I played most of this last year and got distracted, but today I finally finished it.

Honestly, this game is excellent. Nearly every moment, boss and level is completely fun. Mechanically it's as simple as every other Kirby game is, but it feels the best to play in the entire series. I'd argue that this formula (which I'll call the Mario Odyssey formula) works even better here than it did in Super Mario Odyssey. 3D Mario games are great, don't get my wrong. But I love my 2D Mario. And I love this 3D Kirby.

The length is appropriate for what it is, and there's a good amount of extra content should you want to see it through 100%, gather all the collectibles and blueprints. I personally didn't do everything, rather I just beat the main story path while doing most of the optional side worlds.

Overall I loved this. Such a fun, easygoing time that I can see myself revisiting in the future.

Played via Game Boy on Nintendo Switch (THANK YOU NINTENDO)

So it's no surprise to me whatsoever that this game is a fun time. It's classic Mario gameplay on the go that I'm sure I would've loved as a kid. What sticks out to me here is the level design and how much fun the developers had with it. There's a space level, a graveyard level with little Jason Voorhees-inspired enemies, and of course it introduces Wario. For that alone, it's an important game.

I think the primary reason why I didn't completely love this is the gameplay isn't as tight as a lot of other Mario games. Mario is floatier with his jumps and slower when he runs and I'm sure that has to do with the hardware limitations of the original GameBoy. As cool as this game is, it definitely is not the best way to experience pure Mario gameplay, in my opinion.

Still, it's totally worth playing and I had a good time with it. (It's also very easy)

I think we can all agree that Tango Gameworks are now in a higher echelon of game developers, easily up there with their brethren within Bethesda publishing, and Xbox Game Studios. I never really got into The Evil Within, but I really liked last year's Ghostwire: Tokyo. What a different game this is.

Hi-Fi Rush is commendable in many ways, but particularly in its polish, fluid gameplay, art design, world building and its rhythm. I mean, just look at the game! Look at the world. Watch everything move in rhythm with the music. It's cool as all hell. It's lighthearted, full of charm, and fun to play.

Regarding the combat, I found it satisfying but only to a degree. Although it makes total sense within the confines of the game, I did find that altering how I would normally play an action game like this to adhere to the game's rhythm a little fun, but it took some warming up to it, and I think I still would've preferred playing my own way. Still it's so cool that combat is synced up with the rhythm of the music. I actually had a lot of fun with the platforming elements of the game, and preferred that to the combat. I also really liked the mechanic of summoning your friends in battle.

I found the story and the characters charming, much like the rest of the game. I wouldn't say I was super invested, but I still liked it. I was really in this for the style and fluidity of it. It's a really impressive game, no doubt.

What a cute, fun little game this is. I've never played a Pikmin title, but if the gameplay is similar to this, then I gotta get to those games.

I just had a lot of fun, platforming around the cleverly-designed levels, and using the tinykin you find and free to unlock new areas. I know some have criticized the art but I personally didn't mind it. I loved the soap bar you could glide on, and then the rails you could unlock to traverse around more easily.

I think this game is a very appropriate length for what it is and doesn't outwear its welcome. Overall, I had a lot of fun!

I can't believe it took me this long to play this. I've owned Killer Instinct on SNES since the mid-90s. Well, my brother did, but the copy has been in my possession for a while now.
I was really glad to see that they kept the banging theme song from the original, albeit a bit remixed.

I really enjoyed watching the opening cinematic and learning about the lore and the characters. Apparently in this game, Fulgore isn't the same as the previous one, he's an upgraded version since Jago killed him. Orchid killed Eyedol and it caused a time warp and all the characters went back in time 2000 years. How dope is that. (But where is my dude Cinder????)

Anyways the game is alright. The combat frankly isn't as good as the first. Movement is more stiff, combos are harder to string together and I was getting my ass kicked by the computer pretty frequently. I like the art of the levels and the characters. Overall I'm glad I checked this out and it served a good dose of nostalgia, but I definitely recommend playing the first one.

In its structure, this is very Mega Man inspired, and that's a good thing. I was able to complete this in just a couple of hours. You complete a level, defeat a boss and then select what level you'd like to go to next, all while acquiring power-ups called chips that you can equip to enhance the gameplay.

First and foremost it feels fun to play, even if I wasn't completely good at it. I think its action is a bit better than its platforming, which was probably the most challenging aspect for me. Then again I'm sure I suck, so what do I know. The art and the style really shine here. The game has gorgeous pixel art, with its environments and enemies and in that regard was a joy to play.

Although this is similar Iength to a Mega Man title, I felt this could've been a little longer. I also think the dialogue between the characters could have been a little better, but I liked the story, I like the vibe. I think it could've been great but instead its just very good and definitely worth playing!

Wow this was hard. Full disclosure, I completed this on SNES via Nintendo Switch and I’m not sure how I would’ve done it without the rewind feature!

Overall I’m glad I saw this through because the platforming is fun. I remember watching gameplay of Donkey Kong Country 2 at a neighbor kid’s house a long, long time ago and remember thinking it looked so cool. I’m looking forward to getting to that one.

Overall I enjoyed my time with this one and there’s not too much to be said other than I didn’t quite love it though I appreciate it for what it is.

After the incredible drop that was this and Wild Arms 2 on Playstation Plus Premium with trophy support it was a tough call which one to go with first, but ultimately I went with The Legend of Dragoon and I was not disappointed. This was my first time playing it and I really enjoyed it.

This had its hooks in me pretty much from the beginning, though I must admit the dialog took a little bit to get used to. The English translation here is not highly regarded and I understand why. Nearly every line ends with two exclamation points (!!) and some of the lines are a bit ridiculous. But part of this game's charm is it is unrelentingly a JRPG. I know that term has been a hot topic as of late, but I mean it in the most endearing way possible. This checks all the boxes of JRPG greats and does it with love.

As far as the narrative goes, for the most part I was into it, but towards the end I did kind of start to trail off. Overall I did still enjoy it though. It was cliche in the right ways. I enjoyed the characters, and the journey they went on. My only knock is that Shana is a pretty terrible character. Her emotional arc is paper thin, and she's hardly a person outside of her connection with Dart. However it's a complaint I can set aside when it comes to my enjoyment of the game.

The combat system is a lot of fun. I will say that I'm glad I had a rewind feature for this because I missed a lot of the button prompts that come with attacking, so it was great to go back and do it until I got it right. I like the dragoon mechanic but I do wish there was a way to switch back and forth from it so long as you had enough SP, because once you turn into a dragoon you're locked into it until you run out of SP, and you can't use items while you're in it. Aside from that frustration I still had a great time with the combat system. I'm glad that in today's day and age, turn based RPGs still do well. I know some people aren't a fan of it but when a game like this does it well, it's just so much fun.

Another frustration of mine was I felt that the amount of items you could carry was too low. Maybe I'm alone in that, but I was constantly having to manage my inventory and sell off or discard items just so I could have a comfortable amount of healing and reviving items. I made it work, though.

Overall if you like JRPGs this one is absolutely worth playing. It has a banging soundtrack, cool and interesting environments, fun characters, a good story and combat system. You can't go wrong!

Platinum Trophy #126
Platinum #2 of 2023

As I do with games that I pick up and drop shortly after, I'm not gonna rate this because I didn't see enough of the game to give it any kind of fair rating.

But this is just not for me. Souls-like as a genre is not for me. I wish it was, because they are just massive right now. You boot one up, create a character, get dropped into a world and get destroyed. I just lose my patience with these games very quickly. I'm not curious enough to learn the mechanics. I'm not curious enough to explore these worlds. These games don't represent why I like games and why I play.

This is extra disappointing for me because I quite liked the demo. I like that it isn't as slow, heavy and trudging as a From Software title. I like that it has a jump button! But that's about it.

Just absolutely excellent.

I always had a bit of a complicated relationship with Resident Evil 4. I still think it's a great game, but it was a turning point in a series I really loved that was for the worse. A heavier emphasis on action was introduced here and Capcom took that ball and ran with it in future titles and I always blamed RE4 for being a negative catalyst.

To put it very simply, this is better in every way than its original because it's just so fun to play. Capcom has something really special with the RE engine and with the direction they've taken this series lately. There's a good amount of weapon variety and with this game being so focused on action, it makes you feel powerful and like you have choice in your encounters.

I like the story and the characters . I'm a Leon guy (I still love you Jill) and in particular I liked what they did with Luis. I remember in the original being really annoyed with Salazar and thinking he's a bit lame, but I thought he was a little better here.

Really though the highlight for me is the moment to moment gameplay. It's just constantly a ton of fun, a little scary and a little strategic. I do think Leon's movement could be a little improved, but it's more or less the same argument someone would have against tank controls in the original. They're not the most intuitive but they invoke challenge and suspense. His movement is a bit slow, and you can only really evade on QTE prompts and I suppose I would've liked a little more control over him, but I got by fine with what we had.

Overall, I still think RE2 is the best of the series but that's just my personal opinion. However this remake succeeded in making me a bigger fan of RE4 in general, and has helped me in understanding the degree of reverence it has.

I think this would be a perfect 3.75 rating, but for the sake of my experience with this game I decided to scale down with my rating instead of up.

I did enjoy my time with Like a Dragon: Ishin, but to varying degrees throughout my time with it. I think for the first half or so I thought it was great, with a compelling story and setting and themes within. Like other entries in this series I played, I loved a lot of the side tasks (although the quests were mostly just fine). I liked the new environment and time period this was set in because it felt like fresh territory in the series.

The combat is fine. It allows for variation with different styles and weapons but more often than not I stuck with the same one (swordsman) while occasionally messing with brawler. Boss fights can be fun, but aren't always, and the random enemy encounters really become grating after a while. Some of my favorite games of all time have random battles but for some reason here I would roll my eyes or groan whenever one popped up, especially in my last 5-10 hours with the game.

The narrative I felt became more uninteresting as it unfolded, as I found that I checked out probably around chapter 5 or 6 or so. I can't exactly pinpoint why I stopped being into it. It just wasn't grabbing me I suppose.

A major reason this got bumped down half a star is because of some design decisions I found frustrating, particularly near the end. I won't spoil anything, but there's basically a point of no return (like there is with a lot of games) as you gear up for the final boss. So I utilized the warning and went to go find a vendor that sells Deluxe Vitality Pills so I can stock up and be prepared, only the vendor wasn't there. Welp. That was annoying. So, the final part of the game I would willingly let myself die if certain battles weren't going well, so I could regain my health and start over in hopes that I can manage it next time around, knowing that I must save what little items I have left for an inevitable, tough final boss.

Anyways overall I'd say its worth playing especially if you're a fan of the series, but I wouldn't consider it anywhere near my favorite of the series.

I enjoyed my time with this cute little game. It has really nice pixel art, some cool characters, an interesting story and there are many cats and other animals you can pet along the way. What's not to like? It's basically an adventure game, with puzzles and QTE events to progress throughout the game. It has cool environments and a lot of charm. If it sounds like you'd be into this game, then I recommend it.

Side note, this is the third game in the past few months that I've missed out on the platinum trophy because I missed a stupid collectible. I follow guides but somehow I end up missing something cuz I am a dummy. It's all starting to make me feel jaded on trophies in general.

Anyhow, fun game!

(EDIT: I went back and played through a second time and got the platinum. I was almost defeated but NOT THIS TIME. ^_^)

Platinum Trophy #127
Platinum #3 of 2023

It's a little tough to completely judge this version of the game due to its stark differences to the original version, in regards to both its visuals and its quality of life elements. I would imagine this version is a lot better than the original, thus making it harder to go back to.

As it stands, its a very good game, obviously having laid the foundation for the definitive JRPG series. I enjoyed my time with it quite a bit but I know that after a certain point, the franchise only gets better from here. So when comparing to the likes of 4 and 6 and beyond, it pales a bit in comparison especially when there really isn't a focus on narrative.

Still it was a lot of fun to play this with much better graphics and settings. Onto Final Fantasy II!

Platinum Trophy #129
Platinum #5 of 2023

There's a lot of things I like about Final Fantasy II but they won't really outweigh the frustrating parts. The game's story is pretty decent, a definite step up from the first one. It introduces having the protagonists be actual characters rather than just blank slates. The learning system is...interesting. I could see why they thought it would be an alright design decision back in the NES days but its not something that holds up at all. The leveling is easily my least favorite in the entire series so far. I'm really not sure why it is the way it is but it helps give the game an identity.

I still liked it but I don't see this as a FF title I'll revisit any time soon.

Platinum Trophy #130
Platinum #6 of 2023