People say comfy or cozy when describing this game. I'd call it zen-like. There are a handful of games that I go back to constantly when I want to relax and zone-out by playing a podcast in the background and playing on auto-pilot. Binding of Isaac, Risk of Rain 2, Monster Hunter, and this game served the same purpose. But it didn't last that long. Unlike the other games where I can feel a sense of progression, variety, and accomplishment, the only real progression in this game is getting new skins or trying to beat your previous high-score. So while it was nice for the first 6 hours to play this and zone-out I eventually just got tired and wanted to do something else with my time. It made me appreciate those other games more and realize why I always go back to them and have hundreds of hours in each.

But I will say it is very satisfying to get very far in the game. I didn't get good enough to have over a hundred tiles at once, but seeing other people's gameplay is crazy when they expand so far. When you get to that point the game really is beautiful to look at.

Short, sweet and silly RPG experience. It is very easy and perfect for a first timer but the difficulty doesn't take away from the experience. To me the game is worth playing for the comedy and the game's soundtrack alone. This game is genuinely funny where I ended up actually laughing out loud at some parts. A lot of memorable moments from that alone. But the soundtrack is also so good. Yoko Shimomura is one of my favorite video game composers of all time and hearing her work here for the first time remastered was a treat where I was okay having the boss battle theme stuck in my head for a week because it's just that good. I also appreciate the game for being short, just wish it wasn't 60 bucks.

It's a fun, brand new 2D mario game. Something we haven't gotten since New Super Mario Bros. U for the WiiU in 2012 (unless you want to count Super Mario Run or Mario Maker 2). I don't have a lot to say, just that the online functionality was my favorite part of the experience. Finding comraderie in random people you run into as you're both completing a level, where you're rewarded for helping eachother out and even ending a level together, gave some memorable moments where I only got through some levels due to someone else helping me or a standee being in the perfect spot. I initially played with the online off but I'm glad I tried it and kept it on all the way to the final boss fight, only turning it off for the final challenge guantlet.

Aside from that, very easy to 100% clear and was even worth doing. Just like 2D mario games before, this is an easy buy for anybody who owns a switch or is thinking of gifting a switch and wants to give a game that's not Mario Kart or Zelda.

The peak of the series remastered. Everything from the original is improved from the level variety, controlling the Karamari, the object variety, and level gimmicks/challenges. The first game will always be my favorite because it was the one I grew up with and I always keep coming back to it, but I can't ignore how this game improved on just about everything that made the first game so fun and memorable. And yes this game's soundtrack is on par with the original and is overlooked on just how good it is. Songs like Baby Universe and my favorite Everlasting Love are just as memorable as songs like Lonely Rolling Star and my other favorite Cherry Tree Times from the first game.

Simply put the only major problem for me is when you have to take on multiple enemies at once. The lock-on feature is the classic zelda lock-on but even back in BOTW it was obvious this needed to be improved to a more modern lock-on function that allows you to easily swap between enemies on the fly while in the middle of combat. The fact they didn't improve this is one of the biggest let-downs. You'll probably still be able to tank most of the hits anyway with high defense and the overobundance of hearts you'll have by the end game, but it's still dissapointing to be getting hit by enemies just because there is more than one attacking you and the lock-on is as janky as it is.

Aside from that I have a lot of minor complaints like how they reused the original overworld from BOTW, how the depths feels large but too empty, or how the UI and control scheme is the weirdest, most unintuitive one in the series yet. Like seriously I gave this to my cousin who's only ever played Twilight Princess and even with my help he still got frustrated with how the controls work, especially when trying to attach something to an arrow. But the first 40 hours of this game was a really memorable experience of pure adventure. Just wandering around and discovering what I can do and not wanting to stop. That feeling of exploration I never got from any other open world game since BOTW and that's why a lot of this game's shortcomings can be ignored.

My recommendation, play the game casually and don't bother going and completing everything just to fill out a checklist. As someone who's played the game for 275 hours, the most fun I had playing the game was those first 40 to 60 hours before I had seen everthing the game has to offer and settled into a pattern. Also I didn't go and collect all the Korok seeds like I did in BOTW, only enough to fully upgrade my inventory and that was still way too much. This game is long, much longer than BOTW, so 100 percenting this game is an even crazier task than before. Definitely not worth it.

This game turned out to be a lot longer than first impressions seem to give. There is a lot to do and the timed challenge modes in the game being my favorite easily gives this game a lot of replayability. Took 48 hours to 100 percent complete.
My only 2 major gripes is that the pink, white, and purple pikmin only see any real use in the late game at least 20 hours in. It's ok though because the challenge modes make good use of them in really hard puzzles to solve which was very fun to figure out even before they became relevant in the main story.

But the auto targeting in this game SUCKS. Now here's the thing, in Pikmin 3 deluxe they had the best lock on feature in the series. You have a little blue arrow over the item you would lock on if you decide to turn it on, but it never forced that lock-on without you explicitly choosing to do it letting you have full control over the cursor. Why they decided to remove this and replace it with something much worse especially sense a lot of changes and improvements from Pikmin 3 deluxe were also carried over into this game except this one is a mystery to me. So now the cursor snaps to anything in an instant whether you want it to or not and it's really annoying especially when you end up aiming at the wrong enemy and have your Pikmin die because of it. For the most part it won't matter but after 20 hours of this it really gets on your nerves.

Even with that though the game isn't ruined by it, and I think this is the best entrypoint into the Pikmin franchise for newcomers. The dungeons from 2 return better than before from the simple fact they aren't randomly generated anymore. All the Pikmin colors are relevant depending on where you are in the story. My last minor complaints would go to how the dog being the new gimmick in this game can make the game way easier than it already is if you max out its upgrades. But that's if you upgrade him which is something you can deliberately avoid doing just to make the game harder which is exactly what I did. There is also the annoying thing where you can't throw as many Pikmin as you want onto something anymore. The game will stop you when you've thrown exactly enough to carry something, making you wait a little bit before you can throw more. Again in Pikmin 3 deluxe they made this change but exclusive to swarm which was really convenient, letting you swarm if you want the exact amount or throw Pikmin if you want to go over the amount. I understand it's for convenience where it sometimes helps in the timed challenges, but I'm still glad it's the only game that has this.

I was really looking forward to this game when it was first announced and played it from beginning to end for a straight week sometimes for 9-hour periods. I'm happy that Pikmin came back after waiting for so long.

TLDR: ARR starts slow but gets good. I played and dropped this game the first time before the story got good which is a shame but made the second time around 8 months later an even better experience. I would recommend anybody to play this game if they're willing to be patient when it comes to the story becoming interesting and if they have somebody to play this game with. It's not necessary and this game can honestly be played solo but you're missing out on a lot if you're not interacting with anybody in an MMO. I loved it and I can't wait to start Heavensward when I have the time to devote myself to it.


I'll use this space to give my thoughts and experience with A Realm Reborn. I played this game on a whim because a streamer I followed started playing it. This was back in Jun 2022 and I was very lost, alone and only got through the first 40 levels before dropping it. This was the first time I ever spent more than 2 hours in an MMO. Mind you I dropped it because MHRise Sunbreak came out but the entirety of the month of June was FFXIV.

Fast-forward to February 22 2023 and I pick the game up again after being gone for about 8 months. I have a lot of free time with Spring Break so I wanted to go through it again from the very beginning with a brand new character. Chose Lalafell, went through the first 40 levels again faster than before (like I took weeks going through that the first time, second time took only 4 days) and actually really enjoyed the game for the first time. I mean the very first time I had fun but I was also completely lost. This time I had a basic understanding and was able to worry less about doing something wrong and get started right away with getting through the msqs.

Here's the thing though, and I'm not going to spoil any story, but little did I know that the first time I dropped this game was right before the story starts to get good for me. I dropped it at the part you're asked do a long string of fetch quests at Costa del sol. You know the one around lvl 30. Up until that point I've been skimming through and taking in the story at a brisk pace but after that I started to actually care what was happening because it was genuinely surprising. I started caring about the characters who are supposed to be your friends, the relationship between the nations, the leaders, the politics, the empire, just the entire story. I was invested in it for the first time and it was great. Add on to that the dungeons and bosses only got better and of course I used the next week and a half of my life to get through all of ARR.

If I had to sum up the experience it would be pretty well worth the 60 hours I put into it. I could've gone faster but I didn't because I was genuinely having a great time and was interested in trying out things aside from the main story quests. Aside from the very slow start to the story and even slower progression through the first 40 levels or so, the only other complaint I have is related to being a free to play player. Now I already bought this game on sale and will activate it when I have more time to devote myself to it and I'm really looking forward to that, but playing through this game without the ability to talk to random people is kinda sad. It just makes you feel even lonelier than usual when you're surrounded by people but not really able to talk to them. There were several times I wish I could've have sent a tell to someone who was really nice or helpful but couldn't. That I think is the biggest disadvantage as a free to play player, being separated from the community. It's obvious really but I would recommend somebody who is trying this out to do it with a friend or join a community on discord willing to help a sprout out or teach them the ropes. You will get a lot more out of this game if you have somebody to play with. But again that's obvious, it's an MMO. Experiencing it firsthand really did make me understand the importance of it. You really can treat this game as a solo player experience, it's probably the best MMO to do just that, but I feel that the game should be played trying to make some sort of connection with other people. Hell man one of the most memorable moments for me was when I was emoting a new player and said hi to them when I was leveling an alt job. Just simple random interactions like that is what I find valuable in this game.

On a final note, the ARR post-quests leading to Heavensward I felt was a real slog. It was a lot to do and really took the majority of my time getting through during the week and a half I spent on this game. But, and this is a big but, it was worth it. The payoffs, the drama, the way it perfectly sets up so many things for Heavensward was so good. Also the crystal tower raids were the first time I was ever part of a mmo raid event and I liked it. They're basically baby's first raid level of difficulty but it was still a great experience. And I only died once.
Would I recommend playing this game. Of course. I would do it though with 2 caveats. You need to be patient for the story and gameplay to get really good because you are very limited at the start. And that you should really play this with a friend who is also as clueless as you to be along for the ride and make it easier to get through the slow parts or with someone who is experienced and can help you get through the slow parts faster and even enlighten you on the dozens of other cool stuff you can do that you would almost never figure out on your own. Like I still remember the first time I went to the gold saucer and it was a pretty memorable experience, especially because I stumbled upon it by accident which made it even better. The story and this game is worth your time no doubt about it.

I can't wait to start Heavensward when I can devote my life to it just like I did ARR.