GIPL: Texas Edition

Have you played EarthBound yet?

I know it's been a long time since I've cranked one of these out. I've gone through a pretty significant life change, going from medical school to residency and moving to San Antonio. But now I've settled in and gotten my first rotation done with, and I've had time to finish some games I started a while back. Conspicuously present on this list are more than a few Switch games, as I bought myself one for graduation. I kept waiting for one of you to buy me one...but ya didn't. The thanks I get for writing all of these amazing blog posts, I tell ya.

Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch)

Jumping right in to the heavy hitters, I was finally able to try my hand at BotW after hearing about how great it is for an entire year. And you know what? It really was great. You can sink hours into this one without even realizing it. The only thing that keeps it from being S-tier for me is that most of the things you do in the game are only interesting to me to the extent that they help me progress. Since I beat Ganon, I don't really have much desire to find other stuff. I'm really not super into games that require self-motivation (like Animal Crossing, as another example), but I still had a blast with this game regardless.
My GIPL Rating: A+

Steamworld Dig 2 (3DS)

Speaking of waiting a long time, this highly-anticipated sequel came out exclusively for the Switch back when I still didn't have the Switch. I waited an agonizingly long time until the 3DS release, and this one was worth the wait. It kept the core gameplay of the original but exponentially increased the map size. Dorthy has a whole new item kit than Rusty, and the differences made the core formula continuously exciting. Also, the ending had a nice tie-in to Steamworld Heist. Image & Form are quickly building a pretty unique and interesting universe for all of us, and I can't wait until their next release.
My GIPL Rating: A+

Bayonetta (Switch)

Ever since the first time I saw footage of this game, I've had an intense desire to play it. Kickin' female protag? Check. Stylized angels vs. demon violence? Check. Over-the-top presentation that hemorrhages fun? Yep. Even with all of these things going for it, this one is a bit of a flawed masterpiece, mostly because it's balls hard. You'll wreck your way through the first 2 levels, but then get ready to have your ass spanked repeatedly as you claw through the rest of the game tooth and nail while being humiliated with a "stone" rating over and over again. On the one hand, this forced me to actually learn the mechanics of the game and get super comfortable with them. This helped immensely during Bayo 2 (see below). But there was still a ridiculous amount of BS insta-kills that I wish the game would have cleaned up. Either way, this game is still more than just a building block for a superior sequel; it's stands quite tall on it's own two heels.
My GIPL Rating: B

Shantae and the Pirate's Curse (Switch)

This one is a GIPL repeat. I watched a run of this game during SGDQ and got the itch to play it again. And I obviously wanted to play it on Switch, so I did one of those deals where I bought the same game twice. Don't you judge me. My feelings for this game didn't change the second time around, still the best in the series and the 2nd most fun/colorful exploration platformer (behind only the almighty Guacamelee).
My GIPL Rating: T for Thirsty

Crash Bandicoot: N Sane Trilogy (Switch)

It's still weird playing a Crash game on a Nintendo console. But anyway. Crash 3 was the first game I ever bought with my own money (well, birthday money. I was like 7 okay). I was super interested in this remake when it came out but wasn't ever counting on playing it as I haven't owned a PlayStation console since the PS2. But like every other game ever, it released on the Switch and I played 2/3 of it in basically one day. Reports of its difficulty were WAY overblown, but it was a tad more difficult than I remember the originals being. And when I say remember, I mean just a few years ago when me n Craig played through 1 and 2. Crash's hitbox seems a bit big in this one, but besides that I don't think there's much difference. Besides that it's totally fine. Once the nostalgia wore off, and it did pretty quickly, I realized just how out-dated this style of game feels.
My GIPL Rating: C+

Super Metroid (SNES Classic)

I played the whole thing in one sitting on Brandon's SNES Classic when we were having a get-together at Ted's. Took me a little over 4h. Can confirm that the game still rocks when played all at once.
My GIPL Rating: It's been on here like 3 times so

Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia (3DS)

Finishing this game was a long-time coming. I originally played it on release day, and got a little over halfway through in pretty short order. I got stuck during one of the swamp levels, and then had to travel over the summer and left my 3DS at home. By the time I got back, I wanted to start the game from scratch, and eventually did and finished it. The story was quite solid, although a few of the late-game twists didn't sit well with me. Full voice acting was incredible and should be a series staple from here onward. The combat mechanics were amazing- I actually prefer them to the more standard weapon triangle, 2 space archers, and typical magic mechanics. The maps were uninspired and sometimes downright frustrating, and Cantor units can go eat a giant turd. But this game showed an entire hemisphere the glory that is Saber, and for that I am truly grateful.
My GIPL Rating: A

Rivals of Aether (PC)

Me and Mickey have a (mostly) consistent streak of playing through a co-op game each time we visit, but ever since Cuphead, we just haven't been the same. We were in the mood to play some fighting games a while back and spent a lot of time with this one. We took turns playing though the brief campaign, so it counts toward our streak. But despite the humble roster compared to its clear inspiration, this game is quite balance and nuanced. I'll probably pick this one up on my own at some point and try to git gud. Actually no I won't because new Smash is coming and Ridley is in it.
My GIPL Rating: A

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch)

Been playing this one since the Wii U days, but it's great to own it for myself. Having all of the characters pre-unlocked takes a bit of the motivation away from me playing this one solo, but I did take the Golden Mario challenge. Earning gold on all 12 200cc cups was a decent challenge, especially the one with Rainbow Road. I had to abandon my longtime main of Wario and become a Shy Guy guy, but I eventually unlocked that really expensive palate swap. This game is a good Mario Kart game. Also my wife plays with me sometimes and I like that.
My GIPL Rating: B+

Bayonetta 2 (Switch)

The perfect sequel is a rare bird, but it does exist. Platinum games amped-up everything great about the original (the weapons, combos, locations, general bombast), fine-tuned the difficulty, and cut out all of the frustrating BS. What resulted is a game with a perfect "normal" difficulty and plenty of things to look for when not eviscerating angels and demons. And as expected, the visuals looked even better. I only got frustrated on the optional bonus challenges, but had to stay focused and use every skill I learned the hard way in the first game to have decent success during my first outing in this one (I even Platinum'd a level. Who's a stone now Bayo 1???). With so many awesome weapons to master and countless items and costumes still to unlock, you better believe I'll be going through this one a few more times before Bayo 3 finally comes out as a Switch exclusive.
My GIPL Rating: A+

Hopefully I won't have to wait so long before doing my next version of this. Hollow Knight and Guacamelee 2 will more than likely be included on the next edition of GIPL, so I'm sure I'll pretty pumped to tell you about them once I play them.