Nobody Saves the World is in the good but not great territory for me. And I have a lot of mixed feelings on it. On one hand, this game often got repetitive to the point where my co-op partner and I were trying not to fall asleep while playing. On the other hand, we played through 20 hours of this and did almost everything there is to do (aside from NG+ and maxing out all the forms). What's here is an interesting game that we were motivated to complete despite all the criticisms I'm about to describe. I think that speaks to how satisfying and fun the core conceit is: you are a wizard that can instantly change between many different forms, and you have almost complete customizability for each of them.

My problems with this game can be summed up in one word: repetitive. A core part of the game's structure has all the dungeons being randomly generated so they are easy to replay. However this leads to the same floor patterns over and over, the same set of 20 or so monsters that you plow through, and even the final bosses aren't unique or interesting at all between dungeons. For a game mostly about exploring to find and complete dungeons, it's a shame they are all so same-y. The only thing that sets them apart is the setting (which just means the breakable and background assets are swapped), and a ruleset change. These ruleset changes range from being so insignificant you forget about them to requiring you to actually alter your build a bit, but either way they don't add much of a challenge. I would have liked to see more of a puzzle element to the dungeons, especially since they could take advantage of all the unique forms and abilities we have. But instead all of them simply boil down to mowing through hordes of enemies. Although I haven't played it, I heard NewGame+ does add more puzzle-y rulesets to each dungeon which may make it more interesting.

My other disappointment was the writing. There were a few funny quest lines or characters, but most of it was mediocre. There's a lot of exposition that is saved for the very end of the game, and while it did redeem the story a bit, I don't think it was enough to leave a lasting impression. While the story definitely isn't important in a game like this, a strong narrative thread is one element that can motivate me to complete a game, and it's notable I succeeded at that without one.

Some rapid-fire good things: the music is catchy (although it too can get repetitive since there aren't too many different tracks). The art style is fun and surprisingly easy to read amid the chaos of the combat. And the co-op implementation is better than a lot of games but could still use improvement. P2 can drop-in/out at any point, but must stay within one screen of P1. The lack of proper split-screen is manageable but what's worse is that using the menu to tweak builds or views quests pauses the game for both players. Since this happens a lot it can get frustrating at times.

Ultimately both my partner and I had a fun time with this game. I don't think I would have made it through in single-player, but it's a good enough couch co-op experience to recommend. We loved customizing our builds and there are a lot of cool abilities that we enjoyed working into various combos. Despite the sameness of the dungeons, the core hack-n-slash combat was engaging enough, and there was always that next form level up or ability on the other end of the stick to keep us going.

This game was close to a perfect experience for me. It's a short game that feels like a cross between A Short Hike and Breath of the Wild, and I'm glad to see more developers applying the "open-air" formula to concise worlds. The world is crammed with things to do yet getting 100% only took me 5 hours total. At first I was worried it would be a simplistic story aimed for kids, and to some extent it is, but the writing is so much better than I expected and by the end I was both emotionally moved and also humored by all the funny dialogue and flavor text. Any fan of games (especially Zelda games) will love this and all the witty references it includes.

I also want to point out two mechanisms I really enjoyed: a dynamic soundtrack that is as catchy as it is cute, and the lack of a map meaning you have to pay more attention to the world and environmental cues to navigate. That said, navigating the world (or the combat) never was much of a challenge but the lack of any frustrating segments is a huge positive when I want to focus on enjoying the experience and having fun.

Overall, the game doesn't really do anything new but it executes its vision so excellently that it's hard to find any negatives. If you are looking for a relaxed experience that is sure to make you smile, or are just a fan of games, I can't recommend it enough!

As long as you don't have a strong "must collect them all" mentality, Pokemon Go is easy to get into and play. I still play it every once in a while for events, but I'm also totally okay missing out on "exclusive" Pokemon releases or quests (most of these I already have in the mainline games anyway). The game is fun for a while while you still have lots of new Pokemon available to catch, or while you're building up a good team to fight gyms or raids. But after around level 35 or I basically had everything I needed for PvE and I don't care about the PvP aspects at all. Since I don't have a strong collector mentality, I am not motivated to travel to catch other mons I can't get in my local city. For me it's a good activity to play on the bus/train while riding past many Pokestops and gyms.

This is a solo tabletop RPG in video game game form. It has more gameplay mechanics than a visual novel, but less than a standard adventure game. It's been a long time since I was so glued to a game, finishing all the endings in just one weekend. I love narrative games where your choices actually matter, and the dice placement was engaging for me as an avid tabletop gamer. However, the dice and resource management puzzle does get trivial later in the game when you have most of the upgrades, and the music was rather uninspiring as well. Those slight negatives aside, this is a story and experience that will be sticking with me for many years.

I will echo what everyone else says and that it's best to go in blind. But if you don't want to do that, light spoilers ahead. This is a deck building card adventure game where the battles occur throughout your adventures. How you are adventuring changes throughout the game, and I enjoyed each of these different acts. I appreciate how the game presents you with many new mechanics as you continue, even if those mechanics are only used for a single boss fight. The constant new mechanics plus the mystery of the story (and the novelty of how it's told) kept me going all the way through. Like any good mystery, the conclusion answers a lot of questions but withheld others for further contemplation. I also want to highlight Leshy, my favorite character, who falls in that perfect grey area of helpful yet twisted.

This may make it into my all-time greats (5 stars), but as of now I was let down by a couple things: The music, while fitting, wasn't that emotional or engaging for me. The base difficulty was also pretty easy for someone familiar with card games (luckily there are challenge modes unlocked on completion). And finally, some of the puzzles I either solved by accident without knowing, or were too obscure to solve on my own. Neither end of that spectrum feels good and they probably could have used some better balancing.

It's going to take time before I decide whether I preferred Ragnarok or God of War 4. Both are all-timers for me and they hit in different ways. From purely a mechanics point of view, Ragnarok is much improved on everything. Story-wise, it depends on whether you prefer a smaller scale story that focuses on personal growth or the more grandiose "prepping for an ultimate battle" trope. I preferred the former found in the predecessor, but Ragnarok makes up for it by telling a lot of those smaller stories in the form of side-quests.