Really good 3D platformer that really understands the strengths of the genre and what could be done with it now that it was no longer restrained by the PSX/N64 limitations. Love the seamless transitions between levels, and the way levels are structured that you constantly see something new to do while never feeling lost, even in the biggest levels.

My biggest complaint with this game is that I had a hard time gauging the distance between me and enemies, so when I tried to spin attack at them I very frequently did not do it close enough and ended up getting hit. Health in this game is given out very scarcely, and while death isn't as consequential as games like Mario 64 due to the checkpointing, there were several instances of me respawning farther than I should have from where I died, as sometimes checkpoints didn't work where they should have. Combine this with the problem I had with hitting enemies and I had a lot of pretty frustrating moments. Still, this is definitely one of the best in it's genre, and I'm glad I finally got to play it.

The perfect game for any 2D platformer fan. An incredibly charming aesthetic and sense of humor, immediately lovable characters, great soundtrack, and essentially does everything possible with the central mechanic of grappling while never overstaying its welcome. Grappling feels and works great. A lot of the longevity the game has is in attempting get higher scores and rankings in each level, which at first seems easy but eventually demands total mastery of the games controls and movement. Any game that has me repeating one level for an hour in attempts to get the best rank clearly is doing something right.

Incredibly solid metroidvania style game with a unique, satisfying, and challenging combat system. Moving between different enemies and racking up your combo is great, all while using moves to evade attacks and magic attacks to clear the screen and keep your combo going. Every level is unique while still feeling like a part of the setting the game creates, each having great background art.
This game's aesthetic is very much mid-2000s furry webcomic/flash series, but the game itself manages to make it bearable to me, someone who's usually very averse to that kind of art.

Possibly the most charming game ever. I love everything about the way characters look in this game. It's one of my favorite kinds of games that involve learning all about an eccentric cast of characters, their wants and needs, their daily routine, all to eventually find out how to kiss them. This is also one of those games where you can just feel it's love for the world and all the odd people in it. The dialogue in this game is genuinely very funny and well written, and the game manages to get in some commentary on becoming an adult, what it means to truly love someone, adult cynicism vs child optimism, and the different kinds of love that exist in the world.

Unfortunately, the biggest problem with this game is the fact that it is nearly impossible without a guide. In fact, the NA release of this game had a manual that also served as a strategy guide, which makes sense because so much of this game asks you to do things you wouldn't think to ever do on your own. I tried to do as much as possible on my own, which involved me keeping a page of notes, something I love in games, but it can't be avoided. Also, the part of this game that takes place in the Funny Bone Factory is incredibly unforgiving and involves rewatching several long cutscenes and doing the same thing again and again just to have another attempt at a kiss, and if you fail you have to do the whole thing again. These are also some of the hardest kisses in the game, and it's the kind of thing to make me stop playing, or at least stop trying to kiss every character.

Despite some pretty big flaws, I think everyone should at least see this game if they're not going to play it. It really is something special, I loved my time with it even when it made me want to pull my hair out.