binz
11 reviews liked by binz
The Exit 8
2023
Love anything that does so much with so little.
I feel really energized by stuff like this. Art doesn't need to be massive in scope, it can be as small as a single hallway. Gonna try to keep that in mind next time I feel down about something I'm working on.
I feel really energized by stuff like this. Art doesn't need to be massive in scope, it can be as small as a single hallway. Gonna try to keep that in mind next time I feel down about something I'm working on.
No better argument for "less is more".
There is good stuff here, but the way it's presented is so frustrating. There's a version of this game that still includes a broad selection of monsters, and directs you through the best fights the series has to offer. But it does the opposite, forcing you to play a weirdly small pool of monsters over and over again, many of whom are just bad fights.
To wit, the key and urgent quests force you to fight Plesioth three times, while only having you fight four different elders. Over the course of twenty one village and hub ranks, you have to fight Narkarkos twice, Shagaru three times, Valstrax twice, and Lao-Shan Lung once. The game celebrating MH history can be beaten while only seeing one elder from before 4th gen. But don't worry, they make sure you have to fight Gravios three times.
All of this compounds with brand new systems that work to completely obscure the worthwhile content. Can't upgrade your weapons without slogging through hypers. Can't fight G rank deviants without grinding all of their low rank versions. Hell, the only reason I finished the game is because I wanted to fight Ahtal-Ka. Great fight! Not worth the time it took to get there.
I feel guilty about rating it so low, cause it's still Monster Hunter, but it's hard to imagine a worse way to make an anniversary collection.
There is good stuff here, but the way it's presented is so frustrating. There's a version of this game that still includes a broad selection of monsters, and directs you through the best fights the series has to offer. But it does the opposite, forcing you to play a weirdly small pool of monsters over and over again, many of whom are just bad fights.
To wit, the key and urgent quests force you to fight Plesioth three times, while only having you fight four different elders. Over the course of twenty one village and hub ranks, you have to fight Narkarkos twice, Shagaru three times, Valstrax twice, and Lao-Shan Lung once. The game celebrating MH history can be beaten while only seeing one elder from before 4th gen. But don't worry, they make sure you have to fight Gravios three times.
All of this compounds with brand new systems that work to completely obscure the worthwhile content. Can't upgrade your weapons without slogging through hypers. Can't fight G rank deviants without grinding all of their low rank versions. Hell, the only reason I finished the game is because I wanted to fight Ahtal-Ka. Great fight! Not worth the time it took to get there.
I feel guilty about rating it so low, cause it's still Monster Hunter, but it's hard to imagine a worse way to make an anniversary collection.
Balatro
2024
I will not be looking at the time played
Rollerdrome
2022
Guy who has only read one novel this year: Getting a lot of chain gang all-stars from this...
Love the concept, but didn't really enjoy myself. Getting shot at while trying to do Tony Hawk challenges got frustrating quickly. Really wanted a way to avoid damage that didn't interrupt my line, like maybe a perfect parry?
That being said, it's so short that I can't really hate my time with it. It has a fun style, and the light touch story sections were good.
Love the concept, but didn't really enjoy myself. Getting shot at while trying to do Tony Hawk challenges got frustrating quickly. Really wanted a way to avoid damage that didn't interrupt my line, like maybe a perfect parry?
That being said, it's so short that I can't really hate my time with it. It has a fun style, and the light touch story sections were good.
I forgot how beautiful this game is. Clearly, so much work was put into properly rendering these frozen-in-time scenes. I love the way water and rain is depicted in the 1-bit style. The kraken is overwhelmingly scary. And goddamn that lightning.
The smash cut from the black dialogue cards to the death scene are so powerful. Listening to the sounds of violence before getting slammed into a gruesome scene is viscerally effective. Combined with the amazing VA, sound design, and music, it feels so good to just walk around every scene, piecing together the movement of every object.
Anyway, a coworker once told me he gave up on it cause "the graphics were ugly" and I just don't know how I'm supposed to live on the same planet as that shit.
The smash cut from the black dialogue cards to the death scene are so powerful. Listening to the sounds of violence before getting slammed into a gruesome scene is viscerally effective. Combined with the amazing VA, sound design, and music, it feels so good to just walk around every scene, piecing together the movement of every object.
Anyway, a coworker once told me he gave up on it cause "the graphics were ugly" and I just don't know how I'm supposed to live on the same planet as that shit.
Venba
2023
Us millennials can't stop writing stories to process our feelings about our immigrant parents and our complicated upbringings.
...which is good! I love 'em. More, please!
...which is good! I love 'em. More, please!
Bomb Rush Cyberfunk
2023
A worthy spiritual sequel to the coolest games of all time
Not perfect, but I'll take something raw, cool, and novel over ultrapolished AAAA sludge any day.
Not perfect, but I'll take something raw, cool, and novel over ultrapolished AAAA sludge any day.
Monster Hunter games are so refreshing. It feels crazy that they're allowed to release the title updates for free, AND there's no predatory monetization track. Everyone speculating if MH6 is gonna be a world sequel, or bring back underwater combat; I'm just scared there's gonna be a season pass.
On top of that, they have to make something that serves, like, a dozen different types of players. It needs to be fun in single player and multiplayer. It needs to be a forever game that the MR999 crazies can play 24/7 for a year, and something that people can dip in and out of with each update. Change it enough that it feels like a proper sequel, but not so much that the oldheads riot. This thing is a miracle.
It doesn't all work. The end game grind is pretty uneven. Tacking on new systems in the updates has created some really labyrinthine menus.
Quiro crafting stands out as something that works early on, when anything you get feels like a bonus, and very late, when you have functionally infinite resources to craft multiples and roll forever. But in the middle, when the rolls you need to make a functional build become narrower and narrower, it starts to feel really limiting.
But honestly, it's all nitpicking. The hunts feel so good, the monster variety is great, the title updates were exciting. Monster Hunter forever.
On top of that, they have to make something that serves, like, a dozen different types of players. It needs to be fun in single player and multiplayer. It needs to be a forever game that the MR999 crazies can play 24/7 for a year, and something that people can dip in and out of with each update. Change it enough that it feels like a proper sequel, but not so much that the oldheads riot. This thing is a miracle.
It doesn't all work. The end game grind is pretty uneven. Tacking on new systems in the updates has created some really labyrinthine menus.
Quiro crafting stands out as something that works early on, when anything you get feels like a bonus, and very late, when you have functionally infinite resources to craft multiples and roll forever. But in the middle, when the rolls you need to make a functional build become narrower and narrower, it starts to feel really limiting.
But honestly, it's all nitpicking. The hunts feel so good, the monster variety is great, the title updates were exciting. Monster Hunter forever.
Everyone names her Blue.
Shapez
2020
The factory genre stripped down to an irreducible element: throughput.
I really like fiddling with algorithms, trying to make things more efficient and elegant. But I bounce off most factory games (assembly line games? process-likes?) because they gate experimentation behind resource scarcity and acquisition.
Shapez skips all that boring stuff so you can focus on the pure joy of fucking around. Infinite resources, infinite space, no fail state. Plus, they dodge all the nasty themes of extraction and colonization that every other game in the genre stumbles into. It's just good vibes, chill music, and me going insane trying to make a rocket ship on a blue and grey background.
I really like fiddling with algorithms, trying to make things more efficient and elegant. But I bounce off most factory games (assembly line games? process-likes?) because they gate experimentation behind resource scarcity and acquisition.
Shapez skips all that boring stuff so you can focus on the pure joy of fucking around. Infinite resources, infinite space, no fail state. Plus, they dodge all the nasty themes of extraction and colonization that every other game in the genre stumbles into. It's just good vibes, chill music, and me going insane trying to make a rocket ship on a blue and grey background.