Agressively mediocre fanservice schlock. 23 hours felt like 40. Makes you stupider the longer you think about it. I made a point to play through as many of the optional missions I could before finally giving up and admitting that 1) they are all essentially the same and 2) none of it really matters. Excruciatingly repetitive butt-rock permeates the musical score, though the barebones piano tracks and echoes of old FFVII themes are alright. Plot-wise it presents a handful of interesting character moments and mysteries that could certainly be elaborated upon, but are not. It is absolutely baffling how quickly the last act of the game wraps up without exploring the multitude of its threads in any real depth. You fight the boss and a 30 minute clipshow puts all the characters where they have to be by the end before and post credits trailer shouts "PLEASE PLAY FINAL FANTASY VII AGAIN."

On the upside:
Zack and Cloud's relationship. Genesis is hilarious. It is physically impossible not to crack a smile while watching the most well known RPG villain of all time answer a flip phone to say "Sephiroth here".

Long before Bloodborne, the Blood-Stained Sanctuary of Cave Story consistently spiked my heart rate in a way no other video game had before. I remember staying up past my bedtime on my DSi, feeling so much pride the moment I finally beat it and got the true ending, the concept of which was also pretty new to me. There is something so personal, beautiful and tragic about this story and world, and all throughout my time with the game I remember thinking how unbelievable it was that just one person made it. I don't think I realized how profoundly inspiring that thought was to me until writing this.

This was the first indie title I'd ever played. It's the (rather unfair) standard I hold all the rest to in one way or another.

After taking a break from the overwhelmingly expansive, planning-heavy maps of Genealogy of the Holy war and the labyrinthian branching story paths that make up Three Houses, I was really in the mood of a more stripped back Fire Emblem experience. Once in a while, I don't want to worry about who is being reclassed to what, which skills I need to pick up at what levels, or which romantic pairings I need to build up enough rapport with to make the best "children" in the next phase of the game. I just want to hang out with memorable characters and enjoy the ride.

Thankfully, that's exactly what this game gave me. Eliwood, Hector and Lyn are already some of my favorite lords in the series, and I'm sure my opinion of them would be even higher if gaining support conversations weren't so bafflingly difficult to attain in this one. You have to put in WORK and waste many, many turns making sure two units end up next to each other again and again if you want a shot at even seeing the "C" level supports, which is a shame considering how likeable the cast is. Regardless, it's hard not to root for Eliwood and his crew throughout the 40 hour story. Even if the tale isn't anything revolutionary and has certain tropes that we'd continue to see echoes of in future installments, I think it hits all of those beats so well that they stand out on their own anyway. I genuinely got emotional towards the end knowing that my trio of multicolored-hair friends would be at the end of their journey once the big bad was vanquished, and Roy will certainly have big shoes to fill when I eventually start Binding Blade (I know it came before this one, but I'm playing in story order!).

The gameplay is extremely solid too. It's standard Fire Emblem--literally--but the progression of leveling up your units and skills just feels so good, and it's especially satisfying when you find new items and weapons to use via exploring towns or straight up stealing them from the enemy with thieves. The final map is the perfect blend of grueling and rewarding, using everything in your arsenal to survive a final boss that's almost impossible to kill, but not quite. Up until that point, the difficulty can certainly fluctuate more than some would like--I went from having to reset several times on a map where a magic user kept sniping me from the shadows to feeling overpowered and breezing through one laden with ballistae that didn't hit me a single time---but I see that kind of relief as being rewarded for slugging through the harder moments to find a feeling of empowerment on the other side. At the very least it's not as consistently easy to be over-leveled as it is in Sacred Stones.

With so many other supports to see, characters to try using, and a hard mode starring Hector, I'll definitely be coming back to this one in the future. Still a solid point to start in the series if you're curious.

The heyday of the 3DS Virtual Console was a magical time. I would play this and Link's Awakening on long car rides to and from Southern California, an experience that many others probably had before me when they originally released on Game Boy in the 90s. Having renewed access to important moments in Nintendo's history delighted me, elevating an already amazing handheld library to new heights. I had played retro games before, but this time is what made me a fan of retro games.

There's something special about this one in particular. The lack of a map, while annoying, is not as crippling as it was for the original Metroid, and with some trial and error I could still make progress through the winding tunnels of SR388 while keeping the thrill of exploration and isolated atmosphere intact. It was also--and Samus Returns never quite achieved this--genuinely scary! Samus' sprite is comically huge, yes, and it leads to some unfair blind jumps, but it also lends itself to a cozier, more immersively claustrophobic experience than the likes of Super Metroid. You truly are walking around in the dark on an alien planet, anticipating what horror may lurk beyond the next corner or sea of acid. Dissonant beeps and boops in the soundtrack are just eerie enough to pay off in an effective jumpscare when you scroll the screen just far enough for a hatchling Metroid to bust out of the wall and absolutely WRECK you. A simple counter at the bottom of the screen for how many you have left to go is a refreshingly simple objective to shoot for, fittingly placed next to your missile count. This is one of the few Metroid games where the amount you are given is justified and needed to take down the bosses, and there's not so many arbitrary expansions that it becomes too easy.

It's an awesome little game that leaves me excited, lonely, and a little unsettled each time I come back to it. And isn't that what Metroid is all about?

When asked if this is my favorite game, I'll usually reply with an "Uh...I think so? Probably? One of them?". And it is, all of those things.

What keeps it at the top is not so much its slightly quirked-up RPG tropes---the rolling HP counter, items not stacking, recieveing accumulated money from your dad over the phone instead of right after a battle--for all of these do not add up to a "better" "RPG gameplay" experience than something like Final Fantasy VI or even a modern Persona. Figuratively, Earthbound is a JRPG with tank controls; it moves slowly and at times requires more-than-reasonable jumps in logic to progress or even do so in the most efficient way. It can be frustrating, and I can't blame anyone for wanting to put the game down after a few souring experiences with it. I love it, but I also have to admit that it's clunky and doesn't always hold up.

And yet, to me, the quirky world surrounding the quirk is how its identity rises into the cosmos to a league of its own. Its tethering to real world, 90s-era Americana is unfailingly charming, and the charm is expounded upon with each strange little encounter with a walking mushroom, a cultist, miniature UFO or wayward hippie. By itself the setting doesn't come across as fantastical as a Dragon Quest or any number of steampunk-medieval mashups from releases of its time, but the magic comes from the contrast of hanging out in a cozy small town and the alien oddities just outside it. If we're truly role-playing, it's the only game where I can say "my friends and I ate burgers at the mall before we fell into a nearby cave and walked with live dinosaurs in a prehistoric world". Or perhaps I can say "we explored behind a watefall and discovered a village of aliens with whiskers and bowties before sitting down and reflecting on life over a cup of coffee". This particular flavor of imagination is amongst my favorites.

This game reminded me how much magic there is in our day to day lives if we care to stop for a moment and read between the lines, which coincidentally is why I now use a Hobonichi planner made by the same creator. I'll probably play it several more times whenever I'm feeling a little lost in life. And I'll call my Mother.

After getting through The Old Hunters DLC and finally defeating the final and then FINAL final boss, I can say that this is probably the most depressing game I’ve ever played while at the same time being unbelievably awe-inspiring and addictive at the same time. The story and world, while cool, I do wish were more clearly laid out. Digging through item descriptions as the MAIN means of piecing together some through line of a plot is unique and not something I’ve ever seen in a game before; however, when one cryptic NPC speech bleeds into the next with little fanfare in between, it does leave one a bit lost and wondering about the point of it all without instantly taking to an online forum for possible explanations.