I think SV had their head in the right path with this game, but the execution was kind of bad. Pokemon games these last years have focused on giving us new features and forms. In my opinion, I think it's kind of not necessary to always give us something "new". Sure mega evolution changed the Pokemon ecosystem forever and so did the alolan form. But this trend of always creating something new seems too forced, in this Pokemon game we have the crystals. The crystal make the typing change, but also boost the attack of the same Tera type to be stronger. Compared to Mega evolutions, shadow pokemon and regional variants this feature seems very lackluster. To conclude on this point, they don't need to add something new to make the game fresh and good, they can instead build on the very fundamentals that made this series great.

The story felt very weak, they decided to focus on bullying for this game. Even in the last part, how "given" Pokemon had to stand up to face their own demons, in other words their bully. Apart from story, the game was ambitious in the way that we got to choose our own path, what gym/titan/boss we decide to defeat first. The school introduction is very taste like, I didn't mind it that much and found it quite fun.

This is more of a preference point, but the constant handholding gets a little annoying. Before choosing a move, you see opposing Pokemon's weak type and don't get to explore what moves is bad and which isn't. Memorizing typings was one of my favourite feature of Pokemon. The sense of achievement have been a little lost in translation with these new games.

and yes .. the game ran really poor, BUT YET we finished the game! We dealt with low FPS for 50+ hours, with this in mind they must've at least done something right with this game, right?

Extra:
Main Pokemon Team at the End (Nicknames):

1. Skeleridge (Bronny)
2. Squawkability - Yellow (Larry)
3. Great Tusk (Cannonbolt)
4. Bellibolt (Chuck)
5. Ceruledge (Akai)
6. Kingambit (Magneto)

Honorable mentions:
Heracross, Gholdengo, Cyclizar, Orthworm, Pawmot, Klawf, Roaring Moon

Rules for team picking:
Must use your starter
At least 5 Pokemon must be from that current Gen
1 Maximum Pokemon from another gen allowed
1. Legendary allowed if it ain't too OP

I’m impressed by how Lunacid captured me. Not entirely, but the sheer passion created by Kira and others is worthy of note. For a dark fantasy first-person dungeon crawler. Inspired heavily by FromSoftware’s Kingsfield and Shadow Tower IPs. While I haven’t played those games in particular, I know the style and gameplay enough from videos I’ve seen. Other influences I feel worth mentioning are Zelda, Castlevania and another franchise I love, but I can't say or else it'll spoil a major thing. I'll give you a hint though. The person most famous for creating this IP is from Square Enix. Even those with no experience may find something worthy of note to be found. Bonus points for those who love/like Souls entries I would say it's enough to tickle your soul's interest into overdrive. I know it did for me.

Nonetheless, the dark fantasy tag is apt, but I want to highlight one element here and that is horror. And though I have limited experience in the genre, I feel there was enough stuff here to warrant it because I had plenty of spine-chilling moments crawling up my back. Facing off close to a dozen truly nightmarish creatures I wish I didn’t have to face since I was constantly yelling “Nope! nope! nope!” Slowly making my way through grayish stygian corridors with none other than my handy torch or ghostlight magic to illuminate my surroundings during my inkiest of days. While fearfully at times investigating corners or empty rooms for any hidden surprises. Phew… Be that as it may. Lunacid doesn’t boast a must-play in the story-telling department nor does it captivate me with thrilling combat mechanics. Instead, the music captured my heart, and the dungeon exploring fueled my sense of curiosity like a cat where I could not stop delving deeper into the Great Well. A fresh and diverse chunk of enemy variety, spells, weapons, and level design consistently kept my fun factor decently high against several heart-pumping segments and concerns I found. I'll talk about the enjoyable parts first and discuss several alarm bells later.

Story-wise, a short exposition begins detailing how a great beast brought an age of death and how the inhabitants throw the wretched, criminals, and ill into the Great Well. And you, the main player character are one of those unfortunate souls thrown in. Escape, fight, learn, what lies beneath. That’s the main gist to get started. And after completing everything in the game in eighteen hours I can only say the narrative isn’t the strongest to entice players. Instead, the freedom to explore, level up, and find what lurks in the shadows and caves! And more kept my intrigue! The fascinating NPCs you encounter every time during Wing’s Rest(the main hub) were enough of a reason for me to come back. Listening to new stories I didn’t expect would be delightful. Imagine sitting on a campfire listening to the storyteller. Kinda feels like that. Except in reality, I'm listening to a forgetful skeleton by the name of Clive casually drinking HP potions like no tomorrow. I’m still in disbelief where it all goes…

Moreover, the gameplay loop of exploring, fighting, and healing is a formula I found oddly satisfying. Though, I admit early on about 30 minutes in I was not particularly enthused. Only took an hour plus before I slightly became enthralled. I cautiously explored the first area to find another entrance to a dimmer zone called the temple of silence. From here, I was hooked. This lightless section filled with mummies and a haunting atmosphere sped up my heartbeat beyond the average. I found myself beset with anxiety, fear and reckless courage to brave gloomy corridors. A trusty sword, torch, and my low levels kept me slowly progressing until I achieved victory by finding a crystal shard. Shards can become sites of rest to heal, teleport you to past crystal locations, and most importantly level up your stats. These can range from increasing health, mana, melee & spell damage. Most unique in these stats is the inclusion of jump and running speed which are essential for newcomers. Don’t doubt the speed at which you run. By upgrading the stat value you can run away from enemies and whittle down their vitality until their demise. By the same token adding points to your jump stat allows you to jump across obstacles you wouldn’t otherwise reach. Both horizontally and vertically. Ties well enough into the level design. So the gameplay loop of fighting enemies, gaining enough experience, leveling up, completing sidequests, and healing, returning to new grounds is a fun cycle.

The world of Lunacid is as free as you can muster. And as deep as you can bravely master. Don’t see constant boring walking simulators here. Levels are intricate and provide multiple pathways through interconnectivity. I almost hesitate to say this is a Metroidvania except I'm not forced to have essential abilities to progress. Certainly, several keys are needed to progress, but for the most part, the varied amount of dungeons are carefully constructed to induce a wide spread of biomes to venture. With enough secrets, clever wall positioning for hidden valuables, verticality for platforming(not a lot, but a decent number), and multiple zones within. I saw filthy sewers, stood in awe of a red sea, held my controller tightly upon entering a deep tomb, and became mesmerized finding greenery! As if Nintendo decided to swing by and whisper in Kira’s ear “Hey! We want a forest dimension!” And voila there it is. I gorged the countless books in the library archives, tackled the looming castle, and sought the throne within. Even undertook the challenging abyssal tower for the greatest of all treasures shining under the pale moonlight. Yes, my wanderlust was satiated. Conversely, more than half a dozen, I dreaded due to the enemies I found to be horrifying, but regardless of the nightmarish creatures, I breathed a sigh of relief upon realizing each locale I visited. I think we're carefully balanced not to the brim filled with mobs of baddies. The placement of each of them throughout my playthrough felt balanced and not too sparse. I even found kawaii inhabitants in the most uncommon of sectors. To embrace or for those with murderous tendencies, you can eliminate them if you wish.

Simplicity in mechanics is a core focus. I didn’t find anything complex in the systems. And I would say it is a strength to keep it simple. Jump, attack, guard, use spell 1, spell 2, activate item 1, item 2, etc. These are all you need while paying attention to your health, mana, and charge gauge(This determines how hard to hit opponents). Aside from the easy-to-learn stats. You can equip any weapon without any stat requirement. The rule applies to magic as well. However, you can only have two slots to equip. And both of these categories have a great wealth of equipment and arcane to discover. Use ranged weaponry like a bow and arrow or any manner of swords to the smallest of daggers and unconventional arms like clubs or hammers and lance. Additionally, quite a decent sum of these melee armaments can be upgraded once you accrue enough experience for the equipped arm! Great way to evolve a weapon granting better stats, and a new look, and perhaps may give you the edge unexpectedly. I found a broken hilt and turned it into a fire-sword! Not gonna lie, it looks like a fantasy red lightsaber. No need to use a torch anymore in shadowy regions heh. Doesn’t take all that long to fill up the experience bar. Although, a decent chunk of endgame weapons can take a bit. Do yourself a favor and wack breakable objects or cheese the method by whacking a dead enemy, raising the values faster than you can ordinarily fight mobs. Sadly spells can’t be upgraded, but there’s a plethora to choose from. My favorites were healing magic, a god-tier moonbeam, lightning, and summoning a classic companion from the good old days. Won’t say the name, but if you played any of the franchises I mentioned above you’re in for a good time, not a bad time. Naturally defensive, utility, and support are available. Move faster, barrier, create coffins, rockbridges, fire, dark, light, wind, ice, and blood elements are at your disposal. Go mad you crazy wizard. Weaponry can be found in various ways through NPC’s, enemy drops, and by mere searching on the path ahead. A good incentive to explore every inch. Hell, you may come across a hidden door revealing good loot or a new shortcut.

The soundwork is stunning. I felt a wide range of feelings upon hearing the music. I felt the sorrow and hatred of realms giving off plenty of melancholy and sadness. I nodded vigorously upon hearing uplifting instruments turning my sad soul into one of light. Full of brightness and joy. I have to hand it to Kira, ThorHighHeels, and others. Holy. Black Magic! They manage to keep me invested. Notwithstanding becoming unsettling, yet oddly enough some tracks were atmospheric and tranquil. Also, super love how entering a new location will show the track name listed in the bottom left corner. With author credit on who composed it. Wish more devs included the feature. Thereby, we can properly credit the composer/s and see what track occurs when entering a new zone. Seriously underrated aspect, while I listened to pleasant sounds! Soft instrumentals like pianos and percussions are used to great effect to give off peaceful melodies. Accompanied by a diverse amount of tracks to hit specific spectrums like anxiety when you’re lurking in a dim tomb or inside a desolate area full of forgotten criminals. Even sewers are given lots of love to be eerie and kinda desolate. By far my favorite is Serence which is the main hub theme you go back to. Much like Firelink Shrine from Dark Souls. A place of rest and quiet comfort amid constant fighting. I was lured by the gentle sounds and stayed in it for countless hours. It’s not as heavenly to the Nier lengths of a certain franchise. For what it's worth, the ambiance and soothing rhythm beats while trekking, battling, and healing left me with a feeling of contentment.

Despite all the praise I’ve been sprouting I have to talk about my mixed feelings. Not a positive or a negative, just stuff I felt during my playthrough that could be improved or tweaked.

First, my biggest disgruntlement is the lack of a lore archive or database. As a lore-nut I always wish games had a menu option, you can constantly reference and go back to the documents you found or significant objects during your travels. Especially for those who like to litter the ground with papers of scattered entries. A prudent feature, you don’t need to reference user print screen images or steam’s handy screenshot key like I did where I stored countless notes I found during my ventures into the deep. Providing a reference point or allowing the player to go “Hmmm I see” like a smart fella where you can see all the cards falling into place. Connecting pieces of documents by process of elimination and linking them to the worldbuilding if I see a common pattern or core thread to tie knots. Here my knots are fraying at the seams at the frustration I have since there isn’t enough of a focus to properly identify half of the notes I found to a person. The papers I found only give a quote that ties into the locale, but the missing person’s identity leaves me befuddled at the meaning beyond a random person’s woes to give off a false illusion of being careful of what lies ahead. Thankfully, not all the notes are like this. More often than not the books I found say who wrote the message like Sir Garrat, Bonnard(random tangent, but I'm speechless at what this guy did), Jusztina, & Ophelia. Everything else? Nothing, I can’t connect the person to the vicinity or race, only allocate their message to the residing location where I found the quote. Still not a big deal, since my boney dude Clive was lore dripping me with lore stories. They more than makeup for this transgression. Highly recommend checking them out. Always love what they have to say to me every time I return to the main hub.

Second, the alchemy system feels underutilized due to the pitiful volume of drops you may gain from random chance and perhaps no materials at all. Making the early to mid part of my playthrough somewhat of a struggle for resources. But not necessary to scavenge. For example, I didn't have enough of the exact materials to create a mana potion, I had to rely on destructible objects and be careful of how many health potions I had on hand. There is a shop, but you can only gain money from destroying objects and defeating enemies. You don’t gain a lot during your playthrough. This becomes hampered by a plethora of usable items that the game teases you often by showing the formulas but doesn’t fully express itself to the fullest extent by again a lack of materials. Maybe I played in a weird format and that’s why the required ingredients didn’t show. But I thoroughly explored every inch and crevice, and something clearly went awry. I think giving more monsters and flora you find of the common ingredients would be a better alternative. Additionally, instead of dropping one measly morsel per enemy death. Or none at all. Make it double or triple if it's a common rarity we need for consumables. Thankfully, you don’t need to use the alchemy system, I only used it after the final boss to see what recipes I was missing. Feels like a supplementary system attached to give players extra breathing room.

Third, a multitude of factors: more bosses. I can count on one hand, the exact number including to a lesser extent mini-bosses. I get it’s not supposed to be souls-like and more of a Kingsfield-like. However, I feel it's a missed opportunity since there were plenty of open spaces in various biomes I visited that could’ve been used to test the player. Granted, less than a handful of major bosses do a great job of testing me to my limit. And the sick art models and artificial intelligence made fights visually interesting. Kinda weird to expect more, when there isn’t. Additionally, I abhor the fact there is an enemy in the game that steals your money. I lost over 500 bucks. I was devastated. Needed the money to buy a very expensive weapon. And I’ve been saving in bulk since the start only to lose it all in the 80% mark. Couldn’t regain my wallet after defeating them either. So beware! Happens when you’re in a sandy region. Keep an eye on your vitality. And don’t get hit. I paid dearly for it. Don’t be a fool like me! I was arrogant to think I could defeat this dastardly foe. Furthermore, there is a bit of obscurity in certain areas like not knowing how to use elemental spells to open doors and how to achieve one of the endings clearly. Consequently, I highly recommend looking up a guide for those. I’ll post links below to help players in case they're in a slump. No shame in finding the solution instead of spending 'x' hours struggling. I used them only when I combed every new field blind and then checked a map guide to see if I missed any.

Finally, I think more NPCs could’ve been added to make a handful of spaces filled with more life in spite of the apparent and purposeful design to keep it somewhat sparse. Inducing a sense of anxiety and fear ramping up. Certainly, there are NPCs in various sectors, but these are only used more than a handful of times and don’t offer much besides several sidequests. I’m not asking for a new person per new biome. Feel it is a 50/50 chance of there being one and perhaps gives me something to do other than finding/fighting new enemies and discovering new loot. Along with the occasional minor puzzle here and there by pulling or destroying mechanisms. The game does a good enough job with the existing characters inside that you can help each of them during a level to complete their side quest. So extra individuals to spice up locations. A tiny bundle would suffice. Doesn’t even have to be friendly… Could be a rival or murderous individual who hates us. I think that would’ve been a nice twist.

Overall, there’s a decent sum I appreciate from trying my first-person dungeon crawler. With no bugs, crashes, or major framerate dips encountered to my utter relief. Took me over a week to consolidate my final thoughts. Nevertheless, my mixed feelings don’t affect the overall game too much. The biggest hurdle I think is the fact the beginning may not be the most enticing and it takes a decent effort to sift through beyond the mundanity, yet for those patient enough. For an indie-Kingsfield-like, Lunacid shines once you familiarize yourself with the simplistic core mechanics and express courage and genuine interest into crawling into the unknown. The accompanying sound work deserves special praise, and I cannot for the life of me wait until the soundtrack is available to purchase. It is not the next must-hear for unheard composers, but for an indie, I am awe-inspired at the sheer quality of most music tracks. The nuance in level structure by not adhering to a copy-paste in every single pathway kept things fresh and new throughout my eighteen hours. Becoming more complex as you progress further with no big difficulty spikes. A nice way to raise the challenge once I reach the endgame. Not too insurmountable while taking a fine line to be not a cakewalk even for my level 92 cleric. Ok, maybe I was too over-leveled… Well... it's okay. Going overpowered is good in my books hah! In the end, I hesitate to say this is a must-play to try for newcomers in the genre due to its shortcomings. Rather it is merely a valid choice to consider. So if you’re interested in this type of game I would suggest checking videos of the gameplay and reviews to get a broader idea of what you’re looking into. For fourteen USD I think it's a fair price for what you’re getting. Better on a sale. Anyway! Excuse me while I fill up my backlog on dungeon crawler games I missed out on! While keeping a close eye on whatever else Kira is cooking up.

7.5/10

Additional Material:
Adventurer’s Guide & Before I play - All around guide and other helpful tips to keep in mind.
100% checklist - To help those trying for 100%
Maps, Secrets, Items - Need a map?
WIP Alchemy list - Alchemy recipes
Other reviews on Lunacid - Other reviews to read
Curse’s review - touches on a lot of points I like. Not to discourage others, but to give a circumspect view.

In a 1999 developer interview. Keiichiro Toyama says “What is it that sets Silent Hill apart from other games? If I had to answer that question in a nutshell, it would be the atmosphere, which I suppose is vague and ambiguous. However, if you play the game, I think you will understand. Silent Hill is an orthodox game with no outlandish or innovative gameplay mechanics, but it is suffused with a unique atmosphere and mood, not only in its appearance but also in the story and sound.” - Director of Silent Hill 1(SH1).

I couldn’t help but come to the same conclusion as Toyama’s answer of ‘atmosphere’ as the final credits rolled in my blind playthrough of Silent Hill 1. The atmosphere permeates throughout my time running through the titular town full of dense fog. As I controlled the main character. Harry Mason. An everyman who has no special titles, or special powers, is neither rich nor an individual who has super connections of note. He is simply a regular dad desperately searching every house and street for any clue, to recover his missing daughter Cheryl after a car crash gone wrong. And so begins our journey, as he battles/evades otherworldly creatures all while unknowingly trying to survive in this horror-filled place.

Storywise, I found his journey to be a cross between safe storytelling mixed with a jigsaw puzzle. Looking back I can construct how the narrative is achieved by effectively omitting key details. By the time I had all the pieces, I could complete the ‘puzzle’ so to speak. In doing so I was treated to a relatively safe journey in regards to not throwing my suspension of disbelief into smithereens while spreading the plot breadcrumbs interesting enough to lure me further into the mystery. In spite of the slow threads in the beginning. Be that as it may, once I hit my stride in schools and hospitals my will to continue deepened further. Enabling me to question everything and everyone within the bounds of not delving too outside the box to conjure. The regular who, what, where, when, why whodunit. Kept my brain tingling for morsels of information to seek the answer to my relentless inquiries. And thankfully the ending I received satisfied me to a measure I cannot help but applaud for. Well at least for receiving the ‘G+’ ending. And while there are other endings I’ve seen on YouTube. The overarching narrative felt uncommonly used amongst the other horror games I've played thus far. I wish I could give more concrete examples, but that would inadvertently lose the magic and surprise.

The atmosphere toes the line between the unknown and frightening to an absurd, but realistic degree. As I traveled deeper into the mist surrounding the locations of Silent Hill. Taking inspiration from Stephen King's The Mist among other influences. And to its credit, the close draw distance to maximize fog nearly in our faces works cleverly to hide the technical limitations of the PS1 era. The missing inhabitants while replicating a small town out in the country oozes with mystery in a sort of “Will there be something?” is teased mercilessly. I enjoyed exploring to my delight and wasn’t scared too much despite the oppressive silence and lack of inhabitants. Instead, I found otherworldly creatures prowling the dead of the day. Hairless malformed dogs prowling the streets, as winged creatures fly indiscriminately above Mason’s head to claw at him. To the nurses and doctors who are out of their freaking mind looking like a zombie at times. I admit to being scared and simply ran away from these ghastly enemies. The dense fog adds to the intrigue with incessant questions in the back of my mind. “What's happening? Where is Cheryl? What should I do? Why is this happening? How can I survive? Am I dreaming? Is this real?” These questions and more will inevitably pop up as you stumble & struggle.

The struggle is real. As I cautiously checked for enemies in rotten corridors, clean hallways, and entering empty rooms splitting the real and unreal. Confusing me, yet a handy map can be found nearby upon entering a new location. Making backtracking painless. Allowing me to easily strengthen my will, admire the presentation and reference what I had already been to. The map updates as you explore making it a vital tool to utilize. Reinforced by how simple the mechanics are. Mason can run, walk, use guns, and melee weapons, and interact with objects in the environment. The radio too helps as a sort of sound radar for nearby enemies. Helping us to prepare for what's to come. As a result, no gimmicks or very innovative systems at work as Toyama stated above. Focusing on other elements brings the core strengths to the front and center for players to devour. Grayish mist compliments well with the dead air of the soundtrack while feeding breadcrumbs to the player early on to piece and make their deductions. It is fascinating if not slightly stressful since I am playing a survival horror game. Yet I wasn’t all too bothered by the gameplay formula.

Puzzles felt adequate without being too complex. The simple systems lend themselves again and again. Becoming cyclical as you progress further in new buildings without feeling like a drag. Encounter a mysterious item? Maybe we can use this later to open a door or slot into a mechanism to open a path. Hmm, bottle? Must be some liquid I need. Keys? Oh, a locked door I couldn’t enter before surely will this time. Every puzzle I found difficult had a nearby solution to help players give off clues to solve their current dilemma. And usually, they may connect to another component, solving a dilemma could be a key to finally removing an obstacle. Out of all the puzzles I encountered. Only one of them is incredibly difficult. This was the only time I felt compelled to check a walkthrough and once I found the solution I couldn’t help but smack myself silly. So here’s a helpful tip. Check your surroundings to make sure of any missing pieces, having a separate monitor or paper on hand to visualize text hints can offer a different point of view. There are puzzles here without a hint so visuals and any patterns as delicately as I can vaguely say will prove invaluable to the naked eye. Don’t overthink, sometimes the easiest and most gut feeling may prove to be the right one.

Combat I wasn't fighting every step of the way like tank controls. Instead I embraced the simple fighting system and abused them to my advantage. Harry can equip one weapon at a time. Utilizes a multitude of melee and ranged weaponry. From pipes to knives to a pistol, shotguns, etc. The armaments helped tremendously like a hammer and the shooting mechanics aren’t all too complicated due to the absence of a reticle. As long as you focus in the direction of the enemy. You can shoot them with extreme prejudice. And man does it feel good to lay them out on the floor and kick em when they're down. Go close to an enemy? Eat a full round from my shotgun. Enemy closing in? NOPE. Time to run in a zigzag and not look back. Dying in about one blow? Excuse me while I chug a kit and some bottles without a required animation to take effect. See several mobs? Yeah forget that, Ima run past them. Pick your battles, don’t fight everything, to conserve ammo.

Felt the resource collection and using my stockpile satisfactory. Supplies are spread throughout the town so you’ll have to do some exploring off the beaten path to see any health kits or bottles to replenish your vitality. I had a surplus of bullets and avoided combat where I could to save ammo. Didn’t need to heal every time, only when I needed to. I wasn’t hindered by any inventory limit, nor was there any sort of stamina meter. He does have a health meter once you enter the menu with a press of the button. Making the lack of any real user interface where you would traditionally see one noticeable, albeit not necessary to see. I didn’t find any major issues with finding resources.

I’ll talk more about this later, but for now, I'll praise the tank controls. The mechanic where you move the player is similar to the process of how a tank moves. And this is a process you’ll need to contend with throughout the entirety of a playthrough. Nevertheless, as I became more familiar with tank life(This was my first time experiencing the phenomenon.) I found it weirdly satisfying to look at the element from a different angle. The controls accentuate certain camera angles to invoke a sense of anxiety and unease. The combat adds to this which I didn’t mind at all considering the game doesn’t shout to the high heavens to play for the fighting module. This in turn creates anticipation and tension adding to the already unsettling atmosphere. So I like it. For adding depth to the combat and fleeing.

Honestly, this emphasizes cutscenes when they play by displaying different camera angles while the dialogue occurs. And boy do I have some good news. I’m surprised by how little text there is in the conversations. Thereby not slobbering players with text logs or lore logs. Though as a lore nut, I firmly believe as long as you have enough relative lore in hand it could prove beneficial. But that is neither here nor there. Words and phrases are used sparingly as if to uphold a sacred tenet that fewer words equals good. SH1 for example follows this rule to a T. I did not see any wasted text. Puzzles and hints are included. It's like a subtly minimalist Chekhov's gun here. And oddly enough I am praising the usage of short conversations between Harry and whoever is speaking to him to excellent effect. Why? This adds mystery and intrigue to the central locations while increasing tension, fear, etc. Reinforcing the enigmatic atmosphere Toyama envisions. Seriously this is great stuff preserving minimal, but essential text to have players piece their own conclusions. Showing us, but not telling us.

In a 2015 interview from Factmag Akira Yamaoka(composer of a majority of the Silent Hill series) talks about the franchise's soundtracks and why it continues to be as influential as ever. “One of the greatest ways that Yamaoka enhanced Silent Hill’s fear building is by using music and effects in ways that run against what you’re expecting. “I wanted it to be unpredictable: maybe during a big scare I cut everything out, and maybe if nothing was happening at all there would be a lot of sound.” You have an empty hallway? Layer a few sirens and mix it in the red. You have an establishing moment with a villain or environment? Use only the sound of a sharpening knife.”

This unpredictability by Yamaoka works to an impressive degree throughout the entire soundscape. Where I felt the absence of regular conventional instruments in favor of creepy silence, air vibrations, the beating of unconventional items like banging of doors, the scrapping of blades, and the heart-pumping scratches and fluctuating radio frequencies awakens dread. Some examples I’ll pull from the OST have silence integrated well such as: ‘Downtime, never end, never end, never end, alive, nothing else, justice for you, heaven give me say, far.’ These tracks accompany many of the gameplay segments and cutscenes in a congenial manner yet interlaced wonderfully facilitating differences from the usual effects we often hear. Creating an unsettling tone to repeat for days on end as you boot up the game. Not to the point of over-use since a lot of tracks differ in tempo, rhythm, and how untraditional sound works. Seriously listen to any of those tracks and see how it differs from classical instruments. The names of these tracks also share similar connotations. Giving off a break if you will. Or time of rest. By comparison, there is another layer. And that is the panic tracks. Imagine low drums combined with a background of haunting wails or cries of ghastly echoes.

While the foreground is immersed with a layer of banging utensils harshly being hit on steel walls in a pattern that evokes slow encroaching terror. Yeah, terrifying isn’t it? Try listening to these tracks: Die, ain't gonna rain, half day, dead end, ill kill you, bitter season, don’t cry, for all, devil’s lyric, over, until death. I had to stomach through the OST again and it is incredible if not spooky. Yet thankfully enough here’s a secret to lessen the tension and anxiety. Lower the volume, no shame in doing so. I admit to doing so! The naming sense also is interesting to note again, with most of the tracks I chose from a small sample conveying notions of death, threats, and bittersweetness. I could’ve added more, but you can see the rest here and suit the tracks in other patterns. Regardless, I want to focus on a pattern. The silence tracks and panic tracks from the ones I listed earlier follow a theme, eh? The former inhabits an eerie vibe throughout yet doesn’t go to the steep lengths of making the player run to the hills. In my ears, I felt they were used to excellent effect, conveying a tingle of mystery as I ran to new rooms and buildings. By comparison. The latter displays the rush, the unbearing suspense mixed with a persistent rhythm forming an incessant need to get out. Run faster and get the hell out of traps and dead-ends. As a result, the panic tracks I think work in its favor and complement the silence to a proportion, I find myself fascinated by the two accompanying themes.

However, a third and smaller portion of tracks not of the two kinds emerges. And this brings to the forefront the classical tracks to a shotgun-filled bar full of emotions and relief. These tracks finally make use of classical instruments like the guitar strings. For example in the track ‘She’ I felt they provide a profound degree of closure. Some may see this as an abrupt slap of whiplash, on the other hand, I found it comforting. In the near silence and panic-filled corridors of ambiance. I found at the end of my main character’s journey and to my great satisfaction a longing feeling of contentment and tranquility. It is apt and so powerful to hear classical instruments shine so bloody hard. I am amazed how different Yamaoka's style conveys so uniquely and so beautifully to listen to. Granted, the effects on the unused may be perceived as annoying to hear repetitive noise effects. Although, I think it works to its benefit. Complementing the game to magically transport the player into the Yamaoka’s soundscape. Like a puppet master controlling how we feel. Just wow. Very different from other Japanese composers I'm familiar with listening such as Nobou Uematsu, Keiichi Okabe, Yasunori Mitsuda, Yoko Shimomura, Hitoshi Sakimoto, Masashi Hamauzu, Masayoshi Soken, Keiki Kobayashi, Kota Hoshino, Falcom Sound Team jdk, and Xenoblade composers. The OST manages to ride the fine line of not being either bombastic or slamming us with gentility. Filling the player with enough suspense to not overflow in sheer terror while giving enough intrigue to the limit of genuine courage. It is as Yamaoka talks about earlier. Unpredictable in building fear.

As much as I could continue praising and analyzing every morsel. I must talk about my mixed feelings. These are neither positive nor negative, but simply some things that gave me pause, could be better and perhaps a hot take down below.

First tank controls for the unused can make it difficult to achieve the right balance in the beginning. When Harry moves in a single direction, turning becomes difficult. So you’ll have to swerve to the right or left before coming around. Takes some getting used to. I was never familiar with these types of old movements and considering it was my first foray into it. My first 15 minutes were clashing onto walls. I understand it's a product of its time. And while some may say it adds tension and anxiety, which I agree to a certain extent. More often than not I crashed into walls and wished it controlled better. Could be a dealbreaker for some. I’ve heard the newest entries after the first have better controls. Though for a first entry, it's not something I'll judge too harshly. Once an hour passed by I became used to them. To help, quick-turn using L1+R1. Helped immensely for my playthrough and thankfully the game’s runtime isn’t too long or medium to deal with. HLTB estimates put this at a short length.

Second, this might be a hot take. But I think going into the game blind completely would be a mistake. I tried playing blind for 95% of my experience and while I did have a good time, once I removed some tips to know beforehand along with some of my friend's advice I would’ve unknowingly struggled. Please check out some tips. I'll put some links further below to help newcomers. Therefore to prevent further suffering. Not required, but it doesn’t hurt to know ya know? For example, Running away from enemy mobs in the streets to conserve ammo. Quickturn if you hit a dead-end and I abused the hell out of that to counter the rough tank controls. Furthermore, going blind may inadvertently cause players more trouble when trying to achieve certain endings. They can be strict. Without going into concrete details of spoiler territory. To get the G+ ending, players need to somehow pick up a liquid in a hospital and use it in a boss fight. Not the last one. There’s a bit more, but I'll let Before I play handle that. Highly recommend referencing that in hand while you play. I hope that’s vague enough to say. I am not advocating for everyone to achieve that outcome, rather I think it would help in the long run when thinking about the game as a whole. It is simply a suggestion.

Third, boss fights I think could’ve been improved a little more to induce more puzzley in design without reverting into too gimmicky territory. As vaguely as I can say. I usually evaded their attacks, then shot bullets during appropriate moments. I’m torn on this point since I think this ties into the combat not being a true highlight to look forward to. I didn’t come to SH1 to be amazed by fighting. Yet unironically Toyama in another interview back in 1999 echoes similar sentiments by saying how “The action part of the game is really just something to create the horror.” A medium to enhance the horror if you will. Although, I still can’t help but add my suggestions on how this could be remedied to make boss fights more horrory. Off the top of my head: More on escaping, instead of traditional fights. Destroying objects in surrounding environments then switching to a different weapon like melee. Surprise me with dialogue maybe and if I answer wrong, game over. Taunt me while chasing me. I wouldn’t say they're bad by any means. The first, second to last boss and final boss do a decent job.

Fourth, I wish there was more interaction in the environment instead of literal observations anyone can make. When exploring anything of relative interest in his surroundings. Harry will make a direct, blunt phrase. “No useful books.” “Nothing unusual.” “Drugs? Better leave it.” “Just a wall.” Granted, there are plenty of notes, diaries, letters, and documents to give some relevant lore or plot hooks so it’s not all bad. Feels weird though. Why not have him say different lines like “Cheryl would’ve loved this book.” or “Ah I remember this drug from long ago my wife used to use.” See how those suggestions would’ve changed some of the stale observations? Makes me wonder if the other installments made some changes to his inspection.

Ultimately I found Silent Hill 1 to be largely a leap of faith as one Ubisoft franchise likes to say. While it does have some dated mechanics like the tank controls which may vary from person to person. And the story may not resonate with everyone. Along with my other mixed feelings. In the end, hidden beneath these varying qualities I found the everyman plot to be equally as satisfying as my time in Signalis. I can only leave pretty positive after my ten hour playthrough. And oddly enough, I regret not playing this title back then in my childhood. Never played any other entries in the series either. And yet for a PSX title released in 1999, I am pretty impressed how much it holds up. Stands tall amongst the other horror games I played. Sure the title doesn’t boast the Lovecraftian edge Bloodborne grasps. The excellent pacing of The Last of Us. Great lessons from Omori or hitting the fine balance of horror and action in the Evil Within series and Metro 2033. Nor does it provide richly diverse cast to the gills like Shadow Heart and Koudelka.

Rather, Harry Mason’s troubled venture to recover his daughter is a powerful incentive to keep in mind. And the feelings of “annoyance, anger and incredible kind of powerlessness” evoked by the protaganists voice actor Michael Guinn moved me enough to see what happens in the end. Strong to witness amongst the clever backtracking, colliding with interesting and well-thought-out puzzles. Constant showing, not telling, and remarkable use of minimal dialogue I found in contrast to Parasite Eve. Demonstrating how much this little gem can achieve in a concise manner without padding. I wasn’t bombarded by useless cutscenes or tearing my suspension of disbelief a new one. Beyond the palpable unique atmosphere, intriguing everyman story and excellent sound design lies something special to anyone who has never played Silent Hill 1. I’d even go as far as to say the game has made me appreciate horror much more than I thought.

8.5/10

References & Additional Material:
1st interview - Shmuplations translated the 1999 interview with Toyama and others
Wiki links - Everyman - Inspirational works of Silent Hill - Tank Controls - Chekhov’s Gun - SH1 OST - Soundscape
2nd interview - Akira Yamaoka interview
3rd interview - Another interview with Toyama back in 1999. Different from 1st.
4th interview - a 2018 interview with none other than the original Silent Hill voice actor for Harry Mason. Michael Guinn. Fair warning does contain spoilers for SH1 & SH3. I only read the SH1 portions.
Silent Hill 1 Before I Play Tips
Silent Hill 1 manual
A short history article on the origin of Tank Controls - Cool TIL tidbits.
My spoiler thoughts on Silent Hill 1 - Heavy spoilers from beginning to end of the game

In a FAQ on Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. It was revealed that "The Vision of Kain'' was conceived to be a game which adults would want to play. The character Kain was modeled in part after Clint Eastwood's character in the movie "Unforgiven". In this movie, there were no "good" or "evil" characters, they were all "gray". The vision of Kain was to create a game where the player is put in the position where everyone believes you are evil, perhaps even yourself. We wanted to ask the question "What is evil? Perhaps it is merely a perspective."

The notion of evil has long been exercised for, against, and studied at length for varying degrees across countless years before the release of Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. Most often against the opposite side of ‘good,’ yet intensely analyzed with a fine pen from the schools of philosophy and psychology. Yet, here the concept is used in a uniquely interesting manner compared to all the other titles in the PSX library I’ve played thus far. Since released back in 1996. Offering a nuanced dark story, featuring an unconventional ‘hero’ protagonist. Where you play as the aforementioned character. A recently slain petty noble turned vampire on his quest for revenge and cure for his vampirism status. His quest is fraught with peril at every turn. He’s weak and isn’t a badass for one turned into a dark creature of the night. Hasn’t adjusted well to his transformation thus his monologues both external and internal display a cynically arrogant personality throughout. A type I vehemently abhor in video games. Yet I cannot help but become allured to his actions throughout as he marches across the lands of Nosgoth.

A medieval fantasy land full of vampires, humans, and other manner of terrifying supernatural creatures prowling the night and day. And before I entered the game, I checked the world map to see what the world is like from a geographical perspective. Nosgoth is filled with large swathes of diverse terrain. Mountainous regions, lush forests, spots of bustling towns, and fortified cities lie amidst the gentle rivers and calm lakes. Most eye-catching of all is the unusually large architectures: big skull, floating island, tall fortress near flowing lava, nine giant pillars, some kinda frozen water temple? A haunting mansion, and one colossal knight statue similar to the Argonath from Lord of the Rings. There’s more I could list but hopefully you get the picture. Jutting out with varied names attached related to the Circle of Nine. Nine powerful sorcerers who protect the pillars of Nosgoth. These pillars reflect the health of the lands. And I was struck with a burning wanderlust to travel to each exotic location and see what each experience has to offer me.

A clear strength at the forefront to lure me like bait on a hook for subtle worldbuilding. Sure it’s not as rich and dense as the Forgotten Realms universe or how nuanced the deep characters of the Witcher are in complexity. Nor does it boast the rich history from Fallout or the sinister and epic clashes from the Diablo games spilling into the world of man. Nay, Nosgoth’s light world-building is steeped in the powerful echelon of the circle, the unholy might of vampires grip onto fearful mortals, breeding suspicion, fear, and all manners of dark monsters waiting, watching to grab innocents and thus bring them closer to death's embrace. Oh yes, right off the bat the unforgiving tone and presentation caught me unawares to the point my wonder was viscerally torn at how brutal events play out here. Evil thrives in all forms and I am here for it.

Despite the malevolent atmosphere, I had plenty of fun here with some caveats I’ll talk about later. For now, I’ll reminisce on the good memories. My first impressions as several hours passed shocked me. To find the gameplay remarkably similar to the Legend of Zelda (LoZ) formula except twisted in a Vampire’s tale filled with a darker domain and dubious individuals at nearly every turn. Short to medium-length dungeons with multiple rooms and puzzles. Seen from a top-down perspective. Linear with non-linear segments for optional items or for the most studious in exploring to be richly rewarded in permanent upgrades to health and magic capacities. Different weapons, armor, spells, and transformations can be found and earned in optional caverns and cleverly tucked away basements in mausoleums or normal houses. Not a wide selection, but useful nonetheless in overcoming multiple obstacles in your path. Use a mace to break stone formations, and axes to chop trees blocking your way. Turn into a wolf to leap across great distances, a bat to fast travel and so much more. Hell, spells are useful when you’re in a pickle like summoning a lightning bolt to activate a switch from a fair distance. A light spell to illuminate your surroundings, and my favorite mind control. Oh, man! You can assume control of any enemy except bosses to reach inaccessible areas, activate a mechanism on the wall, procure consumable items, and even kill enemies! Seriously, I'm amazed at how versatile his powers are in both equipment and utility. I used them habitually time and time again as I progressed further into my quest. Removing anyone and anything from my path.

Vae Victus

In the opening FMV, those lines were uttered by Kain as he suffers with a big sword lodged through his chest and again used during combat as a battle cry. The iconic line and more is profoundly voiced by Simon Templeman. A man who eloquently becomes the aforementioned character to deliver rich monologues both external and internal. His many years of theatre experience provide such a dash of realism to the protagonist to the point I am instantly captivated by his voice just as any time Morgan Freeman talks. And this without a shadow of a doubt is one of the game's strongest points. “Where the entire story is conveyed through voice-over and first-person narrative.” told by Denis Dyack, who created the original concept of Kain. & director. I was engrossed any time Templeman spoke, and beyond the cutscenes lies numerous mystical signs littering the grounds of Nosgoth where he would speak. Of his internal thoughts. The Shakespearean-like voiced lines provide a fascinating look into the thought process, habits, personality, beliefs, values, history, relationships and so much more. Through Kain’s eyes, we see the story in a personal nature arise and combine with the mature plot. Complementing the FMV and plot beats in tandem with the excellent voice acting. In layman’s terms think of our central figure commentating aloud on the previous events, of goals in mind, self-doubts, and ruminations. It is here I felt the voiced narrative intertwine with the inhabitants ranging from all kinds of human hierarchy. Commoners, beggars, nobles, knights, guards, kings, and of course the nine sorcerers who become major subjects of interest to our 'hero' within thirty minutes of starting the game. Their voices contribute a stark contrast to the audacious personality our titular character conveys. Mortanius the necromancer, speaks to the newly turned vampire via telepathy. Supporting him with new goals. Vorador the elder vampire, a mighty being who without remorse advocates embracing blacker-than-night tendencies. Ariel, the balance of the circle, offers our main character an unusual proposal to cure his sickness. Common folks are not spared either. Granting hints via gossip on unnatural events occurring nearby. Spells, weapons, armor, and items are also given fair treatment. Our key player will briefly talk about the item at hand, any relevant history, and their purpose during battle. Never was tiring hearing these precious lines or other beings like foes. Administering an immersive quality and thus bringing liveliness and deadliness as we journey onward.

His journey, for a closer inspection underneath the surface, upholds a somewhat deadly, but mostly fair design in how dungeons, puzzles to a certain extent, and boss fights are constructed. Tying to the fun gameplay I mentioned earlier. The adequate Legend of Zelda-esque dungeon designs are designed with a mix of traps, like spikes coming from walls and floors. While pesky enemies like skeletons, wraiths, ghosts, murderous humans, etc litter rooms. Thankfully, the game employs a lot of enemy variety so we're not bored seeing mob #1 to mob #2. Switches and levers on walls to open a passageway, sometimes big puzzles requiring more than simply hitting a switch reside. Tingling the brain to use other means within your arsenal. Traveling to another location in a specific path, do so wrongly and I am teleported back to the beginning, one had me teleporting to different places, so backtracking may be needed to remember paths, some walkways may seem insurmountable, but using a handy spell or transformation will make the march trivial. There’s more I could list, but hopefully, you get the picture. To contend with these endeavors in dungeons lies a dungeon boss. Most bosses can be eliminated by any means of weaponry or ability at your disposal. The hard part is getting close to them. Usually, they’ll have a gimmick or two involved making any movement closer hastily punishing. For example, bullet hells. Illusion of death, oh you thought this would be a fair fight man vs. man, bouts of strength and attrition, etc. Overall I would say most of the encounters with each big baddie were decent to very satisfying. Some worrying signals to know though.

And this is where I'll talk about my mixed feelings. Not a positive or a negative. Simply some concerns I found that may prove troublesome for others in varying degrees. For me, all of these points brought the all-embracing experience a tad. Yet doesn’t detract too much from the positives the game entails.

First, every time you re-enter a room or corridor all enemies will re-spawn. In spite of already defeating them into oblivion. This wouldn’t be so egregious if we could gain a reward like extra items to replenish our vitality. Yet some adversaries are troublesome to defeat since they will always be without end once your character moves closer to them. Become public enemy #1 where you cannot escape until you run a sufficient amount of distance. Distance from what I experimented with leads from afar. You go into another room. And two. Run a decent amount so they cannot catch up to you. Both parts aren't really helpful in the long run if I need to go back to a previous room. Driving the knife deeper are several enemies like wraiths shooting magical bolts dealing a decent amount of damage and flinging you to one side. The game loves to slap several of these infuriating dudes in a room and have us try to kill or evade them. Imagine killing the insufferable apparitions only to forget there was a spare hidden path tucked cleverly. Oh, I should head back. OH, MAN. You guys again f%^ my life. For what it’s worth, these occurrences didn’t happen often, merely uncommon to rare times. Doesn’t help that we can't suck the essence out of foolish enemies to recover our strength. And more often than not I faced scores of foes where I cannot possibly suck their juice. Thereby taking my enjoyment a bit at times in a minor form.

Second, speaking of opponents. I think the game needs to lessen the attackers' devastation in the middle to late game. Enemies hit hard, so you’ll need to be careful of wasting precious items and spells. Dying here and using up your remaining heart of darkness(these are the only consumables to automatically restore you to life with 1/7 of your max health) sucks. I think more enemies chained on walls to freely replenish our vigor would’ve helped and a decrease in overall damage from 10-25% towards endgame would’ve helped smoothen my slight frustration. He doesn’t have a lot of health in the beginning. Regardless of the player exploring thoroughly to upgrade their total HP supply. Therefore, my endgame suffered a bit until I decided to use cheats the game employs. Starting from the halfway mark. Think button commands ala Grand Theft Auto III to restore health. Only used the commands as a last resort to recover my magic/health. And only when I had less than three hearts of darkness in my pockets. Die without any of the hearts and goodbye save file. Hello, game over screen and back to your last known save location. I should confess to prevent any misconceptions. I explored thoroughly to grab as many health and magic upgrades. To the point I was still struggling somewhat with this amount of health and magic Yet I still suffered through bloodshed. Even when I ran away most of the time. I barely used any blood spells which according to the spell description can restore your health from enemies. Using the heart as a consumable might also mitigate loss in endurance due to restoring a decent amount of health instead of dying and reviving. So maybe my playstyle suffered more because of this. Thus, your mileage may vary.

Third, both qualities of constant re-spawning of enemies as we re-enter rooms and high damage output from assailants lead me to believe the Silicon knights(the developers who created Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain) perhaps had trouble configuring the right balance of enemy placement and harmful properties. The fact there are cheats available leads me to believe that the devs saw this as a temporary bandaid to solve possible frustrations from lack of healing/revival items. I suspect perhaps if I were more vigilant and prepared properly with some tips and hints then maybe I wouldn’t have any issues. However, one other factor that may cause further difficulty is how the save system is implemented. Innately players cannot save manually anytime. They have to approach a blood shrine to activate. I found these shrines constantly in caverns, mausoleums, castles, towns, cities, and homes where a multiple-floor level resides. The problem is that they only appear at the start. So if you die mid-way through a dungeon. Welp, my dude back to square one. Only if you have no heart of darkness. If you do, you can come back alive. Thankfully before hitting a major boss, the devs saw fit to include another shrine before a bossfight. A large sigh of relief overcame my being once I saw this implemented again and again, yet this doesn’t remove the underlying dilemma. Progress lost is still progress lost. Losing minutes to half an hour can be morale-inducing to my detriment. So beware of each shrine location and how far you are from one. Still, the aspect isn’t a major negative in my books, since I was able to complete the game using the titular mechanic constantly. Merely a warning for those curious about how to save properly.

That’s it for my mixed feelings. Honestly quite a lot of my troubles I feel were attributed to my negligence to seek help in favor of a blind playthrough. I don’t regret it. But a lingering doubt in my head feels like it could’ve been better to smoothen out my overall experience. Nevertheless, the sheer strengths Silicon Knights employed back in 1996 deserve special praise to this day. The music hits the orchestral high notes while giving off epic drums and beats to intensify our moods into mythical dimensions. Complementing well with Templeman’s impeccable voice acting among others. Luring me like a helpless slave to their magnificent voices. Reminiscent of Louis de Pointe du Lac detailing his past stories as a vampire to a reporter in the film Interview with a Vampire(1994). And similar, but different in some respects to Sang-hyun. A priest who turns into a vampire. From the Korean film Thirst(2009).

In the end. The dark fantasy & bloodthirsty LoZ-like formula works almost perfectly, the solid arsenal and wicked powers our titular character can utilize are maximized to a degree, I didn’t have trouble figuring out the right solution to solve the puzzles. Sufficient amount of paths to back-track for the curious fella in need of any upgrades to become stronger. A large and dense world to traverse while listening to Kain’s constant monologues is alluring, if not horrifying to witness. As a consequence, we are treated to a captivating nuanced character development take, of a 'hero' into something else. A remarkable campaign experience from the good old days and most certainly punches above its weight class for the grayish gothic story-telling. Delving without excess on what shapes evil, different forms that come to be, why the notion exists, and for what purpose does evil maintain in a world against a different ‘evil.’ And ultimately what is the result of our malicious acts? Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain asks these mature questions without forgiveness. Through his eyes and actions, the unmaking of the human soul surges. Blackened with dark tapestry and removed of all sensible feeling. Hmmm… I wonder what awaits me plus others, as the saga moves forward to Soul Reaver. And what fate ultimately lies to Kain in the end.

Vae Victus. Suffering to the conquered.

7.7/10

References & Additional Material:
FAQ on Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. - Frequently Asked Questions on BO:LoK. Inspirations, original concept, creator etc.
Evil. Origins and all forms from Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - More reading material on Evil.
Nosgoth world map - Lord of the Rings Argonath - Picture example
Playing Catch-Up - A conversation with Denis Dyack, founder of Silicon knights and creator of the original concept of Kain
Interview with Denis Dyack - On Simon Templeman who voices Kain
2nd interview with Denis Dyack - on Silicon Knights and what they tried to achieve with the first entry of Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain “Where the entire story is conveyed through voice-over and first person narrative.” and more like Too Human and guild philosophy.
Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain cheats - Cheats if you need it. Think of button commands like GTA III cheats
Example of my endgame health and magic - Disregard the subtitle
Youtube example of slow load times on PS1 - Compared to fast loading speed on PC -
Simon Templeman - who voices Kain in every game.
Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain on Mobygames - Interesting to see the narrative in the genre section is horror. When wikipedia classifies the game as dark fantasy.
Plot Guide to the whole series - For all games + observations after the ending
Highly Recommend installing fan-patch on PC - Verok's GL wrapper & patch should be enough. Was easy to add after first installing the GOG version. Game is super cheap when on sale at less than 2 bucks.
Essential tips on for newcomers to Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain - Previously prior to this review. There was no section for BO:LoK. On the Before I play website. So I contacted the owner and sent him my tips! Hope this helps newcomers!

Thank you @Eggsandwhich for recommending I play this after my month of NieR. Also a shoutout to @ptcremisi cuz he loves this game too. I'm happy to say, despite some issues I had that do hold it back from me rating it higher, I really enjoyed this game a lot.

Though tbh, at first I wasn't really enjoying it all too much. The beginning cutscene really got me interested but by the time I got to the first level in the game, I started noticing issues I had. First off, I don't think the first level is that great of an introduction. I found the level design to be too simple and it's definitely my least favorite stage in the game. That plus some other issues I had while playing, really didn't help my engagement. I found the combat just okay, it got the job done but it wasn't great. The platforming too could be a little wonky. I found the ledge grab really inconsistent (tho I got used to it later on). The figments were hard to see a lot of the time and they seemed like they'd be quite annoying. It also didn't help that I played this on my PS2 and it ran poorly a lot of the time and even rarely slowed to a crawl. That combination of things, plus the poor intro level, it just wasn't doing it for me. Also later on, you start to fight bosses. While it's cool to find out how to beat them, they're often not that fun mechanically because of the clunky combat and are usually too easy on top of that.

As I played on tho, a lot of these issues were lessened a bunch cuz I blew them out of proportion. Because of this, I learned to really love the fantastic things in this game. Probably my absolutely favorite aspect would be just the game concept as a whole. Going into people's minds is just so awesome, and they really utilize it to it's fullest. Your collectibles are absolutely brilliant. Figments of your imagination, emotional baggage, cobwebs (in your head). It's just all so good and really makes the world feel so well thought out. Like the health pickups are literally called mental health, that's amazing!

The other best thing this game has going for it are the quirky/funny moments and it's memorable cast. I couldn't even count just how many times this game made me chuckle, it's so weird and I love it. It really felt like a Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon show from the early 2000's which is great because that's the era I grew up with. Feels like the love child of Billy and Mandy and Invader Zim if I'm being real. As for the cast of characters, most of kids were whatever (tho I did like Dogen and Lili) but the main cast of Psychonauts were all great. I do wish they had more screen time, because in the 2nd half due to certain events they're mostly absent, but what we do get is great. Also, a shoutout to Raz himself, what a great protagonist. He's so quirky and sassy yet likeable.

At first I was a bit iffy on the camp setting but once I explored the overworld, I really enjoyed it. It feels a bit nostalgic for some reason, and I never even went to camp as a kid. I also think the overworld had overall better level design than the actual levels. The levels are cooler and more out there than the camp setting but the level design is more linear, while the camp is more open and explorable which is fun.

Another thing I enjoyed were the Psi badges. While I wouldn't say most of them were super fun to actually use, a lot of them were used on puzzles throughout the game and are just cool conceptually. I will say though, levitation is an absolute blast and is easily the best badge in the game. Glad you get it early on because from then on, I used it all the time.

Idk why I thought this was a kids game all this time (I probably would've loved this as a teenager) but it definitely isn't considering they cuss throughout the game and the game can get pretty dark. Seriously, some of the mental illness stuff can get pretty realistic even if there is a goofy undertone, but it's still handled with tact. The vaults are another collectable in the game and they hold some of the darkest shit I swear. Milla's hidden vault 😢. But I really love how they flesh out each character even more.

I said the figments were annoying because they're hard to see, and while that is still a criticism of mine, they weren't annoying enough to the extent I didn't want to get them all. So I went and 100%ed the game and that was mostly hassle free. Some stray figments here and there and some of the milkman's conspiracy gave me trouble but that's about it.

So overall, while the actual gameplay is usually just acceptable to subpar, the charm this game has with it's cast of characters, it's quirky humor and just the awesome concept of going into people's minds won me over. This game is flawed but really enjoyable. I'm giving this a 7.5 rn only because the sequel seems to fix the gameplay issues I had. From what I've heard, 2 starts off right where 1 ended and that's just so cool I can't wait. Anyways, on to my Secret Santa game next...Metroid Prime 2!

7.5/10

Well, beating this on my birthday sure was a nice surprise! Especially since this was a pretty great game overall. It was my Secret Santa game in fact, which was something me and my discord fellas participated in. I'll link the list I did for that here.

Any who, yeah this was really good. I beat Prime 1 last year for the first time and thought it was awesome. So I was excited to see how 2 fared and I was not disappointed. I do think 1 was better overall as 2 has higher highs in some parts of the game and lower lows but it's still really good even compared to 1.

When it comes to straight up improvements, there's a couple things 2 did extremely well compared to 1. Loading times are all faster, it takes like half the time for you to get to a new area now. Scans now go from red or blue to green when scanned and are much easier to see if they've been scanned or not. The scanning especially being a lot better than 1's would definitely make me miss it when I replay that eventually lol.

Obviously the game's big mechanic is the dark and light worlds and honestly, I thought it was awesome. I've heard some people say they found it tedious, and I never really had an issue with it. I thought it added a cool spin on Prime's gameplay and made you think. It could make the game difficult somewhat, especially when fighting some of those dark world bosses but I liked that.

Speaking of the bosses, they're very interesting in this one. Overall, I'd say they were an improvement from 1 tho there were a couple that were a pain in the ass. Spider Guardian obviously being the main culprit for most people. I didn't hate it but man was it frustrating trying to figure out what to do while fighting it cuz that one can be brutal. A lot of the bosses were actually pretty tough, they were certainly more complex than 1's bosses. Those last few tho, the 2nd Dark Samus fight...Quadraxis and the whole set of final bosses were easily the best in the game and better than all of Prime 1's bosses. At first I was a little disappointed with the boss roster in 2 but after fighting the endgame ones, overall I do think 2 has better bosses than 1.

Now the biggest thing I think that's holding this game back from being better than 1, is its world. Prime 1 was basically Super Metroid in 3D. You had a very interconnected world to explore that was more into showing not telling. Prime 2 is more similar to Fusion with its bigger focus on storytelling and more linear world. The game is definitely not quite as linear or focused on story as Fusion, but it definitely feels like it took inspiration from it. The world is broken up into 3 main areas to explore and 1 overworld type area you go back and forth from. Rather than exploring at your own pace like Prime 1, it feels more like you're guided around slightly as you have to go back to the hub to unlock each new area. Eventually the areas do have elevators that connect to other areas but even with that the world isn't as tightly designed as 1's I feel. The area's are all cool, especially Sanctuary Fortress...that one is awesome, however I feel there weren't as many "aha" moments whenever I saw areas connect like in 1. I also feel like the game wasn't as atmospheric as 1 was, at least not the atmosphere I dig as much. Still, the world does interconnect by the end, I just think compared to 1 it just aint as good.

As for other miscellaneous things, the OST is pretty solid tho I do think its a downgrade compared to 1. I love how the classic item room theme is back, that's sick. I enjoyed the connections the game made to 1 near the beginning. Dark Samus was awesome to see in this game finally and it seems like it comes back in 3 so that'll be cool. Pirate commanders suck ass and were easily the worst enemy in the game. They're basically Chozo Ghosts from 1, except instead of locking the doors only some of the time, they lock them every time they appear and they're tanky as fuck which Chozo ghosts weren't. Weird change tbh and was just tedious every time they popped up. Navigating menus in this game feels clunkier than 1, they tried to make it all cool but it feels like it takes longer to find a certain file if you wanna read it again. It was interesting to see the screw attack in this game and while I warmed up to it by the end of the game, I still can't help it felt a little lame compared to how it was in prior games. Also again, one of the best parts of the game was just getting collectables and seeing what puzzles you have to do to get/find them. That was still really fun to do in this game, especially with the Dark/Light gimmick. I did get every item, which is of course a Metroid staple, and got a good chunk of the scans so I'm satisfied.

Overall, this was very good despite some issues I had. I do like Prime 1 more but this was definitely a worthy sequel I feel. Thank you @QuentTheSlayer for having me play this as my Secret Santa game, had a jolly good time! Next is gonna be the original Klonoa. A nice short game will do me good methinks.

Wanted to play a nice short game after Metroid Prime 2 so I decided to dive into the Klonoa series finally! While I did have a good time with this game, I wish I liked it more because it has a 4.1 average and a lot of my followers love it so I kinda feel bad only giving it a 7 lol.

I think after beating the game, the absolute best aspect are the bosses tbh. I did not expect them to go so hard but most of them are really damn good tbh. In fact I'd go as far to say they're better than most of the levels. Something I really liked about them was how they all made good use of the foreground and background, thought that was sweet. Also the health bar they had looked really cool with that whole 3D effect.

The levels themselves are decent for the most part. They start off really simple but get more complex as you go on. I honestly didn't think they were getting really good until the last couple stages but overall they're fine.

Another one the best aspects of this game is the visuals. The mix of sprites and 3D models is always cool and its done well in this game. From the little I've seen of the remake, it's a total downgrade which is a shame so I'd recommend the original just on visuals alone.

Klonoa's moveset is kinda weird overall. The grab is very fun, especially when you can get an extra jump from an enemy. The flutter is alright but a lot of the time just doesn't cut it in getting you over large gaps unless you plan well. I just never thought it felt good to use tbh. Also Klonoa himself has a slipperiness to him when you build momentum up and that can trip up the player especially in later stages.

I didn't really find the game that hard until the last couple stages. I got every collectable so I was able to do the extra stage and man was that one tough. It was fun but definitely put your grabbing and hovering skills to the test.

The music overall was just alright. There was a track or two I kinda liked but most of them were forgettable I felt. There was also a track or two that kinda bugged me because it reminded me of the intro song to Amazing Animals. Please tell me I'm not crazy, I just kept thinking about that whenever one of the beginning stages songs was playing.

The game also had a surprisingly abundant amount of cutscenes. I thought the story overall was pretty cute, the very solid voice acting certainly helped that I feel. Like damn, I loved Huepow's voice it was adorable. And while I didn't cry or anything, the ending was pretty sad and was a unique way to end the game.

While I didn't love this game like others do, it was pretty good! I can certainly see how others would love this game cuz it just has that 90's PS1 charm. I did hear the sequel is even better so I'm looking forward to that!

Arcade Week: Day #7

Darkness falls across the land, after we shot some aliens, helped some frogs cross a road, shot some asteroids, shot some more aliens (we love shooting huh), appeared in the olympics, and got chased around a maze we finally made it. We finally found the king of the arcade scene and we’re finally ready to meet him. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you: Donkey Kong. He was created in 1981 by Shigeru Miyamoto in an attempt to copy the success of pac-man and it definitely worked. The game even got some legal issues thanks to universal and its similarity to King Kong but thankfully that all got cleared up and we can still enjoy Donkey Kong to this day. So let’s hop in shall we? Cause it’s on like…uhh…

In Donkey Kong, you play as jump man (a very imaginative name but he would later become Mario) on his mission to save his girlfriend Pauline. To do that however, he must Climb up the platforms and avoid the falling barrels to make it. The interesting thing about this game however is the fact that it has multiple differed stages which was quite groundbreaking for the time. These levels will bring in new ways to get points and even more obstacles to try and avoid at all costs or else well…maybe you’re gonna have to get a new girlfriend buddy.

Overall, Donkey Kong is probably one of my favourites when it comes to the arcade scene. Sure, I’ve said it before that dig dug will always be my favourite but I can’t help but really get into this game because of just how imaginative it all is, you can tell how much work and effort they put into this and not just a mindless game to capitalise off the success of pac-man, this game is a lot more special then that. It would not only go on to inspire the Mario series, but other series like Kirby as well. Remember the legal action between Nintendo and universal? Well if it wasn’t for John Kirby, who knows what would’ve happened to the game. And that my friends, was our arcade week, thank you so much for reading.

Good gameplay, decent music, I have ptsd from barrels now, and springs in fact

Happy Halloween!

Yes I cried to this game. A bunch of 2D shapes and I cried to that. I swear I’m not going insane.

Thomas was alone is a game I wasn’t expecting to particularly like. Granted, I had heard the acclaim it had almost 10 years ago but I never really saw it as a game I could really sink my teeth into. Yes I’ve played my fair share of platforming puzzle games and most of the time they never cease to not get on my nerves. Platformers can be difficult for me sometimes by themselves, couple that with some puzzle elements and I’m gonna be either throwing my controller out the window or simply trying to compose myself as I tackle the same level for 61st time. However, This game was…different. Yes I still struggled at quite a few levels and it did feel quite repetitive but, it had something not many puzzle platformers can say they have: a heart.

In Thomas was alone, you play as a set of Ai’s, which are being experimented on by some sort of research company, which take the form of different 2D shapes (mainly squares and rectangles). One of these rectangles is named Thomas, and he is almost like your main character in a sense. He is eventually joined by Chris, John, Claire, Laura, James, and Sarah.

Chris is essentially your grumpy, Scrooge like character when you first meet him. He tries to keep himself to himself and he’s someone that gets annoyed at people who try to help him. As the game goes on however, he begins to soften up more and more and when he meets Laura, he begins to genuinely feel something. It’s his lack of purpose that keeps him as this grumpy and fed up little square. Without something to live by, he just sees everything and everyone as a chore, but as soon as he meets Laura and gets used to everyone, he realises how important being with people is and how important you can be to other people.

John is the show off, or at least that’s how people see him. He likes to see himself as the superior ai and have quite the audience. He’s shown as being quite egocentric but hardly unlikeable as even throughout he still shows a respect to the others. As soon as Sarah shows up and shows that she can jump higher than even John, he learns to support her nonetheless instead of feeling jealous and aims to support others.

Claire is quite a childish yet very protecting character which goes along with her traits. She can swim through poisonous water which the rest of the cast cannot. As soon as she learns she can she gains a higher purpose and begins to show her true personality. She even declares herself as ‘super Claire’ sporting the whole world as her nemesis and spikes as her kryptonite. She is shown to be quite childish yet still wishes to protect her friends at all costs.

Laura is a character with a very low self-esteem. She feels as though she has been used by many different ai’s and especially the pixel cloud (an entity that appears through most levels and gobbles up the characters at points) as bait. Her ability is almost like a trampoline as when people land on top of her they bounce up, which fits in with the fact she feels used by others. That is until she meets Chris. At first she was quite wary that he would just leave her like the others, yet eventually learns to cling to him as they share a mutual love for each other. She is quite a depressive character who is only truly brought out by Chris and shown to be a much more happier character.

James is quite an introverted character and is meant to be the opposite to Thomas both mentally and physically (and coupled with the fact that he walks along the ceiling and jumps towards the floor). He is a green shape whilst Thomas is red, and whilst James is much more introverted, Thomas is shown to be more extroverted. However, James slowly learns that being himself isn’t too bad and that he does have a purpose. He shows that, both him and Thomas need each other and that they are the perfect yin and yang to each other, which also happens to reflect itself in the levels as well.

Sarah is…she’s kind of there to be honest. Granted, she has one of the best abilities in the game with the fact she can double jump, she talks about the ‘fountain of wisdom’ and leads them onto them helping others become sentient but other then that she doesn’t really have that polarising of a personality. She was part of the dlc known as ‘Benjamin’s flight’ but whether I’ll ever play that is slim to none. Yeah she’s kind of there.

After all of that you then have the ‘second generation Ai’s’ which are the Ai’s that the original gang decided to help. They have a mini plot where it turns out one of them, named Grey, was going to attempt to betray the others that were also trying to escape, but he got eaten by a pixel cloud and the only 2 that made it out were shapes names Jo and Sam.

The gameplay of Thomas was alone is pretty good to begin with but slowly starts to become very repetitive. Whilst it was fun to see what you could do with the different shapes and their abilities, eventually it did become quite simple and easy to get. I think if it didn’t have such a brilliant narrative, I probably would’ve given this game an even lower score but, that’s what’s so great about games. The gameplay does spice up a bit once you start playing as the ‘second generation ai’s’ but it still feels a tiny bit repetitive. But hey, I still really enjoyed it. The music was also brilliant and definitely worth mentioning. David Housden’s work on the game was brilliant, sounding like a mix between the band ‘explosions in the sky’ with a tiny bit of electronic inspiration behind it. The narrator as well, Danny Wallace. He isn’t your Stephen fry from littlebigplanet nor is he your Kevan Brighting from the Stanley parable but he’s certainly up there and does a very great job.

Overall, I really enjoyed my time with this game. It was short but also an absolute blast and I’m thrilled to have given it a try. I might give the dlc a go, however I haven’t heard the best things said about it so I might leave it off. This was an absolutely brilliant experience and I do encourage others to give it a try, even if it has been practically 10 years since it was first released. Mike Bithell, you have my respect.

Brilliant narrative, decent yet repetitive gameplay, excellent music, wonderful narration, shapes made me cry

Everyone has to start somewhere right? Every person had to start with something that inspired them. Whether that be an event, maybe a tv show or film, maybe even a book, or maybe a 3D platforming shooter on the ps2. Or for me at least.

Ratchet & clank was a game born from the gods. If people were destined to do stuff, then this was the game that saw me in that direction. After insomniac lost spyro they needed a new big platforming series, so they borrowed naughty dogs engine which they used for Jak and Daxter and were able to create what would become the first ratchet game. After the release, the game would spawn a PlayStation staple franchise and specifically for this review: a boy with a small dream. But that’s for later. Let’s get onto the actual game itself.

Act 1:

Now I know I’ve reviewed this game in the past, but it certainly lacked the depth it needed, so why not give it that missing depth right now? The story sees you in control of a Lombax named ratchet. He’s alone on the desolate planet of veldin with the dream to escape and to explore other planes across the solar system. Meanwhile, there’s a malfunction in a robot making factory and the result of this is clank, a tiny robot. He finds out that an evil man named chairman drek is planning on destroying planets to create a planet for his own. Clank quickly begins to try and escape but is shot down by other bots and ends up landing in veldin. From there, he meets ratchet and clank helps him to escape the planet with the deal of finding captain qwark and putting a stop to chairman dreks plans. But before we continue the story: it’s time to go into gameplay.

Compared to future instalments, the first ratchet game isn’t as shooter heavy as its successors but it is still a core part of its gameplay. Considering the fact that before, insomniac’s only really major work were the spyro games, you can see that formula kind of applies to the first ratchet game. Even with this however, it still ends up sticking out on its own. You get a choice of 16 weapons all with different attributes. I’m not going to go too in depth about the weapons, because you can tell they were still trying to work out what works and what didn’t and believe me, the taunter is a big showcase of that. Some weapons include the decoy glove, whereby a small inflatable version of ratchet will stand and enemies will instead attack it instead of you. The suck cannon sucks up enemies and even crates which can then be launched back at enemies, this then brings me onto the next bit of gameplay.

The currency in the game is something that would still define its successors. These are bolts. These can be found by killing enemies or even finding them in smashable beige crates, or even surprisingly: bomb crates. Bolts are now explosive! There are different types of crates in the game. Those being the normal beige crates, bomb crates which explode in 3 seconds, metal crates which can only be opened through some form of explosion, and nanotech crates. Nanotech is essentially the health in the game and the crates can be found practically everywhere. Before I go in depth about the currency and its themes, let’s continue the story shall we?

Ratchet and clank end up crash landing on planet novalis but end up getting a ship from the planetary chairman (a very imaginative name) and end up finding…the plumber. The absolute legend. The crack of all jokes. But anyway. They end up going to different planets to try and find captain qwark. But just before I get onto that, I just want to take a minute and talk about another part of the gameplay.

Something that makes the first ratchet game certainly stand out is its non-linear progression. Essentially, in almost all levels you can take different paths to get to different things, these could be important items, important story beats, or just nice little bonuses. What I like about that is that, it encourages exploration and almost pushes it on the player to keep returning to places and just checking out everywhere they can. It’s a very nice bit of gameplay that I wish was continued and pushed a lot more in later ratchet games.

They end up arriving on planet kerwan whereby clank gets a heli pack upgrade and ratchet ends up getting a swingshot. To start off with, the swingshot is one of the gadgets that helps ratchet out with puzzles, these pop up all over the games and work differently to weapons as well…they don’t kill anyone. The heli pack is also an upgrade that helps give ratchet a lot more flexibility in terms of things like reaching hard to reach places. Clank ends up getting 2 other upgrades later on which help with similar things and can come in quite handy. I’ve never met anyone on this planet who hates the heli pack or thruster pack, and if someone does…do you really?

They eventually do end up finding qwark and he ends up taking them to his base on planet Umbris…however, he ends up turning out to be helping drek this entire time and leaves them to the slaughter, thankfully tho ratchet and clank make it out with their lives…but maybe not so much their friendship as clank fell for qwarks tricks. This then leads us into act 2 of the game! Oh wow!

Act 2:

So they end up getting a brand spanking new ship and end up having to try and track down qwark, however before they can…there’s a bunch of issues. For starters, they’re on the planet orxon and the air is very dangerous to breathe, so they are forced to try some form of gas mask to find the infobot and locate qwark. If you don’t know what it is, it’s essentially a small little robot that gives the coordinates of the next planet.

Also, just wanted to also talk about the themes of the game and I thought this would be an excellent time as any. So, if you’re following this I’m just wondering…have you noticed how expensive everything is? Well, you’ll never get what that is! Why it’s good old consumerism my favourite! The main theme of this game and the entire ps2 quadrilogy are obviously the satire and extreme push of consumerism. Stuff is advertised everywhere and practically nothing in the game doesn’t not come with a price. But that is the sort of genius of the writing. Everything has to come with a price and if you can’t pay it then tough shit. It gives the world an almost slightly depressing view. But I digress.

Eventually they get a gas mask from planet pokitaru and go to a bunch of other planets, including hoven where they thwart one of dreks plans…and clank hits on a girl??? This is until they eventually decide to confront qwark on the gemlick base. And oh man…this is where it gets good.

Come on, I had to mention the music at some point. The entire score was composed by David bergeaud and unfortunately he hasn’t returned to the series since quest for booty. His soundtracks in almost every ratchet game he did were excellent and fit with every planet they were inserted into. Whether it be the futuristic and busy landscape of planet kerwan or the desolate yet dangerous gemlick base, everything he composed for the game fits perfectly and encapsulates each world perfectly. It’s a shame later soundtracks wouldn’t encapsulate the same feeling the first few ratchet games did but, hey, we still have the work he did and it can still be appreciated today, if they put it in streaming services…

Act 3:

After attempting to confront qwark, they get into a fighter jet and he crashes onto the planet of oltanis. It’s at this moment when ratchet and clank decide to put aside their differences and actually defeat drek for the good of the galaxy. They try to get oltanis but clank can’t come out because of the lightning and dangerous conditions of the area. Ratchet is then forced to go on his own where he finds qwa- I mean Steve and gets the gagdetron pda…which I have to dedicate a paragraph to.

The gadgetron pda. What’s so good about this baby? It’s essentially the get yourself out of having no ammo card. You can use this thing absolutely anytime you want is essentially a portable vender. The only downside is the fact that the ammo costs more than it does at an actual vendor but who cares! If your loaded this is a perfect way of getting out of dangerous fights.

After getting an infobot, they travel to quartu, otherwise known as the robot factory from where clank was created. Clank ends up becoming giant in a pretty short section which I’m not going to go too in depth about. Essentially they end up getting another infobot for their trouble and end up making it to kalebo III to try and sneak into the robot factory in quartu. Kalebo III just happens to be the headquarters of none other than gadgetron, the company that has been selling you weapons and everything. They meet the chairman and end up having to participate in a hoverboard competition.

Hoverboarding is essentially a little racing game that you can be in. There’s only two tracks with those being in Rilgar and kalebo III. They aren’t that exciting but they certainly were for younger me, but nowadays they frustrate me as all hell. I also forgot to mention about some of the other important gadgets. Those being stuff like the grind rails which let you grind on railings (shocker), the magnet boots which let you walk on magnetic surfaces, the gas mask which I already touched upon. These not only help with puzzles but they also look really swag on ratchet.

After the competition, ratchet receives a remote that turns him into a robot. He decides to use this to his advantage and sneak into the robot factory on quartu. After doing so, they end up finding the exact place where clank was born. I’m not going to describe the scene because…I think it says everything perfectly. Afterwards however, it turns out that drek plans on destroying veldin as a sort of fuck you to ratchet. They decide to try and return to veldin immediately and stop drek in his tracks. Drek ends up revealing that he was the one that polluted his kinds homeworld and he was going to do it again on the new planet he was creating, just to make more money and repeat it over and over again. With this, ratchet and clank finally decide to take drek down once and for all.

The final battle is pretty excellent and cinematic. With the desperate attempt to try and stop drek at all costs from destroying veldin with his deplanetizer ray. Ratchet and clank end up succeeding and shoot drek to his own planet, destroying it in the process. The end shows ratchet and clank finally being really best buds and deciding to live with each other and just be…the best duo like come on.

Epilogue:

After everything…I still love this game. Of course it isn’t perfect but that’s ok. If it wasn’t for this game I probably wouldn’t reviewing different games at this very moment. This was the first game I ever played and I hold it really dear to my heart and hell even the entire franchise to my heart. The story of the first game and the themes it touches on are still perfect to this day. And whilst gameplay could’ve done with a few fixes, that’s what the other games would later help with. And even back then, I called it the game with the biggest heart, because that’s true. It was. It’s still well liked today and I honestly couldn’t thank it enough. And I can’t thank you guys enough either for sticking with me for so long!

Great gameplay, excellent story, breathtaking music, interesting selection of weapons and gadgets, and the plumber still has his cra-I mean back, thanks for the 100th review!

Risk of The Rain is my first deep dive into roguelike games, and it's been a solid experience. The gameplay is incredibly satisfying, and I've had runs lasting up to 4 hours. Beyond 1.5 hours, you become quite overpowered, making it a child's play. The whole challenge lies in getting past the early stages with enough loot/min. Once/if you get passed that early stage, it will feel extremely satisfying in the later game, despite being super overpowered. It's a good game, especially enjoyable when paired with a podcast or some background entertainment.

PS: I hate that Magma Worm. Got 100%, but never figured that worm out XD

One of the hardest Pokemon games no doubt.
(If you don't intentionally search for how to cheese the hell out of this game)

So many training arcs with different Pokemon, but still all late game gyms were out leveling me. Kind of poetic how you can't evolve your Pikachu and Gary ends up evolving his Eevee, the main character (you) values the bonds vs Gary that values strength and nothing else. It was a fun twist to have the following Pikachu without getting to choose, truly an unique Pokemon game experience. I also noticed there was possible to store items inside the PC after 20 hours into the game, I tossed so many items because of that - ahhhhhhhhh ...