Messyrats
The only things I'll go at-bat for with Homecoming are that I think the second dungeon and boss is actually good, and the boss designs themselves are effectively creepy.
The rest? Utter dogshit. Insultingly nothing game.
The rest? Utter dogshit. Insultingly nothing game.
2004
It is, honestly, almost impressive how much worse than the original this manages to be, and it's not even as though the first VJ is that good of a game to begin with.
There's a lot of neat changes to the gameplay in Torna that make me think it'll be hard to back to XC2 if, for whatever reason, I felt the desire to replay it.
I like the Kingdom of Torna, I like the gameplay tweaks, I like basically all the side content and the NPCs. If there's one thing I can say about this game, it's that it made me invested in the plights of the Tornan people. The tangible changes you make to their community feel rewarding, and the way it all comes together in the penultimate sidequest feels like a great period to the whole thing.
I like just enough of this DLC that I don't feel cheated by playing it. The main story is a story that never needed telling because it's not as though Jin's motivations weren't already explicitly clear in XC2 proper. It didn't need anymore fleshing out, although I guess it's nice to see what he was like before. I don't mind giving Addam a proper design, but making him a prince takes away from the idea that Mythra's original Driver was just A Guy by making him someone special.
I'd honestly even go so far as to say that the main story in this is worthless. The two antagonists who absolutely needed more fleshing out, Amalthus and Malos, get nothing in their favour here. They're uncomplicated, uncompelling villains much like they were in the main game. Every time a main story beat was happening, I was zoning out and just waiting until I could get back to helping out the people of Torna.
Even though I had fun with this, it's hard to recommend it if you were expecting something worthwhile out of it.
I like the Kingdom of Torna, I like the gameplay tweaks, I like basically all the side content and the NPCs. If there's one thing I can say about this game, it's that it made me invested in the plights of the Tornan people. The tangible changes you make to their community feel rewarding, and the way it all comes together in the penultimate sidequest feels like a great period to the whole thing.
I like just enough of this DLC that I don't feel cheated by playing it. The main story is a story that never needed telling because it's not as though Jin's motivations weren't already explicitly clear in XC2 proper. It didn't need anymore fleshing out, although I guess it's nice to see what he was like before. I don't mind giving Addam a proper design, but making him a prince takes away from the idea that Mythra's original Driver was just A Guy by making him someone special.
I'd honestly even go so far as to say that the main story in this is worthless. The two antagonists who absolutely needed more fleshing out, Amalthus and Malos, get nothing in their favour here. They're uncomplicated, uncompelling villains much like they were in the main game. Every time a main story beat was happening, I was zoning out and just waiting until I could get back to helping out the people of Torna.
Even though I had fun with this, it's hard to recommend it if you were expecting something worthwhile out of it.
2003
Been a while since I've had a video game song on repeat on my playlist as much as You're Not Here. The vibes of SH3 are almost impeccable.
No.
2021
Yan please call me
The lead-up to the final boss battle is so funny that it almost makes up for how painfully mediocre the rest of the game is. I say almost because it doesn't really. On its own merits it's a competently put together game that I don't enjoy. It's absolutely not a Castlevania game.
Castlevania May Cry does Igavania better than the actual Igavanias.
Circle of the Moon, aka the other game in which Dracula is a bratty sub and cheats on the Belmonts.
The fight against him was miserable.
The fight against him was miserable.
Probably my favourite version of the original Castlevania, absolutely incredible music.
Anyone that says this is better than the original Castlevania 64 is a liar and cannot be trusted.
1999
Nah, this game's fine. People have somehow memed it up to be The Worst Game but it's not even close to some of the worst early 3D games out there. I had a good amount of fun with it. There's no way a game with skeletons on motorcycles could possibly be bad, really.
1997
Never again.
Despite ostensibly being a better game, it's actually not as good as the first Game Boy Castlevania by virtue of it not being a completely batshit gauntlet of platforming challenges. Good music, though.
1991
The fight against Dracula is perfection.