It’s always a bummer when a game with cool ideas seems to get in its own way and not quite land. Still, I’m gonna pick it up despite the less than stellar reviews it’s getting. I have a feeling I’ll be able to look past some of the flaws and enjoy it for what it is.

@BacklogBattle

Жыл бұрын

I’m curious to read your thoughts on it when you do!

JRPGs need to learn to stop with the repetitive dialogue and learn to add new flavourful texts instead. Imagine if social links instead of just skipping to the animations, you get to see the same dialogue that isn’t ranked up. Doesn’t mean unique dialogue is entertaining either though. Look at Honkai Star Rail. Sometimes you just wanna go through texts by mashing with NPCs. Another amazing review as always thank you

@BacklogBattle

Жыл бұрын

You know, I was playing through FFIV the other day and after talking to everyone in Baron, I looked over to my wife and said, “Why are games too chatty these days? These guys have one or two lines and they’re done!”

@lolollilik9435

Жыл бұрын

@@BacklogBattle Very true! NPCs don’t need too much dialogue. Even with FFVII original dialogue, it was simple. These days you play Cold Steel and every NPC has a unique dialogue and it makes a game from 40 hours to 60

@fierytigergaming8112

Жыл бұрын

You do realise that dialogue actually DOES change, right? I remember how in Micchi's route, it started off as a cold reception and then later has her talk about a college application and that Nini should try too

Any old anime fan knows to avoid anything that has an Endless Eight in the title.

@BacklogBattle

Жыл бұрын

Haruhi reference!

@mechashadow

Жыл бұрын

​@@BacklogBattle Indeed. I will say I disagree when you say it's not a Social Link simulator, you could say it's the highest degree of that in a bad way since your combat party strength lies in the lurch. Persona strips it down to be digestible and even possible to finish all in a playthrough or two, thankfully. Definitely for those who would love losing their lunch over overmanagement and over planning of it all with none of the JRPG exp. Which there is a market for in Japan thanks to the godmother of Romance VNs, Tokimeki Memorial. (this game was trying to be this all along IMO) Think you might have heard the level of planning your schedule for that game is possibly even more insane than this game. And they have'nt stopped making this franchise so they do lap it up. I will say at least it sounds like they do know how to make it worth your effort in that game unlike the one in review here, and motivation is probably the most crucial for a roguelite.

@wulf2863

7 ай бұрын

Nah, new yakuza has a 8 and it looks amazing

I hope your constructive criticism reaches the devs. There was a lot to look forward to with this game so it's sad it ends up being a disappointment. But the basis of a potential masterpiece is there, I think even with a low budget they could expand on the idea and rework on the storytelling aspect to be more impactful. I'll probably pick it up on sale in the future to see for myself, but I really they don't throw the whole concept away.

@BacklogBattle

Жыл бұрын

This is actually the second time they’ve tried this. The first time was in a Japanese only PS1 game called Gunparade March!

Sounds really interesting and ambitious, thanks for the detailed review. I can't wait to play! This game and the balance of grinding out relationships in multiple loops sounds different in a way that's really worth experiencing (for me anyway), and wow on a presentation level the game looks top-notch.

I was curious about how this game actually plays, Backlog Battle reviews never disappoint with the details!!

@BacklogBattle

Жыл бұрын

Whew! I'm glad that I'm able to deliver that!

I was interested in this one and had been kind of paying attention to it but I’m glad you reviewed it. I trust your reviews, nice and to the point without unnecessary fluff to pad out the video length.

@BacklogBattle

Жыл бұрын

Thank you! I love thinking about how game systems work together and how it affects us emotionally, so it can lead to very verbose videos like this one! Glad you appreciate the deep dives!

This is exactly why I appreciate your reviews! Great job presenting the good and the bad, and why things did or didn’t work for you. Sad to see that Loop 8 didn’t quite hit the highs it was going for. The game’s animation looks so gorgeous too! There’s another game currently set to come out this summer (no specific date announced so far as I can tell), called Eternights. I’ve had my eye on it for a long time, and I’m very excited for it! It doesn’t seem to have the timeloop, almost rougelike element to it, but it is claiming to be an action RPG inspired by Persona’s dating sim elements. Hopefully we’ll see more on it soon!

@BacklogBattle

Жыл бұрын

I’ll look it up and see if I can review it!

@Road_to_Dawn

Жыл бұрын

@@BacklogBattleDude, that’d be fantastic! It seems to be shaping up nicely. It’s also featuring notable voice actors like Kira Buckland and Xanthe Huynh, so it definitely seems to have some talent behind it!

Actually, the game sounded pretty good from the trailer and what I've heard so far. but after your review... maybe I'll wait a bit before I buy it

@BacklogBattle

Жыл бұрын

It sure did! I was one of those people who thought the exact same thing! I really tried my best to like this game...

@fantomx

Жыл бұрын

@@BacklogBattle yeaaaah ima wait too. Good review

This looks really cool. With all the other big releases I’ll have to wait to pick this up.

Finally happy to see a review of this game. I was one of lucky one's to get a pre street date copy and been playing for several days. Looking forward to seeing another opinion on this title.

It's always sad to see lower budget games be stifled by "feature-creep". It's why it's so important to have focused objective while developing a game. This is the type of game that would greatly benefit from being on gamepass btw.

@HARBRINGERZERO

Жыл бұрын

Feature-creep?! That was my nickname in high school. 😈

@sukamadik5983

Жыл бұрын

@@HARBRINGERZERO lol

This definitely feels like a game that I want to try out just for how interesting it is conceptually even if the end product is a bit tedious. The lack of a skip text feature does sound painful though.

@vagabundorkchaosmagick-use2898

Жыл бұрын

The lack of skip is integral, in my opinion, because its rogue-like elements require you to pay attention to the loop even when it's the same. I think the reviews have been bad because the devs sent review codes to RPG related youtubers, who usually don't care about other genres, much less a genre as demanding as rogue-likes. I'm not a super fan of rogue-likes myself, I think Dead Cells is one of the best 10 games ever made, but it's the only rogue-like* I put in my top 100. *I know it's a rogue-lite, but rogue-lites are rogue-likes, only lite.

@fierytigergaming8112

Жыл бұрын

There is a skip button, but it's mapped to one of the buttons (For PlayStation, it's triangle)

Great review Alex, gonna get this game when its released~

Majora's Mask made me fall in love with the idea of time loops in games, so I was very excited for Loop8. I will still pick it up at a sale to see if I enjoy it, there are so many elements that sound great on paper. Even though turn-based combat systems are still my favorite, I also adore weird and unusual RPGs.

Didn't knew this game was that much like a rogue like, unfortunate. Hearing about it from only the first couple trailers, I thought it was gonna be like Sakura Wars, the way those characters get stronger as the story / relationship progresses instead of EXP, but set in 80's.

@BacklogBattle

Жыл бұрын

One other person mentioned Sakura Wars and in hindsight, I can see how the comparison is appropriate! That said, it’s wayyy too numbers heavy! At least in SW it feels natural and organic. This one, it’s a bit too crazy for my taste!

I pre ordered the game to see it’s already has 5s on nintendolife and push square… well that taught me not to pre order ever again especially when I can’t cancel it

@BacklogBattle

Жыл бұрын

Oof. So sorry to hear that.

@featjie

Жыл бұрын

@@BacklogBattle It’s alright, I think the visuals is still good and I usually skip texts with Mihoyo games :). Is there a difficulty setting in this game? Maybe a lower difficulty would make this game better and less grindy

@BacklogBattle

Жыл бұрын

No difficulty settings at all, sadly

@featjie

Жыл бұрын

@@BacklogBattle Ah.. that’s very unfortunate.. Thank you and thanks for the honest review :)

Hey Alex! I'm fairly new to the channel, but I really enjoy your reviews! It's unfortunate that the game doesn't live up to expectations... With that said, I'm still considering picking it up. Mainly due to the art style. I know you mentioned loading screens, I have a PS5 and switch, and initially looked to pre-order the switch version. Do you think it would be better for PS5 instead? Thanks for your advice. Oh, I purchased atelier sophie 2 based on your recommendation and am really enjoying it!!

I know RPG/visual novel fans and rogue-like* fans don't overlap very much. This game might be great but classic RPG fans are just not the target. It's like 13 Sentinels and its mashup of light strategy and visual novel. It's an amazing game in every aspect, but the potential audience is hard to find. Now mix the visual novel, the RPG and the rogue-like, and your audience is even harder to find.

I'm still interested in the game, but I might wait for a sale. There's every chance it could click with me (since a lot of what you mentioned reminded me of Gnosia, which was my favourite game of 2021), but as is the case with these experimental games, sometimes their ideas don't always stick the landing. With BOTW still taking up my time, and Raincode and Pikmin 4 on the horizon, I've got plenty to invest my time and money into until that sale arrives.

@BacklogBattle

Жыл бұрын

Gnosia didn’t stick with me, but not in the same way as this did. There is too much obfuscation and abstraction that the game never makes clear. I think someone who can dive deep into its systems and makes a guide for it will find a lot of success in doing so. But as it’s stands right now, the whole game feels like a chore.

For a text based game and forgetting to put text log is a big oof

Ouf I was legit so excited to play this as I've been itching for a game with slice-of-life elements. Hope the feedback will help the devs bring us a better entry

Thanks for the review. I was curious about this game to see if it was any good. Unfortunately not my type of game especially when it kinda wastes your time & forces you to replay the same scenes with the same dialogue without QOL mechanics to smooth it out.

Was planning to actually buy the game on release on steam cuz it looked good I guess i'll just wait for sale, SOS AWL i guess i'll choose you this time

Aww such a cool idea that’s a bummer

I didn't even know this game existed until you review came up :p From what you said it feels like they had some good ideas but failed to implement them properly. In some ways it reminds me of when the first caligula effect came out. Would you still recomend getting it during a sale? By the way, are you going to play Etrian Odyssey HD?

@BacklogBattle

Жыл бұрын

It’s tough for me to recommend it personally. I didn’t enjoy it, and no lower price point will change that. Mishandling story and character development is a big no no for me.

I'm still playing it on my Switch! I can sell it whenever I felt bored anyways.

What a bummer, i wanted to try out Loop8 but it seems that i may have to wait a little bit see if they can make the social parts more enjoyable, the art direction seems pretty cool though.

@BacklogBattle

Жыл бұрын

They’ve patched it twice since I got the game code, but only to squash some bugs. Haven’t heard anything about major modifications. And even then, the base gameplay loop isn’t fun. You have to remake the game from the ground up to reinfuse the importance of story and character development back into the parts of the game that needed it the most. No update will deliver that.

@gldev8191

Жыл бұрын

@@BacklogBattle that's a shame, i thought that maybe some save points + fast forward could do but considering that the conversations are the actual grind that seems complicated, thank you for the review saving me a couple of bucks!

Listening to the review makes me feel like the game has some great ideas but didn't choose correct priorties. It heavily relies on reading, even more than persona, but at the same time it doesn't try to make the reading itself engaging and it is just generic. That's very strange because the whole point of relationship dialogue is character development, like in persona where each confidant feels unique and distinct with personal life story... I feel the devs should've invest more resources into the wrtitng itself, maybe sacrificing randomness or just reducing the amount of characters. Anyway, I like persona and I like the idea of a game that uses relationships instead of classic leveling, but I doubt I'll ever get this game because the huge gameplay part here is reading and it is too generic

@BacklogBattle

Жыл бұрын

You definitely hit on all of the points that I tried to convey. When I found out that it’s primary grind is to just engage in conversation a lot, it started feeling like a chore. When character building starts feeling like that, that’s when you know something’s wrong.

My favorite part of this game is that one of the characters is a secret yandere who, sometimes, if you talk to them, they will kill you and you'll get booted to the title screen, and also there's no indication this is coming either. So if you try to build a relationship with her, you have to save every time before you talk to her.

When even Alex thinks the mechanics are hard, you know it's complicated.

@BacklogBattle

Жыл бұрын

Way, way too complicated

I do adore the character designs, atmosphere and dedication to doing something new, but man I know some of these mechanics will drive me up the wall. This feels like something that would have come out on PS3 and Vita circa 2014, and I probably would have ate it up back in that RPG-starved era, but now there are so many great RPGs both current and upcoming that I just don't think I can justify the time investment into something I'd only partially enjoy

@BacklogBattle

Жыл бұрын

It doesn’t sound any different than 2001’s Gunparade March, which the designer also made.

@HybridAngelZero

Жыл бұрын

@@BacklogBattle I've heard of Gunparade, but I didn't know they were so closely connected. That's an interesting piece of history

I had preordered it, forgot about it, remembered and was intrigued to play then reviews came out and cancelled it. When basically everyone from larger sites to the niche youtubers all say the same thing, something is busted on a fundamental level and that's a shame.

Lol getting it but yeah expected more. Hopefully eternights delivers

Man.. I was looking forward to this. I hate games that reset

kinda rough timing, but definetly gonna check it out when i lose intrest in d4 or just wanna do smth else.

Still plan on getting it, i enjoyed Sakura wars and this seems like a more heavy version of it with turn based combat. Great in-depth review!

@BacklogBattle

Жыл бұрын

As someone who has played Sakura Wars, this is nothing like it!

@Xeltos

Жыл бұрын

@@BacklogBattle I've played it too, i mostly just meant all of the relationships and visual novel aspect.

strangly what you present as cons, for me are pros, so now i'm even more intrested (only this point of skip read dialouge they could change in future patch or sth) + summer in small Japan town :3 how many games have it?

@BacklogBattle

Жыл бұрын

Well, whenever you get around to playing it, let me know how your experience is!

This is such a shame. I hadn't heard of this game until now but the art is so gorgeous and I appreciate the idea of trying to change up the formula (I love classic JRPGs but I'm also ALWAYS open to new ideas) so its such a shame to see it not coming together. I hope they can sell enough and create enough love to work on a more successful sequal though.

I'm guessing the characters on the box art are the only playable characters? They look a bit bland compared to the designs of the rest of the cast.

@BacklogBattle

Жыл бұрын

You can play with the entire cast, not just the ones on the cover

It's a dating sim with jrpg elements

As someone who played through the game 5 times, all I can say is this First, the game DOES have the option to skip cutscenes - as i've found numerous times (Certainly makes getting to the point easier, beneficial when it comes to skipping scenes already experienced - helps building bonds with people whose ending you want to get, or who you take into combat. Second, yes - the game DOES loop, but this makes things easier since it makes it easier to build stats and bonds (On my 4th playthrough, I ended up racking up 50 friendship and affection points with each interaction) Third: Dialogue DOES change, depending on the situation - for example, Kuni talks about Max announcing that he was dead before he resigned (Couldn't help but laugh at that), and when you talk to Micchi - she originally acts cold and hostile towards you, but when you reach a certain threshold - she starts to talk about scholarships. Adding emotions was a nice touch too, since you can scan them and try and work out the probability of the interaction working (The amount of times I got dissuaded from talking because the other person was either angry or tearful, lol).

This sounds so stressful which is the opposite to what I expect from a game that has a comfy summer vibe

COMP controlled friend in P3 Mitsuru: Marin fucking Karin

The "Yikes" in the thumbnail is obviously the name of the main character right... right?

@kian26master

Жыл бұрын

........

I would’ve never came across this game if it weren’t for you 😄

To be honest for £45 im not really complaining im happy its not in the 60-70 pound range on ps4

Damn, I actually had my eye on this one and was looking forward to trying it out. After watching this though, I can tell that this game is definitely not for me. Cool concept, sloppy execution. Thanks for the detailed review my man.

@BacklogBattle

Жыл бұрын

You’re welcome!

I was super excited for the game at first, but my interest evaporated when I heard social links 😅 Based on what you're saying this won't fit my taste at all, so I'm glad I stayed away. More time for TotK and more money for other games, I say!😅 So thank you for the review!

@BacklogBattle

Жыл бұрын

You’re welcome! Glad I could help!

my wallet gonna be empty this month too many games ffxvi / loop 8 / rain code on switch / diablo 4 . thx for the honest review

The thumbnail says it all. I'm not invested any more

@BacklogBattle

Жыл бұрын

But wait, there's more! (Keep watching)

oof, i was on the fence, this was the death knell for this game. ugh. i'm happy that devs experiment with new mechanics, but sometimes it doesn't pan out. guess this is one such time.

Lol at them running so slowly. I admittedly didnt really pay attention to this release because i thought it was a visual novel. Hmm it doesnt look horrible, maybe if it goes on sale i'll pick it up but i dont know if i would pay full price. Edit: wait there's no skip dialogue? F that! I actually prefer to read text because i find voice dialogue is usually too slow but i also need to be able to skip through text because i read fast too. I dont want to be forced to sit there waiting for them to voice the entire text bubble until i can move on to the next.

Is this game as okayish like Soul Hackers 2 or is this better? Played Soul Hackers 2 and the Soul Matrix is very repetitive. If this game is better than SH2 I’d play it

@BacklogBattle

Жыл бұрын

This game is extremely repetitive. Mashing the talk button repeatedly is not a fun grind to have in any situation

@kaku5753

Жыл бұрын

@@BacklogBattle What a shame :/ Gonna buy Sakura Wars on the PS4 instead

Bruh i had high hopes for this one Back to playing tales of abyss i guess

Atleast the relationship between team members affecting each other sort of a better idea compared to Persona, like how they got Showtimes out of nowhere instead of having some conditions to fulfill, or how characters that barely talks to each other got Showtimes(Skull with Panther would've make more sense than Skull with Queen, for example). Sadly the execution isn't great.

@BacklogBattle

Жыл бұрын

That's only represented numerically. There are zero interactions between characters that aren't with you, which makes it even more confusing. At the very least, in Persona, you see them interact through the story. In Loop8, there's no such thing.

@hrgaming4plebs570

Жыл бұрын

@@BacklogBattle yeah but it'll be nice if there's actually some ways to affect teammate relationship that might change things rather than just protag focused relationship in Persona, maybe sort of like Star Ocean series with pairings which might unlock story events or even affect the endings.

And this is why I have gamefly

man i'm really disappointed in this one! looked like it was going to be a sleeper hit but sadly i will wait on a sale. But if anything this review has shown that Bonding events should always be its own thing , and it should never impact how battles are going to go in the dungeon. sure they can be used to gain new skills and buffs , but how a battle is won or lost should always depend on the strategy of the player and how they decide to approach it. Thanks for the video Alex.

@BacklogBattle

Жыл бұрын

No problem! The skill check orbs are meant to ensure that you have enough stats to get through the battle. But the game isn’t clear about that! Too many details are hidden from you that it just leads to frustration. I immediately got the design, but so many others won’t.

Thousand arms: Deminsions (thats what i wouldve named it lol)

On paper, this game had everything to make me love it, in practice its quite a mess, the story, if it can be called that is more of a mystery that you slowly unravel, but is never really spelled out or finished, many of the systems are ill explained or not at all and even interacting with the, admittedly beautifully designed and charming characters, comes with some jarring and nonsensical bits where they ignore or bring up stuff you dont know, happened or hasnt happened yet. Making the "dating sim" aspects more or less purely number based rather takes away the point of it. Dont get me wrong, the game has merit and again some of its characters can be charming even with the systems actively hurting them (Machina is super fun), its beautiful to look at and the voice acting is awesome, but the main parts that any jrpg fan would be coming for, mainly the plot and the character interactions is confusing, often annoying and ultimately very dissatisfying. Also, for anyone wondering, it isnt really a dating sim game, there are no routes, there is little to no reason or change in going with someone on a "date" other than the short scene and the stat gains, you can "date" all the people at once but it wont matter and there is really only two endings for one character and an epilogue for said character, decisions do not matter its all simply for the stats, dont be fooled. I do hope for a sequel, Im not exactly sure what happened here for the game to come out so confusing and for them to just leave out the corner stones of any good jrpg much less a game for these innovations, but what I like about it I really like so im gonna hope for more of this in a sequel except made into an actual game with clear plot progression and character growth.

Is this game made by the people who made Lunar and Grandia games?

I so wanna get this game but after getting so disappointed with so off the wall Monark I'm not sure I will get it

Some of this reminds me of Evangelion. Mostly seems like you're learning to be a good leader. Sounds like way too much work for a game though.

@BacklogBattle

Жыл бұрын

Except you didn't have to mash the X button to make Shinji whine about something 😂

@douglasbriel6103

Жыл бұрын

@@BacklogBattle BWAHAHAHAHA! I still hate that bastard for leaving Asuka to die. And it's been how many years?😂

Dang what a shame :(

@BacklogBattle

Жыл бұрын

Hence why I used the sad piano song for a majority of the review. It represents my soul crying 😭

I cant stand when games try to do low framerate animations. To me, it doesnt look like anime, it just looks wrong!

@BacklogBattle

Жыл бұрын

Honestly, same

Had much more potential

0:37 I don’t think they really meant to promise a gameplay loop "unlike anything we’ve played before", as the entire character building mechanic is lifted from Gunparade March (2000, PS1) and its sequels/spinoffs, of which this is a spiritual sequel (same creator). Based on the flaws highlighted in the video, it seems they failed to recreate the interesting social situations and engaging conversations of GPM, and failed to consider modern QOL improvements like the fast text skip.

Sounds like Sakura Taisen with roguelike elements.

A bit disappointing to hear about the game Doesn't really seem like I'll enjoy it

I am not impressed. Just bc the makers of Lunar had there hands on it doesn’t mean the game will automatically be great .

Way too tedious 🤷🏾‍♂️

im still buying it. so i can resell it for higher price in the future