LetItRain
A masterpiece encased within an interesting puzzle solving visual novel. OST, Characters, Art Style, and simple but effective gameplay are all top notch. The mystery surrounding being on a sinking ship and who everyone else in the game is helps keep you moving forward. This game lacks the sheer number of twists that its sequel has, but still manages to keep you neatly engaged. This cast feels so human. It's hard to explain but I can't state enough how some of the characters here come across so genuinely. Speaking of, this is genuinely a game I'd call a masterpiece. You owe it to yourself to experience it. Buy the nonary games collection on PC and don't look back.
2019
The most recent entry in the Devil May Cry series did not disappoint. This is the game I was most looking forward to playing once I started the series. DMC 1 and 2 were bad while 3 and 4 were good but not great. This game, however, goes DUMMY HARD to be an excellent experience all around.
The combat is the best it has ever been in the series. So many new tools and old ones coming together to be rock solid all around. This game is essentially what the previous 2 were but with a modern polish, resulting in a fantastic game all around. Music, especially the character themes, are amazing. Story is interesting and engaging while remaining lighthearted and fun with its moments. Also, Vergil is here. So, it's a huge win.
All in all this is the current pinnacle of the Devil May Cry series. All four characters are fun to play and I can see the replay value here down the road. I hope any future installments build off of this game, since it's absolutely fantastic. You can skip the rest of the series and get the lore recap and jump right in. After not loving the series so far, this game does not disappoint.
The combat is the best it has ever been in the series. So many new tools and old ones coming together to be rock solid all around. This game is essentially what the previous 2 were but with a modern polish, resulting in a fantastic game all around. Music, especially the character themes, are amazing. Story is interesting and engaging while remaining lighthearted and fun with its moments. Also, Vergil is here. So, it's a huge win.
All in all this is the current pinnacle of the Devil May Cry series. All four characters are fun to play and I can see the replay value here down the road. I hope any future installments build off of this game, since it's absolutely fantastic. You can skip the rest of the series and get the lore recap and jump right in. After not loving the series so far, this game does not disappoint.
Binged this over some weekend with friends, and it's an overall solid Mario game!
I, like many others, have felt 2D Mario stale over the years with the incredibly same-y New Super Mario series. This has thankfully been a nice stray from that formula while still remaining true to 2D Mario gameplay and presentation. There isn't too much to say in terms of what the package is. It's a 2D Mario, and it's good.
The music is fun, although I won't linger on any specific hits. The wonder mechanic makes it incredibly fun to experience levels and see the creativity by the dev team. The creativity! Can't be stated enough how fresh it feels with simple but fun ideas brought to the table. Even the traditional Mario worlds have been strayed from a bit as the worlds in Wonder have a bit more life injected into them. The badge system was admittedly kind of a miss, with 2-3 badges clearing all the others by a wide margin. That and it would've been nice to have a few more unique wonder effects or harder levels to add more to the overall gameplay. Can't complain too much though, this is 2D Mario. You know what you get when you buy it.
As a whole, it's a simple and effective 2D platformer oozing with creativity the 2D Mario series hasn't had in years. Odd it's this late in the life cycle of the Switch but a welcome addition nonetheless. Great game, excited to see how it gets a follow up years from now.
I, like many others, have felt 2D Mario stale over the years with the incredibly same-y New Super Mario series. This has thankfully been a nice stray from that formula while still remaining true to 2D Mario gameplay and presentation. There isn't too much to say in terms of what the package is. It's a 2D Mario, and it's good.
The music is fun, although I won't linger on any specific hits. The wonder mechanic makes it incredibly fun to experience levels and see the creativity by the dev team. The creativity! Can't be stated enough how fresh it feels with simple but fun ideas brought to the table. Even the traditional Mario worlds have been strayed from a bit as the worlds in Wonder have a bit more life injected into them. The badge system was admittedly kind of a miss, with 2-3 badges clearing all the others by a wide margin. That and it would've been nice to have a few more unique wonder effects or harder levels to add more to the overall gameplay. Can't complain too much though, this is 2D Mario. You know what you get when you buy it.
As a whole, it's a simple and effective 2D platformer oozing with creativity the 2D Mario series hasn't had in years. Odd it's this late in the life cycle of the Switch but a welcome addition nonetheless. Great game, excited to see how it gets a follow up years from now.
Surprise, surprise, Nintendo makes another banger game.
BotW wasn't exactly my cup of tea, but I went into TotK with a fresh head and ready to take it on. Out the gate this is a vast improvement on what BotW brought to the table. I don't love open world games, but the additions here made exploration and grabbing stuff as I meandered the world worthwhile. I didn't 100% it, and don't expect to come back to do so, but I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent here.
Gameplay is rock solid, music and visuals are the best they can be for the switch, and the story is serviceable while not being what I had hoped it'd be upon that first reveal trailer. Overall, not a perfect game but has so much good stuff going for it that I think it's an absolute stellar game that should be experienced if you own a Switch.
BotW wasn't exactly my cup of tea, but I went into TotK with a fresh head and ready to take it on. Out the gate this is a vast improvement on what BotW brought to the table. I don't love open world games, but the additions here made exploration and grabbing stuff as I meandered the world worthwhile. I didn't 100% it, and don't expect to come back to do so, but I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent here.
Gameplay is rock solid, music and visuals are the best they can be for the switch, and the story is serviceable while not being what I had hoped it'd be upon that first reveal trailer. Overall, not a perfect game but has so much good stuff going for it that I think it's an absolute stellar game that should be experienced if you own a Switch.
2022
Fun game marred by absolutely atrocious graphical issues and glitches. Gamefreak are an incompetent developer and The Pokemon Company forces them to hit rushed deadlines so it's a one-two blow of unfortunate circumstances. That being said, the game is fun. Lots of issues, but tons of fun things. Surprised by how good some story beats are in this game. Praying a better optimized third version gets released so that it can fix so many glaring issues found here. It's a dumpster fire, but at least it's a fun dumpster fire.
Nuzlocked. As much of a HGSS fanboy I am, I have to concede that Gen 5 is peak mainline. The story, graphics, music, and region all come together to make an amazing experience. B2W2 is true peak, but BW are solid foundations.
1997
Played on the Switch's X collection. Some people claim it as the best X game but honestly, I think it's a step down compared to the SNES trilogy. That being said, it's still a great game. Mega Man X had a graceful jump to the next gen despite the next 2 titles being bad. Good gameplay, fun level designs, and Zero as a main character! Lots in here to enjoy as a Mega Man fan.
Battle For Azeroth stings. It felt like it was missing so much and could never truly get me into the game like I did for WotLK, Cataclysm, and Legion. Blizzard as a company has fallen on hard times and this is just another unfortunate example.
2001
Played as part of the HD Collection on steam.
Man this game did NOT age well. Resident Evil style camera (due to it's original plan to be a RE game) combined with wack controls means this game was a slog to play. Most missions felt all over the place. Combat itself felt more like a chore than rewarding. You can see the building blocks of the combo systems in future games, but it just isn't fully here in this one. Ifrit is a baller weapon, though. I struggled in some portions until I realized Devil Trigger is just a straight up "I win" button. Trivialized boss fights once I popped it. All around not fun to play, but glad I have it under my belt as I go through the DMC series.
Man this game did NOT age well. Resident Evil style camera (due to it's original plan to be a RE game) combined with wack controls means this game was a slog to play. Most missions felt all over the place. Combat itself felt more like a chore than rewarding. You can see the building blocks of the combo systems in future games, but it just isn't fully here in this one. Ifrit is a baller weapon, though. I struggled in some portions until I realized Devil Trigger is just a straight up "I win" button. Trivialized boss fights once I popped it. All around not fun to play, but glad I have it under my belt as I go through the DMC series.
2023
Boy, what a game this is. Don't let the score fool you!
Pizza tower is a gem. A Wario Land-esque title that brings all the joy of that game and then some. So many positives to be found here. The characters, the level designs, the soundtrack, the overall aesthetic that comes together? Great stuff!
That being said, some levels and level gimmicks certainly felt like misses which diminished some of the gameplay. The boss fights took some getting used to. The controls and overall design of the game aren't quite my speed, so it was a struggle at the beginning.
Overall, this is a game I like but don't love. It's clear to me the appeal this game has and why its achieved the acclaim it has. At the same time, I'm unable to hit that same level of enjoyment and enthusiasm that others have for it. This is by no point a knock on the game, just a situation where it's not my slice of pizza (HA!!!!!), which is perfectly okay. The score here is my own enjoyment of the game, at the end of the day.
Still though: buy this game! I'm glad to have enjoyed the wackiness it brought to the table. It's not too exhausting long as to overstay its welcome and there's plenty of replayability if you'd like to truly master what has been served here. Take a bite out of this one and try it for yourself.
Pizza tower is a gem. A Wario Land-esque title that brings all the joy of that game and then some. So many positives to be found here. The characters, the level designs, the soundtrack, the overall aesthetic that comes together? Great stuff!
That being said, some levels and level gimmicks certainly felt like misses which diminished some of the gameplay. The boss fights took some getting used to. The controls and overall design of the game aren't quite my speed, so it was a struggle at the beginning.
Overall, this is a game I like but don't love. It's clear to me the appeal this game has and why its achieved the acclaim it has. At the same time, I'm unable to hit that same level of enjoyment and enthusiasm that others have for it. This is by no point a knock on the game, just a situation where it's not my slice of pizza (HA!!!!!), which is perfectly okay. The score here is my own enjoyment of the game, at the end of the day.
Still though: buy this game! I'm glad to have enjoyed the wackiness it brought to the table. It's not too exhausting long as to overstay its welcome and there's plenty of replayability if you'd like to truly master what has been served here. Take a bite out of this one and try it for yourself.
2002
Spooky Scary Metroidvania. The SA-X is iconic and the atmosphere this game has is killer. It may be more straightforward and less natural exploratory, but it still holds up and brings a lot to the table. Overall, it's a great experience that I enjoyed greatly.
Originally supposed to be the other half of Sky FC, Sky SC is practically bribery in the number of payoffs it brings to the table. Basically, every chapter after the prologue involves big moments and consistently paced action compared to FC's lowborn slice of life anime style. Estelle and Joshua's relationship is so damn good and it makes me happy on the inside. The emotional payoffs, the soundtrack, the amazing setting of Liberl, and the CHARACTERS! Trails would be nothing without its characters. One of the high points of the Trails series and for good reason. If you play FC you can't NOT play SC and enjoy it.
2019
Improved P5, which was already fantastic. It's so easy to fall in love with Persona's setting and cast. It mostly lives up to the hype, with some moments of weak writing showing gaps in the normally tight armor. Amazing soundtrack, visuals, aesthetics, and gameplay makes it easy to recommend to even JRPG newcomers.
Falcom does it again folks. Trails continues to be Trails, really. The fresh start of a new arc brings a ton of new characters (that it took me awhile to actually like ngl). I was surprised at how well the story manages to handle having so many different characters and storylines to juggle. Some things certainly got dropped, but it does its best to have so much in it. The series still suffers from some "dumb anime bullshit" things, but it's so comfy and enjoyable that I'm more than willing to overlook it. The combat is improved, the characters are still fun and awesome, and the series has tons of cool climactic moments that I was happy to see get paid off. Music is good, art is better now that it's not tied to PS Vita, so much of it is good. Seriously, tons of high points in this entry I was quite surprised. Seeing all the previous arcs cast come together is a treat as well (and will likely be even better in the next game). Excited to eventually hop into Cold Steel 4 sometime soon. Absolutely solid game that feels more rewarding due to the fact that I'm now 8 entries deep into this fantastic series.
Shoutout to Capcom for the PC version being a glitchy piece of garbage that crashes on start! Took me 2 hours to find a solution online to actually play this game.
Anyway, DMC4 is just more DMC3-esque action. They have a more serious looking story this time around, but anytime Dante appears it gets goofier. I think Nero might actually be more fun to play than Dante since the devil arm allows for some good mechanics, though I think Dante's stance system with the different styles he has adds to more depth overall. Thank GOD they made style switching a button press in this game, seriously.
I think this game has some bizarre pacing issues. The plot just sort of instantly happens, there's not a lot of problem solving before you go "church is bad" sort of instantly. IDK what I expect from an action game. Once you switch to Dante in the second half, you're stuck mostly backtracking and refighting bosses you already encountered as Nero in the same locations. It's like Halo 1 but worse, really. Wish there was more diversity here and the two heroes doing missions side by side instead of each getting one big chunk separately. Pacing was a huge issue.
Also, I'm coming to terms with how DMC is not how I imagined it to be. Horror-lite mission-based puzzle-ish platformer that just so happens to have arena fighting sections. I expected much more direct high octane action but these games continue to give off inconsistent vibes to me. Still, gameplay is fun once you can get it going. Some sections are still kinda bleh though.
Overall this game is about the same as DMC3 to me. I think there's better controls and gameplay here with DMC3's story and presentation being better overall. I dipped into Vergil mode and Judgement Cut Ended the tutorial boss and called it there since replaying campaigns immediately isn't for me. I'm not sure this series is what I thought I signed up for, but the game is still enjoyable to play and has some cool stuff to it. Good but not great, glad I played it.
Anyway, DMC4 is just more DMC3-esque action. They have a more serious looking story this time around, but anytime Dante appears it gets goofier. I think Nero might actually be more fun to play than Dante since the devil arm allows for some good mechanics, though I think Dante's stance system with the different styles he has adds to more depth overall. Thank GOD they made style switching a button press in this game, seriously.
I think this game has some bizarre pacing issues. The plot just sort of instantly happens, there's not a lot of problem solving before you go "church is bad" sort of instantly. IDK what I expect from an action game. Once you switch to Dante in the second half, you're stuck mostly backtracking and refighting bosses you already encountered as Nero in the same locations. It's like Halo 1 but worse, really. Wish there was more diversity here and the two heroes doing missions side by side instead of each getting one big chunk separately. Pacing was a huge issue.
Also, I'm coming to terms with how DMC is not how I imagined it to be. Horror-lite mission-based puzzle-ish platformer that just so happens to have arena fighting sections. I expected much more direct high octane action but these games continue to give off inconsistent vibes to me. Still, gameplay is fun once you can get it going. Some sections are still kinda bleh though.
Overall this game is about the same as DMC3 to me. I think there's better controls and gameplay here with DMC3's story and presentation being better overall. I dipped into Vergil mode and Judgement Cut Ended the tutorial boss and called it there since replaying campaigns immediately isn't for me. I'm not sure this series is what I thought I signed up for, but the game is still enjoyable to play and has some cool stuff to it. Good but not great, glad I played it.