I don't know why but I had this bias of thinking Kirby games were all good but were all kinda the same too. In fact I don't remember much of the last game in the series: Star Allies.
But this one was actually really good, very fun, memorable ! It was like I was playing Kirby for the first time again.
3D doesn't add much imo, but they transcribed the classic kirby game-design in 3D really well.
Nice subtle lore, very cool postgame !

I was so happy for this game to even just exist, I was not expecting it to be that good and yet it truly is ! And that's crazy to me.
The new camera angles, and the presence of Oatchi really makes the game feel different. The way they segmented the progression feels natural, having a shorter than 100 number of pikmins was never a problem. There are a few little tweaks and QoL adjustements to the gameplay and controls : still a bit sad that we don't have the simple joy of aiming at things anymore, but joycons are not wiimotes and I guess they made the controls work well for the switch. Also I was a bit scared about something before reaching the "postgame", but in the end all the pikmin types really have their time to shine.
The levels are all beautiful and great and well designed ( I particularely liked the seaside and the house ), same goes for the caves and Dandori stuff ( I really like how they implemented the whole dandori idea into the story ). And there's just tons of stuff to do, this game is crazy generous, I was not expecting to have a little Pikmin 1 inside my Pikmin 2 !
What I enjoyed less was the story I guess. I really like Pikmin lore and I was expecting to get more info about the whole water/plasm wraith thing, or about why the crashes happen since this is what the previous games seemed to lead to, and they made it pretty clear that it was an actual thing with the ~50 casteways here. But we got dogs lore, and not even a lot but I guess that's how Pikmin has always been ... Also having followed the adventures of Olimar and Louie for 3 games now, I am a bit angry that this fourth episode seems to actually be some kind of reboot; and I just don't like alternate timelines in general.
I could do nitpicking about a lot of other stuff. I'm not too fan of the new art direction for example, I prefer when Pikmin was more alien with just little remnants of our civilization, instead of "what is happening in your garden". And overall, I think the world, soundtrack, and mood of Pikmin 2 had more charm; but I know that this is strongly tied to nostalgia because Pikmin 2 really is the game of my childhood. I'm just so happy that Pikmin is still alive and in such a good shape, and now everyone is praising it !

My favorite game in the series up to this point.
I was really involved in the story for once (the japanese intro helped a lot haha), loved the themes explored. That change of tone (vacation vibe, casual slice of life quests, spending time with the kids) felt great, and I love the overall mood of those early hours roaming through Ryukyu. I really enjoyed some particular sidequests, such as the murder mystery or the whole reaper storyline. Also Rikiya my beloved.
I've heard of people having a problem with the gameplay in this opus, but I didn't see it (I guess it's because I've never been necessarily fan of the combat system).
The pacing of game felt a bit off because of the sidequests, I think they give you access to too many at once, and I have this problem of wanting to see everything there is to see so I make sure to do every quest possible before following the main mission ...
Also as I've played the Kiwamis before, and not the original first two games, I now see how the remakes were a bit lazy in some parts. The passer-by NPCs seemed to have much more diversity, and they didn't really took the time to rebuild Kamurocho in the way it was supposed to look at the time of the game.

A game I played a lot as a kid, yet never managed to get really far ... (And I get it now replaying it, it can just get very hard)
I love this world and its creatures, love the new pikmin types; the musics makes me very nostalgic ( I remember spending hours roaming through Piklopedia )
The caves are such a great addition, some can get really hard near the endgame and that's great, very challenging ! Maybe there are just a bit too much and the surface is less interesting than in the first game imo. It makes the overall pacing of the game a bit weird ...

2016

I LOVE FISHES so I love this game !
Kinda low-poly visuals are very pleasant to look at, environnements have very nice colors ( I particularly like the final zone, because I also love swimming pool aesthetic if that's a thing ? ), great variety of fishes and the controls feel good imo
It's just a bit sad that the structure is way too similar to Journey

I tend to defend Pokémon games because the big argument I hear often is that "you don't really like Pokémon, it's just nostalgia", and no I just sincerely like discovering and catching these new little creatures and completing the pokédex ( that's one aspect I like in this game actually, the way the pokédex is designed like a shelf and you actually see it being filled)
But I'm getting tired of the games not being polished; the art direction is a bit uninspired (don't really know how to explain that but, the way the light and colors look ?); combat was never my favorite part of the game but the gyms have never been this boring; I felt like the world was not particularly fun to explore ...
I did like the soundtrack, story was nice, and the final act was pretty cool

Actually feels like a New Super Mario Bros. game (haha)
What struck me the most is the art direction ! The game truely is gorgeous, the animations of the characters and ennemies are wholesome and full of personnality. The creature design is really on point too.
( The variety in ennemies and the little twists in the design of classic mario worlds actually kinda made me think of the rpg games, to some extend ? )

There's a ton of ideas and levels are quite short, so the game is never boring. It's cool to see how they've been inspired by levels created in Mario Maker. But at it's core it still is a Mario Bros. game, which gives it it's identity but also makes it a little bit old school imo.
Also, with how each level has it's own idea (including transformations), I feel like the powerups could have been used differently. Same goes for the badges, that are not really that usefull aside from the levels specifically designed for them.

Overall the best 2D Mario game in a long time, with a strong identity. + the production conditions were particularly good this time apparently. Let's hope it all is not just a one time thing.

Also the talking flowers ARE fun

This review contains spoilers

Another great game about knowledge, with a superb art direction, especially colors and shot composition.

The game excels at teaching you all these languages in various ways. There's this great attention to details, from characters (words, not people) having a specific look wether they're nouns or verbs etc, to different structures in sentences depending on the language ; if you pay attention you can get really good pretty fast and it is very rewarding.

I did felt that they still had more ideas that somehow didn't get in the game ? Like in the fifth chapter, there's this sequence where you can combine characters to express new ideas, that would have been an amazing concept for a whole chapter but unfortunately it's there just for 2 minutes.
Instead of that, the game pretty often asks you to play through those pretty shitty stealth sequences that shouldn't be there imo.

The story also felt a bit simple in the end. The intention is nice, but the idea of having the big bad machine preventing humans from interacting with each other is a bit dated. We know the internet has bad sides, good ones too especially in it's ability to connect people so ...
Still, the whole quest about connecting people by translating their messages, and witnessing actual changes in the tower was sweet.

Clearly the most ambitious game in the series. Loved every of the fives part, each character's "side story" was fun and felt appropriate for them.
The game is v e r y generous in terms of different activites and gameplays and overall content, but on the other side it feels a bit rough on the edges and unpolished at times.
Story-wise, I was emotionally very involved. The theme of dreams hits close to home and was very well handled, from Shinada's own little independant story, to Kiryu and Haruka whom I've been following for years ingame now. (A bit sad that Akiyama doesn't really get developement and acts more as support for Haruka's story)
The more I progress through the series, the more I realize how great 0 was, and how good it must feel to play it now after 5 instead of starting with it.

Amazing surprise, great to see these characters again ! They totally got the Mario 64 feeling with Celeste mechanics, level design is on point, tons of secret, it's free, it's perfect.
The music really made me laugh :)

I was very scared of playing this because I knew it has a lot of text and a crazy big skill tree.
First day ingame was horrible, I kept making bad decisions and throws and even got a game-over. Also the game talks about politics in a deep and serious way so I kinda felt like a kid in an adult game haha. I honestly thought I would just abandon it but at the end of the first day there's this discussion you have with Kitsuragi and he's being very nice and comprehensive and it put me in a good mood; So I just decided to go with the fact that I'm playing a pretty bad cop and continue with the game.
In the end I really liked it, beautiful art direction and visuals, I loved discovering more about the world. Tho I still probably didn't really understood all the themes and ideas of this game ...

Had a lot of fun, very solid level design ! (and surprisingly pleasant soundtrack)
I don't have much more to say but I'm surprised to see the low rating of the game here ...

This review contains spoilers

A bit short and a bit easy, but a fun pikmin game. A nice way to start with the series I'd say.
The environnements look very pretty in HD, and the rainy days are a nice addition. Collecting fruits feels like a logical follow-up to the previous games, and seeing the juice flowing at the end of each day is kinda satisfying. Also it's nice to see Olimar and Louie again, and the whole misunderstanding surrounding them was fun.
Gameplay-wise, the two new pikmin types are nice; having three captains works quite well and is better implemented than in Pikmin 2. Locking the camera on the ennemy can be pretty useful, but the "charge" is not as practical as the "swarm" mechanic (although I've heard they changed it a bit in the deluxe version).
Also the lack of Piklopedia is sad. The game has quite the bestiary and they're all so well rendered, I would have love to have a place to watch them do their life and learn about them and about this world. The creatures just feel less important here ...

I played Celeste recently and kinda became a Lena Raine fan, so I checked her other works, and I listened to the Chicory soundtrack and I just had to play this game.

It took me a bit of time to really get into it. While the game never tells you to do so, I felt obligated to fully color every screen, and as an artist it felt more like work than playing a videogame. Tho it quickly became a joy to paint this world. Having a limited palette of colors specific to each area is a very good idea to force you to experiment; same with the art pieces you can makes or reproduce throughout the game.

What really got me is the story and characters. I played this game during a depressive episode I'm still not out of, and the game just put words and images on a lot of stuff and it feels good. I see myself a lot in both Chicory and Fruits (my character) and I kept thinking "woah they made a game about me !" (as must have thought every other artist playing this game haha) It all hits very close to home.
Same for the soundtrack actually. I think I noticed a lot of inspirations from games I know too. Even if these are not actual references, all of this made me feel closer to this game and the people who made it.

Overall I think Chicory helped me a lot, to improve as an artist, and just to feel better, and I have no doubt it will help me a lot in the future too.
Now I just wished I didn't listen to the soundtrack before playing the game. I would have cried like a baby if I got to listen to "The Mountain Top" for the first time during the credits.

2021

Chill exploration game with no combat and a beautiful art direction. I like the story being basically just "go meet people and find what you want to do with your life", tho the writing of the dialogues is a bit weird with the protagonist not directly speaking but like, saying that she is talking ?
Also I played the game at launch and it was full (like FULL) of bugs; I've seen that they did quite a few updates but I don't know exactly what was fixed.