booting up this remake for the first time felt like being a little kid during christmas again. paper mario the thousand year door is a game i have a very long history with. it was one of 3 console games that were in a set of the first home console games i ever owned alongside super mario sunshine and luigi's mansion which i got for my 4th birthday. afterwards, the thousand year door was my favorite game of all time for my whole life up until my late teens. in that time, i've played this game front to back upwards of 20 times with a few 100% runs sprinkled in there as well.
needless to say, i have a lot of history with this game and it's very special to me, so a remake like this is something i was going to keep my eye on, even as someone who's usually disappointed when a remake actually comes out. this time is different though. it feels like it harkens back to the super nintendo and playstation 1 days of when remakes actually cared about the art direction and intent of the originals, with the art direction finding a beautiful middle ground between the originals texture and sprite work and the papercraft aesthetics that were only hinted before on the gamecube but brought to life on the wii u and switch, and with that middle ground sitting very firmly closer to the original gamecube side. npcs are actually expressive this time around as well, making the world feel just a bit more vibrant and alive and i couldn't be happier. other than some indoor locations not having the best lighting and some screen rotations that were seamless in the original going to black screens instead i have absolutely no complaints about this game visually, especially when there's already 60 fps patches. audio wise might be a different story, though.
the music in this remake is redone, given a more "origami king" esque jazz band flare to it which i don't feel fits the game well at all. the soundtrack definitely leans into the more "boingy" sounding ost ttyd and super had and the redone ost is definitely better than the poor showings we got in trailers, but i still prefer the original soundtrack. there is a badge that restores the original soundtrack, but i've yet to test to see how it reacts to the new songs added for the remake and to be honest i'd really like to hear them this time around so someone else will have to let me know about that eventually lol.
even with its few minor flaws ttyd for the switch is a truly a masterful remake of a classic, and i can't wait to reexperience this cornerstone of my history with video games with this loving remake going forward. the new localization that makes things more accurate to the original while keeping much of the 2004 localization in tact alone makes me prefer this version until someone inevitably patches it back in to the original, but even beyond that they took a world near and dear to my heart and miraculously brought it back to life again more vibrant than ever and that is always going to be deeply special to me. this game is still a very entry level jrpg and the remake doesn't change that so i definitely can't recommend it to everybody, but to anyone who loves the mario series at all or wants to get into rpgs with baby steps this game, and especially this new version, is a must.

REACH FOR MY HANDDD, I'LL SOAR AWAYYY, INTO THE DAWNNN, OH I WISH I COULD STAYYYY!

Fire Emblem: Three Houses is the sixteenth installment of the series Fire Emblem. As much as I like to joke about the game, I really enjoyed my time with the game, and from time to time I actually come back and play it. If I could describe it, it's essentially a persona-fied fire emblem, and that's not a bad thing, I love both series. It's definitely a lot different for people used to classic Fire Emblem but I think it has enough going for it to be a great game.

Just want to say that this was the first Fire Emblem game I completed. I had previously started Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright but got extremely bored near the end and never finished it, so this review may be a littleeeee biased, but I'll try to be as objective as possible!

Now, let's talk about the story, which I will try to keep spoiler-less. I love the concept of 'Three Houses' and us, as the protagonist having the choice of what house to teach as a professor. The game interests me with it's deep lore and many organisations, like the Church of Seiros, and then we have the three nations of Adrestia, Faerghus, and The Leicester Alliance. I'm a sucker for world building so I just love all of the lore about the game and it really gets me to hyperfixate on it. Now, time to talk about the actual story. The starting chapters make sense, considering every unit you have besides the protagonist is a student that isn't accustomed to fighting and killing, so no marks off for me. For the most part, I actually enjoy most of White Clouds, with peak being Chapter 7 (imo). I will say one major flaw I have with the story in this game. I just feel like the game is terribly designed for a replay, especially for a game that emphasises 'Three Houses' and therefore multiple routes that you can do. At the time, I had no issue replaying White Clouds three times in the span of the month, I was in the Fire Emblem rabbit hole, but now that I think back to it, that's probably what has drained me from Fire Emblem for a little bit. Honestly, that's really one of the only faults I have with White Clouds, it's essentially a set-up for the second-half of the game. Depending on the house you chose, you get a specific route to play, and I've played the three main ones so I'll focus my review on those three. I feel like Crimson Flower is good, but the ending just isn't it for me. It feels like we have a lot more to do, but it just ends. However, Crimson Flower has my favourite map of the game in the final chapter, so it doesn't lose that much points from me. Azure Moon seems much more cohesive (in my personal opinion and from what I'm remembering, it's been almost 5 years give me a break). Azure Moon seems much more character-driven, and that's probably why I enjoy it more. Not to mention I think I just enjoy the characters in Azure Moon much more. Verdant Wind was my starting route and probably my favourite because of how epic it is. Though, I dislike how much it shares in common with Silver Snow, but I guess there were time restraints in development time? Overall, I enjoy the story, and although there might be a couple of loose threads, they aren't terrible by any means.

Now time to talk about the characters. I enjoyed them a lot, and the three house leaders do make a good first impression, but Claude will forever be my favourite character. I wish we got to interact a bit more with the characters from each house before making a decision. I love seeing the supports between different students as I just love seeing the different interactions and situations that each support goes through. I enjoy the faculty and how much some of them bicker with each other, I love it. Also, I can't forget mentioning the ultimate Gatekeeper, what a great character. I actually don't think there's a single character I hate in this game, I might be meh on some, but there's none I can really say I hate (unless they're antagonists but I believe that's the point of what an antagonist should be).

Gameplay! This game was my first true introduction to fire emblem, and I enjoyed the gameplay. I want to start by saying that I played this game on Normal because for some reason I just suck at Fire Emblem on hard mode. There's Combat Arts, Crests, Gambits, and Hero's Relics. Combat Arts are interesting because they have different properties and consume a different amount of durability on a weapon depending on the type of combat art you used. Some can even hit from multiple tiles away. Crests are innately built into some characters kits based on a lore reason that I won't delve too deep into. Essentially they provide the wielder with a specific effect that enhance their combat capabilities. Some of them are quite good when they actually activate. I enjoy them, but I don't go out of my way to get them to work. Gambits are new to Fire Emblem, and this comes with monster enemies having multiple HP bars that need to be depleted in order to defeat the enemy. Gambits can hit multiple squares and can stun these monster enemies, and some even have supporitve properites like increasing movement or healing. I love abusing Stride on certain maps to achieve the win condition in one turn. I'll be honest, I rarely used Hero's Relics because I hate having to go to the armory to repair them with specific material that I may not have. Although, they're good to have when I might be unable to kill an enemy unless I use a Hero's Relic. Also, I want to talk about the elephant in the room, which are the Certifications. I love how they made it so that every character can become any class (except gender specific ones), but that is kind of made obsolete thanks to the fact that certain classes are just superior to others, and some are just not worth the investment. It's also painful to get skills from specific classes because of the number of times you have to engage in battles with enemies. Despite what I've said, I enjoy the gameplay in this game.

MUSIC. My favourite part. The music slaps. Edge of Dawn is GOATed. The battle themes arer so intense that they just make me pumped. The Spirit Dais is just so mysterious and it fits the theme. And he monastery themes are honestly perfect to convey the start of a chapter compared to the end of a chapter when you embark on a mission. Overall, great music.

Okay, I think it's time to actually talk about the main elephant in the room, which is the Monastery. As a concept, it's great, an explorable main-hub where you can do multiple things, such as improving stats on your protagonist, raising your support level with other units, tea time, gifts, buying things from the marketplace, gardening, fishing, petting animals, battling at the training ground, cooking, eating meals with different units, doing choir, and talking to the many NPCs around the monastery. Those are all great additions and the little sidequests make you go all around the monastery, however, on replays, the monastery is kind of draining. And if you decide to slack off at the monastery, then you're kind of screwing yourself over because there are just so many benefits that come from the monastery. Honestly, I enjoy the monastery, but I know that it is one of the main complaints of the game.

And finally, let's talk about tutoring/seminars. I actually like being able to set a course for each unit in terms of what stats they should aim to improve. They get different combat arts, and some units have budding talents that give them a boost when they are fully ranked up. Honestly, I have zero complaints with this system, except when you get a terrible session and all of their motivation goes down, that sucks.

Overall, this is a great entry into fire emblem if you're coming from some more story-focused games, though there are other entries into the series that might be a little better. I highly highly highly recommend you play this game! It's great!

contrary to its presentation and initial gameplay, chaos legion is nothing like devil may cry

the exaggerated, emo, anime stylings are all there, as is the production of the music (which is fucking awesome) but what starts off as a mindless hack n slash quickly becomes a painfully unforgiving strategy game that's more about bringing the right tools to a fight rather than technical combat or flashy combos

equipping the wrong legions for a boss can be the difference between a 2 minute washout and a 10 minute chipfest, and unfortunately the tutorials do a pretty terrible job of telling you that - they're poorly translated, brief, and barely even helpful in the first place. the actual manual doesn't fare much better, so i strongly recommend checking a player-made beginners guide on gamefaqs unless you get off on trial and error - cause you're gonna be doing a lot of it

highly recommended despite the steep learning curve!

Honestly, I understand why people say Crossbell is peak because this duology probably has the best two games overall in the series.

I just love everything about Crossbell. I initially played this game wih the horrid translation, but still enjoyed my time with it. It wasn't until last year where I actually got to play it with a real translation in my Trails marathon, and my opinions on it definitely changed for the better.

Honestly, I think I prefer Crossbell as a setting much more to Liberl, not to say that Liberl is bad per se. Crossbell is just that good. I just love talking to each NPC in each Crossbell District after every story interaction and seeing how their dialogue changes. I also love walking along the highways (or taking the bus) and visiting the more remote locations of Crossbell like Mainz and Armorica. Crossbell is just the perfect setting for this game, especially when they explore the dark sides of Crossbell, like the Mafia. I just found it interesting how after Liberl, we were sent not to Erebonia, but to Crossbell of all places. A highly contested autonomous state between two major superpowers in Erebonia and Calvard. Crossbell is definitely my favourite country worldbuilding wise because of how much it has to even further paint the world of Zemuria. If you couldn't tell already I think Trails is the only game series ever to actually get me interested in its political structure and world.

Now let's actually start this review. From a story standpoint alone, I think this is the best game that the series has to offer (so far). I say that because, yeah, the game does start extremely slow, but I think that's valid because the Special Support Section are a new section of the Crossbell Police Department, and haven't earned the trust of locals, like the Bracer Guild has. The group has only been functioning for a little while and they're already trying to deal with Mafioso's and threat letters to celebrities. The Arc en Ciel part of Chapter 2 got me hooked into the story, exposing Mayor MacDowell's secretary and apprehending him. Chapter 3 was probably the most hype I've ever been. You got the anniversary festival with high highs with Estelle, Joshua, Wald, Wazy, and Randy. You also got the auction where you get more interested in Wazy, Mariebelle, and Lechter as characters. This chapter introduces you to KeA, who's just the ray of sunshine that the SSS needed to feel complete. The boss for Chapter 3 after stealing one of their prized posessions from the auction is probably the highlight for me. It's just so badass. I love the little intermission that gives us a little glimpse into the life of the SSS with KeA being added to their numbers. Also, storming a mafia base is just badass, and mkaes me love Chapter 4 as well.

I think the finale deserves it's own little section. Everything just hits the roof. The army and mafia have been drugged with Gnosis, and we find out one of the doctors at the hospital is the leader of a cult. The raid on the SSS and the IBC was great, but I hate how side characters like Grace and Cao were just commenting on us fighting hordes of enemies, like bro, help us? Anyways, I love the badass driving scene with Sergei and Noel, and we get to use Joshua and Estelle in the final dungeon. The final dungeon was creepy, stupid D:G cult. Honestly, the final dungeon felt rather underwhelming till the Garcia boss, and then the final boss, Joachim. Dude just downed a bunch of pills and became a demon. If not for Renne, it would of been curtains for everyone. The final boss dies, and the Brights finally adopt Renne which made me shed a tear not going to lie, it's been a three game journey for them. Overall, a very epic story, and personally one of my favourites.

Character wise, there's a bunch that stick out to me: Randy, Tio, Wazy, Fran, Jona, etc. Randy is interesting because on the surface he's all silly, but he's actually very serious. I just love and adore Tio and Fran. Jona just makes me laugh with his silly shenanigans, and Wazy is probably my favourite because he's just so mysterious and intrigues me and makes me want to know more. I actually thought Lloyd improved over time, and is a great protagonist. I know people don't really like Lloyd, but I just like how he's supportive of the entire group, and you can really tell that he cares for the entirety of the SSS, even in the little time that they spent together. Elie, I'm a bit iffy on, because I don't know what exactly she brings to the story, but maybe that's just me. Overall, this game has really good characters.

Battling, there's not much that's different from Sky, besides new Arts. At least they kept the orbment system, which I adore. I also enjoyed the addition of Evasion. Evasion Builds are just so fun in any game. Yeah, not much to say with battling, it is mostly the same.

The music. slaps. so. hard. The crossbell main theme, the highway themes, the Mainz theme, the Revache theme, the Stargazer Tower theme, the Ancient Battlefield theme, it's all just such a bop. I actually think I might prefer the Zero battle theme to Sophisticated Fight from Sky, idk it just hits differently. But yeah, the music slaps.

Some extremely minor gripes. I hate how the translators treat Lloyd like a playboy and oblivious, idk it just grates me for some reason. Also, I do not understand Wald as a character at all, he actually might be my least favourite in the series so far. That's about it for the gripes.

Overall, the game is extremely enjoyable, and I would honestly love to redo it all and experience it all again. It was that enjoyable.