This was cute! A 2 hour indie game in which you’re a hole in the ground sinking things into the hole. The more you sink, the more the hole grows — VERY Katamari. The game mechanics and level design didn’t evolve or expand as much as I wanted them to — I wanted to sink whole cities and nations like the last level of a Katamari game — but it’s short enough that I wasn’t bothered too much. More importantly, the hole sinking mechanic is extremely satisfying. Cute writing, though I almost wish there was less story and more of a level-based structure with more levels. Either way, a worthwhile romp well worth the $3.75 this costs when Annapurna puts it on sale.

This is one of those situations where I don't know why this game is in my Steam library, but I've purchased enough bundles over the years and this seems to be one of those games that you get from some bundle somewhere. Either way, if you have this in your library and haven't played it yet, please do.

The pitch for Valfaris is that it's a Contra-style run-and-gun but with metal music, stop motion-style animation, more forgiving checkpoints, and a much greater focus on biomechanical creatures. It looks and sounds wonderful.

This is a pretty tough game -- the end boss took me an hour or so to beat -- but it's very well designed. Valfaris gives me the type of experience I always wanted out of a Contra game. Tough-but-fair action, great-feeling guns, sick bosses, and a rip-roaring power fantasy.

It is a game that gets dramatically close to 5 stars if not for a back chunk that features both a small difficulty spike and a couple levels that go on and on. Worth playing and I fully recommend it, but with that asterisk.

Going to buy its new sequel either at full price or the next time it goes on sale to support the developers.

Ato is a strange one in that it has a hand to play but refuses to show you it for the first hour of its ~5 hour runtime. You're dropped into a world with a blocky early-NES samurai guy who has to save his child from a clan of ninja, and it feels stiff at first.

You have no abilities, and without even a double jump you kind of have to ride the promise of stellar audio design and gorgeous parallax scrolling in order to make it past a somewhat tedious intro. Eventually you beat the introductory bosses (which are fun but somewhat similar) and the game shows its Metroidvania hand. There's weird mystical stuff? Hollow Knight and Sekiro vibes? Crazy bosses? Woah!

In Ato, you explore a managable map, do some platform challenges, grab some collectibles, and beat some bosses through parry or cheese. The post-intro bosses are all extremely fun (outside of maybe the very last one -- Tip: use the dagger!) and the platforming challenges are fun and well designed, The story goes a neat place or two as well, so at the end of it all I thought hey, this is pretty nice!

Little friction points here and there. The intro is, as mentioned, a bit tedious; the parry/charge slice is a bit awkward to navigate and doesn't keep you in the moment as much as, say, the Sekiro deflect; and the world feels a bit lifeless at times. A few villages, a shop with consumables, and a few sidequests would have went a long way, though that's easier said than done and maybe contrasts with the lonely feeling Ato tries to convey.

Still, quite good. Excellent audio and use of parallax, fun boss fights, doesn't overstay its welcome.

I just hit the "10 hours or more" mark for this on Switch for a $5 package of 300+ Picross puzzles (that are called Picross...I ain't buying no "Nonograms" crap!) and as is typical with Jupiter, this is a functional, highly polished puzzle pack with a clean UX. I have done about 110 of the basic puzzles and 15 or so of the Megas (which use the same pictures as the 150 basic puzzles I'm pretty sure but twist the rule sets slightly).

My only real criticism is that once you hit 15x15, the difficulty doesn't progress very much so I have started to get a bit bored. But this isn't much of a complaint because again, 300 puzzles! Clean user experience! 10 hours in so far! $5!!!

I'll probably either get a recent Switch release next or play one of the Picross 3D games rather than finish everything in this 3DS repack. But if you want a cost-effective way to check out a Jupiter Picross game, yeah! Get this thing.

Don’t really know how to evaluate this. It is a short walking sim with a simple point that it tries to make. It makes it well and conveys some pretty gruesome things with authenticity yet without going overboard. Very haunting and a bit disturbing in places. I’m “glad” I played it, though I guess my only notes are that I wish it had a bit more to say than it did (cycles of trauma is a fairly well worn story beat on its own and I’m not sure this added much to the conversation), and it went a little “oooo spooky” at times I felt were maybe a bit inappropriate. Like it was a little too “true crimey.” Interesting though!

I love Pepper Grinder, but it needs updates. More than that, it needed more time in the oven.

Grinding/drilling through the dirt is so satisfying, bolstered by great use of HD Rumble on Switch. Grinding through gravel and popping out of the Earth, at its best, is one of the best feeling game mechanics in years to me. It is that special. The level design is great and has light collectathon elements -- big Donkey Kong Country and Yoshi's Island vibes. There are ideas used once or twice alongside level/visual themes only used a few times, and for the most part they're executed great. The difficulty during levels is breezy but not overly so. The music rips, too.

If all of Pepper Grinder was like this, it would be one of the best 2D platformers I had played in years. Skipping over the water man...it feels so good! Unfortunately, the game faces regular, frustrating issues with punishing bosses, inconsistent checkpointing, bugs, strange hitboxes, and other design quirks that leave me feeling more mixed here than any game I've played in some time. The bosses in particular -- why is there such an unearned difficulty spike here? Why am I doing Metroidvania-style pattern recognition bosses after skipping over the water using my silly drill? Why are there no permanent health upgrades to accommodate?

This still could end up in my Top 10 (or at least honorable mentions) at the end of the year because the stuff that hits really hits. But the whiplash between total elation and "almost quit the game" level frustration makes it a really difficult thing to evaluate. Excited to see what the developer does next.

Without fail, my experience has been that games made by Good-Feel are very charming, occasionally very fun, and at times a little boring to play. Princess Peach: Showtime! is no different.

I think to some extent, the demo and press previews incorrectly pitched this game as a one-button action game for babies. Having playing through it over the course of 6-7 hours, I'm surprised to say the vibe is more like Luigi's Mansion 2-3 than anything else.

Like other Good-Feel games, levels are 15 minutes long and have a bunch of collectibles -- some frustratingly missable -- but like newer Luigi's Mansion the levels themselves have little themed stories/vignettes attached to them. The difficulty/action gameplay feel almost in service of the adventure-y elements rather than necessarily being the point of Showtime.

This is totally fine of course, and it's not like there's nothing to the gameplay either. Peach has 10 costumes to use through levels themed to each (3 levels per costume) and although it's a one-button action game, the different themes mix up the gameplay well. Ninja Peach has stealth gameplay, Mighty Peach (Hero Peach?) has some shmup sections, Swordfighter Peach has some basic parry/dodge mechanics, Baker Peach (or whatever she's called) has baking minigames, and so on.

I enjoyed this aspect a lot, though all costumes are not created equal. The Kung-Fu, Ninja, and Hero levels sat at the top of the pile, and the Baker/Detective ones were really dull I thought (they had no action gameplay to speak of). Everything else sat somewhere in-between. This created an odd pacing to the whole thing where I would be bored, then entertained, then bored again.

On the positive side, the boss fights are fantastic and feel like some of the better fights you'd see in a GameCube/Wii-era platformer.

Peach is a good Nintendo protagonist and I hope they do more games with her. But aforementioned elements and others (it's pretty short for a full-priced game, gets fairly framey at times, and doesn't have much to do after you beat it) paint a portrait of a game that has high highs and low lows. Good-Feel at its most Good-Feel!

This marks the third Team Ninja game I've beaten (after Final Fantasy Origin and Wo Long) -- fourth one I've played a lot of (15-20 hours into Nioh 2 before I stopped playing it -- plan to try again).

The thing I've learned is that Team Ninja soulslikes are like the beginning of an RPG where you have a certain number of points to allot to different stats. Some stats will get 5 bonus points, others will get 0. Team Ninja has a certain number of points to work with; some elements will be the funnest stuff you've ever played, and other elements will feel rough.

-FF Origin had a sick, hilariously camp story and fun gameplay, but poor balancing and a really annoying endgame.

-Wo Long was an easier, awesome twist on Sekiro with a mystical three kingdoms setting and great boss encounters, but a poorly told story and a combat flow that can get somewhat one note once you get the handle on parrying.

Rise of the Ronin takes the Nioh concept of arcade-y soulslike gameplay and some Sekiro, mixes it all up, and sticks it in an...Assassin's Creed game? You're jumping up on buildings, stabbing dudes from behind, and meeting historical figures in a way where you feel like it's missing a 90s sitcom applause track.

The flow of things here, structurally, is very reminiscent of Ghosts of Tsushima or Assassin's Creed. Tons of icons are dotted on the map at various levels and you have to choose which village of enemies to rout or which side mission you want to do to get to know a character a little better.

I liked this structure overall. The side missions were pretty fun and fleshed out, and the writing is a huge step up from Wo Long and FF Origin. No masterpiece, but significantly less camp and you will feel like you're learning a bit about 19th century Japanese history.

The Ubisoft of it all was fun too. I'm not much of a side content guy, but the combat mishmash was so fun that I had a blast clearing out villages and the like. It had a bit of an Elden Ring/BOTW vibe to it too where I would go "ooo, what's that" and then chase some activity either in the distance or that I saw on the map.

Team Ninja soulslike combat is so interesting in that it tickles my brain in a way no other action gameplay does, yet on paper it is a Diablo game with loot grind, increasing numbers and a decent bit of repetition. Rise of the Ronin is no different, though this is a really solid version of it.

You have Nioh-esque stances, Sekiro-style risk/reward parrying + stagger bar, and backstabby stealth that feels really good. On top of that, because this is the 1860s, you get access to bayonets, rifles, and handguns. These have a great sense of power to them (read: they get super cheesy) and it's one of the only times I've really focused on subweapons in a soulslike.

So why only 4 stars? Well, it took me 35-37 hours to credits, and I was dragging a bit by the time I got there. Some really amazing boss encounters in the back third of the game, but you have to get through a good number of repetitive boss fights before it really locks in. The other two issues are (1) the story doesn't diverge through player choice nearly as much (or as consequentially) as the promo/leadup suggested -- if not promised -- and (2) the open world has you doing the same 2-3 types of activities over and over again without enough wonder/discovery.

Combine that with the inherent repetition of Team Ninja souls gameplay, and I'm kinda left holding up the "wrap it up" award speech light in the last act.

In other words, while I think Rise of the Ronin is a great game and furthers my love for Team Ninja as well as these quirky Dark Souls-inspired action games (I would rather play something like this than proper Dark Souls most days), this isn't quite Days Gone levels of "this is low-key one of the best games on the entire console."

Still, high hopes for Team Ninja, man. High, high hopes.

It's not a bad game -- they made a pretty functional Contra experience -- but I don't feel motivated to chase a 1cc. Fun Metroid Dread-esque Contra bosses, good weapon feel, and they partially fixed the Switch version so the latency problems are gone (I think). BUT I don't really like the way it looks, I don't think the platforming feels particularly good, and the story is whatever. Also, 30 fps on Switch and with a game like this you can really feel it.

You can do worse, but I would only recommend this game at full price if (1) you're playing on a console/PC capable of 60 FPS and (2) the demo pulled you in such that you feel the itch to do a 1 continue clear. If you just want to play through the story mode to see what Contra is all about, you'll probably run through this in 90 minutes and be like "eh that was fine," and then never pick it up again.

Look, I appreciate the fact that Ubisoft spent millions of dollars and allocated hundreds of people to make what is effectively a big budget tilty bike flash game. And yeah, there’s a ton of content and it’s all (from the 70ish tracks I’ve played) really good.

My big issue, and the reason I’m very undecided about whether to come back to this, is that it’s all packaged in one of the most annoying “modern game” UXs I’ve seen yet. Individual races are more or less puked on a world map with various “contracts” that provide alternate goals for the same stages layered on top. Unless you play around in menus to find something more straightforward, it’s a pain in the ass to find what you want. That’s on top of microtransactions, constant pitches to spend money, a campaign structure that seems like a nightmare to actually run credits on, and exp-based leveling that slows to a crawl unless you buy the DLC or do literaly everything.

If you want a fun little game you can pop in to play a quick campaign with a sampling of levels, this ain’t it. I’m halfway through (at most) and progression is already slogging.

A good game heavily hindered by poor progression structure and UX.

So close to being great but too many fatal flaws. Canvas Curse sequel? Awesome! Make it more action-y and give it more forward momentum? Great! Make it look like Gumby? Ohhhhhhh yeahhhhhhhhhh.

This is a monkey's paw situation surpassed on the Wii U only by Star Fox Zero. See, the big downside to making a beautiful claymation Kirby Canvas Curse sequel is that if you're using the stylus, your eyes are LOCKED to the GamePad at all times. So while I played the game on my gorgeous 1080p monitor (ie I matched resolution so it should look its best), I barely got the chance to look at the game on the TV because I had to look at the low-brightness, LED Playskool-ass GamePad that can only display game graphics by streaming them from the console. Although I sympathize with the idea that this is probably the only way to make this game on Wii U, I can't help but think in 2024 that they should have saved this as a Switch handheld-only game that is packed in with a capacitive stylus. The way it is now feels completely kneecapped.

The game is quite fun, and feels like it has more pop than what I played of the DS game. Good worlds, good level design, fun bosses, etc. However, (I hope this isn't a spoiler so quick warning HERE) the way the game is structured, there are 7 worlds of 4 levels -- last one of each being a boss -- and the first three world bosses repeat for the second set of three worlds. In other words, you fight the damn Kirby World 1 Tree twice, with the latter time being a little harder. There are only 28 levels in the game...do we need to be repeating bosses on a first playthrough? Between that and the lack of side modes (other than some challenge levels), I understand why they charged only $40 for this at launch.

So yeah, totally good Kirby Wii U game, glad I played it, but the art style is completely compromised by the fact that you are only regularly looking at it on your smudgy 12-year-old GamePad. If you can live with that and the fact that it's kind of a sparse experience, pretty good!

So, this game isn't that bad but I kinda hate it.

-The fact that it cost $60 at launch and gives you 25 songs
-The gall to add additional DLC
-The rhythm UI being a mess
-The social links being, from what I watched, complete fluff that don't put any effort in to expand the world or your understanding of these characters
-The lack of Koromaru :(

The story structure is so annoying that I played the first 23 songs, realized I needed to spend another hour or two getting all the social links if I wanted to see the ending, and bailed on finishing it.

I love the games that Sega publishes, but sometimes they just seem so greedy, man. Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth is undoubtedly my game of the year, but I can't help but think about how they charged me $20 for a post game dungeon and NEW GAME PLUS. I also can't help but think about how they made a current gen version of the original Judgment and did not even offer a paid upgrade path to PS4 version owners. They did the same thing with Persona 5 Royal when the PS5 version came out.

This is arguably worse than all of those examples from a value standpoint. Yeah, there are some cute moments. Yeah, it has a few good remixes. But even when value isn't considered, what you're left with is a mediocre rhythm game where Persona characters shout the same 5 or 6 lines over each other while doing Hatsune Miku dances.

Last time I played this was in 2012 or so on my PS Vita. My first SMT and Persona game, and while I loved it, it wasn’t until Persona 4 Golden that I got emotional rolling the credits.

Things are way different now. While in 2012 I was a weird kid graduating high school, in 2024 I have a wife and newborn. I am no longer “Persona age,” as it were. So while 17 year old me was sad Naoto wasn’t real, 29 year old me plays this feeling wistful and nostalgic about the way life used to be.

But other than that change in perspective, playing Persona 3 Reload now feels like playing Persona 4 Golden or Persona 5 for the first time. I did my daily life, got into several relationships (tho Yuko #1), chose some silly answers, fused some Judeo-Christian-inspired demons, and felt an empty void by the time I reached credits (the mark of a good Persona game!). I didn't feel as strongly my first time around.

To the credit of this remake, I have very little idea which content is new and which isn’t. Like, obviously the Theurgy stuff, but even that is so well integrated I find myself doubting that. Everything feels so smooth, and the QOL improvements (faster battles and no more getting tired at Tartarus!!!) maintain the feel of the original game while refreshing it for a Persona 5 fanbase. It’s beautifully presented, and the music pops off just as much as you hope. It’s all just elegant, and it all just works.

You can nitpick which Persona game is your favorite or be confused about why the Persona team didn’t integrate the second MC (who could almost certainly only be integrated into Portable because that game is mostly text and not powered by HD assets), but for my money, this is the perfect remake of a game that needed one. Other than maybe wishing the FES stuff was here now instead of DLC (most likely), I have zero notes.

My heart aches yet again, Persona. Good to be back.

Look, man. I wanted this game to be amazing too, and was rooting for it every step of the way. But this is kind of a mess.

Great movement when you figure out the controls for sure, not to mention a great sense of style, fun music, and a lot of love poured into it from developer Evening Star.

But like, this is a speed run focused game that asks you to care about things like score but compromises that vision when I clip out of the stage once per world (at a minimum). And I'm sorry, for as good as the rolling feels when you figure it out, the player moveset is way too complicated and poorly explained. At bare minimum, it needed a moment where the game tells you to try rolling downhill and to not let go when you go up a ramp. I didn't figure out how that worked until like World 6 or 7. You also gotta love old school platformer knockback (when you get hit) combined with design that makes it difficult to gauge where you're going to land. It felt like playing Super Mario 3D Land with the 3D off.

Other issues I had:
-The bosses are pretty much abysmal across the board.
-Unnecessarily punishing checkpointing.
-Poorly presented story (that does not feel like authorial intent).
-Just bugs and a lack of polish across the board. I'm surprised a big publisher backed this -- it has Kickstarter game energy.

To be honest, even if the bugs were fixed and the game was firing on all cylinders, the level design is mostly just...fine? I think it peaks in the 7th world and again briefly toward the end, but the level design did not impress me a ton either. When the levels prioritize movement and speed over technical platforming, it shines. When they don't, it does not shine.

This isn't a bad game -- there are some things I quite like about it -- but I would call it a pretty big disappointment (for me) when all is said and done. I wanted Shovel Knight and got Assassin's Creed 1 instead, if that makes sense. Hope this does well enough to warrant a follow up and Evening Star makes a great sequel or follow up.