Super Mario Wonder crosses to me at an interesting point in my gaming life. On the one hand, I think this game is really great, and does a lot of fantastic stuff, and is clearly a step up from the 2D Mario we've been getting the last dozen or so years. On the other hand, I also think this is still a far cry from the peak Mario 2D platformers in Mario World and Mario 3, and on an even further hand, I feel like this just isn't my type of game anymore and that's feeding into it as well.

Full stop, NIntendo games aren't my usual cup of tea anymore. Metroid is always an exception, and I feel like I still do love 3D Mario, but it's been a long time since I've been into platformers as a general rule,.

Right away this game charms you with it's incredible art style (seriously how does this game so look good on a switch?). The levels are all quite short and 99% of them quite easy (even going for 100% like I did) Which I think is acceptable considering the compromise of the wonder seeds, which is a really cool mechanic and makes you wonder what's coming for each level. Some of them are better than others, but they're all mostly fun.

One of my big complaints about this game, and something I'm confused I haven't read about anywhere else is the boss variety. It is sorely sorely lacking here, the mini bosses all worlds are basically cut and poose koopa kid with a slight variation each time and that is it until the final boss (which is fantastic). It's a huge disappointment for me in this game, and one that really holds it back in my opinion.

I get why this game has been getting a lot of praise, and I do think it's really well made, and if you're a platformer nut there's a good chance this is going to be one of your favorites of the year. For myself personally, it's a good game, with lots of charm and worth playing, but not one I'd ever go back too.

Ho boy. When i say this is the most important game of all time to me, and perhaps one of the greatest, I truly mean it.

Metal Gear Solid is a love letter to gaming for me. I can still remember playing this game late at night, sneaking up past my bed time to get a little time in on the old Playstation 1. The way this game made you think out of the box with some of its creative puzzles and boss fights, it's a level of creativity that is still unmatched today and only could have been done by someone like Kojima.

The story is of course tremendous, with fantastic voice acting, character work.

The boss fights are iconic.

This game still holds up incredibly well, and I'll be honest, if you don't think it does, that's a you problem, not this games problem. A true masterpiece in every sense of the word. Godbless Metal Gear.

So going into this game, this is probably the Metal Gear I was least nostalgic for/excited to replay. I do love all these games, so much, but for whatever reason MGS 2 doesn't have that same pull for me, despite being an obviously incredible game. After my replay, I can't say too much has changed, but it's clear that this is still an utter masterpiece.

The story is so so far ahead of it's time here, and that's been talked about to death. The early twist in this game is one of the best ever done, and it still makes me mad how upset "gamers" got about it (and would again get angry later in TLOU2 over it. Gamers do NOT like being fooled)

Raiden is awesome, Snake is awesome, all the characters are so great. The soundtrack in this game is phenomenal just heater after heater.

So what makes this not a 5/5 for me unlike the other MGS games (besides V?). I think for me, the only thing holding me back here is a couple of things. My nostalgia for some of the other games plays a huge part, but I also feel like the setting is one of the weakest in the series. That's not necessarily a bad thing, it's still very good, but compared to shadow Moses and the jungle, I just enjoy this setting a little less, and that's really the only knock I have on this masterpiece of a game otherwise.

Kojima is a creator who is much discussed, but MGS has made him the GOAT. God I fucking love these games.

So as a sucker for Lucas Arts point and click adventure games (and just the genre in general) I was the target audience for this game, and while this isn't my favorite of these that have I played, I still had a great time with it.

It's shockingly a lot more down to earth then I was expecting from some of the others. It had good character work, good voice acting, and gorgeous animations (even in the old style which I fliped too often here). What's here is really fun and as solid time.

I think my biggest complaint is just how short this game is. It really is SHORT, especially if you're good at these sorts of games and know what you're doing, and it feels like it could have used at least a couple more hours of story here.

But for a short little jaunt you can do far worse.

Long live the bunnies.

Wow what the actual fuck. I did NOT expect this to go so fucking hard.

As a long time yakuza fan (I've basically played everyman line game, the judgment games, and pretty much anything I can that has been imported) I had been feeling a bit down on the series lately. Lost Judgment was one of the weaker entries for me story wise, and Ishin, was just down right bad IMO. The creator of the series gone, Kiryu back for some reason, the entire thing was making me nervous, and while I was going to give Infinite Wealth a chance, I had penciled in that might be my last yakuza game.

When I'm wrong, I'm wrong. This is not only a fantastic game, and one of my favorites of this 2023, but one of my favorite yakuza titles overall. The combat is super fun (not quite on the level of Lost Judgement, but certainly better than Yakuza 6), the story is fantastic, and is a perfect bridge story to explain what's going on in the story, and really why Kiyru is back at all.

For a game that was going to be a DLC, this turned out excellent (and probably would have been my favorite DLC of all time if it was)

As it is, it's a fantastic entry, a great story with so many loving throwbacks, and a perfect step forward for the future of this series.

Fuck you Sega for not releasing a physical copy in the west though.

This was a staple of my childhood, trying to play this damn game and figuring out how to get pas the part with the pidgeons and the bread.

I'm so glad to finally come back years later and experience this wonderful game. First of all, pound for pound, this might have one of the best stories for a Lucas Arts adventure game, and some of the best characters. Manny and Meche's story is just wonderful and something you want to see until it's conclusion.

I will say, some of the puzzles in this game are peak annoyance. Some of them are just so so bad here, and even with a walkthrough and it can be so finicky and annoying to get everything right, worse then a lot of the golden era point and clickers.

Still though, for just story alone, this game is absolutely fantastic, and it's such a shame we've never once seen anything else from this world. I'ts so unique and lovingly done. Long live Manny!!

So this is a game I've owned forever and wanted to get too. My first Super Giant game I've ever tried was Hades, and I was unfortunately quite disappointed with that and ended up dropping it. This is number two now, and while I like this more, I'm certainly not in love with it, and I feel that Super Giant as a whole might just not be for me.

Postiives first of all, I adore the presentation here, and the narration gimmick, it's fantastically done and certainly a highlight of this video game. What tiny character work we do get here with the couple characters are good as well.

Unfortunately there's just not enough of that. The game combat loop is relatively the same throughout, only different weapons really providing you any sort of change up in what you're doing, the story itself while solid, definitely could have used some more building out of it, and the characters really could have used some more depth to work with here.

The soundtrack is quite good, another highlight, and I don't regret playing this game, but I do certainly think it is a bit overrated from some of the hype of this game I've heard going in.

I think to start this review one thing needs to be made very clear. I despite tactics gameplay. I do not like the challenge or the strategy involved, I do not like the difficulty, and it's just something I've personally never jived with,

I feel like Persona 5 Tactics was made for someone like me, more than the hardcore tactics fan. Someone who's a hardcore Persona fan, who maybe wants to dip their toe into something a little bit new.

Dare I say, by the end of this game, I enjoyed some of the creative style boss fights and gameplay. Not enough to try more difficult ones, but just enough to keep the experience from being Dull for me.

What really shines here for me is the story. Erina and Toshrio are fantastic characters, and just perfect additions to the persona cast. This is certainly more of a side story than Strikers (strikers was a proper epilogue really) but if I'm being honest, I think I enjoyed the story in this game even more than Strikers, based off the work by these two damn strong characters. Erina is someone so awesome I wish she was in the main cast. It's a shame she wasn't.

The music, as always is tremendous. My biggest complaints about this game (besides the gameplay being a style I don't really like), I think the side quests sucked. They were mostly puzzle based ones where you'd need a pretty exact solution to figure it out, and that just wasn't fun to me.

Overall though, This was a wonderful game, and a total surprise from me. I didn't even have plans to play it this year, but I gave it a shot and it hooked me. Persona games clearly hold a special place in my heart (from the tremendous Persona 5 Royal being one of my favorite games of all time) so I'll clearly give anything involving this cast a bit of a bump, but this one was genuinely fantastic in my opinion.

Oh childhood nostalgia how I love thee.

As I get older and reflect on some of the amazing games I've played, very few stand out to me like Super Mario RPG. Self admittedly, I'm not the biggest Nintendo fan, especially now a days, as I prefer a focus on story, and narrative over gameplay and "fun" which Nintendo seems to excel at. However, this game longs from my childhood as one of my favorites, and something that (along with FF7) introduced me to JRPG's probably one of my favorite genres of games.

Re-visiting this now, while it doesn't hold up quite as well as I remember, it's still easily one of my favorite Nintendo games ever, and a true triumph for Square, especially for the time period.

The combat is nearly unmatched, and it's insane that more JRPG's don't use the timing mechanic (shout out to Sea of Stars for lovingly ripping it off and putting their own spin on it).

The story here is easily the best story in a Mario game, and it actually does perhaps the unthinkable, give a personality to Mario. All of the companions here are fantastic, and it's a true love letter to Mario, even today.

Now I do have some issues with this remake. I think overall I do prefer the original graphical style. While this is no doubt gorgeous (and pops on the OLED) there's just something so wonderful about the OG style I can't help but adore even more. Also the music, while again I like it, and it's great, I think I prefer the OG (thankfully that's easy to toggle on).

Overall though, I still really like this game quite a bit, even if it might not be one of my favorites of all time anymore, this is certainly a trip wroth taking once again, and a must play for anyone who has never experienced it.

How do you review an utter masterpiece like this? Like for real.

It's just perfection. MGS 2 is a fantastic game but ruffled a lot of feathers at the time. So this was Kojima "apologizing" for that and making the most bad ass, james bond like Snake game he could.

This game has the greatest video game song ever made IMO, one of the best openings and a heart tugging emotional, amazing conclusion. The story is peak, the characters are fantastic and the boss fights are so so good (on the same level as 1 if not better for best in the entire series).

All of the survival elements are well ahead of their time, well thought out, and done very well.

I don't know man. I could go on and on. This game is a masterpiece though, and one of the greatest games of all time. God bless Hideo Kojima.

Oh baby what a rush.

This game is excellent. Easily one of the best action games I've ever played, a crowning achievement for this series, and one of the best non resident evil games I've played from Capcom. Just a tremendous game all around.

The story is interesting, fun, and the best story in the entire series. The combat is peak here, as it offers so many different playstyles and ways to have fun. The music is awesome, Devil Trigger is an instant classic. You can tell they went all out with this one, I'm sure Capcom didn't know if they were going to be able to make another one, but this game sold so well (and the capcom comeback so strong) that I'd be stunned now if there isn't a DMC 6 at some point.

My complaints of this game are very very few and minor. I wish it was a smidge longer, and I wish some of the side characters (particularly the lovely ladies) got involved a bit more in the story and were more present, but otherwise, this is a tremendous game and one of the best of 2019. Fantastic stuff.

First of all, a huge thanks to Parrott for gifting me this game!

This capped off my year of Science Fiction Adventure Series, as I had marched through all of them, and this was really the last accessible one I wanted to get too. What followed was a very hit or miss romantic comedy like game with some routes clearly being stronger then others.

When it hit, it hit pretty good. The Suzu route was genuinely hilarious and a great spoof on one of my favorite movies, while the Mayushi route was sweet and lovely, and a very nice alternative to the main canon romance.

The Kirusu route unfortunately was a major let down for me (and to be fair, it's tough to top the main romance story they told in Steins;Gate) while the Faris story genuinely was horrible and made me want to stop playing altogether.

Still though, I had a fun time with this overall, and it was a fun little companion piece to the series. A step below Steins;Gate 0 for me, but honestly, still worth playing if for no other reason then to get spend some more time with the GOAT chad himself Daru.