I do not at all care for this game's competitive scene nor can I do the glitchy tech that competitive players do, but from a casual standpoint it has a good amount of single-player content. It has the best version of the target tests, a bunch of cool, unique trophies to unlock, a handful of modes and a few minigames, a roster twice the size of the original game, a bunch more stages, and the classic & adventure modes are enjoyable modes to play through. Compared to Smash 64, it's a big step up, but compared to Brawl and other later installments I'd say it isn't quite as good. It still excels in some aspects compared to them though such as having the best trophies and target tests.

Ironically enough, before hearing about this game's existence I didn't care much for anime but thought this game looked really cool. Despite having introduced me to One Piece, my all-time favorite anime, and also broaden my horizons to several others, it didn't stop me from expressing my distaste for it when I finally got the game. After starting the game, I got bored within 30 minutes. The 4 story modes are practically identical to one another and the game gets repetitive very quickly and feels somewhat janky at times. There are some anime brawlers that improve over this game, but the genre as a whole just doesn't work or at the very least needs a rehaul. Besides having a decent roster and a few sentimental ties to this game, it really isn't that good and there are much better fighting games out there.

While I personally think the original game is better, this is a solid remake. The new balloon-popping minigame makes good use of the stylus and is surprisingly good. The game also uses the stylus as a way of getting that head start boost at the beginning of each race. While it is certainly a creative way of utilizing the stylus, it can be a minor annoyance at times. While it sucks Banjo & Conker couldn't come back due to legal reasons, Dixie & Tiny aren't terrible replacements and the extra characters this remake adds do make up for it. The ability to create your own tracks is an impressive feature other racing games should but haven't utilized. The custom track designs are a bit bland and probably could have been better, but its still impressive that they were able to pull it off. The last addition are the new tracks. While I certainly can appreciate that they took the time to add them, they're a bit bland and not nearly as memorable as the tracks in the original. I don't like it as much as the N64 version but I'd be lying if I said that they didn't put any care into this remake. It is a great way for those who didn't originally get the chance to play the original to experience this classic.

This game still has the best combat in the franchise and has undoubtedly withstood the test of time. Even without the additions from Final Mix, I remember this version of the game still being just as fun. There are a handful of drive forms that give Sora two keyblades and briefly change up the playstyle depending on which one you choose. The drive forms are all pretty useful and make the gameplay a lot more fun than it already is. Reaction commands are another welcome addition. They're basically just quick-time events where you need to press a button on time as a small cutscene plays. Usually quick-time events are a hit or miss, but in this case, they knocked it out of the ballpark. I will never get tired of looking at the reaction commands on the final boss which is my favorite final boss ever.

In terms of story, it was a bold move of them to start the game with Roxas back when this game came out. I already knew about the plot of Chain of Memories before playing but I'd imagine how confused fans must have been when they were playing as him in the beginning. Story-wise, the game's plot is pretty much just Sora trying to find his friends and finally return home with them while saving the world from a new band of villains called Organization XIII who are trying to create an artificial version of Kingdom Hearts. While I think it would have been better if Disney villains and really just Disney characters in general had more of an influence like they did in the original, Xemnas & his squad are still good villains in their own right and an absolute blast to fight. The ending to this game's story was also very satisfying to where I would have been perfectly fine if they ended the series after this title.

While I think the world choices in the original Kingdom Hearts were pretty solid, this game probably has the best roster of worlds in the series so far. Returning worlds like Olympus & Agrabah are expanded upon and a lot of the new worlds add some pretty interesting gimmicks like becoming a lion in the Pride Lands (my favorite world in this game and second favorite in the series as a whole) and Space Pandroids which allows you to meet Tron and even let you participate in a light cycle minigame. Despite some of the neat gimmicks added, the worlds in this game aren't as interactive or as interesting to explore as they were in the first game. Most of the worlds feel like empty, spaced-out corridors compared to the original where the worlds felt like they had more life in them. The worlds themselves also don't have as much of an impact on the story as the first game and feel more like filler some of the time. Unfortunately, that is a problem that gets even worse with each and every passing installment in this series.

Besides combat, one thing I almost forgot to mention is this game has an amazing soundtrack that is even better than the first game's soundtrack. Lazy Afternoons, Darkness of the Unknown, and multiple other songs from this game stood out to me and I still occasionally listen to them when I am in the mood to do so.

KH2's 10/10 combat, fantastic conclusion, and its soundtrack full of bangers make this a sequel that improves upon the original in more ways than not. It's a Ps2 essential just like its predecessor.

I'm not the biggest visual novel fan, but this game is really good. The beginning case is a great tutorial that does a good job of explaining how to play the game and introducing its unique cast of characters. All of the other cases have interesting stories and plenty of twists and turns that will keep you guessing on who is guilty. The highlights of the game for me were the Steel Samurai case as it was a fun, goofy case that is a contrast to the more serious ones and Edgeworth's case as it had me constantly wondering who the culprit was and how I could prove Edgeworth's innocence. Rise from the Ashes was also a solid case, but I felt like it lasted a bit too long. In conclusion, this is a fantastic first entry to the series and game in general. Definitely need to play the rest of the games in the series.

Good game with a great story but definitely not a game without its flaws. I enjoyed the soundtrack and exploring Lospass Island, but I did not get that DS feeling when I had to constantly go back and forth across the island to do fetch quests. Pretty sure the joke Suda wanted to tell is since video games are considered to be just time wasters, the game decides to literally waste your time by doing the former and with having to do like 30 basic math problems at the end. As annoying as some of the gameplay can be, I still had a good time with the game but think it would have benefited from having more of a visual novel style like The Silver Case did.

The first time I saw this game was at a GameStop inside a mall and thinking to myself that it was "just another shovelware game" on the Wii and either bought something else or nothing at all. How wrong 10-year-old me was. It doesn't surpass the charm of the original game but it is still a quality remake that has its own charm to it.

Klonoa may look like a mix between a Sonic and Kingdom Hearts character in this version, but I still really like his design. The game still looks pretty good even with the graphic overhaul and while the voice acting is reminiscent of a mediocre anime dub, it also gives the remake a little extra charm that helps it stand out from the original. They even took the time to add a few extra costumes too which include his appearances in the original version, Klonoa 2, and an original costume. After playing this, the newer remaster feels a bit lackluster in comparison since in that version there is no option for an English dub, worse graphics, and costumes locked behind a paywall. This remake is a perfect example of how a remake should be done and feels like a labor of love from the developers.

This game came out at a pretty awkward time in Japan. Not too long before the release of Smash 4 this game got announced and released a little after the 3ds version first launched in Japan. Despite Smash being all the craze both on my mind and in general, I also started watching One Piece not too long ago as well so this game caught my interest. Time passes and during that time they even did a crossover promotion with Smash in the form of amiibo costumes for some of the roster, but this game's localization never came. Naturally, I was pretty disappointed even though the US never got the 2 Gigant Battle games on the DS. I did casually try this game out a couple of years ago, but I didn't extensively play or finish it until now.

Gameplay-wise, it is similar to Smash Bros and even copies its score-based and coin collection modes. However, it looks pretty much identical to the Gigant Battle games and Jump Ultimate Stars which also take a lot of influence from Smash. This time though they went with the more chibi-looking art style of the older Grand Battle games that were released on the PlayStation 2 and GameCube. Each of the characters have a different feel to them and a moveset that showcase their powers and abilities. The game also adds a sizable cast of assist characters that allows for some popular, iconic characters that didn't make the cut into the roster to have a chance to shine. Speaking of the roster, there are a handful of unique roster choices such as Shiki, Zephyr, Kin'emon & Momonosuke, Trebol, and Diamante. All of whom with Kin'emon being the exception, I am certain will never be playable characters in a One Piece game again. Some of those oddball choices like Trebol may not have been the best choices especially when fan favorites like Eneru or Lucci could have been picked instead, but I see them as something that makes the game stand out a little and worth visiting. My biggest flaws though are that the story mode gets repetitive rather quickly and I did not appreciate that there are branching pathes that require you to play through some of the chapters twice if you want to unlock everyone. Overall, the core gameplay is very fun, and the uniqueness of almost every character makes them all worth trying at least once. If you're a One Piece fan and either have a modded 3ds or Citra then I highly suggest playing this.

Like my review for the Final Mix version of the original, this review is only going over the added content in this version. I will link the review for the base game for those interested.

Base game review: https://www.backloggd.com/u/BrightGalaxy/review/570304/

Like the first game's Final Mix, this game adds more cutscenes, additional weapons for Sora & the gang, color-swapped heartless, and etc. However, there is a lot more additional content that is added this time.

Similar to proud mode in KH1 Final Mix, KH2 Final Mix adds a new difficulty that is supposed to be even harder called critical mode. This difficulty is one of the few flaws I have with the version it doesn't really feel like the step up in difficulty from proud mode that it was intended to be. Every time I play critical I swear I have an easier time with it than I do with proud mode. Later games do improve upon critical mode's difficulty and make them noticeably harder like it is intended to though, but its still weird they didn't make it less forgiving.

Sora gets a new drive form that brings back some of the iconic moves from the first game such as Sonic Blade, Ares Arcanium, and Ragnarök. Not only is this drive form a blast to use but it is almost as busted if not more so than final form.

Mushroom XIII are new heartless that act very similar to the heartless that were added in KH1 Final Mix. Some of the members function as more refined versions of those and some of them add new gimmicks like that mushroom in the Mysterious Tower that made me want to tear my hair out when I was going for the record needed to complete Jiminy's journal. Minus the few annoying ones, I really like Mushroom XIII and the minigames they bring to the table. Major improvement from the enemies added in the first game.

Unlike KH1 Final Mix, KH2 Final Mix adds a brand new area to Hollow Bastion/Radiant Garden called the Cavern of Remembrance. This area will require you to level up most of your drive forms and will really test your mobility and skill with the number of powerful enemies that also appear as you venture deeper into it. At the end lies a room containing 13 data replicas of each member of Organization XIII.

Onto the main course, the boss fights. They added a lot more this time compared to KH1 FM which only added Xemnas. You get to fight Roxas in the main story which is not only a fun, challenging boss fight but also one of the most kino moments in the series. You get to fight the absent silhouettes of the Organization members that were only in Chain of Memories too which are all pretty easy if you're around mid-level. Then when you're at max level you'll be ready to take on the Organization XIII replica data. The data battles are essentially just more difficult versions of the same boss fights you fought in the story and post-game but more difficult and with a lot more health. These are easily the best part and addition to this version. Lastly, there is the Lingering Will who is basically a teaser for a future game like Xemnas was in the Final Mix version of the first game. He is easily the hardest boss in the game and one of the hardest bosses in the series who requires you to learn his moves and master this game if you want to beat him.

The secret ending added in this game is amazing to watch and a fantastic teaser to Birth by Sleep. With the added theater mode, you are free to enjoy it and any other cutscene you like as many times as you want too.

Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix elevates an already fantastic game to easily being one of the greatest games of all-time. If you have a PlayStation console, PC, or even an Xbox One, PLAY THIS MASTERPIECE!

This review covers only the new additions and changes made in this version. I will link the review for the base game below.

Base game review: https://www.backloggd.com/u/BrightGalaxy/review/564994/

Before this version existed, Square added a bunch of extra post-game bosses in the western releases that consisted of Sephiroth, a handful of heartless, and the Ice Titan. Since Japan never got these bosses, Squaresoft decided to release this version not even a year after the base game in Japan was released. That one adds a handful of new changes and a canon boss fight with a mysterious hooded man who would eventually play a large role in the series story.

First off, the game throws in a few extra cutscenes that give a little bit more context to the game's story as well as new Ansem reports that add to the game's lore. This game's story is pretty simple in comparison to the wild ride Nomura has crafted over years of sequels and "spin-offs" but a little extra context is never a bad thing. There is a new version of the ending, which like the added boss I will eventually go into, serves as a teaser of what was to come.

In this version, all of the heartless get a color change. Since this is the version of KH1 I've played the most, I've gotten used to the color swaps. I don't think they are ugly, but they don't replace the charm that the iconic, original designs have. Plenty of new heartless were also added with each of them having some sort of gimmick that makes them a bit more interesting to fight compared to the generic shadows and soldiers. These heartless also drop new materials which you can use to synthesize new items.

Something that I think gets glanced over a lot are the major quality of life changes that were added to Final Mix. Among the new abilities added were slapshot, sliding dash, and leaf bracer. The former two make the combat a little less clunky and leaf bracer is a game-changer in that you can still heal while being attacked. Another small QoL improvement that makes a huge difference is that you can now skip cutscenes after watching them. This makes a certain few bosses in this game MUCH more bearable in comparison to the base version that did not allow you to do this.

Proud mode is also a new addition that was not in the base game. Proud mode is essentially the game's hard difficulty and significantly boosts the game's difficulty. It's a good challenge and from my experience the best way to play the game even if it gets frustrating during some parts.

The last thing worth mentioning is the new boss fight. The hooded man who is totally not inspired by Darth Vader is a challenging but fun addition to the lineup of post-game bosses who will put your skills and ability to spam Ars Arcanum to the test. In terms of difficulty, I would put him above the heartless bosses and Ice Titan but below Sephiroth. Even with that in mind, he is still satisfying to beat and a perfect teaser for KH2.

This is easily the definitive version to play and thanks to the many rereleases can be played on almost every modern platform and for a pretty cheap price too, so I strongly suggest playing this masterpiece.

While mechanically and linguistically they're far apart, FF9 and FF12 have a shared lineage in starting off being overlooked releases on their respective systems. It's an exaggeration to say both sold poorly cause they still sold well within the millions, but compare that to the releases made prior to them, and it's not hard to see the disparity of sales figures. Not helping is that unlike 9, 12 had a rocky cycle just getting made; it's rather well-known amongst the fanbase, but originally this was lead by well-known, politic-driven auteur Yasumi Matsuno and series veteran Hiroyuki Ito, but when Matsuno faced health issues, his role was transferred over to his partner, Hiroshi Minagawa, with SaGa creator Akitoshi Kawazu taking up the producer role. This even led to Hironobu Sakaguchi outright say that he didn't even play past the beginning due to Matsuno's departure, which given that the two worked extensively and closely on Vagrant Story, along becoming increasingly bitter towards Square Enix soon after leaving the studio, it makes sense. I'm not sure if it's an exaggeration to say this given there's now far worse instances, but it was one of the rougher cycles in an FF title, which is rather mindblowing considering how intrinsically and tightly this is to becoming one of the series' all time best.

It's been playfully and cheekily said that there's strong allusions to Star Wars, and while the lineage of Square employees have long since made it obvious these two franchises are intertwined with one another, alongside two specific details within the narrative being lifted straight from the global space opera phenomenon - no major spoilers here, but players or people who wikidive should know what I'm referring to - I imagine that tonally and structurally it's instead much similar to the film that inspired that one: Akira Kurosawa's Hidden Fortress. I say imagine because at the time of writing this, I have yet to see it for myself, but given how politically charged this is comparatively, as well as Vaan and Penelo not becoming Big Superstar Heroes whisked off from their penurious origins, and instead humbled off into becoming their (well, really Vaan's) dreams of being sky-flying pirates, and containing a far cry of Leia and Han's predicaments by doubling down and centering much more on the interpersonal and dramatic detailing of high class echelons royalty Princess Ashe and Stoic Knight Basch, I'm inclined to believe this. Rounding out the party are well-off pirate duo Balthier and Fran, both harboring a deep scar within their past that they're not keen on opening up until well into the story which is a bit distant from the relationship Han and Chewbacca have with one another. Though there were changes made in giving a "proper" MC role during development, as well as Ashe being given the brunt of the grandoise power plays typically obligated to such an archetype, the overall scattershot approach of focus and centering on this sextuple, ironically, gives the game its biggest strength, which is on how playing them like chess pieces in order pushes forward the revelations of the thematic ties of redemption and sorrowful reconciliation. Sure, this approach might not work for everyone, but it worked for me. While I'd struggle to detail what makes Penelo and Fran stand out, I'm enamored with how the tribulations of Ashe and Basch are covered, Balthier's one of my favorite hotshot rogues in any RPG, and, hot take, Vaan's one of the finest examples of what an audience surrogate leader should be. Even disregarding all that, the crew's budding kinship of closed off personal to a tight-knitted team ready to fend off the worst of the Archadian Empire is very well-done, orchestrating segmented growth and charm of the group, even in hilarious ways.

Least to say of the majestic world that is this entry's iteration of Ivalice. It's steeped strongly in culture outside of Japan, from as obvious as Ancient Rome and the Mediterranean, to more moderate patterns such as Arabic, Turkish, Indian, and American. It's been about two years since I last had a session, but memories of Rabanastre, Jahara, Mt. Bur-Omisace, and the Imperial City resonate deep within my gray matter. It also helps there's such a wide array of activities to do here thanks to the Hunts, various side quests, filling out the Sky Pirate Den which is essentially the in-game achievement tracker, slews of side areas, and others to boot. In fact, the only reason I didn't go out of my way to obtain a 100% Completion on Steam is cause a couple of them, such as the Bestiary and Trial Mode, were well after I reached my burnout state, and I'm annoyed by how Concurrence is calculated (more on that in a bit), which also meant I couldn't get this game's designated achievement on... getting all the achievements. As linked before, I also hold this game's OST dearly, like we're talkin S-Tier category here and irregardless of Zodiac Age's exquisite and dearly appreciated decision to incorporate three options of either the CD, OG PS2, or - my personal choice and the one I've been leaning on for this review - Reorchestrated sound. Best Prologue iteration, top three Battle On The Big Bridge arrangement, Respite's elegant beauty surrounding you, the Esper battle's daunting force, just a whole lot of hits packed onto a monstrous array of songs, fitting Hitoshi Sakimoto's familiar repertoire to a T. On that note, this game's Espers are hands down the coolest set of summons in the franchise with how they're played into the mythos of this game, as well as just being great bouts of strength in general. Particular favorites are Mateus, Zodiark, Cúchulainn, and Zeromus.

As mentioned in my (albeit spoiler-adjacent) review of FF9, one of the immense appeals and another pillar of strength in FF12 is its battle system. One say this "plays itself", I say this is the closest I'll ever get to both fully understanding how min-max strats work, as well as truly getting the appeal of the NFL tactics and play, an aspect Ito has openly shared on interviews. Though I don't have any experience with the initial PS2 version, I'm nonetheless eager to say the fine-tuning and careful concoctions that can spark from the dual-role job picks a la License Board can concoct wild ideas and inspirations. Want to make a tank-support? Available thanks to Shikari-White Mage or Knight-Time Mage. Wanna double-down on ranged opportunities in both the physical and spiritual fields? Use the Archer or Machinist job with any of the Mages and you're set. What about pure magic? Red Mage-Black Mage has you covered. Yearn for the days when FF games dabbled with DPS-style niches? Foebreaker-Shikari's right there waiting for you to fuck enemies up. So many builds to pick from, not to mention the ability to double dip into one or more, gives you free reign to go buck wild, and along with the ability to respec any of them for free, and it becomes the most diverse and experimental set of mechanics in the series, opening the flood gates for as broad as challenge runs or as simple as "this job matches this character's personality". Pro tip, though: designate which trio is gonna be the Main Group for generally the crux of the campaign, and which will be the Side/Backup one to generally play catch/clean up duty with the side activities, it's the best way to balance XP gain thanks to the License Points always being distributed amongst everyone as long as they live. This is also where Gambits shine, as being able to set which conditional tactic are carried out once met can make-or-break certain encounters, or just coast you through the fields. Being able to pick up a variety of different subjects, objects, and utility cases and organize them within these set is therapeutic, as is when they're set off just right and pull yourself out of a rut with ease, or help to circumvent an action first before relaying back to finishing the battle at hand. I'd also say that dungeons are typically on the right side of the scale, there's enough distinction and unique mechanics at play to stand them apart from each one, and also do a fantastic job on delving deeper into this already expansive world.

If there's anything I'd say that holds back FF12 from being a bonafide classic, it's that the aforementioned development woes crop up big time here. Not nearly as much as footage of FF15 can show, but you can feel its fluctuating pulse as you hit certain beats. Whether it's the abruptness of the Resistance's final assault near the end, the lethargic beginning of limited potential even by the series' standard, a couple of dungeons overstaying their welcome such as Great Crystal, and specific plot details coming in and out of the picture such as those pertaining to Vayne Solidor, it's hard to not at least feel like something was missing from the board. The mechanics of battles are also uneasy, due to Gambits not having quite the specificity as you'd think, which not only ties back to the problem that the early beginning up to I wanna say the arrival to Bhujerba being quite slow, it also means that your actions and strategy plans are only in close approximation as to what you're setting out to achieve, which is annoying. My biggest gripe with combat is easily with the aforementioned Concurrence system, which is activated by utilizing this game's equivalent to Limit Breaks, Quickening, to their fullest. You are able to unlock up to three bars of charge as you progress in the story, and activating one, two, or all of them will allow you to do the respective stage of an LB attack, with the ability to gain back a charge to follow up on more. Do this enough times, and you'll be treated to a powerful, non-elemental attack capable of damaging everything, including bosses and the higher-tiered Hunts. Of course, with a grand ability such as that, it has to be balanced, and the way they utilized this is by... making it completely luck based. It's not like you're reliant on these working in order to take care of something, but it's the nature of being subjugated to dice rolls as to whether you can get a charge or even do a gauge-specific attack, along with there being multiple variants available that you have to do to get that achievement that frustrates me to no end, and combine that with the fact these are unskippable animations that play on loop frequently, and I only used them when it was needed. Other FF games, including ones I've yet to touch, had elements of RNG to these sorts of systems sure, but I'd yet to experience one that was as reliant on the draw of cards as this one has. There's also Espers, again even by the series' standards, not having any real use in combat due to the other mechanics far outstripping and outranking them for maintenance, but even then that's more of a nitpick than a legitimate issue.

All said and done, however, FF12 has been one of the most unforgettable games in the franchise - nay, one of the most unforgettable games in the genre - I've gone through in recent years. Its appeal might be more limited, especially in a series where individualistic aspects of these entries are always apparent and displayed, but that's also what gives it a gargantuan pulse and treasure to uncover. Definitely give this a shot, even if you're on the fence about it, I'm positive at least something about it will stick with you in one way or another.

played using the Super Castlevania IV Uncensored hack

"Mid July, 2017: Now that I've been getting into games before my time, it's time to finally dive into Castlevania. I picked up Aria Of Sorrow, since I already saw footage of it thanks to a YouTube video, and Super Castlevania IV cause it was supposed to be a great entry point. Time to start with this one and... huh? This was what I was hyped up to believe was one of the best 2D platformers ever, let alone on the SNES? A visual drivel containing unmemorable setpieces and music, and a dull difficulty "curve" that doesn't become truly challenging until near the end because I can whip in any direction like a moron? Pass, guess I'm just gonna one of the guys that's a fan of the Metroidvania (fuck you I'm not using Search Action, that's legit a more limiting term) style... wait, the first game's actually super good and not nearly as hard as people make it out to be? The third game is truly one of the best 2D outings you can buy so long as its the Famicom release? Bloodlines is a better 16-bit showcase of what the franchise can now do? Rondo Of Blood is now one of my favorite games ever? Huh... I'm pretty glad I kept pushing on with Classicvania, but now I'm left with one question:

why did people like this?"

Late January, 2023: Man there's been an obnoxious amount of people trying to act like this was "when the franchise became good", they're becoming the same annoying pricks who think turn based RPGs are only good when they're INSERT NINTENDO FRANCHISE HERE. They're just fans of this specific entry, which would be fine if they stopped acting so high and mighty about it and think they know what they're talking about with "archaic design" (purposefully built on positioning and adaptability like a Mega Man game) and "obnoxious enemy placement" (becoming impatient, not utilizing the many different subweapons for optimal attack, and failing to recognize patterns, with exceptions of course). The only thing keeping me from becoming uber-aggressive about it is from the radical shift in public opinion SCIV has been receiving, probably cause RoB's gotten more ways to be played and more people are talking about Bloodlines. I've been feeling stubborn about replaying this for years, but fuck it, I have nothin to do for the moment, and I'm motivated after Weatherby wrote their review for it, might as well.

What's the point of having the Holy Water, Dagger, and even Axe be here if whipping in any which way and doing the whip dangle is just as, if not more effective? I can do a diagonal attack at a standstill and hit the aerial enemies, crouch down or jump and hit a small enemy in a pendulum motion, and even attack on stairs with the whip now. What happened to that careful planning from before? Now I just feel more encouraged to stockpile hearts for the Cross, which at least still requires some tactful plays, and the Stopwatch. Also doesn't help some of these bosses are so pitifully easy, excluding or including the cross. Let's see here, the only time this mindset doesn't apply is in... 5-8 situations throughout the game's 11 stages, each containing about 2-4 sections within them. Great.... wait wait wait, why is this game so long now that I think about it? Wouldn't it be better to have some of these paths in alt routes like Dracula's Curse did? It'd not only make for replayability, but also lessen this feeling of arduous tedium from having to do all of them at once.

Why do people like this?

The music's like, fine, but what's with the reverence for it? Sounds like the composition team were told to make an atmospheric soundscape and went from there. Simon's Theme has some alright synths and gorgeous organs, but the drums are so tinny and the bass is lacking, making this one of the few times I feel like the rearrangements and remixes majorly stomp all over the original piece. What'd they do to Beginnings and Vampire Killer? This doesn't feel like the final stretch, feels like Simon's just about to keel over and take a nap! The Caves is pretty alright, some nice alteration the two instrument's melodies and, but it doesn't really have anything on Clockwork Mansion a few stages over with its drum rolls, plucks of strings, and more beautiful organs. Entrance Hall and The Chandeliers are pretty good too. Still though, this isn't what I consider to be "grand music", and of the SNES games I've dabbled in, it's nowhere near the best OST.

I'm still not really sure I understand...

I know this was a launch title, but the aesthetics are unruly garish, and not in an appealing way. Nothing really stands out compared to what you can find in the NES games, even including Simon's Quest, and the other two 16-bit titles. Colors are so needlessly saturated even with Ares' CRT filter applied, and stuff like 3-1 feel like hurtful noise to the senses. Goofy Halloween vibes? The only thing goofy about it is... oh, whoa, I don't remember Stage 3-3 having these lovely blues as the water. Did the halls of Stage 4 and Stage 6 always contain these different hues and tones, I only remembered the Mode 7 setpieces. I wish Stage 8 didn't contain such similar looking palettes, cause the actual detail within the foreground and background are pretty damn good, but at least Stage 9 makes up for it with how the treasury is laid out. Hm... though it still doesn't suit my senses and I doubt I'd still remember everything like I could for the other entries, maybe it isn't as bad as I once thought, there's some good stuff going on here.

I... think I get it?

Hmmm.... I still loathe the changes to the whip and changes to the subweapons, but I gotta admit once 3-3 comes on, this can be pretty fun to break open. I could've sworn the whole grapple aspect fell off after Stage 4, but this gets some fair mileage actually, though they still should've leaned harder on what the whip can now do instead of keeping it mostly the same. Wow, finally some fun encounters and thinking with the enemy, it took until the midway point but better late than never I guess. These bosses are still kinda lame though, but I'll concede in that maybe holding onto the Stopwatch is becoming guilty of the same stubbornness I criticize others of doing since Sir Grakul, Akmodan, Slogra, and Death got me to put in more effort into what I"m doing, and I felt limited since I can't be able to use it in this game like in the first game. That being said, why'd they gotta go all-in on the understandably cheap aspects of insta-pits and one hit spikes? These are already pretty adequately laid out such as the use of turning platforms and tight object drops, they could've cut it back a bit. Man some of these scenarios are gimmicky, but I'll gladly take the block paths in Stage 4-4, the intermediate and lax nature of Stage 5, pretty much everything in Stage 7, and of course the Clock Tower, they stand out. Aw fuck, now that I'm writing this, I learned there's some pretty cool secret rooms to uncover, I don't usually dabble in doing this but they look cool.

This Dracula fight is somethin... it's probably the only time in the game to really get me to act like how I usually am with the other Classicvanias. The fire attack sucks shit, and the timing window for the lightning pillar is a smidge too tight for my liking... yet there's something about this allurement that pushes me to keep trying. Feels like even the designers figured this out with that secret invisible staircase right before the actual leadup. I gotta admit, timing the triple shot cross attack, combining the jump turns with whip movements, finalizing the kinks of these patterns... seems like there's still a little bit of the old formula under the hood after all. Would never recommend this as a starting point at all cause of the extremities taken in streamlining this, especially since there's still the first games and even Bloodlines if people really wanna go at it, but I guess I was a wee bit harsher on SCIV than necessary.

Alright, I get it now. This isn't and won't ever be for me, but I understand the appeal finally, after all these years.