Real ones
Games I adore.
109 Games
OK Kiryu Kazuma you have my unwavering attention
okay maybe swords are cool
Maximalist nightmare, still feels next-gen.
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.
i'm kojima's little piggy
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
The most impeccable vibes Nintendo has ever concocted. I don't care if the pacing is slow i melt into it like butter.
The most heartbreaking game.
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.
If you don't like this you lack moxie
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.
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.
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.
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
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
Just feels perfect to me idk. Valve finally hitting their stride with Gordon and how he & his trials should play.
Warm duvet of a game. So incredibly kind and adventurous I don't mind at all how the final disk screams of hemorrhaged budgets.
Best of the trilogy, even though I love 3.
People say this is pretentious, which JoBlo absolutely is - I just don't see it that way, if anything because I didn't listen to the boring ass audio logs. Stunningly well designed environmental puzzler, it honestly feels perfect to me.
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!!!!
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!!!!
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.
Fixed me
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.
Oh my god the bash ability in this game is such a master stroke. How do you even go back to anything else?
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.
It's good youre all just mean
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
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.
Best in class gunplay, sound design and enemy behaviour
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.
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.
Quest design perfected.
Shu Takumi never misses but this was a critical hit.
====================
XENOGLYPH II
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Writings by “BeachEpisode”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[Translation Accuracy: 91%]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
“Typically I’d run for the hills whenever someone threatened me with a roguelite - a genre I often find ƛʥ؆ٱᵯᶈ (disinterest in?) at the best of times, and one that stands in stark opposition to what I personally find fulfilling about videogames at worst. There wasn’t much in place to prepare me for how deftly Housemarque utilised their core arena arcade design tenets around this Cronenberg/Villeneuve aesthetic pastiche with equal parts confidence and purpose. It must be said, because it is ﬗꬳꬲﭏ (true?), that this is the best-feeling third-person shooter I’ve touched. The degree of freedom of expression in the general character movement, as well as the broad utility of the tools available allow for some astoundingly gratifying excursions through arenas fraught with enemies spewing endless pointilist bullet patterns in easily analysable & counterable on the fly attack patterns.”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
====================
XENOGLYPH III
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Writings by “BeachEpisode”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[Translation Accuracy: 95%]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
“The compounding subtleties and delicate touches to the way Returnal’s roguelite structure was sculpted for purpose to encapsulate Selene’s purgatorial journey convinces me of this being one of the best character studies I’ve seen since maybe Silent Hill 2? Blurring the line between ﬕתּﻼἕ (symbol?), metaphor and physicality and never prescribing strict and demystifying literalisations. I think it is a very special thing when taking a moment to enjoy the environmental art design can yield subtle narrative realisations, lines drawn between the fragments of a character that they allow you to excavate. The world of Returnal is so dizzyingly all-encompassing.”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
XENOGLYPH II
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Writings by “BeachEpisode”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[Translation Accuracy: 91%]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
“Typically I’d run for the hills whenever someone threatened me with a roguelite - a genre I often find ƛʥ؆ٱᵯᶈ (disinterest in?) at the best of times, and one that stands in stark opposition to what I personally find fulfilling about videogames at worst. There wasn’t much in place to prepare me for how deftly Housemarque utilised their core arena arcade design tenets around this Cronenberg/Villeneuve aesthetic pastiche with equal parts confidence and purpose. It must be said, because it is ﬗꬳꬲﭏ (true?), that this is the best-feeling third-person shooter I’ve touched. The degree of freedom of expression in the general character movement, as well as the broad utility of the tools available allow for some astoundingly gratifying excursions through arenas fraught with enemies spewing endless pointilist bullet patterns in easily analysable & counterable on the fly attack patterns.”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
====================
XENOGLYPH III
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Writings by “BeachEpisode”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[Translation Accuracy: 95%]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
“The compounding subtleties and delicate touches to the way Returnal’s roguelite structure was sculpted for purpose to encapsulate Selene’s purgatorial journey convinces me of this being one of the best character studies I’ve seen since maybe Silent Hill 2? Blurring the line between ﬕתּﻼἕ (symbol?), metaphor and physicality and never prescribing strict and demystifying literalisations. I think it is a very special thing when taking a moment to enjoy the environmental art design can yield subtle narrative realisations, lines drawn between the fragments of a character that they allow you to excavate. The world of Returnal is so dizzyingly all-encompassing.”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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
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.
That sweet spot between Spyro 1 and 3. Not too thin, not too bloated. Beautiful, too. Summer Forest theme in the slam tent.
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.
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.
Brief and poignant! The final level has been traced endlessly by so many games since that it drives me kind of insane.
Specifically the PS2 ver.
The lil clunker that could.
The lil clunker that could.
A repeatable childhood dream.
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.
(Carbon monoxide detector beep)
Fifty levels, fifty earworms to last a lifetime.
Platonic ideal JRPG
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.
(Also needs a replay but I remember loving it)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Can you feel the heat?
When the tires kiss the street
Move into the beat
Ever since I learned about occlusion culling, a technique deftly handled by Naughty Dog with their first PlayStation 1 title, Crash Bandicoot, my appreciation for the more graphically stellar titles for the system was granted a new shade. It helped offer me a frame of reference (granted, of one of the more extreme use cases) for the necessity to obscure unneeded geometry to save what precious few resources the console could afford - as well as giving me something to mull over whenever I play a 3D PS1 game that looks suspiciously good. Much akin to Crash Bandicoot, racing games benefit from what is essentially a densely curated linear track. With limited camera movement, every attainable viewing angle can be accurately poured over by the designers, letting them carefully weigh up exactly how much they can get away with at every meter of game space. This is very apparent in visually stunning racing titles like Wipeout 3, Colin McRae Rally 2.0, and Need for Speed: High Stakes; their tracks are glutted with turns, verticality and obstacles that exist to obscure as much model pop-in as possible, and offer a new piece of visual stimuli at every turn. This has a knock-on effect for how these tracks are actually driven on, too. Track designers are by necessity discouraged from long straightaways where the world noticeably phases into existence, and instead ensure that the player has very little if any downtime from cornering, maintaining a thrilling tempo that only stops when the chequered flag is waved. I say all this, because I really do miss the era where racing games were these hardware-defying explosions of style and skill, with enough big-money backing to allow the designers to let their perfectionism and neuroses get tangled in the engine’s crankshaft. I can only go in a straight line down a massive realistic unreal engine map for so long.
Anyway. Ridge Racer Type 4 is a Swiss watch. One of very, very few games I’d describe as “meticulous”. Every one of its moving parts serves a key purpose in its grand design. Its mechanisms are the result of painstaking consideration for the most minute details. Built to last, and never lose its sheen. The only game my dad likes (real). It all just moves & breathes with this air of confidence and romance, exemplified by the way the penultimate setpiece is the final lap taking place at the exact turn of the millennium - a genuinely affecting gesture to barrel through doubt and seize your future by any means.
One thing I’m particularly taken by is the overall stylistic presentation of Type 4. Among the first things you see upon loading it up are the game’s signature tail/headlight afterglows leaving trails across the screen. The preamble at the start of this review was for no reason other than the fact that R4 actualises the PS1. Its environments use every trick in the book with a healthy serving of incredible models & baked-in textures to make the world feel rich beyond the scope of the road. The game’s UI alone is worth studying for its consistent use of very few colours, empty-space and minimalist decoration. In establishing a universe that seemingly exists solely for the purpose of racing fictional cars around the fictional Ridge City, the developers at Namco have populated the series with a mountain of logos, icons, banners, signs, patterns, manufacturers, liveries and colour palettes. They work to establish the curves, hills and tunnels as very real places with a history all their own. How did Wonderhill get its name? Why is it called Shooting Hoops? Where are these places in Ridge City and how do they fit into the Ridge Racer universe?
Look at the Helter Skelter track’s logo, for instance. One of the things I enjoy about this logo is its deceptively simple construction that results in a complex visual illusion of sorts. Essentially, the structure is a series of circles that reduce in size from top to bottom. The circles do not change shape in the slightest, only in scale, and by removing their intersections and filling in some minor spaces to complete the shape, is this illusion achieved. It harkens to the track’s multi-levelled nature, conveying a sense of movement as you rapidly weave through overpasses and underground tunnels w/ the ferocity of a hurricane.
The whole game is like this. A veritable archive of audio, visual and game design, of weapons-grade artistic talent. Beyond aspirational and genuinely medium affirming.
When the tires kiss the street
Move into the beat
Ever since I learned about occlusion culling, a technique deftly handled by Naughty Dog with their first PlayStation 1 title, Crash Bandicoot, my appreciation for the more graphically stellar titles for the system was granted a new shade. It helped offer me a frame of reference (granted, of one of the more extreme use cases) for the necessity to obscure unneeded geometry to save what precious few resources the console could afford - as well as giving me something to mull over whenever I play a 3D PS1 game that looks suspiciously good. Much akin to Crash Bandicoot, racing games benefit from what is essentially a densely curated linear track. With limited camera movement, every attainable viewing angle can be accurately poured over by the designers, letting them carefully weigh up exactly how much they can get away with at every meter of game space. This is very apparent in visually stunning racing titles like Wipeout 3, Colin McRae Rally 2.0, and Need for Speed: High Stakes; their tracks are glutted with turns, verticality and obstacles that exist to obscure as much model pop-in as possible, and offer a new piece of visual stimuli at every turn. This has a knock-on effect for how these tracks are actually driven on, too. Track designers are by necessity discouraged from long straightaways where the world noticeably phases into existence, and instead ensure that the player has very little if any downtime from cornering, maintaining a thrilling tempo that only stops when the chequered flag is waved. I say all this, because I really do miss the era where racing games were these hardware-defying explosions of style and skill, with enough big-money backing to allow the designers to let their perfectionism and neuroses get tangled in the engine’s crankshaft. I can only go in a straight line down a massive realistic unreal engine map for so long.
Anyway. Ridge Racer Type 4 is a Swiss watch. One of very, very few games I’d describe as “meticulous”. Every one of its moving parts serves a key purpose in its grand design. Its mechanisms are the result of painstaking consideration for the most minute details. Built to last, and never lose its sheen. The only game my dad likes (real). It all just moves & breathes with this air of confidence and romance, exemplified by the way the penultimate setpiece is the final lap taking place at the exact turn of the millennium - a genuinely affecting gesture to barrel through doubt and seize your future by any means.
One thing I’m particularly taken by is the overall stylistic presentation of Type 4. Among the first things you see upon loading it up are the game’s signature tail/headlight afterglows leaving trails across the screen. The preamble at the start of this review was for no reason other than the fact that R4 actualises the PS1. Its environments use every trick in the book with a healthy serving of incredible models & baked-in textures to make the world feel rich beyond the scope of the road. The game’s UI alone is worth studying for its consistent use of very few colours, empty-space and minimalist decoration. In establishing a universe that seemingly exists solely for the purpose of racing fictional cars around the fictional Ridge City, the developers at Namco have populated the series with a mountain of logos, icons, banners, signs, patterns, manufacturers, liveries and colour palettes. They work to establish the curves, hills and tunnels as very real places with a history all their own. How did Wonderhill get its name? Why is it called Shooting Hoops? Where are these places in Ridge City and how do they fit into the Ridge Racer universe?
Look at the Helter Skelter track’s logo, for instance. One of the things I enjoy about this logo is its deceptively simple construction that results in a complex visual illusion of sorts. Essentially, the structure is a series of circles that reduce in size from top to bottom. The circles do not change shape in the slightest, only in scale, and by removing their intersections and filling in some minor spaces to complete the shape, is this illusion achieved. It harkens to the track’s multi-levelled nature, conveying a sense of movement as you rapidly weave through overpasses and underground tunnels w/ the ferocity of a hurricane.
The whole game is like this. A veritable archive of audio, visual and game design, of weapons-grade artistic talent. Beyond aspirational and genuinely medium affirming.
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.
I’m overwhelmingly glad that I stuck with this game through to the end, because I very nearly didn’t. True to what other people have said - Eastward is glacial; largely disinterested with stringing the player along with explosive story beats, overarching goals and villains. While the game shares many similarities to Zelda: Minish Cap and Mother 3 in its aesthetics, dungeon schema and quirky ensemble cast, it feels closer in spirit to Moon: Remix RPG. Eastward is primarily a story of a journey, a potpourri of emotions and vignettes, and it expects you to inhabit the communities of the microworlds you visit on your trip. I wish I had known this going in, and I’d like to start my review by stating as such as a primer for anyone reading because when I clocked what Eastward’s intentions were and met it halfway, I finally found myself sinking in.
Eastward is an adventure RPG revolving around the story of John, a stoic, taciturn miner and his mysterious wide-eyed adoptive daughter named Sam - each born into an isolated town deep beneath the surface. The narrative is ostensibly a one-way ticket on a train powered by Sam’s positive energy and curiosity as she yearns to see the sun for the first time with a thoroughly convincing and endearing childlike wonderment. Upon reaching the surface, I was right there with her.
The world is presented through the dichotomy of John and Sam’s polar opposite personalities. Sam is contagiously cheerful and childishly chatty, but she often fails to perceive the more adult dramas and contradictions. Despite John being ghoulishly silent throughout the game, he exhibits warmth and intelligence at points that the player can fill in themselves. This is particularly noticeable in moments like when Sam and John encounter incubators for artificial human beings hidden deep within ruins for the first time. For Sam, those seem almost like hyper-technological playgrounds, while for John, and consequently also for the player, their mysterious and threatening nature is very evident. It’s all surprisingly effective as far as Game Dad character interactions go.
Eastward is a post-apocalyptic setting fraught with danger, but dotted along the tracks are pockets of humanity small and large, towns and cities with cultures cultivated over time in isolation. Each is inhabited by characters that are of course quirky, but surprisingly fleshed out and genuinely memorable. It’s been a very long time since a game world has felt so alive and well-told down to its minute details, helped in no small part to the stellar pixel work in the meticulously realised characters and environments. Some of the best pixel art I have ever seen. Honestly, it left me genuinely inspired - to take in every inch of the world, but also to create for myself.
I often found myself thinking back to the steps on the path I had already walked, about the characters I could no longer return to, and wondering what they were doing while I was not there to watch. Personally speaking, I can ask nothing more of a game. Eastward acted as a beacon of positive vibrations and inspiration to me. As someone who has never grown out of pinning himself to a train window and imagining the lives of the people in the towns I zoom by, the experience of this game was incisive to something I hold dear. Favourite game of 2021 by far.
Eastward is an adventure RPG revolving around the story of John, a stoic, taciturn miner and his mysterious wide-eyed adoptive daughter named Sam - each born into an isolated town deep beneath the surface. The narrative is ostensibly a one-way ticket on a train powered by Sam’s positive energy and curiosity as she yearns to see the sun for the first time with a thoroughly convincing and endearing childlike wonderment. Upon reaching the surface, I was right there with her.
The world is presented through the dichotomy of John and Sam’s polar opposite personalities. Sam is contagiously cheerful and childishly chatty, but she often fails to perceive the more adult dramas and contradictions. Despite John being ghoulishly silent throughout the game, he exhibits warmth and intelligence at points that the player can fill in themselves. This is particularly noticeable in moments like when Sam and John encounter incubators for artificial human beings hidden deep within ruins for the first time. For Sam, those seem almost like hyper-technological playgrounds, while for John, and consequently also for the player, their mysterious and threatening nature is very evident. It’s all surprisingly effective as far as Game Dad character interactions go.
Eastward is a post-apocalyptic setting fraught with danger, but dotted along the tracks are pockets of humanity small and large, towns and cities with cultures cultivated over time in isolation. Each is inhabited by characters that are of course quirky, but surprisingly fleshed out and genuinely memorable. It’s been a very long time since a game world has felt so alive and well-told down to its minute details, helped in no small part to the stellar pixel work in the meticulously realised characters and environments. Some of the best pixel art I have ever seen. Honestly, it left me genuinely inspired - to take in every inch of the world, but also to create for myself.
I often found myself thinking back to the steps on the path I had already walked, about the characters I could no longer return to, and wondering what they were doing while I was not there to watch. Personally speaking, I can ask nothing more of a game. Eastward acted as a beacon of positive vibrations and inspiration to me. As someone who has never grown out of pinning himself to a train window and imagining the lives of the people in the towns I zoom by, the experience of this game was incisive to something I hold dear. Favourite game of 2021 by far.
Surprisingly expressive combat system, I've always hoped Pokemon would adopt something like this. Until then, best Arena fighter on the map no contest.
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.
holy fuck
Inseparable in my mind to Zoe 2. People who skip this game are shooting themselves in the cockpit.
Red in the face w/ laughter whenever I'm lucky enough to play this with someone for their first time.
Kawaii potpourri
I was never really one for point-and-click adventure puzzlers - more due to lack of trying than anything else. Maybe I should get into them in a bigger way - there are certainly some banger entries that have flown under my radar, but the ones I've earnestly attempted have been clangers, and I don't want to dedicate too much of this review to throwing namedrops under a bus (besides Deponia, that one deserves being nailed to the autobahn). Even as much as The Neverhood was a stylistically formative pillar of my life in my developing years and one that I swear by even now, I can never entirely escape the little conceit in my head that I know the game itself banks off of that style hard enough to leave actual design and writing by the wayside.
It's great, but is it Monkey Island 2 good? God no.
MI2 is a wonderfully transformative twist on the first game that understandably leaves many people behind. I personally adored its shift into a creepier, sadder atmosphere - where the first game's player experience is akin to a child discovering a new favourite theme park ride, excitedly exploring the sets in doe-eyed awe at the light and magic of it all. 2 is like finally stepping out of the funhouse and catching glimpses into the employee backrooms, seeing mascot characters take their mask off and putting out a cigarette on an animatronic. Everything here seems to just work in the game's favour; the puzzles are somewhat more streamlined and give me the impression of ride designers running out of ideas and budget. The palette's increase from 16 to 256 on screen colours at a time afforded the illustrators more licence to breathe some character into the environments, which funnily enough is the exact opposite of what they did - Monkey Island 2 feels downright dead to look at at times, even the vibrant front-end stages the amusement park designers want you to see have a sickly dingy grotty energy to them. The writing is just as funny as the first game but comes across far less comedic because of the dryness to the character delivery. These employees are here to pay their rent and go home, dead-eyed hucksters here to exploit the dream factory. Love it so much it all just works, and creates a uniquely textured feel to so many of the interactions in the game that for all intents and purposes should be childhood idyll. Which is what makes the ending so good to me, one of the few times I've seen "it was all a dream" handled so well because it recontextualises not only everything that happened earlier in the game, but the first entry too where the signs become strikingly obvious when pointed out. Without explicitly giving away too much, it's clear that Guybrush is an unhappy child coming to learn that his fantasy happy place is giving diminishing returns. The problem with dreams is that you have to wake up eventually.
It's great, but is it Monkey Island 2 good? God no.
MI2 is a wonderfully transformative twist on the first game that understandably leaves many people behind. I personally adored its shift into a creepier, sadder atmosphere - where the first game's player experience is akin to a child discovering a new favourite theme park ride, excitedly exploring the sets in doe-eyed awe at the light and magic of it all. 2 is like finally stepping out of the funhouse and catching glimpses into the employee backrooms, seeing mascot characters take their mask off and putting out a cigarette on an animatronic. Everything here seems to just work in the game's favour; the puzzles are somewhat more streamlined and give me the impression of ride designers running out of ideas and budget. The palette's increase from 16 to 256 on screen colours at a time afforded the illustrators more licence to breathe some character into the environments, which funnily enough is the exact opposite of what they did - Monkey Island 2 feels downright dead to look at at times, even the vibrant front-end stages the amusement park designers want you to see have a sickly dingy grotty energy to them. The writing is just as funny as the first game but comes across far less comedic because of the dryness to the character delivery. These employees are here to pay their rent and go home, dead-eyed hucksters here to exploit the dream factory. Love it so much it all just works, and creates a uniquely textured feel to so many of the interactions in the game that for all intents and purposes should be childhood idyll. Which is what makes the ending so good to me, one of the few times I've seen "it was all a dream" handled so well because it recontextualises not only everything that happened earlier in the game, but the first entry too where the signs become strikingly obvious when pointed out. Without explicitly giving away too much, it's clear that Guybrush is an unhappy child coming to learn that his fantasy happy place is giving diminishing returns. The problem with dreams is that you have to wake up eventually.
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.
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.
\*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 .....*
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 .....*
when i cried because my car got a little beat up i had to admit that the game had its hooks in me
The bit in Spongebob where he chisels the marble slab to free the David statue
(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.
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.
Da boilah!
Da boilah?
Da boilah!?
Da boilah!!!!
Da boilah?
Da boilah!?
Da boilah!!!!
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.
Enjoying that this is locked in purgatorio. So many flashes of brilliance here.
(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.
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.
Finding the Gods in the little things
Farming games have bored me to tears forever, and I could never put my finger on exactly why, until I played Sakuna. They never feel like I'm actually making anything for anyone, merely automating infinitely expanding factories that operate a hidden spreadsheet which assures me I'm efficiently pumping out a million different kinds of produce you never have the opportunity to see. A distant bird's eye view on an industrial empire devoid of anything besides numbers and percentages. At least it fills up a hunger bar, right?
Sakuna, on the other hand, has a laser-focused level of attention purely on rice farming, right down to the player needing to manually carry out quite literally every single step of the process by hand. Tracing the production cycle from sorting the seeds - tilling the land - planting the seedlings evenly - fertilising and maintaining a desired water level balance - reaping then drying the stalks on a rack - threshing and hulling for the type of rice desired - then preparing a meal to watch your beloved newfound family enjoy. It's tedious and arduous toil but completely thankful and full to the brim with charm, and I fucking love it more than anything. Quite literally made me more appreciative of a foodstuff I take for granted. Filled with sweet, reverent moments I found genuinely moving and will stick with me for a long time. Watching this humble rice paddy thrive was more uplifting than I have the words for.
You can miss me with the combat, which is my main sticking point because you spend so much time doing it. Labourious and dull even after the movelist opens up towards the end of the game. I'm thoroughly unconvinced the drudgery exists to further the game's themes of toil and spoil because it's just... so standard of a mid-tier Japanese game production.
Probably my biggest case of "a sequel could make this perfect", and the game's apparent success at least in Japan has me genuinely hopeful. A few minor deviations and we have a Strand game on our hands. Hear me out.,
Farming games have bored me to tears forever, and I could never put my finger on exactly why, until I played Sakuna. They never feel like I'm actually making anything for anyone, merely automating infinitely expanding factories that operate a hidden spreadsheet which assures me I'm efficiently pumping out a million different kinds of produce you never have the opportunity to see. A distant bird's eye view on an industrial empire devoid of anything besides numbers and percentages. At least it fills up a hunger bar, right?
Sakuna, on the other hand, has a laser-focused level of attention purely on rice farming, right down to the player needing to manually carry out quite literally every single step of the process by hand. Tracing the production cycle from sorting the seeds - tilling the land - planting the seedlings evenly - fertilising and maintaining a desired water level balance - reaping then drying the stalks on a rack - threshing and hulling for the type of rice desired - then preparing a meal to watch your beloved newfound family enjoy. It's tedious and arduous toil but completely thankful and full to the brim with charm, and I fucking love it more than anything. Quite literally made me more appreciative of a foodstuff I take for granted. Filled with sweet, reverent moments I found genuinely moving and will stick with me for a long time. Watching this humble rice paddy thrive was more uplifting than I have the words for.
You can miss me with the combat, which is my main sticking point because you spend so much time doing it. Labourious and dull even after the movelist opens up towards the end of the game. I'm thoroughly unconvinced the drudgery exists to further the game's themes of toil and spoil because it's just... so standard of a mid-tier Japanese game production.
Probably my biggest case of "a sequel could make this perfect", and the game's apparent success at least in Japan has me genuinely hopeful. A few minor deviations and we have a Strand game on our hands. Hear me out.,
Ulala could bring the world together.
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.
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.
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.
(Need a replay)
hommina hommina burr-do doo
Your eminence, Sim City 4 has fallen from the ranks.
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.
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.
Soul incarnate.
Most charming game ever made not even a question.
shoujo mastapiece and bisexual anthem
pure, crisp & warm. lingers long after the final chord has sounded.
Precision platformer level design and presentation perfected.
games as a service (for fun)
Thank you for being the best gatcha game, having a billion free songs with high quality music videos & character designs, and blessing my twitter feed with 11/10 fanart every day for like six years. Let this review debase my credibility - i Do Not Care.
"Maybe life is like a ride on a freeway
Dodging bullets while you're trying to find your way" -unnamed polymath
I know I'm not the only person caught unaware of how they made not only one, but TWO mainline sequels to the Crazy Taxi series. While they may not be fully souped-up reimaginings, Crazy Taxi 2 and 3 contain all of the content in the prior entry plus a little more, it's a little more apt to think of these as expansion packs. What this mercifully does is maintain the lean and mean purity of the breakout title and sprinkle in a handful more options and maps for just the right amount of variety and personalisation.
The most standout addition in these expansions for me is the jump button, it's wild how much this shakes up your approach to the West Coast you'd otherwise be nailed to the ground for. With the ability to scale buildings and a sense of mastery of the course, it's insanely satisfying to defy the will of the sat-nav and take batshit and overly-direct routes to a dropoff point. I particularly love pulling off a crazy boost and landing on top of a highrise in the middle of nowhere and finding that the developers had the foresight to put a hidden customer there as a little treat. This is kind of fucking amazing. Unfettered videogames. The moment I understand how the fuck you're supposed to pull off a Crazy Drift it's over for you all.
If ever you feel the meter calling, the PC version of the game is easily available in a simple google search. Be sure to use the CT3Tweaks fan patch that adds certain optimisations, greater framerate and resolution support. The soundtrack is kind of hilariously bad but it's all stored in the root folder as .ogg files and I'm sure it'll be no problem to customise yourself.
Dodging bullets while you're trying to find your way" -unnamed polymath
I know I'm not the only person caught unaware of how they made not only one, but TWO mainline sequels to the Crazy Taxi series. While they may not be fully souped-up reimaginings, Crazy Taxi 2 and 3 contain all of the content in the prior entry plus a little more, it's a little more apt to think of these as expansion packs. What this mercifully does is maintain the lean and mean purity of the breakout title and sprinkle in a handful more options and maps for just the right amount of variety and personalisation.
The most standout addition in these expansions for me is the jump button, it's wild how much this shakes up your approach to the West Coast you'd otherwise be nailed to the ground for. With the ability to scale buildings and a sense of mastery of the course, it's insanely satisfying to defy the will of the sat-nav and take batshit and overly-direct routes to a dropoff point. I particularly love pulling off a crazy boost and landing on top of a highrise in the middle of nowhere and finding that the developers had the foresight to put a hidden customer there as a little treat. This is kind of fucking amazing. Unfettered videogames. The moment I understand how the fuck you're supposed to pull off a Crazy Drift it's over for you all.
If ever you feel the meter calling, the PC version of the game is easily available in a simple google search. Be sure to use the CT3Tweaks fan patch that adds certain optimisations, greater framerate and resolution support. The soundtrack is kind of hilariously bad but it's all stored in the root folder as .ogg files and I'm sure it'll be no problem to customise yourself.
nooo don't drain the world of its life and colour your so sexy aha
the shmup that hit my aesthetic sensibilities just right. kind of ideal.
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.
Demon's Souls older brother who doesn't get enough sun.
"A good tree has victims".
Stare close enough at the screen and you start to see the human hands appreciatively building every one of Beeswing's vignettes. I was thoroughly not expecting a game to understand, to so deftly and honestly articulate grief, nostalgia and mending. Beeswing is just honest, It’s not trying to impress anyone or manipulate them into feeling something, it simply wishes to exist - just as its inhabitants live quietly near and far from their loved ones, opening up to anyone who'll listen. Beeswing isn’t sad, but it isn’t happy either. It recounts the lives of (I assume) people the developer knew growing up with a plain biographical melancholy that is difficult to properly explain. I’m so used to media recounting horrible events, making me depressed for the sake of a narrative that’s supposed to mean something. But Beeswing never tried to bring me down, in fact it’s so clean in its indifference to how the player feels that it would seem cold if not for how tangible and raw the things it says and the way it shows you them are. A recurring motif in this game in itself is this kind of honesty, not necessarily to "make the most" of our limited time on this earth, but to live true - to yourselves and others, as it's the greatest way to reciprocate love.
Stare close enough at the screen and you start to see the human hands appreciatively building every one of Beeswing's vignettes. I was thoroughly not expecting a game to understand, to so deftly and honestly articulate grief, nostalgia and mending. Beeswing is just honest, It’s not trying to impress anyone or manipulate them into feeling something, it simply wishes to exist - just as its inhabitants live quietly near and far from their loved ones, opening up to anyone who'll listen. Beeswing isn’t sad, but it isn’t happy either. It recounts the lives of (I assume) people the developer knew growing up with a plain biographical melancholy that is difficult to properly explain. I’m so used to media recounting horrible events, making me depressed for the sake of a narrative that’s supposed to mean something. But Beeswing never tried to bring me down, in fact it’s so clean in its indifference to how the player feels that it would seem cold if not for how tangible and raw the things it says and the way it shows you them are. A recurring motif in this game in itself is this kind of honesty, not necessarily to "make the most" of our limited time on this earth, but to live true - to yourselves and others, as it's the greatest way to reciprocate love.
They did it again.
One of the only comedy games to actually be funny on purpose. Lots of fun worldbuilding too.
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.
I don't want to give away the core gimmick of the palace, but suffice to say; Oh My God, play this.
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
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
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.
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.
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.
With three precise taps of the X button, Everybody's Golf: World Invitational swings the nine-iron in one meticulously executed master stroke, launching the entire golf genre through the firmament. "Nice shot!" exclaims the caddy.
Simply think this is magical, not even just my favourite golf game - it's my primo Sports Game. To the gills with charm, personality in its playable cast and attention to detail in its realisation of the myriad courses on offer.
Simply think this is magical, not even just my favourite golf game - it's my primo Sports Game. To the gills with charm, personality in its playable cast and attention to detail in its realisation of the myriad courses on offer.
Smiled so much my face hurt. You literally can't touch this.
3 Comments
I'm u
Thanks for writing detailed reasons for the entries in this list. Always appreciate it when people do that in their "my fav games" lists.
Fernabo
7 months ago