It was certainly a long wait, but we finally got Bayo 3! I admire the ambition that Platinum put into this. The demons that you could summon were a fun gimmick, although it became a bit overcentralizing. It felt like I had to constantly rely on them due to enemies having a lot of health. The story is probably the next logical step when it comes to the ridiculousness of it all, although I did feel it lacked a lot of character behind it. Granted, the previous games didn't have that much going for it, but it was at least something. It's a more plot focused game and it's fine enough I suppose. I feel like Digital Foundry summarized what makes this game feel a bit lacking in comparison to previous entries. I had a fun time with it, and I'll dive back into it at some point, but at the end of the day, it had me wanting to go back to the older games.

I had an itch for something like Tropical Freeze and this game certainly satisfied that. I liked that the levels had different versions and using the world map to affect those changes made the map feel more than just a hub. The platforming is solid. The soundtrack is great. There are some things I didn't care for. Being gated by requiring coins is a bit annoying, especially since I had to replay levels to do this and I just wanted to move on. The Impossible Lair lives up to its name, but even with all the bees collected which just extends your HP, I found myself dying often. This level requires precise platforming to a T. You have to go at the exact time. You are punished for waiting and for going to fast. It's fine in theory, but seeing how long the level ended up being just had me exhausted. I got what I wanted out of the game and I have no desire to go back to it. I'll still be listening to that soundtrack though.

This felt right to play again after Sea of Stars and it holds up for the most part. On my first playthrough, I didn't really agree with the main criticisms about the second half of the game as I enjoyed exploring and 100% it. On a second playthrough, I can understand these points a little better. Momentum can just halt depending on how you approach to collect everything and there are certain areas that don't have fast travel points, which is kind of tedious.

The story is very much shoved into the back half as well, but for a second playthrough I was skipping through dialogue anyways. There were a few things I read and I still found it very funny with its meta humorous shopkeeper character. Another issue I had was a particular boss fight that I found kind of difficult to do because it shifted back and forth so quickly that my slightly photosensitive eyes couldn't really look at the screen. That's on me though.

Those points aside, the visuals and OST are top notch and this was certainly something worth replaying!

I knew what I was getting into and it still ended up being a mixed bag for me, and I think a lot of that comes down to personal preferences. I prefer mostly what the original had to offer in terms of combat, but this was a pleasant spin. Having weapons come with unique skills to unlock was great as it felt like I was making some strides of progression. I can't wait to see how the other party members will be treated with this style of combat.

The visuals and soundtrack are on point. It's visually stunning and the remixes of older themes are fantastic. I think those were the best parts of this remake. Where it falters for me mostly, is the story. I feel there are other avenues it could have gone with trying to expand Midgar, but it felt constrained and the pacing was bloated beyond belief. I was losing interest fast in terms of investment and even the combat felt like it was dragging in certain ways.

At the end of the day, I'm glad I played it, but it confirms to me that I shouldn't touch Rebirth. Oddly enough, it makes me want to do another playthrough of the original and I only played it for the first time a couple of years ago.

For every cool aspect of this game, there's something that takes it away. The djinn and the combinations of spells can be cool in theory, but it seems it's optimal to just have one element tied to a corresponding character.

The set up for the narrative and the world is cool in theory, but then there's a lot of events that don't seem to tie in to the overall story and are just there to pad out the game.

Even with the virtual console rewind feature, random encounters are such a pain to work around. I hit walls multiple times and I was just losing my enjoyment of it as I tried to press on. I knew recently I wouldn't do the sequel because I feel that aside from the story, the gameplay experience seems to be relatively the same. I wanted to like this, and I think if I had played this when I was younger, I would have loved it and I totally get why this is a beloved and underrated game in the GBA's library for some, but ultimately it shows its age.

It took me quite a while to get into this. The first few hours are particularly brutal, but once you push through, it becomes something worth playing. There are certainly some elements that I know that were completely intentional by the developers that didn't work for me. For example, you can purchase a quill to fill in your map when you save at benches, but only for areas where you have purchased said maps. It doesn't make much sense to me to have to keep buying maps when you have the quill. There definitely could have been some compromise there. The game also feels a tad bit bloated in terms of world design (As beautiful as the art direction is).

The charm system is great and provides a lot of flexibility for traversal and for combat. The boss fights are a great mix of enthralling and difficult. The soundtrack is lovely. The controls are smooth. The final boss was truly depressing in the best way. I know there are multiple endings and I'm satisfied with what I got. One thing is for sure, I'm looking forward to Silksong. This is nowhere near my favorite Metroidvania, but I totally understand why so many people love this game. It's certainly worth a playthrough if you're a fan of the genre.

Hearing the premise, I was unsure how the different gameplay styles would mesh together, but it works really well. The game is full of style and charm through the wonderful pixel art cutscenes. I think my only problem is that sometimes it will throw a new thing at you and the controls aren't always great, but luckily those moments don't overstay their welcome. I'm definitely going to do some post game and see how close to completion I'll get. Do NOT play this game if you're craving sushi though haha.

I have a great admiration for these developers taking the clear inspiration from Fire Emblem and making slight tweaks to make this experience different. That being said, halfway through this game, I find myself tired because I felt I was under leveled. You need to be constantly upgrading, which I feel that should have been done through leveling up instead of using resources. The maps are way too big. The soundtrack is forgettable. It was a nice thing to hold me over while waiting for the next FE game at least.

Pretty much an improvement from the first game in so many ways. There are some nice quality of life features added, the final chapter was much more doable, and the most important thing to me was actually having this team feel like a team. The little things like saying each other's names during combat made the biggest difference. The combat, world design and OST were top notch as always. I found myself much more engaged with these stories than the first as well. There are definitely some aspects that could still be improved on, such as not having to go to a tavern to switch party members and maybe some more crossed paths? That one seems like a big ask.

Octopath Traveler had a solid core to build off of and the sequel took it and ran with it. Truly a wonderful game and I hope there will be more of these in the future.

I had never played an Animal Crossing game before this, and it arrived at a pivotal time. I took the gamble and it paid off. It was a fantastic experience hanging out with friends seeing our islands grow. Since this was my first game, I didn't nothing things that were missing, but it was clear as time went on that the game loses a lot of momentum once you've hit the endgame. I did as much as I could stretch it out. I remodeled my island, I tried going for my favorite villager designs, I collected the bugs, fish, sea creatures, and art. During that process, it shows how grindy this game can be. The fact that bulk crafting never happened is a baffling choice from my perspective. Getting art was a huge pain and I had to use Nookazon to complete my collection and this was after the 2.0 update. This game holds a lot of meaning to me, but time does begin to show its problems. Hoping the next game can smooth these issues out, although I also feel like this game should have been supported for much longer.

If I was rating this solely on gameplay, it would be a 4.5/5. The core gameplay is so fun and versatile. There's a lot of options that open up as you switch Emblems around with your units and they're balanced so nicely so that they don't break the game entirely. The difficulty is just right. I'm really looking forward to a second playthrough after all the DLC comes out and see what options it will provide me.

The story is serviceable at best and boring at worst. It asks a lot from the player to be invested in things that the writing itself doesn't give enough time for or isn't written well. Even most of the supports are kind of lackluster. Towards the endgame, I was checked out and even started skipping dialogue, which is rare for me. It is probably my least favorite story in any FE game and I've played most of the western releases. More power to you if you like it though.

This is certainly a celebration of the series and if anything I'm finding myself wanting to go back to the older games I do have, but also hoping that some that haven't been given their due in the west finally get here (Here's hoping that FE4 rumor is true). It's sort of rekindled my love of the series just by plain nostalgia through the Emblems (Also the reused maps and new arrangements help).

I'm really looking forward to that second playthrough. There's so many units I didn't use, skills I didn't optimize and more importantly, I can skip the story scenes now. This game has potential to be top 5 FE games down the line.

There's definitely some nostalgic bias re-examining this game after its release. I never actually played it. I watched people stream, but I found myself wrapped up in the mystery and the speculation that came with it throughout the release window. Playing it for myself, it's definitely clunky in some areas. Some puzzles weren't always the easiest to figure out, there is some meandering and padding here and there, and having to not always skip through all dialogue options as you're trying to get the result you want is kind of tedious.

That being said, I still admire this game. While there are certainly some faults with it, I was still captivated by the narrative, which is the biggest part of the game. If that failed to work, what then? Also, the musical score and soundtrack really enhance the narrative. The song that plays at the end of my final choice is just perfect.

I can totally understand why this doesn't work for everyone. I suppose I found this game at the right time and it has still stuck with me since. We all have those kind of games.