A 3.8 rating average? Wild. I’ve long since abstained from taking aggregated marks when it comes to an art’s overall quality seriously, but you gotta admit it nevertheless functions as an adequate indicator on the public perception. About a month ago, Plants Vs Zombies 1 just had its 14th anniversary, and while the IP has lately trucked along on an irregular trajectory, receiving either discordant discussion and debacle or an overwhelming accordance of negativity, there still beats a pulse of a dedicated cult following throughout the years, be it on social media or, should be plugged into it as much as I am, various content available on YouTube. Make no mistake, though, all of this is well warranted, since after finishing it for the first time after several years has passed, it’s just as good today as it was on release! It’s easy to forget this started off with a humble, cozier origin, before EA and even PopCap had entered the picture, where it sprouted from an idea by one George Fan.

Back in the early 2000s, an early work of his, crafted alongside artist colleague Tysen Henderson, was another cult classic some people may recognize: a Java-initiated web game called Wrath Of The Gopher Insaniquarium. Created as a way to enter the 2002 Independant Games Festival, once Fan had received word it was marked as a finalist - which, as he puts it, made him “literally scream YEAAAAAAAHHH” at a Hawaiin cybercafe, and the game itself had won an award later - he contacted PopCap to see if they would be able to meet with him at that year’s Game Developer’s Conference. Aiding him in publishing it as a downloadable title, they also offered him a position within the company, though he had already settled as a programmer for Blizzard. The latter company did allow him to continue tinkering with Insaniquarium with PopCap, however, and from there he’s gone on record stating he stayed with Blizzard for about two and a half years during this time, fuzzily stating it was from 2002 through 2004 potentially as an AI programmer. This does line up from what I’ve been digging, as he appears in Diablo 3’s Blizzard North Special Thanks section of the credits, and Insaniquarium Deluxe’s release occurred on August 30th, 2004. Now, something I’m most surprised by, after reading the linked article Graham Smith wrote in 2010 for PCGamer and perusing Fan’s 2019 twitter thread for the game’s 10th anniversary, is that when the conception for the PopCap title began, it didn’t even start as the one we know today. No, it was gonna be a sequel, or at least some form of continuation of Insaniquarium’s mechanics for the DS, putting more effort on the battles against the aliens and resource management than ever. Then, a shift occurred; due to being a massive fan of Warcraft 3 at the time and checking out its numerous mods, one about tower defense enveloped onto his mind. Thinking deeper, the idea blossomed into one where you could use plants with silly little faces as a defensive tool, planted onto lanes to hold back any extraterrestrial force. After ruminating that aliens wouldn’t be as standout, there came about a series of sketches, and a particular zombie brought about the transitional phase of the framework entirely. Thanks to the studio providing him with a small yet sufficient team consisting of programmer Tod Semple, artist Rich Werner, composer Laura Shigihara, and supporting writer for the in-game item Suburban Almanac Stephen Notely, coupled with posting about it on the PopCap forums for feedback and improvements now that he was taking on the role as a designer, Plants Vs. Zombies was born… aptly summarized, anyway. I’m cutting some corners in regards to the process due to it running deep, involving several altercations from title ideas to lane and level structures that I suggest looking into on your own free time, such as its Cutting Room Floor entry to name one example.

As far as how the horticulture ties into the gameplay design, aside from Warcraft 3’s TD mods, there’s also the card management a la Magic The Gathering, and shenanigan extravaganza courtesy of a late night viewing of Disney’s Swiss Family Robinson film. You know the jist, protect your brains from the hungry crawlers in each of the five lanes, all while maintaining a cost:converse ratio of Sun either from drops or Sunflowers/Sun Shrooms. A fundamental goal was gradually introducing new plants and gameplay function, while expanding the depth and scope as to how they correlate with one another within the TD mold; plainly, collecting more plants to peruse and dabble with, then branch off into synergy rules. There’s the obvious like “don’t plop a Torchwood on the same row as an Snow Pea since it’ll negate its ice effect” and “Spikeweeds and their upgraded form Spikerocks make a fantastic partner to the Wall-type items”, but there’s a tinge more under the humus: Garlic diverges the walkers to either the top or bottom lane once they smacked upon it, which is a great compliment for Fume-shrooms and especially their upgraded counterpart Gloom-shrooms since their blast radius penetrates in a straight line, or circular in the latter’s case, as well as single-use plants like the Squash and Potato Mine for their low Sun cost being able to make for quick defense during the early game; Scaredy-shroom tends to get overlooked by common players due to their innate quirk of hiding away when the enemy gets too close, but considering its base cost of 25 Sun, as well as being most effective at the backend due to said quirk, it’ll mean saving a chunk of them up for when it should occur and counteracting with, again, a single-use item; Puffshrooms are the most broken item in the game by not only being free of charge, not only doing enough damage to lighten up the adversary for the big boys to handle, but also acting as a brazenly panic shield for either your five brains, or your sun-producing plants, thereby making it a prime candidate as our supreme overlord. Although uh, to avoid doing That Thing where one ostentatiously makes the super-obviously-made-for-family game seem more FORWARD-THINKING and WAY DEEPER than it actually is, I’ll clarify that not only are there rather wrongful steps taken - you are given Cactus, a middling damager who’s one gimmick consists of countering balloon users, right before it becomes near useless by Blover, a utility that does the same thing only slightly cheaper, faster at the recharge, and also lifts the fog temporarily at that - you can and will get by just from using basic strategy and higher-tiered weaponry as you go along, doubly so for the separate Survival mode where I handled it majorly thanks to the fast-spitting Repeater, the aforementioned Shrooms, the erratic spreads of the Starfruit, etc. etc. Not to say I didn’t have fun all throughout nor didn’t at least entertain the idea of making potentially stupid plans, but ya know, just a bit of a blow to the noggin that there isn’t more to it. Still, personal gripe aside, Fan did do a GDC conference detailing his tutorialization helping his mom get through the game, so kudos to a job well done.

Besides, the Adventure stuff is only a small, 6-8 hours worth of slice people remember about the package, about 4-6 additional hours including the separate Survival mode. Nah, people remember this for being an oddball of all sorts of diverging and differing mechanics. All that Wall-nut bowling and conveyor-flowing intermission and endcaps, the two Bejeweled twists, the dumb I Zombie puzzler, the fun and brain-teasing Vasebreaker, its own iteration of Insaniquarium, goddamn Portal combat, let’s just say I wasn’t surprised to learn they had even more minigame ideas that had to be cut from the table, what’s here is already commendable enough as is! There’s also Zen Garden to help it all out, looping the idea of obtaining then spending currency garnered from here and the other modes, then using them to buy gardening refurbishments, as well as card upgrades and special items to help with survival. There’s the Tree of Wisdom, but don’t bother, it’s a SCAM of spending ludicrous amounts of money to feed it, just to obtain the minutiae of cheats and easily inferred hints. I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention Rich’s wonderful art designs, which are done to such a degree that it’s safe to say they’re somewhat of an icon. I mean, I know I’m not the only guy that saw a legion of the Zombies as an avi back then, or seeing the bobsled team get bamboozled as their vehicle is hilariously destroyed from various means, or chuckling over the unfortunate Newspaper guy throwing a rage after its destroyed, or seeing some oddly Jeff Smith-like homages such as the Gargantuan and The Creature. A lot of the animation was done by Semple, who knew the animation export process in Flash to have it all work out. it seems like Fan was initially weary over this, saying “I didn’t want it to look too much like something cut out of paper like South Park”, but turned around when he saw how impressive the results were. Plus, the music man, I dunno how I forgot how much of an earworm it is. Shigihara has mentioned before how she was influenced by compositions provided by Danny Elfman, various NES Capcom titles among others, and she does a great job characterizing these influences while still maintaining a unique, off-kilter style befitting the game. You’ve got direct throwbacks to those chord progressions like in Ultimate Battle and Brainiac Maniac, esoterically calm pieces such as Cerebrawl, frantic rushes like Loonboon, it’s pretty impeccable how all of these fit the given scenario at hand while not once feeling dull or tuned out. All of this comes together to create one tight package, and that’s not going over what ports or the updates the mobile version had included to spice it up like a VS mode and their own exclusive minigame sets!

I was gonna be like everyone else and bemoan a certain Computerized Flair about ruining the branding and all that, but surprisingly enough I can’t seem to find anything justifying this behavior. There’s an August 2012 blog update from one of Popcap’s co-founder John Vechy talking about laying off about 50 people in three studios - George Fan being one of them - to focus on mobile and F2P stuff which would be around the time PvZ 2 was being finalized, then him and other founders Brien Fiete and Jason Kapalka, along with chief exec Dave Roberts departed at intervals back in 2014. There’s been some speculations as to what exactly had happened to cause Fan to fall out of the studio by then, which catapulted in 2017 by Edmund McMillen carefully sharing a tale regarding Fan’s layoff being caused by friction against EA/Popcap for making PvZ2 a freemium title, employee and producer Allen Murray in a since-deleted tweet saying he wasn’t involved with the PvZ2 team period, and finally Fan himself saying that, while he was laid off, and he was against the idea for where to take PvZ2, he made no effort to link these together, just declaring that they are events that had indeed happened, with nothing elaborated or besmirched since. It’s entirely possible I missed something between the seams, and it’s also very much possible EA’s grasp tightened since the past several years, but as for what I’m believing at the moment… I dunno, sounds like a case of bad management of one or both sides to me. This wouldn’t be the first time fingers were immediately pointed at a more infamous figure in regards to an underdog only for the sentiment to be changed dramatically from corroborated and/or outside sources, and even then plus to reiterate, this was all back in 2012, this wasn’t the only instance of an EA property shambling their good faith around since Canadian studio BioWare was dealing with their own sorts of dirty laundry by then and especially after. Perhaps this shouldn’t be used for a catch-all given structural differences, but I happen to find a 2013 statement Greg Zeschuk, co-founder of BioWare, had shared in an interview to be particularly applicable: “The best analogy I use, in a positive way, is EA gives you enough rope to hang yourself.”

To reel back from that exceedingly dour note, I should stress that it’s not like PvZ’s future as a whole has been entirely bleak. Garden Warfare 1 and especially 2 seem to have garner a cult following and positive appraisement, people still recognize the brand even after all this time so it isn’t totally irrelevant and a time capsule of a fad - heck you can still purchase the first game for 5 USD on Steam even, that’s what I did! - and more importantly, good things have turned up for everyone involved. Laura Shigihara, coupled with contributing to music for titles such as To The Moon, Finding Paradise, and Deltarune, made Rakuen back in 2017, a title I’ve seen mentioned a fair bit every now and then and seems to have a spin-off in the works alongside a Switch port and released Mr. Saitou, a spin-off title, back in March, and George Fan, bearing no ill will and content with the direction it’s been heading, not only received a reference by a Magic The Gathering card, he was also able to design one for Magic 2015 as well as work for Wizards Of The Coast proper for a good while. As for game development, he and Rich Werner partnered up again to finalize an idea he’s had for a while, Octogeddon, under a new company they made called All Yes Good and being available back in 2018 with a Switch port following next year. He’s also set to release a new game about checks notes a wombat pooping out platforms in order to clear puzzles… yea that uh, sounds sickeningly interesting. At the time of writing, it’s available to try out as a part of Steam’s June Next Fest demo showcases. If nothing else, it’s important to remember and note that, regardless of anything and everything that’s happened since then, it doesn’t change how simple yet addictive the first Plants Vs Zombies title turned out, along with the new additions the abundant amount of ports it had received brought onto the table. Here’s to another 14 years of botanic mayhem.

I thought about making a review for this but, let's be honest here, it's a South Park game Trey Parker and Matt Stone crafted with help from Obsidian, with influences from Paper Mario and Earthbound, with a bit of Zelda and Skyrim thrown in, that can last up to 12-22 hours, a feat I was able to do by starting it yesterday for said 12 hours and then finished this evening. Your feelings on it is already pre-determined from the get-go just from that explanation.

I was pretty much feeling the urge to revisit something related to the IP since I remembered my fondness for the first... 7 or 8 seasons of it, and this was a good way to satiate that urge. A lot of my positives (the writing, the presentation and pacing, the way this game is organized to break with the right amount of effort and battles containing a fun rhythm in them) and negatives (being overly simple despite all that and putting it on Hardcore difficulty, dungeons being lukewarm, hit-and-miss side content) are more or less the same when I first played this several years ago. I suppose another thing that's changed is that I didn't laugh as frequently, but this is less of a fault on the game's humor and more so me just not finding it funny enough to respond to it... if that makes sense. Like, I recognize the funny and how the structure of said funny is well done, I just don't laugh at it, ya know?

If nothing else it was also a good way to ease up on my burnout. I have to watch the post-COVID specials, as well as the movie, at some point too, I haven't bothered with those yet and I'm not sure why. If you want my favorite moments from this, they're Night 2, a majority of the Girls' Quest, and the sewers.

Rather bored out of my mind (it is nearing 4AM EST when I am writing this), so I figured I might as well do another off-the-cuff sort of review, this time on a game that, while not completely maligned by the masses - I mean, just take a look at that average rating! - is something I do think people scoff and handwave much too easily... especially since I find it to be my favorite Arkham entry to this day. So, indulge my writing here, as I tell you my experience with one of The Bat's most lauded and acclaimed games.

Gonna start with easily the mildest one I have, this is the best narrative of the Arkham series. It feels the most complete, it has the tightest pacing, every voice work from returning BTAS stars Kevin Conroy (RIP my GOAT), Arleen Sorki, and Mark Hamill to stars new to the Batverse like Tom Kane, Cree Summer, Wally Wingert, and Steve Blum to name the notable people delivers excellent performances, some of which have stuck in my mind for years. The way the lighting and framing's done with the cutscenes is reminiscent of the Burton films, even if it wasn't the main influence, so moments like the Poison Ivy encounter and of course all of Scarecrow's encounters stick out so much in evoking that sort of grim, rather haunting feel of both those films and what this game's aiming for. I don't have much negatives to even dish here because it's so tightly written, but if there are a few, it's that there's a weird bump around the last third that feels like a drawback of not having a clear connecting point to the endgame, and the infamous final boss for reasons I'll elaborate on for my next point. It's not exactly a grand slam of a Batman narrative, but it's still something I enjoy a lot, especially considering the following games drop the ball in more ways than one.

Anyway, here's a take that's a bit warmer: I don't find the game's combat to be all that "aged" or whatever people are throwing out nowadays, and in fact find this simple approach much more palpable than whatever Origins and especially Knight were aiming to do. The simple nature of the beat-em-up style physicality, not only sounding and connecting nicely, also has a great rhythm-groove to it, making it so that trying out for high-stringing combos and crit strike timings is always a blast. This is somewhat propped up a few upgrade unlocks, such as the batarang being usable to continue the combo going from far away foes while also stunning certain ones, special throws and takedowns to make it more snappy and line up finishers quicker, and the batclaw to pull more foes in for beatdowns. For what's supposed to be the third iteration of the physical combat, as well as something they noted as being the most difficult design aspect, the team at Rocksteady sort of knocked it out the park, and it's an aspect I feel many overlook and/or don't appreciate as strongly because City does more with it... which, to be fair, I do find myself agreeing to a degree. It at least does a better job of making minute yet fulfilling improvements than the other two games did. Still, a common opinion I've seen in this regard is that stealth's usually the more appealing and diverse route, which again, makes sense. It's Bruce's thing, after all, so I find myself getting caught by surprise over the intricacy of doing all this sort of tasks and involvement even to this day. Again, this was a first stab, and while not a true-blooded stealth game, there is a commendable amount of nuances and opportunities available to make this angle in regards to shifting about the place, going through the vents, mounted gargoyles, what have you and dispatching foes left and right as you make each remaining one feel more and more insecure and frightful of your presence. If there is an aspect I'll actually give City over though, it's the boss fights. It's no secret the bosses in Asylum are the weakest part of the game, consisting of just the Titan-infused lackeys modeled after Bane's movekit, and while far from the worst bosses ever, it's a pacebreaker to flow from one setpiece to the next to hit these bosses where the game makes you wait until you Hit Them Right, run into a wall for big damage, rinse and repeat. This is also why Titan Joker is a massive blue ball because it follows after one of those fights, and exacerbates the whole issue entirely by making you wait just a smidge locker to pull him down. City's fights aren't exactly gold standards, but opting to do more variety after Asylum only teases it with Killer Croc and Poison Ivy - who, even then, is still not all that exciting to fight regardless by how cramped and weird the arena is - makes it way easier to appreciate.

My biggest reason for a good few years now, as to why I prefer this over all the following entries, is that I much, much prefer this linear, Metroid-esque world progression and design over the sequels' often bloated and, to be frank, unnecessary sandbox ethos. Asylum's perfectly crafted to have each spot be used or reused when absolutely necessary in the story, meanwhile the sequels sort of force you to hobble all over the place for the sake of moving on. Asylum has you utilize and activate a majority of your gadgets in ways that feels congruent within the facility's island abode even past their required needs, meanwhile the later sequels fall into the same problem certain Zelda games have where you're sort of just stuck with an item because one closed-off area from somewhere in the world requires you use that and only that to nab it. On that note, getting Riddler trophies in Asylum is actually fun and rewarding because it's super easy to pick up most of them on your first run and cleaning up isn't too much of a time commitment or hassle even without a walkthrough, and the times you get hit with sweeping landscape shots, or even uncover a great secret makes it easy to get into a carefree daze, meanwhile later games forces you to do stupid minigames, waiting on side activities to reach an activation checkpoint and/or asks that you whisk wherever the Trophies are all over the place as if you're playing a middling collect-a-thon from the early 2000s, something City and Knight worsen by the former having Catwomen have her own set of Trophies to collect, and the latter outright requiring you to do this in order to properly get the ending sequence. Sorry, but there's a reason I can 100% clear Asylum in my sleep, while I give up and let the Riddler do what he wants in City and Origins, and bemoan my wasted time in Knight. Even without all of that, Asylum does a plain better job at conveying what you've been doing over the course of the game, and especially at making each quadrant of the item distinct and memorable enough to mold a mental map on. City sort of does this with each of its districts somewhat tying back into whoever the supervillain leaders are, as well as special cases like the soaked Ferris Wheel and Wonder City, and Origins by technicality """passes""" since it's just built off of City's sandbox, but Knight? I genuinely can't remember a thing about that game's world, even discounting a replay potentially helping out since I've seen footage of it on-and-off over the years! Can't help but feel like those games' sandbox approach was only ever done for the sake of excess and not because the game called for it.

So yea, there's my piece. Sorry for all the comparisons done in this (it's probably the most I've done in a long while for a review), but considering the aforementioned iterative approach Rocksteady had for the Arkham entries, it was basically inevitable. Even if you disagree with some, most, shit all of what I had to say, hopefully you can, on some level, understand where I'm coming from. It's not I have totally negative things to say about the sequels even! I'll get to those in time! Just uh, maybe have a butler or round robins force me to replay City again. Anything else here.... I guess maybe avoid the Return To Arkham remaster? I've never played it myself but I have seen comparison videos as well as first hand account from friends and acquaintances, and sorry to say, but I feel safe classifying this job as a genuine "soul vs soulless" moment. Maybe not the worst remaster released, but despite that you're still better off picking up a semi-potato computer (or perhaps a Steam Deck) instead, since it and City still run and play fine to this day. Hell, if you want a better HD remaster, a few people have answered your request. In fact, the one I linked for Asylum even details how to play the PS3-exclusive DLCs, a process also noted on PCGamingWiki!

When people said this demo's short I thought they were exaggerating, but uh, nope. This took me 16 minutes the first time, and even then 2-3 of that was just messing with the options menu, along with an additional 2 to get a more flattering screenshot after seeing how blown out the darkness was after messing w/ the brightness and contrast, so it's really 12 minutes overall.

I don't really have much to go off of or say as a result unfortunately. I found Grace to be a little funny because of how nonchalant she is about the obvious off-ness of the mansion, and for a more support-oriented studio for other THQ Nordic properties, Pieces Interactive did a great job on optimizing the game's presentation to not only look as dark and foreboding as it does currently, but also run really well on the highest graphic setting within my comparatively modest PC build (2070 Super, R7 3700x, with a whopping 48GB worth of RAM to top it off) within the scope thus far. Granted, it's more in-line with a AA title, but ya know, credit where it's due, and I'm hoping this level of smooth framerate stays once the full package comes out. Since there seriously isn't much gameplay to elaborate on (you don't even get a puzzle sequence!) it again doesn't give me much to go on, but it's somewhat surprising this is using the spacebar for QTE sequences and not the mouse for keyboard users like myself.

Uh what else... it had a dumb "loud spooky noise at the obvious mark" jumpscare that hurts the sequence after which since it was doing a commendable job in feeling unnerving as it stands... the two monster designs we have at the moment are cool... I don't know much about the first game but there's a couple of little details here that make it pretty sweet... yea that's about it. Since it's coming out in October at least it leaves me with enough time to go through the first four games, and New Nightmare's GBC port I guess, since I only ever played the 2008 reboot which certainly exists.

The advent of the Doom modding community, and especially with how the ZDOOM engine is handled, has made it so that a common joke is that you can get by on gaming with purely community-made mods and even releases to be sold on sites such as Itch.io and Steam. It speaks to the lengths of Doom's legacy that even today, notable iterations and offerings of ID Software's philosophy and principles are regularly shared in the Doomworld forum, be it for fun, artistic endeavors, or even good ol fashion trolling.

My House, in particular, mangles the item value, enemy positioning, and overall layout of the map and positional checkpoints in its multiple unraveling throughout the runtime is phenomenal to watch unfold. I'm not intimately familiar with map building within the system's quirk myself - I'm creative and persistent, but not that creative and persistent - but I know enough thanks to various sources that this is a bit of a boundary pusher. There's also some bonus activations from each 'special' spots, be it for Easter Egg purposes (more on this in a bit) or actual gameplay purposes, a tad of which hark more acutely to what the Build Engine titles would do, and it's all very good shit. Due to this, the most appropriate word to describe this with just one would be "wispy"; the feeling where you're familiar with the idea of the environment but know there's wrinkles and nuances to what can establish it that, if done improperly, can spell out the disillusioned mantra, unveiling its macabre being. There's the occasional room hunt befuddling and questionable design choices when it comes to how something activates or what you have to do to progress, but a majority of the time it's something you can quickly get a feel of. About the only other thing I can criticize is the final third's use of enemy encounter leaning towards Spam Central, but part of me, be it by intentional choice or through a personal read, views this as more of a point than a serious critique of a Doom map.

Now, I played through this thrice: once in a quick-and-dirty play, the other when curiosity got the better of me knowing there had to be more considering what my friends have said, and finally the one with the "good ending" as detailed within its page on the Doom wiki (not the awful Fandom one, the good one) as well as a speedrun video on the wad, surprisingly enough. There's something to be said about the experience becoming a victim of abjection due to the use of a walkthrough, how this robs you of initial reaction and well-defined thoughts, yadda yadda yadda listen I just said I played this two times before, and it's not like most of what I've laid to see within text-form didn't impact what I witness unfold from my own eyes and how that affects the thematic revelations, I think I'm allowed this one. I don't want to give a lot of the magic away, which is why I'm being mostly vague about the inner meat of the body, but the warps to anachronistic, dream-like villas of places I'm familiar with, of brutalization and corrupted foundations within these settings abounded by frustration and melancholy, propagated by illuminated spaces and lighting, all compounded by relics of various time periods and objects of importance, either in plain sight or dug from each burrowing of the moment-to-moment design and visual feedback... let's just say I get where the head space was before.

The most common read of emotion for My House is grief, and while true in the broadest sense, doubly so considering what the zip file is packed with and finer investigations others have found, there's an undercurrent of self-loathing and warped perception of the fallout of events that seem to trickle in during the more hectic routines of said enemy encounters, with or without the infighting tricks. I wish I could say more, but I'm already going too deep as it is, so I'm holding it off from here. I dunno about one of the best Doom mods around, but it's surely one of the more interesting experiments I've delved into, and as such I recommend it to anyone wanting to get a fix in and, to perpetuate a sentiment others have shared already, go into this as blind as you can. Already gonna eye-roll at potential videos clamoring and beholding this to be "a super terrifying and surreal Doom mod", but that's just the way the Internet works, so no use pouting about it.

I really should read Mark Z. Danielewski's House Of Leaves, various works of Inio Asano, and continue Hideo Yamamoto's Ichi The Killer at some point.

This is getting a new, from the ground up translation releasing on the 24th anniversary (May 27th), I suggest holding off until then for those interested in it like myself.

If you're wondering what the benefits will be over the Project Nemo team, it'll translate contents of the AppendDisc and Mission 00, among other new benefits.

UPDATE: It's out now!

I had a playthrough while using the P4G Community Enhancement Pack - which, while I recommend as a great way to play be it for the first time or returning, I should point to its new FAQ regarding the recent Steam update to 64Bit for added information - but it's been a few years and my drive to continue the replay has swelled up, so I don't see it happening for a while. I have been racking my brain about it this morning though, so I at least wanted to get my thoughts out once it clouded my mind during work. Consider this an off the cuff ramble instead of a structured review, especially since I think most people have uh, already said what I want to illuminate which I'll highlight when I get to them.

Persona 4 is game I've had a turbulent relationship with. First I thought it - as in, the OG PS2 release - was a major step down than Persona 3 FES, then followed up by thinking it was the weakest of the nu-trilogy once I finished Persona 5 vanilla. Then I tried replaying it via Golden after my honeymoon with P5 and I realized it was a big mess that didn't know what it wanted to be, and I ended up really liking it more. Bit of time passed and now my passion for it is waning to the point it's good but I kinda don't want to think about it much. This has resulted in very different scores, where this now stands as to where it is now instead of the 8/10 I once had it on. Some of you are probably thinking this has to do with THE DISCOURSE, and while I don't shy away from saying that I fucking hate it and consider it to be a major annoyance that I avoid as much as possible like the Xeno series, that's not a part of it, especially since to reiterate, I think people within it have said some good points I agree with. Still, lemme talk about what I still like first. I find the dungeon design to be alright, definitely could've been more to it and I'm not a fan of every dungeon such as Void Quest and Secret Laboratory, but applying the randomization element Tartarus had onto more linear dungeon crawling is cool, and they make each one distinct in vibe and aesthetics similar to how that sprawling tower did it with each 10-story flooring. I still like some of the characters, Nanako's one of the more enjoyable child characters, and her dad Ryotaro Dojima is a big favorite in terms of Dads Doing Their Best archetypes, and even characters I didn't like before, such as Teddie, Rise, and Kanji, grew on me after ruminating and delving more into what they are and how they work within the context of the game.

As for the Golden side of the equation, while I do agree some of its additions harm the game more than help it - again, we'll get to those.... - I also think it's silly to act like the changes are akin to the ones found in Ninja Gaiden Sigma or even in its own series, Persona 3 Portable. Those are versions that strip or erroneously adjust the base game's content into something that's now different from it entirely, despite them by itself still being adequate. This is still the same P4 ethos, regardless on its added content, which is why I'm comfortable giving both versions the same score. With that out of the way, I find its rebalancing (why Chie's attacks and Bufu spells were never implemented as they were in the original's first dungeon despite their thematical and mechanical importance is something I'll always question), new elements such as hanging out at night, gardening, expanded months, an added bad ending to tie into one of the new SLs that I also very much enjoy, and some of the events like the School Concert are all welcome additions to the story that spice it up. Also, all cards on the table, I find Marie to be the single best addition in this rerelease. The fact that a character who's completely and utterly optional yet also reinforces the game's themes of facing and coming to terms with yourself has become the scapegoat to all the baffling and bad choices Golden makes is genuinely insane, and makes it seem like these detractors don't want to have an active discussion about WHY this version harms the original's vision. I'd rather see the stuff about this having less fog due to using a new engine instead of RenderWare, or having one of the literal worst title screen downgrades than see the regurgitation on what are honestly memepoint critiques.

However, Golden very much does shit I do not like. Operation Babe Hunt Redux? A new beach being added in, alongside Okina City being explorable? The pointless Scooters and Halloween event? Some ""jokes"" that crop up because of all that? Yea, those are all Golden originals. Far from the first to say it, but this really does harm P4's distinct, rural atmosphere of chilling in a small, pocketed town where going outside of it feel like major events instead of a quick hop and a skip over on the road. Also, since I never really found P4 to be that funny of a game for reasons I'm sure you're already aware of, the double down on this aspect not only worsens the milquetoast comedy, and it not only makes the already awful Camping Trip and School Festival sequences stand out much more from this heightened appearance, it also makes the already troubling pacing even more of a slog. Adding another deck onto the table, I find myself agreeing with those that say Persona 4 does not, in a majority of the time, benefit from adopting P3's calendar system. That game utilizes its mechanics for maximum story and character-driven moments, and while we can sit here and argue all day about whether or not those in themselves are good, it's safe to say it was built with those in mind. P4 (and P5, but since most of my ire originates here...) doesn't really add or make tweaks to the formula that justifies it. Yea, I like the final third as much as the next guy, but it doesn't justify the first third (April->Early June) dragging its heels teaching you things and ideas in a way that feels jittery and unnatural by comparison, and a chunk of the second third (July and August) contributing so little of value to the overall story despite its tangent and twist being sound. Now, P3's pacing wasn't perfect either and it also has moments of dead air, but P4 accentuates the flaws of the calendar that makes the stop-and-go feel of the pacing worse to experience.

As for the rest of the cast, they're aggressively adequate. Yosuke has the most obnoxious bits in the game, but I find his arc and stake within the serious moments to be pretty good. Chie's fine, I think she's rather enjoyable but she's also flanderized too much for me which again, Golden unfortunately doesn't try to remedy. Yukiko... man, if there's a character that showcases the disconnect of the Party SLink to the main story, she's the one. The problem with her is that her arc of realizing that there's ways she can contribute to her role as the successor to her family that isn't strictly within the rigid lifestyle felt like it skipped several rungs of the "she want to break free from the tight shackles and try to make do with her own sense of being and free will" point it started as. Like, I get it's supposed to be the endpoint, but it feels unnatural as to how she got there, if that makes sense. Naoto? Well, I dunno how to state my opinion of her without SOMEONE being set off, so I'll just leave it as "I like her but I also understand the way she gets presented should've been handled much better". The rest of the SLinks follow a similar philosophy here, in that while P3 had higher highs yet low lows and P5 I actually remember so little confidants over, P4 has some consistently mundane yet overall decent ones. I like the Death, Moon, Sun (the Drama side, Band side is... a thing) and Temperance people, plus Strength (either/or) is kinda neat, but the Tower, Hanged Man, and Devil people leave a lot to be desired. Skipped out on Hermit or Empress due to their unique structure, but they're pretty alright as well.

You're probably wondering why I still have this at a 7/10 when it reads a smidge lower than that, and that's cause alongside some more personal reasons, HiTheHello and straylight more than point out that when this game does a good job, it really knocks it out. I love Inaba as a setting, the core dungeon loop despite having some wonkiness to it is still a lot of fun to try and do as little time as possible, and the bubblegum J-Pop OST is still something that lingers in my mind. Not that it was any real competition, but this also far and away has the best human antagonist of the nu-trilogy (I'LL GET TO PERSONA 1 AND THE 2 DUOLOGY SOMEDAY), that I'll refrain from gushing about on the off chance someone reading this is unspoiled on the plot. I seriously have to stress that I do like the good elements in here a lot, and things that I already praised before are still true. It's just, damn! I don't like how messy this one is!! It makes me very conflicted. I get why this of all Persona games was the one to invigorate people though. Even outside of super-personal mantras - which, hey, I very much get - the core aspect of this is something I can very much see meaning a lot to someone. Now, I have this shelved, so it means I'll return to it at some point... but I'm not really sure when. Also unsure if I'll do a proper review, cause I think I said all I wanted with this journal entry.

Just learned about this when seeing what other CAVE Interactive games are available to try out, and it's pretty neat! This seems to be a spiritual successor to their 1998 title Puzzle Uo Poko, wherein the goal is to launch corresponding balls onto the ones on the other side of the screen via the joystick or keyboard in my case, whittling them away until you can rescue the little Koujuu babies, Kabutans, when they have at least one opening space. You start off with an arc telling you where they'll land after catapulting them with the amount of force, but this dwindles away after enough time has past, and only reappears once a life has been lost. Majority of the obstacles and setup are pre-made, so the real gist of the scoring system here are timing both the combos clears, as well as making use of the launcher's bounce to do counter hits with the ball, and fit them onto their places either approximately or exactly on the spot. When you get it going it can be rather euphoric hearing all those blasts and ascending decibels explode onto my ears. In terms of what's going on in the plot, it's actually a prequel, taking place to when Reco was a child nodding away in the Shinju forest, The presentation is rather great too, with lots of nice spritework and coloring to sell you back into the forest of Shinju, and even including the bosses from the first game as the same ones to battle against here! It doesn't seem like Tomoyuki Kotani has returned to be the illustrator for Reco, seems to be it was Sanae Ikeda this time, but she's just as bubbily and expressive here as she was in the shmup. She was already a heroine that quickly settled on being an all-time favorite, and seeing the various animations and poses she can be set as thanks to contributions by Team Tilldawn, and hearing this at the demo crawl has vindicated this further. Just more reasons we have to protect out forests, folks 🫡

Unfortunately, the meat side of the meal is undercooked. There's no real twists or shakeups to the formula after the first two stages, so the challenge increase just devolves to "give the player a number of junk objects to deal with while they do the basic objective". You have the usual suspects of perma-blocks, counter blocks that decrease with each chain done on top of them, pieces that can change from being inactive to active from doing the same thing to them, so it ends up feeling rather predictable and tiresome cause of it. About the only cool innovation and element to spice it up is that, because of the crystallization of the Koujuu's life force being established, this also means some pieces on the board can be similar in style to that, and you can create a chain reaction of smashing them with force of any degree. Different routes can crop up to increase replayability, but I'm not sure how much they really impact the experience, nor am I really sure how you're able to cross over since I tried holding the arrow keys stick up and down to no avail. Also, because all these stages are mainly pre-determined, only things changing is the order in which the balls are presented to you, there was no real incentive to try and wing out the scoreboards, which is a shame since I wouldn't entirely mind the shmup philosophy of that transitioning to this style of play. They already had a bomb that can appear every now and then for piece clearing, so it's not like I'm super insane about this, you can trust me! It's a fun 30 or so minutes, but by the time I hit the fourth stage out of five, I was already checkin out. The only major thing I got out of this was that I finally took the time to figure out the enigma that is setting up MAME, so that'll mean tighter and more available system accuracy when it comes to playing arcade games compared to FinalBurn Neo (which, mind you, is still a perfectly suitable and good emulator regardless). All things considered, I recommend Azumanga Daioh Puzzle Bobble if you want a nice, easy to emulate puzzler backed by great presentation.

I'm pretty selective with my ratings, I feel. Sure, I make myself rather predictable by typically sticking within the 5-7 range, but it's not like I'm throwing out high or low scores out the wazoo. Generally, I focus on the speculation and intake process of what people have been saying about something, and sort my expectations around those, so usually nothing really strikes me out or base myself on gut feeling when I check them out. Shmups aren't really my forte, but I do have experience with a fair number of them to know the dos and don'ts, plus I like throwing myself at the mercy of danmaku "go big or go home" escalations, so I was expecting to at least casually enjoy this.

The first boss reinforced my initial outset since, from the get-go, it already establishes everything CAVE wants to bedazzle you with. Majority of its patterns and enemy positions are simple and easy to fixate on, but the application of these Koujuu buggers (literally!) within their speed is what sets this apart. Spread shots, buckshots, rollers, overlays, if you can name and think of it, chances are Akira Wakabayashi and Co. have thought of it. A lot of the characteristics expressed from these bugs also shine due to Akira focusing strongly on the entomological aspect of these creatures to relay onto the artists, with director and programmer Tsuneki Ikeda also noting that it was a return to roots foundation, along with utilizing this as a benchmark for new hardware. Obviously there's some Nausicaa-distilled vibes lingering beneath and on top of the naturalistic world, but the differing aspects of the forests within Mushi's world also tend to give rise into other foundations as you go along, marking your progress as either the blues of Stage 4 or the washed greens of Stage 2 to name some examples, establishing more of an interpersonal relationship with the player and the bullet mechanics. This also doubles up on the repeat learning of the reliable M Shot, the wide but meek W Shot, or the strict yet powerful S Shot. It takes two to tango after all, even if the denizens prefer blasting you away.

To go further about the remarks Ikeda has given, as well as deepen my point about simplicity thrusting itself unto elegance and sensation, two details he's revealed before are about the stronger focus on the characters Reco and Aki, alongside the principles of establishing the high of navigating around these bullets in the first place. That said, I'm choosing to forgo an in-depth look into the mechanical side of the game, since to reiterate I'm pretty green with shmups and also cause I'm still aiming to improve myself with this, and not to mention I'm more focused on the character angle. Shmups tend to not indulge on this aspect of game design, which is fair, but the way Mushi goes about it is very intriguing. Even disregarding the fervent chaos and hostile bombarding, art CGs shown upon level completion visualize the story between Reco's past venture within a forest, and Aki's help in succoring her life via a bracelet embodying crystalized forces of the Koujuu. Years have past, climate has worsened for her village, and its through her flight with the help of a beetle named Kiniro that she sets off to ascertain what has wrought upon them, subtly embellishing and engrossing herself within this area. I wouldn't classify it as Man Vs. Nature as it first appears, despite the parasitic symbiosis between the humanoids inhabiting the area and how the creatures react to them, but there's a subtext feeling of melancholy. The way Reco learns and overcomes these sorts of ordeals and predicaments within the setting is akin to we, the players, adapt and recognize all these obstacles. In a way, it's fitting the True Final Boss is Like That to be climax of both of these themes, even if the true reason is because they just wanted to fuck around with your expectations and play.

I always figured I'd like Mushihimesama, but there's a lot of special somethins within this gem of an amber-colored set. I've done Arrange, I've dabbled with Maniac and Ultra, and even partook in trying out Ver 1.5 as well, all of which are worth exploring. Related to that, the compositions provided by Manabu Namiki and Masaharu Iwata are top-to-bottom bangers. I already went into enough lengths in justifying my High IQ reading of a simple plot, not to mention I already went on-and-on about the connection and design workings between the player and the system, so I'll just go over my favorite tracks of this: Requiem Of The Sky, Like A Night Of Falling Stars, Levi-Sense, really I just recommend sitting down and soaking it all in regardless of playing the game or for casual listening. We talkin S-Tier OST material, be it the original or various arrangements made for the other modes, and I already went the extra yard and put the OST onto my phone to listen to whenever. This one's for my rotational books for sure.

This reminds me a lot of Shinobi 1987, in that the core movement is slick and, coupled with the dazzling setpieces and graphics, really sell you into the illusion of playing as a fast, precise action ninja star. Much like that game, however, the levels after the first and a half start to pour so much shit at you that it starts to feel apathetic. Some cool shit with the power plant, air fortress, and space station, but I can't really care about it all along with trying to tie my skill altogether since there's so much to keep track of. Doesn't help powerups seem to appear at random intervals...

Was initially confused as to the amount of low scores that cropped up in mid-2022, but after finally finishing it, I'm starting to get it, Arcade original (me) or otherwise (most of the others playing Genesis conversion). Gonna hope Kouichi Yotsui and Co.'s second outing with 1996's Osman improves on a lot of this, though there's all that weird business with Strider 2, Strider II, and Strider 2014.

Not really much I can add to this that others haven't already said, but I'll try anyway. Really like how short yet tightly designed each stages are, plus messing around with the different weapons for each case right around when they're necessary keeps the kit fresh throughout, and also helps to really figure out their niches. For instance, there's a shield that pierces through to the enemy machinery that I initially wrote off due to how its range is pitiful, but a stage thoroughly utilizes this aspect to have you break through the walls in order to destroy the laser chargers that impede on your progression. It's good shit, and the game contextualizes the gravity shifts in numerous styles that I really wasn't expecting. I've been meaning to do a writeup of sorts about Irem and their history, and cases like this, Ninja Baseball Batman, the R-Type series, GunForce 1&2, and even way later in the console gens where they crafted PS2 cult hits Disaster Report 1&2 and Steambot Chronicles make it all the more tempting. By the way, the music here is exquisite, easily one of the best sounds on the system, and something I highly suggest you check out even if you decide to skip out on the game.

I'll still call this a bit of an overlooked gem on the system, but a few things hold it back from really achieving the same level as Mega Man 4 or Castlevania 3. Firstly, these backgrounds suck. They're not poorly made or anything like that, it's just that they're those types of NES/Famicom graphics where they majorly use one or two colors yet detailed in a way that, while fine stationary or staring at them via screencaps become irritating on the eyes when playing. I didn't get nauseous, but it was seriously annoying. Secondly, the bosses are weaksauce. They're either pitifully easy to figure out the pattern, or are super tight in dodges that you're likely to power through brute force instead of any level of skill. Makes me glad this game has infinite continues on top of my rewind, otherwise I'd be busting out save states like it was nothin. Although, I did use a translation hack for the Japanese version that not only has a few line of dialog, but is also supposedly a little bit harder. I never really felt there was a grand sense of difficulty, but some aspects did feel a little tighter than they should be.

Other than that, this did remind me I have way more Irem catalog to check out, I've actually only ever completed this and NBBM for the moment. I'll figure it out from there, especially since I'm not really in the mood to delve in long-form commitments in games for the time being.

This is the closest I'll get to starring in a Coen Bros flick and I'm hear for it.

Great little arcade experience. Was rather surprised how many ideas and alterations to the simple formula were supremely solid, and the writing here is the charming snark and bite you'd be familiar with from the aforementioned duo's filmography. I thought about turning on Blindfold Mode for MAXIMUM IMMERSION, but the default look's perfect enough as-is that I didn't mind it too much, doubly so when they start altering the visuals to simulate closed eye hallucinations and objects passing by us piqued by light sources. Have to give props for giving me a good reason to bust out the PC headset for something other than a multiplayer game and/or a Discord call as well!

Could've used some trimming here, however, as this goes on for about an hour or so yet some of these ideas, such as slamming down cop cars, are only fun for one go-around, and the entire submarine section didn't really add much flavor to the intense venture I was going on. The completion range is to be 80-100km (roughly 50-62 miles for us Imperial System users), yet I got my fill of it and the overall humor in about ¾ or ⅘ in. Only so much I can laugh at people cuss and use ice cream-inspired euphemisms for drugs before it dilutes into being a dull affair, ya know?

It's the first 3D WorldRunner game but with a more sickly presentation - compare this screenshot of the prior game to this one here - as well as a faster speed. This is supposedly the more difficult followup, yet I actually found myself having a much easier time due to there being way, way less "do or die" scenarios, even if they are still present here, and having its increasing amount of onscreen enemies feel more like a step up in challenge instead of throwing them on the screen to ostensibly form a sense of "difficulty". For instance, the sixth world in 3DWR has you making precise jumps to land exactly on pipes in order to get while having to deal with distance differences, which means getting to land on all of them consistently while maneuvering towards them tends to feel more like luck than skillful plays. The sixth world here, meanwhile, feels a lot more like a traditional auto-run platformer, having to balance around jumping over the enemies and gaps while minding the flame pillars and overhead bugs, all while never feeling overwhelming and giving way to tight moments. I've obtained far more lives here, powerups never felt too far apart, levels tended to feel shorter instead of overlong, and even the Space Harrier-esque boss encounters were far easier to handle due to seemingly having a lowered health pool. The only thing I can say the first game does better is having variety in obstacles, but when most of them, especially in the middle section, tended to drive me up a wall with how stupidly exact they are, I'd say it was for the better this is more straightforward and instead rehashes only a portion of them.

There's not much to say as a review for either title, since Cadensia gave a far better outline of the formula and history in a far more eloquent and concise manner than I would've shared. Only thing I could've added was an interview on Next Generation magazine were Hironobu Sakaguchi explained the game's sale figures and why it was created, and that this one right here was the last game Square made before Final Fantasy released onto the public.

In the 1998 film Run Lola Run, written and directed by German-born and future Wachowski collaborator Tom Tykwer, everyone in it are undergoing a cyclical loop where things often repeat. Due to it being 80 minutes long, it's safe to cut up each act as about 27 mins in length, each being split apart by an interlude where Lola and her boyfriend Manni talk with each other about their personal feelings regarding each other, as well as general senses of time and emotion. One could make the argument that Lola's rather antagonistic due to her efforts demeaning and devaluing lives of different people within each cycle, though this is a bit of a rough read and, cynically viewed, a shallow takeaway. Disregarding the notion most of the denizens within are just as, if not more harsh towards Lola, her actions are driven purely by brash instincts, manifested by the urban jungle and poverty-riddled sections deep within the area she and her mate are inhabited in. Some of the people she bumps into along the way, such as her father, take advantage of her predicament, often impeding on her goal within each cycle. Could she still be viewed as evil? I mean, probably, but even then her actions become polished and in-line with her intentions over the course of time, even to the point she's able to influence a few people off the brushes of shoulders or inaction. If nothing else, it's a story about preserving love and adoration despite the hostility of loss and tragedy.

In the 1998 film 2000 video game Majora's Mask, spearheaded by Shigeru Miyamoto, Yoshiaki Koizumi, Eiji Aonuma, with additional scripting done by Mitsuhiro Takano, everyone in it are undergoing a cyclical loop where things often repeat. Due to it being 80 minutes roughly 21 hours long, potentially up to 34 if everything in it is done, it's safe to cut up each act as roughly 4-6 hours in length, each being split apart by an interlude where Lola and her boyfriend Manni Link and his begrudging ally Tatl are communicating with individual Giants, each talking about past scenarios and events involving Skull Kid. Some have viewed Skull Kid as the antagonist due to their efforts demeaning and devaluing lives of different people within the city region Termina, though this is a rough read and, cynically viewed, a shallow takeaway. Disregarding the notion fact that Happy Mask Salesman, just mere moments after the first Song Of Time reset, prattles on about the legend of the titular Majora's Mask, Skull Kid's actions are driven purely by brash instincts, harboring a deep-seated pit of jealousy and grief by how the Four Giants have left them behind despite always being there for their upbringing and antics buried within his mind. The mask takes advantage of this linger, and exploits SK into endangering the four quadrants and center of the discordant land. Could they still be viewed as evil? I mean, probably, but even then there are subtle or outright explicit analogs within each individual act's story, somewhat tying back into the fear and anguish SK is feeling by then. If nothing else, it's a story about preserving love and adoration despite the hostility of loss and tragedy.

Miyamoto, Koizumi, and Aonuma have gone on at different times about how RLR, in one form or another, influenced the shape and foundation of Majora Mask's narrative and structure, and while they didn't intend to have the cycle be in three days, it's perhaps fitting that this amount ended up coinciding with the same as RLR's. I've mentioned Lola and Skull Kid, but without getting too deep within the film's plot and moments, I'll mention that every supporting or background entity of each piece face their own level of growth after each cycle, nudged thanks to the influences of our heroes and villainous force - or, in one case, just being as omnipresent as we are. I haven't watched RLR in about two years, and I tackled through MM last year, but even still I thought about both for numerous reasons, regarding how the former's one of the more pitch-perfect examples of a movie functioning snugly as a game, and the latter being a game functioning snugly as a movie. With that said, some of what I've said in my summary last year still apply here; I prefer the dungeons of Ocarina's despite acknowledging how this game utilizes and extrapolates its Mask mechanics to a joyous degree, I find some of the side tasks and goings-on such as the Mayor in Clock Town and several unlocked events after Great Bay Temple's revitalized spirit to be rather unfulfilling, representing a stark contrast to not only this game's but its predecessor's. Even still, the fact all of this was able to get down as short of a time as it received, and became this high quality, is nothing short of a miracle itself.

Sorry to be That Guy and make this the last thing to comment on, but play the original first instead of opting straight to the 3DS remake. I cannot stress enough that "the nitpicks" snowball into a fundamentally different experience, regardless of its holistic quality. Nerrel and several contributing people have made an HD texture mod for the N64 version a few years ago, to which he himself made a guide on getting up and running, and there's also the option of using MM Redux through Patcher64 which Nerrel also tutorializes on. One or (preferably) both of these are far better alternatives, but I'll also make mention of Project Restoration, an effort to add and revamp many aspects of MM3D if you're still dead set on using that remake since it can be used on hacked (New)3DSes as well as Citra.