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!

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.

A lovely visual upgrade with a variety of controller options to please just about anyone. It's paced pretty well in the beginning and then becomes rather tedious to backtrack. There are some rather brutal stretches where I could have used a save point here and there, but I would say these were faults of the original and not due to the remaster. It's pretty much the same game, but with a new coat of paint. If this is how Prime 4 will look, then I'm excited. I hope the others in the trilogy get this treatment too, as the second game is my favorite. We'll have to wait and see, but it's nice having solid 2D and 3D Metroid representation on the Switch!

So as far as I can remember, I've never played any roguelikes. My concern was the grindy nature would bore me out within a few hours. I was half right about this, but I'll get into it a bit later.

The vast amount of weapons, skills, mutations, aspects, and biomes provide so much variety (Especially with DLC), I was really enjoying the first few hours. The gameplay loop was working and I was in. At about the 10 hour mark and multiple failed attempts of some very good runs, I was getting tired of it. The game wasn't fun anymore. I just wanted to complete a run just to say I had done it. So I used assist mode. Sure, it wasn't an "honest" run, but I'm really glad this option was available for those who just want a more casual experience. It allows more people to enjoy the game.

I've come to learn that these kinds of games are better going little by little and not a constant binge. I think I'll hack away at this throughout the year and see if I can attempt an "honest" run down the line. For a first roguelike to experience, this game certainly is a good one to start off with! The artstyle is great, the writing is quite funny, and the gameplay is slick.

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.

I enjoyed To The Moon for what it was despite the clunkiness of it, but I never had any technical issues. The Switch version of this game is incredibly buggy. I had to reload a save and then had it freeze within the hour. I wish I could have actually experienced this, but unfortunately this port is what's holding it back. I've read a synopsis now and I think it would have been great to experience this rather than read it. If the sequel to this comes out for Switch, I will have to pass just due to the poor quality of this port.

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!

This is a part two review I didn't expect to do and I still stand by how I feel with the first review I did last month. With all the problems the game has, it's the most fun I've had with a modern Pokemon game in years. The quality of life features make creating a competitively viable team easier than ever and shiny hunting is no longer a tedious chore. Raids have been a great way of farming EXP candies so that making teams can be fast tracked. In the time since my last review, I was able to make a full team of shiny Pokemon and it was really satisfying to build. If there is some way to bring these features to the next game AND make a beautiful looking game that runs well, it will be a near perfect Pokemon game.

This truly is a mixed bag. While the open world format is something that this franchise desperately needed and playing with friends was a blast, the look and performance of the game is not acceptable. It has the highest highs and the lowest lows.

It just shows that more development time was needed, but Pokemon wants to have annual releases and this is the end result. This franchise has been a part of my life for so long and seeing be in a state of decline from a quality standpoint has truly disappointing. I still had a lot of fun with this game, and it has me truly conflicted. Perhaps I will skip out on the next game or next gen if this is what is considered acceptable at launch by the developers.

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.

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.