After being mostly disappointed with Runner 3, this return to roots was everything I wanted from the Bit.Trip Runner franchise.

Even though it is described as a remake of the original, it feels to me a bit more than that. They incorporated some concepts that were cut and basically created brand new levels for the game, it feels pretty new even if the visuals are mostly a reimagination of the setting.

The original levels are still recreated as bonus levels, and there are some more original levels based on other games of the Bit.Trip series. There is also a level creator but I haven't explored that side too much, I'm certain there will be great and then not so great levels.

I didn't expect much, but I ended up loving it. It feels like the sequel I wanted after 2, even if it is not all brand new and shiny.

Fighting games are intimidating, but I think Street Fighter 6 made every possible effort to make it as approachable as possible. And I certainly had a lot of fun with it, that I otherwise would not have experienced, if it didn't have modern controls or a quirky story mode.

I still wish some things were different, specially about World Tour. I think it starts great but at some point it felt bad as a scrub to use multiple health recovery items in a fight, and I felt powerless against increasingly large health bars. I wish it was less RPG, even though the RPG elements may help you "overlevel" a fight, it also makes enemies feel tankier when I just wanted them to feel smarter. After some time I enjoyed going through Arcade mode more than messing around in World Tour.

The characters are incredible and I love the vibes, the game is certainly amazing and I felt welcomed to try it. I wish it had something more to keep me on it, because I don't feel confident to play online, but I loved the time I spent with it.

It's actually been a while since I played it, and I never truly "finished" it but I'm considering it as much for the time I spent with it.

I love the flower breeding aspect of Animal Crossing, and this feels very much like it, but with bees. Getting the perfect matches and stats you want can be very time consuming but it feels great when you get the results.

The menus can be a bit convoluted, and I do wish some processes were more passive/automated because I don't really care about manually extracting honey, but I can see some players might enjoy the economy management more than me, I was just in there to combine the bees though.

Starting this review by mentioning that I had finished the game and completed all the achievements prior to the update, you might say I had already gotten my fill, so it probably impacted my enjoyment of it.

First, the roguelite mode. It certainly adds some new ideas, but it didn't motivate me enough to keep replaying it just to get all my skills up to "endgame" status again. It is more challenge if you want it, but it doesn't reinvent the wheel.

The additions to the main campaign are great, but, they feel like they complement the base experience, and aside from the new side quest in the school, they are basically extras for people exploring the map. But as mentioned, I had already been to all these places, and it was hard for me to exactly place where a photo mission was trying to bring me after a long time away from the game too.

I think overall the update is great, but especially to people that are playing the game for the first time with the update. The new side mission is good and probably the scariest content in the game. Still love the game, and I think the new stuff only enhances it further, I just didn't exactly needed more at the moment, and maybe I'll give the roguelite mode more of a chance in the future to get that 100% achievement rate back someday.

After playing the game co-op and having some weird feelings about the game, I have now finished the campaign solo and have more solid impressions about my experience.

Overall I think the games does certain things better than the first, while also stumbling on new problems of its own. One clear example is how bosses on the first game were criticized for having too many adds, and this was particularly a criticism they said they would address, but now instead of having problems with adds, a number of bosses are just out of melee range, which hinders certain classes and builds.

One thing I noted in my first review was how I felt I didn't get as many interesting items in my run, and I think here the RNG of what areas you get can actually play a part. I got two sections with armors in this second run, while on the first I got none. I also got a Blood Moon naturally this time too, overall I felt my second run had way better side events, even without mentioning I was more familiarized with the structure of areas so I got more rings and stuff.

In the end, as I mentioned in the first review, the familiarity and the hunt for new loot on replays and adventure mode do feel more fun than playing for the first time anyway, I have a better impression of the game now than before, but I'd still probably say I liked the first one better. The gameplay is still very good and I'll certainly be excited for the DLC releases, I think the base experience could be better with some tweaks, and maybe these will come with updates too.

I think I need more time and a full solo playthrough to really understand my feelings with Remnant 2. I'll probably update or write another review later, but in summary, really fun to play, but I felt like I wasn't getting as much cool stuff to play with just going through the campaign once.

And then here I have to add that because of playing co-op, I haven't dedicated nearly as much time to absorbing the lore of every 10+ page book scattered about, so it definitely had an impact, more solid thoughts to come after I finish it solo. Will also probably replay it multiple times because, weirdly enough, it is the most fun part.

Playing for a second time, a more chill playthrough after coming in with more intense feelings to the changes on the first time. Unfortunately I decided to also do it on Master Mode which might have been a mistake.

Overall, my feelings haven't changed that much, I still really enjoy the traditional "Metroidvania" feeling of getting a new item, and go explore new areas and solve new puzzles of classic Zelda. And exploration which is the strongest factor here is somewhat diminished by systems working against the player (for example, rain), especially once you see how many "cheat codes" they give you in Tears of the Kingdom that remove a lot of the friction.

One thing I didn't enjoy the first time were the shrines, and while I still don't love them, Tears actually made me see it could be worse. Classic Zelda puzzles are also not that groundbreaking isolated like here, but the catch is that they are NOT isolated. In dungeons especially, a puzzle is usually one key to a major whole, you are getting a certain ray of light to shine in a certain way to on the next room solve a more intricate puzzle and this is what makes them feel interesting, which in these restricted scenarios make simple puzzles feel like just that, simple diversions. There is also not the sense of going through a room, not having the correct item and getting to come back later, the feeling of building up to a solution is also lost in a sense.

Durability is another feature I don't really vibe with, I think on normal mode it becomes way less of an issue over time, but on master mode it certainly feels bad to burn multiple weapons on a Bokoblin. I feel like master mode on Tears of the Kingdom has way more potential as each enemy will essentially give you a tier equivalent weapon that is its horn, while here it doesn't feel like enemies carry tier equivalent weapons, and it can be somewhat frustrating getting out of an encounter with what feels like less than what you spent.

I know it is unfair to compare it to Tears now, but I feel like, with the exception of Shrines, most features I felt dissatisfied with have received improvements in the sequel, and as my first impression were already not overly positive, it stays basically the same for me, but now it feels more like a first step to something greater, instead of a step in a direction I didn't like much before (but please make classic Zelda again someday).

20 Minutes Till Dawn is one of the many new Bullet Heaven games. It is more close to a twin stick shooter as you do aim and press a button to shoot, so it isn't as automatic as others in the genre. The basic loop is there, choose upgrades, find synergies (some things scale of move speed so you'll chase move speed upgrades and so on), and it feels great to see your power growing and obliterating enemies on a good run.

But as with other games in the genre, an important piece is the meta progression outside of each run and more on a global level. The game does have increasingly hard difficulties as "Darkness" levels, but most other unlockable features are based on currency, and they are mostly characters and weapons, so while there is a variety of options to go for, they are almost all available to unlock immediately, and there is not a lot of variety on upgrades during the run, which makes it feel unsurprising very early.

Also something minor but that really bothers me: if you have two options in the UI and the difference between the two is just that one is red and the other is white, I won't really know which one is selected playing on a controller. it works on mouse-over, but for controllers it really doesn't.

So in summary, it is fun to play, but meta progression feels unrewarding and I started to feel the fatigue very early, still worth it for the four to five hours I played, but I'm not inclined to sink more time.

It is really insane how many times this game can keep building up on the mystery and twists in the story every chapter. For sure one of those "the less you know going in, the better".

Just a small note though, it feels to me less of a puzzle game and more of an adventure or visual novel. A lot of the stronger points for me are the narrative and style, the puzzles are fun and there are some really creative situations but overall I feel like they are simple enough to support the story without getting the player "too stuck" for being overly complicated, which is probably the better choice for the style of game it is.

I don't play League of Legends, but I loved Moonlighter (from the same devs) and the game seemed interesting enough for me to check it out, but it really isn't grabbing me.

Nothing seems especially wrong about it, but if I had to say what exactly made me give up, it was an encounter with multiple creatures were there wasn't any opposite elements for me to engage with the main mechanic favorably for me. At that point I felt like the game wasn't trying to make it interesting for me and just putting barriers, it didn't feel fun.

Still the perfect transition of 2D Metroid in a 3D environment I remembered playing in the GameCube days.

The scan visor adds so much to the game. Getting to notice secrets in the environment, learning about how Space Pirates and Chozo dealt with Phazon, how Samus presence is acknowledged by the Pirates, a lot of world building that you receive naturally and enhances your perception of events.

And mentioning the world, one of my favorite sections is revisiting the crashed frigate, it makes the game feel more believable in a sense. That ship that was just in the intro above the planet is now there, crashed and flooded, and you really followed the signal to get where you are. The same feeling also applies to seeing the crater during the elevators in Phazon Mines, there are a lot of interesting details you can absorb from the environment.

Also love the new coat of paint, it feels great that it basically is just like what you remembered it looking like. They clearly put a lot of care in updating everything without losing the vibes of the original.