oh man. not the greatest game of all time but shit, it may as well be. feels emblematic. not just the Most video game but above and beyond the video game. there's just an astonishing amount of things to do in this and none of it is bad. there's so much REASON to engage with the world, and so much reward in turn.
eat at a restaurant to restore health? good news, you can become friends with the cook as she learns to become more confident thanks to your compliments. want to blow off some steam with an arcade claw game? good news, there's a sad little girl outside in need of toys and a father figure. bowling? WIN A CHICKEN WHO CAN MANAGE YOUR BUSINESSES.
impressive doesn't begin to cut it. both kamurocho and sotenbori are vibrant, bustling, real and living cities with dozens of things around each corner. the substories that present themselves are uniformly excellent for both protagonists, whom I've not even begun to talk about, and these stories gave me hard laughing fits till tears fell... as well as moments of pure, moving, tenderness.
this is close to a 25 hour game and yet my first playthrough ended with 107 simply because I seriously wanted to engage with everything. sure, I found myself grinding certain aspects, and if you're going for a literally full completion you're gonna have to grind some more, but I never wanted to turn down any of these experiences.

and that's not to mention the main story itself. certainly what elevates it, I think, it's unbelievable how many twists, turns, and spins are thrown at you and yet they're all natural, believable, and more importantly SHOCKING. this thing gets thrilling on so many levels. all over a small plot of land. what unfolds is exciting, infuriating, tragic, all at once. even when there's an air of predictability as to where things may end up, the execution is undeniably masterful.
if there's literally anything to fault this game on it's just that it's a minorly taxing experience. long cutscenes and the need to pay attention to subtitles means you have to stay engaged. even then, fuck it, that's all on me. I was happy to keep playing, happy to come back, even if it took me time. completing this felt like the end of an era and yet it's the start of something entirely new.

both kiryu and majima have superb balancing, hardly a bad thing to say about either. if there's an award for what who does best then I'd have to say kiryu wins on: character writing and dialogue, substories, kamurocho is also better to navigate; but majima wins for plot, character, and fighting styles. there's that much to compliment these guys on that I'm entirely forgetting how much more I can list.

really just a blessing to finally beat this and already looking forward to replaying because I WANT to get every achievement here. already looking forward to playing the next game. and the next. and the one after that. it's rare that a game can infiltrate my top 10 so fast (tied for 7th?), but wow, I don't think I've ever had this much to say about one like this. good time!!

my first kirby game! was told it's a good place to start and man I just don't really get the appeal beyond really cute sprite work. obviously intended as a more casual experience for a younger demographic but this is literally just far, far too easy and not an especially rewarding experience, even as a de-stressor. any half decent power (sword or laser) and you can clear a way through just about anybody, if you're even bothering to fight them because it's just as easy to just... float past. it's nice! I did enjoy it, just not a bunch

somehow slipped my mind to log this one -- think it would be an easy slip for the best entry in the season one canon, and probably still is, for its excellent use of high and low stakes. it juggles and achieves a whole lot, the issue is it's just slightly too long; or paced a little too badly. all of the events are good, but there's maybe one too many. even then, what do you cut? it's maybe more symptomatic of the telltale formula, or the gameplay limitations. not quite as emotional as the first episode but I'm pretty sure this is the peak.

would've been tempted to go the whole half star higher and said it's better than Spyro the Dragon (and I'm still kind of leaning that way anyways?) but there's just that slow subtle drag across those last few levels that had me rolling my eyes just a little to finish. love it all the same though -- this isn't even a proper sense of nostalgia talking but it's pretty astonishing how I remember most of these levels top to bottom (more or less) from when I was like... 6 years old? I can't imagine I ever replayed this after 12 at the furthest possible stretch and that's still a good almost 14 years to forget. I just can't I guess!
Agent 9's levels all suck major ass and I do think the isometric approach doesn't benefit the hubs by much but this is a great game. would happily play again, whether in a couple weeks, or another 14 years. but I should probably take this as my cue to play Season of Ice, which I never managed to play before

yeah yeah I get it we like boss fights
Gael and Midir are all timers, Demon Prince I can see the argument for too, but are we just ignoring the total waste that is the Dreg Heap?? the huge swamp at the base of the titular city? it's definitely an improvement over Ariandel no matter which way you wanna cut it but I'm pretty over the notion of having great bosses do the heavy lifting for areas at this point. looking into the lore relating to these two DLCs there's plenty of cool, exciting, fascinating even, things to note but I don't think it's translated into the gameplay or design as well as it could have been. there's a better sense of exploration and I love the aesthetics of the Ringed City, not to mention everything revolving around the climax, but something like the Dreg Heap is just too indefensible to ignore; easily one of the worst areas in any of these titles.

sorta bad; maybe i'm being harsh but this really only exists for sister friede. she's definitely among the best fights in all of dark souls 3, maybe in fromsoft history, but it can't carry a world that's never fun nor rewarding to explore with one other boss who's almost certainly the worst in the game. it's easily beatable in about an hour's time too. playing this much later so I'm nonplussed about the original price tag but I imagine it's a legitimate cause for concern. the lore that this game develops is interesting but far too obfuscated to properly engage with in the moment -- especially as a set up for the ringed city dlc. on an entirely personal issue I just can't stand the blood loss inducing fly creatures. i'm squeamish enough already.

pretty easy to think i've soured on souls titles whenever I think about them and yet they're always just so, so good to play and revisit pretty much whenever. I know there's a lot of discourse (or whatever word you want to use) about DS3's linearity, designs, whatevers, but I think it's still top to bottom an excellent experience. definitely inclined to agree that it's lacking somewhat in some of its levels, it's hard to be fond of any of the areas, High Wall excluded, before the Catacombs of Carthus; but the sense of exploration and discovery throughout is really underrated. artistically, I think it's also got such a fine sense of aesthetics and graphically I don't think any of their games have looked as good as this one does. as a side note, it runs and looks amazing on a steam deck and the pure playability of it is what made me pick this up again.
even as a critic of fromsoftware seemingly putting too much attention into boss fights rather than overall experiences as of late, I really can't deny that this has pretty-probably the best roster out of their Miyazaki titles. even the less good ones (I don't think even a single one of them is BAD) are memorable and I'm never rolling my eyes walking through that fog door.
If there IS anything to criticise, I think there's just too much fanservice and callbacks to the original Dark Souls. even with that title being my favourite in the series, I can't help but think a lot of these references are lazy at best. as another nitpick I think this is the most difficult one to get every achievement for other than DS2 and I'm not really looking forward to trying to do it.
but yeah, just such a playable, engaging entry. traversing a location like Lothric Castle is evidently great level design with its shortcuts and there's a really strong sense of progression and strength as you continue. the implications of an area like the Untended Graves is just as thrilling as a lot of these boss fights. never feels unfair and it's short and breezy enough to enjoy casually. can't help but love it.

worth noting that I'm replaying this for the first time in, like, 6 years and experiencing this as the definitive series version on steam deck, so any thoughts relating to experiencing the game beyond story and writing will be saved for that one big log. also gonna be spoiling!!

hmm! went into this remembering it as my favourite of the first season but now I'm really not sure; was also shook to see that this is the highest rated behind only the emotional closing 5th chapter.
basically, after replaying, I think that this has such a great, great, finale and juggles scenarios very well, but I'm kinda shocked by the very harsh turn into instant assholism re: lily and larry. obviously both were gruff to say the least in the previous chapter but you could get the warmth out of them yknow? here there's little reason to CARE about larry's health and it sort of cheapens such a huge decision. following on that, I'd actually chosen to help try and revive larry (despite knowing everything) because I'd believed it's what I'd do in that situation and there's no chance to go easy on Kenny afterwards. It's an honest understanding that the writers can't keep up with that many possible dialogue options but this, coupled with the sacrificed depth, just has me thinking it's not quite up to the same standard its opening chapter set. especially considering the more tedious gameplay here in rebuilding swings and fixing generators.

still think this one does a fantastic job of really getting the twist to linger as long as it does before an excellent dramatic moment, the decisions have a lot of weight and I REALLY like the food rationing at the beginning of the chapter. it really adds onto the sad, bleak atmosphere chapter 1 creates. it's rare to see any post apocalyptic fiction hammer home the issue of low food supply like this one and sets up one hell of a hitter with its final decision and eventual payoff.

worth noting that I'm replaying this for the first time in, like, 6 years and experiencing this as the definitive series version on steam deck, so any thoughts relating to experiencing the game beyond story and writing will be saved for that one big log. also gonna be spoiling!!

but man, despite remembering every single beat of this I'm kinda taken aback by how good it holds up. characterisation is insanely good; Lee, Larry, Carley, Kenny, Lily, all feel like such strong, deep characters already -- all performed incredibly well and carry a lot of weight. I like just about everybody anyways, but there's some genuinely impressive stuff between these guys.
the decision to deal with a suicidal woman does feel like it has a real emotional impact to it -- one of the dialogue options being "God bless you"? it's just sad. really easy to empathise with Lee and his family situation too, I dunno, that kinda thing just has gravity now that I'm not a dumb teenager.

it's still a little labourious, I do dislike how anti-streamlined this is to get through for someone replaying it, with the pre-pharmacy stuff really feeling like an introductory running on a tad too long, but it's definitely worth it overall. excited to see how I find the rest of season one now.

worth noting I have the original We Love Katamari at 4.5 here, not that I'm docking it any points for being more or less the same game (like We Love Katamari isn't just Damacy again anyways); but I can't really perceive any proper reason to play this over the PS2 release; feels pretty identical with little graphical or mechanical upswing. felt like a slightly more tiring experience this time too?
I could be wrong, but either way, as previously expressed, more or less the platonic ideal of a video game. love it all the same.

my hot take is that this, with file#2, is probably my favourite entry in the resident evil series. it's entirely in the adaptable, exciting, varied, scenarios and character experimentation. each scenario has its own pros and cons but all are distinct and memorable; with jack's bar being one of my favourite experiences in all of gaming. there's undeniable nostalgia involved but I don't care. and that opening cutscene!

but to rank them:
jack's bar, as mentioned, perfect momentum and tutorial
the hive, atmospheric, great threat
hellfire, really excellent concept, frustrating with too many loading screens and maze-like layout
below freezing point, always simpler than remembered and my favourite iteration of the umbrella labs, but I just never actively wanna play it yknow?
decisions decisions, hot take but not hot on these puzzles, the poison, or boss

with this said, yeah, all are great and knowing file #2 is arguably even better? excited to replay it this year

logging after finishing the campaigns, wow they're short, and playing about 5hrs of multiplayer; mostly only considering the war stories in my rating because hey the multiplayer is a lot of fun -- love the immersion this game grants and there's lots of exciting opportunities with all of the destruction physics. the campaigns though are a mixed bag, simple and short but a little lazy too. they're obviously intended to introduce the gameplay aspects of the multiplayer in a less intimidating way to a newcomer. but these cutscenes are either just not well written and performed or so bare minimum. and with some missions of the stories being literal minutes long it's kind of a shoulder shrug.

the immersion and core experience carries for sure, I like this game a lot and if I were just considering the multiplayer I'd be rating it higher probably. good game though, seriously