Loved the character design and character creator in this one, did not care for the story

Gameplay is fun albeit a bit simple for the genre, environments were kind of bland but fun enough to explore, forced walking segments with bland story elements was a pace killer, was able to break the combat pretty quick so ended up not being too difficult except for some bosses which I appreciated, would love to see a sequel expand on what made this game great as well as fix the issues it had

7.5/10

Played on Xbox

Cool detective point and click game with some impossibly hard puzzles typical for the genre, had to use a guide frequently but the story kept me invested enough to get through it, always knew where to go next as well

Excellent story with some jarring cuts during important moments and a total dud of an ending

Both protagonists are likable and interesting as well as the settings they inahibit, may give Post Mortem or Still Life 2 a try but havent heard much good things about 2 unfortunately

8/10

Awesome visual novel that kind of falls apart towards the third act at least for me while I did enjoy the ending, all routes were interesting imo but does drag in the middle and gets a bit too trigger happy with unloading information onto you all at once

Starts out as a horror game that unfortunately the game dosent hold for too long as it becomes an occult detective game with a horror backdrop almost immediately that not being a bad thing

The chess match style tension that occurs when making some choices in this game are fantastic, really makes you think what you would do in the same situation, Harue Shigima being a standout character and the route I was most invested in

Fantastic artstyle and creepy vibe, hope to see Square make a follow-up someday, defintely going to go down as a cult classic if it hasnt already, extremly memorable experience and a great surprise, reminds me of those smaller DS/3ds titles that try new things

9/10

Great if viewed as a tech demo, some of the best graphics Ive seen and great gun/swordplay, far too short for the price even when discounted would love to see this fully realized in the future

Story is complete nonsense and barely functions in moving the player along from set piece to set piece

Stealth sections really kills the flow on replays as well, worst part of the game bar none, and a striking lack of content, would love if this game had a horde mode to dive more into the fun combat, strong case for a FPS Devil May Cry style game

6/10

Art style carries this one hard, came in expecting something completely different but came out fairly surprised, overall Im not too fond of roguelikes and I was expecting this game to be a more straightforward RPG or Visual Novel, but I did enjoy my time with this one

The randomness was frustrating more times then it wasn't and the lack of a cohesive narrative kind of sucks with such a great foundation in place, it hooked me for a couple runs but after seeing what I felt was all it had to offer I shelved it for now, beautiful art style and creepy moments

6/10

Played on Ps2/PSP

Some of the best gameplay for a rhythm game Ive played, excellent difficulty curve

Honestly soundtrack was a bit hit/miss for me but the hits did hit hard and you can't say it dosent have variety, a bit too short but allows you ample opportunities for replays

Story and voice acting are ridiculous but adds to the charm imo, one I easily go back to, they dont make em like they used to

9.5/10

This game has stuck with me long, long after completion, this game is an experience

I personally had zero issue with Trico following my commands and felt like I truly bonded with this creature throughout my time, never did grabbing on Trico's back and jumping over a chasm not fill me with wonder

Exploring and solving puzzles was immensly satisfying and I had little to no issue figuring things out, beautiful graphics as well with some minor stuttering throughout

Further evidence that Team Ico are auteurs when it comes to the gaming landscape and their presence is sorely missed, defintely want to replay this one someday, thank God the cancelation rumors were false

10/10

Played on N64/replayed on Xbox One(Rare Replay)

Classic in every sense of the word, great graphics and tight, varied gameplay, a staple for both Rare and the N64 as a whole .

Grunty's castle just begs to be explored to it's fullest, every stage brims with life and interesting characters and is sharply written overall, with Grunty being a standout villian you love to hate, music is also fantastic and iconic

Minor complaints would be having to recollect musical notes on death (remedied in the Xbox version) not a big fan of the end game quiz section and the final boss does ask alot of the player in regards to collectables but I didnt mind as that's kind of the point of the game, final boss really tests your skills which is appreciated and very satisfying to complete

Maybe someday we will get a true successor to this franchise but this is one I love to return to time and time again, a must play for any N64/Xbox owner and an example 3d platformers should strive to follow

10/10