Super metroid is impeccable at everything it sets out to do. One of it's crowning achievements is how it uses every element of the game to create it's foreboding atmosphere and even more impressive is how each element feeds of this atmosphere to improve each individual element. The games intro hooks players with an epic action sequences and creating questions in the mind of the players. The game continues in this vain using the environments you explore to tell you the story of this space pirate infested planet. The music adds to this effect as while not as catchy as older metroid games it perfectly captures the vibe the game is going for and I would have it no other way. When going on the intended path super metroid is constantly rewarding you with new abilities, more health and ammo upgrades, story and lore information all through gameplay. The boss fights also add greatly to the game as while most of them aren't to hard they appear imposing to the player as many tower over samus and break up the gameplay loop just enough to keep the player constantly engaged. Each area in the game gives of it's own vibe and is a joy to explore each nook and cranny for upgrades. While maridia isn't my favorite area to explore I still found enjoyment clearing out the map just based on how clever the game makes you feel finding its more obscure secrets. The game is rewarding just critical pathing it and when going for all the upgrades but there is actually a third way to play super metroid and that is to sequence break. the game was carefully created for the critical pathway but the developers put so much work in to ensure that the player could do things out of order if they so choose to do so. This attention to detail is present in every facet of the game and it's down to this endeavour taken by the devs to create not just a masterpiece but one of games all time greats a must play for all gamers especially fans of the genre.

Super Mario Bros 3 is masterful. The game is a cacophony of ideas that are used so incredibly well that every level is resolved around a single idea that is built on throughout the stage and then shelved for the next brilliant idea. Each level in the game is excellently paced where each level is a joy to run through at high speed or explore every nook and cranny. The games power ups are a joy to use whether it is the raccoon leave, fire flower or frog suit they all have their own uses. The introduction of the item inventory system really adds to the game allowing you to use items at your leisure. The world map adds charm to the game, with fun minigames to get 1ups and powerups, that don't disrupt the games masterful pace. Each world is a varied and distinct playground that is a joy to explore. The enemies created for this game became instant main stays and the koopaling boss fights are frantic and quick which really fits the game.
The game is a blast from beginning to end and is a must play for any gamer

After finishing devil may cry 2 and writing the review I decided to give the original another go and am I glad I did. The story is corny but there's enough character moments and motivation to make the story enjoyable and doesn't hurt that the funniest video game delivery ever is in this game. As for the combat it's incredibly fun. The 3 main weapons all have a basic combo, a 2nd combo if you delay in hitting the attack button at the right time and a variety of unlockable moves in the shop. The game has real challenge and that makes the enemies fun to fight and allow you to experiment with your arsenal. The guns also have good variety and allow you to extend combos. The challenge in the game makes spending orbs on new moves and not items a gamble which adds consequence to how you spend your orbs. The island the game takes place gives RE vibes at least from what I have seen of them (haven't played RE yet) and exploring it picking up items to unlock more areas scratches a metoridvania itch and finding secret missions to get health upgrades makes it worth it to explore. The boss fights are also a lot of fun which is good as you fight all of them but the final boss 2 to 3 times. This may sound like a bad thing but they do a good job of making each fight a build of the last fight and I enjoy all but the 2nd last boss that has far to many attacks with little tells. The music is enjoyable but not all that memorable. The few complaints I have is that the water level while short is incredibly tedious and having to hold r1 to shoot and dodge roll makes the game show it's age. In conclusion DMC is a lot of fun if you look for the depth within the combat system, the bosses are tight and exploring the castle is a lot of fun. The game shows it age in places but if you can get past that you are in for a stylish time

Metroid prime had a monumental task converting the formula perfected by super Metroid into the 3rd dimension a task that it passes with gusto. The shift to a first person perspective may have been a perplexing idea on paper but in practise it does wonders for the games atmosphere with Talon IV oozing with mystery and foreboding. The perspective change is also seamlessly integrated into gameplay as Samus handles like a dream when exploring and in combat. The use of different visors to find secrets and combat cloaked enemies is a brilliant use of of the perspective that adds to the immersion and combat sandbox simultaneously. Samus arsenal is perfectly tuned for exploring Tallon IV with every upgrade being useful for exploration, or combat, or both. Each area in the game is beautiful and distinct, with each area having many facets to discover. The fact they are all connected allows for quick traveling between areas perfect for the eureka moment that often happens in these games upon collecting new upgrades. Secrets are well hidden and the satisfaction of finding them stands with the best in the genre.
The game has a good variety of enemies that allow Samus arsenal to flourish and the boss fights are a good change of pace with the final two in particular being great encounters. The soundtrack is also really good with both atmospheric pieces and head bobbing tunes. My only gripe is the need to open doors with certain weapons every time when it would be better for the games flow for it to be required only once . My journey through Tallon IV was a fantastic one and I can't wait to come back to 100% the game, finish in less time and check out the 2 sequels. Games a banger

A poor entry in the sonic racing series especially compared to transformed and the original. The game is over reliant on its team gimmick and while some of the tracks are good they pale in comparison to the bombastic tracks of transformed. The story mode is lacklustre and the character roster is pitiful for a modern racer. The best I can say is that it controls well enough and the soundtrack is decent as always. A decent kart racer is in there somewhere but far to many aspects kill the fun to recommend it

DKC3 is defiantly the black sheep of the trilogy. The game tries new things like putting more emphasis on the over-world with vehicle traversal and secrets to find. A cool idea but didn't do anything for me personally as I just wanted to get in to the next stage. The theming of the game is less striking than the prior 2 games taking away the cohesion those games had. . Ellie is a terrible sub for Rambi and Kiddy is Kiddy. The soundtrack is also a huge step down with very little memorable tunes. There are some great levels that capture the magic of previous games but overall I didn't like this one nearly as much, mileage may vary

The original ratchet and clank is a bit of a mixed bag. The game does a great job of creating planets that you want to explore full of secrets. Witty characters occupying these planets most cutscenes a delight to watch with its tongue and cheek anti-capitalist dialogue. The games music also compliments the game perfectly and a few tracks are genuine bops.
It's unfortunate then that the only place ratchet really falters is in its gameplay as a jank auto lock-on system or aiming in first person not being able to move leads to a lot of unnecessary frustration in many encounters. The weapon roster is also not great with a few standouts that are really enjoyable to use. In fact I found that ratchets wrench was actually better than most of the weapons which I don't think was intentional. Another Issue I found inconvenient is having to equip gadgets that could easily have been context sensitive inputs. This constant need to switch breaks the pace of the game. The game has other gameplay styles in certain sections that provide a change of pace but are not standout beyond that.
Overall the first ratchet shows its age in its gameplay but shines in almost every other aspect. A good start with plenty of room for improvement

Portal 2 is close to being a perfect videogame. Through it's excellent level design, funniest writing I have ever seen in a video game and new spins on the original portal formula make this game pretty much flawless in my eyes. Adding in a fantastic Co-op campaign that retains all of the quality of the main game is not just a cherry on top it's another cake on top of the cake neither of which are a lie. I'm not even the biggest fan of puzzle games but portal 2 changes things up enough to keep it fresh through out and provides a reasonable level of challenge so everyone can get through in the end. The fact I hadn't played this before 2022 is scary and writing this review has got me wanting to play it again. A sign of a true masterpiece

Xenoblade absorbed me for three months. From it's imaginative world across two titans locked in battle, an incredible party of characters full of personality and life (Special mention to the mighty HEROPON), a story that gripped me from beginning to end and with plenty of emotional moments, and a combat system I never got bored of in my near 150 hours of game time. Each party me member have there own skills making them all feel unique and through customisation the characters primary role can change from a tank to a heavy damage dealer for example. Ether crystals further allow you to customise your character's to give you more freedom of choice in combat. The MMO like combat with art cool-downs bridges action and turn based strategy perfectly and has become my favourite style of combat in RPGs. Not to be forgotten the games has a orgasmic soundtrack where every song hits me and I still listen to it from time to time. The party can be fleshed out through optional heart to heart scenes adding so much layers to the cast making them for me up there with the greatest RPG parties of all time mass effect 2 and chrono trigger. The only flaw I can see is that some of the side quests can get repetitive but they are entirely optional. Overall I loved everything about Xenoblade chronicles. It is a package that very few games can match, My favourite RPG of all time and definitely has a place in my top 5 GOAT videogames

Sea of stars is a great blend of classic RPGS with some modern trimmings. The chrono trigger Mario RPG hybrid combat system is engaging throughout the completion progress. The game is a treat on the eyes and ears with the pixel art being some of the best I have seen in years. The party is full diverse characters combat wise and personality wise with Garl being a strong contender for the best new character in 2023. The main characters unfortunately are a flat by comparison but have some good moments. Wheels is a fun side game that I found initially confusing but there is depth there if you dig for it. Some of the completion tasks can be a bit of a slog to complete but players are rewarded for there perseverance.
Overall sea of stars is a delight for classic RPG fans with stunning locations, well written characters and a compelling combat system. If your a fan of RPG's you should give this one a go

Metroid Fusion is a game that isn't afraid to mess with the metroid formula.The game takes more of a linear approach to game design which could upset hardcore fans but I think this approach works very well for this game and exploration still factors in to the main path at times and exploring for powerups is back in full force. The story told is simple but keeps you engaged with a few questions throughout. The games linear design creates a unique atmosphere for a metroid game one of fear due samus's weakened state and the powerful sa-x that lurks around the research centre that the game takes place in. The loss of power suit makes every encounter a threat making this the hardest metroid game I have played yet. The fact that the game takes place on a man made ship is always apparent due to its logical construction compared to Zebes. The different breathing environments give great variety in local to explore and x parasites allow a lot of familiar foes to appear throughout the campaign. While I enjoy the linear design the fact that doors lock throughout the game stopping you exploring is my one real dislike with this entry. After the huge gap from super the devs could have played it safe and just made another super metroid like game but they decided to be bold and commit to their vision of a linear story with horror elements and it payed off in spades being a great game that's almost amazing which I could see it to be after further playthroughs bring on metroid dread

My Run through FFXIV a realm reborn was full of ups and downs. The games looks beautiful on PS5 and the soundtrack stands tall among final fantasy legendary soundtracks. The locations in FF14 are enjoyable to explore with even the more genereic areas becoming great through world building and things you do in them
realm reborn is chock full with quests, events and minigames to play providing many hours of gameplay and fun activities to do with friends and members of community. The game has many classes to play around with and all the ones I toyed around with I enjoyed, with the dragoon being the class I used for majority of my game time.
The story of a realm reborn is full of fantastic world building establishing the world fantastically the story itself is one note and predictable but enjoyable. A tale necessary to set up the world perhaps for greater stories to come. Even the epilogue a realm awoken had a really interesting plot thread that gets me excited for the future.
The number of quests and the lack of variety in the campaign quests is the games weakest aspect and unfortunately make a realm reborn a chore to play at times The campaign certainly has great moments but they only encompass about 10% of the main quest the other 90% involved fetching wine cheese or fighting a certain number of enemies. Not very inspiring
The game shines in its dungeons and raids as the welcoming community of ff14 and its enjoyable combat leads to a match made in heaven as you battle iconic monsters from the ff series the highlight of my FF 14 experience for sure.
Overall I really enjoyed my time with FF14 the fantastic community makes you feel welcome at every turn and even its short comings can't bring it down. I can't wait to play heavensward in 2022 !!

DMC4 is very much a case of two steps forward three steps back in my eyes. The core gameplay the most important aspect of dmc is at its peak so far but the level design, boss design, story and structure are all inferior to dmc 3. Nero is the new protagonist on the block and gives a familiar play style to dante with his own weapon and moveset. The main differentiator however is instead of styles nero has a devil arm that can be used to grab demons from close or long range. His sword also has a rev feature if you hit the left trigger at the right time when hitting an enemy your next attack will be stronger. These small tweaks add plenty of depth and uniqueness to playing as nero. Dante makes his playable return and his ability to now switch all weapons, styles and guns on the fly adds huge versatility to playing dante giving extreme combo potential not possible in previous games even if dante has less varied weapons than dmc 3. The combat system tasks you taking out enemies as stylishly as possible and the ranking system does a great job pushing you towards this goal that is overly satisfying to accomplish. The story is bland which is fine but the only new character worth anything is nero who is clearly less sure of himself than dante but still likeable. The main problem with this game is the recycling of content present in the campaign. You basically play the game twice once as nero and then as dante in slightly remixed levels. You fight the same bosses three times in one run. While playing as dante is as awesome as ever I wish he had more unique stages. The game has high replay value with different difficulties and ranks but the main replaiability comes in the other playable characters. Vergil makes his return and is as cool as ever and Lady and Trish make their first playable appearances all with unique abilities. Lady utilises guns and a grapplening hook with very little melee options while trish plays a bit like DMC1 Dante but more polished. The final challenge is the bloody palace which has a hundred floors and has a timing system where the more stylish you are the more time you will receive. This being playable with all characters gives you plenty to play around with. DMC4 gets the important stuff right but fumbles a bit in the details.

Devil may cry 2 is a game that I heard a lot about, specifically how bad it is. However while I see so many problems with the game I still somehow came to enjoy this very flawed game. First of the story and characters are pretty laughable in this game and not in a good way. It's not explained to well what is going on and even dante is a little flat compared to his usually very charming character ended up skipping most cutscenes after the first playthrough. As for the meat of the game the gameplay is pretty simplistic. There are very view moves you can pull off compared to most other character action games which wouldn't be to much of a problem if not for the terrible enemy ai where only the big goat like enemies are the only one that are any threat the others you can just stand back and shoot. A lot of the bosses suffer from a similar problem that staying back and shooting is the best strategy even if it takes forever to kill and getting close to make combos as your arsenal of a basic sword combo a launcher and a thrust is not varried enough to make you feel like a badass and get a high like the best in the genre. Everything I said so far makes it sound like I hate this game but somehow that is not true. while the combat lacks huge depth and challenge I still found myself enjoying the game due to setpieces in dantes campaign and mindless enjoyment of the combat on repeated playthroughs. As for Lucia's playthrough it feels very much like knuckles playthrough in sonic 3. It's much shorter and has far less boss fights and set pieces than dante's. However she has a unique final boss compared to Dante and I think it's far the better of the two. She also has diffrent weapons to Dante that have the same moves but perform a bit diffrently and both characters arsenal of unlockable weapons give you a bit of customisation but you are usually doing the very similar things just with properties that suit your gamestyle. The bloody palace is a bonus for beating the game with both characters that tests your skills in waves of enemies which I actually enjoyed playing and what made me realise this combat system isn't as bad as it originally appears. Trish is a bonus that you unlock by beating dante's hard mode but it's mainly cosmetic and doesn't overly change the gameplay. While the game is laughably easy and lacks depth I still found enjoyment with the "worst" DMC game so I'm looking forward to hitting the heights of the franchise.