Originally this was the only game in the series I had played and I was very excited to come back to it having played the first two. Having finished it again it builds off of everything fun about Just Cause 2 and makes it better. My favourite of the series and I don't see it changing.

First off the story, shock horror Rico is thrown into a politically unstable country and has to kill the dictator. However Just Cause 3 makes its main story much more interesting than the previous two. The Mediterranean island of Medici is where Rico was raised, coming back to it for the first time in years to kill the ruthless dictator General DiRaviello. This is my favourite version of Rico by far as he isn't just a one note action star that only speaks in one liners, he actually has relationships with the side characters and seems to care about who he is fighting against. Once again both Rico and Sheldon have been recast, I'm not sure as to why this is but the actor does a good job to not make Rico as one note as the previous games. DiRaviello is by far the best antagonist as he appears frequently enough so you don't forget about him. The small cast of side characters make for good interactions in cutscenes and it is nice to have meaningful characters other than Sheldon.

The gameplay is the best part of this. This game is a blast to playthrough. Everything great about 2 is here with updated fluidity and fixed the janky controls. Thankfully instead of the chaos system which Just Cause 2 had where you had to get a certain amount of chaos points before the next main mission unlocked, Just Cause 3 uses a liberation system where certain missions are locked until you have liberated enough provinces on the island. This is a way better alternative as it is just the dumb fun that this game is best known for. Rico can zip across power plants blowing up everything in his path and its the most entertaining part of the game. The gun combat is a little bit tricky to get the hang of as there isnt really a lock on feature and most enemies are armoured so it takes a while to kill them.

Visually the islands of Medici are stunning to look at. A lot of inspiration from Italian style architecture can be seen primarily in the villages. A couple decent tracks on the soundtrack but nothing I would seek out. Im very surprised for a 9 year old game that I experienced no frame drop even when loads of things were exploding around me.

There are a few things that I think bring this down a bit. I think that Rico is far too weak in this game. They switched up the health system where Rico no longer needs medkits to heal and will heal automatically and I suppose to balance this they made his health a bit lower. However pair this with the bullet hells that are clearing out bases and you will find yourself dying quite a lot. I also found a lot of loading screens that took especially long which kills the pace a bit, especially after dying. Ill put this more down to its age than anything else. Ironically there is a bit less fluidity in the animations, mainly when skydiving, I suppose this is to make grappling in mid air easier but its a shame when Just Cause 2 had very fluid animations for an older game.

Just Cause 3 is the perfect amount of dumb fun mixed with a fairly interesting story. If you want to play a Just Cause game but don't want to play the whole series, just play this one. You get everything good about the last game, without any of the bad the next game adds. Solid recommendation

A massive improvement on the first game in pretty much everyway imaginable. Not without its problems but Just Cause 2 is a way more enjoyable experience than the clunky mess that its predecessor was.

The story is as simple as can be, Rico is once again thrown into a politically volatile country and has to kill its dictator. This time it is the island of Panau. I much prefer Rico in this game than the first, he doesn't only speak in one liners and has a smidge more personality to him. For some reason the entire voice cast was switched so the three returning characters all have new voice actors which is also the case for every game going forward, not sure if there is any specific reason. The main story itself is only 7 missions long but the game is padded out with required side content which I will go on to talk about in a bit.

The gameplay is an absolute blast. It improves so much on the first game through stuff like the grapple hook actually working, making health an actual concern instead of Rico being a bullet sponge and all around better controls. Don't get me wrong there is still a lot of jank, the flying controls are very hard to get used to and the camera doesn't always help and instead of the driving being more like gliding, I found it to feel really stiff. Best way to describe it is if I was trying to make a turn, the car wouldn't turn till the last moment and I would normally go flying off the road. Dont get me started on trying to use planes. Trying to take off on a plane was so weirdly frustrating as if you even breathe on the joystick the plane goes full tilt into the nearest wall. Sometimes it would just hit off something on the road and go flying backwards. It was like trying to ride a scooter on an ice rink. Despite all that they really nailed down series staples like the grapple mechanic and the gun combat. All in all it feels like a less polished version of Just Cause 3 which is to be expected.

Visually its a massive upgrade, thankfully they decided to ditch the uncanny valley cutscenes for more fitting character designs and cutscenes you would see on Xbox 360 games. Nothing really to note score wise.

My biggest complaint with this game is the chaos feature. Which I believe does become a staple going forward so it will be a bit of a reoccurring issue. Basically the main story is 7 missions long, to combat this in order to unlock the next story mission you have to run around doing missions all be it fun missions for the three biggest gang leaders in Panau. Now these missions were fun, none felt stale or repetitive and most where short enough to not drag on. My problem is with the fact that there are only so many of them. While waiting to unlock the last missions I had no faction missions left to do so I had to just fly around blowing up stuff in order to get enough chaos points to unlock more missions. Which again, was really fun but its something that did put me off a bit.

To put it simply, Just Cause 2 is really really fun. You get to fly around blowing stuff up and actually able to have an enjoyable experience in this game as it fixes what was terrible about the first one. Despite the lack of substance in the main story, I had a blast with this game. Im looking forward to replaying Just Cause 3 next to see if its as good as I remember. Solid recommendation.

Ocarina of Time was my entry into the Zelda franchise way back in 2012 when I first got my copy of this game. I believe I have completed it 3 times and started countless other playthroughs that have been abandoned along the way. Despite how many times I have played it, this is still one of the Zelda games I looked most forward to playing again as not only does it hold a special place in my heart, it is regarded as one of the greatest games of all time.

Obviously this is the 3ds remake, not the N64 classic. I was debating playing the OG version through the switch as I had never played that version before but the 3ds version is so much more polished and all around more fun to play.

To start off, Ocarina of Time carries on the trend started by Link's awakening and puts way more effort into the narrative. While the story is the same as most others, Ocarina of Time excels due to its environmental storytelling. The main quest is the same as always, Ganon wants the Triforce so Link has to go beat some dungeons and then save Zelda. Ocarina keeps this but makes the world around it feel so lived in. Each NPC has unique dialogue and will tell you more about the area you are in, The first instance of the different races across the land of Hyrule with the Gorons, Zora's and Gerudo's and a decent amount of side quests to allow you to explore the whole map.

One thing I don't think Ocarina of Time gets enough credit for is how dark it is. Obviously it is overshadowed by its harrowing younger brother, Majora's Mask, but Ocarina is by no means a bright and happy game. Ranging from how after the time jump Hyrule Town is completely destroyed and full of ReDeads, People who get lost in the Lost Woods turn into Stalfos, the whole concept of the shadow temple which I will talk about later. Its no Majora, but hardly a laugh riot.

Ocarina's gimmick involves the time jump mechanic. It works in a similar way to the dark world in Alttp where the majority of the games content is found there. Once young link gets the three spiritual stones and obtains the master sword, he is awoken 7 years later to find Hyrule in ruin. The time jump gives Link a whole new arsenal of items, new characters and large differences to main locations. It never feels stale, as Nintendo managed to use the same map locations and make them feel completely different after the time jump.

Where of course Ocarina shines is in its dungeons. I briefly wanted to talk about each one as I have a lot of thoughts about them. First off the three child dungeons which are: Inside the Deku Tree, Dodongo's Cavern and Inside Jabu-Jabu's belly. Each increase in difficulty to provide more of a challenge. I love the aesthetic of each especially Dodongo's cavern with the giant skull and the lava lakes. I have a special liking for each of these as I have probably played them around 20 times each over the years. Forest Temple is the first of the adult temples and is my personal favourite. I love the atmosphere, with it looking like an abandoned Manor house with ghosts everywhere. The boss is great and the dungeon is a good mix of challenging but fair. The fire temple is often forgotten as it isn't as memorable as the rest. I liked the boss but i found the puzzles annoying. The infamous Water temple, I actually found fairly easy this time around, the boss is very easy but managing the water level is really annoying. The water temple is made way easier of the 3ds version so maybe that's why. The shadow temple is probably my second favourite. The atmosphere is so creepy, with the murals on the walls and that horrifying dead hand monster. The lore of this temple is the most interesting as it used to be a torture chamber where the Sheikah would interrogate prisoners, Also the boss Bongo Bongo looks eerily like someone who has been beheaded. The Spirit temple is whatever, I like that you have to do it both as a kid and adult. I think its lacking because there is no connection to it as all other temples had a connection via a character like Darunia for the fire temple or Ruto for the water temple but Link isnt required to visit Gerudo valley at all when he is a kid. This games dungeons are amazing, probably my favourite in the series thus far.

Gameplay wise it plays amazingly. Combat is satisfying with the lock on targeting. The items are fun to use, like the biggoron sword which is so OP. Also for the first time in the series so far, this game is completely possible to play without a guide as it does a great job of telling you where to go and what specifically to do. That of course comes with a downside of having Navi never always yelling at you but you end up tuning it out eventually.

Visually the 3ds version has aged great. I hope that in the future Nintendo will port these versions to switch as they are so much more fun to play, this goes for Ocarina, Majora and even games like Mario 64. Also the Score is fantastic but that's a given, Forest temple and the Deku tree theme are my favourites.

I have a couple small complaints. I wish that there was a useful fast travel system. The one this game has isnt the best as it puts places you in weird spots and you dont unlock them until you are about to do that dungeon. Meaning that you dont get fast travel to Kakariko village until the 2nd last dungeon and by that point you probably have done everything there is to do there. Also Epona in this game is pretty much useless, the controls are janky and she can only be used in Hyrule field and small parts of gerudo valley. Also I wish the day/night cycle was a bit longer as it passes so quickly that is you are to walk normally you cannot make it from Kokiri forest to Hyrule castle in a single day cycle.

This game is very special to me as it was the first one I played which got me into this fantastic series. I especially love the young link segment as it feels so alive compared to the darker adult section. I have played the three starter dungeons over so many times that I know them top to bottom even years on from the last time I played. There is a reason that this is considered not only one of the best Zelda games but one of the best games of all time. It was revolutionary at the time and is still an absolute delight to play through. 100% recommended