ShoxyRoxy
Love the Papa games and I loved unlocking new customers and ingredients, but I wish the game got a little more challenging as it went on because after a good 11 or 12 hours, it felt like the same level of challenge for many many days in a row
Nostalgia clouding my judgement on this, I'm sure, but it was just fun as hell for me as a youngin. I loved how unique each mansion was and the fun boss fights that I would replay over and over after beating the game
2001
Luigi's Mansion is a killer franchise in general and this is an amazing start. Pretty dark by Nintendo standards, very replayable, iconic music, and gameplay you can't find anywhere else except for Luigi's Mansion
Punishing but really fun! Richter is an icon
2022
Ended up getting bored of it pretty fast. Not as much variety in the enemies as other Survivor games, but the weapons and different characters were really nice
1996
I have an embarrassing story to tell about this game. I like myself a lot of boomer shooters and this was my first Build engine game. I was really enjoying it for the whole first episode, Duke Nukem himself was such a character and the game played in such a fascinating way compared to the Doom engine games I was playing before it. The weapons were sick, the enemies were fun to fight, was really excited to keep playing. And then I hit Episode 2: my first encounter with the Protozoid Slimer. An enemy that goes down in one kick ended up making me shelve the game because it was just too fucking creepy. It would get up on your face and slither in front of the whole screen. I found my heart jumping every single time this happened and a sense of nausea and repulsion just looking at it, it got so bad to the point I had to hype myself up before going into a room where I knew they were. I have seriously bad arachnophobia which could be the cause of why I thought they were so creepy, but yeah. I couldn't bring myself to complete the game because of those little bastards
2015
Played this when I was 14 or 15 and I remember liking it a lot. Looking at it again, I thought it was somewhat bland? I didn't care for many of the characters and the big plot twist of the game is really bizarre imo but the art style and music was very nostalgic for me
Genuinely adore this game. It's a little up it's own ass but I feel like Bennett Foddy's words about the sea of trash content that the internet is has only gotten truer with the improvement of AI/algorithms and sites like TikTok that use it. The physics feel buttery smooth once you get the hang of it as well
2018
I respect this game a lot more than I enjoyed playing it. I think the lore is very basic and the gameplay is an RNG fest, basically just begging to god "please please please don't let me get raped and murdered in one of twelve combat encounters I have to do to get to the next save point!" Eventually you'll have your path completely laid out for you but now it's just a matter of spending an hour doing it while hoping for no complications. What I like about the game is that its limb mechanic is a very fun concept. I also like how dense it is, so many endings and random encounters for those who enjoy the game. There's no game that makes you feel more miserable than F&H which is the obvious aesthetic the game is going for, but I don't like feeling miserable tbh. I might try the 2nd game sometime because I've heard good things, but the first game is a no from me
2022
Maps are extremely well designed and the shooting is so tight. Popping heads fills me with dopamine
2015
Really fun combat and a genuinely gripping story. The only thing that annoyed me was getting interrupted by morons on the street when I was engrossed and trying to go to the next location, the substories are cute and I appreciate them, but I hate the way they rope you into them when you least expect it. I also didn't care much about the Cabaret clubs or the real estate management, so being forced into lengthy tutorials for both was kind of annoying (not to mention having to do them to unlock all your abilities. Fuck that). I can forgive all that though because it's one of the few video games that made me cry, it goes for hella cheap too so there's no reason to not play it
2023
This review contains spoilers
Absolutely adore this game. Let's get that out of the way. Miyamoto and his team did a great job bringing Pikmin to a more modern audience with a gradual difficulty increase, well-paced upgrades, and steady introduction of pikmin/mechanics. Using the term "dandori" as a marketing gimmick was also pretty genius, it describes the RTS action Pikmin is known for with a simple little phrase that's easy to remember. The environments look great in this game as well; it blends the cartoonish nature of 2 and the more realistic nature of 3 together with a perfect compromise.
But the Pikmin fan inside me feels sad at some of the changes they made in this game to achieve that mass market appeal. For one, I'm not a fun of the hub world system as is. You slowly collect NPCs whom will give you tasks that give you gems to spend on upgrades and buildings, but talking to all of them can feel like a slog and creates unnecessary interactions (why do I have to mash A to get through dialogue when I'm just trying to look at my piklopedia or treasure catalogue?). Some of the characters are a little charming, but I found the majority of them somewhat bland compared to the relatively small pool of characters from the first 3 games. It's like all their models were made in a Mii maker instead of from scratch, and you can tell by looking at Olimar's pronounced nose and Louie's bulging eyeballs standing next to Collin's blocky ass head and painted on expression. Another thing I disliked was the complete lack of challenge. You have unlimited purple spray in the form of Ice pikmin and red spray is so plentiful that it's almost funny. The enemies are pretty nerfed compared to their past iterations as well, electricity simply stuns now and getting crushed by rocks no longer instakills. I didn't struggle until the final cave which sported 20 sublevels, bosses in the double digits, and the god damn Smoky Progg for christ's sake.
On the topic of Oatchi, I have very mixed feelings about him. I like his cute design and extensive list of commands that grant QOL changes in the form of treasure tracking, carrying large objects, floating pikmin over water, etc. But I also think he tends to be somewhat overpowered. The Oatchi Rush in it's fully upgraded form can instakill any non-boss entity with a two step punch; it starts with 1. stunning the enemy for a couple of seconds while it 2. launches all 100 of your pikmin on to the enemy, dealing massive damage. In his fully upgraded form he's also immune to pretty much everything and will be able to tank any attack due to the massive health bar and defenses. It's like having an all-powerful pikmin with you at all times which is why they design many of the caves around prohibiting your use of him (which sounds like a solution to the overpowered problem, but it's often not long until you can raise the iron gates that keep Oatchi behind and continue the cave like normal).
Some other random thoughts about the game: I don't mind the dandori battles/challenges or the night mode, but they weren't really for me. I got enough of what I want out of Pikmin with the exploring and caves anywho so props to those who find it fun. I'm not sure why the game has a fake-out ending and credits when there's literally a third of the game left to go at that point. White and winged pikmin feel rather underutilized, but I'm so happy that purple pikmin are busted again. Louie and Olimar's thoughts in the piklopedia and treasure catalogue are very cute and fun. I'm happy that they brought that back from the past games. Louie being a motherfucker for the 3rd time in a row is also very funny. I'm a little confused why they bother to give you dialogue options at all, it's only 2 different options every 5 conversations that won't illicit anything except a different response.
It may sound like I hate this game but trust me, I loved it and was happy to fork over $60 after waiting so long for it. The exploration was top notch and the caves were perfectly integrated. It was everything awesome about the past 3 blended with just enough of it's own identity to create the pinnacle of the franchise thus far. All they have to do to one-up themselves for Pikmin 5 is bring back falling bomb rocks in caves ;D
But the Pikmin fan inside me feels sad at some of the changes they made in this game to achieve that mass market appeal. For one, I'm not a fun of the hub world system as is. You slowly collect NPCs whom will give you tasks that give you gems to spend on upgrades and buildings, but talking to all of them can feel like a slog and creates unnecessary interactions (why do I have to mash A to get through dialogue when I'm just trying to look at my piklopedia or treasure catalogue?). Some of the characters are a little charming, but I found the majority of them somewhat bland compared to the relatively small pool of characters from the first 3 games. It's like all their models were made in a Mii maker instead of from scratch, and you can tell by looking at Olimar's pronounced nose and Louie's bulging eyeballs standing next to Collin's blocky ass head and painted on expression. Another thing I disliked was the complete lack of challenge. You have unlimited purple spray in the form of Ice pikmin and red spray is so plentiful that it's almost funny. The enemies are pretty nerfed compared to their past iterations as well, electricity simply stuns now and getting crushed by rocks no longer instakills. I didn't struggle until the final cave which sported 20 sublevels, bosses in the double digits, and the god damn Smoky Progg for christ's sake.
On the topic of Oatchi, I have very mixed feelings about him. I like his cute design and extensive list of commands that grant QOL changes in the form of treasure tracking, carrying large objects, floating pikmin over water, etc. But I also think he tends to be somewhat overpowered. The Oatchi Rush in it's fully upgraded form can instakill any non-boss entity with a two step punch; it starts with 1. stunning the enemy for a couple of seconds while it 2. launches all 100 of your pikmin on to the enemy, dealing massive damage. In his fully upgraded form he's also immune to pretty much everything and will be able to tank any attack due to the massive health bar and defenses. It's like having an all-powerful pikmin with you at all times which is why they design many of the caves around prohibiting your use of him (which sounds like a solution to the overpowered problem, but it's often not long until you can raise the iron gates that keep Oatchi behind and continue the cave like normal).
Some other random thoughts about the game: I don't mind the dandori battles/challenges or the night mode, but they weren't really for me. I got enough of what I want out of Pikmin with the exploring and caves anywho so props to those who find it fun. I'm not sure why the game has a fake-out ending and credits when there's literally a third of the game left to go at that point. White and winged pikmin feel rather underutilized, but I'm so happy that purple pikmin are busted again. Louie and Olimar's thoughts in the piklopedia and treasure catalogue are very cute and fun. I'm happy that they brought that back from the past games. Louie being a motherfucker for the 3rd time in a row is also very funny. I'm a little confused why they bother to give you dialogue options at all, it's only 2 different options every 5 conversations that won't illicit anything except a different response.
It may sound like I hate this game but trust me, I loved it and was happy to fork over $60 after waiting so long for it. The exploration was top notch and the caves were perfectly integrated. It was everything awesome about the past 3 blended with just enough of it's own identity to create the pinnacle of the franchise thus far. All they have to do to one-up themselves for Pikmin 5 is bring back falling bomb rocks in caves ;D
2023
Peak action game
2016
i got my little sister to race with me so i could get all the achievements. most shameful moment of my life
The balancing is so fucking terrible but playing it with friends is the most fun you can ever have