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Bowser's Fury
2021
This really felt like Mario unburdened by many of the franchise chains - so in that sense, it's even more similar to Breath of the Wild than the lighthouse-tower comparisons would have you think.
No boot-outs. No level select. No game overs. Just pick up the game and play. As a test concept, it's brilliant. It does have limitations - even with the introduction of snow and fire islands, it's all got that endless ocean/tropical vibe going on. We don't even have a satisfying underground theme or series of challenges.
Plessie is a welcome companion, but it does kind of beg the question of what this would be like with other world-traversal options, including Yoshi and warp pipes. Dare we imagine traveling this open world with a wing cap? Would've been magical.
Still a great opportunity to open the door to more organic "the world is yours" Mario in the future. I really liked my short time with Bower's Fury, which I assume is also the sequel to Mario Sunshine and part of an ongoing commentary on climate change.
No boot-outs. No level select. No game overs. Just pick up the game and play. As a test concept, it's brilliant. It does have limitations - even with the introduction of snow and fire islands, it's all got that endless ocean/tropical vibe going on. We don't even have a satisfying underground theme or series of challenges.
Plessie is a welcome companion, but it does kind of beg the question of what this would be like with other world-traversal options, including Yoshi and warp pipes. Dare we imagine traveling this open world with a wing cap? Would've been magical.
Still a great opportunity to open the door to more organic "the world is yours" Mario in the future. I really liked my short time with Bower's Fury, which I assume is also the sequel to Mario Sunshine and part of an ongoing commentary on climate change.
Demon's Souls
2020
I've only ever played Bloodborne before in the Soulsborne series, and after starting this my immediate reaction was just how little the developers have evolved these games, at least from 2009-2015. Obviously that's not this games fault since it was the first of the kind. To be fair though this game does make shields useful which was nice, even though they become a bit useless near the end (at least the shield I was using, I never got a chance to use a huge one because my equipment limit wouldn't allow it).
For the first 2 or 3 hours of this game I was frustrated to no end, the lack of ability to level up before beating the first boss was infuriating when you got stuck on a section because there was no way to actually improve, and with each run your healing items would keep decreasing making it harder and harder. It didn't help that I chose what is apparently the worst starting class without realising. But once I beat the boss and the game opened up, I started enjoying it. There were times I had fun, there were times I enjoyed the challenge, and there were times I was angry. But as I kept playing the flaws started seeping through and it felt like with every new obstacle I came to resent the game more and more.
Anyway Demon's Souls is at its best when you're fighting one on one, and, funnily enough, in the boss fights. The game is at its worst almost every other time. I think it'll just be easier to give a full list of things I didn't like about the game:
-Combat is absolutely not suited for fighting multiple enemies at once. While using your chance to attack one enemy (and it's a pretty rare chance in later enemies), the other 5 enemies around you will be on your ass before your first sword swing animation has hit. Plus there's an amount of time after performing a parry or backstab where your character is finishing their animation but you can still be attacked. So... even when you get rewarded for a perfect parry the game still punishes you. It's also possible to be stunlocked after getting hit once, as then the next enemy will hit you and stun you, and while he recovers from his animation another enemy will do it and so on. I'm sure there are builds that can tackle multiple enemies, but it feels like you'd need advance knowledge of the games mechanics, weapons and spells to plan for that.
-Many of the locations aren't suitable for fighting, particular on stairs and bridges where you have no room to roll. And god help you if you're somewhere with no barriers. I remember trying to get to one specific boss room, but it was up a huge flight of stairs with no barriers, and half way up was a magician that had this AOE blast spell that would just knock you off to your death every time. It killed me more than the boss ever could.
-The game is VERY unintuitive and doesn't explain anything. In many cases this can be as little as missing out on a ton of items and content because the thing you need to do is so obscure you'd never work it out without looking it up (swapping items with the crow, wearing a specific outfit to unlock some stairs). But in some cases the game progress is even blocked behind a specific thing you need to do that is never told to you, such as a boss that will infinitely respawn if you don't kill a specific NPC first. Even the world and character tendency, something the entire game is built around and has an entire tab for in the menu, goes unexplained in-game.
-The above also applies to the level design, it's not unusual for the game to introduce new enemy types, or stage hazards in a non-safe environment, leaving you no time to work out what they can do and how to counter it.
-Just like Bloodborne (and I assume Dark Souls), other players can come into your world and just kill you. It once happened to me right after beating a boss and before I could go to the nexus, so basically I lost some world tendency without being able to do anything about it. A mechanic that lets uninvited players come and grief you just sucks ass.
-Just like Bloodborne the visuals are dull. It's just dark grey colours everywhere. They do have some pretty cool location concepts, such as mines and a prison, but it all just looks so bland in practice. Level layouts themselves were a mixed bag. Sometimes they were pretty good and offered shortcuts to reward the player for getting through them, or otherwise were a straight line to the boss but offered side-routes for exploration. Other times they were just a labyrinth where everything looked the same and if you died there was no fast way to get back to where you were (such as the tunnels or Valley of Defilement). You just generally spend waaaaaay too much time retreading the same parts over and over.
-There's this very annoying thing where I'd try to hit an enemy with the usual attack button but he'd just nudge the enemy instead. I never managed to figure out what caused this, even after looking it up, and everytime it happened it just screwed me over.
-The non-linearity of levels creates an incredibly unbalanced difficulty curve. I did 1-1, 1-2, then 2-1, 2-2 and 2-3, then went back to 1-3. After beating 1-3, the first stage of each remaining world was incredibly easy to the point where I'd often just make it to the boss and beat it in a single try. But then the second stage of each world would be a mix of enemies I could easily tank and big enemies that could kill me in 2 shots (and then the boss in x-2 would always be super easy and would do less damage than the big mooks for some reason?). When you let the player do stages in any order you really aren't able to balance the game with their progression.
-The swamp stage exists. I think that's my least favourite stage from any video game ever.
-And then there's the last thing that pissed me off. I was debating whether to give the game a 2 or a 2.5 for a while, but then I fought the 1-4 boss and I saw the message "Soul level drained". There's a boss that can literally undo your progress - multiple hours of your life - and you don't even get the levels back if you die, meaning that the boss you just lost to will now be even harder because you've just lost some levels.
-Equipment weight limit means you realistically only have 50% of what it says you have if you want to have any kind of chance. Also the world tendency thing, if you wanna do it right, means playing the game with 50% health the whole way through.
Basically I just don't like this game because it's boring to look at and its difficulty comes from ignoring game design 101; creating battles that are massively against the players odds by making the enemies attack much faster and stronger than you ever could. Throwing a thousand newb death traps everywhere so that players will often have to spend their time trekking back to their old spot, with the huge risk of losing their souls if they die on the way. Putting battles on stages that go against your defense mechanics, like making rolling impossible, making enemies that can't be blocked by a shield (and getting hit will stun you and turn your stamina to 0).
Weirdly even though Bloodborne is the technically harder game (I can at least say I never needed a co-op partner to beat any of this games bosses), this one felt way more frustrating with its unfairness.
There are definitely times when the game hits the sweet spot of being hard without just punching the player in the face and pissing on their corpse, but damn are they overshadowed.
For the first 2 or 3 hours of this game I was frustrated to no end, the lack of ability to level up before beating the first boss was infuriating when you got stuck on a section because there was no way to actually improve, and with each run your healing items would keep decreasing making it harder and harder. It didn't help that I chose what is apparently the worst starting class without realising. But once I beat the boss and the game opened up, I started enjoying it. There were times I had fun, there were times I enjoyed the challenge, and there were times I was angry. But as I kept playing the flaws started seeping through and it felt like with every new obstacle I came to resent the game more and more.
Anyway Demon's Souls is at its best when you're fighting one on one, and, funnily enough, in the boss fights. The game is at its worst almost every other time. I think it'll just be easier to give a full list of things I didn't like about the game:
-Combat is absolutely not suited for fighting multiple enemies at once. While using your chance to attack one enemy (and it's a pretty rare chance in later enemies), the other 5 enemies around you will be on your ass before your first sword swing animation has hit. Plus there's an amount of time after performing a parry or backstab where your character is finishing their animation but you can still be attacked. So... even when you get rewarded for a perfect parry the game still punishes you. It's also possible to be stunlocked after getting hit once, as then the next enemy will hit you and stun you, and while he recovers from his animation another enemy will do it and so on. I'm sure there are builds that can tackle multiple enemies, but it feels like you'd need advance knowledge of the games mechanics, weapons and spells to plan for that.
-Many of the locations aren't suitable for fighting, particular on stairs and bridges where you have no room to roll. And god help you if you're somewhere with no barriers. I remember trying to get to one specific boss room, but it was up a huge flight of stairs with no barriers, and half way up was a magician that had this AOE blast spell that would just knock you off to your death every time. It killed me more than the boss ever could.
-The game is VERY unintuitive and doesn't explain anything. In many cases this can be as little as missing out on a ton of items and content because the thing you need to do is so obscure you'd never work it out without looking it up (swapping items with the crow, wearing a specific outfit to unlock some stairs). But in some cases the game progress is even blocked behind a specific thing you need to do that is never told to you, such as a boss that will infinitely respawn if you don't kill a specific NPC first. Even the world and character tendency, something the entire game is built around and has an entire tab for in the menu, goes unexplained in-game.
-The above also applies to the level design, it's not unusual for the game to introduce new enemy types, or stage hazards in a non-safe environment, leaving you no time to work out what they can do and how to counter it.
-Just like Bloodborne (and I assume Dark Souls), other players can come into your world and just kill you. It once happened to me right after beating a boss and before I could go to the nexus, so basically I lost some world tendency without being able to do anything about it. A mechanic that lets uninvited players come and grief you just sucks ass.
-Just like Bloodborne the visuals are dull. It's just dark grey colours everywhere. They do have some pretty cool location concepts, such as mines and a prison, but it all just looks so bland in practice. Level layouts themselves were a mixed bag. Sometimes they were pretty good and offered shortcuts to reward the player for getting through them, or otherwise were a straight line to the boss but offered side-routes for exploration. Other times they were just a labyrinth where everything looked the same and if you died there was no fast way to get back to where you were (such as the tunnels or Valley of Defilement). You just generally spend waaaaaay too much time retreading the same parts over and over.
-There's this very annoying thing where I'd try to hit an enemy with the usual attack button but he'd just nudge the enemy instead. I never managed to figure out what caused this, even after looking it up, and everytime it happened it just screwed me over.
-The non-linearity of levels creates an incredibly unbalanced difficulty curve. I did 1-1, 1-2, then 2-1, 2-2 and 2-3, then went back to 1-3. After beating 1-3, the first stage of each remaining world was incredibly easy to the point where I'd often just make it to the boss and beat it in a single try. But then the second stage of each world would be a mix of enemies I could easily tank and big enemies that could kill me in 2 shots (and then the boss in x-2 would always be super easy and would do less damage than the big mooks for some reason?). When you let the player do stages in any order you really aren't able to balance the game with their progression.
-The swamp stage exists. I think that's my least favourite stage from any video game ever.
-And then there's the last thing that pissed me off. I was debating whether to give the game a 2 or a 2.5 for a while, but then I fought the 1-4 boss and I saw the message "Soul level drained". There's a boss that can literally undo your progress - multiple hours of your life - and you don't even get the levels back if you die, meaning that the boss you just lost to will now be even harder because you've just lost some levels.
-Equipment weight limit means you realistically only have 50% of what it says you have if you want to have any kind of chance. Also the world tendency thing, if you wanna do it right, means playing the game with 50% health the whole way through.
Basically I just don't like this game because it's boring to look at and its difficulty comes from ignoring game design 101; creating battles that are massively against the players odds by making the enemies attack much faster and stronger than you ever could. Throwing a thousand newb death traps everywhere so that players will often have to spend their time trekking back to their old spot, with the huge risk of losing their souls if they die on the way. Putting battles on stages that go against your defense mechanics, like making rolling impossible, making enemies that can't be blocked by a shield (and getting hit will stun you and turn your stamina to 0).
Weirdly even though Bloodborne is the technically harder game (I can at least say I never needed a co-op partner to beat any of this games bosses), this one felt way more frustrating with its unfairness.
There are definitely times when the game hits the sweet spot of being hard without just punching the player in the face and pissing on their corpse, but damn are they overshadowed.
Bowser's Fury
2021
Playing this in short bursts during downtime at work was a really sweet little treat. Logging in at lunchtime and seeing all my fellow home-working pals pop up around the same time with "ONLINE: SUPER MARIO 3D WORLD + BOWSER'S FURY" notifications was a heartwarming bit of parasocial friendship - it's nice to think of a bunch worn-down Microsoft Teams Miners were getting an injection of joy in the form of Mario flapping his stupid happy little legs in the Tanooki Suit to the jaunty tunes of Pounce Bounce Isle.
I think despite the fact we've all come to take the Nintendo Switch for granted, Nintendo themselves are still actively thinking about the docked/handheld interplay of the console - Bowser's Fury has a gameplay loop that works very similar to Breath of the Wild, where you can leave Mario sitting anywhere in the world when you hit the power button and still have a reasonable chance of standing right next to a new adventure or challenge when the screen next comes back on - or at least see (and quickly get to) the next bit of fun on the literal horizon. No loading in and out of a redundant SMB3 menu or watching of 'lets a go!' animations for the thirtieth time - everything in the game zips right by.
Much has been made of the 'continuous world' idea here, and I think Nintendo did a skilful job of making 3D World Mario's toolkit into something briskly mobile without really changing anything about that game's mechanics - it all just seems to be down to very generous and thoughtful placement of that game's power-set. There may be a little too much time spent wearing the propellor box, but those ad-hoc sequences where you come leaping off Plessie at 80mph, transform into a cat to scale the wall you're about to crash into and then shift to a tanooki to take a quick shortcut feel very very very good.
The only complaints I can really make about this are things that are decidedly anti-Mario in ethos - it's aliased to shit and the frames chug like hell during the (very impressive) Furious Bowser sequences (though weirdly these issues are far less pronounced in handheld mode - again suggesting that Nintendo still give a real shit about how handheld players enjoy games on their console), but I feel weirdly... guilty? about pointing out dry technical flaws in a game where Super Mario is running about having the time of his life. I just wanna join him in the fun instead of counting the grains of polygon around his cap.
I think despite the fact we've all come to take the Nintendo Switch for granted, Nintendo themselves are still actively thinking about the docked/handheld interplay of the console - Bowser's Fury has a gameplay loop that works very similar to Breath of the Wild, where you can leave Mario sitting anywhere in the world when you hit the power button and still have a reasonable chance of standing right next to a new adventure or challenge when the screen next comes back on - or at least see (and quickly get to) the next bit of fun on the literal horizon. No loading in and out of a redundant SMB3 menu or watching of 'lets a go!' animations for the thirtieth time - everything in the game zips right by.
Much has been made of the 'continuous world' idea here, and I think Nintendo did a skilful job of making 3D World Mario's toolkit into something briskly mobile without really changing anything about that game's mechanics - it all just seems to be down to very generous and thoughtful placement of that game's power-set. There may be a little too much time spent wearing the propellor box, but those ad-hoc sequences where you come leaping off Plessie at 80mph, transform into a cat to scale the wall you're about to crash into and then shift to a tanooki to take a quick shortcut feel very very very good.
The only complaints I can really make about this are things that are decidedly anti-Mario in ethos - it's aliased to shit and the frames chug like hell during the (very impressive) Furious Bowser sequences (though weirdly these issues are far less pronounced in handheld mode - again suggesting that Nintendo still give a real shit about how handheld players enjoy games on their console), but I feel weirdly... guilty? about pointing out dry technical flaws in a game where Super Mario is running about having the time of his life. I just wanna join him in the fun instead of counting the grains of polygon around his cap.
Super Mario 3D Land
2011
This review contains spoilers
Doesn't stand out very well anymore since the whole concept of being a 3D Mario game that uses 2D Mario level structure has been done in the exact same way, but better, in 3D World. But it's still a Mario game and as such has the pure fun, polish and joy that comes with it.
It could benefit from a few more unique level themes though. Too many grass levels, snow levels, ghost houses etc. There's definitely a few that stand out, like the blocks that vanish in time with the music, the clock/cog level, and the buzzsaw level.
The bosses might be the weakest aspect of the game. There's a grand total of 3 that are reused for all 8 worlds (or 16 counting special worlds). Boom Boom and Pom Pom especially are pathetically easy. Bowser himself does actually do a pretty good job at transitioning his classic 2D battles on the bridge into a 3D design, but again, it's reused too much. The final Bowser fight on the other hand stood out a lot more, acting as a kind of platforming/boss hybird.
I also like that after beating the last boss you unlock an entire hard mode which can be either more enemies, a strict time limit, variations on the stage hazards, or a shadow Mario that follows your movements allowing you no rest. But what's kinda weird is that it doesn't just use the same levels once and make them harder, some stages get reused what feels like 3 times, which means others don't get a hard variant at all.
And the reward for 100%ing the game is a level to challenge even veteran Mario players, something that is standard for all Mario games now, but at the time was pretty new. For the most famous example of a casual series, Mario games can really throw some tough stuff at you if you unlock it.
Basically it's a 2D Mario in 3D. It's fun.
It could benefit from a few more unique level themes though. Too many grass levels, snow levels, ghost houses etc. There's definitely a few that stand out, like the blocks that vanish in time with the music, the clock/cog level, and the buzzsaw level.
The bosses might be the weakest aspect of the game. There's a grand total of 3 that are reused for all 8 worlds (or 16 counting special worlds). Boom Boom and Pom Pom especially are pathetically easy. Bowser himself does actually do a pretty good job at transitioning his classic 2D battles on the bridge into a 3D design, but again, it's reused too much. The final Bowser fight on the other hand stood out a lot more, acting as a kind of platforming/boss hybird.
I also like that after beating the last boss you unlock an entire hard mode which can be either more enemies, a strict time limit, variations on the stage hazards, or a shadow Mario that follows your movements allowing you no rest. But what's kinda weird is that it doesn't just use the same levels once and make them harder, some stages get reused what feels like 3 times, which means others don't get a hard variant at all.
And the reward for 100%ing the game is a level to challenge even veteran Mario players, something that is standard for all Mario games now, but at the time was pretty new. For the most famous example of a casual series, Mario games can really throw some tough stuff at you if you unlock it.
Basically it's a 2D Mario in 3D. It's fun.
Astro's Playroom
2020
A truly wonderful platformer that is both a museum of PlayStation artefacts from across the last 25 years, as well as the best argument for the DualSense controller currently on the market. If you've bought a PS5, absolutely DO NOT miss this. It is just incredible.
Banjo-Kazooie
1998
Banjo-Kazooie is the platonic ideal of a video game to me; all throughout its assortment of colorful levels are opportunities to see and learn new control modes and special moves for its title characters to interact with the game world, either asking you to use them skillfully or cleverly to earn the next jigsaw piece. It can sometimes be unclear what to do next, and a game with this level of variety is obviously not going to be 100% perfect (ah, a refreshing game of Concentration awaits around the corner), but despite those shortcomings, Banjo-Kazooie is nevertheless so well-paced and courteously laid out that it maintains its appeal where many other 3D platformers fall short. Loads of secrets, too!
Halo 4
2012
Halo 4 feels a lot like 343 Industries trying to be Bungie and coming close. Both to its benefit and its detriment the game feels a lot like 3/Reach, albeit modernized in some respects. Sprint, cinematic gameplay moments (L to crawl), and standard late 7th-early 8th generation mission archetypes are all 343 really adds to Bungie's foundation. In some respects it works, the gunplay feels great, but in others it rings hollow. There's the prefunctory escape sequence, the Scorpion sequence, etc. There's a definite tension between 343 wanting to replicate Bungie's formula and reclaim (hehe) the series for itself. But, often 4 feels planted in another team's design.
Then, the second half of the game hits. While the Didact is a fairly underdeveloped character, the plot and its cinematic qualities are excellent. Cortana's descent into Rampancy is legitimately touching. The game comes more into its own in terms of level design and gameplay concepts too, focusing on the Promethians. It's fun to mow down Covenant, but the Promethians are 343's baby and they're pretty engaging combatants. Their arsenal is pretty much reskinned UNSC weaponry, which is disappointing, but as a pseudo-replacement for the Flood, they're great.
On the whole, it took a while to warm up to Halo 4, but then I really started to enjoy it for the game it is, not the game it could've been had Bungie made it. It feels like 343 gains that confidence too in the second half, and the end result is a pretty good, bordering on great sci-fi shooter. I'm excited to play 5 and feel 343 settle more into its enhanced mobility, ADS-focused gameplay and fresh narrative. While I understand people wanted 5 to feel more like classic Halo, I think 4 is at its best when it is moving forward, instead of looking back. I'm personally excited to see that doubled-down on.
Then, the second half of the game hits. While the Didact is a fairly underdeveloped character, the plot and its cinematic qualities are excellent. Cortana's descent into Rampancy is legitimately touching. The game comes more into its own in terms of level design and gameplay concepts too, focusing on the Promethians. It's fun to mow down Covenant, but the Promethians are 343's baby and they're pretty engaging combatants. Their arsenal is pretty much reskinned UNSC weaponry, which is disappointing, but as a pseudo-replacement for the Flood, they're great.
On the whole, it took a while to warm up to Halo 4, but then I really started to enjoy it for the game it is, not the game it could've been had Bungie made it. It feels like 343 gains that confidence too in the second half, and the end result is a pretty good, bordering on great sci-fi shooter. I'm excited to play 5 and feel 343 settle more into its enhanced mobility, ADS-focused gameplay and fresh narrative. While I understand people wanted 5 to feel more like classic Halo, I think 4 is at its best when it is moving forward, instead of looking back. I'm personally excited to see that doubled-down on.
Mafia III
2016
While I completely understand and even agree with the complaints of this games repetitive nature, I never found myself not having a good time with it. Just rolling through New Bordeaux with a youtube video on in the background made for some of the most fun evenings I've had with a game in a while. The characters were quite fun too and I truly think it earned it's ending.
(You can refer to the plethora of negative reviews across the internet to see the things I didn't like. I just wanted to say some nice things about this game for a change)
(You can refer to the plethora of negative reviews across the internet to see the things I didn't like. I just wanted to say some nice things about this game for a change)
Hitman 3
2021
Didn't care much for the story, but the gameplay is really great. Even though the formula gets repetitive, the core mechanics are solid enough that it remains fun till the end.
Worth mentioning that I've played all the Hitman games, and so there was some nostalgia associated with this too.
Worth mentioning that I've played all the Hitman games, and so there was some nostalgia associated with this too.
Black Mesa
2015
Black Mesa is in my mind, the only way to play Half-Life 1 in 2021. There's really no use to play the original other than for historical context. While I still am not a huge fan of HL1/BM's level design in the later half (even with the redone Xen levels), I can't deny that this is an astounding feat of indie development and possibly the best full-on remake ever.
Spec Ops: The Line
2012
I finished Spec Ops: The Line a few hours ago and the game blew my mind. The story of the game was such a surprise and was extremely well written. The campaign was really short and only clocked in around 6 hours, but it was great. If you've read the book Heart of Darkness or watched the film Apocalypse Now (which you should) you may find this game very familiar with its plot, but has its own spin and obviously just take inspiration. I really don't want to spoil anything, but don't pass this off as a generic modern military shooter. It's more than that. The gameplay is honestly pretty mediocre and average. It's probably the weakest part of the game, but that doesn't mean it can't be fun sometimes. I'd highly recommend this game, but only get it when it's one sale. It's a short campaign with an amazing story. Also, stay FAR away from the multiplayer. 8/10.
Adventures of Lolo
1989
It’s a fun puzzle game that due to its genre hasn’t aged nearly as badly as some other NES games. Unfortunately it’s just not my thing for anything more than light entertainment. I did enjoy the game, completed it fully, and found it very rewarding to finally figure out a tough puzzle, just not enough to grip me.
I have a couple of complaints about the game regardless though. The first is that the game uses a half-square based grid instead of a full square one. Admitedly this does lead to some outside the box thinking in later puzzles, but it also results in way too many slight missteps that result in having to reset an entire level because you pushed a block 1/2 a square too far, or you missed a turn while being chased (or you could just use the Switch's rewind feature but that would be cheating and I would never do that 👀).
Another compliant is that things don't always seem to work consistently. For example, you can turn enemies into eggs, push them into water and ride on them. But the amount of time they spend before sinking, even with enemies of the same species, differs massively. On one stage I pushed an enemy into the water and it sunk straight away. I get that it's to prevent sequence breaking and make sure you do the puzzles in the exact right way, but it's very counter-intuitive for the player.
But those didn't ruin the game for me, just led to some frustrating moments, and the former one even benefited the game in a couple of cases.
I have a couple of complaints about the game regardless though. The first is that the game uses a half-square based grid instead of a full square one. Admitedly this does lead to some outside the box thinking in later puzzles, but it also results in way too many slight missteps that result in having to reset an entire level because you pushed a block 1/2 a square too far, or you missed a turn while being chased (or you could just use the Switch's rewind feature but that would be cheating and I would never do that 👀).
Another compliant is that things don't always seem to work consistently. For example, you can turn enemies into eggs, push them into water and ride on them. But the amount of time they spend before sinking, even with enemies of the same species, differs massively. On one stage I pushed an enemy into the water and it sunk straight away. I get that it's to prevent sequence breaking and make sure you do the puzzles in the exact right way, but it's very counter-intuitive for the player.
But those didn't ruin the game for me, just led to some frustrating moments, and the former one even benefited the game in a couple of cases.
Hollow Knight
2017
I had a relatively unique experience with Hollow Knight, given its trajectory and explosive popularity. I played it on the day of release with next to zero expectations. Despite being a Kickstarter backer, I hadn't read a single update in the roughly three years since the campaign launched, so late February 2017 arrived and I figured I should at least try it.
I spent two hours thinking it's nice. Pleasant. Well made, sure, impressive even! Presumably tiny budget, absolutely tiny team, they're doing a lot with a little. As the hours pass, I start wondering when exactly I'll stop being impressed. There reasonably shouldn't be this much game. So much of it shouldn't be this unreasonably good.
There's an alarming number of soft thresholds where your attention is tested. Not directly, or loudly, but it becomes increasingly clear that Team Cherry crafted a world—and tools to investigate, engage—that welcomes scrutiny, and stands alongside the best in the medium. I'd refer to FromSoftware, but the comparison is approaching threadbare at this point.
I came back this year to finally try the free updates, and it holds up. Easily. I consider myself lucky to have had an unburdened, uninformed first experience, but the game can take a punch. Expectation is a challenge, and Hollow Knight is ready for it.
I spent two hours thinking it's nice. Pleasant. Well made, sure, impressive even! Presumably tiny budget, absolutely tiny team, they're doing a lot with a little. As the hours pass, I start wondering when exactly I'll stop being impressed. There reasonably shouldn't be this much game. So much of it shouldn't be this unreasonably good.
There's an alarming number of soft thresholds where your attention is tested. Not directly, or loudly, but it becomes increasingly clear that Team Cherry crafted a world—and tools to investigate, engage—that welcomes scrutiny, and stands alongside the best in the medium. I'd refer to FromSoftware, but the comparison is approaching threadbare at this point.
I came back this year to finally try the free updates, and it holds up. Easily. I consider myself lucky to have had an unburdened, uninformed first experience, but the game can take a punch. Expectation is a challenge, and Hollow Knight is ready for it.
Hitman 2
2018
A little repetitive, but the mission designs are interesting, and its an improvement over the first one.
SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD: THE GAME REVIEW
Note: I give spoiler warnings for spoilers.
It sucks when something you devoted time to ends up being bad, even if you anticipated little from it. It's much worse to set high expectations, only for whatever it is to turn out mediocre.
I'd been looking forward to Scott Pilgrim's complete edition since the moment I found out about it. I've never read the comics, but the movie is one of my favorites; the writing is chock full of comedic genius and memorable moments, the visual effects are fun, and the characters are delightful. On top of that adoration for 'vs the World', the game has had the lost media status for years, which fascinated me further and made its re-release feel special. I rarely buy any title on launch - hell, I rarely buy them full price at all - but because of those biases, I couldn't help myself here.
Maybe that influenced my opinion a bit, too. When I do spend the money, it's because I really believe I'll enjoy something. This just didn't turn out to be a right call, unfortunately, even if it was only 15 dollars. I wanted to love it, but it lacks most of what made the movie so amazing - as well as what makes beat 'em ups fun. I suppose it's a lesson learned in setting the bar too high beforehand.
That's not to say it's all bad, of course. There's some strong direction with the art and music, which is what manages to carry the whole thing across the finish line. Still, it fails in so many other areas that it becomes difficult to recommend to anyone, even hardcore fans of the franchise as a whole.
It's important to note before going any further that the developers faced huge time constraints and budget cuts, which I absolutely believe were factors in the final product (both the main game and the DLCs.) If you take the time to examine it, it's easy to see that what we got was a skeleton of what the team really hoped to make. So many aspects are lackluster at best, and downright bad at worst - the environments, the movesets, the story, the worldbuilding. I've found reports of a lot of awesome cut content, such as mid/side bosses (Crash and the Boys, Winifred Hailey) and chase sequences (one on a beach before Roxie's fight, and one on skateboards after Lucas'.) There was even supposed to be a Montreal DLC where you could play as Envy, Lynette, and Todd.
It's honestly depressing to imagine 'what could have been' if the devs were given more freedom. There were a lot of fantastic ideas that had to be scrapped - probably more than we'll ever know about - and I'll forever wish we could've gotten THAT instead.
(Another small note, I think playthroughs are generally much more fun with the online multiplayer. However, connections are extremely unreliable. I was often dropped almost immediately. In a few other cases, I had to quit because of glitches that made it unplayable.)
SHORT REVIEW
Visuals: 4/5
Sound: 4.5/5
Story: 1.5/5
Gameplay: 2/5
Worldbuilding: 3/5
Achievements (Does not count toward overall score.): 2/5
Overall game score: 3/5
IN-DEPTH REVIEW
Visuals:
There's definitely a nice visual style here. The pixel art is charming, and it manages to retain the feel of the comics while simultaneously putting a fresh spin on it. This applies even more-so to the little story portions shown after bossfights.
Ultimately, I do think there are better-looking pixel games, but what's here is still really good. The character designs are neat, for the most part (even if that's mostly contributable to the comics.) The overworld map looks nice. The backgrounds are phenomenal. Couple all of that with the awesome animations, and you have a very solid product in this regard.
Speaking of the animations, one of my favorite parts of playing was seeing each character's unique spin on the shared attacks. Even if they're the same moveset at their core, it's fun that everyone's personalities and fighting styles were put into them.
However, that brings me to my first complaint; the Wallace and Knives DLCs are almost entirely made up of reused resources from Stephen and Kim, respectively. This leaves them with very little of their own characterization. There are occasionally reused models/animations in the base game, too - but I can excuse it more there, since it's not often immediately noticeable. It's much less forgivable when it's not only content people were originally asked to pay extra for, but it's specifically meant to be extra playable characters... and those playable characters are basically just reskinned versions of ones you already have! Thankfully, both Knives and Wallace (as well as the online mode, which was originally bundled with Wallace) come with this version. I definitely do not think it would've been worth it otherwise.
It's a pretty small complaint, but I also hate the shop screens. They seem to be designed as counter-intuitively as possible. It's very inconvenient.
My biggest issue with the visual design, though, is the strangely objectifying approach the devs took to a lot of the females. It's difficult not to notice how excessively bouncy nearly all of the women's chests are. A woman will simply move around idly, and her chest will shake with enough force to kill someone. On top of that, Ramona isn't wearing any pants for some inconceivable reason. It's reportedly her 'bikini outfit' from the comics, but even if that's true... WHY? It's wintertime in the game! She has so many cool looks they could have chosen from, but they chose the most impractical one - presumably just so they could sexualize her more!
Kim also sports a ridiculously short skirt with no tights. Way worse than this, though, is that because Knives - a 17 year old - is just a reskinned Kim, she has the "chest" issue in her victory animation. I think they could have taken the time to make one more to avoid that.
But possibly the worst fault in this regard is that Kim's special move is her kissing Knives (like they drunkenly did in the comics.) [SPOILERS] While this is a story issue and not visual, it's also notable in this discussion that Kim's ending is the two getting together. It's presumably meant as a joke, but it's still gross. [SPOILER ENDING] But most egregious is that, in the credits, game screenshots are shown with little boxes next to each character (that display both their name and a comment.) One is shown of these two kissing, and Kim's box says 'Rating: Hot!', while Knives' says '17 years old. Rating: x2 hot!' Good lord, come on, she's a minor. That's disgusting and inexcusable.
I know a lot of people will disagree with me taking such issue here, but I do! It was simultaneously very uncomfortable and very disappointing. On the whole, it's a visually striking product; it's just unfortunate that it falls into the trap of typical media misogyny.
Overall, 4/5.
Sound:
The soundtrack is undeniably one of the best things here, if not the best. Just like the art, the music fits the spirit of the comics perfectly. The 8bit tunes mixed with rock instrumentals add up to something truly wonderful; it combines the band and video game themes present throughout the entire series in a really amazing way. Not only that, but it manages to give a lot of personality to something that desperately needs it.
My only issue is that I wish there was a bit more variety. While there are memorable tracks, a few of them run together, given that they often implement identical instruments and style. Even so, they're all exceptionally good, so I can't make too big of a deal of it.
Overall, 4.5/5.
Story:
The game follows the basis of the comic's plot, except that most of the details are left out. Everything is very minimal; there's little character interaction, only a few short 'scenes', and no dialogue at all. Because of that, there's a complete lack of nearly any jokes - even visual. The game ends up missing out on most of the humor (and by extension, the characterization) that plays a huge part in other versions of Scott Pilgrim. It is absolutely detrimental to the experience as a whole.
I do like how there's a unique ending for each character. However, some of them are REALLY bad. [SPOILERS] I think it's particularly important to break down Scott's. In his, Ramona leaves him and he gets back together with his exes... Including Knives. It's implied he's only pretending to be happy, but it's still super weird.
[SPOILERS STILL] This is what I saw on my first playthrough. I had no prior knowledge of the multiple endings; I just thought this was what happened. Even after I found out, I was still appalled. This was the big moment they chose to give their protagonist? One of the most important parts of his arc - at least, in the movie - is maturing enough to realize dating Knives is wrong. They wasted 4-5 hours of my time to give me 20 seconds of this complete and utter shit.
[SPOILERS STILL] I know there will be people who defend this because it's supposed to be a non-canonical joke. However, it's difficult to take it as such when someone has no way of knowing that. I was totally unhappy with this outcome and nearly retired the game because of it. Also, the "it's a joke" excuse can only get you so far - especially when the jokes aren't even funny. The situation is treated comedically in the movie too, but it's executed well. All of the people around Scott recognize and openly acknowledge that his dating a highschooler is wrong, even if they're going about it in a funny way. The humor is at his expense, not in support of him. None of that is here at all. In fact, sexualization of Knives is treated as a good thing multiple times.
[SPOILERS STILL] I've already mentioned Kim's ending, too, and why I dislike it. Wallace's is also pretty bad, though in a different way. Each conclusion has a picture, with a few sentences summarizing what happens after you defeat Gideon... Except that they didn't give Wallace any summary at all. He only has a piece of art and nothing else. You guys really couldn't even take the time to write one more paragraph? Ugh. [SPOILER ENDING]
There are some neat moments, but only a few. If I'd never seen the movie, and only played the game, I probably would have forgotten the plot. Thankfully, the other iterations have made the story so iconic that this one is helped along slightly.
Overall, 1.5/5.
Gameplay:
The fighting itself is okay. The moves all feel pretty good, and there's a nice bit of variety even though they're all straightforward. I also love that the inputs are simplistic and easy to remember - that's a big plus for me.
When you're put up against either giant waves of enemies, or a few particularly tough ones, the game is pretty enjoyable. There's strategy involved then, and you have to be smarter about when you use specific moves. The combat was quickly ruined for me, though, when it became apparent how unbalanced everything was.
Depending on your difficulty selection, the bosses can range from 'very easy' to 'a little less easy'. The devs decided to counter-act this in the worst possible way, too. Before each boss, you are forced to play two or three levels with no breaks in between. Individual levels can take anywhere from ten to twenty minutes - sometimes even longer if it's your first time going through. As a result, you'll most likely be very low on lives by the time you get to the next ex. That means you'll most likely die to them at least once... And you'll be forced to play all of those levels over again.
[SPOILERS] This is pushed to the max in the very last stretch. You do a level, fight a boss, go through a platforming section, fight another boss, do the most difficult level in the game, then finally fight the final boss. There is only one place during all of this to replenish your health, and it's literally right before the last part. You are not given the chance to get any additional lives during any of this, either. [SPOILER END]
Also, by the time you do make it to the bosses, they generally tend to be pretty disappointing. There's no real sense of progression within most of them (minus Matthew.) They often just feel like stronger regular enemies.
I should mention that there are shops scattered throughout where you can replenish your health and willpower, even if most don't offer 1ups. Even then, though, there is no indication pointing you toward them. I honestly didn't discover there were places you could enter for a long time. I went through my entire first playthrough without knowing about or using these, except for in the shopping district (and I still only found out about those from a guide.) It's more of a visual complaint, but I think that this had such a huge effect on my enjoyment of the gameplay that it's worth mentioning here.
And still, despite that ridiculousness, the entire game becomes an absolute cakewalk once you discover the cheats - of which there are two in particular I want to discuss. The first is a sword which deals incredible amounts of ranged damage; it's difficult to turn that down after playing the same levels so many times. The second is an easy way to grind for money; once you enter the code, you die and use up one life for 50 coins. If you have a snack item onhand, that is consumed instead of a life. After maybe half an hour, you'll have at least 600 dollars. This is more than enough to unlock the most valuable shop in the game. After paying 500 to do so, you are given access to both 1ups (up to 9) and stat boosts, all for 4.95 apiece. If you max all of your stats here, you're basically unstoppable. Keep in mind that these cheats are given to you with no penalty, not even an achievement lock.
That shop is a core issue in and of itself, too. Let's say that instead of using cheats, you save up to unlock it organically... By the time you get enough, you very well could be 3/4ths of the way through the entire game, making it almost useless at that point. If you're NOT far in, it's most likely because you're struggling to progress - which is because you're not spending anything on the other stat boosts made readily available. You'll be stuck grinding in the early levels then, which will extend the game's playtime and might ruin any fun you could otherwise get from the experience.
I do like the RPG elements (such as the stats and the money system) in theory. I just don't feel like they work here, though. The grinding doesn't work because the combat is too repetitive to warrant it. The level system doesn't work because the progression is awful (I was level 12/16 before I beat the first boss in my last playthrough, keeping in mind that I replayed the first world a few times.) The stats don't work because they'll make you overpowered with only a few purchases. Everything is just poorly thought out in my eyes. It's all individual factors that add up to the entire game feeling unbalanced.
That's not to say that the RPG stuff should've been cut. I think the game would be much more bland without them. I just wish more time had went into making them actually good.
By my last playthrough, I had to make my own fun by denying myself cheats and trying to play in a way that was optimized to the mechanics. Even then, there were points where I'd feel like I was cheating only by using the tools readily available to me. I'd beat down a boss with a weapon and think to myself," This is too easy, I'm getting in a million hits right now," and I'd end up throwing the weapon away to try to make it an equal fight. That's how you know you've failed on a fundamental level.
On top of all of that, there's really no point in there being such a wide array of playable characters here. As I've briefly mentioned, all of them have identical movesets, minus one or two special attacks. The unique animations can only get you so far - especially when your DLC characters largely don't have even that. This really hurts the replay value for me.
I do like how a lot of the enemies have their own unique attacks. I didn't even notice that until one of my later playthroughs. For example, one enemy does a chicken taunt which drains your willpower. Another is a thief who knocks some of your money out of you. That's cool.
There is some solid foundation in all of this. However, all of it together just doesn't add up to great gameplay. Nothing fits like it should. While it can be fun at times, the wheels start to fall off at some point or another. I think I could see myself picking this up and enjoying it for about 20 minutes every few months. I probably won't be coming back to it for any extended amount of time, though.
Overall, 2/5.
Worldbuilding:
There is often a distinct void of personality here. A lot of the fun fantasy aspects of Scott Pilgrim's world are kind of shrugged off; the loss of the plot and humor are both big factors in this. I still think they could have done more in the worldbuilding though, even without either of those things.
There is some pretty nice environmental design. The locations are great, in big part thanks to the art and music.
There's quite a bit of references to other video games, too. While I don't think taking stuff from other things makes your thing good, it is undeniably fun to see - and it fits Scott Pilgrim really well.
One other cool thing is that a lot of the background NPCs are characters from the comics. As someone who's only seen the movie, I was still able to recognize a few of them. It's a neat little way to fit in people who would have been completely sidelined otherwise.
Overall, 3/5.
Extra Category - Achievements:
I had trouble with achievements glitching out. It happened at least two or three times.
I don't think most of them are that good, or add much to your playthroughs. I dunno, it's not really worth it in my eyes. It just made me stick with the game for a lot longer than I really wanted to.
Overall, 2/5.
Overall game score: 3/5. Scott Pilgrim has great art and music, but fails in nearly every other area. The combat can be fun, but it's ruined by balance issues. The story and worldbuilding are completely lacking, which is a huge disappointment. Time and budget constraints turned what could have been a fantastic game into an average one. I think nostalgia has really blinded people here.
Note: I give spoiler warnings for spoilers.
It sucks when something you devoted time to ends up being bad, even if you anticipated little from it. It's much worse to set high expectations, only for whatever it is to turn out mediocre.
I'd been looking forward to Scott Pilgrim's complete edition since the moment I found out about it. I've never read the comics, but the movie is one of my favorites; the writing is chock full of comedic genius and memorable moments, the visual effects are fun, and the characters are delightful. On top of that adoration for 'vs the World', the game has had the lost media status for years, which fascinated me further and made its re-release feel special. I rarely buy any title on launch - hell, I rarely buy them full price at all - but because of those biases, I couldn't help myself here.
Maybe that influenced my opinion a bit, too. When I do spend the money, it's because I really believe I'll enjoy something. This just didn't turn out to be a right call, unfortunately, even if it was only 15 dollars. I wanted to love it, but it lacks most of what made the movie so amazing - as well as what makes beat 'em ups fun. I suppose it's a lesson learned in setting the bar too high beforehand.
That's not to say it's all bad, of course. There's some strong direction with the art and music, which is what manages to carry the whole thing across the finish line. Still, it fails in so many other areas that it becomes difficult to recommend to anyone, even hardcore fans of the franchise as a whole.
It's important to note before going any further that the developers faced huge time constraints and budget cuts, which I absolutely believe were factors in the final product (both the main game and the DLCs.) If you take the time to examine it, it's easy to see that what we got was a skeleton of what the team really hoped to make. So many aspects are lackluster at best, and downright bad at worst - the environments, the movesets, the story, the worldbuilding. I've found reports of a lot of awesome cut content, such as mid/side bosses (Crash and the Boys, Winifred Hailey) and chase sequences (one on a beach before Roxie's fight, and one on skateboards after Lucas'.) There was even supposed to be a Montreal DLC where you could play as Envy, Lynette, and Todd.
It's honestly depressing to imagine 'what could have been' if the devs were given more freedom. There were a lot of fantastic ideas that had to be scrapped - probably more than we'll ever know about - and I'll forever wish we could've gotten THAT instead.
(Another small note, I think playthroughs are generally much more fun with the online multiplayer. However, connections are extremely unreliable. I was often dropped almost immediately. In a few other cases, I had to quit because of glitches that made it unplayable.)
SHORT REVIEW
Visuals: 4/5
Sound: 4.5/5
Story: 1.5/5
Gameplay: 2/5
Worldbuilding: 3/5
Achievements (Does not count toward overall score.): 2/5
Overall game score: 3/5
IN-DEPTH REVIEW
Visuals:
There's definitely a nice visual style here. The pixel art is charming, and it manages to retain the feel of the comics while simultaneously putting a fresh spin on it. This applies even more-so to the little story portions shown after bossfights.
Ultimately, I do think there are better-looking pixel games, but what's here is still really good. The character designs are neat, for the most part (even if that's mostly contributable to the comics.) The overworld map looks nice. The backgrounds are phenomenal. Couple all of that with the awesome animations, and you have a very solid product in this regard.
Speaking of the animations, one of my favorite parts of playing was seeing each character's unique spin on the shared attacks. Even if they're the same moveset at their core, it's fun that everyone's personalities and fighting styles were put into them.
However, that brings me to my first complaint; the Wallace and Knives DLCs are almost entirely made up of reused resources from Stephen and Kim, respectively. This leaves them with very little of their own characterization. There are occasionally reused models/animations in the base game, too - but I can excuse it more there, since it's not often immediately noticeable. It's much less forgivable when it's not only content people were originally asked to pay extra for, but it's specifically meant to be extra playable characters... and those playable characters are basically just reskinned versions of ones you already have! Thankfully, both Knives and Wallace (as well as the online mode, which was originally bundled with Wallace) come with this version. I definitely do not think it would've been worth it otherwise.
It's a pretty small complaint, but I also hate the shop screens. They seem to be designed as counter-intuitively as possible. It's very inconvenient.
My biggest issue with the visual design, though, is the strangely objectifying approach the devs took to a lot of the females. It's difficult not to notice how excessively bouncy nearly all of the women's chests are. A woman will simply move around idly, and her chest will shake with enough force to kill someone. On top of that, Ramona isn't wearing any pants for some inconceivable reason. It's reportedly her 'bikini outfit' from the comics, but even if that's true... WHY? It's wintertime in the game! She has so many cool looks they could have chosen from, but they chose the most impractical one - presumably just so they could sexualize her more!
Kim also sports a ridiculously short skirt with no tights. Way worse than this, though, is that because Knives - a 17 year old - is just a reskinned Kim, she has the "chest" issue in her victory animation. I think they could have taken the time to make one more to avoid that.
But possibly the worst fault in this regard is that Kim's special move is her kissing Knives (like they drunkenly did in the comics.) [SPOILERS] While this is a story issue and not visual, it's also notable in this discussion that Kim's ending is the two getting together. It's presumably meant as a joke, but it's still gross. [SPOILER ENDING] But most egregious is that, in the credits, game screenshots are shown with little boxes next to each character (that display both their name and a comment.) One is shown of these two kissing, and Kim's box says 'Rating: Hot!', while Knives' says '17 years old. Rating: x2 hot!' Good lord, come on, she's a minor. That's disgusting and inexcusable.
I know a lot of people will disagree with me taking such issue here, but I do! It was simultaneously very uncomfortable and very disappointing. On the whole, it's a visually striking product; it's just unfortunate that it falls into the trap of typical media misogyny.
Overall, 4/5.
Sound:
The soundtrack is undeniably one of the best things here, if not the best. Just like the art, the music fits the spirit of the comics perfectly. The 8bit tunes mixed with rock instrumentals add up to something truly wonderful; it combines the band and video game themes present throughout the entire series in a really amazing way. Not only that, but it manages to give a lot of personality to something that desperately needs it.
My only issue is that I wish there was a bit more variety. While there are memorable tracks, a few of them run together, given that they often implement identical instruments and style. Even so, they're all exceptionally good, so I can't make too big of a deal of it.
Overall, 4.5/5.
Story:
The game follows the basis of the comic's plot, except that most of the details are left out. Everything is very minimal; there's little character interaction, only a few short 'scenes', and no dialogue at all. Because of that, there's a complete lack of nearly any jokes - even visual. The game ends up missing out on most of the humor (and by extension, the characterization) that plays a huge part in other versions of Scott Pilgrim. It is absolutely detrimental to the experience as a whole.
I do like how there's a unique ending for each character. However, some of them are REALLY bad. [SPOILERS] I think it's particularly important to break down Scott's. In his, Ramona leaves him and he gets back together with his exes... Including Knives. It's implied he's only pretending to be happy, but it's still super weird.
[SPOILERS STILL] This is what I saw on my first playthrough. I had no prior knowledge of the multiple endings; I just thought this was what happened. Even after I found out, I was still appalled. This was the big moment they chose to give their protagonist? One of the most important parts of his arc - at least, in the movie - is maturing enough to realize dating Knives is wrong. They wasted 4-5 hours of my time to give me 20 seconds of this complete and utter shit.
[SPOILERS STILL] I know there will be people who defend this because it's supposed to be a non-canonical joke. However, it's difficult to take it as such when someone has no way of knowing that. I was totally unhappy with this outcome and nearly retired the game because of it. Also, the "it's a joke" excuse can only get you so far - especially when the jokes aren't even funny. The situation is treated comedically in the movie too, but it's executed well. All of the people around Scott recognize and openly acknowledge that his dating a highschooler is wrong, even if they're going about it in a funny way. The humor is at his expense, not in support of him. None of that is here at all. In fact, sexualization of Knives is treated as a good thing multiple times.
[SPOILERS STILL] I've already mentioned Kim's ending, too, and why I dislike it. Wallace's is also pretty bad, though in a different way. Each conclusion has a picture, with a few sentences summarizing what happens after you defeat Gideon... Except that they didn't give Wallace any summary at all. He only has a piece of art and nothing else. You guys really couldn't even take the time to write one more paragraph? Ugh. [SPOILER ENDING]
There are some neat moments, but only a few. If I'd never seen the movie, and only played the game, I probably would have forgotten the plot. Thankfully, the other iterations have made the story so iconic that this one is helped along slightly.
Overall, 1.5/5.
Gameplay:
The fighting itself is okay. The moves all feel pretty good, and there's a nice bit of variety even though they're all straightforward. I also love that the inputs are simplistic and easy to remember - that's a big plus for me.
When you're put up against either giant waves of enemies, or a few particularly tough ones, the game is pretty enjoyable. There's strategy involved then, and you have to be smarter about when you use specific moves. The combat was quickly ruined for me, though, when it became apparent how unbalanced everything was.
Depending on your difficulty selection, the bosses can range from 'very easy' to 'a little less easy'. The devs decided to counter-act this in the worst possible way, too. Before each boss, you are forced to play two or three levels with no breaks in between. Individual levels can take anywhere from ten to twenty minutes - sometimes even longer if it's your first time going through. As a result, you'll most likely be very low on lives by the time you get to the next ex. That means you'll most likely die to them at least once... And you'll be forced to play all of those levels over again.
[SPOILERS] This is pushed to the max in the very last stretch. You do a level, fight a boss, go through a platforming section, fight another boss, do the most difficult level in the game, then finally fight the final boss. There is only one place during all of this to replenish your health, and it's literally right before the last part. You are not given the chance to get any additional lives during any of this, either. [SPOILER END]
Also, by the time you do make it to the bosses, they generally tend to be pretty disappointing. There's no real sense of progression within most of them (minus Matthew.) They often just feel like stronger regular enemies.
I should mention that there are shops scattered throughout where you can replenish your health and willpower, even if most don't offer 1ups. Even then, though, there is no indication pointing you toward them. I honestly didn't discover there were places you could enter for a long time. I went through my entire first playthrough without knowing about or using these, except for in the shopping district (and I still only found out about those from a guide.) It's more of a visual complaint, but I think that this had such a huge effect on my enjoyment of the gameplay that it's worth mentioning here.
And still, despite that ridiculousness, the entire game becomes an absolute cakewalk once you discover the cheats - of which there are two in particular I want to discuss. The first is a sword which deals incredible amounts of ranged damage; it's difficult to turn that down after playing the same levels so many times. The second is an easy way to grind for money; once you enter the code, you die and use up one life for 50 coins. If you have a snack item onhand, that is consumed instead of a life. After maybe half an hour, you'll have at least 600 dollars. This is more than enough to unlock the most valuable shop in the game. After paying 500 to do so, you are given access to both 1ups (up to 9) and stat boosts, all for 4.95 apiece. If you max all of your stats here, you're basically unstoppable. Keep in mind that these cheats are given to you with no penalty, not even an achievement lock.
That shop is a core issue in and of itself, too. Let's say that instead of using cheats, you save up to unlock it organically... By the time you get enough, you very well could be 3/4ths of the way through the entire game, making it almost useless at that point. If you're NOT far in, it's most likely because you're struggling to progress - which is because you're not spending anything on the other stat boosts made readily available. You'll be stuck grinding in the early levels then, which will extend the game's playtime and might ruin any fun you could otherwise get from the experience.
I do like the RPG elements (such as the stats and the money system) in theory. I just don't feel like they work here, though. The grinding doesn't work because the combat is too repetitive to warrant it. The level system doesn't work because the progression is awful (I was level 12/16 before I beat the first boss in my last playthrough, keeping in mind that I replayed the first world a few times.) The stats don't work because they'll make you overpowered with only a few purchases. Everything is just poorly thought out in my eyes. It's all individual factors that add up to the entire game feeling unbalanced.
That's not to say that the RPG stuff should've been cut. I think the game would be much more bland without them. I just wish more time had went into making them actually good.
By my last playthrough, I had to make my own fun by denying myself cheats and trying to play in a way that was optimized to the mechanics. Even then, there were points where I'd feel like I was cheating only by using the tools readily available to me. I'd beat down a boss with a weapon and think to myself," This is too easy, I'm getting in a million hits right now," and I'd end up throwing the weapon away to try to make it an equal fight. That's how you know you've failed on a fundamental level.
On top of all of that, there's really no point in there being such a wide array of playable characters here. As I've briefly mentioned, all of them have identical movesets, minus one or two special attacks. The unique animations can only get you so far - especially when your DLC characters largely don't have even that. This really hurts the replay value for me.
I do like how a lot of the enemies have their own unique attacks. I didn't even notice that until one of my later playthroughs. For example, one enemy does a chicken taunt which drains your willpower. Another is a thief who knocks some of your money out of you. That's cool.
There is some solid foundation in all of this. However, all of it together just doesn't add up to great gameplay. Nothing fits like it should. While it can be fun at times, the wheels start to fall off at some point or another. I think I could see myself picking this up and enjoying it for about 20 minutes every few months. I probably won't be coming back to it for any extended amount of time, though.
Overall, 2/5.
Worldbuilding:
There is often a distinct void of personality here. A lot of the fun fantasy aspects of Scott Pilgrim's world are kind of shrugged off; the loss of the plot and humor are both big factors in this. I still think they could have done more in the worldbuilding though, even without either of those things.
There is some pretty nice environmental design. The locations are great, in big part thanks to the art and music.
There's quite a bit of references to other video games, too. While I don't think taking stuff from other things makes your thing good, it is undeniably fun to see - and it fits Scott Pilgrim really well.
One other cool thing is that a lot of the background NPCs are characters from the comics. As someone who's only seen the movie, I was still able to recognize a few of them. It's a neat little way to fit in people who would have been completely sidelined otherwise.
Overall, 3/5.
Extra Category - Achievements:
I had trouble with achievements glitching out. It happened at least two or three times.
I don't think most of them are that good, or add much to your playthroughs. I dunno, it's not really worth it in my eyes. It just made me stick with the game for a lot longer than I really wanted to.
Overall, 2/5.
Overall game score: 3/5. Scott Pilgrim has great art and music, but fails in nearly every other area. The combat can be fun, but it's ruined by balance issues. The story and worldbuilding are completely lacking, which is a huge disappointment. Time and budget constraints turned what could have been a fantastic game into an average one. I think nostalgia has really blinded people here.