I don't think there has ever been a game that made me as frustrated as Cuphead but at the same time made me come back for more over and over. Boss battles often tipped their toes into annoying/frustrating territory without ever feeling unfair (no matter how many times I yelled "This is some unfair bs"). It's the type of game that I would think about all the time and when I wasn't playing it, I was craving to fight the next boss. I do wish there was something more to do between said bosses, but that's more of a personal preference and I'm not sure if it would've made the game better in the end.

Great game that overflows with care and passion from the devs but made me a bit too frustrated at times to truly love it.

For a moment it felt like Spirit Tracks was an improvement on Phantom Hourglass but then it just kept going downhill. Traversal with the train feels better than the boat but it's still boring, slow, and takes forever to get somewhere. The returning dungeon isn't as bad as the temple of the sea king but it is probably one of my least favorite Zelda dungeons. The worst thing Spirit Tracks does is not knowing when to end. It just keeps going and going. And don't get me started on the parts with the flute!

Spirit Tracks has the same charm as Phantom Hourglass but the gimmicky gameplay (why is every single action tied to the touchscreen???) just isn't fun to play with and I'm glad that it's only those two games that are like this.

There's not much I can say about a 26 year old beloved game that hasn't been said before but I had a great time playing this classic for the very first time.
Still, I had to start three playthroughs before realizing how much I like this game. The first two times I didn't get far and I think it has to do with the stiffness in the movement and just had to get used to it.
Even during my third playthrough it took a while for it all to really click, it all came together after I fought the doppleganger for the first time. At that point the Castle started to unfold itself for me and let me tell you this castle is pure joy to explore. It's filled with secrets and cool things to find. Once you start having good equipment and you get a bit OP, it becomes so much fun slashing your way through enemies while exploring. The upgrades to make the traversal easier are amazing. How is it that every metroidvania keeps using the double jump but none of them gave us the power to turn into a bat?? There are some low points with a difficulty spike (that was mostly my own fault) and the boss fights that aren't anything special, but everything else in the game outshine those things completely. Loved this game so much.

Having played the two grandfathers of the metroidvania genre with Super Metroid and SotN and through a good chunk of both series (mainly the Igavania's when it comes to Castlevania) I still prefer the structure and gameplay of the Metroid series but SotN placed itself above them all.