424 reviews liked by BakiReggie


The most striking factor about Hylics is certainly its unique identity. It is surprising what has been achieved in visual and sound levels and it amazes me that it is an RPG Maker game. The presentation of the game is jaw-dropping, not only in the visuals of the world and its track, but also in the combat animations. There is nothing to be contradicted in this segment - an audiovisual experience is where the game shines and if it is the aesthetic aspect, what matters most will have a full plate.
It is still necessary to emphasize that there is a negative point in this part: there is no clarity of distinction in the visual part. There is doubt to identify which elements should belong to those who are not, or which characters are enemies and which will defeat you with a touch.

There is a distinct lack of direction and balance in its gameplay. An example from my experience came in the first battle when Wayne alone was forced to fight four enemies with abilities that conjure blind (which disables Wayne due to the lack of skills and will go on at this point) still buffets the attack of all members with a unique ability and - not enough - they attack first. The way to get through this challenge was to ignore all the changes and reach the second member of the group, recruit him and only then win the first battle. However, there was no indication to guide this action.

Character characterizations are practically nil in terms of narrative and gameplay. Just the look says something (and look there). None of the members were distinguished and their differentiation in terms of gameplay is expressed through the equipment and the order that the player recruits them. There is nothing else that differentiates them to significant levels, giving rise to a narrow decision window that leaves the combat in the shallowest aspect imaginable.

There are skills and items that break and trivialize the fighting even more. The clearest example would be one of the spells achieved in Endgame through the collection of 3 tokens (which are by no means hidden or difficult enough, which makes me think that this skill has been planned as an easily accessible resource). This skill consists of delivering 3 very strong blows to random enemies. The problem is that this skill is taught to all members of your party at once, making any conflict in the endgame a joke.

And then there is another design problem against Hylics: All characters learn the same skill as long as you have recruited them for the party at that time. In addition to reducing the individuality of the characters, this decision implies backtracking players who - without knowing what awaits them - may wish to take precautions and revisit previous TVs.

The progression closely related to the character's death seems like an interesting balancing device at first glance. However, in my experience I found myself looking for death in banal ways to gain access to life upgrades and skills that were already accumulating in my inventory. Perhaps this scenario justifies the large number of enemies that eliminate the player with the simple touch, something that is certainly irritating but that I have acquired some usefulness here (in addition to being well positioned next to crystals). This whole problem could be avoided by giving the player the option to teleport to reach the upgrades Hall and create a more satisfying gameplay loop. However, it is not done and the crystals lack information that could make the game more accessible. Simple additions such as showing the name of the place where you will teleport to would be welcome and would avoid the need to decorate where each color will direct you (and if you miss the teleport, good luck. I imagine you will have to kill yourself.).
Furthermore, dying by itself is an overly obnoxious experience. If you fail in this game you will not only need to watch a death animation, but two that add up to a total of almost 10 seconds of waiting and cannot be skipped. Not enough, every time you die you will need to select the crystal with the corresponding color and then enter the teleport. It is a more time-consuming and complex process than necessary. The first animation of death was enough on its own (the second is even redundant in spite of being beautiful) and the teleportation problem would be solved if it memorized its last destination. In sections filled with monsters that eliminate the player by touch this becomes quite unpleasant.

Another factor that can induce more deaths and frustrations than necessary is the way the game opens in its second half. The freedom promoted is excessive due to the lack of information given to the player, generating yet another scenario of trial and error that will help to prolong the gameplay in those who refuse to use any walkthrough.

NPCs are overly random and did not give me information that was meaningful enough for me to care about anything in this game. The narrative for gameplay is interesting in some parts for its eccentricity but the great nonsense prevalence in doses that damage the final experience. Nothing against its use, in smaller doses would certainly enrich it, but the way it was used brought me the opposite effect.

Fortunately, it is a short and relatively concise game that does not have enough content to trap the player in his shortcomings for more than a few hours.

This is not a review, but more of an advice for those who play this game on PC:

Please, manually create backup of your save files after each play session.

I lost my progress three times in a week and this issue seems to be getting worse with each patch they release. There are some mods out there that create backups of your files, but I cannot advocate for them. I don't really know if Capcom is gonna address this issue soon so start doing it right away before it's too late.



I strongly recommend the reading of the links below in case this happens to you.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2846925471

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J92IWL_KhOc

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2743342837

I'm having a hard time writing the review for this, so I'll keep it brief.
Coming from the high of Metal Gear Solid, I expected more of the same and that's largely what I got, plot twists and all. My favorite aspect of the game was the story, it was super engaging! It sucked me in just like MGS1 and I ended up beating MGS2 in under a week. I loved how modern it felt, with all the AI discussion and internet censoring. Still very relevant today, perhaps even more so. Please play it blind! You'll be pleasantly surprised.

Moving on, The controls were disappointing. MGS2 is my first experience with the PS2 despite having grown up in the 2000's, and I really do not like the pressure sensitive buttons. I got used to it by the end (sorta) but for most of my 12 hour playthrough, the buttons felt unresponsive and made snake/ raiden feel sluggish in return.
Putting the controller aside, the controls feel largely unchanged from mgs1 and I don't mean that in a good way. Oftentimes I would stick to a wall when I didn't mean to, or I would accidentally crawl while trying to shoot and then I would be a sitting duck, even climbing ledges felt clunky. There are some platforming sections mid game that were super frustrating because of this. I get that's kinda how stealth games should work but it still felt inopportune in certain moments. Swimming was clunky, there is still a tricky button mashing section like MGS1, I could go on.

The graphics and sound are impressive though. MGS2 has aged very well on that front, and I liked how footage from MGS1 was in some of the codec calls. I'm a sucker for fan service, I know. I need to find the score for this and put it into my vgm playlist asap! One could say the vibes are immaculate.

I'm not really sure how to word my feelings towards Metal Gear Solid's sequel. It was more of the same, which was both good and bad for me. I didn't enjoy it as much as the first game, but it was still quite memorable and I'll probably stick around to play the third game!

Someone is four-widing in your lobby and they are super annoying but you just wanna get the limited edition theme: The Game ™️

Splatoon, but singleplayer, and you're a cute Pomeranian instead of a squid!
Doronko Wanko was a really fun but short game, good way to blow off steam. You get mud all over your owner's house and destroy stuff, and as the house gets dirtier you unlock more items to increase your efficiency. It's a blast! There are basic achievements too, and they are pretty easy to get while still being fun to hunt for.

Oh, and you can get a mud machine gun for maximum destruction.
Enough said. Go play this. It's free.

DISCLAIMER: This review is not a review, it's a bumbling, messy rant I wrote at 2 AM. I apologize in advance for any grammar and spelling errors, as well as the occasional nonsensical sentence.

It has truly been some time since a game has so fully captured me to the degree that Little Big Planet has. There is something truly special about this game that is only shared with some of the best I’ve ever played, in fact, the last time a game was able to make me feel anything like this would have been my first playthrough of Super Mario Galaxy. I don’t Think I can ever truly, properly put it into words, but I'll certainly give it a try.

Before the actual review I’ll start by saying that I don’t have any nostalgia for this game, In fact, my first time ever playing would’ve been the day before writing this review. All of my opinions stem from very freshly playing through the game and experiencing everything it had to offer for myself.


This may be a fairly generic statement, but I think everyone can agree that today’s world has more than its fair share of misery. These past few months for me it's felt like on a global level there have been historical levels of suffering and wrongdoing happening all at once, and there is nothing I can do about it. When combined with the smaller stresses of simply living your life, it can be easy to accidentally start to live with a dark cloud over your head. This is not to say that I’m a miserable person or anything, It's just that I feel we sometimes forget how important it is to smile. I am of the opinion that we need more ways to spread positivity and happiness in the world, and that is exactly what Little Big Planet is. Little Big Planet completely counteracts everything negative I just mentioned on a personal level in nearly every way. It feels so purely created with the sole intention of bringing childlike joy and wonder to the faces of all who play it. From the animation to the music to the gameplay, everything feels so lovingly, passionately created to be the absolute best it can be. One of my favourite things about all forms of media, be it traditional books, comics, movies, tv, or games, is that they can give you such intense emotions that you would normally be unable to experience in ordinary life. Through Seething anger or incredible sadness, I’ve been affected by many of the things that I have watched, read, and played, but there is one thing even the best of movies and games are often not capable of, something that makes them truly stand out above the rest if they can accomplish it, and that's them being capable of transmitting pure, unfiltered joy to the same degree that they can other emotions. Throughout my whole playthrough, Little Big Planet had me grinning ear to ear. It's the first time in so long that I’ve been so completely invested in a game, that I’ve spent so much time in a game all at once, that I’ve been willing to give up doing anything else to actually find time to play, and since I’ve had my love for video games so overwhelmingly re-ignited like this. For all that alone, I will likely forever remember Little Big Planet and consider it one of the all time greats that I’ve played, But there is still so much more to discuss here.

Before even discussing the gameplay, there is so much to appreciate about Little Big Planet. Everything feels meticulously handcrafted, because it literally is. This game at its core is a level editor that all players have the ability to use, and the developers truly mastered everything about that level editor and managed to produce levels for the story mode that wouldn't feel out of place if they were found within a real, purely 2D triple A platformer. Within these levels there are representations of cultures from all over the world that are so obviously lovingly represented, and they have great humor to go along with them. This game genuinely made me laugh a few more times than I would have expected. The sackboy that you explore the Levels with is also an incredible addition to this game. Each sackboy exhibits so much personality and is so excellently animated. Something about their expressions just makes their emotions feel so real. The Developers really went above and beyond when it came to allowing players to fully express themselves without even speaking.

Speaking of player expression, the one part of this game that I’m really devastated I’ll never get to experience is the online. Exploring an infinite amount of community made levels with my friends and other people while being able to fully express myself and have fun at the same time seems like it would have been an absolute dream. I get hit by a little wave of sadness everytime see the crossed out online buttons on my screen, but even without them I had plenty to love about the game.

The campaign mode is spent helping numerous troubled characters throughout the earth in any way you can. Often just seeing how the developers had crafted characters and made them feel so alive through the crude level editor was enough to make me laugh, but it was also very charming. Every step of the way you are offered encouragement and witness so much creativity it's hard to not just constantly smile. Alongside just being fun to play through, these levels feel like they would be excellent inspiration for anyone who would have tried to truly dedicate themselves to the level creator as well.

In terms of actual gameplay, this is definitely the weakest part of the game, but still fun. It controls like a standard 2D platformer, with the sole issue being that sometimes sackboy feels a little bit slippery to control, putting you in the occasional situation that will feel a little unfair. Otherwise though the level design is so clever that the game never gets old. There are so many gameplay concepts and ideas featured within them I almost wish there were more levels so I could have seen them more fully explored. The game does get more difficult towards the end, but even with the slightly awkward controls I never felt it was too unfair, despite having to redo some levels a fair few times. What it really shows is that this game's potential for level design is more or less unlimited, something that would have made it all the more amazing when the servers were still up and running.

The music (partially composed by the guy who did spiderverse btw) was also a key factor to my enjoyment of this game. Almost every track is so uplifting and happy it felt like it was directly planting energy into my soul. Somehow these songs make me feel nostalgic despite having literally never heard them before yesterday. There are just so many different instruments and styles of music that all collide together in this game, making it one of my favourite gaming soundtracks of all time. Maybe I’m just weird but there were even 1 or 2 very oddly nice tracks that even made me tear up a bit.

In conclusion, Little Big Planet is just kind of a perfect video game to me. The combination of its endless creativity, interactive community, fun gameplay, and amazing music gives me the impression that it was lovingly created with the sole purpose of spreading Joy throughout the world, something we can always use more of. It's very rare that something is able to make me feel the childlike wonder I experienced while playing this game, and I'm so grateful I just randomly happened to check it out. Everything about it feels so human; you can clearly see the overwhelming passion behind the game poured into every nook and cranny within it, something I’ve only really been able to notice in a very small few of the best games I’ve played. In my opinion, more games should strive to be as joyous and as pleasant an experience as Little Big Planet. I definitely feel like this is a game everyone should try playing at least once in their lives, because if for some reason it strikes the same chord with you as it did with me, you’ll never regret it.

Love Spinal. All my homies love Spinal.

For a 2d platformer on the gameboy, this game is pretty cool. Perfect level of difficulty with enough forgiveness that I never felt trapped or lost my patience. And the music is catchy too!

It exists and it's there. Barely considered canonical. Kid Icarus is a very unfortunate series with lots of potential that Uprising managed to pull off.

This is a polarizing game for me to play. On one hand, I do love the atmosphere of the game, even if its ugly, lol. I also love the music and the side quests that this game delivers, it's some of the best side content a Zelda game has ever had. And some of the dungeons are fun and memorable..so why exactly do I rate it so low? The time!
I hate the time gimmick so much, even though there's ways that you can control the speed of time....the problem for me that wants to 100% complete all the Zelda games is it feels super stressful to try and get everything done within a certain time limit. There are times where it becomes super frustrating, especially if you're on the final day. Sometimes i can't get a dungeon done in time and I would have to do everything all over again in a dungeon, it's totally not cool.
The other main issue I have with it is the sense of starting over, and everything goes back to how it is...like the movie Groundhog Day...you keep repeating days over and over that for whatever reason irritates me to no end!
It's a game I would go back to eventually, but it's one of my least favorite mainline Zelda games.... -_-

3 lists liked by BakiReggie