A fine story with some awkward scenes with music that unfortunately didn't illicit emotion nor felt as though it earned the duration of time to be played for as long as they are. I respect the direction it goes ultimately but it sort of plays out with the deuteragonist having a weirdly stunted feeling moment depending on how you played which for me just felt a little wrong and forced. Great pixel artwork but honestly I love the blue sort of illustrated moving images in certain transitional scenes a lot more I wouldn't mind playing an entire game that looked like that! The pixel artwork does have some strong key scenes though such as the parade which is hammed up a little much narratively but looks great besides the water/goop (?) you trudge through. The gameplay itself feels half baked and underdeveloped it could've gone further but what's here feels like it would be better served housed in something that doesn't involve occasionally awkwardly stealthing through small corridors and a some minor puzzles.

Good fun I'm not a fan of the aiming and forced button presses for harpoon fishing honestly but that is an addictive gameplay loop done well here. The Sushi restaurant side of things I would've liked some more complexity or an option for longer opening hours such as opening during the afternoon - not for economy issues It just felt it had more to give. It's a shame the cooking mama gameplay is reserved for certain VIPs much of which come late into the main content. It's a very back ended game becoming more reliant and heavy on gimmicks and joke scenarios seemingly because it isn't confident in the gameplay loop it's presented for the last 10-15 hours. It goes too far in some of these more indulgent encounters especially an egregious chase sequence that far outstays its welcome. Had the mini games that crop up more towards the final few hours of the game been better spread out among the other new additions to farming etc. It might've gone down better for me but the ending and game was fine if a bit anticlimatic for sequel/dlc bait (who knows what's next after Godzilla content.)

Inoffensive but really boring for me. I played it expecting a playable Disney movie but what I got was a bland and empty world with gameplay typical to a modern PlayStation game - simple uninteresting platforming and climbing, simple action combat with a hint of Pikmin but not enough. All the story and intrigue for this game happens inside cutscenes so honestly I would’ve preferred a version of Kena I could watch rather than play. Another problem when trying to emulate Disney is that when something feels off it drags it down a lot such as the loading zones sometimes, weird death (or lack there of) animations especially for fall damage. Kena as a character doesn’t do anything interesting there’s no story there that’s ever unpacked just the tiniest of threads. There’s things to find most of which is a cosmetic or the currency for said cosmetic. Just really disappointing but in fairness if they were going for Disney the music and cutscenes sold me on that much - similarly to Raya and the last dragon I don’t know what they were thinking but I guess it looks right sometimes.

A great puzzle game which hams up the story a little too much at times but ends up being charming and cohesive by the end. With Pikmin like boss fights a couple times and lemmings scenarios aplenty this is a wonderful thing that’s not too long roughly 10-15 hours. I think it should be lax on the expectation of getting goldies to progress but otherwise it didn’t outstay its welcome for me. The soundtrack is amazing too like it’s too perfect almost at times and hits so well at the end big PS2 era vibes from this one and I was so happy when I unlocked a track selection for levels. Yeah there’s unlockables and things to tinker with but the puzzles are at the heart of this - and they’re all pretty good to great but I think they stumbled for me a little when they introduced the follow the leader mechanic - half because stick drift and inconsistency for me - other half it felt less engaging than earlier things. Again though the later Core boss fights pulled me back in to both gameplay and story. For some it probably hams up the narrative angle too much but it was just right for me. With user created stages and a stage creator to boot your mileage could vary wildly on this one - I’ll hope these servers stay up in perpetuity unlike Little Big Planet 3.

Without getting into any story spoilers or the ending talk, this is an amazing game worth playing. Builds perfectly on Remake's foundations with infinitely better aerial combat, synergy skills and abilities that are all great. For me the open world fluff was mostly good to great because of elements not strictly quest related i.e. music, atmosphere, party chatter, and greater story significance. If you're not bought into the world of Final Fantasy 7 or don't have a lexicon of knowledge of the original game and the compilation - mileage greatly varies. I'm somoene that likes Chadley and the constant gag where he mutes MAI is funny every time. That doesn't mean I don't think the games perfect though these open world zones could be smaller and I'd be happier if each zone had one of each objective instead of three to four. But damn it if it doesn't feel good seeing Gilgamesh being goofy in a cutscene for a minute after clearing a map. If I stew on it for long I'll probably say I prefer the linearity of Remake, but thoroughly enjoy the combat, character development, and music here in Rebirth more because it all builds off of the bones of Remake. My complaints really is down to a few things mostly Engine related. The lighting choices (and by extension the lighting in Unreal Engine 4) is really bad quite often. Only seeing Cosmo Canyon at night for a few scenes sucks frankly. The audio mixing is terrible some people enjoy playing a game with Sonic Adventure 2 music to dialogue mixing but I for one do not. I think it took me until Costa Del Sol where I'd finally settled on how I wanted the audio. Then finally there's the context sensitive movement with jumping, chocobos, and clambering - none of it feels good in the open world and I hope it's either removed entirely in part 3 or they take advantage of the great unique movement options characters get in Dungeons moved into open settings. I had a lot riding on this game as a sequel to Remake which I already think is spectacular but they met my expectations and surpassed them for the most part. There's a lot riding on part 3 especially for the whackos that analyse every minute detail but for me who's happy with my understanding of the story and where it's going I'm optimistic and looking forward to it.

ACTIVATING COMBAT MODE Crisis Core is very dumb the gameplay is like okay at best? It stumbles into a pit of spamming MP/AP actions (mostly magic spells) once you "get it". It goes for gimmicks and mini games to break up the monotony sometimes like a sniper segment or chop down the missile rhythm game. This ultimately fails but it does try to be an FF7 experience. Voice direction here is terrible across everyone honestly but then again I really don't know if Zack is just like literally a golden retriever guy I mean people call him puppy so it tracks but I don't love the guy or his many awkward lines and delivery. Other characters especially Genesis are so bad and I blame the script on this one entirely. You can't make an entire play out of a background asset in the original FF7 intro cutscene with basically zero meaning other than "cool art" and expect Shakespeare to come out the other end, especially in a 2007 video game originally on the PSP. The good is the CG cutscenes and what remains as echoes of/reinterpretations of events and story beats from FF7; Aerith does a good Aerith impersonation and Sephiroth does all of that business decently well. Most things new here though are meh at best - Turk's stuff with Cissnei and Tseng is decent but needed more Reno and Rude. When your main villain's most notable feat is being the inventor of apple juice my head swings between this being garbage or kino. I'm not that easily swayed even while liking the FF7 world, story, and setting. Again realising all I had to do to plow through the game was specialise into specific materia and learning I could avoid combat by just running along the edges of encounter zones it made it quicker and less painful for me so I guess I'm glad I did my homework before dropping into FF7 Remake part 2 Rebirth but wouldn't wish it on anyone. CONFLICT RESOLVED

It's decent but nothing too special jumping from Momodora 3 just much better sprite and animation work going on here it's a slow paced but short metroidvania light on complexity and back tracking I'd probably recommend it to a first timer to both this series and the genre honestly. Story is there it does a decent job and there's much greater atmosphere and artistry at play than what came before it. More bosses that are fun but not too challenging by any means. Less awkwardness with how it plays looks and feels but still not doing anything really special for me. It's a good time though!

Good enough that it makes you think how Yakuza 3 ended was worth it but not so good to make you forget how utterly stupid it is. Easily the dumbest Yakuza game but it also has Akiyama and Saejima which for me are way more appealing and interesting characters to experience and play as than Kiryu was in 3 at least. Gripes in terms of gameplay would be how the characters are split up with no choice for chapters and order etc. then how they don't share the item box* until the final chapter. This is a remaster hang up I'm being picky with, but claiming all the additional dlc with Akiyama, putting it in the item box as needed, and then finding out my next character is locked out of that sucks frankly. This stands for any items you get as any character too so getting useful side quest rewards like gear or weapons or parts etc. is stuck on that character until the final chapter. Just a really odd way to take away something that didn't need doing. It's an ambitious but half baked entry that's still somehow better than Yakuza 3 mainly because the biggest plot and story telling gripes I had with it are redeemed somewhat here. Also they made Kamurocho feel like Dark Souls 1 Undead Burg which is crazy.

I want to give this a higher score but I can’t for reasons atypical to what I see as far as complaints go. I think it rules you beat up high schoolers for the first 5-8 hours of the game, basically a non issue that’s overblown, and I don’t mind the plot contrivances though it would be much better if every avenue was explored - it’s already a 40-50 hour romp. No the issue is the games confidence in its player, what I mean by this is how it feeds the narrative and regurgitates itself every chapter because it’s not sure how much time you’ve spent in the batting cages or chasing up school stories like Dancing, Boxing, or Robot battles. There’s a lot of fat that could be trimmed off in the games story to make it tidier especially in how it presents new facts as “gameplay” elements in the detective side of things. The worst of it is the continuous and repetitive urge to repeat plot points like your dad just walked in on a prime time tv show with catch up time after the ad break. It happens every chapter sometimes multiple times in a chapter. There’s an easy solution of course it would be something like a chapter manual or ledger in Yagami’s phone to help you recap for yourself. The kicker is it does have a kind of recap section it just happens to be almost completely useless and is more concerned with the appearance of being a detective game than being informative. Make no mistake this a detective story but it’s not a detective game even if the gameplay tries (a little) to put you in those shoes. Much like Judgement the strength is in the story, combat, and exploration and mini games. The story here is much stronger though I’d argue being probably the most grounded of the entire RGG catalogue while still managing to pull funny business where it counts in the side content and typical stuff like punching people solving everything in the end. It’s a great time and the additional Kaito files are an extra snack with a satisfying end. The school stories, side content, and the kaito files make the whole thing more appealing but the story and cast is certainly stronger and better done here than in Judgement. It’s a huge step up and considering its early days (hopefully with more to come in the future) the Judgement series is much stronger than Yakuza was on its second entry no doubt.

Probably the weakest feeling entry so far playing the series simple but decent story with funny moments that stick unintentionally or otherwise (Yoshitaka Mine speaking English.) Also wraps up oddly like it feels in need of a "Kiwami" treatment too honestly. Without getting into spoilers it's like it was written with a clear end in mind and someone at the last minute decided to scrap that and overwrite it - without actually making it make sense or look good. Combat is fine, its an earlier Like a Dragon entry so serviceable and punchy at times but carried by cinematics and special actions. Music is great probably my favourite battle themes so far in the Kiryu games with a new location that feels different with Ryukyu though not as interesting as Sotenbori or Ijincho to explore at all. Orphanage stuff is fine but pace wise breaks up the plot way too much at awkward times in the back half. Still it has interesting and new characters with quirky antagonists and things going on so even at the lowest rung its still doing the things you like about the series right mostly.

This is awful truly awful. Postive's are the soundtrack is decent, visuals work sometimes, and the monster design looks different and good for a new Silent Hill thing. The story is completely irredeemable though a three hour slog of a suicide prevention hotline ad which narratively boils down to shopping with a friend can save you please don't kill yourself. At first hooked me a little with live action cutscene's which never truly worked and voice work that is very dire. Just yet again another new Konami Silent Hill product that is garbage. At least it's free though!

Momodora 3 is a much better version of the first game with that similar stage based structure and continuity but with the added option to retread old ground via checkpoints to get more currency for shop items, or to find secrets you possibly missed. The artwork and music here feels almost perfected into what the developer wants this world to look like and maintains a uniqueness in both art and sound - this is where the momodora look and feel truly starts standing out and the cave story inspiration is more so in the background. Multiple endings with a choice between two characters it has replayability and reason to do so.