I really love me some Splatoon. I’ve been eagerly waiting for Side Order’s release since Splatoon 3 dropped as it was announced before the game’s initial release. I was immediately on board for another Off The Hook focused DLC campaign as Splatoon 2’s Octo Expansion was easily my favorite piece of Splatoon content. Octo Expansion came with a brand new story that delves into aspects of the lore unexplored at that time, fantastic new music, a super interesting setting, and added a new playable species that fans have been begging to play as since the series’ inception. I’ll just rip the bandaid off and say that Side Order comes with none of that. In many ways, it doesn’t feel like it was worth the wait but nonetheless, it does come with its own unique merits that end up adding some value to it.

Splatoon always held a special place for me because it oozes a unique style and aesthetic that is contemporary, lively, full of personality, fashion-forward and deeply experimental, especially in its music. There’s a specific atmosphere to Inkling culture that has been present and ever-evolving in every iteration of the series. Octo Expansion immediately stood out as it was set in the deep underground that included the other creatures that aren’t on the surface with a focus on the titular Octarians and their struggle to break out of the historical oppression they’re in, cathartically culminating with the Octolings reaching the surface and assimilating to its culture. Now all of this is mere subtext as the games are still “you’re a kid that shoots ink” but there’s always something happening under the surface with these single-player campaigns that I always loved looking into.

Octo Expansion was a really tough act to follow, and unfortunately it has cast a giant shadow on Side Order and any future paid-content. Side Order takes place in a new version of Inkopolis Square that has been stripped of all of its life and colors. I won’t be spoiling anything other than what was shown in the initial reveal trailer so I’ll let you go through the thrill of figuring out what has lead things to become this way. Right off the bat, I can tell you my first issue with Side Order and that is its atmosphere and aesthetic, or should I say lack thereof. I understand this bleached-out look was the intention they were going for but it really left this expansion feeling lifeless, dull, and devoid of any personality. Even the music, which I’m used to being experimental and genre-defying, is now spacious and more ambient (in Splatoon standards I mean). I don’t know, I appreciate the drastic shift in atmosphere Side Order offers but it’s just not interesting to me by any means and honestly takes away my favorite aspect about the franchise which is the atmosphere and life.

My second biggest criticism of Sider Order is its story. With the somewhat intriguing premise, my mind kept coming up with theories about what was going on and what happened to everyone and I can say that everything I came up with was a lot more interesting than what was actually happening. I mentioned earlier how all the Splatoon campaigns have some deeper subtext or just something unexpected happening below the surface. That is absolutely not the case with Side Order. Granted, I’m writing this after rolling credits once and I’m aware that there is a completion bonus and I’ve been working towards that. So unless there’s a whole lot locked behind that 100% completion, this story is just whatever. I wish I can say it was predictable but it managed to do everything worse than every prediction I made. There’s really nothing interesting going on here.

This was just kind of crushing especially since it’s pretty much a sequel to Octo Expansion where you even get to play as Eight again but alas, Side Order is no Octo Expansion and doesn’t have so much of what made that special to me. I will say, Pearl and Marina are my favorite characters in the franchise and without getting into the nature of their involvement in Side Order, they are once again the heart of this. I love them with all of my heart and getting to see them again filled me with so much joy.

The gameplay of Side Order is the area where I at least have more positives to say. Side Order is a roguelite mode, my second attempt at the genre after last year’s God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla expansion. I can definitely say I enjoyed this attempt at a roguelite a lot more and I found myself to be having an actual good time with it. The unfortunate baggage that comes with the genre is the loss of meticulously designed levels to procedurally generated ones. I do miss the level design of the previous single-player campaigns, but there’s definitely a lot to appreciate here. They translated the roguelite gameplay loop in a great way actually. The levels have a good amount of variety; they do get repetitive but Splatoon is Splatoon and it feels like it was built for these bite-sized quick challenge type of levels. Especially when that’s ingrained in the identity of the game, just like how Turf Wars are quick matches that you should be able to get in and out of easily, and Side Order manages to fulfill that.

While Side Order feels lackluster as a new single-player campaign, its biggest strength is that it feels like a fun new mode. It can get quite addicting to play through and honestly I feel like it has added some incentive to jump back into Splatoon 3 when I want to get into an offline quick session. 100% completion does require 11 complete runs with different weapons and honestly I’m very compelled to give it a shot. I’ve been wanting a reason to get back into Splatoon 3 and I feel like Side Order provides my money’s worth by adding in a new mode with a fun level of challenge.

I want to preface this review by noting that there are many aspects and points of comparison that are lost on me as Reload serves as my first experience of Persona 3. I know that there’s an argument to be made about Reload not adhering to the original atmosphere and overall vision of P3 but since I’m not really familiar with how it’s “supposed” to feel, I don’t really have anything to say about that. Apart from bits and pieces here and there, I’m not aware of aspects that got lost in translation between all the different versions, I only know what I got with this particular version of Persona 3.

I’ve been wanting to experience Persona 3 for the longest time since Persona 4 Golden and Persona 5 Royal are among my favorite games of all time. There was just always the struggle of which version to play, the original and P3Fes are pretty much lost to time unless I use emulation and the only version available on modern consoles is Persona 3 Portable which offered the best version of the P3 gameplay at the time but heavily sacrificed the presentation of the game. Everything was telling me that P3P should not be the way I first experience Persona 3 so I decided to just sit and wait for an eventual remake to happen. I can’t begin to describe my excitement when Persona 3 Reload was announced as I would finally get to experience this monumental RPG that made the series what it is today.

Persona 3 Reload might not be the definitive version of Persona 3, as it lacks notable content from P3P and P3fes, but i think it’s definitely the best version to play Persona 3 in the current day. The game has a shiny new coat of paint that makes it graphically on par with Persona 5 but with a completely different design philosophy that gives it a unique, distinct identity. The presentation is absolutely stellar and the new ultra-stylish minimalistic design language modernize Persona 3 while still making it feel like P3 and not another P5.

This new aesthetic is absolutely beautiful in its simplicity and its modernity. Persona 3 Reload immediately throws it on you when it greets you with its new opening that features the best visuals of any opening in the series alongside its new song. Persona 3 Reload features a redone soundtrack, featuring remixes from the original game with new vocalist Azumi Takahashi coming in as the new lead vocalist. As someone that’s been listening to the Persona 3 soundtrack for years, this change did feel a bit jarring at first but I quickly got used to the new arrangements. Some of the new songs are stellar and instant series highlights, most notably the new night theme “Color Your Night” and the new battle theme “It’s Going Down Now”.

Persona 3 Reload brings the classic Persona battle system in its modern incarnation that was perfected in P5. You have never played a turn-based RPG like these two. The battles just flow so well and the new Shift and Theurgy mechanics borrow from the Baton Pass and Showtime mechanics from Persona 5 respectively to add a deep layer to the battle system that makes each battle feel exhilarating. This alongside the newly added character-specific All-Out-Attack splash screens make you and your team feel like absolute badasses as you decimate your way through Tartarus.

Tartarus is one thing I’m really excited to talk about. So Tartarus is the procedurally generated central dungeon of Persona 3 which you and your party tackle throughout the school year to reach the top and uncover its secret, think P5’s mementos. From an outsider listening in, Tartarus has been the topic of the biggest complaints I’ve been hearing of P3. How it’s so long and boring, and all the floors feel the same. Well I’m here to say that Tartarus in Persona 3 Reload has been absolutely great. It’s still very long but they did a good job diversifying it and shaking things up with each chunk of floors. There are just so many quality of life improvements here that ultimately make the gameplay loop of Tartarus extremely addicting. You had to beg me to stay out of Tartarus.

If you’re familiar with Persona, you know that the gameplay loop doesn’t only revolve around the dungeon crawling. There’s also a complete life sim waiting for you outside those dungeons where you get to live out a calendar-based school year getting part-time jobs, building your social relationships, and keeping up with your studies. I want to give credit where credit is due, this game did this iconic gameplay loop first and it has since become a staple of the series. it is an ambitious and revolutionary concept to seamlessly blend those two types of gameplay into one game and have it be as cohesive as it is, especially when it’s their first attempt with this concept!

There is a lot to do during the day but it doesn’t get overwhelming as it sometimes does with Persona 5 as the settings are a lot different between the two. P5’s hustling and bustling city was perfectly fit for the infinite amount of things you can do in that game while P3’s seaside town is a lot simpler both in terms of things to do and in its overall vibe much more similar to the setting of P4. This made the game have a much more chill and easy going feeling to it. The town just eases you into living in it and its small landmarks are instantly memorable so you won’t find yourself getting lost a lot. This makes Persona 3 Reload an excellent entry point to the modern Persona entries as it allows the player to learn the ropes with a lot less going on.

Social Links, or Confidants for those only familiar with P5, are my personal favorite aspect of the modern Persona games. During your day-to-day life, you’ll come across interesting people all throughout that you can hang out with and befriend. Doing so will have you cultivate a relationship with them that would directly benefit you in the dungeon-crawling side of the game. These were always my favorite parts as I’d get to hear the interesting stories of these people, help them with their problems, or share a good laugh over a bowl of ramen. These stories always feel like the heart of the games for me, each one pushing the theme of its respective game.

Since Persona 3 introduced the concept of Social Links, I’m not surprised that they’re pretty hit or miss in terms of quality. It’s clear that they were still figuring out how to handle that aspect and I appreciate Reload for preserving them flaws and all. The lows are pretty low but the highs are fantastic. I’m taking some of the best Social Links in the series are in this game with one of them turning out to be my absolute favorite from how raw and gripping the real-life consequences that character was going through. My absolute favorite thing about Persona 3 Reload that makes me struggle from going back is the fact they decided to have all the Social Links be fully voiced. This made me connect to these characters on a much different level and I really hope it becomes a standard moving forward.

Speaking of voices, once again Atlus remains top dog in English dubs. I know this is a topic of contention as the entire original Persona 3 voice cast got recast but coming in blind, these performances are all fantastic across the board. I haven’t heard any of these characters speak before but they all sounded exactly how I expected them to and delivered phenomenal performances across the board. I did think that one member of the main cast was a bit inconsistent with their performance but it didn’t stop me from falling in love with their character. Special shoutouts to: Aleks Lee, Zeno Robinson, Alejandro Saab, Allegra Clark, Dawn M. Bennet, Lucien Dodge, and mostly Shelby Young for breathing so much life into these characters and tugging at my heartstrings.

The main cast of characters have always been a highlight of the Persona games. I think they are the most important aspect of these games as these are the people you’ll be spending hundreds of hours with. P4 and P5’s casts genuinely feel like my best friends with the amount of memories I have with them and the level of attachment I have. I’m so pleased to say that P3’s cast is freaking phenomenal. This group definitely has my favorite dynamic out of the three modern Personas and include the most interesting relationships.

Going in with the expectations I had from P4 and P5 had me really shocked at the type of dynamic the P3 cast has. Some members have shared history, some just don’t vibe with each other, and you’re not the center of the group. While the P4 and P5 casts would rely on you as an active agent, P3’s casts all have their own agency. They have their own friends, plans, and motivations. Hell, they won’t accompany you on missions if they don’t feel like it. Aspects like that ground the cast and make you see them like real people because yeah my real-world friends are not always free for me, or they won’t always get along with my other friends. I only finished the game last night and I already miss them like crazy.

I look at the stories of Persona 4 and Persona 5 as stories that shaped me as a person. With both having messages and teaching me lessons I can immediately realize have impacted my life after playing through them. Persona stories are really really impactful and Persona 3 is no different. The story delivers such a powerful message and life lesson that really makes me feel like I’m going to tackle my life a lot differently moving forward. This especially becomes stronger when the game has one of the most cathartic and poignant endings that left me with a powerful final aftertaste.

I do have to say that the biggest gripe I have with Persona 3 is in its plot. While the story is fantastic, the plot and its pacing leaves a lot to be desired. The first half of the game feels pretty aimless to be honest. There really wasn’t anything going on in the main story until I reached the 40th hour which would be inexcusable if the gameplay loop wasn’t so fun. It felt like P4 and P5 had immediate hooks to keep playing the games that is definitely missing with P3. The back-half is outstanding but I really feel like it takes a tad too long for things to get going. These games are pretty freaking long and there really aren’t moments in P4 and P5 where absolutely nothing is happening but P3 feels like it has a huge chunk of that.

Overall, Persona 3 Reload is a phenomenal game with a strong visual identity, fantastic soundtrack, streamlined and addicting gameplay, top of the line voice acting, stellar characters, and a powerful story that will for sure leave a lasting impact. While it might not be the definitive release of the monumental RPG, it sure feels like the best way to experience it as of now.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is a fantastic sequel in every way. It might not be as radically innovative as its 2018 predecessor but it doesn’t need to be. The original set a standard that is hard to top and frankly, not in need of reinvention. In turn, the sequel brings forth incremental innovations and quality of life updates that build upon the strong foundations of its predecessors alongside a solid, bombastic new story that solidifies this game as the definitive Spider-Man video game experience.

Spider-Man has been my favorite superhero all throughout my childhood and well into my adult life. I hold the 2018 game to a very high regard as it has captured and fulfilled a life long dream of mine; wanting to feel like Spider-Man. The swinging was always the biggest triumph about the 2018 game in my opinion and the sequel managed to somehow make it even faster, more fun, and much more immersive. The traversal as it its absolute best here and I have no idea if I can ever go back to the previous installments without them feeling like a prototype to this.

That sentiment is pretty much the case for most elements in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. The overworld, for example, is bigger and much more detailed while being super dense. The previous games’ worlds didn’t feel empty by any means but they populated the heck out of the map here. The streets are filled with cars and parks are filled with pedestrians now that I feel like going back to previous entries would, once again, make me feel like I’m looking at a prototype of this.

It is especially impressive that the game looks and runs the way it does. It manages to remain buttery smooth even when the craziest stuff is happening on screen all while running in a beautiful 1440p / 4K resolution depending on which setting you have it on. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 takes full advantage of the PlayStation 5 and the DualSense capabilities to deliver one of the most next-gen feeling experiences in a console generation that feels like it hasn’t had that breakout poster game for its generation.

The game as a whole is a technical achievement. I am still in awe by how instant the fast travel works. It is actually instant, you have to see it to believe it. Haptic feedback makes you feel every single step you take as Peter or Miles and feel the speed of your swings and the weight of them. The adaptive triggers are also used in adding to the immersion of the swings or in game prompts that might require a more delicate/deep press depending on the event. I talked about the first game making me feel like Spider-Man but it cant get more immersive than this. This game just took it to the next level.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 wastes absolutely no time with showing you its new tricks in its jaw-dropping opening. The scale is turned up to 11 and you’re welcomed back into this universe with an impressive opening set piece. The main campaign is actually filled with these massive set pieces that are top of the line in quality. They really didn’t pull any stops and delivered moments that even the biggest blockbusters would struggle pulling off. It is genuinely impressive. This also applies to the boss fights which are pretty fantastic and easily the best in the series.

The campaign is high stakes and full of surprises all throughout. I highly prefer the story missions themselves here as they maintained a high level of intensity without some of the pace breaker missions that were present in the previous games. The MJ missions are back and have been completely overhauled. Her sections are still mainly stealth based but MJ didn’t come to play around this time. I especially love how they really leaned into making her sections feel like something out of a horror game. It’s all killer and no filler in terms of story mission content and I really appreciate that.

My thoughts on the story itself are a bit more complicated. The story is intense and full of surprises all throughout, it is exhilarating while you’re progressing through it but I found it falling apart the more I thought about it after the fact. I loved Kraven as a villain and thought they did a great job re-contextualizing the character and making him a formidable foe. I loved the internal conflicts both of our Spider-Men were facing throughout the story, I loved the symbiote storyline (even though it feels abridged), There’s just so much I love here but I can’t say the story feels as thought out as Insomniac’s previous outings. It simultaneously feels like it’s playing it too safe while also going too crazy.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 certainly fulfills the crazy over-the-top high stakes side of Spider-Man in its main story but that’s not all there is to the webbed hero. What makes Spider-Man special to many people is the smaller, human stories. While the main story offers a small taste of that, the side missions are what fulfills that aspect best. Side missions like “Howard” and “Finding Grandpa” are highlights in that regard and feature the heart of some of the best Spider-Man stories. They actually did a wonderful job with all of the side content in this game. While its predecessors featured the run-of-the mill open-world fluff and padding, this game’s side content manages to fill out the expanded overworld while feeling genuinely meaningful. Every branch of side-content whether its enemy bases, collectibles, or side stories lead up to a satisfying conclusion that makes them feel worth your time.

Overall, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is a fantastic follow up in every way. Improvements on the traversal, combat, and overall gameplay loop makes the gameplay at its absolute best. Insomniac’s level of care to streamline and build upon almost every aspect of the game makes this not only a worthy sequel but also the new standard for these games. The story is the only thing that I can say is a downgrade compared to its predecessors but it’s the type of thing that would let you down when you think about it after you’re done and yet it still has great moments all throughout. Despite that, I can confidently call this the definitive Spider-Man gaming experience.

Kind of a crushing playthrough I’m not going to lie. The art style is definitely very adorable and heartwarming. Some really creative uses for the controller and clever implementation of fourth wall-breaking. Unfortunately though, all of the glitz and glamor wears off very quickly, revealing a mundane, padded out, mediocre game that, to be frank, overstays its welcome.

The art direction is genuinely great. The world feels adorably handmade and it’s really cute that they make you draw certain elements of the world. Making each player’s playthrough visually distinct. I love that that creativity also goes for the characters too, you can make them look however you want them to look.

I really like that as the player you’re guiding the messenger throughout the story and the game establishes that you are not the same entity. You, the player, and the messenger are working together through this journey to reach the end. I like the detail of having the messenger grow to trust you in the beginning of the game leading into the two of you relying on each other by the end.

I feel like there’s a gem buried in here for sure if all of the padding is removed. The game definitely feels longer than it’s supposed to be and it doesn’t help when there are long repetitive sections that don’t really have much going on. The platforming is basic, the pacing is not the best, and it doesn’t help that the back half of the game takes place in bland areas with nothing atmospherically interesting going on for long stretches of time. I feel sorry to say it but I really was having a miserable time in the last 1/3 of the game. I thought it might be just me but through looking at the trophy list, I saw that only 7.4% of players actually finished the game in the 9 years it’s been out. That should tell you everything you need to know.

I will say though that, thankfully, the game wraps up in a very heartfelt and adorable way that ultimately made me not regret going through the journey. I can’t help but think if the Vita version would’ve been infinitely better as it would feel like a much more intimate experience, which is clearly what they were going for. But, alas, Tearaway Unfolded ends up being an alright time I guess.

Just wow. I had no idea what the main mechanic of the game was and if you don’t, I won’t spoil it for you but this has to be one of the most innovative games I’ve ever played. I’m dumbfounded and can only say wow.

Before Your Eyes is probably the most immersive gaming experience I’ve ever had. No other game I played has went beyond the screen and into my subconscious the way it did. I can’t really get into detail without spoiling but just.. wow.

Beyond that, the game is so incredibly moving and thought-provoking. It really feels like the type of thing I can’t experience again. Just.. wow. That’s the word I said the most while playing this game, wow.

9 years later and I finally beat this game. A gem in every way. The setting is great. The characterizations are fantastic. The dialogue is incredibly clever. My first ever Tim Schafer game and I am very impressed.

Grim Fandango is what I would imagine getting if Pixar made a film noir back in their prime. It is brimming with personality and charm that I just haven’t experienced in a long time. The type of charm that I feel like can only be captured by a product of the time. I usually find this type of dialogue to be cringy but they really sell it here.

I feel like Grim Fandango is one of those essential games that everyone has to play if they value video games as an art medium. The top tier script writing and directing alongside the next-level art direction solidifies Grim Fandango as a genre-defining pioneer art house game.

While it excels in so much of what it sets out to do, Grim Fandango does feel like a product of its time and has aged in certain aspects. In a way, the game feels like a time capsule to game design philosophies that I consider to be primitive, and I use that word in the most respectful manner. This game is just near impossible without a guide and this type of game design has long evolved into becoming more accessible to players.

Since this is a remaster, I wish they put some effort into streamlining these convoluted and dated design choices to make the game more accessible in the modern gaming sphere. The remaster could have breathed new life into Grim Fandango to make it an ageless masterpiece but instead it remains as a dated and slightly-flawed gem.

This game is a freaking gem. The main concept is simple but the presentation quickly turns it into something bonkers and hilarious. The game just feels like a fever dream, it’s as if a WarioWare minigame turned into its own full-blown game.

The controls are really janky and awkward but i feel like it kind of adds to the charm? Usually with games with uncomfortable control schemes, I find myself getting accustomed to them by the end. This is not the case here, the controls stay uncomfortable until the end of the game and honestly I can do nothing but cautiously applaud.

It’s hard to be articulate about anything regarding this game because it felt like a 6 hour trance. There’s just something so hypnotic about this game that transported me to another realm. I think it’s the sensory overload I get from all the colors paired with the vibration of the controller while the soundtrack loops in my mind. Speaking of, this soundtrack is freaking stellar and is filled with earworms. I wanted to list my favorites but I genuinely listed them all. Not a single miss on that soundtrack. “Que Sera Sera” is my favorite for sure though. The music is so addicting to listen to which makes the game just so addicting to play.

Overall, Katamari Damacy feels like it healed something within me and my inner child. I feel so fulfilled with my experience with it even though I wasn’t cognizant of that experience. I’m really not being hyperbolic when I say it felt like I was in a trance.

I can’t believe it took me this long to finally play Undertale and I’m so glad I avoided all conversations surrounding it for all these years and ended up going in completely blind.

This game is something special. It is so absurdly unique with its world and characters and oozes charm all throughout. It’s pretty hilarious, like laugh out loud hilarious and not exhale from nose hilarious.

The characters are so charming and the story has this really cool layer to it. There’s just so much palpable passion in Undertale that no one can deny. It’s such a simple game on the surface but its simplicity is what makes it so moving.

Also I can’t understate how cathartic the true ending felt. I haven’t experienced an ending like that in a long time and I feel like I won’t be experiencing one like it again for a long time.

This was a masterpiece in every way. I loved it with all of my heart.

This was alright. I’ve never really played a roguelike or a roguelite before but if this is any indication then that genre might ultimately not be for me. If it is for you, I do think they did a great job translating that here.

The character-work here is fantastic as we've been used to for these past two games. Valhalla feels like a catharsis of Kratos’ character development throughout the whole franchise.

Overall, it’s cool that they made this free. It adds replay value and something extra for those that want it. Plus adds a nice journey for Kratos to go through that he has desperately needed.

This was pretty good. Just like FFVII Remake, Yuffie’s characterization is the best it’s ever been. I “liked” Yuffie in the original FFVII but to be honest there wasn’t really much to like or dislike with her. She was my least favorite character by far because she just.. didn’t have anything going for her. All subsequent appearances of Yuffie in the FFVII compilation had her kind of be annoying. INTERmission does a really great job in making her still feel like Yuffie but more likable and more in line with other characters.

I thought it was really cute how INTERmission takes place during the main story and you can see parts of it happen but from a different point of view. I really liked the expansion on the Wutai-Avalanche connections and how we got to see a different cell from Avalanche and hear first-hand what they think about Barret’s cell. Just great added depth that isn’t needed but fleshes out the world a lot. I like the Fort Condor game a lot. I’m excited to see if the real Fort Condor will be handled the same.

The combat is really really great. The synergy mechanic is just so smooth and adds a really fun element to the battles. Yuffie and Sonon play off of each other’s moves in really fun ways and tag team enemies when synergized. This battle system is honestly already pretty legendary and they managed to enhance it in a really genius way. I can not wait to see how they improved on the synergy system further in FFVII Rebirth.

Overall, INTERmission is a really cute DLC that doesn’t feel substantial to the main story but that’s not a bad thing. It was perfectly titled because it does feel like an intermission between Remake and Rebirth. With the post-credits scene seemingly ending off right where FFVII Rebirth will pick up which I found to be really cool. I wanted a scene like that in base ending, just to serve as further connective tissue between Remake and Rebirth, and I’m so glad I got it here.

I: PREFACE

This is the second time I play through Final Fantasy VII Remake and boy have I had two completely different experiences. My first playthrough back in 2020 was actually my introduction to the Final Fantasy VII world. This was how I first met Cloud, Barret, Tifa, and the rest. This was how I experienced Midgar which at that point, I had only experienced as a Super Smash Bros. stage. Final Fantasy VII Remake was the big welcoming parade into the FFVII compilation for me and it was absolutely delightful. I had the freshest eyes with no point for comparison. I had a great time with it and really loved it, I found myself left with a lot of questions when I finished it and soon discovered that there was no space for me to discuss the game without getting spoiled over things that are coming up in the story, so I just decided to let it sit and wait for the next part’s release, whenever that may be.

Two years have passed since then, it was easy to just avoid the conversations around FFVII Remake until the sequel was revealed to be FFVII Rebirth, alongside an announcement of a remake of the prequel game Crisis Core. This was when the conversation started getting riled up and it was getting hard to avoid the discussions, especially in the circles I frequent online. I’ve been waiting for a couple of years to continue the story but it seemed like FFVII Rebirth is going to further rely on knowledge of the original game and the FFVII compilation for its moments to truly hit. Something I was lacking for my playthrough of FFVII Remake which resulted in really impactful moments leaving me kind of lost and confused.

I decided that that would not be the case with FFVII Rebirth as it seemed to be gearing up for some big stuff so I decided to finally play the original FFVII. It was freaking fantastic. Just as everyone has been saying for all those years. What started off as me wanting to know where the story goes after Midgar, turned into me being completely swooped into FFVII and falling in love with it. So much so, that while playing it I had realized that it was the best game I have ever played. After that, I went through the entire Compilation of FFVII, enjoying some of it and despising other parts of it. Making me now completely well-versed in FFVII. Here I am now, a little more than a year later, and FFVII Rebirth is right around the corner. With my newly founded love and appreciation over FFVII and the overwhelming excitement over FFVII Rebirth, it was finally time to revisit FVII Remake.

II: REUNION

At this point, it’s been almost 4 years since my first playthrough of FFVII Remake and here I was booting the game up again but this time it wasn’t to get introduced to the FFVII world but to be reunited with it. Even though this was the second time I play through it, this playthrough invoked such different emotions out of me that it felt like I was playing something new. Now that I had the chance to play through the compilation and fall in love with the original game so much that it became my favorite game of all time, FFVII Remake had something to live up to for me and boy did it live up.

FFVII Remake feels like a dream. It’s so crazy that even though I had played it before, I couldn’t believe I was playing a real video game and not a fan made unreal engine demo of what a potential remake of FFVII could look like. From the opening moments, to the soundtrack, to the world design. They absolutely nailed the FFVII feeling. I still can’t believe that this game exists and it’s not even a complete remake of the original! I can not believe that in a few years I would have the entirety of FFVII in this quality! It is absolutely insane.

What I love so so much about FFVII Remake is that it’s not just a graphical upgrade to FFVII. This is pretty much a complete reimagining. Everything is expanded upon in significant ways. You get to see all the layers of Midgar and the stories its people hold. This used to be just the opening area to the larger FFVII story but they masterfully made it the setting of a full entry. The politics are expanded upon, the way each sector lives is expanded upon just everything seems bigger. Taking what was roughly a 3-5 hour section in the original and turning it into a 35-40 hour game and doing it well is a huge ask but they managed to pull it off! Granted, there is a bunch of padding added and filler sections but they’re added in a pretty natural way into the story.

The characters are honestly all at their best here. After going through the compilation, some characters started to turn into things they’re not. Mainly Cloud turning into this stoic, cold guy that’s super serious. I was really worried that that would be the version of Cloud I’ll see here but I’m really really happy it isn’t. All of the characterizations are top tier in this game. Tifa and Barret are the best they’ve ever been. A controversial opinion but this Aerith is the first iteration of the character that I actually like. They made her so so lovable and quirky in all the cute right ways. She really has this magical feeling around her and is able to shift the air whenever she’s around. I appreciate that a lot. The Avalanche members were also given some great great characterizations too. They had maybe 30 minutes of screen time in the original game? They now have families, side jobs they like to do, character flaws. Ugh so so so so good.

I’m really happy that they didn’t shy away from all the quirky moments of the original FFVII. There are so many whimsical moments in FFVII Remake that reference those of the original but also newly added ones which gives me so much faith in this project. That’s pretty much the biggest thing about FFVII Remake to me, it feels like a fully polished, playable tech demo of a potential remake of FFVII that acts as a statement of “Have faith in us, we know what we’re doing and we can make this work.” I can’t understate this, they KNOW what they’re doing especially when they’re not being faithful to the original game. There’s a strong, palpable vision there and I just can not wait to see it become fully realized. I’m reminded of the monologue that was in the reveal trailer for this project and how it said “The reunion at hand may bring joy, it may bring fears but let us embrace whatever it brings” and that’s exactly how I feel. I am very happy about what’s there, kind of worried about the direction they’re taking but also reminded that they know what they’re doing and I’ll be here to see it through.

Spirit Tracks is actually pretty good! It improves on almost everything from Phantom Hourglass, better visuals, tighter dungeons, better music, better story. It’s a good sequel in every regard. It still has some shortcomings that I’ll get into but overall, it’s a really solid, inoffensive entry in the series.

The main story in Spirit Tracks is such a fun time. It puts a whole twist on your expectations of how the story would go. Zelda straight up dies in the beginning and haunts Link throughout the game. This story choice is just beyond genius, I’ve been wanting a game where Zelda is in a more active role and you can’t get more active than being the companion character. I talked on my Twilight Princess review about how much I adored Midna as a companion and how I wished Zelda would get to be as dynamic as she was and I got exactly what I wanted.

Zelda is the main character of this game and there is no question about it. They took a lot of what I love about Midna, all the crushed dreams I had for Tetra, and perfectly crafted the best Princess Zelda yet. She has so much personality here. She’s sassy, kind, very funny, and helpful. At first, she assumes that it’s Link that has to go through this journey, only to find out that she’s just as important as he is, ensuing hysterical and heartwarming moments all throughout the story. She starts off as a helpless princess but gradually gains courage throughout the adventure, eventually becoming Link’s knight in shining armor, despite not getting over her fear of rats.

Having a full game where the duo is going through the adventure together is what I’ve been wanting for a very long time and I’m so happy Spirit Tracks finally realizes that dream. Zelda and Link’s relationship in this game is the best in the series by far as you see it develop throughout the game. There's a real sense of camaraderie between the two that is just all so adorable. They made her so important to the story and the gameplay that she feels just as much of a hero as Link, if not more. God, I really loved her in this game. I really hope we get more entries in the future with the duo having this type of relationship and being each-other’s companions.

Spirit Tracks feels like it was made with more thought and effort than Phantom Hourglass did. I don’t know why but I was very surprised that they recorded new voice lines for Link, the first time a Toon Link doesn’t reuse the Wind Waker voice, and he sounds very different and much younger. It made me really feel like I’m playing as a different Link this time and I appreciated that bit of extra effort.

I don’t know what they did but I can swear that Spirit Tracks controls better. Link feels a lot more comfortable to maneuver and I noticed my hand hasn’t cramped once while playing which I can’t say the same for Phantom Hourglass. The game uses less DS gimmicks this time but when they are used, they’re used in pretty fun ways. Blowing on different holes in the Spirit Flute to play tunes on it is a very creative implementation that left me feeling impressed while I was grabbing my inhaler. There’s just a lot of aspects they’ve tweaked in an effort to make for a more streamlined experience. This effort is also immediately apparent with the upgraded visuals and the new music.

Phantom Hourglass left a lot to be desired in terms of music, there were only a handful of new tracks that would constantly be reused and mostly reminiscing tracks from The Wind Waker but that isn’t the case with Spirit Tracks. The amount of new music is great but it’s the quality of the music that really stuck with me. There are some absolute ear-worms, most notably the overworld theme “Full Steam Ahead” which is easily a top track in the series.

I wish the awesome overworld theme wasn’t accompanied by this specific overworld though. Conducting the Spirit Train is a pretty fun feeling! You get to control the speed, turn it to go on the path you want it to and even blow the horn whenever you want. It made me really giddy to control it in the beginning of the game but by the end it gets very very old. I complained in my Phantom Hourglass review about how the traversal was handled in that game and my god do I take it back. I wish Spirit Tracks had more of that and less of… whatever it is we got.

I really like how varied the map is. Each area has its own color scheme and sets of challenges that distinguishes it from the other areas. An improvement on Phantom Hourglass from that front. I don’t mind that the entire exploration is limited to the pre-determined tracks, it’s fun to navigate through a meticulously designed map to avoid the obstacles and make it to your destination. I just really don’t like the gameplay loop of conducting the train. It just takes too long to get to your destination that most of the game’s runtime was me sitting in front of my 3DS just watching the train go to the path I traced while occasionally popping in to clear obstacles. This got very infuriating to be honest, especially when i saw how they handled the “fast travel” system in the game. Which was so confusing and non-efficient that I preferred just going the long way every time.

I was kind of apprehensive when the game started and I saw that it was set in a new version of Hyrule. I was just praising The Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass for carving their own identity away from Hyrule, and now you’re telling me those adventures still lead to the creation of Hyrule? Well, yes but no. New Hyrule is only Hyrule by name, I was very pleased to see that they continued the Wind Waker’s thesis in this new kingdom that has its own lore, tribes and beliefs. The Lokomo are a very interesting stand-in for the tribe of higher knowledge, a role that used to be fulfilled by the Shiekah. I’m happy that the Anouki’s were included in the founding of this new kingdom. They were given a lot more personality in this entry. I really enjoyed their specific subplot.

The Tower of Spirits is Spirit Track’s own dungeon the player has to constantly revisit throughout the story like Phantom Hourglass’s Temple of the Ocean King. In some ways it’s an improvement, I like how every revisit only opens 2-3 extra floors at a time. It makes the dungeon less daunting especially when you’re not required to replay through the floors you’ve already done, you can just pick up where you left off last time. These floors are also very well designed with some really challenging puzzles.

The only aspect that I feel like halts it from being an improvement is the fact they removed the time limit. The Tower of Spirits feels like it has significantly lower stakes which honestly I didn’t like. I ended up preferring the Temple of the Ocean King, to be honest, it had such a fun layer of challenge and intensity to it that I ended up missing here, which I know is a very controversial opinion.

The main dungeons are an overall improvement from Phantom Hourglass but only slightly. They get a bit more complex and contain more clever puzzles. Nothing really mind blowing, just super solid. The bosses are all great once again, this duology genuinely has some of the most fun and creative bosses in the series. The final boss was also fantastic in every way.

Overall, Spirit Tracks was a great time for me. It streamlined most of the aspects I had issues with in Phantom Hourglass and delivers such a tight, solid Zelda game with a good story, the best Princess Zelda, great music, clever dungeons, and creative bosses despite having an inferior overworld and on-going temple to its predecessor.

Phantom Hourglass gets a really bad rep. It’s really not as bad as a lot of people would have you believe. It’s one of two games I’m actually playing for the first time through this marathon, the other one being Spirit Tracks, and I can say that I’m pleasantly surprised by its quality. I started Phantom Hourglass many years ago but I never even got to the first dungeon, I ended up dropping it because I had games that interested me more at the time so the only impression I had of Phantom Hourglass was the first hour of adjusting to the controls which I found to be weird and unintuitive at the time.

Little did I know, I found myself warming up to the controls quite a lot this time, even when they occasionally made my hands cramp. Maybe because I grew up during this era of gaming where gimmicks were in every corner of the industry, but the way Phantom Hourglass controls reminds me of better days. If I had played this game 10 years ago or more I would’ve probably rolled my eyes at the amount of gimmicks used but in the current gimmick-lacking space in gaming, I find myself impressed and kind of yearning for this type of creativity. Having to use the microphone to yell for someone on the other side of an island to lower a bridge for me is goofy and amazing in all the right ways. The way the game controls just adds to its overall charm for me.

Speaking of charm, man It feels really good to be back in The Wind Waker’s world. It just has a different vibe than all the other worlds in the series. I really thought it was because of the cartoony arty style but we got 3 games in that art style between The Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass and none of them had the same vibes that The Wind Waker gave me. This era just feels so fresh and full of new ideas. The Wind Waker was all about letting go of old standards and forging a new identity, away from Hyrule and its legends. I’m really happy they kept going with that thesis with Phantom Hourglass. The game has its own original bits of lore and history with The Ocean King and Bellum. Its own tribes like the Anouki, Yook, and the Cobble. Each with their own histories and conflicts. It just brings back a sense of much needed wonder after becoming familiar with the lore of the triforce and the nature of certain tribes like the Gorons and Zoras.

The story is pretty much nothing but it does the job. There’s a couple of “twists” here and there that you can kind of see coming. The characters do a good job of keeping the momentum going though. Linebeck, Oshus and Ciela are interesting enough to make me care about the events of the story but in the big picture aren’t standout characters in the franchise as some would argue, especially for Linebeck. Linebeck is pretty good don’t get me wrong, he’s very funny and is that standout character in the game but nothing super interesting happens with him and I felt like his arc was telegraphed very clearly. Once again, I’m immensely disappointed by the way Tetra is treated. I really really like Tetra and it’s very unfortunate how they keep misusing her in these two games. I’m really bummed that this is the last time I’m going to see her, I’m pretty sure she won’t be in Spirit Tracks, I wanted to go on a proper adventure with her again but sadly I’m gonna have to settle for these two misfires with her appearances.

The dungeons are actually pretty great. They do a great job utilizing the game’s unique control scheme to make for some really good puzzles. Better dungeons than the ones in The Wind Waker and The Minish Cap, they have a good sense of added complexity compared to those two. Making them feel like actual Zelda dungeons compared to the watered-down and overly simple dungeons of The Wind Waker and The Minish Cap. Phantom Hourglass actually restores some much needed faith in these toon games. These can be real Zelda experiences even with their different vibe.

I understand the frustration towards the Temple of the Ocean King as it’s a temple you constantly have to revisit throughout the game. That part is fine, the thing that’s frustrating is that you have to redo all the floors you had already finished to get to the new sections that open up. That aspect was daunting the first time I heard about it but honestly, there’s a lot of nuance to these revisits. You’re going through the same floors but the new items you picked up make you go through them faster and open shortcuts you couldn’t go through before. I also find it to be cool how you have limited time in the temple and you have to avoid enemies instead of attacking them. It honestly offered a really nice sense of strategy that I was kind of missing for a couple of these games.

The item utilization was actually pretty good. All of the items feel soo good to control thanks to the touch screen. Tracing the path you want your boomerangs to be thrown at is genius. The way arrows work is perfect. A highlight though has to be the grappling hook, returning from Wind Waker. It’s used in really creative ways throughout the dungeons and the Temple of the Ocean King that it really revitalized the game for me just when it was starting to get stale. My favorite implementation of the grappling hook was during the Gleeok boss fight.

Speaking of bosses, these boss fights are great. All of them are so fun and creative. Gleeok, Eox and the final Bellum boss fight are favorites of mine. The way you fight the final boss is just so creative and I loved every second of it. The final section overall was a really great way to top the game off.

I will say though that the game isn’t without its flaws. The sea traversal isn’t nearly as engaging as it is in the Wind Waker and the drawing mechanic just doesn’t work most of the time. Sometimes you get asked to draw symbols like the Triforce or an hourglass, which is a way for Nintendo to add one more use to the stylus but the problem is that these drawings most of the time don’t register. They programmed the game to register these drawings if they’re drawn in specific strokes for example, drawing a triangle starting from the right side would work while starting from the left side wouldn’t. This is absolutely insane, especially when the final boss relies on you to constantly draw.

Overall, I actually had a great time with Phantom Hourglass. It’s a cute little adventure continuing off the cute big adventure I loved with The Wind Waker. Spirit Tracks remains as the only Zelda game I’ve never touched so I am beyond excited to see where they go with this formula and this branch of the timeline, which is actually shaping up to be a favorite of mine.

Twilight Princess is exactly the type of game you’d expect to follow up Ocarina of Time. The 6 games that released post Majora’s Mask featured a significant shift in the overall vibe of the series. Not a bad one per se but as someone that holds the vibes of the Ocarina of Time-Majora’s Mask duology near and dear to their heart, it wasn’t hard to notice that the series was trying to forge a new identity for itself. One that strays away from the occasionally creepy and dark vibes of Ocarina-Majora and leans towards a more light-hearted and cartoonish vibe like in The Wind Waker and The Minish Cap.

While I still I really like those games, I couldn’t help but feel like an ingredient of the Zelda recipe was missing from them. All the games pre-Majora’s Mask felt like they had a good balance of feel-good light-heartedness and serious, more mature undertones while the post-Majora’s Mask games seemed to lean more towards the prior. I really have no issues with this as I thoroughly enjoyed them but I can’t deny that they felt different.

This, of course, caused a lot of discourse within the fandom. Ocarina of Time was a cultural phenomenon widely regarded as a pioneer of not only 3D games but gaming as a medium. This departure in identity over the 8 following years cast a fair share of doubt on the series ever reaching the heights of Ocarina of Time again. The Wind Waker was ruthlessly scrutinized, The Minish Cap barely sold, and Four Swords Adventures came and went with no noise. Forcing Nintendo to be like “You want another Ocarina of Time? Fine, we’ll make one.”

Twilight Princess isn’t just a modern version of Ocarina of Time like some people like to say, it is a full blown spiritual successor. Everything from the art style, to the music, to the world and dungeon design feels like a proper evolution of Ocarina of Time. It just feels like the obvious direction they would’ve went with with the series. Twilight Princess relies on the foundations of Ocarina of Time while forging its own unique identity.

The game goes for a grounded and more mature vibe overall, completely contrasting The Wind Waker. I love The Wind Waker’s vibe a lot but playing it after what came before brings a feeling of unfamiliarity, I know most of us had to readjust ourselves for The Wind Waker in the beginning of it and said “oh okay this is different!” That readjustment wasn’t as present in Twilight Princess. As soon as you boot the game up you get an overwhelming “oh we are so back!” feeling as it exudes the same aura as the pre-Wind Waker games. That familiarity to me is very comforting which is why I find myself gravitating towards Twilight Princess more, even though I think The Wind Waker is the much bolder and more adventurous game.

Twilight Princess is often criticized for its linearity. While it sports a big map, it’s not really an open-world experience like The Wind Waker’s. Frankly, I don’t really care about that. A lot of people say that exploration is a huge standard of the Zelda series and it is often used as a tool to gauge how good some of these games are. I don’t really agree with that, Zelda isn’t a series that thrives on openness and exploration for me. Instead I think Zelda thrives on the sense of discovery more. You’re discovering new areas, overworld secrets, dungeons, towns, etc. Linearity doesn’t stop that sense of discovery, it just guides it. I can see how that can be a problem if you’re looking for a sense of unguided discovery, but that’s not what I play these games for. I’ll get into what I do play these games for later in the review. But for now I just really want to establish how I don’t have any issue with the linearity of Twilight Princess. I think it’s the reason why the game works, the linearity allows for a tighter and more planned out narrative-driven hero’s journey take place.

The overall story of Twilight Princess is alright. It’s nothing really revolutionary, I prefer the story of The Wind Waker as an overall narrative, but Twilight Princess shines through its fantastic story moments. It’s very cinematic in the sense that the scenes feel like they were directed like they’re for a movie. There’s a lot of framing techniques, musical cues, and moody lighting used. Characters are very grounded with their movements and express themselves like normal humans do in the real world. Scenes like the attack in Kakariko, the vision in Lanayru, Midna’s lament, and Illia’s memory are wonderfully directed and are some of my favorite scenes in the series. If Twilight Princess was a movie it would definitely be a big blockbuster. It’s just so grand and epic in every way with massive set pieces sprinkled throughout.

My first criticism about Twilight Princess is the pacing of the first half of the game. I know people usually complain about the opening hours of the game but I really have no problem with the opening. I feel like it’s a great tone-setter and shows you what normal life for Link look’s like before the main inciting incident happens. It’s a literary tool that is used in most movies, books, and other forms of narratives we see today. My issue actually starts after the inciting incident happens. The the world is now engulfed in twilight and every time you go to a new area you have to first go through the twilight realm version of that area and free it. This is the worst thing in the game for me and not because of the Tears of Light quest.

A lot of the previous Zelda games featured a dual-world mechanic with one being the normal world and the other being a distorted version of that world. Seeing the normal versions of those areas first and then seeing how the distortion makes them look is cool, but doing that order in reverse doesn’t work for me for several reasons. First, it's about the first impression you get of the new areas, the Twilight realm feels the same in every region of Hyrule, so having the excitement of going to a new location be met with an oppressive atmosphere that is shared by every other area in the game, even when that atmosphere is done masterfully, just doesn’t give a good first impression to any area in Hyrule. It doesn’t help that the most notable change that happens after freeing these areas from the twilight realm is that they’re now brighter and have their own musical theme. The areas just feel the same but with a different filter on now so it doesn’t feel that satisfying to free them.

My other big complaint about these sections is how they bring some of the narrative conflicts to a halt and ruin some story moments that would have otherwise been much better done. This comes with the fact that in the twilight realm, you can see what’s happening in the real world but you can’t really interact with anything from it. A big example is the kidnapped kids from Ordon Village. When you see them get kidnapped you naturally worry about where they’ve been taken and want to save them. What is the next thing the game does with that sub plot? Have you stumble on them while you’re in the twilight realm, finding out that they are safe with adults while not being able to interact with them until you finish releasing the area from the twilight. I don’t like these sections at all. I will say though that the sound design in the twilight realm is fantastic. As it is with the rest of the game.

What I love about Twilight Princess is that it’s very atmospheric and that comes in large part from the music. The music is spacious, triumphant, and nostalgic, even if you’re hearing these tracks for the first time. There are so many highlights including: Title Theme, Ordon Village, Midna’s theme, Twilight, Meeting Zelda, Light Spirit’s Elegy, Faron Woods, Forest Temple, Hyrule Field, Kakariko Village, King Bulblin Battle, Queen Rutela’s Theme, Lake Hylia, Zant’s Theme, Midna’s Lament, Sacred Grove, Arbiter’s Grounds, Snowpeak, Hidden Village, City in the Sky, and Final Battle. I didn’t realize how many favorites I had until I started listing them out. This might be one of my favorite soundtracks in the series. The only criticism I have with it is that I wish it wasn’t MIDI. These melodies are mesmerizing and deserve a lot better. I hope if the game gets another rerelease, they remake the soundtrack to be orchestral.

An area where Twilight Princess shines for me is through its characters. Not counting Majora’s Mask, Twilight Princess takes a massive leap in terms of character writing. The people of this world feel real with real struggles, and complex motivations. Link himself is one of my favorite incarnations, he is just so expressive and responsive to what’s happening around him. He shows a wide range of emotions throughout the game: he gets passionately angry sometimes, remorseful, cheery, relieved, etc. He’s not as stoic and serious as all the promotional art of the game depict him. He’s just a simple farm guy with a big heart and wants to help out however he can and the game sells that through his characterization. He also works especially well with Midna, who is probably my favorite character in the franchise.

Midna’s the first character in the series that gets a proper arc. Midna is mischievous, sassy, charismatic, and just wants to use Link for her own selfish gains but as the game goes on, she grows a sense of admiration for Link and the sense of camaraderie that builds up between the two really carries the game. They are a great dynamic duo that really give the game its own sense of identity. Midna actually in many ways feels like the protagonist of the game with Link being the deuteragonist. She is the driving force behind the narrative, the stakes are much higher for her than they are for any other character, and she’s the one that has personal beef with main antagonist. This is Midna’s game and Link is just a vessel for her story to be told. The closest thing we got to a character this dynamic before was Tetra in the Wind Waker but the way she was handled in the back-half of that game kinda fizzled her out for me. God, I love Midna. Most of the emotional punches of the game for me come from her. There’s obviously the big Midna’s Lament sequence but that doesn’t come close to her agency and involvement during the final section of the game. All for it to lead to one of the most beautiful endings of the series which wouldn’t have hit at all if her character didn’t work.

Twilight Princess also has other characters that are really compelling! Zant and Colin come to mind as other stand out characters. Some characters do leave some to be desired though. Illia’s treatment is just weird to me, she’s Link’s childhood friend/potential love interest. I’m gonna go over minor spoilers Illia as a character so feel free to skip this paragraph if you haven’t played the game. I just don’t understand what they were even going for with Illia, she’s introduced in the beginning as someone that Link really cares about, then gets kidnapped and disappears for a while. At that point she’s used as a main motivator for Link to go through his journey. You don’t find her with the rest of the kidnapped kids, so you’d think they’re delaying that moment to do something interesting with her. Once you do end up finding her you find out she has amnesia? Interesting choice but nothing is done with that plot line at all. She just disappears for the rest of the game until close to the end where you help her get her memory back in a wonderful scene.. only for her to just stand there doing nothing for the remainder of the game. Just a very weird way to handle the character which is why she never worked for me.

Other characters that kind of fall short for me are Zelda and Ganondorf. Their designs do all of the heavy lifting for their characters, these two never looked this good before (or since to be honest). But other than that, they’re a bunch of nothing. Zelda gets a total of 3 minutes of screen time in the whole game and is only challenged by Ganondorf’s 3.5 minutes. Did these two really need to be in this game? Zelda and Ganondorf’s inclusion just feels like it happens out of necessity to the series traditions. Part of me wishes for a version of Twilight Princess that fully skips on including these two and instead makes Midna and Zant the Triforce wielders of the game. You could even change their names to Zelda and Ganondorf to offer a cute twist of expectations having the incarnations of those two be from the same tribe this time. I know the manga adaptation gives Zelda and Ganondorf some cool stuff so all I can hope for is for that to be added if we ever get a proper remake on the same level as Final Fantasy VII Remake. Unfortunately, I don’t see that happening so I guess I have to live on with these incarnations that feel like nothing.

My favorite thing about Twilight Princess and what I think sets it apart from the rest of the series is its dungeons. This is the best dungeon lineup in any 3D Zelda game. Every single dungeon in the game ranges from great to fantastic. Forest Temple, Lakebed Temple, Arbiter’s Grounds, Snowpeak Ruins, City in the Sky, and Palace of Twilight are among my favorite dungeons in the entire series. Each dungeon has a visually and sonically distinct atmosphere that sets it apart from the others, some dungeons are spacious vistas of nature like the forest temple, some are ancient locations with cultural impact like the Arbiter’s Grounds and City in the Sky, and then there’s Snowpeak Ruins which is a fancy and sprawling mansion. I also love them all from a game design perspective, they serve a great balance of the simplicity of The Wind Waker’s dungeons and the labyrinthine design of Ocarina of Time’s dungeons. To me, these serve as the perfect level of challenge where they’re designed well enough for players to be able to figure out how the puzzles work without taking mental leaps to do so. They really are a highlight and the most fun part of the game for me, everytime I finish from a dungeon, I’d be so excited to get to the next one. Contrasting the sense of dread I get from some of the dungeons in some other Zelda games.

All of these dungeons are capped off with boss fights that I can’t describe in any word other than epic. Mechanically, they all function like regular Zelda bosses where you have to use the item you acquired in the dungeon to defeat them, but in every other way, these bosses are leagues above everything that came before. The sense of scale has been upped significantly, these bosses are big and they do a great job of making you feel like the most badass guy in Hyrule. I talked earlier about how Twilight Princess feels like a blockbuster movie with its set pieces, these bosses are what come to mind. Something really great is that each boss has their own distinct theme this time. Actually there are some really cool musical moments that happen with the bosses, mainly the triumphant tune that comes in as you get the upper hand on these bosses just fills you with so much adrenaline. Highlights for me are: Morpheel, Stallord, Blizzeta, Argarok, Zant, and of course Ganondorf.

Everything in Twilight Princess culminates in the climactic final part. Arguably the best final section of any Zelda game (only to be contested recently by Tears of the Kingdom). Only to be topped off by the best final boss fight of the series thus far, again only to be contested by Tears of the Kingdom. Ganondorf might only have 3.5 minutes of screen time but he makes them count! Fantastic final boss in every way and a fantastic ending to go along with it. I will never forget the first time I finished this game and how much I was in awe over this ending sequence. Top 3 favorite endings in the series by far.

Twilight Princess is not a perfect Zelda game but it sure comes close. It has every element that I look for in a Zelda game. I said earlier in the review that I will get into what I look for when I play Zelda games. What’s most important in a Zelda game for me is atmosphere, story, characters, music, dungeons, and bosses. Moving forward, I will be focusing on these 6 elements with each Zelda game I review as these categories are what’s most important to me. Twilight Princess excels in all of these categories which solidifies it as an S-Tier game for me and one of my favorite games in the series. I freaking love this game and I’m obsessed with it. I wasn’t planning on writing this much but I really love Twilight Princess so much that I just can’t stop talking about it.

The Minish Cap may be a small adventure but it sure packs a punch, albeit a light one. I have really fond memories of this game so I was very excited to revisit it and offer my palette some much needed cleansing after playing through Four Swords Adventures.

The Minish Cap is absolutely gorgeous. Its art style is timeless and charming and cements itself as my favorite looking 2D Zelda. The pixel art is so expressive and colorful with fluid animations. Just walking around Hyrule Castle Town is a feast for the eyes as you see the NPCs running around town and the colorful merchants in the market area.

Speaking of Hyrule Castle Town, this is definitely my favorite iteration of it in the series. It is just so lively and brimming with countless side quests and extra content. They did a good job making it into a welcoming hub to constantly revisit.

The overworld may be small but we can go smaller, literally. The main gimmick of The Minish Cap is giving you the ability to shrink down to the size of a minuscule tribe called the Picori. That ability originated in Four Swords but The Minish Cap takes full advantage of that mechanic, creating sprawling worlds for you to explore in your small size. Many buildings in the town have mouse-sized holes that you can enter and explore in a totally new way. Go into the library and you’ll see that there are some researching Picori living between the books. My favorite is the cafe where you find little Picori having their own makeshift cafe atop the wooden planks in the roof.

I really love the dedication put into the shrinking mechanic and the details used all throughout. Some Picori live in human shoes and use ribbons as blankets, buttons as bed, and so on. It’s just cute. One other favorite aspect of mine is the dangers of being small in the world. Now you have to sneak around the cat in the living room so it doesn’t chase you, you have to avoid raindrops as they completely crush you, your main enemies are insects. These aspects make the implementation of the shrinking mechanic really clever and cool.

The dungeons are alright. Not super revolutionary but solid dungeons with solid designs. They do lean on the easier side which I usually prefer but I found these to be a bit too easy. I think especially after playing through Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages, which contain some really fantastic dungeons, The Minish Cap definitely leaves a lot to be desired. The bosses are all great across the board though. The Gyorg Pair boss fight from the Palace of Winds is my clear favorite and cements itself as one of my favorite 2D Zelda boss fights.

The aspect that hurts The Minish Cap in my eyes has to be the Kinstone mechanic. I do not like this one bit. Kinstones are medallions that are broken with their pieces scattered all across the world. Each NPC has their own Kinstone piece that could be completed by the pieces you collect along the way. Which opens the door for going through every NPC and seeing if you have the other piece of the Kinstone fragment they have. Fusing Kinstones would reveal secrets, make changes to the world, among other effects. I have a huge problem with this as sometimes, secrets in the overworld can’t be interacted with unless I’ve fused a kinstone with a random NPC that isn’t even anywhere close to what that fusion would unlock for me. I get that it’s supposed to encourage you to talk to every NPC but I would’ve appreciated if they went about it a different way. This mechanic really brings the game down for me.

I thought The Minish Cap would revitalize me from the dud I’ve been in since playing Four Swords Adventures and in some ways it did but not by a lot. I had a good time all in all but the sad part about this playthrough is that I realized that the game doesn’t have that spark I used to see in it. Playing the game younger, I was won over by how pretty the game was and how cute it was that I could shrink but behind that I failed to see how The Minish Cap is very much a watered-down, or I guess I should say shrunken down, Zelda experience. I think its charm is the biggest thing that’s makes me slightly question whether I prefer it over Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages but it will be in danger as soon as those games get a modernized remake.