UnderGalaxy
2015
Undertale definitely grew on me over the years. I think this is the quintessential example of videogames as an artform, simply because Undertale could not work the way it does if it was any other medium. The way the game utilices its mechanics to communicate ideas of morality, agency, player psychology and so much more, is truly fascninating, all while creating a lovely world filled with fun characters and exciting encounters.
I used to say "I understand why the genocide route is boring, but that's still a bad thing". Not anymore. Games are an art form, not just mindless entertainment, and the genocide route doesn't want you to have fun, so that's not what it'll offer to you, and that's great. I don't enjoy playing it, and that's great. Undertale teaches me a lot about my own preconceptions of videogames, and I think that is its greatest achievement.
What I do not find all too great about Undertale, even within the confines of its own narrative, is the overworld. The puzzles are... cute, I guess, but way too simple to be done more than once. Having to do all of Papyrus' traps and all of Mettaton's shows twice really grinds the pace to a hault, and make the game a bit of a chore to revisit, despite the fact that you're encouraged to do it. Deltarune greatly upgraded its overworld minigames and puzzles, meaning this was probably just toby fox struggling with his first game, but regardless, what an amazing start.
I used to say "I understand why the genocide route is boring, but that's still a bad thing". Not anymore. Games are an art form, not just mindless entertainment, and the genocide route doesn't want you to have fun, so that's not what it'll offer to you, and that's great. I don't enjoy playing it, and that's great. Undertale teaches me a lot about my own preconceptions of videogames, and I think that is its greatest achievement.
What I do not find all too great about Undertale, even within the confines of its own narrative, is the overworld. The puzzles are... cute, I guess, but way too simple to be done more than once. Having to do all of Papyrus' traps and all of Mettaton's shows twice really grinds the pace to a hault, and make the game a bit of a chore to revisit, despite the fact that you're encouraged to do it. Deltarune greatly upgraded its overworld minigames and puzzles, meaning this was probably just toby fox struggling with his first game, but regardless, what an amazing start.
The main gimmick of this franchise continues to be the coolest most innately fun thing anyone has ever come up with in gaming history, so congrats We Love Katamari, you're a real fun game.
However, as a sequel, this game needed to show me why even make a sequel at all, and WLK is successful in some areas and not so much in others. Variety-wise, this game runs circles over the original, offering many new areas and mechanics to spice up the main attraction. The game also has a slightly larger scope, which makes the dopamine rushes feel a lot more satisfying.
However, WLK still suffers a lot from autoplane mode, where in too many levels you just kinda... switch off and clear the stage anyways. I feel like even the first game had a bit more problem solving involved, though it admitedly suffered similarly.
My biggest petpeeve with WLK is that the ending feels unnearned. In Damacy you never knew when exactly the game would end, but you got the feeling that it would end when there stopped being things big enough to roll up. In WLK, the game ends when you roll up the sun, but you don't grow to its size organically, instead getting an earth-sized Katamari from the getgo in a sepparate mode. It doesn't feel as rewarding.
Overall, WLK sturggles with justifying its existence, but still manages to one up the first game in small but meaningful ways, making for a game that, for all intents and purposes, I really enjoyed playing. It's really short too, so that's sweet.
However, as a sequel, this game needed to show me why even make a sequel at all, and WLK is successful in some areas and not so much in others. Variety-wise, this game runs circles over the original, offering many new areas and mechanics to spice up the main attraction. The game also has a slightly larger scope, which makes the dopamine rushes feel a lot more satisfying.
However, WLK still suffers a lot from autoplane mode, where in too many levels you just kinda... switch off and clear the stage anyways. I feel like even the first game had a bit more problem solving involved, though it admitedly suffered similarly.
My biggest petpeeve with WLK is that the ending feels unnearned. In Damacy you never knew when exactly the game would end, but you got the feeling that it would end when there stopped being things big enough to roll up. In WLK, the game ends when you roll up the sun, but you don't grow to its size organically, instead getting an earth-sized Katamari from the getgo in a sepparate mode. It doesn't feel as rewarding.
Overall, WLK sturggles with justifying its existence, but still manages to one up the first game in small but meaningful ways, making for a game that, for all intents and purposes, I really enjoyed playing. It's really short too, so that's sweet.
2013
One of the biggest nosedives in quality in the second half of a sonic game maybe??? Even though Lost World takes away with the extravagant artsyle and ludicrous boost gameplay of the previous games, I think there IS enough polish in the first few worlds to still be pleased, but as soon as Frozen Factory hits, it is blunder after blunder. Mechanics stop being fun, frustration goes rampant, Sky Road is a Windy Hill reskin and Lava Mountain is just a boss gauntlet. Sigh.
There's a lot that goes unappreciated in this game sometimes. The soundtrack is severly underrated, the quality of the animations is pretty impressive, and there is real, genuine effort to give every stage something new and exciting to play with (Colors could really take notes on this apartment) but all of this is admitedly wasted on fairly unintuitive controls, really lame boss fights, and a staggering amount of levels that I could do without.
It is not the worst offence in the world, even less so 11 years later, but it is most certainly not very fun. 5.5/10. Also what the hell is going on with the trophies guys, not that I wanted to do them but this is insane.
There's a lot that goes unappreciated in this game sometimes. The soundtrack is severly underrated, the quality of the animations is pretty impressive, and there is real, genuine effort to give every stage something new and exciting to play with (Colors could really take notes on this apartment) but all of this is admitedly wasted on fairly unintuitive controls, really lame boss fights, and a staggering amount of levels that I could do without.
It is not the worst offence in the world, even less so 11 years later, but it is most certainly not very fun. 5.5/10. Also what the hell is going on with the trophies guys, not that I wanted to do them but this is insane.
First timer here! As someone who grew up with Wii games and onward, early 3d games offer a LOT of friction for me. Majora's Mask can be pretty uncomunicative, janky, and a lot of times frustrating. But damn, it's quite the lovely game.
The world, grounded in this really cool time loop mechanic, feels exciting and welcoming to explore, and all of the places and environments we visit while traversing merely 4 dungeons are intriguing and full of life even without doing most of this games' supposedly really good side quests.
The kokiri temple is the simplest and most forgetable one, the Goron mountain was creative and clever, Great Bay had me racking my head in the best possible way, and Stone Tower Temple was fun, but maybe a biiit disappointing for a final dungeon. They really should've thrown a final moon dungeon, but still, all of them are good.
The bosses kinda lagged though, and Twinmold in particular might be the worst boss in any 3D zelda, but the final boss somewhat made up for the rest, it was a really great challenge.
While Ocarina of Time was the standard, shining introduction to the new 3rd axis, Majora's Mask is bold, freaky, weird and experimental in all the best ways, resulting in a game that, while a bit rough in a lot of ways, was an improvement to what came before.
The world, grounded in this really cool time loop mechanic, feels exciting and welcoming to explore, and all of the places and environments we visit while traversing merely 4 dungeons are intriguing and full of life even without doing most of this games' supposedly really good side quests.
The kokiri temple is the simplest and most forgetable one, the Goron mountain was creative and clever, Great Bay had me racking my head in the best possible way, and Stone Tower Temple was fun, but maybe a biiit disappointing for a final dungeon. They really should've thrown a final moon dungeon, but still, all of them are good.
The bosses kinda lagged though, and Twinmold in particular might be the worst boss in any 3D zelda, but the final boss somewhat made up for the rest, it was a really great challenge.
While Ocarina of Time was the standard, shining introduction to the new 3rd axis, Majora's Mask is bold, freaky, weird and experimental in all the best ways, resulting in a game that, while a bit rough in a lot of ways, was an improvement to what came before.
2002
It feels wrong to love this game so much. Even though Metroid Fusion is linear and handholdy to an extreme degree, taking a hard turn on a lot of the principles of Super Metroid, it has so much flare to hold its own against that game and any other in the series.
The controlls are snappy and responsive, the environment is creative and interesting, the pacing is on point, the story is honestly my favorite in the franchise, and the ambience ohhh the ambience. The SA-X really is the sauce of the heavens even during a replay.
Metroid Fusion has just enough Metroidvania in it to be fun to explore and experiment, and has exceeding amounts of cool, excitement and thrill that make it a blast from beginning to end. It's a little less elegant than Zero Mission, but a lot more rad, so I guess it balances out. 9/10
The controlls are snappy and responsive, the environment is creative and interesting, the pacing is on point, the story is honestly my favorite in the franchise, and the ambience ohhh the ambience. The SA-X really is the sauce of the heavens even during a replay.
Metroid Fusion has just enough Metroidvania in it to be fun to explore and experiment, and has exceeding amounts of cool, excitement and thrill that make it a blast from beginning to end. It's a little less elegant than Zero Mission, but a lot more rad, so I guess it balances out. 9/10
2011
Sonic Generations is one of the few games where my opinion of it across 10 years has remained a constant "Hell yeah". Whereas a lot of Sonic games have started showing their weaker aspects as I grew older, Gens remains incredibly fun, mezmerizing, thrilling and wonderful.
Not only does it have jawdropping presentation and insanely good music, not only are the controls responsive and tight, but the level design is just sublime, making full use of sonic's original philosophy of "good skill = faster route" to make speedrunning and replayability an absolute blast.
The worst level in this game is probably act 1 of Planet Wisp, which is an okay level, and the final boss unanimously blows, but then the remaining 90% of the game is nothing but banger stage after another. Seaside Hill Act 2 might just be the best level in Sonic History I'm not fucking kidding.
A lot's been said about classic sonic's less than perfect physics and modern sonic's boost to win philosophy, but you won't hear it from me. Even if neither gameplay style works like we would like them to, both of them perfectly compliment the level design they're placed into, so I'm not complaining.
The game's short length is certainly a bit disappointing. I think they could have levels from cd, advance and rush in them if they weren't rushed to oblivion. That said, the challenges are an extremely welcomed addition that make that fact stink a heck of a lot less.
I will say though, for as much as I'll always pick the PC version over the ps3 one, there are sooo many crashes and little bugs in PC that weren't present in PS3, showing how Sega didn't have pc ports figured out back then. It isn't a dealbreaker, but it was pretty annoying.
Sonic Generations is nostalgia done right. Back when Sonic was having an identity crisis and Green Hill hadn't been brought back a billion times, Generations served as a reminder of everything the franchise gave us both good and bad, packaged in a new code of paint like we never dreamed of. I deeply, deeply love this game, and at this point, I'm pretty sure I always will.
Not only does it have jawdropping presentation and insanely good music, not only are the controls responsive and tight, but the level design is just sublime, making full use of sonic's original philosophy of "good skill = faster route" to make speedrunning and replayability an absolute blast.
The worst level in this game is probably act 1 of Planet Wisp, which is an okay level, and the final boss unanimously blows, but then the remaining 90% of the game is nothing but banger stage after another. Seaside Hill Act 2 might just be the best level in Sonic History I'm not fucking kidding.
A lot's been said about classic sonic's less than perfect physics and modern sonic's boost to win philosophy, but you won't hear it from me. Even if neither gameplay style works like we would like them to, both of them perfectly compliment the level design they're placed into, so I'm not complaining.
The game's short length is certainly a bit disappointing. I think they could have levels from cd, advance and rush in them if they weren't rushed to oblivion. That said, the challenges are an extremely welcomed addition that make that fact stink a heck of a lot less.
I will say though, for as much as I'll always pick the PC version over the ps3 one, there are sooo many crashes and little bugs in PC that weren't present in PS3, showing how Sega didn't have pc ports figured out back then. It isn't a dealbreaker, but it was pretty annoying.
Sonic Generations is nostalgia done right. Back when Sonic was having an identity crisis and Green Hill hadn't been brought back a billion times, Generations served as a reminder of everything the franchise gave us both good and bad, packaged in a new code of paint like we never dreamed of. I deeply, deeply love this game, and at this point, I'm pretty sure I always will.
I swear this had little to do with the upcoming remake. I played paper mario 64 2 years ago and then procrastinated with the sequel. ANYWAYS. About as good as the first, but for fairly different reasons?
Ttyd has a much stronger world and cast than the first game. Rogueport, the X-Nauts, the new partners, the pianta mafia, the linebeck ass dude, all have such distinct personality and flare that carries the whole experience. Ttyd is also much, much longer than the first game, which at first scared me, but then made me appreciate the journey a lot more, so that's neat.
To counterbalance all that goodwill, however, thousand year door brings a couple of stinks that weren't present in 64. The shitty backtracking is certainly one of them, but also, like, a really sloppy difficulty curve. Chapter 7 was a breeze, almost chapter 1 level difficult, and then chapter 8 woops my ass, whereas 64 was a nice, even, linear graph. Besides I just have to dock points for the 10 minute unskippable cutscene WITH DIALOGUE PROMPTS in the final boss.
But other than that, ykno, it's a perfectly fun rpg. The combat is good, the presentation is tight, and that's that. I still prefer Mario & Luigi over Paper Mario, but I guess it's easier to adopt the stance of "Both, both is good"
Ttyd has a much stronger world and cast than the first game. Rogueport, the X-Nauts, the new partners, the pianta mafia, the linebeck ass dude, all have such distinct personality and flare that carries the whole experience. Ttyd is also much, much longer than the first game, which at first scared me, but then made me appreciate the journey a lot more, so that's neat.
To counterbalance all that goodwill, however, thousand year door brings a couple of stinks that weren't present in 64. The shitty backtracking is certainly one of them, but also, like, a really sloppy difficulty curve. Chapter 7 was a breeze, almost chapter 1 level difficult, and then chapter 8 woops my ass, whereas 64 was a nice, even, linear graph. Besides I just have to dock points for the 10 minute unskippable cutscene WITH DIALOGUE PROMPTS in the final boss.
But other than that, ykno, it's a perfectly fun rpg. The combat is good, the presentation is tight, and that's that. I still prefer Mario & Luigi over Paper Mario, but I guess it's easier to adopt the stance of "Both, both is good"
2010
Yeah man, idk, the spark is gone.
I've played this game countless times since 2013, and last time I enjoyed it quite a bit, but now... It really sets in how most levels in this game were thrown together in a few hours. It's polished and unintrusive enough to be passable, but nothing above that.
I've played this game countless times since 2013, and last time I enjoyed it quite a bit, but now... It really sets in how most levels in this game were thrown together in a few hours. It's polished and unintrusive enough to be passable, but nothing above that.
Ok, yeah, holy shit. This game is nirvana in every way. The levels are filled with creativty, wonder and bombasticness, yet never at the expense of tight level design and controls. Tropical Freeze is a masterclass in design, and already one of my favorite games of all time.
That said, here's my hot take: The bosses of this game kinda lag, and the final one specially is a pain in the ass. So much so that I actually prefer returns just a tiiiiny bit more? The levels in that game aren't as good, but the bosses aren't nearly as bad, and also that game has a lot more levels in general. Idk, sorry to be a contrarian, I love both games either way.
That said, here's my hot take: The bosses of this game kinda lag, and the final one specially is a pain in the ass. So much so that I actually prefer returns just a tiiiiny bit more? The levels in that game aren't as good, but the bosses aren't nearly as bad, and also that game has a lot more levels in general. Idk, sorry to be a contrarian, I love both games either way.