Frustrating. It's a beautiful game for sure, and I'm certain in 2013 that would have been an even bigger understatement. That being said, beyond aesthetic improvements, it consistently missed every mark. The changes to weapons, combat, and upgrade systems felt several steps backward as Bioshock 2 essentially hammered out the weak points of the First game. 2 weapons at a time felt awful, and gear felt just as bad.

While Rapture -was- Bioshock 1 and 2, Columbia was just a bunch of forgettable samey setpieces that take a back seat to the story that I found myself wanting to check out from once I hit the 30% mark.

Disappointing.

Captivating and horrifying, worth playing for the story and atmosphere alone given that it's not a massive time commitment. That being said, I found the actual gameplay segments to be the weakest part of the game beyond the first 90 minutes, as fighting waves of the same handful of enemies and repeating variations of the same awkward visual puzzles became super repetitive. It works in some cases, but I found the set pieces and narrative to be hands down the best aspects of the game.

More engaging and intuitive puzzles with more enemy and combat variety will guarantee the sequel to be a home run, assuming it can match this game's narrative strengths.

On one hand, this is the most buttery smooth 3D Mario has ever felt thanks to great controls and near-perfect pacing, while at the same time this is probably the easiest of the 3D entries by a country mile. Yes, I know that post-game challenges and bonuses are there, but the significant ease of the main game all the way to the end minus 2 encounters at the tail end also diminishes a lot of the experience. It felt weird being 6 to 7 hours into the game and feeling like I was still in the first level.

That being said, the game is so easy to jump into and recommend, and is a beautiful love letter to the Mario franchise as a whole, so just play it.

Rapture is amazing as always, though the "been there, done that" feeling can't really be shaken, as the initial awe of taking the place in can't be replicated. The combat improvements, while very noticeable and more than welcome, weren't enough to keep me going at the pace of the original due to the story not being as engaging.

This game -needed-Minerva's Den, while the original is absolute kino as is. In any event, if you think Rapture is the coolest setting ever, there's no reason to not enjoy more of it!

A 5-star game trapped inside of a 2-star game. The actual monster battling, leveling, and synthesizing are phenomenal and offer a lot of depth for dedicated players, but just about every other aspect of the game falls apart in real time, which ultimately diminishes the strengths of the game's core mechanics.

The graphics, while being wildly mediocre at best, are forgivable since everyone knows DQ games are made on a budget of exactly $2.67, are also combined with horrible framerate drops and general choppiness that is impossible to ignore.

The lack of any real world building, side quests, and general overlapping objectives leaves players with a bland narrative that is not presented well or even coherently at all. That being said, if Monster battlers are your thing, you'll enjoy it since the game delivers in that regard, but stay away otherwise.