This game... man. I first played this as a kid, but because of this I failed to grasp anything fully. I just saw it as the realistic, edgy Zelda game (not unlike others). One day, I acknowledged this and decided to give this game another shot, and since it'd been so long since I last played, I figured I'd essentially be experiencing for the first time--which surprisingly wasn't too far off. The story, dialogue, music, and puzzles all seemed new; however, I still did recognize characters, locations, and certain events (thankfully not Midna's darkest hour). I wasn't ready for how floored I'd be by this game... it seems like this game was made specifically for me. Everything is perfect.

I got to experience this game completely blind and it was fantastic. This game is so meaty. It's honestly mind-boggling how chock-full of content it is. There's something fun to do around every corner, and it's just a joy to play (but a pain to complete). The gameplay is perfection, and most people seem to be in agreement about this. Problems seem to stem from the story, however (which is really good, in my opinion). The delivery and the story itself are called lazy and boring, which I believe to be false. Yes, there could be some improvements, (namely if you don't watch the memories in order after you do the temples like me it kind of ruins immersion since Link stays silent about knowing the truth) but the story, delivery aside, is pretty good with a really heart-wrenching moment that's teased and made me feel like a genius for figuring out (in retrospect it's pretty obvious). Also that ending is amazing.

This is probably my favorite Metroid game. It looks absolutely gorgeous for a switch game, Samus' control is snappy yet fluid, the exploration is extremely fun, the upgrades a very cool, and the bosses are amazing. It feels so good to play. It's like a finely tuned machine, everything is just perfectly in place: the graphics, 60fps, upgrades, world, bosses, etc. It's all excellent.

However, it is a relatively linear Metroid, but I wouldn't go as far as saying that it is linear. I think I prefer Dread's style over other Metroids. It's fast, and it's challenge comes from the combat instead of its exploration/puzzles (which there are still some doozys like the shinespark puzzles). Samus isn't a bulky tank like normal, she's much more agile and it allows the combat to be more flowy (like the final boss or Experiment No. Z-57--best boss btw). Enemies hit hard, but you can dodge a variety of ways and counter harder. Also, this is not only the only game in the series I've speedran, but it's also the only game I've speedran at all (mostly for the cool art rewards, but it was still great fun).

So, it just gets everything right for me, and it's an absolute joy to play. I highly recommend it.

This game is beautiful--in more ways than one. The world is intricately crafted and interesting to explore, the music captures the essence of each region quite well, and the atmosphere is perfect. The metroidvania stuff is pretty standard, but it's still good (it's a metroidvania). However, this game's strong suit is the aforementioned atmosphere. It really does make you feel like Samus exploring the labyrinthine Tallon IV. The particle effects are phenomenal, and one of my favorite moments of the game is when I unlocked the x-ray visor and took damage while wearing it (this causes Samus to raise her left hand) and saw her bones! I was blown away when I then noticed her hand through her arm cannon, and how she actually changes her hand position to change beams. That's not the only example of that though, this game's full instances such as this, and I love it for it.

I don't even really know where to begin. This game is a journey, man... It is the only video game to have ever made me cry. I've teared up before, but I actually cried playing this game. Actually, it mught have been the only piece if fiction to make me cry, period. It also made me feel genuine joy and happiness. This game is meant to be savored. If you rush to the next mission, of course you won't enjoy it as much and you'll get irritated by the slow and deliberate nature of the game, but if you just slow down and appreciate the little things, that's where this game shines. I'm not sure if I can really say what hasn't been said, so I will just say that this game is phenomenal, it truly is art. If you haven't played, or you gave up, I implore you: slow down, soak it all up, and enjoy the ride.

This game has some great parts and some bad parts. Starting with the great, it's honestly just really cool to finally be able to explore this world myself. The castle, the creatures, and the magic is all there, and it's all brilliant. The combat honestly shocked me with how fun and engaging it could be. It feels like it has some fighting game influence due to the interesting interactions between the spells (similar to combos). And some of the sidequests are really engaging (like Sebastian's line).

But there are some flaws as well. The biggest thing that bothered me is how in a game about attending a magical school, the magical school is barely used. There are a few "classes" you can attend, but they're very minor in the grand scheme of the game. Most of the quests don't take place in the school, which is a shame. The other thing that bothers me greatly (but it's honestly pretty minor), is the menu navigation. This game uses a cursor, which I hate. It makes it super clunky to navigate the menus in a game that sure does love its menus.

So, it's overall a pretty good game, and possibly a must-play for Harry Potter fans such as myself, but it's not revolutionary like many had believed it had the potential to be (yet, there is a sequel in the works).

Many hail this as the best Persona game, perhaps even one of the best games of all time; however, I have to disagree. While it is cozy, has an amazing soundtrack (Secret Base, Heaven, Snowflakes, Heartbeat, Heartbreak), great characters (Naoto, Kanji, Yosuke), and a charming artstyle, it's more anime-y, which can be hit-or-miss (miss for me). It led to some awkward and weird moments (the boys constant peeping and Teddie in general), but also some really heartwarming and inspirational moments (confronting the true killer before the final battle).

This game's combat is pretty easy, which is fine since you can adjust the difficulty in many ways. The party members are all useful, and I enjoyed using all of them (except Teddie). Yukiko and Kanji are most likely the two that stand out the most, both specialize in heavy magic and heavy physical damage respectively. The dungeons designs are unique, which is good, but I'm not a fan of them gameplay-wise for whatever reason. They're pretty boring, but at least they're not too long. Exceptions are Secret Base, Heaven, and the Hollow Forest. It's also pretty easy to forget this is a murder mystery game at times...