LogFAQs > #977072949

80. A Plague Tale: Innocence / A Plague Tale: Requiem
It's hard to talk about these games without spoilers, but I'll do my best. The Plague Tale duology is rough. It puts its two likable main characters through the grinder. Brief spots of hope are upended by extended periods of hardship. I think the first game's tagline of 'Innocence' is the one that describes this series the best, as loss of innocence defines everything about Plague Tale's experience. It certainly succeeds at its goal of making you feel certain emotions. I don't think I could ever go back to these games, but I'm glad I played them once.

Also, seeing a gigantic swarm of rats never gets old. They make for incredible visual effects. Increased graphical fidelity is a nice bonus of modern consoles, but Plague Tale is one of the few games I've played that seems to take advantage of the fact that we can now have a ton of objects on-screen at once.

79. Final Fantasy Tactics
I have mixed feelings about FFT, although most are positive. Its story is resonant and memorable but loses its focus near the end. Its two main characters Ramza and Delita are fantastic, but the rest of the playable cast suffers due to dialogue restrictions. Probably would have been worth ditching permadeath so people could actually talk after they join. The strategy gameplay is fun, but gets slow after a while, and the job system incentivizes an insane amount of grinding. The soundtrack...actually the soundtrack is one of my favorite in the series, no complaints there.

FFT feels like it could become an all-timer for me with some gameplay tweaks and plot modifications. As it stands, it's just 'really good'.

78. What Remains of Edith Finch
I'm not saying anything else about this one. Doing its writeup justice would mean ruining the experience for people who haven't played it. To summarize: phenomenal execution of a strong core concept. Also doesn't outstay its welcome.

77. Dragon Age: Inquisition
Inquisition fans rise up!...No?...Just me? Damnit.

Watching this game go from winning a soft GotY cycle to basically written off has been a bit sad to me. I really enjoyed Inquisition. Largely because I love the Dragon Age world, and getting to revisit it was a joy. Even setting aside personal bias, though, I think the game is just...good? The dialogue is strong, the characters are interesting, the combat is fun (although a bit repetitive), and the environments are well-realized. I highly enjoyed my playthrough from start to finish. It suffers from a lame main villain, and it's definitely too long and bloated, but overall I pretty much think Inquisition deserved the reception it got. Would have loved to play Dragon Age 4 back when Bioware wasn't in the shitter.

76. Mass Effect 2
Inquisition probably means more to me than ME2, but I couldn't justify putting it above this. Mass Effect 2 is just so damn polished. I didn't like ME1, I didn't like ME3, and I still had a great time with ME2. The pacing is structured perfectly, with a clear goal set at the start, an extended rising action that utilizes its extremely likable cast of characters, and concluding with one final mission that ties everything together. There's a reason this game blew up the series and made the hype for ME3 out of control. Mass Effect 2's only actual flaw I can think of is that you need to play ME1 to get the optimal amount of enjoyment.