this is the third time i've tried to get into phoenotopia - i got really frustrated by some of the difficulty, e.g. no i-frames after taking damage, consuming food (i.e. potions) in real-time, and rapidly depleting stamina when attacking. but i was in the mood for this type of game (i.e. a light-hearted, low stakes zelda-like), so i figured i'd give it another go.

this time, i turned down every difficulty setting as low as it will go, and i will say it definitely improved my experience. i was hoping this would let the exploration and puzzle solving take more of a leading role in the game, which i suppose it did - however, it just wasn't that exceptional in my opinion (this assessment is after ~8hrs of gameplay. i had just turned in the bounty for Birdy). everything is "fine", from the story to the music to the secrets. but when i considered that HLTB lists this game as 35hrs for the main story alone, i decided that i didn't want another ~30h of "fine".

On par with Doom 2016 in terms of quality and gameplay, if a bit bloated, but it lacks the great environmental storytelling. I'm well aware most people don't care for story in FPS games. But the environmental storytelling in something like the first Doom, Doom 3 and Doom 2016 adds a great layer of immersion that improves the game.

The "chosen one, God slayer" story this game has is not only written poorly, has no emotional impact and slows down the pace but it actively detracts from the experience. It's downright embarrassing at times how much they try to sell the Doom Slayer as a cool dude everyone is afraid of. The games I mentioned prior make him seem cool without trying hard to, in a very organic way.

At this point in time, Rare didn’t necessarily have the best track record when it came to their releases. Sure, they did have the Battletoads franchise, which mostly managed to have pretty solid games, and they had developed several other games that hold up relatively well, but most of the rest of the games that they have developed were either uninteresting, forgotten, or just straight up terrible. It was enough for them to stay in the business for as long as they had been, but not to the point where they could reach the same level of success and notoriety as other developers, like Capcom, Squaresoft, or Konami. That is, until they were approached by Nintendo who, after seeing what they could pull off with games on the SNES using pre-rendered graphics, decided to give them a shot at developing a brand new game in a similar style so they could compete with what games like Aladdin were doing on the Genesis. They were given the reigns to make a new game in the DK franchise, which, aside from the Game Boy game that had been released earlier in the year, hadn’t really seen any major attention in nearly a decade, and thus, Rare went on to not only make a new game to reintroduce DK to modern audiences, but to also completely re-invent the character and his world, changing both DK and Rare's reputation forever. This would result in what would become the start of one of the best sub-series that DK would ever be a part of, Donkey Kong Country.

I have had quite the history with the DKC series over the years, with my first proper introduction to the series being with DKC Returns back in 2010, when I was still a dumb kid, and I had no clue as to what a Super Nintendo or a Rareware was. Eventually, I would discover the wonders of what we refer to as “retro gaming”, and it would lead to me getting my hands on a SNES for myself, with this being one of the first games that I had ever gotten with the system. I don’t think I had ever heard of the game beforehand, so needless to say, I was excited to try it out, and naturally, I ended up loving it. So now that I am playing it again after all this time, I can say that it holds up extremely well, being pretty basic for a platformer, but having some of the best design, personality, and fun challenges from any platformer of this era, and it successfully managed to reinvent DK into what he would be to this day.

The story is pretty simple, where the villainous King K. Rool steals Donkey Kong’s banana hoard with the help of his Kremlings, which makes DK very sad, so he then sets out with his nephew Diddy Kong to go beat them up and get his bananas back, which is a very silly premise, but one that fits perfectly for this series, and I am all here for it. The graphics are pretty good, not only having a pretty unique style for a SNES game at that point, but also holding up extremely well, with all of the different models for the characters, enemies, and bosses looking very charming, and the environments look just as great right alongside them, the music is fantastic, with there being plenty of different tracks that I still love to listen to to this day, such as the final boss theme, the theme for the first level, and my favorite track in the whole game, the underwater level theme (if I drowned IRL while this music played, I would be going out happy), the control is pretty great, with both DK and Diddy having the proper weight to them, and each action they can perform feels just right on a SNES controller, and the gameplay itself is pretty basic for the genre it takes on, but it still manages to be a solid experience all the way through, and I would rather a game be simple yet solid rather than experimental yet flawed.

The game is a 2D platformer, where you take control of either Donkey Kong or Diddy Kong, go through many different worlds, each one containing their own set of levels that will challenge you in plenty of different ways, defeat many different enemies and Kremlings along the way while gathering plenty of bananas, collectibles, and power-ups to assist you on your way, find many of the other members of the Kong family such as Funky Kong, the coolest motherfucker on the planet, Candy Kong, the Kong who made a lot of kids question themselves when they were younger, and Cranky Kong, the Kong who resembled everybody’s grandparents in one way or another, who will each help you out in their own way (except for Cranky, who just says you suck and makes you depressed), and take on plenty of bosses that will prove to be quite the “challenge” to overcome to get your precious bananas back. A lot of it is pretty standard for a platformer, and some who aren’t new to the genre may question why you would bother playing it with plenty of other options out there, but not only does the graphical and musical style help give this game its own unique identity that holds up extremely well to this day, but it also still manages to be a fun game all on its own, with many ways it changes up the formula and keep you going.

For every single level in the game that you go through, there is always something new and exciting waiting for you, even if the changes may not be as big as others. You start out going through a pretty typical platformer level, nothing too exciting for you to see or do, but then you get to levels where you will be going through ancient temples, fighting different foes, finding different animal buddies that can help you take out enemies and give you more momentum, and there are even extreme cases of changing up the gameplay, such as levels where you are riding minecarts, ones where you are grabbing fuel for a conveyor belt you are riding on, and ones where you are turning on the lights to keep the Satan crocodiles from waking up. While some of these gimmicks are definitely preferable over others, each one is very fun to go through and experience, all while the game makes you think more and more about what to do in each situation, even if the goal is obvious.

What also helps keep this game fun and fresh throughout the entire journey would be in terms of its difficulty. For those of you who have played this game, you know it isn’t easy in the slightest, and while I wouldn’t say it is as hard as other platformers out there like Castlevania or Ninja Gaiden, there are still plenty of the moments where the game will test your skills in pretty extreme ways, such as with precarious platforming in plenty of levels, adding gimmicks like wind and barrels you need to shoot out of, timing your jumps on minecart segments effectively, and so many more examples. However, despite how hard it can be, it never feels unfair. There is always a chance for you to figure out what to do, how to overcome these challenges, whether it be through simple trial and error, or just by taking your time, and even if you do manage to fuck up and get a game over, if you have been using save points properly, then you shouldn’t be sent too far back to where it discourages you from continuing forward. Not to mention, it feels immensely rewarding whenever you do conquer some of the challenges in this game, managing to make it to the next save point so that you can press on towards whatever challenge may lie ahead.

For those of you wanting a little more out of your platformers though, fear not, because this game isn’t just a simple “run to the end and you win” kinda deal… or at least, it doesn’t have to be, anyway. Throughout each of the level, there are plenty of different bonus areas that you can access, each one giving you some kind of bonus, whether it be with extra lives, or even by sending you to this bonus area where you can collect all of these golden tokens as one of your animal buddies for even more extra lives! Not only do they help you prepare for the journey ahead, but each one does add to your percentage total, and it can even change the ending that you get if you manage to find everything… which isn’t much different then the normal ending, but it will keep Cranky Kong from complaining too much, fucking old-ass prick. They are pretty fun to go for, not just for the sake of completion, but they can be pretty tricky to find to, making you really look around every corner to see what walls or floors are breakable, and where else you could look just in case you end up missing something along the way.

So yeah, most of this game is a blast from start to finish, but there are some gripes that I have with it that do keep it from being a perfect game in my eyes. For one thing, the boss fights FUCKING SUCK, not because they are too hard, but moreso because they are uncreative and boring. Most of them consist of just bigger versions of enemies that you fight in the regular levels, with some of these even being repeated as the game goes on, and while some of them try to mix things up a bit, it’s only methods of doing so is by either giving you a different weak spot to hit, or just by taking on an enemy gauntlet, which isn’t exactly fun to deal with. The only good boss in the entire game is the final one against K. Rool, because not only does the foe you fight actually put up a fight, but the ways in which he does and when you can hit him is pretty creative, and it keeps you on your toes.

Secondly, while most of the elements in this game are pretty fair, and you can get through a lot of the challenges easily, there are some things that were put into this game that I am just not a fan of. There’s one example of this that sticks out to me as clear as day, and that is with one of the bonus areas that you find in Oil Drum Alley. Whenever you go into one of the other bonus levels in the stage and clear it out, you have to take the barrel that you get and throw it ABOVE the wall that you would normally hit in order to clear it out, which will grant you access to another bonus area you need to go through. If you don’t know about this on your first go, and you end up missing it, you cannot go back and try getting it again, making it so that, if you are going for 101% completion, you are FUCKED. That’s not necessarily that bad for those who just wanna go through the game normally, and I myself have never had this happen to me, but the fact that it can happen at all is pretty shitty, and I’d imagine there is at least one person out there who didn’t know about it, figured out what they was missing, and had their day ruined because of it.

Overall, despite the terrible bosses and some secrets having strict punishments for not finding them, the original DKC is still a fantastic game after almost 30 years, having very fun platforming challenges, wonderful visuals and music, and plenty of things to do for those that wanna go the extra mile that you usually wouldn’t go for in a platformer like this. I would highly recommend it for those who are fans of Donkey Kong, as well as those who love 2D platformers in the first place, because while this certainly isn’t my favorite game in the series, it is still one of the best platformers you can play on the SNES, and one that would launch an equally fantastic series that would continue to get installments for years to come…………. at least, until 2014, that is. Seriously, Nintendo, bring back Donkey Kong in a brand new game already! And maybe also try to bring back the Kremlings while you’re at it, too. That would be nice.

Game #532

this is one of the few recent pokemon hacks to go for it and make a full new region from scratch. in a few ways it pays off, but in others it doesn’t.

for some positives, the whole thing is very impressive. there’s huge variety in pokemon to use and mechanics, dozens of sidequests, and a lot of cool areas. i did mostly enjoy what was on offer at least at the high points.

unfortunately, this length and depth has its setbacks. the entire thing is just TOO long and bloated. there’s areas and sidequests basically directly ripped from other pokemon games that just do not need to be here and it leads to the entire journey feeling like it drags and drags and drags. the story is also nothing special and yet there are regularly LONG cutscenes right before major battles which is miserable if you ever have to reset. i have no problem with the wealth of postgame content, but the main game needed several more trimmings to not feel like such a slog.

also final note fuck whoever made the ground elite four member what do you MEAN permanent unremovable sandstorm + sand rush pokemon spamming flinch moves???

One of the better romhacks with a fantastic pokedex and a ton of QoL features, Unbound is absolutely wonderful and a joy to play...when it shuts up and gives you time to play.

There are fun battle challenges, gimmick battles that change the way Pokémon types work, different difficulty settings, a character customizer, lots of optional side-quests that have worthwhile rewards, post-game content for legendaries, a new game plus mode, mega evolutions, dynamax raids, level-scaling trainer battles - all of which make Unbound feel fresh despite being one of a billion FireRed hacks out there now. All of the optional content also helps to make it as long or short as you'd like, which I appreciated, since in a lot of other games you finally get your team together just before the game ends. The New Game Plus feature helps with that as well.

However, holy crap the story is so overwrought and hackneyed to the point where my eyes were permanently stuck rolled into the back of my head anytime I had to do main quest missions that weren't gyms. Not only is the premise ridiculous, but the NPCs talk way too long. These two issues combined to drive me insane at parts.

My only other tiny issue is giving out pseudolegendaries for starters, which is a trend in romhacks that I personally really dislike.

That being said, everything else in the game oozes charm and I had an absolute blast playing Unbound.

I started to think you couldn't construct a single-player pokemon campaign that is satisfying the whole way through, but this certainly gave me a kick in the ass. This game is pretty much the perfect pokemon game, and I'm not sure any other games in the series even come close to it. It's simply the best.

The main campaign has a decent little story. You're definitely not playing for the actual story, but it's the best out of every normal pokemon game, not that it's a high bar. What it does perfectly though is guide you through the game. It always felt like a push to keep exploring and moving forward rather than an actual main focus.

The teambuilding is astounding. It manages to give you every tool needed to make an absolutely perfect team with so much room for gimmicks and weather, whatever you want. I ended up running a sort of "hazard stack lite" with webs and rocks. I was able to fall in love with Minior after catching it on route 1. It was always a pokemon I liked but it was nothing I really loved because I never used it in my life. Now it's one of my absolute favorites. I really loved using Metagross and its line. It felt useful the entire game, even in that awkward period where it has to just be an eviolite tank. It became my best pokemon after it could mega. The other super notable pokemon I got was the Zygarde I hunted down. I got it after the 5th gym, and was actually super disappointed by how bad it was. Before the seventh gym I was gonna drop it, but then I taught it dragon dance by tutor and found the tm for earthquake and suddenly it became a complete monster, carrying my lategame on its back.

There is a lot of worthwhile side content in the game too. I took my sweet time combing through every town and doing quite a few missions before I even hit the post-game, and it was all fun. I found most NPCs had something valuable to say, and I think that's super cool. The quest to even get my Zygarde required a lot of exploration.

The game also has a full brand new ost. It's like, a full one, not like Insurgence that just has like ten songs. This game has a great soundtrack that I actually would say is better than the majority of official pokemon games, which I already rank quite high on this front. They definitely nailed the normal battle theme, I can't imagine getting sick of it.

Absolute perfect package. Proof that Gamefreak really are hacks. Fan games like this are what make me stay a pokemon fan throughout the years.

Crusader Kings III is an amazing strategic rpg that has so much content. There is a crazy amount of stuff to do, you could start a religion, you could conquer the globe, or you could just grow your family until you have 425 generations.

Although there are some issues, whilst this was is an awesome game and one I would usually really enjoy (and I mean REALLY enjoy) Crusader kings just falls short, I can really only play it for an hour or two before I start to get bored. I think this has to do with a lack of an end goal. Other than this this though I would still recommend this to someone who wants to play a good strategic rpg.

At this point in time, Bubble Bobble had already made a name for itself as a simple, yet addictive and consistently great series of arcade platformers, ones that you and a buddy could easily pick up and enjoy for a good couple of hours, even if it can get repetitive at times. Of course though, like with any major video game franchise, the series would have plenty of spin-off and side games that would be released over the years, with some of these games, like the Rainbow Islands series, continuing the same platforming gimmicks that Bubble Bobble would introduce, while also shaking them up in new, interesting ways. But of course, the series wouldn’t be limited to just platformers, as there would be another game made right alongside the mainline games that would take on the puzzle genre, spawning its own successful series that would get plenty of sequels for years to come, and that game in question would be Puzzle Bobble………………. no, I am not calling it Bust-A-Move, I REFUSE to call it that.

While I am somewhat familiar with the mainline Bubble Bobble games, I had never played any of the Puzzle Bobble games before now, primarily just because I wasn’t interested. Like with most puzzle games out there, if it wasn’t something like Bejewled or Dr. Mario, it just didn’t interest me as a kid, and I figured that Puzzle Bobble would just fall right alongside those other games as just being another series of generic puzzle games. But hey, since I have been trying out more puzzle games recently, I figured I would go ahead and give the first game a shot, and I am glad that I did, because it’s actually really goddamn good! It is pretty simple, all things considered, and it probably doesn’t offer as much as later games in the series, but for what we got here, it’s still fun, addicting, and pleasant enough to make me wanna check out the sequels at some point.

The graphics are great, having that cute-sy feel that a Bubble Bobble game should have, while also having simple, yet engaging enough visuals for the main puzzle element that keeps your eyes glued to the screen, the music is good, being cheerful and energetic enough to where you will remember it after playing the game, but as is tradition with these games, it is pretty much the only track that plays for the entire game, and it can get pretty repetitive after a while, and the control/gameplay is pretty basic once you figure it all out (which won’t take long for you to do at all), but it manages to keep you hooked long enough to where you wanna see just how far you can get before your sanity won’t let you anymore.

The game is a typical arcade puzzle game, where you take control of Bub, go through a set of 32 very similar levels filled with plenty of multi-colored bubble, shoot your own set of multi-colored bubbles at them to link them together in plenty of places, match three or more to have them pop to give yourself more points and clear them all out, and panic frequently when the bubbles are pushed towards the bottom of the screen, making it easier for you to fuck up and lose. It is a very simple game, and upon going into it, you can easily assess what you are meant to do and how to do it, but not only does the game switch up the bubble formations to trick you up as you keep going, it also makes this simple concept that much more fun to take on and try to get a high score in.

Back when I reviewed Puyo Puyo, I mentioned how, when it comes to any successful puzzle game series, having a formula that works right from the get-go with the first entry is essential, otherwise you are just going to have a bunch of mediocre, or just plain bad, games that I don’t wanna play or even look at. Thankfully though, when it comes to Puzzle Bobble, this just may be my favorite set-up for a traditional puzzle game that I have seen yet. It isn’t perfect by any means, but it does provide that sense of satisfaction a puzzle game should give off, it isn’t too challenging to where you feel like you can’t properly succeed, and unlike with Puyo Puyo, I am smart enough to actually figure this one out! And let me tell ya, the feeling that you get whenever you manage to shoot a bubble at a series of bubbles along the top of the column that manages to drop them all down to where you instantly win………… it may actually feel better than sex, it is so great. Not to mention, there is a 2-player vs. mode, so if you have been looking for a simple enough puzzle game to play with your friends, then look no further than this.

Now, with all that being said, I can’t say that this game is perfect by any means, as it does have several issues that hold it back in certain different ways. In terms of the game itself, there isn’t really much I can say that I don’t like about it, except for the fact that it does have a certain luck factor to it that can make it frustrating at points. There were plenty of times where the bubbles would be close to reaching the bottom of the screen, and I couldn’t clear them out in time simply due to the fact that the game wouldn’t give me the right color of bubble that I needed at that time, and I would have to keep building up on the column I had until it ultimately crashed and burned. Of course, that is to be expected from a game like this, but it still worth pointing out regardless. Outside of the game though, the only real other complaint I could have about it is that, most likely, it is just outdated at this point. There have been plenty of sequels to this game, each one I imagine expanding upon the gameplay and visuals in ways that make it much better to play and enjoy, so there isn’t much this game has going for it in comparison to its sequels, other then that it is the first one. That doesn’t make the game bad, mind you, but it just makes it less desirable over the other games.

Overall, despite some luck that could screw you over and being outdated in comparison to other games, the original Puzzle Bobble was a really fun time, being one of the best old-school puzzle games that I have ever played, and I am now really looking forward to trying out some of the other games in the series at some point in the future. I would recommend it for those who are big fans of old-school puzzle games in general, as well as those who enjoy some of the later titles in the series, because while this may not be as good as those other titles, it still manages to stand on its own and be enjoyable to this very day. And people were saying that Tetris was the biggest, baddest puzzle game out there, but does that game have tiny, adorable dragons shooting bubbles from their mouths? I don’t think so!

Game #516