FMTownsParty
A childhood favorite, but even rose-tinted glasses can't hide that most of the design choices rooted in the PS2 era work against the otherwise juicy fan-service. It's rare that a licensed game treats its source material with a level of detail like this, but these copy-paste missions with GTA police chasing you suck as much as they should in 2020.
Note: this didn't stop me from 100%ing it.
Note: this didn't stop me from 100%ing it.
2013
If "The Entertainment" thru "Un Pueblo De Nada" isn't the greatest achievement in narrative gaming, then, like, what the hell is
While it's not surprising that Vic Tokai made an underground/underrated/underproduced gem, what is surprising is that this game has them, if only for a moment, stand with fan-favorite Treasure in their ability to innovate on staple genre mechanics. SHMUPs would do well to consider some of these ideas going forward.
And if you like girls with guns or the YM2612... boy, do I have good news. There's a translation out there, but without it you'd only be missing out on some quirky dialogue between the two protags.
And if you like girls with guns or the YM2612... boy, do I have good news. There's a translation out there, but without it you'd only be missing out on some quirky dialogue between the two protags.
One-scoop-of-vanilla lookin' ass
Were the Chaingunners and Archviles worth bigger levels? More at 11.
1993
The reason people port Doom to everything is because I want to play Doom regardless of where I'm looking.
New Horizons is undoubtedly the biggest shock that the AC formula has ever been given, and while most of the changes were deliberate attempts at strengthening the long-term promise of Animal Crossing, the expense comes in the form of vibrancy, especially from the start.
The lack of a Main Street/City, or any attempt at filling in for it, makes this game feel barren when comparing it to New Leaf. Many mainstay NPCs (Shrunk, Harriet, Leif) have been essentially outsourced for things that either you can do from the start or things that other NPCs can double-up on. The game's progression is also languidly paced, leaving your island untouched for days on end while you're tasked with chopping wood and smacking rocks. There is an irony in how lonely it can get in a game about building a place for people to live. If I hadn't had friends playing this alongside me, I would've torn my hair out a week earlier.
And while all of these early-game problems pale in comparison to the time you can spend building out, I simply don't think New Horizons has the foundation to support this way of playing as it stands. It could gain something with time, as I'm sure Nintendo will give it the Splatoon/Smash treatment, but aside from the occasional QoL change, this game is currently a framework at best.
Despite being with the series since the Gamecube, I'm left feeling like this game was made for a completely different "kind" of Animal Crossing fan. If you're the type to uproot your towns and redecorate it from top to bottom, then this game is the 2nd Coming. Personally, I think I might begin "forgetting" to do my daily chores a little quicker than usual.
The lack of a Main Street/City, or any attempt at filling in for it, makes this game feel barren when comparing it to New Leaf. Many mainstay NPCs (Shrunk, Harriet, Leif) have been essentially outsourced for things that either you can do from the start or things that other NPCs can double-up on. The game's progression is also languidly paced, leaving your island untouched for days on end while you're tasked with chopping wood and smacking rocks. There is an irony in how lonely it can get in a game about building a place for people to live. If I hadn't had friends playing this alongside me, I would've torn my hair out a week earlier.
And while all of these early-game problems pale in comparison to the time you can spend building out, I simply don't think New Horizons has the foundation to support this way of playing as it stands. It could gain something with time, as I'm sure Nintendo will give it the Splatoon/Smash treatment, but aside from the occasional QoL change, this game is currently a framework at best.
Despite being with the series since the Gamecube, I'm left feeling like this game was made for a completely different "kind" of Animal Crossing fan. If you're the type to uproot your towns and redecorate it from top to bottom, then this game is the 2nd Coming. Personally, I think I might begin "forgetting" to do my daily chores a little quicker than usual.
2020
I played this game with 3 other friends and juggled a single enemy 200 times.
Four stars.
Four stars.
As a lover of camp, a lover of the surreal that comes from jankiness, and a lover of Twin Peaks, I gotta say: I kinda get it. But not a lot.
Cannot shake the feeling that there's an alternate universe that I could peek into where I gave this exact game a 4.5 at least.
Cannot shake the feeling that there's an alternate universe that I could peek into where I gave this exact game a 4.5 at least.
2017
My way of deciding if an immersive sim is good is weighing how much I can use a shotgun without getting moralized to death by the game for not wanting to stealth.
Prey passes!
Prey passes!
2003
If I've learned anything, it's that the people who think this is better than 2 are probably lesbians, and that's just fine.
2020
One of the first alt-games I can think of that wields the PS1 aesthetic, warping textures and all, with a deftness that matches the origins of its inspiration. Sure, there are chasms of logic leapt over with this game's puzzles, but they mix with the early Fromsoft architecture to create a frolic through themes that would sit comfortably alongside your Yume Nikkis and LSD: Dream Emulators.
2017
Someone get Jon Bois a copy of this game.
2019
Ring Fit's dim-witted progression and simplistic, goal-oriented sessions end up being a strength for a person like me who usually can’t be fucked to exercise. I play and see a different number than before, regardless of what it means, and think “wow, that’s progress.” And in some real, appreciable way, it actually is.
2015
I'm usually not a "wow trope bad" kinda person when I analyze media, but I'm frankly a little shocked that Barlow managed to slip by scot-free while loading his writing wall-to-wall with "beautiful, quirky woman later revealed to (spoilers, I guess) likely be either delusional or manipulative w/r/t her dissociative identities." I dunno, it's not a particularly charitable character study, so it ends up feeling just as wack as the stuff that usually gets raked over the coals for it. I guess this game's design was amorphous and novel enough for people to accept it?
I do like the design premise (though the "play until you're satisfied" angle is a little overstated imo), but I was seriously done with this game the moment she picked up a mirror and, while gazing deeply into it, started to pontificate on the nature of identity. Definitely a thing mentally ill people do, Sam. Thanks for the rep.
I do like the design premise (though the "play until you're satisfied" angle is a little overstated imo), but I was seriously done with this game the moment she picked up a mirror and, while gazing deeply into it, started to pontificate on the nature of identity. Definitely a thing mentally ill people do, Sam. Thanks for the rep.