KOTOR is obviously a product of its time. The controls are clunky, and the graphics are severely lacking by modern standards. But even with those flaws, Bioware manages to tell a timeless and thrilling tale that fleshes out the world it takes place in. KOTOR challenges the almost Buddhist philosophy of the Jedi Order, but it challenges the self-serving ways of the Sith just as much. Humans don't exist in a simple duality, and KOTOR acknowledges that. These ideologies are omnipresent in all of KOTOR's plot threads and character interactions, and they give us an applicable perspective on the real world as well. KOTOR is the kind of experience that can be discussed for hours on end. It has a memorable cast of characters, a thought provoking narrative, an amazing soundtrack, and a vast and expansive world. KOTOR is a standard for what story driven RPGs should strive to be.

Fucking play this shit.

It's an evocative and compelling character-driven political drama dressed up as a paper and pen RPG with elements of a visual novel thrown in. It challenges the player to make the correct decisions while rewarding them for making accurate deductions. Great for fans of mystery.

At the same time, DE doesn't really hold the player's hand. It expects the player to be able to extrapolate the right information at the right time. On top of that, it's got stellar character writing with amazing sound design and voice acting, as well as a unique visual style that sets it apart from other games.

Disco Elysium is a perfect example of how a video games can tell thought-provoking tales in a way that no other other mediums just can't.

90% reading, and the core gameplay is all menu-based. Avoid this if that's not for you.

If I could describe Pokemon SwSh in one word, I would call it paradoxical. At times, it can be plenty of fun, but the main campaign is dreadfully boring. Some of the battle animations are rather intricate while others are disgustingly bland. Places like Wyndon and Ballonlea are actually quite pretty, but the Wild Area is filled with muddy textures that belong in a game from three generations earlier. The overall plot is downright atrocious, but some of the ideas presented had immense potential. Considering his motivations, Chairman Rose could have been a sympathetic and multi-faceted antagonist, but the writers made him cartoonishly evil.

Ultimately, I play Pokemon because I'm a pretty dedicated competitive player, but that doesn't mean I don't want the actual games to be good. The absence of so many old Pokemon is still extremely annoying, since I'm forced to pay for Nintendo's Home Subscription just to keep my old buddies alive. And to add insult to injury, Dynamax, the latest generational gimmick, is the most nonsensical one yet–– even if it's really interesting in terms of its impact on the competitive scene. But its mechanical aspects could still be kept the same without making the latest gameplay addition something as ridiculous as giant Pokemon.

But I don't think any of those issues are quite so egregious as the biggest problem yet. Pokemon SwSh could have been amazing games. The potential was all there, but for some reason or another, the developers have given us the most underwhelming Pokemon games to date.

If I could describe Pokemon SwSh in one word, I would call it paradoxical. At times, it can be plenty of fun, but the main campaign is dreadfully boring. Some of the battle animations are rather intricate while others are disgustingly bland. Places like Wyndon and Ballonlea are actually quite pretty, but the Wild Area is filled with muddy textures that belong in a game from three generations earlier. The overall plot is downright atrocious, but some of the ideas presented had immense potential. Considering his motivations, Chairman Rose could have been a sympathetic and multi-faceted antagonist, but the writers made him cartoonishly evil.

Ultimately, I play Pokemon because I'm a pretty dedicated competitive player, but that doesn't mean I don't want the actual games to be good. The absence of so many old Pokemon is still extremely annoying, since I'm forced to pay for Nintendo's Home Subscription just to keep my old buddies alive. And to add insult to injury, Dynamax, the latest generational gimmick, is the most nonsensical one yet–– even if it's really interesting in terms of its impact on the competitive scene. But its mechanical aspects could still be kept the same without making the latest gameplay addition something as ridiculous as giant Pokemon.

But I don't think any of those issues are quite so egregious as the biggest problem yet. Pokemon SwSh could have been amazing games. The potential was all there, but for some reason or another, the developers have given us the most underwhelming Pokemon games to date.

This is everything a remaster should be. The visuals, gameplay, soundtrack, and even voice acting are vastly improved from the original Nier, which was already excellent on its own. The deeply compelling narrative and absolutely sublime soundtrack become even better, all thanks to the various improvements that come with the remaster. But the icing on the cake is the new ending, which ties into Nier: Automata. If you haven't played the original Nier, play this game. If you have played the original Nier, play this game.

Pokemon Legends is an incredibly fun game with some really great battle animations, but its story and core gameplay system are far too much like those of Monster Hunter. And the graphics in Legends are incredibly sloppy. I don't like that a lot of moves have been removed from this iteration, but the moves present look good, so I can let it slide.

(Casual players can ignore this paragraph. This is for hardcore fans and competitive players only.)
The EV/IV system has been reworked into a much more beginner friendly one, which is fair, since the previous system was almost excessively complicated. The new system is akin to Gen 2's EV system, but with IVs removed entirely. In their place are Effort Levels, which are levels from 1-10 that can only be raised with certain specific items. That means no more EVs from wild Pokemon, but I actually think that's a good thing, since you won't get any EVs you don't want. IVs are still present, but all they do is determine a Pokemon's starting Effort Levels, which can be anything from 0 to 3. If this translates over to the main series, then it will make creating competitive-ready Pokemon vastly easier, encouraging more new players to join the otherwise unforgiving competitive scene. This new system does, however, make me wonder how Effort Levels will translate into EVs/IVs when Pokemon from Legends are transferred into Home. Furthermore, I would like to see a hard cap on the combined sum of a Pokemon's Effort Levels. The 512 EV limit forced players to strategically considere how to invest them, but allowing every Effort Level to reach 10 eliminates that element of thought. I think a cap of 24 would be reasonable, since it's a nice round number that would allow for two stats to be maxed out completely with one more having a level of 4, somewhat akin to how many competitive players go with the 252/252/4 distribution. We'll just have to see where it goes from here.

(Back to the review)
It seems like GF was trying to keep costs low in case it flopped. Hopefully, the mostly positive reception and strong sales numbers will let them continue this line of games with more polished content, a bigger budget, and much more time. As it is, Legends is a solid foundation for what's to come in the future.