With Vengeance, Shin Megami Tensei V went from being a great game to becoming an absolute classic

First of all, I would like to express how I am against Atlus' modus operandi when it comes to re-releasing their games. For me, it is a waste of time and effort that could be better used in developing new titles, in addition to being practically disrespectful to the game developers, as I am completely convinced that they do not hold back and always try to deliver the best possible within the first version of each game. Of course, the improved versions with more content are (almost) always better, but overall, I'd trade them for getting the next sequel in less time in any day of the week.

However, I can definitely say that I am very happy that Vengeance exists.

It's no mystery to anyone that the original SMT V had its fair share of problems. As much as I already considered it an incredible game, it always left a bitter taste for me. The immense wasted potential of the narrative, as well as the lazy and neglected development of the characters, made the game convey to me the feeling that it still wasn't everything they were aiming to achieve in its conception.

Fortunately, now with the Vengeance route, things are completely different. I'm not even going to comment on Yoko, the new character, who is actually pretty cool, but she's not exactly the one who changes everything from water to wine.
Now the characters have more convincing ambitions, and very cool moments included in an assertive and very well crafted way that makes the entire plot more cohesive and exciting to follow until the end.
The writers really took their time and added detailed interactions between the characters. Take as an example the simple act of completing a side quest: now the characters debate among themselves whether Nahobino made the right choice, deliberate what could have happened, put their visions of the ideal world in evidence and come into conflict with each other. This alone enriches the game's narrative immensely.

It didn't become any masterpiece in storytelling, and of course it still has some problems, but the effort put in here was really very impressive to me, in a way that no other Atlus re-release added as much positively to the base game's content as it did.

Regarding gameplay and mechanics, they also fixed the game's level scaling, this time allowing you to use your favorite demons until the end of the game without them becoming useless. Even the impact of Nahobino's choices throughout the journey now really have a weight in determining his alignment, going against the original game where everything was determined by a single choice in the final dungeon, which is a horrible thing considering the past of the series in which so many games worked on this aspect masterfully.

And above all, SMT V is more than ever one of the most extraordinarily fun games I've had the pleasure of playing. Hell, it quite possibly has my favorite turn-based combat of any game. And the new route takes all of this even further, with lots of secret bosses, fun sidequests, better traversal mechanics, and even a demon haunt to interact with all your demons and Aogami. It's impressive how the demons steal the show and are the real stars of this game, and with demon haunt, we were able to see even more how each of them has their own personality and charisma.

In the end, I loved SMT V when it was originally released, but only now I can say that it has become a fully realized work that fulfilled all the goals it set out to achieve.

PS: Ryota Kozuka is an absolute beast of a madman, all the new songs are just insane, someone at Atlus raise this man's salary for YHVH's sake

Zelda II was one of several mainline Zelda games I had yet to play at this point. I didn't know why I skipped trying this one out when I went and beat Zelda 1 in 2020. Maybe it was because it's such a departure from every other game, or the fact I heard it wasn't good. Either way, this marathon gave me a good excuse to finally play this one. Sadly, what I've heard people say about this game is true. I unfortunately found this game to be straight up bad overall.

The story this time around revolves around the Triforce of Courage. The last game only had the Triforce of Wisdom and Power, but this game reveals there's a third. Basically, the King of Hyrule hid it far away so no evil can ever get it. The prince, aka Zelda's brother, wants it for himself. He gets the help of a wizard to have Zelda tell him where it is, since only she knows, by using a truth spell on her. When that doesn't work, the wizard puts Zelda to sleep, and so Link must get the Triforce of Courage and wake Zelda up from the sleep spell. He must do this by going to each of the six main palaces and placing a crystal there, so it opens up the Great palace, which houses the Triforce. Pretty effective plot tbh, it's weird that Zelda has a brother because he never gets mentioned in any other game (at least to my knowledge) but it's interesting.

The first thing you'll notice when actually starting the game, is the change in gameplay. This is no longer a top-down action adventure but is a side-scroller. This is unlike every other mainline Zelda ever and it really does feel off from the rest of the games. Along with it being a side-scroller now, there are also some light RPG mechanics too. There is exp in this game that you get by killing enemies (or collecting exp bags) and you can level up when you get the required amount. You either upgrade your health, magic or your attack power and the game always has a set path with whatever one you get on level up. With the magic, you can get spells throughout the game, and they can be quite useful. The life spell, for instance, is the best spell in the game since it's just a straight up heal. Same with the shield spell, since both make you survive longer. Believe me tho, you're gonna need them! Anyways, the exp system was actually one of the few things I can praise about this game. I thought it was pretty satisfying leveling up every time and it at least makes this game stand out from other Zelda games (if the side-scrolling nature didn't do that already).

The overworld in this game is more like an older RPG than how Zelda 1's was. Instead of having to bomb random locations to find secrets, this game has you progressing the world by using the items you get from palaces. Towns have NPC's that will let you in their house to get a spell in exchange for an item you find. Overworld encounters are now represented by little enemy sprites, that appear once you take a certain number of steps, and they put you into a battle scenario. They can be EXTREMELY obnoxious with how frequently they appear and with how hard it is to dodge them. If you stay on the roads that appear in game, the encounters won't appear but if you take one step off of the road (or just aren't on the roads at all which happens a lot) they will so the roads only help a tiny bit I think. All of this just makes this feel less like a Zelda game and more like an older adventure/RPG. I like the leveling up, but all of this is a downgrade from Zelda 1's formula, even if I wasn't in love with how that game did things.

The start of the game up until Death Mountain, was honestly not bad and was a solid time. Once you get to death mountain tho, this game shows its true colors. This game is incredibly difficult and incredibly bullshit a lot of the time. I know this is an NES game, so this is kinda expected, but Zelda 1 was not like this. Zelda 1 could be hard (mostly in the endgame) but it never felt like NES hard, hard for the sake of it basically. This game definitely does tho and it's worse for it. Death Mountain and the last area and palace were the absolute worst parts of the game. Both were just full of obnoxious BS and I just don't find that very fun. The rest of the game is like that too but to a lesser extent. I had to save state pretty much all the time from Death Mountain until the end, and I don't feel bad about it. It also doesn't help that when you die, there are also lives in this game because you NEED those for a side-scroller I guess, you go back to where Zelda's sleeping (aka the beginning of the game). You can unlock items that make this way better than it sounds, but if you die before you get the hammer and unlock the first shortcut, you must do all of death mountain over again. Without save states, this is very easy to have to do since this game is so brutal. If this game wasn't so hard and bullshit, this wouldn't be too bad because the general gameplay is solid. Link feels good to control and the moves he gets are cool. But due to the NES difficulty, those good elements don't mean much.

Going into the palaces, they're hit or miss. A couple of them I didn't find too bad and actually somewhat enjoyed, while the others were just hell. Palaces are a lot longer in this game and have barely any puzzles. Zelda 1's dungeons weren't super puzzle heavy, but they were more than just find key..unlock door and progress. This game focuses more on the combat than the puzzles and its worse for it since most of the enemies are just frustrating. The bosses aren't anything special, they're either piss easy or super obnoxious like Thunderbird. I always heard Dark Link (or Link's Shadow I guess) was absolutely brutal if you didn't do the duck and swipe method. I just killed him super easily by doing the jump attack method I do on other enemies. Didn't even need to use the shield spell, he was one of the easier bosses in the game lol. Idk if I just got lucky, or I'm just that good but I thought it'd be interesting to mention.

The OST is definitely not as good as the first game's. The palace theme is great and iconic due to it appearing in Smash Bros but that's about it. Every other song was okay at best to me. Nothing, not even the palace theme comes close to being iconic as the overworld theme in the first game.

All in all, while some of the mechanics like leveling up and Link's new swordplay are interesting, it doesn't change the fact this game is just a brutal, bullshit mess of a game. I said it before and I'll say it again, it's hard for the sake of it and just don't like games that do that. It also doesn't help that no other mainline Zelda game that I've played is like this lol. There are some Zelda elements here and there, but this really doesn't feel like a Zelda game to me. I'm glad I finally played this and got it off my bucket list, but I certainly will never be playing this again.

The next game in this Zelda marathon, A Link to the Past, is a breath of fresh air. While I didn't particularly like Zelda 1, and I definitely didn't like Zelda II, this game was different. This was one of the first Zelda games I played I believe, yet this was only my 2nd time fully beating it. I had seen plenty of randomizers before, but I haven't fully beaten this game in like 10 years. As I stated, this game was a breath of fresh air because, as opposed to the first two games, A Link to the Past is really great.

This game ditches the side-scrolling platformer adventure RPG Zelda II went for and is more in line with how Zelda 1 does things. It's top down again, there are no more RPG mechanics like Zelda II and the game isn't absolutely brutal like Zelda II. In fact, it's easier than the first game, tho I still died weirdly often funnily enough. Anyways this is all for the better as the direction Zelda II was going in, just did not do it for me at all.

The story this time around, and it focuses more on its story than the first two games, actually takes place before Zelda I and II. Before the events of the game happen, Ganondorf manages to open the gateway to the Sacred Realm where the Triforce is hidden away and he obtains the Triforce for himself. Knowing he was evil and this would lead to catastrophe, the king of Hyrule ordered seven sages to seal the gateway up along with Ganondorf inside. A long battle ensues but, in the end, the gateway was sealed. Many years later, horrible events start occurring and so the king of Hyrule believes it to be related to the sages seal. Finding out it was not that, he puts out a reward for anyone that can help him with these troubles. A wizard named Agahnim comes alone, seemingly fixing these troubles with his magic. He becomes close to the king and all is well for a while. However shortly after, people start to suspect something is wrong with Agahnim. He starts abusing his power. He eventually casts spells on all the soldiers to turn them evil, and kidnaps maidens that were descended from the sages, using their powers to try to open the seal himself. The game then officially starts, with Link having to save Zelda from the dungeon of Hyrule castle. Once Link saves her, she and him meet up with the priest of a nearby sanctuary and he tells you some of the details I just told you. It's now Link's job to get 3 pendants to obtain the Master Sword, eventually having to rescue the maidens (and Zelda she gets kidnapped too) from each of the dungeons that reside in the Dark World and in the end defeating Ganon. That was a lot but yeah this game is more story-focused than the other two and I like that. The story isn't mind-blowing, and I think Ocarina of Time honestly did the story way better since it's pretty similar to this game's but it's still a solid first attempt at this type of Zelda story.

Actually, getting into the gameplay tho, it's basically Zelda 1 but more polished. It's more linear than that game and holds your hand more but is also more engaging. You actually have a map for the overworld and there are always markers showing you where you need to go next. Some might see this as maybe too hand-holdy, but compared to Zelda 1's cryptic and more directionless nature, I'll take this any day over that. Another thing this game does better with its overworld is the secrets. Gone is every secret being a completely random bush to burn or wall to blow up. If there are bombable walls, they have a crack in them to indicate they can be blown up. Outside of that, the secrets are way more different. Sometimes you'll have to fall in a hole or well to end up in a cave and to get rupees or pieces of heart. (That's another change too, pieces of heart are now a thing, and you have to get 4 to make a full heart container). Sometimes you have to use the dark and light world to your advantage and switch between both to get secrets. Sometimes there are little minigames you can play to get items like pieces of heart. The secrets and ways you get items in the overworld are just so much more interesting here compared to the randomness in Zelda 1. There's a reason future Zelda's stuck with this format.

Dungeons this time around are more fleshed out and are more puzzle-like. Instead of having to push a block, find keys and maybe bomb some walls, A Link to the Past introduces many new concepts in its dungeons. One dungeon you're going in and out constantly through entrances in the overworld. Another is full of ice and thus the palace has ice physics. Another involves you having to use an item to create a platform on some tracks, letting you ride them to your destination. These never feel too gimmicky either and always come naturally. The dungeons are great in this game, far better than Zelda 1 and 2's, but I can't say I absolutely love them. Some are better than others (Skull Woods gave me big issues for some reason) and I generally prefer 3D Zelda dungeons more just because they usually have much more distinct aesthetic to them compared to these. Still tho, these dungeons are very enjoyable..especially the endgame ones. Tho Ganon's tower is brutal I gotta say lol.

The items you get from the dungeons, and I guess outside of them too, are pretty solid tho some are situational. The hookshot became very iconic from this game onwards and is used a lot in the 2nd half of the game. The bow and arrow, while not used a ton in this game, is fun and also became iconic. The hammer has its uses throughout the game but is pretty situational. The medallions damage enemies, tho I never really used them for that purpose much, and otherwise are only required very rarely. This game introduced bottles which are a nice addition as you can store faries in them to revive Link. This game does have several kind of forgettable items and also situational ones you won't use outside of battle or even often at all, but it also introduces some series staples as well, so I'd say it was a good selection of items overall.

The bosses at the end of dungeons are generally really good. They're all distinct visually, and some are even iconic enough to appear in future Zelda titles. Arrghus for example, basically reappears in Majora's Mask under the name Wart. Moldorm appears as a boss in Link's Awakening and A Link Between Worlds. The bosses are generally good, tho sometimes they can be a bit annoying. Mothula for example is incredibly hard without magic and the fire rod. Even with that, it's still difficult because of all the spike blocks in its room. Trinexx you basically NEED to have magic, the fire and ice rod, to even attack it or else you're shit out of luck. The game tells you a couple times throughout the game, when you'll basically need a green potion for a dungeon. They aren't kidding either. Cuz, I had a red or green potion almost every time before I started a dungeon. Luckily rupees are incredibly easy to get in this game, maybe the easiest game to rack up rupees, and a shop that sells green and red potions has a warp next to it which is handy (oh yeah, I forgot to mention you can warp with the ocarina once you get the song to summon the bird which is extremely helpful to warp throughout the Light World). Either way, besides some frustrating ones, the bosses are overall a big improvement from the first two games.

I mentioned the Dark World before and yeah, that's this games big thing. A ways into the game, you obtain the mirror. When you're in the Dark World, Link will turn into a bunny. When he uses the mirror tho, he can go back to the light world and leaves a little warp on the floor that he can use to go back to the Dark World. There are also several warps naturally strewn across the world that Link can use to warp to the Dark World if need be. Anyways, the reason Link is a bunny in the Dark World is because anything that's there morphs into a monster or an animal or whatever. Link cannot attack as a Bunny, but as soon as he first goes go to the Dark World, the dungeon that appears not even a minute after that happens holds the Moon Pearl. This let's Link go to the Dark World without turning into a bunny. Personally, since there's almost nothing in between you first going to the Dark World and getting the Moon Pearl, I would've liked if you got the moon pearl a bit later since it kind of felt pointless that you turn into a bunny only to not have to worry about that pretty much ever soon after. That's a minor nitpick tho, just something I thought about with this replay. Anyways, the whole Light World Dark World gimmick is very well done here, and it leads to some really cool secrets throughout the game.

The OST is great this time around. Zelda 1 already had a very solid soundtrack, and not only does this game have a new an improved version of the overworld theme, it also has some awesome new tracks along with some that become series staples. Zelda's theme makes its first appearance here and its a fantastic version of the song. Both the Dark World theme and the Dark World dungeon theme are also fantastic and fit the darker atmosphere the Dark World provides. This is even the first appearance of the Kakariko Village theme and as someone that played OOT before this game, I always thought that was very fascinating lol. Anyways this game's ost is iconic for a reason and has some of the best songs in the series.

While I did list a couple minor issues I had with this game, this truly is a massive step-up from the prior games. There's a big reason this is a classic and is still played today (whether it's the vanilla version or with randomizers). Now I do prefer Ocarina of Time personally, tho I guess I won't truly know until I replay that next, but if I'll give anything to this game over Ocarina, it's the fact the pacing is way faster and its a lot easier to just dive in and replay. That and visually it does look a lot cleaner. Anyways, I was going to play the CDI games, but I realized the hassle to get an emulator working for them wouldn't have been worth it for how supposedly bad they are. So, Link's Awakening DX is next in this marathon, look forward to that review coming soon!!

I first played Link's Awakening on my 3DS years ago. I got it on the eShop one day after a Youtuber I liked was let's playing it, and seeing as I was a Zelda fan at this point, I figured I'd enjoyed it. I think I got up until Eagle Tower and dropped it? I at least don't remember ever beating this game. Fast forward to the beginning of 2022, I had just gotten the remake for Christmas and was excited to play it. I actually beat that version this time and had a great time. Now with this marathon, I can finally beat this version of the game. I think overall I might prefer the remake, but this version is still good and Link's Awakening is still a good game overall.

Also quick note before the review: I was originally going to play the three CDI Zelda's next but decided against it so I'm skipping those. I also know this is the DX version, and that technically released after Ocarina of Time, however the majority of this game is still the original Link's Awakening which released 5 years before OOT so I just decided to play this first.

Anyways, Link's Awakening. This released 2 years after A Link to the Past and compared to that game and even the Zelda games before it, this game's plot and general atmosphere is very different. The story this time around is pretty simple. This is the same Link as the one in ALTTP and he regularly goes out to sea to train in other countries in case of further threats. One day, a storm destroys the boat he is on and he is washed ashore on Koholint Island. This girl named Marin finds him and brings Link to her home where he wakes up to see her and her father Tarin. Link leaves the home hoping to learn what this island is about and how he can get off of it. Along the way, he meets an owl that tells him to escape this island he must get the 8 instruments of the sirens and wake the wind fish (who resides in a giant egg) with them. Halfway into the adventure however, Link finds out that the entire island may just be a dream created by the wind fish. Whether that's true or not, Link continues to gather the instruments so he can wake the wind wish and get off the island. It's a simple plot but the first thing you'll notice is that it's WEIRD. I did not mention Zelda because she is not in this game. No Triforce or Ganon either. The big staple characters aren't in this game, instead it's an entire brand new cast. You have Marin and Tarin, the other villagers of the town they're in. There are many animal NPC's through out the world, there's even and animal village too lol. The villagers eventually can't recall how long they've been on the island. Throughout the game you even start seeing things from other Nintendo games like the many different Mario enemies, a girl gives you her photo and she looks just like Princess Peach and there's even an enemy that looks and acts like Kirby. This along with the general plot gives this game such a weird, dream-like atmosphere. That's kind of a joke but it's true, they really did a great job at making this game feel like a dream. This is honestly my favorite aspect of this game; just how weird and different it feels from other Zelda games.


The general gameplay is similar to ALTTP, tho it's not quite as linear as that game. You're still going through dungeons and what not but they aren't marked on your map. It can be a bit cryptic at times, trying to figure out how to get into each dungeon, because now you have to find each dungeons respective key to unlock it. Besides that, the overworld itself is pretty fun tho it can get a bit tedious to backtrack through. There are a couple warp points throughout the world you can warp to, but I think there should've been more because even with them, backtracking is plentiful and it's not super fun in this game. The reason for that is, and it's the game's biggest issue, there's only two item slots in this game and stuff like the power bracelet and even the sword takes up a slot. I know this is a Gameboy game, so there was only A and B to work with but having to constantly switch between items to explore can get a bit tiresome. That plus when you don't have an item, needed to clear an object, equipped, an unskippable message appears every time to let you know you need that item. So, whatever you do, don't touch any rocks without having the power bracelet equipped. Like I said, this is my biggest annoyance in the game and while I still enjoyed the overworld despite this, it can be annoying due to these issues.

Exploring the overworld, you'll find many optional secrets just like ALTTP. Like that game, there are caves all throughout and you'll usually need a dungeon item to get whatever treasure is inside. The puzzles in these might actually be more complex than ALTTP's, either way it's good that they're back in this game. You'll also find those weird NPC's throughout the world as well. There's actually a long trade quest in the game, that you would think would be optional due to how long and exploration based it is but it's not. It's required at several points to progress and also the reward you get at the end of it is too. It's not the worst thing in the world but I had forgotten how to do parts of it so I had to look some of it up online so that might stump new players.

Next I want to talk about improvements this game makes compared to past games. This is a Gameboy game so obviously I can't compare its visuals to ALTTP but for a Gameboy game this looks super nice and compared to the first two Zelda games, this also looks nice than them. They did a great job with all the pixel art in this game and I can see why some people prefer this version of the game compared to the remake, based on the art style since it's super charming here. This game also improved on stuff from ALTTP as well funnily enough. You could collect items with you sword in Zelda 1 but not ALTTP for some reason, luckily, you're able to in this game again. I also found the Pegasus Boots better in this game due to you not needing to press and hold the item button again and again when you want to dash constantly. You just need to hold it and Link will start to dash on every screen he's on now. Something that's kinda weird compared to past game is the rupees. Every rupee that spawns in the overworld from cut bushes or defeated enemies is a single rupee. The only way to get more than that at once is with chests and they can give you 20, 50, 100 or even 200 rupees. It's an interesting change but probably a needed one since this was a Gameboy game and this game was already probably pushing the system to its limits.

The dungeons in this game are actually really solid. They're not as vibrant or as memorable visually as ALTTP dungeons however they're full of puzzles, maybe even moreso than ALTTP. That game has a bit more of a focus on combat, and I still might prefer that games dungeons just because of the aforementioned visual memorability. But even still, very good set of dungeons that even stumped me a bit at times. The items you get in these though are pretty solid. You have the aforementioned power bracelet, the magic rod from past Zeldas, the hookshot from ALTTP as well as the flippers. A lot of these are just older items but the standout item, and the one that actually makes the game more fun to play in general tbh, was the roc's feather. When you equip this, you can jump. That's it but it makes a world of difference in how you can play and can absolutely just destroy some bosses super-fast if you're skilled enough. If I didn't need any item to progress, I just went with my sword and the roc's feather. That was my go to set of items. There was an annoyance I had with the items. Since there's no way to speed up text, you'll be seeing the same dialogue for the map and compass over and over again. The map is fine since it's so short but the compass is like three times as long or something and they decided to let you know there's a new sound that plays whenever a chest is in the same room as you. That's cool...you don't have to tell me every time I do a dungeon tho! The bosses at the end of dungeons might also be an improvement from ALTTP. They aren't as flashy of course but they also don't require red/green potions sometimes to defeat, they all have dialogue this time which gives them more character and they're also just really weird or goofy which fits the setting of the game. I'd say they're overall maybe simpler to fight than ALTTP's bosses but simple doesn't equal bad. The final boss tho, had several different phases that took the form of bosses you fought in past games, and it also made use of several of Link's items. Because of that, it was easily the best boss in the game.

The soundtrack in this game, even tho its a Gameboy game, is really melancholic at times and is charming as hell. The signature Ballad of the Wind Fish(I sent Marin's version is easily my favorite song in the game. Mabe Village,Tal Tal Heights and the Ending Theme were my other favorites. The whole soundtrack is good however, and something else this game had over ALTTP is the fact each dungeon had their own unique theme. Now I can't say I prefer any of them over the two ALTTP had but they're still mostly solid here.

While I did have some issues that held this game back from being better than ALTTP, this is still a really solid Zelda game and one that is unique in the story it tells and the atmosphere it provides. It must've been amazing having a game like this on the go back in the day. Like I said as well, I do prefer the remake just because of the some of the improvements it made. I'm kind of known as the original game enjoyer, so for me to prefer a remake over the original is very odd. We'll get to that game way down the line but even if I like that one more, it doesn't stop this version from being good. It certainly has its own charm as well.

I think I'm going to take a small break in between this game and Ocarina of Time. I'm thinking maybe my Plants vs Zombies replay is next? Either way, stay tuned for that and then Ocarina of Time after in the near future!

Since I have now gotten to the 3D Zelda's in my Zelda marathon, and they're usually a lot longer than the 2D ones, I've decided to play a game or two in between entries. There will be new games here and there, but it also gives me a good opportunity to replay shorter games I love. Plants vs Zombies is a game near and dear to my heart. I've played it countless times in the past, even tried to Let's Play it years ago, and even still in 2024...it's one of my favorite games ever.

The concept of PVZ is pretty simple. Zombies are trying to get to your house to eat your brains, you have to stop them by using plants you acquire throughout the game. Incredibly simple plot but it works because of the constant humor throughout. The only non-zombie, non-plant character is Crazy Dave and he also helps with the game being hilarious. He's iconic for a reason and is also home to all the dialogue in the game. The zombies themselves are also very humorous. I've seen them all hundreds of times not but on a first playthrough, it would've been a blast seeing each new zombie type as they appear and seeing what methods they use to try to get to the house.

The gameplay is also pretty simple in this game. This is a tower defense game, meaning as enemies slowly (or fast depending on the zombie) move to the point you have to defend, you must defend it with your arsenal. The game is on a grid system too so you must plan out your plots of land/water/roof as well. Your arsenal, the plants, are also varied in their uses. The sunflower is your most important plant as, while you can get sun here and there from the sky, they are the best way to produce sun in the game. Sun is your currency that let's you buy plants so obviously it's incredibly important. The game makes it known pretty much right away that you'll want sunflowers at all times. Other than that, you have offensive plants like Peashooters or melon-pults. You have defensive plants like wall-nuts or pumpkins that can hold off zombies for a bit. The reason they can is because they have much more defense than other plants and as such take longer to eat, vs like the usual 3 or so seconds it takes to eat a plant. You have TSPP's (temporary solution to a permanent problem as coined by Nintendocaprisun) which are plants that destroy a single or group of zombies and then disappear afterwards. They're amazing in a pinch but also usually take longer to charge. That's another thing in this game. Besides plants needing different amounts of sun to plant them, they also have different recharge times until you can plant them again. Sunflowers or offensive plants are usually the quickest while defensive or TSPP's are usually a lot longer. It adds just even more strategy to the game I feel.
The zombies are also varied in their ways to try to get into your house as well. I already said their various ways are humorous but they're practical too. A regular zombie has 10 health. Then there's an upgraded zombie with a cone that has 25. Then ones with buckets have 50. Not only that but some zombies are faster and behave differently than others. Pole-vaulters are very fast at first but once they get in front of a plant, they pole-vault over it and then walk normally. Dancing zombies literally dance over to you and summon 4 zombies all around them like a backup crew (they actually were originally Michael Jackson zombies doing the Thriller dance but had to change it due to him passing around that time). Gargantuars have 100 hp, the most of any zombie and when they get to 50 they throw a little imp on their back like 5 grid spaces ahead of you. AND the imp itself has like 3 hp or something but is super quick. It's just really cool to see all of these zombies with their own unique properties combined with the many different plant types in the game.

So, you know how the gameplay works. How about the levels themselves. That's also pretty simple. There are 5 levels in the game and each has different properties. The regular lawn levels are the most basic and there's actually nothing special about them. The nighttime levels don't have falling sun so you must rely on cheaper mushrooms that can only grow naturally at night and maybe some sun-shrooms instead of sunflowers. Pool levels introduce the water and also 6 rows instead of 5. You must plant lily-pads before you can plant any land plants. There are aquatic only plants (lily-pads as well) that you can plant without a lily-pad tho. Fog levels are pool levels except at night but also with fog. So apply everything I said about the night levels here as well as fog that covers half the level. So you'll either have to deal with not seeing half the level at all or use specific plants that let you deal with it. Finally, the roof levels which don't allow you to plant pea shooters, because of the angle or the roof, and you must plant these flower-pot plants first before any other plant. Besides the first level, which is basic for a good reason considering it teaches you the basics, each level is varied enough so it doesn't ever get boring. Also, every 5th and 10th level, the game breaks the pacing up a bit by letting you play a mini-game or a conveyer belt free-for all style stage. These as well are very fun and again makes it, so the game doesn't get tedious. This campaign all culminates in a battle with Zomboss, the final boss of the game and the mastermind/leader of the zombies. His fight is super fun and challenging enough to the point where it's not too easy. I didn't mention it before, but the main campaign is honestly not very hard at all. Some people might take issue with it but I always found it to be a very relaxing and chill game to play so I welcome the easier difficulty.

If you want difficulty, the other modes have you covered. Yes, the main levels aren't the only thing in this game. In fact, I'd say it's only around the halfway point if you want to do everything. First off, before I get into the various other modes PVZ provides, let's talk about the other things you can find on the main menu. Once you're at a certain point into the main campaign, you'll start unlocking other things you can do. The shop let's you buy various plants, items for your lawn, stuff for the zen garden and even a tree you can grow. You can buy all this stuff with money you get randomly from zombies. The zan garden let's you grow plants you get from the store or from killed zombies. This is a great way to get cash and is relaxing to check out every hour or so since it takes plants a bit to grow. There's also built in achievements, which I did get all of them back in like 2021, but this time I only got 11/20. I could've done them all again but a couple of them take a long while to get.

As for the actual modes, this is where the real difficulty comes in. Minigames contain some of the ones you played in the main campaign and a bunch of new ones. They're mostly very fun, some are more fun than others, and mix up the general gameplay a ton. There's a minigame where you feed brains to zombies that swim in a fish tank like fish. There's one where you must match plants like bejeweled. There's one where you play slots to obtain plants. They're all very different and the later ones especially can get quite touch. I'm looking at you Pogo Party and Bobsled Bonanza. The 2nd mode is puzzles. Here you play two types of little puzzle games. Vasebreaker where you must break vases that you don't know have a plant or a zombie in it (unless they're green then they always have plants). And I, Zombie where you actually play as the zombies and you must carefully figure out what zombies to place down to eat the plants. There's like 9 or 10 versions of each of these but they're pretty quick and a lot of fun. The last mode is survival where you must survive waves of zombies with whatever setup you have. In between waves the lawn doesn't reset so you can build a pretty crazy defense by the end. There's a normal and hard version for each of the 5 levels and the hard versions can get pretty ridiculous. Dare I say the hardest thing in PVZ1. I did everything in all of these 3 modes tho (besides the endless stuff cuz yeah that's a thing too) and got the gold sunflower trophy so I'm satisfied. Idk if I'd do the survival hards again tho, at least not all at once cuz they can get a bit tiring lol.

This game's soundtrack is something special and I have to give props to the composer Laura Shigihara. Not only is she an amazing composer and also vocalist (she voices the sunflower in "There's a Zombie On Your Lawn"), she also streams a lot and just seems like a cool person. Anyway yeah, she composed an absolute banger of a soundtrack. My absolute favorite song was always Watery Graves and it's still my favorite now. Other than that, my other favorites would have to be Ultimate Battle,Loonboon and Braniac Maniac.

This replay was fun, even if I 100%ed it on replay a couple years ago, I can never get enough PVZ1. Like I said, Ocarina of Time is next and after that I think I'm going to replay Katamari Damacy before I get into Majora's Mask so stay tuned for all of that!

Ocarina of Time was my first game in the Zelda franchise. Not this version tho, Ocarina of Time 3D. I won't get into the details with that version, but I very much enjoyed it and wanted to play other games in the series. The same year, or the year after, my one uncle gave me his N64. I'm pretty sure there was only two games that came with it. Star Wars: Episode 1 - Racer and this game. Barely touched Star Wars at but OOT, well I already really enjoyed the 3D remake so I was excited to actually give the original a try. I loved it. At least I'm assuming I did, for some reason I replayed this version so many times back in the day..it became my most replayed game ever for a while. I memorized the entire game, every major bombable hole location, every gold skulltula. I don't know why I played this game so much but I think I ended up overplaying it to the point I started not loving it as much. With this Zelda marathon, I was able to replay this once again after not replaying it in like 10 years. Even now, I still felt some of those overplayed woes I had back then, but mostly in the early game. Even now, 90% of the collectables came right back to me. Even now, it was still fun playing this game and I still love it for getting me into Zelda and into other Nintendo games in general. This game is not perfect, and I do have some criticisms for sure, but this is an important game in regard to the history of gaming and an important game to me.

One of the best aspects of this game is its story and world-building in comparison to past games. The main plot is actually pretty similar to ALTTP. You are tasked with collecting 3 Spiritual Stones (pendants), have to obtain the Master Sword in the Temple of Time (the Lost Woods) and then you must awaken the seven sages (seven maidens) so you can destroy the barrier in Ganondorf's castle and defeat him. Very similar to ALTTP, except instead of traveling between the Light and Dark world, you must travel between the present and future. See, you actually start as young link but when you obtain the Master Sword, Link is sealed in it for seven years and becomes an adult. In terms of the story, this is much more interesting than the light and dark world was. The world changes around you as you travel to the future, and so do the characters. Speaking of them, this game is chalk full of em and they're way more interesting this time around. Link himself has way more personality than he ever did in past games. I still definitely prefer future iterations of him but he's solid here. Zelda is MUCH better here and actually plays a big part in the story. She has way more scenes and due to that and her Shiek persona, she's absolutely one of the best if not the best character in the game. Ganondorf is actually seen with his non-pig design here and there's a reason this game made his human form iconic. The sages, unlike the unnamed maidens, are actual characters here. Not just throughout their temples, you meet pretty much all of them as young Link throughout Hyrule and you help them out along the way. This helps in making them memorable and let me tell you they very much are. Whether it's your childhood friend Saria to the rough and tough Goron Darunia, they're all pretty different characters and again are actually characters this time around. The little side characters you meet in each location are memorable to as the dialogue they are given is translated much better. ALTTP I found to a decently plain and straight-forward English translation. Here tho, they like to be quirky and make a lot of the side characters say weird and interesting things which helps the world feel alive. Something else that makes the game feel alive is the many races that are found in this world. ALTTP had Hylians and Zora. Not only does OOT have those (and they're more fleshed out) it added Kokiri, Shiekah, Gerudo, Deku, and Goron's. All of these helps add to the world-building immensely. Something that would make the dialogue better in this version of the game is if you could skip to the end of single textboxes. You either have to read each one slowly or if you try to make it go faster, it skips to the very end of a set of textboxes. Majora's Mask fixed this and so did the 3DS remake, but I thought it was worth pointing out here because it can be a tad bit irksome.

The combat in this game is very different from ALTTP, simply because it's 3D now instead of 2D. This game introduces Z-Targeting. When you hold the Z button in front of an enemy, you will automatically target and face their direction the entire time. This is incredibly helpful and is almost needed with a game like this. Because this game is in 3D, this changes Link's moveset dramatically. You still swing your sword but now depending on your button inputs, you'll do different swings. You can do a vertical, horizontal swing and a jab. If you z target, have your sword out and press the a button, you do a jump attack. You can backflips, you can do side jumps. Link now auto-jumps whenever you go off a platform or a ledge. Just your basic move set is fun and imo more fun than 2D Zelda. This isn't even getting into other items like the hook-shot which had an amazing transition into 3D. That and the bow puts you into first person and it just works marvelously. The slingshot and boomerang puts you into like a over the shoulder third person view. Funnily enough, each set of items I mentioned are exclusive to each form of Link. Young Link can only use certain items and vice versa for Adult Link. Along with the enemies being more fun and interesting in a 3D environment, the combat in this game was improved from past games and it's honestly amazing for a game from 1998 and amazing for Zelda's first foray into 3D.

The overworld honestly is not the best, I think. It was their first 3D game, I'll cut them some slack but I don't care for Hyrule Field. The size was most certainly impressive back in the day, however now I just see it as wasted potential. It's pretty empty, not very interesting to look at and it's "secrets" are lame. Basically any secrets it has are holes under boulders or completely invisible holes you bomb to unlock. You can find these with the stone of agony but you need a rumble pak to even use it. Otherwise, you either have to randomly guess where they are like Zelda 1 or memorize where they, are after looking them up, on future playthroughs like I did. Wouldn't be much of an issue if some of them didn't have important stuff like gold skulltulas or a heart piece. Outside of that, you have a tedious big poe quest and a single NPC that's used in quest. Honestly if the secrets were just a little better, it was more visually appealing and there were a couple more NPC's, this main overworld, that's connected to every area, would be so much better to me. Honestly I feel like Majora's Mask fixed this issue with Termina Field, which is way better imo, but as it stands this is my least favorite part of the game imo. The area's connected to Hyrule Field are good however, Visually distinct and they have plenty of actually good secrets and collectables to find. However, actual side quests in this game aren't too great imo. The Biggoron one is memorable, but all the others aren't too great imo and are very much overshadowed by Majora Mask's fantastic side quests. Like there's literally a mask side quest where you have to obtain masks and sell them to NPC's. The reward isn't great, another mask, and it just reminds me of how MM handled its mask items way better. Tho alas, I should not be comparing it to a future game like that so I will stop.

My least favorite part of them game, besides Hyrule field, is young Link's portion. Don't get me wrong, it's not bad but the dungeons you go through don't compare to Adult Link's Temples. The Great Deku tree is a solid starting dungeon but it's also very simple. Same with Dodongo's Cavern and Jabu-Jabu's Belly. None of them are bad, they're just very simple compared to temples. Something that is great tho, and this applies to every dungeon in the game, is how visually distinct and memorable they are. 2D Zelda dungeons are great and all but they just don't compare to 3D ones. The type of stuff you can do in 3D dungeons can't be replicated in 2D ones. Jumping from the top of a tree and feeling the full depth of your fall as you land on a spider-web and bust through it due to gravity. Just can't work in 2D. I can see why people might prefer 2D ones tho. As long as they're well designed, they're usually more complicated and technically better "dungeons" where its easy to get lost. However, they lack the spectacle that I prefer in 3D ones. The first 3 young Link dungeons are very linear for example. They have puzzles ofc but it's hard to get lost in them unlike 2D ones. However, I don't mind that (tho in these first 3 dungeons case I guess I do cuz they're a bit TOO simple) and that's proven by the five temples in this game. Adult Link temples, while still probably more linear than some 2D Zelda dungeons, rock my socks. I'll just get into this now, Water temple is not bad. It was my least favorite temple this playthrough, but it's not bad..just can be a little tedious. It's the most complex and backtracky dungeon in the game, and feels kinda like a 2D dungeon but that's at the cost of being a little more tedious than the others (not only due to the design of the place but the iron boots ofc). It can be tough to figure out but I can apprecauet that. Fire temple is also good but just doesn't stick out as much as the other three. Shadow has a very disturbing atmosphere and relies on tricks and traps. Forest and Spirit temple are easily the best dungeons in the game. Forest is very atmospheric and is a very nicely designed dungeon with a great temple theme. Spirit temple is the only one to make use of both young and adult Link, and it does it well, as well as having the best dungeon boss in the game. Not every dungeon in this game is like amazing, but when it hits..IT HITS. Oh also the dungeon bosses vary in quality. Twinrova is the best boss in the game I think. She makes great use of the mirror shield and the witch sisters have actual dialogue and are actual characters that make the boss that much better. Phantom Ganon is cool as well and Ganondorf/Ganon himself is ofc badass. There are some weaker bosses like King Dodongo being piss easy or Morpha being very easy to cheese, however even these weaker bosses are cool to see now that the games in 3D.

Quick thing on the visuals. They don't look bad but they can be a bit ugly at times. Obviously, this is a game from 1998, so I can let it slide somewhat. I played on an actual N64 so the resolution and framerate are pretty bad. They had to be to even run this game at the time, so with knowledge of that and how the game looks its impressive. Still, I know I'd say I wouldn't compare it to Majora's Mask again...but that game is on the same system and looks way more vibrant to me. I know it's using the expansion pass but still..

The soundtrack is absolutely iconic. ALTTP is where Zelda's Lullaby originated, howevrr this version is way more iconic to me. Same with Kakariko Village tho I honestly might like ALTTP's version of it hehe. As for original songs, Lost Woods, Song of Storms, Gerudo Valley, Lon Lon Ranch are all bangers and are super duper iconic for good reasons. The Ocarina songs are all really good, and I actually like how the Ocarina plays a much bigger part in this game compared to the last two games it was in. My absolute favorite song in the game funnily enough, is Requiem of Spirit. Always has been, always will be. Something about it is kinda eerie yet mysterious. It's such a short song yet it's my favorite, idk why lol.

I was honestly very conflicted while playing this. Due to my complaints with Hyrule field/sidequests and me overplaying this game back in the day, part of me wanted to keep this at an 8. However, this game really was important in expanding my taste in games and is just an important landmark of a game in general. What really pushed me to bump it to a 9 though, was the ending. I've already seen it before, but I teared up. Not just teared up, I actually started to cry a bit. I don't know if it's just because the ending is very sweet and emotional, or because it reminded me the days I'd used to play this game a ton (insert anology of how I longed for my days of being a child just like Adult Link does at the end of the game or something idk). Either way, yeah I'll bump it to a 9. Game's not perfect but it is awesome, that's all that needs to be said.

I'm going to play Katamari Damacy after this and then move on to my personal favorite Zelda, Majora's Mask. Look forward to those reviews in the near future!

The first time I played Katamari Damacy was with Reroll in 2018. I had gotten a copy for Christmas after thinking it seemed interesting. I played it a bit throughout my week trip with my ex-girlfriend and thought it was somewhat fun and nothing else. Fast forward to 2022, I was going through my games deciding what to play next. I see Reroll and remembered I didn't actually beat it. Since I knew it was short, I decided to finish it this time. Coming out of it, I thought it was great and a lot better than I initially thought. Fast forward again to the end of 2022, I get the PS2 version. I already really enjoyed Reroll but this replay of the OG version made me truly love Katamari and got me to eventually play We Love Katamari. And yet again, with this most recent playthrough, I still love this game.

The story of Damacy is wacky and lighthearted. The King of Cosmos (this giant flying handsome guy like fella) flies into all the stars in the sky as well as the moon because he was drunk. You the prince, must now roll up objects in levels and create new stars (and the moon) to fix your dad's mistake. That's the entire story but it works because of this games weird and quirky humor.

So you have to roll up objects in levels and make them big enough to satisfy the king before he turns them into stars. Sounds simple enough right? Well besides there being some levels that aren't just that, the way you collect objects in this game is interesting. You start with a ball at a specific size and must gradually make it bigger over time. The thing with that is, you can't roll just anything at the start. You have a size limit depending on how large your ball is and as it gets bigger, so does the size of possible things you can roll up. It can be a bit tricky to gauge what things you can and can't collect at your ball size, and if you run into something you can't it can knock things out of your ball. It's actually not too hard to do that, because along with knocking into large objects, if you get stuck somehow that can make you drop objects as well. It's actually not hard to get stuck in this game, and while it can be somewhat frustrating, you can usually escape. A large part of the reason this game is so fun to play, besides the general gameplay being solid, is how wacky collecting everything is. What you can collect ranges from small stuff like erasers or thumbtacks to literal whole landmasses and clouds in the sky. Besides the King occasionally cracking jokes or reprimanding you in levels, a lot of the character comes the humans. Like halfway into the game, you start getting to levels where you can collect humans. There are all types of them and they all have hilarious or even somewhat-terrifying reactions to being rolled up. But this is the fun of the game, going from level to level and seeing what types of craziness will ensue.

Something I think I prefer in We Love are the level settings. In this game it's a lot more basic and is someone's home, a little town, an area by a lake and then a whole city. It's not bad in the slightest, and I do really like how the levels evolve over the time..I just prefer We Love's more varied level themes now. I will say though, while I do at the very least like every level, the final one where you must make the moon is so peak. It's a city level but you're given 25 minutes to complete it and you eventually get big enough to collect full cities and clouds in the sky and a literal thunder god. It's insane and by far the wackiest level in the game and I love it. I gave a couple very minor things I wish were better in this game but the thing I actually don't like are some of the side levels. Besides the usual ones I described, there are levels where you must create constellations. These range from levels where you have to collect as many of an object as you can to one where you must collect as many paired objects as you can. These are all fine and dandy but then there are some where you have to collect the biggest of an object you can. These two levels are make Ursa Major and Make Taurus. With these, you have to collect the biggest bear and cow in each respective level. Only issue is there are bears and cows all over the level and if you collect just one it ends the level. They want you to memorize the stage so you can make your ball big enough and find the bear/cow. Idk, I never had the patience for these and just don't find them fun so I always just collect the first one I see and skip it basically. Another level I'm not as keen on but still try with is the one where you must make a 10M ball but you can't see your progress so you must guess. I do find it a little fun to see how close I can get but it's pretty difficult for me to gauge where I'm at just by guessing. That's my biggest issue with the game, these three side levels and they're only like a 10th of the game so it's not the biggest deal in the world.

The games visuals and artstyle is fantastic. It goes for cel-shading I believe and it makes every level so vibrant and colorful. The levels are already cool enough as it is but the little planets you go on in the hub, atmospherically are great as well. It's literally just your means of going to each level or the options in the game but it has a ton of personality that just makes it super memorable. The entire game is like that tbh, even the title screen with the three game files has you rolling up parts of the word Namco to start..each file in the game is literally a couple letters of the publisher! It's just incredibly quirky and charming which I love a lot.

Besides the game's weird and quirky nature, the soundtrack is kind of what sells this game. It's honestly a very impressive and out there OST, with songs from all different music genres. You have swing, techno, salsa, J-pop etc. This game is bound to have a song you'll like. Some of my favorites are Que Sera Sera, Katamari on the Rocks, Lovely Angel and plenty more. There are actually a couple of stage songs I'm not like a huge fan on, namely Wanda Wanda and You Am Smart. They aren't bad, they just pale in comparison to a lot of the other songs I feel. I honestly don't think I like love love any song in this game, but like the collective majority of great and experimental songs just makes me appreciate the soundtrack a ton. That is...besides Lonely Rolling Star which is not only my favorite song between both Katamari games I've played, it's one of my favorite videogame songs ever now and is probably in my top 5 VGM of all time. The levels it's in could be total shit and I wouldn't care because the song is so good, so every level it was in (only 2 apparently which is kinda sadge) was pure bliss. The final level was also pure bliss because on top of being the most fun, it played Katamari on the Rocks which is a banger. Either way, great OST which is even more peak because it has Lonely Rolling Star.

Had a couple of little gripes that might be fixed by We Love when I replay it. Doesn't change the fact this game is peak though. Was thinking about bumping this to a 10, still might in the future, but for now I'll just keep it at a 9. Still a blast to play and just artistically it's amazing (both conceptually and it's music/art style) which I appreciate a TON. Anyways, next review will be Majora's Mask and then I'll probably join everyone in playing Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance so look forward to those reviews in the future!

Edit: I decided to finally bump this to a 10/10. It has a couple things I think We Love did better, but this is still an incredible work of art I gotta give it the 10.

Desde que joguei o 1 pela primeira vez, esperei muito esse jogo, e amigos, a espera valeu muito a pena.

Hellblade 2 foi uma experiência incrível e muito única, a Ninja Theory mandou DEMAIS aqui. Graficamente isso é um absurdo, nunca vi nada igual, expressões faciais bizarramente realistas, cenários e animações extraordinárias, tem cenas que parece realmente um live-action, o jogo mais realista que já joguei, facilmente.

Também gostei MUITO do combate, pesado, mais difícil que o do 1 e que, junto com a trilha sonora e visuais, cria uma atmosfera absurda durante a luta.

O áudio dispensa comentários, é perfeito, as vozes e narração pegam demais, te passando muito a angústia ou desespero da Senua, o áudio binaural torna essa franquia bem única, espero muito ver mais coisas assim futuramente.

E por fim a história e narrativa são o que mais me pegaram, uma das melhores que já vi, me senti imerso e preso do início ao fim. A jornada da Senua é algo realmente especial, me conectei muito com ela, muito também por conta da atuação e performance da Melina Juergens, que entregou MUITO aqui, absurda demais.

Bom, é isso, obrigado Ninja Theory por essa experiência maravilhosa <3

Zerei HB 1 mês passado(do tempo que escrevo essa review)pela primeira vez e tenho muita coisa fresca na cabeça, mas de forma resumida acho que Hellblade Senua's Sacrifice uma experiência muito boa como narrativa, mas muito fraco como jogo. meu desejo era que a sequência soubesse medir melhor puzzle arrastados e combate com muitos inimigos, o que iria deixar a experiência tanto de narrativa e jogo muito boa.

Hellblade 2 foi la e conseguiu deixar ainda mais simples.

O combate não existe mais desafio, ok eles não exageram nos inimigos mas agora você simplesmente enfrenta um por vez, não tem desafio e as vezes causa mesmo sentimento de ser interminável, apesar de ser raro. E os puzzle simplesmente MORRERAM. Você não tem que pensar, alguns são literalmente "coloque objeto em tal lugar, va em tal lugar,foque e libere caminho ", você so anda, não tem mais nem mínimo de gameplay durante o jogo,você apenas anda pra frente e termina o jogo.

Tem saldo positivo em relação ao combate cinematográfico, morri uma vez e dependendo de com quantos golpes você derrota um oponente a animação muda e próxima oponente é introduzido de forma diferente,e vários momentos eu não sabia q tinha que interagir ou mover algo justamente pela qualidade do gráfico o tempo todo parecer uma cutscene, facilmente gráfico mais bonito da geração, e claro a narrativa continua otima, a adição de personagens foi muito bem vinda, desenvolvimento da Senua é bem mais interessante justamente pelos outros personagens criando situações onde você ve como ela age com outros, e vendo o quão gentil, empática por outras pessoas, é muito bom de ver sendo trabalhado.


No geral, como um jogo tiveram a capacidade de deixar ainda mais simples o que achei prejudicial, porém a história tem seu saldo e acredito que foi melhor que o primeiro, o jogo como sequência melhora de forma técnica mas é muito meme considerar isso um jogo quase. De 0 a 10 acaba do mesmo jeito que o primeiro, 6.

Hellblade 2 is a game that should be more honest with itself. Solving third-rate puzzles that don't provide any challenge, or facing enemies in scripted combat from the beginning to the end of the game, doesn't do him any good. And I think that's the point that so many people are missing. In fact, Hellblade 2 would not be better with wider and deeper gameplay, but rather, with a greater absence of it.

Senua's Saga's greatest strengths are the moments when the game sets out to be a unique and bizarre experience, rather than its gameplay-focused segments. It's been a long time since I felt genuine anxiety playing something, and Hellblade 2 gave me that, whether with extremely uncomfortable sequences that cause a feeling of claustrophobia, dread and disgust, or just with Senua deliberating, disturbed and lost with herself and her thoughts, insecurities, and fear of whatever lies ahead.

I already had this thought when I played the first game, and it only intensified and became more serious when the developer releases a sequel seven years later, with one hell of a generational leap, and delivers something extremely similar, not to mention simpler and less meaningfull than the previous one.

There's no shame in developing a cinematic and interactive game focused completely on the narrative and remarkable moments. I can only hope that, if we are ever going to have a third game, Ninja Theory has a more aligned vision of delivering ONLY what Hellblade in its essence truly is, or at least should be.

Ace Attorney franchise is amongst the most popular visual novel videogames, so naturally, I often hear good things about it, be it from friends who like the genre or online discourse. I decided to give the first game a try to see what all the ruckus was about and well shit, it’s GOOD. Before I start talking more about it, there’s a tiny nitpick that I’d like to get off my chest.

About halfway through the game, I was reading some online trivia regarding the franchise and found out that the English localization changes A LOT when it comes to character names and where the story takes place (US in the localization and Japan in the original). I was negatively surprised to find out about this because even though Capcom is a Japanese game developer, it is not uncommon for them to make games that take place in the US with American characters as well, such as the Resident Evil franchise, for example. Why does this annoy me? Because it just feels unnecessary. Sure, it might be cool for Americans, but I’m not American, and not just me, but everyone playing a version that’s not the Japanese one has to play with the American names and all. Like I said, nitpicking, but I hate this feeling that I’m having a “fake experience.” Anyway, I don’t expect anyone else to give a shit about this, just felt like saying. With that out of the way, let me actually start writing about the game.

The story is centered around five cases, each of which could be an entire movie plot; they’re truly that interesting. Even though each case is centralized on itself, the characters and references to previous cases are still present, reminding you that this is all part of one journey – and what a journey it is. The cast is full of intriguing and unique characters, and the interactions are mostly enjoyable. The investigation aspect of the game is genuinely interesting, and I really enjoyed exploring every nook and cranny. However, the main charm of the game resides in the courthouse sections. Although I wasn’t sold on every resolution and plot twist, I was certainly interested in paying attention to the details the entire time. Those sections are definitely a ride of various emotions, and the soundtrack does a damn fine job in creating atmosphere, tension, and satisfaction. The gameplay is simple, and the puzzles are not hard to figure out. Even if you get them wrong at crucial points, the game is still very forgiving. But I say this in a positive light – it is very accessible to anyone who wishes to play while still managing to be intriguing most of the time. And of course, the humor may not be for everyone (not in my case, got me grinning a lot), but you can’t deny how full of charm this game is.

With that said, I would definitely recommend this game not only to those who have shown previous interest in it but also to those who have never played any VN. It is a good way to get into the genre. I can say without a doubt that the Ace Attorney/Gyakuten Saiban franchise has gained a new fan who cannot wait to play the rest of the series.

Yakuza 8 tem a promessa de ser o maior jogo da franquia, trazendo o maior mapa do jogo,conteúdo e na história com Kasuga Ichiban e Kiryu Kazuma no limite da sua vida com dois sendo protagonistas.
Como um jogo é facilmente o qual mais conteúdo da franquia, Havai é enorme e traz toda uma mudança indo pra outro país e uma região urbana totalmente diferente e linda,a cada capítulo é mais um minigame,mecânica pra você jogar ,RGG se esforçou pra dar conteúdo pros jogadores. A gameplay e uma evolução linda do 7 deixando o anterior quase ultrapassado,melhore sistema de skill das classes incentivando você usar todas e p sistema de parceria dos personagens muito melhor pra que você se sinta que quer fazer tudo.

Infelizmente a história é uma decepção,metade da campanha com uma certa demora para avançar e alguns capítulos repetitivos onde você não sente o avanço do plot,desenvolvimentos de personagens e tramas não são bem aproveitados e muito questionáveis e a história apelando bastante lra condição do Kiryu,vários momentos são de arrepiar pros fãs da franquia e um final incrível,porém a história no geral sendo fraca.