What if you took the original Dragon Quest, added two useless magic wielding squishies you absolutely need to keep alive at all times, made it so monsters could destroy you in a couple turns, and blew up the world map to the point that you will get lost if you're not looking at a guide?

That's Dragon Quest II. Can't say I enjoyed that one any more than the original. The difficulty is apparently what makes this game so notorious. Personally it wasn't anything I had to worry about after putting the previous game's grindset into effect, but my god was this game a slog to traverse.

It's a sound idea on paper to increase the size of the map for a sequel, but my god, this was not the way to do it. After a fairly simple few hours, where you spend most of your time grinding against groups of roided up baboons and caterpillars praying they don't decide to target one of your idiot cousins, the game suddenly thrusts a boat on you. That's when the fun really begins.

Do you enjoy looking for magic McGuffins with barely any clues? Knowing they can be anywhere on a fairly massive map, where the ocean leaves you with no break from the constant random encounters? I hope you do. Because that's what Dragon Quest II is all about. I won't rant about every single cryptic clue and weird puzzle or hellish inventory management or anything like that. At the end of the day, it's still an incredibly old Famicom RPG. I get it, but I just don't think I like it, really. Hopefully the next 2 games can raise the bar a bit, and get closer to something a little more playable by modern standards.

Oh, and despite the log date, I basically played through the whole game in my first play session, and then picked back up weeks later right at the final dungeon, so no, I didn't spend a whole week on the game. I think I would've gone nuts.

I'm gonna be nice to this dinosaur of an RPG. Because honestly despite the low score I'm giving it (reflecting my personal enjoyment of the game), I don't think it's all that bad for the time it was created in. In fact, it's pretty great when you consider when it came out. I just don't think it holds up very well for someone like me, who already isn't a massive fan of RPGs. I'm hoping to change that by going through this series but hooo boy this was a bit of a rough start. The guide I read while playing certainly helped me with knowing where I needed to go.

Overall, the progression follows a simple rule : If you go there, will you get your ass kicked? If that's the case, then go to an area where you won't get your ass kicked, grind for a few hours, and try again. That's more or less the gameplay loop. Effective in 1986, but in 2023, I would say it leaves a bit to be desired. The size of the map helped the game never get too annoying at least, since it's easily completable in an afternoon.

Also, and that goes without saying, but the monster/character design done by Akira Toriyama is absolutely incredible. The music is also pretty good, though the limited amount of tracks means that it didn't get to shine as much as I assume it will in later entries.

Pikmin 2 is a fun game, and it honestly feels like Co-Op should have been a part of the main campaign from the start, so to see it implemented in such a smooth manner by a team of fans was honestly great. I hadn't played Pikmin 2 in a long time, so playing it again with a group of friends is a great experience. Pikmin shortage does tend to be a problem since there's no easy way to share the pikmin across captains, and it's easy for the little buggers to accidentally join another Captain's squad if they're dismissed, which makes strategizing a bit of an issue at times, but it's more than made up by the increased manpower.

The speed at which you can clear an area or a cave if you're properly spreading the work between players is crazy. During our playthrough, we only encountered the Water Wraith on the last floor before it's boss fight.

Quite possibly the best Roguelike I've ever played. The way that Hades managed to hook you for hours and hours and eventually days into weeks into months with it's gameplay it genuinely remarkable. There isn't a single character I dislike, and part of the fun with starting yet another run is to get to hear just one more piece of dialogue from them.

Of course, that's not to say the gameplay is anything to scoff at either, it's simple, but incredibly effective. The different god boons and weapons help keep the game fresh at all times in a way not many other roguelikes often do. I've already reached the "ending", but I don't think I'll be putting the game down for a long time, especially with the Epilogue still waiting for me to reach it...

Quite possibly one of the greatest Kart racers I've ever played lol.

I've always been the type of freak that enjoys the feel of a Crash Team Racing over that of Mario Kart (especially Mario Kart 8), and this game happens to tickle those sensibilities for me just enough that it's become the racing game of choice in our friend group.

The fact that it's incredibly light on resources, is infinitely moddable, and has an actually good netcode also helps. It's just always a great time with friends.

That long lost Sega Saturn Sonic game everybody is always dreaming about. Still unfinished sadly, but honestly I doubt anybody would know that if you didn't tell them. The base game is already expansive enough as is, especially if you go emblem hunting, but the modding community that this game enjoys thanks to being a modified Doom Engine is what truly makes the game as enjoyable as it is. Endless content, y'know? This is the kind of game I can boot up just whenever I'm bored and don't want to think too hard about what I'm playing.

It's VRChat, not exactly going to give the game a rating since it's quality entirely depends on your experiences and what you get out of it, and personally I've had my decent share of fun with it. Obviously being the only shmuck in your friend group with a VR Headset does limit things a bit, but still, it's a fun time imo. It's definitely the kind of game where you need to know where to go in order to get your fun, and that's the kind of experience that changes from person to person. For me it's just a fun thing I can do to dick around with friends.

Wario Land my baby I missed you so much

What if Wario Land and Sonic had an ugly anxiety-ridden pizza baby? That's Pizza Tower. Possibly one of the best games I've ever played. Play Pizza Tower. That's the review.

I will now be spending the rest of eternity grinding the P-Ranks