Final Fantasy 7 Crisis Core Reunion Review

Crisis Core Final Fantasy 7 Reunion is a perfect example of how a game can blur the line between a Remaster and a Remake using the skeleton of its already great 2007 PSP original while completely rebuilding the muscle around it. 

Every change brings it much closer to 2020's excellent Final Fantasy 7 Remake from its gorgeously updated graphics to its considerably faster combat. 

However, Crisis Core stopped short of the total upheaval Final Fantasy 7 Remake leaned into and many design choices made for the original PSP game in mind, prevent this Remaster from being an entirely unblemished Reunion. 

Crisis Core is an action-focused prequel that follows Zack Fair, a plucky and likable foil to his far more moody companion, the iconic, Cloud Strife. 

Starting roughly seven years before the events of Final Fantasy VII, Zack hopes to climb the ranks of Shinra Electric Company's Soldier Program with dreams of becoming a soldier first class; the best of the best just like Sephiroth.

Even today, it's still a great story that newly ties Zack, Cloud and Sephiroth's threats together with real-time combat that melts some quirky systems in interesting ways like the strange digital mind wave slot machine that brings a bit of the gold saucer to every fight. The most immediate and noticeable change to Reunion is its graphical overhaul.

Using Unreal Engine 4 to get its in-game visuals relatively close to parody with Final Fantasy VII remake, character models look great, environments are highly detailed and even its menu's new eye replicate Remakes clean look that blends form and function so nicely.

Though Crisis Core was already one of the better looking PSP games, these visual improvements make it feel far more modern and surprisingly high budget for what Square Enix is classifying as a Remaster.

Reunion could easily be mistaken for a brand new game in most regards; though there are some remnants of the original holding it back from looking as good as it possibly can.

For example, the original CG cut scenes are reused here. They benefit from being presented on bigger and higher definition screens but they are disappointing when compared to the in-game action.

They're still fun and well animated after all these years but that can't entirely hide how noticeably they've aged. 

Thankfully, that thick layer of dust is easier to forget about than the heat of battle especially during incredible summon sequences which are the single most visually impressive additions to Reunion.

If it's fiery, lava filled Hellfire never failed to impress me nor did Bahamut's particle effects heavy Mega Flare. 

While it's understandable why Square Enix may not want to completely redo every pre-rendered cutscene, these summons are a tantalizing look at what could have been, had it decided to remake all of that footage with modern tech and not just the summons. 

Reunion's graphical facelift may be what catches your eye initially but its most substantial improvements are its gameplay tweaks. 

Crisis Core was always an action RPG but the PSP's single thumbsticks and two bumper layout for Square Enix to get creative with its design, making you shuffle their spells attacks items and more using the left and right bumpers.

With a modern controller at your disposal, Zack's basic attack, dodge and guard commands are now all mapped to face buttons and triggers and you can use abilities and cast spells much more quickly by pressing those same buttons while holding L1.

If you don't like how the controls are laid out, you can even remap virtually everything in the pause menu. The DMW system also returns largely unaltered for better and for worse. 

Throughout combat, a three-tile slot machine is automatically running in the upper left hand corner and when a particular character lines up or certain number combinations are achieved, Zack can get some pretty substantial boosts.

Those include temporarily having unlimited MP or getting the ability to execute a powerful limit breaker Summon. It's a fun way for combat to feel consistently fresh but the rate at which these boosts are achieved is incredibly uneven and random.

Combat is also faster; a lot faster. Zack can swiftly dodge attacks, roll behind enemies for critical hits, sneak in a few sword slashes and roll back out of the way to deliver a powerful spell in a way that makes the original seem downright sluggish. 

I replayed a bit of it while making my way through reunion as a refresher and the difference in pace is simply night and day.

Combat still doesn't feel like it has quite as much depth as the admittedly high bar set by Final Fantasy 7 remix action and doesn't benefit from that game's ability to switch between party members on the fly but the changes here are still by far the biggest improvement made over the PSP version.

Unfortunately, not every aspect of Crisis Core gameplay has been updated with the same level of success. In the aging game underneath it all, can rear its ugly head again outside of combat.

Interior and exterior corridors are often strung together with thankfully brief loading screens and while the 10 story chapters are mostly compelling and typically last about an hour each, Crisis Core's mission system still offers additional bite-sized quests originally designed to be played on the go.

Most of them aren't very substantial and almost all boil down to running through the same small number of hallways randomly encountering enemies and collecting items from a few chests.

Playing these can greatly extend the run time of the campaign but I only felt compelled to do a handful of them; some to get additional accessory slots, some for high-powered Materia and some to see cute story beats from a young spunky Yuffie.

Given how heavily Final Fantasy 7 Remake played with the expectations of fans, I was curious to see if Square Enix was going to adjust Crisis Core storyline at all to account for some of the more surprising changes that had occurred particularly in regards to Zack. However, the main story is identical to what was told in the original game.

A big change doesn't exactly feel necessary either. Just like the original Final Fantasy 7's plot feeds into the changes that occur in Remake, so too does Crisis Core. And its story still feels like the most integral entry in the compilation of Final Fantasy 7 outside of the first game.

The events that transpire in Crisis Core add intriguing depth to Cloud, the Turks and many other characters from Square's beloved classic and its Remake. 

Sephiroth in particular becomes much more humanized during its run time. It's easy to play their original Final Fantasy 7 and not really know a thing about Zack but his ark in Crisis Core is still as emotional as it was 15 years ago. 

Voices for characters like Zack, Sephiroth, Aerith and more have also been replaced by their respective voice actors from Final Fantasy VII remake, giving a stronger sense of cohesion between Reunion and the as of yet unfinished trilogy of Remakes. 

However, while the overall story of Crisis Core remains compelling and fascinating as a prequel, there are aspects of the tale that veer towards the endearingly nonsensical flavor of storytelling present in other Square Enix games.

These moments don't derail the story entirely but awkward jokes, strange obsessions with what it means to be a monster and some cringe-worthy dialogue do occasionally distract from the otherwise enjoyable story. 

Crisis Core Final Fantasy 7 Reunion pushes the definition of a Remaster to the edge completely renovating the 15 year old PSP games graphics combat and more. 

That said, many of the design choices made for the handheld original like bite-sized missions are left intact keeping this experience from feeling completely modern. 

But even with a few aging quirks, Crisis Core remains a fun, compelling and integral chapter in the ongoing compilation of Final Fantasy 7 and Reunion is the absolute best way to experience it.

Sonic Frontiers Review

Sonic Frontiers doesn't limit you to a small, carefully curated menu of things to try. Instead, it takes the all-you-can-eat buffet approach; throwing new ideas at you from start to finish without really seeming to care if they're fresh and appetizing or looking wilted and limp under the heat lamp.

When I jumped off the starting line of the sprint across Sonic's first open world game, I certainly didn't expect to play jump rope, duke it out with a giant robot or watch a dramatic origin story for an extinct race of beings.

But Frontiers kept me guessing even late into the campaign with what it would try next. Even when some of those ideas didn't work, I was almost always glad that Sega gave it the old college try and as a result, I rarely found myself bored.

I did find myself feeling blue because of the absurd amount of pop-in that happens every time this famously fast character does his thing but Sonic Frontiers is for the most part a promising first attempt at blazing a new trail for the series.

While you're working your way through Frontier's chain of five Starfall Islands during its roughly 20-hour campaign, you'll uncover the dark and extremely predictable backstory of a long extinct race while hanging out with Sonic family favorites like Amy and Knuckles.

You'll also meet this strange new enemy named Sage and learn what her deal is in the most agonizingly slow way possible since her main hobbies appear to be dodging pointed questions and speaking exclusively in vagaries.

With all of the different plot threads Frontiers juggles, they do end up feeling oddly disconnected from each other and none of them offer a ton of surprises between their ungodly number of cliches concerning the power of friendship and ancient civilizations wielding advanced technology.

But they do leave room for some really good moments between the furry cast of characters. In fact, Frontiers produces some of the most in-depth characterizations of the Sonic cast we've ever seen in a game.

One part of the campaign hones in on the brotherly rivalry between Sonic and Knuckles while another does a great job at building Tails up as more than just Sonic's sidekick. 

All of that, more than stated my ravenous appetite for Sonic's usual anime style nonsense in between all of the fancy robot kicking and rolling around at the speed of sound.

Sprinting through the sprawling open World areas is as you'd hope, one of the best parts of this odyssey. 

The islands you dash about on are suitably large playgrounds for you to test the limits of your road running; so long as you don't fall into water or lava that immediately kills you. My personal favorite new trick though is the Side Loop.

It lets you draw a circle while blazing a trail to create a tornado of death that impacts everything caught within it. This ability can be used and abused to do damage in combat, solve puzzles and even farm rings since it generates a few every time.

Plus, literally running in circles around your enemies is just an incredibly Sonic thing to do which is why I practically never stop doing it throughout my playthrough.

What becomes clear after a few laps around the first island is that Sonic Frontiers is an action-adventure game that joins a growing pack of old school series looking to reimagine themselves as open world sandboxes and in this particular case, it mostly works out.

Just like Pokemon Legends Arceus and Metal Gear Solid 5 The Phantom Pain before it, Frontiers keeps a lot of what makes the Sonic series beloved and unique including some fun homages but also throws in big areas to explore and fills them with a wild assortment of side distractions and mostly interesting new ideas.

Not all of those activities are created equal but it works overall just because of the sheer variety. One moment you're juggling robots like you're playing baby's first Devil May Cry. 

The next, you're trying to beat a time trial in a 2d platforming stage and a minute after that, you're playing a game of pinball inside of an active volcano.

You'll grind truly epic rails, solve extremely simple puzzles, do some puzzle platforming and of course, catch fish; because if you can't fish. does it even count as an open world game?

There were moments where I saw glimpses of Genius in this bizarre hodgepodge of activities sections called Cyberspace levels, smartly break up the open world by teleporting you into bite-sized traditionally linear Sonic levels where you're racing the clock and collecting rings as you mad dash for the goal line.

On the other hand, one of the big things Frontiers tries that doesn't work well is combat. You're just mashing buttons to pull off simple combos and knock the snot out of faceless robotic enemies.

I appreciated the occasional break from platforming but since it never proves to be a challenge and throws you into almost identical fights again and again, I soon came to resent being yanked out of my lightning speed racing just to smack down another bunch of dumb toaster-looking fools.

It’s especially annoying when it comes to the mini bosses roaming the open world who often dragged me into unskippable fight sequences that weren't particularly challenging or interesting; though the giant bosses that cap off each island which I will not spoil here are far more exciting.

There are other things Frontiers has you do like solving very easy puzzles that range from mildly amusing minigames to completely brain dead chores or dipping your toes into RPG mechanics by gathering Collectibles to raise your stats.

These aren't terrible additions but they also don't feel like they're entirely fleshed out. 

The upgrades in particular are a bit odd since they do things like let you carry more rings or increase your attack and defense stats by such minor amounts that they barely have an impact on gameplay.

It's almost like the developer Shrugged and said sure why not and through every idea they could come up with into the mix just for the heck of it. 

The biggest shortcoming with this new open world design though has nothing to do with the buffet of mostly amusing activities.

It's simply that Frontiers is not at all able to keep up with Sonic's god-like speed on a technical level. 

My immersion was broken about every five seconds when large objects popped into view right in front of me; granted that's sometimes hilarious but it's always jarring and just plain ugly.

Most of the time it's a railing or platform that blips into existence a couple feet away from you but sometimes its entire areas of the world. 

For all of its amazing quick loading capabilities, the PS5 just couldn't seem to handle how hilariously fast Frontiers let me go.

Whether I was playing in the 4K resolution mode at 30 FPS or the much more desirable 60fps mode, seriously, what are we even doing here playing a game this fast at any less, the pop-in was always a common issue. 

Sonic Frontiers is a delightfully weird and experimental evolution of the Sonic game so many of us grew up with.

Its expansive islands are filled with so much variety and pieces of Sonic history from classic platforming stages to silly mini-games that they're enjoyable to explore even when awful graphical pop-in is a constant Hedgehog spine in your side.

Some of the new stuff Frontiers tries out like the self-contained cyberspace levels within its open worlds are fantastic ways to pack as much Sonic goodness as possible into one package.

While others especially combat are uninteresting experiments gone wrong, still, I largely enjoyed my time running around in Frontiers making it feel like a promising first attempt at what could be a bright new era for Sonic and friends.

God of War Ragnarok Review

I didn't have to spend a lot of time with God of War Ragnarok to realize that it was exactly the game I wanted it to be. Of course further on, it would prove to surpass even those expectations. 

With just a few hours under my belt, I knew that Ragnarok had improved upon its already impressive predecessor in nearly every way possible and identified the perfect ways to do it; from combat to boss battles to pacing to storytelling.

 

This is a game that confidently builds a towering skyscraper on the foundation laid by God of War 2018, delivering yet another unforgettable experience that may very well rank as one of the series best ever outings. 

For me, personally, a big part of that is the game's pacing. God of War 2018 took a very deliberate and measured approach as it went about reinventing the franchise and while that ultimately made for a much richer and more textured experience, some things were lost in the process; like the series trademark sense of scale. 

God of War Ragnarok however manages to strike almost the perfect balance between its predecessor's most grounded style and the high-octane bombastic nature of older titles in the series. 

And it makes that clear in its very first hour where an intense set piece sequence instantly leads into a boss fight, into another boss fight, into another boss fight. 

It's a packed opening even by God of War standards, and sets the tone perfectly for an epic journey. 

No, it doesn't even come close to the frankly ridiculous scope of God of War 3 but it has much more of that unique God of War flair that long time series fans will be familiar with. 

I spoke about balance though which means that it's not all action and explosive set pieces and boss fights. 

With its 2018 reinvention, the series added so much to what we now look at as God of War's core identity and complex characters and matured layered storytelling were a big part of that. 

Ragnarok upped the ante here as well. Kratos and Atreus proved to be fascinating characters once again and the latter in particular steals the show. True to what Kratos said to his son at the end of the previous game, this really is Atreus's story.

He's no longer “Boy”. He's his own man now steeled by the lessons from his parents in the hurdles of his past and completely unyielding; much like his father, in his drive to achieve his goals. 

Three years on from God of War 2018, the relationship between Kratos and Atreus has matured as well. 

There is a much greater level of communication a much greater degree of respect and trust and at the same time much more interesting conflicts of ideologies. 

While Kratos wants nothing more than to leave behind his destructive ways and try and live a much less eventful life in order to keep his son safe, Atreus is desperate to leave the confines of his home; learn what role he's supposed to play in Ragnarok as Loki and try and stop Odin's machinations.

Watching the Father and Son clash and learn to trust one another makes for a fascinating experience and yes, incredible performances from Christopher Judge and Sunny Suljic deserves a great deal of credit for that. 

Of course with God of War Ragnarok's significantly expanding its scale, it also features a much larger cast of characters. Returning characters from God of War 2018 continued to shine. 

Mimir's wisecracking ways are delightful as ever and his growing bond with Kratos and Atreus also adds more heart to the story. Brok and Sindri return and the brothers are an even more integral part of the narrative, often in very unexpected ways. 

Freya returns as well and her personal arc proves to be another highlight even if her story in particular does stumble at a couple of key moments. 

Beyond that, there is a wide cast of new characters out of whom it's no surprise at all that Odin and Thor are the showstoppers. 

Thor is a menacing brute and God of War Ragnarok's portrayal of the character is surprisingly layered while Odin serves as a spectacular villain who also seems to be one step ahead of the heroes at times in ways that took me entirely by surprise. 

Incredibly nuanced performances by Ryan Hurst and Richard Schiff do wonders for both characters as well and both tend to hog the spotlight practically every single time they're on the screen. 

I won't go into further detail on what other Norse Gods, Goddesses, Giants and what have you, appear in the game but suffice it to say that God of War Ragnarok's wide cast is full of memorable excellently written and brilliantly acted characters.

I still don't think the story is perfect. A couple of important narrative moments do drop the ball a little bit like some moments related to Freya which I touched on earlier and parts of the game's ending which feel like they're wrapped up a little too neatly and a little too conveniently. 

Even so, flaws and all, by and large, God of War Ragnarok weaves a spellbinding tail it's excellently paced from beginning to end ramping up and escalating at just the right moments and in just the right ways while it also springs some unexpected surprises and developments along the way.

Meanwhile, once again, just like its predecessor, the unique spin it puts on Norse myths, often come together ingeniously. Also worth mentioning is the game's usage of a one-shot camera.

Just like the 2018 title, Ragnarok has no camera cuts throughout its run time but the implementation feels much more immersive here; a wing to the much wider and more ambitious scale of the story.

Moving on from the story and storytelling and coming to the combat, God of War Ragnarok feels like a significant step up from its predecessor almost to a surprising degree.

I say surprising because really almost all of the changes it makes are incremental and obvious ones on their own and might not seem like major upgrades.

Collectively however, these smaller improvements make for a game that feels much more satisfying to play. The biggest improvements God of War Ragnarok makes when it comes to combat is the sheer variety of enemies it throws at you.

Kratos and Atreus traveled to all nine realms in their quest to stop Odin and each of them present unique challenges. 

A vast variety of new enemies are encountered throughout the game and they vary from each other greatly in important ways; from their attack patterns to their weaknesses.

There's a lot of bosses and mini bosses in the game including several hidden or optional ones but even fights against the more regular enemies feel more rewarding.

Thanks to this, combat and Ragnarok feels inherently more challenging which in turn encourages you to make better use of your arsenal of weapons abilities and combos.

And that arsenal has been expanded in several ways as well. The best of them are best left unspoiled and unmentioned but there's plenty more that I can talk about.

For starters, grappling his back lifted straight out of the older God of War games. 

With Kratos using his chained blades to latch onto a point to swing across chasms and pull himself up to higher ledges, this has an instantly noticeable impact on how combat arenas and God of War Ragnarok are designed and how much more vertical they tend to be.

That in turn, leads to fights that feel much more Dynamic and frantic the fact that the game cranks things up to 11 with how brutal and visceral it is also serves as a bonus.

Weapon signature attacks are also a game changer in Ragnarok, the triangle button serves a unique function, bestowing elemental powers to whatever weapon you have equipped.

Hold down triangle with the Leviathan axe equipped to boost its frost or mash it repeatedly with the blades of chaos equipped to make Kratos spin them around to stoke their flames.

Elemental attacks and damage end up feeling much more important to the flow of combat especially because unlockable skills make the axe more effective against enemies who are on fire and the blades more effectives against those who are frozen.

Mixing and matching between the two creating new combos and taking full advantage of elemental effects adds a whole new layer of strategy to the combat. Combat also benefits from greatly improved Loot and progression systems.

God of War Ragnarok makes new loot and upgrades feel much more valuable and rewarding and it goes about that in a very simple yet effective manner.

It simply hands out way less loot than its predecessor did. Rather than feeling like an incremental bump, every upgrade you make feels much more effective and every new piece of equipment you find feels like it could have a potential use.

Meanwhile, you can now also equip multiple different shields each comes with unique properties all of which can also be upgraded.

Add to that the companion characters having a much more involved role and new systems like enchantment slots and the ability to mod certain unlocked skills and what you have is a game that grants much greater control over progression and build variety.

But of course, there's much more to God of War Ragnarok's gameplay than combat and progression. Like God of War 2018, Ragnarok places a great deal of emphasis on exploration which is another area.

That reaps the benefits of many incremental improvements coming together to form a greater whole and not just because the rewards in terms of Loot and upgrades feel much more rewarding.

Not every realm spots the semi-open world exploration-driven structure that say, Midgard and Alfheim did in God of War 2018 but a good number of them do. Each of them is surprisingly large and exploring every nook and cranny never gets boring.

From excellent side quests to hidden puzzles, to incredibly designed optional areas, Ragnarok keeps rewarding you for going off the beaten path. 

One particular entirely optional area later on might even be some of my favorite content in the entire game. It's massive and full of incredible boss fights and side quests.

Of course there's also plenty of end game content on offer for those who want to keep playing once the credits have rolled which is about as much as I can say on that front without going into spoiler territory.

I'd also be remiss not to touch upon how gorgeous God of War Ragnarok looks. Given how good God of War 2018 looked and really the entire series track record from a visual's perspective throughout the years, it's no surprise that Ragnarok’s yet another technical marvel.

This is a game full of incredible sights and breathtaking scenery; all of which is consistently uplifted not only by a ridiculous level of technical polish and detail but also strong art design that brings the game's interpretation of Norse mythology to life in stunning ways.

I did have a few technical issues in my time with God of War Ragnarok but the more major ones like dialogue going silent in some cutscenes or a couple of crashes here and there seem to have been entirely patched out with the pre-launch updates.

The few issues that I continue to experience in the later hours of my playthrough were largely minor and hopefully these will be ironed out pretty quickly as well. 

When a game is as good as God of War Ragnarok is though, its issues become much easier to ignore and that's certainly been my experience. Ragnarok is better than what I was expecting it to be and I was expecting the world.

It's a stellar game that perfectly captures both the scale and bombast of the older entries in the series and the heart and grounded nature of God of War 2018.

From beginning to end, it's an exciting romp that delivers a steady stream of thrills whether you're going through its captivating story, engaging with its massively improved combat or getting lost in the endlessly explorable and wonderfully designed nine realms of Norse mythology, it might seem like an iterative upgrade on paper but it's much more than that.

Not for the first time a new God of War game has come along and set a new standard for the medium at large, anyone with a passing interest in games has to play God of War Ragnarok.

Tactics Ogre Reborn Review

I played the original Tactics Ogre on the PS1 since 1998 and it's my single-most favorite game. I spent hundreds of hours with the original release. While I love this game, it is dated by today's standards. The equipment and inventory system was mixed. 

Each character had 4 slots to use for equipment and consumable items. Need to bring some MP boosting items for your mages? 

Well you're going to sacrifice equipping a wand/robe/ring/headgear for one consumable item. While the customizability was fun; albeit impractical; have a Cleric equipped with a spear? 

You can do it. The leveling system was earned PER action in battle; cast a heal = earn exp, hit an enemy = earn exp. Of course you earned more exp if your target was a higher level than yourself.

I also played and really liked the additional story content, World system of the PSP remake in 2010. However, I was not a fan of the skill grind, or the class level system. 

Class level system meant your characters did not have individual levels; the class they were had levels. 

So instead of hiring a fresh recruit to level up as a dedicated caster or melee, you hire a new recruit and when you switch them to the class you want they'll instantly be the level of your current class. 

Each new class introduced starts at level one and must be leveled up and earn skill points for that class to unlock its abilities. 

While this was annoying at least earning exp was PER battle conclusion. 

Experience points are evenly distributed to the classes in the battle (multiples of the same class earned more - this could be annoying when your enemies' levels scaled to your highest class level).

Now comes, Reborn.

Oh boy, it polishes up what the PSP remake did and returns to the original's character levels instead of class levels. 

In addition, the skill point grind is removed; your class unlocks abilities at varying character levels (albeit, at the loss of customization with cross-class skills learned from other classes). 

For the old school original diehards; you can grind out weapon skill levels (which are capped at your character level).

One change that has pros and cons is the union level. Your characters' levels are capped and will incrementally increase the level cap as the story progresses. 

This is a pro in that your enemies won't be higher level with much better equipment that you would have, but can be a con if you're stuck on a particularly challenging story encounter at level cap - you can no longer out-level your way out of a difficult encounter.

Finally, the voice acting. For the most part, the voice acting is great - but there are a few characters that just sound a little mousy. 

It's a small gripe, but it's a welcome change for me as my eyesight isn't quite what it was when I played the original 24 years ago.

If you've never played Tactics Ogre, but you're a fan of the isometric strategy RPG genre; get this game. It has been often imitated, but never duplicated. The closest was Final Fantasy Tactics; but even that gem pales in comparison. 

Your protagonist in Tactics Ogre can make decisions that impact the story path you take, the characters you can recruit. 

In one path, you'll have a staunch ally with a character - but in the other they're your sworn enemy. Or a character may decline joining you due to the choices you made previously. 

This is where the World system comes into play, after you complete the story for the first time this system is unlocked. 

World lets you travel back to 'anchor points' in the story before/after several decisions you have previously made. 

This lets you go back to playthrough the other fork in the roads you previously diverged from - with all your already recruited characters/levels/equipment obtained!

So have fun and rest assured that a blind playthrough can be exceptionally fun, because when you're done you can go back to try and save this character, or recruit another.

Resident Evil Village Shadow of Rose Review

An 18th month gap between a game's release and it’s getting DLC, is unusual. To that extent, in most cases it would be deemed poor timing. 

Most people may have moved long on from the game with little to no intention of returning to it anytime soon if ever. 

Thankfully, Resident Evil Village as one of the best games of 2021, is exempt from that notion. The game is just that good and more of the same is always going to be hard to turn down. 

Enter, Resident Evil Village Winter's expansion; a three-prong DLC that adds quite a bit to the game, most of which will be to your liking if you enjoyed the base game but almost none of which feels essential. 

The headline grabbing edition here is obviously Shadows of Rose, a new story chapter set 16 years after the events of the base game. Ethan Winters has been dead for a long time and the focus here is squarely on Rose, his daughter. 

All grown up now, she's desperate to live a normal life as a normal kid which is obviously something that she can't do thanks to her natural powers and abilities and as a bioorganic weapon. 

When she learns of a way to get rid of her powers though, Rose instantly jumps at the opportunity; beginning a journey that takes her into the consciousness of the Megamycete, the superorganism that's the source of the troublesome mold that's been torturing the Winter's family and many others for years at this point. 

Shadows of Rose takes players to a number of locations that those who play the base game will be very familiar with and really given the chapter's narrative setup, you really shouldn't be playing if you haven't finished Resident Evil Village. 

It starts off with Rose and Castle Dimitrescu where the imposing vampiric woman is nowhere to be seen; with a twisted version of the Duke instead, casting his terrifying shadow on the location and everything that goes on in it. 

Beyond that, there's a few other locations you visit which are best left unspoiled. 

That's because Shadows of Rose does a solid job of remixing familiar environments and the dreamlike state of its setting, serves as a great jumping off point for that. 

Meanwhile some later sections also bring chilling horror sequences that take cues from RE Village's best bits which is all that I'm going to say about that. 

It's best experienced on your own. While locations are remixed and reused in Shadows of Rose, other elements of the new story chapter feel quite different from the base experience. 

There's Michael, an unseen spirit companion who constantly aids Rose on her journey through glowing ghostly words appearing on surfaces around her. 

As a gameplay mechanic, it feels like a gimmick at best and it can feel like it's holding your hand a little too much but Michael is also a crucial part of the story which resolves in an interesting way; if not largely predictable. 

Meanwhile, Rose is of course also equipped with special powers. Though their implementation is not nearly as exciting as it seems on paper, temporarily freezing enemies in place and getting rid of obstacles in the environment is about the extent of her abilities. 

And they never really come into play in any way that makes them stand out, or at least not until the end by which time it's also a little too late. 

New enemies called Face Eaters also enter the fray, who have more than a few similarities to Resident Evil 7's Molded but they never really posed a kind of a threat that, say, that base games’ Lycans did. Other issues bring down the experience as well. 

Shadows of Rose is an entirely third-person experience but movement feels a little clunky which is a surprise because Resident Evil has delivered some top-notch third-person titles especially in recent years. 

The new chapter is also a much more linear experience than what you'd expect from a Resident Evil game. Backtracking and slowly unblocking areas bit by bit, is a core tenet of the franchise and it's disappointing to see it de-emphasized here like it has been. 

Add to that, Shadow of Rose's short run time, the entire episode is roughly three hours long and with all of the other issues it ends up feeling like a largely forgettable ride even if it's mostly a fun one. 

But of course, Shadow of Rose is only a third of what Winter's Expansion brings to the table. 

Another major new addition and probably my favorite of the bunch is a new third-person mode for the base game. 

Playing through Resident Evil Village with an over-the-shoulder camera puts a unique spin on the game but the action still feels tense and satisfying. 

Similar to Shadows of Rose, movement is a little stiff as compared to the likes of Resident Evil 2 and 3 but the sheer novelty of seeing all of the game's locations and getting to experience all of its offerings from a different perspective, makes up for a lot of those issues. 

Funnily enough, you still can't see Ethan's face. If you tried to turn the camera around,  he'll simply turn around before you can get a proper look at the entirety of his face. 

While the transitions between third person gameplay and first-person cutscenes never stopped feeling jarring, third-person mode has clearly been made with returning fans in mind. 

So, if you're jumping into Resident Evil Village for the first time, you might want to stick with the first-person perspective. 

For fans who have already played through the base game though, the new camera is an excellent way to experience the game again. 

The third and final edition in Winter's expansion is The Mercenaries additional orders which as its name suggests adds new content to The Mercenaries mode. 

Resident Evil score-based mode has been a fan favorite since its inception all those years ago but its comeback and Village didn't exactly live up to its name.

The consensus was that it was too light on content and lacked the endless replayability of past iterations of The Mercenaries. 

So, it goes without saying that the addition of new locations and new characters, each with their own unique abilities, is a welcome one. 

The Mercenaries is still unlikely to blow anyone away but it serves as a nice distraction for those who are looking for more bite-sized and casual fun. 

Resident Evil Village Winter's Expansion is a solid addition to Capcom's beloved survivor horror outing. 

Even if it feels largely unremarkable, Shadows of Rose is a fun new story chapter but it doesn't do enough with its unique ideas and it's over too quickly. 

While The Mercenaries continues to feel inessential; even if it's admittedly a much better experience than it was when the base game launched last year. 

Third-person mode meanwhile is an absolute treat especially if you're a returning fan looking to play through the game again from a fresh perspective. 

Taken together, the expansion might not be required reading but it's a decent stop gap to hold you over until Capcom drops the next meaty Resident Evil offering.

Fatal Frame Maiden of Black Water

In spite of how many fans Koei Tecmo's horror series Fatal Frame has, it's always been a bit of a niche franchise. 

Its last main line entry Fatal Frame Maiden of Black Water launched exclusively for the Wii U back in 2014 and the game's inherently niche nature combined with the extremely limited player base of the Wii u meant that the game was always fighting an uphill battle when it came to mainstream penetration and sales. 

Seven years on from its original release though, it's being given a new lease on life with Koei Tecmo bringing the game to modern consoles and for the first time for a Fatal Frame game in a while, to non-Nintendo platforms as well and as we count the days down to its imminent launch. 

Here, we're going to talk about a few key details you should know about the game itself followed by the big talking points of what to expect from its upcoming remaster. 

Story 

Fatal Frame as a series has always been very heavily focused on pure supernatural horror rather than the sci-fi horror of more popular franchises like Resident Evil and Fatal Frame Maiden of Black Water very much sticks to that template. 

The game is set on the fictional Hikami Mountain, a place that has a long and notorious history of cases of suicides and supernatural occurrences stemming largely from maidens that would be sacrificed to keep a malevolent power known as the black water, at bay, using their own mystical abilities. 

When one maiden in particular failed in her duties in the past though, the black water was let loose and the mountain and its spirits were corrupted by the evil being. 

Characters 

Fatal Frame Maiden of Black Water tells its story from the perspective of three primary protagonists. There's Miu Hinasaki the daughter of Miku Hinasaki; a character that fans of the series will be quite familiar with. 

There's Yuri Kozukara, a descendant of the mountain maidens who can use her abilities to bring people stuck in the shadow world back into the real world. 

Last but not least, there's Ren Hojo, Yuri's friend and an author who heads to the mountain for research purposes for his writing but finds himself entangled in a nightmare that he could not have predicted. Various maidens of the past also play a crucial role in the story. 

Camera Obscura 

The Camera Obscura is a mainstay for the Fatal Frame series and perhaps the one thing that Koei Tecmo's horror games are most commonly associated with but for those who are not too familiar with Fatal Frame and what it's all about, what exactly is the Camera Obscura? 

Well, it's literally your lens into the game's world and the horrors it hides. 

It serves as your primary means for both defense and attack against the malevolent spirits that you cross paths with once you whip out the camera during combat, the game switches to a first-person perspective and depending on factors such as distance and angles of the shots that you take with it, you will deal varying amounts of damage to the ghosts you're fighting against. 

Updated Visuals 

As far as playable content is concerned, Fatal Frame Maiden of Black Waters upcoming remaster is going to be largely similar to the original Wii U release with everything from the post-game Ayane content to, of course, the base game itself being brought over as is. 

Some other areas of the game are being tweaked though. For starters, as you'd expect from any Remaster, there will be visual improvements curiously Koei Tecmo hasn't provided any concrete details on exactly how visuals will be improved other than promising sharper resolutions but hopefully, they'll take the opportunity to make some notable changes especially seeing as there's plenty of room for graphical improvement for any game that launched on the Wii U several years ago. 

Photo Mode 

Photo modes have become something of an industry-wide standard in recent years and though by no means, a necessity for something that actively affects a game's core gameplay experience, they're always a nice added bonus. 

Fatal Frame Maiden of Black Waters Remaster is going to feature a new photo mode as well which only makes sense when you consider how central taking photos is to the core gameplay loop here. 

Players will be able to freely move and place characters and ghosts apply filters and frames and mess around with other options such as depth of field, focal length and aperture. 

Upgrade Path 

When Final Frame made enough Black Water launches where Playstation and Xbox are concerned, it will receive native versions on both active generations of both platforms. 

Thankfully, unlike several other cross-gen releases these days, Fatal Frame will not demand additional money if you want to upgrade from the PS4 or Xbox One to the game's PS5 or Xbox Series X and S versions with Koei Tecmo confirming that free next gen upgrades will be offered to anyone who gets the game on last gen hardware. 

PC Requirements 

As a seven-year-old Wii U game, Fatal Frame Maiden of Black Water's PC requirements aren't exactly demanding. On minimum settings which will run the game at 720p and 60 frames per second, you'll notice four gigabytes of ram at least an Intel Core i5 750 and either a GeForce GTX 660 or Radeon RX 550. 

Meanwhile, on recommended settings which will run the game at 1080p and 60 frames per second, you'll need 8 gigabytes of ram, an Intel Core i7 2600 and either a GeForce GTX 960 or a Radeon RX 570. Meanwhile on both settings, you'll require 25 gigabytes of storage space. 

Series Future 

The future of Fatal Frame as a series has looked murky for a while and the less than stellar sales and lukewarm critical reception that Maiden of Black Water saw when it released for the Wii U is surely responsible for that to a great extent but if the upcoming Remaster should do well, it might pave the way for more new games in the series. 

Speaking in an interview with Famitsu when asked about the possibility of sequels if Maiden of Black Water does well, series producer, Keisuke Kikuchi said “That's what I'm hoping. 

We're releasing this game to commemorate the series 20th anniversary and we're hoping a lot of fans will take the opportunity to play the game. We'd love this to lead to a new title.” 

Here's hoping that does happen then because you can never have too many good horror games and when Fatal Frame is at its best, it's really good.