BoggartBear
2024
I've only played the 8 hour trial. It's very flawed in many ways but I actually quite enjoy the loop of pillaging my way towards a new ship. The combat is about on par with black flag, the graphics are good and it can be very atmospheric in storms. The sound mixing is awful though and ruins the atmosphere a bit. As everyone has said, the on shore elements are abysmal and might as well be removed. I certainly wouldn't pay anywhere close to the asking price for it, but I'd say give it a go if you really love pirates. Now the trial is over its time to reinstall Black Flag and continue praying for an actually great pirate game.
2014
A brilliant survival style city builder that I continually come back to. Whilst the loop can be quite small, the achievements give you something to aim for and require you to vary your playstyle. My only wish was that the developer continued to add things, like you see for Rimworld or Factorio, but sadly development finished many years ago.
It has some great comedic moments but falls a bit flat in the end depending on which endings you get. Maybe the impact was lessened since I did play the original back in the day (although I have basically forgotten everything)
2013
My first Pikmin game and one that didn't stick with me back in 2015, but this time I really enjoyed it. The visuals still hold up pretty well, it certainly didn't feel like a Wii U game. The slowly unfolding levels are a lot of fun, packed with plenty of enemy and puzzle variety. Bosses can be fun too but I found the finnicky controls got in the way far too much, the final boss was a little underwhelming though, and I didn't like how it didn't thematically fit in with the rest of the world. Can't wait to try 1+2 next and then 4, but not before I collect all the fruit in this one!
1998
First time finishing this one, it holds up really well both visually and mechanically. Movement is fun and the weapons are great, although there are too many of them for my taste. Level design is good at first but fatigue sets in at the latter half of the game and I hated Xen just as the internet predicted. Looking forward to aee how Half Life 2 improves the foundations laid down here. Played with a controller at 4K/120 on an OLED TV.
This didn't grab me like BOTW did, I don't really understand the hype for this. The creative mechanics have existed in other games for over a decade so those don't attract me like they do for others... Shelved for now, might revisit after I replay BOTW.
2005
A bad platformer held up only by it's brilliant level ideas and Tim Schafer's writing. Not something I'd want to replay, I hope the sequel and VR games are better.
2014
Sadly this game has aged badly in every possible way, even the humour can't carry it like I once thought it did. I recommend keeping your good memories of this one. My biggest problem is with the movement and combat, it just feels awful to play. The story is very weak and barely there at all. The only redeeming factor was naming my hero Arseface and hearing the voice actors repeat it.
2009
A beautiful albeit medicore shooter with a terrible final boss, bad performance and horrific input lag.