Crit90
1983
Surprise, I always thought this game was really hard when I was a little kid playing it in arcades in pizza spots. It's really not that bad. Fun to play for a bit and grind scores on, or if you really want to, just play either mode (from what I can tell there's just a few minor changes) and beat all 3 levels to save Pauline.
Can't go wrong with this one, anyone with access to emulation can and should check this out, it'll probably take you 20 minutes to beat TOPS and it's just a fun little blast from the past.
BEATEN
Can't go wrong with this one, anyone with access to emulation can and should check this out, it'll probably take you 20 minutes to beat TOPS and it's just a fun little blast from the past.
BEATEN
2023
Shocked this won over Pizza Tower at TGA, I can see why (it appeals more to the general demographic) but at its core COCOON is a simple top-down puzzle game with a couple "gameplay" bosses in-between. Nothing bad, in fact I had fun solving the puzzles and thought they were quite intuitive and rewarded strategy. However, this does not mean the puzzles are without their flaws.
A lot of backtracking is required and the same concepts are re-treaded, sometimes to figure out puzzles you need to do something based off of intuition which not all people have, in particular I really didn't have to look up any solutions (most puzzles came to me after a bit of thinking in my case) but the very final puzzle I just wanted to finish the game so I looked it up. D'oh moment for sure.
Other than that, the bosses that are here are pretty fun, although the final boss is a bit of a cop-out and I was expecting more of an ending than what was given.
Aesthetics are beautiful, soundtrack is beautiful and minimal, this is an artsy game that can be enjoyed by almost anyone, I just think bottom line for me personally I enjoy games with a bit more going on hence the relatively low rating.
BEATEN
A lot of backtracking is required and the same concepts are re-treaded, sometimes to figure out puzzles you need to do something based off of intuition which not all people have, in particular I really didn't have to look up any solutions (most puzzles came to me after a bit of thinking in my case) but the very final puzzle I just wanted to finish the game so I looked it up. D'oh moment for sure.
Other than that, the bosses that are here are pretty fun, although the final boss is a bit of a cop-out and I was expecting more of an ending than what was given.
Aesthetics are beautiful, soundtrack is beautiful and minimal, this is an artsy game that can be enjoyed by almost anyone, I just think bottom line for me personally I enjoy games with a bit more going on hence the relatively low rating.
BEATEN
2023
Pleasantly surprised at how accessible and fun this was, right up until the very end. All I'll say is, it involves a time limit and there is not much room for error. Maybe some might find it easier but I had to seek external help.
Otherwise, really fun game, story might be a bit barebones but it's fun and the voice acting is good.
BEATEN
Otherwise, really fun game, story might be a bit barebones but it's fun and the voice acting is good.
BEATEN
1985
funny piranha plant despawning on 8-4 heeeeeeee
(yeah everyone's said everything about this game just gonna say it's off my bucket list now and I can move on. solid game)
(yeah everyone's said everything about this game just gonna say it's off my bucket list now and I can move on. solid game)
2003
Abandoned at MAP30. I really, really wanted to finish this but MAP30 is just such a shift in tone, gameplay, spirit, and difficulty that I decided for the sake of my sanity to just say goodbye to Scythe forever. I'm proud of myself for beating maps1-29 single segment on HNTR, but MAP30 is where I drew the line.
This won a Cacoward on Doomworld (the main Doom website/has been for its entire timeline) and I can see why, even however many years later. It's fun, punchy action for most of the ordeal with some interesting concept maps, and unlike others I actually enjoy a majority of the Hell maps (maps21-30) and find them fun. If you want slaughter executed well in a wad like Scythe, look at MAP26. Plenty of invulnerabilities, plenty of mega spheres, plenty of BFG ammo, doesn't take that long, bam, there you go, DONE. Some of the maps in here are challenging without even needing that many monsters just because they're well designed for that matter. I just can't see why MAP30 had to be included other than "Oh, it's the final map, might as well go all-out!"
A 4-star mod that gets ruined down to a light 3 by virtue of its final map alone. This is one of the rare instances in which I cannot bring myself to finish a game/mod. It's not even that I hate slaughter, it's the context in which this is inserted into the game with little warning and in such full force that makes it a stinker.
Even all that aside, the good maps suffer from lack of detail (understandable, it's vanilla) and maps1-10 are really boring for the most part. Scythe, I respect the hell out of you but I cannot beat you and I'm sorry that I can't, you just aged rather poorly.
Abandoned on 7/6/23 AT THE VERY END.
ABANDONED
This won a Cacoward on Doomworld (the main Doom website/has been for its entire timeline) and I can see why, even however many years later. It's fun, punchy action for most of the ordeal with some interesting concept maps, and unlike others I actually enjoy a majority of the Hell maps (maps21-30) and find them fun. If you want slaughter executed well in a wad like Scythe, look at MAP26. Plenty of invulnerabilities, plenty of mega spheres, plenty of BFG ammo, doesn't take that long, bam, there you go, DONE. Some of the maps in here are challenging without even needing that many monsters just because they're well designed for that matter. I just can't see why MAP30 had to be included other than "Oh, it's the final map, might as well go all-out!"
A 4-star mod that gets ruined down to a light 3 by virtue of its final map alone. This is one of the rare instances in which I cannot bring myself to finish a game/mod. It's not even that I hate slaughter, it's the context in which this is inserted into the game with little warning and in such full force that makes it a stinker.
Even all that aside, the good maps suffer from lack of detail (understandable, it's vanilla) and maps1-10 are really boring for the most part. Scythe, I respect the hell out of you but I cannot beat you and I'm sorry that I can't, you just aged rather poorly.
Abandoned on 7/6/23 AT THE VERY END.
ABANDONED
1989
Alright, game 2 of this Mega Man journey. Played on Switch although it's marked as NES because Switch is not an option on this game for some reason. No savestate abuse other than to split play sessions, plenty of rewind abuse but if you check my Mega Man 1 review I go more into detail about that. TL;DR - it's just how I prefer to go about this.
Mega Man 2 is a MUCH better game than MM1. Probably the most fondly looked upon, and maybe the easiest(?). Metal blade makes most bosses look like a joke, and there's nothing too hard in here other than a puzzle-like Wily stage bossfight that requires precise ammo usage. Everything is an improvement here, from the UI to the graphics to the enemy design to just... agh, everything here is so much better. Plus, you can actually do bosses for the most part in whatever order you want once you get Metal Blade as there's no forced progression and actual secondary weaknesses for the bosses, unlike the first. The Wily stages are plenty hard, though, and they will demand precision and saving ammo. Better have those E-tanks on hand for the last stage!
I can see Mega Man getting better than this, but from my limited experience with the franchise, it seems like a high bar to top. I can't wait to be pleasantly surprised as pretty much everyone I know says it just keeps improving the deeper in the series you get. Really solid game here, classic NES fun that doesn't feel completely unfair (especially with Legacy Collection luxuries).
Beaten on 7/5/23 on Switch.
BEATEN
Mega Man 2 is a MUCH better game than MM1. Probably the most fondly looked upon, and maybe the easiest(?). Metal blade makes most bosses look like a joke, and there's nothing too hard in here other than a puzzle-like Wily stage bossfight that requires precise ammo usage. Everything is an improvement here, from the UI to the graphics to the enemy design to just... agh, everything here is so much better. Plus, you can actually do bosses for the most part in whatever order you want once you get Metal Blade as there's no forced progression and actual secondary weaknesses for the bosses, unlike the first. The Wily stages are plenty hard, though, and they will demand precision and saving ammo. Better have those E-tanks on hand for the last stage!
I can see Mega Man getting better than this, but from my limited experience with the franchise, it seems like a high bar to top. I can't wait to be pleasantly surprised as pretty much everyone I know says it just keeps improving the deeper in the series you get. Really solid game here, classic NES fun that doesn't feel completely unfair (especially with Legacy Collection luxuries).
Beaten on 7/5/23 on Switch.
BEATEN
1987
Marking this as the NES version but I played it on my Switch via the Mega Man Legacy Collection Vol. 1. Meaning that a rewind and savestate system are present, I didn't really abuse savestates (moreso just used them for breaking up a single-session game into multiple playsessions, saving before stages). While I didn't abuse the savestates I definitely abused the heck out of the rewind feature, and I am not ashamed of this. I've beaten this game "legit" before on an emulator, which people are always gonna question the legitimacy of beating a game on an emulator but I'll let that rest as I really cannot be asked to care that much about how people beat old games in [current year]. In some cases, rewinding actually made the game harder on me as instead of dying and having more health to redo the stage with, I just soldiered on with 1 hit left on the Wily stages and kept rewinding, having to constantly figure out boss movements as I rewound. Maybe this detracted from the overall experience, I'll let you be the judge.
Anyway, my experience with megaman is rather limited. I enjoy the franchise, but I've only ever really beaten 1 and 2, and played a bit of 3-6 and a bit of x1 and x2. I'm looking forward to this journey but I am a bit hesitant as to how much timesink this will be in the long run.
The game itself? It's alright. About what you'd expect for a 1987 NES game. Graphics are very nice, sound design is there, there is actual level design even if it can be a bit unfair at times and you're forced to take damage, bosses can be trial and error until you figure out the right strategy (the copy boss in particular is very trying), etc etc... I can't complain about anything here, but I also can't rave about it. The version I played patched out the pause glitch making bosses like Wily Machine Phase 2 and Yellow Devil much harder, but as I said earlier, rewind eventually put this to rest.
Overall, do I feel a little guilty that I'm about to go into this classic 6-game series with rewind abuse? A little bit, yeah, but at the end of the day I suppose it was baked into legacy collection for a reason, those being newer gamers that aren't used to 'NES-hard' or people that simply don't wanna dedicate days to trying to beat a single game. I feel like I got the proper amount of difficulty out of this game rewind or not and it was mostly just a trip down memory lane. I'm interested to see how 3 and beyond fare for me as those are uncharted territory but 2 comes first. Mega man is mega mid. But 2 is leagues better and from what I hear they keep improving so I'm excited for this little endeavor.
Beaten on 7/4/23 on Switch.
BEATEN
Anyway, my experience with megaman is rather limited. I enjoy the franchise, but I've only ever really beaten 1 and 2, and played a bit of 3-6 and a bit of x1 and x2. I'm looking forward to this journey but I am a bit hesitant as to how much timesink this will be in the long run.
The game itself? It's alright. About what you'd expect for a 1987 NES game. Graphics are very nice, sound design is there, there is actual level design even if it can be a bit unfair at times and you're forced to take damage, bosses can be trial and error until you figure out the right strategy (the copy boss in particular is very trying), etc etc... I can't complain about anything here, but I also can't rave about it. The version I played patched out the pause glitch making bosses like Wily Machine Phase 2 and Yellow Devil much harder, but as I said earlier, rewind eventually put this to rest.
Overall, do I feel a little guilty that I'm about to go into this classic 6-game series with rewind abuse? A little bit, yeah, but at the end of the day I suppose it was baked into legacy collection for a reason, those being newer gamers that aren't used to 'NES-hard' or people that simply don't wanna dedicate days to trying to beat a single game. I feel like I got the proper amount of difficulty out of this game rewind or not and it was mostly just a trip down memory lane. I'm interested to see how 3 and beyond fare for me as those are uncharted territory but 2 comes first. Mega man is mega mid. But 2 is leagues better and from what I hear they keep improving so I'm excited for this little endeavor.
Beaten on 7/4/23 on Switch.
BEATEN
2017
Mario Kart is THE go-to comfort game. Throughout the years, it's never gotten stale and I can only hope that as I check out the DLC it stays that way. What we're presented with in the base game is 48 tracks that, for the most part, are fun. My opinions may be a bit biased as I played this game with my dad a LOT before COVID hit, so I'm familiar with most of the 48 base tracks. And some of them I like more than others, especially on 150cc. I got the 3 gold stars on every cup on 50cc this playthrough so as not to rage hard at the CPUs and make it relaxing, but some races were still close.
The first 4 cups (Mushroom - Special) I presume are the base game cups carried over from the Wii U version. There are a couple standouts such as Thwomp Ruins, Electrodome, and Mount Wario, but for the most part the tracks are just alright. Nothing that really excites me as much as some other cups in the game. After that are the Wii U DLC cups, some of which are hits, some of which are just full of mid tracks, and some that are a mixed bag of quality. It's great seeing tracks like Sherbet Land and Wario Stadium in HD, and my all-time favorite track in this game is Music Park 3DS. Unfortunately, the Bell Cup that ends things is full of uninteresting tracks, but it is what it is.
I could go on about the gameplay loop, which character and parts I use, so on and so forth, but it's Mario Kart, there's no need to really explain any of that. Fantastic game that I'm glad to finally say I 'beat', even if it was only on 50cc.
Beaten on 6/27/23.
BEATEN
The first 4 cups (Mushroom - Special) I presume are the base game cups carried over from the Wii U version. There are a couple standouts such as Thwomp Ruins, Electrodome, and Mount Wario, but for the most part the tracks are just alright. Nothing that really excites me as much as some other cups in the game. After that are the Wii U DLC cups, some of which are hits, some of which are just full of mid tracks, and some that are a mixed bag of quality. It's great seeing tracks like Sherbet Land and Wario Stadium in HD, and my all-time favorite track in this game is Music Park 3DS. Unfortunately, the Bell Cup that ends things is full of uninteresting tracks, but it is what it is.
I could go on about the gameplay loop, which character and parts I use, so on and so forth, but it's Mario Kart, there's no need to really explain any of that. Fantastic game that I'm glad to finally say I 'beat', even if it was only on 50cc.
Beaten on 6/27/23.
BEATEN
2018
As others have said, fun, short indie game. Good way to kill an hour or so. The last bit of the game is probably the most fleshed-out and combines everything you've learned in the game up to that point to give the game a little more substance, but most of it is just swallowing stuff up with holes. Which is still pretty fun in its own right.
Story is alright, it's (yet again) a game about devouring things with holes so the story doesn't need to be perfect, it just needs to be funny and entertaining, and for the most part it is. I can imagine if you're an older gamer though most of this would be lost on you in terms of charm or funniness.
Overall, not bad. Beaten on Switch on 6/23/23 in 2 play sessions in 1 day.
BEATEN
Story is alright, it's (yet again) a game about devouring things with holes so the story doesn't need to be perfect, it just needs to be funny and entertaining, and for the most part it is. I can imagine if you're an older gamer though most of this would be lost on you in terms of charm or funniness.
Overall, not bad. Beaten on Switch on 6/23/23 in 2 play sessions in 1 day.
BEATEN
2022
Up there with Lunatic (reviewed also on my profile) as a great 'coffee break' mapset, but actually a bit better IMO. Mouldy's charm is overwhelming at times and it leads to some great, slaughtery, turn-your-brain-off encounters. I liked the fifth map the most.
Beaten on 6/20/23.
BEATEN
Beaten on 6/20/23.
BEATEN
Played on PC through exporting the add-on from the Doom Unity Port into an external source-port (in this case, DSDA-doom).
What a fun little mapset that I hadn't yet played! This is more in line with what I'd look for in an officially sanctioned Doom expansion than say, SIGIL. Fun levels, nice fair challenge, emphasis on secret-hunting, and a satisfying conclusion. No complaints here, this was highly enjoyable from start to finish.
Beaten on 6/19/23.
BEATEN
What a fun little mapset that I hadn't yet played! This is more in line with what I'd look for in an officially sanctioned Doom expansion than say, SIGIL. Fun levels, nice fair challenge, emphasis on secret-hunting, and a satisfying conclusion. No complaints here, this was highly enjoyable from start to finish.
Beaten on 6/19/23.
BEATEN
2019
This review contains spoilers
As a comeback of sorts for John Romero and an unofficial follow-up to the canon of Doom 1, SIGIL is not inherently bad by any stretch of the means. It essentially is a souped-up "Thy Flesh Consumed" with new gimmicks made possible by modern mapping techniques, and a seasoned veteran behind the helm. At the end of the day though, you can tell this is the same guy that made Daikatana. No offense, John.
SIGIL exceeds expectations in a few places - I was playing on the 2nd easiest difficulty for this playthrough (not even sure if I've beaten it on UV in the past) and was pleasantly surprised by the level of challenge on display here, even if not all of it was fair. Level design is more complex and requires basic knowledge of doom's "platforming" mechanic and ammo conservation, puzzle-solving, and a knack for finding secrets. Truth be told, I had to use a guide for some of these maps to get the secrets just to push me through some of the harder maps.
I was enjoying myself well enough until E5M7 came around (E3M7 on older source ports that don't adopt the standard SIGIL came with) and was greeted by a particularly poorly-designed platforming section towards the end of the map with bad monster placement that demands utmost precision on janky geometry and punishable mistakes that lead to death. This map frustrated me greatly and I'd be lying if I said it didn't sour my opinion of this mapset up until this point. It's as if all the flaws that I glossed over with the Romero-tinted lenses suddenly shined brightly in my face and I realized, this is the same guy that made some of the most frustrating maps in Doom II (not the fun kind, either).
SIGIL is worth the play, even if only as a curiosity of what an original level designer of the first 2 games can bring to the table in 2019. I wouldn't recommend playing on anything harder than "Hurt Me Plenty!" for a first-time playthrough, especially if you struggled with E4 of Doom 1. Thankfully, this add-on is easily accessible in the Steam Unity port along with many other great mapsets and the WAD can even be exported for external sourceport usage. Have fun where you can, and if you need to pull up a guide or take rage breaks - don't feel bad, I bet John's playtesters probably needed the same.
Beaten on 6/19/23 with all maps played, MOST secrets discovered and MOST kills obtained on an external source port, DSDA-doom.
BEATEN
SIGIL exceeds expectations in a few places - I was playing on the 2nd easiest difficulty for this playthrough (not even sure if I've beaten it on UV in the past) and was pleasantly surprised by the level of challenge on display here, even if not all of it was fair. Level design is more complex and requires basic knowledge of doom's "platforming" mechanic and ammo conservation, puzzle-solving, and a knack for finding secrets. Truth be told, I had to use a guide for some of these maps to get the secrets just to push me through some of the harder maps.
I was enjoying myself well enough until E5M7 came around (E3M7 on older source ports that don't adopt the standard SIGIL came with) and was greeted by a particularly poorly-designed platforming section towards the end of the map with bad monster placement that demands utmost precision on janky geometry and punishable mistakes that lead to death. This map frustrated me greatly and I'd be lying if I said it didn't sour my opinion of this mapset up until this point. It's as if all the flaws that I glossed over with the Romero-tinted lenses suddenly shined brightly in my face and I realized, this is the same guy that made some of the most frustrating maps in Doom II (not the fun kind, either).
SIGIL is worth the play, even if only as a curiosity of what an original level designer of the first 2 games can bring to the table in 2019. I wouldn't recommend playing on anything harder than "Hurt Me Plenty!" for a first-time playthrough, especially if you struggled with E4 of Doom 1. Thankfully, this add-on is easily accessible in the Steam Unity port along with many other great mapsets and the WAD can even be exported for external sourceport usage. Have fun where you can, and if you need to pull up a guide or take rage breaks - don't feel bad, I bet John's playtesters probably needed the same.
Beaten on 6/19/23 with all maps played, MOST secrets discovered and MOST kills obtained on an external source port, DSDA-doom.
BEATEN
2011
Fun little "coffee break" mapset for Doom II. Not as good as the author's later works such as Valiant or Ancient Aliens but it's cute, my only real complaints are that some maps don't feel fully fleshed out and rather like ideas, that and some of the MIDIs get stale quick. Not MAP05 (the final map) though! What a great tribute to a fantastic song. Worth the play just for MAP05 alone. Nothing spectacular, but it was fun revisiting after all these years.
Beaten on 6/11/23 in DSDA-doom.
BEATEN
Beaten on 6/11/23 in DSDA-doom.
BEATEN
2016
This review contains spoilers
Overall, a worthy successor to the 90's originals and a soft reboot of the franchise that would go on to spawn Doom Eternal, a highly-praised game that I have yet to play. I got this on launch day back in 2016 thinking it'd be the best game ever, as I was in a heavy classic Doom phase at the time, and I got mostly what I wanted out of it, albeit the bosses were a bit weak and the setpiece-focused combat was not my favorite. So, how do I feel about it in 2023?
I remain mostly the same on all of my opinions about this game. Starts off strong, leaves a good impression, peaks around the VEGA mission and trails off from there with a weak ending and final boss. But, the hell levels in the OG Doom were never that good, at least they're more than playable here. I dunno, I just wish there was a bit more nonlinearity and exploration to this game in its latter half that the techbase levels had. In particular, climbing the Argent Tower was a highlight for me, that whole mission was great. It seems they just focused their energy on making some missions really good and then some just doing the bare minimum to fulfill what they thought gamers would want.
Understandably so, as well (after Doom 3's rickety reception). Overall, I don't feel too strongly about this game but I do think it is good and while I would much rather play custom Doom WADs from the modding community of the 90s games, this is a good option for those looking to get their feet wet in more "boomer shooter" type FPS games, with a AAA budget and not really demanding specs. 4/5, probably closer to a 3.5 but the missions that REALLY work in this game just REALLY work for me, so I'd feel bad giving it that outright. Beaten on 4/8/23 on one of the easier difficulties to save myself some time, and it still took a while due to gaming burnout.
BEATEN
I remain mostly the same on all of my opinions about this game. Starts off strong, leaves a good impression, peaks around the VEGA mission and trails off from there with a weak ending and final boss. But, the hell levels in the OG Doom were never that good, at least they're more than playable here. I dunno, I just wish there was a bit more nonlinearity and exploration to this game in its latter half that the techbase levels had. In particular, climbing the Argent Tower was a highlight for me, that whole mission was great. It seems they just focused their energy on making some missions really good and then some just doing the bare minimum to fulfill what they thought gamers would want.
Understandably so, as well (after Doom 3's rickety reception). Overall, I don't feel too strongly about this game but I do think it is good and while I would much rather play custom Doom WADs from the modding community of the 90s games, this is a good option for those looking to get their feet wet in more "boomer shooter" type FPS games, with a AAA budget and not really demanding specs. 4/5, probably closer to a 3.5 but the missions that REALLY work in this game just REALLY work for me, so I'd feel bad giving it that outright. Beaten on 4/8/23 on one of the easier difficulties to save myself some time, and it still took a while due to gaming burnout.
BEATEN
1996
So, I have a bit of a complicated history with Quake.
I started playing Doom when I was 6 years old, and never liked Quake because it looked scarier, and later as an adult because it lacked the automap that Doom had and it was generally harder. Well, now that I'm used to playing games on easy mode, I gave it another shot after years of not even beating the first episode and managed to beat it.
I still hold the opinion that Doom is better in terms of pure action and modding scene, but Quake exudes atmosphere like no other FPS I've played (except maybe Bioshock, but that's another review for another day). It gets hard at times even on Easy, but I only really struggled on the final 2 maps and I eventually beat them with enough patience. The final boss, as per old id software practices, is super easy and somewhat of a joke if you know what to do. Somehow easier than the spider mastermind from Doom 1.
Levels are designed in such a way to where you don't really need a map to get around, so in a way that kinda cancels out an earlier pet peeve for me, but it'd still be nice to have one. Secrets are way better here than in Doom as well, much more thoughtfully placed and more fun to access. Some of them are fairly obvious by today's gaming standards but it's still fun to find them. And they come in handy more often than not!
Gunplay is probably Quake's weakest point. You'll really only end up using the super variants of the nailgun and shotgun once you find them, and likewise for the grenade launcher/rocket launcher unless you really need the 'nades for something specific.
Another thing I liked about this game was the powerups. Quad damage makes you feel like a badass, the pentagram is basically an invincibility sphere from Doom, the ring is like a blursphere but actually GOOD, and on Easy you will hardly go without health, armor, or ammo so it's not too difficult (sans the 2 maps in E4 that I really struggled with).
Not a 100% playthrough as I did not bother with secret exits nor secret maps, just played all 7 maps in all 4 episodes and beat the boss level. Had a good time, safe to say I still prefer Doom though and I'm in no rush to play the expansions when that inevitably happens.
Sidenote: I played this on the updated Unity port that's on Steam, and it was my personal favorite way of playing it. Probably sacrilege to some, but hey, I had fun playing it this way, it was smooth graphically, everything sounded great, no complaints here.
Beaten on 2/22/23.
BEATEN
I started playing Doom when I was 6 years old, and never liked Quake because it looked scarier, and later as an adult because it lacked the automap that Doom had and it was generally harder. Well, now that I'm used to playing games on easy mode, I gave it another shot after years of not even beating the first episode and managed to beat it.
I still hold the opinion that Doom is better in terms of pure action and modding scene, but Quake exudes atmosphere like no other FPS I've played (except maybe Bioshock, but that's another review for another day). It gets hard at times even on Easy, but I only really struggled on the final 2 maps and I eventually beat them with enough patience. The final boss, as per old id software practices, is super easy and somewhat of a joke if you know what to do. Somehow easier than the spider mastermind from Doom 1.
Levels are designed in such a way to where you don't really need a map to get around, so in a way that kinda cancels out an earlier pet peeve for me, but it'd still be nice to have one. Secrets are way better here than in Doom as well, much more thoughtfully placed and more fun to access. Some of them are fairly obvious by today's gaming standards but it's still fun to find them. And they come in handy more often than not!
Gunplay is probably Quake's weakest point. You'll really only end up using the super variants of the nailgun and shotgun once you find them, and likewise for the grenade launcher/rocket launcher unless you really need the 'nades for something specific.
Another thing I liked about this game was the powerups. Quad damage makes you feel like a badass, the pentagram is basically an invincibility sphere from Doom, the ring is like a blursphere but actually GOOD, and on Easy you will hardly go without health, armor, or ammo so it's not too difficult (sans the 2 maps in E4 that I really struggled with).
Not a 100% playthrough as I did not bother with secret exits nor secret maps, just played all 7 maps in all 4 episodes and beat the boss level. Had a good time, safe to say I still prefer Doom though and I'm in no rush to play the expansions when that inevitably happens.
Sidenote: I played this on the updated Unity port that's on Steam, and it was my personal favorite way of playing it. Probably sacrilege to some, but hey, I had fun playing it this way, it was smooth graphically, everything sounded great, no complaints here.
Beaten on 2/22/23.
BEATEN