Nicnac
2015
Emily is Away is mostly just fine. I'm pretty fond of its commitment to the time period- the pixel profile pictures, the ancient Windows SFX, the AOL chatboxes, but the game doesn't really show too much depth (which is fine, it's a free visual novel with the main attraction being the early 2000s aesthetic). You read what Emily says, press a number corresponding to one of three dialogue options and repeat until she leaves.
That said, the last section of the game is really clever. The game has Emily and the player grow further and further apart, and by the end of the game it actually does something with the medium beyond just an aesthetic- both you and Emily are graduating from university, and your player character clearly wants to say something, anything to keep speaking with Emily, but the dialogue options slowly fill up with "goodbye." and the remaining options are rewritten halfway through to be empty small talk until all you can do is end the conversation. The gap between you and her is too wide.
As someone currently going to university, when I catch up with old high school friends and we've drifted apart a little more since last time we've seen each other despite efforts to keep in contact, it stings. It's uncomfortable to realise. I really appreciate Emily Is Away for sticking to its guns and having a purposely unsatisfying ending, because sometimes that's just how life is.
That said, the last section of the game is really clever. The game has Emily and the player grow further and further apart, and by the end of the game it actually does something with the medium beyond just an aesthetic- both you and Emily are graduating from university, and your player character clearly wants to say something, anything to keep speaking with Emily, but the dialogue options slowly fill up with "goodbye." and the remaining options are rewritten halfway through to be empty small talk until all you can do is end the conversation. The gap between you and her is too wide.
As someone currently going to university, when I catch up with old high school friends and we've drifted apart a little more since last time we've seen each other despite efforts to keep in contact, it stings. It's uncomfortable to realise. I really appreciate Emily Is Away for sticking to its guns and having a purposely unsatisfying ending, because sometimes that's just how life is.
A half-hearted remaster of a game that really didn't need it- pathetic in every sense. Fuck Neil Druckmann and free Palestine.
Is this really where the games industry is headed? Games being rushed out to meet deadlines instead of being given the time they need, ever-increasing budgets making the AAA scene as we know it totally unsustainable, a fixation on graphic fidelity over gameplay innovations and the focus to make games more cinematic leading to a landscape where a huge amount of modern releases feel extremely similar.
I haven't played TLOU2, but I'm sure it's at least pretty good- ND are a phenomenally talented dev studio and I have faith in them. That said, their talent is wasted on this. This better not be an omen for more studios to follow.
Is this really where the games industry is headed? Games being rushed out to meet deadlines instead of being given the time they need, ever-increasing budgets making the AAA scene as we know it totally unsustainable, a fixation on graphic fidelity over gameplay innovations and the focus to make games more cinematic leading to a landscape where a huge amount of modern releases feel extremely similar.
I haven't played TLOU2, but I'm sure it's at least pretty good- ND are a phenomenally talented dev studio and I have faith in them. That said, their talent is wasted on this. This better not be an omen for more studios to follow.
2008
Really weird and I didn't like it very much- almost no gameplay and a narrative that I don't like. it's incredibly short though, so I can't complain too much.
2008
The most impressive thing about Meat Boy is how Edmund managed to improve on it so much in literally every way possible with Super Meat Boy only 2 years later. Still pretty good but doesn't hold a candle to its sequel.
2009
Edmund McMillen you litte Fucker. You made a shit of piece with your trash A.V.G.M. it’s fucKing bad, this trash game, I will become back my money. I hope you will in your next time a cow on a trash farm you sucker.
2024
Pokemon has become a complacent series that refuses to actually grow and it's great to see a competitor succeed. Why did it have to be this one and not Cassette Beasts?
Game Freak continually rush out barely-finished Pokemon content on an annual basis for easy money and it sucks, the series hasn't been good since B2W2 and that was almost 12 years ago. However, plagiarism is not the answer to this- the runaway success of Palworld despite its multiple examples of plagiarism has troubling implications for the industry. Sure, people don't really care about Pokemon so it's kinda funny to see some indie devs so brazenly steal designs,- but what happens in future when a AAA studio sees that the creative bankruptcy shown here is rewarded- not just with WILD financial success but with a feverish defending by people who just want to stick it to Game Freak for making shit games- and, feeling emboldened by Palworld being a smash hit, shamelessly takes from a smaller creator?
Palworld's success is a bad omen.
Game Freak continually rush out barely-finished Pokemon content on an annual basis for easy money and it sucks, the series hasn't been good since B2W2 and that was almost 12 years ago. However, plagiarism is not the answer to this- the runaway success of Palworld despite its multiple examples of plagiarism has troubling implications for the industry. Sure, people don't really care about Pokemon so it's kinda funny to see some indie devs so brazenly steal designs,- but what happens in future when a AAA studio sees that the creative bankruptcy shown here is rewarded- not just with WILD financial success but with a feverish defending by people who just want to stick it to Game Freak for making shit games- and, feeling emboldened by Palworld being a smash hit, shamelessly takes from a smaller creator?
Palworld's success is a bad omen.
2008
Really cute little metacommentary on achievements. The sequel is better in pretty much every aspect but this is a great way to kill a few minutes.
cute- jmtb02 is clearly having a lot of fun fucking around with meta stuff in games and it's super charming to see.
2009
warioware but a little worse
jmtb02 my meta king i love you
As I'm moving through the Elephant Collection this is the one that's impressed me most so far- the Cataclysm on the roof being so shockingly out of place is so unbelievably funny and the Hot Coffee mechanic is incredibly clever. The Elephant Collection has made a change to it but back on browser you had to open the game in a second window to get certain achievements. It's an incredibly cute and clever bit of code and it's always stuck with me for being so charming.
This would be a 7 but it gets an extra 1/2 star because the Cataclysm terrified me as a kid but is fucking hysterical as an adult.
This would be a 7 but it gets an extra 1/2 star because the Cataclysm terrified me as a kid but is fucking hysterical as an adult.
it's alright- probably the worst out of the three but still not bad.
2023
No online-only requirements.
No battle passes, loot boxes or microtransactions that lock any content.
No bloated budget.
No announcement years beforehand with nothing to show but a name.
No relying on established IPs to churn out a quick buck just off of name power.
No inflated launch price.
No patching post-launch needed to make the game playable.
No ridiculous system specs.
Hi-Fi Rush is the antithesis to modern AAA shlock.
It's absolutely bubbling with charm, creativity and passion. The art style is gorgeous, the gameplay dynamic with a great gimmick and the dialogue surprisingly funny- it feels like a PS2 game fell through a time vortex and landed in the modern day in the best way possible, all the soulless cash-grabbing present in so many other modern releases completely gone. I'm so incredibly glad this game succeeded and got the recognition it deserved- I haven't finished it yet so I don't feel I can give it a star rating but I'm absolutely in love.
No battle passes, loot boxes or microtransactions that lock any content.
No bloated budget.
No announcement years beforehand with nothing to show but a name.
No relying on established IPs to churn out a quick buck just off of name power.
No inflated launch price.
No patching post-launch needed to make the game playable.
No ridiculous system specs.
Hi-Fi Rush is the antithesis to modern AAA shlock.
It's absolutely bubbling with charm, creativity and passion. The art style is gorgeous, the gameplay dynamic with a great gimmick and the dialogue surprisingly funny- it feels like a PS2 game fell through a time vortex and landed in the modern day in the best way possible, all the soulless cash-grabbing present in so many other modern releases completely gone. I'm so incredibly glad this game succeeded and got the recognition it deserved- I haven't finished it yet so I don't feel I can give it a star rating but I'm absolutely in love.
2006
OK so this game is absolutely fucking terrible and it singlehandedly tanked Sonic's reputation for years but to be honest it's not that much worse than a lot of shitty AAA releases nowadays. It's very fitting that Sonic beats other IPs to the punch here- he is the fastest thing alive after all, guess he's just ahead of the curve!
As the games industry gets more and more cynical with huge releases being unfinished on launch Sonic '06 feels more and more like a case of foreshadowing- publisher greed and ambition butchering the hard work of developers.
As the games industry gets more and more cynical with huge releases being unfinished on launch Sonic '06 feels more and more like a case of foreshadowing- publisher greed and ambition butchering the hard work of developers.
2023
Overwatch 2’s PVE has been completely and utterly cancelled.
Blizzard killed the golden goose for good. The PvE initially promised as a sprawling experience got downgraded into small season excerpts, and now? Nothing.
One of the most promising, innovative and polished games of all time has been systematically butchered by executive incompetence. Overwatch 2’s whole existence was principled on this PvE. Now what is it built on?
A shop overhaul. No more free cosmetics every level. Pay for cosmetics. Pay for the Battle Pass. Spend. Spend. Spend.
Bleak stuff. I’ll always treasure the great memories I have of early Overwatch (heroes never die, after all), but I honestly doubt I’ll ever touch it again.
Blizzard killed the golden goose for good. The PvE initially promised as a sprawling experience got downgraded into small season excerpts, and now? Nothing.
One of the most promising, innovative and polished games of all time has been systematically butchered by executive incompetence. Overwatch 2’s whole existence was principled on this PvE. Now what is it built on?
A shop overhaul. No more free cosmetics every level. Pay for cosmetics. Pay for the Battle Pass. Spend. Spend. Spend.
Bleak stuff. I’ll always treasure the great memories I have of early Overwatch (heroes never die, after all), but I honestly doubt I’ll ever touch it again.