So funny enough I picked up this game because a Tik Tok creator that I follow said this would be a rare Switch game...yet every Gamestop I go into has a ton of copies smh. But regardless of that, I have become a recent Dragon Quest fan and wanted to give this game a shot. I mean, a monster collecting game where you play as the antagonist from DQ4?? Sign me up. But honestly the grind and the repetitiveness has gotten so significant for me that I just can't bring myself to play too much more, even if the core gameplay is pretty good.

The story and characters are interesting, especially because your character, Psaro, has such interesting motivations. Different story beats take a left turn due to your character's more evil nature, which makes things super interesting. The combat is also pretty fun, even if it can sometimes feel like you're on autopilot a lot of the time. Synthesizing and fusing monsters is also a lot of fun, though a bit confusing to get the hang of at times.

Its just...damn the grind. Everything about this game tests your patience. The performance is pretty poor, which is baffling as the game is just okay looking and there isn't a lot going on that would normally affect the performance, especially on Switch. The story is so repetitive and honestly uninteresting aside from the left turns it takes occasionally. Go to this circle of Nadiria, solve the problem, rise and repeat. Maybe throw in some colosseum battles here and there too. It just feels like a slog.

Getting good monsters is also a grind. Especially because there will be random difficulty spikes that come out of nowhere. The game does not like giving you good monsters by default, you HAVE to synthesize in order to stand a chance. But then the synthesized monster starts at level 1, which means more grinding is needed in order to get it up to snuff with where you're at in the game. It just frustrates me more than anything, especially these days where my time is more limited.

All-in-all, DQ Monsters The Dark Prince is a solid game at its core, and one that I legit have had fun with. I'm just at the point where the grind and repetitiveness has taken its toll and I need a break. I don't think the game is going to change much in terms of the core mechanics and issues I have with it, so I'm comfortable giving it a final score.

It's been awhile since I've been able to binge a game like I did with Super Mario RPG. I played the original on Virtual Console back in the day. I remembered liking it and thinking that it had this great charm. Because of Square Enix being a developer on the original, I never expected it to get a full on remake. But here we are! And I couldn't put this game down. I'm not sure how hardcore fans of the original feel, but I think that Super Mario RPG Remake is even better than the original.

For starters, the game looks fantastic. It maintains the SNES level design and layout, but modernize it more to where it doesn't just constantly look like you're on floating squares. The cutscenes are a major highlight here as well. Visually they look incredible. Anytime there is a fully rendered cutscene or animation, the game is almost jaw dropping. This game makes me really want Nintendo to finally get with the program and make a 4k capable console already.

The gameplay is largely similar to the original, but with some added goodies. For starters, well timed attacks affect all enemies in a battle. I thought this would be OP, but its balanced out pretty well. They added Triple Moves as well, which are basically these super moves that you can pull off when your meter is filled up to 100%. These moves have great fully rendered scenes to them and are incredibly charming. Which move you perform is based on who you have in your active party during the battle, making team composition all the more important. Although you can just switch out a character during their turn to use the move you want.

The writing and characters hold up pretty well also. I would've liked to have seen a little more added story or lore elements though, since this is one of the most unique Mario universes we've ever seen. The world is just so charming, as are the many unique characters that we've only really seen in this game.

I only have a couple gripes with this game. For one, I did find the experience really, really easy. I only had trouble with the post game bosses, which are designed to be really difficult. The base game is just extremely easy, so much so that I'm shocked that theres a mode to make the game even easier. This could just be because I am very well versed in the RPG genre, and SMRPG is more so targeting RPG newbies, but I think the game could've had a little more of a difficulty curve. My second complaint is that the game could've updated more of the experience. While I loved this remake, it honestly rides the line between remake and remaster. Some of the issues of the SNES version are still here, such as issues with depth perception and the camera angle(s) being a bit off when it comes to some of the platforming challenges that they require you to do. There could've been more of an effort to at least update a little aspects of the game that did not age well.

Even still, I found this to be the definitive way to experience Super Mario RPG. It's extremely fun and addictive. I couldn't believe that I finished the game as quickly as I did. It's been a long time since I have been able to sit down and binge a game like I did this one. And I don't regret it for one second.

While Alan Wake II was on my radar, I didn't expect it to be THIS good. AW2 is a masterwork of surreal survival horror. With some many layers to unpack in its story and presentation, to its tense and engaging combat, AW2 takes you on a wild ride that you won't soon forget.

The shining star here is the story and presentation. Some may find Sam Lake's writing to be a bit pretentious at times, but I found this to be his best work. The game is separated into two stories: the titular character, Alan Wake, is trying to escape The Dark Place after the events of the first game, and the brand new character, Saga Anderson, is attempting to solve a string of murders that are occurring in Bright Falls. The story has so many surprising moments that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Those who enjoy a complex narrative will find themselves wholly engaged with every chapter, especially when playing as Alan.

The gameplay is expanded and more modernized from the previous game. With tons of stuff to collect, weapons to try, and intimidating enemy encounters. There are a few boss fights as well that help increase the tension even more. The general design of the game from both stories are unique and interesting.

AW2 just achieves a vibe that I haven't felt from any franchise since the golden era of Silent Hill. It isn't cheap horror, nor is it meant to be scoffed as some kind of stupid jump-scare fest (tho there is a fair share of those). The metanarrative and deeper themes only sink you more and more into the horror. I won't dare spoil anything, but this is most definitely the best narrative of the year.

In terms of negatives, I do think that the dodge that you're given for combat is a bit finicky, especially when trying to get a perfect dodge against enemies. I also found that exploration can be a bit tiresome. This may just be a me thing, but I don't really like when a survival horror game tries to have open world elements. I like a more linear approach overall, with some little side paths or optional little areas for some extra goodies to collect. Having the game be open world (mostly for Sagas story, but also somewhat present in Alan's) just made me feel like I was getting too drawn away from the main narrative and objective. It was fun sure, but it kind of took me out of the tense experience a lot.

All that being said, Alan Wake II is an absolute banger of a game. Yet another GOTY contender in my eyes. Remedy is continuing to put out some incredible games lately, and is quickly becoming one of the best developers around. This is a must play for any survival horror fan. Though I would recommend either playing through the original Alan Wake or reading up on the events of that game in order to fully enjoy this one.

In 1996, Nintendo released Super Mario 64. That game introduced so much to the Mario formula that we take for granted nowadays. Since then, every 3d Mario entry brings forth new creative ideas and innovations that wow almost every fan of the series. But when it came to 2d Mario, innovation was severely lacking. After Super Mario World for the SNES, 2D Mario was hard to come by. New Super Mario Bros. came out and, while refreshing to see 2D Mario make a return, there was a severe lack of innovation or anything interesting. 2D Mario was stuck in its ways. While still fun and enjoyable, there was nothing to bring Mario's 2D platformers to a new level. That is, until Super Mario Bros. Wonder.

Wonder is an absolute joy to play. It excels in so many areas that, for me at least, its very few shortcomings are easily shrugged off. This is the best 2D Mario platformer in a long time, maybe even ever. What makes Wonder so great is its level design. Every level feels like the perfect length, not too long and not too short. Each level as at least 2 Wonder Seeds, this game's collectible needed to progress. Beating the level normally will reward you with one of the seeds, but finding the level's Wonder Flower and completing its wacky mission will get you the other. The Wonder Flower is one of the best new things that this series could introduce. For most of the game's run time, you encounter something completely new and wacky in each of the levels that really flexes the developers' creativity. From transforming to an enemy, to riding a stampede of bulls, to a ton more than I wouldn't dare spoil. It makes each level feel unique. I also felt like the game has a fair balance of difficulty. Sure, a lot of the regular levels are on the easier side. But there are some tough optional levels here that test your platforming skills.

There are also a lot of quality of life changes as well. The timer is completely gone, which I appreciate. They also save whenever you collect one of the three purple coins that are hidden in each level, even if you die after collecting one before hitting a checkpoint. This is so so so appreciated. They also no longer boot you out to the world map whenever you die, another decision that greatly helps the pacing of the game.

You also can't forget to mention the plethora of characters you can play as in this game. I'm a basic bitch that played as Mario the whole way through my single player playthrough, but you have all of the characters from the previous 2D Mario games, as well as Daisy, Todette, Yoshi, and Nabbit. It is a shame that Yoshi in particular is limited as an "easy mode" character, but its still cool that he's included nonetheless.

The music, art style, and sound effects all have this incredible charm to them. I couldn't help but smile the entire way through just experiencing the Flower Kingdom and all of its sights. It feels so much like Mario, but different enough to form its own identity. Many have compared this game to World, which I can see why as it feels like this generation's version of it.

Even though I love this game to death, there was one thing that did irk me about the experience: the bosses. Now I know 2D Mario isn't always the best at these, but Wonder has a real lack of variety in boss battles. You pretty much exclusively fight Bowser Jr. in different ways. While the fights were pretty creative in terms of mechanics, it shocked me that a game so stuffed full of creative ideas did not have more creative boss battles with new original designs. This also brings me to the final battle, which I won't spoil, but I kept waiting for some kind of phase 2 or a twist I didn't see coming. But instead it just felt kind of lackluster. Fun yes, but it never reached the heights of say Mario Odyssey's Bowser fight and escape sequence.

Even with lackluster bosses, this is one of the best 2D Mario games to date. A must own for Switch owners for sure. Its great to play solo or with others, and is so fresh and innovative for the 2D Mario series. I can't wait to see what the developers come up with from here on out. Keep making Mario wacky and new, Nintendo.

Unfinished for now since Mario and Spidey came out. For the most part, I think this is a decent Sonic game, but could’ve been a lot better. The art style and music were great (for the most part), as were the level designs. Characters were mostly fun, except Knuckles.

Bosses are a major letdown here, as many have said. I don’t remember most of them, and the ones I do remember are not for good reasons. The controls also feel a bit stiff compared to most modern 2D platformers.

I had some fun here as there is a great amount of creativity in the levels (the cyberspace one in particular is peak) but Superstars never rises above the bare minimum, and ends up just being a decent little experience. It def doesn’t feel like a $60 game. Wait for a sale for this one.

I just...can't go on with this title. Where Origins was a more simplistic take on the SH formula, Downpour is just...terrible in many ways. I liked some of the early setup and moments, such as when the diner turns into an absolute hellscape. But my god, the open world town is so boring the explore. Not to mention that they somehow made the already weak combat through the entire SH series and made it even worse. Just a clunky, boring, and worst of all: not scary experience. Maybe I'll pick this back up when I'm bored or streaming to a friend, but for now, I just have no drive to keep going.

Was honestly surprised how much I enjoyed this one. As the first SH game to be made by a Western developer, I had low expectations going into this game. But honestly, I very much enjoyed this little PSP game.

The gameplay felt exactly like classic SH. Exploring the town, solving puzzles in confined areas, and fighting scary looking creatures. I enjoyed pretty much all of the areas here. Puzzles were satisfying to solve as usual.

The combat was pretty meh, but let’s be real, none of the SH games have that good of combat. It was odd how the game gave you a million different melee weapons tho. Because of this, it’s super easy to conserve ammo and get through the game easily.

The story is pretty meh as well. I mean, it doesn’t do anything offensive, but I also feel like it’s barely there? It adds to the lore of the original game okay enough, but it just doesn’t feel like there’s enough focus on most of the cast. Travis is such a weak protagonist, even with the admittedly intriguing motel level where we learn more about him and his past. I wish the game was focused more on these elements, rather than loosely explaining more cult things or having you go “oh look, it’s that character from the original Silent Hill!!”

Tbh tho, I liked the game more than expected. The core SH gameplay is here and was satisfying to experience. I don’t see myself really playing this game again unless I do what I’m basically doing now: playing every single Silent Hill that I haven’t played yet during spooky season. But even still, Origins is not a bad game. Just an underbaked one.

As an avid lover of the soulsborne series by From Software, I have always been highly critical of any games that were trying to put their own spin on the experience. Despite this, Lies of P caught my eye very early on. Like most of the internet, I believed that this game looked like the Bloodborne 2 that we've never gotten. I loved the way the game was looking, and I couldn't wait to see more about it. Though to be honest, I fully suspected that this game would be a 6/10 at best, like most other souls-like games not made by From Soft. But to my surprise, I loved Lies of P. Its a souls-like that is able to stand on its own as a great game, even if there are a few pitfalls the game falls into.

First off let me say this: Lies of P is NOT Bloodborne 2. The game can be best described as a mixture of Bloodborne (the game aesthetics and setting), Sekiro (with a focus on parrying and breaking an enemy's stance), and The Surge (mainly robotic enemies/bosses, focus on different makeshift weapons) while also adding plenty of fresh ideas of its own. The main gameplay here, that being the combat, is superb. I don't think it reaches the heights of most of the From Soft games, but it really stands out as unique. The game wears its influences on its sleeve yes, but that doesn't mean that it isn't still fun. It also adds enough variety with the legion arms, makeshift weapons, and unique items to make the game feel different enough from other souls-like experiences.

I found the story and take on the Pinocchio storyline to be incredibly interesting. I found myself more invested in this story than most other games I've played in this genre. This is helped by a genuinely interesting world, characters, and lore. The story is presented in a more straightforward way when compared to other games in this genre, which I thought was a nice refreshing change.

The game's visual design is superb. There are some great looking enemies and areas. The bosses can sometimes feel like a mix of a bunch of robots, but as the game goes on, there is enough boss variety to save you from this robot fatigue.

The level design is probably my favorite part of the game. I thought that the areas were absolutely perfect. Even better than some From Soft levels at times, if I'm being perfectly honest with myself. I would also say that I overall enjoyed the levels more than the boss fights, which is not how I usually feel about these types of games.

All the little details also come together well in this game. The lying mechanic seems like a dumb little inclusion, but is actually integral to getting different endings in the game. Hotel Krat and its refugees are all extremely well voice acted and realized. Its simply wonderful.

But the game isn't perfect. I believe that Lies of P suffers from an issue that all these games face: difficulty spikes. Bosses towards the end do MASSIVE damage, to the point where if you haven't invested in health, you're pretty much screwed and are forced to respec. This was something I even got upset with Elden Ring about, and its no different here. I also felt that some of the boss designs were just visually...meh? Outside of a few fights that come to mind, I don't think that a lot of the bosses are particularly memorable from a visual standpoint. I also found the music to be on the weaker side as well.

Ultimately though, Lies of P is the best souls-like game that isn't made by From Soft in my opinion. It honestly surprised me with how excellent it is. Its on Gamepass, so if you have that you really have no excuse to not play this game. It COULD convince you to get into this genre, though I would recommend checking out the Souls games before tackling this one.

Got this game for my Wii collection and needed to play it as an avid Silent Hill fan. I’ll keep this review short, but I thought overall this was a solid little horror game.

If I try to look at this as if it’s supposed to remind me of SH1, I think my enjoyment of the game decreases significantly. This is NOT a remake of the original, make no mistake.

Thinking of the game as its own entity tho, I do enjoy the narrative here. There’s a lot of nuance to it, with certain characters and endings needing lots of interpretation, which is one of the things I love about this series.

Gameplay is broken up with three major sections: exploration, chases, and the therapy sections. I had a great time with the exploration and therapy sections in particular. The chases were a mixed bag tho. I felt more frustrated than anything at these sections, tho they did effectively give me some spooks here and there. I just wish there was a little more depth to this game mechanically.

Overall, this was a solid horror title for the Wii. It’s pretty short and sweet, so I suggest any Sh fan give it a go. Not at the heights of the original trilogy, but still a good time.

As a kid, I often would falsely believe that anything and everything was possible in a given game. That maybe, if I approached something differently, the story would play out differently. Later in life, while playing games from companies like Telltale, I believed this again. Ultimately, I learned that a lot of my "choices" in games did not really matter and would always lead to the same conclusion. I had believed all games to be this way, even those that focused a lot on roleplaying or player choice. I was proven wrong by Baldur's Gate 3.

CRPGs are not my usual genre of choice. Sure, I love Disco Elysium to absolute death, but that game feels more like a piece of interactive art than a more traditional CRPG. Baldur's Gate 3 wasn't really on my radar until I saw the stellar reviews. Seeing how it was getting Tears of the Kingdom type scores, I knew I had to check this game out.

What immediately strikes you in Baldur's Gate 3 is the game's ability to immediately suck you into its world. The opening is an intense and intriguing one, introducing you to some of the characters and what conflict afflicts this world. Right from the get go, your choices affect everything about how this story will play out. This isn't just about the small details either. We're talking about major plot points and elements that will determine every bit of your adventure. The amount of detail and different paths that you can encounter is staggering, maybe even overwhelming at times. But it all culminates into a very satisfying narrative that you shape throughout your entire experience.

The characters are also a major highlight of the game, in particular your party members. All of the major players have interesting storylines. Not only that, but they are just incredibly interesting to learn more about, as well as see their arcs unfold as the story goes along. They're not all perfect, but you will absolutely have your favorites that you want to follow until the end, or of course romance.

The combat is incredibly intricate. Its probably pretty standard for those of you that are more used to CRPGS, but I found it to be a system that's easy to learn but difficult to master. You absolutely have to strategize and plan out your moves if you want to hope to survive encounters. The game provides a pretty good difficulty incline (at least on Balanced difficulty). I never felt like the game ever had any difficulty spikes, nor did it ever feel too easy.

Customization is also insane. First of all, you could spend hours on the character creator alone. Its so detailed and deep that you can easily get lost in it. Second is the class customization. There are a ton of classes in BG3, and each have three separate subclasses once you get to a certain level. You can also reclass and respec at any point (granted you have the NPC that allows you to do so at your camp), so the game encourages you to experiment and try out new things with your character(s). This allows you to really strategize for combat and roleplay to the best of your ability.

Now is the game perfect? No, but no game is. But here are a few things that I did feel like could have been done better. For starters, the game does still have a fair amount of glitches, especially the farther you go into the campaign. The game's story is pretty solid throughout, but there is a decline in the narrative in Act 3, particularly during the falling action after the final boss.

Other than these few complaints though, I really don't have anything negative to say about BG3. This game simply blew me away. I feel weird having beat it. Even though it took me 90+ hours, I already feel ready to start a new playthrough as a different character both in class and personality. This isn't just one of the best games of the year. This is one of, if not the best CRPGs ever created. As the creators said in a recent advertisement for the game: even if you think this game isn't for you, give it a shot. You may be surprised by how much you'll enjoy it.

I still have the "post game" (AKA the last two areas after saving Olimar) to go, but with Baldur's Gate 3 taking over my life (just WAIT for that gushing review to come), I feel that it may be a bit before I come back to Pikmin 4 to fully complete it. That being said, I feel that I have experienced enough of this game to give it a proper review.

Pikmin is a series I have always been fond of. I've played every entry since they released, and gave all of them an 8/10 thus far. Each entry excels in certain areas, like how Pikmin 1 has the best atmosphere, or how Pikmin 2 has a more relaxed nature while still being challenging, or how Pikmin 3 really perfected the RTS elements of the game with the usage of the Wii U gamepad. Pikmin 4 had a lot to live up to in my eyes, but never did I expect it to actually be, in my opinion at least, the best entry in the franchise to date.

The game has been streamlined in a lot of ways, ways that may even turn off veterans of the franchise. Instead of being able to farm 100s of Pikmin from the get go, you can only have a certain number of Pikmin on you at a time, and only three types can be out on the field at once. You must find and collect Onions for each Pikmin type, some of which you won't even get until the post game. All of these things sound like a nuisance on paper, yet it actually feels really rewarding. I at first was turned off from this idea initially, but when I got used to how the game was now structured, I found it to be a great way to streamline the experience.

The environments may be my favorite of any Pikmin game. Its always been not-so-subtle that Olimar and his pals are really exploring Earth at a very very small scale, but this game truly takes that idea and runs with it. Its so cool to be exploring someone's front yard, the small cove near their home, or even their actual house. Its helps give Pikmin even more charm, which is something that I didn't even know was possible until now.

Every single Pikmin type is in this game, which is both good and bad. It does cause some Pikmin types to not have as much of a purpose, such as the Winged Pikmin, who I feel really don't have much use in this game's environments outside of a few of the caves. However, for the most part, the different types of Pikmin get their use. The brand new Pikmin type in this game is the Ice Pikmin, which may be the most OP Pikmin type ever with their incredible freezing ability for combat.

Oatchi is also a great edition for the game as well. Not only does he allow you to have even more options in combat, getting treasures, and more. Hes such a fantastic edition to the game. I was always using him in some way, whether it was as a way to carry treasures I didn't have enough Pikmin for, to charge into enemies and bosses to get all my Pikmin on them at once, or even just to run around with all my Pikmin riding on him so they were all together.

The caves come back from Pikmin 2, but this time they are specifically designed levels rather than completely random. Some caves are really short, some are a bit on the long side, but they all provide great puzzles and challenges. Its also the best way to get more Pikmin types before you can get their onion, though it can be a bit frustrating to have to keep revisiting them in order to farm some of the tougher to find Pikmin before the post game.

There are also night time missions in this game, which are a good bit of fun, tho they are on the easy side. A tower-defense Pikmin experience is actually pretty fun, moreso than I thought it would be. It can be a bit of a grind to do every single mission in this mode, especially because you only get to cure one of the leafling survivors per mission you complete, but its still decently entertaining.

Now I haven't mentioned the story yet, which if you have read a lot of my reviews before is usually very important to me. The story here may be the weakest offering that the series has had to date, in my opinion. I do love that you get to make your own character in this rescue squad, and the character interactions were pretty entertaining. However, the game's story feels very lacking. The game is also incredibly short as well, especially if you're not going for 100%. I know the Pikmin games tend to be on the shorter end, but this game felt especially short for the main story. There is a very substantial post-game though, with another story scenario, two full sized areas with their own treasures and caves, a challenge mode which unlocks Onions for the more difficult to find Pikmin, and more. But in terms of the central story, I found that it was lacking in the same charm or urgency as the other titles.

Even with the lacking story, I believe Pikmin 4 is the best that the series has to offer so far. While the other games in the series each have their own strong and weak points, I feel that Pikmin 4 irons out most of them, aside from the narrative experience. Its great fun, and way more addicting than I ever thought it could be. If you've never played Pikmin before, I'd say this is the perfect time to jump in, especially with the ports of 1 & 2 and 3 Deluxe on the system as well.

I consider myself a big fan of the Final Fantasy series. It has certainly had its ups and downs throughout the years. From decent beginning on the NES, hitting its stride in the SNES and Playstation era, and through the growing pains of recent years, I have always found myself enjoying the series throughout the years. I personally loved XV, despite some obvious flaws, so I felt that FF was starting to head back into the right direction. This was exemplified more with the levels of hype I had going into FF XVI. As you can tell from my rating, I was not disappointed.

I think what XVI nails more than anything is its presentation. The game looks absolutely gorgeous. Sure, sometimes the framerate struggles, but god damn I can see why. The visuals here are absolutely breathtaking. Whether its the somber atmosphere of your hideaway, to the big bombastic boss battles full of action and magic, the game is always gorgeous to feast your eyes on.

The story is also a major highlight for me. I have seen some complain here and there about certain pacing issues, but I honestly don't see what the detractors are talking about. In terms of the main story, XVI knocks it out of the park. It oozes FF charm and feels like so much passion was put into it. You can see this with the characters as well. Clive is obviously the main highlight with a great leading performance from Ben Starr, but the supporting cast is also all fantastic (yes, Jill included). Ralph Ineson as Cid is also a major highlight for me as well. His performance is, well, brief, but so memorable.

The combat may not be as deep as DMC, which it is clearly based on, but damn is it so much fun. Using the different Eikons to string together combos and unload some serious damage to enemies is so satisfying. You'll naturally be curious to see what Eikon abilities you prefer and how to best utilize them. The combat against regular enemies can sometimes be rather simplistic and easy, but against enemies with stagger bars, the combat becomes even more engaging and hectic. Not to mention the boss battles, which are honestly some of the best boss battles I think I've ever played. It reminded me a lot of another game I really love, Asura's Wrath, in terms of the spectacle of it all. Except this time, we have way better combat and gameplay than in Asura's Wrath (not knocking that game tho, its a masterpiece too). Certain boss battles literally made my jaw drop from the spectacle. There are bosses here that I will remember for the rest of my life, they're THAT good.

The music is also 10/10. I can't wait for them to release the full soundtrack, which I'm honestly surprised they haven't done yet as of the writing of this review. So many tracks stick in my mind, from reworks of classic FF music, to so many of the new tracks, both epic headbangers and calm atmospheric bops.

The only thing that I think this game does wrong are the side quests. Hunts and combat challenges are great here, but some of the side missions felt a little boring or too simple. For those who have played FF XIV, the side quests may feel familiar to you, and that's because a lot of them are treated as though they're MMO side quests. There are a fair amount of just fetching things, or just talking to several people, broken up with a combat encounter or two. They aren't bad, but the game certainly likes to throw a bunch at you at once. There are a few absolute knockouts though that either provide a great optional boss or two, or even cause the waterworks to get started. At times I was wondering why the hell certain moments were left out of the main game and were left to side quests that a lot of people may not do.

Regardless of this complaint though, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Final Fantasy XVI. Its without a doubt one of the best games released this year. While I would like to see the series go a back to more RPG elements juuuuuuust a little bit, I felt that this game worked spectacularly as a main entry in the franchise. Great story, well written characters, a visual marvel, and masterclass music make this game one of the absolute best that I've played this year, and honestly, a Top 5 FF game for me.

One of the best Street Fighter games in a long time. I won't pretend that I'm amazing at these games, but I always enjoy playing each new entry online and with friends. SF6 adds so many great features that just keeps you playing again and again.

World Tour is a great mode for casual players, or if you're just looking to experience the world of SF in a new way. Its not the best single player experience a fighting game has offered (I still think MK9's story mode is the best I've ever experienced in a fighting game), but it is, at the very least, unique and offers more than 99% of fighting games nowadays. Creating your avatar and customizing their moves, style, outfits, and more makes for a fun experience. The cutscenes are very entertaining and each character comes to life spectacularly.

The battle hub is a neat way to challenge other players' avatars and provides a cool way to play different modes with people online outside of the usual competitive or casual matches. I didn't spend a ton of time in this mode, but I did enjoy it from a conceptual level.

The Fighting Grounds are where players will most likely spend most of their time as it holds the usual arcade, local versus, and online modes. On PC, the input lag is usually never an issue (as long as you both have good connections). Crossplay is also here, which is always a great touch.

Each fighter is very unique from each other, which is something SF always gets right. The roster is here pretty damn big for a modern day fighting game, with characters both familiar and brand new. I really enjoyed not only the returning fighters, but also all the new ones. They all provide such unique and fun playstyles. Players new and old will not struggle to find at least a handful of characters that they will like playing as.

My only real complaint about SF6 is the weird and eye rolling choice of giving this game a battle pass. Its one thing for "free" games to have a paid battle pass, but for a full $60 game to have one? I'm sorry but thats just greedy. Capcom has been absolutely killing it lately, so it just sucks to see them do this kind of thing with another banger title.

Overall tho, SF6 is pretty much all someone could ask for in a fighting game experience. Its got something for pretty much everyone to enjoy, from casuals to competitive folk alike. Its a good time to be a SF and Capcom fan.