the only game that would let me play as a communist Columbo

perfectly paced, engaging story and world building, and innovative gameplay without the over reliance on violence as gameplay

Overall, 10/10 experience

They really stepped up the production value of this game, but the endgame boss cannot prevent me from rating this game poorly because holy fuck is the boss insufferable. I HATE having to grind for a few days just for my team to still not beat the boss. It's a frustrating game design and ruins the entire experience of this game. It would've been in my top three for the classic Final Fantasy games had this not been an issue, but now it's gonna be at the very bottom for me.

I will return to this game again when Im not fuming mad at the game, but until then I'm content shelving this game before I waste any more of my time.

I'm making this new log as I've had a sudden change of heart about my initial experience with Persona 3 FES.

Now I still stand by what I said about how grind heavy this game is and how frustratingly long it took me to beat the game, but playing the "remastered" port of P3P made me realize I vastly under appreciated Persona 3 FES for what it is.

Now I know people are turned off by this version for a vast variety of reasons. AI controlled party members, complicated difficulty, people hate Yukari, etc. etc. etc. Tbh all of those valid (except for the Yukari one, you folks don't understand teenage girls and hate women as a whole) and I'm glad that they made the game more accessible in P3P as well as introduce FeMC, but during that "remaster" development so much heart and soul that made P3 FES went away and it makes me miss P3 FES so much more than I thought it would.

P3 FES deserved better as it is the better version of the Persona 3 games. this is a hill I will die on with my gravestone etched "here lies so and so, amazing human and devoted P3 FES defender."

In the most respectful way possible, this game feels like if Fallout was a horror game that was story heavy????

Like the first Evil Within was obviously inspired Mikami's work on Resident Evil 4 with some Silent Hill influences, but The Evil Within 2 just from the beginning has that Bethesda style of open world design that I could not stop noticing throughout my gameplay. I say this respectfully because instead of it being overly ambitious it is VERY contained and serves its purpose. At first I was worried being slightly open world it would distract me from the main story but if anything it helps contribute to its story so it works out. I think the was a necessary approach to keep the game feeling fresh, even if it may lose some fans of horror and The Evil Within along the way.

That's the thing about The Evil Within series that drags me in so much is that while it obviously calls back to older horror games and their gameplay types, it does a very good job keeping things fresh in a modest way. I know the series as a whole isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I feel like you'd be lying to yourself if you didn't find the games to be important for horror games in the 2010's.

Overall The Evil Within 2 is another fantastic entry to the series and I truly hope for its third sequel.

Went into this DLC thinking it'd be somewhat an upgrade from the previous one only to again be fucked with by Tango Gameworks not even an hour into the game jfc.

While this DLC is slightly better in that there's not as many bullshit scenarios they throw you in with its frustratingly atrocious stealth mechanics the story definitely gets increasingly intriguing as you reach the climax of the game.

The Assignment and The Consequence really make The Evil Within's world and characters give more weight than we're let on to believe without any retcons or creating more plot holes. They even give Kidman a lot more nuance than just some cop chick/secret agent.

I just wish they found another way to make these DLCs without the atrocious stealth mechanics they implemented.

This was another Tony Hawk game that was a big part of my childhood growing up as I remember playing every morning before going to school and being obsessed with the levels and chaos you can ensue for the first time in a Tony Hawk game. Unfortunately, that excitement fell flat for me twenty years later. I was excited to get back into this game after so many years not playing it, but honestly it has not aged too well, leaving my nostalgia glasses broken after finishing this game.

I'll get to the point. Compared to the more slow controls of THPS 1 and 2, 3 feels WAY too slick and fast for its own good. I know they were trying to go for that energetic, entropic vibe that later series will soon follow, but the controls in this game feel far worser than I remember than to be. Even when leveling up my stats I had a hard time controlling my character cuz they would move around too quickly or felt too slippery, hell even the collision in this game tends to ruin the flow of my sessions which does not mix well with these frustrating controls. Luckily it wasn't game breaking enough for me to quit my playthrough, but toward the end of the game I just about had it with it's ridiculousness.

The levels while iconic and were definitely an introduction to a new era of Tony Hawk, but they felt too much like a playground and not like a reliable area for skating. The maps all felt too cluttered for me to make a streamlined combo. I was able to do long combos for most of them, but even in the most ideal situations I often found myself thinking how poorly made some of these maps were compared to 1 and 2.

Aside from frustrating controls and level design, the objectives in this game were admittedly far better than the first two games and were a lot of fun. The introduction of NPCs that you can "interact" with that helps modify the maps feel satisfying with their incentives.

The music selection for this game as per usual is great, albeit one or two songs that are quite honestly cringe to hear nowadays, but hey it wouldn't be a Tony Hawk game if it didn't have some kind of level of campiness to it.

The game overall is in no way bad, and I do think it earned itself as one of the best games ever made for its time, but thats the thing. It was good for its time. Nowadays it just feels like a messy game compared to both older and newer titles. Maybe I'm just a lot more old school than I think myself to be or maybe I'm not alone in thinking this, but either way it's an ok game, and that I think in itself should be an okay thing too!

I'd recommend this game to the following:
-Tony Hawk Fans (Duh)
-sport games fans (double duh)
-someone looking for a bit of that old school game design of constant replay value and charming aesthetics/appeal.

If a video game could function as a time capsule, the first two Tony Hawk Pro Skater games are DEFINITELY that. I grew up playing this game religiously -amongst other Pro Skater titles- and after two decades later it was a wonderfully nice trip down memory lane.

For two decades the game hasn't aged as poorly as one would think. Aside from the graphics that look horrible even for low poly standards, the gameplay is still enjoyable even to this day. I found myself refusing to let the controller down till I 100% each level and gold medaled every championship. Almost like the game is enticing me to keep trying and holding the reward in front of me barely at arms distance where I know I can complete the level if I just keep trying and stay focus!

The maps in the first two games are also probably the most iconic compared to other games after 1 and 2. Subjective, I'll admit, but I'm sure most will admit there is a sliver of truth to that claim as well. I love that even after two decades later I still remember all the secrets and easter eggs I'd find throughout the levels, although I'm sure I also remember them because I used to inspect ALL the areas when I was younger lmfao. It's a trip playing this game after playing the remake of the first two Pro Skater games last year. Everything still feels 1:1

Unfortunately, the music in this game is admittedly repetitive despite it still having some iconic tracks. 15 songs is just not enough to keep the game feeling fresh while constantly retrying the levels after crossing off an objective or needing to restart a run. It's not that big of a problem in today's age though thanks to media streaming sites and apps, but still something that can't be overlooked.

Overall, it's been such a pleasant experience being able to revisit this game again with a new lens and better coordinated hands than my kid version self could ever. 100% all maps myself without the help of my siblings was probably the best feeling I've gotten out of this game for sure.

Played this game as a kid thinking I had a crush on all these girls. A decade later turns out I'm just gay and like to girlboss, gatekeep, and gaslight.

Best Final Fantasy game in existence aside from FFXIV. Fuck your old NES, SNES, and PS1 FF games. (respectfully)

P.S. Noriko Matsueda-San is the most slept on video game composer of ALL time. Look up Racing Lagoon OST on YouTube.

If I had to use one word to describe this game, I'd use tedious. Whilst the original Lego Star Wars game was nicely paced and rarely felt like a chore, the original trilogy felt very long, tedious, and at times uninspired. I know its hard to hit the mark twice on a game as perfect as Lego Star Wars, but I really felt like all the extra collectables in this game were unnecessary.

Normally in the first game I could just play each mission twice. Once to finish the story and again to collect all the minikits and stud. Rarely did I ever have to revisit a mission more than that. This game I found myself struggling to collect any and all collectables, having to constantly replay the same mission until I give up and use a walkthrough to find the minikit or red brick.

The combat in this game feels like a downgrade too. Using blasters isn't bad, but using lightsabers and fist fighting feels so atrocious compared to the original game. The auto-locking in the game feels busted. I'm constantly missing my attacks that are clearly within range of the enemy or constantly mistakenly hitting my party members when they're BEHIND me. Stuff like that really grinds my gears, but its nothing game breaking for me. It just feels sloppily programmed to me.

All that being said, I love the animations in this game. They feel more organic and fluid, very charming and funny compared to the original. Of course this isn't like a true to form story telling of the original Star Wars trilogy, but honestly that's no big deal cuz the game's way of telling the story is still entertaining and comprehensive enough to understand what's going. I also love the character creation in this game. That's something that felt missing in the original game, which was surprising. I imagine the time limit and budget probably is a result of that which if that were the case is fine, but I'm just glad they made it a thing in this game for sure.

Overall, this game is okay. It's not the best of the series, but it's still competent despite its subjective flaws. At the end of the day I still had fun and came back for more of it after each play session which I think should say a lot about how entertaining the game is.

I'd recommend this to the following:
-Fans of LEGO Games (duh)
-Fans of platforming games. As I mentioned in my previous LEGO Star Wars review, this game has a lot of fun and interesting platforming and bumps it up a notch with the new class introductions!
-Star Wars fans (duh)

I'm sure everyone and their mother has played this game by now as it is one of the most quintessential games to have played back in the 2000s. I'm sure if you had a NGC, Xbox, or a PS2 you more than likely have owned it or at least played it, maybe even 100% the game with how addictingly rewarding it was unlocking all the secrets in the game. I know this game was a VERY big part of my childhood growing up. Everyday before and after school I would start up my PS2 and play this game to try and collect everything I possibly could before burning out, and after nearly two decades later it was a blast being able to do it again after all these years.

As I've played through each level, I really could not help but think how this game really redefined the platforming genre. I mean the platforming genre before this game was totally fine, and quite honestly would have been fine had this game never been made, but with the use of LEGOs and "the force" it made a lot of puzzles and the overall exploration feel so different and unique to itself. I think that uniqueness itself can be thanked to what I call the "Class Switching" mechanic. This game kind of flirts with some RPG aspects. Not in the sense of it being a numbers game where stats matter or where the story is grand and epic, but in having a party for you to control and switch to fit the appropriate puzzle or obstacle that you need to over come. That's pretty much something you'd NEVER see in a platformer and I think that alone is what makes this game and its series SO unique and enjoyable. Sure, you could say that almost every 3D platformer changed the game that came out between like 1995 and 2005, but I really do believe this game added another layer to the genre that cannot be unrecognized.

Puzzle solving in this game is incredibly balanced! I remember even when I was like 8 years old I was still able to solve most of the puzzles without the use of guide. I didn't solve ALL of them to collect all the mini kits, but I did enough to feel satisfied with my progress. Nearly twenty years later and I still felt the same way, although I did use a guide as I've grown admittedly impatient trying to solve every puzzle on my own. Basically, if 8 year old me could play this game with little to no frustration (trust me, I was not the brightest kid at that age), I'm fairly certain almost anyone can. Besides, the game does a very fair and considerate job of rewarding the player for their efforts as there is a secret level you can unlock just from collecting as many studs (basically currency in the game) to fill the entire meter for each level. The mini kits are just collectables to build ships that you can admire in the hub world, but the fact that you can do something as easy as just collecting money to unlock a secret level is very thoughtful of the company.

And thats another thing about this game is the design of it. It is a very thoughtful game that is not intended on punishing the player, but beckoning them to beat the game. Every time I accidentally died, there were no lives. I lost some studs, but those can be easily reclaimed. Every time I lost the pod race in Episode I or destroyed my ship in Episode II during the battle of Geonosis I would be booted right back to the last checkpoint. I know its easy to say its a "Kids game," and that statement is obviously not wrong, but I want to make an argument against that. At that age I was playing a lot of M-Rated games (and I'm sure the reader reading this has done about the same) and I still progressed just fine in those games. I like to see this as a game design meant to just be rewarding, engaging, and fun despite its age limit. Literally being rated E for everyone.

One thing I will say is don't expect to be caught up in the story of the prequel trilogy of Star Wars as everything and everyone is pantomimed kind of out of context. Its more of a fan service game than a game that tells the story of Star Wars. You don't have to watch the entirety of Episodes I-III to play this game as its just fun on its own.

There is also combat in this game, I mean it wouldn't be a true platformer if it didn't have any right? /s
But the combat is really an afterthought. Not in a bad way though. More of a, "the focus of this game is about exploration and puzzle solving thus combat shouldn't be focused so much on." All you gotta do is just keep hitting buttons until you win. Although, that being said, if you time your attacks right you can actually pull some cool stuff but its repetitive and not all that effective. It's just flashy cool fun for the player to get hyped over.

I really do think this is a perfect game. Nothing about it feels disappointing or annoying, both during my first playthrough as an 8 year old and as a 24 year old. After all these years its aged very well that had someone made a game like this nowadays I think it would still be highly regarded and praised as game of the year material. Also the fact that this game came out in the golden era of Star Wars games such as the Battlefront series, Republic Commando, KOTOR, Jedi Knight, etc. I think is proof enough too. Overall, this is a very solid and reliable game.

I would HIGHLY recommend this to the following:
-Star Wars fans (duh)
-LEGO fans (double duh)
-Platforming fans/enthusiasts
-Looking for a fun, simple, short, and engaging game to play/pass the time with.