LordDarias
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Earlier this week I finally beat a game I actually really enjoyed for the first time ever on the Genesis in Gunstar Heroes. I thought I would give some more of the top-rated Genesis games on backloggd a try. But here I am yet again, like every time other than Gunstar Heroes, disappointed.
Shinobi III seems to be fairly universally liked so I will admit I am the odd man out here. It isn't the worst game ever and I genuinely wanted and tried to like it but I just didn't any fun during my playthrough. I knew how short the game was and by the end I was just trying to get through it as quickly as possible. I found the controls to be to slow and way to clunky, especially for a game about a freaking ninja. The double jump felt like ass but needed a lot through the final stages. The gameplay itself wasn't fun to me. Most of the stages and music were subpar. Again, it's not awful it's just not for me. Maybe I'm being too hard on the game? I don't know, I just don't see what people see in this game. I do think it has excellent visuals though.
Here is my 2024 rankings:
https://www.backloggd.com/u/DVince89/list/games-i-played-in-2024-ranked-1/
Shinobi III seems to be fairly universally liked so I will admit I am the odd man out here. It isn't the worst game ever and I genuinely wanted and tried to like it but I just didn't any fun during my playthrough. I knew how short the game was and by the end I was just trying to get through it as quickly as possible. I found the controls to be to slow and way to clunky, especially for a game about a freaking ninja. The double jump felt like ass but needed a lot through the final stages. The gameplay itself wasn't fun to me. Most of the stages and music were subpar. Again, it's not awful it's just not for me. Maybe I'm being too hard on the game? I don't know, I just don't see what people see in this game. I do think it has excellent visuals though.
Here is my 2024 rankings:
https://www.backloggd.com/u/DVince89/list/games-i-played-in-2024-ranked-1/
Clean The Sea!
2024
đź’— This game was gifted to Indie Therapy for review.
In a world where the oceans are burdened by humanity's neglect, Clean the Sea! challenges you to pilot a lone vessel on a noble quest: cleanse the waters, rescue marine life, and turn the tide on pollution. As you progress in the game, you'll witness impact of your efforts, bringing life and color back to the areas that you've cleaned.
Alright, so, I really like these types of games where you do a task, get currency, improve your tools to get better at the task, then get more currency to improve your tools more, and the cycle goes on and on as long as the game goes on. This game was fun in that regard, though I feel like it would have needed some more things and better optimization in collecting and currency accumulation.
It only took an hour to 100% the game and clear all the areas currently available. It's a short game, and I feel like it would have been better if it took a little longer with more content. Sadly, you have to pay to get to the next areas, so if you focus on upgrading, you hamper your own progress and make it slower. The new trash accumulation is not fast enough for proper currency accumulation, so when you play like that it slows down a lot. Though, once you reach a bank, you can turn coins into cash and it will get a bit better.
Despite this, I did enjoy the game! I do think there could be some upgrades however: balance trash accumulation with upgrade costs, maybe add more different upgrades, the game needs to have an option to change the music volume, not just turning it on and off and the different levels could be a little bit different from each other.
I will say I recommend this game because I do think this would be a really good game with a little bit more work! The price is really good though, compared to what it is now!
In a world where the oceans are burdened by humanity's neglect, Clean the Sea! challenges you to pilot a lone vessel on a noble quest: cleanse the waters, rescue marine life, and turn the tide on pollution. As you progress in the game, you'll witness impact of your efforts, bringing life and color back to the areas that you've cleaned.
Alright, so, I really like these types of games where you do a task, get currency, improve your tools to get better at the task, then get more currency to improve your tools more, and the cycle goes on and on as long as the game goes on. This game was fun in that regard, though I feel like it would have needed some more things and better optimization in collecting and currency accumulation.
It only took an hour to 100% the game and clear all the areas currently available. It's a short game, and I feel like it would have been better if it took a little longer with more content. Sadly, you have to pay to get to the next areas, so if you focus on upgrading, you hamper your own progress and make it slower. The new trash accumulation is not fast enough for proper currency accumulation, so when you play like that it slows down a lot. Though, once you reach a bank, you can turn coins into cash and it will get a bit better.
Despite this, I did enjoy the game! I do think there could be some upgrades however: balance trash accumulation with upgrade costs, maybe add more different upgrades, the game needs to have an option to change the music volume, not just turning it on and off and the different levels could be a little bit different from each other.
I will say I recommend this game because I do think this would be a really good game with a little bit more work! The price is really good though, compared to what it is now!
Acordem os cachorros!!!
Tá aà um jogo que envelheceu igual vinho, Sleeping Dogs encanta até hoje com um mundo aberto vivo e LINDO.
É genial o diferencial dos combates corpo a corpo com artes marciais e as fugas com parkour, isso combinando com uma Hong Kong detalhada (sombras e mundo vivo absurdamente incrĂveis) causam uma imersĂŁo absurda na gameplay.
A narrativa é feita de altos e baixos pra mim. Sinto que muita coisa na história não tem tanto destaque e, enquanto o protagonista é super bem desenvolvido e causa uma dualidade no jogador a todo momento (o malandro é um policial disfarçado né, baita traidor) os outros personagens da história parecem não ter tanta atenção assim (o final do jogo por exemplo eu sinto que fica algumas pontas soltas).
A mecânica de tiro é muito boa, e as perseguições com tiroteio são insanas, em contra partida a dirigibilidade é tão arcade que incomoda em alguns momentos (os conteúdos secundários são legais porém muito repetitivos)
Tem briga de galo no jogo.
PRĂ“S
- Lindo mundo aberto.
- Ă“timo protagonista.
- Dublagens e trabalho sonoro do game muito bons.
CONTRAS
- Outros personagens sem muita profundidade.
- Dirigibilidade arcade datada.
- Conteúdo secundário repetitivo.
Tá aà um jogo que envelheceu igual vinho, Sleeping Dogs encanta até hoje com um mundo aberto vivo e LINDO.
É genial o diferencial dos combates corpo a corpo com artes marciais e as fugas com parkour, isso combinando com uma Hong Kong detalhada (sombras e mundo vivo absurdamente incrĂveis) causam uma imersĂŁo absurda na gameplay.
A narrativa é feita de altos e baixos pra mim. Sinto que muita coisa na história não tem tanto destaque e, enquanto o protagonista é super bem desenvolvido e causa uma dualidade no jogador a todo momento (o malandro é um policial disfarçado né, baita traidor) os outros personagens da história parecem não ter tanta atenção assim (o final do jogo por exemplo eu sinto que fica algumas pontas soltas).
A mecânica de tiro é muito boa, e as perseguições com tiroteio são insanas, em contra partida a dirigibilidade é tão arcade que incomoda em alguns momentos (os conteúdos secundários são legais porém muito repetitivos)
Tem briga de galo no jogo.
PRĂ“S
- Lindo mundo aberto.
- Ă“timo protagonista.
- Dublagens e trabalho sonoro do game muito bons.
CONTRAS
- Outros personagens sem muita profundidade.
- Dirigibilidade arcade datada.
- Conteúdo secundário repetitivo.
Metroid
1986
I've been on a bit of a Metroid kick lately, and having never really picked up the original despite being a big fan of the series, I decided it was about time to give it a look. The reason I never really did before is really just the need for constant, slow grinding that you have to do when you die. And I don't think I ever would have been interested in playing through it, if I hadn't found a lil hack called Metroid 99 that makes it so you respawn with full health. Not quite the purist way to play the game, but it's a small change that saved me a whole lot of frustration, and I'd recommend it to anyone who wants the OG Metroid experience but can't quite handle the grind. I'm also not rating it, though, since I know I would definitely be less kind to it if I didn't have the QOL (Based on my experience, I would give it 3.5 stars, though).
There's a unique spark to the original Metroid compared to its bigger and cooler sequels. Even for its time it's not the best-looking NES game, Samus looks like a weird wiggly man and all of the backgrounds are pitch black, but it works. There's a lot of nasty-looking aliens that are a far cry from what you'd typically fight on the system, and the alien environments gain a lot from the ambiguity of low fidelity. There's a genuine feeling of being alone on a hostile world that no other game in the series really captures (Except for Fusion, and in a very different way), least of all its heroic and bombastic remake, Zero Mission, which while a solid game I would argue misses the point just as hard as the remake of the sequel, Samus Returns.
Speaking of heroism, it's easy to think of Samus as a badass Doomguy armed to the teeth and capable of kicking all sorts of ass (And the absolutely lovely manual of this game already backs this interpretation), but in her initial state, she is barely capable of putting up a fight. That's kind of awesome, though, because there's a legitimate feeling of growth with almost every single item you find. The Long Beam lets you fight at much longer ranges, Missiles provide some much-needed burst damage, E-Tanks are an absolute godsend and the two hidden "super weapons" of the game, the Varia Suit and the Screw Attack, are in particular absolutely amazing upgrades. Cracks start to show with the three Beams you can find. Two of them are very strong upgrades to your arsenal, but the third, the Ice Beam, is basically a downgrade, dealing half the game and slowing the pace of the game pretty hard. Worse yet, it's needed to beat the game, and since beams don't stack, you'll have to go looking for it again if you overwrite it.
I'm not going to mince words. The core experience of Metroid is not only incredibly ahead of its time but also genuinely engaging, but there are many missteps (most of which I actually don't think are a direct result of its age) that can easily ruin your experience. And I'm not talking about stuff like the inability to aim at shorter enemies, or the lack of a map- in fact, I actually quite enjoyed the latter. I drew my own map, as the manual recommends, and had a lot of fun with it. I wish more games in the genre encouraged doing something like this, in-game maps are nice but there's a feeling of exploration you only get without 'em. But, the level design proper has issues. A lot of paths, some mandatory, can only be discovered by bombing random locations or even somehow guessing that some of the lava in the game is fake. Rooms are constantly repeated, likely to save on memory somehow, and beyond the repetition, this leads to "fake secrets" that seem to lead somewhere, but don't, as well as just a bunch of weird, unrefined room design. But even then, there is a lot of legitimate genius here, some of which was never really picked up by the game's many successors, spiritual or not. It's much more open than most Metroidvanias nowadays, and all of the power-ups (again, besides the beams) are extremely well thought-out, which is impressive for the series' first outing. Despite all the roughness, it's absolutely worth playing, with or without Metroid 99. Even if you don't beat it, or enjoy it, it's guaranteed to be an interesting time. Just don't forget to draw yourself a map!
There's a unique spark to the original Metroid compared to its bigger and cooler sequels. Even for its time it's not the best-looking NES game, Samus looks like a weird wiggly man and all of the backgrounds are pitch black, but it works. There's a lot of nasty-looking aliens that are a far cry from what you'd typically fight on the system, and the alien environments gain a lot from the ambiguity of low fidelity. There's a genuine feeling of being alone on a hostile world that no other game in the series really captures (Except for Fusion, and in a very different way), least of all its heroic and bombastic remake, Zero Mission, which while a solid game I would argue misses the point just as hard as the remake of the sequel, Samus Returns.
Speaking of heroism, it's easy to think of Samus as a badass Doomguy armed to the teeth and capable of kicking all sorts of ass (And the absolutely lovely manual of this game already backs this interpretation), but in her initial state, she is barely capable of putting up a fight. That's kind of awesome, though, because there's a legitimate feeling of growth with almost every single item you find. The Long Beam lets you fight at much longer ranges, Missiles provide some much-needed burst damage, E-Tanks are an absolute godsend and the two hidden "super weapons" of the game, the Varia Suit and the Screw Attack, are in particular absolutely amazing upgrades. Cracks start to show with the three Beams you can find. Two of them are very strong upgrades to your arsenal, but the third, the Ice Beam, is basically a downgrade, dealing half the game and slowing the pace of the game pretty hard. Worse yet, it's needed to beat the game, and since beams don't stack, you'll have to go looking for it again if you overwrite it.
I'm not going to mince words. The core experience of Metroid is not only incredibly ahead of its time but also genuinely engaging, but there are many missteps (most of which I actually don't think are a direct result of its age) that can easily ruin your experience. And I'm not talking about stuff like the inability to aim at shorter enemies, or the lack of a map- in fact, I actually quite enjoyed the latter. I drew my own map, as the manual recommends, and had a lot of fun with it. I wish more games in the genre encouraged doing something like this, in-game maps are nice but there's a feeling of exploration you only get without 'em. But, the level design proper has issues. A lot of paths, some mandatory, can only be discovered by bombing random locations or even somehow guessing that some of the lava in the game is fake. Rooms are constantly repeated, likely to save on memory somehow, and beyond the repetition, this leads to "fake secrets" that seem to lead somewhere, but don't, as well as just a bunch of weird, unrefined room design. But even then, there is a lot of legitimate genius here, some of which was never really picked up by the game's many successors, spiritual or not. It's much more open than most Metroidvanias nowadays, and all of the power-ups (again, besides the beams) are extremely well thought-out, which is impressive for the series' first outing. Despite all the roughness, it's absolutely worth playing, with or without Metroid 99. Even if you don't beat it, or enjoy it, it's guaranteed to be an interesting time. Just don't forget to draw yourself a map!
This review contains spoilers
if i'm being honest, one of the more disappointing final moments and credits scrolls i've experienced. for what it's worth i really do admire the ability to scan the horizon and always find something of interest (up to a certain point), the smart ways to interact with the world (melting ice with a firesword, shield surfing), and the non-linear story presentation is novel in theory. this is less of a review and more a bit of a ramble and some nitpicks, you're good to click off this now if you're not keen. some spoilers too.
if i could pinpoint where the game started to nag on me it would be upon reaching Gerudo. i'd defeated two of the divine beasts and was already staring down navigation/durability/crafting/everything fatigue and worried if all the main story dialogue was going to remain this repetitive. you can't browse zelda fandom circles without seeing Link's orientalist fantasy garb and i had been dreading its appearance my entire playtime. everything surrounding the area and that outfit just sucks. absolutely sucks. i don't blame anyone who likes the game at all for stepping around it, as the insistence on wearing it even after befriending Riju and gaining her trust is so pointedly strange. how Gerudo themselves fixate solely on romance and becoming some hylian's wife, like i didn't think their renditions across the franchise could get any more distasteful; seeing Riju cross the dunes wearing stupid little stilettos was just ridiculous.
it was in my last handful of hours playing and working to wrap up the legion of sidequests i'd accumulated that i realised i just didn't really care. rewards spanned from 50-100 rupees, a single meal which didn't get anywhere close to rivalling 5x hearty durians, the ability to sell some material to the same npc for a pittance, or a weapon that will inevitably break over some moblin's head after a few swings. i just went to the castle intending to turn back if i got humbled or outclassed. i beat ganon and finished the game lying down.
the combat largely remained the same from start to finish. the kohga encounter was the only satisfying boss with a fun gimmick. Link's connection to the champions and even Zelda is to be desired when tloz has achieved a silent yet emotive protagonist multiple times in the past. rain doesn't serve to bring awareness to alternate avenues of progression, it completely halts my journey. and i hate how all these technical issues got in the way of me enjoying the sun breaking across Hyrule as i ride horseback to my destination, or a thunderclap illuminating a cliffside bout.
to say something positive, the piano score is pretty incredible if repetitive and Kass is a wonderful character to meet in the wild. i mourn his disappearance in totk and am still on the fence about buying it at all. i'll probably regret posting this in the morning and it may end up deleted. errrr goodnight!
edit: mistakenly conflated the terms guardian and champion
if i could pinpoint where the game started to nag on me it would be upon reaching Gerudo. i'd defeated two of the divine beasts and was already staring down navigation/durability/crafting/everything fatigue and worried if all the main story dialogue was going to remain this repetitive. you can't browse zelda fandom circles without seeing Link's orientalist fantasy garb and i had been dreading its appearance my entire playtime. everything surrounding the area and that outfit just sucks. absolutely sucks. i don't blame anyone who likes the game at all for stepping around it, as the insistence on wearing it even after befriending Riju and gaining her trust is so pointedly strange. how Gerudo themselves fixate solely on romance and becoming some hylian's wife, like i didn't think their renditions across the franchise could get any more distasteful; seeing Riju cross the dunes wearing stupid little stilettos was just ridiculous.
it was in my last handful of hours playing and working to wrap up the legion of sidequests i'd accumulated that i realised i just didn't really care. rewards spanned from 50-100 rupees, a single meal which didn't get anywhere close to rivalling 5x hearty durians, the ability to sell some material to the same npc for a pittance, or a weapon that will inevitably break over some moblin's head after a few swings. i just went to the castle intending to turn back if i got humbled or outclassed. i beat ganon and finished the game lying down.
the combat largely remained the same from start to finish. the kohga encounter was the only satisfying boss with a fun gimmick. Link's connection to the champions and even Zelda is to be desired when tloz has achieved a silent yet emotive protagonist multiple times in the past. rain doesn't serve to bring awareness to alternate avenues of progression, it completely halts my journey. and i hate how all these technical issues got in the way of me enjoying the sun breaking across Hyrule as i ride horseback to my destination, or a thunderclap illuminating a cliffside bout.
to say something positive, the piano score is pretty incredible if repetitive and Kass is a wonderful character to meet in the wild. i mourn his disappearance in totk and am still on the fence about buying it at all. i'll probably regret posting this in the morning and it may end up deleted. errrr goodnight!
edit: mistakenly conflated the terms guardian and champion
My major complaint about Pocket Camp is that leaf tickets are required for most really cool craft-able items, and basically impossible to get enough of without funnelling cash into the app. That's tragic and that's sad. That shouldn't be allowed. Stop taunting me with all the beautiful fortune cookie item sets that I CAN'T HAVE.
That said, other than this nasty leaf ticket problem, I really like the game. There's enough to do that I don't get bored, I like the little ways you can interact with online friends (please send me more gifts guys, do you even care about me?), and some of the available items feel bigger and better than the offerings in New Horizons.
I like to log on and rapidly do 15 tasks for my silly little creatures. I like the way the different little zones work. I like putting a massive Eevee doll in my campsite and watching each animal grab onto its tummy as if they will perish if they fall the one or two feet to the ground.
That's good. That's powerful.
That said, other than this nasty leaf ticket problem, I really like the game. There's enough to do that I don't get bored, I like the little ways you can interact with online friends (please send me more gifts guys, do you even care about me?), and some of the available items feel bigger and better than the offerings in New Horizons.
I like to log on and rapidly do 15 tasks for my silly little creatures. I like the way the different little zones work. I like putting a massive Eevee doll in my campsite and watching each animal grab onto its tummy as if they will perish if they fall the one or two feet to the ground.
That's good. That's powerful.
Fox Hunt
1996
Fox Hunt is one of my favorite FMV games now. Constantly fluctuating between the states of "we're so back" and "it's so incredibly over" in ways quite unparalleled. Bouncing back and forth between an adventure game starring the world's dumbest 3 stooges character, bumbling around his apartment, smacking his fridge like a complete dumbass, all the way to a terrible hospital maze where you have to navigate it under constant time pressure given the rocket wheelchair you're on.
It's just a constant bit a minute, like Naked Gun in video game form even if some of the jokes don't land.
Now don't get it twisted, this ain't no Illbleed this shit ain't gonna make you think about what makes something truly standout within the video game space, but it is wild how many small little choices, scene differences, things you can miss are hidden throughout this. Capcom essentially giving this team the greenlight to make this wacky as fuck little FMV game where shit like this happens with all of these licensed song picks is something special in its own unique kinda way.
It's funny, it's wild as hell, Rob Lowe shows up and has a skyfall gunfight with you with his many dopplegangers and it is the funniest shit I've seen. They start doing Looney Tunes ass shit at you and it's just a fuckin trip.
Something inside of me kinda wants more weird off the wall dumb as hell FMV games like this and they're kinda around but something about the dumbass goofy energy of the Sega CD/PS1 era of these will always sit somewhere in my mind in a really funny place.
Also genuinely the main actor for this kills this shit, he hams it up so hard and pretty much sells most of the silly ass dumb guy bits he rules. He's also Carlos in Zero Time Dilemma and the current voice actor for Johnny Cage which is legitimately an insane thing to find out and now you too reader know as well.
It's just a constant bit a minute, like Naked Gun in video game form even if some of the jokes don't land.
Now don't get it twisted, this ain't no Illbleed this shit ain't gonna make you think about what makes something truly standout within the video game space, but it is wild how many small little choices, scene differences, things you can miss are hidden throughout this. Capcom essentially giving this team the greenlight to make this wacky as fuck little FMV game where shit like this happens with all of these licensed song picks is something special in its own unique kinda way.
It's funny, it's wild as hell, Rob Lowe shows up and has a skyfall gunfight with you with his many dopplegangers and it is the funniest shit I've seen. They start doing Looney Tunes ass shit at you and it's just a fuckin trip.
Something inside of me kinda wants more weird off the wall dumb as hell FMV games like this and they're kinda around but something about the dumbass goofy energy of the Sega CD/PS1 era of these will always sit somewhere in my mind in a really funny place.
Also genuinely the main actor for this kills this shit, he hams it up so hard and pretty much sells most of the silly ass dumb guy bits he rules. He's also Carlos in Zero Time Dilemma and the current voice actor for Johnny Cage which is legitimately an insane thing to find out and now you too reader know as well.
A very similar experience to Cyber Sleuth. Being a midquel allowed them to get away with basically reusing the same areas and characters outside of the new core group. Plus the great soundtrack.
I can't remember much of the original games story, but it definitely feels weird that the stuff in this one went down without it being mentioned back, especially given how much overlap there is between side characters. This game really did feel like it functioned as its own thing until near the end.
Many of the pros and cons of that original game come back here as a result of the almost copy/paste job. I'm not a fan of the aesthetics used for dungeons. It makes them all look the same and just very boring in general.
The ABI system that involves constantly needing to de-digivolve and re-digivolve to get megas is annoying. Especially as it resets them all back to level 1 no matter which way you go. Speaking of which, I think that with all the digivolution paths it's probably possible for any one digimon to turn into any other digimon through a whole bunch of chains. Cool in theory, but it also means any one digimon feels so impersonal. You can very easily lose track of which monster was even your starter in the mess of turning anything into anything else. The only reason I know for a fact which my original starter was is because I got an accessory bonus for having a Cyber Sleuth save file so I attached it to my starter. I started with Tentomon and ended up with Gallantmon CM - those are not 2 digimon who are linked in any way whatsoever.
This method also means it's hard to keep track of which digimon you're planning to turn each member into. You may plan to digivolve into a WarGreymon eventually, but the only way to make sure you keep track of which monster that is would be to either only focus on one partners evolutions at a time, or go back and forth through the "obvious" choices like Agumon > Greymon > Metal Greymon. The issue with the latter is that digimon can hold up to 20 moves in their memory total, so it's often good to go through as many digivolutions as possible to learn as many different moves as you can, so in your journey to WarGreymon, if you stick exclusively to the Agumon line you're going to miss out on coverage. But if you deviate from the Agumon line, you might lose track of which teammate you were planning to turn in to WarGreymon in the first place as you'll likely have multiple members outside the "obvious" path.
Speaking of moves each digimon has their own unique special move, sometimes 2 in the cases of the highest levels, and they'll tend to have more interesting effects. Animations for them are pretty neat too, although they're done in the form of showing the mon using the move in isolation and then cutting to the enemy being hit by some generic flash or something so they never have to worry about showing how every move interacts with every digimon.
The non-special moves are where the game kind of sucks, there's only really a handful of common "normal" moves, and they're all very boring simple versions of "elemental damage", "elemental damage AOE", "(De)Buff/AOE (de)buff", "Status inflictor" and "Heal/AOE Heal". So while trying out multiple digivolutions is important for the moveset variety, you'll never really run across anything interesting because every member will end up with the same basic types of moves, and you just tend to rely on clicking their special move to win most battles anyway.
I kind of like how the battle system uses two separate type weakness variants though. You've got your standard elements like fire, water, grass, but also the digimon special virus, vaccine, data and neutral. It's not super deep or anything, but it just adds a little extra layer. What I don't like from the battle system is how it refuses to show you how many stacks of any given buff or debuff you have.
The games enjoyable enough if you just wanna use some digimon in an RPG. The constantly changing faces on your team can be a good or bad thing depending on how you look at it. It is a very dialogue heavy game though, when it really didn't need to be. Cases in the game are like 30 minutes of dialogue for 1 story fight. Side quests are generally better at keeping the dialogue short for them, but there are so many main quests that are basically filler, self-contained stories with one-off characters, but have main quest levels of dialogue. I just wanna play :(
The games pretty much as good (or bad) as the original, just a little better with more digimon and slight QoL stuff added. I can't speak for how the story compares given I forgot so much of the original.
I can't remember much of the original games story, but it definitely feels weird that the stuff in this one went down without it being mentioned back, especially given how much overlap there is between side characters. This game really did feel like it functioned as its own thing until near the end.
Many of the pros and cons of that original game come back here as a result of the almost copy/paste job. I'm not a fan of the aesthetics used for dungeons. It makes them all look the same and just very boring in general.
The ABI system that involves constantly needing to de-digivolve and re-digivolve to get megas is annoying. Especially as it resets them all back to level 1 no matter which way you go. Speaking of which, I think that with all the digivolution paths it's probably possible for any one digimon to turn into any other digimon through a whole bunch of chains. Cool in theory, but it also means any one digimon feels so impersonal. You can very easily lose track of which monster was even your starter in the mess of turning anything into anything else. The only reason I know for a fact which my original starter was is because I got an accessory bonus for having a Cyber Sleuth save file so I attached it to my starter. I started with Tentomon and ended up with Gallantmon CM - those are not 2 digimon who are linked in any way whatsoever.
This method also means it's hard to keep track of which digimon you're planning to turn each member into. You may plan to digivolve into a WarGreymon eventually, but the only way to make sure you keep track of which monster that is would be to either only focus on one partners evolutions at a time, or go back and forth through the "obvious" choices like Agumon > Greymon > Metal Greymon. The issue with the latter is that digimon can hold up to 20 moves in their memory total, so it's often good to go through as many digivolutions as possible to learn as many different moves as you can, so in your journey to WarGreymon, if you stick exclusively to the Agumon line you're going to miss out on coverage. But if you deviate from the Agumon line, you might lose track of which teammate you were planning to turn in to WarGreymon in the first place as you'll likely have multiple members outside the "obvious" path.
Speaking of moves each digimon has their own unique special move, sometimes 2 in the cases of the highest levels, and they'll tend to have more interesting effects. Animations for them are pretty neat too, although they're done in the form of showing the mon using the move in isolation and then cutting to the enemy being hit by some generic flash or something so they never have to worry about showing how every move interacts with every digimon.
The non-special moves are where the game kind of sucks, there's only really a handful of common "normal" moves, and they're all very boring simple versions of "elemental damage", "elemental damage AOE", "(De)Buff/AOE (de)buff", "Status inflictor" and "Heal/AOE Heal". So while trying out multiple digivolutions is important for the moveset variety, you'll never really run across anything interesting because every member will end up with the same basic types of moves, and you just tend to rely on clicking their special move to win most battles anyway.
I kind of like how the battle system uses two separate type weakness variants though. You've got your standard elements like fire, water, grass, but also the digimon special virus, vaccine, data and neutral. It's not super deep or anything, but it just adds a little extra layer. What I don't like from the battle system is how it refuses to show you how many stacks of any given buff or debuff you have.
The games enjoyable enough if you just wanna use some digimon in an RPG. The constantly changing faces on your team can be a good or bad thing depending on how you look at it. It is a very dialogue heavy game though, when it really didn't need to be. Cases in the game are like 30 minutes of dialogue for 1 story fight. Side quests are generally better at keeping the dialogue short for them, but there are so many main quests that are basically filler, self-contained stories with one-off characters, but have main quest levels of dialogue. I just wanna play :(
The games pretty much as good (or bad) as the original, just a little better with more digimon and slight QoL stuff added. I can't speak for how the story compares given I forgot so much of the original.
Fallen Aces
2024
I want to say something about this game because god fucking DAMN this game is good, but I don't know what to say. So I'm just going to ramble. If you hate this review, feel free to tell me to eat a dick in the comments below.
I watched no less than 12 gaming presentations this month. Twelve. All showing off games of budgets and productions both big and small. I am maybe going to buy three or four games of the hundreds I've seen. Metal Slug Tactics, Motordoom, Selaco, and maybe that new Astrobot game. There's more on my Steam wishlist but they don't have release dates or are coming out in 2025, 2026, etc. Trust me, I'm going to be all over Expedition 33 and Deep State when they eventually come out.
There's still a fuckton of games coming out before the end of this year. I'm not excited to touch any of them. It feels like a dumptruck of garbage games were dumped into my brain space and fell out of my ears on arrival. They all look like mid or ass. I been around the block a time or two. I can pick a game apart within 30 seconds of seeing gameplay. That might just be me becoming more picky with what I choose to spend my time with. It might just be that newer video games as a whole are really formulaic and boring. I find myself in a place in life where a game being just alright is becoming more and more of an egregious sin of my time and energy. I love the games industry, and want everyone to be able to eat and live; but if you ask me, the sooner the video game market crashes, the better.
Have I, at the age of 31, crashed out on gaming? Am I too old and jaded to slop down on the new gachas and live services all the people I know play? They are so BORING. I don't feel passion or love or real art. I see indistguishible jerk bait waifus and dead on arrival live services. Am I boomer now? Am I cooked, chat?
No. No I am not. Because I bought Fallen Aces and it put everything into perspective for me.
I have never, in my entire life, gotten such a good game for such a cheap price. Ten dollars USD is the introductory price for Fallen Aces. In return you get to beat the shit out of goons in the most entertaining and creative of ways. I am in love with this thing. It's old school as fuck in the right ways. Every level is packed to the brim with secrets, wise guys that need a good kick the head, and a lot of fucking sharks. It's not even THAT much of a boomer shooter, it's more aligned with an immersive sim where you are beating the shit out goons with your fists or shit you found off the ground. Guess what, beating the shit out of people feels really good.
New Blood are high-key saviors of gaming if your tastes lie outside of what's in vogue in gaming right now. The levels are really well done, the combat is really well done, the difficulty is just right, the humor is tight, the violence is good, the voice acting is pulp-y and stellar. Shoutout Gianni Matragrano.
I am back in the right headspace, baby. After playing Episode 1 of Fallen Aces, I'm more pumped and patient for other things (as sparse as they may be) to come out and enjoy. The market may be crashing, but I'm not. Fallen Aces has been really therapeutic for me in a very real and genuine way.
I watched no less than 12 gaming presentations this month. Twelve. All showing off games of budgets and productions both big and small. I am maybe going to buy three or four games of the hundreds I've seen. Metal Slug Tactics, Motordoom, Selaco, and maybe that new Astrobot game. There's more on my Steam wishlist but they don't have release dates or are coming out in 2025, 2026, etc. Trust me, I'm going to be all over Expedition 33 and Deep State when they eventually come out.
There's still a fuckton of games coming out before the end of this year. I'm not excited to touch any of them. It feels like a dumptruck of garbage games were dumped into my brain space and fell out of my ears on arrival. They all look like mid or ass. I been around the block a time or two. I can pick a game apart within 30 seconds of seeing gameplay. That might just be me becoming more picky with what I choose to spend my time with. It might just be that newer video games as a whole are really formulaic and boring. I find myself in a place in life where a game being just alright is becoming more and more of an egregious sin of my time and energy. I love the games industry, and want everyone to be able to eat and live; but if you ask me, the sooner the video game market crashes, the better.
Have I, at the age of 31, crashed out on gaming? Am I too old and jaded to slop down on the new gachas and live services all the people I know play? They are so BORING. I don't feel passion or love or real art. I see indistguishible jerk bait waifus and dead on arrival live services. Am I boomer now? Am I cooked, chat?
No. No I am not. Because I bought Fallen Aces and it put everything into perspective for me.
I have never, in my entire life, gotten such a good game for such a cheap price. Ten dollars USD is the introductory price for Fallen Aces. In return you get to beat the shit out of goons in the most entertaining and creative of ways. I am in love with this thing. It's old school as fuck in the right ways. Every level is packed to the brim with secrets, wise guys that need a good kick the head, and a lot of fucking sharks. It's not even THAT much of a boomer shooter, it's more aligned with an immersive sim where you are beating the shit out goons with your fists or shit you found off the ground. Guess what, beating the shit out of people feels really good.
New Blood are high-key saviors of gaming if your tastes lie outside of what's in vogue in gaming right now. The levels are really well done, the combat is really well done, the difficulty is just right, the humor is tight, the violence is good, the voice acting is pulp-y and stellar. Shoutout Gianni Matragrano.
I am back in the right headspace, baby. After playing Episode 1 of Fallen Aces, I'm more pumped and patient for other things (as sparse as they may be) to come out and enjoy. The market may be crashing, but I'm not. Fallen Aces has been really therapeutic for me in a very real and genuine way.
Still Wakes the Deep
2024
Still Wakes The Deep is a game I've been looking forward to for a long time. I'm glad to report that the game is indeed great. As expected after watching the trailer, the setting on the Oil Rig is pretty unique and I think this is the first game that used such a setting. The writing is also surprisingly good despite the fact that the story is rather straight forward. I did feel a connection to the main character and there were quiet a few emotional moments which I didn't expect.
I also like the creature design, it is a mix between The Thing and Lovecraft. Luckily they didn't spoil the design of the monsters in the trailer which is pretty rare nowadays. My biggest problem was how incredibly linear the game felt for the most part, even though I was already expecting something like that. The other issue that I experienced was a softlock where I had to pull a switch but it didn't work so I had to start a new playtrough halfway through the game. The lack of gameplay elements prevent it from being an outstanding game. Don't get me wrong there are gameplay elements, like a very simple hiding mechanic, being able to throw objects to distract the monsters or pulling levers. But these elements are representative of the horror game standards from 2010-12. Because of that some evil tongues might call this just a boring walking sim.
But Still Wakes The Deep is far from boring. It has a great atmosphere, voice acting and art direction and these things make it a really immersive experience. The writing is surprisingly good and the design of the monsters is one of the more unique ones in recent years. Overall a entertaining experience with a immersive atmosphere thanks to the incredible voice acting with a perfect dialect, probably the best voice acting so far of this year. But don't expect to much gameplay-wise
Games I finished in 2024 ranked
My physical collection
Platinum trophies exhibition
I also like the creature design, it is a mix between The Thing and Lovecraft. Luckily they didn't spoil the design of the monsters in the trailer which is pretty rare nowadays. My biggest problem was how incredibly linear the game felt for the most part, even though I was already expecting something like that. The other issue that I experienced was a softlock where I had to pull a switch but it didn't work so I had to start a new playtrough halfway through the game. The lack of gameplay elements prevent it from being an outstanding game. Don't get me wrong there are gameplay elements, like a very simple hiding mechanic, being able to throw objects to distract the monsters or pulling levers. But these elements are representative of the horror game standards from 2010-12. Because of that some evil tongues might call this just a boring walking sim.
But Still Wakes The Deep is far from boring. It has a great atmosphere, voice acting and art direction and these things make it a really immersive experience. The writing is surprisingly good and the design of the monsters is one of the more unique ones in recent years. Overall a entertaining experience with a immersive atmosphere thanks to the incredible voice acting with a perfect dialect, probably the best voice acting so far of this year. But don't expect to much gameplay-wise
Games I finished in 2024 ranked
My physical collection
Platinum trophies exhibition
I assumed until now YIIK was a mediocre Earthbound/Persona ripoff with references to a real murder victim's death - like, as some random side-off in the text; a momentary plot incident. I didn't expect that victim to not only be the CORE of this plot, but for Alex YIIKman to be a self-insert of the writer Andrew Allenson (i'm not talking about the character design, I'm talking about his mannerisms being so specific they could only resemble the writer's own personality), AND for Alex to wholesale admit that he's a jobless misogynistic sociopathic conspiracy theorist who masturbates to said murder victim and fantasizes about a relationship with them. Alex's overt narcissism (and by extension, Allenson's) is rewarded with paragraphs upon paragraphs of space to spew whatever mindless ramblings he wants about 'society' - mind you, a society he doesn't participate in, - and besides some incredibly, INCREDIBLY minor reproach he gets from other party members in the story (he calls them friends, lmao), he goes unconfronted about any of this horrible behavior, until the halfway point where the game randomly decides it's an 'I'm seeking redemption' plotline. The story's attempts to make Alex seem like a reconciling, flawed character are impossible to take seriously because the writing refuses to address any of the physical things he does or says as a point of contention: They can only vaguely gesture towards Alex as a 'flawed' individual, not someone who has committed 'X' flaws. The B-plot where his mom calls him out for being a mooch and forcing him to seek a job so they can put food on the table? Ditched a half hour after it gets brought up. Alex telling Rory to fuck off after grieving his dead sister? Gets like two follow-up scenes where Alex looks at the floor and goes 'yeah ummm, I'm sorry for uh, what I diiiiid, y'know??' and then gets dropped again. After characters tell Alex that they think he's 'matured' as a person, he still continues to speak with the same egocentric prose and pomp he always did, and continues showing snide attitude when they open up to him about their lives. All the characters in the story that DO show reproach to him have many of the same character flaws as well - they're equally narcissistic, media-obsessed and hostile. Because as it turns out, if you're an anti-social writer with no friends, it becomes really hard to write your MC's friends as anything but a mirror image of you. The only reason the side characters' selfishness never becomes as bad as Alex is because none of them are given the same screentime as him.
To write a redemption plot takes a lot of work and the right headspace - cause guess what? If you live a bad life, and you haven't changed, but you want to change, chances are your text is gonna reflect the current hostility and aggression you live with - I should know, I wrote miserable terrible webcomics in college. You need hindsight to be introspective about these kinds of topics, you need to actually ACTUALLY change, move on, then look back and handle it with its full weight. It's hard; it's dirty writing; and in most cases, if someone has moved on, they don't have an interest in making cynical works anymore: They want to chase an optimistic future and wipe the slate clean. If the plot is intended to be about YOU, the writer, it's only going to go over well if you're in just the right headspace to say the right thing and resonate with your audience. Yiik was not written in those circumstances. The writer's subsequent tantrums online when people went 'yuuk' at Alex are evidence of this.
Andrew Allenson, if you had any intention to 'get better as a human being', you wouldn't treat Alex's soapboxing and surface-level philosophical banter with such reverence. You were only able to write this story by letting Alex's '''friends''' give him as much rope as he possibly needed until the last minute. You don't truly see your past self as something you want to grow from. It is a privilege to have the time and resources to become an indie developer, and you wasted it by ripping off a game for high schoolers.
(And all of this is without getting into Yiik's numerous mechanical flaws, outright non-functional combat, epilepsy-inducing vfx, AND nightmarishly terrible soundtrack that steals multiple times over from other JRPGs. But being a horrible gamedev isn't as worthy of discussion as being devoid of humanity)
Please stop YIIKing around and move on.
To write a redemption plot takes a lot of work and the right headspace - cause guess what? If you live a bad life, and you haven't changed, but you want to change, chances are your text is gonna reflect the current hostility and aggression you live with - I should know, I wrote miserable terrible webcomics in college. You need hindsight to be introspective about these kinds of topics, you need to actually ACTUALLY change, move on, then look back and handle it with its full weight. It's hard; it's dirty writing; and in most cases, if someone has moved on, they don't have an interest in making cynical works anymore: They want to chase an optimistic future and wipe the slate clean. If the plot is intended to be about YOU, the writer, it's only going to go over well if you're in just the right headspace to say the right thing and resonate with your audience. Yiik was not written in those circumstances. The writer's subsequent tantrums online when people went 'yuuk' at Alex are evidence of this.
Andrew Allenson, if you had any intention to 'get better as a human being', you wouldn't treat Alex's soapboxing and surface-level philosophical banter with such reverence. You were only able to write this story by letting Alex's '''friends''' give him as much rope as he possibly needed until the last minute. You don't truly see your past self as something you want to grow from. It is a privilege to have the time and resources to become an indie developer, and you wasted it by ripping off a game for high schoolers.
(And all of this is without getting into Yiik's numerous mechanical flaws, outright non-functional combat, epilepsy-inducing vfx, AND nightmarishly terrible soundtrack that steals multiple times over from other JRPGs. But being a horrible gamedev isn't as worthy of discussion as being devoid of humanity)
Please stop YIIKing around and move on.
Firewatch
2016
This review contains spoilers
I've never struggled with writing a review for a game like I have with Firewatch. Upon finishing it and collecting my thoughts, I was left feeling extremely conflicted and confused. That’s the main reason why I decided not to give the game a score at the time of writing this. The common consensus of Firewatch is that it’s a well written walking sim with a really unsatisfying twist and downer ending. It felt like the game was giving you choices that might determine the outcome of the narrative, when that really wasn’t the case at all. Of course, I initially thought that too. It felt like the game was building up to something much more than that, something bigger, and when you make it to the end and you find that there really isn’t anything else to it, you’re left feeling disappointed and empty. The thing is, I feel like that was the point the game is trying to make.
I believe that the primary message of Firewatch is that when life throws awful things your way, or when you make poor choices that lead to horrible consequences, you need to face them head on, and you can’t rely on escapism to avoid them, because at the end of the day, your problems will still be there. I think that the main plot delivers this message in a way that’s very difficult to swallow. Delilah mentions at the very beginning of the game how people only take the job of a fire lookout in order to get away from something, specifically she means the things in life that are burdensome or traumatizing. Henry is there as a way of coping with the fact that his wife is suffering from dementia and had moved back in with her family in Australia. She might not even remember who he is anymore, and he doesn’t want to face or accept that.
Delilah is there to escape from the fact that her ex-boyfriend, Javier, left her after his brother was killed in a town called Gillette (which, after doing some Googling, is apparently a town known for mining, which could mean that he died in a mining accident). He left because Delilah was too focused on her dream of becoming an instructor for the Wyoming Outdoor Leadership School and she didn’t provide any sort of emotional or moral support to him during this delicate time. Delilah also ended up lying to her sister about the reason behind the break up, stating that Javier had sex with their neighbor, and had continued to lie about it for over ten years.
Then, there’s the Goodwins, Ned and Brian. It’s not revealed in-game why Ned and Brian were at the park to begin with, but I think it’s highly likely Ned just wasn’t happy with how his son was turning out. Brian was an introverted boy who loved science, fantasy, and comic books, and Ned very much gave off the impression of being your stereotypical stern, masculinity-obsessed Father who didn’t understand any of that stuff and wanted his son to be more of a man. Based on the cassette tape he leaves for Henry at the end of the game, I suspect he brought Brain out there in order to put some hair on his chest, or something like that. Then, after Brian’s death, Ned chooses to live in the woods alone, both in order to make sure that no one learns about what happened to Brian and finds his body in cave 452, and so that he didn’t have to face the reality of his son’s death and the consequences of bringing Brian out into the wilderness when it was against park regulations.
The game leaves this up to the player’s interpretation, but I think that Delilah was likely supporting Ned the entire time. The conversation that you overhear near the start of the game, after you first emerge from cave 452 and encounter the mysterious figure, clearly indicates that she was talking to someone about Henry, and that it was a conversation you were not meant to hear. If there was no conspiracy, no government agents recording Henry and Delilah’s conversations over the course of the summer, and it was just Ned out there the entire time, then I don’t see how Delilah could’ve been talking to anyone else during that conversation. Ned was probably freaking out regarding the fact that you went into the cave. You also have to consider Delilah’s position as the manager of the fire lookouts. When you find Ned’s bunker at the end of the game, it’s filled with supplies, and unless he’s just been going around stealing from campers all of these years, I don’t see how he was able to get these things without Delilah’s help. She likely ordered additional supplies be delivered and shared them at various supply caches for Ned to collect from. I think she might have done this because she knew about Brian’s death. Either she sympathized with Ned’s desire to stay in the park and keep from facing reality, or she was afraid there would be repercussions against her since she had more than ample time to report Brian’s presence to higher-ups and didn’t say anything. Regardless, I think that by the end of the game, she’s overcome with guilt and regret over what happened and comes to the realization that she and Ned were wrong to do what they did instead of owning up to the mistakes they made.
That’s why I think the narrative unfolds the way that it does. Players likely go into Firewatch not really knowing what to expect, thinking that it’ll be a piece of media that can act as a way to entertain themselves and use as a temporary escape from their own problems in life. When they find the game doesn’t really provide that, that the story that was seemingly being built up doesn't go in the direction they expected to, and then concludes the way that it does, I totally get feeling burnt by that. I certainly felt the same way in the heat of the moment. In conjunction with the narrative, I believe this is the game’s way of communicating its themes regarding escapism. You can use things like art and media to distract yourself from whatever it is in life that you don’t want to acknowledge, but until you face them yourself, no matter what you do, your problems will always be there. It’s an extremely bitter pill to swallow.
Did I have fun with Firewatch? I’ll be honest: no, I didn’t. However, I do think that Firewatch most definitely affected me in the way the creators intended to. That’s what makes reviewing this game so difficult, and why it leaves me so conflicted. I truly feel like I can’t give this game a rating. It’s weird, I’ve never run into something like this before. I’m usually able to easily express my opinions, how I came to form them, and rate a game based on them. Firewatch is entitled to all of the credit in the world for making me think and mull over so hard about it. It’s absolutely a worthwhile experience and something to discuss and debate with others, which in all honesty, is one of the highest compliments you could give to art. That being said, I can’t say that it’s a game I enjoyed at all, nor is it one that I think I can fondly reflect on. Maybe it’s because to a degree, I feel called out by it. Maybe it’s because I just can’t get over my immediate reaction of being let down that everyone else has towards the twist and ending. I really don’t know. All I know is that I really don’t like how this game makes me feel.
I believe that the primary message of Firewatch is that when life throws awful things your way, or when you make poor choices that lead to horrible consequences, you need to face them head on, and you can’t rely on escapism to avoid them, because at the end of the day, your problems will still be there. I think that the main plot delivers this message in a way that’s very difficult to swallow. Delilah mentions at the very beginning of the game how people only take the job of a fire lookout in order to get away from something, specifically she means the things in life that are burdensome or traumatizing. Henry is there as a way of coping with the fact that his wife is suffering from dementia and had moved back in with her family in Australia. She might not even remember who he is anymore, and he doesn’t want to face or accept that.
Delilah is there to escape from the fact that her ex-boyfriend, Javier, left her after his brother was killed in a town called Gillette (which, after doing some Googling, is apparently a town known for mining, which could mean that he died in a mining accident). He left because Delilah was too focused on her dream of becoming an instructor for the Wyoming Outdoor Leadership School and she didn’t provide any sort of emotional or moral support to him during this delicate time. Delilah also ended up lying to her sister about the reason behind the break up, stating that Javier had sex with their neighbor, and had continued to lie about it for over ten years.
Then, there’s the Goodwins, Ned and Brian. It’s not revealed in-game why Ned and Brian were at the park to begin with, but I think it’s highly likely Ned just wasn’t happy with how his son was turning out. Brian was an introverted boy who loved science, fantasy, and comic books, and Ned very much gave off the impression of being your stereotypical stern, masculinity-obsessed Father who didn’t understand any of that stuff and wanted his son to be more of a man. Based on the cassette tape he leaves for Henry at the end of the game, I suspect he brought Brain out there in order to put some hair on his chest, or something like that. Then, after Brian’s death, Ned chooses to live in the woods alone, both in order to make sure that no one learns about what happened to Brian and finds his body in cave 452, and so that he didn’t have to face the reality of his son’s death and the consequences of bringing Brian out into the wilderness when it was against park regulations.
The game leaves this up to the player’s interpretation, but I think that Delilah was likely supporting Ned the entire time. The conversation that you overhear near the start of the game, after you first emerge from cave 452 and encounter the mysterious figure, clearly indicates that she was talking to someone about Henry, and that it was a conversation you were not meant to hear. If there was no conspiracy, no government agents recording Henry and Delilah’s conversations over the course of the summer, and it was just Ned out there the entire time, then I don’t see how Delilah could’ve been talking to anyone else during that conversation. Ned was probably freaking out regarding the fact that you went into the cave. You also have to consider Delilah’s position as the manager of the fire lookouts. When you find Ned’s bunker at the end of the game, it’s filled with supplies, and unless he’s just been going around stealing from campers all of these years, I don’t see how he was able to get these things without Delilah’s help. She likely ordered additional supplies be delivered and shared them at various supply caches for Ned to collect from. I think she might have done this because she knew about Brian’s death. Either she sympathized with Ned’s desire to stay in the park and keep from facing reality, or she was afraid there would be repercussions against her since she had more than ample time to report Brian’s presence to higher-ups and didn’t say anything. Regardless, I think that by the end of the game, she’s overcome with guilt and regret over what happened and comes to the realization that she and Ned were wrong to do what they did instead of owning up to the mistakes they made.
That’s why I think the narrative unfolds the way that it does. Players likely go into Firewatch not really knowing what to expect, thinking that it’ll be a piece of media that can act as a way to entertain themselves and use as a temporary escape from their own problems in life. When they find the game doesn’t really provide that, that the story that was seemingly being built up doesn't go in the direction they expected to, and then concludes the way that it does, I totally get feeling burnt by that. I certainly felt the same way in the heat of the moment. In conjunction with the narrative, I believe this is the game’s way of communicating its themes regarding escapism. You can use things like art and media to distract yourself from whatever it is in life that you don’t want to acknowledge, but until you face them yourself, no matter what you do, your problems will always be there. It’s an extremely bitter pill to swallow.
Did I have fun with Firewatch? I’ll be honest: no, I didn’t. However, I do think that Firewatch most definitely affected me in the way the creators intended to. That’s what makes reviewing this game so difficult, and why it leaves me so conflicted. I truly feel like I can’t give this game a rating. It’s weird, I’ve never run into something like this before. I’m usually able to easily express my opinions, how I came to form them, and rate a game based on them. Firewatch is entitled to all of the credit in the world for making me think and mull over so hard about it. It’s absolutely a worthwhile experience and something to discuss and debate with others, which in all honesty, is one of the highest compliments you could give to art. That being said, I can’t say that it’s a game I enjoyed at all, nor is it one that I think I can fondly reflect on. Maybe it’s because to a degree, I feel called out by it. Maybe it’s because I just can’t get over my immediate reaction of being let down that everyone else has towards the twist and ending. I really don’t know. All I know is that I really don’t like how this game makes me feel.
Nightmare Kart
2024
Probably needlessly scrutinizing a game that’s really just meant to be a realization of a cute community joke, but there’s a shocking amount of work that feels wasted on a game where so many modes end up feeling so undercooked. The thing you’ll probably notice within the first couple of races is that your competitors have terrible AI and, more significantly, don’t have the means to catch up with you once you gain a lead. Lapping the other racers so easily and seeing them struggle to navigate through some of the setpieces will probably make anyone into an advocate of at least some rubberbanding, and seems like a sign that this needed to be delayed a few months to make this more than just a one-off novelty. (And maybe more simply, making stages less reliant on hazards that the AI seems so incapable of navigating)
There’s definitely some deeper stuff here when it comes to item usage and building your max speed by fighting other racers and monsters on the track, but talking about the successes and failures of integrating Bloodborne mechanics into a kart racing setting seems like overkill when all you’ll need to secure first place is holding down the throttle.
Fares a lot better in its battle modes and boss fights, especially the one map in the campaign mode where two teams compete against each other to amass as many blood echoes as possible by killing enemies and surviving before time expires. On both of my playthroughs, victory was a super close thing- and maybe as a result of the open arena and amount of moving pieces, any shortcomings the other competitors might have were drowned out in all the chaos. A nice jolt when the rest of the game is so lax in comparison. Bosses also work as totally bespoke scenarios that leverage the absurd premise- especially the TLB that gamely gets into a Kart of its own for the final encounter.
Think this mostly works as a charming return to Yharnam, but there’s enough potential to want a fuller game than currently exists here. An amazing April Fool's title had it released a few months ago, but something that feels a little driftless right now.
There’s definitely some deeper stuff here when it comes to item usage and building your max speed by fighting other racers and monsters on the track, but talking about the successes and failures of integrating Bloodborne mechanics into a kart racing setting seems like overkill when all you’ll need to secure first place is holding down the throttle.
Fares a lot better in its battle modes and boss fights, especially the one map in the campaign mode where two teams compete against each other to amass as many blood echoes as possible by killing enemies and surviving before time expires. On both of my playthroughs, victory was a super close thing- and maybe as a result of the open arena and amount of moving pieces, any shortcomings the other competitors might have were drowned out in all the chaos. A nice jolt when the rest of the game is so lax in comparison. Bosses also work as totally bespoke scenarios that leverage the absurd premise- especially the TLB that gamely gets into a Kart of its own for the final encounter.
Think this mostly works as a charming return to Yharnam, but there’s enough potential to want a fuller game than currently exists here. An amazing April Fool's title had it released a few months ago, but something that feels a little driftless right now.
Wario Land 3
2000
WEIRDLY almost my platonic ideal of a platformer lol. even more sludgy and slow than 4 which is rlly good but i think i fuck w this more as this is kind of a chiller game than that one. wario cannot fucking die, he’s indestructible and that’s rlly fun to play w in a game like this. didn’t finish bc i have a life + i do not have that dog in me but yeah this fucks. had to have been the most annoying game in the world to play without the ease of like save states/replay functions
Fables from the Den
2016
It's a good little digital storybook. It's not a game at all, but it was fun little thing from Might and Delight developers. I love the artstyle of Might and Delight games, so getting a little storybook from them is amazing. The stories are small short stories about fables about different kind of animals. The fables have good sayings and meanings and it would be great to read for children!