Am I getting older? I suppose I might, but it’s not a fun thought; I only mention it because I’m thinking about PS2 games all the time right now, and reminiscing about the “good old days” is something only older people should do. It’s just that a lot of big video games don’t really appeal to me the way they once did. They’re either too long, too bloated, or lifeless, and generally don’t compare to anything in the incredible library the PS2 has. Granblue Fantasy: RelinkOn the other hand, while not perfect, it’s not the stuff I just mentioned, and honestly reminds me a lot of the best PS2 games – even if that’s not always better.
I recently reviewed iGamesNews’s Granblue Fantasy: Relink, and overall, I had a great time playing it, but there’s one thing I didn’t discuss in enough detail about how the game looks. Triple-A game developers love to tell you how good and realistic the lighting in their games is, like a guy named Ray tracking light, or whatever, but real-time lighting can’t beat baked lighting, and that’s baked lighting. are predetermined and can change based on factors such as weather or time of day. Think of the twilight zone and ever-present warm sunsets in Kingdom Hearts 2, or the stunning lighting in Silent Hill 3.
iGamesNews
Granblue Fantasy: Relink is filled with this kind of lighting, and my partner can attest to how many expletives I let out as a result of being stunned by the game’s beauty. There are some shots in there that are lit in a way that expertly captures the gravity of the scene’s content in a way that games with “real” lighting would struggle to do – not to mention the quiet literal skybox, which features some of the best clouds in my opinion . Saw it in a game. I recently watched a movie like Suspiria which completely abandoned any concept of realism in terms of lighting, which furthered my agenda of capturing Ray and preventing him from tracking anything else again, which was great for I have no help.
This lighting is complemented by some top-notch environmental design, with so much detail and care put into Forca’s central town that it truly feels like a living, breathing place. NPCs also have random conversations that provide some characterization that’s enough to keep you hooked on them. Unfortunately, the PS2 comparisons are gone, but not in a good way.
Like the often empty corridors in Kingdom Hearts 2’s world, Granblue Fantasy: Relink’s linear levels have plenty of enemies to fight but little else to do within them. Again like Kingdom Hearts 2 (these games are more similar in ways than I initially thought), the combat allows for a lot of variety and is a lot of fun, but I also do enjoy exploring a lot in the game, which Relink doesn’t really Allow this.
Of course, a lack of ability to explore a vast world isn’t the norm in the PS2 library, but there are plenty of games that are fairly linear, something the PS4/Xbox One era of gaming quickly moved away from – even with games like Uncharted 4 》Same, it allows you to choose multiple paths, although the destination is always the same.
The great thing about having large open worlds is that it also means a lot of time is spent traversing them, which means more time for character development. This, in turn, creates the harmful bloat that ruins many role-playing games, but seeing the way characters grow, connect, and experience a range of emotions together makes it all worth it. Of course, there are a lot of PS2 games with very tight run times of 8 to 12 hours, and Relink doesn’t run much longer than that.
On one hand, I love this! Just as I’m tired of realistic lighting, I’m tired of how unnecessarily lengthy games are now, so being able to have a short, over-the-top adventure feels like a real treat. The downside is that the cast is as large as any Final Fantasy XIII entry, and they all already know each other, so it’s interesting that the PS2 shortage actually affected it. There just wasn’t enough time to get to know each of them like a 40-60 hour game would, which feels like a shame.
It’s a bit weird to say that Relink is like a PS2 game experience – there’s positives that come with negatives, there’s pros with cons, it’s a mixed bag, but obviously it made me want to write about it, so that’s for sure There is value, right? Like many games coming to the end of the PS2’s lifespan, it’s possible to build something truly special in the next game, if there is one. Maybe then I’ll get my dream PS2 game.