BradleyJhnsn
97 reviews liked by BradleyJhnsn
We Love Katamari is an excellent followup and companion piece to Katamari Damacy. It's more Katmari as you've come to know and love, but it adds a lot more levels and tweaks to keep things fresh.
We Love Katamari digs into the addictive arcadey nature of old school Namco games in a satisfying way. You want to replay levels to make a bigger Katamari or make the Katamari faster than before-the addition of a retry button absolutely enhances this game's replay value, it was hard to put down.
The humor is zany and weird (much like Damacy) and I love how this game digs a bit into The King of All Cosmos's backstory and relationship with his father.
Overall a lovely game that I can come back to and replay often. Highly recommend this and Katamari Damacy if you're looking for something chill and funny.
We Love Katamari digs into the addictive arcadey nature of old school Namco games in a satisfying way. You want to replay levels to make a bigger Katamari or make the Katamari faster than before-the addition of a retry button absolutely enhances this game's replay value, it was hard to put down.
The humor is zany and weird (much like Damacy) and I love how this game digs a bit into The King of All Cosmos's backstory and relationship with his father.
Overall a lovely game that I can come back to and replay often. Highly recommend this and Katamari Damacy if you're looking for something chill and funny.
This review contains spoilers
Recreating such an iconic game as Final Fantasy VII is a herculean task. Square managed to nail Midgar with Remake, and now they've somehow topped that scope and story with Rebirth. No game is perfect, but this one is damn near perfection in every way.
The world of Final Fantasy VII is one of my favorites besides Alrest in Xenoblade 2. The thing I was most excited to see was how they would change and expand upon things like in Remake. They do it consistently with every area of the game. Whether it's Junon and learning about the history of the republic that was once there and the people who live under the large base, or the vastly expanded Gongaga region and the whole dungeon at its reactor, every area has something going on that's either expanding upon the original game or adding something completely new that compliments it. The world is really brought to life. The only thing I'd like to see added in part 3 is just being able to change the time of day. Seeing places like the grasslands and corel desert at sunset was amazing. I'd like to be able to experience areas at different times whenever.
The gameplay is absolutely a step up from Remake. The combat there was already great, but could've used some more fine-tuning for certain situations where you just had to sit and let your ATB fill up. We saw the addition of two person moves in Intermission and sure enough they made that a focal point in Rebirth now. Since you have a big party you can do all sorts of awesome attacks that utilize 2 specific characters. I adore the synergy moves that don't cost anything to use. This fixed the issue of not knowing what to do to get ATB in some situations, and some of the attacks are powerful enough to fill an entire bar on their own which is great. This has to be one of the best combat systems I've seen and I really don't even know what to expand upon for part 3. Outside of combat there's so much to do I don't even wanna try to list it all. I overall loved the world Intel as it's completely optional and doesn't affect the story, but gives you so much more lore and is worth seeing through. The summon crystals powering up your summons and making them easier to obtain through the simulator, the lifesprings giving more info on the regions, the protorelics being completely unique scenarios that lead to great character moments, etc. There's so much game that you don't have to experience. But just like the original skipping out feels like a mistake. This variety is what 16 could've used to keep things fresh. I love all the different activities this game gives you to do.
Rebirth contains a large chunk of story from 7's narrative. You visit many places and a lot happens. The big thing everyone has been waiting on though is Aerith's death and what Sephiroth intends to do leading up to that. I was surprised by the fact that most of the game plays out exactly as you would expect. The way Remake ended had me thinking we could see a lot more new stuff happening or have locations/events taking place out of order even. Yet the story goes as you think it will, and we don't see anything out of Zack (outside of the opening) until pretty far into the game. If there's one thing I wish they did, it was to start hinting or feeding info to us over time. Because of the way they decide to reveal the many timelines and throw a ton of info at you after Aerith's supposed death… you end up feeling confused and maybe even frustrated because they're actively taking away from a huge moment of emotion. I think about how they could've still left us wondering (since most people didn't even understand what they were seeing at first in the endgame anyway) while giving us these little info bits over the course of the chapters. Stuff like Cloud getting flashes of future events or other timelines, or Sephiroth starting to slowly reveal things even though the player and Cloud wouldn't be able to fully understand yet. I just wish it wasn't all at once. But I still have faith in this deviation in the story. Everything they've been doing has been intentional and meant to subvert expectations. If they're going the route I think they are where Cloud can't accept Aerith's death and still thinks she's alive… I'm super invested to see his descent into madness. We won't know for sure what's happening for a few years. But even if we learn more and things don't look promising I'm just invested to see this through. This project has been insane and if they pull it off all the way through I will be extremely happy.
Plenty of people will be able to say it better than I have in this review… but this game is amazing in every way. Almost every area and activity had some new mini game or mechanic. Many quests have unique field and battle themes which is crazy to me(and man is the OST in general fantastic). The characters are all fun to play as and have great arcs and interactions. Rebirth has brought back the feeling and emotions of original Final Fantasy VII in so many ways it doesn’t feel real. The lines I always think back to as a way to describe this remake project perfectly are from the original reveal.
“The reunion at hand may bring joy… it may bring fear… but let us embrace whatever it brings. For they are coming back. At last the promise has been made.”
And contrasting that with the line at the ending of this game I think paints a clear picture that big changes are coming. And I couldn't be more ready to see it…
“No promises await at journey's end”
The world of Final Fantasy VII is one of my favorites besides Alrest in Xenoblade 2. The thing I was most excited to see was how they would change and expand upon things like in Remake. They do it consistently with every area of the game. Whether it's Junon and learning about the history of the republic that was once there and the people who live under the large base, or the vastly expanded Gongaga region and the whole dungeon at its reactor, every area has something going on that's either expanding upon the original game or adding something completely new that compliments it. The world is really brought to life. The only thing I'd like to see added in part 3 is just being able to change the time of day. Seeing places like the grasslands and corel desert at sunset was amazing. I'd like to be able to experience areas at different times whenever.
The gameplay is absolutely a step up from Remake. The combat there was already great, but could've used some more fine-tuning for certain situations where you just had to sit and let your ATB fill up. We saw the addition of two person moves in Intermission and sure enough they made that a focal point in Rebirth now. Since you have a big party you can do all sorts of awesome attacks that utilize 2 specific characters. I adore the synergy moves that don't cost anything to use. This fixed the issue of not knowing what to do to get ATB in some situations, and some of the attacks are powerful enough to fill an entire bar on their own which is great. This has to be one of the best combat systems I've seen and I really don't even know what to expand upon for part 3. Outside of combat there's so much to do I don't even wanna try to list it all. I overall loved the world Intel as it's completely optional and doesn't affect the story, but gives you so much more lore and is worth seeing through. The summon crystals powering up your summons and making them easier to obtain through the simulator, the lifesprings giving more info on the regions, the protorelics being completely unique scenarios that lead to great character moments, etc. There's so much game that you don't have to experience. But just like the original skipping out feels like a mistake. This variety is what 16 could've used to keep things fresh. I love all the different activities this game gives you to do.
Rebirth contains a large chunk of story from 7's narrative. You visit many places and a lot happens. The big thing everyone has been waiting on though is Aerith's death and what Sephiroth intends to do leading up to that. I was surprised by the fact that most of the game plays out exactly as you would expect. The way Remake ended had me thinking we could see a lot more new stuff happening or have locations/events taking place out of order even. Yet the story goes as you think it will, and we don't see anything out of Zack (outside of the opening) until pretty far into the game. If there's one thing I wish they did, it was to start hinting or feeding info to us over time. Because of the way they decide to reveal the many timelines and throw a ton of info at you after Aerith's supposed death… you end up feeling confused and maybe even frustrated because they're actively taking away from a huge moment of emotion. I think about how they could've still left us wondering (since most people didn't even understand what they were seeing at first in the endgame anyway) while giving us these little info bits over the course of the chapters. Stuff like Cloud getting flashes of future events or other timelines, or Sephiroth starting to slowly reveal things even though the player and Cloud wouldn't be able to fully understand yet. I just wish it wasn't all at once. But I still have faith in this deviation in the story. Everything they've been doing has been intentional and meant to subvert expectations. If they're going the route I think they are where Cloud can't accept Aerith's death and still thinks she's alive… I'm super invested to see his descent into madness. We won't know for sure what's happening for a few years. But even if we learn more and things don't look promising I'm just invested to see this through. This project has been insane and if they pull it off all the way through I will be extremely happy.
Plenty of people will be able to say it better than I have in this review… but this game is amazing in every way. Almost every area and activity had some new mini game or mechanic. Many quests have unique field and battle themes which is crazy to me(and man is the OST in general fantastic). The characters are all fun to play as and have great arcs and interactions. Rebirth has brought back the feeling and emotions of original Final Fantasy VII in so many ways it doesn’t feel real. The lines I always think back to as a way to describe this remake project perfectly are from the original reveal.
“The reunion at hand may bring joy… it may bring fear… but let us embrace whatever it brings. For they are coming back. At last the promise has been made.”
And contrasting that with the line at the ending of this game I think paints a clear picture that big changes are coming. And I couldn't be more ready to see it…
“No promises await at journey's end”
Pikmin 4
2023
What a phenomenal sequel this is. Visually stunning on the Switch & such an upgrade compared to Pikmin 3. I almost obtained 100% completion but didn’t want to burn myself out. Only downside is the lack of actual couch co-op. Pikmin 3 Deluxe had incredible co-op but this game relegated it to Mario Galaxy style where one player does absolutely nothing.
Balan Wonderworld
2021
I haven't dropped a game in a long time. Balan Wonderworld changed that.
As a longtime fan of Sonic Team's work, I was absolutely stoked to hear that Sonic series creators Yuji Naka and Naoto Oshima were returning to collaborate again after years of separation. That optimism turned to skepticism the moment I saw this game in motion, and skepticism to disappointment when the reviews started rolling in. This game quickly became the biggest joke on the block, and after all this time I wondered, "could it truly have been that bad?" After all, I still enjoyed many of Naka's other projects despite their shortcomings. I decided to give Balan Wonderworld an honest shot. Big mistake.
This game forgoes so many 3D platformer game design hallmarks and traditions to the point where I have to wonder if the team persued feedback on certain things. The first and possibly largest offense - mapping everything to one button. Everything. Jumping, attacking, menu navigation - every button does the same thing, even the triggers. This proves to be incredibly tedious and frustrating as time goes on.
The second worst thing this game does just so happens to be its central mechanic, the outfit/powerup system. Powerups are incredibly situational and specific, and there are far too many for the game's own good. Half of them could have been meshed into singular, more versatile powerups - not only to mitigate the tedium of using them, but to lend themselves to more interesting stage mechanics and puzzles. Combine their one-note gimmicky nature with the fact that every button has one function, and that's where this game's faults peek through in plain sight. Have a powerup that focuses on attack? You can no longer jump until you find a powerup that allows for it.
Balan also likes to hide its secrets behind these powerups. Stages often hide their collectibles in plain sight, but require the use of an ability that you haven't encountered yet. This makes completing stages nigh unbearable. Other games hide their secrets similarly, but newfound abilities are typically integrated of into player's move set. Balan decides to take a decidedly more complicated approach, requiring the use of a changing room to swap outfits. On paper this isn't too bad an idea - but the fact that outfits are based on stock and must be individually collected from other stages is where Balan's progression becomes a lot more grating.
Music and visuals are nothing to write home about at all. Stage themes are uninteresting and cluttered, the general visual style is flat and uninteresting, and every tune went in one ear and out the other. Sadly ironic, considering that music and visuals were consistently some of the best parts of Naka and Oshima's previous works. The character designs are a treat to look at, but without appealing environments to stage them in I just find myself wishing they were in a better game.
All in all, this game drained me like few things have before and I only managed to get halfway. I need a palette cleanser. Time to start Spyro 2.
As a longtime fan of Sonic Team's work, I was absolutely stoked to hear that Sonic series creators Yuji Naka and Naoto Oshima were returning to collaborate again after years of separation. That optimism turned to skepticism the moment I saw this game in motion, and skepticism to disappointment when the reviews started rolling in. This game quickly became the biggest joke on the block, and after all this time I wondered, "could it truly have been that bad?" After all, I still enjoyed many of Naka's other projects despite their shortcomings. I decided to give Balan Wonderworld an honest shot. Big mistake.
This game forgoes so many 3D platformer game design hallmarks and traditions to the point where I have to wonder if the team persued feedback on certain things. The first and possibly largest offense - mapping everything to one button. Everything. Jumping, attacking, menu navigation - every button does the same thing, even the triggers. This proves to be incredibly tedious and frustrating as time goes on.
The second worst thing this game does just so happens to be its central mechanic, the outfit/powerup system. Powerups are incredibly situational and specific, and there are far too many for the game's own good. Half of them could have been meshed into singular, more versatile powerups - not only to mitigate the tedium of using them, but to lend themselves to more interesting stage mechanics and puzzles. Combine their one-note gimmicky nature with the fact that every button has one function, and that's where this game's faults peek through in plain sight. Have a powerup that focuses on attack? You can no longer jump until you find a powerup that allows for it.
Balan also likes to hide its secrets behind these powerups. Stages often hide their collectibles in plain sight, but require the use of an ability that you haven't encountered yet. This makes completing stages nigh unbearable. Other games hide their secrets similarly, but newfound abilities are typically integrated of into player's move set. Balan decides to take a decidedly more complicated approach, requiring the use of a changing room to swap outfits. On paper this isn't too bad an idea - but the fact that outfits are based on stock and must be individually collected from other stages is where Balan's progression becomes a lot more grating.
Music and visuals are nothing to write home about at all. Stage themes are uninteresting and cluttered, the general visual style is flat and uninteresting, and every tune went in one ear and out the other. Sadly ironic, considering that music and visuals were consistently some of the best parts of Naka and Oshima's previous works. The character designs are a treat to look at, but without appealing environments to stage them in I just find myself wishing they were in a better game.
All in all, this game drained me like few things have before and I only managed to get halfway. I need a palette cleanser. Time to start Spyro 2.
This review contains spoilers
This game left me with a lot of thoughts. On the one hand I love seeing Zack's arc and how he ended up with the beautifully tragic ending he was dealt. His journey was the best part of this game. Seeing how he interacts with all the strange Shinra higher ups and other soldier members or townspeople was great. The Shinra experment aspect of the narrative is another highlight. I feel like the best part of any of this story is that it shows how messed up Shinra truly is. Through the abnormal shit people spew to you like it's an average day in the company to finding out about Project G and J... they do a good job (whether intentional or not) of making Shinra feel like a truly creepy organization. Their obsession with gaining power through any means necessary is fascinating. I ultimately don't have much to say on Genesis or Angeal. Angeal on the one hand is interesting considering he's like a brother to Zack in the beginning and ends up giving him the Buster Sword (And you get to hear a little about it which is nice). Genesis though... what a pathetic annoying character. Only good thing they could do for him if he comes back somehow in Rebirth is give him something... anything more to do. And SHUT UP ABOUT LOVELESS MY GOD. In the end I was just left feeling weird about the narrative because until the final chapters, where it actually ties into the main FF7 narrative, the story just does not matter. Like I stated Zack's interactions with everyone is what makes it any bit interesting.
The gameplay is... simplistic yet has potential. I understand this was a PSP game originally so everything was designed in a very simple pick up and play fashion. My main issue comes down to there being nothing you do outside of combat. There's some fun minigame moments but I just wish there was something more going on. The only thing you do is run down corridors and fight enemies for the most part. That's every single mission in this game. The simplicity extends to the combat itself as well. I really like the action oriented nature of it (my preferred RPG playstyle). But there isn't much more to focus on besides getting weaknesses of enemies, and hoping the DMW gives you what you want it to. Speaking of which the DMW is really sick and idk why they didn't give you more control of it. The way you get to see Zack's memories as a way to expand on his interactions with characters without having to fit it in the main story somewhere is unique. Now there are ways to pull the odds of getting certain actions in your favor I'm aware. I guess I mainly would've liked there to be more interactivity with it. Maybe have it change up certain combat mechanics. I feel like there's a lot of changes I'd wanna make for this game, but to keep it simple why not have you be able to affect the DMW through the use of certain moves or attack patterns. Something like that. I think the fact that you also can't do certain missions or sidequests with certain characters to affect Zack's emotions with them is what also is weird (granted you can get Materia or gear, I can't remember exactly which, to increase the odds of certain actions popping up so I guess they didn't even need to go that route). Overall I just wanted more to do in the world. Otherwise the gameplay is solid.
If there's anything to end this on it's that ending. Seeing the final scenes of Zack and Cloud almost making it to Midgar, the soldier ambush, Zack's final words... they did that whole ending so much justice in this game. Legit gave me goosebumps. I'm so glad to have finally played this game despite its issues, and now that I've watched Advent Children I feel fully ready for Rebirth.
The gameplay is... simplistic yet has potential. I understand this was a PSP game originally so everything was designed in a very simple pick up and play fashion. My main issue comes down to there being nothing you do outside of combat. There's some fun minigame moments but I just wish there was something more going on. The only thing you do is run down corridors and fight enemies for the most part. That's every single mission in this game. The simplicity extends to the combat itself as well. I really like the action oriented nature of it (my preferred RPG playstyle). But there isn't much more to focus on besides getting weaknesses of enemies, and hoping the DMW gives you what you want it to. Speaking of which the DMW is really sick and idk why they didn't give you more control of it. The way you get to see Zack's memories as a way to expand on his interactions with characters without having to fit it in the main story somewhere is unique. Now there are ways to pull the odds of getting certain actions in your favor I'm aware. I guess I mainly would've liked there to be more interactivity with it. Maybe have it change up certain combat mechanics. I feel like there's a lot of changes I'd wanna make for this game, but to keep it simple why not have you be able to affect the DMW through the use of certain moves or attack patterns. Something like that. I think the fact that you also can't do certain missions or sidequests with certain characters to affect Zack's emotions with them is what also is weird (granted you can get Materia or gear, I can't remember exactly which, to increase the odds of certain actions popping up so I guess they didn't even need to go that route). Overall I just wanted more to do in the world. Otherwise the gameplay is solid.
If there's anything to end this on it's that ending. Seeing the final scenes of Zack and Cloud almost making it to Midgar, the soldier ambush, Zack's final words... they did that whole ending so much justice in this game. Legit gave me goosebumps. I'm so glad to have finally played this game despite its issues, and now that I've watched Advent Children I feel fully ready for Rebirth.
So far, Zelda has never disappointed. Equipped with one of my favorite tool sets to date, Minish Cap tosses all sorts of intricately designed dungeons and well-hidden secrets at you at every turn. There was never a dull moment to be had here. The kinstone system served as a unique way to handle progression and secrets, though finding people to fuse them with was a bit tedious at times. The classic 2D Zelda formula is tweaked and streamlined here in ways that make it the most enjoyable experience I've had with it to date.
Overall a wonderful time, definitely piques my interest in other 2D titles (and makes me want to see Nintendo toss their IP to other studios) even more.
Overall a wonderful time, definitely piques my interest in other 2D titles (and makes me want to see Nintendo toss their IP to other studios) even more.
Marvel's Spider-Man
2018
Finally got around to beating this game after starting it way back in 2018. It's really damn good, love the control and feel of Spider-Man. I'm not too knowledgeable with the IP but I can tell Insomniac put a ton of love into it with the suits and attention to detail. I'm not too big on the stealth sections but I definitely get why they're there to break up the combat. Overall, fun game, I'm not itching to play Spider-Man 2 or Miles Morales cause I have enough games on my plate already, but I'm sure they're fun games.
Crisis Core is an interesting game. As a prequel to FFVII it tells a story we know the ending to, and I find that interesting. Similarly to Torna in a way, which I loved. Here, it's very weirdly handled. However, I think it is saved largely because of how short and to the point it is.
Zack, our protagonist, is likeable enough here and his dynamic with a shy Cloud was a highlight. The game plays pretty well, and I found it quite challenging, especially at some bosses.
I think the game is carried largely by that ending, which was sad and very brutal. The first half of this game is just so boring and the combat itself was the only thing keeping me going. Dear lord, never mention Angeal ever again pls I don't know if I could take it.
Overall the definition of a 6.
Zack, our protagonist, is likeable enough here and his dynamic with a shy Cloud was a highlight. The game plays pretty well, and I found it quite challenging, especially at some bosses.
I think the game is carried largely by that ending, which was sad and very brutal. The first half of this game is just so boring and the combat itself was the only thing keeping me going. Dear lord, never mention Angeal ever again pls I don't know if I could take it.
Overall the definition of a 6.
Final Fantasy XVI
2023
I can’t believe I was almost convinced not to play this game. This was my first true taste of a full Final Fantasy game and it was incredible. Gameplay is the most important thing to me and thankfully the combat was fluid and extremely fun. The more eikon abilities provided, the better it got. Loved that we continued to get new abilities throughout the entire game. Bosses were a clear highlight and I looked forward to each and every one. These were a spectacle and each one felt unique and it was stunning watching them come to life. I don’t usually like time trials, but doing them for the trophy taught me new ways of utilizing the differing eikons. My only issue which is a personal one is the side quests. Despite many of them leading to bigger and better outcomes, getting through the early ones was a drag. The layouts were identical and the stories uninteresting. They did get better in the second half, but I do wish the early ones were better.
This was a long-awaited, playthrough and boy did it pay off handsomely. Kingdom Hearts was an thrill and some more, mixing the lovable worlds and characters from Disney, with the immersive and in-depth story telling and elements of Square Enix. While the game may have a slow start, and directions can be cryptic. pushing through, this was an amazing experience through and through, cannot wait to continue forth through the series.
