BlazedIce
2016
This review contains spoilers
GAMEPLAY
The controls were rather simple and the game probably wouldn’t have worked better in a different way. It definitely let it feel more immersive, both in its entirety and smaller details. A lot of the puzzles felt that way, although some of them were a bit more complex than others (but that’s okay).
I found no major bugs but I noticed the character’s movements were at times unprecise and slippery.
Unfortunately, I didn’t feel the (good kind of) anxiety I used to get when I first watched someone play INSIDE, not even during chase sequences, but I was younger then. I also think it’s unfair to consider that its main trait, because I believe it really isn’t.
STORY
As I’ve just said, I wasn’t really scared when playing, but the dystopic tones and settings were rather felt: that’s probably my favourite thing about the game because it was quite disheartening to see the sameness of the people and buildings, while whatever/whoever was different was either fleeing, dead or experimented on.
I didn’t full understand the story, but I liked both endings. The main one was honestly depressing: playing as the blob was disturbing on its own but the very last scene where it just lays there on the ground, after finally escaping the facility, was very impactful. The secret one felt more relieving, in a way: I was a bit shocked to know the main character was just a body used by the blob, just like how the former controlled other ones in a few puzzles, but the “definitive” death of both of them just felt like the better outcome.
CONCLUSIONS
I have not much else to say regarding INSIDE, given it was a relatively short and simple experience, but I appreciated it even though not as much as I used to. Probably, because of nostalgia, I had high expectations the game just couldn’t meet.
The controls were rather simple and the game probably wouldn’t have worked better in a different way. It definitely let it feel more immersive, both in its entirety and smaller details. A lot of the puzzles felt that way, although some of them were a bit more complex than others (but that’s okay).
I found no major bugs but I noticed the character’s movements were at times unprecise and slippery.
Unfortunately, I didn’t feel the (good kind of) anxiety I used to get when I first watched someone play INSIDE, not even during chase sequences, but I was younger then. I also think it’s unfair to consider that its main trait, because I believe it really isn’t.
STORY
As I’ve just said, I wasn’t really scared when playing, but the dystopic tones and settings were rather felt: that’s probably my favourite thing about the game because it was quite disheartening to see the sameness of the people and buildings, while whatever/whoever was different was either fleeing, dead or experimented on.
I didn’t full understand the story, but I liked both endings. The main one was honestly depressing: playing as the blob was disturbing on its own but the very last scene where it just lays there on the ground, after finally escaping the facility, was very impactful. The secret one felt more relieving, in a way: I was a bit shocked to know the main character was just a body used by the blob, just like how the former controlled other ones in a few puzzles, but the “definitive” death of both of them just felt like the better outcome.
CONCLUSIONS
I have not much else to say regarding INSIDE, given it was a relatively short and simple experience, but I appreciated it even though not as much as I used to. Probably, because of nostalgia, I had high expectations the game just couldn’t meet.
This review contains spoilers
Prior to finally finishing the game in 2023, the last time I’d played Breath of the Wild was in the first half of 2019. I put it on hold for so long because of how I was confronting the game: I was mostly wasting time exploring everything and consequently getting nothing done.
I eventually decided to pick it back up last year and complete it because of Tears of the Kingdom’s (at the time) recent release.
GAMEPLAY
What troubled me the most in both 2019 and 2023 was the game’s open world structure. I’m really not a fan of extremely big maps: I love exploring, which is why the more there is to discover, the more time I lose doing nothing useful, as these worlds tend to be pretty empty. I can’t expect them to be completely full but finding the same enemies or empty places multiple times in a row makes the whole experience more like chores than fun to me. This is generally an open world problem, but I had to point it out regardless.
In Breath of the Wild my goal was to complete all 120 Shrines (and defeat the final boss). This, of course, at times made my experience even more tedious: the issue was finding the shrines themselves rather than solving the puzzles – which were pretty fun overall, even the motion ones.
The Divine Beasts being proper dungeons was a fun idea: the puzzles were cool because the technological parts (pretty much new to The Legend of Zelda) were well implemented but the Ganon bosses weren’t as enjoyable.
I liked the combat overall but it felt a bit unresponsive in terms of defense; it might have been a skill issue on my part, though. I also loved putting to use each of Link's abilities.
Many complained about weapon durability but I didn’t mind it at all: caution and strategy were rewarded and I was always full of weapons anyway…
Movement wise, fast travel was nice but climbing and running were rather slow and limited due to stamina, while horseriding controls felt awful to me.
STORY AND CHARACTERS
I honestly don’t have much to say about the story. The lore was cool and Link’s memories from 100 years before the game’s events were also awesome, but the plot itself was pretty boring…
The characters didn’t help. I liked Kass because of his travelling storyteller figure and I loved Urbosa because of her kind but joking attitude, but I mostly disliked the rest.
I don’t know why this Zelda was so hated, though: she wasn’t that interesting but she wasn’t as annoying as people made her seem. I did find particular how she didn’t have the powers she needed at first, something she really struggled with.
VIDEO AND AUDIO
The artstyle was great and managed to make most of Hyrule look beautiful: there were many spots where I could just look at wonderful landscapes.
I didn’t encounter many glitches, and those I found were ones I could enjoy they didn’t ruin the experience.
The Legend of Zelda's music generally isn’t to my taste, but Breath of the Wild's is definitely one of my favourites from the series: I can’t say I liked all of the tracks but there absolutely were many amazing ones.
CONCLUSIONS
My experience with the game was kind of nice, even if split into two years, but nothing that incredible. I still don't get all the hype this title got, but I can guess that by being similar to open world Sony games, while still feeling like a "real" Nintendo product, a wider than usual audience found it appealing. I might be completely wrong, though, since this is barely just a "theory" I have.
I eventually decided to pick it back up last year and complete it because of Tears of the Kingdom’s (at the time) recent release.
GAMEPLAY
What troubled me the most in both 2019 and 2023 was the game’s open world structure. I’m really not a fan of extremely big maps: I love exploring, which is why the more there is to discover, the more time I lose doing nothing useful, as these worlds tend to be pretty empty. I can’t expect them to be completely full but finding the same enemies or empty places multiple times in a row makes the whole experience more like chores than fun to me. This is generally an open world problem, but I had to point it out regardless.
In Breath of the Wild my goal was to complete all 120 Shrines (and defeat the final boss). This, of course, at times made my experience even more tedious: the issue was finding the shrines themselves rather than solving the puzzles – which were pretty fun overall, even the motion ones.
The Divine Beasts being proper dungeons was a fun idea: the puzzles were cool because the technological parts (pretty much new to The Legend of Zelda) were well implemented but the Ganon bosses weren’t as enjoyable.
I liked the combat overall but it felt a bit unresponsive in terms of defense; it might have been a skill issue on my part, though. I also loved putting to use each of Link's abilities.
Many complained about weapon durability but I didn’t mind it at all: caution and strategy were rewarded and I was always full of weapons anyway…
Movement wise, fast travel was nice but climbing and running were rather slow and limited due to stamina, while horseriding controls felt awful to me.
STORY AND CHARACTERS
I honestly don’t have much to say about the story. The lore was cool and Link’s memories from 100 years before the game’s events were also awesome, but the plot itself was pretty boring…
The characters didn’t help. I liked Kass because of his travelling storyteller figure and I loved Urbosa because of her kind but joking attitude, but I mostly disliked the rest.
I don’t know why this Zelda was so hated, though: she wasn’t that interesting but she wasn’t as annoying as people made her seem. I did find particular how she didn’t have the powers she needed at first, something she really struggled with.
VIDEO AND AUDIO
The artstyle was great and managed to make most of Hyrule look beautiful: there were many spots where I could just look at wonderful landscapes.
I didn’t encounter many glitches, and those I found were ones I could enjoy they didn’t ruin the experience.
The Legend of Zelda's music generally isn’t to my taste, but Breath of the Wild's is definitely one of my favourites from the series: I can’t say I liked all of the tracks but there absolutely were many amazing ones.
CONCLUSIONS
My experience with the game was kind of nice, even if split into two years, but nothing that incredible. I still don't get all the hype this title got, but I can guess that by being similar to open world Sony games, while still feeling like a "real" Nintendo product, a wider than usual audience found it appealing. I might be completely wrong, though, since this is barely just a "theory" I have.
GAMEPLAY
A different take on the mainline series (I’m glad it’s treated as part of it) I was pleasantly surprised with, especially compared to the BDSP remakes. It felt new but still Pokémon, and I believe we really needed that. We’re still getting “normal” games, but as we can see from Scarlet/Violet trailers, Legends: Arceus was impactful. It’s one step in the right direction.
Old, typical Pokémon is always fun but, as core points of the gameplay got renewed, my experience with it was even better, for the most part. I loved battle transitions, but basically getting drawn into the fight without them feels more “realistic”; and while the environment might look dull, it’s nice to be able to move around and escape by doing so. The difficulty was considerably higher than previous titles’ and I loved the boss battles because they required the player to avoid attacks themselves.
Catching Pokémon has never been this fun: there’s stealth and consequentially more strategy to it; to me, it never felt repetitive and I actually wanted to complete the Pokédex for once (but it’s also needed to do all the main stuff): very few research tasks were tedious. The same can be said for quests, besides the Path of Solitude (they’re so unfair). Crafting is a cool addition and it doesn’t get annoying thanks to the materials shop.
Exploring Hisui can be relaxing, especially soaring through the skies with Braviary. The ambience and OST are very fitting; the latter is generally good, with lovely references to the original DPP soundtrack. I loved I was able to know more about Sinnoh’s past, through its landscapes, creatures, people and story. Speaking of which, it might not be extremely complex but it was indeed nice, paired with the cast. I still think about some plot points for how awesome they were.
Graphics are the biggest flaw of the game. Pop-ups are jarring, the lighting and the basically non-existent textures feel off, a lot of places look dull and lifeless: in Jubilife village, NPCs feel frozen, barely alive. Although, I must say they did a great job with the moves’ animations; the UI also looks right for the style.
There aren’t too many pieces of clothing or different hairstyles so, while changing some things, I kept the awesome Team Galactic suit on.
TEAM
My team was: Hisuian Decidueye, Empoleon, Luxray, Hisuian Arcanine, Ursaluna and Hisuian Braviary.
I picked Rowlet because he was my favorite of the three starters; I prefer his final evolution to the others, although the Alola one is much better; Hisuian Arcanine looks so heavy and fluffy at the same time and as you may know I love cloud themed stuff; Ursaluna looks like a granny Pokémon and for some reason that’s why it’s my favorite evolution in the game; Hisuian Braviary may not be as good looking as its Unova counterpart, but the psychic “flames” look so cool.
Hisuian Zorua is so cute and Hisuian Snow (which was amazing) made me love it even more, so sad it evolves into… that.
CHARACTERS AND STORY
I hoped Kamado was gonna be likeable like his descendant, Rowan, but he treats the protagonist awfully by throwing them out of town, which makes for an awesome plot point but it’s angering after everything they did for Jubilife Village and Hisui as a whole. He then tries to redeem himself, but it didn’t work well on me.
Colza’s design is terrible which is sad knowing he’s Gardenia’s ancestor, who looks so much better.
Strangely enough, I don’t really have an opinion on Adaman: he’s just kinda there. Maybe my Pearl bias is too strong, but he didn’t leave a big impression on me.
The Miss Fortune Sisters is a fun trio I wish they explored more; of the three I like Coin the most because she seemed so persistent in the post-game battles: I kept finding her at every angle, and I found that so funny.
I unfortunately got spoiled about Volo so the character was a bit ruined for me; he’s still super interesting and I love that the hints were right there, but well hidden. The final twist was still good, regardless of what I knew.
Laventon is one of the best professors: he looks goofy because he is, and he actually looks like he loves doing research and being on the field, because he believes Pokémon and humans can coexist peacefully.
Cogita is an old wise woman who drinks tea, knows lots of stuff and slays that outfit. That’s it and I love it.
Cyllene looks cold but cares deeply about the player: she even lends a hand when she shouldn’t, risking her position.
Arezu seems to be a troublemaker but she always does her best, to the point of endangering herself. I absolutely love her look, just like Mars’s.
Ingo has the best design in the game (him being bald broke me) and his backstory is truly saddening; you know who he is but he doesn’t, and he disappeared from his world without a trace, leaving Emmet alone.
Irida falls under that type of character I can’t describe but I always end up loving: she’s my favorite as she proved to be gentle, understanding and courageous (without hiding her fear). Her relationship with Rei/Akari and Adaman developed extremely well.
CONCLUSIONS
Overall, I had a great time and I hope for more content like Legends: Arceus (gameplay wise) in the future.
A different take on the mainline series (I’m glad it’s treated as part of it) I was pleasantly surprised with, especially compared to the BDSP remakes. It felt new but still Pokémon, and I believe we really needed that. We’re still getting “normal” games, but as we can see from Scarlet/Violet trailers, Legends: Arceus was impactful. It’s one step in the right direction.
Old, typical Pokémon is always fun but, as core points of the gameplay got renewed, my experience with it was even better, for the most part. I loved battle transitions, but basically getting drawn into the fight without them feels more “realistic”; and while the environment might look dull, it’s nice to be able to move around and escape by doing so. The difficulty was considerably higher than previous titles’ and I loved the boss battles because they required the player to avoid attacks themselves.
Catching Pokémon has never been this fun: there’s stealth and consequentially more strategy to it; to me, it never felt repetitive and I actually wanted to complete the Pokédex for once (but it’s also needed to do all the main stuff): very few research tasks were tedious. The same can be said for quests, besides the Path of Solitude (they’re so unfair). Crafting is a cool addition and it doesn’t get annoying thanks to the materials shop.
Exploring Hisui can be relaxing, especially soaring through the skies with Braviary. The ambience and OST are very fitting; the latter is generally good, with lovely references to the original DPP soundtrack. I loved I was able to know more about Sinnoh’s past, through its landscapes, creatures, people and story. Speaking of which, it might not be extremely complex but it was indeed nice, paired with the cast. I still think about some plot points for how awesome they were.
Graphics are the biggest flaw of the game. Pop-ups are jarring, the lighting and the basically non-existent textures feel off, a lot of places look dull and lifeless: in Jubilife village, NPCs feel frozen, barely alive. Although, I must say they did a great job with the moves’ animations; the UI also looks right for the style.
There aren’t too many pieces of clothing or different hairstyles so, while changing some things, I kept the awesome Team Galactic suit on.
TEAM
My team was: Hisuian Decidueye, Empoleon, Luxray, Hisuian Arcanine, Ursaluna and Hisuian Braviary.
I picked Rowlet because he was my favorite of the three starters; I prefer his final evolution to the others, although the Alola one is much better; Hisuian Arcanine looks so heavy and fluffy at the same time and as you may know I love cloud themed stuff; Ursaluna looks like a granny Pokémon and for some reason that’s why it’s my favorite evolution in the game; Hisuian Braviary may not be as good looking as its Unova counterpart, but the psychic “flames” look so cool.
Hisuian Zorua is so cute and Hisuian Snow (which was amazing) made me love it even more, so sad it evolves into… that.
CHARACTERS AND STORY
I hoped Kamado was gonna be likeable like his descendant, Rowan, but he treats the protagonist awfully by throwing them out of town, which makes for an awesome plot point but it’s angering after everything they did for Jubilife Village and Hisui as a whole. He then tries to redeem himself, but it didn’t work well on me.
Colza’s design is terrible which is sad knowing he’s Gardenia’s ancestor, who looks so much better.
Strangely enough, I don’t really have an opinion on Adaman: he’s just kinda there. Maybe my Pearl bias is too strong, but he didn’t leave a big impression on me.
The Miss Fortune Sisters is a fun trio I wish they explored more; of the three I like Coin the most because she seemed so persistent in the post-game battles: I kept finding her at every angle, and I found that so funny.
I unfortunately got spoiled about Volo so the character was a bit ruined for me; he’s still super interesting and I love that the hints were right there, but well hidden. The final twist was still good, regardless of what I knew.
Laventon is one of the best professors: he looks goofy because he is, and he actually looks like he loves doing research and being on the field, because he believes Pokémon and humans can coexist peacefully.
Cogita is an old wise woman who drinks tea, knows lots of stuff and slays that outfit. That’s it and I love it.
Cyllene looks cold but cares deeply about the player: she even lends a hand when she shouldn’t, risking her position.
Arezu seems to be a troublemaker but she always does her best, to the point of endangering herself. I absolutely love her look, just like Mars’s.
Ingo has the best design in the game (him being bald broke me) and his backstory is truly saddening; you know who he is but he doesn’t, and he disappeared from his world without a trace, leaving Emmet alone.
Irida falls under that type of character I can’t describe but I always end up loving: she’s my favorite as she proved to be gentle, understanding and courageous (without hiding her fear). Her relationship with Rei/Akari and Adaman developed extremely well.
CONCLUSIONS
Overall, I had a great time and I hope for more content like Legends: Arceus (gameplay wise) in the future.
2022
This review contains spoilers
GAMEPLAY
Bayonetta 3 was my most anticipated game in recent years. I have absolutely loved both 1 and 2, so much that Bayonetta has become one of my favourite franchises ever; plus, the wait since 2017’s TGA had been consuming me.
I can happily say I was not disappointed in the slightest; I was almost sure it was going to be good because I’ve greatly enjoyed every Platinum game I’ve played so far, but I was obviously still a bit scared it wouldn’t live up to the high expectations I had because of the continuous “Development is going well” announcements.
Exploring felt freer thanks to all the Demons’ perks and it also was quite rewarding because of all the collectibles (some of which were needed to unlock Phenomenal Remnants) and achievements.
The combat was as great as always: the different weapons were so fun to use and, although I had favourites (Simoon and Alruna), all the possible combos and tricks to pull off were very satisfying. Being able to summon Demons during “normal” combat was a nice addition as well, even though I didn’t do it much.
Viola was definitely much harder to play as, which was fitting considering she’s less experienced; she was still pretty fun, but I think Witch Time shouldn’t have been that hard to trigger.
Jeanne’s Side Chapters were genuinely cool: it was more Metroid-like but it was awesome and pretty challenging nonetheless.
This was my first time completing all levels, including extra ones, in a Bayonetta game; I’m not sure if 3 is easier or I just got better, considering I played the past titles 5-6 years ago. I can surely say I wanted to play even more, earning all achievements; I had to stop myself solely because I don’t have much free time.
The game looks pretty different from its predecessors; it had more of an Astral Chain (which I loved) feel to it and it looked fantastic, especially considering I had no frame drops nor visual glitches of any kind.
The OST is amazing, as expected from a Bayonetta title. The “new” instruments bring something new while keeping the right vibe. Some pieces still get me truly emotional, being excellent in every aspect of them: Al Fine and We Are As One are perfect examples.
CHARACTERS AND STORY
I don’t have much to say about the characters, because all the old ones were almost unchanged (which is good) excluding the new awesome designs. Cereza is a sassy icon as ever.
I should say something more about Viola, since she’s new: so many disliked her, but I actually found her quite funny and enjoyable. The daughter twist was a bit foreseeable, though, considering she is very similar to her parents, and I think it needed more explanations, because we didn’t see them together that much, leaving many questions unanswered, like since when did Cereza and Luka know about it? Where was their Viola, granted she already existed?
People also complained about the oddity of her parents' love; I think it was hinted at since the first game, and one should also consider the alternate universes. I myself am still not sure how it worked, as in I don’t know if Bayo 1 and Bayo 2 are the same person as Bayo 3, just in a different moment in time or not; the way those two came back for the final fight was awesome as well, but I don’t understand how.
I loved to see the different iterations of Cereza, although it saddened me how little time they got to shine and how they had to disappear, too.
Although Viola might become the protagonist in the future – which could potentially change the gameplay too much – it seems a bit odd to completely remove Cereza from the spotlight. She’s way too iconic as a character, and people in this series “cheated” death many times: she went to Inferno and was not killed by Singularity, after all. This means she could come back, but then the heartbreaking ending would basically be pointless: I want her to return but I don’t want to feel like I was emotionally destroyed for nothing at the same time.
Someone that likely can’t come back is instead Jeanne… she died for good and in a dumb way, at that; she got done dirty too many times in this series.
At least, the comedic/fun side of the writing was as strong as ever.
In the end, I loved the story but I also think it wasn’t so great… it needs to get less confusing and better paced in a future game (hoping there will be one).
Bayonetta 3 was my most anticipated game in recent years. I have absolutely loved both 1 and 2, so much that Bayonetta has become one of my favourite franchises ever; plus, the wait since 2017’s TGA had been consuming me.
I can happily say I was not disappointed in the slightest; I was almost sure it was going to be good because I’ve greatly enjoyed every Platinum game I’ve played so far, but I was obviously still a bit scared it wouldn’t live up to the high expectations I had because of the continuous “Development is going well” announcements.
Exploring felt freer thanks to all the Demons’ perks and it also was quite rewarding because of all the collectibles (some of which were needed to unlock Phenomenal Remnants) and achievements.
The combat was as great as always: the different weapons were so fun to use and, although I had favourites (Simoon and Alruna), all the possible combos and tricks to pull off were very satisfying. Being able to summon Demons during “normal” combat was a nice addition as well, even though I didn’t do it much.
Viola was definitely much harder to play as, which was fitting considering she’s less experienced; she was still pretty fun, but I think Witch Time shouldn’t have been that hard to trigger.
Jeanne’s Side Chapters were genuinely cool: it was more Metroid-like but it was awesome and pretty challenging nonetheless.
This was my first time completing all levels, including extra ones, in a Bayonetta game; I’m not sure if 3 is easier or I just got better, considering I played the past titles 5-6 years ago. I can surely say I wanted to play even more, earning all achievements; I had to stop myself solely because I don’t have much free time.
The game looks pretty different from its predecessors; it had more of an Astral Chain (which I loved) feel to it and it looked fantastic, especially considering I had no frame drops nor visual glitches of any kind.
The OST is amazing, as expected from a Bayonetta title. The “new” instruments bring something new while keeping the right vibe. Some pieces still get me truly emotional, being excellent in every aspect of them: Al Fine and We Are As One are perfect examples.
CHARACTERS AND STORY
I don’t have much to say about the characters, because all the old ones were almost unchanged (which is good) excluding the new awesome designs. Cereza is a sassy icon as ever.
I should say something more about Viola, since she’s new: so many disliked her, but I actually found her quite funny and enjoyable. The daughter twist was a bit foreseeable, though, considering she is very similar to her parents, and I think it needed more explanations, because we didn’t see them together that much, leaving many questions unanswered, like since when did Cereza and Luka know about it? Where was their Viola, granted she already existed?
People also complained about the oddity of her parents' love; I think it was hinted at since the first game, and one should also consider the alternate universes. I myself am still not sure how it worked, as in I don’t know if Bayo 1 and Bayo 2 are the same person as Bayo 3, just in a different moment in time or not; the way those two came back for the final fight was awesome as well, but I don’t understand how.
I loved to see the different iterations of Cereza, although it saddened me how little time they got to shine and how they had to disappear, too.
Although Viola might become the protagonist in the future – which could potentially change the gameplay too much – it seems a bit odd to completely remove Cereza from the spotlight. She’s way too iconic as a character, and people in this series “cheated” death many times: she went to Inferno and was not killed by Singularity, after all. This means she could come back, but then the heartbreaking ending would basically be pointless: I want her to return but I don’t want to feel like I was emotionally destroyed for nothing at the same time.
Someone that likely can’t come back is instead Jeanne… she died for good and in a dumb way, at that; she got done dirty too many times in this series.
At least, the comedic/fun side of the writing was as strong as ever.
In the end, I loved the story but I also think it wasn’t so great… it needs to get less confusing and better paced in a future game (hoping there will be one).
2022
This review contains spoilers
(Long review warning! Sorry)
GAMEPLAY
I’m gonna address the game’s issues first and foremost.
I was fortunate enough to encounter almost no glitches myself but I’ve seen plenty here on IG the first few weeks; I was trying to avoid spoilers, too, which means there probably were even more.
I’ve still witnessed quite some visual jankiness, like weird shadows, objects with unloaded textures, pop-ups and mostly frame lag. The last-mentioned was really troubling, as it repeatedly broke immersion (not that I could immerse myself much anyway) and it was really annoying: it almost made me quit a few times.
The open world structure could have been a nice change.
It did some good things: visible Pokémon in the overworld (already possible since the Let’s Go! games, though), an actually cohesive Region and an adventure more similar to what it seems it should be in the Pokémon universe.
But it also brought empty areas and dull exploring into play, making the game more tedious than anything at times.
The Paldea Region often looks lifeless.
Because of the non-existent level scaling, being let free was actually not great: I found myself fighting the weakest Trainers in the endgame, when my team was way overleveled.
I only ever had somewhat of a challenge during some of my early battles, as I went against stronger wild Pokémon and bosses, and the very last area of the game.
I tried something different with my team: I actually trained 7 Pokémon, switching when necessary to keep them all at the same level.
I wanted to increase the difficulty and I also couldn’t get myself to leave anyone in the Boxes. I usually try to keep my team balanced but designs come first for me.
VOICE ACTING AND MUSIC
Something that truly felt needed was voice acting.
They can definitely afford it, and cutscenes get really weird when characters are in their talking animation but no voices are there to complement it, especially when there are other sound effects playing.
The OST is pretty awesome, and I love how recognizable the different composers’ styles are.
I also really liked how music transitioned between walking/riding/combat: I loved the intros for trainer/wild battles but a faster, smoother gameplay is arguably better.
CHARACTERS
Generally speaking, the characters felt less “charming” than those in Sword and Shield, since they had somewhat of a background there.
The rivals/main characters were really good, though!
I feel like Nemona is overhated and I don’t understand why: she wasn’t annoying (as people made it seem) and she’s my favourite supporting rival in the series, because she was always excited to take on new challenges and seemed genuinely happy for the protagonist. I just wish they made her stronger, as she was supposed to be.
Arven had actual depth: his life and his family weren’t great, but that didn’t stop him from pursuing his dreams, although having doubts about them. He actually showed negative emotions while being a “hero”, which I don’t think ever happened before in the main games.
Rika talks in Romanesco dialect in the Italian version, which was so uncalled for; she was pretty funny and I liked her attitude towards other people and her job.
A lot of people dislike Geeta but I actually like her. I’m not sure why I do, though. I guess her “bewitching aura”, as they call it in game, worked on me.
It’s weird that I liked Raifort this much. It might have been her passion about the subject and how she loves to learn about all kinds of stories, even myths and such.
I was a bit disappointed with both Grusha and Mela: they’re not bad characters, but I expected much more from them solely because of their fantastic designs.
I don’t get the hype with Larry: I surely love that being overworked is talked about even in the Pokémon universe, but that’s kind of it.
Tulip definitely portrayed the influencer persona well, especially considering how she’s mean for no reason off-camera; I truly despised her.
STORY
The game’s plot, even if branched into three different paths, was a bit underwhelming for what I’d hoped. Each substory felt complete (at least) but quite empty.
Path of Legends had somewhat cool bosses but that was basically it; hearing about Arven’s past and curing his Mabosstiff was nice, but without voice acting it lacked depth.
Starfall Street also had unique (easy) battles but Team Star wasn’t that interesting overall and Penny being Cassiopeia was very foreseeable; the only good thing about it was Clive/Clavell being silly and actually trying to help his students.
Victory Road felt the most rewarding, because of Nemona always being there for you, both as a rival and as a supporter in your journey.
The biggest problem with all three paths was definitely how repetitive they were.
Nonetheless, I believe they did a good job with the last section of the game, Area Zero.
It felt like a whole new game; a group of friends, an unknown place, the scenery and the mystery all made me think of fantasy books I used to read as a kid, which is such a good thing.
A lot of lore was uncovered there, from “smaller” stuff like how Paradox Pokémon came to be, to the biggest plot point being Professor Sada and her disappearance.
I knew something was off with her already, but I did not expect her to be an android replacement; it’s a shame her character wasn’t used more, because it’s by far one of the coolest in the series.
The final fight was amazing, and I was happy that Arven got to know the truth.
(Again, voice acting wouldn’t have hurt.)
CONCLUSIONS
I enjoyed Scarlet because it’s a Pokémon game, but its issues were too prominent to ignore; most of them often ruined the fun, admitted I was having any.
The main games need more time and work before being released, but I honestly think The Pokémon Company doesn’t care as long as it makes them money.
I can hope, but the future of this series doesn’t look so bright.
GAMEPLAY
I’m gonna address the game’s issues first and foremost.
I was fortunate enough to encounter almost no glitches myself but I’ve seen plenty here on IG the first few weeks; I was trying to avoid spoilers, too, which means there probably were even more.
I’ve still witnessed quite some visual jankiness, like weird shadows, objects with unloaded textures, pop-ups and mostly frame lag. The last-mentioned was really troubling, as it repeatedly broke immersion (not that I could immerse myself much anyway) and it was really annoying: it almost made me quit a few times.
The open world structure could have been a nice change.
It did some good things: visible Pokémon in the overworld (already possible since the Let’s Go! games, though), an actually cohesive Region and an adventure more similar to what it seems it should be in the Pokémon universe.
But it also brought empty areas and dull exploring into play, making the game more tedious than anything at times.
The Paldea Region often looks lifeless.
Because of the non-existent level scaling, being let free was actually not great: I found myself fighting the weakest Trainers in the endgame, when my team was way overleveled.
I only ever had somewhat of a challenge during some of my early battles, as I went against stronger wild Pokémon and bosses, and the very last area of the game.
I tried something different with my team: I actually trained 7 Pokémon, switching when necessary to keep them all at the same level.
I wanted to increase the difficulty and I also couldn’t get myself to leave anyone in the Boxes. I usually try to keep my team balanced but designs come first for me.
VOICE ACTING AND MUSIC
Something that truly felt needed was voice acting.
They can definitely afford it, and cutscenes get really weird when characters are in their talking animation but no voices are there to complement it, especially when there are other sound effects playing.
The OST is pretty awesome, and I love how recognizable the different composers’ styles are.
I also really liked how music transitioned between walking/riding/combat: I loved the intros for trainer/wild battles but a faster, smoother gameplay is arguably better.
CHARACTERS
Generally speaking, the characters felt less “charming” than those in Sword and Shield, since they had somewhat of a background there.
The rivals/main characters were really good, though!
I feel like Nemona is overhated and I don’t understand why: she wasn’t annoying (as people made it seem) and she’s my favourite supporting rival in the series, because she was always excited to take on new challenges and seemed genuinely happy for the protagonist. I just wish they made her stronger, as she was supposed to be.
Arven had actual depth: his life and his family weren’t great, but that didn’t stop him from pursuing his dreams, although having doubts about them. He actually showed negative emotions while being a “hero”, which I don’t think ever happened before in the main games.
Rika talks in Romanesco dialect in the Italian version, which was so uncalled for; she was pretty funny and I liked her attitude towards other people and her job.
A lot of people dislike Geeta but I actually like her. I’m not sure why I do, though. I guess her “bewitching aura”, as they call it in game, worked on me.
It’s weird that I liked Raifort this much. It might have been her passion about the subject and how she loves to learn about all kinds of stories, even myths and such.
I was a bit disappointed with both Grusha and Mela: they’re not bad characters, but I expected much more from them solely because of their fantastic designs.
I don’t get the hype with Larry: I surely love that being overworked is talked about even in the Pokémon universe, but that’s kind of it.
Tulip definitely portrayed the influencer persona well, especially considering how she’s mean for no reason off-camera; I truly despised her.
STORY
The game’s plot, even if branched into three different paths, was a bit underwhelming for what I’d hoped. Each substory felt complete (at least) but quite empty.
Path of Legends had somewhat cool bosses but that was basically it; hearing about Arven’s past and curing his Mabosstiff was nice, but without voice acting it lacked depth.
Starfall Street also had unique (easy) battles but Team Star wasn’t that interesting overall and Penny being Cassiopeia was very foreseeable; the only good thing about it was Clive/Clavell being silly and actually trying to help his students.
Victory Road felt the most rewarding, because of Nemona always being there for you, both as a rival and as a supporter in your journey.
The biggest problem with all three paths was definitely how repetitive they were.
Nonetheless, I believe they did a good job with the last section of the game, Area Zero.
It felt like a whole new game; a group of friends, an unknown place, the scenery and the mystery all made me think of fantasy books I used to read as a kid, which is such a good thing.
A lot of lore was uncovered there, from “smaller” stuff like how Paradox Pokémon came to be, to the biggest plot point being Professor Sada and her disappearance.
I knew something was off with her already, but I did not expect her to be an android replacement; it’s a shame her character wasn’t used more, because it’s by far one of the coolest in the series.
The final fight was amazing, and I was happy that Arven got to know the truth.
(Again, voice acting wouldn’t have hurt.)
CONCLUSIONS
I enjoyed Scarlet because it’s a Pokémon game, but its issues were too prominent to ignore; most of them often ruined the fun, admitted I was having any.
The main games need more time and work before being released, but I honestly think The Pokémon Company doesn’t care as long as it makes them money.
I can hope, but the future of this series doesn’t look so bright.