Old RPGs are what idle games wish they could be.
They place context and an explorable map around a simple loop of: 1. Grind 2. Get weapon 3. Use weapon to grind more.
The exploration is incredibly intuitive, I only resorted to GameFAQs on two occasions: Once to verify I was right (I was), and secondly because I was stupid and forgot to note down a hint (which you should do). The design of this game is so tight that if the philosophical idea of game design could be wrapped around a watermelon, said melon would explode.
Play dragon quest, you will enjoy it, if you don't, you just haven't gotten to a stage in your life yet where you will enjoy it.

Retro Managed to really capture the energy of the original games with this one, while still giving it a very unique identity if it's own. The most striking difference off the bat is the shift from a more grounded artstyle to a pure embrace of the animated nature of the characters. I think this was the best choice given the hardware and time this game released, the 3D model snapshots worked on the SNES beautifully, especially when viewed on a CRT TV. Graphics have developed so much since then however, so where it lacks in fidelity, it makes up for in art design and animation. The kongs are so expressive in this game, every action has a lead in that provides a balance of personality and mechanical readability that adds to the flow of gameplay so nicely. The levels themselves have every platform, object, and set piece, tangibly connect to the world the level is set in. There's no random floating platforms, instead they're held by vines or suspended off a tower, it makes the whole game feel grounded in its own world, not dissimilar to the original games in nature. The game design itself is extremely tight too, DK feels weightier and has more aerial momentum than in the original, jumping out of a roll to gain a burst of speed, and then jumping off enemies to keep that going, it's such a nice flow the game (almost) never lets up. I say almost because the rocket barrel levels while not bad, do tend to be the weaker stages (especially when going for the collectables) the tightness of the control is really lost with these, even the minecarts feel a lot more in tune with the design of the core levels. But like I said, they're not bad, just a bit of a bump in the pace of the game. I'm currently going for all of the Kong letters now that I've finished the main campaign, and this is really highlighting to me how explorative and intuitive these levels are. There's so many spots where you have to make a really tight jump to reach a hidden area, or you'll notice a gap in the wall obscured by an object, and every time you find something like this you're rewarded with more stuff to collect. I also really appreciate the difficulty curve here, the game has a really smooth escalation, until it's taught you everything you need to know, and then you get hit with the volcano world. Everything here is so much more precise than before, it makes sure you have every mechanic understood and mastered without feeling overly dickish or punishing, it always just left me really satisfied. The boss fights are also pretty satisfying, some can take a little too long for my tastes, but overall they're really enjoyable and challenging. My only big issue with this game is the soundtrack, it's not bad at all, but being comprised of almost entirely remixes of music from the classic games...it kinda feels unfitting more often than it should. There's this one level in particular where you're riding atop a whale, jumping on and off as it smashes through these crashed ships, and it's super tense and urgent feeling...but then it plays aquatic ambience which as a song just does not fit whatsoever over this stage. Other than hiccups like that in the soundtrack, I think the game really lives up to (and even surpasses in some ways) the original games, I'm really glad this came out...and I'm even more glad about the sequel...(stay tuned kiddos)

Spoiler-Free

This game provides a really good framework for future games, but for this game it doesn't live up to the concept. The story is a pretty generic "nihilism bad" anime plot you've seen like 600 times, except now it's inside a highschool murder game. The actual murder game part is really fun, the investigations can offer some really fun logic puzzles and cases to solve. Though almost as often as they do. they also don't. Cases 2, 3, and 6 actually have some pretty interesting setups and details to notice, nothing too hard but still rewarding. Cases 4 and 5 however drag to a halt just to explain basic information that was already pointed out to you (I played on MEAN difficulty, I dread to know what the lower difficulties do..) they don't allow the player to even consider what the solution could be, without having Byakuya or Kyoko just tell you what the clues mean. All the cases do this to an extent but it's the most egregious in 4 and 5. The trial gameplay is the highlight of the game, there's so many mechanics introduced to keep the player actively participating in the gameplay. Things as simple as using the silencer shot to gain more time, or even the fact you have to aim and time your shots to point out contradictions. They give a tactile element to the gameplay that feels really satisfying. There's also different small minigames that will occur during the trials that mix up the gameplay nicely, these being the hangman's gambit, where you have to shoot letters to spell out a word leading to a revelation on the case. And bullet time battle, a rhythm minigame that's simple, but gains more complex elements over time, such as reloading and having to load the right bullet before your statement. They all end with a final explanation of the murder, where you lay out the order of events with all the presented evidence you've acquired. Overall it's a really fun loop with lots of room for expansion, sadly however the story and characters don't quite live up the gameplay. As I said before, the story is painfully generic, and stops at nothing to dully explain every plot point in the most blunt way possible. The characters don't fair much better, as most are fairly one dimensional tropes with little beyond a small twist on the standard formula. Only a few really stood out as interesting, mainly is case 2 which is easily the highlight of the game. You do get to talk to the characters in your free time which helps a bit with the flatness of the cast (it also helps that doing so gives you gameplay benefits during the trial segments) Byakuya was me and my GF's favorite character, but almost all of his best depth comes from talking to him outside of the story. If you've played Persona 4 or 5 you'll know this problem well, as it's similar to the lack of spotlight that the main party gets in those games outside of their personal Social Links. I don't have much else to say excluding spoilers so I'll end it here, overall it's a fun game for sure, but the story left me really disappointed. Hopefully the sequels build on the concept because it's a really interesting one...

I didn't have very much experience with Nifflas' games, but Ynglet caught my eye with it's really distinct visual style. After playing it, I'm definitely going to be checking out his other work. Ynglet has a really meditative feel to it, even on the highest difficulty (literally called "too difficult") it still manages to not strain the player the same way many "hardcore" platformers can. I think the nature of the game being a platformer without much in the way of tight precision movements, instead being more about placement and understanding of the puzzle-like stage design, contributes heavily to the relaxed nature. There's also the element of the game not exactly being a "platformer" you actually travel through these kinds of water bubbles and bounce off walls to get where you're going. The closest comparison I can make to Ynglet is something like...NiGHTS Into Dreams floaty aerial movement, give it a dash move like Celeste, and place it inside the context of deliberately designed puzzle platformer, it's a really unique concept and I think the game really runs with it. The main game highlights the explorative factor of the mechanics and controls, while the bonus world goes real hard on challenging short levels. Both worlds offer the chance to get a lot of mileage out of it's unique mechanics, I really like the walls and floors that you pass through with a dash, but when ran into normally will bounce you off instead, I've used those to get some crazy height to skip major chunks off of levels. The music is another highlight, it's all extremely reactive to all your inputs, apparently it was made using algorithms (tho don't ask me to explain how) it gives a very interesting structure to the soundscape of the game and adds a lot to that meditative quality. I'd really recommend giving it a shot, it's super fun to 100% and it's pretty short while still having a lot to do, high recommendations here.

I don't feel like writing a huge review because I plan on making videos about this whole series one day anyways. So for now I'll just say that I really dig a lot about this game, there's a lot of characters and smaller stories/ideas (Caim & Angelus, Eris, Urick, and especially Legna) that shine a lot. It's just the whole game with all the endings doesn't come together how it really should. There are moments where you can tell this game was still written by Sawako Natori, and they're great. Ending A and B each have a lot to say about violence, and how we use it as a tool at the cost of others and/or ourselves, but holy fuck Ending C just drops that for one of the most contrived endings I've ever seen in a game. It's disappointing that the game ends like that...but after all, Ending A is the only one with a Novella anyways (which is phenomenal) I'd say definitely don't skip it as it's still a valuable part of the series with some of my favorite scenes and moments of the series contained within, even with it's flaws there's a lot to appreciate here.

Def one of my fav shooters ever now, the best enemy AI I've seen in a shooter yet and really fantastic gun feel. I also love the environments, great mix of uncannily sterile modernist spaces (assisted by the stark lighting) and dirtier worn down spaces with great use of pitch black lighting. The smoke and blood effects here really add a lot to the feel of the game too, firing your gun and entering slo-mo can often make it hard to see enemies through all the chaos, lots of tension there! Gonna try and get to the expansions soon, glad to see they have the same composer too bc the music in this was extremely good.