Lewisisphat
BACKER
Game is jank as fuck. Story doesn't really exist, all you need to know is you're a dude going through the worst day ever in tokyo and you have to survive. Had a laugh playing through it tho.
The disaster tech with the buildings falling down was really cool. The fact you get to fully customise your character in daft outfits is good. The fact you can dress yourself in a daft outfit AND be a dick to people is even better. Most of my fun in this game was developing my protag's character to being a chaotic evil opportunist who is also helplessly naive. The first half of the game is mostly you trying to find an honest way out of tokyo and helping somebody you just met, but the best part of the game is the second half where that seems to kinda go out the window as you're just placed in goofy situations. Want to run a cult? Hell yes! Want to father some jesus juice and con the city out of money for it? woohoo! There is a more serious part that involves dead children but...that dumb stuff's still there!
Game is fun jank. Get it on sale probably.
The disaster tech with the buildings falling down was really cool. The fact you get to fully customise your character in daft outfits is good. The fact you can dress yourself in a daft outfit AND be a dick to people is even better. Most of my fun in this game was developing my protag's character to being a chaotic evil opportunist who is also helplessly naive. The first half of the game is mostly you trying to find an honest way out of tokyo and helping somebody you just met, but the best part of the game is the second half where that seems to kinda go out the window as you're just placed in goofy situations. Want to run a cult? Hell yes! Want to father some jesus juice and con the city out of money for it? woohoo! There is a more serious part that involves dead children but...that dumb stuff's still there!
Game is fun jank. Get it on sale probably.
2015
A really, really fantastic open world hacking video-game. The main gimmick of this game is that you can interact with an abundance of objects in this game, anything from doors to robotic turtles, through a hacking interface where you can change the properties of something. So say there's an arcade machine that some dickbag who's dating the girl you like has a high score on, well you can hack it to where you can make the game incredibly easy to play and instantly gain a bigger score than his. Or find the central server for the bank and hack into it to give you infinite money. Or hack a door so that whenever someone touches it they get teleported somewhere else. All these things I mentioned are things I did in the game world and that's not even touching on the other things you can do.
Cus that's what this is, it's an open world hacking game where you get to really change objects. It almost sounds too good to exist and work and well...you're kinda right. The game gives you a LOT of freedom to do stuff but the game doesn't always react to the things you do, sometimes making them pointless. The game's story and ending are kinda threadbare too. I guess some sacrifices were made to make this whole thing work but I think the negatives of this game are negligible compared to the magic of interacting with the world in it.
Experiences may vary, the enjoyment of this game is pretty much based on how much you put into it. Also the game doesn't really hand hold you so it's easy to feel directionless in it, especially at the beginning. If you stick with it though, I feel like you get to play a truly unique experience unlike most other games.
Cus that's what this is, it's an open world hacking game where you get to really change objects. It almost sounds too good to exist and work and well...you're kinda right. The game gives you a LOT of freedom to do stuff but the game doesn't always react to the things you do, sometimes making them pointless. The game's story and ending are kinda threadbare too. I guess some sacrifices were made to make this whole thing work but I think the negatives of this game are negligible compared to the magic of interacting with the world in it.
Experiences may vary, the enjoyment of this game is pretty much based on how much you put into it. Also the game doesn't really hand hold you so it's easy to feel directionless in it, especially at the beginning. If you stick with it though, I feel like you get to play a truly unique experience unlike most other games.
okay so design wise the game is a bit of a downgrade from the first, there's too many instances where you're going through the level the first time and you get blasted in the face by a dude through a window and you die and he was like the 87th guy out of like a hundred enemies and it's annoying like I get it BUT
In defense of Hotline Miami 2. The art is upgraded and the portraits on characters and the pixel art in general look better than ever. The OST is more than doubled in size since the first game, with every level now having a unique track associated to it and the expected quality of a hotline miami soundtrack still holds true in 2 (the main title theme and the abyss level theme being a few favs). Also, the universe of Hotline Miami gets expanded in 2 with a continuation of the story after the first game, showing the effects that Jacket's actions in the first game had on the world through a decently sized playable cast of characters who all have their own stories and motivations weaved into this Tarrantino-esque narrative. As someone who was surprisingly engaged in what little the first game told of the world story wise, I was eating well with the narrative of the second game and found it to be pretty pleasing. The hotline miami universe is pretty cool!
And I'll go as far as even spinning positively about the level design! Like I said it sucks when you're going through the game the first time because you're approaching the game a lot slower and treating it more like a puzzle game but genuinely, going through the game a second time with the layouts of the level more familiarised in my mind, lead to me having a really good time playing 2. Endurance runs start turning into skillful mowing downs of hordes and the satisfaction of beating a large level + the click of the music finally matching the gameplay style was pretty gratifying.
All in all, the game definitely has flaws but there's plenty of stuff put into this sequel that makes it a worthy successor to the original.
In defense of Hotline Miami 2. The art is upgraded and the portraits on characters and the pixel art in general look better than ever. The OST is more than doubled in size since the first game, with every level now having a unique track associated to it and the expected quality of a hotline miami soundtrack still holds true in 2 (the main title theme and the abyss level theme being a few favs). Also, the universe of Hotline Miami gets expanded in 2 with a continuation of the story after the first game, showing the effects that Jacket's actions in the first game had on the world through a decently sized playable cast of characters who all have their own stories and motivations weaved into this Tarrantino-esque narrative. As someone who was surprisingly engaged in what little the first game told of the world story wise, I was eating well with the narrative of the second game and found it to be pretty pleasing. The hotline miami universe is pretty cool!
And I'll go as far as even spinning positively about the level design! Like I said it sucks when you're going through the game the first time because you're approaching the game a lot slower and treating it more like a puzzle game but genuinely, going through the game a second time with the layouts of the level more familiarised in my mind, lead to me having a really good time playing 2. Endurance runs start turning into skillful mowing downs of hordes and the satisfaction of beating a large level + the click of the music finally matching the gameplay style was pretty gratifying.
All in all, the game definitely has flaws but there's plenty of stuff put into this sequel that makes it a worthy successor to the original.
2012
game feels really fucking GOOD. smashing dudes is RAW. the neon colours look KALEIDOSCOPIC. the music is THUMPIN like a bastard headache. hotline miami is so primal it's like a doom for the modern day. du-dudu-dudududu-duuu-dudududududududududu-duu du-dudu-dudududu-duuu-dudududududududududu-duu du-dudu-dududududu-dududududududududu du-dudu-dudududu-duuu-dudududududududududu-duu
2013
Mario heaven. The stages in this are TONS of fun! The fact they were able to give each level a new gimmick, even up until the end of the game, is incredibly impressive. Multiplayer with up to four people is a blast and the secret world is a great. How can you NOT have fun???
2017
Pretty enjoyable. Possessing stuff is a neat gimmick, collecting moons is mostly fun and the movement on Mario with Cappy feels fantastic. Game is just kinda let down by having an inconsistent quality with it's levels and a post-game that feels pointless. They needed to cull about a third of the moons, OST is surpsingly weak for a Mario game outside of one standout song...oh my god that moon escape song is so terrible! oh my god! Jump Up Super Star 5eva.
2005
A classic. Every inch of this game oozes insanity. There's nothing like it.
2011
The best way to enjoy an old school roguelike. Easy to play and likes to have fun with itself. Pure cozy.
2017
Mario kart 8 Deluxe has three dials named Colour, Content and Fun and they are all turned up to eleven. This game is a blast!
The best version of a belter game. Has the pixel art, atmospheric OST and beefed up item/character pool improvements that the original flash game didn't have, whilst at the same time not being bogged down by the derivative new items and lazy endgame dungeon of the latter expansion packs.
If you don't know what Isaac is all about by now, you pick a character, you dungeon crawl through some dank depths and along the way you either turn into a one shotting invincible god or a miserable failed experiment that can barely shoot a tear correctly.
It's incredibly fun.
If you don't know what Isaac is all about by now, you pick a character, you dungeon crawl through some dank depths and along the way you either turn into a one shotting invincible god or a miserable failed experiment that can barely shoot a tear correctly.
It's incredibly fun.
2008
dude, it's my music!
Let down. Game has some real high and low moments for the first two thirds of the game but ends up going downhill after that point. There's some really interesting concepts and cool moments in this game that are just bogged down by the greater whole.
2015
rad
It's so sad what happened to D4 because if this game had sustained enough money to keep going and Swery didn't unfortunately fall ill of health during development of then I really feel like we could've had something special here.
The production and presentation is the best any of Swery's games have ever been. A smooth and punchy cel shaded look, dynamic and well presented cutscenes, all topped off with a quality selection of tracks made by a variety of artists. The OST goes from Massive Attack to Drunken Pirate Bar Fight Metal, it's great!
You have all of this on top of a mystery. David, the detective you play, finds his wife dead. Her last words point towards finding someone (something?) to do with the letter D and her body had a drug called Real Blood in it. So as David you use this magical power you have to travel through time to solve the murder of your wife. There's not much else to say about the story since it'll never be told but it had an interesting premise! Also there's implied time travel loops and zero escape bullshit! Man!
Anyways, the real standout stuff though is the characters. The characters in this game are all peak Swery, the type of quirky, too big for real life characters you want to see in a game like his. The amount of personality each one is given is fantastic and it's all carried even further by the quality of voice acting. You can tell that Swery was able to get the best voice actors for this one. There's a crazy lady on a airplane who makes notes of everything, there's a glamour model who carries his mannequin wife around with him and your cat who is not a cat but a human girl pretending to be a cat but maybe it actually is your cat???...idk.
And the game is controlled by a pretty basic but easy to use point and click interface. Like for real, everything about Season 1 of D4 is pure quality. The only thing I could really complain about is how there's actually only like...four areas in the entire season but even then I don't care that much when they're filled with as many interactables and characters as they are! This was going to be Swery's big chance at making a proper full quality game!
But alas.
The production and presentation is the best any of Swery's games have ever been. A smooth and punchy cel shaded look, dynamic and well presented cutscenes, all topped off with a quality selection of tracks made by a variety of artists. The OST goes from Massive Attack to Drunken Pirate Bar Fight Metal, it's great!
You have all of this on top of a mystery. David, the detective you play, finds his wife dead. Her last words point towards finding someone (something?) to do with the letter D and her body had a drug called Real Blood in it. So as David you use this magical power you have to travel through time to solve the murder of your wife. There's not much else to say about the story since it'll never be told but it had an interesting premise! Also there's implied time travel loops and zero escape bullshit! Man!
Anyways, the real standout stuff though is the characters. The characters in this game are all peak Swery, the type of quirky, too big for real life characters you want to see in a game like his. The amount of personality each one is given is fantastic and it's all carried even further by the quality of voice acting. You can tell that Swery was able to get the best voice actors for this one. There's a crazy lady on a airplane who makes notes of everything, there's a glamour model who carries his mannequin wife around with him and your cat who is not a cat but a human girl pretending to be a cat but maybe it actually is your cat???...idk.
And the game is controlled by a pretty basic but easy to use point and click interface. Like for real, everything about Season 1 of D4 is pure quality. The only thing I could really complain about is how there's actually only like...four areas in the entire season but even then I don't care that much when they're filled with as many interactables and characters as they are! This was going to be Swery's big chance at making a proper full quality game!
But alas.
Even as someone who wasn't a diehard fan of the original game, I still kinda came away from this game feeling a little disappointed. Which blows.
York is a highlight in all his usual absurdities, despite him being an even more intolerable movie nerd here than in the first game. I love the interrogation scenes with Zach and Aaliyah, the detective vs. detective tension with Aaliyah questioning all the weird bullshit that York/Zach does in the games that we all assumed as proper and order, the amount of character stuff and dialogue you get during these parts was great. Was always great cutting back to these and seeing how they framed the Le Carre stuff as I progressed further. Houngan's theme is a banger. The story in Le Carre had some cool moments and I appreciated that Patricia was the straight guy to York, even though Patricia is literally 10 years old and York is a fully grown adult.
Generally I had a good time playing it but by the end of it I kinda looked back on it with disappointment. I feel like so much of carrying the jank and let downs of the base game relied on the story and characters...and the characters were doing a good job for most of it! And the story was going to cool places!...but unfortunately the game kinda ends too soon and on a limp note, which means that the entire house of cards falls down.
Suddenly the lack of people or anything to do in Le Carre becomes a lot more harder to accept. The abysmal performance on the Switch becomes more unacceptable and the horrific pacing of the main quest becomes a thumping pain. If the story ended up wrapping up in a well rounded or weirdly Swery way then I probably would have left feeling satisfied but it feels like the story just didn't have enough effort put into it. You'll probably just end up walking away from it feeling like there could've been more done to it, both story and gameplay wise.
Shame.
York is a highlight in all his usual absurdities, despite him being an even more intolerable movie nerd here than in the first game. I love the interrogation scenes with Zach and Aaliyah, the detective vs. detective tension with Aaliyah questioning all the weird bullshit that York/Zach does in the games that we all assumed as proper and order, the amount of character stuff and dialogue you get during these parts was great. Was always great cutting back to these and seeing how they framed the Le Carre stuff as I progressed further. Houngan's theme is a banger. The story in Le Carre had some cool moments and I appreciated that Patricia was the straight guy to York, even though Patricia is literally 10 years old and York is a fully grown adult.
Generally I had a good time playing it but by the end of it I kinda looked back on it with disappointment. I feel like so much of carrying the jank and let downs of the base game relied on the story and characters...and the characters were doing a good job for most of it! And the story was going to cool places!...but unfortunately the game kinda ends too soon and on a limp note, which means that the entire house of cards falls down.
Suddenly the lack of people or anything to do in Le Carre becomes a lot more harder to accept. The abysmal performance on the Switch becomes more unacceptable and the horrific pacing of the main quest becomes a thumping pain. If the story ended up wrapping up in a well rounded or weirdly Swery way then I probably would have left feeling satisfied but it feels like the story just didn't have enough effort put into it. You'll probably just end up walking away from it feeling like there could've been more done to it, both story and gameplay wise.
Shame.