It's just Mega Man 2 again, but worse. Worse boss fights (There's a couple cool ones like Gemini Man and Shadow Man, but most of them are pretty forgettable), worse stage design and the Doc Robot fights are the most unfun fights and unnecessary padding just to make the game longer for the sake of it plus the final fight was super lackluster.

However just because everything about this game is inferior to Mega Man 2 doesn't mean it's a bad game, it's not awful or great, it's just kind of ok. I will say I respect how this game was the first to add the slide feature and Mega Man's dog Rush which certainly help with platforming, but other than that there's not much here to care about.

When I decided to buy Hades I was initially worried the game wouldn't live up to the insane hype around it. Fast forward a week of binge-playing and 52 hours of play time later (To get the credits, add another 15 to get the epilogue) and I can 100% without a doubt confirm this game deserves absolutely every bit of praise it gets. I have enjoyed multiple games in the roguelite genre prior to Hades, but nothing ever truly blew me away the way this game did.

Gameplay: I would describe Hades as the kind of game that is 'Easy to pick up and play, but difficult to master'. You might think at first that on the surface the game mechanics are simple, you have your typical hack n slash 'light attack', 'heavy attack', 'dodge/dash' etc, but you'd be very wrong because the sheer amount of depth in the gameplay is just mind-blowing and really makes the game insanely addictive. Even 50+ hours into the game you'll still be learning new strategies and combinations for the myriad god boons and various weapons you have at your disposal, this level of depth truly keeps every single run fresh and enjoyable. That's to say nothing of the other activities you can do like various side-quests and sub-plots for other characters, collecting materials to cosmetically enhance your hub-base and unlock permanent upgrades for Zagreus to make your subsequent runs a little less difficult, hell you can even fish! The fact you have to beat the game 10 times to get the credits and ending might have bothered me more if not for the fact that there's so much to do in Hades that I was fully kept enthralled for all 50+ hours I've put into the game at the time of this review.

Story and characters: Someone might describe the story of Hades as an angsty teenager rebelling against his father and while that isn't entirely wrong, it can also be viewed as the sheer determination and stubbornness of one man, journeying to hell and back (multiple times) to repair his dysfunctional and fractured family. It's honestly not a super 'deep' story, but the way it is executed and the characters being so vibrant and unique really brought it to life. Speaking of the characters, I truly adored them all. Zagreus is a fantastic protagonist full of so much wit and charm, every single one of the Olympian gods have their own distinct personalities that are true to their myths, from the flirty and seductive Aphrodite to the awkward and shy Artemis or the boastful, arrogant Zeus etc they all were portrayed fantastically. I also have to mention how much I loved the incorporation of various Greek myths like Orpheus and Eurydice or Achilles or Theseus and the bull of Minos, it was a nice touch to the mythological theme.

Voice acting: I was absolutely blown away by the voice acting in this game for a small team of voice actors I'd never heard of prior to this game they did a stellar job that sounded just as professional as any triple A game, they really captured the essence of that style of speech you'd read in a classic Greek epic such as The Odyssey. I also want to make note of the sheer amount of voice lines in this game. In my entire 50+ hour play time I didn't run across a single repeated line of dialogue and that really impressed the hell out of me.

Artwork: Supergiant games have always had fantastic artwork in their games, but Hades seriously has some of the best, most detailed and beautifully stylized art I've seen in a long time, all the character designs are so colorful and vibrant. There's not a single character I didn't think looked amazingly designed.

Music: Hades has just as much to offer musically as it does in every other aspect. Every single track of the OST perfectly captures the mood of the game. An excellent blend of modern music like heavy and intense electric guitars and classical music like flutes, harps and all the other stuff you'd expect to hear in a game about Greek mythology.

Whether it's the sheer amount of depth in the gameplay, the well crafted narrative, the amazing characters and voice acting, the masterfully composed OST or the beautiful and detailed art, Hades honestly has everything you could ever want in a game and I don't have a single complaint. This game truly is a masterpiece deserving of universal acclaim and I can't recommend it enough to literally anyone because this is the kind of game that proves gaming is just as much of an art-form as any other style of media.

The narrative was simply incredibly well crafted and written and has some great twists.

I really love how much character development Kratos gets in this game and the whole dynamic between him and Atreus.

The combat is super fun, challenging and rewarding, I know this is a meme in itself but it legitimately does have a bit of a Souls feel to it lol. At first I was worried that it would get stale only using one weapon, but you can do SO MUCH with the Leviathan Axe that it feels like you have 10 different weapons (Also you do get another weapon about halfway into the game, but not saying anything else to avoid spoilers)

Also I rarely say this about games that add pseudo-RPG elements like levels, experience, armor/gear and an open world, but they actually utilized those elements perfectly in this game and it never felt like a chore exploring, I actually wanted to explore the world to find resources to upgrade my equipment and get more powerful equipment.

The score was just beautiful, not normally big on western game soundtracks, but this one was seriously fantastic and definitely added to the experience.

Seriously, if you haven't played it yet, get it ASAP because you won't regret it. It's nice to say that a AAA title finally actually delivered on the hype it generated.

I might really hate what the series has become nowadays, but it's hard to deny that those first 2 games and Birth By Sleep weren't some of the greatest J-RPGs ever back in the day and hell they still hold up really damn well too.

This one is certainly a bit more clunky than the others, but still a lot of fun, the bosses were well designed and the story was solid too, very simplistic light vs dark story and not ridiculously over-convoluted. Yoko Shimomura's score always made exploring those vivid and colorful Disney worlds a treat as well. Truly a classic.

I'll get this out of the way first. My ONLY complaint about the game is the localization is an absolute mess. Main story scenes are thankfully fine, but when it comes to side-quests and NPC dialogue there's tons of grammar issues, changed names (Like the Bose region in Liberl was changed to Beaus for some reason or Sieg, Kloe's pet falcon was called Zeke...) as well as so many messed up text-boxes where the text was outside of the box. NISA really needs to step up their translation game because even fan translations like Geofront are leagues above this shit.

Now that that's out of the way everything else that I have to say is positive.

Let me start off by saying that Cold Steel IV was my GOTY for 2020 and Falcom have delivered once again, not like I expected any less. Showing all other developers how to make a long-running series built upon in-depth, detailed world-building, character development and an interconnected story the goes through the entire series.

The story is fantastic as always with some moments easily being among my all time favorites out of the entire series, a LOT happened in the game, this has to be the most action-packed Trails game since Ao no Kiseki, there's plenty of shocking reveals and well thought out plot-twists and I feel that the writers really gave the Erebonia arc the finale it deserved.

The world-building is of course just as great as always, bringing back many NPCs from all previous games and arcs, showing how they are now and even making some older NPCs who felt inconsequential have a bigger role in the main story, this is just truly special and something only Trails can pull off. Plus one thing I absolutely loved was how as the main story progresses, more and more NPCs start disappearing from towns because they're being conscripted and drafted into the war effort and it really made that looming threat of the war between Erebonia and Calvard feel all the more real.

While the cast of characters is pretty massive at this point, no-one felt underutilized to me and everyone gets proper time to shine and develop. It was especially always a pleasure seeing old characters from Trails in the Sky or Zero/Ao no Kiseki meeting and teaming up with Class VII and other Cold Steel characters for the first time. Also even older characters from the Trails in the Sky or Crossbell games have moments that show they're still growing as people and it just proves to me that when it comes to character writing and development, Falcom is the undisputed champion.

The OST is incredible and one of my faves from the entire series so far. It has tons of variety with a mix of more calmer town music, bombastic orchestral pieces for the really epic moments, shreddy power metal for battle themes and tons of atmospheric, mood setting tracks. There's a lot of reused themes from past games and even some special arranged versions of older themes, but all the new tracks are fantastic.

There's TONS of content. You always get your money's worth when it comes to Falcom games and Cold Steel IV is no different. Lots of side-quests that help build the world and develop side characters even more, some fun little mini-games like the card game Vantage Masters or the Puyo Puyo styled Pom! Pom! Party! Plus all your typical Trails standards like constantly updating NPC dialogue, long cut-scenes, bonding events with teammates and in game books you can read, like 3 and 9 which apparently give in-depth backstory of 2 new characters in Hajimari no Kiseki.

The combat is just as fun as ever, taking the new elements from Cold Steel III like Brave Orders and balancing them out a bit more. Trial Chests from Cold Steel II are back and used as a way to upgrade your Brave Orders, so your starting orders are nerffed, making the earlier half of the game feel a bit more difficult. Also I really loved how some bosses had their own Brave Orders they could use called 'Disorders' and they would cancel out your own orders and debuff your characters as well.

All in all I really have no complaints about this game aside from the messy localization. It's a fantastic finale to my fave arc in my fave J-RPG franchise and my new fave game in the series. Falcom simply continues to be the best in the world at what they do and I just don't see another developer ever even coming close to matching, let alone surpassing them when it comes to appealing to my own personal tastes.

Stephen King once wrote that “Nightmares exist outside of logic, and there’s little fun to be had in explanations; they’re antithetical to the poetry of fear.” In a horror story, the victim keeps asking "Why?" But there can be no explanation, and there shouldn’t be one. The unanswered mystery is what stays with us the longest, and it’s what we’ll remember in the end. My name is Alan Wake. I’m a writer.

Sam Lake is one of the best, most unique and underrated writers in all of video games. If you love Stephen King or Twin Peaks, you'll love this game. The light/darkness mechanic and forming objects out of thoughts is really one-of-a-kind gameplay too. The story and world are about as deep as Cauldron Lake itself with so many philosophical metaphors as well. Really can't recommend the game enough, it's golden just like everything Remedy touch.

It's one of the most stylish and fun fighting games around even to this day, there's a lot of depth to the moves and combos and it's the best game to nail that comic book aesthetic. The Marvel side of the roster may be inferior to MVC2 (There's still plenty of great characters and new additions though like Doctor Strange, Ghost Rider and Dormammu to name some), but the Capcom side more than makes up for it. They really didn't have to go as hard as they did on the Capcom side of the roster, but I'm sure glad they did. You can't go wrong adding Phoenix Wright, Dante, Vergil, Trish, Wesker, Chris Redfield, Amaterasu, Viewtiful Joe, Zero and Frank West to name some, such a stacked cast of iconic characters. What else is there to say other than IT'S MAHVEL BABY.

One of my all time favorite platformers and favorite games in general.

The gameplay mechanics are vastly improved since the first title, the combat has more variety, is much more fluid and has a stronger emphasis on hack n slash elements. The art and aesthetics still feel ripped straight out of Tim Burton and Todd McFarlane's imaginations, the story continues to be a dark and twisted version of Alice in Wonderland, but this time it tackles some more realistic and profound topics as well and I'm sure more than a few people will relate. Level design is just incredible, every world is so distinct and there's just so much variety and creativity on display. Seriously the game is just so memorable and amazing in every regard, I really can't recommend it enough.

Sips Monster

Ahh, they just don't make 'em like this anymore

One of my favorite shooters of all time and an incredibly influential and iconic game. That D-Day mission speaks for itself. Played it a lot with my dad as a kid, was a great bonding experience.

When your game has so much text in it that the English word count is longer than the Bible itself (Not this game, but Trails of Cold Steel III, another game in the Trails series does)

When your game has so much lore they have their own unique measurements system in Rege, Selge and Arge.

When your game series is so focused on world-building that it has one massive continent for a world that actually has multiple fully fleshed out countries (Liberl, Erebonia, Crossbell, Calvard etc) with their own unique political, governmental and militaristic systems, even their own economies and trade-routes.

When your game is so story driven that even the most inconsequential NPCs have fleshed out story arcs, backgrounds and personalities if you choose to talk to them multiple times throughout the game and see them unfold.

I can honestly see how these games can be overwhelming to the average person due to the sheer amount of detail they have in them, but I absolutely LOVE that about the series, it's like the J-RPG equivalent to Tolkien or Wheel of Time.

So if you're like me and all that sounds interesting to you, I'd highly recommend buying this game ASAP. There's literally nothing else out there like Trails, no series is as deeply interconnected and detailed and what better way to dive into the world than start at the very beginning?

A journey with realistic and relatable characters, rife with political intrigue and masked by a grand conspiracy lurking in the shadows awaits you!

The game certainly did not disappoint! I can totally see why it is so many people's favorite game in the whole series and it's def top 3 for me.

Almost all Trails games usually start out pretty slow, but Azure starts off intense and the action hardly lets up the entire game. Also it perfectly expands upon the world and the story Zero no Kiseki built up, plus the characters get even more fleshed out. I really can't go into depth about the story without spoiling, but I will say Azure has some of the craziest and best written plot twists in the whole series and there were a couple moments when my jaw physically dropped because I was just so shocked, but everything was so perfectly foreshadowed in a subtle way that you'd never notice it on your own and none of the twists felt unnatural or asspulled.

Oh and the OST is incredible as always. The Azure Arbitrator is easily one of the best and most epic boss fight themes I've ever heard and if we lived in a fair and just world everyone would know and understand this.

What an incredible journey! After spending almost 200 hours on the Crossbell arc I still think about and miss my adventures with the Special Support Section of Crossbell.