I can't believe how well Samus controls in this game.

There is such a satisfying flow and speed to Samus's movements as you're tearing through gorgeous levels and stringing together attacks from Dread's useful, varied move pool. Gone is the charcuterie board of useless alternate weapons which bogged down other games in the franchise, every single weapon and ability in this game is intuitive, useful in its own right, and satisfying to use(except one, but I'll discuss it in a second)

The strong level design, enemy variety, and sense of progression kept the experience consistently rewarding throughout my 10-hour playthrough, and I'll happily be going back for hard mode some day soon. This may actually be the only Metroid game I've ever played where the huge supply of missiles proved useful. The tense E.M.M.I. encounters and phenomenal, cinematic boss fights will stick with me for a long time.

Sadly, there were a few issues that took away from the experience at points. Ironically, Dread has a noticeably thinner atmosphere than previous Metroid games; I very rarely felt immersed in the world or frightened by the monsters. The story is also rather clumsily-told, opting to use long, dialogue-heavy cutscenes which clash heavily with the game's otherwise brisk pace and environmental storytelling. Oh, and the speed booster sucks balls. It is so clunky and frustrating to use I cannot believe the same people who programmed it programed the rest of Samus's move set, and the places where you need to use it are consistently the worst parts of the game.

As long as I'm not speed boosting or watching an expository cutscene, this game is awesome. It doesn't matter if you're a diehard Metroid fan, haven't played one in a while, or a newcomer: I'll recommend Metroid Dread all the same.

Well that was fun: basic, but fun.

The campy tone and self-aware humor of Ape Escape 2 are enjoyable: the varied level design and gadget use spiced the gameplay up enough for me to see the trip through to the end.

However, I grappled with a frustrating camera, questionable control schema, and enough repetitive and unmemorable gameplay to make another playthrough unlikely.

It is always so obvious and easy how to catch certain monkeys and progress that the gadget variety doesn't add much; The levels look nice, but feel empty and go by too quickly to leave much of an impact; And the optional collectibles are satisfying, but putting the coins into the machine and running it over and over again makes it not worth it to get them given how long that can take.

Most importantly of all: If you do play this game, I must insist on playing the PS4 version. Otherwise, you'll be listening to Ash and Misty the whole time: That is a hard no for me.

This game's short length doesn't bother me at all.

The game was originally going to be a DLC, and that does show at points: the game is short, the story has pacing issues, and certain characters come in and out of the story very abruptly. Lost Legacy can feel rushed, but I prefer that to two and four, which felt much too slow at points, and I enjoyed this game more than either of them.

For a series about exploration, this is the only game in the series where you can actually explore an open space for collectables; The stealth combat is the best in the series, aided by the lockpicking mechanic and silenced pistol; And Asav is an excellent villain: articulate with a well-defined motive and imposing demeanor while still being bat-shit crazy. Every time he was on screen, I was saying: "this is what Lazarevic should have been." It's such a shame this wound up being the last game in the series, because it took so many steps in the right direction for the franchise.

I strongly recommend Lost Legacy: it's my second favorite Uncharted game. If you want to know my favorite is, read any of my other reviews of any of the other Uncharted games.

The formula is getting a little stale.

X3 brought back the core gameplay loop of X2 with a few additions, almost none of which were for the better. The game has more upgrades, most of which are unhelpful; the game has a new villain, who gets swapped out for SPOILER at the end anyway, so what was the point; the game has the most obnoxiously cryptic hidden items in the series yet, and I don't like that. When the game isn't the same as X or X2, its worse.

X3 isn't a bad game by any stretch: the excellent core gameplay loop of the previous games is still done justice most of the time, and a number of the new boss fights, levels, and enemy designs are excellent. Sadly however, the game feels to be doing both too much and not enough.

Much like Mega Man 10, the game is perfectly acceptable, but hard to get excited about. Fortunately, the next instalment would go on to make the series feel fresh again.

I really like Mega Man X games

Following X3's underperformance in expanding the formula, X4 brough the series to new places. This game did away with the abundance of useless collectables and cryptic item placements from the previous game, opting for a more polished experience beginning to end. The new art style, deeper story progression, and animated cutscenes gave X4 plenty to set it apart from its predecessors, but were not used as a substitute for great gameplay.

The excellent core gameplay loop of the series is done justice in X4, and the addition of Zero's campaign added a substantial amount of variety and content. It's amazing how different the two campaigns feel despite being fundamentally the same; each encounter feels different playing as X vs Zero, and the story has key differences as well, essentially making this two games in one. Mega Man X4 is a game worth playing and replaying.

I'll admit towards being underwhelmed with the game on an artistic level; I preferred the level and enemy designs of previous games in the series. The story, while well-told, is incomprehensibly stupid. The only plot elements I like are the game not expecting us to be surprised by Sigma's appearance, and I legitimately didn't see SPOILER's betrayal coming at all, but the rest is nonsense. Also, I didn't find the hilariously bad voice acting as charming here as I did in Mega Man 8, mostly because the cutscenes of that game were shorter and the tone of the game was lighter. Every voice actor in X4 is miscast and every line is delivered as if the VA were falling asleep. I can't get though SPOILER's death without cringing. It's soul-crushing and not for the reason the developers intended.

Also, the armor upgrade in Storm Owl's lair can f*ck all the way off. It's the worst item placement in any Mega Man game and getting it is always the worst part of the playthrough.

I may recommend skipping X4's cutscenes, but I don't recommend skipping X4. This is a solid entry in the Blue Bomber's legacy, and a great game in its own right. Play it if you haven't already.

I'm so glad this was my first PS2 game.

The creative, seamless, and interconnected worlds of Jak and Daxter captivated me as a child, and I feel the same today. The strong, intuitive core gameplay loop maintains razor-focus across the entire campaign, working in gameplay variety that is welcome, but never jarring. The journey takes you through unique levels with charming NPCs, a fitting soundtrack, and no loading screens. The experience is so streamlined and captivating, I could honestly play this whole game in one sitting.

I find it hard to gripe over any of the game's shortcomings: some lousy character designs and jarring animations are excusable as the game is over twenty years old and still looks great most of the time. The lack of challenge doesn't bother me except a little at the vary end, as most of the game has a relaxed quality to it which sets it apart from other games. And lastly, some people are annoyed by Daxter, those people are wrong. I don't think he's laugh-out-loud funny, but he adds a welcome splash of levity. I like the game's story, but I also appreciate it not taking itself too seriously. Huh, I wonder if the next game will do that?

This is one of my favorite 3D platformers, and I haven't even mentioned the final boss. I was going to give the game an eight out of ten, but the citadel battle was so epic; I'm bumping it up to a nine. Having just finished a playthrough tonight, I'm happy to say that nostalgia hasn't blinded me when it comes to this game, because Jak & Daxter is an excellent game with or without rose-colored glasses.

This game is almost great, I wish they finished it.

The beautiful worlds of Super Mario Sunshine are more expansive and distinct than any Mario game up to this point. Hate me for saying this if you will, but I thought Sunshine made many improvements over 64: There wasn't a single main level I didn't care for, the controls and camera felt tighter, and I didn't mind being booted from levels after getting a Shine Sprite because the levels changed between missions. Sunshine's great level design, strong platforming, and boundless imagination showcases 3D Mario at its best roughly 70% of the time, and I had a good time with it.

Sadly, the other 30% of the time was filled with backtracking, tedious blue coin collection, and horrible, unfinished side-objectives. This game has become infamous for the pachinko machine, the river of poison, and the boat in Corana Mountain, but there were plenty more one-off missions I hated. Granted, Super Mario 64 had a fair share of awful levels and objective too, but that game didn't struggle with Sunshine's biggest problem: the progression.

The fact that you need to get the first 7 Shine Sprites in each level to beat the game is one of the worst decisions ever made in a Mario game. It is now impossible to skip side-missions you don't enjoy, and the blue coin Shine Sprites, which account for 20% of the shines in the game, are only useful in getting quite-possibly the worst 100% completion reward I've ever seen; they honestly feel like a pitiful substitute when the game should have had at least two more main levels, and I'm so glad they were never used again in any Mario game since. This game obviously needed more time in the oven: if the side-missions were touched-up, the blue coins were removed, and the game had two more levels; it could have been amazing.

Ultimately, Sunshine is a mixed bag. I still enjoyed the game the majority of the time, but it is frustrating how a few small changes could have turned this game into something much greater. Be that as it may, I'll still recommend it to those who can slog through a few bad missions, because the best parts of this game are too good to pass up.

The prototype Souls game.

Before I dive in, let me make one thing very clear. This is a review of the original release of the Demon's Souls on PS3: I HAVE NOT PALYED THE PS5 VERSION; THIS IS NOT A REVIEW OF THE REMAKE. Maybe the remake fixes every single problem I have, and maybe it's a phenomenal game. I will probably review it separately once I am able. As for the original...

The best thing I can say about this game is it made me appreciate Dark Souls a lot more. I used to think that game was rough around the edges, but I hadn't seen anything yet.

I found the level design in Demon's Souls to be pretty bad honestly: The levels are too symmetrical, cramped, not well-lit, and riddled with excessive, nonsensical enemy placement, especially in the Shrine of Storms. The lore wasn't particularly interesting, and it added little-if-anything to most of the fights, particularly those in Shrine of Storms. The game's difficulty is really inconsistent, often following a brutally, unfairly difficult section with an anticlimactic boss fight like at the end of Shrine of Storms(are you noticing a pattern here).

I hate Shrine of Storms with a burning passion: it's my least favorite non-optional level in any Souls game. Valley of Defilement is awful too. This game feels like a beta-test in terms of level design, structure, and lore.

In summary, I'm grateful for the groundwork this game laid, and I respect the developers for their ambition, but the initial release of Demon's Souls is an experience I'd rather do without. I'm hopeful the remake can do the original game's ambition justice, I'll know soon enough.

For now: f*ck Shrine of Storms.

I was getting dinner with a friend of mine yesterday, and he commented that my life was too short to be playing this DLC: he's a smart guy.

I loved the main game, but it definitely had its issues. Thankfully, INTERmission is here to give me every single problem I had with the campaign and less then half the good stuff yay. The story is uncompelling filler, almost every character added is either painfully forgettable or stolen from the main game, the story adds nothing to FF7R's plot or character development, party management is practically non-existent in combat, and I don't even have time to go over how eye-rolling the ending was. I seriously have no idea what the developers were going for with INTERmission. Honestly, if you heard about the Final Fantasy 7 Remake and thought it was going to be confused trash, this DLC is probably exactly what you would expect.

INTERmission isn't without merit: It still looks great, Yuffie is a fairly enjoyable character, the environmental puzzles with the shuriken are good, and Fort Condor is a legitimate blast; seriously, that minigame is the only thing from this entire campaign I want to see turn up in FF7R part 2, you can leave the rest.

INTERmission's nonsensical story, reliance on fan service, and preference for style in place of substance still concerns me, and I hope it isn't a harbinger of things to come in FF7R part 2.

The most fun you'll have with this game is talking to the NPCs without having completed their quests. Here are some highlights:

N. Gin: Ah! So beautiful! It is the stuff dreams are made of if you dream about plutonium all the time. I certainly do!

Crunch: What's wrong with you fool? Should'a stayed in school. Don't know what number's bigger than another number. Become an accountant. Go on to bigger things. Instead, you a chump. A chump that can't count. Crunch needs the coins, and brush your teeth: looks like a checker board in there.

Also N. Gin: Wah I'm crying because... I'm not pretty! Please Crash, bring me something that will make me pretty.

Cortex: Crash. Can you help me out? I need power crystals for my weapon of mass... helping people.

I love N. Gin: I know your weakness Crash: Bullets!

The whole of Sly 3 is lesser than the sum of its parts.

It's a real shame I can't rank this game higher, because it clearly has a lot of hard work put into it, but Sly 3 is so uniquely-unsatisfying to play that a six out of ten is the best I'm giving it.

The game has little-if-anything to do with the previous two, making it a very anticlimactic note to end the trilogy on, but it's also jarring and disjointed within itself. The abrupt shift from disconnected chapter to disconnected chapter becomes more jarring each time as the cast becomes more oversaturated and the gameplay becomes more unfocused. The game has moments of excellent gameplay and sharp writing, but it isn't consistent in any aspect of its quality outside of getting weaker: Sly 3 has a near-perfect downward turn in quality as the game progresses; I liked each chapter just a hair less than the one before, and I wasn't enjoying it at all by the end. The game also has some pretty bad plot holes and poor storytelling.

Sly 3 has some wonderful characters and strong gameplay sequences, but nothing in the game is given the attention or development it deserves: Most villains are underdeveloped, most heroes are underutilized, character arcs disappear between chapters, and there are far too many gimmicky, one-off gameplay sequences. I respect any game that attempts all this for its ambition, but a game is going to far if it has: a canal chase with guns, a crane minigame, a scuba minigame, a sequence where you fight a giant sea monster with fireworks, dogfighting, a section where you feed guards to an alligator or mow them down with a wolf(this game got dark), an all-out brawl in a lemonade bar, a section where you catch giant scorpions in a giant truck, RC car driving or helicopter flying, and a tedious section where you shoot guards with a turret attached to a tiny camera. Seriously, to the people who worked on this game: calm down. Do any of the activities I just listed sound like they belong in a stealth game?

The tragedy of Sly 3 is that I see so much quality within it, but I never feel tempted to replay it. If you're someone who takes video games moment-by-moment and doesn't read too deeply into things, you'll probably like this game more than I did. I wish I liked Sly 3 as much as 2 or even 1, but sadly, it's not to be.