Just when you think "it can't get more complicated", this story will find a way to get more complicated.

Then Wake to Weep is a satisfying story finale for Penacony with some stunning setpieces - Dreamflux Reef is particularly pretty. It's about twice as long as the previous patch, but that's also because of the increasingly verbose explanations for everything related to the dream world, so if you're interested in all the additional worldbuilding, the storytelling of 2.2 might be right up your alley.

I wish Boothill would have gotten more screentime and relevance, considering the devs teased him playing a big role, but he's mostly a comic relief character here. Maybe he'll get his time to shine in the upcoming epilogue, since that should tie up some loose ends as well. With that out of the way, I still had a great time with the overall narrative and the twists and turns present in Then Wake to Weep, especially since a bunch of characters with overall less screentime in the previous two chapters got their spotlight here. The boss fight at the end was also a great way to wrap everything up and I loved the song that played during the final phase.

Despite some missed potential, it's a fitting end to Penacony with an interesting villain, and lured me in well enough to finish it within just a single day - but I can't say it sticks with me more than Aventurine's story in the previous patch, that one felt special.

To the people who have been coping for years over this game and convinced themselves its "better" than New Vegas. Please do yourself a favor and play through it again. It's been a decade plus and I promise you its not how you remember.

Everything about it is skin deep, Bethesda should thank Obsidian over fixing every bad design decision. They effectively overwrote how skin deep everything about this game is in memory. Every quest is some variation of go in a room, shoot 3 guys, hack a terminal or reload until you win a speech check (and that's where they all end there's fucking nothing more to them), DC is a collection of poorly dressed rooms that are a slog to navigate, every dungeon feels like mush.

The bible quote thrown at you 3 times has no bearing on the plot and was most likely them googling "bible verse about water". Genuine embarrassment for video games as a medium, fucking actual dogshit.

In a 2013 GDC talk on the development of Dragon’s Dogma. The director Hideaki Itsuno wanted specific principles: “high degree of freedom, simple action, highly realistic.” With examples: Elder Scrolls Oblivion, Fallout 3, and Fable 2. Disclosing their units shipped and the same quality/s each possesses. These three aspects I'm quite fond of. With the first as numero uno what I look for. Freedom. Always. His “job was to convince internal members of Capcom that this is a challenge he wanted to take on. Similar games in this open world RPG genre didn't really exist in Japan. And they weren’t able to accurately forecast if the project would sell or the market potential.”

I couldn’t help but remember a comparable individual I look up to, Tetsuya Takahashi. The man behind the creation of the Xeno series along with his team and his wife Soraya Saga. In a 2015 Venturebeat interview he answered a question on what is the "biggest difference between Western and Japanese audiences, especially in terms of what they want from a role-playing game?” Takahashi said “What you’ll find quite often is that a lot of the markets outside of Japan are interested in games where you can do anything you want. They put a high priority on a great degree of freedom. In the Japanese market, it’s more common for people will demand a certain flow to the events in a game. We find that they’re more comfortable with a linear framework. We have our theories about why this might be.”

The comparison is relative due to the creators of their respective franchises aspiring to replicate near identical reception and appeal within their works. To differing results. Moving outside their comfort zone creating a fusion in a way. As much as I would revel in going off on Xenoblade Chronicles X, that’s a story for another time. Among the challenges and expectations, Itsuno is trying to match Skyrim’s massive reception with Dragon’s Dogma. An ambitious endeavor I appreciate as he remarks transparently in March 20, 2012. “At Capcom, we’ve made Dragon’s Dogma and come up to this point through our experience of action games. We’re trying to make a new genre: We’re using our action heritage and putting that into an action RPG.”

Emphasizing “changing action RPG to ACTION rpg.” Going for ambition is not inherently wrong. Great to have these goals to strive towards. As long as they stick the landing, journey and beginning. And I must say, after 3 playthroughs. One on normal, on hard mode, and finishing a speedrun whilst completing everything I can in postgame and the DLC on Bitterback isle of the Dark Arisen version, I firmly believe they succeeded in accomplishing all three qualities. However, despite my abundant enjoyment I did come across a sizable bulk of concerns I’ll discuss later in my mixed feelings. For now, I’ll discuss immediate sections I love.

Freedom is unrestricted. You can forget the main quest and go gallivanting off the beaten path and run towards any place on the map. Delving freely into dark dungeons, rocky caverns or forgotten ruins where a lantern is a must to combat the darkness. Filled with a plethora of variable attackers you won’t usually see copy-paste monsters on a budget. Harpies, undead skeletons, zombies, knights, mages, bandits, goblins, liches, ghosts, ogres, and etc. Even their variants are suitable. Clashing heavyweights against yours. Thus I can’t complain on the diverse enemy enriching every location you stumble in your wanderlust. Speaking of stumbling, you can upon completing a small bit of central plot early on set your fast travel points within reason. I didn’t like the approach since you receive a limited lot but ultimately came around to liking the unorthodox system. Helped by the fact the world didn’t feel too huge to traverse. Nor too meager to explore the sum of the whole caboodle within a short amount of time. Instead, the locales are filled with interesting locations. Multiple medium to large-scale dungeons displaying serviceable level design beyond linear corridors. Plenty of paths to tread both up and down. Breathtaking scenery during adventures. Bluemoon Tower made me feel as if I was transported in Rome’s Colosseum except fantasied. Ruined in decay where a single step can lead to certain death. Or embark on a long fog-filled forest where directions can prove futile for a newbie traveler. Yet for the experienced, hitting misty poles can unveil the true path. Mayhaps you will partake in a water temple? Which by the gods isn’t as arduous as other infamous water temples in games I’ve played. Link would breathe a sigh of relief here. Levers and switches to change the water level. Or for the speedy, they can excuse the routes and with careful jumping reach the end of the dungeon. Outside the danger is palpable with special zones where never-before-seen creatures lurk. Dangerous lichs and small drakes patrol. A functional day/night cycle capable of giving goosebumps if you decide to tackle the absence of sun with naught but your companions along. Hopefully, you brought ample oil flasks for your lantern. Cause oh boy does the night present dangerous adversaries not just in a greater supply of darker denizens but boss behemoths roaming the lands. Reminded me a bit of turning tail and running towards safety amid the nights in Dying Light. Seeing a chimera pop up near my location still gives me shivers…

Additionally changing vocations called classes and specializing in whatever playstyle you so choose is near-painless. Parallel to the weapon classes from Monster Hunter, but different. As you kill bounties of opponents and level up your vocation rank, unlock new skills and abilities. Allowed me to play as a mystic knight capable of dishing out spells while tanking with a shield and upon switching my staff in the menu. I return, bashing heads without remorse. Each class is satisfying with strengths and weaknesses. I honestly didn’t expect to fancy bow and arrows, and DD made me a fan of archery. What the heck man? I was a longtime Greatsword user.Heck, you can grab and climb any large creature during conflicts whenever. Hiroyuki Kobayashi, the producer said in an 2011 Siliconera interview. How DD’s grab mechanic in addition to “...the main character can go and do whatever he wants in this world, it gave birth to the idea that he’s fighting enemies and he should be able to fight them in any way that he wants and so we came up with the idea of the grabbing mechanic. He can climb on these enemies and fight them however he chooses.” A defining trait adding an essential option for players to tactfully embrace a closer savage quarrel against any terrifying freaks. Though the concept isn’t fresh, Shadow of the Colossus(SOTC) requires players to climb and weaken a colossus by striking their weak-spots. The influence I feel resonates still with characters conducting similar operations. If I am climbing a Cyclops then surely the eye is the weakness right?! Yes! Chimera for instance as an early boss functions in a comparable manner. Slay the snake tail, to make climbing safer. Hitting the goat head silences spells, then bashed the lion head to finish off the triple threat in a single body. Refreshing to play an open realm granting players simple mechanics and then shooing them off, if they decide not to embrace the major narrative at will.

For folks who don’t know the premise is simple and lightly intriguing. Within a small village called Cassardis you(after creating your protagonist) live a relatively normal life. Until one day. A BIG RED DRAGON starts scorching your fellow villagers on the nearby beach. Wreaking havoc. Heart pounding you decisively run out. Brandish a rusted sword and try to fight off the savage dragon. You can undoubtedly realize how such an encounter fared. Very poorly. We lose our life. But wait! We are alive? The dragon decides to steal our ‘heart’ literally. And some way, somehow we are alive as “Arisen” A human being whose destiny is tied to stopping the dragon. Welp, there goes my regular routine. I already had plans for. Although facing the dragon is the least of our concerns, immediately you are bombarded with new main and side quests to undertake at your leisure. And it is here where the realistic portion emerges.

Highly realistic is accurate. For better or worse, everything operates and contributes to the unique presentation. Resembling real life, a black market exists for counterfeiting necessities. Try saving key special quest items instead of returning them to the owner. Giving them a pale counterpart. The outcome may raise eyebrows. Moving on, all items have weight. Healing, tools and materials are not spared. Gathering materials takes time. Thankfully not too slow and not too fast. I mentioned the grab mechanic earlier, but just as you are provided the ability to climb onto giants, so too do they have the innate ability to pin you down in their grasp! Best to keep on the move Arisen! Lest you fall into their hands! Stamina(ST) is your lifeline. Every weapon ability used will deplete a small portion of your gauge. Sprinting slowly depletes it. Running then jumping can induce a noticeable chunk gone. Don’t forget grabbing is affected. And behind a hidden blindspot. Your height and weight matter too. Being a figure with low density grants the highest stamina regen and the lowest encumbrance(Volume you can carry). Attaining a higher amount of body load causes you to restore a bit slower, on the offset causes you to be granted extra capacity for ST and encumbrance. Here is a chart for reference. Height also plays a key role. Being of a minimal stature allows entrance upon tiny openings and perhaps smaller hitboxes. Whereas a tall guy cannot enter limited spaces. Will have the inverse effect of hitboxes. Forget plans to go underneath a Cyclops as a six footer fella. If you thought that was the term of the realistic portion. Think again. Encumbrance affects all the above. Here is another chart for reference. Depending on how your current carry load. From ultra light to over-encumbered. Parameters in values will alter jogging & running speed, recovery time, climbing, carrying, grapple, and running. Naked for instance will have little to no penalty. Can grapple giants for the longest, run for an extended period along with moving at the fastest speed. Compared to a heavy individual. Oh man, you’ll be as slow as molasses. Not to that extent, but a noticeable degree changes with whatever you do. Finding yourself out of breath easily. Constantly recharging your gauge and good lord don’t get me started on the inability to pick up items except for several exceptions. Not strictly a requirement to understand these mechanics as you assemble your character and comrade. To the surface-level player, but to those who love knowing every itty bitty detail, they prove their tonnage in gold. Attention to detail in weight, height, ST and encumbrance demonstrates a philosophy that is neither half-baked nor too overly complicated. Functions as a well-oiled cog with alternative core features the developers are trying to convey. Such as a satisfying fight loop.

Action albeit simplified achieves hallmark makings of a gratifying beast slaying loop. Imagine facing a near insurmountable boss only to win succeeding ‘x’ or ‘xx’ amount of tries. Hmm, I’m reminded of Hidetaka Miyazaki’s Soul series. Good. That works. Broadening your horizons then, input a hardy challenger with a health bar and conjure the memory of facing a troublesome 2+ health bar encounter. That too is acceptable. Finally, remember how Monster Hunter immersified you to hunt, check for clues then melee and perhaps trail a weakened creature? Well, erase the busy work and focus on the bout. Hit any usable abilities with the smash of a button. 3 or six depending on the class provided. Sure it uses stamina, but the expense is negligible unless spammed. An immediate gratification than a delayed response. A real-time shift to having the ideal battles in Dragon’s Dogma. Except missing a couple major details. You. Are. Not. Alone. Pawns are lifelong companions. A main pawn is always at your side. With two spares you can summon in through an online feature. Connecting online accommodates your world a random assortment of online pawns. No need returning to base and recruit, simply talking with them and as long as they meet your current level. A free no cost sign-up to your party begins. Thus, clashes against adversaries transform regular duels into a group brawl. Facing a horde of goblins never got old by channeling my inner Goblin Slayer party. A towering cyclops becomes inadvertently a fantasy AT-AT skirmish to bring them down. Here’s a hint. Focus on the legs! Encountering a drake in the wilds is a flee-on-sight order early on. Impossible to finish a coup de grace as a greenhorn adventurer. Though, you are welcome to try. The outcome is less PTSD inducing trying to sneak by a Xenoblade Rotbart. Death awaits…

Nevertheless, vocations are powerful when used effectively. Applies, to companions too. Having a standard tank, healer, archer, and a mage. Deja vu DND party? A nice callback to Western party composition. Of which has never failed me yet. A tank as a fighter and warrior offers the classic sword and shield capable of taunting foolish dumb dumbs. Embracing the greatsword yields high damage at the expense of losing blockability. Archers employed as striders are quick dual daggers with flashy moves and evasion skills to support both in and outside of combat. Ranger provides an extended longbow specialization capable of sniping from long distances. Attaining greater firepower. Supplemented by a decent dagger skillset. Mages offer a wealth of healing and buffing parties with elemental enchantments. Having a dagger imbued with either fire, ice, electric, holy, or dark offers an extra modifier damaging susceptible opposition with a weakness towards certain aspects. The sorcerer class trades healing with an increased arsenal for magickal power. Those who know Konosuba's Megumin* blasting everyone to smithereens illustrating a magical nuke. Can render analogous results with a hurricane. If not satisfied, summon a meteor from the skies, Ice spikes, or seismic ground spells, yeeting hostiles to kingdom come. There’s a reason why I didn’t use the magickal jobs a lot. Matches end quicker once I finish casting. And I prefer not one-shotting everything hehe. Before I forget, three hybrid vocations exist solely for the player. Mystic knight, magick archer, and the assassin. By far I enjoyed these plenty than regular jobs due to the fact they can use further than two weapons. Mixes classes, thereby offering distinct move sets and abilities. Launch magickal arrows raining from above, use spells as a tank whilst hiding behind a shield, or gouge enemies biting deeper and causing severe blows when mounted. Are a miniscule taste of what they offer. Don’t be me who spent twenty hours as a warrior slamming my greatsword deep into mons. Viscerally pleasant. Even supposing I had the foresight to experiment. So go off my friends! Trial and error with whichever job you fancy.

As an addendum to the combat above the realism meshes well enough during bloody encounters. Low health causes the screen to die in red and slight screen shakes will occur. Buffs can benefit you in the tides of clashing steel, but so too do debuffs, classified as debilitation's from the other side may prove detrimental. Blind for instance will blind your screen. Almost literally except for a very limited view. Petrification will turn you into stone sooner or later. Torpor plays out as if the player is in a slow-mo. Super cool to see at first glance. But dread and despair abruptly emerge. I could add extra into the next 16 debuffs. But I’m trying not to scare you… Notwithstanding these harsh conditions, there is a respectable measure of curatives restoring to normal statuses so thou-shalt-not fear them too much. You can at least spam them to your liking without an animation. So Skyrim spamming HP foods restores health after a near defeat is both humorous and a valid strategy. Reminds me of the Tales series because I'm properly making use of my inventory management instead of hoarding. I'm eating grass plants, raw meat, and questionable rotting meals if I have no choice… Oh boy no wonder why I have horrible indigestion and poison… I won’t say the reason why...Ugh.

The addendum is vital because in peeling a layer, a fresh coat arises next. In learning and understanding these miniature details do we embrace and take advantage of the rules connected and presented. I’m reminded of Masahiro Sakurai. Talking about his Eight Hit Stop Techniques Video. For those unaware he first educates the viewer by asserting “'Hit stop' is an effect added just as an attack hits its target. Both you and your opponent stop for a brief moment." Fighting games apply the method among plenty of auxiliaries outside the genre, but I want to direct your attention to a technique. On point five - Control the amount of hit stop. I’m paraphrasing but he displays a sword’s tip that deploys higher damage than merely slashing. Creating a multiplier effect. DDDA has something similar, performing buffs to maximize attacks given and while not the same as Sakura with the sword tip. The placement of weapon attacks is crucial. Hitting a weak spot on a cyclops' eye presents far better devastation than hitting steel plates adorning their feet. Bouncing your weapons off. Deadly monstrosities present separate qualities to take advantage of their weaknesses. I won’t declare any more to spoil the surprise, though keep an eye out for possible body vulnerability. A few may not be as clear-cut as the above example, but in the course of conflicts, pawns can learn strategies to call out. “Wolves hunt in packs.” “Tis weak to fire!” Or “Strike from the rear!” Improving as you do. Making ventures into the unknown is not so daunting. Creating opportunities midst facets of combat that in turn grasp both parties on strengths and weaknesses. Resulting in an easy curve to comprehend. Oh undead weak to holy? Quickly enchant my weaponry in holy magic! Blast I'm being possessed? Guess I'll pray for my ally to friendly fire me gently. For fellow Arisen struggling with AI behavior there is an overlooked characteristic in determining inclinations. I didn’t constantly re-tool inclinations and inputted a sort of aggressive stance during clashes. One and done setting their parameters. Think of it slightly like gambits from FFXII. Determining what they should prioritize when facing enemies. Defending, healing, focusing on spell-casters, adventurous etc. Not complicated at all and I found to my gratification their Artificial intelligence surprising at times to slap me from a possession, heal me when I need it, or taunt foes while I recover. I recommend re-configuring a pawn’s priorities when you see a nearby knowledge chairs in Inns if you’re unsatisfied with what they’re doing.

Additionally, Sakurai posits the pinnacle of hit-stop techniques. By keeping the attacker moving slightly during the hitstop. DDDA operates in the same vein at landing a blow on an enemy. Even launching them into the air works super effectively. Man, I thought there were no supplementary hidden features. You wish! A knockback rule exists! I won’t go into the finer details, but suffice it to say you can stun an enemy by delivering a threshold of damage. Staggering blows into dazed status. Each enemy has different thresholds. Not earth-shattering, but players from Smash,min-maxers, or fellows who enjoys reading the closer details. Proves an invaluable mechanic. Why should I endure a long battle whereas I could blast the creature off a cliff? A flying griffin for instance who loves employing guerilla warfare can’t do anything once tethered onto sweet dirty ground. And if so inclined, may use dastardly tactics to grind a deathly foe later on. Furthermore, The motion of following through with attacks remains intact. Wonderful smacking foolish opponents daring for a challenge. Resulting in throwing attackers into the sky or yourself. And despite a lack of playing DMC games from Itsuno’s library(I’ll get there trust me) I will confess I felt Monster Hunter DNA at times. The feeling of every physical melee weapon impacting on a mon’s flesh is visceral and resorts back to the hit-stop. In searching for validation I dug deeper into the team’s qualifications and found despite a lot of heavy hitters from the DMC4. There is a decent chunk of old veterans. You can see a full list here from MobyGames.. Figures like as Minae Matsukawa, Kento Kinoshita, Programming lead - Yoshiharu Nakao all have experience from the franchise. So it is not a stretch to declare DD has a lot of combat expertise in the action department. A respectable load of history bleeds beyond the monster IP and forges a sort of culmination so to speak of their past practices. If that’s not enough, compare the two cover art and see striking resemblances. It’s no wonder why I had comforting familiarity with its systems in place and not-clunky responses working adequately on my controller. The fact there is no innate lock-on button speaks volumes in conveying a move harkening key positioning. Strats over stats or vice-versa is a viable method. Learning the ins and outs of brute patterns, dodging if needed, and persevering in spite of a tough, challenging harsh world that can eat you up. As a consequence the clunkiness and jank were nonexistent. Therefore, the fun loop in engagements felt ruggedly smooth. Leaving out conniptions. And followed up by "Try and beat me!"

Moreover, Majority of quests excel in rising above the average of mundane. Close in regards to boring me due to how the design usually offers a fetch, extermination. But digging deeper by talking to various NPCs, investigating for clues, escorting helpless innocents, following suspicious individuals, and by far ones that raised my eyebrows were chained side quests which act as further development arcs of NPCs. These missions flesh out the remaining cast further, don’t expect full nuance ala CD projekt RED quality. Within these hidden assignments emerge uncommon cutscenes for the side-cast, once their character arcs reach their cusp. Giving precious glimpses into the lives of the folks asking for Arisen's services. Not extraordinary, filled with the most amazing must-play ever. But also not being boring to the gills. If you ever wanted to know their background then embrace their inquiries without complaint. I found to my amusement notable ones. I'll share vague memoirs. I assisted a traveling merchant who wanted to know what happened to his father, while infuriating because of the number of requests early on. I quickly forgave him when I learned the reasoning. To my amazement, I chanced a weird meeting with a naive fool whose wanderlust knows no bounds. Often leaving him in dire straits of remarkably horrible stamina. An irony not lost on me. Gathering healing curatives was less of a task than above and by the boundary of his errands, I found a relatable dude who took his hardships by heart and appreciated my efforts to aid him. In contrast to the people I said earlier, I came across a flirtatious gal who swindled me for money. Forgive me for I was besotted by her charms and foolishly gave her a decent chunk of my purse. Thinking perhaps she’ll repay me cash someday. Wrong. I got played like a damn fiddle. Turning my heart darker. Lightening once I saw her in trouble later on, I could not leave her alone. And to my shame, I became a white knight to save her again. The lesson I learned thereafter is to never be infatuated by the charms and beauty. I was foolish. But continued in the pursuit of lore I found to my delight a worthy sidequest of my time that granted me further insight into the lands of Gransys. Not lore shattering, but close. I won’t mention anything concrete, but I live for these conclusions despite the almost mundane design. I would claim they’re worth it if you relish learning deeper the days of yore and its hearty and duplicitous denizens. For those looking to tie a deeper love. You can gift presents to vital NPCs. Ah very realistic the developers are striving towards.

Need a break from the RPG nature? Partake in platforming. Where you have to reach the highest point of a building, structure, or ruin to take a medallion. Employ the environment. Didn’t expect platforming, but hey it's pretty refreshing. And this is tucked away in noticeboard operations. 50 of them are available. A good friend of mine mentioned they lead you to secret spots. Hell the starting area after creating your character has one! A cool benefit of learning precise maneuvers on wall structures/spaces. Never hurts to check your surroundings, my dude!

The story itself I initially perceived to be a nothing burger for about ??% of the way. However, the remaining ??% due to lore bombs and recontextualization of the narrative because of the lore-dropping revelations opened my eyes beyond a basic story into clever territory. Make no mistake, this doesn’t mean the plot elevated and demolished my initial impressions. Instead, I think I’m on board with what the writers were trying to achieve, and it's a concept I don’t see often in JRPGs except my favorites. Delving not too simple and not too complex which is bonus credit for me. But in terms of impact? I find it acceptable, but incapable of mesmerizing me to the terminus. A clean “Oh you clever dastard” for lack of a specific conclusion. If viewed alongside the whole shebang, I believe it is appropriate judging about the overall thematic messaging. And for that, I respect, admire and praise it in the confines of which it struggles to desperately convey to the masses. To fluctuating outcomes.

Despite, the praise I said above. I must confess to a host of mixed feelings. Concerns I had amid my playthroughs, I feel are worth noting to varying degrees that are neither positive nor negative.

First, I realize certain systems and mechanics are too realistic for my blood. This isn’t laziness. I’m tolerant of many things and if I wasn’t I wouldn’t have played three reruns. Be that as it may. I still feel the beginning hours can be something of a hurdle to unfamiliar folks unused to the style of play. Can take a while to reach a constant cycle of enjoyment in lieu of a delayed gratification. A few assorted examples that will trickle below on numerous fragments. I don't appreciate having a limit placed on me regarding weight. I revel collecting anything in my sight. So the constrained encumbrance based on character creation is debilitating in maintaining a constant fun flow. Perhaps doubling or tripling the maximum supply would be an acceptable softer blow. I recognize this is a balanced measure to not spam healing items amid combat. Regardless, I can make my Pawns into mules carrying rations and whatnot. Also, I abhor the stamina system over sprints, when no enemies are nearby. I believe my limiter should drain exclusively in the nearby vicinity of adversaries. No malicious entities close by? No depleting. So I can freely sprint to my destination without frustration. Thereby, respecting the player’s focus and investment. The forceful nature of realism is apparent anytime I'm out roaming. Yet entering a city/town, I can jog to my heart's content.

Second. The focus to limit fast travel points via port crystals in a limited volume feels constricting. inside, you cannot teleport regularly like in other rpgs. A simple click on a town/city and voila “I'm there” is not the same. You have to set a handful of crystals(by completing the prime quests in an NG playthrough(NG being a new game) to place on any overworld spot, not a town or dungeon. Then you gain the power to transport there with a ferrystone. The Dark Arisen version comes equipped with an eternal ferry stone to acquiesce unlimited travel back to places. Very weird. know I've come around on the concept earlier, yet I cannot help but remark the NG+ implementation of buying another crystal feels like the right approach. Extras cannot be available for purchase until reaching NG+ With previously set crystals already shown on the map ready to be teleported at your leisure. Makes backtracking to old areas somewhat of a pain to trek repeatedly. Wonder if the sequel changes things up and adjusts normal travel if they already discovered the location. Rather than setting their own. But the underlying problem arises just as I am forced revisiting former whereabouts where I don’t have a teleportation ready. Perhaps an alternative was to balance the components by discovering locales, and therefore freely travel excluding the requirement of a crystalline item.

Third - Failable & Missable quests. Mostly concerning the side-content. Imperative to note, changing several quests in the menu. Can fail certain operations outright. I remember a particular instance of escorting a fella only to switch to separate assignment real quick to complete as well. Failing the assignment. I was shocked. My entire work and I must revert to my old save file or checkpoint. Not a major deal since I activated it like a madlad. But DD operates on a single file. Thereby, I cannot pull from a list a quick load easy peasy. You get 1 solo file and a checkpoint. The latter is akin to a hard autosave. And activates as you sleep among divergent matters. Ergo if you’re screwed by the 1st option a 2nd exists. The alternative choice is reverting to the checkpoint. A weird implementation system feels again restrictive in freely managing their save options. Resorting to a strict implementation of accepting the consequences. Reminds me of the Souls series where a similar loadout occurs. Nevertheless, necessary to keep in mind. On missables. Keeping in mind your employer’s deadlines is advisable since the whole title operates under a day/night cycle with every important NPC patrolling a different route. And so you will need to remember where they're previously. Admittedly I didn’t have much trouble finding them since almost always there is a marker on the map/mini-map to lead you to the corresponding location. Plus they can fail if you don’t finish them quickly. Let’s say, you decide tackling the side content from NPCs just before the final boss. Welp, you missed out on nearly checking all boxes they have to offer. Most of them must be finished as you progress through the leading narrative. If there is a big pet peeve I have is that unknown to my knowledge missables may be incurred. Hence why I decided to casually refer to a guide to not miss any of them. Brumbek’s Steam’s guide was immensely helpful in solving an ungroovy dilemma. And of course the Before I play section too.

Fourth - Miscellaneous areas such as the expansion's secret augments should’ve been an extra free section to equip in place of having to override your set augments already. Aside from abilities, you can equip more than five augments. Acting as passives, these to a certain degree substantially add effective modifiers to gameplay. Extra carry heft. Extra damage, reduction of a blow upon your life, etc. Each job upholds special properties to procure with discipline points. The expansions make it so you would have to replace them if you find them worthy of your attention. Several, I found extremely lacking. Gathering faster? Ballista ammo reloading faster? These in my mind should’ve been freely equippable without replacing old skills. Perhaps in a separate section. I haven’t seen the entirety, but looking at the list I would claim a decent chunk are not important than others. Plus the post-game area needs further diverse environments than copy-pasting several variants together and re-using few bosses. Make it truly unique. No half-measures. The expansion at the least did a full-blown dungeon crawler area complete with original foes to combat and traps to escape from. The process of gifting, could've been enhanced rather of on NPC's. Have the player romance our main pawn please. I conceived this would be a natural way to induce a pure love than seeing a human on the street, you meet one day to become your beloved before end credits rolled. Call me a romantic, but friendships forged by fire together are super satisfying as my best buddy likes to disclose mhm. Lastly, I firmly believe changing abilities while on the field than having to resort to a friendly neighborhood is less burdensome. Wherefore I am endowed with alternating cool powers to try. I loathe retreating to a town/city just to change my job and set current skills repeatedly. These are added busywork and do little respecting a player's time. I dearly wish a loadout is readily available, so I don't always have to reapply my normal gear every occasion I change vocations. Why must I become naked anew… I’m not asking for auto-changing jobs midway through skirmishes, that would be extremely silly. Merely asking for tweaks in minor quality-of-life suggestions. For instance, Baffling having three ability slots for warrior in spite of distinct jobs having no trouble slotting six. I'm not carrying a shield man!

Despite the mixed concerns. These issues can vary greatly from person to person. As of now, they didn’t impact my overall experience severely, but if you had randomly bumped into me years prior in 2015. Playing the PS3 version. I would quickly comment "I fell off hard" and subsequently again over several years across different platforms before I decided enough was enough to click with many things. Then my initial past impressions would not be as kind as I am now. It's why I think anyone who concluded poorly of the game is without a doubt true. Everything can be perceived as mundane, busywork, tiring, troubling, lacking for the sake of realism. Perhaps buckling under the pressure of its ambitions. Not connecting with the player sufficiently to invest farther into Gransys and what they offer. And I firmly believe that’s fair and valid. Because that’s what I thought of it before. On the other hand, there’s a special oomph underlying the working limitations and minor laws in play uplifting, transforming into a greater than the sum of its parts. Critically understanding interconnected features in place. Emerges a particular identity. A Japanese open-world ACTION rpg styled in the likeness of a Western RPG, but with the "Hiyah!" DNA of Capcom’s legacy is a sight to behold. And while I am not as versed as I am in Capcom’s library, isn't the game the first bold showing of a true open-world RPG at least from the corporation in 2012? I was checking the company’s past titles and I saw Okami and Monster Hunter titles released prior. But the former isn’t a true RPG as far as I am aware and the latter had segmented zones, not seamless. Tying back to what Itsuno said earlier of similar games not existing in Japan. In such a way Dragon’s Dogma is akin to a blueprint inspired by Skyrim. A WRPG made by JRPGs developers.

At the end of the day, this is the first title I've played directed by Hideaki Itsuno with his team, and holy moly does this man cook blazing fire! Very ambitious plan splicing Western RPG ideas with a considerable degree of freedom and Capcom's long standing history has most certainly paid off. A new IP since launching in 2012 has sold 8.4 million units as of December, 2023. Boasts a humongous market of consumers vying for this type of medium. Of course it didn't reach Skyrim's far reaching sales records, but for a New IP it is a worthy achievement. And one I can only say exceedingly rare that I replay again and again. My last memory was Final Fantasy XVI and Shadow of the Colossus. Thus it comes as no surprise that I enjoy to the fullest extent what is offered here. A tough, brutally challenging low fantasy medieval adventure handling the reins of a plain yet straightforward action formula. A pawn system never fails to leave me alone even in the darkest of days. Nakama power at its peak. Allowing a party to venture without restraint into dangerous areas. Accepting the consequences of my activities due to the sheer freedom given. Wrestling with the unique ideas offered unorthodoxly yet refined presents a hell of an ordeal. For better or worse the realism can destroy the immersiveness and fun, but for those who stick through thick and thin. I believe there is something quite special in store for you. And in my case. The light premise, in the beginning, invigorated me to face my ultimate opponent at the end of the primary story, post-game and expansion. And I was left not disappointed. Rather grinning from ear to ear at one of the finest battles and experiences I've determined from my multiple adventures for a JRPG. Move over Monster Hunter. I became a Dragon Slayer.

9/10

References & Additional Material:
2013 GDC talk on Dragon’s Dogma development
2015 XCX Director Interview
2012 Itsuno and Skyrim
2011 Siliconera interview
Credits of Dragons Dogma

Systems & Mechanics:
19 Debilitations Overview
Encumbrance Overview
Augments Overview
Weight Overview
Pawn Inclinations

Helpful links:
Brumbek’s Missable Quests Guide
Before I play

I’ve always liked Super Meat Boy, but never loved it until recently. Being one of the first of the many “masocore” platformers, it’s always maintained relevance since the 2008 prototype. It doesn’t have any major gimmicks, and instead focuses on the games of old. You have a simple goal.

Dr Fetus has kidnapped Bandage Girl. Save Bandage Girl! It’s as simple as it gets. Well, what about the controls? You run, jump, and that’s it. So, where’s the fun? The controls. I firmly believe that Super Meat Boy has the best controls of any platformer released to date. Meat Boy is incredibly fast, while also having a floaty jump. Normally I’d say that this is bad for most games, but Super Meat Boy makes it work. All of the levels are designed with this high speed and floatiness in mind, stretching the controls to the furthest possibility. It’s most noticeable in the much later levels, but even then, this attention to detail is present in earlier levels. It makes the game feel truly limitless, by allowing you to speed through the levels, having an extremely high skill ceiling down to the very frame. It’s a bit unwieldy, but once you master it, it feels like you can do anything. And do everything you shall, because there's a catch. It’s called SUPER for a reason. Super Meat Boy is considered among the hardest platformers, and for good reason. It’s a relentlessly difficult game, doubly so for 100%, but that’s where the beauty of the game lies within. Sure, you may retry a dozen times just to unlock the Dark World level, but by all accounts, the game pushes you to that mastery by rewarding you for overcoming challenges. It wants you to succeed. It’s difficult, but fair, and one of the most rewarding to conquer. The levels all feel distinctive from one another, and each individual one teaches the player a different lesson throughout their short runtimes. The level progression of Super Meat Boy is nothing but incredible. It introduces a gimmick in one level, and each level builds upon it. And then suddenly, another gimmick pops up. And then another, and another, and another, until you’re working with all of the mechanics before you even know it. And then the Dark World version of the level shows how much better you can get with said mechanics. No gimmick feels underutilized, nor unfun and cheap, and no level feels forgettable at all. It emphasizes how strong the whole game’s design is. And if you really want a challenge, you can always go for the Bandages! The bandages of Super Meat Boy force you to master the level to even get a shot at them. Getting them is the easier part. Surviving is harder. If you so much as graze a saw with these babies, you lose the bandage, but succeed and the game proudly announces that you got the bandage. It's a feeling like no other. I had my shit absolutely rocked throughout the entirety of Super Meat Boy 100%. Getting the bandages really made me feel like I accomplished something, both in a metaphorical and literal sense, as unlocking bandages allows you to play as brand new characters.

Akin to The Binding of Isaac, all characters cover a specific niche. Meat Boy is your main man, with all of the levels designed for him first and foremost. The others give you entirely new platforming abilities, but typically have a stipulation, like for example, Commander Video. He gets a short float, but is pretty slow compared to Meat Boy. There's about 10 characters overall, a few of which require a secret code to be inputed. The cool thing about it is that most characters come from other indie games, making Super Meat Boy feel more like a video game which proves how far indie games have come. Even more interestingly, the console and PC versions of the game has different characters within them, each accommodating the difference in the Indie scene on PC and Consoles. The Warp Zones themselves have the same characters, so Commander Video from Bit.Trip, Jill from… Mighty Jill Off, Ogmo from Jumper, the titular character, Flywrench, and The Kid from I Wanna Be The Guy are all here and accounted for. Meanwhile, Gish, Tim, Guy Spelunky, Pink Knight, and The Ninja are console exclusive, while Headcrab, Alien Hominid, Josef, Naija, RunMan, Captain Viridian, and MR. MINECRAFT, are all exclusive to PC. In the end, it doesn't really matter which version you play, but it kind of sucks that we never got some Super Meat Boy Definitive Edition with all of the characters from both versions, but in general, the balance of characters is very solid. While The Kid is among the best characters in the game for the best double jump in the game, he is a lot slower and jumps lower than Meat Boy. And also, in order to even get him, you need to complete the 3 hardest levels in the game, back to back.

This is a perfect transition into talking about the bane of my existence. GOLDEN GOD. Is actually really fun! Super Meat Boy will take you about a weekend to complete, but GOLDEN GOD could take upwards of a month to achieve. I played on-and-off ad nauseam over the course of a year, amd Golden God completely transforms Super Meat Boy as a game. In order to achieve Golden God, you need to
- Clear all 7 Light Worlds, with an A+ Rank
- Clear all 7 Dark Worlds (aka X worlds), harder versions of the Light World, but no A+ ranks are needed
- Obtain all 100 Bandages
- Unlock every Character
- Clear all Warp Zones, sets of 3 bite sized levels with 3 lives per level
- Clear all Glitch levels (technically optional but adds to 100%)
So... yeah, any completionist certainly has their work cut out for them. The Dark Worlds alone nearly broke me, but damn did I pop off when I cleared every one of them. Chapters 1, 2, 3, and 6 are pretty manageable when it comes to their challenge, but I genuinely contemplated quitting the entire operation at World 4X. I was 100%ing each World at about 1 or 2 per day, but 4X threw off my flow by a lot. It took me about 3 days to fully beat it alone, and 5X only got more and more challenging. 5X is among the most challenging worlds in the entire game. Each level was a challenging contraption made with only the most difficult platforming setpieces in the entire game. But each time I died, the music always brought me coming back for more!

Super Meat Boy’s soundtrack is legendary, no doubt about it. Some of the most Newgrounds esque shit that you can imagine, but it’s some of that good shit nonetheless. Forest Funk was stuck in my head for months once I first conquered Super Meat Boy, Beatus Blues is an incredibly catchy tune. Can O’ Salt is a Minecraft song (described by one of my IRLs), Hell feels grand and imposing, and The Rapture feels like a goddamn military tune. The End is weirdly cinematic but also really good, and CHAPTER MOTHERFUCKING 7!

Chapter 7 is where my 100% streak really died off. I completed 5 levels a DAY at this point. There are no bandages, no warp zones, nothing. Just you, your controller, and Bandage Girl. Yeah, for Chapter 7 alone, you get to play as Bandage Girl. And these levels aren’t among the most difficult in the game, they ARE the most difficult in the game. Don’t let the happy music and overabundance of pink fool you. The Cotton Alley has some of the most pseudo-pixel perfect shit that you can imagine, but once again, it’s HARD but FAIR. I never wanted to ragequit because the game wasn’t unfair. It’s one of the hardest 2D platforming levels ever made, but one of the best. Every single piece of tech that the game taught you comes back for a spectacular finale, and a spectacular finale that is. This all culminates in the HARDEST level I’ve ever beaten. “The Four Letter Word” is IMPOSSIBLE. It’s 1 minute of straight pixel perfect platforming, easily the hardest level in the game, and it was 11 PM. I was in my room alone, with only the bright visuals of the Cotton Alley keeping me awake. But I was determined. And it took over a very long time, but after an hour, I saw Meat Boy. I was at the goal. I made the final jump, and dropped my controller. I was so satisfied, but I knew that was only half the battle. So, I got a good night’s rest, knowing that the following day would be hell.

Or was it? I powered through Cotton Alleys’ Dark World like it was nothing. I was Meat Boy. I felt the heaviness on my heart each time he died, but each victory kept me coming back for more and more. I crushed half of the levels like soda cans. But the remaining few pushed me past my breaking point. And with 4 levels to go, with just me and the game, I received... Golden God??? Welp, that was fun! Yeah, not sure why the achievement unlocked early, but I decided to leave it at that. But as the final completion reward, you unlock the Meat Ninja, who always runs and can teleport through sawblades after pressing X. You can’t use the leaderboards with him, but it’s a solid reward for 100%.

Super Meat Boy is a masterclass of game design, being one of the best platformers ever made. It has over 300 handcrafted levels, all of which test the player’s skills in the best way possible. It’s one of those pick up and play games, where you can play and clear a few levels, or complete the entire game in a sitting. It’s a fun game, to put it simply, and I can’t recommend it enough, now that the XBLA store is shutting down. Rest In Peace, but long live Steam. Welp. What is there to to cover now?

MYSELF. Yeah, I know this is pretty out of scope to cover in a controversial platforming series with a silly cube of meat, but I wanted to talk about another controversial platforming series with a Witch. A dark one, perhaps. Plus, it directly related to me and the near future of zeusdeegoose as a whole, and I’ve done so in the past with my Binding of Isaac reviews. So humor me for a bit, or, if you’ve had your fill, feel free to click off, and I wish you a good day. For many people within my Discord and other related spaces, they knew that I was re-reviewing The Legend of Dark Witch series in it’s entirety; keyword, was, and I have to upsettingly say that said review series is now canceled. Many people don’t know about it, and I think that’s a good thing. It was a series that I used to play in the past, and me and a few friends have heavily criticized over the past few years. We also have a bit of bad blood within said community itself. We were talking about it again and how the developer sucked, practically beating it down as a farce of a franchise, mostly leaving the community stuff out of it as a whole. And while I still agree those remarks about the developer, one discussion got taken pretty far as I took a jab at one of the wiki’s vandals, and that spiraled into one of the members of the server leaving. Initially, I thought it was going to be a lighthearted joke, but it was pretty inappropriate of me and for those involved, I do apologize. I won’t extrapolate anything further at the behest of the people in said chat, as the server that the discussions were held within was a private venue, and I don’t wish to share any links so said server.

Secondly, after said conversation, I realized something huge. I didn’t NEED to re-review the series. I mean, what would I get out of it? Initially, the thought going in was that this would re-introduce people into zeusdeegoose’s past by re-reviewing what got the ball rolling for the long ass review format and to bury the hatchet for the final time, but here’s the thing. I already kind of did that. I had already archived my Wiki reviews on Backloggd, and notwithstanding the occasional bias, my criticisms of each game have still held up. So the newer reviews would just be... lesser. I don’t have the energy nor the time to discuss every stage in Dark Witch 2 again when that would go against the overall message of the review series; that being that The Legend of Dark Witch is a dogshit series, aside from 1 and 2, and I don’t think it’s worth potentially burning some bridges just to prove my point. Me and other friends have already long since moved on, and potentially bringing a lolicon back into the spotlight simply isn’t worth the effort that’d I’d put into it.

Thirdly, I got burnt out. Ladies and Gentlemen, I LOVE tearing apart games I hate, believe me. Super Meat Boy Forever is one of my favorite reviews that I’ve ever made. But I can only say “This game fucking sucks” so many times before getting tired, folks. And that’s just the review side. Imagine playing 8 games back to back, 99% of which are mid, and the 1% are games that I’ve burnt myself out on and already played for hundreds of hours already (not joking, btw). I didn’t hate myself for booting up The Binding of Isaac, because The Binding of Isaac is an actually GOOD video game that I like. Wow! But whenever I boot up any Dark Witch game, I just feel disappointed.

Fourthly, who cares? I could make point after point about why NAN-A and The Legend of Dark Witch suck, but it’s fruitless. The Legend of Dark Witch is far past it’s eShop era where it was actually semi-popular. Hell, I’d bet now that the games don’t even average a sale a day, with the 3DS eShop now gone. Now, only a very small, inactive fanbase remains. Ever since me and others left, it’s a complete GHOST TOWN. Nobody cares about it anymore. I’ve barely heard anyone in my online sphere talk about it, and it remains as a niche franchise, like it should be. People got their balls blown off with 1 and 2, and then almost all of us collectively fucked off afterwards because the games SUCKED and it wasn’t active anymore. Now that the dust has settled, it’d only serve to piss people off who still give a damn about the series anymore. And trust me, they WOULD get pissed. I’ve seen it firsthand. And as funny as it would be, I don't want to act as if I'm some villain or something.

So... yeah. That’s all I got to say on the matter. Sorry to anyone who was expecting the review, and sorry to anyone who was involved in the first incident. It was a flawed idea from the start, and I really don’t have anyone to blame for the reviews except myself. Now, for real this time, I’m burying the hatchet. No more of my valuable time will be spent on a video game franchise made by some jizzer. I may edit this out sooner or later, because truth be told, it’s mostly irrelevant to a game series with a funny meat man, but I just needed to get my thoughts out, off of my chest, and announce that the series is canceled, as disappointing as it may be. Finally, I still have all of my Dark Witch reviews in a Google Doc, so if you'd like to see them, whether that be out of curiosity or otherwise, come on over. ;) Shoot me a DM to @zeusdeegoose, either on Twitter or Discord. They’ll remain forever unfinished, but hey, if people wanted to know how it would've played out, they can come and see. But now, with all that being said, lets just move on to greener fields because I don’t know what else to talk about.

Sooooo... it might be too early, but it may be time to start another review series. I’ve been playing a wider variety of games than ever before. Old games, new games, and even bear games. I’ve had good games and bad games, but it’s true love that we share! So I do have quite a few on my mind that I want to do. Blaster Master Zero, Super Monkey Ball, and Devil May Cry are all on my mind. So, I hope you’re looking out for those because they’re probably coming soon. Blaster Master Zero will probably be first up, as I’ve finished all of them, and then Super Monkey Ball and DMC will follow soon after. Again, there may or may not be a bit of a drought when it comes to reviews thanks to the aforementioned cancellation, so apologies. But, zeusdeegoose always comes back stronger than it was. So please tune in, when it’s ready of course. But in the meantime, I’m going back to the Basement so I can type more reviews. If you’ve read this far, I really appreciate your support, but please go outside. It’s almost Summer now, and the sun is good for your skin and health. Don’t be like me. Or hell, play Super Meat Boy! You wont regret it.

Mega man and bass is often described as a very difficult and unfair game, but that wasn't gonna stop an epic gamer like me from giving the game a try. Boi am i glad i gave this game a shot because for me, this is easily a top 5 mega man game.

You get to choose between 2 characters to play as which are of course Mega man and Bass. In my playtrough i decided to play as Bass.
Bass is really fricking fun to play as! He has a dash, a double jump and his base weapon has the abilty to fire rapidly in almost all directions. The weapons that Bass acquires throughout the game are all very fun. Copy vision, lighting bolt and spread drill are my favorite weapons.

Copy vision creates a clone of Bass fires for a few seconds and then disappears, and thats cool as fuck!

Lighting bolt summons a bunch of lightings that will inflict damage on everything on your screen.

Spread drill shoots a giants ass drill tha can transform into smaller drills.

You can also buy many upgrades by using bolts acquired during levels. These upgrades are very useful and some of them are definitely worth buying to give yourself an easier time, the one that i mostly used is the one that upgrades your base weapon which is very useful for both enemies and bosses.

I was a huge of fan of the levels in this game.
Every single level is just the right lenght and all of them are unique, challenging and very fun to go through.
My favorite levels are: Magic man's stage, cold man's stage and astro man's stage.

The bosses are hit or miss. Some bosses in the game are very solid but some bosses are straight up poo poo stinkers.
King, burner man, cold man, magic man and ground man? Very great bosses and my personal favorites of this game.
King's tank, atetemino, jet king robo and green devil? EW! DOO DOO! POO POO! STINKY BOSSES!

The graphics are very nice and colourful, like seriously every single stage looks really good in my eyes.

The music is pretty great. Some of my favorite tracks include: the robot museum, king stages, boss battle and astro man stage.

So yeah i really like this game! Wanted to make a short review during school since i was bored.
8.5/10

Just like Dreamland 2, the first time I fully beat this game was in 2022, directly after Dreamland 2 actually. I first played this years ago when I got an SNES classic, and thought it was cool. But I'll come out and say it, I never really digged the whole multiple bite-sized campaigns in one shtick. I had a greater appreciation for this game, when I played it in 2022, due to some of the series staples it added. But even then, it wasn't one of my favorite Kirby games. How do I feel about the game now though? Basically, the same tbh. Though, when compared to every Kirby game that released prior to this, I'd say it's the clear best.

The biggest improvement, and this would be a Kirby staple once Return to Dreamland released, is the expanded move set. No longer do you only have a single move per copy ability. Now, depending on your directional inputs on the d-pad, you can use several different moves per copy ability. This is a fantastic addition, and probably my favorite aspect about this game, as it makes beating each level more fun. Both of the fire abilities that were in Adventure, are now in one and the one that would turn you into a fireball is your dash attack. Spark, which was a staple in Adventure and Dreamland 2, isn't even in this game and was basically replaced by Plasma (which is all around better because of the electric shield you can get). The copy abilities in general, are really good in this game. You have your series staples like sword, hammer and all that. But then you have new ones like Bomb, Mirror and Yo-Yo which are all really awesome. Compared to prior games, the amount of copy abilities in this game is massive and I think it even rivals some of the modern games. You can also, at anytime, turn whatever copy ability you have into a little NPC helper. This was a fun addition and let's you play the game with two players? I actually never tried it out myself, but I assume you can do that and not have the multiplier be regulated to the minigames.

I am a Dreamland 3 fan, and while I prefer how that game looks visually, Superstar still looks really good for an SNES game. The game is full of that Kirby personality, whether it's with Kirby himself or the enemies he faces. The animations on some of the enemies in this game are just really expressive, and that includes the bosses as well. They're all very charming, especially the computer virus boss, that one is very witty. Some bosses are better than others (I really hate fatty whale) but most of them are pretty fun..especially with the expanded move set.

Now for the meat and potatoes of this game, the game modes. This is the part of the game I'm not much of a fan of. The game consists of 9 modes in all. 4 of them are normal Kirby campaigns, 3 of them are short minigames, 1 is a weird campaign that is more akin to a Metroid game and the last is a boss rush basically. They're all mostly fun in their own right, I just much prefer a more focused, full sized campaign since even with the longer modes here, they just don't stick in my mind as much. I'll delve into each mode though and explain my feelings on every one of them.

Megaton Punch is a short, button timing mini-game where you must see who creates the biggest crack on Popstar. It's very short and humorous to watch, but there's not much to it. Samurai Kirby is basically a remake of the one western minigame from Kirby's Adventure, and it's even more simple to play. You just press the A button faster than your opponent but I swear I just can't do it, even on the easiest difficulty. I always lose to Meta-Knight at the end. It's alright but I prefer Megaton Punch. The last mini-game is Gourmet Race. I won't get into the staple song just yet, but know it's my favorite of the three minigames because of its music and because its fun to race Dedede (and to see his reactions to you winning).

As for the normal campaigns, the first one is Spring Breeze. Not much to say here, it's the shortest of the four and is basically just a remake of Dreamland 1. It's actually even shorter than that game since it lacks the reused portions of levels before Dedede. Dedede is also super easy in this version compared to Dreamland 1. Dynablade is a little longer than Spring Breeze, but not by much. Also don't really have much to say here either, it's a pretty uneventful set of Kirby levels. Revenge of the Meta Knight is a lot longer than the previous two campaigns, or at least it felt like it was. It has Kirby trying to stop Meta Knight and his crew. The level takes place, mostly, in his ship as you destroy it. It also has the most dialogue in the game, because of his crew members, and it's very charming because of them. This felt like the most unique of the normal campaigns and it was definitely my favorite next to the final one. The final one, Milky Way Wishes, has Kirby trying to stop the sun and moon from fighting, which Kirby must make a wish using Nova (this cat face clock thing) because this fella Marx told him to. In the end of the adventure though, Marx dupes you and takes the wish for himself and you have to fight him. This one probably has the most stakes out of any campaign and Marx has a really cool design. I also really liked the space theme and I really really liked the copy ability mechanic. Basically, you can only get copy abilities from these pedestals hidden throughout the world, but once you do you keep the ability forever and can freely switch between any you've gathered at anytime. Thinking about it then, this is probably my favorite mode in the game..it would've been really cool to see this one fleshed out even more though since it still isn't very long.

As for the other two modes, The Great Cave Offensive is different from the other modes. It acts as sort of a metroidvania, where the goal is to explore each section of the game for treasure. You can backtrack freely which is unusual for a Kirby game and is why this one feels different from the other 4 campaigns. It's fun but getting every treasure can be a pain, and pretty much all of the bosses (which you would first see here) get reused in the later campaigns. The last mode, which you unlock from beating every other one, is the arena. This is the boss rush I mentioned earlier, and it's a staple in like all of the modern Kirby mainline games. I actually didn't beat it this time, I gave it like 10 go's, but I did beat it back in 2022. The copy ability you want to use is definitely hammer as it does the most damage. The arena is usually the hardest part of the modern Kirby games and that's no different here, as you have to defeat every boss in the game with only 5 Maxim tomatoes for all of them. It's not totally my thing but it's a decent inclusion nonetheless.

The OST is good, as most Kirby games are, and the standout of course is Gourmet Race. It's one of the most well known Kirby songs for a reason (besides becoming big because of Smash) and yeah it's pretty awesome. The rest of the OST is good too, but this was my favorite new song, as this game continues the trend of remixing a lot of older Kirby songs.

I'm not crazy about this game like some other Kirby fans are, due to the multiple campaigns, but I can't deny it added some great series staples like the expanded move sets and the arena. While not in my personal top 5, at this point in the series this is definitely the best Kirby game thus far. Fun time overall!

a deeply upsetting experience. perfectly captures the feeling of bitter nostalgia - reminiscing over awful times. there are stories in this that are so beautiful it's absolutely insane.

could easily see this in 5 stars but i'm not sure how i feel about the way this game treats death. the core message feels like it's about accepting death, but it falls into a kinda common trope i see where the deaths are pointless and preventable. this isn't a huge fault but it does make me like the game a bit less. high recommendation though.