As I expected the exploration was top-notch. Definitely some of the best environments Nintendo has crafted. It can't be overstated just how easy it is to drown yourself in this game's eerie yet alluring atmosphere. I also enjoyed the various upgrades to your arsenal as they felt extremely satisfying to get ahold of and experiment with. There was a very smooth progression from being almost defenseless to becoming a merciless, screw-attacking juggernaut that ravages every room in your path.
My only real qualms with the game were in the controls. Compared to other games in the genre that I've played, there seems to be a lot of floatiness behind Samus's movement. Her jumps in particular felt very awkward at first, but I got used to it in time. The wall jump on the other hand took a lot of time to get down. The delay needed between the turn in your jump and the press of the jump button never felt right, leading to me dreading rooms where it was required to progress. Thankfully, I can count the rooms requiring it on only one hand so it isn't that big a problem.
Those minor control issues aside, this game is definitely a must-play in the Metroidvania genre. I'm glad I've finally gotten it under my belt and look forward to traversing more of the series in the future.

A very solid classic style beat-em-up. It's no game-changer in terms of gameplay but is a very enjoyable little romp that, in my opinion, is best enjoyed with other people (not that you can't enjoy also it alone of course.) What really sets the game apart is the gorgeous pixel art that perfectly replicates the charm and style of O'Malley's comics, as well as the absolutely kickass soundtrack performed by the chiptune-rock band Anamanaguchi. Whether you're a fan of Scott Pilgrim or just want a new game to play through with friends during these times, this game is definitely worth checking out.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go empty my wallet on that physical edition.

A brilliant idea that makes perfect use of the touch screen for its gameplay. Had a great time mastering each tool and improving my speed and accuracy, which is something you'll definitely want to do considering the game's difficulty. Later stages, in particular, have little to no room for error even with the use of the game's slow-motion crutch. I'd say around 2 hours of my 8 hour playtime consisted of retries on the game's harder stages, but I'd say it was worth the work.

Presentation, especially compared to what I know of later games in the franchise, is very so-so. The graphics can be rough but are passable and the music, while good, doesn't have a lot of variety.

I found the story surprisingly enjoyable, albeit a bit rushed in pacing. The characters were very likable and the plot was a nice mix of anime corn and Grey's Anatomy with a dash of bioterrorism. A little dramatic, sure, but pretty entertaining.

Funny to think that this game is one of my favorite Castlevania games despite basically being a recycling of Simon's Quest's ideas. The game's rune mechanic was such a breath of fresh air and added more layers of strategy to combat than what was usually present in modern Castlevania games. Also was the first Castlevania game I've played in a while that felt truly difficult, which I appreciated after romping through SoTN and Aria without trouble. Such a shame that the Glyph Unions got shafted, though, forcing you to use two of the same rune if you wanted to have a proper Union (magic runes aside). All in all, through, really fun game with probably my favorite combat in the series. Props to the secret ending, too. That shit went hard.

This game has some of the most enthralling open-world exploration I've played in a while. The world is gorgeous and massive. Zipping around and soaring through the sky with the gravity-shifting mechanics feels as satisfying as ever. Combat, while cleaner than the first game's, is still pretty ho-hum at times. I do appreciate the wider enemy variety, though. It keeps combat situations decently fresh even if the core mechanics are just okay. The story in this game is honestly not that great. It started off fine and has some great moments, but kind of unravels into nonsense by the end. Kat and Raven are still some of the most charming main characters in recent memory, though. The game also had its share of forced stealth situations that were integral to the story - something I really hate about games that were clearly not built for stealth. Those couple issues aside I had a very delightful time with this game. Just a shame Japan Studio had to get shafted...

It's hard to recommend picking it up just yet because of the buggy state of the port, but it seems to be slowly fixing itself. Either way, waiting for rollback might be the best option.

It is still a great game though, shoddy port aside, and really brings me back to the era where some fighting games just did whatever kind of bullshit they wanted as far as mechanics and characters went. It's filled to the brim with depth (and cheese) and is a great time to sink your teeth and a few dozen hours into with friends. If you're in it for the single player experience you're probably better off just watching the story mode online or just reading about it, it's nothing special.