Kaitlyn Peterson
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When it comes to combat, Metaphor: ReFantazio hasn’t completely abandoned Atlus’ knack for turn-based combat. However, there is a mix of real-time combat which helps to create a more streamlined combat system. Not only does it help break up some of the monotony that Persona games often fall subject to, but it also allows players to quickly gain experience while traversing areas heavy with enemies without expending too much of their own HP or MP. It’s quite comparable to the preemptive strike format throughout most of the Shin Megami Tensei lineup, but polished and improved in a way that will hopefully be carried into future releases from Atlus.
Those familiar with Nintendo Switch Online’s retro consoles may be aware of a feature that permits you to manually rewind the game at any point. While this is a wonderful feature when used at the player's discretion, the automatic version of it in this game leaves much to be desired. Typically, a rewind will initiate upon death or when the mark for the challenge has been missed, to allow a second chance at completing it. While good in theory, there is no control over the amount of time that is rewound. Furthermore, the game simply drops you when it’s done, often resulting in another immediate death, until you are stuck in an endlessly frustrating loop in which starting over is the only option.
Somehow, Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD also simultaneously struggles with being too helpful at times. While there are plenty of times when Professor E. Gadd's call would be more than welcomed, there are just as many occurrences where being left alone would be better. Nearly every time a simple task is completed, Luigi is forced to answer a call from Professor E. Gadd on the Dual Screen. Though this is meant to be helpful, it completely breaks up the flow of the game and is often information that could have just been expressed by changing the objective. That’s not to say that these frequent calls ruin the game, only that they would do better to be a little more helpful and a little less interfering.
Outside the changes to the plot, multiple quality-of-life improvements have been made to make the overall experience more enjoyable, with the most prominent change being the save-anywhere ability. The new save feature completely changes the game, allowing players to save their progress from the menu at any point. For a long time, Atlus has forced players to utilize pre-established save points, meaning that perishing often resulted in having to replay entire sequences. For a game that can already begin to feel monotonous at times, this feature drastically improves the flow of the game and helps to alleviate some of that repetitiveness.
Another Crab’s Treasure will call Kril out, along with players, for witnessing the negative changes in the world around them and ignoring them, especially since players will find that Kril spends the majority of his time with one selfish goal in mind, to return to the tide pool with his shell. Kril acts so selfishly at times that players may be forced to wonder whether he’s even a likable protagonist. However, Kril eventually is forced to face his actions in a way that is sure to have players shaken and contemplating the fundamentals of life, long after the credits roll. We won't spoil it, but it's an interesting narrative device.
Since the Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection includes two games that were originally released in the early 2000s, a plethora of Star Wars content has since been released that renders the campaigns of these games obsolete. While it doesn’t decrease the level of gameplay enjoyment, it does make it harder to become engrossed in the stories when they contradict what has since become part of the Star Wars canon. For example, Battlefront II's campaign focuses on the rise of Darth Vader’s elite 501st legion of Clone Troopers and insinuates that the clones knew all along that they would betray the Jedi, which longtime fans of The Clone Wars series will know is now inaccurate.