RemLezar
29 Reviews liked by RemLezar
Mario Party DS
2007
The anti-piracy measures on this game are insane
Mario Party DS
2007
Mario Party DS perfectly recreates the Mario Party formula on the DS while carving it's own identity, with a great selection of minigames, and great board selection, and good balance between luck and strategy it easily takes the spot of best portable Mario Party game, and both it's multiplayer and singleplayer is quite a lot of fun. Definitely give this one a shot if you can get some friends and their DS's together.
Mario Party DS
2007
The best portable Mario Party hands down. Ironically the only portable Mario Party that is just...well, actual Mario Party (unless you count Super Mario Party). Dunno why they never made any of the 3DS ones like this, since I think it's about exactly what people want from the series. You've got a decent story mode, plenty of minigames and different modes to play them in, as well as boards that don't make the gimmick completely change the way the game has to be played. Loved the Smash Bros-esque trophy system as well.
Mario Party DS
2007
Actually just a really solid Mario Party game honestly. The fact that it's on a handheld doesn't hurt it and in fact enhances it with the amount of creativity they put into the minigame design. Good selection of boards too
Now that's how you make a walking Simulator.
The manipulative nature of the narrative and how it's told is entirely the point. Legacy as a manufactured curse. The player explores a symbolic mausoleum dedicated to the grief felt over generations, weaponized to induce and propagate the cycle of mental illness and the futility of that struggle. It's uncompromisingly pernicious, containing laser focus and wonderfully composed sequences of death played out through the lens of magical realism. I adore it for its relaxing if off-putting features even if it reeks with the stench of utter defeatism.
Destiny 2
2017
This is one of my favorite games.
This review contains spoilers
extremely surreal to see that a prevalent consensus on this is that it's an OBVIOUS uberbleak nihilist exercise in cynical ultraviolence when I feel like it's Very Clearly shooting for (but emphatically not always flawlessly succeeding at) humanist themes exploring mercy, kinship, and absolution: The last spoken line/thesis of the game is literally "I don't know if I can ever forgive you, but I'd like to try" which basically mirrors the bubbly final sentiment in Steven Universe of all things... like come on people the game clearly has a lot of faith in human compassion and optimism that we can be (and are) better than our worst impulses. We can (and should!) totally debate the efficacy of the way the game communicates these ideas. I think there are plenty of areas to criticize or outright condemn in terms of execution; the pieces written about the games fraught zionist inspirations and the discomfiting misogynoir on display in regards to a specific moment are especially vital reads--but framing this story's outlook as intentionally nihilist, player-blaming pain porn about the inescapable cycle of violence is just.. totally disingenuous to what it's clearly trying to do, imo. A story about empathy without a soft and tender pastel veneer does not render it ineffective or worthless. I would probably argue that the game's refusal to over-sentimentalize the repugnance of its deuteragonists' actions (or make their realities easily accessible/justifiable) lends more integrity to the challenge of conveying the inherent worth and potential for change within them... I feel like the game makes it extra clear that Abby and Ellie are not universalizing prescriptive ciphers for the human condition / our inescapable URGE 4 VENGEANCE and are instead very specific / detailed character studies of damaged people whose emotional processing is expressed through borderline surrealist New French Extremity interactive dream logic in a world that also presents a variety of individuals with approaches and outlooks that are direct foils to these self-destructive coping strategies!!!
lots and lots of thoughts about this game, might revisit and explore further at some point
(also feel the need to say that Naughty Dog's crunch culture is a blight on the industry and this game could have been just as affecting as a more contained and less needlessly sprawling experience)
lots and lots of thoughts about this game, might revisit and explore further at some point
(also feel the need to say that Naughty Dog's crunch culture is a blight on the industry and this game could have been just as affecting as a more contained and less needlessly sprawling experience)
Halo: Reach
2010
Probably my least favorite entry besides ODST. Not bad by any means, I like it quite a bit, but holy moly do people who jerk this game off have no self awareness.
Almost everything something like Halo 1 is shat on for, this game does worse shit.
The most restrictive and on rails campaign yet with a laughably dramatic story that has its cool moments.
Campaign aside, the multiplayer in this is great.
Almost everything something like Halo 1 is shat on for, this game does worse shit.
The most restrictive and on rails campaign yet with a laughably dramatic story that has its cool moments.
Campaign aside, the multiplayer in this is great.
Halo: Combat Evolved
2001
"people shit on the library mission all the time, but they forget that the rest of the game is designed just as terribly"
~someone who didn't know shit about shit (2020)
i've been a halo fan for nearly my entire life, but the earliest memories i have of combat evolved are hazy at best. in reality, i am a halo 3 diehard and that game has been the benchmark i've used to judge the series by since 2007
such was the mentality i carried into CE's 2011 anniversary release, where i not only completely misunderstood its level design, but also willingly botched its incredible visuals via the god forsaken toggle for 343's flashlight-phobic and all-around heinously unfaithful overhaul
where halo 3 boasts a wide range of vibrant landscapes and fast-paced, mostly bite-sized levels, CE takes a slower, more methodical and surprisingly tactical approach to shooting (mostly because meleeing isn't as useful as it would later become). stages are designed less around their geometry and more their enemies - all of which are competent foes that pose reasonable threats, especially on legendary, which i feel is the best and only difficulty that demands a solid grasp of the game's mechanics and highlights how useful every weapon really is
the assault rifle particularly gets a lot of undeserved flak. it's a real piece of shit if you just spray and pray, but if you know how to manage your recoil (i.e. tapping the trigger in bursts) it becomes a nigh invaluable midrange tool that can effortlessly dispose of anything that isn't shielded. and when you can keep elites busy dodging grenades (which should be simple, because you usually have 8 of them stocked) it's pretty effective on them as well
and regarding the elephant in the room that is "the library": y'all are still babies. how can you be upset about the stage that finally allows you to use a shotgun nonstop?! the flood are some of the most fun to fight enemies in any shooter, the weapon selection they offer is infinite, and yet you're upset that the halls are same-y in a game where all of the halls are same-y?? are you fucking mad?!?!
that last remark isn't a slight towards the stages at large, either. in fact, i find myself commending levels i've previously bitched about vehemently - most notably "assault on the control room" and its counterpart "two betrayals". the fuck was i even thinking before? one variant is purely ground-based and the other spends half its duration in the air. that's not even mentioning the completely remixed enemy variety or how differently paced the two missions are altogether
oh yeah - cool narrative too. it's simple, but still very interesting especially after completing the marathon trilogy and knowing how similar the two franchises are; right down to details like the flood initially being a scrapped concept from marathon 2 and the forerunners being very similar to the jjaro in general
anyway, very good game. 3's still better though!
~someone who didn't know shit about shit (2020)
i've been a halo fan for nearly my entire life, but the earliest memories i have of combat evolved are hazy at best. in reality, i am a halo 3 diehard and that game has been the benchmark i've used to judge the series by since 2007
such was the mentality i carried into CE's 2011 anniversary release, where i not only completely misunderstood its level design, but also willingly botched its incredible visuals via the god forsaken toggle for 343's flashlight-phobic and all-around heinously unfaithful overhaul
where halo 3 boasts a wide range of vibrant landscapes and fast-paced, mostly bite-sized levels, CE takes a slower, more methodical and surprisingly tactical approach to shooting (mostly because meleeing isn't as useful as it would later become). stages are designed less around their geometry and more their enemies - all of which are competent foes that pose reasonable threats, especially on legendary, which i feel is the best and only difficulty that demands a solid grasp of the game's mechanics and highlights how useful every weapon really is
the assault rifle particularly gets a lot of undeserved flak. it's a real piece of shit if you just spray and pray, but if you know how to manage your recoil (i.e. tapping the trigger in bursts) it becomes a nigh invaluable midrange tool that can effortlessly dispose of anything that isn't shielded. and when you can keep elites busy dodging grenades (which should be simple, because you usually have 8 of them stocked) it's pretty effective on them as well
and regarding the elephant in the room that is "the library": y'all are still babies. how can you be upset about the stage that finally allows you to use a shotgun nonstop?! the flood are some of the most fun to fight enemies in any shooter, the weapon selection they offer is infinite, and yet you're upset that the halls are same-y in a game where all of the halls are same-y?? are you fucking mad?!?!
that last remark isn't a slight towards the stages at large, either. in fact, i find myself commending levels i've previously bitched about vehemently - most notably "assault on the control room" and its counterpart "two betrayals". the fuck was i even thinking before? one variant is purely ground-based and the other spends half its duration in the air. that's not even mentioning the completely remixed enemy variety or how differently paced the two missions are altogether
oh yeah - cool narrative too. it's simple, but still very interesting especially after completing the marathon trilogy and knowing how similar the two franchises are; right down to details like the flood initially being a scrapped concept from marathon 2 and the forerunners being very similar to the jjaro in general
anyway, very good game. 3's still better though!
Halo: Combat Evolved
2001
For how Halo is considered the pioneer of the modern FPS genre, it's a really interesting experience playing through this game. Tremendous age shows (Dozens of repeating areas/floors, mundane backtracking, and overall jank) but at the same time the gunplay and vehicle controls hold up incredibly well and still offer a really fun time.
It's very far from perfect, but an admirable piece of history that, despite many flaws, still holds value.
It's very far from perfect, but an admirable piece of history that, despite many flaws, still holds value.
It was the weird middle child between 2 and 4.
Chrome Dino
2014
It gets boring after 300 hours
Nearly impossible to replay this many years later. I would suggest newcomers to the series try the gameplay, if you don't like it, watch the cutscenes on youtube and move to 2, it is much better in every aspect. If you are replaying, don't bother with playing, just watch the cutscenes.