My playthrough of this game was a Randomized Nuzlocke, my starter was fucking Salamence and I had a Milotic with 64 PP on Splash which I used to stall out a Smeargle until it Struggled to death

The sheer awe this game made me feel as I was playing it goes unparalleled to this day. Having said this, exploring Maridia without the Gravity Suit was quite the struggle.

This game is a genuine soft reboot and I commend it for taking a new, more narrative-focused approach to a lazy formula which has been senselessly run into the ground over the years. It's a shame it presents us with such a lacklustre story and region after raising our hopes of answering some age-old Pokémon questions, especially when the new regional Pokédex manages to be a reimagining of Gen 1's while also keeping its own distinct personality after Gen 4 rounded out that of the first 3 gens.

My classmates told me they wouldn't play this game because they weren't as good at maths as I was, bro I'm just addicted to swiping numbers to the top left-hand corner there's no "maths" to this shit

This is Metroid 4, the sequel to Super Metroid. It fucks.

For better and worse, the Torna expansion is the fundamental womb of Xenoblade Chronicles 2, one without which it can't be fully appreciated. This prequel of sorts contextualises its more focused take on the base game's gameplay and lets the player delve into the psyche of some of its most splendid characters. It establishes a critical thread to latch onto for players salvaging for enlightenment, since Xenoblade Chronicles 2 presents its themes with the most subtlety of the whole Xeno series.

The initial and final sections of the game do a great job laying down the bedrock and having you break through it during the climax in Tourian, respectively. These are unfortunately tarnished by the fact that the bulk of the experience consists of bumping your head into walls (to the sound of some equal parts galvanising and grating 8-bit music).

This game single-handedly turns the charming, quirky, unpolished poltergeist of Mother into a different yet just as magnetic, fully fleshed-out brother from another mother. It somehow became the least Mother (it's more about introspection and wonder than it is about love) Mother game in doing so, so it's very becoming that it's best known by a title as befitting as EarthBound. Its otherworldly sequel made this game feel grounded in comparison, but its magic ain't any less groundbreaking.

Yo There's A Card Which Uses Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon As Fusion Material?!

In casual play, there's barely any situation in which you would rather be controlling anyone not named Dixie. Other than that, it's an absoltuely sensationally crafted 2D platformer on all fronts. Playing co-op all but calls for a radically different course of action, it's good fun but not in the snappy way singleplayer Donkey Kong Country is. I'd like to pick it back up and 100% it one day.

The first half or so of Hoenn is pretty great, the rest of the game just doesn't do it for me. Gen 3 is the best when it comes to Pokédex and we got new Megas, that's something. By far the Pokémon game I've put the least hours into.

I'll take Hornet's second fight over Nightmare King Grimm every day of the week

White noise. This Metroidvania was so waywardly gargantuan the backtracking loop was often stretched past its breaking point, which made exploration feel like a chore (to the point that I shelved it for a whole year), even with the smart map mechanic and some sporadic sharp sequences. I find the combat pleasantly clear-cut, whereas the traversal of its infectious nest pales in comparison to that of finer honed games. Whet your blade too thin and its edge won't surface a nail, but a needle.

I got the Phione but gave up on getting the Mew halfway through the process so most of my Pearl Pokémon have been stuck inside this WiiWare game for the past 12 years

This game felt more Smash Ultimate than Smash Ultimate and it still does, even when back in the day I didn't know the extent to which that would turn out to influence me. On top of that, I was fascinated by the stage builder. "Haaaaiii!"