This might be the perfect game in terms of quality, its the year 2023 and can you believe they made a fully complete fighting game. For its price you're getting one of the most fun and easy to get into fighting games of this generation, the dlc is just that, downloadable content and is nothing that really feels like things that should be in at launch like most games tend to do. I'm not a big fighting game guy but this game really got me into it and got me to want to learn how to play and how its mechanics worked. It's one of the most stylistic and visually pleasing games i've played this year and I cannot recommend it enough for those who are curious. Absolutely masterful.

Man, idk. Everything basically feels like a step up in terms of how BOTW laid out the foundation for this genre but I think its more of the same. So after beating this game what do I think? Well I think I never want to see this style of Zelda game for at least a decade or two. These two games are good enough to act as a duology on their own. We don't need a third one with how well this game ended. Please god don't oversaturate this series with more games like this. Such a weird thing to complain about right, but i'm serious I would hope the next game is a traditional styled Zelda game or a new thing entirely because these games are good on their own. If you didn't enjoy BOTW you probably wont change your mind then

This game is so much fun! With a guide!
Ok but for real, this one hasn't aged quite well and I don't think its a surprise to say this game is not that great. It's impossible to play without a guide due to how unforgiving it can be. Even with max heart containers I was still dying left and right to poor enemy placement and some really annoying enemies in general. It's the first Zelda and boy does it feel like it, paving the way for better games to come. Play it if you don't have anything else to do, otherwise, you're not missing out on much.

This game is fun! With a guide too!
Ok but honestly I did actually slightly for real this time like what I was playing more than I was with Zelda 1, not sure how hot of a take this is but I enjoyed Zelda 2 far more than I did Zelda 1. Once you really get past that tough as nails introduction the dungeons become pretty straight forward and having this game have like a leveling system reminds me of those very old jrpgs and that aspect was great. I'd say above everything this game is just mid, like not a real spectacular game but a game I didn't mind beating this time around and didn't actually cause me any frustration unlike Zelda 1 did.

This game was one I had put off many, many, MANY, times. From the very beginning I knew this game was not for me and it certainly was not on the level of the previous Xenoblade Chronicles. Sure it had its faults but the first Xenoblade Chronicles is an experience I hold near and dear to my heart. When the press release footage and trailers got shown of this game I was just simply confused at everything I was seeing. What is this shift in art direction? Why is everyone look more anime than usual? Is that girls boobs bigger than her entire head? What in the actual hell is this voice acting. Questions that just formed in my head as I was watching, but you know, it's not good to judge a book by its cover. So I decided i'd pick up the game and see if maybe those thoughts of mine will change. I popped it in my switch the morning of December 25th 2017 and...
I put it down like 3 hours into the game. I just couldn't accept these changes, the protagonist literally looked like every other brown haired protag in any game and combined with the awful voice acting and character designs I just couldn't do it. I made it to the fake-out scene where Gramps "dies" and that was the end of it. Guess the Xenoblade Series isn't what I thought it was.

Fast forward to 2023, I had just finished going through Xenoblade 3, which in my opinion is still the greatest game in the series, but knowing this game had many references to 2 made me feel curious, and then I remembered I only put 3 hours into Xenoblade Chronicles 2 so maybe I should actually give it a real chance rather than passing it off as anime cringe. I told my friends about this and they proceeded to tell me if I were to ever go through it I should stream it so they can help me understand more about the game because this games tutorials flat out lie to the player and are just horrible in general, there's no way to view them again. Here we are, years later since my first playthrough, and now that I've finally gotten through the entire thing, what do I think of it? ...eh. It's ok, but let me explain myself. This review will be split into sections because with a big ass jrpg like this I have a lot to say.

Story:
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 no matter how you slice it is going for a completely different crowd in its writing and interaction. The story itself can be classified as a "Xenoblade" story but you only see that after Chapter 5 and then from there the game cuts the bullshit and actually tries to deliver a story worth telling. In my opinion the first 4 chapters are the biggest hurdles you have to go through in order to experience a semblance of interesting storytelling because those 30+ hours were miserable. Chapter 4 has to be the worst chapter in all of Xenoblade history, there's nothing of worth here and it's all pointless anime filler that amounts to nothing. You could remove this from the game and it would change nothing, that's how bad it is. Also it's stupid ass Tora focused and if you know anything about Tora, he's a huge creep who makes little girl robots in his basement like the 50 year old weirdo he is. Absolutely one of the worst characters in the game by far and every time he was on the screen I wish he wasn't. Poppi is ok tho, I feel like if she had to be in the game remove Tora and let her be her own character. But we'll get the characters soon enough.

Gameplay:
The combat in the beginning is so slow and boring, enemies are giant hp sponges and it takes way too long for you to actually start doing interesting things in combat. Ignore what anyone tells you, gacha is and will always be required to progress throughout the story and in the combat itself, it's not simply an optional thing like I was told, its a crucial mechanic you will need to learn and take advantage of in the game. If you don't like gacha in video games then i'm sorry this game will not make you change your mind. One of its biggest flaws is having to be so reliant on it, it locks behind story progression because there are certain field skills you will need to have to bypass areas just to progress the story. Your characters without any blades are useless as they need them to stand a chance to the enemy sponges and perform blade combos. If this doesn't sound fun to you then that's perfectly ok, I just gritted my teeth and just endured the amount of RNG bullshit this game had to be at times. I would have fun during a section and then boom field skills locking out my progression. It's pointless, it's annoying, and quite honestly killed off a lot of my enjoyment of the game. However, the more you progress and the more you go through the game you start to pick up on how it plays and then from there it starts to click, for me, it started to click when I was around level 75. ...which is like at the very near end of the game. jesus christ. Yeah overall the combat is NOT better than 1's in my honest opinion, it's overly simplified and also unnecessarily complex with the gacha management. I didn't even touch upon the poppi system and I don't want to because screw Tora. I didn't find it fun to just farm enemies and rather I did it out of a necessity. If you find this combat fun good for you man, more power to you. (Xenoblade 3 clears tho)

Characters:
Rex is so lame. From the very beginning he's just the same character until the end, he doesn't go through any growth, he doesn't experience anything life changing, he's just the same cardboard cutout protag we've seen done countless times. Except everyone in this game is attracted to him for some reason even though he has no redeeming qualities only other than the fact that he's an optimist. That's it. You cannot tell me straight in the eyes that Rex cares about anyone other than Pyra and Mythra because other than maybe Gramps he's shown no appreciation over his group of comrades he earns throughout the course of the story. In Xenoblade Chronicles 1 you felt like this group know each other, are close friends, have been through a lot, some don't even like each other when they first meet like Reyn and Riki. But as a JRPG group they're believable and everyone has chemistry with each other no matter how you slice it. In this game nobody feels like they know each other and the ones that do know each other are not in the spotlight anyways. Zeke, Morag, and Nia are the definite highlights of this entire game. If you go through the game and don't like these characters then you must not like good writing because man are they the only reasons I kept going. They easily stand out of the main cast and even the antagonists Jin and Malos were just a joy from start to end. That's one thing I will give XC2 credit, it has the BEST villains in all of the series, they're just so much fun to see on screen and someone like Jin has so much personality and story that further adds to his character. Screw it lets do a lightning round on these characters.

Rex: Boring, uninteresting, completely overhyped by his defenders. Is only interesting in Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed (play that one)
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Pyra: The weakest of the female blades and has nothing going for her other than she's nice, if you remove Pyra from the game nothing would change i'm sorry to say. I wish they did more with her. Also has the worst design in the game.
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Mythra: Easily the more interesting aegis and has history with people other than Rex which makes her more nuanced. Would've liked her more if she wasn't forced to fall in love with Rex because of how the game is structured but eh, you can't win them all. Good character tho.
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Nia: Amazing character from start to finish, definitely carried the beginning half of the game. Rex really fumbled with this one, but even as i'm saying this you know he actually didn't.
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Dromarch: A solid character too, no complaints here. I like him :)
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Tora: The worst character in the series, I wish he died somewhere in the story.
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Poppi: Ok, not bad but I hate how she's Toras blade and overly relies on him, even calling him master and that weird shit.
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Morag: YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH BEST GIRL BEST DRIVER WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Amazing design, badass character, should've been the protagonist.
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Brighid: Delightful. I love how much she gasses up her girlfriend, I love them so much.
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Zeke: The REAL protagonist of Zekeblade Chronicles 2, i'm sorry but if you don't think that you're objectively wrong in every single way. He does more than Rex ever does in the story, and actually talks to his companions and isn't just somebody who sits and watches from the sidelines. He carried the show for me, he's got a silly side but he knows when to be serious and his relationship with Pandoria is adorable.
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Pandoria: Pyra done right.
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Jin: The best anti-hero of the game, was really captivated through his own story and I got attached to his character as the story went on. Phenomenal.
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Malos: BEST. VILLIAN. EVER. Malos is a joy to watch from start to finish, there is not a single time where he's on screen and i'm bored he absolutely makes every scene he's in and you can tell with how his voice actor is giving in 100% to really sell us on this character driven by hatred. Peak. Enough said.

Music:
It's Xenoblade man what do you expect me to say, it's peak. Monolift Soft don't miss with these games osts.

Overall Thoughts:
While i'm glad I got to see everything this game had to offer I will admit it was still a mixed bag as I thought it'd be, there were many times where I wanted to quit because the game wasn't engaging enough or the characters were being stupid and annoying. If you really want to see what this game has going for it, and you're willing to put up with more bullshit than you can count. Then go for it, there's stuff here that's actually worth going for but overall I had a mid experience and I don't think i'll ever revisit this one sadly.

Waited on getting all the badges before writing this review, but now that I did I can say that Pikmin 3 Deluxe is definitely worth your time and money. There is just so much content packed into here that there is virtually no reason for you to play the inferior wii u version. While it isn't my favorite Pikmin game in the series, there's a lot of things this game does right and it's definitely still fun to play. This does feel like a beginner friendly Pikmin though despite it being the 3rd game but that's more of a nitpick than anything, getting more people into this series is what we fans want so we don't have to wait a decade for another game.
But yeah, after you buy Pikmin 4 (like you should) go back and give 3 Deluxe a chance if you haven't played it already, it's one you don't want to miss.

This is a miracle game, something that you didn't think would ever come out but now that its here, it's amazing and feels worth the wait. Before you read this review I cannot stress enough how packed this game is with content. For $60 you're getting the best Pikmin game to date. The game does NOT end after reaching credits i'll say that much without spoiling. You will be spending hours and hours on these beautifully crafted levels with so much attention and detail put into them. This game is gorgeous, and is easily one of the best looking games on the switch. I feel like everything they did was optimized and utilized to its fullest potential with the visuals and it's true eye candy. That being said, there were a few nitpicks but those were all very minor and nothing ever made me want to stop playing or believe the design was poorly.
If you're any interested at all with the Pikmin series this one is super beginner friendly, i'd definitely check this one out because on the surface it's like a Yakuza 0. A game where you can go in knowing previous history with the series or you can go blind and find the same amount of enjoyment you just miss out on the callbacks and references. Either way, I love this game and is now my favorite Pikmin game in the series.

Man after beating this game I know there's so much to love and appreciate, the writing is humorous and entertaining, the characters are all charming and witty, the music is grandiose and striking, but what does all of this mean when the controls for this game are horrendously bad. I want to love this game but playing through it was as an exhausting chore that I liked thinking about this game more than I liked actually playing it. I'm sorry but this NEEDS to be on another console other than the 3DS, it's the biggest thing holding it back from greatness. The idea and foundation of this game are solid but I cannot in good faith recommend this to someone who likes having hands. I think if you watched a playthrough or the cutscenes you'll have just as good of an experience, if you don't want to do that proceed with caution, this game is straining on the hands and everyone who made those arthritis jokes is right.
It pains me to give it anything less than 4 stars but it really is that bad to play, I thought at first maybe it's something you get used to but with how this game controls it made it downright annoying trying to do the higher difficulties and it sucks. If they port this to a console with an actual controller we'd be seeing a higher rating but because its stuck on a dead console it's hard for me to give it anything higher than this.
Updating this because I feel like it needs to be said, I'm left-handed, and I've experimented with all of the control styles in this game. If you want my recommendation for all my lefties out there, I did the circle pad for reticle movement and abxy for general movement, with the shoulder buttons acting as the skill selector. While this did help out tremendously for me I lost out on the ability to move in a precise manner, though problem is if you decide to do it the other way then you also lose out on the precise reticle movement. Which both are needed for the sky and ground sections so... pick your poison.

I remember playing this one a lot too back then, and I remember liking it too. Now it's definitely still charming and there is fun to be had. Although I will say this is the start where star coins take a turn for the worst. Instead of being cleverly hidden in NSMB1 they really like to hide these in the copious amounts of invisible walls. Some are obvious but then there are some where it's Zelda 1 levels of bad where the walls look the same as the other one and the only way you'd find it is if you leaned Mario against every wall. In that way, completing NSMBWii can be a drag, but its still NSMB at the end of the day so levels are pretty solid, and there's not a lot here i'd consider terrible.
Plus that was just from playing single player alone, if you played with friends (like the game wants you to) I'd imagine you'd have way more fun.