Shem
2017
The DLC ended so I'm retroactively adding a point for Maple Treeway
2016
Biggest takeaway from this replay was that Lamplighter is the most gender character design ever
If this came out in the early 2010s era of Youtube there would be so many fan animations saying that the Wonder Flowers are actually Super Mario smoking weed
2023
Not much to say about this one really, it’s just standard 2D Sonic. There are a few missed opportunities here (Almost all the level themes are retreads of old Sonic levels, the new abilities were barely ever useful for me, and the soundtrack is hit-or-miss) but the level design overall is still pretty fun. Plus the game’s controls are taken directly from Sonic Mania, which is definitely a good thing in my book.
Definitely flawed and probably on the lower end of a 7/10 2D Sonic for me, but if you enjoyed any of the Genesis Sonic games, I’d say it’s at least worth a shot.
Definitely flawed and probably on the lower end of a 7/10 2D Sonic for me, but if you enjoyed any of the Genesis Sonic games, I’d say it’s at least worth a shot.
2015
Probably one of the games most formative to my life... ever? That's impressive. I know I have like 70 other games I should be playing through right now, but sometimes I just need this.
2005
This review contains spoilers
What an absolute victory. Kingdom Hearts II not only lives up to the original, but completely blows it out of the water.
In my unserious review for the first game, I wrote "It's so stupid that it loops around to being cool somehow". And while I don't think I realized it, I had accidentally tapped into what I think is the real appeal of this series. There are even more fanfiction-y moments in KH2 compared to the first game. One example that stuck out to me was when Leon from Final Fantasy VIII showed Sora, Donald and Goofy a hidden computer, but then Stitch from Lilo and Stitch accidentally broke it and got everyone sucked into the world of Tron. That is not a sentence that should ever exist. But the fact that it does and still somehow manages to be included in a game where I can be fully invested is, in of itself, fantastic.
For every silly moment, there's a cool as hell moment waiting. Goofy's infamous fake-out death is obviously (intentionally) stupid, but it leads to an amazing sequence where you use all your abilities to decimate an entire army of enemies. People most often criticize Twilight Town and the introduction to the game, but it leads to, in my opinion, one of the greatest boss fights ever.
Roxas' story was what resonated with me the most. Someone born without memory and no idea who he is. His struggle to claim his own identity after learning he was essentially a clone. Fighting to prove his life meant something in the aforementioned boss fight, before sadly realizing that Sora needs to be his own person too, but finally accepting that he'll always exist within him.
All of this in a game where Mickey Mouse flips around like a Jedi and you can fight giant shadow demons with Donald Duck.
This series is an equal balance between the comedic and the wondrous. It blows my mind how it can carry multiple, seemingly contradictory ideas and still manages to pick itself up. That, to me, is Kingdom Hearts' greatest triumph.
In my unserious review for the first game, I wrote "It's so stupid that it loops around to being cool somehow". And while I don't think I realized it, I had accidentally tapped into what I think is the real appeal of this series. There are even more fanfiction-y moments in KH2 compared to the first game. One example that stuck out to me was when Leon from Final Fantasy VIII showed Sora, Donald and Goofy a hidden computer, but then Stitch from Lilo and Stitch accidentally broke it and got everyone sucked into the world of Tron. That is not a sentence that should ever exist. But the fact that it does and still somehow manages to be included in a game where I can be fully invested is, in of itself, fantastic.
For every silly moment, there's a cool as hell moment waiting. Goofy's infamous fake-out death is obviously (intentionally) stupid, but it leads to an amazing sequence where you use all your abilities to decimate an entire army of enemies. People most often criticize Twilight Town and the introduction to the game, but it leads to, in my opinion, one of the greatest boss fights ever.
Roxas' story was what resonated with me the most. Someone born without memory and no idea who he is. His struggle to claim his own identity after learning he was essentially a clone. Fighting to prove his life meant something in the aforementioned boss fight, before sadly realizing that Sora needs to be his own person too, but finally accepting that he'll always exist within him.
All of this in a game where Mickey Mouse flips around like a Jedi and you can fight giant shadow demons with Donald Duck.
This series is an equal balance between the comedic and the wondrous. It blows my mind how it can carry multiple, seemingly contradictory ideas and still manages to pick itself up. That, to me, is Kingdom Hearts' greatest triumph.
I know it's kind of a meme that a lot of Kingdom Hearts players just skip this one and watch the cutscenes online, but I wanted to at least try it. After finishing about half the game, I think I've had enough. Would probably rate this lower if I understood the battle system enough to describe exactly why I don't like it.
That said, there's a lot of good ideas at play here, especially with the story. Looking forward to playing KH2 :)
That said, there's a lot of good ideas at play here, especially with the story. Looking forward to playing KH2 :)
My main takeaway from this is that Ülar is peak character design. Look at him! He's just a little guy!
2016
I've loved Stardew Valley for years, but the community for this game loves gaslighting you. It's always "Stardew Valley is one of the most relaxing games ever!" until you have to unlock and craft every item, reach max friendship with every NPC, sell every type of crop and catch every fish, all of which require incredible memorization and knowledge of what exact time every single item you need can spawn, punishing you with a huge waiting period if you miss anything.
Playing Stardew Valley casually and learning the optimal Minmax Perfection playthrough are two different beasts. If you read what I just typed above and thought "That sounds extremely obnoxious, why do you like this", honestly, I don't blame you. But based on this and my Super Metroid review, I guess sometimes I like it when a game has more unconventional design, as long as that design harmonizes with everything else that the game is trying to achieve. And Stardew Valley pulls this off incredibly.
I've attempted and failed to reach the Perfection Ending in Stardew several times. Until now, I've always either gotten frustrated or gotten too busy to keep playing it. But in spite of this, it's the one game that I've always come back to. The incredible spritework and soundtrack create an absolutely incredible atmosphere. The rewarding gameplay loop created from the farming mechanics has had me consistently hooked during every playthrough. I don't really want to spoil too much about these though, as not knowing the mechanics in depth will make a first playthrough much more interesting. All you really have to know is that this game has attached itself to my life since I first played it back in 2017.
So as a fan, and as someone who has spent the last 6 years on-and-off trying to complete this game, when I finally got to see that final cutscene, it felt so much more fucking satisfying than if the game had just been handed to me. It was a brilliant sendoff.
I guess this isn't much of a review, is it? I've not really analyzed the game in depth here, this is really just the incoherent rambles of someone replaying (probably) the best life sim game of all time. But I deserve this rambling, I feel. I hope I'll be coming back home to the valley again soon.
Extra note: I said earlier that this game has amazing sprites, but there's one exception. I'm so glad that despite the substantial updates this game has gotten over the years, ConcernedApe has never changed Grandpa's fucked up bed
Playing Stardew Valley casually and learning the optimal Minmax Perfection playthrough are two different beasts. If you read what I just typed above and thought "That sounds extremely obnoxious, why do you like this", honestly, I don't blame you. But based on this and my Super Metroid review, I guess sometimes I like it when a game has more unconventional design, as long as that design harmonizes with everything else that the game is trying to achieve. And Stardew Valley pulls this off incredibly.
I've attempted and failed to reach the Perfection Ending in Stardew several times. Until now, I've always either gotten frustrated or gotten too busy to keep playing it. But in spite of this, it's the one game that I've always come back to. The incredible spritework and soundtrack create an absolutely incredible atmosphere. The rewarding gameplay loop created from the farming mechanics has had me consistently hooked during every playthrough. I don't really want to spoil too much about these though, as not knowing the mechanics in depth will make a first playthrough much more interesting. All you really have to know is that this game has attached itself to my life since I first played it back in 2017.
So as a fan, and as someone who has spent the last 6 years on-and-off trying to complete this game, when I finally got to see that final cutscene, it felt so much more fucking satisfying than if the game had just been handed to me. It was a brilliant sendoff.
I guess this isn't much of a review, is it? I've not really analyzed the game in depth here, this is really just the incoherent rambles of someone replaying (probably) the best life sim game of all time. But I deserve this rambling, I feel. I hope I'll be coming back home to the valley again soon.
Extra note: I said earlier that this game has amazing sprites, but there's one exception. I'm so glad that despite the substantial updates this game has gotten over the years, ConcernedApe has never changed Grandpa's fucked up bed
2002
"The Disney stuff is cringe" "It's just an advertisement" "The story is so dumb and confusing" None of that matters to me. Why did we let some random youtubers decide that this series was cringe. You can fight giant fucking shadow demons with Donald Duck. It's so stupid it loops around to being cool somehow. This game is an enigma
As someone who for some ungodly reason put 150 hours into GraalOnline Classic back in the day, it was really funny playing this and seeing all the DNA that game borrowed from here. Definitely a landmark title for it's time, but not anything too incredible nowadays, at least for me.
Also why the fuck is it called "A Link to the Past" when you never go to the past. Can Nintendo do anything right?
Also why the fuck is it called "A Link to the Past" when you never go to the past. Can Nintendo do anything right?
why the hell is it called "another metroid 2 remake" bro you were the first one to actually get finished
1989
it's literally just breakout but for whatever reason the sounds the blocks make when you hit them activates all the happy neurons in my brain. playing this is like watching a baby sensory video
1984
clu clu land was considered for smash bros melee before they decided on ice climbers. we could've had it all
2022
more like kinomaze am i right