Recent reviews by Zat0ne [GT]

This turn-based RPG is just so thick with quality. The voice acting is just superb.

The inventory space management alone was really fun and interesting. The actual runs feel really rewarding due to the efforts in that aspect of the game. It's just amazing and the elements of this game seem to really work well together. Also consistent with this genre, it's really addictive. Thanks to a good friend for letting me try the game!

A friend and I played for the first time.

15-minute mark - "Let's take it slow. What an adventure!"

30-minute mark - "This game is hard, but we're getting the hang of it!

1-hour mark - "We're getting it. Let's focus! Glad to be finding these shortcuts!"

1 hour and 30-minute mark - Reaches FLAG 1. "Woooooot! We can do this! Let's quit after the next fall!"

1 hour and 45-minute mark - "We can still do this!". Starting to make mistakes on obstacles that were once easy.

2-hour mark - Reflexes start to betray. Brain unable to control fingers. "How TF did THAT happen!" Regardless, most movement with partner starts to be aligned.

2 hours and 5 minutes - Movement with partner is now is aligned EVEN MORE... to miss jumps.

2 hours and 10 minutes - We don't fall to the start line, but progress still seems to go... downward...

2 hours and 13 minutes - We have no idea how we fell. Nor do we even remember. We are still friends.

This game is pure genius. This was a real bonding experience. Best played after a stressful day at work.

I think this is peak SF.

Modern controls help newbie casuals understand the basics, and Classic is there for veteran players - or newbs who want to dive into the deep end of controls.

I've never had so much fun fighting Level 8 AI in this game. You'll already learn a ton fighting against them.

Arcade has both 5 or 12 stage modes, where you can toggle Story and Bonus Stage add-ons. Just the right amount of time sink.

I hate the tutorials. But at least they're damn complete.

Rollback netcode.

Git gud. Git smacked. Git whacked. Git winnin'.

What? There's a story/career mode? Pffft.

Holy cripes the gameplay feels great already day 1 EA! So excited for the future of this game. But crap should I have pushed to finish the first game?! I feel I walked into a major spoiler here lol

Take my money!!!

...oh yeah, that's already over ^_^

Why did I even sleep on this?! It was my dream when I was a kid to have animated wallpapers. Glad I didn't get too old to enjoy these. Great app.

Just like most say, it's like the first game, but better. The progression system feels a bit more natural here. Same old cryptic quest objectives (at least to me). I see potentially great replay value here. Still hard as heck if you don't main Souls-like games. That said, every boss encounter makes a lot more sense to fight as you play.

For those who haven't played the first, If you want to get into the lore of this game, definitely play the first one. This game will come very naturally once you get through the first. But it is not required to enjoy and eventually learn the gameplay loop.

Definitely a great experience.

It's as fun and frustrating as I remember of the original. Controls still feel floaty, and gold times in time trials are still as challenging as ever. The sound effects are still bang-on.

I had to wrestle myself off the controller coz II was starting to get addicted to this again. Still a classic.

UPDATE 3: Well, they didn't reverse the decision of keeping the game now Region-locked for new buyers. Doesn't make sense that they'll reverse PSN mandatory login, yet still keep the game off-limits to new players in non-PSN regions. How can I even "Recommend" this game anymore?

UPDATE 2: Sony backed off and won't be moving forward with account linking... Great news for those remaining faithful. This still left a sour taste in my mouth. If that E-store where I bought the game still processes a refund for all those copies I bought, I'm still going through with it. Thanks for all the great times. Changed again to a thumbs up.

UPDATE: This is why we can never have nice things.

I was hanging on to a positive review hoping things turn around with this PSN requirement fiasco.

Not only is my country part of the lack of PSN access, now the game has been delisted in my country. This is so F***ed up. Thank you for the good times. So f***ed up.

Original review:

I usually just play solo on Hard difficulty. I just love the challenging gameplay. 4X the fun together with friends when there's a chance. There are so many ways you can play a mission by breaking them down into components: Stealth Super Sample gathering, General Sample gathering, Mission-only XP Speedruns, 100% XP runs. Then there's those multiple levels of difficulty on top of all that. Then there's Joel.

This game just so much fun to play, but cam movement is a bit odd, so if you get motion sickness easily, watch YT vids first. If you survive that, just turn off Motion Blur and Cam Shake.

Progression feels great, and like the first game, it feels different when you know you're contributing to a larger campaign. Then there's the Major Orders that shake up your motivation to play on specific planets. It's just real fun if you like these type of games.

Then there's that soundtrack that just screams, "One more mission, soldier!!!"

Game is great. But so sad that in this generation, negative reviews are being used to blackmail devs into fixing things faster, instead of reflecting the real quality of a game. Gone are the days of proper reporting to support channels. No one trusts that system anymore.

Maybe review sections should go away and be replaced with "Please report your issues straight to our store page!"

Regardless, this game is so lit. Hoping those technical issues get fixed for the players struggling to enjoy the game.