Mega Man X8

• Genre: Action Platforming
• Spoiler Free Review: Yes. Excluding a screenshot.
• Time Played: ~15 Hours
• Too Short/Long: It's good. It has what feels like more reason to return to levels and there is enough variety it doesn't get old.
• Did I cry: Almost.
• Soundtrack: X8 has one of the better soundtracks. I don't know if it's the best, but it does have what might be one of my favorite tracks; Jakob Stage.
• Why I played: To finish up the final mainline game in the Mega Man X marathon, with this I've played all X1-X8
• Jank: X8 I feel like is pretty refined. It might not be perfect, but it's pretty jankfree. There are a couple little bugs in the original version that I think they fixed for Legacy collection, but that's about it.
• Difficulty: X8 varies a little more in this. I think sometimes it's one of the most challenging games in the series and sometimes it's not. It could be how much better I got as I went on, or how many upgrades I got that carried me along, but even with everything, the final bosses are pretty tough. Maybe not the toughest, but I think there is a pretty good balance of difficulty and challenge where maybe at times it's frustrating, but never so much it makes me mad.
• Pleased/Disappointed: I'm extremely please. I think X8 is maybe the best game in the series, and I think it's unfortunate that so many people haven't or don't give it a fair shot.
• Recommend to others: I definitely would. It's kind of weird to say I would recommend it over the others, but I reaffirmed any defense I had of X8. Going in I was a bit worried that maybe I was being generous with my memory of having enjoyed X8 - after all, I also liked X5 and X6 which SOME people say are worse than X7(and are wrong). But yeah, if you have never played X8 and weren't sure if it held up or were worried about the direction of the X games after 4, definitely give 8 a shot.
  

I loved Mega Man X8, and I think until Mega Man ZX/Advent came out it might have been my favorite Mega Man game, but I can't remember, and that's only really a two year window 20 years ago. I might have to replay ZX/Advent sometime soon. I definitely remember years ago having to defend X8 a lot because people lumped it in with X7. I'm sure some people just still didn't like the move to 3d graphics instead of the sprites they've come to love, and honestly visually, X8 is nothing special. At the time I thought it looked pretty good, but at the time was 22 years ago. They should have kept the cel shading they used in X7, just maybe... different character models and better animated, there are aspects of X7's visuals which hold up better and I think most people now realize cel shading in any of the first couple generations of 3D platforms aged way better. It also just fits the style of Mega Man way better. Shoot, the fmv cutscenes in the game look like they're just cel shaded renders.

Mega Man X7

• Genre: Action Platforming
• Spoiler Free Review: Yes.
• Time Played: 7-8 Hours (End game timer says around 4-ish, again, definitely not the actual time spent in game)
• Too Short/Long: It's fine for what it is, it definitely doesn't need to be any longer.
• Did I cry: I cried but only because of how bad it was.
• Soundtrack: It's not the best Mega Man X soundtrack.
• Why I played: Well, in the spirit of things, I felt like I should finally knock this one out.
• Jank: It's extremely janky. Not necessarily in the buggy way, but it's obnoxious to go through menus, the controls sometimes terrible. The hitboxes are not actually on model for like anything. The contact with the environment is pretty much always off.
• Difficulty: It's one of the easier games in the series, the only time it's difficult is when things are frustrating because of the jank. It does have one of the harder boss rushes due to the fact the bosses aren't as easily stun-locked from their weaknesses, which could be considered a good thing if they were more fun. Some are, some are not.
• Pleased/Disappointed: I was going in with the lowest of expectations, so I guess I can say I'm pleased... enough. I'm not actually pleased, I wish Mega Man X7 was straight up a better in game in almost every way.
• Recommend to others: I do not. I pretty much skipped this one back in the day and for good reason. It's not really a good game by any metric.
  

This is actually the first time I have finished Mega Man X7, despite several prior attempts to play this game. I think I was possibly the most turned off the first time. After years of building up how bad it was, it wasn't... QUITE as bad as I had it in my memory. That said, I'm glad I finally got through it, and to this day I just can't believe what they churned out to such a beloved franchise, but it's further testament that Mega Man was never "AAA". That said, X5 was rough, but X7 is pretty much just bad. The voice acting is barely a tier above X4, which is a great game all aside the voice acting. In the 3D movement section, they move like slugs despite still being animated like they're running, as if they're running on ice. The camera is at a weird angle most levels making it hard to judge what you're actually lined up with. In 3D movement sections the camera is constantly fighting against you to move to behind the character making it harder to dodge enemy attacks. The hit boxes of either the character or almost every attack is way bigger than it looks, you are just constantly taking no-contact damage. Oh and to top it off, the enemies are a bit of an HP sponge thanks to the fact the American version apparently lowered all attack values. Someone at Capcom must have really thought American gamers needed harder games, there are like 6 Gamecube/PS2 era games from Capcom just off the top of my head that were harder for the American version. (the others being Devil May Cry 3, Resident Evil 4, PN03, Chaos Legion).

That sponginess made their super cool new character "Axl" basically useless because you had to take dozens of shots on just regular enemies and trying to determine when you can use his copy shot which has to charge was a pain in the ass. It was easier to just not use it at all except where you absolutely have to for collectibles. Also, Axl sucks ass. Another trend of the time was to try to introduce a new main hero for the new generation or something, and that sucked and pretty much failed every time. You can't even play X until at minimum 1/3rd of the way through the game. If you play "poorly" enough, he only becomes available for the final missions, at which point, he's probably not worth using unless you very strategically avoided most of the upgrades in the game and are replaying all the levels for them.

Despite everything wrong with it, there are a few cool things for a Mega Man fan, there are cool ideas and level design and stage gimmicks that could have been really cool if it was a better game. It sounds silly to say, but this could have been a good game, if it were better. It's just all built on a poor foundation and then shoved in with little effort. It's a shame that Mega Man was kind of abandoned for so long post Inafune leaving Capcom. I would have loved to have seen what some new modern takes that actually took care could have done and X7 at the very least was making an attempt for that at the time. It was just too soon and they put too little effort in for what they wanted to achieve. It plays like/maybe worse than the many random licensed movie-tie of the time, and those were notoriously shovelware/slop at the time so much so it was a legitimate surprise when one wasn't bad. I say this about X7 because X8 I know goes back to playing it safe, and sure it might end up being a much better game for it, but it doesn't mean if done well, the things X7 was trying to do, couldn't have been good.

Mega Man X6

• Genre: Action Platforming
• Spoiler Free Review: Yes.
• Time Played: ~10 Hours, though the post-credits timer said like 4, I know that's not true. I don't know how it's calculating the time, because even the post-mission timers would say like 10 minutes after half hour+
• Too Short/Long: Just right.
• Did I cry: Nah.
• Soundtrack: Pretty good. This is definitely one of the better ones.
• Why I played: Megamanathoning
• Jank: It's a lot less janky than X5 and besides some stupid stuff, like instant death spikes which textures don't actually go all the way out to where the hitbox is, it's not really that janky. I guess the localization is still pretty uhh.. not great. X6 has a few pretty infamous lines.
• Difficulty: X6 is definitely one of the tougher ones and in ways that can be pretty frustrating, but the also dropped any pretense of lives/continues meaning anything as you always start at the last checkpoint after dying, even after losing all your lives. They started this with X5, but at least using continues negatively impacted your score, which affects your rank.
• Pleased/Disappointed: I'm pretty pleased with X6. It has it's frustrating aspect, but generally speaking I think people are far too harsh on this one. X5 I understand a bit more.
• Recommend to others: Of course, but keeping in the trend, I'd still recommend starting with 1 or 4 first.
  

Mega Man X6 overall I think has a pretty strong showing but maybe also tries to do too much when what's simple works better. That said, some of the ideas work out a little better in this one. There are ways your stage order can affect the following stage you play, the level design is pretty good, the part system is a bit better. How it handles rank and such is a bit more forgiving. Filling the level with rescuable Reploids is something they would continue to do in the Mega Man Zero series, so while it's not necessarily my favorite thing to have in every level, obviously some people like it. I think it would be a little better as a single stage gimmick(maybe two), than the whole game. It's a bit stressful at time since just one wrong move or hesitation can mean a Nightmare gets to them and they're just gone forever, no chance of rescuing, and many of them have parts/upgrades you can only get from them, so that part/upgrade is at risk of being gone forever. I'm just not a big fan of permanent missables in any game, but it does add an engaging sense of urgency I might not have otherwise had in some areas. That said, some it hindered the experience because I was treading so carefully, trying to draw out the Nightmare, which is what you really need to do in some cases.

The Nightmares are a bit annoying, maybe too abundant. I played this one as Zero because I played X5 mostly as X. I still did a lot of my backtracking and replays as Zero in X5, and I did the same with X in X6 to make sure I got everything before wrapping up the game. The Nightmares are way easier to take out as Zero because they have pretty small hitboxes and take a lot of hits, though X does have the Z-saber in this one as well, he's not quite as proficient so he's far less agile when using it, so Zero just feels better for the level design. The bosses definitely still feel more designed around X, so I guess it's balanced in some kind of way.

Anyway... I sure hope I've at least been slightly too harsh on X7 all these years...

Mega Man X5

• Genre: Action Platforming
• Spoiler Free Review: Yes.
• Time Played: ~10 Hours
• Too Short/Long: It's fine.
• Did I cry: No.
• Soundtrack: Pretty good, I don't think it's as standout as the prior.
• Why I played: Megamanthon continues
• Jank: It's a bit jankier than X4. Not so much in standard gameplay, but just how the game feels a little more mashed together, X5 feels like a Romhack, rather than a properly designed sequel.
• Difficulty: The difficulty in X5 comes with understanding all it's systems and how the game functions while still getting the most out of it. It's otherwise one of the easier ones... except for that damn final boss. They always make Sigma just so frustratingly difficult.
• Pleased/Disappointed: I'm more neutral with X5, I mean I'm please to play it again, but it's not perfect.
• Recommend to others: No more than any other X game, at this point, I'd say start with either X or X4 and play from there, but I wouldn't prioritize this one.
  

Mega Man X5 is a pretty divisive game for Mega Man fans. A lot of people just straight up hate this game and some will even claim it's the worst. It's not without it's problems, but generally speaking I think people are too harsh on it. Sure there are aspects you can nitpick to say "This isn't as good as this" when referencing specific aspect of it, but just because something else did it better doesn't make it bad. X4 was so good(outside the voice acting) and what did we get after that? A partially asset flipped game that feels a bit rushed, but tried to experiment with new systems, trying to modernize a formula we've seen over a dozen times at this point.

Mega Man X4

• Genre: Action Platforming
• Spoiler Free Review: Yes.
• Time Played: 10+ Hours
• Too Short/Long: It's solid for a Mega Man game, but I played it twice to play as both X and Zero as they have exclusive story/animations.
• Did I cry: I'd almost say no, except I did for a kind of meta reason. I was playing via the anniversary collection and there is a little achievement(Hunter Medals?) that comes up if you beat it with X without the Ultimate Armor. "True Hero" popping up as the restarted just got me.
• Soundtrack: Now we're getting into the really good stuff here. Not just a few notable tracks that trigger nostalgia, but a kickass soundtrack all the way through.
• Why I played: Keeping it going...
• Jank: The only thing janky about Mega Man X4 is the voice acting.
• Difficulty: It's much easier than the prior games... until it's not. The final boss is just unbearably difficult, and then, playing as Zero, the bosses just aren't designed(redesigned?) for Zero and it makes some of them way tougher. 
• Pleased/Disappointed: Extremely pleased. X4 definitely holds up the best so far.
• Recommend to others: I would definitely recommend X4, especially if someone isn't concerned with playing "all" the Mega Man X games, and just wants to get to the good part. X4 is definitely a great place to start.
  

Mega Man X4 was the first game released for a new generation after Mega Man X's SNES debut, and it does a lot to show that. I know there was some weirdness with PlayStation not originally wanting 2D games, but the game has a marked improvement on the previous games and glad they were able to get this out like this before making their rough leap to 3D.

Something I may have forgot to mention that annoyed me about 1-3 is that the second 1 pixel of an enemy's spawn point is off screen, that enemy respawns. In some cases, larger enemies will even pop-in partially on screen if you defeat their original version just slightly off screen of the spawn. It's a little tedious and very annoying. X4 gives just enough leeway for off-screen respawn that it doesn't change the feel of the game in any way but positive. I don't personally love enemies infinitely spawning, but in Mega Man, it's not usually like when you're standing still they constantly come at you, only where you currently aren't, they always spawn off-screen, and it greatly benefits to give a little extra space so that you can actually dodge attacks and back up slightly and not get stuck in an being-attacked infinite loop just because you need to move back an inch.

Also, even though we're not yet at widescreen or HD display, resolution is just way better and the screen real-estate makes for a vast improvement. Many Mega Man games, especially the X series, would super benefit from widescreen, so it's truly a shame the Mega Man series fell off kind of and Capcom only very occasionally does something with the original Mega Man IP. I'd love for new Mega Man X games, but on the other hand I'd worry too much that it wouldn't be exactly what I want, as many things that fall of for extended period of time and try returning don't exactly have the same magic with all new people or perspectives working on them. I want the natural successor to the series as if they never stopped, something that would have been made over a dozen years ago.

That said, I love this game, and while the prior three offer a bigger sense of nostalgia, X4 is just so good, nostalgia or not. The gameplay is refined, and while many levels may be easier because of many improvements, it's just so much more fun. Eventually having access to unlimited uncharged special energy allows a freedom of use that makes them feel far more relevant, instead of feeling the need to conserve. The bike level is way better than prior attempts. Like X3 before it, it makes an effort to have longer levels, and to balance that it has mid-mission checkpoints that work even if you lose all lives - a godsend. If they kept making longer levels but didn't do something like this, the game would risk growing tiresome.

The anime cutscenes... have terrible voice acting but ooze that mid-nineties style that embodies the epitome of what I like in an anime style. Something you just can't get today. The compiled cutscenes of Mega Man X4 are something I enjoy more than 90% of anime I've ever watched and that's like less than 20 minutes of scenes between both X and Zero's story.

Mega Man X3

(he did not put an end to Sigma for good)

• Genre: Action Platforming
• Spoiler Free Review: Yes. Except for the screenshot above.
• Time Played: 7-8 Hours?
• Too Short/Long: It's solid, a bit longer than the prior two, in a good way.
• Did I cry: No.
• Soundtrack: A bit better than X2, but still not quite as good as the first, I don't think.
• Why I played: I'm keeping the Megamanathon going.
• Jank: It's definitely overall a bit more refined than the previous two. The "jank" really lies in how unbalanced it feels...
• Difficulty: It feels really all over the place. Partly I blame myself for forgetting that you can switch to Zero pretty much whenever during normal stages. The early game felt very difficult and this would have alleviated some of it. By time I remembered this, I had enough power ups where Mega Man didn't feel so difficult and the game started to feel like a breeze. There were still moments that were extremely difficult, and it kinda jumped back and forth between extremely hard and too easy for the rest of the game.
• Pleased/Disappointed: I'm still very pleased with it.
• Recommend to others: If not for the jumps in difficulty/ease, I would most recommend 3 of the SNES games, but that detracts it enough that the first still remains the best one to get started with, even if 2 and 3 improve upon it in some aspects.
  

I've never quite understood why X3 isn't as loved as the previous two. X3 has so much cool stuff. The armor pieces are almost* universally better, there are additional enhancements on top of that, there are a bunch of ride armors, the levels are more substantial, each about 2-3x as long as in X2, there is a bit more going on with the story, and of course, playing as Zero. I just forgot you have to move the pause/equipment screen with the weapon select buttons because I was not reading an SNES instruction booklet before playing this.

I think it's mostly due to the difficulty being all over the place, it wildly jumps from sections/bosses being a breeze to others that are frustratingly difficult. There is also the fact the *arm upgrade causes you to pause when shooting out it's full charges shot. This isn't something that affected me in the late game, but the first couple bosses I had to fight after getting it, it really screwed up my rhythm - which is something that is very important in these games.

Otherwise though, it's not bad, I think it may at least be the "coolest" of the SNES Mega Man X games and they're all pretty damn cool.

Mega Man X2

• Genre: Action Platforming
• Spoiler Free Review: Yes.
• Time Played: 5 Hours? Honestly I don't actually know because the game itself doesn't say and it's in a compilation and such, so.
• Too Short/Long: Just right.
• Did I cry: No.
• Soundtrack: Unfortunately, not as good as Mega Man X. The tracks are much more repetitive and just not as catchy for the most part.
• Why I played: Playing the first made me want to play the next. It's been so long since I played through the Mega Man X games... I might keep it going.
• Jank: Less than the first, not without, but barely noticeable.
• Difficulty: Hard to judge when coming right off the prior, as skill starts to build, but I would say X2 is a bit easier than the first - with some optional challenges being harder.
• Pleased/Disappointed: I'm pleased of course.
• Recommend to others: I would of course recommend it. Over the first if you never played Mega Man X? Probably not even if I think some aspects are a little bitter. The first is just more iconic in a few ways, but in general, I would definitely recommend it.
  

Mega Man X2 isn't entirely a different game than the prior. You start with dash ability which is great, and the armor upgrades are a little different, now the boots give you an air dash. It has the X Hunters which can appear in any level through a slightly alternate path, and the game tries to experiment a little more with unique and diverse stage mechanics. I think it's generally a bit better than the first, but it's not quite the drastic difference like Mega Man 2 is to the original Mega Man.

Final Fantasy VI

I am about to be "very harsh" on this beloved game. If you love it too much to read criticism, stop here. I'm not trying to change anyone's opinions, just expressing my own and venting a bit while I'm at it.

• Genre: RPG
• Spoiler Free Review: No, I talk about the story a bit. I try to be a bit vague though.
• Time Played: 35 Hours
• Too Short/Long: It's fine, I drew it out a bit trying to do/find everything, but it's also helped by some of the QOL of the Pixel Remaster.
• Did I cry: I almost teared up once.
• Soundtrack: It's pretty typical Final Fantasy fare. Maybe it seems like nothing special because I've played plenty of games that reused the themes, and though a few are noticeable and recognizable, I don't think it really stands out too beyond others. 
• Why I played: It's been on my list of games to replay for awhile. I never finished it and I was having a discussion with a friend about how I could barely remember the game and he seemed to think I played far less than I claimed. To be fair I estimated at about 3/4. I was closer to around 60% - I just forgot so much of the game because it had been so long since I played. We're talking 25+ years.
• Jank: It's not too janky, I imagine the current iteration accounts for a lot of the old bugs. That said, I still had the game lock up on me a couple times in weird ways that required me to restart it.
• Difficulty: Kind of a weird one. I'd almost say it was pretty balanced for an old RPG. At least earlier on it felt like it wanted me to use everything at my disposal, but it quickly fell into the trap of old rpgs where special enemies aren't affected by anything other than pure damage, so the only real answer to your problems is grinding + maximizing damage output. I didn't use 80% of the spell list because 90% of the time they were useless.
• Pleased/Disappointed: I'm... disappointed actually. I didn't think I was going to completely change my mind - I considered it a mid-tier Final Fantasy of what I had previously played, but I think after finishing it, I may drop it a few places. I was hopeful that upon finishing the game I would see what so many others do, but I just didn't.
• Recommend to others: Honestly, I would not. There are plenty of people who sing the praises of Final Fantasy VI and I don't need or want to be one of them. If someone asks me if they should play it, I would say they should if they have exhausted almost all other options. There are about 4 Final Fantasy games I would still recommend it over.

I have a lot of friends that are huge fans of Final Fantasy VI, so much to say it's one of the best games of all time, and at the very least the best Final Fantasy, and whether they know they're blinded by it or not, I'm chalking it 100% up to nostalgia. Don't get me wrong, I understand nostalgia plays a part in some old games I enjoy as well, and I try to recognize that when discussing them, I try to speak with a subjective tone "This is what I like" rather than "this is the best" but I also think it's easy to distinguish whether it's purely nostalgia or not, when some games can be introduced to someone for the first time to positive reception. Granted this isn't technically my first time playing Final Fantasy VI, but I had a better outlook toward it when my memory of it was much more hazy.

Mega Man X

• Genre: Action Platforming
• Spoiler Free Review: The only spoiler is the screenshot above.
• Time Played: 5 Hours?
• Too Short/Long: Just right.
• Did I cry: No.
• Soundtrack: It's filled with unique tracks that are considered classics today. I'd say it's pretty great.
• Why I played: Alice was playing it recently and it made me want to play it too.
• Jank: It's not perfect. There are slowdown point when too much is happening on screen, like when you go down the minecart, and it doesn't handle perfectly, but the first Mega Man X is a lot better Mega Man.
• Difficulty: Surprisingly difficult. Either my reaction time and pattern recognition have taken a severe hit in the past few years or I just forgot how hard this game was.
• Pleased/Disappointed: I am (almost) always pleased with Mega Man. I've played this plenty so it's not like it was anything new.
• Recommend to others: I will always recommend people play Mega Man games, regardless of age, preferred genre, and other tastes. I know it's not in quite the same standing but for me, playing Mega Man is like playing Super Mario Bros. or Sonic the Hedgehog. If you play games you should know it, to some degree. This is arguably the best place to start if not the original Mega Man.

I haven't played the original version of Mega Man X in some time. Last time I played it Mega Man X... last couple times really, it was Maverick Hunter X. Which is an excellent version of the game, but it's a remake and not exactly the same. Maverick Hunter X is a full blown remake and I'd argue the definitive version of it, but maybe at this point it feels a little aged as well. Maverick Hunter X is now closer to the release of Mega Man X than the current date, and that's kinda crazy to me. Also the original is available on pretty much everything while Maverick Hunter X is only playable on PSP(and maybe Vita/TV for digital version?).

Mega Man X is really hard, and maybe one thing that Maverick Hunter X by default makes it a little easier is having a widescreen format. Sometimes the literal second you step back from where an enemy spawn, just like, a few pixels, the enemy respawns. It makes it a little tough to navigate and dodge attacks and stuff sometimes when the design of the game feels like it wants you to pretty much only progress with forward momentum.

I found the game a little frustrating at times. That said, there was marked improvement as I played, learned what enemies did, and how to react, etc. and honestly that's how a Mega Man game should feel, but it's been long enough that it practically felt like playing the game the first time. The game keeps you on your toes though and never quite becomes a walk in the park, even after obtaining every upgrade. I still love the game though and maybe I'll have to see the rest through again sooner than later.

Game Completion List 2025

2025 was an unusual year for me. I feel like I finished a lot of games, but I could have finished a lot more. This past month for instance, where I had plenty of time to play games and likely could have knocked out a good handful more - I spent mostly playing time wasting games without a definitive end. As usual, there are always the games I fall off of due to something else grabbing my attention, but that's part of why I do this, to prevent that as much as possible.

I don't do this list just to pump up those "completed game" numbers and I do have to remind myself it's okay to enjoy a game I know I may never "finish" but I also get a little disappointed when I look at my "games to go back to finish list" and it's getting longer and longer from games this year.

Anyway, 49 games this year. I could have easily made it 50+ in the final hour, but the first game I finished in 2025 was a co-op beat 'em up I played with my wife, my sister and her boyfriend, and at 49 the final game I finished in 2025 was a co-up beat 'em up that I played with my wife, my sister and her boyfriend, and I thought that was kind of sweet, so I started played something I knew I wouldn't finish for a few weeks, instead.

1. Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind
2. UFO Robot Grendizer - The Feast of Wolves
3. Crystal Project
4. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
5. Refind Self: The Personality Test Game
6. Tunic
7. Omochapon
8. Phantom Rose
9. Rogue Flight
10. Keylocker
11. Ringlorn Saga
12. Monster Hunter Wilds
13. Amedama
14. The First Berserker: Khazan
15. Slitterhead
16. Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven
17. Witch Spring 2
18. No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle
19. Witch Spring 4
20. Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time
21. Marfusha
22. Changeable Guardian Estique
23. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
24. Snezhinka
25. Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma
26. Transistor
27. Inside
28. Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
29. Tower Wizard
30. Ghostrunner
31. Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess
32. Death Stranding
33. Dragonyhm
34. Blade Chimera
35. Tron: Identity
36. Cyberpunk 2077
37. Double Dragon Revive
38. Ghost of Yotei
39. Neon Inferno
40. Kirby Air Riders
41. Digimon Story: Time Stranger
42. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond
43. Tensei
44. SHE SAVE
45. GO THERE
46. Mamon King
47. SANABI
48. Star Overdrive
49. Marvel Cosmic Invasion

Last year I complained how a lot of the "Year end round-ups" were provided in late November/Early December, which excluded most of December, even if you pulled it afterward. It seems some companies took that into consideration and didn't provide them this year yet - or maybe they just aren't going to at all. So instead of sharing just those stats from PlayStation(the only ones who seem to have their round-up available), I took a page from a friend who mentioned being inspired by me. Now, inspired by her, I came up with my own stats and graphs.

Taking this into account, I have quite a few new favorites for a single year. I even ran them through my big complicated favorite games spreadsheet, and some ranked pretty well, and if we're going strictly off of that, then I guess I have to say my game of the year is... Ghost of Yotei.

I loved Ghost of Yotei, but it almost feels unexciting as a game of the year. Did I love the game? Absolutely. It's a gorgeous game, and it's tons of fun, but in my list I put it exactly with/gave it a shared slot with Ghost of Tsushima. Even though they're not exactly alike, overall they're pretty similar and both have up and downs. In the end I feel pretty much exactly the same about them. It's not a bad thing, it's just not new information. I knew I would probably love the game going in it, and I did.

So then what's new in the list? Death Stranding, Cyberpunk 2077, Expedition 33, Crystal Project, and Tunic. The only one that I kinda gave a 5 to instinctually when coming up with my stats for this year that didn't really make it to the "favorite games" list, is Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice. It's a 5, don't get me wrong. But is it a personal favorite? Nah, it's not the flavor of the game that I can really say defines me and my taste, that's all it is. Would I recommend it to everyone? Pretty much - with the caution that it can be hard to play with a caution to your mental faculties. It's rough.

Many of the other games shouldn't be all too surprising. Expedition 33 won so many awards, deservedly so in my opinion. It has some issues with the pacing, but other than that I found it a nearly perfect game. 

Cyberpunk 2077 took a few years of fixing and I only ended up getting it because I was able to so cheaply all these years later, but I'm glad I eventually spent the time with it. 

Death Stranding I liked when it first came out, but I was playing it very early Pandemic and maybe it just hit too close to home at the time and I needed something that wasn't explicitly about people being isolated. 

Crystal Project fuses platforming and turned-based rpgs and somehow really works even though it almost turned me off with it's minecraft-esque voxel world.

Tunic is a game that you maybe have to delve way too deep into to enjoy, but I have found that I actually love that stuff, as I did with one of my favorites,  Void Stranger.

While I didn't finish all the ones I played/planned to play. I noticed a bit of a trend with games released this year. A lot of "PlayStation(1,2,3) ass games." and what I mean by that, is a lot of games that feel like they belong on PS1 or PS2... maybe very early PS3 at the latest. Something about them, intentionally or not really captures the vibe of 99 to 2006 era of gaming - specific the feel of the PlayStation brand of that. This isn't a bad thing at all. Maybe I just notice because it's something I want, need, love?

Straightforward yet experimental games, not bogged down by extraneous modern design checklists that most people expect of a modern game when everyone was designing for the AAA standard. Games that are fine with being "less", or maybe just having a very specific idea in mind and going for it because we're not entirely sure what works because we don't have years of analytics and personal data and so we throw something out to see what sticks.

Or maybe we're just getting to the point where those types of games are considered "classic" or "retro" and a lot more people have nostalgia for that era. I'm not complaining about it, but just something I noticed with games from companies big and small this year. Kunitsu-Gami, Slitterhead, Rogue Flight, Amedama, Mamon King, all specifically fit that exact vibe, and that's just from the top of my head and just from the list of games I completed. Honestly, I hope to see more PlayStation 2(1,3) ass games this year.

Marvel Cosmic Invasion

• Genre: Beat 'em up
• Spoiler Free Review: Yeah.
• Time Played: 4-5 Hours
• Partners: Alice, Taylor, Brandon
• Too Short/Long: Pretty standard for a beat 'em up.
• Soundtrack: I honestly do not remember. Maybe because of all the sound effects of playing a 4 player beat 'em up. There were definitely some of the Marvel queues but overall I think it was just generic video game soundtrack.
• Why I played: I play beat 'em ups and this one was pretty noteworthy, harkening back to the olden days of Marvel beat 'em ups.
• Did I cry: No.
• Jank: At launch there was an issue where the player who paused the game couldn't navigate their own move list menu, only player one could. They fixed that. There were a couple times the game didn't recognize we needed to progress and were worried we were going to have to restart, thankfully falling into a pit helped that through. A couple other minor things like that.
• Difficulty: Pretty normal, and plenty of ways to adjust it. As far as playing in the standard modes it was mostly easy enough, we only failed a level once and there were only a couple player deaths beyond that.
• Recommend to others: Honestly, not really. It was fine, but there are so many other beat 'em ups worth your time more than this one. If you're absolutely starved for beat 'em ups or just too much of a sucker for Marvel stuff, sure, it's fine, but that's all it is.
  

Marvel Cosmic Invasion looks like a pretty cool game and that's the most impressive part about it. It looks cool, it looks new and fresh while also looking nostalgic, but it's a little too nostalgic as it's pretty much a standard fare beat-em up of the 90s, albeit with better hit detection.

There are two attack buttons, guard/dodge, jump/fly, and special. Not too bad, nothing super special, but there is so variety in that some characters are guard characters and some are dash, and some are capable of flying.

Star Overdrive

• Genre: Action Adventure/Racing
• Spoiler Free Review: Yeah - except gameplay unlocks/mechanics
• Time Played: 30 Hours
• Too Short/Long: It's decent, but a lot of the game is contained in optional activities. There is a main quest, and it can be pretty difficult(impossible?) to complete the main challenges without upgrading your board a good bit, but arguably the bulk of the game is optional. It may definitely too feel long doing everything, but too short without enjoying what it has to offer. Or you could just go straight for wrapping up main quest just as you start to feel that fatigue and it it'll be over before you know it. So maybe the mainline stuff is "too short"
• Soundtrack: Absolutely awesome soundtrack. There is a fictional in-game band, Star Overdrive, which sounds like 80's hairband music. There are some other really good tracks for when the action is happening. My one complaint is there is too much "down time", where there is either no music or just ambiance. They should have leaned into it even harder and just had the music go hard at all times.
• Why I played: Star Overdrive is what I call a "Hell Yeah" game. You fly around doing tricks on a hoverboard, fight with a keytar, listening to imitation 80's hair metal, sandskii tethered to a sandworm as you hunt it. 
• Did I cry: I don't think so? It was trying to be a little bit of an emotional story, but the presentation was one of the weaker aspects.
• Jank: Star Overdrive is pretty janky. It's janky in a way a lot of much older games are. It's somewhere between if you gave an early 2000's developer access to modern tools, or simply made a game fully inside one of those online games that has it's entire own programing system to make games within it. Some aspects of the game's physics are cool, but some are just kind of janky. For a "go everywhere" type game, you end up doing that thing where you are like "slide hovering" until you land on a flat service, a lot.
• Difficulty: I think it's mostly the right amount of difficult. It's challenging without being too frustrating beyond the jank - as long as you take some time to upgrade your hoverboard.
• Recommend to others: I'm not sure. I want to recommend it, but I don't know who I would recommend it to, or what I would consider this needing to be prioritized over. It's a good game, but it also isn't a wholly polished game. I'd recommend it to people who are okay with the jank and find appeal in the positive aspects.
  

Star Overdrive overall is a pretty cool game. It doesn't really feel like a Zelda game as it focuses so much on the hoverboarding and platforming, but for easy reference and comparison, I'd liken it a good bit to Breath of the Wild. The structure of the game and the way it handles exploration and puzzles. You have a wheel of "magic/telekinetic powers". Some which are very similar. You get a little ranged shot, you get a telekinesis lasso to move/throw objects and enemies, you get a little bouncy bubble for some pretty extreme platform(imagine free falling skyscraper heights and bouncing back up just as high is actually part of a platforming challenge to get a collectible... often), you can charm/mind control enemies, link objects together, or even just to the ground/wall, and stop time in a bubble for everything but yourself. Some of these even have modified versions for the hoverboard, like a time stop bubble a mile behind you is pretty useless, so the time stop actually works for you on the hoverboard by slowing things down like 80% so you can make tight/sharp maneuvers accurately. Similarly, linking just "links" you to the ground briefly, to pull you forward to act as a boost.

SANABI

• Genre: Platforming Action
• Spoiler Free Review: Not entirely, a little bit spoiled contextually, mechanically.
• Time Played: Can't see yet. I don't know... 15 hours?
• Too Short/Long: It's mostly fine, but I rarely enjoy the "rerun through whole game again" shebang, which this has you do, to be fair it was an abbreviated version that went pretty quick, but still.
• Soundtrack: It has some really cool and atmospheric tracks, it's high points are high but it's mostly just serviceable.
• Why I played: I'll likely give any game where grappling hook is a primary mechanic a shot, but this one is definitely more my style. I kind of forgot why I added to my wishlist for a long time and screenshots didn't do it justice. A friend mentioned playing it(may have suggested it?) and so that bumped it up on my to-play. 
• Did I cry: I got choked up a couple times and thought I was at the end and going to say "Surprisingly, no", but then it got me for a long one.
• Jank: The jank comes mostly from the localization being a little awkward. Sometimes it feels perfectly fine, sometimes it feels weird, sometimes there is a reason it is weird, sometimes I think it's an odd choice for why it's weird. Other than that, there are times where it feels the mechanics or controls are working against you/not exactly how you want, but it's mostly fine.
• Difficulty: It can be pretty difficult at times. Mostly it's not entirely too hard once you grasp how the grappling handles - which I do feel is slightly off, but regardless, it probably didn't help I went the whole game without using the "slowdown time and aim" feature. I noticed it once early on, didn't need it for a long time, forgot about it, had some areas I had more trouble with, then accidentally pressed the button for it and "remembered" it existed in the final moments of the game, by then my muscle memory was already adequate enough to carry me the rest of the way.
• Recommend to others: I would definitely recommend Sanabi to people who like unique takes on platforming action. It's not quite like it, but it reminds me of Dandara, just because of how unique Dandara is in how it handles. Sanabi isn't quite that unique, but you're likely spending more time swinging on the grappling hook, pulling in your line (which does feel Dandara-esque), and running up walls, then you are running along the ground.
  

Sanabi was a good game and overall I really enjoyed it. The story is a little convoluted and takes awhile to get it's point across. It could also do a bit better with providing more of the story throughout the game rather than backloading I think what might be the vast majority of it. Not that some of the earlier interactions aren't necessary to build it up, but that just means it feels a little empty in the middle and the end is a dramatic shift. The pacing is off, is really all I'm saying.

It doesn't specifically have "levels", it's more of a "chapter" game, but each chapter has it's own set of gimmicks, which is pretty fun, so I feel like it's mostly well designed in that aspect. They utilize some aspects more than others, but they usually expand upon things later on and toss a little in later to mix it up. That might also be a part of what the final rerun through the game is for, but it could have been a new area instead of replaying(albeit modified).

There is one thing I don't like graphically, and I jumped right into another game that did it and decided to play something else. The "blank space" of the game is just all black. In a game with some gorgeous cyberpunk style art in the backgrounds, you'd think they could have put some foreground textures up. Instead it's just black space and it makes it feel very... game makery. I think it's mostly a well crafted game, it's just something like that takes a bit away from it's personality and makes it feel like less effort went into it. I know a ton of games do it, but it kind of made me realize I don't like, and am tired of seeing it. It's especially common in twitchy precision platformers for some reason so maybe they're just playing to the genre. But I don't want it. At least just fill it in with some generic metal panels or something.

Mamon King

• Genre: Monster Raising(Life-Simulation?) RPG
• Spoiler Free Review: Yes.
• Time Played: 19 Hours
• Too Short/Long: It's fine but I feel like it could use a bit more content to flesh out the experience a bit. Much of the time was spent kind of repetitively, once I got the hang of what I was doing.
• Soundtrack: It's what you'd expect for the type of game it is, nothing too special, but it's not bad.
• Why I played: I first saw the mish-mash of styles and mocked the game, but a post came up on my radar about how it was the dev's dream game and it caused me to give it a second look - early reviews were pretty positive and it had a decent launch discount, so I figured I'd give it a try.
• Did I cry: Nah.
• Jank: This is a pretty janky game. The visuals are a little janky, the style of the game isn't exactly cohesive - even when it comes to the monsters themselves, some using textures that other don't have. There are the occasionally glitches and needing to restart the game when you get locked out of menus. Nothing game breaking, but it's there.
• Difficulty: It's not too difficult until you get to the end-game stuff. There is a cap to how strong you can make your monsters and the end-game monsters meet that, so some of the last battles are determined with a mix of strategy and luck... well as long as you maxed out your monsters stats because otherwise you lose.
• Recommend to others: I think I would actually recommend it to those who are specifically looking for a Monster Rancher-like experience. That's about it. I don't think it does anything too new or too different to appeal to anyone else other than those who say "I wish there was a new Monster Rancher"
  

It's been a long time since I played a monster raising game, I use to really like them, but I guess the genre is rather niche within the realm of other monster collection and raising games. Like there are plenty of other games you "raise" monsters, but often with an entirely different set up. Like on a farm, where you walk around as your character and manage other aspects of the game. Maybe the Monster Rancher formula is just too narrow of a scope for a modern game, and is generally just meant to be the mechanic of another game. Like I just played Yahtzee the other night, except it wasn't Yahtzee, it was an entirely different, fleshed out game, with a card, and tokens, and victory points, etc. etc. that uses Yahtzee as it's mechanic. Rolling 5 dice, and rerolling your selected dice up to two more times to get the most optimal die.

Playing just Yahtzee just doesn't do it for me, there needs to be more, and maybe that's why that style of monster raising has fallen off. Not that there were tons in the genre to begin with, but between the first couple Digimon World, the aforementioned Monster Rancher, and one of my favorite games - Dragonseeds, there are at least a handful.

Anyway, Mamon King does have some modern sensibilities and feels quick paced and offers a good feedback loop. Despite using a calendar, I didn't hate it, as it works to help you plan for your days so you know what is coming up. Also there is persistent saving so there is no save-scumming, you just have to go wit, which probably worked out better for me because otherwise I would have done it constantly. Though there were two times I still wish I could have done it because it would have saved me a lot of gameplay time where I just kind of had to waste time, and the time wasted could have felt a little less wasted if there was more variety to the game play. I'm always for more mini-games, especially in a game like this that is practically built for having mini-games. Though it's little board-game traversing expedition was pretty neat and well implemented.

Some of the monster designs are pretty cool, but most are... okay. Maybe just not entirely to my taste, but it doesn't exactly make me want to play with more than I did. It lacks any kind of multiplayer, which is fine I guess, but most of these types of games have multiplayer. It's a staple to be able to pit your monster against your friends. Not that any of my friends are going to play this... or any of the other monster raising games I have played historically.

GO THERE

• Genre: Action
• Spoiler Free Review: Nothing to spoil.
• Time Played: <1 hour
• Too Short/Long: It's pretty short.
• Soundtrack: It has some cute tracks, but it's only a few.
• Why I played: I was gifted it for my birthday, thanks Rey pt. 2!
• Did I cry: Nah.
• Jank: It's a pretty simple and straight forward game, not much to jank up.
• Difficulty: A little bit more difficult than SHE SAVE, but only a little, maybe just because of being a little bit more complicated.
• Recommend to others: Still probably won't go out of my way to with this one, but it's also a cute little game and I'll keep an eye on what else the dev may do in the future.

In this game you have to GO THERE. There is where there is a like Tori Gate with the dragonest dragon, but also the dragons are the friends you make along the way. Much like SHE SAVE, it's just a simple boss rush game with a handful of stages, but in this one your character mostly heals and has a piddly little attack, but you gain the friendship of the dragons you fight and can use a couple of their abilities and switch between them in battle as you progress. This obviously appeals to me very much and is even more of an appropriate game to have played on my birthday.

SHE SAVE

• Genre: Action
• Spoiler Free Review: Nothing to spoil.
• Time Played: <1 hour
• Too Short/Long: It's pretty short.
• Soundtrack: It has some cute tracks, but it's only a few.
• Why I played: I was gifted it for my birthday, thanks Rey!
• Did I cry: Nah.
• Jank: It's a pretty simple and straight forward game, not much to jank up.
• Difficulty: It's not too difficult and I only had to retry a battle or two, but it has some challenges after you beat the game that are really difficult.
• Recommend to others: Probably won't go out of my way to, but it's a cute little game and I'll keep an eye on what else the dev may do in the future.

She save, she protect, she attack, she heal. She save is just a little game with very cute/cool pixel art. You play as a girl and do kind of a boss-rush things where you fight big screen covering dragons. I kinda love the idea and it would be cool to see a more fleshed boss, but I also really appreciate the art and the music was cute too. A fun little birthday bonus!

Tensei

• Genre: Arcade Platformer
• Spoiler Free Review: Nothing to spoil.
• Time Played: <1 hour
• Too Short/Long: Too short? I got what I paid for, I guess.
• Soundtrack: There is like an track and it doesn't entire fit the vibe.
• Why I played: It looked neat, and it was a dollar, maybe less?
• Did I cry: Nah.
• Jank: There isn't really any jank, to be fair.
• Difficulty: It's not that difficult, I failed my first run, won my second.
• Recommend to others: Probably not. It's too simple, even for what it is.

There is not really much to Tensei, it's just a game where you jump up along floating islands to try and reach higher and higher heights. There are certain bad islands you can't touch unless you goomba stomp a little volcano, and that's the only real hazard other than your own negligence. It's self-described as a zen game, and that's really all it is. Just something to play to play. I think after enough runs you get like an infinite mode or one without hazards? I'd have to just play to play for a few hours to unlock enough currency to buy the mode, but I got a credit roll as I "beat" a run, and I don't know if there is enough here for me to play for several hours more just to unlock a mode that allows me to play more. Maybe I'll pick it up again to play here and there, it's nice to look at, at least.

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

• Genre: First-Person Action Adventure
• Spoiler Free Review: Yes.
• Time Played: 19 Hours
• Too Short/Long: It's fine. Ran a little long on my end because I kept going back and forth to check areas over and over and there is no fast travel to do so, and I didn't activate the scouts that help you find missing items until my last pass through before finishing the game. I probably could have cut a solid few hours had I done that.
• Soundtrack: Soundtrack is fantastic. Mostly environmental mood setting type stuff, with a couple exceptions, but they still manage to be bangers.
• Why I played: I mean I play pretty much every Metroid game, but Samus on a motorcycle let's be real.
• Did I cry: Nah.
• Jank: It's a pretty polished game. There were like two times I encountered a glitch. One time where I was stuck/couldn't move and thought I was going to have to restart the game, and another where my scanning UI was popping on and off. They both worked themselves out though.
• Difficulty: It can be pretty difficult. It's not like grueling difficulty, but it can be a challenge and sometimes feel unfairly so when you're just trying to get from point A to point B. 
• Recommend to others: I'm not going to really go out of my way to recommend it, but anyone who likes Metroid/Metroid Prime, or has considered it, I definitely would. It's a really good game, but it's true to form for the series and I don't think is breaking any new ground.

I don't think I really have too much to say. After 18 years, this was I feel like a game that just played it safe. It did new stuff sure, I loved the motorcycle, and it played a little bit with each of the unique mechanics. There is some decent morphball puzzle/platforming and some motorcycle battles to mix it up, but they didn't go too hard, or lean too much into stuff outside the core game play. I think anyone with any fondness for Metroid Prime will be happy to play this one so long as they're reasonable, though some people are just looking to get mad at something.

I remember when Metroid Dread came out, a big complaint was it "uses too many buttons". I even know of someone who rage-quit the game entirely over it. I find it to be an odd complaint because modern controllers have so many buttons for a reason. Though I suppose if you mainly play certain genres - many buttons just become optional. Not to say controls couldn't be simplified or more intuitive, but Metroid Prime 4 definitely also uses all the buttons. I definitely felt it more for this one, and maybe because the more omni-direction nature of the game, but sometimes I would just be hitting stuff and doing the wrong thing. Plus the controls change depending on context too... there are the standard controls, the scan mode controls(not just for scanning!), the morphball controls, the motorcycle controls. There is a lot to do. But I'm not really complaining. In many cases, two buttons would perform the same function - I think this was to help with aiming during combat, and platforming, and stuff like that.

Arguably two things I wished were in the game would have required two more buttons. I wish Samus could dash - just run faster, and I wish she could punch. There are times in cutscenes where she just hits stuff, and the past couple Metroid games had the "melee counter". I really just wanted to smack stuff away that was right in my face. In sections where the bike was unavailable, I wish I could have just dashed or run to trek a bit faster. That would have made up for there being no fast-travel. Usually games like this would have a fast-travel, and this didn't, and I'm okay with that. It's not SO huge it's necessary, and sometimes fast-travel can take away from the experience. If there were tons of side missions and things I was actually required to go back and forth for, then maybe I'd need it, but it's not like it was a super long game anyway. I just wanted to run faster.

Digimon Story: Time Stranger

• Genre: RPG
• Spoiler Free Review: Story-wise yes, content wise no.
• Time Played: 100 Hours
• Too Short/Long: It's not that I think it was too long, but the pacing felt a bit rough. It has you trek entirely through some areas, then trek entirely through them again later. Plus you unlock most side quests at the end of the game, which should you do, will have you trek through each of these areas again. They could have broke it up a bit by having some more sidequests available throughout gameplay and it would have been more fun to go through these areas again if they were identical upon revisit aside from enemies.
• Soundtrack: Soundtrack isn't all that great in my opinion. There are a couple fun tracks, but most of it almost sounds like stock loops and it makes me sleepy listening to it.
• Why I played: I loved Cyber Sleuth, and my biggest complain with Hacker's Memory - at least up to where I played, was it was just more Cyber Sleuth. I had hoped Time Stranger was going to be an entirely new, refreshing experience.
• Did I cry: Maybe a little on a few occasions.
• Jank: Not entirely much jank outside of invisible walls - though they are intentional invisible walls, they still feel out of place when you're not looking at the map. I'd say the jank lies more in some of the actual design decisions and such. Like not be able to look at your digivolution possibilities/digivolve while they're in a farm.
• Difficulty: At first I thought the game was going to have some challenge, earlier battles of the game required me to restructure my party, adjust my movesets, equipment, etc. At some point, it just didn't matter and I used the same digimon/moves the rest of the game. It could be my fault for trying to create the ultimate life form/doing this games version of grinding a little too much.
• Recommend to others: I think I would to people who like Digimon, sure, but I'm more likely to recommend Cyber Sleuth. It's been some time but my memories of it are still fonder. There are places where Time Stranger stands above it in, but it's not enough to take it's place.

Digimon: Time Stranger was alright. I like Digimon a lot and it satisfied an itch for a bit, I'm sure, but it didn't blow me away. I see a lot of posts in either Digimon-centric communities, or anti-Pokemon centric communities, how Digimon: Time Stranger is proof that Digimon is finally beating Pokemon or something.

This is... just not possible. I love Digimon, but Pokemon, as a brand is just something you can't compete with. Pokemon ZA may have it's issues, but it's still Pokemon, and the people I know who played that vs Time Stranger is 10-1. Even if somehow Time Stranger managed to sell better, it didn't "Win". In the time since Cybersleuth since I mentioned it and Pokemon also released it's mainline Sun and Moon games that year, Digimon has released a couple seasons of new anime, also a couple movies/ova type things, and a new card game. 4 "real games", and a whole bunch of service games, most of which are service terminated at this point, 3 remain, though one is China only and the other South Korea only. Overall, 11 games. Which isn't too bad.

Pokemon by comparison has released over 25 games in that same time. Only 1 service game has retired and a far larger percent are "real games" 16 in fact, with 8 of them being mainline games. Pokemon has never stopped airing anime, and their card game has caused retail stores to have to/attempt to enforce regulations on card purchases in the past few years due to it's popularity. It's just not a comparison, these two "mon" franchises aren't even on the same playing field. But I doubt anything will ever "beat" Pokemon at this point. It's too established, too ubiquitous. It's like Star Wars, Lords of the Rings, Harry Potter. It's place in pop culture set.

Kirby Air Riders

• Genre: Racing
• Spoiler Free Review: Yes.
• Time Played: 20 hours
• Too Short/Long: I felt it a little unnecessary to redo an entire run through Road Trip, but it wasn't too bad. I think I would have preferred if I could have just selected areas I didn't visit my first path, rather than fully restart, it also would have given more inventive to try harder difficulties, which could offer higher rewards - to better match the ever increasing stats.
• Soundtrack: Soundtrack is good, all the Kirby hits and more.
• Why I played: I really liked Kirby Air Ride back in the day, and it's hard to believe that was over twenty years ago, but I had made friends play that with me a few times here and there but I am pretty sure I was far more enthusiastic about it than anyone else I knew at the time.
• Did I cry: Nah, but it did have a surprising couple of moments where I reflexively winced.
• Jank: Kirby Air Ride was pretty janky even for it's time. Air Riders is much more polished, but I'd argue has it's... peculiarities. It's not poorly made by any means, it just kind of inherently janky to some degree.
• Difficulty: Pretty standard difficulty, I would say it definitely offers more challenge than most "real" Kirby games, even at it's easiest, and at it's hardest it's not unfair - just extremely challenging. Often, there is a gimmick to something that may make it seem harder without knowing what you have to do. It's a game that while it only uses two buttons and a stick for the majority of it's controls, is actually incredible complex and buried in it's own mechanics.
• Recommend to others: It's a tougher one to recommend because of it being a very non-standard racing game. It has a lot more to it than that, and doesn't even always feel explicitly like a racing game, but it's also not the same genre as a normal Kirby game. It definitely feels like a Kirby game, but it's entirely it's own thing. I really like it, and even Alice, who doesn't usually enjoy racing game, has had some fun playing it with me, but it's something you really gotta sit with to know.

Kirby Air Riders is the best racing game I've played this year. A year where both Mario Kart and Sonic game our with some kind of racing game that take place in a World, or... multiple. I've had Air Riders less than a week and already put more time in the both of them combined. I've played a couple other racing games this year, but not ones that came out this year. Some top-down racing games, the 2nd Hotwheels Unleashed, some misc other games, I'm sure.

This is easily the best, in my opinion. I always complain about how The Game Awards is too soon and always missing some great end of year releases. This year I mostly complained about it because of Metroid Prime 4 coming out soon, but I also mentioned Air Riders, more jokingly. While it's certainly no Game of the Year, looking at it's obvious potential nomination spot: Best Sports/Racing, the contenders being the aforementioned Mario and Sonic along with some misc. annual real sports sim games, I now actually DO think Kirby Air Riders is the Sports/Racing game of the year and it's unfortunately it won't even get nominated due to it's late release. That said, the awards are mostly a popularity contest and there is no way it's beating Mario Kart, even if it was objectively better, and I'm not saying it is, but I certainly enjoyed it (far) more, and am sure I'm not the only one.

Kirby Air Riders has four main modes which are basically: Normal Racing, Top Down ala Super Off Road, Mini Game Mode, and Story. The main appeal being the different ways to explore the game's unique mechanics. You auto-accelerator, and your main button mainly just breaks/boosts and most vehicles each have their own gimmick for how to be utilized correctly. On paper, it sounds more simple than it is, but Kirby Air Riders, with it's one one, or rather two buttons, is far more engaging than most racing games.

The story is mostly the mini-game mode with extra steps - a lot of extra steps. A lot of short challenges, choosing alternate paths, collecting stats and rides in order to race/fight stronger/faster opponents. While many of the challenges are racing in different ways, there is a pretty decent variety of other challenges, including various ways to battle, collect-a-thons, map-control etc. The way the story combines all these different modes and challenges make it feel like it's much more than a racing game. I felt like I was playing an actual campaign of sorts and it's fun and invigorating and escalates it into new heights beyond just another race, it does things very few other racing games do that actually make it feel engaging. It's almost a disservice to call it just a racing game. It's a celebration of all things Kirby, an action adventure party, that just so happens to utilize a unique racing game's mechanics for all of the gameplay.