LesPaulLord
BACKER
2022
This is one of the most thouroughly addictive games I've played in 2023.
Dave the Diver really gets bloated towards the end as it's a game that keeps adding mechanics and systems until the very end of its runtime. They're all fun enough, but it loses its balance a bit when you get 20 things to juggle at once. It also gets very grindy and has a couple of systems of navigation that are just slow enough to become an important nuisance as time goes on.
I'll say though, the variety in gameplay is truly impressive here! It reminded me of the best flash games that were on Newgrounds in the mid-2000s all rolled into one giant package of fish-hunting.
I had a great time with Dave the Diver, it sunk its hooks in me way more than I care to admit even if it was a bit longer than it probably needed to be.
Dave the Diver really gets bloated towards the end as it's a game that keeps adding mechanics and systems until the very end of its runtime. They're all fun enough, but it loses its balance a bit when you get 20 things to juggle at once. It also gets very grindy and has a couple of systems of navigation that are just slow enough to become an important nuisance as time goes on.
I'll say though, the variety in gameplay is truly impressive here! It reminded me of the best flash games that were on Newgrounds in the mid-2000s all rolled into one giant package of fish-hunting.
I had a great time with Dave the Diver, it sunk its hooks in me way more than I care to admit even if it was a bit longer than it probably needed to be.
2022
A fascinating little experiment of horror and game design.
It has a lot of great moments and ideas, particularly in how it stretches its meta-outside-of-the-game mechanics. Oh and the face thing is awesome as well.
It's just too obtuse for its own good. Finding all of the endings is a slog and needs spam-clicking through dialog wayyyy too much. When readying guides, it becomes apparent just how arbitrary some puzzle solutions are. It also ends up feeling kind of flat when even the best endings aren't that conclusive after all that effort.
Even then, it's a worthwhile little game to play, if only for the originality on display.
It has a lot of great moments and ideas, particularly in how it stretches its meta-outside-of-the-game mechanics. Oh and the face thing is awesome as well.
It's just too obtuse for its own good. Finding all of the endings is a slog and needs spam-clicking through dialog wayyyy too much. When readying guides, it becomes apparent just how arbitrary some puzzle solutions are. It also ends up feeling kind of flat when even the best endings aren't that conclusive after all that effort.
Even then, it's a worthwhile little game to play, if only for the originality on display.
What a strange mix of things this game is.
As many people have pointed out, the second half of this game very much breaks all the magic that had previously been set in place in the first 3 hours. I couldn't be bothered to do endless backtracking to finish it and watched everything from that point on on Youtube.
This is such a bummer since Silent Hill 4 has such a strong unique personality ! Enemies are genuinely terrifying, the sets and atmosphere are second to none in horror games, and the whole schtick of going back to your room through a whole (and all that's done with said room) was a brilliant idea of a design for the structure of the game.
It's really a shame that they dropped the ball so hard game design-wise in the second half... You can see glimmers of brilliance in what they were trying to accomplish, but it didn't end up being a successful whole when everything was put together.
I still think it has one of the most interesting stories of anything Silent Hill I've played, and maybe my favorite art direction, hands-down. If only for the huge hospital corridor, this game deserves to be talked about to this day.
A very flawed if thoroughly original and noteworthy horror game.
As many people have pointed out, the second half of this game very much breaks all the magic that had previously been set in place in the first 3 hours. I couldn't be bothered to do endless backtracking to finish it and watched everything from that point on on Youtube.
This is such a bummer since Silent Hill 4 has such a strong unique personality ! Enemies are genuinely terrifying, the sets and atmosphere are second to none in horror games, and the whole schtick of going back to your room through a whole (and all that's done with said room) was a brilliant idea of a design for the structure of the game.
It's really a shame that they dropped the ball so hard game design-wise in the second half... You can see glimmers of brilliance in what they were trying to accomplish, but it didn't end up being a successful whole when everything was put together.
I still think it has one of the most interesting stories of anything Silent Hill I've played, and maybe my favorite art direction, hands-down. If only for the huge hospital corridor, this game deserves to be talked about to this day.
A very flawed if thoroughly original and noteworthy horror game.
Although I love the idea of this "Gold Master Series" of documentaries and its importance in video game history preservation, as a product, I feel like some improvements can be made in the future.
There hasn't seemed to be a lot of editorial choices in what to put or to omit from the game here. Everything and the kitchen sink is thrown in, which results in a lot of correspondences and interviews that are repetitive or flat out boring.
It generally feels like the story of Karateka is not that interesting to tell apart from a few fascinating tidbits.
I'm super glad this exists, and it is a polished product, but it did outstay its welcome since it didn't always aim for quality in historical content, but quantity and completeness.
On the upside, the next documentary appears to be about a game designer and a bunch of his games which seems like a fantastic idea. It might just fix all the gripes I had with this first experiment in innovative documentary by having a lot more material to go over.
There hasn't seemed to be a lot of editorial choices in what to put or to omit from the game here. Everything and the kitchen sink is thrown in, which results in a lot of correspondences and interviews that are repetitive or flat out boring.
It generally feels like the story of Karateka is not that interesting to tell apart from a few fascinating tidbits.
I'm super glad this exists, and it is a polished product, but it did outstay its welcome since it didn't always aim for quality in historical content, but quantity and completeness.
On the upside, the next documentary appears to be about a game designer and a bunch of his games which seems like a fantastic idea. It might just fix all the gripes I had with this first experiment in innovative documentary by having a lot more material to go over.
2022
A fine lil game.
It has a touching story, fun writing and very very tight gameplay, but some things hold it back.
For one, the music in this game is particularly bad. It's a strange thing to complain about, but it got on my nerves so much as the loops are super short, the songs few in number, and they barely have a functional melody at times. It soured the experience of just walking around quite a bit.
It also had something lacking in terms of atmosphere. A Short Hike for example had a lot of varied spots that kept the whole thing engaging, whereas everything here is samey. You're always hitting cardboard monsters which gets tedious even though the game is very short.
It was a fine game, but I really thought it would have been a tighter package all-around.
It has a touching story, fun writing and very very tight gameplay, but some things hold it back.
For one, the music in this game is particularly bad. It's a strange thing to complain about, but it got on my nerves so much as the loops are super short, the songs few in number, and they barely have a functional melody at times. It soured the experience of just walking around quite a bit.
It also had something lacking in terms of atmosphere. A Short Hike for example had a lot of varied spots that kept the whole thing engaging, whereas everything here is samey. You're always hitting cardboard monsters which gets tedious even though the game is very short.
It was a fine game, but I really thought it would have been a tighter package all-around.
Has a fun little meta-narrative twist, but that's about all it does with its Visual Novel premise. It's very short, but has enough personality to be intriguing.
What a fantastic and mind-cracking expansion !
This extra little adventure is just another display of how the Outer Wilds team can craft some puzzly-spaces that tell grandiose stories like it's the easiest thing in the world.
It's got its hiccups here and there : somewhat tedious backtracking, maybe a tad too obtuse puzzles at times, and the lack of a proper ending without redoing all the main game ending stuff, but this all pales in comparison to what they achieved here.
A perfect complement to the main game and a game design masterwork, Echoes of the Eye is the cherry on top Outer Wilds didn't need, but I'm so glad we got.
And HOT DAMN, it gets scary.
This extra little adventure is just another display of how the Outer Wilds team can craft some puzzly-spaces that tell grandiose stories like it's the easiest thing in the world.
It's got its hiccups here and there : somewhat tedious backtracking, maybe a tad too obtuse puzzles at times, and the lack of a proper ending without redoing all the main game ending stuff, but this all pales in comparison to what they achieved here.
A perfect complement to the main game and a game design masterwork, Echoes of the Eye is the cherry on top Outer Wilds didn't need, but I'm so glad we got.
And HOT DAMN, it gets scary.
More Resident Evil 4 is always a good thing.
This DLC is a blast, although quite short. It doesn't add much story-wise either, it's simply fun to go shoot a bunch of ganados from a different point of view.
I'll mention though that the boss battles were surprisingly weak here. They felt kind of like they all jumbled together as very similar fights and that was a bit disappointing, since there are original monsters here.
Otherwise, it was good fun, and very much worth the (cheap) price of admission !
This DLC is a blast, although quite short. It doesn't add much story-wise either, it's simply fun to go shoot a bunch of ganados from a different point of view.
I'll mention though that the boss battles were surprisingly weak here. They felt kind of like they all jumbled together as very similar fights and that was a bit disappointing, since there are original monsters here.
Otherwise, it was good fun, and very much worth the (cheap) price of admission !
2017
I played it for a couple of hours and I don't want to keep playing Rain World.
I'll say though, it was a very interesting game to read about ! The design idea is fantastic, and I applaud what this game does... But I can't be bothered to repeatedly get killed anymore to see what it has in store.
All the power to those who love this though !
I'll say though, it was a very interesting game to read about ! The design idea is fantastic, and I applaud what this game does... But I can't be bothered to repeatedly get killed anymore to see what it has in store.
All the power to those who love this though !
2005
So my emulator file got corrupted about a quarter of the way through.
I won't see the end of this one organically, but I can still vouch to its quality. It's so good. Controls have been touched up just enough to make everything feel smoother without removing the loose feeling of chaotically rolling around.
The music wasn't quite on par in terms of variety to the first game, but who cares. It's all so good.
Finally, the biggest surprise to me was the meta narrative. What an amazing place to take the franchise !
It's honestly a perfect sequel in almost every respect and, I'll say it, I love Katamari.
I won't see the end of this one organically, but I can still vouch to its quality. It's so good. Controls have been touched up just enough to make everything feel smoother without removing the loose feeling of chaotically rolling around.
The music wasn't quite on par in terms of variety to the first game, but who cares. It's all so good.
Finally, the biggest surprise to me was the meta narrative. What an amazing place to take the franchise !
It's honestly a perfect sequel in almost every respect and, I'll say it, I love Katamari.
Interesting experiment of a game visually, but not much gameplay-wise. It also has some interesting character moments but they don't develop into anything meaningful.
Thankfully it's the perfect length at about 3 hours. I think I mostly appreciated the intention of making something gross and very maximalist in its visuals.
Thankfully it's the perfect length at about 3 hours. I think I mostly appreciated the intention of making something gross and very maximalist in its visuals.
2020
I could see potential here and there, but the fact that nothing has really kicked off after 5 hours completely lost me.
The art style is very rich and cements Omori in a world that begs to be explored. It feels like there's symbolism everywhere that pushes you forward to find out more about this colorful world. And then, nothing really happens for 4 hours...
Not only does the pacing here completely kill any interest I had, the combat is also not fun. It's so repetitive and necessitates zero effort on the part of the player. You simply attack enemies, heal and basically always win.
I was waiting for something similar to Undertale here and for Omori to really wow me, but it feels like pretty empty calories that doesn't come close to the mechanical and world building ingenuity of its contemporaries.
The art style is very rich and cements Omori in a world that begs to be explored. It feels like there's symbolism everywhere that pushes you forward to find out more about this colorful world. And then, nothing really happens for 4 hours...
Not only does the pacing here completely kill any interest I had, the combat is also not fun. It's so repetitive and necessitates zero effort on the part of the player. You simply attack enemies, heal and basically always win.
I was waiting for something similar to Undertale here and for Omori to really wow me, but it feels like pretty empty calories that doesn't come close to the mechanical and world building ingenuity of its contemporaries.
2023
The Finals still feels in its infancy. It's lacking game mode, balancing and mostly variety in cosmetics and weapons choice. It's very severe with the amount of in-game currency you need to get to test loadouts and is therefore exploration-averse.
It has sparkles of potential when all hell brakes loose and stuff starts blowing up, but it's not selling the fantasy the trailers promised enough yet.
It has sparkles of potential when all hell brakes loose and stuff starts blowing up, but it's not selling the fantasy the trailers promised enough yet.
2020
A competently made game which doesn't ask a lot of you. It's dumb fun, but not really my cup of tea.
2023
Finally got around to playing Mario RPG !
This remake is charming as all heck. With this it makes up for its, at times, lackluster RPG mechanics. The fact that it's too easy isn't too bad, it's the repetitiveness of successive instant-win battles that really drags down the last third of the campaign.
Otherwise, my favorite thing has got to be the '90s writing here. Peach yelling "YOU IDIOT" at Bowser is an absolute treat that we wouldn't get nowadays, and I savor that experience.
So yes, a very fun time, and a game oozing with love and charm despite its faults.
This remake is charming as all heck. With this it makes up for its, at times, lackluster RPG mechanics. The fact that it's too easy isn't too bad, it's the repetitiveness of successive instant-win battles that really drags down the last third of the campaign.
Otherwise, my favorite thing has got to be the '90s writing here. Peach yelling "YOU IDIOT" at Bowser is an absolute treat that we wouldn't get nowadays, and I savor that experience.
So yes, a very fun time, and a game oozing with love and charm despite its faults.