Anon
2020
great presentation, narrative and decent gameplay though at the cost of being an flawed "Remake" of the original 1999 classic with lots of cut content and scripted sequences not to mention it's extremely short length.
2006
Kirby Squeak Squad is one of those games that have a lot of great design ideas but most of them are either underutilized or simply just don't live up to them looking back in the overall game.
the core gameplay is still solid like all of the previous Kirby games, similar to Amazing Mirror this game's combat system has Super Star's improved and expanded move-sets for Copy Abilities after it's long absense in Kirby's main games after Super Star and thanks to that the action-platforming gameplay is tight and fun as ever but Squeak Squad also introduces new gameplay systems in the recipe that being the new Inventory and Bubble management featured in the game, Kirby can pick up Bubbles across the game's levels and store them to allow them to be moved to combine items such as Food to create powerful health items and specifically Treasure Chests scattered across the game's levels which also take 1 slot of Kirby's current inventory.
these Treasure Chests when opened upon finishing the level contains special Items that unlock something for Kirby such as Ability Scrolls to enhance the current Copy Abilities like giving it more damage and Range for the Beam Ability for the example or something like an brand new move for that Ability like being able to Dash when using Fire and much more.
these Scrolls also contains an form of combination between Abilities similar to Kirby 64 like being able to fuse Sword and Fire into an single thing and then it becomes the Fire Sword but unfortunely these changes are essentially just cosmetic with no expanded movesets whatsoever for the Abilities that can be combined.
the Inventory management is downright annoying and underwhelming considering the amount of space that Kirby can store items on it, since you need to have free space to pick up Chests or Bubbles this can lead to situations where the player will lose an Chest or a Bubble because of having their Inventory currently full and there is no way to pause the game to prevent this to happen not to mention the amount of Treasure Chests that needs to be picked-up in every single level since there is like 3 of them and considering your Inventory's overall size the system is annoying and redundant overall.
the presentation is once again great, fluid Sprite work and the music is catchy like ever though it also re-uses a lot of graphics and assets from The Amazing Mirror.
the game's levels and the new Squeaks antagonists are decent enough to entertain the player apart from the levels themselves being extremely short and the final boss-fight that turns out so bad that you can't believe it that thing was the true final boss of the game.
Squeak Squad though a game with a lot of potential with it's great ideas that unfortunely probably because of the game's direction don't quite live up to anything it provides, it's still worth an playthrough since the game's still fun to play and it can be an satisfying action platformer sometimes.
the core gameplay is still solid like all of the previous Kirby games, similar to Amazing Mirror this game's combat system has Super Star's improved and expanded move-sets for Copy Abilities after it's long absense in Kirby's main games after Super Star and thanks to that the action-platforming gameplay is tight and fun as ever but Squeak Squad also introduces new gameplay systems in the recipe that being the new Inventory and Bubble management featured in the game, Kirby can pick up Bubbles across the game's levels and store them to allow them to be moved to combine items such as Food to create powerful health items and specifically Treasure Chests scattered across the game's levels which also take 1 slot of Kirby's current inventory.
these Treasure Chests when opened upon finishing the level contains special Items that unlock something for Kirby such as Ability Scrolls to enhance the current Copy Abilities like giving it more damage and Range for the Beam Ability for the example or something like an brand new move for that Ability like being able to Dash when using Fire and much more.
these Scrolls also contains an form of combination between Abilities similar to Kirby 64 like being able to fuse Sword and Fire into an single thing and then it becomes the Fire Sword but unfortunely these changes are essentially just cosmetic with no expanded movesets whatsoever for the Abilities that can be combined.
the Inventory management is downright annoying and underwhelming considering the amount of space that Kirby can store items on it, since you need to have free space to pick up Chests or Bubbles this can lead to situations where the player will lose an Chest or a Bubble because of having their Inventory currently full and there is no way to pause the game to prevent this to happen not to mention the amount of Treasure Chests that needs to be picked-up in every single level since there is like 3 of them and considering your Inventory's overall size the system is annoying and redundant overall.
the presentation is once again great, fluid Sprite work and the music is catchy like ever though it also re-uses a lot of graphics and assets from The Amazing Mirror.
the game's levels and the new Squeaks antagonists are decent enough to entertain the player apart from the levels themselves being extremely short and the final boss-fight that turns out so bad that you can't believe it that thing was the true final boss of the game.
Squeak Squad though a game with a lot of potential with it's great ideas that unfortunely probably because of the game's direction don't quite live up to anything it provides, it's still worth an playthrough since the game's still fun to play and it can be an satisfying action platformer sometimes.
an cute and polished platfomer, good visuals especially for the 64 and great design ideas with the ability of mixing Copy Abilities from enemies.
the level-design and variety carries the whole game well and the music is catchy af
Crystal Shard collection for the true ending is a bit annoying since they are behind on such annoying puzzles and the weird walls Kirby needs to break with an certain combination of abilities, just use an Guide and try not to get bored while collecting those.
the level-design and variety carries the whole game well and the music is catchy af
Crystal Shard collection for the true ending is a bit annoying since they are behind on such annoying puzzles and the weird walls Kirby needs to break with an certain combination of abilities, just use an Guide and try not to get bored while collecting those.
Capcom is really killing it huh? Village is one of those games that manages to get fresh and entertaining through all of it's gameplay thanks to immaculate pacing and variety, the RE4 inspired gameplay really helps with that although it lacks some iconic features that game has such as multiple unique upgrades for weapons for example.
the presentation is godlike really, gorgeous visuals and attention to detail not to mention that the game runs flawlessly in 60 FPS all the time.
it has an great replay-value as well, the Mercenaries mode is definitely not the best in the franchise (especially if you are looking to master the game) but I appreciate Capcom for at least providing some form of fun minigames after the storyline like they did with RE7 and REmake 2 as well which is something you would not see in modern gaming industry.
the presentation is godlike really, gorgeous visuals and attention to detail not to mention that the game runs flawlessly in 60 FPS all the time.
it has an great replay-value as well, the Mercenaries mode is definitely not the best in the franchise (especially if you are looking to master the game) but I appreciate Capcom for at least providing some form of fun minigames after the storyline like they did with RE7 and REmake 2 as well which is something you would not see in modern gaming industry.
an overall improvement over the predecessor, gunplay is better now with weapons that feel more impactful with their new beefy sound-design, Bullet Time no longer feels an slog and is actually useful during combat and the new Reloads that both Max and Mona do during the mode is cool as hell, the new Physics engine with enemies ragdolling around and debris flying all over the place make the gameplay even more fun.
the game feels more fair too though still have some difficult sections like the Escort chapter near the end of the game but nonetheless a bit more fun to play as opposed to the auto-saving nature of the previous game.
the story is good and I liked Mona and Max's chemistry, comic-book storytelling remain interesting and way better this time around.
the game feels more fair too though still have some difficult sections like the Escort chapter near the end of the game but nonetheless a bit more fun to play as opposed to the auto-saving nature of the previous game.
the story is good and I liked Mona and Max's chemistry, comic-book storytelling remain interesting and way better this time around.
butter solid action platformer, loved the new expanded Copy Abilities and the different smaller Kirby adventures that consistently brought up new gameplay and level-design ideas.
a must play for new players who want to enjoy the series for the first time and the Remake improves even more of that.
a must play for new players who want to enjoy the series for the first time and the Remake improves even more of that.
2001
still a great fun even 21 years later, the gunplay feels great and the overall brilliance of the Bullet-time mechanic combined to the Shootdodge create some fantastic action movie set-pieces as desired by Remedy.
the storytelling, writing and voice-acting remain solid too, Sam Lake's style stands out most of the time with the Thriller he wanted.
enemy-placements are very off sometimes especially in later levels, the game is very difficult too be prepared to quick-save a LOT.
the Nightmare and platforming sections are probably the most annoying aspects of Max Payne, totally out of place and confusing, at least there is only 2 sections like that in the whole game.
the storytelling, writing and voice-acting remain solid too, Sam Lake's style stands out most of the time with the Thriller he wanted.
enemy-placements are very off sometimes especially in later levels, the game is very difficult too be prepared to quick-save a LOT.
the Nightmare and platforming sections are probably the most annoying aspects of Max Payne, totally out of place and confusing, at least there is only 2 sections like that in the whole game.
amazing writing, characters and especially the whole final portion of the story remain the best in the entire franchise.
as a whole game it always seemed more janky and somewhat clumsy compared to Brotherhood, it does not seem as polished as that game in many areas notably side-content.
as a whole game it always seemed more janky and somewhat clumsy compared to Brotherhood, it does not seem as polished as that game in many areas notably side-content.
1995
an good sequel to Dream Land(though is set after Adventure) this game follows Adventure's innovations with the copy abilities but here they are fewer in number and their usefulness in also reduced, to compensate that HAL introduced the Animal Friends which can be found throughout the game, each one has it's own set of strong and weaker points and the Copy Abilities Kirby has also changes depending on the current Animal you are mounting at the moment.
these additions are welcome and is overall a nice change of pace after Adventure though I still preferred the previous game.
the level-design and pacing are tight and is much better than the prequel, the graphics and sprites are cute and well-animated and it's just fun most of the time.
the game is once again short and easy for the most part but I think this is a standard on most Kirby's games, at least achieving the secret ending and picking up the Collectibles are very challenging.
these additions are welcome and is overall a nice change of pace after Adventure though I still preferred the previous game.
the level-design and pacing are tight and is much better than the prequel, the graphics and sprites are cute and well-animated and it's just fun most of the time.
the game is once again short and easy for the most part but I think this is a standard on most Kirby's games, at least achieving the secret ending and picking up the Collectibles are very challenging.
The Forgotten Sands is currently the last game in the Prince of Persia franchise in Ubisoft's hands and since then none games have been released apart from some Mobile games and an promised Remake of SOT to be released at some point, after the Two Thrones the series faced a Reboot or a new series to be followed in 2008, the game received moderate reviews and lackluster sales which resulted in Ubisoft moving on with the idea in making a new trilogy based upon this new game and just decided to get back to the sucessful original The Sands of Time trilogy by making an tie-in game with the movie based on the Sands of Time that was just releasing around the same time in 2010.
The Forgotten Sands takes place presumably a few years after the Sands of Time and just before Warrior Within showing the Prince travelling to see his brother Malik by a request of his father on learning how to command an Kingdom after his death, reaching the palace he finds out that the Kingdom is being attacked by an enemy force and the Prince joins his brother to defend the place, they suffer heavy casualties and soon Malik come with the idea of unleashing an mythical army called the Solomon's Army to defeat the invaders but as soon as they unleash the army of course they not only attack the enemy but also the whole Palace resulting in multiple Undead Sand creatures appearing and killing everyone, Malik and the Prince try to catch-up but are separated by the incoming crumble, the Prince finds a portal during searching and stumbles into Razia, an Djinn that know how to seal the Army once and for all and then the adventure finally begin.
on the Gameplay standpoint, Forgotten Sands features the same premise of the previous games in the trilogy while absolutely abandoning everything the 2008 game did, the result is a much more enjoyable and fun gameplay with the same tight platforming, pacing, and fun level-design of the original trilogy, the game manages to deliver well designed platforming sections that the POP series is known for while also surprising the player with fresh new mechanics such as the ability to control Water to create new paths or dashing into enemies to reach distant locations.
the combat in the other hand is average at best, Forgotten Sands delves a bit more on an Hack 'n Slash approach by fighting multiple enemies, striking and evading, the Sword attacks lack impact and the dodging mechanics felt finnicky or just clunky. the intrinsic depth featured in the other two games's combat systems in the trilogy is gone here, no longer weapon combos, enviromental interaction or dual-wielding, at least the Powers are fun... I guess?
the narrative is serviciable to say the most, the voice-acting is great but the only 2 characters that you meet in the game that being Razia and Malik are generally not that interesting and the whole set of events happening don't quite engage the player at all, the game's ending is a joke and it just ends abruptly without proper explanation or anything.
overall I think The Forgotten Sands is overlooked, most people find it to be worse than the 2008 game which is not true at all, the 2008 game while gorgeous back then had lots of design flaws not to mention the repetitive gameplay and structure, The Forgotten Sands play safe but sometimes this is not a bad thing when the game manages to introduce it's own mechanics and fresh ideas anyways. of course it is not as good as the whole trilogy but it's still a good time and an return to form for the franchise at the time, it is a real shame that Ubisoft abandoned the franchise after this strong return.
The Forgotten Sands takes place presumably a few years after the Sands of Time and just before Warrior Within showing the Prince travelling to see his brother Malik by a request of his father on learning how to command an Kingdom after his death, reaching the palace he finds out that the Kingdom is being attacked by an enemy force and the Prince joins his brother to defend the place, they suffer heavy casualties and soon Malik come with the idea of unleashing an mythical army called the Solomon's Army to defeat the invaders but as soon as they unleash the army of course they not only attack the enemy but also the whole Palace resulting in multiple Undead Sand creatures appearing and killing everyone, Malik and the Prince try to catch-up but are separated by the incoming crumble, the Prince finds a portal during searching and stumbles into Razia, an Djinn that know how to seal the Army once and for all and then the adventure finally begin.
on the Gameplay standpoint, Forgotten Sands features the same premise of the previous games in the trilogy while absolutely abandoning everything the 2008 game did, the result is a much more enjoyable and fun gameplay with the same tight platforming, pacing, and fun level-design of the original trilogy, the game manages to deliver well designed platforming sections that the POP series is known for while also surprising the player with fresh new mechanics such as the ability to control Water to create new paths or dashing into enemies to reach distant locations.
the combat in the other hand is average at best, Forgotten Sands delves a bit more on an Hack 'n Slash approach by fighting multiple enemies, striking and evading, the Sword attacks lack impact and the dodging mechanics felt finnicky or just clunky. the intrinsic depth featured in the other two games's combat systems in the trilogy is gone here, no longer weapon combos, enviromental interaction or dual-wielding, at least the Powers are fun... I guess?
the narrative is serviciable to say the most, the voice-acting is great but the only 2 characters that you meet in the game that being Razia and Malik are generally not that interesting and the whole set of events happening don't quite engage the player at all, the game's ending is a joke and it just ends abruptly without proper explanation or anything.
overall I think The Forgotten Sands is overlooked, most people find it to be worse than the 2008 game which is not true at all, the 2008 game while gorgeous back then had lots of design flaws not to mention the repetitive gameplay and structure, The Forgotten Sands play safe but sometimes this is not a bad thing when the game manages to introduce it's own mechanics and fresh ideas anyways. of course it is not as good as the whole trilogy but it's still a good time and an return to form for the franchise at the time, it is a real shame that Ubisoft abandoned the franchise after this strong return.
1992
the very first Kirby game and still manages to have fluent controls, interesting graphics and sprite animation on the Gameboy and catchy music.
the game is very short you can finish in 30 minutes or even a hour but nonetheless it is a very interesting start in this franchise.
the game is very short you can finish in 30 minutes or even a hour but nonetheless it is a very interesting start in this franchise.
2008
fun and polished platforming gameplay as usual in this franchise, good art-style and character designs, nice voice-cast and decently-animated combat.
extremely repetitive structure since most of the time you will be doing the exact same objectives throughout the whole game.
Ubisoft also locked the "true" ending behind DLC so this company started their doing their schemes even back then.
extremely repetitive structure since most of the time you will be doing the exact same objectives throughout the whole game.
Ubisoft also locked the "true" ending behind DLC so this company started their doing their schemes even back then.
good follow-up to the 2013 reboot, the overall gameplay is much improved with the platforming and Stealth standing out here and the side-content/puzzles is much more interesting and worth your time.
big upgrade to the visuals and some really impressive world-building in the game.
the narrative is more interesting and with good side-characters though it still have some pacing issues here and there.
overall an good time especially if you liked a lot the 2013 game.
big upgrade to the visuals and some really impressive world-building in the game.
the narrative is more interesting and with good side-characters though it still have some pacing issues here and there.
overall an good time especially if you liked a lot the 2013 game.
2019
big step-up over Gears of War 4, the shooting feels punchier and satisfying and the campaign's overall ideas were a breath of fresh air after playing 4 games in a row, by far one of my favorites in the series now.
presentation is once again phenomenal, the Gears of War franchise continues to push the Unreal Engine's limits and the game is just gorgeous all around.
story-wise is decent... I guess? replacing JD with Kait as the main character was a right move since JD was a bit unconvicing or just dull most of the time in the previous game and here he is at least tolerable now as a secondary character, the story beats are good and this one manages to connect well with the original trilogy. the dialogue can be a bit lacking sometimes or just downright bad but I can live with that since most of the games in the franchise are like that, the final-boss battle is once again disappointing like usual.
presentation is once again phenomenal, the Gears of War franchise continues to push the Unreal Engine's limits and the game is just gorgeous all around.
story-wise is decent... I guess? replacing JD with Kait as the main character was a right move since JD was a bit unconvicing or just dull most of the time in the previous game and here he is at least tolerable now as a secondary character, the story beats are good and this one manages to connect well with the original trilogy. the dialogue can be a bit lacking sometimes or just downright bad but I can live with that since most of the games in the franchise are like that, the final-boss battle is once again disappointing like usual.
2020
way better than a Machine for Pigs since this one have actual difficult monster encounters, scarier atmosphere and good puzzles.
gameplay-wise Rebirth returns to the series's roots with Inventory management and Sanity system with only minor changes with the addition of Matches which replaces Tinderboxes from the previous game. by returning to the series's roots the game is overall more interesting to play as opposed to the Walking-sim approach that AMFP did
presentation is also great, good enviroments and art-direction not to mention the sound-design.
in terms of the main campaign, I think the game really shined through on the first few sections especially the ones you need to traverse an old Desert Fort, after it the game kinda falls flat since most of the reminder of the journey is set on an alternate world with not much interesting puzzles or engaging storylines.
the story is a bit confusing and falls flat later on, Tasi is a great main protagonist for the game and making her fully voiced was a right move IMO, the voice-acting is superb but overall the narrative is a bit difficult to follow nevertheless.
overall a big improvement over a Machine for Pigs but still feels a weak game compared to the Dark Descent, by far my favorite in this series.
gameplay-wise Rebirth returns to the series's roots with Inventory management and Sanity system with only minor changes with the addition of Matches which replaces Tinderboxes from the previous game. by returning to the series's roots the game is overall more interesting to play as opposed to the Walking-sim approach that AMFP did
presentation is also great, good enviroments and art-direction not to mention the sound-design.
in terms of the main campaign, I think the game really shined through on the first few sections especially the ones you need to traverse an old Desert Fort, after it the game kinda falls flat since most of the reminder of the journey is set on an alternate world with not much interesting puzzles or engaging storylines.
the story is a bit confusing and falls flat later on, Tasi is a great main protagonist for the game and making her fully voiced was a right move IMO, the voice-acting is superb but overall the narrative is a bit difficult to follow nevertheless.
overall a big improvement over a Machine for Pigs but still feels a weak game compared to the Dark Descent, by far my favorite in this series.