There are very few games that I can think of that I believe perfectly capture the pure and raw feeling of joy than Scribblenauts Unlimited. The big HD leap in the franchise, Scribblenauts Unlimited offered new changes to the series that would expand on its commitment to unleashing the player’s creativity all while maintaining its trademark sense of humor and charm.

Continuing off of the foundations of its Nintendo DS predecessors, Scribblenauts Unlimited does little to expand the gameplay that the series is known for: solve puzzles by using your magical notebook to summon anything you desire. While this may initially sound like a negative, I find the series works at its best when the game sticks to its more traditionally simplistic gameplay loop. Instead, Scribblenauts Unlimited focuses on expanding, well, everything else. Ditching the older titles' level structure, Unlimited sets its world up within larger, open environments with smaller puzzles scattered throughout it. This allows for the puzzles to theme themselves around the area they inhabit and thus, encourage the player to try different words and adjectives for solutions rather than sticking to the same thing over and over again. I appreciate the variety in the environments as well, with levels ranging from simple locales like farms, prisons, air fields to haunted houses, space, storybook kingdoms, etc. While I did say that I enjoy Scribblenauts Unlimited’s simplicity, there are cases where it can be a little TOO simple.

Although some puzzles require varying levels of creative thinking, more often than not the game will present puzzles with little to no nuance or challenge. For example, there is a particularly infamous series of puzzles that require the player to complete various camping-related activities such as starting a fire, carving a totem pole, hitting a target, etc. Although the answers to these problems may seem simple enough, it’s actually even easier than you may think. Using adjectives, every single one of these puzzles can be solved… with a stick. Use a hot stick to light the campfire, use a sharp stick to whittle the wood, and so on and so forth. In fact, this solution isn’t exclusive to this scenario; it works for a decent chunk of the game’s puzzles. Once the player figures out that oftentimes the word doesn’t really matter, it can cheapen the experience. When a game encourages creative problem-solving, it becomes disappointing when the game itself doesn’t really reward creative solutions. I feel that to really get the most out of Scribblenauts Unlimited, it’s up to the player to find their own amusement and do their best to come up with unorthodox solutions to solve the puzzles rather than just defaulting to the obvious answer. It would be nice if the game would offer some sort of reward for finding creative solutions or at the very least place more restrictions in the puzzles themselves but unfortunately, it does not.

By far and away the biggest gameplay addition to Scribblenauts Unlimited would be none other than the Object Editor. The 'Unlimited' part of Scribblenauts Unlimited, the Object Editor exists to answer one of the most common questions asked by players:

"Wait, this word isn’t in the game?"

A creative alternative to the game’s limitations, the Object Editor allows players to use the game’s 22,000+ words and manipulate their corresponding object’s assets to create their own objects which can then be summoned in the game. While fairly simple for the most part, the Object Editor is incredibly robust. Any little part of an object can be removed, replaced, recolored, resized, etc. Animations can be edited, the object’s behavior can be altered, it’s source audio can be changed, and elemental properties manipulated. There are so many systems and options to play with, the Object Editor itself come be considered it’s own side-game. Even better, if played on PC, you can connect to the Steam Workshop to share your creations or download somebody else’s. While I don’t think most people will use it more than once, I still find the Object Editor to be a fine addition to the series and one that it would sorely need as it continued moving forward.

One of the last things I wanted to touch on with Scribblenauts Unlimited was the game’s art and music which I feel don’t get enough praise. The series' transition to HD gave its simple art style a slight overhaul and does a great job of visualizing the game’s vast amount of objects without being too busy or complex. It’s simple but not excessively so. The music on the other hand, is a whole different beast altogether.

I had always considered the music of the Scribblenauts series as a consistent high point. The tunes that would play in each level was incredibly catchy and perfectly matched the game's playful atmosphere. Scribblenauts Unlimited not only continues this trend, but forgoes the previous title’s funky beats and record scratches for much grander, orchestral melodies. Each song, remix or original, wears its heart on its sleeve and are filled to the brim with a strange mix of sheer joy and melancholy. It’s difficult to describe but the music of Scribblenauts Unlimited, composed by David J. Franco, elicit an emotional response that no other game since has managed to capture. It’s incredible when a game’s soundtrack manages to perfectly embody the spirit of the title it inhabits and I find Scribblenauts Unlimited, as well as its predecessors, a fine example of that.

In the eleven years since the release of Scribblenauts Unlimited, there have only been two new entries in the series, the DC crossover game Scribblenauts Unmasked and the party game Scribblenauts Showdown, as well as two rereleases. What was once a series with annual launches, the fate of the Scribblenauts series is now one filled with uncertainty. While I don’t believe the series is really dead, I do feel that the current states of both 5th Cell and Warner Bros. Games doesn’t instill a whole lot of confidence that a new, mainline Scribblenauts title will release anytime soon. Perhaps the series has truly run its course? Or maybe the death of the Nintendo DS and the industry’s shifting focus towards big, expensive AAA titles forced the Scribblenauts franchise to be left behind? As it stands, I have no clue. All I can really say is that I still have some hope for the series yet. Scribblenauts may never return to the unique heights it once capitalized on in 2009 but I think it’s originality and pure spirit still has a place in gaming today. Scribblenauts Unlimited, as simple as it may be, is a game that just wants to have fun with itself. It’s cute, chaotic, wonderful, funny, and as silly as a game like this needs to be. Until the day the series makes its big return, I can at least return to Scribblenauts Unlimited and remember why I fell in love with video games in the first place.

Fire Emblem: Awakening is just a good game through and through. Even after the many Fire Emblem games that have come before and after it, I would still recommend this as an ideal starting point in the series. It does what it sets out to do well and even when it fumbles, there are plenty of other positives that help boost it back up.

I would be remiss if I didn’t start off by praising the game’s fantastic character design done by Yūsuke Kozaki (No More Heroes, Ai: The Somnium Files, Fire Emblem Fates, etc.). Back when I first played the game’s demo in 2013, the game’s artwork and style completely captivated me. Starting the game off with a shocking prologue which is then followed by a fun character introduction accentuated with a cozy song with an extremely long name ("There are better places to take a nap than on the ground, you know"), I was hooked. To briefly touch on the game’s cast, I would still argue that this is one of my favorites in the series. Although many complain that the cast of Awakening is largely one-note, a notion that I do agree on, I still find the characters incredibly charming thanks to the wonderful artwork and the small snippets of dialogue strewn throughout the game that allows for their varied personalities to shine through. As for the gameplay, there isn’t too much to say about it. It’s a fairly straightforward Fire Emblem game that doesn’t do too much in the way of gimmicks or mechanics aside from the newly added Pair-Up mechanic. While very broken, I enjoyed this new way to have units fight alongside each other. It also helps that Pair-Up, as well as the game’s bigger focus on the romance amongst characters, fits in perfectly with Awakening’s big thematic focus on "bonds" in its story. Originally intended as a send-off to the series, I’m glad that so many signature Fire Emblem themes, ideas, and mechanics from throughout the series were crammed into the game without making it feel shoehorned in. As for the music, it’s great. There’s not much to say beyond that but I just felt that it was worth noting.

My biggest complaints for Fire Emblem: Awakening likely lie in its missed opportunities more than anything. The game is split into three arcs; one of which has almost nothing to do with the other two. Gangrel, the game’s villain for the first chunk of the game, makes for a fun and entertainingly evil villain but he unfortunately dies before he could be fully realized. Walhart had the potential to be an interesting antagonist as he could have served as a good foil to Chrom. With this said, it’s unfortunate just how little this part of the story has to do with Chrom despite the game’s repeated attempts to push him into the limelight when Say'ri, a princess and the leader of the resistance against Walhart after he conquered her kingdom, should’ve been focus of the 2nd arc considering how much bigger her stake is in this particular point in the story. Going back to the gameplay, the Lunatic and Lunatic+ mode is also another missed opportunity. Rather than creating a carefully designed challenge for the player, the game defaults to inflating their stats and giving enemies insane skills at random. Although this ultimately doesn’t really matter because thanks to the unbalanced Pair Up mechanic, Lunatic can be completed with Robin and Chrom alone while Lunatic+ remains a massive headache. A final thing I want to touch on: Inigo, a young man who enjoys dancing in secret and the son of a dancer named Olivia, should be able to reclass into a dancer. I understand having one dancer in each game is a staple in the series and helps balance out the game but the fact that classes are still gender-locked is something that I wish the series would eventually leave behind.

Even after ten years since it’s original North American release, I still think Fire Emblem: Awakening is one of my favorites in the series. Awakening was the start of many things for the Fire Emblem series, both good and bad depending on who you ask. It breathed new life into the franchise and introduced the series to modern audiences while simultaneously causing a huge divide between old fans and new fans as to the direction the series was taking. This effect can even still be felt to this day with modern Fire Emblem releases such as Fire Emblem: Three Houses and Fire Emblem: Engage. While I can understand both of these views, I stand by the idea that the changes Awakening introduced was the the push the series needed to keep moving forward and that the Fire Emblem name would have likely been forgotten without it. I think it’s fitting for a game that holds the legacy of its past with so much reverence has managed to carve out a legacy of its own. And considering the state of the Fire Emblem series today, I believe it’ll be one to be remembered for many years to come.

Shining Resonance: Refrain is probably one of the most 'okay' games I’ve ever played. It never strives to do anything particularly spectacular and instead prefers to stay in a comfortable area of predictable plot points and trite character archetypes. And yet despite this, I still found myself enjoying the game quite a bit in a very casual sort of way.

On the surface, Shining Resonance: Refrain has a couple of things going for it. The graphics are very pretty, the character designs by Tony Taka are appealing, the music can range from pretty good to great, and the voice acting is well done. The characters are fairly stock but their bubbly personalities and charming voice acting do help elevate them higher than they probably should’ve been. A particularly noteworthy character in my opinion would be Excella, the game’s antagonist. Her character and motivations don’t exactly reinvent the wheel but I found her development to be the most consistent among the game’s cast. One particular aspect I did find very interesting was actually the game’s usage of instruments as weapons. In a game where the plot largely revolves around using music as magic, having the party members use various instruments as weaponry and making performances a gameplay mechanic was a really neat idea that perfectly plays into the game’s themes and ideas. It’s one of the few original aspects of Shining Resonance: Refrain that I feel makes this game unique amongst the other JRPGs I have played.

That being said, there are plenty of negatives as well. Quite a few, in fact. The combat can become repetitive and fairly dull for the most part, especially once you figure out how broken the B.A.N.D. mechanic can be. Dull would also be how I describe the side quests, if you could even call them that. Side quests in Shining Resonance: Refrain ultimately fall into two categories: fetch quests or kill X amount of enemies. These side quests are infinitely replayable and really only exist to give the player an extra method of obtaining crafting items but they are also instantly forgettable and hardly ever worth looking into. The lack of a fast travel isn’t too big of a deal thanks to the small world size but it also makes navigating the world a chore and ultimately feels like it just pads the game’s runtime. The difficulty spikes can also be fairly extreme at the beginning and middle of the game, often requiring you to grind for a few hours to reach a suitable level to take on a boss. There is also one chapter at the end of the game that forces you to only use two select party members to fight three waves of high-level enemies. These party members are by far the least popular characters in the game and will likely be 35+ levels below anywhere near close enough to take on the battles necessary to progress the story. This was an incredibly annoying roadblock that took me over 4+ hours of grinding to complete and, even then, I eventually discovered a strange glitch that allowed me to bypass 2 out of the 3 waves. As a whole, I wouldn’t necessarily call the game 'bad' but rather it’s riddled with various issues scattered throughout that ultimately make the experience worse than it needs to be.

With all this being said, I can’t definitively say I didn’t enjoy my time with Shining Resonance: Refrain. Once I got used to its gameplay loop, I found myself idly enjoying it while watching videos or TV as a comfortable time-sink. Although its story is very cliché, the game’s colorful cast of characters kept my interest up until the end. It’s very flawed but it’s also strangely charming in a late 2000’s JRPG sort of way. While this game may have clicked with me, I can’t say it will with somebody else. In fact, if someone were to say they hated this game, I could perfectly understand why. In the end, I think the game is cute, decently long, and I can appreciate the fact that it understands what it’s going for and doesn’t try to become anything more than what it is. Hopefully SEGA will someday make a sequel that can address my issues with Shining Resonance: Refrain as I do believe there is some potential to be found here. Though, considering SEGA’s treatment towards older IPs, I’m not exactly holding my breath.