Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin is essentially Monster Hunter: Shounen Anime Edition. The story is a very heartfelt and emotional tale about coexistence and the bonds of friendship between humans and monsters. You could say it is trope laden and cliche, but it is also still very wholesome and touching regardless. There's also a cast of charming human characters that the protagonist learns to work alongside besides their monster friends as well. I think the narrative and the characters are the strongest, most enjoyable part of the game.

The actual gameplay leaves a lot to be desired though, I don't think Monster Hunter translates well into a turn based game, at least not the way it was done here. A lot of core Monster Hunter mechanics are here like fighting monsters, getting materials to create and upgrade weapons and armor and even breaking monster parts, but I am not a fan of the rock/paper/scissors style turn based battle mechanics, though I will say the animations are flashy and cool and there is even the option to speed them up to make battles go by faster however the battles still go on for too long and get too repetitive and the worst thing of all is not being able to control your partner because the AI constantly uses the wrong attack types. I also often found hunting for eggs a chore thanks to very bland dungeon designs that mostly look the same and give little incentive to explore thanks to minimal secrets to discover and what rewards you do find in chests not being worth going out of the way for.

All in all while Monster Hunter Stories 2 has a cute story with charming characters it is held back by simplistic, repetitive gameplay mechanics, uninteresting dungeon design and poor AI and for that reason I would honestly only recommend it to the most hardcore Monster Hunter players or J-RPG fans.

They are guys and they certainly do fall.

Alright seriously though, it's a neat little party game in the vein of MXC/Takeshi's Castle where you and 60 other people have to go through various obstacle courses and challenges to become the last person standing. All I can say is the game is enjoyable in small doses with friends, but it gets repetitive very quickly thanks to lack of variety.

P.S. There's apparently 25 different mini-games, but you certainly wouldn't know it because it feels like you only play the same 5 over and over.

Kotaro Uchikoshi has done it once again! AI: the Somnium Files nirvanA Initiative is every bit as much of a masterpiece as the first AI: The Somnium Files was. If the first AI was 999 then nirvanA Initiative is like VLR because it is darker, more emotional, longer and most importantly much more C O M P L E X (If you're a Zero Escape fan you'll get the joke).

In AI: The Somnium Files - nirvanA Initiative you follow the dual narrative of Mizuki Date and her AI companion Aiba and Ryuki Kuruto and his AI partner Tama, two ABIS (Advanced Brain Investigation Squad) agents tasked with solving the Half-Body serial killings case and to do this they'll have to use the special piece of technology known as the Psync System which allows agents to enter people's dreamscape worlds known as Somniums and obtain information from suspects and witnesses that they otherwise wouldn't be able to retrieve. Just who is the killer? What is their motive? Why has the other half of a body from 6 years ago appeared now as if they were just killed yesterday? This and so many more questions will be answered as you traverse a mind-bending narrative drenched in thought provoking philosophical symbolism spanning a 6 year time-period, multiple interconnected character plotlines and the most insane twists and turns imaginable in only a way Uchikoshi can write.

nirvanA Initiative features a huge cast of characters with many returning from the first AI and plenty new faces as well. Aside from Mizuki most of the returning characters have smaller side roles this time around and the game focuses much more on the new characters to give them sufficient time to have proper development and fully fleshed out arcs. I have to say that the cast of characters is one of the best I've ever seen in a game with them all being very interesting, lovable and well written. There's not a single character I dislike. I'd say the fantastic voice acting performances (I played in English and this game without a doubt has one of the best dubs I've experienced in years) are another reason the characters felt so realistic and human to me as well.

The gameplay in nirvanA Initiative also vastly surpasses the first AI. The Somnium sequences were already great, but now they're better than ever being much more than simple trial and error with so much more creative dreamscapes that feature various unique gimmick mechanics (Like a quiz show in one or a Pokemon style game in another) there's more emphasis on Zero Escape style puzzle solving as well. Another feature that adds more diversity to the gameplay are the VR crime scene segments where you control the protagonist and walk around in 3rd person trying to solve the mystery of a crime scene in a VR space outside of Somniums.

The OST composed by Keisuke Ito is just as memorable as ever from the ethereal sounding main theme which fits the title of the game perfectly to the mysterious electronic changed investigation theme or the various Somnium specific music. Oh and if you played the first game and experienced the greatness of Invincible Rainbow Arrow, don't worry there's a new musical/dance number just as great for this game.

Even graphically nirvanA Initiative is superior to the first AI, I wouldn't say it is by a lot, but it is noticeable. nirvanA Initiative is much more action packed than the first AI and filled with many in engine over-the-top cut-scenes and thanks to stepping up the quality of the animations these scenes are always a joy to watch and don't feel as janky as in the first game.

nirvanA Initiative is everything you could ever want from a sequel to an already peak visual novel, expanding upon the lore of the established AI universe while telling a mind-bending action-packed murder mystery narrative with a colorful cast of characters both new and old, featuring gameplay in the form of fun and creative puzzle solving and investigating and an OST full of plenty of killer memorable tracks, all while looking better than ever thanks to the improved graphics and animation quality. Simply put, if you're a fan of visual novels or just incredible murder mystery stories in general you don't want to miss out on this one because it is right up there with the best the genre has to offer!

P.S. nirvanA Initiative gave me a whirlwind of emotions and I cried at so many different spots, easily one of the most emotional games I've played in recent memory that just left me feeling drained emotionally by the end of it and I mean that in the best way possible.

I want to start out by saying I have no nostalgia for this game unlike the first game since I never played it when it first came out. All my thoughts are in the moment and while there are a lot of things I love about this game more than the first, there's just as many I don't and they kinda even each other out, making both games about equal. I wish I could take all the great things about each game and combined them together to make the best of both worlds.

The Darkness II is a direct sequel to The Darkness (2007) and picks up 2 years after the events of the first game. You still play as Jackie Estacado who is now head of the Franchetti crime family. The game opens up with this neat Goodfellas styled scene where Jackie is walking through a restaurant as his right hand man Vinnie is welcoming everyone one by one and it wastes no time getting to the action because as soon as Jackie sits down at a table there's an attempted hit on his life. Just to survive Jackie is forced to unleash The Darkness who he hasn't let out in 2 years since the ending of the first game and now must figure out just who would put out this hit on him. From here on out the story doesn't let up and the breakneck pacing is good since it's so short (You can finish the main campaign in about 5-6 hours).

I do want to say what made the narrative of the first Darkness so good was how grounded in realistic mob drama it was, but I have mixed feelings on the complete tonal shift to a much more 'epic' supernatural comic book plotline that mostly drops the mob drama in The Darkness II. It is still a good narrative with some great moments, but not quite up to par with the first game and the fact there's a massive cliffhanger that will probably never get resolved is also disappointing.

There's a lot more side characters in The Darkness II since Jackie is the head of the family and has a whole squad of boys to back him up and I really found them all entertaining even if they're some of the most stereotypical mob-like characters. I mean I kid you not, there's literally a guy named Fat Tony who just has a bunch of food related dialogue. You can tell the writer was influenced by Goodfellas because everyone is super sarcastic and witty, they really capture that 'wiseguy' feeling. The voice acting cast is great with Brian Bloom replacing Kirk Acevedo as Jackie's voice and while I prefer Kirk, Brian still does a good job and fits this older, more angry, PTSD-ridden version of Jackie. Mike Patton of course still steals the show with his inhuman performance as The Darkness itself and the new main antagonist Victor voiced by William Salyers is very eccentric and over-the-top, perfect for a comic book villain.

The Darkness II much like the first game is still an FPS, but this time the gameplay has been completely overhauled and for the better at that, this is one of the main areas the game excels at. In the first Darkness your demon arms were mostly for show and you couldn't control them, but now there's what the developers call a 'quad wielding' system in place. You have 2 demon arms (The one on the left for grabbing and the one on the right for slicing and smashing) and 2 guns. The gunplay feels much better, but I do miss being able to carry a whole arsenal instead of just one assault rifle/shotgun and 2 pistols/smgs at a time.

That said in the first Darkness Jackie was just learning how to use his powers, but giving the player control over the demon arms makes him feel more experienced here and by the end of the game he actually feels like a terrifying force of Darkness and part of that is thanks to the new RPG elements added like experience points and a good sized skill tree that you can't unlock everything on in one playthrough (Thankfully there's a new game+ mode) gives a decent sense of progression. Many of the powers from the first like Darkness Guns, Black Holes or the ability to eat hearts are now unlocked through the skill tree and many new powers like Darkness Armor or Swarm are unlocked as well.

Another area where The Darkness II excels over the first is the level design. Some might not like how linear it is and I admit it does take away a bit of the uniqueness of the first game being semi-open world, but unique isn't always good and I'll take more straightforward linear levels over bland, empty and confusing open ones any day. Also levels are much easier to traverse now that Jackie can actually sprint. I do miss the Trench segments from the first which added a kind of horror atmosphere to the game, but the new One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest style institutionalized narrative segments that replaced the Trenches were pretty creative and entertaining in their own way.

The graphics in the first Darkness were very realistic and it was another thing that added to the great atmosphere and uniqueness of the game, this game has stylized cell shaded graphics and while it fits for the more comic book style the game is going for and they've aged better for sure, it also gives the game a more generic look and I miss the realistic graphics especially since the design for The Darkness itself looked cooler.

I think the most disappointing part of the game for me though was the OST. The first game's OST blew me away with how good it was, from the calming ambient tracks while walking around the world to the shift to heavy metal as soon as fighting starts or the bombastic film score parts they were all highly memorable compositions and all of that was lost here since The Darkness II mainly just features a bunch of licensed music and what little original score there is just wasn't memorable in any way to me.

Overall The Darkness II much like the first is a good, but very flawed game and while it excels over the first in both more enjoyable gameplay and better level design, thanks to changes in tone, atmosphere, more generic graphical design and a lackluster OST it also loses a lot of what made the first game such a creative and unique experience. However the game does make up for this with entertaining characters, a great voice cast and an epic plot that despite not being quite as good as the first is short and sweet and still a very compelling wild ride from start to finish and I can only hope that one day we'll get to step into the shoes of Jackie Estacado one last time and see a proper resolution to his tragic story.

I haven't played this game since I was a teenager, I used to love it back in the day and while there's no denying it has aged poorly in some regards, it's still a very unique, creative and solid game worth playing.

The Darkness is a first person shooter based on an old 90s comic created by Marc Silvestri and Garth Ennis. The Darkness is a spin-off of the Witchblade series, but honestly you don't need to know any of this to understand the game so don't worry about all that. All you need to know is The Darkness tells a unique story that blends Scorsese styled mob drama with supernatural occultic horror.

The game follows Jackie Estacado (Who also narrates the story in a Noir style) a hitman for the Franchetti crime family who is targeted for assassination by his uncle Paulie Franchetti due to his paranoia that Jackie is out to overthrow him as Don of the family. On the evening of his 21st birthday a primeval demonic entity known simply as the Darkness manifests itself in Jackie and massacres Jackie's would be assassins. With his new found powers Jackie goes on a quest to get revenge on Paulie while discovering just what is the Darkness and where it came from.

The Darkness has a handful of colorful side characters, but the only ones that truly feel important are the main ones like Jackie, Paulie, Paulie's right hand man a crooked cop named Eddie Shrote, Jackie's girlfriend Jenny, Jackie's great-great-grandfather Anthony and of course The Darkness itself. The voice acting performances of The Darkness are all very well done and fit that classic mob drama vibe well. I have to give special mentions to Kirk Acevedo as Jackie who has an excellent New York street tough Robert De Niro type voice and Mike Patton (Yes, THAT Mike Patton, the vocalist of Faith No More) as the titular character The Darkness, his deranged, demonic snarls and growls alone make playing the game worth it.

As previously stated before The Darkness is an FPS and boy is it a clunky and stiff one. For its time it was great, but compared to how smooth controls are nowadays it is honestly hard to come back to. You start out with just 2 pistols and slowly get a small arsenal of weapons including shotguns, uzis, assault rifles etc as you progress further into the game. What makes The Darkness special is your Darkness powers. These can only be activated in the darkness (Duh) and light drains your darkness energy. You start out with Creeping Dark, a stealth like snake you slither across the ground to your enemies and as you progress through the game you unlock more powers like a tendril you can use to impale people, Darkness imbued guns and even a black hole you can conjure, plus you can devour the hearts of your fallen enemies which is just metal as fuck.

Speaking of metal the OST is killer and has a very heavy, metallic edge to it with thrashy guitar riffs during battles alongside bombastic choir chants and cinematic film score.

Another element of The Darkness that hasn't aged well at all is how bland and empty the levels are and a big reason this is such an issue is due to how slow Jackie walks and there not even being a button to run. The game has a semi-open world, there's even a handful of side quests, but thanks to the clunky gameplay, slow movement and bland level design I didn't care enough to do the side quests. I will say there's sections of the game called 'The Trenches' where you traverse Hell in the form of a World War I battleground and those are the coolest levels by far. I also liked the small detail of when you go to Jackie's girlfriend Jenny's apartment for the first time, you can sit down on the couch, snuggle up with her and if you just stay there you can watch the entirety of the movie To Kill A Mockingbird on the TV. Having the ability to watch a whole movie on a small TV screen inside a game is pretty damn impressive for 2007.

Overall while The Darkness shows its age in some clunky gameplay and mediocre level design, everything else about the game is filled with creativity and charm from its unique story concept to it's great voice acting, awesome OST and one-of-a-kind powers which make it a solid experience I'd still recommend to anyone looking for an FPS that tried to do something different and set itself apart from the rest of the genre.

Dishonored is a game that has been on my backlog for years and I wish I would've played it sooner because this was one of the best games I've ever played. Right up there with Arkane Studios' other masterpiece Prey.

Dishonored follows the story of Corvo Attano, bodyguard to the empress of the plague-ridden industrial city of Dunwall. Corvo is framed for the empress' murder and goes on a quest to save the princess Emily while seeking revenge against those who betrayed him. Corvo is provided aid by both a mysterious, god-like being known as The Ousider who imbues him with magical capabilities and a resistance group known as the Loyalists who are trying to reclaim Dunwall from its tyrannical overseer.

Dishonored has so many cool and interesting characters that feel very realistic thanks to the great voice acting work from a star studded cast. Corvo himself is a silent protagonist, but what really made me love him is the way the world and characters interact around with him and how his mission is to save princess Emily (Chloë Grace Moretz) who is practically his surrogate daughter who he'd go to any lengths for. Corvo aside, there's a former aristocrat turned mad woman named Granny Rags (Susan Sarandon), the genius inventor Anton Sokolov (Roger L. Jackson), Samuel (Ryan Cutrona) who's an old sailor commoner that acts as Corvo's boatman, and the no nonsense caretaker Callista (Lena Headey) to name a few.

The world-building of Dishonored is also quite fleshed out and fascinating. Dishonored is set in a dieselpunk dystopia, where both advanced technology and supernatural forces collide, where the world is suffering from a plague brought on by rats, the infected who are called 'Weepers' cry blood and become irrationally violent. After the death of the Empress, the corrupt oppressive government uses the plague as an excuse to purge citizens when they want. The design of Dunwall was modeled after London, England and Edinburgh, Scotland between the 1800s to the early 1900s. The city is powered by whale oil which is also used to develop all the advanced technology and that merely scratches the surface of the depth the world-building in Dishonored reaches.

Dishonored is primarily a first person action adventure game with heavy emphasis on stealth assassination combat, gadgets and magical powers. Dishonored also features role-playing elements such as upgrading abilities and equipment and making moral choices which effect the story and world around you. The game was designed in a way to where it is entirely possible for the player to do a completely nonlethal playthrough, not killing a single enemy including even key mission targets and boss enemies. However Dishonored takes heavy influence from the immersive sim genre and encourages the player to play their own way. Whether that be stealthy and nonlethal or chaotic and all guns blazing, Dishonored gives complete freedom to the player. There's so many various ways to tackle any individual mission or objective.

The movement and combat in Dishonored has to be someone of the best I've experienced. From your basic flintlock pistol and sword to a teleport dash, time-stop, possessing your enemies and even calling a swarm of rats to attack for you, there's so many fun and creative powers and abilities to try out and chain together and even just exploring the world is so much fun thanks to the fast and fluid movement. Using the Blink power to teleport and reach heights you couldn't previously or possessing a rat and going through sewer tunnel shortcuts are just a couple of the ways you can explore the world around you.

The level design is also a master-class in game design. Dishonored is broken into 9 individual missions, alongside a hub area and each secular level and set piece is thrilling taking Corvo to a number of locations including a military fortress, a noblewoman's ball and even a brothel. There is so much detail to the environments with many secrets to find and places to explore showing that your game doesn't have to be some massive open-world to be interesting and sometimes handcrafted missions are the better option.

Whether it be the fascinating plot full of political intrigue, the great world-building and interesting characters with fantastic voice acting or the fast, fluid combat and movement, detailed level design or the immersive gameplay that lets the player have complete control over how they want to play the game, Dishonored truly has it all and that makes it a game that I believe everyone should experience.

I re-played Asura's Wrath for the first time in 8 years yesterday and I binged through the whole game in one 8 hour sitting because I just couldn't put it down, forgot how engrossing it was honestly. It's still one of my all time favorite games and just as much of a masterpiece as I remembered.

Asura's Wrath is less of a game and more of an interactive anime, but it'll be one of the best damn anime you ever see in your life. Like an even more ridiculously over-the-top DBZ, but with the dark themes and emotional depth of Berserk.

Asura's Wrath follows the demigod Asura on his quest for revenge against the other demigods who betrayed him, killed his wife and kidnapped his daughter. This epic tale of divine drama spans literal millennia and though it features every classic anime trope and cliche in the book, the jaw dropping action scenes that just get more and more over-the-top as the story progresses (Like a 1v1 battle on the moon to Dvorak's 9th Symphony) alongside the influence of Hindu and Buddhist mythologies in the narrative and themes keeps Asura's Wrath from being predictable and makes it constantly fresh and exciting.

The characters in Asura's Wrath follow typical anime archetypes from Yasha who's Asura's brother, but also biggest rival to Augus who is the hard-ass battle loving teacher of Asura, but despite being trope-laden their eccentric personalities and great voice acting keep them memorable, however no-one stands out more than Asura himself.

Asura has always been one of my fave protagonists, reminding me heavily of Guts from Berserk. Being a struggler who's life is full of pain and suffering, but he fights for survival against insurmountable odds with just his rage, his never faltering will and his fists. I think Asura is a very relatable character on a primal level. He's a father that's too angry to die and would go through hell and fight GOD himself just for the safety of his daughter. Oh and Liam O'Brien's phenomenal voice acting performance really captures Asura's anger and rage perfectly.

As previously mentioned Asura's Wrath is essentially an interactive anime and the presentation perfectly captured this. Asura's Wrath is split into 3 Chapters with 18 individual 'Episodes' that last around 20-30 minutes each. The episodes are complete with opening and ending credits, a freeze-frame with a 'To be continued' screen at the end of each episode and even before each new episode there's a narration recapping and foreshadowing upcoming events.

The gameplay in Asura's Wrath features elements from multiple genres. The bulk of it is QTEs during cut-scenes to give the interactive feeling, like an anime version of a Supermassive or Quantic Dream type game, but the game also shifts between third-person action beat 'em up segments where you fight waves of enemies and a rail shooter where you have to dodge incoming attacks and fire energy beams at your enemies.

All in all Asura's Wrath is a criminally underrated game that didn't get nearly as much praise as it deserved when it first came out. From the anime series presentation style to its grandiose universe spanning scale, over-the-top action, Hindu and Buddhist themes and creative mix of various genre elements even 10 years later there's nothing else quite like Asura's Wrath and it's a one-of-a-kind masterpiece that everyone deserves to experience.

P.S. I will say locking the true ending behind a DLC paywall is still one of the absolute worst things Capcom ever did especially since that's some of the best content in the game, but that doesn't detract from the absolute masterpiece the game is regardless.

One of the worst J-RPGs I've ever played. It's honestly hard to believe this was developed by From Soft.

Enchanted Arms has a horrible, janky grid-based battle system and mechanics that are exploitable as hell and either piss easy or impossibly hard. The difficulty spikes are just ridiculous plus this is the peak of tedious, excessive J-RPG level grinding. The characters are the most cardboard cutout clichés of anime tropes and the story is just as bad. It's painfully generic and boring. Plus the dub is easily one of the worst I've ever heard. People complain about FF X, but like Enchanted Arms is like if you took the Tidus laugh scene (despite that scene actually making sense in context) and made it into an entire game.

There is absolutely nothing redeemable about Enchanted Arms except the art direction and character designs being pretty cool.

Happy 15th anniversary to Eternal Sonata! I was only 13 when this game came out, but it blew my mind and it's been one of my absolute favorite games ever since. Such an underrated gem and an insanely creative fever dream (quite literally).

You'd never expect to play a turn based anime J-RPG about the dreams that iconic classical composer Frederic Chopin had on his death bed, but that's exactly what Eternal Sonata is.

The battle system is challenging and fun involving a unique light and darkness mechanic that still makes it one-of-a-kind to this day, the graphics are beautifully cell shaded and hold up even to this day being vibrantly colorful and detailed, the story is a deep, emotional metaphor for escapism and the acceptance of death and the OST is simply one of the best in the entire medium of gaming. Plus there's tons of cool classical music references all over the world and characters which makes it even more interesting if you're a big music lover. So much creativity and passion went into making this game and it shows by being such a one-of-a-kind experience even 15 years later.

I love everything about Eternal Sonata, it's a masterpiece and one of my absolute favorite J-RPGs and it's a shame there's never been a modern port because more people deserve to experience this underrated masterpiece and I myself would kill to replay it as well.

If you liked the first Nioh, you'll definitely like this one too and if you haven't played the first Nioh...What are you waiting for?

It's mostly more of the same with a bit of a revamped combat system giving you some new yokai powers to use, new weapon skills, a couple new weapons and a massive skill tree, there's tons of variety and you can really experiment and play around with tons of different builds. You're also playing as a custom created character in this game instead of a set protagonist like William in the first game and I have to say the character creator is pretty damn great and detailed.

The boss design is absolutely killer, all the main game bosses look really cool and have some great move-sets, especially the late game bosses really wowed me. Level design is a step up from the first game, but still kinda weak in some areas. The story is pretty basic and it is very slow in the beginning, but does pick up in the later chapters and gets more interesting and I did actually start to care about the characters, there's some fan service-y moments since it's a prequel and you do visit some areas you went to or worked with some people you fought in the first game, but I think it's pulled off very well. However if you decide to read all the lore entries for the different yokai and the character backgrounds, that stuff is arguably more interesting than the main story itself.

My biggest problem with the game is the side missions being very bland (much like the first game) and a lot of them you just fight waves of enemies or collect a specific item and to make it worse almost all the side mission level design is not original and just re-uses previous levels in the main game and previous bosses, so you might go through the same area like 5 different times or fight the same boss repeatedly and it gets boring quick. My biggest advice to anyone who picks up the game is just play through the main missions first and if you enjoy it enough go through the side missions afterwards, because I did most of the side missions as they appeared and it broke up the pacing for the main story pretty bad.

Anyways, if you liked the first Nioh or just want a great and challenging Soulslike I'd recommend grabbing it, I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent on the game.

Haven't played this game since back when it first released back in 2017. I hated it back in those days. The game is like 2/5 playing the normal mode as far as I'm concerned.

The game gets tons of shit because it's popular and a big zoomer game, but coming back to it after 5 years and playing the 'no build' game type is genuinely the most fun I've had with a multiplayer game in years. Fortnite is just a wacky over-the-top Looney Tunes-like BR at its core, but it has the best map design, gunplay and other various mechanics that make it the most enjoyable BR I've ever played, but it was always that one gimmick that ruined and held the game back for me, removing that actually makes the game fun, especially playing with friends. Also there's tons of cool character skin collaborations as well so that's a plus.

Ever since I beat Stranger of Paradise I've wanted to re-play Nioh because it's been almost 5 years since I've played it and honestly I forgot how AMAZING this game is.

Nioh (and subsequently it's sequel) is the only 3D Souls-like that can stand toe-to-toe with FromSoft's work, nothing else even comes close.

Despite being an obvious Souls-like and taking clear influence and inspiration from FromSoft, Nioh in itself is a very unique game and far from a simple clone of the Souls formula.

Nioh has it all from the fast paced, fluid and stylish Ninja Gaiden combo based/Onimusha stance changing combat.

The sheer amount of build variety you'd expect from a Souls-like, with playstyles based around strength, dexterity, magic and more.

Honestly in my opinion Nioh doesn't get enough credit for how it was the first Souls-like to tell a more concrete story beyond just lore, bonus points because it had a very interesting and unique plot centered around William Adams, a historical Irish sailor and the first ever western samurai and Edward Kelley an English renaissance occultist and alchemist and how they get dragged into the final battles of the Sengoku period during Ieyasu Tokugawa's efforts to unify Japan, all while Japanese demons from myths and legends, Yokai are emerging from the chaos of the wars. It's like Koei Tecmo's Samurai Warriors, but in a dark supernatural fantasy setting.

Also who could forget about the killer OST composed by Yugo Kanno (primarily known for composing all the Jojo's Bizarre Adventure anime OSTs) with some beautiful traditional Japanese folk instrumentation.

Really my only minor complaints have always been the same problems I had with Stranger of Paradise that being the loot system, bland side missions and mediocre level design, but coming back to the game after almost 5 years and a lot of these problems don't seem nearly as bad as I remember, probably because these flaws were unfortunately amplified in Stranger of Paradise, so playing Nioh again afterwards feels like a step up in these regards.

Let me start off by saying that I am by no means a die-hard Kirby fan, I've played a few of the games in the past and really enjoyed most of them, but Kirby has never been one of my fave series and I mostly consider myself a very casual fan and this game didn't quite reach the heights of older Kirby games to me though it was still a lot of fun!

The plot is simple enough, Kirby and friends get transported via a dimensional vortex from Planet Popstar to the Forgotten Land which is a post-apocalyptic world. All the Waddle Dees get kidnapped by beasts and Kirby has to save them.

The level design is vibrant and colorful with plenty of diverse locations to explore, everything from ruined cities to an amusement park to a beach and even a volcano, my biggest complaint in the level design is the post apocalyptic setting just isn't as interesting as the fantastical places Kirby has been in the past and sometimes the levels feel a bit too linear, but there's still plenty of secrets to be found and side missions to be done in each individual level. The Waddle Dees basically act as the typical collectable you need to find to unlock the next stage or boss like Super Mario Odyssey's moons.

There is a hub world called Waddle Dee Town and the more Waddle Dee you free and collect they rebuild the town so there are shops, an arena, various mini-games like fishing and capsule figure collecting and other things to occupy your time and while most of it is superficial, it's still a nice place to take a break from the main story once in awhile.

The combat is simple although still fun. There's 12 different Copy Abilities and they all have their own unique move-set, but that move-set has been cut in half from other Kirby games and iconic Copy Abilities like Fighter or Ninja aren't in the game at all, each Copy Ability can be upgraded twice back at the weapon shop in Waddle Dee Town with the blueprints and star coins you find throughout the various levels, but in my personal opinion I find the balancing very poor because a lot of the Copy Abilities are just not good and others are so much stronger, so I don't know why anyone would ever choose to use certain ones over others unless they were forced to use one due to an environmental puzzle.

The boss fights are creative, enjoyable to fight and very well designed, much like most Kirby games the final boss is the absolute highlight and best part of the game. The mini-bosses you fight throughout the various stages get a bit repetitive and are reused too much IMO.

The music is absolutely phenomenal, very diverse and every track fits each of the locations perfectly. From the whimsical adventurous themes to the more ambient and mystical themes and even bombastic, you'll hear it all in this OST and it's right up there with some of the best Kirby music.

One last thing I have to mention is the difficulty is just nonexistent. This game is the anti-Dark Souls. When people say 'games should just be fun' they're talking about games like this because in my entire playthrough I didn't die a single time or feel even remotely challenged (I was playing on 'Wild Mode' the hardest difficult too) and honestly maybe I've just become too much of a masochist in the past few years, but challenge and difficulty have become a big part of my enjoyment in games and playing this right after two excruciatingly hard games like Elden Ring and Stranger of Paradise just made it obvious how much easier this game was to me.

All in all Kirby and the Forgotten Land is a very safe and typical platformer, but that's not a bad thing honestly. It's a tried and true formula that works for a reason and the fact the game feels so familiar completely made me forget this is Kirby's first foray into pure 3D because it's such a natural transition, you'd think Kirby had been a 3D title for years.

Despite being such a safe game The Forgotten Land is packed with beautiful levels, fun puzzles, simple, but addictive combat, creative bosses and incredible music and while I would've liked more variety in Copy Abilities with more in-depth movesets and better balancing, less reused mini-bosses and some actual challenging gameplay once in while even if you've been a casual Kirby fan in the past like me or enjoy other Nintendo platformers like Mario Odyssey this is still worth a play.