KalKeg
BACKER
Really solid SMT game. The demon and character designs are fantastic, and the game just oozes style. The environment and story are pretty neat, and definitely a turn from other SMT games I've played so far. Being able to change your difficulty, affinity system, and map display options on the fly was pretty sweet and gave lots of options for gameplay. However, the last two dungeons (and honestly some others) are needlessly complicated and lengthy, and the loyalty system (while novel) can make for some frustrating gameplay when you're trying to smack a boss and your demon with a necessary spell gives you the cold shoulder.
Twenty-fifth GOTW finished for 2022. An interesting concept for a game (inhabit furniture and items to terrify people) marred by terrible controls, hide-and-seek frustration of finding family members in three different huge houses, and a truly terrible final boss. Loved scaring people out of their clothes, but everything else felt like a drag, dude.
1993
Third GOTM finished for November 2022. The Breath of Fire series make for some awesome RPG experiences, though the first two are definitely rough in some spots and show their age. Played the first one again on GBA with QOL improvement patch, and I would highly recommend to anyone else for a better playing experience. Fun, comfy RPG romp, but it can be a bit of a slog in the second half with all the unnecessary game-extending travel bits. Overall basic 16-bit JRPG, but lovely nonetheless.
Second GOTM finished for March 2022. I quite enjoyed my time with this one. It suffers from some clunky platforming and wonky camera angles (as did most of the earlier 3D platformers) but there's plenty of charm and fun to be had with this one. Be warned, it's a dark game, so don't be afraid to turn up the brightness on this one.
1989
First GOTM finished for February 2023. Playing this immediately after Mega Man, MM2 is a vast improvement. The power ups are better and the environments are better. The music is also awesome (Wily Theme chef's kiss). The entire Wily Fortress bit brings this down a bit, as it feels like any skill goes out the window in place of frustrating spamming, but overall a good game.
This review contains spoilers
Third GOTM finished for August 2022. This game ran really middle-of-the-road for me for many reasons. I ended up playing all six endings (mostly because I got the three bad endings first, all in a row) and it really felt tedious by the last ending. There were some parts of the dialogue and story options that were great, but plenty of others that were juvenlie and just plain poor. Luckily, the Nonary Games version on Vita was a great way to play the game, as it allowed me to skip to certain parts with less replay for branching storylines. If I had to replay from the beginning each time, I would've long abandoned this one. Ultimately, I was glad to have played it, and it puts the sequels on my radar, but I doubt I'll be coming back anytime soon.
2000
Only game played for GOTM November 2021. Great looking game, and some fun combat, but boy howdy do I suck at these arcade style games. Had some frustrating fun for sure.
What a great game! Maybe it was coming from the previous SNES SMTs that made this feel like a breath of fresh air, but I had a blast playing this game. I played the PSP version with PS1 music overlay, and the soundtrack on this game is absolutely killer. The gameplay was enjoyable, the story was decent, and the art style aged pretty well. Some of the level spikes can be a surprise at the beginning of new dungeons, but so many welcome new changes made the gameplay feel good most of the time. The last two dungeons are quite long, and the encounter rate is pretty high throughout, but still enjoyed my time with this one.
First game beat for GOTM December 2021. Thoroughly enjoyed the game, the combat was especially fun to play around with and experience. The backtracking was a little tedious, and the story a little forced, but good nonetheless.
Third GOTM finished for February 2022. An enjoyable remaster of a classic! I actually ended up playing both the SNES and DS versions, and found the DS version to be superior in every way. Better sprites, more intuitive controls, better support system, and easier to tell a platform from the background. While I enjoyed the other levels, I hated the Arena. Probably a case of just needing to "git gud", but it nearly soured the overall experience for me. There are many different styles of gameplay to enjoy here, so you're likely to find something that you enjoy. Except the Arena.
1989
Thirteenth GOTW finished for 2022. This one has been on my backlog for a while, and glad to finally get around to playing it! The difficulty on this one can be pretty stout, but never felt unfair. The platforming mechanics were mostly enjoyable - though the jump often felt imprecise - and the characters were funny. Overall, glad to have played this one!
1988
Twenty-third GOTW finished for 2022. Relatively fun side-scrolling beat 'em up with some definite difficulty spikes. Music and environments definitely fit the spooky theme, and the bosses were gross and sometimes infuriating. Can feel cheap with the sluggish movement in some areas.
1991
First GOTM finished for October 2022. Interesting little GameBoy platformer, where you play a spirit who has the ability to possess other enemy characters in order to obtain their specific abilities as you progress through the levels. The variety in the enemy abilities was nice, but the game felt clunky in the platforming and the bosses were pretty tough. Neat little game, quick and dirty at less than an hour.
Twenty-fourth GOTW finished for 2022. The music is insanely good in this game, a real high point! I played the GBC version, and the colors looked good. Level design and difficulty were great for the four "main" castles, but everything went off the rails difficulty wise for the last castle. The three bosses are especially annoying, especially Dracula. I'm still really pleased with it overall, especially with the soundtrack, but that last castle needs to be a lot better balanced.
Second GOTW finished for 2023. Hearing Turtles In A Half Shell through a GB was super fun, but otherwise quite boring. Basically just walk forward, hit front or back to one-hit kill enemies, then continue to walk forward. Some light jumping here and there. The bosses were at least something, but could be stunned when hit so many could just be stun-locked into oblivion. At least it only took about 30 minutes.