I’ve been holding off on adding this to my list since it came out because honestly I haven’t finished it and I’m not sure how I feel about it. I’ll try to explain my main frustrations. (This is just my opinion. It’s ok if you love it)

The truth is, I think this game is bloated. The underground is like 90% emptiness. Most of the items you get down there are just callbacks to other, better games.

The sky islands are not as important as they were hyped up to be and don’t feel like they add much by just floating in the sky. Most of them are just bigger puzzles that could have produced the same feeling if they were in a shrine.

The companions literally just got in my way most of the time so much that I had goron guy and Sidon turned off. Tulin is more useful as a traversal tool than an ally and Riju’s ability is similar to Urbosa except it’s just a pain in the ass to use it. You mean instead of just charging my attack I have to run over to you and hope you’re not busy and hope I don’t hit some other contextual button? No thanks. They just suffer in comparison to the champion abilities you get in BotW. (Also the sheikah slate powers are better than the powers you use in TotK.

Lastly, the crafting or construction, whatever you want to call it. I understand it might just be a preference thing but it’s just not for me. Personally, it got old very quick. I know you can save some creations and the game gives you some blueprints, but overall I didn’t have the patience to fiddle with the clunky interface to make new things and try new things. Eventually I gave up messing with new creations because it would take longer to build something than it would to just go fight enemies head on or just climb to where I was going. Just how I ended up feeling with the creation system. I think it’s clunky and tedious to make new things.

To say something positive, I did enjoy revisiting this version of Hyrule and seeing familiar faces. I also liked the dungeons more than the divine beasts but they were still not up to classic Zelda standards. They were also pretty short and some of them barely felt like a “dungeon”.

I will always prefer BotW. I think it is a more pure and concise adventure with a clear vision. If BotW is a delicious cheeseburger, TotK is that same burger with extra buns added on top and bottom for no reason.

shrug

Maybe I’ll finish it one day.

I played about 20 hours and it was a good time. It’s a unique block falling puzzle game where matching blocks rockets them off screen. Each level is a new “planet” with different ideas, gimmicks, and even gravities so it’s always throwing new things at you to keep it exciting.

While I enjoyed the game I kind of feel like neither control system is really perfect. Maybe I’m just bad and there is really high level play out there. However, it felt to me like the dpad was too slow to keep up with the chaos on screen and using the stylus was too inaccurate. shrugs

It doesn’t matter because the real joy of this game is vibes. Each level has unique art and music that blend together well with the game mechanics. You can feel Mizuguchi’s influence every time you clear blocks and the blast joins harmoniously with the music. And you can see Sakurai’s influence with the clean menus and fun sprites and animations. Just a fun game to play when you have some downtime because you can fit a few rounds in.

Finally got around to playing a Phantasy Star and I really enjoyed it. This Sega Ages version has a lot of modern conveniences that help save the grind and mapping.

My main complaints with Sega’s first rpg outing are that you can’t prioritize enemies, so any fight against multiples becomes necessarily tougher. And some of the event triggers and story requirements can be pretty obtuse.

I loved basically everything else. The pseudo - 3D dungeon crawling is fun and impressive for 1987. It’s cool that the main character is a girl and you get a cat party member. Such an ambitious game for its time. Can’t wait to play the sequels.

I have a lot of nostalgia for Gen 1 and 2 but after that I didn't play any Pokemon games basically until Sword and Shield. It was exciting to come back to a classic Pokemon and I love knowing I still have a few more just waiting for me one day. Had a really good time playing this. I love how much personality some of the towns have and Team Magma and Aqua were fun. Overall I think it was a more memorable experience than some of the newer ones.

This game has given me some new favorite towns and Pokemon as well. Breloom is one of my new favorites and Verdanturf theme is peak.

Played on Analogue Pocket