Jonnas

In order to fully 100% this game, you need to beat it 3 times (all because of the item records. There are three mutually-exclusive items that you can only get one of per playthrough). I do not recommend aiming for 100% completion, just do whatever sidequests you find, as this game as a surprisingly large amount of them. I know I managed to find a new one I had never heard about around my 3rd or 4th playthrough. I am very happy to hear you liked it Tales of Symphonia is among my Top 3 RPGs of all time, and its plot, characters, and writing meant a lot to me growing up. It's also an incredibly fun game to just play and enjoy. There aren't many RPGs like it. While my reaction isn't as visceral as Dcubed's, I will recommend that you heavily temper your expectations before approaching ToS2. It was done by a very different team (with different aesthetic and writing sensibilities) with an improvised plot, on a very tight budget, for the sake of making a quick buck on the Wii. Gameplay-wise, there's nothing egregious about it. It's perfectly serviceable, if repetitive. To this day, what bothers me the most about that sequel is the aesthetic clash with the first game. The monsters look nothing like the first game's, the new characters look waaay overdesigned compared to the first game (and the two sets of characters meet, so the clash is right there on-screen), the voice actors are different, and even the way they pronounce certain terms is different ("Mana" and "Palmacosta" being most notable). It's a messy game for sure, and it does not mesh with the original at all. I don't think it's horrible, mind you (I do genuinely appreciate the the main story and its protagonist), but it only gets 2 stars out of 5 from me. ...I'm surprised to hear you recommend that one, in the same post where you say ToS2 is shit. TotA and ToS2 have practically identical battle systems, and the 3D aesthetic is literally the same.

I remember seeing this one often on shelves. Since I hadn't heard anything about it, I always assumed it was a mediocre game, akin to cheap licensed ones. Reading this review, it likely would've been a fun game for multiplayer sessions. But I would still likely not buy it, on account of games at the time (in Portugal, at least) rarely lowering below 40 Euro

Ah....When the odds really ARE in your favour, but they still fail you Classic FE experience, teaching players about the true meaning of "probability". My one and only attempt at a Sacred Stones Ironman ended exactly like that: with Eirika getting hit by 3 bandits, each with a hitrate lower than 65%.

Trailer for the character on the cover just dropped: She looks mad fun

I like this one because it feels like it does its own thing, in gameplay, writing, and aesthetics. And Wada Sachiko is the art director. It's a cool one to go through, and fairly short. Also an excellent choice to get into the series.

I really should've made a prediction for this week. I literally had the necessary info to know they would add a significant Fire Emblem title Regarding best soundtrack in the series, it's hard to choose between Fates, Echoes, and Three Houses. But Engage has got some sauce. Seeing as I don't care for this game's spoilers, I'm looking forward to exploring this soundtrack a bit more. On a side note, I'd love to see them add the soundtrack for Binding Blade. Easily the most underrated OST in the series.

To a certain extent, it's true... but the truth is that both of these games came out at a time where it felt like Square was just sending a bunch of mid-tier games to die, both in release timing and in price (I mean, they should only price a title like Harvestella as 60€ if they're set on convincing the audience that it is a top-tier production... but they clearly made no effort to do so) Like, I feel like this debacle came about from developers at S-E finding a way to produce some humbler, mid-tier productions... and then the marketing/distribution teams completely fumbling it, because they literally have no idea how to market something that isn't AAA-tier.

I'm afraid not. Never really saw it at a heavily reduced price, and the truth is, my backlog is pretty stacked as it is My gaming hobby is practically on hiatus Very nice to hear your impressions, though. I never really heard of this game again, either good or bad. It really went under the radar.

That's the thing, it could be optional. Maybe we could make it work like in Melee, and make it so SDs take away 2 points (an option that already exists). Let each friend group define which adjustment works. As it stands, if someone does something stupid and falls off the edge, an undeserved point goes to whichever Pikachu last hit that person with a randomly-thrown thunder jolt, and we can't do anything about that. Heck, even the "kill yourself to deny a point" thing still happens (entirely likely that a Wario might want to deny a Ganon a point by simply getting hit with a stray projectile, and then dying), but even the "SD takes away 2 points" rule becomes entirely worthless in that scenario, because it doesn't register as an SD. An SD only registers as such if it happens at 0%, which is absurd.

Super Smash Bros. Melee was my favourite game ever for nearly two decades. Only Ultimate surpassed it. I never really felt the appeal behind Subspace Emissary (excessively repetitive and dull), even if it had the right idea. Adventure Mode in Melee was quick, to the point, and kept all of its ideas focused. Like, if a stage in SE was more fun with, say, Sonic than any other character, there was no real reason to explore and find that out. Melee Adventure kept its levels short and replayable, and as a result, I found out, for example, which characters handled the F-Zero level better (Capt.Falcon can just run through it like a champ, but figuring out how to keep myself airborne with Jigglypuff was a legit challenge) The personalized levels in Break the Targets was also an incredible way to learn the ins and outs of various characters. I learned to wall jump thanks to this mode. And that's just single-player, because also in multi-player there's stuff that it did really well. Even modern Smash games don't do the cheeky bonuses at the end of matches, nor do they measure SDs properly. Finally, the gamefeel was incredible, really good use of rumble (whenever you landed a good hit, you felt it). By comparison, Brawl was like punching with pillows. Melee was also quite fast, which made for a very exciting spectacle. I do admit it made it harder to play for beginners. Thankfully, Ultimate matches Melee in the gamefeel area, while still being very accommodating for beginners (partly because there are many more beginner-friendly stages as well in Ultimate). And there's a lot more to gush about Melee. That's why I still put it at the top of any list where I rank my favourite GCN games.

The two (2) guest characters being added to this game really put a hamper on my excitement. It's like, I'm fine with silly marketing stunts, they do help in making a game's launch feel grander. But adding full-blown characters to the game? Into the sequel of what was such a perfect small-but-cohesive game with integrity? Something is lost, that's for sure. That said, both Ronaldo and Ganacci look well thought-out, at least. If they were original characters, people would love them for sure, especially Ganacci (his Super is actually excellent). I can only hope that, in the future, they do add some lookalikes with similar movesets to be a more permanent part of the roster. Maybe Duck King. So my most major disappointment is that Freeman and Jae Hoon are nowhere to be seen. Freeman is like whatever, never really liked him that much, and they can still do something cool for a later return. But Jae Hoon? Come on, he's been gone for so long, I want to see him evolve too! Replace Joe with him, come on SNK

Pikmin is a fantastic game, and it does look like a fantastic series, but I somehow never played the sequels. First game really is excellent, though. So many memorable moments packed into a short (but impressive) game. Maybe the sequels (which don't have time limits) would be more your cup of tea? Or was it the gameplay loop in general that displeased you?

Yes, actually. Mostly, I have the itch to play something, but all I can muster is something "comfortable". You'd be surprised at how often I'd rather just feel the rush of landing an easy combo in a familiar fighting game, or fill out a couple of Picross puzzles, rather than trying out even a simple platforming game. Adulthood (or rather, all the multiple responsibilities, occupations, and projects that it brings) does that to us.

Glen tried to curse my sandwiches. Didn't work.

I heard so much about this series over the years, but despite being a Sega (& later Nintendo) boy, I somehow never played it. It kind of occupies a weird spot in my backlog, where I really feel like I should have an opinion on Super Monkey Ball, but I don't. Looks incredibly fun, though. It also sports that oddly-specific aesthetic of the time, where it definitely looks like a Dreamcast/Gamecube hybrid.