+two great additions to the series: akiyama and saejima. great eccentric personalities to take over the mantle from kiryu
+saejima's charge moves and tanimura's parry breathe some new life into yakuza's tried-and-true combat
+the best majima boss battle up to this point in the series
+table tennis has been added to yakuza 3's roster of minigames
+ps3 version retains much more jp content than yakuza 3, tho the quiz game is still missing
+hamazaki from yakuza 3 returns surprisingly, and gets a touching redemption arc to boot (for the most part, anyway)
+boxcelios 2!! and the first one returns too as an unlockable
+the non-kiryu characters gets a master with their own challenges, which is a first in the series. they do a good job staying away from just "beat up X enemies" during the challenges too
+low bar but on ps3 I think the overall resolution is better than yakuza 3 at multiple points during the game. on ps4 this is a non-issue

-the plot is completely nonsensical. even for a series that favors flash over solid writing, this game is incomprehensible past the midway point
-each act focuses on a single character, and that character can not be used until the finale after their act is done. this renders their substories and exclusive minigames inaccessible as well
-saejima compounds the above issue by being unable to access certain minigames like karaoke or the hostess club. on top of this, his act is roughly the longest in the game
-the number of substories has been cut down significantly from yakuza 3, with ~120 in that game and 66 in this one (counting all four Amon encounters)
-the substories are divvied up between the characters, leaving them with very few substories each. you won't be running into countless substories like in previous games
-each character starts at lvl 1 at the beginning of their act, making the difficulty feel like it's at an introductory level for most of the game. thankfully kiryu starts with an upgraded kit in his act
-kiryu's act is rather short and he himself has little relevance to the plot
-only kamurocho is available, and the three new areas (rooftops, underground, and little asia) are underutilized and annoying to navigate
-at least one entire action stage is reused from yakuza 3, I get that assets need to be reused but this was a little too far
-hostess maker (akiyama's exclusive feature) is glorified dress-up and frankly not engaging. sucks that it's required for multiple trophies
-many of the better aspects of the game, such as gang encounters, masters, and the police scanner, have negligible rewards beyond just progression ie no trophies and they don't count towards substories

it's really hard to recommend this game at all given that the story/structure have serious issues, much of the content is retained from yakuza 3, and an average playtime is the longest in the series yet (I didn't dilly-dally as much as I usually do in a yakuza game and still ended up at 35 hours by the end). it's not unplayable by any means and it retains much of the good features of other yakuza games, but this one should only be played to set up the story of yakuza 5

+the story is honestly a fascinating unreliable narrator tale with solid pacing throughout
+introduces many great Org XIII characters, many of which return later through story fuckery
+roughly speaking, the room card system gives the game a bit of a fresh roguelike feel.... I'm stretching here....
+riku's story cuts much of the fluff out of each disney world

-the card combat is terrible. there was no reason for them to try to juggle real-time combat with flipping through a card deck, it's just too frustrating
-to clarify: individual keyblade slashes are tied to cards. it directly contradicts the main component of kh combat, which is mashing X
-the worlds are all straight out of the first game, assets and all. even bosses are reproduced, though with different strategies (mostly)
-the disney stories have been pared down and their cutscenes are barely worth watching
-each world has a generic layout due to the room card mechanic, so virtually every world feels the same to move through
-there is no even gradation in strategy efficacy. you will either be destroyed by bosses or you will accept strategies that bust the game wide open
-heartless battles are tedious and lack any real danger. they are purely a way to grind room cards to synthesize upcoming rooms
-as implied earlier, each room in the game needs to be synthesized with a card or set of cards. some requirements require many cards and thus an uncomfortable amount of grinding
-some room card requirements require very specific cards as well, and without other room cards that can help ease looking for said cards, the grinding can become excrutiating
-riku's story strips any strategy out of the game and renders the card system pointless by using premade decks and making virtually every card an attack card
-some of the boss fights are repeated (I'm looking at you RR, six times in a single game is too much)

a frustrating and boring experience, but honestly necessary to understand kh2 at all. the main campaign had no right being 20 hours long, especially with another 6 hour campaign tacked on afterwards that is essential for plot reasons. thankfully, the good Org XIII members return as optional boss battles in kh2fm, so they haven't been completely wasted here. this may have been impressive or fun on a gba, but really does not hold up well as a 3d action game

+great character designs by Trigun creator Yasuhiro Nightow. Kosuke Fujishima of Oh My Goddess worked on this one as well
+cinematics hold up well, this is one of the first games I can think of that made the link between cel shading and anime designs that we commonly see today
+interesting pseudo-tank controls that emphasize careful approaches
+lots of movement options including jumping, running, dash evasion, and quick 180 turnarounds
+mowing down enemies is a blast, and taking out enemies in close combat by sweeping them with your own coffin also rules
+halo-esque regenerating shield system was a good choice considering the chaos during battles
+continue system is forgiving by giving you more "demolition shots" (super attacks) to use on every death
+some very solid boss design in the second half of the game

-level design is bland. it's a lot of walking forward and mashing square, with little enemy variety until the endgame
-certain mechanics are unresponsive, including the quickturns and lock-on system that are essential in most boss fights
-early game bosses are pushovers, some of which can be killed by a single demo shot
-there's no handgun variety through the game. supposedly you can unlock more demo shots but I never saw these while playing (perhaps I am just bad...)
-apparently there's a fatality system too during the boss fights? again, the game is very opaque about this so I was never made aware that this was a possibility
-the plot is pretty hard to follow, though I don't mind this as much because it's unobtrusive and well-animated
-rather short, at under 2 hours long. this may be for the best considering the lackluster stage design
-a certain boss at the beginning of the final level has a desparation attack where he hides from you while healing himself. not a great mechanic in a game with such limited mobility

I had fun playing this in 30 minute spurts here and there, and this would probably be very easy to binge in its entirety as well. it's a very unique third-person shooter, and what it lacks in content is makes up for in style and sheer fun

+fast-paced, engaging combat with intuitive controls, plenty of unlockable weapons, and combos
+solid turn of the millennium dark mecha story, with great mecha designs by kojipro veteran Yoji Shinkawa
+map is completely open and every area is can be visited again. many areas have optional missions and hidden collectables as well
+good mix of boss fights between gigantic mechas and dogfights with other mechs
+great scenario design, with more than just straightforward hack and slash challenges ahead of you. there's a bomb defusal section, a sniper section, your mech gets corrupted and limits your moveset, among other objectives
+the OP rules, tho sadly it's the in-game CGI cinematics instead of a 2d animated video like is in the HD collection boot-up
+the fog is a little heavy but otherwise the environment design is top-notch, astonishing for an early '01 ps2 game, and emblematic of kojipro's technical prowess
+a very nonintrusive leveling system is in play as well, making your mech feel very powerful by the late game even if you miss certain hidden powerups

-camera control has not aged well... it snaps behind you every time you release the left stick, with very little control on the right stick. the dynamic battle camera rocks though
-the hd remake of this game was a little rough, with some noticeable frame drops in boss fights towards the latter half of the game
-the rescue missions are very easy to screw up, as any civilian deaths can drop your rank tremendously, and each mission can only be attempted once per playthrough. considering how imprecise the combat is, it's easy to cause collateral damage, or for enemies out of your control to cause collateral damage
-speaking of which, there's an early-game boss battle that takes place in an area that later has a rescue mission, and any building damage he causes will affect your mission rank later on...
-the ending is abrupt, making the game feel almost like a side story in its own mythos
-too short!! excusable because it's such an early ps2 title (and probably was on a shoestring budget with a tiny team) but 5 hours is a little slim
-a couple of objectives are difficult to find, aka the padding is a little too obvious

a lot of my minuses here are nitpicks, as this really is an enjoyable game and an interesting early mecha game where speed and fluidity reign supreme in combat. sadly it was not ported to ps4 like 2nd runner was, but it's incredibly cheap on both ps2 and in the ps3 hd collection, and more than worth it.

+expansive world with gorgeous, varied environment design. great sense of scale as you climb each titan
+great overall concept, the titans that the characters live on are intricately tied to the plot and feel natural to explore
+excellent character design in terms of the synergy between their abilities and which roles they can adapt to in team builds
+excellent character design otherwise too lol, very likable
+I personally have a soft spot for the voice actors entirely coming from the commonwealth... gives the games a unique identity over here
+I have not played the original, but it seems like many quality-of-life elements have been added, specifically for quest tracking
+this has been controversial but I prefer the heavy anime-influenced of this version over the ps2-level realism of the original. considering that the original engine has been reused, I think switching to a style that favors lower-poly is appropriate
+the general xeno-series mixture of organic and mechanical elements is great as usual, especially in how its integrated in the duality between bionis and mechonis

-combat is really lacking in terms of variation from battle to battle. topplelock is an interesting mechanic but when every battle is just topplelocking, it's not very interesting
-level has too much sway in the outcome of battles, where raw stats seem to be more decisive than team-building in many cases
-the first half of the story lacks much driving force, which is a ridiculous amount of time in a game that can easily last ~90 hours
-much of the story is opaque in the first half and beyond, partially contributing to the above. I didn't feel like I had a good idea of what was going on until maybe 60-70 hours in
-I don't know quite how long I spent on side content but I have a feeling it was at least 15 hours. in that time I didn't feel like I got much useful out of doing side missions or leveling up affinity for how boring it was to perform
-side quests are very bland, a lot of kill x enemy, pick up x item, save x person, etc. missions with irrelevant, flimsy justifications
-overstuffed with systems, many of which don't feel immediately useful or feel superfluous. I distinctly remember xc2 having this issue as well
-I'm reasonably sure this is running on the xc2 engine, but that engine had some graphical flaws and so does this game. you will notice that many assets are lacking or even from the wii original, and the framerate / resolution dip in heated situations, especially when in handheld mode
-considering the most interesting part of this game is the team-building and mastering each character's playstyle, it feels like much of the design doesn't really encourage experimentation outside of a couple of endgame encounters (specifically DL)

as much as I want to like this game, it frankly felt like a chore pretty quickly and never let up, even when the final twenty hours or so shed light on many of the mysteries wrapped up in the story. for the time investment involved, I'm just not sure it's worth the slog for a dozen hours of interesting twists at the end

+new story mode that presents a chance to familiarize oneself with all of the levels before attempting the arcade mode
+the first game already looked great and this one looks even better, with extremly detailed backdrops even down to having collision
+all the minigames from the first retained, with 6 new ones as well
+instead of buying more continues in the in-game store, you buy more lives per continue, making the endgame content easier to reach with the 1cc requirement
+no repeated stages in the extra worlds, and the later extra levels aren't included in story mode either, making it a treat to unlock them. master mode has its own extra set now too, meaning an 80 level 1cc expert -> master extra run is possible

-relies far too heavily on gimmicky stage design, specifically moving stages and stages you have to control with switches. these feel too finicky, especially since the sophisticated physics engine retained from the first game is not equipped to handle the kind of interactions these stages provide
-because there are far more moving stages/objects, the game becomes increasingly reliant on catching the right cycle, which leads to a lot of timer strats on levels. not very fun, especially when they make the level trivial to complete ie "hold forward once the timer hits 58 seconds to win"
-there's no special world/background for master mode....
-the bonus stages feel like much more of a chore this time around

I don't feel like this game is quite as good in core design as the first one, but the game is much more accessible than the first and has more content overall. still very addictive, even though I find many of the stages somewhat frustrating or boring

+great character design and cel-shading that works well work on wii
+killing people in this game rules, no question. pulling off the QTE and hacking someone into pieces with blood spurting everywhere is so satisfying, especially if you get multiple people at once
+the roulette system is also an inspired touch, keeping things fresh by powering up travis at random
+with the above in mind, the stage designs are well-paced with good enemy placement, and there's a few good setpieces to keep the long drab hallways from getting too boring
+the wrestling holds are also a great touch, situationally useful and fun to watch, especially when you unlock new ones
+there's not all that many different katanas, but I like how each one has a unique design and special characteristics. combos actually vary a bit between them as well
+I think the "it's empty and boring as a parody!" justification for the open world is flimsy but honestly I don't mind it that much. I never felt too put off by driving around town, and thankfully there's some collectables to sweeten the deal
+shoutout to volodarski, which is an actually cool fight. shinobu is better designed than most of the others as well, but is way too hard for third boss in the game
+amazing soundtrack, and an all-time classic theme song
+the title is a music reference, of course, and there are plenty of cute references to punk music strewn across the city
+the sound design in general is really great, with shrieking, taunts, lightsaber noises, and gunshots giving the combat a grisly feel. also the garden of madness phone calls rule

-once you get past the hack-and-slash parts, the combat is very uncomfortable, specifically when dealing with the camera and the lock-on system. travis is at an uncomfortable angle for much of the game, and the camera has a tendency to get caught on objects or confused... rolling can also be unpredictable in the same way
-there are hidden techniques that the game never alludes to nor shows in the manual, some of which seem essential for certain boss fights (dark step specifically, which isn't easy to pull off on your own)
-because of the control issues, a lot of boss fights become much more frustrating than they need to be. it doesn't help that the bosses towards the end of the game become damage sponges that mindlessly throw out combos with limited windows to chip away their health
-the jack-off motion for charging the beam katana is funny but it can be such a pain to constantly refill it (this is easier in the switch version I presume). it's especially annoying in sections with lots of gunmen, where your charge gets shredded from blocking bullets
-grinding for cash in this game is quite tedious, and since it's integrated into the gameplay (and plot) through the ranking match admission fees, you'll spend much of your playtime doing it, esp after you've already unlocked all the side jobs and assassin missions
-the plot towards the end is childish, to be frank. it's hard to tell what suda51 is trying to convey here other than "aren't endgame twists silly?" and "ultraviolence is sort of gross... but cool too!" with little actual depth or nuance compared to his other work, and it seems to think it's far more clever than it actually is
-it's also hard to see travis as a loser since he's both a working class stiff and a highly trained assassin. hell, as you move forward and your assassin rank goes up, you'll eventually work your way out of needing to do side jobs in favor of higher paying assassin gigs. sure he's an otaku, but he works his ass off (I think this might be a cultural rift that ruins this portrayal for us americans)
-the other main theme (ultraviolence) feels undercooked as well. yes, travis is a sociopath, but there's a lot of antagonizing the player for their killing sprees without much thought over who designs the games this way or why violent games are so popular
-also the fourth wall-breaking is some real try-hard shit in this game. they really love to clobber you over the head with it too, especially towards the end
-travis's gigantic pants have not aged well...

as much as I want to like this game, it really is an acquired taste. this is a budget game with limited assets and a clunky engine, and its hard for me to recommend considering that it's not one of suda's better stories and there's many frustrating sections throughout. I think it is worth playing to pay respect to a daring cult classic on a system with very few games of its ilk, but don't go in expecting the world

+I get that the open world of the original is meant partially as parody, but honestly I'm glad they removed it from this one. cuts down on the fluff and filler for sure
+I personally think ignoring much of the latter half of the first game's plot works to the sequel's benefit. then again, I'm not sure how they would've even rationalized a sequel otherwise...
+on that note, this game is much easier to follow than the first. the narrative trickery is kept to a minimum, and the fourth-wall breaks are much more tasteful in this game as well. I think this series is better off as just stupid fun without the thematic trappings of the original
+dual-wielding beam katanas... entirely a game-changer. like actually so fun to use
+I really like the NES-style side jobs and gym minigames, they overall have more depth than the brainless minigames from the original (though the scorpion job came back for some reason)
+overall I prefer the bosses in this game over the first, and there's more of them too. many of the bosses remind me more of shinobu from the first one, with many ways to approach the battle and new moves as the fight goes on, except without the OHKOs and other frustrating gimmicks from the first. I actually felt like I was having a proper swordfight in a few of them!
+in fact, most of the frustration from the first one overall is gone. there's no long hallways of gunmen anymore, no damage sponge boss encounters (or rather, the peony alleviates that)
+in terms of progression it feels like the fat has been trimmed tremendously. there's no need to continue playing the side jobs once you've gotten both weapons and all the gym upgrades, so you can blast through combat sequences after that
+the tiger transformation in this game rules, and also speeds up many of the long endgame levels
+the run of bosses from ryuji to alice is so good. it really makes you wish the first game had something similar

-combat still retains many of the issues of the first game, specifically how poorly the camera behaves with lock-on. I may be wrong but I think there were many more destructable environment objects in this one, and you can easily get caught
-some of the bosses feel very underdesigned, especially in the first half. letz shake, cloe walsh, and million gunmen especially felt like unfinished pushovers
-how did they fuck up a motorcycle battle, like it's really not fun (boss battle afterwards is quite good though)
-getting to play as shinobu is very cool, too bad her platforming is stiff and frustrating
-getting to play as henry is very cool, too bad your first time using him is in a boss battle with no time to learn his combos or get a feel for his dash
-no gardens of madness call... the boss battles in general are given very little lead-up, which is a big drop down from the first game. I'm neutral on the peep show sequences as well
-the level pacing is a little funky, with the first half of the game having very short pre-boss levels and the second half of the game having very long ones. I don't mind the length though, I'm happy to slice-and-dice, and I put up with the same thing in the yakuza games

this game does a solid job trimming the fat from the first, improving the main draw of the game (the interesting bosses), and giving fanservice to those who loved the original. it's still very rough around the edges, but I'm just glad the first one got a worthy follow-up that capitalized on the unique world and designs to make something that is a joy to play. I can't say I enjoyed every minute of it (god no) but I had a fun time blowing through this one in a weekend

+perhaps the first game to really nail mario-style linear 2d challenges in a 3d environment
+very solid amount of content, a full 120 stars that each have their own distinct obstacles barring some challenge stars that require beating an earlier star under specific requirements
+I wouldn't classify this game as difficult by any means, but the endgame galaxies feel rewarding to beat rather than perfunctory
+the story is very sweet, totally optional but very much worth peeking at as chapters are unlocked over the course of the game
+art design, galaxy design, the modeling and graphic quality, everything here is a culmination of over a decade of standard def 3D development, and it shows. very few games on wii look better than this
+getting to play as luigi rules, though it takes quite a bit of time to get there
+gorgeous orchestral soundtrack, really bolsters the grandiose feel of the game
+the gravity mechanics throughout the game, both the specific gimmicks as well as the general feel of walking around the planets, is fantastic. possibly gaming's best representation of such mechanics

-the hub is a pretty steep drop from both 64 and sunshine in terms of secrets, though it's certainly passable
-the garbage minigame.... what a pain

at the top of a heap of already amazing games in the mario series. plays very well on switch too!

+pleasing, cartoony graphics that make a good showcase of the PSX's middle era of games
+I personally think the tank controls are pretty solid, about as good as I could expect for this era. it helps that you can move laterally during jumps, and that there's a quickturn as well
+there's a remarkable amount of extra content through bonus levels, multiple types of collectables, secret stages (a whole secret island!), and unlockable rooms in each level
+around the middle there really is a difficulty sweet spot where the challenges feel traversable within the bounds of the game's controls... brief but it's there
+lifting the "lose your coins" health system from sonic keeps the boss battles in particular from getting frustrating

-analog controls are godawful. I personally stuck to keeping digital mode on and using the stick
-during the first half of the game the levels are trivially easy, and very short without getting all of the extra goodies
-second half of the game is the exact opposite, with uncomfortably precise platforming, deaths from off-screen projectiles, framerate dips in tricky sections, and levels that can reach up to 10 minutes long
-to compound the above, the game uses a life system that forces you to restart the entire level when you lose all lives. it's frustrating to replay the beginning sections of levels in a relatively slow game over and over, especially since continuing at the game over screen gives you a measly 2 lives to work with
-the hit detection with croc's swipe move is really rough, partially because the move itself has no weight. boss battles especially suffer from this, since you can often collide with their hurtbox while you're edging close enough to hit them
-some of the design in the final world goes off the rails, with poor explanations for some of the puzzles, or stage designs that feel unfinished

as a document of early 3d platformer design, I think this holds up better than some other titles from the era, especially as this was originally in pre-production as a Super FX-enhanced SNES game. however, actually playing it is more a chore than anything, indicating that this evolutionary branch of 3d design was doomed to end here.

+unrelenting, fast-paced, grim mech combat from back to front. feels very urgent in its combat, especially since with the higher enemy counts you can get easily overwhelmed if you try to take it slow
+so many amazing particle effects for the ps2, especially in the final boss arena. I think MARS may have added even more? regardless all throughout the game you get beautiful swirling lasers, bursting orange and yellow explosions, bullets spinning in a vortex before flying at you, etc.
+a proper combo system has been added, allowing you to burst cancel any combo and use directional finishers to smack enemies into the environment
+the core gameplay in general has been fleshed out with more varities of enemies, swarms of mini-enemies that you can take out all at once, more subweapons, mines and other traps on the battlefield, faster overall movement and actions, a more dynamic camera, among other positive tweaks
+although I didn't mind the exploration of the first game, this game switches to a linear system that keeps the focus on combat, stripping much of the filler out in the process
+even though the gameplay is relatively simple, the scenario design is such that virtually every section of the game is completely unique in its objectives
+many more boss fights than the first game, and a few of the boss fights have multiple phases in different arenas
+overall this game is noticeably more difficult than the first, and I think it hits a sweet spot for a short action game where it feels pushing through the more difficult sections to get to the end
+the aumann crevasse section is in some ways the peak of what they were attempting with this series, with hundreds of enemies advancing on you and 41 allies in a battle that can last up to 15 minutes
+an older, more confident leo returning from the first game in vic viper from gradius rules... and his boss battle is one of the better ones in the game too

-no japanese dub option, and the english dub is terrible. it's not like the story is amazing anyway, but the dub really makes me want to skip cutscenes on all subsequent playthroughs
-I did praise this game earlier for trying a lot of different things, but there's definitely some misses in there as well. finding taper in the crates sucks, the escort missions aren't great, and being guided by comms through fortress city with few enemies is rather boring
-certain boss gimmicks are a little confusing to understand for a first run-through, especially between the many nephtis fights
-the optional bosses on ng+ are pretty lackluster, and are only worth going for to unlock them for versus play (and to get the trophy)
-while in theory I vastly prefer the anime cutscenes to the ugly cgi of the original, in practice the designs and animation look cheap. it doesn't help that on ps4 the cutscenes are not hi-res, and have possibly been affected by tilt-and-scan to get a 16:9 presentation
-during the sections of the game where the objective is just to move from room to room killing enemies, there's some pretty noticable copy-paste of environments. I think the hd versions of this game are based on the jp-only ps2 special edition, which pad out the game with these sequences in response to complaints of the game being too short
-it seems like the ex missions are mostly scenes from the original game with identical enemies repeated with scoring/a time limit. a little disappointing, as these could've offered a good opportunity to pad out the features
-zoradius is a cool addition (a behind-the-ship 3d remake of the first stage of gradius) but in practice it's tedious to beat. part of it is that I don't actually like gradius all that much, but it doesn't help that it's thrown together with assets from the game to lackluster results, and the control isn't well-tuned. the final boss is a damage sponge and will leave if you don't beat it quick enough, making beating this minigame a bit of a chore

after playing through this one I couldn't stop myself from immediately going for the platinum based on just how fun much of it was. there's certainly flaws, and the controls still will throw newer players for a loop, but it's not a long game and it's worth it for all of the mind-blowing combat throughout the game. there's a japanese tradition of amazing experimental linear action games on playstation, and this game is surely one of the crowning achievments of that era

+this almost certainly is the crowning game design success of sega's turn-of-the-millennium arcade output, both in how addicting the concept is and how strong the execution is
+because this is the first in the series, this one gets to horde all of the most pure ball-rolling puzzles that reward player control, where the later ones had to lean into gimmicks more
+the physics are so tight and the controls are equally precise, giving the game a steep yet rewarding difficulty curve
+amusement vision was a master of sega's cutting-edge proprietary arcade hardware, and that knowledge transitioned to their three gcn games. the fact that this is a launch game for the gcn and somehow one of its best looking titles is astounding
+the minigames are equally as engrossing, especially for parties. some of these (bowling and billiards specifically) were continuing to be the model for the equivalent yakuza minigames up through the mid 2010s
+if anything this indicates how well sega understood the mechanics of their own arcade games, and how well they could design challenges that require mastery of many different skills to overcome. so much nuance to rolling a ball around with a single joystick

-the beginner extra stages repeat through advanced and expert extra as well... minor nitpick, but they feel out of place in terms of difficulty
-the vast majority of players will never get to see much of expert mode (which contains over half of the stages in the game) due to the brutal difficulty. there's certainly plenty of more casual content, but it demands a lot in order to experience the game as intended
-a specific qualm I have related to the above is the difficulty curve of expert: I think the biggest hurdle for players are the levels from 15-25, with the rest of the 50 levels being more reasonable in what they expect. perhaps the level order should've been changed... again, a nitpick

toshihiro nagoshi has had so many successes as a director, and this one of his best. finally getting through master mode in this game was such a huge personal accomplishment after playing this game on and off since I was a child, and I would recommend taking a whirl of it whether you just want to try it out or really dig into it

+insanely fast-paced, violent combat with a distinct platinum refinement to it
+making parries the main defensive option gives the combat a particularly aggressive bent, while still avoiding completely being a hack and slash
+the blade mode ability plus being able to get a full heal off of any enemy by ripping their artificial heart fucking rules, feels so satisfying
+even though it's not a proper kojima game they do a solid job making it "feel" like kojima's writing and incorporating metal gear lore/design
+excellent boss fights for the majority of the game, and they're usually pretty forgiving with the health pickups as well making learning each bosses' patterns less frustrating
+I sort of like the stealth honestly, I wish the radius for taking down an enemy was a little wider given how touchy the controls are but otherwise it's nice to approach certain areas this way with little penalty if you fail
+other than normal goons being cannon fodder as one would expect, many of the enemies are legitimately dangerous and it keeps the combat fresh late into the game
+this is a very setpiece-heavy game and it reminds me quite a bit of similar games from the generation before, one of the last of its kind for sure
+60fps on ps3.... this is so huge. obviously it's not perfect by any means but playing a ps3 action game actually running at 60 fps most of the time was shocking to me
+I honestly enjoy the story; even though it's all over the place it's a lot of fun and relatively cogent (especially considering the game it's a sequel to). it doesn't have time to explore some of its themes deeply but it really does try, which is a very important aspect of an mgs game imo
+definitely a platinum thing but I appreciate how this game both has a solid combo system and also makes it very acceptable to mash buttons. usually you can't have both and it's nice to see this game make it work
+so many off-the-wall insane cutscenes and sequences, they really cranked it up to 11 in ridiculousness. mariachi raiden...
+the ninja run sections are cute, I much prefer those to the random QTEs in bayonetta lol

-the camera is absolutely absymal, shockingly bad considering platinum's other work. an over-the-shoulder perspective just doesn't work for these kind of games, obscuring much of the screen with raiden esp when he's moving towards the camera, and the camera otherwise is prone to jittering and jumping inconveniently
-the second half of the game seems rushed, with two boss repeats, a 15-minute long chapter where you run through a previous area backwards, and very little in the way of regular combat sequences with a lot of cutscenes instead. thankfully the file 6 boss is an excellent fight
-enemy variety could be a little better... not that big of a deal because the game isn't very long
-I know he's a fan favorite and I loooooved his cutscenes but the armstrong fight was exceedingly frustrating on hard. it feels too focused on running willy nilly around the arena dodging his AoE moves without rewarding parries like the other bosses do, and fighting the camera the whole time doesn't help. most of the damage is dealt in QTE sequences which is a bad look imo, whereas on hard he can easily take out 2/3 of a health bar at once, or even instant death if he gets a wall-bounce during the flame walls section, esp since I had no reserve nanopaste. I could go on and on, and admittedly the fight was cake once nanopaste started dropping part of the way through, but this was such a difficulty spike after the previous bosses taking no more than 2 tries apiece (other than sundowner), I probably spent upwards of 20 continues here
-tutorials are pretty shoddy, and it really could use a more thorough explanation of Offensive Defense's properties especially since it's virtually mandatory for the second-to-final boss
-I could do without so many analog stick rotation QTEs, I hate having to put my palm on the stick over and over again, especially against the fucking mantiff enemies

for the first half especially I adored this game, and even though the second half left a sour taste in my mouth I still feel like this is an essential modern action game to try whether you're a metal gear fan or not. having played both zone of the enders 2nd runner and no more heroes 2 in the last month I'm given flashbacks to both of them in a positive way, and it's made me want to get back into playing platinum's oeuvre, esp since designer takahisa taura's ideas here seem to have leaked into nier automata and astral chain in some ways. also without question a must-own for ps3 owners given its excellent performance and metal gear ties

+distinctive art style, it somehow is welcoming and cheerful while incorporating many sinister and unsettling elements, with a heavy emphasis on abstract, dreamlike visuals during gameplay
+flow-based gameplay that is intuitive to control and extremely dynamic. the systems reward flashy play and smooth transistions between interactables, and the camera always directs you to your next target without the need to explore or pause
+the music is amazing, up their with sega's other cd quality ost successes of the same era such as daytona usa and panzer dragoon
+good variety in setpieces, with each level feeling distinctive both from its particular obstacles as well as it design and layout
+the weird amount of effort put into stuff like the A-life system (a pre-chao garden system that maintains a continously growing and breeding population of creatures in the background of each level) and the secrets that appear when the game is powered on at certain times is extremely charming in its opaqueness
+I quite like how each level is segmented into two minute chunks, each of which is carefully designed to have an optimal route for scoring. it helps compartmentalize the game into sections to learn with individual rankings for each, while also balancing out your performance between the segments in case you happen to underperform in a given one
+the awkward 3d platforming segments when time runs out on the nights transformation has been panned but personally I appreciate it it. it faciliates an arcade-like timer system without halting progress completely via death/failure if your timer runs out
+such a satisfying score attack game, where every level feels like a rollercoaster to ride through, and every run seems like it can be improved with practice

-this game is allergic to explaining anything to you. once you understand what's going on (pick up blue orbs, dump them in the weird organic cage, do laps through the area for points, and then return to the main pavilion to start the next segment) it's natural, but a quick tutorial stage explaining each mechanic would have been greatly appreciated
-the bosses also could have used some more explaining up front, especially since there are no health bars or solid indicators letting you know you're even attacking properly. this is exacerbated by the fact that the methods for dealing with each boss are usually entirely different from one another, and some require use of special moves like the paraloop rather than just drilling into them
-definitely light on content, with a mere seven levels that take no more than 10 minutes each to beat. it's not as bare as some of the other saturn titles, but it could've at least used separate versions of twin seeds (the final level) for each character...

I first played this on real hardware at magfest and was sorely confused; I'm glad I returned to it and took some time to learn the mechanics. it's certainly an unorthodox design but at the same time thrilling. it feels like I'll be returning to this to play a level here or there often, much like with the rest of sega's excellent arcade-style games