Toomanywires

It'd been more than 15 years since my last return to Shadow Moses. When I went back earlier this month, everything felt reassuringly familiar. Gaia, on the other hand, took a little more getting used to. It wasn't exactly how I remembered it, but it came pretty close to how I'd like to view it now. I recently wrapped up a delightful 70 hours with Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and followed it up with a brief, but equally entertaining, return to the original Metal Gear Solid, via the Master Collection Vol. 1. Rebirth is an improvement over Remake. Freed from the confines of the Midgar slums, a setting that was never intended to host the player for more than a few hours, Rebirth allows us to explore a much larger and vibrant slice of Gaia. Avalanche and friends are lovingly realised and expanded upon, and the combat is up to the challenge of keeping us entertained across a typical RPG runtime. Most crucially, Rebirth successfully balances the need to meet narrative expectations w