Inseparable in my mind to Zoe 2. People who skip this game are shooting themselves in the cockpit.

Still the flashiest and most exhilarating character action game in the business. Excellent artstyle and character/mech designs scored by ethereal angelic hums. Has setpieces that wield sheer scale practically unseen for the 6th console generation, and more effectively than the gens that came after. Continuing on from the first game's core, you're now a highly trained mech pilot eager to prove his worth - of COURSE it feels so much better to play, you're no longer that dopey dipshit kid.

A playable Ghibli movie. While the story's mission structure leaves a lot to be desired, its peaks are dizzyingly high and free roaming is pure distilled joy. A boon to the reputation of smelly girls.

Killer7 contains one of the best songs ever composed for a videogame, and it's in a room so small you typically only ever hear the first five seconds of it in normal play. The whole game feels like that, confident in itself, impossible to fully encompass.

A puzzle box of meticulous design, and it actually summons a Hellraiser.

Over time, this title's reputation started to seep into my skin and conditioned me to believe that it is bitterly unfair, that an element of clairvoyance is necessary, that hints to solutions simply do not all exist within the text.
This was my first replay after many years, and it served to prove to me that it's all true - the biggest clue is actually in the manual.

Very clearly inspired by Masacore indie titles, built top of its more direct Maze of the Galeous roots, La-Mulana takes the crown of the cruel genre by being one of the only entries with a beating heart. A sprawling structure that demands intuition and respect in regular doses. Fall out of line for even a second, and you're inviting your archeological gig to end prematurely in sharp, fiery death. Bosses use every cheap trick in the book. Fields populate with countless enemies that exist purely to halt all progress. Completely untelegraphed traps jump up and kill you with reprise. All this, made feasible with a generous checkpoint and teleportation system, it's kind of genius.
Soundtrack is a bop, too. Invites you to the challenge and remains a toe tapper throughout.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rfhi6I84hM

Puzzle design like this remains unmatched in anything outside of a Cyan Worlds point & click game. Every single screen holds an element of a grander puzzle, each with an inspiring level of thematic relevance. Their biggest crime would be dodgy wording in places. There isn't another Metroidvania in the world where every single room is equally important. All this, and the final task is to fold the ruins in on itself like an Origami butterfly, opening up a whole new layer of appreciation for the painstakingly crafted world Nigoro has created.

In the interest of sounding unbiased, it's definitely imperfect. Lots of iffy collision, a trial and error, and sheer leaps of logic are afoot. The later bosses are cruel to comedic degrees. All of these are astoundingly valid reasons to despise or drop this game..................... I just think it's uniquely satisfying to overcome the trials regardless - a nailscraping crawl to a victory that you need to fight tooth and nail to earn. To the last, I grapple with thee. from hell's heart, I stab at thee. for hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee.

They did it again.

Playing this on my dying DS at age 16, a genuinely eye-opening experience - games can be unfun on purpose and be better off for it. I'll be waiting with a smile at the front desk.

Entire studios live and die by their decades-spanning pedigrees of shooter franchises, yet Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios swooped in out of fucking nowhere to blow them out of the water. Hilarious, fast, furious. One of an embarrassingly low rank of games of this type where the enemies react in meaningful ways to your shots.

A beautiful miasma. Lies and death. There's no joy to be found here, only a deeply uncomfortable test of character. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
One thing I find so fascinating about Pathologic is how it manages to be a true "Role-Playing" game despite lacking the stats, perks and numbers commonly associated with such. It's not just that the writing is staggeringly good, it's that Pathologic understands that playing a video game is like acting out a script - that you're an actor on a theatre play. You're given a prefabricated role to play on the stage, but what differs is your portrayal of the character.
Does Artemy believe in the steppe tales? Does he want to take his place among the Kin, or is he more reluctant and skeptical? Does he still care about his old friends, even seeing what they've become? There are a great deal of dialogue options in the game that shape your understanding of your character's worldview and desires, through the ethically fraught choices and even the mundane ones.

(Carbon monoxide detector beep)

Capcom doesn't make very many fully fledged RPGs, but when they do they seem to excel at them. This combat and class building is dumb satisfying. Possibly the only case in the entire medium where firing a bow and arrow is actually fun.

The actual g-force radiating of this stunningly beautiful and electrifying thing. It gives me literal chills, it feels like I'm holding a weapon of mass destruction in my hands.

While a considerable amount of Lost Planet 2's acts feel overly slow and bloated, there are enough exhilarating ideas here to justify any slog herein five times over. Came out just as the co-op shooter genre fizzled out, and skirted frustratingly close to finally solving what ailed it. The industry saw the train cannon level and ran away with its glowing orange weakpoint between its legs. This is the closest we'll ever come to an ultimate campaign-based watertight co-op shooter. A visual powerhouse at points for sure.

It took years for me to stop being "that" Mother 3 guy. In my heart I still am, I've just learned to be quieter about it.

Warm duvet of a game. So incredibly kind and adventurous I don't mind at all how the final disk screams of hemorrhaged budgets.

My favourite Souls - Blanketed in sorrow and an intoxicating ambiguity. An artstyle akin to a faded picturebook you've plucked out of an ancient water-logged library. I love so much that all of the environments feel restrained and utilitarian. A soundtrack that is wholly unique, doesn't feel a little inspired by the Hollywood Orchestral Epics nor does it even attempt to hit those notes.
The one title in the franchise that actually feels like a fantastical adventure, with encounters and environments that are more often a challenge of wit and intuition than attack pattern memorisation or a side-flippy shounen damage value race. It reeks!!! But it reeks beauty. I genuinely don't believe FromSoft in their current form have it in them to create a boss battle like King Allant again.

Solid and innovative, continues to be the breath of fresh air now as it was when I first played it in 2009. Nothin like it!!!!

Inspired, methodically designed levels that flow so well, and a weapon system that was equal parts fun and rewarding to (attempt to) master. Possibly the best shmup I've ever played, I can feel Treasure were in the prime of their life through these bosses.

Oh my god the bash ability in this game is such a master stroke. How do you even go back to anything else?

Glad this game has finally found its niche, even if it's the sweaty denizens of Backloggd. I don't need to tell you why your mammas cooking is comforting to you, we already know that K&L2 is our special little guy.

That sweet spot between Spyro 1 and 3. Not too thin, not too bloated. Beautiful, too. Summer Forest theme in the slam tent.

Potentially the ultimate value proposition, on top of just setting the bar for HD remasters. Played all these games for the first time through this, and I love all of them. MGS kinda fucks.

okay maybe swords are cool

Is it a shame that my favourite Final Fantasy storyline comes at the tail end of a ~300-hour MMORPG where the content starts out rough but slowly blossoms with steadily improving character writing and more experimental ideas get thrown into the instanced mix? Nope

Honestly I just think it looks and sounds really cool. Respecting the fucking nerve to be rendered in such a grotty resolution and also to have the worst font ever concocted.

Specifically the PS2 ver.
The lil clunker that could.

Disgusting how good Rayman feels to control in this. Everything is so over-tuned to the point where if you know a level well enough you can just hold the left analogue stick and press A at the correct time as you frictionlessly carve your course to the end. I like dat

Da boilah!
Da boilah?
Da boilah!?
Da boilah!!!!

Best of the trilogy, even though I love 3.

Most charming game ever made not even a question.

Best in class gunplay, sound design and enemy behaviour

The atmosphere of this game really gets to me, man. It genuinely feels crushing, like the scores of heaven and hell are actually breathing down my neck and scheming to push me into a hydrolic press. More games need to take notes from the way Nocturne handles baked-in textures and simulated lighting. Unreal 5's bells and whistles won't make your game look this good.

Platonic ideal JRPG

My first fighting game of the very few I've played to this day, so I may be biased or something. Just a lot of fun with a hilarious roster.

One of the most meticulously designed open world maps I've ever seen. Every inch of this network of roads & railways & shortcuts is precision-engineered to give the player a new option every five yards. Truly lethal, I'm not surprised we're not allowed racing games this good any more.

Surprisingly expressive combat system, I've always hoped Pokemon would adopt something like this. Until then, best Arena fighter on the map no contest.

Maximalist nightmare, still feels next-gen.

\*WHO ARE YOU ?*

My comfort. Ever since I learned how to emulate, I've returned to this title with semi-regularity just so I can trip through it again.

\*DON'T COME ANY CLOSER !*

Rez is like if Char Davies' 1995 art installation called "Osmose" was a shmup. Experimental explorations through 3D spaces that, while primitive, are teaming with vibes, life, and anthropologic influences. There's such a grit to it all, it's like decoding the earth's DNA, weaving it into strings to pluck, and playing along to the universe's heartbeat. Did you know that all the data on Rez's PS2 disk amounted to 91mb? That's how much a soul weighs.

\*WHY ?*

You could definitely say it peaks early by starting with the best level - its music is incredible, the escalation in instrumentation and aesthetic complexity is unmatched, you can't power up enough to become one of the forms with annoying sound effects. It's worth playing the slightly less spectacular middle levels just to eventually hear Fear is the Mindkiller again. Never dull, always reinventing itself and finding new ways to overwhelm the player, enemies and patterns that never show up across levels - it's a journey.
The Area X level they introduced for the Rez Infinite port is welcome optional content that isn't hurting anything. Many people love it, I'm kinda nonplussed. Empty void of Unreal Engine particles and none of the progressive trance choons that keep my heart bumpin.

\*AREN'T YOU AFRAID ?*

Still about as visually spectacular as games ever got!!! This is up there with Zone of the Enders 2 for Apex Graphics.

\*SAVE ME .....*

Brief and poignant! The final level has been traced endlessly by so many games since that it drives me kind of insane.

A genre inventor, too bad it also mastered it into redundancy. About as good as diegetic game soundtracks can ever get without being just a thumping tracklist just that happens to play over levels.

Weak of mind and body: The input delay makes the game feel clunky and slow. It's so grey and brown.

The stalwart washed & soaped: The input delay makes the weapons in this game feel convincingly weighty, lending a convincing sense of struggle and triumph over encounters. Genuine awe-inspiring beauty and carefully considered design reers its head periodically thru the dust clouds & shrapnel.

Enjoyment of Kirby games enters a whole other level when you take upon the challenge to see their true endings. Meeting the stages myriad criteras can showcase the subtle genius to the level and mechanical design. This is the best Kirby to fully clear - strength to strength bombast.

The closest the Kirby series gets to matching my love of Dream Land 3. Shockingly dense mechanically, and filled with little sleight of hand tricks for every level.

If you don't like this you're boring

shoujo mastapiece and bisexual anthem

A repeatable childhood dream.

The most impeccable vibes Nintendo has ever concocted. I don't care if the pacing is slow i melt into it like butter.

(Need to replay this one honestly, only here because I remember loving it)

DK on the Gameboy features the best movelist Mario has ever had. It may be a tad overlong, but I don't mind it in so much as the levels can be cleared shockingly quickly with a deft understanding of how to maneuver through them.

Possibly a little gimmicky, its biggest sin is the Mike levels depriving my child brain of oxygen in my many attempts to perfect his microgames. It just feels so brimming w/ energy and excitement for the touchscreen and all the microgames are fun and varied for it.

Shu Takumi never misses but this was a critical hit.

(Also needs a replay but I remember loving it)

Hand on heart love hate relationship with this game for being so good it ruined the entire metroidvania genre for me. Struggling with all my life to go from this to any other, where the rooms all look the fucking same and there's next to no vertical character progression.

Surprisingly overlooked, in spite of the modern pseudo-PSX horror trend taking leaves from its book wholesale. Stunning dedication to the craft of environmental design, it doesn't feel legal for the PSX to be rendering these overwhelmingly realised areas sometimes. Just great vibes overall, crushing industrial hellscale ost, and pockets of genuine heart & humour where they need to be.

The most heartbreaking game.

(Played on an emulator with a rewind feature, so I could quickly go back and re-do a battle that I lost. Genuinely don't think I'd enjoy this as much as I did without such a great time-saving feature)

Instantly one of my all-time favourite JRPGs. Absolutely incredible spritework that brings the expressive characters and gorgeous environments to life. The soundtrack is a pandora's box of unforgettable melodies. The combat system evolves as you progress and eventually becomes one of the most captivating styles of combat I've ever seen in a JRPG, with its genius obfuscation of an ATB/stamina system. The story is a goofy hodge-podge of every trope imaginable, but the characters are so fun it all strings together perfectly.

The bit in Spongebob where he chisels the marble slab to free the David statue

Fifty levels, fifty earworms to last a lifetime.

One of those rare games that feels like it just has a lust for life. Excited to be here, hungry for attention, desperate to live to the fullest.

Soul incarnate.

OK Kiryu Kazuma you have my unwavering attention

(Been meaning to replay this)
Great "cursed game" vibes. The desktop concept is legitimately handled so well that you never even see any of the characters you spend the game interacting w/ the avatars of. No peak into whether the real world is actual stock photographs, 3D models or 2D illustrations, it's all up to the player's imagination, and it feels real thru that illusion.

Kawaii potpourri

Red in the face w/ laughter whenever I'm lucky enough to play this with someone for their first time.

Just feels perfect to me idk. Valve finally hitting their stride with Gordon and how he & his trials should play.

Quest design perfected.

Have only played this the once, and the response from peers on this site has been real interesting to me. Eager to play through this series to see why AC7 is relatively maligned. My experience with the game was incredibly gratifying and punctuated with some of the best needle drops and reactive scoring I've ever heard.

Infectiously hot-blooded passion project

This DLC was the moment where the singleplayer content of Splatoon finally felt like it grew enough to fill its own boots. Filled with genuinely inspired uses of the ink mechanic as well as the weapon toolsets of the game. If not for this, I'd be less excited than I currently am for Splatoon 3 - I have so much confidence it's going to be great.

nothing potent 2 say, lammy makes me happy

holy fuck

i'm kojima's little piggy

One of the only comedy games to actually be funny on purpose. Lots of fun worldbuilding too.

Fixed me

Enjoying that this is locked in purgatorio. So many flashes of brilliance here.

nooo don't drain the world of its life and colour your so sexy aha

The word "scoundrel" clings to you like a dying lover. Slave to a thousand metas - power, to you, is not a means but an end. People talk about you behind your back, but what is the gossip of worms to an Eagle?

Positively unhinged level of mechanical complexity it throws you into the deep end of. Once you get the ball rolling and learn how to trade the blows it constantly deals you, it all becomes surprisingly intuitive. Rear-view mirror on a first-person shooter is a hilarious thing.

The only roguelite to ever click with me, if only because its core mechanics are incredibly grounded in RPGmaker-isms. High skill ceiling & deaths always feel like your own fault because there are always better ways to approach a situation.

more games like this please I fucking beg you

Difficulty scaling is all over the shop and can make progression very stilted, but the journey is worth it. Stunning sound design.

Every single line of dialogue in this game fills me with pure unbridled joy.
There isn't a miss.

Ulala could bring the world together.

Reach out and touch your computer monitor. It's warm, like flesh. But it is not flesh. Not yet.

Precision platformer level design and presentation perfected.

Noticeably bloated and senselessly cruel, showing this to a newcomer pretty much requires the disclaimer that "you will die a lot, just try to use all of your bombs before that happens." If this were a slightly neater package; less repetitious segments, and perhaps updated to facilitate a health system rather than one of chugging endless coins in the virtual cabinet, it'd feel less like you're just being strung along for the ride. On the plus side, it's a fucking great ride - an avalanche of spectacle propped up with just about the right amount of feedback to tell you that you're the one controlling it. The final chapter is Thrillhouse incarnate.

(Need a replay)

Stare deep enough into the fractal, you'll find yourself staring back. Nothing short of genius - informed by its budgetary limits and creates something truly unique through them. Visuals that go far against horror genre presumptions and instead strives for something calm, meditative, beautiful. The spotless, uncanny opulence of the aging room in 2001: A Space Odyssey, but completely unfathomable in terms of scale and purpose. Possibly my favourite diegetic UI and sound design in games, with the frantic feeling of the encounters being matched completely by their aesthetics going from subtle to sensorially overwhelming. Absolutely beautiful reactive score and weighted feeling lore that is explained through fantastic writing and voice performances.
I don't want to give away the core gimmick of the palace, but suffice to say; Oh My God, play this.

Demon's Souls older brother who doesn't get enough sun.

one thing that strikes me every time i boot up yume nikki is how disarmingly intimate it feels. picking up on little thematic throughlines that connect the disparate worlds makes madotsuke feel like a genuine, empathisable person

(need a replay honestly)

Very spellbound by Yakuza 7's early game. Broad shifts for the series that nicely complement the themes of the story - about the difficulty of starting over in a new place, and it never being too late to look to the future. Further complemented by the fact that you are ripped out of not only the familiar Kamurocho, but also the genre. The fact that it unflinchingly touches on topics like homelessness in Japan, the sex work industry, and immigration mindfully... It's really fucking incredible. I won't gush, but I love the cast and their themes. I cried a lot.

The shift to turn-based was the stim injection I needed after growing weary of the mashy brawler combat of 0, K1+2. It's incredible that a combat system that has been iterated on for over a decade has been immediately blown out of the water by something that almost feels like a science experiment. A genuinely informed genre shift that means items and equipment finally matter, as well as meaning you can now operate an entire party of characters while completely maintaining the old original pacing. My vote for personal GOTY.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VV1lOo-T15I

hommina hommina burr-do doo

The one thing Qix truly needed was prisoners of war. This is a childhood fav I return to every so often - a simple premise done stylishly! If you don't find slicing airships apart with a large pair of scissors cathartic I don't even want to know you.

Breakneck pacing through linear design cleverly made to feel open, combined with the themes of lost agency and the powers one serves betraying them, which juxtaposes excellently by finally facing off with the pinnacle of power Samus used to be - now a horrific weapon to be feared and avoided. I love how naked it all makes you feel, Samus has her powers literally surgically removed from her body, your superiors withhold upgrades from you and lord complete command of your exploration, the new Fusion Suit follows a very bare, muscular system aesthetic, and that's the point.
Your adversary is the SA-X, a fully suited and booted walking sun, it practically glides through the station like a hot knife through butter - but despite inferior firepower and four layers of Federation protocol to sieve through, you've got the one thing it lacks. Wits.

If I could change one thing, it'd be for the opening act to be far less verbose and slow. If I could change a second thing, it'd be to make power bombs actually useful against bosses.

Left my ass cooked and crooked. Easy to let complaints of the rigidity of RPGmaker ATB combat and exploration fall to the wayside when the game's narrative doesn't miss a beat. OFF has a lot of unique ideas, and it tells them confidently with fantastic dialogue, surreal environments and an all around sense of style. For a game that paddles in the abstract so obscenely, the conclusion still manages to expertly close the book and leave the player with exactly what they need. Thanks for the stone in the gut.

Every now and then I play a fairly old game that retroactively makes decades-worth of titles that came later within the same classification a little less impressive - that they're just not being very ambitious by comparison.

Napple Tale does and accomplishes SO MUCH despite being built on top of a relatively clunky foundation of iffy platforming. Radiant and imaginative and emotionally charged and I just adored it. Thank you Yoko Kanno for the new favourite soundtrack
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzOwy2nu70o

Smiled so much my face hurt. You literally can't touch this.

I miss sending glitter to my homies.....
The world lost a shade of colour when the Switch released with a different type of touchscreen to the 3DS, I guess it's a capacitive one similar to the type phones use? Either way, it disincentivises the use of anything but a finger, or a specialised conductive stylus that the system doesn't even come with. No Art Academy, no Etrian Odyssey, no freaking Swapnote. Not swaggie. The humble social doodler has been hunted down and destroyed. Swapnote Nikki found dead in Miami.

games as a service (for fun)