Kirby
I sincerely believe there is more room out there for games like Mafia or LA Noire that use an open world as set dressing moreso than a sandbox/sidequest hub, so as not to distract from the narrative and the main, polished content designed to out the games best foot forward. The best thing to say about Mafia is that it establishes its vibe very well without wasting your time.
2022
2003
1990
2021
It would be a shame to get hung up on the lack of plot, when I honestly consider the games de-emphasized story to be one of its core strengths since it allows all of the focus to be on direct player engagement. SMTV is a JRPG determimed to give the player agency to poke around its exploration and combat at their own pace, and is content to just drop you into the middle of the world and soak in the vibes...and what vibes they are.
Extremely self-assured visual style, one of the best soundtracks in recent memory, a gradually unfolding combat system with a consistently satisfying difficulty curve, and some of the best sightline-based treasure hunting and exploration in a JRPG this side of Xenoblade; I had a wonderful time slowly chewing on this in the months since its release, and was continuously challenged and delighted throughout the whole experience.
Extremely self-assured visual style, one of the best soundtracks in recent memory, a gradually unfolding combat system with a consistently satisfying difficulty curve, and some of the best sightline-based treasure hunting and exploration in a JRPG this side of Xenoblade; I had a wonderful time slowly chewing on this in the months since its release, and was continuously challenged and delighted throughout the whole experience.
1993
Always knew I would love this but importing the drum was intimidating.
Finally bit the bullet and ordered the thing, and have spent the last two weeks since absolutely obsessed with Taiko no Tatsujin; As of now, I have cleared every song on Hard, started working through the Extreme difficulty. I even made it into the top 500 players in the Hard difficulty online ranked league.
I missed having a good plastic instrument game, and this offers a great tactile percussion feel while taking up significantly less space than a Rock Band drumset or even a Guitar Hero controller.
This is a rabbit hole I see myself falling down for a good while. Already looking at sensitivity mods for the Hori drum kit.
Finally bit the bullet and ordered the thing, and have spent the last two weeks since absolutely obsessed with Taiko no Tatsujin; As of now, I have cleared every song on Hard, started working through the Extreme difficulty. I even made it into the top 500 players in the Hard difficulty online ranked league.
I missed having a good plastic instrument game, and this offers a great tactile percussion feel while taking up significantly less space than a Rock Band drumset or even a Guitar Hero controller.
This is a rabbit hole I see myself falling down for a good while. Already looking at sensitivity mods for the Hori drum kit.
2018
2016
1997
Shockingly worse than the base game; a story that takes the only chapter in Fata Morgana one might describe as "a little too long" and then retells it from the beginning with even MORE repetition and unnecessary detail.
Also the game attempts to justify a romance between a 13 year old and a 30 year old on at least 5 separate occasions, and not just one character. This isn't like the parts of the base game where characters occasionally have horrible moral lapses and commit taboos; the most relatable characters will often voice their approval in their most lucid states. The game goes absurdly far out of its way to tell you this age gap is okay, actually.
About as bad as a sequel can be in that it makes the original look worse in comparison.
Also the game attempts to justify a romance between a 13 year old and a 30 year old on at least 5 separate occasions, and not just one character. This isn't like the parts of the base game where characters occasionally have horrible moral lapses and commit taboos; the most relatable characters will often voice their approval in their most lucid states. The game goes absurdly far out of its way to tell you this age gap is okay, actually.
About as bad as a sequel can be in that it makes the original look worse in comparison.
2021