Missy's Game Shelf

Now this will not be the greatest post given I am only just looking at this situation. I like many others have been advertised at by others mostly influencers to use honey. If you don’t know Honey is a free browser extension that looks for coupon codes for you. On paper that sounds amazing except by using it you could hurt the people recommending it. The way Honey works is by replacing affiliate links with their own so when a purchase through a partner is made they don’t pay their partner, because when you use honey the affiliate link disappears and doesn’t show the influencer who recommended the product in the first place. If Honey can’t find a coupon for you the same thing happens it doesn’t revert back to the influencer recommending the product it goes to Honey.

PIE is an advertisement organization that claims to block ads on things like google and Youtube created by the same people behind honey. Then claims to pay people to watch the ads. Does Influencers ad revenue go somewhere else now because a lot of influencers make money off their ads? Rather than sponsorship it can be detrimental to them. It did this stuff once and that worked I would not be surprised if they did the same. Both of these companies made money off influencers then proceeded to scam them out of their own hard work.

Honey and PIE is also now experiencing the downsides of working with influencers unlike big businesses that simply do not care they will make money regardless, honey worked with independent creators many of which have rights to call them out and will talk about how they suffered or will pass the story along to other influencers. Most of which they worked with are larger and get upwards of millions of views and subscribers and these guys scammed essentially their marketing team out of their paycheck.

People have wondered where Honey and PIE got their money and now it is clear off the backbones of people who have tons more talent than them. I am planning to follow this story and cover it if Honey responds to all this though I do wonder how this is legal and what a lawyer would say. Further the literal hundreds of influencers effected may have grounds to sue.

Edit: Legal Eagle is now involved and suing on behalf of creators. So depending on how this goes is one of two ways Paypal gets away with everything only to never get sponsors again or they need to pay back the creators they “worked” with.

Sources:

“Exposing the Honey Influencer Scam.” Youtube, Uploaded By Megalag, Dec 21, 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc4yL3YTwWk

“Exposing the “PIE” Influencer Disaster – (Same Developers as HONEY).” Youtube, Uploaded By Upper Echelon, Dec 23, 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTxnM3J0I0k&t=886s

“I’m Suing Honey.” Youtube, Uploaded By LegalEagle, Jan 2, 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H4sScCB1cY

It is good to be back Happy New Year everyone! I’m glad to start this year with a game that utterly disappointed me. While not the worst RPG I’ve played it does disappoint the fans who have been waiting for a continuation to this series. I like Mario RPGs I had nothing but praise for Legend of the Seven Stars, Bowsers Inside Story, and The Thousand Year Door. So while only one of those is part of this particular series it feels like steps back.

The Mario And Luigi RPG series is a reaction based rpg and while this game has the same roots gameplay feels off. The original company that worked on this series went out of business so it does feel the same, but oddly different. One thing these games always did was ensure that all party members were controlled through different buttons whether on the overworld or in combat, further when using one of the brothers unless it was a Bros. Attack you only needed to use the A button for Mario and the B button for Luigi. While the button layout seems simple that was intentional as gameplay often relied on timings depending on what the player does and if they react in time. A few things was traversal is more limited there are no new Bros. Moves and some that have been there forever are gone now this is extremely noticeable when everyone is locked in a jail cell in previous games you would have two options Mini Mario form or flat Bros even Paper Jam gave access to Paper Marios flat form. So while a character does reference how useful a skill like that would be likely trying to reference the Thousand Year Door Remake in this context doesn’t make sense. Writing is boring and falls flat I started skipping most dialogue because it just will end in a bad pun or takes forever to get to the point. Yes, previous games in this series had jokes and goofy writing, but this time it feels forced and the writing isn’t about really making fun of itself like it used to.

The new companion Snoutlet somehow does less than Starlow. Now functually they are the same through them you have your gear and tips, but Starlow really shined when helping understand the world as well as actually helping decipher Mario and Luigi’s gibberish or acting as a guide and their voice often adding to the humor. Snoutlet serves as a guide mostly, but unlike Starlow, Snoutlet does more complaining before doing anything I somehow found him more annoying than anything. This is in comparison to an annoying companion. Next the Sailing mechanic it is boring this isn’t Zelda the Wind Waker you can travel to any island after one visit at any time with little to no changes and it can take forever to get there. You can fish and get items, and materials, but no treasures or things to find just more islands and small challenges. Then there are charcaters like Bowser and Peach I know why they’re here, but they really don’t do anything especially Peach who even when given the choice really doesn’t matter. In fact there are several choices in this game that don’t mean anything sequences play out the same and nothing changes. Then there are side quests with the new and existing characters a lot of them are forgettable to unneeded.

Score: 6/10

Hello, first thank you all for reading and feedback. It has been a full year since I started this blog and I want to continue to improve my writing and reviews. With the year anniversary of my Blog being the 22^nd of December coming up I decided to make a list of my favorite games. In no particular order really these aren’t listed from my least favorite up rather just to make a list. Also, to prevent this list from being repetitive I decided to have one game per franchise. So while I like Pokemon XD Gale of Darkness and Shadows of Almia I can’t put them if another Pokemon game shows up. Finally, this is the last post of the year so Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year see you all in January.

10 – Spyro Reignited Trilogy

Spyro the Dragon was one of the first games I ever played along with Crash Bandicoot. So after several years of the Dragon being absent aside from a few games after the original three games that failed to capture what made them great then to just promote Skylanders and whatever the Legend series was, I was overjoyed to see both Crash and Spyro return and while I liked Crash’s series I always preferred Spyro.

9 – A Hat in Time

Another strange choice given I mostly play RPGs and Strategy with the odd Farm Simulator when I feel like it. A Hat in Time is a game that looks and plays like a Nintendo 64 platformer. This is on purpose as the entire point of the game was to call back to those older platformers like Mario 64 and Banjo Kazooie. Honestly, I actually prefer this game to any Mario game as indie games tend to be more imaginative and you can easily see this through amazing mechanics and fun level design.

8 – Pokemon Omega Ruby/ Alpha Sapphire

My first Pokemon game was Pokemon Sapphire for the Game Boy Advance and I later played all of the Gen 3 games. So when Omega Ruby/ Alpha Sapphire were announced I was happy to pick up the games again and even though challenges and routes felt the same so much was added to these remakes to make them feel new. First, it fleshed out some of the more one note characters from older games, then fixed a lot of what X and Y were trying and failing to do, and finally, added things like the Delta episode, megas, and the new Fairy Typing to Gen 3 which didn’t have them. Due to how Nintendo has reacted to Palworld I wanted to leave Pokemon off this list, but I’d be denying what series introduced me to RPGs in the first place and a game I’m extremely nostalgic about.

7 – The Legend of Zelda the Windwaker

I wanted to put either Ocarina of Time or the Windwaker as my favorite Zelda games. I probably cleared the both of them more times than any other Zelda games. While these two are some of my favorites I also wanted to keep this list different so I went with which one I liked more or had more fun with. The Windwaker is far from a perfect or good game, but if you want an introduction into the series it is a good start what’s more I feel like the cel shaded graphics and cartoon atmosphere lets both the gameplay and locations stand out. Characters are also more expressive than in other Zelda games.

6 – Undertale

There is a chance that I felt Deltarune deserved to be on this list more, but given that game is unfinished even if what is released so far is fun, Undertale is a more complete game. I enjoy the game for it allowing the player to decide what to do whether you go pacifist or not expect tough fights, fun gameplay, and amazing music.

5 – Story of Seasons Trio of Towns

For a game by the original developers of Harvest Moon this game really shows what they can do having multiple towns with their own festivals and crops. Further while I do enjoy games like Rune Factory 4 sometimes it is nice to have a more simple farm simulator. This game also gives me hope that eventually the Story of Seasons games will be more fun outside of the remakes.

4 – Nexomon Extinction

Just because I said one per franchise does not mean one per genre. Nexomon was already a great creature capture game and the sequel not only improves a lot on the original, but also is a fun game overall. With the third game in development it will be interesting where this series goes. I enjoy their focus on plot that is a breath of fresh air compared to other games in a similar genre and with being an indie game it has less restrictions and is more imaginative and creative taking the plot in areas Pokemon will never go.

3 – Dragon Age: Origins

If there was one reason I hated Veilguard so much was my love of this series. Varied races and classes and more emphasis on story. Origins brings a lot including explaining why the main character is there with each getting their own story to play through during the tutorial. It is nice to have motivations to do something rather than just do it. Further, future games gave closure to  a lot of what happens in Origins and the game is dark with many good and bad choices.

2 – Mass Effect 2 Legendary Remaster

Mass Effect 2 was a favorite game of mine though admittedly I played Andromeda first and could not tell what made the series so good. After, I tried the series again and Mass Effect wasn’t bad, but the combat needed work. Mass Effect 2 is a fun game and the best part is it emphasizes the need to help your companions to unlock upgrades and keep everyone alive so they appear to help in Mass Effect 3. Further the characters all have distinct personalities and are fleshed out as opposed to what Veilguard tried to do with a similar format.

1 – Fantasy Life

If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a million times. Fantasy Life is my favorite game. It has various classes and is an amazing game. Each character is charming and the ease of changing classes as well as using different equipment and skills for each is always a good time. The story was good and rather lighthearted for a RPG. The more cartoony graphics helps the different areas and dungeons stand out and even though you probably won’t run into a difficult fight the bosses more than make up for that. While I was disappointed that the sequel got delayed again I’m not mad if they need more time to make a follow up I still have the original to play.

 Happy Thanksgiving Everyone sorry for the late post I was spending time with friends and family last week. I’m going to say it again NFTs are a massive scam as is most Crypto. These scams have led to the terrible Play To Earn games. Which if you’re unfamiliar with the concept players dump money in to get items and cryptocurrencies this money is often used to pay back other players investments. If you want more detailed information there are people who talk about these things everyday such as the Youtuber Jauwn. So recently Paradise was putting out trailers as an upcoming Crypto/NFT game, however people noticed something off even before the NFTs were announced. Much like The Day Before this game used similar shots to existing game trailers and in this case Grand Theft Auto and possibly Saints Row trailers. They also potentially stole assets specifically beach umbrellas that are unique to Grand Theft Auto. They are currently advertising a large open world city that would take lots of developers and a ton of time. This is to my knowledge this teams first game which probably means they both lack the talent to create such a world and that is hardly the people working on its fault. Not to mention rather than create something original they are copying trailors and stealing assets thus making a game that fails further when not stolen the assets seem paid for and honestly look poor and out of place. The NFT concept is already terrible, but the game is worse. Now it seems they’ve added a bunch of Content Creators with or without their permission it really is hard to tell if they are aware. I am certain people have tried to tell them, but these are creators with literal millions of subscribers so between things like fan art, analytics, and sponsor emails there is a chance they didn’t even see these. If they are aware than they are complicit in a soon to be or already is a scam. I don’t think they are aware though many have looked into recent posts and there was nothing about this game on any of their Twitter, Twitch, or Youtube accounts. Now while bigger Youtubers like Mutahar and others are now picking up on this scam game I first found out about this through a smaller channel named Jetro who did an excellent job breaking down and explaining several things I said here.

“Exposing PARADISE: The GTA 6 Scam That’s Fooling EVERYONE” YouTube, uploaded by Jetro, Nov 10, 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9CQBMzLjCA&t=555s

I don’t know what genre this game fits into. It is too weird to be horror yet has monsters commonly associated with that genre of game, such as mummies, skeletons, and spiders as well as paintings and statues leading to simple jump scares. It also isn’t scary at all arguably being the least scary game ever. Super Mario 64’s Boo’s Haunted House is scarier than the entirety of this game. As for gameplay it is relatively terrible. Grabbed by the Ghoulies is a 3D beat em’ up hordes of enemies appear and can be defeated relatively easily. The main problem with combat is how it controls rather than button presses it relies on the C stick. Now the C stick is mostly used for camera control in any other game you will get the two confused as you control the camera with the triggers and unlike other beat em ups there are no specials or flashy moves. Further, some enemies need a specific weapon such as the candle being used to beat mummies, but it adds literally nothing aside from a longer animation hit detection doesn’t change and nothing feels different. The plot is forgettable you play as Cooper on his quest to save his girlfriend through a haunted mansion and every time you do rescue her she needs rescuing again.

Can I judge this game as a horror experience? Well Five Nights at Freddy’s is considered horror, but it isn’t all that scary the most terrifying thing is it’s lore so can you say the same here? I don’t think so FNAF has the advantage of atmosphere I really shows off how unsettling its animatronics are espicailly with how they look and if they catch you, you lose instantly. Here there is nothing making the Huanted House scary chairs and skeletons that die in two hits aren’t scary they’re a nuisance that just gets in way. I like the concept of this game just not the execution especially with what is available today Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and Fatal Frame do everything this game tried to do better.

I’ve never played Starfield and reviews for that game show as something to avoid. Bethesda recently released a DLC for their worst game. Base Starfield was a boring open world that on paper sounds fun travel and explore the different open worlds and clear quests, but that isn’t what happened. Starfield had open areas but none of the quests connected and some planets were just empty. Now, the DLC it seems that most players take issue with the fact that it compares itself to Fall Arbor the best DLC pack from the Fallout series.

Now Bethesda is doing damage control a few devs have stated that they support how the game turned out saying the game was intentionally supposed to be that way and that when astronauts went to the moon or travelled space they didn’t find much there which is why planets are empty. The difference is that when players put time and resources into something they expect to be rewarded with something hardly comparable to the Space Race as the fact we developed enough technology and science to actually go there and bring people home was reward enough. Here though, there is no reward and Starfields DLC doesn’t seem to add anything most people describe it as more Starfield I think I’m more surprised people actually bought it and at $30. For the record most DLCs cap at $20 with additions, new weapons, new places to explore, and new story elements. So Bethesda released a boring game, couldn’t or refused to fix it, charged $30 to anyone holding onto hope for this game, then proceeded to add nothing to it besides reskins to equipment and a 5-10 hour story that adds nothing to the base game. I know 5-10 hours sounds like a long time, but this is a open world game in comparison to the Dragonborn DLC or Fall Harbor DLC those easily triple that time spent exploring the new areas and finding useful gear.

There is also a clear lack of care with Starfield. Rather than fix issues with the game they added more issues. Remember base Skyrim had the ability to turn into a vampire and that sucked in comparison to Werewolves. They reworked it and from that we got the Dawnguard DLC pack that made both more useful and balanced even adding skill trees to both and increasing the level cap. The same with the DLC in Fallout, in one instance your radiation proof companion wouldn’t go into a room full of radiation for you to save the Wastelands now he does in a recent DLC. My biggest question is if they put so much care into Fallout and The Elder Scrolls DLC packs what happened with Starfield? Why not try to revitalize it and clean up the things that don’t work similar to before? Why double down on what isn’t working? Why did people pay $30 for more of the worst open world game in awhile? The Elder Scrolls and Fallout have their faults you can fall through the floor during normal gameplay and there are so many bugs, but at the end of the day they are fun games Starfield isn’t fun and is just a game that brings out the worst of Bethesda.