This update partly saves itself by being completely free, I got a lot of time out of it although I'm mixed on the package as a whole. While it still is a lot of fun it suffers from a myriad of issues that I hope Sonic Team takes seriously for their next big project.

The biggest thing that harms this update is the difficulty spike. It's really odd when you have a difficulty spike that makes it's easy mode harder than the base game's hard mode. There is no regular enemies in the open-zones and instead you have suped-up mini bosses which take forever to kill if you don't max out your characters to 99. I wish the game notified me about this before I began with a Sonic that only had 47 damage. The emphasis on perfect parry in the final trial was really annoying seeing as how the titan bosses weren't designed to support that split second timing needed for finishing it with the bullshit 400 rings time limit for the three. Some of the tower climbing feels like it goes into kaizo territory where it's just haphazardly made difficult making you fall and start over, I did learn to use Sonic's mid-air dodging and parry to position myself to avoid falling to the bottom. I appreciate a challenge and while there was aspects of it that were fun, it generally was such an odd way of doing it.

The biggest part of it is the new playable characters and I'm kind of split on them. Running around as Tails, Knuckles and Amy in this massive 3D space and having dedicated trials for them which utilize their movesets was pretty fun. Tails and Knuckles especially though leave a bit to be desired, they have these unneeded wind-up animations for their aerial movement which kills the momentum and pacing. I did like some of their challenges but they did eventually get very samey and kind of clunkily designed. Also the mini-bosses aren't best designed for the move-sets these characters have and take way too long to kill. Amy was a really fun character to play with but the de-emphasis of her hammer for her cards was really odd. I loved having them here and it was fun exploring and doing their challenges but I hope Sonic Team learns from the issues they have and gives us the best version of these characters in the next game.
After you complete their individual chapter, it pulls a DK 64 where you have to awkwardly go back to the main tower to switch between them which is a terrible pace-breaker. I went out of my way to apply a mod which allowed you to swap between each character on the spot and it really saves the pacing and made the exploration of the island a lot more fun.

Some of the cyberspace levels were the biggest highlight of this update. I died a lot and it took me forever to get through some of the bonus challenges they set up for each level (it bumped by playtime to almost 60 hours😬) but it was really rewarding learning the levels and continually improving and increasing my speed in doing the required challenge for that run. The levels are built with the spin-dash in mind allowing you to fly through entire areas and as you master it and learn where to best land it becomes such a rewarding thrill.

The revised final boss was a vast improvement over the base game, the new Super Sonic form had so many awesome animations in battle. It genuinely was one of the most hype inducing Sonic spectacle sequences in the franchise. Next time try not to place your final boss where you big ass trees blocking the projectiles he throws at you, Sonic Team.

Sonic Frontiers is an interesting game, it annoyed me in a lot areas and it feels half baked in some aspects too. Which is wild how it still is one of my favorite Sonic games period because the things it does get right just had me grinning the whole way and made me finally excited for the future of this series again.

The open zone format is exactly the breath of fresh air this franchise needed, yes the pop-in can be distracting, the obstacles can sometimes get frustrating to go through, and some of the map challenges are really brain-dead and dumb. However the feeling of blitzing through these massive areas at super-speed is something I've always wanted to experience in a game and Frontiers satisfies that itch. Some of the little mini obstacle courses, while visually can become ugly and too cluttered, is really fun to have so many of that are decently designed. It's like a sandbox for mini Sonic stages which was a genuine joy to sink hours into.

The combat system is fun while leaving a lot to be desired at the same time, the ingredients are there with flashy moves, a parry and an emphasis on speed. It can eventually become too spammy and clunky. Fine-tuning this for future games would be very welcome, ofc also adding a bigger variety of regular enemies to fight since the over-emphasis on bosses (while the bosses themselves are really cool) are too numerous compared to regular enemies which can become very repetitive the more you get through it. This also goes to the levelling system, if Sonic Team is going to go with the ARPG mechanics, they need to commit to it more, at least have different enemies with different levels otherwise

Another thing I want to address is the collectibles, some of it felt genuinely pointless as the game gives you all these shortcuts for collecting them too fast and distracting you from engaging with the actual world. It's a mess as they eventually become pointless way too quick killing that aspect of the game that would've given the open zones some much needed identity for individual segments of its world.

Some of the cyber space levels are really short and pointless and the very limited use of level themes really didn't allow them to stand-out as much, alot of the 2D levels felt like unneeded schlock. However there were quite a number of gems in here harkening back to Generation and Sonic Adventure level design. After being bored by the way too linear levels of Forces, I had a blast going through these levels that had actual branching paths and shortcuts which I missed in the 3D games.

Finally when it comes to the story, I am glad to see Sonic's cast be treated with more respect and have heavy stakes actually given the weight it needs. It does meander with expostion and flashbacks but it comes together nicely. Ian Flynn did a fantastic job. Sage is a fun new addition to the ever growing cast and while her development with Eggman can feel rushed with a lot of key moments needing optional memory logs to fill in, it genuinely does lead to heartwarming moments. And finally I'm glad we can have legitmate badassery in Sonic again, I was taking screenshots like crazy with all the dope shit that can happen especially in the boss fights.

I played the Final Horizons update alongside this but since it has it's own page I'll share my full thoughts there later.

It's an enjoyable game with a charming artstyle and a twisted sense of humor that blends together a rogue-like dungeon crawler and a town management sim.

It's cool how the game intersects the two gameplay style as taking care of your town is crucial to leveling up the lamb to perform even better in dungeons and during the dungeon crawling you can pick up resources to decorate and upgrade your town further. The combat is quick and snappy but by the end of the game it doesn't really evolve much and it does start to feel samey.

This leads to it's biggest issue is how it lacks in longevity, while it's fun to interact with the town and it's cultists, eventually it just gets boring to manage once the story is concluded and I just lost the will to continue. It lacks some elements in really making it worth investing into long term as it gets very repetitive at that point. Maintaining the faith of the followers just gets too easy at a point and it just runs out of steam by then.

Even the crusades (what they call dungeon runs) begins to run out of ideas quickly so you're just doing the same basic hack and slashing and it gets boring. I had no motivation to do it all again for the post game objectives.

Still a fun little game which you can enjoy for the initial story but as a rogue lite is does eventually run out of steam.

Another thing to note is the Switch version has some weird hiccups sometimes with frame drops and freezing during intense combat encounters sometimes which was really frustrating. Also it did crash on me one time but not during anything important thankfully.

It reiterates on a lot of the things that made BoTW such an impressive milestone and it also addresses in even surprising ways the very few gripes I had with it. At the same time while ToTK is mostly a triumph and a gorgeous game that you'll sink hours into without realising, it does create a new set of issues which do detract from it being the masterpiece it could've been.

While it was jarring having a lot of the rune abilities from BoTW outright gone, I did quickly warm up to their replacements as the new mechanics gives ToTK a fresh identity of its own. The Ultra Hand ability is a delight and I sunk so many hours just toying around with it and seeing what was possible. Fusing is also a fun way to mix up combat and adds a degree of customisation and strategy. However I wish there was a much more intuitive way to sort through your inventory to pick out the materials you wanted, like setting desired materials as favorites could've made it much more seamless during combat instead of awkwardly cycling through menus for a good minute to use the materials I want.

The sky islands gave me a fantastic first impression but overtime they start to feel very samey and limited which I would have minded less if the game's marketing didn't try to sell them as being more exciting than they ended up being. There were some cool islands that were a blast to explore but they are few and far between. The depths on the otherhand are a lot more exciting offering a lot of fun treasures and a breathtaking sense of wonder and an eerie vibe coming with exploring a dark vast land. However at times it can get exhausting to navigate with the abundance of content and the darkness making it tricky to navigate sometimes. However I will praise how seamless it is traversing between the sky islands to the surface and to the depths without a loading screen. It gives the world this awesome feeling of scale and immersion which sucks you in even more. Moving onto the dungeons, they are a vast improvement over the divine beasts using more specific theming and actual puzzle solving. However they do fall flat compared to the 3D dungeons for Ocarina to Skyward Sword as they lack the rising tension and clever use of specific item puzzle solving that those games used much more effectively.

The story has some absolutely breathtaking moments especially in the final act but man it can get repetitive. After each dungeon you're forced to watch a retelling of a major event in the pass and it makes for some sloppy storytelling. The story is a lot more exciting than BoTW's but that game offered a lot more variety and intrigue in uncovering the events of the past more than Tears does.

Finally the side quests in this game are actually really well done. There's a lot more layered and structured sequential scenarios going on, making me look forward to a lot more content to complete now that I finished the main campaign.

Overall while it does seem I'm listing a lot of gripes, the overall playthrough of this game was some of the most fun I've had playing any open world game. This is a case of the good eclipsing the bad but the bad still becoming an annoyance occasionally.

Very boring and short levels, storyline botches the potential for a much more engaging storyline and the avatar levels/wispon mechanic is very cheesy and not really designed well. The general Sonic gameplay isn't inherently bad but it takes away the innovations that made boost gameplay so cool in Generations and just feels like a more generic shell of it's former self.

It does have quick moments of good ideas in some of it's levels which I did admittedly have fun with but it's few in a game that's already too short. There was one moment where I was enjoying taking alternate paths in the levels for a bit before the camera randomly flipped and made me lose track of where I was going.

Overall it's mostly aggressively average than anything but the way it botches something that could have been something really special for the Sonic series takes it down even further a tad.

Feels very satisfying to play. Special moves are pretty easy to get a grasp of and the kameos thankfully add more depth to the kombat than being a cheap gimmick.

I really enjoyed the story mode in this. It did a good job putting fun twists on klassic kombatants as well as fleshing out some that served as one dimensional henchmen in previous games. It does suffer from losing its focus on having a well structured storyline for the core characters it establishes at the beginning for a wild multiverse finale at the end. Which while was a ton of fun, did detract from that core cast getting good well rounded arcs at the end.

The few matches I did online played well enough but I did notice a few hiccups. Plus the Invasions mode is alright nothing spectacular, does get repetitive and tiring on a long playthrough similar to World of Light in Smash Ultimate.

A really fun time. It's so full of charming environments and characters as well as fun gameplay scenarios that it consistently keeps you entertained the whole way through.

It does feel way too short feeling that it doesn't embrace its full potential and some of the side collectibles aren't all that fun to do. There was even some times when the camera did get wonky and some levels did get annoying to navigate through for the post game activities.

Regardless A Hat in Time is excellent and a must play for anybody that loves 3D platformers.

Much more interesting than the first one, finally abandons the over reliance on quick time events and relies a lot more on the gameplay sequences to tell it's story which was refreshing.

The storyline is much more adventure focused and is less overdramatic and much more straightforward than the previous game was which I prefer for a Tomb Raider game. Combat and environments were a lot more varied and fun overall leading to a very solid campaign.

As fun as the combat is, it eventually does get tired by the end with enemies being killed too easily once you figure everything out as well as the side quests and completion bonuses feeling underwhelming,

Hearing the whispers of an F-Zero revival for the last direct, it was a little bit of a bummer first getting what looked like a simple multiplayer reskin of the SNES game over something more exciting like GX HD.

Man oh man I'm glad this game far exceeded my expectations. As the first F-Zero game with true online multiplayer, this game is truly something I've had a blast playing for the past week. Integrating modern ranking systems and having incredibly responsive and seamless online connectivity is just perfect. Blending elements of the 3D F-Zero as well as different game modes which makes this game only look like the original SNES F-Zero on the surface but gameplay wise feels way more exciting, addicting and frantic.

It can get a little too chaotic at times and the lack of options to play with friends but regardless for a game that's a free NSO download, this is such good value for an awesome game. Here's hoping there's more on the way for this series because this really shows how timeless it's gameplay formula is.

A cute little adventure bolstered by a fantastic presentation with gorgeous sprite art and a triumphant orchestral soundtrack.

The gameplay is simple, focusing on using companions to use different abilities and projectiles. While it was serviceable system it did feel Iike it could use more fleshing out since somtimes combat did feel pointless. I wasn't compelled to snoop out secrets too with how underwhelming that process was which I felt needed to be much more appealing in a short game like this

Regardless I still enjoyed it but it's nothing too remarkable as a complete package.

As a kid I was always familiar with Spyro. The only games I got to play were Season of Ice on GBA and Eternal Night so I never got around to the original trilogy until finally trying out this remaster.

I can easily say these are some of the most fun collectathons I've ever played. Aside from some frustrating collectibles to reach and some weird technical issues that made parts of this game more of an annoyance than they should be, I love how simple and punchy everything about these games are. It's fun to control and it doesn't really get too boring playing all three of these games one after another. The visuals are gorgeous and the world's are full of life and personality making them all the more enjoyable to explore.

My favorite was easily Spyro 2 since the way it integrated side quests gave it some fun variety which was a lot more balanced than how Spyro 3 does it.