There's a few good ideas and designs sprinkled throughout the game, but otherwise it's so incredibly bland and uninspired. Like if there was two additional years of development and this foundation was fleshed out and refined, this could have been a good game.

Five of the six Pokémon on my team were new to this generation, because I actually quite liked some of them. However, I caught most early on and then basically kept the same team throughout the entire game, as I didn't feel much incentive to "catching them all". Despite these early pickups lacking various typing coverages, I was still able to breeze through the game pretty easily.

Most components of the game had the issue of being okay but unpolished. The one component that stands out as the most egregious however is the game's story. You spend almost the entirety of the game with no real antagonist organization, and when it does finally show up, it's over pretty quickly. There's some lore dropped throughout, but it's all very basic.

If this game released even just a decade ago, it would have probably gotten away with having these flaws and with being incredibly boring, but this series continues to coast and be left in the dust of more modern RPGs and games in general.

Lots of flair and personality, coupled with satisfying combat and challenging platforming makes this a pretty solid game. The art direction is pleasant though areas tend to bleed into each other, and making distinctions between them is difficult.

Everything is pretty linear so calling this game a metroidvania is a bit of a stretch, so that was disappointing. There are power-ups to collect that you have to backtrack to, but the world isn't as interconnected as I would have wanted, and it's easy to forget about past areas unless you're a completionist. I intended to go that route but it just didn't feel worth it, ended up at 84%.

May possibly be the most uninspired game I've ever played in my life, with so few redeeming qualities. What was once a fun RPG franchise was dumbed down completely, with world maps and bland levels. There were maybe three levels in the game at most that I at least moderately enjoyed. Kersti is probably the most boring companion ever, and the world is devoid of creative life, instead filled with generic Toads galore. The lack of any story is also mind-boggling, made only worse by strange songs written by seemingly toddlers that play when defeating a chapter boss that are supposed to provide some kind of lore or context.

Everything from the battle system to mechanics devolved into such uselessness. Fighting any enemies at all was detrimental in a game where the core gameplay is battles, and boss battles were rendered nearly impossible unless you found the random Thing sticker, which you had to backtrack to stickerize. This game also removed any cool paper mechanics from prior games (ie: paper plane), with the only replacement being a clunky paperization system; admittedly that idea on its own isn't bad, but it was still a massive downgrade.

There's some fire tracks as this was during Nintendo's jazz age, but that's essentially the only good thing I have to say about this game.

I'm probably a bit bias since I've run this game on and off for over fifteen years, but this was truly the peak of the series before it fell to mediocrity from a gameplay perspective. Snaking was the best racing tech ever in my opinion, and mastering that gave you so much freedom, as the kart control in this game is also top notch.

Also introduced were numerous new tracks that are still considered to be in the upper tier from the series, though a few of the retro tracks brought back were duds. The mission mode was a great addition as well, though will always fall a bit short of the robust story mode campaigns in games such as DKR and CTR. Beyond those two semi-major gripes, this game is essentially the pinnacle of racing games.

The world is colorful and vibrant, chock full of personality. This carries through to the story and dialogue, which strike this perfect balance of being cheesy without being annoying; there's literally a laugh track during cutscenes and it somehow works perfectly. Oh, and of course, nearly every song is a banger.

In terms of gameplay, it controls pretty well, though fairly slow. I thought the castles (aka dungeons) were well structured, though the open outdoor areas were too large and sparsely populated, resulting in exploring a lot of empty space. The use of four characters that each have their own abilities and powers was also done nicely, as the later portions of the game continued to utilize everything at your disposal as opposed to forgetting those options exist.

This game is severely overlooked, as it really was one of the better examples of a 3D platformer / adventure game upon its release.

Outstanding level design with just the right amount of collectibles scattered throughout. Looks great, sounds great, and feels great to play, with the catsuit being one of the best powerups ever introduced. Mediocre bosses, as well as the silly 100% requirement of all characters on all levels are my only major gripes.

Bowser's Fury was designed nicely as well, and should definitely be used as inspiration for future 3D Mario games, though the pacing suffered due to Bowser cycles interrupting gameplay and being required for some cat shines.

Carried predominantly by a captivating story and an interesting cast, OMORI possesses high highs and mediocre lows overall.

I felt engrossed in the plot, and the level of psychological horror struck just the right chord for me. The music did a good job of elevating each moment of the game, knowing when to feel more whimsical as opposed to unsettling, while having a lot of variety.

Other components had me feeling a bit soured. On paper, the emotions battle system seemed like a great idea, but I easily managed while ignoring it a large majority of the time, with it only being useful for some boss battles.

The locales were interesting but could have been polished to enhance them from good to great; adding another unique area would have been welcome at the expense of streamlining others a tad. The quality consistency of the pixel art felt varied to me as well, though I loved the aesthetic of the hand-drawn portions.

Overall a fun playthrough, though it came with its flaws that even its great story couldn't hide.