game reviews

[POKEMON: X]

This was my first Pokemon game in the series, so I've returned to it for a review re-play! It still holds up well in most aspects! I loved getting to pet and play with my pokemon, feeding them so many pokepuffs! I really liked the beautiful gym designs, Kalos really is all about beauty. The music is REALLY good, I still liked sitting in some areas or lingering on battle screens just to keep listening to the bangers. I thought mega-evolution was a really fun mechanic, although with my Lucario setup, it also feels like an instant-win button for most situations. It makes sense why it's more difficult to get in the SUMO/USUM games- and completely absent in later entries... although apparently we're getting it back for PLZA! (Excited for that!) Now, unfortunately, while I do really like the game- I do think it has the weakest rivals, in a few ways. Their pokemon are oneshottable wonders- even in the post-game, and their personality in the story was really... A waste of potential; I wish they did more with your rivals' parents being competitive battlers... I think it would have been interesting if your rival switched over to Team Flare's side for a time, based on how many times they almost seemed to sympathize with Lysandre in the story. Oh well! AND Oh my GOD- the post-game Looker story! That part got more emotion out of me than the main-game did! This story got all of the story juice! I literally teared up more when Emma read Looker's letter than when AZ got his Floette back! End note: I think Sycamore and Lysandre have "estranged lovers" vibes. Good game!

those 2024 teraleaks, amiright?

[POKEMON: VIOLET]

Okay so, the game is a BIT of a glitch-fest. The story was a lot more fun to experience than sword and shield's, BUT the writing often felt like it had to restrain itself to make room for the "take on the gyms in any order" idea. I like the tera crown battle gimmick a lot, and how it's tied into the lore and story, and how much more often we get to use it. I LOVED a lot of the pokemon... revaroom, skeledirge, and dachsbun were my favorites! Ehhhh, I personally disliked the TM machine, but only because some pokemon who had materials I needed were either nocturnal or diurnal, so I would have to wait to find and battle them instead of building my team. My biggest gripe, is that NO game should be 60+ dollars and even MORE with DLC- no matter HOW much stuff and blorbos you cram into it. It's okay, but it's bad practice to make games so quickly and also make them so expensive.

living my best life out here. ignore ogrepon being beat up in the back.

[THE GREAT ACE ATTORNEY CHRONICLES]

INCREDIBLE STORY TELLING. This is 100% now my favorite pair of games in the Ace Attorney series, sorry Apollo! Everything felt orchestrated to be as wonderful of an experience as possible, in both the visuals, writing, and the music! This game has wonderful 3d sprites that match the charm of their 2d predecessors... So many pretty, cute, and fun faces- I believe they had a lot of fun working with the mocap, if the silly dances and poses are anything to go by! Oh, and the writing... Each case carefully builds both the characters in them, and did incredibly well building up the rolling snowball of a plot for the final cases in their games. I was SOOO excited to put these guys in their place. I was teary-eyed a little bit whenever we had to say goodbye to a character, be it a farewell or a death. Oh my fucking god and the MUSIC. It's some of my favorite, so many trumphant beats and just relaxing and pleasant tunes I know I'll be listening to for a long while. If no other titles come sweeping in out of left-field, I'd say this is my favorite played game of 2024!

how does his back not snap in two like a twig

[POKEMON: ULTRA SUN]

Really fun, and had some... interesting changes in the story, although I prefer how the characters were handled in the original version. Some things were randomly added, while some were ommitted, and honestly... sometimes I wish we had a version with the original character motifs, but the additional gameplay and story. I feel as if the Ultrabeasts could have just been 3DS DLC for the original games, and it would make sense story-wise, as a consequence of Lusamine opening up the wormholes to cause further instability. I'll be real with you, though- am I the only one that doesn't mind- and even LIKES the long cutscenes? I prefer that, honestly. I LOOOOOVE the mantine surfing, and Rainbow Rocket was really funny. Liked it a lot, and appretiate the quality of life gameplay changes.

i feel hau was a VERY challenging final battle to the story, i was personally fighting for my life for this polite 11 year-old not to kick my ass.

[DRAGON BALL ADVANCED ADVENTURE]

Really cute! A fun, little beat-em up that I completed in a few days. The story mode skims over a lot of the original story, but the button-mash attacks were really fun! The fighting segments are really easy, but I guess there isn't much you can do with combat on a GBA without turning it into an RPG. The most difficult parts were the boss fights, and make me use multiple of my continues- Some of them were clever, some of them were a dodge'n'mash fight, but most were kinda tedious. Once you complete the main story, you unlock Krillin! The better character in my opinion, because his speed and agility make up for Goku's slower attacks. Honestly, a good time!

the spritework is really pretty to me, especially when in an outside stage! would love to see a 2d game in this style, with more effort put into the story-telling department that goes over more than up to the ending of the king piccolo arc... i even looked up if there was a sequel to this game- cuz it was just that pretty!

[MARIO & LUIGI: BOWSER'S INSIDE STORY + BOWSER JR'S JOURNEY]

A massive adventure, with a ridiculously out there storyline that made me scratch my head. I'm sad to say this game was... not as fun as I had liked, I *want* to say i loved it, but there was just a lot of problems I had with the game. I'm glad fawful's back, and seeing him go off the deep-end was fun, but... My main issue lies in two things, the battle mechanics, and the pacing. I feel like the Bro Attacks from the first game just had more utility than 'Pick the strongest one to win', even with bowser's attacks. I felt like there was less to do with items in general, too- and less interesting ways to get armor and new abilities. Second of all... oh my god the *pacing*. This game took me so long to finish! It felt like such a slog at times, through long areas and incredibly long button-pushing sequences that force a do-over if you fail. I can see why there's a button to speed-up cutscenes, too- they're very slow if you just let them play out as is! A good game, but I feel like Superstar Saga really just raised my expectations too high for what this series could be like.

bowser jr's inclusion was unexpected, but very welcome!

[PROFESSOR LAYTON AND THE SPECTRE'S CALL]

My friend reccomended I play the layton games in chronological order on their timelines, so I decided to pick this one up! Layton's a wonderful protagonist with a great voice actor, but I hear since this is a prequel game, I'll be in for a surprise later at the sudden dip in quality... Ah well! Luke and Emmy are wonderful assistants, and I hope to see more of them in future games! Emmy in particular is really cool, I love how well she bounces off the rest of the cast. A lot of the puzzles really wracked my brain, and I was too stubborn to use hint coins a lot of the time... but I had a crap-ton of them, so I figured I might as well use 'em! The music is wonderful in this game, and the cutscenes are charmingly animated. I LOVE tapping enviroments to find little secrets and puzzles, and speaking with butt-loads of quirky NPCs was fun. I love walking up to a random person trying to gather intel and they thrust a puzzle unto me. Only in a Layton game, I suppose. I look forward to playing more in this series!

have i mentioned how much i *LOVE* layton's character? he's charming, composed, a professor who is barely seen giving any lectures, his office is a total mess, his respectful nature... in fact, he's kinda... actually, nevermind.

[HI-FI RUSH]

This game has literally taken over my entire February and March. Oopsie! Wailing on robots with a guitar to the beat of rocking music, as fans scream your name as you rush further and further into peril... WHUUPEEE!!! The characters always chiming in with their thoughts and say on the matter that sometimes props an arm on the fourth wall- the fact that once you beat the game you unlock a bunch more options, boss rushes, and can replay through stages... Bro- Did I mention there's crazy fun junk to play with like the costume closet once you're through the first romp of the story, AND a photo mode? It's like this game was made for little ADHD freaks like me who love hitting things to the beat, looking good while doing it very well, and collecting stupid amounts of acheivements. The squash and stretch of the animation is wonderful, too! It kinda sponged up my whole month...Definetly in my top ten games, now. The love poured into it is awesome.

by the way, don't be like me and take pictures while you're in a boss battle; doing that always gets my ass beat into next Tuesday.

[YOUR ONLY MOVE IS: HUSTLE]

This is an INCREDIBLY addicting turn-based rpg, that uses the idea of "ok, how many frames does this attack use? once this attack is done, and you are actionable again, what will you do next? can you predict your opponent's next move to HUSTLE HUSTLE HUSTLE?"... It's incredible, I've spent hours playing it by myself and with friends to make sick replays and just goof around with the frame data. The modding scene is already incredible, adding new cosmetics and fighters to play with: I've even published a video of two of these fighters ("HEAVEN'S STRONGEST ANGEL v.s. AVERAGE OHIO FARMER"), which you can see here! It can get really technical... but I mostly just spam whatever inputs look coolest and flashy.

an example of a replay of several turns of combat played back in real-time!

[WHO'S LILA?]

Just a fair warning, this game is heavy on the scopophobia- you have to control the game through a young man's face that stares at you the whole time. This game feels like such a web. Everything is interconnected, everything is made to lure you in; trap you. It's got ARG elements to gain additional endings, as if the endings the game isolated by itself wasn't enough. It touches on the horrors and anxiety that social interactions can bring in a unique way I haven't seen done anywhere else. Some of the moments where the characters just talk to Will, and you don't know how to make Will react properly within just a few seconds can be a very scary thing. The game itself leads into David Lynch-esque inspired psychological horror, and it's impression is still stuck with me ever since I played it.

I'd show you pictures of this game like I do with the others but... I'd like it if you watched or met Lila yourself, instead.

[MARIO & LUIGI: SUPERSTAR SAGA + BOWSER'S MINIONS]

I recently (December 2022) finished this game, and everybody was right- this game is one of the more fun RPGs I've ever played. The gags and comedic timing are great, while the story itself is a pleasant romp. I love how simple and fun the combat is; wailing on enemies with the Bro, Hand, and Hammer attacks was AWESOME. I understand why everybody wishes they gave Luigi more of this thunder motif he has going on, lightning suits him well!- Fire and thunder really do make a cool composition. Personally, I didn't play the extra mode of Bowser's Minions; it didn't interest me enough to be invested in it. The artstyle of the game itself is cute and appealing to me specifically, it made me wanna draw not ONE, but TWO artworks of moments I liked in the game! I wish we'd get more fun little romps through a world and story like this when it comes to RPGs; I'd love to play more like this.

luigi found dead in miami; he's alright, but hes died

[THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: TWILIGHT PRINCESS]

This is the second video game I've ever played, and it sits incredibly high; if not at the top of my favorite video games of all time. As wonderful of a game this is, it is not for everyone. This game has a slow and long prologue, its tutorials dense, has the longest cutscene count and duration out of any Zelda game, and emphsizes the need for the player to slow down, look, wait, stop, and consider before pushing forward. Which is something that endears me to any video game. This entry in the Zelda franchise will always be my favorite, and you have NO idea how badly I wish the team had gotten their wish to create a proper sequel.

this game set my standards high for every future game; i must be able to pick up or pet the animals for it to be a legendary title!

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