A WARM HUG
Shulk in smash bros. I’m like, “ok cool. a man who can see the future and tells his attacks in an extremely British voice, that’s nice.” Pyra and Mythra get added to smash. I’m like, “ok cool. Two anime wifus as one person, that’s cool. I want to learn more about them.” I start watching a walkthrough of the Xenoblade Chronicles 2 because I didn’t have $60 for the game. I start talking about how I’m interested in the game and my friend buys me Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition for the Nintendo Switch for my birthday and I drop the walkthrough. I start playing the game, I’m like, “ok cool. I auto attack and choose special arts and abilities when I’m in position. I don’t think I like this.” I drop the game. 2 Years later, I pick the game back up again and totally ate it up. Folks, this game was so good, I can not fathom how much I liked this game.
Let me get into it.

The combat is great. I originally put the game down because I was avoiding all the enemies because I didn’t want to waste time. I wasn’t leveling up and when I went to fight my first “boss” I got rocked. I didn’t like it. All I wanted to do was enjoy a story, not fight some machines. When I came back to it, I switched on casual mode and had a blast. It was smooth and fluid, fun and satisfying. I was a master at it, I no one could touch me. The whole “break, topple, and daze” system is really the bread and butter of the combat system. The UI is presided in a very clear and concise way for satisfying play and I was never really confused on what to do or where to go. The only couple of gripes I had with the battle system is that some enemies and bosses were immune to the “break, topple and daze” thing. Don’t do that, it was just annoying, not changing. And the other was that sometimes I would inflict break on a boss, and my other party members didn’t get the memo. The party member UI is a little bit stupid but that’s AOK!

Story (no spoilers)
I cannot believe this game. How can we have the most touching scene in a video with the stupidest British voices ever and it still work? How? All jokes aside, this game warmed my heart is much and I have no question about it. One of the reasons I love “The World Ends With You” so much is because it had hard religious undertones and I’m a sucker for that. So it’s no surprise when they start throwing around words like Apocrypha and gods, I was all in. Every character motivation felt real and genuine and I loved every character. The game also plays on your expectations a bit but throws you for a loop. The finale of this game was standing ovation, 10/10 blown away. You all know what I’m talking about, but the narrative chops that are introduced in the final 10 minutes of the game is wild. The game paced so expertly and perfectly, I just want to give this game a warm hug. That’s what this game is, a warm hug. When the final song played, I actually got emotional. I have never been prouder in a cast of characters than this game. 👏 👏 👏

This was the first ever game I beat. Like legitimately from start to finish, understanding the story and everything, and what a first game it was. From the opening to the presentation, I love every little bit of this game. I think a little bit of a hot take, but I actually like the “boss fights” in this game.
So I revisited it now to see what my thoughts are after I have more of an appreciation for the medium in general. I’ll try not to make this too much of a nostalgia trip, but this game mean so much to me.

OST
Holy ***. What an amazing soundtrack. Perfect for studying and amazing vibes. Every song is appropriate for the setting and mood. The composer, I think, is a genius.

Gameplay
I think this really works. It’s an amazing metroidvania with beautiful settings and the smoothes animations I’ve ever seen. Moving around in this game feels so good and fluid. The pacing of abilities was great and made you feel powerful, but still left you wanting more. I know people have gripes with the combat, saying it’s too simple. I adore this combat. It’s not the focus for sure, and it does just feel like a place holder, but that’s not why I’m here. The “boss fights” are an interesting thing. The game has a combat system, but the boss fights are, “the environment is getting f**ed and you need to split.” You just run. Light spoilers, but the first boss fight is a location is being flooded with water and you need to get out as fast as you can, and that’s with all 3 of the “bosses” I know people bump up against that, but I ABSOLUTELY love that about the game. I think it’s an interesting take on the formula and super tense. The flooding tree will always be ingrained in my mind forever.

Ability’s
I’ll just point out the ones I have a conversation about.
wall climb is useful, but feels a little awkward.
Dash is the radest **** ever. It’s so satisfying down to the sound it makes. I use it so much just because it feels so dang good it rocket off enemies.
Double jump is so valuable. Again, everything the game does is so satisfying.
The ground pound makes you feel like a powerhouse every time you used it.
The feather is a plot point so not a lot of great uses there, but still feels good to glide everywhere.
Wall climb is kinda forgettable. By the time I got it, I was so used to doing the wall jump that I just never used the wall climb unless I was using the next ability.
TheabilityItotallyforgotthenameofbutyou
knowwhatI’mtalkingaboutifyouplayedthe
game. You cling onto a wall then you point the character away from it, then you launch off the wall with incredible power. This also works on the ground to launch in the air.
The ability’s are the bread and butter of this game in my opinion. I just can’t get over all of this game.

Story
I got so emotional at the end of the game. The story’s nothing huge, but if you’re invested, it is all worth it. This was the game the woke me up and I was like, “whoa! Games can be this?!”

Setting
The art is the best. I feel like I’m playing a landscape painting. The settings in this game are amazing and unforgettable. I love them all EXCEPT FOR THE FREAKING MISTY WOODS PLACE. SCREW THAT PLACE! But other then that, this is one of my favorite worlds.

All in all, this game rocks. Moon studios is amazing and I super can’t wait for No rest for the wicked to come out.

I was scrolling through my YouTube feed a couple years ago and I saw an essay on this game. I did not click on the video and thought to myself, “huh, what a nice mod/fan game this is.” Not realizing until a few years later that this is an official licensed Nintendo game. I love this game and I think it’s genius. But the real take away from this is, I wish this happened more. I wish more big wig companies like Microsoft and Sony would license there IPs to indie developers for creative projects. And maybe the game didn’t sell well enough so Nintendo dropped this idea, but I want to see idie developers with the Pokemon IP to see what wild things they come up with like this game. Nintendo, stop teaming up with Ubisoft, give Super Giant the Mario IP and see where it takes you.

I reviewed kingdom hearts as a whole, but I want to focus more on a couple of games. Straight up, this game made me cry, and I’m not a very water works kind of person. But every down to the story and music just hits so hard. While the whole game is inherently a recon, it’s kingdom hearts, so I can excuse it. Ever sense kingdom hearts 2, Roxie’s has always been one of my favorite characters in fiction and this game only helps it. Without gettin into spoilers, the narrative if sad and hard hitting for most people, and especially me. It (kinda) blended seamlessly into kingdom hearts 2 and chain of memories. And if you played this game, chances are, kingdom hearts 3 worked for you. All in all, it’s not great, but I love the crap out of this game.