!!!spoilers for perfection at the very end of this review!!!

nice comfy farm game. recommended overall, though not entirely to Harvest Moon fans. while it's obviously inspired, and offers a deeper experience with both gameplay and characters, that's exactly why I couldn't entirely recommend it to Harvest Moon fans. it depends on what Harvest Moon game(s) they've played and what they like about Harvest Moon.

I finally finished my perfection playthrough. perfection is a stupid grind that I cannot recommend people take on because it's just a lot of work, genuinely. the game loses steam well before you complete perfection goals, unless you're min-maxing to the extreme. I hate min-maxing. the money grind in particular was hell. 14 million is actively required for perfection.

I've spent a lot of time with base SDV and as of completing my perfection run, I cannot see myself revisiting the game... at least not without one of those big expansion mods. I do like how there's enough different things that you can mostly play the game without animals, or lean heavily on animals if you like. and so on. flowers are a viable thing compared to their existence in Harvest Moon titles. mods can increase their profitability. the ability to have multiple barns and coops is very cool. Story of Seasons 3DS has that too, but I was not familiar with that game before I first played SDV. honestly, checking out SoS 3DS was interesting, because it has several things SDV has.

I am not the biggest fan of how Serious and Real World-y it is sometimes... it doesn't work very well in every case. the dialogue expansion mod I used made that aspect even worse, and so I removed it.

Ginger Island is an addition to the game I am permanently mixed on. for how much time the game wants you to spend there, there's honestly not enough to make you want to do so. the farm space it adds is nifty if you're playing vanilla. but if you play this game on PC, you can play with mods that make the farms have more tillable land, or make the greenhouse bigger. which, I did, so the island was largely useless in that way. the aspects of Ginger Island that could be considered problematic have been covered plenty by others so I won't be doing that here, but I do fully agree with what I've personally read.

Stardew Valley's magical and fantastical elements are so barely present outside of when they can't be(restoring the community center and all). it's a bit disappointing there's this whole wizard character but he's so shut off from you and the rest of the explorable valley... many Harvest Moon games have a really lively and fun Harvest Goddess character, a couple in which she's really active. while there are wizard and witch characters in several Harvest Moon games... usually just a witch character, really. there's a wizard in the Wii titles. maybe others, idk. anyway, the wizard in Stardew very clearly has a close association to magical beings of many sorts, and is therefore much more an analogue to the Harvest Goddess, imo. and it's a shame more isn't done with that.

Mr. Qi could also be considered an analogue to the Harvest Goddess, he's very otherworldly-looking. but nothing of interest is done with him, either. he appears at the end of the perfection cutscene with your grandpa, though, which is... something.

declaring this game done. I rang all 5 bells. while the story technically continues, following that continuation just leads to new game plus, and I don't really care. this game never actually ends. but I'm done because I'm bored. the process to ring the last bell is incredibly annoying if you've not worked on friendships prior to that requirement coming up. guess who messed up on that front? :)

the process of making friends in this game is as tedious as it is in most Harvest Moon titles, though it feels even more so because of how big the areas are and how spread out people are. also, some of them are impossible to find on certain days. so yeah, lesson to anyone out there reading this review, considering playing this game: do not ignore the townsfolk, you will need to have 10 friends.(3 hearts or more)

this game is... a Lot. it's not terrible, but it's not... really good? idk lol. I played Tree of Tranquility on the Wii ages ago and never finished it because a couple of the rainbow recipes were obnoxious. still, I think it's the better game. I know, this game added the wizard and witch princess as marriage candidates. I know the wizard's got a million fangirls. I don't get it myself. he's boring. and not the sort of character I'm into. but really, all of the characters you can marry are boring. except maybe Maya, she's wacky and obnoxious. but her behavior and way of speaking make me think she's too young to be marrying anyone. thankfully she's the only really childish character. unless I'm mistaken, it seems like Animal Parade is the game that kickstarted having at least one marriageable character that looks and acts like they're under the age of 18. Sigh.
oh, I guess Luke is... not boring. but he is also obnoxious. sooooooooo. boring or obnoxious, take your pick. Luke's also a dumbass. I know some people are into that! :^)

that said, if you're in it for some farming, this game is good. I am not sure of the criteria of unlocks(animals specifically, a few crops are locked at the beginning, but only by story progress), but there's a good variety of crops and flowers to grow, and animals to raise. there's also a fuckton of stuff to cook. but cooking kind of sucks because you have to have your ingredients in the rucksack, and you have to cook dishes one at a time.

this game is called Animal Parade, but the actual animal parade you can see... isn't much of a parade. and you have to complete a quest of helping 3 animals to make it happen. not anything difficult in that quest, but I had an annoying time with it due to mistakes that I made.
the mayor of Flower Bud Village(Magical Melody), Theodore, is now a ringmaster. they did not give him a mouth, and chose to just make his mustache be like a mouth and so it's really fucking weird when he talks. the circus is something that is incredibly underwhelming. I am not sure why the game was pseudo themed around that, at least with the game title and box art. it's literally basically nothing. you don't even see townsfolk there ever! laaaaaaaame!
anyway, the 3 animals ran off during a visit to Harmonica Town and Theodore needs you to help them so they return. it's really dumb. but I guess they had to make the animal parade something you earn for whatever reason.

best positive thing I've got to say is that, even though the animal festival comes around once a year, it's awesome if your animals win because they wear little crowns!!! literally the most precious shit ever. why haven't more games done that. there was nothing more delightful than seeing my duck wear that little crown. so cute.

I was gonna write some more shit but I can't remember what I was gonna say. so, fuck it! I wrote plenty anyway

holy FUCK I forgot how brutal this game is. haven't played it in a long time, but picked it up because a friend was playing and I just kinda... got into it and played it pretty quick.

FUCK Emperor Bulblax and whatever the hell he stands for. oh my GOD. such a shitty and ridiculous final boss. he jumps way too much and it gets ridiculously difficult as a result, because time is being wasted watching him jump. unless I was doing something wrong? I dunno tho. either way, wow, that pissed me off.

Pikmin, even flower Pikmin, are incredibly slow in all aspects. they are also incredibly susceptible to being knocked over. oh my god. it just kept happening. they kept getting crushed and eaten because they would not get up and run away. I was whistling, I was pushing on the stick, but it just kept happening. RIP all those Pikmin. I had over 500 Pikmin deaths. I'm sure I've done better in the past... though now that I think about it, I do wonder how. questions I don't have answers to. anyway.
still a pretty solid game but it is so fucking hard with only Olimar. the areas are huge and so you're trying to do many things at a time but it's very hard to manage that. it took me 21 days to get all the parts, and I know I've done it faster before, but I am out of practice and struggled a lot. not sure I'm interested in getting better at this game again, but playing it once again was ok.

back in the day, I did not play this. I was burnt out after gen 4. I am more than a little sad I skipped this. gen 5 is a million times better than 4. 4 is so bland, 5 is visually interesting basically all of the time and does some really neat stuff visually. as much as Castelia City makes my brain melt, it's very cool.
imo Black/White/2 are peak Pokemon.
I actually wanted to play gen 5 for several years. sadly, by the time I wanted to try getting a copy of Black, it was already quite tricky to get, and way too expensive. this was well before more recent shenanigans driving used game prices even higher. so I did the good ol' yo ho ho and finally was able to play this game on my current computer. awkward to join the gen 5 fans so late, but y'know, it is what it is.
I played this game with cheats so I could avoid any and all real grinding. because grinding in Pokemon games, more than any other RPG, really fuckin sucks. many people complain about current Pokemon games and how easily Pokemon level up... and while I think that should be optional, and even offer maybe a few options in that direction, grinding sucks.
while this game definitely has downsides, namely most cities and towns feeling a bit too small, there was nothing that actively ruined the experience.
I do not think the story is as good as many others do. it's certainly very ambitious, I will give it that with no hesitation. but it falls short with the "bad guys" being actually bad while insisting their way is right. no one ever even comes close to believing them. if they'd been not so overtly obviously bad, it'd work... better. and then you have N. I like N, but his whole thing is very underdeveloped. you get a few glimpses into his world to understand why he is... the way he is, and how it happened. it's beautiful to see him figure things out and break free in the end. there's a satisfaction in taking Ghetsis down. I barely knew who N was, but stories of abuse hit hard, even when they're as underdeveloped as this one was. so I felt very sad for N and very angry at Ghetsis. but the development comes and goes so fast, it causes a sort of whiplash feeling.

fighting the league champion after the insanity that goes down is so anti-climactic.

young me back in 2007 really liked this game and had a massive phase with it. I was obsessed with Count Bleck in the most cringy way. a chunk of that definitely still exists in the depths of the internet.
anyway, while I haven't been able to play this game for myself in years... I remember that the last time I tried to, I ended up dropping it. so uh, I think that in and of itself is enough to say: I don't like it much anymore. while I haven't been able to play it in so long, I've relived the game 3 times through different people on YouTube. that's a lot more fun, because I'm not the one playing.
while I did once really like this game, I do know the gameplay was never my favorite thing.
it's funny, because thinking back, I am not sure why Past Me liked this game so much. while I've got those rose-tinted goggles on for lots of old favorite games... not so much for this one.
a lot of people say the story is good, or even great. I say it's really not that great and is outright pretty cringeworthy at its core. this is definitely partially because over time, I discovered I'm aromantic and despise sappy love story bullshit. and that's what the story of this game is at its core. sappy love story bullshit. bleh. though I do recall not really liking it way back when too. I was like, sort of captivated, but didn't really like it.
overall it's an ok game that I can't see myself ever replaying. happy to watch others play it tho.

I have officially decided to drop this game because "completion" is a terrible, terrible grind I wouldn't wish on anyone. this game has a lot of cool stuff and offers some reasons to keep playing if you hate that games like this often feel like you're done with 'em once you've chosen someone to marry... but it's all so incredibly grindy and it takes multiple years in the game to unlock the different farm animals. there is a very large variety of stuff to grow... but annoyingly, you cannot grow it all on your own farm. everything grows faster on the special fields, this makes a difference with the stuff that takes more time, like wheat. and rice, lotus roots, and wasabi have to be grown in the paddy. sure you don't really need to grow them, but still! it's still goofy that you can't unless you get the special field to do it!
ultimately, if you don't mind procedural unlocks and like to play these games for a very long time, this one will be great for you.
it's not a bad game at all, but not easily recommended.

It's OK.
playing this game made me realize I fucking hate the gameplay of Platinum's games. I really, really hate it. but that's on me. and not something I was going to realize until I played a Platinum game. but I liked Bayonetta a LOT as a character for years. honestly I was obsessed. and so, I felt obligated to play her games. still gotta finish 2, uhhhhhhhh, someday. >_> due to all I know about 3, and due to my dislike of the gameplay of these games, I doubt I'll play that one on my own. who knows. maybe the fucked up sense of obligation I have will make me play it.
unfortunately, I don't really care for most of the other characters. there's also such a small notable cast, which is kind of a downside here. a few more characters probably would have helped make things more interesting. while not comparable for the most part, The Wonderful 101 has a sizeable cast full of mostly likable characters, and they really helped make the game enjoyable as a whole. so Bayonetta severely suffers in that department.
I don't like Jeanne, and I know that's largely a controversial or hot take. but I don't. imo, she makes the worst first impression and never gave me a reason to like her. I've really never understood why anyone likes her. maybe I'm just fucked up and insane, who knows. Rodin is great, though his role means he's... not much of a character in the grand scheme of things. still, I adore him. Enzo is a funny asshole, Luka is the second worst, and Balder just sort of exists, idk. considering that my memory of him at this time is pretty poor, he definitely didn't do anything memorable, soooooooo... yep.
aaaaaaaand the story is uninteresting and convoluted. so, then... what real good is there? not much. the game looks good. the music was fine, though largely not notable.
I don't know how to give this a proper end, so I'll end it by saying that. :^)

wahoo it's Black... 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
not much to say about this. a fine game, more gen 5, can't really go wrong. however, even if I do feel this is better than any other of the "second version" games, it's still hard to say this one's entirely worth playing. sure the story is a continuation of the original game, and for that alone, it stands pretty tall. but the story didn't really need said continuation. very little of interest happens, and the way it ends isn't much different from the conclusion reached in the first game.
there is, overall, even more to do... but most of it really wasn't of interest to me. had a bit of fun with the movie studio early on but it could have done with being a lot less of a slow process.

disclaimer: I only played the demo.

I really have to log this and put my thoughts out there. I love rhythm games. I am learning, though, that I don't like when rhythm games do... more. it's too much for me to handle. I thought I'd love Crypt of the Necrodancer. I... didn't. :( glad there was a demo of this. I was tempted to purchase it, but it was far too much money to spend on something I wasn't sure I'd like. the demo was longer than I expected it to be, so it gets points for that.
this game is SO cool stylistically and musically. like, it gets that all juuuuust right. but for me, the gameplay was very awkward. using different buttons really threw me off terribly. my shitty ADHD brain couldn't keep up and I didn't even actually complete the demo. embarrassing! but I'm glad I was able to try it.

for a game that had been hyped up to me for years... it was, uhhhhhhh, just ok. not bad. not bad at all. but... I dunno, I hesitate to say it's like, really good. it does what it was supposed to, and it does that well. it's not a bad remake. but many problems from original gen 2 still persist. problems from gen 4 are now added to the mix. I'm not going to go over all of that, lots of reviews already have. requiring Rock Climb for Mt. Silver was a mistake. absolute nonsense. wasn't required for anything else. why that one thing?

the biggest problem imo, is that the whole Team Rocket segment is still ridiculously long. maybe it feels even longer. it's been long enough since I've experienced gen 2 in any form, but that segment is the low point of the game because it's so excessive. breaking it up like how the gen 3 Evil Team stuff was broken up may have helped, but I dunno.

my personal experience can be summed up with one word: underwhelmed. I think the reason this game is beloved by many is largely a nostalgia thing. I was unable to get one of these remakes at release. just never had the money, sadly. growing up poor af as a gamer sucked, lemme tell you. I had to play this emulated because I wasn't going to pay the price for a physical copy, and my old 3DS is pretty junky now. even so, it wouldn't have compared to having it back then with the Pokewalker and perhaps people to really share the joy with.
I am not 100% sure how the reception for the gen 3 remakes was, but I know the gen 4 ones were... pretty bad. so I get why people would cling onto this, because it's really good in comparison. it just suffers most of the flaws of the originals.

I used a pretty weird team. Feraligatr(K. Rool), Houndoom(BlackShuck), Forretress(Nokama), Porygon(Dunsparce), and Gligar(Bitcrush). I did have a 6th Pokemon, a Nidoking(The Guy), solely for the sake of learning HMs so my Feraligatr didn't have to have 3 HM moves. and to keep others free of them. 3/5 of my Pokemon were... not particularly great at anything. Forretress and Gligar suffered the most in this aspect. a shame, really. perhaps I should have cheated in TMs to maybe make them better. ah well. I did things the hard way, and it never really paid off. I loved my team regardless. but I did struggle a lot. pretty constantly. I used a 2x exp cheat and had my Pokemon holding lucky eggs that were cheated in, to mitigate/avoid real grinding. about halfway through Kanto, I also decided I was done fighting every trainer because fighting them just took so much time.
at Mt. Silver, I chose to use cheated in rare candies to level my Pokemon to 70. should have gotten them to 75, probably, but it's ok. the struggle against Red was what it should be, and that's not a terrible thing.

the game looks great... I was giddy at so many things. I wish Pokemon games still had more unique sprites, or I guess models now... trainer types should have a couple of variations. even if they were just recolors with maybe very slight changes. but the NPCs in this game having more distinct overworld sprites than in the original made me happier than it should have. lol
the music, uhhhhhhh. well. it gets better in Kanto. I was not a fan of much of what you hear in Johto. I dunno why remakes/remasters mostly seem to ruin the vibes with the new music. anyway, while the vibes with the Kanto music are different, it works in that case. though overall, it's a bummer that most of the pep of the original non-battle tracks is gone. I know the GB sounds thing exists, but it doesn't work quite right because the DS can't play chiptunes correctly.

I am happy that a decent chunk of the reduction of Kanto was undone, Viridian Forest being an Actual Place again was so nice. I didn't expect it. I didn't really check it out because honestly I wasn't very interested but at least there was something to check out.
the amount of extra content in this game is a lot... I didn't bother with any of it because I personally don't care and it doesn't particularly add much to the experience imo. still, it's very cool, and definitely not something that'd happen in a more modern Pokemon remake.

gen 2 is my favorite, but playing this remake left me wondering why. perhaps it's just some immense nostalgia tied solely to the originals, I dunno. my lack of love for gen 4 is likely related to why I didn't enjoy this remake as much, honestly. something I could try to unpack at some point but not sure I really care to