Welcome to the world of Pokemon!!!! :D
Things sure haven't been the same since your dad died...

those two lines are moments a part and should tell you everything you need to know about this game's writing and I won't go further on about it.

This game was originally made by Koolboyman, better known as Strawberry Clock, so that still makes me have huge respect for it.Trainer customization in Gen 2 is impressive, and far better than Game Freak's offerings on the matter. Probably the best customization I've seen in a Pokemon game and one of the better ones in games overall, even moreso that it was put on a gameboy color cartridge.

The game itself is alright though. It has neat ideas like a few sections where you play as the Pokemon. Your starter is Larvitar which does take away some replayability since you lack choice. It has some neat ideas like adoption but then again progression really doesn't make much sense and I had to check a guide a few times to see where to go despite talking to NPCs.

Game balance is...let's just say I solo'd the second half of the game (excluding one gym because it's designed that way) including the Elite Four with a level 85 Azumarill. That I caught as a Marill on the second route. Nicely done. The exception is a poorly designed gym that takes away your Pokemon and gives you back your weakest ones first...but good luck if your two weakest team members struggle against Fire, because you're gonna be there for a while...should have thought that one through better.

Music is mostly from other Pokemon games so no notes there.

It's got ideas it just needs a better game itself to flesh it out, but I won't deny there being some parts of SBC's game that I did indeed enjoy. But if he worked on this for 8 years and then got a C&D that's a huge kick in the teeth.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

Quick Review
8.5 - EXCELLENT | Played: 2021 | Playtime: ~25hrs

+ Timed Command Actions not over-done
+ Comedic beats in a light hearted story
+ Square's original characters are fun with interesting designs
+ Game length isn't too long - well paced
+ Difficulty feels mostly balanced without the need for much grinding

/ A handful of dispersed mini-games where some can be fun- others not so much
/ Character designs are nice but environments feel lackluster even for it's time

- Fixed isometric camera leads to frustrating platforming
- Weapon and armour selection is linear
- One hit kill moves will always suck (ESPECIALLY in boss fights)

Dark Devotion is the debut game from French developers Hibernian Studios. It is a Souls-like, Metroidvania, Roguelike with strong religious themes much like Blasphemous. You play as a female Templar exploring a fallen temple in search for answers about the truth of her religion and the god she worships.

I'm a big fan of the Metroidvania, Souls-like and Roguelike genres of games so I figured this would be up my alley, but it's just not a good game, I wish it was, but it isn't.

I played all the way through the 10 hour story and honestly didn't have much fun with the game at all. The religious themed lore is pretty cool and interesting and the way it tackles theology is unique, the praying/using faith as a currency to heal, open locked areas, remove curses etc is also cool and there's a few well designed bosses, but those are pretty much the only positives I can give the game.

The negatives far outweigh the positives because the controls and combat feel very clunky, the hitboxes are incredibly inconsistent, there's an RPG-like attack miss % mechanic and it's so infuriating (Who the hell thought that was a good idea in a Souls-like?), the way the dialog appears is weird and slow (Even when you hold the interact button to make it scroll faster), there's a lot of artificial difficulty and poorly placed traps in the level design (Which is very forgettable by the way), the roguelike elements are very barebones and hinder the gameplay more than anything else, tons of the weapons that provide "build variety" are just downright useless, so are most of the skills you unlock, there's no leveling or stat increases aside from with equipment. Every time you die going back to the blacksmith to get equipment you previously unlocked was also tedious and annoying.

Overall there's just so many design choices that clash with others in this game and I feel like it tries to blend too many elements of different genres together and the team just didn't know how to do it in a good way, it's unfortunate because there is potential here for something good, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired.