A breath of fresh air that leaves a bit of a sour taste in my mouth for reasons that should be obvious for everybody by now. I had a total blast with the ~40 hours I played of both the main story+a good chunk of the postgame content that Violet had to offer, but it was marred by the notorious technical performance issues that indicate an unpolished, untested, and rushed game. I did not encounter any bad glitches or bugs, but there were countless instances of rough assets and unpolished sequences, you can just tell that this game is held together by scotch tape and elmer's glue. Game Freak and The Pokemon Company clearly have some serious work to do as it pertains to optimization and deadline crunch for future entries if they want to be able to stand in the realm of triple A gaming and continue to move the Pokemon franchise forward as they are clearly endeavoring to do with both this release and this year's other release, Legends Arceus. I have never been one to have a huge emphasis on graphics or small performance issues in my ratings, but this game forces my hand. It's inexcusable for a game from the world's largest and most recognizable gaming franchise to have this many issues with simply running stably. The game looks ugly too, which is more excusable in comparison, but everything visually about the environments and assets just screams "rushed". Game Freak, give these employees some more time to make the game, man. It's not like they didn't try (although there is a point to be made about mailing it in when you know it's going to sell 20 billion million copies in day one because, duh, it's Pokemon), but there clearly needs to be some serious changes to the release cycle.

With all that being said...

No shame, I really, really enjoyed these games once I began to cope with the performance problems. Once you go "well, ok" and begin to immerse yourself in it, you realize that the game has a great soundtrack, a cast of new Pokemon that hits more than it misses, some really good characters that feel alive and fun to engage with, and the best story in a Pokemon game since generation 5. The world is varied and is fun to roam around, especially on the rideable legendary Pokemon. These are probably the best Pokemon games since Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, which speaks to how great these games would be had they been polished without any technical issues from day one. I'm sure the performance may be patched in the future, possibly, but the poor launch can't be ignored.

TLDR I really like this game but jesus christ man

Danganronpa is a somewhat divisive game franchise, hosting both a loyal cult following while welcoming plenty of hate at the same time. Personally, I had absolutely zero expectation of what this game really was outside of the name and a handful of notable characters when I first started this game two years ago, but by the time I finished it for the first time earlier this year I was completely hooked into this franchise. This first installment is a huge cultural cornerstone as far as 2010's internet media goes, and for good reason: Danganronpa is an extraordinarily eccentric, irreverent, and one-of-a-kind story experience that I truly recommend everybody at least give a try once.

On my second playthrough, I came to appreciate this game a lot more. Each chapter presents extremely sound, if sometimes a bit predictable, mysteries that offer no shortage of twists and turns. The cast of characters is extremely tight, other than maybe 2 or 3; even some of the side characters who are not in it for as long manage to be compelling. The overarching story doesn't explain everything all at once, instead opting to judiciously feed the player bites of info that sometimes mislead the player but often intensify the plot. Tonally, the game is excellent, with some moments of levity that don't feel out of place but a mostly pretty serious atmosphere. I don't want to spoil anyone, because if you have by some miracle of God managed to stay unspoiled on Danganronpa for over a decade, you'll want to experience it blind, as each development will keep you guessing until the very end.

I understand that there are some questionable topics that are handled with no caution and often in pretty tasteless ways, and I totally get not wanting to play Danganronpa for those reasons. But I truly, truly think that this is a one-of-a-kind game and series despite some of the more glaring shortcomings in the way of sensitive topics.

I could talk for pages upon pages on why I love this game and how great it is for a bevy of reasons, but I'll spare you. Bottom line: Danganronpa is a true classic in the realm of visual novels and 2010's pop culture, for better or worse.

New and """""improved""""" hangmans gambit my ass FUCK YOU

Danganronpa 2 is an excellent follow-up to the first game. I had high expectations going in for the second time around based upon my enjoyment the first time. What I experienced was a much more fruitful and narratively engaging game... in the second half. The only flaw I can truly find for myself in this game is that DR2's first half is admittedly somewhat slow. I think that the first game's setting and the novelty of the plot allow it to get the upper hand on DR2 in this category, as I find the setting of Hope's Peak Academy to lend itself much better to the game's more consistent tone and claustrophobic atmosphere. What DR2 lacks in atmosphere, however, it makes up for in spades with its narrative cohesion and cast. The first chapter of DR2 does include some wild twists out the gate, and while the second and third chapters are somewhat weak outside of their resolutions ("weak" being pretty gracious for that third chapter), the 4th, 5th, and 6th chapters are some of the best mysteries and stories I've experienced. The twists and turns lead to great emotional highs and one of the best final plot twists in any game or VN I've played.

So, while the story takes its time to get there, the highs are extremely high and do more than enough to make up ground lost by some of the more mediocre moments in the first half.

This game also features Nagito Komaeda, the best character in fiction and my most favorite little freakazoid psycho guy (the rest of the cast is amazing too)

As good as I was expecting and then some. Persona 5 Royal is one of the best games I've ever played. The cast is excellent, the story is great, the battle system has never been more of a blast, there's nothing I could say about this game that hasn't been said to death by every other person who has played it by now.

The only complaint I can muster up about this game is the infamous Okumura palace and some of the story wrinkles that unfold during that part of the game, but could I ever truly honestly say that I still wasn't having FUN despite the lull in the plot and the tedious nature of the dungeon? No.

Persona has never played better, looked better, sounded better, or overall been a more polished piece of work. Every single part of this game is so finely tuned and shiny that it's still hard to ignore, even 90 hours in.

I feel like Persona 5 has just become this monolithic game that everyone crowns as the best JRPG ever just because we're at the point where the name has become synonymous with the genre. And honestly? I don't blame anyone. This is a crowning achievement in the field. Is it the best ever? I'm definitely heavily under-qualified to be saying that, but it's certainly one of the best games I've ever played.

Had fun every single second I was playing. Sad to see it end. Atlus has their hands full when it comes to topping this one.

TLDR this game has akechi and makoto in it and therefore it is flawless

this game is gorgeous. it's no surprise that, shocker, one of the best games ever made is still one of the best games ever made, but the facelift is truly amazing and i'm absolutely positively floored that this is even a thing that exists.

there is really nothing quite like metroid prime. nothing captures the same feeling that this big, interconnected world has, nor does any player character have the same weighty, real feeling that samus does when she's walking, jumping or scanning something. there's nothing as unique as the way that retro decided to bring metroid to 3D via its methodical exploration and strategic combat variety. it's just a lightning in a bottle game, plain and simple.

the joy i feel when playing this is just unmatched. prime is one of the rare games in which my nostalgia for it is validated and reaffirmed whenever i switch it on again. even now, playing it for the billionth time, i still feel that awe and wonder when i discover a new goodie or a new room, despite the fact that i remember all of the secrets at this point. this is a special, special game.

anyways im counting as the first official trailer for prime 4

I feel a little bad giving this such a low rating considering my lovely girlfriend loves this game and wanted me to play it, but I'm sorry, this game sucks. Like really bad.

Take away the predatory gacha elements that are particularly grindy and scummy (I think it's actually difficult to be a pay-to-win player because even throwing gobs of money at this game doesn't make the wish feature and ridiculous loopholes of seemingly infinite forms of in-game currency any more forgiving), take away all the complaints of not enough dark skinned characters, take away all of the weird fans who like little girls, and you just have an incredibly dull game full of grinding towards an ever-present abyss of content that just leads to more grinding.

I'm lead to believe that the devs at Genshin Impact just don't want new players to join this game, because jesus christ this game is not welcoming at all. I understand I'm joining right in the middle of this game's lifespan, but the amount of shit to wade through when starting this game for the first time is astronomical. Millions of different random items, weird mechanics, and a giant map that you get to explore at a snail's pace all make for an introduction that left me feeling frustrated and discouraged to even do some of the quests in the first area. Speaking of quests, I sure hope you like those because the game basically requires you to do a bevy of sidequests before progressing the story because of the dumb Adventure Rank mechanic. Wanna do something, like literally anything at all that might progress the story? Well, is your arbitrary rank high enough to do that yet? No? Too bad, looks like you have to open a bunch of random chests and do grindy fetch quests before you can actually play the real game. Sorry!

My frustration peaked when I was trying to redeem a code to get some free wishes (which the game is already stingy with giving out, even with the free event giveaways) and I couldn’t because my Adventure Rank wasn’t high enough yet. So, instead I had to go grind and wander the map for quests to get 300 more exp to raise my rank. It didn’t take a super long time, but it was a serious annoyance and shows to me that Genshin clearly hates their players and doesn’t want them to have any fun.

The cherry on top of all of this is the mind boggling lack of a skip dialogue option. This would allow me to skip the boatloads of annoying textboxes and instead let me opt to actually play the game, but nah, instead I must furiously click my mouse and spacebar in hopes that this cutscene ends soon. God, dude.

The combat is whatever. Got really nothing to say about that. I like some of the character designs, the game is nice looking, some of the music is good, but I can't be bothered to think of anything positive about the game beyond that. This is just not fun at all to play.

This is a difficult one to rate. Metroid Prime 3 is a game that I have very fond memories of, as this was my first foray into Metroid as a child. I fondly remember how awestruck I was by the opening hours of the game, filled with big action setpieces and flashy boss fights. Now, as an adult, I play through the first hours of the game and see a Metroid game that opens in distinctly "un-Metroid" fashion. The rest of the game admittedly puts the action on the backburner and leads you back to a focus on exploration, but ultimately Prime 3 has a penchant for a lot more action than Metroid is typically known for.

Prime 3 is a split game. On one hand, this is the most hand-holding in any Metroid game and definitely the least challenging and most linear entry in the series, and it's not that close. For that reason, it tends to come up short as a Metroid game. The emphasis on "shoot this bad guy to progress through the room" and a more action-shooter approach to combat is a tad disappointing, but I can't lie when I say that shredding helpless enemies away in Hypermode is really, really fun. Despite the lack of difficulty that Hypermode brings to combat situations, most of the bosses and other encounters are super fun and kept me on my toes enough to say that this game isn't a total cakewalk.

When it comes to the locales, I think that having three separate main areas really hurts the cohesion of the world and can hurt the flow of exploration, considering every time you want to go somewhere else you have to sit through multiple loading screens in your ship. At the same time though, the variance that they present is welcome, and the grand scope of a space adventure across several different planets is fitting for a game as lofty as this one is with its scale. Each area is distinct and beautiful, especially for a Wii game. This is probably the best looking game on the console.

I found that there was a lack of puzzles to unlock things like energy tanks or missile expansions for most of the game, but in the endgame in which you are required to find energy cells (nowhere near as annoying as the artifact or key hunts in 1 and 2), there are plenty of thought provoking and fun puzzles, but is a bit too little, too late, as the game is practically over by that point. Still, I had some fun nosing around in some of the puzzles for the last couple energy tanks.

The story is a fitting end for the Prime trilogy (quadrilogy? eventually) but the final confrontation with Dark Samus and the final boss are a bit underwhelming. Still, this game has a story of a scale that Metroid has been unable to replicate since, and I applaud it for having to gumption to try something as sweeping and epic as this.

So, is this a good game? Yes, without a doubt. This is an excellent game that marked a big step for the Metroid series and a big part of my own experience as a young gamer that formed my taste and who I am now. Is it a good Metroid game? Well, kinda? I mean, it's not like we're playing Halo here. We haven't gone all the way to action-shooter, but it is undeniable that this Prime 3 places a lot more emphasis on shooting stuff and blasting bad guys. Which isn't a bad thing. It's just not the most Metroid-esque that it could be.

And you know what the crazy part is? Despite some of the failings this game has as a Metroid game, it still manages to fuse the two genres that it represents into a weird, messed-up-yet-awesome exploration-action-shooter-metroidvania abomination. And it's really, really fun.

It's rare that a game meets my expectations as squarely as Engage did. Despite my initially low opinion of how this one looked upon its reveal (I remember calling it Fire Emblem Heroes 2 a lot), my perspective on it rounded out as I began to see more gameplay and when the release came around. Going in, I expected a charming love letter to the series with the typically good gameplay of the series and, based on the very first trailer, a purely by the books story. Maybe some wonky character designs and some silly writing here and there. Suffice to say I hit the nail on the head here.

What I will say I didn't expect is how tight the gameplay is here. The map design is quite good, with some really great chapters in the back end. Some of the characters are real gems, too (some of them not so much, whether it be in design or personality). Most of all, the Engage mechanic is a blast and is one of my new favorite gameplay "gimmicks" that the series has to offer. A solid OST on top of all of that makes playing this game a really fun time from chapter to chapter.

My complaints are twofold. Obviously, the story is not really anything special or that good at all. I did expect this, but in all fairness to my score, I can't really not dock the game for having a predictable and trope ridden story just because I saw it coming. Secondly, this game is a deep RPG with many, many different mechanics and resources to manage... almost TOO many. The hubworld had so many different activities, but I only ever used maybe 4 or 5 of them, and those were the ones that would boost support ranks or directly impact gameplay or stats. The Engage mechanic, as said before, is great, but the SP system (taken from FE Heroes) can be a bit of a slog, and the sheer amount of Emblems combined with the size of the cast can make managing your bond rank overwhelming at times. It wasn't a big deal, but I did find myself a bit paralyzed by the sheer amount of things I had to consider in that sense alone.

Honestly, I don't have a ton to say otherwise about this one. Engage is a great Fire Emblem game that longtime fans will (probably) like. It's a blast to see some of your old favorites team up with new additions and take down bad guys with iconic weapons. The shortcomings in the story and some of the character writing/designs/overall art direction at times hurt it, but above all else, this is a very sound game.

This is a batshit crazy game. I think I had to pick my jaw up off of the floor in the last 2 or 3 hours. Being on the internet for as long as I have, seeing bits of some of the later game cutscenes was unavoidable, but I am so happy that I dodged being spoiled on the entire twist, because holy shit. I was completely floored.

Aside from the plot, the gameplay is more of the same satisfyingly smooth stealth gameplay, albeit with some more tricky tactics required and a couple of kinda irritating segments, but I can't complain that much. Soundtrack, art direction, visuals, all amazing. Some standout awesome moments include the intro on the tanker and the last hour or so at Big Shell, especially the sniper section. That was lit.

It is genuinely astonishing how pertinent this game is today. The infamously long penultimate cutscene is worth its runtime in gold with how many modern day topics it hits a complete bullseye on, so much so that I had to pause the game to google this game to remind myself that it came out in 2001. 2001! This game is older than me and it has a completely accurate rendition of the current status of the digital information era in 2023. I cannot emphasize enough how incredible that fact is. This one will be replayed without a doubt.

Metal Gear is not a series everyone will enjoy, but I would consider this a must-play for anyone who likes gaming.

Thracia 776 is not an easy game. I quickly found out that this game's reputation as "the hard one" of the Fire Emblem franchise was not to be taken lightly pretty early on, as it does not hesitate to throw some really difficult map design at you almost immediately.

Thracia constantly forces you to adapt and break your Fire Emblem habits in order to think of a new way to win, and you often have to do it fairly quickly; endless droves of enemy reinforcements, destructive ballista, and bosses that can seriously alter the playing field are commonplace in this unforgiving game. Your units are gonna die. Your best weapons are gonna break. You're gonna get hit with status spells. It's gonna be an uphill battle pretty much the entire time. The desperation and obviously unequal odds that Leif and his liberation force face as they look to free their homes on the Thracian peninsula are woven spectacularly into the gameplay. While not quite the best in the series, Thracia's story and characters approach the upper reaches of the Fire Emblem series as a result.

The gameplay had me frustrated at times, but the frustration was nearly always followed by the euphoria of overcoming the challenge that was staring me in the face. Whether it be hard earned, like in chapters 16, 17, or 22, or quickly bested via clever strategy, such as some warp tactics I used in chapters 23 and 24, there was always some great satisfaction waiting for me at the end.

Ultimately, the reward of finishing Thracia is no more than a simple pat on the back, with Leif exclaiming that "we did it" as the final map concludes. There's nothing even that ceremonious about it other than the fact that the game is over; some concluding dialogue is said and the credits begin to roll. No, the real reward for beating Thracia 776 and all of its seemingly unfair, unforgiving, punishingly hard maps is the fact that you conquered it. This game threw everything it had, cryptic weirdness and all, right at you and you bested it.

This is some of Fire Emblem's finest content. While not perfect due to a bevy of weird recruitments, weird gaiden chapter requirements, weird gameplay quirks and generally including a wide array of bullshit, this is a brilliantly fun and wickedly challenging entry that is one of the best in the series.

TLDR I HAVE STOCKHOLM SYNDROME FROM THIS FUCKASS GAME

Where Breath of the Wild was the lonely and solitary journey of one man using everything at his disposal to save the day, Tears of the Kingdom is the epic and sweeping follow up tale that aims to raise the stakes and expand upon its predecessor's world. Breath of the Wild was the proof of concept, and Tears of the Kingdom is the victory lap.

While Nintendo already hit it out of the park with 2017's first open world Zelda adventure with myself and swarths of other fans singing its praises, the pre-release reception to the early views of TOTK was... lukewarm? The "it's just BOTW DLC" had quite the fair point in looking at a game whose only new aspect that added to the previous iteration of the world were some islands in the sky. I was mostly unmoved by this game until I actually started playing it. The game's title may have been BOTW 2, but a simple sequel this game is not. Tears of the Kingdom adds layers upon layers to BOTW's gameplay and exploration and then heaps on extra helpings of goodies onto what was already a gargantuan game.

The world of BOTW as we know it is the same, but different in the sense that it has been packed to the brim with stuff to do, along with a re-shuffling of some locations and new wrinkles in the overworld. There are a bevy of shrines to take down once again, plenty of new and exciting bosses to face, caves, wells, and of course, the sky islands and the depths. If that somehow wasn't enough, add on some dungeons and an endless list of things to build and weapons to fuse with the extremely fun ultrahand and fuse abilities, and you have yourself a game that can suck up hundreds of hours of your life. I really cannot emphasize enough how much fun the new abilities are. They make things as innocuous as traveling a joy and the way they are utilized in the new shrines make each one a great time.

Tears of the Kingdom has a larger emphasis on story for those who were begrudged by its passive presence in BOTW, but the open world structure still causes hiccups in the pacing and overall extent to which things can be fleshed out. Most Zelda stories aren't masterfully deep, but while it certainly isn't bad, I can't help but feel like the story this game has to offer could have used a more cohesive structure that allowed it to be more expansive. Still, the emotional resonance of this game is powerful, with some amazing moments and a final sequence that might be a tearjerker for some. No spoilers, but the final boss is an incredible spectacle that might just be one of the best in the series.

Despite my glowing review of it, Tears of the Kingdom is not exactly a perfect game. There are the aforementioned story bumps, some issues with the structure of the dungeons, the depths being somewhat barren after some exploration, and the fact that exploring and questing generally begins to feel less rewarding as you rack up more hours... but I can't really bring myself to knock the game that hard for its few flaws. An experience as rewarding and just flat out fun as this one deserves to be rated in kind. This game delivers on nearly everything players wanted in the wake of Breath of the Wild: more enemy variety, better dungeons, more meaningful quests with better loot and rewards, new armor sets, a better story, new abilities, the list goes on. Tears of the Kingdom is a spectacularly unique and bold entry in the Zelda franchise, and even though I'm beginning to feel a craving for a return to the series more linear 3D roots, this is yet another world that I will be returning to a lot, even after the credits have rolled.

This is an objectively good game, but I don't think I can finish it. The first few hours of Snake Eater were spectacular before it began to decline for me. The controls are wack, the bosses aren't really good at all, the gameplay gets tedious, and overall the game is not super fun to me. I think I struck a bit of fools gold with this series in the first two installments before coming to this game. MGS1 and 2, to me, felt far more action based, with stealth acting as more of an accessory that amplified the subtle combat. With plenty of weapons and gadgets at your disposal, those games allowed you to do so many different things to get past enemies, even if you messed up. Snake Eater is a much more punishing and restrictive game in that fashion, which isn't for me. I'm just not that good at stealth as methodical as this. Filtered, skill issue, etc.

2 is better