Dawlphinn
63 Reviews liked by Dawlphinn
Rayman Legends
2013
More than anything, the last couple of months have been about learning to love video games again. As such, I’ve been revisiting some of my old ramblings, particularly that of the obstacle course 2D platformer. While I think the original Donkey Kong Country is a prime example of what I’m looking for, there’s always room for improvement, even if I don’t necessarily know what that improvement would look like. I think I might have finally found what I’ve been looking for though; call me basic or nostalgic, but Rayman Legends might just be the most polished and realized momentum-based crash course 2D platformer I've ever played, with easy to pick up but difficult to master character control potential and some of the most vibrant and engaging obstacle escalation in any platformer to date.
Rayman’s toolkit of a standard attack and jump with an extended hover while holding jump seems pretty simple at first, but there’s plenty to master too. Rayman’s dash attack gives an instant burst of speed, and jumping during the spin allows you to preserve horizontal momentum. Learning to minimize these moments of stagnation with break boosting and chaining well-timed spins and jumps with roll-jumping, air-kick cancelling to maintain aerial momentum, and ground-pounds to create hit boxes both above and below you while quickly diving allows for extremely tight platforming, alongside Rayman’s jump control (access to a short hop versus a full jump depending on how quickly jump is tapped) and standard chained attacks. Enemy placement lends well to this need for optimized movement too, since you’ll constantly need to balance throwing out hitboxes to knock out foes/barriers or jumping on enemy heads while finding the right times to maintain speed. The game even handles verticality well, thanks to a simple wall-running mechanic (that doesn’t even require you to build up momentum prior) with quick wall flip jumps as well as standard wall jumping outside of wall runs. Simply put, there is a lot of potential for movement optimization in this game, and it feels absolutely exhilarating pulling it off.
As for the levels themselves, take the design philosophy of the original Donkey Kong Country and turn it up to 11, and you’ve basically got one of the best modern translations of the formula in Rayman Legends while still managing to bring plenty of its own ideas to the table. There’s tons of moving parts and lurking dangers abound in the dreamy levels of the game to force Rayman and pals into action; vines, trampolines, water jets, wind currents, ziplines, swarms of bugs and flaming walls, you name it and they’ve got it. It’s a classic case of slowly introducing new concepts in the form of new movement tech, hazards, and set pieces while slowly interchanging the new with the old and ramping up the danger and tightening the execution until finally, you get to run your victory lap. The difference here between Donkey Kong Country and Rayman Legends is that Rayman Legends extends the obstacle course escalation to an entire world rather than just a single level, allowing the developers to really push their theming and various ideas to their fullest extent while providing more than enough time for players to adapt to the learning curve.
Mark Brown of Game Maker’s Toolkit provides the perfect example of this design philosophy in action, citing the fourth world of the game, 20,000 Lums Under the Sea. Let’s start with the core principle of the world; stealth mechanics in the form of the sentry beams that zap Rayman if he lingers too long in the searchlights. These forced stealth sections are first combined with underwater swimming levels, which I must admit is a such a damn clever combination; what better way to alleviate the painstaking nature of the slower swimming sections and the deliberate and calculated movement of forced stealth sections than to marry the two concepts? That’s just the first level of the world though; the second level is a grounded platforming stage where Rayman has to sneak around sentries with his companion Murphy, using Murphy to press buttons that both create barriers and block sentry searchlights while popping up walls and platforms to create paths forward. Then the third level turns this concept on its head again by starting levels lit-up with electric barriers, and then forcing you to replay the levels backward with the electric barriers replaced with sentry searchlights in stealth mode.
The fourth level, “Infiltration Station,” toys with the ideas of the previously mentioned second level by now replacing the buttons with movable objects; as a result, Rayman must now adapt to Murphy shifting the level by moving cover or even moving the sentries themselves. Then, the fifth level relegates the sentries as the backdrop hazards to a grand ol’ elevator defense, which Rayman must keep track of and avoid while picking off bungee shock gun frogmen straight out of a Mission Impossible movie. Again, it’s important to remember that these levels slowly introduce new level elements aside from the main gimmicks (invincible underwater worms, laser trip detectors, skull-marked naval mines, etc), but ultimately it is the synthesis and variation of the elements (i.e. inserting enemies in sentry-guarded zones, or using the mobile worms and stationary mines as mandatory cover against searchlights) that makes the difficulty so versatile. This all comes together in the sixth level, “There’s Always a Bigger Fish,” where every introduced obstacle in the arsenal is thrown at Rayman as he furiously paddles away from a snapping serpent in a frenzied auto-runner/chase sequence. Finally, after the penultimate level that serves as a boss fight against yet another hostile Frankensteined mechanical beast, you get to reap the rewards in a final musical obstacle course dubbed “Gloo Gloo,” where your platforming and swimming actions in-game are synced to the beats of a whimsical cover of “Woo-Hoo”. It’s such a pleasure mastering these playable music videos and knowing that your survival is the only thing keeping the music at full blast.
As you can probably guess from the musical endnotes of each world, Rayman Legends is absolutely no slouch at atmosphere and presentation. Theming in every world is extremely distinct and yet remains focused to where level elements never really feel out of place or excessively repetitive. You go from navigating these tight, booby trapped castles in Teensies in Trouble to carefully gliding and maneuvering massive beanstalks in Toad Story, to dodging cake eating centipedes and fending off scores of luchadores and mariachi skeletons in Fiesta de los Muertos. Every new world has its own unique focus on gameplay mechanics (swinging axe and ropes courses in Teensies in Trouble, windy, open air plant-infested levels in Toad Story similar to that of the bramble levels in Donkey Kong Country 2, and Murphy quite literally playing with his food to progress past hazards in Fiesta de los Muertos), and the dynamic comic book visuals of the UbiArt framework as well as the extensive orchestral + electronic mixes in the soundtrack really bring it all home. To top it all off, there’s just this joyous and infectious energy embedded in every detail of the game, from the punchy and expressive attacks and sound effects, to the backing “Ooooooh” track that plays every time you stumble upon a secret, to the Teensies themselves cheering and giggling like schoolchildren when you bump into them in the main gallery. I can’t help but grin and chuckle like a madman every time I pick up this game; it’s just dopamine in distilled video game form.
There have been a few complaints here and there that Rayman tends to lean towards the easier side, at least with regards to many of the main story levels. That’s where the invasion and challenge levels come in. The challenge levels are straightforward enough; compete against the world in a daily/weekly generated survival and/or speedrunning contest for glory, and lums/”Awesomeness points” for more cosmetic palette swaps if you want to change up your character model every now and then. More importantly, you’ll get an alert every now and then that goons from previous worlds have come to “invade” the dreams of previous stages, and be invited to partake in a timed invasion stage, where you must rush to the end against a new combination of foes in a different theme. This concept even gets its own twist when after beating the game, Shadow Rayman invasion levels are unlocked, where a dark copy of you follows in close pursuit and both keeps you moving while carefully planning out your route as so you don’t stumble into your duplicate while backtracking. These levels really force you to use every tool at your disposal to optimize your strategy and beat the clock, and it almost becomes that of a puzzle game but with extremely tight execution involved as well.
I love examples, so have another one on me just so I can illustrate how batshit crazy this gets. In the Shadow Rayman invasion variant of “Infiltration Station,” you have to pick off sequential droves of enemies in order to unlock the door to the next room and eventually free your Teensie friends at the end. From the starting position of the second room, you first have to take out the frog goon on the left while then immediately destroying the bones barrier below. Since there’s a Shadow Rayman copy following me, I dash attacked into the goon then immediately wall-jumped and slammed through the barrier, landing on an enemy that spawned directly below me and then bouncing and air kicking the newly spawned enemy to the right on the platform. From there, I hold down the right trigger and jump out to the ring and back on top to the platform previously above me, kicking the buff brawler in the face. Then, I full jump out towards the ring to avoid my shadow and hover for a second so another toad can finish spawning in and land on the ground, allowing me to slam to its side and end its misery. I immediately input a jump upon landing since there’s no enemy to bounce off of this time and air kick the last toad brawler on the platform, land on the platform, and break boost by immediately spin dashing to the left off the platform towards the door once obscured by a vine and make my exit. Here’s a quickly sketched schematic of my “optimized” route that takes about nine seconds when executed well, and if you think this is fast… the world record for the whole four room affair takes less than double the time it took for me to just finish the second room alone. Needless to say, the thrill of improving both my execution and pathing while directly competing against others on the leaderboard is definitely a crucial component that keeps me coming back for more.
If I really had to nitpick, then my only complaint is that some of the Back to Origins content (the forty returning stages from Rayman Origins) feel a bit out of place. While the main platforming stages still feel tightly constructed, with the classic escalation and variation of moving elements and hazards formula for mechanical depth aided by carefully hidden short side corridors for goodies and bonus rooms, there are unfortunately one too many horizontal shoot em up segments (both in the form of full Origins levels and bonus room challenges) thrown into the array that feel like abrupt breaks in the natural flow of things. To be fair, this is at least alleviated by two factors. Firstly, the Back to Origins content is not necessary at all to unlock the main stages of Legends (in fact, you can even just focus on Legends content exclusively and still have enough Teensies to unlock the 8-bit bonus music levels), and are randomly earned from scratching Lucky Tickets that come as their own reward for collecting enough Lums in main stages; thus, I always saw the Origins levels more as bonus content if anything. Secondly, even within the shmup segments themselves, there’s a fair bit of variety thanks to the wrinkles thrown in (namely through the ability to suck certain enemies/obstacles and shoot them back out to deal more damage, as well as the reflective surfaces that let you bounce shots off and levers/switches thrown into stages that present a less “harmful” but just as engaging obstacle to contend with) as well as the expressive theming that the game’s known for to mitigate any staleness. Nevertheless, even if I think this is a minor gripe considering that the final product is definitely more than the sum of its parts, I do acknowledge that the bonus content would have felt even more gratifying if they had cut the number of shmup sections in half and replaced them with the engaging platforming that Rayman Origins & Legends exemplify.
One last disclaimer for the road: a couple of years ago, the servers for Rayman Legends on PC were shut down, effectively closing leaderboards and barring players from accessing any challenge levels on PC copies. If global kudos and constantly generated online challenges are a defining draw for you, then you may want to consider picking up a console copy of Rayman Legends instead, where the servers are still up. That said, PC players can still mod the game offline to create their own challenges, and I have heard that some Rayman community discords have been running custom challenges themselves in spirit of the old system (though I haven’t been able to confirm), so perhaps not all hope is lost.
I suppose they don’t call it Rayman Legends for nothing; even while considering some minor design decisions that could have been improved, the overall game is one of the most cohesive and mechanically deep 2D platformers I’ve experienced to date that never fails to put a smile on my face. This really is one of the most replayable and fundamentally fulfilling platformers that I’ve ever played, and it absolutely deserves to be included in the conversation as one of the greatest 2D platformers of all time. It is a shame that as rich as the series has been (at least, in the two Rayman games I’ve played to date), that Rayman himself has seemingly fallen to the wayside while his creator, Michel Ancel, has been rather busy with the development hell of Beyond Good & Evil 2, until he left the project and Ubisoft altogether two years ago. Ubisoft’s been in a bit of an unsurprising rough patch since, having cancelled three unannounced games and “facing major challenges” in the form of underselling titles, so I’ll just say what’s on everyone’s mind: bring back Rayman, Ubisoft. It’s been eight years since Legends, and the boy deserves so much more. Don’t let these greats go out like this; we may still have the classics, but future generations ought to know that once upon a time, there was once (and perhaps still is) a platforming legend that reached the heights of Mario, Donkey Kong, and so many others while always remaining true to itself.
Rayman’s toolkit of a standard attack and jump with an extended hover while holding jump seems pretty simple at first, but there’s plenty to master too. Rayman’s dash attack gives an instant burst of speed, and jumping during the spin allows you to preserve horizontal momentum. Learning to minimize these moments of stagnation with break boosting and chaining well-timed spins and jumps with roll-jumping, air-kick cancelling to maintain aerial momentum, and ground-pounds to create hit boxes both above and below you while quickly diving allows for extremely tight platforming, alongside Rayman’s jump control (access to a short hop versus a full jump depending on how quickly jump is tapped) and standard chained attacks. Enemy placement lends well to this need for optimized movement too, since you’ll constantly need to balance throwing out hitboxes to knock out foes/barriers or jumping on enemy heads while finding the right times to maintain speed. The game even handles verticality well, thanks to a simple wall-running mechanic (that doesn’t even require you to build up momentum prior) with quick wall flip jumps as well as standard wall jumping outside of wall runs. Simply put, there is a lot of potential for movement optimization in this game, and it feels absolutely exhilarating pulling it off.
As for the levels themselves, take the design philosophy of the original Donkey Kong Country and turn it up to 11, and you’ve basically got one of the best modern translations of the formula in Rayman Legends while still managing to bring plenty of its own ideas to the table. There’s tons of moving parts and lurking dangers abound in the dreamy levels of the game to force Rayman and pals into action; vines, trampolines, water jets, wind currents, ziplines, swarms of bugs and flaming walls, you name it and they’ve got it. It’s a classic case of slowly introducing new concepts in the form of new movement tech, hazards, and set pieces while slowly interchanging the new with the old and ramping up the danger and tightening the execution until finally, you get to run your victory lap. The difference here between Donkey Kong Country and Rayman Legends is that Rayman Legends extends the obstacle course escalation to an entire world rather than just a single level, allowing the developers to really push their theming and various ideas to their fullest extent while providing more than enough time for players to adapt to the learning curve.
Mark Brown of Game Maker’s Toolkit provides the perfect example of this design philosophy in action, citing the fourth world of the game, 20,000 Lums Under the Sea. Let’s start with the core principle of the world; stealth mechanics in the form of the sentry beams that zap Rayman if he lingers too long in the searchlights. These forced stealth sections are first combined with underwater swimming levels, which I must admit is a such a damn clever combination; what better way to alleviate the painstaking nature of the slower swimming sections and the deliberate and calculated movement of forced stealth sections than to marry the two concepts? That’s just the first level of the world though; the second level is a grounded platforming stage where Rayman has to sneak around sentries with his companion Murphy, using Murphy to press buttons that both create barriers and block sentry searchlights while popping up walls and platforms to create paths forward. Then the third level turns this concept on its head again by starting levels lit-up with electric barriers, and then forcing you to replay the levels backward with the electric barriers replaced with sentry searchlights in stealth mode.
The fourth level, “Infiltration Station,” toys with the ideas of the previously mentioned second level by now replacing the buttons with movable objects; as a result, Rayman must now adapt to Murphy shifting the level by moving cover or even moving the sentries themselves. Then, the fifth level relegates the sentries as the backdrop hazards to a grand ol’ elevator defense, which Rayman must keep track of and avoid while picking off bungee shock gun frogmen straight out of a Mission Impossible movie. Again, it’s important to remember that these levels slowly introduce new level elements aside from the main gimmicks (invincible underwater worms, laser trip detectors, skull-marked naval mines, etc), but ultimately it is the synthesis and variation of the elements (i.e. inserting enemies in sentry-guarded zones, or using the mobile worms and stationary mines as mandatory cover against searchlights) that makes the difficulty so versatile. This all comes together in the sixth level, “There’s Always a Bigger Fish,” where every introduced obstacle in the arsenal is thrown at Rayman as he furiously paddles away from a snapping serpent in a frenzied auto-runner/chase sequence. Finally, after the penultimate level that serves as a boss fight against yet another hostile Frankensteined mechanical beast, you get to reap the rewards in a final musical obstacle course dubbed “Gloo Gloo,” where your platforming and swimming actions in-game are synced to the beats of a whimsical cover of “Woo-Hoo”. It’s such a pleasure mastering these playable music videos and knowing that your survival is the only thing keeping the music at full blast.
As you can probably guess from the musical endnotes of each world, Rayman Legends is absolutely no slouch at atmosphere and presentation. Theming in every world is extremely distinct and yet remains focused to where level elements never really feel out of place or excessively repetitive. You go from navigating these tight, booby trapped castles in Teensies in Trouble to carefully gliding and maneuvering massive beanstalks in Toad Story, to dodging cake eating centipedes and fending off scores of luchadores and mariachi skeletons in Fiesta de los Muertos. Every new world has its own unique focus on gameplay mechanics (swinging axe and ropes courses in Teensies in Trouble, windy, open air plant-infested levels in Toad Story similar to that of the bramble levels in Donkey Kong Country 2, and Murphy quite literally playing with his food to progress past hazards in Fiesta de los Muertos), and the dynamic comic book visuals of the UbiArt framework as well as the extensive orchestral + electronic mixes in the soundtrack really bring it all home. To top it all off, there’s just this joyous and infectious energy embedded in every detail of the game, from the punchy and expressive attacks and sound effects, to the backing “Ooooooh” track that plays every time you stumble upon a secret, to the Teensies themselves cheering and giggling like schoolchildren when you bump into them in the main gallery. I can’t help but grin and chuckle like a madman every time I pick up this game; it’s just dopamine in distilled video game form.
There have been a few complaints here and there that Rayman tends to lean towards the easier side, at least with regards to many of the main story levels. That’s where the invasion and challenge levels come in. The challenge levels are straightforward enough; compete against the world in a daily/weekly generated survival and/or speedrunning contest for glory, and lums/”Awesomeness points” for more cosmetic palette swaps if you want to change up your character model every now and then. More importantly, you’ll get an alert every now and then that goons from previous worlds have come to “invade” the dreams of previous stages, and be invited to partake in a timed invasion stage, where you must rush to the end against a new combination of foes in a different theme. This concept even gets its own twist when after beating the game, Shadow Rayman invasion levels are unlocked, where a dark copy of you follows in close pursuit and both keeps you moving while carefully planning out your route as so you don’t stumble into your duplicate while backtracking. These levels really force you to use every tool at your disposal to optimize your strategy and beat the clock, and it almost becomes that of a puzzle game but with extremely tight execution involved as well.
I love examples, so have another one on me just so I can illustrate how batshit crazy this gets. In the Shadow Rayman invasion variant of “Infiltration Station,” you have to pick off sequential droves of enemies in order to unlock the door to the next room and eventually free your Teensie friends at the end. From the starting position of the second room, you first have to take out the frog goon on the left while then immediately destroying the bones barrier below. Since there’s a Shadow Rayman copy following me, I dash attacked into the goon then immediately wall-jumped and slammed through the barrier, landing on an enemy that spawned directly below me and then bouncing and air kicking the newly spawned enemy to the right on the platform. From there, I hold down the right trigger and jump out to the ring and back on top to the platform previously above me, kicking the buff brawler in the face. Then, I full jump out towards the ring to avoid my shadow and hover for a second so another toad can finish spawning in and land on the ground, allowing me to slam to its side and end its misery. I immediately input a jump upon landing since there’s no enemy to bounce off of this time and air kick the last toad brawler on the platform, land on the platform, and break boost by immediately spin dashing to the left off the platform towards the door once obscured by a vine and make my exit. Here’s a quickly sketched schematic of my “optimized” route that takes about nine seconds when executed well, and if you think this is fast… the world record for the whole four room affair takes less than double the time it took for me to just finish the second room alone. Needless to say, the thrill of improving both my execution and pathing while directly competing against others on the leaderboard is definitely a crucial component that keeps me coming back for more.
If I really had to nitpick, then my only complaint is that some of the Back to Origins content (the forty returning stages from Rayman Origins) feel a bit out of place. While the main platforming stages still feel tightly constructed, with the classic escalation and variation of moving elements and hazards formula for mechanical depth aided by carefully hidden short side corridors for goodies and bonus rooms, there are unfortunately one too many horizontal shoot em up segments (both in the form of full Origins levels and bonus room challenges) thrown into the array that feel like abrupt breaks in the natural flow of things. To be fair, this is at least alleviated by two factors. Firstly, the Back to Origins content is not necessary at all to unlock the main stages of Legends (in fact, you can even just focus on Legends content exclusively and still have enough Teensies to unlock the 8-bit bonus music levels), and are randomly earned from scratching Lucky Tickets that come as their own reward for collecting enough Lums in main stages; thus, I always saw the Origins levels more as bonus content if anything. Secondly, even within the shmup segments themselves, there’s a fair bit of variety thanks to the wrinkles thrown in (namely through the ability to suck certain enemies/obstacles and shoot them back out to deal more damage, as well as the reflective surfaces that let you bounce shots off and levers/switches thrown into stages that present a less “harmful” but just as engaging obstacle to contend with) as well as the expressive theming that the game’s known for to mitigate any staleness. Nevertheless, even if I think this is a minor gripe considering that the final product is definitely more than the sum of its parts, I do acknowledge that the bonus content would have felt even more gratifying if they had cut the number of shmup sections in half and replaced them with the engaging platforming that Rayman Origins & Legends exemplify.
One last disclaimer for the road: a couple of years ago, the servers for Rayman Legends on PC were shut down, effectively closing leaderboards and barring players from accessing any challenge levels on PC copies. If global kudos and constantly generated online challenges are a defining draw for you, then you may want to consider picking up a console copy of Rayman Legends instead, where the servers are still up. That said, PC players can still mod the game offline to create their own challenges, and I have heard that some Rayman community discords have been running custom challenges themselves in spirit of the old system (though I haven’t been able to confirm), so perhaps not all hope is lost.
I suppose they don’t call it Rayman Legends for nothing; even while considering some minor design decisions that could have been improved, the overall game is one of the most cohesive and mechanically deep 2D platformers I’ve experienced to date that never fails to put a smile on my face. This really is one of the most replayable and fundamentally fulfilling platformers that I’ve ever played, and it absolutely deserves to be included in the conversation as one of the greatest 2D platformers of all time. It is a shame that as rich as the series has been (at least, in the two Rayman games I’ve played to date), that Rayman himself has seemingly fallen to the wayside while his creator, Michel Ancel, has been rather busy with the development hell of Beyond Good & Evil 2, until he left the project and Ubisoft altogether two years ago. Ubisoft’s been in a bit of an unsurprising rough patch since, having cancelled three unannounced games and “facing major challenges” in the form of underselling titles, so I’ll just say what’s on everyone’s mind: bring back Rayman, Ubisoft. It’s been eight years since Legends, and the boy deserves so much more. Don’t let these greats go out like this; we may still have the classics, but future generations ought to know that once upon a time, there was once (and perhaps still is) a platforming legend that reached the heights of Mario, Donkey Kong, and so many others while always remaining true to itself.
Rayman Legends
2013
Rayman Legends is a work of art and one of the most criminally overlooked games ever made. Not underrated, overlooked. Everyone who played this game from critics to casual fans has mountainous praise for it, but Rayman has been hugely irrelevant since due to Ubisoft's neglect of the IP and thus it's become somewhat of an afterthought.
Rayman Legends is so creative and so unique. There are so many original ideas in this game but it doesn't get lost in them, they all serve the core purpose of 2D platforming. Even the water levels are gorgeous, control well and don't even have you spending that much time in the water - the world in which they're prominently featured is a James Bond super spy-themed series of levels where you spend as much time infiltrating an underwater base as you do swimming.
There's an entire world based around food but ALSO based around Día de los Muertos (the Mexican Day of the Dead) where you jump through giant falling fruit whilst also fighting off Sombrero'd skeletons, it's insane. You've never seen theming like this in a 2D platformer before.
Whilst pulling off some of the most artistically creative theming you've ever seen, it also manages to be a great game at its core. Rayman controls beautifully, he has a great moveset and sense of momentum and the levels are designed as such that you can blast through them like it's a 2D Sonic if you get good enough. Its difficulty scales harshly, but fairly. This game gets HARD towards the end, but never unfair, and a generous checkpoint system encourages you to keep trying since you won't be losing a lot of progress.
Just play this game. It's cheap on Steam nowadays, and it was re-released on Switch. It's so good, such a masterful work of art and it's a shame I don't hear its name thrown around more in the GOAT conversations like I think it deserves.
Rayman Legends is so creative and so unique. There are so many original ideas in this game but it doesn't get lost in them, they all serve the core purpose of 2D platforming. Even the water levels are gorgeous, control well and don't even have you spending that much time in the water - the world in which they're prominently featured is a James Bond super spy-themed series of levels where you spend as much time infiltrating an underwater base as you do swimming.
There's an entire world based around food but ALSO based around Día de los Muertos (the Mexican Day of the Dead) where you jump through giant falling fruit whilst also fighting off Sombrero'd skeletons, it's insane. You've never seen theming like this in a 2D platformer before.
Whilst pulling off some of the most artistically creative theming you've ever seen, it also manages to be a great game at its core. Rayman controls beautifully, he has a great moveset and sense of momentum and the levels are designed as such that you can blast through them like it's a 2D Sonic if you get good enough. Its difficulty scales harshly, but fairly. This game gets HARD towards the end, but never unfair, and a generous checkpoint system encourages you to keep trying since you won't be losing a lot of progress.
Just play this game. It's cheap on Steam nowadays, and it was re-released on Switch. It's so good, such a masterful work of art and it's a shame I don't hear its name thrown around more in the GOAT conversations like I think it deserves.
About as hit and miss as it gets. I appreciated the message and elements of the execution of this quite a bit, but it gets weighed down heavily by some pretty poor writing. The constant “fake deep” dialogue, mainly from the main character, made my eyes roll most of the time.
Really wasn’t a fan of the gameplay at all either. It takes a lot of inspiration from P.T. (definitely threw a few references to it throughout the game) with its walking sim horror gameplay, except they decided to throw in a bunch of shitty chase sequences, which became kinda frustrating by the end. This two hour demo has about 6 chase sequences with basically the same environment and monster that chases you.
Graphically, the games environments are absolutely stunning, almost photorealistic at times. The art direction really makes for some memorable shots as well. A lot of care was obviously put into that aspect.
I was getting hopeful that the game was going to switch it up and move towards the more occult-based story that the first and third games focused on. You begin finding articles referencing witches and curses, however, it doesn’t amount to anything other than making the protagonist question the suicides that the game is centered around. Ultimately, that aspect doesn’t get explored at all.
Overall, a little bit of a disappointment. Apparently Konami themselves developed this, which makes me a bit concerned that this is the direction they are hoping to take the franchise. I still have some hope for Townfall and f though, as they have some strong names behind them, so I’m praying that they don’t take the surface level approach to psychological horror that this game/demo did.
Really wasn’t a fan of the gameplay at all either. It takes a lot of inspiration from P.T. (definitely threw a few references to it throughout the game) with its walking sim horror gameplay, except they decided to throw in a bunch of shitty chase sequences, which became kinda frustrating by the end. This two hour demo has about 6 chase sequences with basically the same environment and monster that chases you.
Graphically, the games environments are absolutely stunning, almost photorealistic at times. The art direction really makes for some memorable shots as well. A lot of care was obviously put into that aspect.
I was getting hopeful that the game was going to switch it up and move towards the more occult-based story that the first and third games focused on. You begin finding articles referencing witches and curses, however, it doesn’t amount to anything other than making the protagonist question the suicides that the game is centered around. Ultimately, that aspect doesn’t get explored at all.
Overall, a little bit of a disappointment. Apparently Konami themselves developed this, which makes me a bit concerned that this is the direction they are hoping to take the franchise. I still have some hope for Townfall and f though, as they have some strong names behind them, so I’m praying that they don’t take the surface level approach to psychological horror that this game/demo did.
Silent Hill
1999
A great horror game that mostly holds up to this day. Took me some time to get used to the tank controls, but it eventually became second nature. The game doesn't rely too much on jumpscares and lets the atmosphere do the work. However, it tends to pull some cheap shots on you with the enemy placements towards the later parts.
I prefer the second game in terms of story, but the very first outing in the town of Silent Hill still managed to impress me with its masterfully composed spooky vibes.
I prefer the second game in terms of story, but the very first outing in the town of Silent Hill still managed to impress me with its masterfully composed spooky vibes.
Rhythm Heaven Fever
2011
Nintendo is such an esteemed house when it comes to games of this ilk, ones that are easy to pick up but endlessly replayable, but this is where I believe that philosophy of game design peaked. Nearly 12 years after its release, that luster still hasn't faded; everything is as fun as I remember it being, and it becomes impossible for me to not have a giant smile on my face playing it. This is my prime example of what a perfect videogame looks like.
I missed out on a lot of platformers after the fifth generation of video game consoles. Never owned a PlayStation 2 at the time. Thus, IP's such as Sly and Ratchet alongside a certain J. series. Were some franchises I never played. In order to rectify such a mistake. I decided to play another Naughty Dog(ND) platformer except in a 3D open-world environment. with Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy for the first time.
Gone are the restricted side-scrolling segments we were forced to endure in Crash Bandicoot 1 and disconnected world through warping in 2 and 3. Jak feels like a natural evolution from the studio's PS1 days and wickedly refreshing with a narrative starting with an act of disobedience. Against the elders' warnings, the protagonists travel to a forbidden island. There the two witness mysterious figures who are sinisterly planning some horrible deed using dark eco and precursor artifacts. Knowing this is well above their usual tomfoolery the duo try to leave. However, before sneakily trying to leave the island... they were ambushed! The events that follow from here have the titular characters embark on a vital quest to fulfill for the elder, any side-missions to complete, and uncover what dastardly plans those two figures were plotting.
The world design is richly goofy. But has a certain serious aesthetic I like. To the extent I was venturing off the beaten path considerably to see what secrets lay in store for me. I bravely ventured into a diverse amount of biomes: A jungle with an old ruin, murky swamp, underwater laboratory, volcano with a spider-cavern, and a snowy peak, with huge snowballs rolling down a path to riding a hoverbike on racing segments and one larger zone to go ham. Reminded me heavily of Spyro using a skateboard. Seems ND was a fan of that and devised their take on a particular basin. Battled a wide assortment of foes from goofy but deadly frogs, drill enemies, shield dudes, not cute at all blue jumping rabbits, long centipedes, and the good old regular animals, but naughty dogified in every biome. Worms, bats, spiders, rats. You name it! Sooner or later they shall appear! Heck faced quite a bit of environmental hazards from falling to my death, being shot by smog, lava deaths, or shocked to a crisp. Not quite quicksand but quickmud. Encountered spiked traps, and spiked logs swaying from trees, and overcame countless jumping sections within. Not too hard and not too easy thankfully. Didn’t see much if any copy paste from the enemy design or world design. Everything was consistently varied and the final zone itself proved a serviceable final act.
Concerning the gameplay loop. I would say it’s consistently fun from the beginning until the very end credits. The open world without any loading aside from using fast travel when you need to is a plus. Allowing anyone to venture as far as they can within reason. The plot will stop you from venturing further until you accrue enough power cells. A collectible item and usually one that stops you from exploring more biomes until they reach a certain number. Didn’t have trouble getting these since I was already forgetting about the main quest to complete some side missions offered by NPCs here. Individuals who look similar to J-man. Although, he doesn’t look like a regular human. To me, he seems like a cross between a mad scientist trying to combine an elf and a human resulting in a humanoid with long ears and inheriting an athletic body to boot. Tasks can range from moving bulls into a pen, pushing an egg, doing a favor for a future mayor, or a fishing dude in a mini-game. I enjoyed finishing these day-to-day jobs since a majority are elderly. Didn’t feel right to leave them to their struggle. And I didn’t mind giving a helping hand for a power cell after the job was done. Thus, my reward felt adequate for my services rendered. Aside from the cells, you can also come across other collectible precursor orbs. Think of these like the apples from the Crash series you’ll often find on the paths, tucked away around the corner, nooks or crannies. Except, you can amass over a hundred to trade them in for a cell. Additionally, scout flies are in special boxes you need to slam into to release the flies. Gather seven of these spread throughout any major level to be awarded a cell. Kinda thankful they're here, so the player doesn’t amass orbs all day ya know?
Furthermore, the world has a varied amount of colored eco. These differ from absorbing orbs changing the gameplay formula in fun ways. They're a temporary power-up granting our main characters a wide array of elemental passives. Blue charges our dudes to move faster, jump a bit farther, and make it so easier to absorb collectibles nearby like a magnet. Red strengthens attacks and invincibility against exploding crates. Plus, a nice interactivity emerges when enemies die. Leaving off green residue for their remains. Once we accrue enough scraps, up to fifty to restore a ⅓ of our health points. In total, we have three health bars. And no finite life stacks to keep track of. Die and you respawn at a nearby point of a large level. Didn’t find too much trouble with re-spawning. They were fine for me. And the inclusion of colored eco’s is gratifying to add spice to the experience. An extra edge in both combat and traversal.
Usually, platformers(broadly speaking) offer some enticing gameplay to differentiate themselves from others in the same genre. To various degrees of enjoyment. Have you noticed other games conduct themselves around their mechanics through level design, encounter's and etc. Below are several examples I pulled from my limited experience in the genre.
- Ape Escape using the analog stick ingeniously. Left stick for movement. Right stick for your gadgets.
- Trine used the stick to coordinate with your allies. The thief can shoot a bow & arrow and a grapple hook in any possible direction when applicable, the knight can block enemies with his shield in any direction, and the wizard can conjure different objects by drawing to help them overcome obstacles or fall on unsuspecting enemies.
- Super Mario 64’s long jump, triple jump, wall jump combined with grabbing, kicking, running, swimming, crouching and etc. proved to be a simple, yet effective formula to endorse player freedom in the whole world.
- Pac-Man World’s shift from the classic game into a 3D landscape works oh so well. Heck P-man can interact with objects, solve puzzles and use new abilities!
- Spyro & Crash's basic movesets were frequently used and tested in various large levels from a hub to straightforward linear segments. Overcoming multiple obstacles both vertical and horizontal. Calling back once again if it ain't broke, don't fix it with sequels largely staying true to the same moves.
- Mirror's Edge smooth parkour capabilities lends itself well into the whole level design employing minimal visual aid to your destination.
Aside from the slew of other platformers. And returning back to Jak. Story-wise I felt the narrative had a stop-and-go momentum. Perhaps owing to the fact, that I completed sidequests along the way while not truly investing in the adventure, making the pacing slow to a crawl. However, the beats in the narrative were like a slow burn in a good way. I think this could be intentional to convey an absence of agency from an immediate save-the-world aspect vs. uncovering a devious plot. Allowing player freedom vs. player urgency to flourish for the former rather than the latter. As someone who adores freedom a great deal in games, such an aspect appealed to me greatly. I don’t like being rushed. Therefore Jak 1 succeeds at least for me in creating a freshly wacky fun world to navigate and a decent story. Unreasonable to expect a masterpiece in the first entry of a new franchise. However, the attempt to do so is noteworthy.
As someone familiar with several PS1 games in the same genre. Although, not an expert or veteran, I was pleasantly surprised how Naughty Dog did not regress in the sixth console generation and boldly made a new IP direction to positive acclaim. Back in the day, I felt plenty of rigidness in their earlier works in how levels were constructed and punishing in a way. Jumping on scaffolding, but hold up we got countless traps, and obstacles to drop us dead. Sure I could use Aku-Aku help, but hey it sucks having to redo a segment ‘x’ amount of times. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Crash series to the point I replayed them in the remastered trilogy. By comparison, Precursor Legacy in my opinion eliminates the rigidity in favoring a more open-freedom in gameplay and combat. The power to go anywhere you physically can is a compelling motivation to fulfill a wanderlust. Exploring what is on the horizon and saying “Oh I can go there.” Busting my athletic skills to their limit. Fluidity at work too. Where I didn’t experience much clunkiness from controlling J & D as one character. Weighty animations from his spin-to-win moves felt satisfying. The long almost Falcon punch from a select Nintendo IP has an immensely awesome feel to wham enemies. Uppercutting and ground slams extend the combat capability of our heroes. Blessing us, a nice reactivity to enemies dying.
Concerning my feelings on platforming. I was initially apprehensive due to the fact I am super horrible at managing timing, and the right jump distance, and easily frustrated if I have to restart a whole level after almost completing a dungeon/level. So after seeing the end credits and witnessing the 100% mark. I couldn’t believe I had the patience and perseverance to keep going. Perhaps owing to the fact the re-spawning mechanic and save system felt very generous, not punishing with ease to let players keep trying. The former mechanic felt quick and would make the duo spawn near the start of a level or a certain point within a zone. Usually after overcoming a major obstacle. The latter on the system feels very safe. In addition to saving at any time. Whenever our main character receives a cell, an autosave will occur. Considering there are over a hundred of these to collect I didn’t find much trouble losing progress upon dying or returning to the original point of death.
I usually die plenty in the Bandicoot games far more in the first and second. Consequently, I was holding my breath and mentally strengthening my willpower if I encountered similar levels of difficulty. To my sheer delight, most if not all platforming levels, sections, and areas are relatively easy to medium in challenging. Some examples I came across were: jumping on dais floating above water and above in mountainous regions. Sometimes moving while the water below is filled with electricity. Falling and rotating in some respects. Camera shifting to a traditional side-scrolling segment. Navigating through falling debris, snowballs, and slides while avoiding exploding crates. Maneuvering through a section to unlock switches, and levers and thus unlocking a new path. Add in timers to complete a task and you may have to think of an optimal route to beat the clock. Trick players into venturing into a dark room and force them to utilize unconventional crystal lights to persevere. Combine these elements in a lesser manner during riding segments and you have a recipe that tastes better as you eat more of the dish. With an excellent difficulty curve for beginners and a nice incline for enthusiasts looking for a challenge to master every level by acquiring everything.
Despite the praise I’ve been sprouting, I do have some mixed feelings. Not a positive or a negative, but some concerns I had during my playthrough I think should be important to note.
In the beginning, I had trouble adjusting to the inverted controls for the camera. But, ultimately got used to the control scheme as an hour or two passed. I felt meaningful collectibles were lacking in rewards. Could be a better incentive to introduce various extensions to temporary powers, permanent move sets, or classic increasing the player with more health would work wonders. Furthermore, I think having a timer for different eco uses is weird. I had to rush constantly to gather new types to utilize during combat. I propose a different alternative. Make the gathered amounts a stock type. Depleting when in use and able to switch between different types when the situation calls for it. Also, I didn’t know there was a secret ending upon gathering everything possible only to reveal a pretty underwhelming scene in the end. Therefore, going for 100% can be a chore in some respects since the collecting aspect doesn't seem to affect the overall gameplay by rewarding the player to search for them. Lastly, the game has a weird texture pop-in. Some textures in the far distance have muddy paint adorned. But upon closer inspection would magically reveal the appropriate textures. And I couldn’t help but feel the game dipped at times. Wonder if there is a definitive version out there to play the series… Well lo and behold OpenGOAL does. A fanmade PC port to play the series with higher fidelity. Currently, at the time this review was published, the team is working on Jak II. Here’s a comparison video I. Am. Amazed. At the difference in quality. While internally slapping myself why I didn’t start the first game with OG’s version. As a result, I recommend checking out the version differences from PS2, PS3, PS4, and unofficial PC port. And select the best one depending on your preference.
Ultimately, despite some minor mixed feelings I had. The overwhelming positives outweigh the concerns by a great deal. Jak’s seamless goofy yet serious, open world is a refreshing 3D experience without being too difficult and not too easy to deter newcomers and veterans. Resulting in a nice curve of challenge in approaching cool-level design. A solid fun gameplay loop kept my interest for a long while and doesn’t overstay their welcome by having enough of their own identity. Distinct from the Bandicoot days. Temporary elemental passives provide a nice spice to the movesets and offer interesting resolutions to tackle both enemies and obstacles. A decent story with a great sense of freedom brings a bright smile to my face constantly. Bringing relief with a generous save system and a painless re-spawn mechanic. Heck, your ottsel companion will incentivize the player upon dying with various quotes. “Don't worry, I'll avenge you! Not...!” “Hey, Jak! Can I, uh... have your insect collection?” Yeah… Oddly motivating.
Still for what it's worth I enjoyed my playthrough with the first installment. Chuckling in amusement at times at the silly things our heroes undergo. I'm looking forward to what awaits me in the franchise. Maybe I’ll dive into Daxter or Jak II next! Anyways! If you’re looking for an excellent platformer from the PS2 days. I recommend Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy. Watch how a young foolish duo starts their adventure with an act of disobedience. Tsk tsk. What a naughty d-
8.2/10
References & Additional Material:
Jak and Daxter - PS2 vs PS3 vs OpenGOAL Graphics Comparison
Jak & Daxter PS4 VS PS3 VS Vita VS PS2
Fifth generation of video game consoles
OpenGOAL Jak Project
Gone are the restricted side-scrolling segments we were forced to endure in Crash Bandicoot 1 and disconnected world through warping in 2 and 3. Jak feels like a natural evolution from the studio's PS1 days and wickedly refreshing with a narrative starting with an act of disobedience. Against the elders' warnings, the protagonists travel to a forbidden island. There the two witness mysterious figures who are sinisterly planning some horrible deed using dark eco and precursor artifacts. Knowing this is well above their usual tomfoolery the duo try to leave. However, before sneakily trying to leave the island... they were ambushed! The events that follow from here have the titular characters embark on a vital quest to fulfill for the elder, any side-missions to complete, and uncover what dastardly plans those two figures were plotting.
The world design is richly goofy. But has a certain serious aesthetic I like. To the extent I was venturing off the beaten path considerably to see what secrets lay in store for me. I bravely ventured into a diverse amount of biomes: A jungle with an old ruin, murky swamp, underwater laboratory, volcano with a spider-cavern, and a snowy peak, with huge snowballs rolling down a path to riding a hoverbike on racing segments and one larger zone to go ham. Reminded me heavily of Spyro using a skateboard. Seems ND was a fan of that and devised their take on a particular basin. Battled a wide assortment of foes from goofy but deadly frogs, drill enemies, shield dudes, not cute at all blue jumping rabbits, long centipedes, and the good old regular animals, but naughty dogified in every biome. Worms, bats, spiders, rats. You name it! Sooner or later they shall appear! Heck faced quite a bit of environmental hazards from falling to my death, being shot by smog, lava deaths, or shocked to a crisp. Not quite quicksand but quickmud. Encountered spiked traps, and spiked logs swaying from trees, and overcame countless jumping sections within. Not too hard and not too easy thankfully. Didn’t see much if any copy paste from the enemy design or world design. Everything was consistently varied and the final zone itself proved a serviceable final act.
Concerning the gameplay loop. I would say it’s consistently fun from the beginning until the very end credits. The open world without any loading aside from using fast travel when you need to is a plus. Allowing anyone to venture as far as they can within reason. The plot will stop you from venturing further until you accrue enough power cells. A collectible item and usually one that stops you from exploring more biomes until they reach a certain number. Didn’t have trouble getting these since I was already forgetting about the main quest to complete some side missions offered by NPCs here. Individuals who look similar to J-man. Although, he doesn’t look like a regular human. To me, he seems like a cross between a mad scientist trying to combine an elf and a human resulting in a humanoid with long ears and inheriting an athletic body to boot. Tasks can range from moving bulls into a pen, pushing an egg, doing a favor for a future mayor, or a fishing dude in a mini-game. I enjoyed finishing these day-to-day jobs since a majority are elderly. Didn’t feel right to leave them to their struggle. And I didn’t mind giving a helping hand for a power cell after the job was done. Thus, my reward felt adequate for my services rendered. Aside from the cells, you can also come across other collectible precursor orbs. Think of these like the apples from the Crash series you’ll often find on the paths, tucked away around the corner, nooks or crannies. Except, you can amass over a hundred to trade them in for a cell. Additionally, scout flies are in special boxes you need to slam into to release the flies. Gather seven of these spread throughout any major level to be awarded a cell. Kinda thankful they're here, so the player doesn’t amass orbs all day ya know?
Furthermore, the world has a varied amount of colored eco. These differ from absorbing orbs changing the gameplay formula in fun ways. They're a temporary power-up granting our main characters a wide array of elemental passives. Blue charges our dudes to move faster, jump a bit farther, and make it so easier to absorb collectibles nearby like a magnet. Red strengthens attacks and invincibility against exploding crates. Plus, a nice interactivity emerges when enemies die. Leaving off green residue for their remains. Once we accrue enough scraps, up to fifty to restore a ⅓ of our health points. In total, we have three health bars. And no finite life stacks to keep track of. Die and you respawn at a nearby point of a large level. Didn’t find too much trouble with re-spawning. They were fine for me. And the inclusion of colored eco’s is gratifying to add spice to the experience. An extra edge in both combat and traversal.
Usually, platformers(broadly speaking) offer some enticing gameplay to differentiate themselves from others in the same genre. To various degrees of enjoyment. Have you noticed other games conduct themselves around their mechanics through level design, encounter's and etc. Below are several examples I pulled from my limited experience in the genre.
- Ape Escape using the analog stick ingeniously. Left stick for movement. Right stick for your gadgets.
- Trine used the stick to coordinate with your allies. The thief can shoot a bow & arrow and a grapple hook in any possible direction when applicable, the knight can block enemies with his shield in any direction, and the wizard can conjure different objects by drawing to help them overcome obstacles or fall on unsuspecting enemies.
- Super Mario 64’s long jump, triple jump, wall jump combined with grabbing, kicking, running, swimming, crouching and etc. proved to be a simple, yet effective formula to endorse player freedom in the whole world.
- Pac-Man World’s shift from the classic game into a 3D landscape works oh so well. Heck P-man can interact with objects, solve puzzles and use new abilities!
- Spyro & Crash's basic movesets were frequently used and tested in various large levels from a hub to straightforward linear segments. Overcoming multiple obstacles both vertical and horizontal. Calling back once again if it ain't broke, don't fix it with sequels largely staying true to the same moves.
- Mirror's Edge smooth parkour capabilities lends itself well into the whole level design employing minimal visual aid to your destination.
Aside from the slew of other platformers. And returning back to Jak. Story-wise I felt the narrative had a stop-and-go momentum. Perhaps owing to the fact, that I completed sidequests along the way while not truly investing in the adventure, making the pacing slow to a crawl. However, the beats in the narrative were like a slow burn in a good way. I think this could be intentional to convey an absence of agency from an immediate save-the-world aspect vs. uncovering a devious plot. Allowing player freedom vs. player urgency to flourish for the former rather than the latter. As someone who adores freedom a great deal in games, such an aspect appealed to me greatly. I don’t like being rushed. Therefore Jak 1 succeeds at least for me in creating a freshly wacky fun world to navigate and a decent story. Unreasonable to expect a masterpiece in the first entry of a new franchise. However, the attempt to do so is noteworthy.
As someone familiar with several PS1 games in the same genre. Although, not an expert or veteran, I was pleasantly surprised how Naughty Dog did not regress in the sixth console generation and boldly made a new IP direction to positive acclaim. Back in the day, I felt plenty of rigidness in their earlier works in how levels were constructed and punishing in a way. Jumping on scaffolding, but hold up we got countless traps, and obstacles to drop us dead. Sure I could use Aku-Aku help, but hey it sucks having to redo a segment ‘x’ amount of times. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Crash series to the point I replayed them in the remastered trilogy. By comparison, Precursor Legacy in my opinion eliminates the rigidity in favoring a more open-freedom in gameplay and combat. The power to go anywhere you physically can is a compelling motivation to fulfill a wanderlust. Exploring what is on the horizon and saying “Oh I can go there.” Busting my athletic skills to their limit. Fluidity at work too. Where I didn’t experience much clunkiness from controlling J & D as one character. Weighty animations from his spin-to-win moves felt satisfying. The long almost Falcon punch from a select Nintendo IP has an immensely awesome feel to wham enemies. Uppercutting and ground slams extend the combat capability of our heroes. Blessing us, a nice reactivity to enemies dying.
Concerning my feelings on platforming. I was initially apprehensive due to the fact I am super horrible at managing timing, and the right jump distance, and easily frustrated if I have to restart a whole level after almost completing a dungeon/level. So after seeing the end credits and witnessing the 100% mark. I couldn’t believe I had the patience and perseverance to keep going. Perhaps owing to the fact the re-spawning mechanic and save system felt very generous, not punishing with ease to let players keep trying. The former mechanic felt quick and would make the duo spawn near the start of a level or a certain point within a zone. Usually after overcoming a major obstacle. The latter on the system feels very safe. In addition to saving at any time. Whenever our main character receives a cell, an autosave will occur. Considering there are over a hundred of these to collect I didn’t find much trouble losing progress upon dying or returning to the original point of death.
I usually die plenty in the Bandicoot games far more in the first and second. Consequently, I was holding my breath and mentally strengthening my willpower if I encountered similar levels of difficulty. To my sheer delight, most if not all platforming levels, sections, and areas are relatively easy to medium in challenging. Some examples I came across were: jumping on dais floating above water and above in mountainous regions. Sometimes moving while the water below is filled with electricity. Falling and rotating in some respects. Camera shifting to a traditional side-scrolling segment. Navigating through falling debris, snowballs, and slides while avoiding exploding crates. Maneuvering through a section to unlock switches, and levers and thus unlocking a new path. Add in timers to complete a task and you may have to think of an optimal route to beat the clock. Trick players into venturing into a dark room and force them to utilize unconventional crystal lights to persevere. Combine these elements in a lesser manner during riding segments and you have a recipe that tastes better as you eat more of the dish. With an excellent difficulty curve for beginners and a nice incline for enthusiasts looking for a challenge to master every level by acquiring everything.
Despite the praise I’ve been sprouting, I do have some mixed feelings. Not a positive or a negative, but some concerns I had during my playthrough I think should be important to note.
In the beginning, I had trouble adjusting to the inverted controls for the camera. But, ultimately got used to the control scheme as an hour or two passed. I felt meaningful collectibles were lacking in rewards. Could be a better incentive to introduce various extensions to temporary powers, permanent move sets, or classic increasing the player with more health would work wonders. Furthermore, I think having a timer for different eco uses is weird. I had to rush constantly to gather new types to utilize during combat. I propose a different alternative. Make the gathered amounts a stock type. Depleting when in use and able to switch between different types when the situation calls for it. Also, I didn’t know there was a secret ending upon gathering everything possible only to reveal a pretty underwhelming scene in the end. Therefore, going for 100% can be a chore in some respects since the collecting aspect doesn't seem to affect the overall gameplay by rewarding the player to search for them. Lastly, the game has a weird texture pop-in. Some textures in the far distance have muddy paint adorned. But upon closer inspection would magically reveal the appropriate textures. And I couldn’t help but feel the game dipped at times. Wonder if there is a definitive version out there to play the series… Well lo and behold OpenGOAL does. A fanmade PC port to play the series with higher fidelity. Currently, at the time this review was published, the team is working on Jak II. Here’s a comparison video I. Am. Amazed. At the difference in quality. While internally slapping myself why I didn’t start the first game with OG’s version. As a result, I recommend checking out the version differences from PS2, PS3, PS4, and unofficial PC port. And select the best one depending on your preference.
Ultimately, despite some minor mixed feelings I had. The overwhelming positives outweigh the concerns by a great deal. Jak’s seamless goofy yet serious, open world is a refreshing 3D experience without being too difficult and not too easy to deter newcomers and veterans. Resulting in a nice curve of challenge in approaching cool-level design. A solid fun gameplay loop kept my interest for a long while and doesn’t overstay their welcome by having enough of their own identity. Distinct from the Bandicoot days. Temporary elemental passives provide a nice spice to the movesets and offer interesting resolutions to tackle both enemies and obstacles. A decent story with a great sense of freedom brings a bright smile to my face constantly. Bringing relief with a generous save system and a painless re-spawn mechanic. Heck, your ottsel companion will incentivize the player upon dying with various quotes. “Don't worry, I'll avenge you! Not...!” “Hey, Jak! Can I, uh... have your insect collection?” Yeah… Oddly motivating.
Still for what it's worth I enjoyed my playthrough with the first installment. Chuckling in amusement at times at the silly things our heroes undergo. I'm looking forward to what awaits me in the franchise. Maybe I’ll dive into Daxter or Jak II next! Anyways! If you’re looking for an excellent platformer from the PS2 days. I recommend Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy. Watch how a young foolish duo starts their adventure with an act of disobedience. Tsk tsk. What a naughty d-
8.2/10
References & Additional Material:
Jak and Daxter - PS2 vs PS3 vs OpenGOAL Graphics Comparison
Jak & Daxter PS4 VS PS3 VS Vita VS PS2
Fifth generation of video game consoles
OpenGOAL Jak Project
Kirby: Squeak Squad
2006
Very fun romp through Dream Land. Easily has my favorite collectibles in the series and the Squeak Squad themselves were fun reoccurring enemies. It won't blow anyone away but I highly recommend.
Elden Ring
2022
My thoughts on a very specific aspect of this game's design - Running Away
https://joshdl.com/2023/10/26/elden-ring-running-awway/
https://joshdl.com/2023/10/26/elden-ring-running-awway/
Celeste
2018
First review of 2024 baby! What a first game to start the year. I first played this back in 2019 and absolutely loved it. I beat all of the chapters, both A and B sides but never did any of the C sides nor did I get all the strawberries. This playthrough I did tho and man it felt good. Before I get into that let me talk about why this game is so great.
Why don't I just get right into the story first. When I first played, I remember being blown away by the story and absolutely loving it. While I do still think it's good, there was something bothering me throughout and it may just be a me thing. Theo, he's not a bad character but why all the mentions of selfies and his social media 😭. I hate to say it but it was really taking me out of the story at points. It was definitely the biggest issue I had when replaying this. Otherwise though, the Madeline side of the story is really good. I like how anyone that plays this game can at least relate to her need to overcome her personal demons and I think the fact they made it so she accepts them for what they are instead of just trying to bury them completely, I like that execution way more. They portrayed anxiety and depression super well and I think that's the game's strongest aspect when it come's to story.
The soundtrack is pretty solid, tho I remember loving it back then which I wouldn't say I love it now. Don't get me wrong, it's good and there are some standout tracks in certain chapters but I didn't like it as much as I did in 2019 I think. Maybe it was because I was more focused on playing the game and didn't pay attention to the music too much this time around? I also maybe wasn't a fan of the voices they gave the characters. Idk some of the time I found it kinda annoying which is a shame.
As for some of the biggest positives, the game is amazing visually. The pixel art is pretty much perfect the whole way through and the backgrounds in some of these chapters are breathtaking. Golden Ridge I think was the standout especially, it was gorgeous.
Now we come to my favorite part of the game, the gameplay. This is easily one of the most fun 2D platformers I've ever played. It's just so polished and the level design is so good. One of my favorite things was just finding all the secrets, there's a ton of them whether it's hidden strawberries or crystal hearts or B side tapes or even that one hidden indie game screen I somehow found by doing the wavedash (that was insane) they're all really fun to find. I also really love just how many different techniques you can perform. A lot of them aren't explained until late late game or not even at all and they can really break the game sometimes, it's awesome. Celeste is also extremely difficult I'm sure you know. Indeed, some of the later levels in the base game can get super duper hard. The B sides and C sides especially, some of those were nuts. As I said, I did everything in the base game...everything except for the golden strawberries. I got the one in chapter 1 A side but that was it. They just don't feel too worth it since it's not new content...just surviving an entire chapter without dying which isn't too fun imo. As for the hardest part of the base game, that hands down has to go to Chapter 7 Side C. Jesus Christ that last fucking screen took me 3 hours in-game time and exactly 1152 deaths. None of the other chapters came close to that many deaths and you know what, I'm so glad I did it. I'll never do it again mind you, but I told myself that if I did it...I'd bump this game to a 9. So for now that's what I'll do tho I may bump it down to an 8.5 who knows.
I do have some issues that are more a me thing but this game is super fun and definitely a top tier indie in my book.
Oh and as for farewell...yes I'll be doing that next and yes I am very scared. I got up to the point where you're required to wavedash back in 2019 and then quit. I've heard it's extremely brutal in the 2nd half so I'm nervous but I will persevere boys. Wish me luck!
Why don't I just get right into the story first. When I first played, I remember being blown away by the story and absolutely loving it. While I do still think it's good, there was something bothering me throughout and it may just be a me thing. Theo, he's not a bad character but why all the mentions of selfies and his social media 😭. I hate to say it but it was really taking me out of the story at points. It was definitely the biggest issue I had when replaying this. Otherwise though, the Madeline side of the story is really good. I like how anyone that plays this game can at least relate to her need to overcome her personal demons and I think the fact they made it so she accepts them for what they are instead of just trying to bury them completely, I like that execution way more. They portrayed anxiety and depression super well and I think that's the game's strongest aspect when it come's to story.
The soundtrack is pretty solid, tho I remember loving it back then which I wouldn't say I love it now. Don't get me wrong, it's good and there are some standout tracks in certain chapters but I didn't like it as much as I did in 2019 I think. Maybe it was because I was more focused on playing the game and didn't pay attention to the music too much this time around? I also maybe wasn't a fan of the voices they gave the characters. Idk some of the time I found it kinda annoying which is a shame.
As for some of the biggest positives, the game is amazing visually. The pixel art is pretty much perfect the whole way through and the backgrounds in some of these chapters are breathtaking. Golden Ridge I think was the standout especially, it was gorgeous.
Now we come to my favorite part of the game, the gameplay. This is easily one of the most fun 2D platformers I've ever played. It's just so polished and the level design is so good. One of my favorite things was just finding all the secrets, there's a ton of them whether it's hidden strawberries or crystal hearts or B side tapes or even that one hidden indie game screen I somehow found by doing the wavedash (that was insane) they're all really fun to find. I also really love just how many different techniques you can perform. A lot of them aren't explained until late late game or not even at all and they can really break the game sometimes, it's awesome. Celeste is also extremely difficult I'm sure you know. Indeed, some of the later levels in the base game can get super duper hard. The B sides and C sides especially, some of those were nuts. As I said, I did everything in the base game...everything except for the golden strawberries. I got the one in chapter 1 A side but that was it. They just don't feel too worth it since it's not new content...just surviving an entire chapter without dying which isn't too fun imo. As for the hardest part of the base game, that hands down has to go to Chapter 7 Side C. Jesus Christ that last fucking screen took me 3 hours in-game time and exactly 1152 deaths. None of the other chapters came close to that many deaths and you know what, I'm so glad I did it. I'll never do it again mind you, but I told myself that if I did it...I'd bump this game to a 9. So for now that's what I'll do tho I may bump it down to an 8.5 who knows.
I do have some issues that are more a me thing but this game is super fun and definitely a top tier indie in my book.
Oh and as for farewell...yes I'll be doing that next and yes I am very scared. I got up to the point where you're required to wavedash back in 2019 and then quit. I've heard it's extremely brutal in the 2nd half so I'm nervous but I will persevere boys. Wish me luck!
Alan Wake Remastered
2021
man what a disappointment
alan wake was definitely something that I looked forward revisiting after the release of the second game but the more I went on with the game the more its seams started to break apart
this is a remaster of the OG game and as a remaster its pretty chill you have that new texture work 60 fps shiny graphics definitely the most interesting part of the game if I gotta be honest and also kudos to remedy for making a remaster that works wonders on the pc because after playing those shitty ports for ff7r and ff15 I really needed this to play accordingly and it did
in its premise this game has such a great introduction alan is a writer that slowly descends into schizophrenic madness after the disappearance of his wife during a holiday trip in idk where probably twin peaks (I've never watched twin peaks I have no idea what yall are talking about)
bomb subject matter that may or may not be enhanced by the fact that apparently a ghost manuscript somewhere allegedly written by alan is influencing the course of the story and making every single part of the game a nightmare
now there's a lot of different points and ropes to untie here and there but it never really get more interesting than that the many side characters are only a way for alan to keep being delulu or a way to contrast his schizophrenic frenzy and there's that his trustworthy pal is a dipshit the cop is atrociously underdeveloped there's an old woman somehow and the psychiatric doctor is probably the most based character because he goes to alan and tells him “gurl you delulu” and gets punched in the face rip
the main plot is basically what I said alan searches for his wife the end theres some degree of backstory and explanation to what is happening but the game really loves remaining confused to the fucking end to the point that you can't excuse its pretentiousness anymore I really LOVE the story here but there's not enough tension or insight for you to actually make a cliffhanger open ending
and adding to all this there's a kingdom hearts typa script with stuff like “his heart is full of darkness… only the light can stop the darkness” youre tripping this is so surface level it makes me want to tear my hair which is a shame because the fact that the game is segmented in different chapters and subsequent recaps makes it feel like you're watching a TV series alright
that being said the art department is pretty alright they're really going for a realistic based type of experiment because wow thr environments are so boring for a guy experiencing schizophrenia like theres a lot of woods and woods and woods sometimes there's some points of interest like structures here and there or natural formations like falls or cliffs but it's really sedimented into the reality aspect of things and honestly that was really a disappointment particularly for a game which has a lot of focus on “light and darkness” and the answer to that is literally streetlights in the forest ok whatever
last but not least the gameplay is pretty fun . for 5 minutes before you realise all you're gonna do is get from point A to point B doing this sequence of actions: shine light on enemies -> shoot at them and OPTIONALLY try to not get killed by phantom pieces of trains or construction machines or lintels rinse and repeat sometimes the game is gonna introduct new stuff like weapons or new ways of shining lights like a bigger flashlight or unmovable spotlights but apart from that this is what you're gonna do the entire game and all that while you run through woods until a cutscene or a mob of enemies tries to kill you while saying shit like “I love McDonald's burgers but they're not healthy” literally I'm not joking here
when the gameplay and art direction are not hitting and not even the narrative gets as gripping as you want it to youre left with a mid experience and I'm pretty sad because I remembered seeing this game around on youtube when I was younger and thinking it was absolutely groundbreaking but experiencing it again after all this years maybe I set my bar too high and was left empty ended
still !!! didn't hate it please fans don't kill me also the interlude songs are definitive bops
alan wake was definitely something that I looked forward revisiting after the release of the second game but the more I went on with the game the more its seams started to break apart
this is a remaster of the OG game and as a remaster its pretty chill you have that new texture work 60 fps shiny graphics definitely the most interesting part of the game if I gotta be honest and also kudos to remedy for making a remaster that works wonders on the pc because after playing those shitty ports for ff7r and ff15 I really needed this to play accordingly and it did
in its premise this game has such a great introduction alan is a writer that slowly descends into schizophrenic madness after the disappearance of his wife during a holiday trip in idk where probably twin peaks (I've never watched twin peaks I have no idea what yall are talking about)
bomb subject matter that may or may not be enhanced by the fact that apparently a ghost manuscript somewhere allegedly written by alan is influencing the course of the story and making every single part of the game a nightmare
now there's a lot of different points and ropes to untie here and there but it never really get more interesting than that the many side characters are only a way for alan to keep being delulu or a way to contrast his schizophrenic frenzy and there's that his trustworthy pal is a dipshit the cop is atrociously underdeveloped there's an old woman somehow and the psychiatric doctor is probably the most based character because he goes to alan and tells him “gurl you delulu” and gets punched in the face rip
the main plot is basically what I said alan searches for his wife the end theres some degree of backstory and explanation to what is happening but the game really loves remaining confused to the fucking end to the point that you can't excuse its pretentiousness anymore I really LOVE the story here but there's not enough tension or insight for you to actually make a cliffhanger open ending
and adding to all this there's a kingdom hearts typa script with stuff like “his heart is full of darkness… only the light can stop the darkness” youre tripping this is so surface level it makes me want to tear my hair which is a shame because the fact that the game is segmented in different chapters and subsequent recaps makes it feel like you're watching a TV series alright
that being said the art department is pretty alright they're really going for a realistic based type of experiment because wow thr environments are so boring for a guy experiencing schizophrenia like theres a lot of woods and woods and woods sometimes there's some points of interest like structures here and there or natural formations like falls or cliffs but it's really sedimented into the reality aspect of things and honestly that was really a disappointment particularly for a game which has a lot of focus on “light and darkness” and the answer to that is literally streetlights in the forest ok whatever
last but not least the gameplay is pretty fun . for 5 minutes before you realise all you're gonna do is get from point A to point B doing this sequence of actions: shine light on enemies -> shoot at them and OPTIONALLY try to not get killed by phantom pieces of trains or construction machines or lintels rinse and repeat sometimes the game is gonna introduct new stuff like weapons or new ways of shining lights like a bigger flashlight or unmovable spotlights but apart from that this is what you're gonna do the entire game and all that while you run through woods until a cutscene or a mob of enemies tries to kill you while saying shit like “I love McDonald's burgers but they're not healthy” literally I'm not joking here
when the gameplay and art direction are not hitting and not even the narrative gets as gripping as you want it to youre left with a mid experience and I'm pretty sad because I remembered seeing this game around on youtube when I was younger and thinking it was absolutely groundbreaking but experiencing it again after all this years maybe I set my bar too high and was left empty ended
still !!! didn't hate it please fans don't kill me also the interlude songs are definitive bops
Psychonauts
2005
my brother had this game on his 360 and he let me play the milkman level and the constant turning and jostling around made me so nauseous i vomited all over the 360 and destroyed it. everytime i see this game or its art style i get incredibly ill
This game.
Rayman 2: The Great Escape is a masterpiece. It's a game that I play at least once a year all the way through, and I never regret a single moment of it. It's one of those games that came to me at the right place, right time, and hit all the right notes. As a kid I was swept away by the mystical setting, the serious and stark (but not TOO serious and stark) tone that contrasted the other platformer games I was playing. The handpainted textures that gave it an ethereal quality. The charming, bizarre character designs and lively animation only a French production could provide. The mystical leitmotif-heavy soundtrack. The strange, alluring goobledegook language they all speak. And Rayman himself. That weird, weird guy. He really baffled me when I saw him on the cover of this game the first time. I couldn't make out if that right foot overlapping his torso was supposed to be a dress/kilt thing. Or if his hair was bunny ears. I was so confused..
The narrative pulls of Rayman 2 are not that deep, but everyone in this game is so lovable and whimsical that you really want to help their plight the best you can anyways. Globox is so inherently funny and I'm glad he stuck around for the rest of the series; in a similar way I really wish Clark the Giant got to as well. And Ly the Fairy is.. well, I crushed on her a lot. Maybe I still do. She's a cool catgirl, leave me alone! But anyways I wish she didn't disappear with this game. The game does a good job of making them feel like they've been your friends for a long time. Also Jano is seriously creepy, Razorbeard is a lovably despicable villain, and Polokus's design is wicked cool. Love those crazy arms.
I've mostly mentioned art, music, characters and presentation so far. But thankfully, my feelings on the game are not purely about aesthetics. Rayman 2 has brilliant level design that, while linear, makes use of every square foot with fun and exciting ideas. The levels are atmospheric and at times haunting, but simultaneously really, really solid platforming. While the stages have very similar theming all throughout (rather than doing a wide variety like most Rayman games), it makes sure to tie them well into the "Glade of Dreams" locale that the game's characters inhabit, and every single stage, scene and setpiece is dedicated to progressing the story, so I never feel like I lose interest in the next place I'm headed.
Your movement feels tight and responsive at all times, no jump feels off, and ledge grabbing into jumping feels like magic. Sliding down slopes feels extremely satisfying and lets you make big leaps. Your helicopter hair lets you descend through massive chasms and across giant gaps in ways that not only help platforming but can heavily enhance the scale or atmosphere of the surrounding stage. The combat mechanics aren't perfect as they couldn't make Rayman throw his fists in 3D yet, so they had him throw energy balls instead. While not AS engaging as what they wanted, they turned it into a positive by giving the energy balls a rubber-esque quality, letting you bounce them all around the stage and screen, with even some puzzles centered around ricocheting them at specific angles. It's really clever and makes up for the lack of the projectile-fist in spades.
This is one of those games I try my best to get everyone to play. Even if they don't like it as much as I do, I know exactly why I love it, and will always recommend someone to try it out. No matter what version of the game you're playing, you're not playing anything under an 8/10. Yes, even the Playstation 1 version with over a third of the content truncated. And yes, even the terrible DS or 3DS versions. Any version is gonna be a good game.
But if you were to ask me which version is my favorite, I'm gonna have to pick the N64 version. It's framerate is a little choppy, but the slightly lower poly count strangely makes the character models cuter, and the soundtrack (while MIDIfied) has some alternate tracks that I think are compositionally superior to the standard OST! If you want the general opinion though, Dreamcast did it best, and I wouldn't say no to that either.
Regardless, you should play this game. Everyone should. I keep asking God to tell Ubisoft to do one good thing and remake this game for me. But God will not listen, for he turns a blind eye to letting anything good come out of Ubisoft. Sigh.
Rayman 2: The Great Escape is a masterpiece. It's a game that I play at least once a year all the way through, and I never regret a single moment of it. It's one of those games that came to me at the right place, right time, and hit all the right notes. As a kid I was swept away by the mystical setting, the serious and stark (but not TOO serious and stark) tone that contrasted the other platformer games I was playing. The handpainted textures that gave it an ethereal quality. The charming, bizarre character designs and lively animation only a French production could provide. The mystical leitmotif-heavy soundtrack. The strange, alluring goobledegook language they all speak. And Rayman himself. That weird, weird guy. He really baffled me when I saw him on the cover of this game the first time. I couldn't make out if that right foot overlapping his torso was supposed to be a dress/kilt thing. Or if his hair was bunny ears. I was so confused..
The narrative pulls of Rayman 2 are not that deep, but everyone in this game is so lovable and whimsical that you really want to help their plight the best you can anyways. Globox is so inherently funny and I'm glad he stuck around for the rest of the series; in a similar way I really wish Clark the Giant got to as well. And Ly the Fairy is.. well, I crushed on her a lot. Maybe I still do. She's a cool catgirl, leave me alone! But anyways I wish she didn't disappear with this game. The game does a good job of making them feel like they've been your friends for a long time. Also Jano is seriously creepy, Razorbeard is a lovably despicable villain, and Polokus's design is wicked cool. Love those crazy arms.
I've mostly mentioned art, music, characters and presentation so far. But thankfully, my feelings on the game are not purely about aesthetics. Rayman 2 has brilliant level design that, while linear, makes use of every square foot with fun and exciting ideas. The levels are atmospheric and at times haunting, but simultaneously really, really solid platforming. While the stages have very similar theming all throughout (rather than doing a wide variety like most Rayman games), it makes sure to tie them well into the "Glade of Dreams" locale that the game's characters inhabit, and every single stage, scene and setpiece is dedicated to progressing the story, so I never feel like I lose interest in the next place I'm headed.
Your movement feels tight and responsive at all times, no jump feels off, and ledge grabbing into jumping feels like magic. Sliding down slopes feels extremely satisfying and lets you make big leaps. Your helicopter hair lets you descend through massive chasms and across giant gaps in ways that not only help platforming but can heavily enhance the scale or atmosphere of the surrounding stage. The combat mechanics aren't perfect as they couldn't make Rayman throw his fists in 3D yet, so they had him throw energy balls instead. While not AS engaging as what they wanted, they turned it into a positive by giving the energy balls a rubber-esque quality, letting you bounce them all around the stage and screen, with even some puzzles centered around ricocheting them at specific angles. It's really clever and makes up for the lack of the projectile-fist in spades.
This is one of those games I try my best to get everyone to play. Even if they don't like it as much as I do, I know exactly why I love it, and will always recommend someone to try it out. No matter what version of the game you're playing, you're not playing anything under an 8/10. Yes, even the Playstation 1 version with over a third of the content truncated. And yes, even the terrible DS or 3DS versions. Any version is gonna be a good game.
But if you were to ask me which version is my favorite, I'm gonna have to pick the N64 version. It's framerate is a little choppy, but the slightly lower poly count strangely makes the character models cuter, and the soundtrack (while MIDIfied) has some alternate tracks that I think are compositionally superior to the standard OST! If you want the general opinion though, Dreamcast did it best, and I wouldn't say no to that either.
Regardless, you should play this game. Everyone should. I keep asking God to tell Ubisoft to do one good thing and remake this game for me. But God will not listen, for he turns a blind eye to letting anything good come out of Ubisoft. Sigh.
one of gaming's most potent and mysterious fairy tales. moody and imaginative -- the core impetus of its platforming is mechanical improvisation, going through corridors unknown and barely large enough to fit. best 64 game????!!!
Rayman 2 is one of the greats that pushed the 5th gen's boundaries to the skies with its technical finesse and wonderful presentation.
An awesome 3D platformer with a nice sprinkle of varied concepts for its never staling set of levels.
An awesome 3D platformer with a nice sprinkle of varied concepts for its never staling set of levels.
deltarune fans need to pay their respects where they're due