Recent reviews by RTBrave

Atlus really is the best in the biz. I fell out of love with JRPGS somewhere between FFXII and XIII. Persona 5 taught me it's still possible to make one that my adult self can love, and Metaphor is a persona game in all but name. Taking the formula out of high school for a change is very refreshing, the worldbuilding and story here are top notch.

Gameplay is simpler in some ways than Persona, which isn't really better or worse, just different. A matter of taste. There's no persona fusion system here but rather a more straightforward job class system. Leaves plenty of room for different builds and character customization without sitting around in the velvet room for hours fiddling about. Similarly, the time management/simulation aspect of the game feels a little more relaxed than Persona; the game gives you plenty of time to get everything done before the finale, although there are still plenty of decisions to be made with respect to prioritization.

tl;dr one of the best turn-based rpgs in recent memory, a no-brainer for Persona fans and a great entry point for newcomers to Atlus games or JRPGs in general

All the complaints about the bosses are 100% accurate, but I'll go a step further and say the levels aren't that great either. This game seems to want to be new super mario bros. for some reason, and that formula just doesn't mesh well with sonic. I could imagine a slower, more exploration-based sonic game being enjoyable, but this isn't it. Really feels like a worst of both worlds scenario. Not fast enough to be satisfying in the vein of a classic sonic roller coaster, not interesting enough to work on the exploration level.

At the end of the day, I just didn't enjoy this game that much. Lots of meh with spikes of frustration. I would definitely advise against this one, especially at full price, which is absurd.

This is almost a good game, but it's flaws add up to something I'd just as soon have not played. Minimalism is all well and good when done properly, but in this case it just winds up being a very thin experience. Combat is extremely basic, mostly perfunctory. Very few different enemy types, all with predictable attack patterns. Lots of sitting around waiting for an opening. Some of them are real damage sponges too, especially if you don't find all the sword upgrades.

Admittedly combat is not the main focus of the game, but the trend of overall "thin"-ness extends to the puzzles, the artwork, and the story. This game has puzzles in the same way that putting together IKEA furniture is a puzzle; it's obfuscated some by the level design, but the entire game boils down to "push button, open path to next button." I'll admit the art/graphics of this game are solid, but again they wear on you by the end. There's essentially one biome in this game so it all looks same-y; expect to see similar sweeping vistas over and over.

Lastly, the game lacks polish on a technical level that leads to a fair bit of frustration. Fixed camera angle + platforming = lots of falling that doesn't feel like your fault, leading to deaths or repeating tedious climbs until you happen to get it right. It's also fairly easy to get your character stuck in the scenery, forcing a respawn and losing progress.

Overall not the worst game I've played by any stretch, but all of its flaws add up to something I'd just as soon have never played.

Very fun, unique little game. Tough but forgiving at the same time, since checkpoints are generously apportioned. Only takes a couple hours to beat, maybe a bit more to find all the trinkets, but personally I find it fun enough to play that I'm just full-on speedrunning the game at this point. Deathless mode may be forever beyond my reach though. Maybe someday...

Never been big on 3D sonic. Frontiers was a step in the right direction but still felt a little awkward at times. Shadow Generations feels like they FINALLY got it right. No glitchy camera, no janky movement, it's all smooth, high speed fun. The fact that you get sonic generations with it is icing on the cake. Never played that one before this release, it's solid compared to other 3d sonic I've played but does suffer from some degree of the above. But again, it's just gravy. The Shadow side is amazing. Only negative thing I have to say is I with there was another act or two, but overall there's plenty of gameplay here to justify the price.

Fun little game. Puzzles are none too challenging, although they're pleasantly engaging. Definetly a "games as art" type of game IMO, and while I don't think I'll look back at this as one of the more memorable such games, it's worth a playthrough for sure.

Combat is great, level design is good, music is good, story and pacing are OK. Overall I enjoyed this game quite a bit.

Neat spin on the collectahon platformer. Movement is very smooth, game's a lot of fun to play. More challenging than I was expecting but not in a bad way, and the requirements for progression are forgiving enough that I didn't have any trouble making it to the end. Tons of optional and post-game content too; took me around six hours to reach the credits, but it'd probably be double that at least to get 100%. All in all, very much a hidden gem of a game.

Simple but fun. Controls are really tight, combat is on the easy side but puts up enough fight to not be boring. Frankly it's refreshing to play a metroidvania/zeldalike that's not trying to be dark souls. Really appreciate the mechanics to help you find items that you missed as well, scouring the map for the last couple collectibles is not my favorite thing about this genre, and this game neatly avoids it. Cute, cozy vibes tie it all together. Very impressive for a dev team of all of one person! Absolutely worth a playthrough.

This sort of game isn't normally my jam. Stealth mechanics are very basic, as are the puzzles. Story is pretty simple as well. It all comes together pretty nicely though. I enjoyed "exploring" the world (exploring in quotes because the game is highly linear) and learning about the background lore as I went along. Probably wouldn't have bought this at full price but as part of a bundle with other games I was excited to play, it was a nice little bonus/surprise.