data_hearts
feels like if you left the original ratchet & clank outside in the rain for a few days. while i'm sure it was great for the time as a portable title, porting it to the ps2 shows just how much it lacks in a console environment.
2005
ratchet and clank's dial ticks just a tad toward their cousins jak and daxter's level of edginess, finding a balance that allows them to remain fully recognizable as ratchet and clank while still having a more serious and realized plot. i LOVED the writing in this one. the gameplay was good too, acting as an obviously halo-inspired take on the annihilation nation challenges from up your arsenal.
confused by the random and not tone-fitting transphobic joke in the post-credits scene, though. what was up with that?
confused by the random and not tone-fitting transphobic joke in the post-credits scene, though. what was up with that?
i'd rank this second-place of the first three ratchet & clank games (with r&c 1 on top and going commando on the bottom.)
the gameplay is improved over the second, but the writing is mixed. we've reached the second R&C that introduces a brand new love interest for ratchet for absolutely no reason. that said, there are a lot of funny jokes! so i'd say it's a pro on the comedy and a con on the plot. having started with the 2016 R&C and then going backwards, i can say that by the third entry i'm definitely getting tired of 2000s kinda-edgy jerkass ratchet.
the gameplay is improved over the second, but the writing is mixed. we've reached the second R&C that introduces a brand new love interest for ratchet for absolutely no reason. that said, there are a lot of funny jokes! so i'd say it's a pro on the comedy and a con on the plot. having started with the 2016 R&C and then going backwards, i can say that by the third entry i'm definitely getting tired of 2000s kinda-edgy jerkass ratchet.
definitely missing some of the charm of the first game, but i think that the feel of the gameplay is improved overall. didn't really shake much up, generally just felt like a safe second entry, which makes sense considering it came out literally just one year after the first. fine, but i'd be shocked if it was anyone's favorite.
2006
the fact that you have to look up a map for this game in order to beat it without ripping your hair out is pretty damning considering there's literally a map function in-game. that said, i like the gameplay. and mega man.
1997
i get what everyone's saying about the camera controls, i really do, but have you all considered that mega man legends is my babygirl and she's perfect actually? has anyone thought about this?
the gameplay is a total mixed bag, but if you don't think that sonic wielding a sword is cool idea i simply do not know how to help you. call a priest and ask if they do exorcisms for sad & lonely beasts.
(half a star added for the existence of emulators that can map the wiimote waggling to a single button press)
(half a star added for the existence of emulators that can map the wiimote waggling to a single button press)
1993
its like if the movie clue was filmed in a spooky house and every five seconds an old man slapped your wrist and told you your mom never loved you
i think when i was younger i wrote this game off as a result of its seemingly detached-from-reality approach to a zelda plot. playing it all the way through now, i actually think that's one of its greatest strengths.
by tonally not matching the feel of a zelda game, it reinforces the story's nature as a dream. it feels detached because it's purposefully detached. neat.
by tonally not matching the feel of a zelda game, it reinforces the story's nature as a dream. it feels detached because it's purposefully detached. neat.
2001
okay listen. it's not a perfect game. but it's nonetheless one of those games you just have to "get." it's something that clicks in your head. for me, the moment it clicked was when i understood the trick mechanic of the sonic stages. suddenly the game made sense, and i started enjoying nearly every part of it.
except you, mad space. die, mad space.
except you, mad space. die, mad space.
organ trail isn't super long, nor complex, or even original, but it improves on the original oregon trail's formula so well with a joke concept executed so seriously that it's hard not to love. plus, there's a halloween mode in the settings that turns all the food into candy. so it's basically perfect.
the plot of awakening feels like very carefully setting up a bunch of fireworks and then accidentally lighting them all up at the same time, and thirty minutes before they were supposed to go. the explosion of color is blurry and you can't quite make out the sparkly designs that you're sure would have been quite beautiful if they'd been given room to shine on their own.
2013
my younger brother and i played this game all the way through in 2015. when we beat the final boss he shouted "FINALLY!" and slam dunked the game case onto the floorboards, fully shattering it (plastic flying everywhere) (he didn't even notice) (bathing in the blood of his fallen conquest like a viking warrior defeating a hated foe)
2002
marketing head: "our new game's gotta be a shooter"
dev: "what? but we're in the middle of making a platformer. we've got an animal mascot and everything."
marketing head: "so give him a gun"
dev, popping open a four loko: "badass"
dev: "what? but we're in the middle of making a platformer. we've got an animal mascot and everything."
marketing head: "so give him a gun"
dev, popping open a four loko: "badass"
2021
"CO-DEEEEE i'm OBJECTIVELY IN THE WRONG EIGHTY-FIVE PERCENT OF THE TIME, CO-DEEE! I'M GOING TO SCREAM AT YOU FOR MINOR PERCIEVED TRANSGRESSIONS FOREVER, CO-DEEE!!!! I SOUND LIKE THIS FOR THE WHOLE GAME, CO-DEEEEEE!!!!!!!"
me: wow this game is great if you mute it
me: wow this game is great if you mute it