only regret is that I've played it, and I can't go back, nor can I experience other games in the franchise.
Friday, August 22, 2025
Sunday, August 10, 2025
This got a sequel?
The bar was low in 1993.
I've heard good things about this game's sequel, which is actually a prequel. I've actually played that one, too. Didn't like it... I have played the loosely connected side game and found that one rad. But the first entry into the franchise, well. I'll just come out and say it.
Lufia & The Fortress of Doom sucks.
There are eight characters worth remembering in this game. Four playable and four villainous. The four bad guys are on screen for a combined five minutes with a thirty hour gap between their first and second appearances. Two of the main cast are just there to fill combat roles and provide unfunny comedic relief. They're a net positive to the game, but they don't add depth to the overall plot. This is a game about two people and their connections to the past. Now, those two people are great, but you need more for a proper cast. And the story itself ain't great. It's mostly walking around for no apparent reason until you find the bad guy. But only after you've done the mundane nonsense of the local town or traveled to a tertiary dungeon to find the key to the important dungeon. And then an ending that, we know now, isn't true and ruins the entire journey. 3/10
Gameplay involves inputting commands, just like any other turn based RPG at the time. And then your characters perform those actions in no apparent order. It makes it hard to properly plan actions other than general offense. This becomes even difficult because your actions don't change target when the programmed target dies. Welcome back to OG Final Fantasy I! To make everything worse, there are only two types of dungeons, zero mini games, and no alternative play styles. It's a very boring game in the long haul. 3/10.
The music is overused, and I hate it. I'm not saying it's bad; I'm just sick of it. There is minuscule variation in gameplay, music...(8/10)
...or visuals. There is a lot of sprite reuse for mobs. NPCs, towns, and dungeons. Why does the main character look like anyone with red hair? 5/10
The world is massive. It needs an in game map, but never provides one. At least there's a lot here worth experiencing if the overall experience were better. It starts to overstay its welcome, mind you. 5/10
One of the reasons for that is the random encounter rate is terrible, especially when you get the boat. Once the world opens up, you're punished for exploring with random chaff every three titles. Don't get lost, explore, or bother playing at that point. I wanted to give up so much, and I don't know why I didn't. Along with the NES FFI targeting system and the awful, terrible, annoying, confusion spamming final boss, add -6 to the above points.
A part of me wants to reduce the points more because of a lack of a map and the negatives creating tedium. For some reason, I won't and will stick Lufia 1 with an 18/50 points.
Imagine Dragon Quest VI but worse. That's Lufia and the Fortress of Doom. I quit playing Rise of the Sinestrals the first time I gave it a try a long time ago. The rope was already short, but after playing this mess, it got shorter. But first, I'm going back to my new love: PopoloCrois.
I've heard good things about this game's sequel, which is actually a prequel. I've actually played that one, too. Didn't like it... I have played the loosely connected side game and found that one rad. But the first entry into the franchise, well. I'll just come out and say it.
Lufia & The Fortress of Doom sucks.
There are eight characters worth remembering in this game. Four playable and four villainous. The four bad guys are on screen for a combined five minutes with a thirty hour gap between their first and second appearances. Two of the main cast are just there to fill combat roles and provide unfunny comedic relief. They're a net positive to the game, but they don't add depth to the overall plot. This is a game about two people and their connections to the past. Now, those two people are great, but you need more for a proper cast. And the story itself ain't great. It's mostly walking around for no apparent reason until you find the bad guy. But only after you've done the mundane nonsense of the local town or traveled to a tertiary dungeon to find the key to the important dungeon. And then an ending that, we know now, isn't true and ruins the entire journey. 3/10
Gameplay involves inputting commands, just like any other turn based RPG at the time. And then your characters perform those actions in no apparent order. It makes it hard to properly plan actions other than general offense. This becomes even difficult because your actions don't change target when the programmed target dies. Welcome back to OG Final Fantasy I! To make everything worse, there are only two types of dungeons, zero mini games, and no alternative play styles. It's a very boring game in the long haul. 3/10.
The music is overused, and I hate it. I'm not saying it's bad; I'm just sick of it. There is minuscule variation in gameplay, music...(8/10)
...or visuals. There is a lot of sprite reuse for mobs. NPCs, towns, and dungeons. Why does the main character look like anyone with red hair? 5/10
The world is massive. It needs an in game map, but never provides one. At least there's a lot here worth experiencing if the overall experience were better. It starts to overstay its welcome, mind you. 5/10
One of the reasons for that is the random encounter rate is terrible, especially when you get the boat. Once the world opens up, you're punished for exploring with random chaff every three titles. Don't get lost, explore, or bother playing at that point. I wanted to give up so much, and I don't know why I didn't. Along with the NES FFI targeting system and the awful, terrible, annoying, confusion spamming final boss, add -6 to the above points.
A part of me wants to reduce the points more because of a lack of a map and the negatives creating tedium. For some reason, I won't and will stick Lufia 1 with an 18/50 points.
Imagine Dragon Quest VI but worse. That's Lufia and the Fortress of Doom. I quit playing Rise of the Sinestrals the first time I gave it a try a long time ago. The rope was already short, but after playing this mess, it got shorter. But first, I'm going back to my new love: PopoloCrois.
Wednesday, August 6, 2025
The worst game of all time.
If I had readers, this might not go over well.
Several months ago, a massive collaboration was announced between two giants of their respective media. It had been in development for several years, even predating the most recent experience of one of the two coconspirators. I had no experience with one of them, but the other was a core component of my personality, so I had to give it a try. And that was a mistake.
I'm talking about the Final Fantasy and Magic The Gathering crossover.
So I downloaded MTG Arena in March. I played it for a few days but put it down shortly after. The way most of my opponents play made the game frustrating and unfun. But I was desperate for Final Fantasy content, and spoilers started around this time. I was curious, so I went back. Four months later, and I'm finally done with this cancer.
The vast majority of my opponents play what veterans call Control. But I'll keep calling them conTroll. This involves instantly killing everything you try to play. Occasionally, they bother doing something different, but that's their primary action. This wouldn't be so bad if that's all they could do, but removal is ridiculously cheap. One opponent, mono black, once killed one of my creatures, cast one of their own, killed a second of mine, while simultaneously killing what they just cast, and finally played a second creature.
Wow! I'm having fun!
Another recent conTroll user, a blue/white, used eleven board wipes, spells that kill every creature on the board. What's the point of playing against or with that? They never had a win con, but I only won because they're stupid and can't read "indestructible." Knights of the Round, baby!
Wow! I'm having fun!
And then there are red users who just spam Shock all day. Blues who load up on twenty counter spells while s l o w l y getting their nonsense out, spamming the same boring two cards all game.
I'm not having fun!
And then there are mill decks, which force you to throw your deck into the bin.
I've been told there are two prominent decks. One is red aggro builds that pump out and up as many creatures as they can, as fast as they can. The other is black graveyard revivals. Red is at least fast and lets me pretend I played a game, so I don't mind them, but the revivals make me realize how pointless this game is. I killed that big, scary guy and can now do something! Oh, wait, it's back and even stronger... Or it's a 9/9 god on turn three...
And there are so many people who play this game who read at a first grade level. I'm proud that they're trying, but they slow the game down so much that I can't play even if they let me.
At the end of the day, it's not the zero story in Arena. It isn't the unimportance of the music. It isn't even the bugs that make me want to stop, although that was the final straw for me. No, it's just the fact this game isn't fun. It isn't designed to be fun. There are so many cards that ruin the experience. Laughing Jester Flint and other heist decks that steal your deck. Discard decks that combine insta kill and mill. Unstoppable Slasher, a creature with deathtouch, borderline immortality, and halves your HP if they reach you. Cards that explicitly say "you cannot lose the game, and your opponent cannot win," some of which are impossible to remove. The combination of Nine Lives and Solemnity makes a player immortal. Chandra land destruction nonsense. And those aren't even the meta decks.
And this doesn't even include stuff like flooding out, getting creature screwed, or terrible initial hands - multiple times. I should expect stuff like that from an RNG based deck building game.
And even without those above mentions, decks without those are still boring. Most of my wins or losses are snowballed from turn four or five. Unless I'm against a surprise Troll deck, I usually know if I've won at turn five. I also usually know when I've lost by then, too. Rarely are games competitive, adding to the tedium and boredom.
In short, there is no story (0)
It's addicting for terrible people, but at least MTG can claim to be the first of its kind (3)
The sound is not important (4).
The art is plentiful (7).
The charm is soul sucking (0).
It's the tedium of sludging through the same decks. Suffering through so much downtime with terrible mulligan rules and ropers. Battling through the bugs like connection issues and download issues, as well as the ever increasing load times. Terrible GUI instances keep popping up as well. And the fact is, if you're not using the twelve or so meta cards, you're gonna have a rougher time. Casual nonsense drags you down.
All that makes Magic the Gathering: Arena a -5/50. That's right, a negative final. I didn't think it was possible, but 4000 games of this made me realize that the general belief about Magic players might be on point. Go take a shower and get a better diet. Especially if you play mono black. I was two cards away from finishing the Final Fantasy set, but a download bug shut me down. I'm a bit bummed, but I'm not upset.
Several months ago, a massive collaboration was announced between two giants of their respective media. It had been in development for several years, even predating the most recent experience of one of the two coconspirators. I had no experience with one of them, but the other was a core component of my personality, so I had to give it a try. And that was a mistake.
I'm talking about the Final Fantasy and Magic The Gathering crossover.
So I downloaded MTG Arena in March. I played it for a few days but put it down shortly after. The way most of my opponents play made the game frustrating and unfun. But I was desperate for Final Fantasy content, and spoilers started around this time. I was curious, so I went back. Four months later, and I'm finally done with this cancer.
The vast majority of my opponents play what veterans call Control. But I'll keep calling them conTroll. This involves instantly killing everything you try to play. Occasionally, they bother doing something different, but that's their primary action. This wouldn't be so bad if that's all they could do, but removal is ridiculously cheap. One opponent, mono black, once killed one of my creatures, cast one of their own, killed a second of mine, while simultaneously killing what they just cast, and finally played a second creature.
Wow! I'm having fun!
Another recent conTroll user, a blue/white, used eleven board wipes, spells that kill every creature on the board. What's the point of playing against or with that? They never had a win con, but I only won because they're stupid and can't read "indestructible." Knights of the Round, baby!
Wow! I'm having fun!
And then there are red users who just spam Shock all day. Blues who load up on twenty counter spells while s l o w l y getting their nonsense out, spamming the same boring two cards all game.
I'm not having fun!
And then there are mill decks, which force you to throw your deck into the bin.
I've been told there are two prominent decks. One is red aggro builds that pump out and up as many creatures as they can, as fast as they can. The other is black graveyard revivals. Red is at least fast and lets me pretend I played a game, so I don't mind them, but the revivals make me realize how pointless this game is. I killed that big, scary guy and can now do something! Oh, wait, it's back and even stronger... Or it's a 9/9 god on turn three...
And there are so many people who play this game who read at a first grade level. I'm proud that they're trying, but they slow the game down so much that I can't play even if they let me.
At the end of the day, it's not the zero story in Arena. It isn't the unimportance of the music. It isn't even the bugs that make me want to stop, although that was the final straw for me. No, it's just the fact this game isn't fun. It isn't designed to be fun. There are so many cards that ruin the experience. Laughing Jester Flint and other heist decks that steal your deck. Discard decks that combine insta kill and mill. Unstoppable Slasher, a creature with deathtouch, borderline immortality, and halves your HP if they reach you. Cards that explicitly say "you cannot lose the game, and your opponent cannot win," some of which are impossible to remove. The combination of Nine Lives and Solemnity makes a player immortal. Chandra land destruction nonsense. And those aren't even the meta decks.
And this doesn't even include stuff like flooding out, getting creature screwed, or terrible initial hands - multiple times. I should expect stuff like that from an RNG based deck building game.
And even without those above mentions, decks without those are still boring. Most of my wins or losses are snowballed from turn four or five. Unless I'm against a surprise Troll deck, I usually know if I've won at turn five. I also usually know when I've lost by then, too. Rarely are games competitive, adding to the tedium and boredom.
In short, there is no story (0)
It's addicting for terrible people, but at least MTG can claim to be the first of its kind (3)
The sound is not important (4).
The art is plentiful (7).
The charm is soul sucking (0).
It's the tedium of sludging through the same decks. Suffering through so much downtime with terrible mulligan rules and ropers. Battling through the bugs like connection issues and download issues, as well as the ever increasing load times. Terrible GUI instances keep popping up as well. And the fact is, if you're not using the twelve or so meta cards, you're gonna have a rougher time. Casual nonsense drags you down.
All that makes Magic the Gathering: Arena a -5/50. That's right, a negative final. I didn't think it was possible, but 4000 games of this made me realize that the general belief about Magic players might be on point. Go take a shower and get a better diet. Especially if you play mono black. I was two cards away from finishing the Final Fantasy set, but a download bug shut me down. I'm a bit bummed, but I'm not upset.
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