Platformer with aesthetics of japanese shonen in a semi-open world filled with lots of side-quests.

Tomba! 2 is a nice platformer supported by an inventory-system with lots of items to interact with. Its world is colorful and filled with pesky pigs, talkative NPCs and small secrets here and there. It's fun to play and explore, but it still has its fair share of problems.

The great part about this game is world exploration and completing side-quests. It's not a true open world like TES or Assassin's Creed, but it offered something close to it on the 5th Gen console with its number of interconnected locations. There are 6 locations in total with distinguished themes/biomes. And being first and foremost a platformer, the game offers enough opportunities to jump, glide, swing and swim. Each location is filled with residents eager to speak, offer a quest or even give a useful item. The said quests entice you to explore the world to find its secrets. Sometimes these quests work like a puzzle - you need to figure out what to do in order to complete them. Sometimes the goal of the quest can be found in a completely different location, but fortunately the game offers plenty of ways to travel the world via expendable and permanent solutions. So it's really interesting to traverse the world, explore its themes and find solutions to the side-quests.
But unfortunately some of the quests rely on dumb luck to complete them. The infamous one being the very last side-quest. Without any spoilers I can only say that you need to make a leap of faith in one specific point without any hint when it was previously established that doing so in any other point of that location leads to instant death. BS if you ask me.

The inventory of the game can be filled with dozens of items used to either aid in exploration or complete a quest. Unfortunately it has its weak part - the equipment. There are lots of useful items you can activate to get any kind of effect, but as for the equipment you just stick to one costume for 85% of the time, the other 15% including time before you get that one costume and time when you are required to wear a different costume to progress further. There is just no benefit in switching costumes other than to do a quest. Same with different weapons. Speaking of which...

The battle system is a bit disappointing. The main way to beat the enemies is to jump on them to grab them and throw them somewhere far away. Additionally you have a weapon that can stun the enemy to make it easier to jump on them. There are lots of different weapons but the thing is that at their core they work the same - stun the enemy (mostly evil pigs). A few weapons have a gimmick to help you in exploration of the world like freezing or setting on fire, but as for dealing with the pigs - you can just stick to one weapon that can be utilized most of the time. And it's not reassuring when most of the secret weapons, which are part of the end-game quest rewards, are completely side-lined in favor of that one weapon that can just help you to travel. Because in the end they are all the same. By the way, the end-game...

As it's fun to complete the side-quests, it's not so fun to see what's at the end of that line. Completion of all the side-quests doesn't change the final act of the game. The aforementioned reward-weapons are mostly useless and the final top-secret reward for one of the most mysterious lines of side-quests just grants you invulnerability. The only reward for the player is the second part of the final cutscene. And don't forget that aforementioned infamous last side-quest. It's like the devs didn't really want you to see that 100% completion. And to add to the frustration, the boss battles are... meh. You can see these boss-arenas where you are supposed to run, jump, swing. And you don't use it. You just stand where you've spawned, wait for the boss to approach and deal with it just like with any other mob: jump on it and throw. Finding the boss-arenas is more interesting than fighting said bosses.

The graphics are colorful. Each location is distinct and their inhabitants clearly belong there. The art design is simply masterful. Overall it really gives off that shonen anime aesthetic like the original Dragon Ball. Maybe because of that I really wanted to replay the game in japanese.

As for the music... it's a bit complicated. When I first played the game 20+ years ago it was the international version. The music for the international version was composed by Ashif Hakik. His music really supports each location having that specific sound associated with the theme, and the contrast between depressing cursed and happy purified location is staggering. As for the original japanese version, the music was composed by Shiina Ozawa. And it is mostly generic upbeat music with a bit of a connection to the theme of the location. Even the difference between the cursed and purified version is barely noticeable - switch them and you won't know the difference. So it disappoints me a bit that the og music is on a worse side than the international one. But I'm grateful to Mr. Hakik for such an enhancement of one of my favorite childhood games.

Overall this is a great game even with serious flaws. Back when I was a kid I couldn't finish the game 100% 20+ years ago (curse you, last side-quest!!). And when I finally did it many years later, I didn't feel frustration and disappointment. For me that adventure mattered, that world mattered, and I was ready to overlook all the flaws, because I still enjoyed the adventure and the exploration. And I can call Tomba 2 one of the best if not the best games of my childhood.

Instead of "what the hell am I supposed to do" it's "what the hell am I supposed to say".

Chants of Sennaar is a short yet satisfying point and click puzzle game. The main gimmick - deciphering other languages. You climb the tower, meet a bunch of different tribes/ethnicities, decipher their languages and use said languages to go further. The experience is smooth and never gets tedious.

The meat of the game is its language system. Each language has its own logic and features resembling each tribe. And every piece, every stroke has its place - everything is governed by rules of its language. You can definitely see the complexity of each language when the Top Rated Steam Guide is dedicated to breaking down the rules of each language.

Deciphering of the languages is simple in its core: you observe, you listen, you make associations. The game provides you with different situations to observe. And the analysis of the aforementioned rules of the language can help you find similarities between words and make an educated guess. Also not to get overwhelmed and confused, there is a "checkpoint system" which allows you to properly guess the meaning of words and lock the correct ones. Kinda reminds me of a journal from "Return of the Obra Dinn".

Another small part of playing with languages is the ability to speak/write in said languages yourself. There are a few puzzles where you need to act as a translator between tribes. What's great about it is that you can go and see the result of your mediation - you leave a mark and the world develops. This works great as an additional proof of successfully deciphering the languages, the level progress being the main one.

Of course there is also the point and click part of the game. Here it reminds more of the classic point and click games where you need to search rooms for different clues or mechanisms. There are typical puzzles like "find this and use it on that" and the stealth part can feel a bit redundant, but the main part relies on understanding information provided in the new language. Using the acquired knowledge of the language you need to do specific acts to proceed further. And before that you need to find enough information to decipher the language. All while admiring the environment of each tribe. Speaking of which…

The presentation of tribes is another great part of the game. The player meets each tribe one by one. The tribes themselves are very distinct: from their appearance and surroundings to the language itself. It really shows their personalities and values, you can just feel that they are supposed to be this way and not any other. And don't forget about bits of narrative and lore: each tribe has its story you can see through different murals, documents and performances. Although the last tribe felt a bit weak, the feeling of learning different cultures of different tribes is outstanding.

The graphics are on the more simple side, but it doesn't get in the way of art design to present the aforementioned tribes and their surroundings. Maybe it even helped to distinguish the designs of tribes more clearly.
The music and sounds also played their part in the tribes’ presentation.

Overall this is a great game. The puzzle-solving is smooth and satisfying. The complex and well thought out tribes and languages really play well to the feel of discovery of different cultures. Also bringing tribes closer to each other after breaking their language barrier feels poetic. I wish there were DLC for this game and more games like this in general.

Try, fail, repeat, master, beat, try, fail, repeat.

This is definitely a platformer of its time - you start the level, you fail a bunch of times, you master the level and then you beat it and proceed to the next one. Old school as it is.

The gameplay is simple: you run, you jump, you attack, you die A LOT. There are enemies that you can touch, there are enemies you cannot touch and there are bosses. There are solid platforms, there are flying platforms, there are falling platforms and there are pits, lots of them. This is a very basic 3D platformer with linear levels. And given the most basic tools, it delivers a satisfying experience, especially being one of the earliest 3D platformers.

The progression can feel brutal, but it is typical for that period. Like most of the games of that time, this one expects you to master it before progressing forwards. And it can be quite merciful given that even when there are limited 1UPs, there are basically unlimited continues in the form of saves and passwords. The only hard part is getting them via Bonus Levels or perfecting the level. With such leeways, you are free to try levels over and over again until you finally master them. And you can feel the growth of your skill - even with clunky jumping, you start feeling it just right and notice that after getting to the last level, you can try the first one again and it will be a breeze.

Speaking of trying again. To 100% the game, you need to beat the levels without dying while smashing all the crates. Usually you do it after reaching the last boss, and with that you can actually easily access 30 1UPs, so you can try the levels again and again. No, seriously, all it takes is a platform of a colored gem to go up, collect the 1UPs, go down and literally step into the exit right there. With the experience of beating all the levels once - it's just a matter of training to beat them perfectly, it all comes naturally. Although there are a couple of levels where finding a secret stash of boxes is a bit too tedious: hints not so obvious or that one box off screen.

The aesthetics are delicious: green jungles, dark temples and machine factories. Typical tropical paradise with the lair of an evil mastermind. With the upbeat music, the overall presentation feels great.

As a result, it is a brutal but really satisfying game, one of my childhood favorites. It sure gave a start to a great franchise.