Lovely, endearing, and earnest. Brought me back to the simple, inquisitive mentality of a kid without being infantilizing. It's a nostalgia bomb, but in a way that feels honest, pure, and celebratory of a moment in life as opposed to just pandering to your memories.

After the initial novelty wore off, I actually became a bit bored with the slow pace and lack of objectives until eventually getting into the groove of the core gameplay loop. At first I was under the impression that the game was just about meandering around the island, relaxing and doing whatever until all of the days pass. What I came to find though, and what ultimately hooked me on the game, was that there's a large focus on time management and making the most of each day before you have to go home (a la the life-sim portion of modern Persona games for example). I thought that a totally laid-back island sandbox experience was what I wanted, but after a few hours I was much happier to find that there is some tension-and-release gamification here through the time management and exploration.

Boku 2's action-less gameplay is made compelling by rewarding your exploration with excellent writing and atmosphere. Every character you meet on the island is likable with distinct personalities, motivations, and struggles that they'll clue you in on more and more as you visit them over the course of the month. While Boku 2 is a game about a child's experience and is written in a way that makes you feel as such, the dialogue is also incredibly realistic and willing to touch on heavier topics. I especially enjoyed Yoh and Yasuko's arc about overcoming their anxieties to rekindle their lost friendship. The writing helps make the game world feel so lived in, and the gorgeous still-camera locations + immaculate sound design seal the deal (I wanna live in Yasuko's observatory house so bad dude). Even the UI elements are made to be real-world objects further adding to the immersion of the island.

I love the way the game tickles your curiosity, hinting you towards things to find as you explore. A character may mention an item they left somewhere or an area you haven't been able to access yet offhand in a conversation. This is always in a way that feels natural; never feeling like a generic NPC pointing you towards an objective in a different game. Finally reaching these foretold areas or figuring out a secret and being rewarded with a delightful story event is where a lot of the joy of playing this game comes from. It delivers the sensations of freedom and discovery akin to other great exploration games like BotW or Outer Wilds (albeit with much lesser scope of course, but that's kind of the point).

Boku 2's a thought provoking game. It made me think about how I spend my time and cherish my days. It gives you a place where you feel a strong sense of belonging and only need to stress over whatever goals you set out for yourself. It made me think about what's important to me and simplifying my life. I loved that a portrayal of such a simple experience as going on childhood vacation made me this reflective.

If you resonate with its writing, it's an absolute banger. It's one of those games that feels like such a personal extension of its creator. Like a mishmash of Toby's sense of humor, favorite games, and feelings. It's got touching moments, endearing characters, battles that'll get you amped up, story twists and turns, and it's the only game that's made me laugh out loud from start to finish.

The gameplay's also remarkable. Fusing bullet-hell with its battle system allows Undertale to overcome the turn-based RPG pitfall of over-repetitive, mindless fights. Every enemy type has a distinct attack pattern and the bosses go totally off the wall with them. It's got a top 10 video game soundtrack of all time too. I only wish that it was longer.

It's like a 7.5/10. Very solid all-around, but not a lot of new ideas beyond the movement. The traversal, combat, and level of polish are great. They totally nailed the swinging; it's the best part of the game. The structure tho has all of the cliché open world tropes and the MJ stealth sections are boring. The good here far outweighs the bad, but really the only unique things it has going for it in a sea of similar AAA open world games are being able to swing around and beat up dudes as Spider-man (which admittedly are a lot of fun).

This game's seriously on some magic pixie dust shit, go play it. The vibes are immaculate, the combat is a ton of fun if you get creative with its open-ended systems, and its open world is the best I've ever played. Its breadcrumb trail exploration gameplay loop is engaging as hell and Hyrule is so densely crammed with content that you never run out of breadcrumb trails. It's so elegantly designed. You can really discover everything just by looking around instead of following a marker on a map. BotW's not flawless (merely serviceable story, samey dungeons and bosses), but what it does well it does so well that it's easily a masterpiece.