Next up on the impromptu Kirby 100% marathon was going to replay Triple Deluxe, and I'll be honest, going into this game I didn't really think much of it. I remember it being a quaint and straightfoward approach to a typical Kirby game, but it was on the 3DS, it had a new gimmick, and it took advantage of the gyroscope stuff with the 3DS for a lot of puzzles and whatnot.

While there might be a couple aspects I remember, this game overall doesn't ring that much in my head as "stand-out", and I wanted to see if that still held up... It did.

Ok so like I said, typical Kirby adventure. You got 6 worlds, each of the worlds spell out some word with their intials, and each world has a boss stage, 5-6 normal stages, and the EX stage that unlocks after collecting all of the game's major collectibles (in this case Sun Stones) for that world. Kirby gets access to an array of copy abilities good for combat, puzzles, traversal, or some combo of the three, and your goal is to get through a relatively linear level while solving it's puzzles and beating it's fights and collecting all the collectibles.

This game along with introducing a few new copy abilities introduces Hypernova, which after eating some random fruit, the black hole in kirby's gut suddenly goes supernova, and lets Kirby inhale much more than ever, which is used for puzzles from traversal, arrangment, or even puzzle bosses. For being this game's unique box-seller mechanic, It's pretty ok. It's not as varied as the 5 super abilities from RtD, but they also get some good mileage out of the ability's use with the puzzle variety, and being put in some charming moments. Help a snowman find it's head, be the big bad wolf as you uhh... suck up the houses of the three little pi- waddle dees. Suck up a train for all the game cares.

The copy abilities are also pretty standard. Of the 24 in the game, Bell, Archer, Circus and Beetle are all new. They are all fun to use. Bell and Archer have always been in my higher graces but Beetle and Circus took a bit to get their appeal. Circus can feel a little antiquated due to it's erratic movement but beetle is plent of fun to slash and grab at foes with. The rest are all returning, which is typical for this series. They did remove water unfortunately from RtD but they did bring back Spear, Whip, and Leaf, the latter being one of my favorites, and the rest are more classical abilties like ice, sword, fire, hammer, etc.

The one thing I did note about this game's abilities, especially before the DX version of RtD is that some of the older movesets changed. Sword and Fire apparently got some new stuff if it being brought over to RtDDX is make sense, but even before then, they took away some stuff from a few other abilities. Now Ice lost the Ice Ball which was kind of a meh move. But they stripped beam of it's SUPER MOVE, Needle is missing it's spindash, and Spark especially is lacking it's up and down thunderbolts. That always felt like such an odd omission to me since while the main move spark has is nice, it's also kind of not my favorite to spam the D-Pad just for a charge.

I will say i'm actually kind of surprised how many abilities this game introduced, especially since I always remembered TDX to be a bit underwhelming in it's Copy Ability List. I dunno why,

Anyways, the side modes are all fine. Dedede Drum Dash and Kirby Fighters would go on to be extended modes you can play in other games, and the latter even got a sequel, but they're both just pretty standard. Fighters is kind of jank, and Drum Dash is just a bit more than I'd ask for a Rhythm game, but it's fine all the same. I'm not a fan of the backbeat mechanic, where you clap while you're in the air, but I do like the platforming aspect and timing your jumps to the beat. It's neat.

Dedede Tour is an overall much better package than Extra Mode from RtD, because it being offered as a Speedrunner's mode with Dedede makes having to speed up the game a necessity, plus it gets rid of the need to look for Sun Stones, just food, 1-ups, and keychains. I will say though that it does feel kind of bloated near the end, but that's just because Royal Road as a world both in the main game and in the side mode can feel kind of bloated for last levels. Just for example, my run in all other worlds were like 10-20 minutes. In the final, nearly 60 minutes. Dedede is fun to play though. I mean has hammer, but with a couple more tools.

And the Arenas, well there's not much to say. The final boss gets an extra desperation phase which caught me off guard since I thought that was something that got started with Robobot, but I guess not. And they're pretty standard otherwise. I used archer for a bit, but I ended up beating both with Hammer. Good damage, wide range, invulnerability on the dash attack and hammer spin, what more could you need? Well other than the kind of guard that archer and leaf have. While im on archer row quick, I do wanna mention that it's weird the move where you hide and are damage invulnerable is done by just crouching. That feels wrong, like it should be on guard. The guard and quickstep in this game are kind of mid anyways, so I wouldn't mind if it was replaced with that tbh.

And I think the last thing I can care to mention is nitpicks? I already mentioned it, but I think Royal Road is kind of bloated. Now this being the final stage, it wants to reuse older themes, introduce some new ones, and put you through the more daring parts of the game like a boss rush or a prison break, but while those are kind of cool, the amount to do in those levels feels like it can drag on for a bit more than i'd like.

My favorite world however would probably be Old Odyssey. It had good music and setpieces, I love the level themeing starting at canyons with waddle dee trains to mountains high in the sky, and ending at the peaks of snowy wastelands with igloos and skiing waddle dee, and I like this game's take on Kracko.

The biggest nit to pick from this game however would probably be Keychains. They aren't that bad, but how the game handles them is a bit less than preferrable at times. There are 256 of them in total, 36 of them being rare keychains, and the other 220 being standard ones you get through RNG. Firstly, I'd like it if they actually tracked how many and which kinds you got during a level. There were more than a few times I couldn't remember if I got the rare keychain of that level and had to go back and get it. And I do think i'm mixed on it being required for 100% completion.

I would get it more if they weren't just models you look at. Like, there's no lore like in Forgotten Land, they aren't even cosmetics like what Robobot will get, they just are there fer fanservice, and that's kind of it. At least give the rare keychains something. It was kind of annoying getting to be done with the true arena only to see the profile at 98% because I still had a 100 more keychains to get. After an hour or two of grinding out 2-1, I eventually got what I needed, but that still feels a bit wasteful. Granted, that's only if you're 100%'ing, and it's not like you really have to pay attention otherwise. I did it because I like 100%'ing kirby games, but clearly based on the first profile from years ago sitting at 88%, back then I didn't care enough, and was fine as is.

Either way, Kirby Triple Deluxe I think is just a servicable game. Sure, I don't like how bloated Royal Road is, some of the side content is either easy to forget or just kind of dumb, and it was a bit of a shock to come off of this from RtDDX, because I was used to Kirby not losing his ability after get breathed on, and I was use to the control scheme I set for RtDDX, which was not here in this game, meaning I had to relearn this game again. Fucked up if I do say so. But for all of the nitpicks I have, it's still good. Level Design is solid, the ability collection is solid, the bosses are all at least solid (if not aces with the Dedede fight, Sectionia's first fight, Paintra and Coily Rattler), the music is really solid, Hypernova is at least charming and still solid, and uhh... it's good.

I think the problem I'm having is I don't think it's that memorable. Yeah the sectionia story is pretty sad, some abilities are really neat, Pyribbit can burn in hell for all I care, but uhh.. that's it. It's good, but I would still say it's not really stand-out for Kirby, especially since I do have the hindsight of what would come next. I think the best way to say is it plays things a bit too safe for me to care as much.

If there is one thing I really remember about this game, it's the commercial for it. It and Super Star Ultra's always stick in my mind, but specifically the lines "HYPERNOVAAAAAAA! SAYONARA SUCKKAAAAAAAA!" will never leave my brain.

Return to Dreamland but like, it returns again.

I'll be honest, I'm really glad I sat down to 100% THIS version of the game, because of a lot of the new stuff that was added to make the game that much better to exprience. Because without it, it's a little dreadful.

I say that mainly because the base RtD stuff is hindered by the extra mode. It's an unlockable mode you get after beating the main story that lets you play it again, but harder because of it introducing EX Bosses, your health being halved, and healing items being much MUCH more scarce than the main game. It kind of sucks, because it is a boring and more annoying way of presenting the side content as you just go and collect everything, but now you have less chances to make mistakes, especially in the more annoying stages. Other games, hell even this remake, would find better ways of presenting those fights and new things without overstaying it's welcome, like pretty much every game after this one.

That said though, ignoring the extra mode, the main story is still as good as I remember it being, alongside the little changes they added throughout. Firstly, they added two new abilities in Sand and Mecha that both have something really cool about them, like sand castles or laser beams, like hiding in sand piles that are invincible to dropping fire mortars. It's all really cool. They touched up the game's looks quite a bit, making the game look prettier than it has any right to, and they added a lot of small mechanical stuff that expands the moveset a bit. Kirby and co. can quickfall, dodge and quickstep, shoot bubbles diagonally, dash from a standstill, and certain copy abilities keep moves they got after RtD's release. All of these are greatly appreciated, as they help make fights and levels feel a bit better to play. The one change I don't super get though about abilities specifically is why Festival is here? It was added alongside Mecha and Sand, and it's fine, it's a screen nuke, but they had it replace a lot of spots Crash was in, and that's weird. Festival already felt kind of pointless in Star Allies, so retroactively making it something in RtD is weird. It might be like a "we have these characters so it would make sense to put them here" kind of deal, but it is a little jarring.

They also added a few things regarding Magolor aside from his own epilogue. First Merry Magoland, a theme park opened by him in another time that houses all the mini-game (of which there are 9 or 10 and bomb rally and checkerboard chase are the best), that also houses items you can carry in an inventory for any mode of the game (which admittedly strips some of the challenge from arena and true arena if you use them), as well a wearable masks of other characters you unlock throughout the side mode and main modes. They also added Magolor helper, where he will give you health items and pull you out of pits if you fall in them. I didn't have it on past the first level, but it's a nice touch.

The star of the show however is the Magolor Epilogue, and uhh, i'll be honest, this mode was main reason I wanted this game, because everything about Magolor in this story, from his role, to his design, to his abilities all just click with me.

First thing that caught my eye was the new redesign for Magolor. It's his original outfit, but sapped of color now being light greys and whites, but also torn and tattered after everything with the Master Crown and Kirby happened. While I think it captures his vibe in the story very well, as a ragged survivor having to rebuild his strength and use it to atone for his past, but it also just aesthetically clicks with me more. I think it's a nice transitionary outfit between his original blue/yellow outfit, and the simpler green/white outfit from Team Kirby Clash, but I like this one more partially because the color scheme weirdly works better simplifying it to black and white with grey and yellow bits (via accents and the eye colors) looks really nice. Plus it's adorable (like a lot of kirby designs), and Magolor's design vaguely reminds me of a kitty.

Because Magolor's put as the star of the show here, we also get a lot of chances to see his personality shine through, not just through animations (which especially at the beginning are excellent due to it being RIGHT after waking up from the fight, so he is understandable shaken and still exhausted), but also in the upgrade descriptions. Presented as brainstorming new ways to take advantage of his abilities slowly coming back to him, we get a honest depiction of Magolor's traits from his own thoughts. His silliness, intelligence, his trickery and love of pranks, and his ego are all given some spotlight in smaller ways, which get a bit more emphasized as he starts regaining his stride, which can be fun to read through.

Inspeaking of upgrading however, the gameplay is similar to normal gameplay, but shifted in some key ways, where not only does Magolor start with a weak moveset that has to be upgraded, much different than the other characters and especially the copy abilities Kirby gets, but now there is a combo meter that encourages long strings and careful positioning to reap the most benefits. By the start, keeping a combo of 5 or 10 is impressive. By the end, combos of 100 to 200 are well in the cards depending on how you use your moves. There's also a lot you can end up doing to fight with that all pull from Magolor's boss moveset and his moveset in Star Allies.

Revolution Flames, Bombs, Levitation, Deadly Needles, Dash Attacks, and his huge fucking laser. He can vanish into another plane of dimension to slip through walls, his shield is similar to the star shield at the end of the first boss fight with him that can counter, and he can even summon a black hole to suck everything in. He ends up getting a lot of cool moves and handy upgrades that extends his health, combo time, movement, etc.

It's really fun slowly building Magolor back up as you progress through main levels or the smaller ordeal challenges that take advantage of a certain upgrade to play it. You even get ranked on levels after beating them with enough time and combos, making coming back to get any platinums you missed early one a really fun way to compare and contrast. The bosses are also pretty good. Most of them are reworkings of Mr. Dooter, Fatty Puffer, Goriath, the Sphere Doomer fights now made into 1 new fight, and version of the Grand Doomer with the Master Crown. However the final boss is against the Crown itself, possessing the Gem Apple you've been repairing all game, and that is Magolor's final challenge, to attone for his past by putting down the very thing he sought after before it can threaten to destroy the universe once more.

This epilogue isn't very long, about as long as any other of the side modes in other games but it's one of my favorites of the side modes for how it shook up the gameplay, and how it got me to like Magolor a lot more than I ever did in the past. It's probably my favorite part of the game honestly.

Overall though, this game is good. I might find it a bit hard to care as much about the main story nowadays, and the extra mode kind sours things and makes this one of the worst to 100%, I appreciate a lot of things this remake added. I love a lot of the little changes to smoothen the gameplay and make it feel just as good as other games do. I appreciate the Magoland recontextualization of the mini-games and Magolor getting more time to shine both as a supporting cast member and as a playable member, and I love the abilities added in this game and some of the unique moves certain abilities have only here.

There's a lot of goodwill added into this remake, and I can't knock it for that. So yeah, good game.

Unlike other ones that take me a while to come back to, I think I can give out my thoughts on this story pretty easily, from game to story to whatever else.

So Kaito got his own DLC, even got me to play Lost Judgment a second time in preparation for it, and I remembered liking it a lot. Coming back to it now, I feel I have a better grasp on why.

Starting with gameplay because that's my favorite part to breakdown in these games, the Kaito Files is basically as fluid and snappy as the main game is. Keeps a bunch of it's mechanics like the snappier style switching and the mortal reversals, but now puts it in the hands of someone like Masaharu Kaito.

His two styles are takes on Kiryu's Brawler and Beast styles in the form of Bruiser and Tank. Bruiser while keeping the basic combos and ideas of the style add in some new double finishers for the 3 and 4 chain and gives Kaito a sort of repel that is used right as an opponent attacks. Hitting this will give Kaito a massive speed boost. It's especially good with Tank's charged rush combo or the EX Combo unique to Bruiser that ends with launching foes, and both are great for juggling, so long as the boost is still active. The only downside is that instead of a normal grab, Kaito's grab is a command grab that makes him unable to carry weapons or foes in his mits, luckily that's where Tank comes in. Tank is pretty unapologetically just Beast, but that's far from a bad thing, because Beast is just a good style what with it's focus on raw damage, defense, and grabbing shit off the street to smack someone with it. They made it work pretty well here by making the Perfect Iron Guard the center piece of the style, whereby guarding at the right time, Kaito can just tank attacks like an iron wall, and take little to no damage, as well as lead into grabs, attacks, etc. That and this style very much makes grabbing shit of the street fun. Listen, you don't wanna be talking shit when you're in range of a bicycle rack.

Both styles are really fun to play around with. Even if Kaito doesn't have as much as Yagami's other styles, he still brings to the table some really interesting takes on his gameplay. I should also probably mention that his search sections are really fun because of his enhanced senses of smell and hearing. Even if you're not getting too much, some of the stuff they do with it in the game is really neat, like being able to sniff out a trap, or hear a guy mumble to himself about losing an item that you can pick up for yourself. I like that, and I feel that does a bit more with it than Yagami's detective tools (plus it doesn't have the sensor beeping, and I applaud that).

Moving onto the story, I think it's really good. For a shorter told story in like, 4 chapters, I think it makes the most out of it with a ton of neat moments with newer and older characters while telling a pretty neat little narrative tying back to Kaito. I said before I really like stories that bring the character's past back into sharper focus, and tie it into the modern day, and we get that with Kaito. He's typically the comedic muscle to the duo of the Yagami Detective Agency, but seeing him lead and getting to know him more because of it, especially when the story digs into his past and puts him alongside a pretty reckless and cocky kid like Jun brings out a really neat side to the dude. He really is the Ex-Yakuza Hero i'm rooting for. I also really like a lot of the main cast, both in some protagonists or supporting characters like Mikiko, Igarashi, Shirakaba, and especially Jun. Though as for antagonists, I think the main two in Kenmochi and Kyoya are pretty damn interesting.

Kyoya is a malicious force by the end, who I think they get across fine enough. I like seeing him at the beginning and middle where he's mostly shown as pretty understanding and non-threatening, if a bit more absent than he should, but the little hints they throw in makes sense on how he could be as cold as he is by the end. Plus, he is kind of fun seeing just how casual and performative he is in setting up his winning play. At least before he gets outplayed by sheer character growth.

Though I think Kenmochi is one guy in particular who stuck with me more for his portrayal throughout the game, and mainly in the fact that he probably isn't all there. I mean he spends most of his time drinking until he pukes, he comes off pretty intense in how he talks of getting back at people, and we see from chapter 3 onwards the reason he's such a wreck. Its his role in the plot that left him constantly seeing visions of the people he killed, and constantly being haunted by them. Even by the end, where he's taking out Kyoya in a last, desper ate, and grief infused anger by wringing his neck, he still comes off more depressing than anything. Sure, he's done or was about to do some pretty shitty stuff throughout his story, but man, he needed some kind of help...

Aside from those two though, the antagonists of the story are not that much to ride home about. I do think it is funny that the Bato guys get pretty easily sniffed out by Kaito, and in turn gets the cops called on them. It's a pretty funny moment. We also see Fudo Oshikiri from the Boxing School Story in LJ's main story make a return to fight Kaito, and uhh, hey I guess glad his arc got a resolution, I hope he ends up doing some good with that.

Though if we're talking fights, I think pretty easily the two with Kenmochi and one with Kyoya are highlights, and I do like the Blood-Drunk Master even if he is a Tesso reskin, but above all else, I really like who the actual final boss turns out to be. He's not as tough or dirty of a fighter as Kyoya is, but he's not to be underestimated. That's for sure.

Overall, I really like this little DLC story. It pulled out a lot of tricks to make the minute-to-minute gameplay really fun, Kaito's styles are pretty cool takes on older styles to use, and I think the little tale told is really well done. Good side-game.

Like typical, here is some smaller thoughts before I go over it in more detail when I finally get around to reviewing all these games in full. Also spoilers ahead

-The Combat is very easily one of the best in the series. While it does suck Boxer was locked as DLC, all the styles are really fun and provide a lot of interesting ways to approach combat. The ability to style swap mid combo almost instantly makes things feel very kinetic and fluid, and the Mortal Reversal System is much MUCH better than the Mortal Wound stuff. Sure guns still are fucking mean, but now you got ways to counter them, and any really mean attack enemies throw at you.

-I'll have to sit on the story for a bit longer but I got to say I do like it more upon revisiting it, but I also can note a couple things I did notice disliking. The beginning mainly felt kind of slow pacing wise, and I am admittedly a little unsure how to feel about Yoko Sawa's death being the biggest thing Yagami's argument keeps circling back to whenever the main point of the plot goes by. It's not like a bad thing, but something about it feels clumsy, and I can't exactly point out what... Otherwise it's a really neat plot.

-I think the side content in the game is crazy however. While Yakuza 5 still has sheer size to it, LJ still has a lot to unpack in it's school stories as through exploring some of the clubs like the Dance Club or Biker Gang, you get whole new styles of gameplays, or altered and expanded upon gameplay with the Girls Bite stuff and especially the Skateboarding stuff. Not to mention that while I love Judgment 1's endgame thing against the Keihen Gang, the refight here along with the story with Itokura and the MRC is honestly really fun to see. Favorite stories were the Biker Gang, Boxing, Skateboarding, and Robotics Club. Great stories, really fun gameplay or both.

-This is an odd point for me to go over but now that I've sat on it for a bit, I like how LJ looks a lot more to it's predecessor in it's visuals. Not only are there more colors to work with, but they got rid of the smoky filter in exchange for a more vibrant energy that looks really good for everyone. Also the music in this game is really good. I mean that's RGG in general, but special mention to some of the chase tracks, Dig in your Heels, Unwavering Belief, and this game's take on Destination with "Final Destination" being the backing track to the last little dungeon before the final fights. Really good stuff here.

Overall, I think I can now say I like this more Judgement 1 pretty confident. Though I do still hold at least a bit that I do like a bit more of Judgement's story, mainly because the twist at the end still sticks with me, and it being a little closer to Yagami feels a bit more up my alley. That being said, this story does hit a lot harder than I remembered. I can give it that. Also shout outs to Sugiura, Tsukumo, Higashi, and the addition from the Yokohama Liumang, Tesso. Love that guy.

Onto the Kaito FIles

Funky little action game with some tight reflexs. Coolio
Ranking the bosses from Least Best to Best because it would be cool. Disregarding DLC btw, i'll do that another day.

10. The Star (Mothership Hologram)
9. The Chain (First Boss Demon Warden)
8. The Burst (Sniper Lady)
7. The Scale (Hurt and Pained Fishman)
6. The Strap (Feral Robot Laser Lady)
5. The Beat (Hockey Sound Girl)
4. The Line (Chronokinetic Time Man)
3. The Song (Kind Valkyrie)
2. The Hand (Fatherly Knight)
1. The Edge (The Samurai Rival guy)

///Low-key this might have spoilers so oof///

This game might be a little bit of peak fiction...

Sonic Frontiers was a very well anticipated game for me in the midst of the last year or so, for better or for worse, and now that I finally have it, I can pretty confidently say i'm satisified at least. It's got a couple of weird things about it i'm like, mixed on at most, but I think it overall is a really fun package, from it's open zone stuff to it's cyberspace levels, and especially it's writing be actually really cool.

Starting on Gameplay stuff, I think Sonic is really fun to control, I like how the boost is handled in this game for the most part (it can be a bit unruly at times), and I do like you can customize just how you like sonic in the open world at least. I don't always like how they make it work in Cyberspace levels but eh. Combat-wise I think it's pretty ok battle system. Sonic gets a lot of moves, a lot of them either good for damage, evasion, comboing, etc., and the parry is weird because you can just hold it and win, which feels weird, but it's good I guess (tbf I didn't realize that til' late game, so i rarely used it). I think it's got some neat depth, and it's cool to string everything together, especially when you can cancel longer moves via boosting. It's not my favorite, I wouldn't want to have a game with this combat system alone, and I do think that enemies are overall a bit too lax to get much out of them at times (even on hard mode), but I think it's fine for what it is.

Moving onto the general loop of the game, I think the open worlds are pretty fun, and honestly a really good way to make use of sonic's speed, since instead of a level to be blitzed through, you have a whole world to pick through, but can get it done quicker due to sonic's speed. That and the loop of being able to sequence break challenges because of some boost exploit is really funny, and hopping from challenge to combat admist looking for tokens or map challenges is really fun. And hey, if you want the sonic levels meant for speedrunning like typical, the Cyberspace levels gotcha covered. They make use of Sonic's past as themeing for the levels, sometimes even using bits and pieces of SA2 or Generations game design for certain parts, and I honestly think they make it work pretty well. I would've liked more themes tbh, and that Drift level is best beaten by skipping over it's gimmick, but it's overall pretty fun. And if you want something else to do aside from that, you could always do the fishing minigame. It's not Yakuza 3 fishing, but it's good enough, especially for the odd variety we get out of it. It's also cool that spending time here can get you exactly what you need to complete the game, meaning you barely have to interact with the islands, which is really funny. I did to get all the tokens, but shut up.

Also as a small note, Tokens were weird for my entire playthrough. I thought they were a currency or something, but side stories with allies kept just unlocking themselves, but no it's just how the game does stuff, collecting tokens does still count towards it, same with keys to chaos emeralds. I dunno why it didn't click with me for awhile, but hey tokens stop mattering after awhile into completing an island anyways, so eh. Thought it was at least worth mentioning for a chuckle at my expense. Ha.

Anyways inspeaking of Side Stories, let's talk writing. Over Sonic's journey through the isles, you can interact with who ever is the friend at the island (Amy, Knuckles, Tails), alongside new character Sage. You have to interact with these to progress the game (which require tokens normally), but optional ones also exist adding extra context to things. You also see Eggman is doing in cyberspace and even get memos going over his thoughts leading up to and going through the events of the game (prior to the 4th island at least).

With all of it in mind, it's half surprising how good it is. It's not that surprising cause Ian Flynn was writing it, and his work in IDW from what I know is pretty top knotch, but it's more surprising just how much this game got away with referencing older stuff and weaving it into the plot. Eggman does that plenty in the Memos, and there's a lot of lines from the cast using prior adventures as context to things they see now. Notable ones were Unleashed, the Team Sonic Racing games, SA1 and 2, the classic games, it even throws a line with the Babylon Rogues somewhere, and Sticks in their near the end, that's fucking crazy. You know what's also crazy, they actually used Forces weird writing to course correct Tails in a really cool way. They use all of his sidelining and even brief disappearance in Forces to build into an arc questioning his worth (even Eggman goes to mention something about it), which leads to him and Sonic talking things out finally, and things being resolved with Tails wanting to gain experience of his own after the end of Frontiers. It's interesting that they doubled down on it, and it turned out to work in the end, much better than if they just pretended those games didn't exist.

Though honestly, I think the highlights in the game were Sage and Eggman. Sage does fall into the troupe of "the AI learning to be human", but it's done really well as she knows something really bad will happen if Sonic doesn't stop, or if he and Eggman don't work together, even for a bit, to solve things. So seeing her caught between the two is interesting. I love her dynamics with Sonic, as the game slowly spends time letting her open up more, and when they are able to finally be open, they get some pretty intriguing, and even heartwarming conversations. Even Sonic believes Eggman can show he cares, just in his weird way. And inspeaking of him, I think especially near the endgame, his and Sage's dynamic becomes more familial, and we get some of the oddest, but most sentimental moments we've ever seen Eggman have. The scene before the Final Final Boss always gets me, because you can hear the pain in his voice as he sends Sage off. Plus you hear plenty about his growing appreciation of Sage in the memos. He even has to at some point ask if Sage had any pronoun preferences, and I think that's just adorable.

I also think the Voice Work in this game is really well done as well. I mean I think Eggman is weirdly the best, but everyone did a great job. I think I especially have to give that to Roger Craig Smith as Sonic, he made him sound a lot deeper voiced than other apperances, and it works really well, especially if you go with the idea that this is a sonic with a lot of exprience under his belt, and is probably just an adult at this point.

While I think the cast is really neat for their writing and voice work, and I think the references are warmly welcomed (especially as a fan of the series), I think they also help spin into the main theme of the game really well. Sonic has been at this for a long time, adventuring, stopping eggman, all that stuff. He's had hard times, but he's never ran away, but instead would charge headfirst. Sage repeatedly warns, threatens, and even sicks titans on Sonic to deter him, but he still keeps going. Sonic is exhausted through most of this game, and is carrying on more and more cyber corruption to save his friends, and is consistently getting weaker and weaker, but he still presses on. He keeps on no matter what, and that kind of determination is enough to rub off on all his friends, even with Sage especially. Many of the allies reflect on their past, and are in some ways troubled by it, but Sonic's idealism, compassion, and actions help let them come to terms with what's done and want to search out new horizons. For Amy to help all around, for Knux to get to know the world below, and Tails to come back one day stronger than ever, and even if it's sad to say goodbye, Sonic is rootin' for all of them, and is working ever harder to beat the odds and see things through.

What I think all of this ties together in is a theme of moving forward. To persist on even when the present is dreadful and seemingly insurmountable, whether it's the past that ties us down, or the future holds terrifying uncertainty. Sonic continues on in spite of it simply because that's who he is. He makes it an absolute point to live the way he wants to live, and that to him means doing right by the ones he cares for most and seeing what the world has in store for him. Because he's able to live true to himself, despite the odds continually growing bigger as the game progresses, he still is able to keep on, as long as he can keep moving. That kind of determination is infectious too, pretty obviously seen in Tails, Knuckles, and Amy, but also Sage, who by the end of things, is fighting for that hope rather than trying to snuff it out, so much that she got Eggman to help out, of all people.

It's maybe a simpler message, but it's got good merit, especially for why Sonic sticks around in people's minds nowadays despite a long, tumultuous, and kind of crazy history. I think it's made a bit stronger considering a lot of the past is brought up, because while some of it is reference, others are genuine hang-ups or achievements, and they all help inform us of how to move forward. Working out how from there is up to those in the present, but eh.

Story stuff aside, let's finish with boss, because they're really good. They let Super Sonic come out for some of the coolest fights in the series, ones that would probably be final bosses in other games, and back it with some of the coolest backing tracks these games can have. For the most part, the gameplay for those is basically normal sonic, but he's got the flying and quirks of super form (a.k.a., ring depletion, invincibility, increased power on all moves, etc.), with the main exception of the Final Final Boss you can only fight on Hard Mode. To keep spoilers brief, the true final boss is my favorite in the game, but out of the 4 titans you fight, the 2nd is my least favorite (partly due to my misunderstanding of parries, but also cause the fight feels like it drags on for awhile longer than I want), and the 3rd is my favorite pretty easily (partly because it turned out to be an intense fight, even with full rings, but also the ending is the sickest shit sonic does with a sword since black knight).

Also this should probably go without saying, but the music in this game is really good. I mean I have a problem remembering music for the most part, but I know I liked what I heard for sure. I just think it's actually kind of insane that every Cyberspace level has a theme unique to itself, and most of them are really good.

Overall, I think this game fucking sucks 0/10 easy.

For real though, this game is really fun, I think it's pretty easily one of the best sonic games to come out in awhile, I guess since Mania. This game has a lot of good will, and despite some small things I guess, those nitpicks are well overpowered by how much of that good will is gotten across with how fun this game can be, and how well Sonic and the rest of the cast were played. I'll be honest, I kind of need to play Unleashed again beause I really want to see if I end up liking that game more or this one more, it's pretty neck and neck right now. I'm excited to see where things will go from here.

This game took a long time for me to actually sit down and play, but I think it's pretty good. Not as much as say, A Link Between Worlds, but this one is really fun regardless.

I have a couple negatives, being that kinstones were at first a little confusing (though I got over it after figuring out how to get kinstones a bit easier), and the temple of droplets is probably my least favorite dungeon due to it's ice physics being pretty annoying. Still has a cool boss and set up tho.

My favorite dungeon on the other hand is probably the Fortress of Winds, partly because it's boss is really cool, but also because i like that despite how open ended the dungeon seems at first with how many doors you can go down, you gotta worm around to find a soluble way through until you get the mole mitts, where then you can go back and tear the dungeon apart. It's a fun feeling, even if the mole mitts aren't my favorite item.

I do like the item selection here though. Stand outs being the roc's cape, the gust jar, the flip cane or whatever it's called, and I really like the deal with the four sword being able to split link up into 4, it's pretty neat on how it's used. I also like the deal with the minish stuff. Both in characters because they are typically adorable mice guys, and in ability as link can shrink to being a minish himself, making up some really neat scenarios with the shrunken point of view.

The only question i have is whats the deal with the light force? I know it's a canon thing since this game i believe precedes OoT, so what it's deal? It doesn't seem to have much to do with the tri force or hylia or what not, though it is similarly sought after due to it's power. Even has a connection to the Hylian Royal Family, so eh?

Either way, I like this game, and i especially like it's sprite work.

Alright, now that i'm back in with the Dragon Engine stuff, I probably should give Yakuza Kiwami 2 a proper look before I forget too much about things. Even then, I doubt my thoughts on a lot of Kiwami 2 will be as meaty or well informed as the rest of the series. But that is partly because it's the game I want to compare and contrast the most with it's PS2 counterpart, and that'll take some strong overlooking of both. So to make up for it partially, this review will consist of both the main Kiwami 2 stuff, and the Majima Saga as a bonus, since I got a lot of nice things to say about that.

Honestly in terms of Kiwami 2's gameplay, it is very much a step-up from 6. It retains a lot of things about 6's gameplay, but makes some appropriate and much need additions to make it better. How you upgrade with the 5 different stats still remain, how you unlock new abilities via a set few menus are pretty similar, and Kiryu's moveset basics are still here, including the dropkick, parry, tiger drop, bounding throws, etc.. In return, Kiryu gets the older version of the heat bar where it's an actual bar this time, not the heat orbs. Kiryu gets a lot more heat actions to do with just his basic fists, including a heat move that hits ground opponents, finally. His weapon and gear is a lot more emphasized in this game with a ton of old movesets returning such as spears, bats, golf clubs, tonfa, etc., as well as the gear slots now being a full 3 of them rather than just plainly 2 of them. Also because this is Yakuza 2, not only does unlocking a lot of these moves come from substories, completion, or just random interesting things around the cities, but they also come with a friend system. This system gives Kiryu a bunch of unique heat actions to open fights with. There's not much more than that, but they can be cool otherwise. To sum it up, it's 6's systems, but rounded out with amount of versatility that you'd probably expect from Kiryu. It's not all great since lunging punch is still here and it sucks, komaki knockback is back and it got knocked down a peg or 6 in terms of usefulness, but it's overall pretty good.

It relies a lot less on the still present Blue Heat Dragon Spirit mode, even taking out a lot of the 6 heat actions involving it. And relies a whole lot more on Kiryu's strength without it, and of his regained weapon mastery. Seriously this game is one of the few in the series that really pushes me into wanting to use weapons more, and it even sweetens the deal with a late game ability that refreshes used weapons on their durability, making it a really fun way to go ham in the late game. And you'll need it especially for the Amons and Bouncer Missions (we'll get to those later).

While i'll explain it more in depth in the 6 review, my issue with it is less that Kiryu's moveset sucks, which it doesn't, it's perfectly fine and much better than 6's, even has a unique edge not many in the series before could say it had to me, but it is in early dragon engine. Much of the physics, weight, speed, general feel of the game doesn't feel nearly as good since i'm prone to getting punished while trying to hit because the wind down from getting a hit blocked is really long, early on Kiryu can't really move very well because the evasion stat is so low, and trying to crowd control is annoying since you either have to rely on a less effective dropkick, or more accurately rely on throwing and throw finishing guys into one another. That's kind of how I know the grab finishers aren't really good in these games compare to earlier ones, because while I think they don't take up heat, they have a good chance to get interrupted really easily due to walls or objects in the enviroment that will snap the enemy out of your mitts. Plus while it's expanded the reprotoire of heat actions, it still doesn't feel like theres that much new, putting a lot of weight on the weapons to carry the intrigue, which tbf it does kind of do.

Whatever the case, onto side stuff, and there is quite a bit to discuss. Firstly, a lot of gambling stuff returns, the coliseum returns finally, the arcades have a neat selection to work from, and the game juggles 3 very important side modes that carry the majority. First is the return of Cabaret Club Management from 0, but now Kiryu is leading Club Four Shine against the returning Club Sunshine and the many other Cabaret across Sotenbori. It doesn't have as much energy as 0's (nor as interesting of a cast), but there is some good. Majima, Yuki, and Youda make a return and meet up again after those long 18 years, Majima becomes an announcer after plot stuff and he's Majima so it's good, and the addition of the Oil Baron at the end of rounds does certainly make things more interesting, even if it is just a button mash. It's pretty cool.

Next is Majima Construction. This is the reworked version of Clan Creator, now turned into a Tower Defense affair rather than a simple RTS point and click kind of affair. Majima is in the midst of building the hills, but a bunch of real estate folk want a piece of the kamurocho pie, and they even bring an army to do it. Majima ain't gonna turn down a fight, but he also has a job and needs the equipment to do it, which is what they target... Never fear, because Kiryu comes to assist the battles by guiding forces into the most optimal spots to defend the hills. Clan Creator has always had this "mashing action figures together" feel since you can build the roster out of any of the availble roster, and i mean more than just the main cast and some side cast, I mean every thug, yakuza, tough guy, police, or freak in the cities of Kamurocho and Sotenbori are up for grabs. It also probably helps my autistic-ass brain since you can choose up to 10 units rather than just 6 like in Y6, so a lot more of an oddball team is guaranteed. I also just like an army vs army kind of thing, it's cool. It's not always the most interesting, and in some ways I kind of like 6's clan creator mode a tad bit more, but this is the better of the two, I like this.

Lastly is the Bouncer Missions. Unfortunately this and the last game don't really have the Ultimate Match mode, a list of challenges laid in a seperate part of the main menu that lets you face some of the trickies challenges the game wouldn't normally throw at you otherwise. K2 makes up for this with these, basically versions of that with the context of being a bouncer, and getting random thugs to mafia and arsonists out of Kamurocho and Sotenbori respectively, all culminating in really REALLY hard matches against an army of assholes led by atleast 1 of the 4 Amon Clan members you fight in this game. Which kind of sucks because I think 2 of them suck to fight, really either of the ones armed with Explosives or firearms can go fuck themselves, otherwise Kazuya and Jo are fine. It's a really cool way to contextualize it, and if for some reason they don't do the challenge mode again, I hope they try something like this again, it was genuinely really fun.

Underneath all of that you got the coliseum which is pretty fleshed out this time around with a lot of returning formats of fighting as well as the new 8 fighter matches that pit you against all the contestants at once, which can and does include tigers. Fucked up. And from my exprience the Substories were overall pretty alright. I remember liking them for the most part. Some of my favorites include Yakuza Sunset, The Charming Councilor, The Granny's Request Quadrilogy, The Fake Kiryu substory (it's called the Legendary Dragon), We're All In This Together!, Rags to Riches (because i'm a sucker for straw millionaire plots), Embracing My True Self, Clearing the Fog, Stolen, and of course the one most people know Y2 for, Be My Baby. It's not my favorite, but the eagerness of the game to get you into it, and the weirdness of the situation tackled by Kiryu being Kiryu is really funny, My favorite is probably Yakuza Sunset because I really like seeing Kiryu go see the movie to get an opinion and having a chat with a dude about it for some fuckin' reason, but it also made me cry a little by the end so yeah...

With that let's head into the main plot, which i'll be honest, I really don't have much of an opinion on other than "Yeah it's pretty good". I mean it's probably a lot better than Yakuza 1's plot due to the ramping of tensions and the webs and webs of stuff going on being pretty fun in the moment to follow. Kiryu also Tiger Drops actual Tigers, like canonically, and it's really cool and funny simutaneously. I think one can argue the amount of surprise "I'm actually part Jingweon" reveals is a little much, but i'm not too bothered by it, especially since it makes certain characters a bit more thematically interesting. I really like Kaoru as one of the leads, she's pretty fun to see fight, her introduction is pretty neat, and the following story with her slowly opening up and getting shaken by a conspiracy she was truly willing to see through no matter how much it hurt her was pretty neat to watch unfold, especially since it helps compliment Kiryu's parts of the story, makes some character reveals later on sting all that much more, and it does make the ups and down with her and Kiryu fun to see. I don't exactly buy these two as a couple, but that's more later game hindsight than anything else, and I can see how it could make sense here, with Kiryu still reeling from a lot of the trouble of the first game's events and trying to stable himself with someone who brings a similar but differing contrast than what Haruka brought. Where Haruka was child with a more optimistic and hopeful look on things, Sayama is a Naive Adult wrapped up in an ever entangling conspiracy. Kiryu is ready to face things with his honor and humility as always, but it does cost him at points. It's a neat contrast, and it does help me get why they would probably have feelings for one another, but I kind of like the idea of them being friends more than anything, so I'm like 75% glad that's the route they went with for 3 (the other 25% is kind of sad she never really came back afterwards, she'd be really confused with everything that happened with Kiryu).

Among them, I also think Ryuji is a really good villain, partly because all of his fights are great, but also because I think his M.O. being to punch his way through the conspiracy rather than plan through it all makes him an unpredictable and fun villain to see in motion, especially when paired with other characters and even organizations that think they can outsmart him. The other Omi villains are pretty ok, Sengoku is somehow more one note than Jingu but it's not really that bad since he also pathetic and gets his ass handed to him by Ryuji. Takashima is the true "mastermind" but is also handily knocked down by Ryuji and he's ok for what he is. His model change is kind of dumb but i'll explain that soon. The Jingweon are more a group of people rather than a couple figureheads, hell technically Ryuji and Kaoru are both Jingweon, but we get a couple faces, including Terada who turns out to live than consequently die right after his "im actually alive" speel. It's kind of eh.

Majima makes his glorious return, and hey, he's certainly a lot less aggressive, and much more prone to a funnier side. He's one of Kiryu's strongest allies, even getting a fight of his own early on, and it's really cool. We'll get to Majima later tho. I do feel for Nishida, his right-hand man in the buisness, but that's because he's gotta play straight-man to this mad dog's tune. In terms of the Tojo, while it's pretty fucked with a succession war tearing it apart over the last year and the recent "death" of Terada leaving it pretty weak, we do get some cool people involved. Not Shindo, he just kind of sucks but gets a cool fight. No no no, we get Daigo, who in hindsight is cool, not much in this game but he has some good moments. And his mom Yayoi, who in K1 is really cool for her substory, and is really cool here as she takes the helm as interim chairman, and she doesn't fuck around either. Honestly i'm suprisied she never came back... Date gets some extra stuff in this game that's pretty cool, but also doesn't really go many places and really only serves to make the police seem pretty useless near the end of the story... which hey that's not suprising, especially for this series, but still. No a lot of the intrigue I think is behind is his old partner, Jiro Kawara who is pretty cool, and plays pretty deep into the workings of the plot.

That's all I really feel like tackling in terms of cast, but it's overall pretty fun, if a bit complicated to explain out in detail with all the different organizations and groups in on the conflict. I think it's a fun story, the only thing I could really address now is the stuff the remake changed in term of story relevance. One whole city got removed (being Shineicho) tho i'm not sure how much you got to do in it, and a lot of stuff like music changes and even model swaps affected the story in different moments. I could certainly feel it in the music department, it makes both the Kiryu stabbing scene and ending credits worse because it loses it's jazzier piece along with Silent Night for more techno-pop-esk songs (i'm not very good at identifying song genres), they don't really add much is what i'm trying to say. Same for a lot of the songs that were replaced for certain fights. Biggest example is Evil Itself, Hayashi's track during his boss fight got replaced for the generic boss fight track, which kind of kills the mood a little. Not by a lot it's still a fun fight, it just doesn't have the same flair. I'll save the Takashima point for later since there is something to mention with it, but if I have two things I do like that they did here... they added Dynamic Intros into all of the major fights which all rock, and they remade A Scattered Moment into A Scattered, Eternal Moment which just amplifies that fights emotions a lot, like it sells it as one of the best in the series, Dragon Engine or not.

And that's about it. Kiwami 2 is a really solid game, a lot of it's side content and story stuff is cool, there is somethings that are weird about what has changed, and the major detracting factor is the Early Dragon Engine for me, but it's still like a 13/20 or so. It's still good.

Now the Majima Saga is where I think things go from Good to Great, which is really funny for a short little mode that you unlock alongside the main story, but this is completely original to the remake. You spend it in early 2006 as Majima, still apart of the Tojo. This story is meant to connect some of the dots on how Majima got to Majima Construction since 2005, and brings closure in some odd ways when he heads to Sotenbori.

First the "major" negative to lob at the part is admittedly Majima's moveset. It's not bad for what it is, but it is a heavily HEAVILY stripped down version of his Mad Dog Style. Only the basic 4 hit combo with the double finishers, a couple heat actions either for single targets or 3 at once (which are kind of cool), his tornado move, andddddd that's it. It is helped that his knife will cut through guarding unarmed opponents, but there is a lot lacking here. Heat actions are fine to be a little lackluster, but a bunch of the more franetic things about the moveset like the Finisher Extension: Mad Dog's Bite where he runs around and swipes at opponents is missing, his extra really far reaching dodge is gone, i'm not even sure if he has his counter anymore. Majima's K2 Mad Dog Style kind of sucks is my point, but I don't think it's that much of a detractor i'll be honest. You can finish the entire thing in like 3 hours or so, even with fighting the mini-bosses and whatnot, and the bigger value out of the side mode is the story more than anything, so while it is a negative, it's not that big of deal.

Now the cool part is the story of it all. Yeah Majima gets to connect dots back to the main game on how he ended up where he did, and it was kind of sweet that he A) Was friends with Kashiwagi, and B) Help Kiryu and Haruka with funds on the occassion. The real cool part was on Majima's visit back to Sotenbori. Not only does he get to visit the Grand a couple of times, even having the 2 final boss fights there, and he gets to meet up with his old rival and almost meets up with Yuki again, the real seller is his meeting with Makoto again. And not just for a small cameo either, the two get a few scenes with one another which not only are pretty funny with Majima needing to keep his identity a secret, but also sweet in that the two in one way or another got some closure after what happened in 88'. Makoto was able to live a good life like Majima wished, and even left a final goodbye gift for her, probably helping her key in just who she was helping. In a weird way, it's a happy little ending for the two of them in this certain way, and certainly helping in explaining why Majima steadily loses the Mad Dog persona as the games continue on. He's gotten distance from everything that happened, and is starting to confront his past, for better or for worst... Honestly I think it's just a really sweet little send off. They didn't need to do it, but if they brought him back for Sotenbori, then I guess they needed somethin'.

In terms of the final bosses, both gun users... they're ok. It's one of Majima's subordinates that makes a mess of things, and another more Buisness-minded Yakuza name Kei Ibuchi who ends up trying to start a war with the Omi by using the subordinate to kill an Omi man and start the war up (early), which is promptly shut down by Majima torching his spot in the Tojo as repentance, and starting Majima Construction in a place of work. It's like an ok fight due to the limited Majima moveset, but this is where I saved the Takashima point for. I assume the game was shipped with Majima saga in tow, so like, why did they give Takashima the older model to work off of while this random ass character in the Majima Side story thing get the young buisness yakuza schemer look? I mean it's hard to say if there was much intentionality with the choice, it's just hard not to notice considering being an older guy sort of goes against the point of Takashima's role in the story. It's not a big thing, but it's weird.

Either way, that's the Majima saga basically. I didn't really mention much side stuff because the most you got is fighting mini-bosses as Majima which gets you money and items, but it's just kind of there more or less. You can also do Kareoke as Majima, and he gets not only his personal rendition of Pride from Despair, but he also gets a song to his own As Long as You're Happy, which is just one of the prettiest but kind of melancholic songs in the series. It's not like "Today is a Diamond" where it's cheerful sounding music with fucked up lyrics, it's more on the nose and very emotional, but it also gets across some of Majima's feelings when it comes to everything with Makoto, and it's a sweet little song.

If the main game is like a 13/20 or somethin', the Majima Saga is solidly a 15/20. For what it is, I think it's a really sweet little story that connects dots and brings closure to one of my favorite characters in the series. I like it. Overall, this is a good game, just hampered more or less by Dragon Engine stuff, but does also conveniently have some of the best yakuza stuff in it... so ehhh. Good game and then some.