There were some things I quite liked better than Shadow Dragon. There are a couple maps that are a step above most FE11 ones, the units are a lot more fun to mess around with, supports flesh everything out a bit more, the hidden objectives are way less vague, etc. Yet this is still a worse game overall for a few reasons. Despite having some new maps, there is SO MUCH rehashing from Shadow Dragon, like seriously a ton of repeats. There are also so many repeated units, which leads to a really bloated cast by the end where it's really hard to even figure out what to invest in, especially after getting like 3 new units every map. The balancing in this game takes everything frustrating about FE11 and just makes it even more bullshit, like they expected you to use a guide lmao. Kris is a very broken unit and Marth is a lot better than Shadow Dragon but I almost felt like I never had an army without some liabilities, and a deathless run seemed impossible. I don't mind difficulty in these games but nothing about this felt fun, just ridiculously strong enemies that can't be touched by effective weapons a lot of the time and not really a lot of utility either. All of this would be better if the rest of the game was good but there's nothing to write home about really. The story feels like more rehashed aspects of the first game, and not to beat a dead horse but Kris is seriously one of the worst characters in the series lol. I think you can still have fun with this game but it was definitely my least favorite FE so far.

only did the main story this time around but still a really excellent follow up to pikmin 1. i know a lot of people don't like the de-emphasized time limit or the dungeons but both of those are huge pluses to me, the only real issue is that combat is pretty imbalanced and kinda jank. random generation in dungeons isn't 100% great either, leads to them being kinda basic monster fight stuff or relying really heavily on troll design (which i like, but there could be more interesting stuff too). the interplay between the two sides of the game is pretty fun, but i think there could still be more done. maybe having separate squads on overworld and caves to up the multitasking, or just having more puzzle solving beyond what pikmin are best against what enemies
treasures are really excellent, easily my fav collectable in any of these games. pikmin 2 is very surprisingly anti-capitalist for a mid-2000s nintendo game, it's super charming.

Yeah, this was absolutely bonkers in every way possible. Crazy ass story that’ll make you wish you had whatever drugs Kojima was on when writing this while simultaneously giving you an existential crisis because of how this game gets into your head. This was right up my alley but I do have minor complaints which are basically the boss fights and the crazy amount of long cutscenes with crucial story information (which I heard are staples of this series). Luckily enough for me I was reeled in from the start but I can see this game being exhausting for those who weren’t absolutely sucked in.

Gameplay is fantastic like it’s predecessor and the level design is good for the most part. I liked the weapons and there’s one you get at the end that’s conceptually really cool but it’s a bit finicky especially in the final boss fight. This game overall is probably one of the best ever made, may be overrated to some (I hate using the terms overrated/underrated) but it’s definitely a well appreciated piece of art that more people who consider themselves gamers need to play. Metal Gear Solid 2 is one of my favorite gaming experiences, it had me smiling all throughout and the ending had me tearing up. Definitely a game I’ll come back to every so often. On to Snake Eater!