This game is quite interesting, one of the most experimental and unique Pokemon games in years. However, numerous issues and setbacks stop this game from being great. The graphics are the elephant in the room. Graphics are not what I play pokemon for, but I think the low quality did take me out of the immersion a number of times. The shift to real time battles and city-themed open world seem refreshing at first, but neither are handled well. Since battles are so fast-paced, the usual sense of strategy is replaced with “press as many buttons as you can in succession” and attacks can often miss for no reason or get blocked by level geometry. The open world is just not very interesting; it’s the same copy paste buildings stretched over a moderately large area. The only movement options you have are running and rolling, so towards the end I just opted to fast travel everywhere, a big sign to me that the world is lacklustre. The one redeeming quality of the game is the characters and story. I thought the story was very unique and the characters were overall likeable. It is a shame that the game takes so long to introduce these elements though. After having played Legends Arceus, I was excited to give this game a try, but a unique set piece and story couldn’t make up for the mediocre gameplay.
Echoes of Wisdom is a pretty decent game. I was initially sceptical of the echo mechanic, which allows the protagonist Zelda to summon monsters and objects into the world to solve puzzles and for combat, and though it does fumble this mechanic in some respects, other aspects of the game make up for it. I really enjoyed the story in this game including the characters and lore implications. The game has quite a bit of openness, but enough linearity so as to support an actual story. There is quite a bit of good optional side content here too and quite a few compelling collectibles, including all the summonable "echoes". The echo mechanic is unfortunately quite a weak mechanic. Most of combat revolves around summoning a monster echo and waiting for it to dispatch your enemy, then summoning a bed echo to heal the damage. Not very challenging or exciting. The puzzles are a bit better, but I found I used the same echoes to solve a lot of the platforming problems which is also a bit boring. I did like the dungeons overall and they are more reminiscent of classic Zelda dungeons. All in all, I had a good time with this game.
The sequel to Aria of Sorrow, Dawn of Sorrow builds upon what made its predecessor great to make an arguably even better game. The Tactical Souls from the previous game are back, and they're just as cool. The map is also well designed and I appreciated that the setting wasn't the usual Dracula's Castle (though it basically looks the same and has the usual Castlevania enemies in it). The supporting cast from Aria is back and it's nice to see the characters fleshed out a bit more. I thought the writing in this game was a great improvement over its predecessor and made me appreciate the characters more. I especially liked the optional dialogue from Yoko and Hammer. The bosses are all really fun and somehow seem to "fit" with where you fight them in the castle. There's a cool weapon upgrade system and even a story-relevant alternate mode. One point of contention with the fanbase seems to be the switch-up to a more generic anime art style, though I personally liked the new art style. Some people also don't like the seals. Basically you are required to draw a glyph with the stylus (or input a button sequence in the Dominus Collection) like a QTE to defeat bosses. However, since Castlevania bosses are more about learning attack cycles and timings, it's not too punishing to miss a seal in my opinion, and it feels quite rewarding to perfectly execute a seal when on your first try of a boss. My only complaint is that the character moves a bit slow sometimes, and some aspects later in the game are a bit grindy. On a final note, Castlevania soundtracks are often great, but this game's soundtrack was exceptionally good.
Probably the best of the three GBA Castlevania games, Aria of Sorrow makes itself stand out from other titles by being set in the future. Though the story is pretty basic, it does just enough to stand out amongst other Castlevania games. I think I liked the map in this game a bit more than the previous GBA entries. Also, this game removes the usual sub weapons and replaces them with "Tactical Souls". Upon defeating an enemy, there is a chance it will drop its soul. This soul can later be "equipped" to perform an attack or action associated with the enemy. This can allow for quite a variety of gameplay styles. There isn't much this game gets wrong. I didn't attempt to collect all the souls but I can imagine it being tedious with the enemy farming. Also the English writing is pretty awful... but this didn't impact my enjoyment other than slight amusement as to what the characters were saying. All in all an excellent entry!
Ori and the Blind Forest is a perfectly fine game. It's a metroidvania action game with a unique naturalistic art style. The controls feel pretty good and the map is well designed. The game doesn't commit any major sins, but it can feel a bit mediocre at times. The themed dungeons feel well designed and fun to play through and I liked that the parry mechanic can give Ori an extra boost to reach places. Also the escape sequences provide some of the best and most cinematic gameplay moments in my opinion. The art style is probably the game's biggest selling point. The problem with the art style is that it is sometimes hard to see spikes and some enemies and projectiles as they have a tendency to blend into the background or be obscured by the foreground. This coupled with the games manual saving mechanic can lead to some frustrating deaths. The story is just kinda there... I don't know, I was expecting a bit more. I did enjoy my time with Ori and the Blind Forest, but I can't help but feel as though the developers could have taken things a little further.
This game is a lot better than I initially thought it would be. The characters and story are the main highlight to me, the premise of the world in the sky is a really interesting one and the characters really grew on me over the course of the game. The story has some great story beats and is very well written. The battles are turn based, which isn't a problem for me, but it does slow down the game as some of the attack animations can be quite lengthy. Some of them are skippable, but not all of them... Maybe this game would be a 10 if you played this game on an emulator with a speed up function for battles. To be fair though, the animations are very impressive for the time period and the remake does apparently have quicker load times, though I cannot verify this on Dreamcast. I would really recommend this game regardless as I had so much fun with it!
The sequel to Pokemon Colosseum has many much needed improvements, making it the better of the two Gamecube pokemon games. Almost everything has been streamlined here. Shadow pokemon are not completely useless beasts with one boring move but are now much more interesting gameplay-wise. Purifying them has been made easier and less tedious, especially with the new purification chamber. Pokemon catch rates have also been adjusted to make catching them less annoying. The task of purifying each pokemon is still challenging, but seems much more manageable. I also feel that this game just looks better than Colosseum. The game is challenging, but nowhere near the scale of Colosseum, which I think will disappoint some people looking for a challenge. Also this game plays it a bit too safe and lacks some of the edginess of Colosseum. Ultimately this is a much more polished experience, but the game isn't trying to push any boundaries. However, since this game addressed almost every issue I had with Colosseum, it easily gets away with it.
The first 3D Pokemon game, and admittedly, it was pretty average. I like that this game goes a different route to most pokemon games. Firstly, your character isn't the usual 10 year old blank slate character, but is immediately revealed to have backstory. There are no wild pokemon encounters, and new pokemon are obtained by stealing and purifying other trainers infected "Shadow Pokemon". These aspects are really good concepts, and really help to make the game feel unique. I really like these ideas, but they are not explored as much as I'd have liked. If there is one word to sum up my experience with this game it would be "tedious". Catching pokemon is tedious, purifying them is tedious, levelling up is tedious. The difficulty of the game means a massive grind is required, especially towards the end. I initially wanted to capture and purify every shadow pokemon, but I gave up interacting with the shadow mechanic about half way through the playthrough. The animations in this game are really nice, especially compared to newer pokemon titles, but they do slow the game down a bit. As is obligatory to say, the soundtrack is amazing. Overall this game is a bit of a frustrating one. The pieces are there, but the execution is not. I'd recommend giving this game a go if you want a challenge as it is quite refreshing.
This review is probably biased, but I really love this game. This is a life simulation game, where you watch an island of Miis interact with each other. You solve their problems and get items or money to spend on items in return. At it's core, this is a game about keeping your Miis happy and collecting things. The game is not without problems however. The game can be a too bit simplistic, every problem can be solved within seconds. Also, Miis can't have gay relationships, which feels like a massive misstep, especially as the game encourages you to make the first Mii a lookalike of yourself. This means some people will not be able to play the game authentically. However, the game is so charming, it really makes up for this massive shortcoming in my eyes. I love that the Miis will show different emotions in response to things. They will be angry after a fight, sad after a rejection or breakup, happy after making a new friend etc. I think this game helped me manage my own emotions somewhat. Finally, I love the music and the general vibes of the game. I like that you can visit places like the beach, even when no-one is there and it will say "There seems to be nobody here now...". Most games would just grey out the option. Needless to say, I feel this game is overlooked. I hope they release a sequel someday.
After being initially sceptical, Side Order is probably one of the best directions Nintendo could have taken for Splatoon 3's DLC single player campaign. Being able to customise your own overpowered weapon using lots of little enhancements makes the campaign very replayable and it is fun to just toy around with changing the weapons stats. The aesthetics of the game are also really good and there is a consistent vibe. A few minor complaints prevent this from reach a 10 however. Losing midway through means having to restart the whole run, which can be a little demotivating, especially when starting out and you don't have many hacks active. There is a bit of a lack of variety when it comes to the enemies, bosses and enhancements. Also the story feels less cinematic and impactful than Splatoon 2's DLC Octo Expansion. Overall, a very good roguelite experience and great addition to the Splatoon series.
Metroid Dread is a game of moderately high highs but unfortunately pretty depressing lows. By far the best part of the game was how it feels to move. Samus controls very well and new additions such as the slide and dash really help the gameplay feel fluid. She is also very fast making backtracking for items feel less annoying. Also, the graphics were pretty and I liked the cutscenes. Unfortunately, there are many things that brought down the experience for me. The game is very linear, not in itself bad, but there weren't really enough story beats to justify the linearity and I would have rather have to figure things out for myself more like in Super Metroid. The EMMI encounters are one of the worst things I've experienced in a while. In certain areas on the map, robots called EMMI can track your movement and if they find you it's GG. There are supposed to be ways to evade them, but sometimes the EMMI will just walk into you anyway triggering the game-over cutscene. You can counter them, but I could never do so consistently. The EMMI zones also look the same which leads to great swathes of the map lacking identity and feeling homogenous. The game did improve as I got further into it, though some mini bosses seemed to get repeated a few too many times. I think there is a lot for the game developers to learn from this game, but I hope they can make more 2D Metroid games in the future.
Celeste seems to have somewhat of a marmite quality. The game is a solidly designed, difficult precision platformer. The story, theming and music is what elevates this game for me however. The story follows Madeline as she climbs a mountain in order to confront her mental health problems. The game effortlessly combines its varied gameplay mechanics with its theming. The wind blowing against you is a metaphor for Madeline's mental anguish, the more maze-like levels designed to give you a sense of claustrophobia, a chase sequence involving your own shadow etc. I also found Madeline very relatable personally. These are the aspects that make me love this game, but if they don't appeal to you, there is still a great platformer game to be enjoyed here.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder gets most of the basics right. The level design is great. The enemies are varied and interesting. The music, sound and art design is impeccable. The main gimmick, the wonder flower, makes each level feel unique and memorable. It's really a great game.
This was a obviously a project of passion to try to breathe new life into 2D Mario. However, the game is a little on the easy side which makes it quite short. I felt like the badge system was handled poorly, the challenge stages that required you to use a certain badge felt a bit like padding to make the worlds feel more full than they otherwise would have done. If they had been more fleshed out, this game would have easily reached a 10.
Two amazing Castlevania games but a pretty lacklustre package. It is unfortunate that there is no additional artwork as there are in other Castlevania collections. Also these are ports of the PSP versions which I didn't personally mind in the end, but these were clearly the less popular versions amongst fans. Fortunately, that is where my complaints end. The games are amazingly well designed and have stood the test of time. I was initially torn over getting this game as I wasn't sure if this was version of Symphony of the Night was the "definitive" version or not, but ultimately I'm glad I played it here. If you just want to experience either of these games on modern hardware and don't mind the lack of bonus features, this is the game for you.
An amazing experience from start to finish. The space station setting and overarching narrative really add to the horror atmosphere that Metroid is known for. The effect of this is that the game is quite linear, which is bound to put some off, but it also meant minimal backtracking which I was grateful for and the game really opens up and encourages exploration towards the end. Movement and animations feel really smooth. Bosses can be harsh, but fair. It is impressive that this is a GBA game as it is console quality. My only complaint is that it is very short but I'd rather that than for it to have been unnecessarily padded.
An ok follow-up to Circle of the Moon, the game has its highs, lows and mixed opinions. I loved the brightened graphics which gives the game some much needed character, though I know they can be pretty divisive. Improved graphics seemed to come at the expense of the soundtrack, which can feel monotonous at times. The combat also felt improved and the bosses were the highlight of the game for me. The main problem is the backtracking. Save points and warp points are scarce so you'd better prepare to return to the same point to heal again... and again... and again. It's also too easy to get lost and not know how to proceed which I'm sure some will like, but I was not a fan. Overall a good game though, with some good pacing and nice sense of completion when you're finished, if not for its few glaring weaknesses.
This is the game which has the most hours played on my Switch, and for good reason: the core gameplay is so fun. After being somewhat let-down with Splatoon 2, this game has not only surpassed its predecessor, but also overcome my nostalgia for the original title and has become my favourite in the series. This is a result of a series of small, but significant changes across the board, from new movement options in squid roll / squid surge, throwing eggs in Salmon Run, lockers, customisable nametags, being able to do things in the lobby between matches, the list goes on. The main thing that holds this back from a 10 is the netcode which is just unacceptable. Not only are disconnects very common (which almost instantly ruins the experience for everyone involved) but the online tick rate is still only 16Hz, lower than the original's from 2015, which leads to a lot of inherent lag. No-one would accept a game playing at 16 fps, so only updating the packets being sent 16 times a second is not good enough. This is even more problematic given the gameplay is much faster now. All in all, it's easy to overlook the netcode issues when the gameplay is so fun. Even one year on, the game continues with substantial updates and unique events to keep the game feeling fresh. I just hope that in the future, Nintendo can somehow improve the netcode of this game or a future Splatoon instalment.
For a casual run-through, this is a great game. Each area of the map feels unique, and slowly opening up the map and conquering each area feels rewarding. The soundtrack is pretty good and each song fits the area well. The DSS is the highlight, allowing you to give your character a wide variety of buffs in the form of collectible cards which prevents the gameplay from becoming too stale. The main drawback: this game is awful to try to 100% complete. Though I love the DSS, the means of getting some of the cards boils down to farming a certain type of enemy till they drop the desired card. This **** any sense of immersion as the game basically invites you to exploit the enemy spawning system. Some enemies are even hidden away in one room on the entire map. It's a shame as the system adds so much to the gameplay, but it might as well not be here if half the power ups are not accessible without a guide. Nonetheless, this is a great GBA title. The fact that I tried so hard to get as many of the cards as I could, despite the mundaneness of the tasks, is a testament to how good the core gameplay is.
This is a great game, the sense of adventure and freedom from BotW, its predecessor, is back, now with even more things to explore and collect. However the reused map and many of the same reused RPG mechanics mean that the game can feel very iterative and a bit disappointing if you're expecting a fresh take on the Zelda formula like BotW was. Luckily, it iterates from an already great game. Good points: - The world in general is just fun to wander round and explore - Caves are a great addition to spice up the overworld - Runes make combat and exploration more fun as you can now make your own weapons and vehicles. - The sky is pretty good and the overworld shrine quests are fun - The story is overall an improvement (and I thought BotW already had a decent story) Bad Points: - Too much of the game feels reused from BotW which really hampers the exploration - Having to fuse things to your weapons / arrows every time to make them useful gets tedious over time, especially with the game's durability system. You can't fuse items in the inventory and have to activate the rune in the overworld which is just baffling. - The depths are just ok. They feel pretty empty compared to the rest of the game.
A great game from start to finish. They really nailed all the interactions that the cat can have with the environment including knocking things off ledges, scratching carpets and furniture etc. The gameplay feels really natural as well, and it changes slightly from chapter to chapter giving each section it's own character. There is no padding or time-wasting whatsoever meaning that the game is short but replayable. Only issues I had: a few graphical issues here and there, somewhat excusable for a game with so many assets but did seem odd when they arose. Also, you can basically only jump when you get close enough to a ledge and see the on screen prompt to press the button. This made the game feel more restrictive than it should. That said, it is still a lot of fun to explore the world and see how far you can go.
