A truly excellent sequel that expands on its predecessor in many excellent ways. While I think the scenario and overarching plot is a little less interesting this time around, the individual case stories are even more compelling than in the first game. Combine that with an amazing cast that, in my opinion, blows the cast of the first game out of the water, and you can easily see why this is some people's favorite in the trilogy. The worst I can say is that Monomi is a truly awful addition and I hate her so god damn much. Otherwise, I don't have much to criticize.

After the absolute dumpster fire that was Dual Destinies, this game absolutely shattered my expectations by being a great time. Not only does this game clear its predecessor with no trouble, I would argue it's even better than the first Apollo Justice game. Say what you will about having yet another Apollo backstory, but this game breaks new ground with the novel concept that maybe that backstory should be good. The cases that have Phoenix at the helm are great, and the new séance mechanic was a ton of fun. The Apollo cases were also quite solid, although I'm personally not a fan of the 4th one. Overall, this game isn't winning any awards and it's probably not even in my top 3 for the series, but it's given me faith that the people at Capcom do still know what they're doing with this series, after Dual Destinies made me doubt.

It's hard to say anything about this game hasn't already been said. It's good, obviously. In fact, it's pretty fucking excellent. Not all of the bosses were winners, but the vast majority of them were pleasant, memorable experiences. The new PS4 quality of life changes are a nice icing on the cake. I hope that one day someone comes along and makes a spiritual successor for this game, in the same way that Stardew Valley pays loving tribute to the Harvest Moon franchise. If you somehow haven't played this masterpiece, you owe it to yourself.

I tried. I really tried. After absolutely fucking hating the second game, I came at this one with a fresh mind ready to be blow away again, and it just didn't happen. I played this game for 75 hours, and I can probably count the number of times I enjoyed myself on one hand. The main story was boring, the characters were mediocre at best, the side quests were all boring and samey both narratively and mechanically, and the gameplay was a very mixed back. I have absolutely played worse games, and I might even come back to finish this game one day, but I seriously doubt it.

Skyward sword is truly one of the most mixed games I've ever played. In some ways, it far outshines its predecessors and even some of its successors. It has some of the best dungeons and bosses in the series, one of the best scores, a beautiful art style, one of the only stories in this entire series that's actually worth paying attention to, and some of the best combat in the series when the controls decide to work properly.

But on the other hand, this is one of the worst Zelda games in many other regards. No other Zelda game is this painfully linear with barely any exploration to be seen. No other Zelda game forces this many tutorials and unskippable dialogue from your companion character. No other Zelda game recycles this much content, especially this much BAD content (the imprisoned). No other Zelda game relies this much on gimmicky controls that are annoying at best and downright non-functional at worst.

I fully believe that in spite of all its flaws, there is a truly excellent game to be found here. But I cold absolutely not fault anyone for not pushing past the game's abundant issues to get to that point. For me, it's one of my favorite Zeldas, but I was able to find the fun. Not everyone will.

God I played the shit out of this game and loved every minute of it. Being entirely honest, have there been other games that have built upon this game's style and done it better? Absolutely. But I will never forget the time I spent with this game, and how truly memorable some of its ideas were. This game laid the foundation for how to do a REAL spider-man game, not just some side scrolling platformer or a level based beat-em-up, but a game that really...sigh...makes you feel like spider man. Personally I still find it a lot of fun to return to, but that may just be nostalgia talking. Either way, I think my time with it as a kid/teenager more than justifies its score.

One of the best Pokémon games out there. I think these remakes really demonstrate how solid the core game design of the originals was, even though they're borderline unplayable by modern standards. It's weird to see debates about non-linearity in pokemon considering how cleanly they worked it into the very first games. The game is really open and the majority of the map can be accessed with just a few badges. This allows for a lot of replay value and flexibility in team building, while still having a competent level curve to provide some good challenge. A surprisingly polished game that still stands as one of the best in the series.

One of the best Pokémon games out there. I think these remakes really demonstrate how solid the core game design of the originals was, even though they're borderline unplayable by modern standards. It's weird to see debates about non-linearity in pokemon considering how cleanly they worked it into the very first games. The game is really open and the majority of the map can be accessed with just a few badges. This allows for a lot of replay value and flexibility in team building, while still having a competent level curve to provide some good challenge. A surprisingly polished game that still stands as one of the best in the series.

This is probably within my top 3 worst games from a series I mostly enjoy. Everything bad about the Cold Steel saga is at its most distilled in this game. The majority of the characters stand around in a circle and do absolutely nothing, the sexual humor is at its most cringe inducing, the villains are completely forgettable, and the plot is boring at best and downright nonsensical at worst. Would be a 1 star game if it wasn't for the excellent way that act 1 kicks off the story. It was the only part of the game where I felt like meaningful things were actually happening, while the entire rest of the game was basically just going through the motions. Easily the least fun I've ever had with a Trails game.