Vicante
Wonderful Metroidvania with some of the best movement I've seen in the genre (special shoutout to the Bash mechanic, what an elegant piece of design). Combining its killer pace and length with incredible visuals, music and a beautiful story, it's nor surprising to see how much this game ahs stuck with people long after its release. I would say that the combat is weakest part of the game, but apparently that got addressed in the sequel so now I'm more excited to try it out.
Fun demo of an interesting dice-based roguelike. Has all the framework to be quite an engaging game, and can't wait to see the improvements the developers make to the final product. I especially hope they tweak the difficulty (a bit easy) and output randomness (destroyed good runs based on random dice rolls).
2024
Game design really can't get more elegant than this.
2021
Proof that Metroid as a franchise can still offer incredible and relevant Metroidvania experiences in a post-Hollow Knight / Ori world. The best combat and (arguably) game of any 2D Metroid, completely enhanced by an amazing parry and super tight movement. With an engaging story and killer pace, I can only hope Nintendo keeps giving developer MercurySteam this IP for future installments.
It's a short, sweet, and charming indie game. Very simple, so that's why I'm looking forward to playing the sequel to see how the team has improved since this game. Also, it has a Jojo reference, so that automatically improves my rating of it.
This was an extremely fun DLC, and I must say, for being a game not designed from the ground up to be a roguelite, the Splatoon gameplay loop is a great fit for this genre. The sanitized aesthetics and music plus the possibility of making crazy broken builds made this a truly unique Splatoon experience, and I'm super excited to see where the franchise will go next. Doesn't score higher for me just because of Octo Expansion, which still marks the peak of this franchise in my opinion.
2021
They really don't make games like this anymore, do they?
As with its predecessor, creativity oozes in every aspect of this game: from the ingenious writing to its impressive levels (both in concept and execution) to the phenomenal world-building, Psychonauts 2 is truly a special game. On top of that, you add an emotionally honest story with themes that are tackled with the most care and attention, and you got yourself something that you will remember long after playing. I really loved this game to death, and wish more people played it.
As with its predecessor, creativity oozes in every aspect of this game: from the ingenious writing to its impressive levels (both in concept and execution) to the phenomenal world-building, Psychonauts 2 is truly a special game. On top of that, you add an emotionally honest story with themes that are tackled with the most care and attention, and you got yourself something that you will remember long after playing. I really loved this game to death, and wish more people played it.
2005
What an absolute banger of a game. It has so many clever and unique ideas, and among the best level design I've ever seen. That combined with the funny dialog, memorable characters, and great story, it's not hard to see why this game attained the cult status it has.
2023
I played the original back in the day, and it's lovely to play it again on a modern platform with a fresh coat of paint. It was highly innovative and influential when it was released, and it is still a joy to play today: you can clearly see how it laid all the foundations for sagas like Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi to triumph. Funny dialog, a killer pace, and an absolute masterpiece of a soundtrack. Hope this title motivates Nintendo and Square Enix to make a proper sequel of it. Also, the post-game content was a lovely addition.
Last DLC of Dicey Dungeons, and a great way to wrap the experience up. Even though RNG obliterated my Robot and Jester runs several times, I had a great time.
Sweet and short Halloween DLC. The Witch episode was super creative, but incredibly hard.
2019
One of the best designed deck builders I've played. Charming art style, banger soundtrack, and one of the best final bosses I've played recently.
It doesn't get 5 stars because of Witch Episode 4. Fuck you Terry Cavanagh for that level.
It doesn't get 5 stars because of Witch Episode 4. Fuck you Terry Cavanagh for that level.
The game that made me fall in love with 2D Mario again. The Wonder Seeds add a lot of creativity and twists to every single level and the level of charm kept me with a smile the whole time. Finished all the bonus levels and could only wish there were more of them (especially with some of the transformations like the Hoppycat and the Wubba). Can't wait to see what this team will do in the future.
2023
Glad to see F-ZERO back in such a weird but fun way, but still waiting for a remake of GX.
2023
I think this game was made in a government lab just for me. Had very high expectations for it, and I can honestly say it surpassed them all. This easily goes straight to my top favorite games of all time, and I can only say that we need more games like this.