Shamaboy11
2023
Gravity Circuit is certainly one of my biggest surprises of 2023 so far with such smooth controls & flow that playing it never gets tiring, which helps by the solid level design that isn’t a breeze to go through, but you feel like a badass when you get through it with barely any scratches helped by the satisfying melee combat.
Double that with the chips & techniques that you can purchase when rescuing bots around each level that makes exploration feel very rewarding since most of them are pretty useful to get for levels or bosses. My only nitpick is that the lack of loadout slots makes switching to different chips & techniques take a bit too long and ruins the otherwise perfect fast-paced flow that the game exceeds.
Speaking of bosses, most of them are very engaging & surprisingly well balanced that even fully upgrading Kai won’t make all the boss fights a complete joke, especially at the finale, which outside of the obnoxious boss rush is a pretty satisfying finale both gameplay & where the story started to somewhat be interesting.
The overall story is the weakest aspect of the game. Until the finale rolls, I just found the plot to be pretty standard which I would’ve been fine with if the characters had cool or entertaining interactions, but it unfortunately lacks that. Kernel & one other character that I can’t spoil are only two that had a few memorable moments, but everyone else is unfortunately a blur to me. It's not the end of the world because outside of Mega Man Zero games, this kind of game tends to not focus on the stories. So if you don’t care about it, you won’t be affected by this too much unlike me.
The last few things I wanna highlight are the visuals & soundtrack. The pixel art in this is stunning due to the use of different color palettes that makes each level look distinctive, slick portraits that give it so much personality, and the overall UI is beautifully stylized. The soundtrack overall is full of energy I never got tired of listening to it.
Overall, this package is superb and one of the best modern action platformers that I have played in recent memory. I come back to replaying it, especially since it offers New game plus & Circuit mode that I want to give a try. For a game that costs under $20, this is a steal that I would recommend to anyone who is in the mood for an engaging action-platformer.
Double that with the chips & techniques that you can purchase when rescuing bots around each level that makes exploration feel very rewarding since most of them are pretty useful to get for levels or bosses. My only nitpick is that the lack of loadout slots makes switching to different chips & techniques take a bit too long and ruins the otherwise perfect fast-paced flow that the game exceeds.
Speaking of bosses, most of them are very engaging & surprisingly well balanced that even fully upgrading Kai won’t make all the boss fights a complete joke, especially at the finale, which outside of the obnoxious boss rush is a pretty satisfying finale both gameplay & where the story started to somewhat be interesting.
The overall story is the weakest aspect of the game. Until the finale rolls, I just found the plot to be pretty standard which I would’ve been fine with if the characters had cool or entertaining interactions, but it unfortunately lacks that. Kernel & one other character that I can’t spoil are only two that had a few memorable moments, but everyone else is unfortunately a blur to me. It's not the end of the world because outside of Mega Man Zero games, this kind of game tends to not focus on the stories. So if you don’t care about it, you won’t be affected by this too much unlike me.
The last few things I wanna highlight are the visuals & soundtrack. The pixel art in this is stunning due to the use of different color palettes that makes each level look distinctive, slick portraits that give it so much personality, and the overall UI is beautifully stylized. The soundtrack overall is full of energy I never got tired of listening to it.
Overall, this package is superb and one of the best modern action platformers that I have played in recent memory. I come back to replaying it, especially since it offers New game plus & Circuit mode that I want to give a try. For a game that costs under $20, this is a steal that I would recommend to anyone who is in the mood for an engaging action-platformer.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart gameplay-wise is one of the strongest entries in the series due to having nearly an entire new roster of weapons that are both refreshing & fun as hell to use. Plus, the pacing having no fluff with the lack of obnoxious gimmicks or puzzle sections like Clank puzzles letting you skip them makes it one of the most replayable entries in the series. The only thing that disappoints me is the lack of enemy variety which tends to make encounters feel repetitive toward the end.
Now, I only talked about the gameplay, and thats because the story unfortunately didn’t sit with me. I found the tone having no idea what it wants to do with certain moments that takes away from me caring about the characters emotionally and that overall makes most of them feel so one note to me. I’m also just getting sick of the whole Lombax stuff with Ratchet because we are going through a cycle with this character after A Crack in Time and it makes him so boring to me. The best part of the story is just the incredible cutscene animations that are so expressive & have a lot going on, definitely a big glow-up from the 2016 game that had stilted cutscenes.
The soundtrack is unfortunately generic to me & barely any tracks that I see myself listening to outside of the game. Besides that, top-notch presentation with overall graphics & animation work that are very impressive.
Overall. it is still a fun game from Insomniac Games that I recommend to people, but I think it has enough issues that it still makes it far from my Ratchet & Clank game if we are talking about the entire package.
Now, I only talked about the gameplay, and thats because the story unfortunately didn’t sit with me. I found the tone having no idea what it wants to do with certain moments that takes away from me caring about the characters emotionally and that overall makes most of them feel so one note to me. I’m also just getting sick of the whole Lombax stuff with Ratchet because we are going through a cycle with this character after A Crack in Time and it makes him so boring to me. The best part of the story is just the incredible cutscene animations that are so expressive & have a lot going on, definitely a big glow-up from the 2016 game that had stilted cutscenes.
The soundtrack is unfortunately generic to me & barely any tracks that I see myself listening to outside of the game. Besides that, top-notch presentation with overall graphics & animation work that are very impressive.
Overall. it is still a fun game from Insomniac Games that I recommend to people, but I think it has enough issues that it still makes it far from my Ratchet & Clank game if we are talking about the entire package.
My expectations with Cosmic Shake as a budgeted 3D platformer that doesn’t cost full price is that it would be decent at least and I’m happy to report that the game is wonderful. It has a few problems that makes it feel so low-budgeted, but I would say there is enough heart put into it for a budgeted title that I would recommend if you love to play another colorful 3D platformer.
Now my biggest surprise with this game was the writing. I still think the characterizations are a bit flanderized, but the writing itself made me smile so much on how the character dynamics bounce so well off each other with their dialogues and not having to rely on visual gags as the main substance that is comedy, which unfortunately current SpongeBob suffers from way too much. I haven’t enjoyed this much writing from SpongeBob since like half of season 4 or Sponge Out of Water. They also make a lot of callbacks from early seasons and thankfully most of them don’t feel so forced in except for 2 of them from my experience.
Top all of this with surprisingly well-animated cutscenes are that very expressive, having all the voice actors that still sound great voicing their iconic or even side characters, and having a new brand character for this called Kassandra whiles is a very predictable type of character still a great addition to the cast of characters. This is easily my favorite written SpongeBob adventure in a video game form.
Now as for the gameplay itself, you only play as SpongeBob this time compared to BFBB where you can also play as Sandy or Patrick. That might sound like a downgrade, but they made this up by combining other playable character move sets into SpongeBob for this game and that was honestly such a wise decision because this leads to SpongeBob being way more fun to control compared to the previous games where he was pretty basic due to having to balance previous games around other playable characters to have different move sets each. Now that they can only focus solely on SpongeBob, it's much more satisfying to unlock new moves like the dodge roll, pizza glide, or karate kick that I consistently use for platforming or combat that are engaging. it leads to the level design being very focused and shaking things up enough to feel new, but not ruining the overall flow that is pure platforming, which I do think Movie Game failed at it, and even BFBB to an extent with a few obnoxious objectives.
The game is very linear compared to BFBB and depending on what you expect from this game, I do understand being let down by the lack of openness that is the collectathon structure in BFBB that was well known. However, I can easily swallow that because I do think the level design despite being very linear is still very engaging to go through at least when it comes to the main paths, and isn’t so much of a straight line that it fights against you. There are still enough of these open sections for you to complete main objectives from different points, it has that doughnut shape structure within these level sections where the game lets you complete stuff that eventually leads you back to the main path naturally or find a doubloon that lets you spend on cool unlockable costumes that are callbacks to the past. The structure & level design is consistently well-designed & focused I find to be more fun than BFBB when it comes to the main paths at least. There is also not a single level that I disliked, unlike BFBB where Kelp Forest was just a mess.
The last few things I have to praise before I get into my complaints is that the game looks gorgeous. Environments or characters look so stylized or colorful, each level looks so distinctive. The soundtrack is also very cool, not blowing my socks off, but it was very catchy to listen to during the game.
Now, my biggest complaint with this game is the finale. Not to spoil what exactly happens, but it feels very anticlimactic & the final boss gameplay-wise is a complete joke. Left me soured a bit at the finish lines.
My last major complaint is that whiles going through the main paths is very fun, I do think optional quests that require you to backtrack makes 100% of the game just not very fun, especially since the last 20 doubloons that you use to unlock costumes are useless. So these optional quests feel like padding the game out, it is not the end of the world for me because just finding doubloons is enough to unlock all the costumes but keep this in mind if you are considering 100% this.
In conclusion, I’m very happy with this overall package that was made by people who loved the source material, but they also knew how to design a very fun 3D platformer despite its low budget showing its cracks sometimes. For a game that goes for a lower price, I can recommend this to anyone who is a fan of SpongeBob or are into 3D platformers in general
Now my biggest surprise with this game was the writing. I still think the characterizations are a bit flanderized, but the writing itself made me smile so much on how the character dynamics bounce so well off each other with their dialogues and not having to rely on visual gags as the main substance that is comedy, which unfortunately current SpongeBob suffers from way too much. I haven’t enjoyed this much writing from SpongeBob since like half of season 4 or Sponge Out of Water. They also make a lot of callbacks from early seasons and thankfully most of them don’t feel so forced in except for 2 of them from my experience.
Top all of this with surprisingly well-animated cutscenes are that very expressive, having all the voice actors that still sound great voicing their iconic or even side characters, and having a new brand character for this called Kassandra whiles is a very predictable type of character still a great addition to the cast of characters. This is easily my favorite written SpongeBob adventure in a video game form.
Now as for the gameplay itself, you only play as SpongeBob this time compared to BFBB where you can also play as Sandy or Patrick. That might sound like a downgrade, but they made this up by combining other playable character move sets into SpongeBob for this game and that was honestly such a wise decision because this leads to SpongeBob being way more fun to control compared to the previous games where he was pretty basic due to having to balance previous games around other playable characters to have different move sets each. Now that they can only focus solely on SpongeBob, it's much more satisfying to unlock new moves like the dodge roll, pizza glide, or karate kick that I consistently use for platforming or combat that are engaging. it leads to the level design being very focused and shaking things up enough to feel new, but not ruining the overall flow that is pure platforming, which I do think Movie Game failed at it, and even BFBB to an extent with a few obnoxious objectives.
The game is very linear compared to BFBB and depending on what you expect from this game, I do understand being let down by the lack of openness that is the collectathon structure in BFBB that was well known. However, I can easily swallow that because I do think the level design despite being very linear is still very engaging to go through at least when it comes to the main paths, and isn’t so much of a straight line that it fights against you. There are still enough of these open sections for you to complete main objectives from different points, it has that doughnut shape structure within these level sections where the game lets you complete stuff that eventually leads you back to the main path naturally or find a doubloon that lets you spend on cool unlockable costumes that are callbacks to the past. The structure & level design is consistently well-designed & focused I find to be more fun than BFBB when it comes to the main paths at least. There is also not a single level that I disliked, unlike BFBB where Kelp Forest was just a mess.
The last few things I have to praise before I get into my complaints is that the game looks gorgeous. Environments or characters look so stylized or colorful, each level looks so distinctive. The soundtrack is also very cool, not blowing my socks off, but it was very catchy to listen to during the game.
Now, my biggest complaint with this game is the finale. Not to spoil what exactly happens, but it feels very anticlimactic & the final boss gameplay-wise is a complete joke. Left me soured a bit at the finish lines.
My last major complaint is that whiles going through the main paths is very fun, I do think optional quests that require you to backtrack makes 100% of the game just not very fun, especially since the last 20 doubloons that you use to unlock costumes are useless. So these optional quests feel like padding the game out, it is not the end of the world for me because just finding doubloons is enough to unlock all the costumes but keep this in mind if you are considering 100% this.
In conclusion, I’m very happy with this overall package that was made by people who loved the source material, but they also knew how to design a very fun 3D platformer despite its low budget showing its cracks sometimes. For a game that goes for a lower price, I can recommend this to anyone who is a fan of SpongeBob or are into 3D platformers in general
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow is such a refinement to the Metoidvania formula that has become my favorite Metroidvania entry in the series. The tactical soul ability system is a big help on that because it is such a genius mechanic that makes me wanna catalog the enemy roster and be very excited to kill each enemy to have a chance at getting new soul abilities. Its consistency gives me new souls to attack, move, or make me stronger, and most of the souls that I obtained are fun as hell to use. This is easily my favorite mechanic introduced in this franchise. My only gripe is that switching between souls can break the pacing during fights.
Another major component that makes this my favorite one is just the castle design. I’m so happy that IGA & his team has finally cut down on the fat by not including any alternate castles, but that isn’t the only reason why Aria of Sorrow Castle is amazing. The layouts are just well designed and not too confusing to navigate around, but still leave enough openness to make exploration feel consistently rewarding with the enemies or bosses giving you more cool souls & items. What helps all of this are the visuals that look amazing for a GBA game and having a soundtrack that Michiru Yamane has created with Takashi Yoshida & Soshiro Hokkai. The presentation overall is a such big step and impressive for a handheld device.
The final component that makes this game extra special for me is the overall narrative. Now, it is very predictable like previous games, but what makes this one more engaging is the consistent character interactions you get throughout the game and slowly witness these characters go through predictable plot points, but it is still very cool because I love the cast of characters this time. Soma, Genya, Julius, Yoko, etc are becoming my favorite cast members. Graham is a bit generic but works as a villain & Hammer is a pretty awesome dude that sells you items. The finale is also my favorite in the series so far without spoiling too much.
All of this makes the overall package so impactful for me to replay through constantly and funnily enough, my biggest gripe with this game is that your speed soul ability isn’t unlocked at new game plus. That is my only annoyance with this game, which otherwise is my 2nd favorite Castlevania game and one of my favorite Metroidvania games
Another major component that makes this my favorite one is just the castle design. I’m so happy that IGA & his team has finally cut down on the fat by not including any alternate castles, but that isn’t the only reason why Aria of Sorrow Castle is amazing. The layouts are just well designed and not too confusing to navigate around, but still leave enough openness to make exploration feel consistently rewarding with the enemies or bosses giving you more cool souls & items. What helps all of this are the visuals that look amazing for a GBA game and having a soundtrack that Michiru Yamane has created with Takashi Yoshida & Soshiro Hokkai. The presentation overall is a such big step and impressive for a handheld device.
The final component that makes this game extra special for me is the overall narrative. Now, it is very predictable like previous games, but what makes this one more engaging is the consistent character interactions you get throughout the game and slowly witness these characters go through predictable plot points, but it is still very cool because I love the cast of characters this time. Soma, Genya, Julius, Yoko, etc are becoming my favorite cast members. Graham is a bit generic but works as a villain & Hammer is a pretty awesome dude that sells you items. The finale is also my favorite in the series so far without spoiling too much.
All of this makes the overall package so impactful for me to replay through constantly and funnily enough, my biggest gripe with this game is that your speed soul ability isn’t unlocked at new game plus. That is my only annoyance with this game, which otherwise is my 2nd favorite Castlevania game and one of my favorite Metroidvania games
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance is a big step up from Circle of the Moon in most aspects, such as having the smoothest traversal movement in the franchise with the incredible dash. The spell fusion system is delightful to use or experiment with, and exploring the castle feels very rewarding.
It looks visually good for a GBA game, though a bit too bright. However, I can understand that decision due to the GBA SP not being available during the game's development. The bosses, while very easy, were fun to encounter and defeat.
This time, I found myself clicking with the characters and story, even if it is very predictable. Juste and Maxim are very cool characters that have great dynamics with each other, which made me not mind the plot being very predictable.
When the moment-to-moment Metroidvania gameplay clicks with me, it is such a joy to play, but I do have a few issues that still hold the game back from being truly amazing. My biggest problem is moving between Castle A & B is just not fun whatsoever due to moving back & forth between these which leads to confusion as to where I am and making the game just drag on. That aspect makes it feel like they tried too hard to be like Symphony of the Night without looking at the flaws of that game and making it even worse.
I also find getting the merchant to be gimmicky & tedious because it adds nothing to the game besides annoying me when I want to purchase stuff & then I can’t, wasting my time moving around the castle even further.
One presentation aspect that breaks my heart is the OST. Castlevania consistently has incredible OSTs that are music to my ears and some of the best in the gaming industry, so it upsets me that Harmony of Dissonance has such a bad OST that I never want to listen to it on my playlist and that is a bigger deal breaker for a series that consistently have provided amazing OSTs previously.
Overall, I enjoyed it a lot despite my issues and I can still recommend it. It does still enough good to be consistently fun, it just has little annoyances that become big problems and sometimes I just feel like it steps on Sympathy of the Night’s Shadows without standing out on its own.
It looks visually good for a GBA game, though a bit too bright. However, I can understand that decision due to the GBA SP not being available during the game's development. The bosses, while very easy, were fun to encounter and defeat.
This time, I found myself clicking with the characters and story, even if it is very predictable. Juste and Maxim are very cool characters that have great dynamics with each other, which made me not mind the plot being very predictable.
When the moment-to-moment Metroidvania gameplay clicks with me, it is such a joy to play, but I do have a few issues that still hold the game back from being truly amazing. My biggest problem is moving between Castle A & B is just not fun whatsoever due to moving back & forth between these which leads to confusion as to where I am and making the game just drag on. That aspect makes it feel like they tried too hard to be like Symphony of the Night without looking at the flaws of that game and making it even worse.
I also find getting the merchant to be gimmicky & tedious because it adds nothing to the game besides annoying me when I want to purchase stuff & then I can’t, wasting my time moving around the castle even further.
One presentation aspect that breaks my heart is the OST. Castlevania consistently has incredible OSTs that are music to my ears and some of the best in the gaming industry, so it upsets me that Harmony of Dissonance has such a bad OST that I never want to listen to it on my playlist and that is a bigger deal breaker for a series that consistently have provided amazing OSTs previously.
Overall, I enjoyed it a lot despite my issues and I can still recommend it. It does still enough good to be consistently fun, it just has little annoyances that become big problems and sometimes I just feel like it steps on Sympathy of the Night’s Shadows without standing out on its own.
The most mixed-bag Castlevania game that I have ever played, and there is a lot that I like and hate. I will start with the positives.
I like DLSS cards for the most part, especially once I started to experiment a lot in magician mode where I had to consider more with lower stats. The remixed soundtrack is delightful, especially for a launch title on the GBA. Once I start to get into the flow of movement after acquiring a decent amount of new abilities, I did start to enjoy moving around, especially with that sliding move that has helped me more times than I thought it would. Playing through Magician mode in general made the game a bit better for my experience, as it allowed me to use all DLSS cards at the start without that infamous glitch and made MP upgrades feel more worthwhile to find with much lower stats.
Unfortunately, I have to now get into negative stuff with this game, and the bosses are easily the worst because they are either lame or stupidly frustrating, which just makes the game feel like I'm hitting my head on the wall for ages. Grinding is also tedious, whether it is getting all DLSS cards or leveling up enough to reach the next section of the castle. I don't mind a bit of grinding, but this game goes way too far with it. The castle design is a mess. I will admit that on my magician mode playthrough, I started to have fewer problems with it, but I still can't say with a straight face that it is well-designed, and I still got lost plenty of times on my first playthrough. Lastly, the story and characters are non-existent and are pretty generic when there are sparks of that.
Overall, it is all over the place for me to recommend it to you.
I like DLSS cards for the most part, especially once I started to experiment a lot in magician mode where I had to consider more with lower stats. The remixed soundtrack is delightful, especially for a launch title on the GBA. Once I start to get into the flow of movement after acquiring a decent amount of new abilities, I did start to enjoy moving around, especially with that sliding move that has helped me more times than I thought it would. Playing through Magician mode in general made the game a bit better for my experience, as it allowed me to use all DLSS cards at the start without that infamous glitch and made MP upgrades feel more worthwhile to find with much lower stats.
Unfortunately, I have to now get into negative stuff with this game, and the bosses are easily the worst because they are either lame or stupidly frustrating, which just makes the game feel like I'm hitting my head on the wall for ages. Grinding is also tedious, whether it is getting all DLSS cards or leveling up enough to reach the next section of the castle. I don't mind a bit of grinding, but this game goes way too far with it. The castle design is a mess. I will admit that on my magician mode playthrough, I started to have fewer problems with it, but I still can't say with a straight face that it is well-designed, and I still got lost plenty of times on my first playthrough. Lastly, the story and characters are non-existent and are pretty generic when there are sparks of that.
Overall, it is all over the place for me to recommend it to you.
2023
Pizza Tower is a delightful 2D platformer that never stops being unhinged across many aspects, such as the fast-paced nature of the level design or the visuals that become increasingly insane as you progress further into the game. However, this does not distract from the fact that the game is tightly focused and does not have any unnecessary elements. Despite my lack of skill, I am still motivated to achieve the highest ranks for each level.
My only complaint about the game is that the bosses are a mixed bag. Some are amazing, but others are unremarkable and drag on for longer than I would prefer in a fast-paced 2D platformer, even if the visuals are still incredible.
Overall, I highly recommend this indie package if you enjoy fast-paced 2D platformers like Wario Land or 2D Sonic games.
My only complaint about the game is that the bosses are a mixed bag. Some are amazing, but others are unremarkable and drag on for longer than I would prefer in a fast-paced 2D platformer, even if the visuals are still incredible.
Overall, I highly recommend this indie package if you enjoy fast-paced 2D platformers like Wario Land or 2D Sonic games.