JOEZCafe
Scarlet Dawn is an almost perfect expansion of the ideas set up in HOTD4 with some slight dial backs into ideas from the other games, like more varied zombie types and alternate weapons.
I’d say the only real parts holding it back are the story being a bit less interesting by the series standard, a rampancy of technical issues and lack of polish, as well as the lack of a home release.
I’d say the only real parts holding it back are the story being a bit less interesting by the series standard, a rampancy of technical issues and lack of polish, as well as the lack of a home release.
DDD is a bizarre mish-mash of every KH game that came before it but with no elegance or brevity.
Flowmotion makes for some really entertaining combat for the first couple of worlds, but the focus on dream eaters, streamlining of the command deck, easy exploitation of the flowmotion commands, the combo-jab feel of KH1 and the second most filler-feeling Disney worlds behind CoM, I’ve never brought myself to finish this one.
Flowmotion makes for some really entertaining combat for the first couple of worlds, but the focus on dream eaters, streamlining of the command deck, easy exploitation of the flowmotion commands, the combo-jab feel of KH1 and the second most filler-feeling Disney worlds behind CoM, I’ve never brought myself to finish this one.
KH2 is very much a game that’s carried by it’s combat, I like to refer to it as “The combat has improved, but at what cost?”.
It’s very addicting, the combat is fluid (after some very necessary abilities are acquired first) and has a lot of extremely satisfying payoff for emotional moments set up in KH1, but the world design has taken an immense step back, the game’s systems are very poorly tutorialised, drive forms suck and feel crowbarred in and the plot gets extremely tired and indulgent in the second half.
Basically what I’m saying is locking dodgeroll behind Limit form is weird, the second visits blow chunks and the Roxas boss fight can go fuck itself for being such a jarring difficulty spike.
It’s very addicting, the combat is fluid (after some very necessary abilities are acquired first) and has a lot of extremely satisfying payoff for emotional moments set up in KH1, but the world design has taken an immense step back, the game’s systems are very poorly tutorialised, drive forms suck and feel crowbarred in and the plot gets extremely tired and indulgent in the second half.
Basically what I’m saying is locking dodgeroll behind Limit form is weird, the second visits blow chunks and the Roxas boss fight can go fuck itself for being such a jarring difficulty spike.
Re:CoM is my trash that I loved playing once but would never want to play ever again.
The card system is fascinating to learn and intensely rewarding to inevitably break and it’s exhilarating to watch Sora and Riku get pushed to their emotional limits in the leadup to 2, but the repeated worlds from KH1, horrendous balancing, extremely steep learning curve and the game overall being 10-15 hours too long makes it such a tough sell that you’d be forgiven for deciding to skip it, especially when every cutscene in the game that isn’t in Castle Oblivion is entirely skippable.
The card system is fascinating to learn and intensely rewarding to inevitably break and it’s exhilarating to watch Sora and Riku get pushed to their emotional limits in the leadup to 2, but the repeated worlds from KH1, horrendous balancing, extremely steep learning curve and the game overall being 10-15 hours too long makes it such a tough sell that you’d be forgiven for deciding to skip it, especially when every cutscene in the game that isn’t in Castle Oblivion is entirely skippable.
While it most assuredly has some jank to overcome, the original Kingdom Hearts is such a straightforwardly fun entry with a lot of charm that makes it stand out significantly, from a more lenient magic system to more dynamic world design, as well as having the best depiction of Sora as a character.
It deserves a lot more than just being “The homework game you rush through on your way to 2 and 3”, even if you do need a lot of patience to adapt around its more “demanding” quirks.
It deserves a lot more than just being “The homework game you rush through on your way to 2 and 3”, even if you do need a lot of patience to adapt around its more “demanding” quirks.
2023
While I would have loved more recipes, Venba nevertheless tells an engaging and heartwarming story about identity, representation and reconciling with family through Cooking Mama-style sequences, mixed in with a spot of deduction.
It’s incredibly cozy and I highly recommend it.
It’s incredibly cozy and I highly recommend it.
2016
Pokémon Go is one of Niantic’s more active GPS games with a more conventional gameplay loop that requires more of an active participation in the app rather than just being rewarded for walking and going to places.
It’s got a bit more going on that makes it worth playing and I’d say it’s one of the better Pokémon games for people who just like catching and collecting them, but its excessive grind for menial things like inventory space and lack of passive incentives makes it feel a bit more out of place.
It’s got a bit more going on that makes it worth playing and I’d say it’s one of the better Pokémon games for people who just like catching and collecting them, but its excessive grind for menial things like inventory space and lack of passive incentives makes it feel a bit more out of place.
2019
Hypnospace is stuffed with charm to make a really immersive surf through people’s livejournals on the late 90s internet, it stumbles a bit due to some really obtuse puzzle solving, but it’s still worth a play.
Despite sacrificing some of the camp from its initial crossover outing, Age of Calamity is a significant and superior step-up over the original Hyrule Warriors with more diverse and cohesive gameplay mechanics and an improved upgrade system that blends better with the main scenario, but its improvements still feel marginal due to a dull story and gameplay that eventually gets slow and mindless.
Ruin adds zero value to the Security Breach experience.
While SB is an immensely flawed game that still limps onward with some entertainment value, Ruin is a farce of phoned in, repetitive and arbitrary gameplay to tell a pointless, inconclusive layer of the story that goes nowhere and only rewards superfans who bother to read the spin-off books.
Avoid at all costs.
While SB is an immensely flawed game that still limps onward with some entertainment value, Ruin is a farce of phoned in, repetitive and arbitrary gameplay to tell a pointless, inconclusive layer of the story that goes nowhere and only rewards superfans who bother to read the spin-off books.
Avoid at all costs.
There’s an addictive sense of adventure in Gen1 that makes it enjoyable to explore, especially with how hands-off the narrative is, but the easily exploitable meta and repetitive combat does make it drag on occasion.
The only way to enjoy this game is in an emulator so you can turbo it.
The only way to enjoy this game is in an emulator so you can turbo it.
2023
Dordogne has its wholesome and pertinent moments as well as some lovely amounts of interactivity to thread its story together, but it’s held back immensely by its slow pace, unmerciful length of 4 hours and a very hollow and underwhelming narrative.
2019
In both solo and co-op, UGG is a short and sweet stealth-puzzle game with just the right amount of extra charm to make the experience more substantial, namely its dynamic soundtrack that builds up as you make mischief.
It’s a very light game to do in an afternoon and champions the joy of that.
It’s a very light game to do in an afternoon and champions the joy of that.
Widescreen aside, Reroll provides too many downsides to the We Love Katamari experience that removes a lot of the polish the original game had, in small ways like music cutting out at awkward moments or sound effects being pitch shifted, and in large ways like the awful pop-in on Nintendo Switch that culls anything a few feet away from the Katamari and the horrendous art style change, even with the option to change the mapping to look closer to the original game.
Combine that with the Royal Reverie missions just being hardly-replayable reskins of existing missions from the original game and it doesn’t justify a playthrough for your blind experience or even a replay.
Combine that with the Royal Reverie missions just being hardly-replayable reskins of existing missions from the original game and it doesn’t justify a playthrough for your blind experience or even a replay.
2021
Bloom is the absolute best incarnation of the AR GPS mobile game, it’s a very self contained game less reliant on its MMO aspect that rewards you for spending time outside and not on the app, leading to an experience that one could call barebones and passive, but as a result gives you a stronger focus on actually going for a walk.