Time for my top 10… It’ll be wordy, but do note that I’m just copy pasting my “reviews” that I’ve already posted on this forum when I finished those games.
- Octopath Traveler II
Octopath 2 thoughts
So overall, it’s a more memorable game than OT1. The finale chapter and epilogue afterwards are very nice, good they made a proper ending for the game this time lol. The 8 stories themselves… Eh, well, the writing still isn’t so good. I don’t think I got invested into any of them lol. The -overarching- storyline is a bit more interesting and better woven in than OT1’s attempt at it, at least.
Gameplay is improved all around with the limit breaks/latent power abilities and being able to speed up battles. Graphics also feel much more crisp than OT1. Exploring the overworld is a lot of fun now that there’s more interesting things to see and you can sail around on a boat. The optional dungeons are a bit more unique this time too.
Side quests are still mostly about the same. Though this time they added some voice acted side quests involving characters you meet in the 8 stories. They also added some “side stories” in which 2 of the protagonists link up and do their own mini stories.
I’d say this games an 8.5/10, in comparison to OT1 which I think is a 7/10. You probably won’t like it if you didn’t like OT1, but if you did, there’s a much more refined and “complete” feeling game here, this one I feel was more “heartfeltly” developed than OT1.
I did everything in the game and it took 90 hours, so there’s a very beefy content packed game here.
I later revised my thoughts to a 9/10 and was struggling to pick this or TOTK as my #1. So overall with how snubbed this game ended up being last year and how impressive and beefy of a JRPG it is, it is my #1.
- Zelda Tears of the Kingdom
TOTK thoughts
This game was actually a lot better than BOTW for me. I like BOTW but IIRC I considered it about an 8/10 after being done with it. TOTK for me is more like 9.5/10.
The new abilities, all of them have their major uses and are so much fun to play with. It feels kinda nuts when you hold an object in the air, switch to the reverse time to keep it held up, then ascend through the object still being rewinded in the air. Rewinding time was probably one of my favorites lol.
There’s so much breathtaking spectacle in this game. Both in the main quest and when just exploring. I was happy that they actually had unique bosses for each region in the story instead of the same copy pasted elemental thing like in BOTW. And like I said, just exploring and then suddenly encountering one of those 3 headed dragons and then summoning up your own built airship and firing Yunobo at it, and that just happening in the open world, that kind of thing is awesome.
Some negatives I would say are that the shrines felt lazier this time. Felt like half of them were to just find the crystal in the open world and then the shrine itself be one of those freebie ones. Side quests are mostly kind crap again, too much generic “get me 10 eyeballs” stuff with not much substance to them. They do at least have the more in depth ones though, but even there the objectives usually aren’t much better. The Depths also aren’t that good IMO. Not much fun to explore and many copy pasted bases and stuff.
Overall though I think it was an incredible that deserves the review scores it got.
Even though I scored it 9.5 I put Octopath 2 above it… Yeah this list isn’t in -too- much of a particular order lol, just giving Octopath the bonus points.
- Hi-Fi Rush
Hi Fi Rush thoughts
I like playing rhythm games such as Nintendo’s Rhythm Heaven, Sega’s Hatsune Miku games, Taiko no Tatsujin, so being able to apply my rhythm skills to a “stylish” action game, it clicked very quick lol. I was able to keep up with and utilize the additional combat mechanics like parrying with ease. I did my first playthrough on Hard difficulty which I found to be perfect for me, and only a few times. I think I also mostly A ranked every level with a few S ranks on the short levels too.
To use an example I enjoyed this game more than Bayonetta 3, very impressive of Tango to make a better Platinum game than they have in a while.
Story was very fun and I loved all the characters. I’ve seen other people say it but Chai reminds me of Fry from Futurama lol. I also find it jarringly hilarious that Chai is just killing all the bosses and nobody really comments on that. Also the Xenogears bit where they do the entire “sitting in a chair to explain” but and cut out “the most awesome battle ever” was very funny lol.
Graphically it’s got some of the best “animated” graphics ever. I will put this above Scarlet Nexus which also wowed me.
Biggest con I would say are that after defeating Rekka the game does “slump” a bit, there is no more boss fights again until all the way near the end of the game at Mimosa. The environments during this “slump” are also kind of repetitive. I wish there was more outdoor sections. IMO it’s this section that answers why the game is not higher priced. Thankfully the fantastic gameplay and short length of the game doesn’t make this a major deal.
I’m not sure if I’d say “this needs to become a franchise!” or anything though, I’m fine with it being a one off idea, but I wouldn’t mind seeing more someday. Overall it’s a 9/10 game.
I would buy it again if it got a Switch 2 physical release haha
- Ys X: Nordics
I’ll just directly link this one, because my thoughts are extra long (sorry, Falcom fanaticism blasting through lmao) and I had images with it
But to keep it short, it’s a great new playstyle for Ys… with some bad boat combat weighing it down. Graphics are also less than stellar, which I originally thought was Falcom overcompensating for Switch, but later admitted it’s a consequence of their yearly release schedule.
- Gal Guardians Demon Purge
Linking this one because of images and Inti Creates fanaticism lol
I didn’t score the game there though, so I should do it now… 8.5 for me. As an Inti fan the game was a full course buffet with the fan-service and their brand of humor, not to mention their usual master-level 2D action platforming, but I do gotta dock points for not having a proper collectable tracker in a “pseudo” Metroidvania and kinda over-relying on playing the same 8 stages multiple times to see everything.
- Star Ocean The Second Story R
SO2R Thoughts
So overall I would say I enjoyed this game a bit more than SO Divine Force. Story was still eh but at least I did feel Rena was a good character (my chosen protagonist) and there was an interesting backstory hidden away for you to discover on your own in the endgame section. On SO6 I was struggling fierce to pay attention on cutscenes. One problem is that none of the party characters besides Rena and Claude are interesting, and that’s probably to blame on every character but them 2 being optional.
I already posted before about how nice this game looks but I’ll just repeat it again that I really enjoyed the visuals. Never played the original but yeah Gemdrops did very well glowing this game up.
For the character-building RPG stuff, I liked it a lot more than SO6. Felt more streamlined and easier to understand here. I still didn’t really bother with the crafting and all that till the post-game, but I’ll tell you now that it absolutely breaks the game in half. So I just had fun playing through the game like normal and then beating the shit out of it for the post-game.
So yeah, great 8.5/10 game, hope it’s on the shortlist of Square games to come to Xbox so more people can play it.
Amazing visuals and great gameplay, a remake so good that people have been requesting that future SO games just get made like this instead of SO6 style lol.
- Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Future Redeemed
XC3 FR thoughts
The major DLC expansion for XC3 and it sure is a beefy one. I think it took me around 25-30 hours to get through. I liked it quite a bit more than the main game which was already pretty great (but also at the bottom of where I’d rank the trilogy). The gameplay felt more “focused” than in the main game and it also has Xeno fanservice (not just Blade!) spilling out of its pockets like no tomorrow which I’m all there for. I especially liked the credits but I’m not trying to spoil anything here. Anyway, 9/10.
Another 9/10 below lower scored games 
. I’m mainly numbering these based on how they stuck with me more than scores.
- Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man who Erased His Name
LAD Gaiden thoughts
I probably more or less agree with the Xboxera review. I may have been slightly annoyed if this wasn’t on GP. I enjoyed my time with it and yadda yadda, but I do think it would have been better off as what was intended, flashback sequences in LAD8.
The ending really did hit me hard though, I wasn’t just teary eyed, I was full on crying and gasping. Been playing these games for just over 7 years and it really made me realize how long that’s been and how connected I am to these characters. Never would have thought that funny Yakuza game I decided to load up on PCSX2 in 2016 would do that to me someday. Full praise to RGG for their masterful writing.
It certainly did work to make me very intrigued to play LAD Infinite Wealth though I’m still gonna hold off on that because of the $90 CAD price, P3 Remake will hold me over lol.
Basically, enjoyed it for what it was, but glad it was on GP.
- Pikmin 4
Pikmin 4 Thoughts
This is the only game here I didn’t previously write a post about on here, so I’ll do it now (and try to make it quick)
The visuals are honestly some of the best I’ve seen on Switch. This game used Unreal Engine and for Switch it worked out amazingly.
I kind of take issue with the “tone” of the game compared to previous Pikmins. Too many allies, constantly giving you hints and dialogue… The originals were good at making you feel like you were stranded on an alien planet. This one may have leaned too much into Nintendo family territory on that aspect for me, I guess.
There is a “collect a thon” nature going on with the gameplay, tons of knickknacks scattered around various maps to collect and take back to your ship, and lots of dungeons to explore. After a while, the dungeons start to feel repetitive, but the game doesn’t overstay its welcome too much.
It’s the easiest Pikmin game by far, don’t think I wiped out once, which I would do at least sometimes in the older games. Again, maybe that “family” leaning knocking the game down for me a bit.
So overall, the visuals are great, exploring is very fun and rewarding, dungeons are good but there is a lot of them, pretty easy and “bright” compared to past games.
8/10
- Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key
Atelier Ryza 3 thoughts
It was an awesome albeit a bit bloated game. It is the longest Atelier game I think. I finished at about 85 hours with 100% content done. Meanwhile I was 100% done with Ryza 1 and 2 at about 45 hours.
I was very impressed with Gust trying out an open world style game. There are 4 regions that are very large and, unlike previous Atelier games, are not divided up with loading zones. The first region is the entire Ryza 1 map + a huge new area added to it.
Of course, the world’s can be a little “janky” and “warty”. You can climb up certain things by jumping a lot and end up walking on invisible platforms for example. This can be amusing but it does show this was a very ambitious game for Gust.
The exploration is fun, there is a variety of things to see and landmarks to visit similar to Xenoblade. One big con though, is that while the worlds are filled with treasure chests to reward you for exploring, they are all filled with trash materials that you find anywhere.
As I said before, this game is long. Atelier games are usually small scale “homely” stories, but this is a full globe trotting adventure. You even build more Ateliers in the various regions you visit.
I love how far the characters have come since the first game. Ryza herself has become an awesome and cool leader. 4 years have passed since the first game, so the characters are now in their 20s, I played the first one when it was new it was nice seeing them grow up.
One issue I had with the story though is that it dragged on for longer than it needed to. By the time I had all regions 100% explored, crafted the best gear, etc, there was still like 10 hours of story left, and a big chunk of it was filler.
The gameplay is more or less the same as the previous Ryza games. Very flashy “ATB” combat (Final Fantasy style) with a lot of button mashing out your combos. In true Atelier fashion the battles revolve around your crafted gear and the thing I love about these games is conjuring up obscenely powerful and broken gear, which this game allows for almost too easily lol.
This was mentioned on the Xboxera review already, but the map screen is pretty annoying. Pointless “putting menus inside menus” kind of thing, same with getting to the equipment screen which ironically wasn’t a problem in Ryza 2. So the UI is overall not great.
Lastly I should talk about the “keys” system they introduced. It is pretty poorly explained and by the time I actually started engaging with it was the point when I was able to break it apart and make broken “keys”. You can use them to unlock barriers in the world and also use them as powerups in battle. It seems overall best to just basically ignore the system until you get the ability to create Super Rare keys 100% of the time as those are kind of the only useful ones.
So overall I’d give the game an 8/10. It’s not as “compact/tightly” designed as I’m used to an Atelier game being, but Gust made something I’d never expect from them and I think it mostly turned out fantastic. I am interested to see how the next Atelier series turns out now that the Ryza series has concluded.
Liked it a lot, but as a much bigger project for Gust than usual, there was a lot of jank and warts when their games are typically small and “smooth”.
Ongoing Game 1: Blue Protocol
Ongoing Game 2: Uh Forza Horizon 5 I guess