SobbleChao
2019
As a fan of the previous 2 games I can confidently say that luigi's mansion 3 is another great entry in the series.
The gameplay is solid, keeps the already established formula intact but has enough changes to make it feel fresh but familiar with gooigi and the other new stuff you can do being really fun to mess around with and solve puzzles, defeat bosses etc., the presentation is incredible, definitely the best looking game on switch, the attention to detail is top notch whether it's luigi's personality and the way he reacts to his surroundings or how items and whatnot littered throughout the hotel interact with luigi and the poltergust, overall the game is brimming with charm and polish!
The return of the more human ghost mini bosses was a welcome one, each one being a puzzle and a fight merged to make a fun time, the main bosses were great too, some being somewhat suprisingly difficult. I also think this games the best one in the series for hunting boos, they're fun to find and yeah easy to defeat but slamming them on the ground like a maniac was always a treat, along with a sick theme to boot.
The hotel is very well designed, each room being something different than the last, you'll start off with regular hotel rooms and in no time find yourself in a castle, a garden, a movie set, a desert, magician themes etc. Each room is full of stuff to do and look out for, sure it makes some rooms feel samey but that feeling doesn't last very long as the game is full of surprises. The gems make a return too and are fun to find, a few are in very odd places but I found a majority throughout my playthrough. I also enjoy how alive the hotel feels too, with the other 2 games once you cleared a room and the lights came on that was it, but here even after you finish an area, if you go back there's likely going to be a new batch of ghosts in there, just doing there own charming little thing until they spot you, it can make for some challenging revisits.
However I do have a few minor gripes, firstly the music. Now I don't have a problem with the soundtrack generally infact I think they fit the themes of the rooms quite well, and I may be alone in this but I just struggled to hear most of it over all the ghost catching and objects smashing, I just felt like most of the rooms music was too quiet and not very memorable (keep in mind I mostly did not play with headphones) but then certain rooms and events played the music loud and proud, infact in the case of the boo theme the music was very loud, again the soundtrack is good I just don't think there's many memorable tunes here.
Then there's the common enemy ghosts, I'm sorry but what happend here, again like with the music they're not BAD but uninspired, they are ripped right from dark moon, infact there's less variety here, I don't mind the more cartoony designs of 2 and 3, but with 3 it's mostly the same as 2, there's like 1 fully original enemy ghost here, those door ones with the tounges, but even then they're barley in the game anyway.
Last gripe I'll talk about is the money, while it is satisfying to collect as much as ya can there really isn't much you can do with it. You can buy hints and continues and you get ranked at the end like the first game, but that's it really, and the game really encourages you search every nook and cranny for money but... it's just kinda meaningless.
There's a few other very minor gripes too like I think the hotel as a whole could've been darker, I found myself questioning sometimes why luigi has his flashlight on, and certain rooms and bosses/ mini bosses were a bit eh, but overall these issues aren't really things that bother me that much.
The game does indeed also have multiplayer, a local mode with different types of minigames, and a mode that's playable both local and online, I can't talk much about the minigame mode but the scarescraper online mode is decent fun, but I think it drags on a bit longer than it needs to and is a bit too strict with the time and requirements, and then there's your teamates which you always get that one guy who just doesn't get with the program, like the room which requires everyone to be in to open a door, you can spam "over here" and "help" as much as ya can, they'll just be off doing there own thing. Also I recommend not beating this mode before you finish the game as the boss for the scarescraper and the final boss do share some attacks, so the final boss might not be as cool or challenging if you've already beaten the scarescraper boss.
Although it's not bad getting all the boos and gems, infact it's quite fun to do so, there's really not much in terms of unlockables, a few cosmetics and that's it really, and that includes achievements which I didn't bother with as I really can't be bothered to play that much scarescraper.
But overall, Luigi's mansion 3 is a great time, I can understand why some may not enjoy it, whether they're fans of the series or not, but despite the minor flaws I had a blast the whole way through.
The gameplay is solid, keeps the already established formula intact but has enough changes to make it feel fresh but familiar with gooigi and the other new stuff you can do being really fun to mess around with and solve puzzles, defeat bosses etc., the presentation is incredible, definitely the best looking game on switch, the attention to detail is top notch whether it's luigi's personality and the way he reacts to his surroundings or how items and whatnot littered throughout the hotel interact with luigi and the poltergust, overall the game is brimming with charm and polish!
The return of the more human ghost mini bosses was a welcome one, each one being a puzzle and a fight merged to make a fun time, the main bosses were great too, some being somewhat suprisingly difficult. I also think this games the best one in the series for hunting boos, they're fun to find and yeah easy to defeat but slamming them on the ground like a maniac was always a treat, along with a sick theme to boot.
The hotel is very well designed, each room being something different than the last, you'll start off with regular hotel rooms and in no time find yourself in a castle, a garden, a movie set, a desert, magician themes etc. Each room is full of stuff to do and look out for, sure it makes some rooms feel samey but that feeling doesn't last very long as the game is full of surprises. The gems make a return too and are fun to find, a few are in very odd places but I found a majority throughout my playthrough. I also enjoy how alive the hotel feels too, with the other 2 games once you cleared a room and the lights came on that was it, but here even after you finish an area, if you go back there's likely going to be a new batch of ghosts in there, just doing there own charming little thing until they spot you, it can make for some challenging revisits.
However I do have a few minor gripes, firstly the music. Now I don't have a problem with the soundtrack generally infact I think they fit the themes of the rooms quite well, and I may be alone in this but I just struggled to hear most of it over all the ghost catching and objects smashing, I just felt like most of the rooms music was too quiet and not very memorable (keep in mind I mostly did not play with headphones) but then certain rooms and events played the music loud and proud, infact in the case of the boo theme the music was very loud, again the soundtrack is good I just don't think there's many memorable tunes here.
Then there's the common enemy ghosts, I'm sorry but what happend here, again like with the music they're not BAD but uninspired, they are ripped right from dark moon, infact there's less variety here, I don't mind the more cartoony designs of 2 and 3, but with 3 it's mostly the same as 2, there's like 1 fully original enemy ghost here, those door ones with the tounges, but even then they're barley in the game anyway.
Last gripe I'll talk about is the money, while it is satisfying to collect as much as ya can there really isn't much you can do with it. You can buy hints and continues and you get ranked at the end like the first game, but that's it really, and the game really encourages you search every nook and cranny for money but... it's just kinda meaningless.
There's a few other very minor gripes too like I think the hotel as a whole could've been darker, I found myself questioning sometimes why luigi has his flashlight on, and certain rooms and bosses/ mini bosses were a bit eh, but overall these issues aren't really things that bother me that much.
The game does indeed also have multiplayer, a local mode with different types of minigames, and a mode that's playable both local and online, I can't talk much about the minigame mode but the scarescraper online mode is decent fun, but I think it drags on a bit longer than it needs to and is a bit too strict with the time and requirements, and then there's your teamates which you always get that one guy who just doesn't get with the program, like the room which requires everyone to be in to open a door, you can spam "over here" and "help" as much as ya can, they'll just be off doing there own thing. Also I recommend not beating this mode before you finish the game as the boss for the scarescraper and the final boss do share some attacks, so the final boss might not be as cool or challenging if you've already beaten the scarescraper boss.
Although it's not bad getting all the boos and gems, infact it's quite fun to do so, there's really not much in terms of unlockables, a few cosmetics and that's it really, and that includes achievements which I didn't bother with as I really can't be bothered to play that much scarescraper.
But overall, Luigi's mansion 3 is a great time, I can understand why some may not enjoy it, whether they're fans of the series or not, but despite the minor flaws I had a blast the whole way through.
2022
A nice fun simple 3D platformer, good level design, good visuals and a good soundtrack, gameplay is smooth and the bosses were a good time.
The game heavilly encourages exploration and getting as many points as you can, definately makes the game more enjoyable than if you were to just blaze through everything, the game isn't super challenging, but not so easy that it becomes boring, a good balance.
The only 2 minor nitpicks I have with the game is that because of the camera angle it can be hard sometimes to see where you're gonna land, kinda messes with your depth perception, similar to crash 1 in a way, and the other thing are the ramps, they seem like a crap shoot whether you'll actually either get up or reach the other side.
All in all, as someone who hasn't played the orignal, I had a good time with it, and I recommend it if you just want a nice chill platformer to play.
( Played on the steam deck, works fine, there wasn't an option for linux in the platform list which is why it says windows :/ )
The game heavilly encourages exploration and getting as many points as you can, definately makes the game more enjoyable than if you were to just blaze through everything, the game isn't super challenging, but not so easy that it becomes boring, a good balance.
The only 2 minor nitpicks I have with the game is that because of the camera angle it can be hard sometimes to see where you're gonna land, kinda messes with your depth perception, similar to crash 1 in a way, and the other thing are the ramps, they seem like a crap shoot whether you'll actually either get up or reach the other side.
All in all, as someone who hasn't played the orignal, I had a good time with it, and I recommend it if you just want a nice chill platformer to play.
( Played on the steam deck, works fine, there wasn't an option for linux in the platform list which is why it says windows :/ )
2011
This games certainly a weird one isn't it?
On the one hand there's a lot I enjoyed, the music is great, I prefer the jp/eu ost but the us ost is nothing to scoff at either, with my favourites being stardust speedway from the jp/eu side (all time periods) and tidal tempest on the us side (present), the themes are quite creative too and the pixel artwork is superb especially for the time. The music and theming help give this game it's own identity, something only this game can replicate. On the gameplay side of things I enjoy the super-peel out, I think sonic controls just fine, levels can be enjoyable and the special stages aren't too bad either, not great but miles better than sonic 1s and 2s (you can retry them as many times as ya like too!). The time travel gimmick of the game is a neat idea, it's always a treat warping to a new time period and seeing how different the level looks and sounds.
This specific version of the game makes it all look nice, adds a few tweeks here and there, and a nice menu to boot, as well as a playable tails, time attack, achievments, choosing which ost to play and extras.
Now for the iffy stuff, First off travelling through time can be a pain, for the most part I didn't have too much of a hard time building up speed for the past, but there are some levels where you'll definitely have a bit of trouble and it doesn't help how the future sign-posts are everywhere meaning it's easy to end up in the future by accident, same goes for finding the generators/ holograms, some are fun to find, others you'll need a guide. The level design can either be good or bad, it constantly flip-flops depending on what you're doing in the level, though there are some design choices that are persistent no matter your style of gameplay, mainly that the game is often filled with things that'll fling, bounce, crush, launch you and so on.
Let me break it down, for sonic cd, I like to categorise the levels into 3 types, 1) Levels that are fun to play through casually and explore. 2) Levels that are fun to play casually, not explore. And 3) Levels that are fun to explore, but not play through casually.
Lets take 3 levels for example, you have a level like palmtree panic which is fun to play through casually and to explore (finding the generators/ holograms), then there's a stage like stardust speedway which is fun enough to play through casually but exploring is a pain due to the level design clearly not being built for that, and lastly there's a stage like quartz quadrant which is fun to explore, but playing casually there's not much too it if you just blast through it. With these quirks in mind playing through the game is going to be a different experience for everyone, unlike other sonic games, no one can seem to agree whether this one's any good or not, If you blast through it the game might be a short enjoyable adventure or leave you wondering what you just played, but then if you explore and go for 100% you'll either be left with the feeling of satisfaction or annoyance.
It was weird for me, I was going after all the achievments and ended up doing 2 playthroughs, both 100%, and my first playthrough I had a pretty good time, it was all new to me and I ended up finding all the generators/ holograms pretty easily, randomly stumbling upon them, being flung in the right place at the right time. However on my second playthrough, that wasn't the case, I had a harder time finding a few of em and I started to notice half the level design is poorly designed. This is why I'm giving it 3 and a half stars, I just can't pin point exactly what I think.
At the end of the day, Sonic CD can be fun time, it has a lot of things I enjoy, but also a lot of finicky stuff that bogs it down, I recommend if you're a sonic fan or just curious, please give it a go and see what you think.
(If ya made it this far here's a tip, if you're going for 100% make sure to save the last time stone for act 2 of the final area, metallic madness, as getting all the time stones will destroy all generators/ holograms, thus meaning you'll be unable to get the Saviour of the Planet achievment, so just make sure you destory all the generators/ holograms before grabbing the last stone. PS, 1) There are no more metal sonic holograms in metallic madness, after you beat him in stardust speedway act 3 and (2) You CANNOT get the achievements with Tails)
On the one hand there's a lot I enjoyed, the music is great, I prefer the jp/eu ost but the us ost is nothing to scoff at either, with my favourites being stardust speedway from the jp/eu side (all time periods) and tidal tempest on the us side (present), the themes are quite creative too and the pixel artwork is superb especially for the time. The music and theming help give this game it's own identity, something only this game can replicate. On the gameplay side of things I enjoy the super-peel out, I think sonic controls just fine, levels can be enjoyable and the special stages aren't too bad either, not great but miles better than sonic 1s and 2s (you can retry them as many times as ya like too!). The time travel gimmick of the game is a neat idea, it's always a treat warping to a new time period and seeing how different the level looks and sounds.
This specific version of the game makes it all look nice, adds a few tweeks here and there, and a nice menu to boot, as well as a playable tails, time attack, achievments, choosing which ost to play and extras.
Now for the iffy stuff, First off travelling through time can be a pain, for the most part I didn't have too much of a hard time building up speed for the past, but there are some levels where you'll definitely have a bit of trouble and it doesn't help how the future sign-posts are everywhere meaning it's easy to end up in the future by accident, same goes for finding the generators/ holograms, some are fun to find, others you'll need a guide. The level design can either be good or bad, it constantly flip-flops depending on what you're doing in the level, though there are some design choices that are persistent no matter your style of gameplay, mainly that the game is often filled with things that'll fling, bounce, crush, launch you and so on.
Let me break it down, for sonic cd, I like to categorise the levels into 3 types, 1) Levels that are fun to play through casually and explore. 2) Levels that are fun to play casually, not explore. And 3) Levels that are fun to explore, but not play through casually.
Lets take 3 levels for example, you have a level like palmtree panic which is fun to play through casually and to explore (finding the generators/ holograms), then there's a stage like stardust speedway which is fun enough to play through casually but exploring is a pain due to the level design clearly not being built for that, and lastly there's a stage like quartz quadrant which is fun to explore, but playing casually there's not much too it if you just blast through it. With these quirks in mind playing through the game is going to be a different experience for everyone, unlike other sonic games, no one can seem to agree whether this one's any good or not, If you blast through it the game might be a short enjoyable adventure or leave you wondering what you just played, but then if you explore and go for 100% you'll either be left with the feeling of satisfaction or annoyance.
It was weird for me, I was going after all the achievments and ended up doing 2 playthroughs, both 100%, and my first playthrough I had a pretty good time, it was all new to me and I ended up finding all the generators/ holograms pretty easily, randomly stumbling upon them, being flung in the right place at the right time. However on my second playthrough, that wasn't the case, I had a harder time finding a few of em and I started to notice half the level design is poorly designed. This is why I'm giving it 3 and a half stars, I just can't pin point exactly what I think.
At the end of the day, Sonic CD can be fun time, it has a lot of things I enjoy, but also a lot of finicky stuff that bogs it down, I recommend if you're a sonic fan or just curious, please give it a go and see what you think.
(If ya made it this far here's a tip, if you're going for 100% make sure to save the last time stone for act 2 of the final area, metallic madness, as getting all the time stones will destroy all generators/ holograms, thus meaning you'll be unable to get the Saviour of the Planet achievment, so just make sure you destory all the generators/ holograms before grabbing the last stone. PS, 1) There are no more metal sonic holograms in metallic madness, after you beat him in stardust speedway act 3 and (2) You CANNOT get the achievements with Tails)
2017
As someone who has never played a 3D Rareware game or any collectathon for that matter, this was my first experience with the genre, and I thought it was good enough.
Firstly the things I liked, I thought the maps for the most part were well designed, the first one is a good opening stage, the 3rd and 4th worlds are this game at its best in my opinion, engaging and tightly designed with a clear focus. I liked how the game controlled, the game has a nice style and soundtrack, along with a good sense of humour.
Now for the bad stuff, as much as I liked the worlds I mentioned, the 2nd and final world...not so much, they're not THAT bad just a bit poorly designed, the ice world mostly takes place in that platforming section with the change in camera angle which isn't a bad section, but there's not much to the actual ice world, and the space world was just kinda boring, maybe I was just getting tired at this point but something just felt off.
Then there's the bosses, the bosses aren't bad per say just kinda... there, they don't really feel important to the overall game, you just kinda find them, I enjoyed a few of them but still, and yes as you might've heard, the final boss is complete rubbish, it's long, boring and fustrating, all the worst traits a boss can have. 7, there's 7 phases with no checkpoints or health/ energy, so if you die you have to go back to the start, drag yourself through each phase and watch every mini cutscene. the final phase is easily the worst as you wont have enough energy, meaning you pretty much need full health so you can keep taking damage from the missiles, waiting for your gauge to refill. Two tips, equip the tonic that makes the gauge fill quicker if you've got it and yes you can get rid of the bee swarms by standing still and using the sonar blast. Best of luck.
Anyways moving on, I found the transformations not all that great with the exception of the piranhas and boat, I found rextros minigames to be a slog in the later half of the game, and the minecart sections, again in the later game, require ridiculous precision.
Lastly, and this might just be a me thing, but did anyone else have way too many times where you're stumped on a puzzle for ages, only for the solution to be something as simple as "use x move" and the like? Take the pink ghost in world 2 for example, It's stuck in a block, it looks like ice so naturally you'd use fire right? Nope, turns out it's not ice, and you have to use the sonar blast, this game is full of stuff like this and it does get annoying with how cryptic they can be, or the game not doing a very good job on telling you what moves you can use on what.
Overall though, I still had fun, it has it's problems that drag it down sure, but if you're a fan of the genre then it wouldn't hurt giving this a go, and If you're not, maybe watch some gameplay first to get an idea.
Firstly the things I liked, I thought the maps for the most part were well designed, the first one is a good opening stage, the 3rd and 4th worlds are this game at its best in my opinion, engaging and tightly designed with a clear focus. I liked how the game controlled, the game has a nice style and soundtrack, along with a good sense of humour.
Now for the bad stuff, as much as I liked the worlds I mentioned, the 2nd and final world...not so much, they're not THAT bad just a bit poorly designed, the ice world mostly takes place in that platforming section with the change in camera angle which isn't a bad section, but there's not much to the actual ice world, and the space world was just kinda boring, maybe I was just getting tired at this point but something just felt off.
Then there's the bosses, the bosses aren't bad per say just kinda... there, they don't really feel important to the overall game, you just kinda find them, I enjoyed a few of them but still, and yes as you might've heard, the final boss is complete rubbish, it's long, boring and fustrating, all the worst traits a boss can have. 7, there's 7 phases with no checkpoints or health/ energy, so if you die you have to go back to the start, drag yourself through each phase and watch every mini cutscene. the final phase is easily the worst as you wont have enough energy, meaning you pretty much need full health so you can keep taking damage from the missiles, waiting for your gauge to refill. Two tips, equip the tonic that makes the gauge fill quicker if you've got it and yes you can get rid of the bee swarms by standing still and using the sonar blast. Best of luck.
Anyways moving on, I found the transformations not all that great with the exception of the piranhas and boat, I found rextros minigames to be a slog in the later half of the game, and the minecart sections, again in the later game, require ridiculous precision.
Lastly, and this might just be a me thing, but did anyone else have way too many times where you're stumped on a puzzle for ages, only for the solution to be something as simple as "use x move" and the like? Take the pink ghost in world 2 for example, It's stuck in a block, it looks like ice so naturally you'd use fire right? Nope, turns out it's not ice, and you have to use the sonar blast, this game is full of stuff like this and it does get annoying with how cryptic they can be, or the game not doing a very good job on telling you what moves you can use on what.
Overall though, I still had fun, it has it's problems that drag it down sure, but if you're a fan of the genre then it wouldn't hurt giving this a go, and If you're not, maybe watch some gameplay first to get an idea.
2008
A neat 2d platformer, as a kid despite loving the second game this one just didn't click with me (the story mode), I remember either stopping because I was bored with it or stuck on a level and gave up (looked on my old user, I didn't get pass the canyons, probably that bomb section), nonetheless I'm glad I picked it up again because I did have fun this time around.
Unfortunately the online has been shut down for a while now, but if you remember it, you know how fun it was.
I think the first 3 worlds are great, kinda fumbles a bit with the 4th and 5th, but picks up again for the last 2. I love the gameplay, the level design, the music, the visuals etc., the amount of nostalgia I have with the first two games is for sure a very nice feeling. The level design is mostly good stuff, not too difficult but not too easy, though some levels can be pretty hard, each level is accompanied by great music, really funky and memorable, along with set pieces both memorable and visually pleasing. There's also these mini challenge levels too which are a nice break of pace. Customisation is also top notch, tons of outfits, accessories and so on.
The problems with the story mode aren't really that big but still inconvenient, mainly the physics, as sackboy seems to carry a lot of momentum on the slowest moving objects, times where you'll jump off a slowish moving obstacle only to be launched across, sometimes switching layers can be a bit finicky too and some things just don't seem to work as they might've intended to, I did get soft locked at one point in the later half of the game, an enemy flipped itself upside down and I needed to defeat it to move on, but the switch to do so was on the head which was pretty much stuck in the ground.
But overall, a fun platformer, has it's quirks sure but the story mode is a good time, I'd say as a whole the game is great, but again the servers being down and all means half the game isn't exactly accessible, despite that it's definitely worthy of being a playstation classic.
Unfortunately the online has been shut down for a while now, but if you remember it, you know how fun it was.
I think the first 3 worlds are great, kinda fumbles a bit with the 4th and 5th, but picks up again for the last 2. I love the gameplay, the level design, the music, the visuals etc., the amount of nostalgia I have with the first two games is for sure a very nice feeling. The level design is mostly good stuff, not too difficult but not too easy, though some levels can be pretty hard, each level is accompanied by great music, really funky and memorable, along with set pieces both memorable and visually pleasing. There's also these mini challenge levels too which are a nice break of pace. Customisation is also top notch, tons of outfits, accessories and so on.
The problems with the story mode aren't really that big but still inconvenient, mainly the physics, as sackboy seems to carry a lot of momentum on the slowest moving objects, times where you'll jump off a slowish moving obstacle only to be launched across, sometimes switching layers can be a bit finicky too and some things just don't seem to work as they might've intended to, I did get soft locked at one point in the later half of the game, an enemy flipped itself upside down and I needed to defeat it to move on, but the switch to do so was on the head which was pretty much stuck in the ground.
But overall, a fun platformer, has it's quirks sure but the story mode is a good time, I'd say as a whole the game is great, but again the servers being down and all means half the game isn't exactly accessible, despite that it's definitely worthy of being a playstation classic.
It's ok.
I enjoy the gameplay (mostly), I think the concept is cool, I'm guessing this is what sonic generations was to us Sonic fans for Zelda fans, the fan service is something I can appreciate. The music is great, some real bangers in here, a lot more funkier than your usual zelda game, visuals were great too, everything looks and runs fine surprisingly, speaking of which the game was surprisingly... Fanservicey, in a different way if ya catch my drift.
Now for the problems, well one major one, and that's the gameplay, don't get me wrong it's fun... for a bit, I played the adventure mode and had fun but in parts, the gameplay doesn't change at all throughout the game, so if ya don't like it, you're screwed, again I find it enjoyable but not THAT enjoyable, which led me to get burned out after a while, I got to the end of the epilogue before I called it quits, I'll probably go back to it and finish eventually, but not for a while.
Other problems are minor stuff, like stupid ai team mates, annoying enemies/ bosses, and anti climatic battles with other characters.
Again I wish to return at some point, there's supposedly a lot to do in this game which is nice, I enjoyed my time with it, but only for so long, I guess this type of gameplay just isn't for me, mostly anyway.
I enjoy the gameplay (mostly), I think the concept is cool, I'm guessing this is what sonic generations was to us Sonic fans for Zelda fans, the fan service is something I can appreciate. The music is great, some real bangers in here, a lot more funkier than your usual zelda game, visuals were great too, everything looks and runs fine surprisingly, speaking of which the game was surprisingly... Fanservicey, in a different way if ya catch my drift.
Now for the problems, well one major one, and that's the gameplay, don't get me wrong it's fun... for a bit, I played the adventure mode and had fun but in parts, the gameplay doesn't change at all throughout the game, so if ya don't like it, you're screwed, again I find it enjoyable but not THAT enjoyable, which led me to get burned out after a while, I got to the end of the epilogue before I called it quits, I'll probably go back to it and finish eventually, but not for a while.
Other problems are minor stuff, like stupid ai team mates, annoying enemies/ bosses, and anti climatic battles with other characters.
Again I wish to return at some point, there's supposedly a lot to do in this game which is nice, I enjoyed my time with it, but only for so long, I guess this type of gameplay just isn't for me, mostly anyway.
2010
The first half of the game is really fun, it's tough but fair, fun to speedrun and whatnot
The second half, not so much, I just find a lot of the stages after a certain point to be annoying, mainly the gimmicks they introduce, those gravity orb things that are propper awkward to use, certain enemies are well annoying, etc., there's still fun levels sure but I feel the game is at its best when you can be more reckless, as meat boy and the other characters are fun to control, but the second half requires a lot of precision, like frame perfect movement. The bosses were decent and there's lots to do.
Overall a classic indie game that I think you should give a shot, I may not like it as much as I remember, but it was still a decent time nonetheless.
The second half, not so much, I just find a lot of the stages after a certain point to be annoying, mainly the gimmicks they introduce, those gravity orb things that are propper awkward to use, certain enemies are well annoying, etc., there's still fun levels sure but I feel the game is at its best when you can be more reckless, as meat boy and the other characters are fun to control, but the second half requires a lot of precision, like frame perfect movement. The bosses were decent and there's lots to do.
Overall a classic indie game that I think you should give a shot, I may not like it as much as I remember, but it was still a decent time nonetheless.
2014
After years of playing it and never actually finishing it, I can now say after beating it that shovel knight is pretty damn good, I think the level design is solid, gameplay is solid, music and visuals are great, and I enjoyed the story and characters, the only real issue I have with the game is sometimes the level design is a bit cheap, getting swarmed by enemies on tight platforming sections with shovel knights limited movement is never a good time, regardless, I still had a good time with it.
2022
As a fan of the series it hurts me to say I... wasn't a fan of splatoon 3. I've put countless hours into the previous games, especially 2, but with 3, after around 90ish hours, a certain feeling started to sink in, a been there done that kinda feeling, it was then when I realised that we really did just get the same game again, same structure, same problems, same(ish) story mode etc., a few quality of life improvements sure, but nothing worth buying a new game over.
My main problem with the core game (the online) is that they changed practically nothing to make it better, I'm mainly talking about the schedule stuff, the previous 2 had this sure, but I was hoping by the third game they'd do away with it or at least give it an overhaul, being as this IS a shooter and not a life sim (If I remember correctly the same team also worked on animal crossing, a life sim), but nope, the same ol' 2 stages every couple of hours and ranked modes switching every couple of hours. I suppose if you have all the time in the world to play then this wont matter much, but when you just wanna sit and play a few rounds it's pretty annoying, why can't I play say tower control whenever I want to? Why can't I play or at least vote for my favourite stages, instead I'm stuck playing the same stage over and over until maybe a stage I like is in the next rotation, and yes I said stage because more than likely, at least from my experience, the game loves to choose one stage over the other. In short it just makes the game super inconvenient, and that's not even mentioning nintendos lovely online service... I haven't even mentioned the game has a battle pass and seasons, while yes they're free, the whole thing is just a huge grind-fest, since there's no way to gain significantly more xp, you'll just be playing regular/ ranked matches over and over, unlike say fortnite where there'll be quests and whatnot you can do to complete the battle pass in about a week or so.
Salmon run makes a return and it's actually done away with the schedules which is nice, it's mostly the same as before, but now with new bosses, enemies and mechanics, It's actually quite fun, UNTIL you get to the higher ranks where it basically becomes unplayable with how many enemies spawn in on these small maps, it even makes the game lag a bit, another problem are the bosses, which appear at the end of the final round sometimes, it's a really cool concept but they're basically impossible to beat most of the time, and there's really no real reward for actually beating them.
There's this card game you can also play too and honestly, it's pretty fun, not much else to say really it's just a little side mode, but still.
Before I talk about the story mode I wanna quickly go over the splatfests and big runs, 2 of the games main events that happen once a month or so, Splatfests are ok I guess for what they are, but they're honestly a downgrade from 2 in my opinion, instead of the shifty station stages we get a new mode, tri colour, which is supposed to be a sort of 2 v 4 v 2, where one team of 4 have to defend the middle (from what I remember), but it basically just becomes a 4v4 anyway, I haven't played the game in a while but that's what I remember and yeah it's pretty lame, doesn't help that not only is it JUST the one stage but also it does't even become playable until the second half of the splatfest. The whole thing feels off still too, the tallying of points has always seemed off, and it can be argued that it's better here, but the fact shiver has somehow won pretty much every splatfest reminds me how marie and marina were similar in the previous games. And yes, this is really the only way to earn shells once again, with the only other way being levelling up, which takes as long as it did in the other games. Then there's the new one, big run. Big run is litterally regular salmon run but on a normal multiplayer stage, there is a ranking system to work towards for a prize but it's still just salmon run, and yes it's ONLY on the one stage, though I will admit the atmosphere is good, the hub going all red clouded and eery was pretty cool.
Lastly there's the story mode, which I played through recently, and it's... ok I guess, there's some fun stages I'll admit, the bosses were the highlight, and the whole final section of the game was good, I always like it when games have a big level at the end. However unfortunatley like with the rest of the game it just feels like the same as before, which is a shame because at first you wouldn't think that, you're shown this big wasteland, and in the trailer I remember seeing a city which looked cool, but in the actual game the city is just a background and the wasteland is litterally just the hub for a few stages and a boss. Most stages in this game just consist of blocky level design that sticks out like a sore thumb, you have these really nice looking backgrounds and suroundings but the level design? Blocks. They did take some inspiration from the octo expansion and have more gimmicky levels which were the better levels, but the rest just blend in with one another and they're VERY short, most levels should only take you about a couple minutes each, it honestly reminds me a lot of sonic forces, where you'll have these nice looking environments, but the actual stages are very hit and miss. The story is decent for what it is, though the ending does leave you with a few questions. Overall the story mode is, ok, I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy any of it, but it's nothing memorable, nothing to make it stand out from the previous games' stroy modes.
And those were my thoughts on splatoon 3, or splatoon 1.75, in the end, maybe I'm just growing out of it, perhaps it just doesn't hit me the same way the other 2 did, I am a fair bit older now, but here's the thing, I still like the series, the characters, the music, just the overall theme is great, it's just that the actual games refuse to evolve, I still find myself wanting to play it but then I remember it's short commings and immediatley change my mind, what doesn't help is that they've done the whole "release it now finish it later" model, which people say only works for splatoon but, no it doesn't, especially when said updates aren't anything special to begin with.
Who knows, maybe I'll get a second wind and play the game again and change my tune, but for now, the series that was supposed to be "fresh", has gone into the same path as many others, just releasing the same game with minimal changes.
My main problem with the core game (the online) is that they changed practically nothing to make it better, I'm mainly talking about the schedule stuff, the previous 2 had this sure, but I was hoping by the third game they'd do away with it or at least give it an overhaul, being as this IS a shooter and not a life sim (If I remember correctly the same team also worked on animal crossing, a life sim), but nope, the same ol' 2 stages every couple of hours and ranked modes switching every couple of hours. I suppose if you have all the time in the world to play then this wont matter much, but when you just wanna sit and play a few rounds it's pretty annoying, why can't I play say tower control whenever I want to? Why can't I play or at least vote for my favourite stages, instead I'm stuck playing the same stage over and over until maybe a stage I like is in the next rotation, and yes I said stage because more than likely, at least from my experience, the game loves to choose one stage over the other. In short it just makes the game super inconvenient, and that's not even mentioning nintendos lovely online service... I haven't even mentioned the game has a battle pass and seasons, while yes they're free, the whole thing is just a huge grind-fest, since there's no way to gain significantly more xp, you'll just be playing regular/ ranked matches over and over, unlike say fortnite where there'll be quests and whatnot you can do to complete the battle pass in about a week or so.
Salmon run makes a return and it's actually done away with the schedules which is nice, it's mostly the same as before, but now with new bosses, enemies and mechanics, It's actually quite fun, UNTIL you get to the higher ranks where it basically becomes unplayable with how many enemies spawn in on these small maps, it even makes the game lag a bit, another problem are the bosses, which appear at the end of the final round sometimes, it's a really cool concept but they're basically impossible to beat most of the time, and there's really no real reward for actually beating them.
There's this card game you can also play too and honestly, it's pretty fun, not much else to say really it's just a little side mode, but still.
Before I talk about the story mode I wanna quickly go over the splatfests and big runs, 2 of the games main events that happen once a month or so, Splatfests are ok I guess for what they are, but they're honestly a downgrade from 2 in my opinion, instead of the shifty station stages we get a new mode, tri colour, which is supposed to be a sort of 2 v 4 v 2, where one team of 4 have to defend the middle (from what I remember), but it basically just becomes a 4v4 anyway, I haven't played the game in a while but that's what I remember and yeah it's pretty lame, doesn't help that not only is it JUST the one stage but also it does't even become playable until the second half of the splatfest. The whole thing feels off still too, the tallying of points has always seemed off, and it can be argued that it's better here, but the fact shiver has somehow won pretty much every splatfest reminds me how marie and marina were similar in the previous games. And yes, this is really the only way to earn shells once again, with the only other way being levelling up, which takes as long as it did in the other games. Then there's the new one, big run. Big run is litterally regular salmon run but on a normal multiplayer stage, there is a ranking system to work towards for a prize but it's still just salmon run, and yes it's ONLY on the one stage, though I will admit the atmosphere is good, the hub going all red clouded and eery was pretty cool.
Lastly there's the story mode, which I played through recently, and it's... ok I guess, there's some fun stages I'll admit, the bosses were the highlight, and the whole final section of the game was good, I always like it when games have a big level at the end. However unfortunatley like with the rest of the game it just feels like the same as before, which is a shame because at first you wouldn't think that, you're shown this big wasteland, and in the trailer I remember seeing a city which looked cool, but in the actual game the city is just a background and the wasteland is litterally just the hub for a few stages and a boss. Most stages in this game just consist of blocky level design that sticks out like a sore thumb, you have these really nice looking backgrounds and suroundings but the level design? Blocks. They did take some inspiration from the octo expansion and have more gimmicky levels which were the better levels, but the rest just blend in with one another and they're VERY short, most levels should only take you about a couple minutes each, it honestly reminds me a lot of sonic forces, where you'll have these nice looking environments, but the actual stages are very hit and miss. The story is decent for what it is, though the ending does leave you with a few questions. Overall the story mode is, ok, I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy any of it, but it's nothing memorable, nothing to make it stand out from the previous games' stroy modes.
And those were my thoughts on splatoon 3, or splatoon 1.75, in the end, maybe I'm just growing out of it, perhaps it just doesn't hit me the same way the other 2 did, I am a fair bit older now, but here's the thing, I still like the series, the characters, the music, just the overall theme is great, it's just that the actual games refuse to evolve, I still find myself wanting to play it but then I remember it's short commings and immediatley change my mind, what doesn't help is that they've done the whole "release it now finish it later" model, which people say only works for splatoon but, no it doesn't, especially when said updates aren't anything special to begin with.
Who knows, maybe I'll get a second wind and play the game again and change my tune, but for now, the series that was supposed to be "fresh", has gone into the same path as many others, just releasing the same game with minimal changes.
2023
I've been meaning to get into pikmin for a while now, I played the pikmin 3 demo on wii u way back when, and quite enjoyed it, so here I am many moons later finally giving the series a shot, starting with the first game (the switch port).
I really enjoyed my time with it, I liked the gameplay, the music, and I thought the atmosphere and areas were pretty good, you're this tiny man who's stranded on a strange planet, inhabited by all sorts of creatures, one of them of course being the pikmin, not only that, but you've only got 30 days (which I believe is about 15 mins per day) to get the essential parts of your ship back as oxygen is deadly for olimar, who actually has a family back home, and as the days go on, you see him not only learn more about his surroundings, but also just his general thoughts, wondering if he'll truly ever get back home...
The gameplay of pikmin boils down to growing pikmin, using your pikmin to collect objects, solve puzzles and fight off enemies, this game is all about efficiency, multi-tasking if you will. Knowing how to approach enemies, what parts to prioritise, the best routes to take is key to mastering this game, now on your first playthrough you obviously wont know much, which creates quite a tense playthrough, as you rush to one piece to another, not having a clue whats what, really driving the whole stuck alone on a foreign planet home.
The only negative I have with the game is that it's quite jank and there's some annoying qwerks, I'll break it down into 3 things, 1 you're pikmin will stop at every grass patch and... concrete I think it is, to get nectar, and while it's useful you're pikmin stopping every minute gets annoying pretty quickly, It would have been better to have to manually throw them/ send them to it specifically like for most things in the game. 2 is just general qwerkiness, I'm not sure if these were intentional but your pikmin will just flat out stop following you sometimes, they'll just run really slow, or they simply just wont obey you, again it might be intentional but I feel there could have been a better way to make them feel "real". Lastly 3, pikmin just have the hardest time with slopes and bridges, there's not much else to say really they just either get stuck, clip through or cant walk on em propperly.
But overall, I found it to be a really good time, despite the jankyness of an early 3D 2000s game, I think it's a great experience you should try at least once, or maybe the other games, I haven't played them, but I hear nothing but praise from the people who have. I'm glad I started and I hope it only gets better from here :)
I really enjoyed my time with it, I liked the gameplay, the music, and I thought the atmosphere and areas were pretty good, you're this tiny man who's stranded on a strange planet, inhabited by all sorts of creatures, one of them of course being the pikmin, not only that, but you've only got 30 days (which I believe is about 15 mins per day) to get the essential parts of your ship back as oxygen is deadly for olimar, who actually has a family back home, and as the days go on, you see him not only learn more about his surroundings, but also just his general thoughts, wondering if he'll truly ever get back home...
The gameplay of pikmin boils down to growing pikmin, using your pikmin to collect objects, solve puzzles and fight off enemies, this game is all about efficiency, multi-tasking if you will. Knowing how to approach enemies, what parts to prioritise, the best routes to take is key to mastering this game, now on your first playthrough you obviously wont know much, which creates quite a tense playthrough, as you rush to one piece to another, not having a clue whats what, really driving the whole stuck alone on a foreign planet home.
The only negative I have with the game is that it's quite jank and there's some annoying qwerks, I'll break it down into 3 things, 1 you're pikmin will stop at every grass patch and... concrete I think it is, to get nectar, and while it's useful you're pikmin stopping every minute gets annoying pretty quickly, It would have been better to have to manually throw them/ send them to it specifically like for most things in the game. 2 is just general qwerkiness, I'm not sure if these were intentional but your pikmin will just flat out stop following you sometimes, they'll just run really slow, or they simply just wont obey you, again it might be intentional but I feel there could have been a better way to make them feel "real". Lastly 3, pikmin just have the hardest time with slopes and bridges, there's not much else to say really they just either get stuck, clip through or cant walk on em propperly.
But overall, I found it to be a really good time, despite the jankyness of an early 3D 2000s game, I think it's a great experience you should try at least once, or maybe the other games, I haven't played them, but I hear nothing but praise from the people who have. I'm glad I started and I hope it only gets better from here :)
2022
Pokemon Violet is a... weird one for sure.
I... actually found it to be a decent time, at a first glance the game seems to be nothing more than a shameless cash grab that was rushed out to meet a yearly deadline, well, I say that but we got a whopping 3 pokemon games in a single year, sure bdsp wasn't directly from gamefreak but still. Because of this the game is quite buggy in terms of graphics, frame rate etc., and while I didn't run into any game breaking bugs, a quick search online will show the game at its worst.
It's really a shame too because the game has some good ideas, the open world format needs work sure, but I see the potential here, I had a good time exploring, catching & battling pokemon, finding items and so on, again the open world is far from perfect, it's quite barren at times, pokemon spawn in very weirdly, and I didn't find much enjoyment in looking around most of the towns.
The story is actually pretty good, miles better than some of the previous games, it's split into 3 parts with them all coming together towards the end and while the gym route is just the same ol' beat the gyms and elite 4 in terms of plot, the other 2 are actually good, well written and even a bit emotional at times.
Speaking of the 3 campaigns, I was truly never really bored with the game in terms of things to do, with some past entries, even legends, I found myself getting bored towards the middle because with pokemon once you've played one you've played em all really, not much changes throughout the game, but in violet because of the multiple campaigns, there was always something to do, something to work towards, even then there's things like the picnic feature to mess around with, photo mode, finding collectables for the legendaries, and more.
And yes, the music is great, some really good tracks in here.
Now again the game is far from perfect, first off this game is butt ugly, apart from the very rare instance it for some reason looks good, the game is very bitty and low poly, with obvious repeated, low quality textures to boot. Here's the strange thing though, the pokemon models are the best they've been in the main series games, with more realistic and detailed textures and a seemingly higher poly count, I say that because some pokemon like gyarados look really... uncompressed? I'm not sure how to describe but he looked a lot more detailed and higher poly than everyone else, and it caused the game to really lag in my case, and yes, the game can be quite laggy indeed. The humans arent that bad too, I really dig some of the designs but man the clothing options for our character suck, you see all these cool designs for the npcs yet you're stuck in a uniform for the whole thing.
It's not just bugs that are wrong with the game however, while I mentioned the 3 campaigns had a good story, the gameplay for em is... ok but its very schizophrenic, like one minute it's a decent challenge and a fun time, then the next it's propper easy and boring, I'd say my favourite was the team star bases and least favourite were the titans.
Because this game came out right after legends (and was probably in development at the same time) they couldn't exactly translate what worked in legends over to this game, so it leaves this awkward mish mash where legends does some things better whereas violet does some thing better, for example I think the core gameplay of legends is better, the catching mechanics and battle system were done better in that game, however on the flip side, violet has a batter story and more things to do. This is what I meant by when I said I can see the potential, if they gave themselves enough time and combined what worked in this game and legends into one grand adventure, it'd probably be the best pokemon game, and just a great game in general, but as it stands, these 2 games are different things that are alike.
And yeah that's pretty much it, overall the game is far from perfect as I've said but I'd be lying if I said I didn't have an overall decent time with it, I hate myself for saying this because of the games state and the fact that instead of fixing the game they've already made dlc for the bloody thing, which is all sorts of scummy, but what can I say, I enjoyed myself enough to warrant a recommendation if you're a pokemon fan, if you're not, you probably wont stick around for very long.
I... actually found it to be a decent time, at a first glance the game seems to be nothing more than a shameless cash grab that was rushed out to meet a yearly deadline, well, I say that but we got a whopping 3 pokemon games in a single year, sure bdsp wasn't directly from gamefreak but still. Because of this the game is quite buggy in terms of graphics, frame rate etc., and while I didn't run into any game breaking bugs, a quick search online will show the game at its worst.
It's really a shame too because the game has some good ideas, the open world format needs work sure, but I see the potential here, I had a good time exploring, catching & battling pokemon, finding items and so on, again the open world is far from perfect, it's quite barren at times, pokemon spawn in very weirdly, and I didn't find much enjoyment in looking around most of the towns.
The story is actually pretty good, miles better than some of the previous games, it's split into 3 parts with them all coming together towards the end and while the gym route is just the same ol' beat the gyms and elite 4 in terms of plot, the other 2 are actually good, well written and even a bit emotional at times.
Speaking of the 3 campaigns, I was truly never really bored with the game in terms of things to do, with some past entries, even legends, I found myself getting bored towards the middle because with pokemon once you've played one you've played em all really, not much changes throughout the game, but in violet because of the multiple campaigns, there was always something to do, something to work towards, even then there's things like the picnic feature to mess around with, photo mode, finding collectables for the legendaries, and more.
And yes, the music is great, some really good tracks in here.
Now again the game is far from perfect, first off this game is butt ugly, apart from the very rare instance it for some reason looks good, the game is very bitty and low poly, with obvious repeated, low quality textures to boot. Here's the strange thing though, the pokemon models are the best they've been in the main series games, with more realistic and detailed textures and a seemingly higher poly count, I say that because some pokemon like gyarados look really... uncompressed? I'm not sure how to describe but he looked a lot more detailed and higher poly than everyone else, and it caused the game to really lag in my case, and yes, the game can be quite laggy indeed. The humans arent that bad too, I really dig some of the designs but man the clothing options for our character suck, you see all these cool designs for the npcs yet you're stuck in a uniform for the whole thing.
It's not just bugs that are wrong with the game however, while I mentioned the 3 campaigns had a good story, the gameplay for em is... ok but its very schizophrenic, like one minute it's a decent challenge and a fun time, then the next it's propper easy and boring, I'd say my favourite was the team star bases and least favourite were the titans.
Because this game came out right after legends (and was probably in development at the same time) they couldn't exactly translate what worked in legends over to this game, so it leaves this awkward mish mash where legends does some things better whereas violet does some thing better, for example I think the core gameplay of legends is better, the catching mechanics and battle system were done better in that game, however on the flip side, violet has a batter story and more things to do. This is what I meant by when I said I can see the potential, if they gave themselves enough time and combined what worked in this game and legends into one grand adventure, it'd probably be the best pokemon game, and just a great game in general, but as it stands, these 2 games are different things that are alike.
And yeah that's pretty much it, overall the game is far from perfect as I've said but I'd be lying if I said I didn't have an overall decent time with it, I hate myself for saying this because of the games state and the fact that instead of fixing the game they've already made dlc for the bloody thing, which is all sorts of scummy, but what can I say, I enjoyed myself enough to warrant a recommendation if you're a pokemon fan, if you're not, you probably wont stick around for very long.
Oh look it's the greatest game of all time
I love this game, the gameplay is amazing, a bit janky by today's standards sure but the speed levels are top notch, fast and rewarding gameplay, the mech levels are good, getting high scores locking onto everything will never get boring, and the treasure hunting levels are well done too, exploring these creative locations is very immersive and fun. The bosses are well designed too, the rival battles may be jank but I love how the game keeps you engaged by having the cutscenes directly cut to the action, The main bosses are really fun, the definition of simple and effective.
There's also just a lot of good content, Boss rush, 2player, missions, the ranking system and the chao garden, the chao garden alone is like a completely different game, but it ties into the main game incredibly well.
The story is one of my favourites, high stakes, but doesn't take itself super seriously, it strikes a good balance. Tons of iconic quoteable moments, from the start of the game right to the end, the story is simply a work of art.
The music is the best in the series, mainly rock but there's also jazz, techno, rap, etc. The main themes of the characters are great too, Live and learn is basically the main theme of the series at this point.
What I really admire about the game is just how well it's designed, how it encourages replaying it over and over for high scores and unlockables, it all just loops over so well, it's designed to be played for hours on end, for years to come, you may struggle at first, but once you get good, the game becomes super enjoyable.
Anything I can say bad? Uh... mad space mission 4 A rank, nuff said.
Overall, sa2 is my favourite game of all time, doesn't matter which version you play, it all comes down to what I look for in a video game, just a fun time I can sit down and get immersed in, it doesn't have to be the most complex story driven cinematic masterpiece you've ever played, just as long as it's fun, that's all that matters.
I love this game, the gameplay is amazing, a bit janky by today's standards sure but the speed levels are top notch, fast and rewarding gameplay, the mech levels are good, getting high scores locking onto everything will never get boring, and the treasure hunting levels are well done too, exploring these creative locations is very immersive and fun. The bosses are well designed too, the rival battles may be jank but I love how the game keeps you engaged by having the cutscenes directly cut to the action, The main bosses are really fun, the definition of simple and effective.
There's also just a lot of good content, Boss rush, 2player, missions, the ranking system and the chao garden, the chao garden alone is like a completely different game, but it ties into the main game incredibly well.
The story is one of my favourites, high stakes, but doesn't take itself super seriously, it strikes a good balance. Tons of iconic quoteable moments, from the start of the game right to the end, the story is simply a work of art.
The music is the best in the series, mainly rock but there's also jazz, techno, rap, etc. The main themes of the characters are great too, Live and learn is basically the main theme of the series at this point.
What I really admire about the game is just how well it's designed, how it encourages replaying it over and over for high scores and unlockables, it all just loops over so well, it's designed to be played for hours on end, for years to come, you may struggle at first, but once you get good, the game becomes super enjoyable.
Anything I can say bad? Uh... mad space mission 4 A rank, nuff said.
Overall, sa2 is my favourite game of all time, doesn't matter which version you play, it all comes down to what I look for in a video game, just a fun time I can sit down and get immersed in, it doesn't have to be the most complex story driven cinematic masterpiece you've ever played, just as long as it's fun, that's all that matters.
2019
Honestly a solid kart racer, while I haven't played much of the story mode (I really can't be bothered lol) I did complete the grand prix mode, and had a good time, it's definitely a step down from transformed, I feel like dropping the other SEGA ips wasn't the best move as I felt it gave the series its own identity, different from the likes of Mario Kart and Crash Team Racing. The game is definitely more safe in that regard, it's a pure kart racer, only sonic characters, no transforming vehicles/ tracks and items to use.
That said the gameplay is solid, no complaints there, the music and visuals are great for sure, and the tracks for the most part are fun, bar a few stinkers.
My main problems comes from the lack of good content, now yes there is technically a lot to unlock, car parts mainly, but in terms of the actual game, there's really not much, story mode is eh and the online was dead not long after launch, leaving only local co op (which I haven't experienced) and grand prix. I also think the characters are, questionable, like sure there's team sonic, team dark, but then there's team rose with Amy, big and... 3 Chao, I like chao but, what happend to cream and cheese? Vector just gets dumped with silver and blaze and zavok working with eggman and metal sonic makes zero sense.
Overall tho, a solid kart racer, definitely get it on sale if ya can, but the game is fun, charming and a good time, not very long lived but still.
That said the gameplay is solid, no complaints there, the music and visuals are great for sure, and the tracks for the most part are fun, bar a few stinkers.
My main problems comes from the lack of good content, now yes there is technically a lot to unlock, car parts mainly, but in terms of the actual game, there's really not much, story mode is eh and the online was dead not long after launch, leaving only local co op (which I haven't experienced) and grand prix. I also think the characters are, questionable, like sure there's team sonic, team dark, but then there's team rose with Amy, big and... 3 Chao, I like chao but, what happend to cream and cheese? Vector just gets dumped with silver and blaze and zavok working with eggman and metal sonic makes zero sense.
Overall tho, a solid kart racer, definitely get it on sale if ya can, but the game is fun, charming and a good time, not very long lived but still.
Ok I'm a bit late writing this so my memory is a bit fuzzy but I'll try and summarise the best I can.
I can't exactly say much on the originals, nor platinum, as I've never played them, so this is solely going off bdsp, and honestly I thought the game was decent.
It's your standard Pokémon experience so ya know what your in for as soon as ya start, while I enjoy Pokémon I have noticed I tend to get bored towards the later half, as the game doesn't really change all that much.
Bdsp brings over most of the modern qol updates, xp share, HMs etc. Which some people don't like but I appreciate, and will make me always prefer remakes over the originals, as I can't stand the originals and their clunkiness lol
I found the story to be ok, stop the evil team and get the gym badges.
The gameplay is fine, I found sinnoh fun enough to travel, if a bit awkward at times, the music is great and visuals are hit or miss, sometimes the game looks nice, and other times looks pretty bad.
Unfortunately I can't exactly remember much as I played it a while ago at this point, though I suppose that means the game isn't very memorable.
Overall, a decent time, I really don't know what else to say lol.
I can't exactly say much on the originals, nor platinum, as I've never played them, so this is solely going off bdsp, and honestly I thought the game was decent.
It's your standard Pokémon experience so ya know what your in for as soon as ya start, while I enjoy Pokémon I have noticed I tend to get bored towards the later half, as the game doesn't really change all that much.
Bdsp brings over most of the modern qol updates, xp share, HMs etc. Which some people don't like but I appreciate, and will make me always prefer remakes over the originals, as I can't stand the originals and their clunkiness lol
I found the story to be ok, stop the evil team and get the gym badges.
The gameplay is fine, I found sinnoh fun enough to travel, if a bit awkward at times, the music is great and visuals are hit or miss, sometimes the game looks nice, and other times looks pretty bad.
Unfortunately I can't exactly remember much as I played it a while ago at this point, though I suppose that means the game isn't very memorable.
Overall, a decent time, I really don't know what else to say lol.
Legends arceus, a game I'm sure most of us were worried about given the trailers iffy presentation, mostly with the graphics, but I'm happy to say that legends is a decent game, not the best game ever, but good enough to where I think you can have a good time with it.
First the good stuff, I quite enjoyed the gameplay, not perfect but a step in the right direction, I thought catching pokemon was the best its been, you can do it the old way, sneak up on em, stun them, lure them, etc. making every encounter unique depending on your playstyle, I also liked battling, the whole strong and agile style is cool, adding another layer of strategy to battles, as now your or the opposing pokemon can attack multiple times if they're fast enough, The story may not be super interesting for the most part, but I thought the stuff towards the end was well done. My favourite parts were the bosses, I wont go into detail here for spoiler sake, but trust me, you'll like em. Post game was decent too and shiny hunting is quite fun this time around, with clear indication that a shiny has spawned, a sound effect plays and they sparkle, so they're hard to miss thankfully.
Now with all that said this game is far from perfect, one of my biggest gripes is that the game doesn't really change much as you go along, apart from gaining different ride pokemon, the game doesn't exactly throw anything new or challenging as you progress, if ya don't like what ya see in the first open area, you probably wont like this game, luckily I did so I pressed on, but a change in pace would have been nice, I did find myself getting bored in a few instances. Speaking of bored, the environments are not anything to write home about, pretty generic landscapes across the board, I know this is set long ago, but there really is not much to look at and go "wow that looks cool, lets explore it!", now if you know your sinnoh lore then you may catch some recognisable landmarks sure, but seeing as that's not the case for everyone (me), the world for the most part just came off as kinda lame and empty with a few decent landmarks. Then of course there's the graphics, which are straight up ugly, not all the time but for the majority of my playthrough, I couldn't help notice the repeated blurry textures, the clipping of objects and so on. The music is probably good, I say that because every time you engage with a pokemon, a different theme plays, and I don't just mean when you battle them, if you're too close and they spot you and try to attack, the theme changes, which happens a lot, I'm sure the music is nice, but for the overworld at least, nothing exacty sticks out. The game can be quite janky too, sometimes things such as catching or the battle order mechanic just don't work, and other oddities too, nothing too bad but still. As I said earlier, the games story for the most part is nothing to write home about, the tutorial is way too long and after that the story just kinda fades into the background, though the characters will constantly remind you of certain events which does indeed get annoying after a bit. Lastly the gameplay in terms of moving around the world isn't super fun, it works but movement is super basic, you can run, crouch and roll, and thats it, even the ride pokemon are super basic and come with their own oddities.
But overall, I had a decent time with legends arceus, it's far from perfect but I think if gamefreak is given enough time to work on these, then I think we could end up with something truly great, as it stands, legends arceus is a fun enough time for any pokemon fan to play at least once, but if the gameplay doesn't look appealing, then there's not exaclty much here to change your mind.
First the good stuff, I quite enjoyed the gameplay, not perfect but a step in the right direction, I thought catching pokemon was the best its been, you can do it the old way, sneak up on em, stun them, lure them, etc. making every encounter unique depending on your playstyle, I also liked battling, the whole strong and agile style is cool, adding another layer of strategy to battles, as now your or the opposing pokemon can attack multiple times if they're fast enough, The story may not be super interesting for the most part, but I thought the stuff towards the end was well done. My favourite parts were the bosses, I wont go into detail here for spoiler sake, but trust me, you'll like em. Post game was decent too and shiny hunting is quite fun this time around, with clear indication that a shiny has spawned, a sound effect plays and they sparkle, so they're hard to miss thankfully.
Now with all that said this game is far from perfect, one of my biggest gripes is that the game doesn't really change much as you go along, apart from gaining different ride pokemon, the game doesn't exactly throw anything new or challenging as you progress, if ya don't like what ya see in the first open area, you probably wont like this game, luckily I did so I pressed on, but a change in pace would have been nice, I did find myself getting bored in a few instances. Speaking of bored, the environments are not anything to write home about, pretty generic landscapes across the board, I know this is set long ago, but there really is not much to look at and go "wow that looks cool, lets explore it!", now if you know your sinnoh lore then you may catch some recognisable landmarks sure, but seeing as that's not the case for everyone (me), the world for the most part just came off as kinda lame and empty with a few decent landmarks. Then of course there's the graphics, which are straight up ugly, not all the time but for the majority of my playthrough, I couldn't help notice the repeated blurry textures, the clipping of objects and so on. The music is probably good, I say that because every time you engage with a pokemon, a different theme plays, and I don't just mean when you battle them, if you're too close and they spot you and try to attack, the theme changes, which happens a lot, I'm sure the music is nice, but for the overworld at least, nothing exacty sticks out. The game can be quite janky too, sometimes things such as catching or the battle order mechanic just don't work, and other oddities too, nothing too bad but still. As I said earlier, the games story for the most part is nothing to write home about, the tutorial is way too long and after that the story just kinda fades into the background, though the characters will constantly remind you of certain events which does indeed get annoying after a bit. Lastly the gameplay in terms of moving around the world isn't super fun, it works but movement is super basic, you can run, crouch and roll, and thats it, even the ride pokemon are super basic and come with their own oddities.
But overall, I had a decent time with legends arceus, it's far from perfect but I think if gamefreak is given enough time to work on these, then I think we could end up with something truly great, as it stands, legends arceus is a fun enough time for any pokemon fan to play at least once, but if the gameplay doesn't look appealing, then there's not exaclty much here to change your mind.