I am sitting genuinely asking myself… is this my fave ending to a game since maybe I ran credits on Xenoblade 1. I am in shock of what that final core close out did. In terms of pushing the player? I got wrecked many times, in terms of ramping scale and having just wondrous attack patterns? Just sensational. They ramp so many set pieces that I just couldn’t help bus ask every few moments “they doing this too”. It’s also proof to me of how to have your cake and eat it too in terms of how they integrate moutful mode. They get to do ridiculous things but they earned it because of what each boss battle is like.

Which just reflects the most flattering part of the game… sensational bosses even before this ending. The cheetah girl and the armadillo just have patterns that are just so damn fun to get engaged with. It works because of the freedom of choosing different abilities in order to approach in ways that either feel more satisfying, to make it easier or to make it more difficult. These power up abilities are so good. The sword and hammer have always been personal favorites in the series but you get new great stuff like the ranger. Then they add that you can upgrade them and the upgrades aren’t always technically linear. Sometimes you might prefer a lower upgrade level because of rapid fire or other idiosyncrasies. If they ever bring this mechanic back, there is so much that they can do to make that experience flourish even further.
What to me is also great… is level design. The late level abandoned malls, the haunted parks and the extremely novel frozen subway stand out. The way they introduce the levels especially in the latter part is just beautiful set up to make you feel immersed even when they switch to their isolated camera. But what makes these levels better than there visuals? Is there tricks. See in order to complete the game you have to find waddle dees in the levels. You get a few by just beating the level but each level has 4 hidden tasks. You can think of these hidden tasks similar to Dreamland 3, where you had to intuit what to do to get hidden gem at the end. This takes it further with 4 ones per level but the level design is often extremely intuitive about it! You will often do one innate interaction just out of curiosity or regular play and then you see that it’s part of the hidden task and it makes you comb the level thinking in different ways. This is on top of one of any 4 hidden tasks is finding the supplementary waddledees. It’s so rewarding whenever you start to think about the puzzles or hidden areas. It’s also mind blowing when you see you missed one, it shows that even what can feel simplistic that there is so much hidden.

I think the part of the game that’s not truly excellent might be moutful mode. It’s fun and it’s well integrated into the puzzle elements that the game does. But outside a few moments I can’t quite say it will leave a deep impression. I do wish Kirby had a quicker run just by a hair! The game feel for him is great throughout but it’s something that I wish he had more! Also shout out to the ice world music, just jaw dropping.

This was a blast. I been beaming writing this. I can see room for improvement but man the joy of this? This is gonna sit with me! Also what a great reference to Streets of Rage 2!

I dislike how this game feels. The movement of your character being very connected to the movement of your reticle here feels awful. I felt like dodging here was just not great. At first I assumed that means my playstyle for this game was wrong. Which the first 3 levels I changed how I approached where you have to hold a to automate targeting and I began to hit a flow state for that. I began to think I figured out what was expected but some bosses and regular enemies aren’t designed for that .Levels 5 & 6 are much faster shooting galleries that don’t align with the automated targeting. Level 4 feels like the best approach on it. It’s hard to tell which shooting approach is expected at times. Some variety makes sense but it feels that the alternating with different enemies wasn’t as great. I think I might have felt better if hit detection and dodging made more sense to me. There are some bosses with lasers that look far away from me but seem to hit me anyways. In general this didn’t vibe with me. But it says volumes to me if I had a play session of only a level one day and was dreading going to the next one after beating the previous one.

I think I love this? I was wondering what I would feel at the end of this journey. You have to look back at a couple of nagging issues and ask how much do they deter this?
Lets start with the thing I grew to love but still have to admit has issues… combat. The opening of this game is stiff as hell. You feel limited by all means in terms of execution. Yes this game has you learn things through weapon use, but as opposed to just learning skills like magic etc, you learn things that change how you execute attacks. Think the core combo is too limited, use a weapon that extends your base combo. Want to link your artes to basic attacks, learn the skill for it. Want to learn altered artes? Well learn the skill that you use to pair with your core artes . Want to link artes and altered artes? Theres a skill for that. It’s astonishing how much what you can do in combat evolves and its about tuning execution and links, the game feel drastically evolves, but should you have to deal with the length by which it takes to open up? Does that make up for the enemy jank that shows up in terms of their invincibility and how it can make combat less fluid. Dealing with enemy stagger and your own staggering can make you so frustrated. However when you are able to customize the feel to your style of play, it’s marvelous. It’s crazy that I focused on one character and there are 6 other characters with different touches and focuses to get into. Judith in air options sound so astounding and I still struggled to execute chancels to improve the feel and player expression further. I loved this when it was at its best and think if I had any fighting game skill, I would be in awe further. The feeling of doing a mystic or burste art is really elite gaming.
I also wonder how to feel about the core story here. If you ask me to explain the Adephagos? I couldn’t tell you. If you ask me to explain how aer relates to the adephagos or the Blastia, I might have a few words. Theres a moment in the game where Rita starts setting up the core reason plot and the formula and I just tuned it out. It felt like incredible world building at times, Myorzo is wonderful. Learning the history of the guilds and even why the main villain has beef. But I drifted in and out of it, and I don’t know if I can say plot wise this has anything to chew on.
You know what you can chew on? Characters. This is an elite cast. Yuri Lowell is truly a gaming icon. This is very much a game about how Yuri changes others , rather than how Yuri grows. It’s marvelous to see a JRPG protagonist get their hands dirty in the ways they perceive and engage villains as well as justice. That evolves Karol,Estellise and Flynn. Flynn and Yuri’s dynamic is immaculate. In particular the way that Aurion really starts to wrap the bow on the world, really sets the stage for the emotional beats to be wrapped up with the crew. Seeing Karol and Raven’s arc in the story is just genuinely beautiful. They get sensational emotional beats.
Add on top of this beautiful graphics. Great skits that make you smile and inject the feeling of growth. Some good music (I can’t believe I said that Matoi Sakuraba is very hit or miss for me). Some fun dungeon maneuvering. It leaves me feeling great. Something small is missing to take this adventure over top, but when I think of the ideal JRPG, this is what I will think of. The one thats not trying to be anything outside of the shonen energy and plays the cards straight but smartly straight? This is it.

Dripping with Atmosphere, dripping with sensational gamefeel. Remarkable. This has some of the best controls I have experienced. It’s snappy, deliberate smooth, seamless. It pairs with just great gameplay. Seriously the way that different enemies force you to use different tools, make certain upgrades more worth it than others? I really honed into the grip and shatter shot, I can only imagine what the gunplay techniques would have felt if I used the others. There aren’t a ton of boss variety, BUT THERE IS A TON OF SETTING VARIETY. The Ashtray Maze lived up to its name. It is a strength where the environment alteration is what makes the gameplay feel varied to what is a really multiple loop of shooting, throwing stuff with your mind, dashing and levitating. This game was extremely difficult, and it felt like it made the Oldest House threatening.
Now do I know WHAT HAPPENED? No. But was I nintrigued my the lore, was I intrigued by the side quests time to time to figure out more? Was I enthralled with each Darling video? Was I uneasy each time I went to the motel. Was I truly grateful for Ahti? Is Jesse a great character in this confusing web of the bureau of control? Yes. The location of the Oldest House is just so varied and totally labyrinthine to explore and carries its on character. Also this is the best attempt of trying to be cinematic. It feels so just seamlessly woven into something that just exudes awe inspiring energy. The blend going between different places and having silhouettes of characters and irl video to really pair? Yeah man. This is IT.

The best part of Horizon is the feel of weapons. The ranged combat is beautiful with great layers. In particular the tearing components. The fact that splitting apart machines into pieces even without damage changes the nature of the fight is compelling. The fact that different arrows really can evolve your play style is great. I am less enthused by the traps this game gives you. While moment to moment useful it often feels like for half the missions setting traps doesn’t work as often, but that could be placed on my planning, but in general I think for missions the traps aren’t as effective. But they are effective in the open world. In particular the fact the machines are animal adjacent means you are hunting wild life with that perspective. In other games the focus being a 6th sense feels like an afterthought. But here for being able to see enemy weakpoint/ study their week points etc, it feels natural.
My biggest critique with Horizon is gamefeel, and I know thats weird to say after glowingly bigging up the combat and tools . However in movement it is clear this game wants to make you feel like you are doing cool things but not that you are doing cool things. Lets take for example, the Tallnecks. They are a cool twist on towers , the fact they move and that you have to make a plan in your environment to figure out how to get on them in order to use them to open the map? Its great in line with the theme of the machines are to be tackled. Howewever when you climb them, the enemy machines stop attacking and getting up is just a scripted jump pattern. It looks cool (like the rappelling down too) but you are a bystander. That event reflects in what is a great idea for playing around with the world design: couldrons. It looks like a puzzle, trying to evoke that in terms of navigation but its just a hallway where you are being funneled to a boss fight in a unique setting. It breaks the monotony and gives you tools to override new enemies but in general it highlights that this game can try to make you passive in the actual moment gamplay.
As for story? I genuinely dont know where I stand. I have spent many a FaceTime conversation talking about it with one of my friends over the last few months and I can’t decide. You can frame Aloy in a couple of ways , as a true tinkerer, a curious person, not personable and a little brash. Those things make for a solid character but the way people treat her is odd. It is one thing for one person to hit on Aloy, its one thing for 2 but when it gets more than that for a person who is still learning to be around people it’s weird. In particular the dialogue wheel they give her is a bit weird in terms of framing her character. It feels like for a game about story, that the wheel for her interrupts the experience. However you can say that any interaction between her and Sylens is great both as just their abrasion causes entertaining friction. Sylens is a great foil to the story theme about knowledge. The story really goes in on the end about the importance of knowledge but that on it’s own it is not enough. I feel that theme runs solid. Do I care about anyone not named Sylens? No. Do I think the world is memorable? Eh. Traversal in this world is an afterthought. Its fine to look at but the journey and what you see isn’t gonna be something I hold onto.
This is a game with great bow combat and ranged tools, but just solid everything else. It makes me want to peep the sequel but I am not sure if I can really think this game supersedes it’s fellow Sony 1st party open world game, Ghost of Tsushima.

This is the best sound design I have experienced so far in gaming. From the moment you turn on this game, the way the sound, which is music less but is going on the feel of a skipping black and white film reel? It’s mixed for you to get so entrenched that games with great music dream of doing. That paired with just impeccable shadows? This thing is a mystical aesthetically and with indirect storytelling, it’s a prime example of what defining mood can look like in this medium.
This thing is that both the shadow aesthetics and sounds being only of the environment lend well to the puzzle gameplay. Certain puzzles that require timing can be estimated through great listening to switches/clocks when you can’t see them. Aesthetics cloak so much in shadow that it takes a perceptive eye to notice some features and it makes you feel clever when you discern what the level has been hiding from you. The game ability to continue to evolve and iterate on certain mechanics and introduce them in new ways is often endearing. The game is opaque and often trying to surprise you and can throwing you into near death on a moment’s notice . However the other side is that your penalty for death isn’t much, you don’t often have to redo much there is leniency and that often encourages you both to experiment and then just go to death just to see what the full components of the puzzles are at work. I think the thing that undermines the game sometimes is the physics. So the character is stiff and that often lends to the dread when you have certain moments with a boss. It unnerves you because you have to be pixel perfect. However there are certain puzzles that require understanding of momentum of the player and the physics with stiffness and some hitches in player control really made me feel that certain puzzles I couldn’t figure out without a guide . However the gravity puzzles were often great so the physical also have some boons. This is a great game.

Let me get this of my chests because there is truly one barrier to this game, its slow. Like seriously boss battles, long battles where you have w/o worry about how long it takes for animations to go , and that being affected by the ATB because actions always have a pause and mis-timing? Eesh. I feel that because I had to liberally use speed to grind and the other mods time to time because of the pacing or the need to grind, it would be insincere just to start waxing poetic. That being said, this is a marvel. Sentimental and consistently effective sweeping you away in just the fairytale tone of it all.

The timing in the ATB is unclear time to time but that often increases the tension of battles. The way that you develop abilities through weapons but have to decide which abilities because some are overpowered, its simple but was even effectively used to allude to personalities of the character beyond just the jobs they ideally represent. Zidane protecting girls ability because he is a flirty sleaze when you meet him. Steiner with cover because of how seriously takes his job. It added such an elegant touch to the growth system. The ways in which certain items allow you to play and change your strategy because you can’t have them all equipped? IO found myself on certain bosses making adjustments.

The cast is truly remarkable. Zidane, Dagger, Steiner, Vivi is the cannon party for how I played but even Freya and Eiko really deliver the story home. Even someone like Quina has sweet moments. Zidane and Daggers romantic subplot just truly warms you as they find a great way to weave the will they wont they into storybeats. Steiner love for job becomes challenged learning about corruption and that duty comes into conflict with another great side character. I think what I really want to emphasize with this game is that the storybeats aren’t accessories but really integrate into gameplay effectively. It feels weird to say that , it should be obvious but the way FF9 does so? WOO

We talking about everything in Burmecia and Cleyra . Freya gets so much character but the way battles happen in towns and how that affects your relationship to the people in towns and that certain things develop because of small choices or just building attachment to the city because of how they integrate tragedy in these places. The cities are not window dressing, events happen there, and that really creates an impact. Or story moments for example the fact that Dagger can’t cast magic because of a major storybeat. Or when Zidane has to reunite and how they have him staggering into battles to reconnect. It is so much about how turnbased battles allow you fudge the immediate environment in order to enhance the storytelling experience.

We also talking about just some of the most beautiful looking locales. Everything Terra related and disc 4 is just stunning. Everything in Oielvert. Like it bears repeating traversing these places and dungeons with some puzzles without a traditional set up in terms of theming is just a breath of fresh air.

FF9 is charming. It’s simple. It’s elegant. It’s heartwarming. The game closes its final act really reflecting on memories and who they belong to and if it matters where they start. Its through connection to others we tap in and learn other memories and through that we can begin to get back to the beginning. This game is heralded as a throwback to how FF started in tone, and its also the finale of Sakaguchi involvement with the series. The throwback to the beginning was an ending. We are left with a memory of what was but also of what is, and that is FF9 is special.

This is a bento box Kirby experience where not every piece of sashimi is as great, but the variety brings joy. It is clear that it is here when they truly saw Kirby as the supremely malleable character. No matter the subgame, mini game or genre, Kirby charm can work it’s magic.
In some modes it’s very simple it is a small miniature classic platformer levels on the other its maze like, Kirby truly becomes everything, EVEN A RAIL SHOOTER .
The design is way more open in terms of exploration the design about like where you’re going where your hand is showing it is so much about intuitive moment to moment what am I seeing where does it feel right to go and because Kirby is so nimble and agile in this game and that you’re always consistently encourage to switch up your power sets. It is because of those things like this is very linear adventure like Spring Breeze contrast pleasantly to a way more open labyrinthian experience like the great cave offensive.
In Great Cave Offensive you often have multiple different path trying to find bits of treasure and it’s only about finding a bit of treasures you want. I’m only found 13 on my Playthrough but it it’s that it challenges you way more in terms of paying attention to environmental decisions around like what do you need to unlock certain things remembering where things are please remember where certain power ups or place I’ll be able to go back that way but they look all over each other but you never know when you’re exiting or entry the new zone. Everything feels natural progression wise and all these boss is amazing. Can we talk about the dolphin boss? The dolphin boss splashes you in the middle battles consistently effecting you, therefore there is no rest mode because you will be interrupted and half to find your balance. This happens in the background and when he is side by side with you. Its great, and you build connections to some bosses because some give you situational abilities you can’t get from normal enemies.
When you defeat the beetle ninja and you get a Suplex but you don’t get the Suplex. When you kill Kawasaki you get the cooking thing will you literally don’t do anything but create health. ITS HILARIOUS AND CHARMING.
Kirby even does good storytelling, you have to beat Dynmax to get a relationship to the bird and the bird flies you to the great story experience that is Meta Knights Revenge. THIS IS KIRBY DISTILLED. I GOT BODIED CONSISTENTYL. I was forced to actually learn how to block. The bosses they through at you? Golly, and the sense of place they create with your location and you consistently seeing the meta knight crew . I mean you literally any moment when you get to a new part of the level you see how you destroyed the ship or getting closer and closer to this ship. Meta Knights workers talk actively about how Kirby is pushing; it builds a sense of how strong Kirby . It also ends with a dramatic sword fight with Meta Knighy better than the one on NES,
My gushing doesn’t stop, Milky Way Wishes shows up and perfects everything about group came offensive . I mean it you’re talking about really re-contextualizing what it means to go through mazes and purposes you saw there, you were finding treasure it was nice that the the layout of the levels weren’t as linear experience and treasure through diligent study of the enemy placements you would yield the treasure. Here though exploration is tied for you to find actual abilities affecting your moment to moment gameplay in a very explicit sense. You only have access to abilities if you find them, copying doesn’t work. This forces you to really connect to certain powers because you can always call upon it after you lose it. Therefore want to explore levels that are a little bit more labyrinthian and the desire to come back to these levels later to find different route based on different abilities that allow you go through certain paths is almost Metroid Vania-ish. I genuinely think these are the best levels in the game in terms of both level design in terms of exploration and going around and winding in bending and the most beautiful aesthetically it is the best .
Kirbys movement it is speedy it is comfortable in his navigation and the way that you develop relationships with particular all abilities and in particular because there’s no guarantee that you got a find all the abilities that you like and therefore you’re gonna have to make use of what you do find. I know I’m not 100% person but it made me feel like I look forward to doing this again particularly the Marx battle you are only going there with whatever you found. If you didn’t find any abilities to help you, your become stuck. It made me use abilities I never tried before . I’ve never use a plasma ability until this moment in time or bomb. I didn’t like like the bomb but it became more useful because when I got to Marx it was my best way to get distance hits compared to my reliance on a yo-yo in Main game. You get this Mega Man moment of switching abilities mid boss battle. You are changing abilities mid battle for moment to scenario use!! When I tell you I loved that fight? I did .
Kirby Super Star is an excellent game with a balance of whimsy and design choices where you will fall in love with the character more. It’s all compartmentalized, some flavors are similar, some are fleeting but some are everlasting.

What a phenomenal experience. Short and potent. The fluidity of movement?!? This is SLICK. The options available with different throws that are contact sensitive, the air combos that allow you to build meter better than normal combos. Normal combos that are constructed to perfect rhythm? Yess. These levels are REAL in terms of difficulty but definitely designed for repeat playthroughs to know them in and out. Several times with my colleagues we would get wiped, then aware of what’s ahead memorize and just play better knowing the obstacles a second time. The level of triumph at the last level once we figured out how the patterns evolve? It was like night and day. I am excited to play this with new folks continuously to see how possible the challenges are. I think the most surprising thing is that the vehicle sections and levels are actually awesome. It forces you to to change your play style and just some jaw dropping art set pieces. What I appreciate about this game the most is how much it wants you to relate to who you playing with. The fact that reviving somebody is you giving them a pizza? Gut busting hilarious. The fact that you can high 5 to transfer health which turns into a breathing room moment after hectic parts of levels checking on health and each other to share the wealth. You are consistently aware of what your friends are going through struggle wise and certain bosses require strong communication because you will get wiped out. It’s amusing who wins what award at the end of each level! It’s very Perfect Dark! What happens in the breathing moments is a ton of taunting to build specials. This rhythm of destruction, building meter and timing unleashing for crowd controls or minor armor is great. Having permutations attached to dashing and in air allows you to have options regardless of the situation. It’s a builds and crescendos. It’s great that different bosses require different patience and dodging that while the battles involve super management, sometimes you choose not to for situational reasons. The boss fights are truly the highlight, super memorable. I think something designed more unlockables or some limited use projectile to help vary the action would help raise this experience. Truly wondrous.

What even is this game? This is a game that is 100% trying to do too much. But what it nails is a GRAND SLAM. Less would be more to take what is amazing here to the next level.
DUELS, DUELS, DUELS. The crème de la crème, this is DESIGN. Seriously every opportunity you get to duel, be it in a side story developing side characters, be it mythic tales, or epic boss fights, these stand out. The mechanics around short stabs, or overhead stabs to deplete stamina to get better hits. The proper reading of timing of parryable or unblockable moments, its a dance, and importantly it tells you to be patient. To study what they are doing . The fact this is tied to either the most emotional moments of the game or to the stellar stories of fables gone by as you write your own? THey create the most beautiful stages and set pieces for these to occur. Everyone moves differently and they way people talk and share mid battle, that you can sense exasperation , sensational. However this isn’t a game about staying a samurai, but about abandoning the samurai principles in war. And that part of the game is not as stunning as this.
This game wants you to see that being an honorable warrior is so much of a disadvantage and that marries with the open world progression. The game is in 3 acts, and the more and more you adopt the title of ghost, the more tools of the ghost you get. That is ninja arts poison , wind chimes, sticky bombs, smoke bombs the gamut. These tools become necessary because the amount of mongols you face either in story missions or just general invasions are overwhelming. It creates the true feeling of an oppressive land and truly speaking to the work you have done. At the beginning when you don’t have much you rely on the stances that deal with different enemy types. In a flow state you are alternating stances(thank the designer who added slo mo so you can change and look at what’s in fron of you) to become more effective at different infantry mid swing. It can be amazing when you create a string of death. You feel like a badass but early on without tools it’s exhausting. But mirroring Jin’s need to become more savage, the more you develop your tools, you become so crafty and a one man wrecking machine. Its a great sense of progression, but it can feel like busy work.
The reason for that is because the world is … eh? Seriously its gorgeous, picturesque but man moving through it can feel like…. Time passed. Maybe because I got tired of the horse ride exposition story moments, maybe its cause the wall climbing is finicky, maybe its cause teh sense of movement in terms of paths is just not memorable. I would fast travel and stop exploring because, the things to see weren’t always an instantaneous moment to moment of newness or resource management. Fox Dens , pillars, the springs etc weren’t engaging enough consistently.
For about half of this game, I used to say it had not sense of space, or location etc. But I was wrong, everything about Jin’s home is truly memorable. It’s memorable because all the compelling stories happen there. I don’t think I would say that most of the supporting cast won me over, Jin, Taka, Yuna and Shimura hold their own. It’s really the people that give locations some memories , but none are truly adorned like where Sakais home is and thats a detriment to the game.
However it speaks to the joy of combat that none of these issues stopped me from playing. Like the thrill of combat, from standoffs to duels to even the ghost mode . its amazing and anything that took me away from that wasn’t a delight. I didn’t like sneaking. I didn’t feel like the tools to become immersed in shadow were strong . I love the wind chimes and hte ability to slow hear to visually get a sense of enemies far from you. But those and cover were the main tools, and it felt finicky to guess how people were seeing you etc. It left me feeling that if this game weren’t an open world but a linear game with dueling set pieces as the main feature, that this would be an all timer for me. Its a great game regardless, just the unbridled joy I got in this game was interrupted by everything else.

Subsumed. Immersed, but not immersed in a world, immersed in a thrill. EVERYTHING IS SPRAWLING, it barely lets, up. Where games would you pause, rest, the game just ante ups. If MOP vocal bombastic energy were in a game it would become Sin and Punishment Star Successor. Its just adrenaline , and more important you contribute to it. Where other games make you feel like you on a thrill ride, your skill affects the feel of the thrill. Its that dynamism that takes the things I loved about Sin and Punishment 64 but makes it more impressive. Consider how in stage threee its the gact that parts of the death traps are propelling towards you in asidescrolling part and the only way is to shoot it in between shooting the enemies. Like You are pushing against the stage itself. In stage 3 there is a boss around movement and destroying blocks like a puzzle game in between shooting back at a giant monster. The entire boss battle is this big set piece around movement. It’s sprawling, it can be exhausting and I admit my reflexes are slow, so while I say its hard to keep track of all the bullets, it changes not the feeling that the immediacy of jumping back in to beat the boss that whooped you ? WOO. You don’t sulk in loss, its one of my fave elements. One of the things I havevn’t decided if its too exhausting.

Like in between boss losses, I am putting down the controller trying to redo sole self. In terms of my hand hurting because I AM ALL THE WAY IN. And when I say dynamism bosses FUSE AT THE END OF STAGES. The Komodo’s dragon boss with the switch?!? That’s real design, you have to damage the environment, can’t hover in the air, then get normal shooting galleries in between. I am a sucker for a hell of a set piece where you use your environment to damage your boss. Any moment of a boss that just gets more and more subbosses? Like that amazing boss births two other boss fights! It’s unrelenting pace is immaculate. This game is able to string together consistent action that the frenzy is perfect.

I think that the only thing that failed the game is me? I could only play on easy so I know that ending boss wasn’t as amazing as other set pieces because it should feel more stressed out, but I def couldn’t step up to the task. This is def a game I would replay because the best bosses are mind bending, the dual boss you faced before the main boss? It asks so much of you, so much to attend to. You can’t let up. The game is smart to only let up to give you a fun shooting gallery. You totally forget that between the bosses the normal moment rail shooting is so fucking awesome, that you wish there were just a few more . This game only lets up, to let you catch your breathe to give it your all again. This game is spectacular, if it’s end sequence only felt as special as the first, this game would be perfection

Engrossed is the word that at best captures Abzu. What is an on rails light puzzle solving experience that is breezy to complete within 2 hours. Where the natural awe of what you think ar the mysteries of the sea? It takes you there, if what you seek is a visual fantasy escape? This is it. Seriously there are mediation statues for you to reflect as fish and them get lost in the moving of the fish, it helps that the visual splendor is pretty. It also helps that it weaves two play styles to make the push and pull of the short experience feel worth it. The small puzzle like areas where you have to explore to restore the old architecture etc, to pull levys. It is all about paying attention to the elements around you and that might require a sense of verticality etc. The other part of the game is the brisk on rail em vents where you are literally on rails and it feels like you catching streams of fish increase the speed, it feels like a sonic bonus stage. You don’t have to do any of that but just the actual satisfaction of the action is great enough I want to do it, similarly the ability to attach myself to any fish just because is nice but it gets tired quick and muddies up the controls. The controls are mostly solid, but the camera tends to interfere with exploration etc, I quit exploration because of the camera rather than not being interested most of the time, and that controls feel sluggish out of water as well. That doesn’t matter as much but it feels important to note. I also get the reason why they introduce hazards at one point for a story plot point but the design feels like it punishes you multiple times for minor mistakes and the controls being a little finicky for small movements made this design feel annoying. Its not unfair as you don’t lose health or die etc, but it’s enough that I wondered “WHO THOUGHT THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA”. This a tight experience, with pretty visuals but also likely fleeting that I don’t foresee that there is anything for me to hold onto. Its nice and thats good enough .

Every animal Buddy here is amazing. In many ways they are their own games. They change the feel and affect what puzzles you get. Their moves and properties are slightly different and then get modified by Kirby’s powers. It’s great and the biggest boon to this game. The minute I realized using rock with Nago the cat is drumming me and using rock with Rick is rolling? It changes your play style and that moment to moment gameplay change is what I love. Especially when you can carry powers in new levels from previous ones with previous animals not found in the new level. I wasn’t good enough to do that all the time but it was always a sense of success when that happened. Seriously can we just praise that using pitch is literally Kirby using him like a remote control ?!?! Gosh is this design work charming as hell.

I will admit , that the levels themselves feel not too memorable. Well let me rephrase the locals in the first 2.5 worlds aren’t anything I will remember but I will remember the objectives. See the additional piece that Kirby Dreamland 3 has is hidden objectives. At the end of each stage there is a person or item that will reward you if you did the hidden objective. It feels so rewarding if you did it by accident or just based on the level select icon you could figure it out. But admittedly so, it’s very esoteric. It gives them replay value , and you start playing with the eye open to look for moments or things that seem fishy. I like this more than collectibles (I mean you get a collectible but it’s not the same). Instead you feel like you are solving a puzzle than just being extremely skilled. I will say puzzles as worlds evolved felt more and more confusing, and I didn’t feel compelled to do 100%, but I can also see a small itch to try.

The detriment to this game has a lot to do with speed. Kirby is slow, and at first I felt that the critique that the game being slow was bad was unwarranted, I am starting to understand why they exist. In world 1&2 going T the speed/pace of Kirby movement is actually something that synergizes with the puzzle elements of the levels. I would go slowly and just kinda look for opportunities with the expectation that the game won’t be challenging in just completion. Instead going for 100% would be challenging . This worked until levels 3 and beyond. Certain obstacles to just finish the level without the puzzle required nimble platforming skills, and that felt like it was working against how Kirby moved. The animal buddies help increase the pace but sometimes feel like interruptions to certain platforming challenges . This Interference vibe persists with how I began to feel with the copy abilities by . The copy abilities outside of 2 of them really slow you down and the animal buddies open it up but in later portions of the game with more challenging platforming or more tricky enemy placement, it feels like going solo no power was not just viable but more flexible and rewarding.

Lastly, Ado is amazing. The final boss battles are challenging and memorable. This is a neat game with neat ideas with a stronger second half. However the nitpicks pile up and I can’t sense whether or not doing this again will be satiating , and 100% is not my thing.

The most taken for granted thing in Pokémon history is the fact that humans and Pokémon have amicable relationships for the most part. Dating back to Red Blue it’s not unusual to see a npc with an overworked sprite of a Pokémon, or see kids wearing Pokémon paraphernalia. I just take it as a given, and the remarkable thing about Legends Arceus is that the relationship is not treated as a given , instead humans are fearful of Pokémon . It then is as a result of your charting to complete the Pokédex, that you see the city resident's relationship with Pokémon change. You are actively making the human Pokémon bond happen, and it’s wondrous.
I don’t typically play Pokémon for any completionist sake. I am the person who felt that catching them all is a waste of time, and engaging with this game, I assumed I would have some disdain for the premise but by golly did the team really design a compelling capture mechanic and Pokédex filling system. The way the two work in tandem is this glue that keeps you going. The fact that you fill up the Pokédex by capturing many, seeing different moves, evolving them, feeding them, using certain types of moves on them , catching them in the morning or night etc is so engaging. There are so many parameters at work that any moment you see a Pokémon in the wild that most times engaging it is worth it. Beyond just the natural appeal of seeing new Pokémon, the act of trying to get Pokémon at specific times or to complete your pokedex, you will be rotating your team and always on the look out for Pokémon that you haven’t filled your dex information with. However, the one thing that this system runs into as a weakness? The fact that different species of Pokémon don’t interact or connect to each other.
What Pokémon did to make this focus on filling up the Pokédex fun? The act of catching. It is hands down the thing that I thought I would tire of but never got bored of. I was always trying to figure out give my resources that can affect Pokémon movement from berries to get them distracted to things like snowballs that would make them dazed how to get the best opening. Then I would have decide which poke ball is best for the job, is the pokemon flying or in the water? Use the flying types. Did my apricorns daze them, use the heavy ones. If its neither use the traditional ones. The actual feel of the trajectories of these balls is PERFECTION. It felt snappy and satisfying to throw. Lets not forget to acknowledge the use of stealth items through crafting or how the ball trajectory becomes even more tantamount on the water mount?
I remember starting the game and seeing the act of crafting these balls and thinking, I will get tired of this. I never did, the consistent rhythm of traversal through world gathering items, finding new Pokémon and using optional grass to hide in and ambush them, the process of how mounts slowly add more verticality and exploration to previous explored hubs, compounding the loop of gathering and finding? The loop never got tiring, and would always feel fresh because the way attempted adventure was based on what you saved in your bag at that moment. Thats an accomplishment.
The only thing that is weakened by what is an impeccable system around catching is that sometimes I don’t want to battle. I like battles, I like that the group battle elements come back from Sun and Moon. I think if they did the recruiting element from Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby it would be even better. I like that you can alter your speed or strength once you master a move. I love that alpha pokemon in the wild and trainer battle pokemon will use those chains against you. However, the act of battling is not as satisfying as catching. I want these battle system ported to traditional mainline but something about the process feels inferior to the catching mechanics. I don’t think just reintroducing the items and abilities is the answer, I love those things but battling needs something a bit more.
This review reads like gushing, and honestly it is. I went in with a resistive mind, I been on record saying I don’t want Pokemon to be open world or integrate those elements but I can’t help but think what they nailed here leans into elements of open design I often besmirch. I want my gyms and competitive for sure, but the things done here are wonderful. It feels like the end of an era in terms of storytelling style, and world design. I like the smaller scale implied storytelling, and it works but I feel like to emphasize the relationship between Pokémon and humans going forward, it will require so much more. I will miss this era of Pokémon, but the things accomplished here are so tantamount that I can’t help but wait to see how it’s implemented in a style of a game thats more my speed. The fact that Pokemon made this game so close to my speed is sensational. Obvious warts in terms of visuals and custcenes are here, but I don’t care. The way the spheal rolls, timing jumps of Basculin from the water to slo mo jump catch Pokémon and have that feel better than any bow combat I touched in my life? The triumphs are here. Its missing that Sun and Moon charm and the classic Pokémon structure… but you can never expect where it actually goes, its great to feel like I never knew what was next. I am excited to jump into the post game when time provides. Highly recommend.