Rate the Last Game That You Played

[accio boomerang]

Pokemon Scarlet 9/10

I really liked this game and I had a lot of fun playing it at a leisurely pace. It was a lot of fun being able to explore the world without being blocked from going to the next area. The only issue I did have with the games were that some of the characters walked like weird glitchy robots and I didn't like that sometimes when I was in battle I wasn't able to see my Pokemon but it was a livable issue. The Tera raids were a lot of fun though it would lag at times but still not a deal breaker. It's definitely one of best Pokemon games that have been released as of late. I'm hoping for more add ons in the future and some glitch fixes of course!

 

[Moblinking5000]

Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider

Rating: 5/10

Very mediocre. This game was meant to be a retro style indie platformer, but it lacks the challenge you would expect from a game like that; There's a big energy pickup after every somewhat challenging section making every thing that happened pointless, bosses can be damage raced to death without much trouble due to lack of I-Frames, a few easy to find collectables at the beginning that circumvents the weapon energy system making it pointless for the player to engage with it, etc. Not to mention, that the level design is very bland without anything interesting going on; the Fallen City level was kind of cool, though. I somewhat enjoyed the vehicle sections, too.

I will say that the music is really good, and the atmosphere/setting was kind of dope. Doesn't save the game, though. If you've never played a platformer before, this might be a good one to start with. Otherwise, I wouldn't bother.

 

[Chevywolf:30]

Portal 2: 10/10

Honestly, the Portal style of game is perfect for me. Super liner, no extra stuff, engaging puzzles. But while that's pretty much all that's going on in the first game, the second keeps the same gameplay format but does a whole lot more with it. This game had so many themes and aesthetics that I dig so much, the post-apocalyptic ruins, the abandoned retro stuff, background lore that's cryptically told to you instead of straight up shown, super fun themes to to go with the puzzles. And then, the story. Neither game has anything super wild in terms of story, but Portal 2 is an even better "unlikable character becomes most trusted ally" story than Midna.

Spoiler: Summing that up, spoilers

So in the first game, Glados is the AI program controlling all the tests, and as the game goes on she becomes more and more homicidal until you 'kill' her. In Portal 2, your new friend Wheatly inadvertently revives Glados, who promptly puts you into more test chambers, going on and on about how she's going to force you to do these for the rest of your life, as revenge for killing her. But then, Wheatly helps you escape, and you try and replace Glados with Wheatly as the AI program running the facility, but then he goes power crazy and traps Glados in a potato, and eventually you have to work with Glados, and I was even saying at the time "Is this game going to make me freaking work with Glados of all people" but when it was all said and done, somehow I was actually a little fond of her, Midna is the only other character I can think of that comes close to doing that for me.

Absolutely loved both of these games, maybe a bit on the short side but that's fine.

 

[thePlinko]

I think I’m going to start posting shorter responses here as I’ll keep the longer ones to my end of the year ranking thread that I’m apparently making a tradition now. That being said

Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling
I was unsure about this game before I played it, but any doubts I had went away as soon as I started up a save file. This is one of the best games that I’ve played in a long time. Everything from how it emulates the Paper Mario experience to how well the main trio of characters play off of one another is perfect. My one real complaint is that the overworld movement is really wonky at times, particularly Vi’s beemerang. Apart from that, if you liked the first two Paper Mario games then I can’t recommend it enough.
9/10

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

Castlevania Aria of Sorrow
I had a great time w/ it and is probably my favorite in the genre, it just clicked w/ me and I got really in the zone while playing it

 

[twilitfalchion]

Yakuza 0

Had a really great time with this one, and I'm not nearly done with everything I want to get out of it. Still got some major side quests to wrap up now that the main story's done, but a banger from start to end. Having played it for myself, I get the appeal of the series, and I'm 100% there to play the next games whenever I get around to it. Probably'll nab Kiwami 1 and 2 whenever another sale rolls around.

 

[thePlinko]

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
It removes about 90% of what I disliked about Symphony of the Night, and instead introduces quite a few problems of its own. Its definitely a better metroidvania, but overall its a game that suffers from a lack of a real identity and struggles to really bring anything to the table. I might call SotN better if only because of its combat. Also it’s story is a massive downgrade, even by Castlevania standards.
6/10

 

[accio boomerang]

Luigi's Mansion 3: my current grade of it would be 6/10

I'm more than halfway through this game and I have to be honest that it is so repetitive and honestly it feels more of a chore to play compared to other games. I think I am going to take a break from it for awhile because the graphics are good and the game gets so much acclaim and I am just not seeing it right now. Hopefully when I come back to it again I will like it but right now I feel so meh about it.

 

[A Link In Time]

Pushmo 9.5/10

For $7, I got over 60 hours of gameplay out of 100%ing this game. Some of the later puzzles are truly devious. My one complaint is I wish there was some more music variety.

 

[thePlinko]

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
It removes a lot of improvements that Circle of the Moon made, but at the same time nothing this game does wrong is nearly as bad as it is in Symphony of the Night. It also feels a lot more fleshed out than Circle of the Moon, though the world design is quite lacking in comparison. It’s still not the greatest game ever, but it’s a clear upgrade from SotN.

Also, the game is by far the easiest Castlevania yet. I beat the final boss in less than a minute first try because of the way the spell system works. That’s not necessarily a good or bad thing, just a thing that I’ve noticed. 7/10

 

[Ninja]

Hogwarts Legacy: 8/10

The rose colored nostalgia glasses were absolutely incredible the first hours of the game. This is pretty much the HP game I've wanted my whole life, and the entire experience for the most part was amazing. The environment, the music, the combat, the characters, and story was very immersive. The sidequests we do get with friendship storylines (Sebastian, Natty, Poppy), were absolutely incredible though and the highlights of the game. The final boss sequence was outstanding and I wish that same energy was given to the other bosses. The mounts are great, and being able to learn the unforgivable curses is insane.

Towards the end of the game and after about 30 hours, the open world felt a bit too empty, and there isn't much to do aside from the near 100 merlin trials, and various dens to explore. Also I wish that there was a bit more activity in the castle, most of the time it feels like noone is acknowledging the main character. Inventory system was hit or miss. I liked how many different clothing pieces there are, however the limited inventory slots were a pain in the ass to manage. It would have been helpful if it gave you the option to sell a piece of clothing instead of outright destroying it.

Overall, I really enjoyed this game. I will likely make a new character and give her the likeness of my kid.

 

[thePlinko]

Metroid Prime Remastered
Prime is my second favorite Metroid game behind Super, so I was incredibly excited for the reveal. Overall this is an excellent remaster that does everything it sets out to do nearly perfectly.

Of the two major changes, the one I was the most skeptical about was the addition of a traditional twin-stick control scheme. While I wouldn’t call the original setup amazing, I personally never had too much of a problem with it to think it really needed the upgrade. I was afraid it was going to be a SSHD situation where the new control scheme would actively conflict with how the game was designed and end up feeling clunky, but luckily I was mostly wrong. The new twin stick controls feel wonderful, and while I did get confused by the face button mapping at various points throughout the game, I’m willing to chalk that up to me being so used to the Gamecube version.

I was having a ton of fun with the new controls until I got the wave beam. In order to change beams with the new controls you now have to hold the X button and select with the D-pad, which is painful, especially when you need to change mid combat. I was actively considering swapping back to the classic controls because of this one thing. Luckily there’s an option to swap the controls for changing beams with the ones for changing visors, which isn’t perfect since now visors are just as annoying, but at least I don’t have to change them nearly as much.

Apart from that, I feel like there are a few more minor changes that should’ve been made in the remaster, such as adding cameras control for when you’re in morph ball mode or a more detailed collection tracker (I literally got all but one of the missile tanks and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out where the last one was, not that it mattered since I missed three separate log entries that the game locks you out of getting after a certain point so I couldn’t 100% the game anyway). There are also a few patches made in the Wii version that were carried over here that I really don’t enjoy, but whatever. Even without those, this is easily the definitive version of the game, and absolutely worth the $40.

8.5/10

 

[The Dashing Darknut]

Professor Layton versus Phoenix Wright 7/10

So this game was good, albeit it was really good until the final chapters, where things started to get messy, and my other flaws of the game started to appear and become all the more apparent

For one, I do like the interactions Wright and Layton have with each other a lot, or when Maya and Luke interact, or Luke is with Wright or Maya is with Layton in certain parts. The dialogue and chemistry and how the personalities of Maya and Phoenix from AA clash with Luke and Layton from PL works really well, with some really funny dialogue. I especially enjoyed Phoenix and Maya being able to solve some puzzles or Layton and Luke working with Phoenix in the witch trials, it’s really well done with how the two gameplays from the two series are there together and it works overall very well.

Labyrinthia is also a cool setting, even if it is quite weird to see Phoenix and Maya in a medieval fantasy setting where they have trials where witches are burned in cages and there’s magic. Some of the original characters from this game like Jean Greyel and Emeer are wonderful, and the mystery of the town is interesting throughout with a crazy Layton-like plot twist at the end.

Overall the emotion and atmosphere will really hit sometimes (especially when Greyel finds out the truth about Belduke), and it’s really charming a lot of the time too. Darklaw is a great antagonist and Barnham is good as the prosecutor in this game, hitting the line pretty well of being blunt and harsh but not being an asshole and mostly being fair, compared to other prosecutors from AA. And the court gameplay is just as great as it is in AA, with some new features like the multiple witnesses before GAA did it.

As for my flaws, Espella is a really annoying character and a really bad plot device, turning out to be a character I disliked a lot. Throughout the game she’s the damsel in distress, like Flora from PL and Maya from AA, but worse. Her constantly sacrificing herself, claiming she is a witch, being in danger, gets very tiring over the course of the game. And it just annoys me how the other characters seem to just completely trust her and so desired to save her. The real nail in the coffin was that throughout the game she was thought to be the one who rang the bell that summoned Bezella and burned the town down, and thinks she was the great witch which is generally an interesting story, but it turns out no, it was Darklaw who did it, and Espella didn’t do anything wrong. Everything that could’ve made her interesting or have a cool story was completely gone after that twist. And she just has nothing enjoyable, charming, interesting, likeable about her character, she has nothing, and is just generally one of my least favorite characters I’ve seen in a game.

And also It just felt so obvious Layton and Maya didn’t really die in a crossover game, which didn’t make me feel any emotion when they were thought to be and Luke and Phoenix were grieving. It just felt really forced and the final chapter is a mess, the plot twist and ending with everything going back to normal didn’t sit well with me, and Barnham being in the sidelines not being the prosecutor at all in any part in the final trial felt disappointing, and Arthur’s actions still don’t really make sense. It was just a really anticlimactic way to end the game after all the cool mysteries the game had, it ended with a really tasteless feeling

So overall, gameplay is really good, I love the dynamics Layton and Phoenix have and how their gameplay is intertwined, I really like characters like Greyel and Emeer, and some parts are amazing, but Espella, forced writing on some parts, and the plot twist and really anticlimactic ending weakened my enjoyment a lot, which is a shame because I really liked it from the beginning to Golden Court but after Golden Court I was pretty disappointed.

 

[Grogson]

So this game was good, albeit it was really good until the final chapters, where things started to get messy, and my other flaws of the game started to appear and become all the more apparent

Completely agree. I've played it twice, and I when I started my second time I was so swept up in it and positively surprised at just how good it was, because I remembered it as pretty good but not great. And then the ending came and soured everything... again.

For one, I do like the interactions Wright and Layton have with each other a lot, or when Maya and Luke interact, or Luke is with Wright or Maya is with Layton in certain parts. The dialogue and chemistry and how the personalities of Maya and Phoenix from AA clash with Luke and Layton from PL works really well, with some really funny dialogue.

One of my favourite parts was when Layton

Spoiler

as a gold statue was brought into the court with a whole arm missing

and Luke

Spoiler

understandably freaked out

while Phoenix

Spoiler

made an awkward Phoenix-smile and said "did it get damaged in cargo?" or something to that effect.

The different tones between these characters really made for some great moments.

Barnham is good as the prosecutor in this game, hitting the line pretty well of being blunt and harsh but not being an asshole and mostly being fair, compared to other prosecutors from AA.

He is fair, definitely.

As for my flaws, Espella is a really annoying character and a really bad plot device, turning out to be a character I disliked a lot. Throughout the game she’s the damsel in distress, like Flora from PL and Maya from AA, but worse. Her constantly sacrificing herself, claiming she is a witch, being in danger, gets very tiring over the course of the game. And it just annoys me how the other characters seem to just completely trust her and so desired to save her. The real nail in the coffin was that throughout the game she was thought to be the one who rang the bell that summoned Bezella and burned the town down, and thinks she was the great witch which is generally an interesting story, but it turns out no, it was Darklaw who did it, and Espella didn’t do anything wrong. Everything that could’ve made her interesting or have a cool story was completely gone after that twist. And she just has nothing enjoyable, charming, interesting, likeable about her character, she has nothing, and is just generally one of my least favorite characters I’ve seen in a game.

Ugh, yes. I don't even know how I'd describe her personality to someone. She's caring, I guess? Her role in the story is so weird and annoying, as is the way all the main characters fawn over her. And the spoiler-part, a hundred percent.

Spoiler

Heaven forbid she'd actually have done something bad even by mistake. As you say that could've made for something interesting but then they just blew it. Her having to face this realization, deal with her guilt and go on from there could've been powerful and all, but no, never mind, it was Darklaw all along. So now she'll have to deal with all that instead, but who cares as long as Espella gets to continue to be perfect.

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

I had no clue where I'd fall on Lightning Returns since I was in the middle w/ FF13 and had a like/dislike relationship w/ 13-2, I most certainly didn't expect to end up loving this game. The structure was really cool since it had the Majora's Mask element of having x amount of days until the end of the world, but you can basically go anywhere and do the storyline in whichever way. The combat took a bit of getting used to but ended up being pretty fun. It's heavy on side quests and some of them were surprisingly gripping. Not MM level but more in depth than I would've thought.

Such a big surprise considering how I felt about the prior games, this is totally up there for me for my favorites in the series.