Lunch

If you can get it at a good deal and want to go thru Kanto in a nice, simplistic way, I can recc LGPE if you can get past the controls. If not, and you want held items and Abilities too, play FRLG instead, so long as you're okay w/ the physical/special split not happening at that point in the series

Overall, I enjoyed this game a bunch, and for welcoming me back into the series, I could think of worse. The limited control options sucked, though, and I still have a good amount of fundamental issues with Kanto as a whole, but the latter's more of a Gen I issue than anything

Connecting with PoGO is also pretty neat too; being able to bring my Gen I Mons, Meltan, and Melmetal over to LGPE really helps me get all of the version exclusive Mons into one file without needing others to trade me for them. GO Park is a neat replacement for the Safari Zone

Back to some more positives tho, I'm glad HMs were completely reworked to skills your Partner can learn and use after certain points of the game. As someone who grew up with the old games, carrying dedicated Mons for HMs was a drag, and I'm glad they didn't recreate that of all things in Kanto

I know Gen I was like this too, and I understand that LGPE are supposed to be very simple games, but FRLG had both included and the game felt so much more fun with them included without feeling overly complicated or confusing. I really don't understand why the devs made this choice

Lastly, the removal of both Abilities and held items oversimplified the game pretty badly for me. Without either of those two, battles felt extremely formulaic and simplistic, and my teams just revolved around type coverage and base stats instead of creative, whacky team setups and synergy

I would've loved to go thru the post-game with a Crobat or Electivire, or even challenge myself with a team of the Gen II babies. I understand it's a Kanto game, but not having them included makes the game feel small, especially knowing the scope and scale of the series during this game's release

The game is a faithful recreation of Kanto proper, meaning 151 Pokémon plus Meltan, Melmetal, and the handful of Mega Evos and Alolan forms. Even tho I get why it's only those Mons, It would've been cool to have the (pre) evos introduced in later Gens in too, at least once you access the post-game

Playing on a single Joy-Con felt unnatural; while playing on handheld fixes that, I could be so much more comfortable using my ProCon while I sit on my couch or bed instead. The limited controller options aren't a complete deal-breaker for me, but man, it would've been nice to use my ProCon instead

That being said, the controls are my biggest complaint. Being gated to single Joy-Con or handheld is such a baffling, confusing decision. I get that the Joy-Con emulates PokéBall throwing, but if there's a handheld gyro option, why not implement that on both Joy-Cons or an actual controller too?

I didn't mind the GO-esque catch mechanics that much; on Joy-Con the throw was usually tracked pretty accurately to my IRL motions, and I rarely had it work against me that much, and the gyro controls on handheld felt intuitive and simple to use

Speaking of, the Starter Pikachu (and Eevee from what I've seen from friends) is adorable and I'm glad there are plenty of opportunities to interact with your partner all throughout the game

I also liked the Candies for making your team feel even more broken; it felt nice to powercreep everything

I'm glad the Starter Pikachu has not only adjusted stats, but exclusive moves to make sure this one feels both special and powerful all throughout the adventure. Being stuck with regular Pikachu's moveset and especially base stats would've been hell to deal with

I'll start with some positives; the game is fucking gorgeous. Out of all of the mainline Switch Pokémon titles, this one looks the prettiest. Everything's faithfully recreated too, and seeing Kanto in this reimagined style felt like what my 4-y/o self imagined it was like to explore it in FRLG

35) Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu!

Context: I haven't played a new Pokémon game since Sun back in 2016-17. While I loved Sun to bits, USUM, LGPE, SwSh, and BDSP alienated me pretty hard, and up until a few weeks ago, that was where I left the mainline games

With that said, LGP felt fun, but flawed

Music is standout too; there are so many beautiful tracks in this game. I highly recommend checking out the OST

Overall, I loved this game, despite how hard it beat my ass over and over again. If you can get past the difficulty, Silksong is truly something you should consider playing

The side quests did add a lot more attachment to where I was going though, and I'm glad that a side quest system was implemented so I can connect even more with the characters and especially Hornet. The character work here is much richer and diverse imo

Speaking of, I will say, I think I liked exploring Hallownest more. Something about Hallownest's environments scratched an itch that Pharloom didn't completely cover. I'm not saying Pharloom's environments are bad - if anything they're fucking phenomenal - but Hallownest was something special to me

Not only that, the difficulty sells that you are NOT welcome here; that you're a stranger that WILL get beaten down at any opportunity you show to this merciless land. It tells you that Pharloom, while mysterious and beautiful, is dangerous and unforgiving, and I think that's truly fascinating

The difficulty is nuts, but it's rarely unfair. The majority of the penalties you take will be on you. The game expects your best and will reject anything less than that. Because of this, surviving these trials feels so satisfying, and you walk out feeling like you can actually conquer no-man's land

That being said, Jesus this game is hard. Everything hits like a truck and Pharloom is so much less forgiving than Hallownest; even the simplest mistakes can beat your ass back to the bench. Pharloom is a sadistic, merciless beast of a land, and I think this is one of the game's biggest boons

Combat feels familiar at the start, but the tool system adds a lot more variety in offensive and passive capabilities, similar to how HK's crest system worked. I can't really choose which one I like more though; I think each have their own standout traits that encourage creativity in builds

Her movement also feels way more fluid; I won't say anything on what you find, but by like the halfway point, Hornet's movement options become extremely flexible and just the simple act of getting from Point A to Point B is dopamine-inducing. I greatly prefer her movement to the Vessel's

Hornet controls familiarly to the Vessel with enough at the start to feel unique; the familiarity helps HK vets get quickly used to Hornet's traits, like her dive, dash attack, and healing. The tools, upgrades, and crests you find make Hornet stand out even further as her own unique character too

34) Hollow Knight: Silksong

After beating Hollow Knight for the first time almost two months ago, I was kind of worried I wouldn't enjoy Silksong as much

Past me should feel like an idiot; Silksong is honestly way more enjoyable, and I think the much harder difficulty is a significant reason why

I restarted my ACNH island earlier this week and honestly, experiencing this game again is the getaway I needed from a lot of things in my life right now

I won't go into details about them, but I'm just really thankful to come home after a 14-hr work shift today to something nice and cozy

I kind of wish the movie was just a bit longer. It felt almost too rapidly paced, with key events happening in nearly a blink of an eye. Besides that, though, I have no complaints; I really enjoyed this as a fan of both Karate Kid movies

... Maybe I should watch Parts II and III and Cobra Kai too

The plot kind of re-treads the first movie and the reboot, but considering this movie is supposed to be a celebration of the franchise, I'm willing to overlook that. Plus, letting Victor have his own story alongside Li at least brings some originality to the movie

What pleasantly surprised me the most was the editing style; it captured the same feeling the cuts did in the movies before it, and even some of the stylistic visual effects, especially during the opening scene and the tournament section, were such nice additions

33) Karate Kid: Legends

I watched a good chunk of the original back in middle school and the 2010 reboot even further back, I had a really good time watching this movie call back and honor what came before while still doing its own thing too