And speaking of shoutouts, good lord that soundtrack. Absolutely top class compilation of battle themes, arguably one of Meguro's best across such a long and fruitful career. While I wish the series was stronger overall, I'm still glad I checked it out, so that's a win.

I think I'd chalk it up to the story feeling much more rounded with memorable moments in the end. Big shoutouts to my lad Gale, who shined so much he wound up being an easy favourite across both games.

Still plan on jumping into 2 to see where it all goes, but I sure hope there's big improvements on almost all fronts. And if there isn't, at least I know there's a banger soundtrack to look forward to.

The skill progression system is interesting at first, but wears thin as you progress. Even worse is you're almost required to use up valuable skill slots to help said progression in the first place, making regular battles towards the end exhausting and almost not worth fighting at all.

Maybe the biggest disappointment was the arranged soundtrack itself; almost every track lacks the oomf of the original compositions, which was a big letdown after how high of a bar 1-3 set.

And once again I feel compelled to give a shoutout to the soundtrack because these Pixel Master arranges might just be some of the best arrange work we've ever had the pleasure of being blessed with.