One that comes alive on a speed run.

Even though I missed its 2 hour timer by seconds, it was exhilarating and plays to the movement in the gameplay. I recommend trying that at least once.

I didn’t particularly enjoy otherwise, straying (no pun intended) from the main path in some areas is frustrating with a lack of a map and signposting not the strongest. But all of this is negated when trying to barrel through the game and it becomes a fun ride.

Dripping with some of the most potent ‘just one more round’ energy I’ve seen in quite some time.

Found myself grinding in this with little rewards being offered by the game systems… other than the pure joy of finding new tactics to use between ever weirder hero combinations.

Easy to pick up compared to Firaxis’ Xcom titles and yet offers modest challenges in some encounters. You can paint yourself into a corner in one or two battles but never jeopardise your overall game. These become joyful puzzles to solve, not roulette spins of 50/50 shots to take.

Writing is hit and miss but when it gets it right, truly delightful throwback to 90’s Marvel that seems to have been washed away post MCU. Fans of that era well served with their chats amongst the Abbey’s characters, the dlc characters become some of the best.

I was really looking forward to this game and it pretty much delivered on all fronts. The story, characters, and battle system are all great!

I do have a few nitpicks so let’s start with those. First of all the backtracking can be annoying in this game, and while it gets mostly fixed later on they could have included more short cuts in the world map. Second I feel the battles are a bit too easy and a difficulty setting or increased challenge would have made me like this even more. My last complaint is with the post game. Now since it’s optional it’s not a big deal but requiring a collectible that they don’t tell you is a big deal and is easy to miss is a pet peeve of mine. You can’t unlock the final secret dungeon without it, which is a bummer so I’ll have to do that next playthrough.

Now the good! As I mentioned the story is fantastic and very well done. It has lots of twists and some great surprises that generally shocked me. The characters do a good job of showing personality especially Garl who was my favorite.

The battle system is Super Mario RPG mixed with Mario&Luigi which is fantastic. I also love all the different combo skills and ways to unlock them. The graphics are beautiful as well and I really like the boss designs especially.

Overall a great game that I will replay and can’t wait to see what they do next