AJRXC2
Not gonna lie, this game was fairly underwhelming at launch.
Aside the incredible character roster, most new additions were basic bitch obvious picks from the 90s, with nothing that would really adhere to 2000s kids like myself, most of the newcomers being in somewhat dormant states with no new games in sight. The new stages were limited, tonnes of classic side modes were missing, spirits had a lot to experiment with but took too much time to set up to warrent bothering with it, and the singleplayer story mode, while FINE, still has NOTHING on subspace. Echo fighters came of as a lazy excuse for copy fighters, Richter, Daisy and Dark Samus not really having ANYTHING unique to warrent their slots. It didn't really have much value beyond being the newest, easiest to access smash bros game, and as a huge Xenoblade fan I did NOT appreciate Xenoblade 2 getting the 3DS iCE climbers treatment while a fucking POTTED PLANT slipped on by.
THAT ALL BEING SAID, post DLC and updates, this game is ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC.
An extremely in depth stage creation and sharing feature that let the communitys creativity flourish, constant new spitits and content to keep you logging in frequently, and the ROSTER holy SHIT the roster.
PERFECT blend of representation of characters old, new, and unexpected. AMAZING music and stage inclusions. Every character providing something NEW to gameplay so even the BIGGEST haters would be able to find some level of fun with the characters. So much content and variety leaving every match fulfilling and rewarding.
Only remaining complaints are the lack of target test, as well as Dante and Travis Touchdown getting the Mii axe, granted at the very least Suda was happy about it.
Aside the incredible character roster, most new additions were basic bitch obvious picks from the 90s, with nothing that would really adhere to 2000s kids like myself, most of the newcomers being in somewhat dormant states with no new games in sight. The new stages were limited, tonnes of classic side modes were missing, spirits had a lot to experiment with but took too much time to set up to warrent bothering with it, and the singleplayer story mode, while FINE, still has NOTHING on subspace. Echo fighters came of as a lazy excuse for copy fighters, Richter, Daisy and Dark Samus not really having ANYTHING unique to warrent their slots. It didn't really have much value beyond being the newest, easiest to access smash bros game, and as a huge Xenoblade fan I did NOT appreciate Xenoblade 2 getting the 3DS iCE climbers treatment while a fucking POTTED PLANT slipped on by.
THAT ALL BEING SAID, post DLC and updates, this game is ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC.
An extremely in depth stage creation and sharing feature that let the communitys creativity flourish, constant new spitits and content to keep you logging in frequently, and the ROSTER holy SHIT the roster.
PERFECT blend of representation of characters old, new, and unexpected. AMAZING music and stage inclusions. Every character providing something NEW to gameplay so even the BIGGEST haters would be able to find some level of fun with the characters. So much content and variety leaving every match fulfilling and rewarding.
Only remaining complaints are the lack of target test, as well as Dante and Travis Touchdown getting the Mii axe, granted at the very least Suda was happy about it.
Somewhat mixed feelings but mostly positive. Art design and music is on point, a series staple, and gameplay has seen a significant improvement.
Pacing in general is greatly improved, time inbetween trials is significantly greater though this actually works in the games favor since you get to know the characters better, with trial length also being lengthened to balance things, though the increased length does hinder some of the trials.
Characters easily have the best designs in the series, though personality wise its a bit of a mixed bag. Actual trial quality is also very mixed, trial 1 being the weakest opening trial of the 3 games, and trials 2 and 3 easily being the worst in the series, 3 having one of the only logic errors, and 2 just being confusing and drawn out. Leaves the opening feeling rather weak, outside of its setup, strong character introductions, and interesting setting.
Overall a solid game, arguably serves as a better starting point than the first, though I'd still recommend playing in order to experience the plot twists and narrative subversion.
Pacing in general is greatly improved, time inbetween trials is significantly greater though this actually works in the games favor since you get to know the characters better, with trial length also being lengthened to balance things, though the increased length does hinder some of the trials.
Characters easily have the best designs in the series, though personality wise its a bit of a mixed bag. Actual trial quality is also very mixed, trial 1 being the weakest opening trial of the 3 games, and trials 2 and 3 easily being the worst in the series, 3 having one of the only logic errors, and 2 just being confusing and drawn out. Leaves the opening feeling rather weak, outside of its setup, strong character introductions, and interesting setting.
Overall a solid game, arguably serves as a better starting point than the first, though I'd still recommend playing in order to experience the plot twists and narrative subversion.
2018
What its lacking in minigame strength and combat it easily makes up for with its fantastic story and the most unique environment in the series by far.
Upgrade system and gameplay is on the more limited side this time around, but being the oldest game in the series still not remade (in English, Kenzan when) it is somewhat excused, just a little. Minigames are very basic, nothing too standout, and the same goes for substories, though the terrible time limit system from the original 2 games is here and it still sucks and makes going for all of them way more annoying than it needs to be.
Okinawa provides a setting that is STILL refreshing to this day and hasn't really tried to be replicated, the soundtrack also standing out as one of the best.
Upgrade system and gameplay is on the more limited side this time around, but being the oldest game in the series still not remade (in English, Kenzan when) it is somewhat excused, just a little. Minigames are very basic, nothing too standout, and the same goes for substories, though the terrible time limit system from the original 2 games is here and it still sucks and makes going for all of them way more annoying than it needs to be.
Okinawa provides a setting that is STILL refreshing to this day and hasn't really tried to be replicated, the soundtrack also standing out as one of the best.
2007
Best Mario Party by FAR
Minigames play into the consoles gimmicks fantasticly, tonnes of side content to keep you busy, item system is creative and stands out, easily accessible for newcomers. Character design is on point and graphics are pretty good too by Wii standards.
But by FAR its greatest strength is in its map variety, every single board gaving its own unique gimmick to stand out and provide a fresh experience, covering a wide variety of tastes to keep players entertained. Additionally it makes story mode feel refreshing as its not just performing the same task on different stages, things are mixed up to provide much greater interest and replayability.
Minigames play into the consoles gimmicks fantasticly, tonnes of side content to keep you busy, item system is creative and stands out, easily accessible for newcomers. Character design is on point and graphics are pretty good too by Wii standards.
But by FAR its greatest strength is in its map variety, every single board gaving its own unique gimmick to stand out and provide a fresh experience, covering a wide variety of tastes to keep players entertained. Additionally it makes story mode feel refreshing as its not just performing the same task on different stages, things are mixed up to provide much greater interest and replayability.
Fine enough game, though its sequels make its flaws more evident. The gameplay lacks a lot of depth and there aren't really any trials I'd consider exceptional, comes off more like a content gate you have to sift through to get to the much better games.
Nagito isn't that interesting of a protagonist, and the characters stand out much more for their designs and traits rather than their personalities, which is mostly due to the game having very littke breathing room between trials, so you never learn all that much about them.
Artstyle and music are both fantastic, but limited gameplay holds it back quite a lot. Personally wouldn't recommend skipping, but also wouldn't blame you if you lost interest and just watched a lets play or summary instead.
Nagito isn't that interesting of a protagonist, and the characters stand out much more for their designs and traits rather than their personalities, which is mostly due to the game having very littke breathing room between trials, so you never learn all that much about them.
Artstyle and music are both fantastic, but limited gameplay holds it back quite a lot. Personally wouldn't recommend skipping, but also wouldn't blame you if you lost interest and just watched a lets play or summary instead.
Pretty basic 2D platformer, my introduction to the genre in fact. Scenario and level design is fairly bland but my experience with this game was never as a simple singleplayer adventure. The true way to experience this game is as a competetive multiplayer fuckfest with 1-3 buddies, bringing out the best and worse in everyone as the levels slowly stain with tears and blood.
Levels feel fairly empty though I believe thats mostly due to multiplayer functionality, as the camera would've had to be zoomed out to account for it, making levels seem way too big, though in multiplayer it isn't really a problem.
Originality is an issue, even without considering what followed, but that doesn't hold back the fact that the journey from start to finish is still a great time, ESPECIALLY, I MUST STRETCH, with friends. Holds some of my fondest memories as its one of, if not the only, game I ever played through the story of with my brother.
Bah Bah.
Levels feel fairly empty though I believe thats mostly due to multiplayer functionality, as the camera would've had to be zoomed out to account for it, making levels seem way too big, though in multiplayer it isn't really a problem.
Originality is an issue, even without considering what followed, but that doesn't hold back the fact that the journey from start to finish is still a great time, ESPECIALLY, I MUST STRETCH, with friends. Holds some of my fondest memories as its one of, if not the only, game I ever played through the story of with my brother.
Bah Bah.
2018
Game had a lot of promise but faltered in too many areas for me to really love it like a lot of other people do. Clearly most of the attention was put into the world traversal which, to be fair, is fantastic, but not really used enough within missions to hold them up, while everything else somewhat suffers as a result? I dunno, to simplify my thoughts, the fun part shouldn't be getting TO the mission, it should BE the mission.
Story should've really been focused on JUST Li or JUST Octavius, since it just results in the former being rather uninteresting, and the later, while still pretty good, failing to meet their true potential. Pacing felt really off, would've worked far better for a TV show in my opinion.
There is way too much collectathon crap in this game, the unique missions are FINE for the most part, but combat encounters are annoying as hell after a while, and GOD the benchmarks goals are handcrafted to waste as much of your time as possible. The fact that many of them interrupt the flow of traversal by getting you to stop or go through loading screens is annoying as well.
Combat is far too simplistic, and difficulty moreso revolved around how much shit the devs could cram on screen at once as opposed to a genuine challenge, since there are WAY too many enemies at certain points. Boss design was very weak for the start of the game but thankfully picked up after the Raft segment.
Story should've really been focused on JUST Li or JUST Octavius, since it just results in the former being rather uninteresting, and the later, while still pretty good, failing to meet their true potential. Pacing felt really off, would've worked far better for a TV show in my opinion.
There is way too much collectathon crap in this game, the unique missions are FINE for the most part, but combat encounters are annoying as hell after a while, and GOD the benchmarks goals are handcrafted to waste as much of your time as possible. The fact that many of them interrupt the flow of traversal by getting you to stop or go through loading screens is annoying as well.
Combat is far too simplistic, and difficulty moreso revolved around how much shit the devs could cram on screen at once as opposed to a genuine challenge, since there are WAY too many enemies at certain points. Boss design was very weak for the start of the game but thankfully picked up after the Raft segment.
Fun combat and fantastic music locked behind an unfortunately bland experience. Given the general lack of creativity in the Mario brand around the time, as well as Paper Mario practically being on deaths door following Sticker Star, what could have been a great merger between two beloved RPG series instead just kinda came out... eh.
Atmosphere and music were on point, and game certainly had a lot of charm as most things Luigi tend to do, but definitely suffers from the creativity absence that the Mario brand was suffering from at the time. Boss fights were fantastic, easily the highlight of the game (much like the others), though the handheld nature and design definitely hold it back from its truest potential.
1998
Fuckin space cars, ay?
2014
Bought this on switch when it went on sale as a joke and its FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFINE. Arts fairly ok and story is eeeeeeeeeeeeeeh kinda alright.
This review contains spoilers
Spoilers for whole game:
Everyone here already knows damn well or at least UNDERSTANDS why this game has been so highly regarded, so rather than going over all the shit you already know I figured I'd leave some personal comments of my own, granted none of my complaints are enough to bring my opinion of this game down:
-The story is far more linear than its predecessor which could've been done well but unfortunately falters due to BOTWs non linear structure, a "correct order" is decently well established though its inevitable that most players will mess up at least ONE of the steps
-Despite how good the lead up to it is, the Water temple was unfortunately somewhat half backed, the actual design was kinda bland, the boss was pathetic, Sidons ability doesn't allow for great puzzles, and its extremely exploitable. Ancient Zora Waterworks would have been a WAY better dungeon.
-While I personally am a HUGE fan of the final boss's ramp in difficulty I can definitely identify that the Zelda team might have been just a LITTLE too upset with the "Dark Beast Ganon is too easy" complaints. I have several younger siblings that are fans of BOTW that I already know for a fact will probably be unable to beat this game due to how insane the difficulty spike is, which is somewhat unfortunate.
-Including almost all previous DLC and Amiibo content in game, for FREE, is an INSANE showing of quality, though the exclusion of the Master Trials and Master Mode are somewhat confusing, and I hope for goodwills sake they aren't made the headlines of an expansion pass and are instead included as free updates if possible.
-Addressing almost all of BOTWs complaints was fantastic, but level 3 slip resistance STILL causing you to slip does feel like kind of a fuck you to the audience. I'm assuming the set bonus for the frog armor makes you slip proof but I haven't had the chance to upgrade it yet.
-Still having 2 empty heart slots after all shrines and story is just annoying as fuck, though I guess without empty slots golden hearts would just be COMPLETELY useless
-Shrine design was a lot more basic this time, it felt like each one was missing one last big puzzle to round things out, though this design makes sense when taking into account that TOTK is FAR more focused on exploring the openworld.
As a closing note I am very interested to see how this will impact future reviews and takes on BOTW, as TOTK opened my own eyes to many issues that I never even SAW as issues in BOTW, that will make it very difficult to go back to. This is a very unusual case for a Nintendo sequel, given most of their rare sequel titles usually change systems or design enough to warrant sticking out on its own ALONGSIDE the original, as opposed to TOTK which UNDOUBTABLY overshadows the original. Zelda moving forwards is going to be very interesting to spectate as well as I'd imagine that a HUGE change to the setting would need to be made for another open world style game to work, my personal prediction being either an extremely ancient or extremely far off future version of Hyrule. Regardless, TOTK is bound to stand out as a game that will be forever respected and loved by many... assument they don't decide to do ANOTHER direct sequel that makes this game seen the same way BOTW is now.
Everyone here already knows damn well or at least UNDERSTANDS why this game has been so highly regarded, so rather than going over all the shit you already know I figured I'd leave some personal comments of my own, granted none of my complaints are enough to bring my opinion of this game down:
-The story is far more linear than its predecessor which could've been done well but unfortunately falters due to BOTWs non linear structure, a "correct order" is decently well established though its inevitable that most players will mess up at least ONE of the steps
-Despite how good the lead up to it is, the Water temple was unfortunately somewhat half backed, the actual design was kinda bland, the boss was pathetic, Sidons ability doesn't allow for great puzzles, and its extremely exploitable. Ancient Zora Waterworks would have been a WAY better dungeon.
-While I personally am a HUGE fan of the final boss's ramp in difficulty I can definitely identify that the Zelda team might have been just a LITTLE too upset with the "Dark Beast Ganon is too easy" complaints. I have several younger siblings that are fans of BOTW that I already know for a fact will probably be unable to beat this game due to how insane the difficulty spike is, which is somewhat unfortunate.
-Including almost all previous DLC and Amiibo content in game, for FREE, is an INSANE showing of quality, though the exclusion of the Master Trials and Master Mode are somewhat confusing, and I hope for goodwills sake they aren't made the headlines of an expansion pass and are instead included as free updates if possible.
-Addressing almost all of BOTWs complaints was fantastic, but level 3 slip resistance STILL causing you to slip does feel like kind of a fuck you to the audience. I'm assuming the set bonus for the frog armor makes you slip proof but I haven't had the chance to upgrade it yet.
-Still having 2 empty heart slots after all shrines and story is just annoying as fuck, though I guess without empty slots golden hearts would just be COMPLETELY useless
-Shrine design was a lot more basic this time, it felt like each one was missing one last big puzzle to round things out, though this design makes sense when taking into account that TOTK is FAR more focused on exploring the openworld.
As a closing note I am very interested to see how this will impact future reviews and takes on BOTW, as TOTK opened my own eyes to many issues that I never even SAW as issues in BOTW, that will make it very difficult to go back to. This is a very unusual case for a Nintendo sequel, given most of their rare sequel titles usually change systems or design enough to warrant sticking out on its own ALONGSIDE the original, as opposed to TOTK which UNDOUBTABLY overshadows the original. Zelda moving forwards is going to be very interesting to spectate as well as I'd imagine that a HUGE change to the setting would need to be made for another open world style game to work, my personal prediction being either an extremely ancient or extremely far off future version of Hyrule. Regardless, TOTK is bound to stand out as a game that will be forever respected and loved by many... assument they don't decide to do ANOTHER direct sequel that makes this game seen the same way BOTW is now.
2017
I mean... cool? It's just a basic minigame collection, the only reason my final grade is so hard is because it's way too expensive for what you actually get. Definitely gonna sink into obscurity over time.
Edit: they just announced a sequel to this shit what the fuck
Edit: they just announced a sequel to this shit what the fuck
2017
Most of my compliments and criticisms towards Kiwami 1 still apply, though unfortunately the negatives are a lot more prevalent throughout this game.
To get the obvious out of the way, the Dragon Engine combat was handled shit in regards to Kiryu, and I'm not even gonna START with how Majima plays. The upgrade system is extremely basic but in the worse way possible, any game that includes EXP GAIN UPGRADES as part of its primary upgrade system loses 2 points, which is a shame given Yakuza Training Armour handled this in a way that was actually FUN in all the games prior.
A lot of people tend to hold Yakuza 2's story as one of the best, but unfortunately it never really hit me. Having played through all of them it comes off as rather generic, and even with Ryuji getting better development as a villain compared to pretty much every final boss Yakuza 4 onwards he still doesn't feel THAT exciting to me, I feel like they needed to play into his showiness more but he doesn't appear frequently enough for that to be the case.
Kiwami 2 also has a bizarre obsession with fanservice for Y0? Notably with the returning Hostess minigame, which is FINE, one of my favorites in the series actually, but still doesn't have that much of a reason to be there, and the Majima saga, which SUUUUUUUUUUUUCKS. HUGE wasted potential, it has NO reason to exist and does NOTHING for the story, and DEAR GOD Majima is SO awful to control, there's just no fun to be had. For a lot of players the prospect of following up Majima's story in Y0 would sound interesting but if you're someone who hasn't played it yet, take my advice and just don't bother. Even watching the cutscenes on Youtube would be a waste of time its SO BORING.
As far as positives go I felt that substories had a huge improvement over Kiwami 1, many more of them stuck with me and the ratio of silly to serious ones was decently well done. The minigame variety was pretty good, the physics engine would sometimes result in character models doing funny stuff, Sayama and Daigo's arcs were extremely interesting (STILL pissed she was cast aside after Y3), and, of course, the game LOOKS gorgeous. Some people complain about the green filter, I don't really care, this game looks pretty af. Overall its still worth playing, the story is still ALRIGHT and its worth picking up to understand elements in the following, MUCH better games, but as someone who hasn't even played the PS2 original... just go play that version if you're able to, or at the very least make sure to pick it up on PC so you can mod it.
To get the obvious out of the way, the Dragon Engine combat was handled shit in regards to Kiryu, and I'm not even gonna START with how Majima plays. The upgrade system is extremely basic but in the worse way possible, any game that includes EXP GAIN UPGRADES as part of its primary upgrade system loses 2 points, which is a shame given Yakuza Training Armour handled this in a way that was actually FUN in all the games prior.
A lot of people tend to hold Yakuza 2's story as one of the best, but unfortunately it never really hit me. Having played through all of them it comes off as rather generic, and even with Ryuji getting better development as a villain compared to pretty much every final boss Yakuza 4 onwards he still doesn't feel THAT exciting to me, I feel like they needed to play into his showiness more but he doesn't appear frequently enough for that to be the case.
Kiwami 2 also has a bizarre obsession with fanservice for Y0? Notably with the returning Hostess minigame, which is FINE, one of my favorites in the series actually, but still doesn't have that much of a reason to be there, and the Majima saga, which SUUUUUUUUUUUUCKS. HUGE wasted potential, it has NO reason to exist and does NOTHING for the story, and DEAR GOD Majima is SO awful to control, there's just no fun to be had. For a lot of players the prospect of following up Majima's story in Y0 would sound interesting but if you're someone who hasn't played it yet, take my advice and just don't bother. Even watching the cutscenes on Youtube would be a waste of time its SO BORING.
As far as positives go I felt that substories had a huge improvement over Kiwami 1, many more of them stuck with me and the ratio of silly to serious ones was decently well done. The minigame variety was pretty good, the physics engine would sometimes result in character models doing funny stuff, Sayama and Daigo's arcs were extremely interesting (STILL pissed she was cast aside after Y3), and, of course, the game LOOKS gorgeous. Some people complain about the green filter, I don't really care, this game looks pretty af. Overall its still worth playing, the story is still ALRIGHT and its worth picking up to understand elements in the following, MUCH better games, but as someone who hasn't even played the PS2 original... just go play that version if you're able to, or at the very least make sure to pick it up on PC so you can mod it.
Packing some of the best map design of the modern series, some incredible characters, a great story, insane customizability, and providing one of the best soundtrack ever to bless gaming, FE Three Houses was set up to be one of the best tactical RPGs ever made, though unfortunately suffers from a series of minor issues that drag down the experience.
Graphically its probably one of the worst first party games Nintendo has put out this generation, the character models look fairly ugly and its extremely notable how hard the resolution and graphics were hit to get this game running. It's never really been a strong point for FE but its also worth noting that this game has some of the worst replay value I've ever seen, even with its insane level of customizability, not only because it takes ages and ages to build your party, but also because the division of routes wasn't handled as well as it could have been. Fates comparatively had a lot more to offer since the split happened much earlier, the stories deviated quite a bit from each other, and the map design varied much more. Having only played through Dimitri's and Claude's routes I can't say I'd recommend playing through AGAIN just to see the others, which is a shame because key story details are left in each route so you can't really get the full picture without playing everything.
Graphically its probably one of the worst first party games Nintendo has put out this generation, the character models look fairly ugly and its extremely notable how hard the resolution and graphics were hit to get this game running. It's never really been a strong point for FE but its also worth noting that this game has some of the worst replay value I've ever seen, even with its insane level of customizability, not only because it takes ages and ages to build your party, but also because the division of routes wasn't handled as well as it could have been. Fates comparatively had a lot more to offer since the split happened much earlier, the stories deviated quite a bit from each other, and the map design varied much more. Having only played through Dimitri's and Claude's routes I can't say I'd recommend playing through AGAIN just to see the others, which is a shame because key story details are left in each route so you can't really get the full picture without playing everything.