agilun
2019
Best "exploration focused" game I've ever played. Unravelling the many puzzles and intricately woven narratives in Outer Wilds is thoroughly engaging and all of it's planet are unique and fun to explore. My only criticisms with the game are that some of the clues which are supposed to lead to major revelations can be confusing to understand and that dark bramble feels kind of lacking.
2019
Possibly the greatest RPG ever made. Has a fun combat system with great depth and tons of room for experimentation and different builds as well as a compelling narrative with a memorable cast which keep the social sim aspects of the title engaging. All of this is topped off with lots of side content, an insanely polished aesthetic and one of the greatest video game OSTs. I've played through this masterpiece thrice already and I'm sure I'll be back on run 4 soon enough.
2020
A gripping RPGMaker title about trauma and human connection. All the pieces that make up OMORI feel like they meaningfully connect to the game's themes and plot. I don't feel like I can heap much more praise without spoiling the experience but if you are a fan of psychological horror or media that might make you cry then I would deem OMORI a necessary playthrough at some point in your life.
2007
The atmosphere built by this game in its second half is absolutely unreal and has really yet to be matched by any other game I've played. The story in this game, while it may seem kinda dumb during the first few hours, is probably my all time favourite in any game I have ever played. It's a shame the unmodded gameplay is so annoying and tedious but if the rumored remaster fixes that while still retaining all the aspects that made the original the landmark in the RPG genre that it is then it will likely be my new favourite game.
2012
No other game can put me in a flow state as fast as Hotline Miami. Time melts away as I die over and over trying to perfect my route through the level and when I get to the end damn does it feel satisfying. The game definitely could have used some more polish but it's still great. Need more games like this.
A contender for greatest CRPG. DOS2 has a fantasy setting which manages to feel unique in an era where it feels like the fantasy genre has been wrung dry which in and of itself is a feat. On top of that, the game features a combat system which has tons of depth and gives you lots of tools which allow you approach encounters in any way you deem fit. The game would be a bonafide masterpiece if it were not for the encounter design sometimes neglecting the emergent gameplay aspects inherent to the combat system and forcing you to deal with annoying gimmicks and that combat often places too much of an emphasis on environment control.
Amazing game with some significant flaws. The game's greatest strengths, much like and far more so than BOTW, are it's exploration and emergent gameplay systems. Hyrule is still amazing to explore and the depths and sky islands add some new content to differ the map more from how it was in BOTW. The new Zonai tech and rune abilities are great and I enjoyed using them far more than their BOTW counterparts, mostly due to how they lend themselves far better to an expansive open-world environment. The game's general art direction is once again amazing with audio and visuals causing me to somewhat frequently stop to appreciate them.
However, the degree of greatness the aforementioned aspects of the game achieve make the places where the game lacks stand out more than they would otherwise. TOTK focuses far more on it's plot than the previous entry but fails to have a story that can stand on its own feet. The dialogue writing is quite flat and the game's plot developments are sometimes very questionable. Another area the game could have used some more polish in, much like its predecessor, is the lack of the gameplay loop changing much past the first ~10 hours. Towards the end of my playthrough I was beginning to grow tired of fighting the same mobs with the same weapons over and over again and the somewhat bland dungeon design did little to alleviate my growing boredom with the system.
Overall, while I did drop quite a bit of criticism on this title, I still loved playing it much more often than I did not. The sheer amount of content in this game is astounding and I will likely revisit this title in the future to dig deeper. I am very excited to see what the next chapter of The Legend of Zelda series will be.
However, the degree of greatness the aforementioned aspects of the game achieve make the places where the game lacks stand out more than they would otherwise. TOTK focuses far more on it's plot than the previous entry but fails to have a story that can stand on its own feet. The dialogue writing is quite flat and the game's plot developments are sometimes very questionable. Another area the game could have used some more polish in, much like its predecessor, is the lack of the gameplay loop changing much past the first ~10 hours. Towards the end of my playthrough I was beginning to grow tired of fighting the same mobs with the same weapons over and over again and the somewhat bland dungeon design did little to alleviate my growing boredom with the system.
Overall, while I did drop quite a bit of criticism on this title, I still loved playing it much more often than I did not. The sheer amount of content in this game is astounding and I will likely revisit this title in the future to dig deeper. I am very excited to see what the next chapter of The Legend of Zelda series will be.
2023
Hasn't aged very well. Minimal voice acting, static npcs, repetitive side quests, an ost consisting mostly of ambient tracks, and technical issues are just a few of the quirks you have to deal with when playing this title. However, the looter-shooter foundation and world building are solid. I'd only recommend playing this game if you've already played every other entry in the series.
Nothing about this game makes it a major improvement over the first. The game's marketing revolved heavily around the story and the grappling hook but the story is boring and the grapple doesnt come into play until far after you have already exhausted the fun out of every other mechanic. This game fails to be successor to the amazing first entry and I'd only recommend it to big fans of the original.