“You’re not a snake and I’m not an Ocelot. We’re men, with names...”

This game brings us back to 1964 and places us in the shoes of the original special forces operative: "Naked" Snake, who later becomes Big Boss. Gone are the urban corridor settings of MGS1 & MGS2 (although they do show up from time to time later on), replaced instead by the wilds of the Soviet jungle.

I always see this game ranked as being other's favorite MGS title, and with good reason. The original MGS1 still edges it out for me, but MGS3 is a special game, with many callbacks to what made the first one so great.

The boss fights are again legendary, the setting is fantastic and an enjoyable difference from the others that came before, characters are amazing, and the story is an emotional rollercoaster with an ending that knocks it out of the park.

Playing as Snake again after the "adventures of Raiden and Rose" was a very welcome change for me. And while you may not have Solid Snake and Otacon in this prequel, you are introduced to many new and returning characters such as Volgin, Eva, the Boss, and my personal favorite, young Revolver Ocelot. I cannot help but smile when watching all the interactions with Ocelot throughout the game... especially their last scene. So good!

Without spoiling the ending, the last act of this game is truly a masterclass. From the gameplay/boss fights to its story and music... it is all spectacular and comes together for a nigh perfect climax.

Now I won't say the entire game is perfect, mind you... Kojima continued to innovate and raise the bar, but not everything worked as well as you'd hope - specifically surrounding the survival aspect of the game and the camouflage system. There was a bit too much "menu diving" that halted the game and its action. I'm hoping this is what is focused on in the Remake that was recently announced...but I am very worried how it turns out with no Kojima involvement... I'm crossing my fingers that they leave most of the game untouched and just improve the QoL features and "pretty up" the graphics, but don't try to extend themselves and change too much, potentially ruining it.

As it stands, MGS3 is still a game that holds up incredibly well today, and anyone who wants to jump in to see what this franchise is all about, owes it to themselves to play this title. It stands tall as one of the best video games out there.

I did really, deeply enjoy this game. It made me feel like some kind of space maintenance worker, tuning machines and bringing them back to full function. This was also the first game to disallow me from putting objects into my head, which is something I test on every single VR game I try, as my favorite little detail in the whole orchestration. That said, I think the puzzles could have used the space around the player more, and they stayed so easy as to feel more like a tech demo than a full game. I would have liked to have my mind bent a little more.

House of the Dead is an inherently campy series, so this game goes full on and embraces the camp to its utmost extent. Out with guns, in with keyboards, with the in game models adjusted accordingly. The projectiles that zombies throw at you are also now comical weapons like plastic hammers and frying pans rather than blades, there is no semblance of seriousness here. It knows that it's a version of house of the dead where you kill enemies by typing words on a keyboard, and it plays that to its strength.

You'd think that something like this would be really gimmicky, but it's actually kinda crazy how well the core feelings of HoTD translate over to ToTD. Speed and accuracy are still an absolute must for survival, just now instead of quickly aiming and firing gunshots, it's all about accurate and fast typing. There's still a solid sense of thrill to it, though I did notice from playing this back-to-back with the regular game that they adjusted a lot of zombie placements to have more things to type. The difficulty is also rather inconsistent, as it's really all up to the luck of whether or not the game will spit out an easy-to-type phrase on enemies that will give you enough time to type the whole thing out. Couple that with the lack of any real ability to switch targets once you commit to typing, and sometimes a stray projectile can cost you a life that you otherwise would have been able to save. It's goofier House of the Dead with some minor pacing differences.

I remember back when I got this game I thought that this was all I could ever need in the series, that nothing else in the house of the dead series could ever be as good as this so I shouldn't even bother. Ironically, I think by now after playing both games a solid amount of time, I've grown to actually prefer killing zombies with a gun over a keyboard. So while this game is still a genius idea with solid execution, don't be like me and have this be all you play in the series for several years.

I’m only on Backloggd occasionally, so I’m uncertain if the mood has shifted away from calm personal essays that don’t focus too much on the game, but heads up, that’s what this one is. You can relax that tension you’re holding in your shoulders.

I’m between jobs right now, in a manner of speaking. My last day of the job I’ve had for the last six years is this Friday, and my next one starts Tuesday. After a few months of interviewing, I thought this would be a triumphant moment, but honestly, I don’t know what to feel. The people here took a chance on a green-as-grass college grad like me and taught me everything I know, so it doesn’t feel great to leave them behind. On the other hand, I feel like I don’t have a choice, with how the market demands you keep up with skills, and how this office’s days seem somewhat numbered. The new role seems nice and all, but there are some pretty loud whispers that things might get hard for everyone soon, and if that happens, being the newest hire isn’t an enviable position. So, I’m in a weird overlap where I have a firm direction, but I don’t know where I’m actually going, or what any of this is leading to.

That’s something that the protagonist of Titan Chaser and I have in common, I think. You might guess that a game about a freshly-hired colossus wrangler would center on action, but instead, the main focus is on their similarly uncertain internal monologue. They wonder about what’s happening back in the city, what their parents are up to, whether this job should be pursued as a career, all the mundane anxieties one would expect to have in real life, just juxtaposed against the backdrop of safely guiding a giant wyvern down the road with an old car. There’s an obvious absurdity to it, like, how could they be thinking about their apartment arrangement when a dragon is just ten meters overhead? Instead, our protagonist simply gets the job done, while learning (and loving) the car’s functional quirks and musing about the future. It makes them come off as a bit distant at first, but it’s a perspective that has a subtle beauty to it. The car is a little wonky, but that can be appreciated, it’s simply a feature of its nature. The dragon doesn’t need to be worried about if the right process is followed, nature will simply run its course. So, the unusual calmness doesn’t signify detachment, but rather, a presence of understanding. After all, there’s no sense in breathlessly trying to get out of a car all in one motion, you turn off the engine, engage the brake, open the door, get out, and close it. You can’t lead a wyvern home by standing miles away and screaming, you gently guide it point by point. The final step that the protagonist and I need to accept is how you can’t take on the burdens of a lifetime all in one day. You may feel like there’s a dragon overhead, but really… that's ok!

Also, this game was recommended by the lovely Lily, who I hope y'all are already following by this point. Thanks for another good tip!

BUY THE DIP.
A surreal experience akin to an [as] bumper. This stock index puts my heart into overdrive and the market flies so incredibly fast, especially as more rival traders encroach on the market and start buying the stuff you need. The dialogue is perfect too, definitely a futurama meets superjail vibe of chaos, from trust fund douchebags to a David Lynch esquire abomination, your clients are unique, bizarre, and just like real life, give way more detail than you need to do your job.

Just remember; you are an organ trader, this is your world.

Was gunning for 100% completion but it left Gamepass so I'll leave it as-is for now, only missing 2-3 endings I think.

Incredible aesthetic, 10/10 dynamic soundtrack and an interesting gameplay loop that feels fun to learn the intricacies for. The narrative does something I've never seen in a game before in that you're encouraged not to pay attention to it if you want to play optimally. Rather than dismiss this as a flaw, I see it as intentional choice, showing the complete lack of ethics and morals inherent to this free market. Sure, you COULD take the time to make sure the customers you're helping have good intentions, but then that makes you a bad businessman, and you won't make it very far into the game with that attitude, you need to be amoral to succeed in this game's world.

Getting mere glimpses of the harm you're causing as you frantically buy and sell body parts only to end the game ushering in a variety of apocalyptic events due to the unregulated market and your desire to chase a profit is a type of gameplay/narrative cohesion I've never seen before. Highly recommended.

(yeah i played this for remake hype, let's GO)
This is an excellent romhack for SMRPG that adds new mechanics and an insane amount of additional content to the game. It is significantly more challenging than the base game, so I would definitely recommend the "Normal" mode version of this hack for your first playthrough.

This isn't a simple level or graphics hack that can be done with an editor - clearly a ridiculous amount of custom ASM went into this to make it work. Almost every item and equipment is brand new, including every spell and attack animation for each character. The level hacking isn't as extensive, but there are a few new areas and modifications to existing maps, often changing subtly to reveal a new exit once you complete a certain event. Every weapon has 2 timings you need to hit when attacking, and the damage bonus is so significant that you need to master this to overcome the later challenges of this game - which is where the majority of the difficulty comes from. There are new music tracks, new dialog, status effects, and even new custom events and cutscenes, with the party having scripted interactions with some new NPCs on occasion, which is quite impressive for an RPG hack. Health values and damage numbers have been increased by a factor of 10 or so as well, pushing the feel further into the Final Fantasy realm from the Mario RPG realm, and it works. There are also loads of fun references to Final Fantasy games, Pokemon, Kingdom Hearts, and other RPG franchises.

The core progression of the game remains mostly the same up through the final boss - although you'll have plenty of opportunities to play with the new weapons and abilities along the way. But the "real" game begins after that, which involves hunting down a ton of optional bosses and challenges scattered throughout the world. NPCs in Tadpole Pond and Mario's Pad will help you discover what to do next, and there's quite a bit. Note that you'll probably max your party's levels before beginning this "post-game" section. However, there's still a solid power progression in the end-game, mostly through equipment and items that are unlocked as you take down bosses. It's always fun to see what new accessory drops and how it might give you a new strategy. I'd say this "post-game" portion will take longer to go through than the original game itself - I spent probably 10 hours progressing from the beginning to the original final boss, then another 20 hours or more exploring the post-game and fighting new bosses.

That all said, a few of the post-game fights can be pretty long and tedious. A couple of times I would find an effective strategy that would work on several different bosses in a row with little change. Savestates aren't really necessary, but some boss fights can be like 20 minutes long, and when you lose due to a single mistimed defend near the end, you'll feel the burn.

Overall, don't let the infamous difficulty intimidate you - any fan of SMRPG should check this out simply because it is a beautifully crafted hack with extensive interesting changes.

im not sure how to feel about this! i think a lot of other reviews are correct in talking about how the game is buggy and feels rushed/unfinished and the gameplay mechanics/loops are not... great. but i also think what IS here and the start of the game primarily is really cute and fun! i just wish it was better executed and there's potential here for something awesome.

the decorating of the resorts becomes redundant when the premise of levelling up rooms and earning points is based on just reusing the same highest-level furniture over and over, and managing the resorts themselves becomes kind of pointless in the endgame. once you complete the quest of giving 50k coins to an npc (which is a bit of a tiring grind to get through) there's really no need for money anymore and i spent the entire last portion of the game ignoring my resorts and just speeding through the quests; which give you a very rushed story that feels shoehorned in in a way that doesnt fit at all, and the story for the game also just kind of... ends. there is no game over screen. there's no concrete finish to this and completing the last main story quest left me confused as to whether the game was even over or not--its very abrupt and im not particularly a fan of a lot of things going on here.

i love the art style, i love hank and the characters and i find the initial gameplay premise very fun (i didnt mind the cooking mechanic either! it was a nice change of pace) but i just think it gets boring around the midpoint and doesnt offer anything interesting to keep you engaged. getting to the end was a little difficult and i think im disappointed that i didnt enjoy this as much as i wanted to!

Citizen Sleeper, with its three DLC episodes, is an amazing narrative game that quickly joined the list of my favorites. It stands out as one of the most unique games I've had the chance to play. Not because of its gameplay or story, but due to its exceptional writing, captivating characters, and immersive atmosphere.

It's really hard to put into words what makes it so unique and special, but if I had to, I would say it's a mix of emotions that the game captures - melancholy, longing, nostalgia, sadness, happiness, hope, compassion, and mystery - all blend together to create a distinctive experience. Something that was already present in the developer's previous game (In Other Waters), but in Citizen Sleeper, it's much more pronounced and refined. However, the uniqueness of Citizen Sleeper's writing goes beyond the emotions it evokes; it's also about how it evokes them. Rather than being an emotional rollercoaster with intense highs and lows, Citizen Sleeper takes you on a gentle, emotional ride akin to a slow carousel. Even in its most intense moments, it just tugs at your heartstrings without pushing you over the edge, which is what makes its writing truly brilliant.

The word "gentle" is probably one word that would best describe this game as a whole. It full of emotions but never overwhelms you. The characters, flawed and aspiring, are presented in a profoundly human and sympathetic manner as they struggle in a cruel and unforgiving corporate dystopia. The difficulty, while initially may make you struggle, never seeks to punish you. Even the game's multiple endings are written as gradual fadeaways rather than abrupt and final cuts, a creative choice that some may find unsatisfying. However, I believe it perfectly suits the essence of the game.

As for the other aspects of the game, the graphics, music, and sounds are all good (character portraits are amazing). Additionally, the dice system adds an enjoyable and innovative layer of decision-making to the otherwise typical "pick a task to do in this time-slot" gameplay.

I wholeheartedly recommend Citizen Sleeper. And to any fan of narrative games it is an absolute must-play, offering a remarkable and unforgettable experience.

A Plague Tale: Innocence is not a just a game, it's an experience. It takes you in a rollercoaster of emotions that drives you insane, will make you cry, you'll fall in love with the characters, you'll root for them, and then when you finish the game, the only thing to feel is hollowness. Not because it's sad, but because you know you've just finished a masterpiece.
From the art, the graphics, the score, the direction, to the story, dialogs and most importantly the acting. It is unbelievable how good the kids act in this game, they portray Hugo and Amicia so well that you actually forget they are just characters. You can feel every emotion they are feeling just as if you were them.
Also I think it's worth mentioning that it was developed by a very very small french studio, Asobo.
Truly a one of a kind game.

My experience with “Dead Rising 3” was a hard one to pin down. Even as I write this I’m not sure how to feel about it. I ran the full gamut of emotions during my play thru. I missed this game at the initial Xbox One launch and if I had played it then I might have a different opinion of it now. Today though, it just feels dated. It does some meaningful tweaks to the formula laid down by previous games. I also never really found the story and characters that interesting and while it does put most of its good qualities on the back-end I had sort of checked out by then. There was also one element to this game that always looked off-putting and that was the visuals. From an artistic standpoint this game is ugly and drab to look at. There’s so many technical hiccups and frame rate drops also. When it first released, the breadth of zombies on screen and an open world with no loading times was a technical marvel. Now it doesn’t impress at all. The Dead Rising goofiness is still here and when those moments happened I laughed, but I had too many push and pull moments in this game to have truly enjoyed myself.

A roguelike that captures a cute cartoony artistic style and parodies the Zelda series. While the game juggles the core tropes from Zelda it goes for a much more whimsical and silly tone, such as its legendary equipment being called Toys and power ups represented by Stickers.

The basic idea of the game is that there's an evil witch who curses the world and a hero arises who is challenged with defeating her. However every time you die 100 years pass until a new hero is born during which time the world changes.

The game's broad loop is that each time you're reborn you have 5 days to explore the land, gather equipment, complete dungeons, destroy the 'anchors' that weaken the final boss, and go face off against the big bad Mormo in her castle.

I think the problem with this game is that its whole design is contradictory. It wants you to explore but not to make too much progress, it wants you to get stronger but has scaling difficulty on enemies so you never feel stronger, it wants you to beat dungeons but imposes a bunch of arbitrary difficulty modifiers to slow you down. At every step it sort of punches itself in the face to justify it's own mechanics.

I think after my first win I realised that this is the type of game that's more interested in doing what it wants to do than really factoring in if that makes the game better or worse. For me it just didn't make the game any more fun. A lot of the design decisions seem arbitrary and I just couldn't get on with it.

This game sets the bar for all games that want to focus on magic and spellcasting. It's both challenging and makes you feel like a walking god of destruction, and that is before you begin to discover all the fun ways to make your spells super overpowered. At first, getting through the entire game may seem impossible, and as with many roguelikes, some RNG is involved, but over time you will learn to spot opportunities to optimize your build as you go. Beating the final boss for the first time took me about 9 hours, and yet I don't think I've even remotely seen all this game has to offer.

A quirky micro RPG that has you living life one minute at a time as the result of a cursed sword. The premise is pretty cool, and the minimal art style compliments the minimalist design of the game which mimics similarly minimalist RPG's like Links Awakening.

Since you only have one minute to do anything the actual options are all very clearly signposted and telegraphed. Getting from one save point to the next will take about a minute. Completing a nearby challenge will take about a minute. And some of the events are hilariously timed, giving you ever increasing anxiety as you're forced to wait or find yourself trying to reach a destination just in time.

What's disappointing then is that such a tight and efficient design is explored to such a shallow level - or perhaps there simply isn't a way to give it depth. The game is very small, the things you can do are all very straightforward gaming faire, and while I wouldn't say the ending is predictable it is abrupt. There's a small handful of mundane side quests but there's not really the motivation to pursue them since the main story doesn't require anything of you.

It's a cute package and it does have some funny moments, but despite the interesting premise it doesn't really go anywhere or explore the idea in any depth leaving it feeling more like a proof of concept than anything.