Wollom
1992
Sonic 2 without the 2?
This one is quite a mixed bag. Definitely a One Step Forward Three Steps Back kinda deal when you compare it to the games that came out before.
Can’t believe they had the balls to put Tails on the Title Screen even though he is effectively nowhere to be seen. You even made these cute little pictures of the two buddies together before every zone and you don’t even get to play as him at all! I did get all the chaos emeralds and I was just met with the most awkward stare down from both of the characters at the end. Talk about unsatisfying, although at least the end credits were kinda nice.
Unfortunately the overworld map is gone so we don’t see how we get from place to place. To be honest the zone structure feels really off in general. Green Hills Zone (yes, Hills, not Hill) is the fourth level for some reason?? It is by far the easiest level so I don’t know why. The first level is underground with lava pits and some very cheery music. I’ve got no problem with trying to go against platformer tropes but this just doesn’t feel like an adventure; some very stock feeling level themes just kinda slapped together.
Speaking of the music, not only do I not really care for any of the tracks (Green Hills being the exception), but they mostly feel like they could be swapped around between each zone and no one would bat an eye. Tracks don’t convey any sense of the environment you’re in (unless the environment is you sitting down staring at an 8-bit game), and hence again, remove any feeling of adventure. This might sound like a harsh criticism but I can’t really forgive it since the previous entry actually did this very well.
Playing the Game Gear version immediately allows you a free pass to use save states wherever you please because when one of the chaos emeralds is quite literally off of the screen it becomes very clear that very little testing was done for this version. And you will be punished for it, because compared to 8-Bit Sonic 1, the challenge has definitely increased. Some of the levels feel a bit more open now with multiple routes. Unfortunately the quality just isn’t quite there…
To go into detail on some of the levels, as I said, mixed bag.
Green Hills has some nice fast sections, but act 3 has horrible blind spring jumps that took me way too many tries than was fun.
Gimmick Mountain (AWFUL NAME) actually uses those spinny things from 16-Bit Scrap Brain and implements them into the level pretty well! It has some challenging platforming sections with conveyors as well. This would probably be the best zone if the Game Gear screen wasn’t cucking me every single jump.
Turns out Aqua Lake (I instinctively typed Labyrinth for a second) was actually the first Zone to introduce putting Sonic inside a bubble and moving him around in a water based stage. I think this is a fun gimmick! Unfortunately the rest of the stage is hot garbage, and I like Labyrinth Zone, both 16-bit and 8-bit. Oh no I don’t like it in Sonic 4 who tf do you think I am you sicko. Anyway it’s a very boring water level outside of the bubbles, and it also looks really ugly.
Scrambled Egg Zone has to be my new least favourite Classic Sonic Zone, it’s just pick a path. Fuck you.
Crystal Egg Zone has to be my SECOND least favourite Classic Sonic Zone! It’s not difficult or bullshit but it’s horrendously ugly and completely nonsensical gameplay wise. This is what I grabbed the emeralds for?
Other gimmicks like the minecarts and hang gliders were alright. Couldn’t figure out the hang gliders really and they seemed pointless. The minecarts were fun to try and jump out at the right time, but this was only done like, two or three times.
Bosses! Again! Mixed. Bag. A couple fun ones and a couple really god awful shit ones! Silver Sonic was by far the best and Eggman was AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA WTF who tf why why why it's so bad. Starts off a little confusing and potentially challenging, but once you figure out how it works it just becomes a boring as heck waiting game. It’s also the only boss you’re likely to hear the smoke alarm segment of the boss theme. (I know this probably wasn’t made with headphones in mind but my goodness was that unpleasant to hear.)
To conclude, it’ssssss okay.. leaning towards bad really. Some good gimmicks, some underwhelming. Some good level design, some horrible. Some pretty levels, some ugly. Some fun bosses, some stupid bosses!
A mediocre time but it has its highlights... kinda.
This one is quite a mixed bag. Definitely a One Step Forward Three Steps Back kinda deal when you compare it to the games that came out before.
Can’t believe they had the balls to put Tails on the Title Screen even though he is effectively nowhere to be seen. You even made these cute little pictures of the two buddies together before every zone and you don’t even get to play as him at all! I did get all the chaos emeralds and I was just met with the most awkward stare down from both of the characters at the end. Talk about unsatisfying, although at least the end credits were kinda nice.
Unfortunately the overworld map is gone so we don’t see how we get from place to place. To be honest the zone structure feels really off in general. Green Hills Zone (yes, Hills, not Hill) is the fourth level for some reason?? It is by far the easiest level so I don’t know why. The first level is underground with lava pits and some very cheery music. I’ve got no problem with trying to go against platformer tropes but this just doesn’t feel like an adventure; some very stock feeling level themes just kinda slapped together.
Speaking of the music, not only do I not really care for any of the tracks (Green Hills being the exception), but they mostly feel like they could be swapped around between each zone and no one would bat an eye. Tracks don’t convey any sense of the environment you’re in (unless the environment is you sitting down staring at an 8-bit game), and hence again, remove any feeling of adventure. This might sound like a harsh criticism but I can’t really forgive it since the previous entry actually did this very well.
Playing the Game Gear version immediately allows you a free pass to use save states wherever you please because when one of the chaos emeralds is quite literally off of the screen it becomes very clear that very little testing was done for this version. And you will be punished for it, because compared to 8-Bit Sonic 1, the challenge has definitely increased. Some of the levels feel a bit more open now with multiple routes. Unfortunately the quality just isn’t quite there…
To go into detail on some of the levels, as I said, mixed bag.
Green Hills has some nice fast sections, but act 3 has horrible blind spring jumps that took me way too many tries than was fun.
Gimmick Mountain (AWFUL NAME) actually uses those spinny things from 16-Bit Scrap Brain and implements them into the level pretty well! It has some challenging platforming sections with conveyors as well. This would probably be the best zone if the Game Gear screen wasn’t cucking me every single jump.
Turns out Aqua Lake (I instinctively typed Labyrinth for a second) was actually the first Zone to introduce putting Sonic inside a bubble and moving him around in a water based stage. I think this is a fun gimmick! Unfortunately the rest of the stage is hot garbage, and I like Labyrinth Zone, both 16-bit and 8-bit. Oh no I don’t like it in Sonic 4 who tf do you think I am you sicko. Anyway it’s a very boring water level outside of the bubbles, and it also looks really ugly.
Scrambled Egg Zone has to be my new least favourite Classic Sonic Zone, it’s just pick a path. Fuck you.
Crystal Egg Zone has to be my SECOND least favourite Classic Sonic Zone! It’s not difficult or bullshit but it’s horrendously ugly and completely nonsensical gameplay wise. This is what I grabbed the emeralds for?
Other gimmicks like the minecarts and hang gliders were alright. Couldn’t figure out the hang gliders really and they seemed pointless. The minecarts were fun to try and jump out at the right time, but this was only done like, two or three times.
Bosses! Again! Mixed. Bag. A couple fun ones and a couple really god awful shit ones! Silver Sonic was by far the best and Eggman was AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA WTF who tf why why why it's so bad. Starts off a little confusing and potentially challenging, but once you figure out how it works it just becomes a boring as heck waiting game. It’s also the only boss you’re likely to hear the smoke alarm segment of the boss theme. (I know this probably wasn’t made with headphones in mind but my goodness was that unpleasant to hear.)
To conclude, it’ssssss okay.. leaning towards bad really. Some good gimmicks, some underwhelming. Some good level design, some horrible. Some pretty levels, some ugly. Some fun bosses, some stupid bosses!
A mediocre time but it has its highlights... kinda.
1991
Sonic the Hedgehog, 8-bit. I like it!
It’s not got much to it really. It’s by far inferior to it’s 16-bit counterpart, has almost no regard for designing sections around speed, and the Game Gear version has horrible slowdowns when more than a single entity is on the screen. Despite this it still feels like good classic Sonic to me somehow and is just a simple fun platformer with some cool level themes and a very charming soundtrack. (Who knew Yuzo Koshiro composed a Sonic game?)
One of the most charming things is the overworld map. A real effort was made to provide the player in-game some continuity between each zone and how the overall journey pans out across South Island. Something the 16-bit versions of Sonic 1 and 2 mostly didn’t try. You can actually see how we go from Jungle, to Labyrinth, to Scrap Brain, don’t just gotta take their word for it anymore.
It’s not got much to it really. It’s by far inferior to it’s 16-bit counterpart, has almost no regard for designing sections around speed, and the Game Gear version has horrible slowdowns when more than a single entity is on the screen. Despite this it still feels like good classic Sonic to me somehow and is just a simple fun platformer with some cool level themes and a very charming soundtrack. (Who knew Yuzo Koshiro composed a Sonic game?)
One of the most charming things is the overworld map. A real effort was made to provide the player in-game some continuity between each zone and how the overall journey pans out across South Island. Something the 16-bit versions of Sonic 1 and 2 mostly didn’t try. You can actually see how we go from Jungle, to Labyrinth, to Scrap Brain, don’t just gotta take their word for it anymore.
1995
Labyrinth, come in.
You beat the allegations, my boy. The worst Sonic game allegations, that is. I’m not sure how I should feel about the fact that I had a somewhat decent time playing this game. I played it as a kid and must have never made it past the 2nd stage and all I remember is it feeling SLOW and AWFUL and I DON’T KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON. Which seemed to be the general consensus among players.
Believe it or not, a big motivation to make me finally throw away the money for Sonic Origins Plus was to have another go at these Game Gear games that haunted me on Mega Collection Plus as a kid, as well as the ones that weren’t included there. When I opened up the menu for them, the first thing that caught my eye was the critically acclaimed masterpiece in question, and you know what? It was alright!!! ?? Bit of a stretch maybe. It certainly was not <good> but it was by no means awful neither.
Laughable story premise aside, Sonic is actually kinda fun to control here? I’m not fucking joking. Slow as shit means spin dash encouraged, and you can go real zoomy zoomy, it’s a satisfying challenge to cancel it at the right time. As a speedrun this could be fun as heck I’m tellin’ ya, the most fun I had here were the couple times where I had just grabbed all the keys and had a small amount of time to bolt it towards the goal. I think if the game was built fully around this concept it could have found a real decent identity.
But this is Sonic LABYRINTH, and hence the levels are LABYRINTHs, with doors taking you to all sorts of places, you gotta keep track of where you’re going, kinda fun right? Like a puzzle or a maze?? NO. This actually describes the level design for about 3 of the 12 regular stages, the rest is just random pointless BS. In general it just feels aimless; questionable teleporters, pointless powerups with straight up bad placement, strange enemies that do not look like they should be in a sonic game (truthfully they do kind of fit I just think this one is really funny), and bosses that really could have been much better had someone but a just a little bit more thought into them.
That said it is mostly just aimless, and not frustrating. The only exceptions being one fuck off hidden platform in 3-3, and the general map in 4-3. I mean f*cking look at this. I understand the vision with this final level to be honest, you gave us our Sonic Labyrinth but it’s just jarring without some semblance of a difficulty curve to precede it. You went from somewhat maze-like levels, to aimless bs, to the world’s most complicated stage that feels like a puzzle in itself trying to figure out where to go even when it’s right in front of you. My mate said we should do a drinking game where we play that level without looking at the map and take a drink everytime you go through a door and I admit that sounds like the best worst time and ohohohohhh I am tempted!!
There is the matter of the true ending being a little obtuse but I forgive that because it added a slight layer of replayability with the hint given at the end. That said, it's still hilariously shallow.
The take home today is that I think the game actually has a solid foundation and controls well, it's just mostly ruined by a number of horrible design decisions that scream like the developers did not give any shits whatsoever. Therefore since it's a Sonic game with “good ideas”, it's actually 5 stars and the most underrated game ever and you guys just don't get it you don't see the vision open your mind for once…
Except it doesn’t have many good ideas, it’s just a worse Sonic 3D Blast.
(Maybe more like a prototype, since this came out first, hm!)
You beat the allegations, my boy. The worst Sonic game allegations, that is. I’m not sure how I should feel about the fact that I had a somewhat decent time playing this game. I played it as a kid and must have never made it past the 2nd stage and all I remember is it feeling SLOW and AWFUL and I DON’T KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON. Which seemed to be the general consensus among players.
Believe it or not, a big motivation to make me finally throw away the money for Sonic Origins Plus was to have another go at these Game Gear games that haunted me on Mega Collection Plus as a kid, as well as the ones that weren’t included there. When I opened up the menu for them, the first thing that caught my eye was the critically acclaimed masterpiece in question, and you know what? It was alright!!! ?? Bit of a stretch maybe. It certainly was not <good> but it was by no means awful neither.
Laughable story premise aside, Sonic is actually kinda fun to control here? I’m not fucking joking. Slow as shit means spin dash encouraged, and you can go real zoomy zoomy, it’s a satisfying challenge to cancel it at the right time. As a speedrun this could be fun as heck I’m tellin’ ya, the most fun I had here were the couple times where I had just grabbed all the keys and had a small amount of time to bolt it towards the goal. I think if the game was built fully around this concept it could have found a real decent identity.
But this is Sonic LABYRINTH, and hence the levels are LABYRINTHs, with doors taking you to all sorts of places, you gotta keep track of where you’re going, kinda fun right? Like a puzzle or a maze?? NO. This actually describes the level design for about 3 of the 12 regular stages, the rest is just random pointless BS. In general it just feels aimless; questionable teleporters, pointless powerups with straight up bad placement, strange enemies that do not look like they should be in a sonic game (truthfully they do kind of fit I just think this one is really funny), and bosses that really could have been much better had someone but a just a little bit more thought into them.
That said it is mostly just aimless, and not frustrating. The only exceptions being one fuck off hidden platform in 3-3, and the general map in 4-3. I mean f*cking look at this. I understand the vision with this final level to be honest, you gave us our Sonic Labyrinth but it’s just jarring without some semblance of a difficulty curve to precede it. You went from somewhat maze-like levels, to aimless bs, to the world’s most complicated stage that feels like a puzzle in itself trying to figure out where to go even when it’s right in front of you. My mate said we should do a drinking game where we play that level without looking at the map and take a drink everytime you go through a door and I admit that sounds like the best worst time and ohohohohhh I am tempted!!
There is the matter of the true ending being a little obtuse but I forgive that because it added a slight layer of replayability with the hint given at the end. That said, it's still hilariously shallow.
The take home today is that I think the game actually has a solid foundation and controls well, it's just mostly ruined by a number of horrible design decisions that scream like the developers did not give any shits whatsoever. Therefore since it's a Sonic game with “good ideas”, it's actually 5 stars and the most underrated game ever and you guys just don't get it you don't see the vision open your mind for once…
Except it doesn’t have many good ideas, it’s just a worse Sonic 3D Blast.
(Maybe more like a prototype, since this came out first, hm!)
Crypt of the NecroDancer could be described as one of the most, if not the most difficult (well known) roguelike to get into. That’s not really a subjective statement either; the steam achievements suggest that less than 5% of players have completed what could be considered a “full” (All Zones Mode) run with any character. Whether this is due to the rhythm element, the initial difficulty wall that players inevitably face when they start, or some other reason, what awaits the players who eventually click with the game is undoubtedly an almost unlimited world of mechanical fun and challenge.
Believe me this struggle is not something I’m unfamiliar with myself. I first played this game in 2017, only to struggle with Zone 2 for a while before calling it quits. Despite how much I admired the game, it wasn’t clicking yet, and I wouldn’t give it another shot until early 2023 when a friend of mine was achieving big things in it.
As mentioned earlier, NecroDancer (ND) is hard. Initially, at the least. It will take even a great game player a non trivial amount of time to complete Zone 1 due to the nature of its gameplay. Movement is restricted to the laws of the world, the tune of the tomb… the rave of the grave… the…mix of the….styx… the… script of the crypt? YOU MOVE WITH THE MUSIC RIGHT?! And so do the enemies! If you don’t know what they’re gonna do then I gotta be honest with you buddy, you won’t stand a chance getting past the… the beat of the fleet… of monsters. Pattern recognition is the name of the game here. If the item pool isn’t favouring you, then you’ll need to lock in and make up the difference yourself… or just try again until you get a build that’s really broken. Except not really? OP runs in ND are VERY losable compared to other roguelikes ESPECIALLY depending on which character you are playing. One wrong move at any time can be your unexpected downfall, and trust me you’ll feel the true depth of shame when you lose a run like this.
But it’s made fair and well. ND would not be nearly as successful as it is if there wasn’t plenty of thought and testing put into how smooth it plays. Yes you have to make your inputs on time, but sufficient leeway is given to not make it a complete nightmare. If something catches you off guard you’re given just enough time to think it through and feel like a wiz of a magician after pulling it off. The heartbeat in your peripheral vision helps you notice when you might be losing the rhythm a bit and the red outlines of the beatsthat i often fail to see due to colourblindness will let you know when the song is almost over. These are just some examples of well thought out features that I feel are a little underappreciated, but go a long way in making sure all of the challenge that the game feeds you is fun and interesting challenge.
How have I come this far without talking about such a fundamental piece of the puzzle? In ND, the soundtrack represents something much more than just the music you listen to; it governs your playstyle and the pace at which you think and analyse. Whether it’s to your taste or not, you gotta admit Danny Baranowsky did a cracking job composing some super catchy tunes that you can’t get too tired of and fit all the individual zones and bosses so very well. I’m no musician but composing these while also being restricted to certain BPMs (and be of sufficient length) to match the intended difficulty must not have been easy. As I like to say however, limitations breed creativity, and that’s undoubtedly what happened here. Personally I love the whole thing, cheers Danny. And if you don’t, then luckily there’s like what, 6 alternate soundtracks to choose from?? Some of those soundtracks done by well known musicians like FamilyJules and Jake Kaufman, even a Danganronpa themed soundtrack (idfk why), if you don’t like any of those either then I’m going to assume you’re just out to cause problems. EVEN THEN, there is an option to insert your own music! It’s a piece of cake just throw your mp3 file in and it’ll calculate the tempo for you and change the gameplay accordingly!
What else? Oh yes, the names of all the tracks are musical puns based on where the track plays, I don’t know how they did that but it’s awesome, my favourite has to be the name for the lobby music, “Rhythmortis”, hehehhehe get it???
Hand in hand with the soundtrack comes everything that completes the style of ND. Unique and creative enemy designs, especially bosses (a freakin chess board dude), good variety in zone theming, a retro feeling art style with some charming cutscenes, iconic sound effects and voice lines, clever items. It’s all just fun and cool, and that’s all that needs to be said.
So you made it, you beat all of the zones with Cadence, probably learned most of the enemies patterns and witnessed her journey. Congrats! It wasn’t easy. As a reward you take a look at steam and realise you've got maybe 5% of the achievements... Right. So, I've barely done anything? Pretty much… Beyond this there are plenty of characters with their own individual gimmicks that will make you rethink how you play the game completely. Some easier than Cadence, but a lot of them harder…horribly harder. This is where the real game begins, rise to the challenge, you got this.
If all of this wasn't enough of a glazing session for how much enjoyment ND has brought me, let me praise the dev team more. ND released in 2015 and still receives updates to this day. It really is Brace Yourself Games’ baby... Bug fixes, balance changes and quality of life updates are always coming in. Two MAJOR content DLCs were released in 2017 and 2022 respectively. And just a couple weeks ago Hatsune Miku jumped into the game with a cool moveset and unique soundtrack. What the fuck?? This community is spoiled!
My friend and I would say there's phases to ND brainrot. At one end you have NecroBabies: players who have yet to beat all of the zones with Cadence, going up to NecroDead: players who have beat all zones mode with most of the characters, and NecroUndead: players who unlock and play Coda (the hardest character (you're a lunatic)). My 200 hours of playtime makes me very NecroDead and NecroUndead feels right around the corner.
Thank you NecroDancer, you really are one of a kind.
Believe me this struggle is not something I’m unfamiliar with myself. I first played this game in 2017, only to struggle with Zone 2 for a while before calling it quits. Despite how much I admired the game, it wasn’t clicking yet, and I wouldn’t give it another shot until early 2023 when a friend of mine was achieving big things in it.
As mentioned earlier, NecroDancer (ND) is hard. Initially, at the least. It will take even a great game player a non trivial amount of time to complete Zone 1 due to the nature of its gameplay. Movement is restricted to the laws of the world, the tune of the tomb… the rave of the grave… the…mix of the….styx… the… script of the crypt? YOU MOVE WITH THE MUSIC RIGHT?! And so do the enemies! If you don’t know what they’re gonna do then I gotta be honest with you buddy, you won’t stand a chance getting past the… the beat of the fleet… of monsters. Pattern recognition is the name of the game here. If the item pool isn’t favouring you, then you’ll need to lock in and make up the difference yourself… or just try again until you get a build that’s really broken. Except not really? OP runs in ND are VERY losable compared to other roguelikes ESPECIALLY depending on which character you are playing. One wrong move at any time can be your unexpected downfall, and trust me you’ll feel the true depth of shame when you lose a run like this.
But it’s made fair and well. ND would not be nearly as successful as it is if there wasn’t plenty of thought and testing put into how smooth it plays. Yes you have to make your inputs on time, but sufficient leeway is given to not make it a complete nightmare. If something catches you off guard you’re given just enough time to think it through and feel like a wiz of a magician after pulling it off. The heartbeat in your peripheral vision helps you notice when you might be losing the rhythm a bit and the red outlines of the beats
How have I come this far without talking about such a fundamental piece of the puzzle? In ND, the soundtrack represents something much more than just the music you listen to; it governs your playstyle and the pace at which you think and analyse. Whether it’s to your taste or not, you gotta admit Danny Baranowsky did a cracking job composing some super catchy tunes that you can’t get too tired of and fit all the individual zones and bosses so very well. I’m no musician but composing these while also being restricted to certain BPMs (and be of sufficient length) to match the intended difficulty must not have been easy. As I like to say however, limitations breed creativity, and that’s undoubtedly what happened here. Personally I love the whole thing, cheers Danny. And if you don’t, then luckily there’s like what, 6 alternate soundtracks to choose from?? Some of those soundtracks done by well known musicians like FamilyJules and Jake Kaufman, even a Danganronpa themed soundtrack (idfk why), if you don’t like any of those either then I’m going to assume you’re just out to cause problems. EVEN THEN, there is an option to insert your own music! It’s a piece of cake just throw your mp3 file in and it’ll calculate the tempo for you and change the gameplay accordingly!
What else? Oh yes, the names of all the tracks are musical puns based on where the track plays, I don’t know how they did that but it’s awesome, my favourite has to be the name for the lobby music, “Rhythmortis”, hehehhehe get it???
Hand in hand with the soundtrack comes everything that completes the style of ND. Unique and creative enemy designs, especially bosses (a freakin chess board dude), good variety in zone theming, a retro feeling art style with some charming cutscenes, iconic sound effects and voice lines, clever items. It’s all just fun and cool, and that’s all that needs to be said.
So you made it, you beat all of the zones with Cadence, probably learned most of the enemies patterns and witnessed her journey. Congrats! It wasn’t easy. As a reward you take a look at steam and realise you've got maybe 5% of the achievements... Right. So, I've barely done anything? Pretty much… Beyond this there are plenty of characters with their own individual gimmicks that will make you rethink how you play the game completely. Some easier than Cadence, but a lot of them harder…horribly harder. This is where the real game begins, rise to the challenge, you got this.
If all of this wasn't enough of a glazing session for how much enjoyment ND has brought me, let me praise the dev team more. ND released in 2015 and still receives updates to this day. It really is Brace Yourself Games’ baby... Bug fixes, balance changes and quality of life updates are always coming in. Two MAJOR content DLCs were released in 2017 and 2022 respectively. And just a couple weeks ago Hatsune Miku jumped into the game with a cool moveset and unique soundtrack. What the fuck?? This community is spoiled!
My friend and I would say there's phases to ND brainrot. At one end you have NecroBabies: players who have yet to beat all of the zones with Cadence, going up to NecroDead: players who have beat all zones mode with most of the characters, and NecroUndead: players who unlock and play Coda (the hardest character (you're a lunatic)). My 200 hours of playtime makes me very NecroDead and NecroUndead feels right around the corner.
Thank you NecroDancer, you really are one of a kind.
So they remade Tomb Raider, pretty big responsibility huh.
I'll just start with the facts. Tomb Raider: Anniversary is an awesome remake and love letter to the Tomb Raider series. This was my first playthrough since after playing the original Tomb Raider, and I can confidently say that the developers achieved their ambitions:
“The old and the new; the familiar and the undiscovered; the mix of the past and the present that is at the core of every Tomb Raider experience was at the core of our effort for this game as well. A game that holds true to it's predecessor yet still stands out as a thrilling adventure all on its own.”
Excuse me for blatantly ripping off that paragraph from a heartfelt note for the fans found in the games extras, but I really think there's no better way to describe the vision than how the developers have done so.
Coming off the back of Legend, Anniversary manages to improve on it doubly from a gameplay perspective. The core level design here is just so damn engaging and honestly quite difficult to put down. It has a good difficulty curve, is very replayable, and going for 100% is a blast as it encourages two playstyles that result in distinctly different experiences.
The first is exploration based à la the search for artifacts and relics. Outside of a small few these are very well hidden and I had plenty of fun searching for them throughout every level, something I couldn't really say personally for most Tomb Raider games. The second is speed based throughout the time trials which I admit I haven't tried yet. If I revisit the game then I'm giving it a go for sure, the level design is too damn good for it to not be incredibly fun and potentially more challenging as well.
The most impressive part is how all of the above was implemented while simultaneously preserving the spirit of the original, and shaking things up to feel like a more contemporary experience. The amount of “I remember this part!” pointing at the screen moments I had while playing was pretty extraordinary for how different these sections actually end up playing (alright MAYBE I didn't point at the screen like a child but I definitely said it out loud to myself a lot!). I like to imagine if I could have been an older, more experienced Tomb Raider fan when this was released, those moments would have hit even harder.
Even though the story has been altered and expanded slightly, adding in some nice extra characterisation, they made the great decision of leaving that expansion to purely the cutscenes. This helped retain some of the original identity. It must have been difficult to resist throwing snarky dialogue in the levels like in Legend, considering just how FUN that was, but I'm glad they didn't in the end. It meant that various atmospheres are still present throughout: isolation, adventure, discovery, tension. Of course though, they aren’t exactly the same feeling. I'm being kind of repetitive so I hope you're sensing the theme I’m getting at here: The same, but different. The same,,, but different…
Anniversary does by no means replace Tomb Raider 1, it stands alongside it as a modern reimagining of, and alternative to, a great gaming classic, that anyone can enjoy. If someone was to only play a single Tomb Raider game, I would definitely point them in the direction of this one.
OH AND AND AND huge shout-out to Croft Manor. They turned her mansion into a freaking metroidvania bro. That's just frickin rad!! Sick. Awesome. Wonderful. Lovely.
I'll just start with the facts. Tomb Raider: Anniversary is an awesome remake and love letter to the Tomb Raider series. This was my first playthrough since after playing the original Tomb Raider, and I can confidently say that the developers achieved their ambitions:
“The old and the new; the familiar and the undiscovered; the mix of the past and the present that is at the core of every Tomb Raider experience was at the core of our effort for this game as well. A game that holds true to it's predecessor yet still stands out as a thrilling adventure all on its own.”
Excuse me for blatantly ripping off that paragraph from a heartfelt note for the fans found in the games extras, but I really think there's no better way to describe the vision than how the developers have done so.
Coming off the back of Legend, Anniversary manages to improve on it doubly from a gameplay perspective. The core level design here is just so damn engaging and honestly quite difficult to put down. It has a good difficulty curve, is very replayable, and going for 100% is a blast as it encourages two playstyles that result in distinctly different experiences.
The first is exploration based à la the search for artifacts and relics. Outside of a small few these are very well hidden and I had plenty of fun searching for them throughout every level, something I couldn't really say personally for most Tomb Raider games. The second is speed based throughout the time trials which I admit I haven't tried yet. If I revisit the game then I'm giving it a go for sure, the level design is too damn good for it to not be incredibly fun and potentially more challenging as well.
The most impressive part is how all of the above was implemented while simultaneously preserving the spirit of the original, and shaking things up to feel like a more contemporary experience. The amount of “I remember this part!” pointing at the screen moments I had while playing was pretty extraordinary for how different these sections actually end up playing (alright MAYBE I didn't point at the screen like a child but I definitely said it out loud to myself a lot!). I like to imagine if I could have been an older, more experienced Tomb Raider fan when this was released, those moments would have hit even harder.
Even though the story has been altered and expanded slightly, adding in some nice extra characterisation, they made the great decision of leaving that expansion to purely the cutscenes. This helped retain some of the original identity. It must have been difficult to resist throwing snarky dialogue in the levels like in Legend, considering just how FUN that was, but I'm glad they didn't in the end. It meant that various atmospheres are still present throughout: isolation, adventure, discovery, tension. Of course though, they aren’t exactly the same feeling. I'm being kind of repetitive so I hope you're sensing the theme I’m getting at here: The same, but different. The same,,, but different…
Anniversary does by no means replace Tomb Raider 1, it stands alongside it as a modern reimagining of, and alternative to, a great gaming classic, that anyone can enjoy. If someone was to only play a single Tomb Raider game, I would definitely point them in the direction of this one.
OH AND AND AND huge shout-out to Croft Manor. They turned her mansion into a freaking metroidvania bro. That's just frickin rad!! Sick. Awesome. Wonderful. Lovely.
2023
A beautiful puzzle adventure about linguistics, culture, and the benefits of understanding one another, inspired by The Tower of Babel.
Chants of Sennaar does a fantastic job with its ludonarrative; The goal is to decipher the languages of different civilizations, achieved by analysing environments and conversations. All the while, we learn about their ways of life and what led them to the current day and the lives they live. This dual purpose really resonated with me, and I personally think it struck an absolutely perfect balance between gameplay depth and narrative substance.
I adored the use of different linguistic mechanics that make you turn your head a little when it comes to certain puzzles (as well as the different script styles inspired by existing languages). It may not be as intricate as it could have been, but it’s enough to make you go “ahhh! cool!” when you notice certain things for the first time.
Thinking about it from the opposite perspective, it was clear that a lot of care was taken into simplifying certain aspects to make sure the puzzle solving felt smooth, accessible and rewarding. An example of how this is done is the removal of many “less interesting” words in the glyphs given to you, such as “the”, and “a”. We only have to focus on the parts that are meaningful to the purpose of the game and its world. The translation experience is finely crafted for that of a game player, and not that of a PhD student, which is what keeps it fun!
Many reviews complain about the stealth sections breaking up the pacing, I disagree with this, possibly due to me being a huge sucker for the narrative. I just found that these sections blended in with the journey so well, added in a unique feeling throughout the exploration that otherwise wouldn't have been felt, and did way more good than any harm they may have done by taking you away from puzzles. They don’t take up that much of the game anyway, and some of them had dialogue to analyse throughout! Keeps the brain thinking in both ways.
Great presentation, with an especially amazing soundtrack. Even though a fair bit of the game had me slowly backtracking, it was just too striking of a world to get very upset about it.
This is definitely up there as one of my favourite puzzle games and I recommend it to anyone who thinks it sounds remotely fun. The morals told are reflected greatly within the gameplay, which is also executed extremely well.
Chants of Sennaar does a fantastic job with its ludonarrative; The goal is to decipher the languages of different civilizations, achieved by analysing environments and conversations. All the while, we learn about their ways of life and what led them to the current day and the lives they live. This dual purpose really resonated with me, and I personally think it struck an absolutely perfect balance between gameplay depth and narrative substance.
I adored the use of different linguistic mechanics that make you turn your head a little when it comes to certain puzzles (as well as the different script styles inspired by existing languages). It may not be as intricate as it could have been, but it’s enough to make you go “ahhh! cool!” when you notice certain things for the first time.
Thinking about it from the opposite perspective, it was clear that a lot of care was taken into simplifying certain aspects to make sure the puzzle solving felt smooth, accessible and rewarding. An example of how this is done is the removal of many “less interesting” words in the glyphs given to you, such as “the”, and “a”. We only have to focus on the parts that are meaningful to the purpose of the game and its world. The translation experience is finely crafted for that of a game player, and not that of a PhD student, which is what keeps it fun!
Many reviews complain about the stealth sections breaking up the pacing, I disagree with this, possibly due to me being a huge sucker for the narrative. I just found that these sections blended in with the journey so well, added in a unique feeling throughout the exploration that otherwise wouldn't have been felt, and did way more good than any harm they may have done by taking you away from puzzles. They don’t take up that much of the game anyway, and some of them had dialogue to analyse throughout! Keeps the brain thinking in both ways.
Great presentation, with an especially amazing soundtrack. Even though a fair bit of the game had me slowly backtracking, it was just too striking of a world to get very upset about it.
This is definitely up there as one of my favourite puzzle games and I recommend it to anyone who thinks it sounds remotely fun. The morals told are reflected greatly within the gameplay, which is also executed extremely well.
2016
This review contains spoilers
You need to get rid of any superfluous emotions. Totally nuke them.
Just look at what’s right in front of your eyes.
Keep your eyes on the prize.
Stare down the enemy in front of you.
That’s how you investigate.
Don’t worry.
Any part of your brain starts worrying? Grill that shit up and eat it!
Am I wrong?
Maybe you are wrong Tetsu, maybe you’re not. But it’s not my call to decide that for you.
Firstly I want to thank @Oshha for recommending this to me. I hadn’t heard of Kill The Past or knew much about Suda51 beyond No More Heroes. Safe to say that I’m now totally all in on the rest of the series. It took me a few days of contemplation after finishing, but The Silver Case is a game that I can’t help but admire to a high level despite any low points it may have had.
In my first session I played lunatics and decoyman, which made a really good first impression. I thought if nothing else, style is going to carry. I love the use of windows constantly placed in different parts of the screen, for both text and images, always keeping things interesting to look at and sometimes catching me off guard. Accompanied by an awesome art style that shifts constantly throughout the game as the mood / perspective changes, so cool… (Although sometimes I was thrown off, because this change was so drastic that it would take me a while to realise that the person on the screen talking was actually someone I had already met!)
This comes hand in hand with music and sound design, it’s really damn good. I’m glad to see more of Takada’s work in context outside of Danganronpa. Obviously the catchy tunes are great, but what I admire more are how many variations of different tracks there are, to give off slightly different feelings, there’s nothing more uncomfortable than hearing a motif that you recognise, but for it to now be spun in a really eerie or dark way. Also not afraid to use silence when necessary! REALLY appreciate that, it made such an impact many times.
Yeah sometimes the gameplay was a bit ass/boring, but I never found it that awful to slog through. I was more bothered honestly by the false promise that this would partly be a puzzle game! As a puzzle fan, lunatics and decoyman had me really engaged with an additive caesar cipher and a game of Bulls and Cows. Not your typical simple puzzle thrown into a game just to make sure you’re paying attention, these require thought! After this nothing was to be seen again :( I like to think what could have been, but with how the pacing of the game changes so much maybe these would have been out of place later on, maybe this was intentional and actually highlight the subverting of expectations for what this game is truly about. Holy shit that’s totally it… you win again Suda.
Alright so the presentation is perfect, and the gameplay is whatever. What about the meat? Does this funky text based detective walking simulator actually have any substance over style? Checks my rating -of course it does. There’s really a lot to unpack and I don’t think I could ever do it close to the justice it deserves. I’ll just describe how certain things made me feel. (waffling incoming)
Tokio is very cool and it was interesting to hear the constantly ongoing thoughts of a paranoid as fuck loser (am i a bad person?). JK he’s actually a hero, we’re 100% with him knowledge wise throughout the whole game up until Enzawa gets killed and then they cut it off like what a cliffhanger?? Then he shows up in lifecut like “i've figured EVERYTHING out, check my email and you'll understand”, and then we DON'T see that email and when we return to Tokio in Hikari we are just NOT told anything that he went through?? FUCK YOU SUDA (<3), now i gotta sit here and piece things together myself by listening to the ghostly apparitions that are now communicating through him !!! HUH?
Parade was an insane turning point, that moment when the mansion blew up, the art of them staring at it? Burning it into their eyes? Mfer that image is burnt into MY eyes, if I ever forget what’s going on in this game, I'll always remember that for sure. It wasn’t until the end of Tsuki that I really appreciated how well executed Parade was, when you started to see the full picture, learn the facts in a different order, it hits different. Which kind of applies for the whole game, this definitely warrants a replay in the future.
I truly love it when you can tell a character has been well developed and thought about outside of what is solely shown to you in the game, and that is here in spades. You can feel that these characters go through some life changing shit off screen, it comes through in the writing which is really damn good OBVIOUSLY. Ugh I can only praise something so much before it starts to become cumbersome. My point being is it’s clear that certain events were very well planned out in detail, only to not be shown to you, so you are left to make a “guesses” at what happened. It’s just executed extremely well and creates this sense of stringing you along and leaving you to think things for yourself.
Kusabi is probably the best character, let's be real, he’s everything you could ever want in an asshole boomer detective. Loves his daughter? ✓ Calls you big dick? ✓ Hates crime from the bottom of his soul, yet still let’s supports his beloved colleague in killing his past? ✓ The way he told me “don’t trust the ‘truth’, search for the ‘facts’”, and then proceeded to tell me 3 different versions of the silver case that completely contradict each other reallyfucked me off hit me in the heart.
Jokes / mindfuckery aside, it was super interesting, again with Nakategawa saying the whole CCO/FSO/… alliance bullshit oh that’s not actually a real thing, it’s actually all one big body. By this point I just had absolutely no idea what to trust anymore, but I think it didn’t matter. The main point stood the same, everyone was a pawn for someone else, and unless you cut it from the source (kill nezu?), the virus of crime (Kamui) will continue to circulate in the minds of individuals, or something?? There’s so much left to interpretation here and that’s what makes it so wonderful.
In that same vein, there are a lot of other messages being said here, the most prominent obviously regarding “killing your past” or embracing it. But these were presented in many different situations and contexts so as to undermine themselves, coming to the conclusion that these things aren’t so black and white, and the right thing to do can change depending on the person. I guess what I’m saying is, it opens up room for discussion with a lot of its themes, rather than trying to deliver a single message to you.
That’s about all the energy I have. I assume only people who actually played the game will read this whole thing so thanks and I hope you enjoyed me whack my brain with a potato masher thinking about The Silver Case.
Btw this goes hard, no?
Just look at what’s right in front of your eyes.
Keep your eyes on the prize.
Stare down the enemy in front of you.
That’s how you investigate.
Don’t worry.
Any part of your brain starts worrying? Grill that shit up and eat it!
Am I wrong?
Maybe you are wrong Tetsu, maybe you’re not. But it’s not my call to decide that for you.
Firstly I want to thank @Oshha for recommending this to me. I hadn’t heard of Kill The Past or knew much about Suda51 beyond No More Heroes. Safe to say that I’m now totally all in on the rest of the series. It took me a few days of contemplation after finishing, but The Silver Case is a game that I can’t help but admire to a high level despite any low points it may have had.
In my first session I played lunatics and decoyman, which made a really good first impression. I thought if nothing else, style is going to carry. I love the use of windows constantly placed in different parts of the screen, for both text and images, always keeping things interesting to look at and sometimes catching me off guard. Accompanied by an awesome art style that shifts constantly throughout the game as the mood / perspective changes, so cool… (Although sometimes I was thrown off, because this change was so drastic that it would take me a while to realise that the person on the screen talking was actually someone I had already met!)
This comes hand in hand with music and sound design, it’s really damn good. I’m glad to see more of Takada’s work in context outside of Danganronpa. Obviously the catchy tunes are great, but what I admire more are how many variations of different tracks there are, to give off slightly different feelings, there’s nothing more uncomfortable than hearing a motif that you recognise, but for it to now be spun in a really eerie or dark way. Also not afraid to use silence when necessary! REALLY appreciate that, it made such an impact many times.
Yeah sometimes the gameplay was a bit ass/boring, but I never found it that awful to slog through. I was more bothered honestly by the false promise that this would partly be a puzzle game! As a puzzle fan, lunatics and decoyman had me really engaged with an additive caesar cipher and a game of Bulls and Cows. Not your typical simple puzzle thrown into a game just to make sure you’re paying attention, these require thought! After this nothing was to be seen again :( I like to think what could have been, but with how the pacing of the game changes so much maybe these would have been out of place later on, maybe this was intentional and actually highlight the subverting of expectations for what this game is truly about. Holy shit that’s totally it… you win again Suda.
Alright so the presentation is perfect, and the gameplay is whatever. What about the meat? Does this funky text based detective walking simulator actually have any substance over style? Checks my rating -of course it does. There’s really a lot to unpack and I don’t think I could ever do it close to the justice it deserves. I’ll just describe how certain things made me feel. (waffling incoming)
Tokio is very cool and it was interesting to hear the constantly ongoing thoughts of a paranoid as fuck loser (am i a bad person?). JK he’s actually a hero, we’re 100% with him knowledge wise throughout the whole game up until Enzawa gets killed and then they cut it off like what a cliffhanger?? Then he shows up in lifecut like “i've figured EVERYTHING out, check my email and you'll understand”, and then we DON'T see that email and when we return to Tokio in Hikari we are just NOT told anything that he went through?? FUCK YOU SUDA (<3), now i gotta sit here and piece things together myself by listening to the ghostly apparitions that are now communicating through him !!! HUH?
Parade was an insane turning point, that moment when the mansion blew up, the art of them staring at it? Burning it into their eyes? Mfer that image is burnt into MY eyes, if I ever forget what’s going on in this game, I'll always remember that for sure. It wasn’t until the end of Tsuki that I really appreciated how well executed Parade was, when you started to see the full picture, learn the facts in a different order, it hits different. Which kind of applies for the whole game, this definitely warrants a replay in the future.
I truly love it when you can tell a character has been well developed and thought about outside of what is solely shown to you in the game, and that is here in spades. You can feel that these characters go through some life changing shit off screen, it comes through in the writing which is really damn good OBVIOUSLY. Ugh I can only praise something so much before it starts to become cumbersome. My point being is it’s clear that certain events were very well planned out in detail, only to not be shown to you, so you are left to make a “guesses” at what happened. It’s just executed extremely well and creates this sense of stringing you along and leaving you to think things for yourself.
Kusabi is probably the best character, let's be real, he’s everything you could ever want in an asshole boomer detective. Loves his daughter? ✓ Calls you big dick? ✓ Hates crime from the bottom of his soul, yet still let’s supports his beloved colleague in killing his past? ✓ The way he told me “don’t trust the ‘truth’, search for the ‘facts’”, and then proceeded to tell me 3 different versions of the silver case that completely contradict each other really
Jokes / mindfuckery aside, it was super interesting, again with Nakategawa saying the whole CCO/FSO/… alliance bullshit oh that’s not actually a real thing, it’s actually all one big body. By this point I just had absolutely no idea what to trust anymore, but I think it didn’t matter. The main point stood the same, everyone was a pawn for someone else, and unless you cut it from the source (kill nezu?), the virus of crime (Kamui) will continue to circulate in the minds of individuals, or something?? There’s so much left to interpretation here and that’s what makes it so wonderful.
In that same vein, there are a lot of other messages being said here, the most prominent obviously regarding “killing your past” or embracing it. But these were presented in many different situations and contexts so as to undermine themselves, coming to the conclusion that these things aren’t so black and white, and the right thing to do can change depending on the person. I guess what I’m saying is, it opens up room for discussion with a lot of its themes, rather than trying to deliver a single message to you.
That’s about all the energy I have. I assume only people who actually played the game will read this whole thing so thanks and I hope you enjoyed me whack my brain with a potato masher thinking about The Silver Case.
Btw this goes hard, no?
2020
Mehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
I have not played the original RE3. Throughout my playthrough I could do nothing but compare this to Resident Evil 2 Remake. In doing so, my thoughts on this game can probably be explained pretty well. This game was released just 15 months after RE2 came out. It’s clear that RE3 relies heavily on the systems and assets that were used in its predecessor, this shouldn’t be a problem as long as it feels like it’s doing something new with such systems, but it doesn’t really, and I think that’s the underlying theme of how this game generally feels incredibly mediocre, uninteresting or unmemorable to me.
I would say about 30-40% of the game was actually really good, it had tension and interesting interconnecting level design. The rest, while still somewhat engaging in terms of gameplay, felt lacking in any sort of real survival horror excitement.
The story felt very barebones (yes, even for an RE game), Jill and Carlos did not take my interest very much at all. If the game was longer this certainly could have been different.
I give the game credit, a couple parts gave me some good challenges, more so than RE2 did, which was fun. I died a total of 17 times, although a few of those definitely felt unfair and frustrated me a bit, setting me back quite a bit, having to redo some of the more boring sections in the game.
And then there’s Nemesis. From what I have heard they really shafted it compared to the original, totally believable. Most of the sections involving it feel so scripted to the point of blandness. The actual boss fights are okay.
I realise this review is quite vague. I can’t really articulate too well why I was not resonating with RE3. It simply is a case of the vibes didn’t feel right ¯\(ツ)/¯.
I have not played the original RE3. Throughout my playthrough I could do nothing but compare this to Resident Evil 2 Remake. In doing so, my thoughts on this game can probably be explained pretty well. This game was released just 15 months after RE2 came out. It’s clear that RE3 relies heavily on the systems and assets that were used in its predecessor, this shouldn’t be a problem as long as it feels like it’s doing something new with such systems, but it doesn’t really, and I think that’s the underlying theme of how this game generally feels incredibly mediocre, uninteresting or unmemorable to me.
I would say about 30-40% of the game was actually really good, it had tension and interesting interconnecting level design. The rest, while still somewhat engaging in terms of gameplay, felt lacking in any sort of real survival horror excitement.
The story felt very barebones (yes, even for an RE game), Jill and Carlos did not take my interest very much at all. If the game was longer this certainly could have been different.
I give the game credit, a couple parts gave me some good challenges, more so than RE2 did, which was fun. I died a total of 17 times, although a few of those definitely felt unfair and frustrated me a bit, setting me back quite a bit, having to redo some of the more boring sections in the game.
And then there’s Nemesis. From what I have heard they really shafted it compared to the original, totally believable. Most of the sections involving it feel so scripted to the point of blandness. The actual boss fights are okay.
I realise this review is quite vague. I can’t really articulate too well why I was not resonating with RE3. It simply is a case of the vibes didn’t feel right ¯\(ツ)/¯.
2012
LMAO alright im ripping into this game.
90% of the enemies are BRAINDEAD. Some of my favourites include:
- The white wolves that have NO walking animation, the only thing they can do is jump attack, blindly jumping in every direction except for where you are, sometimes they will sit there and do nothing.
- The infested tank that can’t do anything unless you are a certain distance away from it.
- The bat swarms that die to ONE BULLET (big shoutout to the one slow elevator that’s about 30 seconds long, and has a swarm of bats to keep you busy while it’s moving, but the bats will die in 10, so you just sit there).
^ This is not limited to just enemies but half of the bosses are cheesed by either being a certain distance far or a certain distance close. The infested chopper was kind of cool with all the parkouring across buildings, but it still felt aimless and went on for SOOOO long
There is often no indication of what is happening or where to go, and I often just stumbled into an obscure section that put me into a cutscene.
Auto locking onto enemies makes everything you can think of 10x more awkward than it should be, at least add an option to be able to switch it? (just looked it up, apparently you can with an obnoxious input combination of RB + LS, you’re better off just dealing with the awkwardness).
A dynamic moving camera is a cool idea in theory but why does it so often throw itself into the ground it’s like lakitu on shrooms.
No extra weapon movesets/ upgrades?? The upgrades just increase damage i guess - BORING. Less guns as well.
Story is bad and meaningless.
Dante is nothing
Lucia is nothing
Enemy variety is not nearly as interesting. File system is not as in depth.
POSITIVES COMPARED TO DMC1:
Cool sick moves like flips and wallrunning
Devil trigger guns are funny as hell brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
More environments? But theyre shit
More cutscenes? But theyre shit
More boss variety? But the bosses are shit
Played it on vc with friends which made it very fun !
90% of the enemies are BRAINDEAD. Some of my favourites include:
- The white wolves that have NO walking animation, the only thing they can do is jump attack, blindly jumping in every direction except for where you are, sometimes they will sit there and do nothing.
- The infested tank that can’t do anything unless you are a certain distance away from it.
- The bat swarms that die to ONE BULLET (big shoutout to the one slow elevator that’s about 30 seconds long, and has a swarm of bats to keep you busy while it’s moving, but the bats will die in 10, so you just sit there).
^ This is not limited to just enemies but half of the bosses are cheesed by either being a certain distance far or a certain distance close. The infested chopper was kind of cool with all the parkouring across buildings, but it still felt aimless and went on for SOOOO long
There is often no indication of what is happening or where to go, and I often just stumbled into an obscure section that put me into a cutscene.
Auto locking onto enemies makes everything you can think of 10x more awkward than it should be, at least add an option to be able to switch it? (just looked it up, apparently you can with an obnoxious input combination of RB + LS, you’re better off just dealing with the awkwardness).
A dynamic moving camera is a cool idea in theory but why does it so often throw itself into the ground it’s like lakitu on shrooms.
No extra weapon movesets/ upgrades?? The upgrades just increase damage i guess - BORING. Less guns as well.
Story is bad and meaningless.
Dante is nothing
Lucia is nothing
Enemy variety is not nearly as interesting. File system is not as in depth.
POSITIVES COMPARED TO DMC1:
Cool sick moves like flips and wallrunning
Devil trigger guns are funny as hell brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
More environments? But theyre shit
More cutscenes? But theyre shit
More boss variety? But the bosses are shit
Played it on vc with friends which made it very fun !
2012
This review contains spoilers
Well that was just pretty rad.
I can only imagine what it must have felt like being a young adult back when this game was released in the early PS2 days. Gothic goodness and awesome action aplenty, the perfect setting and ambience for a game structured like this. DMC wastes no time in throwing you straight into exactly what you came for.
The opening cutscene left a huge impression on me throughout my whole playthrough, Dante and Trish instantly became icons of “cool”, cheese and all. Their exchange had me pretty hyped for what was to come outside of the actual gameplay. Unfortunately, to my disappointment, we never really got close to that level throughout the rest of the game, even when faced against bosses, Dante didn’t really ever have too much to say and I was left a bit unfulfilled generally throughout, only because that intro set such a high bar.
It wasn’t until the end game where shit started to get a little bonkers again and really kind of reached that level again. Ahh yes, a final boss with great spectacle, return of cheesy dialogue, an unexpectedly interrupted metroid escape sequence, and for some reason, an ending with a plane that made me very reminiscent of Sonic… Quite the joyride of a finale I must say.
However, it’s not like this lack of what I wanted left a completely empty void, a compromise was certainly made. An island setting is a great way to give things a sense of eeriness, that things aren’t quite right, and the ambience made by the visuals and music accentuate this. It’s not scary per se, I mean in any normal circumstance it should be, but we’ve been put in the shoes of the legendary devil hunter, so when the devils come out to play, the rock kicks in and the tone shifts completely to let us know that we’re the ones in control. Dante came here to carry out his business and the devils eventually learn their place after an ass kicking or 3.
The whole map that encapsulates these fights makes for some rather neat level design as well. It’s maybe not quite to its full potential, but the rooms are pretty interconnected; you’ll often revisit the same areas but in a different order, with a different weapon, with different enemies waiting for you. It’s probably one of this game's biggest strengths that kept me compelled to play.
I will say though that the actual objectives of the missions, the main thing carrying me between each area, did not feel very compelling; take the ancient doohickey, infuse it with the sacred treasure, insert it into the magic thingamajig and you’ll be on your way. I promise it has actual significant meaning, kinda makes things feel a bit underwhelming.
OKAY I GUESS IT DOESN’T MATTER COS THE GAMEPLAY CARRIES ANYWAY. HELL YEA KILLING THINGS IS FUN AS FUCK IN THIS GAME. Whenever I play an action game I always ask myself why am I not playing more of them. This was what video games were originally made for, providing an exciting challenge, learning more as you play, and triumphing over what had absolutely destroyed you a couple attempts ago. Combat is simple on the surface, but moderately deep and challenging once things get moving. As indicated in the file section of the game, enemies have their strengths and weaknesses. I only played on normal mode, and I could pretty much use what I wanted for the most part, only having to check info / swap gear on a few enemies and bosses, although I imagine when you raise the difficulty you’ll have to make use of most of the information given to you. The bosses are also pretty AWESOME like that fucker griffon damn I found his last fight pretty tough. And the item and upgrades system is really fun! I’m kinda rambling here. Let's just move on by saying all in all the gameplay is <very good>!! and, as long as you are willing to engage with it, will stand the test of time.
Wait, that's basically everything I had to say.
Overall I would say DMC1 does feel a tad primitive and maybe is not the best game, or complete experience, but it certainly understands the essence of what a DMC game wants to be, and for that it was more than worth playing.
I can only imagine what it must have felt like being a young adult back when this game was released in the early PS2 days. Gothic goodness and awesome action aplenty, the perfect setting and ambience for a game structured like this. DMC wastes no time in throwing you straight into exactly what you came for.
The opening cutscene left a huge impression on me throughout my whole playthrough, Dante and Trish instantly became icons of “cool”, cheese and all. Their exchange had me pretty hyped for what was to come outside of the actual gameplay. Unfortunately, to my disappointment, we never really got close to that level throughout the rest of the game, even when faced against bosses, Dante didn’t really ever have too much to say and I was left a bit unfulfilled generally throughout, only because that intro set such a high bar.
It wasn’t until the end game where shit started to get a little bonkers again and really kind of reached that level again. Ahh yes, a final boss with great spectacle, return of cheesy dialogue, an unexpectedly interrupted metroid escape sequence, and for some reason, an ending with a plane that made me very reminiscent of Sonic… Quite the joyride of a finale I must say.
However, it’s not like this lack of what I wanted left a completely empty void, a compromise was certainly made. An island setting is a great way to give things a sense of eeriness, that things aren’t quite right, and the ambience made by the visuals and music accentuate this. It’s not scary per se, I mean in any normal circumstance it should be, but we’ve been put in the shoes of the legendary devil hunter, so when the devils come out to play, the rock kicks in and the tone shifts completely to let us know that we’re the ones in control. Dante came here to carry out his business and the devils eventually learn their place after an ass kicking or 3.
The whole map that encapsulates these fights makes for some rather neat level design as well. It’s maybe not quite to its full potential, but the rooms are pretty interconnected; you’ll often revisit the same areas but in a different order, with a different weapon, with different enemies waiting for you. It’s probably one of this game's biggest strengths that kept me compelled to play.
I will say though that the actual objectives of the missions, the main thing carrying me between each area, did not feel very compelling; take the ancient doohickey, infuse it with the sacred treasure, insert it into the magic thingamajig and you’ll be on your way. I promise it has actual significant meaning, kinda makes things feel a bit underwhelming.
OKAY I GUESS IT DOESN’T MATTER COS THE GAMEPLAY CARRIES ANYWAY. HELL YEA KILLING THINGS IS FUN AS FUCK IN THIS GAME. Whenever I play an action game I always ask myself why am I not playing more of them. This was what video games were originally made for, providing an exciting challenge, learning more as you play, and triumphing over what had absolutely destroyed you a couple attempts ago. Combat is simple on the surface, but moderately deep and challenging once things get moving. As indicated in the file section of the game, enemies have their strengths and weaknesses. I only played on normal mode, and I could pretty much use what I wanted for the most part, only having to check info / swap gear on a few enemies and bosses, although I imagine when you raise the difficulty you’ll have to make use of most of the information given to you. The bosses are also pretty AWESOME like that fucker griffon damn I found his last fight pretty tough. And the item and upgrades system is really fun! I’m kinda rambling here. Let's just move on by saying all in all the gameplay is <very good>!! and, as long as you are willing to engage with it, will stand the test of time.
Wait, that's basically everything I had to say.
Overall I would say DMC1 does feel a tad primitive and maybe is not the best game, or complete experience, but it certainly understands the essence of what a DMC game wants to be, and for that it was more than worth playing.
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EDIT.
Alright so I watched the game on youtube. The gameplay still looks absolutely atrocious. But everything else?? Really damn good honestly! Really cool story direction that is unlike anything we've seen from tomb raider, but still feels like a welcome entry. The tone is amazing, the music, dialogue, characters and cutscenes are great. This incarnation of Lara is my new favourite!
If this game got a resident evil style remake I genuinely think it could be one of the best tomb raider games, although that would never happen :/
I recommend any tomb raider fan at least watches the game, in fact it's probably the best way to experience this unfortunate missed opportunity. You really are not missing out on anything by skipping on playing it yourself. Doing yourself a favour actually.
============================================
Original Review:
yeah fuck this
I love how it looks graphically, the ambience has struck me alot already with how little I've experienced. But I just know this ain't gonna be a fun time and I don't have it in me. Maybe a youtube playthrough will be the move.
Suppose I didn't do myself any favours by playing this directly after Legend.
Truly filtered.
EDIT.
Alright so I watched the game on youtube. The gameplay still looks absolutely atrocious. But everything else?? Really damn good honestly! Really cool story direction that is unlike anything we've seen from tomb raider, but still feels like a welcome entry. The tone is amazing, the music, dialogue, characters and cutscenes are great. This incarnation of Lara is my new favourite!
If this game got a resident evil style remake I genuinely think it could be one of the best tomb raider games, although that would never happen :/
I recommend any tomb raider fan at least watches the game, in fact it's probably the best way to experience this unfortunate missed opportunity. You really are not missing out on anything by skipping on playing it yourself. Doing yourself a favour actually.
============================================
Original Review:
yeah fuck this
I love how it looks graphically, the ambience has struck me alot already with how little I've experienced. But I just know this ain't gonna be a fun time and I don't have it in me. Maybe a youtube playthrough will be the move.
Suppose I didn't do myself any favours by playing this directly after Legend.
Truly filtered.
2006
As far back as my memory can reliably take me, Tomb Raider: Legend was one of the first video games I ever played. Of course, that meant I completely sucked at it; a level that would take me 20 minutes now took a few hours back then, and I never actually finished the game until a couple years ago. It doesn't exactly hold all that magic of a grand adventure that I once thought it did; it's quite the short journey, but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable, in fact I think that's to it's advantage. It's a nice bite-sized and fast paced adventure with plenty of unique stages, that never stops being fun to play, despite it's shortcomings.
Lara is an icon, I mean, everyone knows that, but her characterisation is totally at it's (second) best in this game and I'll stand by that. Legend's best decision was to have running dialogue between Lara, Alister and Zip throughout most of the levels and their chemistry is just so entertaining. This allows her to regularly show off her intelligence and sass very well, giving me many chuckles. They also weren't afraid to let her show a little more of her inner emotions in this entry which was quite nice.
Legend gameplay itself, mmmmmeh? It's enough to keep you engaged throughout and it's certainly not boring by any stretch. I haven't played TR 3-6 so I don't know how much of the parkour elements are new, but I do know that the grapple is a pretty awesome addition that is fun for traversal, and is used in some neat ways for puzzles. I don't have any problem with the gameplay per se, it's just nothing notable. Like the combat is just mindless easy fun. OH YEAH, and the bike sections, I think people mostly hate them but I find 'em pretty fun, although I can imagine if you play on hard mode or something they can get old and frustrating quickly.
Mediocre level and puzzle design is made up for with how well they are integrated into the environments. Whether it's underground in an ancient tomb, on the top level of a skyscraper, or on the cliffs by a waterfall, all platforming is cleverly built into the scenery so as to not take away from the spectacle. My favourite stages in this regard would have to be Peru, Japan and Ghana (such a pretty stage), but they all do it fairly well.
Can we talk about that for a second? I honestly like the Survivor (reboot) games quite a bit, but I think I would like to return to this more "world tour" kind of progression. Lara is a world explorer, playing this and some of the classics has reminded me that I appreciate "exploration" the most when you are taken to many vastly different and unique places all over the world. The newer games tend to stick to their one place, and while I understand that does allow for a deeper exploration of the history that's being revealed, something about this old style of going from place to place felt like a nice road trip of the world Lara visits, that the average person doesn't get to see, and I hope we get a bit of a revisiting of that in the next entry. Also it means more excuses for Lara to try different outfits :)
Playing this game on PC game definitely hurt the experience a bit with all it's bugs, and I would say stick to the console version if you can help it... At least that's what I would say if I didn't find out after my playthrough that turning on vsync fixed pretty much ALL of the issues. PC gaming is such a headache sometimes...
I plan on playing TR6 Angel of Darkness soon since I've become so curious to see first hand why everyone despises it, so much so that Eidos gave the development of Legend to a completely different studio, I can't wait...
Lara is an icon, I mean, everyone knows that, but her characterisation is totally at it's (second) best in this game and I'll stand by that. Legend's best decision was to have running dialogue between Lara, Alister and Zip throughout most of the levels and their chemistry is just so entertaining. This allows her to regularly show off her intelligence and sass very well, giving me many chuckles. They also weren't afraid to let her show a little more of her inner emotions in this entry which was quite nice.
Legend gameplay itself, mmmmmeh? It's enough to keep you engaged throughout and it's certainly not boring by any stretch. I haven't played TR 3-6 so I don't know how much of the parkour elements are new, but I do know that the grapple is a pretty awesome addition that is fun for traversal, and is used in some neat ways for puzzles. I don't have any problem with the gameplay per se, it's just nothing notable. Like the combat is just mindless easy fun. OH YEAH, and the bike sections, I think people mostly hate them but I find 'em pretty fun, although I can imagine if you play on hard mode or something they can get old and frustrating quickly.
Mediocre level and puzzle design is made up for with how well they are integrated into the environments. Whether it's underground in an ancient tomb, on the top level of a skyscraper, or on the cliffs by a waterfall, all platforming is cleverly built into the scenery so as to not take away from the spectacle. My favourite stages in this regard would have to be Peru, Japan and Ghana (such a pretty stage), but they all do it fairly well.
Can we talk about that for a second? I honestly like the Survivor (reboot) games quite a bit, but I think I would like to return to this more "world tour" kind of progression. Lara is a world explorer, playing this and some of the classics has reminded me that I appreciate "exploration" the most when you are taken to many vastly different and unique places all over the world. The newer games tend to stick to their one place, and while I understand that does allow for a deeper exploration of the history that's being revealed, something about this old style of going from place to place felt like a nice road trip of the world Lara visits, that the average person doesn't get to see, and I hope we get a bit of a revisiting of that in the next entry. Also it means more excuses for Lara to try different outfits :)
Playing this game on PC game definitely hurt the experience a bit with all it's bugs, and I would say stick to the console version if you can help it... At least that's what I would say if I didn't find out after my playthrough that turning on vsync fixed pretty much ALL of the issues. PC gaming is such a headache sometimes...
I plan on playing TR6 Angel of Darkness soon since I've become so curious to see first hand why everyone despises it, so much so that Eidos gave the development of Legend to a completely different studio, I can't wait...
2021
Truly a one of a kind. If you enjoy rhythm games in any capacity then this is a must play, with a cute story as well. I'm not saying anything else, I think it's best experienced blind.
Evening Star's Big Breakaway
It ain't Sonic, but I'll be damned if I don't like it for some of the same reasons. I'm so happy for Evening Star's first release as an independent studio. We've been treated to a truly wonderful 3D platformer that's imbued with a great amount of creativity and passion. Slick movement on par with Mario Odyssey, colourful and quirky characters and stages, AND a totally cute as hell mascot character?!? You spoil me, tysm this is exactly what I wanted from Mania devs and they delivered. Of course the music as well is great as expected from Tee Lopes, lots of variety in the stage themes particularly.
Right now there's pleeeeeenty of bugs and everyone will let you know, but personally, I was hardly bothered by any of it; every now and then I clip through a wall and get setback slightly... alright, no problem! The game is just that damn fun that being made to replay sections was rarely something to get hung up over.
What I am appreciating the most from Penny is how the stages are designed around two distinct playstyles. It is fun to slowly take in the scenery and read silly dialogue, searching for those hidden collectibles, but at the same time you can absolutely blitz through once you get the hang of things.
I have to discuss my love for Penny herself too, she's just such a goober. Such a sick concept to have a platformer mascot use a yoyo, the way all the powerups and moves are animated and tied to this concept: seamless. Every time she danced and did tricks at the end of the stage it would put a little smile on my face. The story barely had me paying attention beyond her funny expressions, and that's all I needed to keep me going really. What can I say, she's just adorable and needs protection.
That would be one of my only complaints, that comparable to Penny, almost all the characters felt pretty bland and uninteresting (but I don't really care!!), it would have just been nice if she had some friends or something y'know, this is totally my Sonic brain speaking. Maybe next time, whether it's a sequel or something different, the next project from the studio will have a bit more scope in that sense. It's not that the story was bad, it went places and tied in with the level themes very well, I just found it not memorable whatsoever. It's all a worthy trade off though, this game is pretty perfect in the places it needs to be.
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It ain't Sonic, but I'll be damned if I don't like it for some of the same reasons. I'm so happy for Evening Star's first release as an independent studio. We've been treated to a truly wonderful 3D platformer that's imbued with a great amount of creativity and passion. Slick movement on par with Mario Odyssey, colourful and quirky characters and stages, AND a totally cute as hell mascot character?!? You spoil me, tysm this is exactly what I wanted from Mania devs and they delivered. Of course the music as well is great as expected from Tee Lopes, lots of variety in the stage themes particularly.
Right now there's pleeeeeenty of bugs and everyone will let you know, but personally, I was hardly bothered by any of it; every now and then I clip through a wall and get setback slightly... alright, no problem! The game is just that damn fun that being made to replay sections was rarely something to get hung up over.
What I am appreciating the most from Penny is how the stages are designed around two distinct playstyles. It is fun to slowly take in the scenery and read silly dialogue, searching for those hidden collectibles, but at the same time you can absolutely blitz through once you get the hang of things.
I have to discuss my love for Penny herself too, she's just such a goober. Such a sick concept to have a platformer mascot use a yoyo, the way all the powerups and moves are animated and tied to this concept: seamless. Every time she danced and did tricks at the end of the stage it would put a little smile on my face. The story barely had me paying attention beyond her funny expressions, and that's all I needed to keep me going really. What can I say, she's just adorable and needs protection.
That would be one of my only complaints, that comparable to Penny, almost all the characters felt pretty bland and uninteresting (but I don't really care!!), it would have just been nice if she had some friends or something y'know, this is totally my Sonic brain speaking. Maybe next time, whether it's a sequel or something different, the next project from the studio will have a bit more scope in that sense. It's not that the story was bad, it went places and tied in with the level themes very well, I just found it not memorable whatsoever. It's all a worthy trade off though, this game is pretty perfect in the places it needs to be.
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2021
Certainly the anti-visual novel it claims to be. The 2000s aesthetic is great, stereotypes are cranked up to 100 in a good way, love the voice acting. Altogether it makes some uniquely absurd and satirical characterisation. Generally quite funny and occasionally hilarious, but the humour won't be for everyone.
Yeah it's edgy, and can appear to be talking about certain topics in ways that it really shouldn't. But I don't think it's a big issue. Everything is described in such an "in your face" and absurd way that it's obviously poking fun at such things and I don't sense any ill will from it. I respect the creator for taking such a bold approach, that could very well be misunderstood.
I was a little discomforted at the constant pedophile jokes. I get what they're going for but like, why did the (can't believe I'm writing this) "racism route", which I found to be the funniest, only get like 2 endings whereas there's like, 6 paths involving fiascos with pedophiles? It just felt a tad obsessive. Still these routes usually had something interesting to offer.
I really want to know more about the development process for Class of '09. Who made it, how and why was it conceptualised, but there doesn't seem to be much information easily available on the internet. I'm not sure if there is some sort of running moral trying to be conveyed throughout despite all the (enjoyable) garbage that this game is. Pretty girls have it hard too, or something.
I don't know. Don't be like Nicole, Nicole is a sociopath. But at the same time, be like Nicole, Nicole is a bad bitch.
Edit: Shoutout to this review by Femmy which I think put some things into perspective for me and answered some thoughts I had.
Yeah it's edgy, and can appear to be talking about certain topics in ways that it really shouldn't. But I don't think it's a big issue. Everything is described in such an "in your face" and absurd way that it's obviously poking fun at such things and I don't sense any ill will from it. I respect the creator for taking such a bold approach, that could very well be misunderstood.
I was a little discomforted at the constant pedophile jokes. I get what they're going for but like, why did the (can't believe I'm writing this) "racism route", which I found to be the funniest, only get like 2 endings whereas there's like, 6 paths involving fiascos with pedophiles? It just felt a tad obsessive. Still these routes usually had something interesting to offer.
I really want to know more about the development process for Class of '09. Who made it, how and why was it conceptualised, but there doesn't seem to be much information easily available on the internet. I'm not sure if there is some sort of running moral trying to be conveyed throughout despite all the (enjoyable) garbage that this game is. Pretty girls have it hard too, or something.
I don't know. Don't be like Nicole, Nicole is a sociopath. But at the same time, be like Nicole, Nicole is a bad bitch.
Edit: Shoutout to this review by Femmy which I think put some things into perspective for me and answered some thoughts I had.