Second RPGotQQ played for 2022. This one pretty easily makes its way into my top RPGs of all time. For spending roughly 50 hours on it, the pacing in this game is excellent. You really get the feeling of a "zero to hero" adventurer story. The characters are generally pretty well written and the battle system is just superb. I only have two issues with the game, and they're relatively small. The English voice acting can be pretty flat and uninspiring, and the lack of maps combined with environments that look pretty similar can lead to feeling lost or turned around more than you'd probably want.

It's been a while since I played a game for this long, and I absolutely loved this one.

First GOTM finished for September 2022. This is part of a duo of Capcom-created GBC games in the Legend of Zelda series. The games could be played separately, and then "linked" together via secret code provided upon beating one of the games to extend the story and provide additional upgrades and story beats.

Ages provides a mechanic where the player moves in time between the past and present, and is the more puzzle-centric of the two, with focus on longer and more elaborate overworld sequences and more deliberate, slow-paced bosses and dungeons focused on solving puzzles. The purposefulness of slowing the game down to accomplish more intricate puzzles can sometimes leave the game feeling sluggish, though the gameplay is still good and the music is great. Played this one as a child, and it was great to revisit. Recommended!

Finished alongside Oracle of Ages as first GOTM for September 2022. This is part of a duo of Capcom-created GBC games in the Legend of Zelda series. The games could be played separately, and then "linked" together via secret code provided upon beating one of the games to extend the story and provide additional upgrades and story beats.

Seasons provides a mechanic where the player alters the environment amongst the four seasons, and is the more action-centric of the two, with focus on shorter and spicier overworld sequences and more kinetic, fast-paced bosses and dungeons focused on action sequences and platforming. The pacing in Seasons is great, and there were multiple instances where the gameplay felt frenetic and exciting. The nature of changing the environment potentially four different ways can lead to some backtracking, but the differences between each season were enough to keep even the same areas feeling fresh and exciting.

While I played the standalone version as a child, I played this time as a "Linked" game after beating Ages, and the additional story segments, upgraded items/weapons, and two additional bosses were a blast. Highly recommended!

Second GOTM finished for September 2022. I can recognize that this is a phenomenal and influential game, and I had a blast playing it. It's amazing what they've managed to pack into this game, but it's certainly not a masterpiece. The game overstays its welcome a bit if you play through to the "true ending", and many of these awesome secrets and hidden areas lead to items that would've been better off remaining hidden (if you can even figure out how to access them without a guide). The gameplay is still fun, and the music is just amazing. A fun ride, but not a defining one for me.

So, I finally got around to the one that started it all, the grandaddy of one of the most famous franchises. The music is great, the characters are fun, and it's neat to see Disney and Final Fantasy characters interacting in the same world. I could definitely see young me loving this one. However, there are plenty of flaws with this one. The level design is rough, the encounter rate is unreal, and the potentially exciting combat is marred by atrocious camera controls. A new coat of paint in the Final Mix don't fix that camera.

I'm interested in seeing what else the series has to offer, but for now I'm marking this as a promisingly bumpy start.

Twenty-first GOTW finished for 2022. I don't have any nostalgia for Digimon, so this one wasn't a favorite. It's essentially a Super Smash Bros.-like platform fighting game, with a selection of Digimon (some locked at the beginning behind progress requirements) that you can fight with. Beat up on your opponent enough throughout the match, and your meter will eventually be high enough to allow you to digivolve for a short period. There are also power ups throughout the levels you can collect, but considering you can just spam the same basic attacks to victory every level, they felt completely unnecessary. Combat also felt a little janky. Extremely short runtime from start to finish, allowing for some replayability with the multiple characters, but didn't capture my attention enough to warrant another playthrough.

Third GOTM finished for September 2022. Gorgeous PSP remake of a classic game. The bump combat was super fun, and it felt great to just bounce into things to kill them. The music was great, and the boss battles were really fun and memorable (sometimes hauntingly so). Marred a bit by lots of backtracking in both games, less so in the second with the help of some magic. The entire last tower in Book I felt poorly balanced from a character development standpoint (maxed out going in, so no stat growth the WHOLE time). Story was pretty generic, but serviceable. Backtracking aside, I enjoyed my time with this one!