It's a little odd how Returns changed the style of Donkey Kong Country from two individual characters to Donkey Kong and his friend/ power up. I don't think it's a bad way to go about the series, but I'll be honest when I say I miss the older Country games play style. Aside from that hiccup tho? Honestly Tropical Freeze delivers more Donkey Kong Country goodness than the original did.
Tropical Freeze is oozing with far more flavor and charm than the majority of the country games did, and compared to Returns, does far far better with it's stylish backgrounds and levels. Not to knock Returns, as honestly it was a great return to the Donkey Kong Country series; Tropical Freeze just improves on everything that Returns did. Add that together with Dixie and Cranky in the mix, and the amount of new areas and platforming that you can do is pretty amazing.
On top of all this improvement, they also made Tropical Freeze far more challenging than any other game before. Honestly the game's difficulty curve is so smooth and the deaths just feel so fair that it really should be a testament at how to make difficulty in game making classes. Add that with a bunch of resources for a player to access more life's or use a super version of Donkey Kong that will make the game easier, and it really does feel like they thought of everything when it comes to the hurdles of platforming skill.
Really Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is one of the best Country games out there. The platforming is great, the atmosphere is great, and the unlockables are abundant. There is so much to do and see in Tropical Freeze that makes it well worth retail price.

My favorite FPS. I just loved everything about it. The characters and it's fun story are great and it makes me laugh a great deal but the real draw is it's amazing visuals and style. The music and retro design really appeals to me and all the cool sound effects that accompany them are fantastic. I can still vividly remember stealth killing a guy hearing his robo groan and turning around to shurikan another guy as lazers whizz past me. I greatly enjoyed going to base camp to base camp and experiencing the pure joy of the gameplay. My only complaint was it wasn't long enough. I crave for another one just like it and it's visuals. I never even played a Far Cry game but would immediately play another blood dragon game in an instant.

Sendo sincero, eu tinha uma expectativa alta nesse título. A ideia de ter várias companhas interligadas é curiosa o bastante para chamar atenção e prender o jogador numa trama, proporcionando diversas perspectivas ao jogador sobre os eventos que está acompanhando. No entanto, isso apenas irá funcionar com uma narrativa sólida, bem amarrada e coesa, algo que esse título não tem. No fim das contas, Resident Evil 6 é apenas um jogo genérico de uma empresa que parecia ter se acomodado. Um erro gerado pela ganância proveniente dos altos números que seus antecessores tiveram. Por sorte, a péssima recepção do jogo fez com que a Capcom acordasse e começasse a demonstrar mais respeito aos seus fãs, voltando a suas origens em Resident Evil 7. Seria terrível para a franquia um futuro que levasse esse jogo como referência.

i'm not really sure what made me play this game to begin with and i can't imagine what made me go for it since it's not my usual fare but i'm pretty glad i played this game!! it was my first deus ex game but i was pretty impressed with it.

using mechanical augments as a tool to explore the issues of the world, the narratives scattered across the world explore a variety of topics in the general ballpark of class inequality and the frameworks of systemic discrimination it plays a part in - ie poor people being unable to afford support for their mechanical limbs, and the thriving "chop shop" industries across the world.

in the spirit of the original deus ex, the main plot takes a look at corporate interest versus the good of the people in a real "conspiracy theory" fashion; it does get a little sci-fi in places but it's never distracting for too long. i adore the dialogue system and the "social boss battles" are an inspired idea, especially their random element.

i enjoyed the gameplay very much and i got attached to many of the characters (shout out to faridah malik) though the palette of the game dates it a LOT and it's pretty eh aesthetically, and also the missing link dlc (which is mandatory if you have the director's cut) REALLY drags :(

this is a game that already is starting to show its age, but it's a very interesting look into forever-relevant social issues through an admittedly also slightly aged lens, as with the original deus ex. steam tells me i have 173 hours on this and i remember them all being very fun (and that's not counting the offline non-logged hours)

Simply put one of the best horror games ever. Everything is top notch here. The atmosphere is second to none. The sad tale of the Ishamura and it's crew is haunting. Game is rather action heavy but don't let that fool you cause it's still a pure horror game. Resources are limited and there are plenty of scripted and non scripted scares. I really enjoyed Issac and I appreciate the developers not giving him a direct voice while still looking and feeling there. The suit is very cool and well designed. So many aspects of this game are great and are taken for granted. It's awesome that is no HUD in the game. Issac's suit and guns tell you everything you need to know without cluttering the screen and breaking immersion. Also it's worth pointing out that this game has one of the best sound designs in any game I have ever played even over ten years later. The sound immersion and details give me chills. Even back then wearing a headset I could tell exactly where enemies where based on sound alone. The sounds of the crackling electric or subtle breeze in the wind all picked up crystal clear. It's on another level. I'd say this is a rare perfect game in it's execution and design.

Platinum # 4

One of the most insane things about this game, ostensibly a janky wacky crime game positively dripping with aughts-era attitude, is that the very final mission you unlock, after having done everything else in the game, might have one of the coolest and most fascinating portrayals of a playable character ever. A rejection of being silent and docile despite being completely open to every single bizarre change the player wants to impose on them, and a (spiteful, even!) rejection of any supposed morality one would want to put into a game where the main gameplay is built around being as disastrous for your environment as you possibly can. As such, this is essentially the real Drakengard 2.

Had a lot of expectations for this game... but in the end it sucked really bad. The level design absolutely butchers it and also the fact that Intelligent Systems turned this beautiful, RPG franchise to a platformer and could not recover after that. SPM also ruins the best moments in the game with either humorous dialogue in a very dark atmosphere/setting or reviving characters in the game which were clearly considered dead for the "happy" ending. The story was good at best, very different for a Mario game I'll say. A romantic story as well as a villain who posed a huge threat to the universe itself... this was also not executed well as the villain does nothing in the beginning parts of the story and suddenly starts doing something during the ending. The gameplay was horrible, and the game itself was way too easy. The final boss was one of the most disappointing battles of all time, and I will say it's my least favorite out of the Mario franchise. Expected so much from this game, in the end I got a bad platformer with missed potential.

Finally got around to playing this for the first time and it seems unfortunately quite forgotten about these days

It's a fun little puzzle platformer where you can use one of four different vibes on the touch screen to give Peach an ability for a while and open up new paths on levels to find one of three Toads hidden in each level. It's very light and breezy which makes sense given this is made by Tose who did the Starfy series which is pretty similar to the Kirby series. But yeah light and breezy makes for a pretty fun adventure!

The level design isn't anything special (with World 8 dipping a little into oh this isn't too good) and the music is a little generic as well. There's also early DS game we must use the touch screen and microphone to meet the quota!!!! stuff too but I wouldn't say it's anything that ruins the game, more just little complaints.
Though needing to collect all the Toad to access the final boss is pretty annoying and unnecessary

What I will say is that has way more charm and imagination than anything the New Super Mario Bros series has chucked out. The sprite work is beautiful, with lots of cool enemies used from Mario World and Yoshi's Island. The bosses are all unique fights too, each requiring specific uses of Peach's vibes abilities. They used characters like Petey Piranha and King Boo for bosses too which still feels a million times more fresh than the Koopalings ever did!

It's a shame it's not more fondly remembered because I would have liked to have seen Peach get her own series like Luigi did with Luigi's Mansion

Castlevania is a series rich with history. Created back in 1986, these action platforming titles have have gone through numerous changes, including characters, gameplay, as well as systems, yet at their core have changed very little. This format is part of what has made them so successful, Castlevania titles are always something new, yet something oh so familiar.

Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow is the first title of the series to arrive on the DS and is a sequel to the GBA title, Aria of Sorrow, which I never played. Fortunately that is not actually a prerequisite to playing, and can be enjoyed on it's own with no prior knowledge required.

The hero to this title is a young man known as Soma Cruz, the rebirth of Dracula. Having learned he was destined to become the dark lord he rebelled, quelling the chaos within him. Now however, a cult is trying to resurrect their evil lord once more with new candidates, and Soma must use his powers with the help of his friends to stop them.

The key point to almost all Castlevania games is the exploration of Dracula's Castle, and the main point all Castlevania games have in common. The layout of the average Castlevania title is as follows: Start at the main castle gate, work their way through the Castle beating bosses and solving puzzles to eventually progress to either the top floor or the basement the whole while fighting a horde of enemies in between.

While knowing what to expect is a staple of the Castlevania fan, things are consistently different in how the Castle is explored. Souls are the key to Dawn of Sorrow, monsters souls to be precise, for Soma has the power to absorb the souls of his enemies and use their skills. These include giving him extra moves including double jumping, flying, extra attacks and various other unique abilities. The souls of bosses that Soma defeats grant the biggest benefit as they often allow Soma access to other parts of the Castle he previously couldn't reach.

These souls can also be used to combine with weapons either bought or found in the castle to create more powerful versions of the same type, some with unique abilities or stat increases. This is not the only RPG like gameplay involved however, armour and accessories can also be equipped, and when defeating enemies experience is gained leveling Soma up and increasing his stats from attack down to luck.

Visually Dawn of Sorrow looks fantastic. Though in 2D the game uses multiple layers in detailed backgrounds to give an almost 3D effect. The designs throughout the game are brilliant matching the Gothic atmosphere perfectly with plenty of zombies, skeletons and demons not to mention some gigantic bosses to fight along the way. I will say however I absolutely hate the anime cover art, why they would use that over the more traditional art style the series is known for since Symphony of the Night is beyond me.

The sound is also top notch with some older themes here and there for Castlevania veterans as well as plenty of new tracks to spruce things up. The sound comes through brilliantly clear on the DS with some also surprisingly good sound effects, though a lot of which come across as pretty old school.

Dawn of Sorrow is a surprisingly big game taking me a good 16 hours to finish including quite a bit of leveling up and soul hunting along the way. It might have been shorter had it been a bit more obvious occasionally about where to go, but that is the fun of Castlevania titles, the exploration. Getting 100% of the castle map, fighting all enemies and collecting all souls will take a while for the collector. There are also added modes playing as a different character as well as boss rush after the game is finished bringing quite a bit of value to the game should you wish.

Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow is simply a fun game, fans of the series will feel right at home yet it's got more then enough variety to offer a new experience, and a welcome one to those new to the games. If you own a DS you owe it to yourself to pick up Dawn of Sorrow and give it a blast, you may be pleasantly surprised.

+ Using souls is an excellent way of mixing things up.
+ Exploring the castle is fun.
+ Fairly good value.

- Cover art is hideous.