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(2/11) - Romancing Saga 2 was a title that I heard good things about but wasn’t in a hurry to check out for myself. The game seemed charming based on what I played in the demo but it didn’t blow me away or anything. Then I decided to purchase the game on sale one day at random and was completely absorbed by the title. The game performs such a tremendous balancing act. The title is light on story but it still provides enough narrative to keep you invested while also leaving enough space for the player to add to the story with their own actions/choices. There is so much to do at any one time but the game is always pushing you forward. The gameplay can be challenging but it actively encourages the player to try out different strategies instead of grinding and never allows you to get too complacent using the same party over and over. On top of all that, the game also has a great presentation for a title of its budget. I don’t know. It’s hard for me to articulate exactly why I loved RS2 so much but it just felt so refreshing. I think it’s one of my favorite role-playing games I’ve played in the last few years.
(4/15) - Super Mario Wonder was a delightful game bursting at the seams with beautiful art and playful animation. Compared to the bland clip-art aesthetics of the New Super Mario Bros series, Wonder feels like a breath of fresh air full of creativity and a kind of infectious energy. However, it’s also weirdly forgettable. In fact, I was right about to finish Mario Wonder late last year but I simply stopped thinking about the game after putting it down one day. Maybe this is because, despite “Wonder” being in the name of the game, it is a title that feels kind of restrained. Wonder is full of all this wacky and creative stuff but it is seemingly only allowed to exist when you touch a wonder seed and yakety sax music starts playing. It weirdly makes the “wonder” feel like some kind of exception to the rule instead of something that naturally inhabits the world. It also makes the “wonder” never feel unexpected because you know that stuff is only ever going to get really weird after you’ve entered a designated “weird zone”. However, even with these feelings, I would be a fool to say that Mario Wonder is a badly made game. When I was playing it, I enjoyed every minute of it. But it just doesn’t rank as one of my favorite Mario games for whatever reason.
(6/5)
(7/31)
(11/16) - Not only is Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter a good remake, not only did it remind me of why the original was so great, but it may just be one of the best games Nihon Falcom has ever made. They really brought their A game and elevated their craft to another level.
(11/18) - I was pretty impressed how And Roger did so much with so little. The gameplay almost exclusively entails clicking on buttons but it manages to express a lot of different emotions with just that small interaction. Pretty cool little game.
(11/22) - Fun :)
