It's as simple as this: The Last Guardian is the most invested and attached I've ever been in regards to the plight of a video game protagonist and his overall goal. This slow-burning story of love and companionship, helmed with a typically deft and understated hand by its auteur director, registered on a deeply meaningful level for me, due in no small part to the game's centrepiece Trico. A creature of almost intoxicating cuteness and charm, Trico feels like a real comrade thanks to a combination of fluid and expressive animation and A.I.. An ironclad bond is established early on precisely because Trico is such a believable presence, and because of this, everything else falls into place. It's a beautiful, frequently picturesque visual package to bask in, showing few signs of its beginnings on PS3 hardware. The soundtrack by Takeshi Furukawa, while not being as showy as the music that accompanied the magnificent battles in Shadow of the Colossus, is sparingly used but memorably nostalgic, and knows exactly when to tug at the heartstrings. The puzzles, unlike Inside, are naturally integrated into the game without disrupting the consistency of the world and the storytelling. And the set-pieces, while not as elaborate as something one would expect from the likes of Uncharted, are no less breath-taking because of the emotional dynamic between the central duo. Running across a crumbling bridge is nothing new in a video game, but when the ground gives out beneath the boy, and Trico appears into frame at the last second to save him from falling to his death, it's a genuinely cathartic, air-punching moment.

It's already a common sentiment among those who have completed The Last Guardian that it's an unforgettable journey. As the words ”The End" appeared on the screen, it was only too easy for me to see why. It's a game that has lingered on in my mind ever since I completed it. I get that occasional lump in the throat during recollections of my playthrough that serve as a comforting reminder that, despite all the uncertainty and the years of waiting for something that may never come to fruition, what materialised in the aftermath of all that drama was a work of art that I'm glad I never gave up hope on being released.

Boy did this game give me some trouble on emulators. First I tried it via Autobleem. I had problems, but managed to make it to the second boss okay... before it crapped out every time by hard crashing. Then I tried Retroarch and it was even worse. I had considered giving up and moving on, but decided on downloading Duckstation and giving that a try.

Holy shit, Duckstation is a revelation!

It's so much better than Autobleem and Retroarch. Not only did Vanark run flawlessly on it, but it practically looked like a freakin' PS2 game with the 1080p resolution bump and whatever else was going on under the hood. Hell, I'm even tempted to go revisit all my PS1 favourites on that thing to see how improved they look. Needless to say, all future PS1 games will be played on Duckstation from now on.

Oh yeah, Vanark. Interesting game. The term 'hidden gem' gets thrown about with wild abandon these days, but in the case of Vanark, it certainly is... well... it's hidden alright! This game is obscure as hell considering it got a Western release and everything. No one talks about it, which is a shame as it's a pretty damn good 3D rail shooter in the vein of Panzer Dragoon or Starfox. And there's a nice bit of variety in these missions too, where sometimes you'll be granted totally free movement in an arena, or you'll be required to avoid hazards in the environment more than shooting down enemy ships. What separates Vanark from those games though are some brief (and very underdeveloped) adventure segments slotted in between the shooty shooty bang bang stuff. As the protagonist Shun, you can walk around the pre-rendered environment that is your mothership, complete with tank controls and fixed-camera angles, and... talk to people. And that's about it. Like I said - underdeveloped. It's a shame because the hub has a strong ambiance. There's a lounge room in particular, adorned with an aquarium and some atmospheric lighting, that looks absolutely gorgeous by PS1 standards. And this specific room is complimented by some of the finest smooth jazz I've heard in a video game. It's a true vibe.

https://i.imgur.com/RgpOS5R.png

But there's simply no good reason to visit this place other than to have it on in the background. It serves no role, and like most of the other locations in this hub area, is little more than an afterthought. The game is very short and can be completed in a single session if you're skilled enough (or abuse save states like I did), so maybe the adventure sections are a desperate bid to stretch out the campaign length a bit. But they're ultimately just a half measure. For a rail shooter that puts a fair bit of emphasis on story, Vanark still manages to be undercooked and underwritten, and really could've used a stronger emphasis on developing its lore and cast of characters. As it stands though, it's a perfectly competent Panzer Dragoon imitator with the best goddamn lounge room of its console era.

Furi is bastard hard, but in the best way possible, and though I did get my ass handed to me on a frequent basis, there's an immense satisfaction in learning from your previous encounter and getting that little bit better with each attempt, until you're adept enough to bask in the glory of another fallen enemy. The game has little else to offer other than some lengthy, epic-scale boss battles, but the fast-paced and unrelenting mixture of melee-combat and bullet-hell provides such a thrill that it matters little.

A pretty big disappointment unfortunately, which isn't entirely surprising given this game had a fraction of the budget afforded to the two previous installments. It actually starts off pretty decently, but as things progress, you gradually notice all the corners that have been cut. There's barely an advancement in the overarching story, which is borderline unforgivable quite frankly, given how long fans have had to wait. The events of Shenmue 3 feel like a stopgap between 2 and the next mainline entry. And the combat is shockingly poor. It's honestly a major regression compared to I & II, and those are nearly 20 year old games. There's no excuse for how bad the fighting is in this.

At least it manages to do a fairly good job of replicating the original Shenmue atmosphere and 'vibe' on a shoestring budget. But yeah, definitely not a worthy sequel. And it makes me worried about how 4 will turn out.

A wholly frustrating game, because with a few tweaks here and there this easily could've been my game of the year, but Rockstar had to squander the game's masterpiece status by doubling down on the huffing of its own farts. In many aspects, the game is flawless. The performances and writing are unanimously excellent, and the attention to detail and staggering amount of work gone into its world-building is awe-inspiring at times. Even someone as disenfranchised with vast open-world fields/forests/anything-with-trees-in-it as me was impressed with how alive and lush the environments were. I just wish it didn't take so damn long to do, well... just about anything! Sluggish controls I can adapt to, braindead whack-a-mole gunfights I can tolerate, but in a game as long as this, in a world as big as this, forcing me to walk in camp and denying me a means to fast travel conveniently became too much by the end. I'm a Shenmue fan, I can handle mundanity as much as the next person, but god I wish Red Dead Redemption 2 wasn't so damn content being so damn slow. To avoid getting too bogged down in negativity though, I will say that RDR2 contains my favourite and most emotionally-impactful moment of 2018 - the culmination of the money lending missions. I don't want to spoil it too much for folks who haven't played the game yet, but seeing good guy Arthur declare enough is enough and act upon the disgust of his own actions made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

(More of an 8.5 than an 8)

The Dreamfall series followed very much the same trajectory as Shenmue. The first two games are masterpieces. The third game that exists mainly through crowdfunding? A damp squib.

I did not have a good time with this at all. It was janky as hell and performed like shit on the PS4. And its lack of budget was very showing. Expect a lot of backtracking, aimless wandering and stilted animation.

Such an unfortunate finale for an otherwise excellent saga.

If I had more time I would've delved deep into the whole creation aspect, but alas. The main appeal of Dreams to me is every so often whiling away an hour or two just picking random 'games' or short films or whatever and seeing what kind of madness the community has conjured up. Some of it is genuinely impressive and much of it is crap, but the game often serves as a fascinating glimpse into the mind of the creators who've dedicated time to realising their own vision. I''ve had many laughs playing Dreams, intentional or otherwise.