WHAT WERE THEY THINKING!?!?!?

One of the only RPGs where you want to AVOID combat. It punishes you for playing the game.

This game isn't broken. The game isn't rushed. They WANTED to make the game this way. I will never understand how, or why.

The infamous one. Yeah, I went into this game not expecting too much, but I wanted to look at it for what it was, not what it could’ve been. Needless to say, that’s easier said than done, and a lot of the time, I just saw it as a complete downgrade to what came before it.

First of all, the battle system, absolutely terrible, I genuinely avoided every fight I could as I wanted to not use stickers, and I usually love battling in games when I can. Aside from that, the thing stickers are absolutely atrocious, the fact that you need a specific thing sticker for certain situations could’ve been handled so much better, because god forbid you guess the wrong thing sticker to use, because you LOSE IT FROM YOUR INVENTORY, and have to go and get it again, and you have to pray that it isn’t a tedious level. Mind you, that never happened to me, but the fact that it so easily could is ridiculous.

I gotta say, this game just felt really soulless, like I especially noticed this around World 2. In Paper Mario 64 when you’re in the desert, you have to go through Dry Dry Outpost, and you go through all sorts of fun scenarios in the town, you talk to interesting characters, who reveal the way to get to Dry Dry Ruins. In this game, the desert area has almost zero dialogue….you’re just walking through different areas, some more tedious than the last. The lack of dialogue in this game is laughable, like there is NO personality here outside of a few circumstances. Bowser, the MAIN VILLAIN, doesn’t even talk ONCE, in the past games, he had so much personality and character, which is all stripped away here?? Why??

As much as I like to talk shit about the game, it also isn’t the bane of my existence, it wasn’t the most dreadful thing ever, it did have SOME redeeming qualities, which is what makes it a 4/10, as opposed to it being lower. World 4 is an obvious highlight, mostly every level is at least decent, Enigmansion, 4-5, and 4-6 are all great, they cooked there. I dig the royal sticker stories after you defeat a boss, they add some character to the bosses, and that’s actually cool. Kamek gets some good characterisation in this game, whenever he shows up he's actually kinda cool, and his presence is much more felt than Bowser's. The levels can be decent at times for sure, although when it’s the “less than 5 minutes” levels that are the best usually, it’s probably not a good thing outright. Oh yeah, Snifit or Whiffit is the best thing about the game, probably.

Overall, does it deserve the hate? Is it THAT bad? Yes, but it does have some redeeming qualities that make it fun at times.

This game does have Petey Piranha, the best Mario character of all time, so that’s also a positive, of course.

I know this might sound unbelievable, but it's exactly as it says. Last week, while playing Paper Mario: Color Splash, I encountered a bizarre and unforgettable moment. Just before a crucial boss battle, I felt an urgent need to use the restroom. I sensed something was off but hoped I could quickly finish the battle first. Unfortunately, I was mistaken. I had a major incident, but even after that, I still felt the urge to go. I checked the time on my phone and realized I had to get back to the game. Not wanting to miss out, especially on such an important part, I cleaned up as best as I could and resumed playing. Throughout the battle, I could hear my stomach making loud noises, and I was sweating profusely. I hoped the battle would end quickly, but the boss kept unleashing relentless attacks. Eventually, I couldn't hold it any longer and had another incident. Surprisingly, after the battle, I found a hidden area with amazing rewards in the game, including a special item that made the remaining gameplay much easier. It was a messy gaming session, but it had a surprisingly rewarding ending. I'll definitely remember this moment whenever I play Paper Mario: Color Splash in the future.

Score: 7/10

OBJECTIVELY, yes it is very flawed. do i care? not really man

my favorite Paper Mario game to date and it’s not even close. the soundtrack, the environments, the writing, and CHARACTERS (yes it has those lol) all are just amazing. it’s not trying to be TTYD 2, and i respect that a lot. it’s rarely dark or brooding, but it’s oozing with so much charm and originality as previous games if you’re willing to give it a chance

lots of people complained about the Koopalings being the main villains, but i strongly disagree. they are fleshed out and given actual personalities for the first time, maybe ever. they are great and steal the show whenever they are on screen. the same can’t really be said for their previous appearances, so to equate them as the same shows a disregard for the writing

the levels are expansive and varied too. i understand disliking the level map system, but i think it totally works here. it’s nice, it helps keep everything organized, and the levels never felt sacrificed because of the map design

anyways, yeah i love Color Splash. it’s my new favorite Paper Mario game and i will forever talk about how it is the peak of the franchise. go play it, please. give it a second chance if you didn’t like it before

I was a fool for not being interested in this game until now. If I could sum up Paper Mario in one word, it would be DELIGHTFUL! I had such a blast playing through this adventure. I had started playing it once before but couldn't get into it, so I'm not sure what changed in two years. But I'm glad it did, because this is one of the most fun experiences I've had lately.

For being 25 years old, it holds up extremely well. I've always held the opinion that art style is far more important than having the lastet, cutting edge graphics, and Paper Mario is proof of that. It looks amazing all these years later, that I didn't even feel like I was playing a game from my childhood. Plus, the gameplay was really straightforward and fun as well.

Paper Mario is just a charming, delightful adventure that made me smile a lot. I'm glad I gave it another try.

I have been hearing and seeing this game so much that I was expecting things about it I couldn't even fathom. Nonetheless, the aesthetics and gameplay did live up to my anticipation, however the confusing maps and navigation, along with a plethora of unnecessary backtracking - not those you see in a metroidvania, but plain walking back and forth fetching items - made the experience a little harder to put up with than I was waiting for. On a sidenote, the new companions are REALLY very interesting but there is little to nothing of development of them in the main story, which felt very disappointing to me.

While not the first games I played in the series (that honor goes to Super Paper Mario and Sticker Star) the original Paper Mario is the game that really got me into RPGs and holds a special place near and dear to my heart.

I love the presentation of this game, perhaps it's the ultimate "comfort game" for me. The soundtrack might be the most comforting thing about the game, with the pleasant sounds of the N64 really showing themselves throughout many of the game's tunes. The polyganal style of the Mushroom Kingdom coupled with the pixilated character sprites also make for a game that oozes graphical charm. This of course extends to the combat system, with it allowing for animation and timed inputs that make for some of the most expressive battles I've seen in an RPG. Management is also something that surprisingly makes the game more engaging, with HP, FP, AND BP all needing to be carefully managed to make the tide of battle flow smoothly as the game progresses, with leveling up allowing for upgrades to only one of the stats.

However, on this particular playthough I found myself more critical of the game, but this may be because I have already played though it so many times. For one, while the simple storybook nature of the game's story is wonderfully comforting, it is perhaps a bit too simple? With the other Mario RPGs (or hell even some of the other Paper Marios) the locations are a bit more fantastical with much more imposing threats, while in this original game Mario is still exploring the basic lands of the Mushroom Kingdom (with a few exceptions) with Bowser as the main villian. Despite that it wouldn't really be fair to call the game "basic" with how much wit and charm the characters that inhabit this kingdom are able to convey in their dialouge. Though the games more laid back nature does lead into my second point that this game can sometimes be broken in half in a way that I don't really find fun. This playthough, I decided to go full on into BP, allowing me to do some insanely high damage that melted most enemies and bosses towards the end, which I didn't really find that fun or engaging sometimes.

Though the game's more easygoing attitude did prevent me from fully enjoying the game on this revisit as I have in the past, the original Paper Mario still has tons of charm and personality that makes for such a comforting game that I'm sure I will revisit in the future.

...Well this is awkward. This was such a shoo-in for GOTY for me. It had all the right pieces laid out and a whole bunch of incredible aspects that it seemed like it had in the bag. But.. there is something kind of missing with this game and I think I've finally nailed down what it is.

Obviously, though, let's start with the good. This may appear shorter considering it's an 8/10, but that's because the good things this game has are self-explanatory, even if you haven't played the first. Why yes, this is one of the best-looking games of all time. Why yes, it does have industry-leading sound design and performance capture. Why yes, the story is super intense and emotional and Senua remains one of the best lead characters in video game history. Of course, the soundtrack is really good. A good majority of this game is obviously excellent.

There are even some less obvious things that I honestly like more compared to the average person. For one, I kinda like the fact that it's only around 5-6 hours? For $50? Sure I can understand not thinking it's super worth it. But I honestly like shorter more concise games that don't have that much fluff in it (we'll get to that later). Additionally, the biggest criticism I've seen for the game is its combat. And while I do have some small disappointments for it later, I overall really like it. I like the weightier, more cinematic combat. It makes every sword swing feel deep and heavy in a super satisfying way. I also love the decision to make it only one-on-one fights now as it avoids a problem with the original where sometimes the camera lock-on would be finicky and you'd get stabbed by a random ass guy from offscreen while you're fighting someone else. Here, it's one-on-one with interactions between other enemies being kept to mid-combat events that add a sense of tension to it. These fights are also pretty challenging, especially near the end. There are also a handful of "boss battles", I guess, and these are super cinematic and memorably intense as well.

Overall, this seems like a slam dunk for me. It's the original Hellblade, but bigger, more tense, and with all of the original's strengths turned up to 11. But.. there are 3 things that sort of even it out to where I think I like this game about as much as the original.

First of all, while the combat is excellent, the exploration and puzzles I didn't find all that engaging. I'm not asking for stuff on the level of Viewfinder or Animal Well, but something at least on the level of Inside or Journey, where they're simple but still engaging. This game's puzzles are mostly similar to the ones from the first game which I was getting rather tired of by the time the end of that game rolled around, so I wasn't thrilled that they're back here. They do have torch-lighting puzzles and one particular moment stood out as being kind of interesting, but overall, the adventuring side of the gameplay isn't super strong IMO. Weirdly enough, this is a problem I had with the first hellblade too, I just wish it had been addressed a bit more.

Secondly, while the narrative, overall, remains very strong, I didn't really connect super strongly to most of the new characters introduced for this game. They mostly served as a way to show Senua's growth by having her interact with someone outside of the psychosis voices in her head. And while they do it well, they don't have enough screen time to be all that memorable, and I already forgot the names of some of these characters hours after finishing the game.

And lastly, and this is not something to knock against the game but it's just a personal disappointment, I felt like the game played it a bit.. safe compared to the first game. I was super interested to see what bold new themes it could tackle or how its already-known new themes would translate into gameplay sequences and mechanics similar to the first, but there isn't really much here. It feels like just Senua's Sacrifice but bigger and more, rather than something that could stand alongside its original on its own gameplay-wise. Again, this isn't inherently a bad thing, but considering we were waiting 7 years for this game I do wonder how it will be reflected on. I really hope that Ninja Theory's next game (which apparently was greenlit already) is NOT a new Hellblade game. It's super obviously clear that Ninja Theory is an intensely passionate studio with a whole lot of talent behind it, but I think that we've seen and heard about all we needed to from this story.

Am I glad that we got Hellblade 2? Absolutely. This series is better with this game than without it.

But, if I knew what this game was, would I have asked for a Hellblade 2? I'm not sure.

Having rolled credits, I still don't understand why this game exists. What was the intention behind this game? When you make a sequel to a video game how do you evolve from the original? What do you fix, what do you do differently, what do you add? Hellblade 2 does none of those things and instead doubles down on the design template of the original game - which was released 7 years ago. What we're left with is essentially the first game again yet somehow worse in some areas.

I understand the desire for something like Hellblade. Yes, the game is gorgeous. It's a visual showcase of Unreal Engine 5 tech, I liked looking at the shiny rocks and trees and volumetric fog tech. But underneath all that is a hollow and nauseatingly linear "game" that refuses to attempt anything new.

I think my biggest gripe with the game is the writing and narrative devices. The first game was novel and unique in how it presented itself, however in Hellblade 2, they use the same voices in your head and the same 3D audio trickery to the point where it feels gimmicky now. It also feels like they've upped the frequency at which the voices are talking, to the point where I was subconsciously ignoring them, even if they were expositing key narrative information.

I also feel like this doubling down on the original themes and usage of psychosis or schizophrenia comes off as hokey or juvenile, rather than whatever I assume the devs intended. I don't think that presenting Senua's mental illness as some sort of in-universe superpower that can help save the land and its people is a smart decision narratively, and I think can be rather insulting depending on how you view the game. With the first game, it was Senua coming to terms with herself, which is a much more honest and natural way to explore the themes they wanted to present. The insistence on this narrative device becomes the game's weakness. How do you write a sequel while still relying on these themes and growing the character past the first game? You don't. It's just not the right decision to make.

As a game, it's the same as the first just with more production value behind it. Nicer animations for the shallow combat. The puzzles are the same albeit easier than the first as they removed a lot of the originals jank and the voices in your head help you solve them. The music is fun, and the performances are great. Ultimately the writing is what falls flat for me and because the game relies on it so heavily it drags the whole experience down with it.

I think Ninja Theory is talented, there are moments in this game where I was seriously impressed by the animation work or some of the cinematic sequences. I just wish they would spread their wings a bit and deliver something more rather than limit themselves like this.

I pray they don't make a Hellblade 3. Please just make Enslaved 2 or something I don't know make a video game again for godsakes!

It's probably the most beautiful game I've ever played in my life. But for 50$ a 6 hour experience is not a good investment to make for what feels essentially like a UE5 demo and nothing else.

The combat is VERY scripted, with each hit being slightly delayed than the other as it registers your inputs before playing an animation. Not to mention they try and hide this by the story claiming they all use patterns but it's just lazy gameplay design in my opinion.

It's a lot of run here, fight a different person with the same animation with the odd boss in between. The puzzles are also pretty boring as well. Not to mention the story, which is very creepy (in a good way) and very unique.

Overall basically a UE5 demo with a decent but forgettable story and pretty lazy gameplay.

My favorite game of all time. A super satisfying and versatile platformer with a ton of hidden mechanics to minimize frustration and hidden movement capabilities to widen its potential. Also has a very charming art style with amazing music, one of my favorite soundtracks. It's very accessible for a variety of skill sets as well, thanks to its assist mode, which I'm always happy to see in games.

I first played on Switch, but I also have this on Steam, where I've used mods (which are very easy to handle) to play so much more of this game. It's really amazing, especially with mods, highly recommend.

Rogue-likes pose a lot of challenges where it comes to managing player frustration, a feeling of making progress, and a satisfying difficulty curve. Hades does a really good job, imo, at keeping the stakes of each run high while maintaining a sense of development and progression in the hub, without it feeling like the game just gets easier the longer you play it. The boons, weapons, and upgrades system allows for so many possibilities of satisfying synergies, and a good balance of chance and strategy determining those synergies.

Aesthetically, the art design and characters are of course fantastic, and the mythological theme of escaping the underworld really lines up with the mechanics and gameplay. I will say, I was left a little underwhelmed by the writing. While the central conceit is really good, most of the dialogue comes across as cliche and annoying. I found myself skipping through all the dialogue, tbh, and wasn't compelled by any of the flavor text in the codex. Still, the combat, art, and gameplay systems are so good that it didn't bother me too much.