Just completed it! Shinada, just felt slow as a character, feel like I was getting chunked down by bosses easily. Nonetheless, amazing
Interesting atmosphere but I didn't satisfying.
As always, the musou spin-offs are always great. The only thing this lacks is an endgame.
The cabaret girls being real like girls caught me off guard D::::::::::, siblings walked about to question on what was I even playing... that aside, amazing game man but be careful not to play this with your parents around :P
Dropped the game around halfway through. It's very fun when everything is running smoothly but there's a lot of speed bumps: the combat is bad, a lot of moves are more unreliable than they should be, signposting is awful to the point that despite there being a mechanic to show you were to go and a "point me in the right direction" button progression was still slow and unfun, and generally not much hooking me in. It's not a bad game, I miiiight come back to it but there wasn't really that much interesting me.
Really cute and fun. A lovely game to cruise through in an afternoon.
Incredibly fast pacing with a very interesting story. Really enjoyed it.
This review contains spoilers
This review contains ending spoilers
I thought this game was solid. Maybe an 8 or 9 out of 10. Fresh off completion, I can say I enjoyed this entry the most out of three spider man insomniac games thus far. Traversal was improved upon, better fluidity with the combat, cooler powers, better MJ sections and much more enjoyable side content were welcomed changes. I like the way insomniac handles their game design. Missions never felt super long and it was very easy to causally "pick up and play" whenever you felt like it. There was never a need to remind yourself what happened in previous missions or break up the pacing because the mission was too long to stop.
I thought this game was solid. Maybe an 8 or 9 out of 10. Fresh off completion, I can say I enjoyed this entry the most out of three spider man insomniac games thus far. Traversal was improved upon, better fluidity with the combat, cooler powers, better MJ sections and much more enjoyable side content were welcomed changes. I like the way insomniac handles their game design. Missions never felt super long and it was very easy to causally "pick up and play" whenever you felt like it. There was never a need to remind yourself what happened in previous missions or break up the pacing because the mission was too long to stop.
Side Note: Kraven's theme is so badass
My only gripe would be the beginning of the last act. When New York transforms due to an alien invasion, the missions leading up to the ending were quite a chore to play through. However, the final mission made up for it. Pretty cool boss fight.
i really liked this game, but it is a great example of how a lack of dificulty can affect an game.
Have gotten around into finishing the game D:
I am a fan of the Trial series but this one is just the worst one of the series so far (haven't replayed Trials Rising, yet).
To get the only good thing out of the way, the gameplay is still great and feels crisp and responsive as ever and that is what I really like but the game is riddled with so many issues around its core gameplay.
For me the atmoshpere of the previous games was just better with its janky charme and every level having its own little theme. Here everything is just too clean and too similar and bland with its futuristic setting.
The UI is just absolutely horrible everything is so cluttered and takes ages to load, even with a PCIe SSD.
Playing offline is also a huge annoyance, when my Ubisoft Connect actually wouldn't... connect, the game would remind me EVERY single race that I was not connected to the internet and that my time would not be uploaded.
The addition of the FMX mechanic also completely fell flat for me as the controls are just super imprecise and half of the time you will not achieve the trick that you wanted to. For me this also distracts from the main aspect of the game, which is the time trials.
But the most egregious problem I have with this game is its content. If you own the base game, you will only own half of the actual game! And I'm not being hyperbolic here, the base game only provides you with half of the available championships. Everything else is DLC and can be bought afterwards for 30€ or in other words 150% of the cost of the base game. (Alternatively you can buy the 40€ version).
All in all Trials Fusion still has the responsive and crisp gameplay as its predecessors but everything around it just got worse. If I had to recommend a game, please just buy Trials Evolution - Gold Edition where you will get 2 games for the same price instead of half of a game here.
A really fun indie game that is completely outclassed by what would come after it. But still really fun and cute with a fairly good story
I feel like the game leaned more horror this time and, despite the immaculate small-town, 'x-files/twin peaks' type vibes, it did end up grating a bit. I'm not a horror fan, though. The tension and my lack of facility with the combat meant I ended up playing most of the game on story mode. By trivializing the combat, I could reduce my tension and get my fun from exploring for collectibles and progressing the story.
I was a little worn out by the end so I don't think it hit as hard for me as it might have otherwise. Overall, with the additional characters, smooth gameplay and graphics, it was a fantastic experience and an improvement over the first game. I look forward to playing Control.
I was a little worn out by the end so I don't think it hit as hard for me as it might have otherwise. Overall, with the additional characters, smooth gameplay and graphics, it was a fantastic experience and an improvement over the first game. I look forward to playing Control.
Really fun game, and really hard for me. Playing this on heroic was probably a mistake since it's my first ever FPS, but I had a lot of fun the whole time. There's a couple things that haven't aged well (the checkpoint system is so bad), the story is hilariously cheesy and impossible to take seriously, but I don't really care too much. Great game overall, and it's easy to see how it became so influential in the genre.
Kirby in 3D!!! So much fun playing this and everything has so much charm!
I really enojyed this game. For personal reasons, this was one of the games that helped me during a really really tough time in my life. I will always remember it fondly.
Incoherent rambling I wrote when playing Baldur's Gate 2. Too much writing to just delete it but the thesis falls apart when you consider that games like Underrail and Colony Ship are still coming out.
Old RPGs Are (Almost) Dead
I do not believe in the idea of video games aging. I do, however, believe that the way we play them does. You cannot replicate the idea that permeated a school playground or an online forum of, for example, what it means to be an RPG. The story they are describing is set inside a game with pixelated graphics that communicate the bare minimum. One may look at a dragon there and a dragon in Elden Ring and just be baffled at how one can match the other. But that potential was there. People found it and extracted it and had the feeling of an epic adventure. It still is there. But it becomes increasingly more difficult to access them, to feel them. They are dying, and some are already dead.
In Baldur's Gate 2, there's a quest that has you investigate a cult where people rip their eyes out to have a chance of an awakening. To go undercover, you have to find a piece of a wand from a place deeper underground. In there, you find a temple, dedicated to a different deity than the one you are investigating. Its followers have forgotten the name of their god and as such his strength wavers and his avatar cannot defeat the evil that is overtaking him and his temple, the purpose of which was guarding the wand piece from evil.
The lesson here is you cannot make anyone remember a thing forever, even if you were to give them eternal life. The human experience is that of many experiences, and we forget. The pain more often than not makes us forget, the pain of aging or just the human condition replacing old positive memories with not just negative ones. They replace them with nothing. There are just gaps in memory. I cannot make anyone cherish these games, and the games cannot hold up themselves, even if I put out this piece of writing and let it sit forever. The followers of the forgotten deity, by the time the player meets them, hate their god. Not passionately, but dejectedly, thinking they will never be allowed to pass on. Even if you dedicate your life to something, that dedication can ruin it for you.
I gained an appreciation of titles like these thanks to the YouTuber Warlockracy, who does "narrative let's plays" through which he paints the picture of how to find enjoyment in them. I now love Morrowind because I listened to him talk about how it is largely its own medium where a player can tell their own stories, and then proceeds to do just that. My next attempt at Morrowind succeeded because I decided to leave anything I tried before and figured I would like to have this character I am creating to try and gain money fast by working as a guard. I figured a government job would pay well and provide good equipment and I was not disappointed. I am still figuring out how to approach classic Fallout in the way he talks about it, but I keep giving it a try now and then. One day it might click.
He also has a video on Baldur's Gate, but his playstyle is not at all like mine. As such I thought I could try doing something similar to his style of content, but for a more standard playthrough, to maybe help one or two people enjoy these games more. I wrote down tips such as "make as efficient of a party as possible to get through regular fights much easier" and "save up wands for the hardest encounters." But these do not work, do they? They don't make you want to play these games and they don't help you experience them like I did. They may unlock that potential but they don't lead you down that road.
Instead, I think the only way, at my current writing skill level, is to speak of the adventures I had. You might stop playing 10 minutes in. I did, about 20 times in fact, before actually moving on past chapter four. In most of them, I didn't even complete the prologue. You may try co-op only to find out how difficult it is to coordinate on something this hard to grasp for 70 hours. I did. Twice. If at any point you read these descriptions, however, and think "How does one experience these through this jumbled mess of a UI and tiny pixelated character models," all I can say is: play it to find out.
My journey started in Candlekeep, where I was raised to combat spellcasters. My father, Gorion, was one himself and knew how dangerous magic can be. His fascination with magic items always made him feel a bit distant, and the way he spoke made me want to avoid all forms of such power.
Many years later, Gorion told me suddenly that he had planned a trip for both of us. It was something he had been planning for a little bit now, clearly knowing something was afoot. The attempts on my life inside the walls which occurred on the day we were to leave only confirmed his suspicions, and even though he had not told me what was in store for us I trusted him. Outside the city gates, we were ambushed, and Father told me to run. Though he has slain multiple of the assailants, the big one with a horned helmet eventually crushed him.
Here is where my tale begins to grow to epic proportions. Imoen, who grew up with me in the keep, caught up to me, my one new companion, but the empty fields before me seemed to be endless. I could travel in any direction, but I was struck with choice paralysis. Gorion gave me directions to a nearby fortress where friends would await us, and I could not think about any other path. I was scared and wanted directions. Thankfully upon reaching the inn at said location, I found some.
But the mines that I liberated with my new companions soon after were merely the beginning. The tough fight at the very end helped me realize the power that magic can hold, and how communicating with my teammates and friendly spellcasters can turn the tide of battle. What Gorion could achieve was impressive, but he was just one man. Together, maybe this could work. I traveled the land far and wide in search of magical artifacts to strengthen me and my allies before we chased my father’s murderer further.
One of these locations was a forest infested with spiders. It was filled with spider-web traps that would prevent all of my teammates from moving, all the while fast spiders with knife-like legs would slice us up. Each fight cost us time, as we had to rest before we proceeded any further, and were awoken many times by ambushes. It was weeks of sleeping in that one forest, unsure of what would come next. Above it all loomed a big dome made of spider webs. It was a nest of evil. I felt the need to destroy what was inside.
But I could not have expected a human form to control these spiders. It was sprawling, distorted, but still visibly human. She was cursed, as she says. But that is all I learned before she would attack me alongside her army of spiders charged at me. Knowing I could not take them all in their den, I ran outside, baiting them out in groups and using healing spells and potions before going back in. One of our companions, a wild mage, unleashed fierce fireballs that decimated them as we went back inside but hurt some of us as well. Eventually, we were victorious. Barely standing, we had another rest in front of the structure. Thankfully, this one was uninterrupted.
For my troubles, I obtained Spider’s Bane, a two-handed sword that would prove to be my most reliable weapon for the rest of my time chasing my father’s killer. It was enchanted, but I decided to wield it regardless. I realized my conviction against magic died with Gorion. My training made my body unable to use some trinkets, but if this sword would allow me to avenge him, so be it. I set out for the town of Baldur’s Gate.
There I eventually confronted the villain. To find him I had to be chased around like a criminal, I had to learn of Gorion’s secrets, and my whole worldview was reshaped as I learned of who I was in the grand puppet play of the gods. But I persevered. Though the final battle was chaotic, with summoned allies and my companions falling in battle, I dealt the last blow with a weapon that symbolized my conviction. It turned out the abandonment of the past, back when I first picked it up, was merely a prelude to how much I would have to leave behind.
But (sorry for a terrible transition) I do not want to abandon Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2. I am in the process of playing through the second game for the first time, and though I felt sad enough about the possibility of these experiences fading away to write this piece, I am incredibly excited that the series got the enhanced editions by Beamdog and that the third installment somehow reached the same heights critically as its predecessors did. But it will undoubtedly overshadow them even harder, just like Witcher 3 did to the two games that came before it.
I simply hope that the sort of experiences that are becoming less and less popular are still able to reach some people. They might never be as popular as they used to be, but these are undoubtedly experiences some people still search for. Games like The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2, Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura, Fallout 1 and 2 all provide storytelling possibilities that are hard to find even in current year’s incredibly impressive lineup of titles. Only these games provided me with them, so seeing them phased out into the indie sphere at best, and even then rarely, is something I am having a hard time with.
I love FE but I absolutely hated this game. The monastery parts were frustrating as heck and the gameplay is not up to my tastes.
I have been putting off finishing the other routes.
I have been putting off finishing the other routes.
It is a good game and deserves all the praises it got. It is a bit overrated imo. Ico achieved something similar one generation prior
Really great DKC clone. Simple yet fun and challenging in the right amount.
Getting hit by a blue shell in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is like being punched in the shoulder. You can recover quickly and get right back into the fight. Getting hit by a blue shell in Wii is like being shot in the chest. It feels like you're in a warzone, things are flying everywhere, and you cannot come back. You cannot recover. You will die on this rainbow road, and you will never see the light of 1st place again. Fun with friends! You probably won't have any after playing though.
100% this game just to spite it. It truly feels like a remake of a Gameboy game. Playing this off the heels of Zero Mission, it feels like such a step back. Glad it sold well enough to allow for the creation of Metroid: Dread.
My first DS experience and I had a blast with it.
This review contains spoilers
Every series has that one entry that just doesn't click with you as much as others do. Usually it's the first game in the series since they're trying something new and need to set the foundation for what's to come, but in the case of the Ace Attorney series, they started very strongly and consistently delivered with all of my scores being 4.5/5 (and Trials and Tribulations even reaching that perfect 5/5). However, this is where the series starts to tumble. Everything in this game feels like "one step forward, two steps back" and the culmination of everything leads to me say "yeah, this game is the exact definition of mediocre." Even saying that feels generous, but I debated between a 2/5 and a 2.5/5 and figured the latter was more fitting as I think I'd take this game over some of the others in the same tier. To quickly sum up my issues with this game before I go deep into it, this game has so many good ideas, but for some reason the game feels the need to preach about said ideas and themes throughout all of the cases, and it leads to such a souring experience because they have to slap my left cheek with "the dark age of the law" and my right cheek with "the ends justifies the means" for instance. I'll go deeper into each case and my issues with them:
Turnabout Countdown: This case suffers from trying to be a generic introduction case after the previous two games had great ideas for introduction cases in the form of a flashback for Trials and Tribulations and a first case with a new character that serves as a prologue for what's to come in the last case. Here, while this case takes place during the fourth case, there's nothing clever about this and the mystery is so barebones and basic and seeing Phoenix back to his Trilogy self after the development of the last game feels like whiplash. They even go as far as to reuse ideas from other first cases, such as the good ol' "victim wrote the killer's name in blood" which, by the way, felt like such a stretch this time around. Simpler fix, let this case be the first case chronologically and make this Athena's first case. Sure the chronological order thing would have some more issues that need fixing, but as Athena's first case, this is even more barebones than The Monstrous Turnabout, so why not let the new character get some spotlight? Phoenix really didn't need to have this one and it hurts his character if anything since we see this first without a proper transition between the events of Turnabout Succession in the previous game to where he is now.
The Monstrous Turnabout: Easily my least favourite case in the series. The first half starts promising and has a really good first trial day, but as soon as the second half hits the quality drops by so much it puts Big Top to shame (I don't hate Big Top anymore but it's still on the lower end compared to other cases in the series). The worst part is, for some god forsaken reason they decided to ONCE AGAIN show WHO THE CULPRIT IS IN THE OPENING CUTSCENE (just like The First Turnabout and Turnabout Sisters). I already didn't really like that trope, but it gets a pass for being a part of the first game, but on the fifth? Considering the lack of relevant NPC's in this case, there's no way you don't guess who it is early anyway. The villain himself is kind of funny, but also really annoying, and I would know, I voice acted him when I was playing with my friend. The one good thing I can say is it introduced Bobby Fulbright, but that's where my compliments end as the investigations are a drag and the trial becomes so boring because the villain is so hard to take down for literally no reason.
Turnabout Academy: For the first time ever, the third case is actually the best one? Seriously, the issues I have here are quite minimal actually. Really good setting, great characters, and establishes a foil to Athena really well early on the give the player motivation to absolutely destroy your opponent in court. Only problem is, this case goes on and on about the theme of "the ends justify the means" to the point where it'll be in every third line and even Athena says "I'm sick and tired of hearing that stupid phrase" or something along those lines. If Athena's sick and tired of hearing it, didn't the developers think that the players would be too? I genuinely think this could've been the best non-final case had it been more subtle with its themes and maybe even had a different villain. Having a character with an opposing ideology to the main character AND the victim isn't exact subtle, however I'll give the game credit because if I didn't already know who the culprit beforehand, I would have actually thought it was one of the three main characters of the case.
The Cosmic Turnabout: This case is better than Countdown and Monstrous, but doesn't come close to Academy for me. It just feels like a really standard case, and I get that it's supposed to be a "Part One" to Turnabout for Tomorrow, but that in itself is a problem. Let's go back to Turnabout Beginnings and Bridge to the Turnabout. The former is a flashback case that Phoenix reads upon during the first day of Bridge to the Turnabout. We see the villain of Turnabout Memories return and get the second of the two cases Mia had against them. Using the information Phoenix learns, then he's ready to solve the current mystery set up now. The setting, while the same location, changes drastically with the area going from an empty area to somewhere that people live at and train in that are related to the Fey Clan. Here though, we get the same exact setting in both cases, to which this one is sort of underwhelming compared to other settings we've seen in the past, and "Part Two" immediately follows "Part One" with no room to breathe. The ironic thing is, due to the amount of trial and investigation days in both, it could've just been one long case. Granted, me and my friend would've been on it forever since we were voice acting and I went on a lot of tangents because of how much this game disappoints me, but I digress. I also just don't find the NPC's to be that interesting, with the show stealer not even being cross-examinable (technically?). The entire first case has two halves of the trial and the second half only has one person you cross examine who, once again, is so hard to take down for literally no reason as his attempts to lie his way out of it make zero sense whatsoever. It's not a terrible case, but just underwhelming.
Turnabout for Tomorrow: This one actually hurts. Not only is this the one final case I wouldn't put in S-tier, but I was excited to play this game and get to this case only for it to be kind of good at best. This is just such an underwhelming finale and things just happen for no reason. The main issue stems from the main villain, which is also the worst main villain in the series so far. The other villains leave such an impact, whether it's von Karma for raising the stakes and being the most ruthless prosecutor so far, Matt Engarde for his genius scheme and getting the characters and the player to really think about what a lawyer really is supposed to do, Dahlia for being the catalyst for many events in the series, and Kristoph for being the catalyst for the Dark Age of the Law (which I'll get back to that topic later). This last villain is so ridiculously boring because due to the concept being a spy that feels no emotion and doesn't know his true identity, there's not much to really connect to. Yes, Bobby Fulbright was great and one of my favourite characters in the game, but the Phantom has nothing to him and all he does is wear the face of a character I like. I get that Bobby Fulbright was dead since before the events of the game and this was just a disguise, but as a result they feel like (and are) two different characters to which I care for one and don't for the other. Worst part is, he is, yet again, way too hard to take down for no apparent reason. He makes a remark about "the dark age of the law" and how "people don't trust the court" a few minutes after Athena pulls up the Mood Matrix and finds out he has no emotion and the Phantom PULLING OUT WEAPONS AND GADGETS MID TRIAL. You can't honestly expect me to believe that ANYONE in the gallery would believe he's not the Phantom or that they would side with him. Taking down the Phantom was so needlessly long that by the end I let out a long sigh and said "finally I'm free" to my friend near 1 AM. Almost forgot, but in this case they say "seven years ago" so many times, which is completely ruined by the fact that the previous final case literally did the whole "seven years ago" thing but better because they didn't shove it down my throat and let the players see what happened themselves rather than investigating a few areas. I get that the in-universe rule is that after seven years a case is closed, but they won't shut up about that or the Dark Age of the Law to the point where it gets exhausting.
I'll give credit to this game where it's due. Athena and Blackquill are great characters, hell I like the former more than Phoenix and Apollo in this game. I honestly think this game would've benefitted more if Athena was the protagonist rather than Phoenix, especially since it would've given time to let Phoenix develop while still giving enough attention to Athena and Apollo. The music is also pretty good at times, but even then there's still some songs that really don't fit the mood, such as the song that plays during the plot twist at the end of The Cosmic Turnabout or the Phantom's theme to which both sound ridiculous especially for what they're supposed to be used for. That's about all the general stuff I can say that's good. I still have a lot of issues with this game outside of case specific things, such as the characterization of Phoenix and especially Apollo. I wish Phoenix was a mix of his Trilogy and Apollo Justice self instead of just reverting to the former. It's odd because it this game just completely throws away all of the character development Phoenix had in the previous game, which sucks because, if I'm being honest, Apollo Justice's version of Phoenix was probably my favourite of them all. Meanwhile, Apollo is so needlessly edgy and annoying in this game, especially in Turnabout for Tomorrow. He gets attacked in Turnabout Countdown and suddenly he's donning a coat, an eyepatch, and has bandages on his arm. See, I get the coat part because of the context, but the other two make zero sense as he doesn't even get injured in the areas that are covered up. Also my friend brought this up but instead of ditching the coat completely, he should've just put it on instead of just hanging it on his back or whatever. This is literally the one case where it would've made sense for an outfit change so if you're going to make Apollo edgy for a bit why not just go the full way and give him a special design for the last part of the trial? That's not a big complaint for me just a minor nitpick. Finally, the Dark Age of the Law plotline makes absolutely no sense. They claim that two major incidents alone sparked it and by resolving those two incidents, they can fix the system and remove the Dark Age of the Law. The problem is, you can't expect me to believe that fixing the two incidents will get the people's trust in the court system back. Yes both incidents are because of a larger culprit, but that doesn't mean the general public can be swayed so quickly. Think about it, when a YouTube gets falsely accused for a crime, they'll lose credibility even if they make a seven hour video debunking those allegations. With how society is, something like a court system can't be fixed by Phoenix and Blackquill shaking hands and believing in the power of friendship. Apollo Justice used this theme better because they only mentioned the Dark Age of the Law once or twice and showed us how crimes and the legal system have developed, such as Turnabout Succession and even Turnabout Serenade. The only case to really show us about the Dark Age of the Law in full swing is Turnabout Academy, and even then those themes don't feel as strong as they did in Apollo Justice because they scream "Dark Age of the Law" and "the ends justify the means" into my ear every two seconds. If you've made it this far, I thank you for your time. I come off as cynical towards this game because I've always wanted to play it, it was the game that made me start playing Ace Attorney and it ended up being so much lower than my expectations. I still need to complete the DLC case, but that's separate enough and I wanted to talk about that there so I can let out my thoughts now. Anyway, I don't want to nitpick for hours because this review is already getting really long and it's definitely my longest review so far, so now that I've got my main points across, I'll end with a general statement like I always do. Overall, I think this game is a massive step down from the standard Ace Attorney experience due to it's poor writing and execution of ideas that could have been really good, but fall flat due to how it's presented, so I will only hope that the DLC case and Spirit of Justice can bring back that Ace Attorney experience I still love today.
A mediocre port of a Ps1 classic
Not my favorite out of the franchise but its a great game nonetheless! Do try it for yourself!
This was fun but not as fun as the 2nd one. Viola is terrible to play as, tho.
Still need to go back and try to get eveything.
Still need to go back and try to get eveything.
A super complicated racer that I enjoy a lot. It was absolutely a blast after playing the tutorial and watching a video that told me how to play. If you enjoy fast-paced racing games with a lot of intricacies, you should definitely pick this up!
I've been wanting to play it for almost ten years now and it was worth the wait tbh asura my goat
peak fights peak qtes peak cut-scenes and the dlc probably had one of the best fights of all time
peak fights peak qtes peak cut-scenes and the dlc probably had one of the best fights of all time
An incredible game that, as I played, my opinion of which changed drastically several times. When I first began playing, I totally got the acclaim this game has received over time. The atmosphere is just... magical. Almost unparalleled in video games. The environments are gorgeously realized, especially thanks to the amazing remaster job, the music is eerie and makes heavy use of synthesized instruments that sounds incredibly alien. And of course, the log entries that reveal information about the world of Tallon IV. It's fantastic worldbuilding all around.
Then I got to the Phazon Mines, and my enjoyment dropped somewhat. The Phazon Mines are by no means bad, or even difficult, but they are stressful. The enemies hit hard and are super durable, especially the Fission Metroids (apparently in the original version they didn't show up here -- I don't know why they would have changed that). The Phazon Mines doesn't pull punches, you need to get good. You can't cruise on by with the combat. And that was annoying at first, but as I got a better grasp on things I didn't mind them as much, but I still think it's the worst area in the game, especially to backtrack through.
Then I hit the Chozo Artifacts quest, and I ended up taking a several month long break from this game. I had just gotten through the Mines and was ready to face the end of the game, and to be hit by the crushing realization I had to backtrack through all these areas was just too much. When I finally came back to the game, determined to beat it and refreshed, I found it much less annoying than I feared. I even went through and 100% completed the items, despite the backtracking being a little tedious.
After going through the whole game, finishing it, I can confidently say this is an excellent game. Is the acclaim it's received completely warranted? I don't know, I've got some issues that I've already been over. It's still absolutely worth playing. I think my experience speaks as to why it's so important to finish games before judging them, and not giving up. You never know what might come of a full experience. My issues with the game lessened the more I played, and a fantastic final two bosses helped place this game among some of the best gaming experiences of my life. I hope I continue to take this approach to future games I play, and maybe you'll be more inclined to do so as well in the future :)