The further I played the less sure I was I finished this as a teenager.
The core gameplay is very fine but if you played any of the following games first, you will miss strafing, it's just that important.
In it's defense this is a pretty unique R&C in that is makes you revisit planets in a light metroidvania sense more than the other games (if you care about that aspect)
At some point in the game, maybe 60 % through it starts hitting you with gauntlets of enemies and it's there where it falls apart for me a bit. This is not a combat game to me, it's a platformer with combat segments and it really excels there. I think in some ways the last few levels remind me of the 2nd game a bit but it introduced strafing so you can actually progress through waves of enemies more decently.
The final boss was pretty ok. I knew about the flamethrower in the PS3 version so on my final attempt it went very smoothly. It being several phases with in-between platforming and zero checkpoints made it worse than it needed to be though.
The trespasser minigames are okay, the more time passes the more I think these gadgets just break the pace without being fun enough in return, it's probably why Naughty Dog eventually let you skip them in some of the later games iirc.
I don't want to be negative though, Naughty Dog made an amazing foundation that holds up.

A love letter to an era of gaming long gone but without it's more tedious aspects. I never played the original Ninja Gaiden, I've seen a lot of gameplay, watched the AVGN episode, it's nothing I really want to touch. Yet this felt like this game, but more. There's some witty writing, movement upgrades that seemingly fit into combat, fun levels and bosses and some really meta aspects that elevate this game beyond just being fanservice for fans of the 8-bit era. It's a game worth going blind into for various reasons and worth picking up in a sale for everyone who's even remotely interested in the era this game reminds you of.

More recently I wasn't sure how much I vibe with modern Pokemon anymore. While I still have a lot of fun with the games, my attachment relies a bit on nostalgia.

With this game it feels like Gamefreak is finally breaking new ground. In some ways it feels like their attempt to try out new mechanics and I love most of them.
This is the Pokemon I envisioned when I was younger, throwing Pokeballs yourself instead of going down a menu, finding them in the wild, exploration all feel great, but can still be improved upon.

I don't know if they will make more Arceus games but I hope they will transfer some of the new stuff over to the main series to modernize it.

I have a couple issues, but for Gamefreak this is insanely ambitious and it feels like Pokemon has finally entered the modern age even it a bit too late.