Avorith
124 Reviews liked by Avorith
This is a beautiful game that is brimming with style and substance. You can literally feel the heart and soul they put into every animation, every level design quirk, and every unique enemy design. The use of color in this game is just so gosh darn pretty. A huuuuge step up from the souless New Super Mario series.
Whereas its predecessor used 3d in a way that was just a formality, Wonder gives a damn strong argument that these updated 3D/2.5D visuals give the classic look of SMB3 and Super Mario World a run for their money.
Is this game perfect? No. Is it close, you can make a strong case for it. The biggest elephant in the room is surprisingly not the really awesome, flavorful and fun elephant power up, but in the character select screen. Wow! What a wide selection of characters! Too bad half of them are unusable. I want to use the Yoshis and Nabbit, however, there is zero incentive for me to use characters that literally can't interact with curcial parts of the level. The Yoshis and Nabbit can't take damage, Nabbit can't even have collision with the enemies! What's the point of playing a game full of wonder if you can't interact with it? A simple solution would have been to not tie invincibility and easy mode to any specific character. It boggles the mind how this was implemented.
Other issues include the abysmal boss battles with either nothing (some worlds don't have castles and bosses) or with Bowser Jr. again and again. The airship "bosses" are just 5 second segments where you jump/run from left to right and hit a button. A smaller sized problem would be the difficulty, which leans on the easier side, and the length of levels, which is rather short.
Overall, despite a few nagging flaws, the game is a beautiful example of games as an art form and games as a vessel for pure unadulterated fun... simultaneously. Therefore, this game should be played by pretty much everyone - Hardcore and casual gamers alike.
Whereas its predecessor used 3d in a way that was just a formality, Wonder gives a damn strong argument that these updated 3D/2.5D visuals give the classic look of SMB3 and Super Mario World a run for their money.
Is this game perfect? No. Is it close, you can make a strong case for it. The biggest elephant in the room is surprisingly not the really awesome, flavorful and fun elephant power up, but in the character select screen. Wow! What a wide selection of characters! Too bad half of them are unusable. I want to use the Yoshis and Nabbit, however, there is zero incentive for me to use characters that literally can't interact with curcial parts of the level. The Yoshis and Nabbit can't take damage, Nabbit can't even have collision with the enemies! What's the point of playing a game full of wonder if you can't interact with it? A simple solution would have been to not tie invincibility and easy mode to any specific character. It boggles the mind how this was implemented.
Other issues include the abysmal boss battles with either nothing (some worlds don't have castles and bosses) or with Bowser Jr. again and again. The airship "bosses" are just 5 second segments where you jump/run from left to right and hit a button. A smaller sized problem would be the difficulty, which leans on the easier side, and the length of levels, which is rather short.
Overall, despite a few nagging flaws, the game is a beautiful example of games as an art form and games as a vessel for pure unadulterated fun... simultaneously. Therefore, this game should be played by pretty much everyone - Hardcore and casual gamers alike.
Bowser's Fury
2021
The game that is most out of context. Why is Bowser big/scary? Where are you? Why is everything a cat? And why is this game so good? That's right. This is a good game, despite nothing making sense.
The premise is to collect Cat Shines (wtf are them) so that they light up cat lighthouses and activate a giant cat bell so you can absorb its power and defeat the apparently angry Bowser. Nothing makes sense and it is a blast.
The world is a giant sandbox that you can traverse and platform in. The traversal method is insanely fun, with your permanent dino mount. The challenges and rewarding and are paced/spaced really well. The whole game is a polished Mario experience in bite sized format, and very few can say no to that.
It's just, so detached from reality, even more so than a regular Mario game. If they would have given the premise just a smidge more context, I feel like this game would have been a better experience.
The premise is to collect Cat Shines (wtf are them) so that they light up cat lighthouses and activate a giant cat bell so you can absorb its power and defeat the apparently angry Bowser. Nothing makes sense and it is a blast.
The world is a giant sandbox that you can traverse and platform in. The traversal method is insanely fun, with your permanent dino mount. The challenges and rewarding and are paced/spaced really well. The whole game is a polished Mario experience in bite sized format, and very few can say no to that.
It's just, so detached from reality, even more so than a regular Mario game. If they would have given the premise just a smidge more context, I feel like this game would have been a better experience.
Bustafellows
2021
Pokémon Scarlet
2022
Devil May Cry 5
2019
Rune Factory 5
2021
A downgrade from its predecessor in almost every way, this farming-/adventure-sim is unlikely to offer more than a briefly enjoyable experience.
+ solid variety of old and new activities
+ ability to see and trigger town events by choice
+ overall quality of life improvement with some caveats (farming controls, slow animations, etc.)
- very short and badly presented main plot
- generic cast with limited involvement in the story
- cheap graphics and level design making the world seem rather lifeless
+ solid variety of old and new activities
+ ability to see and trigger town events by choice
+ overall quality of life improvement with some caveats (farming controls, slow animations, etc.)
- very short and badly presented main plot
- generic cast with limited involvement in the story
- cheap graphics and level design making the world seem rather lifeless
Rune Factory 5
2021
Splatoon 3
2022
This game is insane! A golden idea that is simple and hectic. Multiplayer battles require every fiber of your being to splat, avoid being splatted and gain control of the battleground. The connection issues are rampant but the game is so good that you play anyway, cementing this game among other Nintendo games with its "So good that I avoid the glaring issues" status.
The one player mode was a pleasant surprise with an epic ending. There's plenty of content to go around. The difficulty is at a good level, difficult but fair. On average you'll die a couple of times and die many times on some of the rare missions. Coming from Splatoon 1, this was a welcome distinction.
Other than the typical Turf War and Anarchy Battle (Ranked) modes such as Tower Control and Splat Zone, there is also the very creative and equally chaotic Salmon Run. A deviously crafted defense game that pits you and 3 other teammates against a swarm of mutated salmon. The mode is fun as well as demanding, but the real take away is its atmosphere, music and monster design. A truly masterfully crafted experience.
Overall, if you like shooters or multiplayer action, this is a must play. However, if you're impatient and less tolerant of online connection issues, there might be some problems you're going to have with this game.
The one player mode was a pleasant surprise with an epic ending. There's plenty of content to go around. The difficulty is at a good level, difficult but fair. On average you'll die a couple of times and die many times on some of the rare missions. Coming from Splatoon 1, this was a welcome distinction.
Other than the typical Turf War and Anarchy Battle (Ranked) modes such as Tower Control and Splat Zone, there is also the very creative and equally chaotic Salmon Run. A deviously crafted defense game that pits you and 3 other teammates against a swarm of mutated salmon. The mode is fun as well as demanding, but the real take away is its atmosphere, music and monster design. A truly masterfully crafted experience.
Overall, if you like shooters or multiplayer action, this is a must play. However, if you're impatient and less tolerant of online connection issues, there might be some problems you're going to have with this game.
Super Mario Odyssey
2017
A truly delightful game that literally has a secret hiding behind every corner. Lovable characters with awesome and cute designs populate the masterfully designed levels brimming with content. There is so much charm and fun packed into this adventure that it can fill 2 games if not more. Sometimes I question whether this game was made by humans by the sheer amount of bizarre and wonderful ideas it has to offer.
My only gripe is the weird decision to lock certain moves behind motion controls with no option to bind those actions to other buttons, of which there are plenty of on the Joycons/Pro controller. This type of blatant decision to restrict how a game is played carries a high penalty in my book, considering if you play handheld mode these moves are completely inaccessible, unless you want to risk looking silly or a switch sized crater in your dry way, but this game is so over the top fun that a 5 star rating is still deserved.
My only gripe is the weird decision to lock certain moves behind motion controls with no option to bind those actions to other buttons, of which there are plenty of on the Joycons/Pro controller. This type of blatant decision to restrict how a game is played carries a high penalty in my book, considering if you play handheld mode these moves are completely inaccessible, unless you want to risk looking silly or a switch sized crater in your dry way, but this game is so over the top fun that a 5 star rating is still deserved.
Yoshi's Story
1997
One Step From Eden
2020
What a frantic and challenging game! A beautiful remix of Megaman Battle Network, bullet-hell, and roguelite, One Step From Eden impresses its players with style and unapologetic brutality.
It is a pure game with all battles and no bullshit. The game is ripe with unlockable spell cards, artifacts (passive powers) and characters that you mix and match, amounting to dozens if not hundreds of hours of unadulterated fast pace gameplay.
The presentation is easy on the eyes and the music is jamming. The pixel art is great and the animations hype you up for just one more run.
Honestly, there's not much faults I can think of when it comes to this game.
If you like a balls to the wall challenging and beautiful game, get this. You'll love it!
It is a pure game with all battles and no bullshit. The game is ripe with unlockable spell cards, artifacts (passive powers) and characters that you mix and match, amounting to dozens if not hundreds of hours of unadulterated fast pace gameplay.
The presentation is easy on the eyes and the music is jamming. The pixel art is great and the animations hype you up for just one more run.
Honestly, there's not much faults I can think of when it comes to this game.
If you like a balls to the wall challenging and beautiful game, get this. You'll love it!