Ghonf's Mediablog

At this point it was in due time for me to finally go back and start at the beginning of the Atelier series since it simply feels wrong and almost dishonest, despite having fallen in love with it, to merely have played some of the newest entries while barely having a full grasp of its history and the way things developed towards the point of the newer titles. Thus it felt like a good choice to spend a while with this game in an attempt to get more intimate with the whole series. One of the first things to mention, I really dug the tone and vibe of it since I feel like it makes for such a uniquely comfy experience. Something like the time limit could potentially lead it to the game feeling more stressfull than that, but opposite to this, I believe like it works really well together with its systems, ultimately causing for a rather relaxing time in a sincerely positive way. Perhaps on top of this largely given credit is the quirky, relaxing atmosphere that doesn't kick your stress ad...

Beautiful. This was beautiful . One word that came to my mind once finishing this work while slowly trying to put my feelings into words. Coming from prior works released under the Makura brand I believe this title to be a lot more cohesive in a lot of ways while by chance reaching some of the highest heights thus far with one of its scenarios. Two other routes that might be weaker but by no means drag this game down. All blossoming towards another strong final close off. My time with this title felt special and now remaining in the state of having played all of it... There lingers a feeling of nostalgia and one that doesn't want to let this time end. Not only did it grip my heart a lot with first experiencing Yomi's route and reached another heights with lastly traversing Hina's route, but Yomi might be one of the best KeroQ/Makura heroines thanks to which all this title marks another extremely strong, all the more memorable entry in their library of works.  Across each ro...

The end of summer... Is it already over?  Not quite yet since we're going on one more adventure with this lovely cast! Going right into this game after a few days of prior having finished Ryza 2, this ended up being yet another fun filled adventure that honestly evoked a touch of nostalgic feeling underwoven through most of the playtime. Filled with joy and a touch of a sweet embrace while sparking excitement anew. There's likely not much reason to go too much in depth in its alchemy systems since it remains largely in the same boat as its predecessor with some new elements, yet once more it persists to be a lot of fun to engage with its mechanics and weaves everything into a neat tight package. Still feeling fresh enough without getting tired of it and offering enough complexity. If there was one criticism though, I'd say it's rather annoying that certain recipes can only be unlocked through RNG at Key locations with the whole new Key system which is generally neat to ...

Perhaps there's a lonely man in each of us... One of my favorite Hulk movies and something I believe tells a beautiful tale. A moving story of a lonely, broken man and a terminally ill woman who not only find love but therein gain strength to support each other. All within this first episode and feature length film of the second season of The Incredible Hulk TV show. Love is up in the air and Banner starts to fall in love again amidst this dark time of his after not only having lost his wife but also shouldering the weight of the Hulk and resulting tragedy he couldn't prevent either. Having gone down this dark and narrow path, already having wandered off several times and meeting various people throughout in search of a cure, until this time for once trying to settle down. Each of them, both David and Carolyn, giving the other hope in curing their disease that weighs so heavily on them, and thereby grasping a this life's beauty yet at the same time tragedy to its fullest wi...

What a lonely man. Lonely, all so lonely. Trying so hard to find a reason as to why he was unable to save his beloved wife in a tragic accident, becoming obsessed in finding the answer and his research until hitting a roadblock and tapping into something that would forever alter his path going forward. When talking about superheros I for one always held a great admiration for the Hulk. Different from others perhaps though, the major reason I love him isn't because of any impressive action scenes or a creature with enormous strength but stems directly from Bruce Banner himself and the inner conflict that comes to life within him through the very existence that is the Hulk. This duality of this alter ego that every time once strong emotions such as anger or frustration overtake him breaks through. There's a man constantly struggling with himself and thereby succumbing to his inner self and the part of him he cannot control. May best described as a character study, one that is tra...

Let us find a way to save this world... Having gotten around to replaying this game in another NG+ run through the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition ended up being truly another magical experience that set my heart aflame once more. Not only reinforcing Xenoblade 2 as one of my all time favorites but also all the more reminding me of why I love this work so much in the first place thanks to all the things it does so well.  From start to finish among other things it could most notably be described as a sincere love letter. A declaration of love towards otaku media, Tetsuya Takahashi's and Soraya Saga's past works, as well as one towards the fans who have stayed up to this point and celebrating what this series encompassed up to the almost twenty years it existed at the point of its initial release. Taking heavy notes from Soma Bringer and perhaps feeling like the most deliberately Xeno made game since Xenosaga Episode III.  A celebreation towards it all packaged into something new alt...

After having waited far too long since my initial playthrough of Atelier Ryza back in 2023 to dive into its sequel, I finally found myself going back at it and playing through the entire game. More than anticipated I realized I was falling more and more in love with it and truly enjoyed the experience a ton. Obviously its whole unique alchemy system on which the game is fundamentally based around, gathering, synthesizing items and finding out about all the wonders of alchemy continues to be a bunch of fun given to all the possibilities that open themselves up combined with how strong you can make yourself, which is something I always appreciate in RPGs like this since there's always something immensley satisfying about becoming pretty much overpowered through the right strategy and having this variety of options in the first place. All the more though I found myself captivated by the lighthearted tone with all the great character moments of which this game is filled with to the bri...

Now, this is a fascinating game and one that stands strong continuing to this time. Being a fan of Japanese adventure games with all their different facets, it feels almost inevitable to eventually get around to some of the early Chunsoft titles given how significant they are to the genre and its further development into other subgenres as to how more command based text adventure games started to diverge into novel games that are primarily focused on text and their narrative coupled with tons of choices as compared to more heavily interacting with the world itself and items within it.  Therein Kamaitachi no Yoru as the second entry in Chunsoft's Sound Novel series remains an intriguing title that does a lot with its structure and within its set boundaries forms an experience that shines heavily with its murder mystery and the unique possibilities that open up in this medium of video games of which this game certainly takes advantage due to combining all of its elements neatly in on...

How does one even begin to write about this work? Are there proper outlines as to what it fundamentally embodies? Would it be silly to try to write about it a bit more in depth even if it once more ends up on a stark surface level? Before deciding to write this, these sorts of thoughts were all floating throughout my head. There’s so much to be found within this game, yet due to this length it almost feels like it becomes all the more difficult to find this one significant common thread to talk about…   This review, or however one may refer to this writing, might end up a little different compared to prior ones I wrote, perhaps it could be best considered of as a start of a new chapter, a stepping stone as to reaching a new arc, please bear with me and keep in mind I’ll talk about spoilers.   If there is one notable underlying theme however, contrary to what I right before had claimed, it might be the way it depicts the consequences of killing. Both the state of mind it leave...