Rate the last game you finished!

[Rizen]

Starwars: Jedi Fallen Order

The easiest way to describe JFO is it's a starwars themed Dark Souls game with parkour platforming. Like DS you'll explore labyrinth like maps full of secret treasure chests, unlockable shortcuts and fierce enemies. Although there is a strong emphasis on exploration, this plays out more like a dungeon buster than an open world game.

The story is basic and predictable and serves more as an excuse to journey to various planets. It takes place after Revenge of The Sith, in a universe where the evil Empire is hunting down the few remaining Jedi. You play as a young Jedi padawan (apprentice) named Cal Kestise who's been hiding from the Empire until fate throws him into a mission to find a holocron containing a list of force sensitive children; who could become the next generation of Jedi, or be turned into evil imperial inquisitors. Cal is your basic Michael J Fox character and no one's particularly creative or memorable but the story's fine and everything's well voice acted. A cute little droid named BD1 is your partner and only talks with beeps like R2D2. They did a good job giving it a lot of personality.

The gameplay is challenging in both combat and platforming. Very much like DS, even minor enemies can take you down and you need to be skilled in fighting each type of enemy. There's a skill tree and you'll find new equiptment but the fighting is limited to lightsabers. The difficulty can be adjusted, which is nice, but makes the game more precise on parry timing and you take more damage. So it makes the game more punishing but not actually harder. The game also likes to throw you into unfair situations where you'll be ganged up on. Expect to die several times. You have stem canisters for healing which are basically estus flasks and get refilled at meditation spots, which act like bonfires from DS. If you choose to rest enemies will respawn.
The platforming is physics based and can take several tries, fortunately you only lose a little health from falling into the void. You'll gain new force powers and abilities that open new paths throughout the entire game. Be prepared to revisit areas at later points to find new things.

There are several physics puzzles which make you think outside the box and are well done. BD1 can give you a hint if you get stuck.

The presentation and graphics work fine but aren't great. The environments look good but people sometimes look like they're made of clay; this is especially noticeable on furry creatures like wookies.

The Good:
JFO set out to be a Dark Soul esk game and did so with great success. It's fun, challenging and their are a ton of goodies and secrets to find, although most are asthetic changes like a new poncho or ship color. The maps are large, complex and well thought out. Combat keeps you engaged. It's also a fairly long game with plenty of content.

The Bad:
JFO has several minor flaws that are present throughout the entire game. There's a rush attack but the AI is bad and you'll often not target the enemy you're looking at. Sometimes BD1 will not give you a stem even though you can hear Cal asking for it. It can be difficult to tell what you can and can't parkour on and I've lost a lot of life jumping at surfaces and falling into the void. Respawning takes a while to load back the game and there are several quick time deaths that force you to load everything each time.
Don't expect anything innovative or creative. The planets you visit are generic. You have your basic jungle planet, ice planet, etc. They mostly look like locations on Earth (although I will give credit to certain temples). The game borrows heavily from the soulsborne formula. As mentioned, the story and characters are basic.

The verdict:
If you like soulsborne games JFO is a must play. It might not be for everyone but is solid, fun and challenging gameplay for 15-30 hours, depending on how many secrets you try to find. 8/10

 

[Megadoomer]

Persona 4 (PS3)

This is my second Persona game, after Persona 5. (for whatever reason, I'm working through the series backwards) Much like Persona 5, this was an outstanding RPG - while the side characters didn't grab my attention like the ones in Persona 5 did, it meant that I could focus my time on improving the social links with my party members, and get them all up to rank 10. (in Persona 5, I only did that with Ryuji, Ann, Futaba, and Morgana)

Upgrading social stats seemed easier in Persona 4, though maybe that was because I had more time to focus on that rather than worrying about social links. Dungeons were harder, and I found myself missing some of the quality-of-life improvements that Persona 5 had (like being able to choose which skills your Personas inherit when fusing, instead of relying on luck, or mid-dungeon save rooms). However, being able to return to older dungeons made it much easier to grind for experience, and once I got affordable methods of restoring my SP, I was able to get through most dungeons with no problem. The bosses, on the other hand, were another story - in multiple cases, I needed to leave the dungeon and level grind in order to stand a chance against at least three bosses. (the bosses of the fourth, second-to-last, and final dungeons)

All in all, I found the party members to be more memorable in Persona 4 (Persona 5's party members are great, don't get me wrong, but I sometimes forget about Yusuke and Haru), though I found the game to be more difficult. As a result, I'm mixed on whether I prefer this or Persona 5 - if I had access to Persona 4 Golden, that might be a different story, though I don't have a PS Vita.

One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 (Switch)

The gameplay was a lot of fun, doing a great job at capturing how chaotic some One Piece arcs can get. My biggest problem with the game is how much they abridged the story. If you haven't seen One Piece, it seems like the game's story would be difficult if not impossible to follow - it compresses the series' first 550 chapters into three story arcs, and those story arcs are heavily cut down on.

The game was lacking in a lot of aspects (would have been nice for them to cover more locations, or make specific characters playable - Kuma seems like the weirdest exclusion), but I enjoyed it enough that I went back to beat the game 100% after I beat the story and unlocked everyone. I didn't intend to do that at first, but after trying out a few new characters, getting 100% completion turned out to be easier than I thought, so I stuck with it.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Gamecube, through the Zelda Collector's Edition)

Much like Final Fantasy 7, anything that I could say about this game has already been said. Also, much like Final Fantasy 7, this game lived up to the sheer amount of hype that it's built up over the years, despite how unlikely that seemed at first.

This is only the third 3D Zelda game that I've beaten before (the other two being Majora's Mask and Breath of the Wild), and since I had just finished Link's Awakening not too long ago, it was interesting to see how the series handled its first jump into 3D gameplay. There were some growing pains here and there (one key in the Water Temple was extremely well-hidden, since it's in an area where the game doesn't give any indication that you should look, and it's difficult to precisely aim at anything in first person view), but all in all, it's impressive how seamless the transition was.

I beat the game while only missing eleven heart pieces, a few item capacity upgrades, 34 Gold Skulltulas (though the only prize left was infinite rupees, which didn't have much of a purpose at that point), and one bottle, so I'd say that went pretty well since I wasn't going out of my way to get 100% completion. I had tried playing through the game a few times, but this time, I completed the OoT trading sidequest for the first time ever (the Biggoron's Sword was a huge help, especially against Iron Knuckles or when playing tennis with Ganondorf), and I made it through the Water and Spirit Temples, which were huge roadblocks for me before. (admittedly, I used a guide for both of them)

I'm not sure whether I should play Persona 3 next, try something shorter like Panzer Dragoon, or work through my 3DS or Wii U backlog.

 

[---]

Fire Emblem Three Houses
8.5/10

Definitely the best "original" FE title since the Tellius saga.

What makes/breaks this game is the Monastery. If you like really getting to know the cast, you'll probably like this feature. If you like FE primarily for strategy, maybe not so much. It's an interesting mechanic to be sure, that does feel like it builds off of previous titles but it is also arguably the bulk of time spent in the game. Completing the game does factor heavily into the mechanic and there's not really any way to skip over it or play the game as a traditional FE title. For the first part of the game, once you start understanding how to spend your time it's not that difficult to max most everything out shortly into Part 2 of the story. This ultimately leaves around half of the game kind of bland by comparison, as there's less and less reward for spending your time wisely.

I'm glad to see the gameplay went back to older titles rather than Fates and it's gimmick/skill heavy focus towards fights/map design. Gambits are an okay feature, though I'd imagine that opinion might change on higher difficulties; outside of mobility boosts I never found much use outside of outright attacking. Enemies having multiple health bars can be awkward at first, but I do feel they're placed fairly well on most maps and offer a different approach to fighting. If you spend your time correctly, the game on default difficulty isn't that hard, but I do think it keeps pace at points with paralogue chapters being fun challenges.

Only played through Golden Deer so far and read some spoilers for other routes. While there are certainly plot holes and awkward moments, the cast and world building mostly make up for it. It is super weird though, that missions are given at the start of the month but you don't do them until ~30 in-game days later... Byleth is kind of bland, but given all of the options/different dialogue you can select as them, you definitely are placed in their shoes much more so Robin/Corrin. I still feel Chris is slightly better in terms of being an "Avatar" but Byleth comes in a modest second. I'd still prefer a story again without an "Avatar" main character, but I can't deny the improvements here over Awakening/Fates.

Will definitely play again in the future, though I worry that the New Game+ might leave the 2nd half of the game in future runs even more underwhelming; as nice as less micromanagement in first half would be.

 

[ganondorf_22]

Fire Emblem Three Houses was too effing long and all the endings that I got were bad. Want to avoid unnecessary heartbreak and pain? Want to prevent needless death? Want to avoid a game that glorifies war? Avoid this game.

That being said, people looked to Animal Crossing’s release back in the day expecting that to be a good time sucker during lockdown. But that game’s about patience, and taking one’s time. Three Houses has taken more hours from me than any other Switch game has, and I assume more than any other Switch game ever will. Smash Ultimate also took more time from me on the whole than Animal Crossing New Horizons I assume will.

If you only play one Fire Emblem, play Awakenings. Avoid the others and you’ll have a much better impression of the brand than you would if you don’t.

 

[OnyanRings]

Danganronpa Another Episode : Ultra Despair Girls (That's one heck of a title, huh ?)

Pretty disappointing when compared to the first two games, i mean i know it's supposed to be a spin-off and all but still, for what it's worth, i fee like it could've been easily replaced by an OVA or something.

The writing was okay, i found Toko and Komaru's interactions and relationship pretty interesting, though i could've done without the sexual undertone this game had, you can't go two lines of dialogue without some sort of weird innuendo, kinda gross.

With that said, the game wasn’t a complete waste of time, even though the gameplay was pretty janky, the late game Monoku-Man puzzles were pretty fun, especially after you unlock every type of ammo.

So i rate this game a Ball-Monokuma out of 5.

 

[MISSION 2-3]

The last game i finished was Puyo Puyo 20th Anniversary English Patched for the Nintendo DS.

The story was enjoyable, although there were a lot of them. There are about 24 if i remember correctly and you must finish all of them to unlock the final story. Luckily the stories are short and i did play on the easiest mode so they were very forgiving. The only story i outright did not like playing was Yu and Rei's story, that is because one of the VA's for Yu and Rei passed away, and if i play anything related to someone who is passed i get really sad. Every other story was fine, if a bit uncomfortable at times because of the game's humor. I give the story a 4.5/5.

The gameplay was fine. I'm not good at Puyo Puyo so i don't enjoy it as much as others, but i mostly played the modes i was good at. Those modes were Mini Excavation, Quest, Cross Spinner and Mini Puyo Fever. There was only one mode that i played which i absolutely hated, that being Mega Puyo Fever. I do NOT like this mode. The fact that the Puyos are so big, 3 Puyos make a pop, and that terrible, TERRIBLE noise that plays when you drop the Puyos. Although i played with sound off and music on for 90% of the game, i hated when that noise graced my ears. I'd rate the gameplay a 3/5.

Overall, very solid game. It's funny, the characters are very well written, the writing is charming, the art style is cute, and the gameplay is pretty solid most of the time despite what i said. I'd say give it a try if you enjoy strategic puzzle games. I'd give it the final rating of 9.5/10.

 

[Megadoomer]

Doom Eternal (PC)

The game was a lot of fun, taking what worked with Doom (2016) and expanding on it. However, the game's difficulty and complexity increased massively as a result, making it much harder to jump into than Doom (2016) was. Enemies like the Marauder and Archvile were much more difficult (with the Marauder requiring insanely precise timing and only certain weapons are effective), there were far more buttons to keep track of (grenades are much more necessary this time around, and there's also the Flame Belch, dashing, the Crucible...), ammo is scarce, durable enemies are more common, a boss character from the previous game is now a random (albeit rare) enemy...

My biggest issue would be the game's story. In the previous game, the story was an afterthought - other characters were concerned about energy crises and cults, but Doomguy's response was to ignore all of that and smash anything that's demonic or related to demons in any way. This time, the story seems more prominent, with the game seeming to try too hard to explain certain things (the entire history of the Night Sentinels and the angel-like Makyrs - there's an entire level that's basically a lore-dump) while also not trying hard enough to explain other things. (we have no idea what happened to Doomguy between the 2016 game and this one, or how a certain character immediately knows the location of the final Hell Priest, and many details towards the endgame are left incredibly vague)

Spoiler

Or why it is that, the longer the Icon of Sin is on Earth, the stronger that it will become - we're told that exact same thing three times in one level, yet the Codex doesn't seem to explain why

In terms of gameplay, it's great. The lack of ammo is frustrating, and I have no idea why anyone seems to think that this time, they'll be the ones to figure out how to make first-person platforming work when it never works well, but the combat is satisfying, the levels are well-designed, the collectibles are fun to find, the game encourages you to use a variety of guns since enemies have a wider variety of weaknesses rather than just "shoot them point-blank with the super shotgun" (ex. putting a bomb/grenade in a Cacodemon's mouth, shooting off the cannons of a Mancubus with a scoped rifle or a chaingun), and the game gives you Mastery Tokens to make it easier to complete the mastery challenges for weapons and get bonuses.

All in all, I thought the gameplay was amazing, though some enemies (Marauder, Archvile, the final boss) didn't feel as "fair" as the 2016 enemies, and the story was excessively detailed in some areas while being unnecessarily vague in others. The gameplay alone makes this worth getting, though.

Kirby: Planet Robobot (3DS)

After playing through white knuckle action games or 100 hour RPGs, Kirby was a great change of pace. The game wasn't so long that it wore out its welcome, the bonus games were fun (though one of them makes me feel like Kirby might not work that well in 3D), and getting the collectibles was easy enough. The game's pretty good to telegraph when you'll need a certain power.

The bosses were great with or without a copy ability, though I felt like the final boss fights dragged on a bit long. Thankfully, if you die, you're sent back to the start of that phase as opposed to the start of the whole boss fight, which made things easier.

The game was filled with callbacks to older Kirby games, and while I might not have caught all of them (I missed out on a lot of Game Boy Advance and DS games, though I have them on the Wii U), it was still neat to see. The copy abilities were pretty varied, even if there were only three or four new ones that I saw. I haven't played through the bonus story mode or the Arena yet, but I enjoyed the game, and I found it easier to get into than Triple Deluxe. (though I might give that another shot at some point)

 

[Megadoomer]

It's been well over day since I last posted here, so I figure I should use this thread to say my thoughts on...

Nier Automata (PC)

I'll try to avoid going into too much detail, since I found the game to be particularly enjoyable when I had no idea what was going to happen next.

I have no familiarity with Drakengard or Nier, only being vaguely aware of Drakengard's Ending E due to how insane/nonsensical it is, and how despite (or because of?) that, it's the canonical one that Nier and Nier Automata follow up on. As a result, I feel like I missed a few references, but the game seems to be 99% a standalone adventure, which is nice.

I really enjoyed the game, whether the tone was light-hearted or depressing (it was a bit of a roller coaster ride when it comes to tone and mood) - I got the game because I'm a big fan of Platinum Games (the developers behind Bayonetta), and their frantic action expertise definitely showed here!

The game also has RPG elements, and I feel like I didn't take advantage of those as much as I could have. There's a chip system to improve stats, and it lets you take away some elements of the HUD to make more space if needed, but I found that once I maxed out my capacity, I had a pretty similar chip set-up throughout most of the game.

The game has five main endings, with endings A and B being more like the halfway point of the game. I was a little concerned when the path towards ending B seemed very similar to the path towards ending A, but they branched out towards the end, and endings C, D, and E were unlocked pretty quickly. (getting ending C or D unlocks a chapter select) There are also 21 joke endings, covering F-Z, though I didn't get those.

There's honestly a lot to unpack here - there are a lot of potential messages that could be taken from the game's story, and it's likely that I barely scratched the surface of the game's combat (I mainly stuck to the swords, so I didn't get much use out of the spears and fists) or its free DLC. Still, I'd highly recommend the game - it was an experience unlike basically anything that I've had with video games. The story alone is worth the purchase, and the gameplay is up to Platinum's standard (that is to say, the gameplay is insanely good).

 

[RetrogamerMax]

Last game I finished was Shantae and the Seven Sirens and I would give it a 7.9 rating. It was a pretty fun game with some new faces and new transformations. Certainly I would put it up there with Pirate's Curse for the title of best Shantae game.

 

[whitesnake]

It's been well over day since I last posted here, so I figure I should use this thread to say my thoughts on...

Nier Automata (PC)

I'll try to avoid going into too much detail, since I found the game to be particularly enjoyable when I had no idea what was going to happen next.

I have no familiarity with Drakengard or Nier, only being vaguely aware of Drakengard's Ending E due to how insane/nonsensical it is, and how despite (or because of?) that, it's the canonical one that Nier and Nier Automata follow up on. As a result, I feel like I missed a few references, but the game seems to be 99% a standalone adventure, which is nice.

I really enjoyed the game, whether the tone was light-hearted or depressing (it was a bit of a roller coaster ride when it comes to tone and mood) - I got the game because I'm a big fan of Platinum Games (the developers behind Bayonetta), and their frantic action expertise definitely showed here!

The game also has RPG elements, and I feel like I didn't take advantage of those as much as I could have. There's a chip system to improve stats, and it lets you take away some elements of the HUD to make more space if needed, but I found that once I maxed out my capacity, I had a pretty similar chip set-up throughout most of the game.

The game has five main endings, with endings A and B being more like the halfway point of the game. I was a little concerned when the path towards ending B seemed very similar to the path towards ending A, but they branched out towards the end, and endings C, D, and E were unlocked pretty quickly. (getting ending C or D unlocks a chapter select) There are also 21 joke endings, covering F-Z, though I didn't get those.

There's honestly a lot to unpack here - there are a lot of potential messages that could be taken from the game's story, and it's likely that I barely scratched the surface of the game's combat (I mainly stuck to the swords, so I didn't get much use out of the spears and fists) or its free DLC. Still, I'd highly recommend the game - it was an experience unlike basically anything that I've had with video games. The story alone is worth the purchase, and the gameplay is up to Platinum's standard (that is to say, the gameplay is insanely good).

lol you didn’t rate the game

 

[Megadoomer]

lol you didn’t rate the game

I stopped giving number scores after a while because I find them rather arbitrary, especially when I'm extremely unlikely to go below a six out of ten unless the game is bad. (for reference, back when I did give numbered scores, I gave Sonic Forces a 6/10, so a 5/10 or lower would have to be a game that has little to no redeeming qualities)

 

[whitesnake]

The messenger
9/10
Highly recommend!
Great control sceme, movement and combat feels good, game has humor, game has variety, has awesome tributes to nes and snes gaming

 

[Pokelego999]

Lego: The Lord of the Rings
Very fun game, but it may take awhile to 100%. But that provides hours upon hours of stuff to do.
8/10

 

[CornOnTheCob]

OneShot

Got around to playing this from the itch.io BLM bundle due to a friend's recommendation. I enjoyed it.

Spoiler: big spoilerinos for the ending

The characters were charming for the most part, Niko was a good protagonist and I grew to care a lot about most of them, although...I didn't pick the option to smash the sun because I tend to go for the "needs of the many > needs of the few" choices. My feelings on the Entity are ok, they exist, I guess I understand why they did what they did. If the explorable credits where they let you talk to everyone in the game didn't happen, I would be a bit more salty.

Great game overall, and you can knock it out in 4-6 hours if you are a fast reader like me and follow a walkthrough.

 

[Eddie The Pacifist]

New Super Mario Bros. U

By all means, a fairly simple game. The story is nothing and the music is lackluster, but I feel like it makes up for it with good controls and solid level design. Every level tries something new and that helps to keep things interesting. Also the visuals, while generally good, can be absolutely incredible in some areas, the most well-known example being the Van Gogh-esque background in a World 5 level. The worlds are also physically connected to each other, like Super Mario World, which I feel is a nice touch.

It’s certainly the best of the NSMB series imo. I’d give it a 7/10.

Spoiler: Van Gogh background.

 

[Megadoomer]

Donkey Kong Country (Wii)

While it's a bit of a cliche, my opinion on the game is that it's tough but fair. The last six levels or so are a fairly big difficulty spike, though the only one that completely stumped me was Blackout Basement. (I took a break from the game for a month or two after getting stuck on that level, and once I came back to the game today, I decided to get 26 lives or so before taking it on) The levels after that are tricky, but doable with enough trial and error, and the game gives enough bananas to make it so your lives aren't drained as quickly as they could be.

The areas aren't as varied as they could be (thankfully, the sequels pick up the slack in that department), but they're gorgeous, especially for the time. The platforming is solid, and nothing seems unfair - when I die, it usually feels like it's my fault (though Blackout Basement and Loopy Lights felt kind of cheap at times, due to having to complete leaps of faith in total or near-total darkness). The animal buddies felt useful for the most part, with the possible exception of Squawks, who just holds a light for you in one level.

One thing I liked about the game is its simplicity. It doesn't throw a bunch of gimmicks or collectibles at you - it's just solid platforming. Also, the music is simply incredible.

It's Donkey Kong Country - anything that I have to say about the game has been said already. It was a lot of fun, and if you have the SNES Online app on the Switch, it's on there now, so give it a shot.

 

[Sari]

Catherine: Full Body

9.3/10

Pros:

• The climbing levels are really fun.
• Lots of choices that can change the game with 13 endings.
• Great story overall.
• An entirely separate path relating to Rin (I didn't get it though it's still cool to have regardless)
• Lots of neat stuff in the bar like the Rapunzel minigame and the jukebox where you can listen to both Catherine and Persona music.

Cons:

• I wish there was an option to grab the edge of a block at any time. If there is a block below it and you press down, you'll just go on top of the lower block. This annoyance is especially noticeable when they introduce ice blocks.
• That one boss where everything is dark was just really annoying.
• The last nightmare was surprisingly really easy.

For reference I mainly played good guy Vincent and got the ending where...

Spoiler

I married Katherine and the last cutscene was them making plans for their wedding.

I'll probably replay it at some point to learn about the other paths.

 

[Mamboo07]

Carrion
10/10

An absolutely perfect reverse horror where you play as the monster! I love murdering the people and getting DNA abilities, a great game it is.

 

[Megadoomer]

Bug Fables (Switch)

While I didn't complete it 100%, I beat the final boss, got all of the bestiary entries and recipes, and finished all of the quests. (the minigames and the post-game superboss seemed like they'd take way too long for a relatively minor reward - thankfully, losing to the post-game superboss doesn't get you a game over, so you can still get their bestiary entry/entries)

This is a great RPG with solid characters that get a surprising amount of development. I played through the game on hard mode (which, by my understanding, is recommended by the developers if you have any familiarity with Paper Mario or the Thousand Year Door), and while the early game was tough, things got a lot easier as my characters leveled up and I got access to new abilities.

The enemies are diverse, the world has quite a bit of lore behind it if you track down the Lore Books (while leaving enough implied that it makes for interesting speculation), and the locations that you visit are quite varied. All in all, I enjoyed the game, and I'd gladly buy a sequel.

 

[Champion of Hyrule]

Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts

8.4/10
(Yes I'm the kinda person who uses decimal numbers don't judge me)

It's difficult but rewarding. Sure there are a few levels that were way too hard, but still it's worth it if you stay patient

 

[Kaisser]

The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time (N64 Version)
While I have already played and loved the 3DS version many years ago, it was a joy to revisit Ocarina of Time and realize just much how enjoyed it. Though there were a few problems that the N64 has that the 3DS version fixes but there are mainly nitpicks, such as the slow dialogue that can be a bit tedious when replaying the game and the aiming with items like the bow and hookshot feeling a little jittery at times. I know it's a very cliche opinion at this point but it goes to show how good Ocarina of Time is even after all these years.
Rating: 9.5/10

 

[Megadoomer]

Destroy All Humans! (remake) (PC)

I enjoyed the game when I played it back in 2005, and it still holds up well. The levels are large enough to give you a lot to do, but small enough that you don't get lost. (I suppose that's a product of the game being made in the early days of open world games) Your options for destroying all humans are a bit more limited than I remember, but it was the first game in the series, so it's best to keep things simple.

The achievements are easy enough to get; by the end of my playthrough, I got 37/40, and I only had to go out of my way to get two or three of them. The writing holds up extremely well - a large part of why I originally played the game (the original one - I was already sold on the remake) is because the main character's boss has the same voice actor as Zim from Invader Zim, and the writing does well with capturing the tone of that series along with cheesy 50's sci-fi films.

The game's short, but that's exactly the sort of thing that I was looking for, so that's not a complaint by any means. My only issue is that the game doesn't give you any way to track down the probes, which serve as collectibles (you'd think they'd have them show up on the radar as different-coloured dots), but since there's no achievement tied to getting all of the probes, it's not a huge deal.

A few missions were frustrating, particularly when I had to escort an atomic bomb (the truck wouldn't stop for anything - not soldiers, not land mines, not even exploding radioactive zombie cows - and there were some cases where it drove right into said exploding cows without even slowing down) or when I couldn't alert anyone (sometimes, I alerted the humans to my presence without even knowing why), but the game's quick enough to jump you back into the action without much in the way of load times.

I might go back to 100% complete it, since it seems easy enough. Tracking down all of the probes might be a pain, especially when the game doesn't have a map screen, but that's what video guides are for.

Fairy Tail (Switch)

As a fan of the series, it was fun to revisit two of the longer arcs, but I can't really recommend the game to anyone who's looking to get into the series. Even though this is the first Fairy Tail game to release overseas, it makes the unusual decision to start halfway through the series and assumes that you're already familiar with it. There are some text recaps of earlier arcs, but they don't do them justice or fully explain what happens, resulting in at least two characters coming out of nowhere.

The game's a fun RPG with great characters, though it's severely hampered by its budget or lack thereof. Roughly half of the characters are outright missing (they don't have models, so they either appear as a face next to a text box, or they don't appear at all). This results in some awkward scenes where the game shows an empty hallway as two characters discuss important events because those two characters weren't important enough to get models, or a main character punching someone who's just off-screen. It also leads to characters getting their big moments cut or downplayed - as a result, Juvia, Elfman, and Laxus don't get much to do in the story, with Elfman's one shining moment getting cut entirely.

That's not to say that the game's handling of the story is all bad. Since it's an RPG, it isn't limited to one-on-one or two-on-one fights like the manga is, so characters who normally stood on the sidelines and watched get to actively participate in fights. In some cases, characters who weren't even present in the original story arcs get to show up, and while they don't impact the story, it's nice to see them getting involved in saving the world.

The game also adds side stories and extra character conversations which do a great job at fleshing out the cast, as well as containing heartwarming moments. After the game is complete, you have the option to have every character (aside from the ones who already completed it in canon) take the S-class exam, and the reactions that characters like Natsu, Gray, Lucy, and Wendy have to getting that promotion are a delight to see, even if it's just through text.

I enjoy the game as a fan of the series, though it's not without its flaws. (and that's not even getting into the DLC, which is absurdly overpriced - a season pass containing four characters and not much else is the same price as the full game)

Carrion (Switch)

This was a fun Metroidvania; it doesn't seem like you get to play as the villain in these kinds of games. I had to use a map and a guide to get the final containment units (optional power-ups that boost your energy, make you more resistant to fire, or give you an extra appendage), though I'm glad that I got them. Even if, by that point in the game, they didn't mean much (there weren't many enemies left), and the Switch version doesn't have achievements, it felt good to find everything.

By the end of the game, it felt great to rampage through a facility of shady Weyland-Yutani-style scientists (at least, that's how I interpreted them) as a near-unstoppable juggernaut, though the actual ending of the game was chilling.

It was a short game (it took me a little longer to beat than Mega Man 11 did, so somewhere around 5-7 hours, I think), but I enjoyed it. It's kind of weird for a Metroidvania game to not have any form of map, though.

 

[Megadoomer]

Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon (Switch)

I found this to be much more accessible than the NES-era Castlevania games that it was inspired by. As someone who doesn't seek out the uber-difficult platformers of that era (Ghosts 'n' Goblins, Ninja Gaiden, Castlevania, etc.), the addition of a Casual mode helped.

The game's not very long, but it does a great job at encouraging multiple playthroughs, with the ending changing depending on whether you recruit, kill, or ignore Zangetsu's potential allies. It's a solid 2D platformer that lovingly translates the characters, enemies, environments, and bosses of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night into 2D sprites (from what little I've played of the sequel, it seems like they had more freedom to get creative with the bosses and characters).

This is the cheapest of the three Bloodstained games (in terms of price, not difficulty), and it's priced well enough (it doesn't come across as being too expensive). The characters are varied enough that it makes it interesting to see how they can tackle the obstacles that the levels throw at them, though I found Zangetsu's upgrades for killing them (which is required to unlock one of the game's modes and the boss rush) to be a letdown. (they're relatively minor and they lock you out of getting health and mana upgrades, though that might have been the point) I'd recommend the game.

Skullgirls: 2nd Encore (Switch)

While I haven't completely finished the game (I still have to do arcade runs for most of the cast and beat Marie 300% if I want to truly be done), I've completed all of the story content that's currently in the game, and that's good enough for me.

I was put off by the game's tutorial - it's extremely thorough, but some of the elements require an extremely high level of execution, and I still haven't finished a lesson about the drama gauge. (which requires me to land a fourteen hit combo that uses every attack button with no patterns involved) However, completing the tutorial isn't mandatory - it only unlocks a stage, as far as I can tell.

The game's story modes do a great job at fleshing out the individual characters, though it seemed like more effort seemed to be put into the story modes for the DLC characters. (most fights get some kind of explanation, whereas in the base game, some fights happen with no build-up) There's also an arcade mode, though beating that unlocks an alternate colour for your character(s) of choice, along with concept art for your character(s).

The game does an excellent job with letting you seamlessly form combos by going from light to medium to heavy attacks, regardless of whether they're punches or kicks. I want to say that this system was established by Darkstalkers, though I'm not certain. Either way, it made chaining together combos much easier.

The characters in the base game all have special moves with simple inputs - it's just the Hadoken motion, forwards or backwards, with one or two punches/kicks. The DLC characters change things up a bit by throwing in Shoryuken motions or, in the case of Big Band, charge moves like Guile's Sonic Boom or Balrog's specials, but there's nothing ridiculous like The Pretzel (Geese Howard's Raging Storm - ). If you've played Dragon Ball FighterZ or Street Fighter before, the specials should be easy enough to use.

All in all, the game's a lot of fun, and I'm glad to see that it's still going to be getting at least one more major update (a new character, Annie) next year. (there's a lot of drama involved with the studio, particularly with the lead game designer, so I'm not sure if it will be getting more updates beyond that)

River City Girls (Switch)

The game's an extremely fun beat-em-up. While it's fairly short, it's more forgiving than a lot of the beat-em-ups from the era that inspired it, much like River City Ransom. (death only sets you back to the start of the room that you were in and costs you a quarter of your cash, so it's even more forgiving than RCR, which sent you back to the nearest mall and cost you half of your cash)

While the game doesn't take too long to beat, it seems like it has a lot of replay value with a New Game Plus, at least one bonus boss fight, and trying to get all of the items and accessories. (two accessories in a secret shop cost $5000 each, so you'll be saving for a while) The writing and character designs are well done, making the game a joy to play through, and the music is energizing. If you like beat-em-ups or want to get into the genre, I'd strongly recommend picking this up.

 

[Megadoomer]

Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Steam)

This game takes everything that was great about its predecessor and expands on it, at least a little bit. It's not trying to reinvent the series (the main additions are sidequests, a larger focus on action, and a shard system similar to Hollow Knight's charms), but it's an outstanding Metroidvania.

Due to the increased focus on action, the difficulty seems to be cranked up from the original (some of the achievements involve beating a specific boss in under two minutes, and beating another specific boss without taking damage; the platforming is trickier, and there are time trials which count towards your completion percentage), though it's not to the extent of Hollow Knight. Death is very forgiving in this game - if you die, you're set back a few seconds. Unlike the original, the game has auto-saves as opposed to making you stop to create save points.

My main issue is that the game seemed buggier than the original. When linking my Microsoft account to the game on Steam, I couldn't type in my e-mail address or password (I had to copy and paste them from a separate notepad file), and the game crashed on several occasions. (mostly when I was exiting out of the game, though there was one time where the game crashed as a result of me exiting a race through the pause menu)

The art and music in this game is gorgeous, the puzzles were (for the most part) never too complicated, and the characters are well-developed even with the relative lack of dialogue (there's more dialogue than in the original, though much like the Spirit Tree's narration in Ori and the Blind Forest, it's a made-up language with subtitles). I'm not going to aim for all achievements (doing so would require me to beat the game without dying, beat the game without touching poisoned water, beat the game without spending any currency or using any of the shards, and beat the game in under four hours, so that would require at least three or four separate playthroughs at an absolute minimum), but if you liked the original, I'm sure that you'll like this. (and if you haven't played the original, there's a demo on the Switch)

 

[Megadoomer]

Hollow Knight (Switch)

The game is difficult - it definitely doesn't pull any punches, and it took roughly eight hours (out of a 24 hour playthrough) for it to "click" for me. My main concern is that, at the start of the game, you feel extremely underpowered, even by Metroidvania standards. You have no movement options, barely any health, limited ways to restore that health (the only way to do so requires standing still, and if you get hit while charging up the healing ability, you lose the resources and don't get healed, which means near-certain death when you barely have any health to begin with), and your attacks feel like you're trying to poke your enemies to death with a stick.

The game gets a lot better when you get more health, movement options, and attack options, but the first third or half of the game is rough. When I played this, I got what seems like the bad ending - I'm not sure if it's tied to my completion percentage (I got about 70% or 75%), or finding a certain item/upgrade. I might go back to the game at some point, but given how frustrating it got at times, I'm hesitant to do so.

My main problem is that it felt like a Metroidvania game that actively discouraged exploration. With limited (or, in some cases, no) opportunities to restore health, and the way that the game actively punishes you for dying (an enemy spawns where you died, and you can only store 2/3 of your soul/mana meter until you beat that enemy - you also lose all of your money until you beat that enemy, and dying before that means your money is gone for good), it made me hesitant to go into new areas when I had no way of knowing whether or not I'd have the abilities needed to survive in there.

It's a good game, but it's also merciless, so I'm hesitant to recommend it unless you're looking for a challenge. Not sure what to compare it to - with the exception of Celeste, I generally don't play a lot of games that are infamous for their difficulty, so I can't exactly say it's "the Dark Souls of Metroidvania games" since I've barely played Dark Souls.

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (Wii)

I found the game to be challenging, but it felt much fairer than the first Donkey Kong Country - there weren't any levels like Blackout Basement from DKC1 where it felt cheap at times. (well, with the possible exception of Toxic Tower, but once I got to the checkpoint, it wasn't that bad) Unlike DKC1, I had beaten the game before, but it held up extremely well. (also, as a side note, I always thought the name was Diddy Kong's Quest when I was a kid)

Unlike DKC1, both of the playable characters felt consistently useful. (Donkey Kong's unique abilities, like his heavier weight, felt very situational) The animal buddies were great this time around, with all of them being fun to use or play as. (with the possible exception of Glimmer, but then again, he was only in one level at the very beginning) The music and level designs were top-notch, though that's almost to be expected.

All in all, it's a lot like Banjo-Kazooie, where it's a golden-age Rare game that I feel like everyone needs to try. I might play Donkey Kong Country 3 at some point (much like with DKC1, I've never played through the whole thing), though I'll likely take a break from platformers for a bit. The past three games that I've played through were platformers, so I might try an RPG next. (likely Fire Emblem: Three Houses - I've played through the Black Eagles route, but I haven't tried any of the other ones)

 

[Luig]

Damn, shame I didn't see this thread sooner, I've been actually completing a lot of games recently.

Half-life 2, PC
You know, graphics aren't everything, but I greatly appreciate the technical and artist's sides of things, and Half-Life 2, is absolutely phenomenal in every way for 2004, even amongst other PC games. Valve really wanted to show their new source engine pulled no punches, and they extensively use its physics simulation in the gameplay itself. The faces especially are crazy for 04; the first time I saw G Man's face animate, I was amazed by the detail it had. The water is spectacular, the scenes look so cohesive and the art design is great. I have no idea how the game was ported to the original xbox at all (even if it runs horrifically), but it's the only port Valve handled in-house, probably for a reason.

The game actually lived up to its name to me; I had tried playing it a few times before, though I had never finished it even though I enjoyed it. This time, I finally played Half-Life 1 first, and then 2, and both of them just clicked. The pacing is almost on point, the story is gripping, and I almost always found myself wanting to continue on just to see what could happen next, almost like an RPG I really get into (haha i'm playing xenogears right now aaa). The game can be rather difficult at times, though they give you a quicksave feature intentionally which works exactly like a savestate, saving your position, velocity and everything about all actors around you, so I suppose they expected you to abuse it. Even still, overcoming challenges still felt rewarding. I love a lot of the gameplay, the puzzles are usually fun, though sometimes I got stumped. The shooting all feels really nice, and I love how the source engine feels to control. I genuinely just love most of the gameplay beats, and I think it's a top notch game that everyone needs to play, funny how no valve-developed game is on a single nintendo console though.

 

[martyscott89]

The Witcher 3: Wild hunt
Score: 10/10 - no question

Wow, after about 150 hours i finally managed to finish the main storyline of the game having been caught up in various side missions and other shenanigans.

The witcher 3 is by FAR the best singleplayer experience i've ever had, the open world along with the extremely intense and dark theme and the storytelling makes it feel like you're living in this world.

Get a pair of nice surround sound headphones and consume yourself into the great witcher world. you 100% wont regret it.

Completing the game 100% seems like an almost impossible thing to do - it is absoloutely enourmous when you count all the side missions, items, recipes, and of course GWENT.

Yes imagine that, not only is the game itself the best game, but it even has a card game like blizzards hearthsthone which is(surprisingly) almost as fun as the main game haha.

Im sitting here with the sort of feeling you get after watching the LOTR trilogy, thinking there will never be movies as great ever again.

Thats the sort of fear/feeling i get after having finished the main part of the Witcher 3 - how can there ever be a game this great again?

Well heres to hoping, for real try out the witcher 3!!!

 

[Megadoomer]

Rivals of Aether (Switch)

I've beaten the game's story mode and tutorial, so I feel like that counts as finishing it. The game seems very well-balanced from a gameplay perspective, and the online seems solid from the few matches that I tried. However, the game is seriously lacking in terms of single player content - it doesn't even have an arcade mode. The closest is the game's Story Mode, which consists of fights against the same six characters followed by a true ending. It's a shame; I wanted to see how the rest of the cast would have been incorporated into the story, or at least I would have liked to have more options for single player content to use them in.

The tutorial is very thorough, though it has a similar problem to Skullgirls in that it doesn't always properly explain what they want you to do, or give you a demonstration of how to do it. It's a fun game, and I'm glad I picked it up, but it kind of reminds me of the base version of Street Fighter V in that it seemed to focus primarily, if not exclusively, on competitive multiplayer, which leaves it feeling a little lacking for casual players like myself.

Kirby Fighters 2 (Switch)

In what was either a jerk move by Nintendo or a complete coincidence, Nintendo suddenly released a platform fighter featuring an established property mere hours before Rivals of Aether, for a cheaper price. Kirby Fighters 2 has more single player content than Rivals of Aether, though it's nowhere near as well balanced.

My big problem is the post-game challenge - Kirby games are generally easy in the base game but challenging in the post-game content, but this one relies purely on randomness. The stat boosts that you get are completely random, meaning that you could get to a boss at the halfway point and literally be incapable of beating them in the time provided because you didn't happen to get any power-ups that improve your damage done to bosses, or didn't get enough health power-ups to survive.

The roster could use some improvement as well - with the exception of five characters (two of which are unlocked by beating the game and beating the post-game challenge), the roster is "Oops! All Kirbies!" It would have been nice if they did what Star Allies did, and make it so you had the option of playing as the ally versions of those powers like Poppy Bros., Knuckle Joe, or Waddle Doo. (most of the power-ups are taken directly from Star Allies, with the exception of Wrestler, who's basically an enhanced version of the Suplex ability that's attached to Buggzy)

It's fun in short bursts, but lacking in a lot of ways. Given current circumstances, that's somewhat understandable, but I wish they gave it a bit more polish.

Panzer Dragoon (Switch)

The game's shorter than I expected (it takes half an hour to an hour to beat), though much like Star Fox 64, it seems designed for multiple playthroughs. (though unlike Star Fox 64, there are no branching routes, so it lacks the variety of that game) For a 3D game that predates Super Mario 64, it's pretty impressive - I'm not sure how the original game looked, but this remaster is visually solid.

However, I'm hesitant to recommend it given how short the game is; maybe the sequels have more depth to them, but this doesn't have much in terms of story or gameplay.

Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge (Wii U)

This is the first Ninja Gaiden game that I've beaten - apparently, it was the easiest of them, which makes me hesitant to see what the hardest game in that series is like. It was fun, particularly towards the end, but it was also incredibly frustrating, particularly when it came to bosses. (in some cases, like the boss fights where you play as Ayane, I had to look up strategies to cheese the fight since I was being triple-teamed by the bosses) Luckily, unlike the little bit that I've played of Ninja Gaiden Sigma, this game is much more generous when it comes to healing and checkpoints.

The game reminded me of Metal Gear Solid at some points (which is a plus for me), and Ryu Hayabusa felt more human than I expected (particularly when bonding with Canna). Since I hadn't played much of the other Ninja Gaiden games, or any Dead or Alive games, a lot of the cameos were unfamiliar to me, but it was easy enough to figure out the roles that most of them played. (though I had to Google Robert T. Sturgeon, a fighter pilot who got an unusual amount of focus and a nametag)

I liked the game, but Normal mode was tough enough for me - I'm not going to play it on the higher difficulties.

 

[---]

Valkyria Chronicles 4

Been almost a decade since I played the first two games in the series, and of the two games this plays much more like the original. A lot more straightforward in terms of progression and large maps instead of interconnected mini-maps. That said, the game feels a lot more complicated than either of the two titles in terms of options available to you: Grenadiers, Orders, Ship Orders, APC Tank, Command units, etc. There's a lot to keep track of and it does feel overwhelming at times; though as Youtube videos will show you can beat most maps in 1 or 2 turns if you know how to exploit mechanics.

I don't think it's as good as the original, but it does feel like a return to form in many ways. Grenadiers stand out the most to me as needing the most tweaking as their hitboxes seems to be all over the place and it's frustrating dealing with enemy Grenadiers as you can't tell where their attacks will land. The plot itself is less generic than 2, but tends to be all over the place with character motives, weak main villains (aside from the rival Tank commander) and is less subtle; there's literally a line in the game where a character states: "The United Goddamn States." The best addition to the plot are probably the Squad Stories as they tend to have the best writing with a lot of characters making me genuinely laugh.


Ninja Gaiden 2 (NES)

Not much to say other than it's a lot more polished compared to the original game in terms of gameplay. Levels feel a lot more fair in terms of challenge and design with enemy & power up placement being more well placed (albeit not always perfect). Bosses feel a lot more thought out as opposed to the rush down tactics or abusing Spin Attack jank; it also helps that you aren't sent 3 levels back upon losing a life at the final bosses.

The plot isn't as good as the original game, but is still full of classic OVA cheese. The music is also excellent, but I think is still something the original has over it. Given some time, I think most gamers would probably be able to beat this one. This, like Castlevania or Gimmick!, is a good type of NES hard.

 

[KevinM]

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

It was ok

4/10

 

[Janx_uwu]

Sonic Adventure duology was the last game I finished, so I'll rate 'em here. I love Sonic but never got around to playing these until now. Played the DX and Battle versions on Steam, by the way.

Sonic Adventure DX
I don't really perfer a style of Sonic to be honest. But I do really like the classic 2D games, and Sonic Adventure feels like the most natural evolution of that formula into 3D. The jump feels as good as always, and the spindash has been improved so you can do it with the press of a button and stop on a dime to charge. The homing attack is an amazing tool that helps this transition greatly, even if later games like Adventure 2 and Unleashed refined it a bit. The Light Speed Dash is the definition of useless, since you have to charge it up for ten years before you use it (psst this is important so remember it later). All of Sonic's levels are pretty fun, except for Lost World imo. (And what do you know, Lost World is also not a good Sonic game!) Anyways yeah, Sonic feels great in this game and the level design, for the most part, benefits him greatly.
The other characters are not as good, sadly. Big is self explanatory, he's a fishing gimmick that's not a good fishing gimmick, and I don't even like fishing in video games that much to begin with. It's the one reason I've never gotten to the Perfect Chaos fight, because I don't want to have to sit through ages of breaking my fishing hook and waiting for unreliable fish CPUs to bite a thing. Amy, I thought was really fun. It's not easy to build up speed with her, but when you do you get this really neat hammer flip that makes you go super high. The levels would be a lot more fun if it weren't for Zero being awfully programmed AI, to the point where he's not really a threat, especially considering you have a hammer that stuns him for a while. Tails was fun to fly around with, but his level design was so short and exploitable you can beat all of his missions the first time around easily. To lose in his levels you would have to intentionally throw the race. Knuckles was aight, he was my favorite of the bunch outside of Sonic. They did reuse parts of Sonic's levels (and that goes for the other ones too), but to me that's not really a downside as they were really fun anyways. Knuckles doesn't control as well as I'd like him too but he's pretty fun. Gamma was my third favorite, but like Amy, if the gimmick of his levels (in this case, losing time) was more of a threat and a challenge, I'd like his levels a whole lot more.
The story of SA is constantly bashed like its sequel, but I really like it. It's a natural sequel to the story of Sonic 3 and Knuckles-we learn more about Knuckles' daily life of watching the Master Emerald, we finally get to hear these characters' voices, we see what once was of the ancient echidna tribe and why Knuckles is the last of his kind, and we see the power of the Chaos Emeralds in action. The cutscenes are ridiculed, and for good reason-they are not very good. Deem Bristow's Eggman is still as fantastic as ever-may he rest in peace. Ryan Drummond was pretty decent as Sonic, Jon St. John nailed Big's voice, Elara Distler's Tikal sounds good and so does Micheal McGaharn as Knuckles, Corey Bringas' Tails sounds bad, and Jennifer Douillard is a fantastic Amy.
The music is not as good as in Adventure 2 but still is great nonetheless. My favorite track is probably Act 2 of Red Mountain. Open Your Heart is an amazing song that needs zero introduction.
All in all it's a fantastic game, but it has shown its age over the years. So I recommend anyone interested try it out. You only have to play the campaigns you want, so really anyone can enjoy it. It's also essential if you're a Sonic fan.
8/10

Sonic Adventure 2 Battle
Sonic Adventure 2 takes the three best characters of the first game and expands upon them and makes them better-Sonic, Knuckles, and Gamma. Sonic and Shadow feel excellent. The somersault is a fun way to attack grounded enemies and boxes, the jump and homing attack are as good as always, the spindash is back, the Light Speed Dash can now be activated with the press of a button, and the Bounce is a fun addition that I really like. However, the level design is changed up-now, instead of being more open like SA1, it's a straight line with a few alternate ways to go about it. Some resent this change, and I'll admit that I'm not a huge fan of it. However it is very fun to make your own shortcuts with the spindash jump. Levels are still well designed despite that, but I feel that later games, even 06's Sonic levels, did a better job with open level design.
Knuckles feels very much better, but I'm not as huge of a fan of his levels this time around. His glide is more instant this time around and feels like it's a little more lightweight, he can now punch on the move (and it even accelerates him a bit) and his speed feels very good. While you can only search for one Emerald shard at a time in this game, I don't really mind since it never got in the way for me personally. Drill Dive is also a really fun and well-made tool. The levels aren't as great though, I explicitly remember spending twenty six minutes in Death Chamber. Nowadays I'm good at the game and can beat it in less than five, but still, that doesn't make it that much better. It's mainly due to the level being way too large-Mad Space also suffers from this. For the most part the other levels were either fine or good.
Tails (replacing Gamma with a mech of his own) feels the worst of the three. His jumps are just awful, making the levels with pits in them really unfun, even with the help of the hover upgrade. However he feels pretty good when moving around and hovering. The missle sight doesn't feel as well tuned as Gamma's in Adventure 1, so sometimes I have to wiggle the stick just to lock on to an enemy, which doesn't help if that same enemy has a means of attack. The level design is fine for the most part, but the bull**** enemy placement really ruins levels like Prison Lane or Mission Street.
Shadow, Rouge, and Eggman are exactly the same, so I won't talk about them in terms of gameplay.
The story is actually very good in this game. I won't go into detail about it since I've gone on long enough already, but you can look up a synopsis. It's epic, it's fun, it's emotional, and it's an adventure. A Sonic Adventure. (Sorry.)
The actual cutscenes are better this time around, though the sound mixing in the English version ruins it. I really hope that gets fixed if they ever port this game to Switch or maybe even remake it. The cinematography is actually really good though. Instead of the first game where everyone looked stiff and unnatural, in this one everyone looks lively. The camera is positioned really well for the most part which makes certain cutscenes much more dynamic.
The music-oh, where do I begin? Everyone's a banger! For Sonic you have butt rock. City Escape, Green Forrest, Metal Harbor (which reminds me a lot of ska actually), Final Rush-if you like butt rock, you'll love Sonic's music. Well, I like butt rock.
Shadow's music is techno-rock, which really works for the four stages he has, especially Radical Highway which is really amazing.
Tails has some uplifting rock that really fits his character.
Eggman, like Shadow, has techno rock, though his sounds much more metal which makes sense for his character. He also has the song "E.G.G.M.A.N." for his vocal theme, which I love to death. Easily my favorite of the vocal themes.
Knuckles has some really amazing rap tracks like Pumpkin Hill and Meteor Heard-though my personal favorite is also my favorite song in this game (yes, including Live and Learn). "Dive into the Mellow...for Aquatic Mines" is just an amazing, chill, lo-fi rap song that I've put on loop quite a few times.
Rouge has some easy-on-the-ears jazz that fits her really well. Her vocal theme, Fly in the Freedom, is also my second favorite in the game.
Finally, the 100% completion of this game is much better than in Adventure. You have to get an A rank in every mission, in every stage, and do some Chao raising. As long as you like raising Chao and you can stand some of the more frustrating levels, you should have the alternate costumes and characters eventually. I haven't gotten there yet but I'm getting closer slowly and surely.
All in all, this is an amazing game that's well worth your time. I wouldn't say it's the best 3D game in the series-I'd give that honor to Generations-but it's one of the best and, in my opinion, better than it's predecessor.
8.75/10

 

[---]

Sticking this thread for the heck of it, seems to be one of the few threads in the board that gets regular replies.


Ninja Gaiden 3/Ninja Ryuukenden 3 (NES/Famicom)

Have at long last completed the original trilogy. Ended up going with the original Famicom version of NG3 as it's really ridiculous what they did with the NES version of the game; and people complain about Working Designs messing with titles. All enemies deal increased damage, more enemies & less power ups, limited continues, no checkpoints in stages, and no password system. If you can beat the NES version my hat is off to you, I gave up on Act 2. By comparison, I didn't get my first Game Over until Act 5-2 in the Famicom version.

While certainly not easy, it's by and large the easiest game in the Trilogy. Enemies no longer spawn in rapid succession infinitely so you can generally make tactical retreats when needed; though there are a lot more flying enemies. A Strider-style sword power up that stays with you until you die lets you deal with enemies in awkward positions a lot more handily. Power ups are semi-transparent so you can always see what item/weapon it offers in case you don't want it. Knockback seems to have been adjusted, though it's a bit harder to explain aside from that it seemingly doesn't send you as far.

The quality of life changes arguably make it the best of the trilogy, though the level design and increased airtime on jumps does cause it to loose some of the kinetic action the first two games had. The ability to hang on the underside of platforms is also an interesting mechanic that I think was done well enough, unlike Darkwing Duck (NES), that I wouldn't mind returning in future games. Most of my deaths/Game Overs came from two small sections in 7-2 & 7-3 that involve bottomless pits.

 

[Peeton]

Killer7 10/10

An absolutely amazing game with such a unique style that keeps me thinking about it. Although the story is a bit complex, it’s pretty good. The voice acting is great. The graphics literally cannot age. The gameplay is unique and fun. The characters are wonderful. The dialogue is fun and entertaining! There’s some uncomfortable scenes in the game if you’re sensitive to abuse and suicide so if that’s a deal breaker than don’t play this.

Killer7 is my 3rd favorite game of all time and the only game I consider a masterpiece

 

[Etheus Rook]

Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree's Woe and the Blight Below

7/10

As a Warriors fan, this is a tricky one. It's clear that Koei cared. They really put in the legwork to make the game feel authentically Dragon Quest. I wish they had done so for Fire Emblem Warriors.

However, from a gameplay standpoint, I have a few issues.

Combat feels stiffer than Warriors standard. A lot of the combos just feel slow and clunky.

Lack of difficulty settings for personal preference.

Lack of real extensive side content. A playthrough is about 30-40 hours.

Character skill points basically require New Game+ to make out. New Game+ feels tacked on.

Stage design and bad camera work don't interact well.



I look forward to playing DQ Heroes II and seeing how much was improved.

 

[SuperSaska]

My Hero Academia One's Justice 2 (story mode)

5.8/10

I'm glad it actually has some kind of toggle buffer. Unfortunately, the frame lag is more present thanks to Unreal Engine. The input lag ranges from god awful to better than Smash Ultimate. Buffer system is a bit better than Smash Ultimate. Story mode was fine. It allowed me to try on new characters.

After playing some of missions and arcade, the score goes up to a 6.8/10


You get to choose a route which is nice, and the missions mode is a nice touch.

I think it's better and worse than Smash Ultimate, and a bit more better. I know, unpopular opinion, fight me.

 

[Cinnaminion]

chibi robo: plug into adventure for gamecube
score: 8.5/10

ive never rly was gonna play chibi robo but decided to try it for a lil after watching a vid on it
even tho i was tired and didnt rly wanna do anything i ended up playing thru the entire game for 12 hrs straight and liking it alot
im probs gonna be playing it more when i just wanna chill since theres still stuff to explore that i missed (i wont spoil anything here)

the game is a 3d platformer adventure game p much
what u do in the game is spread happiness by helping the sandersons (a dysfunctional family) do daily stuff like cleaning
it sounds rly boring but trust me it me theres lots of stuff that makes it super fun

pros:

• 1 of the best looking gc games tbh but some stuff can look blocky and weird sometimes (def use a hd texture pack if u play it)
• lots of stuff to do in the sanderson house and lots of areas to explore even just if its in 1 house
• explores dark themes like divorce that made me feel uncomfortable sometimes but were handled p well (but i wish they were explored more)
• character designs are rly creative and it has alot of quirky charm (jenny is my fav)
• day/night cycle and ur battery meter pushes u to plan out ur day/movement and gave me some majoras mask vibes
• its rly rewarding to see the chars happy get things done around the house
• theres lots of extra stuff to do even after the main stuff of the game is over (and lots of other stuff i know i missed that i will find if i replay thru the game again)

cons:

• text is rly slow and can be annoying if u just wanna play
• lots of long cutscenes (its a story driven game) so if ur looking for something fast this isnt it
• controls can be a little weird sometimes w/ chibi robo magnetizing to pick up his plug sometimes for some reason but it wasnt super bad
• rly cute sound design but can get kinda annoying at times (esp w/ the banjo kazooie like voices)
• bg music is rly chill but some music (like spydors music) is super loud and scary
• some stuff like having to use the chibi copter to avoid falling damage can feel super tedious
• theres alot of things the game doesnt explicitly tell u that u either have to use a guide or mess around to figure out on ur own (like using the pajama suit to end the day early so u dont have to wait for the timer to run out) but ig ur supposed to kinda get lost when u explore so idk if this is a super con

this game is super unique and hard to describe tbh but if u like majoras mask/pikmin/mario sunshine u will like this game alot
i recommend playing thru it blind if u can and not watching alot of vids on it unless ur not sure if u will like it

 

[KingBooGengar57]

Super Mario RPG:
7.5/10 IGN - Too much water

 

[Megadoomer]

Hades (Switch)

I didn't know much about the game going into it, but I liked Bastion (which was made by the same developers) and I got a lot of playtime out of the Binding of Isaac (another roguelike), so I figured I'd give it a chance.

Somehow, the game managed to become one of my most-played Switch games, and I'm technically not even done yet. (it's #14, just beneath Bug Fables and Final Fantasy 7, which took me about 35-40 hours to beat)

The game has a really addicting gameplay loop (each run-through takes about 30 minutes to complete, though whether or not you reach the end depends on what abilities you get from the Greek gods or what other power-ups you find), and there are ways to permanently boost the main character (Zagreus), so even if you die, you can still get stronger for your next playthrough attempt. (this is what helped me to stick with the game, as opposed to something like Enter The Gungeon, where there don't seem to be any permanent upgrades as far as I can tell)

I beat the game ten times (which was enough to reach the credits), and even though I only have a passing familiarity with Greek mythology, the game did a good job with getting me invested in the various characters found throughout the House of Hades and the other levels of the Greek afterlife.

The randomness can be frustrating early on, as you're put up against a boss with a set of skills that might not be much help, but as you unlock Darkness (to upgrade Zagreus), Chthonic Keys (to unlock new weapons and abilities), and Nectar (to get keepsakes that give you extra health, an extra life, a greater chance to encounter certain gods, etc.), it makes the game much easier. (I'd recommend giving Nectar to Cerberus first when you get it - his keepsake is the one that gives you extra health, which can make a huge difference early on)

I had a lot of fun with the game, and I can see why so many people recommended it.

 

[Greyfox22]

Symphony of the Night! I loved it!! Not really sure about an exact rating but it`s easily my favourite Metroidvania type game so far. I thought basically everything about it was great.

The Good:
-The combat and general movement feel really smooth and satisfying. The enjoyable nature of the general gameplay even made backtracking fun (something I usually don`t like at all in games of this genre).
-Enemy variety was fantastic and never got boring
-Love the music, visuals, and general atmosphere
-Most abilities and power-ups such as the wolf form and leap stone aren`t essential to completing the game but add much to the variety of play and are really fun
-Exploration feels really fun and rewarding. Not at all predictable what you will find.

The Bad:
-Way too easy at times, but I don`t necessarily need games to be super challenging to be fun
-The inverted castle really could have used more music

 

[Janx_uwu]

Sonic Generations, 100%-ed on PC
9.75/10
Pros:
Controls are tight, especially for Modern Sonic
Level design is mostly pretty good (not as good as Unleashed tho)
Skills allow for a wide variety of customization
Some of the missions are really fun, like one where you get to snowboard through Rooftop Run
Shows a lot of love to even the most hated games-Crisis City is incredibly faithful, Rooftop Run is Rooftop Fun, and there's a banger of a Knuckles' Chaotix remix
Mod support means I'll come back to this one for ages
Red rings are fun to find and intuitive to get
Museum is a blast to hang out in
Seaside Hill is the best modern Sonic level IMO
Absolutely gorgeous graphics
60fps with almost no noticeable drops
Amazing remixes of previous games' music (my favorites being classic and modern renditions of City Escape)
Majority of the bosses are really fun (my favorite being the Egg Dragoon fight)
Cons:
Story is nonexistent
Classic isn't as good as he used to be in the Genesis days, and his new Spindash, while fun to use in its own right, is way too OP
I would've appreciated a camera feature (like the one you see in games like Mario Odyssey or Spider-Man PS4) to capture the beauty of this game's levels
Doesn't look as good as Unleashed
For whatever reason they didn't include the Genesis with Sonic 1 in the PC release
Some levels are just awful
Some bosses (especially Time Eater) are either really bad or downright confusing
No Classic versions of Amy, Knuckles, or the Chaotix
Sonic is the only playable character (a criticism I have with every 2010's mainline Sonic game)
Super Sonic is a skill that you have to equip, and it costs 100 points so you can't equip any other than it (not to mention that the Super forms in this game are not very good)

One of the most well-made games in the series. It's a huge love letter to the entire franchise and I'll keep playing it for as long as I live.