Blossom Tales is a competent but generally uninteresting take on the Zelda formula. The same beats you would expect are here, but they rarely feel satisfying.

The most interesting part might be overworld exploration, that while pretty simple can still be engaging, and there are a few side activities to explore that can add a bit of variety.

Dungeons are long linear streaks of singular room challenges that take the form of traversal trials, enemy encounters or a puzzle. This linear take removes any satisfaction of getting a new item as they are not really used to explore hidden corners you just passed and couldn't wait to explore.

While particularly not a bad game, the dungeon design greatly impacted my perception of the game, and I left it feeling mostly disappointed in the whole experience.

The thing that gets me the most about Ghostwire Tokyo are the vibes, the mildly spooky playground with fascinating creatures carries a lot of what I enjoyed in the game.

Even though it is an open-world game, it is actually very linear, it feels designed like smaller levels and set pieces that happen to get connected as you go, you can probably just play it ignoring the open-world filler and still have a great experience. Side activities can have some interesting scenarios, and meeting yokai is interesting, but the game will test your patience if you try to get all the spirits.

While the world is very impressive, the gameplay takes a bit of a backseat, it is serviceable (once you adjust aim sensitivity), but it does feel overly simple. The economy somewhat discourages you of engaging with various tools, the talismans used for combat feel like a waste when you have to save money for skill points. And then the basic act of spamming wind shots gets the job done easily, so you don't even feel like you need the tools at all, feels like there was some missed potential here.

Even considering the simple systems, the game was still very fun to go through, exploring and admiring the environment was very relaxing in some way, even with all the creepy vibes there is a certain beauty of the supernatural in everything, and I was all in for it.

I'm not extremely nostalgic over the old school games that inspired Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider, but I had a great time with the game, which might be due to the fact that it is not as difficult as most of the classic games like it.

The presentation is amazing, incredible pixel art (I strongly recommend using the CRT filter), the movement is snappy and fluid and you'll be running and slashing to some good tunes too.

I struggled a bit at the start getting used to the movement and not having many of the extra upgrades, but once I got a few stages in I felt my mastery, and some very powerful abilities, made some encounters a bit too easy. Although the feeling of getting powerful is also a positive, I wonder if some situations could have been better balanced (of note, I think the water stage is generally very difficult but has the easiest boss).

While I enjoy the easier difficult curve, I feel some more passionate about the games that inspired this might be left wanting it to be a tad harder, but pushing for higher ranks can possibly evoke a similar sense of challenge.

At first I was struggling to call Psychonauts a 3D platformer, as I feel it is more rooted in the adventure inspiration, but as I reached the end of the journey I could see why both halves are so important for the game to work.

Having said that, I still think the game shows its age and the platforming part suffers a bit. Especially at the start when I feel the narrative interrupts you from engaging in the platforming in more intrusive ways and at the end when you need the speed and precision but you feel the controls against you.

However the narrative shines. The characters, stories and worlds you explore make a whole that works better than just pointing the flaws of some mechanics or pacing. The creativity injected into the game by exploring these characters and worlds make it incredibly unique, in a way that even after all these years it is hard to find something similar.

At the end, Psychonauts is an amazing adventure game that uses platforming to emphasize its narrative in compelling ways and I could see why so many desired to see this series continue and I can share their passion.

There are concepts from Death Stranding that I think are really cool. AAA delivery simulator with connected community interaction seems like a good base for something, and clearly a lot of people resonated with it.

As for myself, I'm really not a fan of stealth and every section with BTs is just frustrating. I also cannot muster much interest in the story, the world situation is somewhat intriguing but I feel like if I'm going to get anything out of this I have to stick with it until the end, and I really don't feel like putting in the time on something I'm barely enjoying.

SteamWorld Dig is a simple game with a perfect execution. It has the charm, it nails the sense of progression, it introduces new stuff regularly and doesn't overstay its welcome.

When I played at release on the 3DS it reminded me of many Flash games I used to play, the constant feeling of getting new tools and exploring more opportunities, reaching just a bit further was always satisfying.

Playing it again now just reminded me how the formula doesn't really age, and the general flow of upgrades and the hand crafted sections are still really impressive, it makes the game feel like a metroidvania even if it mostly doesn't try to replicate everything that goes into them.

SteamWorld Dig is casual enough that anyone can pick it up, but also engaging and full of discovery, a timeless gem.

Games about cultivating plants and flowers always fascinate me, from the chill zen games to something more action packed like Plants vs. Zombies. Something that always plays a part in these games is time. Watching plants grow and waiting for them to grow. Garden In! nails a lot of things, but it could certainly slow down a bit.

The time plants take to grow in the game is too long for you to have it open and observe, but the needs of the plants drain too quickly that just returning after a couple of hours is overwhelming. As the game already uses real-life time, it could let you check in on your garden once every day, and feel the growth over time. As it is, you'll return after a few hours, see all the plants dried, water everything, and then plants go straight from little sprout to full plant instantly.

Despite this, the game is still very visually appealing, the dioramas you can built are really charming, and you have a lot of control and options for object placement and colors. You can also see how the bred flowers sometimes carry certain elements from the parents and their designs are cool looking.

Overall I think the visuals and customization the player have are strong, but it is somewhat disappointing to check in and see everything infested and dry after so little time has passed. Even if just some water will make everything look good again, I wish I could feel I have been taking good care of the plants day after day.

It's hard to describe Onion Assault, it doesn't really do anything wrong but it also lacks a spark to make it interesting.

Some stages work better than others, the railcart level with cannons is very fun but then there is also a swaying tree one that has this weird inertia with your movement. I also feel some parts can be frustrating, especially with a lives system that in modern games feel very unnecessary.

If you are looking for a short burst of "Super Mario Bros. 2"-like gameplay, you can probably enjoy Onion Assault, just don't expect anything that will blow your mind.

I can't help but feel drawn by the fact the protagonist gets a music player as his heart, I feel like that is the spirit of the game and it pulls off a fantastic rhythmic experience.

Hi-Fi Rush is a fairly traditional character action game, you get your light and heavy attack and multiple combos, but it then adds the rhythm layer that truly changes how you feel it. Timing your combos to the beat, seeing everything around move at the same tempo, you become entranced in the action and when you pull off incredible moves it feels immensely satisfying.

This is also further energized by the art style and animations that are vibrant and extremely polished. Cutscenes also match the beat and pump you up even more for the fight that is about to come.

Sometimes there can be a feeling of "too much noise" and it is hard to judge attacks from enemies off screen, and lengthy stages can be a bit exhausting to play, but these are very minor annoyances for me compared to the overall package.

If you, as the protagonist, also have a heart that beats with rhythm, you'll get the rush.

Battle Chasers is a game I would probably like at a different point in time. It has a lot of systems that reward exploring every place, fighting a lot of enemies and even replaying dungeons, but the problem is being willing to spend the time.

One of the systems I love is the bestiary, aside from recording the monsters you defeat, it grants bonuses for defeating many of them. The systems I don't like generally revolve around items, it tries to be Diablo without going all the way and ends up being unrewarding and sometimes even pointless.

The art is beautiful, the character designs are cool, and the world map in particular is quite nice to look at and navigate, if anything the art makes me want to play the game more than the actual gameplay.

I wish the game moved more quickly, benched party members don't get XP, item progression feels bad, and after playing for 18 hours I feel like I got what I came for, I don't need to see the finish line.

You just turned on this game and you are thrown into the best video game intro of all time, an intro that absolutely sets the tone: amazing, high action racing with wild stuff all around, this is the Horizon Festival.

The intro presents what is probably the best new feature, the seasons, and gives you a taste of road and dirt racing, and you can already feel how good it is to actually play, it really encapsulates the game, a game that also delivers on all the hype the intro creates.

I'm writing this after already playing Forza Horizon 5, so I feel it would be unfair to write all the stuff that is better in the sequel, I just want to highlight how it is even today a very fun game that stands on its own.

Two new mechanics were introduced with this expansion. The first, Trailblazers, are a new activity which makes real good use of the open world nature in Horizon, you have a start and finish, but how you drive between them is completely up to you. The second, Treasure Hunts, are forgettable, but fun. In the end, both went on to become main features in the sequel.

The rough map is interesting but I feel that aside from trailblazers it doesn't play a large role. Dirt racing still feels like it could use more emphasis, some areas feel underexplored just because there are no roads.

The expansion delivers an extension of what the base game did with some added wilderness, and left an impact with substantial new experiences that went on to become the norm. In retrospect, Fortune Island is an important step in the Forza Horizon franchise.

While still as fun to drive in as any additional map would be, I feel there is something missing to really complete the package, and it would mostly be more LEGO.

Not every new car is LEGO, they already add very few new cars with each expansion, and even unlocking some of the few choices requires playing a lot of the expansion, which limits your possibilities if you just want play with LEGO cars.

In general the map and races feel uninspired (a lot of mirror A to B, B to A races), and collectables that appear only at night or when raining AND are only unlocked deep into the expansion make for an uneven experience, that is still good, but could be much better.

I'm about to say some mean things about a game that I feel is still very good, but I can't help but feel disappointed because I expected something different.

A lot of complaints about the second game point to the mission structure, and while here you don't have a mission select menu I feel like each floor feels even more segmented as a mission and disconnected from the whole. With the second game there was still a sense of discovery at the new areas you got to explore in each mission, and a progression that felt connected. In this game you barely get to feel any sense of exploration as each floor plays mostly as a linear mission to the boss and you don't experience anything else in that space again, just taking the elevator to the next set of rooms (Don't even try to bring up the Polterkitty).

Also in the pursuit of a bigger, more complex game Luigi's moveset is expanded with too many similar possibilities. Let's suppose there is an object you need to break or open, you'll have five moves that could potentially be the solution:

1 - Interact directly with it with the X button
2 - Use the Poltergust to vacuum it and open
3 - Use the Suction Shot and pull it open
4 - Use the Burst and send an air wave to break it
5 - Throw something bigger/harder at it to break

Sometimes puzzles need one of these specific moves and nothing else works, some trial and error ends up happening and you can get somewhat stuck for things that just lack a visual clarity in what it requires.

I feel both prior games achieve better results being simpler games, but it is hard to be a big budget game and not just be bigger to justify the price or even it's existence. Luigi's Mansion 3 is a gorgeous game, it has many unique bosses and many environments to see, but if I ever decide to replay any games in the series, I'll certainly favor the first two.