Finally got around to finishing these.

I had zero exposure to Klonoa before playing these and I was shocked at just how Kirby-coded they are. From enemy to level design, it really feels like the developers wanted to make their own take on that kind of game. And for the most part, it works.

The barebones nature of the first game was way less appealing than the jam packed variety in the second game. It really is a case, in my opinion, where the sequel is just a fully realized version of the first game. Can't see how anyone would prefer the first game tbh.

So yeah, I had fun with these. Much more so with the second game.

When I found out that we wouldn't be getting a new Ratchet game until 2029, I felt the urge to re-visit what I consider to be the best PS2 Ratchet game.

Up Your Arsenal rules and is still a ton of fun to play today. It's not quite as good as some of the later entries, but I love it to bits. The gunplay and movement feel really satisfying. Leveling up guns feels better than ever all the way into Challenge Mode.

God I love this franchise.

I will instantly purchase any high quality looking 3D platformer. It's in my blood. I love these kinds of games.

When I started playing Penny's Big Breakaway, I was not immediately impressed. The controls felt a little wacky and Penny herself, when zoomed in during cutscenes, looks like a rejected muppet. Basically, weird vibes.

But the more I played, the better the controls felt and suddenly everything clicked. I started absolutely ZOOMING through levels effortlessly and it felt amazing. The yo-yo abilities really come together to ensure I was able to traverse large areas quickly and in style.

The game feels like it's made for speedrunning since there's a permanent timer at the bottom of the screen. Even the level design goes along with this. There are so many shortcuts and cool ways to navigate the levels. It's rad.

Oh and the soundtrack is a mixed bag, but when it's good, it's REAL GOOD. Got some ps1/dreamcast vibes from a few tracks. The one in the space book levels was especially great.

Penny's Big Breakaway didn't wow me with it's presentation or it's story (although it's simple, clean and colourful graphics grew on me). But that doesn't matter. It's a game that's really fun to play from start to finish. And for that I'm extremely grateful. If you're in the mood for a very mechanical 3D platformer that's clearable in less than 10 hours, you really can't do much better than Penny's Big Breakaway.

Easily the best 2D Mario since the NSMB era.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a dramatic increase in quality over the mediocre NSMB games. I feel kind of weird starting this off with such a blunt comparison but I think it's important. Wonder really goes back to basics and rejects everything that the NSMB games stood for and because of that it feels like a new fresh starting point for modern 2D Mario games.

Visually, the game is incredible. The animations are very expressive and so are the characters. Mario feels really alive here and that's great. No complaints. It's awesome.

There's something about the level design here that, while often good, never reaches anything more than that. Take the main gimmicks for example. The first one is Elephant Mario. Visually rad but basically just a Mega Mushroom. The other gimmick is the wonder effects that happen in levels. Some levels will have creative musical moments and other levels, the wonder effect will be the most mundane thing you've ever seen. Another thing that Super Mario Bros Wonder does is add a badge system that lets you alter the gameplay in a bunch of different ways. Most of the badges just end up being a way to get extra air time. It's not exactly a creative renaissance.

I was expecting Super Mario Bros Wonder to do to 2D Mario what Odyssey did to 3D Mario. Which is to reinvent the series for the modern day. It does do that to some extent, but it's just so much tamer than I would have liked it to be. Not everything needs to reinvent the wheel, I get that. Maybe the next one will be more than "just" a good 2D Mario game.

I've played Final Fantasy VII Rebirth almost every single day during the month of March and boy do I have a lot to say about it and I have no idea where to begin.

First off, I don't usually spend 100+ hours playing games. I did not expect Rebirth to be this vast. I expected it to be bigger than Remake but Rebirth is on a whole other level. It's a massive game. And that's it's biggest strength and also it's biggest weakness.

I really enjoyed the open world aspect of the game for the most part. Listening to the 10/10 soundtrack while riding a Choboco and mowing down fiends was always fun and something I looked forward to doing (except in Cosmo Canyon. All the homies hate Cosmo Canyon). It goes become quite repetitive early on so the variety that new environments brought were always appreciated. So exploring the world was a big thing that I enjoyed. Rebirth instills this massive feeling of adventure from the get-go and I love that about it. I always felt like I was on this epic quest with a fun party.

Speaking of the party, the interactions amongst the core cast are another highlight of the game. They're at their best when they're bickering or being goofballs. Which happens A TON in the side content, which is why it's worth playing as long as you're having fun. Yuffie especially has protagonist energy throughout the game. Her kit is by far the most complex and rewarding to play and the narrative of the game places her front and centre often, as it should. The other newcomers, Red IX and Cait Sith, are good as well, but are nowhere as endearing as Yuffie. Still, they're fun additions to the crew and I enjoyed them.

The gameplay remains as solid as Remake's was. This battle system is so fun and rewarding to play. But Rebirth's main addition is a shit ton of minigames. I lost count how many there are lol. Some are good, some are great, and some are terrible. It's a real mix of a ton of stuff. There's even a card game called Queen's Blood that I got way too into. I think at least 20 hours of my time on Rebirth is playing Queen's Blood. Although, it eventually got pretty easy once I built a deck that I was comfortable with. So yeah lots of minigames.

Too many minigames even. There comes a point in Rebirth where the minigames, the activities, hell, even the story stuff, just become too much. It's an extremely dense and vast game and it's often not to it's benefit. I barely mentioned the overarching story so far because it's basically a whole lot of nothing. The Dinkleberg Sephiroth plot is not very interesting. Even the Nomura stuff here just feels like Kingdom Hearts at home. The game ends up focusing a ton on Aerith who's just not that interesting (and also sucks to play as during her sections).

It's weird because I was never really motivated to keep playing for the story. I was motivated to keep playing to see more moments where my party would do goofy shit together. I was motivated by the exploration and discoveries I'd make during my travelsAnd that's when Rebirth is at it's best. Even though a lot of the open world has Ubisoft design elements to it, it's still really fun to play. Most of the time.

I probably sound quite harsh on the game but I truly had a lot of fun with it. For a whole month, the world of Final Fantasy VII was a world I looked forward to existing in and being a part of. I'm really underwhelmed by the main narrative but I'd still recommend the journey to those who are willing to invest themselves in it. I'm really stuck in between a 3.5/5 and a 4/5 for this one. I can't decide. I'll let myself come back to change it to whatever one sticks with me when I give the game some distance.

I was in a nostalgic mood and felt like re-visiting this one via the remaster.

It's funny how this game has all of the same problems as I remember, yet I still like it. The atmosphere is cozy, Kat is a fun protagonist and the gravity powers are still unique. No game out there plays quite like Gravity Rush. For better and for worse.

The combat stinks. Going up in the air to either launch a special attack or divekick towards pink balls gets old real fast. I would have MUCH rather Gravity Rush omit combat altogether to having this system in place. The story is also just fine I guess. The comic book cutscenes have a lot of personality to them and do help in setting a whimsical tone to the game. The music also helps a ton in this regard. It's a fun world to be in.

The thing I enjoyed doing the most were the gravity obstacle courses throughout the game. They often required I use the gravity powers in creative ways and were a lot of fun.

I platinumed this over the weekend and had a good time. Here's hoping the Gravity Rush 2 PS5 remaster is real. I'd love to revisit that one as well.

Got through the entirety of Dead Island 2 over the course of a few months with a friend of mine. Pretty good!

I remember feeling so ripped off by the first Dead Island game way back in 2011, so going into this one, my expectations weren't very high. Especially factoring in the whole development hell this game went through.

For game that went through as many development restarts as it did, Dead Island 2 turned out about as good as it possibly could. It's strength and weakness lies in it's simplicity. It's a no-brainer (haha) to pick up and play. Within minutes, I was chucking limbs off of zombies and soaking in the great looking environments. The skill card system is alright and I felt like it added some fun customization options to the combat but it also wasn't very deep. Eventually, the game boils down to just doing big damage numbers to enemies and farming your ultimate attack.

It's maybe 25% too long? I platinumed this in about 25 hours and by the end, it felt like I was doing the same thing over and over again. Dead Island really doesn't change enough from the first few minutes of the game to the last few minutes of the game to make it stand out as something truly great. But the hack and slash mechanics are just fun enough to make this easy to recommend, especially in coop.

Good game. Even better coop. Just don't expect it to do anything too crazy. What you see is what you get with this one.