2025 Review Round
Migrated from X
X (formerly Twitter) has been making it difficult to post lately. I may/not lose my account so I am migrating my older mini reviews to Substack to be safe. Here, they will be posted as yearly blocks in their near entirety (apart from most photos & videos) as presented on X.
1-18-25
Life is Strange Remastered review:
An endearing yet flimsy puzzle narrative.
GOOD:
+ Overarching story, branching story
+ Clever time-puzzles
SO-SO:
+/- Choices ALWAYS upset someone
+/- Episodic
BAD:
- Episode 1-2 are slow, graphics, rewind controls suck
- Major bugs in E5
Score: 7/10
1-28-25
Dragon Age: The Veilguard review:
A tantalizing, epic ARPG!
GOOD:
+ Story & pacing, sidekicks & V.O. cast
+ Exploration, locations & set pieces, battles, bosses, impactful side missions
+ Consequential choices
BAD:
- Too long, dragon fights get stale, end game enemy waves
Score: 9/10
2-6-25
The Talos Principle review:
A first-person puzzle experience w/ an out-of-body story.
GOOD:
+ Mostly fantastic puzzles & mechanics
+ Deeply philosophical story
+ Level of difficulty
BAD:
- Doesn’t explain game mechanics well enough
- Some puzzles are cheaply difficult
Score: 9/10
2-9-24
Mega Man Battle Network (via Legacy Collection) review:
A tactical RPG that’s as bright as it is dull.
GOOD:
+ Fun story, unique characters, powers and collectable abilities
+ QOL “Legacy Collection” features
SO-SO:
+/- Music
BAD:
- Backtracking, so many random battles, tedious level design, boring
Score: 6/10
2-15-25
Life is Strange: Before the Storm review:
A tear-jerker prequel to the original… w/o the powers.
GOOD:
+ Touching story, Chloe is more interesting than Max
+ Argument ability
+ Original music
SO-SO:
+/- Same game but no rewind
BAD:
- Audio/Subtitle bugs, boring gameplay, very slow
Score: 6/10
2-20-25
Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale review:
A tenderly told adventure/card battler tale.
GOOD:
+ Cute short & sweet, funny characters
SO-SO:
+/- Some confusing nonlinear quests
BAD:
- Super basic card battler, basic gameplay
- 3DS digital title that's no longer available
Score: 6/10
2-22-25
Alan Wake Remastered review:
A stunning, atmospheric, thriller!
GOOD:
+ Meticulously-paced story, characters, events & set pieces, enemies, and weapons
+ Crazy twists, level design, music
+ The Signal/The Writer are standout chapters
BAD:
- Flashlight (& upgrades), running
Score: 9/10
3-5-25
Alan Wake 2 review:
A masterclass of sinister storytelling.
GOOD:
+ Direction shift from AW1
+ Dual protagonist story
+ Cerebral, creepy set pieces, moody atmosphere, Mind Place
+ Music/sound FX
BAD:
-Sam Lake = acquired taste
-Saga actor’s real accent slipups
-Alan’s puzzles
Score: 9/10
3-12-25
Final Fantasy VII Remake review:
Still a meh action RPG—even on PS5.
GOOD:
+ Amazing set pieces, Cloud’s VO, memorable music, some good action
SO-SO:
+/- rest benches?
BAD:
- Barret & Aerith’s VOs
- Ample filler
- Whispers = lazy writing
- Some jarring low poly/low rez graphics
Score: 6.5/10
3-14-25
The Starship Damrey review:
This short 3DS digital-only exclusive is intriguing but flat.
GOOD:
+ Simple but nice graphics
+ Puzzle pieces story
+ Twists + ending
SO-SO:
+/- Only 1 side mission
BAD:
- Very plain, somewhat boring
- Confusing structural designs
- Controls
Score: 5/10
3-16-25
Color Commando review:
A short, somewhat pleasant puzzle platformer originally paint & monsters released for DSi Ware & now on 3DS.
GOOD:
+ Cure graphics & characters
+ 25 levels
SO-SO:
+/- Very short
BAD:
- Training levels
- Some confusion
- Only 1 paint ability
Score: 4/10
3-23-25
Phantasy Star IV The End of the Millennium review:
A JRPG about environmental awareness & dark forces.
GOOD:
+ Large revolving roster
+ Abilities, Macro battle system
+ Story & art style
+ Fast travel
BAD:
- Grinding, stiff navigation controls
- World graphics
- Pacing
Score: 8.5/10
4-13-25
Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition review:
A sluggish action JRPG w/ lots of love.
GOOD:
+ Fun sci-fi story, beautiful graphics & sound
+ Huge varied lands & set pieces
BAD:
- Nonstop pop-up tips
- Soulslike difficulty
- Auto-battle system
- Forced side missions
- Difficult to trek
Score: 7.5/10
Katamari Damacy Rolling Live review:
The adorable Prince is back to roll up sh*t again. Sadly it’s exclusive to Apple Arcade.
GOOD:
+ Cute story, VERY funny, graphics & fun
+ Level design
+ Controller & touch controls work well
+ Music
BAD:
- Apple Arcade exclusive
- Some VERY hard challenges
Score: 9/10
4-19-25
Discolored review:
A short, intriguing indie puzzler about bringing back colors to a small diner.
GOOD:
+ Eerie, self-contained environment, intriguing
+ Interesting premise & puzzle mechanics
+ Hint system
BAD:
- VERY short (30 mins)
- Little else to do or discover
Score: 7/10
4-27-25
The Last Guardian review:
A nuanced adventure that’s heavy on the heart.
GOOD:
+ The boy & Trico’s chemistry
+ Labyrinthian world design
+ Graphics & subtle story elements
SO-SO:
+/- Check points
BAD:
- Commanding Trico
- Nonstop onscreen hints
- Often frustratingly confusing
Score: 8/10
4-27-25
Conduit 2 review:
A surprisingly fun and funny first-person shooter!
GOOD:
+ Light story, Duke Nukem-style protagonist humor
+ Length
+ Level & weapons variety
SO-SO:
+/- Protagonist voice is cringy LOL
BAD:
- Muddy graphics
- Braindead enemy AI
- Floaty motion controls
Score: 8/10
5-11-25
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 review:
A mesmerizingly unforgettable turn-based RPG.
GOOD:
+ Brilliant story set in a twisted, highly detailed macabre world
+ Game mechanics, abilities, battle rules
+ Exploration
+ Tough but fair fights
BAD:
- Dimly lit fights
- Act 3’s pacing
Score: 9.5/10
5-16-25
Mega Man Battle Network 2 review:
A slightly less frustrating RPG than MMBN1.
GOOD:
+ Slight improvements: fewer random battles
+ Colorful graphics, good music
BAD:
- Unforgiving
- Hard to use *escape*
- Tons of backtracking
- Hint system is not good enough
- Often boring
Score: 6/10
5-17-25
South of Midnight review:
An action/adventure filled with folktales & southern charm.
GOOD:
+ Deep story, great voice acting, beautifully rendered environments
+ Abilities & music
SO-SO:
+/- Vanilla battles
BAD:
- Dodging is slow
- Deeply repetitive
Score: 8/10
5-24-25
Doom: The Dark Ages review:
An ode to testosterone.
GOOD:
+ Amazing combat
+ Dark atmosphere
+ Level design, hidden routes & secrets
+ Mech & dragon levels
SO-SO:
+/- Story
BAD:
- No multiplayer?
- Waves of enemies gets stale
- Some missions are too long
- Ability upgrades suck
Score: 8/10
6-9-25
Avowed review:
An exquisite example of Western RPG mastery.
GOOD:
+ Gripping story, stunning graphics, unique locals
+ Endlessly explorable yet never overwhelming, consequential side quests
+ Crafting, controls, interchangeable class system
+ Voice actors, epic music
Score: 10/10
6-23-25
Lies of P review:
A distorted retelling of a soulslike version of Pinocchio.
GOOD:
+ Intricately designed terrifying world
+ Enemies & bosses
+ Weapons, abilities tree
BAD:
- Load times
- Virtually no game mechanic tutorials
- Weapon to wall contact; enemy cornering P
Score: 9/10
7-10-25
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach review:
Continue connecting the world.
GOOD:
+ Story: layered, intense
+ Traversal, world, bosses
+ Key music, voice actors
SO-SO:
+/-Sam’s motley crew of misfits
BAD:
- Less varied & somewhat boring missions
- Less emphasis on deliveries
- Gun controls
Score: 8/10
7-10-25
Dave the Diver review:
An intricately detailed world of diving, hunting, & sushi!
GOOD:
+ Fun story, unique characters, heartwarming good time
+ Ever-changing environment, twists & turns
+ Controls, mini games, farming sim
+ Running the sushi bar is so fun!
Score: 10/10
7-26-25
Klonoa: Door to Phantomile (remaster) review:
A 3rd-person 2.5D adventure/platformer.
GOOD:
+ Cute story & graphics
+ Simple controls
+ Well designed levels
+ Emotional
SO-SO:
+/- Short
BAD:
- Old school distance jumping
- Not a lot to do besides finish levels
Score: 7.5/10
7-27-25
Metroid Fusion review:
The best 2D Metroid.
GOOD:
+ Mysterious, layered story, stellar graphics, smooth frames
+ Well designed & colorful world
+ Boss battles, power-ups
BAD:
- Sometimes controls can be frustrating
- Rollercoaster difficulty spikes
Score: 9/10
8-5-25
Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil review:
A slight step up from the original action/adventure.
GOOD:
+ Broader story, super colorful
+ More, fun puzzles
+ Proper amount of difficulty & level lengths
SO-SO:
+/- Mediocre music
BAD:
- Somewhat stale
- Cutscenes too long
- Can get boring
Score: 7.5/10
8-8-25
Donkey Kong Country review:
The classic 2D side scroller is challenging af!
GOOD:
+ Cute early-days 2.5D graphics
+ Hidden collectibles
+ Challenging but fair
+ Fun bosses
SO-SO:
+/- Music is okay
BAD:
- Lazily designed final zone
- Some rough level design
- Boring enemies
Score: 7/10
8-10-25
Lunar: Silver Star Story review:
A thrilling pixel RPG remastered on modern console.
GOOD:
+ Fun story
+ Characters & voice actors
+ Environments
+ Enemies & bosses
+ Anime cutscenes
SO-SO:
+/- Mostly mediocre music
BAD:
- Long 3rd act
- Random uneven difficulty
- Untraceable leveling stats
Score: 8.5/10
8-16-25
Soul Reaver review:
A luxurious remaster of the PS1 original.
GOOD:
+ Excellent dark story; world design; puzzles
+ Enemy & boss designs, boss battles
+ Abilities
SO-SO:
+/- Hints
BAD:
- Stiff controls
- Frustrating & confusing on what/where to go next
- Braindead AI
Score: 7.5/10
8-16-25
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island review:
A world-class sequel!
GOOD:
+ Cute story, mesmerizing graphics & 3D effects
+ Level design
+ Controls, abilities, enemies, boss battles
+ Stellar music
BAD:
- Transitioning to & from hidden rooms slows momentum
- World 6 is a drag
Score: 9/10
8-31-25
Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth review:
Cloud & co. are off on another high stakes adventure in this Japanese RPG sequel to the best selling PS4/5 title. This time, getting to the heart of Sephiroth himself by uncovering his darker plan.
GOOD:
+ Expanded story, interesting new locals, explorable semi-open world
+ Cool enemies & bosses
+ Lots to do outside the main quest
+ Music, *most* of voice actors do an amazing job
+ Labyrinth level is very good!
SO-SO:
+/- Red XIII’s jarring and awkward transformation
BAD:
- Like in Remake there’s still too much filler
- Forced mini games
- Barret’s voice is grading
- After Aerith’s *big moment* they treat it comically
- Too many mini boss battles, final two chapters drag
Though it suffers from much of the same unnecessarily stretched out, filler story as Remake, Rebirth feels deeper and more meaningful. Moreover, this game cemented my stance that this new trilogy really should have just been one big game.
Score: 7.8/10
9-8-25
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest review:
This time DK has been captured by Captain K. Rool and it’s Diddy and Dixie to the rescue in another challenging 2D adventure.
GOOD:
+ Improved graphics & controls
+ Some levels are quite fun
+ Humorous
SO-SO:
+/- Bland music
SO-SO:
- Many unfair, gruelingly difficult challenges
- Repetitive level design
Score: 4/10
9-14-25
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD review:
The opening act of the entire Zelda franchise begins here. With fun dungeons and improved controls on Switch, it’s a wonder why the developers didn’t originally aim for more when it originally launched on Wii.
GOOD:
+ An intriguing opening story for the franchise
+ Beautiful graphics with a water color style overlay
+ Magnificent dungeon designs & layouts = not too hard or too easy
+ Plentiful, cool weapons and accessories that are utilized well
+ Fantastic music
SO-SO:
+/- Mediocre side quests
+/- Fast travel could be far better
BAD:
- The improved motion controls still suck; and constant recalibration (Y button) to center controls is annoying
- Only 3 main locations (Forest, Desert, Volcano) w/ repeated travel among them no less than 3 times each
- Numerously repeated boss battles
- Traveling among locations seems to take forever
It would have been nice to have either a volcano or desert level but not both since they are so similar, when there are only 3 locations to visit. The option to turn motion controls off sounds good, but they’re worse the actual motion controls. Still the game has a lot going for it and offers some incredible dungeon adventuring. Worth a single play-through at least.
Score: 7.9/10
9-27-25
Hell is Us review:
A third-person, action/adventure title that brings a tantalizing tale of war, cover-ups, and inter-dimensional beings, all wrapped up in a journey that will take you across a secluded country, all without a mini map or much guidance at all.
GOOD:
+ A tense, mysterious story that constantly keeps you guessing
+ Dark & scary, graphics, character & enemy designs
+ Locations & set pieces
+ Unlockables, discoverables, & puzzles
+ Great weapon & ability selections along with upgrades system
+ Controls are mostly great (just use lock-on)
+ Eerie sound effects and hauntingly gorgeous music
SO-SO:
+/- Character movement is somewhat floaty
+/- HUD menu loading could be faster
BAD:
- Fighting without using lock-in is extremely frustrating
- Lots of back and forth travel w/ limited fast travel locations
- Experienced a bad glitch that took away the intensity of the overall experience
Score: 9/10
9-30-25
Pac-Man World 2: Re-Pac review
This is the amazing follow up to the Pac-Man World remake. This action/adventure doesn’t spoil you as it is more challenging than the first, but just as colorful and zany.
GOOD:
+ East-to-follow story, colorful levels, lots of lovable, quirky characters
+ Most controls work well, abilities are fun!
+ Fun, multilayered boss battles
+ Memorable music
+ Doesn’t overstay its welcome
+ Collectables!
SO-SO:
+/- Some levels stretch on a bit
BAD:
-Spider boss serves as a momentarily steep & odd difficulty spike
- Rail grinding feel be sketchy
- Frustrating level challenges for unlockables
Final thoughts: I still love the first remake far more than World 2, but this new entry was more daring even if it fumbled the landing at times.
Score: 8/10