I had a huge ass thing planned, but got swarmed as usual so it's on hold, but yeah it's as good as everyone says. Constantly engages with its immersive and impressive ecology, expansive level design, flexible player movement, huge risks of punishment, and constantly improvisational scenarios that walk that fine line of always being oppressive whilst also always having that sliver of hope that you can potentially play your way out of death. This game is so good that even having my first run be on the kinda dire Switch port didn't dissuade me from falling in love by the end, even amidst all the intentional frustration. Art.

The go-to feel-good game. Apart from initial explanations, it's very easy to pick up and just go for running one stage, while still having a massive skill ceiling thanks to its extremely granular movement, and also requiring at least a little bit of understanding of the mechanics to see the ending. Huge sucker for games that do perspective shifts like this, and love the minor ways that its simple gameplay gets re-contextualized for bosses. Big love for the framing of the final level, beautifully conveys the narrative theming without a single (legible) word. The analog stick was perfected pretty much instantly.

Probably still my favorite shmup, in the year I finally take that pill. Awesome bosses, presentation, and player mechanics that allow for a lot of flexibility and variety. Scoring itself is a little broken due to what I can only assume is an oversight with Plasma, but otherwise is tied very nicely to survival while also allowing for some personalization. Story / Arcade split provides a lot of replayability and customizable difficulty, alongside direct pattern difficulty options on the side. A little daunting to pick up, much less route for a clear, but still a blast...and it has gravity wells.

First "danmaku" 1cc, massively satisfying to work towards something like that. Extremely unique gimmick that ties scoring and survival on a much stronger moment-to-moment basis than usual. Trades score extends in the process, but the health system provides for some extra leniency while not being too patronizing via nuances in actually healing it. Also unique in its use of environmental situations, and the art style is just beautiful...honestly just love at first sight for this one.

Patterns patterns patterns, holy shit. Pure eye candy everywhere you look, extremely creative and mesmerizing while still being pretty clear and learnable. My vote for favorite scoring system until I properly get into Progear; excellent blend of aggressive play, target prioritization, setup routing, and boss speed-kill optimization. Insanely well-paced and consistently engaging, even just in the context of a 1-loop run. I'd be happy to even just barely meet the qualifications for Omote eventually, but I can see myself putting the time in.

Might have accidentally ruined an entire series for myself by starting with this one. At the same time it makes it a little hard for me to have a reference point to explain why I like it so much (apart from Drakengard 1 dragon-riding...though my enjoyment of those mechanics does translate well into me liking this gameplay), but I'd probably attribute that to the holistic experience: keen on the "experiential" bits that convey the confusion and chaos of war without taking control away from you, rather using regular gameplay as a means of enhancing those liminal moments. The theming and presentation specifically are really unique and provide a personal aspect to the story and ending that wraps everything up really succinctly. Style system is a little lopsided but offers some replayability which works well with its short length and ranking challenges. Shout-outs to flamenco.

Vibes-based puzzle gaming

Played a bunch of these (but not directly out of interest in 6, funnily enough), but this one wins out for me. Leverages environmental design and enemy placement to create the consistently best and varied set of missions, and keeping it brisk, at that. Also nicely expands build variety with more options for dual-wielding setups, and going for part-collecting / S-ranks in this one especially helps highlight the missions and viability for build diversity even more. As a trade-off, marks the point where economy management becomes far less demanding, but that's ok.

The one Current Year release I actually picked up, and thankfully dig...a huge win when From's last game left a taste in my mouth more sour than lemon. I still prefer Old Gen's player mechanics but I can vibe with how many things have been modernized: the fundamentals are still mostly present and I'm particularly keen on its approach to aerial movement and energy management (especially with a lack of the fast-falling option from V/VD), alongside the refreshing return to a lack of i-frame dodging. Maybe the structure will grate on me eventually, but two runs in and I'm still satisfied with the campaign's design and variety, and it looks like more parts are on the way, too. Optimistic for whatever's next with this approach.

Only a replay, but my view on it improved so much that I might as well mention it here. You can very much get Trico to cooperate with you reliably, and learning this properly helped me appreciate the pacing and scenarios even more. Special mention ironically goes to the "combat" encounters, even if Trico does most of the heavy lifting you have enough optional things to do to support them that really solidify how much more mutual the cooperation this time around...not strictly necessary, but it brings some new air into the strength emotional bond here, it feels a lot more mutual and couples with a lot of setpieces that really endear you to Trico. That stays true even during quieter moments and especially one spoiler I can't mention that really stuck with me on this revisit. High school Reyn was a dumbass, Trico supremacy.

Enjoyed it so much I wrote a whole blurb about it...TL;DR refines the structure and resource gathering particularly in such a way that removes a lot of tedium without making it absent-minded. New bunch of monsters are consistently more enjoyable and the new weapons and improvements to preexisting types pleasantly improve the depth and balance. Just a lot of improvements all around...

...in single-player, at least. I'll get back to it now that the servers are back up and write on that stuff eventually...if only they fixed the old HR system by this point, though.