Savior Gaming

Final Fantasy Tactics the Ivalice Chronicles PS5 Review

Honestly, what can I say about Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles that hasn’t been said in about 600 YouTube videos and even more written reviews? Is the story amazing? Absolutely, even by today’s standards, it has it all. Love, betrayal, well-written political commentary, and an unspoken bond between man and bird that is never explained. Seriously, I will kill every animal in this game, but Boko stays.

This review is going to be less of a review and more of an acknowledgment of what we already know: Final Fantasy Tactics is just an amazing game and possibly the best tactical RPG ever made. Nothing I say will convince you to buy this game if you haven’t already made the decision.

There are some things to note, for example, the PS5 has amazing load times, the fastest across all versions in a test done by RPG Site, so if this is one of your concerns about where to buy it, hopefully, this helps. The game also reportedly has some stuttering issues on both Switch consoles.

Some of the quality of life changes, however, are what really make this the definitive version, even if the dark (fell) knight class is missing. The ability to fast forward in battle is amazing, though having to hold down the button instead of toggling it is an odd design choice to me. The voice acting is also far better than I expected.

There isn’t much more to be said on this title. If you loved this game before, you will again, and if you have been waiting to play it now is the time. If you somehow never cared for it, however, this won’t change your mind. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch Playstation 5 Review

It isn’t often that I play a tactical RPG where losing a battle doesn’t just make me cringe knowing I have to do this all over again. But not long ago, Kakao Games sent me a copy of Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch on PS5, and that changed. This isn’t your typical Tactical RPG; it is, at its very core, a roguelite.

Every move can be a life-or-death choice

The game starts out standard enough. You wake up on a beach, with no memory, and you must fight some undead with the help of some people who seem to remember you from the ship you were on. It isn’t long before this proves to be a battle you can’t truly win. So what is a dead man to do? Make a deal with a witch, become her champion, and rid the island of whatever is causing this problem as you set out in search of people mentioned in a letter that you feel are important.

Each of your friends has their own strengths and weaknesses, and you will be able to pick up more along the way to build your party from. Do you want a quick dagger wielder that can disappear and strike from the shadows? Emile is the perfect character for that. Want a more Paladin-like character that can heal and attack? Evie has you covered with her healing skills, but solid sword work.

Each step of the way, you can choose where to go at a fork in the road. Some lead to much-needed healing at camp sites, or a raven you can get relics from. Others will have merchants or NPCs to interact with. All will force you to make a decision on where to go next, most of which will lead you to your next battle.

Most maps are small enough that battles are quick and painful for everyone involved, rarely letting you walk away untouched. Don’t worry, if you lose a character, they will be back for the next fight, minus most of their health.

Customization also plays a huge part in the game; rather than gaining new weapons, you can choose who to give orbs to, which upgrade weapons and armor. At each level, you are also given a choice of a new skill to learn or a possible skill to upgrade. These are random, but you can reroll for a few gold, and certain items increase your odds of getting better skills, just like promoting units allows better starting skills.

The only major flaws I found in the game are, quite honestly, the grind. In any game like this, you expect a grind, but unless you are constantly making deep runs, it will take you a very long time to even unlock all the characters, and even longer to make them viable to use. I never felt a need to switch from the starting characters because I felt like I was being punished by doing it. This is a shame because those later characters are some of the best written in the game and have amazing stories. You don’t truly miss anything by not using them, but it would be nice to do so without suffering.

That being said, fans of either the tactical RPG or Roguelite genre would do well to at least play the demo, because the game is fantastic. It truly is a hidden gem, 9/10. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Lost Rift Steam Review

Lost Rift on Steam is the newest Early Access title from People Can Fly, and they were kind enough to toss me a copy to check out, which I am always thankful for.

I am going to be up front about a few things right away. The game is sitting at mixed reviews on Steam out of around 650 reviews. Many of these reviews have the same complaint, and I won’t sit here and try to convince you that they aren’t valid. The game, from the start, is pitched as PVPVE. Meaning you start on a player vs environment island. You can safely wander around it, gather supplies, and build a base in relative safety.

There is, however, an extraction shooter element to it. Meaning you HAVE to go to the PVP zone at some point to get better stuff to craft certain things. There will be tougher AI enemies and real people there, and they will attempt to kill you and take your stuff. None of this is hidden in the game description, and many of the complaints in the negative reviews are about how this exists in the first place. If this isn’t something you want, the game isn’t for you.

I did, however, say that it wasn’t without merit. Just because they warn you that this is what the game is doesn’t mean that it is all done well. The idea that you have to run into AI characters with guns while armed with a very underpowered bow is odd. Not many people are taking an arrow to the head and just walking away after all, yet somehow I have seen this happen quite a few times in Lost Rift.

The game is solid and looks pretty decent, but it won’t be turning any heads. The sounds are worth listening to, and the little things I found were important. People in the distance do make noise walking around. The game was, however, clearly meant to be played as a group, and as I didn’t have one, death came frequently. The NPC that warns you about this was not kidding at all.

Is Lost Rift worth the $25 it costs to pick up? Honestly, this one is weird for me. The game is still very early in early access and has a ton of potential. If you are /going to play with a group, yeah, it is a 7/10 experience. There is definitely fun to be had here. If you don’t have a group to play with, however, this is one game you probably will want to skip. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Anime Umbrella, a Great Gift

Every so often, here at Savior Gaming, I get emails that make me question what I am doing with my life. Usually, it’s about local women in my area who want to meet. This time, it was something that actually surprised me, and that doesn’t happen often after almost 10 years of doing this.

The nice people over at Anime Umbrellas asked if I would be interested in reviewing an umbrella. Now I have always been completly up front with you guys about things like this. They did send me a beautiful umbrella, completly free of charge to check out, that I personally picked off their website. There was no stipulation on which one I could choose,there are no affiliate links or payments involved. You will however notice the pictures have the Anime Umbrella water mark on it. I took them right off their website, this way if you see one you like you can go purchase it. I am not being payed for it, I just enjoyed the product and thought you might like it as well.

Now with that out of the way, lets get to talking about the umbrella. Once again to be upfront, I was not expecting much. It is an anime umbrella, we have all seen these things at conventions or local shops. They usually sell for 40 or 50 bucks, are made from a cheap plastic, and will break as soon as you use them. This is the exact opposite of what is being sold at Anime Umbrellas.

The is the heavy cardboard box it was packaged in

I was greeted with a heavy cardboard box when I opened my shipping package. Yes, it was unfortuantly dented a little in transit, but I can’t blame them for this, it was clearly done in shipping by shipping company. It also means my umbrella arrived safe and sound BECAUSE of this extra care they take. It is still a beautiful keepsake that my umbrella is currently stored in.

Now I was going to post a picture of the actual umbrella I received but truth be told, I am not a fan of having my picture taken, and getting a quality picture of an umbrella is no easy task. Suffice it to say, if you have ever used an umbrella you know what the canopy feels like, truthfully I don’t know what those things are made of and I won’t insult anyones intelligence by pretending otherwise.

The ribs and handle however are definetly made out of fiberglass and stainless steel and open and closes at the push of a button. This all sounds nice, but I am sure you are asking,how sturdy is it? I am sure by now you have clicked on a link and noticed they cost $38.50 (US) and that is a fair question. So I asked myself, how do I test an umbrella? It looks like its advetised, it feels good. So I handed it over to my kid. She is 8, handed it to her and sent her outside and just watched her with it.

Now, I was 100% prepared to lose the umbrella, and I don’t recomened doing that with every child. She mostly just kept opening and closing it because she was amazed by the function. That being said, if it will survive being opened and closed as much in 20 minutes as any umbrella will be opened in a life time while a kid runs back and forth in a yard, its safe to say its pretty well built and will survive normal use. So if you are looking for a gift for a christmas gift for that anime fan in your life, or maybe just want an accesory for that next convention that will start a conversation, definetly check out Animeumbrellas.com Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Deathless The Hero Quest Playstation 5 Review

Deathless: The Hero Quest is an upcoming card battler from the fine folks at Fulqrum Publishing and For Games. They were kind enough to send me a copy early to review. You can pick it up now over on Steam.

The game itself plays out like many roguelikes you have played before: pick a character, kill enemies, collect cards and relics, move along the path of your choosing, rinse and repeat. When you lose, and you will, you unlock new cards and try again. The thing is, games like this need to either do it better than anyone else or do something new to be worth playing. This is where Deathless: The Hero Quest comes in.

Dobrynya is my favorite, builds buffs and armor, then causes direct damage

You get to choose between four different characters, each with their own unique style and look. Dobrynya is a sort of Knight that specializes in building up armor and buffs, then dealing damage directly to the enemy.

Varvara is more manipulative in her approach and is the opposite of Dobrynya. She controls the battlefield by moving enemies around, ignoring armor, and moving dead enemies into the path of living enemies to protect herself.

Each character comes with their own story to discover as you play. The nice thing here is that losing a run doesn’t restart the story on you. You simply pick up where you left off. This is nice because even on easy, the game isn’t easy. There will be some trial and error involved in finding a nice build, and as of yet, I haven’t discovered any sort of game-breaking magical build that simply results in you winning.

While the sound and character designs are great, the game isn’t perfect. Many of the complaints you will see in Steam reviews are perfectly valid. For example, the final boss can seem insanely unfair if you haven’t lucked into some great drops. Relics can also be far more important than your cards, since cards are largely just side-upgrades to what you start with. For example, you gain slightly more shields or do slightly more damage. The game could really use a bit more variety in the card department. Maybe a few more cards that do damage and give shields, or that act as a vampire-type card that do damage and heal. Not to say these cards don’t exist, but a few more to come across would be nice.

The game is sitting at Very Positive Steam reviews for a reason, and when it launches on October 16th for PS5, Xbox, and Switch, it will be worth buying this 8/10 experience on console. It doesn’t redefine the card-battling experience, but it is definitely a worthy experience. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Deadpool and Wolverine

You know you’re in trouble when Deadpool is your saving grace….Wade’s been through alot after the events of Deadpool 2. By that I mean, he hung up the guns and katanas and tried living a normal life, sucking at it, losing his spark when getting turned down by the Avengers. When the TVA shows up offering Wade legendary hero status in a new universe, he’s elated, until he realizes his universe is dying. To save it, his universe needs a new Wolverine. So it’s up to the Merc with a Mouth to find a Wolverine, escape a wasteland of banished Marvel characters, and become a goddamn Disney hero. Ain ‘t the multiverse fun?

Deadpool took the world by storm in 2016. Even with comic book movie fatigue setting in and many fans giving up on the MCU, the end of the Deadpool trilogy was the last hurrah for many. I had mixed feelings going in. My opinion of 2 soured over time, I didn’t trust Disney, and after Logan and the brilliant end to Hugh Jackman’s time as Wolverine, bringing him back, albeit as a variant, still soured things for me. After multiple rewatches, it still does. However, overall, the six-year wait was well worth it. Reynolds and Jackman bring their A games and have fantastic chemistry. The fights are bloody and memorable. Finally seeing Wolverine in his classic yellow and blue was a nerd dream come true. The cameos were outstanding and 1 in particular stole the show (I don’t want to spoil it but it was damn good to see some classics come back).

Not every joke lands, and I wish we got more crazier Deadpools for the final fight (namely Pandapool), and this movie doesn’t work nearly as well unless you’re a Marvel fan or grew up with 2000’s movies. I’ve heard casuals say the movie was a little confusing, but it’s much easier to follow than a lot of MCU stuff. In the end, Deadpool 3 is a great end to the trilogy and an even better send-off to the Fox Marvel era. Its packed with blood, fights, and nerdy fanservice that’s hard not to love. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

The Thunderbolts (New Avengers)

This Wheaties box is one of the funniest jokes in the film, and I laughed way too hard…Thunderbolts picks up with a group of the MCU outcasts (Yelena, US Agent, Red Guardian, Ghost, and Taskmaster) being ordered to infiltrate a shady testing facility. After duking it out a bit, they come a scrawny dude named Bob, the last living subject of a certain medical test. Bob, a former drug addict suffering from mental illness, stands out of this group like a sore thumb. But what if I told you Bob was a force that outmatches the powerhouses of Marvel like Hulk, Thor, and Captain Marvel? Under the devious influence of government head Valentina de Fontaine, Bob is molded into the Sentry, the world’s greatest hero. Can the outcasts, aligned with Winter Soldier and Red Guardian, stand a chance against Fontaine and the darkness inside Bob-for every light there is a darkness, and that darkness is the Void…

Going in, I knew what this movie was: MCU Suicide Squad. Basically, it’s what the comics are, and honestly, they’ve never been my thing, but I gave it a shot. With Captain America: Brave New World being a dud and Fantastic 4: First Steps being the best MCU flick since Spider-man: No Way Home , I was curious where this lay.

The cast is the biggest positive in my opinion. Everyone gives it their all. Florence Pugh, since her Black Widow debut, has been a bright light in the MCU’s darker days. Luis Pullman did great as Bob/Sentry/ Void. The final act goes for emotional character stakes instead of a giant boss battle, easily the best climax to a MCU film in a while. I liked the darker, mature themes like mental health, drug abuse, trauma, and guilt. The movie handled them well without going overly dark or trying to preach.

Unfortunately, the MCU itself, or rather its formula of forced humor, is this movie’s biggest weakness. I didn’t laugh much, but I rolled my eyes a lot more than I wanted to. Most of the action scenes were meh overall. Taskmaster is utterly wasted and is just a body to drop for pretend stakes (sorry for the spoiler, but seriously, the marketing spoiled it pretty quick). Valentina has been built up for a while, and her endgame didn’t really feel like much of a payoff.

In the end, the movie is ok but easily could have been above average. What it does good, it does great. The flaws kill it. It’s worth watching and I’m not mad they’ll return for Doomsday. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Cobweb (2023) Review

Cobweb (2023) is one of those movies where I love pretty much every person in the movie. Lizzy Caplan has been great in every movie I have ever seen her in, and Antony Starr speaks for himself. The young Woody Norman is their son, Peter, who does his best as their awkward homebody son, but none of this can save the film.

Let’s rewind a bit first. Lizzy playsCarol, a neurotic and overprotective mother of Peter, and who can blame her. It is almost Halloween, and they live in a town where, right down the street, a young girl went missing. never to be found. Antony plays Mark, a seemingly normal, loving man just doing what is best for his family.

Peter is their 8-year-old son who just wants to go trick-or-treating like every other kid in school, in hopes that maybe he will stop being a social outcast and maybe get the other kids to stop picking on him. This isn’t gonna happen though, since his parents aren’t fans of the holiday. They do oddly have a massive crop of pumpkins in the backyard.

Yes, there’s a body buried here somewhere.

If you think there is a body buried somewhere in the pumpkin patch, you are right. The movie tells you that for free with no guesswork involved. See, Peter quickly starts hearing a weird tapping in the wall that his parents quickly tell him isn’t real. Mark later tells him it must be rats, so they set out some rat poison. I am aware this makes no real sense; it’s just foreshadowing for the sake of a plot point later. Usually, this sort of thing serves a purpose and is hinted at, like there would be some sign of rats. Maybe they would have been eating the pumpkins, but no, they have their own issue. Rot, so they bury some.

This is the kind of writing that detracts from what should have been a great movie. Don’t get me wrong, the movie isn’t a dumpster fire; it’s enjoyable and fun for a quick watch. But what should be a movie we talk about as a movie that proves we can rehash concepts and still make quality, amazing movies, instead comes across as lazy. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Aegis Force: The Scorian War Steam Preview

Aegis Force: The Scorian War was sent to me as a bemo by the people over at Deseret Game Studios, and I always appreciate it. For those who haven’t heard of it, think of it as a tactical grid game, similar to the old Fire Emblem Games or Shining Force, if you skip the zoomed-in attack scenes.

The story begins quite simply: you play as a small group of soldiers and friends in a forest, attempting to solve a mystery. That mystery is why supplies continue to go missing. It doesn’t take long to discover it is due to a local cult kidnapping people and stealing the supplies. This results in a few battles that teach you how the game will work. If you have ever played one of these games, the controls are already really comfortable.

I definitely recommend playing this one with a controller; it just feels better. The mouse and keyboard are absolutely doable, don’t get me wrong, the controller just feels right. The demo has plenty of treasure to be found enemies to be fought, and all around does a great job showing you the potential this game has. Will it live up the the hype of the golden days of grid-based RPGs? I can’t say from a demo. What I can say is the demo paints a picture of a game that is being made by people who love and respect the genre, and that is enough to make me look forward to the full release. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Train Sim World 6 PS5 Review

Train Sim World 6 on PS5 was sent my way by Dovetail Games, which I always appreciate. Now I know a lot of people haven’t had the chance to play a Train Sim World game and just want to know, is this a good place to start, and don’t care about the rest of my review or what I have to say. So for them, yes, Train Sim World 6 is a great place to start. Feel free to stop reading now and go buy the game.

For the rest of you, let’s get this train moving. Yeah, the game is beautiful. No doubt about that, and I doubt anyone ever thought it wouldn’t be. I live in Scranton, Pennsylvania, home to the Steamtown National Historic Site. A place that has a literal train museum attached to it. I am not claiming to be a train expert, but I have been on a few and seen even more. Walking around some of these trains and listening to them isn’t much different than being at the museum itself. Listening to the trains glide across the tracks or the sound the tracks make as the rails move from one side to the other when tracks are switched is as close as any game has made it to real life as I have ever heard.

Now, all that means nothing if the controls aren’t as good as the visuals and the sounds. Well, truth be told, the controls are the same as they have always been. Your character, while moving around, feels a bit still, but not bad. Aside from that, pressing buttons on the train and starting and stopping it takes quite a bit of getting used to, but the game has a ton of tutorials to get you moving. Hours and hours worth in fact. Don’t worry, you don’t have to play them all; they just have them in case you want to learn more about each individual train. You are free to learn the basics and go from there, which is what most people do.

I wouldn’t be doing my due diligence if I didn’t mention issues other people have reported. Honestly, I didn’t come across these issues, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. There have been reports of some in-game crashes, some assets popping in and out while people are driving the trains on longer lines, and issues with passenger AI at times. I haven’t come across these, so they won’t factor into my score, but they are worth mentioning. I enjoyed the game and will definitely be playing it more. The game is a solid 8/10 for me. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.