Probably the best action game I have ever played but second worse Final Fantasy as it really is not one. FFXVI feels like a very competent, very expensive hack-and-slash that put on a Final Fantasy costume for Halloween: crystals, summons, chocobos, moogles… all there but none of them actually do anything in the way they traditionally should. They’re set dressing, not systems. Honestly, with just one or two deeper systems such as real party synergy, elemental logic, or meaningful gear—it could’ve been both.
This game is hella sick! The story is very well made and emotional. I felt attached to pretty much all the characters and really strove to save everyone. I really enjoyed how you really do need to play multiple times to have an understanding of the whole story. When you finally get the ending you do want, it is a very rewarding feeling. The only reason I don’t give it a 10 is due to a few gripes. One is that if you choose a girl, you still look like a boy, just with long hair. They could have made her a bit more feminine. I also think the characters can be a bit stereotypical at times, with people's profession dictating their behavior. They are minor complaints and only slightly hinder my enjoyment of the game.
. I don't get you, Gust. First you tell us fans that we are bad for enjoying the laid back, lightly challenging feel of previous Atelier games with Yumia, just to find out Atelier Resleriana is a normal Atelier game? What? Why now, right after you drove all us original players away for a younger audience who only play generic open world games? Why would I ever assume Atelier Resleriana would be a good, traditional atelier game? You stole my money and spit in my face with Yumia so why would I think Resleriana was going to be different? I had no plans to ever touch another one of your Atelier games again, it took a few of my friends to convince me to even try Resleriana, but since I don’t trust you, it is the first Gust game I have torrented. Atelier Resleriana is an okay game, though very sloppy and too rushed, but it did make me want to go back and replay the entire Atelier series, save for Yumai, of course. But unfortunately, the damage has been done. Had you just improved on the systems and mechanics in Ryza 3, but instead you threw everything out, including your fans. Resleriana feels like a dumbed down version of Ryza 1, not bad, but like you no longer know how to implement the great mechanics and systems in Ryza 3, which were the best in the series. This feels more like a 2020 game, rather than 2025. I understand that you are a company, your goals are different from us humans and society so I won't be purchasing Atelier Resleriana, even though I think it is decent; I need to recoup my losses on Yumia and stand up to you. However, you can still win me back with future iterations. I want to like you, Gust, I really do, but you have shaken my trust in you and it is going to take more than members' berries in Resleriana to bring me back when I see how good your games can be with Ryza 3. Just don’t act neoliberal like EA and Activision, hunting for whales and instead just make games with love and care and maybe more importantly one that you actually have fun making. I hope you find your way again, Gust, I really do.
. I don't get you, Gust. First you tell us fans that we are bad for enjoying the laid back, lightly challenging feel of previous Atelier games with Yumia, just to find out Atelier Resleriana is a normal Atelier game? What? Why now, right after you drove all us original players away for a younger audience who only play generic open world games? Why would I ever assume Atelier Resleriana would be a good, traditional atelier game? You stole my money and spit in my face with Yumia so why would I think Resleriana was going to be different? I had no plans to ever touch another one of your Atelier games again, it took a few of my friends to convince me to even try Resleriana, but since I don’t trust you, it is the first Gust game I have torrented. Atelier Resleriana is an okay game, though very sloppy and too rushed, but it did make me want to go back and replay the entire Atelier series, save for Yumai, of course. But unfortunately, the damage has been done. Had you just improved on the systems and mechanics in Ryza 3, but instead you threw everything out, including your fans. Resleriana feels like a dumped down version of Ryza 1, not bad, but like you no longer know how to implement the great mechanics and systems in Ryza 3, which were the best in the series. This feels more like a 2020 game, rather than 2025. I understand that you are a company, your goals are different from us humans and society so I won't be purchasing Atelier Resleriana, even though I think it is decent; I need to recoup my losses on Yumia and stand up to you. However, you can still win me back with future iterations. I want to like you, Gust, I really do, but you have shaken my trust in you and it is going to take more than members' berries in Resleriana to bring me back when I see how good your games can be with Ryza 3. Just don’t act neoliberal like EA and Activision, hunting for whales and instead just make games with love and care and maybe more importantly one that you actually have fun making. I hope you find your way again, Gust, I really do.
Fun little visual novel style game. Could use a bit more depth but what is here is quite addictive. Took a bit to understand but really enjoyable once I understood how the game worked.
Very good game that is lacking a few more endings and quality of life features that keep it from a 9 or 10. Still highly recommended to fans of visual novels and the like.
This game is really enjoyable. A bit short, but not a big deal, the game experience more than made up for it. If you enjoy visual novels, this has to be one of the best out there. I could not put it down.
FYI, I am not a Blizzard shill and apologist. Tried it out during their free weekend. Do not get Diablo IV if you want a single player experience. Didn't like my starting class so I deleted it to try another class, well now I am not allowed to do the main story prologue anymore and teleported me straight to a town (not even the same one) with no direction, no main story quests, with a bunch of other players running around, with no idea on what to do next. Talk about disorienting and confusing. They don't want you to play the story, they want you to do daily grinds and waste money on in-game purchases, so lame! At least I got to try it for free and didn't waste my money.
PSA: YOU CAN'T BEAT THE GAME. THERE IS A BUG AT THE FINAL BOSS. Would have gave it a 5/10 if not for it. Other than that, It's fine. I don't understand why they threw out the amazing formula they had with Atelier Ryza 3 (my favorite JRPG of all time). This feels like a poorly designed, decades-old, open world, game rather than a laidback, peaceful, semi-challenging Atelier game. I don't want to build a stupid fence! - I don't play Minecraft, I play Atelier games - and where is the cauldron? I don't want to spend hours watching dancing - especially when it is the same dance over and over. I really miss the cauldron and having a nice looking atelier that I don't have to build by hand. The building mechanics really are frustrating in this game and have no part being here. I hate all the collect-a-thon stuff they throw in the game just to pad the time, like every other generic open-world game. You know what the last game had to pad the time? Story! The world design is pretty sloppy, as well. I can think of at least ten open world games that have better world designs. I am also not a fan of the combat system. I thought they would refine Ryza 3's system, which was amazing. It's not horrible, but not very fun. Devs, please don't make sequels to this and just make an Atelier Ryza 4 - and don't change anything from 3 except the story and refining the systems already in place, and no more of having everyone hate the main character, that's not lighthearted and cozy. (Sigh), It's not a horrible game. It is playable if you got nothing better to do. Just make sure to vote with your wallet and sail the high seas, it's not worth a purchase. Let them know to go back and refine their old formula, not throw it out to make a game that is "trying to be with the times".
This game is hella fun. Your choices really do matter in this game. I also really enjoy the companion system in this game - the allies are really fleshed out. Aside from a few quality of life options I wish they would have added, I really have no complaints. This is a fun game and with no bugs or glitches! Way Better than Bethesda.
PSA: YOU CAN'T BEAT THE GAME. THERE IS A BUG AT THE FINAL BOSS. Would have gave it a 5/10 if not for it. Other than that, It's fine. I don't understand why they threw out the amazing formula they had with Atelier Ryza 3 (my favorite JRPG of all time). This feels like a poorly designed, decades-old, open world, game rather than a laidback, peaceful, semi-challenging Atelier game. I don't want to build a stupid fence! - I don't play Minecraft, I play Atelier games - and where is the cauldron? I don't want to spend hours watching dancing - especially when it is the same dance over and over. I really miss the cauldron and having a nice looking atelier that I don't have to build by hand. The building mechanics really are frustrating in this game and have no part being here. I hate all the collect-a-thon stuff they throw in the game just to pad the time, like every other generic open-world game. You know what the last game had to pad the time? Story! The world design is pretty sloppy, as well. I can think of at least ten open world games that have better world designs. I am also not a fan of the combat system. I thought they would refine Ryza 3's system, which was amazing. It's not horrible, but not very fun. Devs, please don't make sequels to this and just make an Atelier Ryza 4 - and don't change anything from 3 except the story and refining the systems already in place, and no more of having everyone hate the main character, that's not lighthearted and cozy. (Sigh), It's not a horrible game. It is playable if you got nothing better to do. Just make sure to vote with your wallet and sail the high seas, it's not worth a purchase. Let them know to go back and refine their old formula, not throw it out to make a game that is "trying to be with the times".
This is barely a FF game. Totally skippable. If you do need to play it, sail the high seas; it's not worth a purchase. It feels more like a generic on-rails hack n slash games with some final fantasy elements but most of the RPG element striped away. Feels almost like an interactive movie due to all the hurry up and waiting around. Would not say it is a bad game but sure does not feel like a final fantasy, nor an rpg game.
One of the best action games ever made. Period. You really do feel like Spider-Man, taking down the villains. The story is engaging. The voice acting is top notch. The graphics are really good. The combat is fluid and fun. It is one of the few games I really have zero complaints. I almost never give out a perfect score but Spider-Man deserves it.
Had to give 2077 a 6/10 due to it's lack of optimization - but the world and story is engaging. Worth a pirate, not a purchase. The bugs, glitches, and crashes made the game feel like a labor of greed rather than a labor of love. It's why I waited until 2025 to try the game as I heard how bad it was at launch. It is still a hot mess, but playable, just save often.
So this is one of the best open world games I have ever played. There is so much to do and see, and the art style is great. This might be the most realistic game to date. I don’t really have much to complain about. The controls could feel strange at times. Like I fire the arrow but it doesn't actually shoot, or when I aim, let go of the aim button, and the arrow still shoots. Also, how does Aloy forget how to whistle? Such a strange thing to remove from the first game. I kept finding small frustrations like that throughout my playthrough. But the rest of the game was so good it didn't bother me too much. I really enjoy the story, but some of the colloquial slang and terminology used by NPC's does not fit as it is what 21st century people would say. luckily, most of the writing is great and top-notch.
Fun game but too racist and discriminatory for my like. The game told me that us Native Americans, the Hispanic, Latino, Indian, and any other ethnicities poorer than African Americans don't matter, only the rich black people do. And I hate that woke tokenization of the LGBTQ community and others. Had the game kept clear of outdated American politics, I would have given it a 9, but because of it's bigoted messaging, I had to take some points off. If you can get past the woke bigotry, it is a really fun game. Makes you feel all warm inside helping people in the community as your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
This is the best Atelier game ever made and my game of the year. There is so much to do and see and synthesize. The battle system has evolved into a fully fledged combat system that is better than most of the JRPG games I have played - in fact I think this is one of the best JRPG games I have ever played. I enjoyed the characters as they all have depth and are not just one-dimensional. The whole world, lore, and characters feel fleshed out. There are so many cut scenes and side quests that help create a deeper enjoyment and understanding of the characters. I just wished I could speak Japanese - I must have read a novel worth of text in this game! It was worth it, though. The writing can be a bit too westernized at times, with characters using colloquial slang that only upper middle-class Valley girls would use, but is very intelligent 95% of the time. The story is pretty original and very fun. The whole game has a nice laid back, casual feel. Though, I did get killed a few times by strong bosses so the game can be challenging at times. The world is very nice and has a ton of environments to check out. I spent over a hundred hours on this game and still haven't seen all the locations. You really get your money's worth here. I highly suggest this game to anyone who is a fan of RPG's and looking for a casual, laid back game with some challenging moments and a fun story and characters. However, I highly suggest playing the first two games in the series. The story is new, but there are so many characters from the previous games and references to them that they do feel mandatory. Luckily, the first two games are fun as well, but Atelier Ryza 3 is the best Atelier game I have ever played.
I have spent about two hundred hours on this game and while I think it is decent, it is one of the weakest in the series. There is a lot to do, but most of it is just the same thing over and over again. This game is all about quantity over quality. Most quests and tasks just feel like busy work; it would probably take me another two hundred hours to try and 100% this game. I would rather have half the amount of stuff to do and instead have significant improvements to the quality of life functions and gameplay mechanics, along with a better story. There has been almost no improvements to the gameplay and quality of life from BotW. The game has better frame rate and only experienced slowdown minimally. Of course, most areas are pretty devoid of anything and the new large area feels empty and soulless. I hated that after spending what must have been 60+ hours completely exploring the new area I was given a lame participation trophy instead of something useful or interesting. Sure, they added some new land and areas to explore but it gets very repetitive quickly. They add some new clothing but you get so tired of having to change back and forth that you really start to wonder why there is no way to save a couple clothing sets and quick change between them. And while it is nice finding a unique weapon, knowing it will break is always depressing - and I sure wish the Master Sword was stronger in this game. I can barely kill two Moblins with it before it breaks. The only time it actually felt like the Master Sword is during the final battle where the sword can't break. After that fight, I never want to see items breaking in a Zelda game ever again. I did enjoy the boss battles but thought there was not enough variation as you end up fighting the same large bosses over and over. I enjoyed the new outfits but hated changing every five seconds. I also disliked how many items you needed to upgrade the clothing. I don’t want to spend hours farming the same thing over and over again. The game does have some cool battles, events, and scenery, and I really did enjoy the final boss fight, but that doesn't excuse the tediousness, repetition, and the lack of gameplay and quality of life Improvements. I also wish the story was more consistent with the first game. It is really frustrating how they seem to change parts of the lore around from BotW and almost never reference or have anyone try to connect what is happening in TotK to what happened in the Breath of the Wild. While there are interesting parts to the story, it is difficult to feel the same sense of emotion and connection as in the first game. The story does feel inferior and 90% of the interesting characters and stuff that is here, well they were already here from BotW. Tears of the Kingdom is not a bad game per-say, it’s ok and fine for a time sink if you have nothing better to do. I really think they should have had the sequel take place outside of Hyrule or have a Dark-World variation like in A Link to the Past to help break up the monotony. Don’t go in thinking you are getting some great improvement over Breath of the Wild. I actually think the game is a downgrade.
This is not a terrible game. In fact, I think some of the gameplay elements and quality of life functions are better than in Breath of the Wild. The combat feels really good. I enjoyed the puzzles, though thought they went way overboard on some of them as they were just too long and repetitive. I thought the graphics were good and had no bugs or glitches during my playthrough. The music was fine and the UI and HUD were well laid out. I do think the game needed villages of some sort as the landscape starts to feel empty and soulless without people to interact with like in BotW. Where this game truly fails is the dialogue and cutscenes. In the cutscenes, most of the voice acting is pretty bland and sounds like a bunch of amateurs trying to use Greek accents. What’s really strange are the constant pauses in the cutscenes. Basically, the characters will pause and stand around at times between or at the end of their dialog, not saying or doing anything. It is really strange and I can't think of any other game I have seen this bug in. It is like the Editors didn't know how to edit the cutscenes properly. It has a very “Uncanny Valley” feeling. What makes the whole thing even more unfortunate is the writing for the cutscenes and narration. This has to be some of the worst writing I have seen in a game. It is cringe-inducing and annoying. They continually make really bad jokes throughout the entire game and the narration is like listening to two entitled old men complain. If they are not complaining or making bad jokes, they are talking about drinking and doing drugs; it completely breaks the immersion of the game. They will inexplicably have characters come back to life or show up out of nowhere and hand-wave some excuse on how their there. The dialog between Fenyx and the gods is really bad. They will make the gods out to be jerks but have Fenyx justify their actions, it doesn't make any sense and is especially confusing with their conversations with Aries. But the worse part of the story has to be near the end. They try to pull an eye-rolling twist right out of a bad Shyamalan film on you. I'll try not to spoil anything but you are pretty much told that rather than the Link or Kratos type character you think you have been playing, you are actually a Mary-Sue right out of Disney Star Wars. It was so lame as they try to negate all the hard work you put into solving puzzles and fighting bosses. From start to finish the writing is just atrocious and ruins the rest of the game. I think there are good parts of the game - I even liked the Ancient Greece setting and thought they could do similar games using Norse and Native American Mythology. Just get it as far away from these writers and editors as possible.
I played the original back in elementary school and a few of the newer versions throughout the years. This is the best since the original but not without it's faults. I like the walking survival simulation aspect quite a lot. I really enjoy that there are multiple trails that you can do and I also like the different classes you can choose from to form your party. I also like the graphics quite a bit, though they overuse the same character models too much. My biggest complaint is all the missed opportunities for education. I had always considered The Oregon Trail series an edutainment game. However, the only thing educating about the game is some of the locations you visit on your way to Oregon. But even then, it is not like you learn anything about them. I was really hoping to learn about the geography and history of locations along the way. I also wanted them to go more in-depth on the hardships faced on the trail. Of course, fording the river is in there and you can get sick but there is not much evolution since the original game. I like that you meet people on the trail, but would have preferred they used real historical characters or groups of people, instead of some wacky scientist and generic people. There is way more in this version of The Orgon Trail than any previous game so I commend them for that. I like that there is more variation on the trails. It does make for a nice little casual game, I just think there was a lot of missed potential and really wish there was more historical education in the game.
It is definitely a good game. Not as good as KH2, but still worth playing if able to pick it up for $20 or so. I think this has the best fighting mechanics of all the games and like being able to change keyblades on the fly. Everything else is fine, but that is kind of my problem. It doesn't feel grander as they remove some feature for others and the stuff they removed I thought was better. The content is not bad, just ok. How do you remove the colosseum!? That was one of the best parts of the series! And how come there are no Final Fantasy characters? I wanted to see Squall, Cloud, and the others. Also, once you finish a world, there really is no reason to ever go back, unlike in the second game where you were incentivized to see how things have progressed in each world after nearing the end of the game, you don’t have that here. The whole game just feels a bit lacking in comparison to what came before. The stuff that is in KH3 is fine, but I would rather have the coliseum than cooking (which the buffs it provides never really mattered in my hard playthrough). I do wish the story had more substance and had a bit of a better ending. Don't get me wrong, it is not bad, just not that amazing. The series is already infamous for the most complicated story in video game history. The devs just assume you played all dozen or so games, spent hours online watching story recaps and summaries, and simply look to finish the ending. I just wish the plot for the third game was more coherent and substantial. There are multiple main characters who do nothing but stand around and talk, such as Kairi, Maleficent, and Pete. I really wanted to see Kairi training and fight alongside Sora in the game; we get neither! The whole thing reminds me of the scene in Avengers End Game where the rat saves Ant-Man, It can be fun a game but the writing is just plain sloppy in places. I enjoyed the combat system and the quality of life mechanics they implemented and it is still fun to play alongside favorite movie characters, even better here now that you don’t have to pick and choose between them and Donald and Goofy, all of them are on screen now which is way better. Adding Pixar was great. In fact, I think the Monsters Inc. level is the best they ever made and wished all the worlds felt like a direct sequel to the movies. At the same time, though, I thought the writing for Rapunzel’s world was the worst in the entire series of games and thought the Frozen world was very boring as well. I really didn't enjoy sitting there and listening to the whole Let it Go song. It would have been fine if it had been like in KH2 where you get to play a mini-game with Aerial, but here you just have to watch. So, after a decade of waiting for this game was it worth the wait. Eh, I guess. They use pre-woke Disney and Pixar so that is great but do think they fall short of Kingdom Hearts 2. It's a good game and I like most of the content but it felt lacking a bit in all categories.
This is the best Borderlands game yet. It is by far the best balanced and has the best game and map design. This game is very funny; It feels like the writers actually went to university and paid attention in physics and philosophy class. They were making jokes about everything from Japanese anime, ancient greek philosophy, quantum mechanics, and tons of modern western cultural references. I was cracking up every five minutes. I really enjoy the challenge of the game. It is not crazy difficult for no reason. Almost every death felt earned and a learning lesson. The weapons feel much more balanced this time. I could nit pick some things such as a few side characters that were annoying and cringe inducing (there is a teen girl apprentice I wanted to throw out the ships airlock), but overall, I really enjoyed this game and did think it was the best in the series yet.
This is the best Atelier game ever made. There is so much to do and see and synthesize. The battle system has evolved into a fully fledged combat system that is better than most of the JRPG games I have played - in fact I think this is one of the best JRPG games I have ever played. I enjoyed the characters as they all have depth and are not just one-dimensional. The whole world, lore, and characters feel fleshed out. There are so many cut scenes and side quests that help create a deeper enjoyment and understanding of the characters. I just wished I could speak Japanese - I must have read a novel worth of text in this game! It was worth it, though. The writing can be a bit too westernized at times, with characters using colloquial slang that only upper middle-class Valley girls would use, but is very intelligent 95% of the time. The story is pretty original and very fun. The whole game has a nice laid back, casual feel. Though, I did get killed a few times by strong bosses so the game can be challenging at times. The world is very nice and has a ton of environments to check out. I spent over a hundred hours on this game and still haven't seen all the locations. You really get your money's worth here. I highly suggest this game to anyone who is a fan of RPG's and looking for a casual, laid back game with some challenging moments and a fun story and characters. However, I highly suggest playing the first two games in the series. The story is new, but there are so many characters from the previous games and references to them that they do feel mandatory. Luckily, the first two games are fun as well, but Atelier Ryza 3 is the best Atelier game I have ever played.
Aside from missing some quality of life features and some mechanics not mattering, I don’t have much to criticize as the game is very charming. If you are someone who has enjoyed the Atelier series, card games, and/or dating sims that are very well written with fun characters and gameplay mechanics, I would recommend checking out Potionomics. What stood out the most had to be the writing. I am a retired sociology professor and this game felt like it was written by fellow social scientists. I have never heard a game bring up concepts such as decision fatigue and impostor syndrome before. The characters' discussions of economics and financial structures was very fun. I was half expecting them to start discussing conspicuous consumption and Marx's observations of utility and materialism of goods. It is like the writers understand about living in a neoliberal globalized market with little to no government regulation over the free market. But the best part has to be that the game’s writing is not woke! While there are LGBTQ aspects, no groups of people or cultures are tokenized and stereotyped just to check off some box for inclusion like you see in current year Disney, Marvel, Pixar, BBC, and the CW. No one is belittled and ridiculed due to gender or ethnicity like Luke Skywalker in the Disney Trilogy. Instead, the characters feel like real people interacting, but more flamboyant. There are no Mary-Sue’s who are instantly good at everything and always right like you see in Rings of Power, Disney Star Wars, or Captain Marvel. Instead, the game's writing focuses on the importance of believing in yourself, culture, society, and friendship. Characters actually have flaws and depth. The best way to put it is if you enjoy The Orville and Cobra Kai, you will enjoy Potionomics; If you enjoy Disney Star Wars and Amazon’s Rings of Power, you will hate this game.
I do like this game and it can get very addicting. I think it may be better to wait until the game goes on sale. At the time of this writing, I have experienced multiple slowdowns and lag. There were a few times when certain functions would just stop working and would need to restart the game. My biggest complaint about the game is the need to rely on external resources to understand how to play it. An in-depth story driven campaign would help so much to teach Dwarf Fortress to new players. Instead you have to figure out everything on your own. It would not be that bad but the game is horrible at providing detailed information that actually helps in resolving problems that arise in your fort. For example, I was about four hours into a new fort (with twenty hours of overall game experience) when all of a sudden my dwarves stopped brewing drinks, even though I had hundreds of seeds and plants, with a large cavern farm and ensuring none of the mushrooms were being made for food and had plenty of barrels. It would have really helped to have had an AI assistant or in-depth encyclopedia that could have helped identify the problem. Am I losing because of a bug or something I don’t understand? I don't mind losing, but do dislike losing when not knowing how to access the information needed to fix the problem. The devs should check out games like Civ VI and its Civilpedia for in-game help, along with the optional guide AI character that will assist you in the game. Adding those types of features would go a long way with understanding the complexity of the game. Half my game time is me pausing to look up stuff on the wiki or youtube. There are just so many things you are left guessing about. I want to be able to click on an item and have a page show up like in Civ Vi and let me know about the item and how it's used. I would love to see a customizable AI assistant that warns you about problems and strategies to alleviate them. I would say it is fun and addicting but not accessible; it is a very niche game. There is nothing wrong with that but do think it will turn off quite a few casual gamers. You just have to view looking up guides half the time as part of the fun, I suppose (I don’t; I want the game to teach me how to play). I do enjoy playing the game and think it is worth trying out; I just think it may be better to wait a year and when it is on sale for about fifteen or twenty bucks. By then, there should be much more content and patches provided for the game to make it worth the price tag. I really do enjoy Dwarf Fortress, despite its flaws and lack of polish. I hope in a year or two I am able to come back to increase my rating of this game, but for now, 7/10.
Now this is a Pokémon game! Just picked this up a week ago instead of Scarlet and Violet due to their graphical and performance problems. I am happy I did, this is one of the best Pokémon games I have ever played! It has been hard to put down. How did they go from this well polished game to Scarlet and Violet that barely runs and looks like garbage? What a downgrade! It is not a perfect game, but it sure is fun. I love that you can see the Pokémon in the overworld and can battle right there; it makes the gameplay very fluid. I like that when traveling around your human character can be attacked by Pokémon and takes damage as it makes it feel more realistic (these are supposed to be wild animals after all). It also has one of the better stories in the Pokémon series; in fact, it might be my personal favorite. I actually remember the characters' names and their motives in this one! It is fun to do the side-quests to meet new people, Pokémon, and learn more about the game lore. Few of the side-quests are too time consuming and didn't complete them but that is my only real complaint about the game. I did think the purple shadow textures look off, but it is not that big of a deal, it just shows the skill and education limits of the game designers more than anything. I really like the pasture your Pokémon are kept in. It is neat to walk by it and see some of the different ones you have collected. I also like the Feudal Japan style, it really works well. And I have to say, the amount of clothing and hair options is the best I think I have ever seen in Pokémon. This game has a couple flaws but no game is perfect and the good more than outweighs the bad. It is like the game designers actually tried to make something fans of Pokémon would love instead of a soulless cash-grab like Scarlet and Violet. Seriously, skip Scarlet and Violet, vote with your wallet and pick this game up. It is pretty much what a Pokémon game should be.
I love the first two games; this feels almost nothing like them. It’s like I am playing Avengers mixed with Godzilla rather than Bayonetta. Nothing in this game feels original. Instead, it's like they ripped off a bunch of action movies. The story is abysmal. It makes no sense in terms of the universe the past two Bayonetta games set up. Where in the first two games, the story was an integral part of the gaming experience, you can tell the story was an afterthought and is only there to set up a bunch of gimmicky fights. Every five minutes they have you doing some weird mini game. No joke, at one point I had to play a version of rock-paper-scissors. I loved the fight mechanics in the first two games, but just like the story, game-play refinement took a backseat to gimmicky action scenes. Instead of quality story writing, we get big explosions and Kaiju. While I think the music is fine and there were no bugs or glitches that I encountered, the game design itself is subpar. All the levels feel empty and soulless. You will see land in the distance, thinking you can jump there, just to have the game force you back to where you were and penalize you by damaging you. You get penalized in this game for trying to explore. The the scale of enemies and the camera rotation will get you damaged if not outright killed now and again – it is not terrible but frustrating. I never had this problem in the first two games. And I have to say, the English voice acting for a new girl in the game is horrible! I had to mention her because it is the first thing you hear in the game and throughout. It's like nails on a chalk board. Gimmicky fights, cheap deaths, poor level design, bad voice acting (except from the main cast, their still good), and a dreadful story. I was so excited for a new Bayonetta game but instead it feels like I am playing a bad action movie with a paper-thin plot. It's all about explosions and giant monsters with this game. I don’t know what happened behind the scenes to make them choose this direction for Bayonetta, but whoever was in charge, I really hope they have been let go and are no longer working with the company. This is barely Bayonetta. This is a sad day as I cannot recommend Bayonetta 3. Skip this game; don’t end up depressed, let down, and out $60, like I am.
