This sequel has a much stronger quality in level design, since the areas are divided into condensed levels with their own gimmicks and characters to make each section of the game feel more special. There are also some gameplay improvements, but the parts where you have to walk out of the tank in the open are still as annoying as ever. On the other hand, the top-down sections are way better now. I also really like the boss battles, since they don't die as quickly and are way more fun than in the previous title.

While going from planet to planet seems cool at first, it quickly becomes a little tiresome, as you're just watching the same skippable cutscene of going through the wormholes over and over. There's a screen that you need to come from the other side and you must go through all the other areas, from one wormhole to another, until you eventually get to the one that's linked to the same screen as before, which makes me scream in my head "why do they have to make me lose my time like this??". To give it credit, this essentially gets rid of the backtracking problem in most metroidvanias, but in a sort of a cheap way. I just wish there was a menu level selector or something. Maybe it'd betray the "classic NES" feel of the game, though.

Gameplay-wise, this is undoubtely the most enjoyable entry in the series, as far as I'm concerned. I'm so glad they decided to bring back Blaster Master and then give us such a great follow-up. This proves that, sometimes, making sequels for old stuff can be a good thing.

Gameplay: A
Level design: A
Visuals: A
Music: A
Difficulty: Medium

The first ever Legend of Zelda is a piece of gaming history that is currently regarded as a very good attempt at an adventure game for the time, but now it's just like any other NES title: it's either way too hard or way too confusing. It basically requires an online guide to know where to go, which kind of defeats the purpose of playing a game all about exploration. It's not too bad at first, since you'll likely try to explore for yourself before going after some help, but you soon realize how small the world map is. I felt like I was going in circles for the majority of my playthrough, visiting the same places over and over again and still not knowing what to do.

Dungeons are mediocre, but it's hard to ignore how influential they are. Near the end they become way too hard (even worse if you don't use guides and/or savestates), mainly because there are too many enemies that are hard to kill and make traversing the rooms something way more troublesome than it has any right to be. Of course, I'm talking about darknuts. Maybe it's not THAT bad considering I, someone who's not really good at retro games, still managed to finish it. Still, I can say for certain it wasn't enjoyable.

If you compare it to the amount of garbage that existed back then, it's easier to realize how much Zelda holds up decently. I mean, you'll only play it if you know what to expect, anyway. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone unless you're a big Zelda fan, though.

Gameplay: B
Level design: C
Visuals: C
Music: TAAAN TADADADADAN DADAAAN
Difficulty: Obnoxious

At first I started playing kind of feeling like it was just generic Kirby, but after a while it clicked with me for some reason. Really wish it relied less on motion controls and hypernova sections weren't so slow and repetitive, because the rest is great! Levels are surprisingly creative and bosses are incredible. Some of the optional content can be quite challenging as well.

I just recommend on not getting every sun stone before beating the game, because for some reason they made the reward a keychain of the final boss. Not only is it kind of a lame reward for the amount of trouble, but it's also a spoiler in case you care about it.

You can beat it very quickly, not really because it's too easy, but the levels are so short and sweet, you might not even realize how much fun you're having. The harder challenges are, well, challenging, but not in an infuriating way. Nintendo really managed to make this game as approachable as possible so anyone can enjoy it, unless you're too picky. Regarding that, yes, the levels being too short can be a little underwhelming, but I think Mario works better this way. The variety in presentation and gameplay elements the Wonder Flowers provide make up for the simplicity in mechanical depth, but it's still Mario at the end of the day, so you gotta expect a game that's very basic in nature, even though it's a high quality product.

Gameplay: S+
Level design: S
Visuals: S+
Music: A
Daisy: YES
Difficulty: Easy

This game kept reminding me of Gurumin from the gameplay elements to the environmental message. Instead of a drill, you use magical gear powers from Noi to go through platform obstacles and reach the end of the stage. The main gimmick is that you can change the seasons, altering the climate of the levels and making unaccessible ways accessible and vice versa. It's really fun due to its simple premisse and good level design, but I admit I got a little tired of the endgame sections. The levels have too many branching paths that look identical. You're supposed to find these purple crystals in order to get all the stars, which serve to learn new combat skills, but it gets a little annoying having to search everywhere. Still, I was never bored.

I realized anytime there's a game with a typical anime plot, the reviews will have some of the saltiest people on Earth. Most reviews aren't even actual criticism, just people really pissed off. So yeah, unless you have some sort of nostalgia for this sort of plot, this game will probably annoy you. We have the selfless protagonist who wants to save the world, the mean villain who hates humanity for all the bad things we've done to our planet, the little mascot character, the sleeping beauty, the best friend with a mysterious past, etc. I'm actually fine with most of these, except for Lyra, the childhood friend who has a crush on Nayuta. I don't mind the trope, but she had almost no purpose outside of a few gags. Why is she even on the cover? I also don't know how to feel about Eartha's role of making you food. Creha also serves as the damsel in distress, despite her powers. Apparently this game doesn't seem to think too highly of women, which is funny considering the mainline series having one of the most iconic female protagonists in RPG history. In all seriousness, I don't think the developers are misogynists or anything, it's just not very well written. Also, Noi is precious.

Visual are cute, but it looks a little weird sometimes. Being originally made for PSP, the graphics weren't supposed to look this crisp, so the more detailed characters look really odd. I also noticed the faces overlapping objects or even their own hands.

The bosses were incredible (outside of Armadalleos, screw her). Having to use your abilities to reach the obvious weak spot is probably seen as an outdated design, but I still find it enjoyable. Normal enemies are varied, but are hardly challenging. I believe this game is better played on hard, since normal is way too easy and I never worried about my health. I mean, I really needed to try Eartha's homemade food, okay?

If this game doesn't seem too appealing, so you're not gonna like it, simple as that. What you see is what you get, which is why I knew I was gonna love it.

EDIT: I forgot to elaborate a bit more about the plot. It isn't that I think the clichés are good, I just think they work well enough with this type of story, while still having some nice little twists at the end that I thought were genuinely good. It's just a matter of preference.

Gameplay: A
Level design: A
Story: B
Characters: C
Visuals: C
Music: Falcom
Difficulty: Optional (Hard)

Since I enjoyed this game so much, I decided to make it my last review of the year. I'm not a huge fan of tactical RPGs because they lack one of my favorite aspects in an RPG, which is exploration. What made me want to play this one? Well, truth be told, the thing that grabbed my attention was Mika Pikazo's art. It's so colorful! I wondered if it was worth buying a new game from a series I'm not particularly into, even more so considering its main gimmick of featuring past entries' characters. It didn't seem to be a big deal, though.

Even though I didn't have a history with the series, other than a few hours in Blazing Blade and Awakening (which I still intend on beating some day), I was aware of how much other non-fans enjoyed Three Houses, so I was confident this one would have tons of QoL changes to make it more tolerable for a noob like me. Turns out, this was better than I expected! I never had so much fun in a tactical RPG. In fact, I'd even say this is the best turn-based combat I've ever seen, other than D&D, I guess. Fire Emblem's combat is already solid enough, but the Engage mechanic adds so much in terms of strategy, experimentation, charm and uniqueness.

...and then we look at the internet's reception...whew, hahaha...people didn't like it very much, huh?

So the first glaring issue is the story, or rather how it compares to the previous entry. I still haven't played enough 3H to give my opinion, but it's apparently a lot more serious and complex. On the other hand, Engage takes more elements of older Fire Emblem games and, by extention, old school fantasy anime, but with a modern tone. There are also quirkier characters drawn by a designer of VTubers. If you're not liking the sound of any of that, then you're not gonna like this game.

There is one common criticism that I have to agree, though, which is how most characters don't have any development in later chapters. Since we have to take in consideration that they might be dead in somebody's playthrough, they can't have a lot of participation in the story once they enter your party for good, other than some useless pieces of dialogue here and there. This is one of the reasons why I wish they'd get rid of permadeath, if it wasn't so ingrained in the series' DNA already.

There are also other problems like the minigames and the stiff animations, but I'm just reaching by this point.

I'll probably lower the score in the future, but 5/5 feels right for now. The story isn't even that bad, it's just basic. The main villain could be better written, but the final battle was so sick that I don't care. Graphically speaking, the character models and attack animations are quite impressive. The soundtrack is also great, at least in the context of the game, since having alternate versions of each track made the album too repetitive.

Anyway, now I can't hear the game's subtitle anywhere without feeling the urge to yell ENGAGE!!!

Gameplay: S+
Level design: S
Story: B
Characters: B
Visuals: S
Music: S
Difficulty: Optional (Normal, Casual) Yeah, I'm a pussy.

If you like Shantae and cute retro platformers, this game is a must. It won't take you very long to beat and the level design is really solid.

Gameplay: A
Level design: A
Visuals: S
Difficulty: Medium

Does a decent job at capturing the feeling of a classic JRPG with the charming characters and basic plot. The story is there to serve as a reason to gather the three protagonists, but it's clear it wasn't really the main focus. The twists were predictable and even the main villain seemed like such an afterthought. Instead, I was enjoying doing the small sidequests and meeting all these NPCs with their unique personalities and fun dialogue. After a while they get really tiresome and repetitive, however.

The ones asking to gather materials are fine (it's the sort of thing you'd expect), but when they ask you to just find another NPC I'm like... okay, there's no reason not to do it since the game tells you where to go, but is it really the best they could've done? And you can't simply find the NPC, no, you also have to go back to the person who asked you so you can get your stamp. It's the back and forth that really gets on my nerves. And sometimes the person you're supposed to find is only a few meters away! Is the game mocking me?

The combat is... inoffensive. The character switch mechanic is a cool idea and it'd be pretty boring without it. The small portions of platforming were fun as well. Yes, the game is very easy, but I think it'd be really annoying gathering materials for quests if the enemies were too much of a hassle. After beating the final boss you unlock the hard difficulty, which makes some enemies more dangerous than usual, at least to the point of forcing me to use potions. It's a much better experience and I wish that was the standard difficulty.

I never played Suikoden before, but I love character focused RPGs, so I'm eager to play Hundred Heroes after it's released. Until then, Rising served as a good appetizer for what's to come.

Gameplay: C
Story: D
Characters: C
Visuals: A
Music: C
Difficulty: Easy

I love Namie's art, metroidvanias and souls-likes, so I had to play it. Lost Epic is enjoyable for the most part, but the spam of repeated enemies was getting on my nerves. Sidequests are usually just fighting hordes of enemies. Mini-bosses feature a bunch of adds. After doing your main objectives, the game still makes you go and collect a bunch of shit in order to finally get to the end.

So, why even play this game? Well... The combat is just way too satisfying! There are many weapons and skills to unlock, so you can do some cool combos and kill enemies pretty fast if you're good enough (I'm not). Also, while I don't like the basic enemies (of course, after having to fight so many of them...), the bosses are quite decent.

I keep complaining about the enemies, but I have to say: bow and arrows did make the game more bearable. I also learned that parrying and blocking are more reliable than just dodging like in Dark Souls. Still, I hold my ground about the lack in enemy variety.

Gameplay: B
Level design: D
Visuals: B
Music: B
Difficulty: Hard

By the time I played Ys Seven, I was already kind of tired of the series. It has a lot of things I don't really like, but the bosses were cool and it's satisfying to destroy enemies with the amount of special skills you posses. After playing Lacrimosa of Dana it felt very mediocre, but it scratches that itch for a solid action RPG.

Gameplay: B
Story: B
Characters: C
Visuals: B
Music: Falcom
Difficulty: Optional (Normal)

It's really cool playing it after all the other FromSoft Souls games and notice the design choices that were later implemented in the newer titles. Almost like walking in a museum, but they painted it with a shiny look to seem more modern. Still, wtf have they done to the soundtrack? It'd be cool in a different game, but not in Demon's Souls.

Gameplay: A
Visuals: S
Music: C
Level design: B
Atmosphere: A
Difficulty: Medium~Hard

Not as memorable as the first game, but it more than makes up by having fun bosses and tons of gameplay improvements. The Ringed City was a joy from start to finish and one of the reasons why this game is so revered by the community.

Gameplay: A
Visuals: B
Music: S+
Level design: B
Atmosphere: A
Difficulty: Hard (duh)

Played it before the updates, which was kind of boring. With the newly added hard mode and some other small changes like running speed, it seems more fun. It still suffers from repetitive content, but being a fangame, I can't be too harsh on it. It's still enjoyable if you like the Touhou characters, or if you just want a casual game to play a quick mission before going to bed.

Gameplay: D
Level design: D
Visuals: C
Music: B
Story: D
Characters: B
Difficulty: Easy

It's really funny how Nintendo thought BotW was already so great that they decided to make the same game again.

At first I was conflicted with TotK. The game overall feels better than its predecessor due to all the small changes and implementations, but it retains a lot of the issues I have with BotW. Dungeons are still not as good as in the old games (at least they're better than the divine beasts), there are a lot of empty spaces that take too long to traverse, I'm still not a big fan of the combat, etc.

However, after taking a break and coming back to this game with an open mind, I started to have a lot of fun, actually. The simple change of fusing weapons with other things, and the fuse mechanic in general, adds so much to the game, in ways that I can't imagine myself going back to its predecessor.

The sky islands and the depths were cool additions, but not really what I was hoping for. The main story portions related to them were great, though. On top of that, the endgame was epic, with the final battle being the highlight. Overall, bosses are a huge improvement over the ones in BotW.

I really enjoyed TotK, a lot more than I imagined, but I hope we're finally done with this version of Hyrule, not only because I'm longing for something new in the next title, but also because I see the ending as a proper conclusion.

(btw since this game is massive, there's a lot more to say and I might change my opinion later, so don't take this review as my thoughts set in stone)

Gameplay: A
World design: S
Level design: A
Visuals: S
Music: A
Story: A
Difficulty: Medium