260 reviews liked by allex
Thief Gold
1999
Mother
1989
Mother
1989
Mother
1989
This review contains spoilers
Moooootheeeeeerrrrr oooooooooooo!
(I hate queen)
As a franchise, mother has a weird history. In the west itâs commonly known as âearthboundâ, the first game wasnât localised for years, and weâre still waiting for mother 3 (earthbound 2) to come over. This whole franchise all started on the famicom with mother. It was a game based on an idea by shigesato itoi about having an rpg set in a more modern setting. NowâŚthe question plaguing everyoneâs mindâŚdoes it hold up?
The story is pretty simple: you play as a young boy named ninten who is forced to go on a journey to save the planet from the evil giygus (I know it has a different name in the game but I canât be bothered to try and type it). On the way he is joined by a boy named Lloyd, a girl named ana, and a jock named teddy. The story is pretty simple taking them to many different places and fighting very tough enemiesâŚwhich leads me into combat!
The gameplay of the game hasnât aged entirely the bestâŚbut if you have a little patience you might find some enjoyment. The encounter rate is definitely pretty high but not ridiculously high as some people make it out to be (itâs definitely more tolerable then they make out). Itâs also, compared to mother 2 (earthbound), slightly different in combat. It almost feels more refined in mother 2 than it does in this gameâŚbut maybe thatâs just me.
Overall, I still really like this game and encourage others to try it even with its slight problems. Even if itâs not for the story, the music is still really great and beautiful for a famicom game.
Great story, slow gameplay, loveable characters, terrific soundtrack, ninten and anaâs dance :>
(I hate queen)
As a franchise, mother has a weird history. In the west itâs commonly known as âearthboundâ, the first game wasnât localised for years, and weâre still waiting for mother 3 (earthbound 2) to come over. This whole franchise all started on the famicom with mother. It was a game based on an idea by shigesato itoi about having an rpg set in a more modern setting. NowâŚthe question plaguing everyoneâs mindâŚdoes it hold up?
The story is pretty simple: you play as a young boy named ninten who is forced to go on a journey to save the planet from the evil giygus (I know it has a different name in the game but I canât be bothered to try and type it). On the way he is joined by a boy named Lloyd, a girl named ana, and a jock named teddy. The story is pretty simple taking them to many different places and fighting very tough enemiesâŚwhich leads me into combat!
The gameplay of the game hasnât aged entirely the bestâŚbut if you have a little patience you might find some enjoyment. The encounter rate is definitely pretty high but not ridiculously high as some people make it out to be (itâs definitely more tolerable then they make out). Itâs also, compared to mother 2 (earthbound), slightly different in combat. It almost feels more refined in mother 2 than it does in this gameâŚbut maybe thatâs just me.
Overall, I still really like this game and encourage others to try it even with its slight problems. Even if itâs not for the story, the music is still really great and beautiful for a famicom game.
Great story, slow gameplay, loveable characters, terrific soundtrack, ninten and anaâs dance :>
Mother
1989
A game of progressively getting to see lots of wacky and charming stuff, while all the "worst game design ever" just... wasn't?
Having someone guard while I'm off going places i needed to anyways until they can fight sure was one of the grinds of all time. And i dunno those dungeons were fine. Except Mt. Itoi I guess but just run away. Your attacker cannot legally hurt you without your consent.
What I'm trying to say is that if this is the standard of quality and wit set by a game the Internet decided sucked because the inventory is a bit shit, then I'm gonna be in for a treat with the rest of the series.
Having someone guard while I'm off going places i needed to anyways until they can fight sure was one of the grinds of all time. And i dunno those dungeons were fine. Except Mt. Itoi I guess but just run away. Your attacker cannot legally hurt you without your consent.
What I'm trying to say is that if this is the standard of quality and wit set by a game the Internet decided sucked because the inventory is a bit shit, then I'm gonna be in for a treat with the rest of the series.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3
1994
Sonic CD
1993
Sonic CD
1993
Planescape: Torment
1999
My journey across The Planes has taken me to places that most men believe exist only in the realm of thought. These places I travelled to, the people I met, and the conversations I had fundamentally changed me as a person. I donât fully know how, but regardless, I know some sort of change occurred. Perhaps writing about my experience with Planescape will help me better understand these changes and the person I am today.
When I was 14, I discovered Planescape: Torment, and while I thought the game was awesome, I could never really engage with the questions the game posed to me. I mean, how could I? What would the question âWhat can change the nature of a man?â mean to a 14-year-old who was only beginning to grapple with the concept of its own being? Looking back, it meant nothing to me. Now that I am an adult, however, the question means much more to me. Part of me is ashamed to admit I havenât always been a âgoodâ person. Learning to be kind, understanding, mature, and responsible took me many years of struggling and hardship to achieve. Even today, I still struggle with this, but through that struggle, I came to learn more about myself and my nature. I canât fully codify into words what my ânatureâ or âselfâ are because they are concepts that exist beyond language. Language can at times be limiting, so I look to art to help me look inward and better conceptualise these thoughts and feelings. I feel as though Planescape stirred the part of my soul that sought these answers, and despite it not giving me concrete answers, I feel satisfied with the new questions it posed to me. To me, good art never seeks to speak for the reader but instead provides them with the tools necessary to create subjective meaning from the experience they have with it. I believe Planescape does this quite well; Iâd even go so far as to argue that it fully agrees with me here. When The Nameless One is posed the question, âWhat can change the nature of a man?â the game does not have him provide a concrete answer to the player. Instead, we are left with the game giving us the tools necessary to begin constructing our own answer to that question as the credits roll. Currently, I don't have an answer to that question, and I'm not sure if I will even have one a decade from now, but I'm okay with that. Part of growing up meant that I had to learn to be content with not always having an answer for everything; perhaps not every question needed an answer.
Thereâs more I could write, but perhaps itâs best that some things remain unwritten. I would love to endlessly navel-gaze, but that wouldnât do me or you, the reader, any good. I apologise to anyone here who expected a formal review and was met instead by my self-indulgent introspection. There's really not much I can say about Planescape that hasn't already been said; it's an awesome ass game, and it deserves the reputation it has made for itself, enough said.
Anyways, Iâd like to end this short write-up by saying that if you havenât already played Planescape: Torment, you owe it to yourself to take that journey across The Planes. Sigil is known as the âCity of Doorsâ, after all, so why donât you look inside and see where one of them takes you?
When I was 14, I discovered Planescape: Torment, and while I thought the game was awesome, I could never really engage with the questions the game posed to me. I mean, how could I? What would the question âWhat can change the nature of a man?â mean to a 14-year-old who was only beginning to grapple with the concept of its own being? Looking back, it meant nothing to me. Now that I am an adult, however, the question means much more to me. Part of me is ashamed to admit I havenât always been a âgoodâ person. Learning to be kind, understanding, mature, and responsible took me many years of struggling and hardship to achieve. Even today, I still struggle with this, but through that struggle, I came to learn more about myself and my nature. I canât fully codify into words what my ânatureâ or âselfâ are because they are concepts that exist beyond language. Language can at times be limiting, so I look to art to help me look inward and better conceptualise these thoughts and feelings. I feel as though Planescape stirred the part of my soul that sought these answers, and despite it not giving me concrete answers, I feel satisfied with the new questions it posed to me. To me, good art never seeks to speak for the reader but instead provides them with the tools necessary to create subjective meaning from the experience they have with it. I believe Planescape does this quite well; Iâd even go so far as to argue that it fully agrees with me here. When The Nameless One is posed the question, âWhat can change the nature of a man?â the game does not have him provide a concrete answer to the player. Instead, we are left with the game giving us the tools necessary to begin constructing our own answer to that question as the credits roll. Currently, I don't have an answer to that question, and I'm not sure if I will even have one a decade from now, but I'm okay with that. Part of growing up meant that I had to learn to be content with not always having an answer for everything; perhaps not every question needed an answer.
Thereâs more I could write, but perhaps itâs best that some things remain unwritten. I would love to endlessly navel-gaze, but that wouldnât do me or you, the reader, any good. I apologise to anyone here who expected a formal review and was met instead by my self-indulgent introspection. There's really not much I can say about Planescape that hasn't already been said; it's an awesome ass game, and it deserves the reputation it has made for itself, enough said.
Anyways, Iâd like to end this short write-up by saying that if you havenât already played Planescape: Torment, you owe it to yourself to take that journey across The Planes. Sigil is known as the âCity of Doorsâ, after all, so why donât you look inside and see where one of them takes you?