Recent reviews by GraFiX

Most RPGs, you're tracking 2 maybe 3 variables toward the outcome of a story. BoD plays different.
I quickly had to "let go" of my "track the variables, game the story choices" mindset and as a result, I've never felt so immersed in a videogame story - this is a new benchmark.

The narrative is rich, nuanced and layered with countless meaningful dilemmas; moral grey-areas with difficult-to-forsee consequences. You literally don't have time to explore them all - it's DEEP and you're in over your head - so might as well swim. GOTY for me.

Aussie walkabout: gourmet friendslop edition.

Style for days. Substance what's that?
90mins in and I'm bored af, zero desire to continue.
Repetitive uninspired snoregasm on any of the difficulty settings. No tactics, strategy or anything besides the same flashy-button-mashy animations again and again for hours.
It's almost like the entire point of the game is to showcase big setpieces and cinematics that advertise someone's expensive collectible toys...

Oooh!

Making music discovering new toys and playing with my daughters it's the best!!

T-Y-P-E G-O-A-T

✅❌ Re: Mixed reviews. - I see what they're saying - they have a point that the margins of high-level play come down to RNG + the risk of facing near-impossible fights with highly specific solutions that punish you for not having encountered+chosen the specific item to solve them.

This is a valid complaint, but the amount of hours you need to play to reach that point? I don't think the game offers any less entertainment value for new/casual players who're enjoying the journey up till that realization, and clearly - from the hours recorded since their reviews - still enough for those expert players making the complaint.

Recommend. If you loved the first this is good too, albeit harder and with a lot more strategies to explore.
Multiplayer is a fun addition and we've certainly got our money's worth from it.

Absolutely awesome. It's everything I wanted from Hi Fi Rush.

They misspelled "Meaner".
I want to recommend this to zelda/soulslike fans, but
On paper this game *should* be my jam - I adore zelda dungeons and souls combat, and this game is *lovingly* crafted with stylish retro art, music, characters and story + a ton of content rich with secrets to discover - I've played a 20+ hours and gritted my teeth through the frustration to see the silver linings - there's lots to like.
Why a negative review?

Because do not mistake "obscurity" for depth, or "unfriendly" for nostaglic. There are hostile design patterns at the core of this game that were long ago phased out with good reason. It's possible to embrace what made old games good, without bringing back the bad. Mina's core design combines the *worst* parts of Link's Awakening's dungeon design and Demon's Souls combat system, instead of their best.

1) The congested, repeating-tile maze-like world-map is slow, tricksy and dangerous to navigate - you'll quickly wish for a fast-travel system that doesn't exist.

2) The punishing combat is so clunky and unsatisfying you'll avoid it if you can and sigh with relief when it's over.

3) Add to these a "grind-hard-to-level-up-only-to-lose-all-your-souls" resource meta and

4) needlessly sadistic high-stakes twitch-reflex pixel-perfect platforming that legit belongs in the 90s along with the TMNT Dam.

Other recent games have successfully married retro open-world + dungeon-puzzle with deep soulslike combat and great storytelling - imo Crosscode succeeds where Mina fails on every count. Its much nicer. This game is meaner and hollower.

If Kojima made Resident Evil: DadSpace edition.