No sense at all in acting performative and presentable about this, MediEvil stands as a crowning representation of everything I found to be appealing about video games in my youth, and is a welcome reminder of why I still spend most of my precious free time with this embarrassing hobby of mine. This goes beyond just strumming the chords of nostalgia in my old greasy heart though (this isn’t a title I grew up with), there’s simply a childlike-playfulness on display here that you don’t see much of these days. Yeah yeah I know, new game bad old game good, take a shot - this is just one of those things you just can’t really recapture in modern day man.

“But Luke!” you may be exclaiming, “This game is so outdated by today’s standards! It’s clunky and hard to go back to.” In an attempt to be charitable in response to this hypothetical (yet distressingly common) sentiment, I will say that you aren’t exactly wrong about your assessment of the game, but is that really much of a problem? I suppose most people are used to friction in games stemming from stat grinds and seemingly endless pool of meaningless dribble disguised as content to sift through, but I think there's room in the industry for games as bumbling and occasionally cumbersome as this. Say what you will about Dan “The Man” Fortesque; “clunky” this, “slippery” that, your foul words have no ill-effect on him. It’s no skin off his back, for he is literally a pile of bones.

In retrospect, It’s no wonder why my capacity for critical thought was shut off so long ago: I was smitten by this game from the very moment I laid an eye on it’s harrowing field of mindless zombies and a wall constructed from some of the most impressively poor draw distance I’ve seen on the system, but can you blame me? Many people hold up the PS1 as the system where razor sharp aesthetical visions come to life, as a canvas for gorgeous technical flexes of the highest possible calibur of the time, and as an excuse for a bunch of nerds to showcase intelligent teardowns of system OS and architecture to really make Sonic’s ass sing. But how often do you hear the praises of a game like MediEvil? I don’t want to diminish the value of the art itself, the land of Gallowmere is truly inspired and seeing the cartoonish depictions of common Medieval tropes and caricatures delights me, but there’s something to be said for how the crust layered over the vision really amplifies the whole thing. I mean this with complete sincerity, a game like this works so much better when presented with all the grace of corpses tumbling down a hill while draped in the cold moonlight.

That’s to say nothing of the actual structure of the game itself though , creatively nudging you towards cleaning out every polygon of the game’s 20 odd levels lest you miss an important item in the pumpkin patch that won’t be needed until you reach the dragon’s nest. I think it’s this scatterbrained approach to puzzle solving that really brings it all together for me, rarely being as obtuse as to necessitate a walkthrough, and only occasionally being as linear as to promote blind runs through levels. You never know exactly what's expected of you or when certain items will be needed, so I occasionally found myself stumbling over simple problems in pursuit of an answer less complex than was actually required of me. Generally speaking the game is never more complicated than “use this item on that thing” but it just makes the whole thing feel very adventurous, I adore how it feels like there’s an endless treasure trove of shit to find while being so small and compact so as to not feel overbearing.

I’m guessing that this is exactly the type of game that FELT insurmountable as a kid, sharing secrets with friends on the playground in an effort to learn all of it’s secrets and finally make it to the end, but as an adult it still holds up just as much in my mind as a quaint adventure with exceptionally low ambitions and a sharp knack for tickling all the pleasure centers in my brain. I dunno, I just love everything about this lol. I’m sure someone out there far smarter than me can piece together the little sprinkles of worldbuilding that make the world feel more alive, or write a captivating college thesis about how Zarok is an intensely compelling villain with his lofty goals of checks notes ruling Gallowmere(?) but I have no pretensions about this. I’m a simple man of simple needs. I like when the funny British skeleton with bad teeth tries to talk when he doesn’t have a jaw after a lifetime and beyond of spreading falsehoods about his name, only for him to be the one who has to put a stop to the mustache twirling villain and his dubious schemes. Truly the hero the United Kingdom needs, but not the one they deserve. Maybe in MediEvil 3 he can take down the late Queen of England once and for all, I’m sure not even Dan could resist an adventure as treacherous and deadly as that. My DM’s are open Sony if you wanna discuss this further

A fantastic and generally underrated game, while it got fairly heavy praise at the time of release you can't help but feel the franchise got left behind a little for no good reason.

It deftly combines a fun story laden with melancholic humor and a cool burtonish atmosphere, the game dodges most of the common level tropes, and gives you a quest through a dark fantasy kingdom.

Great music, great replayability, great vibes.

An absolute classic, straight from the grave!

Every Playstation fan worth their salt knows this game about a weird little skeleton monster that interrupts evil plans of necromancy and black magic. A cult classic staple that was just more or less agreed upon to be one of the definitive games for the original PS1 (among other greats and classics, mind you). Sure, it was never a juggernaut that spawned countless sequels and spin-offs, nor was it some sort of brain-child masterpiece that could be seen as high art as much as it could be seen as entertainment. Still, most of those that have played it love it, and those that haven't more or less go "oh, hey, yeah, I remember that one."

Though, let's be perfectly fair. As I've said, it's not some masterpiece, nor was it an IP that easily had multi-generational staying power (though for the latter, I think that's due to lack of imagination rather than fault in its core concept). This isn't a Devil May Cry with crazy combos, a Silent Hill with mind-destroying riddles, or Metal Gear twist happy story. The gameplay is quite simple and straightforward, puzzles aren't super head-scratching brain-melters, and the plot is very basic. What it does have is excellent, "Halloween-esque" atmosphere, the driest wit and sarcasm in any game ever, and a nice plethora of murder tools to mash up those demons and zombies with the right amount of crunch and slash with every attack you make. Everything feels just... fun.

Exploring cold graveyards, spooky forests, dank caves, terrifying execution grounds, quirky agricultural lands, and haunted castles, fighting a LOOOOONG list of creepy creatures that make up the evil dead and the armies of darkness. There's just something so joyful and pure about it all. It feels like going trick-or-treating when you're a kid... except with more fantasy weaponry.

That said, its camera is quite picky and stubborn, platforming is dodgy, and pitfalls are especially evil and plentiful. There are times the game will feel a bit unfair, especially when precision movement is involved.

But... I can't help but love this old bag of bones and his first adventure. I may LOVE Medievil 2 more, but this game goes hand in hand with it quite nicely.

I love the game's willingness to experiment with itself. Sir Fortesque's a fun enough character to control - his bumbling, gangly nature translates well into his speedy, jerky movement and his attacks that I can't describe in any way besides "panicky" (oh they do their job, but they also go a long way to convey Dan's sense of AAAAAAA KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT). The different weapons lend themselves to a lot of experimentation; having played the game and its latest remake three times, there are ones I gravitate towards once I unlock 'em, but there are so many options to constantly shake it up along the way. Helps as well that what you're doing in each level is often so different, and the level design is so precise, surprisingly intricate in its set pieces for how little space they take up, that the player gravitates towards different weapons to solve different problems. I love the willingness to go from a moral choice segment where you're scrambling around a village solving adventure game puzzles while letting NPCs attack you, to a hedge maze full of riddles, to a gauntlet sequence where you're mowing through a bajillion enemies at once. It's always fun to see what the game will ask next of the player.

Do I need to mention the game's visual influence, clearly pulled from German Expressionist cinema? How well the game implements its weirder niche weapons like the drumsticks, Dragon Armour, and Good Lightning? How cool it is that the Hall of Heroes slowly expands as Dan proves himself? The slightly off-kilter way the gargoyles exposit lore and missions to Dan? There's just so much good stuff here.

MediEvil reminds me a lot of classic Donkey Kong Country or Rayman. Obviously not in its individual elements, but in terms of what the overall pictures are - games whose mechanical identities are presented in a fairly straightforward way early on, then constantly iterated and experimented upon in increasingly creative ways, through the lens of a thematically rich world that continuously evolves in scope as the game progresses. This in spite of the inherently absurd premise - simians recovering bananas from crocodiles, a limbless guy saving the quintessence of a world dreamt into existence, a one-eyed phony knight redeeming his abject failure and death one hundred years ago. It's perhaps a strange comparison, but something to how much faith the game has in itself and its presentation really makes it feel like it stands shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the all-time greats.

Arguably, the game that encapsulates my entire childhood. Other than a couple others. I think MediEvil is a very special game that is more than just a cult classic. I don't think there is anything like it. Sure, its controls and camera are heavily dated but its tone, aesthetics, inventory structure, level layouts, progression, and backtracking were something very innovative for its time. At least it was to me, and a lot of games for years didn't match it. There was a sense of independence w/ Medievil and Dan was the perfect vessel for me to immerse myself into the Burton-esc journey it bestows.

Played this as the unlock bonus in the 2019 remake. It's a neat reward but playing it directly after said remake can make it feel even more aged than it already did. Many of the points I made in that review stand here

As for the main differences, other than graphics:
-You can now only equip one weapon at a time. I thought this'd be a pain in the ass, but it's surprisingly quick and the enemies pause while you're in the menu so it never puts you at a disadvantage. Plus the remake actually had a small issue where switching between the two equipped weapons would lag a bit and not equip them straight away leaving you defenceless at times. On the plus side this version actually separates your items into stuff like weapons and key items etc instead of one long line of items like the remake.
-Controls are much more slippery. In most cases this isn't actually a problem as the levels seem designed in a way to not need much precision, but in the two lake levels it was a huge pain in the ass.
-The camera is god awful now.

And honestly I think that's about it? There's a few other tiny things, like the books that give you lore or clues are always open here while in the remake they only open when they've been read, making it easier to keep track of what you've done. There's also no prompts for when you can use key items, which can be a pain for first time players but the clues give you enough direction to work it out (though admittedly I skipped all the optional text this time since I literally just beat the game and knew it by heart).

And unlike the remake the extremely shallow combat is excusable here, and unless I'm mistaken I actually think you take less damage to compensate for the lack of good defensive options, while the remake bumped the damage up while giving you no new tactics to use AND keeping the general "enemy touches you and you get hurt regardless of if they're in an attack animation" clunk in. Might just be imagining that though.

Obviously in 2020 there's no real reason to play this version over the remake outside of a novelty, but relative to the time they were released I think this one would have stood out more. Plus even having never played the original back in the day, I still got big PS1 nostalgia from this.

Over the years this has always been one of those games that I'd play for a couple of hours before getting distracted and essentially dropping it, so I thought it was finally time to actually take the time to sit down and play through it, only to find that it's one of the best games I've experienced on the PlayStation. Medievil has such an unmistakeable sense of atmosphere to it that I can't really think of another game that manages to accomplish quite the same goal, with this gothic horror aesthetic being explored in tandem with this sense of dark humour that not only makes it all feel delightfully charming, but tends to give everything interacted with in the world an additional layer of context that makes it that much more fascinating to delve into. It feels like almost every decision that went into this game ties back around to building some aspect of the world, whether it's enemy design, obstacle layouts, or even the player's own mobility, and it makes for a deeply cohesive, singular experience that knows what it wants to be and accomplishes its goals masterfully.

The element of this game that stands out the most to me lies in the sheer variety and creativity of the level design and how it contributes to a rewarding sense of exploration. If you'd decide to rush through each stage only doing the absolute bare-minimum, you'll be able to clear almost all of these within about 5 minutes each, and yet the average experience ends up clocking in decently longer than that just due to how many little bits and pieces there are to experience within the majority of them. There tend to be a lot of little secret and optional things to do in each level, and while on their own each of these would still be very small, having a few of them being layered within each individual stage lends itself to things feeling as if you're always out looking for the next little reward for your time. This on its own would contribute to a good gameplay experience as is, but what truly separates the way the game handles its secrets is that at no point do these things feel particularly artificial, with each hidden area feeling as if it were properly thought out in both how it would contribute to the game's world itself and why it'd be hidden the way it was, a bit of design philosophy that is also translated into the objectives as well.

My favourite example of this is the sleeping village level and the way it predominantly revolves around a fetch quest where each element is perfectly understandable about why you're going to such lengths to get it. In a mad dash to find the hidden key to a safe that the mayor has hidden to stop the forces of evil from finding it first, you essentially run around a possessed village, not only finding all the components to get to the location of the key that the mayor hid but stealing from houses to fill in the additional gaps that were left with what he provided. It never feels especially contrived in how it’s presented to the player and adds a much richer sense of grounding to the world to further flesh out the wonderful dark fantasy it revels in.

Another interesting element in the level variety is the way it understands how to both come up with a ton of original scenarios not typically as prominently thought of in such a setting, while also knowing how to properly utilise the tropes it does have to keep things feeling familiar, yet with constant twists and turns. While there are some more standard things to see, such as a graveyard where the undead rise, a crystal cave with a slumbering dragon lurking within, and an overrun, ruined castle overtaken by the forces of evil, you also have some really neat ideas, like cornfields with possessed harvesting equipment, a dark, creepy ant tunnel, or even the inside of a castle sized steampunkish clock, with each stage bringing something unique to the table. While the core gameplay itself is definitely on the clunkier side, it’s this constant drip feed of new ideas and unique, atmospheric scenery that is the driving force of Medievil. No two levels play exactly the same and require you to use your limited core moveset in a surprisingly large number of ways to get through the various challenges thrown at you, aided even more by the vast array of weaponry that you accrue throughout your playtime.

While some might consider how weird and janky the movement is as a terrible thing, even this manages to tie in with the narrative on some level, seeing as you’re playing as a skeleton that’s been asleep for years who also hasn’t really ever been in a proper fight, it makes sense that you’d lack dexterity and would be swinging around a sword with all the grace of an elephant. This secondary element of the game not only being about taking down the dark lord, but also proving to all who surround you that you really are capable of great things works so well at bringing the perspectives between the player and Sir Dan closer together and only adds to the immersion.

The hall of heroes system adds a more tangible reward to all of this as well, being the primary way in which the player gains new weapons to use, making them not only have to find wherever a certain collectible is hidden in each stage, but kill enough enemies to activate its powers, rewarding those who choose to take their time without making it feel absolutely essential to do it with each stage, as you only need about 80% of them to unlock all the main upgrades, getting more minor stuff past that point. This ultimately matters very little for the feverish completionists who are collecting everything for the sake of it, but it means that for those who just want to get as strong as possible, they’re still able to skip fully exploring a few levels if any of them are not to their likings, helping things move along even smoother. Overall, Medievil is a janky, eerie masterpiece that crafts a near-constant feeling of wonder and spectacle with a healthy dose of comedy that never quite overpowers the oppressively bleak setting that you’re thrown into. There’s no shortage of pure creativity on display as you slowly uncover all the secrets of the evocative world of Gallowmere and I wish there were more games that managed to nail such a perfect atmosphere and cohesive sense of world design.