AyoNW
2022
Very endearing, super simple platformer. Really well polished, fun central mechanic. So very GBA-like to have 3 buttons and a d-pad control everything. I got that feeling I normally get with games where I felt a real compulsion to hoover up every stray fruit and gem, and it felt really good collecting everything and slowly figuring out levels.
Brutal difficulty spikes though. Sometimes I found myself having to put my Switch down for the night and attempt a level the next day because it was frustrating me so much lol. A lot of little moments that just felt like total BS, and it's not the chill slightly easy platformer I initially thought it would be. But it was a fun time.
Ran like ass for a 2D platformer with a bunch of slowdown (and the game crashed the instant I beat the final boss which has led to me just abandoning my effort to 100% it because fuck that. I seriously thought it was a meta game element at first but nope, it just crapped out on me and didn't save.), but it was made by one person so I'm very willing to go easy on that part.
Brutal difficulty spikes though. Sometimes I found myself having to put my Switch down for the night and attempt a level the next day because it was frustrating me so much lol. A lot of little moments that just felt like total BS, and it's not the chill slightly easy platformer I initially thought it would be. But it was a fun time.
Ran like ass for a 2D platformer with a bunch of slowdown (and the game crashed the instant I beat the final boss which has led to me just abandoning my effort to 100% it because fuck that. I seriously thought it was a meta game element at first but nope, it just crapped out on me and didn't save.), but it was made by one person so I'm very willing to go easy on that part.
2022
I was spending so much time playing that I had to give it up for Lent. Never really played a card game like this but putting together combos of cards, setting up situations, getting the perfect locations at the perfect time with the perfect hand? Absolutely tickles a part of my brain that nothing else does. Incredible shit.
First of all I must say this is one of the best animated games I have ever played. So much love was very clearly poured into the entire package visually. Multiple cutscenes I stopped to admire the squash and stretch and the energy with which everything moved.
I adore Kingdom Battle. One of my favourite Switch games, a really genuine surprise that I played on a whim during lockdown. So I was hyped for this one. Very hyped. So I made the decision to attempt to 100% it, so I wouldn't just power through it. And to be honest, I think that's the main reason my experience with the game wasn't 10/10.
The combat system is phenomenal. I do miss the Rube Goldberg machine you'd set up in the first game, setting up actions and letting them play out. But the active combat style really started to tickle the same parts of my brain and I came to appreciate it a lot. Sparks are great but also I miss distinct weapons with distinct abilities. Battles in set locations, set pieces and bosses were the peak of this game, and if I had played 10-15 hours of that part, I'd be giving this a full star higher.
There's a lot of shit to do lol. So many side quests, so many Sparks, so many hidden data files. Too much. Random encounters are new and take up a lot of time on pretty unengaging battles. The puzzles are so much more boring. I never remember feeling my mind numbing in real time in the first game - you spend more time dragging boxes around than fighting enemies and it is not great.
Idk man. I really really want to say this game is amazing and phenomenal but not quite. I do still love it, and I can see just how much effort was put in. But there's so much unnecessary fat now - open world, too many puzzles, voiced dialogue (including Beep-O's horrendous VA). Idk. I was really enjoying it initially, and then I just wanted it to be over, but it kept on going.
All of that being said, I will be purchasing the DLC once it releases because a slimmed down version of this game featuring Rayman might actually be goated.
I adore Kingdom Battle. One of my favourite Switch games, a really genuine surprise that I played on a whim during lockdown. So I was hyped for this one. Very hyped. So I made the decision to attempt to 100% it, so I wouldn't just power through it. And to be honest, I think that's the main reason my experience with the game wasn't 10/10.
The combat system is phenomenal. I do miss the Rube Goldberg machine you'd set up in the first game, setting up actions and letting them play out. But the active combat style really started to tickle the same parts of my brain and I came to appreciate it a lot. Sparks are great but also I miss distinct weapons with distinct abilities. Battles in set locations, set pieces and bosses were the peak of this game, and if I had played 10-15 hours of that part, I'd be giving this a full star higher.
There's a lot of shit to do lol. So many side quests, so many Sparks, so many hidden data files. Too much. Random encounters are new and take up a lot of time on pretty unengaging battles. The puzzles are so much more boring. I never remember feeling my mind numbing in real time in the first game - you spend more time dragging boxes around than fighting enemies and it is not great.
Idk man. I really really want to say this game is amazing and phenomenal but not quite. I do still love it, and I can see just how much effort was put in. But there's so much unnecessary fat now - open world, too many puzzles, voiced dialogue (including Beep-O's horrendous VA). Idk. I was really enjoying it initially, and then I just wanted it to be over, but it kept on going.
All of that being said, I will be purchasing the DLC once it releases because a slimmed down version of this game featuring Rayman might actually be goated.
Ran through the single player content with friends passing the remote. Fuckin love WarioWare and this is no different. Form Baton is a sick concept, the games make you look like an idiot in the best way, and it's genuinely funny (as in, I was constantly cracking up at the form descriptions). Adore the flash game aesthetics too, really feels like they dashed absolutely every idea they had at it. I want to tap into that kind of energy so badly, being so unguarded in the creative process that nuggets of gold come out.
Fun game! Felt like a looooot of potential that wasn't realised though.
The presentation is great throughout - love Sly's voice acting, the cel shading and animation, and the general vibes of everything. Music was cool (though the Vita version has really compressed audio for some reason?) and it was an okay length.
The platforming gameplay, especially when all of the upgrades and new moves are added, was really fun. Moving around mostly feels good, and hopping and swinging from point to point realises that fantasy of slinking around like a thief. The level design helps a lot with that too, with lots of pipes to shimmy along and points to perch on.
However.
There were many, many frustrations in this game. Movement was cool until you slip off the level, fall and lose half of your progress. Combat is fine until you realise you die in one hit and half of the enemies don't telegraph their attacks for shit. Honestly the health system, or lack thereof, was by far my biggest complaint. It just felt so fuckin annoying. It didn't even add to the difficulty of things, just made me dread making a mistake - if I did, I was losing soooooo much time.
My other big frustration was all of the non-Sly gameplay. I'm normally a sucker for a mini game but all of these were poor. Random, annoying vehicles, twin stick shooters, jetpacks, turrets, none of it was the Sly Cooper experience I wanted. All of them felt like sloppy padding that was added for the sake of adding it.
But gripes aside, glad I finally played this. I'm very excited to get to the next few games - hoping that all the potential gets realised with more time and budget.
The presentation is great throughout - love Sly's voice acting, the cel shading and animation, and the general vibes of everything. Music was cool (though the Vita version has really compressed audio for some reason?) and it was an okay length.
The platforming gameplay, especially when all of the upgrades and new moves are added, was really fun. Moving around mostly feels good, and hopping and swinging from point to point realises that fantasy of slinking around like a thief. The level design helps a lot with that too, with lots of pipes to shimmy along and points to perch on.
However.
There were many, many frustrations in this game. Movement was cool until you slip off the level, fall and lose half of your progress. Combat is fine until you realise you die in one hit and half of the enemies don't telegraph their attacks for shit. Honestly the health system, or lack thereof, was by far my biggest complaint. It just felt so fuckin annoying. It didn't even add to the difficulty of things, just made me dread making a mistake - if I did, I was losing soooooo much time.
My other big frustration was all of the non-Sly gameplay. I'm normally a sucker for a mini game but all of these were poor. Random, annoying vehicles, twin stick shooters, jetpacks, turrets, none of it was the Sly Cooper experience I wanted. All of them felt like sloppy padding that was added for the sake of adding it.
But gripes aside, glad I finally played this. I'm very excited to get to the next few games - hoping that all the potential gets realised with more time and budget.
2022
This review contains spoilers
This game is fucking fun. I have to say that above anything else. This is the first time in a very long time that I've played a Sonic game and felt like it was making meaningful strides forward and actually landing them.
I was very dubious about the "open zone" idea as opposed to an open world or a hub world. But I see the vision now. Each island plays like a vast, open area full of snippets of traditional Sonic levels - springs, rails, ramps, etc, peppered around to make up short rollercoaster setpieces. I thought it was such a stupid idea initially but it works so well. You get your sense of speed boosting around the open spaces, then see a floating doohickey and manoeuvre around to find how to approach it for a hit of dopamine. Or other way around, you have somewhere you need to go and search for the inevitable setpiece that will get you there as soon as possible. This concept, expanded upon with time and learnings from this game, will be incredible. I want this in an exciting urban environment - buildings, railings, vehicles, people. I'd love the world to feel as alive as the level fragments throughout it.
The story was cool but also shit? Wrapped up way too quickly and tbh I was lost trying to piece together the significance of the Kocos and their civilisation, but it gets the job done. Really loved the voice direction with more naturalistic performances from every character, and the dialogue referencing so many past games was so cool. Feels like they're actually taking lore and characters seriously for the first time in years. For context I played Sonic Lost World on Wii U this year, and this is absolutely night and day compared to that.
Cyberspace was cool I guess. I like the idea of having traditional levels a looooot. Just didn't like the execution. 4 level themes, all taken from generations, with level layouts from past games? Pathetic. I don't care about the lore reasoning, it was awful to me. The levels themselves were fun though! Sonic controls really badly in them compared to the open world though. He feels really slow in those levels and the midair turning is awful.
Not sure what else to say really. I honestly can't wait for the next few years of sonic games if this is the base they'll be building from. This game is already fun as hell.
I was very dubious about the "open zone" idea as opposed to an open world or a hub world. But I see the vision now. Each island plays like a vast, open area full of snippets of traditional Sonic levels - springs, rails, ramps, etc, peppered around to make up short rollercoaster setpieces. I thought it was such a stupid idea initially but it works so well. You get your sense of speed boosting around the open spaces, then see a floating doohickey and manoeuvre around to find how to approach it for a hit of dopamine. Or other way around, you have somewhere you need to go and search for the inevitable setpiece that will get you there as soon as possible. This concept, expanded upon with time and learnings from this game, will be incredible. I want this in an exciting urban environment - buildings, railings, vehicles, people. I'd love the world to feel as alive as the level fragments throughout it.
The story was cool but also shit? Wrapped up way too quickly and tbh I was lost trying to piece together the significance of the Kocos and their civilisation, but it gets the job done. Really loved the voice direction with more naturalistic performances from every character, and the dialogue referencing so many past games was so cool. Feels like they're actually taking lore and characters seriously for the first time in years. For context I played Sonic Lost World on Wii U this year, and this is absolutely night and day compared to that.
Cyberspace was cool I guess. I like the idea of having traditional levels a looooot. Just didn't like the execution. 4 level themes, all taken from generations, with level layouts from past games? Pathetic. I don't care about the lore reasoning, it was awful to me. The levels themselves were fun though! Sonic controls really badly in them compared to the open world though. He feels really slow in those levels and the midair turning is awful.
Not sure what else to say really. I honestly can't wait for the next few years of sonic games if this is the base they'll be building from. This game is already fun as hell.
2000
This review contains spoilers
Loved a lot of this game. Presentation is amazing and I found myself genuinely impressed by a lot of it (realtime lighting on the sprites! 10/10). The writing is phenomenal and so far beyond the rest of the Mario series that I truly wonder how it came about. Actually laughed out loud which surprised me (when Kooper's clones appear and a bunch of question marks fill the screen). The worlds and characters were great too.
Truthfully though I found myself frustrated at a lot of parts. It took me 5 months to eventually finish the game. Battling got tiring and repetitive, you kinda find a strategy and have little reason to deviate from it. I'd be running from battles because I was bored of fighting them. Backtracking was annoying (but thankfully minimal and mostly my fault), and I found myself losing track of where I was after an absence from playing. But again, my fault.
Partners are weird. They're a nice concept but you feel very alone as you traverse the world, pull out a partner, use them to cross a gap, then tuck them back away into your pocket. There's no sense of travelling as a team, zero interactions between team members, no real feeling of adventure in that sense. But that's relatively minor when every side character is so well written and bursting with charm. Really glad I played this, and really excited for the next couple of games to do this formula with more modern QoL sensibilities.
For context I've played Sticker Star (and really enjoyed it), and wanted to play the real Paper Mario games in release order. Very very different design philosophies between this and SS, and I get why Paper Mario fans hate it so much now lol.
Truthfully though I found myself frustrated at a lot of parts. It took me 5 months to eventually finish the game. Battling got tiring and repetitive, you kinda find a strategy and have little reason to deviate from it. I'd be running from battles because I was bored of fighting them. Backtracking was annoying (but thankfully minimal and mostly my fault), and I found myself losing track of where I was after an absence from playing. But again, my fault.
Partners are weird. They're a nice concept but you feel very alone as you traverse the world, pull out a partner, use them to cross a gap, then tuck them back away into your pocket. There's no sense of travelling as a team, zero interactions between team members, no real feeling of adventure in that sense. But that's relatively minor when every side character is so well written and bursting with charm. Really glad I played this, and really excited for the next couple of games to do this formula with more modern QoL sensibilities.
For context I've played Sticker Star (and really enjoyed it), and wanted to play the real Paper Mario games in release order. Very very different design philosophies between this and SS, and I get why Paper Mario fans hate it so much now lol.
2016
This game is different bro. My first proper, longer than 5 minutes VR experience and what an introduction. I didn't get to finish it in the limited time I had with the borrowed VR hardware but hopefully I will come back with fleshed out thoughts at some point in the future.
Solid game! Love a good minigame collection. I played the hell out of Beijing, Vancouver and London on DS/3DS but barely ever played the big boy Wii versions, so seeing the contrast was nice. My big gripe with the 3DS version of London was that it stripped back a lot of the games compared to Beijing - things like table tennis were just controlled with single swipes instead of buttons, and they didn't do tournament brackets anymore. They also kneecapped the character selection for some FOOLISH reason, leaving you only 4 predetermined characters to pick per event. The Wii version does the opposite actually. All characters are thankfully playable in all events, and there are fully controlled games with tourney brackets again. But those are slogs a lot of the time against CPUs (badminton, beach volleyball, football, burn in hell). That's how I judge if a minigame collection is fun, if I can play it solo against CPUs and derive joy from it, they've done well. And I feel like they did! Sadly didn't have much time with the game so I got a gold medal in all normal events but didn't get to try any dream events. Probably going to redownload it and try them eventually.
2022
Very very fun game. Had to jump off controller and play with keyboard to unlock the part of my brain that put in 100s of hours on SSF2. I think that's the game it's most similar to to me. Slippery, floaty, but somehow satisfying.
It has a long way to go. Visually the presentation is amazing but the animations lack a level of clarity, and the vfx don't help. I can't play 2v2 because I genuinely don't know what's happening at any given moment. It needs more heft and it needs more momentum, movements feel a bit inconsequential when you can practically cancel everything into everything else. Those are nitpicks though, the game is fun as heck. They just added in LeBron James and I cannot fault the direction they're taking it.
It has a long way to go. Visually the presentation is amazing but the animations lack a level of clarity, and the vfx don't help. I can't play 2v2 because I genuinely don't know what's happening at any given moment. It needs more heft and it needs more momentum, movements feel a bit inconsequential when you can practically cancel everything into everything else. Those are nitpicks though, the game is fun as heck. They just added in LeBron James and I cannot fault the direction they're taking it.
2018
This review contains spoilers
It's a 3.5 but the most positive 3.5 I can muster. Core gameplay is phenomenal. Barrelling around in midair, latching onto titans, aiming and slicing them up makes you feel like you're right there with the most powerful soldiers in the show. Everything sounds and feels amazing, and going from Titan to Titan with speed and finesse really put me into a nice flow state. The presentation is excellent too, everything really matches the look of the show, and the voice acting is spot on. Zipping around locations from the anime, with dialogue from the characters themselves works so well. I even liked the Fire Emblem Three Houses-ish relationship part - building relationships, giving gifts, getting special cutscenes. In fact I loved the integration of your OC throughout (though I wish I could have non-White hands in the prerendered cutscenes lol).
All of that being said I have complaints. Mainly that the mission design REALLY started to grate on me over time. At first it was fun and carried by the gameplay, but once that novelty wore off, I realised every stage was exactly the same mechanically. Get over here, escort this character, save these side characters, defend this location, kill this Titan. Which was fine but the repetition got to me by the end (~30 hours in?). The difficulty curve was an issue I only started noticing at the end of the Final Battle DLC too. I say difficulty curve but they really just put 20 Titans on top of each other and watch you struggle to even see or aim. Which wasn't difficult, it was frustrating. I also think there may have just been a bit TOO much game for me. I'm totally averse to grinding at this point so I just dipped after finishing the main story. I just can't see how playing the same-ass Titan killing missions ad infinitum for new swords with higher damage numbers is fun. But that's just me.
Excellent excellent game held back by repetition and boring missions. Play the story mode and dip.
Also this counts as my rewatch of the show before final final season and I really liked getting to know the characters I had totally forgotten about. Like Miche. Remember him?
All of that being said I have complaints. Mainly that the mission design REALLY started to grate on me over time. At first it was fun and carried by the gameplay, but once that novelty wore off, I realised every stage was exactly the same mechanically. Get over here, escort this character, save these side characters, defend this location, kill this Titan. Which was fine but the repetition got to me by the end (~30 hours in?). The difficulty curve was an issue I only started noticing at the end of the Final Battle DLC too. I say difficulty curve but they really just put 20 Titans on top of each other and watch you struggle to even see or aim. Which wasn't difficult, it was frustrating. I also think there may have just been a bit TOO much game for me. I'm totally averse to grinding at this point so I just dipped after finishing the main story. I just can't see how playing the same-ass Titan killing missions ad infinitum for new swords with higher damage numbers is fun. But that's just me.
Excellent excellent game held back by repetition and boring missions. Play the story mode and dip.
Also this counts as my rewatch of the show before final final season and I really liked getting to know the characters I had totally forgotten about. Like Miche. Remember him?
V sad about this game. I love the central mechanic. I love that it's not flight but it's falling in different directions. I think the main character is neat and the controls are cool. I just don't like much else. I don't like that it's an open world with brown, sludgey environments and very little to remember. I don't like the combat (or, honestly, the fact that there is combat). I don't like the story, I don't like the mission design. Sad.
If I were redesigning this, I'd first switch up the aesthetic, but that's personal taste. I'd remove the intricacies of combat because I'd rather have no combat than bad combat, and I'd probably focus on making the world and its landmarks feel distinct and react to gravity shifts in distinct ways. But that's just me idk if I'm making sense. Either way this game did not scratch the itch I had for a fluid 3D action game with exciting vertical movement.
I stopped about halfway through, and maybe it picks up after that but my backlog is too long for me to get stuck on a game I'm not enjoying frankly. I literally didn't want to turn on my PlayStation for weeks because this was what I had to play. Fun games don't make me dread playing them lol.
If I were redesigning this, I'd first switch up the aesthetic, but that's personal taste. I'd remove the intricacies of combat because I'd rather have no combat than bad combat, and I'd probably focus on making the world and its landmarks feel distinct and react to gravity shifts in distinct ways. But that's just me idk if I'm making sense. Either way this game did not scratch the itch I had for a fluid 3D action game with exciting vertical movement.
I stopped about halfway through, and maybe it picks up after that but my backlog is too long for me to get stuck on a game I'm not enjoying frankly. I literally didn't want to turn on my PlayStation for weeks because this was what I had to play. Fun games don't make me dread playing them lol.
2012
This review contains spoilers
Lovely game tbh! Looks amazing on an OLED screen, handles really well. The main mechanic of perspective shifting is simple but so perfectly executed - it could have been a confusing mess but it operates with an internal logic that always benefits the player. Things like deciding what point to pivot about based on where Gomez is touching. It really felt like it was used to its fullest potential. Some of the puzzles were way too obscure for my liking and that's only considering the 33 cubes I bothered with collecting, but figuring out some of the tetromino sequences felt great. Music and art style were great, the setpieces and meta moments were great. Really just inspiring how far a single concept can be pushed and twisted and manipulated. Did not fuck with the lore though. Don't make me pull out QR codes and visit Reddit threads to understand your story, I will just mentally clock out lol.
2008
This review contains spoilers
This game is so...
It's pretty. Absolutely lovely to look at. Colours, cel shading, environments changing to become healthy and healed, animations. Genuinely smiled when I saw the animation of Prince and Elika having to hold hands to switch positions on a beam. Music is great, very cinematic and sweeping.
I just have four issues:
Issue 1: Prince's movement. Holy shit is this man rigid and stiff. I just want to move and be able to adjust my jump in midair. I want to be able to grab onto a vine without stopping for a second to grab Elika. I want to feel fluid whilst maintaining control, not feeling funneled down annoying corridors. So often I wanted to jump at something and got totally redirected by the game towards what it wanted me to go to. So annoying. His actual moveset was really cool though, really liked the ceiling clamber move. Just wish it wasn't so strict and stiff.
Issue 2: the level design. Now. I like the hub and spokes model, I like the non-linearity, I like that it's secretly a collectathon. I don't like that the spaces just become automatic at a certain point, there's no creativity in the path you take, no thought put into how you get from point A to B. It's achingly linear for a game mostly about parkour, which should really make you feel like you master the space. I liked the level elements you interacted with, and the spaces where you'd chain lots together, but I felt like I was just pressing X at the right time and the game was playing itself. Contrasting this to Mirror's Edge, where the level was one massive puzzle of "how do I even find the path to that point?" and it was sick.
Issue 3: the combat. Stinks. Boring, repetitive, that big guardian boss STINKS, generally unfun. Brings the game to a grinding halt and is something to suffer through to get to the less unfun platforming.
Issue 4: the story. Prince was jarring, Elika was less jarring, they were both boring, the story was boring, the bosses were borrriiiiinnnngggg. I was sleep until the very ending where the Prince chooses to unseal the evil big bad after all the suffering we went through, for the sake of "love". I get it, I really do. He's selfish and apparently didn't grow at all during the game. He's the same as her father, bringing her to life against her will. But come on now, I didn't sanction that shit. I wish there had been some choice of what to do after she died, either leave her or revive her. I will way that it was very effective having the Prince shut up and the player carry out the evil bits themselves.
So yeah. Will not be playing this again. This game has movement but it does NOT have shmovement. There's no looseness, no self-expression, no mastery of the space. Just stiffness and constant interruptions. And surprisingly no growth in the Prince's moveset, I'd hoped the powers you unlocked would help you get around in some fun way but they're all glorified Sonic springs.
It's pretty. Absolutely lovely to look at. Colours, cel shading, environments changing to become healthy and healed, animations. Genuinely smiled when I saw the animation of Prince and Elika having to hold hands to switch positions on a beam. Music is great, very cinematic and sweeping.
I just have four issues:
Issue 1: Prince's movement. Holy shit is this man rigid and stiff. I just want to move and be able to adjust my jump in midair. I want to be able to grab onto a vine without stopping for a second to grab Elika. I want to feel fluid whilst maintaining control, not feeling funneled down annoying corridors. So often I wanted to jump at something and got totally redirected by the game towards what it wanted me to go to. So annoying. His actual moveset was really cool though, really liked the ceiling clamber move. Just wish it wasn't so strict and stiff.
Issue 2: the level design. Now. I like the hub and spokes model, I like the non-linearity, I like that it's secretly a collectathon. I don't like that the spaces just become automatic at a certain point, there's no creativity in the path you take, no thought put into how you get from point A to B. It's achingly linear for a game mostly about parkour, which should really make you feel like you master the space. I liked the level elements you interacted with, and the spaces where you'd chain lots together, but I felt like I was just pressing X at the right time and the game was playing itself. Contrasting this to Mirror's Edge, where the level was one massive puzzle of "how do I even find the path to that point?" and it was sick.
Issue 3: the combat. Stinks. Boring, repetitive, that big guardian boss STINKS, generally unfun. Brings the game to a grinding halt and is something to suffer through to get to the less unfun platforming.
Issue 4: the story. Prince was jarring, Elika was less jarring, they were both boring, the story was boring, the bosses were borrriiiiinnnngggg. I was sleep until the very ending where the Prince chooses to unseal the evil big bad after all the suffering we went through, for the sake of "love". I get it, I really do. He's selfish and apparently didn't grow at all during the game. He's the same as her father, bringing her to life against her will. But come on now, I didn't sanction that shit. I wish there had been some choice of what to do after she died, either leave her or revive her. I will way that it was very effective having the Prince shut up and the player carry out the evil bits themselves.
So yeah. Will not be playing this again. This game has movement but it does NOT have shmovement. There's no looseness, no self-expression, no mastery of the space. Just stiffness and constant interruptions. And surprisingly no growth in the Prince's moveset, I'd hoped the powers you unlocked would help you get around in some fun way but they're all glorified Sonic springs.
If I was rating this based on gameplay alone it would be a solid 9. Takes everything I loved about Mario Smash Football, removes everything I hated from Mario Strikers Charged, and creates a modern interpretation of the gameplay which I've really warmed up to as I've continued to play. It's more readable that Charged, chaotic but fun. Unlike the other two games I don't constantly feel the urge to turn items off. Online play is great and works really well, and I enjoy the club system.
However. As a game? This is poor. Where's all the content? There's a couple of AI tournament brackets, online play, a tiny handful of gear choices, characters and stadiums, and that's it? POOR. I know this game is getting post-launch support. I know it's a scummy modern Nintendo thing but I'm excited to see how the game looks when all the content is actually in place. With a bigger roster (looks like they're going for 20 based on leaks), more stadiums (with varying sizes), more gear options, more online options (like 4v4 teams, I'm not even annoyed by that but it should be there), more options in general (let me change the zoom on the pitch, let me turn off music during gameplay but keep the music during celebrations), this will be incredible. I'm putting it out there. I do wish there was substantial single player but I'm not going to kid myself into thinking that's coming.
However. As a game? This is poor. Where's all the content? There's a couple of AI tournament brackets, online play, a tiny handful of gear choices, characters and stadiums, and that's it? POOR. I know this game is getting post-launch support. I know it's a scummy modern Nintendo thing but I'm excited to see how the game looks when all the content is actually in place. With a bigger roster (looks like they're going for 20 based on leaks), more stadiums (with varying sizes), more gear options, more online options (like 4v4 teams, I'm not even annoyed by that but it should be there), more options in general (let me change the zoom on the pitch, let me turn off music during gameplay but keep the music during celebrations), this will be incredible. I'm putting it out there. I do wish there was substantial single player but I'm not going to kid myself into thinking that's coming.