Not gonna give a rating yet because I've only just begun with this one but I really wanna get my thoughts on the game out there. Dr. Robotnik's Ring Racers is the most difficult kart racer I've played ever and it's not close at all.

And I'm really enjoying it!! While this game has already kicked my ass in some pretty frustrating ways (which is definitely a thing with kart racers in general, tbf), the successes I've had have been incredibly satisfying. Everything about this game is a lot less straightforward than, say, Mario Kart, but once I started figuring out the nuances of the gameplay it made a lot more sense. Also, I'm definitely a sucker for the Air Ride-esque challenge board, I've always loved filling these out in other games that have them. Overall, Ring Racers is a demanding but still highly enjoyable kart racer that I'm sure will only get better with time. Definitely check it out if you're a fan of the genre--it's free, after all!

...The tutorial absolutely needs to be reworked, though. Everyone's definitely right about that lol

IMPORTANT TIP: Before you go past that final point of no return, you're gonna want to complete the training sequences for Akiyama, Saejima, and Tanimura. Upon completion of each of these, you'll get a piece of armor. MAKE SURE you equip all three of them on Tanimura before you proceed with the finale. You'll thank me later.

Now that that's out of the way, I thought this was a pretty good game! For the first game in the series to have multiple playable characters, I think they pulled it off well. They're all pretty solid, except for Tanimura who, while still good, had some more annoying moments during his parts of the story than the other three (including what I referred to at the beginning; I just know it would've been terrible if i didn't follow my friends' advice). Also, as everyone else who's played has noticed, enemies grab pretty often in this game for whatever reason. It's nothing to worry about in most situations, but it can lead to some nasty combos in certain encounters, so be warned. Anyways, the story is pretty good too, but the twists do start to get kinda ridiculous. That aside, I think giving Kiryu a more minor role for the first time in order to focus on some new characters was a pretty cool choice, and I liked how their individual stories became more and more interconnected over time. I also felt like the OST was a bit weaker this time around too; still very good overall, but there definitely weren't as many standout tracks for me as there were in, say, Yakuza 0 or Yakuza 3. For all of those issues, though, I still think Yakuza 4 is very much worth playing if you've been enjoying the other games!

also they brought back the fishing minigame from the previous game and it still goes hard holy shit

Just decided to play this on a whim yesterday and yeah it's not good. Most levels are just the same sort of fetch quests; the only meaningful difference is what the collectibles look like. This is not helped by the fact that the titular Home for Imaginary Friends serves as the setting of every level which, surprisingly enough, makes for some repetitively boring gameplay. At least the game's rather short.

That said, I think the show's imaginative (heh) art style and character designs are portrayed pretty well here. Mac and Bloo also control pretty nicely--that's more than I could say for other licensed games of the era! All in all, it's far from the bottom of the barrel, and if you're a fan of Foster's (like me), you might even get a kick out of seeing a handful of episodes being adapted into different levels. Not really worth playing other than that though.

...This is the one people don't like?

Ok to be fair, I can see why. It didn't bother me that much, but the enemies do tend to block quite a bit more in this game (And I definitely felt how they accidentally gutted the quickstep in this port). Also, the substories were quite a bit weaker across the board than the other games I've played so far, but this is an older game so I'm willing to cut it some slack on that front--just as I did with its other, smaller issues. But other than that and a couple of crappy boss fights, I had a great time with this one! The story was really engaging--yes, that includes the entire chapters of orphanage stuff. Seeing Kiryu be such a great father figure to the children was very heartwarming and served as a great example of his character development. The yakuza side of the story was great too, and I really enjoyed a lot of the newly introduced characters. I enjoyed the combat, too; so far I still think the style-switching of 0/K1 is the peak so far, but this one still clicked with me. I think the soundtrack was a highlight too; there's a great set of battle themes here ("Crush and Strike", "Ogre Has Returned", "Clay Doll on the Cradle", and, of course, "Fly" are my favorites). If you're hesitant to play Yakuza 3 because of its lower reputation among the fanbase, I recommend giving it a shot anyway! I can't guarantee you'll enjoy it like I did, but you'll never know if you don't try.

also that fishing minigame goes hard holy shit

I was considering playing the original PS2 version of Yakuza 2 over this, as it seems like a good chunk of the fanbase prefers it pretty strongly. Perhaps I would have felt differently if I made the other choice, but... I thought Yakuza Kiwami 2 was pretty dang good! In terms of gameplay, I absolutely preferred the style-switching combat of 0/K1, but the combat system here is still fun in its own right, though it definitely feels like this was one of the first games in the Dragon Engine. The bosses, however, are a big improvement over Kiwami 1! They're nothing particularly great, and I do wish they had at least a little more health, but I'll take that any day over just how damage-spongey K1 bosses could get. I think it's a considerable improvement in terms of narrative as well; it's still there occassionally, but K2 really improves on the filler problem K1's story had. Also, Nishiki may have the advantage a whole prequel of additional context for his role in K1, but in my opinion, Ryuji is at least as good of an antagonist. The layers to his character that are peeled back as the story progresses had me hooked. Sayama is a great new character as well; her evolving dynamic with Kiryu was very interesting. Also, without spoiling anything, while one of the twists in the story was very predictable, I was still impressed by how it affected things nonetheless. In the end, would I have been better off playing the original version? Maybe so, but I still had a great time with the game nonetheless, and at least for now, I don't regret my choice.

i also genuinely loved how ridiculous the ragdoll physics got. defeated enemies just launching ten feet into the air for no goddamn reason was always funny

IF YOU'RE PLAYING THIS FOR THE FIRST TIME PLEASE MAKE SURE TO UNLOCK THE KIWAMI HEAT ACTION FOR RUSH STYLE ON THE SKILL TREE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!!! OTHERWISE ONE OF THE EARLY BOSSES IS GOING TO BE AWFUL!!!

But yeah, Yakuza Kiwami was pretty good! I was very happy to see the return of the different battle styles from Yakuza 0; I was expecting Beast to be my ride-or-die once again like in the previous game, and it was still great, but I really took a liking to Rush as well--it's especially good for bosses. I also really liked the additional cutscenes throughout the story showing what happened with Nishiki during Kiryu's ten years in the joint prison--that plus his presence in 0 makes his role in this story all the more impactful. As is tradition for Yakuza, there's a boatload of substories and side content to get lost in (I lamented the lack of any actual arcade games to play in this one, but oh well. I can hop back into 0 to get my Out Run fix).

For everything I liked, there is a pretty consistent issue the game has that I can't ignore: the bosses. Many of these were a real pain in the ass to fight; I felt like I got hard punished for not doing things in a specific way for many of them (or they were just tedious damage sponges). This certainly isn't helped by the titular Kiwami Heat Actions being a really lame gimmick. I did start enjoying the bosses in the latter half of the game (attacking from behind with Rush is the meta), but then I got hit with quite possibly the worst one of all near the end (iykyk). Also, while I did enjoy some of the wacky scenarios presented by the Majima Everywhere system, it felt at odds with Majima's role in the main story. Speaking of which, it felt like a good chunk of the main story... wasn't really important to the plot at large? In all fairness, I feel like that's probably an issue related to this being a remake of the first game in the whole series. On the other hand, considering Kiwami very much made with playing 0 beforehand in mind, it's hard for me not to just see it as a downgrade in that sense; I felt like the plot in the other game was much more focused and, ergo, consistently engaging. The more plot-relevant parts of Kiwami were great, though; I just wish there was more of that.

Overall, if you loved Yakuza 0 like I did, then I'm pretty sure you'll have a good time here! Just don't go in with the highest of expectations.




and make sure to get Mr. Random, the gun that has a random effect with each shot

You NEED to play Rhythm Doctor if you're a fan of rhythm games--especially Rhythm Heaven. The game does so, so much with just one button; it introduces various different cues, combining and expanding upon them in really cool ways from one level to the next. On top of that, there's a genuinely great story that works hand-in-hand with the gameplay; nothing super complex or groundbreaking, but the patients and staff of Middlesea Hospital are quite a compelling cast of characters. The game's still in Early Access as of now, but for my money, it's already one of the all-time greats of the rhythm game genre--and I'm certain it'll be even better once it's complete.

also i absolutely LOVE IT whenever the game does that. no spoilers, iykyk

(Played about equally on Windows PC and Steam Deck)

Holy shit, Hi-Fi Rush really is that good! Every aspect of the game is absolutely full of passion and style; the fact that this was published by Bethesda is absolutely shocking. This is the kind of game I'd only expect to see from an indie developer nowadays. The combination of the rhythm and hack-and-slash genres isn't entirely new (see 2020's No Straight Roads), but this game just does it so well. I found myself bopping my head to the rhythm more often than not. The cast of characters was also very entertaining; Chai and CNMN were probably my favorites, but just about everyone else was really good too. I also really appreciated the bits of dialogue from the robots throughout each stage + the conversations with the team at the base; I made sure to listen to all of them. And of course, the rock soundtrack was really great too, from the bangers composed for the game to the inspired choices of licenses tracks for some of the bosses and stages. Not that I needed to use it myself, but the fact that they went through the effort of making entire alternative songs so that streamers won't get copyright claimed is also commendable. I did have two small issues with the game, though. First, the way Chai controls doesn't work particularly well for the platforming you need to do throughout the game. It's not too bad, though, and I was definitely used to it by the end. Second, several fights can get chaotic, whch made it hard to tell what was going on on my first few tries. Again, though, this wasn't that bad either; the game has infinite lives and generous checkpoints, so I never worried about losing progress whenever I lost.

So yeah, Hi-Fi Rush is absolutely something special. I'll definitely be sticking with it a little while longer to get some S-ranks and do some postgame content. I'm also certain I'll come back to it sooner or later after that to play through it once again. Hopefully the success of this will lead to more uniquely fun projects getting greenlit by big companies in the future! If not, though, we still have plenty of indie devs making all kinds of creative games for us to play.

but if we do get something like this again can we like. get some notice beforehand

(Played using the emulator Dolphin on Windows. I do own the game physically but I just found that more convenient)

I can definitely see why a lot of people miss this kind of Paper Mario game; that was pretty great! The combat manages to feel simple and approachable while still having quite a bit of depth thanks to the variety of badges and partners available (I definitely recommend investing the bulk of your level-ups into BP so you can mess around and find the badges that work for you, there's a looooot of great ways to use them). Action Commands are also a fun way to spice up combat, and I really liked hitting the Stylish! moves too (even if i never figured out the timing for some of them). The solid writing and cast of characters made for a fun story too! Nothing groundbreaking, but it was well worth the 40 or so hours I spent playing. I'm also really fond of the art style; few other games that have been out this long have aged this well visually.

Though I must say, I kinda found myself wishing the game was a little more difficult overall. Not that it's mindlessly easy, but I really enjoyed how challenging the last few bosses were, and I just think it would've been cool to have a bit more of that. That's what the Pit of 100 Trials is for, I suppose. I'm not really gonna fault TTYD for this; as a big Kirby fan, I'd be a bit of a hypocrite to do so. What I will fault it for is the moments where it brings its pacing to a standstill. If you've heard anyone say something bad about the game before, it's almost definitely this, and for good reason. While it doesn't happen too often IMO, it's pretty boring when it does. Chapter 4 is definitely the worst offender with how much you have to go from Twilight Town to Creepy Steeple and back. It's not too bad if you're patient enough, but that patience will be tested, believe you me. My rating for the game is very close to a 4.5/5, but I just can't quite do that because of the pacing issues.

But yeah, if you can handle the game's wonky pacing, I think you'll be in for a good time! I'll definitely be replaying this one eventually, it's quite a gem despite its issues.





now if i could beat the shit out of the happy lucky lottery bob-omb my rating would be higher

(Played on Nintendo Switch through Mega Man X Legacy Collection 2)

Been a couple of years since I played it but I feel like I need to put into writing that this game fucking sucks, man. From the soul-suckingly unfun level design to the wildly inconsistent difficulty, I think this is probably my least favorite game I ever played. It's debatable whether or not it's worse than X7, but to me, that one was just woefully boring instead of being aggressively unenjoyable, so yeah

Would probably rate this 1/5 or 0.5/5 if it didn't have such a great OST. Genuinely just listen to it instead of actually playing the game.

This is certainly a cold take, but I think Pokémon Violet is a very good game despite how blatantly rushed it is. The three storylines and open world are a great way to shake up the formula of the series; I'd be happy to see something similar in later games. The 103 newly introduced Pokémon are wonderful, with Klawf, Tatsugiri, and especially Clodsire being some of my new favorites. The story and characters are very solid this time around, and the music is awesome too, though that should go without saying with Toby Fox's involvement. The game also felt just right in terms of difficulty, though that's probably because I went in order from lowest to highest level for each boss battle. I could imagine the difficulty curve feeling off if you don't follow this order, though I'm sure many people would welcome the challenge. Overall though, this is some of the most enjoyment I've had out of any Pokémon game!

...That said, the frankly unfinished state of the game is impossible to ignore. Sword/Shield and Legends: Arceus were unimpressive graphically, but they at least ran pretty smoothly. Scarlet/Violet, however, has some major framerate drops (North Province Area 3 was particularly egregious in my experience) in addition to the graphics still being crusty, though there's definitely some effort put into improving on that front. There is also the fact that future updates to the game will almost definitely improve this, but that absolutely shouldn't be the norm here (It's not a Pokémon-exclusive issue, to be fair). As these games expand further in scope, the strict, unchanging schedule that every aspect of the Pokémon franchise is bound to gets harder and harder to deal with. I want to say that one of the highest-grossing media franchises could afford to have its major releases more spaced out, but at the same time that astronomical level of revenue is probably at the core of the problem. I really hope this changes, as unlikely as it is, for the sake of both the fans and developers; I can't imagine working on these games under such strict time constraints being a stress-free experience. As a result, I can't bring myself to bring my rating any higher, as much as I'd like to. To reiterate, I really liked Pokémon Violet despite all of this, and I recommend playing it if you enjoy Pokémon and can look past the bad performance/graphics.

On a lighter note, here's the team I used for my playthrough:
- mark (Skeledirge Lv. 65, Blaze, Throat Spray): Torch Song, Shadow Ball, Yawn, Snarl
- wilma (Clodsire Lv. 65, Poison Point, Soft Sand): Earthquake, Poison Jab, Toxic, Yawn
- kylie (Klawf Lv. 65, Anger Shell, Loaded Dice): Swords Dance, Rock Blast, X-Scissor, High Horsepower
- scott (Scovillain Lv. 65, Chlorophyll, Big Root): Giga Drain, Flamethrower, Growth, Sunny Day
- matt (Annihilape Lv. 65, Vital Spirit, Expert Belt, Tera Normal): Bulk Up, Rage Fist, Close Combat, Metronome
- shane (Droopy Form Tatsugiri Lv. 65, Commander, Mystic Water): Nasty Plot, Surf, Dragon Pulse, Icy Wind

I was anticipating this one for a while and it definitely didn't disappoint!! I did like the first one more, but it's been a while since I played it so my thoughts might change in the future.

First of all, the Somniums in AINI are quite a step up from those in the first game; each one feels very unique and it didn't feel as trial and error-y as last time. The plot really had me hooked from the fascinating concepts it presented to the various twists and turns that kept me on my toes (one twist in particular was an absolutely flabbergasting headscratcher, iykyk). And of course, the game had a very enjoyable cast of characters too! However, there was a certain character that would've been a favorite of mine had it not been for something really icky that doesn't get properly addressed. That said though, I definitely recommend this one, especially if you enjoyed the first one! I'll be on the lookout for whatever Team Zero Escape is cooking next!

👍

This review is primarily for the campaign, and yeah! It's pretty good! I like the use of both the basic get-to-the-goal stages of the Splat 1 + 2 campaigns and the unique objectives from Octo Expansion. I think it's also pretty great that almost every (release date) weapon is usable in at least one stage; it definitely got me excited to use some of them in multiplayer (especially the Splatana Stamper). Also, the climax of the story goes hard as hell! I don't want to say much else for those who don't know about it, you really gotta play it for yourself.

Not rating it higher than a 4/5 because, while I didn't have any issues with the story mode, it's not particularly outstanding either (save for the end, like I said). But that's okay! There's a lot more to do in Splatoon 3, plus there's going to be single-player DLC once again!

smallfry 😍😍😍😍😍