I've been sat here for about ten minutes trying to think of what to say about Yume Nikki. I knew I wanted to write about it, but I wasn't really sure how. Normally I would write my thoughts on the quality of the different aspects of the game, and how each area interweaved to create the final product.

But for this game, reviewing it like that doesn't feel right. I could ramble on and on about how the immersive, surreal worlds you explore cleverly challenge the player to interpret the game in their own way. How the masterful presentation lures you in even when the core gameplay isn't that strong.

But I don't need to do that. If you're reading this you probably already know. Instead I'll just tell you to play it. Wander throughout the worlds and see what you make of it. Because this game is exactly what it tells you it is. It's like a dream.

Sonic Lost World represents an embarrassing misunderstanding from Sonic Team and an utter disregard for longtime series fans.

By far, the worst aspect of this game is the controls. Sonic's controls in his best games are quick and fluid, and the challenge the games have comes from trying to maintain Sonic's insane momentum while getting through the levels. This gives the other games great replay value, as the player is encouraged to learn the levels inside and out, so they can blaze through them faster and faster each time.

But in this game, the controls are way too stiff to make that possible. This may be the most sluggish and unsatisfying Sonic has ever felt. The infamous run button doesn't help. Instead of building up speed using your knowledge of the level's environment, you just hold down the button, which makes the gameplay way less interesting.

And even if Sonic controlled well, its not like the levels are really built for speed anyway. Yes, this Sonic the Hedgehog game actively discourages you from going fast. Some people might look at this review and think "He just doesn't like it because its different from the other Sonic games!" But that's not why I hate this game. I'm fine with games that try different things.

The main reason I hate it is because it's so fucking boring. The gameplay is agonisingly slow. In the 3D stages, most of the time you can just run past all the enemies and not bother fighting them. None of the platforming is challenging on its own, the only semblance of difficulty comes from fighting against the janky controls. And the 2D gameplay is just a much simpler, much more annoying version of the worst levels in New Super Mario Bros.

Most of the levels throw in unneeded gimmicks that just make the game worse. The wisps are a big one. Almost everyone sees the wisps' inclusion in this game as unnecessary, and I wholeheartedly agree. There's only 2 or 3 levels where you even really need them, otherwise you might as well ignore them since the Gamepad's controls for each wisp is abysmal. The entire game is like this. Why throw in a terribly controlled rolling snowball segment? Why am I slowly waiting for this fruit to follow me so I can open a path forward?? Why are you forcing me to do a terrible stealth segment when I'm trying to run through a level and fight a boss??? WHAT IS THIS GAME?!

This isn't my least favourite Sonic game, but it might be the one that infuriated me the most. The clear lack of coherent design decisions is so obvious that it makes the whole thing seem a little cynical. The only reason I'm not giving this a half-star rating is for the great soundtrack, and how some of the cutscenes are slightly funny. But other than that, avoid this game at all costs.

Its really funny to me how the internet kept saying "There's no point complaining to Game Freak about Sword and Shield, they won't improve the games anyway" when, in terms of the core gameplay, this game fixed nearly every complaint I had. Everything about the gameplay and UI is now so much faster. The menus don't stop you after a battle to make you slowly watch your Pokemon level up. It just happens in the background and you can keep moving. All of the UI elements have been heavily improved in similar ways. Battling and catching Pokemon has been much more streamlined, and because of this, the game feels way less sluggish.

Gyms have been completely scrapped in this game, and while some aren't a fan of this change, I'm all for it. Gyms essentially just boil down to "Pick a Pokemon with a type advantage and you win", making them seem painfully easy. In Legends Arceus, the new Noble Pokemon are much better. They aren't that difficult, but having to fight the boss with your player character as well as your team is way more engaging. Needing to avoid the boss's attacks in real time and having to quickly decide whether you should risk throwing another attack and potentially getting hit is more fun than just pressing the A button over and over.

The game's story isn't amazing, but I already prefer it to Sword and Shield's story because the writers remembered "Hey! We can actually have plot relevant events happen before the last 20 minutes of gameplay! Woah!"

This game isn't perfect, but it portrays an exciting new direction that I hope the series continues to develop in the future, and it blows the other entries on Nintendo Switch out of the water. Highly recommended, even if you've been disappointed by modern Pokemon before.