Karim
2024
The more you play, the more fun it gets. It forces you to strategise, planning ahead. Although I never hit the point I needed exponential notation to display the kinds of numbers I was getting, I still managed a couple of interesting wins (my best hand was ~300,000). I had to uninstall it so I didn't lose too much time to it, but it's something I'll return to on occasion.
2021
Pretty good! I think it commits the Brutal Legend sin of paying-off its narrative setup rapidly, and a lot of its cast winds-up a lot of glorified extras (almost none of the people you get to know in the first act are central to its narrative or even very present, which is a bizarre storytelling decision) but it's as creative as the original; that gameplay is a ton of fun. Sweet, lovable game, even as it handles serious mental health issues.
Pretty great, even when the narrative takes incredulous leaps and the open world design hides unique quests among repetitive encounters. The art direction is something else, and the combat is excellent, especially on Iki Island, where enemies force you to keep switching stances. If you're going to play one open world game, make it this one.
Hey, a focused, compact game is more fun than a sprawling big one? I am shocked. I had a real blast playing through this. Good job, everyone.
2024
I lost on the very last blind yesterday. This game is crack, even for people, like me, who don't traditionally go for roguelikes or card games.
Don't listen to the cowards: Play with friendly fire on.
Cherry is such a fun character.
Cherry is such a fun character.
A game so nice I beat it twice. In theory, Dark Souls shouldn't be for me; I don't have a lot of me time, the little game time I have is separated by months, and I'm the "play it on medium" type generally. Still, I learned to love Dark Souls quickly, largely because it is difficult but entirely fair, learned to pay attention, to parry and backstab. I even worked-out secrets from paying attention to the lore! Great, great game, with a wonderful sense of place and map design that blew my no-sense-of-direction brain into the stratosphere, complete with an amazing risk/reward structure. It's a lot like going to the gym, in that you need to improve, check your ego at the door, and give it your all.
The localisation of the second and third games gets precocious (the line "We know whose milkshake brings the boys to the yard" was allowed to exist in the world because some translator, somewhere, thinks they're hilarious), but this is still a grand old time. The second is the weakest one, since it can feel a little directionless, and I'm in the minority thinking the trilogy's very last case, for all its revelations, isn't mind-blowing. There's also a really annoying situation in the hitherto DS-exclusive case one ("Rise from the Ashes") that they really should patch (I'm talking about the jar). But hey, no, great, great series, with a top-tier sense of humour. And it ends! You can stop the series right here!
A rare case of the remaster being superior to the original (which is a click away, if you want it). Flipping great game, with top shelf characterisation. The revamped controls are nice. I wish they'd added a hint system, but hey.
I always think of this damn game when I see pigeons.
I always think of this damn game when I see pigeons.
1998
Get through the Petrified Forest. It's worth it.
1995
Its messy tone makes it a harder sell than other LucasArts games, and this is a step down for Tim Schafer (before he swung Grim Fandango into the sky outta nowhere). Still good, though!
1993
It meanders, but, no, it's great. Pure comedy gold.
2005
I played this game quiiiiiiite a bit, ever since Eurogamer made it their GOTY back in 2005 (and rightly so!). Played and replayed. It's not perfect, but thank goodness they've nerfed Meat Circus. Still need to properly play the sequel. I need to find the tiiiime.
2019
It's less the sum of its considerable parts. I think Assemble with Care would have benefitted from less hand-holding and more intricate puzzles. The epilogue's puzzle was the best one, because it needed thinking. A bunch were absolutely mindless. On the other hand, this game's reminded me how much I enjoy repairing things.
2016
Needlessly long and overwritten, but I got emotional at the end. Absolutely oozing with style, super remiscient at times of aesthetics circa 2003, 2004. Makoto reminded me so much of an ex-girlfriend of mine; it was weirdly nostalgic. Fun gameplay. Unique vibe. I'm hoping they port 1-3 properly.