Between this, Ace Attorney, and Ghost Trick, I think ADV is one of my favorite game genres. I eat this shit up. So well thought out and satisfying, between the character connections, endings, and with how everything feels satisfying and interesting by the end. Gameplay is a little light compared to the other two I mentioned, it’s a lot more like a book. But it would be a damn good book.

The story itself kinda falters in a few places, especially since it needs to kill characters who aren't in Yakuza 1 so a few of the deaths are just random, but it's such a fun and funny game overwhelming with content that I had such an amazing time anyway. Off to Kiwami!

A shitpost.

The worst aged games are first/third person shooters for the N64. Not only do you have to use the N64 controller for aiming, but you also have to deal with tank controls and obnoxious gameplay. Shadows of the Empire is the biggest example of this. People talk about how they loved this as a kid, but pop that fucker in nowadays and you will find that it’s a busted-up, antiquated piece of shit. Controls are rat shit. There’s basically zero way to dodge anything, so most of this game is standing there and taking hits from everything. I barely even played much of it and even I know this is clunky as hell, frustrating, and so damn poorly made by today’s standards. It sucks ass. The first level is good though.

It's still Ace Attorney, it's still fun to go through, but from a writing standpoint this is a big step back. Characters, both central and one-time, are considerably weaker. The "less-good" cases from the other games, while very flawed, at least had something to it that was compelling at the end of the day. There's pretty much nothing compelling about 4-2 or 4-3. And 4-4 has some great moments, but it's severely lacking when it comes to tying up all of the knots left. The Apollo reveal meant nothing to me because he's such a nothing character in this. The stuff with Kristoph felt like if they tried to do Bridge to the Turnabout with only Turnabout Memories and nothing else as the context. I do like Trucy as a Maya standin (except for the panties shit, seriously Japan why are you like this sometimes), and there's plenty of good parts to it, but very underwhelming as a product. 4-1: 7/10, 4-2: Bro who the fuck cares/10, 4-3: 4/10, 4-4: Conflicted

Better than the first game in pretty much every way except for one aspect: level length. Some of these stages go on forever. But the storytelling was amazing, the way you can use multiple items and playstyles throughout was cool, and I loved the soundtrack. I kinda had to learn to love it but it's so much fun and so interesting once i did.

Look, this was never going to be as good as X1. I know that. It probably was never going to be as good as X2 even. But in all, I'm shocked at how much of a dropoff this was. I'm a megaman fan so I did have a little bit of fun with it, but everything about this game is so much lesser than its predecessor. Level design is boring. It starts off way too hard, the midgame is way too easy, and the final boss is one giant fuck you moment to make up for the lack of challenge from the rest of the game. Weapons are whatever, bosses are bad, the music is downright abysmal (who was put in charge of choosing the midi instruments?). I hate to say it, but this is a bad game. I didn't have very much fun with it.

Jump! Jump! Slide! Slide!

Downgrade from X. Still a lot of fun, even if there's some annoying padding and a disappointing finale.

Is it just me or is this game fucking terrible?

I loved it as a kid and yeah I still love it now. Fun gameplay, great choice of songs, and just a fun and zany atmosphere that is so charming even today. I did beat it in like 2 hours though. And like a fourth of that was on the final level.