mellorine
Just don't play it on Switch, and you're good to go.
If Crash Bandicoot was a thesis with a good idea, Crash Bandicoot 2 is really just the whole rest of the essay.
(To-do: elaborate on this on a third playthrough)
(To-do: elaborate on this on a third playthrough)
Pokémon Platinum was one of my first - and favorite games I owned and completed. Even after barely scraping past the Elite 4 with a team of Infernape, Pikachu, Lucario, Giratina, and a Tentacruel and Pelipper I found just outside Victory Road, I continued to pour hours into this game trying to fill up as much of the Pokédex as I can and simply having fun in the game world; in Amity Square, in Contests, in the Wi-Fi Plaza, going back to the Distortion World, occasionally even in the Battle Frontier.
It was bit of a waste of time in retrospect. """Completing the Pokédex""" is a charade - albeit an admirable one, seeing the people who have such collections - that absolutely does not feel worth entertaining. I stayed in Sinnoh for as long as I did primarily because for the longest time, it was one of very few options that I had.
But so much of my sentiments regarding the Pokémon series lie here, buried with the remains of my old DS, wherever it may be now. Pokémon Platinum is a fond memory I cherish, but also a distant one. I still have my game card with me, but even if I had a DS I'd refuse to wipe my save, or even save over my last save all the way back in 2012... because the game is a time capsule to me now.
In highlight roles of my party are Pal Parked and hacked Pokémon from old friends I'd last contacted nine years ago, friends I've lost all contact with, and likely anything in common at this point as well.
These were classmates I'd played with for hours after class, racking up the phone bills over talking about Mystery Dungeon, sneaking our games to school to battle after class...
and proceeded to disappear from completely as reality, adolescent life and mental health issues crept up on me and took away everything I'd thought I'd known.
I'd engaged with Pokémon in a way I simply never have ever again since, and in a way that I don't think I actually intend on engaging with the series again - a way that I'm not even sure if it's possible for me again.
Maybe I'd lost something. Maybe I've just become a different person. I couldn't tell you.
But I know I still have spirit. Spirit, the one thing that Cyrus could never understand, the thing that led my first playthrough to victory in spite of my idiocy to use an unevolved Pikachu during the main game.
I know I've got it, and I don't need to invest four hundred hours into a Pokémon game to prove it.
But I'm glad I'd poured them in the past.
This review is a companion piece to my review of Pokémon Renegade Platinum, found here:
https://www.backloggd.com/u/mellorine/review/39293/
It was bit of a waste of time in retrospect. """Completing the Pokédex""" is a charade - albeit an admirable one, seeing the people who have such collections - that absolutely does not feel worth entertaining. I stayed in Sinnoh for as long as I did primarily because for the longest time, it was one of very few options that I had.
But so much of my sentiments regarding the Pokémon series lie here, buried with the remains of my old DS, wherever it may be now. Pokémon Platinum is a fond memory I cherish, but also a distant one. I still have my game card with me, but even if I had a DS I'd refuse to wipe my save, or even save over my last save all the way back in 2012... because the game is a time capsule to me now.
In highlight roles of my party are Pal Parked and hacked Pokémon from old friends I'd last contacted nine years ago, friends I've lost all contact with, and likely anything in common at this point as well.
These were classmates I'd played with for hours after class, racking up the phone bills over talking about Mystery Dungeon, sneaking our games to school to battle after class...
and proceeded to disappear from completely as reality, adolescent life and mental health issues crept up on me and took away everything I'd thought I'd known.
I'd engaged with Pokémon in a way I simply never have ever again since, and in a way that I don't think I actually intend on engaging with the series again - a way that I'm not even sure if it's possible for me again.
Maybe I'd lost something. Maybe I've just become a different person. I couldn't tell you.
But I know I still have spirit. Spirit, the one thing that Cyrus could never understand, the thing that led my first playthrough to victory in spite of my idiocy to use an unevolved Pikachu during the main game.
I know I've got it, and I don't need to invest four hundred hours into a Pokémon game to prove it.
But I'm glad I'd poured them in the past.
This review is a companion piece to my review of Pokémon Renegade Platinum, found here:
https://www.backloggd.com/u/mellorine/review/39293/
2018
I might be more of a fan of time management wacky cooking sim games than I ever imagined myself to be
It's like... have you ever ordered the usual at somewhere you've eaten out at all your life, and it looks really good, better than usual?
And then you take a bite, and then you realize they accidentally put in sweet potatoes instead of potatoes?
And like, it's still an okay dish, and I guess it looks even better? But the taste, the feel is subtly off, and it makes you not appreciate how it looks as much?
I'm not going to ask them to put sweet potatoes in the recipe instead of potatoes next time, that's for sure.
And then you take a bite, and then you realize they accidentally put in sweet potatoes instead of potatoes?
And like, it's still an okay dish, and I guess it looks even better? But the taste, the feel is subtly off, and it makes you not appreciate how it looks as much?
I'm not going to ask them to put sweet potatoes in the recipe instead of potatoes next time, that's for sure.
this is the second worst one because mario sucks in it
It's been said that Nintendo approaches Mario games with a typical structure found in yonkoma (four-panel manga): exposition, development, subversion and recapitulation.
Of course, it's not just a Nintendo thing - Capcom does it with Mega Man as well, and it's no surprise that Yacht Club drew from it heavily in the Shovel Knight games.
What's more interesting to me is that the four games ended up feeling somewhat like that, in of themselves.
Shovel of Hope sets the stage and context for everything else that's done with its basic framework; Plague of Shadows, like a typical panel 2, probably doesn't work as well without the context before it.
Specter of Torment is like a panel 3 with a particularly funny reaction face or line, often enjoyed on its own merits, but losing some of that original context in the process.
King of Cards isn't fully appreciable without considering everything before it, but I'm all the more glad that it exists - in some ways it feels natural and bookends-ish.
I like yonkoma a lot. I like Shovel Knight a lot too.
Just... ignore Showdown.
Of course, it's not just a Nintendo thing - Capcom does it with Mega Man as well, and it's no surprise that Yacht Club drew from it heavily in the Shovel Knight games.
What's more interesting to me is that the four games ended up feeling somewhat like that, in of themselves.
Shovel of Hope sets the stage and context for everything else that's done with its basic framework; Plague of Shadows, like a typical panel 2, probably doesn't work as well without the context before it.
Specter of Torment is like a panel 3 with a particularly funny reaction face or line, often enjoyed on its own merits, but losing some of that original context in the process.
King of Cards isn't fully appreciable without considering everything before it, but I'm all the more glad that it exists - in some ways it feels natural and bookends-ish.
I like yonkoma a lot. I like Shovel Knight a lot too.
Just... ignore Showdown.
this is the worst one because kirby sucks in it
1991
I'm a bit mixed on Final Fantasy IV overall. On one hand, it's still much better than any turn-based JRPG that preceded it; on the other, it has multiple problems that highlight my frustrations I've had with the genre for the longest time.
I've got a lot of specific thoughts on it, but I'll just summarize it by saying that I love the ATB system, and what it brings to strategy and battling; I like that bosses in this game were genuinely engaging and forced you to figure out strategies; but I disliked how obtuse all the mechanics were, including debuffs; and I absolutely loathe long dungeons of endurance with common enemies that can cast variations of instant death on your party.
It's not a bad game overall. I'm glad I experienced a more traditional, but refined and (mostly) genuinely well-thought-out RPG for once.
I'm just looking forward to seeing what the genre can do from here on.
I've got a lot of specific thoughts on it, but I'll just summarize it by saying that I love the ATB system, and what it brings to strategy and battling; I like that bosses in this game were genuinely engaging and forced you to figure out strategies; but I disliked how obtuse all the mechanics were, including debuffs; and I absolutely loathe long dungeons of endurance with common enemies that can cast variations of instant death on your party.
It's not a bad game overall. I'm glad I experienced a more traditional, but refined and (mostly) genuinely well-thought-out RPG for once.
I'm just looking forward to seeing what the genre can do from here on.
2012
it's better than earthbound tbh
wanna see a cool trick?
step on the grass.
wanna see a cool trick?
step on the grass.
2011
I'm sure if I went back to it now I wouldn't love it as much, but it was just wonderful back when I played it for the first time.
It's probably more fun than the main games, too - it's a lot more streamlined and more diverse overall... which isn't saying much.
It's probably more fun than the main games, too - it's a lot more streamlined and more diverse overall... which isn't saying much.
2008
fantastic music, great art and great presentation just simply cannot save awful pacing and repetitive gameplay loops.
i dropped it when i realized i was taking up to an hour per every main level and still not getting 100% on them.
i dropped it when i realized i was taking up to an hour per every main level and still not getting 100% on them.
Sure, I was upset when I was a kid that this wasn't Donkey Kong 94 3, but I got over it really quickly - the actual game is really, really fun and I think design-wise, it was downhill from here
Stage Builder, too! Who couldn't love that?
Stage Builder, too! Who couldn't love that?
Dream events were unironically really fun
it's a shame this is as jank as it is. i'd love to see a pinball adventure game that leans closer to pinball than yoku does, while not being... this game.