Astaldar
1999
Easily my most revisited game of all time. Even after almost 25 years since its release I still find myself coming back and learning more techniques and strategies to maximize my monsters. The amount of behind the scenes math in this game is truly astounding.
This is hands down the game that defined Blizzard's Golden Era in my eyes. This is the game that provided my on-ramp to the Warcraft franchise. The charm, edge, and accessibility while providing a massive skill ceiling made for an incredible experience. My only regret is not being more involved in the custom map scene during its peak.
2000
Everyone has games they would play until the end of time yet would never in good conscience recommend anyone else ever touch. For me, DW2 is the poster child for that kind of game. My love of the early seasons of the anime as a middle schooler and patience for grindy mechanics allowed me to slog through the game. It wasn't until I graduated high school nearly 8 years after its release did I finally beat it.
The leveling and gameplay loops can ultimately only come to be described as parasitic in every sense of the word. The in-game playtime tracker stops at 99 hours and 59 minutes, which is a point most people would be hitting well before reaching the halfway point in the main story alone. Even then, I'm a sucker for the earlier era of this franchise and can't deny the charm that it -does- have.
The leveling and gameplay loops can ultimately only come to be described as parasitic in every sense of the word. The in-game playtime tracker stops at 99 hours and 59 minutes, which is a point most people would be hitting well before reaching the halfway point in the main story alone. Even then, I'm a sucker for the earlier era of this franchise and can't deny the charm that it -does- have.
2002
An idea that, on paper, should not work and yet exceeds what almost anyone could have probably expected back in 2002. A true "lightning in a bottle" experience that has yet to be repeated in the series. Easily the most restrained title for very easily understandable reasons, though the resulting simplicity coupled with the infusion of Final Fantasy and Disney nostalgia hits in such a satisfying way.
A game that has so much jank and inconsistency yet still finds a way to worm its way into your soul. The soundtrack is an absolute brain virus in itself.
Not the game that edgy 14 year-old me was looking for at the time, though as an adult I can really appreciate the simpler narrative that definitely hits more as I get older.
It's almost impossible to describe the intensity of the pre- Chain of Memories/KH2 hype era. There was no other game I was looking forward to more than this back in '02/03. However, when KH2 finally released, the experience was anticlimactic at best, if anything because of my own unrealistic expectations. The narrative didn't feel as cohesive, the dialogue felt really stiff, and it just didn't have the same charm.
Make no mistakes though, in terms of gameplay and combat, this is the strongest the franchise has ever been. Never has a Kingdom Hearts game's combat felt as fluid and buttery smooth, and if I were a speedrunner type or someone who didn't place emphasis on a game's narrative, it would have hit harder. It didn't help that the original NA release had an almost nonexistent postgame with any real incentives either.
KH2 Final Mix fixes so many of the original's issues in terms of pacing and content, and while KH1 will always be my favorite installment, this version of the game is much more adequate successor.
Make no mistakes though, in terms of gameplay and combat, this is the strongest the franchise has ever been. Never has a Kingdom Hearts game's combat felt as fluid and buttery smooth, and if I were a speedrunner type or someone who didn't place emphasis on a game's narrative, it would have hit harder. It didn't help that the original NA release had an almost nonexistent postgame with any real incentives either.
KH2 Final Mix fixes so many of the original's issues in terms of pacing and content, and while KH1 will always be my favorite installment, this version of the game is much more adequate successor.
An underrated gem. I remember listening to the nighttime music in the Valley of the Four Winds one evening while doing otherwise mindless dailies and thinking to myself, "I'm going to miss this expansion." I'm indifferent toward the pandaren at best, though I was never bored and the actual gameplay was an absolute blast.
It was also the last time for that players would see Blizzard changing up its patch structure and applying feedback actively throughout an expansion. There were legitimate gripes with a lot of the game's features, but the version we had by the end was a very fine-tuned experience.
It was also the last time for that players would see Blizzard changing up its patch structure and applying feedback actively throughout an expansion. There were legitimate gripes with a lot of the game's features, but the version we had by the end was a very fine-tuned experience.
What a fucking tragedy.
In hindsight, the fact that WoD was barely on life support as soon as it launched is a pretty miserable thought. Cataclysm drove a lot of players away gradually that MoP was just unable to bring back and retain despite being a solid expansion in its own right.
WoD was poised to bring things back on track and demonstrated that a lot of people wanted to come back. But man, did Blizzard completely drop the ball. It can't be understated how much of a disappointment this expansion ended up being. WoD was a game that you -wanted- to play, but at the end of the day just couldn't due to a complete lack of concrete, expansion-specific content.
In hindsight, the fact that WoD was barely on life support as soon as it launched is a pretty miserable thought. Cataclysm drove a lot of players away gradually that MoP was just unable to bring back and retain despite being a solid expansion in its own right.
WoD was poised to bring things back on track and demonstrated that a lot of people wanted to come back. But man, did Blizzard completely drop the ball. It can't be understated how much of a disappointment this expansion ended up being. WoD was a game that you -wanted- to play, but at the end of the day just couldn't due to a complete lack of concrete, expansion-specific content.
Disappointing on every front. In a weird way it's the inverse of WoD, which was an expansion people wanted to play but quite literally couldn't. BfA technically had so much content but ultimately created an experience that had you wanting to engage with none of it.
BfA really highlighted the unwieldiness of balancing external power systems with consistent content releases. Remember, Legion was only able to somewhat accomplish both by killing WoD in its tracks and siphoning its development time.
Tearing through 3 to 4 expansions worth of storylines and the resulting whiplash and unsatisfactory story beats also works against the game, but at the end of the day the miserable gameplay experience is what really drags it down.
BfA really highlighted the unwieldiness of balancing external power systems with consistent content releases. Remember, Legion was only able to somewhat accomplish both by killing WoD in its tracks and siphoning its development time.
Tearing through 3 to 4 expansions worth of storylines and the resulting whiplash and unsatisfactory story beats also works against the game, but at the end of the day the miserable gameplay experience is what really drags it down.
Vanilla WoW is king, and time has shown that. The buildup to the 2019 release of WoW Classic was packed with so much hype, and I'm glad to say it was all worth it in the end. It goes without saying that we can never truly re-live our original experiences, but the atmosphere and gameplay were more than welcome when this came out in the middle of the BfA-era. Easily the most fun I had with the game since WotLK.
Metroid has always been a niche franchise, so I'm not necessarily ashamed to admit that I never touched a game in the series until MPR, though I definitely regret not making more of an effort to play earlier installments. This game converted me, and I will eagerly anticipate future titles!
2022
I can see aspects of the game that haven't aged all that well, in addition to structure and general ease, as turning players away. That being said, I fell in love with the game's charm and absolute banger of a soundtrack.
2018
The game gets an A+ for being aesthetically gorgeous with beautiful, emotion-inducing music, but the game's overall bland story and issues with being a little too self-indulgent for its own good end up knocking off points. I liked the actual combat, but I need more going on to keep me wanting to play.
2004
This is -the- lightning in a bottle video game of my lifetime. I'm not an MMORPG fan at my core, but my love of the Warcraft universe and the accessibility this game provided gave me a clear on-ramp to my most played game of all time.
Truth be told, I spent almost all of my time chronically leveling and re-leveling as opposed to throwing myself at the endgame hamster wheel that has characterized the game for the better half of two decades at this point, and not once did I ever feel I was missing out on anything. Vanilla WoW will always hit different.
Truth be told, I spent almost all of my time chronically leveling and re-leveling as opposed to throwing myself at the endgame hamster wheel that has characterized the game for the better half of two decades at this point, and not once did I ever feel I was missing out on anything. Vanilla WoW will always hit different.