First things first, a whole chunk of points off for one of the most frustrating tutorials I've ever experienced.

Once you get full freedom, however, it's every single bit of Pikmin charm I hoped for. I love this series, I always have, I hopefully always will. As disappointed as I am that the later games moved away from the harsh timer of the first (as well as the loneliness), the core experience is so very satisfying, and this game is just polished as you can always expect from Nintendo.

My only other gripes are that it feels a bit overstuffed with some bits of content (though, one is my favorite thing they've thrown in in a while!), and the game is clearly designed around splitting your attention between yourself and Oatchi, which I've always found more stressful and less fun than only having Olimar to control.

But by and large, this is exactly what I wanted: more Pikmin, fun areas to explore, treasures that make me smile, and a gorgeous, charming, complete experience. The first credits scene caught me offguard with how early I hit it, but my final play time, completing all tasks, came in at 40 hours, which I was more than happy with.

Man, Journey was a phenomenal game, wasn't it?

This one's on me, I went in with expectations that'd it'd be something else, much more mechanically or puzzle driven. As it stands, Jusant is charming, gorgeous (both visually and aurally), evocative, mysterious, and relaxing. The story does
unfortunately hit that uncomfortable middle ground where there's too much (well crafted!) detail around the edges for how slight the core of it is.

All in all, I was just left wanting a bit more substance, but the style is very well executed. In a game about climbing, it's a real sin that the question was never "What path should I take?" It was always "Oh, is it really that straightforward?"

Finished in one session, about five hours, getting the majority of collectibles/secrets, but not exactly dallying.

On a moment to moment level, terribly fun and engaging, but the more time I spend with it, the more my frustration grows.

Malfunctions are generally either meaningless or ruinous (especially when it can be entirely beyond your ability to fix), attacks can hit you from across the room or phase through a wall (with warning, yes, but hard to parse in the moment, especially if you're dealing with other chaos), the tracking of certain enemy attacks feels overturned in speed and/or accuracy, and worst of all, they've admitted the team didn't have a shared and cohesive vision of the story. There's a big difference between intentionally crafted ambiguity that allows you to take the meaning that is meaningful to you, and just throwing a mish mash of aesthetic ideas that look cool together. On top of that, runs are bit too long for how many times they want you to repeat this experience, the idea of actually unlocking all weapon traits or logbook entries is exhausting. I really wish they would have halved the biome lengths, especially if that would have allowed them to add another act.

But, despite all of the above, again, it's very fun!

Astonishingly accurate in so many ways. Like I was whisked back it all. Someone who worked on this must be my exact age.

Obviously, this will vary wildly, how real and/or annoying you find all the various characters, but I found myself seeing the reflections of people I knew so quickly.

A bit of a bummer to look behind the curtain and see how it pushes you to replay the game, but by and large, I was happy to watch that "Emily is typing" message blink, with nervous anticipation and excitement.

I enjoyed, but wasn't entirely sold on Axiom Verge 1, and for very different reasons, that's where I land on 2 as well. The art was a constant treat, and the exploration was largely satisfying and interesting, with only one point where I felt truly stuck as to where to head next. In addition, I felt so much less of a need to run my weapons over every wall in order to discover hidden blocks, which was a huge frustration I had with 1. However, the story is chopped off frustratingly suddenly, and the weapons, and therefore combat as a whole, are far less interesting and varied here.