Good enough collection, my first opportunity playing Mario Sunshine and I'm enjoying that game quite a bit. However, this collection is as bare-bones as you can get. Having the three games and their soundtracks is not enough when this was supposed to be a celebration of Mario's anniversary. There's so much more that could have been included. At the very least, scans of all the manuals, concept art, just something fun to keep me entertained while not playing a game. I'm really passionate about keeping the legacy of older games going, and this feels like Nintendo doesn't share that. I hate corporate Nintendo, bring back the passion.

So I moved into the city and shit is wild. I can't talk. Everyone wants to be my friend or to date me. I black out at midnight and am assaulted by demons and a disturbing child in striped inmate pajamas. I yell at my dormmates to do things and they get it right half of the time and if they don't I get mauled to death and do it again. Dr. Frankenstein's former assistant cackles at me and gets some kind of hotel maid to shove demons into my mind. One of them is possibly Jesus.

It's a huge pain in the ass. The grim reaper tears itself out of my psyche and screams at me. I hate it when all three of the friends I picked kill themselves on a reflective barrier. I get wrecked about a hundred times. 10/10. Would transfer here again.

Easily one of the best pieces of meta-fiction I've ever experienced.

I can't go real deep into details without spoiling much, but I'll just say the game will break both the 4th wall and your heart and there's some really clever puzzle solving directly implemented into the 4th wall breaking itself, it's also mandatory to play the game in windowed mode for reasons.

Oh and for such a short game it really does an amazing job at endearing you to the protagonist Niko in such a short amount of time. Never thought I'd care so much about a pixelated cat. It may just be a story, like thousands of other stories, but I'll never forget you Niko.

To me, Dark Souls II is like if someone saw Dark Souls and said, "Hey! Let's make that into a video game!"

That doesn't mean that I think DS2 is bad, or that I think it's design is poor, I just think that its design philosophy is a lot more "gamey" feeling. This is my second time playing it through, (the first was in 2016) and I think I've really warmed up to it in the time since. I think DS2 tends to get a bit of a hard rap for not being as polished or as fresh-feeling as Demon's Souls or DS1, and I think it's actually a pretty solid sequel, all things considered. One thing I genuinely came to appreciate in this playthrough, is the sense of "hope" that runs at the plot's core. I really enjoy that several travelers you meet along the way, come back to live with you in Majula. It gives you a sense that you're not actually alone in your struggle, a beacon of light in a game series famous for its dreary isolation. While it's not my favorite Souls game by far, I'd rather play Dark Souls II than most games! That's how well I'd say this one's stuck with me.