Psychonauts is asking a lot from the player to be on board with its concept and goals. A level completely dedicated to a conspiracy mystery scavenger hunt on finding the "milkman" in a war between a group of girl scouts possessing cookie bombs and oddly item-specified detectives is enough evidence to back that sentiment up. And luckily for the most part, it works.

It does feel overbearing at times, which can translate into tedious or simply not fun gameplay with how deep it goes into a gimmick, and the overall structuring of events and mission set up is really odd, but Psychonauts takes a heavy risk and succeeds in providing a solid 3D platformer/collect-a-thon with a unique hook that stands it apart. Really invested now to see where Raz's journey goes next in Psychonauts 2.

An ingenious mashup of unique, tactical gameplay, with Nintendo's unique creative shine, packaged in the charming aesthetics of the early 2000s gaming era. The core concept of managing dozens of Pikmin across wildlife areas and effectively managing your limited time is so impressively fine-tuned for being the first in the series.

I played the third game a few years ago, which made me feel the loss of specific mechanics that added depth to the experience, especially the lack of multiple captains and more Pikmin types. The first rides a line of being too janky or unvaried, but the short length keep things in balance. This stands especially true with the ease in difficulty that 3's enhancements bring, where the first's deadline of 30 days add a constant threat of failure without feeling stressful (Even if I wish the game's deadline was shorter, as multiple critical slip-ups, especially in the Final Trial, resulted in little punishment).

The smaller scope allows for 1 to stand on it's own as a valuable and unique journey. I've never been one for replaying games, but I feel incredibly compelled to return to this eventually, knowing how many ridiculous mistakes could be easily avoided and bump up my performance drastically. Simply a joyful, uniquely Nintendo experience.

[Completed in 28/30 days. Surviving Pikmin: 62. Total Pikmin lost: 1228. Total Pikmin sprouted: 1303]

Super Mario Galaxy is the perfect pairing of the traditional 3D Mario fun, with an entirely new sense of direction and atmosphere; and it could not work better. Controls are as tight as ever, levels are as expressive and detailed as ever, etc - it even successfully attempts at creating an emotionally charged central narrative through its level design and literal story beats, something I never thought a Mario game could do before.

It's the definitive example of pure, Nintendo quality. Aside from the deep memories I've held with it from the entirety of my life, it's one of the best games I've ever played period.