Wow wow WOW! This is the most fun I've had moving a character within a 3D space since Mario Odyssey! Not to mention, the only good 3D Metroidvania I've ever played. And for a game made by a solo dev (and a bit of help), it's nothing but impressive in terms of scale, aesthetic, atmosphere, and overall game feel.

So for starters, this game is a bit weird, but weird in a fun and intriguing way

The game immerses you into this huge castle with a dreamy atmosphere that reeks of Castlevania 64, and I mean in that in the absolute best way possible! Textures are a little muddy, the character inherently moves at a reduced frame rate, and there's a charming CRT haze (you can remove the latter 2 if they are too distracting).You play as a h̶o̶t̶, t̶a̶l̶l̶, g̶i̶a̶n̶t̶ s̶w̶o̶r̶d̶-̶w̶i̶e̶l̶d̶i̶n̶g̶, t̶h̶i̶c̶k̶-̶t̶h̶i̶g̶h̶e̶d̶ pantsless bunny-goat-cat lady (you can give her pants if her backside is too distracting) and have no idea as to how you're there, or how this castle and it's inhabitants came to be. You acquire Big Sword and search for way forward to wake the princess. The corridors are narrow and dark, opening up occasionally into larger rooms that are filled with enemies and hazards. You pull levers to open doors and leap from ledge to ledge. You take down the big boss and the whole castle opens up for you to run amok. You spend time wandering through corridors full of sentient swords and murderous maids; over pools of murky deathwater; and crossing chasms that make you seriously wonder "okay, seriously, WHAT happened here?" And there isn't any answer! You do get vague monologues from these (adorable) little goat butlers. But there isn't any answer! It's kinda Soulsy in this way, except there really IS no answer no matter where you look. And...that is okay! Because the whole time you're not thinking about an answer, you're thinking "I'm gonna jump off that cliff."

After some point through (you'll know it when you get the power-up) this game slowly tricks you into playing what feels like a 3D Mario game because mobility feels so damn good and suddenly you're bouncing off every single wall to find hidden goodies and shortcuts. A couple more powers ups and you feel like an untouchable speedrunner! Fights become slight distractions, or a means of recovering health (it makes more sense when you play it). The real enemy here is the murky deathwater that resets your progress when you can't clear a jump. The last thing you want is some Medusa Head interrupting you mid-jump. You become so unburdened that platforming becomes the challenge and soul of this game. It definitely starts shifting away from the original Metroidvania aspect, but it also gets more fun. At the sum of the vague lore, ever-shifting gameplay, dreamy atmosphere, and the cute bunny-goat-cat lady, this game managed to craft an identity of its own without relying too heavily on its inspirations.

And while I do think the game severely lacks bosses, some enemy variety, a bit more lore or lil goat monologues, and maybe a more climactic final boss, it was fun enough for me to enjoy and not really ask for 300 more grueling hours out of a solo dev.

Four Stars would have given if I probably played before the (absolutely essential) map update, but thankfully that wasn't the case for me.
Five Stars for you, friend. 🐇🗡️

Short, snappy, and a fun pixel treat.

Take Megaman X and add bunny girls and you shamelessly had me from the start! Lol

Your mileage is gonna vary with this game, as it truly depends on which character you choose that changes up the game's feel and story completely! Like Zero from Megaman X3? Go with Hazel. Like Classic Sonic? Go with Axel. Though I do feel that Axel's gameplay was easier overall.

Game mechanics feel pretty tight and snappy, with Hazel's homing attack and counter being fun to use and Axel's leaps and twirls propelling you through stages with hardly an issue. I didn't realize what the Karma mechanic really did though until about the last few boss fights.

Level design feels a bit too short and simple, with some stages having interesting gimmicks but not really escalating with progression and skill. Boss battles kinda make up for it though, as the later ones feel rather intricately designed.

I think a little bit more could've been done with the story and it's cast, but the stages were already so short as is that it might've made the gaps in gameplay too long. What was done though was sufficient.

For a relatively small team of devs, this was a well-made game and I look forward to whatever next project they want to do next.

Especially if it has bunny girls. ❤️

A perfect remaster of an already hilarious, charming, and engaging JRPG.

Early Squaresoft had an eye for whimsy in their fantasies and they took the unparalleled bizarre world of Mario and made it both more coherent and full of life. Classic characters break from their more traditional roles and have far more personality, often with a bit of tongue-in-cheek. Combat is simple, but straightforward and keeps the pace quick and fun. It's relatively easy (perhaps a bit too easy at times), but there are legitimate challenges that will demand you to practice strategy. The music is a true delight, made by legendary JRPG composer Yoko Shimomura. You'll be switching between the classic and modern OSTs throughout the game, with the former making you wonder how the hell the SNES was capable of making such beautiful music and the latter somehow being an ever remarkable orchestral improvement. Lastly, the humor will keep you laughing from start to finish. Between the plots own comedic beats, NPC interactions, and the "Thought Peeks" from enemies, the writers never seem to run out of jokes.

And while the game isn't safe from it's own end-game fatigue (as JRPGs of old tended to run out of new designs and settled on recolors and grindy gauntlets), it does still finish with a delightful flourish.

This was the game that brought Mario into a once unfamiliar genre, and would in turn pave the path forward for stellar sequels and even more memorable stories and characters of the Mario world.

Hey hey! I just replayed and beat this game in 2024!

Is it still good?

Yup.

Great?

Depends.

So if anyone else is familiar, this is where a lot of fans considered 3D Sonic to be peak. And I kinda almost agree.

For the time it came out, it was an impressive-looking game; and even playing it now radiates with the energy of retro 3D games and the late 90's going into the early aughts. Outdated phrases like "Tight" and "Radical" dot a corner of the screen that is guaranteed to make you laugh or cringe. Character models are goofy looking at times, with CGs featuring mo-cap that looks decent at best but aimless at worst; but still possessing that low-poly charm that only highlights each characters simple pronounced features and makes them all look just adorable. The music is a delightful arrangement spanning different genres that match the personality of every character: from buttrock lyrics that gets stuck in your head, to heavy metal instrumentals, to lo-fi rap to relax and find emeralds to, and to Lupin the 3rd-esque lounge jazz. The camera sweeps, cuts to different angles, and pulls back, revealing the colorful and elaborate Dreamcast era environments and void-like skyboxes that just precedes modern games forays towards the uncanny valley. It is no wonder why so many fans, myself included, have such a fondness for this game.

Sonic and Shadows' stages are the absolute pinnacle of well designed 3D Sonic stages! They're a strong mixture of platforming with a decent enough weight, split-second timing that greatly rewards, alternate routes that can keep you going forward after a fumble, and blasting through courses at such a breakneck speed that still somehow feels untouched compared to certain games after. These parts of the game would form the foundation of Sonic games to follow, and it stands to reason why! It's fun! These course were designed to be replayed and in different ways: the time-attack, lost chao, and hard mode challenges shining especially. I wish the light speed dash and homing attack were a little more consistent in how they worked; we looked past it a lot more at the time, but man have they aged poorly.

The Tails and Eggman stages are a nice breather between Sonics and Shadows, but the flaws are easier to notice. While I personally delight in the chaining of shots for a high score (Starfox 64 always making me yearn for that itch), the game slows down way too much at times and the near-constant pitch of the cannons focus-sight is enough to give me tinnitus 2. There is a fair bit of solid platforming to break up the monotony of every hallway, but the environments are so often cast in grays that it's a bit too dreary to enjoy its rather meticulous environmental design.

And last of all are the most egregious examples of SA2's flaws: Knuckles and Rouge's stages. These stages are beautiful diaramas of fantastical and interactive environments that it is such a shame it's teemed with the absolute worst physics and camera. The respective characters move at almost the same speed as Sonic/Shadow, which makes for quick traversal over these massive levels, but makes platforming on a smaller level so frustrating. You'll overshoot every jump or walk so often, you have to rely on gliding and climbing to get you anywhere. Standard attacks propel you forward and you have to commit to whatever direction it sends you.

The camera. Dear God. The camera! Have fun trying to look up and down these vertical stages with just L and R. The camera will freely do as it pleases as you move around these environments too, whether or not it is a matter of helping you get through somewhere or it accidentally clips with the environment, and it's an issue that occurs through every stage of the game. It works great during the more cinematic sequences of Sonic and Tails stages, but it will either remain fixed or try to "correct itself" when you need to explore somewhere off the beaten path. This serves as a major source of frustration throughout.

The story is meh, it's reflected more in its characters but not much else and is pretty standard fair for a Sonic game. Splitting up the narrative between Light and Dark does serve as a fun way to break up the game.

And that about covers this far-too-long review. It's a game that is no doubt well designed, influential, and filled to the brim with that charming early 2000's energy, but does still lack polish that keeps people from enjoying it's less speed-centered gameplay.

Also Chao Garden is far too cute and addictive and needs to be it's own game. Bye! ❤️

I really don't like this game, and the fact that it's a sequel to a far greater game makes it even less enjoyable.

Everything bad in Tales Of Symphonia condensed into this very game. Add a cheap monster-collecter, watered-down fight mechanics that don't feel as tight, replace the overworld with a point-and-click map, and bring back every old character as temporary NPCs that really don't contribute anything to this incredibly shlocky story. Bad bad bad all around.

At least the character models look prettier I guess.

I remember not liking this game very much.

Granted, I grew up with HM64 and fell in love with the series. In that game, there was so much to do every single day, it would compel you to play into the next day. This feedback loop is very addicting in this way and I think it's what got so many people hooked on Stardew Valley today.

AWL is sloooow. The days are fewer and longer, but there is also just as much to do because everything else takes longer. Planting takes longer, feeding and caring animals takes longer, mining and scavenging takes longer, and the commute around town takes longer. This game does not respect your time and wants you to slow down, which would be good if it meant it ultimately amounted to something. But it kinda just...doesn't? Once you play past a certain amount of time in the game, there really isn't that much to do anymore. I know that's the case for every Harvest Moon, it's pretty much endless and at some point you just run out of stuff to do and then you just stop playing. But AWL hits that wall a lot harder and sooner. It goes without saying though, I never beat it either, despite the fact it actually does have an ending.

Some mechanics are just bizarre for a HM game too. You NEED to eat to have enough energy to do anything in the game, but the game won't tell you except for your characters own animations (that also takes up time). Getting milk from cows works the same way in real life, so you have to keep making your cow pregnant so it keeps making milk for longer than a year. You have limited barn space, so only a certain amount of cows can be kept before you have to start selling them. The game gives you a goat that's only good for 1 year too, but it only gives you 1 and no means to get more, so you just have to get rid of it I guess. Lol You're only limited to 3 bachelorette choices, which pales in comparison to just about every other HM and Stardew. They've all got distinct personalities, but if you don't really like any of them well then that's too damn bad cuz you gotta marry somebody before your first year of the game! Almost no holidays also keeps the town feeling less lively.

That's not to say I didn't enjoy some aspects of it though. Its outdoor atmosphere is greater than almost ever other HM (aside from 64). It's a more mature and realistic feeling HM compared to the more colorful and anime HMs, especially compared to the later titles. The game also has a surprising sense of humor to it too that other HMs are just too cutesy to even dare try. It's visually distinct and dared to be different in a series that eventually got way too cozy with it's formula.

So yeah, that's a 3 from me.

One of my favorite games ever.

This is one of those games just filled to the brim with personality, every way you interact with it makes it feel lively, distinct, and memorable. Almost every item does something different, to varying degrees of helpfulness. Every NPC has funny little quips about living in this weird world. Bizarre enemies will do nonsensical actions one turn, and then wipe your whole team the next. Status effects range from getting a cold or being homesick, to getting a control-interfering-mushroom on your head or turning into a lifeless diamond. Heck, even your health meter is a rolling odometer that you can reverse in direction to prevent One Hit KO's.

While the game is zany by it's nature, it never fails to take moments to stop, breath, and just enjoy the sublime atmosphere it has to offer. The music periodically shifts from its bombastic and silly nature to something more humble: long drones of a single note; the sound of a night-time walk with police sirens blaring in the distance; lo-fi beats to be introspective and drink coffee to.

While the story is overall simple and the main characters might not have much personality or interaction, this game focuses instead on experience. It's a game that subverts your expectations and keeps you wondering what the next plot beat will be like. Will it be a bustling city? A desert? A sewer tunnel? Or the end of time itself? You'll never truly know and that's what makes it so fun. And while the last stretch of the game can be a bit frustrating and brutal, its final boss is absolutely unforgettable. And at the end of it all, it feels like coming back home to a home-cooked meal after a long, long field trip.

It's Undertale.

It's good.

It's really good.