I think about this game every day and still find myself humming the Traveler's Theme; Andrew Prahlow's soundtrack is a wonderfully composed piece of art that moves in ways only music can do, whether its to convey comfort or instill fear or the idea of something bigger than you. As an experience, I can confidently proclaim I've never played another game that deeply affected me in the way Outer Wilds did. As someone full of anxiety and existential dread, the core tenets here were made both to sooth and directly confront the inevitability of life and its end.

Gameplay-wise, being a metroidvania where the upgrades are straight to your brain makes revelations and puzzle solving feels incredibly rewarding, since your own desire and anticipation is what fuels progress. You're dropped into this world from second one with all the tools necessary for success. The game constantly rewards you for being curious, while instilling a renewed child-like wonder at the universe alongside a primal fear of the unknown. The execution is flawless, and really evocative a completely fresh and unique experience.

Throughout the time spent in Outer Wilds' galaxy, you learn that it's best to just let go of your fear and take chances, as while dangerous, most things in it bear no ill will. In that same vein, a core theme that really resonated with me personally was the importance of cherishing the calm and quiet moments as something special. In a game filled with so much mystery, tragedy, and vast loneliness are also very tender moments that reaffirm you aren't alone.

It's obvious every single aspect of this project was a labor of love, and it payed off astoundingly. Despite the melancholy and abject horror inherent in a narrative on this topic, Outer Wilds makes its final message one of resounding hope and acceptance in the smallness of life; of our place in the universe and its importance through personal connection and just being, rather than due to a grandiose plot destined for us. Curiosity is a beautiful thing but It's okay if we don't understand everything, we were never meant to. It's a warm embrace at the end of the world, and that's something I can't put a price on.

“We do not have much connection, you and I. Still, this encounter feels special. I hope you won't mind if I think of you as a friend.”

All sides + Farewell, Strawberries, Hearts, 8 Goldens, Moon Berry, and 50 hours later, I think I'm comfortable saying I can put Celeste down. You really do become addicted to the struggle. The narrative is deceptively simple and transparent thematically, but works by owning that while complimenting the gameplay.

I never particularly connected with Madeline or the others despite having similar mental strife, but the actual act of struggling through these kaizo-tier rooms alongside mountain imagery and slowly improving until you reach the sky brings about a bond that the narrative can't achieve alone. Despite the game re-iterating that you don't need to prove your own worth, it's hard not to push yourself further out of personal pride. Mechanically, Celeste is smooth and even the advanced movement techniques always feel good to use. Farewell is a perfect end cap that took 4 hours to finish, but I did it.

I fucked this game up. It took 30 hours but I whooped it's ass. I will never stop looking for reflex/rhythm games to struggle through and then brag to my friends who give zero shits.

Super Hexagon is one of my favorites. It's incredibly simple, but really effective at drawing you in. It's one of those gems that lets you see yourself getting better with every "GAME OVER. BEGIN." until you can finally go through Hyper Hexagonist empty-minded, entranced by the screen's speed and chilling to the OST like you're Neo. The game really is just an esoteric form of meditation

Control is so close to being perfect for me. In terms of narrative and where it pulls inspiration (X-Files, SCP, Twilight Zone, etc), it's a 10/10, but I really got tired of the general gameplay loop by the end. The upgrade systems feel very tacked on, side quests are a chore, and switching weapon forms is so unintuitive I never used anything other than Grip and Pierce.

Aside from that, I absolutely love the non-euclidian FBC building as an open world. The subject matter allows for such a great variety of creative areas and it was always a joy scouring for collectibles while exploring a new sector. The game is also gorgeous on a high-end PC. I really love what Remedy did here and am enthralled that this story exists along with the absolute wealth of lore as a pickup per usual rather than pointless items.

Also, this is worth playing for Ashtray Maze alone. One of the coolest video game moments for me in the last decade.

Holds up pretty well. This feels like the first real game in the franchise. It improves the controls, colors, and variety from the first while removing the (imo) arbitrary scoring system.

The new robot masters are cool and powers are all fun to use. Metal Man is dope but holy shit his ability really trivializes the whole game. In general levels are shorter, (way) easier, and ultimately less complex (and less bullshit) for better or worse. Also whoever thought of the Boobeam Trap should be locked in a basement. Legendary OST once again, especially Flash Man's stage and the normal boss theme which may be my favorite of the series.

The slide really makes the series hit it's stride movement wise, and Rush is a great addition. The platforming has been tightened up from 1 & 2 and it feel MUCH more fair. The robot masters and powers are more balanced than in 2 but they're all also a quite a bit less fun and/or useful than weapons from the previous games (especially top spin, that shit sucks). Fuck though man, the Doc robot stages are super tedious, and the final boss is so lame compared to the dope flying alien from 2.

It's length is impressive in general for an NES game, and while I really enjoy it this does cause it to drag towards the latter half with the re-treading of level concepts. The level design feels a little less inspired, but is still really solid here, especially in keeping up with the fast pacing. The OST is also still jamming, specifically Proto Man's theme.

This is gonna sound super lame, but this game is really important to me. The Starforce series had a really troubled time and was absolutely full of flaws until the 3rd game, but there was something special here that deserved to be refined.

This game really helped shape my identity around the time I played it when I was younger. The multiplayer aspect and the story, while shallow at times, especially for an older audience, really resonated with a depressed 12 year old me trying to grow into a concrete personality with hobbies I no longer wanted to be ashamed of. I thought it was so cool how (while never explicitly stated) Geo clearly had similar issues; his journey to accept and learn how to rely on others and healthily cope with his mental struggles really connected with me. I also find the continuity impressive in that his personality genuinely grows throughout each entry.

Gameplay-wise, I like that it switched up the MMBN style. There were a lot of missteps, but there was a decent amount of innovation to make the transition to 1 row feel fresh and not limiting. The net felt much more alive than some of the BN games but ultimately wasn't as strong of a world due to being an overlay of the real world.

The second game went on to hurt the series rather than improve it in the writing department especially, and then the third was almost perfection. The series was unfortunately cancelled right after. I would kill to see a revival after the team really hit it home with the third game.