ArcadeFlower587
2023
If Geno has a million fans, then I am one of them. If Geno has ten fans, then I am one of them. If Geno has only one fan then that is me. If Geno has no fans, then that means I am no longer on earth. If the world is against Geno, then I am against the world.
Hey look I finally managed to finish an RPG from the Mario series, that only took way too long! This remake is very interesting to me because of how faithful it is to the original, for better and for worse. I never played the original, but this was even obvious for someone like me. There are just little things here and there. Platforming with no depth perception because of the asymmetric angle can be a little frustrating. The Bowser's Keep segment of the game goes on for a bit too long with too many battles that aren't even difficult in the slightest. Scenes that play out exactly the same as the original feel weird here, because the SNES game had the sprites animate in a way that let the player connect the dots on what was going on. With 3D models in HD animated exactly the same way, it just looks stilted and awkward, the first encounter with Bowser being a great example. To get one more negative out of the way, the game's performance isn't the best. There are a handful of specific areas where the game stutters and I did encounter slowdown here and there. One of these moments was when the final boss started which took me out of it a little bit.
Now onto the positives. I want to bring up the writing first off. This game is so creative and feels nothing like any other Mario game. Besides the Mushroom Kingdom and Bowser's Keep, every area in this game is something new and whacky you will never find anywhere else in this series, with so many fun characters as well. Speaking of characters, we've got two completely original ones as party members that never return after this game. As I said from the top, I absolutely love Geno. He's probably my favorite companion from any Mario game. He stands out so much, intentionally so because if his origin, but he still fits this world so well and I love his interactions with everybody, not to mention in battle he can just straight up shoot enemies. I unfortunately didn't use Mallow in my party all that much, but I still think he's a great character. It's nothing you or I haven't seen before in plenty of other stories, but he plays off everyone else in the party pretty well. I really enjoyed Nimbus Land because of Mallow's connection to its little storyline.
This is probably my favorite interpretation of Bowser ever. Future games really lean into the comedic aspect of his character, and that's still here for sure, but he also feels like a real person with emotions and goals. I love when you run into old minions of his who are afraid of angering him, but he tells them not to worry, it's nice. Peach is...not great honestly. I used her in my party a lot because her healing abilities are insane, but as a character she's not her Paper Mario self that's for sure. She's pretty one dimensional and I didn't really care for it.
I guess that just leaves the combat! My favorite aspect of this is that everyone has different attack animations with different timing for better damage, depending on what weapon you have equipped to them. Bowser has my favorites, from spinning and throwing a Chain Chomp at enemies to just straight up throwing Mario at them, great stuff. Every character has plenty of special moves they can use and it really feels like you need to be careful about which ones you use at what time. Not only do they have different timing or inputs to get the best results, but the strongest ones use a lot of mana and you definitely don't want to run out. The remake added a meter in battles that fills up when you successfully block attacks or land the input for better damage on your own attacks. When it's full, you can use a super move, and each party formation has their own unique one! Mario, Bowser, and Geno is my favorite one personally. You can also now swap out a party member if they become immobilized or if their HP runs out, which is a godsend. Mario has to remain in the party at all times though for some reason. Battles are pretty fun in this game! Boss battles especially kept me engaged and really thinking about what I was doing. It's nothing too complicated, it is a Mario game after all, but it's still a lot of fun.
And that sums up my thoughts on this game as a whole. It's not anything groundbreaking or super in-depth or anything like that. It's a simple, sweet, fun adventure that I could revisit anytime. I love this take on the Mario universe and there's nothing quite like it, and that makes it feel pretty special.
Hey look I finally managed to finish an RPG from the Mario series, that only took way too long! This remake is very interesting to me because of how faithful it is to the original, for better and for worse. I never played the original, but this was even obvious for someone like me. There are just little things here and there. Platforming with no depth perception because of the asymmetric angle can be a little frustrating. The Bowser's Keep segment of the game goes on for a bit too long with too many battles that aren't even difficult in the slightest. Scenes that play out exactly the same as the original feel weird here, because the SNES game had the sprites animate in a way that let the player connect the dots on what was going on. With 3D models in HD animated exactly the same way, it just looks stilted and awkward, the first encounter with Bowser being a great example. To get one more negative out of the way, the game's performance isn't the best. There are a handful of specific areas where the game stutters and I did encounter slowdown here and there. One of these moments was when the final boss started which took me out of it a little bit.
Now onto the positives. I want to bring up the writing first off. This game is so creative and feels nothing like any other Mario game. Besides the Mushroom Kingdom and Bowser's Keep, every area in this game is something new and whacky you will never find anywhere else in this series, with so many fun characters as well. Speaking of characters, we've got two completely original ones as party members that never return after this game. As I said from the top, I absolutely love Geno. He's probably my favorite companion from any Mario game. He stands out so much, intentionally so because if his origin, but he still fits this world so well and I love his interactions with everybody, not to mention in battle he can just straight up shoot enemies. I unfortunately didn't use Mallow in my party all that much, but I still think he's a great character. It's nothing you or I haven't seen before in plenty of other stories, but he plays off everyone else in the party pretty well. I really enjoyed Nimbus Land because of Mallow's connection to its little storyline.
This is probably my favorite interpretation of Bowser ever. Future games really lean into the comedic aspect of his character, and that's still here for sure, but he also feels like a real person with emotions and goals. I love when you run into old minions of his who are afraid of angering him, but he tells them not to worry, it's nice. Peach is...not great honestly. I used her in my party a lot because her healing abilities are insane, but as a character she's not her Paper Mario self that's for sure. She's pretty one dimensional and I didn't really care for it.
I guess that just leaves the combat! My favorite aspect of this is that everyone has different attack animations with different timing for better damage, depending on what weapon you have equipped to them. Bowser has my favorites, from spinning and throwing a Chain Chomp at enemies to just straight up throwing Mario at them, great stuff. Every character has plenty of special moves they can use and it really feels like you need to be careful about which ones you use at what time. Not only do they have different timing or inputs to get the best results, but the strongest ones use a lot of mana and you definitely don't want to run out. The remake added a meter in battles that fills up when you successfully block attacks or land the input for better damage on your own attacks. When it's full, you can use a super move, and each party formation has their own unique one! Mario, Bowser, and Geno is my favorite one personally. You can also now swap out a party member if they become immobilized or if their HP runs out, which is a godsend. Mario has to remain in the party at all times though for some reason. Battles are pretty fun in this game! Boss battles especially kept me engaged and really thinking about what I was doing. It's nothing too complicated, it is a Mario game after all, but it's still a lot of fun.
And that sums up my thoughts on this game as a whole. It's not anything groundbreaking or super in-depth or anything like that. It's a simple, sweet, fun adventure that I could revisit anytime. I love this take on the Mario universe and there's nothing quite like it, and that makes it feel pretty special.
2022
Alright I think it's safe to say classic Final Fantasy is not my cup of tea unfortunately. This is now the third turn-based FF game that I ended up putting down. For what it's worth, I definitely enjoyed this one a lot more than FFVII or FFIX. I played 20 hours of this before I got tired of it.
While I was very much invested in the story because of Terra, Locke, and Celes, that's pretty much the extent of it I could get into. This game has too many damn characters and most of them are not important after their introductions. I can appreciate the ambition, as it's definitely impressive for an SNES game, but too many of these characters feel half-baked. They DO all have their unique attributes...kinda. The game clearly wants you to use the esper system to build up your characters with magic spells, but this makes them all feel the same. Why bother worrying about specific character abilities when the game makes it very obvious very early on that spamming magic is infinitely more effective? There are also instances where you have to use specific characters for story moments, and if you haven't built those characters up enough, good luck! I was stuck on one section for a good while just because I needed ice magic, and I couldn't use the character I had built up ice spells on, how fun! Creating a team with so many characters to pick from should be a fun experience, but the game ruins this with its own battle system. Switching out the characters you've put time into is a bad idea, and it absolutely sucks when you have to. It just makes things take longer than they should.
I do want to make it very clear that I was enjoying the story a lot, as bloated as it is. I'm a little bummed that I won't see the end of Terra or Celes's arcs, but this gameplay is just not doing it for me unfortunately. I was super into this game in the beginning, but the more I played, the more the mechanics bothered me . It being an SNES game, it has plenty of "old game-isms" that are annoying too. The pixel remaster doesn't help with these either which just confuses me. I really appreciate what it did for the time, but it's not a game I like all that much.
What will stick out the most about this game to me is the opera house segment, because the performance scene is HD-2D and nothing else in this release is. It's beautiful and I love it, but like...why?
While I was very much invested in the story because of Terra, Locke, and Celes, that's pretty much the extent of it I could get into. This game has too many damn characters and most of them are not important after their introductions. I can appreciate the ambition, as it's definitely impressive for an SNES game, but too many of these characters feel half-baked. They DO all have their unique attributes...kinda. The game clearly wants you to use the esper system to build up your characters with magic spells, but this makes them all feel the same. Why bother worrying about specific character abilities when the game makes it very obvious very early on that spamming magic is infinitely more effective? There are also instances where you have to use specific characters for story moments, and if you haven't built those characters up enough, good luck! I was stuck on one section for a good while just because I needed ice magic, and I couldn't use the character I had built up ice spells on, how fun! Creating a team with so many characters to pick from should be a fun experience, but the game ruins this with its own battle system. Switching out the characters you've put time into is a bad idea, and it absolutely sucks when you have to. It just makes things take longer than they should.
I do want to make it very clear that I was enjoying the story a lot, as bloated as it is. I'm a little bummed that I won't see the end of Terra or Celes's arcs, but this gameplay is just not doing it for me unfortunately. I was super into this game in the beginning, but the more I played, the more the mechanics bothered me . It being an SNES game, it has plenty of "old game-isms" that are annoying too. The pixel remaster doesn't help with these either which just confuses me. I really appreciate what it did for the time, but it's not a game I like all that much.
What will stick out the most about this game to me is the opera house segment, because the performance scene is HD-2D and nothing else in this release is. It's beautiful and I love it, but like...why?
Why in the fuck did I like this DLC when I first played it, this is ROUGH.
The Arctic Cruise is without question the worst chapter in the game. Its nothing but tight spaces, awkward platforming, and the worst camera in the history of platformers. There are only 3 levels too and the second one has you going through the exact same areas as the first except on a timer, a really stress inducing timer at that. The best thing I can say about this chapter is that the seals are funny, I like them. They SHOULD be annoying because they speak in uwu, but I always wanted to hear what they had to say.
The other new addition in this DLC is Death Wish, which is...not fun, but that's kinda by design. It's mainly super difficult versions of pre-existing levels. Most of them aren't a fun challenge either, they're just irritating. There are also tasks you'll be given that you can do in any eligible world, and these always suck, they're a pointless grind just to make the mode take longer. I have never finished this mode and I probably never will. Those new boss themes are bangers but that's about all I can say in terms of positives.
So uh yeah in conclusion this DLC sucks it's terrible I don't like it but it did introduce Bow Kid so points for that I guess
The Arctic Cruise is without question the worst chapter in the game. Its nothing but tight spaces, awkward platforming, and the worst camera in the history of platformers. There are only 3 levels too and the second one has you going through the exact same areas as the first except on a timer, a really stress inducing timer at that. The best thing I can say about this chapter is that the seals are funny, I like them. They SHOULD be annoying because they speak in uwu, but I always wanted to hear what they had to say.
The other new addition in this DLC is Death Wish, which is...not fun, but that's kinda by design. It's mainly super difficult versions of pre-existing levels. Most of them aren't a fun challenge either, they're just irritating. There are also tasks you'll be given that you can do in any eligible world, and these always suck, they're a pointless grind just to make the mode take longer. I have never finished this mode and I probably never will. Those new boss themes are bangers but that's about all I can say in terms of positives.
So uh yeah in conclusion this DLC sucks it's terrible I don't like it but it did introduce Bow Kid so points for that I guess
This and its sequel are where Pokemon peaked. Fast paced battles with great looking animated sprites, a beautiful combination of 2D and 3D visuals, a story that's actually in-depth and engaging, memorable characters (N 😳), it's all fantastic. The game even uses the legendaries in an effective way here, the villain having one to defeat the league with raises the stakes. It feels like your journey actually matters in the context of the world itself.
I love the ambition of including 150 brand new Pokemon, and not only that, making them the ONLY ones you can encounter throughout your journey. It really forces the player to learn what these new Pokemon are and how to effectively use them and counter them. My one complaint though is that just like gen 1, you'll be seeing the same handful of Pokemon in the early game, which can get a little old.
I don't think Pokemon will ever be this good ever again. They put everything into this and the sequel. I would do anything for an HD 2D game that just takes this style and enhances it, but I guess we're stuck with these lifeless 3D games now, hooray.
All I'm saying is nothing in the modern games will leave as much of an impression as the Reshiram and Zekrom confrontation in this game.
I love the ambition of including 150 brand new Pokemon, and not only that, making them the ONLY ones you can encounter throughout your journey. It really forces the player to learn what these new Pokemon are and how to effectively use them and counter them. My one complaint though is that just like gen 1, you'll be seeing the same handful of Pokemon in the early game, which can get a little old.
I don't think Pokemon will ever be this good ever again. They put everything into this and the sequel. I would do anything for an HD 2D game that just takes this style and enhances it, but I guess we're stuck with these lifeless 3D games now, hooray.
All I'm saying is nothing in the modern games will leave as much of an impression as the Reshiram and Zekrom confrontation in this game.
2022
I absolutely get the appeal of this one but I think it's safe to say it's not for me. This game proves to me that I should not ever play a Souls game, I do not have the patience for that.
And again number scores are dumb, this is just how I feel about it. It's not bad but I don't want to keep playing.
And again number scores are dumb, this is just how I feel about it. It's not bad but I don't want to keep playing.
"Celeste in 3D would be pretty cool!" is something my brother has said to me a few times. I always said that it sounded like a bad idea.
I feel validated now.
I am going to bump my score up by half a star just for that conversation with Badeline though, that made me feel the warm fuzzies.
I feel validated now.
I am going to bump my score up by half a star just for that conversation with Badeline though, that made me feel the warm fuzzies.
I'm a simple woman. I see an F-Zero inspired game with a focus on combat while racing and I am 100% on board. AND I get to play as Togokahn? WOO!!!
Ok let's get the obvious out of the way first. Yes, superheroes turning evil is overdone. Yes, the main characters have insane levels of plot armor so that the story can happen. Yes, live service games are a plague on the industry and most of them are not good.
Ok moving on.
As someone who enjoys a shooter every now and then, I've had a lot of fun with this game. Each character is fun to play as, and the gunplay feels great. Metropolis is such a cool location to explore. My hottest take is probably that I find the missions fun too, and there really weren't any that I hated. That said though it's not amazing or super complex or anything. I like my fast paced action but I'm not gonna argue that it isn't shallow. As for me, I like plowing through enemies with King Shark, or zipping around the arena as Boomerang.
I do have some story complaints, like how this game is set in the Arkhamverse for literally no reason, and how underwhelming Superman is. Every other league member has a lot of buildup before you fight them, but for stupid narrative reasons Superman just isn't around for most of it. Its probably because they knew if they didn't write him out of the story, there's no reason for him not to just instantly kill all the main characters. Also stop making Diana super unlikable, I hate it. I do like the squad though and I'm excited to see where they take this game with future characters and exploring the multiverse.
Oh and give me a Green Lantern skin for King Shark you cowards.
Ok moving on.
As someone who enjoys a shooter every now and then, I've had a lot of fun with this game. Each character is fun to play as, and the gunplay feels great. Metropolis is such a cool location to explore. My hottest take is probably that I find the missions fun too, and there really weren't any that I hated. That said though it's not amazing or super complex or anything. I like my fast paced action but I'm not gonna argue that it isn't shallow. As for me, I like plowing through enemies with King Shark, or zipping around the arena as Boomerang.
I do have some story complaints, like how this game is set in the Arkhamverse for literally no reason, and how underwhelming Superman is. Every other league member has a lot of buildup before you fight them, but for stupid narrative reasons Superman just isn't around for most of it. Its probably because they knew if they didn't write him out of the story, there's no reason for him not to just instantly kill all the main characters. Also stop making Diana super unlikable, I hate it. I do like the squad though and I'm excited to see where they take this game with future characters and exploring the multiverse.
Oh and give me a Green Lantern skin for King Shark you cowards.
2017
It's been a hot minute since I played this, and it's still one of my favorite games ever, my favorite 3D platformer outside of Mario. This time I played on Steam, most of the game in co-op, and messed with mods a bit. I will say playing a version of this game that doesn't always feel like it's on the brink of exploding was really nice, but if I wanted to, I could easily nitpick the hell out of this. The game is not perfect and on a second run the little gripes are a lot more noticeable.
Mustache Girl is a pretty nothing villain, set up early on and then barely ever seen again until the endgame. Alpine Skyline in general, while not a bad chapter, is a very noticeable weakpoint compared to every other chapter in the game. Not all of the hats are that useful, the ice hat and time stop hat feel very underutilized in particular. The presentation isn't the best either. Whether or not characters emote during cutscenes seems to be random? It's very distracting. However, does any of this bring the game down for me? NOPE!!!
I'm sorry I love this game too much. The issues it has aren't big enough for me to dislike it even a little bit. The platforming feels amazing. The levels are full of so much stuff to collect, it's so much fun to just run around. The game constantly throws you into different absurd scenarios, yet it never feels jarring. From a murder mystery, to performing in a big parade, to selling your soul to a shadow...demon...guy...thing, it never stops being super entertaining. It's also really funny. It might look ridiculous for a game like this to be rated T but that dark humor is much appreciated. And do I even need to say anything about the soundtrack, it speaks for itself.
I just love this game. I'm absolutely biased and overlooking its problems, but hey, Super Mario Galaxy is another one of my favorite games ever, and that game has some of the most obnoxious padding ever. Let me have this one >:)
Mustache Girl is a pretty nothing villain, set up early on and then barely ever seen again until the endgame. Alpine Skyline in general, while not a bad chapter, is a very noticeable weakpoint compared to every other chapter in the game. Not all of the hats are that useful, the ice hat and time stop hat feel very underutilized in particular. The presentation isn't the best either. Whether or not characters emote during cutscenes seems to be random? It's very distracting. However, does any of this bring the game down for me? NOPE!!!
I'm sorry I love this game too much. The issues it has aren't big enough for me to dislike it even a little bit. The platforming feels amazing. The levels are full of so much stuff to collect, it's so much fun to just run around. The game constantly throws you into different absurd scenarios, yet it never feels jarring. From a murder mystery, to performing in a big parade, to selling your soul to a shadow...demon...guy...thing, it never stops being super entertaining. It's also really funny. It might look ridiculous for a game like this to be rated T but that dark humor is much appreciated. And do I even need to say anything about the soundtrack, it speaks for itself.
I just love this game. I'm absolutely biased and overlooking its problems, but hey, Super Mario Galaxy is another one of my favorite games ever, and that game has some of the most obnoxious padding ever. Let me have this one >:)
Man...that's really it, huh?
As much as I love Pac-Man World and have a lot of fun with the Championship Edition games...this is really all we've gotten in this style? I can't exactly say that I'm surprised that the soundtrack is the only thing about this game that's ever brought up. Maze Madness feels more like a proof of concept than anything else. Where Pac-Man World got a sequel that took its foundation and polished it into a damn good game, here it's just...nothing.
Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy this game! The classic maze formula brought into 3D with a focus on puzzle solving, that's great! I love it! The game never really feels like it gets off the ground though, it just always feels like it's missing something. There's only so many ways you can push ice blocks and TNT to solve puzzles before it starts to feel samey. I was waiting for the game to really test my abilities or introduce some whacky new gimmick to solve puzzles with, but..it never happened. The game never goes beyond just "good."
Instead the game artificially extends its runtime with the worst padding I have ever seen. See I actually don't mind that you have to go out of your way to collect as much as you can in levels in order to progress. It's Pac-Man, I want to collect all the dots and fruit anyway. The problem is that the game will lock you away from collecting things in a stage at first so that you HAVE to play it a second time later on. The witch's key is the dumbest thing this game throws at you. You don't unlock it until you enter the final world in the game, and it unlocks paths in previous levels you couldn't access before for no real reason! On top of that, this is the same point where the game roadblocks you, and doesn't let you progress until you've collected enough in older levels.
Once I realized that all you get for doing this is a rematch with World 4's boss, which is the only boss fight in the game by the way, and then the game just ends...yeah, no thanks. I'll pass.
Unfortunately we're probably never going to get another game like this ever again, and it's a real shame. There's plenty of potential here, and I would've much preferred another crack at this formula over a 3rd World game and that stupid reboot they did, but oh well, what can ya do.
As much as I love Pac-Man World and have a lot of fun with the Championship Edition games...this is really all we've gotten in this style? I can't exactly say that I'm surprised that the soundtrack is the only thing about this game that's ever brought up. Maze Madness feels more like a proof of concept than anything else. Where Pac-Man World got a sequel that took its foundation and polished it into a damn good game, here it's just...nothing.
Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy this game! The classic maze formula brought into 3D with a focus on puzzle solving, that's great! I love it! The game never really feels like it gets off the ground though, it just always feels like it's missing something. There's only so many ways you can push ice blocks and TNT to solve puzzles before it starts to feel samey. I was waiting for the game to really test my abilities or introduce some whacky new gimmick to solve puzzles with, but..it never happened. The game never goes beyond just "good."
Instead the game artificially extends its runtime with the worst padding I have ever seen. See I actually don't mind that you have to go out of your way to collect as much as you can in levels in order to progress. It's Pac-Man, I want to collect all the dots and fruit anyway. The problem is that the game will lock you away from collecting things in a stage at first so that you HAVE to play it a second time later on. The witch's key is the dumbest thing this game throws at you. You don't unlock it until you enter the final world in the game, and it unlocks paths in previous levels you couldn't access before for no real reason! On top of that, this is the same point where the game roadblocks you, and doesn't let you progress until you've collected enough in older levels.
Once I realized that all you get for doing this is a rematch with World 4's boss, which is the only boss fight in the game by the way, and then the game just ends...yeah, no thanks. I'll pass.
Unfortunately we're probably never going to get another game like this ever again, and it's a real shame. There's plenty of potential here, and I would've much preferred another crack at this formula over a 3rd World game and that stupid reboot they did, but oh well, what can ya do.
2021
Cute little game! The collectathon gameplay may be simplistic and a bit repetitive, but it works great for a little 4 hour experience. The art style is amazing, and I love the Paper Mario-esque aesthetic with 2D characters in a 3D space.
What I was not expecting at all, was the subtle storytelling about a nonbinary youth looking for acceptance in the world. I found myself caring for Niko more and more as the game went on, as I learned more about them. I love how it was handled.
I think asking for $25 for this is a bit much, but this is absolutely worth picking up when it's on sale, it's a great cozy little time.
What I was not expecting at all, was the subtle storytelling about a nonbinary youth looking for acceptance in the world. I found myself caring for Niko more and more as the game went on, as I learned more about them. I love how it was handled.
I think asking for $25 for this is a bit much, but this is absolutely worth picking up when it's on sale, it's a great cozy little time.
2023
Disclaimer: I have not played all the different routes, these are my thoughts after getting the pacifist ending.
Reviewing this game is tricky, it's a prime example of why number scores don't mean anything really. Undertale Yellow is a fantastic experience, that is admittedly rough around the edges. Making a follow-up to Undertale is quite the task in the first place. That game is so unique with its commentary on game design and the different ways it breaks the fourth wall. That kind of magic can't be replicated in a follow-up, the novelty isn't there anymore. This is also a fan project, a very ambitious fan project, but a fan project nonetheless. With that in mind, its important to set expectations in check.
I'll get the negatives out of the way first. The game has a fairly weak start. The Ruins and Snowdin are so similar to their Undertale counterparts that it's not very engaging, the game feels like it's on autopilot for a while. Even the new areas aren't super interesting. The game is hard carried by its character interactions and funny setpieces, because these areas are so linear and uninteresting it's sad. There's a lot of just walking in a straight line, and the puzzles you do come across are pathetically easy, they may as well not be there. It's very odd when enemy encounters are so much more difficult compared to Undertale.
Every boss in this game works the same way. The act command and spare command do literally nothing, they're all just a matter of surviving for enough turns until the boss gives up. I wish they were a little more creative there, since the different soul gimmicks in these fights are pretty neat. On top of this, boss difficulty is super whack. A lot of attacks are just straight up not telegraphed properly, and do so much damage that trial and error was the only way for me to get through them. There is an easy mode option, but it kind of over-fixes the problem? It just makes attacks do like no damage at all. So its either suffer through some dumb attack patterns, or take all the fun away by making the game piss easy. I just think the balancing needed some more work. There's also one absurdly stupid design choice near the end of the game that forced me into easy mode just to beat the game, thanks for that.
Alright that's enough of that, let's get into why this game is awesome. Firstly, I love the characters here. Martlet, Ceroba, North Star and his group of trainees, hell I even liked Flowey, that's crazy. The game ties into the original in clever ways to really flesh out these characters and make you love them. They all have their arcs that are super satisfying. They bring a layer of this world that the original game didn't go into. How DO the monsters feel about King Asgore? How have his cowardly decisions affected people? What will monsters resort to for just a chance at freedom? Is that even something they SHOULD strive for? After all, humans already drove them all away before, what's stopping them from doing it again?
The world itself is so interesting to see in the past. Different takes on Snowdin and Hotland that make sense given Undertale's context are just really neat (thank you for skipping over Waterfall though I would've actually become the Joker if I had to go through that again). The Dunes and Steamworks are fun additions to the Underground that widen the scope of Undertale's world just a little, and I like that. I'm typically not one for desert biomes in games but here, it's pretty sweet.
And of course, the game is full of comedic moments. I don't think it's quite as funny as Undertale. Not every joke lands, but it's pretty great throughout. Shoutout to Mooch, I love her she's always funny. One thing I love is since it's Flowey handling the saving and resetting for you this time, he always has something to say when you die, usually ridiculing you. A lot of his lines made me smile.
I can't say much on this myself but it's worth noting that the music is amazing. If you told me Toby Fox himself composed this soundtrack, I would believe you. Again, not quite as good as Undertale but there's quite a few bangers in here.
All this to say, is this game as good as Undertale? No, absolutely not. It's got some questionable design, and isn't quite there in terms of balancing or its world layout. It's very important to remember though that this is a fan project, and in terms of those...holy cow. I have seen some truly horrendous shit come from Undertale fan works. Truly bottom of the barrel stuff. But this, this isn't even on the level of passable or decent. This is like, how in the hell is this even possible? This is beyond impressive and everyone behind it should be proud of themselves. It tells a new fun and creative story, and expands the Undertale lore in ways I never knew I wanted to see. With that in mind, I gotta say I kinda love this. Say all you want about this not being canon or important to the other games at all, but for me, it's so well done that I don't care. I love these characters and this story and that's all that matters.
Reviewing this game is tricky, it's a prime example of why number scores don't mean anything really. Undertale Yellow is a fantastic experience, that is admittedly rough around the edges. Making a follow-up to Undertale is quite the task in the first place. That game is so unique with its commentary on game design and the different ways it breaks the fourth wall. That kind of magic can't be replicated in a follow-up, the novelty isn't there anymore. This is also a fan project, a very ambitious fan project, but a fan project nonetheless. With that in mind, its important to set expectations in check.
I'll get the negatives out of the way first. The game has a fairly weak start. The Ruins and Snowdin are so similar to their Undertale counterparts that it's not very engaging, the game feels like it's on autopilot for a while. Even the new areas aren't super interesting. The game is hard carried by its character interactions and funny setpieces, because these areas are so linear and uninteresting it's sad. There's a lot of just walking in a straight line, and the puzzles you do come across are pathetically easy, they may as well not be there. It's very odd when enemy encounters are so much more difficult compared to Undertale.
Every boss in this game works the same way. The act command and spare command do literally nothing, they're all just a matter of surviving for enough turns until the boss gives up. I wish they were a little more creative there, since the different soul gimmicks in these fights are pretty neat. On top of this, boss difficulty is super whack. A lot of attacks are just straight up not telegraphed properly, and do so much damage that trial and error was the only way for me to get through them. There is an easy mode option, but it kind of over-fixes the problem? It just makes attacks do like no damage at all. So its either suffer through some dumb attack patterns, or take all the fun away by making the game piss easy. I just think the balancing needed some more work. There's also one absurdly stupid design choice near the end of the game that forced me into easy mode just to beat the game, thanks for that.
Alright that's enough of that, let's get into why this game is awesome. Firstly, I love the characters here. Martlet, Ceroba, North Star and his group of trainees, hell I even liked Flowey, that's crazy. The game ties into the original in clever ways to really flesh out these characters and make you love them. They all have their arcs that are super satisfying. They bring a layer of this world that the original game didn't go into. How DO the monsters feel about King Asgore? How have his cowardly decisions affected people? What will monsters resort to for just a chance at freedom? Is that even something they SHOULD strive for? After all, humans already drove them all away before, what's stopping them from doing it again?
The world itself is so interesting to see in the past. Different takes on Snowdin and Hotland that make sense given Undertale's context are just really neat (thank you for skipping over Waterfall though I would've actually become the Joker if I had to go through that again). The Dunes and Steamworks are fun additions to the Underground that widen the scope of Undertale's world just a little, and I like that. I'm typically not one for desert biomes in games but here, it's pretty sweet.
And of course, the game is full of comedic moments. I don't think it's quite as funny as Undertale. Not every joke lands, but it's pretty great throughout. Shoutout to Mooch, I love her she's always funny. One thing I love is since it's Flowey handling the saving and resetting for you this time, he always has something to say when you die, usually ridiculing you. A lot of his lines made me smile.
I can't say much on this myself but it's worth noting that the music is amazing. If you told me Toby Fox himself composed this soundtrack, I would believe you. Again, not quite as good as Undertale but there's quite a few bangers in here.
All this to say, is this game as good as Undertale? No, absolutely not. It's got some questionable design, and isn't quite there in terms of balancing or its world layout. It's very important to remember though that this is a fan project, and in terms of those...holy cow. I have seen some truly horrendous shit come from Undertale fan works. Truly bottom of the barrel stuff. But this, this isn't even on the level of passable or decent. This is like, how in the hell is this even possible? This is beyond impressive and everyone behind it should be proud of themselves. It tells a new fun and creative story, and expands the Undertale lore in ways I never knew I wanted to see. With that in mind, I gotta say I kinda love this. Say all you want about this not being canon or important to the other games at all, but for me, it's so well done that I don't care. I love these characters and this story and that's all that matters.
Originally my opinion on OneShot was that it was a unique and interesting concept, with characters and a world I was interested in. In terms of gameplay though, it left a lot to be desired. The gameplay was incredibly basic and not very engaging, and while the gimmick of solving puzzles by looking outside the game itself made the game unique, the game really didn't do enough with that, along with the ending feeling half-baked in my opinion.
And then I played the Solstice run.
This is where the game really shines. All of my complaints are pretty much nullified here. The game still revolves around puzzles and interacting with objects in the environment, but story wise and in terms of how it goes about the previously mentioned gimmick, it's a whole lot more engaging. I was very much immersed in what was happening. All of the characters are memorable and the way you interact with the world is incredible. The Solstice run of OneShot makes the game for me, it's a fantastic experience, up there with some of my favorite games I've ever played.
It's just really unfortunate that the experience of OneShot as a whole is having to get through that initial run that isn't that great, waiting for the game to get good once Solstice comes around. Not to say that the first run of the game is bad, but it's not anything amazing, it's just alright, which is a little frustrating.
I still highly recommend the game but it isn't without its faults, that's all.
And then I played the Solstice run.
This is where the game really shines. All of my complaints are pretty much nullified here. The game still revolves around puzzles and interacting with objects in the environment, but story wise and in terms of how it goes about the previously mentioned gimmick, it's a whole lot more engaging. I was very much immersed in what was happening. All of the characters are memorable and the way you interact with the world is incredible. The Solstice run of OneShot makes the game for me, it's a fantastic experience, up there with some of my favorite games I've ever played.
It's just really unfortunate that the experience of OneShot as a whole is having to get through that initial run that isn't that great, waiting for the game to get good once Solstice comes around. Not to say that the first run of the game is bad, but it's not anything amazing, it's just alright, which is a little frustrating.
I still highly recommend the game but it isn't without its faults, that's all.
2021
This is the video game equivalent of a drug trip and I'm all for it
1998
This is definitely a game that I appreciate more than I actually like. I did enjoy what I played for the most part, but getting just under halfway through the game, I really don't want to play anymore.
For 1998 this game is super impressive, I found myself surprised at how much they were able to do for the time period. Nowadays though the game definitely drags. The movement doesn't feel quite right, the game is super stingy with health pickups, and sometimes enemies can kill you in frankly stupid ways to where it doesn't even feel fair.
When you're in a gunfight and carefully planning your actions it's really fun and engaging, but at the same time there's plenty of boring puzzle solving and the most awkward platforming imaginable.
So yeah, not a bad game by any means and I'm glad I checked it out, but this is not one I have any desire to pick up again, sorry to say.
For 1998 this game is super impressive, I found myself surprised at how much they were able to do for the time period. Nowadays though the game definitely drags. The movement doesn't feel quite right, the game is super stingy with health pickups, and sometimes enemies can kill you in frankly stupid ways to where it doesn't even feel fair.
When you're in a gunfight and carefully planning your actions it's really fun and engaging, but at the same time there's plenty of boring puzzle solving and the most awkward platforming imaginable.
So yeah, not a bad game by any means and I'm glad I checked it out, but this is not one I have any desire to pick up again, sorry to say.