dertdobber
2015
So since it's Valentine's Day and I have nothing better to do, I am going to write a review for Huniepop, which I just finished earlier today.
Overall it's a pretty fun game, with puzzles that get more challenging with each date (regardless of which order you do them in, for instance you can have maxed out one girl but the first date for another will still be harder). These puzzles feel very reminiscent of mobile games like Candy Crush, but since I haven't played those I'm not sure how similar it is. This could very well be another Puyo Puyo/Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine situation where it's copy & pasted from another game, and I wouldn't know. I can say however that my experience with these mechanics was pretty enjoyable.
I liked how you could invest in certain stats to make the puzzles easier by spending time with a girl. This visual novel side of the game certainly has its charm, but wears thin pretty quickly. After your initial introductions it ultimately amounts to asking questions about them, remembering what you've already asked, and remembering the answers to those questions (aka checking her profile every time you talk to her) and eventually you will reach the point where you're just doing it for the resources so you can make your next puzzle easier.
Speaking of resources, there are also date gifts that you can receive from giving the right items to a girl. What you receive, however, is completely random. I kinda hated that because there was a specific one I started to really want towards the end but could never seem to get. What these do is very important though, as they're arguably more useful than the stats you level up. You can have up to six with you on any given date, and they let you manipulate the board in a number of ways, like turning one type of token into another, giving you more moves, making a certain type appear more often, etc. These are great, but I wish there was a way you could choose which ones you wanted to buy instead of having them be random, especially when you have a limited inventory meaning that you can receive date gifts you've already thrown out to make room for items you'll actually use.
It probably goes without saying but this game is best enjoyed if you're in a horny mood already. Going through and maxing out some of the girls I wasn't as interested in was probably the most boring this game got for me, so try not to let it feel like a chore. Just go in with the right mood and a lighthearted mindset to best enjoy the often silly dialogue, the puzzles, and most importantly your "prize" for completing them.
Overall it's a pretty fun game, with puzzles that get more challenging with each date (regardless of which order you do them in, for instance you can have maxed out one girl but the first date for another will still be harder). These puzzles feel very reminiscent of mobile games like Candy Crush, but since I haven't played those I'm not sure how similar it is. This could very well be another Puyo Puyo/Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine situation where it's copy & pasted from another game, and I wouldn't know. I can say however that my experience with these mechanics was pretty enjoyable.
I liked how you could invest in certain stats to make the puzzles easier by spending time with a girl. This visual novel side of the game certainly has its charm, but wears thin pretty quickly. After your initial introductions it ultimately amounts to asking questions about them, remembering what you've already asked, and remembering the answers to those questions (aka checking her profile every time you talk to her) and eventually you will reach the point where you're just doing it for the resources so you can make your next puzzle easier.
Speaking of resources, there are also date gifts that you can receive from giving the right items to a girl. What you receive, however, is completely random. I kinda hated that because there was a specific one I started to really want towards the end but could never seem to get. What these do is very important though, as they're arguably more useful than the stats you level up. You can have up to six with you on any given date, and they let you manipulate the board in a number of ways, like turning one type of token into another, giving you more moves, making a certain type appear more often, etc. These are great, but I wish there was a way you could choose which ones you wanted to buy instead of having them be random, especially when you have a limited inventory meaning that you can receive date gifts you've already thrown out to make room for items you'll actually use.
It probably goes without saying but this game is best enjoyed if you're in a horny mood already. Going through and maxing out some of the girls I wasn't as interested in was probably the most boring this game got for me, so try not to let it feel like a chore. Just go in with the right mood and a lighthearted mindset to best enjoy the often silly dialogue, the puzzles, and most importantly your "prize" for completing them.
1998
For the series' first outing, Mario Party tried a lot of ideas and realized that many of them were no good. Anyone familiar with later titles will find many of the decisions here baffling, which in some ways makes this game feel incredibly unique.
The two biggest problems this game has for me is it's boring yet frustratingly designed board layouts, and the amount of unbalanced minigames it has. You may have fun with this game (except on the joystick rotating mini-games, you will never have fun with those) looking at it historically to see where this series began, but don't try to get too competitive with it because this game probably has the least strategic elements of any pre-Mario Party 9 game.
The two biggest problems this game has for me is it's boring yet frustratingly designed board layouts, and the amount of unbalanced minigames it has. You may have fun with this game (except on the joystick rotating mini-games, you will never have fun with those) looking at it historically to see where this series began, but don't try to get too competitive with it because this game probably has the least strategic elements of any pre-Mario Party 9 game.
2012
This is an incredibly ambitious game from a technical standpoint and features some pretty fun core gameplay on display, but hardware limitations and several design choices greatly dampen the experience.
Let's start with the technical limitations because this seems to be pretty agreed on from what I've seen:
While the use of the 3D slider is a great showcase of the feature, a lot of the spectacle of the flight sections is greatly diminished by being on such a small screen.
Then when it wants to be a 3D action game/third person shooter the camera is far too limiting and the movement often too stiff or awkward for the environments. I think it works best when fighting large enemies in arenas where you can dash around freely and track your opponent.
The dynamic difficulty system is something I've never liked in Smash's classic mode after Brawl, and I was hoping that I'd like its implementation a little bit more here with the inclusion of secret areas only accessible on higher levels, but sadly it has all the same problems. Rather than giving me the chance to learn enemy patterns the game simply gets easier for me upon death. It's so unsatisfying to have the game rob me of the opportunity to overcome a challenge unless I replay the entire level. Only thing I liked was how it would suggest a setting.
The story was also a bit of a letdown as well. There's some very well designed and likable characters in this game, but I found myself feeling very mixed about the dialogue. A lot of it is charming banter while much of it feels too self-referential in a Boost Era Sonic kinda way. The plot also cannot seem to stay focused. You never know what new element will be suddenly introduced at the beginning of a chapter. The main villain gets revealed and then suddenly you're fighting someone else, so you do a few chapters fighting against that army but wait! Aliens appeared, so we all gotta team up against them!
My favorite part by far is the Chaos arc. If the majority of the game had the tone of Chapter 18, I may have loved this story. I also really liked a moment towards the end where Dark Pit confronts Palutena and Viridi to make them admit their blame in all of this conflict.
If anything I think this was a strong proof of concept that if they tapped into to what worked and left out a lot of what didn't, this could be a truly special franchise for Nintendo. With a stronger narrative focus and better hardware, this series definitely has potential.
Let's start with the technical limitations because this seems to be pretty agreed on from what I've seen:
While the use of the 3D slider is a great showcase of the feature, a lot of the spectacle of the flight sections is greatly diminished by being on such a small screen.
Then when it wants to be a 3D action game/third person shooter the camera is far too limiting and the movement often too stiff or awkward for the environments. I think it works best when fighting large enemies in arenas where you can dash around freely and track your opponent.
The dynamic difficulty system is something I've never liked in Smash's classic mode after Brawl, and I was hoping that I'd like its implementation a little bit more here with the inclusion of secret areas only accessible on higher levels, but sadly it has all the same problems. Rather than giving me the chance to learn enemy patterns the game simply gets easier for me upon death. It's so unsatisfying to have the game rob me of the opportunity to overcome a challenge unless I replay the entire level. Only thing I liked was how it would suggest a setting.
The story was also a bit of a letdown as well. There's some very well designed and likable characters in this game, but I found myself feeling very mixed about the dialogue. A lot of it is charming banter while much of it feels too self-referential in a Boost Era Sonic kinda way. The plot also cannot seem to stay focused. You never know what new element will be suddenly introduced at the beginning of a chapter. The main villain gets revealed and then suddenly you're fighting someone else, so you do a few chapters fighting against that army but wait! Aliens appeared, so we all gotta team up against them!
My favorite part by far is the Chaos arc. If the majority of the game had the tone of Chapter 18, I may have loved this story. I also really liked a moment towards the end where Dark Pit confronts Palutena and Viridi to make them admit their blame in all of this conflict.
If anything I think this was a strong proof of concept that if they tapped into to what worked and left out a lot of what didn't, this could be a truly special franchise for Nintendo. With a stronger narrative focus and better hardware, this series definitely has potential.
This is the game in the trilogy I have the most mixed feelings about tbh.
It has the most fun and customizable gameplay, while the main story took a long time for me to care about. However, it could be argued that the main story isn't the appeal here, but the memory doors.
This game doesn't really advance the plot so much as it focuses on giving insight into the main cast of characters, of which there are 16 this time. This development is relegated to optional content via memory doors. They're good, but they can also really break your pace.
Essentially, this is less of a conclusion and more of an epilogue/interlude to the next arc of the Trails series, with the story being more of a journey through Kevin's character which I'd say was handled well. Though the pace only really picked up once enough was revealed.
While I'd say Kevin got a lot more interesting as a character in this game, I still wasn't thrilled with him as a protagonist, and I don't care much for Ries. I'd planned to give this game a lower score but the cast's development is too good and the end got me pretty emotional.
It has the most fun and customizable gameplay, while the main story took a long time for me to care about. However, it could be argued that the main story isn't the appeal here, but the memory doors.
This game doesn't really advance the plot so much as it focuses on giving insight into the main cast of characters, of which there are 16 this time. This development is relegated to optional content via memory doors. They're good, but they can also really break your pace.
Essentially, this is less of a conclusion and more of an epilogue/interlude to the next arc of the Trails series, with the story being more of a journey through Kevin's character which I'd say was handled well. Though the pace only really picked up once enough was revealed.
While I'd say Kevin got a lot more interesting as a character in this game, I still wasn't thrilled with him as a protagonist, and I don't care much for Ries. I'd planned to give this game a lower score but the cast's development is too good and the end got me pretty emotional.