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Yeah, I took a look, and I think I was right.

From a technical point of view, this is an improved version of the second game in every way; there's more content, and I liked how the class and weapon balance was changed. The random factor when leveling up classes has been removed, and other minor details have been improved. Now you don't have to run around mines to disarm them and save your Action Points while dodging explosions (as you would if you were in a bad mood). Expeditionary forces can only dream of such ways to move around and safely navigate the game map. Despite this, some classes still seemed practically useless compared to others, for example, the Fencer and Gunner. In addition, the Super Potentials were somewhat disappointing; unlocking them requires quite a bit of grinding, but their effectiveness compared to the effort expended isn't impressive. However, what's the point of talking about balance when I farmed an overpowered DLC weapon early in the game and continued playing with it? At first, I had some doubts about the correctness of this approach, but then I decided that since it didn't prevent me from enjoying the game, it was fine. In terms of plot, this wasn't a sequel but rather a parallel story to the first game, including many characters from the second part. This turned out to be good in its own way because past events and the characters involved were pleasantly complemented. For example, the antagonist from the second game is no longer perceived as being so foolish as before.

The protagonist pleased again

He’s on par with the previous two, but the antagonist probably appealed to me even more. He is noble both towards allies and enemies, determined, and unwavering. Possessing high charisma and intelligence, he never flaunted it in front of others, treating those above him in status and subordinates respectfully. I especially liked the moment when he refused to besmirch Gregor after learning that he had passed away, even though he was essentially one of his most prominent ideological opponents. Overall, it's hard not to sympathize with a character with such pure ideals and a noble nature, even if circumstances eventually forced him to resort to extreme measures. Perhaps this is simply because this antagonist received more screen time than his counterparts from the first and second games, but who knows? I already mentioned the second-game antagonist, and while the first-game antagonist appeals to me (in terms of charisma, intelligence, and nobility, he doesn't lose out to Dahau), he still has too much of a schoolboy spirit; it's no wonder Lelouch voices him. If we talk about the girls, there were many good ones, including the main heroine, but it's difficult to single someone out and put them in first place based on a combination of appearance, personality, and voice. Visually, Frederica appealed to me the most, although I didn't like her model in the game very much; perhaps the design wasn't well suited for PSP graphics. But this is rather an honorary mention since she isn't Marion or Eli-chan, let alone the best girl in the setting. Speaking of the best character in the setting: 80 hours of playing as a DLC character in the second game was not enough for me, so I played another 80 hours in the third game: I unlocked all classes for her and, according to statistics, won the war solo. I like the plot, gameplay, setting, and characters of VC, but Selvaria deserves special mention because throughout these three games, she easily became one of my favorite characters. In my headcanon, Selvaria either stopped doing Sudoku or survived it, and we started a new life together far from the war and other crap, enjoying idyllic routine. That's what kind of isekai master I am :smile47:

Well, let's start with the technical side. I'll say right away that the translation is the worst of all four games. Perhaps, the more popular the game is at the time of release, the worse the translation should be. In any case, this is not a problem of the game itself, but the fault of Western simpletons, but it still needs to be mentioned. Visually and in terms of control, the port and the game itself were pleasing, I didn't notice any problems or difficulties in this regard. The graphics stand out favorably from what I have become accustomed to during my acquaintance with the second and third parts, which is also a plus. Speaking of these parts, I didn't quite like the fact that, although this is the fourth part of the series, it is essentially a sequel to the first part. In its structure, it is still the same as the first one, only with some new features. It's a little sad that many elements from the second and third parts were simply forgotten. However, it should be noted that many things from them were not very viable, and, for example, the grenadier class added in the fourth game is implemented much better than the fencer and gunner. The new class really added something new to the gameplay (and the atmosphere as well) and performs a rather unique role in terms of its functionality. But I'm upset about the cut (or rather, not added) stats.
Locking DLC content behind story progress is a bad design choice, and that's a big minus. Giving me access to the character I wanted the most after completing the game is, of course, great. This potentially took away some of the enjoyment from the playthrough, and it didn't make me want to replay it. For the same reason, at some point, I decided not to go through the skirmishes and not replay the story missions on A rank, thinking about doing this after unlocking what I need. Speaking of ranks, they are too lenient here; it was quite possible to include an S rank above the requirements necessary to obtain an A rank, because I often saw that I could finish the mission faster than I actually did, but I still received the highest rank.

The plot was quite tough, probably the darkest of all. But it was done well, so I'm not complaining. A separate plus for the fact that they didn't paint the sides in black and white, although there were prerequisites for this.

The protagonist pleased again

He's good here too, but he didn't appeal to me as much as the previous three. This, however, is easily compensated for by the fact that there are many more characters that I especially liked than in other parts. Even the medic was better here than in the first one! The secondary characters are quite interesting, plus the squad stories are very cool.
Who did I like the most in this part? After the first quarter, the choice seemed obvious, but it turned out to be not so simple. In the third part, the choice was difficult because, at the level of personal sympathies, I couldn't really single anyone out for myself, but here the problem is that, on the contrary, I liked many people. Raz and Valts are cool guys :cool:, but I won't talk about them.

I liked Crymaria and Mary the most.

Excellent design and a touching story. In the ruthless events that this game shows, I sympathized with her the most, and I really wanted her to have a happy ending. When it was shown that she and Valts survived certain events, I somehow expected that some lowlifes would shoot them in the back or something like that, but fortunately, this did not happen; it would have been too cruel..

There isn't much content with her, and that's a bit disappointing, but even so, I liked her very much; she's very good.

Of the rest, I'll separately note Azusa and Kai. The first is my main scout and additional leader; she's very nice. The second is
good, but the competition in this part turned out to be too strong, and she was, of course, shot for no reason. That was just too much.

In general, it's an excellent ending to my acquaintance with VC. I recommend this series to all worthy people.

Enderal: Forgotten Stories
It was impressive.
This is a global mod based on the Skyrim engine. However, Skyrim itself is just a beautiful walking simulator; here, there's more to it.
In The Elder Scrolls, you are always "the chosen one." A unique character destined to save the world. Here, too... in a way... But the feeling of being "chosen" is completely different; it doesn't feel like you're simply going out to save everyone on your way to the market. The entire world and all your actions are permeated with sadness and a sense of hopelessness. You don't just calmly go from point A to point B; you truly feel this burden, these trials... And you worry when you realize once again that you haven't achieved anything.
The plot and setting are breathtaking. The music matches the mood.
The progression system is much better than in Skyrim because the developers found a way to prevent the main character from becoming an invincible killing machine early in the game. This includes weaker armor values, skill books that you buy for large sums of money (and the further you progress, the more expensive they become), the need to search for sets of armor... Even at the end, when I had fully upgraded my character (maximum skills in two-handed weapons, heavy armor, mentalism, crafting, enchanting), found all the armor, etc., I still barely reached the maximum armor rating, and there were enemies who could take away half my health with a single hit, even on difficulty levels below the maximum.
It was nice to see some story elements even in random dungeons, where no one forced me to go through them as part of quests. The quests, including the most minor ones, are well thought out.
For example, in one quest, they promise you a free horse if you kill the fearsome troll Gnerdalf. After killing him, they give you a reward and tell you that now you can name your steed whatever you want. However, let's just say it's not exactly a horse... Looking at its appearance, the name became obvious to me.

Steed

Of course, I can't say that the game completely fixed all the problems of Skyrim; I encountered a couple of extra bugs. It also caused some trouble that I initially downloaded this mod from a website, but then realized that this version was outdated and lacked many features. As a result, I installed the Steam version of Enderal, somehow transferred my saves, experienced problems with quests from Forgotten Stories, but managed to solve them using cheats and finished the game.
Oh yes, the companions are great too; there are only two of them, but they are nothing like Fendahl.
10/10, it was too awesome.

In the scrolls, you are always the chosen one.

Not always. In Skyrim alone, I've played as everything from a simple mercenary to a merchant, a prostitute, a sneaky alchemist, and many other roles.

The entire world, all your actions, are permeated with sadness and a sense of hopelessness. You don't just calmly go from point A to point B; you truly feel all this burden, all these trials... And you feel it when, once again, it turns out that you haven't achieved anything.

Maybe I should play a game... Although, what's the point if I can just work my ass off in real life and get nothing in return?

0 > 2 ≥ 1

Although many elements of this game seemed rather mundane to me (to clarify, not bad in themselves, but not particularly impressive), I still enjoyed it very much. The main drawback for me was probably that it turned out to be too short.
Technical Aspects
The performance is amazing; I didn't notice any slowdowns. The game plays great with a keyboard and mouse. The drawbacks are:
- For unknown reasons, the game didn't always launch, and I had to repeat the launch process several times before I could start playing. This was quite strange, but it wasn't a big problem, as it was just a minor delay at the start.
- During the entire game, I encountered 1 crash, got stuck in one place once (I had to exit to fix it), and got stuck in the menu once (exiting helped again).
Otherwise, there were no problems, so I'll rate the port well.
Aesthetics
Initially, I was skeptical of the idea of constantly running around in a gas mask, but I got used to it over time, not least because the plot provided a good explanation for the need for them, and you don't wear a mask in the base anyway. Over time, I even started to find it cool.
There isn't much music, and it's not very memorable; the ambient music even got a bit annoying towards the end of the game.
The characters are mostly stylish and beautiful, which is definitely a plus. However, it should be noted that some outfits are an acquired taste (Mia's hat). The bosses are visually mediocre, but there are some good ones.
The game has a lot of strange weapons, but there are also many cool items, especially since all the animations in this art style look very cool, regardless of what you have in your hands, even if it's just a piece of a pillar. In fact, I spent a significant part of the game with a huge hammer, which I had never done before in games, preferring more elegant weapons. Later, I did change it to this thing and used it for most of the game:

I really enjoyed hacking and slashing mobs with a huge weapon; it also looks so cool during the run when the heroine runs with it effortlessly, slinging it over her shoulder.
Character Generator
I used to love these themes, but I've cooled down a bit over time. Maybe because I've been playing mostly Japanese games, and there the default protagonists are usually already good or at least decent, and they have more actual participation in the plot than a custom character. But! If I have the option of good customization, I will gladly use it, especially if the alternative is something like what was in, for example, Souls, where you quickly cover your face with a helmet and play.
Here, it's good, although not the most detailed. Players with specific preferences or those who want to try different options are unlikely to like it, but it allowed me to create a character with a very pleasing appearance/outfit, so I was very satisfied with it. And in general, I probably spent more time watching the protagonist than the environment.
Gameplay
The difficulty isn't so high that it becomes boring, but it's not so high that you have to sweat. That is, it's very good, although I might have preferred it to be a bit more challenging, but that depends a lot on how it's implemented.
There is a large variety of different classes and weapons, but they don't differ much in principle, except for the classic light/medium/heavy options in terms of mobility, speed/number of attacks, etc. And, as is often the case in similar games, there is almost no need for consumables, and they just gather dust in the inventory, and I didn't really get a feel for the caster classes.
The levels are not very atmospheric and not particularly interesting in themselves, but they are well made, and it's pleasant to run around them, because despite the typical linearity, you often have to use your brain to figure out where to go next; I even got lost in a couple of places, but again, it's not done in a way that causes discomfort; I completed the entire game without any help from the internet, that is, I didn't lose patience.
I liked how the "tracks" on the map, left by the character, are made. It's very convenient.
Plot and Characters
The setting is cool and moderately well-developed; the narrative has intrigue; the plot is interesting, although it doesn't take your breath away. The characters are not very well developed, but they are pleasant types, and almost all of them are good girls and boys. The antagonist is like a weaker version of Eisen, but it's okay.

Overall, I give this game /10.

souls

Hmm, but I actually liked the character generator in the second game... A pretty cute girl came out back then.
But I could already be talking about the main problem, that after ten minutes of playing, you lose your humanity and turn green, and it's not enjoyable to restore it with a limited consumable, knowing that you will die many more times. Wasted.

I don't remember exactly, but I think it was better in 2 than in 1 and 3, because I definitely played as male characters in 1 and 3, and I don't think I did in 2.

In the second game, you played as a girl and spent a long time trying to farm a specific outfit for her, as far as I remember.

Yeah, I remembered (browsed the topic). I played as a brunette in a leather jacket and with a hat, but I wanted a new outfit for my Sorceress, which I never got around to, because I couldn't find a way to transfer items to another character without outside help, and now I don't even feel like starting over. So yeah, the generator in the second game was better than in the other parts.

I came across some very good art of Ada this week (set it as my avatar :cool:) and remembered about this remake. I decided to play it, even though I hadn't planned to before, and I knew anyway that Ada would barely be in it, which made this impulse rather pointless. But since I'm talking about it, I'll start by saying that I'm not happy with the trend of ugly "realistic" characters. First, own-goal Chris turned into a life-weary factory worker, now Claire is a supermarket cashier, or maybe even from a kiosk. Since I am an aesthete of the maximum level, for a long time now, the appearance of the characters has played a key role in determining whether I will like a game or not. If I have to see and hear a character for dozens of hours, I prefer them to be as attractive as possible, regardless of the genre. In short, I skipped the second route and only played through as Leon. Fortunately, Ada is still very hot and probably the only one in this franchise whom the passing years have benefited rather than harmed. Honestly, I would play a spin-off about her with much more enthusiasm than a remake of the second game.
The port is good, everything works as it should; I had no bugs or crashes. The puzzles are there, exploring too, and the atmosphere is present but, strangely enough, inferior to the original, as I didn't have that feeling of immersion in the mansion of evil at all this time. Many QoL features were added to the game, such as displaying the exploration status of a specific location on the map and the position of uncollected items, which is not bad in itself since it can save time spent running around, but on the other hand, it leaves the player with almost no tasks that require using their brain. That is, there is no marker on the map leading you by the hand in the game, but the feeling is similar. I played on standard; I laughed at the "aimbot" mentioned in the easy difficulty description, and I didn't choose hardcore because of the "strengthened enemies," as I decided I'd get tired of running from mobs and would just drop it.

I give this game a "good remake, but overall the experience of the Walkthrough is like chewing gum"/10.

Added after 1 hour 32 minutes
Devil May Cry 5
This is an immediate drop. I don't know what I expected or what I was counting on.

very good art

https://4fun.one/uploads/posts/t/1558285084.jpeg
http://img10.joyreactor.cc/pics/post/full/Mirco-Cabbia-artist-Ada-Wong-Resident-Evil-%D0%9F%D0%B5%D1%80%D1%81%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%B6%D0%B8-5187218.jpeg

Good ones. And where does she keep the extra ammo?

Oh, I didn't even realize this was art by that artist; I used to really like his work.