Recent reviews by mmbaroque

We're all Balatroheads, let's not lie.

Quick but very cute. I really like these kinds of games, plus super wholesome.

I think it's beautiful visually, the writing intelligent and interesting, and so chock full of interesting easter eggs that all I can say is BUY IT, IT IS WORTH IT. And I love these devs. They're really passionate and it shows. Plus, the music is *chef's kiss*.

Super underrated (almost criminally so). BUT! Super worth trying out. It's honestly a lot of fun and the writing is top notch.

Entertaining and atmospheric.

TLDR: This is more compelling and better written than anything JK Rowling has EVER made.

Bonus points for sneaking in the ability to choose your MC's gender/skin tone and that no one makes a fuss if a witch or wizard goes into the "wrong" bathroom (some bathrooms are even co-ed lol). There's even a character that (for some) could be interpreted as trans or at least someone who has struggled with their gender identity. Kind of a subversive way to reclaim the Wizarding World universe as far as I'm concerned, which is rather nice tbh.

If you love the world of HP, but maybe not so much Rowling, the dev team has done far better justice to the universe than Rowling has ever. (Actual black characters? South and Southeast Asians? EVERYTHING ELSE I'VE MENTIONED?)

PS and TW. If you have arachnophobia, DON'T FORGE TO TURN THE ARACHNOPHOBIA SETTING ON. I don't have it and I still jumped out of my seat through a few of the quests.

If you ever need a reminder that people enjoy being cruel, there will always be MtG. It's okay. I hate myself too.

Its incredibly short but I repeated playthroughs for all the endings, so there's a blessing in that. Plus, the writing is (imho) really well done. Definitely a cup of tea I'd take.

I'd probably rate this as neutral rather than positive, but I'm trying to be less pessimistic about things lol. Without further ado...

First and foremost. It's a gacha game, so expectations should probably be adjusted. That being said, "gacha" has always reminded me of "gotcha!".... Expect microtansactions. The game is generous (more so at the beginning) with free crystals and the "Limit Break" limited time draws can use free crystals... but like all gacha games, your results may vary. That and free-to-play means the "free" perks take a lot more work than shoving money into it.

You can go through the story/stories for free, as far as I can tell, but there is a definite play-to-win bias. There's also a bunch of DBZ-styled filler to elongate the time you spend in the game.

There's also a LOT of bloat. I find it fun, but I am pretty sure you have to be a big FF7 fan to enjoy MOST of this game.

Also it shares the same servers with the Japanese version which is a plus in the sense that it won't suddenly be taken down if it's not as popular in the West as it is in Asia. It's a con because "the day" is based on times in Japan. 3 or 4PM Eastern is when the "day" resets for me, for example. This might be jarring for people not used to dealing with games based in Japan.

That's what I'll call the cons.

The pros is that the world models are cute, the art is pretty nice in my opinion. It's nice to see some variation from Nomura's style. Lisa Fujire (I think that's how you spell it) has a unique style that fits the world and I like promoting different artists. Sure maybe it feels like fanart but some fanart is heckin phenomenal, so...

... For a con/pro... it's a little mischievous of the FF7 compilation to have Glenn Lodbrok make an appearance in Rebirth despite originating in a mobile-first game. First being First Soldier which is now defunct (and was pretty terrible in terms of control) and the second being Ever Crisis. I don't know how many Reddit posts are about "who tf is this Glenn guy?" ... and that his name is Glenn because Nomura WAS DRINKING TEA at the time he was writing about Glenn's team. I have a whole rant about Nomura's writing. Genius and insanity go hand in hand after all.

I also wish they'd add more characters to the roster of playable characters (and do an adaptation of the OLD mobile Turks game... which is also canon since--without spoiling it--it goes into Rufus' past shenanigans which is heavily hinted at in Rebirth). Yeah, another mischievous addition but without (so far) putting it into yet another microtransaction gacha game. And yes, it's because I want to have Turks and Rufus be playable. Mmhmm, I have priorities, yup.

Again, I'm super biased. I like cute things. I love FF7 og and the Remakes. I realize Nomura's writing can get nonsensical like Hideo Kojima's writing, so I'm not particularly bothered by the narrative being weird AF. The absurdity of paywalling FF7 lore is a bit... exploitive but you can always go to the FF fan wiki which is maintained rather well for being completely dependent on fans doing research or going through great lengths to put together Nomura's writing into something coherent.

In summary, if you can understand that it's a gacha game and adjust your expectations, you *may* like it. You probably have to be a huge fan of the FF7 Compilation to do so, though. It's also cross platform so if you play it on your phone, it can transfer to the Steam version. This is good for me because my phone will be dead all the time otherwise.

I'll point to Ceaseless Duality's review for something more substantial...

BUT, I just want to say the artwork and writing is wonderful--a combination that is as rare as it comes. I really love this short game/prologue and hope we do see the main game sometime soon (or however long the devs need). I also appreciate their being an even number of male and female romance options. Not all the art is equal, but I'd say it's far more than I'd ever expect from something *free*. A unique visual novel, for sure. 110% recommend.