Jarvzz

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Nine Sols is a really tough game with a steep learning curve, but once it clicks, it really clicks. I don’t think the really great stuff in the game happens until the second half, but when it does, it makes this game win me over. I honestly think my favorite part of this title is the art style, and maybe it’s recency bias, but this might have my favorite art direction out of any game I’ve played. I also adore Yi’s relationship with characters, especially Shuanshuan. Yi himself is an amazing character as well, and one of my new favorite video game protagonists. The combat is also amazing, taking inspiration from Sekiro, though it being so demanding and parry-focused might not make it everyone’s cup of tea. Even the Jades in Nine Sols are balanced well, more balanced than charms from Hollow Knight and Cuphead. Nine Sols isn’t a perfect game—far from it. As interesting as the story is, we don’t learn the really intricate details until far into the game. The payoff is worth it, but I wish it were consistently engaging the whole time. The platforming here also isn’t the best, as I feel Yi’s movement isn’t entirely designed for it, but this could be a skill issue on my part. I know this is more of a preference thing and not an inherent flaw with the game, but it’s a little too dialogue-heavy for my liking. Maybe this is my Hollow Knight brain talking, but I wish certain things were left up to player interpretation, and maybe they could’ve gone for an environmental storytelling approach instead of giving us lore drops for areas. I also feel like there’s no point to the loss of currency system from dying, making you go back to where you died to get it back. Not only that, but you also lose progress to your level up if you don’t make it back to where you died. I get that Nine Sols has some Hollow Knight inspiration, but this system only made sense in that game because it’s not only inspired by Dark Souls, but it also makes sense in the lore. This system just seems pointless in Nine Sols, but it’s more of a minor issue, despite how much I complained about it. And as for the soundtrack, it‘s decent, but at no point was I ever like, “Oh, that music!” This isn’t much of a problem, just thought it was worth mentioning. I will say, this game’s true ending is phenomenal since it brought Yi’s character development full circle, and I actually teared up. I had my issues with Nine Sols, but those didn’t hinder my experience enough to warrant me rating it any lower, and it was a gaming experience I’ll always cherish. I can’t wait to see what this team does next.

Touhou Luna Nights is a game recommended by a friend since they knew I was a fan of metroidvanias. While I do think it’s a solid game, there are a handful of issues I couldn’t ignore during my time playing. There are plenty of things I really appreciate about Luna Nights, with my favorite part of the game being the sprite work. I really enjoy the boss fights, though I wish they had less health since they tend to go on a bit longer than I’d like, especially the final boss, which I’ll get into later. I also love the soundtrack and most of the platforming segments. I also really enjoyed the time stop, slow down, and grazing mechanics, as they were well implemented in the level design and bosses. As for the things I don’t like about Luna Nights, well, there’s quite a bit. First and foremost, I find the items in Nitori’s shop to be way too overpriced, especially the extra time stop and additional XP bonus. For the additional time stop, I would understand the price if it were a permanent upgrade, but since you can only use it a certain number of times, you’d have to buy multiple. I never had to use it in my playthrough, but it’s still ridiculously overpriced. The health and magic regeneration items are also too expensive, to the point where the game basically requires you to farm if you want to stack up on items, which is the last thing I want to do. In terms of combat, it’s actually pretty good, though it can be unbalanced, with some weapons and abilities making others completely obsolete. I also wish there were more abilities unlocked throughout the game, not just new weapons, like a wall jump for instance. Backtracking in this game can also be quite tedious since it’s hard to tell what areas you haven’t been to on the map. I also find it pretty frustrating that there’s no auto-save, so if you die, you lose the progress you made—an archaic design choice I’m not a fan of. As for the final boss, as cool as it is, it just goes on for way too long, and I mean way too long. It’s the one and only boss in the game that has two phases, and both phases have the same amount of health as every other boss. I would be fine with this if they let you retry the second phase upon dying, but they don’t, meaning you have to do the first phase all over again even after dying to the second phase. With that and the bloated length of the fight, it took me almost an hour just to beat that boss, and I even had to go back to the shop just to buy a couple of heals. And about the game's story… I’m gonna be honest, I didn’t care. It’s not a bad plot by any stretch of the imagination, and maybe it’s because I’m not too familiar with Touhou’s world and its characters, but I wasn’t that invested in the narrative. Story isn’t that important in video games to me, but I still thought it was worth mentioning. Also, one nitpick I have with the game is the robotic voice always telling me I’m grazing or my MP is fully restored, like I get it, please shut up. Overall, Touhou Luna Nights is a good action platformer metroidvania, but one that still has room for improvement IMHO. It has a lot of heart and care put into it, there’s no denying that, and I see why fans of the series love it, as it’s widely praised as one of the best Touhou fangames and indie metroidvanias in general. It deserves that status and I don’t want to take that away from anyone, but I can’t find myself loving it that much. I remember my friend telling me this game is better than Hollow Knight could ever hope to be, and coming from someone who has played both games all the way through, is this game better than Hollow Knight? HELL NO! IT’S NOT EVEN IN THE SAME STRATOSPHERE AS HOLLOW KNIGHT! Kidding aside, Touhou Luna Nights is a good game that I overall enjoyed. It’s a competently made, quality product that’s worth your time and money, and I would recommend it if you’re a fan of action platformers.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps helped me fill that void I felt after playing Hollow Knight and Silksong, and while not as good as those games in my opinion, it is a masterpiece in its own right. Will of the Wisps not only takes what didn’t work in the first game and improves it here, but also takes what did work and makes it vastly superior. Just like Ori 1, this game has phenomenal platforming that’s made better with brand new mechanics utilized in fun ways. The soundtrack is even better here and is one of my favorite video game OSTs of all time due to its raw emotion, epicness, and leitmotifs. This game also has a refined combat system that’s way better than it was in the first title, and while it’s not amazing, I still much appreciate this overhauled combat system. Not only that, but there are more interesting and varied enemy types here, and even though some are repeated in different areas, they have a new element to their arsenal that keep said enemy types fresh. This game also has bosses, which is another thing the first game lacked. There are only 6 bosses (9 if you count the chase sequences, but I don’t) and despite the fact that the actual really cool bosses don’t show up until the second half of the game, which is actually my only real issue with Will of the Wisps, there are still two early game bosses that aren’t bad. Mora the Spider, final boss, and another one I don’t want to spoil are fantastic fights and up there with some of the best parts of the game. About the ending, I won’t spoil it, but I will say that this is the only video game that has made me cry. I think out of all the video games I’ve played in my life, Will of the Wisps has the best ending, as it was bittersweet, melancholic, but also beautiful, which is my favorite type of ending. If you like metroidvanias, action platformers, and games like Hollow Knight, Ori and the Will of the Wisps is an absolute must-play, and one of my new favorite games of all time. Just don’t go into it expecting Hollow Knight because you’ll be disappointed to say the least.

Ori and the Blind Forest is a game that is always regarded as one of the best in the Metroidvania platformer genre, and it’s easy to see why. I was hooked by this games heart wrenching opening cutscene and enthralled by its gorgeous art direction and simple, yet affective narrative. The platforming here is challenging, fun, and has satisfying mechanics to boot. It even has these incredible escape sequences that are some of the best parts of the game. All of this is also complemented by Ori’s beautiful soundtrack, which, while not as good as its sequel, is still really strong on its own. As for my main issue with the game, it’s the enemy types, as this game seriously lacks strong enemy variety. Every area in the game has enemy types that are inherently the same, but they’re a different element and deal more damage, though that doesn’t make up for them being way too similar to the previous enemies in other areas who are basically the same. Everyone has an issue with this, but yeah, Blind Forest also lacks combat depth. I personally don’t think the combat is as bad as some make it out to be, but it still lacks a level of depth that would make enemy encounters more interesting. There are also some other minor gripes I have with this title like the escape sequences, as amazing as they are, can be a bit frustrating due to their lack of checkpoints, the one snow area in the game that kinda ****, and hitting environmental hazards not putting you in a safe spot as Hollow Knight does. Regardless, these issues cannot take away everything this game nails, and I’m so happy I got to experience it.

Kirby Air Riders is an absolute fever dream ****, super addictive. While it’s not perfect and I do think it is a little overpriced, I think it’s consistently more fun than Mario Kart World. There aren’t that many courses in Air Ride mode, but the courses that are here are amazing, which are complemented by the satisfying gameplay. There are so many different play styles due to the characters and machines having their own unique attributes, and from my knowledge, it doesn’t allow for some lame meta that Mario Kart games tend to have. I’m a bit mixed on Top Ride; it’s a perfectly fine mode, but it’s just not my thing. City Trial, however, is an absolute blast and this game’s best mode in my opinion. There’s even good single-player content here through Road Trip, and while I don’t necessarily love it, I appreciate that there’s even single-player content to begin with. I had my fun with it, but I don’t think I’ll go for the true ending since I already watched it on YouTube. I’m getting most of my fun with this game through the online multiplayer; I’ll get on, play some Air Ride first, then some City Trial matches afterwards. Overall, I’m having a ton of fun with Air Riders, and I highly recommend it even if the global test didn’t fully entice you. If you like racing games, party games, and Kirby like myself, you’re going to really enjoy this one.

When going into Hollow Knight: Silksong, I was expecting to love it, though not as much as its predecessor, but to my surprise and delight, I actually loved it even more. Silksong feels like an evolution of the Hollow Knight formula from combat, tools, collectables, and customization. Hornet feels so incredible to control in this game and I actually prefer her more agile and fast-paced movement compared to the Knight. I still love the Knight’s gameplay, but Hornet’s customization and more fast paced combat better fit my taste in gameplay. I’m not going to be like one of those elitists who treat Silksong like it’s a flawless game and tell people to “get good” when they bring up its shortcomings. I know that this isn’t a perfect game, no game is after all, but its flaws are still worth mentioning, even though they’re minor to me. I do think the insane level of difficulty, even though I love it, does make it pretty inaccessible to casual players, though I feel like making the game easier would take away from what kind of game this is setting out to do artistically. Though I do think some of the boss run backs and the amount of double damage from enemies are a bit annoying from time to time. However, I don’t think the run backs are all that bad in my opinion, but there were a couple that I did find a bit tedious, such as the infamous Bilewater run back, and this one in Act 3 for an area I don’t want to spoil. While I don’t mind double damage for most of the bosses, I can see why some people get irritated by it. Maybe I’m insane for this, but I even enjoyed Bilewater for its lore and I was amused with how deliberately punishing it was, but Groal the Great is an admittedly weak boss. I can also see why people don’t like the shard system, though I personally didn’t mind it since I didn’t use red tools a whole lot anyway. Issues like this are honestly minor to me due to everything that this game does so well. The world, atmosphere, insanely fun and tough bosses, beautiful art direction, and fantastic music more than make up for all of Silksong’s shortcomings in my opinion. I can understand why many people still prefer Hollow Knight to this game, and I think preferring Silksong puts me in a minority, but I still love both games to death and they are amongst some of my favorites. While I did get a bit frustrated at times, 95% of the time, I was having an absolute blast, and I came out of finishing Act 3 with one of the greatest gaming experiences I have ever had.

I finished replaying Luigi’s Mansion 3 recently, and to be honest, I appreciated the game even more this time around. While the atmosphere, soundtrack, and vibes aren’t on par with LM1, which is a similar issue with Dark Moon, 3 makes up for it in its gameplay, which is the best in the series so far. Not to mention that we’re back to the LM1 format, only one place to explore, and the adventure isn’t broken up into missions, which is another problem Dark Moon had. E. Gadd also doesn’t call Luigi nearly as much in this game as he does in the previous title, which so very much appreciated. Dark Moon is a good game to be clear, it’s just bogged down by problems that aren’t present in 1 and 3. The bosses are also way better in this game, we actually have more interesting and unique bosses this time around, and I love most of them and their designs. I also want to mention that this is probably the best-looking Mario game so far, and just one of the best-looking Nintendo games in general still, which was only recently overthrown by Mario Kart World and Metroid Prime 4. They seriously need to make a Switch 2 Edition for LM3, I’m sure the game would look absolutely gorgeous with Switch 2 enhancements and a smooth 60-120 fps. The only floor in this game I don’t like is B2, and can someone tell me why out of all the floors they make us revisit, it’s the actual worst one? Other than atmosphere issues, B2 not being very good, and annoying runtime padding with Polterkitty, Luigi’s Mansion 3 is a phenomenal title with intricate puzzles, fun boss fights, satisfying gameplay, and stunning graphics for a Switch game. Whether or not it’s the best Luigi’s Mansion is up to personal preference, and it’s arguably the best one, but I give 1 the slight edge for the far superior atmosphere and soundtrack alone.

DOOM 2016 is a game that I have been looking forward to playing for a long time since getting it on sale for 90% off. I’ve heard so many people sing the praises of the Doom franchise and how it houses some of the best first-person shooters ever made. While they aren’t wrong for thinking that, I’m personally a little more indifferent, at least with this game in particular since I haven’t played the others. I have really enjoyed some FPS titles before, like the Metroid Prime games for example, and this is coming from someone who doesn’t necessarily like this genre. Doom seemed like it was right up my alley since it looked like a much more unique take on the FPS genre, and while it certainly is, I feel like the gameplay loop here becomes really repetitive and tiring during the last third of the game. Now there are still plenty of things I adore about this game: the atmosphere, graphics, soundtrack, weapons, and so on. While the combat is really good and satisfying, constantly fighting hordes of enemies over and over again started to get tedious and boring during the last third of the game, especially towards the very end. Now some people may find that fun, especially long-time Doom fans, and more power to them, but I just prefer when games have more elements to them to keep the experience fresh. Even if the gameplay loop remains relatively the same, introduce some new mechanics that keep things interesting, don’t just make me keep fighting giant hoards of the same six enemy types for 3-4 hours straight. Another disappointing element of this game is the bosses, and there’s only a total of three that don’t show up till the last third. They are pretty fun bosses, but I just wish there were more throughout the entire game. The reason I love the Metroid Prime titles is that you aren’t just constantly fighting enemies; the games immerse you into their worlds, having you explore various areas, solve puzzles, and still fight enemies without it becoming a chore. It’s a shame Metroid as a whole gets overshadowed by series like Doom, Halo, and Call of Duty, and while the former two definitely deserve all of the love and attention they receive, Metroid still deserves the same amount of spotlight. Maybe someday I’ll check out Eternal and The Dark Ages since apparently they are better than 2016, but if it has a similar gameplay loop to 2016, then I don’t know if I’ll bite.

Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 are amongst some of my favorite games of all time, and I’m not judging this collection based on these two masterpieces, but on how much they offered to warrant their $40-$70 price. In all honesty, while these games do look a lot nicer than how they did on the Wii, especially with Galaxy 2, it’s not as much of a visual upgrade as Prime 1 Remastered was. That actually justified its $40 price point due to how much of a visual facelift that game got, but not this. Yes, on Switch 2 you get 4K resolution at 60fps and 1080p at 120fps, but both of these games should’ve been $20 individually and $40 for the bundle, as you aren’t doing much to them aside from updating some textures, and even that’s very minor. If you‘re interested in playing these games and you have no other way of playing them, (legally that is) then yeah, you’re gonna have to make that hefty $70 purchase. Like me, if you already own 3D All-Stars and don’t wanna buy Galaxy 1 again, then just get Galaxy 2 on its own. The small tweaks and new storybook chapter that you can just look up on YouTube don’t do enough to justify having to buy Galaxy 1 again, even if it’s physical. I’m fine with not being able to run Galaxy 1 at 120fps or 4K. I of course still bought Galaxy 2 so I can have easy access to one of my favorite Mario titles ever, but I wouldn’t even blame you for pirating these. If you think my criticisms about the prices aren’t validated since I did buy said product, then fair enough, though this doesn’t justify attacking people just for buying it. Still, these are some of my favorite games of all time, but I cannot in good conscience give this a 10 due to the ridiculous pricing for simple HD ports of two Wii games.

Usually considered to be one of the greatest games of all time, and it’s easy to see why. Resident Evil 4 is a phenomenal experience with satisfying combat, a rich story, nuanced characters, and gimmicks that don’t actually hinder the experience. There’s almost nothing this one does poorly.

I just replayed this and the base game very recently. I remember being a bit disappointed that The Delicious Last Course wasn’t as long as I was hoping for, despite still enjoying it. While I still agree with that, I don’t think judging the DLC entirely on its length is fair considering how much hard work and dedication they put into it. The animation quality, especially on the bosses, has been vastly improved compared to the base game, though the base game still looks gorgeous. This DLC only took four years while the base game took ten, so I think the level of animation they were able to pull off within that time is crazy, considering it’s a small team. Chef Saltbaker, in particular, is the best animated boss in the whole game; they actually popped off with him. I still really enjoy this DLC, while not as strong as the base game, it is still fun and challenging as you’d expect from Cuphead. We were also blessed with playable Ms. Chalice in this so yeah automatically worth it.

Replaying Cuphead after four years made me realize it wasn’t as brutally hard as I remember it being, or maybe I’m just better at video games now. While still a challenging game, I didn’t struggle with it as much as before. Bosses like the robot and dragon took me only around 30 minutes to beat, in comparison to almost an hour when I first defeated them years ago. I’m not knocking the game for this, though, as Cuphead is still an amazing work that is stunning to look at, has satisfying gameplay, fantastic music, and extremely creative, fun bosses. While the Run ‘n Gun levels are just okay and the shop items are pretty unbalanced, it can’t take much away from everything that this title excels at.

Hollow Knight is nothing short of a masterpiece, and one of my new favorite games of all time. I became enamored with the game’s art direction, atmosphere, sound design, gameplay, and so on. I especially love the character designs and the characters themselves who have such fun personalities and charming interactions with the Knight. The bosses are the best part of the game, though, challenging and also satisfying. Also Hornet is awesome I love her so much.

Mario Kart World is super fun, but as everyone is saying, it should not be $80. I hope they add some free DLC to this one in the future and allow us to choose between normal 3 lap tracks and intermissions for online, but I honestly doubt it. I’m still having a ton of fun with the game as it has great tracks, fun gameplay, a fantastic soundtrack, and a really expressive and beautiful art direction, but it needs a lot more content to really sell that $80 price tag. I love Mario Kart, and this is my third favorite in the series right behind MKWii (MK8D is my favorite), though some meaningful DLC and changes to online could end up making this my favorite Mario Kart game.

This review and score are just based on the Star-Crossed World DLC because I already reviewed the original Forgotten Land, and I love it to this day. It’s so nice to finally be able to play this game at 60 fps, not to mention the enhanced visuals make it pop better than before, and it was already one of the best-looking Switch 1 games. Star-Crossed World is also a great expansion for this already amazing game. It really makes buying the upgrade pack worth it if you already own Forgotten Land, and it’s still worth buying the Switch 2 version if you never bought it on the Switch 1. Though I can see it being a hard bargain for some since the Switch 2 Edition is $80 in total. The level design in the DLC expansion is definitely more challenging than the main game’s levels which I do appreciate, even though I don’t mind Kirby being easy (and even then the new levels still aren’t that hard). When I first saw the teaser for this add-on in the Switch 2 Direct, I was worried it was just going to be the same levels with new paths to take. However, the paths branch out to completely new parts of the levels with their own distinct level designs, and that makes me really happy. It’s also worth mentioning that these new stages are really fun, well-designed, and I had a blast the whole way through. Speaking of the music, the tracks for these new stages are beautiful. The boss at the end was really awesome and actually pretty challenging, though it’s nothing compared to the Ultimate Cup Z EX, which might be the new hardest boss rush in the Kirby series. Star-Crossed World isn’t some groundbreaking addition to Forgotten Land, but a worthwhile one, clocking in about 3-4 hours for the main stuff, and 10+ hours to 100% the DLC. Is it worth $20 though? I mean, I’m satisfied with my time on it, but I can understand why other’s may not.

Donkey Kong Bananza is genuinely the best game Nintendo has put out in a long time. I of course loved Odyssey, BOTW, and Kirby and the Forgotten Land, but Bananza is just so much more special in my opinion. It’s the first DK game in 11 years, not counting the Switch port of Tropical Freeze and Returns HD. I’ve been waiting for a new entry in the DK franchise for such a long time now, and I even said that I want them to take another shot at 3D, so to actually see that happen is like a dream come true, just as Forgotten Land was for me. The collectables in this game are such a major improvement over Odyssey and the movement is incredible, it feels just as good as Odyssey. It even has a heartwarming story about Donkey Kong and Pauline bonding and growing a friendship, with DK helping her return to the surface. The bosses were mostly easy, but that’s a minor issue in the grand scheme of things, and the final boss makes up for it anyway. Speaking of which, the climax for this game is one of the best of any Nintendo game, and it was a true love letter to DK fans. This isn’t even recency bias, this game is just incredible, it’s everything I wanted and more. Any other issues I have with this title are nitpicks, it’s a masterpiece, and my game of the year without a doubt (so far). Easily the best DK game as well.

The narrative is a bit wonky in Kiwami and not nearly as strong as its prequel, but the combat is just as fun as Zero, with very memorable moments and well-written characters. The substories are still a nice, mostly enjoyable distraction from the main campaign, with some pretty fun minigames, though not as good as Zero’s. Despite this and it having all of the same issues as the previous game, it’s still a very strong 7.5/10, and I think with a narrative on par with Zero, it could be an incredible game.

Similarly to Empire of Dreams, Dream Champ Tournament is pretty fun at first, but becomes extremely tedious halfway through, even more so than the first game. I am sorry, but I’m just not a big fan of Klonoa’s GBA outings, not nearly as much as the home console titles. I wanted to like this game so much, but it just has way too many problems that I can’t look past. Dream Champ Tournament becomes excruciatingly tedious and frustrating at the fourth world of the game, it got to the point where when I got to the last world, I didn’t even wanna do the optional 5-8 level and just go straight to the final vision. The puzzles in this game starting at the last world become so incredibly cryptic, with many of them making me look up what I needed to do. Maybe I’m just dumb, but the puzzles in the final world were way too confusing in my opinion. I also thought that the storytelling in this one was pretty shallow, especially when compared to Door to Phantomile and Lunatea’s Veil. Not much nuance goes on in this story aside from the game being based around this tournament, with a plot twist that I saw coming from a mile away. Even Empire of Dreams’ narrative was more interesting, and even that was simple for Klonoa standards. At least it was cool to see some characters from Lunatea’s Veil appear in this game like Lolo and Popka, and Guntz was an interesting character and my second favorite to Klonoa. And just like the Empire of Dreams, this game reuses the same music for every level in every world, showing that the game was either on a strict budget or they were too lazy to make new tracks. The only levels that didn’t reuse tracks were the hoverboard stages, which are still fun in this game. Also, just like the first GBA title, the level design is very forgettable, as I can’t even remember half of the stages right after finishing the game. At least there’s some better sprite work in this game and the backgrounds have more detail to them. With all of this being said, if you enjoy this game and disagree with everything I said about it, that’s completely fair, and I can see why there are people who like this game, it’s just not for me, nor is it what I want from the Klonoa franchise. I love this series to death, and I am still hoping for a proper follow-up to those first two original games, but the GBA games are simply not the Klonoa experience that I prefer. Again, if you like these GBA games, I’m happy you do, and I don’t want to take that away from you. Someday, I hope we get a Klonoa 3 that follows a formula more similar to the home console entries.

While Empire of Dreams is very fun at first, it starts to become a bit repetitive and tedious halfway through, with shorter, forgettable levels that rely too heavily on puzzles in my opinion. Klonoa’s core gameplay is still extremely fun and I love the hoverboard levels in this game just like in Klonoa 2, with shockingly well-designed auto-scrolling levels. However, I miss the 2.5D mechanics of the original titles, though I will give the game a pass on this since it’s on more limited hardware. Some of the bosses are okay, others are pretty meh, and I also don’t like how each world uses the same song for every level (aside from the hoverboard and auto-scroll levels). And as for the narrative, it’s alright, nowhere near as compelling as the PS1 and 2 games, but at least the ending is nice. If you’re a huge fan of puzzle platformers, you might enjoy this one more than I did, but I don’t think this game comes close to the home console originals, which is a shame because I love Klonoa to death and it quickly became one of my favorite video game franchises. Even so, I can acknowledge that this is a quality game that's worth your time if you’re either looking for a fun puzzle platformer or just want more Klonoa.

Crash 4 is a very tough game, easily the hardest in the series, even on modern mode, but that’s part of what makes it so exhilarating. This entry has some of the most innovative and fun level design the series has seen yet and the level theme variety is off the charts. So many new gameplay mechanics like the rail grinding, wall running, and mask abilities are utilized in very creative ways with the level design. I will say, while the rail grinding is still very fun, I wish it was a bit snappier with the animations so adjusting yourself didn’t take as long. Not to mention the other characters you get to play as, and they all have their own unique quirks. All of them are fun to use and don’t shy away from Crash’s original formula. I think Dingo Dile is probably my least favorite to play as since he’s the slowest of the bunch and has the biggest hitbox, but his levels are still very enjoyable. The cutscenes and art style for this game is also very charming, the levels in this game are nothing short of eye candy and I was smiling from ear to ear during the cutscenes. I absolutely adore the character redesigns and their interactions in cutscenes. Even though the story has alternate dimensions and time travel, a plot overdone in media today, Crash 4 managed to make it fun in my opinion. I think there’s only one or two levels in this game that I actively dislike, but other than that all of the levels range from pretty solid to sensational. And yes, the requirements for 100% completion are absolutely ridiculous, but that doesn’t take away any of my personal enjoyment for the game since I didn’t go for 100%, or in this games case, 106%. Aside from this and some more minor issues here and there, everything else this game does is so fantastic that it completely overshadows most of its negatives. After being a bit letdown with the dip in quality of the Spyro Reignited Trilogy, it ended up making me appreciate Crash Bandicoot a lot more, and Crash 4 shows that the team at Toys for Bob is very talented and they’re more than capable of making some great games, so if we ever get Spyro 4 in the future, I’m sure these developers can make something truly special out of that franchise. Toys for Bob knocked this one out of the park and you can tell that the team working on it put a lot of genuine love and care into it.

To be clear, I still really enjoyed my time with DMC4, it’s a solid 7.5/10, but I understand the criticism people have with this game, saying that it feels unfinished. Just like DMC1 and 3, the combat is extremely fun, and pulling off combos is as satisfying as ever, with the polish of the third game. Most of the puzzles are pretty enjoyable and I liked some of the parts where you slow down time, except for the one where you have to climb up these moving platforms, that part ****. There are these objects in this game where you have to hit them, and while it is fun to kill a bunch of enemies with them, they can be pretty pace-breaking. I thought playing as Nero was really fun and I enjoyed using his Devil Bringer arm. It was satisfying in combat, especially during the platforming segments. So yeah, I didn’t mind playing as Nero in DMC4 as some people did, but what I didn’t like though was when we started playing as Dante. Don’t get me wrong, Dante is still super fun to play as in this game, he plays very similarly to how he did in the previous title, meaning near perfect, but my gosh his entire campaign rehashed so much stuff from the Nero adventure, and this is where my major problem with this game arises. All we do with Dante is explore the same areas and fight the same bosses we did when playing as Nero, and while they do change up some requirements for missions in Dante’s campaign, it’s not enough to shake things up. Not to mention that the bosses are almost the same as they were before, meaning that you're still rehashing content. And this isn’t the only time bosses are reused, it happens during the game’s boss rush, and my gosh this game did NOT need a boss rush. I already didn’t like doing the dice minigame before this and shoehorning it in during the game’s climax put a sour taste in my mouth. I didn’t even realize how to make the dice land on what number you want until I almost finished it which aggravated me even more. Playing as Dante and Nero is still a ton of fun, but once you finish Nero’s 11 missions, it feels like you’ve already seen everything this game has to offer. Even the final boss at the end, while has some different moves from before, is still way too similar to his first encounter. While I enjoyed the game, I sat through the credits and thought that this had to have been rushed, which is a practice never good for making video games. Developers need to take their time to make a great title, and if you rush a game out, you’re left with an experience that feels half-baked. I still enjoyed this game a ton and would highly recommend it, but it can’t hold a candle to DMC3 in my opinion, since that’s a game that had its time taken with its development and doesn’t rehash a bunch of content. Still, DMC4 is a fun time overall with satisfying combat, intricate design, amazing music, and a compelling narrative with great voice acting.

I know plenty of people have issues with these remasters when it comes to the visuals and lack of FMV cutscenes, but I didn’t mind these things and just enjoyed them how they were. I bought this collection way back in 2022, around the time when it first came out because I heard some people discuss it, and from what I saw, it looked like a fun 2.5D platformer. For some reason though, I dropped the game after the first world and didn’t touch it since. I guess I just wasn’t feeling it or I got distracted with other games. I decided to go back to this collection however, and I can safely say that I am very happy that I gave Klonoa a second chance. The level design and gameplay for these titles may not be anything revolutionary, but are still very solid and fun, not to mention that these games have an actual compelling narrative to them, especially Klonoa 2. They weren’t trying to be overly complicated or too ambitious for their own good and fail miserably, they gave us a genuinely strong story that isn’t too hard to follow. I teared up at the end of both games, which is something that very few video games make me do. The soundtrack for both games are bangers as well. The Song of Rebirth still has me well up a bit and Stepping Wind is stuck in my head. Please buy this duology and support the series, these are criminally underrated games that deserve more attention.

The Spyro Reignited Trilogy is a collection of games that I have been interested in playing for a long time now, as I thought they looked like very fun platformers that are colorful, creative, and an absolute joy to play. I’m going to be honest, though, I didn’t enjoy the sequels as much as I was expecting to. Everyone sings the praises of how great Spyro 2 and 3 are, especially when compared to the first game, and while I can see why so many people love the sequels more, to my surprise, the first game ended up being my favorite, and it’s not even close. While Spyro 2 and 3 do improve upon some things from the original game like having more varied gameplay, better bosses, and more memorable characters, they’re both filled to the brim with annoying tasks, tedious mini-games, and shockingly poorly executed gimmicks. While not all of the mini-games and gimmicks were bad, a good half of them were either annoying to control, frustratingly difficult for no reason, or surprisingly buggy, especially in Spyro 3. I can’t even tell you how many times I had to start over mini-games, and many of them go on much longer than they need to. I’m not saying that Spyro 2 and 3 are bad, because they aren’t, I was just expecting to like them a lot more than I did. Heck, I still like Spyro 2 and I enjoyed myself more with it than I did with Spyro 3. I didn’t even hate Spyro 3, I thought it was an okay game, but I’m let down because I was going in with very high expectations, just to be disappointed by what I got. If I thought Spyro 2 was a little too gimmicky and had some annoying mini-games, man, I was in for a surprise with Spyro 3. While Spyro 1 has lame boss fights, the least memorable characters in the series, and a pretty anti-climatic ending, the overall package had a certain charm to it that I don’t think was replicated with its sequels. The first title didn’t have all of these obnoxious mini-games and annoying gimmicks, it was just pure platforming that was fun the whole way through, even with its flaws. There’s a certain whimsical vibe to the first Spyro that I thought its sequels didn’t encapsulate due to their over-alliance on mini-games and gimmicks, to the point where they don’t even feel like 3D platformers sometimes. If we ever get Spyro 4 in the future, I’m worried that they still won’t be able to capture what made the first game so special while managing to evolve the formula in interesting ways like Crash Bandicoot 4 for example. What worries me is that just like Spyro 2 and 3 in Reignited, they might end up rushing its development, and the game could be littered with bugs that hinder the game's enjoyment, not to mention more backtracking, gimmicks, and mini-games. Maybe if I revisit the Reignited Trilogy in the future and don’t try to 100%/117% the sequels, I will end up enjoying them more, but I found the completionist journey for both games very exhausting, which is something I can’t say about Spyro 1. I do want a Spyro 4 since I genuinely care about this series and have a lot of respect for it, I just hope that fourth game could go back to the series roots and make it more like the first title while managing to have memorable characters, better bosses, and have it stand on its own two feet with brand new mechanics to evolve its formula. Since it probably won’t, though, I at least hope the mini-games, tasks, and gimmicks have much better execution and are a lot more fun. Spyro 1 - 8/10 Spyro 2 - 7/10 Spyro 3 - 6/10

While a pretty bare-bones game with not much content, is still very fun with intricate combat, great characters, and an engaging narrative. Zack Fair is not only my favorite Final Fantasy character but also one of my favorite video game characters of all time. I feel like with less condensed design, better exploration, and more balanced difficulty this would be a masterpiece, but it’s good for what it is.

While the Crash Bandicoot titles can be stressful and punishing, they offer a very fun challenge that never feels too repetitive, complimented with an addictive gameplay loop that I can’t get enough of. Crash 1 - 8.5/10 Crash 2 - 9/10 Crash 3 - 7/10

Sly 2: Band of Thieves is a game that gets universal praise from almost everyone who’s a fan of the 3D platformer genre. As a huge fan of these games as well, them being my favorite genre of games I was going into Sly 2 with high expectations, expecting to enjoy it a lot. Unfortunately, I ended up becoming more and more disappointed with my experience the further I got into the game. It just has so many outdated elements and tedious jobs that hold me back from liking it more. The fact that you can’t fast-travel to the Safe House after finishing jobs or be able to switch characters on the fly makes the game feel sluggish and a chore since you have to constantly run back and forth to switch characters. The power-ups in this game are also insanely overpriced—getting all of them is required for 100% completion and the platinum trophy as well, but I didn’t want to spend so much time grinding out coins for them, as going for 100% on this game seems like a chore. And I know this is the most subjective thing ever, but I’m just not a fan of the stealth aspects of this game, and stealth in general in fact. I don't enjoy having to wait for my enemies to move out of my way, I just prefer faster-paced games where I can fight enemies without consequences. There are also a couple of jobs that require a certain power-up for you to be able to continue the game, and I do not think those should be paid and you should be able to obtain them right when you start the job. I also think playing as Bentley is tedious since he cannot fight enemies at all, and if one of them spots you then you’re forced to run away while avoiding their attacks. Sometimes the markers for jobs don’t always appear on your screen too which I think is annoying, and I wish there was something on the top of the screen that would show the markers and how close I am to each one. The game still has great things about it such as the interesting story, fun writing, memorable characters, gorgeous art style, and these super fun linear platforming segments that are my favorite part of the game, but it’s littered with so many elements that just don’t gel with me. I think these first three games desperately need the Crash and Spyro treatment with a remake trilogy, then they could iron out all of the outdated issues with them and make the good stuff even better. I understand why so many people love this game and even consider it a masterpiece, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as everyone else, which upsets me since I really wanted to love this game. I want to see what everyone else sees in this game, but with a remake trilogy, I feel like I could.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Even though I’m not a fan of turn-based RPGs, the original Final Fantasy VII is one of the most iconic video games of all time, and for good reason. Even though the narrative can be a bit convoluted at moments, the selling point of that game for me was the characters, their interactions, and their development. Not to mention all of the big impactful moments that keep this story so iconic and memorable. Final Fantasy VII Remake is a game that has a lot of things holding it back from true greatness in my eyes, but it still has exceptional things about it. It’s beautiful visually, Midgar has so much detail put into it, the soundtrack is phenomenal, there are plenty of funny moments kept from the original game, the combat is extremely fun and innovative, and my favorite part of the game is the characters, their interactions, and development throughout the story. For the original FF7, the English translation for the game wasn’t completely accurate, so the way characters are portrayed in it isn’t exactly accurate to how they are. For Remake, however, the writing of the characters was handled with so much love and care, and it’s awesome to see them being brought to life in this remake and see their growth with one another by the end of the game, especially Cloud. Cloud went from being a snobby, selfish **** at the beginning of the game to a more caring, heroic, and compassionate man who ends up genuinely caring about others. It’s great to see how much care was put into the character writing in this game, but many flaws are a drawback for me. For starters, there are some extremely weird and pace breaking segments of this game, like the part where you have to move the handles on these machines at the same time and direction as Tifa. It wasn’t that bad at first, but what makes it worse is that you have to do it three times, and each time it gets more annoying than the last. I also hated the mechanic where you have to move the claws around to traverse Aerith through the area, which was so extremely sluggish, tedious, and made me not want to play anymore after it. Some of the chapters in this game are also slow and not very fun, like the one that's more puzzle focused and you have to help these child spirits. It was the most slow and boring chapter of the adventure, and it’s stuff like this that makes me not want to replay this game. I also don’t like how the game doesn’t tell you things, the mostly optional side quests (thankfully), and its bloated length, taking me 24 hours just to finish the main campaign. All of these things make it sound like I didn’t like the game, but I do, it just has a lot holding it back from me loving it. Still, if you love Final Fantasy and have played the original FF7, then I highly recommend this title. And as for the Intergrade DLC, it’s alright, I don’t have much to say about it. I love Yuffie and she must be protected no matter what.

Astro Bot is a game that I was sold on the moment I saw the promotional material—it looked like a charming 3D platformer that’s fun, creative, unique, and full of charm and whimsy. When I finally got around to playing the game, I’m happy to say that it even exceeded my expectations. It was easily my favorite game of 2024, and I’m so happy that it won Game of the Year. Those who were mad about it winning didn’t even play the game and need to grow the hell up, you shouldn’t even take the Game Awards that seriously. But please, triple A studios, more games like this, we are starved of high-budget 3D platformers, and not just 100+ hour, hyper realistic, uninspired interactive movies. More games that put being pure fun over everything else.

A Hat in Time is still up there as one of my favorite indie games of all time, and I think it’s easy to see why. Everything from the art style, gameplay, level design, and memorable characters makes this one a strong contender for one of the most fun and charming video games out there, and it shows that there is still love for 3D platformers, even if it’s only from the indies or Nintendo. Yes, the narrative is pretty standard for 3D platformers. Still, the characters are just so entertaining and memorable that it doesn’t even matter, not to mention that some of them have pretty tragic backstories, especially the main antagonist of the game. The game also has a cute message about companionship, self-sacrifice, and the redemption of others. Not everything about the game is perfect: Chapter 6 of the game is a bit meh for the most part, and even though the developers were on a budget, I wish that the fifth chapter of the game had at least a few more acts. Despite this, these issues aren’t a major detriment to the rest of this wonderful game, and I’m sure that Gears for Breakfast has a bright future ahead of them.

Yakuza 0 is a very solid game with an engaging narrative, interesting characters, and a satisfying combat system, though it’s not without flaws. The game has a major problem with it just not telling you things, such as a couple of chapters not telling me I have a new pager message so I could continue the game and being able to sell your points at a Dojo for overworld upgrades. I hated how you had stamina when sprinting in the overworld, and I didn’t know this was something you could upgrade at the Dojo since the game never told me until my friend told me about it, but by that point, I was already almost done with the game. I don’t even think sprinting in an overworld should have the stamina to begin with, and having to constantly stop my momentum when trying to get around faster got pretty tedious. There are also other minor problems here or there like the combat upgrades being a bit too pricey, weird mandatory subgames that felt pace-breaking, and hand-holdy tutorials through the first third of the game, but almost everything else about Yakuza 0 is truly stellar and I see why it’s a masterpiece to so many people. As someone who isn’t a big fan of RPGs and games with lengthy runtimes, I still really enjoyed my time with 0, and I’d consider it a modern classic.

It’s better than Yooka-Laylee’s first outing, but that’s still not saying much. It’s not a bad game, it’s just structured a bit weirdly and the level design is unremarkable, but the gameplay is pretty solid. I think with better game structure and level design, this would have been an instant classic. My opinion doesn’t matter, so I’m happy for those who like this game more than me. Here’s to hoping that Replaylee is much better.