This was a great game. I had been meaning to get to this one for a while as someone who loved 2D Metroid and wanted to finally experience the other half of Metroidvania genre. This game has a lot of depth, and does a decent job making sure you never feel bored. The fact that you can equip tons of different items that make your experience wholly your own is really cool. There's some great level design with plenty of secrets, cool bosses and a generally gothic atmosphere. This is genre-defining for a reason, I think.

I thought the story structure and the multiple protagonists were pretty cool, but the execution itself I wasn't big on. It took the story a lot longer to engage compared to previous games and splitting the game up like this definitely makes it suffer a bit with the wider scope story it's trying to tell. The wider story isn't even something I found particularly interesting or engaging until a bit further in when the pieces start coming together.

Gameplay is fine. I appreciate the new characters and wider variety of movesets. It's fun, but I'm not big on the engine they've used for Yakuza 3 and this game. Definitely still feels a bit jarring coming off the more polished 0, Kiwami and Kiwami 2, but that isn't a fault of the developers when they originally released these games so I mean that's more of a nitpick if anything. 3 had elements that endeared it to me, but this game I feel is still a bit lacking in some departments.

It's not a bad game, just not one of my favourites.

RE5 is an alright enough game by itself, although having played RE4 before it, you can definitely feel how it retains a lot of the same elements, just not as good. The story is quite cheesy, but not quite as charming as RE4. The antagonist in this game is definitely a highlight though, and there are some cool moments.

I was recommended to play this game in co-op, which I'm glad I did. While it isn't the best co-op experience ever produced, it's still a good time with a friend. It was nice going through the action-style of RE with another person and all the possibilities that unlocks. Sad about some of the stuff they stripped away, like the removal of the suitcase and the merchant, etc, but I get why it had to happen. There's plenty of content in this game still, which I commend it for.

Also that leech boss fight was ass. A friend told me it might be broken, which is quite bad if true.

Still, I had an alright time with this game. It isn't as good as RE4, but it's still a fun game in its own right, especially with the addition of co-op. I'm not sure I could be so generous if I had to play this game alone with the AI.

prior to playing pikmin 2, i had only heard undying praise for it. i knew that it was a fan favorite--not a single peep about it being known as hit or miss. i absolutely adored pikmin 1, so needless to say i was overjoyed to continue experiencing these wonderfully unique games, unaware of the fact that this is the most divisive title in the series

initially, i was intrigued by the lack of the time limit that shaped the first entry's gameplay loop, but i soon realized that the absence of this feature gave me no motivation to keep moving forward--something i found to be an essential part of the first game. however, i don't think that adding a time limit to any or all parts of the game would magically improve it, as the lack of one goes hand in hand with the problems i have with its core design

where pikmin 1 chose to combine micromanagement with skillfully crafted level design, pikmin 2 takes a bold 180 and introduces dungeon-crawling. the caves are an interesting addition and quite exciting at first, having some structure but being largely characterized by random elements. nevertheless, their soulless nature quickly shows itself.

speaking as a big fan of roguelikes and games with roguelike elements, the randomness of pikmin 2's caves feels more like a shallow attempt to change the gameplay loop for the sake of change rather than a well-thought-out, meaningful shift that (better) suits the gameplay. pikmin 1 resonated with me because it has such elegantly crafted level design. both games allow for multiple solutions to the same problem but random enemy placement and level layouts feel at odds with the groundwork that the first game laid out.

the caves, especially the later ones (namely the dream den), drag on for far too long and are a great example of why i think that quantity hardly equates to quality within games.

the strong focus on caves robbed the overworld of its charm, and the lack of a time limit took away my incentive to collect (albeit cool) treasure, at least past the milestone of repaying the entirety of the debt.

towards the end of my playthrough, i was constantly audibly frustrated and desperate to move onto 3, a sharp contrast to my experience with the latter half of 1. the final boss was especially exhausting, as i beat it on my first try but it dragged on for what felt like hours

i think that the dynamic music, addition of boss music, and improvements to quality of life are all great. i love purple and white pikmin they are so soooo silly but pikmin 2 is probably the most disappointing game i've ever played because i had such high hopes for it after becoming completely enamored with 1. it polishes up some jank and adds some neat new stuff but it also strips away what makes the first game so engaging to me

i respect this game's attempts to innovate on the pikmin formula, especially when so many game series prefer to play it safe and fear taking risks, but new doesn't always equal good/better. i can kinda see the appeal of this game's design and its chaotic nature but i guess they thought it was new year's eve because they totally dropped the baaaaaaaaall

when funny man miyamoto was developing pikmin, he said that he wanted it to be “the next mario.” well that doesn’t make any sense because there’s no fucking goombas in this game

in terms of sales numbers, pikmin ended up becoming more like the next metroid, but it certainly rivals mario in terms of creativity and innovation

this game is an absolute joy to play. it tickles parts of my brain that i didn't even know could be tickled. i hate being micromanaged in real life but when it comes to games i either love or hate it and boy do i love it here. the rewind function was something i didn't think id ever use, but i found myself frequently taking advantage of it, as i was surprised to enjoy the pressure i felt that came from having to manage my time efficiently.

there are so many amazing ideas here and the way they are all brilliantly executed and intertwined together is an absolute marvel, especially considering how old this game is. every part of each area is a little puzzle that often depends on other parts of the map (sometimes even spanning between stages), all forming together to make one big puzzle, the pieces of which fit together perfectly. it is so satisfying to progress through this game and i love how it isn't linear. the fact that it is short and sweet only left me wanting more, but still beyond satisfied with the time i spent with it

this game's age does show, as the mechanics can be a bit janky at times but they're overall quite polished, and pikmin tripping or falling into the void was more funny to me than it was frustrating. it gave me a sense of realism that i didn't expect from a game like this and only immersed me more in my role as a space man with a big nose

i wish i grew up with this series as a wee lad because commanding up to 100 little guys to recover ship parts, fight goblins, and more is so damn fun. you've gotta play pikmin or else you're dumb

HOOO BABY I LOVE ROGUELIKES AND I LOVE CARD GAMES AND THIS GAME IS BOTH OF THOSE THINGS

bought this on sale on switch like 3 years ago because i have no impulse control and finally decided to play it on a whim a few months ago and boy i got hooked. so hooked that within the 2ish months i played this i ended up buying it on iphone and steam. god this game is so damn satisfying to play so many rad starts you can pull off and it feels damn goooood

there's a lot of times where i get frustrated at basically unwinnable runs but i don't feel as upset about this as i do with other similar games because i can just lean back in my epic ikea chair and play this game with one hand (while eating Sandwich with the other)

i don't love this as much as risk of rain 2 and it doesn't have the high school nostalgia factor that nuclear throne has for me but its way up there on my roguelike tier list and has been my go-to game that somehow stimulates my brain while also providing me mindless fun

P.S. i still haven't beaten the fucker final boss after almost 100 hours across 3 different platforms that basterd can suck my nuts