Finally dusted off my Wii U to play this. Wanted to finish the last Xenoblade game I've yet to play. And overall, I had a pretty great time. It has its issues, the side quests are as bad as always with not much meaningful or interesting story content to be gleamed with annoying dialogue I always skip. And the game does a poor job encouraging trying other characters due to lack of XP share and small gains with class XP for your main character. But the base combat system is awesome, overdrive is amazing once you master it. Just play as Elma the entire game and you are in for a fun time. The open world is great, the probes encourage wide exploration and the 5 unique zones feel pretty dense and varied. Story was a tad forgettable but not bad, it had characters I liked like Elma and the ending was certainly intriguing. I hope it gets a followup and a rerelease on Switch.

I think it's pretty obvious the writers of this game were inspired by the Persona stories. And while I dont think it comes close to those... for what it is I did like the story and characters for the most part... There were characters I hated for most of the game like Asahi and Toki but then there were the best boys Gaston and Hallelujah. The character development could have used more screen time however they probably didnt want too many cutscenes as SMT tends to be more gameplay focused over Persona. Overall I liked the cast and how varied they were in their backgrounds and personalities but it could've been better. Hearing Asahi and Toki fight to simp over the main character was just so cringe, I dont really like how Toki went from a badass child assassin to... whatever she ended up becoming. I loved Dadga, he's really cool and I love the philosophy he holds in contrast with the "power of friendship" theme the group cast had. I also think all the background lore and how it's expanded from 4 is really sick even if I didnt understand all of it. The story was definitely mixed at times but it had enough stand out moments for me to consider it better than most game stories. And I really did love the ending, it felt satisfying after the climax of fighting Yhvh with Flynn and the original cast from SMT 4. It wrapped everything up perfectly and it was just so sweet seeing a happy ending. Gameplay was about as good as 4 it's just a bit easier, but smirking feels less random and the addition of proper partners that feels like a proper mechanic you have to account for and not just a random annoyance like in 4 certainly makes the battle system to me better. The only problem with the gameplay is the final 2 dungeons which drag on for way too long... other than that though it was great.

Its a solid 2D platformer with decent level design and a good moveset. It's not on the level of something like Tropical Freeze because it's missing that extra layer of Nintendo polish but it was enjoyable. The ideas in this game are innovative for the genre like how effecting the overworld can create alternate levels. It had cool ideas. Didnt like the final level very much, precise platforming with janky hurt boxes from spikes and enemies was just not a fun time. Felt like it went against what made this game fun by making you play extremely slow and safe. It's like those slow levels in Sonic 1 you really hate but 10x worse but I got through it with 34 bees. Cool idea for a final level but it needed work.

Its a pretty solid fire emblem game overall. A bit on the easy and simple side but it was still pretty engaging on most maps. I like how units dying permanently doesnt feel like the end of the world as you're constantly getting new units so I never reset maps on this playthrough. So the playthrough felt very organic. The story really isnt all that present but since its a remake of a NES game I'll give it a pass. Although saying that Fire Emblem Echoes is also a NES remake but I love that story... Yeah they could've done better I suppose but I didnt care too much tbh

This update has a lot of people heated but honestly I enjoyed it a ton. For the most part I loved how hard it was, after years of easy as piss Sonic games I finally had the challenge I've been missing since Sonic Unleashed's DLC stages. The playable characters were super fun and unique besides Knuckles. He was alright but his gliding was sucky. He got his 06 moveset back lol. But I loved Amy and Tails, especially Amy who I might prefer playing over Sonic honestly. The story didnt blow my mind or anything until the final boss. When that cutscene played I felt like I was a kid again playing the Unleashed final boss for the first time, that shit was magical. While it has a lot of jank at times and sometimes didnt even feel playtested, this was some of the most fun I've had all year. I really hope they patch this so more people can enjoy it as much as me.

This game is humble like the other FromSoftWare games I've played but it's probably my least favorite out of the others. The areas are peak to explore and are expertly designed, the aesthetic and atmosphere is awesome and the boss fights are solid. I call them solid because I'm not really a fan of beast fights compared to humanoid fights because the camera can be a hinderance sometimes and some attacks are "hard to see" because beast bosses tend to just spam out hitboxes a lot and thrash about. They were fine but I definitely prefer the fights like Ghermen or Gascoignes first phase. And the biggest problem with this game is the healing mechanic. It sucks. I spent 1/4 of my 20 hour playtime grinding for blood vials. Thats bad. I've never grinded in any FromSoft game before but this game punishes you for dying and retrying on bosses by dwindling your bullets and blood vials. It's a dumb decision and I'm glad they went back to Estus after this game. Punishing you for retrying bosses literally goes against FromSoftWares philosophy, it's why the hollow mechanic from DS2 is stupid aswell but at least you have the ring of binding to make that not a problem. If this game ever got rereleased I hope they fix the healing system because if they did I'd enjoy it way more. As it is I still had a great time though.

Despite being an inconsistent experience from start to finish it is an experience worth playing and has gameplay systems that are both innovative and genre defining. I just wish the the Sky Islands, Depths and Caves were actually good along with the temples. And I wished they fixed the healing system. This was definetly not worth the wait at all, as it didnt change enough along with having compromises that shouldnt exist for a wait this long, but I still had a load of fun and I dont regret playing this at all. The abilities and shrines are peak, the physics system is fun to mess around with and exploit. It was a blast overall! Especially the final boss. Thats how you do a final boss Nintendo.

I've finally beaten all of the Inazuma games and I think this is probably one of the best. Easily top 3 in the franchise. The premise is about as crazy as Chrono Stones and honestly I kind of love how wild it is. I prefer it to the grounded approach of a typically tournament arc. Soccer space wars is just such an inherently entertaining premise, you dont ever see anything like it. The premise is out there but the character writing is pretty great, the cast of characters are so unique and go through pretty good arcs. Falco was probably my favorite. The gameplay is about as good as Chrono Stones but I dont like the scouting system and multiple currencies stuff. Makes scouting way less fun. Other than that though, this game is a banger. A shame it never came to the west but the fan patch is top notch, well done to whoever did that.

Spike games tend to get memed on a lot but I've been steadfast in my enjoyment of the games. Danganronpa and the Ai games have always engaged me so this was a must buy for me. And for the most part it lived up to my expectations.

I do think the gameplay is a step down from Danganronpa, there were a lot of empty walking sections and the mini games werent as fun as they either relied on quick time events or the sword mini game which feels like a step down from the truth bullet minigame from Danganronpa. It need improving but it did just enough to serve as a vessel for presenting the mysteries...

Speaking of the mysteries, they were just as fantastic as the other Spike games. These are some of the best written mysteries to witness in the business. Even the weakest one Chapter 3 was still fun and engaging to figure out. And chapter 5 gets NUTS with the revelations. The characters were some of my favorites too, I loved the detective cast as they felt well balanced and the final villain was easily the best written villain from Spike. They were peak. I didnt like Shinigami too much. She was funny but I didnt like the way she ruthlessly kills people without remorse so I found it hard to root for her. Maybe thats a me problem. Despite that I enjoyed the cast and the story as a whole. If you like the previous games you'd like this one too.

This game is controversial in a lot of ways. A lot hate it, I went into it with an open mind and honestly I dont get why people despise this game so much. I get a lot of the hate comes from the Scholar version but for the most part the original vision seems really engaging to me. Sure adaptability is annoying early game but I knew to invest in that, I can see this game being a hellish experience if you dont level that up so I would understand a person hating this game if they didnt level it up.

I found the areas and normal enemy encounters super engaging. This game does multi enemy fights really well, it thrives at it. Normally in a Souls game I would ignore most basic enemies as they dont feel very fun to fight besides Sekiro but here for the most part I tackled a lot of them. There were some HORRIBLE areas like the Shrine of Amana, but tbh most FromSoft games have that area I despise like the Rot Lake from Elden Ring or the Farum Keep from DS3.

While boss fights are on the easier side, I still found them to be super engaging and satisfying, they have a lot of humanoid knight bosses which I enjoy fighting. They also do a lot of multi enemy boss fights which I hate normally but here I liked them a lot. Like the Ruin Sentinels or the Throne Watchers.

I did the DLC which I've reviewed but to keep it brief I enjoyed them a lot besides the Sunken King. As for the story like all other Fromsoft games I didnt care one bit about the world or characters, I did enjoy their company but as for the lore and stuff, I didnt care at all. These stories will never be for me, and thats fine.

If there is one thing to take away from this review, avoid Scholar like the plague and play the original vision that was meant to be a fair and balanced experience. Only play Scholar after this version.

This is probably the best DLC for Dark Souls 2 I've played yet. I think the area you explore looks amazing visually, it can be stunning. And I think the exploration is decent. I do think the enemies are a bit annoying though like the Sonic The Hedgehog clones or the stronger crystal guys with shields but running away is viable most of the time. The final boss elevated this DLC quite highly, was the hardest boss yet. Finding the knights was a cool gimmick but even with them it is hard. It's a fun multi wave fight at the start followed by a great bout against the King. Playing well in the first phase makes the second phase much easier so high aggression is encouraged. It's a really well designed fight all around, took me most of my playtime to beat that one boss compared to exploring the area lol.