Osohe
This is one of the best ways a game can build upon an established formula.
It ditches almost everything fe4 brought to the table but keeps what few mechanics worked and improved them to craft the best game in the series.
One of the best things brought back from Mystery Of The Emblem are growth enhancing items to put on your units. these boost specific attributes chances to grow and they all stack so this can lead weak units being able to snowball groups of enemies which is hilarious but the fatigue system does try to prevent this and it works well enough but it's nothing spectacular
PCC, skills, powerful/unique weapons being gained early, staff user being at their peak here and not being used for exclusively healing 10 hp for 90% of the game really encourages the idea to just use whatever god tier items you have on hand to beat the current map which I dont think many fe games encourage. Capturing enemies is also crucial to keep your supply of weapons, staves, and other items up to par.
Speaking of encouragement this game loves to throw plenty of deployment slots later on when your army is much bigger and it made me realize how many units I decide to use on a casual playthrough of the game. Last run I used over half of the cast willingly and all of them contributed at one point or another and I genuinely didnt noticed until I took count later.
At the end of the day I feel like I can pop in this game for a 3rd run and it will still be as fun as the previous 2 runs.
It ditches almost everything fe4 brought to the table but keeps what few mechanics worked and improved them to craft the best game in the series.
One of the best things brought back from Mystery Of The Emblem are growth enhancing items to put on your units. these boost specific attributes chances to grow and they all stack so this can lead weak units being able to snowball groups of enemies which is hilarious but the fatigue system does try to prevent this and it works well enough but it's nothing spectacular
PCC, skills, powerful/unique weapons being gained early, staff user being at their peak here and not being used for exclusively healing 10 hp for 90% of the game really encourages the idea to just use whatever god tier items you have on hand to beat the current map which I dont think many fe games encourage. Capturing enemies is also crucial to keep your supply of weapons, staves, and other items up to par.
Speaking of encouragement this game loves to throw plenty of deployment slots later on when your army is much bigger and it made me realize how many units I decide to use on a casual playthrough of the game. Last run I used over half of the cast willingly and all of them contributed at one point or another and I genuinely didnt noticed until I took count later.
At the end of the day I feel like I can pop in this game for a 3rd run and it will still be as fun as the previous 2 runs.
2013
This game has the least amount of identity of any platformer I've played in recent memory. The levels you have are green hill 3.0, boring desert, and all the standard New Super Mario Bros aesthetics which takes away one of my favorite aspects of Sonic The Hedgehog. Even if you dont like the other games you've got to admit that the stage aesthetics were consistently top notch. Chemical plant , Hydrocity, stardust speedway, emerald coast, radical highway, egg fleet, kingdom valley, rooftop run, planet Wisp, and countless other stages all ooze charm.
The parkour system introduced in this game is just not utilized very well in the level design as its primarily optional and kind of jank to get working at certain times which is uber irritating. So all I'm left with is the base level design and the controls and one of the few positive things I have to say about the game is that the controls are very good. I think its standard for sonic to have tight controls and while this may not be the best he's controlled it's still excruciatingly accurate but one thing that puts this lower on the end for control is that moving sideways cuts sonic's speed by so much and this applies to the 2d sections as well so I'm left baffled by this choice. And the level design is just bare bones all around its comical. Going from SA1 and 2, heroes, etc then going to this is the closest I'll feel to being an old school paper mario fan if that makes sense. The game has fine ideas and mechanics in concept it just doesnt do a thing with them and all I'm left with is a boring package.
Also SEGA fire the writers for this game and remove the deadly six thanks.
The parkour system introduced in this game is just not utilized very well in the level design as its primarily optional and kind of jank to get working at certain times which is uber irritating. So all I'm left with is the base level design and the controls and one of the few positive things I have to say about the game is that the controls are very good. I think its standard for sonic to have tight controls and while this may not be the best he's controlled it's still excruciatingly accurate but one thing that puts this lower on the end for control is that moving sideways cuts sonic's speed by so much and this applies to the 2d sections as well so I'm left baffled by this choice. And the level design is just bare bones all around its comical. Going from SA1 and 2, heroes, etc then going to this is the closest I'll feel to being an old school paper mario fan if that makes sense. The game has fine ideas and mechanics in concept it just doesnt do a thing with them and all I'm left with is a boring package.
Also SEGA fire the writers for this game and remove the deadly six thanks.
This game holds many improvements and downgrades from Super Castlevania 4
The control has been reverted to the NES style of handling but honestly labeling it as a downgrade is kind of a surface level complaint.
The pure amount of options the player has leads this to be one of the few games I deem to be both difficult and fair. Every situation the player is thrown into can be worked around with the proper execution. The new backflip richter is able to do grants invulnerability for a part of the animation too so dodging enemy attacks is made infinitely easier
Using weapons in castlevania is much like Mega man in the way that using the right scenario to make an otherwise challenging section extremely more manageable never gets old. Almost every weapon has numerous chances to shine but none break the game like triple shot holy water in both castlevania 1&3.
overall the game just has alot of polish and the platforming elements along with the enemy placement just provides an experience not many platformers can replicate alongside the absolutely GORGEOUS visuals and fantastic soundtrack that give the game so much charm.
The control has been reverted to the NES style of handling but honestly labeling it as a downgrade is kind of a surface level complaint.
The pure amount of options the player has leads this to be one of the few games I deem to be both difficult and fair. Every situation the player is thrown into can be worked around with the proper execution. The new backflip richter is able to do grants invulnerability for a part of the animation too so dodging enemy attacks is made infinitely easier
Using weapons in castlevania is much like Mega man in the way that using the right scenario to make an otherwise challenging section extremely more manageable never gets old. Almost every weapon has numerous chances to shine but none break the game like triple shot holy water in both castlevania 1&3.
overall the game just has alot of polish and the platforming elements along with the enemy placement just provides an experience not many platformers can replicate alongside the absolutely GORGEOUS visuals and fantastic soundtrack that give the game so much charm.