Don't let the 2.5 throw you off, that's a 5/10 and for me, that's a bang average score, not good, not bad, and that's how I feel about Frontiers, it's not good, but it's not bad either. Well, it has aspects that are really good, like a fun core gameplay experience of running fast, but some parts are really bad, like the very repetitive nature of the gameplay, how the story is told, the beta feeling of the game.

Probably worth keeping in mind I'm not a sonic fan, this is my first game so when Sonic references something like his human girlfriend from 06, idk what that means lmao. So those callbacks and fanservice moments didn't do anything for me but that's ok.

I personally didn't really like how the story was told. I think there's an interesting story buried within this game but the amount of cutscenes and how often they happen, just didn't click for me. I also don't like how coy they try to play out the plot for so long and then just expect you to connect all the dots at the every end. I will say though the one story aspect I did like, even though it was underused and not fleshed out enough imo, is the Sage and Eggman connection and how that works out in the ending, I think that could have been a much more interesting payoff if more time was spent on it during the game.

Tbh overall, a lot of my dislike is just that it felt repetitive at times so even if I initially liked the gameplay, after an hour or so I'd be bored cause it's just a loop of finding gears to get keys to get emeralds to fight bosses to move to the next island and do it all over again with little variation in-between. All islands are the exact same, they may visually look a bit different but the grass, sand, and volcanic terrain all plays the exact same. I hate saying this and I hate even more that the developers are open about it, but it really does feel like a beta game that was sent for playtesting and still needs to be tweaked a bit and arrange the pieces better.
Tldr: its a mixed bag that feels like a beta for a potentially really good game. Story is told badly even though it has interesting aspects. Open world is better than cyberspace but it was nice to have a mix even if some cyberspace levels were hell. I don't regret playing it, but I'm glad I got it 50% off.
Weirdly, a lot of thoughts for a 2.5/5 lol

This is probably my favorite pokemon inspired game I have played and I've played a lot of the big ones, nexomon extinction, temtem, coromon etc. What makes this better than all of those in my opinion, is that its what most resembles pokemon for me, but isn't afraid to improve where pokemon doesn't/won't, whereas sometimes in the other games it feels like they hold back in certain areas or make the same mistakes pokemon does. The main example of this is the gameplay flow for Cassette Beasts, its very similar in structure to Scarlet and Violet where there is a mostly open world map, and you have 2-3 core objectives to complete in order to beat the game. It even has unlocking overworld abilities to help you progress the map like SV does but its implemented better here imo. And overall that gameplay flow is done better here thanks to firstly the map design and secondly the level scaling implementation.

I'll start with the map design. While the game is marketed as open world, its not really, but in a good way. You are meant to do the right side of the map first until you complete enough of it to travel to the left side, and how you progress through that right hand side and what order you complete objectives is up to you. This is where the level scaling comes in. At the start of the game you are giving choices in how the scaling will be implemented, for example will bosses scale down to you, how will enemy AI move in the overworld etc. This level of tweaking is fantastic as it allows you to essentially make a custom easy/normal/hard mode, a sorely lacking pokemon feature. This is what truly helps the game flow, as you never feel over or under leveled, I left it on the default settings and while I never truly struggled like say in TemTem at times, I also couldn't just blindly mash away like you often can in pokemon and SV (depending on your order). I also really liked how none of the objective locations are just given to you immediately on the map, you either have to find them yourself or have an npc in town tell you as a quest, its a nice touch for those into exploration.

In terms of beast designs, I liked a lot of them, I feared that the roughly 120 count wouldn't be enough but it is and they are distributed well throughout the map. I also like the sticker move system and the star system for evolving, it makes having a rotating squad very feasible. The fusion mechanic is also cool, the algorithm used is very good in that it never feels like the fusions are just slapped together like the default pokemon fusions.

If I had any gripes, its that I wasn't a fan of how the companions quests are generally tied into a handful of the main objective boss fights, which means for about half of the Archangel fights you have a companion with you that can't fuse until you do the fight. Not a big deal but it came up as an annoyance once or twice. The other gripe is the awkwardness of swapping around beasts, especially if you want to take a beast off a companion to give them a fodder one if you are swapping, you should be able to remove your active beast from the tape inventory menu rather than having to back out to the party specific menu, it just becomes a hassle if you find yourself swapping companions a lot, which you will have to do some amount of due to the quests.

Overall, thoroughly impressed with this two person dev team and I'm glad its on gamepass as that should help with discovery a lot and even on steam its a very fair price of €/$20 I believe. If you are a fan of monster catching games, this is one to try.

PS the music is very good but sadly theres only maybe a handful of tracks, would have liked a few more but at least what we have is good so you don't mind hearing them often.

Safe to say I fell into the same rabbit hole with this game that many other people last year did also. I was particularly surprised because I had no prior DnD knowledge and the only CRPG I had played was Disco Elysium, which I didn't even know was a CRPG or what that genre really was.

I'm going to try and avoid doing a full crazy detailed breakdown of my thoughts on the game cause I feel like I could ramble for quite a while since with 100 hours played in like less than 3 weeks, theres a lot I can say. Clearly I was hooked, once I managed to get an understanding of the combat I was able to settle in and enjoy the next 70 hours or so unimpeded for the most part.

I say it like that because while I did enjoy the game overall, I think the wheels start to fall off a bit in act 3. This game was in early access for two years I believe where people could play all of act 1. You can tell when you play that act 1 is definitely the most polished part and I kind of wish they had done the same for the other acts. Act 2 is very light compared to act 3 content wise and even act 1, and act 3 is basically as large as act 1 and 2 put together and is almost overwhelming when you reach that point after already putting in 70-80 hours only to get a new objective for the real endgame bad guys.

That being said, I wouldn't put 100 hours in so quickly if I didn't enjoy it. I think the writing is top tier, even the most random of NPCs are a level of interesting, and not a single voiced line is phoned in, everyone from the main cast to a pig on a farm puts their all into the voice work. I think the character build system and all the spells, cantrips etc can be overwhelming initially but once you find some stuff you like the game is pretty much beatable with most setups, bar a select number of disgusting fights in act 3 that really need to be patched for a quick redesign, looking at you Viconia.

In summary, writing and va good, plenty of content, initially overwhelming, overstuffed final act along with some bugs and frustrating dev decisions lead to a small dip in enjoyment but overall I'd recommend and honestly I think if I had any prior DnD experience I would have given it a 5/5 since I'd already have a lot of the onboarding already done and understood.

All the pieces of Rain Code truly came together in the last two chapters for me. I debated whether to give it a 4 or 4.5 but I think with its consistency, music, aesthetic, characters, and plot, its strengths overcome the few weaknesses it has to justify the higher score.

If you liked Danganronpa I think its safe to assume you'll like raincode. The only reason you wouldn't is if you really can't stand the idea of a Miu x Monokuma style character being with you at all times cause thats basically what Shinigami is but I loved it and her eventual arc so it was fine by me. I don't think the characters of rain code will hit the personal highs a lot of people will have for various dango characters, but they also won't hit the lows of characters you despise, they are just consistently good at their role as allies/enemies/suspects. The protagonist Yuma is also probably the most fleshed out protagonist from out of any of these type of games I've played and honestly Shinigami is probably second.

Out of all the chunsoft games from this same vein, dango/Ai/zero escape etc, this probably has my favorite gameplay section after danganronpas class trials. While I think there was room for more mini game variety in the mystery labyrinths and the hallway walks were a bit annoying, what we got was good and reminded me a lot of the trials which I really enjoyed.

Speaking of trials, the mysteries of each chapter are pretty good here, like the dango games, some are better than others, but really theres only one weak one here in the 5 or 6 available. And while the overall plots mystery probably isn't as well sprinkled throughout the game as it is in other chunsoft games, it does come full circle in a way thats better than any of the others. In a weird way its the most fucked up but also the most likely/believable plots of any of those games lol.

This write up is going to sound like a lot of glazing and might sound like I'm being abstract or pretentious at points but its just because this game in its storytelling is so unlike any other game I've ever played or seen before. We've played survival horror games before, this isn't dissimilar to a game like Resident Evil 2 Remake. We've seen games use live action before or be flat out TV shows like Quantum Break. Games have delved into the psyche of people before like Psychonauts. But I struggle to think of a game that brings all of these aspects and more together into one singular project, until Alan Wake 2 that is.

This is the kind of game you could go down a rabbit hole discussing and dissecting so to avoid a lot of that, I just want to quickly cover what I think will be the briefest portion and thats actually the gameplay. Its literally just a very solid survival horror, very similar to games like RE2 and the other RE remakes. Its maybe not 100% as tight as those but its like, 90% of the way there personally. The game also has some great music, which has a narrative role, some excellent level design, which has a narrative role, and offers a dual perspective on the story of the game as you switch between Saga and Alan, both playing the same story at different locations, which again has a narrative role. Picking up a theme here?

I'm not smart enough nor have I researched enough into this game, remedys background, the building blocks of inspirations used for Alan Wake like twin peaks, x files, even stage plays. But what I will say is a non spoiler example of how meta and self warping Alan Wake 2 can be:
Alan Wake is about a guy who's writings come to life and bring about unimaginable horrors to himself and those around him. This story is written by humans at Remedy who are aware that through their writing they are bringing to life a horror story about a writer who is bringing to life a horror story through his writing. Remedy do not try to hide or disguise that, in fact they really want you to observe that as part of the story of Alan Wake and go to an unseen length to try and drive it home. That length being that they
put one of the writers of the video game into the video game. Sam lake
is the co-writer and co-director of Alan Wake. He is also the face of agent Alex Casey Saga's partner and he's also the face of Alex Casey, a fictional character cooked up by Alan Wake who happens to have the same name as the real Alex Casey and while Alex Casey is mo-capped by Sam Lake, he's voiced by James McAffrey who was the voice of Max Payne and Sam Lake was also the face of Max Payne back in the first two games so Sam Lake is Max Payne who is Alex Casey who is written by Alan Wake who is written by Sam Lake.

Thats just one example of how the narrative of Alan Wake 2 is unlike anything else I've played. Add in the overlapping dual perspectives, the live action scenes, the live action mixed with gameplay scenes, and many more elements I can't go down the rabbit hole on, Alan Wake 2 is truly a game you have to play to fully understand and experience, words alone don't do it justice yet theres more to say about this type of game than almost any other I can think of.

This is like if Danganronpa and Zero Escape had a weird love child, where it has a lot of the charm of Danganronpa and the mystery plot of Zero Escape. But on top of that, it also have the most childish humor of all those games and for me that was fine and right up my alley but I can see it grating for some people.
The main thing stopping the game from being rated higher is I wasn't a fan of the dialogue options at times, it just felt very drawn out, and I wasn't the biggest fan of Somniums, compared to Danganronpa trials and Zero Escape puzzles, its easily the weakest gameplay mechanic of the three.

Hilarious end credits scene lmao

Temtem is a game that has some very good aspects but does not focus enough on them and instead spreads itself too thin trying to be something its not.

The battle system in this game and the tems themselves are very interesting, no battle is a cakewalk but rarely do they ever feel too difficult. This is helped a lot by an excellent level curve and islands being broken up by type to help players learn the new type matchups if coming from other games like Pokemon. The game is also visually pleasing with its simple but effective art style and 3d world.

Unfortunately temtem also tries to be an MMO and this is where it starts to fall apart for me. Firstly I am not a fan of MMOs to begin with so perhaps I am a bit biased but it really does feel like temtem has the worst aspects of MMOs, being poor/uninteresting side quests and overly wordy dialogue, without any of the benefits of a true MMO. The single player campaign also goes on far too long, it took me 50 hours to beat, a monster catching game does not need to be that long imo.

I am interested to see what this team can do next with a bit more focus and clarity on their project and goal. There are no plans to add more temtems/story updates to the game, which is not very MMO like but there is plenty of post game content at the moment for people who are enjoying the game.

While I can definitely see the appeal of the game and how at its core design it has lead a new format/genre of games, and that the visual and control improvements of the remaster greatly improve the overall experience, this is still a game largely stuck in its 2000s roots and you painfully feel that as you play.

As someone with no prior metroid experience, I come into this completely clean with no nostalgia or understanding of the game, which means I had to have a fucking guide open as I played the game or else I'd have an extra 4 hours on my playtime running around to finish this game. My main complaints are:
- lack of fast travel/shortcuts around the map, makes backtracking in the latter half a pain in the ass.
- meta ridley boss fight is ass, the rock monster fight drags way too much, and overall the difficulty seems to just spike in the last 1/4 of the game
- some enemies are just fucking annoying, especially the face suckers and the jetback guys, legitimately just made me mad with how aggressive the room respawns can be when I'm trying to run through an area
- "plot" told through scanning random shit across the world = zzz

All that being said, it still gets 2.5/5 cause it doesn't overstay its welcome, and I did enjoy the visual improvements and the very very core design of powering up as you progress through the game is solid and popular as we see in the years to come.

Wow. I had a feeling I might enjoy this game, but never did I expect to absolutely love it the way that I did. After beating the game I read some reviews to see what did others pick up on that I missed, and while I could somewhat see some peoples gripes, I legitimately did not encounter any of them or think about them while playing.

- Right off the bat, anyone with eyes and ears can recognize the beauty of this games pixel art and its stunning music. Thats all that needs to be said about those, its a given.
- The gameplay I found to be really engaging, the combat keeps you focused and rewards swapping around party members with no punishment around levels. Exploration always rewards you with new gear or secrets and almost gives a bit of a zelda-esque experience doing through the different areas and dungeons, perhaps that will be their next genre?
- The plot and characters I thought were really well done. The two solstice warriors can be argued as bland or basic but if you spent your formative years training with an old man, you'd be a bit boring also. Luckily this is where the supporting cast of characters and party members comes in, each of them with their own personality, motivations, and secrets. Meanwhile we have a plot basically themed on responsibilities, ones that are inherited, ones we feel compelled to take on etc, and how we handle those responsibilities. I would advise going for the true ending, the requirements aren't steep if you've been engaging with the game as you go, took me maybe an extra hour or two max after beating the normal ending. Some people take issue with certain plot beats and twists but honestly it did all I could have asked for it to do and I'm more than ok with how it all ended up.

If you played The Messenger you will also get some added joy and cheeky nods while playing Sea of Stars. But you also don't feel left out if you didn't. Where one person sees a familiar face, another sees a cool new character, its very well balanced but rewarding for those involved.

Overall, Sea of Stars is a delight of a game. Thankfully the kickstarter raised enough to hit the dlc goal so I will return for that, and I will absolutely be keeping an eye on Sabotage Studios next game.

I am so fucking happy this got a remake because I don't think I would ever have gotten around to playing any of its original releases and man I would have missed out on a fantastic story, some great social links, excellent music and what might be my favourite overall theme/message of any persona game I've played, or even any game ever.

The music is neck and neck with 5 for me, I think reload has the best intro song and Its Going Down Now is a fucking banger. The social links suffer a bit from being the same as the original game so obviously they don't have the same level of experience as they did with latter games but most of them are fine and some are excellent like Maiko and Akinari. The battle system is also much more akin to 5 and even reworks fusion spells from original 3 into Theurgy which I think is a great mechanic.

Without a doubt the best plot of modern persona trio. If 5 is a bad guy of the month and 4 is a murder mystery, then I think I would compared 3 to a sort of conspiracy thriller with its twists, turns, and revelations. Also I think this might be my favourite party member cast. Its hard because I spent twice as long with the 5 cast and you never forget your first persona crew, but man like, Ken might be an all timer for me, love that little kid. Koromaru is based as fuck, Aigis becomes this vessel for the games main message, Mitsuru is mommy, its all great stuff. Of course the sure sign of a fantastic plot and crew is an emotional response during or at the ending and I damn sure had an emotional response during the game and especially during the ending.

Now, is the game flawless? No, but neither is 5R honestly. 5R suffers from being almost overstuff, it has the weakest plot of the trio, the pacing can be quite poor at times over its long runtime. 3 has its flaws in the last month or so being quite bare in terms of content as you wrap things up, the plot is one story rather than arcs which some people can dislike, some of the writing is literal 2000s quality. However, both have strong factors that redeem those weaknesses which is why I'd give both a 5/5 and the answer to which one is my favourite will probably change week to week but for now I'll put P3R just ahead of P5R but expect it to flip flop between the two of them. And I'm happy thats the way it is, because its fantastic to have to excellent games that I enjoyed this much exist in the world.

If you like previous Arkane studio games, then you will probably enjoy this. I personally don't love how combat feels in their games. The plot for deathloop also didnt grip me much. Honestly the thing that kept me coming back to finish this game was the personal sense of satisfaction from slowly solving the loop and making progress towards lining up all the pieces to break the loop.

Its got a few bugs on pc which caused it to crash twice for me and needed to be alt f4'd two to three times. Overall middle of the road game thats mileage varies on your interest in the combat and story.

I'm glad Alan Wake 2 and the Remedyverse of games got me to finally try this as I enjoyed it quite a bit. I think its gameplay is stronger than alan wake 1 and it might have the best gameplay of psychic powers I can think of in a game. However it does have some weakpoints, I think its plot is not as strong as alan wake as it tells a lot of its plot through documents found around the building and its not as immediately coherent, I feel like I need to watch a recap video to fully understand what happened. I don't think the setting is very strong either, at times its phenomenal like the ash tray maze, but for large portions its just a grey building that blurs together floor by floor. Thankfully the gameplay is strong enough to push past a lot of that and while the story is hard to fully comprehend, its fine for moment to moment segments.

Realidea System is a well written and beautiful looking fan game that was originally released in Spanish but has now been translated to where about 95% of it is in English and fully playable.

Initially I was lukewarm on realidea as I didn't think it was doing enough to really stand out. It has a well designed region, characters, and the flow of route -> city -> evil team -> gym -> repeat works well even if a bit repetitive. But I felt like the story was lacking and I had hoped for a few more regional forms, I think I came across 4 in my play-through and I don't suspect there is much more than that. This game isn't easy but I wouldn't say its hard either. It might actually have the best level curve in any pokemon game as you will always basically be on par or one level above/below a boss fight. I think slightly better AI in the trainers would have given it a slight bump up. I also think the games gimmick of the realidea system is not nearly as drawing as it needs to be, I can count on one hand the number of times I used it and it was all basically in the endgame for healing.

However, as I got into the backhalf of the game, I realised the allure of realidea system was its story and its art. Its not a masterpiece by any means but its also not cringe emo slop and the art work on display in the character portraits and the full screen set piece moments really will make it stand out in my memory as I play more fan games.