I first played this game about a year and a half ago. As I said in my "review" of the game back then, I really did not like it very much at the time. I had a lot to complain about, I was not having very much fun, and I even stopped playing it partway through, which is not something I do lightly.

This year, I started the process of replaying all of the Metroid Prime games. The whole time, I was wondering with some amount of nervousness how I'd end up feeling about Prime 2 on revisiting it. Thankfully, just about the best case scenario happened, and this time...

I really liked it!
I'm... really not sure what was up with me last time I played the game. All the things that I had issues with back then, really weren't that bothersome to me now. Maybe it's just because I had a better idea of what to expect from the mechanics and the structure going in this time, but wow it was like night and day. I honestly... don't feel the need to say very much? I pretty much just feel, the opposite of how I did in my old review. The story that I thought was boring, I found a lot more interesting this time. The map design no longer confused me as much, and I actually think that the level design in this game is SUPER on point basically the whole way through. The light and dark mechanics are really cool and well executed in basically every aspect (past me, for the love of god, USE the dark and light beams, you will kill every enemy so much faster and you'll be able to refill your ammo no problem I promise.)

The ONLY thing I didn't really like very much was that sometimes the way forward can rely entirely on you remembering where one exact spot to use your new item was (there's one particularly egregious example which requires you to LEAVE the area you're in the middle of and go back to a previous one that you appeared to be completely finished with) but I was more prepared for that this time, and the hint system IS there to rely on if you wander around for too long.

I could write more, but again I don't feel much of a need to. I take back basically everything I said a year and a half ago, this game is great, and it easily stands tall with the other two entries in the trilogy. It hasn't become my new favorite or anything (Prime 1 and 3 are REALLY high bars to clear, after all) but I'm really really glad that at the very least, I was able to appreciate the game more this time. Giving things a second chance can be hard, but I'm really glad I did it because I can now say with confidence that the entire Metroid Prime Trilogy is fantastic, and I can easily recommend any Metroid fan play all of them.

In an era where it feels like game companies are doing nothing but chasing hyper-realism and trying to turn video games into Hollywood movies, Vib-Ribbon is one of the most refreshing video games I've ever played. It's short, but it has an absolutely timeless visual aesthetic, and the 6 main songs it has are some of the craziest music I've ever heard (in the very best way) and it's a soundtrack that I can already tell is going to be sticking with me for a very long time. We NEED more games like this, ones that aren't afraid to be unique, weird, striking, and utterly creative and charming.

Given how fondly this game is discussed as a classic online, I was expecting it to be more enjoyable than it is. The visual style is very charming, and the general method of gameplay is one that I think is pretty novel for a rhythm game and has lots of potential, but the game can feel really inconsistent about if you've hit the sequences of buttons correctly or not. Sometimes I'll think I screwed the entire thing up only to see that I passed just fine, sometimes I'll think I did it perfectly only to see my score get cut in half. I've given the final level plenty of attempts but it throws so much at you and it's so hard for me to tell when losing is and isn't my fault that it's hard for me to feel much motivation to finish it, if the game is just going to decide that I messed up seemingly at random. As someone who really enjoys more casual rhythm games like Rhythm Heaven, this was a disappointment to me.

This is up there with my favorite remakes ever made. I only just recently played the original Mega Man 1 for the first time, and while it had good qualities, it also had a lot of annoyances and issues. This game keeps the classic experience of playing the game intact while layering on a bunch of really fun new content on top, with the option to play a more straightforward remake that includes only features found in the original game. It's the best of both worlds, and it's really sad to me that the game didn't perform better. If it's because of the art style then I'm going to explode because I love the way the game looks and I think it's a perfect fit for Mega Man 1. There's a few nitpicks I have here and there but honestly, they don't matter much. Remakes that enhance a game without losing the original appeal are really hard to come by, but this one does an excellent job at just that.

I hadn't played this game since it first released, and it is not nearly as good as I remember it being. The most annoying enemies in the entire series, 5+ minute long boss fights that make you start all over if you die, everything hitting you for insane amounts of damage, and the melee counter quickly becoming more tedious than helpful all really spoil the experience for me. It also COMPLETELY misses the mark on everything that made the original Metroid 2 interesting tonally, which is very disappointing. I am glad I gave this game another shot, but if I feel like revisiting Metroid 2 in the future, I'm probably just going to go with AM2R or the original game itself.

Held up better than I expected for an early Game Boy game. Definitely holds up more than the original Metroid 1 on NES. Controls decently most of the time, although I was never able to get used to the timing of the Space Jump which can be annoying in the numerous areas where you need to go to the top of a giant pit, and if you mess up your timing you'll fall all the way down to the bottom. Other than that I had a pretty good time! The atmosphere this game is able to summon is very impressive, it feels quite spooky and it can be pretty scary when a Metroid shows up suddenly and breaks the silence, which this game uses very well. It has a similar issue with Metroid 1 where it frequently and noticeable reuses chunks of level, but it's less of a problem in this game due to the linear structure preventing you from getting lost as easily. I still might recommend keeping a map handy though, since it can be easy to forget or lose track of where you've been and where you might need to go. Still, I'm glad I tried it out, it's a cool little piece of the Metroid franchise that often gets skipped despite how vital it is to the overall story. I'll be interested to compare it with the 2 remakes once I replay them.

Despite being for the Game Boy and having a relatively small scope compared to other Zeldas, this game is still really good! It feels like a dense experience in way that's very satisfying to get through, the aesthetics and characters are very charming and quirky which helps this game feel very distinct. The jumping mechanic is super well implemented, one of my favorite aspects of the game's design. It's used really well in the dungeons especially, which by the way, all have very well designed structures and puzzles. The story is also very cool! It's interesting to have a break from the typical Zelda and Ganon focused storylines and tell a story that's a bit more personal to Link himself. Maybe my favorite 2D Zelda game out of the ones I've played as of writing this.

I have two major complaints with this game:
1) The game is way too dark in a LOT of different areas. Turning the in-game brightness all the way up did not help at all.
2) The chapter Interloper sucks so bad. I hated it.

Other than that, this game is really good! It does well at both staying faithful to the original and enhancing it, especially with (most) of Xen.

I've really loved the Ace Attorney games for years, and this one is another really solid entry that I didn't get around to playing until recently. I won't be spoiling anything, but it serves as a really interesting continuation of the original trilogy while also largely focusing on entirely new characters instead of bringing back old ones (with a few exceptions).
While I was a bit sad to not see a few more familiar faces, the ones that do return have some fun twists on their original characterizations that make them feel extra special. And I found basically all of the entirely new characters to be delightful as well! The character animations in this game especially are a MASSIVE step up from the previous entries and do a somehow even better job at filling all the people you meet with a ton of personality.
The cases are good! It's hard to talk about them too much without spoiling anything but I never found any of them to be boring or frustrating or drag on for too long (although it is worth mentioning that when I get stuck in these games for too long I tend to use a walkthrough, which can curb some of the annoyance of not knowing exactly what combination of statement and evidence you need or whatever). And while I'm not sure it quite reaches the heights of the final case of Ace Attorney 3, the final case in this game is definitely one of my new favorites in the whole series.
So yeah I dunno. Good game I liked it! I'd definitely recommend it to people who are a fan of narrative/point and click-ish games, although in this case I think you should definitely finish the main Ace Attorney Trilogy first, since this is a direct continuation of it.