Lurker > SpoinkRulezz

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (PS5)

Super fun and smooth to play as always. Just the kind of game series where I waltz through the games. That being said, it is not my favorite of the series.

For the jump to PS5, way too little steps are made with this one I feel. They tried to make your movement more open ended and provided larger areas, but too few of the already small amount of planets really let you play with that. Also, enemy/boss variety could be better, as does the spawning of enemies. The platforming and puzzle sections are also half-baked and a little repetitive in this one. And the planets are also not that strong to me. I liked Savali (despite the emptiness) as it actually makes use of Rift Apart's new stuff and you can tackle some objectives in the order you like. Most others felt structurally too similar to each other or something.

I don't know what it exactly was overall. It feels like this one was a little more focused on story than the average R&C game and that shows in the design. It's a fun story, but not necessarily something I play the series for. The whole rift stuff also didn't really change much gameplay-wise imo, in some cases it changes the level but in a very structured, linear way. So again, feels mostly like a story elements rather than anything else.

Post overall may come across as negative, but I still loved playing the game. But this time around I have more clear (still relatively small in the grand scheme) negatives than with some of the other main titles.

Multiple updates in one post!

Final Fantasy XVI (PS5)

Just beat this yesterday after 70+ hours of doing almost everything. This series just keeps on dishing out divisive entries that are a mixed bag (for me, at least). For a long time I found this game flawed, but at least clearly better than 13 and 15 and a very good game in general. But my opinion has gone down more and more and the things I disliked I feel more strongly about than at the start. The problem for me is that this game is all visual spectacle, but just really lacks gameplay. The story and characters indeed a lot better than the previous few main titles, but in hindsight, the pacing is all over the place and the cutscenes are way too much for an action game. The boss battles look fantastic and they are cool to battle overall, but again, too little substance for me with a lot of predetermined phases and it's hard to lose. You can literally die halfway through a boss battle if you like (and getting to that point is very easy), you just restart from that halfway point and get every single potion or tonic back. It's overly forgiving. There are more things, such as a boring villain, bad world traversal and exploration, and a complete lack of gameplay systems or depth in the ones that do exist, which also causes the side quests to be repetitive and predictable in terms of progression and tasks. Even the game's combat, which is a huge part of FFXVI's gameplay, was just not good or deep enough for me to carry a 40-60 hour game (depending on how much you do).

I would still say I think it's overall a solid experience as of now. The spectacle is indeed great, the voice acting and general audio are great, the bosses are cool if shallow and there are moments where the combat can be fun. The story and characters are quite good, not perfect, but better than 12, 13 and 15. But I really missed depth in general and for what is considered an RPG series, there is very little of that here. Whether the next game will be all action, traditional or a hybrid, it really needs to flesh out gameplay again.

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (Switch)

This is a game I've beaten in the past few weeks. Only played a tiny bit on a DS in the past, but now really dove in and I loved it, I enjoyed all the twists, the fantastic art style and music, really unique way of solving puzzles etc. Just really good, not too long but not too expensive so that's fine. Happy I finally played it.

Astro's Playroom (PS5)

Never really played it despite the positive feedback and the fact that it's literally free with the system. However, a friend urged me to play it when he was visiting me so I did while he watched and we were both just giddy the whole time. Since then, I've been going through the rest of the game myself and finished it 100%. This may be a short tech-demo like game, but more than that, it's a celebration of the history of PlayStation that is just amazing. Honestly, it's an incredibly good platformer on its own. Creative, buttery smooth to control and beautiful to look at, nostalgic with all the overt and covert references...glad I got to play it for the first time still, I really loved this one. The fact it's just free with the system, you have to really hate platformers to not play and enjoy it.

Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster (Switch)

Beat the game with a Knight, Master, White Wizard and Red Wizard. I bought this game on a whim a while ago for some relaxing, classic turn-based playing. This version was perfect for that, if anything the reworked music is beautiful. Other than it's pretty much faithful and it's nice that I can turn off encounters when I wanted to just relax. Overall, it's still an old game mechanically and it's small, but the PR updates make it more enjoyable considering I don't have the nostalgia of the NES version (although I did play and beat the NES version on an emulator ones, but in many ways that's a similar experience with the QoL-features of an emulator).

Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Switch)

Beat the game yesterday. I do have a few Special World stages left, but I always consider that optional and other than that I've collected everything I could. Overall, really good and fun! Not the hardest Mario game (partly due to the badge system, which you can forgo using, but still) but I loved most things about it. Finally a 2D Mario game with lots of new enemies, creative takes on familiar world themes and very few repeating levels. My only real gripe is some inconsistency in the structure; some worlds are randomly short and feel like there is missed potential, and the few boss battles that exist are disappointing (although I personally enjoyed the final boss for what it was). With the Wonder theme, they could have made some crazy cool bosses but they didn't.

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
And now I have come to the end of my GBA/DS Castlevania run. I don't own Order of Ecclesia and it's very expensive, but I have beaten it in the past through "different" means so it's fine.

A solid title to end on. It's middle of the road of these 6 games for me. I like the gameplay expansions with the two characters, various skills, skill mastery, side quests etc, but the game is too short to really make use of the different elements. I guess that gives it replay value.

It's about the same as I remember from the 1st time playing through it years ago. I prefer my big complex castles and this game kind of guides you along with little to explore off the beaten path (although you can do some things in a different order which is something). The structure with the paintings offers some very cool environments, but also feels disjointed and the game does repeat the environments later on which is a pity.

The story and characters are quirky overall. Some serious moments with plenty of deliciously cringe dialogue.

Overall, some great ideas, decent execution, not the most memorable, but solid Castlevania fun still. I believe it has quite a few extra modes which is great (although I personally never bother with that).

Bastion (Switch)
That was fun! I played it on and off initially, but since two days I've been going through it more quickly. Controls really well and it's quick, lots of weapon variety, great music and visuals and you can get it for very cheap.

The story is also cool with the narrative style and the fact that you kind of piece things together. It didn't always work for me personally as I just get distracted too much when I'm also controlling the character, but hey.

It's a bit short, but honestly, for the price you can get it at (so often it's only a few euros/dollars) there is very little wrong with the game. Maybe the levels get repetitive in terms of traversal, but they're short enough and there are so many weapons for such a short game that you can just mix up your playing style for every level.

Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony (PS4)
This is a game I should played through a few years ago after beating DR1 and DR2, but started it too quickly after DR2, quit playing very early and then just didn't play it until now when I played it through with my partner. We played through 1 and 2 together as well and jumped quickly into this one.

Revisiting 1 and 2 was great, playing this one for the first time was as well, but it ultimately just wasn't as gripping or satisfying as the other two for me. There were parts I liked about the final chapter, but the majority I really didn't like. I mostly liked chapters 4 and 5 in this game I'd say, I don't know what the consensus is.

All in all, sad that there's no more Danganronpa left to discover for me (that I'm interested in at least), but it was an okay 3rd game. Definitely last for me despite the gameplay improvements, but 2>1>3 is probably my overall ranking.

You can always just let the game rest and pick it up again later. I guess you're at the point where it may burn you out, so just stop for now and maybe finish it when you're in the mood again.

This game is pretty easy to come back to with the separate stories and not overly complicated gameplay mechanics.

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
Next in my kind of spontaneous run through several Castlevania games (GBA/DS games). It was also the first one I ever played and I remember loving it back then. It was still a lot of fun and I got through it so much easier now. I also collected more souls and synthesized more weapons than in the past, so there was more experimentation on my part and now I was able to get the awesome Claimh Solais just like in AoS. The graphics and music are fantastic. It's a little bigger than AoS too. I do think AoS is a little quicker and I could have done without the Magic Seals, but it doesn't matter much (I never missed a Seal prompt), it's still a super fun and great game.

Next up is Portrait of Ruin which I bought second hand very recently! Will be my 2nd playthrough. Probably won't play Order of Ecclesia, since I'm not shelling out a 100 euros for it and I beat it once before through...means.

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (Switch - Advance Collection)
I've just beaten the game with 100% map completion. I absolutely blitzed through this one. As soon as I started, I was completely addicted again. Controlling Soma again after playing HoD is just such a relief, so much smoother. This game is still fantastic, it's very short but oh so sweet. I played around a little bit more with the Souls and the weapons than I usually do, but in the end of course the Claimh Solais is just too good. It was cool figuring out some enemy weaknesses, such as Julius being weak to dark damage. Beating the final boss with my Shadow summon soul was awesome.

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (NS - Advance Collection)
Beat the game 100%! Also got all the endings. As always with these games it was a lot of fun to play through again. However, it did cement my feeling that this is for me the weakest of the "Metroidvania" Castlevania games. It made some good improvements in gameplay over Circle of the Moon, but castle design and soundtrack (even though I guess it's a stylistic choice to adhere to the "dissonance" thing) took a big hit. Especially the castle design was tedious, rarely could you take useful shortcuts or was it super clear what to do. That doesn't have to be a problem, but the game just isn't the most fun to navigate. It also doesn't feel that balanced, but oh well. Overall still certainly a good game, and now Aria of Sorrow awaits which is much better (to me).

what ever ur just a dum pink ball

i am the game u r still just the player

what ever its not bobs

Pokmon Y
Just finished the main game with Delphox, Pangoro, Flygon, Trevenant, Clawitzer and Galvantula. The latter two are traded.

I've played through X twice (once quitting just before the end I believe, not sure), so this is my 3rd Kalos playthrough. For the first time I completely ignored the EXP Share and it was definitely tougher and more enjoyable that way. Still some baffling decisions like gym leaders having only 3 pokemon max and stuff like that and the many trainers with just 1 pokemon, but definitely much better this way.

Lots of cool ideas and surprising details that I noticed this time around, some of which are better than others. Just disappointing that they put in so many details but just didn't deliver on pacing the main game, increasing story exposure and doing more with the introduced mechanics. Other than that, definitely a solid main title if you keep EXP Share off. Truly had potential to be one of the best main games if they cared more.

Hogwarts Legacy (PS5)
I took some time off from this game recently, but I finished it now and from the point where I was, it took much less time than I expected. I did need that break though. While the game is a beautiful product with plenty of charm and detail, capturing the atmosphere of the magic world perfectly, the gameplay mechanics are a mess to me.

The gameplay felt like it took a backseat. The RPG elements, collectibles, loot system, combat system...it all feels basic and repetitive. There were some clever puzzles here and there and there are some okay combat sections in terms of combo's you can do, but you fight the same enemies over and over which makes it repetitive nonetheless. Switching between spell groups while trying to dodge and defend is also a bit hectic for the fingers, to say the least (and not necessarily in an enjoyable way). That just lead me to take a break.

However, it was still a relaxing world to visit and they did go the extra mile to create all kinds of magical effects in the world, especially in Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. The story and side stories have some good moments as well and the characters fit the world well (would have been better if choices had a semblance of relevant consequences). Some of the systems could have been a lot of fun had they been expanded upon and less formulaic. For me personally, it's an open world game to play for the atmosphere and the idea of being a Hogwarts student (if you like that). In terms of gameplay, I feel it's pretty skippable.

Sunshine is fun and I love the setting, but it's overall the weakest and the game with the most technical problems relative to its console. Some levels/shines are horrendously frustrating.

Still a good game and dared to do something different mechanically.

Even. Thanks to VI, X and XII. IV is also good and XIV while I haven't played it I know is very good. II is not good and I have yet to play VIII.

Odd has XIII and XV, ouch. I and III are okay. V is pretty good. IX is great, but slow and not my favorite gameplay. VII I respect for what it did and it has a lot of great stuff in its setting, but in its original form (even with the remaster on modern devices, no not the remake which is too different) I found it to feel too old to enjoy the gameplay and controls playing it for the first time last year. So IX and VII are very good, but don't reach VI, X and XII for me.

Odd. But both have stronger and weaker games. Mechanically, the even gens are best I feel. As adventures and main games, I prefer the odd games over their even "counterpart".

I don't see LGPE, BDSP and PLA as parts of gens, they're so self-contained in their mechanics unlike FRLG, HGSS and ORAS which all very much have the mechanics of their respective gens.