Chromentur
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Top 50 Favorites: #41 (Included with Control: Ultimate Edition)
Drop-dead gorgeous colors, perfectly fair amount of content for the price, further intrigue about a key character from the base game, psychedelic platforming, a rad new environment, and more of - like - some of the finest combat video games as a medium have to offer. Just straight-up quality all around - has the exact off-kilter energy you would want out of this IP.
Drop-dead gorgeous colors, perfectly fair amount of content for the price, further intrigue about a key character from the base game, psychedelic platforming, a rad new environment, and more of - like - some of the finest combat video games as a medium have to offer. Just straight-up quality all around - has the exact off-kilter energy you would want out of this IP.
Games I Like That Everybody Else Dislikes
Fun addition to the base game, but also like the base game it feels like you're over with it way too quickly - I'm talking like an hour tops here. I can respect that the game (and its DLC)'s main goal at the end of the day is just to fuck around with its funny physics and laugh at all the bodily mayhem you can cause within it - and make no mistake, it is absolutely a hoot to do that. But to that end it lacks the same continued quality-of-life support that Human: Fall Flat offers (for free no less - while this and the Cyberfunk add-on are paid). So this can't help but feel sadly tossed-off, flash-in-the-pan in a way - even though there's so much potential for more in it.
Fun addition to the base game, but also like the base game it feels like you're over with it way too quickly - I'm talking like an hour tops here. I can respect that the game (and its DLC)'s main goal at the end of the day is just to fuck around with its funny physics and laugh at all the bodily mayhem you can cause within it - and make no mistake, it is absolutely a hoot to do that. But to that end it lacks the same continued quality-of-life support that Human: Fall Flat offers (for free no less - while this and the Cyberfunk add-on are paid). So this can't help but feel sadly tossed-off, flash-in-the-pan in a way - even though there's so much potential for more in it.
Godawful baby-brain gameplay clearly trying to capitalize on the "slow, restrictive, and purposefully un-fun = smart" wave that was taking shape in the gaming industry around this time (one which we still haven't fully gotten rid of). The obnoxious "story is way more important than gameplay" crowd (including my idiot high school self around this time, ugh..) probably ate this up this when it released - with whatever rudimentary mechanics on offer in this garbage (including more oversimplified 'crime solving' elements than The Vanishing of Ethan Carter and dumb-as-nails stealth sections) taking a backseat to this narrative. Though unlike more plot-centric games such as Telltale's The Walking Dead, this story fucking sucks. Hard. Crazy that this was even released - honest to God feels unfinished.
1997
Games I Dislike That Everybody Else Likes
I'm all for PS1 puzzle game supremacy and all, but this one - I'm disappointed to report - misses the mark, I feel. Of course it has the issue that all of them do to start with, in that it feels like a smaller mobile game rather than something you were once expected to pay full shelf price for. But this one in particular is plagued with dire collision issues in a game where precision is crucial; why are you even able to get stuck on the blocks? It always happens at the worst times, too - so get ready to die countless times at zero fault of your own. I still love this idea, and think the mechanics/rules on their own are great. I dig the digital-minimalist style, with swelling classical music playing as you navigate this short series of puzzles. Though like the lot of these, a lot of really simple solutions could have upped the replayability here.
I'm all for PS1 puzzle game supremacy and all, but this one - I'm disappointed to report - misses the mark, I feel. Of course it has the issue that all of them do to start with, in that it feels like a smaller mobile game rather than something you were once expected to pay full shelf price for. But this one in particular is plagued with dire collision issues in a game where precision is crucial; why are you even able to get stuck on the blocks? It always happens at the worst times, too - so get ready to die countless times at zero fault of your own. I still love this idea, and think the mechanics/rules on their own are great. I dig the digital-minimalist style, with swelling classical music playing as you navigate this short series of puzzles. Though like the lot of these, a lot of really simple solutions could have upped the replayability here.
Games I Like That Everybody Else Dislikes
Double the length and halve the price, then you've got yourself a pretty worthwhile pack here. Imo though for a day or two it's still an easy winner - blowing through enemies with the Pain & Gain and doing improved wingsuit challenges in the (super gorgeous) new district is an effortless blast. Though as it stands, this is still fun but staggeringly paltry - featuring missions that just feel like weaker versions of the ones from the base game, of which I remain a defender in spite of all its shortcomings, and a piss-easy stealth angle. Any section involving the other three new Saints feels tossed-off, like they're already trying hard to get rid of these guys. Even still, actor brain is never a low-hanging fruit in this day and age - and this isn't a terrible diagnosis, James Arnold Taylor is hilarious as a Vin Diesel parody. Strange they didn't do more to lampoon GTA V given the clear parallels here, but at this rate it's clear I'm already asking too much. Heavily flawed but honestly still glad this exists.
Double the length and halve the price, then you've got yourself a pretty worthwhile pack here. Imo though for a day or two it's still an easy winner - blowing through enemies with the Pain & Gain and doing improved wingsuit challenges in the (super gorgeous) new district is an effortless blast. Though as it stands, this is still fun but staggeringly paltry - featuring missions that just feel like weaker versions of the ones from the base game, of which I remain a defender in spite of all its shortcomings, and a piss-easy stealth angle. Any section involving the other three new Saints feels tossed-off, like they're already trying hard to get rid of these guys. Even still, actor brain is never a low-hanging fruit in this day and age - and this isn't a terrible diagnosis, James Arnold Taylor is hilarious as a Vin Diesel parody. Strange they didn't do more to lampoon GTA V given the clear parallels here, but at this rate it's clear I'm already asking too much. Heavily flawed but honestly still glad this exists.
You know what, sure! By far the best open world in all of Fallout 4's catalogue - the children's-theme-park-meets-bloody-raider-wasteland aesthetic really works here, and Bethesda's tongue-in-cheek humor about ignorance towards the end of the world is fairly amusing in it. Having multiple parks in one big 'park zone' with their own little substories + themes was a smart move, and the map is the perfect size for this kind of game - varied enough to be appealing but compact enough to not be a total drag to traverse. That being said, the story and characters here are below one-note (even in comparison to the majorly uninteresting narrative the base game had) - the factions all feel like basic reskins of each other and once again in these games you're the 'cool and important person' for no real reason and the story only progresses around how cool and important you are. Who cares? I'd easily take this as a hit of Bethesda pop style and nothing more if these quests didn't feel so repetitive. Still works though. At its best feels New Vegas-esque, better than Automatron but doesn't edge out Far Harbor.
2012
Top 50 Favorites: #49
A serene audiovisual spectacle - uses its pixelated pageantry not for cheap nostalgia points, but for honest-to-God authentic dreamscape texture. My biggest complaint - and make no mistake, this is certainly a complaint in this case - like with many games of this ilk, is that it's just too short (in this case almost feeling incomplete by its ending); and the add-ons - rather than more exceptional story levels - are instead just a bunch of creator tools. If that's your thing, that's probably really awesome - but personally I trust more talented people to make these sorts of levels rather than me fumbling to make my own. For reference, Hohokum is my favorite video game ever made - so naturally I was floored at the prospect of what that game's DLC in this game (two products with such wondrous, deeply emotive music directly connected to their visual auras during the creative process coming together) could have brought.... but instead it's just a bunch of lines and dings and shit that I don't know how to use. Obviously that is 100% a me problem, and does essentially very little to hinder my love for this overall - one of the most wholly original modern bit platformers ever painted onto a screen. Has the ability to transition naturally from 'calming stroll down a pleasant lane' to 'fuck fucking motherfuck goddammit how the fuck did I fucking die there??!?' with a sharp sense of control. Shame that such an auspicious vision like this hasn't spawned any sequels since, where imo it clearly deserves some. Beck, deadmau5, and some exemplary original tunes shine too brightly here to be forgotten.
A serene audiovisual spectacle - uses its pixelated pageantry not for cheap nostalgia points, but for honest-to-God authentic dreamscape texture. My biggest complaint - and make no mistake, this is certainly a complaint in this case - like with many games of this ilk, is that it's just too short (in this case almost feeling incomplete by its ending); and the add-ons - rather than more exceptional story levels - are instead just a bunch of creator tools. If that's your thing, that's probably really awesome - but personally I trust more talented people to make these sorts of levels rather than me fumbling to make my own. For reference, Hohokum is my favorite video game ever made - so naturally I was floored at the prospect of what that game's DLC in this game (two products with such wondrous, deeply emotive music directly connected to their visual auras during the creative process coming together) could have brought.... but instead it's just a bunch of lines and dings and shit that I don't know how to use. Obviously that is 100% a me problem, and does essentially very little to hinder my love for this overall - one of the most wholly original modern bit platformers ever painted onto a screen. Has the ability to transition naturally from 'calming stroll down a pleasant lane' to 'fuck fucking motherfuck goddammit how the fuck did I fucking die there??!?' with a sharp sense of control. Shame that such an auspicious vision like this hasn't spawned any sequels since, where imo it clearly deserves some. Beck, deadmau5, and some exemplary original tunes shine too brightly here to be forgotten.
2018
Much like, say, a Telltale game this initially sweeps you off your feet with its rug pulls and personable characters before devolving into forced choice-driven sentimentality - sadness for the sake of sadness because making you feel like shit right at the buzzer is an 'easier' way for its story to be remembered than creating a fleshed-out, satisfying conclusion which is still 100% in the realm of possibility by that point in the narrative. Still, I don't want to downplay how aesthetically attractive and quirky this all is - (good) minigames inside of bigger games is one of my favorite features in a video game and this has a ton of fun ones; as expected with this company the variety on display is formidable. And the story is honestly great right up until its heel-skidding final moments. For sure still a good one, though Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons wipes the floor with this imo.
Making your settlers have violent arena fights with each other is fucking hysterical, one of the more amusing things to do with the base game's building system for sure - but the cages feel barely functional, and setting up the aforementioned fights is way more complicated and unresponsive than it should be. Ultimately one more big shrug to add to Fallout 4's already mostly meh DLC list, forgot this even existed until I re-checked my logs.
"Are you afraid?"
I'm not adding anything new to the mix here by saying how much better this story is than the base game's - with lots of melancholy themes about how memories are a crucial and intrinsic part of the human experience; and not only what we're driven to do when we lose them, but when we let them define who we are if/when we ultimately do retrieve them. You're missing out on at least half the experience if you don't bring Nick Valentine with you, who is built upon as a character so much here. Like Fallout 4 it still has a mostly unremarkable open world and sporadically tiring, repetitive quest structure - but the music and graphics in this are very pretty, and have a nice aura of mystery enveloping them. Also those memory puzzles are God-tier y'all are tripping, legitimately genius move to turn their settlement building system into a Minecraft-esque series of digital riddles. Incomparably better than Automatron and the base game itself.
I'm not adding anything new to the mix here by saying how much better this story is than the base game's - with lots of melancholy themes about how memories are a crucial and intrinsic part of the human experience; and not only what we're driven to do when we lose them, but when we let them define who we are if/when we ultimately do retrieve them. You're missing out on at least half the experience if you don't bring Nick Valentine with you, who is built upon as a character so much here. Like Fallout 4 it still has a mostly unremarkable open world and sporadically tiring, repetitive quest structure - but the music and graphics in this are very pretty, and have a nice aura of mystery enveloping them. Also those memory puzzles are God-tier y'all are tripping, legitimately genius move to turn their settlement building system into a Minecraft-esque series of digital riddles. Incomparably better than Automatron and the base game itself.