It seems like a lot of people view partners in time as one of the weakest Mario and Luigi games, but I really enjoyed my time with it. It is one of the best-paced titles in the series. None of the areas really drag on too long, and I enjoy how each of them carves out their own identity. The idea of the babies is fun and I think it is executed pretty well for the most part. I don't think they got all that creative with the overworld functions of the babies, but the combat is pretty fun in this game. Utilizing all the buttons in attacks and counter-attacks is a cool way to spruce up the series in my opinion. Not to mention the adorable cutscenes of Mario, Luigi, and the Toadsworths attempting to cheer them up and any time baby Mario or baby Luigi says "thank you very much." The bosses were unique and, as always for Mario and Luigi, really fun. However, I was playing on the US version which made the boss HPs obnoxious, but it did help make the final boss very challenging and memorable for me (especially with the banger playing). Speaking of music, Partners in Time excels. The title screen, thwomp volcano, Yoshi mountain, and the time-hole music all also go off. Overall, I think partners in time is not talked about as an upper-echelon Mario RPG, but it absolutely deserves to be. Soul levels off the charts with this one.

Ghost Trick is a sprawling narrative that finds a way to interconnect its many storylines in a unique and meaningful way. It did a great job of setting up its world and narrative while still keeping the experience enjoyable, and, when it was time to execute its twists, it did not hold back at all. It has a great mix of events that I was able to predict with events that came out of nowhere and blew me away. The ending is impactful, complex, and digestible with great ending scenes to cement the experience for me.

The story is great all by itself, but this game has the intangibles out of the wazoo. Firstly, the art style is beautiful, and I absolutely love it. The pixel art is stunning and the cutscenes are extremely well done which is all the better when you realize the gameplay is hugely linked to breaking down the events in those cutscenes. Not to mention the character portraits which are great in their own right. The puzzles are fun and engaging and fit the identity of the game extremely well. The soundtrack is extremely Ace Attorney-esque but just saying that is not giving it enough credit. The songs and character themes especially go so hard in this game which adds even more identity and flare to an already great lineup of characters.

It is an absolutely stellar experience from a game that I was not entirely sure what to expect.

As far as gameplay goes, Neon White is pretty close to perfect. The levels are very well made and have a lot of variety. Some make you really think outside of the box to get a good time while others are focused on mastering the main path. Figuring out the best route and executing your plan is a blast. I feel like some of the later levels got away from that creativity, but outside of that, I have no real qualms with the gameplay. I also really liked the pacing of the soul cards. I think they did a great job of introducing new mechanics and moving on to new ones. I like the visuals, but they definitely feel pretty unoriginal. They kind of give off the CSGO surf map vibes which is fine for a movement-based game like this, but they just don't stand out all that much. I did like some of the late-game cut-scenes though. As far as the story and writing go for this game, it is a mixed bag. Right out of the gates, they hit you with some of the most diabolically cringe lines of dialogue, and they hardly ever stop until the mid-point of the game when they start to go away a little. Honestly, its kind of funny just to see what they're gonna say next, but this game certainly does not have good writing which made me hate a few of the characters in the game. The story grew on me despite this though. It's nothing earth-shattering, but it was pretty neat to see how the pasts of the characters still affected them in the afterlife and the angels were a fun wrinkle. Overall, Neon White is a really fun game that is very rewarding to 100%.

A Short Hike finds a way to make hiking actually fun. The experience was uniquely immersive and had a wide range of ways to keep me interested. Hawk peak is portrayed beautifully and the game looks amazing. I also love the character designs. It obviously took a lot of inspiration from Animal Crossing in that regard. The game also just feels like if you took animal crossing and made it into a sandbox exploration game. Going around meeting and helping everyone just feels great and probably is the best part of the game. If I were to nitpick, I would say the fishing is just okay. Other games do it much better and are more suited for it. It feels a bit out of place here but for players who haven’t played stardew or AC its good. The movement complements the environment perfectly and feels very empowering by the time you get all the golden feathers. I think it works great for this game, but I think it would need a bit more options if it were a full-length game. The dynamic music as you go from trail to trail was super enhancing and added to the fun of exploration. Speaking of exploration, this game kills it in that regard. It gives the player complete freedom to play the game in any way or order they’d like. Pretty much everything is on the table. The game maximizes everything that it has and is satisfied doing just that. It doesn’t try to be anything more than a short, but oh so sweet, game.

Skyward Sword has all the components of a great Zelda game: good dungeons, a mix of fun and well-developed characters, a soundtrack with many jams, and a charming story. I really enjoyed my time with the game; there are so many high points. For example, Skyloft is very cool, great vibe and song. The Ancient Cistern and the Sandship are uniquely elite Zelda dungeons that were very fun to explore. Koloktos was a standout boss that I refuse to fail to mention because smashing his chest with the big sword is an empowering experience. Also, Groose brings a lot to the table as a character, and I liked his development and involvement in the story when he could have easily been thrown to the side. Skyward Sword was also Impa's and Zelda's best game as characters which was great to see. Not to mention Beedle who is an absolute Chad in this game.

However, this game is held back a bit by a few things. For one, the game is limited by the surface map in my opinion. The constant revisiting of areas was a very mixed experience for me. I enjoyed a few revisits, especially the sand sea revisit, but far too often I was getting a bit fatigued by the whole process. In general, the non-dungeon surface areas of Skyward Sword lack a bit of the sense of wonder that other Zelda games have. Lastly, the Imprisoned was a mistake, why do I have to fight him 3 times, 5-6 times if you count the boss rush mode?

Overall though, I really enjoyed the game, and I appreciate what it brings to the table for the Zelda series.

The people are right there are too many collectibles, swap barrels are tedious, and there are way to many repeated mini-games. In fact, I've heard Beaver Bother is a common torture method at Guantanamo. However, for me, it is not enough to sour all the good that DK64 has going for it. The worlds are a lot of fun to explore, and they have the signature Rare Nintendo 64 charm. The characters, cutscenes, and bosses are full of life. DK isle is the GOAT N64 hub world, and the final boss fight and ending goes crazy. I recognize that this game's got so many flaws, but, for someone like me who loves 3D platformers with collectibles and the Kongs, I still love this game.

Original levels, great boss fights, sweet music, and a unique and interesting style. Pizza Tower embraces a silly and fun mandate and dashes and bashes it all the way to the bank.

I just love how much this game experiments with different mechanics and ideas. Despite every level having the same basic structure, it never feels stagnant. The bosses are probably my favorite thing about this game. They are super well-designed and full of personality. They strike the perfect balance between challenging the player to adapt while allowing them to fuck up a little. Also, most of their songs go off which helps. This game's ost in general feels like it's on 1.5x speed half the time, and it has some major bops. The final boss songs, the Pepperman song, the golf theme, and the saloon song were standouts for sure. The presentation is fantastic. I have not really seen anything like it in a game. Literally everything is vivaciously interacting with the world and the player. It's a deliberate mess of computer-drawn lines that works brilliantly when thrown all together.

My only gripe with it would be that it strikes an odd balance between collectibles and speed. There is an overall emphasis on going as fast as you can throughout the game, and it is very satisfying to do so. However, the game also has like three different collectibles along with objectives which makes me want to go for those because some of them feel pretty worthwhile, but it just doesn't feel right to stop and look around for them while the combo meter falls and I am sometimes chased by a flying pizza. I kinda feels like they should have picked one or the other or made their secrets work better for the package they were putting together. Also this is me when it comes to combo systems in video games: https://youtu.be/wo2ARUFR7CU?t=173

If you are looking for traditional 3D Zelda operating at peak performance, this is the one. It really is the true successor to Ocarina of Time. Its got a ton of dungeons, most of them being very fun. Snowpeak Ruins is now officially in the running for best Zelda dungeon. The game oozes with charm throughout. The characters, the areas, and the music, all of it. I simply love the Ordonians, and Kakariko village was always fun to return to. The story was pretty good, I definitely liked how it wrapped up, but I don't know if I was hooked on it all the way through. I really like how Zant's true character is revealed though. It's another great Zelda OST with a lot of varied hits. Overall, Twilight Princess is 3D Zelda in its purest form which is fine by me because they executed on the formula very well.

This was my first time playing a Persona or SMT game, and, even though this game has been very prevalent in the gaming zeitgeist, I was coming in with a pretty clean slate. I really only knew general things about the game and a few characters like Joker, Ryuji, and Futaba. The first thing that really hit me about the game was just how stylish it is. It opens mid casino heist, and gliding around the first section of the game felt really cool. It is a fantastic hook that had me immediately interested in the game and its presentation, especially because I was a bit apprehensive about what the gameplay might entail. The music, art style, and animations are fantastic throughout and add so much to the experience. Stuff like showtime moves, ziplining, bouncing between cover, and ambushing enemies all work together to create a cool infiltration vibe.

As such, I had a great time infiltrating the first palace of the game. Everything was very fresh, and learning the mechanics felt natural. The battle system is pretty neat. There are so many layers to it that build as you play the game, and I slowly improved with it as the game went on. I also changed the way I interacted with battles as my priorities changed which was cool that there is a lot of flexibility in the system. The bosses were pretty cool, especially late game. The music once again adds a lot to this, but they also challenge you to adapt your playstyle to them which is cool. After the first palace and a half, I did start to get a bit bored by the mid-game dungeons. The keepers are soooo boring early on. They are literally just "Im Mr. big bad evil man and I hate people and love money and hurting people." It hurts the overall vibe of the dungeon and especially the bosses when they are so dense. I was also a bit disappointed by how similar they felt outside of theming. I guess I wish there were more to it than that which they did fix in the later dungeons. I really enjoyed Shidos Palace and especially the final royal palace. Those implemented new ideas and story beats that made it feel like I wasn't just killing a bunch of shadows in a different font.

On the story side of things, I have mixed feelings. Like I said I really don't like the majority of the villains in this game. They are super dense and are just evil to be evil. This makes most of the central conflicts pretty lame until the late game. The characters are okay, really hit or miss. I like most of the party members and it's neat to learn about them for the most part. Some of them I really do not like much at all though. Haru and Yuske are especially cringe. On the plus side, I really like Ryuji, Sojiro, Maruki, and Sumire as characters. The social sim part of the game is decent. Nothing life-changing, but I think it's kinda fun to juggle relationships, priorities, school, work, and momentos visits.

For me, P5R was starting to lose its luster around Sae's palace as it was getting a bit samey and the story wasn't hooking me as much. However, everything after that saved the experience. The dungeons get better. The stakes get higher. The story improves, and the bosses get way more exciting. The Royal post-game alone probably added a star to my score. It is so good and stands out when lined up next to the rest of the dungeons. The palace keeper is so good. He is a dynamic character that you get to know and sympathize with throughout the dungeon. The music and style is immaculate, as they create an aura that feels unique and needed for the post-game of a 100-hour game. They revived my mixed feelings about Akechi's stupid motivations in the base game by making him a deranged goat. The final boss and ending were superb as well.

Overall, I enjoyed P5R. It's got fantastic vision, style, and flare. It has solid RPG elements and dungeons. Its story and characters are hit or miss, but, by the end, I felt connected to them.

I came in expecting a game like A Short Hike, but Smushi Come Home carves out its own identity as a super fun and neat little game. It took some ideas from a short hike in world design, dialogue style, and customization and made them its own. Smushi is fun and unique to control. The climbing hooks shine as something cool I have not seen from a 3D platformer before. The scenarios Smushi finds himself in are fun, and the dialogue is charming. I really like how the game is split into three areas that each have their own stories and styles. The spring region does a good job of getting you started and introducing things. The Fall area is probably my favorite. It has lots of fun characters, challenges, and views. The lake is great too. I am a sucker for these types of island-hopping sections in games. The capybara family coming back together is great. The music bangs, and I particularly love the sound that chat boxes make when advancing text. Also, the song for the Autumn area is very pleasant. You can tell there is a lot of quality-of-life stuff in this game that helps guide you to points of interest which made 100%ing it very fun. I enjoyed reading about new mushrooms and augmenting my mushroom cap throughout the journey. Smushi is the goat too, a lot to learn from that little fungus.

Overall, I came away very impressed by this game. It's got a ton of heart and individuality packed into it. It certainly rises above its inspiration to create a really cool world and game.

Everything you could ask for in a remake and more. The game looks great, runs great, and sounds great. The cutscenes were the big draw for me and they definitely added a lot. I love the final cutscene. The battle system is also improved. One of my big complaints with the original is that the game never tells you the correct timing for the attacks and blocks so you can never really learn and get them consistently. They also just kinda felt wonky in general. This game really cleans that up. The gauge moves, splash damage, and switching are also nice wrinkles. The downside of this is that it makes the game easier but I think that's okay, especially with the postgame presenting some difficult challenges. I also appreciate additions like the scrapbook and bestiary. Post-game is pretty cool. Im glad that the refights actually changed a lot up rather than just adding HP and damage.

It's a good remake for a good game. Feels like the definitive way to play it.