This one is still my favorite. I replayed it on the switch right after finishing 4, and it has aged great. It feels a little more wild and dangerous than the recent reinventions. You have less control and suffer a lot more accidents, which keeps everything feeling exciting. I would recommend this to anyone who has found 4 or 3 to be a little too easy/on rails, or are simply looking for more Pikmin. The camera is a little less modern-feeling, but it has a really distinct feeling of "looking down at the ground" that is sustained throughout and contributes a lot to the overall vibe.

Before the Final Horizon update comes out, I think now is a good time to talk about this game after I decided to replay it from scratch recently without any of the new game plus stuff this week.

With that being said, this game is the most fun I ever had with a janky game in recent memory. I can complain about how blatantly unpolished it is, the unacceptable pop-in, and the original finale being one of the most underwhelming climaxes in the entire series (please age poorly with the final update), etc.

I can easily see why people don’t vibe with this game at all. However, I can’t for the life of me because blazing through the open zone to collect or complete stuff at a consistent speed is such an addictive gameplay loop that I didn’t expect to enjoy so much, listening to an amazing soundtrack that tells it to own little story or tone, enjoying most of character interactions, and titan fights for as spectacle heavy as they are being franchise highlights.

This game despite how duct-taped together it feels reminded me why I love the Sonic franchise despite the bumpy roads it had to go through for god knows how long at this point I’m just not in the mood to spell it out. Regardless, Sonic Frontiers did enough for me personally to enjoy the overall package and it makes me optimistic for the future of the series.

I love Bugsnax.

I was expecting to go into this game with a neutral/positive outlook. A game I'd play, focus on main objectives, have some minor frustrations here and there, finish it, and just say "that was solid, I liked it." and move on...But then I got hooked. I got into the groove with what the game had to offer: Capturing bugsnax was addictive, fun, and I love how the game encourages & rewards experimentation. I found the Grumpuses charming, funny, and having a surprising amount of deep characterization to them when you learn of their struggles and how you help them through it all. And that ending man, not only was the twist earned, but the (good) ending made the entire experience worth fully completing to me.

I'd genuinely consider Bugsnax in my Top 5 Indie games right now. Stellar work to the team behind it.

This game is technically great, if a little clunky and shallow in places. The difficulty slider alone is one of the coolest ideas to come out of this game. It's just annoying that dying decreases the difficulty and the only way to put the difficulty back up is to start the entire level over. (Which sucks considering the higher difficulties can mean you get 3 or 4 mistakes before you die and levels can be 15+ minutes long.)

While this game lasts a lot longer than I feel like it has actual gameplay ideas to support its length, at least in terms of the setting, each level offers something different. It's like an entire abridged anime in video game form.

Would be a 7/10 if it didn't actually physically hurt me to play it for any longer than 20 minutes.