Recent reviews by Samburger

it ok

This game is absolutely amazing 10/10 gaming has peaked there is no keter realization give me your phone

As close as a game will ever get to perfect.

So for the past few weeks I’ve been obsessed with this one game. I played it for 102 hours straight and I still find myself craving more. I want to talk about what is now one of my favorite games of all time: _The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel_.

Cold Steel is a JRPG developed by Nihon Falcom and released back in 2013. While its age does show in minor (but definitely noticeable) clipping issues and at times wonky animation, the gameplay and story will make wish that newer games of its genre would take notes. The game does a great job with various quality of life aspects such as incredibly acute EXP scaling that will make sure that your party always ends up around the same level, while not being so powerful that it trivializes the game (that’s what the crafts are for). The game will without fail notify you of every point of no return so that you don’t accidentally allow the timer on any side quests to expire. Whenever a party member becomes unavailable, permanently or otherwise, it will automatically unequip any accessories and quartz they have on them. Not only that, but more modern releases, including the _excellent_ PC port include a “turbo mode” that will speed up the game like an emulator speed up function. The game features an expansive fast travel system that allows you to travel instantly to all vital places in the various towns: inns, weapon shops, etc.

As for the actual gameplay, the only comparison that comes to mind for the sake of reference is Chrono Trigger. Crafts and Arts (basically skills and magic) each have a set area of effect. They can take the form of rings, lines, or single targets, which means that they can hit multiple enemies depending on both your party’s position as well as that of the enemies. The game puts an interesting spin on the typical turn-based system. Initial turns are decided by each character’s speed stat as well as a little RNG, but afterwards, turns are dependant on the attacks used. For instance, one party member may be typically faster than another, but if they use a strong Craft as opposed to a regular attack, they will usually move after the slower character. Each art has a set cast time depending on how powerful it is, with stronger arts taking longer to cast. Character’s stats can be manually changed through the use of quartz. For a frame of reference, think of quartz as a variation of materia from Final Fantasy. Quartz can give characters new arts, raise their stats, make their attacks inflict status effects, and even non-combat utility such as spotting treasure chests or giving you more sepith (material used to create quartz). In addition, you can equip each character with one Master Quartz. Each master quartz changes all of a characters stats and essentially dictate the character’s build. For example: the Aegis master quartz grants a large boost to physical and arts defense, gives the character a status effect that blocks all damage from 1 physical attack, and allows the character to use arts that raise defense. Another one, Aries, heals the characters HP and EP (mana or mp) depending on the amount of damage done with arts. While some character are clearly better suited towards certain roles than others, the system allows for variation and some funny meme builds.

The game’s progression system is straightforward and follows a set pattern: each chapter, you are allowed a free day where you build up the relationship between the main character, Rean Schwarzer, and your other party members. During that free day, you are also given the story quest of exploring the old school house, a mysterious ancient building that continuously expands over time. Afterwards, the main characters are split into two groups, and you follow the one Rean is placed into on their field study, where the characters discover more about the games setting, the country of Erebonia, and the building conflict between the Noble and Reformist faction happening behind the scenes. Not to say that the game is repetitive, though, every field study gives you a differently mixed and matched variation of the main party, which encourages you to experiment with team composition and to give characters you may have been apprehensive about at first a chance. Fortunately, every party member is excellent. Some are definitely better than others, but you can comfortably use whatever combination of characters you want without worrying about the game turning into a great challenge. Speaking of difficulty, the game is not very difficult. Each character has a very powerful skill set that, when used correctly, allows you to plow through encounters with little worry. The reason for this is that, when you try to play mindlessly, you’ll find your party dying very quickly.

Overall, I can proudly say that Trails of Cold Steel has my personal favorite combat system of any JRPG I’ve played so far.

As for the story, while some games may exceed in gameplay and all short in the plot department, Trails of Cold Steel has an excellent story. It follows the nine students who attend Thors Military Academy, a school founded by the most celebrated king in Erebonian history: Dreichels Reise Arnor. The nine protagonists are a part of an experimental program created by the academy called “Class VII.” Before, classes not only at Thors but in every other school throughout Erebonia split their students based on their social class: noble or commoner. Class VII, however, not only mixes the two but also features students from foreign lands, such as Gaius Worzel, who hails from the Nord Highlands. Class VII’s curriculum varies from the typical educational structure as they are sent all over the empire on monthly field studies, where the students learn about the empires history, political climate, people, and traditions. This naturally ties in the development of characters and the plot while also adding fantastic world-building, all without the need for a lore button!

Characters, I love them all. Again, while some characters are admittedly weaker than others, they are all excellent in the end. While I can’t say much about any of them without spoiling their development, I will provide a basic summary of their personalities at the beginning of the story:

Rean Schwarzer is a hard-working, honest individual with a low sense of self-worth. He will go out of his way to help just about anyone while giving little thought about the dangers it could pose to himself. He is selfless to a fault, something that gets pointed out by his classmates on multiple occasions. He lacks confidence in his abilities, and is constantly looking to improve. His supportive and understanding personality, as well as his tendency to give somewhat cheesy but inspiring speeches often land him in unofficial leadership positions within class VII.

Alisa R. is a secretive individual that hesitates to give any information regarding her family and background. She is fairly irritable, but, in the end, she’s always willing to lend a hand. She has a bad habit of being cagey about her problems, trying to solve everything on her own instead of asking for help.

Elliot Craig is someone that doesn’t seem to fit in at a military school in the slightest. His rather meek demeanor and passion for music makes it seem like he’s far more suited to an arts school. Nevertheless, he is Rean’s first friend at Thors, and a more than reliable companion. Despite being a worrywart, and letting his nerves get to him on occasion, Craig always pulls through in the end.

Gaius Worzel is from abroad. He was born in the Nord Highlands were he lived with his family as a nomad. Gaius is very religious and has a deep love for his country. He is humble and reserved, and a refreshingly open book in a cast full of characters hiding layers of secrets.

Laura S. Arseid is an atypical noblewoman. Instead of the stereotypical prissy princess-type you’d expect the daughter of a viscount to be, Laura prefers giant swords to heels and dresses.

All I have to say is that the random disconnects from online matches make this otherwise near-perfect game unplayable

Man, this game is fantastic. I don't regret a single minute of the 300+ hours I've put in this game, it is exactly the game I was looking for for the longest time.
It has:
-Fast-paced, high-skill, gameplay
-PHENOMENAL soundtrack
-It has INCREDIBLY good looking graphics
-An awesome cast of 25 completely unique characters with their special tools for pressure, neutral, combos, and oki
-A decent story mode, albeit without gameplay
-A good selection of single-player content: a great tutorial and training mode, as well as an arcade and story mode, plus the stupid fun of M.O.M mode, and my personal favorites: The fishing and digital figure mode

My only qualms with the game is the lack of actual gameplay in the story mode and there's a few characters I despise fighting, but the latter is only a personal complaint due to my lack of skill/matchup knowledge

However, this game isn't for everyone. It has a pretty small, but healthy and VERY skilled player base. But there are plenty of online resources and an excellent tutorial mode for learning the game, and matches can be found relatively easily by use of the discord server.

Guilty Gear Xrd: -REVELATOR- is one of my favorite games to play, and I keep finding myself coming back to it almost every day, if you can handle the problems that come with playing a niche game in a niche genre, and are willing to dedicate the time to really learning this game and having fun with it, definetly buy it.

This game is fast paced, has a great soundtrack, and is severley underplayed, I reccomend it to buy and play with your friends, probably not so much for just online matchmaking.

I played it on my friends PC, and i was very happy when i saw it got mac/linux support, so i tried to download it on my mac, but It wouldn't work :(

+Amazing game with a high difficulty which players who enjoy a challenge will love!
+Beautiful art style with interestingly designed characters and monsters
+Multiple Characters provide a great deal of variety and replay-ability
+Carefully designed and addictive gameplay
-DON'T TRUST THE TREES THEY'RE ALL EVIL

10/10 would starve again!

amazing game-i just started a few days ago and i can already see why it's so highly regarded