This game reminds of Tropical Freeze in all the right ways. Smooth controls, great level design, wonderful art direction and music, but also can be tough as nails when you get to the nitty gritty. Pure platforming bliss.

Some levels are an absolute blast to go through while others are tests of patience. I don't particularly like having to grind and pray that I end getting a level from Origins unlocked. It feels like padding and should have just been unlocked gradually as you kept playing through the main story, which that can be beaten fairly easily if you're not trying to 100%.

This is a game I'll come back through later, but I had my fill of it and it was a fun time.

This is going to be a very strange comparison, but growing up I was a huge fan of the show Code Lyoko. If that sort of premise of kids trying to balance school, personal life, and taking on evil from another world was encapsulated near perfectly in this game. The gameplay loop was engaging as I unraveled the mystery and grew attached to Inaba and its residents. The story can have some great heightened tension when it wants to.

That being said, it's clear from some of the characterizations and dialogue that this is very much from 2008. It shows somewhat in the game design as it's not always clear what to do to progress through the story and I had to reference a guide multiple times. I went for the golden ending and it was totally worth it. What's crazy is how much I wasn't able to get and am curious on exploring in a future playthrough.

This was a pretty cozy RPG to play in the fall, although I am very grateful for the modifiers that the game has to tailor the experience to your liking. I pretty much played on safety mode as it made grinding non existent. This game is totally worth the praise and I can't wait to replay it.

I should preface this by saying I was a huge fan of the previous entry on the 3DS, so it's going to be difficult to not draw comparisons. I think there are some changes I enjoyed like the more open world, although I did think having set save points, regardless of having an item that can teleport you back there, isn't great. This game can be difficult and frustrating at times and having to go back to save points constantly isn't enjoyable. There's a sequence prior to a boss battle that NOT having a save point nearby requires a lot of retreading cutscenes, mashing through dialogue and talking to NPCs if you die. It's such a massive flaw and kills the flow of the narrative and gameplay.

The story had an interesting idea, but doesn't provide enough time to flesh things out. The hook is interesting enough, but as it went on, I didn't really care what was happening. My final decision was based on which one would end the game quicker.

At the very least, the combat is still fun. Recruiting demons has some funny interactions and provides a nice puzzle to solve. I did enjoy exploring the areas and finding the secrets. It's not perfect, but if the series were to continue and refine this idea, I'd be fine with it. I feel there were a few odd things with demon fusion. A lot of my fusions would end becoming things that had the opposite of what their strengths were. For example, two attack based units would fuse into a magic based unit. You have to get the precise combo of demons to get the right builds and I found that rather tedious.

Is this a let down compared to SMTV 4? A little bit. I had some enjoyment out of the game. The core gameplay is what really holds this together. I just hope if another entry is made, that they can refine some of the decent ideas that were implemented here while also reworking their narratives a bit.

I think Dread's controls and moveset have sort of ruined any other 2D Metroid titles for me. The controls felt pretty stiff, even though I know it was an improvement over previous titles. The boss battles I found quite infuriating because of the way things controlled. The space jump felt a bit awkward in its timing, but I'm unsure if that's due to the emulation or the controller.

I don't mind the more linear approach as the maps you're presented when you arrive at a level aren't always what they appear to be, so there are some explorative elements to it. The pixel art is wonderful. The soundtrack and level design provide a great sense of atmosphere. The SA-X is a solid idea from a narrative and gameplay scenario.

I'm glad I gave this a try, but if I'm diving back into 2D Metroid, I will just play Dread again.

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.

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.

Finished my first run this morning! I knew that 10 complete runs have to be done to get everything out of story, but to be completely honest, I want to move to other things. I watched the rest on YouTube and it's really satisfying overall. I think I'd like to achieve it over time, but I'm definitely going to god mode my way through it.

The gameplay loop is incredible. There is so much depth in the variety that can be done with each run based on the weapons and keepsakes you use, the boons you receive, and the well of dialogue which has been fresh nearly ever single run. Having played most of Supergiant's games, this is without a doubt my favorite. I've only ever played one other roguelike, but I think it will be hard to try any other one (With the exception of Hades 2 of course).

This game totally lived up to the hype back in 2020 and I wish I had tried this a long time ago.

EDIT: I completed the main story. My review still stands. This game is incredible. I'm definitely going to try and get the epilogue at some point, but I have a backlog to get to. I'm so excited for the sequel!

Trying to get through some smaller games on the backlog and so I started off with Haven. I had heard decent things about this one, particularly the writing and I would have to agree that the script is the strongest part. Kay and Yu have great banter and there's a great attention to detail as you progress through the game. The performances are also solid and the OST was great. Honestly, my favorite part was just roaming around listening to the music.

The rest of the gameplay is rather clunky. I think some ideas are neat in theory, but it sometimes feels like padding. Combat feels like this especially. I'm not a huge fan that you don't get full heals when you sleep. There are some other tedious rules that the game puts in place and it makes for a rather shaky experience.

This next part isn't necessarily the game's fault, but moreso the hardware. I know the Switch will always have drawbacks, but I had a few crashes, one of them at the climax of the game, which soured the experience overall. Not to mention the audio mixing is beyond inconsistent at points. There are some takes that they kept where actors are clearing peaking on their mics and it's beyond distracting.

Those problems aside, I still enjoyed the game for what it was. I think if this was longer, I would have found myself much more annoyed. My suggestion would be to play this on platforms and to wait for a sale. Certain not a bad game to pass the time, but's definitely got some issues. Not a bad way to start 2023!

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.