my reviews ⋆✴︎˚｡⋆
this is my space for thoughts and my reviews of the stuff i like, or the stuff i don't like. most of these are transferred from other logging sites but i always make little changes :p
Final Fantasy VII (1997)
What a fantastic, incredible game.
I’ve seen this game literally everywhere, since forever. I know I’m not alone when I say it gets pretty damn annoying when people talk about something all the time, especially when they speak of it so highly. As childish as that might sound.
Twenty-seven years after its release, and only really knowing about The Aerith Thing, I picked up this game. Funnily enough, not really willing. I had started the remake with my roommate, who had already played the original, but we didn’t even make it out of Midgar. Hell, we didn’t even blow up the reactor before she got tired and we never picked it up again. The thing is, I asked, okay, to keep playing. After six literal months, I got tired of waiting (I love you, Laura), and I decided to pick up the original because I was left hanging. Also, I really wanted to get to know Cloud Strife.
The game begins pretty straightforwardly, with one of the most action-packed intro sequences I’ve ever seen in any game. I’ve always thought starting in medias res is not only effective but fulfilling when done well, which this is definitely the case in Final Fantasy VII.
The game opens itself up to you in such an intuitive way. Everything feels natural and perfectly paced. It’s always gratifying to see some top-tier writing. Everything has just the right amount of detail, and just the right amount of mystery. The plot twists involving Zack and Cloud and the reveal of Cloud’s true identity were completely mind-shattering to me.
The world-building is spectacular. Before you know it, you’re completely pulled into their world. All of the vocabulary and lore, initially confusing, slowly become second nature to the player as you, alongside Cloud and his team, figure out how to save the Planet.
The game is also unbelievably cinematic. Somehow, it always feels like you’re at a climax, like you’re in the middle of something. And yet, you’re not. Ten hours into the game, I felt like that had to be it, right? How could it keep going? How could it not get tiring? Nevertheless, I think 70% of that feeling comes from the seamless transitions between cutscenes and gameplay. And within that 70%, 100% of it is thanks to the fact that the music NEVER. STOPS. It’s as simple as that. The way the music connects those two formats ties and pulls everything together spectacularly. And not even all modern games achieve this.
Now, talking about gameplay. Honestly, I don’t have any complaints besides some of the minigames. That’s when I really felt like I was in 1997. Let’s just leave it at that (I wish we had a submarine emoji).
But overall, the game is extremely fun, and leveling up is always rewarding. I also love thinking a bit about what’s best for my party, what’s effective, what’s not, and the Materia system gave me that.
It’s true that Square Enix has milked this game completely. Yet. I get it. This game truly is magical. The thing is, it’s this game, and this game only, that holds all of that magic, or the grand majority of it. Expanding the story is nice, and seeing spin-offs and the beloved cast with modern graphics is phenomenal. But this game, with all of its little polygons, really has something special to it. And I didn’t expect to say that at all.
The characters are, for the most part, very well-developed, and by the end of their arcs, you end up falling in love with all of them. Except for Barret. Fuck that guy, seriously.
The message of this game, however, is what sticks with me. It’s so uncomplicated that I actually burn with anger whenever I read what the fanbase has to say about it. It’s about love. As simple as that. And really, that’s what Final Fantasy is all about. It’s not about the Planet, they literally say this. It’s about protecting who you love most, and holding on to what’s dear to you. It’s about remembering, and growing even more love out of your memories. Essentially, memories are what keep us alive.
I truly, wholeheartedly, loved this game.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Sometimes games aren’t about whether they’re perfect or not but rather what they mean to you and what they did to you when you played them for the first time. And I might say this about other games I have in my favorites too.
For me, Breath of the Wild was an introduction to the world of video games. No, not an introduction, but rather a welcome back. Not only did it rekindle my interest in gaming, a hobby I’d left behind in my childhood, but it also awoke something within me. It swirled.
Whenever I think of this game, I remember sensations. Splayed out in bed, when I still had two dogs instead of one, blankets covering the three of us. I remember late-night calls with my friends while I played. I remember drawing Link in his outfits, and I remember the community of people who, even three years after release, were still finding little details about the game.
Playing this at the peak of quarantine absolutely affected my approach to it. I was playing every day, at all hours. I easily have just under 400 hours in this game, and I know plenty of people have even more than I do. I milked the absolute shit out of this game.
The story isn’t dull to me. I feel sorry for the people who say it is. Breath of the Wild is a tragedy. It’s about the pain and destruction of war, an endless cycle of awaited doom. It’s about effort, and love, and friendship, and how sometimes, it’s still not enough. And to me, it is, undeniably and at its core, a Zelda game. I know the story itself might not present those themes as directly as I might have wanted it to, but digging into the extra content of the game opens up a whole new side of the lore.
I love the Link they gave us, and I love the Zelda they gave us. That doesn’t mean I hate all the other Zeldas and all the other Links, or that these two are my favorite interpretations. But, what the fuck, it doesn’t mean I hate them either. In fact, this Link in particular is very, very dear to me.
And I won’t even pretend and say this game is trash or that it ruined Zelda, because it’s not true for me at all, and I don’t want to lie to myself or to others. I wrote a 300-page essay on this game’s historical and artistic references, a full-blown analysis of iconology and symbolism, from prehistoric times up to modern art. So yeah. I can’t hate this game. I never, ever will.
And if I could do it all over again, wiped memories and all, I would. A million times.
Final Fantasy XV
A Final Fantasy for fans and first-timers.
Listen. I can’t stop thinking about this game. I really didn’t know what was coming for me when I first started it back in 2021, on my definitely underwhelming PC that could barely run it. I ended up having to start this game about five times. After lots of lost progress, I finally started it again on the PS4 so I could play it properly… and the journey began.
Because that’s what it’s all about, right? The journey. You can say whatever you want about this game, but what sticks with most people is the adventure of a lifetime. It’s a tango between destiny and mystery. It’s the friends you meet along the way.
You play as Noctis, a soon-to-be king and prince in search of peace. It should be as simple as that… but his parting comes with a warning. Something is coming. Something big. Noctis’ father, the King, tries desperately — though carefully — to reach out to his careless teenage son, but he leaves like the wind.
And so. We are never ready for it. We are never ready for loss, no matter how much they warn us. It doesn’t matter whether it was written in the stars or foretold in ancient books. Nobody wants to be a part of a prophecy. But we can choose to become a tragedy, or leave as a legend.
The beautiful thing about this game, though, to me, is that we are never alone in this journey. No matter how heavy the destiny or how big the burden, the pain can always be shared. Friends are everything. And these four boys really showed me that.
Final Fantasy XV is so much more than just a video game to me. It goes way deeper than that. It reminds me of true, meaningful friendship, of true love, and of perseverance. But it also reminds me of surrender, and the peace that comes with it. There’s peace in letting go, but that doesn’t mean you can’t fight for it too.
It’s not perfect. It really isn’t. The open world is very empty, and the combat is fun but nothing groundbreaking. But for me, it’s about everything else: the atmosphere, the characters, the story. The build-up, and everything they go through. That’s what this game is to me.
And if you get it, you get it…
honestly there's stuff i dont like here too oops, find them? and these are just some random reviews. i am a one-liner letterboxd guy, unfortunately!
some 2024 reviews
ghost cat anzu (2024)
totally up my alley and i loved how playful and whimsical it was. watched this at madrid's animation week with a bunch of classmates too!the substance (2024)
es buena...sí, lo es......sabe lo que hace, se conoce los truquillos. es facilona
pero no hacian falta las 2h y 30
look back (2024)
la decisión de matar a la chica por un hombre random con un pico en medio de su campus universitario en medio de un pueblo …. ? quiero hablar con el guionistai saw the tv glow (2024)
truñón alert lo siento chiques vaya mierdala metáfora es una mierda si es que puedes llamar eso una metáfora. alguien me puede decir cuál es la trama y el mensaje de esta película. porque me parece que pongas como lo pongas es ridículo
la actuación es insoportable y el diálogo es fake deep constantemente a excepción de algunos bangers
los personajes no tienen ni propósito ni objetivo ni meta ni absolutamente nada son horrendos
preciosamente grabada. la iluminación, atmósfera etc es espléndida pero no se ni que cojones ha sido ese guion ni entiendo las decisiones tomadas ni artísticas ni expresivas. es todo adorno y no hay profundidad ni la más mínima ahdkaj
lo siento por estar tan picado pero es que siendo tan radicalmente trans me he llevado la decepción de mi vida. es tan estúpido y fake deep que no puedo de verdad vaya mierda 🤥🤥🤥
hercules (1997)
técnicamente increíble y narrativamente perfecta,pero tampoco tiene un mensaje trascendente, está entretenida y tiene varios bangers
es mejor en español imo
carrie (1976)
súper sólida súper buena!!!! de verdad un clásico en todos los sentidos .. visual y simbólicamente muy inteligente!!!la he visto un poco borracho pero de verdad que hala!! es icónica y lo sabe!!! que chula me ha gustado mucho
alien romulus (2024)
this was so corny but sooo intense i gotta give it to them nglliterally the only ‘good’ character was andy and it’s debatable
all of the jumpscares and scares were so silly and predictable but sometimes it got me
the last fucking alien was crazy
don't be fooled tho because this was bad. like so bad. so bad that... it was good?
i love hollywood man 😭😭
(silence. slow close up. “run.” [intense music])
the thing (1982)
wow. wow!!!!!!!!!!!so so tense!!! and the special effects were so motherfackin gud!!!! like what was that thing!!!!!!
some scenes had me sooooo bad and i was so afraid. it had me thinking and trying to guess so often.
but tbh the last arc!!! it was all over the place honestly but all in all!!!! such an amazing movie i loved it so bad!!!!! so tense!!!!
fullmetal alchemist brotherhood (2009)
it's a show but idgaf!tras no ver anime después de literalmente cinco años, porque le perdí el gusto, fmab me logró convencer y en menos de una semana ya estaba visto
más allá de una obra magnífica y poderosa con mucho subtexto, me parece un trabajo súper sólido, que aunque se salve muchísimas (pero que muchísimas) veces por el arte de la trama/plot armor aún así es disfrutable
los personajes son del elemento más importante a destacar, y todos son muy entrañables, memorables y el final es satisfactorio en ese sentido para lo que le espera a cada uno de ellos
la psicología de estos, hay algunos momentos que me sorprendieron positivamente sobre todo en cuanto al trauma, o sensaciones muy específicas proveniente de personajes que solo conocen lo que es la pérdida
la trama en sí no es difícil de entender y se aprovechan mucho de factores sorpresa que siguen funcionando, aunque como comento, muchas veces se hace un poco bola porque las cosas pasan porque tienen que pasar así para que salga bien el asunto
el pacing es literalmente lo mejor que tiene la serie además de los personajes. jamás estás aburrido. pero literalmente en ningún momento
no lo consideraría de lo mejor que hay, pero reconozco su importancia, y personalmente ha sido un disfrute (bueno, mucho más que un disfrute, diría yo)
nausicaä of the valley of the wind (1984)
súper clara e íntima. explosiva emocionalmente y visualmente, se mantiene durante toda la película. súper emocionantestop making sense (1984)
fantastic and electric!poor things (2023)
beautifully shot and amazing costumes, the set too but incredibly dull and meaningless. it just felt like haha omg she's so quirky!! she doesn't follow stoopid society's rules :ppp derp!!! hahah she loves sex!!! capitalism bad :ppp like cmon guys are u being serious and laughing and thinking this is a crazy metaphor about childhood...the lord of the rings: the return of the king (2003)
i really went and watched these 3 movies completely spoiler free and it couldn’t have been a better experience. i never expected to like a fantasy story as much as i liked this, and i never expected to cry the way i did. i’m 20 years late and i don’t think i can add anything that hasn’t been said. these boys really have something to them, they really doBook reviews coming soon!
such a hater!
three games
sally face
sally face owns 70% of its charm on its aesthetic, 30% on story, and 0% on gameplay
playing this sucked; it was painful, boring, slow, and confusing, making me feel like i was doing something wrong.
the puzzles were unbearable, and after finally solving them i had no clue where to go next, ending up on youtube guides and frustrated that i wasn’t seeing all the content; i hate hidden lore disguised as “extra content.”
and then my partner spoiled me heavily—totally accidental—but i never bothered picking it up again :/
marvel’s spider-man
i couldn’t stand peter calling himself spider-cop and working with the police; i just couldn’t.
it’s a fantastic game and fun, but i wanted a good spider-man story, which i didn’t get, so i picked up miles morales instead; combat was similar but better, yet the story was still dull.
i managed to finish miles morales because at least he didn’t work with the cops, lol.
kingdom hearts re:chain of memories
honestly, i didn’t enjoy the game; i dropped it and watched a playthrough instead because the gameplay was insufferable.
i liked riku’s part, probably because of bias, but he was genuinely interesting—balancing darkness and light, facing his fears, and learning he could live with both.
meanwhile, sora completely forgot his original goals, shifting from saving kairi to chasing riku, and then only caring about naminé.
and honestly… fuck naminé lol
on a brighter note, i really enjoyed axel.
the holdovers (2023)
okay this doesn't deserve 4.2 average that's kinda crazy #lawl
my parents really fucked with this i guess, i can totally see why. it's cute, it holds up, the characters are somewhat solid. really hold onto that somewhat. at least i didnt find them insufferable by the end of the movie, but maybe thats exactly why this feels a bit hollow to me. its kinda rubbing you in the face "oh this has a message! these characters will change and its going to make you cry!" which i did! a little! but what was funny it's that it wasn't regarding paul and angus. the scene with mary and her sister unpacking curtis' clothes was beautifully gentle.
regardless, both three stories felt very underdeveloped to me. halfway through the movie i told my mom i felt like absolutely nothing about them had been told, and that they were still treating each other horribly. this is not a bad thing per se, but its just makes you think hm i wonder how theyre going to pull it off, waiting to the end of the second arc and the last one to completely unfold something.. tricky :o so, did it do its job? weeeeeelll it kinda floats, and i feel like the plot got lost often throughout.
also, the whole movie just felt off to me. the way they treat women in this is definitely a choice, not talking about the characters, i’m talking about the direction. the whole niece Elise interaction was ???. then the ignoring of domestic abuse was mindblowing. to imply that it’s a horrible horrible thing for a mother (a very selfish and entitled one, don’t get me wrong) to start a new life after her husband beat her up?.. oookay buddy. and lastly just a movie based on 1971 and completely ignoring anything about class struggles, race, gender, etc in this era is definitely hard but i guess it does make you think damn white rich kids really live in their own fucking bubbles. it’s like nothing can break through it. i guess this was also one of the reasons i couldn’t really just care that much.. im sorry for not feeling sorry about a bunch of insufferable rich kids
there were a lot of good bits in this movie, dont get me wrong.. im still giving it 3 stars!! its not a bad movie at all!! the direction was sweet. i really liked how it flowed overall. some of my favorite scenes include park's and angus' little nightmare interaction, and pretty much anything involving mary. she was the highlight of this movie to me for sure. i felt that it was thanks to her both paul and angus managed to start feeling empathy towards each other. because thats the whole message, i think. empathy. its really not that deep...
cute overall, i just dont see myself watching it again or even coming back to it.. internally? like i dont see myself thinking about this movie.. yeah
i don’t really do this but sometimes the 5 star rating makes me a little nervous because it’s not accurate so, 6/10!