Bloodborne may have the hardest early game difficulty than any FromSoftware Soulsborne games. Central Yahrnam may come as a confusing labyrinth of multiple layers for first time players, and the two bosses that inhabit it are some of the hardest bosses in terms of early game (the boss arena for both being particularly unfavourable to the players doesn't help either). But it doesn't feel "unfair." It is very punishing, yes, due to vials and bullets being consumables that don't recharge, but it is a hurdle that can be overcome. Unlike Dark Souls 2 where both the character growth system and the early level design actively forces the player to have more difficult time than they should, Bloodborne instead is expecting the players to catch up to it.

And when the players do catch up, it's a marvelous experience. The action is fast, tight and balanced just right to constantly reward the aggressiveness, but also punish going too far. That may be the general way of things in other Souls games too, but what Bloodborne does is that it allows the player to dance on that fine line between in a tighter sense. It expects a lot from the players, but it also rewards a lot. And there are plethora of smaller ways that the game offers to knock down the difficulty without making it seem like it takes away the agency from the player. It is a meticulously balanced game, and its level design takes the best of Dark Souls and Dark Souls 2 DLCs.

Breath of the Wild had four powers that were largely independent from each other and worked to accomplish specific tasks. In a way, these four runes were basically the tools of the older games where you obtain one by one to solve puzzles. The fact you were given all of them at the beginning, while I found it great, was a controversial choice since there was a limit to how many new mechanics the game could introduce to the player later on.

Tears of the Kingdom's main four powers (Ultrahand, Fuse, Ascend and Recall) are not even in the same ballpark in terms of their usability. An entire game can be made just with one of these powers. Tears of the Kingdom not only have them all together, but frequently encourages the player to use all of them together, in an open world that is expanded basically three times compared to its predecessor. And it has dungeons, which are great, and each dungeon also has that "tool" you get to use in puzzles, like older Zelda titles. Then there are Zonai devices, and half of those are basically tools from the older Zelda titles. The possibilities are staggering.

This is the first game I actively searched the end credits for the person who was in charge of the programming team (Takuhiro Dohta was the technical director and Takahiro Okuda was the programming director), because I still can't fathom how this was possible. Like, you use Ultrahand to raise a plank and hold it up there, then Recall once you let it fall so it goes back in the air, then Ascend to that plank suspended mid-air??? Like, how does Recall even work?? How does my Switch run this without exploding? And how did they design the game so that it's not just a technical marvel, but actually extremely fun to keep on solving problems for hundreds of hours? Aonuma said in an interview that they took one year to debug this game, and I don't even know how one year was enough.

Breath of the Wild was a masterpiece, but it still felt like it was a game that could exist in 2017. Tears of the Kingdom is something else, I don't even know how this game even exists. This game is from the future, and I don't even know it will be a future in our timeline considering how every big publishers keep churning out unfinished live-service shits nowadays.

DiCaprio Pointing at the Screen: The Video Game.

Jokes aside, what a terrific experience for the fans. It's somehow full of content, actually pretty sizable, and has some mindblowing moments for fans and good lord, I can't believe they pulled that in chapter 5. And the gameplay loop from the main has only improved to support this wild ride (pun intended).

I was hoping it to be as good as Torna, but after playing, Torna was a goddamn amateur time compared to this.

Judgment is a weird product. Both its strength and shortcomings are from the fact it's inherently tied to the existing Yakuza series. It is also a game that tries to be different but also similar to its parent franchise. Result is an experience that is inconsistent, but nevertheless endearing.

Judgment was initially pitched as a J-Drama series, and it shows. The story is an amalgam of court drama, detective mystery and yakuza noir, with each genre working well with the other to present a consistent story that is quite rare from the studio. All the main casts give stellar performances, including Kimura Takuya, whose previous voice work in Howl's Moving Castle was met with much criticism despite his seriously impressive filmography. His performance absolutely carries this entire journey with incredible confidence and command, with some emotional scenes genuinely being the best acted scenes from the entire RGG franchise. The writing is witty but never too light, especially when it comes to sensitive subject it deals with, and the way it culminates at the end is immensely satisfying. It is a story that is rooted in the RGG universe but fundamentally different, and it succeeds precisely for this reason.

What is disappointing is that the gameplay is not as consistent as it should've been. Much of the newly added detective gameplay mechanics (investigations, trailing missions and chase sequences) ends up very repetitive without showcasing anything novel. You only need to do one trailing mission to realize it is annoying and extremely shallow, but you are forced to do it a lot more. Same goes for the chase sequences, which are mostly just Temple Run-esque gameplay with overused QTEs. Investigations are never interesting as they are in actual mystery games, and the rare moments where you actually present evidences in an interrogation, it is far too simple to be even compared to something like Ace Attorney. As a detective game, it is quite lacking, though handling various side cases (the "sub stories" of this game) as a detective still provides the usual fun that RGG games offer.

Then there is the combat. Despite boasting two impressive-looking movesets across two combat styles, the actual combat falls flat because of how enemy AI is designed. Most of the stronger enemies and bosses have automatic dodges and are able to automatically block your attacks mid-combo, and the way to break their guards are often incredibly inconsistent, resulting in a combat that feels utterly frustrating. The bosses also often have very little tells in their attack, meaning that much of the gameplay boils down to abusing rage mode by pressing R2 to face-tank their attacks. This admittedly was also a problem in Yakuza 6 as well, but unlike that game, because now the game's enemy AIs feel much closer to those from infamous Yakuza 3, the rage mode and heat actions are the only ways to reliably inflict damage on the enemy. What's worse is that the game also has "mortal attacks" from the enemies, where if you fail to dodge it, they inflict significant permanent damage to your HP bar that can only be fixed by spending money to an NPC who also happens to reside in the most secluded area of Kamurocho. The enemies that are easier to deal with, there is one move that you can spam to quickly dispatch them, meaning that combat is either using the same overpowered move over and over again or not being able to properly attack as you want due to unfair enemy guards, patterns and dodges. Add in the fact that the game frequently forces players to deal with the annoying Kehin system where the map has more random encounters with signficantly stronger enemies, the combat is sadly the most frustrating since Yakuza 3.

It is still a very much an RGG game, however, with all its quirky charms. Kamurocho as an open "world" is still one of the most lively one out there, there are a lot of side contents for you to enjoy, and when it clicks, it clicks hard. At the very least, this is the most consistent story and storytelling from the studio--I would even argue that it trumps Yakuza 0 in that regard. For all its faults, Judgment is very much an interesting departure-extention from the Yakuza series, one that I hope continues.

As someone who was not entirely impressed with Nier Automata, this remake/remaster/version-up of the predecessor is a pleasant surprise. I really didn't get the craze behind Automata's story and lore, but this is doing that for me.

One thing that grabbed me from the start is that Its story is almost instantly engaging. It has very easy to understand set-up: your younger sister is sick, and you go on an adventure to find the cure. Of course, it reveals a lot more later on, but it has a rather simple and straightforward concept that is easy to be immediately immersed. It also has a lot of side quests that expand the lore quite a bit, some with really fascinating stories, reminding me of some of Yakuza series' sub stories. Of course, it also has tons of fetch quests, but they are mostly ignorable.

It also has a combat system that is actually not floaty and shallow. While its tutorial system could improve, the actual combat allows and encourages you to freely swap weapons in the second act, while magic is nicely integrated with the fast-paced action. The parry system can be a handy tool when you get used to it, and the dodges work as you would expect as well. Charge attacks are key here, giving more options and weight to the whole combat. The camera could use work, but it's not too terrible either.

What impressed me the most, however, is the world structure, even though it's pretty small, even as a 2010 game, is full of clever homages to older classics (such as Zelda and Resident Evil). Yes, the actual level design is pretty dull, but the way story telling is done (an entire "dungeon" that's just visual novel?) and how the world is incorporated in it is the game's defining strength.

I will have much easier time going back for other endings than its successor, for sure.

I have no nostalgia for the original game, but I can say making this into a run-of-the-mill modern military shooter did not do the remake any favours. The controls just seem impossible get comfortable with--and I don't have general disdain for motion controls, in fact I loved Metroid Prime Trilogy and Splatoon is the only console shooter I can even play online only because of its gyro aiming. But more so than that, they simply made a linear console shooter without understanding Wii's hardware. Games like this simply does not work on standard definition because aiming becomes unnecessarily difficult when in sub-HD. I can't see anything when everything looks like the same bloody pixel. The stealth sections become as painfully repetitive as the firefights, there is very little room for any kind of tactical maneuver (I mean, you don't even get a hand grenade), and most objectives are either boring or downright frustrating. Shows that once again, modern military shooters only really work if they can put so much budget into production value to distract the players that they aren't really getting anything novel.

Played the Trilogy version, though I believe it's the exact same game for this one?

Bigger but more streamlined, Corruption is often considered the Metroid Fusion of the trilogy, and it's an appropriate comparison. Like Fusion's divisive progression structure, the game always tells the player where they need to go, feeling more forced than the hint system in the previous game. It is a design choice that can make people more frustrated, if they want the feeling of isolation and freedom to go anywhere without being told. A simple solution would've been to make it an option like the previous games, but sadly it's not the case.

Some detractors may say it's Halo in Metroid skin, but I think that is doing this game injustice. Corruption's map is still very much labyrinthine, with backtracking and deciding where to go still very much in play. There is no organic connection between areas since they are literally different planets, but within each planet, the maps open up like a normal Metroidvania game. The game introduces Samus' ship as a fast-travel option, and discovering and activating each area is integrated to the overall exploration that they come as a positive instead of making the game too easy. And while the game does not shy away from telling players where to go, the players are still in full control of their directions, allowing them to ignore the said orders and explore on their own. And the quality of life change such as item markers (which is added through a very Metroid-like way that feels tied to its lore), makes exploration much more manageable for first-time players.

One area that shows this balance between accessibility and giving player freedom is the late-game energy cell hunting. Essentially the "Chozo Artifacts" and "Sky Temple Keys" of this game, the energy cells are found throughout the game's many planets, and they are required to access the final area of the game. However, unlike the previous games, many of the Energy Cells are easily discovered while on the main path, and more importantly, only 5 of them are required to beat the game. These energy cells are required to unlock various parts of the derelict ship Valhalla, an area unlocked at the mid point of the game, and because you can freely use each energy cell to whichever locks you can use, they are not just simple keys that you collect, they are keys you collect and use. The more energy cells you have, more places you can unlock in this area, which gives you more suit expansions. The game makes the late game key hunting more engaging as a result, which is a massive improvement over the first two games where the game's pacing came to a grinding halt during those "aritifact hunting."

While some of Corruption's design choices in exploration may come off as divisive to some, where it does make a strong improvement is in fact the combat. The combat is streamlined to a degree as well--there are no longer changing beam types to attack enemy's weakness, and there is only one alternate visor that's useful in combat which is gained late. However, the enemy patterns are more varied now, and the game often have players use different weapons (missiles or grapple) to deal with certain enemies easier, meaning that it's more of playing smarter than just trying to put as much as damage. The new Hypermode, which essentially acts as sort of Devil Trigger, is a nice risk-reward system that allows quick fights that are not too easy and still challenging.

And there are bosses. Corruption hands down has the best bosses in the Prime series, and I don't think it's up for a debate. Problem with bosses in the previous titles were either they were too cycle-based that the players had to wait a long time until the bosses just open themselves for an attack, or that enemies simply had too much health, and both combined to make a lot of boss battles far too tedious. Corruption changes this by allowing a lot of boss patterns to be countered by players themselves--the better you are, the more chance you can create to attack. This kind of bosses existed in the previous games (Quadraxis, for example, which also happens to be the best boss fight in Echoes for that very reason), but Corruption refines this formula and apply to most of the bosses. The Hypermode also encourages players more aggressive at the cost of their own health, while the lock-on free aim, which is forced on during most boss battles, allows the battles to feel much more dynamic as well. Instead of oppressing the players with their bosses, Corruption invites the players to challenge their bosses, which I feel is a breath of fresh air after the first two titles.

One gripe I do have with the game is how limited the use of Samus' ship was. While its role as a mobile save stations and fast travel points definitely elevate the game's exploration and scale, the rest of its capabilities leave somewhat to be desired. The game replaces power bombs with ship missiles, and often, they are only really useful during puzzles. While the ship grapple, which allows movement of large objects across multiple rooms, does have some very interesting puzzles tied to it, its uses are also limited to just that. This could be the remnant of the game's initial pitch as an open world game, but it's a bit disappointing that this feature was not used in a more integrated fashion.

Overall, it's a fantastic, worthy end to an exceptional trilogy. It is far from the "linear shooter with Metroid skin" that some people seem to decry as. Hell, I wish some FPS came even close to this game's level design. I don't know how they can remaster this with how boss fights are designed and balanced around lock-on free aim that requires pointer controls, but this would make a great remaster--and maybe fix the damn loading times between the doors.

Again, for some reason Backloggd won't let us log each game of Metroid Prime Trilogy separately, so here we go. Played on Wii.

I heard comparisons of Echoes being the Majora's Mask of Metroid series, and in a weird way, it is. The cliches are there: it is darker, it is a bit "weirder," and it is also more difficult than what came before. But it's not just Majora's Mask in its position. What Echoes sets apart from Prime--or any other Metroid--is that it feels decidedly more like a Zelda title than a Metroid title.

The four areas are all connected, but instead of the more organic layout in Super and Prime, Echoes has its central hub, with the three "dungeons" being placed on the edges, circling the hub area. Much of the "dungeons" are distinct in theme and for the most part, you will spend most time there until you clear the area. And to clear the area, you will need to collect three keys to unlock the dark temple, which greets you with a boss battle.

To put a spin on this tried-and-true formula, Echoes incorporates the Link to the Past-esque Light and Dark World, where you move back and forth between the portals to progress, on top of the usual Metroid-like progression of getting new items. This is where Echoes shines: it may (for the most part) opt to have more focused dungeon design, but the integration of Dark Aether is done so well that it is still complex and rewarding to progress through. From the pure level design perspective, it is a step up from its predecessor, a feat not many games to this date even dare to come close.

But the "Zelda-like" design does have its downside. It diminishes the distinct organic exploration found in previous Metroid titles. Instead, the game does feel a bit formulaic in a long run, even though the microspective designs are top notch. It still has backtracking to other areas, but due to how the game's overworld is designed, these feel more like backtracking for the sake of backtracking, instead of something organic. The game also brings the dreaded (pun not intended) "late game artifact hunting" of the previous game, though it is slightly better contextualized in this game.

Then there is the difficulty, especially of the bosses. Despite having more bosses, Echoes sadly does not hit the mark with most of its boss battles. The game relies heavily on cycle-based patterns, but in some boss battles, it becomes ridiculous when the most of the time the boss is completely invulnerable. The window of opportunity is small, both in time and space, and their constant movement means that lock-ons are not usually reliable. Some patterns are excruciatingly difficult to dodge (particularly due it being a first person game with lock-on), which amounts to the frustration. Then there are the absolute horrors of the morph ball bosses, which amplifies the atrocious controls with overdone momentum physics (seriously, why doesn't morph ball have a break button??). The alternate beams requiring limited ammo also forces the player to be even more precise, making getting at least 2 or 3 ammo expansions out of 4 absolutely essential to even have a decent chance at the late game bosses. Of course, this is not to say that the game doesn't have great boss battles--in fact, the highs here are much higher than Prime in my opinion--but there are so, so many lows, unfortunately.

This is still a great game, especially for its time, but I fear that it shows its age more than the predecessor. I feel like Prime's problems from its age was largely ignorable, but Echoes will be much harder to swallow for newcomers this day and age.

This is one of those games I had on my backlog for a long time despite starting multiple times, like Ocarina of Time. Remaster releasing finally got me to boot up my Wii to play it with the Trilogy copy I had since day one.

It is a Metroid through and through, though perhaps more on the adventure side than even the 2D counterparts. The different visors are really the key here; different kind of weaponry being different keys was already a well-trodden concept before this, but visors are more than just keys, they are different way of looking at the world. In a way, this mechanic is perhaps even more significant of addition than the third axis of dimensions they added with Metroid Prime--it's not just shooting and jumping to explore further, it's now shooting, jumping AND seeing. It's perhaps a necessary addition in place of toned down platforming, but it works well with other mechanics to be considered the core pillar of this new breed of Metroid games. It's interesting to remember that when they were making Metroid in first person, the biggest thing Nintendo's producers focused on was the visors and not the first person shooting, and the resulting game came out exactly like that.

There are smaller minor gripes I have though. First, the beam change system. I don't mind the beam change system it self, but because the game forces the player to change the beams mid-battle, the animation delays become difficult to take, especially since the area that starts to force players are also a known difficulty spike in terms of combat. This adds a layer of puzzle to combat design, which isn't bad, but also gets tiring when the same enemies respawn constantly whenever you are backtracking. Also, because the beam properties don't stack, the damage output for each beam stays the same, meaning certain enemies are much harder and more frustrating to deal with not because of their own attacks, but because of how the game forces the player to use bad weapons against them. Ice Beam is particularly disappointing, since its slow projectile speed makes it almost useless against fast-moving enemies.

Grapple is another underbaked issue. I guess it falls into the larger problem of lock-ons sometimes not working as intended, but it's particularly worse with grapple since you have to consider the momentum when you are releasing and re-targeting another grapple points. This makes some grapple points very frustrating, and not being able to jump after releasing the grapple also makes it much more difficult than it should be.

Lastly, the artifacts. I like that they exist. It is fun to look at their hints to solve the puzzle to obtain them. The problem is, they are often far outside the natural progression, forcing the backtracking that feels more tedious than rewarding. You don't get more items or weapons that make you feel powerful, or unlock new areas to explore. Instead, artifacts are just required to finish the game (which the game does not do a clear job of conveying), without giving you anything else. They do feel tacked on more than anything, and I feel like they were added to lengthen the playtime more than anything. It would probably have been good collectibles that maybe unlock a secret ending, but making them a requirement did more harm than good, in the larger picture.

Then there are other minor nitpicks such as morph ball controls being a bit too slippery, bosses being far too cycle-based and having too much health, or having a slightly worse pacing than more recent games in the series, but they are understandable considering the age--and for the latter case, since it's a matter of preference. In the end, I must say, this is still a top, top quality Metroid experience that is still as fun and entertaining compared to more recent action adventures regardless of its age.

Fire Emblem Engage is very clear about what it wants to be--a celebration of past Fire Emblem games. In a way, it strongly reminds me of Awakening, as it very much is an homage to it. Awakening was famously supposed to be the "last" Fire Emblem game with the series seeing diminishing sales even after going global with the The Blazing Sword (or just Fire Emblem in the West) and the previous game (New Mystery of the Emblem) not even being localized outside of Japan. As the planned last game of the serie, Awakening was about looking back, drawing heavily from the Archanea Saga, effectively being their homage and a sequel. Awakening also had several DLCs with heroes from previous games joining, albeit with less production value.

Engage's concept is very similar, even down to the gameplay loops and story beats (first few chapters are just straight up Awakening). But it also evokes other titles of the series. What Engage does really well is that it celebrates previous titles without feeling like a gimmick. The "Emblems" or the heroes of previous games, are not just mere cameos, some of them have active involvement in the story without feeling too out of place. Gameplay-wise, they are powerful enough to be respectful to their original games, but not game-breaking to the point they diminish the characters of Engage. In that sense, this balance is what impresses me the most. It is a game that positively makes the players want to look at older titles without feeling like its too much of pastiche of rehashed older titles. Three House was a great game but it did not make me want to play older titles again, but Engage does. That is the kind of difference and objective between this and its immediate predecessor.

Now, gameplay-wise, this is thankfully far above than Awakening, which was perhaps excessivly accessible at times, which came at the cost of its map designs and combat mechanics. Engage's maps are mostly interesting, with later maps throwing you new gimmicks that you have to adjust to (its worst map is actually the one they ripped straight from Awakening which was already the worst map in that game). The revamped combat, which features mechanics such as break (weapon triangle with much greater emphasis), smash (giving you an option to move enemies with careful positioning), much improved chain attacks and of course, the Emblem rings, there are so many nuances to master, yet it never feels too out of reach. Once again, it's the balance.

One place this game falls however is the character building. Specifically, the SP, which is the currency used to unlock equippable skills, come too little for each character, so even if it has actually a decent freedom for class system, skills are far too difficult to master. And with no actual New Game+, this is just worse for those who want to make overpowered characcters--the game itself (and the series that it's paying homage to) is not about that, but it is one less option. A similar issue was later patched in Three Houses, so who knows.

And there are the parts that are decidedly anti-Three Houses. Sominel, replacing the Monastary of the previous game, is a smaller place with not many meaningful activities to do. Most are skippable, and there is no real joy in seeing the place open up, or hanging out with your companions. On the other hand, those who did not like the arbitrary increase in playtime in Three Houses with its Monastary will be thankful that Somniel can be safely ignored for the most part.

Your characters also very much evoke Awakening for better or worse. While many of Three Houses characters had their back stories connected somehow, which made not only the support conversation but their actual story participation more interesting (usually in a tragic way), Engage's characters are mostly shallow anime 101 characters, with very few exceptions. This fits the game's overall mood, but it is also a letdown for people who got into the series with Three Houses or were waiting for the rumoured Genealogy remake.

The Asgard and Jotunheim Saga in the original Valhalla was interesting in how it interpreted the existing Norse Mythology while weaving the series' Isu culture. How Eivor's 9th century Norse perspective changes it while still giving off enough hints to those who have been following the overarching story for a long time was truly a rewarding narrative experience.

Dawn of Ragnarok is instead just focusing on the myth itself; we can infer certain things like how Muspels are very much likely the Egyptian Isu from the Origins, and "relic" could be something that may have triggered the Solar Flair disaster during the Isu era, etc. But the game is never really about delving deeper into the grander Isu mythology, which I believe is a painfully missed opportunity. It still retains the similar qualities in terms of re-interpreting the Norse mythology, while Havi himself got much more characterization.

Gameplay-wise, it does not continue the more open assassination level design introduced in the Siege of Paris and instead is more or less an expansion of the main game. The big added gimmick here is the Hugr-Rip, a device that lets you rip power from fallen enemies which you can use later. There are 5 powers, all with varying degrees of usefulness, but they are really never the focus of the gameplay. They also have time limit to each use, which makes it difficult to really experiment in the systemic gameplay, meaning that their uses become very limited--to the point you don't really need them.

The new area, Svartalfheim is beautiful, but also very much like England--lots of green, marshes, rivers and snow. It is bigger and the views from higher vantage points are magnificent, but the ground-level experience is a step-down from the main game's Asgard and Jotunheim.

Forget about the whole narrative of "Death Stranding is unique because no other developer would make a game about just walking across open world and doing deliveries." Anyone who thinks like that don't know a single thing about video games (also somehow doesn't know games like Euro Truck exists). The achievement of this game has nothing to do with how "novel" it is with its core theme or some bullshit.

Death Stranding is great because gameplay mechanics supporting the idea of doing deliveries are thoroughly and meticulously systematized and game-ified that their feedback loops are incredibly addicting, while also buttressing the core conceptual themes of connection, being alone and altruism. Kojima and his team made sure that fetch quests are fun not just because of the instant gratification of achieving grades at the end and people giving you likes, but because of your own planning before making the delivery and making sure you are going through your routes while in full understanding of your current resources. Once you begin to see the larger picture and build network of roads and ziplines, the game now becomes something else, testing you to be as efficient as possible, and rewarding you for being smart.

Kojima has always loved systemic gameplay, but he always understood how to balance it out to make sure it's manageable, localized and most importantly, exploitable. Death Stranding is no exception. The game's focus is in the systemic exploration, but unlike other emergent open world games and "immersive sims," Death Stranding is not about emergent experiences; it's about constantly dangling the carrot of "you can be even more efficient here." And it's damn good at amplifying that gameplay loop. But instead of the pursuit of efficiency diminishing the humanity of the narrative and the world, it makes it stronger because you are creating these "strands" tighter and tighter.