contemporation
They should've called this a remake, because everything about this version of the game feels fresh and modern. This is about the slickest version of the game you could ask for, and it runs buttery smooth in both handheld and on the TV. This is how to do a re-release of one of the greatest games of all-time.
Skyward Sword HD is a nice improvement over the original and makes the game feel much more accessible if you'd prefer to use traditional controls. They've assigned the directional sword swings to the right stick which works really well and makes the whole situation feel a little less fussy. It's definitely the best way to experience the last of the legacy Zelda games, and I still hold that it has the best soundtrack and the best dungeons of any Zelda game. It's a more focused experience than other games in the franchise, with story beats hitting at a staccato pace and dungeons coming fast and frequently. I find it to be a refreshing change of pace after the countless hours spend wandering the quiet wilds. The whole game is packed character and heart. Sure, it's down the list on the best games in the franchise, but it's still a Zelda game which makes it a rung above just about everything else.
2023
Don't believe the hype-- this game is much better than that.
Official pre-review at around 40 hours of play time: THEY FIT ALL OF THIS ONTO A 16 GB CARTRIDGE??!
This is the best 2D Metroid right? It feels objectively the most polished, the most fun, the most epic, the most bad ass. I now need to replay all the others just to be sure, but goddamn. Take all the best components from every other game in the series, filter out any filler or extraneous bits, make some tasteful additions and polishes here and there. Bada bing bada boom, you got yourself a stew going.
1994
Feels like some sort of pinnacle to me.
One of the most satisfying single player action adventure games of recent memory. Easily goes toe to toe with God of War Ragnarok in terms of cutting edge storytelling, gameplay, and generosity of content. Releasing a fully polished and functioning game at launch would've pushed this over the top, but EA loves to shoot themselves in the foot.
1998
I'd played fighting games in the 90s on Super Nintendo and in arcades, and while I enjoyed many of them, I never cared enough to devote the required time and effort to develop a mastery. That all changed when I played Soul Calibur at a kiosk in Circuit City and my goddamn brain melted. I immediately sold my N64 and all my games to a close friend, which got me a little over 50% of the required funds to get a Dreamcast (with Soul Calibur and a VMU obviously). The rest of the funds were sourced from a loan with quite unreasonable terms and condition from my brother. I didn't care. Booting this thing up at home was one of the formative experiences of my childhood. It didn't take long before I'd mastered every fighter in the game to the point where I had a hard time convincing anyone to play against me. I had a carrying case with my DC and I'd bring it with me to every friend's house on the off chance that someone would be up to the challenge. No one ever was. I was the SoulCalibur king of that one particular Colorado neighborhood during a glorious run at the turn of the century.
You can't fucking review this game (or any game) in a vacuum. Games don't work that way. 5/5.
You can't fucking review this game (or any game) in a vacuum. Games don't work that way. 5/5.
1992
Really the only way to beat this game as a young kid was to memorize the layout of every level and the placement of every enemy, and make damn sure you don't die-- ever. If you die in this game, especially in some of the later levels, you might as well hit reset as it removes all of the gun levels you've accumulated up to that point.
2012
It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but if I'm judging it by whether it achieves what it sets out to accomplish, then this is a perfect video game. It also felt like it singlehandedly kicked off an entire genre of slow-paced, contemplative narrative adventures with little to no gameplay (i.e. the walking simulator). It seemed that half the new games on Steam fell into this category for a solid four years after this came out. Glad we've largely moved passed those. The OG did it best.
2013
The metaphor is a little on the nose, but this is a great little sci-fi puzzle game with atmosphere like a Metroid game, that almost feels like a precursor to SOMA at least in terms of its cosmic horror leanings.
2006
If asked with a gun to my head what my favorite genre of video game is, I would probably say JRPG. Despite that, it's also probably the genre I like to complain about the most, because these are the games with the greatest chance of falling flat on their face, buckling under the weight of their own ambition, audience expectation, oftentimes both. But when they knock it out of the park-- when all the pieces land just right-- my GAWD there's nothing else like it in the medium.
This game has the power to change lives.
This game has the power to change lives.
2023
This Resident Evil game is just like every other Resident Evil game, only moreso.
2000
This was my very first Diablo-like, and as such it blew me a way. I remember grabbing it on a whim from the bargain bin at Target for like $20, hating it for a the first few hours as I didn't know quite what to make of it, then falling into sync with its nuances and getting obsessed. Until I was exposed to better versions of it, this was the holy grail of action RPGs. In retrospect, it's sort of garbage and incomplete in so many ways, but I appreciate it for the gateway drug that it was.
A game about your average family just trying to hustle and make a living in the shadow of an oppression government regime. This game rules.