Operation Backlog Completion 2026

Bloodborne is a Beautiful, Wondrous Nightmare

 Reviews, Video games  6 Responses »  Tagged with:
Mar 052021
 

Bloodborne is a beautiful game.

Maybe that’s not the term you might expect to come up first when talking about FromSoftware’s nightmarish action RPG, set in the monster-filled city of Yharnam, but it’s a thought I couldn’t escape as I played.

I love Bloodborne’s architecture and overall aesthetic. There were so many times during the game where I’d stop to admire the breathtaking view I’d discovered, and one point in particular when I stopped what I was doing to just take a walk through the then-familiar streets of Yharnam to see how things had changed.

You might have guessed this, but I love gothic horror.

You know what I love even more than gothic horror? Cosmic horror.

So Bloodborne, with its gothic horror setting that spirals into increasingly cosmic horror themes as it progresses, is a game after my own heart.

I’d been interested in Bloodborne for quite a while, but I was wary of it since it leans toward faster-paced, more aggressive combat than Dark Souls (which I played slowly and methodically, with great reliance on my shield). It took some getting used to, but once I got into it, I fell in love.

Like with Dark Souls, death became an expected part of the experience for my in Bloodborne, and it wasn’t long before I knew a boss fight meant that would be my Bloodborne focus for quite a while. And once again, it became addicting, a situation where I always felt like I either was getting better at the fight or was so close that surely I’d win next time.

Partway through my playthrough, the DLC went on sale, so I picked up The Old Hunters and played through that fantastic experience as well.

Bloodborne is dark and creepy, sinister and ominous, and yet also beautiful and wondrous if you’re into that style of horror that I am. While the moment-to-moment story felt more in the background and the NPCs didn’t leave a big impact on me, I latched onto every shred of lore and backstory I could find and delighted in the dark picture it presented.

Some of the boss music is amazing, too.

I also just love the way the scope expands so much from those early hours of the game. Similar to how a JRPG might have you start out in a little village with tiny quests and go on a world-spanning adventure, the situations I was dealing with by the end of the game made me look back at the start and shake my head at how much simpler everything seemed back then.

Anyway, 80 hours later I finished my Bloodborne playthrough, and I can see myself returning to it for a second playthrough someday.

In the meantime, I’m looking forward to taking a break from constant death but then eventually moving on to another FromSoftware game (which will probably be either Sekiro or Dark Souls II, or a Souls-like such as Code Vein)! How do you feel about Bloodborne?

I’m Surprisingly Excited for Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis

 Video games  4 Responses »  Tagged with: , , ,
Mar 032021
 

Last week, Square Enix announced the enhanced version of Final Fantasy VII Remake for the PS5, as well as a PS5-exclusive DLC starring Yuffie.

(If you have the PS4 version, you can upgrade your game to the PS5 version for free, although not if you have it through PS+.)

Alongside that news, Square Enix also revealed the truth behind the mysterious trademarks “First Soldier” and “Ever Crisis,” which fans speculated might be related to Final Fantasy VII.

They are, and they’re both mobile games.

I have no interest in Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier, which is a mobile battle royale prequel set 30 years ahead of Final Fantasy VII. However, although I was disappointed when I saw both games were mobile, I’ve become much more interested in Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis.

It is a single-player, chapter-based game that covers the entire Final Fantasy VII compilation timeline: Final Fantasy VII, Before Crisis, Crisis Core, Advent Children, and Dirge of Cerberus, along with new story content as well.

Meanwhile, a Famitsu interview about Intergrade, First Soldier, and Ever Crisis, translated here, revealed even more details.

Ever Crisis is a command-based (ATB) JRPG that uses chibi character models in the field and full models in combat. In addition to the compilation titles, it will also cover the First Soldier story and a new prequel scenario written by Nojima about “THAT legendary hero” (presumably Sephiroth).

New chapters will be added each month, and each title will be separate from the others with its own chapters to choose from (so you won’t have to play through the Final Fantasy VII chapters first if you want to play the Advent Children game, for example).

Honestly, that sounds fantastic. I’d love to play through a new turn-based version of all the Final Fantasy VII timeline events, and the trailer calling it “another possibility for a remake” together with Nomura saying it’s the response to people who preferred the command-based battle system sounds like it’s exactly that.

The only thing that has me worried is that the official website says it’s free-to-play with in-app purchases.

I’m hoping that just means you’ll buy new stories or bonus items or something. It doesn’t sound like a gacha game, but that sort of wording always makes me nervous. We should learn more as we get closer, since Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis is planned for 2022.

So here I sit, looking forward to a Final Fantasy mobile game. How about you? What do you think of Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis, and do you intend to play it?

The House in Fata Morgana is an Emotional Gothic Romance

 Reviews, Video games  4 Responses »  Tagged with:
Mar 012021
 

Romance month is over and the contest winner has been contacted, but now there’s one more visual novel we really need to talk about.

Originally, I intended The House in Fata Morgana to be the last review of February, but I didn’t finish it in time… in part because it gets so heavy at certain points that I needed to take a break, and in part because it’s the sort of story that deserves to be savored, not rushed.

Described as “a gothic suspense tale,” The House in Fata Morgana begins with you awakening in a strange mansion, where a mysterious maid tells you that you are the mansion’s Master and invites you to learn about its history.

It is a slow burn story, not in the sense that it takes a while to get interesting, but rather that it takes a long time before you truly understand what the story is about.

There will be times when you’ll question why I considered including it in February’s celebration at all, although you should understand by the end; I’ve described it here as a gothic romance, but at times it is horror or tragedy.

I don’t want to say too much about it, because the slow unfolding of its tale is part of this visual novel’s beauty.

The House in Fata Morgana is powerful and emotional, and it also plays a clever trick using its medium partway through that I assume most people only find accidentally, like I did.

Click for The House in Fata Morgana spoilers
If you’ve finished or gotten far enough to know the truth about the fourth door, go back to the fourth door’s story and check the backlog from time to time.

The backlog does not reflect the false story, but something else entirely.

There’s so much I want to say about The House in Fata Morgana, but most of it I don’t even want to include behind spoiler tags, in case someone would see it by mistake. Instead I’ll just say that if you like visual novels at all, I consider this one a must-play (as long as you’re okay with some seriously dark sections and sensitive topics), and it quickly rose to stand among my favorite visual novels.

Oh, and the soundtrack is absolutely gorgeous, which makes the emotional moments stand out even more.

The House in Fata Morgana has a prequel story as well, which I’ll definitely read, although I’m tempted to wait for the Switch version to be released in English, since the console versions bundle the two together with additional content. Anyway, go read The House in Fata Morgana!

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