I just don't know what to feel about this game. It's unique, that's for sure.

Art direction is flawless, from the environnement to the creature designs, the subtle use of light and the overall ambiance. The way this whole world lives and how it's inhabitants move and behave can honestly be quite captivating.

It's cool to be thrown into the game and having to learn everything, but after 20~h into it and having seen 99% of the map and bestiary based on the wiki, I feel like i've seen it all ? But also seeing people in steam reviews having more than 1000h in this makes me feel like I'm missing something ??
I love exploration in videogames, but here I just feel too lost, too frail, constantly. The controls are a bit janky because of the way everything moves, and you can die again and again and again at the same spot without really having the time to learn what your mistakes were because everything happens so quickly. Some instances are more frustrating than others, and I understand that it does contributes the atmosphere of the game, but ultimately you just pass from one area to the other without feeling like you really achieved anything.

This game is deep and complex, lots of hidden mechanics, it's a really impressive work in itself but it lacks strong, definite objectives and rewards for me to really enjoy playing it.
This game is both really fascinating, and at the same time I feel like it does zero effort to make me like it.

(To be honest, some of the stuff I said might just be that this is a survival game, and I guess I was expecting it to be closer to a metroidvania or something.)

Heard a lot of great things about it, yet I was sincerely surprised by how good it actually is.
Excellent metroidvania that takes a LOT of inspiration from Metroid Dread and other famous games of the genre, but can manage to make it's own things especially in terms of movements and abilities.
Art direction is also one of it's big strength. The game is very pleasant to look at with it's huge structures and colorful landscapes in the background; and the over the top animation in cutscenes is super fun.
A great game to play on the switch imo

Indie platformer of incredible quality !
Concept is super cool and well-executed, but what strucks me the most is the impeccable level-design.
It's written here on this site that it's inspired by games like Donkey Kong Country. Not only is this very clearly visible while playing, but it's also really the same level of quality. The kind of stuff I expect from Nintendo platformers.
Controls can be hard to master tho.

Visuals and soundtrack are really pleasant, time-attack is a fun bonus to have a bit more to play in this unfortunately pretty short game. They could have done a bit more with stickers and collectibles imo
What I am really disappointed by tho is the last world. Levels are focused on action sequences, and they are fun as they are but it's not what I'm expecting as a final challenge for such a good platformer ...

Despite the Dragon Engine's first steps, I was really really into this game during the first half; the story was very engaging, especially knowing that it's supposed to be the end of Kiryu's saga, and I got very good Yakuza 3 vibes from Onomichi and it's very lovable set of characters.
Unfortunately the story lost me a bit in the middle. I think there are too many instances where you get hours of cutscenes interrupted by 10 minutes of gameplay, and dialogues never felt this long in the series. Everything being voiced is a problem to me, as I used to read non-voiced text way faster than they talk and I could have my own pacing. It feels weird doing that now that they actually talk and that it's all presented as proper cutscenes despite the janky animations, so I just listen to them and get bored fast.
I do really like the ending (and by that I mean it made me tear up) but I feel like I would have enjoyed the game more if it was solely focused on Kiryu and Haruka without necessarily another big conspiracy. All the characters are great tho.

Now about this Dragon Engine : The game looks very very pretty, that's a thing. Lights are particularly well rendered. Fighting looks very cool, very fluid and all, but it's very sloppy and gets worse when you're up against more than 10 guys, which happens a lot. Also kiryu's moveset seems to be lighter than ever, which makes combat feel very very repetitive.
Minigames and activities are still pretty fun (I was surprised by the fishing), but Clan Creator is way less interesting to play than the one in Kiwami 2, and Baseball team management has 0 tutorial somehow ?

It's a bit sad for a game that's supposed to be that important in the series to feel rushed and unpolished like that. But it still has it's great moments.
Not sure how I'll look back on this one.
I'm curious to see what's next, I hope it was worth it to do more Kiryu stuff and negate this very clear send-off haha

I'm at peace with this game now. It definitely isn't World, it's more old-school I guess, but I had a really great time.
The big problem is to really get into it because you need hours to get to the new monsters, but the complete roster is really really good.
The new moveset thing is a nice addition, being able to play with NPCs is both fun in itself and useful if you have a shitty internet. And this seems to be an unpopular opinion but I really enjoy the new mechanics introduced with anomaly monsters.

A very sweet game !
Gameplay reminded me of Death Stranding, except it's fully focused on climbing instead of walking.
It works really well and there are enough new mechanics introduced in every chapter so it doesn't get boring.
While still pretty short, the game felt longer than I expected honestly, but it does fit the journey of climbing this gigantic mountain.

I do feel that more freedom would have been beneficial; at the very beggining, the level design made me assume I could explore a bit out of the main path but no.
Also there is one single moment in the game where you can kinda choose different paths but it last for like 2 minutes ...

Other than that, it is visually extremely pleasant ! I really like that whole "used to be underwater" aesthetic. Music and sound design were particularily on point too.

ok I love fishes and there are a tons in this game, weird monster fishes too, and I love it

The art is clearly the game's biggest quality ! Creature design is really on point, everything is really well painted; I get a big "Darkest Dungeon" vibe from basically every aspect of the game.

Gameplay-wise tho, it is a pretty simple fishing game that quickly gets repetitive (good thing the environments are a bit varied). Also you can get a lot of money very early and get all your boat upgrades very fast, so progression is a bit fucked and you don't really need to fish anymore.

Still, I love fishes and pokémon, and in the end the fun comes from discover and catching new fishes and abominations.

I'm having such a great time following these stupid/lovable characters, combats are super fun, and it really does feel like I'm experiencing my own unique playthrough BUT the game is frustrating in many instances.

At first, the more I played the more I realized how much freedom I had and how many different approaches I could take to face 1 situation ;
but after that point, the more I played the more I realized how restrained I still was, especially in dialogues, because it's still just a video-game and I'm not actually playing with a human being in front of me.

Same for the dice rolls. I can see how it could add fun to an actual DnD game with friends, but here it just feels restrictive. Add to this the fact that some insignificant dialogue options can immediately lead to a fight to the death and this kind of stuff, it really feels like you're playing with the worst dungeon master sometimes. It all breaks the immersion, and it's so easy to just reload your save file so ...

Technically speaking too, while the game can look beautiful it just struggles a lot to load all the assets in time, from textures to animations. Loading screens are already pretty long as they are, but you still have to wait after that for everything to load properly. (tho you could argue that I just have a shit pc)

All that being said, I do love the game a lot. Might even do more playthroughs after that.
I'll really really miss Shadowheart my beloved ...

Actually feels like a New Super Mario Bros. game (haha)
What struck me the most is the art direction ! The game truely is gorgeous, the animations of the characters and ennemies are wholesome and full of personnality. The creature design is really on point too.
( The variety in ennemies and the little twists in the design of classic mario worlds actually kinda made me think of the rpg games, to some extend ? )

There's a ton of ideas and levels are quite short, so the game is never boring. It's cool to see how they've been inspired by levels created in Mario Maker. But at it's core it still is a Mario Bros. game, which gives it it's identity but also makes it a little bit old school imo.
Also, with how each level has it's own idea (including transformations), I feel like the powerups could have been used differently. Same goes for the badges, that are not really that usefull aside from the levels specifically designed for them.

Overall the best 2D Mario game in a long time, with a strong identity. + the production conditions were particularly good this time apparently. Let's hope it all is not just a one time thing.

Also the talking flowers ARE fun

Clearly the most ambitious game in the series. Loved every of the fives part, each character's "side story" was fun and felt appropriate for them.
The game is v e r y generous in terms of different activites and gameplays and overall content, but on the other side it feels a bit rough on the edges and unpolished at times.
Story-wise, I was emotionally very involved. The theme of dreams hits close to home and was very well handled, from Shinada's own little independant story, to Kiryu and Haruka whom I've been following for years ingame now. (A bit sad that Akiyama doesn't really get developement and acts more as support for Haruka's story)
The more I progress through the series, the more I realize how great 0 was, and how good it must feel to play it now after 5 instead of starting with it.