Genuinely one of my favourite games I have ever played, It's hard for me to fault literally anything about it because nearly every aspect of it is perfect to me

The story is so well done and what it represents is really beautiful and inspiring, the soundtrack is absolute ear candy from start to finish, the art style is gorgeous and the mixture of pixel and traditional art works so well.

Not to mention the flawless gameplay as well, the platforming feels like just the right balance of difficult and rewarding to complete, the movement tech is incredibly fun to learn and master, every single chapter of the game is fun and unique in its own way - making perfect use of the fun and intuitive mechanics it introduces.

I'm truly glad to have 100%'d this game, Trans Rights.

Oh man, Pikmin 2. I find it hard to put into words the feeling this game gives me when I play it.

There are a lot of things wrong with this game. It is brutally difficult in a way Nintendo has not topped since. The Pikmin types are severely unbalanced, with blues being awful unless literally required and Purples being capable of easily nuking most bosses or enemies in the game.

But it works. It really works. It's a nonstop joyride that pushes your strategy skills and/or your ability to hit your Gamecube's reset button to the limit.

It's not a game for casual players. If you savor a tough and unforgiving game like I do, though, you'll love it to death.

A sincerely beautiful game that tackles imposter syndrome, self-confidence, and the power of play. Chicory's message (and the mechanics it is imbedded in) remind me deeply of cartoonist Lynda Barry's work. Barry calls for non-artists to embrace creativity through drawing like you're a kid again. As adults we can become so self-conscious of our artistic abilities that we stop drawing, painting, and dancing. But Barry asks us to drop any expectations, and draw purely for the sake of play, connecting back to a childlike spirit, scribbling without a care in the world. Chicory provided space for me to reconnect with that.

I haven't drawn for fun like this in years! I haven't had a 64 pack of crayons and dozens of colouring pages set in front of me since I was a lil kid. I feel self-assured not as an artist in my craft, but as a creative person with creative needs. It feels so good to just paint for fun and not worry about how anything looks. Play is a gift.

To me, this is the best Yakuza game. There are some things that bother me about it, but they aren't really knocks against it I have held with some distance from it.

Yakuza reaches its true form here in a sense. The combat feels great and actually has a lot of depth if you want to engage in it. I don't really like The Dragon Engine as much that they start in 6. The side jobs each character have really flesh out both the world of Yakuza and the main characters in a fun way, the mini games are excellent and well made, and the new character Shinada is an all time protagonist to me. Solid third place after Kiryu and Akiyama.

Its also the least I've felt at odds with the politics of the people who make it. It is sympathetic about sex workers, and immigrants and homeless people. Weird Japanese nationalism doesn't really rear its ugly head. It could stand to be more critical of the Idol industry but it is still somewhat.

I actually sort of wish the series ended here. I think the final scene of the game is incredible and should have been left ambiguous and I would have been totally fine with that. Not even necessarily have to end it here but completely start over fresh a little earlier since they at least gesture at doing that eventually. (even if it doesn't stick at all lol)

It's just not great. It's still a Yakuza game. I dunno why I think the Dragon Engine just feels bad here. It's strange to me because Yakuza 6 came first, you'd think the combat would be better in Kiwami 2 but it just isn't. This is the result of a breakneck development pace. It's wild how long they were putting out a game pretty much every year.

The story is not bad, exactly. Kaoru is cool, The Dragon of Kansai is an exciting thing to stack up against Kiryu. The drama is compelling and well rendered.

Unfortunately for me, Yakuza's politics tend toward conservative and that shows up all the time. There's a pretty passively racist attitude toward non-Japanese asian folks that is all throughout these games, and Yakuza 2 really steps in it because it's a major plot point lol. If you can deal with this caveat, you might find something you enjoy here still. I did.

I'm harsh in my criticism of it, because it's bearing a lot of the sins of the franchise along with 6 for me but it's not a bad game.