Vinnysuperg
2005
The definition of slop.
2019
One of my new favorite Boomer Shooters of the modern era.
Ion Fury is a game that I have heard a lot of great things about over the years, but I never actually got around to trying out. I honestly thought the hype around this game was going to be overblown, but it turns out I was completely wrong. This game absolutely owns and it proves that the Build Engine is the undisputed GOAT of FPS games.
I think the biggest things this game gets right are its guns, enemies, and aesthetics. Every weapon has its niche, and there was never a point where I felt that I was underutilizing a certain weapon. Bowling Bombs and the Disperser especially were 2 of the most fun weapons in the game, and some of my new favorites in the entire genre. The enemies also all felt incredibly unique, and other than the little head spiders, none of them were particularly annoying.
The visuals are a particular high point, as the art direction shows that the Build Engine still has incredible potential when it comes to its graphical capabilites. Most levels were a joy to look at, with a lot of little details that stood out and made the whole experience feel so lively. That, and also the great performance from Shelly.
My issues mainly come from the fact that I feel the game loses a lot of steam in its last 3 episodes. There are some absolute winner levels in there, a standout being Eskel's Estate in my opinion, however the levels begin to start dragging on and on without stopping. The last few levels all have their own individual loading zones in them, which make them feel like they will never end. Add in one of the worst clusterfucks of a final boss I have seen in an FPS in a while, and you have a game that tragically doesnt stick the landing.
Even with its bleh final episodes, Ion Fury absolutely deserves its reputation of being a fantastic modern Boomer Shooter. I really hope Phantom Fury is just as good as this, but from what I have seen of the demo, vibes are at an all time low.
Can't wait to play Aftershock tho. I need my Sherry fix.
Ion Fury is a game that I have heard a lot of great things about over the years, but I never actually got around to trying out. I honestly thought the hype around this game was going to be overblown, but it turns out I was completely wrong. This game absolutely owns and it proves that the Build Engine is the undisputed GOAT of FPS games.
I think the biggest things this game gets right are its guns, enemies, and aesthetics. Every weapon has its niche, and there was never a point where I felt that I was underutilizing a certain weapon. Bowling Bombs and the Disperser especially were 2 of the most fun weapons in the game, and some of my new favorites in the entire genre. The enemies also all felt incredibly unique, and other than the little head spiders, none of them were particularly annoying.
The visuals are a particular high point, as the art direction shows that the Build Engine still has incredible potential when it comes to its graphical capabilites. Most levels were a joy to look at, with a lot of little details that stood out and made the whole experience feel so lively. That, and also the great performance from Shelly.
My issues mainly come from the fact that I feel the game loses a lot of steam in its last 3 episodes. There are some absolute winner levels in there, a standout being Eskel's Estate in my opinion, however the levels begin to start dragging on and on without stopping. The last few levels all have their own individual loading zones in them, which make them feel like they will never end. Add in one of the worst clusterfucks of a final boss I have seen in an FPS in a while, and you have a game that tragically doesnt stick the landing.
Even with its bleh final episodes, Ion Fury absolutely deserves its reputation of being a fantastic modern Boomer Shooter. I really hope Phantom Fury is just as good as this, but from what I have seen of the demo, vibes are at an all time low.
Can't wait to play Aftershock tho. I need my Sherry fix.
2023
SO CLOSE to being a truly great Metroidvania.
I loved a lot about this game, and I think for the developers first outing, it's an absolute achievement. Moving around and platforming in this game is excellent, with some of the most fun movement abilities I've EVER used in a 3D platformer. I loved how quick and snappy everything feels, and the versatile movement abilities led to a couple instances where I had fun sequence breaking the game. Movement is really the star of the show, and it carries the entire game.
The issues I have with the game come from 2 areas: level design and combat. Level design in this game is not necessarily bad, but the world feels a little too samey. I was so sick of seeing the same tile sets and environments over and over again, which was made even worse by the baffling decision to not include a map feature. I probably spent at least an extra hour of my time with the game running in circles because of the lack of a map feature.
Combat is also a low point in the game, due to the fact that it never really feels good. Enemy hit detection is especially really unclear at times, and it leads to a lot of unfair hits. The decision to have heavy attacks make your character drop their weapon is also one of the most infuriating and baffling aspects of this game.
Even with how negative all that sounds, I truly do believe that the movement carries this game. A lot of Pseudoregalia feels amateurish, but I still feel like this developer has a winning formula on their hands if they just work out a few of the kinks.
I feel a potential Pseudoregalia 2 could be a modern day classic.
I loved a lot about this game, and I think for the developers first outing, it's an absolute achievement. Moving around and platforming in this game is excellent, with some of the most fun movement abilities I've EVER used in a 3D platformer. I loved how quick and snappy everything feels, and the versatile movement abilities led to a couple instances where I had fun sequence breaking the game. Movement is really the star of the show, and it carries the entire game.
The issues I have with the game come from 2 areas: level design and combat. Level design in this game is not necessarily bad, but the world feels a little too samey. I was so sick of seeing the same tile sets and environments over and over again, which was made even worse by the baffling decision to not include a map feature. I probably spent at least an extra hour of my time with the game running in circles because of the lack of a map feature.
Combat is also a low point in the game, due to the fact that it never really feels good. Enemy hit detection is especially really unclear at times, and it leads to a lot of unfair hits. The decision to have heavy attacks make your character drop their weapon is also one of the most infuriating and baffling aspects of this game.
Even with how negative all that sounds, I truly do believe that the movement carries this game. A lot of Pseudoregalia feels amateurish, but I still feel like this developer has a winning formula on their hands if they just work out a few of the kinks.
I feel a potential Pseudoregalia 2 could be a modern day classic.
2023
The original Remnant: From the Ashes was a surprise hit for me. As someone who feels like there are not enough pure coop games out there, that game was a nice small little gem that ended up being quite a lot of fun even with its numerous shortcomings.
Remnant 2 fixes a lot of the problems I had with that first game. There are way more archetypes to choose from, and the ability to mix 2 of them at the same time makes for a lot of really great build variety. There are also way more guns to find, which was a massive complaint that I had with the original game. Armor sets are a bit too scarce for my liking, but that is still an improvement here as well. The combat in general with this game is incredibly tight, and in co-op is an absolute blast.
The art direction is a real stand out element of this game as well. Every world that we explored was incredibly dense with detail, and just generally incredibly gorgeous to look at. The music was a surprise hit for me as well, with a lot of tracks being way more memorable than the first game.
The shortcomings of this game come from a few areas. For starters, the performance for me with this game was absolutely dreadful. I have a decently powerful machine, and even on medium settings I was dropping down to 40FPS at times. This is an issue that was slightly remedied with a patch, but there is still quite a bit slowdown.
The procedural generation is a staple from the original game, but I have the same sort of opinion here that I did for the first. It is a neat concept that adds quite a bit of replay value to the game, but having the levels all be randomly generated makes the entire package feel quite disjointed at times. No matter how seamless the procedural generation gets, it will never compete with creating hand crafted levels.
The story was also a massive letdown as well. The writing for the main characters was really cringe inducing at times, and a lot of the exposition is shared through extremely long and dry text sequences. I really do like the world and setting that they have crafted here, but the amount of time that you spend in these really boring story sequences is way too much.
Even with all my problems though, I still really did love this game. I am an absolute sucker for co-op third person shooters, and Remnant 2 is one of the finest in the market right now. I really do hope that this company goes on to continue to refine this series through more DLC and potential sequels because they really do have something truly special on their hands.
Remnant 2 fixes a lot of the problems I had with that first game. There are way more archetypes to choose from, and the ability to mix 2 of them at the same time makes for a lot of really great build variety. There are also way more guns to find, which was a massive complaint that I had with the original game. Armor sets are a bit too scarce for my liking, but that is still an improvement here as well. The combat in general with this game is incredibly tight, and in co-op is an absolute blast.
The art direction is a real stand out element of this game as well. Every world that we explored was incredibly dense with detail, and just generally incredibly gorgeous to look at. The music was a surprise hit for me as well, with a lot of tracks being way more memorable than the first game.
The shortcomings of this game come from a few areas. For starters, the performance for me with this game was absolutely dreadful. I have a decently powerful machine, and even on medium settings I was dropping down to 40FPS at times. This is an issue that was slightly remedied with a patch, but there is still quite a bit slowdown.
The procedural generation is a staple from the original game, but I have the same sort of opinion here that I did for the first. It is a neat concept that adds quite a bit of replay value to the game, but having the levels all be randomly generated makes the entire package feel quite disjointed at times. No matter how seamless the procedural generation gets, it will never compete with creating hand crafted levels.
The story was also a massive letdown as well. The writing for the main characters was really cringe inducing at times, and a lot of the exposition is shared through extremely long and dry text sequences. I really do like the world and setting that they have crafted here, but the amount of time that you spend in these really boring story sequences is way too much.
Even with all my problems though, I still really did love this game. I am an absolute sucker for co-op third person shooters, and Remnant 2 is one of the finest in the market right now. I really do hope that this company goes on to continue to refine this series through more DLC and potential sequels because they really do have something truly special on their hands.
As someone who has been slowly going through the entirety of the Resident Evil franchise, I can say that this is definitely up there are one of the best games.
The setting of this game was easily one of the best parts of this game. I loved everything from the enemy design, to the absolute gorgeous environments this game has you go through. The art department for this game went above and beyond, and the only thing that would have made it better would have been if they actually went with that Plague Doctor Ada design that they teased.
Gameplay wise, I have a lot to say. Going in, I heard a lot of people compare this game to Resident Evil 4, but I did not realize just how much this game would take from 4. This game is not really survival horror, but is more so action horror. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as it copies a lot of RE4's excellent gameplay loop of shooting a ton of enemies, exploring, and then upgrading your weapons at the shop.
This all leads to a very satisfying game to play, however it doesnt handle everything perfect. I personally believe that the upgrades to the weapons are dished out way too slowly, which led to a lot of times that I had so much money that I straight up could not spend until much later. I also thought the grid inventory was half baked, as there was never a SINGLE moment in the game where I actually worried about running out of inventory space. An absolute missed potential their. I also believe that the game relies a bit too much on retreading what RE4 has already done, mainly due to certain areas and setpieces being almost 1-1 how they are in RE4.
Where this game excels for me though, is through its characters and story. Ethan Winters has somehow climbed his way to being one of my favorite Resident Evil main characters, and I thought the way the story explored him as a character was really interesting. It is the first time I have ever truly cared about a Resident Evil story, and the third act of this game genuinely got me a little emotional.
Overall, it is not a perfect game by any means, but the stuff it does well, it does REALLY well. As someone who thought that Resident Evil 7 felt like a very middling and uninspired entry in the franchise, I am so glad that they went above and beyond for this game.
The setting of this game was easily one of the best parts of this game. I loved everything from the enemy design, to the absolute gorgeous environments this game has you go through. The art department for this game went above and beyond, and the only thing that would have made it better would have been if they actually went with that Plague Doctor Ada design that they teased.
Gameplay wise, I have a lot to say. Going in, I heard a lot of people compare this game to Resident Evil 4, but I did not realize just how much this game would take from 4. This game is not really survival horror, but is more so action horror. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as it copies a lot of RE4's excellent gameplay loop of shooting a ton of enemies, exploring, and then upgrading your weapons at the shop.
This all leads to a very satisfying game to play, however it doesnt handle everything perfect. I personally believe that the upgrades to the weapons are dished out way too slowly, which led to a lot of times that I had so much money that I straight up could not spend until much later. I also thought the grid inventory was half baked, as there was never a SINGLE moment in the game where I actually worried about running out of inventory space. An absolute missed potential their. I also believe that the game relies a bit too much on retreading what RE4 has already done, mainly due to certain areas and setpieces being almost 1-1 how they are in RE4.
Where this game excels for me though, is through its characters and story. Ethan Winters has somehow climbed his way to being one of my favorite Resident Evil main characters, and I thought the way the story explored him as a character was really interesting. It is the first time I have ever truly cared about a Resident Evil story, and the third act of this game genuinely got me a little emotional.
Overall, it is not a perfect game by any means, but the stuff it does well, it does REALLY well. As someone who thought that Resident Evil 7 felt like a very middling and uninspired entry in the franchise, I am so glad that they went above and beyond for this game.
"An absolute achievement of 2D platforming."
This was a game that I had incredibly high hopes for, as I have been yearning for another 2D Mario game that brings me the same joy that Super Mario World did when I played it as a child. I am happy to say that Super Mario Wonder delivers on those hopes and then some.
This is easily the best looking 2.5D game I have ever seen. It is not really an art style I am very fond of, as I mainly prefer pixel art for 2D, but this is one of the few games that really pulled it off for me. Everything is so expressive and enjoyable to look at, with so much love and care put into everything.
However, the level design and control is really where this game shines for me. Every level feels truly unique from the last, and the addition of the Wonder flower mechanic brings a lot of life to the game. So many levels had me smiling so hard, and it really added so much to my overall enjoyment. I also believe that one of the most important parts of a game is how good it feels to control, and the movement in this game is probably the best in the entire series. Just jumping around as Mario has never felt so good.
There are really only 2 reasons that this isnt a 10/10 for me. Even though I adored the final Bowser fight, the lack of unique bosses in this game really brought it down. The fact that multiple worlds ended without any true boss to cap it off, really left a sour taste in my mouth. However, I honestly found needing to grind for purple coins to get 100% to be the most egregious part of the game. You need to collect all the standees to get 100%, and there is not really an easy way to get purple coins once you've completed every level. I ended up looking up a guide on the best level to grind the coins in, and spent my last 40 minutes of the game playing 1 level over and over again to get enough coins for the standees. Just a weird oversight and something that I feel they could easily fix in the sequel.
Overall, this feels like the start of a return to greatness for the 2D Mario platformer. Nintendo would be absolutely crazy to not make another game in this style, and I can only hope its just as good if not better.
This was a game that I had incredibly high hopes for, as I have been yearning for another 2D Mario game that brings me the same joy that Super Mario World did when I played it as a child. I am happy to say that Super Mario Wonder delivers on those hopes and then some.
This is easily the best looking 2.5D game I have ever seen. It is not really an art style I am very fond of, as I mainly prefer pixel art for 2D, but this is one of the few games that really pulled it off for me. Everything is so expressive and enjoyable to look at, with so much love and care put into everything.
However, the level design and control is really where this game shines for me. Every level feels truly unique from the last, and the addition of the Wonder flower mechanic brings a lot of life to the game. So many levels had me smiling so hard, and it really added so much to my overall enjoyment. I also believe that one of the most important parts of a game is how good it feels to control, and the movement in this game is probably the best in the entire series. Just jumping around as Mario has never felt so good.
There are really only 2 reasons that this isnt a 10/10 for me. Even though I adored the final Bowser fight, the lack of unique bosses in this game really brought it down. The fact that multiple worlds ended without any true boss to cap it off, really left a sour taste in my mouth. However, I honestly found needing to grind for purple coins to get 100% to be the most egregious part of the game. You need to collect all the standees to get 100%, and there is not really an easy way to get purple coins once you've completed every level. I ended up looking up a guide on the best level to grind the coins in, and spent my last 40 minutes of the game playing 1 level over and over again to get enough coins for the standees. Just a weird oversight and something that I feel they could easily fix in the sequel.
Overall, this feels like the start of a return to greatness for the 2D Mario platformer. Nintendo would be absolutely crazy to not make another game in this style, and I can only hope its just as good if not better.
This was actually one of my childhood GBA games growing up, and I remember never being able to get past the third world. I decided to boot this game up on a whim since I recently modded an original GBA, and sort of accidentally ran into 100%ing this game.
For the most part I will be talking about this game as if it was the NES original, but I will add that the added graphical tweaks are all fantastic, and easily makes this the definitive version of Mario 3 in my eyes.
Super Mario 3 surprised me in a lot of ways with just how large and intracate its world is, especially for something that released on the NES. The game has over 90 levels, which is unheard of for that system, with an entire map system that has still yet to be matched by a newer Super Mario game. This game is a technical marvel that has no reason to be as quality as it is, and for that reason I can understand why so many people call this one of the best games of all time.
For myself personally thought, I think that the level design is where this game takes a bit of a nosedive. Around 2/3rd of the levels in this game are either perfectly fine, or some of Mario's best. However, around 1/3rd of the levels are either frustratingly designed, puzzle levels that are a slog to get through, or some of the worst water levels in Mario history. World 3 is the worst in that regard, as it is made up of almost entirely of water levels, and they are all just absolutely terrible.
With that said, this game is still a technical marvel, and easily one of the best 2D Mario games out there. The jump from Mario 1 to this is staggering, and that can not be understated.
.....Super Mario World is way better tho.
For the most part I will be talking about this game as if it was the NES original, but I will add that the added graphical tweaks are all fantastic, and easily makes this the definitive version of Mario 3 in my eyes.
Super Mario 3 surprised me in a lot of ways with just how large and intracate its world is, especially for something that released on the NES. The game has over 90 levels, which is unheard of for that system, with an entire map system that has still yet to be matched by a newer Super Mario game. This game is a technical marvel that has no reason to be as quality as it is, and for that reason I can understand why so many people call this one of the best games of all time.
For myself personally thought, I think that the level design is where this game takes a bit of a nosedive. Around 2/3rd of the levels in this game are either perfectly fine, or some of Mario's best. However, around 1/3rd of the levels are either frustratingly designed, puzzle levels that are a slog to get through, or some of the worst water levels in Mario history. World 3 is the worst in that regard, as it is made up of almost entirely of water levels, and they are all just absolutely terrible.
With that said, this game is still a technical marvel, and easily one of the best 2D Mario games out there. The jump from Mario 1 to this is staggering, and that can not be understated.
.....Super Mario World is way better tho.
Just fantastic from start to finish. There is really not that much to say outside of that.
This DLC adds to it with cut content I missed (Gondala my beloved), and also all new boss fights and areas that are all fantastic. I also honestly felt that this version of the Saddler fight was my favorite out of both the original and the remake's Saddler fight. The added story and character moments were all great, and cements this version of Luis as one of my new favorite RE characters.
I do think Ada's vocal performance is still not amazing, but it is definitely not as bad as a lot of people make it out to be. I actually think she has a couple comedic moments where her delivery shines, and this DLC made me appreciate her in the base game a lot more.
It is more Resident Evil 4 Remake, which is now one of my favorite games of all time, right next to the original.
This DLC adds to it with cut content I missed (Gondala my beloved), and also all new boss fights and areas that are all fantastic. I also honestly felt that this version of the Saddler fight was my favorite out of both the original and the remake's Saddler fight. The added story and character moments were all great, and cements this version of Luis as one of my new favorite RE characters.
I do think Ada's vocal performance is still not amazing, but it is definitely not as bad as a lot of people make it out to be. I actually think she has a couple comedic moments where her delivery shines, and this DLC made me appreciate her in the base game a lot more.
It is more Resident Evil 4 Remake, which is now one of my favorite games of all time, right next to the original.
"The most PS2 game of all time that is NOT on the PS2."
Blew me the fuck away. I was honestly going to skip this game, as I have no prior experience with mecha games or Armored Core, but I ended up caving and buying it anyways.
Completely fell in love with this game. The gameplay was absolutely top notch, with a highlight of bossfights that are some of FromSoft's absolute best (ICE Worm is From's best setpiece fight ever). You know you have a good game on your hand when the actual act of just moving around and shooting feels so good.
The story was also a massive shock to me, as I was honestly expecting something a lot more barebones and basic. But I ended up falling in love with almost all of the characters, and it made a lot of the choices in the game have a lot more impact on me than I expected.
The only real complaint I have with it is that some missions were a real drag, and I feel could have been cut for an overall tighter experience. But honestly....the forced stealth sections and other jank missions add to the PS2 esque charm that this game has.
It's a game with a lot of soul poured into it, and the result is FromSoftware at its absolute best.
Blew me the fuck away. I was honestly going to skip this game, as I have no prior experience with mecha games or Armored Core, but I ended up caving and buying it anyways.
Completely fell in love with this game. The gameplay was absolutely top notch, with a highlight of bossfights that are some of FromSoft's absolute best (ICE Worm is From's best setpiece fight ever). You know you have a good game on your hand when the actual act of just moving around and shooting feels so good.
The story was also a massive shock to me, as I was honestly expecting something a lot more barebones and basic. But I ended up falling in love with almost all of the characters, and it made a lot of the choices in the game have a lot more impact on me than I expected.
The only real complaint I have with it is that some missions were a real drag, and I feel could have been cut for an overall tighter experience. But honestly....the forced stealth sections and other jank missions add to the PS2 esque charm that this game has.
It's a game with a lot of soul poured into it, and the result is FromSoftware at its absolute best.
The definition of "fine." I really loved Joe and I thought the melee focused combat was fun, but like the base game I thought it really didn't reach the potential it had. The final act is fun, but it feels way too short. I feel like it needed at least one more good setpiece for me to really consider it a campy fun time.
This DLC sadly did not change the fact that I still find RE7 to be one of the most disappointing entries for me. Its place in Resident Evil importance can not be understated, as its the only reason we are getting good RE games again. But honestly, the potential that the actual game had was just never reached imo. Still love Ethan tho.
This DLC sadly did not change the fact that I still find RE7 to be one of the most disappointing entries for me. Its place in Resident Evil importance can not be understated, as its the only reason we are getting good RE games again. But honestly, the potential that the actual game had was just never reached imo. Still love Ethan tho.
2022
Talk about aiming for the fucking moon in scope. After the uninspired, generic, and frankly aimless first mod, I honestly did not expect to have such an amazing time as I did with its sequel.
This HL2 mod is one of the most ambitious that I've seen since Black Mesa, and its a delight from start to finish. Everything from the combat, music, and visuals is an absolute treat and is a triumph of the modding community. However, the main element that really hooked me was the story and characters. Never have I ever been as attached to the characters in any mod before as I was in this one, and the narrative was a really fun fanfiction of a post Episode 2 world.
My only issues is that the middle of the mod drags a bit with the final Mossman chase, and I feel the Wilson plotline at times felt like it could have been expanded on a bit more. Also, some of the voice acting and jokes can be pretty distracting (the rebel on the radio's voice.....), but Im willing to be a bit more lenient about that stuff since its by such a small development team. Either way, I would die for Wilson and the true ending post scene made me almost cry.
This HL2 mod is one of the most ambitious that I've seen since Black Mesa, and its a delight from start to finish. Everything from the combat, music, and visuals is an absolute treat and is a triumph of the modding community. However, the main element that really hooked me was the story and characters. Never have I ever been as attached to the characters in any mod before as I was in this one, and the narrative was a really fun fanfiction of a post Episode 2 world.
My only issues is that the middle of the mod drags a bit with the final Mossman chase, and I feel the Wilson plotline at times felt like it could have been expanded on a bit more. Also, some of the voice acting and jokes can be pretty distracting (the rebel on the radio's voice.....), but Im willing to be a bit more lenient about that stuff since its by such a small development team. Either way, I would die for Wilson and the true ending post scene made me almost cry.
2017
I only played this just so I could get context for the much better sequel. There's nothing particularly awful about this mod, but there's nothing memorable either. Mediocre level design and pacing, but nothing god awful. Its fine, I've played worse.
Terrible Vortigaunt fights though.
Terrible Vortigaunt fights though.
An absolute classic for a reason. Has a few issues with awful platforming and some obtuse side puzzles, but other than that its pure bliss from beginning to end. The combat is exceptional, and continues to make me wish more games used the "minigame" style of turn based battles that the Mario RPGs use. The Culex fight was also exceptionally good, and maybe one of my new favorite secret bosses in the JRPG genre. Outside of the combat, the standout element of the game was the writing and characters. Almost every new character is a slam dunk, and the fact that we have not seen more Mallow and Geno is downright criminal. The writing mixed with Yoko Shimomura's phenomenal music, just makes this game the purest form of joy condensed down into a game.
The ending legit made me tear up.
The ending legit made me tear up.
2013
Just an all-around improvement from the first game. Its surprisingly creepy with its themes and story, and at times even a bit scary. The atmosphere and vibe of this game are its strongest aspects, however some of the puzzles rely a bit too much on hiding a small button somewhere random. I prefer to not use the hint system for games like these, but from what I've heard this game's version of a hint system is really well done. I do just hope the future games focus more on the addicting logic puzzles, rather than just hiding buttons and levers.
2018
An incredibly enjoyable 2D platformer that is a love letter to the NES, SNES, and even Genesis. Little to no complaints with combat, but story was just missed potential. Unfunny meta jokes and an abrupt ending made the entire story feel muddled and lame. The first impressions of the story were so unfunny and bad, but as it went on the writing started to get better (except for the AWFUL meta jokes) and I was becoming more interested. Sadly the ending was too abrupt and I felt like it was missing one more fight. Excited to play the DLC, and really want to see more from this development team. After playing this, I feel confident that their next game Sea of Stars is gonna rule.