Queso_Gatame
2019
Better writing than most books. Changed my perspective on RPGs.
Extremely well executed open-world game that takes the best elements of the genre and fuses them with Zelda flavors/mechanics without falling into the Ubisoft checklist trap.
The most lavishly detailed open world I've experienced. It has excellent characters and, while the main story of the game is poorly paced, there are some really exceptional beats and vignettes. Suffers somewhat from the fact that the wide range of tasks it wants you to perform during missions aren't well handled by the old GTA-style mechanics/control scheme.
2015
This review contains spoilers
I wish more open world games would follow Yakuza in giving the player a smaller, more densely packed world to explore. Fighting mechanics are fun but become very repetitive. The story, while mostly compelling, is probably more convoluted than it needs to be and suffers a bit from soap-opera "no one's ever really dead" syndrome.
The best game in the series. Its world offers a perfect blend of wonder and dread, feeling massive, varied, and full of life despite the limitations of the GameCube.
1996
One of the greatest games ever made. It was the perfect game to show us what could be done with 3D, and despite some awkwardness -- especially with the camera -- it still holds up today.
2017
The setting and characters are charming, and the story is certainly worth telling. Unfortunately, the interactive elements of the game are so sparse, boring, and disconnected from the (very good!) story elements that I actually think this would have been better as a movie or comic book.
2012
A really fun blend of life/relationship simulator with dungeon-crawling JRPG. My main problem is that the dungeons themselves are really bland.
2013
A short, but very rewarding, meditation on video games and the relationship between developers and players.
2017
I honestly don't get the hype. The game is certainly well-crafted and a lot of fun to play. But there's nothing revolutionary about it, and if anything the hat-throwing gimmick is less interesting than those found in other 3D Mario games like Sunshine.
2007
I've logged more hours in this game than in any other. It's easy to get into, but has a high skill ceiling and endless charm.
2007
Not my favorite game ever, but perhaps the most perfect game ever.
2021
Classic Metroid is back and about as good as it's ever been. I only have two real complaints:
First, the scale and production value feel a bit lacking for a $60 game. But that's more of a problem with Nintendo than with the game itself.
Second, the game didn't give me the same sense of isolation or (drum roll) dread that some other entries in the series have. Dread's invincible EMMI robots aren't as menacing as Fusion's SA-X, and the environments lack Prime's feeling of lonely expanse.
First, the scale and production value feel a bit lacking for a $60 game. But that's more of a problem with Nintendo than with the game itself.
Second, the game didn't give me the same sense of isolation or (drum roll) dread that some other entries in the series have. Dread's invincible EMMI robots aren't as menacing as Fusion's SA-X, and the environments lack Prime's feeling of lonely expanse.
Disclaimer: I didn't actually finish the game. I put a couple dozen hours into it -- long enough to get to what I've heard is the game's big plot turning point -- and was bored the entire time.
Pretty much everything about the game feels like they made a generic shonen anime into a generic JRPG. I might have loved it back when I was a ten-year-old obsessed with Dragon Ball, but it does almost nothing for me now.
That said, if "shonen anime in JRPG form" sounds appealing to you, you'll probably like it. It's well executed for what it is.
Pretty much everything about the game feels like they made a generic shonen anime into a generic JRPG. I might have loved it back when I was a ten-year-old obsessed with Dragon Ball, but it does almost nothing for me now.
That said, if "shonen anime in JRPG form" sounds appealing to you, you'll probably like it. It's well executed for what it is.
2017
Old-school side-scrolling shooter with a unique aesthetic and an emphasis on boss battles rather than full levels. Highly recommend.