Zethor

This series has settled into a formula so straightforward and mind-numbingly expected that I can't get excited for any new Monster Hunter game **** it's also Monster Hunter, so that formula happens to be incredibly strong. It's a strong advancement on much of the concepts World introduced, and sits as a great fusion of new and old. The game looks solid (though a bit cluttered with the ridiculous hit effects), and there's plenty to love here. It's still a grindy MMO at heart, but a good one. Pick it up if you already like Monster Hunter, don't if you don't. This game won't change your mind on the series if you already dislike it.

A horrendous remake of an incredible game. Little more to say; the addition of online was a great one, but it came with so many ridiculous conditions that the game, while incredibly fun, came with a plethora of annoyances as well. The free version is also one of the biggest teases I've ever seen. Don't offer a free version that isn't a demo if you're going to make those players able to play almost every main game dungeon, but make them unable to finish the last dungeon with the host. That just ruins the experience for the host and the person playing on the free version. I'd rate this remake even lower if it didn't have such a legitimately good game as its base, with some actually great QOL changes.

A simple port, but with some much appreciated QOL changes to fix the slow pace of battles. FF9 was already a complete package, and now even more so; this game stands as my favorite entry in the series. The battle system is great, the world is lovely, and the story is strong. A few party members are woefully underdeveloped, but the stories of the core group and the villains they face more than make up for it.

Xenoblade 2 retains many of its predecessor's great traits, such as a beautiful open world to explore, and a (mostly) fantastic soundtrack. The combat remains strong, with some major improvements to things such as auto attacks, and major downgrades such as the time-wasting, irritating chain attacks. The mechanic also comes with a great perk in the new overkill feature, which curbs xenoblade chronicles' 1's only notable flaw in forcing exploration for the sake of not having to grind, but also makes the game a bit on the easy side. Overall, I see this as a bit of a sidegrade, and the series retains a similar level of quality here to before. However, the game falls flat on its face in the story, a core element of JRPGs, and delivers a story I'd expect to see out of only the most horrendous anime the world has to offer. It truly feels as though you're playing through something like Sword Art Online, and I detest most of what this story has to offer. There are still some enjoyable characters, but just as many irritating, annoying ones on top of it. Overall, I understand the shift in style, but I feel it to be a bit of a betrayal to those who fell in love with the well-crafted story and incredible characters of the first game. The game's still enjoyable despite this, thankfully, but it serves as a major hit to the game's quality.

A consistently hilarious and entertaining game; Paper Mario: The Origami King starts somewhat slow, but picks up in the second half with gorgeous environments, witty dialogue, and fun boss fights.

A true disappointment ****, Sticker Star fails to realize the aspects that made its series great. It encourages frustrating mechanics paired with trial-and-error boss fights, combined with a complete lack of incentive to fight enemies, uninspired gameplay, and a joke of a story that just leaves the game feeling completely hollow and boring.

What this game lacks in gameplay depth, it makes up for in masterful writing; Super Paper Mario is an enjoyable experience that, while marred by some uninspired or boring areas, is punctuated by the best Mario story the series has seen, paired with a simple but enjoyable style of gameplay, a great soundtrack, and the great wit that the Paper Mario series is well known for.

Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door is everything a faithful sequel should be, taking the concept of the original and expanding on it in a new way that feels both fresh and familiar. The battle system from before has been near-perfected in this entry, alongside a truly unique and memorable world, tied together by the best hub world the Mario series has ever seen. The soundtrack expands on this "fresh and familiar" style by forming a very distinct style for the Mario series that still takes from many of the defining aspects of its home series. This game deserves every bit of respect it gets, and should serve as the gold standard for what a turn-based Mario RPG should be.

While it does not reach the same heights that later entries may reach, Paper Mario's addicting gameplay and great art help it stand out as more than just a Mario spinoff, but as a genuinely great game. It did simplify its battling system a bit from its spiritual predecessor, Super Mario RPG, but it makes up for this with an engrossing badge system that is full of variety for players to play whatever way they want. The story is nothing remarkable, but gets the job done in a simple, satisfying way, and ties everything together properly while not being overly intrusive.

Fall Guys is one of the most thoroughly enjoyable games I've played in recent memory; the premise of a minigame battle royale is a truly great one, and Fall Guys executes this well with surprisingly tight controls and a slew of incredible minigames to take full advantage of this gameplay style. Minigames such as Hex-A-Gone and Slime Climb are incredibly fun with a relatively high skill ceiling, and make for incredibly tense and fun sessions. However, the base roster of minigames is somewhat sparse, and several of them don't reach the same highs as the ones mentioned above, with many of the team minigames and Picture Perfect feeling antithetical to the game's appeal. Still, the majority of the minigames are solid, and even the worst of Fall Guys' games can provide enjoyment and fun memories. As long as Fall Guys' dedicated developers continue to release other strong minigames, this game is sure to keep some staying power and become more than the "flavor of the month" some claim it to be, and I look forward to seeing how they do.

An incredible return to form for Sonic, Sonic Mania stands as the gold standard for everything 2D Sonic should be; a technical 2D platformer with a brutal difficulty curve that rewards good players with an intoxicating sense of speed. The amount of core content here is a little sparse, with the core game easily beatable in just a few hours, but the replayability of it alongside some incredible side modes more than make up for this. The game's beautiful art and soundtrack help the game's spectacle of gameplay shine even brighter, and it serves to make an experience that not only emulates the sonic games of old, but eclipses them in greatness entirely.

Perhaps a bit too traditional for its own good, Dragon Quest XI is an enjoyable game with an interesting story and cast of characters. The game contains a variety of options to allow players to play the way they'd like through its lengthy campaign, but is guilty of forcing some notable amounts of grinding onto the player and draws too heavily from previous games for its music, making its soundtrack (with a few notable exceptions) feel very forgettable or even irritating, a problem that stretches to the world itself by making gorgeous areas, from sandy beaches to deserts to snowy hills, all feel like "more of the same." It's a fun game with a vast amount of content, but one that just feels a bit hollow compared to other JRPGs on the market.

Fire Emblem: Awakening is one of the weakest entries in the series in terms of story and gameplay alike, but is a great starting point for anyone looking to get into the series who isn't particularly experienced in the tactics RPG genre. It lacks substance and I find it difficult to return to after playing other games in the series, but is incredibly accessible and fun despite its flaws, with strong art and music along with a fairly nice presentation.

Super Mario Sunshine's beautiful soundtrack and art bring together a wonderful world, controlled through the most technical, tightest controls the platforming genre has ever seen. The game's 50 required missions are mostly solid, and serve as a strong experience from beginning to end, making this game a joy to replay again and again. However, these required missions do not make up the majority of the game's content, with 70 of the game's shine sprites only describable as padding, with most of them sitting at a much lower standard of quality that does not incentivize 100% completion, neither through the quality of the missions themselves nor the paltry reward one obtains for doing so. As long as one is aware not to bother with these optional missions, then Super Mario Sunshine stands as one of the strongest entries in the series, but if one is not then the quality of the game drops drastically. Since these optional missions are still a part of the experience, however, I have rated the game as a whole, not just the required part.

Batman: Arkham City's somewhat messy story holds it down, but the story's truly impactful moments help it to be memorable and incredible regardless. Paired with an incredible evolution of Arkham Asylum's combat, a more open world to explore, and incredible side content that will keep you preoccupied for dozens of hours, Arkham City stands as a shining example of what open world games should be.

Breath of the Wild is a wonderfully ambitious game with so much to offer, but its ambition often gets in the way of becoming a more well-made game. It is one of the most free games out there supporting so many different playstyles and approaches, yet has baffling decisions that restrict these freedoms. It is a game that respects your time and allows you to ignore key story beats and create your own adventure, yet tries to railroad players into playing through its narrative anyway, causing the game to feel hollow for anyone expecting a game similar to previous zelda titles, as the strong linear dungeon design and memorable plots that define that game are completely absent here. It is a game that tries to present puzzles to the player through its various shrines, only to make these puzzles feel half-baked and incomplete. Breath of the Wild is a game of contradictions; a game that will likely feel middling to those wanting a more traditional Zelda experience. Despite these criticisms, Breath of the Wild is one of the most enjoyable games I've ever played; its weak dungeon design and unmemorable plots make it easy for a player such as myself to simply ignore them and enjoy the freedom the game provides me, the various restrictions on one's freedom such as rain allow me to find new creative ways to find my freedom anyway by using the game's incredibly strong - and at the same time horribly broken - physics, the half-baked puzzles lend themselves to being broken and ignored entirely with enough creativity, with any two trips through many shrines not being the same for me between playthroughs as I slowly learn how to abuse the game's physics more and more to reach the end of these shrines in the strangest, most satisfying ways possible, and for those seeking a more traditional Zelda experience the game still provides an abundance of sidequests that allow my friends who don't have the same outlook as I do to sink 200+ hours into this game in a single playthrough. I myself have done the same, but over multiple playthroughs as I find new ways to bend this game to my will; this game that provides a sense of freedom and satisfaction unlike any other. This isn't even getting into the game's art and music, both of which are absolutely stunning; this game is the best that the Zelda series has ever looked, and the competition for a title like that is strong. This does not mean that the complaints are not warranted. Those complaints are what make this game worthy of a 7, despite my glowing review. But it is because of these complaints that a simple score cannot do this game justice; it may be a horribly flawed game with issues one could talk about for hours, but it's also one of the most ambitious games I've ever played, and is my favorite game currently on either of the consoles this game was released on for that reason.

A great remaster **** game; the mystery dungeon genre has always been niche, but this original entry into the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series proved to be solid upon its release in 2005, and still proves to be a strong example of the genre's strengths today, with several valuable quality of life improvements and a wonderful facelift of audio and visuals alike that lets this game truly shine. Rescue Team DX stands as the best way to play this great game, and serves as a great option for switch owners who enjoy this niche genre.

One of the greatest games I have ever played, reimagined in a beautiful fashion. Numerous quality of life upgrades fix some minor issues from the original alongside an incredible graphical overhaul with a completely fresh, yet familiar rescoring of the gorgeous soundtrack. A few songs proved to be a miss for me, but the vast majority proved to be greatly improved from before. This is truly the definitive way to play Xenoblade Chronicles, a game which I already revered as one of the greatest games of all time prior to this release, and I cannot recommend it enough.