#the entire time the bud and I were doing the playthrough I was LAUGHING

[sins-of-the-sea]

//Which STP Voice is Gio?

Yes.

[retphienix]

I did it :)

So, I cried. That's a given.

Also this might be the most overwhelmingly happy ending in the series so far, you know, if you're used to every entry ending with "KIRYU DIE?????"

Bonus points because this ending DID NOT immediately reveal that he lives! I know my intro here is all unserious and the like but genuinely, that does a lot for making the scene so much more impactful and it worked here even though I know he returns for Y6.

So, I'm gonna do this post like the last big post because there's too many thoughts to expel.

Timestamps as I rewatch so I can share my thoughts. Then a short conclusion because honestly? This game has taken all my words multiple times.

I just want to calmly and happily say my final piece at the end :)

0:39 - Spoiler, this ending SUCKS because it doesn't include a final rhythm battle for Haruka! Now I think I read somewhere that there's a member of that assassin clan she can dance battle as a final challenge but I clearly didn't do that right and missed out and that's beside the point- THERE'S NO RHYTHM GAMEPLAY IN THIS FINALE >:(

9:00 - I EARNED IT, I'M USING IT!

13:00 - Spoiler for later, Shinada doesn't get to say this from what I recall. Instead Baba gets a different wake up call, but that works out :)

17:00 - Not now, but this will come up, I offer to you my johns for what happens in the first boss fight. My eyes were dry as hell so I missed some QTEs which means I didn't get the flashiest stuff to happen. This actually happened at the end of Y4 also but I restarted just to capture good footage- not this time.

17:30 - MOUSE. MOUSE MOUSE, A LITTLE RAT, MOUSE. Love to see it.

19:00 - The audible sigh I let out when they played the same song I've heard like 40 times in my playthrough was palpable. I do dig the song! But there are what? 4 Idol songs? They really needed more or to not saturate their use so much :(

19:40 - I legitimately gasped and went "Oh no... of course it's you!" at Baba's role in this. It added a lot of weight to the way he practically begged Haruka not to show up.

20:50 - So here's the gist. Majima's plan didn't work out, we know that. Majima has a REALLY good line and motivator moment where he says he's following orders now to protect Haruka because she means more to Kiryu than anything (and that's how Majima rolls), Majima then reveals some shit which can be amounted to "I think you've gotten weak and wanted to protect you!!!!" which does ring slightly hollow since we saw Majima at a ridiculously low point earlier. So either his low point was him contemplating Saejima's survival chances, or his low point was sincere (it sure sounded it) and his worry over Saejima being weak was just also happening at the same time. I don't really mind either way to be honest, we beat him up. I fail some QTEs.

33:00 - Baba deciding not to fulfill his orders on his own accord is actually extremely important and good as hell. It shows that all this changed him and gave him the motivation to forge his own path- or rather it began to though he's overwhelmed with doubt. It's extremely good.

33:50 - The fact he intentionally leaves evidence shows how much doubt he has though, he's giving up entirely more than forging his own path, he's just refusing to follow the orders of another but hasn't found the strength to continue on his own. It's really good is all.

38:00 - This was the first cry I had beating the game x.x Shinada is just a phenomenally likeable character, and watching him accept where his life has gone and what it's meant to others is way more touching than I'd assume considering it's a tale of a baseball star.

40:50 - THIS WAS HYPE AS HELL AND LEAD TO MY SECOND CRY. THIS PRISON FAMILY HAS NO RIGHT BEING THIS ENDEARING. Also, more or less, they get to deliver the message Shinada was supposed to lol.

42:50 - THIRD AND BIG AS HELL CRY. SHINADA YOU FOOL, YOU'VE A FOUND FAMILY AFTER-ALL!!! I genuinely adore this moment so much is all. It's such a wonderful payoff for this loveable fool. After all the runnin' away he has a home.

43:36 - I love Shinada so much the silly fuck.

46:00 - I got a laugh out of Akiyama KICKING ASS in the news footage (didn't mention but the first brawl cutscene was rather lacking wasn't it?) and Kiryu just like... punches a guy. It's hilarious to me. Also you best believe- I UNLOCKED IT, I'M USING IT!!!

48:00 - Now this is a, well, it's a bad reveal. Like look, there is a metric ton of good going on in this finale- but the reveal that Aizawa is his son and is evil and is the final boss is just too much zero-build-up-payoff. It's the worst part. It's not like extremely detrimental or anything- like it doesn't take away from the good stuff- but it's just entirely uninteresting and bad. It makes Aizawa's interest in Morinaga bizarre and uninteresting since he got no payoff, he had buildup with Saejima and then in the final scenes he's just like "Yeah, Mori was nice but who gives a fuck I am the one who killed him (I think he said) and I aspire to be strong as fuck because all of YOU IDIOTS have FRIENDS and CHARISMA >:(" and like, who fuckin' cares bud.

52:00 - Now I'll more or less sum up all of Akiyama's payoff here. 1- I unlocked it so I'm gonna use it! 2- He offhandedly says he wants to be a legend in this town, which in Y4 he already was- he was a myth, a city mystery- but of course he means like Kiryu not the loch ness monster. 3- He gets to be a legend by being the only civilian (or person in general) the Omi would bow to. It's kind of not built up at all and is a bit lame, but to be honest Akiyama has a pretty bit part in this entire game. He's kinda just a convenient returning character with motivation to assist Kiryu and a career that allows motivation to get involved through Park. To be blunt, his part in the story is weak. I wish it was stronger. But it's inoffensive and he at least gets something- as minor as it is. Getting to say he's king of the world is something, you know?

56:00 - I will say that the build up of "Oh shit, these are Kanai's men!" and the reveal that "Oh shit! They are WATASE'S men and all the clans who the Tojo were seeking alliances with!" is a good one. Watase is a fine enough character which I bring up only because I was told he was a standout- but he wasn't for me. His scenes are great, his growth with Katsuya is nice, but he's barely in the game and really only exists to be betrayed and then to be like "I'm one of the good yakuza despite being a war-lusting one because being a good yakuza is just complicated enough to allow this overlap" which is interesting for sure, but I don't know. Unless he does stuff in the subsequent games I didn't catch much in this one. Maybe he does- I assume he runs the Omi now!

1:00:00 - I kinda summed it up but yeah. Here's the final boss, Aizawa, a character we were mislead on and who's motivation is empty as fuck. It's, whatever. It's not the good part of the ending. The good part is everything prior and directly after. Like his entire deal is anti-silver-spoon talking points but also he includes being charismatic or capable as silver spoon-isms??? He pretty much just wants to be leader because he's strong. He'd arguably be more interesting if he just said it that way.

1:11:00 - The lyrics to Dream are anything but subtle and I love them and I love Haruka. Sliding this in here- Majima gets no payoff >:( Park's dream is accomplished in seeing her star on the stage, but no Majima moment? No sight of him accepting her loss? Lame.

1:14:00 - I genuinely LOVE that Aizawa focuses in on Kiryu's gunshot wound. He still accepts it as a fair fight because Kiryu presents it as one, but even then he pays mind to it as you'd expect someone wanting to fight at their strongest would- he wants to fight Kiryu at his best and he's accepting this because Kiryu presents as his best even when wounded- it's pretty cool. Fight happens. It's fine stuff, flashy and fun. Still maybe the weakest final boss yet because he has no build up. I'd be the first to admit without looking it up I can't list every final boss thus far, but like, Nishi was built up, Mine was built up, Goda was built up, I just, in this moment, don't recall having a big "WHO THE FUCK, THIS MEANS NOTHING?" fight in yakuza and this is certainly one of those.

1:25:00 - I cried AGAIN. Haruka just hit me with a truck of emotion here is all.

1:41:15 - This is a beautifully shot, emotional, and tragic looking ending. Heck, at 1:43:00 I initially thought he was being awoken in a hospital bed and I was like "Heh, there's the old Kiryu dies fakeout!" but no! They hammer home, they go for broke, they give a TRAGIC AS FUCK bitter ending on top of an ending that's like 99% happy as fuck in terms of offering everyone involved hope for the future. This was a good end :)

So then, some overall thoughts I maybe didn't get out- I mean there's no way this post touches everything but I want to at least try to because I like sharin' the experience and what I got out of it.

The fighting styles were mighty uneven as far as strengths or fun factor. To be blunt,

Kiryu has an overpowered counter attack and heat mode and since heat mode is underwhelming as hell that means he has JUST a counter attack- his strikes don't really hit all that well considering the improvements other characters saw this time around, so he's a bit one note here.

Saejima feel even meatier than before, nothing particularly 'stands out' but the fact that he has super armor as long as he has heat is a pretty big factor in making him feel good to use.

Akiyama got the short end of the straw this time around. His new gimmick is the launch combos and they are... well... less than shit at least from what I could feel during gameplay. They don't hurt much, they burn heat like crazy, and they can MISS, all while being a move that targets just one enemy- has no counter to blocking or armor- and provides no armor in turn.

Despite not losing anything, he kinda got screwed.

(I'm lead to believe Akiyama is invulnerable during his aerial combos which my blurb in my finale post complained felt worthless and cited that as a reason.

If so then I was wrong but I still hold all my other complaints towards it, just not the 'it has no armor or invuln' bit assuming that's true.)

Shinada wins out for being unique and being a weapon oriented character that actually does well with weapons. Weapons have always been something I pretty much ignore in Yakuza and the series itself has always desperately tried to make them interesting with things like weapon skills, Kamiya works, and the like. But other than the god weapons like the golden gun weapons just never felt good to manage.

Using them, sure, that's fine, but managing them? Durability and skills and limited movesets and all that? Nah. But Shinada really does a lot to make them less shit! His innate abilities that raise durability a metric ton REALLY make weapons feel better to use with him- and his unique movesets with weapons are pretty damn good (mostly. The pipe/'normal one hander pole size object' moveset is worthless as heck, it regularly misses).

He's fun.

===

Revelations were a miss this time around for me. Since you couldn't have seen them if you tried on my blog let it be known- I ONLY got the quest related revelations for each character- which is to say- ONE rev per character.

Revelations in 5 are weapon based, and not just 'bat or pole or gun' or whatever- they are DISPOSABLE TEMPORARY weapon based.

What you are supposed to do is go to the specific place on the map where that one revelation weapon spawns, hope like hell you find an enemy, and wail on them like crazy. If you use a weapon x amount of times then you'll get a revelation according to the internet. This is beyond ridiculous and means a normal playthrough will get none of these, while a focused one will be bored out of their mind GRINDING to get these.

I did not bother.

===

Now.

Yakuza 5.

This might be my favorite Yakuza overall.

I still think 0 is probably the best overall for most people, it has the best style, it has from what I've experienced the best gameplay, it's story is tear jerking and exciting and fun.

But as a yakuza game overall, I really have to give it to 5 personally. Because 0 tried to work within its bounds- it made itself a great entry point to the series or a great addition to Yakuza 1 / Kiwami as background.

But 5 is building on 4 previous games and it does so fucking phenomenally.

There's something to be said about a later entry in a series gaining extra payoff thanks to multiple entries of build up and character depth and 5 fucking does it.

I just. It explores the motivation of some fan-favorites so well, it expands characters so fucking well, I know I've harped on about it but just Saejima- man! Saejima goes from a run of the mill "Decent" character to a fully fledged and explored entity! And I LOVE him!

And no he's not the only shining spot, like hell he is, but he's such a posterchild for what 5 does right in my eyes- take something that's already good and breath some life into it. Also I adore it's laser focus on a singular theme and all the ways it wanted to explore it.

Like. I think Kiwami and Zero take the cake for the most fun I've had " 'playing' Yakuza so far, but 5 takes the cake for the most fun I've had 'in general' like gameplay and me just thinking about it because there's so much to think on.

More time will tell as I compartmentalize my thoughts and perhaps forget some details as one does, but right this moment- this might be my favorite Yakuza game.

I love it.

Also, woot! I beat Y5 before Monhun Rise came out :D Now I can start that game without putting a story on hold!

...

Except I also told my sister that I'd start Omori after Y5. So I guess alongside monhun I'll be playing through a game with a hefty and wonderfully done story. Which is what I didn't want to do with Y5.

I just can't win, lol.

[banjokazooie64]

Mass Effect: Andromeda Review

Unpopular Opinion Time: I enjoy Mass Effect Andromeda.  Why?

I’m not crazy, in fact I’ve played through the entire Original Mass Effect Trilogy multiple times.  I’ll throw out some estimated numbers for each game:  I’ve played Mass Effect about 5 times through, even though it’s not my favorite in the series it is an excellent beginning to the journey of Commander Shepard.  Mass Effect 2 has gotten the most playtime with a resounding 15+ playthroughs and is my favorite out of the original three.  Mass Effect 3 has the second highest playthrough rate with around 10 complete playthroughs.  Why so many (especially on ME3 which is the worst of the trilogy)?  Well the bottom line is I love Mass Effect and even though the ending of ME3 was less than satisfactory for many players I have to take the whole game into account.  Just because I didn’t like the ending didn’t make it a bad game in whole.  The journey up to the ending had several great all encompassing moments where a multitude of choices led to one singular event like curing the genophage.  

Much like ME3, most people are not looking at Mass Effect Andromeda as a whole, they are only looking at the one thing that is bugging all the pre-teen ‘meme-rs’ who joke about suicide constantly and that is the facial expressions and lip syncing.  Yes, I agree that they need work (a lot of work) but a bad game this does not make.  If you look at the game as a whole most of the facial animations and expressions work, I’d say 75% of the time you don’t really notice anything out of the ordinary.  But let’s say that the facial animations are only 25% of the game in total, you still have 75% of good content left in the game and that’s if ALL of the facial animations suck right?  So, we are actually looking at about 10% of facial animations and lip syncing being down right terrible.  Do you see the big picture?  

Some people will call me an idiot but I don’t like judging a game on one attribute alone because there are a lot of good things in this game that work well.  Let’s quickly talk about one thing that kinda stinks in the game and that is the voice actor they chose for both Ryder twins.  The male version seems to work better (not being sexist) in most conversations but the line delivery with both is extremely poor.  Never-the-less it does not ruin the game for me, sure it makes some parts seem a little odd but for the most part it just kinda sounds ‘eh.’  That being said, the other voice actors for other characters have done an excellent job of expressing  their characters and making them seem real.  Drack is a good example along with Jaarl, Peebee, Liam, and SAM to name a few.  I’ve laughed a few times during the game especially on Liam’s loyalty mission and it wasn’t because I was laughing at some bug.  Jaarl is a very interesting character with some great line deliveries which had me cracking up as well.  All in all, the voice acting is good in this game with a few exceptions.

Let’s talk about the story in Mass Effect Andromeda.  

The start of the game is a little rocky with a very predictable opening prologue.  The things that I thought were going to happen happen and the things I didn’t see coming are still just kinda...eh.  You wake up from Cryo sleep because you’ve been on a 600 year journey to Andromeda on board the Hyperion (which Ironically was the name of one of my metal bands) which is the human ‘ark’ to the new galaxy.  There is one for each of the major species in the Milky Way (asari, Human, Turian, Salarian) and along for the ride were some Krogan.  The quarian did have an ark but things went wrong for various reasons; their ark also had Hanar and Drell on it as well.  As soon as you get into range of Habitat-7, which is the Human’s designated colonizing world you are attacked by what is called the scourge.  A twisting clear-ish space vine that really get’s no backstory or information until the end of the game.  With the Hyperion stuck you and your father, the human pathfinder who is tasked with finding hospitable planets, embark with Cora (a human biotic who was once an Asari Commando) and Liam (a rookie cop and gadget wiz) to the planet’s surface to try and see if they can begin colonizing.  Of course it’s not what they expect on the planet and thus begins your journey with making worlds habitable by using ancient technology called Rem-tech or Remnant Tech.  Interested in the Rem-tech is the first of two alien species you encounter in the game, the Kett.  Rocky looking aliens who are more like drones being commanded by their leader, the archon. Shit hits the fan and habitat-7 is a loss for now.  The hyperion breaks free from the scourge, your father dies, and you make it to the Nexus.  The Nexus is the Citadel on steriods, it’s a large installation that was suppose to be up and running by the time the arks got to the system.  Of course, it is not fully functional and needs the energy from each of the arks to survive.  So, you must find the other arks which have not been heard from.  You are designated Pathfinder by your dying father’s wish and thus begins your journey.  

Like I Said, it is a rocky start but after that the game really picks up with plenty of new planets to explore, life to find, problems to solve, and characters to meet.  

Your squad:  Full of plenty of characters who are better than Ryder.  (this is actually the first game where they mention translators, which I found interesting.  It was in the back of my mind the whole time playing through the original trilogy because people were complaining that everyone spoke English, it makes sense really because who’s really going to learn all those languages?)

Cora:  Not my favorite character, hell she is my least favorite of the group but she holds her own.  Like I mentioned before she was once an Asari Commando so she is pretty badass, I just wish she wasn’t so annoying. 

Liam:  Your best bud from the Milky Way was once a cop and now wants to lead a squad of his own but he is a long way from it.  He is also a wiz with technology.

Peebee:  An asari who you find metaling with Rem-tech instantly becomes an obvious love interest.  She is a little odd and lives in the escape pod on the Tempest (your ship).

Vetra:  A Turian Mercenary who runs supplies with outcasts.  She is the first Female Turian in any mass Effect to have a major role. 

Drack:  A very old Krogan who came to Andromeda to help the Krogan become, well, better.  He is mostly built out of Synthetic parts and only has 1 of 3 hearts remaining but he is one of the best Krogan side Kicks since Wrex (grunt was good too).  

Jaarl:  Jaarl is from the second species you discover, he is a part of the resistance against the kett and is now a bridge between your two species.  He has some excellent dialogue along with some interesting interactions with other members of the squad.   

Each member of the squad and crew have interesting personalities that make the game worth playing through to the end.  

The Co-op in the game is just like ME3 where you fight for a few waves in a wave defender game mode and extract at the end.  Basic yet I really enjoy playing.  Along with the Co-op there are new Strike Team missions where you can recruit squads to do certain missions (which can take up to 5 hrs) and they will earn you rewards while you are away.  The Companion app is very useful and I end up having a ton of loot crates by the time I log on to the game at the end of the day.  

Let’s talk about power usage because it is set up a bit differently than the last game.  Not only can you change class types at will (engineer, Soldier, Vangaurd, Ect) but you can also mix and match any power (biotic, Combat, Tech) at any time and you can also change them at any time.  So, if a fight calls for Incinerate, Pull, and Concussive shot you can have all three at the same time now.  Then, if you get bored with those powers you can change them to what ever you want.  The new powers are nice as well including Flamethrower, Barricade, Flak Cannon, and more.  A nice touch even though it is not like the other games before it.

The open worlds on each of the 6 that you can go on are mostly bare with a few outposts or enemy camps here or there but they do offer what ME2 and 3 did not have and that is a free roam area to explore.  Much like Mass Effect 1, you drive around in a better version of the Mako called the Nomad from point to point until you get everything done.  Missions vary but it’s mostly just trying to get the planet to a livable state, you will earn Vitality points for every mission you do on a planet including fixing the rem-tech that has gone sour. Getting Vitality points allows you to open more Cryo Pods and get a boost in supplies, research points, or resources along with getting better prices at merchants, better research points when scanning, and the like. Even though each planet has their own style a lot of the animals you come across appear multiple times through out the small cluster of solar systems that you can explore in this game.  I feel like they definitely should have added more species of animals to the game.  I am a fan of this new free roaming area even though most of them are pretty basic and small.

All in all, Mass Effect Andromeda is a good start to your adventure in the Andromeda Galaxy, I am interested to see what my choices will end up becoming in the games to come and I am excited to see where they will go with the game moving forward.  Other than some im-perfect facial animations and line delivery the game has plenty of new features to keep you going and a good co-op game mode for fast action.  The new ability to chose your powers to fit your exclusive play style is awesome and not being stuck to one set in particular is good fun as well.   The choices you are presented in the game seem to not matter to much right now but I can see them affecting future games.  The open worlds to explore are beautiful to the eye and each have their own special look.  

All in all I would give Mass Effect Andromeda a 8\10

Fuck the haters