Kirby games are just different, man.

Is it kind of ass to play? Sure. I'm not really gonna write home about this one in any capacity. Maybe within the grand picture of Kirby I can at least say this one is "different", but that's as far as my praise really extends.

All you're really gonna find here are some cute visuals, good music, and a gameplay loop that's tired out as soon as you discover there's really only, like, 4 abilities worth having.

With that being said, I can't be mad at this guy. I mean, look at him. Whenever he sets off on a mission he looks so happy. Who am I to try to take that from him? I'll probably keep playing games starring him just to keep seeing him be happy.

Maybe I’m a victim to marketing, who knows.

For what appears to be the last game in the series, I was surprised to see how moved I was from just seeing how these games have evolved over time. It's odd watching something you played because it was free (when you were, like, ten) turn into this. I think growing up alongside something makes you susceptible to fond feelings for it, and that’s the case here. Returning to Momodora was a really great time for me.

It goes without saying that this is one of the prettiest games of the year by a mile, at least at the time of writing this review. I think that’s become something Momodora is known for, and it’s well deserved. Every environment has a certain character to it that I can’t quite put to words well. I enjoy that sort of thing.

I’m fond of the gameplay changes made. I found it less difficult than Reverie, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The sigils felt fun to find, and to some extent I experimented with all of them by the end of the game’s runtime. The movement isn’t the most pristine thing, but it’s generally fun to explore each environment, and I never felt like I was too slow to be having fun doing so.

While it lacks the depth of other examples within the medium, the narrative isn’t necessarily boring either. While it’s aided by the visuals, I did feel connected to what was going on in the world by the end of things. This could be a biproduct of playing every game in the series, and I could easily see someone playing this game and shrugging off the story entirely, but it resonated with me. To avoid spoilers, I’ll cap this by cautioning you to not go into this one expecting the same bleak world as Reverie. This one is more about hope than anything else.

Anyway, it’s a damn good game. With games such as this one the worst part is that, by the end of it, I don’t have anyone to really talk about it with. If you read this review, play the game, give it five stars, and then discuss it with me. That’s your mission. If you’ve already played it, you have permission to be my friend.

This was the first of the Shantae games I had played way back in early-mid 2018, when I had been randomly compelled to try out the series and became her number one advocate for a Smash Bros. inclusion, which... :(... but oh well. I think this is easily the one everyone should start with, as it's not as frustrating as the first game, yet nowhere near the polish and style of the later entries. It's a valuable playthrough if you're hoping to get into the series yourself, but I wouldn't blame anyone for skipping it to play Pirate's Curse instead.

Admittedly, Risky's Revenge is not quite as good as I had remembered as a kid. Dungeons are all pretty bland in design, sluggish to traverse, and the world outside of those dungeons can be rather barren. Shantae herself doesn't control the best either, her hair attacks always carry the long windup and cooldown whether she's fully upgraded or not. It's not terrible, especially for being only her second (...third?) outing, but it's not easy to come back to after playing the rest of her series. I couldn't help but think about how much more I'd be enjoying Pirate's Curse or Half-Genie Hero throughout my playthrough.

i'll also admit that i tried to play the first game before this and gave up after a short while, so hey, Risky's Revenge is definitely a fine improvement.

ff8 is a game that is very hard for me to compile my thoughts on, but i thought i might as well try now that it's been a bit since i've finished it

i can get 8 not being somebody's favorite final fantasy, but this is such a beautiful piece of art to me that it feels like most of the game's bad reputation is just a mass gaslighting campaign perpetuated by early 2000s gaming magazines and kept alive by people who are scared of earnest emotionality in their video games. not everything that happens in this game is necessarily logical and it does have its flaws—the main antagonist is good but far from the series strongest and the disc 2 twist, while not nearly as bad as anyone has ever made it out to be, is delivered a little bit clumsily—but i feel like that's in service of being such an emotionally resonant game that it can barely be seen as a downside. the story of squall and rinoa is so beautiful to me in a way that so few love stories between a man and a woman can be for me and there were multiple points where i started to tear up a bit just because of how much i loved my experience with 8's story and characters.
when it comes to ff8's gameplay the junction system is unironically one of the few times that the atb battle system has been even remotely enjoyable, and while it isn't as strong mechanically as materias from 7 and the tutorials conveying the system in game aren't the best, i think it's a bit sad how having to engage with the mechanics differently is enough to put people off to the game's combat. with just a little bit more time in the oven and an audience more willing to engage with change, the junction system would probably be one of the most celebrated battle systems in any square enix jrpg with dickriders at the level of smirk and press turn from smt, and maybe in general final fantasy 8 would be more celebrated for the amazing game that it deserves to be seen as.

also gunblades are raw as shit and are by far the coolest weapon that any square enix game has ever had don't @ me

Slaps the teeth out of Joel Last of Us's mouth when you don't have a bitch in your ear trying to tell ya otherwise.

Sega Rally Championship's legacy was a boon when it came to asking major companies to throw money into their own psuedo-simulation rally racing games, because I can never get enough of that modbogging feel of maneuvering a heavy car around obstacles and hearing my suspension smack into the ground over numerous bumps and jumps to the tune of disgusting guitar riffs echoing through the alpine mountains. A big difference between Rally Cross and it's Sega-alligned counterpart is how absurdly bouncy the cars feel, it's a constant struggle to keep yourself adjacent to the ground and to not send yourself tumbling through a corner. Huge tip if you are playing, the shoulder buttons not only flip yourself right back up, it also helps keep your wheels on the ground when you take a hard corner.

Shoutouts to me as an idiot child who played the demo decades ago, and sat there at the starting line not knowing how to shift out of neutral.

Despite an obvious inspiration, Rally Cross survives as it's own feel of slower-paced rally racing with imaginary cars named "44 monkey" with an emphasis on keeping control of your vehicle rather than just going fast. I am but a creature of chaos, thus I am drawn to chaotic vehicles, whether they fire missiles or bounce like their tires are full of gummi worms. Maybe Sony should have a dedicated rally racing game again, I think that'd be cool. It would also be cool if they shot Jim Ryan out of a cannon too instead of handing him that cushy retirement after 900 people got laid off, but alas!