I think it counts as a review. It’s good practice to try writing out your thoughts, it helps build your critical eye for things and figure out what you appreciate, especially in this age of AI. Keep up the good work!
When I write reviews and think about games, I ask myself these questions:
- What is the game actually trying to do?
- How well is it communicating that to me?
- How well is it actually accomplishing that?
- How much do I personally like that?
This kinda helps me balance out an objective approach first while also allowing me a subjective opinion at the end.
As for save state abuse, I say go for it. The ultimate goal is to have fun and you really don’t have to prove anything to anyone. Personally I usually try to play without because it’s how the game was designed and a lot of risk/reward and tension/danger don’t hit the same if you can undo it in a moment’s notice. But also some games just have bullshit design and you can’t let one sour moment ruin it for you, so do as you please =P
Other platformers to check out, I’m definitely seconding Lady Sia and the Castlevania trilogy. For other odd PS1 spinoffs, check out the two Klonoa games which have a lot of the same style and spirit of the bigger titles, but are a bit more puzzle oriented in how you finish levels. There are also the Spyro games which aren’t 2D, they’re isometric and a little weird. I like them, but tastes may vary. Good stuff!
I was honestly getting a little excited for Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World, but I don’t really have a system I’ll be able to play it on at the moment and despite being a DQ series fan, I’ve never played any of the DQM games. With this in mind, I found a fan translation of Dragon Quest Monsters 2 for the 3DS to boot up in Citra and it’s been a lot of fun.
The game is bright and cheerful and oozes those pleasant, Dragon Quest vibes. Was a bit surprised to learn the game leans more heavily into the SMT monster raising than Pokemon. Which is to say you won’t be getting attached to specific monsters very much. I caught a drakee because I always loved their cute design and … it’s just kinda terrible. Instead you mostly want to keep breeding them which removes the parents for some reason. As far as I can tell wild caught is mostly useless and their power curve is too low to ever make them much good, but continually breeding them allows them to inherit skills. I’ve never wanted a random name button so much in my life. I’m sorry Splorg 7, I ran out of unique names ages ago, you come from a venerable line of Splorgs.
It’s very much a game for kids, the difficulty curve is pretty light but not without challenges in the arena and boss fights. You have Zoom instantly and can always teleport out of dungeons or to the nearest inn, which are free, to heal up. The stakes are pretty low, but that’s all I’m looking for right now. It’s just an excuse to explore the world and steadily breed a more powerful team.
Having not played the original GBC games I can’t tell how faithful it is, but there’s definitely a lot of content here. Given it’s a fan translation and the only people who are likely to have played it are people who emulate or crack their 3DS, I’d say this one is worth going out of your way to check out if you’re looking for more DQ content.