Games I Dislike That Everybody Else Likes
Supremely atmospheric visuals and sound in service of a game that, quite frankly, feels bullshit to play - even in its remastered form with all its new bells, whistles, and much-needed gameplay tweaks. Funnily enough I had zero issues with Another World - 20th Anniversary Edition, which came out way before this and has much less in the way of added features. But there are crucial sections of this game that straight-up will not listen to your inputs - ones that require stupidly pixel-perfect accuracy for something as simple as a jump, turnaround, or shot of a weapon (God forbid all three in quick succession).
Supremely atmospheric visuals and sound in service of a game that, quite frankly, feels bullshit to play - even in its remastered form with all its new bells, whistles, and much-needed gameplay tweaks. Funnily enough I had zero issues with Another World - 20th Anniversary Edition, which came out way before this and has much less in the way of added features. But there are crucial sections of this game that straight-up will not listen to your inputs - ones that require stupidly pixel-perfect accuracy for something as simple as a jump, turnaround, or shot of a weapon (God forbid all three in quick succession).
This early cinematic platformer attempts to turn the unpredictable, context-sensitive action of Another World into something more formal and reliable, yet manages to be even more obtuse. Another's awkwardness was charming due to narrative consistency – the wordless presentation cohered with the zero-tutorial gameplay. But the more talkative story of Flashback doesn't jive with its taciturn approach to combat; coming out of a fire-fight unharmed feels like a glitch rather than a success. The final nail is its gamey environments – nothing like the believable spaces of Another World. For a similarly structured but better executed experience, play Blizzard's 16-bit Blackthorne.