Crownified
A great duology. Superb character animations that pair well the excellent character designs and their unique tics and personalities. While I have some grievances with the first game's pacing, the second game pacing is much faster and helps alleviate some of the slow pace of the first game. Writing is still top notch in both and the twists and turns that weave into both titles make the entire duology package into a great buy. While I don't think it's the strongest of the Ace Attorney franchise, I still believe that they still hold as strong entries in the franchise.
Much better than the first game. This game has the luxury of not having to introduce every character in the cast and instead gets to use the cast in more interesting ways. Susado gets to shine a lot more in this one and the side characters feel more fleshed out as we begin to learn their backstories a bit more. All the lingering loose threads from the first one are nicely followed up and concluded. In fact, this game's cases just feel more tightly written in general with less fluff and more brevity that really helps with the pacing. The game has an awesome conclusion that worried me initially as I felt it was going to tread familiar ground with its twist villain. But it did end up managing to do something different which I thoroughly appreciating. Everything that seemed like an obvious twist was lampshade by the game and not so obvious twists were foreshadowed enough to where I was very satisfied with this game's writing. For all the missteps that previous game took with its writing, it was well worth it to get to the sparkling conclusion of this duology.
Wasn't feeling it at first as it takes a while to get used to the game's controls and movement options. But as you play, you being to understand how to optimize your character's momentum and movement options it becomes real fun. Penny has various skills that makes traversal super dynamic and thrilling to speedrun through. There are various quests you can do in each level that are quick side objectives that you can blast through if you're skilled enough. By no means are they pace-breaking, they feel quick enough and easy enough to do without feeling like you have to drop everything to do them. Conversely, I would say that the first world is definitely the weakest world because it's weirdly difficult for a starting area. It almost feels like you're thrust into the game with very little forgiveness to the player just learning the ropes.
The graphics and presentation are absolutely captivating. The Sega Saturn-esque aesthetic is vibrant and colorful and while at times the game feels budgeted with character animations feeling stiff, it's overall easy to look past due to the simplistic artstyle. I was worried during pre-release that it would take TOO heavy inspiration from Sonic and wouldn't be able to forge its own identity but thankfully this seems like a non-issue. The music is also full of fun and whimsy. This soundtrack is thankfully less inspired by the Saturn and moreso jumps right off the back of Tee Lopes's excellent Sonic Mania OST. The songs are bouncy and full of life that really captures the energy of Penny. You can clearly tell that the presentation of this game is one of this it's greatest strengths.
In summary, I can say that this game, while it does have some hiccups here and there, is a blast once you finally understand the full extent of Penny's momentum-based gameplay. It's very much a speedrunner's dream and while I may not be a big speedrunner itself, it still a good time and definitely worth your time.
The graphics and presentation are absolutely captivating. The Sega Saturn-esque aesthetic is vibrant and colorful and while at times the game feels budgeted with character animations feeling stiff, it's overall easy to look past due to the simplistic artstyle. I was worried during pre-release that it would take TOO heavy inspiration from Sonic and wouldn't be able to forge its own identity but thankfully this seems like a non-issue. The music is also full of fun and whimsy. This soundtrack is thankfully less inspired by the Saturn and moreso jumps right off the back of Tee Lopes's excellent Sonic Mania OST. The songs are bouncy and full of life that really captures the energy of Penny. You can clearly tell that the presentation of this game is one of this it's greatest strengths.
In summary, I can say that this game, while it does have some hiccups here and there, is a blast once you finally understand the full extent of Penny's momentum-based gameplay. It's very much a speedrunner's dream and while I may not be a big speedrunner itself, it still a good time and definitely worth your time.
I'm a huge fan of the main series after playing it over the past few years so let me tell you I was excited to finally play what is heralded as the first part to the best pair of games in the series.
It's unfortunate that ultimately, I feel mostly mixed on this entry. None of the cases are necessarily bad but I often felt that the each of the cases stretched on for far too long. It feels like the characters will dwell on one particular plot point for far longer than they should have, often reiterating points over and over that just gets tedious to read. The outline for each one of the game's cases are all generally interesting too; I never felt like there was too big of a leap of logic that made them fall flat. It's just each needed a onceover in order to trim the fat and make them less long-winded.
On the flipside, I simply adore this cast. Naruhodo is a strong followup to previous Ace Attorney protags and his feeling of inadequacy that slowly gets rectified over the course of the game is great character growth. Susado is a fun assistant who unlike most assistants never feels unnecessarily and always contributes to the case at hand. The duo really feels like a team. I thought I would hate Sholmes when I first played but he does grow on you as the game progresses.
Ultimately, I feel this is the most disappointed I have felt with an Ace Attorney title so far. It's a shame because while the characters and setting are generally fantastic, the overexplaining of each case makes me rank this one as my least favorite of the series.
It's unfortunate that ultimately, I feel mostly mixed on this entry. None of the cases are necessarily bad but I often felt that the each of the cases stretched on for far too long. It feels like the characters will dwell on one particular plot point for far longer than they should have, often reiterating points over and over that just gets tedious to read. The outline for each one of the game's cases are all generally interesting too; I never felt like there was too big of a leap of logic that made them fall flat. It's just each needed a onceover in order to trim the fat and make them less long-winded.
On the flipside, I simply adore this cast. Naruhodo is a strong followup to previous Ace Attorney protags and his feeling of inadequacy that slowly gets rectified over the course of the game is great character growth. Susado is a fun assistant who unlike most assistants never feels unnecessarily and always contributes to the case at hand. The duo really feels like a team. I thought I would hate Sholmes when I first played but he does grow on you as the game progresses.
Ultimately, I feel this is the most disappointed I have felt with an Ace Attorney title so far. It's a shame because while the characters and setting are generally fantastic, the overexplaining of each case makes me rank this one as my least favorite of the series.
2023
Fun enough racing battle royale that's fun enough for what it is. Nothing that really holds my attention that much. In it's current state, it just feels a bit too basic. For a battle royale type game, it needs more in game events and hazards to liven up the gameplay.
Metroid Prime is the game that made me fall in love with the Metroid series. I loved the original game so much that I ended up playing it twice back-to-back. I don’t think I have ever done that with a game before or since. With that in mind, you can probably guess my feelings on this remaster. It’s just as good as the original game with a beautiful coat of paint that is so good it honestly almost threads the line to being a full blown remake instead. Reflections look stunning and blast effects feel as vibrant and powerful as it felt using them in the original version. It’s probably one of the best looking games on the Switch and with a stable 60 fps it is a breeze to play. Most of my major complaints are moreso on things that weren’t changed in the remaster that were in the original. The Chozo artifact hunt is as arbitrary as ever without any way to mitigate the backtracking. An item tracker, which is something 2D Metroid titles have nailed down, still has not crossed over to the Prime series and thus going for 100% still feels like something I will only ever do once. Those complaints aside, this is still a great package and should definitely be the first entry any newcomers should try when playing through the namesake of the Metroidvania genre.
Decent short puzzle game. It's a good game to play for a short burst or two. None of the puzzles are particularly hard but some bonus challenges in certain levels can get somewhat difficult. Boss fights get reused a few times but the level designs are different enough to make each encounter feel unique.
Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe feels like a celebration of the modern Kirby formula by reintroducing newer fans to the origin port of what we now understand as a "modern Kirby game." It's hard to state how important this game is to the franchise. And this remaster is a great showcase of this game's strengths.
The game is now finally in HD and runs at a nice 60 FPS which is a huge step up from Star Allies meager 30 FPS. The brilliant backgrounds can now be showcased in their full glory that are honestly still breathtaking for what used to be a late-Wii title. The newly added cell-shaded outlines was something I initially didn't love but I did grow used to them and eventually I do think it was the right choice for this remaster. Gameplay is just as great as it ever was with just snappier gameplay and sped up animations, like for the Super Abilities, and tweaks that make the experience just that little bit better. The new copy abilities such as Sand and Mecha are great additions to the series albeit extremely broken in terms of Arena runs.
Of course this remaster also includes Merry MagoLand which is a fun side mode to play with friends and the medal system does make it decently fun for singleplayer as well. I haven't played Magolor's Epilogue quite yet but I will update this review in the future whenever I get the chance.
This game is a definitive Wii title that paved the way for the Kirby series to gain greater recognition and this remaster preserves that experience immensely.
The game is now finally in HD and runs at a nice 60 FPS which is a huge step up from Star Allies meager 30 FPS. The brilliant backgrounds can now be showcased in their full glory that are honestly still breathtaking for what used to be a late-Wii title. The newly added cell-shaded outlines was something I initially didn't love but I did grow used to them and eventually I do think it was the right choice for this remaster. Gameplay is just as great as it ever was with just snappier gameplay and sped up animations, like for the Super Abilities, and tweaks that make the experience just that little bit better. The new copy abilities such as Sand and Mecha are great additions to the series albeit extremely broken in terms of Arena runs.
Of course this remaster also includes Merry MagoLand which is a fun side mode to play with friends and the medal system does make it decently fun for singleplayer as well. I haven't played Magolor's Epilogue quite yet but I will update this review in the future whenever I get the chance.
This game is a definitive Wii title that paved the way for the Kirby series to gain greater recognition and this remaster preserves that experience immensely.
2005
Shadow the Hedgehog should fundamentally be a good and fun experience but it’s bogged down by some baffling design decisions that keep it from being a great game. The things most people who have never played this game judge it for are actually probably the best part of the entire experience. Shadow’s guns are quick and snappy and are easy to aim and use in a variety of situations. You never feel like you NEED the guns to progress, but it's a nice bonus akin to picking up a power-up in a classic Sonic game. The edgy story and its many branching paths are nonsensical and don’t really link up to each other all that well, but I can’t help but unironically enjoy how hard Shadow tries to act cool. This game has plenty of faults but I can’t help but admire it’s good qualities that shine through the rough.
Though of course Shadow the Hedgehog has plenty of issues that do need to be addressed. The morality system is a neat idea, but the execution is entirely flawed. The branching paths are less narratively branching and more so gameplay branching. The story tries really hard to justify why Shadow would suddenly switch sides but makes no effort in trying to tie each morality choice together. Because of the amount of branching paths, each one feels more neglected then it really should have been. Gameplay wise, the branches honestly feel a bit tedious. Each choice is not created equally. Some of them you just need to get to the end of the level or find 5 objects in the level, other times you have to kill every single enemy of a certain enemy type in order to progress. It just completely bogs down the entire gameplay loop by making the high-octane Sonic the Hedgehog gameplay loop slow to a crawl. Like most of the harder objectives aren’t even that hard to complete, they’re just slow and tedious and completely antithetical to what this series is known for.
Fact of the matter is, Shadow the Hedgehog is cool as fuck, and there’s nothing anything a gaming youtuber can say to change my mind about that.
Though of course Shadow the Hedgehog has plenty of issues that do need to be addressed. The morality system is a neat idea, but the execution is entirely flawed. The branching paths are less narratively branching and more so gameplay branching. The story tries really hard to justify why Shadow would suddenly switch sides but makes no effort in trying to tie each morality choice together. Because of the amount of branching paths, each one feels more neglected then it really should have been. Gameplay wise, the branches honestly feel a bit tedious. Each choice is not created equally. Some of them you just need to get to the end of the level or find 5 objects in the level, other times you have to kill every single enemy of a certain enemy type in order to progress. It just completely bogs down the entire gameplay loop by making the high-octane Sonic the Hedgehog gameplay loop slow to a crawl. Like most of the harder objectives aren’t even that hard to complete, they’re just slow and tedious and completely antithetical to what this series is known for.
Fact of the matter is, Shadow the Hedgehog is cool as fuck, and there’s nothing anything a gaming youtuber can say to change my mind about that.
2019
The game is fine. The level design and controls are frustrating at first but eventually you get a good enough feel for the physics and controls where the game becomes significantly easier. There's plenty of "soft" checkpoints where you basically cannot go down past a point once you reach it so the game doesn't feel as frustrating. Not too much mechanical depth but its fun enough for what it is.
Started off pretty weak but ended with a bang. Yea, they are just mostly tour courses with a minor graphical overall and some minor changes but Mario Kart 8 is just a fundamentally solid game that adding more content only enhances the experience. Each of the many courses they selected are a great fit for MK8 and are done fairly well. The Booster Course Pass also brought in a bunch of quality of life improvements to the game such as a music player and item selection which is always a plus. They also just added new characters free of charge which was awesome. It makes Mario Kart 8 into one of the best games content-wise and it's hard to picture any future game topping it.
SteamWorld Heist is a decent tactics game that misses the mark a bit. Gameplay overall is decent, there’s plenty of mechanical depth in its movement system and positioning. Aiming your weapons and knowing where to stand and aim is crucial to understanding this game’s mechanics. This is inverse to most tactic games where hit chance is determined by stats, this game’s hit chance is mostly determined by where you are in the map and if you as the player can aim and hit your target accurately. This makes for a fun risk and reward system where you have to decide whether to move closer in order to get better accurately while at risk of getting hit, or to move further away, reducing your accuracy while gaining more cover. This is all well and good, but a big problem with this game is that its levels are procedurally generated. It makes every single level in the game mostly feel the same as the other. It’s not too big of a deal as the game is overall fairly short, but it does let me down a bit because the gameplay could’ve been way more interesting than it is. In addition to this, inventory management is a nightmare. I constantly feel like I don’t have enough space to store anything and you get lots of rewards after nearly every level. This results in the player having to sell something practically after every single level which gets annoying to do. Story is nothing to write home about, everything is fairly standard and quite honestly I began to ignore it as the game went on as it feels very superficial and shallow with not a lot of depth. In conclusion, this game is decent, but does take a few missteps that bog down the experience.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is just a fantastic 2D side-scroller that is a breath of fresh air for a series that has remained so stagnant for far too long. The levels in this game, while not overly different from it’s “New” counterparts, are a blast to go through with a fresh coat of paint in the form of new and varied enemies, wonderful and whimsical animations, and of course the central gimmick of this game, the Wonder Flowers. The joy I felt when entering and playing through the “Piranha Plants on Parade'' level was just fantastic. I especially love the scavenger hunt levels where you have to find all the Wonder Tokens hidden cleverly though the entire level. While they might be frustrating when playing alone, using the online multiplayer functionality, it's simply fun to have everyone scramble and work together to find each of the Tokens hidden away in the level. In addition, the three new power-ups introduced in this title, the Bubble Flower, Drill Mushroom, and Elephant Fruit all feel so unique and varied in utility. I can go for any of them without feeling like I’m losing out on mobility or usefulness, which frankly is something I can’t say about most Mario games. It really feels like 2D Mario has caught up to where its 3D counterpart has reached. It may not be the best 2D platformer I have ever played, but it’s still a damn good time.
This review contains spoilers
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is an epic conclusion to the Metal Gear Solid saga that aims to wrap all the loose ends of the franchise, to both its benefit and detriment. The story is this game’s biggest highlight with an explosive end to the saga that ties together all the characters you know and love from MGS1, MGS2, and MGS3 all in a neat package. It’s most definitely fanservice to die-hard Metal Gear fans but it’s a welcome one for the most part. The only character I feel like was wasted in this game’s story is Naomi who honestly feels mischaracterized. Her motivations and actions in this game really don’t mesh well with the ending of her character arc established in MGS1. She feels like just a motivator for Otacon instead of an actual character with agency like she was before. In addition, Raiden feels like a backstep from his character arc from MGS2, having to relearn the same arc he did in that game. Though I will admit he does have a much cooler design in this game and thus I can overlook his backtrack of character development. He’s kind of like the Vegeta of MGS4. He looks cool and someone who you want to root for, but constantly gets owned in combat by the story to establish how big of a threat the bad guys are. Though these are really minor nitpicks in a game that mostly presents its other characters well. The biggest gripe I had with this game’s story is probably the end credits scene which just feels like overcompensation on Kojima’s part to tie up and story loose ends he could. While I like Solid Snake’s final end I do feel the final exposition dump should have either been cut or slimmed down. Some things in a story are just better off unexplained and left up to the player’s interpretation. Story is still mostly great, just these things bothered me a bit while playing.
The gameplay is probably the highlight of this game for me. I love the open world areas that Solid Snake has to traverse through. It makes combat options feel more open and varied. Do you approach by stealth, sneaking by enemies and doing stealth takedowns? Or do you go guns blazing into enemy fire? I love this dichotomy because it gives the player the freedom of choice to choose how they want to approach any specific scenario. It’s great fun. While saying that, this game does flesh out its combat and gunplay way more than any Metal Gear game prior did, with shops that sell weapons and weapon mods that allow you to customize your combat options to the heart’s content. I see this as a welcome edition that while I personally did not use too much, it’s good for those who wish to get creative. This game desperately deserves a modern port with a higher frame rate as the low sub-30 FPS gameplay does hamper an otherwise excellent experience.
Boss fights are a huge step up from previous games. It’s no longer just about shooting your opponent as many times as you can, now you really have to think about how bosses move and their attack patterns. The only boss I feel like was not great was Raging Raven who just took too long to finally defeat. In contrast, the final boss of the game was an excellent finale and brilliant payoff to someone who played these games back-to-back.
MGS4 is an excellent conclusion to Kojima’s Metal Gear saga that just has a few minor things that hamper it from being better than MGS3 for me. Still a great experience and definitely deserving of a port to modern platforms.
The gameplay is probably the highlight of this game for me. I love the open world areas that Solid Snake has to traverse through. It makes combat options feel more open and varied. Do you approach by stealth, sneaking by enemies and doing stealth takedowns? Or do you go guns blazing into enemy fire? I love this dichotomy because it gives the player the freedom of choice to choose how they want to approach any specific scenario. It’s great fun. While saying that, this game does flesh out its combat and gunplay way more than any Metal Gear game prior did, with shops that sell weapons and weapon mods that allow you to customize your combat options to the heart’s content. I see this as a welcome edition that while I personally did not use too much, it’s good for those who wish to get creative. This game desperately deserves a modern port with a higher frame rate as the low sub-30 FPS gameplay does hamper an otherwise excellent experience.
Boss fights are a huge step up from previous games. It’s no longer just about shooting your opponent as many times as you can, now you really have to think about how bosses move and their attack patterns. The only boss I feel like was not great was Raging Raven who just took too long to finally defeat. In contrast, the final boss of the game was an excellent finale and brilliant payoff to someone who played these games back-to-back.
MGS4 is an excellent conclusion to Kojima’s Metal Gear saga that just has a few minor things that hamper it from being better than MGS3 for me. Still a great experience and definitely deserving of a port to modern platforms.
It's almost insane that this game released on the same hardware generation as Metal Gear Solid 2. The gameplay is such a fantastic step up from its predecessor that it boggles my mind. Everything to the gunplay to the addition of CQC and even the boss fights are improved so much in this entry. The experience is just a lot snappier and caused me to enjoy this game way more than 2. The camera is probably the biggest improvement, opting to take a third-person over-the-shoulder camera that helps this game fit in with more modern games. Level design also is improved, with big open areas coupled with the new camo system which makes options for taking down enemies nearly limitless. While the cutscenes may run a bit too long for my liking, it helps that this is a prequel to the Metal Gear saga and thus has none of the story baggage that held down MGS2 so much. You don't need to have played anything else to enjoy this game's story. The story is paced structured like a Bond film with all the action setpieces and tragic endings to connect it together. It even has a fantastic vocal theme that sticks with you years after playing it. I have very minor complaints such as the Food and Curing system feeling a bit clunky but otherwise this was a great experience that is a must play for any Bond fans out there.