Bekenshi
Penny’s Big Breakaway, to me, feels like a holy conglomerate of Super Mario Odyssey, Pizza Tower, and Sonic Mania. To anyone even remotely familiar with any of these games, this is a huge note of endearment. It hits the nail on the head with how it prioritizes the momentum based flow that Sonic Mania and Pizza Tower mastered, the “maintaining your speed while weaving around to find secrets without losing your combo” of Pizza Tower, and the open-feeling level structure and more nuanced moveset of Mario Odyssey. It exceeded my already lofty expectations in spectacular fashion that, while lacking the polish and finishing touches to be placed in the unabashed masterpiece department, offers moment-to-moment gameplay of such high caliber that its all too easy to ignore its few shortcomings.
Similar to 90% of people interested in this game, my own interest stems from the development team being the same as Sonic Mania’s. Let me lay out something really quickly: Sonic Mania is one of the definitive, tangible examples of proof we have that beings of divine ordinance do, in fact, exist. Everything from the game’s presentation to how its levels are constructed to take advantage of your momentum-based toolkits feels so meticulously and lovingly sculpted. Its one of my all time favorite games, period, and as someone who grew up playing the Genesis era of Sonic games I can’t even begin to describe how satisfying it was to see a group who was not only able to capture that magic again, but surpass it.
So naturally, I was stoked for Penny’s Big Breakaway. I had absolutely no reservations about picking it up just from the names attached to the work. To my complete lack of surprise, they hit it out of the park again with another immensely satisfying gameplay experience that scratches an itch that many other games aren’t really trying to hit on.
This is a 3D platformer, yes, but I think limiting it to that is honestly deceptive towards where it’s true strengths lie. In actuality, Penny’s Big Breakway is the Momentum based experience, with all of the moves and your arsenal and the winding paths wanting to take advantage of the fact that you rarely ever need to slow down. I will note that there’s absolutely a learning curve here, a bit more harsh than most modern platformers which have begun to gravitate towards more simple control schemes, but once it ‘clicks’…it really clicks. You realize that everything in Penny’s arsenal flows into every other move in her arsenal and then, before you know it, you’re chaining together longer and longer unbreaking combos and completely demolishing stages in record time. At times, you even feel “smarter” than the game, especially on repeat visits to stages where you start discovering shortcuts and how to get through that part that gave you trouble more efficiently. But the truth is that all of these “I’m so smart” moments are baked into the game’s design philosophy of making a level that initially feels very disjointed and confusing into something with a very clear, connected flow. It’s great stuff.
Also of note is that it’s a great example of a platformer that retains its consistency in quality from start to finish. There’s no fall-off with some of the later stages which a few of my favorite platformers have fallen victim to in the past and, in fact, I would go as far as to say that the later levels of PBB are where the game really shines.
The game’s shortcomings are relegated pretty strictly to things that all fit under the umbrella of “it maybe needed a couple more months in the oven”. The fixed camera (a bold choice for a modern 3D platformer btw, but it works) can cause some issues sometimes and leads to a few risky jumps that really shouldn’t be that risky. Collision with certain objects and platforms is just super janky and lead to more than my fair share of completely unjust deaths, including a few instances where I just straight up fell through the bottom of the map for no reason. Presentation wise I think the game flip-flops from being charmingly inviting and whimsical to…sort of ugly (but it’s clear that this is more of a budget issue and it doesn’t impact gameplay so I don’t care much). Honestly my biggest little nitpick that’s not technical is that there’s so many little dudes all over the map who are constantly saying things to you, and I want to stop and hear what they have to say but I also really don’t want to stop my zen mode constantly to let a textbox finish. It’s a really minor detail but it was a genuinely conflicting issue for me.
Thankfully, a patch can resolve most of these technical issues and they don’t really detract from how great the game is overall. Platformers have been killing it recently and I really want to continue communicating the message that “yes, we want more games like this. please.” Super excited to see what this talented team has in store for their next project!
Similar to 90% of people interested in this game, my own interest stems from the development team being the same as Sonic Mania’s. Let me lay out something really quickly: Sonic Mania is one of the definitive, tangible examples of proof we have that beings of divine ordinance do, in fact, exist. Everything from the game’s presentation to how its levels are constructed to take advantage of your momentum-based toolkits feels so meticulously and lovingly sculpted. Its one of my all time favorite games, period, and as someone who grew up playing the Genesis era of Sonic games I can’t even begin to describe how satisfying it was to see a group who was not only able to capture that magic again, but surpass it.
So naturally, I was stoked for Penny’s Big Breakaway. I had absolutely no reservations about picking it up just from the names attached to the work. To my complete lack of surprise, they hit it out of the park again with another immensely satisfying gameplay experience that scratches an itch that many other games aren’t really trying to hit on.
This is a 3D platformer, yes, but I think limiting it to that is honestly deceptive towards where it’s true strengths lie. In actuality, Penny’s Big Breakway is the Momentum based experience, with all of the moves and your arsenal and the winding paths wanting to take advantage of the fact that you rarely ever need to slow down. I will note that there’s absolutely a learning curve here, a bit more harsh than most modern platformers which have begun to gravitate towards more simple control schemes, but once it ‘clicks’…it really clicks. You realize that everything in Penny’s arsenal flows into every other move in her arsenal and then, before you know it, you’re chaining together longer and longer unbreaking combos and completely demolishing stages in record time. At times, you even feel “smarter” than the game, especially on repeat visits to stages where you start discovering shortcuts and how to get through that part that gave you trouble more efficiently. But the truth is that all of these “I’m so smart” moments are baked into the game’s design philosophy of making a level that initially feels very disjointed and confusing into something with a very clear, connected flow. It’s great stuff.
Also of note is that it’s a great example of a platformer that retains its consistency in quality from start to finish. There’s no fall-off with some of the later stages which a few of my favorite platformers have fallen victim to in the past and, in fact, I would go as far as to say that the later levels of PBB are where the game really shines.
The game’s shortcomings are relegated pretty strictly to things that all fit under the umbrella of “it maybe needed a couple more months in the oven”. The fixed camera (a bold choice for a modern 3D platformer btw, but it works) can cause some issues sometimes and leads to a few risky jumps that really shouldn’t be that risky. Collision with certain objects and platforms is just super janky and lead to more than my fair share of completely unjust deaths, including a few instances where I just straight up fell through the bottom of the map for no reason. Presentation wise I think the game flip-flops from being charmingly inviting and whimsical to…sort of ugly (but it’s clear that this is more of a budget issue and it doesn’t impact gameplay so I don’t care much). Honestly my biggest little nitpick that’s not technical is that there’s so many little dudes all over the map who are constantly saying things to you, and I want to stop and hear what they have to say but I also really don’t want to stop my zen mode constantly to let a textbox finish. It’s a really minor detail but it was a genuinely conflicting issue for me.
Thankfully, a patch can resolve most of these technical issues and they don’t really detract from how great the game is overall. Platformers have been killing it recently and I really want to continue communicating the message that “yes, we want more games like this. please.” Super excited to see what this talented team has in store for their next project!
2005
I’m going to be totally honest - I do not like the Zero series that much. I think it compromises moment to moment design in favor or memorization and speed tech for someone’s 18th playthrough way down the line.
But this game does have some genuinely good ideas. Zero’s final speech is amazing but I can never seem to shake the feeling I’ve had with any of the games in this subseries where, internally, I’m just kinda begging for the torture to be over by the halfway point.
But this game does have some genuinely good ideas. Zero’s final speech is amazing but I can never seem to shake the feeling I’ve had with any of the games in this subseries where, internally, I’m just kinda begging for the torture to be over by the halfway point.
it’s fine….it’s ok
‘gameplay’ itself is very dull and the story is executed in a very strange way. It feels like the skeleton within the shadow of something put together more competently.
some really cool set pieces though if nothing else. And I won’t lie I was a little moved at the final moment; sometimes, a text is all it takes.
‘gameplay’ itself is very dull and the story is executed in a very strange way. It feels like the skeleton within the shadow of something put together more competently.
some really cool set pieces though if nothing else. And I won’t lie I was a little moved at the final moment; sometimes, a text is all it takes.
Celeste really is a generational platformer man, I couldn’t erase the grin from my face at any point during the run. Such a neat little project, I really wish things like this were done more often.
It doesn’t control perfectly (which I only mention because Celeste does control perfectly) and the shaky camera/depth perception combo is a little foul but for something that was created in around a week this is just a super cool experiment that I would love to see fleshed out further. The Mario Sunshine reference was cool too I love video games!!!
It doesn’t control perfectly (which I only mention because Celeste does control perfectly) and the shaky camera/depth perception combo is a little foul but for something that was created in around a week this is just a super cool experiment that I would love to see fleshed out further. The Mario Sunshine reference was cool too I love video games!!!
I wholeheartedly believe that Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown stands alongside other Metroidvania Titans like Ori and Hollow Knight in terms of quality (in the areas that matter, but I'll get to that). It's a big surprise that I can share that sentiment and it come from a genuine place considering how much I adore both of those games and for the obvious importance of those games in the gaming landscape as a whole, but here we are.
First, as a brief introduction, I have positively 0 total experience with this series. Personal experience aside, I've never even like seen any clips or anything of the sort from the past Prince of Persia games. My exposure is relegated to strictly the title alone and a few snippets of some word of mouth (which wasn't very positive). Combine that with my general skepticism of Ubisoft for obvious reasons and I wasn't too particularly thrilled for Lost Crown leading up to release. I did keep my eye on it due to the nature of it being a Metroidvania and that's what junkies such as myself are wired to do, but it was never a super serious plan to commit. An engagement ring and picking out the perfect restaurant to take the knee and ask the big question? All of that was the furthest thing from my mind but then a few things changed. Reviews began to trickle in comparing it to titles that hold a lot of weight for me, the likes of Ori and Metroid Dread, absolute behemoths of the genre. That in tandem with this January having a particularly weak line-up of games that suits my personal taste, which is to say that nothing at all grabbed my interest remotely, and the fact that I was stuck at home due to being sick and I was totally sold.
The Lost Crown is the type of experience that you have no reservations about right from the beginning: one of those "ok yeah this is going to rule" games that you're fully aware is going to even further ruin your sleeping schedule for the foreseeable future. There's a stellar opening here that while not necessarily doing a masterful job of conveying the Metroidvania gameplay flow the rest of the game will employ, does an excellent job of just getting you stoked to get in and play the game. The introduction to the main character and the supporting cast as The Immortals is really well done and it immediately cements in your mind their importance to the world at large. I love a good 'adrenaline power-fantasy right at the start of the game' and Lost Crown executes that pretty damn perfectly. I wanted to mention it because its the area of the game I'm definitely seeing the least discussion around which is understandable, but I would be remiss not to mention how well of a job it did at sinking its hooks into me.
The rest of the game eases you into something more traditional and its immediately comfortable to anyone with any experience in this genre. Sargon is very snappy to control, the general flow of moment to moment platforming is crisp and responsive, exploration is as rewarding as one would expect, etc. Everything just clicks into place naturally and it's great. One of the coolest aspects of modern Metroidvanias has been watching them all develop ideas and take inspiration from each other to improve each other as well as push the needle on the genre at large forward. Ori and the Will of Wisps is one of my favorite games of all time and its level of quality is off the charts levels of good, but it wouldn't be as much of a masterpiece as it is without some clear inspiration from the likes of, say, Hollow Knight. This is absolutely not a bad thing and I've always disliked the "wait did Ori copy Hollow Knight!?!?" and other similar drivel as its an especially reductive way to consider the way that gaming, like all mediums of entertainment, is ever-changing and growing. Developers take inspiration and apply said inspiration and that's only a good thing. Certain forms of entertainment figure out something and execute it with such excellence that it leaves an indelible impression into the form of future works in the medium.
Plenty of great examples of this can be observed clearly when the gaming space transitioned from 2D into 3D. The transition to a whole new dimension of interactivity presented many challenges and limits to game developers who didn't have a rulebook for this sort of stuff, and naturally it was a very experimental time in just trying to figure out what was possible, what worked, and what didn't. My point here is that the aforementioned 'rulebook' on which the 3D gaming foundation was built was sort of built...as a collective, together.
The Metroidvania space has been having a sort of microcosm example of this in recent years and it has been an absolute pleasure seeing important concepts retained and further refined. Something akin to Hollow Knight's charm system is present here in Lost Crown's amulet mechanic. The 'mapkeeper hiding in a remote corner who you can pay to reveal more of the area you're in' idea that games like Hollow Knight and Will of Wisps popularized is here. The parrying, especially parrying big attacks like vengeful counters, feels very Samus Returns and Metroid Dread-y in its execution. Its a blend of concepts that are somewhat familiar but The Lost Crown's take on these ideas is still really refreshing.
Which isn't to say, of course, that The Lost Crown is bereft of its own ideas or identity. I would actually argue that, perhaps moreso than any other Metroidvania I've played, The Lost Crown really soaks and revels in its own identity. The "time" motif used in this game is brilliantly done, its a throughline that connects everything in this game together from its story to combat and exploration in a really cohesive way. It lends to some especially cool set pieces too, especially in the latter half of the game, and you honestly can't help but to admire the level of dedication and clear-cut passion that went into designing all of it and stringing it together.
What separates a lot of good Metroidvanias from the mediocre and below is the world on display and how you interact with it. Is it satisfying to tear through with your new powers? This is especially important because in this genre, you're going to be spending a lot of time backtracking and looking for new routes to take. Are there a lot of memorable locations? Visual variety? The Lost Crown nails all of this, you're constantly finding shortcuts to familiar areas and connecting pathways and (most of) the powers you unlock facilitate quicker movement in one way or another as well as giving you new ways to interact with obstacles in the environment. The Shadow of the Simurgh power was the one I was most impressed by, allowing you to create a sort of checkpoint for yourself to recall to. More than that, I was a particularly big fan of how clever a lot of the platforming sections were in this game in general but especially any of the ones involving this mechanic. Weaving double jumps and dashes into clever shadow placements and then recalling to your original position towards the end game was a ton of fun and the perfect level of challenge. I wanted even more than what we got. Puzzles are similarly well crafted and require some pretty out of the box thinking but never to the point of frustration. Its a very fine line to walk the path that blends creative solutions to difficult problems without being obtuse, but The Lost Crown walks that thin line.
It was pretty interesting to see the story being so close to the forefront of the experience here, too. Most Metroidvanias I'm familiar with are very light on dialogue and the like (or at the very least, its very frontloaded to the beginning of the game) but its a constant presence here and honestly? I really enjoyed it. I could see this being a source of contention for a lot of people who just want to get into the game and explore but I liked their approach to this. It's not a life changing story or anything of the sort but it works very well for what it is and there are definitely some highlights (am I the only one who really likes the antagonist of this game?) The character journey of Sargon throughout The Lost Crown is this big question of "what's at the end of my blade, what am I fighting for" and the conclusion to this hero's journey is mirrored really well through the gameplay loop itself of growing stronger (and further helped by the antagonist being a foil to Sargon's own questions). That connection is the sort of thing that can only really be done in this medium and its a leading reason as to why it will always be my favorite.
Combat is pretty nice too, it did take me a while to wrap my head around the parry timing in this game but once it does click its further proof that every game is exponentially improved by the addition of a parry mechanic. This is not a joke. Shoutout to the bosses too, they are very clearly the highlight of the game's combat and add a cinematic edge to everything that really pushes it to the next level. Loved.
I really do think The Lost Crown is on par with the greats...in the way that matters. Yeah, we're revisiting that little thread. There are two identifiable areas that, for me, are the only areas really holding the game back from legendary status. First and foremost, if you forgot that this was a Ubisoft game from the sheer quality on display here...you sadly get a reminder of that fact from the bugs. I can't speak for anyone else's experience but my own on this front, but unfortunately I did encounter quite a number of bugs that did detract from my experience. The camera decided to just completely give up and run off on its own in a couple of instances. One time, after using a Wak Wak Tree, Sargon stopped all movement animations and just floated around and enemies would only phase through me. I then proceeded to fall through the floor into a white void of frozen space. And then, by far the bug I encountered the most, on four separate instances the boss I was fighting would completely give up and stop attacking at around the 50% mark. I would always have to reset these fights because they were so engaging that I wanted to do them the right way, resulting in me losing some progress a couple of times where I had forgotten to save directly before the boss. The 'good' thing about bugs is that its something tangible that can be patched out, the bad thing about bugs is that...they're bugs lol. You can never give that first play through of a game back to one of your players, and I think that key area of general polish is the biggest difference in this game and something like an Ori which is polished to the point of genuine perfection.
Outside of that, my other thing is that I do wish the game pushed you as a player a bit more? Even on a harder difficulty I think the experience is a bit too easy and very forgiving to the point of death not really meaning too much. I think they could have crafted some more clever applications and gauntlets where all of your abilities were put to the test too (I would have killed for something ala Hollow Knight's path of pain here, but I digress).
Ultimately though, very very good game. Great game. Excellent game. So happy I gave it a chance and the level of passion and reverence the devs here had for this style of game bleeds through the screen regularly. After The Lost Crown, I think I'm comfortable with saying that Metroidvanias as a whole is my favorite genre of gaming and I really hope this one doesn't get swept under the rug.
First, as a brief introduction, I have positively 0 total experience with this series. Personal experience aside, I've never even like seen any clips or anything of the sort from the past Prince of Persia games. My exposure is relegated to strictly the title alone and a few snippets of some word of mouth (which wasn't very positive). Combine that with my general skepticism of Ubisoft for obvious reasons and I wasn't too particularly thrilled for Lost Crown leading up to release. I did keep my eye on it due to the nature of it being a Metroidvania and that's what junkies such as myself are wired to do, but it was never a super serious plan to commit. An engagement ring and picking out the perfect restaurant to take the knee and ask the big question? All of that was the furthest thing from my mind but then a few things changed. Reviews began to trickle in comparing it to titles that hold a lot of weight for me, the likes of Ori and Metroid Dread, absolute behemoths of the genre. That in tandem with this January having a particularly weak line-up of games that suits my personal taste, which is to say that nothing at all grabbed my interest remotely, and the fact that I was stuck at home due to being sick and I was totally sold.
The Lost Crown is the type of experience that you have no reservations about right from the beginning: one of those "ok yeah this is going to rule" games that you're fully aware is going to even further ruin your sleeping schedule for the foreseeable future. There's a stellar opening here that while not necessarily doing a masterful job of conveying the Metroidvania gameplay flow the rest of the game will employ, does an excellent job of just getting you stoked to get in and play the game. The introduction to the main character and the supporting cast as The Immortals is really well done and it immediately cements in your mind their importance to the world at large. I love a good 'adrenaline power-fantasy right at the start of the game' and Lost Crown executes that pretty damn perfectly. I wanted to mention it because its the area of the game I'm definitely seeing the least discussion around which is understandable, but I would be remiss not to mention how well of a job it did at sinking its hooks into me.
The rest of the game eases you into something more traditional and its immediately comfortable to anyone with any experience in this genre. Sargon is very snappy to control, the general flow of moment to moment platforming is crisp and responsive, exploration is as rewarding as one would expect, etc. Everything just clicks into place naturally and it's great. One of the coolest aspects of modern Metroidvanias has been watching them all develop ideas and take inspiration from each other to improve each other as well as push the needle on the genre at large forward. Ori and the Will of Wisps is one of my favorite games of all time and its level of quality is off the charts levels of good, but it wouldn't be as much of a masterpiece as it is without some clear inspiration from the likes of, say, Hollow Knight. This is absolutely not a bad thing and I've always disliked the "wait did Ori copy Hollow Knight!?!?" and other similar drivel as its an especially reductive way to consider the way that gaming, like all mediums of entertainment, is ever-changing and growing. Developers take inspiration and apply said inspiration and that's only a good thing. Certain forms of entertainment figure out something and execute it with such excellence that it leaves an indelible impression into the form of future works in the medium.
Plenty of great examples of this can be observed clearly when the gaming space transitioned from 2D into 3D. The transition to a whole new dimension of interactivity presented many challenges and limits to game developers who didn't have a rulebook for this sort of stuff, and naturally it was a very experimental time in just trying to figure out what was possible, what worked, and what didn't. My point here is that the aforementioned 'rulebook' on which the 3D gaming foundation was built was sort of built...as a collective, together.
The Metroidvania space has been having a sort of microcosm example of this in recent years and it has been an absolute pleasure seeing important concepts retained and further refined. Something akin to Hollow Knight's charm system is present here in Lost Crown's amulet mechanic. The 'mapkeeper hiding in a remote corner who you can pay to reveal more of the area you're in' idea that games like Hollow Knight and Will of Wisps popularized is here. The parrying, especially parrying big attacks like vengeful counters, feels very Samus Returns and Metroid Dread-y in its execution. Its a blend of concepts that are somewhat familiar but The Lost Crown's take on these ideas is still really refreshing.
Which isn't to say, of course, that The Lost Crown is bereft of its own ideas or identity. I would actually argue that, perhaps moreso than any other Metroidvania I've played, The Lost Crown really soaks and revels in its own identity. The "time" motif used in this game is brilliantly done, its a throughline that connects everything in this game together from its story to combat and exploration in a really cohesive way. It lends to some especially cool set pieces too, especially in the latter half of the game, and you honestly can't help but to admire the level of dedication and clear-cut passion that went into designing all of it and stringing it together.
What separates a lot of good Metroidvanias from the mediocre and below is the world on display and how you interact with it. Is it satisfying to tear through with your new powers? This is especially important because in this genre, you're going to be spending a lot of time backtracking and looking for new routes to take. Are there a lot of memorable locations? Visual variety? The Lost Crown nails all of this, you're constantly finding shortcuts to familiar areas and connecting pathways and (most of) the powers you unlock facilitate quicker movement in one way or another as well as giving you new ways to interact with obstacles in the environment. The Shadow of the Simurgh power was the one I was most impressed by, allowing you to create a sort of checkpoint for yourself to recall to. More than that, I was a particularly big fan of how clever a lot of the platforming sections were in this game in general but especially any of the ones involving this mechanic. Weaving double jumps and dashes into clever shadow placements and then recalling to your original position towards the end game was a ton of fun and the perfect level of challenge. I wanted even more than what we got. Puzzles are similarly well crafted and require some pretty out of the box thinking but never to the point of frustration. Its a very fine line to walk the path that blends creative solutions to difficult problems without being obtuse, but The Lost Crown walks that thin line.
It was pretty interesting to see the story being so close to the forefront of the experience here, too. Most Metroidvanias I'm familiar with are very light on dialogue and the like (or at the very least, its very frontloaded to the beginning of the game) but its a constant presence here and honestly? I really enjoyed it. I could see this being a source of contention for a lot of people who just want to get into the game and explore but I liked their approach to this. It's not a life changing story or anything of the sort but it works very well for what it is and there are definitely some highlights (am I the only one who really likes the antagonist of this game?) The character journey of Sargon throughout The Lost Crown is this big question of "what's at the end of my blade, what am I fighting for" and the conclusion to this hero's journey is mirrored really well through the gameplay loop itself of growing stronger (and further helped by the antagonist being a foil to Sargon's own questions). That connection is the sort of thing that can only really be done in this medium and its a leading reason as to why it will always be my favorite.
Combat is pretty nice too, it did take me a while to wrap my head around the parry timing in this game but once it does click its further proof that every game is exponentially improved by the addition of a parry mechanic. This is not a joke. Shoutout to the bosses too, they are very clearly the highlight of the game's combat and add a cinematic edge to everything that really pushes it to the next level. Loved.
I really do think The Lost Crown is on par with the greats...in the way that matters. Yeah, we're revisiting that little thread. There are two identifiable areas that, for me, are the only areas really holding the game back from legendary status. First and foremost, if you forgot that this was a Ubisoft game from the sheer quality on display here...you sadly get a reminder of that fact from the bugs. I can't speak for anyone else's experience but my own on this front, but unfortunately I did encounter quite a number of bugs that did detract from my experience. The camera decided to just completely give up and run off on its own in a couple of instances. One time, after using a Wak Wak Tree, Sargon stopped all movement animations and just floated around and enemies would only phase through me. I then proceeded to fall through the floor into a white void of frozen space. And then, by far the bug I encountered the most, on four separate instances the boss I was fighting would completely give up and stop attacking at around the 50% mark. I would always have to reset these fights because they were so engaging that I wanted to do them the right way, resulting in me losing some progress a couple of times where I had forgotten to save directly before the boss. The 'good' thing about bugs is that its something tangible that can be patched out, the bad thing about bugs is that...they're bugs lol. You can never give that first play through of a game back to one of your players, and I think that key area of general polish is the biggest difference in this game and something like an Ori which is polished to the point of genuine perfection.
Outside of that, my other thing is that I do wish the game pushed you as a player a bit more? Even on a harder difficulty I think the experience is a bit too easy and very forgiving to the point of death not really meaning too much. I think they could have crafted some more clever applications and gauntlets where all of your abilities were put to the test too (I would have killed for something ala Hollow Knight's path of pain here, but I digress).
Ultimately though, very very good game. Great game. Excellent game. So happy I gave it a chance and the level of passion and reverence the devs here had for this style of game bleeds through the screen regularly. After The Lost Crown, I think I'm comfortable with saying that Metroidvanias as a whole is my favorite genre of gaming and I really hope this one doesn't get swept under the rug.
First game of 2024 and a really nice way to start it off. This is one of the Castlevania games I hear the least mention of and I’m not really sure why? Definitely in the upper echelons of the Castlevania games I’ve played thus far.
If I had to describe Portrait of Ruin in a single word I think I’d go with…consistent? It doesn’t necessarily have the high highs of some of my other favorite entries in the series, like Aria, but it doesn’t ever really compromise itself with any notable low points either. It’s a great journey from start to finish with a lot of little flourishes to distinguish itself from its DS counterparts.
I really enjoyed the visual variety on display here, particularly. The portrait gimmick leads to some incredibly impressive visual design; it’s a nice change of pace from just exploring another iteration of the Castle once again (not that there’s anything inherently wrong with that). Instead of the usual fanfare we get an Egyptian tomb with secret rooms and treasure to plunder, a quaint little town with a bakery to stroll through, etc. Uncovering one of these areas and buckling up for the unknown of what’s going to be thrown at me next was by far the best part of the experience for me.
I also think the pair-up gimmick is a cute addition, further enhanced by how fun the leads are. Both have very distinct playstyles with just reason to use either or even both of them and unlocking new weapons and pieces of gear for both even further incentivizes exploration if you want to have them both decked out. I guess my one complaint in this department would be that I was hoping the pair-up mechanic would be explored a little further as I don’t really feel it was pushed nearly as far as it could have been creatively, but what’s here is still a welcome addition.
Also, unexpectedly, I think Portrait of Ruin may have my favorite bosses in the series? There’s some particularly creative entries and there are few feelings more satisfying than nuking one of them with a well-timed Dual Crash.
My biggest “eh” of Portrait of Ruin is how little I found myself gravitating towards special attacks and spells. Maybe I just didn’t find or invest in the ‘right’ ones but I felt they were pretty weak in this game and using them instead of your main weapon was just a recipe for taking 20 consecutive hits in the face. That’s of little consequence to an experience that’s otherwise so snappy and engaging, though. This series continues to impress me with how many great entries I’ve played, and Portrait of Ruin is yet another in the long line of Castlevania hits.
If I had to describe Portrait of Ruin in a single word I think I’d go with…consistent? It doesn’t necessarily have the high highs of some of my other favorite entries in the series, like Aria, but it doesn’t ever really compromise itself with any notable low points either. It’s a great journey from start to finish with a lot of little flourishes to distinguish itself from its DS counterparts.
I really enjoyed the visual variety on display here, particularly. The portrait gimmick leads to some incredibly impressive visual design; it’s a nice change of pace from just exploring another iteration of the Castle once again (not that there’s anything inherently wrong with that). Instead of the usual fanfare we get an Egyptian tomb with secret rooms and treasure to plunder, a quaint little town with a bakery to stroll through, etc. Uncovering one of these areas and buckling up for the unknown of what’s going to be thrown at me next was by far the best part of the experience for me.
I also think the pair-up gimmick is a cute addition, further enhanced by how fun the leads are. Both have very distinct playstyles with just reason to use either or even both of them and unlocking new weapons and pieces of gear for both even further incentivizes exploration if you want to have them both decked out. I guess my one complaint in this department would be that I was hoping the pair-up mechanic would be explored a little further as I don’t really feel it was pushed nearly as far as it could have been creatively, but what’s here is still a welcome addition.
Also, unexpectedly, I think Portrait of Ruin may have my favorite bosses in the series? There’s some particularly creative entries and there are few feelings more satisfying than nuking one of them with a well-timed Dual Crash.
My biggest “eh” of Portrait of Ruin is how little I found myself gravitating towards special attacks and spells. Maybe I just didn’t find or invest in the ‘right’ ones but I felt they were pretty weak in this game and using them instead of your main weapon was just a recipe for taking 20 consecutive hits in the face. That’s of little consequence to an experience that’s otherwise so snappy and engaging, though. This series continues to impress me with how many great entries I’ve played, and Portrait of Ruin is yet another in the long line of Castlevania hits.
There are so many thoughts swirling around in my head on this one. I have an opinion on some aspect of the game that finds its mark on every part of the spectrum from awful to outstanding. I have so much to say without the drive or inclination to weave all of it together in a coherent manner. Instead, I’m going to try something different to what I would normally do and use a bullet point esque structure for talking points to spring board off of.
———The (abyss)mal———
>Tears of the Kingdom is a masterclass on the importance of story execution and how said execution can impact the quality of an otherwise good concept. Conceptually, I think the story is typical Zelda fanfare. Nothing exceptional, but it does its job and I would even dare to say it has one of the strongest hooks of intrigue the series has presented to this point. This potential is sadly squandered for 80% of the game with the most asinine, formulaic delivery the developers could have possibly achieved. Go to area with something happening to it on map -> talk to resident villagers -> meet the sage -> “yes we saw this Zelda that obviously wasn’t Zelda, do you think that’s Zelda?” -> temple and boss to stop whatever is happening -> flashback to imprisoning war -> something something secret stone -> repeat 3x. I get that it’s an open world game, and thus it’s a necessary evil to design your game in a way wherein your player could go anywhere at any time, but they’ve already proven they can handle this better in, hell, the original Breath of the Wild. Super disappointing.
>I want to have words with the concept designers, developers and playtesters who all collaborated to allow the Sages spirit mechanic to be the way that it is. Why. Why? Who thought it was a good idea to have to run up to the dudes (that are constantly running away FROM you in the middle of combat) to use a context sensitive action that’s very specific about proximity? Anyone involved in the process of this needs to be removed from the kitchen immediately, I no longer want anything that they are cooking.
>A lot of my main issues from the original game are, in fact, still present here and largely unchanged. Look, I understand the weapon breaking mechanic. I really do get it, it’s designed in such a way to force experimentation without falling back on the comfort of reliability. I know why it’s a thing, I just wish there was another approach to this somehow. Do they not think I would experiment with different weapon types and effects if I’m not absolutely forced into it? I think this mechanic has the exact opposite effect it’s aiming for, in a lot of cases. I got the Fierce Deity Sword in my run, which is the coolest shit of all time, but I never ended up using it because I don’t want my insanely cool and unique weapon to break in my hands. Not crazy about the game’s “no music to establish that silent atmosphere, it’s just you vs the wilds” approach still, nothing has changed on that front sadly. It still rains way too much and it genuinely angers me that I finally thought they added an item to the game to help you climb in the annoying ass rain with the Slip Resistance stuff, only to find out that it just doesn’t work unless you have like a million of the buffs stacked on top of one another….and even then it only sort of works? Super, super lame and not communicated very well at all.
>On a similar note to the story point, I was really disappointed with the Dragon’s Tears/ToTK’s take on BoTW’s memories. I think they work much better in the original, both narratively and in a ludo sort of gameplay sense. In ToTK, none of them really…challenge or change our understanding of anything, it’s all stuff we already know from the main story repeating itself ad nauseam.
———The “eh”———
>The depths are the coolest concept ever for a Zelda game. If I had to pinpoint the main thing in the game I was excited about going into it, it was The Depths. I love horror-core and horror adjacent vibes in my Zelda games (the Skyward Sword Silent Realm sections are, still, a massive highlight of the series) and the series pretty consistently delivers on that tone when they go for it. Here, I think they could have taken it way further than they actually did but it’s not something I outright disliked. I did enjoy exploring around down there and the vibes are, in fact, pretty strong, but longer trips do start to wear out their welcome a bit and it’s not quite a centerpiece of the game’s world like the game itself seems to want you to think.
>Similarly, the Sky islands are also just kinda…alright. There’s surprisingly little content up here for how central a point they were in advertising. Nothing really major in the “story” that happens up here, either, outside of…one dungeon? Yet another area that I think could have really benefited from being pushed and explored a little further, but admittedly I’ll always have a soft spot for sky-based locations and the like so I still had a good time. The prettiest parts of the game for sure, for what that’s worth, and platforming between chains of islands is legitimately fun when the game gives you the chance to do it.
———The good———
>The dungeons. So, as a lifelong Zelda fan, the dungeons have always been my absolute favorite thing about the series. My favorites tend to be the ones with really strong dungeon showings (Twilight Princess my beloved) and my…not so favorites are the ones that I think have weaker showings (sorry Wind Waker enthusiasts). Cue my disappointment with the original Breath of the Wild, featuring the worst dungeons in a 3D title with absolutely no contest for the spot. Visually uninteresting, mechanically repetitive, and frustratingly simple all combine their powers of mediocrity to create….something that leaves absolutely no mark or impression. Easily the biggest blunder of that original game, in my humble opinion. Tears of the Kingdom’s dungeons, on the other hand, are a huge step up and, yes, while the bar was in hell, it genuinely makes me happy as a fan of the series to be able to say that with confidence. I wouldn’t call any of them stellar or even great. There’s no Arbiter’s Grounds, Snowpeak, Stone Tower Temple, or Sandships in the mix here but what we do get is all quite solid to good. They’re themed, have some very creative puzzles, unique bosses, etc. It’s good stuff!
>Building wacky shit. Now I’ll be real, I’m mo mastermind engineer but Tears of the Kingdom is very aware that 95% of the people playing this game wouldn’t be so there’s lots of fun to be had with experimenting and putting random wheels and rockets on things and just seeing what happens. Sometimes it works, other times it doesn’t work, other times it…doesn’t work, then there’s that time it…doesn’t work and I crashed into the mountain. Basically, it almost never works and you would have just been better walking to your destination because now you’re missing 5 hearts from your ass creation exploding on you but that’s the fun of it all. The whimsical inventive spirit pervasive in this game is delightful and I’m sure people more creative than I got even more utility out of it than I did.
———The fantastic———
>Your powers in this game are such a huge step up from BoTW’s it’s kind of unreal, the jump in quality is straight up ludicrous. In BoTW we had…turn water to ice….bomb…..bomb, but square….and like, yeah, it’s fine I guess but ToTK’s abilities are SO much more interesting and they all flow into each other perfectly. Ultrahand requires no mention for how insanely impressive and useful it is for literally everything the game wants you to do at all times. Ascend makes for very interesting vertical platforming and always makes you consider your positioning relative to platforms above you. Finding effective fuse combinations for weapons and shields is a lot of fun and spices up the moment to moment gameplay (and gives way more of an incentive to continue fighting enemies in the late game, since you’ll want their strong parts to make even stronger weapons). I’ve heard the streets calling Recall a washed ability but I can’t fathom how we possibly played the same game. And therein lies the answer: we didn’t play the same game. There’s two different video games here: Tears of the Kingdom, and Tears of the Kingdom: with Recall. I honestly believe it’s that important of an ability, especially once you master it and really get a grasp on how it works you can just casually break the entire game, in a fun way! The amount of times I “cheesed” puzzles with the Recall ability shenanigans are too numerous to count, but I get the feeling that all of that was something the designers did, in fact, consider Metroid-style.
>ToTK is just funny man. Like, the moment to moment dialogue in stuff that’s not the main story is…really good? A lot of the bigger towns in this game honestly feel pretty Majora’s Mask-core to me in how charming the residents can be and how they all operate on a schedule that can be studied and the like. Lots of charm virtually everywhere you look, I really liked some of the sillier side quests in general (the Yiga clan stuff is great) that give some much needed levity from your moment to moment climbing and running activities.
>Lots of really creative puzzles, in shrines and dungeons both. The ways they pushed your abilities and the Zonai devices with some of these puzzles is legit impressive, I smiled many times throughout the game after a particularly satisfying puzzle answer clicked into my head.
>A lot of the set pieces in this game are pretty stellar if I’m being honest. ToTK’s Master Sword sequence is super memorable, one of my favorites in the series, and that final boss…man. Immaculate vibes, very cinematic. The coldest version of Ganom we’ve seen in quite some time. It’s a really nice send-off to this version of Hyrule.
I really did enjoy my time with Tears of the Kingdom more than I thought I would as someone very vocal on not being in love with the open world direction the series has seemingly taken for the foreseeable future. There are some kinks that remain to be ironed out, but I came out the other end incredibly satisfied.
———The (abyss)mal———
>Tears of the Kingdom is a masterclass on the importance of story execution and how said execution can impact the quality of an otherwise good concept. Conceptually, I think the story is typical Zelda fanfare. Nothing exceptional, but it does its job and I would even dare to say it has one of the strongest hooks of intrigue the series has presented to this point. This potential is sadly squandered for 80% of the game with the most asinine, formulaic delivery the developers could have possibly achieved. Go to area with something happening to it on map -> talk to resident villagers -> meet the sage -> “yes we saw this Zelda that obviously wasn’t Zelda, do you think that’s Zelda?” -> temple and boss to stop whatever is happening -> flashback to imprisoning war -> something something secret stone -> repeat 3x. I get that it’s an open world game, and thus it’s a necessary evil to design your game in a way wherein your player could go anywhere at any time, but they’ve already proven they can handle this better in, hell, the original Breath of the Wild. Super disappointing.
>I want to have words with the concept designers, developers and playtesters who all collaborated to allow the Sages spirit mechanic to be the way that it is. Why. Why? Who thought it was a good idea to have to run up to the dudes (that are constantly running away FROM you in the middle of combat) to use a context sensitive action that’s very specific about proximity? Anyone involved in the process of this needs to be removed from the kitchen immediately, I no longer want anything that they are cooking.
>A lot of my main issues from the original game are, in fact, still present here and largely unchanged. Look, I understand the weapon breaking mechanic. I really do get it, it’s designed in such a way to force experimentation without falling back on the comfort of reliability. I know why it’s a thing, I just wish there was another approach to this somehow. Do they not think I would experiment with different weapon types and effects if I’m not absolutely forced into it? I think this mechanic has the exact opposite effect it’s aiming for, in a lot of cases. I got the Fierce Deity Sword in my run, which is the coolest shit of all time, but I never ended up using it because I don’t want my insanely cool and unique weapon to break in my hands. Not crazy about the game’s “no music to establish that silent atmosphere, it’s just you vs the wilds” approach still, nothing has changed on that front sadly. It still rains way too much and it genuinely angers me that I finally thought they added an item to the game to help you climb in the annoying ass rain with the Slip Resistance stuff, only to find out that it just doesn’t work unless you have like a million of the buffs stacked on top of one another….and even then it only sort of works? Super, super lame and not communicated very well at all.
>On a similar note to the story point, I was really disappointed with the Dragon’s Tears/ToTK’s take on BoTW’s memories. I think they work much better in the original, both narratively and in a ludo sort of gameplay sense. In ToTK, none of them really…challenge or change our understanding of anything, it’s all stuff we already know from the main story repeating itself ad nauseam.
———The “eh”———
>The depths are the coolest concept ever for a Zelda game. If I had to pinpoint the main thing in the game I was excited about going into it, it was The Depths. I love horror-core and horror adjacent vibes in my Zelda games (the Skyward Sword Silent Realm sections are, still, a massive highlight of the series) and the series pretty consistently delivers on that tone when they go for it. Here, I think they could have taken it way further than they actually did but it’s not something I outright disliked. I did enjoy exploring around down there and the vibes are, in fact, pretty strong, but longer trips do start to wear out their welcome a bit and it’s not quite a centerpiece of the game’s world like the game itself seems to want you to think.
>Similarly, the Sky islands are also just kinda…alright. There’s surprisingly little content up here for how central a point they were in advertising. Nothing really major in the “story” that happens up here, either, outside of…one dungeon? Yet another area that I think could have really benefited from being pushed and explored a little further, but admittedly I’ll always have a soft spot for sky-based locations and the like so I still had a good time. The prettiest parts of the game for sure, for what that’s worth, and platforming between chains of islands is legitimately fun when the game gives you the chance to do it.
———The good———
>The dungeons. So, as a lifelong Zelda fan, the dungeons have always been my absolute favorite thing about the series. My favorites tend to be the ones with really strong dungeon showings (Twilight Princess my beloved) and my…not so favorites are the ones that I think have weaker showings (sorry Wind Waker enthusiasts). Cue my disappointment with the original Breath of the Wild, featuring the worst dungeons in a 3D title with absolutely no contest for the spot. Visually uninteresting, mechanically repetitive, and frustratingly simple all combine their powers of mediocrity to create….something that leaves absolutely no mark or impression. Easily the biggest blunder of that original game, in my humble opinion. Tears of the Kingdom’s dungeons, on the other hand, are a huge step up and, yes, while the bar was in hell, it genuinely makes me happy as a fan of the series to be able to say that with confidence. I wouldn’t call any of them stellar or even great. There’s no Arbiter’s Grounds, Snowpeak, Stone Tower Temple, or Sandships in the mix here but what we do get is all quite solid to good. They’re themed, have some very creative puzzles, unique bosses, etc. It’s good stuff!
>Building wacky shit. Now I’ll be real, I’m mo mastermind engineer but Tears of the Kingdom is very aware that 95% of the people playing this game wouldn’t be so there’s lots of fun to be had with experimenting and putting random wheels and rockets on things and just seeing what happens. Sometimes it works, other times it doesn’t work, other times it…doesn’t work, then there’s that time it…doesn’t work and I crashed into the mountain. Basically, it almost never works and you would have just been better walking to your destination because now you’re missing 5 hearts from your ass creation exploding on you but that’s the fun of it all. The whimsical inventive spirit pervasive in this game is delightful and I’m sure people more creative than I got even more utility out of it than I did.
———The fantastic———
>Your powers in this game are such a huge step up from BoTW’s it’s kind of unreal, the jump in quality is straight up ludicrous. In BoTW we had…turn water to ice….bomb…..bomb, but square….and like, yeah, it’s fine I guess but ToTK’s abilities are SO much more interesting and they all flow into each other perfectly. Ultrahand requires no mention for how insanely impressive and useful it is for literally everything the game wants you to do at all times. Ascend makes for very interesting vertical platforming and always makes you consider your positioning relative to platforms above you. Finding effective fuse combinations for weapons and shields is a lot of fun and spices up the moment to moment gameplay (and gives way more of an incentive to continue fighting enemies in the late game, since you’ll want their strong parts to make even stronger weapons). I’ve heard the streets calling Recall a washed ability but I can’t fathom how we possibly played the same game. And therein lies the answer: we didn’t play the same game. There’s two different video games here: Tears of the Kingdom, and Tears of the Kingdom: with Recall. I honestly believe it’s that important of an ability, especially once you master it and really get a grasp on how it works you can just casually break the entire game, in a fun way! The amount of times I “cheesed” puzzles with the Recall ability shenanigans are too numerous to count, but I get the feeling that all of that was something the designers did, in fact, consider Metroid-style.
>ToTK is just funny man. Like, the moment to moment dialogue in stuff that’s not the main story is…really good? A lot of the bigger towns in this game honestly feel pretty Majora’s Mask-core to me in how charming the residents can be and how they all operate on a schedule that can be studied and the like. Lots of charm virtually everywhere you look, I really liked some of the sillier side quests in general (the Yiga clan stuff is great) that give some much needed levity from your moment to moment climbing and running activities.
>Lots of really creative puzzles, in shrines and dungeons both. The ways they pushed your abilities and the Zonai devices with some of these puzzles is legit impressive, I smiled many times throughout the game after a particularly satisfying puzzle answer clicked into my head.
>A lot of the set pieces in this game are pretty stellar if I’m being honest. ToTK’s Master Sword sequence is super memorable, one of my favorites in the series, and that final boss…man. Immaculate vibes, very cinematic. The coldest version of Ganom we’ve seen in quite some time. It’s a really nice send-off to this version of Hyrule.
I really did enjoy my time with Tears of the Kingdom more than I thought I would as someone very vocal on not being in love with the open world direction the series has seemingly taken for the foreseeable future. There are some kinks that remain to be ironed out, but I came out the other end incredibly satisfied.
2023
One of my biggest gaming sins is that I’ve somehow managed to avoid playing Resident Evil 4. It was one of those games that I marked somewhere in my brain as a “I’ll get around to this eventually” with every intention of doing exactly that but then a few years on the backlog floated into many more years on the backlog and we ended up here, nearly 18 years after the original game’s debut. Nearly two decade’s worth of expectations and near-universal praise had kinda soured me into one of those “ok, I’m sure it’s not THAT good” types, but after finally just forcing myself to sit down and experience Resident Evil 4 in some form or fashion, my thoughts are…after all this time…..it really is THAT good.
Without having too much context on the original, I’m not the leading authority on what changes were good or bad or how well this game functions as a remake, specifically, but strictly speaking from the perspective of RE4 Remake being it’s own separate thing, it’s an absolute blast. Captured me from the first few seconds of the game and didn’t release its grip on me until it was all said and done.
Moment-to-moment gameplay is super snappy and very rewarding, I’ve always enjoyed Resident Evil’s structure of making players mindful to be conservative with ammo usage because it makes every decision and every shot fired that much more impactful. The balancing act between short-term benefit and long-term consideration works really well here (even if the game is more on the generous side) because of how many options you have to approach a situation at any given time. Parrying and perfect parries are an especially important tool that conserve ammo but do require precision and aggression, it’s a really nice trade-off that also happens to feel like the coolest shit of all time when you execute it properly.
I think “coolest shit of all time” is a nice way to describe the feeling RE4 Remake gave me basically all the time. You’re in an environment where everything is out to kill you, but you almost never feel like you should be cowering away or anything of the sort. Leon is always well-equipped, you always feel capable of tackling whatever obstacle is in your way and the game begins to morph into less of a survival-horror type of thing and more into an action-survival power-fantasy and it’s delightful. Special shout-out to the Chapter 14 boss encounter, just straight up one of my favorite stretches of gaming period.
Any complaints I would have about the game are relegated to really minor nitpicks. I think the audio design is all-around pretty stellar, but the end of combat encounters being punctuated by the combat music playing itself out works against the game’s atmosphere. You start connecting the two wires in your brain as we’re conditioned to do and you always know when there are no remaining enemies, a bit counter-intuitive to a game that should be keeping you on your toes at all times but nothing too egregious.
I’m so glad that I finally got around to playing this, and it definitely ignited my interest in checking out the original sooner rather than later (for real this time).
Without having too much context on the original, I’m not the leading authority on what changes were good or bad or how well this game functions as a remake, specifically, but strictly speaking from the perspective of RE4 Remake being it’s own separate thing, it’s an absolute blast. Captured me from the first few seconds of the game and didn’t release its grip on me until it was all said and done.
Moment-to-moment gameplay is super snappy and very rewarding, I’ve always enjoyed Resident Evil’s structure of making players mindful to be conservative with ammo usage because it makes every decision and every shot fired that much more impactful. The balancing act between short-term benefit and long-term consideration works really well here (even if the game is more on the generous side) because of how many options you have to approach a situation at any given time. Parrying and perfect parries are an especially important tool that conserve ammo but do require precision and aggression, it’s a really nice trade-off that also happens to feel like the coolest shit of all time when you execute it properly.
I think “coolest shit of all time” is a nice way to describe the feeling RE4 Remake gave me basically all the time. You’re in an environment where everything is out to kill you, but you almost never feel like you should be cowering away or anything of the sort. Leon is always well-equipped, you always feel capable of tackling whatever obstacle is in your way and the game begins to morph into less of a survival-horror type of thing and more into an action-survival power-fantasy and it’s delightful. Special shout-out to the Chapter 14 boss encounter, just straight up one of my favorite stretches of gaming period.
Any complaints I would have about the game are relegated to really minor nitpicks. I think the audio design is all-around pretty stellar, but the end of combat encounters being punctuated by the combat music playing itself out works against the game’s atmosphere. You start connecting the two wires in your brain as we’re conditioned to do and you always know when there are no remaining enemies, a bit counter-intuitive to a game that should be keeping you on your toes at all times but nothing too egregious.
I’m so glad that I finally got around to playing this, and it definitely ignited my interest in checking out the original sooner rather than later (for real this time).
2023
Call me…Ishmael.
The clamor surrounding Mario Bros. Wonder’s placement as a Game Awards nominee is definitive proof that more than half of angry video game rantposters do not actually play the video games they’re rantposting about.
It’s a game oozing from every conceivable angle with charm and creativity, which is especially important after the stale drought of sameness they delivered with the New Super Mario Bros. series over the past 10+ years. Fittingly, Wonder is a game that feels like it’s taking that 10+ years of having its ideas repressed and snuffed and finally getting the chance to blossom, reminding everyone that Mario will always be a Titan of the platforming genre. It genuinely feels like we’ve reached the creative heights of the 2D series’ hay day in Super Mario World again, and that’s not a sentence I would utter lightly.
In a developer interview, Wonder’s design philosophy was beautifully laid out as a drive to recapture a sense of player wonderment, and this is a super admirable approach that I think more modern games could benefit from taking. Even with that familiar Mario goodness at its core, the driving force of this design philosophy is so evident throughout the course of the game that it’s basically jumping straight out at you. The playable roster have all had so much life and whimsy injected into every frame of their animation, the worlds themselves are extremely vibrant and peppy and they all connect into a map with tonal coherency (a feat that hasn’t been pulled off since Super Mario World), and every stage itself is packed with completely new enemies, power-ups, secrets to uncover, different ways to approach the moment-to-moment platforming, etc.
The list of glowing positives goes on and on, and really the only two aspects of the game I feel are detractions are the disappointing boss fights (ironically, this is the one game where the Koopalings would have been welcome) and the Search Party Stages being pretty lame. Neither of those really matter in the grand scheme of the game’s excellence though, I had an amazing time and it’s deserved every iota of praise it’s received.
It’s a game oozing from every conceivable angle with charm and creativity, which is especially important after the stale drought of sameness they delivered with the New Super Mario Bros. series over the past 10+ years. Fittingly, Wonder is a game that feels like it’s taking that 10+ years of having its ideas repressed and snuffed and finally getting the chance to blossom, reminding everyone that Mario will always be a Titan of the platforming genre. It genuinely feels like we’ve reached the creative heights of the 2D series’ hay day in Super Mario World again, and that’s not a sentence I would utter lightly.
In a developer interview, Wonder’s design philosophy was beautifully laid out as a drive to recapture a sense of player wonderment, and this is a super admirable approach that I think more modern games could benefit from taking. Even with that familiar Mario goodness at its core, the driving force of this design philosophy is so evident throughout the course of the game that it’s basically jumping straight out at you. The playable roster have all had so much life and whimsy injected into every frame of their animation, the worlds themselves are extremely vibrant and peppy and they all connect into a map with tonal coherency (a feat that hasn’t been pulled off since Super Mario World), and every stage itself is packed with completely new enemies, power-ups, secrets to uncover, different ways to approach the moment-to-moment platforming, etc.
The list of glowing positives goes on and on, and really the only two aspects of the game I feel are detractions are the disappointing boss fights (ironically, this is the one game where the Koopalings would have been welcome) and the Search Party Stages being pretty lame. Neither of those really matter in the grand scheme of the game’s excellence though, I had an amazing time and it’s deserved every iota of praise it’s received.
Dear Falcom,
Less Garden Master, More Connect Events
Sincerely, a Calvardian Superfan
Less Garden Master, More Connect Events
Sincerely, a Calvardian Superfan
The art direction transition is one of the biggest gaming crimes to ever be committed (it hurts my soul more than my eyes) but otherwise Dawn of Sorrow is a very solid experience and a suitable follow-up to Aria.
Aria of Sorrow was one of the most surprising experiences I’ve had this year, and after sitting on it more I’m starting to realize it may have cracked into the upper echelons of Metroidvanias for me. Aria is concise, rewarding, and (most importantly) very cohesive. All of Aria’s ideas flow very naturally into each other and that philosophy extends even into how the castle itself is designed. Unlocking a new power, for example, oftentimes also unlocks a route nearby that connects back somewhere very close to where you’ll need to go next for progression. Similarly, branching paths close to requires areas will usually reward the player for experimenting with these new powers by granting powerful new weapons and armor. In other words, Aria’s gameplay loop is very cohesive and it constantly sets fires to the neurons in my brain in the best way, and I think Dawn of Sorrow’s biggest flaw is that it lacks that same cohesive glue.
Dawn’s castle doesn’t really have that same masterful level of flowing into itself and it’s much easier to get lost wandering aimlessly as a result. It definitely doesn’t help that exploration feels a lot less satisfying, too, because the overwhelming majority of the good weapons are attained through sheer luck by getting a good enemy drop….or by sheer luck (with extra steps) since you also need these same enemies to drop souls to create weapons with at the shopkeep. Both methods to obtain new weapons are effectively the same thing, in other words, and it’s pretty antithetical to how Aria approached this in its design which was already pitch perfect. I always felt a lot weaker than I actually was because my weapons were constantly below the grade they should have been just because I didn’t feel too particularly keen on engaging with this aspect of the game (aka, grinding until I get the right drops).
Dawn of Sorrow also does have some “early DS syndrome”, which is as charming as it occasionally frustrating. Admittedly, I do love me some early DS era crustiness but the way it’s implemented here is a bit cumbersome. After defeating a boss in Dawn of Sorrow, you have to use the touch screen to draw these (memorized) sigil patterns to completely finish the fight. If you fail, the boss regains some health and you have to do everything again until you get it right. Now, I’m no stranger to forced touch screen implantation, and it’s honestly a pretty inoffensive mechanic in the grand scheme, but man is it frustrating when you get one of these wrong. The biggest problem here is that they’re timed, and you have to contort your fingers from resting comfortably on the buttons to suddenly reaching for your stylus to doodle some lines. It takes my brain a couple of seconds to shift modes which leads to the gimmick feeling a bit disconnected from everything else that’s happening. Again, nothing too egregious and it’s an issue that’s definitely overstated, but not a great inclusion either.
Despite my negativity on some things, there’s definitely a lot to be enjoyed here too. Outside of the drawing thing, the bosses themselves are a highlight and a lot of fun to master. The souls themselves are maybe even more distinctive here than in Aria and they’re legitimate use for most of them. My favorite addition is probably being able to switch between two combat kits at the press of a button without having to pause the game to fiddle around in menus. Sprite animations and the like are top notch, especially for an early DS era title, and weapons all have a proper feel to them depending on what you’re rocking with. The soundtrack is also pretty great, but that goes without saying with Castlevania.
Overall, Dawn of Sorrow is a fun time even with some ideas that don’t feel as meticulously baked as Aria’s. It’s a good follow-up to a game that expands on the story premise and gameplay concepts of its predecessor in many ways, and that’s all I could really ask for. Also, I guess I’m a big Castlevania fan now on a binge of the series? Wasn’t expecting that one.
Aria of Sorrow was one of the most surprising experiences I’ve had this year, and after sitting on it more I’m starting to realize it may have cracked into the upper echelons of Metroidvanias for me. Aria is concise, rewarding, and (most importantly) very cohesive. All of Aria’s ideas flow very naturally into each other and that philosophy extends even into how the castle itself is designed. Unlocking a new power, for example, oftentimes also unlocks a route nearby that connects back somewhere very close to where you’ll need to go next for progression. Similarly, branching paths close to requires areas will usually reward the player for experimenting with these new powers by granting powerful new weapons and armor. In other words, Aria’s gameplay loop is very cohesive and it constantly sets fires to the neurons in my brain in the best way, and I think Dawn of Sorrow’s biggest flaw is that it lacks that same cohesive glue.
Dawn’s castle doesn’t really have that same masterful level of flowing into itself and it’s much easier to get lost wandering aimlessly as a result. It definitely doesn’t help that exploration feels a lot less satisfying, too, because the overwhelming majority of the good weapons are attained through sheer luck by getting a good enemy drop….or by sheer luck (with extra steps) since you also need these same enemies to drop souls to create weapons with at the shopkeep. Both methods to obtain new weapons are effectively the same thing, in other words, and it’s pretty antithetical to how Aria approached this in its design which was already pitch perfect. I always felt a lot weaker than I actually was because my weapons were constantly below the grade they should have been just because I didn’t feel too particularly keen on engaging with this aspect of the game (aka, grinding until I get the right drops).
Dawn of Sorrow also does have some “early DS syndrome”, which is as charming as it occasionally frustrating. Admittedly, I do love me some early DS era crustiness but the way it’s implemented here is a bit cumbersome. After defeating a boss in Dawn of Sorrow, you have to use the touch screen to draw these (memorized) sigil patterns to completely finish the fight. If you fail, the boss regains some health and you have to do everything again until you get it right. Now, I’m no stranger to forced touch screen implantation, and it’s honestly a pretty inoffensive mechanic in the grand scheme, but man is it frustrating when you get one of these wrong. The biggest problem here is that they’re timed, and you have to contort your fingers from resting comfortably on the buttons to suddenly reaching for your stylus to doodle some lines. It takes my brain a couple of seconds to shift modes which leads to the gimmick feeling a bit disconnected from everything else that’s happening. Again, nothing too egregious and it’s an issue that’s definitely overstated, but not a great inclusion either.
Despite my negativity on some things, there’s definitely a lot to be enjoyed here too. Outside of the drawing thing, the bosses themselves are a highlight and a lot of fun to master. The souls themselves are maybe even more distinctive here than in Aria and they’re legitimate use for most of them. My favorite addition is probably being able to switch between two combat kits at the press of a button without having to pause the game to fiddle around in menus. Sprite animations and the like are top notch, especially for an early DS era title, and weapons all have a proper feel to them depending on what you’re rocking with. The soundtrack is also pretty great, but that goes without saying with Castlevania.
Overall, Dawn of Sorrow is a fun time even with some ideas that don’t feel as meticulously baked as Aria’s. It’s a good follow-up to a game that expands on the story premise and gameplay concepts of its predecessor in many ways, and that’s all I could really ask for. Also, I guess I’m a big Castlevania fan now on a binge of the series? Wasn’t expecting that one.
Rondo of Blood rules. It’s a timeless encapsulation of what made games from this era so special, a point when there wasn’t necessarily a strict formula to game design. The lines between challenging to frustrating and secretive to overly obscure were oftentimes still not waked with precision, but Rondo of Blood absolutely walks those fine lines and leaves a striking impression as a result. The game definitely is a challenging experience but it never feels brutally unfair or like it’s disrespecting your time and that’s a boon for Rondo of Blood that absolutely cannot be understated - it’s a very tight, concise package that still offers a lot the more you’re willing to invest. You’re rewarded for exploring and the game is filled with secrets and optional paths to uncover without straying into “I would need a Nintendo Power to have any idea how to find any of this who the hell designed this” territory (a common pitfall games from this time would find themselves in, oftentimes purposefully).
In a game like Rondo of Blood, establishing a level of trust with your player through the game’s design is crucial. You never want to feel like you’re going to be punished for exploring, or too afraid to take a step forward because you could be thrown into a situation you would never have any idea on how to be prepared for. If the player constantly finds themselves in a situation like this, they’re going to either outright drop the game or tear at the seams of it, bending, breaking, and cheesing until immersion and the natural flow of the game is irreparably broken. Rondo of Blood does a good job of establishing and maintaining that vital trust with the player; traps and the like are made distinctly clear and enemy placement is fine-tuned to accommodate the spacing you’ll need to start-up and connects attacks. It’s all very thoughtful and it constantly fuels this drive for betterment which is really what all games of this kin should be striving for. There were so many times during my playthrough that I would “one more time” a stage because I knew I could get through it a little bit better, without taking damage, or without dying. It’s great stuff.
Equally as important is how much Rondo of Blood’s presentation rocks. Art direction is instantly enticing, distinctive, and loaded with charm and I can’t get enough of those cheesy ‘90s-style dubs. I would, of course, be remiss to not mention how stellar the soundtrack is. Bloodlines? Bloody Tears? All-time classics. It’s cooking beyond our comprehension of cooking.
I somehow got sucked into Castlevania on a complete whim after coming to the realization that the series is an egregious gap in my completed games library and I keep coming out thoroughly impressed. I’m really glad that it happened, why did no one tell me how cool these games are?
In a game like Rondo of Blood, establishing a level of trust with your player through the game’s design is crucial. You never want to feel like you’re going to be punished for exploring, or too afraid to take a step forward because you could be thrown into a situation you would never have any idea on how to be prepared for. If the player constantly finds themselves in a situation like this, they’re going to either outright drop the game or tear at the seams of it, bending, breaking, and cheesing until immersion and the natural flow of the game is irreparably broken. Rondo of Blood does a good job of establishing and maintaining that vital trust with the player; traps and the like are made distinctly clear and enemy placement is fine-tuned to accommodate the spacing you’ll need to start-up and connects attacks. It’s all very thoughtful and it constantly fuels this drive for betterment which is really what all games of this kin should be striving for. There were so many times during my playthrough that I would “one more time” a stage because I knew I could get through it a little bit better, without taking damage, or without dying. It’s great stuff.
Equally as important is how much Rondo of Blood’s presentation rocks. Art direction is instantly enticing, distinctive, and loaded with charm and I can’t get enough of those cheesy ‘90s-style dubs. I would, of course, be remiss to not mention how stellar the soundtrack is. Bloodlines? Bloody Tears? All-time classics. It’s cooking beyond our comprehension of cooking.
I somehow got sucked into Castlevania on a complete whim after coming to the realization that the series is an egregious gap in my completed games library and I keep coming out thoroughly impressed. I’m really glad that it happened, why did no one tell me how cool these games are?
I’m a huge fan of Metroidvanias and yet, somehow, this is the first ‘vania’ in the title I’ve committed to other than Symphony of the Night years ago (and Bloodstained too, if you want to count that). Aria of Sorrow really made me ask myself why I waited so damn long because I positively adored it. You know that feeling of stumbling on an old classic entirely on a whim and falling in love with a thing that holds up way better than it has any right to? That is exactly what happened here for me.
Art direction is stellar, the box-art alone is in the discussion for the most strikingly beautiful piece of game art I’ve ever seen. In-game presentation is just as impressive, so Aria of Sorrow makes an incredible first impression, but where it really sticks the landing for me is how it streamlines the exploration process for a Metroidvania. Like any Metroidvania, you have areas sectioned off until you have the proper abilities necessary for progression but the castle’s design just flows so well into itself. Backtracking, a core part of this genre’s identity, is minimized from how well the design of everything is laid out. It’s so, so good and only gets better with how fun navigating through everything feels; movement and combat are just as fun as they should be for a game of this kin.
My literal only complaint is that the drop rate for souls (the game’s main gimmick, special attacks you steal from defeated enemies) is a real drag and a huge grind if you’re going for 100% like I did but I do understand the intention behind the system.
Art direction is stellar, the box-art alone is in the discussion for the most strikingly beautiful piece of game art I’ve ever seen. In-game presentation is just as impressive, so Aria of Sorrow makes an incredible first impression, but where it really sticks the landing for me is how it streamlines the exploration process for a Metroidvania. Like any Metroidvania, you have areas sectioned off until you have the proper abilities necessary for progression but the castle’s design just flows so well into itself. Backtracking, a core part of this genre’s identity, is minimized from how well the design of everything is laid out. It’s so, so good and only gets better with how fun navigating through everything feels; movement and combat are just as fun as they should be for a game of this kin.
My literal only complaint is that the drop rate for souls (the game’s main gimmick, special attacks you steal from defeated enemies) is a real drag and a huge grind if you’re going for 100% like I did but I do understand the intention behind the system.
2023
This game is a fantastic example on the importance of disregarding the popular groupthink and just diving in to form your own opinion on a thing, because honestly? I adored Sonic Superstars (for the most part) and I’m extremely surprised at how harsh the reception and general talking points about the game have been. These have absolutely been blown out of proportion and I would love to have some of whatever the crowd saying that it’s “just as uninspired as Sonic 4” are smoking.
The original Sonic the Hedgehog was the very first video game that I ever played and it’s almost exclusively to blame for the lifelong video game addiction that ensued. I’ve played through that original game and its sequels more times than I can count, more than I’ve replayed any other series. They’re something akin to comfort games for me, something familiar and cozy that I can return to whenever the urge arises. This probably makes me sound biased as hell, and that’s because I unabashedly am. 2D Sonic is my shit - always has been, always will be. I can’t divorce the childlike fascination these games always manage to elicit from me to form some lame ‘objective’ analysis, nor would I want to. In my eyes, Sonic Superstars still has that spark that makes 2D Sonic so special and I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it.
When Sonic Mania came out in 2017, it was an instant smash-hit to every neuron in my brain; it led me not into temptation, but delivered me from evil. This is to say, of course, that it’s one of the best games to ever grace the medium, and it’s concentrated nostalgia done pitch perfectly - one of the game’s biggest strengths that also serves as what I would consider to be its only weakness. Mania borrowed heavily from its predecessors with stages and themes, and it’s all great stuff. Throwing familiar stages in a blender and remixing them with some added spice was perfect for the type of game that Mania was clearly aiming to be, but I was always particularly enamored with the few completely original ideas we got. The fresh level designs we got were so promising and I just wanted more; I wanted a Mania 2 to just go all out with these new concepts, to just have fun with itself and the confidence to experiment and break tradition. My wish was wholly fulfilled with Superstars.
Everything excluding the obvious Sonic essentials is brand new here and it rules. I was constantly having new stage concepts/platforming gimmicks thrown at me and it was immensely enjoyable being thrown into the chaos of it all. There’s no familiarity to fall back on and I loved having my preconceived notions of what I thought this game was going to be challenged at every turn. Speeding through stages while mastering these gimmicks is as satisfying as ever because player control is pretty 1:1 to the Genesis era (sharp, responsive, fluid). The developers stated that Superstars’ characters were fine-tuned side-by-side with the Genesis titles and it definitely shows with how accurately it captures how precise those games feel to play. I really like every stage in Superstars, too, with some extra special standouts being Speed Jungle and Cyber Station, and they become even more enjoyable once you start using your Emerald powers to fly around and dominate. It’s a real power-trip in a good way and it finally makes individual emeralds rewarding to collect in the short-term. The level design is accommodating and expects you to use these abilities (it’s no coincidence that these stages play with more verticality than usual) and frequent checkpoints, which refresh your abilities, mean you don’t have to be overly conservative on experimenting.
My only real complaint about the stages themselves is that they’re a little weirdly paced. They all err on the ‘extremely long’ side on some Sonic 3 and Knuckles type beat and I tend to prefer the “more condensed stages” approach of something like a Sonic 1/2/early Mania. There are hints of Sonic CD peaking its head in the philosophy of the level design from time to time with how often you’ll be moving backwards and zig-zagging all over the place, but I find everything to be way more streamlined here than it was in CD. It’s also a little weird that some Zones have 2 Acts where others have 1 super long act for seemingly no rhyme or reason? It’s not a dealbreaker or anything, but it does raise the question of why the 1 Acts weren’t just split into 2 Acts for the sake of consistency.
There’s a lot of shared vocal loathing for the bosses in this game, too, and I can actually understand where this complaint is coming from to an extent. There’s a lot of waiting, extended pattern recognition cycles, and very limited windows of vulnerability but I must admit that I’m in the camp that really liked these fights (in the main campaign, but I’ll get to that). They really do feel like an ordeal, like a real threat that needs to be overcome, and they all utilize actual gimmicks used within the stages in a cool final test of what you learned in the past few minutes. Yes, they’re on the longer side, but honestly it was pretty refreshing to have Sonic bosses that you don’t just obliterate in like 8 seconds from face-tanking. I do think that some of the late game fights could use some trimming but it’s not anything that really bothered me, quite the contrary: they were, dare I say, fun! (Also, proper Emerald power usage destroys a lot of these guys so you’re definitely rewarded for going out of your way to explore and collect them).
In fact, exploration in general is rewarded fairly handsomely in this game, and I really appreciated them bringing back the special stages from Sonic 1 too, but I do kinda wish that the medals weren’t funneled solely into unlocks for the battle mode (which I do not care for, at all). Something like being able to unlock gallery art, music, bonus modes or mini-games, etc. would have been a much better idea in my opinion.
So yeah, overall, I adored Sonic Superstars and all of that adoration comes from the main campaign. Everything that’s not the main campaign, on the other hand….
Is bad! Like, straight up. Trip’s Story is just the main campaign but with an 9 year old Mario Maker designer in the studio (a bunch of random shit everywhere) aka, worse for no reason whatsoever. There’s not really even any new story here? And the true final boss you get for beating the second campaign is just a battle to not get carpal tunnel syndrome or have your wrists snap in half because it demands absolute perfection and….luck. You can say what you want about the other bosses in the game but none of them require flawless play to this extent for this long with a luck element on top of that. The battle mode is super PSP-core, and not in an endearing way, but in the “this is a PSP multiplayer game you’d find for 2 dollars in the Dollar General bargain bin and play it exactly two times only to never touch it again” type of way. I do not know what they were thinking outside of anything in the main campaign with Superstars but one thing is evident: there was no cooking to be had here.
But that’s not really what I play these games for. I play for the meat and potatoes of just having a good time blitzing through fun stages and improving my time, and Superstars nails that for me. Is it worth the ridiculous $60 price tag? Probably not for the amount of actual content that’s offered, but what is good here was a blast. I’ve replayed the game three times now, and I’m already itching for a fourth. It doesn’t reach the highs of Mania, but that’s not a detraction because that’s obviously a really high standard to reach. Sonic Mania was everything I wanted out of a true 2D Sonic revival and more; Superstars is everything I wanted without the more…and that’s ok! I hope the message the divisive reception conveys isn’t that we don’t want more games like this, but that there’s room to clean up a few things and even further improve the foundation.
The original Sonic the Hedgehog was the very first video game that I ever played and it’s almost exclusively to blame for the lifelong video game addiction that ensued. I’ve played through that original game and its sequels more times than I can count, more than I’ve replayed any other series. They’re something akin to comfort games for me, something familiar and cozy that I can return to whenever the urge arises. This probably makes me sound biased as hell, and that’s because I unabashedly am. 2D Sonic is my shit - always has been, always will be. I can’t divorce the childlike fascination these games always manage to elicit from me to form some lame ‘objective’ analysis, nor would I want to. In my eyes, Sonic Superstars still has that spark that makes 2D Sonic so special and I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it.
When Sonic Mania came out in 2017, it was an instant smash-hit to every neuron in my brain; it led me not into temptation, but delivered me from evil. This is to say, of course, that it’s one of the best games to ever grace the medium, and it’s concentrated nostalgia done pitch perfectly - one of the game’s biggest strengths that also serves as what I would consider to be its only weakness. Mania borrowed heavily from its predecessors with stages and themes, and it’s all great stuff. Throwing familiar stages in a blender and remixing them with some added spice was perfect for the type of game that Mania was clearly aiming to be, but I was always particularly enamored with the few completely original ideas we got. The fresh level designs we got were so promising and I just wanted more; I wanted a Mania 2 to just go all out with these new concepts, to just have fun with itself and the confidence to experiment and break tradition. My wish was wholly fulfilled with Superstars.
Everything excluding the obvious Sonic essentials is brand new here and it rules. I was constantly having new stage concepts/platforming gimmicks thrown at me and it was immensely enjoyable being thrown into the chaos of it all. There’s no familiarity to fall back on and I loved having my preconceived notions of what I thought this game was going to be challenged at every turn. Speeding through stages while mastering these gimmicks is as satisfying as ever because player control is pretty 1:1 to the Genesis era (sharp, responsive, fluid). The developers stated that Superstars’ characters were fine-tuned side-by-side with the Genesis titles and it definitely shows with how accurately it captures how precise those games feel to play. I really like every stage in Superstars, too, with some extra special standouts being Speed Jungle and Cyber Station, and they become even more enjoyable once you start using your Emerald powers to fly around and dominate. It’s a real power-trip in a good way and it finally makes individual emeralds rewarding to collect in the short-term. The level design is accommodating and expects you to use these abilities (it’s no coincidence that these stages play with more verticality than usual) and frequent checkpoints, which refresh your abilities, mean you don’t have to be overly conservative on experimenting.
My only real complaint about the stages themselves is that they’re a little weirdly paced. They all err on the ‘extremely long’ side on some Sonic 3 and Knuckles type beat and I tend to prefer the “more condensed stages” approach of something like a Sonic 1/2/early Mania. There are hints of Sonic CD peaking its head in the philosophy of the level design from time to time with how often you’ll be moving backwards and zig-zagging all over the place, but I find everything to be way more streamlined here than it was in CD. It’s also a little weird that some Zones have 2 Acts where others have 1 super long act for seemingly no rhyme or reason? It’s not a dealbreaker or anything, but it does raise the question of why the 1 Acts weren’t just split into 2 Acts for the sake of consistency.
There’s a lot of shared vocal loathing for the bosses in this game, too, and I can actually understand where this complaint is coming from to an extent. There’s a lot of waiting, extended pattern recognition cycles, and very limited windows of vulnerability but I must admit that I’m in the camp that really liked these fights (in the main campaign, but I’ll get to that). They really do feel like an ordeal, like a real threat that needs to be overcome, and they all utilize actual gimmicks used within the stages in a cool final test of what you learned in the past few minutes. Yes, they’re on the longer side, but honestly it was pretty refreshing to have Sonic bosses that you don’t just obliterate in like 8 seconds from face-tanking. I do think that some of the late game fights could use some trimming but it’s not anything that really bothered me, quite the contrary: they were, dare I say, fun! (Also, proper Emerald power usage destroys a lot of these guys so you’re definitely rewarded for going out of your way to explore and collect them).
In fact, exploration in general is rewarded fairly handsomely in this game, and I really appreciated them bringing back the special stages from Sonic 1 too, but I do kinda wish that the medals weren’t funneled solely into unlocks for the battle mode (which I do not care for, at all). Something like being able to unlock gallery art, music, bonus modes or mini-games, etc. would have been a much better idea in my opinion.
So yeah, overall, I adored Sonic Superstars and all of that adoration comes from the main campaign. Everything that’s not the main campaign, on the other hand….
Is bad! Like, straight up. Trip’s Story is just the main campaign but with an 9 year old Mario Maker designer in the studio (a bunch of random shit everywhere) aka, worse for no reason whatsoever. There’s not really even any new story here? And the true final boss you get for beating the second campaign is just a battle to not get carpal tunnel syndrome or have your wrists snap in half because it demands absolute perfection and….luck. You can say what you want about the other bosses in the game but none of them require flawless play to this extent for this long with a luck element on top of that. The battle mode is super PSP-core, and not in an endearing way, but in the “this is a PSP multiplayer game you’d find for 2 dollars in the Dollar General bargain bin and play it exactly two times only to never touch it again” type of way. I do not know what they were thinking outside of anything in the main campaign with Superstars but one thing is evident: there was no cooking to be had here.
But that’s not really what I play these games for. I play for the meat and potatoes of just having a good time blitzing through fun stages and improving my time, and Superstars nails that for me. Is it worth the ridiculous $60 price tag? Probably not for the amount of actual content that’s offered, but what is good here was a blast. I’ve replayed the game three times now, and I’m already itching for a fourth. It doesn’t reach the highs of Mania, but that’s not a detraction because that’s obviously a really high standard to reach. Sonic Mania was everything I wanted out of a true 2D Sonic revival and more; Superstars is everything I wanted without the more…and that’s ok! I hope the message the divisive reception conveys isn’t that we don’t want more games like this, but that there’s room to clean up a few things and even further improve the foundation.