Beyond Good & Evil is one those titles that has been known and acclaimed for years as a cult classic despite not many people played it.

Being designed and directed by Michel Ancel, it carries a LOT of the elements that makes titles like Rayman 2 special. But also features a lot of thingsthat make it stand out compared to these other works.

It presents a grim but also enthrilling world, with really charming main and side characters and a narrative revolved around the struggle for survival against a menace from space.

It has a gameplay involved about combat, puzzle-solving and exploration that combines so many gimmicks and events that make it a really experimental title for its time, even if the often stiffness of the controls and the janky camera plays against it sometimes.

The open world aspect of it also makes it stand out, as you are free to explore this distopic land alo with the use of various vehicles.

It does a lot of thing and experiments with a lot of assets... sometimes those gimmicks feels undercooked, but still lead to a great experience that never bores you.

Give it a shot, it's a really cool underrated gem!

WInd waker is an interesting title, even by Zelda standards.

It features an incredible artstyle that is unique and charming to this day, but that also is so different from the rest of the Zelda franchises that at the time lead to a lot of backlash from older fans.

It's gameplay sacrificed the large natural landscapes of the past titles in favor of water..... ltons and tons of water, that for many may result harsh to explore and return to, especially in later sections of the game.

It's existence in the Zelda timeline kind of implies that your actions in Ocarina of TIme didn't really lead to the happiest of endings, which is funny but also kinda weird to think about (still, the Zelda timeline is kinda stupid, but I digress...).

Still, the good things that Wind Waker does really makes it stand out, and turn it into one of my favorite adventure games ever.

It features a simple story premise, but leads to a memorable bunch of side characters and stories, and I will argue the best Link, Zelda and Ganondorf in the entire series (NO I WON'T TAKE THAT BACK).

The exploration of the Great Sea may make you feel lost sometimes... but that is also the charm of it. You really feel like you are on an adventure to the unknown, where every smaller discovery feels magical and thrilling.

It has some of the best dungeon in the series, with some incredible puzzles, set pieces and iconic bosses.

And not just the music, but the SOUND DESIGGN are gonna be stuck in your head for decades (seriously, the snappiness of some of these sound effects are some of the best I have ever listened).

GOtta be honest, it's "just" my second favorite elda title (the gold medal for me goes to Twilight Princess), but ther eis no denying that I love Wind Waker. What a masterful title, that Nintendo should just port back over and over again.

It's so bizzarre how DKC2 is able to remain one of the best 2D platformers to this day.

It's so good that it was alone able to turn what was for all intent and purposes a "DK OC made by Rare" into one of Nintendo's biggest icons, stnaidng out to this day (despite his mixed representations in future titles),

It presents immaculate movement, letting you keep your momentum and enjoy the really creative levels on different paces. And this is even without considering the amount of secrets each level has in terms of collectibles and side modes where you get to play as the Animal Buddies.

In terms of the vibes of the game, I love that Rare made a Rayman 2 approach before Rayman 2: the island you known from the first game has now been taken over by pirates, leading to darker and more menacing environments.
But the game doesn't stop at that: it's still able to present a charm like no other nintendo platformer is able to, with its sharp and humorous writing, the incredible visual characterization of any character and enemy, and an atmosphere that sometimes can feel.... oniric or magical.

The fact that an emotional piece of music like Stickerbush Symphony originates from a 1995 game about silly monkeys and crocodiles is incredible.

My only nitpick with this game is that I feel like the addition of Dixie as the "easier" playable character kind of leave diddy to feel a bit off.

Diddy still controls amazingly, don't get me wrong, but the fact that he is standing next to a character with the ability to hover makes him shine a bit less in my opinion: I kinda wish they added something to his gameplay to compensate for this lack of peculiar ability.

But aside from this weird rant.... yeah DKC2 is a masterpiece: easily the best game in the DK franchise.

So I’ve played this twice, and had VERY different experiences.
The first time was in my first kingdom hearts full series marathon.
It started out great, cool story, but the gameplay was… eh. I liked it, but after a time it got grating. And I made the mistake of watching the Disney world cutscenes.
DO NOT WATCH THE DISNEY WORLD CUTSCENES. THEY ARE LITERALLY JUST THE PLOTS OF THE RESPECTIVE WORLD IN KH1. NEVER WATCH THE DISNEY WORLD CUTSCENES. EVER.
I stopped playing after a while and just watched the cutscenes before moving on to kingdom hearts 2. Didn’t even touch the Riku stuff.
Then I played it again.
On my second kingdom hearts full series (eventually, I stopped in the middle of birth by sleep. I’ll finish eventually!!! Just when I have access to my ps5, so probably in the summer LMAO), I played on regular difficulty, skipped all the Disney cutscenes (but not the other stuff, that’s really good), and pushed through the tedious combat. But then I eventually… started to like it? And then I started to… love it???? Turns out once you get a proper build going, this game’s combat is really fun! It’s just the deck building part I hate. In any case, beat the game, feeling good, I start playing the Riku stuff and FALL IN LOVE. It removes all of the deck building AND DISNEY CUTSCENES. The story is also really cool and I love Riku as a character. Seeing Mickey and Riku becoming besties gives me life.
Anyway, big up this game, it’s good, maybe I’ll play it again sometime. Definitely the marmite of the series though.