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Obviously id took a huge step forward with this game, establishing the technological basis for the first person shooter genre. However, even a little time in game makes it clear they hadn't really figured out the gameplay yet. The mazelike design is endlessly frustrating, and the controls are archaic. I know I shouldn't judge the first attempt so much, but these flaws make it feel like it falls short of what it could have been with the same technology.

This game has a lot of much needed improvements from the previous iterations. I think the most obvious is the lack of game breaking glitches throughout. The active time battle system makes decisions more time-sensitive and adds a layer of challenge through that. The story is actually present, and I quite like the idea of the ever-changing cast of characters (although that kinda stops towards the end). I did notice that it was easier to become disengaged with this game than the first. Often I spammed the same attacks or ran away from enemies, when in the first game I felt like I was thinking through every move I made. I still think this is objectively the better game, but I did miss the strategy of Final Fantasy this go around.

I'll start this off by saying that I'm not a huge fan of platformers. That being said, I think this game is incredibly overhyped, even for the time. The design philosophy is a little confusing, as it seems inherently contradictory. The whole idea of Sonic is "gotta go fast", yet it feels like the game takes every opportunity to slow you down as the player. Even as soon as the second level, tight platforming is introduced that requires the player to continually stop and make difficult jumps one at a time. This element is made more difficult as well, as the physics are designed around constant motion, so sharp stops and changes are awkward. Even the elements where it seems more open, there are routinely roadblocks in your way. Thus, there is no gameplay flow at any point in the experience. The player is punished for going slow with boring and unengaging gameplay, and punished for going fast with constant roadblocks sending sonic backwards. I just don't know what this game wants to do.

Fantastic. Just a thoroughly enjoyable game, start to finish. Link to the Past takes everything that made the first Zelda great and amplifies it. The biggest improvement is in the exploration aspect of the game, where I believe the jump to 16 bits is the most important. The first game's map was incredibly same-y, due to the graphical limitations of the NES. This led to exploration that felt fairly arbitrary, like burning one bush that looks exactly the same as every other one. This installment is able to add more nuance to map design in order to make clearer yet still emergent exploratory gameplay. As someone who is often annoyed by dungeons, I found this game's iterations to be nothing but enjoyable. The game rewarded you for finding your own pathways to the end, and the bosses were difficult yet balanced. My only complaint is that the items feel very hit-or-miss, with some greats like the hookshot, and other lame rewards like the staff that creates blocks (lol ok?). I think this is the first Zelda that stands up even by modern standards, almost 30 years later.

Yeah idk. I get that it's not supposed to be a tight racer or anything, but after F-Zero this just feels lame. Plus the added "fun" stuff is just underwhelming. I'm surprised this series didn't die on impact.

This installment makes some sweeping improvements over the first game, largely in gameplay flow. For once, "speed" actually seems to be supported by the game. The design encourages the player to build up momentum and progress through the stages quickly, and allows the player to react to stage hazards at top speed. Some of the hazards do feel more cheap than clever, where the player can't reasonably react to them in a fair way. Other than that, it's pretty solid.

For the time, this game is revolutionary. Coming out a few months before Wolfenstein 3D, this is the game that truly pioneered fully 3d gameplay. I have a ton of respect for Bluesky/Looking Glass and what they were able to accomplish here. Unfortunately, the controls have not aged well. I was unable to find a mod that adds newer control schemes, so I eventually gave up on this game for time reasons. However, what I did play still impressed me compared to the rest of the playing field at the time.

Cool game for the time, but practically unplayable now. The small number of accepted commands makes any amount of navigation instantly infuriating. Still, for the available tech, the experience offered by these games is fairly substantial.

pew pew amor

«Can’t stop playing»

A great game to play with kids without experience. It's easy, colorful and not stupid. I recommend it for parents.

This game never released. No one has played this.

Fun and Good

«Underrated»

It's a Dark Souls inspired Jedi game, what can go wrong? Not much! The combat, exploration, and story are the focus and they are all great. More, non-cosmetic, customization options for Cal would have been nice, I don't need a dozen differently colored ponchos.

Date Completed: 2020-06-17

Playtime: 18h

Enjoyment: 9/10

Recommendation: Absolutely!

Best 2D platformer period.

«Constantly dying and enjoy it»

«Underrated»

Cool old puzzle game if you can get past the god awful music

Idk I spent quite a bit of time on this game, compared to others that I write off pretty quick, because I really wanted to like this game. It has a lot of potential to be a simplified 2D MMO, but just it doesn't work. Not enough guidance, so your left wandering around with underpowered weapons getting your butt handed to you, and by the time you figure out where to go, the shop area is full of enemies that kill you while your trying to finally upgrade your gear, therefore losing what little money you finally have. Maybe this would work better if there were more players, but as it stands, I give it a Meh

Golden Sun: The Lost Age emphasizes the series' strengths and weaknesses.

(+) Certain Psynergy Mechanics are well designed and the game shows you where and when to use them to solve puzzles. Examples of this can be seen at the end of the Rock Dungeons (Airs, Aqua, Gaia, Magma) when receiving the particular Psynergy at the end of each Dungeon. (Image below is of Magma Rock)

(+) Battle system continues to excel with variability in classes, strategies, and party setups.

(+) Get a good sense of the characters out of dialogue. It's well written and even includes some genuinely funny moments.

(+) Music is fantastic as always. The battle themes are so good that even after 60 hours of playtime, they never got old. My only gripe is that the ship battle music wasn't as present in the game.

(-) Shortcut inconsistencies are often frustrating. In some dungeons, the game offers the player shortcuts where a pillar or block is pushed, creating a shortcut for the player to have an easier time backtracking. However, these shortcuts only act as a shortcut for one way as the pillar or block is reset after moving into a different room. Not only does this add extra padding to the game but these shortcuts end up only being useful in situations where the player exits the dungeon. These types of shortcuts are redundant for the entirety of the game because the player is given the Retreat Psynergy from the very start.

(-) Not only do shortcuts revert after leaving a location, but so does the majority of objects that are manipulated using Psynergy. In certain cases, this is required for some puzzles. But in many of them, the player is forced to manipulate the same objects again and again. An example of Psynergy manipulation progress can be seen in Gaia Rock where the player has to utilize the Growth Psynergy to be able to reveal the right paths. (Seen in the image below)

When leaving Gaia Rock either naturally or by using the Retreat Psynergy and re-entering, these signs continue to be manipulated and show the player the right path. This is a rare case in which the game decides to save the player time by keeping the players progress when in regards to Psynergy manipulation.

(-) Where the player can utilize the Retreat Psynergy is inconsistent. The Retreat Psynergy works with practically every dungeon in the game. However, it works only depending how deep the player is in the dungeon. The player is expected to run back if they are anywhere remotely close to the entrance of the location.

(-) Golden Sun: The Lost Age's story takes a while to pick up. The games pacing is fairly slow at the beginning. The first 10-15 hours are not very eventful and it's easy to feel disengaged at the beginning of the game.

(-) Because the pacing of the game's story is slow at the start, it can be easy for the player to get lost when attempting to explore where to go next. Hopping from one town to the next is a good method of progression, but I can't help but think that the player could have gotten a bit more direction.

(-) An important method of world map traversal is expected of the player while not teaching nor showing the player the method. On the path to the Jupiter Lighthouse, Felix's party is blocked from the middle of the Continent of Atteka by rocks protruding from the sea. To get around these rocks, and continue onward to the Jupiter Lighthouse, the player somehow needs to either know or explore the boundaries of the entire continent and find a small delta. This small delta is the only one in the entire game that the party can interact with on the world map. There are other deltas on the world map, however they cannot be sailed on. There are no hints nor any indication that this is even possible as a way to traverse the world map.