BuckMasterFlash

Boring. Honestly, this is the normie game of all normie games - a vapid, frictionless tour **** which remains very unengaging for the larger part of it. It scores highly because of the normie-nostalgia combo, but anyone who actually plays it without being blinkered by those will recognize how limp the whole experience is. I first played it Xmas 1998 and felt exactly the same, and after revisiting it last month it became even more apparent how clunky and janky the whole thing is. Back then, it felt like a big step back gameplay-wise from the likes of Link To The Past and Beyond Oasis (both far superior to this), and now it feels even further away. I wouldn't call it bad, the exploration has it's moments and there are some decent puzzles in there, but I would call it average. Very average. PS: It didn't introduce Z-Targeting like many claim either. Megaman Legends and Virtua On both did that before OOT, but fanboys gonna fanboy, lol.

BORING. Whilst there is no doubting that the games story is extremely well written and the presentation superb, the story and journey itself are dull as hell. Not only do they make being a Witcher feel like a day job, but the person-fetch-question main quest is such a downgrade on previous entries it's unreal. The games bloated structure really doesn't help either; it's another Ubisoft/Skyrim open world game which gives you masses of space with very little of interest to actually do in it. Every village feels the same, every item apart from the 3 main armour sets just as lame as the next... it's dumb. What seals the deal is the poor gameplay - come from any great 3D combat game such as Nioh to this and you'll wonder what they are playing at. It's not awful, it's just limp and unsatisfying. Most of my complaints are addressed in the expansions, which are much tighter woven and fun experiences, with better enemies and challenges, but the main game is alongside Ocarina of Time as the most overrated game ever.

As someone who loved Origins, it's amazing how tired that formula is feeling now several games later. Don't get me wrong, Shadows has some decent additions, some of which we saw in Odyssey, Valhalla & Mirage, but overall I feel like I've seen and done all this before and better too. The dialogue here can be particularly poor at times, and 15th/16th century Japan doesn't lend itself to Parkour half as well as previous games did either, with some of the movement pretty stiff. I'd still say this game is OK, but little more, so it gets an average rating from me.

Completely mid. Not a bad game per say, but this feels very undercooked and lacking in a lot of areas. The world is static as hell and NPCs don't react to anything happening around you including fights. The dialogue is super boring and somehow they've made secrets and puzzles so unrewarding and bland to figure out, with a terrible sense of discovery - it's just stuff placed around with vaguely hidden buttons. On the plus side, combat can be fun if janky, and I've yet to encounter any serious bugs (had 1 game crash, but reloaded fine). I feel like I'm playing a potentially great game which is still in development, and I'm very grateful that I'm playing it "free" on Gamepass and haven't spent $70 on it. I'd say maybe check this out in 5-10 years when modders have had their way with it.

Felt like there was a decent game in there when it wasn't bugging out, which was rare unfortunately. I only played just under a few hours before getting a refund, because something this buggy just isn't ready for release.

A completely average game, which doesn't hold the charm of the originals nor the quality gameplay of the best platformers out there.

A complete bloated bore ****. There's a reason the original worked so well in one game, and that's because it didn't need it's story padding out with tons of filler, like they have here. Think of it like The Shawshank Redemption adding several extra hours worth of scenes of talking between Andy and his ****'s just pointless fluff. As is the open world too, man, if ever a game didn't need that it's this one. All the dramatic moments just lose their impact because the game feels such a slog. I'm gobsmacked this trash has scored so highly.

Absolutely incredible game. SEGA/Atlus, as always, give us yet another JRPG dripping with style, class and turn-based brilliance. I have so much respect for them championing this genre , when other companies (looking at you Square) have abandoned both TB and it's fans in series such as Final Fantasy. This game gets everything right, and I can't wait to see where SEGA/Atlus go from here.with TB games

I know this game is making a lot of waves because of the OTT jiggling, but I just had a blast playing it. The combat is just good ol' fashioned easy-play fun. You're never getting Souls, Nioh or even Chakan-esq depths of challenge here, but as a casual play it really hits the spot.

A lot of people are raging about the IGN review and, whilst I feel IGN are usually poor, I don't think they are that far wide of the mark here. The key thing is, and what IGN fail to express in their review, is that M&LB is essentially a kids game. All their complaints about it being way too hand-holdy and insultingly easy are valid, but I think you have to put into context that Nintendo games such as the Mario series are generally made for youngsters and/or beginner gamers. Few people will be playing Mario games unless they are casual or young players, and so if you're a casual player you'll find some fun here. Me, I'm not and the reason I've played the game is because I bought it my young nephew, who is very much the target audience. My rating for it is a 6, simply because I did have a slight bit of fun with it, but not much, so see it as above average. But if you're buying this for a youngster or at a more beginner level in gaming in general, then it would score significantly higher.

Don't let the culture wars distract you from the fact that this is just a poor game. I'm only 15 hours in, but I've had enough already. The combat is mind-numbingly dull, the questing just feels like an afterthought to the writers just wanting to express their personal dramas, but worst of all is the dialogue. Holy cow this game is so badly written it's unreal. It just feels so none-fantasy at times, like every character could pull out an I-Phone at any moment. Throw in the fact that the C&C is lame too, and that's me done with it. The positives include a few good story moments, and some really great looking environments.