CassiDS
2023
I don't think I can get all my thoughts together regarding this game, so I'll keep it brief:
This is the best creature-tamer I've played, and it surpasses even the best of mainline Pokémon games to me. During my wait for Pokémon Scarlet/Violet to get fixed, I decided to play other creature-tamers like Fossil Fighters and, of course, Cassette Beasts. I wound up playing this more as my faith in Scarlet/Violet waned further, and now it's highly unlikely that I'll ever look back.
And considering the complete package - DLC included - costs under half of what base Scarlet/Violet costs, this is for sure worth biting the bullet on.
Also, Meredith is best girl.
This is the best creature-tamer I've played, and it surpasses even the best of mainline Pokémon games to me. During my wait for Pokémon Scarlet/Violet to get fixed, I decided to play other creature-tamers like Fossil Fighters and, of course, Cassette Beasts. I wound up playing this more as my faith in Scarlet/Violet waned further, and now it's highly unlikely that I'll ever look back.
And considering the complete package - DLC included - costs under half of what base Scarlet/Violet costs, this is for sure worth biting the bullet on.
Also, Meredith is best girl.
Love the new backgrounds and the controls this version has, hate those little enemies that steal the legendary weapons from you, am glad to see the save feature from the FDS version of the game get carried over, am confused by the game's inverted difficulty curve. Oh, and farming for hearts is your best friend in the three dungeon stages.
I wish I had more to say, but I only took a little over three hours altogether to beat this one.
I wish I had more to say, but I only took a little over three hours altogether to beat this one.
2011
What can be said about this that others hadn't already said?
Well, I guess I can start by bringing up that the teammates aren't as annoying as you'd see people a decade older than me claim. Maybe it's the fact that the 3DS voices aren't as compressed as the N64 ones, or just the fact that I first played this now as opposed to those who'd played the game as a kid. I will admit, though, I did occasionally fall victim to the Unwittingly Shooting Teammates Amidst The Commotion Disease.
The levels themselves were fun to navigate through! Though, a handful of times, it can get too frantic which in turn leads to repeated bumping into walls.
The bosses themselves were just the right amount of challenging - not too easy, not too difficult. The perfect amount for a game that encourages you to replay it.
Speaking of which, yeh, I can see myself replaying this one again sometime in the future! But for now, I'm glad I gave it the one playthrough.
Well, I guess I can start by bringing up that the teammates aren't as annoying as you'd see people a decade older than me claim. Maybe it's the fact that the 3DS voices aren't as compressed as the N64 ones, or just the fact that I first played this now as opposed to those who'd played the game as a kid. I will admit, though, I did occasionally fall victim to the Unwittingly Shooting Teammates Amidst The Commotion Disease.
The levels themselves were fun to navigate through! Though, a handful of times, it can get too frantic which in turn leads to repeated bumping into walls.
The bosses themselves were just the right amount of challenging - not too easy, not too difficult. The perfect amount for a game that encourages you to replay it.
Speaking of which, yeh, I can see myself replaying this one again sometime in the future! But for now, I'm glad I gave it the one playthrough.
2018
Not only is this one of the best creature-tamer series out there - if not the best - whose entries are packed with content during a time when mainline Pokémon wasn't (and, in all bluntness, still isn't) interested in offering more for players to do than just doing the main story and competing online, but this is easily the best entry in the series. Do play this one any way you're able to!
2010
Yup, that's an Xbox Live Arcade game, alright.
Nothing horrible, but nothing that great if you're not nostalgic for or charmed by that Xbox Live Arcade smell.
The presentation, for the most part, does what it sets out to do. The stage design reminds me of the Donkey Kong Country Returns revival duology in the sense that floating platforms in the sky are eschewed in favor of every platform showing why it's placed or moving the way it is. The visuals themselves sometimes felt striking to me, though occasionally I noticed where concessions were made in regards to this game's status as a digital-only title from 2010. The story wasn't anything huge, but for platformers - especially mascot platformers - I don't expect a groundbreaking story.
Everything Sparkster is known for doing - hanging onto poles, the jetpack, the sword, the shooting, the dedicated shooting stages - is still here and accounted for, and he still felt satisfying to play as, even when the levels didn't. The bosses did remain challenging throughout - the final boss reached the point of frustration because of his random movements - but that's about it. My advice to anyone wanting to feel something when playing this game: Play on Hard Mode. Normal is too easy.
I'm happy I got the chance to try a Rocket Knight game out, and I daresay I'm growing to like this series, but this particular entry isn't really anything special.
Nothing horrible, but nothing that great if you're not nostalgic for or charmed by that Xbox Live Arcade smell.
The presentation, for the most part, does what it sets out to do. The stage design reminds me of the Donkey Kong Country Returns revival duology in the sense that floating platforms in the sky are eschewed in favor of every platform showing why it's placed or moving the way it is. The visuals themselves sometimes felt striking to me, though occasionally I noticed where concessions were made in regards to this game's status as a digital-only title from 2010. The story wasn't anything huge, but for platformers - especially mascot platformers - I don't expect a groundbreaking story.
Everything Sparkster is known for doing - hanging onto poles, the jetpack, the sword, the shooting, the dedicated shooting stages - is still here and accounted for, and he still felt satisfying to play as, even when the levels didn't. The bosses did remain challenging throughout - the final boss reached the point of frustration because of his random movements - but that's about it. My advice to anyone wanting to feel something when playing this game: Play on Hard Mode. Normal is too easy.
I'm happy I got the chance to try a Rocket Knight game out, and I daresay I'm growing to like this series, but this particular entry isn't really anything special.
I've been playing this game through the fan translation patch, and so far I find it pretty interesting, though I can clearly see that this is what Creature-Tamers Not Named Pokémon look like to People Who Refuse To Play Any Creature-Tamers Not Named Pokémon.
I'll say more once I've beaten the game.
I'll say more once I've beaten the game.
2023
I can't say much here without spoilers, but it's definitely a contender for the title of Best JRPG.
Cassidy's Favorite JRPG
Cassidy's Favorite JRPG
If you went back in time ten years and told me that someday I'd grow to love Uncharted, I'd laugh in your face and tell you to get out of my house.
Admittedly, there's not much to talk about mechanically. The platforming feels reminiscent of those videos I've seen of the cinematic platformers of yore like Flashback and Prince of Persia and Out of This World, which I thought was pretty neat. What I found to be pretty neater, though, was that it took that genre and proceeded to take advantage of being in a 3D space with it - not only are you climbing over ledges, but oftentimes between them as well. The shooter sections did the job, though I wonder whether or not the clunkiness of the aiming was intentional.
The story and characters are where the game shines - and you'd hope so, given that that's Uncharted's M.O. - but I won't speak too much of the story to avoid spoiling it. I will say, however, that the story feels reminiscent of the Indiana Jones movies, what with the fun adventure about an ancient treasure and some bad guys who are trying to get it first. And to those of you who worry about escort missions in videogames and how easy it is for the character(s) who tag along to die, you can lay those worries to rest as in gameplay the two side characters do more than just stand there and take bullets (albeit not doing so much as to deny you yourself of any action).
I did have a couple nitpicks beyond the shooting, but I've no idea how many of them stem from me playing this on the Nathan Drake Collection on PS4. Sometimes, when you're hanging on a ledge/pole/rope, it's not immediately clear where aiming the stick will make you jump off to. One time, everything disappeared for a split second and I was unable to replicate it. And while the game offers plenty of guns throughout the journey - of which you can equip one handgun and one rifle at a time - I rarely felt incentivized to use any of the guns beyond whatever offered me the most chances to refill my ammunition.
But that doesn't take away from the fact that I enjoyed my time with Uncharted 1 and would gladly recommend it to those who play games for the story.
Admittedly, there's not much to talk about mechanically. The platforming feels reminiscent of those videos I've seen of the cinematic platformers of yore like Flashback and Prince of Persia and Out of This World, which I thought was pretty neat. What I found to be pretty neater, though, was that it took that genre and proceeded to take advantage of being in a 3D space with it - not only are you climbing over ledges, but oftentimes between them as well. The shooter sections did the job, though I wonder whether or not the clunkiness of the aiming was intentional.
The story and characters are where the game shines - and you'd hope so, given that that's Uncharted's M.O. - but I won't speak too much of the story to avoid spoiling it. I will say, however, that the story feels reminiscent of the Indiana Jones movies, what with the fun adventure about an ancient treasure and some bad guys who are trying to get it first. And to those of you who worry about escort missions in videogames and how easy it is for the character(s) who tag along to die, you can lay those worries to rest as in gameplay the two side characters do more than just stand there and take bullets (albeit not doing so much as to deny you yourself of any action).
I did have a couple nitpicks beyond the shooting, but I've no idea how many of them stem from me playing this on the Nathan Drake Collection on PS4. Sometimes, when you're hanging on a ledge/pole/rope, it's not immediately clear where aiming the stick will make you jump off to. One time, everything disappeared for a split second and I was unable to replicate it. And while the game offers plenty of guns throughout the journey - of which you can equip one handgun and one rifle at a time - I rarely felt incentivized to use any of the guns beyond whatever offered me the most chances to refill my ammunition.
But that doesn't take away from the fact that I enjoyed my time with Uncharted 1 and would gladly recommend it to those who play games for the story.
A nice break and/or change of pace between bigger games, though I admit I am not used to being penalized for making a mistake in a puzzle on the Mario end.
The Wario end is supposed to be harder, but ironically it feels easier to me by virtue of letting me go at my own pace.
The Wario end is supposed to be harder, but ironically it feels easier to me by virtue of letting me go at my own pace.
This review contains spoilers
Ah, yes, the funny furry isekai game.
I've had history with Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team in the past - by which I mean I played a used GBA cartridge of the original that had already made it through the first half of the game. I then heard about this remake a few years back, bought it day one, put so many hours into the earlygame...and then proceeded to not touch the game again for a few years.
And now that I've finished what I'd previously started, I do appreciate the quality of life improvements (better balance with this game's starter Pokémon, etc.) that this remake offers.
The presentation - putting aside my bias for pixel art - is undoubtably better than the original. I do like the way the game manages to make the 3D models look like hand-drawn images. Though, I do miss the camps being fully explorable...
The gameplay...is the same dungeon-crawler gameplay Spike Chunsoft has executed well for the past two decades by the time of this game's release. I've no idea what else to say about it, other than my observation about how few people are here specifically for the gameplay.
Shelved because I intend to return at a later date to do the postgame quests, but I really enjoyed the main story so far!
Also, the base remodeling story-beat was more of a non-sequitur than I'd remembered it being.
Also also, the protag musta had a pretty shitty life as a human if they willingly allowed the erasure of their previous memories.
I've had history with Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team in the past - by which I mean I played a used GBA cartridge of the original that had already made it through the first half of the game. I then heard about this remake a few years back, bought it day one, put so many hours into the earlygame...and then proceeded to not touch the game again for a few years.
And now that I've finished what I'd previously started, I do appreciate the quality of life improvements (better balance with this game's starter Pokémon, etc.) that this remake offers.
The presentation - putting aside my bias for pixel art - is undoubtably better than the original. I do like the way the game manages to make the 3D models look like hand-drawn images. Though, I do miss the camps being fully explorable...
The gameplay...is the same dungeon-crawler gameplay Spike Chunsoft has executed well for the past two decades by the time of this game's release. I've no idea what else to say about it, other than my observation about how few people are here specifically for the gameplay.
Shelved because I intend to return at a later date to do the postgame quests, but I really enjoyed the main story so far!
Also, the base remodeling story-beat was more of a non-sequitur than I'd remembered it being.
Also also, the protag musta had a pretty shitty life as a human if they willingly allowed the erasure of their previous memories.
I do want to get back to playing this eventually, but so far I'd say I like what I've played up to the point I stopped at!
However, a setting like this feels better suited to a gameplay style akin to Zelda than a collectathon platformer :P
However, a setting like this feels better suited to a gameplay style akin to Zelda than a collectathon platformer :P
It's like if Undertale was more of a game - and I don't mean that as a knock against Undertale.
2008
Honestly, a really cool creature-tamer! I don't see how this could be seen as naught more than a "Pokémon knockoff"; the only thing about this that could be compared to anything from Pokémon is the touchscreen minigame where you break things out of rocks, and even then, I shouldn't have to remind anyone that Pokémon didn't invent digging.
Even these days, it's still plenty fun and has lots of depth! I'm aware that it's easy to write this praise off as nostalgia goggles talking, but I for one played the game in 2023, so I don't have that excuse. I'm just a sucker for great creature-tamer games, and Fossil Fighters is definitely one worth playing, DS touchscreen gimmick minigame and all!
Even these days, it's still plenty fun and has lots of depth! I'm aware that it's easy to write this praise off as nostalgia goggles talking, but I for one played the game in 2023, so I don't have that excuse. I'm just a sucker for great creature-tamer games, and Fossil Fighters is definitely one worth playing, DS touchscreen gimmick minigame and all!
I've watched a few dozen too many randomizer runs of Majora's Mask to experience either version of it for myself as intended... :<
Gameplay-wise, this is a mediocre auto-runner. It'd be a decent one if the controls were tighter and more responsive. The difficulty did ramp up as I'd progressed, but I pulled through and persevered.
Which brings me to just why I dared try to beat this game to begin with: I was drawn in by the premise. You control Eba and their younger sibling, the titular Egg, as Eba rolls Egg to safety so that Egg may hatch. I was charmed by the plot and wanted to witness Egg hatching, as no one online had recorded a full playthrough of the game by that point.
But the game never gave me the satisfaction.
When I beat the game, I got a playable credits sequence, and then was booted back to the title screen. This game straight-up doesn't have an ending - at least, not one that I know of! I wondered if it might be locked behind perfecting every stage, but I don't have the patience to do all that.
This game became unpurchasable with the Wii U eShop shutting down in March of 2023, and for this game it's probably for the best as that means it cannot lure anyone else in with its false promises.
Which brings me to just why I dared try to beat this game to begin with: I was drawn in by the premise. You control Eba and their younger sibling, the titular Egg, as Eba rolls Egg to safety so that Egg may hatch. I was charmed by the plot and wanted to witness Egg hatching, as no one online had recorded a full playthrough of the game by that point.
But the game never gave me the satisfaction.
When I beat the game, I got a playable credits sequence, and then was booted back to the title screen. This game straight-up doesn't have an ending - at least, not one that I know of! I wondered if it might be locked behind perfecting every stage, but I don't have the patience to do all that.
This game became unpurchasable with the Wii U eShop shutting down in March of 2023, and for this game it's probably for the best as that means it cannot lure anyone else in with its false promises.