Rate the last game you finished!

[shinhed-echi]

Teenage mutant ninja turtles: rescue Palooza
9.8/10

The ultimate love letter to fans of the 8-16-bit games as well as the first movies, the free wolf cartoon and its toy line.

Pros, pretty much the whole game. You have a stage select like Megaman or Darkwing Duck, presented as if it was an Overworld from the 1st NES game.
Most levels are tmnt2+3 style beat em ups, although there’s at least one platforms game level like the 1st nes game.

There are about 17 stages and on each, you unlock both heroes and villains. A total of 60 characters to play as.

Not only do you get to play as the best combination of tmnt 2+3 turtles, but you also get to play like classic favorites like Bebop, Rocksteady, Casey Jones, April o Neil, to the really obscure Aska, Wingnut, and Ace Duck.

The game is a blast to play, with voice acting (from the show mostly), and there’s fan service every step of the way.
The humor is also a welcome addition.

It even supports 4 players, and it’s free!

If you love tmnt you just HAVE to play this.


Cons:
The only cons I can think of is... there’s so many characters that not all of them are necessarily properly designed to go through certain areas. For example, Krang might be too big to fit in the more narrow passages of the sewers from tmnt1. In my play through, the game crashed when the CPU boss and I knocked each other out, and the game crashed.


But the game is constantly getting updates, so these might have disappeared by the time you try the game out.

 

[Megadoomer]

Final Fantasy 7 (Switch)

I just beat this game for the first time. I'll keep it short, since there's nothing I can say about this game that hasn't already been said.

I went into it figuring that there was no way it could possibly live up to all of the hype. It lived up to all of the hype, and it is easily in my top five as far as RPGs are concerned. (it's a tough call between that, FF6, Chrono Trigger, Persona 5, and Super Mario RPG)

 

[xoazi]

Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Kind of late to the party in completing this game, but no need to explain the game. You guys know as well as I do, it's great. That said:

9/10

Bosses felt kind of wack to me, everything else was amazing.

 

[Lamperouge]

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (PS4) - 9/10

I didn't have high expectations for this game given the results of a few Kickstarter projects that shall go unnamed. That being said, I was pleasantly surprised by how this ended up. The shard system gives Miriam a ton of options to goof around with, traversing the castle is quite fun when all of the various movement options are obtained, the soundtrack is pretty great stuff even if it doesn't quite live up to Symphony of the Night's score, and the game is full of cool secrets and nods to previous Igavanias.

As far as criticism goes, I do have a few complaints with the game. Visuals are fairly nice but the overall presentation can leave a lot to be desired. Character models don't look amazing and I think hand-drawn portraits for dialogue would've been preferable over the in-game renders. Freezing was occasionally an issue for me when killing enemies or transitioning to a new area. I also think a couple of parts of the game were a bit too cryptic.

 

[Falco_DJ]

Ocarina of Time (Virtual Console): 9/10

This game pleased Me very much! I didn't expect to like it as much as I did, but playing it on the Virtual Console allowed me to use a Game Cube Controller.
For Me Controls make up a huge potion of gameplay, so having a good controller can really push gameplay to a maximum, and I really don't like the n64 controller.

My reason for giving this game a 9/10 is because of various things, but overall, this is a great game!

 

[Rocker]

Shantae: Half Genie Hero: 8/10

Great game, the constant need for backtracking for relics and things like the keys for the art gallery was obnoxious but the core gameplay was fun, especially in the hardcore mode, but it was just a little under Pirate's Curse for me as it felt less fluid as a whole.
Otherwise, I'd recommend, the music is amazing, art is great and it's just fun.

 

[---]

Kirby & The Rainbow Curse
7.5/10

One of the few touch-screen-only games that I think work. Granted I haven't played Canvas Curse in several years, but I think my biggest complaint comes from the float-ier physics and that Kirby/the lines don't feel as pixel perfect. I felt that most deaths came from fighting the controls I guess is the best way to put it; which you especially feel in Water levels. The star dash mechanic is okay enough, but it feels a tad clunky to use & control in practice given you have to stop in-place and slowly charge up.

That aside, the music & presentation are among the best the series, with the collectables being worth seeking out for the new remixes alone. There are more ideas that work here than I felt that didn't and that take the concept of drawing lines in a more methodical but not terribly frustrating direction (unlike Kirby Mass Attack). Copy Abilities are gone, but I felt that the vehicle transformations here were more fully fleshed out by comparison to the original.

Overall, one the handful of system exclusive Wii U titles that might warrant keeping the system round for. Also in hindsight, it might be better to play on the TV. The larger gamepad screen might result in your hand blocking part of your viewing space (especially if you're right handed on the final boss).

 

[MasterOfKnees]

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars - 8/10

SMRPG was always was a bit of a mystery to me, it was never released in Europe, so my first exposure to it came from the massive amount of Geno support pre-Brawl, and since then it's long been on my to-play list. I got the SNES Classic Mini last christmas, so that was the perfect opportunity to finally be introduced to what is undoubtedly considered a classic title.

The game does a lot of things really well, its graphics, music, world building and humor are all really strong points, but above all I think it finds strength in its simplicity. I consider it the perfect beginner's RPG, the core mechanics are simple yet effective, it's very forgiving, and for an RPG it's relatively short, so in general it's a very easy game to pick up and not get overwhelmed or stressed out by. It probably has my favorite representation of the Mario world as well, there are so many quirky characters and creative designs in this game, and you quickly travel from place to place, so even if the game isn't super long, it still feels like you've been on a great adventure. It really is a shame that Square Enix still own large parts of the game, because there are so many things in this that I'd like to see brought up again, even if just for spinoffs.

I do think the game had a bit of a pacing issue though, the first five stars are spaced out relatively even, but then the sixth and seventh stars take quite a long time to acquire, putting a bit of a halt to the quickfire progression of the game. Its difficulty also ramps up too late in my opinion, when I had all but one star I had only suffered two game overs, both of which came from being caught off guard by boss mechanics I couldn't have predicted (shark guy going solo against Mario, Belome's mushroom ability), had it ramped up more gradually I think the middle portion of the game would have been a bit more engaging. The only time I had to grind in the entire game was for Smithy, the last boss, and that was a bit of a pace killer when it only happens right at the end.

If this game had been my introduction to RPGs it would probably be among my favorite games, but since I'm only playing it this late some of its beginner-friendly effectiveness is lost a bit on me. It's overall still a really good time though, and undoubtedly a must-play for any SNES fan.

 

[Falco_DJ]

Chrono Trigger! 8/10 stars

As Someone who has played the S.N.E.S, Playstation, and DS versions of this game, I can honestly say that the DS variant is the best!

• Using DS mode to clear up what would usually be a crowded screen was a nice option
• the pixelated graphics look really clean on the DS screen
• I was able to enjoy this game a lot more portably

Chrono Trigger will always be the number 1 rpg imo

-Falco_DJ

 

[GhostM]

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64) - 10/10

One of the most iconic and classic Zelda titles on the N64. I remember playing this game years ago as a child and the greatest part being when you finally kill Ganon at the end. It's a nostalgic game for me and it's one of the few games that I first began playing on a console, and I still enjoy playing it even to this day. The music and everything in the game is enjoyable, including the overall gameplay and feel. Although it's an old game, it is an amazing game created with the developers having the mindset to create a great game. Sadly many developers today focus more on money than making a game by flooding the users with microtransactions all over the place. I'm not saying that every developer is focused on microtransactions, but many people already know that companies like EA love nothing more than to make $$$ rather than focusing on what the customers want. Resuming back on to the topic, OOT will always have a special place for me when it comes to great nostalgic games that are satisfying to play. My favorite part will always be fighting against Dark Link, even to this day it's still my favorite Mini-boss in the entire game.

 

[ChikoLad]

A Hat In Time

heckin' cute/10

 

[Deleted member]

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - 8.5 outta 10

Spoiler: My SSBU Experience

I was able to afford a Switch over the 4th of July weekend. So now, I am happy to be playing everyone's favorite best-seller!

• To start off, I was excited about World of Light but that quickly changed when I began with this. Mind y'all, I set it to Easy difficulty and employed spirits. Yet the skill level of the CPU-controlled spirits and fighters appear to be unaffected. In other words, Legend spirits are still a big pain regardless of the difficulty setting. When I got to my first Legend spirit battle against M. Bison, he was too much for me so I gave up. I immediately deleted my Adventure Mode save file after opening the shops and will never touch it again. At least I unlocked 19 fighters in the process, even though my original plan was to unlock my girls as early as possible.
• That brings me to unlocking fighters. I respect Sakurai's choice for making the large majority of fighters unlockable. However, the AI for this game is indeed more than formidable to the point they seemed like too much for me. To put things in perspective, it took me three attempts to unlock and two tries for . Within a 24-hour time window of first playing, I unlocked everybody. I can see how some of y'all here like the thrill and challenge of unlocking content. Your words really do have power.
• Online mode...I do not care about it, so moving on...
• Spirit Board...not touching this considering my strong aversion for the AI. Not to mention there is no guarantee one will earn the spirit even after winning in the battle. So, moving on...
• Classic Mode...I did play this a few times to unlock some characters but a few of the bosses, such as Ganon, Rathalos, and the Master Hand/Crazy Hand duo were tricky that I took heavy damage or even defeated by them, and I set the intensity to 0.0 at the start. I am not touching this again. Besides, multiplayer is what I bought this game for.
• Smash mode - Obviously, this is where I spend the bulk of my time 'cause...well, you know.
• Creating my own Mii Fighters is another thing I spend a lot of time with. I personally like the Ribbon Girl costume out of all the new outfits. That said, Soulcalibur's character creation is superior imo.
• Lastly, I really like the Spirits, especially since I earned my very first Legend spirit in Pauline. Yes, I did her spirit battle in WoL; for me it took a Lv. 99 Petey Piranha with support spirits Cupid and Pocket Football Player when the Captain Rainbow primary was not working. Anyways...I now have a new adventure: collect as many Spirits as possible without dealing with this game's bull**** CPUs. I only endured them long enough to unlock all the fighters, and want nothing else to do with them.

Sayonara

 

[ivanlerma]

The Last Story 9/10

The Graphics,The Characters(main ones mainly), The Story, and The Music

Though my main problems would be Syrenne and The Lesser Shade.

 

[Deleted member]

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: 7.75/10

Fun and addictive gameplay, awesome base game roster and future DLC, neat campaign and functional extra missions.

Only things I'm not as cool with are the difficulty and the way you train characters, but not a huge deal.

 

[MajoraMoon]

Batman Arkham City (PS3)
The combat and story (though SLIGHTLY confusing) is great. It's amazing to see all these Batman villains gathered together in one place. A great game for a batman fan. Most of the side-quests tend to be wild goose chases though which I don't really enjoy. I give Batman an 8/10.

 

[Milo AKA Papa]

I recently finished (what's available of) the freeware game Your Turn To die and it's excellent so far. A debate/negotiation game in the same vein of Danganronpa, with more focus on the social and psychological horror that comes with the situation they're trapped in. There's only 2 of the 3 chapters of the game out at the moment but regardless the writing and music have been outstanding. I don't have any number to throw at it but I'd HIGHLY recommend it to anyone looking for something like this. A solid 10-20 hours of content in the 2 chapters out (possible more depending on your problem solving skills)

 

[Rizen]

Mario Maker 2 Story Mode. The main purpose of this mode is to give you a feel for what you can make in the level creator. They do a good job showing off concepts while giving you a sense of progression by rebuilding Peach's castle. Mario will need to complete jobs (levels) to make money to fund the construction, because let's face it toads are useless without him. Keeping coins you find within the levels as well gives you an incentive to take risks for optional cash prizes in the form of larger coins. Think star coins from previous SMBs. There are several unlockables and little side missions too. Although this wouldn't pass as a game in it's self it's a nice addition to the main focus of building and playing people's levels.

My only real complaint is every time you die twice a notice will pop up saying you can add parts to make it easier, it's not even a game over screen. Unless you have the short term memory of a chipmunk this gets pretty annoying when you want to get back to beating the level. But at least there are help options if you need them.

Overall this is a nice little tour of what Mario Maker 2 has to offer and surprisingly addictive.
7/10 and 9.5/10 for the whole game (the online lag kind of sucks, thanks Nintendo, but that's an issue for another day).

 

[Megadoomer]

Banjo-Tooie (Xbox 360)

I beat the game 100%, even the parts that I dreaded going into it like the Cloud Cuckooland races with Canary Mary. It's a solid game, and while I prefer the smaller worlds of its predecessor, it was interesting to see how the developers connected these wildly different settings and encouraged players to go back to older worlds with new abilities. The problem is that there were times where the game never really gave you direction on which abilities you needed, whereas the worlds in Banjo-Kazooie were mostly self-contained. (though you needed moves from Freezeezy Peak or Gobi's Valley in order to complete the other one of those two)

They made Mumbo Jumbo playable, but for the most part, he was only useful for getting one or two Jiggies per world, and he was severely limited in terms of what he could do. (he can't climb or swim, meaning that it's entirely possible for him to get trapped in certain areas and unable to escape, like a spot near the entrance to Cloud Cuckooland) The achievements were much easier compared to Banjo-Kazooie, since none of them required you to collect all of a certain item, and the addition of Stop N Swop bonuses were a nice touch.

The Xbox 360 version has a major problem with the opening cutscene where the music gradually goes out of sync with what's happening on-screen. I'm not sure why that was never fixed, but it was worth noting.

All in all, the game was enjoyable. If I'm going to sit down and play a Banjo game, it would probably be Kazooie (it helps that Kazooie's only eight or nine hours long, whereas Tooie took me eighteen hours to beat), but it takes what worked in Kazooie and expanded upon it, as opposed to ignoring what made its predecessors great and wandering off in a completely different direction like SOME Banjo-Kazooie sequels that I could name.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (Playstation 3)

In my earlier post about Metal Gear Solid 5, I said that its gameplay was amazing, but its story was flawed. In the case of Metal Gear Solid 4, it's the opposite. The story is fantastic, at least from the perspective of someone who's played through the other Metal Gear games (do NOT play this as your first Metal Gear game - it would be like going into Avengers Endgame without seeing any of the other Marvel Cinematic Universe movies) - it miraculously ties together Metal Gear Solid 1, 2, 3, and even some of the MSX games, and given how Metal Gear Solid 2 ended, that's no easy feat. Certain plot elements were retconned in order to make it work (including one character's gender), but I really enjoyed the end result.

However, this game experiments quite a bit with its gameplay, and it doesn't always work. The core stealth is fine, though my big issue is that they removed the Soliton Radar from Metal Gear Solid 1 and 2, and replaced it with the Solid Eye. This acts as an item, meaning that in order to use it, you can't have a Ration equipped (and seeing as those are automatically used once your health runs out, Rations can be life-savers in Metal Gear games). The Solid Eye highlights enemies and objects on the screen, but even then, determining where an enemy is can be difficult, especially if they're above you, around a corner, or obscured by anything.

Certain sections cause the gameplay to turn into an on-rails shooter, and as someone who tries to complete pacifist runs of Metal Gear games, this quickly became frustrating, as it was difficult to defeat enemies as quickly as the game was demanding. (non-lethal weapons fire at a very slow pace) Boss fights were hit or miss, unlike the battles of Metal Gear Solid 1, 2, and 3. The biggest offenders to me were Crying Wolf and Raging Raven - defeating them non-lethally was a huge pain, and given their mobility and the size of the area that you fight them in, the game simply wasn't designed for players to fight bosses like that. Two of the most climactic boss battles in the game were amazing, but completely changed the controls and (in the case of the final boss) gave you no indication of what those controls were, forcing the player to figure it out on the fly.

The extended cutscenes work well if you've grown attached to these characters, but I could see it becoming rather grating from an outsider's perspective. In the final act, there's probably more cutscene than gameplay, and that's not even getting into the hour-long epilogue.

As well, I ran into a major difficulty spike in Act 5. Enemies like Gekko kill Snake in one hit, at least on the Solid Normal difficulty, and there are several places throughout acts 4 and 5 where you're seemingly forced to fight them. (I assume it's possible to sneak by, but it seems incredibly difficult in cramped areas) This ate through my rations and healing items extremely quickly, and by the endgame, there are maybe two healing items in the entire act. With no way to heal, this basically turned what should have been an incredible finale into a frustrating case of trial and error. It got much better once I reached the first boss of that act, but it's worth noting.

It's an outstanding conclusion to the series from a story-telling perspective, though I feel like they jumped around a bit too much with the gameplay and it didn't always work. I felt like the stealth was handled better in Metal Gear Solid 1, 2 (where there was an on-screen radar at all times, showing you where enemies are and where they're looking), and 5 (where you can mark enemies' locations, and the game slows down if you're spotted to give you time to react), though Octocamo is a great addition to the series. Still, I'm really glad that I got the chance to play this game, and it was a great experience.

 

[Sari]

Fire Emblem Three Houses

9.8/10

I've only finished the Crimson Flower path of the Black Eagles route (AKA the pro Edelgard route), though I'm aware of some of the more important story elements revealed in the other routes.

Pros:

• Characters are very likable and there are a ton of fully voiced support conversations/dialogue options.
• Story was very deep and interesting. A gigantic leap from Fates.
• There are 4 major routes in the game: 1 for each house and then an alternate route for Black Eagles. With a few exceptions, the timeskip levels are entirely different between these routes so it's like 4 games in 1.
• Roaming the monastery is very fun and there are a lot of activities/quests to do.
• Soundtrack is amazing.

Cons:

• Chapters 1 - 11 are the same between each of the houses. Not too much of an issue though I wish they made some of those levels different.
• My other points are pretty spoiler heavy (major spoilers regarding chapter 11 + some minor end game stuff) so I'll put them in the spoiler tag below.

Spoiler: Spoilers

I really wish they did a better job at hiding who the Flame Emperor was. The Flame Emperor appearing during the one level where Edelgard isn't there made it painfully obvious that it was her.

Also after the final battle ends, you propose to your romantic interest and then the game just ends. I wish we got a final scene of Byleth together with his students before they parted ways.

My con points are really just small nitpicks that don't detract from the overall experience. This is without a doubt my favorite Fire Emblem game and is tied with Smash as my favorite Switch game. If you own a Switch you seriously need to get this game.

 

[Zinith]

Seriously, NO ONE rated Yoshi's Crafted World when it came out? For shame Smashboards

For

Shame

8.5/10

 

[---]

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3
7.5/10

A solid dungeon crawler. The story isn't particularly great, but it does take a few turns to help differentiate itself from other Marvel media adaptations of the Infinity Saga; which to be frank is getting tiring. I love the roster so it was hard to choose a team. Online Co-op isn't perfect, but it's a great inclusion.

All that aside, to unlock things you have to do a LARGE amount of grinding with the replay value being story mode on harder difficulties or mission mode.

I haven't played any of the previous games in the franchise, but I think this creates a solid enough base for potential sequels to improve upon. I'm not sure if it's worth the $60 for most gamers, but I think it's solid title that most Switch owners should check out. Marvel/Capcom should take some notes from this game.

 

[---]

Super Mario Odyssey
9/10

Not much of a fan of the sandbox games (64 has aged terribly IMO) but I did have a lot of fun with this one. It's both fun and rewarding to explore each kingdom to your heart's content. The capture mechanic allows for more puzzle platforming and that encourages thinking outside the box, that said I don't think it completely outweighs the lack of the more standard power up system.

Moving through kingdoms does get a tad tiring here and there. Some can be frustrating to re-traverse through or can be kind of boring at times with all the open space (especially given a lot of secrets are placed on the edges of maps). Unlocking a lot of things/easter eggs also come down to grinding for coins. It'd be nice for there to be a more interactive map system to help better keep track of things you spot but can't reach at the moment.

3D World is still my favorite 3D Mario, but this is easily the best sandbox Mario IMO. Am stopping at 300 Moons, but I can see myself picking up and adding more to my collection down the line. I'm surprised though that there wasn't DLC for past areas such as Isle Delfino, Dinosaur Land/Yoshi's Island, Mario Land, Sarasaland, maybe even DK Isle or Diamond City.

 

[---]

Wonder Boy: Dragon's Trap (Switch)
8.5/10

Easily one of the best remakes I've had the pleasure of playing. I can't think of any other remake that allows you to re-play the original concurrently while playing the remake, let alone on the fly. The hand-drawn backgrounds and sprites are full of character and help compensate for some of the more esoteric hidden secrets of the original by providing visual hints. The new music, recorded by a live band, is full of energy to the extent that I plan on picking up the official OST sometime soon.

The game itself is fairly short and linear, but the light metroidvania elements are done well enough that's it's hard to get lost and that you feel the urge to go off the beaten path to explore. There are some minor quality of life issues that were fixed, but most everything is kept in tact and feels exactly like the original game (even resetting to exploit re-spawning treasure rooms).

It's currently on all the major platforms including a mobile port so definitely check it out however you can.

Desert Area
Final Dungeon

 

[MajoraMoon]

Warioware: Smooth Moves (Wii)

With a hilarious cast of characters, unique art-style, and gameplay, this game could easily be in my top 10 Wii games. It does lack with story (and sometimes just downright confuses me) and sometimes the controls won't respond. I also wish there was more use with the balance stone (aka the nunchuck) and the other characters besides Wario (like say....Ashley). I give Smooth Moves an 8.5/10

 

[---]

Dragon Warrior II (NES)
6/10

More of a stepping stone than anything else. There are a lot of ideas here than would go on to define JRPGs but they need a lot of polish. The final area is full of enemies with status/OHKO abilities (on top of hitting hard with double attacks or attacks that hit your whole party), the final bosses can heal themselves completely at random, and most enemies don't give enough EXP/money to meet some pretty high leveling/shop requirements. Most dungeons are large and full of stairs or hidden rooms; the second to last dungeon is full of hidden pitfalls & ends with a repeating maze. Progression also requires finding some somewhat obtuse things or large amounts of backtracking. Given all the complaints/memes about Hoenn's water, Pokemon RSE/ORAS have nothing on this game's world map.

To it's credit though, unlike the original game, it's not just "Grinding: the Video Game," as there are more places to travel and battle strategies to use given the party system. Different types of enemies can appear during battles and in larger numbers. The overworld is large, full of easter eggs to the original game, and you are given a ship halfway in to explore & choose how you want to progress from then on. There is also more than one place to save now.

Ended up using Game Genie to increase EXP gain slightly and it is something I don't regret. Would definitely recommend the more polished remakes on SNES/GBC/Mobile over the original to those interested, though you'll probably still need a guide. Is probably best left to diehard DQ fans or JRPG historians.

 

[---]

Trouble Shooter/Battle Mania (Genesis)
8/10

A solid and very charming Genesis shooter. It plays around with the mechanics of other shooters like SCAT, where you can alternate between shooting in different directions, to fit with the story and it works for the most part.

What I really like about it though is the difficulty. Enemy patterns are fairly simple to memorize and most enemy shots can be destroyed with your own shots. You can take multiple hits before you're finished (max 9), with health power ups building on top of each other and carrying over to the next level if you played well. You do have to restart the entire stage from the start upon dying but they move fast enough that it's never too frustrating. Power ups don't play too much of a part in the game, which while there are less overall strategies, it also means less micromanagement while playing & punishment upon dying. Had to use the Stage Select cheat, but I do feel I could eventually beat the entire game in one go with enough time. Most deaths I got I feel were earned or legitimate mistakes on my part.

Would love to play the (supposedly) better sequel, but holy crap is it expensive. It's a bit of shame the series didn't continue beyond that.

 

[---]

Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon (PS4)
9/10

Arguably the best classic-styled Castlevania game, even though it's not appart of the series. It pretty much takes everything great from Castlevania 1/3, re-balances them with better quality-of-life, and makes them new again. Nothing really felt cheap and bosses are energetic fun once you get their patterns down. Each character you gain access to feels unique and useful; Miriam especially as she's basically a Belmont.

That said I can't say the music is as good as Castlevania 1/2/3. Additionally the game does feel more heavily balanced towards the Castlevania 3 playstyle than it does going it solo/killing your allies for their powers.

This game is pretty much what Mighty No. 9 was promised to be (only being average), and more than makes the argument for why we need a new 2D Ninja Gaiden game or a remake of the classic trilogy.

 

[---]

Lunar Eternal Blue (Sega CD)
8.5/10

Somewhat better than the original. The main selling point is the story this time around which is both longer, darker, and has a greater focus on character development. Your party stays relevant in the story throughout the entire game and have a lot to say or add in when talking to NPCs. Combined the improved presentation, well over an hour of animated cutscenes + hours of spoke dialogue, it definitely pushes the system to the limit. The game it still very linear, but there are the optional areas and post-game content.

That said, combat is now less about positioning/range than it is strategy compared to the first game. It feels much more engaging and offers many tense moments with the ~20 bosses. The sprite work is impressive as every boss/enemy now have different animations/tells for what attack they'll use next. There is a new AI feature that comes up default option when booting up but it's super frustrating to have to remember that each time you play; though the item menu is much more user friendly. The overworld, while larger, feels very cramped with many narrow canyons. In addition, you move slower (unlike the first game), it's hard to tell at times what is/isn't an object, there is some bad backtracking in the post-game, and you have no world map makes it chore to progress at times.

Compared to the first game, Working Designs went hard in with the localization changes: Bosses/enemies all have higher stats and give less EXP and saving now requires use of in-game Magic Points (otherwise used to upgrade your magic attacks) you get from enemies. There are a LOT more pop culture and sexual innuendo jokes too. I don't think any of it ruins the game, but you do have to ask why and whether or not the source material is being localized vs. parodied.

Glad I had the chance to play it as it's definitely a title that's overshadowed by other franchises (though being a late era Sega CD doesn't help either).

 

[Narigo1]

Metal Gear Solid 3
9/10
Good story. The story is easy to unstand compared to the other MGS games. The gameplay was good but I wasnt a fan of the survival aspect. Going through menus to cure yourself was a pain.

Fire Emblem: The Three Houses
9/10


Nier Automata
8.5/10
Nice combat and awesome music. But camera was terrible in some aspects. Story was forgettable imo

Star Fox
7.5/10
Fun but the graphics is terrible. I couldnt tell what was going on screen sometimes.

 

[Megadoomer]

Spyro the Dragon (Switch, through the Reignited Trilogy)

I have no history with the Spyro the Dragon series. I liked the Crash Bandicoot remasters (even if the first two games were too difficult for my tastes), and when someone described the Spyro PS1 games as being like Banjo-Kazooie, I was immediately sold on them.

Compared to Crash, Spyro has a MUCH more reasonable level of difficulty. With the exception of one or two areas (Tree Tops is the main one), the game was a breeze if I wanted to simply beat it. However, I decided to go for 100% completion, since it seemed easy enough. (all I had to do was get all of the gems, free all of the dragons, and take back the eggs) There's a greater emphasis on exploration in these games over tricky platforming, which I liked.

With a handful of exceptions where I had to go WELL out of my way, getting 100% completion felt pretty natural. The gems usually formed paths telling me where I hadn't been, or where I needed to go next, and while there were some moments where I was only missing five or ten gems (which was rather frustrating considering that levels can have up to 500), the levels were small enough that backtracking to find them was usually pretty straighforward.

The story's pretty simple, and the gliding mechanics can be kind of wonky at times, but this game alone made the remaster worth picking up for me. I'm going to play the other two games at some point, though I'll space it out so I don't get burned out on the series. (pun entirely unintended)

GRIS (Switch)

The game's a nice and relaxing puzzle game; the puzzles can be challenging at times, but the game is extremely forgiving. Absolutely nothing can kill you, which makes for a nice change of pace from other indie games that have been recommended to me. The story's a little vague, and I didn't like how you have no way to backtrack if you missed a collectible or an achievement, but beating the game unlocks a chapter select mode, which helps.

The game's artstyle is gorgeous, and it's worth watching through the game for that alone. The entire thing is like a watercolour painting, with new colours being filled in as you make progress. Tying into the relaxing nature, there's not a lot in the way of abilities, even by the end of the game, which makes the controls easy to remember. (the final ability doesn't get much use, since you get it in the last full-fledged area of the game, but there are probably greater thematic reasons for it being the last one - I know that getting all of the game's collectibles adds a new cutscene that clears up some story details)

It's short, but it never outstays its welcome. I found the blue area to be rather tough to find, though maybe that was just me; otherwise, I had no problems with the game difficulty-wise.

 

[Sari]

TLoZ: Link's Awakening (Switch Remake)

For reference I first completed Link's Awakening DX about 7 years ago.

8/10

Pros:

• It's a remake of one of the best Game Boy games so just about everything that was great about the original carries over here.
• Some items are spread out across buttons so now you don't have to pause the game just to pick up a pot or use your shield.
• The new create a dungeon mode is nice even if it isn't too addicting.
• More heart pieces and shells to find are nice bonuses.
• The new remixes of Tal Tal Heights and Face Shrine are amazing.

Cons:

• There really is no reason why this game had to be $60 since it's a remake of a Game Boy game and is relatively short. It should've been $40 at the absolute most.
• The collectable photographs from the DX remake are completely gone. Giant missed opportunity to recreate the photos from DX and add new ones using the anime style from the intro and credits.
• The new remixes for Mysterious Woods and The Moblins Took Bow-Wow! are leagues below their Game Boy counterparts.
• Dungeons 6 and 7 might be some of my least favorite dungeons in the series. Make one small mistake and you're forced to backtrack a good chunk of the temple.
• There really should've been a warp point on top of Tal Tal Heights, since falling off or having to return there requires a lot of backtracking.

Enjoyable title but I still can't get over that it's $60, especially when the Crash N. Sane Trilogy launched at just $40 and was a remake of 3 PS1 games.

 

[Rizen]

Dragon Quest Builders 2

If you haven't played the first game it's a mix of Dragon Quest and Minecraft. The map is made up of cubes you can break into resources and build back together but the graphics are much smoother than Minecraft. There are some light story and RPG elements to keep the game flowing. If you have played DQB1 then you'll find the many quality of life improvements over the first helpful. You have a partner for most of the game but he doesn't get stuck on terrain or die by running off cliffs like in the first game.
I'll get right down to it, this game has a lot of busy work. If you like light RPG/Minecraft tasks such as planting crops, building buildings and slaying monsters DQB2 is a lot of fun. If you want a more traditional RPG with a good story look elsewhere. And although the game can get somewhat repetitive they do a good job mixing it up with different unofficial chapters which take the form of islands to visit. In one island you'll rebuild a farm and plant seeds. In another you'll rebuild a mining town and so on. There isn't much overall story but it's very character driven and you'll meet a handful of colorful characters in each chapter. It's a long game too which will probably take at least 40 hours.

The good:
This game has a ton of content; there's always more things to do. In between chapters you'll go back to a hub island where you'll be able to free build and bring back residents from other islands to create your own kingdom. There are a lot of materials and parts to build with.
Unlike DQB1, you level up by fighting monsters and learn how to make new weapons and better armor etc in the process. This gives you a reason to fight and seek out "super powerful" monsters for better gear. Not only that but you can equip townspeople with better weapons as well.
There's a real sense of progress in restoring towns and getting more residents. The townspeople start off useless but learn to build and do tasks on their own with time. It also has some tower defense elements, especially in chapter 3.
There are several optional islands that are randomly generated. If you do tasks on them you get infinite supplies of common materials like wood and stone so you don't have to chop down a million trees to build a town. The post game also features a large amount of optional content.

The bad:
As mentioned the game can get repetitive. If you don't like the busy work you'll find it tedious. The overall story is weak with the ending being even weaker.
Monster fights are done by kiting them like in Don't Starve and fairly basic. The bosses have minor puzzle elements but most fights play out the same. The monsters have a lot of HP too so you'll be mashing attack for a while.

The ugly:
Without exaggeration, 2/3rds of the characters have thick accents or speech impediments. The game has no voiced lines, only sounds like laughing and grunts so you're forced to read all the text. It's bad to the point where I found myself skipping over several characters' dialog just because it was so tedious to read. "Thhhum monstherth hath longth tonguths and thalth liketh thith" for example. I get they wanted to give characters personality but this is ridiculous.

The Verdict:
DQB2 is not for everyone but an enjoyable experience if you're into it. It's packed full of fun tasks and things to build. Overall I give it an 8/10.

 

[Professor Pumpkaboo]

Thhhum monstherth hath longth tonguths and thalth liketh thith

Yo, **** the Imps speech. I got used to it after a while but still, **** them

 

[Silvera]

Shantae Half Genie Hero: 8/10

I enjoyed its replayability.

 

[Deleted member]

Pokemon Sw/Sh: 7/10

Good game and I enjoyed my time with it but there's admittedly some flaws with the game. My favorite thing in the game was of course Camping and I'll be replaying the game to fill out the Curry Dex but otherwise I don't think I'll be replaying it anytime soon despite me enjoying my time with it. Idk it's a solid 7/10.

 

[Megadoomer]

Doom (1993) (Switch)

This is the second Doom game that I've beaten (the first one being the 2016 game of the same name), and despite how long it's been around, this is the first time that I've beaten it. The game was fun once I figured out how to best use the map, though I had trouble some times with finding my way around the levels (a lot of the levels in Episode 3 almost required walkthroughs, given the apparent randomness of some of the maps).

I stopped at Episode 3, since that's where the game says "The End" (Episode 4, from what I've been told, is an ultra-difficult bonus challenge). The game was fun, and I can see why it was so popular back in the nineties, though you could tell that some aspects of the game were made on the fly (Doomguy can't look up or down - he just hits whatever's in the center of the screen - and the shotgun has seemingly infinite range). The Spider Mastermind was easier than I expected (to be fair, I had the BFG at the time), though the Cyberdemon was pretty tough. (I don't think it's a spoiler to mention the bosses at this point)

 

[MajoraMoon]

Gris (Switch)

This game is probably one of the most artistically beautiful games of all time. I had a lot of fun with the puzzles and levels. There is stuff to collect but I didn't see the point in doing so. The story tackled mental illness which was nice. However, it was pretty vague and I could only piece it together near the end of the game. The Soundtrack is fine. Not great, but fine.

Gris overall is a fine game. I recommend it to those who like 2D platforming or puzzles. I give this game an 8/10.

 

[Deleted member]

Kid Icarus: Uprising (3DS): 8.5/10

I've been wanting to play KI:U for years now as I've heard nothing but good things about it and it definitely lived up to the positivity it's an absolutely phenomenal game brimming with humor and fun mechanics that kept me entertained throughout the entirety of the game. The story wasn't the most complicated of things, the characters don't have too much depth and once in awhile my hand fell asleep but besides all that it's a great game and even then characters don't always have to be super deep they can just be fun and entertaining which is enough for me and exactly what the games characters are.

The soundtrack is great, The characters aren't too deep but super fun and entertaining which more than makes up for the lack of depth, The mechanics are fun/interesting and much much more. I had a lot of fun with the game and I'd definitely play more of it sometime. Good game.

 

[---]

Metal Slader Glory (Famicom)
7.5/10

Given it's history (like Kirby might not have been a Nintendo owned property BIG) and that's the largest licensed NES/FC game, it's kind of a must play anyway for old-school Nintendo fans. You really do feel the sheer ambition of the game throughout most of it, and despite it's troubled development you can tell a lot of love went into it. Am glad that I was finally able to play through it in English after having bought the FC version a few years ago.

The game itself is pretty straight-forward even for a command adventure game. There aren't really any dead ends unlike most early games of the type and commands that lead to Game Overs are pretty blatant. You can pause the game at any time, even during timed cut-scenes, so you can take your time and think through your options. That said, certain mechanics with some of the more first person/action-based segments aren't always well explained which, while not frustrating per say, show weaknesses in the game's design.

The plot itself probably owns a little bit to Snatcher, which released a few years before it, though it's nowhere near as dark and gritty. Characters aren't deep but there is a sort of 90s/OVA anime charm to it all; granted I'm sure some elements might not have aged as well. Would love to play the SNES/SFC remake someday to see what's been expanded upon.

Used a repro to play it on my TV. It lacked the audio expansion, but considering it was only used for character voices/squeaks, that's not necessarily a bad thing...

 

[Megadoomer]

Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age: Definitive Edition (Switch)

This is only the second Dragon Quest game that I've beaten, with the other one being Dragon Quest 1 (a considerably shorter experience - it took me eight hours, compared to roughly one hundred and twelve to beat this one and fill up the defeated monster list). My biggest compliment is that the game never felt like it dragged in all of that time. By the end, I could have went straight for the final boss, but I wanted to travel the world, revisit areas that I had been to, and right all of the wrongs that I could.

The story is pretty much the standard JRPG plot (you, the legendary hero, need to defeat the monsters, save the world from darkness, and level up enough in order to stab a godlike being in the face), though there were some nice twists here and there. (admittedly, Smash Ultimate spoiled one of them) Where the game really shines is in the character design, both for the playable cast and the monsters. I'm well aware of Toriyama's art from Dragon Ball and Chrono Trigger, but each of the main cast has a distinct and memorable appearance, and the monsters are creative as always, with the 3D models translated extremely well from the original 2D sprites.

The music is another highlight; while I wish that the overworld had more to work with, I'm so glad that they went with orchestrated music for this version (by my understanding, other versions of the game had midi music so the composer could get people to pay to see his orchestrated music in concert).

The game was a lot of fun, and I played it to the point where I reached level 99 with roughly half of the cast and beat the post-game superboss, which isn't something that I usually do in games. (it helped that, by the time that I had beaten the game, the only enemies left in my monster list were the post-game bosses, with most of them fought in a gauntlet) While it might not be up there with Final Fantasy 6 or 7, Persona 5, or Chrono Trigger in terms of RPGs for me, I'd still highly recommend it.

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 (Switch)

A quote comes to mind that seems relevant here, though I may have some details wrong: "it was the best of times, it was the blurst of times." This game reminded me of what I loved about Naruto - the author is extremely good at getting us to root for or sympathize with characters, and that's in full force here. The game is a mostly faithful adaptation, with many of the changes being for the better (though the character of Danzo is left out, which leaves a pretty big plot point left unresolved, and some details like Itachi wanting Sasuke's eyes are only vaguely mentioned).

However, it also reminds me of what I didn't like about the series. Even with the expanded plot, the side characters (Lee's team, Hinata's team, most of Shikamaru's team, Tsunade, etc.) don't get much to do. It also covers the Sasuke vs. Itachi fight, which was the starting point for where the series felt like it was focusing on the Uchihas more than everyone else, up to and including the main character - thankfully, the pacing is much quicker here.

The gameplay is all right (it feels a little button mashy, since it's easy enough to charge chakra for the super moves and they seem to be far and away the most effective tools that you have), but the graphics (which, much like Dragon Ball FighterZ, are cel shaded and feel like they're almost ripped from the anime) and presentation (the game was made by Cyber Connect 2, who also made Asura's Wrath) are top-notch. Much like the series that it's based on, I have mixed feelings about this game, but would ultimately recommend it.