Honestly way better than I remembered from when I first tried this out a few years back, it’s still a Famicom game at heart so it’s nothing too crazy but this is a massive improvement from the first two. Everything is filled with so much more personality than we ever got before, so even though the story is basic it’s so much more entertaining than previous installments. The job system is pretty cool, takes what worked with the party formation system in the first game and expands on it a ton. Makes for some fun customization opportunities as well as cool puzzle solving that feels good most of the time. Final dungeon is unfortunately a pretty huge difficulty spike and it’s ridiculously long for no good reason, but thanks to the QoL improvements from the pixel remaster it’s nowhere near as egregious as it could’ve been. This was a big leap forward for the series in every way and I regret putting it off for so long

Unironically pretty great, I was pretty surprised by how quickly things go completely off the rails but it was so much fun to watch everything unfold so rapidly in such an absurd way. The soundtrack here is so charming and there’s clearly a lot of genuine effort placed into this area of the game, the gameplay itself is seemingly super simple but the freestyle mechanics are pretty unique and give the game a really interesting twist. Super short but a great concentrated shot of fun with near unmatched personality and energy

I’ve always loved this game since I was a kid but playing it again years later with a more refined perspective has made me appreciate it in an entirely new light, this is hands down one of the best video games ever made and in my opinion as close to flawless as anything can realistically get. It takes the already amazing foundation of the original game and cracks it open even further leading to some truly beautifully constructed puzzles. It’s outrageously funny from top to bottom and that’s etched into every aspect of the games identity, so of course that means the dialogue which is incredible one again but it covers other areas from the level design to even the loading screens, there is legitimately never a dull second here. It’s so fast-paced too, with amazing moment after amazing moment from beginning to end. And it’s all topped off with this incredible ending, I could not stop smiling while watching it play out. Not a single thing I would change about this game, absolute masterpiece.

This is a pretty cool and unique game, puzzles were interesting to solve especially in the last third, presentation is great for the DS, it checks all the boxes. The most notable thing here is the story, starts off pretty simple but quickly reveals itself to be much more complicated than it lets on. Despite a few brief moments where character actions/motivations didn’t completely make sense, this was actually pretty great and extremely interesting from start to finish. It ended up going in directions that I never expected but it all ties together quite nicely, very fun time and a pretty great mystery that never becomes stale or predictable. Tons of charm in every department, definitely a cult classic for a reason, glad I checked this one out.

Going back to this after playing golden was interesting, the PS2 version definitely has a different atmosphere. The low resolution and 4:3 aspect ratio fit Inaba incredibly well, and I’m a big fan of the original assets as well, aesthetically I actually prefer this version. However this was also kinda a wake up call to make me realize that I never gave Golden enough credit initially for being a fantastic refinement that makes the game a lot smoother. That being said, no matter how you play it P4 is one of the best RPGs ever made, plain and simple. Incredible cast of characters, super fun combat and dungeon crawling, a super well written story, unparalleled vibes, a killer soundtrack, and the ability to bring massive emotions out of me every single time I play it. I love this game so much

This game has occasional moments of corny/awkward writing and obnoxious design, but most of the time the game’s a total blast. They took the clunky mechanics from last time and added so much maneuverability and so many offensive options that this is one of the most fun action RPGs I’ve ever played. Disney stuff still has nothing to do with the story so the pacing is weird but I still find these worlds really fun. Story is definitely a bit over-convoluted ngl but it makes for a few really great moments, especially at the end of the game. What a remarkable step up from last time in every conceivable area

Glad I finally experienced this but this has aged WAY more than the rest of the series. The biggest issue is complete lack of any calibration settings, which means if you don't have a CRT (I don't) you have to learn to play just the right amount off-beat. On top of that the hammer-on/pull-off system is extremely finnicky and way too faithful to a real guitar to be reliable. Both of these things make the game way harder than it should be so it's a good thing the game itself is quite easy, the timing window is incredibly forgiving and charts are generally not difficult at all, there are even multiple sections which have been notably dumbed down in an effort to keep things more simple. All that being said I find great charm in the game's simplicity, career mode is barebones but the series signature humor and absurdity is still here although more tempered than what it eventually becomes. The setlist is pretty good with lots of recognizable songs and they did a shockingly great job recreating all these since this is still the era of the series where every song is a cover. Probably won't revisit this but the core gameplay is just so fun that I still had a good time, not really worth revisiting unless you're a big series fan though.

It’s really bittersweet to me that this is easily the best sonic team game in over a decade, on the one hand it feels like they’re genuinely trying again which is awesome but on the other hand, this is really the best we can do now? It’s so painfully obvious that this is a mid budget game trying it’s hardest to mimic high budget games and as a result it feels incredibly unpolished and downright unfinished at points. Presentation is unapologetically cheap and you can’t go five minutes without feeling like something broke, this feels like a beta build of a game. Cyberspace is terrible, a bunch of reused level designs with the worst controls in the series, I skipped these whenever I could. But honestly the open zone was a lot more fun than I thought it would be, the speed here is fantastic and there’s something so enjoyable about just freestyling your way to a destination. It’s kinda like Mirror’s Edge but a lot faster and with less focused level design. The boss fights are as janky as the rest of the game but they make up for it with the awesome scale and intensity, these are new high points for the series. This is definitely one of the better Sonic stories as well, I think the characterization was pretty well done here (especially Eggman) and the general tone is such a departure from the previous titles in the best way. This is definitely a step in the right direction but this series still has a long way to go before it’s back on track.

This is the first Final Fantasy game I’ve been able to play on release, I followed it closely for years and now that I’ve finally finished it I’m so happy to say it’s really fantastic. The one real issue I take with it is that there are a few filler quests within the main questline that have no relevance to the story and should’ve been side missions, they tank the pace of the game at a few points. I also wish they had incorporated more RPG mechanics, specifically elemental affinities. Other than that though, absolutely no complaints. Combat is fun as hell, super fluid, and I love the amount of abilities you can play with. Customizing your layout is lots of fun and never got old. Presentationally speaking of course it’s top of the line in every aspect, it’s exactly what we’ve come to expect from mainline FF. Boss fights are a consistent high point, the spectacle here is absolutely off the charts and arguably the best I’ve ever seen in a video game. The best part of this game to me is the story, it spans a whole 18 years and is incredibly complex but the new Active Time Lore feature makes it really easy to keep up with it all. I really loved this from beginning to end and the final scenes absolutely floored me in the best possible way. Thinking back to the “four pillars” that the dev team laid out wanting to focus on, they absolutely nailed all of them. This is a phenomenal game and easily the best in the series in decades.

Totally forgot to log this one

This is a simple but very fun rhythm game, style is off the charts and I got lots of genuine laughs while playing. Reminds me a lot of WarioWare in the best way. Song selection is definitely strange but I find it weirdly charming hearing songs like The Anthem crushed down to DS quality. My one big gripe with the game is the scoring system, for some of the later stages on higher difficulties it makes it nearly impossible to even clear songs without getting a practically perfect rank (looking at Jumping Jack Flash specifically here). And it’s just annoying bc I find the harder charts so much more engaging but I want to play them without constantly being on the brink of failing for the most minor mistake. Other than that, super fun time, definitely gonna check out one of the Japan only games some time

This is simultaneously one of the most magical gaming experiences I've ever had and one of the most frustrating. The game has multiple fantastic moments especially towards the end, and the bosses especially are much better than BotW. Unfortunately tho that's my only problem with that game that I feel was completely fixed. I really liked half of the dungeons here, the other half were mediocre. The story is better but they went out of their way to reuse the memory shit which is just about the worst way to tell a story imo, I checked out fast. I know some people love the ability to do things in whatever order you want, but it made certain parts of the game so much less impactful than they could've been for me personally. Every single issue I have with this game is a carry-over from BotW which is disappointing to me as I really hoped this game would fix my issues with it.

But god they really took this opportunity to take BotW's strengths and further improve on them. The open world is immaculate and even denser than before, I was shocked how much the sky and depths added to this world. The scope is larger than ever physically, and even that expansion is miniscule compared to the mechanical scope of TotK the new abilities take an already wide open game and make it significantly more freeform in every way possible, I'm convinced you could find multiple solutions for every single puzzle in this game which is really cool. I've heard this described as the closest thing you can get to a sandbox game with an actual structure, and I think that's accurate. It's not the kind of game design that blows me away personally but I have to respect how ambitious it is, and how remarkably solid the final build of the game is despite the incredibly complex systems at work here. This is what will make the game for most people.

What I wanted out of this game was an experience that built off of BotW's mechanics while telling a more engaging story with unique and satisfying dungeons. I got about halfway there on each. The story is better for sure and the ending is truly incredible, but the majority of it still feels under-developed and it being told through memories took me out of it almost immediately. I was convinced I was getting what I had hoped for during the first five hours or so, but the moment I saw that first dragon tear the disappointment came crashing down hard. The dungeons were hit or miss, and there was only one I felt could stand up to the average Zelda dungeon.

It's not the sequel I wanted but this is still a really great game in its own right, even tho I was let down in multiple areas I can't bring myself to say the whole package was a dissapointment. I'd be lying if I said I didn't absolutely love playing this game, because I really did. I do think the praise for this game is a bit blown out of proportion, at least for now people are extremely quick to dismiss the flaws on this one which isn't really fair. But I'd rather not focus on all that. It wasn't what I wanted but it surprised me in totally different ways.

This is a weird one… I find this game to be an impressively ambitious sequel especially for the time, with significantly more complicated (although flawed) mechanics, an actual attempt at a story, and a larger scope in general. The leveling system is controversial but I honestly like it, gave me lots of freedom to build my team however I wanted and I was always thinking ahead. However, I also feel like it shoots itself in the foot in some aspects and that stops me from enjoying it too much. I really don’t like the rotating fourth party member, it’s counterintuitive to the games whole design and limits your team. I like the leveling overall but it also means lots of weapon types are totally useless, and I also caught myself using magic way more than it was actually necessary just so I could use it when it was actually useful. Worst part of the game is the last few hours, horrible dungeon design and I was just wanting the game to be over already. I feel like this game is a step up from the original, but it falls short in the end and I still wouldn’t genuinely recommend this one to anyone who isn’t actively tracking the progression of the FF series.

This was better than I remember, I didn’t really like this game much at all last time I played it but I had a good amount of fun this time. I can’t help but feel that gameplay wise it’s a big downgrade from Unleashed in every way… most of that is probably due to the Wii’s hardware. This is a much slower paced game, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s generally pretty fun, although over way too fast. It’s easy to look at this game now as the beginning of many of the trends that would end up leading this series into one of its worst eras, especially in regards to the writing and tone of it all, and while I don’t like those aspects, I don’t think that should undermine the fact that this particular installment is a pretty pleasant playthrough from start to finish. Could be a lot better… but could be a lot worse. I like it enough and wouldn’t mind coming back to it

As the starting point to one of my favorite franchises ever, I can’t help but respect this game a ton. It did a lot for the time it released, and a lot of it shockingly well. It’s super primitive, but in a way that’s kinda charming looking back. There’s barely a story to speak of, but it’s okay bc the game is set up in a way that encourages you to imagine your own stories with your own characters, and that’s really cute in the sense that we rarely if ever get RPGs like that anymore. Still, this game has aged a LOT. Even under all the polish of the pixel remaster, this is still a 1987 NES RPG, and no amount of touch-ups can change that. Mechanically the game is BARE, very few interesting things going on here and I can’t help but feel like most people who have ever played an RPG before are gonna be on autopilot the entire game. Mindless is an understatement… the overwhelming majority of battles (including most bosses) can be beaten by spamming attack and nothing else. At least it’s short so it doesn’t have time to get obnoxious… this game pretty much exists as an 8-10 hour video game history lesson at that point. In that sense, I have a soft spot for it. But I can’t bring myself to genuinely recommend this as a standalone game to anyone who isn’t explicitly interested in seeing the early foundations of this series/genre.

Can’t say I expected this at all… I honestly don’t know what possessed me to replay this bc I hated it when I first tried it three years ago but I’m glad I did bc I feel my perspective on this game has softened a good deal. There are still parts of this game that I find unforgivably atrocious, especially in the second half, and to be honest there are very few things I find all that good either. Combat is clunky and the game is one of the mashiest I’ve ever played, level progression is arbitrarily confusing and there’s so much unnecessary back and forth in each world. But underneath all that is a game with a lot of heart, even if it’s corny and easy to make fun of. I get a strange sense of nostalgia from this game, I love the presentation and especially the soundtrack. There are small bits of the story I latch onto and find enjoyable. And while the gameplay certainly isn’t good, I can enjoy some mindless button mashing every one in a while, especially when it’s accompanied by such a fun world. I can’t bring myself to call this a good game… but I have a soft spot for it now.