Such an amazing structure to not only this game but the whole trilogy, some of the best plotting of any trilogy not just in video games.

Most of the open world design was outdone just two years later by Nintendo but the quality of the writing in not just sidequests, but even Witcher contracts made this just as memorable as Breath of the Wild, even if most "exploration" in this one is just going to each question mark on the map instead of actually exploring.

I felt like the preperation required before battles in the first two was heavily downplayed by the streamlining in this one, but I'm sure it's much more necessary on harder dificulties (which I will inevitably try on a replay.)

I don't think I've ever come close to a 100 hour single playthrough on a game before but seeing that playtime after I finished really spoke volumes to me that I was able to stay invested for that long and commited so much time to it, and I think it does justify it's length when like 98% games can't, nothing felt unnecessary at all.

This trilogy is some of the best storytelling of the medium (even if the standards are quite low, but still) and despite the fact that once I get around to Hearts of Stone & Blood and Wine I'll have probably sunk 200 hours into the series, I'm certain I'll be back to replay it someday.

To me, great in its level design philosophy of Famicom action-platformers, specifically Castlevania. It's about trial and error, every time you die you make it slightly further the next time.

Like, it's not hard, you've just got learn how to beat it by failing, which is great. Despite only dying to two or three of them, the bosses were all insanely interesting.

I don't mind the online elements, though with the servers shut down it makes it impossible to get the intended experience years later which is shit. Luckily, thanks to fans, I was able to play this online on an emulator with a DS3, so it's still doable, but games should be designed with the future in mind. (Is it playable? Sure, is one of its key features completely gone? Yes)

I've really gotta play Dark Souls at some point.

Fairly interesting narative, very interesting structure and the secret ending is up there as one of the greatest endings in video game history for me.

Plays like shit at first but once you get some decent weapons and upgrade them fully it's perfectly playable (occasionally fun even.) Getting the secret ending is a slog and while weapon stories are a great addition, grinding out the weapons to unlock all the stories is not at all worth it.

That last paragraph sounds bad but I really did love the game, just don't go in expecting great combat and probably use a guide to unlock all the weapons.

Definitely has it's problems but I couldn't help but love it. Fujibayshi & Mori crafted fantastic story from minor references in backstory text, offhand comments, minor aspects of illustrations and other little details from the series' previous entries.

Criticism is often directed at the games linearity and repetitiveness but I didn't find that to be a problem for me, Twilight Princess' sad excuse for an open world felt far more linear than the areas here, which all open up with various shortcuts through your first run, making the areas anything but linear on returns trips. as for those return trips, it doesn't feel very repetitive as most of repeat visits are spent in new areas or the old areas are completely transformed, and going through the sections of old areas quicker and easier than before gives a great sense of progression.

The motion controls worked well for me despite a few hiccups (slightly better on Wii than switch) and it's all worth it for that fantastic final boss fight.

When I played this a few weeks ago and wrote the below review, I gave it an 8. Upon further reflection, whatever it's about, or anything like that doesn't really matter. Never in my life has a piece of art/media/whatever made me so viscerally afraid. Unlike others, I've never thought this out or thought it would be a particularly good experience, but honestly, it achieved something incredible I think, and surpassed the bounds of the medium, or any medium, which, to me, makes it a masterpiece.

Original review/fresh thoughts:
Kinda hated playing it? I was not having fun but I guess that's the point? It's good at that. Not at giving any context to what the fuck your supposed to do. But I guess that's the point too?

I played the DS port of this for the first time when I was 5, it was unlike anything I'd ever played, probably because all the games I'd played at this point were crap, but this was the game that made me fall in love with video games. I begged my parents for a DS until they finally relented so I could play it, and then years later when the 3DS first arrived I did the same, simply so I could play it and it actually be playable and not look like shit. After many years, I've finally grown to accept the original release as the definitive one, and a masterpiece at that, though I definitely have a lot of nostalgia for the DS port. Finally beating it was amazing, I know I've marked this as replay but one of my greatest shames was that I was never able to land that third and final hit on bowser and this actually end the game and had to get a friend of mine to do it (I blame both me being shit at it, and having to use the dpad leaving in my thumb sore as shit after the many, many attempts.), But I also stuck through and got all 120 stars, something I always wanted to do. Happy to finally cross this one of the list, and maybe finally check out Sunshine.

I started this when 3D all-stars first came out but got like 80 something stars I think, and then picked it up again a couple weeks ago on a whim. Glad I did. Seriously, this is a revolution is both technology and design, on the same level as both Donkey Kong and Super Mario Bros. that proceeded it, possibly Miyamoto's best work, though it definitely competes for that spot with The Legend of Zelda for me. I doesn't quite excite my curiousity as did when I was little, and some choices seem odd to me now but only if I think about it too hard, I know it well and the level design has a logic all it's own that I completely understand. Ultimately, it's just amazing how well this holds up, and I don't think there was a single entry in the genre it created that could match it, let alone top it, until Super Mario Odyssey.