MiDN1GHTSKY
Sonic the Hedgehog Chaos (1993)
Played on Nintendo Switch (Sonic Origins Plus)
To be honest, it really wasn’t terrible. I think that the levels are way too easy and the game has constant frame drops, but it actually wasn’t the worst for being a Game Gear game.
Played on Nintendo Switch (Sonic Origins Plus)
To be honest, it really wasn’t terrible. I think that the levels are way too easy and the game has constant frame drops, but it actually wasn’t the worst for being a Game Gear game.
1994
Sonic Drift (1994)
Played on Nintendo Switch (Sonic Origins Plus)
A really terrible racing game that plays like a dollar store version of Outrun. Controls horribly and isn’t fun. At least it somewhat resembles Outrun I guess.
Played on Nintendo Switch (Sonic Origins Plus)
A really terrible racing game that plays like a dollar store version of Outrun. Controls horribly and isn’t fun. At least it somewhat resembles Outrun I guess.
1992
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992)
Played on Nintendo Switch (Replay, Sonic Origins Plus)
Sonic 2 is the definition of a game taking everything that was bad about the original, and just fixing it. It’s a simple way of thinking but that’s literally what happens here lol. Splitting the zones by 2 acts versus 3 helps the pacing of the game by miles, as some zones in Sonic 1 felt like a chore by act 3. And there’s really no terrible zone here either, as they are mostly really good, Casino Night being the best.
I think the only real bad zone here is Metropolis Zone. It’s the only one in the game that’s split into 3 acts, with its annoying enemy placement and tedious screw gimmick. Sky Chase & Wing Fortress are kind of whatever as single act zones, and just serve as a route to the finale, which is much more challenging than Sonic 1’s.
Tails is more so of a senseless companion than an actual gameplay mechanic, so it’s cool that he’s here for the ride but he doesn’t really do anything outside of the special stages. Which yeah, these gotta be the worst special stages across all the old games. Getting to them is tedious, and then the wonky camera you gotta deal with makes these a pain in the ass. And then Tails also getting a ring counter so if he gets hit you still lose rings is infuriating. They really dropped the ball with the special stages in this game, as they are not fun to do at all.
Overall though, Sonic 2 is still pretty good. A much more enjoyable experience to go back to in comparison to Sonic 1, but still stands on its own as a fun platformer.
Played on Nintendo Switch (Replay, Sonic Origins Plus)
Sonic 2 is the definition of a game taking everything that was bad about the original, and just fixing it. It’s a simple way of thinking but that’s literally what happens here lol. Splitting the zones by 2 acts versus 3 helps the pacing of the game by miles, as some zones in Sonic 1 felt like a chore by act 3. And there’s really no terrible zone here either, as they are mostly really good, Casino Night being the best.
I think the only real bad zone here is Metropolis Zone. It’s the only one in the game that’s split into 3 acts, with its annoying enemy placement and tedious screw gimmick. Sky Chase & Wing Fortress are kind of whatever as single act zones, and just serve as a route to the finale, which is much more challenging than Sonic 1’s.
Tails is more so of a senseless companion than an actual gameplay mechanic, so it’s cool that he’s here for the ride but he doesn’t really do anything outside of the special stages. Which yeah, these gotta be the worst special stages across all the old games. Getting to them is tedious, and then the wonky camera you gotta deal with makes these a pain in the ass. And then Tails also getting a ring counter so if he gets hit you still lose rings is infuriating. They really dropped the ball with the special stages in this game, as they are not fun to do at all.
Overall though, Sonic 2 is still pretty good. A much more enjoyable experience to go back to in comparison to Sonic 1, but still stands on its own as a fun platformer.
2019
Mortal Kombat 11 (2019)
Played on PlayStation 5
I followed this heavily since its reveal, watching nearly every Kombat Kast up until release. I loved Mortal Kombat X (despite its many, MANY issues) so the next output from the studio was more than exciting for me. The game finally released, and...I played for about a month.
The game of course was different from it's predecessor, and it took some time to really get used to. However, once the honeymoon phase was over, something still rubbed me the wrong way. The game played at much different pace, which isn't a bad thing, but it felt formulaic and very bare bones compared to not only MKX, but any other fighting game on the market (maybe not SFV, but that's a whole different convo lol). Customizable moves but very strong limitations that de-incentivized creative play, a breakaway system that punishes the player in advantage (in other words, playing the game and doing combos), a meter system that invalidates strategic play, a "super" that has no real consequence of missing, and a heavily flawed comeback mechanic that is very questionable if it was earned or not. Armored moves were a problem for awhile, up until the addition of armor break moves. These moves seemed like it would have fixed some problems, but not balancing these moves universally throughout the cast, it only created new ones.
There is plenty to say about the story I won't get into, but it was a huge disappointment for what the other games set up. The Krypt is a great place to explore, but the grindfest isn't fun. Gear pieces are back from Injustice 2 (this time with no stats, thank god) but augments are another grind not worth it either.
On the brightside, the game looks gorgeous, and nails the presentation and has single player content to play besides typical arcade mode. A lot of fighting games come out and miss the mark when it comes to simple things like online, single player, training mode, accessibility options and more. Some of the characters redesigns are great and should be mainstays moveset wise moving forward like Jax, Noob, Jacquie (maybe nerf her a bit next game) & especially Joker (even though they’ll probably revert back to his Injustice moveset). The fatalities and brutalities are the best yet, and seeing Friendships return was a treat.
I REALLY do not like this game and I think its mobile game approach to modern day fighting game design is a slap in the face to the genre, to the point it’s comedy. I really can’t believe this is the game that had the longest lifespan out of any NRS game and we got stuck with it because of the pandemic and WB’s dumbass business practices.
Played on PlayStation 5
I followed this heavily since its reveal, watching nearly every Kombat Kast up until release. I loved Mortal Kombat X (despite its many, MANY issues) so the next output from the studio was more than exciting for me. The game finally released, and...I played for about a month.
The game of course was different from it's predecessor, and it took some time to really get used to. However, once the honeymoon phase was over, something still rubbed me the wrong way. The game played at much different pace, which isn't a bad thing, but it felt formulaic and very bare bones compared to not only MKX, but any other fighting game on the market (maybe not SFV, but that's a whole different convo lol). Customizable moves but very strong limitations that de-incentivized creative play, a breakaway system that punishes the player in advantage (in other words, playing the game and doing combos), a meter system that invalidates strategic play, a "super" that has no real consequence of missing, and a heavily flawed comeback mechanic that is very questionable if it was earned or not. Armored moves were a problem for awhile, up until the addition of armor break moves. These moves seemed like it would have fixed some problems, but not balancing these moves universally throughout the cast, it only created new ones.
There is plenty to say about the story I won't get into, but it was a huge disappointment for what the other games set up. The Krypt is a great place to explore, but the grindfest isn't fun. Gear pieces are back from Injustice 2 (this time with no stats, thank god) but augments are another grind not worth it either.
On the brightside, the game looks gorgeous, and nails the presentation and has single player content to play besides typical arcade mode. A lot of fighting games come out and miss the mark when it comes to simple things like online, single player, training mode, accessibility options and more. Some of the characters redesigns are great and should be mainstays moveset wise moving forward like Jax, Noob, Jacquie (maybe nerf her a bit next game) & especially Joker (even though they’ll probably revert back to his Injustice moveset). The fatalities and brutalities are the best yet, and seeing Friendships return was a treat.
I REALLY do not like this game and I think its mobile game approach to modern day fighting game design is a slap in the face to the genre, to the point it’s comedy. I really can’t believe this is the game that had the longest lifespan out of any NRS game and we got stuck with it because of the pandemic and WB’s dumbass business practices.
2011
Sonic CD (1993)
Played on Nintendo Switch (Replay, Sonic Origins Plus)
Making a 2D Sonic game where the main objective is exploration and gigantic vertical level design sounds insane, but it just works. CD can be still played playing as fast as you can, but you really do yourself a disservice by doing so. So much of this game’s shine is through its Past/Future system, which is even communicated through visuals AND gameplay. Changing the music as well as the routes and enemy placement in every zone. It’s such a cool idea that I don’t think is appreciated enough. The game focusing on exploration also fixes the problem Sonic 1 had about “taking it slow”, as this game was designed for that while still making it fun.
It’s not executed the best way though. Hitting an obstacle or taking damage while trying to maintain speed to access the Good Future can be annoying as hell. Just like Sonic 1, not every zone is created equal, and as the game goes on, the zones kind of just get worse with more dumb gimmicks. Things pick back up again with Stardust Speedway, introducing Metal Sonic in a really cool boss fight that fits Sonic so well, more than anything in Sonic 1 or 2.
Crazy good music, a cool idea that comes with plenty of replay-ability, and special stages that don’t suck. Sure the boss fights are gimmicky and his Super Peel Out doesn’t really seem to have a purpose, CD is still so good. Great game.
Played on Nintendo Switch (Replay, Sonic Origins Plus)
Making a 2D Sonic game where the main objective is exploration and gigantic vertical level design sounds insane, but it just works. CD can be still played playing as fast as you can, but you really do yourself a disservice by doing so. So much of this game’s shine is through its Past/Future system, which is even communicated through visuals AND gameplay. Changing the music as well as the routes and enemy placement in every zone. It’s such a cool idea that I don’t think is appreciated enough. The game focusing on exploration also fixes the problem Sonic 1 had about “taking it slow”, as this game was designed for that while still making it fun.
It’s not executed the best way though. Hitting an obstacle or taking damage while trying to maintain speed to access the Good Future can be annoying as hell. Just like Sonic 1, not every zone is created equal, and as the game goes on, the zones kind of just get worse with more dumb gimmicks. Things pick back up again with Stardust Speedway, introducing Metal Sonic in a really cool boss fight that fits Sonic so well, more than anything in Sonic 1 or 2.
Crazy good music, a cool idea that comes with plenty of replay-ability, and special stages that don’t suck. Sure the boss fights are gimmicky and his Super Peel Out doesn’t really seem to have a purpose, CD is still so good. Great game.
1991
Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)
Played on Nintendo Switch (Replay, Sonic Origins Plus)
Sonic 1 is an all around classic game, and after revisiting this after so many years, it’s still so easy to see why this took off so well in the 90s. The visually appealing sprite work, the addictive fast paced platforming, and the instantly iconic soundtrack.
Yea, it’s not perfect. And each of the 2D mainline entries that would follow would do things much better, but I don’t think that takes away for what this game managed to accomplish what no other platformer was doing at the time. Green Hill, Sping Yard, & Star Light are all great zones that showcase Sonic 1’s strengths the best. Marble, Labyrinth, & Scrap Brain, show this game’s weaknesses the worst though. Slowing down the pace is one thing, but also making levels with annoying mechanics and shoddy design is where I draw the line. Green Hill is just iconic for being the first level, it’s also still the best zone in the game.
Aside from the weird design decisions with half the zones and the special stages, Sonic 1 is still great. Lowkey I think you could chalk up some of Sonic 1’s flaws to “skill issues”, but it’s nowhere near a terrible game. A great start for an iconic franchise.
Played on Nintendo Switch (Replay, Sonic Origins Plus)
Sonic 1 is an all around classic game, and after revisiting this after so many years, it’s still so easy to see why this took off so well in the 90s. The visually appealing sprite work, the addictive fast paced platforming, and the instantly iconic soundtrack.
Yea, it’s not perfect. And each of the 2D mainline entries that would follow would do things much better, but I don’t think that takes away for what this game managed to accomplish what no other platformer was doing at the time. Green Hill, Sping Yard, & Star Light are all great zones that showcase Sonic 1’s strengths the best. Marble, Labyrinth, & Scrap Brain, show this game’s weaknesses the worst though. Slowing down the pace is one thing, but also making levels with annoying mechanics and shoddy design is where I draw the line. Green Hill is just iconic for being the first level, it’s also still the best zone in the game.
Aside from the weird design decisions with half the zones and the special stages, Sonic 1 is still great. Lowkey I think you could chalk up some of Sonic 1’s flaws to “skill issues”, but it’s nowhere near a terrible game. A great start for an iconic franchise.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge (2022)
Played on Xbox Series S (Gamepass)
Before this year, I never got into the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles like ever lmao. I’ve seen the 2007 film and I played a good amount of Donnie in Injustice 2. It was honestly the movie from this year (Mutant Mayhem, it’s incredible, please check it out) that kind of got me into a TMNT kick. Ultimately, that led me into playing this.
Played it with some friends (1-6 players online btw) and holy shit this game rocks. All the characters are fun and feel smooth to play. The combo system isn’t revolutionary, but the satisfaction of landing combos into team combos into super moves is perfect. The game is colorful, and it has plenty of style and charm that separate it from other in its genre. All while remaining faithful to the 90s era beat ‘em up games.
It’s funny, I was gonna dedicate this past Saturday to playing Starfield, but I saw this on Gamepass and just decided to play it on a whim, and I turned out to be one of my favorite games I’ve played this year. My only gripe would probably be it isn’t as in depth as other beat ‘em ups (I.E River City Girls). Other than that, if you have even a small interest in beat ‘em ups, please play this
Played on Xbox Series S (Gamepass)
Before this year, I never got into the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles like ever lmao. I’ve seen the 2007 film and I played a good amount of Donnie in Injustice 2. It was honestly the movie from this year (Mutant Mayhem, it’s incredible, please check it out) that kind of got me into a TMNT kick. Ultimately, that led me into playing this.
Played it with some friends (1-6 players online btw) and holy shit this game rocks. All the characters are fun and feel smooth to play. The combo system isn’t revolutionary, but the satisfaction of landing combos into team combos into super moves is perfect. The game is colorful, and it has plenty of style and charm that separate it from other in its genre. All while remaining faithful to the 90s era beat ‘em up games.
It’s funny, I was gonna dedicate this past Saturday to playing Starfield, but I saw this on Gamepass and just decided to play it on a whim, and I turned out to be one of my favorite games I’ve played this year. My only gripe would probably be it isn’t as in depth as other beat ‘em ups (I.E River City Girls). Other than that, if you have even a small interest in beat ‘em ups, please play this
Marvel’s Spider-Man Miles Morales (2020)
Played on PlayStation 5 (Replay)
I had originally played this back when it had came out, however since I didn’t have a PS5 at the time, I had played the PS4 version. While overall it was pretty fun time, for the length of the game itself as well as the amount of bugs I had, I really wish it was just part of the 1st game for a cheaper price. I didn’t even have the motivation to 100% it at the time like I did with the first.
However, with Spider-Man 2 on the horizon, I wanted to go back and revisit Miles on the PS5, and finally complete the game to 100% on New Game Plus. Upon the revisit, I had a much better time when it came to glitches/bugs, but I still ran into a lot. I never had this many going on with Spider-Man 1, and I only played the PS4 version of that game. As for the overall quality of the game itself, my feelings haven’t really changed. It’s a nice addition to this world of Spider-Man, but it doesn’t do anything really “special”. The story is extremely lacking in comparison to the original, and the Tinkerer is a very disappointing villain. It’s just “okay” for Miles first outing I suppose.
The gameplay definitely still shines though, as Miles’s powers are very fun as well as his new gadgets. Replaying this had me even more excited for 2 as Miles’s abilities will be able to be more fleshed out and improved too. The Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man app is nice feature, but side missions as a whole still kinda…suck lol. Aaron’s side mission getting the samples around the city is a unique idea, but the end result was not it at all.
Miles isn’t a bad game, but just like the first, it just does the bare minimum of what the ideal Spider-Man game should have. I’m hoping that the sequel really switches it up and gives us a classic.
Played on PlayStation 5 (Replay)
I had originally played this back when it had came out, however since I didn’t have a PS5 at the time, I had played the PS4 version. While overall it was pretty fun time, for the length of the game itself as well as the amount of bugs I had, I really wish it was just part of the 1st game for a cheaper price. I didn’t even have the motivation to 100% it at the time like I did with the first.
However, with Spider-Man 2 on the horizon, I wanted to go back and revisit Miles on the PS5, and finally complete the game to 100% on New Game Plus. Upon the revisit, I had a much better time when it came to glitches/bugs, but I still ran into a lot. I never had this many going on with Spider-Man 1, and I only played the PS4 version of that game. As for the overall quality of the game itself, my feelings haven’t really changed. It’s a nice addition to this world of Spider-Man, but it doesn’t do anything really “special”. The story is extremely lacking in comparison to the original, and the Tinkerer is a very disappointing villain. It’s just “okay” for Miles first outing I suppose.
The gameplay definitely still shines though, as Miles’s powers are very fun as well as his new gadgets. Replaying this had me even more excited for 2 as Miles’s abilities will be able to be more fleshed out and improved too. The Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man app is nice feature, but side missions as a whole still kinda…suck lol. Aaron’s side mission getting the samples around the city is a unique idea, but the end result was not it at all.
Miles isn’t a bad game, but just like the first, it just does the bare minimum of what the ideal Spider-Man game should have. I’m hoping that the sequel really switches it up and gives us a classic.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (2023)
Played on PlayStation 5
I went into this thinking that it was going to be another fun spidey adventure that was going to be just fine. What I got was a game that makes the previous two entries completely obsolete. Spider-Man 2 capitalizes on everything that made those games good without any of the weaknesses. (In a way though, it makes some new ones).
1 & Miles Morales are very easy games, even on the hardest difficulty. Those games give you gadgets and abilities out the ass, to where the game becomes a cakewalk. The new combat balancing in 2 is much more challenging and isn’t reduced to just relying on your gadget wheel. There’s this new emphasis on the parry mechanic which forces you to think before you mindlessly press the dodge button, as well as moves where you have to dodge versus parrying it. Bosses this time around are also much more exciting and show off what the PS5 is truly capable of.
Side content was the weakest part of the first two games, but they made some huge improvements to make them much more enjoyable and interesting. Not all of it is perfect, as Peter’s side (and main) content has a lot more going for it than Miles does. While Peter & Wraith team up to takedown The Flame, Miles is…recovering stolen music instruments? Really? Peter gets so much in this game and the best we got for Miles is that?
Like I said though, this is something the extends to the main story of the game. Peter is still grieving May, has gotten back together with MJ but things are still not at 100%, tutoring Miles, dealing with Harry entering his life again, Kraven, & then all the black suit shenanigans. Miles spends so much of this game pulling his hair out over Martin Li/Mr Negative, a character who BARELY gets a mention of emotion in Miles’s own game. Where was this energy and feeling before? It’s something that’s never really explored in that game and yet it’s so drilled in here.
When Miles isn’t talking about how much he hates Martin Li’s guts, what’s he doing? Either focusing writing a essay or…doing nothing. There’s so many main missions where Miles isn’t playable or even related to what is even going on. There were times where I was playing the MAIN MISSIONS and I forget that Miles was even a thing until the game would jump cut to him after a mission. For a character who’s own game was about him coming into his own and being able to stand next to Peter as Spider-Man, Miles just sits in Peter’s shadow the majority of the way through. For a guy who’s on the box too, that’s majorly disappointing. There’s other things about the story that bother me, but that’s spoiler territory. (But there’s stuff I really like too).
There’s features that were in the other games missing like selfie cam, the ability to change the time of day, traversal challenges and more. It seems like a slam dunk to have these things in the game again but they are just gone with no explanation. This combined with the amount of bugs/glitches this game has, you can tell that this was being pushed out the door. I think it’s a crazy exaggeration to call this “Broken” or “unplayable” though. It does need some fixes and it’s kinda sad that a heavy hitter like Spider-Man couldn’t just get a lil extra polish before it dropped.
All in all, Spider-Man 2 is a very good game and with some updates, It can truly be a great experience.
Played on PlayStation 5
I went into this thinking that it was going to be another fun spidey adventure that was going to be just fine. What I got was a game that makes the previous two entries completely obsolete. Spider-Man 2 capitalizes on everything that made those games good without any of the weaknesses. (In a way though, it makes some new ones).
1 & Miles Morales are very easy games, even on the hardest difficulty. Those games give you gadgets and abilities out the ass, to where the game becomes a cakewalk. The new combat balancing in 2 is much more challenging and isn’t reduced to just relying on your gadget wheel. There’s this new emphasis on the parry mechanic which forces you to think before you mindlessly press the dodge button, as well as moves where you have to dodge versus parrying it. Bosses this time around are also much more exciting and show off what the PS5 is truly capable of.
Side content was the weakest part of the first two games, but they made some huge improvements to make them much more enjoyable and interesting. Not all of it is perfect, as Peter’s side (and main) content has a lot more going for it than Miles does. While Peter & Wraith team up to takedown The Flame, Miles is…recovering stolen music instruments? Really? Peter gets so much in this game and the best we got for Miles is that?
Like I said though, this is something the extends to the main story of the game. Peter is still grieving May, has gotten back together with MJ but things are still not at 100%, tutoring Miles, dealing with Harry entering his life again, Kraven, & then all the black suit shenanigans. Miles spends so much of this game pulling his hair out over Martin Li/Mr Negative, a character who BARELY gets a mention of emotion in Miles’s own game. Where was this energy and feeling before? It’s something that’s never really explored in that game and yet it’s so drilled in here.
When Miles isn’t talking about how much he hates Martin Li’s guts, what’s he doing? Either focusing writing a essay or…doing nothing. There’s so many main missions where Miles isn’t playable or even related to what is even going on. There were times where I was playing the MAIN MISSIONS and I forget that Miles was even a thing until the game would jump cut to him after a mission. For a character who’s own game was about him coming into his own and being able to stand next to Peter as Spider-Man, Miles just sits in Peter’s shadow the majority of the way through. For a guy who’s on the box too, that’s majorly disappointing. There’s other things about the story that bother me, but that’s spoiler territory. (But there’s stuff I really like too).
There’s features that were in the other games missing like selfie cam, the ability to change the time of day, traversal challenges and more. It seems like a slam dunk to have these things in the game again but they are just gone with no explanation. This combined with the amount of bugs/glitches this game has, you can tell that this was being pushed out the door. I think it’s a crazy exaggeration to call this “Broken” or “unplayable” though. It does need some fixes and it’s kinda sad that a heavy hitter like Spider-Man couldn’t just get a lil extra polish before it dropped.
All in all, Spider-Man 2 is a very good game and with some updates, It can truly be a great experience.
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (2019)
Played on Nintendo Switch
My only history with Zelda ever was playing Wind Waker at a friends house on his gamecube for about 20 minutes maybe 15ish years ago. Other than that maybe an hour of Breath of the Wild, before I kinda just got distracted with other games at the time. So my connection with the franchise is pretty much slim to none lol. Been cleaning off the backlog and remembering that I got this from my brother a couple years ago, I figured if I was gonna give Zelda a shot, it would make sense to start with a “traditional” one.
The game has a really cute art style that is so wholesome feeling. The Toylike graphics compliment the little mini adventure that this game is, with all the quirky characters on the island. The gameplay is simple but so effective and fun, and immediately showed me why people love these games so much. The satisfaction you get after completing a dungeon or solving a puzzle is really great. Combined with the simple, but yet effective soundtrack, it only makes the experience better.
The game does have some flaws, as I ran through many frame drops in the overworld as well as some dungeons. Strange, because I never really see frame drops in first party Nintendo games. Some of the puzzles were kind of ridiculous with some of the solutions too, especially in the last 2 dungeons. I really have no idea how they expected people to figure out some of these.
Really Solid experience for my first real Zelda, and I definitely see the vision now. I think I want to try one of the older 3D ones first before BOTW, just don’t know with one yet. Really cool game and if you like short little games with puzzles, this is a dope buy.
Played on Nintendo Switch
My only history with Zelda ever was playing Wind Waker at a friends house on his gamecube for about 20 minutes maybe 15ish years ago. Other than that maybe an hour of Breath of the Wild, before I kinda just got distracted with other games at the time. So my connection with the franchise is pretty much slim to none lol. Been cleaning off the backlog and remembering that I got this from my brother a couple years ago, I figured if I was gonna give Zelda a shot, it would make sense to start with a “traditional” one.
The game has a really cute art style that is so wholesome feeling. The Toylike graphics compliment the little mini adventure that this game is, with all the quirky characters on the island. The gameplay is simple but so effective and fun, and immediately showed me why people love these games so much. The satisfaction you get after completing a dungeon or solving a puzzle is really great. Combined with the simple, but yet effective soundtrack, it only makes the experience better.
The game does have some flaws, as I ran through many frame drops in the overworld as well as some dungeons. Strange, because I never really see frame drops in first party Nintendo games. Some of the puzzles were kind of ridiculous with some of the solutions too, especially in the last 2 dungeons. I really have no idea how they expected people to figure out some of these.
Really Solid experience for my first real Zelda, and I definitely see the vision now. I think I want to try one of the older 3D ones first before BOTW, just don’t know with one yet. Really cool game and if you like short little games with puzzles, this is a dope buy.
2023
Dead Space (2023)
Played on Playstation 5
I LOVE Dead Space 1 & 2, as both of them are some of my favorite horror games of all time. I'm a sucker for Sci-Fi stuff, and Dead Space has always worn its inspirations on its sleeve. When it got announced that Dead Space was coming back for a remake, I was crazy excited to relive the nightmare of the Ishimura. But I got caught up with real life and the backlog, and I never got to it...until now lol.
The remake hits pretty much all the important story beats from the OG, but with more focus on the characters and the fall of the Ishimura. The OG did not do this in the same capacity. It really feels like the Ishimura crew were living, breathing people at one point rather than just monsters. Issac's personality as well is great and really feels like he is truly just an engineer who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. This translates extremely well with his relationship with Nicole.
The remake also has the refinement in gameplay the later Dead Space's had as well as some new modern features. The OG got it right from the jump, this is just the quality of life implementation. Modern hardware allows for the technology to have the Peeling system. Basically lets you shoot and peel every layer of skin, flesh, muscle, bone off the necromorphs. It's disgusting, and its amazing.
I'll admit it, I didn't believe that Dead Space out of all games really needed a remake. The OG came out in 2008, which sure may be dated in some aspects but still an enjoyable experience. After playing this and the OG back to back, I still share the same opinion. However, if you want to play Dead Space in the best way you possibly can, this remake is the way to go. My only real gripe its that while the remake has great sound design, it doesn't hit as hard as the OG. Some little stuff like no photo mode or the way the objective tracker works this time around is a bummer, but they aren't really that deep.
This game is great and I'm glad Dead Space is back.
Played on Playstation 5
I LOVE Dead Space 1 & 2, as both of them are some of my favorite horror games of all time. I'm a sucker for Sci-Fi stuff, and Dead Space has always worn its inspirations on its sleeve. When it got announced that Dead Space was coming back for a remake, I was crazy excited to relive the nightmare of the Ishimura. But I got caught up with real life and the backlog, and I never got to it...until now lol.
The remake hits pretty much all the important story beats from the OG, but with more focus on the characters and the fall of the Ishimura. The OG did not do this in the same capacity. It really feels like the Ishimura crew were living, breathing people at one point rather than just monsters. Issac's personality as well is great and really feels like he is truly just an engineer who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. This translates extremely well with his relationship with Nicole.
The remake also has the refinement in gameplay the later Dead Space's had as well as some new modern features. The OG got it right from the jump, this is just the quality of life implementation. Modern hardware allows for the technology to have the Peeling system. Basically lets you shoot and peel every layer of skin, flesh, muscle, bone off the necromorphs. It's disgusting, and its amazing.
I'll admit it, I didn't believe that Dead Space out of all games really needed a remake. The OG came out in 2008, which sure may be dated in some aspects but still an enjoyable experience. After playing this and the OG back to back, I still share the same opinion. However, if you want to play Dead Space in the best way you possibly can, this remake is the way to go. My only real gripe its that while the remake has great sound design, it doesn't hit as hard as the OG. Some little stuff like no photo mode or the way the objective tracker works this time around is a bummer, but they aren't really that deep.
This game is great and I'm glad Dead Space is back.
2023
Mortal Kombat 1 (2023)
Played on Xbox Series S
For years, I’ve had a love/hate relationship with NRS. On one hand, they’ll make a product out the gate rich with content, quality of life features that other games in the genre don’t have, and glorious presentation. The other hand, the gameplay makes one questionable decision that (usually) fucks it all up in the end. Mortal Kombat 9, Injustice, Mortal Kombat X, Injustice 2, & Mortal Kombat 11 have all suffered from this fate. Does that make these games bad? For the longest time I thought so, but Mortal Kombat 1 had me rethink things.
Despite the name (which is dumb), MK1 is a continuation of the long winded story of Mortal Kombat being a direct sequel to its predecessor, MK11. New timeline, new backstories, and a whole direction they take these characters. The story mode is actually some of the best stuff NRS has ever done characterization wise. Johnny, Kenshi, Kung Lao, Raiden, Kitana, Mileena, Sindel, Repitle & fucking BARAKA all get a spotlight. With characters like Johnny we’ve seen plenty of, but Baraka from being usually just a jobber fight to a man cursed with a disease, trying to defend the only people he has left is really incredible to see. The second half of the story doesn’t pay the same respect to the other characters introduced and it pretty much drivels into typical MK nonsense. Kind of a bummer, but the story mode isn’t horrible.
Gameplay wise, it’s really cool. NRS tried so hard for years to make custom variations work, and all it really took for them to make the gameplay great was just simplifying the move list & dropping variations entirely. Each character feels like a “definitive” version of themselves and in conjunction with the kameo system, allows the player to express themselves freely this time. The Kameo system gives new ways to play without sacrificing a playable characters core gameplay. While it’s not exactly perfect at the moment, with some tweaks for how ambushes could work, it could be so off the rails as a tag game should be.
But that’s the thing. This game SHOULD be a whole lot more. Because outside of its gameplay, MK1 doesn’t have anything else of value to offer. Invasions started out as a mode that was fine into a repetitive mess that’s seasonal rewards are not worth the time and headache, an item shop with ludicrous prices and bundles, cosmetic customization has been extremely pulled back, the Krypt is straight up gone in favor of the shrine, playercards and icons are very cheap looking and void of any artwork, and there’s so much more.
You couldn’t tag moves at launch despite being a feature in NRS games since MKX. There were moves that characters had that were not in the movelist (which they weren’t secret moves, they genuinely weren’t there). A good number of brutalities didn’t work because they weren’t in the game yet despite being unlocked. Countless bugs within the game combo systems, so much so that even the CPU cannot complete the combo trials in demo mode. The game has slowdown and massive frame drops in Imvasions (which used to affect all modes of the game), battle intros we’re completely gone from arcade mode and online, and when they added both in an update, if you are to skip intros online, it would cause desync issues. Now desync issues just happen constantly whether you skip intros or not, making online almost unplayable at certain times. There’s no crossplay (which is apparently coming). There’s been almost no communication from NRS & the community creating such a huge mess and confusion. Capcom & Bandai Namco have been very vocal with their audiences, and I really wish NRS would do the same.
I really am scratching the surface on this one. To release a game so blatantly unfinished and empty is such a slap in the face to its audiences. It’s becoming more and more common with video games these days, and these companies really are getting away with it. I know not all of this is on NRS, WB definitely has some to blame here too. But to get a game so rich with love & quality like Street Fighter 6, to get something like this from the most popular and best selling fighting game franchise is laughable.
It makes me so sad that a game this fun is so barebones and dry everywhere else. I hated MK11, and even I gotta admit that game actually felt like a full product rather than some early access ripoff. I’m gonna stick around until Kombat Pack 1 is over and pray for a Street Fighter V type comeback, but if NRS doesn’t step it up, it’s looking like this gen’s Marvel Vs Capcom Infinite. A game that could’ve really been something.
Played on Xbox Series S
For years, I’ve had a love/hate relationship with NRS. On one hand, they’ll make a product out the gate rich with content, quality of life features that other games in the genre don’t have, and glorious presentation. The other hand, the gameplay makes one questionable decision that (usually) fucks it all up in the end. Mortal Kombat 9, Injustice, Mortal Kombat X, Injustice 2, & Mortal Kombat 11 have all suffered from this fate. Does that make these games bad? For the longest time I thought so, but Mortal Kombat 1 had me rethink things.
Despite the name (which is dumb), MK1 is a continuation of the long winded story of Mortal Kombat being a direct sequel to its predecessor, MK11. New timeline, new backstories, and a whole direction they take these characters. The story mode is actually some of the best stuff NRS has ever done characterization wise. Johnny, Kenshi, Kung Lao, Raiden, Kitana, Mileena, Sindel, Repitle & fucking BARAKA all get a spotlight. With characters like Johnny we’ve seen plenty of, but Baraka from being usually just a jobber fight to a man cursed with a disease, trying to defend the only people he has left is really incredible to see. The second half of the story doesn’t pay the same respect to the other characters introduced and it pretty much drivels into typical MK nonsense. Kind of a bummer, but the story mode isn’t horrible.
Gameplay wise, it’s really cool. NRS tried so hard for years to make custom variations work, and all it really took for them to make the gameplay great was just simplifying the move list & dropping variations entirely. Each character feels like a “definitive” version of themselves and in conjunction with the kameo system, allows the player to express themselves freely this time. The Kameo system gives new ways to play without sacrificing a playable characters core gameplay. While it’s not exactly perfect at the moment, with some tweaks for how ambushes could work, it could be so off the rails as a tag game should be.
But that’s the thing. This game SHOULD be a whole lot more. Because outside of its gameplay, MK1 doesn’t have anything else of value to offer. Invasions started out as a mode that was fine into a repetitive mess that’s seasonal rewards are not worth the time and headache, an item shop with ludicrous prices and bundles, cosmetic customization has been extremely pulled back, the Krypt is straight up gone in favor of the shrine, playercards and icons are very cheap looking and void of any artwork, and there’s so much more.
You couldn’t tag moves at launch despite being a feature in NRS games since MKX. There were moves that characters had that were not in the movelist (which they weren’t secret moves, they genuinely weren’t there). A good number of brutalities didn’t work because they weren’t in the game yet despite being unlocked. Countless bugs within the game combo systems, so much so that even the CPU cannot complete the combo trials in demo mode. The game has slowdown and massive frame drops in Imvasions (which used to affect all modes of the game), battle intros we’re completely gone from arcade mode and online, and when they added both in an update, if you are to skip intros online, it would cause desync issues. Now desync issues just happen constantly whether you skip intros or not, making online almost unplayable at certain times. There’s no crossplay (which is apparently coming). There’s been almost no communication from NRS & the community creating such a huge mess and confusion. Capcom & Bandai Namco have been very vocal with their audiences, and I really wish NRS would do the same.
I really am scratching the surface on this one. To release a game so blatantly unfinished and empty is such a slap in the face to its audiences. It’s becoming more and more common with video games these days, and these companies really are getting away with it. I know not all of this is on NRS, WB definitely has some to blame here too. But to get a game so rich with love & quality like Street Fighter 6, to get something like this from the most popular and best selling fighting game franchise is laughable.
It makes me so sad that a game this fun is so barebones and dry everywhere else. I hated MK11, and even I gotta admit that game actually felt like a full product rather than some early access ripoff. I’m gonna stick around until Kombat Pack 1 is over and pray for a Street Fighter V type comeback, but if NRS doesn’t step it up, it’s looking like this gen’s Marvel Vs Capcom Infinite. A game that could’ve really been something.
Silent Hill: The Short Message (2024)
Played on: PlayStation 5
When this got announced, many long time Silent Hill fans were extremely skeptical about it being remotely good. The franchise has not been doing great for a long time now, as most people associate the peak of the franchise with Silent Hill 1-4, which are all almost 20+ years old. For me though, I only ever played 2, so I was a bit more optimistic about this new entry than most.
The game being free and only 2 hours long, I wasn’t expecting some groundbreaking game. It’s pretty much just a walking sim, with the main focus being its story.
As for its story though…it’s nothing incredible. It primarily focuses on a suicidal teenage girl named Anita, and her friendship with two other girls named Maya & Amelie. It’s not really the worst story ever told, but it’s told in the most on the nose, in your face way ever. The lack of subtlety within its message or its dialogue is actually criminal. The game would show you something that is supposed to symbolize something, but instead of letting the player find the meaning of the symbolism on their own, characters would flat out tell the player how the player is supposed to be feeling in that moment. It’s really cheap, and terrible acting doesn’t do the story justice either.
Outside of some cool imagery with its art direction in towards the second half of the game, Silent Hill: The Short Message is a very poorly written, bare-bones story about suicide and self harm. Even the warning message about suicide in the games intro feels like a very quick, google-search, copy and paste job done by the team behind this. If this is what the direction they want to take Silent Hill for the future, then yeah…it’s still not looking great for this series.
Played on: PlayStation 5
When this got announced, many long time Silent Hill fans were extremely skeptical about it being remotely good. The franchise has not been doing great for a long time now, as most people associate the peak of the franchise with Silent Hill 1-4, which are all almost 20+ years old. For me though, I only ever played 2, so I was a bit more optimistic about this new entry than most.
The game being free and only 2 hours long, I wasn’t expecting some groundbreaking game. It’s pretty much just a walking sim, with the main focus being its story.
As for its story though…it’s nothing incredible. It primarily focuses on a suicidal teenage girl named Anita, and her friendship with two other girls named Maya & Amelie. It’s not really the worst story ever told, but it’s told in the most on the nose, in your face way ever. The lack of subtlety within its message or its dialogue is actually criminal. The game would show you something that is supposed to symbolize something, but instead of letting the player find the meaning of the symbolism on their own, characters would flat out tell the player how the player is supposed to be feeling in that moment. It’s really cheap, and terrible acting doesn’t do the story justice either.
Outside of some cool imagery with its art direction in towards the second half of the game, Silent Hill: The Short Message is a very poorly written, bare-bones story about suicide and self harm. Even the warning message about suicide in the games intro feels like a very quick, google-search, copy and paste job done by the team behind this. If this is what the direction they want to take Silent Hill for the future, then yeah…it’s still not looking great for this series.
2024
Tekken 8 (2024)
Played on PlayStation 5
With Street Fighter 6’s stagnation and Mortal Kombat 1’s countless issues, there was a lot of high expectations for Tekken’s next release. I was never huge into Tekken like SF or MK, but I was very excited to see what the next generation could bring. I loved 5, hated 6, and was very lukewarm about Tag 2. Everything before those games I haven’t really played since I was a kid, and I wound up skipping the majority of 7. I did watch it quite a bit in its heyday, but I didn’t own the game myself until like 2 years ago. But with 7’s success for the franchise, and the FGC as a whole, I really wanted to come back around for 8.
The game is gorgeous, returning to the status quo that it had of having cutting edge visuals. These characters look the best they ever had. The presentation is top notch, and for how much you are able to customize your Tekken experience is great too. Allowing players to even select their favorite songs from across all the games, even Tekken Revolution lmao.
The story mode is a love letter to the whole series, and there’s plenty of fan service and awesome moments. Sure, it’s not the most thought provoking story ever, but it’s dumb fun and just a blast all the way through. I’d compare it a lot to Mortal Kombat (2011), because it’s a story mode where it knows it’s dumb, and it has a good time with it. Tekken 7’s tried too hard to take it serious (up until the end). Tekken Ball is back and it’s still fun. Arcade Quest serves as a mini tutorial for new players that’s does what it needs to.
Heat is the brand new mechanic that incentivizes “aggressive” play. If you seen people talk about much of a “mashfest” 8 can be, it’s more so because of this new gameplay feature. I didn’t play a lot of 7, but one of the main issues of 7 and many other fighters of the generation was the focus/overtuning on defense. Like SF6’s Drive system, Heat was created to keep matches going and to get people to interact. But I ain’t gonna lie to y’all, as much as I do like this game, Heat needs to be addressed. Some characters become boss fights in a blink of an eye. The overall design in this aggressiveness is just over-tuned and it prevents casual players learning the game and just relying on constant pressure and nothing else. This may sound like a scrubquote but people more or less have the same issue with SF6 right now. It is something that can be fixed/redesigned in an update, so I’m not really mad at it.
Tekken 8 is stupid fun, and I haven’t fell in love with a fighting game like this in a good long while. I definitely want to stick with it and see where it goes. Sure the Heat system is kind of a pain in the ass sometimes, customization isn’t as good as it used to be, ranked isn’t necessarily perfect, and the Tekken pass isn’t really worth it right now…but…it’s a damn good fighting game.
Played on PlayStation 5
With Street Fighter 6’s stagnation and Mortal Kombat 1’s countless issues, there was a lot of high expectations for Tekken’s next release. I was never huge into Tekken like SF or MK, but I was very excited to see what the next generation could bring. I loved 5, hated 6, and was very lukewarm about Tag 2. Everything before those games I haven’t really played since I was a kid, and I wound up skipping the majority of 7. I did watch it quite a bit in its heyday, but I didn’t own the game myself until like 2 years ago. But with 7’s success for the franchise, and the FGC as a whole, I really wanted to come back around for 8.
The game is gorgeous, returning to the status quo that it had of having cutting edge visuals. These characters look the best they ever had. The presentation is top notch, and for how much you are able to customize your Tekken experience is great too. Allowing players to even select their favorite songs from across all the games, even Tekken Revolution lmao.
The story mode is a love letter to the whole series, and there’s plenty of fan service and awesome moments. Sure, it’s not the most thought provoking story ever, but it’s dumb fun and just a blast all the way through. I’d compare it a lot to Mortal Kombat (2011), because it’s a story mode where it knows it’s dumb, and it has a good time with it. Tekken 7’s tried too hard to take it serious (up until the end). Tekken Ball is back and it’s still fun. Arcade Quest serves as a mini tutorial for new players that’s does what it needs to.
Heat is the brand new mechanic that incentivizes “aggressive” play. If you seen people talk about much of a “mashfest” 8 can be, it’s more so because of this new gameplay feature. I didn’t play a lot of 7, but one of the main issues of 7 and many other fighters of the generation was the focus/overtuning on defense. Like SF6’s Drive system, Heat was created to keep matches going and to get people to interact. But I ain’t gonna lie to y’all, as much as I do like this game, Heat needs to be addressed. Some characters become boss fights in a blink of an eye. The overall design in this aggressiveness is just over-tuned and it prevents casual players learning the game and just relying on constant pressure and nothing else. This may sound like a scrubquote but people more or less have the same issue with SF6 right now. It is something that can be fixed/redesigned in an update, so I’m not really mad at it.
Tekken 8 is stupid fun, and I haven’t fell in love with a fighting game like this in a good long while. I definitely want to stick with it and see where it goes. Sure the Heat system is kind of a pain in the ass sometimes, customization isn’t as good as it used to be, ranked isn’t necessarily perfect, and the Tekken pass isn’t really worth it right now…but…it’s a damn good fighting game.
2023
Alan Wake II (2023)
Played on PlayStation 5
When I played Control back in 2020, the biggest thing that stuck with me from that game was its lore and world. I was really invested in this universe and the Federal Bureau of Control (FBC) and its obvious parallels to SCP. However, the main story of the game was no where near as interesting and I felt like that game didn’t go “weird” enough. A great setup, but nowhere near an interesting narrative. Alan Wake II has the weirdness that Control was missing out on, and a great narrative that keeps the player engaged throughout.
While there’s some stuff inspired by Resident Evil and Silent Hill, it has so much different to offer. Whether you are playing as Saga and piecing together clues and discovering the truth by using your intuition, or literally piecing together a story that is interactive through gameplay as Alan, the game just keeps giving. The art design is striking, the gameplay keeps you on your toes and the music is REALLY good. There’s one part of the game where everything really clicks together and it hits all the right notes.
Alan Wake II is a survival horror game, a late night talk show, a musical, a TV show, a book, a movie, and gripping detective story all in one piece of media. It’s a handful of sentence, but it’s legit all these things at the same time. I really never played anything as uniquely presented like this, and I’m not sure if anyone is going to put something out like this other than Remedy.
My only peeve without spoiling is the ending. After the final encounter, the game kinda glides for a lil bit more and then ends? I guess it’s to seemingly transition into its upcoming DLC story expansion, but it still bothers me a bit, idk.
Played on PlayStation 5
When I played Control back in 2020, the biggest thing that stuck with me from that game was its lore and world. I was really invested in this universe and the Federal Bureau of Control (FBC) and its obvious parallels to SCP. However, the main story of the game was no where near as interesting and I felt like that game didn’t go “weird” enough. A great setup, but nowhere near an interesting narrative. Alan Wake II has the weirdness that Control was missing out on, and a great narrative that keeps the player engaged throughout.
While there’s some stuff inspired by Resident Evil and Silent Hill, it has so much different to offer. Whether you are playing as Saga and piecing together clues and discovering the truth by using your intuition, or literally piecing together a story that is interactive through gameplay as Alan, the game just keeps giving. The art design is striking, the gameplay keeps you on your toes and the music is REALLY good. There’s one part of the game where everything really clicks together and it hits all the right notes.
Alan Wake II is a survival horror game, a late night talk show, a musical, a TV show, a book, a movie, and gripping detective story all in one piece of media. It’s a handful of sentence, but it’s legit all these things at the same time. I really never played anything as uniquely presented like this, and I’m not sure if anyone is going to put something out like this other than Remedy.
My only peeve without spoiling is the ending. After the final encounter, the game kinda glides for a lil bit more and then ends? I guess it’s to seemingly transition into its upcoming DLC story expansion, but it still bothers me a bit, idk.