2019
This game is extremely creative and I love a lot of the ideas it brings to the table. However, I feel like the way it builds on its mechanics is a bit too opaque and leads to situations where I felt like the game was trolling me. Take my opinion with a grain of salt here though because i'm very stupid.
1997
This feels like the first true attempt to evolve the MMX formula since the first game. The sprite work is beautiful, the soundtrack kicks some serious ass, and the english dub is classic. I feel like splitting the stages into halves kills the gameplay momentum a bit, but I understand it as a technical limitation.
This was my first Dragon Quest game and it definitely made me a fan of the series. It's endlessly charming through the dialogue and art style (shout out Akira Toriyama!). On the writing front I think it does a lot of interesting stuff, especially in the post game. It also feels like it has an endless amount of content, the main campaign took me about 50 hours and the post game added another 15 or so, not to mention all the side content I didn't do. Super simple yet satisfying combat system that feels even better due to all the attack animations.
Really my only complaint is the soundtrack, there's some neat themes in there for sure, but with such a small track list you'll be tired of every song by the time you hit the end.
Overall, despite being a very traditional take on the genre, this is definitely one of the best JRPGs of the last decade.
Really my only complaint is the soundtrack, there's some neat themes in there for sure, but with such a small track list you'll be tired of every song by the time you hit the end.
Overall, despite being a very traditional take on the genre, this is definitely one of the best JRPGs of the last decade.
2019
I can't recall a game that has disappointed me as much as Blasphemous.
From the first time I saw this on kickstarter I fell in love, the art style was just so gorgeous I got caught up in the hype. When I finally got my hands on the game I quickly realized the art was pretty much all it has going for it. In terms of the actual gameplay it's the most bland combination of metroidvania and souls-like possible. Completely uninspired map design, very bland combat upgrades, a complete lack of traversal upgrades, very little enemy variety, bad bosses, and I could go on.
The only appealing thing about the gameplay to me is the stinger move, which I can't remember what this game called it because it was so bland. I really can't overstate just how big the rift between the quality of the art and the quality of the game is here.
You'd probably be better off just taking some screenshots and making them your desktop wallpaper instead of playing the game itself.
From the first time I saw this on kickstarter I fell in love, the art style was just so gorgeous I got caught up in the hype. When I finally got my hands on the game I quickly realized the art was pretty much all it has going for it. In terms of the actual gameplay it's the most bland combination of metroidvania and souls-like possible. Completely uninspired map design, very bland combat upgrades, a complete lack of traversal upgrades, very little enemy variety, bad bosses, and I could go on.
The only appealing thing about the gameplay to me is the stinger move, which I can't remember what this game called it because it was so bland. I really can't overstate just how big the rift between the quality of the art and the quality of the game is here.
You'd probably be better off just taking some screenshots and making them your desktop wallpaper instead of playing the game itself.
1995
It's more SNES era Mega Man and that's always okay with me. Definitely has it's fair share of flaws, both the Zero system and the Ride Armor system seem kinda half implemented. One of the worst Sigma battles in the series too. However, it still feels great to play as X, there's some great stages, and the music is kickass as always. Not to mention the ability to track which upgrades you're missing on the boss select screen is great for completionists like me.
2016
This is one of those games where you can just FEEL how small the budget was as you're playing. That doesn't necessarily make it bad, but coming off of 0 it's pretty jarring. I like the Majima Everywhere system a lot, the bits of Nishiki's story are great, and the final boss fight is sick as hell. Overall, it feels like a cheap expansion to 0 and that's ok, because 0 is amazing.
2020
When Carrion is trying to be a linear stealth puzzle game it can be pretty engrossing. Figuring out how to take out a huge group of enemies with the monster's unique suite of abilities can be a lot of fun.
What's less fun is wandering around the map aimlessly during segments where the metroidvania map structure comes into play. What's even less fun than that is segments where you have to play as a human slowly plodding along solving braindead puzzles.
Luckily those moments are fairly infrequent and the feeling of mindjacking an enemy and then making them pilot a mech to kill all their comrades makes up for it somewhat.
What's less fun is wandering around the map aimlessly during segments where the metroidvania map structure comes into play. What's even less fun than that is segments where you have to play as a human slowly plodding along solving braindead puzzles.
Luckily those moments are fairly infrequent and the feeling of mindjacking an enemy and then making them pilot a mech to kill all their comrades makes up for it somewhat.
First of all, TTYD is one of my absolute favorite games and I even replayed it in preparation for this. That being said I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected to.
There's a ton of laugh out loud moments, it's absolutely gorgeous, it's fun to hunt for toads, and I love the flow of the boss battles. I'm not crazy about the regular battles, I'd prefer something more akin to TTYD, but they're fine. Character design is also a bit weak, ie the stationary bosses, but I do enjoy the origami redesigns of classic Mario enemies.
Overall, it's not exactly what I want out of the series, but if you're someone without an attachment to the old ones I'm sure you'll like it a lot.
There's a ton of laugh out loud moments, it's absolutely gorgeous, it's fun to hunt for toads, and I love the flow of the boss battles. I'm not crazy about the regular battles, I'd prefer something more akin to TTYD, but they're fine. Character design is also a bit weak, ie the stationary bosses, but I do enjoy the origami redesigns of classic Mario enemies.
Overall, it's not exactly what I want out of the series, but if you're someone without an attachment to the old ones I'm sure you'll like it a lot.
A successful iteration on the previous entry and the classic Castlevania formula as a whole. A great new cast of characters to play as that offers a ton of options for dealing with encounters.
2003
All the hallmarks of a Hideki Kamiya game are on full display here - great sense of style, ball busting difficulty, and a shoot em up level. Has a pretty interesting fusion of character action concepts mixed with a more traditional beat-em-up.
2000
Despite giving this a middling score, I think it's still absolutely worth playing if you have any interest in From Software's pre-Dark Souls output. The soundtrack is unlike anything you've ever heard and the atmosphere is fantastic. Really feels like a fever dream in the best way possible. The combat is beyond simplistic and the puzzles are uninspired, but it's worth looking at despite the gameplay.
First of all this is the coolest fucking setting ever, and I can 100% see another studio fumbling the ball. However, monolith soft is the best in the business when it comes to environment design and they knocked it out of the park here. The soundtrack fits this immensely well, the grand themes help to make traversing the huge world a joy. The combat, while not quite as in depth as XBC2, is still pretty unique and fun even if it gets a bit old. The writing is solid, I especially love all the dialogue from your party members, and where the story goes in the final few chapters. The only qualms I have are that the side quests are terrible even by MMO standards and the resolution makes the game look like it's coated in vaseline.
This is one of the most barebones JRPGs I've ever played. The story is literally nothing, one of your allies is a weird neckbeard pedo, and it has a lot of padding in the back half. That said I think the battle system is very solid, there's some great music, and I do like a couple of the characters quite a bit.
2020
The thing about this game that sticks out the most in my mind is the English dub, which is hilariously cheesy in a 90s anime way. I kind of love that stuff but it's definitely not for everyone. Other than that this is just a decent budget remake of a charming game that the west missed out on. The switch port doesn't run amazingly, and the combat design doesn't hold up compared to modern action RPGs, but it's worth a look if you're a fan of JRPGs.
2019
Persona 5 Royal does it's absolute best to iterate on and improve so many aspects of the original game that it's hard to list it all. This game manages to make the best turn based JRPG battle system of all time even better, which is an accomplishment that cannot be overstated. The new story content is also some of the best writing we've seen in a Persona game to date, and it stands above the writing in the original release. The only complaints I have are pretty minor and mostly apply to the writing in that original release, which P5R does it's best to smooth out, but it isn't 100% successful in that regard.