fntm
2020
there's nothing particularly amazing about this point and click game besides the art. but the art IS really good. if you like comic art with the likes of mike mignola (hellboy) or frank miller you'll at least love looking at it. even the cutscenes play out like a comic book. the music is also very solid, but story is only decent and the translation is genuinely kinda bad. i can't really recommend it as a point and click game, but if you like comics-inspired games, you might like it.
time for personal life context lol.
i didnt grow up with a decent pc and have mostly been a console gamer up until more recently. so half-life was a game i missed on its first time out. thus i didnt think it was the greatest game ever when it released, i simply didn't know. however i did get half life 2 on the original xbox around the time it released and it really was the greatest game or one of the greatest games i'd ever played. despite being very innovative, which everyone already knows, it left a huge impression on me, enough to want to go to the original half-life which i eventually picked up on ps2... and i wasn't really into it. half-life 2 had spoiled me and other games, like possibly deus ex, had as well.
fast forward to this officially sanctioned fan-made remake and now i can actually get some of the context of why this game was so important, now that it's just as enjoyable as any of the games it influenced.
first off, i can skip the intro! i don't know how many times i started half life through the past two decades where i just kinda lost interest somewhere after the intro. either i got stuck or i was just kinda bored. i really don't know what's so different about this version, but i haven't been bored yet and puzzles just seem more obvious most of the time.
i may have also decided to quickly finish this game instead of others because it was 25 gig i wanted to delete off my hard drive... but still, it wasn't ever a chore to play.
this is definitely for the people that missed out on what made the original so special.
i didnt grow up with a decent pc and have mostly been a console gamer up until more recently. so half-life was a game i missed on its first time out. thus i didnt think it was the greatest game ever when it released, i simply didn't know. however i did get half life 2 on the original xbox around the time it released and it really was the greatest game or one of the greatest games i'd ever played. despite being very innovative, which everyone already knows, it left a huge impression on me, enough to want to go to the original half-life which i eventually picked up on ps2... and i wasn't really into it. half-life 2 had spoiled me and other games, like possibly deus ex, had as well.
fast forward to this officially sanctioned fan-made remake and now i can actually get some of the context of why this game was so important, now that it's just as enjoyable as any of the games it influenced.
first off, i can skip the intro! i don't know how many times i started half life through the past two decades where i just kinda lost interest somewhere after the intro. either i got stuck or i was just kinda bored. i really don't know what's so different about this version, but i haven't been bored yet and puzzles just seem more obvious most of the time.
i may have also decided to quickly finish this game instead of others because it was 25 gig i wanted to delete off my hard drive... but still, it wasn't ever a chore to play.
this is definitely for the people that missed out on what made the original so special.
2023
just beat it for my fourth time. another great example of quality over quantity. you might only spend a day or two on it, but it's a joy to play... except no c stick movement on this version whuuh. they just got rid of it and thought no one would notice i guess. actually had me stop to wonder if the first game even had it.
2023
i never made it through pikmin 2 before in the several attempts i made in the past but even bad pikmin is better than a lot of other games.
it's very much a love it or hate it game in the series, while lots of people like the randomized dungeon additions, i always found them tedious. but i think you have to get over the fact that even best case scenario you're probably going to lose a few pikmin sometimes. that said, you can restart each level of the dungeon and the roll of the dice might make it more favorable this time. or worse.
pikmin 4 is my goty (sorry totk) and once i 100% completed it i still had the pikmin bug so i went back and beat pikmin 3 for the first time then beat pikmin 1 for my fourth time then finally arrived at this one, my most fearsome foe.
and i stuck with it and i gotta still say, "bad" pikmin is still hella fun.
edit: okay i take it all back after getting all the treasures... this game is just straight up tedious. i hate when games think just adding more stuff is the way to make it harder. i mean it does, but in a cheap way. last boss was not fun. mostly glad i'll never touch this game again. i beat every mainline pikmin tho. time to try hey! pikmin.
it's very much a love it or hate it game in the series, while lots of people like the randomized dungeon additions, i always found them tedious. but i think you have to get over the fact that even best case scenario you're probably going to lose a few pikmin sometimes. that said, you can restart each level of the dungeon and the roll of the dice might make it more favorable this time. or worse.
pikmin 4 is my goty (sorry totk) and once i 100% completed it i still had the pikmin bug so i went back and beat pikmin 3 for the first time then beat pikmin 1 for my fourth time then finally arrived at this one, my most fearsome foe.
and i stuck with it and i gotta still say, "bad" pikmin is still hella fun.
edit: okay i take it all back after getting all the treasures... this game is just straight up tedious. i hate when games think just adding more stuff is the way to make it harder. i mean it does, but in a cheap way. last boss was not fun. mostly glad i'll never touch this game again. i beat every mainline pikmin tho. time to try hey! pikmin.
2021
way better than i ever gave it credit for having not played past an hour and i think most people feel about the same.
i was of the persuasion that this was just an inferior ff5 going in, but i came to realize it's actually a superior ff1. if you liked ff1 i do think this is the closest in the series that harkens back to it in feel.
i was of the persuasion that this was just an inferior ff5 going in, but i came to realize it's actually a superior ff1. if you liked ff1 i do think this is the closest in the series that harkens back to it in feel.
1997
i don't know any japanese whatsoever but i loved the atmosphere to this game. i didn't get far but i played it till it crashed somewhere in a dungeon. i was kinda stuck anyway. would love an english translation of this one.
apparently the writer/director was also scenario writer on smt iii, you can tell by the symbolism and esoteric feel of it.
apparently the writer/director was also scenario writer on smt iii, you can tell by the symbolism and esoteric feel of it.
feels like a fresh take on the rpg formula. i think it's worth checking out as a curiosity, you might even like it.
basically just had to try this game because it has (almost) the same music team as suikoden i and it’s the jrpg that was made right before it. there’s definitely a few tracks that give me a suikoden feel.
the game itself isnt bad. the battle system is a bit odd but might get more interesting later.
the game itself isnt bad. the battle system is a bit odd but might get more interesting later.
considering this is my least favorite mainline zelda title, yet i still give it a 2.5, should probably say something about how much i like zelda in general (a lot).
it has a lot going for it. but it's mostly bogged down by tediousness. the wolf parts, for one, feel like an absolute chore.
i think the creators were really trying to make something special, but they just weren't sure what that thing was. there are a bunch of cool side characters that seem to play more of a role than just npc, but not much ever pans out with them. there are tons of dungeons and things to do and the "field" feels somewhat large (for the time) and has a number of secrets in it. the dungeons arent always fun tho.
they took the navi hate to heart and gave you an actually pretty cool sidekick this time, and going to the twilight realm is one of the more memorable moments of the game. but they also throw ganon and zelda into the mix at like the very last moment, and zant's potential to be an alternate villain is never sung.
most things just feel very half baked, but not for lack of trying. they did try a LOT of stuff.
i think back fondly on a lot of pretty amazing moments within this one, but none of them really add to a truly cohesive whole. it’s like taking a bunch of really cool things and expecting them all together to be this one really cool cohesive thing.
overall i think this game mostly suffered from trying hard to please western audiences, and trying to please fans is almost never a good idea when it comes to being truly creative. wind waker for example aged a lot better imo. however thats just my opinion and this still is one of the more beloved games in the west.
it has a lot going for it. but it's mostly bogged down by tediousness. the wolf parts, for one, feel like an absolute chore.
i think the creators were really trying to make something special, but they just weren't sure what that thing was. there are a bunch of cool side characters that seem to play more of a role than just npc, but not much ever pans out with them. there are tons of dungeons and things to do and the "field" feels somewhat large (for the time) and has a number of secrets in it. the dungeons arent always fun tho.
they took the navi hate to heart and gave you an actually pretty cool sidekick this time, and going to the twilight realm is one of the more memorable moments of the game. but they also throw ganon and zelda into the mix at like the very last moment, and zant's potential to be an alternate villain is never sung.
most things just feel very half baked, but not for lack of trying. they did try a LOT of stuff.
i think back fondly on a lot of pretty amazing moments within this one, but none of them really add to a truly cohesive whole. it’s like taking a bunch of really cool things and expecting them all together to be this one really cool cohesive thing.
overall i think this game mostly suffered from trying hard to please western audiences, and trying to please fans is almost never a good idea when it comes to being truly creative. wind waker for example aged a lot better imo. however thats just my opinion and this still is one of the more beloved games in the west.
2021
guilty pleasure much…
feels a bit like a precursor to games like deadly premonition, in that weird lynchian open world way. i spent my brief time trying it out going to a random hotel that was fully explorable for whatever reason; you could walk around freely to the bathrooms and hotel rooms. shrug
2021
feels like a game made for and by fans of sanitarium. i also get some of the same esoteric vibes from drowned god. if you like either of those games, i think this might be an easy rec, otherwise play those games first.
i rank this, along with drakengard i, in games i love that are an amazing experience but not great, or even good, games... but jeez if you really want a rabbit hole, watch a playthrough of this and look into harry horse's life (the creator).
2022
within the first five minutes this might just seem like a blatant pikmin ripoff, but it will slowly reveal itself as a quality 3D platformer heavily inspired by pikmin. it's fairly short, but it's another good example of quality over quantity. the world has a ton of charm all its own. there's also no combat, and the core gameplay is enjoyable enough without it, so its absence is actually pretty refreshing.
i have always liked games where you look at the mundane human world from a different, smaller, perspective. it gives everyday life a sense of adventure... possibly reminding me of playing with toys when i was a kid; viewing a bed as a building or a dresser as a hotel for insects, etc.
i think my only complaint is that this is entirely too easy, it only gets slightly challenging when you want to 100% it, but finding every item seems more tedious than is worth it.
you could do a lot worse for 6-10 hours.
i have always liked games where you look at the mundane human world from a different, smaller, perspective. it gives everyday life a sense of adventure... possibly reminding me of playing with toys when i was a kid; viewing a bed as a building or a dresser as a hotel for insects, etc.
i think my only complaint is that this is entirely too easy, it only gets slightly challenging when you want to 100% it, but finding every item seems more tedious than is worth it.
you could do a lot worse for 6-10 hours.
2022
THE king's field successor